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Vol. 5 Issue 129
Your expat
voice in Spain
The real story behind the new Colin Firth blockbuster See page 6
www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2022
Partiers face rave rage ORGANISERS of illegal parties face massive fines of up to €300,000 in a Balear government crackdown. And guests could be left raving as they too could be ordered to pay out between €300 and €30,000 each in penalties under a proposed law. The regulations would affect Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera and are slated to be
brought in before the summer party season. In a new move landlords of properties rented out for parties would face the same penalties as the organisers - between €100,000 and €300,000. Not only would organisers, landlords and guests face hefty fines, but so too would suppliers of food and drink, marquees and other party essentials - a move that could have an effect on
the islands’ outdoor catering businesses. Mercedes Garrido, of the Balear government said: “We have been looking for measures to stop illegal parties and to make organisers think twice when they plan a party.” The regulations are targeted at mass events and not family gatherings such as birthday parties. Ibiza President of the Council Vicent Mari said illegal parties are defined as ‘a mass gathering, which is held outside the regulated channels that have a licence, and where there is transport, advertising, DJs and there is an entrance fee’.
VODKA SOUR
Expat businessman and his vodka firm named on US sanctions list for key links to Irish mafia THE expat boss of a wellknown costa drinks company has been named as a key member of one of Europe’s biggest mafia gangs. John Morrisey and his company Nero Vodka have been placed on a US Treasury department sanctions list for their association with the Kinahan crime cartel. The American government has placed sanctions on him, alongside other key associates of the Irish gang, who lived for many years in Spain. As well as Christy Kinahan Snr, Daniel Kinahan and Christopher Kinahan Jnr, the US has also put Morrisey and Bernard Clancy on its list. They, along with Ian Dixon and Sean McGovern, are said to be a key part of the Kinahan gang, who owned a string of gyms, restaurants and other businesses on the Costa del Sol, before moving to Dubai a
147 834
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OF UP TO
OF UP TO
OF UP TO
FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE FINANCIAL DISRUPTION OF THE KINAHAN CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION OR THE ARREST AND/OR CONVICTION OF FOR INFORMATION LEADING AL DISRUPTION OF THE
TO THE FINANCIAL DISRUPTI KINAHAN CRIMINAL ORGANIZ ON OF THE ATION OR THE ARREST AND/OR CONVICTION OF
TO THE FINANCI FOR INFORMATION LEADING ATION OR THE ARREST AND/OR KINAHAN CRIMINAL ORGANIZ ION OF CONVICT
Chri stop her Vinc ent Kina han , Jr. Joseph Kinahan Chri stop her Kina hanDaniel SUBMIT TIPS VIA E-MAIL TO KinahanTCOTips@dea.gov
SUBMIT TIPS VIA E-MAIL TO
SUBMIT TIPS VIA E-MAIL TO
KinahanTCOTips@dea.gov
KinahanTCOTips@dea.gov
HIGH PROFILE: Morrissey and wife Nicola in the local press (left) and (above) the US goverment wanted posters
few years ago. Their ‘interests’ were thought to reach along the Spanish costas.
Feud
While the gang still has an important influence here, its leaders started decamping to the Middle East after rival gangster Gary Hutch was killed near Marbella in 2015, leading to a bloody gang feud that spilled on to the streets of Mallorca. Innocent Irish civil servant Trevor O’Neill, 41, was murdered in front of his three young children while on holiday in Costa de la Calma in a case of mistaken identity. While the Kinahans moved on, ‘Johnny’ Morrissey, 62, stayed put to help run his high-profile drinks business Nero Vodka, which is owned on paper by his wife Nicola. Based in Spain for two decades, he had moved from Ireland where the country’s Criminal Assets Bureau dealt a hammer blow to his business there, seizing
El Corte Ingles after Morrissey fronted a €630,000 in cash and property. Now he looks set to come under a similar massive publicity campaign over the past microscope here, with the US describing few years, with events attracting many wellhim as ‘having worked for the Kinahan Or- known members of Spain’s expat society. ganised Crime Gang (KOCG) for several He was regularly seen splashed across newspaper pages and was a recent guest at the years’. The US Treasury claims he is involved in Marbella Film Festival. smuggling, money laundering and other key aspects of the Kinahan operation, including as ‘an enforcer’. The sanctions mean he and his THE sanctions mean any US asse partner Nicola, who are regularts held by those named must be frozen and reported to the ly seen on the costas party cirUS treasury In effe ct, US citizens are banned from doing . cuits, face the same economic business with the named people and their compan sanctions as the gang bosses. ies – anywhere
THE GOING GETS TOUGH...
Sanctions
Their Nero Drinks Company Ltd, registered in Glasgow, has specifically been put on the list of companies that face sanctions, alongside two others, a sports company, Hoopoe Sports, and a marketing company, Ducashew Trading. The high-end vodka brand is sold at many costa beach clubs and is even available in
Tel: 952 147 834
See pages 5 & 13
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in the world. This extends to non-US citizens US, or just transiting through. who are resident in the It almost certainly means that they will now be blacklisted by most other Western countries , who are expected to follow suit. Explaining the unprecedented move, US Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financia Nelson said: “The group smuggle l Intelligence, Brian cluding cocaine, to Europe, and s deadly narcotics, inlicit economy through its role is a threat to the entire in international money laundering. “Criminal groups like the KOCG nerable in society and bring drugprey on the most vulolence, including murder, to the -related crime and vicountries in which they operate. “The Treasury is proud to have coordinated so closely with our international counterparts ment will continue to use every , and the US governdismantle these criminal networksavailable resource to Among the radical moves, the .” US Treasury has even listed the home addresses and pass port numbers of all people on the list, including two addresses for the Kinahans in Spain.
2
CRIME
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NEWS IN BRIEF Foody fund THE Council of Mallorca has approved a €90,000 grant to fund a new initiative called Mallorca Kitchen, to showcase the best Mallorcan gastronomy and produce to visitors.
Zero karat A FAKE Mallorcan company has been closed down after selling counterfeit gold bars, police discovering 125 bullions entirely made of iron.
Con air OVER 200 passengers had a flight to forget after crew were late to arrive at Palma Airport, the landing in Zaragoza severely jolted all on board and then the crew could not open the baggage doors.
Pyromaniac AN 11-year-old boy is accused of setting a paper container ablaze in El Molinar on Tuesday after neighbours noticed flames roaring from a recycling container before calling the firebriage.
A 41-year-old British man has been arrested in Santa Ponca after brutally beating his 70-year-old father. The assault left the father hospitalised with serious injuries while his son was taken away by local police officers in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Son beat dad Screams from the hotel room alarmed other guests, causing hotel staff to run to the victim’s rescue. Doctors were reportedly alarmed by the senior’s suffering, which includ-
April 22nd - May 5th 2022 ed bleeding from the ears, indicating severe brain bleeding. The son allegedly suffers from mental health problems. It has not been ruled out that he consumed alcohol that evening, when mixed with his medication can provoke aggressiveness.
SPEEDBOAT HORROR
Trial starts over accident that maimed two young German holidaymakers THE trial of the driver of a speedboat that ran over two German scuba divers leaving one minus a leg and the other missing an arm has started. The duo had been testing an underwater scooter off Es Trenc beach in Mallorca when the horrific accident happened in July 2018. The accused - whose name has not been released by the Palma court - faces up to six
By Kimberley Mannion
years behind bars and paying more than €2 million in compensation if found guilty. The insurance company covering the boat has so far allocated €120,000 to the two injured parties. The accused has pleaded not guilty, insisting he was
sailing at the usual speed for the area and that it was impossible to see the young men since they were underwater. He added that they had neglected to place buoys to mark where they were, which the boys have admitted. “Suddenly a boat appeared and was going very, very fast and hit us,” said victim Max,
Stripper cop in sex probe A Policia Nacional officer, who worked as a stripper at Ibiza erotic parties, is being probed over a sex assault. Action is being taken after a young woman complained she was sexually abused by the officer, 50, in the Ibiza City police station cells. An investigation, including a review of security camera footage, led to the man’s arrest. He was bailed after a court appearance, pending further inquiries.
Much more than four stars.
The officer, with over 20 years on the force, was disciplined for his moonlighting last June. Bosses concluded he damaged the image of the police force by advertising himself online as a stripper available for erotic parties. He had photographed himself in a provocative pose and was suspended for 80 days. A complaint was lodged in 2018 and dismissed about a provocative image featuring the officer in ‘stripper mode’ with a minor at a party.
Friends.
who was 20 at the time, in a police statement. “None of the crew of that boat helped us. “I had to swim 15 metres to our boat after losing my arm, I was so afraid of bleeding out”. The boat’s propeller had sliced his arm off just above the elbow.
Shredded
His friend Tobias, 26, was left floating in the water after having his leg shredded to pieces. A member of the boys’ boat helped drag them aboard before speeding to the beach where they were met by medics, some 45 minutes after the hit-and-run. The lads had just finished their exams in Germany and were enjoying their first trip to the island.
Kids home sex scandal A British man, 43, has been arrested in Palma over the sexual exploitation of a vulnerable underage girl as part of sex scandal that has hit the islands children’s homes. The vulnerable victim disappeared from a Mallorca protection centre. When she was found and returned, her behaviour raised alarm bells among staff. When the Policia Nacional’s family and child unit spoke to the girl, she explained that she had been coaxed by another minor into being sexually exploited. That minor has since been arrested.
Pornographic
The victim said she had sex with several men, often in a semi-conscious state due to alcohol or drugs. Officers heard that several children in similar situations went down the same route and were given money or expensive gifts as a payment. In some instances they were told to appear in pornographic videos. Further arrests and the discovery of more young victims has not been ruled out. It’s the latest in a string of exploitation and abuse cases involving girls who have escaped from protection centres in Mallorca.
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A hotel that maximises the destination to it's full potential, thanks to it's excellent location. It offers great local experiences at any moment. With art, design, relaxation and comfort. A hotel full of life.
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April 22nd - May 5th 2022
Looking back at anger
Cross to bear
BAD boy of Britpop Liam Gallagher has apologised after tweeting a death threast to Atletico Madrid player Stefan Savic following their Champions League game with Manchester City. The match between city - who Gallagher supports - and Atletico ended with a pitchside brawl that spilled into the dressing rooms tunnel. Savic - who played 12 times for city but is now an Atletico player - was seen to grab Jack Grealish by the hair and headbutt Raheem Sterling. This was too much to bear for Gallagher who tweeted: “Stefan Savic this is a threat if I come across you ya goofy looking C**T your dead MCFC” [sic]. He has since deleted the tweet and apologised, saying he had let his fans down - so maybe has mellowed over the years.
Hear all about it! EXCLUSIVE: In-depth podcast by TV investigator and Olive Press will blow open the Madeleine McCann case TV INVESTIGATOR Donal MacIntyre has teamed up with the Olive Press for a hard-hitting probe into the case of missing Madeleine McCann. The Irish investigative journalist joined forces with editor
Jon Clarke for an in-depth cold case review of the snatch of the toddler, which is approaching its 15th anniversary. In the podcast, Madeleine McCann: The Chief Suspect, the pair explore the complicated and harrowing disappearance of Maddie, who would be 18 today. The former BBC and ITV presenter turned to Clarke, whose new book My Search for Madeleine is the most comprehensive study of the case and its prime suspect to date. “It’s amazing the depths Jon has gone to to try and solve the mystery,” said MacIntyre, 55, who has visited Portugal many times in connection to the case.
BACK HOME SPAIN’S Princess Leonor flew home to spend Easter with her family after completing her second term at UWC Atlantic College in Wales. The heiress to the throne will not return to her boarding school until April 24 but her trip home won’t just be rest and relaxation. She accompanied her parents King Felipe and Queen Letizia on an official visit to meet Ukrainian refugees at a centre in Pozuelo de Alarcon, just outside the capital. And this week she will make a solo appearance at an event held at a secondary school in Leganes that is designed to warn teenagers about the dangers lurking online.
LIBERTYCASHBACK
HARD TALK: Clarke (left), MacIntyre (right) and team
“There was so much that came out that really points to the current main suspect. It’s so shocking how poor the original Portuguese investigation was. You have to wonder why.” The pair spent hours exploring the likelihood that German Christian Brueckner snatched the toddler while she was on holiday with her doctor parents in Portugal on May 3, 2007. They track his movements around Europe and along the Algarve that month and discuss his dozens of previous crimes, many in Portugal. In particular, they analyse the likelihood that the convicted paedophile and rapist broke in and took the three-year-old to sell to a child trafficking network. They also discuss the shambolic police investigation and Clarke’s recent high-level liaisons with Germany’s crack BKA detectives, who are expected to charge Brueckner this year.
Until 25th April L A ST CHANCE!
They explore a number of recent trips Clarke has made to northern Portugal and three other crimes involving children and the rape of an Irish tourist. Available on Spotify, Apple and other streaming platforms from April 22, the moving eight-part podcast, part of the wider Murdered, Missing, Unsolved series, looks at dozens of characters linked to the case.
Mystery
“With the Portuguese statute of limitations ending this year, it is now only in the hands of the Germans.” Clarke, who was the first national newspaper journalist on the scene in 2007, added: “I really enjoyed doing the series with Donal, who knows how to ask the right questions. “I really hope the German police can finally pull it all together this year and charge Brueckner.”
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ACTOR Antonio Banderas returned to take a leading role in Easter processions in his home city of Malaga. The 61-year-old Zorro star was pictured with his girlfriend investment banker Nicole Kimpel, 40, as he prepared to join the Malaga brotherhood of Maria Santisima de Lagrimas y Favores during processions on Palm Sunday and on Monday. The actor often returns to join in Semana Santa celebrations with the cofradia that he has been linked to since childhood to take part in the traditional marches. Banderas joins the penitents dressed in long gowns as they shuffle through the streets transporting heavy wooden floats carrying religious statues to the sound of mournful drumbeat and wafting incense.
DIOR MIO! THE iconic haute couture brand Dior has chosen Sevilla’s Plaza de España as the spectacular setting to launch its Cruise 2023 collection this summer. The collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has been the brand’s creative director since 2016, will be revealed on June 16 on a catwalk in the most famous plaza in the Andalucian capital. The ties between Dior and Andalucia were forged in the 1950s and were strengthened with ‘journeys that led to evocatively named silhouettes dreamed up by Monsieur Dior and his successors’, said the fashion house. “It will be a unique event that will show the excellence of Andalucian crafts and culture through the creativity of local artists and artisans.”
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A MOTHER in Palma was shocked after a Palma bus driver scolded her in front of passengers for not stopping her baby’s crying. At the final stop of a bus journey from Palma to Port de Sollerat, the irate bus driver approached the woman before berating her. Melani, 33 and a mother of two, said: “He told me my six-month-old baby had bothered the entire bus full of passengers with his crying during the trip, that I did not know how to calm him down, and that next time I would be better asking for a taxi.”
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THE Ukrainian who hit world headlines for atRainbow’s end tempting to sink a Russian yacht in Mallorca has returned to Ukraine to fight after being charged with causing minor damage. Taras Ostapchuk, 55, had worked as the chief engineer for the Lady Anastasia for 10 years. But once Russia invaded Ukraine, he decided to take things into his own hands and attempted to sink his boss Alexander Mikheev’s superyacht. Mijas Costa
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Life in the shade
THE enclave been described of Zagaleta has often most exclusive as ‘southern Europe’s It’s one of Spain’s most And when youplace to live’. on behind the expensive count on the ties, captains celebrihigh tech fences places to live. But of industry and, global dictators now, the a giant palace. few know what of La Zagaleta, Olive Press Property spaces, that’s no who stalk its privileged goes the second member gated community surprise. The multi-million takes a peekwhere Putin is said to own the of the family,” agent. price tags certainly rity is ‘its number that claims that secu- “Our adds follow suit, as perimeter shielding, “It’s real royal Indeed, security one priority’. course, which does its incredible golf detection tems and security is of so of the locals golf and the attitudes routines will sys- around 240 homes people allowedhas just a few hundred tance that after a late-nightmuch impor- most attempts are to match,” thwart tinued. year, an incident last to play… and have so far there’s its intriguing been snobby, “It’s ultra exclusive he conwhich explains to attack properties, built. then sioned Israeli company was commisand so why way more than “Most to build a new recent links Russian dictator to ‘high tech electric’ 100 times lower thanthe incident rate is lion homes go for around the Chelsea or 7 to 8 mil- Cheshire set. owns a property Vladamir Putin, who fence. euros,” explains in other residential complexes,” “Owners put Expected to one British agent, who has sold The giant 2000 there. 10,000 euros become the The estate washe claimed. there over the a number of properties club bar so they can always behind the originally called the Rock of the sqm palace, known as sive in Spain, it will runmost expen- Baraka’ last year. “And or cigar when and owned by ‘La even doubled around the counts on its King (or Roca del Rey) 900-hectare estate that they want and get a drink in price over some have literally crawling own private vineyard, vis, between Marbella sits in Benaha- lionaire Saudi arms disgraced bil- years.” the place is the last few licopter pad and with Aston Martins, he- of the Serrania and the foothills Khashoggi, who was dealer, Adnan All and DB4s and But it’s the threebowling alley. surrounded said to have held de some of the by deep woodland, Thesedays, theMcClarens.” floors underground “The residents are Ronda. that has got company parties at theworld’s most debauched they have either sea or being charged eyebrows raised euros each in mountain views galeta is run by Ignacio behind Zahunting lodge (or both), while 5,000 Europe’s security two Perez Diaz, afin the equestrian there is also ter his father died and defence among pay for it,” reveals installments to help 1970s. As revealed a private According two years ago. Today it is center and a source. by the Olive elite. to its last available month, it counts Press last not exactly happy about it.” “They are which was the clubhouse of the resort, a second one on the golf course, with in It comes after 2019, its immediate way. acquired by a accounts on armed guards and has a deep group of in- The amazing course, said holding company Zagaleta Miguel NavarroHead of security Jose vestors in 1989 led by Andalucian bunker monitoring the best in Spain, to be one of Straits of Gibraltar International er, Enrique boasted last year UK Inc is 24/7. And this the his team have a that from Huelva. Perez Flores, who bank- members, which only counts on 250 based in Panama, while ‘maximum response in a time of two is because only tities, came owners three minutes home- Alto Soto Properties SA andother encan join. The giant estate to any alert’. SA, are based Campo approximately was then divided into “The price for membership in Switzerland. 420 plots, of 120,000 euros and then it’s alone is See pages which year II and III 10,000 a for the lead member and 7,000 for more on the properties to find out Zagaleta available in
Your expat
voice in Spain
www.theolivepress.e s April 6th - April 19th 2022
But no gold for British couple as their dream home is bulldozed in another sad chapter in Spain’s planning history
Coffee machine, furniture and even a cement mixer: Brits robbed by neighbours after demolition of costa home
FOR two decades it had been the dream retirement home couple David and Janet of British The four-bedroom villa Hartshorn. above the Costa del Sol in the hills hallmarks of the perfect had all the rainy, cold north-west escape from England. The retired publicans from Cheshire,
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had long dreamed of their place in the sun. So when the opportunity the dreamy Torrox plot of buying came up, they jumped at the opportunity. However, Villa Arco Iris (meaning ‘rainbow’) has proved to be anything but its DEVASTATED: Janet and David, as home is demolished namesake and rather than a pot on a plot of land into the of gold it has left treat sizable rethem hundreds of year. they valued at €500,000 last thousands of eu- But just one year after buying ros out of pocket. it, they The couple had that discovered it was illegal. And fallen for the age- Someis where their nightmare began. old trick of trust- 9.01amtwo decades later at exactly on April 5, 2022, a town ing local trades- bulldozer hall men in southern rampage started on a 40-minute to bring it down to rubble. Spain. Their They had Court countless pleas to Malaga to reconsider, even including been as- a request to give up the property to sured by Ukrainian refugees, were all in vain. b u i l d i n g The authorities were adamant firm Ner- should not have been built andthat it See pages 23 & 31 tor nevthat er had they would Despitethe correct permission. be able to pressure enlisting lawyers and local group SOHA nothing could develop a be done. small shack To add insult to injury, the cost of the
BEFORE: The couple’s dream home Arcos Iris
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demolition work will the couple - to the tunebe charged to of €24,000. Now the plot, formerly setting for the Hartshorn’san idyllic family friends to spend and their mers, has been reduced long sumto a derelict building site.
“It is very distressing and a big part of our life’s work has been turned to rubble,” David told the Olive Press, last night.
Life
“We have put all our life this work, and now it savings into is all going to be taken away.” He continued: “It beggars belief how this can happen. with certain Spanish Consultation contractors is a downfall from the beginning. They
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bend the truth.” On Monday morning, David, accompanied by daughter Adelle, 46, who had flown over from moral support, finally England for accepted the fate of their beloved home. The only legal part of the house is an uninhabitable 20-square-metre annexe. This was spared by the team but it will come as demolition little consolation to the Hartshorn’s, been forced to move in who have with friends nearby and who will leave the country for good on May 6. The case echoes that of en Prior in Almeria whoLen and Helwatched as Opinion Page 6 Continues on Page
X
A BRITISH couple whose house was demolished after a long legal battle have been robbed by their neighbours. David and Janet Hartshorn were already devastated after they saw their retirement dream on the Costa del Sol smashed to smithereens. But that very same day, neighbours in Torrox used their misfortune to scour through the wreckage and rob the couple of anything that had survived in a part of the house they can still use. “Talk about kicking a man while he’s down,” David told the Olive Press. The looting was discovered by Tom, a friend of the Hartshorns, who popped over to look at the site in the afternoon of the demolition. He was astonished to see the neighbours filling the boot of their cars with whatever they could get their hands on. Among the items stolen were FOUR ladders, a cement mixer, boxes of crockery, two tables, two chairs, a pressure washer, EIGHT sun loungers, and even a coffee machine. The shameless group even stripped all the fruit from their
April 22nd - May 5th 2022
best mag Spain’s English property in
THE Palma International Boat Show is returning with more than 200 exhibitors and hundreds of boats set to be open to the public. From April 28 until May 1, the Port of Palma will open its doors to the public to show off some of the biggest yachts and the best of what top notch nautical companies have to offer. Open daily from 11am until 8pm, the boat show is a mustsee event, bringing together top businesses from the island’s largest sector and is one of the biggest nautical events in the world. Although it is a boat show, some of the best products from the Baleares will also be there. The installation of a floating footbridge will also allow crowds to circle the festival and visit the largest yachts with ease. More than 150 people are working to have everything prepared for the show. Last year’s edition was the first major nautical event in the world after pandemic restrictions.
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orange and lemon trees. Fortunately, their expat friend managed to take photos of the thieves to send to the Hartshorns who rushed down to the property. Staying in a local hotel, they arrived just in time to see a van loaded with their things being driven away by a neighbour. The theft was reported to the Guardia Civil who made a detailed inventory of the missing items and interviewed the
What a cry baby Melani filed a complaint to the national police in Palma and issued a formal complaint to the bus company, run by the Serra de Tramuntana municipality. According to her, no one else seemed annoyed by her baby’s crying. “Some of them were smiling at my baby and were playing games and making faces at him,” she said.
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Damage
ON FILM: Looters descended on the scene locals who had been caught red-handed in the photos. One of the neighbours actually denied being there until he was shown the image of himself and admitted the theft. He was told that if all the stolen items were returned then the charges would be dropped. Sure enough, when Janet and David returned to the site the following day most of the belongings had been miraculously returned. A note left by one of the thieves said they would replace an expensive Karcher power hose with a new one, presumably as
it had already been sold. It rounds a fortnight of hell for the Hartshorns, whose dream move to Spain has become a nightmare.
Persecuted
“I’m being persecuted,” David continued. “We used to think we had a good community here, but now we are not so sure.” His wife added: “Maybe the world is telling us it’s time to get out of here.” Opinion Page 6
In court he accepted the minor charge of causing damage to property and was released. He has now returned permanently to war-torn Ukraine. Mikheev is the chief executive of Russian weapons company Rosoboronexport with close links to Vladimir Putin. Ostapchuk told police he acted after seeing footage of Russian missiles hitting apartments in Kyiv. He opened a valve in the engine room and then another in the crew cabins in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to sink the ship. “I've lost my job, but that’s not a problem, I will not lose my country,” he said.
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Mallorcan majesty
THE King of Spain made a surprise visit to the Mallorcan sailing competition the 420 Cup over Easter. King Felipe VI was spotted chatting and taking photographs with members of the Llucmajor sports club and sailors of the Cantabrian Federation. The King was notably absent from the traditional Easter Mass service usually attended by the monarchy. Felipe VI took the trip at the beginning of last week, apparently unaccompanied, stopping off at the Club Nautic de s'Arenal. He had been expected to attend a mass service with his mother, Queen Sofía, who was seen during Holy Week attending the Holy Thursday procession. The king’s visit delighted local sailors, including head coaches of teams competing in the Spanish cup Noah De Perst and Eduardo Sarabia.
NEWS
April 22nd May 5th 2022
5
Cash police Police on Gibraltar border demand evidence tourists have €100 a day to spend
BRITS trying to enter Spain from Gibraltar are being forced to prove they have a ‘valid reason’ and enough cash to spend, according to multiple reports. Now the Gib government has raised concerns over the reports that Spanish police were refusing entry to British tourists. Policia Nacional officers at the border were demanding non-EU nationals, including British passport holders, provide evidence of onward travel and hotel reservations in Spain before allowing them to cross, according to several people on social media. One British holidaymaker who crossed into Spain on Tuesday
Driven to distraction THE British Embassy in Madrid has requested yet another extension to the deadline on the validity of British driving licences for expats in Spain. At present the deadline is April 30, but the embassy insists that negotiations for a permanent solution are still ongoing. It posted on its Brits in Spain page on Facebook, to say it recognises the anxiety the situation is causing.
LIVE-IN CARERS said all British holidaymakers were also being asked to show proof of funds for the duration of their stay in Spain. “At the border we had to prove we had €100 per day per person for the duration of our stay,” Julie Quartermaine told the Olive Press on Tuesday. “The woman officer was apologetic but said she had to see enough for the 10 days we planned to be in Spain either in cash or in a bank account. “I had to pull up my online banking on my phone and show I had at least two grand to cover me and my husband,” she said. The couple flew into Gibraltar on the early flight from London Heathrow to spend 10 days at their holiday home up the coast in Manilva. “It was quite a shock and God
knows what would have happened if we couldn’t show we had the funds,” added Julie, from Sutton in Surrey. “There was a man ahead of us in the queue emptying out his wallet to show he had the cash.”
Stringent
It appeared that the border guards had suddenly started to apply the more stringent Schengen entry requirements that came into place with Brexit for Brits travelling to Europe through an external border. However, such rules are suspended at Gibraltar’s border with Spain while negotiations for a post-Brexit agreement regarding the future of the Rock are ongoing.
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Opinion Page 6
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NEWS FEATURE
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 Love thy neighbour WE’D like to believe that in times of great adversity, one simple act can restore our faith in humanity. That the worst situations often bring out the best in people. That when the going gets tough, communities pull together and neighbours set aside their petty differences and help each other out. So it is particularly galling to report on such despicable behaviour shown towards the British expat couple who had the misfortune of falling foul of planning regulations in Torrox. Not only did they have to suffer the horror of watching their dream home being smashed to smithereens but within hours vulture neighbours were picking over the bones of the wreckage and stealing anything of value. Another example of poor neighbourliness is being witnessed at the border of Spain with Gibraltar. Border officials have suddenly decided to break an agreement to observe the status quo while a post-Brexit agreement is thrashed out, and suddenly impose stringent border checks on those hapless holidaymakers heading to the Costa del Sol. Those who can’t meet Schengen entry conditions and show accommodation plans and proof of funds aren’t being allowed in. It might be a fit of pique on the side of the Spanish annoyed at the arrival of nuclear subs in Gibraltar, but it’s holidaymakers who want to spend their money in Spain that are being stopped. With a bigger Putin shaped common enemy lurking on the edge of Europe, isn’t it time we stopped making life difficult for our neighbours and pulled together to help each other out? PUBLISHER / EDITOR
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SECRETS FROM THE GRAVE A British tomb in a far-flung corner of Spain helps explain how the Allies beat Hitler
‘
By Fiona Govan
IF I should die, think only this of me: There’s some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England,” wrote Rupert Brooke in his seminal poem, The Soldier, published during the First World War. They are fitting words for a new film that tells the strange story behind a grave that
lies in a forgotten corner of southwest Spain. The movie, Operation Mincemeat, starring Colin Firth and Matthew MacFadyen, is about the death - and crucially the body - of a British man, credited with changing the course of the Second World War. His grave can be found in the corner of the Catholic cemetery of La Soledad just outside the city of Huelva. Marked with the name ‘Major William Martin’, it contains a corpse that was found by fisherman during the height of the global conflict in April 1943. However, the true identity of the body was known by only a few behind Operation Mincemeat, an PUT TO REST: Glyndwr Michael is buried under audacious plan by Britthe fake identity of Major William Martin ish Intelligence to hood-
wink Hitler. It involved planting the corpse of a fictitious major, a supposed victim of a plane crash, along with his briefcase full of fake secrets off the Spanish coast with the knowledge that the Franco regime would share any intelligence with the Germans. Papers contained within the case chained to the major’s belt contained documents that were designed to persuade Hitler that the Allies were imminently set to invade Greece and Sardinia. And making him believe it would mean diverting Axis forces away from the Allies real target in Sicily. It was a cunning plan and the corpse was
Where’s our Headspace? Is Spain doing enough to deal with a rising problem exacerbated by the pandemic and now the anxiety caused by war? Jo Chipchase takes a look
W
ITH the Ukraine conflict following hot on the heels of the Covid pandemic, it’s natural that many people are feeling
stressed. Complaints such as anxiety and depression are becoming more widespread and people, particularly children, are wondering what they can do to alleviate the issues. In the face of rising cases, are Spain’s mental health services up to the job?
Worrying statistics Madrid’s Complutense University found an alarming increase in depressive symptoms from the pandemic last year. It found that up to 3% of the adult population was suffering from mental health issues, while 6.9% had anxiety. In particular, younger people are getting worse depression, while women are more anxious. UNICEF believes children have it the hardest. In its ‘State of the World's Children 2021’ report, it estimates 13% of those aged 10 to 19 have mental health disorders. And in 50% of cases, these disorders begin before the age of 14. In Spain, one in ten over15s are affected and the internet hasn’t helped our anxiety levels. Just as anti-vax videos did the rounds in 2021, in 2022, the world can watch the Ukraine conflict through videos uploaded to social networks, with poor filters against misinformation. Too many people have seen the footage of dead bodies, explosions, and other frightening scenes, because they spent too long on social media and not on the
more reliable mainstream media. It is little wonder then that a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Roxane Cohen insists mental health is influenced by how much social media a person consumes and how graphic the content is.
Spain’s incoming mental health law With mental health on a downward spiral, Spain proposed a new law called ‘Ley de Salud Mental’ at the end of last year. This aims to increase access to relevant services, reduce suicide rates, and destigmatise mental health issues, with €2.5m budgeted to spend on information campaigns. The country also aims to create special clinics for young people. And it’s about time as currently for each 100,000 inhabitants, mental healthcare provision is limited to just 10 psychiatrists, 6 psychologists and 7.5 specialist nurses. Health bodies, including the AEESME believes this should be at least 30 specialist nurses per 100,000 people.
Primitive treatments Treatments in Spain tend to be pretty primitive. Mental health services in most of Andalucia and Valencia are extremely limited, consisting of extremely few psychiatric clinics. Most clinics merely dole out pills for ‘de-
PILLS: There are concerns doctors oversubscribe antidepressants
pression’ - with little actual attempt at diagnosis. One Olive Press reader, based in Lanjaron, revealed that her daughter was merely issued pills when she faked a suicide attempt. “She was then prescribed more pills, instead of dealing with the symptoms of her disorder,” she explained. And when her daughter’s mental health worsened, so did the treatment. “Eventually, she was committed to our hospital's psychiatric unit, which can only accommodate around 10 patients. No treatment was offered, other than being highly sedated. I saw men and women locked up together in a very small ward,” she recalled. “One guy had his groin taped up with gaffer tape - presumably to prevent him exposing himself to fellow patients. It was like something from the days of Charles Dickens – shuffling, muttering, dosedup patients wandering about and largely ignored by the staff, except when they were forcibly made to take showers. The whole ward was like a prison - locks and bolts everywhere and restricted visiting. “After eight days, they said my daughter was being released - although nothing had been done to diagnose or alleviate her condition. She came out unable to even dress herself and certainly no better.”
April 22nd - May 5th 2022
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W SILVER SCREEN: The cunning scheme has been immortalised in Operation Mincemeat
transported by submarine to just off the coast of Huelva, where British intelligence knew a particularly active German spy, Adolf Clauss, was based.
They knew he would almost certainly be handed the bogus secret documents. And all went exactly according to plan with the Allies soon mounting a successful invasion of southern Europe with minimal loss of life thanks to the diversion. But the mystery as to the true identity of the grave was not revealed until years later. When the MI5 secret files were declassified in 1996 it emerged that Major William Martin was actually a homeless alcoholic Welshman, Glyndwr Michael, who died in London after eating poisoned bread. His body had been removed from St Pancras Hospital morgue, dressed up in the Royal Marine uniform of a major and trans-
80-YEAR TRIBUTE
A raft of pills Maggie Greg, a Cadiz resident who suffers from borderline personality disorder, says: “I've been using the mental health system for a long time. It depends on who you get in terms of therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Many will quickly put you on pills without spending long enough to obtain a correct diagnosis. Also, they will give you strong meds, such as Xanax, if you suggest them yourself,” she explained. “I was offered Lithium after being seen just four times for under 30 minutes each time, for a condition that was misdiagnosed. Fortunately, I turned it down. I’ve been on Xanax for over eight years now. A UK doctor told me they would not have prescribed it, as better drugs have been available for some time.”
Go private or online There are a few good counsellors out there in the private sector, but they are hard to find and the best are very busy. Meanwhile you might try an online website like Betterhelp, which offers registered counsellors for €50 to 70 a week. Many people find the cost of the private sector prohibitive, and are stuck with the public system, which remains under-resourced and has a long waiting list.
ported on ice to Spain. Incredibly, it wasn’t until 25 years ago, in 1997, that his name was added to the inscription of the grave. But today visitors to the obscure graveyard near Huelva can find the tombstone acknowledging the posthumous heroism and the real identity of the man within. ‘Glyndwr Michael served as Major William Martin, RM’ it reads. While the well-tended grave receives the occasional curious visitor, the story will now reach a wider audience with this month’s release of Operation Mincemeat also starring Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton.
Local expat campaigners hope interest generated by the new film will lead to greater promotion of the area and preservation of the tombs of other Allied heroes buried there. For in the British Cemetery adjacent to the final resting place of Glyndwr Michael lie two other neglected graves of war heroes, their headstones overgrown with weeds. Both are Allied airmen who died when their plane, a Bristol Beaufighter, went down near Gibraleon on April 19, 1942. Royal Australian Air Force pilot Sergeant Geoffrey Lennox Avern, 27, and 21-year-old RAF wireless operator Sgt Philip Bernard Crossan lost their lives. “Out of respect for them my wife and I have decided to lay flowers on their graves on April 19, 80 years after they met thei deaths,” local resident Christopher r untimely Wright told the Olive Press. The British expat is also in cont with both the Australian and Britiact embassy to urge them to take actiosh n to restore the cemetery. “Action is needed now to ensure these two young airmen are not that forgotten,” he added. “In the meantime a small group of unteers are clearing up some of thevolundergrowth and generally tidying up the area around the graves and entrance to the cemetery.” Anyone wishing to join can email chris pher.wright@hotmail.co.uk for furthtoer details.
ITH an average age of 25, Elena Gocmen, Jorge Hinojosa, and George Mathias are the new blood of the Olive Press. Elena joined the team a year ago, graduating from Madrid University where she studied journalism before returning to her Andalucian roots. Bilingual thanks to an upbringing around Marbella, she already has an impressive portfolio under her belt, including everything from the investigation of a headless body found near Granada to an appeal for a donkey sanctuary. Not content with chasing stories on the Costa del Sol, she has now taken on an additional role as a designer. Jorge joined the team fresh from Spain’s press agency Efe after graduating from the UK’s Chester University with an MA in international journalism. He brings his investigative nous to the paper which has already seen him probe a sex cult in Castellon and a giant villa owned by President Putin near Marbella. Never off the phone, he enjoys a classic bit of ‘gumshoe reporting’ getting out and about knocking on doors. Finally George joined the team from London, having cut his teeth at local paper the Basingstoke Gazette before working for the Mirror group. His passion for journalism zoomed when he spent a week following the court hearing of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for the Press Association. And in just three months he has written on an expat retirement home bulldozed, gangsters being brought to justice in Mallorca and the European Cricket League. Together, the terrific trio are proof that journalism is far from a dying industry and say seeking out stories, holding people to account, and just generally making mischief is more rewarding than ever.
The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are: stops women going for an abortion 1- Spain being hassled by pro-life protestors outside clinics couple lose legal battle as bulldozers 2- British flatten retirement home in southern Spain the Semana Santa hats conical and 3- Why areare they linked to the KKK never buy pre-cut fruit and 4- Why youvegshould at supermarkets in Spain holidays in Spain 2021: Full list of 5- Bank dates for every autonomous community
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GREEN
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PORT ADRIANO in Mallorca is set to have Spain’s first wave power station. The local authorities have signed an agreement with Swedish/Israeli company Eco Wave Power (EWP) for the potential construction of a two MW plant at the picturesque harbour. Port Adriano will hand over a suitable location to EWP for
April 22nd - May 5th 2022
MAKING A SPLASH Spain’s first wave power project planned for Mallorca 20 years, while the company will be responsible for securing planning permission and licences as well as building the
power plant. Although this would be the first wave power plant in Spain, EWP installed a 5MW
plant in Gibraltar in 2016. At the time Eco Wave Power co-founder David Leb told the Olive Press: “People have been
By Dilip Kuner
talking about wave energy for a while - not only the ability to make electricity
United Nations call for action MUST be heeded
T
HE human race never learns. Why? Are we stupid, ambivalent, or just downright lazy? Read on and you decide. My vote is for all three. When you know that something is wrong and not tackled with positive action, then this seems the most likely answer. And so it is with the inexcusable way we continue to damage our environment. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists say ‘It’s now or never’ to limit global warming. This key United Nations body urges ‘rapid, deep and immediate’ cuts in CO2 emissions. If we don’t stop the upward trend of harmful emissions within the next three years we will all suffer the impacts of inaction. The IPCC has published its guidance on what the world can do to avoid an extremely dangerous future. “Some governments and business leaders are saying one thing - but doing another. Simply put THEY ARE LYING. And the results will be catastrophic,” said UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres this month. Key data from the IPCC report prompted this fiery reaction. Top of the list was that even if all the policies to cut carbon emissions that governments had put in place by the end of 2020 were fully implemented, the world would still warm by 3.2*C this century. THIS SPELLS DISASTER ACROSS THE GLOBE. It really is NOW OR NEVER. If we chose never (and political rhetoric counts as never) we will witness : ● Increased droughts leading to large scale famine ● Unprecedented heatwaves ● Terrifying storms ● Widespread water shortages ● Abnormal flooding ● Extensive fires across habited areas ● Loss of inhabited islands ● Massive destruction to our ecosystem
IT’S NOW OR NEVER
I have never heard such an alarming call for action from the UN. Both governments and us as individuals need to act. Why do governments not grasp the nettle and allocate the funding that is required to tackle this problem? It costs more to rectify the damage than prevent it. Lack of available funding, commitment and resolve create problems that are resolvable. Wind and solar only supply 10% of the world’s electricity. Why? A lack of funding. Farmers do not use green fertilisers. Why? A lack of funding. Massive changes are needed to change transport, industry, production, consumption patterns and the way we treat nature. Again, why? A lack of funding. New technologies are required urgently to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Why has it not been implemented? You guessed it……a lack of funding. When we need more forests, why are we allowing deforestation to continue? We have to reduce our demands on electricity. As the world’s economies rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for energy soared. Research shows that the growth in the need for electricity last year was the equivalent of adding a new India to the world’s grid. Maybe we should accept it as a race taking two steps back before we push forward again. Rapidly increase the use of renewables, cut our consumption habits (and also stick two fingers up to Putin’s oil and gas). How can a ‘civilised Europe’ continue to fund Putin’s war machine by purchasing oil and gas from Russia? Sacrifices need to be made. We just need GOVERNMENTS TO HAVE THE BALLS TO ACT.
Green
Matters
By Martin Tye
Buoyed
TAKE NOTICE: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
SHINING EXAMPLES
There are some countries leading by example.The Netherlands, where the sun doesn’t shine nearly as much as in Spain, has moved a 10th of its electricity demand from fossil fuels to renewable sources in the past two years. Vietnam tripled its solar production in less than one year thanks to attractive government subsidies. Denmark, whose ability to produce electricity from the sun is less than the UK’s, now produces more than 50% of its electricity from wind and solar. So it can be done. Just so long as we don’t allow governments to be stupid, ambivalent or lazy.
PROGRESS: Vietnam has tripled solar production
Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638145664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es
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from ocean waves, but to make it commercially viable. “That was only just in theory, but now we actually have something that is working.” Fellow EWP Power founder Inna Braverman added: “According to the World Energy Council you can provide twice the amount of electricity that the world is using now through wave power.” “There was a time when wave energy became popular in the 70s when there was a problem with oil and there was a lot of pollution that came to public attention. “But most of the wave companies back then, and even now, were offshore and very expensive, so investors got a bad taste in their mouth.” However, Gibraltar’s new wave energy buoys are easily accessible, with no need for divers or long trips out to sea. The New project in Mallorca will follow similar principles.
Stubbed out
BARCELONA’S beaches will become ‘no-smoking’ areas from this summer. The permanent ban on lighting up follows a successful pilot on four beaches in the Catalan capital last year. The City Council has devised a two-phase plan ahead of the smoking ban across 10 beaches covering five kilometres. Until June, the authority will undertake a campaign to tell people about the health and environmental advantages of having smoke-free beaches with no more cigarette butts left in the sand. The ban will come into force from July with law-breakers getting an on-the-spot €30 fine.
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MALAGA - THE TECH HUB OF THE MED
A special focus on:
www.theolivepress.es
APRIL 2022
Digital nomad’s dream SIGHTS OF MALAGA: The Christmas lights, superyachts overshadowed by the cathedral and fabulous seafront have been joined by the tech park
Malaga has reinvented itself as one of the key R&D and tech sectors in southern Europe, discovers Sorrel Downer
Q
UALITY of life, 320 days of sunshine and superb sea views. Then add in good flight connections, affordable housing, and a rich cultural heritage, rooted in the Romans and Phoenicians and it’s no wonder Malaga is attracting dozens of global businesses each year. But the city’s rapid transformation into one of the key tech hubs of the Mediterranean over the last decade also owes a lot to coordinated teamwork, talent, and planning. Andalucia’s key port city benefits from having a
concerted strategy and long term plan, explains Marc Sanderson of the Foreign Direct Investment office (FDI), ‘and the stability of the mayor guiding the city’. He adds: “The strategy has been to diversify the economy so Malaga is not overly dependent on tourism; not that we want to diminish tourism but to balance it with clean industries. “A direct investment department is unique for a city of this size but Mayor Francisco de la Torre was visionary and wanted to promote the city as a tech destination at this level. “Now, after 10 years, the message is resonating globally.”
Last year saw the start of a boom, and an influx of big global tech corporations choosing Malaga as the location for research, development and innovation (R+D+I) centres. While most parts of Spain and other parts of Europe struggled with the pandemic, Malaga’s population grew by over 17,000 people between January 2020 and July 2021… and digital nomads and remote workers form a significant part of that total. “The pandemic added a paradigm shift by proving remote working was feasible,” continues Sanderson, an erudite American, who’s lived in the bustling coastal city
for over two decades. “Businesses became a lot more flexible with their employees, and saw they were happier and more productive by doing it. They began looking for low-cost locations where quality of life was higher, and allows talented people to live in desirable places. “Malaga ticks all the boxes. Citigroup’s recent decision to open a hub here is because they want their analysts to have a good worklife balance. That is a perfect example of the corporate mindset. “While others were suffering we got a boost from the pandemic,” concludes the bilingual father-oftwo. “But we’ve been working hard and it’s finally paying off. Luck is when preparation and opportuniContinues on Page 10
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Málaga TechPark;
From page 9
TECH COMPANY BOOM ty meet. And Malaga is extremely prepared.” It was certainly a golden 2021 for Malaga, beginning in February when Google announced it would be building a Centre of Excellence for Cybersecurity in the city as part of a €530m investment to support the country’s digital transformation. In May, Vodafone chose Malaga over a shortlist of eight other European cities for a €225m European R+D Centre dedicated to ‘Edge Computing, Open RAN and the Internet of Things’. It prompted Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to tweet: “We are progressing to be-
come a focal point for attracting talent, a benchmark in innovation and digital transformation. Congratulations to Malaga, which has been working in this industry for many years to achieve this.” And the global tech firms kept coming. The Swedish wireless data solutions company Westermo recently chose the city for its first office in Spain, while Derivco from the Isle of Man has arrived to provide support to international partners in the online gaming sector. Then there is venture capitalist company Startup Wise Guys, which launched a business accelerator program for video game and virtual reality startups at Polo Digital Malaga. And, in an agreement brokered by the EU-China Science
and Technology Committee Association, a leading Chinese sustainability company will open an R+D centre in Malaga TechPark dedicated to renewable energy, ‘robotics 4.0’, the development of car batteries and recharging points for electric
vehicles. The strong public-private collaboration and mutual support within the Malaga Valley area and ecosystem is a major factor for most of these firms. International companies are aided by the office of FDI, which not only promotes the city as a business destination, but provides wide ranging services during the evaluation and setting up period, and maintains contact with regular events to help the international community stay connected. Meanwhile, BIC Euronova offers specialised technical consultancy, financial advice and assistance with logistics and Promalaga helps to foster startups and companies choosing to locate in the specific TechPark area itself.
MALAGA TECHPARK While Google is due to open its centre on the Paseo de Farola, the majority of tech companies, including DEKRA, Oracle, Ericsson, Siemens, Accenture, Huawei, Orange, Bombardier, and Globant, are concentrated in Malaga’s TechPark, on the city’s western fringes. There are currently 624 companies in residence, 62 of them international, many in the AI, blockchain, big data and aeronautics sectors. Between them, they employ over 22,200 people and last year turned over collectively a staggering €2.3bn. The park, formerly known as the Parque Tecnologico de Andalucia, first opened for business in 1992. The past six years have been extremely busy; and now growth is
Explosion of jobs Ikea joins the tech revolution as interest in Malaga ‘skyrockets’, writes Jon Clarke
“
MALAGA is set to explode with jobs,” next few years… and ‘not just in the city, believes the city’s Ikea manager Linus all the way up the coast to Marbella and Frejd. Estepona’. Describing the area as a ‘new silicon His company - now celebrating its 15th valley’ he continues: “Something is defi- year in the city - is also taking a direct nitely cooking and all the ingredients are role in nurturing the expansion through its here for the pot to start boiling.” membership of a new initiative called ‘the In particular he cites the excellent in- Talent Lab’. frastructure, but also the fast-growing “We are one of the main collaborators university and explains how Forbes and and are taking 50 local students to help Bloomberg have recently listthem discover themselves,” ed Malaga as among the top he explains proudly, adding cities in the world to relocate that his management team A hive of for work. will be helping them devel“The interest has sky-rocketop their talents and discover activity with ed and it is not just for the leadership and branding. 600 staff from weather that so many compa“Ultimately we are helping nies are relocating here,” he them build their employabilidesigners to tells the Olive Press during a ty… ready to take jobs in the technicians behind-the-scenes tour of new companies relocating the Swedish giant’s nerve here. There will be hundreds centre, near Malaga airport. of them in a few years,” in“We have a unique situation and can be- sists the father-of-two, 38, from Sweden. come one of the hotspots in Europe. Com- They will certainly enjoy spending time at pared to the big global cities where there the iconic furniture giant that is now rollis a war for talent and you can’t recruit ing out micro-stores up along the Costa unless you pay ten times over salary. Here del Sol, including click and collect and we have as much as 47% youth unemploy- plan and order points at La Canada and ment so there is a big labour pool. And Granada’s Nevada centre. “We are also good, skilled young talent too.” looking at Ronda, Estepona, Nerja and So impressed is he with the way the town Jaen,” he adds. hall is handling the development that he A hive of activity, with up to 600 staff, sees thousands of new jobs being created ranging from designers to accountants in the tech and research sector over the and technical staff, the Malaga store is
JOBS EXPLOSION: Ikea manager Linus Frejd is optimistic for the future
one of the busiest in Spain expecting to turn over €150 million this year. It is set to be a big year for the Swedish giant, which is planning ‘a year of celebration’ to celebrate its 15th year serving the local market. There are 25 stores in Spain and over 450 giant stories globally, although a couple have recently closed in Russia understandably.
On ice “We’ve put all 14 stores in Russia on ice for now but are keeping the staff,” explains Linus, who actually worked in Russia (St. Petersburg) for a couple of years, before joining the ‘expansion team’ in Ukraine. But his move to Malaga two years ago was
his best yet, with his wife Melina getting a job at a smaller furniture company in Mijas and his two boys, 9 and 5, happy at a good local school. “It was a dream come true and we always wanted to move here. It’s such a beautiful area and great for living and working,” he says. A well travelled man, who studied interior design at college in Sydney, he insists on wearing the store’s trademark yellow uniform and also helping out in every different department as much as he can in line with Ikea’s dislike of ‘hierarchies’. “I know my way around a screwdriver,” he jokes. “And I’ve always been interested in marketing, branding and design so I guess I ended up at the perfect job.”
APRIL 2022
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GOLDEN: Global tech firms continue to set up in Malaga
snowballing: in the first half of 2021 alone, the TechPark received more than 30 new applications for space from companies from as far and wide as Germany, Finland and Sweden – as well as from Barcelona and Madrid. Expansion plans are underway and the park sits just 12km from Malaga airport and 13km from the ables and alternative energy. The park also has close links with city centre. Sustainability, once a vague goal, its near neighbour Malaga Univeris a mainstream requirement for sity (UMA) and many of its resourclarge businesses with one-third es are open to the park’s compaof Europe’s largest public compa- nies – including the IT and bionies pledging to reach net zero technology facilities at the groundby 2050. Companies locating to breaking Supercomputing and Bioinnovation Centhe TechPark have a tre. UMA research chance of exceeding that goal: the park is No need to look findings are shared via the Research Rethe headquarters of far for data sults Transfer Office the Spanish smart (RRTO) located on city industry and the engineers, AI the TechPark site. ‘eCityMalaga’ project aims to make it and blockchain the first sustainable TALENT experts urban space in the POOL country by 2027. More than 20 international tech companies have so The rapidly-growing university far joined this initiative, including plays a vital role in Malaga’s ecoAccenture, DEKRA, Bettergy, and nomic development, turning out Lynka. The initiative not only en- graduates with future-facing in-deables companies to pursue their mand skills. own goals, but generates new The idea is that companies like business opportunities for innova- Vodafone (which plans to create tors working in the fields of renew- 600 R+D jobs) won’t need to look
Nomad numbers
● MalagaTech is also known and signposted as Parque Tecnologico de Andalucia (PTA) ● Location: 13km from centre, 12km from airport, 7km from the UMA university ● 624 companies with a 2021 turnover of €2.3 billion ● 62 foreign companies from 19 ● 22,238 employees from 30 coucountries ntries ● More than 150 startups are bas ● The site features 410,000m2 ed at the park of gardens, with nine restaurants,buildings in 900,000m2 of a helicopter landing pad and a sports centre ● Employee accommodation is under construction
far for data engineers, cloud developers, AI and blockchain experts. Skill transfers go both ways: Malaga’s newly-arrived top tech giants are committed to sharing their own expertise. Google will provide training and workshops in cybersecurity; Telefónica has partnered with the city hall to open ‘42 Malaga’, a non-traditional 24hr a day programming school; while Vodafone is partnering with universities, vocational schools, and local institutions to create an ses hou of n visio a have ll you’ ces are innovation hub around its new up Think of ‘smart cities’ and chan s farm cal verti cles, self-driving vehi centre. r with CO2-sucking algae walls, othe to ns ectio p for 1000km/hr conn This is multiplying its impact the side of offices, and a hyperloo and fostering ‘activity within but destinations. yet, e ther be not ht mig ter, City Clus the city and the digital ecoMalaga, capital of Spain’s Smart ‘zero with omy econ lar to create a circu system that has been develplans are underway for the city 7’. oped in recent years,’ explains ies waste and zero emissions by 202 pan com the 21 international tech Vodafone Spain CEO Colman the Malaga City council, Endesa and ced oun ann ntly rece far so ect proj Deegan. collaborating in the eCityMalaga . The pioneering National Digemy actions they ’ll be taking this year acad omy econ is to get a circular ital Content Hub, opened in ies Among the highlights, the city pan com accumulated so far on how 2017, is another centre with e dedicated to sharing knowledge reus and t men age man te was tion, and a big, transformative impact. can tackle climate change, pollu Full of the latest technologies and recycle resources. com gy ener l loca shared use: The first in 3D animation, virtual realiing There’s an emphasis on local and park in photovoltaic plants installed ty and graphic design, the aim munities will be introduced, with cles. vehi tric elec for ts poin ging areas and char of this coworking and training to is ice serv ling poo cara Meanwhile, facility is to build up Malaga’s s river EV-d non at be launched aimed media and entertainment tion. pollu to reduce congestion and sector, become the industry r Recycling and waste will be bette driver of digital content in logi ‘eco -stop one with d manage Spain. areas with multiple
Everything begins with an E
cal islands’ – containers allowing waste to be sorted at the point of disposal. Finally the city will begin monitoring the pollution emissions and energy efficiency of over 200 buildings across the municipality so that tech teams can find ways to improve them.
SUPPORT FOR START-UPS The city ranked third in Spain for emerging high-potential startups in 2021, according to a report by El Referente, backed by Deloitte and Sabadell bank.
Malaga has already produced notable successes, among them indie App Store alternatives to Google and Apple, Uptodown, image bank Freepik (acquired last year for over €250m) by EQT, and football app BeSoccer, which employs 200, and last year turned over €10m. The next wave of startups is well supported by the city’s network of 13 business incubators. To ensure local entrepreneurs think global, international expertise is provided at the Green Ray building, and the new Malaga startup ecosystem database platform powered by Dealroom, connects bright prospects with potential partners and investors around the world.
VISIBILITY A busy calendar of international conferences, forums and events showcasing success stories cements Malaga’s position as a tech hub. The Trade Fair and Congress Centre alone hosts more than 20 events a year, including Transfiere: the European Meeting on Science, Technology and Innovation and the GreenCities Forum of Urban Intelligence, and will be hosting the Digital Enterprise Show, billed as the world’s leading digital transformation event, this summer (June 14-16). “Some 30 or 40 years and millions of euros have been spent promoting Malaga as a tourism destination,” concludes Sanderson. “Promoting Malaga as a tech destination is just in the infancy stage and look at what we’ve already achieved.”
UPCOMING TECH EVENTS AT MALAGA TRADE FAIR AND CONFERENCE CENTRE (FYCMA) APRIL 27-29 J on the Beach [jonthebeach.com] (Day 1, April 27, will be held at Polo Digital Content Malaga) MAY 11-12 AOTEC, the National Association of Telecom and Internet Services Operators technology fair JUNE 14-16 Digital Enterprise Show (DES) JUNE 20-21 CM Malaga - Culture & Museums International Tech Forum JULY 22-24 Gamepolis - video game festival SEPT 10 eCongress Malaga SEPT 21-22 GreenCities - Urban Intelligence and Sustainability Forum SEPT 21-22 S-Moving - Forum of Intelligent, Autonomous and Connected Vehicles SEPT 29-30 Smart Agrifood Summit OCT 8 TEDxMalaga NOV 2-3 Talent Women NOV 29-DEC 1 Rail Live 2022 DEC 1-4 Mobile Week Malaga
LA CULTURA
Ballet good
A PRESTIGIOUS ballet company in Spain has taken in five Ukrainian dancers who had to flee Kyiv. Kateryna Chupina, Yelyzaveta Semenenko, Anastasiia Hurska, Aleksandra Berozkyna and Marina Lastovyna, were part of the Kyiv-based National Opera Ballet of Ukraine. But they found their professional careers stalled as the Russian invasion forced the closure of their company. They got in touch with The Spanish National Dance Company (CND), which decided to help. The CND provided them with clothes and ballet shoes and welcomed them into the company, with the dancers attending daily ballet classes. Three of the Ukrainian dancers will be hired for the next performances and will debut with the CND at the Royal Theatre in Madrid.
April 22nd - May 5th 2022
SUMMER OF ROCK
Big names billed for the Baleares this summer HUNDREDS of music acts are set to descend on the Baleares this summer at a series of long-overdue music festivals. Muse, Franz Ferdiannd, and Chrsitina Aguilera are all coming to Mallorca as part of the Mallorca Live Festival in Calvia on the final weekend of June. After a two year hiatus, the
By George Mathias
festival said: “Mallorca Live Festival returns in 2022 to its original format so that you can continue dancing and enjoying what we like the most: the best national and international live shows of the moment.” In Ibiza, synth-pop supremos
the senator of the left-wing Bildu party, Idurre Bideguren, had suggested a temporary exhibition. "It is more than just a great work of art: it is a symbol against fascism that represents the symbiosis between art and denunciation," Bideguren said. But the Spanish government has reiterated its stance that the piece will not leave the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, where it has been since
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While for those more classically inclined, the Bellver Castle Music Festival in July will see Bellver Castle transformed into a sprawling symphony of international artists performing the best-known classical music including the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky.
Lust for life
VETERAN rocker Iggy Pop has announced his first European tour dates in years, playing Valencia’s Diversity Festival on July 21. Christina Aguilera and the Black Eyed Peas will also perform at the festival. Announcing the news, The Stooges frontman, who celebrates his 75th birthday today, said: “I’ve waited several years, but I’m back in Europe.” It is his first gig in Valencia in over a decade and marks his first tour in six years. The Valencia gig is one of nine tour dates announced in Spain which also include appearances at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival, the Kursaal auditorium in San Sebastian, and the Royal C o l i s e u m Theatre of Carlos III. Famed for performing shirtless, The Passenger singer has cemented his place in rock history by being inducted into the hall of fame in 2010.
MISSING SOCKS AND INSURANCE
Across 1 Tag for an out-of-town railway station (7) 5 Bumpkins (5) 9 What the retina’s cones detect (6) 10 Deadeye Annie --- (6) 11 Creeps (6) 12 Oxfordshire power station town, with a railway museum (6) 13 Pivotal (3) 14 Starry-eyed (4) 15 It might be frozen in unfriendly welcomes (4) 17 Chihuahua’s bark (3) 19 Fallacious (6) 21 Cash in Kolkata (6) 23 Cheerless (6) 24 Lifers rampage on aeroplanes (6) 25 Hard as granite (5) 26 Beef (7) Down
Lead singer Simon Le Bon said: “It’s going to be an extraordinary experience. Everyone in the band has a tremendous love for the island and over the years I have personally spent many summers there with friends and family so it’s become somewhat of a home away from home for us.”
Symphony
OP QUICK CROSSWORD 2
Duran Duran are playing Sunday May 1, supported by influential British DJ Pete Tong.
STAYING PUT
A BID to put Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica on display in the Basque country has been rebuffed. The picture, depicting the 1937 bombing of the Basque town of the same name, has never been shown in the region. The Basque government proposed that the painting - which is world-reknowned as one of the most moving and powerful anti-war paintings in history - be put on display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. In her disbelief that Picasso's piece has never set foot in the Basque Country,
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2 Future oak (5) 3 Practical skill (4-3) 4 Threatened (2,4) 6 Netanyahu’s party (5) 7 Became extinct (4,3) 8 Far from chic (5) 14 He looks down in the mouth (7) 16 Publishing brand (7) 17 Loud cries (5) 18 Like better (6) 20 Toga sporter (5) 22 Sandwich and Derby, for example (5)
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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
No room at the inn
FIT FOR A KING!
The Easter period saw a welcome boost for the tourism sector with 85% of hotels booked. The booking rate was slightly below the pre-pandemic level in 2019. President of the Association of Hoteliers in Mallorca Maria Frontera welcomed the news. She said bookings for the next few weeks will be lower, but a big increase is expected from June to October.
Challenges
Despite this, industry experts have warned there are still big challenges ahead, not least the impact on costs from the war in Ukraine which is driving up fuel costs. Outlining a pledge to protect seasonal workers until summer Frontera said: “There is a commitment to protect the security of the workers in these uncertain times.”
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BARGAIN: Castle for €11 million
April 22nd - May 5th 2022
The Brits are back
A SPECTACULAR Medieval castle boasting crenellations, turrets and its very own chapel is up for sale for a mere €11 million. Parts of Foixa Castle date from the 13th Century but the entire complex has been fully renovated to ensure all modern-day comforts including a swimming pool and jacuzzi. Located in El Bajo de Ampurdan in Girona province of Catalunya northeastern Spain, the property has been given Bien de interes cultural (BIC) or ‘heritage interest asset’ status which guarantees its conservation. The complex includes a six-bedroom family home, with access to the tower direct from the living room as well as private access to the chapel. Another six bedrooms are located in what were once servants quarters.
FOREIGNERS bought 111,743 homes in Spain last year according to latest figures – a 44% increase over 2020. This accounted for 17% of all purchases in 2021, according to the General Council of Notaries and was double the number a decade ago (50,314,) and triple the numbers sold when the property bubble crashed in 2008. Between July and December last year, almost 64,000 purchases by foreign buyers were recorded, making it the best six-month period ever for the sale and purchase of freehold properties. And it has been – as ever – the Brits who have been leading the way. After a brief hiatus in the early stages of Brexit, the British confirmed their historic position as the biggest property buyers – after the Spanish.
HARD TO FIND
Shortage of homes on the market as prices rise 6.4%
THE Spanish property market is seeing a lack of options to buy, with house hunters outnumbering the number of properties for sale. Figures published in El Mundo show the number of properties for sale in Spain since March 2020 has reduced by 13.89%. Sales picked up for an interlude between 2020 and
By Kimberley Mannion
2021, but this spell of increased buying along with a lack of new homes being built, has left a shortage of properties which is now hindering the market. These trends are also causing inflation, with prices having increased 6.4% in the last trimester of 2021. With a higher number of buyers than sellers, properties stay on the market for much less time than previously and the final price is brought down by buyers much less - between just 5-8% compared to 10-15% previously. Locations along the Costa del Sol are amongst some of the worst hit for property short-
ages. Benalmadena features in the top 10 municipalities worst affected, with available properties up for sale dropping by 39.9% between 2021 and 2022, whilst neighbouring towns Fuengirola and Estepona have experienced a 30.3% and 29.9% drop respectively.
Ahead
They accounted for 11% of all purchases, with a total of 12,186 in 2021, ahead of Germans, with 10,868 property purchases. They are followed by two of the largest immigration groups in Spain, Moroccans (10,330) and Romanians (7,918). By region, the Valencian Community is in the lead with 29,019 homes purchased by foreign nationals, a quarter of the total number of transactions in Spain in 2021. It is followed by Andalucia, with 22,625 property transactions; Catalonia, with 17,493 homes purchased; the Community of Madrid, with 8,973; the Canary Islands, with 7,845; and the Balearic Islands, with 7,263.
Shrink
Valencia follows closely behind Benalmadena, with a 39.8% decrease. Two other municipalities within Valencia’s autonomous community, Vinaroz and Manises, both land in the top five worst hit areas in the country after seeing their property markets shrink by 54.4% and 48.5% over the last year.
WHOPPING PRICE TAG THE Islazul shopping centre located in Madrid’s Carabanchel district and one of the largest in Spain is up for sale with a €320 million price tag. Its current owner, the US management company Nuveen, is 250,000 square metre com-
plex, with 90,700 square metre of gross leasable area. Its sale price is €60 million more than the construction cost of the shopping centre (around €260 million), and almost €88 million higher than the purchase price. Located in Ma-
drid’s Carabanchel district, Islazul - which advertises itself on its website as the largest shopping centre in Madrid - has 180 shops and almost 50 restaurants. Its current owner bought it in 2014 from Ivanhoe Cambridge and Grupo Lar for €232 million.
OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 1 Parkway, 5 Clods, 9 Colour, 10 Oakley, 11 Inches, 12 Didcot, 13 Key, 14 Dewy, 15 Mitt, 17 Yip, 19 Untrue, 21 Rupees, 23 Dismal, 24 Fliers, 25 Stony, 26 Protest Down: 2 Acorn, 3 Know-how, 4 At risk, 6 Likud, 7 Died out, 8 Dowdy, 14 Dentist, 16 Imprint, 17 Yells, 18 Prefer, 20 Roman, 22 Earls
SUDOKU
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BUSINESS No cash Zara April 22nd May 5th 2022
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Pity the poor workers
WORKERS in the Baleares have seen their average salary plunge by 3.6%, making it one of the worst regions in Spain for wage drops. The worst hit region in Spain was Melilla which experienced a 9.6% fall in wages between 2020 and 2021. The Canary Islands saw hardpressed wage earners endure a 6.3% drop, followed by Murcia (4.6%), according to figures from InfoJob website. The region with the highest average salary is the capital, with the average person in Madrid earning €26,525 per year.
Bottom
The highest earning regions after Madrid were the Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarra. At the bottom of the scale came Galicia, Murcia and Castille and Leon. In the Baleares the average is €23,577. The lowest average earning in the country was Cantabria with €21,967. The large falls being felt in the islands and Murcia are being blamed on the impact of the shutdown of tourism due to the pandemic on these economies, which rely heavily on the industry. This may look on the up in next year’s report, with promising numbers of tourists flocking to southern and coastal hotspots over Easter Week.
Fashion chain’s brand new flagship store will mean no more queuing at the till
SPANISH fashion brand Zara has opened its biggest store in the world and it’s like stepping into the future. The textile giant’s flagship store opened its doors in Madrid’s Plaza de España this month to much anticipation and huge fanfare. Offering 7,700 square metres of retail space spread over four floors floodlit with natural light and gleaming white floors, it has the look of a modernist gallery but the innovation goes further than mere appearance. Shoppers can avoid long queues for the changing rooms by reserving a slot online, clothes
FLAGSHIP: Step into the future can be tried on virtually using the latest technology and forget those lengthy lines at the till. A new system allows customers to scan clothes as they go, to pay online and exit through an alarmed self-check out point that smooths out the entire shopping process. Those sticklers for tradition
Counting the cost SPAIN lost €155 billion in tourist revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the National Statistics Institute(INE). In 2020 and 2021, just under 120 million foreign travellers did not go to Spanish tourist areas according to the INE. That accounted for a €130 billion drop in foreign spending. The biggest fall in overseas arrivals were among UK visitors over two years of the pandemic, with a drop of 28.6 million followed by Germans (14.7 million fewer) and France (12.6 million less).
can still shop in the usual way, by perusing items on the rail, trying them on physically and paying at a till staffed by a human. The store, which is the first grand opening since Marta Ortega took over as CEO of Intedex, also showcases new product lines including a lingerie section, cosmetics department and sporting line. It is part of a wider commercial strategy that will see many of the high street shops closed across Spain and more emphasis placed on online sales. Moreover, Inditex boasts that their flagship Zara store sets a new standard in sustainability using ‘some of the most advanced environmental eco-efficient systems and qualifies for the BREEAM seal, a European certificate for sustainable construction’.
CASTING DOUBT T
War in Ukraine continues to infuse volatility in GBP/EUR, writes FX specialist Peter Loveday
POLLENSA Juan XXIII, Nº69, Bajo, Puerto de Pollença, Pollença, Mallorca, 07470
HE Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate has traded erratically over the past couple of weeks as events in Ukraine infused the pairing with considerable volatility. This has seen the pairing trade in a range of between €1.17 and €1.20.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?
Events in Ukraine have largely driven movement in the GBP/EUR exchange rate in the past couple of weeks, resulting in some dramatic swings in the pairing. This has been particularly notable in the euro, due to the Eurozone’s sensitivity to any economic fallout from the war. EUR exchange rates rocketed higher at the end of March amidst reports of ‘constructive’ progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks. However, the euro also immediately relinquished these gains after evidence emerged of alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and other areas in the North of the country. This cast doubts over the peace process and prompted the West to impose new sanctions on Russia. Also undermining the euro was the European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest interest rate decision, with EUR investors disappointed by ECB President Christine Lagarde’s insistence that the bank’s asset purchase programme will not conclude before the third quarter. Fears of a prolonged war have also taken their toll on the pound in recent weeks as GBP investors fear this could exacerbate the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The squeeze in household incomes has also been highlighted by the latest UK economic releases as inflation soared to a new 30-year high while wage growth continued to lag.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?
It seems safe to assume the GBP/EUR exchange rate will continue to trade with a high degree of volatility as the war in Ukraine continues. Fears of a massive new Russian offensive in the east of Ukraine could subdue the euro in
WANT TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY ON YOUR CURRENCY TRANSFERS? CALL, EMAIL OR VISIT US IN BRANCH!
mallorca@currenciesdirect.com +34 871 510 277 the near-term. Elsewhere we will see the focus on the Bank of England (BoE). The bank is expected to deliver another rate hike in May as domestic inflation continues to surge. However, the focus is likely to be on the BoE’s forward guidance as GBP investors seek to gauge policymakers’ appetite for further rate hikes. Could a more dovish outlook from the BoE pile pressure on the pound?
PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY
This kind of volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that two-cent gap between €1.18 and €1.20 translates to a €4000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy. Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against volatility. Specialist currency brokers, such as Currencies Direct, offer different tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the currency market. For instance, you can use a forward contract to secure an exchange rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against you. Services like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need them. At Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers. Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 325,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.
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Underwater cops
FINAL WORDS
POLICE in Sanlucar de Barrameda in Cadiz were left embarrassed after they drove onto a beach and got stuck fast in mud before the tide came in leaving the vehicle submerged.
Niche crime A THIEF aged 35 who stole €20,000 worth of brass ornaments from cemeteries in Elda and Petrer only netted €200 from scrapyards before he was nicked. All the stolen goods have been returned.
Big spenders ACCORDING to official stats tourists from the UAE, Philippines and China are the biggest spenders in Spain, while Italians, Poles and Argentinians are the most stingy.
OLIVE PRESS
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www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2022
SPLIFFER DOGS
Spanish dogs dabbling in recreational drugs after storm DOGS on the Costa del Sol have been scoffing hash and getting high thanks to fallout from storm Ciril. According to Borja Hoz, a vet in Marbella, dogs have been inadvertently consuming hashish that has been washed up on the beach. The storm destroyed beaches, businesses, and promenades but now it seems not
By Cristina Hodgson
even canines are safe as the remains of bales of hash that traffickers throw overboard when caught by police have been swept onto the shore. According to Hoz, the drug’s strong smell attracts the hounds, leading to serious symptoms and even death if
ARE the old ways the best? Barcelona’s city council is hoping to find out by bringing in a flock of sheep and goats to keep undergrowth down in a bid to prevent forest fires in a natural park. A total of 290 of the animals have been introuced – along with two shepherds and four dogs – in a pilot scheme in the Barcelona section of the Collserola
eaten. It was Hoz himself who alerted the police about the
CHEW ON THIS Natural Park. It has an area of 84.65 square kilometres and is on the outskirts of Bthe city. City bosses hope that the ruminants will do what they do best and munch their way through overgrown grass and herbs to keep fire breaks in the massive park clear and effective. The flock will be active in the mountainous part of the district of Horta-Guinardo, above the neighbourhoods of Font del Gos and Montbau.
beached dope after going for a walk with his pooch along the popular shore of Dunas de Artola. Since then, several dogs, including an eight-monthold border collie, have been admitted to veterinary care after consuming the drug.
Extreme
Hoz says symptoms usually start one or two hours after consumption which include vomiting, shivering and disorientation. In extreme cases of poisoning dogs may even convulse.
PACKING for a holiday on the sunshine isle of Mallorca is pretty straightforward. Swimsuit? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Gigantic blow-up pink penis? Check. A pair of tourists arriving at Palma airport for an Easter break provoked much merriment when they inadvertently walked into the background of a live news bulletin carrying the unusual piece of luggage.
Huge
While the journalist, Lluis Mestres, reported on the huge numbers of tourists expected to fly into Palma at the start of Semana Santa, the two women could be seen emerging through the arrivals gate with one casually carrying the pink plastic phallus under her arm. The image was broadcast on the busy lunchtime slot of the Telediario news programme on Spain’s state broadcaster TVE.