Olive Press Mallorca - Issue 149

PROPERTIES in Palma have been linked to money laundering allegations that have dragged in the husband and stepson of Marbella Mayor Angeles Muñoz.

Joakim Peter Broberg, 41, faces accusations of drug trafficking, money laundering and being involved in organised crime.

The scandal has rocked Spain as a plot was exposed whereby Lars Gunnar Sune Broberg, husband of Muñoz, and his son Joakim were both allegedly part of a network dedicated to smuggling drugs from Spain to Sweden.

Narcotics were supposedly sent

Tax plot

THE super rich trying to hide luxury assets such as superyachts and mansions in company shells could soon have a bumper tax bill in the Balearics.

The regional government has passed a proposal to ask the Spanish government to create a specific ‘luxury asset’ tax for the islands.

Joana Aina Campomar of the Mes political party argued that wealthy individuals ‘hide’ assets such as superyachts, mansions, sports cars and pieces of art in the name of companies so they do not have to pay taxes on them.

“These are assets that are not necessary for business production purposes,” she said.

Hidden

It was acknowledged at the meeting that there is no detailed list of how many hidden assets exist in the Balearics.

But Campomar said the figures could be compiled by cross-checking tax data.

In her view, the Balearic islands are ‘most likely’ to have the most amount of hidden assets in Spain and the Mediterranean.

“Individuals devise formulas to camouflage assets and not pay taxes,” she said.

“These are tax avoidance practices.”

The opposition’s Partido Popular spokesperson attacked the left’s ‘tax maelstrom’, while Ciudadanos suggested it was an initiative that would ‘criminalise businesspeople’.

CLEANING UP

through parcels, some camouflaged as vacuum cleaners, and in each package would be 15kg of drugs.

According to a National Court of Spain indictment, Joakim Broberg was also linked to six money laundering rings - three of which were run together with his father.

The court records also specified a series of real estate operations in Palma supposedly linked to a money laundering scheme from the money they obtained from the sales of the narcotics in Sweden.

There were six affected properties, purchased through a company, Cicak Invest SL in 2015.

The court estimates the amount laundered was more than €47 million.

Broberg, 41, had been behind bars in Brazil since April waiting for a court decision on extradition.

Just before Christmas he was flown back to Spain, accompanied by Spanish police.

Joakim and Lars are among 71 people so far arrested in a police operation spanning both Spain and Sweden.

Swedish police claim that up to 50 deaths a year could be linked to a settling of scores between the gang and other Scandinavian rivals.

During an initial raid, in 2018, they found an alarming array

Continues on page 2

QUAKE RELIEF

A FIREFIGHTER from Mallorca has joined a specialist response team and is digging through the rubble to help rescue victims of the Turkish earthquake disaster.

Palma-based Toni Jaume, 42, hooked with the International Natural Disaster Rescue Group (GIREcan) and flew to Turkey within three days of the disaster striking.

The 17-year veteran of the service

takes part every year in special practice drills with GIREcan members.

Toni said: “My love for this work led me to make this decision to go over to Turkey”.

“We are

Mallorcan firefighter on ground in Turkey in search for survivors

By Alex Trelinski

a multidisciplinary team of 15 people made up of firefighters, doctors, nurses, architects and a communications officer,” he added.

It’s not Toni’s first humanitarian mission, as back in 2007 he went to Pisco in Peru to deal with the aftermath of an earthquake.

Epicentre

The GIREcan team flew into Adana airport via Istanbul on Wednesday and reported to a United Nations office there.

“After several hours of waiting we chartered a coach to go on a six hour journey close to the epicentre of the earthquake in Gaziantep province,” explained Toni.

On arriving and witnessing the dev-

astation, Toni commented: “There is no hotel, there is no wi-fi, almost everything is collapsed and communications are going to be difficult.”

“The chances of people being alive since the earthquake is decreasing,” he observed.

His is not the only Spanish team desperately searching for survivors.

A specialist response team from Valencia is also digging through the rubble. The firefighting unit flew to Istanbul within hours of the devastating quake and were joined on the same flight by celebrity chef Jose Andres.

The founder of World Central Kitchen - who is setting up a kitchen in the affected area - stated he was ‘proud' to see so much help from Spain.

The 15 members of Valencia’s Emergencies and Catastrophes Rescue Unit are working with sniffer dogs in Adana, near the epicenter of the quake. The team has experience of working in areas with collapsed buildings and will aid in finding victims. They have linked up with volunteers from the Valencian IAE charity.

By yesterday the death toll from the disaster had surpassed 16,000.

Search dogs from both Spanish teams are being deployed along with specialist equipment including cameras to detect people who are under the rubble.

Firefighters have also brought vital health and medical supplies with them.

Spain is also sending amphibious assault ship Juan Carlos and a landing platform dock laden with emergency supplies.

DEVASTATED: Swathes of Turkish cities have been reduced to rubble, with Spanish rescue workers (left) flying in to help

HERO: Toni Jaume set off for Turkey

From front page

Arson arrest

POLICE have arrested a man, 30, who allegedly lit two garages on fire in Palma. Several vehicles were burned as a result, and prompted affected residents to evacuate.

Tongue twist

FOREIGN residents in the Balearic islands may be required to learn Catalan under a new government proposal. Political party El Pi put forward the idea to act as a language exchange program.

New rules

NETFLIX has launched new restrictions that will prevent members from sharing their accounts.

Works start

THE new Plaza de España in Palma is officially under construction after the first trenches were dug this week. The renovation will cost €2.5 million and the works will last one year.

STREET gang violence flared up this week as hordes of youths armed with machetes and baseball bats clashed in the alleyways of Palma.

The city's police force has been on high alert since Tuesday night after violence between two gangs broke out. Over 20 local police officers were deployed in Plaza Fleming, Jacint Ver-

GANGS OF PALMA

deguer, and Parc de Ses Estacions to try and head off the confrontations. The first police units on the scene were surrounded by gang members and had to call for backup.

Officers wielding batons detained the warring individuals. The two gangs are said to be competing for control over several areas of the city.

Some front

Cheeky thief asks Amazon for a job to close security loopholes after swindling €350,000

THREE 22-year-olds from Mallorca have been convicted for what has been described as the biggest fraud against online retailer Amazon ever seen in Europe.

The youngsters were found guilty of swindling as much as €350,000 from the company by taking advantage of its returns policy.

By Simon Hunter

And now one of them has asked Amazon for a job to help it to close the loopholes in its security systems. Instead he has been handed a prison sentence. Palma’s criminal court heard that they would offer products

A GANG in Palma has been sentenced to a combined seven years and 10 months in prison for falsifying vital medical documents used to prescribe anti-anxiety pills.

The four men were accused of obtaining clonazepam, a depressant drug only available on prescription, by creating fraudulent medical prescriptions. They used their own de-

for sale on second-hand websites at a low cost.

When someone purchased one, the trio would order it from Amazon and send it directly to the buyer’s address. Then they would request a refund by claiming that the product was defective or damaged, sending back a box along with the barcode supplied by

Anxious now

tails on private health care prescriptions, which they then signed with a forged doctor’s signature. Two of the defendants are already serving prison sentences and will remain in custody. The defence and the Prosecution’s office reached an agreement on suspending the sentences for the other two defendants for five years.

Amazon in order to manage the return.

The box, however, would contain anything from pens to marbles, or would be completely empty. They repeated the scam hundreds of times between 2017 and 2019, earning themselves hundreds of thousands of euros in the process.

All three pleaded guilty at a Palma court and were sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay a fine of €1,080. The court took into account the fact that they returned the full total of the money defrauded.

The three are unlikely to see the inside of a prison cell for their crimes, however, given that sentences of two years and under for a first offence are usually suspended in Spain.

of guns, including two submachine guns, eight handguns, a rifle and a hand grenade.

A later raid of the Broberg’s Wasa Consulting company led to the arrests of six people and the seizure of documents, which police are still investigating. The same Marbella office, in Nueva Andalucia, also held a series of documents for a string of companies - believed to be 17 in totalowned by Joakim.

Lars and Joakim have denied any criminal activity.

Weapons seized Fueling up

A MALLORCA man accused of stealing 2000 litres of petrol on 13 separate occasions has been arrested. The 35-year-old allegedly targeted trucks and transport vans parked at warehouses in the Marratxi and Santa María industrial estates in Palma. Truck drivers would refuel, park overnight and return in the morning to empty tanks.

At the time of the man’s capture police found 20 drums of diesel in his vehicle, as well as tools and hoses to suck fuel from vehicles.

FAITH IN PALOMA... TO AVOID ‘NUL’ POINTS

SINGER Blanca Paloma will represent Spain at the next Eurovision contest in Liverpool after triumphing at the week-long Benidorm Fest.

The 34-year-old from Elche won the final with her song Eaea - a special take on flamenco composed in tribute to her grand-

mother, Carmen.

Paloma said: “Folklore is universal and there is something in the essence of it that is understandable to everyone.”

It’s a leap of faith for Spain, as the last time it picked a flamenco-based song back in 1984, it got zero points.

LAST LAUGH

An expat comedy club that hosted the like of Eddie Izzard and Michael McIntyre closes after 18 years

BACK in 2005, a new comedy club arrived in Madrid and Barcelona. The brainchild of Irish promoter Stephen Garland, the idea was to bring top-flight comedians from the Edinburgh Fringe to Spain for the first time.

Legendary Irish comedian Jason Byrne was the first to appear. His outstanding show, performed at the Giggling Guiri in both cities, was a taste of things to come.

Nearly two decades on, another top stand-up comedian, England’s Seann Walsh, became the final act at the club.

“I’ve got the jackpot of multiple sclerosis,” Garland tells the Olive Press, explaining his main reason for throwing in the towel. “It’s ‘primary progressive’, and generally that’s a fast-track to the end.”

Having studied music and media management, Garland arrived in Barcelona in 2002

EXCLUSIVE By

Simon Hunter

and soon ‘had the bright idea of making an Irish festival’.

The multidisciplinary event was planned around Saint Patrick’s Day, 2004 but, unfortunately for him, the date coincided with the 11-M terrorist attacks in Madrid. As Spaniards came out onto the street to protest in response to the atrocity, the crowds stayed away from the shows.

Wounds

“So I went back to the drawing board, to lick my wounds, and the following year I decided to make a comedy club in Barcelona and Madrid,” he says. The result was a consistent run of award-winning shows. Among the major names that were tempted over were Eddie Izzard, Michael McIntyre,

Star visit

Stephen K. Amos, Reginald D. Hunter, Arj Barker and even Howard Marks, the notorious Welsh drug smuggler-turned raconteur.

As well as health issues, the pandemic has also played a part in the decision to call it a day. The shows that were the stock in trade of the Giggling Guiri were no longer pulling in the punters. “The world has moved on, and now the pandemic has pushed everyone to watch their

HOLLYWOOD star Nicole Kidman has been posting photos of herself on Mallorca. She is among other stars, including Morgan Freeman, who are filming a series called Lioness for Paramount+. Filming is set to continue until the start of March.

Lioness is based on true events and tells the story of a young marine recruited by the CIA to befriend the daughter of a terrorist group in order to bring down the organisation from within. Paramount+ is working in collaboration with Balearic studio Palma Pictures, as well as SurFilms.

Winning smile

STAR of Chocolat and The English Patient, amongst many other films, Juliette Binoche is to be honoured at the Goyas. The French actor and twice Oscar winner, 58, will be presented with an International Goya at the prestigious ceremony, being held in Sevilla on Saturday.

The academy described the Parisienne as ‘one of the most admired and recognised names in European cinema’.

Last year Cate Blanchett received the first-ever International Goya Award.

comedy on streaming.”

Another major issue for Garland is the need to pro mote gigs via social media channels: “I no longer have the patience for them!” he complains. “They’re so time consuming.”

Seann Walsh blew the crowd away in Barcelona and then proceeded to do the same in Madrid on the following night for the very last show.

Emotional

Garland took to the stage before the main act and gave an emotional speech, clearly somewhat unsteady on his feet due to the MS.

After Walsh’s show was over, the promoter got back up and said more words. This time he was very unsteady on his feet given he was, as he puts it, ‘hammered!’ But no one in the crowd –some of whom were at that very first gig back in 2005 –could blame him. They were just very grateful for all the laughs he’d brought them.

IN COMMON: Binoche and Blanchett - both Goya winners

Date with Beyonce

SINGING superstar Beyonce will be hitting the stage in Barcelona.

The American’s Renaissance World Tour will make a stop off at the city’s Olympic Stadium on June 8.

The Barcelona date is her only stop in Spain and will mainly showcase songs from her al bum Renaissance, including hits like Cuff it and Break my soul

Beyonce has previously performed at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona in August 2016 to present her album Lemonade, and in July 2018, on that occasion with her husband, Jay-Z, as part of the On The Run II tour.

SPECIAL GUEST: Garland (left) with Eddie Izzard

Off track RACIST FORM

ONE of the most famous routes for cyclists and tourists in Mallorca has been closed after a landslide.

A section of the Sa Calobra road gave way on Wednesday, forcing the authorities to immediately close off access to the area.

A large dry stone wall collapsed, most likely due to heavy rains as winter storms lash the Balearic island.

The landslide occurred about 12.50pm, according to emergency services. No one was injured.

Police rushed to the area and cordoned off the point known as Volta Llarga, in the direction of the port of Sa Calobra.

Apart from cyclists, F1 legend Lewis Hamilton filmed part of a Mercedes advert on the stretch of road. The road remained closed at the time of going to press.

Corruption blow

SPAIN has dropped down the international corruption rankings.

The country is now below Portugal and Lithuania, while level with Botswana. According to Transparency International, Spain scores only 60 out of 100 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This puts Spain 35th out of 180 countries.

Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world.

ANGRY ACTIVISTS

MORE than 100 protestors gathered in Palma to slam a new law excluding hunting dogs from animal welfare legislation. They were joining protests held in 43 other Spanish cities as politicians prepared to vote on the law.

Animal rights group PACMA is furious welfare measures have been watered down to exclude animals involved in traditional hunting activities.

The PSOE-led government made changes to the bill amid fears it could cost it vital rural backing in this year’s local and national elections. Dogs are used to track or catch animals such as deer, wild boar and rabbits, with the hunting industry generating an estimated €5 billion each year. They are often mistreated and dumped or killed at the end of each hunting seasons.

FURY: Animal rights activists take to the streets

Left in Limbo

‘Sharp’ and ‘shoddy’ practices land dozens of foreign villa buyers millions out of pocket

LAWYERS have been joined by mortgage brokers and agents to slam a giant construction firm that has left up to 100 foreign buyers ‘likely tens of millions’ of euros out of pocket. So far countless contractors and hundreds of workers have pulled off building sites after Otero stopped fulfilling its payments on January 25. The company, which started in Malaga in 2017, claims to have developments all around Spain, including Malaga, Valencia and the Balearics.

The Olive Press knows of dozens of victims who have called in lawyers demanding to know what has happened to their luxury villa investments.

One law firm, Martinez-Echevarria, confirmed it was representing ‘around 20 clients’ who had bought properties costing

EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

between €500,000 and €2 million on the Costa del Sol.

“The majority are foreign, English, Dutch and Belgians, etc, but what links them is they have all paid a lot of money,” lawyer Fermin Siguenza told the Olive Press.

“We don’t know how much we will be able to recover or even if the clients are protected.”

Mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola revealed he was currently helping four clients, who have lost out.

“They are royally screwed, especially as the unpaid contractors are taking everything moveable, including windows, and even kitchens.”

He continued: “I didn’t like

JUST PATHAAN-TASTIC!

A BOLLYWOOD blockbuster that was filmed largely in Mallorca is now out in Spanish cinemas. Pathaan, which stars two icons of Indian cinema - Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone - was di rected by Siddharth Anand. Filming began in 2020, but was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be the return to the big screen of Bollywood’s highest paid actor after more than three years of absence, as a result.

The first major Hindi film production in Mallorca recorded scenes at the Beach Club Gran Folies, located in Cala Llamp, Sa Calobra, Canyamel and on Passeig d’es Born in Palma. Months after filming Pathaan on the island, Bollywood returned to record a film directed by Luv Ranjan and starring one of Hindi celluloid’s fashionable couples - Ranbir and Shraddha Kapoor.

Palma Pictures also participated in the filming.

the way Otero operated and I tried to tell agents not to work with them due to their sharp practices.”

The Olive Press has spoken to workers from at least three companies removing their materials from one site (above), called Oceanic, in Malaga. One employee claimed that ‘well over a million euros’ is owed to firms at this site alone. His firm Fartech is owed ‘at least’ €150,000 for security equipment for the 24 homes, 20 of which have already been sold at up to €1.8 million each. “But there are loads more suppliers who have lost more,” said the Argentinian builder. “Some are owed €500,000, others up to a million.”

The Olive Press has learnt Otero first failed to pay its suppliers the previous month in December, just a month after boasting how it had won no less than eight awards at the Newbuild Awards Costa del Sol. “We rocked,” a press release screamed above a picture of boss Ruben Otero (above right) holding a gong for ‘Best Property Developer’. This week, however, an em-

REAL Mallorca fans shamefully subjected Real Madrid football player Vinicius Jr to racist abuse for the second time in a year during their 1-0 victory on Sunday.

TV cameras captured a fan racially abusing the Brazilian, prompting La Liga officials to file a formal complaint with a court in Mallorca.

Footage from the stands has been handed to the court and Real Mallorca, and the league is pressing the court to investigate and hand out the harshest sentences possible for those convicted.

The Mallorcan club has con demned what it called ‘an isolated case’ - although the young attacker received the exact same abuse in the corresponding fixture last season in Feb ruary.

Cops face prison

ployee at Otero’s head office in Marbella confirmed ‘all projects were stopped around 10 days ago’. “We are trying hard to solve the problems, which are tough,” she admitted.

Sales agent Mario Ballesteros, was more forthcoming. “I’m also in limbo and while I’m not directly responsible I feel sad for all the buyers, but I may be out of a job too.”

He continued: “I don’t know exactly what happened but I have not seen the owner Ruben for months.”

Contact

Opinion Page 6

A TOTAL of 45 police officers are facing trial for excessive use of force during the illegal Catalan referendum in 2017. A judge has ruled ‘unnecessary’ and ‘gratuitous’ force was used against people who participated in the ballot.

The group of National Police could now face assault charges, with many of their actions either authorised or, at least, tolerated by bosses. Meanwhile, accusations have been withdrawn against a further 20 officers, during the region’s attempt to justify breaking away from Spain. Images of police violence during the voting were seen across the world, and drew widespread international condemnation.

The public prosecutor now has a month to decide whether to call for the case to be shelved, or to formally accuse the officers.

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.

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Always ask experts

WHEN the property bubble finally burst in Spain in 2008, the fallout had far reaching effects on the economy.

Tens of thousands of people were left in negative equity as home values plunged.

Developer after developer went under, with billions of euros disappearing into a financial blackhole.

Thousands of people who had paid substantial deposits for off-plan property not yet built were left in financial limbo for years. They were out of pocket with no house to show for it.

Many of them still are.

So big was the scandal that new regulations were brought in to prevent prospective home-owners from suffering the same fate again.

These included the requirement for bank guarantees to protect the deposits of purchasers, so at least they would get their money back if their property dreams were shattered. Thankfully, most developers appear to abide by this and the industry is in a far healthier state and on a far firmer foundation than it was back then.

But this is not to say that every firm is untouchable. Some clearly still go bust leaving clients, suppliers and employees in the lurch.

The full reasons why construction company Otero has seemingly shut up shop are not yet known. Nor is it known if the five-year-old company abided fully by the rules.

What we do know however is that dozens of contractors, agents and builders are owed millions of euros over unpaid bills, while an unknown number of purchasers - thought to be in the hundreds - have been left wondering if and when they will get their home completed or if they will get their cash back.

Unfortunately, among the more unscrupulous developers old habits die hard - and there are certainly still some shady firms who try to get round the rules to maximise their profit. Another recent example is Bynok, an Estepona developer, which folded last year, with the case still going through the courts.

This is why it is important to always seek competent, qualified advice from real estate professionals.

The best have been on the coast for years and know the market inside out - and more importantly know which developers to trust.

Since we broke the Otero story online, last week, several of these property professionals have told the Olive Press they refused to touch the company and would not recommend Otero to anyone.

As they told us there was clearly something ‘not quite right’. They were spot on.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Anthony Piovesan anthony@theolivepress.es

Jo Chipchase jo@theolivepress.es

John Culatto

ADMIN Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es

CHILLING OUT

Simon Hunter simon@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Cristina Hodgson cristina@theolivepress.es

Walter Finch walter@theolivepress.es

OFFICE MANAGER Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es

DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 distribution@ theolivepress.es

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HEAD OFFICE

Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva

DESPITE the start of 2023 being unseasonably warm, the mercury plummeted in mid-January and it has stayed there with more snow forecast in the hills this week.

After a string of cold weather warnings, locals and expats alike have been deploying thick blankets, padded coats and fighting an urge to hibernate. Those of you with wood burning stoves or open fireplaces have been racing through the

logs.

Mountainous areas, such as La Calderona, the Sierra Nevada and the Maestrazgo, frequently experience minus zero temperatures and with many expats choosing to live in the campo and frequently at altitude, there are plenty of daily challenges.

I’ll always remember a visit to Granada in the winter in 2003 when I found the pervading cold creeping right into my bones.

So why on earth did I end up living on an isolated farm at 1,700m in the Sierra Nevada?

Charming as it is in Spring and Summer, in winter the property is above the snowline and the nighttime temperature regularly plummets to MINUS 8 degrees!

That’s fine with the wood burning stove in the lounge, but as soon as you venture into the bedrooms or bathroom you’re hit by an icy blast of cold, with the thin walls providing poor insulation.

Living this high can really affect your daily routine. Any water lying static overnight will freeze – including, on one re-

ICY: The pool freezes each winter

HOME: Jo lives above Cañar, while (top) her garden view

cent occasion, water in the kitchen sink. Forget your morning shower or using the washing machine when it’s minus zero. The water supply is frozen until the midday sun defrosts the outdoor pipes. It’s detrimental to personal hygiene, although some mountain dwellers will happily remain unwashed, even for a fortnight particularly as laundry ends up frozen on the washing line. And remember, if you buy butane gas, be aware that it freezes at 0C, while propane freezes at -44C. Buy the wrong type and your gas appliances simply won’t work. I’ve been there.

Motoring is also a challenge above the snowline. To drive safely, you need a 4×4 with tyres made for tarmac and off-road. In the morning, you’ll sometimes find your car doors are frozen shut and thick frost always needs removing from the windscreen. The starter motor also might be reluctant, and batteries can suddenly die.

Other dangers include black ice – this is far from fun when going downhill. There is also frequent fog.

The high life - the easy way!

To get a flavour of the High Life - head up to Trevelez, the second highest village in Spain at 1,476m. It’s famed for its cured ham, as well as its ascents to Mulhacen, the Iberian peninsula’s highest peak. Trevelez residents live on the snowline and they are used to the white stuff in winter. In fact, they love it.

As mayor Adrian Gallegos told the Olive Press: “Being on the snowline is wonderful. It’s very cold but it offers a wonderful landscape and we really enjoy snowy days – especially the village children.”

When there are serious white outs, the snow ploughs arrive quickly to restore access.

Years ago, I got stuck in the Hotel Alcazaba de Buquístar, because our van couldn’t drive up the steep exit slope, which was covered in 10 cm of snow.

Eventually a snowplough arrived to liberate the trapped cars.

Yes, it’s suddenly chilly outside, but spare a thought for Olive Press journalist Jo Chipchase who lives at 1,700m, above the snow line

By Walter Finch

IT was marketed to high-earners from Northern Europe as the opportunity to come and live the Spanish dream.

To escape the dreary weather and own a luxury villa on a coastline that gets over 300 days of sunshine a year.

Buyers who dreamt of packing their lives up and moving to the Costa del Sol were lured in with glossy promotions and slick computer-generated images of ultra-modern glass homes perched on hillsides above the sea.

Founded in 2017 with just a dozen employees, the rapid expansion of Otero Group, the company responsible for making these dreams a reality, understandably raised eyebrows.

Starting on the Costa del Sol, by 2022, they claimed to be opening developments all around Spain, including the Balearics, Madrid and Alicante, with half a billion euros under management and more than 130 employees - plus a whole constellation of suppliers and contractors.

Its owner Ruben Otero coined the slogan ‘Focus on Excellence’ and described this breakneck growth as ‘meaningful’ and ‘sustainable’. He also listed his company values as ‘transparent, agile and results-oriented.’

The problem is the recent results can only be described as poor, at best, as the company suspended all developments and looked to be heading towards bankruptcy.

An employee in its head office in Marbella told the Olive Press this week that ‘all projects had been suspended 10 days ago’.

Neither she, nor the main sales agent in the Manilva area, could explain what had happened or indeed when construction would begin again. In the words of agent Mario, is also ‘in limbo’.

Taking Manilva as a snapshot of the developments that Otero has been working on over the last few years, things are not looking rosy.

Dozens of units were planned overlooking Duquesa Port in a giant valley scheme dubbed by a marketing wizard as ‘the Duquesa Valley’ in 2021. Next door, came La Paloma, then Don Amaro and finally the Oceanic scheme, with its 24 stunning individual homes, each costing between €1.3 and €1.8million.

Come early 2022, Otero announced that some of the homes were finished and ready to be lived in.

But when the excited Brits, Belgians and Scandina-

‘LIKE LIVING IN THE WILD WEST’

vian buyers began to move in, the first inklings that all might not be well with Otero and its business model started to sink in.

“I don’t think there is one unit that doesn’t have an issue, be it with basements, electricity or water,” Michel Katic, 57, told the Olive Press.

The South African moved into his Don Amaro property in June after selling up his courier company in Cape Town and retiring with his wife and daughter to Manilva.

“It seemed absolutely stunning and looked like a fantastic opportunity,” he said of the ultra modern unit.

“But since arriving it’s been problem after problem.”

Quite simply, the Spanish dream has turned into a nightmare. The list of problems has been endless; from a swimming pool sliding down a slope, to water seepage causing power cuts and even missing floor-to-ceiling curtains, which he insists he has paid over €5,000 for.

And it gets worse - Katic’s property is now totally overshadowed by an unfinished shell rapidly thrown up that has totally blocked his view.

“You might find this funny - but Otero sold us this villa with sea views,” he said laconically. “Now we can hardly see the sea.”

All repairs are currently coming out of his pocket, as Otero has ignored him since his final instalment. Thinking of moving? “We actually have nowhere else to go. We sold up and moved to Spain permanently.

So there’s no leaving now.”

After disaster struck last month and Otero stopped paying the contractors, in the words of one resident, the developments have ‘become like living in the Wild West.’

The English woman, who asked not to reveal her name, claimed to be in a group of 30 homeowners demanding action from Otero and the town hall.

Alarmingly, she was so terrified of the unfolding di-

saster that she was too scared to meet the Olive Press despite begging us to help.

“They’ve robbed us, they’ve lied to us, they bully us - it feels like dealing with the mafia,” she said.

“Two of my neighbours are so upset they feel suicidal about it.”

She revealed how over the last fortnight, she and her fellow neighbours have seen a series of shadowy figures prowling the unfinished units and abandoned construction sites.

She added that she had ‘seen looting, scavenging and attempted break-ins’ to the nearly finished properties. “There are

teenagers, old people and random men wandering around in our gardens - we are living in fear here.”

Yet incredibly, she claimed owners have been subject to a remarkable demand from representatives of Otero for a further €120,000 retroactively to ‘pay for an increase in the cost of building materials’.

“And they have threatened to cut off our water supply if the residents, who already have their keys, refuse to pay up,” she added.

But on top of that, she claims that the company has not even been paying its own water bills, but instead was illegally tapped into the communal water.

Other neighbours arrived in Spain last year to find they were unable to move into their supposedly finished villas and were forced to rent apartments in the meantime.

One couple from Belgium, Danny and Sandra have a home full of defects, from dents and scratches in appliances and to walls, as well as shoddy workmanship and even structural problems.

They had been told their villa was ready in February, but when the couple arrived from Antwerp the house was nowhere near ready. They had to spend three weeks in a rented apartment at a cost of €2,000. “The company reps were continually lying and that is a big problem,” claimed Danny.

After signing for the property and getting the keys, Otero kept adding new costs to the final bill.

After adding €23,000 for a kitchen, €35,000 ‘due to Coronavirus’

socket for the television.

It all meant the overall price of their villa ballooned by €110,000 above the originally-agreed price to €640,000.

And just last week they received another letter from Otero demanding a further €84,000 - ‘for building material cost increases’.

If they refused to pay up, Otero would be able to withhold their first occupancy licence which they needed to legally move in. “I hate them!” Sandra admitted near tears, as she recounted the ordeal they had gone through at the hands of Otero.

“I was sick from the stress - as were so many other people.”

Danny believes the company’s downfall was caused by selling properties too cheaply and then trying to make up for it by cutting corners on materials and workmanship.

Many of the other buyers who are facing the biggest losses were too afraid to speak to the Olive Press, or were advised against it by their lawyers.

One British buyer who is remaining more optimistic is Chris Morris, 35, a builder, who put down €700,000 in February 2022 for his Otero-built property in Valle Romano, in Estepona.

He insisted that because he owns the plot of land, he also owns the home on it, which is now 75% completed.

“Well it was 75% until the contractors took back the doors, the aircon, the windows, and so on,” he said.

“But I don’t blame them, I would have done the same in their shoes.”

He added: “We’re in talks with the company now to try and get windows and doors put back in to keep the unit secure.”

He added that Otero will be in breach of contract if it fails to finish his property by May.

“Some people said Ruben Otero (left) had fled to Venezuela with all our cash, but my architect - who’s been very helpful - said he saw him in a restaurant in Marbella on Saturday

An experienced constructor back in the UK, his advice to fellow buyers is sim“No one has lost their money yet. Until it’s final, don’t dwell on it. Just keep

The Olive Press had not received any comment from Otero despite regular requests from its lawyer David Sanchez, based in Malaga.

The Olive Press discovers how the spectacular fall of the ‘half a billion euro’ Otero group is anything but a surprise to its beleaguered clients

DESERTED: An Otero site in Manilva

PROMISE: The dream (above) and the reality (below)

ENDLESS PROBLEMS: for Michel Katich who has also lost his sea views

‘I was sick from all the stress - as were so many other people’

TheOlivePress-256x170-CAR-4.indd 1

Trophy hunt

A DISCOVERY in a Spanish cave suggests that Neanderthals collected trophies. That’s according to a study published this week in the magazine Nature Human Behaviour.

Researchers from Spain’s CSIC public research institute found a total of 35 horned skulls from large herbivores on the site in Madrid’s Pinilla del Valle.

They believe that the bones served as trophies, something that would, for the first time, prove that these primates had the capacity for symbolic actions.

This kind of intelligence had, until now, been attributed only to humans.

“There is nothing like this in the world, it’s exceptional,” the coauthor of the study, paleoanthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga, said.

QUITE A FIND

AI discovers unknown play by Spanish master

ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) has unearthed a previously unknown comedy penned by one of Spain’s greatest writers, Felix Lope de Vega. AI was being used by researchers to transcribe 1,300 uncredited manuscripts and books at the library to save many years of human work. Another aim was to find out the authors by checking each work against a selection of words used by different writers. After a year of verification, it

THREE small towns in the Spanish Pyrenees have staged the ancient festival of Joaldunak to ward off evil spirits and to waken up the ‘forthcoming spring’. The celebration is held on the last Monday and Tuesday of January in Ituren, Zubieta, and Lantz and is recognised by UNESCO as

an invaluable part of Europe's cultural heritage. The event is believed to be con-

By Alex Trelinski

has been confirmed that an uncredited manuscript was a Lope de Vega work called La Francesca Laura (Frenchwoman Laura) - written some five or six years before his death in 1635. One of the people involved in the AI project, German Vega from Valladolid University, said that it was not an original Lope de Vega manuscript, but a copy - perhaps even of the original.

It also had notes for theatre companies intending to put

Spring beckoned

nected to the ancient rites of changing the seasonal cycle and celebrating the winter solstice. Bell wearers, or Joaldunak, as they are known in Basque, dressed up in thick sheepskins and tall colourful hats, clanging large cowbells tied to their backs to scare away the bad spirits and the witches.

A shepherd holding the chains of a huge carnival ‘bear’ with ram-horn ears accompanied the Joaldunak on their march, taking swipes at the crowd and ordering the sea of monsters to step aside to let them pass.

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Back home

TWO 15th century paintings looted from Poland during World War II that ended up in Galicia, have been returned after 79 years. They were on display at Pontevedra Museum following the 1994 purchase of an art collection owned by collector Jose Fernandez Lopez.

Pontevedra Provincial Council vice-president, Cesar Mosquera, said: “We’re helping to restore an injustice, helping to restore plundered art, helping in whatever way we can to make the world a better place.”

Stolen

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on the play. The manuscript has been in the National Library since 1886 and had classified it as an ‘anonymous comedy’. The library said the words used in the text were ‘closely aligned with Lope’s, and not with those of the other 350 playwrights who were part of the AI experiment’.

Mature

Experts then used traditional research resources to corroborate the findings.

“La Francesa Laura is a remarkable play, with the dramatic force expected of a mature Lope de Vega,” the library said.

Mosquera and a Polish government representative signed a formal restitution agreement last month.

The works - Mater Dolorosa and Ecce Homo (below) - were part of the 700 piece Czartoryski collection stolen by Nazi forces from the Polish village of Goluchow.

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Boob job stops squatter eviction

A WOMAN accused of squatting in a property has tried to get out of a court date claiming she had to have surgery on her breast implants on the same day.

Lawyers for the Swiss owner of the occupied home revealed that their client was ‘wondering if he had purchased a house in Spain or in a banana republic’ in the wake of the incident.

The victim had decided to buy a property in Malaga, having fallen in love with the city and wanted a home for long stays, and eventually to live in. He discovered however, it had been taken over by a squatter when he arrived one day last year and found that the key no longer fitted the lock. Police were called but could do nothing more than to identify the alleged squatter.

She was eventually called to court for an eviction proceeding, but the case has been put on hold after defence lawyers presented a document from a clinic that stated that she was scheduled to have surgery involving the ‘elevation of mammary implants’.

The lawyers for the victim believe that the appointment is nothing more than a ruse to drag on the trial.

JUST 130 kilometres out of the Spanish capital the small and quaint town of Alcaudete de la Jara is the cheapest pueblo in the country. Average property prices in the village in the province of Toledo are at 284€ per square metre. If you’re willing to do some renovation

CHARMING AND CHEAP

work, you can find large apartments for as little €12,500. The town sits in central Spain in Castile-La Mancha and encapsulates the true, authentic spirit of the country, but

NIGHT SALE

Night Manager estate sold by British lord for staggering €62m

A STUNNING Mallorca fortress that became internationally known as the setting for BBC thriller The Night Manager, has a new multi-million owner.

Norwegian billionaire Ivar Tollefsen paid an incredible €61.8 million for La Fortaleza, in Pollensa.

By Alex Trelinski

While the purchase went through a year ago, the details have only recently been made public.

The protected castle was previously owned by Brit Lord James

SPAIN is hoping to attract more British women with digital nomad visas and tax perks this year.

The country wants to attract female entrepreneurs because the country is widely viewed as a safe place to live for women. A digital nomad’s visa and tax concessions for start-up companies in Spain are coming into force as part of a new start-up law.

it is within easy reach of Madrid and other larger and more cosmopolitan areas. According to 2018 Census data, the town has a population of just 1703 people.

Call for rates freeze

SPAIN’S deputy prime minister, Yolanda Diaz, has called on banks to freeze mortgage interest rate rises after one of the country’s lenders announced record earnings.

BBVA, which is Spain’s second-biggest bank, showed a 38% increase in net profits, which came in at an all-time high of €6.42 billion in 2022. This was partly due to a double-digit rise in lending income, as well as the bank’s performance in Mexico, which accounted for more than 60% of the lender’s net earnings. The figures came just a day after the Euribor interest rate, the benchmark used for the calculation of most mortgages in Spain, hit 3.337%, the highest level since December 2008.

Lupton, who the Olive Press revealed paid €45 million in 2011.

The 350-year-old estate was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1993 and will continue to host functions and be used for filming.

Tennis star Rafa Nadal and foot-

Digital future

“We don’t want digital nomads, we want residents,” said Digitalisation Minister Carme Artigas.. “Our hope is that the nomad visa is very attractive but then they stay in our country and put down roots.” Some 22% of Spain’s economy is digital-based, with start-up hubs growing.

baller Gareth Bale both got married there.

It has long been popular with foreign owners, with Argentine painter Roberto Ramauge buying it in 1919 and turning it into a luxury residence.

However, it was seized by Franco’s forces during the Civil War and legal wrangling meant the Ramauge family did not repossess it until 1984.

The next owner, a Brit, John Ogden, purchased it in 1989 spending millions on renovating the 232 acre site. He eventually put it on the market in 2008 for an unbelievable €125m before selling it three years later to Lord Lupton for a third the price.

Diaz said that the current costof-living crisis ‘cannot be an excuse to earn more’.

“While the rise of the Euribor will make the average mortgage €250 a month more expensive, BBVA’s profits have grown 38%,” she continued.

CASH IN

AN Andalucian town is giving an ‘aid’ package of €750 to families in an attempt to avoid depopulation.

Canillas de Aceituno in the Axarquia is giving the cash to families that have lived permanently in the village for at least a year.

STAR: Hugh Laurie filmed at the estate

Indoors, outdoors

Want to understand the latest ‘grannycore’ or ‘hipstoric’ trends, interiors specialist Julia Begbie

no bounds

RESEARCHING hot new interior design trends for 2023 means consulting the Oracle. Yes, I’m referring to TikTok.

And yes, we are all feeling the pinch, and worried about the much predicted downturn.

The last recession, kicking off in 2008, gave birth to the vintage/ upcycling trend which allowed us to keep decorating and carry on – and to do it for free.

So what does social media tell us about the coming trends for 2023?

Well, apparently ‘grandmillenials’ with ‘hipstoric’ interiors will be indulging in ‘weirdcore’.

In plain English, we are going to be nesting again. Colour is back, and smaller rooms are back. Have you just bashed your walls down and gone open plan? Oops, sorry. Small spaces are cosy, and the times are scary. Nostalgia is rife. Pinterest reports searches for all things old-fashioned, ‘grannycore’, is on the up exponentially.

Brown furniture is also back, and the days when antiques were cheaper than Ikea may be numbered. If I had any loose change, I’d be stockpiling George III walnut furniture (see left, below and far right).

Meanwhile, in lighting, the astonishing synergy that is LED + lithium continues to give us design-tastic, go-anywhere light fittings.

We recently moved into a new-build (not our village home here in Spain in Gaucin), and we thought

we had organised fittings or sockets everywhere that we’d need light. Of course we didn’t, but now it doesn’t matter that we didn’t. We have a couple of ‘Bellhop’ lamps by Flos that light up corners, the centres of tables, and shelves. And in good weather they can go outdoors too.

In the same vein, but hot off the production line, take a look at ‘Curiosity’ by Artemide, and ‘TeTaTeT’ by Davide Groppi. Both do things that lamps haven’t really done before.

My final tip is Spain’s NewGarden, and their unit, ‘Cherry’ (far right), which is essentially a battery-powered light bulb. (It’s actually a bit wider, so check the dimensions if space is tight.)

It is wonderfully versatile: I use one as an uplighter on top of a kitchen cupboard, another sits under an upturned Ikea rattan lamp shade as a floor light. They can hang from a piece of string in a pendant fitting, or stand in for a light

bulb in an unplugged lamp. In the summer you can take them outside, pop them in a pot, and snuggle them among the plants. If that doesn’t make you smug enough, they come with a remote control.

JULIA BEGBIE is an interior designer, and was a director of KLC, London’s leading interior design college, for ten years. In a post-pandemic pivot, Julia became a digital nomad, and launched Recipe for a Room, which offers interior design courses online. She divides her time between Gaucín in Spain, and everywhere else.

julia.begbie@gmail.com

is more interested in lighting that knows

CONTRASTS: Colour is back, along with smaller rooms and antique walnut furniture

LIGHTING REVOLUTION: ‘Lamps doing things they’ve never done before’

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE FROM US TO YOU.

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BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

By Nadia McDonald

APROJECT for what is claimed to be the first zero-carbon luxury home in Spain has gone on sale. Running costs for the eco-home are expected to be 90% cheaper than similar new builds.

The villa will run on 100% carbon free energy supplied by a ‘domestic hydrogen power system’, developed by British company Creo International. Solar panels will produce hydrogen from water which will power a generator to provide electricity.

The system’s only emissions are oxygen and water which can be redirected to the property’s garden. Meanwhile, fully-insulated walls will provide maximum energy efficiency and temperature regulation for the property in La Cala de Mijas.

The onsite power supply will significantly reduce the overall running costs, with excess solar energy stored to ensure the home is fully self-powered throughout the year. The project on Calanova golf has been designed by Marbella-based Architectural Design Team, and will use other renewable technologies, including underfloor heating. It will also have a Tesla battery charging station.

It is being sold for €2.5m through Mediterranean Homes and will be completed within 12 months of the project being sold.

SOME SARNIE

THE 10th Snack Competition jury at Madrid Fusion gastronomy summit have voted a sandwich featuring pickled partridge to be the best in Spain.

Other ingredients include beer bread, oregano paste, ham, mustard seeds, IPA beer, sugar, red wine, leeks, seasonal mushrooms, mustard leaves and radishes.

Chef Javier Ruiz Portillo from the El Parque de la Milla restaurant in Marbella pocketed €1,500 in prize money for his creation.

Thief capital

BARCELONA’s Las Ramblas has beaten iconic tourist sites such as the Eiffel Tower and Italy’s Trevi Fountain to be named the worst spot for pickpockets in Europe.

The busy pedestrian strip in the Catalunyan capital took the top spot for thieves nabbing possessions from people's pockets, according to a study by The Express There were more than 3,270 reviews mentioning pickpockets on the famous street which is first on many tourists’ checklists.

Las Ramblas is crowded all year round but is usually busiest during the peak summer season.

Packed

The boulevard runs down to the port and is usually packed with street performers, artists and living statues.

The area around Paris’ Eiffel Tower was the second worst hotspot for pickpocketing in the world.

Italy’s Trevi Fountain took the third spot and is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions.

Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia also made the list, coming in 10th.

Flocking in

International tourist trade up 130% in a year

By Dilip Kuner

THE number of tourists visiting Spain rebounded by 130% to 71.6 million in 2022, compared to the previous Covid-hit year. According to the Spanish statistics office (INE) the strong recovery was still not enough to match preCovid 2019, remaining 14% down.

This was despite a strong recovery in the first half of the year, with foreign visitors at 92% of their preCovid level by July.

But the recovery dipped in the second half of the year, possibly due to high inflation and energy prices hitting spending power.

On the other hand, domestic tourism has recovered much faster, throwing a lifeline to the industry.

Tourism industry body Exceltur’s Tourism Outlook report said the sector’s GDP reached €159 billion in 2022 - up 1.4% on the

A SPANISH tourist in Australia barely had one leg in the country before he was sent back under beefed-up biosecurity laws over failing to declare ham and cheese in his luggage.

The 20-year-old man had his visa cancelled and was fined $3,300 for carrying more than one kilogram of undeclared pork and cheese. He was stopped at Perth Airport

previous year and 4.7% on 2018.

The report added that 61% of economic growth in Spain last year was down to tourism.

Exceltur said the first quarter of 2022 was marked by higher energy prices and problems with supplies due to the war in Ukraine, as well as the

Expensive ham

when 275 grams of pancetta, 665g of cured ham and about 300g of goat cheese in his luggage. The Australian government had recently announced a beefing up of penalties for people caught with banned items to stop diseases and pests from entering Australia.

VUELING GOES CRYPTO

VUELING Airlines will allow cryptocurrencies as payment for fares later this year.

It will be Europe’s first budget airline to accept crypto via its website in the second-half of 2023.

The company has struck a deal with Criptan- a national exchange registered with the Bank of Spain - to serve as a payments company to process and complete customers orders using crypto.

Veuling alliances and distribution manager, Jesus Monzo, said: “This agreement places us at the forefront of new technologies and innova tion, further reinforcing our commitment to our customers and offering the best and most advanced tools and solutions on our website.”

Jorge Soriano, Criptan’s CEO, stated the company is 'convinced' that the introduction of crypto payments could improve user experience by showing customers the potential there is behind using such an option.

The system adopted by Vueling will use UATP tech - a global global payments network for airlines - but the carrier has not specified yet which cryptocurrencies will be accepted.

THE EUROPEAN DENTAL PRACTICE

Dr.Mónica Bonet – University of Barcelona

Dr. Yasmina Adebibe – B.D.S London

Susan Taylor-Vickers – BSc, EDH Mercadona Centre, Son Caliu, Palma Nova

Omicron Covid variant, but that from April there was a travel recovery, especially in the leisure, meetings and congresses sectors.

Inflation

The body believes that accumulated demand and the desire to travel have overcome the adverse effects on personal income caused by inflation. The report pointed out that a big increase in domestic tourism activity boosted the sector.

STRIKE THREAT

AIR NOSTRUM pilots have voted 92% in favour of indefinite strike action in their on-going pay row. The decision follows seven days of strikes over the Christmas and New Year period.

Pilots union Sepla said it was a response to Air Nostrum's ‘immovable’ position in preventing negotiations to sign a new agreement ‘that sets fair working conditions and wages for workers’. Air Nostrum said that if it caved in to Sepla's ‘exorbitant’ requests for a 30% salary hike over two years, the firm’s financial viability would be threatened.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Food of love

HONEY OYSTERS

ONE of the things that makes people fall in love with Spain is the food. The Mediterranean diet, rich in fish and seafood, nuts and fruit, is famously good for the heart.

And not only the heart: the diet is full of ingredients known for their aphrodisiac properties.

With a very important date coming up (February 14, in case you forget), a dinner date should prove a win-win situation.

These foods provide both psychological and physical stimulation because they trigger an increase in the release of serotonin, the socalled happiness hormone. The practice of using food to increase sexual desire dates back to the 4th century BC and takes its name from the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodisiac foods aren’t always as exotic as ginseng. You might already consume them on a daily basis and not even realise.

THOUGH you might need to eat half a jar to get the effect, honey contains boron, vitamin B, and nitric oxide, all of which are good for stamina.

In addition, nitric oxide is released in the blood during arousal and helps men achieve erections, while vitamin B is said to stimulate hormones associated with sexual desire. Some men even use honey as a natural treatment for premature ejaculation. Anyway, get sensual and creative this Valentine’s day by finding something that’s packed full of honey (but perhaps not a hive).

CHOCOLATE

entine’s Day with chocolate?

Well, chocolate is quite effective in increasing serotonin levels and libido, especially in women. Cocoa beans contain phenylalanine and theobromine, chemicals that help blood circulation and lung function, and they combat fatigue as well, making this a powerful and useful aphrodisiac. Give your partner a big box of chocolates this Valentine’s Day and enjoy the results.

AVOCADO

AS our brains already assume oysters are an aphrodisiac, we get a double stimulation, psychological and physical, as soon as they appear on the table.

In addition, the high protein and zinc content helps to improve sperm production in men and lubrication in women. It is a food that provides a great energy boost, guaranteeing good performance and sexual drive – as long as they’re fresh.

THE potassium the fruit contains is tied up with the body’s capacity for producing sexual hormones, and is more effective in increasing sexual desire in men than women. It’s also one of the oldest aphrodisiac foods in the book – indeed, it predates books. Surprise your partner with an avocado cocktail; the result should please the eye and stimulate the imagination (and more).

CINNAMON

THE only natural aphrodisiac recognised as such by medical science, the spice is known to stimulate blood flow, especially in the abdominal area of the body. This improves blood sup-

ply to the genitalia, resulting in sexual arousal.

Generally, if your partner goes to make a cup of tea during sex it’s not a promising sign.

But if it’s cinnamon tea, don’t lose hope: even inhaling its steamy aroma is said to combat loss of sexual desire.

In men, like most things on the list, cinnamon helps achieve and maintain an erection.

RED WINE

FIGS

APPARENTLY the insides of figs bear some resemblance to a female reproductive organ, and this exciting thought has, through the ages, proved very arousing.

However, it’s probably the high beta-carotene content involved in the production of sex hormones which gives figs their aphrodisiac properties.

The high sugar content makes figs a good source of energy if you are planning a long night.

CHICKPEAS

UNLIKELY as it sounds, chickpeas can also be a powerful aphrodisiac and a very suggestive dish. But they need to be prepared properly – go for hummus rather than a winter stew. Being spreadable, a bowl of hummus is perfect for kicking off some spicy games (or eating with celery).

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

NUMEROUS investigations have been carried out to discover the link between red wine and sexual desire. The main reason red wine seems to increase sex drive is that it helps ramp up blood circulation. But also worth a mention is the fact it contains alcohol.

The greatest known disinhibitor, alcohol stimulates the part of the brain where the controls for inhibition and relaxation are kept.

Across: 1 Sighted, 5 Bravo, 8 Iraqi, 9 Cornish, 10 Dynamic, 12 Hair, 14 End, 16 Hanoi, 18 Goo, 19 Foam, 21 Atlanta, 24 Cowslip, 26 Ennui, 27 Layer, 28 Descent

Down: 1 Skin-deep, 2 Grain, 3 Triumph, 4 Doc, 5 Birth, 6 Abiding, 7 Oahu, 11 Conga, 13 Royalist, 15 Doorway, 17 Illness, 20 Molar, 22 Nonce, 23 Kcal, 25 Pad

As Valentine’s Day approaches, we provide the perfect ingredients for a very romantic dinner

INFLATION rose to 5.8% across Spain in January, much above the market forecast.

The preliminary figure was up from 5.7% in December 2022, a 13-month low, as fuel price hikes accelerated in January. Meanwhile, clothing, footwear and electricity prices decreased from a year ago.

The market estimate was at 4.9% year-on-year in January's consumer prices.

On a monthly basis, Spain's consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.3% in January, following a 0.2% rise last December. A further cooling in energy inflation, on the other hand, put some downward pressure on the 5.8% figure.

Twitter

shakedown

TWITTER is planning on sacking more than 80% of its workforce in Spain.

But the Elon Musk-inspired shakedown is not as bad as it seems, as the social media company only employs 29 people in the company.

This means that around 24 staff will be leaving on the conditions that the social network has offered.

Staff will receive 33 days of pay for each year worked.

OFF THE DOLE

Nearly 80,000 fewer registered as unemployed at end of 2022

THE jobless total fell by 79,900 people in 2022 - a decrease of 2.6% on the year before.

Over the same period, 278,900 jobs were created – an increase of 1.4% on the previous year – most of which were taken up by foreign workers.

Both of these figures were an improvement on 2020, the year that the coronavirus pandemic hit and dealt a severe shock to the Spanish economy, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

That year saw the worst figures for unemployment since 2012, when the

By Simon Hunter

country was being rocked by the consequences of the global financial crisis and the bursting of the property bubble.

Global

But the latest data is a far cry from 2021, when 840,700 jobs were created and unemployment fell by 600,000 people.

At the end of 2022, the unemployment rate was at 12.87%, just 0.4 percentage points below the figure in 2021 but the lowest end-

THE minimum wage in Spain will be going up from €14,000 a year to €15,120, a rise of 8%.

Assuming a worker receives 14 payments over the year, which was once the norm for most Spanish salaries, that is an extra €80 a month for someone working a 40 hour week.

The measure will be retroactive, meaning

of-year figure since 2007. Just over three million Spaniards were out of work at the end of last year, with 20,463,900

that anyone receiving minimum wage will be paid extra for the month of January. The secretary general of Spain’s CCOO union, Unai Sordo, said that 2.5 million people will benefit from the measure. In particular, female workers, young people, temporary employees and those in the service and agriculture sectors will be better off.

people employed. The Economic Affairs Ministry stated that job creation slowed in the last quarter of 2022 ‘in line with the slowdown of the global economy’.

Control

The INE figures also showed that the number of home workers fell by 1.7 million in the last quarter of 2022 compared to the same period the year before, as employers encouraged staff back to the office now that the coronavirus pandemic is seemingly under control.

Is your Spanish tax planning up to date for 2023?

„ A new two-year solidarity tax on the wealthy is being introduced – are you affected?

„ With the recent changes to Spanish taxation of UK pensions, getting this wrong can prove costly – specialist advice is essential.

„ Many UK nationals remain liable for UK inheritance tax and frozen allowances could significantly impact your family – now is the time for strategic estate planning.

Talk

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The cuts come amid a huge €56.7 million fine by the Spanish government for violating employment laws. That was on top of a €79m fine in September 2022 for violations of labour law. Some 250 people will lose their jobs, with the recruitment and data departments in the Barcelona HQ being most affected. NEW freelancers in Spain got a nasty surprise when they were charged an extra €220 by the Social Security system. Some 8,000 new autonomos were charged the full rate of nearly €300 instead of the reduced charge that they should have enjoyed of €80. The government has pledged to refund the cash in March.

Romantic Ronda

Hard to swallow

POLICE are hunting thieves who stole gold-covered sex toys worth €80,000 from the largest distributor of erotic toys in Spain, Dreamlove, located in an industrial estate near Sevilla.

Boob job

A WAITRESS in Spain has denounced a potential employer for demanding that she send him photos of her cleavage before considering her for a job, telling her it ‘was very important’.

Good deal

THE council of Cumbres de Enmedio in Andalucia, with 50 inhabitants, wants someone to rent the town’s only bar for €20 per month. The council will pay for electricity and water.

Pearl of a find

Waitress finds €4,000 gem in plate of clams

By Simon Hunter

A DECISION to overrule her boyfriend at dinner and order clams paid off for a young woman when she discovered a valuable pearl worth €4,000 in the first one she opened.

Waitress Natalia Freire, 22, had a ‘huge craving’ for a plate of the shellfish when she went out to eat with her boyfriend.

“He’s a shellfish gatherer and is sick of eating them. So I ordered a plate for myself. And

PURR-FECT REWARD

A PET owner desperate to find her beloved cat offered a whopping €1,000 for its safe return.

Alba, a 19-year-old student, plastered signs offering the reward all over Arroyo de la Miel (Malaga) when her furry

as I work here they gave me extra!” she revealed.

“Our kitchen makes them so well,” she said about the dish, which she ordered in the very restaurant she works in A Coruña, in Galicia.

friend Tokyo vanished for 11 days. “My cat is like my daughter,” she told the Olive Press “Money was not important, I just wanted her to return”. But Alba didn’t end up stumping up the huge reward as she herself found Tokyo hiding inside the basement of her neighbour’s house!

Given the purple color of the pearl, Freire initially didn’t realise what it was, and it wasn’t until she’d finished her meal that she looked it up on Google “I’d heard about pearls in oysters, but not in clams,” she said. But it is that very color that made her find so valuable. Purple pearls, which are traditionally associated with artistry, wisdom, complexity, nobility and passion, are rare and in high demand. Natalia has not decided whether she is going to sell it or keep it. If she does cash in, it is not known if her boss at the restaurant will want a cut.

RONDA has been named ‘the most romantic city in Spain’ by Hello! magazine. “There is not a single one of its ancient streets, decorated with stately palaces, that does not have a legend or a love story to tell,” claimed the famous UK publication.

It has published its 20 must-see cities in Spain, each overflowing with romantic nooks and dreamy locations for Romeos to discover with their Juliets. The other destinations include Siurana, La Albufera, Aranjuez and Castillo de Pubol, in Girona.

Famous

It also lists certain specific spots like the famous San Nicolas viewpoint in the Albaicin of Granada as well as the Santa Cruz barrio of Sevilla.

It particularly sings the praises of the ‘kissing corner’ of Iznajar, in Cordoba, and Vejer, in Cadiz, as well as Gaudi’s amazing Parc Guell, in Barcelona and the Lovers’ Mausoleum in Teruel.