Olive Press Mallorca Issue 148

Hellraiser in the dock

A FORMER Hells Angels leader is facing 13 years on firearms and money laundering charges.

German Frank Hanebuth is being tried alongside 48 of his international pals.

The leader of the Hanover branch of the notorious bikers gang moved to Mallorca to set up its first chapter. Some 34 of the alleged Hells Angels collaborators cut deals with the prosecutor this week.

They accepted jail terms between six months and 12 years after admitting to their offences.

However, they can escape serving any actual prison time by paying fines instead.

Hanebuth refused, insisting that the charges against him were based on illegal wiretaps, but this was overruled.

Deals

He faces a 13-year prison sentence for allegedly belonging to a criminal organisation, money laundering, and possessing illegal weapons. He must also stump up a €4.2 million fine for the money laundering charge, if guilty.

Vice-president of the chapter, Khalil Youssafi, reached an extraordinary deal with the prosecutor meaning he avoids a prison sentence of 38-years by paying a fine of €36,720.

Another defendant who took a plea deal was Brit Paul Witworth, who prosecutors say maintained links with the Adams family, the notorious London gang. The gang are accused of illegal activities across Mallorca from 2009 to 2013 under Hanebuth’s leadership.

HARD TO STOMACH

Brits who ‘scammed’ hotels with hundreds of fake legal food poisoning claims to finally face trial

A GANG of British expats are to go on trial for defrauding dozens of hotels and travel companies in a fake sickness scam totalling ‘up to €40 million’.

The Mallorca group are accused of fraud and racketeering over the creation of hundreds of bogus sick notes between 2016 and 2017.

Palma Court Judge Maria Perez claims the ‘organised gang’ of eight persuaded holidaymakers to report food poisoning incidents during their holidays in order to get compensation from hotels and tour operators later. The fraud is estimated to have cost the Mallorca hotel sector an estimated €40 million in 2016 alone.

Four homes and two businesses in Portals Nous, San Agustin and Bendinat were raided in September 2017 after a four-month investigation.

It came after Alcudia hotel bosses filed complaints with police claiming they were being wrongly blamed for incidents that never happened.

The alleged ring-leaders are Laura Holmes Cameron - previously reported as Laura Joyce, her married name - and her brother Marc Cameron.

The Camerons are accused of paying a team of expats €50 a day to pad the streets enlisting people for the scam.

They also hired a team of club promoters to double up as middle-men under their company Elite Project

By Alex Trelinski

Marketing.

A bonus payment - based on the cash received from the fake claims - would later be paid to the expats, known as OPCs or ‘Outside People Catchers’ in the timeshare industry.

The Palma court heard at a previous hearing how the OPCs were hired to linger outside hotels informing guests of big cash payouts for of faking stomach problems. One testified in 2018 that over an eight-month period he brought in around 40 clients per week from all-inclusive resorts.

Defrauded

Laura Cameron is believed to have directed the operation on the island, which saw some 60% of the 800 false sickness claims handed over to UK companies in 2017. Judge Perez admitted this week that the final defrauded sum has yet to be calculated by prosecutors. But she insisted the amount netted by the gang was ‘significantly above €200,000’.

In a damning statement, the judge insisted most of those claiming serious illness from food poisoning never asked for medical assistance.

In one case at Club Mac Alcudia

only 38 out of 800 guests issuing claims had sought a doctor.

As the Olive Press revealed at the time of her arrest, Cameron lived in a stunning €3 million villa near footballer Jamie Redknapp’s former house in Bendinat. We reported that she previously ran a sleazy sex

tours company and owned the infamous bar Playhouse, which gained infamy when an English tourist was filmed performing a sex act on 24 men for a cocktail. She closed the bar after being fined heavily when a video of the incident went viral.

Cameron’s mother, Deborah - who hired a leading lawyer famous for securing the acquittal of King Felipe’s sister Cristina over alleged tax evasion - was also arrested, but charges were dropped the following year.

The glamorous mother and daughter were well-known on the island, leading a luxurious and high-profile lifestyle.

At the time of their arrests many expats insisted they were ‘not guilty’ telling the Olive Press of their ‘shock’ at the accusations.

“Debbie is very religious and does a lot

of work with charities,” said one. The others being prosecuted are Peter Murphy, Ryan Bridge, Susan Lyle, Simon Flanagan, Tegan Sumerlee, and Nicola Sanderson. They all deny wrong-doing.

Bridge is said to be ‘one of the people tasked in England with processing the false claims’ working with a series of shady Manchester-based law firms.

Trail

Charges against four people have been dropped because they have not been questioned or cannot be located. Lawyers acting for the alleged ring-leaders and their associates failed to get their charges dismissed and a trial is expected to be held at some point this year.

Private prosecutors acting for the affected hotels will also be allowed to

submit claims failing a last minute appeal by the suspects. Reports back in 2017 at the time of the arrests suggested that over €9 million was defrauded from three hotel chains, with Mac Hotels hit with €4 million of sickness claims alone.

HIGHLIFE: Mother Deborah Cameron and her daughter Laura are well-known on the island, while (right) how we reported it

Made in Mallorca

BOLLYWOOD blockbuster Pathaan, which was filmed largely in Mallorca can be viewed in cinemas in Spain from this Friday. The film began shooting in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Red handed

POLICE have arrested a man, 58, while he was robbing a house in Llucmajor in Mallorca. The stolen jewels and watch were returned to their owners.

Jobs worry

THE unemployment rate in the Balearic islands stands at 10.9%. The figure released by the Active Population Survey (EPA) showed a reduction of -27% compared to the same period in 2021.

Dirty Sunday

OPERA singer Placido

Domingo is facing historical sexual harassment charges after an anonymous singer claimed he asked to touch her inappropriately at a theatre in Spain in the early 2000s.

A MAN has been jailed for 37 years after robbing and raping the same Mallorca shopkeeper on three different occasions.

The assailant, aged 22, pleaded guilty to the triple rape of the woman in Felanitx in exchange for a reduced sentence. Prosecutors had originally wanted a

A MALLORCA-based British CEO was arrested at Madrid airport on a US extradition warrant for allegedly helping a sanctioned Russian oligarch hide his ownership of a luxury yacht.

Richard Masters, 52, was stopped at Madrid-Barajas airport along with Russian national Vladislav Osipov, 51. The pair are facing charges in the US of money laundering and evading sanctions over trying to conceal the ownership of the $90 million, 78 metre motorboat ‘Tango’ by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

Masters, a well-known resident of Santa Maria, has been the chief of Palma-based superyacht management company Master Yachts for the past 23 years.

Despite a US request that he be extradited immediately, the

Triple rapist

51-year penalty.

A Palma court has also ordered him to pay €111,000 in compensation to the victim. Once he serves 12 years in prison, he will be deported to his native Morocco.

In all of the assaults the man entered the store and demanded that she hand over cash from the till, before dragging her into the back store room to rape her.

Police were alerted by a customer who heard cries for help after the victim was locked in the store room during a fourth attempted robbery.

BRIT BUST

Mallorca-based Brit arrested at Madrid airport over scheme to help Russian oligarch evade sanctions

By Walter Finch

National Court released Masters on bail having confiscated his passport.

According to the indictment, Masters stands accused of various schemes to disguise the ownership of ‘Tango’, including using shell companies and false documentation to evade detection and deceive financial institutions.

The Brit allegedly devised a scheme to use the false name

POLICE have arrested a man after he allegedly wandered out onto a busy street, dropped his pants and exposed his private parts in front of schoolchildren.

Police received a call that the 39-year-old Spanish man was ‘causing problems’ on a road outside a school in the La Soledad neighbourhood.

“He had dropped his pants and was mak-

‘Fanta’ for the yacht in order to hide from financial institutions that payments in US dollars were ultimately for the benefit of Tango and Vekselberg. It is thought

Masters earned around €800,000 for these ‘fraudulent’ services, to keep Veksel-

Curious kids

ing obscene gestures towards passers-by, while touching his private parts,” police said.

Police said children were craning their necks out of their classroom windows to see what the fuss was about.

Bomb scare

A MAN who threatened to blow up the conservative Partido Popular political party headquarters in Palma has been sentenced.

The 23-year-old who pleaded guilty must pay a fine of €1,080, plus €2,000 to the PP, and costs for the emergency services called to the scene.

The man phoned 012 with a fake warning that there was a bomb at the PP headquarters in Palma.

In the seven minute conversation with the operator the man said the conservative party had ‘stolen a lot of money’ and that he was going to plant the bomb ‘so they don’t steal more’, the court heard. The threat caused a ‘large mobilisation’ of the National Police, bomb disposal officers and dog units.

berg’s yacht - an oligarch with keen ties to Vladimir Putin - out of the clutches of US law enforcement.

The boat was searched last April while in Palma port by a combined task force consisting of agents from the Guardia Civil, US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. It was found to be flying a Cook Islands flag and registered to a company in the British Virgin Islands which was administered by a law firm in Panama.

BANG TO WRITES

SIX letter bombs sent to targets in Spain late last year were posted by a Russian white supremacist militant group, according to US and European officials. Bombs were addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, as well as to the US and Ukraine embassies, the Defence Ministry and a weapons factory.

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SHE has lived through two world wars, a bloody civil war, the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed millions and even pulled through unscathed when she caught Covid. Now Maria Branyas Morera has taken the title of the oldest living person at the ripe age of 115.

Maria, who lives in Catalunya, has inherited the accolade

Revenge is a dish best served hot for Shakira...but beware of your supercool ex

WHEN the Spanish tabloids’ golden couple Gerard Pique and Shakira split up, it seemed that everything was being settled amicably.

The Colombian songstress released a song, Monoto ny, whose lyrics and video conveyed heartbreak. But barely two months later, the dominant emotion in new track Session 53 is undiluted vengeance.

She takes aim at the ex Bar celona and Spain footballer and his new girlfriend Clara Chia and lets fly with both barrels.

The devastating lyrics include lines such as: ‘I was out of your league, that’s why you’re with someone just like you.’

And she follows up with ‘You left me with your mum as a neighbour, the press at my door and a debt with Hacienda’.

The latter is a reference to Shakira’s ongoing

THE GREAT SURVIVOR

following the death of French nun Lucile Randon, who was 118 when she recently died in her sleep in a nursing home in her native Toulon.

Maria was born on April 4, 1907 in San Francisco. She returned to Spain in 1914 with the rest of her Catalan family, and has been living in the Tura d’Olot senior home for several years.

In 2020, she contracted Covid-19 at the age of 113, but overcame the illness.

The second oldest person in the world currently is Fusa Tatsumi from Japan, who is also 115.

Musical vengeance

SCORN: Shakira’s new song but Pique doesn’t seem to mind

By Simon Hunter

battles with the Spanish Tax Agency, which is taking her to court on allegations that she evaded €14.5 million in taxes by claiming she was not living in Spain.

But some of the most barbed lines of the song are reserved for Pique’s girlfriend, with

(Very) Material Girl

DUST down your wallets, Madonna is coming to Spain. The American superstar has announced she will make an appearance at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi on November 1 as part of her Celebrations world tour. But fans had better be prepared to pay for the privilege of seeing her perform - a VIP deal will cost €900 plus a €120 handling charge for The Immaculate Package, or €400 plus a €53 handling charge for the Gold Circle Early Entry Package.

Normal tickets cost an eye-watering €300 plus €40 handling charge for the best spots. The cheapest are a more manageable €40 plus €5.50 (binoculars not included).

Flamenco fashion

IF you are looking to update your flamenco look for this year’s ferias, head for Sevilla.

The 28th edition of International Flamenco Fashion Week (SIMOF) takes place in the Andalucian city from January 26 to 29, at the Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES).

More than 1,800 costumes from over 90 flamenco fashion design houses will be shown in 54 catwalk parades, with a total 50,000 spectators expected.

Shakira singing ‘You swapped a Ferrari for a Twingo, you swapped a Rolex for a Casio’.

Pique himself seems to have taken the attack in good heart - a few days after the song’s release he turned up at an event driving a Twingo and wearing a Casio watch.

End

The relationship between Shakira and Pique came to an end in June, and when the custody agreement over their two sons, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, was announced in November, that was the definitive end to their 12-year relationship. Shakira is due to move from Barcelona to Miami with her children, while Pique has been granted generous visitation rights.

Ana and Oscar

RISING Spanish-Cuban star and your dad’s favourite actress Ana de Armas has scored her first Oscar nomination in this year’s Academy Awards.

The Bond girl is in the running for Best Actress as the only Latina considered for an acting gong this year. She received the nod for portraying the original blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe in the biopic Blonde

The 34-year-old started her career in her native Cuba, but moved to Madrid at the age of 18 to star in the popular drama El Internado

De Armas will vie with two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett for the golden statuette at the ceremony on March 13.

YOUNG: Maria (left) with family

new White Island

MALLORCA has been hit by its largest dumping of snow in more than five years as a freezing polar front sweeps over Spain.

About 7cm of the white stuff settled in Fornalutx on Monday, while the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range recorded an icy -2.4 degrees.

The Balearic island’s highest peak, Major Puig, saw the majority with 40cm of snow up on the highest slopes.

Cut off

AN electricity transformer tower fire on Tuesday left some homes in the s’Aranjassa area without power for 24 hours.

Residents already battling the coldest temperatures of the winter were cut off from the grid shortly after 4pm. Thousands of customers were told by phone operators that power would be restored ‘within hours’.

Seal the deal

DNA traces of an extremely endangered seal have been discovered in the Balearics 60 years after the species vanished from Mallorca.

Scientists made the discovery in the natural parks of the Cabrera and Sa Dragonera as part of a project to determine how many - if any - Mediterranean Monk Seals there are in the waters of the archipelago.

An increase in sightings off Italy and in the central Mediterranean led researchers to believe the population may be increasing so they started scouring Balearic waters.

No legal issues!

LEGAL checks have now been completed on a deal to allow British expats whose licences have expired back on the road.

An embassy update confirmed that ‘checks have now been completed on both sides’.

It added the final step to sign the international treaty ‘are now underway’ and it will be ‘very soon’.

Once the deal has been published in Spain’s official bulletin (BOE), residents who hold UK licences will finally be able to get back on the roads.

HOME ALONE

OFFICIALS are calling on the European Union to grant a ‘Balearic exception’ that would limit non-resident Brits and Germans from buying second homes on the islands. They are looking to the example of the Aland Islands in Finland, where there are limits on buying second homes. Recent Schengen addition Croatia also limits EU citizens who have not lived there for

THE rape accusation against footballer Dani Alves in a Barcelona nightclub has raised awkward conversations in Spain about the lack of protection for women on a night out.

Now, nightclubs on the Balearic Islands are catching up with campaigns like ‘Ask for Angela’, first launched in the UK in 2016. Staff are being trained in a basic protocol to deal with such situations, including sticking with the victim, calling security or even the police.

Balearic politicians want restrictions on non-resident second home sales to counter ghost villages phenomena

By Walter Finch

at least 10 years from buying agricultural land.

Beyond the EU, Canada also recently introduced a two-year ban on property purchases by non-residents with exceptions for immi-

Is Angela here?

For the last three years Nuevo Zar Maritimo has been offering a ‘special’ cocktail which, when asked for, alerts the staff that the customer is in trouble. If someone orders a regular zarito, it means they need someone to walk them to the car. A ‘take away zarito’ means that the customer needs a taxi, and a ‘blue zarito’ tells the staff to call the police.

grants and legal residents - a model that Balearic Islands vice-president Juan Pedro Yllanes says should be followed.

The islands are facing a crisis as rising property prices driven by foreign investment push out local residents and harm local businesses. This creates ghost villages where holiday homes are the majority and the few year-round residents wander deserted streets much of the time. One example is Fornalutx with just over 600 residents. People are reported to be frustrated with second homeowners who rent out their properties at prices beyond the reach of local residents. Deia is another.

Yllanes has said that the ‘exception’ he is calling for is

Levi ‘kidnapped by Brits’

FORMER X-Factor star Levi Davis was ‘kidnapped off the streets’ of Barcelona by a British gang, believes his family. His mother Julie claims a private investigator received an anonymous tip that her son (above) had got into a dispute with criminals two years ago while playing rugby for Ealing, in London, in 2020. He was last seen outside the Old Irish Pub on October 29 - while a signal on his phone was last detected the next morning at Barcelona’s Sants Estacio train station.

necessary due to the ‘special circumstances’ of the archipelago.

He added that it is not a xenophobic measure intended to target foreigners ‘but about stopping non-residents from buying up homes and making it impossible for young people on the islands to afford rental places’.

Pressure

He is seeking the support of Spain’s left-wing coalition government to pressure the EU, which has the final say on the matter. The EU has a duty to defend the principle of free movement of goods and people throughout the bloc, which could pose a challenge for the initiative.

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“We desperately need to know more because this could change the whole nature of the investigation,” Julie told the Olive Press.

Cagey

She added the tipster was ‘very cagey’. “I do know of some difficulties he had with some people who showed up to his flat in Ealing but don't know what the disagreement was about or how serious it was,” she added.

Police found his passport in Barcelona port in September - but no other clue has been uncovered since.

The Davis family is offering €11,500 to anyone who could find Levi.

Police said their investigation was still ‘open and ongoing’.

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Too much of

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.

Shame on them

THE so-called ‘fake food poisoning’ scam allegedly perpetrated by a group of expats may seem to some like a jolly wheeze to get some cash from insurers, with no real losers.

But the fallout casts a shadow over British holidaymakers in general. It was also an appalling image for the island to have to carry.

UK media headlines were at the time filled with lurid tales of hundreds of unfortunate holidaymakers on all-you-can-eat deals having their dream vacations ruined by a bout of ‘holiday tummy’.

No doubt many claims were fully justified but there also seems to be little doubt that many were not.

Insurers shelled out millions not just in Mallorca, but also across Spain, with hoteliers left scratching their heads about just how so many people could fall ill from food poisoning. It also inevitably led to higher insurance premiums and even worse, cancelled bookings.

If the allegations detailed on our front page are proven to be true, the explanation is that fake claims were orchestrated by unscrupulous expats looking to make a quick buck.

If so, those guilty should pay the penalty. But there is a group of fraudsters numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands, who will not appear in court.

These are those holidaymakers who filled in the claim forms despite knowing they had not been ill.

They might not think of themselves as being fraudsters, but that is what they are. Shame on them.

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

ETIAS

TRAVEL TRIBULATION

Confusion reigns over new ETIAS visa requirements for Brits entering Spain

By Walter Finch

NEW travel requirements for entering Spain have sparked confusion over who it affects and when they actually start.

The introduction of the new ETIAS regime, as it is known, will complicate the visa-free entry to the EU Brits have enjoyed since freedom of movement ended in 2020.

Initially it was feared the system came in this month, prompting confusion among travellers about what they needed to comply with.

But last week, the EU confirmed that ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) would not come into effect until ‘later in the year’.

Initially insisting May, the European Commission’s Department for Migration and Home Affairs now states it will not start until November.

Permission

IT was described as ‘the first and only solar extracting and pumping station in Europe’ and, from the moment it was operational, it was a game-changer.

The village of Godelleta was rightfully proud when it was selected in 2016 as the trial site for an innovative sun-powered system to pump and distribute water for irrigation.

The local agricultural community witnessed some remarkable improvements and, with water being used more efficiently, the citrus, olive, and vine yields improved and job opportunities increased as a result. Thanks to batteries, the pump systems were able to operate at night and even on cloudy days, and, by reducing the village’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources, carbon emissions were reduced. It was a win-win scenario . . . until now.

The electricity powers a control panel and pump, sunk into a water source, which could be anything from a river to a well.

Water is then transported along a ditch or pipe, or, in Godelleta’s case, an ancient system of acequias (canals) first installed by the Moors.

The plan is to increase the number of solar panels to 91,000

The delivery is preset depending on irrigation requirements – it might be drip method, full flow or half flow, for example. A timer, and water pressure, level and volume, can also be preset. Godelleta is perched on the flat table of land above the citrus farms some 40km from the city of Valencia, and below the olive groves and vineyards on the higher land to the west towards Cuenca.

The dynamics of a solar pumping system are both pioneering and simple. Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into electricity.

The town’s farmers are able to produce the crops grown in both areas (oranges comprise 40% of the total, grapes another 40%, the rest dominated by olives and persimmon), and the solar extraction system has been able to handle the varying irrigation requirements. For the most part, the community has been happy with it, and proud to be a

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

So for the time being, Brits are still allowed to enter any European Schengen area country with just their passport for up to three months within any six month period.

In November however, travellers will have to apply for special permission to enter the EU before boarding the plane or boat. For a fee of €7, travellers will undergo a form of security check that will monitor irregular migration or high epidemic risks posed by visa-exempt visitors to Schengen states.

The background check will be automated against EU information systems for borders and security and, it’s claimed, authorisation will be issued within minutes for most. As such, holidaymakers who forget to apply for an ETIAS - or aren’t even aware of it - will technically be able to apply while waiting to board the aeroplane.

However, if additional checks are required, this could take up to 96 hours, making it sensible to apply well in advance.

It’s important to stress that expat residents of Spain will not be required to hold an ETIAS, although it will be advisable to have residency documents to hand when boarding.

Once an ETIAS is acquired, it will be valid for three years, saving travellers the hassle of having to apply each and every time they travel.

A total of 60 countries will be subject to the new ETIAS regime, including the UK, USA, New Zealand and Australia.

Largest ever haul of baby eels, worth quarter of a million euros, puts fish smuggling under the microscope

By Dilip Kuner

THE recent arrest of two men trying to smuggle 190 kilos of baby eels (known as elvers or anguilla) through the port of Algeciras has once more thrown the spotlight of this unusual but highly lucrative illegal trade. Border agents were shocked to find coolboxes filled with the live baby glass eels - 192 kilos of them, worth an astounding €250,000 - in a car coming from Tangier.

It was the largest haul of the critically endangered species since their import was banned into the EU in 2010.

But their high value for the Asian market has encouraged a rise in criminal gangs flying them to the Far East. Many end up in China to be fattened and then sold on to other countries including Japan where they are a highly prized delicacy.

Spain - itself a major breeding ground for the glass eel - has become a hub for the illegal trade, with elvers ‘harvested’ from across Europe and Africa sent here for onward shipment to Asia.

The eels are carried by ‘mules’ on scheduled flights in specially adapted checked-in suitcases. It may sound like a crazy amateurish scheme, but the trade is worth millions.

The Olive Press has previ-

ously reported on the vast profits, with one man convicted of smuggling an estimated €62 million worth of baby eels from Spain to East Asia via the UK. Gilbert Khoo (pictured bragging about his wealth by showing two gold bars), 67, from Surrey, was found guilty of six offences relating to the illegal importation.

UK Border Force officers found the European glass eels, concealed under a load of chilled fish at Heathrow Airport.

The live consignment, weighing around 200 kilos, had been transported from Spain to the UK in 2017 en route to Hong Kong. The creatures have since been returned to the wild.

As the ‘industrialisation’ of solar power becomes ever more controversial, Jack Gaioni looks at how one small farming community was grateful for the installation that helped them pump water round the fields more efficiently – until the company announced plans to expand it tenfold

TAKING THE STRAIN

New train route will take 48,000 lorries off the road

SPAIN is to get a new rail ‘superhighway’ aimed at taking 48,000 lorries off the roads.

At the moment just 5% of goods are moved by train, compared to the European

From oil to biofuel

By Simon Hunter

average of 20%.

But that is set to change as a new rail service between Al-

geciras and Zaragoza is put into action.

The public-private project will see a 1,074-kilometre route operating between the city in Cadiz province, which is home to the country’s main port, and the capital of Aragon, which is set to become a national hub for logistics.

At the moment, the vast majority of goods arriving in Algeciras are hauled away by lorries. The new rail link will take 48,000 lorries off the roads annually on the routes north from the Andalucian port.

This is expected to dramatically decrease pollution: the forecast is a reduction of 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

TRADE: Algeciras is Spain’s main port

The plan is for three services to run daily in each direction. Each train will have capacity for 30 wagons, which will be loaded with shipping containers.

The Spanish Cabinet has authorised contracts worth €45.5 million to refurbish signage on two new routes

of the conventional rail network, to prepare them for this new train highway. The lines between Ariza and Calatayud, and Guadalajara and Ariza, will be the first to get a spruce up. The total investment for the project is expected to run to €85 million.

AN old oil refinery in Huelva, which has been converted to produce biofuels, is capable of reducing CO2 emissions by 90%.

Cepsa says that the upgraded facility is now able to produce a sustainable diesel fuel, called hydrobiodiesel, from vegetable oil, vegetable waste and animal fats not intended for human consumption (sandach). The plant was originally made to remove sulphur from mineral oil.

Net Zero by 2050….at what cost?

THE question in the headline is easy to answer…. a lot! There is much talk in the media about ‘Net Zero’.

Simply put, this is that when CO2 emissions and CO2 removals are equally balanced, we reach the Utopian state of Net Zero.

It’s simple science. The world is warming to dangerous levels primarily because of CO2 emissions. Last year estimates from the United Nations indicated that emissions exceeded 35 billion tonnes. The amount being removed was less than 10% of this total.

Getting to Net Zero is a massive global challenge.

Currently nearly all the world’s CO2 removal occurs through natural processes.

That’s primarily trees and plants taking the CO2 from the air and then soil absorbing it.

There are limits to how much mother nature can do.

Even with increasing the amount of

planting that has been promised (and when it comes to promises on environmental action they are consistently broken) it still only amounts to 4 billion tonnes of CO2 removal.

THE SOLUTION IS TECHNOLOGY

To reduce and restrict the rise in global temperatures enormous amounts of money have to be invested. Developing new technologies does not come cheaply.

Many of these solutions are being developed:

● Carbon capture

● Incorporating CO2 capture into biomass based electricity generation

● Developing specially treated charcoal (Biochar) that locks in carbon

So, there are options. And there’s the rub. Developed nations continue to talk the talk, and not walk the walk.

My own view is that there is a danger here with the talk of expensive solutions. All this does is delay and defer the urgently needed action required to minimise the use of fossil fuels.

To date, emissions from fossil fuels have yet to start a downward trend. The facts speak for themselves.

When you look at the hard evidence, there can be only one conclusion…. we are failing to remove the threat for future generations.

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STARS: of the show

Historic China

SPAIN will be the first place in the world to host an exhibition on the legacy of China's Qin and Han dynasties, after the communist country relaxed pandemic restrictions.

Alicante’s Archaeological Museum will host the display of over 150 items from March until January next year.

All exhibits have been loaned by nine Chinese mu seums.

Highlights will include nine warrior statues dug up in archaeological sites and an original terracotta horse. Alicante Provincial Coun cil's Julia Parra said: “The exhibition will become one of Spain's biggest cultural events of the year and will attract visitors from across the country.”

Flaming tradition

Horses ridden through fire as part of San Anton celebrations

By Dilip Kuner

A TRADITION where horses are spurred to leap through 20 flaming bonfires has been revived after a COVID break - and not everyone is happy.

Las Luminarias, which celebrates Spain’s patron saint of animals, San Anton, returned after the COVID-19

Eurovision time

BENIDORM will once again host the search to find Spain’s Eurovision Song Contest entry at the end of the month.

Benidorm Fest 2023 will stage the semi-finals on January 31 and February 2 at the Palacio de Deportes with the grand final on February 4. Tickets for all three nights were sold out within minutes of going on sale, with the event screened by TVE.

Some 18 singers and groups will fight it out to represent Spain in Liverpool this May.

After years of lacklustre entries, Spain moved to a festival format in Benidorm last year. The winner was SloMo sung by Chanel, which finished a very respectable third in Turin.

CRUEL?: No horses were hurt, claim participants

pandemic last year, but with pandemic restrictions still in force. This year the 200-year-old event saw 120 horses and donkeys going through the cobbled village streets of San Bartolome de Pinares, near Avila with no such restrictions.

The strange ritual is in memory of a devastating epidemic that wiped out a large part of the area’s cattle and horses. The bonfire smoke from bonfires is meant to drive away evil spirits. For an event that celebrates animal well-being, it has attracted controversy over the way the horses are treated.

The National Association for the Protection and Welfare

EYE OF THE STORM

A SPECIAL Ukranian art exhibition will be hosted in Madrid at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum.

The exhibit In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930s can also be visited through a virtual tour. Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Anastasia Bondar said one of the most important tasks for culture is to open national art to the whole world.

of Animals made its annual demand that horses should only pass by the bonfires to take in the ‘purifying’ smoke, rather than riding through them - a move backed by the town hall. But many of the riders ignore the official advice and charge through the flames.

Burned

Organisers said no horses were harmed during this year’s hour-long celebration. Precautions like clipping horse hair to avoid the animals being burned were also taken. Horse owners and riders had to be officially registered and take out civil-liability insurance.

“Exhibitions like this aim to show our art, unknown to the West, which embodies the difficult path of self-determination of Ukrainians, and on the other hand, prove the belonging and synchronization of Ukrainian art with the European context of those times,” she added. For more information, visit: www.museothyssen.org

4 Betrayal (4-3) 8 About (5)

9 Little one in Liguria (7) 10 Nepalis upset dog (7) 11 Tithe (5) 12 Stopped flowing (3,3) 14 Experts (6) 18 Theme (5) 20 Opposes (7) 22 Employment vacancy (7) 23 Throw forcefully (5) 24 Hankered (7) 25 Eats to a plan (5)

1 Finger pointer (7)

2 Negotiate (7)

3 Hindu religious teacher (5)

4 Delicate in meaning (6)

5 Restricted (7)

6 Kitchen tear-jerker? (5)

7 Cog (5)

13 Brutal bully (7)

15 Wrap up (7)

16 Nuns (7)

17 Counterfeit (6)

18 Temperamental (5)

19 Perplexed at the Greek letter (5)

21 Holy war (5)

LA CULTURA

MALLORCA THROUGH AN ARTIST’S EYE

GERMAN photographer and artist Patrick Morarescu

brought his keen eye to Mallorca five years ago.

A successful documentary and portrait artist, he attended photography school in Munich in search of a way to unleash his artist’s soul. He also dabbled in poetry too.

The forty-nine-yearold has spent these years snapping the heart of Mallorca, unobtrusively capturing what he observes.

He explained his craft to the Olive Press: “I think artists shouldn't draw too many connections themselves.”

“We’re just doing something because we feel like it. It's for the viewer to draw the connections.”

Find more of his work at www. morarescu.de

Canyamel, 2019

A somewhat scathing and comical indictment of Mallorquin tourism, the photograph shows a giant hydraulic digger dredging sand among a packed beach of holidaymakers. Not forgetting the two snorkelling kids, who are the nominal subject of the photo.

Festa del Sequer, Lloret de Vistalegre, 2018

This striking nun had journeyed all the way from Tenerife to take part in the Festa de Sequer in Lloret de Vistalegre, held on the first Sat- urday of every Sep- tember. A festival in honour of the fig, grown locally in the village.

Plaza de Toros, Inca, 2021

At the Plaza de Toros in Inca, 2021, Patrick discovered the famed cape, known as a capote, worn by the matadors. “I didn’t know anything about bullfighting at the time. I just took the capote there and found that, because it’s so heavy, it could stand on its own like there’s a ghost. Like there was a ghost in the stadium.”

Atirofijo Circ at Eimar Festival, Maria de la Salut, 2019

Artists Guillem Vizcaino and Mari Paz Arango standing in a field at the Eimar Festival in August caught Patrick’s eye.

“There was a light sunset and I really liked the difference, the contrast of shapes. And so I took the photo.”

Magaluf, 2021

Part of Patrik’s ‘The sun will shine again tomorrow’ collection inspired by the barren lockdown period where human activity diminished to less than a crawl. Taken at tourist hotspot Magaluf in 2021, it shows a tiny person in between the jaws of a shark. But as an artist, Patrick refused to be drawn on its deeper symbolic meaning.

Son Bugadelles, 2018

This woman and her remarkable leather skin with tight crease lines pulled over her unusually taut muscles was manning a stall at a flea market when she caught Patrick’s roving eye. “She was a good character. I asked to take a photo and then I went off.”

Playa de Palma, 2021

The woman in pink was from Germany. She told Patrick how much she loved to travel around, and she was in Mallorca visiting her son. He is the one with the kite in the background, getting ready to go out on the sea.

Can Pastilla, 2021

This picture of kitesurfers hit the press all around the world during a time still traumatised by Covid. “It was a mood at the time, when they were reopening Mallorca,” he explained.

“If there is a lot of wind in Mallorca,” he added, “then you see the skies full of kites.”

Palmanova, 2021

Patrick recounted the period just after lockdown, when the island was still shellshocked and the world outside our apartments still daunting. “I started to just go out and take pictures of what I was seeing, and the feeling happening then on the beaches. Because they were half empty - or very empty.”

Doesn’t add up

ACCUSATIONS that the big four accounting firms were making their Spanish employees work 84 hour weeks triggered simultaneous surprise inspections by Spain’s labour ministry.

The Madrid offices of PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte received visits from government inspectors investigating potentially abusive practices.

The ministry said it was concerned about compliance with both labour and social security law at the consulting giants.

The big four host 20,000 employees in their Madrid skyscrapers, many of whom are new graduates eager to get their accounting accreditation and a big name company on their CV.

QUANTUM LEAP

THE first trial of ultra speedy 25G PON technology has successfully been trialled in Spain on Telefonica’s existing fibre network, Nokia announced.

The trial demonstrated nose-bleed-inducing speeds of 20 gigabits per second - around 60 times faster than current high-speed internet.

Such speeds are considered necessary for some cutting edge cloud computing technology, as well as future applications such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. 25G is not a five order jump for 5G mobile networks; the two are separate - 25G refers to home broadband.

DRONE BLACKLIST

AN airline headquartered in Palma de Mallorca has been added to a US sanctions blacklist for allegedly helping Iran sell drones to Russia. These have been used to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in the ongoing

Firm ‘headquartered’ in Palma accused of breaking Russia sanctions

war.

By Walter Finch

Dubai airline iJet, also known as I JET Global DMCC, is accused of collaborating with US-sanc tioned Iranian firm Safiran Airport Services (Safiran) to coordinate flights between Iran and Russia.

The flights allegedly transported Iranian UAVs, personnel, and related equip-

Russia. iJet, which has offices in the Plaza del Olivar in Palma,

CASH HAPPY

THE number of bankers in Spain who earn more than €1 million a year grew 73% to 221 just after the pandemic. This is compared to the figure of 128 in 2020, according to figures just published by the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The list shows that Spain is fourth in Europe when it comes to the highest number of bankers with salaries over the million-euro mark, only below Germany (589), France (371) and Italy (351).

What’s more, a Spanish banker received the highest salary in the entire European Union in 2021, with a total of €14.67 million for the year.

Salary

The average salary for million-earning bankers in the country was €2.16 million, compared to the European average of €1.8 million.

In its analysis, the EBA pointed to the effect that the variable component of bankers’ salaries has on the yearly figures, meaning that when these lenders have a good year, pay can rise considerably.

Factors that had an influence on strong performance in 2021 include the lifting of many of the restrictions put in place the year before due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the relocation of staff due to Brexit and inflation.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Abbas, 4 Sell-out, 8 Circa, 9 Bambino, 10 Spaniel, 11 Tenth, 12 Ran dry, 14 Adepts, 18 Motif, 20 Objects, 22 Opening, 23 Heave, 24 Yearned, 25 Diets

Down: 1 Accuser, 2 Bargain, 3 Swami, 4 Subtle, 5 Limited, 6 Onion, 7 Tooth, 13 Ruffian, 15 Package, 16 Sisters, 17 Forged, 18 Moody, 19 Theta, 21 Jihad

tions list by the US Treasury. “The United States is determined to sanction people and companies, no matter where they are located, that support Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said in a statement.

“Today’s action exposes and holds accountable companies and individuals that have enabled Russia’s use of Iranian-built UAVs to brutalize Ukrainian civilians.”

Fighters

The Mallorca-headquartered company is also accused of working with the Syrian company Cham Win Airlines to facilitate the transport of Syrian fighters to Russia, according to the Treasury. Ultima Hora reports that the offices listed as housing iJet bear no trace whatsoever of housing the company and are closed for refurbishment. Any individual found to have been doing business with iJet faces the possibility of being sanctioned in turn, while the assets of the airline are liable to be seized and confiscated by US authorities.

SLEEP TO DEFEAT OLD AGE

Plus another 11 great tips to avoid joining the 55 million people currently with dementia

THE vast majority of people are not doing enough to ward off dementia in later life.

A feared consequence of ageing the number of people expected to suffer from dementia is only set to rise.

Already an estimated 55 million people suffer from it, with more than 60% living in low and middle income countries.

As the proportion of older people increases in nearly every country, this figure is expected to rise to 78 million

By Anthony Piovesan

in 2030 and then 139 million by 2050, according to the WHO.

To remedy the problem Alzheimer’s Research UK has composed a new 12-step checklist to help avoid getting the condition.

The number one factor on the checklist is to get at least seven hours of sleep a night.

This is the optimal amount of sleep for most adults, pro-

SLUMBER ISSUES

A SURVEY called ‘Sleep and Well-being’ claims 54% of people in Spain have mood swings caused by a lack of sleep.

It found that 39% of the population endure either poor or very poor quality sleep on a daily basis.

The research was jointly carried out by the Monica Duart Sleep Foundation and Castellon’s Jaume I University. Sleep problems are hitting the whole of the population, regardless of age, with 36% of those surveyed admitting to daytime drowsiness.

“These research results are further evidence of the importance of sleep,” said Monica Duart.

“The lack of rest affects all parts of our lives from mental health to work performance,” she added.

Collaboration between the Sleep Foundation and the university started last year.

They are now both promoting rest and well-being, in addition to raising general awareness of sleeping problems. Over the next year, further analysis will be made over sleep quality and its implications on health.

FAUX GRAS!

The Olive Press gets a thumbs up for the latest ethical meat substitute to hit the market, writes

Jo Chipchase

WHILE most Spanish supermarket chains stock a range of vegetarian and vegan products, one of the world’s cruelest luxury foods is now turning into an ethical, imitation product for discerning shoppers.

This latest foodie invention is a vegan foie gras, called Fuah, and it’s literally flying off the shelves.

Real foie gras is made from duck or goose liver and is controversial because the birds are usually tube-fed more than they would usually eat, to fatten their liver before slaughter.

In the UK, King Charles is reportedly banning the cruel product from royal estates, while California and New York also want to ban it.

In these more socially aware times, it is simply not something to serve visitors or friends concerned about animal welfare.

The vegan version is made by a start-up company in Madrid called Hello Foods and uses coconut oil, beetroot extract and lentil flour to create its Fuah

The company worked on the recipe for more than a year, revising it an incredible 800 times, it claims. Within 12 hours of launch last month,

viding the most benefit for cognitive and mental health.

VITAL: A good seven hours solid sleep as a minimum dementia, it is not an inevitable consequence of biological ageing.

Step two is to regularly challenge the brain - this could involve anything from frequently doing puzzles, or playing crosswords to learning a new language.

Third is to stay socially active, while the fourth step is to maintain mental well-being.

The fifth and sixth steps recommend people look after their hearing and eat a balanced diet.

Staying physically active comes next, while quitting smoking also helps.

The ninth step is drinking responsibly, while number 10 is keeping a healthy level of cholesterol.

To achieve this, eat oats, barley and other whole grains, as well as beans, eggplant and okra, nuts, vegetable oils, apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits.

The final two steps are maintaining healthy blood pressure and managing diabetes. Although age is the strongest known risk factor for

the first 5,000 units sold out across Spain. When 30,000 more were distributed, these were also snapped up.

The product can be bought in specialist stores, online, and in Alcampo. The cost is €5.99 online and €8.99 in Alcampo.

In an Olive Press taste test at Bar Piki, in Canar, near Granada, over a dozen expats and Spanish gave it a thumbs up.

Indeed, everyone who tried it liked it, and one young Spaniard was so enthusiastic he immediately bought some online.

“I really enjoyed the taste although I’ve never tried the real thing, it was super tasty and had a really nice creamy texture,” said fashion designer Freya Rogers, from Orgiva.

“From an animal abuse point of view, this provides a good, cruelty free option.”

Maria Jose Moreno, added: “It’s years since I had real foie gras, but I remember the flavour well – creamy and tasty and this is just as nice.”

Sorrell Badger, from Lanjaron, added: “I am pleasantly surprised. It is creamy and delicious and you get an attractive glass jar to keep when you’re finished.”

The only negative is it being unsuitable for people with nut or gluten allergies, so be sure to read the label first.

It also does not exclusively affect older people - young onset dementia occurs when symptoms develop before the age of 65 and accounts for 9% of cases worldwide.

No cure

There is currently no cure for dementia. There are anti-dementia medicines and disease-modifying therapies, but they have limited efficacy and are primarily labelled for Alzherimer’s disease.

There are, however, numerous new treatments in various stages of clinical trials.

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Big pussy

A ‘big cat’ reported to be a ‘Siberian Tiger’ terrorising residents in Cadiz has turned out to be a household pussy, police report after days of surveillance.

Rotten plot

POLICE in Cordoba who arrested a gang which hid drugs inside fake tomatoes and used trucks to transport them to France, have seized 22,370kg of cannabis resin.

Maya gold

PABLO Picasso’s portrait of his toddler daughter Maya in 1938 is expected to fetch between €15 million and €20 million at an upcoming Sotheby’s auction in London.

O P LIVE RESS The

A POLICEMAN has been suspended for moonlighting as a porn actor.

The cop in Sevilla had appealed against the six month unpaid suspension to the High Court in Madrid, protesting that he was unpaid for his starring roles.

But judges decided that he received ‘indirect benefits’ and threw out the appeal.

The Directorate General of the Police had imposed the suspension after it found the National Police officer had been advertising his extra-curricular activities on social media.

Police bosses decided this was ‘detrimental to the image of the force’.

DIRTY COP

By Dilip Kuner

The court ruled in its written judgement that ‘he advertised himself on social networks using a pseudonym as a pornographic actor.

“He was totally recognisable in several photos that he posted, some of which had a high sexual content.”

In addition, the officer provided contact details for hiring, as he apparently acted in ‘specialised rooms’, perform-

Bosom buddies

HABITUAL rows at a Spanish public swimming pool about women going topless might finally be settled after the town hall gave the practice its blessing. Previously the law in Cordoba was vague on the issue, resulting in frequent poolside blow outs between those who object to seeing breasts in public versus those who do not. What’s more, the Municipal Sports Institute has floated the idea of dedicated times for naturists to indulge in full-frontal nudity.

Policeman who stripped off to star in porn movies suspended

ing live pornographic shows and making videos. The officer, who was stationed in the Macarena district police station, appealed the suspension claiming that the pro file he managed on social networks as a porn actor ‘was private, not open to the public’ and that he did not charge anything, ‘but did it as a hobby’. His image rights were assigned to the production compa ny and the police officer did not know if the company de manded payment for access to the con tent.

In a written sub mission to the court

No speaky English

his lawyer said: “He never worked as a professional, only as an amateur, without charging for image rights or identifying himself as a police officer and without using his own name.”

The policeman’s now ex-partner, who starred with him, told investigating internal affairs officers that she was paid €300 per scene, although the male ‘stars’ usually did not get paid. Judges decided that the officer would have indirectly benefited by ‘sharing expenses’ and that the scenes would not have been possible without him.

A WOMAN thought her foster dog was not obeying her demands because it was disobedient, but it turns out the pooch only understood Spanish.

Ariana Giampietro, 26, had been looking after American Pitbull pup Monty for about a week but he wouldn’t ‘sit’ when she asked him to in English. When she asked the shelter she fostered him from, she then discovered he had previously lived on a farm with a Spanish family, and only understood Spanish words. Giampietro, an adoption case manager for children in care, from Florida then looked up the Spanish words for ‘down’ and ‘let’s go’ and when saying them aloud discovered how obedient Monty could be. She is now teaching him English words so he can become bilingual before he moves in with his new English-speaking adoptive family.