Olive Press Mallorca Issue 151

...HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

Gender push

A NEW law will make it mandatory for corporate boards to be composed of at least 40% women.

Spain’s Parliament is set to introduce the ‘gender parity law’, which would see a similar quota set for the cabinet.

It was due to be passed last night on the eve of International Women’s Day today and will be ratified by congress next month.

All publicly-traded companies, or those with over 250 employees, must comply by July next year. Although many firms on the Ibex-35 already meet the quota, several fall short.

International Women’s Day

Childcare cash

A JUDGE has calculated the value of a stayat-home mum during 25 years of marriage; some €204,000.

It comes from the cost of paying for childcare and housework and was calculated during a separation hearing in Malaga.

The couple had got married under the separacion de bienes regime, which means that if they were to split, each would only have a right to their own assets.

This left the wife entitled to just half of a property she shared with her wealthy husband, who had amassed luxury assets over the years.

The judge calculated the cost of raising their two daughters and ordered the husband to cough up.

Trans divide

FOR the first time, Women’s Day marches in Palma were divided into two separate routes.

The ‘official’ demo organised by the Feminist Movement of Mallorca (MFM), attracted 3,000 participants.

But an earlier march of 1,400 people gathered for Coordinator 8M Transfeminists (CT), who decided to walk separately to have a ‘safer space for all’ including transgender women.

MFM said it respected the decision to hold a separate pro-trans march, but added: “We think that together we are stronger, especially because it is the patriarchy we have to fight against, not each other.”

The separate marches took place in the wake of new progressive trans laws that have divided public opinion, including amongst feminists.

OLIVEThe MALLORCA

Lights, camera, Mallorca

HIT BBC1 detective series

The Mallorca Files is back on the island.

Filming of the third series started in Palma’s Plaza Cort yesterday, with more scenes to be shot across the island in the coming weeks.

The popular BBC show enjoyed great success in the

first two series averaging two million viewers per episode.

The show focuses on Welsh Detective Constable Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys), and German detective Max Winter (Julian Looman) as they solve crimes on the island.

BITCON

A KIDNAPPING of two expats foiled by Spanish police last year is linked to an enormous crypto currency scandal set to rock the country, the Olive Press can reveal.

The incredible drama which saw the couple held for several hours took place after hundreds of investors feared they had lost as much as €70 million in the ‘crypto scam’.

The snatching of Russian Pavel Sidirov and his wife in June was initially treated by police as routine extortion, as we reported at the time.

The couple had been kidnapped outside their villa in El Campello, Alicante, by two bogus cops flashing fake Guardia Civil badges and a Russian woman acting as an interpreter.

They were bundled into a car, stripped and the wife was tied up and used as a hostage.

The gang then threatened both their lives if they did not hand over the codes to a crypto wallet containing millions.

Tech guru Sidirov cleverly bought time by telling the gang that the codes were distributed

in 12 separate houses that they would have to go to individually to fetch. And in one of them - with his wife still bound and gagged in the boot of the car - Sidirov was able to call his lawyer for help.

The lawyer alerted the police, who were quickly on the scene to catch the kidnappers.

Police arrested six people, including a retired Guardia Civil officer, while the alleged ringleader, Carlos Garrido (pictured), handed himself in in the ensuing days to deny he was a criminal. Insisting he wasn’t a criminal, he claimed the scheme was a minor matter and he was merely representing a group of investors trying to recover €2

By Walter Finch

million ‘owed to them’ by Sidirov. While it seemed to be the end of the matter, the Olive Press can reveal today that the kidnapping is just a small part of a much bigger scandal that is set to engulf the already beleaguered crypto industry.

The kidnapping is linked to a Gibraltar-linked crypto firm that has become immersed in a murky world of trading failures.

According to well placed sources, hundreds of frantic investors are now scrambling to recover their funds from the trading platform Globix, which at its peak had almost €150 million under management.

Over the last few months it has gradually become clear to investors, based in Gibraltar and Spain, that Globix has allegedly lost as much as two thirds of this enormous sum.

And in a bizarre twist, the Olive Press can reveal that the remaining €40 million is apparently in the hands of a shady IT firm based in Ukraine.

It happened after Sidirov activated a mechanism during his kidnap that sent the codes to Globix’s partners in Kyiv.

An independent investigation by a well known Gibraltar financial company told investors they had been struggling to get any money back from Ukraine.

It added the CEO of the Kyiv-based firm had ‘not

been forthcoming’ in his efforts to return the money and was ‘now under arrest’.

A statement issued to investors in January, seen by the Olive Press, reads: “The police have been contacted, as has the Ministry (of Finance) and collectively we are hopeful that they will ensure the process is completed satisfactorily.”

It added: “We have the Ukrainian special police involved and they have arrested three individuals. They are looking for a fourth individual. These people hold the data that is needed to facilitate the final transfer.” While this has been hard to independently verify, Globix’ website has not been functioning since November, when a statement was put up reading: ‘We will not be taking on any more accounts’.

When contacted by the Olive Press for comment, the alleged boss of Globix dismissed all the allegations against him and his company as ‘lies’.

The Gibraltarian, who lists himself on LinkedIn as a ‘crypto mining broker’, said: “I’m not allowed to speak about that at the moment. Sorry.” He added: “Basically someone is shit stirring and if you have any evidence send it to me. On top of that it’s still ‘secreto sumario’ at Alicante court so you should talk to the court.”

According to his CV he attended the Tambov University, in Russia, before setting up ‘a crypto mining farm in Russia in conjunction with a Russian team’.

Opinion Page 6

EXCLUSIVE: Kidnap, crypto and the Russians: The multimillion-euro scandal that may have defrauded hundreds in Spain

Bonus cash

MALLORCA council has allocated €5 million to hand out as €200 bonuses to lower income families and residents. Around 25,000 people are expected to qualify.

Fatal crash

A CYCLIST, 63, who crashed into a lorry on Palma’s Paseo Maritimo on February 13 has died from his severe head injuries at Son Espases Hospital.

Power save

FIFTEEN homes and three businesses in Esporles will be able to tap into solar panels being erected on the municipal building to get cheaper and greener electricity.

Bargain buy

A TOTAL of 22 properties within 19 lots in Binissalem and Alaro are up for auction for a starting price of one euro each, despite an estimated value of €1.5 million.

NINE years after 15-year-old Malen Ortiz disappeared as she walked to her boyfriend’s house, a specialised team with dogs and bulldozers has searched a Magaluf farm.

Police brought in from Madrid spent two days digging up an area that had been used as an illegal horse cemetery follow-

Malen search Free stays

ing a tip-off that a clue to her fate may be found there.

Officers retrieved shoes, shawls and animal bones from the site, which is close to where a prime suspect in the case used to live.

Brothel creeper

Corruption scandal blows up for Socialist party over a hookers and kickbacks scheme

A LEADING politician went to a brothel on the day his party issued a firm condemnation of prostitution in Parliament.

PSOE deputy Juan Fuentes - or ‘Tito Berni’ as he is often known - visited Club Sombras, in Madrid, after a night out with clients, spending €150 on gin & tonics alone.

The Canary Islands politician has now become the focus of a kickbacks-for-favours scandal

that has already cost him his role as a politician in the Congress of Deputies.

The so-called ‘Mediator’ case is now probing the scandal in which he and other figuresincluding a Guardia Civil boss - are accused of running a network taking bribes for political favours.

The group is accused of spending money on sex parties involving drugs, alcohol and pros-

A FORMER Interior Minister is facing 15 years in prison for sanctioning a police spying operation on a PP party treasurer.

Jorge Fernandez Diaz, 72, faces the charges under Operation Kitchen set up to probe his involvement into the complex espionage case that has rocked Spain’s PP party.

The former minister in Mariano Rajoy’s cabinet between 2011 to 2016 is accused of setting up an irregular police network to spy on Luis Barcenas, while he was being held in prison.

titutes, in return for favourable rulings or lucrative contracts. So far 12 people are being investigated, including at least seven businessmen. The case came to light when a series of arrests were carried out in the Canary Islands and mainland Spain, including Fuentes (right). The network is alleged to have handed businesses public contracts in exchange for kick-

Theheat is on

Barcenas, who himself got 33 years prison in the Gurtel kickbacks-for-contracts scandal, had been hiding numerous documents that linked many former colleagues. The aim of Diaz’s operation was to seize and destroy this compromising material. He is facing charges of misuse of €60,000 of public funds, concealment of a crime and privacy offences.

backs, as well as bribing firms in the farming sector in exchange for positive inspections. It also ensured that those involved would receive payments from European

Union funding. Compromising photos of Fuentes with hookers have been published in the press, causing an outrage in the run up to International Women’s Day.

Fuentes trip to Club Sombras came as his boss, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned prostitution to coincide with International Day Against Sexual Exploitation and the Trafficking of Women and Children in September 2020.

Police also launched a campaign that day targeting men who pay for sex. A Tenerife court is now tasked to probe the scandal.

How much UK inheritance tax will your family pay?

You can live in Spain for many years and still be liable for UK inheritance tax (IHT) on your worldwide estate since it is determined by your domicile, not residence. The main IHT allowance has been frozen since 2009 and not increased with inflation and house prices, and both this and the residential nil rate band will remain unchanged till 2028.

More families are getting caught in the IHT net and losing more of their inheritance to tax. Blevins Franks specialises in determining domicile –which is not as hard a tie to break as many people think – and strategic inheritance tax planning. Protect your family, get in touch with your local office today.

A CON man duped three Palma hotels out of over €3,000 by falsely claiming he'd paid beforehand.

The fraudster used online reservation sites and produced fake documents to hotel receptionists to ‘prove’ he had already paid.

His deception included taking on the guises of an air traffic controller or an insurance company employee.

Once a hotel verified - often a few days into his stay - that he had not actually paid, he provided credit card details, which were declined. He has been arrested and charged with fraud.

Troubled

youth

A TEEN boy has been arrested in Palma for threatening to carry out an American-style highschool massacre against his classmates.

The 14-year-old posted pictures to Instagram of guns and even an apparent plan of attack, prompting numerous frantic calls to police. The school quickly sent all students home and activated a protection procedure, while police worked to identify the owner of the social media account. To muddy the waters, the culprit had posted the pictures through a fake Instagram account designed to frame a classmate for the planned crime.

BROADWAY PICASSO

STAR of innumerable Hollywood movies Antonio Banderas has revealed that he is starting negotiations with several Broadway companies about staging a musical in English about Pablo Picasso.

If the negotiations materialise, Banderas aims for the world premiere to be held at the Soho Theatre in Malaga, the city where Picasso was born 141 years ago.

The 62-year-old, Oscar-nominated actor is busier than ever, having recently completed 240 performances of the hit musical Company

THE PRICE OF SILENCE

Husband of King’s sister wants

Oops!... I did it again

€25,000

a month maintenance in divorce settlement

THE former Duke of Palma - and jailbird - Inaki Urdangarin is reportedly asking for €25,000 a month from his soon to be ex-wife, the Infanta Cristina.

The two split by ‘mutual agreement’ just days after photos were published of him with another woman.

Although they announced they were to be divorced in January 2022, negotiations over a final settlement have dragged on. Now Lecturas magazine has claimed that the settlement for the divorce - which is expected to come through in April - will include the monthly €25,000,

By Dilip Kuner

with a clause stipulating neither he nor his extended family talk about the marriage.

Infanta Cristina (57) and Urdangarin (55) have been married since 1997 and have four children. At present, Cristina is said to pay all the family expenses as well as €6,000 a month to Urdangarin. The final blow to their marriage was when a magazine published pics of Urdangarin with female co-worker Ainhoa Armentia (44) during a stroll in the south of France, close to where he and

Christian concert

PAUL Jones, lead singer of The Manfreds (formerly Manfred Mann) is heading to Spain - and you can see him free.

Together with his wife, former actress Fiona Hendley-Jones, who starred in ITV’s Widows, they will appear at the Centro Alfa & Omega in Denia on April 29 at 7pm.

The

his wife have a holiday home. Urdangarin later admitted that ‘these are things that happen’.

The then Duke of Palma, was jailed for five years and 10 months for corruption in 2018. However, in June 2020, he was allowed out due to good behaviour and converted his sentence to community work.

The former Olympic handball

Fiona gave up acting to tour as a Christian speaker and together with Paul will sing and also give their Christian testimony. She and Jones both became Christians after being invited by Cliff Richard to a large-scale evangelistic event led by Luis Palau in the early 1980s.

player used his royal connections to win public contracts related to sports. He then overcharged for events before hiding the money abroad.

He was convicted of using his Mallorca-based foundation to siphon off €6 million between 2004 and 2006. Cristina was acquitted of aiding her husband at a trial in 2017 but ordered to pay a €265,000 fine as she benefited from her husband’s racket. King Felipe stripped them of their titles of the Duke and Duchess of Palma after the scandal broke.

Allegations

Unlike her brother, King Felipe, she has not renounced her father’s inheritance, so when the former King Juan Carlos dies, she stands to inherit a fortune.

ONE ‘revenge song’ by Shakira just wasn’t enough. The Colombian superstar has just released a second aimed squarely at her ex, former Catalan footballer Gerard Pique. She has teamed up with fellow Colombian Karol G to record TQG with the song also taking a potshot at Karol’s ex rapper Anuel AA. The song’s title stands for ‘Te Quede Grande’, a phrase also used in Session 53, the first diss song, which was recorded with Argentine producer Bizarrap, and can be roughly translated as ‘I was too big for you’. It turned into a world-wide smash racking up more than 350 million views on YouTube and became the most-streamed Latin song on Spotify.

HAPPIER TIMES:

couple at their wedding

Wrong waters

A SPANISH patrol vessel has intercepted two Russian warships sailing in Balearic waters. Russian vessel Admiral Kasatonov and tanker Akademik Pashin were spotted sailing in the western Mediterranean on Tuesday.

The Spanish patrol ship, the Centinela, was carrying out maritime surveillance and security tasks at the time when the Russian vessels crossed into Balearic territory.

Spy in the pocket

UNIONS are accusing traffic warden bosses of snooping on private conversations through an app installed on employees’ phones.

Now representatives of the ORA blue zone workers have reported the management company to the National Data Protection Agency and Balearic Employment Inspectorate.

The intended purpose of the app was to create a better line of communication between workers and for emergency situations.

But it became evident that recordings of employee conversations were being made without their knowledge when an inspector referred to a private conversation between workers who were on a break.

EXPENSIVE PLONK

TWO people who stole vintage wines worth €1.6 million from a Michelin-starred restaurant have been jailed.

Caceres Provincial Court has sentenced former Mexican beauty queen, Priscilla Guevara, to four years and her Dutch-Romanian boyfriend, Constantin Dumitru, to four-and-a-half years. They've also been landed with a bill

of over €750,000 as compensation to the Atrio restaurant's insurer.

The star attraction of the 45 bottle haul was a 1806 bottle of Chateau d'Yquem worth over €300,000, but none of the wines have been recovered.

The couple were arrested trying to cross into Croatia from Montenegro following extensive cooperation between Spanish cops and police across Europe.

Virus warning

Health authorities are urging visitors to Ibiza to be cautious of a mosquito-borne infection

TOURISTS planning to travel to Ibiza this summer are being warned about a mosquito-borne virus after a spike in cases.

German authorities notified Spain that six German tourists had recently returned from Ibiza with dengue fever, the Spanish Health Ministry announced last week.

One German woman confirmed to have been infected with the dengue virus had been in Ibiza with her family just before she developed symptoms in August.

By Anthony Piovesan

The woman, her partner and 14-month-old daughter all developed symptoms, but only the woman was tested for dengue.

Another woman in the same part of Ibiza in October also returned a positive result. She was also visiting the Balearic island with her partner and child, and they all developed symptoms.

The Spanish Health Ministry said a person who lived in the same area the Ger-

man tourists had visited appeared to have caught the virus in Mexico and started the outbreaks in Ibiza.

Dengue is usually spread through certain types of mosquitoes. The tiger mosquito, the most likely culprit in this case, was first identified in Ibiza in 2014.

Dengue, which has spread

rapidly around the world in recent years, according to the World Health Organisation, is most widespread in tropical areas. About 80% of Dengue cases are mild or asymptomatic, but it can cause severe illness that can become fatal. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, rash, aches, pains and fever.

German influx

TOURISM operators are predicting that an extra 300,000 German tourists will travel to the Balearic Islands this year.

German tour operators met with representatives of the Spanish government and Mallorca Council at the ITB travel fair in Berlin and predicted a ‘10 month’ tourist season this year. It is predicted to start from February and last until about mid-November.

Mallorca Minister for Tourism Andreu Serra said it highlighted that tourists were taking advantage of the island’s spectacular climate all-year round and not just planning trips during the summer season. Minister of Economic Model, Tourism and Labor Iago Negueruela said that ways in which Mallorca can become a more sustainable destination to cater for the extra loads of tourists was also discussed at the fair.

A COMMISSION set up to investigate the Catholic Church finally admitted there are ‘thousands’ of victims of paedophile priests in Spain.

A spokesman for the church-organised probe confirmed that they didn’t have an exact figure yet, but it was ‘quite a few thousand victims’.

The leader of the probe Javier Cremades has been criticised for taking so long to admit a basic figure, in particular as he is a devout Catholic and member of shady religious group Opus Dei.

In contrast, El Pais newspaper already has 1,770 registered victims and 929 individuals accused from within the Catholic Church. In France, a special independent commission has so far compiled 6,500 victims,

HUNDREDS of people are thought to have been ordered to pay penalties for fines which they were never notified about when thousands of letters were dumped by lazy postmen. Now Palma council has decided to find a new contractor after CI Postal didn't deliver notifications on time. Sanctioned residents knew nothing about penalties until they got a fresh letter saying they had incurred an extra fine for late payment. An action group was formed by them to protest about their rights being violated.

Two former CI Postal employees have been charged with falsifying notification receipts and dumping letters in areas like tunnels. Their contract expires at the end of March and Palma council has made it clear that they will not get an extension.

The authority has advertised a tender for €15.5 million to cover three years - a 40% rise on the current budget as the number of fines has tripled.

Not fine at all PRICE HIKE

HOUSING prices in the Balearic Islands have increased by 5.9% in just one year, according to new figures.

National Institute of Statistics data from the fourth quarter of 2022 showed that despite a 1.1% drop from the previous quarter, the region remained the most expensive to buy in Spain.

The data showed previously occupied housing in the Balearic Islands is also more expensive than new housing in most autonomous communities.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the price in the Balearic Islands is 12.2% higher than in the same period of 2007 and 71.3% higher than the minimum reached at the start of 2013.

Behind the Balearics, the next place with the highest housing prices is Madrid, followed by Catalunya, while the cheapest are Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla Leon.

while in Germany there are 3,677 cases and in Holland 3,712.

The news comes as 721 sex offenders have had their sentences reduced due to a controversial new law introduced last year. The Only Yes Means Yes abuse law has also seen 74 offenders freed from prison early, it has emerged.

It came due to an unforeseen loophole, which redefined each offence and changed their minimum sentences, with most lowered in the absence of aggravating circumstances.

While prime minister Pedro Sanchez is currently in the process of repealing the law, his Equality Minister Irene Montero blamed ‘sexist’ judges for wrongly applying it.

Paedo priests: ‘There are thousands!’

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

Crypto scam

THE famous adage suggested northern Europeans too often ‘left their brains at the airport’ before being turned over by the numerous timeshare scams in Spain. And just as we spent over a decade warning readers to watch out for the timeshare crooks, we are once again telling them not to be taken in by the latest round of ‘big return’ investments.

The Globix cryptocurrency platform was sadly one of many suspect schemes that promised the earth, but in the end could not deliver.

Many of the victims of Globix we spoke to were lured in by seemingly easy money and an endless stream of winning trades.

But, like all investments, speak to experts, research the background of the organisers and do your due diligence. Remember: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

Splashing the cash

HOW can you tell when an election is coming in Spain?

Simple - the roads get repaired, museums are launched and rubbish gets cleaned up.

Politicians up for re-election have long saved their cash up over the four-year cycle to splash it out now in exchange for votes in the May 28 local and regional elections.

In its broadest interpretation, this could be viewed as a form of corruption, perhaps unfairly so.

But two stories in today’s paper show that corruption remains at the very heart of much of Spanish political life. It might seem shocking that former minister Jorge Fernandez faces 15 years in prison for spying on a colleague, while Juan Fuentes, a member of Congress, is being investigated for demanding kick-backs.

But actually, after probing crime and corruption for 17 years, we find it no surprise at all.

For the Olive Press team (and long-time residents of Spain) it’s just a case of ‘same old, same old’. It is time for voters to remember to punish the crooks at the polls. Not be so easily schmoozed by a new series of white lines or a shiny new community centre.

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

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

FIRST the good news: In Spain, at least, we can still find the food we want to buy. Over in the UK, a shortage of both home-grown and imported fruit and vegetables has led to supermarket rationing, in some places. This has been accompanied by a slew of news stories with the UK government claiming it’s the ‘bad weather in Spain’ – much to the amusement of the media here.

As a spokesman for FEPEX, the Spanish federation of exporters, clarified: ‘There are no problems exporting to any countries in the EU’. Quite simply, higher production costs, the UK’s own farming policies and, particularly, Brexit, have caused the problem. And those higher production costs are also affecting us in Spain. So, while food items are not being rationed here, they are increasingly unaffordable to many people.

To help struggling consumers, Spain’s Unidas Podemos party recently proposed a discount of 14.4% on a set of 20 basic food items. This is similar, in principle, to the 20 centimos per litre discount that applied at petrol stations between April and December. And now, hot off the press, Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, assures us that Spain has “the capacity” to introduce measures such as those being implemented in France, where a 2e price cap is being put on basic products.

The Carrefour supermarket chain will offer shoppers in its 5,945 French stores a basket of 200 basic products for under 2e, from March 15 to June 15.

A constant crisis

Planas previously wasn’t so keen on the subsidy idea, saying that inflation has now finally ‘reached a ceiling’ – despite the prices remaining as high as ever.

He pointed out that the government has already introduced VAT (IVA) reductions on certain foods. On January 1, VAT was cut from 4% to 0% on basic items, including bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and cereals. Tax on oil and pasta also fell from 10% to 5%.

However, these foods remain expensive throughout the nation.

According to a recent study by web portal, Trading Economics, Spain’s food cost 15.5% more in January than January 2022 (the rise is even higher in the UK at 17.1%) A weekly food shop that cost €200 a year ago in Spain now costs €231.

What exactly has risen?

Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms that the price of staple foods has reached historic highs.

Around 30 different foods are 10% more expensive than a year ago, including dairy products, such as cheese (22.1%), yoghurt (25.1%), and milk (37.5%).

And it’s really bad news if you like a fry-up: olive oil has risen by 35.2% and eggs by 29.8%.

Meanwhile, rice has increased 21.7%, pasta 19%, bread 15.4%, and breakfast cereals by 11.4%. Vegetables are up by more than 10%.

Maybe it really is time to turn vegetarian: chicken and turkey are up by 15.1%, pork by 13.8% and beef, 13.2%. Frozen fish has increased 13.2% and shellfish, 13.4%.

Why is this so bad?

People with lower incomes, and already stretched families, are disproportionately affected by food price inflation.

FOOD PRICE CRISIS

FEEDING THE MASSES

Some parents told the Olive Press that goods previously considered ‘normal’ have effectively become ‘luxuries’.

Anna Langdon, a British expat, based in Granada, explained: “I’m feeding four people on a pension meant for one, and it is more of a struggle than before.

“As I’ve raised six kids on homemade soups and home-grown food with little money for decades, I was relatively prepared for the crisis. However, even staple foods have increased in price, like butter and cheese, and we’ve had to use less and less and our portion sizes have shrunk a lot.”

She added: “The price increase in pet food is difficult and as I’ve got two cats and an elderly dog it’s sometimes cheaper to buy offal and rice.”

Meanwhile, Lenka, a Romanian mother of three, based in Orgiva, explained that she is having to cook something hearty that ‘ideally lasts for two or three days’.

“For example, a whole cooked chicken can be used to make soup the second day,” she said.

However, many working parents rely on shop-bought snacks, and the cost of these has multiplied.

“I know of a case where the snack a child takes to school each day has gone up by 300%, affecting the parent’s buying behaviour,” explained Lucy Hayes Logan, who runs her own advice agency, Tus Alpujarras.

“The impact can be huge for those on a set wage, one-salary households, the self-employed and people recovering from the financial losses caused by Covid.”

“The proposed 14% discount idea is a great idea, but how will it be funded? What are the food items and why those 20? Which brands? I’ve seen reduced items in supermarkets that look attractive, but the discounts are on selected lines, and often there are less-known brands that are still cheaper.”

Will a discount help most consumers?

Unless all foodstuffs are reduced, a basket of 20 goods won’t help everyone. For example, it’s unlikely to include pet food, which has seen huge rises, with a 20kg sack of cereal going from €11 to €18 to 20.

Leonie Crane, owner of the Camac health

food shop, in Orgiva, raises different concerns. “Smaller outlets need money from their sales to restock. How long will the 14% reimbursement from the government take to arrive?”

Cepsa petrol station boss, Joaquin Rodriguez, said: “When the government discount scheme for fuel ended, motorists rushed to fill their tanks, then returned to the same buying behaviour as before.” Cepsa now applies its own 12% discount with a loyalty card.

How to save money?

Whether or not the government decides to deduct 14.4% from certain food items, consumers can save money by being savvy. For starters, download the store loyalty apps: both Lidl and Dia have apps giving access to discount coupons, while Consum runs a savings scheme (the Mundo Consum card) where members can recoup a percentage of their monthly spend, delivered as an in-app voucher.

When in store, seek own-brand goods that cost less than, for example, imported British goods. Also look for discounts of the day, and multi-buy offers.

If all else fails, start planting your own vegetables and keep goats and chickens, and return to the centuries-old traditions of rural Spain. It’s not like we’re short of rural space.

Food price inflation is big news, with rising costs putting a strain on household budgets and driving an increase in food poverty. Is the Spanish government about to subsidise our groceries – and will it help? asks Jo Chipchase

International Women’s Day

HEALTHY WAGE

THERE are 250% more news stories about men than women, according to a new study.

The report by Spanish firm, Llorente & Cuenca, also reveals that women feature 21% less in the headlines.

Under represented OUR BRILLIANCE IS IN OUR DIVERSITY

Moreover, when women do appear in articles there is often an explicit mention of their gender and family and their sex is more prominent than their identity.

“An example would be; ‘A woman could be the new president of the US’ rather than ‘Kamala Harris is a strong candidate for presidency’,” a spokesman explained, adding that there is a bias, which makes women invisible and anonymous.

Grim stats

THE average woman in Spain earns 20% less than men and half of them have suffered abuse at work. What’s more, The burden of care and unpaid work falls mainly on women while companies close the doors to management positions.

According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics, the average salary for men in Spain is €26,369 whereas for women it is €21,682. Moreover, 93,6% of people who work part-time to take care of children and the elderly are women.

And the Ministry of Equality states that 57.3% of women have suffered gender violence and 13.2% have suffered sexual violence.

AWOMAN’S place is in the home. And the boardroom. In fact, it is anywhere she damn pleases, particularly in this day and age in Spain. But as another old adage goes, a woman’s work is never done. And there is no doubt, we often have to fight twice as hard to get the pay we deserve and speak twice as loud to have our voices heard in the workplace.

You’d be hard pressed to find a woman, even in 2023, who hasn’t been called ‘darling’, ‘sweetheart’ or ‘gorgeous’ in the office, and even boardroom.

And sadly, that’s getting off lightly. Complaining about these kinds of ‘compliments’ often isn’t worth your breath, since it’ll most likely be brushed off by colleagues as a ‘bit of banter.’

A working woman now knows she has to pick her battles, and unfortunately a daily scuffle with balding dinosaurs over terms of endearment - or endowment - has to be sidelined for more pressing matters such as pay, fair treatment and basic respect.

AN UNFAIR PORTRAYAL

WOMEN don’t take their kids to school in heels carrying a box of washing powder.

A recent study has found that 94% of women don’t identify with portrayals of themselves in advertising campaigns.

The questionnaire of 2000 women who were shown 20,000 adverts from 17 sectors, found they totally disagreed with the way they are used in adverts. Indeed, according to the study by Havas Media, while women make up 88% of consumer decisions, an alarming 6% feel properly represented.

Meanwhile 40% of ads are ‘sexist’ according to the Association of Users’ Communication (AUC).

Sometimes it’s a case of ‘sneaky sexism’ - a woman pouring detergent into the machine for example - while at other times it's overt. In the UK an NHS stay at home Covid ad (right) caused so much outrage, it had to be removed. It portrayed a woman at home with the kids, mopping, while ironing with a baby in her arms. Meanwhile, her husband sat on the sofa.

Please reward women equally, insists Madrid-based expat journalist Fiona Govan

It is both exhausting and astonishing that in 2023 women still have to fight for the bare minimum. Take equal pay. It is fairly straightforward in principle: creating equality of opportunity for all, irrespective of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. But somehow some of the biggest brains in business still struggle to grasp the concept.

As we face another economic downturn in the wake of coronavirus and as the Ukraine war starts to ramp up again it is clearer than ever that our old systems are failing us at every turn.

It is time to challenge the status quo and do away with outdated modes of working - and women need to be helping to usher in the new dawn. Women are just as productive and determined as their male counterparts, and businesses need to recognise this. And not just because of quotas but to build better businesses and a better future for everyone.

Speaking of the future, one that continues to pay women less than men or discriminates against anyone is a discredit to us all.

Businesses should of course be making gender equality and equal pay a key foundation of success. It is the right thing to do.

Indeed it is a shame that in 2021 the Spanish Government felt they had no choice but to intervene to ensure that women in the country are given the same pay as men. Now businesses have to share what they are doing, because they can’t be trusted to do the right thing.

Just look at women in healthcare. Research last year found that Spain was one of the best places to be a female health professional in Europe, ranking eighth, while its doctors and nurses are ranked among the top three in Europe.

A cause for celebration? Hardly. Female doctors and nurses here are earning an average of €10,000 less

than their male counterparts (see Healthy wage, above right).

And for those who brand the fight for equal pay as propaganda coming from ‘male-hating feminists’, remember we’re sticking it to the man, not men. Our brilliance is in our diversity. Recognise it. Celebrate it. Reward it. And reward it equally. That’s just good business sense.

FOR women looking to embark on a demanding career in the health sector, making sure they earn a fair amount for their hard work could be a driving factor in deciding where to relocate.

Spain has been named one of the top countries for women in health care, according to new data by Lenstore. The country, at ninth position, was found to offer some of the best opportunities in Europe.

This is down to a number of factors including average working hours, yearly salary, holiday allowance and the number of women in the industry. But upon closer inspection of the Lenstore study, Spain and the rest of Europe have a long way to go until equality is achieved.

In Spain the average female pay for health professionals stands at €29,800 lower than the €39,616 average annual salary for men.

Meanwhile in France, which was ranked as the best country in Europe to be a female healthcare professional, women still make an average of €7,000 a year less than their male counterparts. The UK came in sixth place overall, with average female pay at £30,059, lower than the £43,953 average annual salary for men.

Inpower

SPAIN has far more female parliamentary representation than the average in European countries.

The 252 women sitting in Spain’s upper and lower houses represent 42.4% of seats, compared to a European average of 31.1% and a global share of 26.6%.

The figures, collated by analysts IPU Parline, reveal that in Europe the most represented countries for women are Iceland (47.6%), Andorra, Sweden (both 46.4%) Norway (46.2%), Finland (45.5%), Denmark (43.6%) Belgium (42.7%) and North Macedonia (42.5%).

This puts Spain at ninth in Europe and 22nd in the world.

The country with the most female parliamentarians by share is Rwanda (61.3%) followed by Cuba (53.4%) and Nicaragua (51.7%).

The UK is 48th world-wide with 34.5% of its parliamentarians being women.

International Women’s Day

Painful period law

SPAIN has become one of the most forward-thinking countries in Europe after granting women who suffer from especially painful periods (dysmenorrhoea) up to three days paid leave per month.

The legislation on ‘menstrual leave’ - which can be extended to five in severe cases - is the first of its kind in Europe and takes into account the financial pressure that period poverty imposes on women.

While debate about period poverty typically relates to hygiene products, women who struggle with dysmenorrhoea are also disadvantaged by being unable to take sick leave and instead resort to unpaid leave or using up holiday.

WELCOME

Ana Botin, CEO, Banco Santander

THE fourth generation of the Botin family in the CEO role, Ana Botin (Santander, 1960) came well-prepared, first studying economics and working at JP Morgan in New York. After taking over from her father, she helped the bank evolve into one of the world’s leading financial institutions. She served as the first female president of the European Banking Federation, and outside her nine-to-five job, she’s involved with her foundation (Fundacion CyD) which encourages university graduates to apply their know-how to social and economic development in Spain.

Belen Frau Global communications manager, IKEA

STARTING on the shop floor of a local branch of IKEA in the Basque country in 2004, armed only with an allen key, she worked her way up. And how! Frau (Bilbao, 1974) became the first female CEO of Ikea in Spain in 2011, and four years later got responsibility for the company in seven countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the UK, Switzerland – and even Sweden! Now she has global control of ‘the message’ –and has even found time to have three children.

WOMEN ON TOP

They get everywhere, powerful women. Here in Spain, they’re in politics doing important things like running the country’s economy and defence – and even Madrid city. They occupy leading roles in every field from science and academia to the arts and publishing, from the National Cancer Research Centre to El Pais

PROVING Spanish women have the grit and tenacity to get to the top, whatever the obstacles, there’s Basque climber Edurne Pasaban, the first female mountaineer in the world to climb all 8000m peaks (13 of the 14 without oxygen). To celebrate Women’s Day, here’s a shout-out for five of the most powerful and influential businesswomen in the land. Some have had an easier ascent than others.

LAW A STORY OF

SPAIN’s recent anti-discrimination legislation has been welcomed by independent UN experts.

The provision of equal parenthood rights for lesbian mothers, a ban on genital mutilation for intersex children, and measures to end ‘conversion therapy’ perpetrated against LGTBI people are some of the features of the new law.

It also ensures access to assisted reproduction techniques for all women and has made Spain the first country in Europe to introduce menstrual leave (see above).

“The history of feminism is a story of persistence in the face of social injustice,” the experts - who are unpaid commentators to the United Nations - said.

Spain became a pioneer in women’s rights following

death of its machismo dictator, writes Jo Chipchase

WHILE men and women are treated equally by law, many women still report sexist behaviour and ‘machista’ attitudes. Some of the most outmoded atti -

tudes hark back to the Franco era when, in 1939, the dictator (left) removed any powers women had gained. Women were forced to be stay-home mothers and housewives, with no legal right to work,

Disciplineand fearless determination

SHE learnt early that to get ahead in business in Spain she had to be fearlessly determined, a quality she has in spades thanks to her time in the Royal Air Force.

It was during her time in the British RAF that she learnt not to accept excuses or lies, as well as gaining an iron discipline.

“Being in the RAF was one of the happiest times in my life and where I had discipline instilled in me,” she tells the Olive Press “As a result I don’t stand for any nonsense, but that also means people know where they stand with me, which is very important in business.” It was still anything but easy for her to set up

They are the key things a

ican company, Liberty Insurance, designing special packages for the expat market and has built up a reputation as a hugely successful expat businesswoman.

own property, or get divorced. Worse, they could even go to prison for adultery, although their straying husbands weren’t punished, in contrast.

One remarkable pamphlet from the 1950s on how to be ‘a good wife’ insisted you needed to keep the house spotless, the children clean, and dinner on the table. Since Franco died in 1975, feminists have made rapid progress and as Spain developed as a democracy, women’s rights started to match those of other European countries.

to

on in business in Spain, explains expat Jennifer Cunningham

her insurance business on the costas three decades ago, when women were not taken seriously in business.

“I was a widow, surviving on a meagre widow’s pension and so the only way I could start up was to re-mortgage my home, borrow money and make it work,” she recalls, from her home in Javea, on the Costa Blanca.

“I had problems finding a bank who would support me and I remember the first time I presented my business plan to get a loan, the bank manager wouldn’t address me directly but kept looking towards the male friend I had brought with me.

“At the beginning they didn’t want to take me on and they felt sure that I would fail,” she reveals. “My style of selling was completely new to them, the culture here in Spain was so different.”

“As an entrepreneur I had to take risks and convince those who had the financial backing of huge institutions behind them to take a risk on me, but I proved myself and in the end, those very same people looked to me to lead strategy and even asked me to teach them how to do it.”

Today Jennifer Cunningham Insurance has seven offices in Spain (including one in the Canaries) and thousands of expat customers. While an incredible success story - not just for a woman, but also as an expat - she however, is most proud of the fact that she leads a team of over 20 women across her offices.

She leads a team of over 20 women across her seven offices

“I had to point out that it was me who was borrowing the money, that I was the business owner and when they didn’t take me seriously, I walked out and went somewhere else.”

She eventually found a sympathetic bank manager, a man who has supported her ever since her first venture, and who she has stayed with as he moved across different banks.

She then began working with a giant Amer-

“It isn’t a policy to only employ women, it just turns out that they are the ones that have thrived,” she explains.

“Applications are open to everyone and we have employed men and I try to keep a balance in the teams, but it’s the women that seem to be most successful in this business and the ones that stay on for years and years, while the men just don’t seem to keep up.”

For more info visit www.jennifercunningham. net or www.paulcunninghamnurses.com

The ‘husband’s permission rule’ was abolished in 1975, the adultery law went in 1978, and divorce was legalised in 1981.

Finally in 1987, it was ruled that a rape victim didn’t have to prove they had fought the man back, while in 2004, the government introduced the ‘Integrated Law’, which funded the Government Delegation of Violence Against Women and finally a nationwide pact in 2017.

Pioneer

“Spain is a pioneer in terms of laws that ensure equality, compared to other countries worldwide,” insists Carmen Quintanilla of women’s rural association AFAMMER.

“Until the elaboration of the 2017 State Pact, never before had a government been so committed to the eradication of gender violence.”

By 2019, Congress had the most female members in its history (and one of the highest in the world and top in Europe) with 166 female deputies, taking 47.4% of seats.

However, a backslide occurred in 2020 when the far-right Voxnow Spain’s third largest political party - claimed that the gender violence law favours women and should be replaced with a family violence law. Vox also has made

How

the

woman needs

get

IRON DISCIPLINE: The RAF taught Jennifer well

Sandra Garcia-Sanjuan

Founder & Director, Starlite Group

CELEBRITY broker and friend to the stars, Garcia-Sanjuan (Tenerife, 1972) organises one of Europe’s best – and longest–annual festivals, a task which involves charm and logistics. Offering two solid months of world-class nightly concerts, previous performers at Marbella’s Starlite Festival have included Tony Bennett, The Beach Boys, and Ricky Martin (Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and the Gypsy Kings are on the bill this summer). Starlite has spawned fashion, food and film divisions, and Garcia–Sanjuan also set up Quiero Trabajo which helps women at risk of social exclusion prepare for interviews and careers.

Juana

Roig, CEO, Mercadona Tech

NO doubt, being the daughter of the Spanish billionaire businessman Juan Roig Alfonso, president of Mercadona, didn’t hurt when she went through the interview process. But credit where credit’s due, after turning her attention to the supermarket chain’s under-performing e-commerce division, online billing increased 190% in a year. Apparently she told her father the website was ‘shit’. Five years on, it generates €540 million in sales. Born in 1984, the youngest of four daughters, she is touted as a potential successor.

CHANGE

some questionable statements about women’s working roles. And when it comes to the workplace itself, the proportion of women in managerial positions remains around a third of that of men with the numbers dropping even further as careers progress. There is work

HOW TO BE A ‘GOOD WIFE’: A

to do and Spanish women earn around 10% (about €6,000) less per year than men and occupy more than 70% of part-time contracts. Of

1950’s pamphlet

these women, 46% affirm they are part-time because they care for dependents or cannot afford childcare services.

WHEN chemistry graduate Robina (Valladolid, 1965) joined Vitoria’s Michelin factory in 1988, she was the only woman there. Now she’s the first female boss for Iberia, responsible for a €2.6 billion turnover and 7,300 employees – most of whom (despite her sterling example) are men. ‘It is difficult for us to find women to fill mechanical positions,’ she says, blaming childhood stereotyping that leads to the notion there are things that girls just don’t do.

GO-GO FRANCO

CARNIVAL organisers who warned participating floats against playing sexist songs during their parades have been likened to officials from the Franco era.

Those taking part in the amazing orgy of fancy dress, street parades and pageantry were told they could lose their public subsidies if they played songs on a proscribed list.

The festival, held each February, is a huge event in the community that inspires young and old, but there have long been accusations that it harbours a dark side that seems to revel in chauvinism.

Accordingly, in recent years there has been a groundswell of public support to combat this by town halls in Catalunya.

Reading between the lines

Nothing can show how far women’s rights have moved forward from the female author censorship of the Franco era, than to have an all female bookshop in the heart of the capital.

GLASS CEILINGS

Winning women the vote had opposition from a surprising source, writes Dilip Kuner

THE UK has Emmiline Pankhurst, Spain has Clara Campoamor when it comes to icons of women’s suffrage.

Born in Madrid, Campoamor was one of the first women to enter Parliament in Spain and had a long history of feminism and campaigning for universal suffrage.

During the 1931 elections women could not vote but they could stand to be MPs. Campoamor and fellow lawyer Victoria Kent were the only two women elected.

Their work on the Constitutional Committee helped to enshrine the principle that women had the same rights as men in the Spanish Constitution of 1931with one glaring disagreement.

Malaga-born Kent, as a member of the Radical Socialist Republican Party, felt that it was too soon to allow women the vote.

Far left thought at the time was that women tended to be too conservative and in thrall to the Catholic Church and so would most likely vote right wing.

Campoamor, a member of the Radical Party, saw it as a human rights issue and was instrumental in achieving suffrage for women in time for the 1933 elections after ‘winning’ a debate with Kent.

Campoamor and Kent had already shown them-

LAWYER: Kent was one of the first female MPs

selves to be an inspiration to women. They were the first two female members of the Madrid Law Association having both broken a glass ceiling by entering university to study law.

Campoamor went into exile during the Civil War and died in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1972 at the age of 82.

Kent too was exiled and died in New York aged 96 in 1987.

But some have argued that the issue has been muddied by the difficulty in determining which lyrics are actually denigrating to women and which are merely ‘sexy’.

And efforts to root out offending songs harkens back to the censorious days of Franco, according to one organiser.

The song ‘SloMo’, sung by Spanish star Chanel (pictured above), has been flagged as problematic, even though the singer claims to be committed to the cause of gender equality.

The Catalan town of Calafell, along the beach road where hundreds of dancers and floats were getting ready for Carnival, found itself at the centre of the debate.

Sexist

According to Pere Nin, a float organiser, each town has its own list of banned songs, and beforehand, the floats have to give the town the names of the songs it wants to play.

Nin was one of the original organisers who helped draw up the rules against sexist lyrics back in 2019.

“It’s one thing if a song is obviously sexist,” he said. “It’s another when a song has a line or a word that might offend.”

Another much-loved song, ‘Suavemente’, by Elvis Crespo, has also been banned, causing people to question the whole project.

Dancer Sara Coam said there is no room for macho music that objectifies women, while her friend Marta Tamayo said it is more complicated.

“If people would stop listening, the artists would stop writing sexist lyrics,” she said.

DJ Miguel Aguila, who was also on hand, said he is against the bans altogether.

Even instigator Pere Nin is having his doubts, being old enough to remember the dark days of Franco.

“It’s starting to remind me of other periods we’d rather not remember,” he said.

Maria de la Paz Robina Managing director of Michelin Spain

RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER: Campoamor

Square eyes

Kids spend nearly five hours a day looking at screens at the expense of their health

SPANISH children spend 294 minutes per day on screens during weekends, according to an alarming new study.

The 2022 PASOS Study on Physical Activity, Sedentarism, Lifestyles and Obesity in Spanish Youth followed a previous study from 2019, which tracks obesity incidence rates and other health indicators among Spanish children. The study found more children were being sedentary

By Anthony Piovesan

during weekends, with Spanish young ones spending on average 294 minutes per day on screens. The findings also noted a decrease in healthy eating habits between 2019 to 2022, measured in Spain by adherence to Mediterranean diets.

It found that one in three children aged eight to 16 years are overweight or

Bad medicine

HUNDREDS of medicines used to treat colds or flu are under review in Spain due to a potential risk of brain diseases. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) put the medications containing pseudoephedrine under review last week. About 30 are marketed in Spain, these include the wellknown Termalgil, Gelocatil, Influenza with Pseudoephedrine, Frenadol Descongestivo and Cinfatos

The agency’s safety committee targeted the products due to a risk of developing brain diseases where there is a reduced blood supply to the brain, which can cause serious and life-threatening complications in some cases.

obese at some stage. As part of a broader look at wellbeing, the study found 40% of girls of the same age felt worried or unhappy. Spain leads all countries of the European Union in obesity, with four out of 10 girls and boys living with obesity or deemed overweight. Obesity has also doubled in girls and adolescents in the past 20 years.

Obesity

Spanish president Pedro Sanchez, High Commissioner against Child Pov -

erty Ernesto Gasco and co-founder of the Gasol Foundation, Pau Gasol, have presented a plan to reduce childhood obesity by 25% by 2030. The National Strategic Plan for the Reduction of Childhood Obesity has more than 200 measures that will follow six key steps; promote physical activity and sports, promote healthy eating, promote emotional well-being and adequate rest, promote healthy lifestyles, protect children’s health and create a cultural shift towards healthy lifestyles.

LA CULTURA

A 23,000-year-old human genome has been uncovered on the outskirts of Granada and is one of the oldest ever recorded.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology extracted DNA from human remains found in a cave. The research confirms that the southern tip of Spain provided a key refuge for humans when much of Europe was covered by ice 20,000 years ago and cave-dwelling humans would shield from these freezing conditions in rocky caverns. The DNA has been linked to a 35,000-year-old individual from Belgium discovered in 2016.

Old timer Grammy deal

Prayers answered

in Andalucia

AFTER two years of searching, archaeologists have finally had their prayers answered and uncovered a rare medieval synagogue in the basement of a disco.

The 14th century building in Utrera (Sevilla) has also been used as a hospital, restaurant and home for abandoned children down the years.

It is just one of a precious handful of medieval synagogues to have survived the aftermath of the expulsion of Spain’s

Night art

By Anthony Piovesan

Jews in 1492.

In his 1604 history of Utrera, Rodrigo Caro, a local priest, historian and poet, described an area of the city centre as it had been in earlier centuries, saying: “In that place, there were only foreign and Jewish people who had their synagogue where the Hospital de la Misericordia now stands”.

Utrera mayor Jose Maria

Villalobos said it was ‘now scientifically certain that we’re standing in a medieval synagogue right now’.

THE prestigious Latin Grammy awards are coming to Spain this November in a three-year deal - the first time they are being held outside the United States.

The announcement was made in Sevilla but the specific dates and the host city were not named, though Sevilla appears to be the front-runner. The Latin Grammys were first held in Los Angeles in 2000.

Last year, they took place in Las Vegas, where Spanish artist Rosalíia (right) won best album for ‘Motomami’. Andalucia president, Juan Manuel Morena Bonilla, met with the Latin Recording Academy CEO, Manuel Abud. Both parties described the deal as 'historic' and 'unprecedented'.

“Until now there were only four such buildings in all of Spain - two in Toledo, one in Segovia and one in Cordoba,” he said.

“This is an exceptional building that’s been part of Utrera and part of its inhabitants’ lives for 700 years.

“This building was born in the 1300s and has made it all the way to the 21st century.”

Visits

One of the key reasons for its survival was that the site was always in use for one purpose or another. The building could be opened for public visits in parallel with archaeologists continuing to excavate the site. The next phase of the project will look to see if there was a rabbi’s house nearby, or a religious school.

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

THE Prado Museum in Madrid is now opening its doors on a Saturday evening, as part of a new project called ‘The Prado at Night’. The public are able to visit a selection of different galleries inside the trove of artworks on the first Saturday of each month from 8.30pm to 11.30pm. The aim is to ‘connect more closely with all sectors of the public’, according to the museum. The project will also include musical events, and is being sponsored by Samsung. Entry will be free of charge from 8.30pm onward, until all of the available spaces are full. Access will end at 11pm. ‘The Prado at Night’ will run on the following dates: March 4; April 1; May 6; June 3; July 1; and August 5. The museum is the most-visited in Madrid, and racked up more than 2.4 million visitors in 2022.

An archaeological marvel dating back seven centuries has been uncovered

HOLY: Synagogue used as disco in Utrera

VISIT: The Prado

CASH SAVERS!

3 top tips for saving money on currency transfers to and from Spain

IF you’re moving money to or from Spain to cover living costs, send funds to loved ones, purchase property or pay a foreign mortgage, you’ll want to be sure you’re getting the best possible return. Making serious savings is simple with the right support, check out our 3 top tips for making your money go further.

1.

GET A GREAT EXCHANGE RATE

The exchange rate you secure for your currency transfer can have a massive impact on how much you receive. However, exchange rates are always moving, and any significant political or economic news can inspire dramatic shifts, so picking the right time to move your money can be tricky.

Working with a leading currency broker like Currencies Direct means you’ll gain access to regular market updates, keeping you up-to-date with the latest exchange rate news, hassle-free.

What’s more, the provider you use to move your money can be just as important as the timing of it. Many banks offer uncompetitive exchange rates, eating into your return. Use a provider who can give you access to great exchange rates.

2. AVOID TRANSFER FEES

Most banks, and many other providers, apply a transfer fee when moving your money abroad. While these fees can vary, banks typically charge between £10 and £40 per transfer. This might not sound like much, but if you were moving money to and from Spain on a regular basis this would soon add up.

For example, if you made two currency transfers a month and your bank charged you £30 per transfer you’d be losing £720 a year on unnecessary fees.

When finding a currency provider look for one that doesn’t charge transfer fees.

3. ACCESS SPECIALIST SERVICES

Every currency transfer is different, which is why Currencies Direct offers a range of services that can be tailored to suit your individual requirements.

Need to make a swift, secure transfer now? With a spot contract you can make immediate transfers at the current exchange rate. Transfers can be made over the phone with the support of your dedicated account manager or 24/7 online or by app.

Like the look of the current exchange rate? You can either buy currency in advance and hold it in your digital currency wallet until you need it or use a forward contract to fix the rate ahead of making a transfer.

Want to achieve a better rate? Use a rate alert or limit order to target an exchange rate. With a rate alert you’ll be instantly notified by text or email if the market moves to your set level, while with a limit order your transfer will be triggered automatically once your rate is reached. Like the idea of making transfers on the go? Use your online account and app to check live exchange rates and make transfers anytime, anywhere.

ABOUT CURRENCIES DIRECT

Currencies Direct have been helping individuals and businesses save time and money since 1996 with excellent exchange rates and no transfer fees. Get a quote now to find out how much you could save. With a team of over 550 currency experts and 20+ branches across Spain, Currencies Direct are never far away when you need them.

They’ll keep you up to date with the latest market movements so you can pick the right time to move your money. They also offer a range of specialist services that can be tailored to your individual requirements.

If you have a currency requirement coming up, get a quote now or reach out to the Currencies Direct team and quote Olive Press

Soaring costs

INFLATION is still stalking the Spanish economy as the latest data puts the price increases on February last year at an annual rate of 6.1%. This represents a faster pace than the 5.9% increase recorded in January and is above the 5.7% forecast by analysts polled by international news agency Reuters Spain had previously managed to rein in inflation during the second half of 2022, registering the lowest figure in the eurozone by the end of the year. However, Spain's price index has now risen for two consecutive months in annual terms, largely due to higher electricity and food and drink prices.

BAD MOVE

THE proposed departure of Spanish construction conglomerate Ferrovial to the Netherlands for ‘a better business environment’ has set off a firestorm of finger pointing in Madrid. Ferrovial, which is part owner of Heathrow airport and generated almost 90% of its revenues from outside Spain last year, said it views the Netherlands as having a more stable legal framework. The infrastructure company also sees potential for lower financing costs due to the country's ‘AAA’ credit rating - as opposed to Spain’s A rating.

A government spokesperson slammed the move of Spain's

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Fair, 7 Slavery, 8 Van Buren, 9 Glee, 10

Sales, 11 Tribute, 13 Tenancy, 15 Build, 17 Loci, 19

Northern, 20 Academy, 21 Oats

Down: 1 Database, 2 Problematical, 3 Banner, 4

Neighbourhood, 5 Tyke, 7 Surf, 11 Toy, 12 Tolerate, 14

Convex, 16 Grey, 18 Oval

FLYING HIGH

SPAIN'S airport operator

Recriminations in Madrid over Ferrovial’s move to the Netherlands

13th biggest company by market capitalisation as ‘ungrateful’ and ‘not in line with the effort that the country has made in terms of investments’.

Economy Minister Nadia Calviño also voiced her disapproval, saying the decision ‘seems to go against the interest and image of our country’, adding that she had called Ferrovial's Chief Executive Rafael del Pino (pictured) - who owns 20% of the €19bn company - to convey her opposition.

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime

By Walter Finch

Minister Pedro Sanchez reminded del Pino that ‘the nation is not just about building wealth, it's about being supportive, lending a helping hand, and particularly, when your country needs you.’

Reverse

Ferrovial plans involve a reverse merger, with its wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary Ferrovial International SE (FISE) absorbing it to be listed in Spain, the Netherlands, and later the United States. Ferrovial said that the pro-

posed headquarters shift to the Netherlands would need to secure shareholder approval and would aim to complete the move in the second or third quarter of 2023.

Positive trend

UNEMPLOYMENT in Spain rose by just 0.1% in February compared to a month earlier, according to Labour Ministry figures. The increase was 2,618 people, leaving a total of 2.91 million people out of work in the lowest February figure since 2008. Compared to a year earlier, unemployment fell by 200,669 - a 6.45% reduction.

Aena recorded an annual net profit in 2022 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

The firm that manages 46 airports in the country said it expected passenger numbers to return to normal this year, after January figures showed increases on 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

The company posted a net 2022 profit of €901.5 million in 2022 in contrast to a €475.4 million in the previous year.

It is proposing an 80% dividend payment to shareholders based on the results of the 2022 financial year.

Shortages

While some European airports were affected by staff shortages as tourism rebounded last year, Aena's terminals have run smoothly - something it put down to keeping its staff during and after the pandemic.

For 2022 as a whole, Spanish airport traffic reached 88.5% of 2019 levels and was over double that of 2021.

Aena has now lifted its estimate for 2023 to 99% of 2019 numbers, but does not rule out going even higher and surpassing what was a record year.

It had previously said it expected a full recovery of air traffic by 2024.

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Time’s up

AN antiques repairman in Benidorm has been arrested after refusing to return two vintage clocks valued at €5,000 to their owner. One of the clocks dated back to 1823.

Serial thief

A SERIAL shop robber in Valencia has finally been jailed after more than 100 arrests. The man, 45, racked up 12 arrests in the same month but kept getting bailed.

Roof fool

TWO men, 23 and 41, have been charged with reckless driving after one of them sat on a car roof while travelling on a Castellon province highway.

O P LIVE RESS The

Offside!

Cadiz FC want league suspended over goal that shouldn’t have been

THE referee’s decision is finalexcept, that is, if you are Cadiz CF.

The relegation strugglers are demanding that Spain’s top tier league, La Liga, be suspended while their complaint over an offside goal is investigated. They had been playing against Elche, with Cadiz ahead 1-0 in a crucial relegation six pointer

By Dilip Kuner

when Elche scored an equaliser with nine minutes remaining.

Ezequiel Ponce’s goal was allowed on a VAR review but further replays showed that the player was in fact offside. Outraged by the decisionwhich meant the match ended

New heights

PEOPLE in Spain could soon receive their packages by drones, if plans for an ambitious new postal service take off.

Correos has announced a scheme to trial the delivery of parcels in any Spanish city with remote controlled flying drones.

Happy birthday

MARIA Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, has just celebrated her 116th birthday on March 4.

The US-born Catalan only assumed the Guinness World Record title in January, but she has now moved closer to the title of oldest person to have ever lived.

But she still has a way to go.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment was 122 years and 164 days old when she died in 1997 - the oldest confirmed age ever recorded.

ON CAMERA: The moment when Ponce (right) was caught offside

as a 1-1 draw - Cadiz called for the match to be replayed from the moment of the controversial goal, with the score readjusted to 1-0. Now, two months

The pilot will be complemented by an air control platform that geolocates all the connected drones in real time.

Correos will pair up with Telefonica to test the usage of the 5G-connected drones to deliver packages to ‘virtually any urban environment’.

later, they have released a statement saying that they have reported the matter to the TAD sports tribunal. And, they add, they are calling for La Liga to be suspended by TAD until the tribunal has made a decision. It is highly unlikely that the game will be replayed, given that FIFA regula-

tions clearly state that the referee’s decision is final.

However, Arsenal famously volunteered to replay their FA Cup clash with Sheffield United after a controversial winner, with then manager Arsene Wenger saying they did not want to win ‘by cheating’. Arsenal won the rematch 2-1. Cadiz are currently one place above the relegation positions on 26 points, while Elche look doomed, sitting rock bottom with just 12 points.

Ana María Vela Rubio is the oldest Spaniard ever. She was 116 years, 47 days old when she died in 2017.

Bar attraction

ANDALUCIA’S second smallest village has received over 100 applicants to open the only bar in town. This followed the town hall’s call for hopeful entrepreneurs to head up the establishment for only €20 per month in a bid to avoid further loss of population. Cumbres de Enmedio in Huelva has a population of 59.