Olive Press Mallorca Issue 178

A BRITISH woman who died during a cosmetic procedure in Mallorca has been named as model Donna Butterfield.

The 30-year-old, from Wrexham, Clwyd (pictured) travelled to the Balearics to have a slight imbalance corrected following a breast enlargement by the same surgeon several years prior.

The beauty entrepreneur, who ran her own hair extension company, died in September after complications during the procedure.

Following her death, family and friends launched a fundraiser online to bring her home and give her ‘the best funeral we could.’

Her friend posted on Facebook: “Because of everyone’s efforts Donna is now back home in Wrexham where she belongs. None of this would have been possible without you.

“The pain we are all going through, especially her family, has been eased and could not be more thankful to every donation, share and message received during these last few weeks.”

Three surgeons were accused of homicide following an investigation by Policia Nacional.

It was found that one of the suspects, Mateo

Justice for Donna

Verd Vallespir, 69, had flouted a ban from practicing to perform the fatal operation.

The martial arts expert was jailed for a year last June and was struck off for three years following the death of another patient, 45-year-old Fatima Cherkaoui, who died a day after liposuction on March 7, 2017.

It is believed that both Fatima and Donna, the latter of whom had a pre-existing heart condition, died as a reaction to anaesthetic.

Donna went into cardiac arrest after her surgery and died two weeks later at Son Espases Hospital on September 13.

It was revealed in November that the third doctor involved in the operation had died in Switzerland with a terminal illness.

He lived outside Spain after ‘many decades’ of work in clinics across Europe.

Andalucia versus Valencia in the Michelin star battle

NO TO NOLOTIL!

THREE major private hospital groups have vowed to stop handing out Nolotil to at-risk patients after being contacted by the Olive Press.

Grupo Ribera on the Costa Blanca, plus HCB and the Helicopteros Sanitarios group all told this paper they were committed to banning the drug for northern European and American patients.

Important

The companies said they were following important central government advice issued in 2018, which came about after medical campaigner Cristina del Campo took the issue to the national courts.

News of their re-commitment comes after we launched a campaign in February to stop handing out the lethal painkilleralso known as Metamizole - to expats and tourists.

The drug - which is banned in around 40 countries - is believed to be behind at least 100 deaths of foreigners in Spain. The majority died after their

Clinics and hospitals across Spain vow to crackdown on ‘killer drug’ after Olive Press campaign

white blood cell count plummeted due to side effects from the drug, manufactured in Germany.

Grupo Ribera, which has many facilities on the Costa Blanca, made a similar promise, saying: “We advise against the prescription of Nolotil given that a significant part of the (local) population is foreign and is therefore at risk of these complications.”

And despite the Olive Press receiving a number of reports that patients have received Nolotil in HCB hospitals, the Costa Blanca group assured us this week they are now ‘following’ Madrid’s recommendations.

“We are very aware of the recommendation not to prescribe Nolotil to foreign patients,” insisted the spokesman.

A spokesman for Helicopteros told the Olive Press: “Due to our geographical location

EXCLUSIVE

By Yzabelle Bostyn

on the Costa del Sol our patients come from all over the world and so we are particularly aware of the side effects that Metamizole can have.

“For this reason, our medical staff are committed not to administer this medication to our patients.”

Other hospitals, including Grupo HLA, declined to comment.

The positive steps come two months after we launched a second campaign to have the dangerous drug banned for tourists and expat foreigners.

Our first campaign in 2017 ended when AEMPS (The Spanish Agency for Medicines) ruled in 2018 that Nolotil must only be used by patients for short periods of time.

Died

ever have continued to happen, most recently with 42-year-old British expat Mark Brooks who was prescribed Nolotil in December 2023.

When we discovered others had also died following prescription, we felt we needed to act again.

After nearly 700 people signed our petition urging health facilities to follow the rules, we began asking hospitals and local health authorities for their commitment.

So far, we have received eight responses, with five pledging to follow AEMPs advice.

KILL THE DRUG

The ‘informative note’ meant they should be monitored and have regular blood tests to detect any severe reaction. It further ruled the drug should also NOT be given to tourists and others ‘who would not have access to such controls and monitoring’.

It must also be available by prescription only and on a caseby-case basis, with a patient’s medical history and risk factors also taken into consideration.

Despite the advice, deaths how -

Most notably, the Junta de Andalucia stated that ‘knowing the risk of agranulocytosis (low white blood cell count) associated with metamizole’, its hospitals now follow the official health advice.

Nolotil in numbers

At least 11 patients have died after taking Metam- izole in Andalucia, a govern- ment report shows.

The region has logged at least 141 cases of agranulocytosis brought on by the drug.

In Andalucia alone, there have been at least 709 reports of complications after taking Metamizole.

Some 58% of Metamizole prescriptions in Andalu- cia are currently for longer than 180 days, while 38% are for longer than a year.

The Junta added it should only be used for short periods of time, ideally no longer than a week and that any patients given the drug should be closely monitored using blood tests.

Sensationally, a spokesman also revealed to us there had been 141 reports of agranulocytosis at the hands of Metamizole in

Andalucia, 11 of which were fatal.

Oth -

er local authorities, including

Cantabria and Castilla-La Mancha, also claimed to be following AEMPS advice, while Madrid refused to comment.

The drug has already been banned outright in Catalunya, while it is also outlawed in many countries including Sweden, America and the UK.

Opinion Page 6

Smugglers jailed

THREE alleged people smugglers have been arrested in southern Spain after being accused of throwing 37 migrants into dangerous waters, five of whom died.

Jihadi probe

A YOUNG man is being investigated for terrorism after smashing up a McDonald’s restaurant in Badalona, Barcelona, with a machete.

Job cuts

JET2HOLIDAYS has announced huge job cuts in Spain, with around 35% of staff based in Palma, Alicante, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura affected.

Roof collapse

THE roof of 19th century Son Negre’s church in Manacor has collapsed with a lack of maintenance being blamed. Cracks had appeared in walls over the past few years.

MOTORHOME owners face fines of up to €1,500 if they stay parked up too long. Palma’s mayor, Jaime Martinez, has declared war on motorhome ‘settlements’ that have popped up in recent years. New bylaws are being drafted and are expected to come into force within two months - in time for the peak

Time to move on

tourist season.

Residents have complained about clusters of camper vans staying in areas for long periods and taking up precious parking spaces.

The new rules include a ban on parking a van for more than 10 days in the same place, with sanctions varying between €750 and €1,500.

They also make it clear that car parks are just that and people are not allowed to sleep, eat or drink in their vehicles. For that they should use a registered campsite.

Agent fraud probe

A TOP football agent, Fali Ramadani, has been accused of defrauding Spain’s Tax Agency of €12 million and using a chunk of the cash to buy a luxury villa in Calvia.

The National Court has estimated the sum based on information from a website called Football Leaks which investigates financial transactions in the sport.

The court says that a Malta-based company, Unique Properties, bought the land on which the villa was built and

Calvia villa at centre of football tax evasion investigation that Ramadani and his wife have lived there for nearly a decade.

By Alex Trelinski

INVESTIGATION: into football agent

Fali Ramadani

QUICK THINKING

A BOY, 12, from Palma’s Sindicato district called the police after his stepfather attacked his mother. The youngster, along with his sister, 5, and his stepsister locked themselves in a room and then dialled for help. The call was made at around 2.00am on March 28 after the children were woken up by loud noises. A Policia Nacional officer kept the boy on the line until colleagues arrived to arrest the Spaniard, 38, for domestic violence. The victim had several bruises on the neck and had a restraining order in the past against her partner who had several arrests to his name for assaults on women.

The Guardia Civil has been probing Ramadani’s business dealings since 2020 for tax fraud and money laundering. Operation Lanigan traced funds from Unique Properties to Mallorca, linked to people behind Lian Sports, the world’s fifth-largest football agency, according to Forbes magclubs in the Balkans to justify signings and other measures to ‘legalise’ his money. The National Court has asked for information from several La Liga clubs about certain signings, including RCD Mallorca.

azine. Ramadani and his wife requested last December that the proceedings be dropped on the claim they are not liable to pay tax in Spain because they don’t spend more than six months per year in the country. The National Court however rejected that claim as it continues its investigations. Some of Ramadani’s income is allegedly linked to a complicated operation that uses ghost

The conclusion of the investigation will depend on obtaining several documents from Portugal from a whistle-blower agent who leaked information to the Football Leaks website.

SECURITY CONCERNS

A UNION at Palma’s Son Espases Hospital wants public overnight access stopped after a thief stole a worker’s car by taking the keys and a wallet from a locker room.

The USAE says there have been ‘continuous robberies and verbal confrontations for a year’ and has demanded that hospital management take action.

It wants all access points closed - except for emergencies - between 11.00 pm and 6.30 am.

Barrowman cleared

THE husband of Tory peer Michelle Mone has been cleared of fraud and embezzlement charges following a trial in Spain. Doug Barrowman, 58, was facing five and a half years in prison over allegations he misappropriated €6.3m from a Spanish cable factory ‘for illicit benefit’ in 2008.

Prosecutors had alleged that Barrowman profited from a fraudulent invoice designed to evade tax and extract millions of euros from Spanish company B3 Cable Solutions via UK company Axis Ventura in 2008. However, to the relief of the Glasgow-born millionaire and his six co-defendants in the dock with him, they were each acquitted on all charges at Cantabria’s Provincial Court in Santander.

WHO’S THE DADDY

A GORILLA that arrived at London Zoo from Spain in November 2022 has become a father - twice in a few weeks.

Kiburi,19, came from Tenerife as part of the conservation breeding programme which ensures the preservation of a genetically diverse and healthy gorilla

population.

Silverback Kiburi mated with Mjukuu with a baby being born in January before nearly a month later, Kiburi's other partner, Effie, had her baby.

Primates Section Manager Kathryn Sanders said: “We’re over the moon to have a second gorilla infant born here at London Zoo in the space of a month.

“These babies are an important addition to the conservation breeding programme for this endangered species, and just as importantly, great additions to our troop.”

Old age pedaller

AN expat who has just turned 75 is not letting age keep him back as he sets off on a 1,000 kilometre bike ride for charity.

Cadiz resident Peter Munt-Davies has kept his passion for cycling challenges, with his latest quest being the Camino de Santiago pilgrims route.

No slowing down for veteran cyclist as he sets off on 1,000km challenge

Pembrokeshire-born

Pe

-

ter started his journey from Sevilla to raise money for the Shelter Cymru homes and people charity in his home country of

REAL Madrid’s star winger, Vinicius Junior, has admitted he is ‘losing the desire to play football’ thanks to repetitive racist abuse he has received whilst playing in Spain. The Brazilian’s comments came in an emotional press conference prior to the ‘One Skin’ friendly between Brazil and Spain at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, which finished 3-3. Vinicius, who is black, said: “I just want to play football but it is hard to move forward. I feel less and less like playing”. Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for five matches and fined €45,000 last year after Vinicius was subjected to monkey chants.

In May 2023, four men were arrested in Madrid after an effigy of the Brazilian was hung from a bridge over a busy motorway.

By Alex Trelinski

Wales. His niece, Krista, has worked for Shelter Cymru for over 20 years to make it an especially personal challenge for Peter. He hopes to raise £5,000 by completing the pilgrims route in 18 days.

Peter’s previous challenges included cycling power across Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to raise money for an addiction support charity.

“I’ve ridden bikes for most of my life,” he said.

“In my opinion, Pembrokeshire is one of the best

cycle, but I am biased!” The retired teacher, who moved to Spain in 2017, is anticipating riding solo and sees staying in a different hostel every night as a challenge.

He’ll be cycling up to 100 kms a day, with just three rest days planned for his ride.

“I’m looking forward to quiet roads and continuously changing scenery. I love the movement on a bike,” he added.

Peter has prepared by getting out on his bike as much as possible in recent weeks and practising with a GPS. Understandably his anticipated highlight will be arriving in the main square by Santiago de Compostela cathedral, where his wife Anne will be part of the welcoming

No desire

ELLE OF A DRESS

PENELOPE Cruz may be about to turn 50, but she is proving that age is just a number as she makes the pages of glossy magazines. As part of a feature for her birthday by Elle magazine, she took a leaf out of German supermodel Claudia Schiffer´s book. Cruz wore the same iconic green Versace dress that 53-year-old Schiffer modelled on her return to the runway during the Versace Spring 2024 show in Milan. Both ladies prove that age is no barrier in the modern world. Cruz told Elle: “People have been asking me about age since I was twentysomething. I was more bothered then than now. Now it makes more sense to discuss turning 50. It’s a huge, beautiful thing, and I really want to celebrate that with all my friends. It means I’m here and I’m healthy, and it’s a reason to have a party.”

Sunk cost

THE owner of Spain's Inditex fash ion store empire has sold his su peryacht after three years of trying at a €19 million loss. Amancio Ortega bought Driz zle for €95 million after it was built in 2012 and it got a multi-million Euro re furb five years ago. De spite this he got ‘only’ €76 million for it. The yacht can accommodate 10 people in its five cab ins and has three decks with a dining and living room on each of them.

It has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure and is 68.7 metres long and 11.20 metres wide.

CAN YOU SEE ME? THEN SO CAN ALL OUR READERS

CAN YOU SEE ME? THEN SO CAN ALL OUR READERS

She’s done it !

Fireball furore

AFTER puzzling locals for days, an object which flew over Mallorca has been revealed to be a natural fireball.

A piece of asteroid, it became incandescent upon entering the earth’s atmosphere, lighting up the sky over the Balerics.

The Investigative Network of Bolides and Meteorites of the Space Science Institute had previously questioned whether the bright light was a ballistic missile or artificial object, such as a satellite, reentering the atmosphere. It later issued a statement ruling out a ballistic missile, stating it was more likely a space rocket or satellite debris.

After further speculation that the object could be a satellite linked to tech mogul Elon Musk, it was finally recognised as a fireball.

MALLORCA sailor Aina Bauza made history on Wednesday by clocking up the fastest solo Atlantic Ocean crossing on a 6.5 metre-long monohull sailboat. She arrived on the island of San Sebastian in the Bahamas at 12.49 pm on her vessel Redo, after setting sail from Cadiz on March 3. Aina, 29, clocked up the 4,800 nautical miles in 31 days and 34 minutes, after having to change plans to do it in just 21 days.

NO WAG

More victims come forward to denounce ‘dog scammer’ in Spain after Olive Press probe

“The weather didn’t allow me to take the shortest route as I had to go down very far south to stay in the area of favourable winds and do many more miles than expected,” Aina explained. “It was the first time I had been alone on board for so many days for my first Atlantic crossing,” she added.

The Puerto de Andratx Sailing Club member says she’s eager for new challenges but also wants to learn more from other sailors.

EXCLUSIVE

By Yzabelle Bostyn

FURTHER victims of an alleged dog scammer have come forward following an Olive Press investigation. The victims claim to have lost tens of thousands of euros to Mino Kerouani, whose dogs either have the wrong chips or are in bad health, while some fail to arrive at all.

Australian Kim Holmes, based near Gosford, in New South Wales, told the Olive Press she had lost around €25,000 to the ‘fraudster’.

“He filled the forms wrong every time and he was getting more and more mon-

ey out of me,” she explained. She claims the breeder, who has 16,000 followers on social media, failed to do essential health checks such as rabies testing. She added that microchips did not match up to the dog’s pet passport birth date.

Kennel owner Kim paid €9000 to get her dog to the UK, before paying €12,000 in accommodation costs. Eventually, a British breeder took in the pup. She claimed the dog arrived in

BAD GUIDANCE

TWO people were barred from going into an unnamed Palma restaurant because they were accompanied by their guide dogs. The two Spaniards - both in their 50s - explained to the manager that the dogs can usually go anywhere. But the manager stood firm and barred them entry on the basis her boss did not allow any animals inside. She also allegedly did not want to give them a complaint form. One of the dog owners, Lola, said that the dogs are even allowed into hospitals.

The dogs are Xelma - a 10-year-old German shepherd, and Ures, a 6-year-old Labrador, who have been specially trained to help their owners.

Palma’s Policia Local has made it clear that guide dogs can go everywhere, barring a handful of legal exemptions, which hospitality businesses do not fall under.

DON ROAMING!

A LEGENDARY Costa mafia boss may have inadvertently given away his movements due to his addiction to reviewing restaurants online. Ireland’s Most Wanted gangster Christy ‘the Dapper Don’ Kinahan, 67, has spent the last four years reviewing numerous places he eats and stays at on Google - despite being a fugitive with a €5 million bounty on his head from the US authorities.

Under the name ‘Christopher Vincent’ the kingpin has made over 220 reviews around the world.

As well as 131 ratings and 92 reviews, he also gave 144 ‘helpful votes’ on a range of places including shopping malls and outlet stores.

Starting in 2019 - soon after he fled Spain to live in Dubai

full time - the majority of his reviews are in the Middle East, Dubai and Turkey. Yet, the wanted gangster, said to be behind the death of numerous gangland figures, somehow managed to visit and review establishments in Barcelona, Madrid and other parts of Spain.

In 2021, he warned travellers in Barcelona that taxi drivers did not know where the Hyatt Regency was, but went on to declare the hotel ‘very clean’ with ‘comfortable rooms’, adding that he would ‘stay here again for a tourist break.’

‘Buzzing’ Cheri restaurant in Barcelona was also praised by Kinahan Sr for its ‘super’ ambience when ‘one is enjoying the company of one’s friends or family.’

the UK with ‘herpes’, ‘a 10 cm scar’ and ‘ducking syndrome’, often indicating abuse.

Meanwhile, a British breeder, based in Coventry, claims he was also scammed by Mino when he paid €15,000 for sibling pups, only for them to arrive as two different breeds. Another alleged victim, Fabio Bloks, claims Mino ‘scammed’ him out of €17,000 when Mino told him the dog he was expecting was ‘stolen along the way’.

The breeder, Mohamed Amine Kerouani, aka Mino, told the Olive Press he had given Fabio a ‘full refund’ of €5,000.

He also claimed Kim ‘got her dog safe and healthy in the UK’. He added: “If there was a mistake on the paperwork like she said, the dog would never have passed the UK-France border.” The Olive Press understands the Australian authorities have now banned any of Mino’s animals from entering the country.

MALLORCAN hotel chain

RIU is leading a sustainable hotel project encouraging kitchens to reuse leftover food.

The Playa de Palma venue, hotel San Francisco now has its own ‘laboratory’ to turn leftover fruit and vegetables into new ‘high quality’ ingredients. The pioneering pilot project is run by the local council and waste management business, Tirme. It will see leftover food from the hotel’s buffet sent to a waste specialist, who will break down the leftovers into compost.

This will then be used by local farmers, such Agromallorca and Son March to grow fruit and vegetables which will later be served in the very same buffet.

THE Spanish Health Minister has rejected a proposal for ‘smoke-free’ terraces by the Balearic government. The idea proposed that businesses who agreed to become ‘smoke-free’ would receive financial benefits. The ban would have included e-cigarettes, vapes and any other tobacco derived products.

DEATH PLUNGE

A MAN has died in Magaluf after falling from his third floor apartment on Saturday.

The unnamed 73-year-old was pronounced dead by medical personnel after witnesses found his body at 8am on Calle Pere Vaquer Ramis. The Guardia Civil have since opened an investigation to establish the circumstances of the man’s death. The incident came less than 12 hours after an 82-year old man died in Cala Millor in similar circumstances.

WASTE NOT WANT NOT Offering hope No to smoke-free

MALLORCA’S Telephone of Hope helpline received 241 suicide-themed calls last year - 502% more than in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

Helpline spokesman, Lino Salas, said that it spoke to an average of three people per day prior to 2020, but last year’s average was 13 calls.

Calls from young people have increased fivefold since the pandemic, with 356 people aged between 16 and 25 calling - up 401% from five years ago.

Among the 4,700 calls received in 2023, the number of callers between 66 and 76 years of age also went up.

DUPED: Kim Holmes has lost €25,000 in the scam

SCAMMER: Mino Kerouani is accused of ripping off more victims

Feels like home

Hola Quooker!

Quooker has arrived in Spain. You can now benefit from official technical service and local warranty. Visit www.quooker.es to know more or to find a dealer near you!

With a Quooker in your kitchen you always have 100 °C boiling water alongside regular hot and cold. Add a CUBE and you will also have filtered chilled and sparkling water – all from the same tap. The tap that does it all.

info@quooker.es

More Balearic than Benidorm

IT was a Monday morning in August and I arrived at the descent down to Playa Granadella with my old man and a boot full of snorkeling gear.

“Perdona, playa is closed - it is full,” said the sweaty civil protection officer blocking our path with a piece of rope.”

I tried my best Valenciano , bribed him with coffee, but it was no use. We joined the four or five cars turning around like stingrays in the sand of what National Geographic and Conde Nast Traveler dubs as one of Spain’s best beaches.

The ‘coolest spot’ on the Costa Blanca, Javea is spoilt with some of Spain’s best beaches, but you’d be best to visit outside midsummer, writes expat resident Joshua Parfitt Continues

IDYLLIC: The rugged coastline of Javea is more reminiscent of Mallorca and Ibiza than neighbouring Costa Blanca towns

Hidden treasures are a delight

Evidently, Javea has outgrown some of its secluded coves… at the height of summer, at least. We tried our luck at Portitxol beach on the other side of Javea’s dramatic southern headland.

From previous page for lunch after a short, delightful 15 minute swim.

And after placing our towels on a rock and swimming over to Portitxol island we decided we were hungry.

I’ve jumped in cages surrounded by great white sharks with my dad, dived down inside 30m-deep shipwrecks and spent hours scouring the seafloor for ancient amphora off Turkey.

In Javea, however, we were ready

“Let’s do a bit more next year” my dad snorted, removing his flippers. At the time, little did we know we’d been treading water above one of Europe’s most stunning sunken treasures.

Later that day - yes, the very same day! - 57 gold Roman coins were found at the foot of Portitxol island – leading to international headlines! We’d been swimming right above them.

Portitxol deriving from the Latin for

Nowhere quite like home

Jennifer Cunningham never planned on relocating to Spain… until she fell in love with Javea, writes Fiona Govan

LIKE many of those who end up living in Spain it was after enjoying a holiday with friends that Jennifer Cunningham took the decision to relocate from London to sunnier climes for a quieter life.

“My late husband was much older than me and, after suffering a cardiac arrest, he wasn’t expected to live long, so we took a snap decision to move over to the Costa Blanca where the climate suited him and in fact he thrived and lived another 12 years,” she tells the Olive Press from her home in Javea where she has lived for more than three decades.

“I was suffering from diabetes so the move gave us both a new lease of life, swimming every day in the sea and the Mediterranean diet really helped me,” she continues.

“The Spanish way of living, taking time to enjoy family and friends, also really gave me a new way of looking at life.”

But Jennifer wasn’t ready to retire. Instead she started up what has be come one of the most successful ex pat businesses in Spain.

It began with one small office in Javea and has now grown to seven branches across the Costa Blanca and one in Lanza rote.

“I never tire of Javea. I can sit on a terrace and gaze at the sea day after day.

It’s wonderful at sun rise and sunset, spec tacular, but it’s when the bay twinkles in the

moonlight that Javea is at its most beautiful,” reveals Jennifer.

“Sitting with a coffee or a glass of wine and watching the world go by is one of my pleasures in life. Even in early March you can enjoy the warm sunshine on your face, look out over at Montgo, and see waterskiers in the bay.”

Javea occupies a special corner of Spain with its own microclimate that makes it a firm favourite with expats and Spaniards alike.

“It’s a wonderful place to live and while it has changed a lot since I arrived, it still has the old town with a marvellous market that still retains the feeling of the fishing village it once was.”

The seaside town has become one of the most fashionable destinations during the summer months with crowds of Madrileños descending from the capital to holiday homes during July and August.

“Those of us who live here year round breathe a sigh of relief when September 1 comes and the multitudes go home. But in truth, the tourists are needed to keep the local businesses, the shops and restaurants alive,” explains Jennifer. The pandemic was particularly hard on local businesses with many pulling down the shutters forever.

“Unfortunately, a lot of restaurants were forced to close with Covid but thankfully not as many as feared. Some of our favourite places managed to survive and things picked up quickly.

Now, in 2024, Javea is once more thriving. “There are new apartments going up everywhere,” says Jennifer. “Little teeny patches of scrubland suddenly get snapped up and then there’s an apartment block.

“This isn’t a good thing. Parking is a huge problem in Javea even outside the summer months but in peak tourist season, it’s impossible.”

She believes the town should introduce a ‘park and ride’ type system so visitors can leave their cars outside the town and catch a bus in.

she first encountered on a holiday in the 1980s continues.

She recalls the snap decision she made to move to Javea all those years ago.

I was ruled by my heart and not by my head - not something

I normally do

“It’s hard seeing the town I know change so much and I wish there was more thought going into its development,” she admits. But on the whole the love affair with the town

“Here I was on holiday having a lovely time and I did everything you shouldn’t really do when making important life decisions. Just like that I saw a property I loved and put down a deposit, then went back and sold up in the UK,” she laughs. “I was ruled by my heart and not my head and that isn’t something that I would normally do. “But if you asked me if I would do it all again I’d say yes, I absolutely love Javea and feel very safe here. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

For more information please visit www.jennifercunningham.net or www.paulcunninghamnurses.com

DISCOVER: Javea’s stunning coves

‘little port’ is one of the true gems of Javea, also known as Xabia, correctly, in Valenciano Also known as Cala de la Barraca it is a 900m stretch of mostly gravel, pebbles and rock between Cap Prim and el Cap Negre.

A truly charming cove it is sheltered by cliffs and counts on a series of quaint fishermen’s cottages, or casitas, which are privately owned and whose owners come and go at their leisure.

Javea is truly spoilt by some of the best beaches in Spain, something the foreign media frequently trumpet.

The Times praised the ‘Ibizan vibe’ of places like Granadella

and Portitxol, calling Javea ‘the coolest spot on the Costa Blanca’. And take it from me, having lived here for half a decade, the Javea area is much more Balearic than Benidorm. Beach-wise, the above are the two most instagrammable, the box-ticking tourist classics that will take your breath away, but particularly off season when the hordes are not descending.

I also really like Cala Blanca, only reachable by walking through a round hole in the rockface, before you meet the dramatic Cabo de la Nao headland with hidden coves you still today can’t reach by foot.

one end.

Another of my secret beach spots is Cala en Calo. It’s been grabbing world rankings alongside tropical beaches in Thailand and the Philippines.

Then there is Playa Ambolo that is a fabulous walk particularly for an early morning or evening swim.

Arenal beach is Javea’s most popular – and the only really sandy one –and this is where all the fun and action is, if you are looking for nightlife. It’s also the one for the best waves in the area if you are a surfer.

The area spreads backwards inland from here by about five or six blocks and this is the truly international part of the resort. There are lots of great restaurants and shops, not to mention the excellent Michelin-starred restaurant Tula, an unpretentious place run by couple Borja and Clara.

The Arenal’s best known patron, the Javea Company, runs a series of bars and restaurants at one end of the beach, including Bambula, which

Punctuated by a few strands of palm trees, it is a shallow beach to get into the water and has the historic Parador hotel bookmarking is a popular spot that bounces into the early hours.

Meanwhile the Geographic has become a popular joint for a light lunch or to watch live sports on its dozen-plus screens. Heading north you will find another blue flag beach in the port area. Playa de la Grava is a pebble beach in a very warm bay, where it’s common to see bathers from March to November.

The port area is another distinct part of

Javea. It is here you will find plenty of the best restaurants and hotels and the famous modernist church. It also has the amazing Cinema Jayan, which has plenty of Version Original

DID YOU KNOW?

From previous page

films showing throughout the week.

For walkers, a top tip is the rocky hike from the end of Javea’s port to Cala Tango with its 17m-high platform to jump into the sea. It looks like a hard slog, as it kicks off direct -

All about

Atmospheric old town

ly uphill but it only takes about 30 minutes.

From the port you need to walk inland to access the true gem of Javea, its wonderful old town, largely

built from the local honey-coloured tosca stone.

The 14th century Iglesia de San Bartolome is a great example of this, built out of the sandstone hewn out of the headland by Cova Tallada (meaning ‘carved cave’).

Indeed, since Moorish times builders have carved out the tosca stone from the area which is reached only by boat at the foot of the San Antonio headland.

The atmospheric old town is little untouched and with its streets largely too narrow for cars you can wander around to your heart’s content, enjoying the nice mix of boutiques, cafes and bars.

This was once a heavily fortified town to ward off the Barbary pirates and this defensive past is typified by San Bartolome church, which was once almost a fortress and siege ready.

Next to it is the hip municipal market with its great cafes and bars… and where you must try the typical local dish, a coca – a traditional sourdough flatbread topped with either chopped tomatoes and salted tuna

or typically, a single anchovy. The whole centre truly comes alive in the evenings from Easter onwards when the tourists mix with the locals on an evening out.

MY TOP TIP:

Take an early film at the old cine- ma near the port and then wonder up into the old town for a spot of tapas and a few wines by the glass. You’ll soon realise why I have end- ed up living in the true gem of the Costa Blanca.

Here are three of Javea’s secrets that archeologists, spiritual pilgrims and cave-diving spelunkers have yet to figure out.

Javea’s hidden depths

THE name of Javea (Xabia in Valenciano) reportedly comes from the Arabic word Xabiga for ‘well’ or ‘cistern’.

Though Javea’s abundance of water is evident in its green hills, the underground secrets of Javea are something cave-divers are still scratching their heads about.

The Moraig river is one of Spain’s most famous for being an underground river – possibly the deepest in the world – but no one can figure out where it comes from.

The river is believed to begin somewhere beneath Javea in the aquifer of Benissa that stretches all beneath the town, before it mysteriously emerges from underground at Benitachell’s Cala de Moraig beach. Since 1978 cave divers have tried to follow the river to its source without any luck – the most famous of these, the German expert Bernhard Pack, won 17 international awards for his documented expeditions before tragically losing his life to the cause in 1992. According to neighbouring Benitachell’s town hall, the aquifer of Benissa is one of the ‘most unique hydro-geological phenomena in the world’ together with the Greek Island of Cephalonia. It could be a source of high-quality potable water to see the region through summer droughts – but despite investigations beginning again in 2014, no one can figure out where this hidden secret of Javea actually resides.

Javea’s buried treasures

IMAGINE the day a century ago in 1904.

Agricultural labourers are ploughing land to make way for orange groves in the area of La Lluca. Suddenly the plough hits something,, which turns ut to be a ceramic urn buried 1.5 metres deep. Cracking it open, the urn reveals a golden diadem, three gold necklaces, a golden brooch and various gold and silver bracelets. So highly valuable was the treasure that the landowning Torres Orduña family was in the process of selling the pieces to French researchers when Madrid’s Museo Arqueológico Nacional heard of the hoard. It turned out to be a 4th century BC

DISCOVERY: The Treasure of Javea was ploughed up 100 years ago

bridal trousseau (ornaments worn by a bride at her marriage) and it remains on view known as the ‘Treasure of Javea’ and one of the nations most significant Iberian finds.

Javea’s municipal archeologist Ximo Bolufer told the Olive Press the Treasure of Javea was ‘hidden’ underground during a period of conflict.

This same hypothesis was given to the haul of 57 golden coins recently found at Portitxol – hidden for safe-

THE MIRACLE ON LAS PLANAS

JAVEA’S 175m-high Cabo de San Antonio has been a place of spiritual refuge for close to 700 years.

The headland got its name in 1373 when the bishop of Valencia granted a female hermit Catalina Blas the right to build a hermitage dedicated to Saint Anthony.

keeping during a likely raid from Barbary pirates that ravaged Javea’ coasts from the 4th-17th century. Experts from the University of Alicante continue to probe the waters around Portitxol to see how many more buried treasures may yet to be discovered.

They’ve already found the highest concentration of ancient anchors in the whole Mediterranean – some 258 dating back beyond 2,000 years.

The San Antonio monastery soon sprung up next to it, but it didn’t survive long as in 1388, Barbary pirates sacked it and burnt it to the ground. Legend has it that three centuries later an intact canvas of the Virgin Mary was found among the rubble, and it is the only surviving vestige of Sor Catalina’s Hieronymite order of monks. It led to the La Plana area becoming a site of pilgrimage for centuries and in 1964 the current monastery Santuario de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles was rebuilt.

Once a year in August it lets a handful of people in on the secret to behold Javea’s own miraculous piece of history hanging above the altar.

PRETTY The fishing harbour is overlooked by villas and apartments in the hills

court which paralysed that meeting. Now they don’t even want to defend their position in court.”

He added that he is taking one of the residents to court for defamation over the claims.

In regards to Dorothy, he said he never had the power to fire another person’s caregiver, and insisted she had asked him to find more assistants after a hip replacement surgery. He also claimed no one has asked him to see the receipts for the community fees.

He added: “They can request from the administration a copy of their ledger or account statement, which reflects both the fees issued for each property and the payments made.” Also under the spotlight is Norwegian ex-billionaire Harald Oslov.

Oslov is accused by a group of homeowners in Benemara Dos Hermanas, also in Estepona, of paying ‘extortionate’ sums for basic maintenance works and for constructing a garage next to his home without planning per-

type that get smashed, get battered, and drink for five days straight. Some guiris want to give back to Spain, and so we are working with charities now, organising charity events and promoting the integration side of things”.

He adds: “We organise events around the idea that everybody has been a guiri at some point in their lives. Especially in the modern world, people live in other countries and we feel that is something worth celebrating, so we try and bring people together”. So rather than take offence at the term why not embrace it?

Olive Press sets the news agenda once again as our reporting is followed up by the world’s leading publications

THE Olive Press has once again been at the forefront of the news this past fortnight after being followed up by the world’s most-read publications.

Our trusted reporters were flown out to Tenerife - for a second time - to investigate the growing anti-tourism movement on the Canary Islands. Their in-depth report was the lead story on MailOnline before being followed up by the Sun and a string of national newspapers.

mission.

The accounts have been branded a ‘black hole’ featuring ‘inexplicable sums’, including gardener salaries of over €45,000 per year each, which residents claim they did not approve.

And Oslov, who owns a painting company in Gibraltar, refuses to reveal who is behind some of the works.

It comes after community fees reportedly increased by 22% over the past two years, while spending soared by €127,000.

One Brit told the Olive Press: “Our fees are continuously increasing and we get no further services for it… it seems there is a black hole where money is being buried.

“They use the proxy votes of Brits and other foreigners to vote in any measure they want.”

When contacted by the Olive Press, a spokesperson for Oslov denied all the claims made by the homeowners, branding them ‘defamation’. Oslov, who was president for 40 years, and his VP, resigned just days after being contacted by this newspaper in late February.

However, residents told this newspaper that he has ‘handpicked’ the next candidates for presidency and the new committee.

Falsifying

At the most recent AGM meeting in March, Oslov refused entry to a notary, who had been hired to make sure all proxy votes being used to vote in a new committee were above board.

One expat said: “He had brought his own lawyer with him and made sure to vote in his hand-picked committee.

“Luckily, one long-standing member stepped down and we were able to get one ally on the board who was not hand-picked by Harald.”

Meanwhile in Marbella, the president of the Cabopino community, Gianni Fieno, and its administrator Michelle van Gaalen, are being investigated for falsifying documents and cooking the books.

Residents there said that the pair have ‘kidnapped the community’ and run it like a ‘cabal’.

The pair, both expats, are accused of “surrounding themselves with friends” and gaining the votes of owners - some of whom they allegedly let off their community fees as a reward for giving them their proxy votes at general meetings.

Elsewhere, homeowners in Lomas de los Monteros, Marbella, have denounced the president of the community and the administrator for allegedly transferring €30,000 euros to their personal accounts.

It came after community fees soared to €6,000 per year but residents were not allowed to see accounts nor how the money was being spent - raising alarms.

A court decided it was a civil matter, however, and not a criminal one, with the complainants left feeling “helpless”, according to reports in Spanish press.

Meanwhile, the front page story in our last issue on the ‘guiris go home’ movement in Malaga was followed up by the Guardian.

Elsewhere, the Times flew out to interview Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo after our extensive reporting of the McGrail inquiry.

There is no doubt that the Olive Press continues to be the number one source of English-language news in Spain.

It is why we are repeatedly trusted by the leading newspapers in Britain, who only come to us when they want a story investigated.

Our journalists have years of experience working for national titles in the UK, including the Daily Mail, MailOnline, Mail on Sunday and the BBC, and are all NCTJ-trained and accredited.

None of our rivals in Spain are offering the sheer quality and quantity of our exclusive reportingwhich is partly made possible thanks to our online subscription model.

We thank all of our registered users and subscribers, the numbers of whom are continuing to grow on a monthly basis.

If YOU have a tip or story that needs investigating in Spain, then do not hesitate to email tips@theolivepress.es

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:

1- Storm Nelson arrives to Spain: Rain, strong winds and rough seas predicted for much of the country

2- EXCLUSIVE: Locals in Spain give their verdict as wave of anti-tourism reaches Tenerife - but residents are divided on the issue

3- These are the 12 most beautiful ‘pueblos’ in Spain’s Andalucia - according to National Geographic

4- Saharan dust warning for southern Spain: Weather phenomenon to roll in from Africa tomorrow

5- Protests over swimming pool bans in southern Spain: Locals fume after government prioritises hotels over private homes amid ongoing drought

UNDER FIRE: President Oslov (top right) and Fieno (below left), plus urbanisations Benamara (top) and Cabopino (below)

GUIRIS: As seen in TV series Benidorm (left) also take part in Spanish life from football supporters to charity events

SPAIN has restored its Cine Senior programme granting over 65s access to €2 tickets across the country.

The cheap cinema tickets are available for Tuesday viewings. Some €12 million has been allocated to the project in subsidies to cinemas. It marks the second phase of the programme, which ran from July to December 2023.

The original project was a huge success, with a 49% increase in Tuesday cinema attendance compared to previous years.

Cinemas across the country can apply for funding from the project, expected to roll out between late April and early May.

Unseen Picasso

New exhibition includes 10 unseen works from Spain’s most famous artist

A NEW exhibition has opened at the Picasso Museum in Malaga with over 140 works of art. The display is called Pablo Picasso: Structures of Inven-

By Ben Pawlowski

tion - The Unity of a Life’s Work. In a break from tradition-

SPINE CHILLING

NETFLIX has released the trailer for ‘El Caso Asunta’ a highly-anticipated miniseries recreating the notorious murder trial of Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra. Asunta Basterra was a Chinese-born 12-year-old adopted to Galician parents. In 2013, she died of asphyxiation and suspicion immediately turned on her adoptive parents, Rosario and Alfonso. The three part drama will retell the case’s most important moments and is due to be released on April 26.

Cinephiles rejoice BBC IN SPAIN

THE BBC is set to produce ‘high-quality Spanish language content’ after announcing the acquisition of Brutal Media, a production company based in Barcelona.

BBC Studios, the UK public broadcaster’s commercial arm, has said that the Spanish producer, Brutal Media, would join its Global Entertainment production network.

NOW YOU SEE THEM: Picasso (top) and some of the works

al artistic convention, the works displayed in the exhibition have been organised by theme rather than chronology.

The museum says: “The installation will thus reveal the coherence of the artist’s output, moving away from conventional interpretations, which have classified it by periods, by displaying works from different decades of his career alongside each other in many of the museum’s galleries”.

The display - which will run until March 2027 - features works that Picasso kept for himself.

Ten of those pieces have never been seen before in Spain, while two-thirds of the art exhibited is new to the museum.

Among the works is Paul (The Artist’s Son), which has only ever been showcased

twice, Woman Leaning on Her Elbow, a sculpture assembled in plaster, and a sketchbook which Picasso used to plan the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, one of his finest works.

The other exhibition currently running at the museum is The Echo of Picasso, a display organised with the framework of international celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death.

The presentation demonstrates Picasso’s pertinent influence on artistic trends and movements, in particular Cubism.

Prior to his death in 1973, Picasso was widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, with his most famous work, the dramatic and powerful anti-war painting Guernica, the current centrepiece of the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

This move ‘will enable BBC Studios to respond to the increased appetite for BBC content from Spanish audiences and support Brutal Media’s ambitions to export original creative IP from Spain to the wider international market’.

Lead

Founders Raimon Masllorens and Nelida Sanchez will continue to lead Brutal Media’s productive output, with Isabel Duran, a former director for the region, joining the team as Head of Entertainment.

The deal means BBC Studios will now have a production base in 12 different countries. Brutal Media, founded in Barcelona in 2009, has produced shows including Asalto Al Banco Central, Killer Book Club, Welcome to Eden, The Hockey Girls, The End of the Storm, I Love You Stupid and Murder by the Coast, all of which were streamed on Netflix

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Merger completed

SPAIN'S biggest telecoms merger has become a reality, with Orange and MasMovil completing the legal process to become a joint company.

The two operators will have a base of over 30 million mobile phone customers and will become the leading telecoms firm in the country, based on client numbers.

The new entity - which has yet to reveal its namealso has over seven million broadband subscribers (fibre and ADSL) and another two million who access television services.

Ca hing in

$LIVE music concerts and festivals in Spain during 2023 reported a 26% increase in turnover to nearly €579 million.

The figures come from the Association of Music Promoters (APM).

It says that Spain’s live music industry has beaten the previous record of €459 million recorded in 2022 and has

By Alex Trelinski

been constantly growing since 2014, with the exception of the Covid pandemic years.

APM president, Albert Salmeron, said: “We don't think there is a bubble and we think on the contrary that there is still a long way to go.

AIRCRAFT manufacturer Boeing has paid out an undisclosed sum to settle a lawsuit after a Spanair plane crashed in August 2008 with 154 people losing their lives. Flight 5022 crashed on takeoff at Madrid airport as it was departing for Gran Canaria. The aircraft involved in the crash was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, with Boeing having acquired the manufacturer in 1997. The lawsuit claimed that Boeing ‘was

HEALTH

Needless deaths

THE lives of over 4,000 Madrid care home residents could have been saved during the Covid-19 pandemic if they had received hospital treatment.

A citizen-led inquiry blames the Madrid regional government for blocking hospital access in the first weeks of the pandemic to people who had pre-existing conditions or lacked private health insurance.

Inquiry

The inquiry report pointed out that the region had a far higher number of Covid care home deaths compared to other parts of Spain.

A Madrid government source branded the report as 'totally politicised’ and said the region’s professionals and administration ‘did everything humanly possible to save as many lives as they could’.

“Live music has become a form of leisure and access to culture that has become even more popular compared to 10 years ago and the sector evolves organically and progressively year after year."

The APM revealed that the Arenal Sound festival in Burriana (Castel-

About time

aware of a mechanical defect that increased the risk of error during takeoff but failed to apply a known fix to all of their planes’. Initial reports suggested that the plane’s flaps and slats had been incorrectly configured for take-off, and further investigation revealed that the aircraft's take-off warning system had not sounded.

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Live music strikes right note as the money rolls in

lon) was the highest-grossing festival last year, bringing together 300,000 people over six days.

Second was Primavera Sound Barcelona (243,000 in five

AFTERMATH: 154 people died

days) and Viña Rock, in the Albacete province town of Villarobledo (240,000 in four days).

By region, ticket sales were the highest in Madrid, Andalucia and, especially Catalunya, which hosted many stadium concerts featuring big names like Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce - accounting for 26.35% of the national turnover. Coldplay alone pulled in over 221,000 spectators for their four Spanish gigs. Albert Salmeron said: “Last year was unique, because so many tours built up after the pandemic break and we thought that there could still be a drop in ticket sales, but it wasn't like that.”

Green wonder

Olive leaves could provide effective treatment of Alzheimer’s and diabetes

SCIENTISTS in Spain believe olives may hold the key to treating diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Specifically, it is the leaves of olive trees which could prove vital thanks to their very high levels

FIND: Dr Perona

By Laurence Dollimore

of oleanolic acid.

It comes after a 2019 Prediabole Study found that consuming olive oil rich in oleanolic acid prevented the development of type 2 diabetes.

After three years of intake, patients were found to have a 45% lower chance of developing the condition than those who did not take the oil.

Experts at the FAT Institute in Sevilla, Andalucia, now want to test whether the oil can actually treat people who have already

Sicker and sicker

STEPHEN Fry has blasted popular weight loss drug Ozempic after it made him ‘throw up five times per day’.

The medication, pre scribed for obesity and type two diabetes, is soaring in populari ty in Spain.

got diabetes.

The test subjects will be patients at the Virgen del Rocio hospital, also in Sevilla, with Dr Javier Sanchez Perona leading the research.

One of the obstacles has been the extortionate price of laboratory-made oleanolic acid, which comes in at €1.5million per kilo - 25 times more expensive than gold.

LEAVES: could hold the key to treating Alzheimer’s

Younger gamblers

GAMBLING has soared among young people in Spain since the Covid pandemic, according to the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling

The number of people aged between 18 and 25 years having a flutter has risen by 41% since 2019.

The average amount of bets has also gone up from €215 per year in 2019 to €333 in 2023.

The study says the 18-25 age group was very close last year to being the main age range for gambling, only surpassed by those aged 26-35, which has seen a 12% rise since 2019.

Extra time at home combined with the proliferation of gambling phone apps during the Covid pandemic are said to be responsible for the upward trend.

The four main gambling areas are virtual versions of betting, bingo, poker and casino. The survey reveals the most popular category is online betting on sports events and mobile games.

Age concern

SCIENTISTS have revealed the age when people can officially call you ‘old’.

Research from the University of Stanford, claims that old age officially starts at 78. The research was based on over 4263 blood plasma donations from people aged 18 to 95.

It showed that at 78, the levels of certain proteins in blood plasma began to plunge.

The lack of proteins inhibits DNA’s ability to repair itself so essential organs are more vulnerable to effects of ageing.

In just five months, the 66-year-old lost five and a half stone as he simply ‘didn’t want’ to eat or drink.

But soon he ‘couldn’t take’ throwing up anymore and stopped taking Ozempic.

While some celebrities have praised the ‘miracle’ drug, Fry said it made him ‘sicker and sicker’.

To overcome this, Dr Perona and his team developed and patented a simple method for creating highly pure oleanolic acid from olive leaves.

“It is so simple that even children can obtain it with homemade materials with an acceptable degree of purity,” he explained.

Oleanolic acid defends the olive tree from attacks by microorganisms and is found in the fruit, but more so in the leaf.

FESTIVAL: Arenal Sound attracted 300,000 fans

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

ALICANTE

LA SALITA

INDUSTRIAL engineering was Begona Rodrigo’s initial career plan when she attended Valencia Polytechnic University.

But after a trip to Amsterdam she got the travel bug and ended up working around

the Netherlands and then the UK’s restaurant business.

After a couple of years at the head of London’s two-Michelin star Aquarium, she came home and, in 2005, opened La Salita in Valencia’s foodie barrio, Rufaza.

The winner of Spain’s first Top Chef TV show (in 2013), Valencia’s Cook of the Year title in 2014, she has a second restaurant, and a phenomenal cocktail bar, La Coctelería al Nu. Today she counts on a Michelin star and, as of last month, three Repsol Sols, the only chef to snare the top award this year. As she told the Olive Press last year on a trip to the Costa del Sol: “Cooking was in my veins and it’s my passion. “Valencia really has it all when it comes to food and the sheer range of top chefs now is extraordinary.”

Pere III El Gran 11, València, 46005, España Tel.: +34 963 817 516 www.anarkiagroup.com

L’ESCALETA

A family restaurant that opened in Cocentaina in 1980, it is named after the ladder you had to climb to get into it.

It later swapped location and the second generation, chef Kiko Mayo and his cousin Alberto Redrado, took over. Since then, L’Escaleta has accumulated two Michelin stars and three Repsol Suns. Mayo works with local products to produce tasting menus that change according to the season. He emphasises memory

and a cuisine that goes back to forgotten recipes such as chicken crest. When asked to define his cuisine, at a bash last year, he told the Olive Press: “I aim to create a cuisine that is simple, honest and humble in every sense. I want everyone to feel at home from truck drivers to food critics!”

Subida a la Estación del Norte, 205. Cocentaina, Alicante Tel.: +34 965 592 100 www.lescaleta.com

Andalucia and Valencia are running neck and neck in the race to tempt travellers with stellar gastronomy. DILIP KUNER dishes up his A-list, while, JON CLARKE talks to the chefs

SPAIN once again beat its own record with more than 84 million international visitors in 2023, spending a whopping €108 billion.

But these days it’s Michelin stars and Repsol Soles, not beaches, that are pulling in the punters.

gastronomy with an emerging generation of chefs at the forefront of culinary innovation that goes way beyond patatas brava, tortilla and paella.

But what has really changed in the last five years is the big spread of where the top chefs work.

And that’s no surprise with the country being, unequivocally, the world’s best place to eat.

60 31

Spain has so many chefs in the world’s best lists and the huge growth of Michelin stars backs this up. The past 20 years has seen a revolution in Spanish

Valencia-born Jose Manuel Miguel worked in the Ritz in Madrid and Le Bristol in Paris before returning to his native soil. As chef of Beat, located in the Cook Book Hotel in Calpe, he has been awarded one Michelin star and also scooped the Sapiña Prize for Innovation. The 46-year-old has developed a very personal style, adapting

BEAT

highly refined and technical French cuisine to fresh, local products.

His favourite bywords: ‘Tradition, technique, elegance and innovation’.

Partida Marisol Park, 1. Calpe, Alicante Tel.: +34628277858 www.thecookbookhotel.com

BONAMB

Born in 1984, Alberto Ferruz already holds an impressive record for such a young chef, and he shows much more promise.

Originally from the Zaragoza region, Ferruz has trained and worked in France and Spain where he collaborated with Quique Dacosta. His style follows the up-and-

While they almost all used to ply their trade in Catalunya and the Basque Region, today they can be found all around the country.

And it’s the regions of Valencia and Andalucia that have grown the most in recent years… and incredibly they are neck and neck with a scoreli-

QUIQUE DACOSTA

Dacosta is one of the most notable leaders of Spain’s culinary revolution. His Denia restaurant was awarded three stars in the 2012/13 Michelin guide and he has held on to them ever since. He also has three Repsol soles and was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts in 2020 - and his signa ture dishes certainly are artistic.

This year’s menu, Por amor al arte (For the love of art) hammers home the message that his edible creations are full of ‘knowledge, innovation, culinary vision and passion for creativity’.

And all for just €295 (drinks not in cluded).

Coincidentally, he also runs the ama zing two-star El Poblet in Valencia city, plus Deessa, at the Ritz in Madrid.

Carrer Rascassa, 1 Urb. El Poblet, 03700 Dénia, Ali cante Tel.: +34 965 784 179 www.quiquedacosta.es

coming trend of tradition, anthropology and innovation. “I am for an avant-garde cuisine that is 80% Mediterranean product, but I also recuperate old, forgotten recipes,” he told the Olive Press last year. BonAmb has been awarded two Michelin stars and three Repsol Suns.

Carretera Benitaxell, 100. Jávea, Alicante Tel.: +34 965 084 440 www.bonamb.com

TEAM VALENCIA: Rodrigo, Dacosta and Ferruz and tally of Soles and Stars below

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

ne of 31-31 in their Michelin star count, while Repsol Soles (Spain’s equivalent) lands 74 for Andalucia to Valencia’s 60.

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Much of the spread south is due to young chefs jumping on the locally-sourced bandwagon, rediscovering forgotten recipes and voicing their modernity through theatrical reinterpretation. Tradition, culture and region are now celebrated in haute cuisine menus and although technique keeps improving, ingredients are the new protagonists.

In southern Spain, Malaga and Cadiz are leading the way, although the other provinces are getting into the mix. In the West it is Valencia and Alicante that have the foodie hotspots. But it’s really no contest. If fine dining is your thing, you can’t go wrong either way. Here we pick out the top stars for each region.

MESSINA

Mauricio Giovanni is an Argentinian from Cordoba who started his Spanish career ma king pasta ‘like many Argentinian cooks do’.

In 2003 he opened Messina in Marbella, along with his wife Pia Ninci whose name is an homage to his grandpa rents who were natives of the eponymous Sicilian town.

The restaurant has long been a favourite among Marbella’s dining cog noscenti although it didn’t

earn its first Michelin star until 2016. Giovanni’s a la carte and tasting menus are based on local products, particularly fish and shellfish. He combines avant-garde culinary techniques with a simple and elegant presentation.

However, you will have to wait to pay a visit - it is temporarily closed for renovations.

Av. Severo Ochoa, 12. Marbella, Málaga Tel.: +34 952 864 895 restaurantemessina.com

BARDAL

November 29thDecember 12th 2023

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APONIENTE

The Chef of the Sea, as Angel Leon is known, is famous among other things for being the first to introduce plankton as an edible ingredient in Hailing from Jerez, he studied in Sevilla and worked in France before starting his own resAponiente quickly earned a reputation for its creative cutting edge dishes featuring fish and seafood never previously seen in cuisine. He guaranteed this by going out and buying his own fishing boat to find his very own fish. With three Michelin stars and three Repsol Suns, the New York Times considered it one of the ‘10 restaurants in the world worth taking a plane for’. Set in a former windmill, it boasts a team of 70 professionals for just 30 diners.

The marine-themed tasting menus astonish with their elaborate presentation. He told the Olive Press last year: “Sustainability in cooking is my main driver and I just pray the days of overfishing are coming to an end.”

Francisco Cossi Ochoa, s/n. El Puerto de Sta María, Cádiz Tel.: +34 956 851 870 www.aponiente.com

74 31

Benito Gomez learnt his trade under Spain’s most famous chef of all time, Ferran Adria. The El Bulli boss liked the Catalan livewire so much he sent him to help launch his Andalucian diffusion joint, at Hacienda Benazuza, near Sevilla, two decades ago.

And he simply never went home, loving the southern region so much, he decided to stay when Benazuza shut, opening his own restaurant Bardal in Ronda.

One of Andalucia’s top restaurants, with two Michelin stars and two Soles, his laboratory champions the best local ingredients and changes regularly. He has a second diffusion restaurant, Tragata, in the town and he is usually found crossing the road between the two joints which are 100m apart. “I love Ronda and its amazing range of cheeses, mushrooms and vegetables,” he told the Olive Press this week. “Andalucia is the front line of food these days and there are so many chefs doing amazing things here.”

C. José Aparicio, 1, 29400 Ronda, Málaga Tel.: +34 951 48 98 28 www.restaurantebardal.com

NOOR

Chef Paco Morales met his wife Mariana in her native Cordoba, Argentina, and in 2016 they realised their life project: opening Noor in Cordoba, An dalucia.

One year later they earned a Michelin star and a Rep sol Sun, and now have a very im pressive three of

each.

Noor’s interior is influenced by Andalucia’s Moorish heritage, while dishes combine modern culinary techniques with flavours and aromas from the past.

Every season, the restaurant explores a different historical period, currently the ‘Golden Age’ of the 18th century, when the New World brought its ingredients to Spain. A genuine culinary genius (some might say mave -

SKINA

When Marcos Granda opened his tiny restaurant in the heart of Marbella nearly two decades ago lots of people expected it to last a few months.

With just 12 covers (yes TWELVE covers a night) it seemed impossible to imagine that it would survive. But today the Asturian businessman - who is a sommelier by trade - has three Michelin stars in Marbella alone (two at Skina and one at Nintai) not to mention two more stars at Clos in Madrid and Ayalga in Ribadesella.

rick) his creativity is off the scale. Above all, he is a diplomat and true champion of southern Spain.

“There is no doubt the chefs in Andalucia are now starting to push the boundaries,” he told the Olive Press. “Our creative edge is finally getting noticed.”

Pablo Ruiz Picasso, 8. Córdoba Tel.: +34 957 96 40 55

www.noorrestaurante.es

And that’s not all, his new restaurant, Marcos, which opened in Gijon exactly a year ago, won a star in this year’s Michelin guide after just TEN months. The man is on fire… a dynamo, who has not just put Andalucian cuisine on the map, but now exports it all around the country.

OP Puzzle solutions

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Having trained at El Bulli and at Greenhouse in London helped, as did various stints in the north of Spain. “Nobody trusted my ideas,” he revealed shortly after winning his first Michelin star in 2008. “Noone would have bet on my vision. But in my mind, the secret was clear… however, I wanted to put it to the test first.”

Aduar Street, 12, 29601 Marbella, Málaga Tel.: +34 952 76 52 77

www.restauranteskina.com

Across: 6 Warn, 7 Inherit, 9 Restrain, 10 U S S R, 11 Cold-shoulders, 14 Medical school, 17 Brig, 19 Stumbles, 20 Prosaic, 21 Need.

Down: 1 Take note, 2 United Kingdom, 3 Riyadh, 4 Around the bend, 5 E T As, 8 Hindu, 12 Oil, 13 Reopened, 15 At sea, 16 Source, 18 Raps.

TEAM ANDALUZ: Giovanni, Gomez and Morales and awards

REcycle O P LIVE RESS The MALLORCA

Old Age peddler

A GRANDMOTHER aged 72 has been arrested for running a drug trafficking operation in Valencia alongside her 17-year-old grandson, police discovered she also had two arrest warrants outstanding.

Long lost

A DAUGHTER was reunited with her missing father after searching for him for 20 years. He went missing in Bilbao in 2004 and was recently found in a village in Navarra.

Pigeon pie

BARCELONA has been trialling an innovative solution to the pigeon problem around the Camp Nou: every afternoon a patrol of eagles and falcons is unleashed to drive them away.

Double celebration

Twins hit landmark triple figures while hubby approaches 102

TWIN sisters have just turned 100 and another family milestone is beckoning as one of their husbands will hit the 102-year mark in a few months time.

All three are said to be in good health, with Manuela Lopez Ramal and Demetrio Torrente Gea celebrating 77 years of marriage.

Manuela lives in Ibi (Alicante) and her sister Isabel is based

By Alex Trelinski

20kms away in Cocentaina, where she moved to be near her three children after she was widowed 30 years ago. They were recently recognised by their local towns with the mayors of Ibi and Cocentaina, along with councillors and town hall staff, congratulating their long-living residents.

The sisters are the only remaining survivors of an extended family of nine siblings.

ANARCHIST BACKLASH

LEFT wing firebrand Pablo Iglesias has had his new Madrid bar daubed with graffiti by anarchists. The former deputy Prime Minister, 45, is a partner in Taberna Garibaldi, which ‘honours’ a string of historical revolutionaries and left wingers. Customers can order a range of drinks includ-

ing a Fidel Mojito, inspired by the Cuban revolutionary leader, the Mandela Zulu, a Gramsci Negroni and an Evita Martini. However, the new adventure has earned the wrath of anarchists. An unknown group sprayed graffiti demanding the removal from the menu of a cocktail inspired by Buenaventura Durruti, a hero of the movement.

They say their lives haven’t changed a great deal and continue to be active by doing simple household chores with the help of their children.

Unsurprisingly, their mobility is not what it used to be while Manuela's hearing has declined but she still enjoys a full life.

Isabela also has the same issue with hearing but still shares her twin’s positive attitude to living, while all three continue to live in their on homes.

IT may be a tradition dating back to the 1620s, but the bizarre ‘baby jumping’ festival of El Colacho has become a victim of an online backlash. Originating in the 1620s, it sees mothers from the village of Castrillo de Murcia lay their babies down in the street. Then men, dressed as red and yellow-masked ‘devils’, run through the village shouting insults at the townsfolk before leaping over rows of babies born in the village in the past 12 months.

Denizens

While aficionados of the festival say it is harmless, some internet denizens disagree and have jumped in with both feet.

“This village must have suffered a grave tragedy in the past to have ended up with this absurd tradition,” wrote one.

“Sure, the idiot who jumps is just that; an idiot. But the parents are even worse.” Thought to be a pagan twist on Catholic traditions, the event is supposed to be a triumph of good over evil and takes place in June.

TON: Manuela (left) and Isabela, with Demetrio