Olive Press Spain - Issue 403

NERO TO ZERO after police

WHEN police raided the home of feared Costa businessman Johnny ‘Cash’ Morrissey last week they hoped to find many incriminating items and the odd weapon.

But what they hadn’t bargained on was a series of little black books listing all the payments from his wife’s company Nero Vodka.

The ‘notepads’ carefully detailed all the businesses and gangs the bogus Marbella-based compa ny had lent or laundered money through over the last two years.

Kept by the Morrisseys at their top floor rented home in Mijas, they are understood to list hundreds of cash payments to dozens of local businesses.

“They are now in Madrid and be ing carefully gone through by de tectives dealing with organised crime,” a source told the Olive Press.

“It’s all being done in complete secret, but all those listed will be

probed for money laundering and tax evasion.

“There were so many payments that there was simply no way Johnny or his wife could keep tabs on all of them without writing them down.

“They noted the name of each cli ent, the date the money was lent and the date it would be collected.

“This will spawn many other side probes and lead to many more ar rests. They are going to regret not destroying those books.”

Gods

It was certainly a gift from the gods for the Guardia Civil probe into what they described as the ‘most important criminal organi sation in Spain dedicated to mon ey laundering’.

Police from five countries were in volved in the dawn swoop on the Costa del Sol gangster, now ac cused of laundering €200 million over just 18 months, a remarkable €350,000 a day.

It came as the couple’s com pany Nero Vodka held a string of glitzy showbiz par ties at numerous top venues on the coast.

Organised in conjunction with their friends, the own ers of Euro Weekly News, they took place at leading five star hotels and restau rants.

As well as sponsoring con certs, they even backed the Marbella Internation

Everything was colourful ly reported in a string of gushing articles in the pa per and online.

As Michel put it at the film festi val: “The tagline of Nero is ‘unde featable spirit.’ And this festival epitomises that spirit, the unde featable spirit of Marbella.”

She later wrote in February this

year that Nicola was a ‘dynamic business wom an’. Under a photo of her beside her Rolls Royce, she insisted: “She is focused with a heart of gold, sharp witted and sharp eyed. And she has sacrificed like only a WINNER can. She is living the life she designed for HER. She is our hope for the fu

ture - we really can have it all if we want it enough.

“You are MAKING IT HAPPEN and your tribe love you for it.”

Money

While Morrissey was last week remanded in custody at Marbella Court, his wife received bail, be lieved to be because of her 10-year-old son.

The Morrisseys invested heav ily in anywhere or anyone who would take their cash.

They own at least 11 proper ties on the Costa del Sol, which were all raided last week by of ficers from the Guardia Civil’s crack GAR team.

This includes two villas, both valued at between €3 and

€5 million alone, while they own countless luxury cars and watches.

The spa features large statues of centaurs, eagles and, of course, Roman figures such as Nero, one of Morrissey’s heroes.

According to an Olive Press source, police have also found various bank accounts in the British Virgin Islands and they are believed to have invest ments in Turkey and Dubai. Locally, despite the links to the vodka company they are believed to have invested in a drying out clinic and they were set to open an upmarket well ness spa in Mijas next year.

“In short the Morriseys bought the coast with the help of their friends,” ex plained a friend. “Money talks down here and they splashed it everywhere, but it ended up with them think ing they could get away with anything. No longer.”

GUSHING PRAISE: Nero’s pushy marketing in local press

STRONG STUFF: Nicola’s (left) vodka brand was ‘a cover’ for Morrissey, claim police from 5 countries

HE has long been one of the Costas most feared ‘business men’.

A former Manchester door man, Johnny Morrissey, 62, was this week led out of his own front door in handcuffs.

The notorious boss of Nero Vodka, John Francis Morrissey - nicknamed Johnny Cash - is accused of laundering €200 million in a giant blow against the Kinahan drugs cartel.

The expat of 20 years is said to be the enforcer of the Irish crime clan, which has terro rised the Costa del Sol for the last two decades, with numer ous shootings and settling of scores.

Alongside his wife Nicola, 47, he was snared in a massive

Europol police operation that involved officers from five dif ferent countries.

With a helicopter buzzing around overhead, the Roch dale hardman was ignomin iously cuffed in a pair of tight Hawaiian shorts, his beer gut protruding above.

A video showed police turn over one of his various Cos ta homes (police have so far searched 11 in total) while his attractive wife stuck up a finger at a photographer as she was led to a police car. He has been remanded in custody and his wife released on bail.

The operation involved agents from the British NCA, Irish GARDA, America’s DEA, Dutch Politei and Europol’s

European Centre for Financial and Economic Crime.

The Guardia Civil later con firmed that Morrissey was at the head of the ‘most import ant’ international criminal or ganisation operating in Spain dedicated to money laundering.

In little more than a year and a half Morrisey is believed to have laundered around €350,000 a day.

Fearsome

Morrissey was raised in Ro chdale and spent much of his early life earning a fearsome reputation in Manchester be fore moving to Ireland and lat er Marbella.

Things came unstuck when he had to flee Ireland more than 20 years ago after reportedly being involved in an attempt to hurt a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) officer investigating him.

Former CAB officer Felix McK enna earlier this year linked him to the attempt to attack a prominent Bureau officer be fore he left Ireland having had more than €600,000 worth of cash and property seized.

Morrissey was soon living in Marbella and became a larger than life character, known for his links to the underworld, but also celebrities.

He was a friend of the late Freddie Starr, who used to ap

pear in a nightclub allegedly owned by Morrissey in Fuen girola.

He is also suspected of bank rolling the final days of noto rious timeshare scammer Toni Muldoon who died in 2019.

Muldoon was jailed for seven and a half years for ripping off ordinary people to the tune of tens of millions over the years.

On his release from jail he led a low profile life allegedly fi nanced by ‘old pal’ Morrissey.

Speaking to the Olive Press, a Guardia Civil officer explained how suspicions were raised about Morrissey and his wife Nicola last year.

While she was the owner on paper, based out of the Elviria Business Centre, he acted as the ‘ambassador’ for the com pany, with connections to Gi braltar and Glasgow.

The officer revealed: “He and his wife were spending a lot of money around the Costa del Sol, but their vodka company

did not make a lot of profit.

“Despite this, the brand was always sponsoring big events in Marbella.

“The vodka brand launched in the UK, but when the US Treasury Department exposed it as being linked to the Kinahans, they closed the company and moved it to Spain and Gibraltar.”

Murders

He added: “In the UK media they are saying that this man committed 38 murders, but the Guardia Civil is not aware of any of these.

“What I can confirm is that he used to live in a very ex clusive mansion in Marbella, but when the US Treasury linked him to the Kinahans, he moved to a small apartment in Mijas. That’s where we picked

him up.”

The US Treasury Department blacklisted Morrissey last April and announced a $5 million reward for any citizen offering information on the where abouts of the three leaders of his organisation: Christopher Vincent Kinahan, and his sons Daniel Joseph Kinahan and Christopher Vincent Kinahan Jr. The trio are known to have moved to Dubai.

According to the United States, Morrissey held a key position on the second rung of the clan’s leadership structure.

Cashed out Rolls Royce Morrissey

SURROUNDED: British and Irish police joined the Guardia operation

SPANISH teen sensation Car los Alcaraz became the young est men's player in the Open Era to hold the No. 1 ranking, after sealing a four-set victory over Casper Ruud in the US Open.

Carlos Alcaraz, unfurling his full array of shots together with his combination of athleticism and maturity, beat Casper Ruud

Tennis Teen Sensation

6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 in the US Open final in a gruelling match that took over three hours.

Alcaraz’s maiden Grand Slam win at age 19 sees him be come the youngest

Oldest Abuela in Andalucia is 109 years young and still going strong

By Cristina Hodgson

David delight

HE is one of the last big visitors of the summer.

But Craig David more than lived up to his billing at a sellout show at Marbella’s Puente Ro mano Tennis Club.

In his only show in Andalucia this year, the 15 million-re cord-selling British singer brought his latest guise, TS5, to the Costa del Sol for the first time.

Effectively working as a DJ, he cleverly spun a mix of banging house tunes alongside his own repertoire, which includes no less 20 Top 40 UK singles.

It didn’t take long for the in ternational megastar, who now lives in Miami, to get the crowd jumping as he cleverly spliced hits from Rihanna with the House of Pain’s Jump Around

There was also Whitney, TLC and the Backstreet Boys in the mix, as the lad from Southamp ton showed how he’s matured.

Incredibly relaxed, he continu ally chatted to the crowd, who included Olive Press compe tition winner American Jason Schmidt, from Sacramento, who lives in nearby Istan.

“He is a true pro and knows how to get the fans going,” he said.

“Thanks so much for the tick ets. I never get to win things like this. It’s been a great night.”

Support act Trevis was also a big hit with the sellout audi ence, particularly the women, as he jumped off stage to ser enade a few of them with hits including Avenue and Let me Know.

GRANDMOTHER Maria Ro driguez Sanchez has just cele brated her 109th Saints Day. But through her life of hard work and hardship, she was perhaps not always a saint her self.

To make ends meet when she was widowed with three chil dren to care for, she worked as a matutera (goods smuggler).

She ranged from her Cadiz home to Portugal, Gibraltar and Jerez, illicitly trading to bacco, coffee and fabrics, in order to raise her children.

Known as Maria Matacabras (Maria Goatslayer), she was born on January 24, 1913 and this month the Mayor of Los Barrios paid her a visit to cel ebrate her Saints Day.

The hardship of the era that Matacabras was born into saw her working from a very young age. At just nine years old she was running errands and cleaning for ladies of the town.

In 1931, at 18 years old, Mata cabras married Eduardo Guerrero, father of her three children, however she was wid owed at the age of 42.

Tragically, in 1980 her only daughter Pepa died, leaving

man to be ranked world number one, surpassing Lleyton Hewitt, who held the top spot at the age of 20 in 2001. Alcaraz, the first teenager to claim the top ranking, is the youngest Grand Slam men's champion since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 French Open.

What a Saint

GENTLEMEN PREFER BRUNETTES

SPANISH-Cuban actress Ana de Ar mas channeled her inner Marilyn Monroe when she trod the red carpet at the LA premiere of Blonde She posed in front of the photogra phers in a dazzling long, tight-fit ting gown with a sweetheart neck line and a mermaid silhouette with a slight train that accentuated her curves to the maximum.

The look, created by Nicolas Ghesquière in collaboration with renowned stylist to the stars, Sa mantha McMillen, was finished off with matching jewellery by Anita Ko.

Her dress indirectly paid trib ute to one of the most iconic designs of Marilyn Monroe's prolific career.

The actress reinterpreted the golden dress that William Trabilla made for Gentle men Prefer Blondes and which was censored for being ‘too sexy’, but which months later Marilyn used to attend the Photoplay Awards ceremony.

GOING STRONG: Maria is 109 years old

Matacabras to also provide for her nine grandchildren, the youngest being five years old at the time.

Matacabras, currently resides with one of her granddaugh

ters in Santa Rosa. Despite her slightly chequered past, in 2017 Maria received the title of Citizenship on Andalucia Day to mark her lifetime of work and sacrifice.

Mayor Miguel Alconchel, ac companied by the first depu ty mayor, Sara Lobato, gave their best wishes and pre sented her with a bouquet of flowers.

Sing

At 109 years young, she is still able to read and sing and can offer a tip or two about life. But she has a few years to go if she is to catch up with Spain’s oldest person. Maria Branyas Morera, from Catalunya was 115 years old in March.

Punk Patti in town

LEGENDARY American singer Patti Smith is lined up to star at Sevilla’s Iconica Fest.

The singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 de but album Horses Dubbed the ‘punk rock lau reate’, the 75-year-old will take to the stage on Monday September 26. She is not the only big name at the mu sic fes tival, which will

run until October 15.

Iconic Heavy Metal band Deep Purple will feature on Saturday September 24, while Boy George and Culture Club take to the limelight on Friday, September 23.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Maria was presented with a bouquet

WILD WOMAN: Patti in full flow

STARS: Deep Purple and (left) Boy George

SAD TOLL

THERE have been al most 800 deaths on Spanish roads so far this year.

According to the DGT, up to September 11, 792 people have died in road accidents on Spanish roads: 222 on A roads and motorways and 570 on other roads.

Deaths

Some 291 of them are included on the regis ter of ‘vulnerable’ road users: 172 motorcy clists, 74 pedestrians, nine moped riders, one on MPVs (Multi-Pur pose Vehicle) and 35 cyclists.

In 2021 there were more than 1,000 deaths on Spanish roads.

Goodbye Ma’am

Spanish Royals pay last respects to ‘Aunt Lilibet’

THE Spanish royals were among hundreds of thou sands of mourners who gath ered in London for the funer al of Queen Elizabeth II.

The beloved monarch was laid to rest on Monday morn ing, with the UK and British expatriates in other countries stopping for the service.

Spain's Queen Letizia sat next to her father in law, for mer King Juan Carlos inside Westminster Abbey.

The controversial arrival of emeritus monarch Juan Car los from exile in the Middle East meant Spain's current King Felipe had to publicly sit next to his disgraced father, who is facing trial in the UK.

Juan Carlos – who is facing

By Anthony Piovesan

court in London next year over his ex-mistress and un declared income – also sat next to his estranged wife So fia at the service at Westmin ster Abbey.

They sat in a very prominent position below the pulpit just 10ft from ‘aunt Lilibet’.

The Chief Minister and Gov ernor of Gibraltar also at tended the funeral.

Chief Minister Fabian Picar do arrived in London on the weekend where he signed the book of condolences at Lan caster House.

All eyes were on the British royals as they mourned the

SOME 400 sheep were the special guests at Segovia’s fa mous Aqueduct as part of the Hay Festival.

The woolly animals were part of a ‘performance’ by Nobel Prize winner Konstantin No voselov and British artist Kate Daudy at the event, which is the biggest of its kind in the country covering literature, art and thinking.

The performance was titled ‘Everything is Connected’, and saw the 400 animals

beloved monarch.

Prince Harry cut a sombre figure alongside King Charles and Prince William as the trio followed the Queen´s coffin into the church.

The 37-year-old Duke of Sus sex looked emotional as he was seen trailing his brother

That’s art?

paraded through the streets with the words ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ written on their bodies with natural ink.

The idea was to show that, however different people’s points of view may be, individ uals can coexist in harmony. The Hay Festival was first held in 1988 in the Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye, but has had an edition in Spain since 2006.

Prince William, who was fol lowing behind King Charles II inside the abbey ahead of the funeral.

Charles, 73, also looked close to tears as he embarked on the procession from West minster Hall.

Harry walked side-by-side with William during the pro cession, a significant moment following Prince Philip’s April 2021 funeral, which saw Prin cess Anne’s son, Peter Phil lips, standing between the brothers.

Grandmother

Prince George, 9, and Prin cess Charlotte, 7, dressed in black, also walked behind their great grandmother’s coffin with their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Prince Louis, 4, was deemed too young to attend.

Health form gone

PASSENGERS arriving in Spain by air or sea no lon ger have to present a health control form.

The Official State Gazette (BOE) announced that it is now not necessary for trav ellers arriving in Spain to use the mobile app Spain Travel Health.

Thalia Robles, who often travels from London to Mal aga, said: “This is fantastic news, it was very tedious filling in the form.”

“It will make travelling less stressful,” she added.

Paw party

POOCHES will take centre stage in Malaga this week end as its Dog Party returns after a two year Covid break.

Live music, parades, talks, a raffle, dog hairdressing, and a charity race are among the attractions to take place on September 24 and 25 around the city’s Plaza de la Marina.

Sunday will see dogs and their two-legged human pals go head to paw in a fun run that will take partici pants through Malaga’s his toric downtown area.

Registrations are free and are made on site at the Tiendanimal of Malaga Nostrum.

SEND OFF: King Felipe and Queen Letizia

THE jury is out over who started a devastating forest fire which burned 5,000 hect ares in Los Guajares, near Granada, in the area’s worst wildfire in a century.

Over its six active days, the fire swept through mountains above the towns of Guajar-Al to, Albuñuelas and Pinos del Valle, before heading danger ously close to the village of Iz bor, which was evacuated for the night.

Fortunately, rainfall helped to extinguish the fire, although remaining patches of ‘hot land’ continue to be moni tored by firefighters.

The Forest Fire Investigation Brigade (BIFF) and Guardia Civil are currently investigat ing the source of the blaze, which has been confirmed as ‘provoked’.

They are seeking three peo ple driving a blue car between Guajar, Faragüit and Gua jar-Alto at 1.55pm on Thurs day, September 8.

Many locals believe the blaze was deliberately ignited by the wind farm companies that want to install their infra structure along a similar route to the wildfire and seek to re

Firestarter sought by investigators after blaze scorches 5,000 hectares

GRANADA’S BURNING

By Jo Chipchase

classify the ‘calcified land’ for their own benefit.

Sergio Arjona, deputy min

Firefighters jobs boost

MALAGA’s Provincial Government (Diputa cion) is beefing up its firefighting service by recruiting 100 more firefighters. It will also make permanent the posts of 222 current workers who are currently on tem porary contracts.

As part of an investment plan funds have been earmarked for new vehicles and fire stations.

Wrong country

HUNDREDS of passengers on a flight from Dublin to the Algarve ended up 410 kilometres away when it touched down in Malaga.

According to Ryanair, a French air traffic control strike led to delays and the flight missing its slot at Faro.

The airport has a curfew after which it can not operate.

The flight was then diverted to Malaga with passengers bussed back to Faro.

Passenger Barry Masterson tweeted: “Got on a Ryanair flight to Faro and I’m in Malaga lads, you couldn’t make this up.”

“Morale is low, some people have just realised that we are in Spain, and flight staff are trying to calm the crowd with the promise of the mystery box of answers that someone else will provide when we get to the airport,” he added.

Beached ship fallout

ister of environment for the Junta de Andalucia, told the Olive Press: “This is total speculation.”

However, the Comarcal de Lecrin newspaper has pub

At the moment, there are five Diputacion sta tions in Antequera, Coin, Ronda, Velez-Mal aga and Estepona and smaller bases in Al gatocin, Alhaurin de la Torre, Archidona, Campillo, Colmenar, Manilva, Nerja, Peri ana and Rincón de la Victoria.

Since 2019, the Diputacion has invested €26.6 million to renew and modernise fire stations and the equipment.

lished photos of potential fire-spreading devices, con sisting of cardboard cartons and dry twigs, that were found below the burnt zone in El Pinar, El Valle y Albuñuelas. Ignacio J. Barcelona, a lawyer specialising in property, says: “The Ley de Montes (moun tain law) about burned land was changed in 2015 – previ ously, the change of use was blocked for 30 years. Now, it’s still very difficult to change the land usage, but not im possible. For instance, if a project was already submitted and approved, or pending to be approved, with some min imum requirements already admitted.”

LA Linea council is serving a complaint on the owners and insurers of beached ship OS 35 after its oil spill ground fishing to a halt in the seaside town.

Mayor Juan Franco announced the move after the oil spill resulting from the OS 35 accident off Gibraltar caused cha os at La Linea beaches and coastline.

The environmental damage the spill caused has so far left 32 fishing boats in port and forced the early closing down of beach bars.

Franco said that the harm caused to the fishing community ‘is the hottest topic and the one we are most worried about’.

The town’s fishing boats have still not returned to three out of four fishing areas in the municipality until new tests are carried out.

*Data extracted from process closure surveys after using our roadside assistance and breakdown services.

Stop being so impressed

YET another prominent ‘businessman’ has been accused of a string of heinous crimes on the Costas.

Johnny Morrissey is a massive catch having been fingered as a close associate of the cut-throat Kinahan gang, for whom he allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of eu ros.

He has led a larger than life existence here, courting ce lebrities and VIPs to publicise his wife’s Nero vodka brand. The question has to be asked - why has it taken so long for justice to investigate his affairs?

It is not as if his allegedly criminal background is new ter ritory.

He fled Ireland 20 years ago in an apparent attempt to es cape the heat, accused of money laundering and threaten ing to kill a customs officer.

He is not alone either. The Kinahans openly enjoyed the proceeds of crime for years before heading for Dubai.

Before them, Barbara Windsor’s ex Ronnie Knight held court on the coast as he tried to escape British justice - as did a host of criminals at the time.

In the ‘old days’ the Spanish police were not too interested in British crooks as long as they kept their noses clean. As a result Spain became a place where people could rein vent themselves.

Taking a cue from the police, the expat community often ignored dodgy pasts or simply didn’t want to know. What mattered was how they behaved in the here and now. And the more they spent the more they were welcomed. This is why notorious criminals like timeshare scammer Toni Muldoon and gold coin conman Nigel Goldman lived high profile lives at the top of expat society.

Meanwhile on the Costa Blanca, investment fraudsters Darren Kirby and Jody Smart lived the high-life too, with first class flights to the US and cupboards full of designer shoes, while leaving hundreds of expat investors destitute, penniless and even sometimes suicidal. Lauding the likes of them - or Nicola Morrissey - for their business acumen and graft is an insult to all the genuinely hard-working, low-paid expats.

Perhaps it is time people looked a little deeper into some of the more flamboyant characters. And stopped being so impressed with money.

Either way, the wheels of Spanish justice are slowly catch ing the latest charabanc of sleaze that has engulfed the costas.

It’s a shame it’s taken so long.

Grieving for you

How we will miss our ‘Aunt Lilibet’: from Spain’s king Felipe

THE moving tribute to the Queen from her distant cousin King Fe lipe of Spain showed exactly how close the two royal families are.

Insisting she ‘set an example’ to the world and that her legacy would last for generations, showed how fond of Eliza beth he was.

You could see how well they got on during the days they spent together in the UK in 2019, and you could see it with his own father during visits the Queen made to Spain in the 1980s.

Felipe actually addressed Queen Eliza beth as ‘Aunt Lilibet’ and referred to the late Duke of Edinburgh as ‘Uncle Philip’. The strong bond between the families is because Queen Sofía of Spain’s grandfa ther was the uncle of Elizabeth’s husband.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021, was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Al ice of Battenberg. His uncle was King

By Jorge Hinojosa

Constantine I, the grandfather of Queen Sofía.

So Felipe’s letter, shared with the Olive Press from the Casa Real press office, showed an understandable depth of feeling.

Writing to her son Charles, the new King, Felipe wrote on behalf of he and Letizia:

‘Your Majesty, dearest Charles,

‘Deeply saddened by the sorrowful news of the passing away of Her Majes ty Queen Elizabeth II, your beloved Mother, I would like to offer Your Majesty and the British people, on my behalf and on behalf of the Spanish Government and people, our most heartfelt con dolences.

‘Her Majesty Queen Eliza beth has undoubtedly wit nessed, written and shaped many of the most relevant chapters in the history of our world during the last seven decades. Her sense of duty, commitment and a whole life devoted to serving the people of the United Kingdom and Northern

ROYAL TREATMENT

Ireland set an example for all of us and will remain as a solid and valu able legacy for future generations.

‘Queen Letizia and I send Your Majes ty and the whole Family our love and prayers. You are all in our hearts and thoughts. We will miss Her dearly. ‘With all my friendship and affection,’ Felipe

It demonstrates the warmth between the British and Spanish royal families and the frequent correspondence between the various monarchs.

The last time Queen Elisabeth came to Spain was back in October 1988, when she visited Mallorca, spending two days on the island with Prince Philip.

ON the day that Liz Truss became the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, I was expecting a call from Spanish TV channel La Sexta.

Their evening current affairs show, Más Vale Tarde, has recently been coming to me for some live insights every time something crazy happens in my home country. I have been joking for months that a lot of work lies ahead for me… And so it was that they called, to discuss via a Skype connection the handover of power from Boris Johnson to Truss. But in the end, we spent more time talking about Queen Elizabeth II, and that omi nous bruise that was clear to see on her hand in the photos of her meetings with the politicians she met that day.

“We all know that the queen has a delicate state of health,” I told the pre senters, using a phrase that would later become a headline on their website.

Little could any of us have known at that moment just how delicate it was.

On Thursday they called again, after alarm bells were sent ringing by the om inous announcement by the Palace that there were concerns over the Queen’s

By Simon Hunter, Madrid

health, not to mention a clear protocol at the BBC swinging into action as sched ules were rejigged and black ties donned. I updated the program with the latest news once more via Skype, and then pro ceeded to drive home.

Stuck in a typical Madrid traffic jam, I called my parents to bring them up to date and also test the mood back in En gland. Unusually, my mother had told me the news about the Queen first – given my hopeless Twitter addic tion, it’s normally the other way around.

This was just another sign, for me, of how big a story this was going to be: one of those that when you hear it, you need to get in touch with your loved ones to talk about it.

And then it happened. In mid-conversation, the news alerts – first from Spanish media, then from the UK – started to ping on my phone.

Just as my parents and I were speculating that the Queen might have already died, there was confirmation of her passing. I told my parents. My mum burst into tears. As I finished my journey home, I was able

to listen to the brilliantly judged BBC TV broadcast playing out in my parents’ kitchen. Then the fun really began.

La 1, Antena 3, Telecinco, La Sexta, Cope radio station, 24 Horas rolling news chan nel… My phone started blowing up with calls, all with interview requests so that a Briton could help try to unpick this histor ic day and its repercussions.

In the last six days I’ve done two remote connections, sat on four different TV sets, been on two different news bulletins, and turned down more than a few other of fers, and here’s what I’ve learned. First of all, the fascination for the Royal Family in Spain, as in so many countries, persists.

In particular in the context of the trou bled relationship the country has with its own royals – the Spanish king, for exam ple, is regularly booed at football games in parts of Spain that have pushed for

EMPATHY: Letizia and Felipe signed the condolences book

This was just another sign, for me, of how big a story this was going to be

It was a successful trip which began when they were met in the port by the previous monarch, King Juan Carlos I and wife Sofia.

The Spanish media report ed that both of them were wearing ‘very summery clothes’ even though it was autumn. And during their trip they visited many beau ty spots, including Andratx, Valldemossa and La Mola. They stayed at the Palacio de Marivent, which is the of ficial Royal residence near Palma, and after lunch they went up into the Sierra de Tramuntana.

The following day they spent time on the royal yacht, El Fortuna , with the Duke of

Badajoz, Luis Gomez Acebo, and Pilar de Borbon.

They reportedly went home ‘very happy’ with the way they had been treated by the Spanish royals during their stay.

The last time that the Span ish Royal family officially met the Queen was in 2019 when King Felipe was dec orated with the prestigious Order of the Garter at Wind sor Castle.

The king visited with his glamorous wife Letizia and the pair were photographed at various different events with the Queen and Prince Charles during the visit.

The most recent published correspon dence was another heartfelt letter sent to Elizabeth last April after husband Phil ip’s death.

Once again addressing her as ‘aunt Li libet’, King Felipe and his wife Letizia

showed great warmth for their British cousins.

The letter read:

‘Dear Aunt Lilibet, We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our dear Uncle Philip. At this painful time, we would like to convey to you our deepest condolences on behalf of the Spanish Gov ernment and the people and all our closeness and support.

We will never forget the occasions we were able to share with him and the legacy of service and dedication to the Crown and the United Kingdom that he always carried out at your side. Our thoughts and prayers are with Your Majesty and the whole family. With all our love and affection,’

Felipe, Letizia.

UNLOCK THE NEWS

YOU’VE got Spotify, you pay for Netflix and now you’re going to have to pay for your journalism.

While traditionally anyone who wanted to be in formed bought a newspaper or magazine, this changed over the last decade with the advent of digital media.

As the world changed, the leading media groups, includ ing the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the BBC guaranteed top quality, well researched content on the hour every hour.

But when Google and Face book started to unfairly dom inate global advertising rev enue (by as much as 85%) media groups could no longer fund their journalism through adverts.

It has caused a crisis for the worldwide news media in dustry (whether TV, radio or print) of enormous propor tions.

A giant trust lawsuit filed by the European Union this year, alongside the UK, for 26 billion euros in damages against Goo gle for unfair practices, could not come to court soon enough. Most people realise that you only get what you pay for!

And currently, the ONLY way out for the media groups is to charge for their content and thankfully the vast majority of respectable groups now have paywalls. In Spain, that means El País, El Mundo and el Público, while locally Dia rio Sur, Provincias and Última Hora also do.

All of them offer a cheap, good value subscription service for their readers to enjoy largely ad-free, reliable, well re searched news content.

The Olive Press is no different and for over a year now has pro vided 20-plus stories a day with unfettered access and almost no ads for under €1.50 a week!

Over 30,000 of you have now registered and have taken the opportunity to have decent, well re searched content delivered to you daily. While the newspaper remains free, and always will be, to be really well informed and up to date on everything from fires to the environment and from changes in the law to health warnings, it’s time to get on board.

independence.

Meanwhile, the emeritus king, Juan Carlos, is in self-imposed exile after the weight of his financial and roman tic scandals became too much to bear.

Given this recent history, it takes quite some explaining to Spaniards as to why people are so upset about the passing of the Queen.

Secondly, in a country where the dead are buried the very next day, such a long period as this one before the Queen is laid to rest is also something of a mystery.

And finally, the passing of Queen Eliza beth has prompted Spaniards – not just those I have met on TV sets this week –to ask the same question: how on Earth is everyone going to react here when Juan Carlos dies? There is one thing everyone seems to be certain about: it will be a very different royal affair.

CURIOUSLY, neither the King of Spain, nor Queen Elizabeth, were themost titled or noble royals in Europe.

That honour went to the Duquesa de Alba, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart,who had more titles than anyone else in Europe.

According to folklore, she could cross the whole of Spain without leavingher land and should she have met the Queen of England formally, theQueen should have had to curtsey to her.

Fortunately this never happened as the Duchess - who was also known asCayetana de Alba - had a very close relationship with Queen Elizabeth.They became friends when Cayetanastudied in London and she remaineda lifelong lover of the city, frequentlyvisiting throughout her life.

The duchess, who died in 2014, toldthe Olive Press in an exclusive interview a decade ago that she had indeed ‘loved living in London’ and thather favorite shops were Selfridgesand Marks & Spencer.

“I always stay at Claridges when I amthere, it’s divine,” she said. “I lovevisiting all the art galleries and watching operas.”

For the record, her full name was:María del Rosario Cayetana PalomaAlfonsa Victoria Eugenia FernandaTeresa Francisca de Paula LourdesAntonia Josefa Fausta Rita CastorDorotea Santa Esperanza Fitz-JamesStuart y de Silva Falcó y Gurtubay. YOU ROYAL THAN BOTH OF THEM

The Olive Press is the trust ed English speaking news provider, qualifying and checking all its facts before publication and calling out the many fake news sources. This is, above all, our role. Advertising no longer funds this profession, the fourth es tate, which is vital in a healthy democracy to keep checks and balances on the powers that be.

Just like the musicians who create the songs on Spotify or Apple Music and the actors and directors who create the movies and TV shows you now subscribe to on Ama zon Prime or Disney, we hope you believe that journalists need to be paid for their work too.

If so, please join us at www.theolivepress.es to find the best package to suit you.

1- Watch Kinahan drugs cartel financer Johnny Morrissey arrested in Spain accused of laundering €200 million

2

- Spain’s former King Juan Carlos has once again found himself in the Spanish headlines this time thanks to the arrangements for Queen funeral

3

- Nero to zero: Kinahan financier and enforcer arrested after seizure of 200 kilograms of cocaine and €500,000 cash

4- King Felipe VI will try to avoid photo with father at all costs at Queen Elizabeth II funeral

5- Listed remaining strike dates in Spain for Ryanair, Easyjet and Iberia Express

The most read stories on in the past two weeks are:

CLOSE: The two monarchs in Mallorca (left) and above King Felipe and Queen Letizia with Queen Elizabeth in 2019

REGAL: Duquesa de Alba

King Felipe was decorated with the prestigious Order of the Garter Simon TV

Burning issue

Xmas lights going up already despite energy crisis

CHRISTMAS lights are already being put up in Madrid amid a debate on energy saving and efficiency.

There have been calls for a re duction in the number of lights put up this coming festive sea son, but it is unclear whether the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, will cut back on the numbers lit up.

He has stated that Madrid will have Christmas lights but that he ‘will ensure that they are switched on with efficiency and energy efficiency’. The lights are normally switched on on the last Friday of November.

This was his response to Min ister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera’s call for ‘creative solutions’ for Christmas light ing.

The mayor refused to consid er keeping the lights switched off ‘because they are a tourist, commercial and economic at traction for the city of Madrid as a whole.

Alicante Mayor Luis Barcala has taken a similar stance fol lowing a Valencian government

WARM WINTER

WINTER is coming, but Spain can expect it to be warmer and drier than usual. Autumn officially starts on September 23 and weather experts have warned the up coming cooler months will be warmer than usual across the entire country.

It comes after the country sweltered through the most torrid summer since 1961. It will be warmer along the Mediterranean coast, with the Balearic islands set to be the balmiest location.

It will also rain less along Spain’s Iberian peninsula.

The average temperature for June, July and August this year in Spain was 24 degrees celsius, 2.2 degrees more than the usual average.

proposal that all municipalities should turn off 20% of their public Christmas light displays to save energy.

It is one of eight energy-saving proposals that the Valencian government, under President Ximo Puig, has submitted to the Ministry of Ecological

Transition.

But Barcala was not impressed. He said: “We need a plan to help municipalities to improve energy efficiency instead of coming up with an ill-thoughtout idea over Christmas lights,” said Barcala.

“President Puig has not realised that Christmas lighting in the region is crucial for commerce and tourism.”

THE RICH GET RICHER

HE neo-monopoly Big 5 continues to make ob scene levels of profit.

As the price we all pay for electricity, gas, and fuel continues to soar, their profits have hit ex traordinary levels.

There is talk of applying a windfall tax in 2023. Why

Profits have been made, and money is in their bulging bank accounts whilst residential and commercial cus tomers struggle to make ends meet.

The Spanish government has a sordid histo ry of enabling the “big 5” to prosper. Political lobbying and blatant corruption have never been successfully quashed.

European tax systems have started to adapt to the reality of exorbitant profits in the energy sector.

The United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, and Belgium have announced an intention to act.

So has Spain, but I don’t believe any action taken will be sufficient or timely.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pe dro Sánchez has said the state will collect an esti mated 2 billion euros from the fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

This is a drop in the ocean compared to the actual prof its generated by these com panies. So, the rich get rich er, and consumers suffer.

I prefer Greece’s formula.

Earlier this year the cen tre-right government an

Dry year

MALAGA faces the final stretch of the hydro logical year (a time period of 12 months for which precipitation totals are measured) as one of the driest in recent decades. It has been the seventh driest since records began for the province in 1961.

So far the average rainfall recorded in Mala ga this hydrological year, until August 31, has been 398.7 litres per square metre.

This is about 236 litres less than the average rainfall recorded for the same period during the last 60 years in Malaga, with 634.3 litres of water per square metre the norm.

Basically, it has rained a little over half of what is normal for Malaga in a year.

nounced a plan to levy a tax rate of 90% on windfall profits generated by domestic power producers. That’s more like it!

Greece is not a country usually associated with a sound financial policy, but it seems to have this nailed.

The European Commission permitted in March of this year for member states to introduce temporary tax measures.

There is no excuse for delayed action.

GROW UP!

On a lighter note, this made me smile last week.

Animal Rebellion protesters, who believe the best op tion to mitigate the climate crisis is to transition to plant-based milk, blockaded the Muller factory gates and tied themselves to milk lorries.

The response from the local MP, Siobhan Baillie, was classic.

She said: “It is difficult to know what planet these people are on. It is unforgivable to try to intimidate hard-working staff. They should just grow up and stop playing games with people’s lives and livelihoods. The public is fed up with protesters.”

Not surprisingly The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declined to comment.

Martin Tye owner energy switch company Mariposa Energy. martin@mariposaenergia.es

The sooner the better when comes to a windfall tax

Green MattersBy Martin Tye

BRIGHT IDEA?: Madrid

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NOTHING could be sweeter for choc olate factory magnate Jason God win after scooping €26,000 from dodgy floor clause mortgages.

The owner of the Mayan Monkey Mijas was overjoyed when Diego Echavarria of Fairway Lawyers helped him to recoup the money from Santander bank. He had taken out two mortgages with the bank in 2002 and 2004, both with the dodgy ‘clausula suelo’ floor clauses.

After a six month battle, Fairway Lawyers was able to get a favourable sentence, which meant a return of all his overpay ments and the scrapping of the clauses.

“To say we were happy is an understatement,” God win told the Olive Press “After fighting the banks for many years and failing to recoup any of the extra interest that was over charged, I contacted Fair way Lawyers.

mortgage payments were low, when rates started to go up they got stung.

From 2009 when the credit crunch ar rived and interest rates started to rise, so with it the payments increased every month. They became horribly high.

Then finally when interest rates and re payments began to drop, it unfortunately wasn’t good news for the Thompsons or Jason Godwin or many others.

Diego was efficient, fast and friendlywith No Win No Fee

“Diego was efficient, fast and friendly and as there was No Win no Fee we had nothing to lose and after recouping all the money the company took its 10%.

“There are clearly tens of thousands of people out there in a similar position and I would strongly recommend using Fairway Lawyers.”

The victory comes after many expats around Spain were able to recoup mon ey after getting the clauses scrapped.

One British couple in Mojacar, Almeria, got €50,000 after a battle with Bankia bank.

The Thompsons, like so many buyers who took out mortgages between 2002 and 2009, found their mortgage was not fairly set up.

While initially the interest rates and the

For while it was initially good news, the benefit of dropping rates stopped because their banks had included a ‘clausula sue lo’ or ‘floor clause’, which meant the bank always wins.

An amazing 3.5 million variable rate mortgages were awarded in Spain during the last 20 years.

For most such mortgages, the interest rate is linked to the Euro In terbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR).

If interest rates increase, the mortgage repayments go up and if the EURIBOR decreases, then interest payments will fall.

However, when they drop to a certain level (decided by the floor clause) the mortgage holders do not benefit further. When they reach the ‘suelo’ or floor, it doesn’t matter how much the EURIBOR drops they are not going to benefit more. The level of the floor clause varies by bank, but it was typical to see a floor set at 3% to 4%.

While deemed illegal by both the Span ish and European courts and ruled as an ‘abusive’ practice, in reality many mort

gage owners have no idea their bank made the charge.

Be it La Caixa, Santander, Unicaja, Sa badell or Banco Popular, they all levied the charges.

Fortunately Fairway Lawyers, in Marbel la, are able to quickly check and go after the bank.

The team has dedicated nearly five years investigating the clauses and, so far, has had dozens of victories.

It has a 99% success rate… and best of all the set up is NO WIN, NO FEE. And even if you sold your property and paid off the mortgage you are still entitled to apply for compensation plus interest.

No blood

SPAIN’S most notorious bull-spearing fiesta in Tordesillas has gone ahead but this year without blood. The Toro de la Vega bull run, which dates back to the Middle Ages, once involved the hunting of the animal by participants on horseback armed with lances or clubs.

Growing animal-rights pro tests saw the Castilla y Leon regional government ban the killing of bulls at such fiestas.

The local council brought in new rules that said partici pants would only be allowed to stab the animal with lances tipped with spikes or hooks as many as seven times. If they failed to do so in the al lotted time, the bull would be declared the winner.

The central government called on the public prose cutor to intervene on ani mal-cruelty grounds.

The new rules were sus pended by the regional court and the event went ahead as a regular bull run with no in juries caused to the animal.

Final chapterCelebrating Pablo

Year of events to mark the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death

A YEAR of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso has officially started.

The culture ministers of France and Spain officially launched ‘Picasso Celebra tion’ at the Reina Sofía Mu seum in Madrid.

The two countries have joined forces to celebrate the Spaniard who lived in France for most of his adult life.

More than 40 exhibitions,

SHIP AHOY!

GOTHEBORG of Sweden, considered one of the largest classic wooden sailboats in the world, has sailed into Malaga port.

The magnificent vessel is a to-scale replica of an 18th Century Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg I trading boat and is on a long voyage that will last until 2023.

Built in 2005, this 47-meter sailing ship is made of oak and pine wood, maintaining all the facili ties of the nineteenth-century ships, with a crew of 70 on board to manage all elements of sailing. Following in the historic footsteps of the origi nal ship from the 18th century, the purpose of the expedition is to promote trade relations in Europe and Asia.

conferences and other events are planned at mu seums in Madrid, Paris, Barcelona, Malaga, as well as in cities across the world.

The celebrations were launched by the two min isters standing in front of Picasso’s iconic painting Guernica.

Picasso painted it at his

home in Paris in response to the 1937 bomb ing of Guerni ca, a Basque Country town, which was bombed by Nazi Germa ny and Fascist Italy at the re quest of Span ish National ists led by Franco.

Upon completion, Guer nica was exhibited at the Spanish display at the 1937 Paris International Expo sition, and then at other venues around the world. The touring exhibition was used to raise funds for Spanish war relief.

Picasso was born in Mala ga on October 25, 1881 and died in Mougins, France,

on April 8, 1973.

“We aim to revindicate the artistic legacy of Picasso and the relevance of his work,” said Spanish Cul ture Minister Miquel Iceta. “If there is one artist that defines the 20th century, who presents it in all its cruelty, violence, passion, excesses and contradic tions, that artist is Pablo Picasso.”

JAVIER Marias, author of novels like All Souls and A Heart so White and a regular candidate for the Nobel prize for literature has died at his home in Madrid aged 70.

His publisher Alfaguara said that he had been ill with pneumonia for the past month.

“It is with enormous sadness that we re gret to in form you that our great au thor and friend

Javier Marias has died in Madrid this afternoon,” the publish er wrote in a statement. He used to write a col umn in the Spanish newspaper El Pais hav ing started as a writer in 1971 when he was at the age of 19.

Spain’s Prime Minis ter Pedro Sanchez paid his respects saying that Marias (pictured below) was one of the best writ ers of our time.

CASTING LIGHT

Orgivan photographer, Franc Enskat, is launching his new portrait project

TIRELESSLY capturing the most eccentric characters in and around Orgiva is a fa vourite task for Franc Enskat, a German/ French photographer who moved to the area in 2019, and made it his home. After working for 30 years as a professional ad

vertising photographer in Düsseldorf and Paris, Franc visited Orgiva to see his childhood sweet heart. They fell in love, he stayed, and they mar ried.

Franc has always been interested in “the human portrait”. After three decades of still life photog raphy, working on a new genre presented a chal lenge.

In 2015, Franc fulfilled his childhood dream to buy the legendary 20x24” Polaroid camera. He used it to photograph film stars and public figures – as well as homeless people and outlaws. Sadly, this camera stayed in Germany. Franc then decided to portray residents of Orgiva and La Alpujarra, making this his new project in the area.

He uses a bespoke photographic technique, mostly in black and white, to create “images that reflect people’s souls”. He quips: “That’s what the relatives of the subjects frequently say, but there are other voices that say, ‘it makes you look old’.”

Franc’s portraits have a strong texture and con trast, emphasising every detail of the subject’s face. He says: “That’s because of the black and white process, which makes 256 shades of grey out of millions of color nuances and, consequent ly, increases contrast.”

Instead of opting for today’s standard camera equipment, Franc works with some unusual lens es. Some date back to the 1880s, or don’t fit his camera bodies. The technique always involves slow photography, rather than the modern trend of taking hundreds of images to obtain one good shot. His use of traditional techniques - such as collodion wet plates, dry plates, and 20x24” Pola roids – is so prohibitively expensive per print that, sometimes, only one exposure is possible!

Diversity

Looking ahead, Franc is planning a “coffee table book” containing portraits and stories about the Orgivan characters he has captured along the way. In the meantime, he’s “always on the lookout for interesting faces, lifelines, and expressions.”

He says: “A very close connection is created at the moment of making a portrait, and this is how pictures with a strong expression are created.”

Franc is currently seeking people who are will ing to be photographed for his next big project. Although the full details are to be revealed, the resulting images will appear in a permanent art work that will be prominently displayed in Orgiva town centre. The portrait session is free, and par ticipants will receive a small booklet containing their photos.

Overall, Franc’s project is about showing the in ner character of the people involved. He says: “Diversity is the magic word in this amazing mountain town. Orgiva is alive with the many na tionalities and eccentricities of the people who come together here. I hope to capture that in my project.” tel: 621 301

A SOUL’S REFLECTION: Enskat’s unique process truely captures the essence of his subjects

By Dilip Kuner

MAESTRO: A year of events were lauched in front of Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica (below)

Get a mountain

CYCLE tourism is extremely popular in La Alpujarra, and some large-scale mountain biking events take place during autumn, such as the Alpujarra Magna in Lanjaron on September 24. With hundreds participating, this is a great event for specta tors. But, rather than watching other peo ple ride, why not pedal around the moun tains? Choose your route carefully; if you are a novice without well-developed calf muscles you may well end up dismounting and pushing your bike.

DO: Buy shorts with padding if going any distance.

DON’T: Go at it too hard and cause medical issues.

Boutique de moda, complementos y regalitos lunes -sábado am - 2 pm

Calle Correo, Orgiva, Granada, 18400

Happy camping

With fewer crowds and fresher days, now is the time for a healthy break in one of Spain’s most beautiful natural adventure playgrounds, writes Jo Chipchase

ALTHOUGH some people mourn the end of summer, the Alpu jarreños welcome it. Not only is the Alpujarra region on the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada

THROUGHOUT summer, campsites are packed and can be expensive, but from September on wards, you’ll find space and better rates. That’s partly because the weather’s colder (especial ly up in the mountains) but if you don’t fancy sleeping under canvas, you’ll find bungalows, chalets and cabins at several sites. There are scenic campsites in Orgiva, Pitres and Trevelez.

DO: Check that campsite facilities, such as the bar/restaurant, are open in low season.

DON’T: Forget the instructions for mounting your tent.

RECENTLY, Spain’s Queen Letizia was criticised for wearing a dress that was “too short” for her age (43), with comments that it isn’t “fit for a Queen”. As if we were inhabit ing the Victorian Era, where ladies were obliged to cover themselves - from chin to heel - to venture outside.

The attempt to shame Letizia for show ing her shapely legs follows the horrible trend of UK tabloids posting TikTok vid eos of people who are plus-sized, have body modifications, or are heavily tat tooed, and passing it off as “news”. The real reason is to create click bait, so that Facebookers can post silly comments un derneath.

Whatever happened to diversity? And personal choice?

In fashion these days – bearing in mind

it’s 2022, not 1922 – any thing goes, and “the rules” are

more peaceful once the big groups of holidaymakers have headed home, but the fresh autumnal days are per fect for getting active in the great outdoors.

Foraging for food

YOU can forage for almonds, hazels, figs, and various types of delicious berries this time of year in the Alpujarra, as well as wild mushrooms. October is the season for finding chestnuts to take home and roast.

DO: Take an expert if seeking edible mush rooms – the poisonous ones can be deadly.

DON’T: Eat anything you haven’t properly identified, or that grows along the side of a busy road.

DIVERSITY FOR ALL

Feel happy, be comfortable and follow your look AUTUMN IN

there to be broken. Who says that a lady of 50 cannot wear the same dress as a 20-year-old, especially if she feels a mil lion dollars in her chosen outfit and ac cessories?

Madonna recently said that her son looks better in some of her dresses than she does. Last month, he was pictured cutting a striking figure in her red Adi das number, carrying off his look with aplomb.

Similarly, American Mark Bryan, who lives in Germany with his wife and chil dren, wears skirts to work and is not tak ing any nonsense!

Although there are zero restrictions on our selection of colour, style, and hem line, when we plan our outfit, we should bear in mind our destination for the day or night.

Really, it’s not discrimination if you visit a five-star restau rant in Madrid wearing your beachwear from Ibiza, and there’s an existing dress code that doesn’t allow biki ni tops, so the doorman says “no”. Equally, a “no” might apply if you attend a black-tie dinner in your carnival outfit, resplendent with sequinned hot pants – amusing though it might seem beforehand!

While choosing from this sea son’s styles, there are some options that convert easily for daytime and evening use.

A well-cut pair of jeans and a

shirt is the perfect, chic solution. Both are available in cuts designed to fit most body types, with colours to flatter every skin tone. Go for classic blue jeans with a white shirt or choose ones that reflect your personality - such as ripped black jeans, flares or sparkle details. Change accessories depending on the time of day, and how you’re feeling.

We can also maximise our individual body shapes – whether we’re size 0 or 20

For example, people with narrow shoul ders might feel happier in a polo neck than a shirt, as it gives a flattering look, especially if you want to create a slightly fuller silhouette.

Those who have a strong, athletic build might find looser fitting trousers and a more fitted top will make the most of their physique.

With all styles of clothing available in many sizes, larger ladies have a great choice of flattering options, depending on their style, but don’t be tempted to “cover up” by wearing oversized clothing. Sometimes, a shape that simply skims the figure is the most flattering op tion. Try a fab patterned maxi dress and cropped jacket for the daytime and palazzo pants with a chiffon blouse for simple evening elegance.

Our various lumps and bumps can be made to look – well, less lumpy and bumpy - by wearing darker co lours, a scarf that hangs to hip level, a wide belt over the waist, or sleeve

Fashion advice and styling can be found in The Armario de Freya, Calle Correo 1, Orgiva, 18418 Granada

WITHthe holiday season winding down, tourists heading home and the nights drawing in, this can only mean one thing: the kids are back to school.

While most parents and children look for ward to the ‘vuelta al cole’, and some can’t wait for the school gates to open, it can be a nerve-wracking experience for some fami lies, especially if they’re new to the Spanish system.

Perhaps your primary-age daughter is shy about joining class, or your teen has spent most of the holiday lying in bed and it’s a major jolt to the system.

Many of you will have a child who isn’t fluent at Spanish and is worried about communicating with classmates.

Some students will be changing their

The Olive Press attempts to demystify Back to School 2022, by mother-of-two Jo Chipchase

school, which can be a life-changing deci sion. They might be switching from a state school to an international college, or a Mon tosorri or a Warldorf establishment.

Other students will be repeating an academ ic year, having failed to pass an exam or two in June, presenting a particular set of chal lenges for both the kid and parents alike.

Or, perhaps, you’re simply wondering where to obtain this year’s school materials with out it costing a small fortune.

Whatever your child’s school circumstances this September (and most will have started last week, so they will be getting used to it

by now) the Olive Press sets out to demystify ‘back to school 2022’.

What types of education are available in Spain

For parents who consider their children to be individual ‘square pegs’, who don’t fit into the ‘round holes’ of state education, based largely on continuous assessment and ex ams, there are alternative choices available

STATE EDUCATION

PROS 3 Your child will be involved in your local community

3 Their friends will live locally

3 They will quickly be fluent at Spanish / bilingual

3 There’s no need to transport your children to school

3 It is free of charge

CONS

2 Rigid structure based on con tinuous assessment

2 Difficult for parents who don’t speak Spanish to understand what’s going on

2 Not much creative learning, in terms of art, drama, etc.

2 It is relatively easy for your child to repeat a year. Re secondary education, the repetition rate is 5.5% for state institutions com bined to 1.4% for independent.

PRIVATE EDUCATION

PROS

3 Cambridge exams are provided

3 Caters for entry to UK universities

3 International Baccalaureate entry

3 Individualised learning plan

3 Constant contact with parents / partici pation in the learning experience

3 Speak to educators in English

CONS

2 The cost each year

2 Paying for school uniform, that your child must wear

2 Less immersion of your child in their local community

2 Friends might live further away

2 Child is less likely to be fluent at Span ish

2 The need to transport children to school – possibly at a geographic dis tance

2 The school holidays do not match Spanish holidays

Crunching the numbers...

From front

throughout Spain.

B School

There are 7,806 private schools in Spain, with 14,694 In the public sector…so roughly a third of the schools are independent.

Among other interesting official stats, with a 97.3% enrolment rate, there isn’t much homeschooling or truancy going on in Spain.

VsMeanwhile 9.9% of Spain’s pupils are foreign, while in Andalucia, 21% are educated outside the state system and in Valencia this rises to 25%, explaining why there are so many international schools on the costas, including many with French, British and American syl labuses.

International schools for a British syllabus

In the case of British schools, these offer Cambridge exams and allow pupils to take GCSEs and A-Levels.

Most offer an individualised learn ing plan, which wouldn’t be avail able in state schools and they are likely to have excellent pur pose-built facilities.

They communicate with parents in their native language, mak ing parent-teacher meetings a breeze.

International schools also pro vide a convenient pathway to

enter the UK university system seamlessly.

They are a popular choice with par ents who come to Spain for contract work, or a limited time only, and don’t plan to remain here – although this sort of working life has decreased with Brexit.

Parents can expect to pay from €10,000 to €35,000 per year, de pending on whether the child boards at the school.

Parents will also have to buy uni forms and other extras for their children.

Montessori

Spain has various Montessori schools, with most big cities offering at least one. Developed in the early 20th century by Italian physician, Maria Montessori, and based on scientific experimentation, the emphasis is on developing natural in terests and activities, and on hands-on learning and real-life skills, rather than using formal teaching methods.

The idea is to encourage independence by supporting children to learn in a

Continues on page 4

I SENT MY SON TO A STEINER SCHOOL

AWELCOME addition to the educational offerings here in the Costa, Alma For est School will soon be expanding into Middle School year groups from its cur rent pre-school and primary offering. During our recent visit, we had the chance to learn more about its progressive curriculum where classes are small, and where both teachers and students are enthusiastic and motivated to be there to learn, explore and discover new things together.

A progressive school with an international program fully accredited in Spain, Alma Forest makes learning come alive by drawing from the local environment as well as the outdoors, and taking students beyond their beautiful finca, to the beach, the forest or further afield to support a meaningful learning experience. And one of the things that really stood out was how much of the curriculum is co-created with the students and guided by their interests. Students have literacy and numeracy work shops similar to those you might find in inter national schools around the globe. But one of the factors that sets the school apart is the

OLIVE PRESS reader Annabelle

Grey insists her son, 10, has ‘grown in confidence’ af ter switching from state education to a Steiner school in the Granada region.

“He really disliked main stream school. He was quiet and introverted and felt that the other children received more attention because they demanded it of the teachers.

“Now he is seen and valued. When he first started, he wouldn’t speak in morning circle time – the first part of the day when children and teachers share their news and feelings. Now, he willing ly shares each day. He has a noticeable sense of self-as surance, enjoys learning now, and discusses what he’s doing at school.”

The curriculum includes maths, English and languag es, but they are taught in a visual way with stories and il lustrations on the blackboard. And they are also learning ge ography, astronomy, botany, zoology, geometry, agricul ture, music, noise mythology and more.

“Everything is taught in blocks of around 4-5 weeks, except for key subjects which are every week, so the chil dren learn and explore many different things.” PARENT’S VIEW

Where learning comes alive the students. At the time of our visit, the students the Primary School were just starting their investigation of the Universe & Black Holes

and there was a buzz and tangible excitement as the students recounted their experiences and discoveries to date. Explorations are very much up to the interests of the students and

in the past, Explorations have focused on Salt, Photography, Evolution, and The Future, just to name a few.

In addition to these Ex plorations, students also spend time working on their own projects. Free ly choosing these proj ects, they plan them and manage their own time in order to complete them.

Even the youngest stu dents quickly learn how to map out their work, use real tools, to sew and how to conduct research.

Students develop resilience and persever ance while finding and following their own passions.

The foundations for the independence and responsibility that the students in the Prima ry School exhibit have been laid in the Alma Escuela Bosque (pre-school) years. In this part of the school for children aged 3-6, stu dents are offered teacher-led activities, inde pendent activities corresponding to a weekly theme, or exploration and play in the wonder ful outside space full of materials, tools, trees and dens. An environment which honours the magic of childhood.

On the whole, students aged 3-14 years old at Alma Forest School seemed very much at home in their school, confident in their learn ing and happy to be there.

For more information, please call +34 646 596 155, email info@almaforestschool.com or visit www.almaforestschool.com

OPPORTUNITY: International schools provide a pathway to UK universities

EXPLORATION: Children are encouraged to set out into nature to learn about the world

A OUTLOOK!

Dedicated to excellence since 1971

AT Sunny View School, we create an environment which allows our students to truly thrive – academi cally, emotionally, personally and socially.

Sunny View School in Torremo linos, places a high value on its inclusive, caring and respectful atmosphere, a quality often com mented on by visitors and new comers to the school.

The school’s academic success is evidenced by its students’ exam ination results, which are consis tently well above the UK national average. The majority of its A level students go on to study at universi ties in the UK, Spain, elsewhere in Europe or the USA.

Sunny View School firmly believes that the path to such success is as important as the results them selves. At each stage of the curric ulum, from Preschool to A levels, the school’s team of experienced, UK-trained teaching staff strive to make learning fun, interactive, en gaging and inspiring, with students actively involved in their own learn ing and development.

Sunny View is also a richly diverse school, with students representing some 35 different nationalities.

As a long-established school with traditional values, the school con stantly looks to the future and con tinues to expand and upgrade its facilities and resources. Last year, the science building underwent a major renovation including im

proved layout and equipment in all the laboratories, while the school’s music room was enlarged and out fitted with new instruments. This year, the secondary students from year 7 to 10 benefit from new lap tops and digital books. The school also now takes children from 1 year old, giving them the best pos sible start on their educational journey with us.

Yet while always evolving and ad vancing, Sunny View School has maintained its strongest focus on what it does best: delivering qual ity, British education here on the Costa del Sol.

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION

well-prepared environment and it dis courages grades and tests.

Popular elements of this system include mixed-age classrooms, freedom of stu dents to choose their own activities, uninterrupted work time, and special ly-trained teachers. The cost can be from around €200 per month.

The Waldorf / Steiner system

Spain has over 70 Waldorf, or Steiner schools. Dating back to 1919 in Ger many, they are based on the educa tional philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. It is one of the world’s largest indepen dent school groups and the education al style is holistic and is intended to develop the pupils’ intellectual, artistic and practical skills, as well as their

imagination and creativity. Under this system, teachers play a sig nificant role in defining the curriculum and classroom methods. Assessments are integrated into the daily classroom activities and formal testing is limited to the actual requirements for students to enter post-secondary education, and not the continuous, formal assessment that occurs in a state school. Fees are from around €200 per month.

STATE VERSUS INDEPENDENT

JENNI STEPHANIDES of Sevilla is both a parent and teacher, with one daughter attending a state school, while the other is at the international school where she teaches.

A PARENT’S VIEW

“Both girls started at the international school, as my husband and I work there. We were offered free places, which ensured the girls could con tinue their education in the British system, in case we decided to move back to the UK.

“But after three years, my eldest daughter was moved up a school year. Be cause of her birthday, she had been placed into the correct academic year for the UK, but not for Spain – this was holding her back educationally.

“My youngest meanwhile was placed into the correct academic year.

“When we decided to stay in Spain, we gave both girls the choice to move to the Spanish system to integrate more with the local community. Both declined at the time.

“My eldest is about to start her final year and intends to attend university in the UK. However, my youngest moved to the Spanish system last year and thrived immediately.

Friends

“In the international school, she had many friends from around the world, but the Spanish girls didn’t include her, and she wasn’t confident speaking Spanish.

“Now, she is fluent in Spanish, has achieved fantastic grades in her first year in the public system, and has many friends from the state system. My eldest stands by her decision to stay at the independent school.”

Peter Jones is the opposite. Both his children started their education in inland Valencia province at a state school from a young age and enjoyed it and thrived.

But as they entered their teens Jones, a businessman who spends his time trav elling around Europe, agreed with his wife and their children that they should try out a private school on the Costa Blanca coast.

The family felt that they would get more chances to excel in arts and music and, above all, meet a more international group of children, who would in turn ‘broaden their horizons’.

“It has definitely worked and they are both loving it, with the eldest taking her A-levels and planning a good university in the UK, while our younger daughter will probably do the international baccalaureate and go to university in Holland or Germany.”

He continued: “While it meant coming up with around €2,000 more a month, it has definitely paid off. They are completely bilingual and still friends with their old local pals, who, of course, are all planning universities, if at all, in Spain.”

New head

Laude San Pedro International College has appointed Andrew Atkinson as the school’s new Principal

WITH over 30 years’ experi ence in international educa tion, Andy Atkinson has been involved in many interna tional programs of all ages, from 3 to 18 years.

His last leadership position was as Director of the Inter national School of London and he has also been a Gov ernor of the International School of Dublin.

In the last three years, how ever, Andy has undertaken international consultancy work leading projects in Spain, Russia and, most re cently, the launch of a high ly innovative international school in Punta del Este, in Uruguay. He has also worked for international or ganisations beyond schools, notably leading the IB Di ploma Programme team in The Hague and as Director of Global School Services in Washington DC, ensuring quality at its international

TIME TO SHINE

SHINE is a British primary school based in Mijas that offers unique and supportive learning tech niques.

This is a safe space where your child's curi osity and excitement will be encouraged with carefully designed projects that are themed around global and interesting practices.

experience with growth, self-esteem, confidence, and their well-being due to the unconditional support from the team at SHINE.

Family-oriented community approaches are highly important to the teachers when they are directing the children and a space for your child to feel supported, heard, seen, and have their needs be individu ally prioritised. Rest assured, the team at SHINE is committed to preserving their friendly and welcoming environment.

PRINCIPAL: Andy Atkinson has 30 years experience schools globally. He picks up on Amanda Hughes' incredible work over the last four years which has led to the school achieving an outstanding second place on the Forbes Magazine list of the best schools in Spain in 2022.

It has also been selected in the last few years as one of the top 20 and 30 best interna tional schools in the country, in El Mundo and El Español’s annual school ranking.

Laude San Pedro Interna tional College is part of the International School’s Part nership.

For more informa tion on curricular and co-curricular from 3-18 years, or to apply for a place, please con tact Mrs Mercedes Col menar (Head of Admis sions) on 952 799 900 or email admissions@ laudesanpedro.com

What makes SHINE stand out is its open, welcoming, inclusive and dedicated ap proach toward each individual student's needs for them to grow up to be this gener ation's bright future. The school bases its project learning techniques on the English National Curriculum which focuses on projects crafted to stimulate the children's excitement to learn.

Tradition is not a staple at SHINE, as they acknowledge the importance of thinking outside the box and remaining mindful of the impact their education will have on these children. With specific learning goals in mind, they pave the way towards children having a deeper, more meaningful

Also part of SHINE's philosophy and strong beliefs is inclusivity. No child will feel out of place, unattended to, unseen, or un heard. The only way forward is together. Every child is encouraged to become a part of our community and carry with them all that we have to offer, including a personal experience for not only the children but the whole family. Our goal is to reach the best outcome for each and every one. So come and join us!

The school with an open, welcoming, inclusive and dedicated approach

Please contact us to arrange a visit and learn more about how we can help you all to SHINE visit Reach is a new and inclusiveprimaryschool alternative to the traditionalschoolexperience.

TOP TIP

Save money on school materials

WITHschool materials predicted to have risen 20% in 2022, how can parents save money on those vital school supplies this September?

Check if your child has un used notebooks from last year, that they have stashed away somewhere. By salvaging these, you can save trees and money!

Go through old pencil cases for unused rulers, pens, pen cils, rubbers, etc. Then put the pencil case in the wash ing machine so it looks new again.

Your primary school pupil has probably hidden last year’s Hohner recorder (‘flauta’) in a drawer. You don’t want to end up with 2-3 of these expensive flautas. Find the noisy thing!

Large hypermarkets usually have large back to school of fers, with many items costing just 1 euro. It’s worth the fuel to drive there.

Buy a rucksack from a dis count store or Wallapop/ eBay or do a swap with an other parent. Hand an old er sibling’s rucksack to a younger one – voila! It looks new.

Be sure to wash it first.

TEEN SPIRIT

How to motivate your teen for the new academic year

GETTING

your teen back to school after the long summer vacation can be tricky – especially when they’ve developed lazy summer habits or, as has been suggested in recent reports, are fearful of what lies ahead in class.

The Olive Press speaks to two public school teachers about how to motivate teens and be involved in their education.

Anna Moreno Rodríguez –Teaches in Almanjáyar, Granada

Anna is a mathematics teacher at the La Paz institute in Almanjáyar, Granada

- a school classified as having ‘special difficulty’ because of social issues in its municipality. She has taught since 2006. She advises: “Motivation for teenagers is always difficult, especially after the holi days, as it’s difficult for them to return to work after lacking routine in the summer.

“If there’s a good relationship with the students, more goals are achieved.

When school returns, teachers try to present the content in an entertaining and fun way, by working on projects and using new methodologies and resources – both manual and digital.”

Considering the age-old problem of kids bunking off school, she says: “We have some protocols where the families are notified first, but if this doesn’t work, they’re referred to social services.”

Nobody wants the social services at their door – so how can parents avoid this?

“Teachers can advise families on habits, study techniques, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence, but the key thing is the involvement of the families in ed ucation and values at home. This is a problem today.”

She thinks that some parents have lost sight of what’s happening with their kids’ schooling and should be more involved.

She says: “Parents can constantly ac cess the teaching and learning process, with face-to-face and telephone appoint ments and online messaging systems.”

One of these is iPasen, which parents can install on your mobile phone.

From 2022, students who have failed their final exams in June can no longer re-sit them in September: this has caught some parents unaware.

“From this academic year, there’s no lon ger a September recovery option, except in the first year of baccalaureate. The evaluation of students is continuous and it’s not only exams that count. It’s difficult for a student to fail if they did well in the first trimesters.

“If a student is repeating the year, a per sonalised follow-up is carried out at our school so that they improve and meet the objectives. If they need to do better at something, the families are called.

“To motivate a repeating student, you

KIDS’ ADVICE FOR PARENTS – AVOID EMBARRASSMENT!

TEEN

opinion on what not to do, if you want to be cool at school.

Don’t let your primary school kid take odd and unnecessary items to school – such as gad gets that can be stolen or confiscated.

Don’t do the school run in pyjamas.

Always dress correctly and don’t turn up to collect your kids underdressed, like you’re going to the

beach. This is really embarrassing, especially if it’s not the summer.

Avoid dressing your kids in anything that isn’t clean and tidy.

Never let your child attend school in flip flops. Don’t park your vehicle directly outside the school gate, and then shout and gesticulate loudly at your kids when they are with their friends.

Fourpillarsofeducation

AFRENCH

French schools”.

“Most French students don't want to go outside of the French curricu lum, so we stick to that but make it more innovative,” she said.

“Our four pillars of trilingualism, student happiness, educational hybridation and digital and scien tific culture means our students are not only trilingual but they also develop critical thinking, emotion al intelligence, and learning of skills they will need for life beyond school.”

The school is a kindergarten and elementary school. First level of secondary school opened this year, with more levels to be added in future years.

All classes are taught by a native French speaker, with learning times dedicated to each language always in native speakers.

Some subjects such as mathematics are taught in French and English or Spanish, while the history and geography of France and Spain are taught in the language of that country.

Efim also offers free linguistic activities outside school hours and arranges language certificates in French, Spanish and En glish for students at the end of their third grade. Cortes said the ability to speak three languages is a “vital skill” to possess in today’s world.

Confident

“English is the language of business, it is spoken internationally and it is a must have so we want our students to feel confident in English by the time they finish their time at school,” she said. “Spanish is also spoken a lot around the world and of course we are in Spain, and French is also important to have for its cultural value and as it is spoken in many parts of the world such as Canada and many countries in Africa.”

About 65 students were enrolled in the school's first year in 2021.

This year, that total almost doubled to 115 - the school’s youngest child is two and a half years old, with the eldest at 12 years old. Students must be at least three years old before December 31 this

should make them see that doing a year again isn’t punishment, but that they must be more mature in their work.”

Eleuterio Leal Figueroa –Secondary teacher in Alcala la Real

Eleuterio works in secondary schools, and baccalaureate, and currently teach es at the IES Alfonso XI in Alcala la Real, Jaen. She has been an English teacher since 2006.

“It’s always difficult to motivate students, but after the holidays, it’s more difficult! Try to make them see the importance of doing well academically for their future work and motivate them daily.

“With the parents, we try to make them see the importance of a good education for their children's future and insist that they be constant.”

“The parents can access specific infor mation about their children during the course, as well as exam grades, using tutoring systems (such as the iPasen mo bile app).”

“Try to convince the student that they must make an effort and work more to complete the course.”

year to be registered on the current scholar year.

Cortes said she expects even more students to be enrolled next year. “More and more people are understanding the value of being able to speak multiple languages and how it can open doors for you in the future,” she said.

Cortes also said even non-French students are enrolled in the school’s other locations across Spain including Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona - At least 60% of students come from non-French speaking backgrounds, she said.

The Ecole Française Internationale de Marbella, which is part of AEFE French lycées network and accredited by the French Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, is currently taking enroll ment registrations for next year.

MOTIVATE HIM!: Or your teen may take after Kevin

school on Spain’s Costa del Sol is also offering lessons in Spanish and English in a bid to make its stu dents trilingual.

Ecole Francaise Internationale Marbella (efim) is accept ing registrations for its third year of operation. Managing director Rubi Cortes said the school on Calle Jacin to Benavente in Marbella offers “much more than traditional

Ecole Francaise Internationale Marbella: French school on Costa Del Sol offers classes in three languages

Horse riding

EQUESTRIANS know that autumn is perfect for longer rides, with the sun less intense and fewer flies. Popular riding centres in the area include Pegasus (Orgiva), Caballo Blan co (Lanjaron), Dallas Love Sierra Trails (Capil eira) and Rutas en Caballo (Berchules). are some magnificent and challenging trails along the mountain peaks, such as Puente Palo above Canar to Refugio Elorrieta, which overlooks the Sierra Nevada ski sta tion. Nothing is more inspiring those views! Some of the easier signposted walking routes are suitable for riders, but, if you are a horse owner and not part of an organised group, check first.

DO: Wear trousers without prominent seams (ouch) and boots with heels.

DON’T: Book a trek that’s beyond your ability.

Go for a dip

WITH public swimming pools closed, why not visit the region’s natural pools? There are popular dip pools in Orgiva, Pampaneira, Capileira, Portugos and Trevelez. It’s a region known for its clear water, although El Chorreon, a waterfall just outside Portugos, is famously colourful. The high ferrous oxide (iron) content in the rocks has reacted with the water to create a vivid orange background for the cascade. It isn’t the place to bathe though!

DO: Take a towel and picnic.

DON’T: Bathe where it’s pro hibited, or you’ll risk a fine.

Find a fiesta

Photography trips

WHILE summer is typified by harsh light, autumn here is aphotographer’s dream. Even before the leaves start turninggolden, the Alpujarra has its moody clouds and stunningsunsets. Recommended photo locations include the Sierrade Contraviesa, with its fabulous views on both sides of themountain; the rural tracks above Capileira; and the tracksabove Canar – the ‘balcony of the Alpujarra’.

DO: Find a unique viewpoint withsome foreground features toframe your shot, such as overhanging branches or foliage.

DON’T: Head straight to the signposted mirador in the midday sun,as the resulting shots willprobably look naff.

LOOK: Don’t worry wear what you want less long gilet. Whatever we choose, the most import ant thing is that we feel comfortable, happy, and confident with our choices and our “look”.

AFTER all this super-healthy hiking, cycling and foraging, have fun at a fiesta. Many towns and villages across the Alpujarra hold their annual fiestas during autumn (for example, the Orgiva feria which takes

place from September 29-31) and sev eral other events are held throughout the region at this time of year to cele brate patron saints. It’s Spain: There’s always a party somewhere.

DO: Join the fun with Span ish friends and neighbours.

DON’T: Count on a quiet or early night.

TAX SLASHED

PRIME Minister Pedro Sanchez has confirmed that IVA (VAT) on gas will be slashed from 21% to 5% from October to help fam ilies with the cost of heat ing.

Speaking to Cadena SER, Sanchez claimed it is pos sible that the measure would continue into next year, depending on the economy.

Sanchez added: “We do not contemplate restric tions on gas this winter, the context is very uncer tain, but we have a more secure situation than oth er countries.”

Wild claims

THE president of Spain’s Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, has been accused of using organisation funds to pay for private parties at which orgies took place.

The claims were made to Spain’s corruption prosecu tor by Rubiales’ uncle, Juan Rubiales, who was also a for mer colleague.

According to the uncle, Fed eration credit cards were used to pay for a party in early 2020 at which young women were present in a rented house in Salobreña, Granada.

The statement, to which Spanish daily El Mundo has had access, said that the offi cial purpose of the spending was for ‘working days, but they were no such thing’.

President of Spain’s Football Federation accused of using official funds to pay for orgies

OPEN ALL HOURS

SCHOOLS in Madrid may open for 12 hours a day, from 7am to 7pm, to help parents with their work-life balance.

The unusual proposal was made at a ‘state of the region’ debate in the Madrid parlia ment by PSOE socialist party spokesper son, Juan Lobato.

The idea is for junior schools to observe this timetable five days a week, and for them to be open from September 1 to July 31.

Currently the term at public schools begins in the second week of September and fin ishes toward the end of June.

SOME 71% of people sur veyed believe the economic situation in Spain is ‘bad or very bad’.

By Simon Hunter

Juan Rubiales went on to say

Just 18.4% consider that the economy is ‘not bad’ or good.

Gloomy outlook

that ‘the former footballer and the president’s friend, Nene, invited a group of eight

Carry on cabbie!

to 10 young girls’ to the house. There is no suggestion that the women were prostitutes, but rather had been picked up at local nightclubs, El País reported. Nor is there any evidence that they were obliged to have sexual rela tions with the men present.

Money

THE Junta has agreed to regulate private cars with drivers on the Costa del Sol but with new restrictions.

The Spanish government has told the Jun ta that it must draw up new regulations for minicab-style operators like Uber, Cabify and Bolt, which will only allow them to work be tween different municipalities and not within a town or city.

This means that private drivers will not be able to take clients from Malaga airport to the city centre, but they would be allowed to take them to Marbella, for example.

Juan Rubiales also told the prosecutor that in August 2020 his nephew suggested that he had to ‘find a way to get money to his father’ from the Federation.

The uncle explained that he rejected the proposal, which was when his nephew told him ‘to leave and that he didn’t want to see me again’. The Football Federation said the claim is totally false.

REGAINING GROUND

GBP/EUR exchange rate bounces off 19-month low amid extreme volatility

THE pound euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate fluctuated in a wide range through the first half of September, briefly touch ing a 19-month low before bouncing back. Over the last two weeks, GBP/EUR traded between highs of €1.16 and lows of €1.14 before settling somewhere in the middle.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

The pound euro exchange rate strengthened in early September after Russia extended its shut down of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipe line, fuelling fears of a possible Eurozone recession. Meanwhile, GBP investors cheered the end of the Tory leadership election, hoping for political stability.

The euro then surged higher as Eurozone GDP growth beat fore casts ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate de cision.

However, the bank’s meeting itself caused mixed movement. The ECB hiked rates by 75 basis points but also slashed its growth fore casts, prompting volatility in EUR.

Likewise, Liz Truss’s energy support package faced a mixed recep tion. Markets cheered the announcement but were worried about the lack of details, particularly how it would be funded. GBP/EUR then plunged to a 19-month low amid some surprising volatility. This seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction to Ukraine’s sur prisingly swift and successful counteroffensive against Russia. Sterling quickly regained this ground, despite UK GDP printing at 0.2% in July rather than the forecast 0.4%, and the pound euro exchange rate stabilised.

The UK’s mixed labour market report failed to boost the pound as freshly announced strikes in Felixstowe weighed on investor confi dence. However, the UK’s CPI saw Sterling climb as headline infla tion cooled and core inflation rose, providing some relief for con sumers while still supporting Bank of England (BoE) rate rise bets.

Meanwhile, optimism around the European energy crisis was tem pered by anxiety over a likely recession in Germany, Europe’s larg est economy.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?

The first major event of the coming fortnight is the BoE delayed interest rate decision. The BoE was due to meet on 15 September, but it postponed

the event in respect of the national mourning period for the death of the Queen.

At the time of writing, the consensus among economists is that the BoE will opt for another 50bps hike, although there is a chance it could raise rates by 75bps. A steeper rate rise could see GBP/EUR strengthen, while the pound may also enjoy improved economic fore casts from the BoE following Truss’s energy intervention.

The latest flash PMIs for the UK and the Eurozone could impact the pound euro pair. If private sector activity improves in either region it should support the relative currency.

At the end of the month, the flash eurozone CPI is due out. If inflation continues to climb, ECB rate rise bets may boost EUR.

Meanwhile, markets will be keen to hear the details of Liz Truss’s en ergy plans. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to deliver a financial statement in the week following the Queen’s funeral. Economists’ analysis of his mini-budget could prompt pound volatility.

Finally, news about Ukraine and European energy costs could also drive significant movement. Could the situation continue to improve, thereby boosting the euro?

PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY

This kind of volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that two-cent gap between €1.16 and €1.14 translates to a €4,000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against volatility. Specialist currency brokers, such as Currencies Direct, offer different tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the currency market. For instance, you can use a forward contract to secure an exchange rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against you.

Services like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need them.

At Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers.

Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 325,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.

In the survey by broadcast er Antena 3, people were also asked their forecast for rising prices - some 82% think that the price of gas will increase during the next month as will electricity, food and petrol.

Inflation has hit the pop ularity of Pedro Sanchez’s government - another sur vey published by Antena 3 predicted that if the general elections were held today, the opposition Partido Pop ular would win.

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He also reminded his in terviewer that the Spanish government has reduced tax on electricity by 80%. free

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Red arrow

ILSA, the first private Span ish high-speed train oper ator, has announced that it will start operating its trains in March 2023 between Malaga, Sevilla and Madrid.

The private high-speed train operator Iryo will join Ren fe and Ouigo on the Span ish high-speed rail network from November 25 onwards, with the Madrid-Andalu cia corridor forecast from March 2023.

The company expects to of fer 12 daily trains between Sevilla and Madrid (Ma drid-Cordoba-Sevilla-Ma drid) and 10 daily trains between Malaga and Madrid (Madrid-Cordoba-Mala ga-Madrid).

Going nutty

PRODUCERS across Castil la-La Mancha are ditching olives and wheat and are in stead growing a more lucra tive crop that is not native to Spain.

Some farmers in the central Spanish region, south east of Madrid, have stripped wheat fields and vineyards, and opt ed to grow pistachios instead.

Each kilo of olives farmers produce fetches between 65 and 85 cents, and about 65 cents for grapes.

But farmers can cash in to the tune of €6-8 for a kilo of pis tachios.

It comes after the regional government set up a research project more than three de cades ago to look for more lucrative crops its farmers could grow and entice grow ers to stay in the province.

Spain harvested 2,800 tonnes of pistachios from 70,000

MALAGA Airport was used by more than 2 million passengers in August and saw over 15,000 flights landing and taking off. These figures provided by airport operator Aena are only 7% less than in the same month the year before the pandemic began and highlight that tourism on the Cos ta del Sol is recovering.

The UK, with 584,179 passengers, is still the top market for Malaga

By Anthony Piovesan

hectares (173,000 acres) last year, nearly all in Castilla-La Mancha.

But Spain is still a newcomer

Busy month

Airport, followed by France with 130,931 travellers, Germany with 130,806 and Holland with 104,149. Other countries also stand out for their strong growth rate such as Italy (77,435), Norway (51,682), Morocco (44,298) or Austria (24,593), which was well above 2019 figures.

Farmers in Spain ditch olives and wheat crops for pistachio

in the market which is dom inated by Iran, Turkey and California, which between them account for nearly 90% of world production.

Pistachios are mostly eaten as snacks, but also widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine, as well as in the production of cakes, sweets, ice-cream and cosmetics.

Olives

Agricultural activities across Castilla-La Mancha have his torically been based on the cultivation of wheat (37%), grapes (17.2%) and olives (6.6%).

The region also has some of the most extensive vineyards in Europe, nearly 700,000 hectares, (1,700,000 acres).

It’ll be all white!

MINIMUM spend lunches at €250-a-head, €700-a-week hire cars, Michael Gove on the dancefloor. Yikes! Is it any wonder Ibiza’s been a little quieter this summer.

Ask any regular visitors or business owners and they’ll tell you the same thing; the White Island is anything but empty, but there’s definitely less visi tors than last year.

Meanwhile, getting a restaurant book ing is still advisable weeks before you arrive, while the service has noticeably gone south, thanks to anyone on a wait

er’s salary struggling to afford a rental. Could it be that the hippest island in the Med has finally boiled over? Priced itself out of the market?

Ibiza has certainly become a money trap for anyone not keeping their wits about them and doing their homework well in advance.

Take the words of stalwart DJ Carl Cox, one of the original spinmasters who made the island famous back in the

Fairway

late 80s and the Summer of Love. Back doing a weekly slot after some time away, he recent ly insist ed: “The island is a bit weird now… Anything

commercial is considered success ful… Everything is more expensive and there are a lot of private jets and yachts around. There is still cool stuff going on but you have to know where to find it.” I’ll second that. You definitely need to know where to go and, despite a good deal of research this year, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes.

A lot of the problem is location, as half the best restaurants sit on coves where you take up to half an hour to get there and 10 minutes to park. And as most of them have no competition nearby they have a monopoly, which can often end up with abusive pricing.

sunbed and walked out of a very aver age lunch with a €75-a-head hole in our pockets.

The good news is the island still does have some excellent value places to eat, not to mention plenty of things to see and do.

That’s over 20 kilometres of unspoilt coastline to explore

One classic case is Cala Bonita, a hip chiringuito on a dreamy isolated cove miles from anywhere. We’d walked there two years ago and eaten a stunning, good value lunch and enjoyed the day on the beach. But this year, we got stung for €30 a

The very fact the island still has a large tribe of new age travellers and hippies around (many more than say, Tenerife, or nearby Mallorca) bodes well, plus there are far more Fiat Pandas than Range Rovers. And, without a doubt, the island has some of the best hikes and cy cling routes in Spain. It’s really worth making a point of hiring a bike, or heading off on one of the many walking trails.

What you need to know though is that the north of the island is far wilder, more authentic and generally better value than in the south.

The north from Cap Nuno to Cala San Vicente is full of wooded head lands with hidden coves worth walk ing to with a pic nic. That’s over 20 kilometres of won derful unspoilt

coastline to explore and the inland towns and villages nearby have both good places to stay and often cheaper places to stay.

Take Sant Joan, aside from the cool Giri Cafe that recently opened with its secret garden, you can stay for around 75 euros a night at the nearby Hotel Ses Arcades.

One of the best hikes is the amazing nearby 8km circular walk which takes in Playa es Portitxol, a beautiful circular cove, dotted with a handful of wooden boat houses. The walk starts at the Ur banizacion Isla Blanca and, my advice, is to take the inland route downhill first, skirting around an incredibly unspoilt pine forest.

Dozens of other walks and cycling trails are listed on the websites www. Alltrails.com or www.komoot.com.

Pedal-wise, there are over 20 official routes scattered across the island, split into four levels of difficulty and to talling over 700kms.

I headed on the one that skirted out of Sant Joan towards Benirras, which then looped around to the south. It was largely flat and almost all on dirt tracks or incredibly quiet roads. And this was in early September.

Other things you might look out for are the unusual

DON’T BE INFLUENCED BY THE INFLUENCERS

It might seem Ibiza has been cancelled under the weight of influential Influencers fizzled out after a decade of celebrity love-ins.

It’s certainly likely that the continual photos of footballers on yachts and hard-to-remember models letting their hair down (the Delevignes, etc) is just becoming a bit too tedious.

All those Insta feeds and Tik Toks rammed with pouting prin cesses and preening pricks has certainly put me off over recent years. But ignore them. You don’t need to get a yacht, head to For mentera, and you don’t need to hang out on Playa d’en Bossa or San Antonio. Ibiza has so much more.

Eye on IBIZA the to in the

GLAMOUR: Taking a dip at Cala Xarraca

SCENIC: Beaches around Sant Joan and perfect veiwing spot

sculpture, Time and Space, installed in Cala Llentia thanks to Cirque du Soleil boss Guy Laliberte, who has a home nearby. You could also track down the Ojo de Ibiza vineyard owned by former Yello genius Dieter Meier.

And then there’s the Las Dalias hippy

market in Sant Carles, which has been doing a roaring trade since 1985 with its funky handmade jewellery, linen beachwear and rustic leatherwork. Make sure to stop at nearby Anita’s for lunch or breakfast. The original hippy hangout from the 1970s.

WHERE TO EAT

TRIED AND TESTED

BEFORE

heading anywhere to eat in Ibiza, these days, take my advice and carefully look at the photos on Google or TripAdvisor, which I normally hate, and you’ll hopefully see a photo of the menu, or some recent bills, and you’ll be able to work out the price and cut your cloth.

In the meantime, here is a cutout and keep list of five of the best good value places to eat on the island and four great places to stay, two budget op tions and two excellent value five star splurges.

IL BUCO

This is one super hot Italian worth tracking down in Santa Gertrudis in the heart of the island.

The sister of a celebrated New York joint, the originality of the food is only matched by the quality of its ingredients, much of it gluten-free.

A favourite with families with its numerous fresh focaccias, the sharing platter is a real winner with four or five choices, including bacon, ricotta and figs or sweet pumpkin and Gor gonzola.

The menu changes daily but often includes the burrata, which comes with toasted crushed hazelnuts with fresh

green pesto and diced strawberries... It is creamy and light in equal measures.

The artisan-dried Paccheri pasta comes with toasted vege tables and thick lamb ragu, while the vegetable side dishes, including crispy Italian broccoli with pepperoncini and beans with shaved almonds and garlic, never tasted so good. My advice; do not pass on the vanilla panna cotta with wild

RUSTIC DINING: Gorgeous interior of Il Buco Continues on next page

SECRET SPOT: Aguas Blancas chiringuito

WHERE TO

THE DREAM POP-UP!

second to none.

NUDO

It doesn’t have a sign, hardly has a web site and there is almost nothing to read about it online.

And while it has the feel of a pop up and lacks any fanfare the young team at Nudo will be here to stay (if they fancy it).

Don’t be put off by the location beside the outsized Invisa holiday club at Playa Figueral, this is easily one of the current dining secrets in Ibiza.

The creativity at play is impressive, while the freshness is

Real market-style cooking, the team, including Edo, Jessy, Jose and Frances ca all did their time at Copenhagen’s famous Noma restaurant (once voted the World’s Best), while Jose helped open sister restaurant Inua in Japan and worked for the group in Tulum, in Mexico.

“We are two Italians, a Catalán and a Guatamalan and we love to cook,” he told the Olive Press. “I was all set to wow Kyoto with the new Noma but Covid end ed that. Now we are giving Ibiza a good go.”

That was clear when out came his Scal lop carpaccio, with lemon zest, wild rose oil and local horseradish - eaten by hand!

While his amberjack ‘tiradito’, with to matillo, a Mexican spicy tomato grown for the team on the island, was an ed ucation, as was his superfresh ‘rocket koshu’.

The smoked eggplant ‘bikini’ with scamorza and miso was a dreamy sand wich worthy of the Ritz, while a fried fish taco in iceberg lettuce with a Tarragon mayonnaise made my wife admit that ‘sometimes’ she does like fish!

Simple wooden tables and a mix and match of chairs in all shapes and sizes make up the scene, while 95% of the lemmings below have not the slightest clue what they’re missing. So good was the barbecue peaches with rosemary pudding served with yoghourt ice cream, we quickly ordered the only other pudding left, a stunning chocolate torte with figs and fig jelly.

www.nudoibiza.com

CASA KICA - restaurant and store

Another new spot with a great shady gar den between San Carlos and Santa Eula lia - Casa Kica should do well.

While it initially feels like you are sitting in a furniture shop (because you actually are with everything for sale), the menu focuses on good quality local produce.

The tables are all laid out with African cushions and fans hanging from the gi ant willow tree.

The lunch menu is simple, focusing on light, cooling bites, so expect plenty of salads, such as the green papaya salad, which comes with prawns.

Then there is the ‘rainbow’ of tomatoes with tuna belly, ‘padron’ green peppers, a free range beef carpaccio with black truffle and a smoked wild salmon poke, with avocado, cucumber, soy beans and spring onions.

Lamb tacos were great for the kids, with onion confit, red cabbage and Japanese spring onions.

There are always specials of the day, in

cluding a good value ‘frita de Calamar’ which looked like a dog’s dinner but tast ed great and was gentle on the pocket at 8 euros.

@casakicaibiza

FAKE DOG SHELTERS honey and pollen to fin ish. This is one of the best I’ve eaten.

CALA XARRACA and CALA XUCLAR

These two local beach spots in the north of the island, near Sant Joan, are among the best for good value, no

nonsense dining. The former has been very unfairly slammed on Google, but has really turned things around and you get to sit right on one of the nicest beaches, perfect for rock jumping and snorkling. The menu is simple, but the fish is fresh and the hamburgers will keep the kids happy. You can’t book, but our waiter Nacho ensured we didn’t wait long and came and found us when a table came up.

For better quality food and somewhere you will definitely need to book, chiringuito Cala Xuclar is a sure fire winner. It doesn’t have a website and you can only pay by cash, so be aware, but the creativity and quality of the food makes up for it.

WHIZ: Jose trained at Noma

NEW BROOM: Charming garden at Casa Kica, while (right) Xarraca

INCREDIBLE FIND: Chiringuito Cala Xuclar

WHERE TO STAY

Forthose on a bud get my advice is to head towards the north of the island where you can find well over a dozen hostels, agroturismos and bed and breakfasts that won’t cost more than 100 euros a night.

SETTING NEW STANDARDS

There is nothing standard about The Standard ho tel in Ibiza Town.

You can tell this place is different from the upside down nameplate on the front door to the offer ing of a local hierbas de Ibiza spirit at reception, which at 23% almost guarantees a smile.

The colours and warmth of this American chain are immediately obvious (and it’s not just the welcome snifter), while the stylishly-attired staff make up the palate.

Much of the reception area and atmospheric Jara restaurant next door has highly sensual artwork from Colombian artist Nicolás Villamizar, who lives in Madrid.

His erotic style gently segways into the quirky things for sale behind the reception desk, which are best to leave to the imagination.

Jara is easily one of the most seductive, adventur ous dining rooms on the island. Sophisticated and intimate, it counts on 50s retro chairs and side boards paired with 70s-style banquetes.

GETTING ARTY IN FRIGILIANA

The village’s sixth annual art route takes place from October 7-9

AMUST-VISIT for those who appreci ate art and culture, the picturesque village of Frigiliana, officially voted ‘one of the most beautiful villages in Spain’, is holding its Sixth Frigiliana Art Route from 7-9 October.

This special event, full of artists’ open houses and studios, gives visitors the chance to stroll the charming village streets and discover 24 locations exhibiting diverse art from 48 partic ipants of 12 different nationalities.

As well as the chance to admire many types of art - including paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, textiles, encaus tic, engravings, art povera, ceramics and collage - visitors can meet the artists and chat about the creative processes behind the works.

The art trail encompasses various stu dios, where the artists will be working live, in situ. The idea is to bring the public closer to artists, and vice versa. The opening hours of the art route are from

11am to 2pm and 4pm to 8pm.

As part of this year’s initiative, there’s also the opportunity to enroll for an Intensive Painting Course, hosted by Valencian artist, Ismael Fuentes, and involving 10 hours of class time spread over the three days.

Visitors can also enjoy several three-hour Collage Workshops, hosted by artist Alina Smocov and taking place daily.

The art locations along the route are marked clearly on a map, available from an informa tion stand located in Plaza del Ingenio.

The supercool five-star OD Hotel in Ta lamanca (www.od-hotels.com) has got even better over the last year.

Aside from adding a fully-equipped gym, the hotel, which is easy walking distance to Ibiza Town, has an amazing top floor chill out bar and restaurant with some of the best views on the island.

The rooms are incredibly well appoint ed, hyper modern and the grounds full of cascading swimming pools. It’s stylishly built and the place where all the DJs and those-in-the-know stay.

The vanguard lighting and stunning African pan elled screen guide the eye up to the raised round pit in harmony while two circular recessed light wells break up the ceiling.

A clever use of tropical plants breaks up the sec tions while a cocktail bar and handsome mixolo gist in a Panama hat makes up the scene.

Outside are a dozen tables for those aching for more classic people-watching (and Ibiza town gets no better on that front).

We are here on a Monday and it’s African music night and with other live music events on Sundays and Thursdays this shows a team not just in touch with the Ibiza vibe, but also trying to engage with its local envions.

It is clear through dinner that many local people not staying in the hotel come in for a drink to enjoy the music. Being inclusive like this has got to work for them in the long run.

Rooftop

Food-wisde the menu was a fairly standard trawl through the Spanish national scene.

I particularly loved the scallops from Galicia (zam borinas) served with dollops of butter, pesto and watercress, while the crispy duck rolls were deli cious with a cherry mustard sauce.

We didn’t eat much as we also wanted to check out the much-talked about rooftop terrace UP and also try the food there.

But dining aside, this is one place anyone visiting Ibiza town MUST visit this Autumn.

Two excellent good value options are Hotel Ses Arcades, just outside Sant Joan and Aparta mentos Aguas Blancas, in Sant Carles.

Ses Arcades has a great restaurant downstairs and while it sits by the main road you walk out into lovely countryside behind it and the rooms are quiet with air conditioning, a huge bonus in the stickiness of the summer.

In contrast, Aguas Blancas (above), sits on its own on an amazing promontory, surrounded by pine trees, overlooking a bay south of Cala San Vicente and out towards Tagomago island. This collection of low rise buildings counts on a dozen apartments, most with two bedrooms and all with their own private balconies with sea views.

They are excellent value and are well appointed with all the mod cons one might hope for, plus you are just a five minute walk to the beach and the laid back, hip Aguas Blancas Chiringuito, which counts on one of the loveliest evening Mojitos on the island.

www.apartamentosaguasblancas.es and www.sesarcades.com

Getting to Ibiza the rect from Malaga, Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante as little as €55 before booking in a either Ryanair or Vueling.

But bear in mind, hire cars can be costly

Wow, wow, wow. The rooftop pool (above) is in credible and this wonderfully designed space with its cleverly planted mix of gaura, citrus trees and Australian bottle brush, will be a reference for years to come I’m sure.

The cream glazed ceramic pots, unfussy rattan chairs and calico-fringed parasols with their ambi ent solar lights create the relaxed mood.

While light, the menu was creative enough with a great super fresh guacamole with wholemeal na chos, while a toasted taco, with spicy prawn and red cabbage and spring onion, at just 6 euros was a steal.

We watched the sun set and then the moon rise over Ibiza town’s haunting skyline as jets and air lines swooped down to the nearby airport.

There is little more to add, except to stress that the rooms certainly did not let us down. While any thing but grand our Supreme King bedroom had a hip chaise longue with bright cushions, excellent products and a superb bed. We slept like babies.

GETTING THERE

so a far better way to get there is via the fast ferry from Denia, or the slower one from Valencia, which only takes two hours and costs from a similar price with a car.

The information stand is also the perfect place for a photo opportunity: in such an inspiring setting, why not take an artistic selfie to upload to social media?

Visitors are encouraged to tag their post with @rutadelartefrigiliana, to spread the news.

Costa lot

A 1,400 square metre villa in the exclusive neighborhood of Pedralbes in Barcelona is on sale for an eye watering €21 million. The main building of the property is di vided into three floors, a basement and a huge garage in which to park up to eight cars.

Despite estate agent claims that it is the most expensive property in Spain, an es tate in Mallorca is currently listed at €26 million.

The top floor is used for leisure areas and it has a wonderful terrace with sofas and a minibar to enjoy the best views of Bar celona from the comfort of your home. The house has an innovative home auto mation system to regulate the lights and temperature.

The villa has a 120-square-metre dining room with a fireplace and 7-metre-high coffered ceilings.

On the first floor, there are two big rooms measuring 200 square metres with views to Barcelona.

THE price of a 17th century country home has soared by more than €12 million in just four months.

Foreign investors bought Son Curt near Castell d’ Alaro - 30 minutes drive from Pal ma - for a ‘bargain’ €4 million in May but have now put it up for sale for €16.4 million.

The estate has approximately 970,000 square metres of land, eight bedrooms, a guest house, stables, spa, swimming pool and a barbecue area.

The property could be used for agriculture and hunting and it has direct access to the soaring Sierra de Tramuntana.

The owners explained the dramatic increase in price by saying they had done extensive renovations.

Any buyer will not be able to move in until 2024 as work to improve the property is still ongoing.

ISLAND ESCAPE

RATES RISE IN SPAIN

Poles are snapping up homes in Mallorca to escape unstable Eastern Europe

Time to reconsider your lenderRATES

in Spain have continued to rise, with the 12-month euribor base rate used by the banks reach ing 1.249% in August. to understand the magnitude of this rise, we only have to go back to the beginning of the year when it stood at -0.498%.

It comes amid a steady trend of rises that began at the start of this year, cul minating this month with the European Central Bank adding yet another 75 basis points to interbank rates. But with inflation predict ed to stay high, it is likely Euribor - the interest rate most often used to calcu late mortgage payments and variable and fixed rates - will continue to increase.

A result these increasing rates will mean mortgage repayments will be more expensive.

For example, with a €150,000 25 year mortgage, repayments could rise by €121.46 per month if the mortgage is re viewed every year - this would mean an annual increase of €1,457.52.

The Euribor indicator has in creased expectation that the Eu ropean Central Bank (ECB) will further raise interest rates in a bid to control rising inflation. Spain’s inflation rate sits at 10.7%, compared to 10% last month and 2.9% at the same time last year - this is way high er than the long-term average of 2.18%.

Economists also fear a further increase in inflation could push the Euribor rate over the 3% threshold.

Despite rises in the Euribor, mortgage repayments and in flation, property purchases in Spain continue to be strong.

The mortgage industry had its best June performance in 12 years, giving out 42,676 loans - 12% more than June last year, accord ing to Spain’s National Insti tute of Statistics (INE).

Banks

Due to Spanish banks’ reti cence in remortgaging and the fact that non-euro earn ers have limited options for fixed rates, it is more im portant than ever to get into the best product available from the off.

At the Finance Bureau, we can help you through the process and find you the best deal while taking into account changes that may happen in the future. Give us a call and we can dis cuss your requirements.

LARGE numbers of Polish people are buying proper ties in the Balearic Islands to escape the instability of Eastern Europe.

They are moving, in par ticular, to avoid the es calating conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

According to the Balear ic Real Estate association (ABINI) they fear the con flict could spread from Ukraine into other parts of Eastern Europe.

Brits

“They choose to move here because of the good weather, the education system and the Spanish health care,” said presi dent Hans Lenz.

They are also attracted to Mallorca’s good commu nications with the rest of Europe.

Despite the increasing number of Poles moving here, there are not yet any concrete statistics.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Germans

are still by far the most important group of buyers on the islands.

According to official data for 2021, 48.5% of the houses sold were to Ger mans in 2021.

Brits are still the second nationality by numbers, buying 20.2% of homes on the islands, followed by the French and Swedes.

Americans are also grow ing in numbers on the is lands.

Nationally, 200,000 Ukrainians are living in

Spain, two times more than in February, but only 14% of them have a job.

Barrier

The Spanish Minister of employment claimed that the main reason why Ukrainians struggle to get a job is because of the lan guage barrier.

Lawbird is a firm of English speaking lawyers who specialise in property law, corporate law, litigation and immigration law.

Whether you plan to buy a house, start a company or relocate to Spain, we offer a no-nonsense service to assist you.

Lawbird Legal Services Slp C.Ricardo Soriano, 19 29601 Marbella (Spain)

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By Jorge Hinojosa

WAR-TORN: Ukraine thanks to Putin (right)

SOME 130 SOS calls for near fatal drowning were made in Andalucia during July and August - 13% more than the same peri od of 2021.

The province of Malaga led the rankings with 42 calls for assistance made, followed by Cadiz with 19.

The majority of these calls were made to assist swimmers who had not respected red flags; for going for a dip straight after lunch or after sun bathing for a long time.

Mercy calls

The average age of those helped was 35 years, with the average age for women being 34.6 and that of men 39.2 years.

Authorities recommend that people enter the wa ter slowly, especially after sunbathing or eating, and to avoid bathing while di gesting.

Other areas where SOS calls were made from included Almeria (18), Granada (15)

Sevilla (14), Huelva (12), Cordoba (7) and Jaen (3).

To date, the provinces recorded similar data to the previous year, except for Sevilla where more calls for assistance with drowning were regis tered, from eight in 2021 to fourteen in 2022.

Do not attempt to rescue a drowning person by entering the water if you have not been trained. Instead, extend or throw a floating object to the person.

Heat deaths

SPAIN’S Carlos III Institute has estimated that so far this year there have been 30,861 excess deaths in Spain, of which 3,833 are due to July and August’s heat waves.

According to the Institute, which is part of the central Health Ministry, the figure for heat-related deaths is three times that of the same period last year, when the number of victims reached 1,356.

The excess deaths monitor ing system in Spain, known as MoMo, estimates a total of 5,783 heat-related deaths for the entire year.

Of the 3,833 registered in the summer, there were 2,223 in July and 1,610 in August.

According to the AEMET state weather agency, this July was not only the hot test ever, but was also the

Health Ministry estimates three times more heat-related deaths this summer than last

hottest month recorded in Spain since records began in 1961.

LIFE SAVERS

SOME 627 life-saving defibrillators have been installed throughout Malaga city.

The devices, which can be used by members of the public to help treat someone who is suf fering a cardiac arrest, have been installed thanks to the initiative ‘Malaga Cardioprote gida’.

The Expaumi association has carried out a total of 109 courses attended by 1,710 people throughout 2022 to train council employees, and members of private entities and associa tions how to use the machines.

Spain’s Malaga has more than 600 defibrilla tors installed throughout the city LIFE-saving defibrillators have been installed throughout Malaga city.

A 90-year-old man has been infected with West Nile virus.

The man from Reus (Tarragona) has been confirmed to have the virus and his wife, 85, is suspected of also being infected.

This is the first time the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitos, has been de tected in the Catalunya region.

In 2020, eight people died in Andalusia after being infected with the virus, while 71 people in total were confirmed to have contracted it. A further six people were infected with the virus in other parts of Spain

The patients have not travelled abroad in recent days, prompting health experts to

There was a heatwave during the middle of the month, as well as the arrival of warm air from the north of Africa. What’s more, the months of June to August were the hottest ever recorded across Europe, according to the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Mortality

In July excess mortality varied across the EU, with one Member State (Latvia) having little or no excess deaths, while the most af fected (Spain) recorded an excess mortality rate of 36.9%. Other countries with rates over 15% were Cyprus (32.9 %), Greece (31.2 %), Portugal (28.8 %), Malta (26.4 %), Italy (24.9 %), Austria (17.5 %), Slovenia (16.5 %), Ireland (16.3 %), and Germany (15.2 %).

VIRUS ALERT

conclude that the virus was transmitted by a mosquito on Spanish soil.

The local council in Reus announced on Friday that it would be carrying out a dis infection process in the city, in particular humid areas where mosquitoes gather.

The West Nile virus has a death rate of 0.1% among those infected, while it can also cause meningoencephalitis – an in flammation of the meninges and the brain – among a further 1%. For 20% of those infected, however, it merely causes a con trollable fever.

By Simon Hunter

N E W N A M E B U T S T I L L T H E S A M E

You’re nicked

A few too many

A DRIVER seven times over the legal limit was so drunk he had to be breath tested on his back.

The man was driving a truck near Agoncillo where he registered 1.16 milligrams per litre.

High alert

PET owners are on high alert after a spate of re cent dog thefts across Spain.

Dogs are being stolen by criminal gangs for use in hunting or illegal dog fights, according to police.

Dog commute

RENFE has put on sale its first tickets allowing passengers to travel with dogs of up to 40kg. The tickets were offered on September 13, but is only a three-month trial for AVE trains between Barcelona and Madrid.

FLYING COMEBACK

Missing Osprey lands on Galicia beach after hitching a lift

A CLOSELY monitored Osprey has landed on the shores of Spain after it vanished out at sea for more than two days Worried trackers thought he had met a watery grave but then he reappeared on their screens after hitching a lift on two ships.

Its sudden appearance on the shores of Galicia triggered many questions from UK group Conservation Without Borders, who were tracking the bird’s route after it left the tip

By Anthony Piovesan

of Cornwall on September 10. The bird of prey, named Glen, was presumed dead until it then appeared on a small out crop of rock off the tip of Gali cia after it went off radar for an ‘unusually long time’.

Conservation Without Borders chief executive and United Na tion Convention of Migratory Species ambassador Sacha Dench said she was surprised

BUTT OF THE JOKE

FLOODING which hit Benidorm may have been serious to mostbut for one Brit tourist it was an opportunity for some naked fun.

In a video posted online by Benidorm.MemeSh*t a man is stark naked rolling in a giant pud dle.

All is revealed when he stands up

to see the alert, but was ‘even more shocked’ after discover ing how Glen made it to land. “Glen took off in a pretty strong head wind coming from the

before he pulls his shorts back up. He was later the butt of some crit icism, with one woman comment ing: “I am sure that he would not do that in his country.”

But not everything was fun on the night of September 18, Alicante firefighters carried out 32 inter ventions due to the heavy rain.

north west so after two days we thought he probably didn’t stand a chance,” she told the Olive Press.

“But then at 10pm on Sep tember 13 we got a ping from him and on the radar you will notice there are many straight lines and a 90 degree angle”.

Dench said Glen had first been blown off course, and the ex hausted bird then spotted a fishing vessel to land on. Glen then swapped over to a large shipping container when it realised it was headed in the wrong direction, before even tually taking flight and discov ering land.

NATIONAL police officers captured a 2.5 metre VUL TURE after it was spotted by several tourists in Mar bella’s luxury marina Puer to Banus.

The two officers were advised by specialists to use their pa trol car to take the carrion bird into the nearby Sierra de las Nieves natural park.

So they ‘arrested’ the vul ture and put it in the back passenger seat of their pa trol car and gave it a lift ‘home’.

On arrival at a suitable spot the bird was in no hurry to leave - officers had to hang around for 10 minutes be fore it finally stretched its wings and flapped away.

FREEDOM: Bird’s release