Olive Press Spain - Issue 370 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

OLIVE PRESS

The

Andalucía

Mijas Costa FREE

Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 15 Issue 370 www.theolivepress.es June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Find out about Spain’s 10 capital cities

Not again EXCLUSIVE By Dilip Kuner

See page 14

British expat faces demolition of his 17 year home - and a spell in prison - in repeat of controversial Priors case

AN expat is facing prison for failing to demolish his home after he fell foul of a town hall’s ‘laissez faire’ planning rules. Gurney Davey, aged 67, only found out about the six-month sentence when a court document was delivered to a neighbour’s house. “I went straight to Tolox town hall with it. They told me I shouldn’t have received it yet,” he told the Olive Press. “They said they were going to be sending the notification to me once they had stamped it.” The news came as a massive bolt from the blue for Davey, whose wife has just died of cancer, which he believes worsened from the stress of the case. He had never been told about the court case that followed on from a Guardia Civil denuncia for an ‘illegal build’. Davey’s two-bed home - built in 2004 - should never have been built according to the Malaga court.

Legalise

In 2016, and then again in 2017, Davey was ordered to knock down his house, but, in common with a neighbour, he waited for more details. While his Spanish neighbour, Irene Millan, 29, did eventually hear from the court again, she was given six months to ‘legalise’ her property - an option Davey was never given. However, his neighbour’s apparent good luck turned into a poisoned chalice. Having spent €20,000 with the town hall to legalise the dwelling, the court finally refused to accept the new paperwork provided by the council. Instead, demolition was ordered which went ahead last week. To add insult to injury Irene’s 54-year-old father, Manuel Mil-

DEMOLITION: Expat Gurney Davey is being forced to knock down his own house and faces six months jail

lan, whose name was on the deeds, was also sentenced to six months jail and handed a fine of €6 a day for a year. Now Davey is terrified he is set to lose his home at any moment. It comes just two months since his wife Diana died from bowel

cancer, at the age of 71, in April. “We thought we had done everything right at the time. We got legal advice and went through a lawyer in order to get permission to build the home. “Diana fought breast cancer for six years before bowel cancer - I am sure the stress brought it on.” The couple, originally from Suffolk in the ALL AREAS COVERED UK, spent €150,000 building their 4G UNLIMITED property. INTERNET “It came as a IDEAL FOR package - a STREAMING TV plot with a new home on it.” ALSO IPTV, Davey admits SATELLITE TV he and his wife were perhaps naive to follow tel: (0034) 952 763 840 the advice of info@theskydoctor.com their lawyer. www.theskydoctor.com The lawyer,

SKY + THE DOCTOR +

Tel: 952 147 834

See page 5 & 15

from legal firm Manzanares, told them that planning permission would be applied for as an almacen - or ‘warehouse’. This way it would come under the remit of Tolox town hall, which would give permission and later they could ‘legalise’ the property. The language of one legal letter, seen by the Olive Press, suggests this would be a mere formality. But the property never got legalised. In fact, the Tolox mayor of the time, Juan Vera, has since been jailed and fined for his part in a scheme to allow up to 350 properties to be built on land classified as ‘rural’. In most cases he had used the very same ‘lax’ procedure of applying to build an ‘almacen’ to try to keep the prying eyes of the Junta authorities away. “We thought that was the way things worked in Spain,” said Davey, a retired builder. “We went to see a lawyer and got advice. It turns out that was not

the smart thing to do. “Why would we deliberately try to build illegally? It makes no sense that we would sell up everything in the UK and risk it all.” Now Davey’s first thoughts are to avoid serving the jail sentence. He said: “My lawyer is trying to get the sentence suspended.”

Flatten

In the meantime he has been forced to ask the town hall for permission to knock his own property down. “I will do it myself. I will borrow a JCB from someone and flatten my home of the past 17 years. I will not let the town hall do it and charge me more money.” He added: “I’ve no idea where to live afterwards. But the land is still mine - maybe I can live in a tent.” Tolox Ayuntamiento refused to comment, citing data protection laws.

Opinion Page 6

CRIME

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NEWS IN BRIEF Shooter arrested A 24 year-old Portuguese man has been arrested for the death of a 34-year-old Moroccan man in a shooting in Torremolinos (Malaga).

Hit and run A 51-year-old man has been run over and killed by a car reversing in Mijas (Malaga) around 9pm on Sunday in Buenavista.

Pedo charged A 40-year-old man who sexually assaulted his partner’s two-year-old daughter in Jaen has been sentenced to eight years of prison.

Moral victory TWO Senegalese men, aged 27 and 29, have admitted to raping a woman in Granada. The pair have been sentenced to eight years in prison and will pay €6,000 each for moral damages to the victim.

A ROYAL NAVY veteran has been arrested as the alleged kingpin of an international drugs smuggling gang. More than one-and-a-half tonnes of hashish, three boats, five luxury cars as well as a fake gun, bladed weapon and a drone were seized in the operation that took in the luxury resort town of Sotogrande. Police and tax inspectors made 10 arrests in the provinces of Malaga, Cadiz and Ceuta as they busted the British-led gang. The head is alleged to have used the nautical skills he picked up in the British navy to set up military-style smuggling operations. Officers say he had been on their ra-

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Camp perv

Old salt nabbed

dar screen for years, although this operation did not start until 2020. Police decided to shine a spotlight on the so-called leader of the gang, who lived a luxurious lifestyle in Cadiz. He owns several companies that buy and sell as well as rent out boatswith the gang using the vessels to smuggle drugs. Police also allege that he created front companies to whitewash the money made from drug deals.

Officers say the gang was highly professional, and used private boats to reach secluded spots for meetings in a bid to avoid police surveillance. During the investigation two yachts were seized while being used to smuggle drugs - one in Ceuta marina and the other in Sotogrande (above).

Sisu arson Hotel in Marbella deliberately set on fire as guests slept, police say A DRAMATIC blaze in which one person died and nearly 100 guests fled their rooms in the middle of the night was started deliberately. Ten people were left injured and one Frenchman, aged 30, died when the Sisu Hotel was engulfed by flames in the upmarket resort of Puerto Banus on August 21 last year. Many of the guests had to climb down the facade of the building to reach

safety. Following months of investigation, police have revealed to The Court of Instruction that the blaze was started on purpose. Two hydrants inside the building had been tampered with and there were ‘deficiencies’ in fire break systems, investigators said. The police believe there were several possible motives behind the arson attack, the first being a set-

By Kirsty McKenzie

tling of scores. A group of French citizens filled several bottles with gasoline the night of the fire at a nearby petrol station but cops are also looking into the theory that the blaze was started in order to claim insurance.

Striking

The Police added that they found it striking that the tenant had not paid the rent for years but did pay the insurance on time. According to the judicial file, one of the hotel's tenants was previously arrested in 2011 for illegal detention, robbery with violence and intimidation and assault af-

Tipped off BLAZE: The Sisu hotel

ter allegedly beating a Marbella businessman over a supposed debt. Last month the Olive Press reported how a hen party was allegedly reassured their booking at Sisu Hotel would go ahead, with the owners refusing them a refund, despite the business lying derelict and destroyed for almost a year.

Nowhere to hide CRIMINALS from Britain may soon be turning away from the Costa del Sol if they seek to evade justice. For decades, Andalucia has been the popular place for fugitives to hide in plain sight in

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A TEAM of detectives have arrested two men following a spate of armed robberies which netted thousands of euros worth of luxury watches. The Italians were wanted for a series of eight thefts in the Puerto Banus area of Marbella. Police officers revealed that they had spent weeks trying to catch the surveillance-savvy crooks, who often used firearms to intimidate their victim into handing over watches before fleeing the scene on a motorbike with a false registration plate. Two men, aged 31 and 41, have been charged with robbery, falsification of documents, illegal possession of weapons and belonging to a criminal group.

A SUMMER camp leader has been jailed for over 25 years for sex crimes against young boys. The vile predator, who worked at the children’s camp in Ronda between 2014 and 2016, used his role as a leader to gain the trust of underage boys. The High Court of Justice of Andalucia heard how the sick man groomed at least 11 youngsters to send him intimate photographs in the summer of 2016. The prosecution said the Spanish man, who was responsible for supervising the children in their cabin, created ‘emotional ties’ with his victims during their stay. He then asked them for their social media details and manipulated youngsters into sharing intimate photos with him. The disgraced former camp leader was sentenced to a total of 25 years and six months for six crimes of enticement, eight crimes of pornographic dissemination to minors, three crimes of making aggravated child pornographic material and one of exhibitionism.

mansions across the coast of southern Spain. Gang leaders can lay low in the expat community, rub shoulders with fellow crooks in exclusive restaurants or dine aboard luxury yachts docked in Puerto Banus, just a stone’s throw away from Spain’s drug smuggling capital La Linea. But hideout hotspots like Marbella and Fuengirola may no longer be the safe haven they once were. Crime bosses used to rely on regular cheap flights between the UK and Spain and a regular flow of tourists helped them maintain low profiles and move between the two countries without arousing much suspicion.

Police

But following the pandemic, and the success of Operation Captura, criminals may be seeking alternative locations if they want to continue to escape the police. Out of the near-100 fugitives named in the long-running NCA and Crimestoppers campaign targeting suspects thought to be in Spain, fewer than a dozen now remain outstanding. Captura sought the UK's most wanted suspects and, 15 years on from its launch, has succeeded in tracking down almost every person to have featured. See page 6 feature

CRIME boss Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch has given Spanish police the slip before fleeing the Costa del Sol after being tipped off by gangland pals. The 53-year-old was laying low in Fuengirola when news of the European Arrest Warrant out for him leaked. The fugitive crime lord, who had been under surveillance by Spanish authorities in Malaga, managed to evade capture and escape to Romania before cops were able to close in. Hutch, who earned the nickname ‘The Monk’ thanks to his tee-total lifestyle, is wanted over his alleged involvement in the murder of David Byrne in the infamous 2016 Regency Hotel attack, Dublin. A boxing match weigh-in erupted into violence when gunmen opened fire with shotguns. Officers had had hoped to arrest Hutch and others simultaneously in the coming weeks when he suddenly vanished. Officers were given permission to seek Hutch’s extradition by the director of public prosecutions after its office was provided with transcripts of covert recordings and other intelligence obtained by the National Surveillance Unit (NSU), which investigated the Dublin criminal following the Regency attack.

Terrorists jailed THREE members of an Islamist terror group responsible for the 2017 terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils which killed 16 and injured 140 have been jailed for up to 53 years. None of the men convicted participated in the actual attacks – all the ‘active’ members of the cell were killed at the time – but were found to have helped the terrorists in their deadly plot. The group launched an attack on Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas by driving a van at high speed through the crowded street, mowing down pedestrians.

NEWS

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Chinchon cheer HOLLYWOOD director Wes Anderson is heading for Madrid this year as work begins on his newest project Elaborate sets have been spotted under construction in the outskirts of the Chinchon region of Madrid, 46 kilometres south of the

capital. Although very few details of Anderson’s latest masterpiece are known, the sets appear to resemble western style backdrops, complete with a train station. With a budget of €35 million, it is expected that Anderson regulars such as Owen Wil-

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

son, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton could be involved in the yet unnamed project. Mayor of Chinchon, Francisco Martinez has welcomed the director and his crew to his town, however remains tight-lipped on details of the new project. “We have all been sworn to secrecy, but the project is really exciting,” said Martinez.

Hungry like the wolf

THE wolf has divided society for centuries but now it will be protected in Spain after a ban on hunting comes into action from September. The Spanish government will declare the wolf a ‘wild animal under special protection’ which means hunting it is illegal. It will bring to end decades of hunting which almost drove the wolf to extinction on the Iberian peninsula. Traditionally, the wolf has been portrayed as a figure of evil in popular culture, preying on characters from Little Red Riding Hood to the Three Little Pigs. After progressive measures to preserve the animal in some northern Spanish regions, the wolf has gone from being seen as an enemy to an asset – of the tourism industry. Until now, hunting was allowed in some regions on a strictly controlled basis. Spain and Portugal are thought to be home to about 3,000 wolves, the largest lupine population in Europe, according to data from Ecologists in Action, a conservation group. Yet opposition to the move persists and not just among hunters who believe the wolf must

THE King of Spain has received his first COVID-19 vaccination, joining more than 5 million people who have been given the jab across the country. King Felipe was given his injection in the Wizink Centre in Madrid, according to official palace

HAPPY COUPLE: Carlos and Belen

Walking on heir

LEFT IN PEACE: Wolves will be protected from hunters come September By Graham Keeley

be stamped out. Wolves kill some 15,000 farm animals across the country every year, according to the Spanish agricultural association COAG.

Royal jab sources. It is understood the King went to the hospital for the vaccine after marking National Armed Forces Day alongside the Queen.

Ban on hunting creatures that devour livestock Lobo Marley, a pressure group which campaigns to protect wolves, estimates that about 300 are killed by hunters every year. King Felipe turned 53 years old in January, making him eligible to get his vaccination alongside the rest of the Spanish population his age. Meanwhile Queen Letizia, who is five years his junior, has not yet been called to receive her jab.

Peru Carlos de Munain, a livestock veterinarian in the Basque town of Errigoiti in northern Spain, said prohibiting hunting will not solve the conflict between farmers and the wolf.

Effective

“There are many other ways to deal with wolves which will be more effective. Creating pens for the sheep at night, or places for shepherds to stay at night, or using GPS trackers to give some warning of wolf attacks might be better ways,” he said.

KIM CLARK

ONE of Spain’s richest and most aristocratic couples tied the knot in Madrid. The wedding of Carlos Fitz-James Stuart y Solis and Belen Corsini marked the union of two of Spain’s wealthiest families. Carlos is the youngest grandson and one of the heirs to the late Duchess of Alba, who was known as Spain’s richest woman. Meanwhile Belen is the great-granddaughter of Carlos Corsini Senespleda, the engineer and founder of construction and public works company Corsan, which was sold for €325million in 2004. Their spectacular wedding took place in private at Liria Palace. THE last known survivor of the International Brigades who fought against General Franco and the fascists in the Spanish Civil War has died, aged 101. Jose Almudever Mateu was a dual Spanish-French national born in July 1919 to Spanish parents in Marseilles. Jose lived in Valencia, when aged 17, he joined the republican force, liening about his age to enlist. After being wounded, his deception was discovered, and he returned to Marseilles to sign up for the International Brigades using his French nationality.

End of an era

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NEWS

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SPAIN’S postal service is under fire after unveiling a new set of stamps representing skin-tone with the highest value placed on the whitest. A stamp representing the fairest skin colour sells for €1.60 with each darker shade valued at incrementally less. The black stamp

TONE DEAF: The offending stamps

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June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Sticky situation Migrant crisis costs 70 cents. “The darker the stamp, the less value it will have,” Correos explained. “Therefore, when making a shipment, it will be necessary to use more black stamps than white ones. That way, each letter and each shipment will become a reflection of the inequality created by racism.” The post office campaign was immediately slammed by critics who called it ‘tone deaf’ and questioned whether any people of colour actually worked for Correos. Journalist Moha Gerehou, the author of a book about his experience of racism in Spain, branded the campaign ‘a disaster’. It’s an absolute disaster. It is racist. There isn’t much more to say.”

About time! Long-term expats win right to votes for life in UK elections

BRITISH citizens who have moved abroad will be given 'votes for life' as the UK Government scraps the arbitrary 15year limit on their voting rights. The new measures which will make it easier for expats to participate in British democracy were announced in the Queen’s Speech in March and have now

WINNER: Shindler has won the day

been confirmed by the Cabinet Office. The news follows a long campaign led by Harry Shindler, MBE, who has been championing the fight for his right to vote in British elections. Shindler, who has lived in Italy for 40 years and will turn 100 in July, has been campaigning for the move for 25 years. Over 5 million UK nationals in Spain and around the world have been denied their right to vote, some for years, if not decades. These changes will come into effect in time for the next scheduled General Election in 2024. Hugh Elliott, the British Ambassador in Madrid said: “In an increasingly connected world, most British citizens living in

Spain retain deep ties to the United Kingdom. Many still have family there, worked there for many years, and some have even fought for our country. “They deserve to have their voices heard in Parliament, no matter where they live, and I am delighted that UK Nationals living in Spain will now be able to participate in our democracy.”

Rules

In addition, new rules will mean overseas electors can stay registered for longer, including with an absent voting arrangement in place, requiring them to renew their registration details once every three years, rather than annually.

Solar demo LOCALS took to the streets of the sleepy village of Castellar de la Frontera to demonstrate against plans for massive solar farms. Their biggest objection is not to the solar panels themselves, but rather their location and the installation of an electrical substation associated with the projects. The main solar farms are planned for sites in San Roque and a massive 900 hectare project in Jimena de la Frontera (Cadiz). According to Eduardo Navarro, president of campaign group SOS Campiña de Jimena, the proposed projects will take over farmland, threatening jobs, although proponents of the plants say they will bring their own employment opportunities. He added that the group is not against the solar farms, but wants them built ‘in a regulated way, that doesn’t affect the archaeological sites on their land’ and doesn't commit any ‘ecological crime’. The Castellar ayuntamiento is now working on proposals that would see existing power lines used, and new ones buried rather than blight the area with pylons and cables.

PROTEST: Farmers want plans changed

EUROPE is facing an unprecedented crisis following a surge in immigration from Morocco, Prime Minster Pedro Sanchez has warned. Speaking in Brussels during an EU summit Sanchez said the decisions made during the meeting of the European Council could seal the EU’s fate. The talks came after some 8,000 people, including around 1,500 minors, risked their lives swimming or wading around the border fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

Drowned

One man drowned in the process and Spain’s interior ministry has since confirmed that 7,500 people had returned to Morocco while ‘around 1,000’ minors remained in Ceuta. Sanchez said the crisis had ‘triggered a crisis unprecedented in recent years between the European Union and Morocco’. He added: “The relationship between the EU and Morocco, between Spain and Morocco, is a strategic one… but it must be based on two fundamental pillars. “The first is trust and the second is respect, in this case, respect for Europe’s borders.”

Paragliding tragedy A 51-year-old woman paraglider died after an accident in Ronda. According to emergency services the flight instructor lost contact with the paragiliger who had begun a long-distance flight of 26.25 km between the towns of Algodonales in Cadiz and Ronda. Fire crews, medics and the Guardia Civil's mountain rescue team were sent to the area to conduct a search for the missing woman. The woman’s body was found by army personnel who had also joined the search.

BBQ Ban BARBECUES and open fires are now banned across Andalucia until at least mid-October in an effort to prevent devastating fires in the region. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development has announced that from yesterday (Tuesday) until October 15, the use of fire - both agricultural burning and barbecues - and the transit of motor vehicles in forest areas is prohibited. All barbecues are banned within 400 feet of woodland and forests, and includes designated barbecue spaces at public campsites. Some tourist establishments, restaurants, and educational camps are permitted to have fires and barbecues, but only with a permit from the local town hall.

EXPATS caught up in a fraudulent residency scam run by a gestor on the Costa Blanca have been told by police that they can’t leave the country while the case is investigated. Dozens of people are facing a life in legal limbo for up to two years while police investigate the alleged fraud before it is decided if they face deportation or can legally stay. It comes after the Olive Press reported on a group of expats who had been detained by police over padron certificates that appear to have been doctored by one particular gestor they hired to process their TIE applications.

NEWS

ONE WAY OUT Expats must stay in Spain in limbo for two years while alleged residency scam is probed by police

How one organised community of expats is putting El Raso on the map

SAN JAVIER Mijas Costa FREE

See page 12

OLIVE PRESS COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Prime suspect

Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 2 Issue 40 www.theolivepress .es May 20th - June 2nd 2021

Tragic mystery

Bear in the frame for series of grizzly livestock killings in the Pyrenees

Girl power

The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell

See page 3

The female warriors who took on Drake’s army - and won!

See page 6

See page 10

I BEG YOUR PADRON

Grilled

They included 71-year-old widow Lily Higgins, who was grilled over her town hall registration form, which was handled by One Way Services. Several more have since come forward to complain about the British gestor, in Ciudad Quesada, which is at the centre of the investigation. These include Jane Long of Torrevieja who was taken to Alicante Police Station and questioned over her part in ‘an alleged fraud’. The 53-year-old said she and her husband Nigel had confronted Matt Smith, owner of One Way Services, about why a doctored certificate had been submitted on their behalf. “Smith said he was only trying to help people,” she told the Olive Press. “He said he’d already admitted his guilt to the police, before shredding my fake padron in front of my eyes” she added. He added that she should ‘expect a phone call from the police merely to answer a few questions’. However, after being taken away in a police car, held for two hours, fin-

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

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A GROUP of British expats have been detained by police EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade after their padron certificates proving they lived in Spain appear to have been doc- derly expats described the situation as ‘humiliating’ and tored. At least eight people have ‘hellish’, after they were held been grilled over the town for questioning under cauhall registration forms, which tion. were all handled by the same They told the Olive Press how gestor company on the Costa they were carted to Alicante police station and grilled Blanca. National Police confirmed to about falsifying documents the Olive Press that detec- submitted with their TIE tives are working alongside card applications. the Guardia Civil to now in- “We were wrongly arrested vestigate all residencia appli- for submitting fake padrons, cations in Alicante made in even though we put the correct ones in with our paper2021. work for residencia,” said Jay Elliott, 66, of Orihuela Costa, Fraud who has lived in Spain for It comes after ‘widespread over five years. fraud’ was allegedly detected She and her friend Lily Higin over 22 Britons attempting gins, 71, had planned for a peaceful retirement in the to become resident here. This week a number of el- sun but are now living with the threat of a court case or

HUMILIATED: Lily and Jay were questioned even deportation. “I’ve never been in trouble before but here I am, being treated like a common criminal,” said Higgins. “It’s humiliating.” They added that the same gestor is being investigated for changing the date on at least 22 more British applicants. Another couple, who asked not to be named, told the Olive Press how they had been questioned when they went to collect their TIE cards. “We were taken into a room, read our rights and told to explain why our 2021 padron had been doctored to show a 2020 date - it was hell.” All those detained had used One Way Services, a gestor based in Quesada, near Torrevieja, to process their applications - including the padron. Owner Matt Smith insisted

VICTIMS: Lily Higgins (left) Tel: 952 147 834 and Jay Elliott and how we broke the story TM

‘Hellish and humiliating’ as British expats arrested over ‘fraudulent’ residency applications

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that his is anything but the only gestor business to be dragged into the investigation “Nobody has been arrested, that is a fact,” he insisted, adding: “Other gestors are also being brought in as part of an ongoing investigation into TIE applications.” A police spokesman told the Olive Press: “All residencia Continues on Page 5

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EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade

gerprinted and photographed, she was told by detectives at the Policia Nacional that she will be considered ‘guilty, until proven innocent’. Mrs Long despaired: “I was told I couldn’t even travel back to the UK because I’m a criminal!” The Kent woman revealed that the police had informed her, ‘another 40-plus people will also be arrested.’ Fellow Brit, Brian Williams, 63, told us he also had to give a statement at Alicante police station last week. It involved the property owner, who has lived in Spain for seven years, having his fingerprints taken, as

well as getting photographed. “It was astonishing,” he told the Olive Press. “I’m now told the court case could take 18 months to two years, possibly more.” He continued: “I started all this on September 1, but it became apparent as time went on there was something amiss. “I feel this can go two ways: I'm found guilty and deported or after possibly two years I'm granted residencia. “I put all my faith into One Way Services and have been so let down, a very stressful time for me and countless others,” he added. When the Olive Press called Matt Smith for an explanation he refused to answer questions. “Speak to my lawyer,” he said before hanging up.

National Police confirmed to the Olive Press that detectives are working alongside the Guardia Civil to now investigate all residencia applications in Alicante made in 2021.

Cleared

The lawyer later confirmed to the Olive Press that Smith had made a statement to police clearing his clients of any knowledge of the alleged fraud. “My client explained [to the police] that none of the clients had produced the applications themselves [but] only paid my client to apply for the TIE on their behalf,” David Guijarro Mayor from ABC solicitors told the Olive Press in response to written

questions. He sought to reassure One Way clients that they would not be held criminally responsible. “So it is totally clear now that the criminal investigation is being focused only against my client so for sure the fiscal will not start criminal actions against his clients sadly affected,” he said. If it emerges that any other of One Way clients were to be detained over the matter, the lawyer said: “Mr Smith will proceed immediately to clarify in front of police or/and the court that these clients have no relation at all with any criminal activity.” Have you been affected? Please contact us on newsdesk@theolivepress.es

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Voted top expat paper in Spain

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than two million people a month.

OPINION Who to trust? WHO can we trust when it comes to building in Spain? Yet another case of a British expat who has fallen foul of planning rules highlights the question that has been a persistent one in the 15 years since the inception of the Olive Press. At one time tens of thousands of homes were declared illegal and facing demolition orders across Spain’s Andalucia. Unscrupulous constructors, corrupt planning officials and dodgy lawyers all conspired to line their pockets during a building boom that saw many foreigners naively fall victim and pay the price. And although huge progress has been made in legislation, thanks to campaigning groups such as the AUN, to regularise the supposedly illegal homes and protect those who bought ‘in good faith’, there are still those living with the very real fear of seeing their retirement dreams literally crumble into rubble. Some were all too eager to believe the assertions that planning permission could be sought retroactively, because ‘that’s just how things are done in Spain’. Others did everything conceivable to check that paperwork was in order on a property only to fall between the cracks of Spain’s often labyrinthine planning rules. But are the lawyers who gave bad advice failing jail? What repercussions are there for the constructors who disappeared after declaring bankruptcy only to reappear phoenix-like under another company name? The question is rhetorical for we all know who pays the price. It’s the one who sunk his savings into a place to quietly spend a retirement in the sunshine and who made the mistake of placing his trust in the wrong people. The threat of losing your home and spending your twilight years in jail is surely too big a price to pay? Publisher / Editor

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Fiona Govan fiona@theolivepress.es

Kirsty McKenzie kirsty@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Isha Sesay isha@theolivepress.es

James Warren james@theolivepress.es

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How the Costa del Sol’s glitziest resort became a global HQ of organised crime, writes Fiona Govan

ARBELLA has been fingered as the ‘global capital of organised crime’. At least 113 gangs of 59 different nationalities have sent the crime rate in the celebrity holiday hangout spiralling out of control, according to a

DEADLY: Gangster executed

Mob-ella damning report. And the most dangerous of them all are the British. “The Costa del Sol is a kind of hub, a sort of coworking centre where almost all organised criminal groups in the world have a presence,” a senior member of Spain’s Policia Nacional told national newspaper El Pais in an in-depth report. Describing Marbella as a ‘UN of gangsters in a globalised world,’ the police chief said the Ritzy resort has become synonymous not only with tourism but also with crime. A network of gangs bring in drugs from South America and Africa via the Strait of Gibraltar, for distribution across Europe, he explained. A collaboration of powerful mafia structures and

crime rings involved in house burglaries or armed robberies, each provides different elements in the complex supply chain: such as distribution, protection and money laundering. But, he added, alliances are quick to change and break down, leading to inevitable rivalries, turf wars and revenge violence. “Whoever thinks that criminal organisations are like before, pyramidal and with all the sections covered, is wrong,” a public prosecutor told the newspaper. “They are not cartels, they provide services: we have reached the Uberisation of organised crime.” Each group has an area of expertise, he continued: from the French who bring in hashish from Morocco to the Irish clans controlling cocaine and weapons imports. An enduring feud between two rival Irish cartels – Kinahan and Hutch – is already thought to have led to 20 executions. There are also rival gangs from Serbia and other Balkan countries, as well

Expat in Spain or immigrant: Is there a difference? The term ‘expat’ is loaded. It’s time we moved on, argues Carrie Frais

N a quick Google search asking the question: ‘What is the difference between an expat and an immigrant?’ Google tells us that ‘..it usually comes down to socio-economic factors, so skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an immigrant'. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that an immigrant is ‘a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country'. The original expatriate, around the 19thCentury, tended to be a middle-class, usually white, who moved abroad on a corporate assignment and (generally) chose not to integrate into their local community. If a better economic opportunity came up they would probably move again. Two centuries on, we have moved way beyond that, however. Today’s expats are from diverse backgrounds, from all over the world with different skin colours, and the vast majority of them have a desire to integrate and live in their adopted country for extended periods of time, or indeed permanently. If we adhered to the OED definition then

this demographic should in fact be ter- cioeconomic realities - but maybe that med immigrants, right? should not matter? But it is not just a question of definition. It There are other terms to describe those is also about connotation. who have chosen to move to another The term ‘expat’ carries with it a myriad country through choice, such as ‘memof preconceptions about class, educa- bers of the international community’, tion, privilege and entitlement - just as ‘global citizens’ and ‘global nomads’. the terms immigrant, migrant and to a Some neologisms of the term ‘expat’ certain extent ‘foreign worker’ have a di- have also been put forward such as ‘disfferent set of assumptions. patriate’: an expat who distances themselves from their nation of When used as a noun, the origin; a ‘flexpatriate’: soword ‘expatriation’ can also meone who often travels mean the act of someone renouncing allegiance to The term ‘expat’ internationally; ‘inpatriate’: an employee sent from their native country, which is carries with a foreign subsidiary to not the case for most peoit a myriad of ple. work in the country where Some people also believe preconceptions a company has a presence that being labelled an exand ‘rex-pat’: a repeat exabout class pat sets them apart from pat, someone who chooses their adopted cultures when to return to a foreign country after completing a work in fact they are trying to do assignment. exactly the opposite. The majority of those who today are la- As our travel behaviours change, our belled ‘expats’ have chosen to live away working habits become more fluid and from their country of their birth as a li- the world becomes more globalised, it festyle choice, rather than due to political is becoming increasingly clear that the oppression or economic necessity. term ‘expat’ has probably run its course, So, calling everyone an ‘immigrant’ a sentiment echoed by many living away would not differentiate between so- from their native home.

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WHAT’S IN A NAME?: Are Spaniards in the UK ‘immigrants’ but Brits in Spain ‘expats’?

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

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Insta-success

SEXY BEAST: Gang life in Marbella is even worse than the movie version

as dangerous groups from the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden and members of the Italian mafia, such as Do you call yourself an expat? Carrie Frais posed the question on the MumAbroad forum do see what other felt about the word. Here’s what they had to say: “I hate it. For me it says people who had the financial privilege to start a life in another country but who bear no interest in integrating with culture. I have never called myself an expat. Also because I moved when I was 22 with just a suitcase. Immigrant also has negative connotations. Non-native is what I'd naturally use.” Lucy Brown “I don't use the word expat ....I was one when I lived and worked in Malawi because our company sent us there on a contract. Now in Spain, we live and work here (was not sent here or moved here because of a job), we made this our choice of home and country of residence. This makes us immigrants until such time we become / naturalise as Spanish citizens.” Natalie du Plooy-Simoes “Can’t stand it. For me it definitely has connotations of privilege and wealth. And of cliquey groups of people that don’t mix with locals. I don’t use any term to describe myself in that way - it very rarely comes up that I have to define myself like that. I occasionally get asked where I’m from and I just say I’m Scottish living in Italy.” Nicola Mckay “I think I’d like to be called an immigrant. It would to help change the negative and incorrect connotation around the word. I migrated here and built a home here. My daughter is born here. I may pick up my bags and move on, but that’s more of a world citizen mindset and coming from a multicultural family, (so home is where we are at a given moment).” Magda Metwally Carrie Frais is the Barcelona-based writer behind MumAbroad.com and author of #LivingTheDream Expat Life Stripped Bare, which is now available on Amazon. Find out more on www. carriefrais.co.uk/books/

the Naples-based Camorra, continually by a Swedish gang. He refused to tesmuscling in. tify. However, according to one police source Ditto the Irishman who was shot in the quoted by El Pais, by far the most dan- face in Nueva Andalucia a few weeks gerous gangs operating on the Costa ago. Del Sol are British. “He refused to collaborate with the in“The gangs of Liverpool and Manches- vestigation,” said Marcos Frias, Organter have a special fame and are known ised Crime coordinator for the National for their violence and the nightly brawls Police. in and around Marbella,” read the re- “There are quite a lot of beatings and port. kidnappings, which occur in the urbanAdd hitmen for hire into the mix, along isations in the tourist zones, but they with armies of foot soldiers sent by don’t make the press because there is gang bosses to do the dirty work, and no denuncia and the police are hardly the place is ripe for violence. involved,” he added. According to the latest of“The year has only really ficial figures the situation just started and we are had been improving but Marbella police having incidents of guns has significantly worsened and shootings.” receives an since 2018, with 113 orAlarmingly, the violence is ganised groups of half as continuing despite a masaverage of 150 many different nationalsive clampdown on drug ities concentrated along trafficking by the Guardia crime reports the Costa del Sol alone, Civil in the area. daily according to data from the This year alone, there have Intelligence Center against been 536 police raids on Terrorism and Organised gangs between Huelva Crime (CITCO). and Malaga, primarily concentrated in ‘The diversity of criminal groups in such the Campo de Gibraltar. a small space is a unique phenome- Orchestrated by the crack OCON-SUR non,’ CITCO stated. regiment, they have seized 187 vehicles Police consistently claim they don’t and 98 boats alone since January, as have the resources to fight such crime. well as 55 tons of drugs and 19 million The Marbella national police station re- euros of laundered property. ceives an average of 150 crime reports Just last week, over 200 police arrested daily and 32,000 cases a year. 106 members of six different gangs in The figures for a relatively small town of the area. just 140,000 people equate to those of Since July 2018, an eye-watering 5,536 cities double or triple the size. gangsters have been rounded up beAlso soaring is the number of mur- tween Cadiz, Huelva and Malaga. ders and attacks due to ‘the settling Yet despite assurances from Guardia of scores’, although cases have fallen Civil boss Maria Gamez that they are recently during the pandemic. They go ‘attacking the very heart of these organlargely unreported due to ‘a weak press’ isations’, gang rivalry has not stopped in the area or because many of the vic- in nearby Marbella. tims don’t want to talk to the police. “Now the violence is rampant,” says Recently a Polish man was admitted to Antonio Rodríguez Puerta, head of the hospital with bullets in both legs, shot UDYCO Costa del Sol (Drugs and Organized Crime Unit of the National Police). “In times gone by, the criminal groups negotiated. They talked. A stash was lost and an agreement was reached. “Now we see that, if something like this happens, in most cases they go directly to ordering a hit.” RAID: Police search a luxury villa

HE Olive Press isn’t just Spain’s best English news website, we also have a thriving social media presence. And we want you to be a part of it. We have close to 28,000 likes on our main Facebook page and this week reached a landmark 2,000 followers on our Instagram account. At a time when so many people access news through social media platforms, recognising ‘fake news’ has become a growing struggle, which is why it’s more important than ever to make sure you follow trustworthy news sources. Our team of journalists at the Olive Press are dedicated to providing up to date, properly sourced, independent news that you can trust and rely on to inform you about the issues you need to know about in Spain. So by hitting ‘like’ and ‘follow’ on the Olive Press Facebook page, you will get our latest news stories as soon as they are published directly into your newsfeed. This means not only that you can share the most up to date trustworthy news from Spain easily with your friends but also join the conversation that we like to encourage amongst all our readers. We also want to celebrate Spain, and inspire our readers to share their experiences and explore it. For those who live in Spain, visit Spain often or just love Spain, our daily Instagram posts provide snapshots of the country, from bucolic scenes of Iberian pigs rooting for acorns in the dehesa, to dreamy sunsets over beautiful beaches or great shots of Spain’s iconic monuments. Plus we offer a glimpse into our readers’ experiences of Spain by inviting you to share photos taken on your travels around the country or to share those things you love about your corner of Spain. So join our growing Facebook and Instagram community. We hope to see you there! www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper www.instagram.com/olivepressnews

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are: expects to be included on UK 1 - Spain fully travel green list by June could apply 2 - Spain’s cartatodeBritinvitacion tourists Police in spain investigate mysterious 3 -death of man found trapped inside dinosaur statue - A Place in the Sun’s Laura Hamilton left 4gestion red-faced after house hunters snub sugthey should live in Spain’ss Manilva One last hurrah lightening storm’s Sa5 - haran dust and 35 degrees this weekend in Spain

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Coming clean SPAIN is to splash €1.55 billion on clean hydrogen production in a bid to become European leader in the new technology. It has earmarked EU cash to support a dash for hydrogen, seeing it as seed money for private investment. A government spokesman said: “Firm support for this technology will stimulate investors to mobilise up to €8.9 billion between now and 2030.” The government’s ambition is to have 4 GW of electrolysers in 10 years to produce green hydrogen. Producing the gas is an energy-intensive process, which at the moment usually uses natural gas. This defeats the point of using

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Spain making dash for hydrogen in bid to be European leader

By Dilip Kuner

hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels in the battle against climate change. But clean hydrogen is made by electrolysis of water using renewable sources of electricity such as wind turbines and solar panels. The only by-product when it is burned is more water. The Spanish government disclosure of its push towards hydrogen followed hot on the heels of an announcement by American company Cummins and Iberdrola of an initial investment of €50 million to build an electrolyser plant in Guadalajara in Castilla y Leon.

“Spain offers a strong and dynamic local environment for hydrogen production, and we are excited to invest here and significantly increase our manufacturing capacity in Europe,” said Tom Linebarger, Chairman and CEO

MALAGA province has become the first region in Spain to be accredited for the reduction of its carbon footprint. Over the past three years, the Diputacion de Malaga has managed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 8.85% compared to the previous three-year period, earning it the Reduczo seal. The deputy for climate change, Cristobel Ortega, revealed the news and

of Cummins. “Our partnership with Iberdrola will connect us with a major clean energy company and strategically positions us to be a European leader in green hydrogen production.”

Green award

explained that the figures take into account both direct and indirect pollutants. Direct pollutants include CO2 emissions from cars, trucks and factories, whilst indirect pollutants include electricity usage in the region’s municipal buildings. Malaga’s carbon footprint has been recorded for the past six years as part of its strategy to combat climate change outlined in Spain’s 2025 green plan.

One reason why a third of Spain’s population is breathing in polluted air

Green Matters

By Martin Tye

HE WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) has just published its latest report on our climate. Before we get to it’s damning conclusions, let me explain a bit more about the WMO. The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations’ authoritative voice on weather, climate and water - a more educated nucleus of the world’s finest scientific minds you won’t find. Forget the much publicised irrational and idiotic Trump rhetoric about there being no global warming crisis. THERE IS. Boris Johnson said the same about COVID, it turns out. It does exist. He got it. But Trump’s motives are simply impure, bowing to the lobbying pressure of the damaging fossil fuel industries.

ACTION: against climate change needed now

(TOOOOO) HOT OFF THE PRESSES!

This report clearly states climate data predicts THE LIKELIHOOD OF REACHING 1.5 DEGREES IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. Wow! And these odds are increasing with time. “THERE IS A 90% CHANCE OF AT LEAST ONE YEAR BETWEEN NOW AND 2025 BECOMING THE WARMEST ON RECORD,” the report continues. So what does this mean? Simply put: • • • • • •

Increasing heat, drought and insect oubreaks Increased wildfires Declining water supplies Reduced agricultural yields Health impacts in cities due to heat Flooding and erosion in coastal areas.

In short, increasing death rates and misery. I think this is more than a much needed wake up call. Action is needed to slash greenhouse gas emissions, achieve carbon neutrality and embrace a greener , renewable and sustainable future. Last year, 2020, the global average temperature was 1.2C above the pre-industrial baseline. Around the world we saw this evidenced in rising sea levels, melting sea ice, extreme weather and as a consequence a

detrimental effect on socio-economic development. The Paris Agreement seeks to keep global temperature rise THIS CENTURY well below 2C above pre-industrial levels. There are 79 years of this century left - we are doing dismally. The G-7 Leaders Summit is being held in the UK from June 11. Climate Change is high on the agenda. Let’s hope we don’t get more regurgitated political waffle and have positive measurable actions instead. Finally, readers of this column know I often turn to music to help convey my message. Neil Young (pictured below) released in

2014 an album called Storytone. I love the track Who’s Gonna Stand Up. It’s a powerful, orchestral climate change song which hits right where it hurts.

Protect the wild, tomorrow’s child Protect the land from the greed of man Take out the dams, stand up to oil Protect the plants and renew the soil End fossil fuel, draw the line Before we build one more pipeline End fracking now, let’s save the water And build a life for our sons and daughters Damn the dams, save the rivers Starve the takers and feed the givers Let’s build the green and save the world We’re the people known as EARTH Who’s gonna stand up and save the Earth? Who’s gonna say that she’s had enough? Who’s gonna take on the big machine? Who’s gonna stand up and save the Earth? THIS ALL STARTS WITH YOU AND ME I simply couldn’t put it better. No one is immune to the effects of Global Warming. So who IS gonna stand up and save the World? Are you?

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638145664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es

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but I'm beginning I NORMALLY like your paper, n I've just read whe y ciall espe ly, late der won to ions in Spain. Benny Davis’s article on vaccinat, before insulting ners man e som n lear He should the Spanish! l for more than 40 I have been a Spanish Nationa two vaccines bemy get not years. I certainly did many. fore my British friends, who areon May 18, my husWhile I had my second vaccine vaccine about a band, who is British, had his last nation there. He rimi disc no so ly, ious prev month is 80. the Spanish NaEveryone I know cannot praise . ugh eno ice tional Health serv nised with hardly The vaccinations are so well orgaa wonderful job. g doin any waiting. The staff are s not like the way I suggest if Benny Davis doe back to his country goes he in Spa in run are gs thin of origin! ron, some people In reference to I beg your Padem for years and syst nish Spa the have cheated s. The Spanish and were under the radar for year more tax because pay to had official residents have en they want to of these cheats, now all of a sudd be residents! a hard time, I say Well if these people are having ! ning whi stop Just . luck h toug

Not so crazy The 90/180 day visitors’ rule is turning into one of the hottest Brexit topics... No exceptions

like Benny are Editor’s note: Columnists ne and certainnot meant to please everyo per se… but we ly don’t represent the paper letters page. do welcome all views on our

Voted Spain’s most popular historic city

Good eating A hidden gem that unfussily serves up some of the tastiest food in Andalucia

Mega €300 million reclamation project presses ahead despite Spanish opposition By James Warren

GIBRALTAR is remaining defiant as it pushes on with a huge €300 million reclamation development. Work is due to continue on the Victoria Keys development, despite the risk of diplomatic tension with Spain.

expats arrested over

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COME AND GET INSPIRED! Jávea / Altea

MAKING A SPLASH

Work

Development firm Harbour Development Limited has announced that it will begin work again now that the worst of the pandemic is over. It came as the firm confirmed it had been granted a €42 million government loan, in addition to the €230 million in private

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Costa Blanca - Issue 56 Tel: 952 147 834

May 19th- June 1st 2021

Girl power The female warriors who took on Drake’s army - and won!

‘Hellish and humiliating’ as British ‘fraudulent’ residency applications

A GROUP of British expats have been detained by police after their padron certificates proving they lived in Spain residencia’ or ‘you have 15 appear to have been doc- in over 22 Britons attempting EXCLUSIVE days to leave Spain’, they tored. By Simon Wade said. to become resident here. At least eight people have This week a number of elderly A source told the Olive Press in Torrevieja been grilled over the town expats described the situation how they had been that a court date hall registration forms, which as ‘humiliating’ and ‘hellish’, ive Press when they went to has yet to be confirmed, as evwere all handled by the same after they were held for ques- questioned idence is still being gathered. collect their TIE cards. of Brexpats gestor company on the Costa tioning under caution. “We were taken into a room, Anne Hernandez that a lack Blanca. They told the Olive Press how rights and told to in Spain warned National Police confirmed to they were carted to Alican- read ourwhy our 2021 padron of clear national guidelines the Olive Press that detec- te police station and grilled explain doctored to show a means rules can differ from tives are working alongside about falsifying documents had been - it was hell.” region to region. the Guardia Civil to now in- submitted with their TIE card 2020 date detained had used All those vestigate all residencia appli- applications. Money a gestor Services, Way in One made cations in Alicante “We were wrongly arrested based in Quesada to process She added that the compli2021. for submitting fake padrons, - including cated application process is It comes after ‘widespread even though we put the cor- their applications leaving expats vulnerable to fraud’ was allegedly detected rect ones in with our paper- the padron. Smith insisted unscrupulous gestors. Matt Owner Jay work for residencia,” said that his is anything but the “One would expect that when Elliott, 66, of Orihuela Costa, only gestor business to be you turn to a professional for who has lived in Spain for dragged into the investigation help, you pay the money and over five years. been arrested, get professional advice but has “Nobody HigShe and her friend Lily that is a fact,” he insisted, we hear lots of stories about gins, 71, had planned for a adding: “Other gestors are people being given the wrong peaceful retirement in the also being brought in as part information or even being sun but are now living with of an ongoing investigation exploited and landing into the threat of a court case or into TIE applications.” trouble by so-called qualified even deportation. A police spokesman told the gestors,” she warned. “I’ve never been in trouble Olive Press: “All residen- “This case of fraudulent pabefore but here I am, being cia applications from every drons being submitted is treated like a common crim- gestor in the province will be shocking but it’s by no means inal,” said Higgins. “It’s hu- investigated in case of possi- isolated.” miliating.” Hundreds of British expats ble connections.” They added that the same All fraudulent submissions have turned to the services gestor is being investigated will be cancelled with appli- of brokers or gestors for help for changing the date on at cants given the right to ap- with the residency process SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS least 22 more British appli- peal. since the issue became more Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea cants. “The outcome of the appeal complicated with Brexit and asked who couple, Another will be either ‘you now have not to be named, told the Ol-

IDEAL FOR STREAMING TV

LINES DRAWN: Pedro Sanchez (top) and Fabian Picardo on opposing sides over the €300 million reclamation development

funds that it is expected to cost. The development sits on 130,000 square metres of reclaimed land using soil and construction waste on the eastern edge of the Rock. Over 1,500 apartments and homes, plus numerous commercial units, are set to be

built (see photo above). There are also potential plans for a hotel. Gibraltar’s decision to restart the project, halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has angered the Spanish government however. It believes the waters surrounding the Rock belong to Spain, insisting the 300-year-old Treaty of Utrecht only applied to the land. Pedro Sanchez’s government, however, has condemned the plans, and has vowed to use ‘any legal

means necessary’ to prevent the development going ahead. Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya even controversially insisted this week that the treaty only applies to certain areas of Gibraltar. Both the Gibraltar and British government firmly disagree and are set to continue the reclamation project this month. The aim of the project is to help rectify the Rock’s critical shortage of housing, an issue that is predicted to

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EXCLUSIVE By Dilip Kuner

AN expat is facing prison ing to demolish his home for failfell foul of a town hall’s after he ‘laissez faire’ planning rules. Gurney Davey, aged found out about the 67, only sentence when a court six-month was delivered to a document neighbour’s house. “I went straight to Tolox with it. They told me town hall have received it yet,” I shouldn’t he told the Olive Press. “They said they were going to be sending the notification to me once they had stamped it.” The news came as a massive bolt from the blue for Davey, whose wife has just died of cancer, which he believes worsened from the stress of the case. He had never been told court case that followedabout the a Guardia Civil denunciaon from for an ‘illegal build’. Davey’s two-bed home 2004 - should never - built in built according to have been the Malaga court.

Vibe

“There is an exciting vibe and the Government calls on the community to make it a joint effort in welcoming visitors and showing them the traditional warm Gibraltarian welcome.” The first flight in was British Airways’ BA492 from London Heathrow that left at 7.10am. It touched down at 11.05 local time on Monday. The airline tweeted shortly after it took off to say it was the airline’s ‘first flight to a green list destination’. British Airways Chairman Sean Doyle later described it as a ‘special day for many people’.

British expat faces demolition of his 17 year home - and a spell repeat of controversi in prison - in al Priors case

Legalise

In 2016, and then again in 2017, Davey was ordered down his house, but, to knock with a neighbour, he in common waited for more details. While his Spanish Irene Millan, 29, did neighbour, hear from the court eventually was given six months again, she to ‘legalise’ her property - an option Davey was never given. However, his neighbour’s apparent good luck turned into a poisoned chalice.

Having spent €20,000 DEMOLITION: Expat Gurney Davey is being town hall to legalise the with the forced to knock down his own house and the court finally refused dwelling, lan, whose name was on faces six months jail the cancer, at the age to accept deeds, was the new paperwork provided also of 71, in April. from legal firm Manzanares, by months jail and sentenced to six “We thought we had done the council. handed a fine of thing told the smart thing every- them that planning to do. €6 a day for a year. right at the time. We Instead, demolition was permission “Why got would be applied legal advice and went which went ahead last ordered - Now Davey is terrified he is for as an alma- build would we deliberately try to through a cen set to lawyer in order week. illegally? It makes lose his home To add insult to injury to get permission This- or ‘warehouse’. that we would sell up no sense Irene’s It comes just at any moment. way it would come to build the home. everything 54-year-old father, Manuel remit of Tolox town under the in the UK and risk it all.” Mil- his wife Dianatwo months since “Diana fought breast hall, which died from bowel six cancer years before bowel cancer for would give permission and later Now Davey’s first thoughts are to avoid serving the jail - I they sentence. am sure the The could ‘legalise’ the property. He said: stress brought seen language of one legal letter, get the “My lawyer is trying to sentence suspended.” by the Olive Press, suggests it on.” this would be a mere formality. The couple, But Flatten originally from ised.the property never got legalALL AREAS COVERED In the meantime he Suffolk in the In has been fact, the UK, spent time, Juan Tolox mayor of the forced to ask the town hall for Vera, has since been permission to € 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 jailed knock his own 4G UNLIMITED building their schemeand fined for his part in a property down. to allow up to INTERNET “I will do it myself. I property. will borrow erties to be built on land350 prop- a JCB “It came as a as IDEAL FOR classified from someone and flatten my home of the past package - a In ‘rural’. STREAMING TV 17 plot with a new verymost cases he had used the will not let the town hall years. I do it and same ‘lax’ procedure ALSO IPTV, home on it.” of ap- charge me more money.” plying to build an ‘almacen’ He added: “I’ve no idea Davey admits try SATELLITE TV to where to keep the prying eyes he and his wife Junta See page 5 & 15 of the live afterwards. But the land to is still mine - maybe I can were perhaps “We authorities away. tel: (0034) 952 763 840 live in a naive to follow thingsthought that was the way tent.” info@theskydoctor.com the advice of Davey, worked in Spain,” said Tolox Ayuntamiento refused a retired builder. to www.theskydoctor.com comment, citing data their lawyer. protection “We went The lawyer, advice. It to see a lawyer and got laws. turns out that was not Opinion

Mallorca - Issue 106

worsen. “Projects like this encourage and facilitate these relocations and ensure that new companies wishing to move to Gibraltar can get accommodation for their workers,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

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Insatiable

“It also offers more houses to local residents, a demand that has proven to be insatiable given the popularity of the most recent private developments,” he added.

ANDALUCÍA

NOT AGAIN FREE

THERE is a distinct sense of excitement in the air as British tourists finally started making their way back into Gibraltar. The first direct flights from the UK have been touching down bringing hundreds of excited tourists desperate for some sun. It is great news for the Rock with the tourists set to bring a huge multi-million pound cash boost. Experts predict a bumper summer with sun-starved Brits leading the charge. “With flights and hotels quickly filling up, we think that it will be a bumper year for our leisure industry,” Tourism Minister Vijay Daryanani told the Olive Press.

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Bank solution YOUR correspondents Lucy and Lex Ongley should go to Sabadell Bank. They have an account where you pay in your UK pension and there are no charges at all. Be aware that the pension is sent via a US bank which I believe is Citibank. There your money will reach your account a day later. If there is a US bank holiday then add another day. So sent on Friday into Sabadell first thing Monday morning. If there is a holiday, then Tuesday morning. Hope this helps

Tony Dean, Quesada

Be wise

I HAVE been in touch with the EU concerning the 90 day visitor’s time limit problem and realised that in my opinion, there is in fact NO problem. The important message from their response is that as far as I can see there is no requirement to leave the Schengen States between 90 day periods of stay. I think that it has to be proved before being categorical, but hopefully it will give good hope to thousands. Morris Bishop (By email)

John Price (by email)

Tel: 952 147 834

Continues on Page 5

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Mijas Costa

Gibraltar - Issue 148

HUMILIATED: Lily and Jay to have their TIE submission Spain experienced a rush of refused without that specific applications as the end of the document even though the transition period approached Brexit Withdrawal Agreeand in the months since. ment is supposed to guaranAppointments are difficult to tee the rights of those who get, paperwork can be conwere living in Spain before fusing and requirements can January 1st 2021. differ between Extranjeria offices. If you have been affected Recent procedural changes in a similar way by this, at Alicante Foreigners’ Ofor any other gestor, fice now suggest that only a please get in touch with padron dated 2020 will be us on newsdesk@theoapan that accepted as proof livepress.es plicant lived in Spain prior to the Brexit deadline on December 31. on or directly, Those applying Opinion Page 6 behalf of someone, are likely

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Tragic mystery The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell

See more on page 3

I BEG YOUR PADRON

www.moraira-hamiltons.net

Vol. 5 Issue 148

Prime suspect Bear in the frame for series of grizzly livestock killings in the Pyrenees

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FREE See page 14

The female warriors who took on Drake’s army - and won!

The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell

Bear in the frame for series of grizzly livestock killings in the Pyrenees

Voted Spain’s most popular historic city

Girl power

Tragic mystery

Prime suspect

The

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May 20th - June 2nd 2021 Vol. 3 Issue 56 www.theolivepress.es

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COSTA BLANCA

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What problem?

CORDOBA SPECIAL

GIBRALTAR

Lucy and Lex Ongley asked how to get their UK pension paid in Spain without fees and our readers have rallied round with some suggestions...

I WOULD suggest Lucy and Lex use a transfer company named Wise (formerly TransferWise). They have extremely low fees, give you mid-market rates and the transfer is in your Spanish account within seconds. Spanish banks do not charge to receive this transfer, as it is sent from a centre in the EU (Belgium). If you transfer Pounds from your UK account to their bank account, then do the transfer, the cost is very minimal. Also, in answer to Come off it, I would remind the sender that if it hadn't been for Brexit many more thousands of COVID sufferers would have died in the UK, if they had to follow the tardiness of authorising and ordering of vaccinations by the EU leadership, purely on political grounds and getting 27 governments to agree on anything. The UK has been a world leader in its vaccination programme.

Martin Coles, Estepona

OLIVE PRESS

Costa SAN JAVIER Mijas

OLIVE PRESS

90 DAYS ONLY!

I REFER to a letter published in your excellent newspaper entitled Simply Crazy. The contributor writes: “Since Brexit and the introduction of the 90/180 stay rule we will no longer be able to stay for the winter.” Not only has the 90/180 rule been in existence for many years, our Spanish hosts have not introduced or changed any rules regarding length of stay. Any changes to the contributor’s circumstances have been brought about solely by the actions of the UK Government and their implementation of Brexit. The 90 day non visa visitor rule is the common practice for most countries, with the UK being the odd man out in allowing 180 days. Making a special exception for British citizens to stay longer in Spain would be a snub to other countries' citizens who have, and continue to follow this common length of stay rule, and expecting other countries to change their rules to suit the British is entitlement in the extreme.

) Cristina Stefanczyk (Javea

CORDOBA SPECIAL

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

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LA CULTURA

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

by John Grisham

Laugh track

TO paraphrase the old adage: first comes love, then comes carriage. At least that was the thinking behind Alfonso Sanchez latest romantic comedy Sí, quiero (Corredor)- a new short film created to help push for the creation of the Mediterranean Corridor, a high speed train that would connect the Mediterranean coast from Algeciras to the French border. Starring Alvaro Cervantes, Nuria Herrero, Macarena Gomez and Carlos Santos, the movie tells the story of a couple travelling on the Euromed train from Barcelona to Alicante, where their wedding is to be held.

Nuptials

The journey brings together the pair’s very different families who have travelled from Valencia and Catalunya to attend the nuptials and hilarity quickly ensues as the two clans clash over everything, from delayed trains to Spanish stereotypes. Currently the corridor to Murcia is expected to be completed by 2023 but the links to Algeciras could face delays of a further six years. To watch the film, viewers are asked to go to quierocorredor. com where they will be asked to sign a petition for the completion of the infrastructure in order to gain access to the movie.

Sooley amuel ‘Sooley’ Sooleymon is a 17-year-old basketball prodigy from South Sudan who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is invited to the United States to play in a basketball showcase tournament. Although his lack of professional coaching is evident, his natural talent shines through and he is eventually offered a scholarship to North Carolina Central. However, a civil war has broken out in South Sudan leaving Sooley’s father dead, his sister missing and his mother and brothers in a refugee camp. Unable to return home, Sooley’s only option is to prove himself on the basketball court and hope his success is enough to save his family. €24.90 The Bookshop San Pedro, www.thebookshop.es

HUGE: The baths are rising from the sand dunes of Cadiz

Shifting sands

Massive Roman bath complex discover under dunes

AN ancient Roman bath complex has been discovered beneath sand dunes on an Atlantic beach in the province of Cadiz. Archaeologists from the University of Cadiz (UCA) revealed their discovery of the well-preserved bath complex that dates from Roman times. A team is currently excavating the site at the beach near Caños de Meca, a small seaside village to the east of Cape Trafalgar on Spain’s Costa de la Luz that is very popular with surfers. “The structure is in an exceptional state of conservation for the Iberian Peninsula and, in general, in the Western Mediterranean”, explained Dario Bernal, professor of archeology at UCA. The team has discovered walls almost four me-

It’s no yolk

By Fiona Govan

tres high with doors and windows intact, all part of a ‘sophisticated thermal complex which used air heated over coals to disperse through walls and under the floor,’ Bernal said.

how the region was ‘an incredibly attractive area for all types of civilizations, which endows us with incredible history’.

Hot

The complex would have used natural hot springs that have long since dried up. Only two rooms have been excavated so far, with most of the site remaining untouched. Researchers at UCA said the site is estimated to spread over 2.5 acres. Patricia del Pozo, Andalucia’s culture minister described the find as ‘wonderful’ and an example of

SOMETHING strange has been cooked up to celebrate Spain. It's a giant concrete egg to honour the country created by Belgian artist and sculptor, Enca Caen. He moved to Orcheta on the Costa Blanca last year and decided to pay tribute to his adopted country with the unusual sculpture. He claims that it is the biggest concrete egg in the world. Caen said: “There have been chocolate eggs that have reached 18 metres with many people working on them but from what I can find, this is a concrete record.” Some 25 kilos of cement were used to craft the structure with Enca helped by his wife Chantal. It's 5.40 metres tall and it weighs a hefty six tons. Caen is now working on putting a crown on top. “The egg symbolises the unity of Spain, the identity of the Valencian Community, and the history of Orcheta,” he said. It's not his first concrete egg either, as two years ago he created a 3.4 metre tall egg for the village of La Romana.

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LA CULTURA

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Gloria’s gain A MAJOR figure in the American feminist movement, Gloria Steinem, has won the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for communication and humanities. She gets €50,000 which is one of eight prizes awarded each year by the Princess of Asturias foundation covering the fields of arts, sports, and social sciences. The jury praised 87-year-old Steinem’s long journalistic career; her top-selling books: and her part in US feminism campaigns since the sixties. They described her as ‘one of the most significant members of the women’s rights movement’ in the United States. Her achievements were brought to a new audience last year in the acclaimed American TV drama, Mrs. America, with Rose Byrne portraying her in the 1970s. Steinmen broke down many sexist barriers and was the first woman to speak at the National Press Club in 1972.

Favoured son Many thought he was Italian, but Spain wants to claim Columbus as a national

RESEARCHERS have announced a bid to settle the dispute over which country should claim Christopher Columbus as their own. It was widely believed that he was the son of a weaver born in the Italian port of Genoa in 1451, but over the centuries he has been claimed as a native son of Greece, Catalunya, Portugal, Corsica, France, Scotland and even Poland.

Language

A recent academic study focused on his language and grammar, concluding that Columbus was in fact a Catalan speaking man from the Kingdom of Aragon, an inland region of north-eastern Spain at the foot of the Pyrenees. Others claimed the true origins of the man who discovered the Americas were hidden because he was Jewish or secretly working as a double agent for the Portuguese royal family. “Our aim is to provide objective data that can ... close a series of existing theories,” explained Jose Antonio Lorente, lead scientist of the DNA study at the University of Granada. The research will examine

PUZZLE:Was he a jew born in Mallorca or Aragon? By Fiona Govan

DNA extracted from tiny bone fragments from what are believed to be the remains of Columbus, his son Fernando and his brother Diego. The samples were first collected back in 2004-2005 but the team waited 16 years for technological advances to ensure the research would be successful. “Our team agreed on an ethical approach ... wait for a technological development that has now happened,” said Lorente. The DNA will be analysed in-

dependently by laboratories in Europe and the Americas, and should be published in October. To announce the study, Granada University hosted a meeting looking at alternative theories about Columbus’ birthplace, that include Valencia, Espinosa de Henares, Galicia and Mallorca, as well as Portugal’s Alentejo region. “I hope we will come to the conclusion that demonstrates that Columbus was a Spanish nobleman and not a Genoese sailor,” said Alfonso Sanz, an amateur history researcher and author.

THE pandemic has dashed hopes for completing Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished iconic Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona in time for the centenary of his death. Work at the UNESCO World Heritage Site was due to end in 2026 but tourist revenues, which are paying for the construction, have collapsed. Building was halted for nine months during the COVID pandemic and income from visitors will take some time to build up again for the completion project to return to 2019 levels. When Gaudi died in 1926, only a quarter of the structure had been finished. Before the coronavirus struck, there were genuine hopes that the basilica would be finished to mark 100 years since he died. Additional spires are set to be erected but all of the work is privately funded, hence the delay fuelled by a lack of tourists. It’s now unclear when the project will actually be completed. The Sagrada Familia trustees

Sagrada setback

director-general, Xavier Martinez, said: “I would be lying if I set a precise finish date. It could be 2030, 2035, or 2040.” A 138 metre-high tower dedicated to the Virgin Mary is still scheduled to be finished by the end of the year.

Arted up MADRID’s Reina Sofia museum is nearing the end of a massive revamp that will see 2,000 new pieces put on display. And the collection - 60% of which has not been put on show before - will include exhibits from all across the world rather than concentrating on Spain. The first phase of the revamp has just been opened to the public and focuses on the USA. Called Nos ven: del modernismo al desarrollismo (They see us: from modernity to developmentalism) - it displays pieces that examine American culture since the Second World War. The reordering started 10 years ago and changes have been made since then, although this project was finally pushed through during the pandemic.

Take care!

New penalty system coming into effect for UK Income Tax by Emilia Carvell

ROM 2023, landlords, or self employed taxpayers in the UK, with annual income over £10,000 will be subject to filing their tax position through the Making Tax Digital initiative. Through Making Tax Digital, taxpayers will not only submit one annual tax return, but also quarterly submissions of income and expenditure, to give a real time snapshot of their tax position throughout the year. And with a change of process, also comes a change in the penalty system, With HMRC implementing a new points based penalty system to better align with the new tax system. Speaking in a recent seminar, HMRC spoke of creating a new system, aimed at being more supportive of those with genuine reasons behind mistakes or late filing, whilst still penalising those who are consistently late. GO DIGITAL: Apari makes complying with HM Revenue’s new systems, simple and clear

So how has the penalty system changed? Well some could argue that it is more complicated! Currently the system goes by length of time since late submission, with the amount due increasing over the time period. The new system accrues points per late submission - and points accrued mean penalties! When a taxpayer misses a submission deadline then they will incur a point - these points build up to penalty thresholds, with each submission obligation (i.e quarterly, annually) having a different threshold. Once this point threshold is reached, then a fixed penalty amount of £200 will be issued for every missed submission. The Penalty thresholds are as follows: Submission Frequency

Penalty Threshold

Annual

2 Points

Quarterly

4 Points

If the penalty threshold isn’t passed, then the points will be cleared after two years. If the points threshold is passed, then all the points gained will be wiped only AFTER they have met a period of compliance as set by HMRC (Annual submissions 24 months, Quarterly submissions 12 months) AND submitted all the submissions due from the previous two years. For Late Payment, penalties are issued by length of time passed from the due date - however HMRC have said that they will take a ‘lighter’ approach for the first

year of implementation, and a way of easing taxpayers into the system. The basic structure surrounding penalties for late payment is: Number of days late

Penalty

0-15

No Penalty

16-29

2% of outstanding amount

4% of outstanding amount

31+ (2nd penalty only)

4% per day on outstanding amount

But don’t worry - This will not come into effect until 2023, and HMRC will be releasing more information in the lead up to the new system going live - to be the first to find out what’s new, join the APARI Community! For all the latest information and advice visit www.apari-digital.com

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

The costa’s secret mosque

PAIN’S splendid Moorish arBy Laurence Crumbie chitecture is internationally famous, but there’s one Islamic place of worship that won’t win any UNESCO world heritage tainly eccentric, but as Said points awards. out: “It’s much better here than it was Who knew it could be found in a small with temptation on the doorstep. Costa del Sol seaside resort under “Besides,” he adds, amid more the very noses of the Olive Press re- smiles, “it was a good price, and big porting team? – 420m2. It’s light. It’s good for us.” As it turns out, it’s no secret at all to We gaze around the room, taking in practising Muslims in these parts and the jade green carpet decorated with beyond. And in fact, it’s patterned red bands rather better appointed and golden dots. Two than its predecessor. white columns with “Our first mosque There are some black bases stand was small and by the proudly in the centre, 300 to 400 beach – near to a bar and on the ceiling are – so imagine what mosque-going a couple of curious yelhappened,” laughs our low-brown patches that Muslims in the look suspiciously like... cheerful host, piling on the surprises. “Damp?” I ask. area People drank a lot and “Yes. We are under came in after they had a swimming pool.” drunk a lot of shots. It Said shakes his head, was horrible...” chuckling. “We have problems all the I am just across the road from the Ol- time with it, but we have insurance.” ive Press office, talking to Said Sad- Inaugurated in 2014 by the then local ki Baladi, Secretary of the Sabinillas mayor and the Consul of Morocco, the mosque. Sabinillas mosque is not only the largThis small Andalucian town might not est between here and Algeciras, it’s be the first place you would expect to also the most respected on the Costa find a flourishing Muslim communi- del Sol, used by Muslim worshippers ty, but then its mosque is something from far and wide. quite unexpected itself – a colour- When Said arrived in Sabinillas some ful and cosy centre of prayer tucked 30 years ago, hardly a soul spoke away on the ground floor of a concrete Arabic, he reports. But now, he esapartment block. timates there are some 300 to 400 Wedged between a garage and a mosque-going Muslims living in the hardware store, the location is cer- area. “The mosque was not our idea,” he explains, bucking our expectations once again. “It was the mayor’s. I think it was part of her election plan.” “And is it a welcoming area for Muslims?” I asked. Said looks surprised at the question. “We have had no problems,” he answers. “Islamic culture is not something new. People know the stories and the civilisation. We have been very accepted.” Attracted by the mosque and the wel-

Hidden away in a block of flats, suffering damp from a swimming pool upstairs, this unlikely spot in Sabinillas is the most popular Muslim prayer centre on the Costa del Sol

coming environment, Sabinillas’ Muslim community is growing steadily. While people from Morocco tend only to stay for a short time, Muslims living in other parts of Spain, including Barcelona and Madrid, are relocating to the region with their entire families. The mosque is also beloved locally, with Muslims from all over Andalucia travelling to Sabinillas to pray – especially on Fridays, the main day of worship. That was until the outbreak

of COVID-19 put a spanner in the works. Although the number of worshippers has fluctuated due to Covid restrictions and currently hovers around 120, the mosque can host double that number comfortably, mainly accommodated in the male and female prayer halls, though there are some parts of the building that could do with being a little roomier. “We also give classes to the children in Arabic and Koranic,” says Said as he leads us into a classroom left of the entrance. It is comfortable and clean, like the rest of the mosque, but a tight fit. “We need more space,” explains Said. “More so now because, with the restrictions, we have to keep distance.” As the mosque tour comes to an end, I bid Said farewell with elbow bumps and run straight into Ahmed, the owner of the garage next door. He waves me over and leads me into a space still under construction, although there are various bookshelves and colourful paintings hanging on the rough brick walls or propped up on easels. “This is the arts and culture centre,” explains Ahmed. “You know, so that people can learn here and

be creative.” He gestures towards the circle of chairs beside us. “We normally meet a few times a week, but now it is difficult because of corona.” I wander over to the bookshelf and glance at the spines shimmering in the electric half-light. The texts cover a whole range of topics, from religion and history to fiction.

Arts

“We have books in English, Spanish, Arabic, and more,” says Ahmed proudly as he gives us a tour of this unusual library-cum-art gallery. He points out some of the paintings that he particularly admires. As a former travel writer, I used to think you had to venture far these days to discover the rare and unusual. But as Ahmed and Said have reminded us, they are often hiding in plain sight on your own doorstep. You just have to look for them!

LA CULTURA

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Spain has been ruled from 10 different capital cities and some of these ‘iron thrones’ will surprise you, writes Cristina Hodgson

ADRID wasn’t always the capital of Spain. The hot seat of power has shifted between 10 cities down the centuries, changing with the Iberian peninsula’s various Roman, Visigoth, Moorish and Catholic rulers and the geographical location of their kingdoms. From mighty metropolises to more miniscule dots on the map, the Olive Press pays homage to the kingdom’s glorious forgotten capitals.

Sevilla

Spain’s fourth largest city was the capital of Spain for two years during the Napoleonic wars. It was a period when Spain was bristling with Napoleon’s troops and some of the heaviest fighting took place around the city.

Founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC and the oldest inhabited city in Europe, the mantle of power passed to Cadiz for three years when the Cortes moved from Sevilla. It was during its brief reign as capital of Spain that the Spanish Constitution of 1812, ‘La Pepa’, was proclaimed in this Atlantic coastal city. It was a golden era for Cadiz when it monopolised trade as a central port of call on sea routes. Today valued for its golden beaches as well as its famous sherry, its wealthy colonial past is still evident in its noble architecture, elegant squares and magical gardens.

On December 16, 1808 Count Floridablanca, president of the Supreme Central and Governing Junta of Spain transferred the Cortes to Sevilla, with the Real Alcazar becoming its new headquarters.

1808-10

Capital status ended in January 1810 when the city surrendered to Napoleon’s troops. However since June 30, 1982, Sevilla has been the elected political capital of Andalucia.

Cangas de Onis 718-924

lthough it has little to show for it, this municipality at the gateway to the Picos de Europa National Park in Asturias was the ‘first capital of the Kingdom of Spain’. It’s where the Visigoth noble Pelayo set up the Asturian monarchy in the 8th century after the Battle of Covadonga, considered the first strike against the Moors in the Christian reconquest. Modern-day Cangas de Onis is more famous for its mountain scenery and has only one major monument standing, the socalled Roman Bridge actually built in the 1300s. But although there isn’t much to it except for two or three major streets, it once formed the nucleus of the Spain we know and love today.

CADI Z 1810-1813

his Andalucian city has been a big player since Roman times when it became the capital of the province of Hispania Ulterior. But its true splendour came a few centuries later at the height of the Muslim conquest when it became the capital of Moorish Spain under exiled Syrian prince Abd Al-Rahman I. The Great Mosque, his masterpiece, is one of the world’s most prized Islamic buildings, an authentic architectural treasure declared a World Heritage Site in 1984. By the time Abd Al-Rahman III became ruler in 929, Cordoba was Europe’s largest and most advanced city where Christians, Jews and Muslims co-ex-

766-

Cordoba 1236

isted in relative harmony. Following the Christian conquest it became part of the Crown of Castile.

urrounded by orange orchards and sandy beaches, Valencia’s moment in the political sun came between November 1936 and October 1937, when the capital of the Republican government was transferred there amidst fears of losing Madrid. On March 30, 1939, after the fall of Catalunya and most other Republican territory, Valencia surrendered to Franco’s forces.

It remains the third largest city in Spain

Barcelona 507-576, 1937-39

VALENCI A 1936-7

LA CULTURA BURGOS

1939

he government of Franco’s rebel Republic moved three times between 1936 and 1939, from Valencia, to Barcelona and finally to Burgos. The city held the title of capital between April 1 and October 18, 1939, coinciding with

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

the end of the Spanish Civil War. After the conflict, the dictator decided to restore capital status to Madrid, a position it has held ever since. Today, the medieval town of Burgos is celebrated for its magnificent cathedral. It also remains an important stop on the Ruta de Santiago (Way of Saint James) pilgrim trail to Santiago de Compostela.

Toledo 576-725, 1516-1561

his swashbuckling city has been the capital of Spain at two very important moments in its history. The first was in the 6th century, when

King Liuvigild moved the court to Toledo, locating political power at the epicentre of the Iberian peninsula for the first time in its history. The second, in the 16th century, saw

Madrid

Vallad oli d

Charles I of Spain and V of Germany establish Toledo as the capital of his considerable empire. And so it remained until 1561, when the honour went to Madrid.

especially in the Middle Ages. But the key turning point for Valladolid came in 1601, when the Duke of Lerma, Philip III’s favourite advisor, succeeded in transferring the Court of Madrid to this Castilian city. Although short and sweet, this unexpected royal interval brought the city its moment of maximum splendour. Nowadays Valladolid is known as a major industrial and commercial centre, but it has an impressive architectural legacy laid out in a number of excellent museums. One is dedicated to the life of the great explorer Christopher Columbus who died in Valladolid in 1506.

hen the Roman Empire collapsed, its Spanish territories fell into the hands of the Germanic Visigoths who made Barcino, as it was then known, capital of their kingdom. Extensive archaeological excavations from this important period can be found in the basement of Barcelona’s Museu d’Història de la Ciutat, giving a glimpse into its glorious past. The city remained a provincial capital after King Liuvigild moved the Visigoth court to Toledo in 576. During the Spanish Civil War Barcelona enjoyed a second brief fling as capital of the Republic of Spain from November 1937 until January 1939.

kingdom. From this moment the accelerated growth of this city began, although for the next three centuries the Cortes parliament moved around somewhat, with the seat of power passing to different cities including Valladolid, Cadiz, Sevilla, Valencia and Burgos. In 1939, the capital of Spain returned to Madrid on a permanent basis.

1561-present day (with breaks)

Although Philip II took the Spanish court to Madrid in 1561, it was a generation later under his son Philip lll that it became the official capital of both Spain and Portugal. Chosen primarily for its geographical location in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula, its new status transformed the history of what was previously just one more city in the

1601-1606

With a history stretching back a thousand years, the city has always been a point of reference,

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LA CULTURA

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Digging for Franco’s victims Expat experts join in the hunt for those missing after Spain’s civil war

TEAM of British archaeologists have started to exhume and identify victims executed by the Franco regime after the Spanish Civil War. Several bodies with gunshot wounds to the head, personal effects and parts of clothing have already been recovered by the experts from Cranfield University. They are looking for 26 people thought to have been buried in the cemetery at Almagro (Castilla-La Mancha) between 1939 and 1940. The team is working with colleagues from the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) and social anthropologists from Mapas de Memoria (Memory Maps). SECLUDED: Some of the graves are hidden away from the main cemetery Families of victims have been found DIGGERS: Archaeologists from Cranfield in the UK and UCM in Madrid (aboin the hope of identifying relatives ve) have been unearthing the remains of Civil War victims (below) By Dilip Kuner through DNA analysis and returning the human remains for proper burial. The Olive Press has previously re- “Recovery of the bodies is carried ported on a number of excavations out layer by layer and is only the start searching for the remains of Franco’s of the process to identify and bring victims. Since 2000, dignity to the deceased over 7,000 victims and help to provide cloThey are have been recovered. sure and peace to their Dr Nicholas Marfamilies.” looking for 26 quez-Grant, from CranJose Barrios, whose field Forensic Institute people buried in great uncle - also (CFI), who is leading named Jose Barrios the excavation, said: the cemetery at - was executed and “This excavation is parAlmagro buried at the site, said: ticularly complex due “When the excavation now, we are coming to find you.” to the number of vicstarted I did not feel The excavation period will last until tims and subsequent much but when they found the first the beginning of June and will be burials in the cemetery during the body, I saw the skull and the feet of followed by a longer investigation postwar period. an individual, I thought: we are here involving anthropological analysis in the laboratory and DNA analysis until the end of 2021 to identify human remains recovered. A total of 11 pits have been identified for the excavation, and several pits have more than one person in them. Once remains are recovered, they are taken to the forensic anthropology laboratory at UCM to identify and If you thought there were no secrets left to surprise find out the cause of death. Genetic analysis with samples from you in Catalunya’s capital, 1,000 rediscovered air raid family members and bone samples shelters say you’re wrong, writes Graham Keeley then follows and where checks are positive, family members are idenECRET air raid shelters that kept Barcelona beneath the courtyards of apartment blocks and tified. Remains will then be passed residents safe from fascist bombs during the below town squares is a relic from the dark days of to the families for burial or returned Spanish Civil War have been mapped and Barcelona’s own Blitz. to the cemetery to be buried again if SAFE: People took shelter deep underground catalogued for a new way of looking at the From 1936 to 1939 the city was systematically that isn’t possible.

Going underground

city. An interactive website in English, Spanish and Catalan launched by the town hall pinpoints their precise location in modern day Barcelona. Described as ‘an underground city (built) to flee the horror of fascist bombing’, the immense network created in the basements of factories and houses,

bombed not only by Franco but also by the air forces of Hitler and Mussolini who supported the Nationalist uprising against Spain’s Republican government. Over the past 20 years, specialists and locals have slowly pieced the jigsaw back together and although few remain intact, and even fewer are open to the public, over 1,000 can be visited virtually online. Together with photographs from the time, the website reconstructs what life was like for the citizens of Barcelona who lived in daily fear of aerial bombardment. After Barcelona fell to the forces of Franco, Britain faced a similar threat from the air during the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. “I do not at all underrate the severity of the ordeal which lies before us but I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up to it, like the brave men of Barcelona,” said Winston Churchill in 1940. HARDSHIP: Air raids killed and injured many people The online project also recounts

how the community worked together to build the shelters. “Ten months of experience in Catalonia means we should unify all the efforts of the public and private bodies in the altruistic cause of saving lives from the fascist shrapnel,” wrote Lluis Companys, the Catalan regional president, in 1937. After the conflict was over, the victorious General Franco built over 700 more shelters in the city, and sent 12,000 men to build a line of bunkers in the Pyrenees, fearing that having defeated Hitler, the Allied Forces might try to attack Spain. While Spain did not take part in the Second World War, Franco was sympathetic to the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. “Barcelona’s air raid shelters were built by the citizens or the administration with the object of protecting against the brutal bombardment during the civil war,” said Jordi Rabassa, the city councillor for Historical Memory. “(They) are part of our heritage and collective memory and have become symbols of popular self-organisation, resistance and struggle.” The council has invited people to contribute towards the project if they have information about shelters which have been built-over or lost.

Science

Dr Maria Benito Sanchez, director of the scientific team for the project from the School of Legal Medicine at UCM, said: “As forensic anthropology professionals we have the responsibility of putting our science to the service of the relatives who have been searching for their loved ones for a long time now. Since I started working on mass graves, there have been many rewards which I take with me, and all are for the relatives – they are the engine for this work.” The wider Memory Maps project, which is funded by the Ciudad Real Provincial Council, has located 53 mass graves and named 3,457 people killed in the province of Ciudad Real by the Franco regime over the last ten years. So far the Almagro excavation is the largest mass grave opened in the province, although there are known to be others with hundreds of people buried in them.

BUSINESS Penny pinching Stock rising ANDALUCIA has the third lowest average yearly income per person in the whole of Spain according to official figures from the INE. Of the 19 communities in Spain, Andalucia sits slightly behind Castilla-La Mancha and just above Murcia and Extremadura. According to the figures, taken since 2008, Andalucia's average income per person is €13,775 as of the latest data in 2019. At the bottom of the table is Extemadura, with a mean average income of just €12,816 per person, just behind Murcia with €13,637.

Income

At the opposite end of the chart is the Basque region of Pais Vasco with €22,480 annual income. Andalucia’s struggling job market can be directly linked to unemployment and work contract types, with the community having one of the highest rates in Spain. As of last year, Andalucia recorded an unemployment rate of 22.74% according to Statista. It also had one of the highest temporary and low pay contract rates in Spain, almost 55%, thanks to an economy reliant on tourism and seasonal work.

Tiny club first in Spain to be listed on stock exchange

A TINY football club is to become the first in Spain to float on the stock exchange. The news came after Sant Joan-based CF Intercity secured promotion to the Segunda Division, regional section. The Alicante province club - whose ground has a capacity of just 2,000 - decided in principle in 2018 to go for a listing and shareholders have now confirmed the move. Trading in Intercity CF shares will start by the end of June on BME Growth, which is Spain's stock exchange sub-market dedicated to small and medium sized companies. Intercity will have an initial market capitalisation of up to €4.5 million. Club president, Salvador Marti, along with two other club co-founders own around 50% of the enterprise. Marti said: “We realised that most semi-professional clubs are funded by a patron injecting money which en-

WINNERS: Rising through the leagues

sures their survival. “We thought the club could instead take advantage of the financial markets to monetise its shareholding rather than relying on a single investor. And why not in such a soccer-loving country?”

Hey big spender WANT to earn up to €205,000 a year? Then sign up with the big tech firms. The likes of Google, Netflix, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft are doing whatever it takes to attract the best qualified workers even if it means rewarding them with annual gross salaries of between €131,000 and €205,000. It is a sign of the booming tech sector in Spain. With more than 33,000 IT businesses, Spain is one of the major European IT markets. Recently, investments in startups grew by 45%. Barcelona and Madrid are now the fifth and sixth largest startup hubs in Europe when it comes to the IT sector. Furthermore, Spain has the fourth highest number of jobs in the tech sector in the EU, and 31% of new vacancies in Spain are for digital jobs. There are some 300,000 developers, but that’s not enough. Currently, the number of unfilled IT positions stands at about 10,000 and is growing - as are salaries. But having to pay high wages, is worth it for the tech giants - especially Facebook. The average turnover per employee of these firms ranges from €4.67 million per year registered by Facebook to €283,000 by Twitter and €170,000 by HBO.

Free cash ARAGON has passed a law to give every one registered in the region a minimum income of €522 a month. All political parties in the Aragon Cortes (parliament) backed the payments, which will be available to anyone who is either registered in the region whether Spanish or foreign - or who has submitted an asylum and refugee application and has a low income. The payment covers all immigrants including those who have not yet ‘regularised’ their right to be in Spain. All they need in order to register is a passport. An extra allowance is also available for those with families, as well as help with housing expenses.

MORTGAGE THINK TANK by mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola

The good news is…

Club

The listing is part of an extraordinary climb for a club that was born out of a restructuring of the Sant Joan d’Alacant football club in 2017. Backed by big money investors like ex-Atletico Madrid star, Juanfran, the team have climbed from the bottom rungs of the Valencian football league structure. On paper they are four promotions away from making it to the top flight to join Spain's big boys like new champions Atletico, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Andalucia reduces taxes to help boost the property market

HE good news after what has been, at times, a challenging 14 months, is that property buyers in Andalucia will benefit from lower taxes. As part of a raft of measures, substantial savings will be made on Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty as the Junta has decided, as of end of April, to implement measures designed to boost the real estate market. In the past Andalucia had gained a reputation for being one of the higher taxed regions of Spain, particularly when it came to such things as inheritance tax. But this is not really the case anymore. The latest agreement covers six taxes:

• • • • • •

IRPF (personal income tax) IHT (inheritance tax) Patrimonio (wealth tax) ITP (property transfer tax) AJD (stamp duty) Taxes on gambling

In fact, the changes to IHT are not really all that significant – the major changes were actually made in 2019, and since then what was once seen as ‘punitive’ rate has become a bit of a non-issue for people who are properly advised.

What is of more interest to people buying property are the reductions to ITP and AJD. The reduction in ITP to 7% (on resale properties only) is intended as a temporary measure for 2021 to help the property market recover from the COVID-19 slow down. The new rate applies to all price-points, so benefits those buying higher priced properties where the tax previously paid was up to 10%. Similarly, the reduction of the AJD rate to 1.2% really only benefits those buying brand new property as this tax doesn’t apply to resale properties at all. So, if you are looking to buy a resale or a new home in Andalucia, you have a great incentive to do so soon!

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BUSINESS

Landlord boom EU enquiries for Buy-ToLet mortgages up 34%

KIPTON INTERNATIONAL has enjoyed a rise in enquiries for its UK Buy-To-Let mortgages over the last year. The Guernsey-based bank saw a 34% increase in enquiries from residents of the EU in the period January to May 2021 compared to figures from August to December 2020. In contrast, there was a 16% increase during the same period for the rest of the world. Skipton International’s mortgage offering is available to British Expats and Foreign Nationals purchasing Buy-To-Let property in the UK. The largest percentage increase came from the EU, with Hong Kong and the

DEMAND: Roger Hughes has seen growth

UAE also proving popular jurisdictions for UK Buy-To-Let enquiries. The increase came against the backdrop of Brexit and a reduced number of UK-based lenders supporting EU residents. Skipton’s enhanced mortgage proposition, the UK Stamp Duty holiday and the sharp demands within the UK rental market are also contributing factors. Roger Hughes, Business Development Manager of Skipton International, said: “We have some of the most attractive UK Buy-To-Let mortgages on the market for Expats and Foreign Nationals. “This year the demand has continued to grow and we will be exploring ways to make our mortgage proposition even more attractive, allowing more overseas residents to access the UK property market for long term investment purposes.” To see how much you may be able to borrow you can visit Skipton’s online UK Buy-To-Let mortgage calculator at: www.skiptoninternational.com/mortgage-calculator/uk

For more information about the services Skipton International can provide, visit www.skiptoninternational.com

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Bad influence Influencers need to watch out for the tax man, writes Elena Gogmen Rueda

SPANISH YouTube ‘influencers’ have been fleeing to Andorra in a bid to avoid taxes - but the authorities have them in their sights. Andorra applies a maximum tax rate of 10%, well below the 47% rate in Spain for those with an annual income of more than €300,000 - which some of these influencers comfortably surpass.

Flight

The flight of the influencers was highlighted at the beginning of the year with the announcement that the famous YouTuber Ruben Doblas, known as El Rubius, was finally moving there. Doblas said that Spain’s tax man had him ‘in the crosshairs’, and that he was being treated as a criminal when he was the ‘only influencer’ left staying in Spain and paying its taxes. But not everyone agrees DESPITE official advice during the pandemic to use plastic, cash remains king in Spain. The use of contactless payments was encouraged in a bid to slow down the spread of COVID-19. But latest figures show that during 2020 Spaniards spent double the amount in real mon-

INFLUENCER: Ruben Doblas has fled to Andorra

with the alleged injustice ‘suffered’ by the famous YouTuber. Another influencer from Bilbao, Ibai Llanos, understands that those who

Cash is king ey compared to cards and electronic payments. However, the pandemic did have an effect on spending habits, with the Banco de España providing €87.395 billion in cash to banks, a fall of 6,5% compared to 2019.

Streaming Success HALF of Spain’s homes connected to the internet are now watching pay-video streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or HBO. That’s according to a survey conducted by Spain’s independent competition regulator, the CNMC. Its latest ‘Household Panel’ study showed usage of streaming services was 49.6% at the end of 2020, which is an annual increase of nearly 23%. The figures suggest that the uptake in premium providers that started during last year’s State of Alarm lockdown has had long-term benefits for the streamers.

Habits

Spain’s viewing habits over the years has been somewhat conservative despite it having some of the world’s largest numbers for watching TV per person. The country strongly resisted paying for subscription satellite TV services in what was the lowest take up in Western Europe. Streaming appears to be a very different matter coupled with major improvements to internet access, reliability, and speed over the last five years. The CNMC study said that over the last three months of 2020, more than half (53%) of people in Spain accessed online content weekly.

earn a lot of money should pay more. Now Hacienda (Inland Revenue) has decided to act against people it suspects of tax evasion by setting up ‘residence’ in Andorra while still earning most of their income in Spain. The tax authority has created a ‘big data tool’ that will make the tracking of ‘delocalised’ taxpayers more effective. It will track internet activity to try to detect ‘false residencies’. It will examine more than 70 sources of information and has already come up with ‘several thousand’ people suspected of false residency in tax havens.

PROPERTY

AUTHORITIES in Spain are pushing for the family of General Franco to return an 18th-century mansion to the people, arguing that the family’s purchase of the home nearly six decades ago was fraudulent. The government of Galicia is insisting that the northwestern region reclaims La Casa Cornide as part of efforts to remove the last vestiges of the far-right authoritarian regime. The palace, built in an unusual late Baroque style and once home to 18th-century naturalist Jose Andres Cornide, was bought by the dictator’s wife Carmen Polo in 1962. However, the government in Galicia has started legal proceedings to prove that the purchase of the house was not legal. They say that two mayors of A Coruña se-

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Franco’s home cured municipal ownership only to auction it to Franco’s wife days later for a fraction of the price. They also claim that the sale to the wife of the head of state was illegal. Experts have said in a consultation report that ‘the architects of the sale were well aware of this prohibition’. Spanish authorities want the home to be brought under national heritage protection laws so that the public may visit the property. It would also prevent the family from selling the palace or disposing of its contents without permission. Last year the family put the 11 bedroom, 13 bathroom house on sale but did not

DISPUTED: ownership of the house share any photographs of the interior of the property. Luis Felipe Utrera Molina, a lawyer for the family, said they could ‘put up for sale any property that is theirs’.

Cheap deals BANKS are continuing to release discounted properties onto the market. This time they are doing it through Haya Real Estate, which has put on sale 1,200 homes for less than €70,000 The campaign, called Te mereces tu propia casa (You deserve your own home) offers discounts of up to 30%, with a total of 2,900 properties in the scheme.

Bargains

Of these, 850 are located in the Valencian Community, 560 in Murcia and 535 in Andalucia. In Valencia, more 325 units are located in Valencia province, 275 in Alicante and 245 in Castellon. The offer in Andalucia is centered in the provinces of Almeria and Granada, with 190 and more 145 properties in the campaign, respectively. The campaign lasts until June 12.

Live long and prosper IF you want a long retirement, head to Spain. The country has the second longest retirement period according to a recent study conducted by comparethemarket.com which analysed 36 countries by comparing effective retirement age against life expectancy. Top of the list was France, where people have an average 24.8 years in which to relax and enjoy life postwork, helped by a retirement age of 63.3 years. But people taking early retirement push this figure down to an average 60.8 years. In Spain the average age at which people collect their pensions is 61.7 years, giving them 24.15 years in which to sit back in their twilight years. Third on the list is Greece (24.1 years) and fourth Luxembourg (26.65). The UK does not make the top 10.

Interest in Spanish properties from UK buyers starting to boom SPAIN remains top of the list when it comes to Brits looking to buy a home in the sun – and it looks like there could be a surge in sales on the horizon. A new report shows that interest in buying a European property is set to boom, even while there is still some uncertainty in the possibility of traveling abroad. Kyero.com, indicates that almost 40% of prospective buyers are now actively viewing or planning viewings abroad. The research, which involved more than 2,500 overseas buyers, found that Spain remains by far the most popular destination for British overseas home buyers, with 90% of all those polled looking to buy in the country. And half of them aim to take the property plunge within

Top of the list

the next three months to a year, and a further fifth (19%) stated that they wish to move ‘as soon as possible’. Moving abroad is a lifelong dream for many people with 28% of respondents saying they have wanted to move abroad for more than five years.

Budget

In terms of budgets, the most common (45%) budget is €100,000 – €250,000, although a significant 35% are looking to spend less than €100,000. Some 13% have a budget in mind of between €250,000 – €500,000 and 3% have up to €1million to spend.

Brits get connected BRITISH buyers of Spanish properties say reliable internet services as well as good views and nearby shops are their top three priorities in sealing a deal. The findings come in the What Buyers Want survey compiled by the Savills Aguirre Newman real estate agency. The study showed that British buyers at 57% are still very much the dominant foreign market for Spanish property purchases. The figures on a wish-list for a property showed that having a good view came top of the list at 94%. Easy access to shops and services came in second at 90% with high-speed internet access not far behind at 87%. Closeness to a beach came fourth with 77%. The rise in demand for a good internet connection has reflected lifestyle changes in the wake of the pandemic. The survey suggests 74% of respondents expect to work from their Spanish home on at least one day per week, compared to the pre-pandemic figure of 50%.

Help is at hand British expats in Spain are struggling to navigate Brexit red tape with heavy tax burdens and potential bans on living here, writes Julio Prieto

RITISH expats in Spain are facing a great deal of Brexit-related red tape over their immigration status post-Brexit. They are being urged to leave the country if they cannot apply for residency. Many failed to register their residency before the deadline of December 31, 2020 and, until Brexit came into force, had been flying under the radar. Worse, since Britain left the EU on January 1 expats are facing increasingly heavy tax burdens: UK non-resident taxpayers must pay 24% income tax, compared to EU nationals who pay just 19%. It has shone a spotlight on the issues around freedom of movement with thousands of British citizens previously splitting their time between Spain and the UK. Brexit restrictions are being taken very seriously by the Spanish authorities and border control systems mean that nobody can be invisible. The status of Britons trying to live in Spain who have not registered their residency will be subject to the new rules applying to the Schengen zone. It means British citizens will not be able to outstay the ‘90 out of 180 days’ limit which has been implemented. And there is no leeway for emergencies. Overstaying in the Schengen area could mean a ban from the country for three years. The only real solution for those who do not wish to become residents is to purchase the socalled Spanish Golden Visa, but this is restricted to applicants that purchased a property over €500,000 and has other conditions attached. What’s more, these visas are subject to large consulate fees of £1,623 for Brits, which is extortionate given Canadians pay just £86 for their visa which allows them the same benefit. Take the case of John, a British pensioner, who bought a house in Mallorca last year to spend

some of his retirement in Spain. Spanish law did not prevent him from buying a property in Spain priced at €499,999, yet he does not want to become a Spanish resident, which is entirely his right. Now under the new Schengen Immigration Policies in place since January 1, he was only entitled to stay at his holiday home until March 31 and won’t be allowed to re-enter Spain until July (due to the ‘90 days in and out’ rule). At Del Canto Chambers, we believe that not allowing access or imposing time limits to the use of properties may be a human rights infringement as per the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It states that individuals have a legal right to ‘peacefully enjoy’ the possession of their home and by restricting the use to ‘90 or 180 days’ is illegal. If you are a British citizen who owns a property in Spain and would like to enjoy freedom of access, it is worth seeking legal advice. One must have exhausted all the remedies in the State concerned that could provide redress, usually by appealing through all the courts up to the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court. For anyone who has been negatively impacted by this situation, it is worth exploring your options. Julio Prieto is an international barrister based in London. He is Director of Del Canto Chambers, an international tax legal firm based in London with a country focus on Spain. Del Canto Chambers has been advising numerous UK individuals and families on their tax and immigration status post Brexit. More details of the Firm can be found at delcantochambers.com.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Andaluz ambassador

MALAGA’S very own Antonio Banderas will be the new image of Turismo Andaluz, according to Vice President of the Junta, Juan Marin. The announcement came at the unveiling of the FITUR tourism fair where details of a new €3.5 million promotion campaign were given. The campaign, to which 12 companies submitted tenders, aims to renew Andalucia’s image and adapt it to the new coronavirus times.

Dynamic

“We wanted a dynamic, flexible campaign that is committed to storytelling, stories which will be told over the next three years,” said Marin. “For Andalucia, there can be no better ambassador than Banderas,” Marin said. In a pre-recorded message Banderas himself referred to his ‘unconditional support for tourism’, which he recognised ‘is so important for the region’. OYSTER farms in Santoña can reopen after they were initially shut because of toxins. The Regional Ministry of Fisheries, Food and Environment has suspended a temporary ban on the harvesting and marketing of oysters in the Cantabrian town. The ban was lifted after

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

High flying MALAGA, Alicante and Palma de Mallorca are among the most popular holiday destinations for Brits this summer. Research from easyJet revealed that Brits were desperate to visit Spain as well as Faro, Lisbon, Madeira, Porto, Malta and Gibraltar. The average Brit has not been overseas for 630 days, according to data uncovered in the study. That could be set to change soon, following Spain’s announcement that it would be the first EU country to welcome vaccinated Brits back to its shores. Data from the airline also showed that Brits had saved around £4,889 during lockdown and 61% said they will be making their holiday ‘extra special’ this year to make up for the lack of travel, while 68% said they are planning to make up for lost time by exploring new

What the shell water analysis confirmed that the levels of toxins in the molluscs had returned to normal after the oysters were affected by algae blooms known as red tide. The blooms usually appear on the coasts of Cantabria during the spring months.

Spain’s most popular destinations

Head inland TOURISM bosses are promoting three ‘new’ attractions to try and draw visitors away from Costa del Sol beaches and into Andalucia’s beautiful interior. Turismo Costa del Sol hopes to take advantage of an expected surge in tourists in a post-COVID world to lesser known destinations, surrounded by nature. The Provincial Council will lead the tourism promotion of the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park. In addition, the Diputacion provincial authority is working on promoting the Guadalhorce Corredor Verde (green corridor), and the creation of a new path between the Caminito del Rey and the Guadalhorce bridge - considered to be the largest wooden footbridge in Europe – is also in the pipeline and with it, the making of another top attraction in inland Spain.

+34 951 566 192 Duquesa Port, Manilva By Kirsty McKenzie

places. The nationwide study found that two-thirds (67%) of the UK said being in lockdown has made them crave new holiday experiences, with a third (35%) Once it has receded, shellfish products are safe again and the Regional Ministry continues its surveillance work, which allows it to be detected quickly. While the oyster farming ban has been lifted it remains in force for the other bivalve molluscs including clams and mussels.

of those surveyed said they have already booked a summer holiday abroad. Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “We know how much people value travel and can see the pent up demand every time restrictions are lifted. “This research shows just how much of a priority travel is after such a long period where it has been out of bounds. Brits cannot wait to get away on a sun filled holiday and have been saving hard to make their holiday a trip to remember. “We look forward to welcoming customers on board for a well-deserved getaway and remain hopeful that the Government will add many more European countries onto the Green list and allow safe travel this summer.”

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL Graham Keeley and his family of six kids try out a pedal and paddle holiday through Spain’s Deliverance country

HIS was a holiday that way, gliding downhill through separated the men from valleys and over rivers most of the boys. the way, so we could admire the Unfortunately, my fear scenery. of the dark meant I ranked as The hardy souls huffing and one of the boys as I cycled - very puffing uphill the other way were slowly - through a series of pitch to be admired. black railway tunnels that kept The beauty of the Via Verde is on coming. that you don’t have to take your With over 30 along this particu- own bikes - the rental compalar Via Verde, no sooner do you nies provide them. They also see the light at bus you to the the end of one start of the route, and you’re into which finishes We admired another. back where you The kids, looking the hardy souls left your car. on at Dad with We set off from huffing and a mixture of pity Xerta, a tiny and embarrassvillage in the puffing uphill ment, took it all Parque Natural in their stride. the other way Del Ports. All of We were on the us except one Via Verde in the of our party hills north of the dubbed SuperEbro river delta, two hours drive man - who had cycled to Xerta south of Barcelona. all the way from Barcelona, 160 The route takes you deep into km away! the countryside, tracing the We piled into two coaches havroute of the disused track from ing chosen our bikes - a little like Horta de Sant Joan to Xerta. bone crunchers, but they did The journey is about 30 kilome- the job - which were stowed in a tres which you can do one of trailer behind, and set off for our two ways - uphill or down. starting point. Thankfully, we chose the easy The village of Horta de Sant

Healthy homage to Catalunya

Joan is famous because Pablo Picasso spent some time there in his youth between 1897 and 1898. He later returned to develop his Cubism style of art.

You can see why, because the square design of the houses resemble many of Picasso’s paintings and drawings from just before the First World War.

Castles in the air THEY are majestic testaments to Spain’s past, capturing multiple layers of history between the crevices of their wind-battered battlements and time-worn turrets. Often Roman and frequently Phoenecian in origin, what we see today was mostly built in Medieval times to guard the frontiers between Moorish and Christian Spain, many of them drawn through what is modern Andalucia today. Hence, the region’s castle count

Malaga Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle

If you are an art lover, take time to visit the Picasso Centre. Gliding downhill past green valleys and rivers was a beautiful way to see a part of Catalun-

Castillo Bil Bil, Benalmadena This one’s a cheat as the delightful terracotta-pink Arabian Nights-style castle on the seafront is merely neo-Moorish. Although, as Benalmadena is one of the towns in Spain to have hung onto its Arabic name, it chimes with the local heritage. Originally built in 1927 for a wealthy French family, it was taken over by the town council in 1980 and turned into a cultural space for exhibitions, concerts and conferences. Ornamental gardens with Moorish-inspired fountains and nocturnal lighting afford it a singular romantic beauty. No wonder it’s the most popular public building in Malaga for civil weddings.

Over 90 legendary fortresses loom over the landscapes of Malaga province, conjuring up days of old when knights were bold. Cristina Hodgson raises the drawbridge on her own High Five runs into the hundreds and Malaga has its fair share. Sadly, many fortresses were destroyed or abandoned after the Reconquest and despite best efforts to restore the most iconic examples, all the money in the Spanish treasury wouldn’t be enough to put every one of

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Spain’s 2,500 castles back together again. Today their stone battlements and flying buttresses are mere filigrees of their former glory. Yet despite the ravages of time, their striking silhouettes leave a lasting impression that can still inspire dreams …

ya which most people rarely glimpse. To get the most out of the experience, give yourself the whole day. This way you can stop off

ominating the hilltop and remarkable for its size, its robust honey-coloured walls once guarded one of the most important frontier castles in the Kingdom of Granada. Inside the gates there’s little but gardens and ruins to evidence its status

residing magisterially over Malaga city and port, the alcazaba below the castle is one of the best-preserved citadel in Spain and one of Malaga’s most visited monuments. Set on a hillside protected by the Montes de Malaga mountain range which has natural park status, the castle was built in 929AD by Abd-al-Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, on a former Phoenician defence post and lighthouse. From here the rulers could keep watch on the local population scrabbling a living at its feet as well as enemies trying to invade by land and sea. A tour takes you to the ruins of a neighbouring theatre built by the Romans who also knew a dramatic location when they saw one.

You may be forgiven for wondering why you have never seen it. But if you can take your eyes off the designer merchandise in the cute whitewashed boutiques of Marbella Old Town you can spot the telltale crenellations of castle walls. Sadly they are all that remains of the most important vestige of Muslim civilisation in Marbella. The castle was originally built in the 9th or 10th century during

Castillo de Marbella

the reign of Abderraman III, first of the Caliphs of Al-Andalus.The walls were reinforced with 11 rectangular towers of different sizes to protect the city from attack. In the 19th century, the castle ceased to be used for military purposes and became inextricably entwined with the town growing up around it.

FOOD & DRINK

June 2nd June 15th 2021

Want an escape from the busy costas? A weekend in romantic Ronda will revive your senses. Ronda Romantic Apartments is the answer

run to the hills

for a dip in the river or a picnic (there is only one tiny cafe en route). Although we spotted snakes in one of the rock pools, which put us off taking the

today but the views through the horseshoe shaped windows of the Torre Blanca tower are as spectacular as ever. Noted for its unusually wide keep with its angular floor plan, its insidious dungeon also leaves an impression - a hell

plunge. Dimly-lit tunnels are a feature of the route but bikes are equipped with extra lights for this. Even so, for the faint-heart-

hole six metres deep by three metres in diameter, covered by a metal grill and completely exposed to the elements. In 1582 a bell tower was added above the keep to house what was then one of the largest bells in Christendom.

Alcazaba of Antequera

This ‘working’ concert hall castle at the mouth of the Fuengirola River is in excellent nick thanks to multiple refurbishments down the centuries. The Moors built a fortress here

Castillo Sohail, Fuengirola

in the 10th century, and then the Christians did it up to become one of the most economically efficient military outposts in the land. And in 1730 it was remodelled again as a squadron base tasked with stemming smuggling between Spain and the newly British Gibraltar.

ed among us - i.e. me - it was a case of creeping along very slowly through the murky twilight. Of course, the kids were fearless, zooming through while yelling their heads off. If you’ve got the time, I recommend staying the night somewhere at the end of the route like Tortosa rather than facing the drive home as you will be pretty pedalled out. Having recovered the next day, we set off on another adventure: kayaking down the Ebro. One of the biggest rivers in Spain, and the site of a decisive battle in the Spanish Civil War, today it is a magnet for tourists looking for a wild river experience. The kayaking company guides you to the finishing point at Benifallet where you leave your car, and transports you back to the starting point in Miravet village. With six young children in tow, we booked a guide to join us on the water in case we needed some help, even though we had some experienced kayakers in our midst. Two hours afloat was the limit for us but some people go for much longer.

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Once on the water, it was a pure pleasure to glide along and view the wider countryside from such an unusual angle. Vultures circled above a tiny village we passed, and fish popped up to the surface to say hello. We were the only people on the river that day but in the height of summer over 100 kayaks are rented daily. The real beauty of the Ebro is there’s just enough of a current so that paddling is not hard work but no scary rapids to navigate like the ones in the film Deliverance. No murderous hillbillies either! And a very happy ending on our return to dry land in Benifallet, spoiled for choice for restaurants, where we enjoyed a long and hearty lunch.

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Malaga’s castaway

TUCK IN: Caireles is a great place to eat

MOVIE buffs will love this hip new restaurant just opened in a converted cinema near Ronda. Caireles Restaurante Club has been born out of a 1940s cinema in the heart of the classic white village of Arriate. Local brothers Roberto and Manolo Rivera have skillfully kept many of the original features of the ancient cinema, including the cameras and projectors. They have incorporated them into the design of the new restaurant, which opened a fortnight ago. As well as original posters, some of the seats, tickets and even adverts shown before the main event have been conserved. Even better, the original screen and stage for the Cine Ideal, with its faded paintwork, is still intact out back in a big space, through a set of double doors. “Our dad was a huge film fan

lights, Camera, action

Cristina Hodgson picks out a quartet of primo playas off the beaten tourist track that should be on your bucket and spade list this summer WITH Brits due to return to Malaga’s shores in their hoards this summer, finding parking space for your beach towel could be a tough call. Google searches for ‘secret beaches near me’ rose by 60% in the past week, suggesting that many of us are already making plans to avoid the hustle and bustle of crowded, tourist

hotspots. Fortunately there are several peachy beaches out of town that are still off mass tourism’s radar. So if you’re looking to unwind in dreamy corners, swim in crystal-clear waters and connect with nature, pick one of these for your picnic.

Calaceite Beach, Torrox

Old cinema comes back to life as hip new restaurant in Arriate, writes Jon Clarke and this was one of the most popular cinemas in the Serrania de Ronda,” explains Manolo. “Punters travelled for many kilometres to watch films here despite many being heavily censored by the local priest and mayor. “Both would insist on watch-

Open again IT has only taken 19 months. But one of inland Andalucia’s most evocative hotels and restaurants has finally reopened again. Molino del Santo, in Benaojan, near Ronda, is reopening after a long COVID layoff.

Awards

Owners, British expats Andy and Pauline took the decision to keep it closed with so few tourists visiting Spain over the last year. Over three decades old, it has won countless awards and its shady riverside restaurant is often cited as one of the best in the Ronda area.

ing the film first then demand cuts in many places.” The cinema stayed open until 1988, when due to dwindling audiences part of it was converted into a flamenco venue. For years the brothers turned down many lucrative offers to turn the village centre building into apartments...and even a Dia supermarket.

Life

They hoped one day to bring it back to life and have finally opened it as a restaurant... with the possibility of showing films once again some time in the future. “This is our legacy and part of our town’s key history,” says Roberto. “I grew up watching Cinema Paradiso and always dreamt of one day opening the cinema up again. “One day we hope to be able to find the funding to do that.”

ucked away from the tourist strip, Calaceite is one of the most recommended beaches on the coast of Malaga for snorkelling and

scuba diving. As well as crystal clear waters, it is characterised by its dark sand and moderate waves. At 400 x 30 metres it’s not the biggest beach but

it is protected by a massif of rolling mountains and its peaceful out-of-town location guaranteeing a low tourist presence makes it the perfect place to unwind.

Arroyo Vaquero, Guadalobón

Feeling fancy? OPENING its doors just two weeks ago, El Pilar is already flowing with happy customers enjoying a morning coffee, afternoon cocktail or dinner in one of the four restaurants. Part of the Silken group of hotels, the 4-star boutique is situated in the centre of Estepona, next to the old town. Six floors high, with rooftop seating, it’s a splendid location for dinner, business meetings or to simply while away the hours. Each unique restaurant has its own front door, leading from the street - the hotel’s way of saying: ‘we’re open for everyone’. Choose from Casafina, an all day bistro, the Cellar, which serves wine and tapas, Cooper’s Barrel, an English Pub,

Almayate Beach, Velez-Malaga

or Celestepona, an Asian rooftop bar and restaurant, opening on June 5. If you fancy making a night of it, the hotel has 36 different rooms, each named after a flower, or treat yourself to a little pampering at the hotel’s spa. El Pilar will soon be getting an even grander neighbour, Maravilla Palace. Owned by the same group, the new 5-star hotel will be opening in Easter 2022.

onsidered one of the three most outstanding nudist beaches in all Spain, its isolation from urbanised areas and lack of services makes Almayate as close to virginal as you can get. It’s also generously-proportioned, at 2,800 metres long and about 30 metres wide. Located at the mouth of the Velez River, Almayate itself is little more than a hamlet with a couple of thousand residents. If you prefer to sunbathe with textiles, avoid the nudist strip near Bajamar.

ust 8km from Estepona, this black-sand shore is a regular spot for those looking to escape the busy beaches of the town. A tranquil spot for sunbathers who want to relax, and with a rocky seabed ready to be explored by divers, this beach has the best of best words. Or if you fancy something a little different, the next beach along the coast is Costa Natura - Spain’s first official nudist beach.

FOOD & DRINK

June 2nd June 15th 2021

coolest beaches

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idden among pine trees, many visitors drive past the pretty pintsized port of Cabopino, 13km east of Marbella, without ever knowing what they have missed. The sandy shoreline stretches for 1,200 metres so there’s room for all, including naturists who can find plenty of seclud-

ed spots to strip off among the soft sand dunes and vegetation. The Artola Dunes are considered a National Monument and have been a protected natural wonder since 2001. No need to bring a picnic as there are plenty of great waterfront restaurants back at the port.

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HEALTH Taking a toll

THE COVID pandemic has increased mental health problems among vulnerable children, with financial strain on parents a major factor, a study by Cardiff University has found. During the pandemic, researchers interviewed 142 five to 10-year-olds who had been identified by schools as ‘at risk’ of mental health problems, and they then compared the information to pre-pandemic data.

Link

There was a strong link between financial stress and mental health problems in parents, which was in turn associated with worsening mental health issues among children, the researchers discovered. The study showed children living below the poverty line face more anxiety, stress and even abuse because of the temporary shutdown of different public services, such as free meals and daycare, which are often a safe haven for vulnerable children.

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Soothing the nerves

A SPANISH biologist has discovered a new protein that helps regulate anxiety and could open a new chapter in mental health treatment. Javier Gilabert Juan, winner of the Valencian Young Scientific Talent award in 2016 and currently Anatomy and Neuroscience professor at Madrid University, has been working on the protein known as OTX2 for the past three years. Gilabert and his team first discovered that OTX2 was involved in the development of abilities such as sight and hearing during childhood. Their investigation then led them to check whether it could have an effect on depression, anxiety and learning difficulties as adults. Experiments with mice re-

‘Breakthrough’ in treating anxiety and depression

Staying healthy SPANISH scientists claim that the Mediterranean diet acts as a shield against COVID-19. This is according to a Spanish study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition. It claims that protection against infection increases significantly when people stick to a diet heavy on vegetables, fruit, lean meat, nuts and olive oil. Experts monitored 9,677 middle-aged people for the study. They found a clear association between a mediterranean diet and a reduction in the risk of infection of up to 64%.

www.laterlife.es EXCITED: Javier Gilabert is hoping for a breakthrough labert, is to move onto more By Glenn Wickman complex mammals to check exactly how the protein works vealed that those injected with to modify behaviour. OTX2 had a less anxious be- Previous studies showed that haviour than ‘normal’ mice. OTX2 was easier to regulate The next step, says Javier Gi- when the brain was still being formed but it has now also been found to work for adults. The team aims to study the efAccording to Moreno, more fect of the protein in cases of than 4.5 million doses have stress, post-traumatic stress already been administered in disorder, and schizophrenia. the region and that ‘well over’ If successful, the trials could 40% of the target populaopen a new chapter in mental tion—some 3.1 million Andahealth medication, as the prolucians—has had at least one tein could boost the effect of vaccine. existing drugs and help create new ones.

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Generation X Jab ANDALUCIA is to begin scheduling vaccination appointments for people aged under 50 next week. Junta chief, Juanma Moreno, has announced that vaccination for the under-50s will begin the week of June 7.

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HEALTH

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Someone to turn to Handling the downside: Special feature by Wendy Andersen [Ph.D. MPCBT (AAC)]

Wondering about mental health options in Andalucia? HELP: There is no need to be alone

E may have left everything Firstly: If you are suicidal, you behind for a life in the can go directly to urgencias. You sun, but even Andalucia will be able to talk to a psychiacan have its downside – especial- trist to help you get through the ly in these mid-COVID post-Brexit crisis. times. Not knowing when we will be able There is also a suicide hotline in to travel makes family feel even Spain: 902500002 and the Safurther away. maritans 902 883 535. Perhaps you have lost someone this year but have had to grieve For non-emergency situations, alone. Is the rapid return to re- you can make an appointment striction-free living making you with your GP (médico de cabecfeel anxious? Has the stress era). With the help of a friend or of being stuck in together put Google translate, you can explain a strain on your relationship? the basics of what you are feeling There are a number of studies and, if you choose to, request a looking at depression as a long course of anti-depressants or anterm effect of COVID – with up to ti-anxiety medication. Most GPs 29% of people who had COVID be- are very sympathetic and helpful. ing affected. You should start to notice the difOf course it is a normal part of ference within a couple of weeks. life to suffer from If you do not notice sadness or grief from a difference, rememtime to time, which ber that there are The leading may leave us wonmany types of antidering if what we’re cause of people depressants on the feeling is normal or market, each with taking time something more serian efficacy of about ous. For 15% of the 60%. off work, is population it is more This means that for depression than just something nearly half of the you can shake off. population the first The leading cause prescription will of people taking time off work, not work. In which case you will across the globe, is depression. need to go back to the doctor afThe world was shocked when ac- ter six weeks (the length of time tor Robin Williams took his own for the tablets to take full effect) life in 2014 – but every year one and request a different type. It is million people commit suicide. not unusual to have to try two or There are signs to watch out for in three types before you get the one yourself or those you care about that suits your chemistry. Do not (see box, right). Suffering from give up if the first ones have no three of more of the symptoms impact. could indicate depression. The pharmaceutical solution is a A good rule of thumb if you’re un- good starting point, but it is not sure: is what you are suffering a permanent solution – it lasts stopping you from living the life while you are taking the mediyou want to live? If yes, then help cines (and for some they can kick is out there, even here in Spain start a complete recovery) but for non Spanish speakers. it is common to have a relapse once you stop taking the tablets if you do not address the issues that caused the depression/anxiety in the first place. I often tell clients it is a bit like liposuction – it will provide immediate help, but if you don’t change your lifestyle you will be back where you started before long. Thus the ideal is a combination: use the medication to give you a window for making changes – and therapy to ensure that the changes you make will have the biggest impact. Unfor tunate-

ly, long term psychodynamic counselling with a native English speaker is not an option with Signs of clinical depression the Sistema Sanitario, the public health service, in most areas. • Feelings of hopelessness • Decreased energy or fatiAnd unlike a broken leg, where • Loss of interest in activigue you can trust any doctor to work it ties you used to enjoy • Problems concentrating out and put a cast on the affected • Changes in sleep patterns • Sluggishness and slow limb, the subtleties of discussing (too much or too little) movements emotional issues requires com• Changes in appetite and • Recurrent thoughts of plete understanding between paweight death or suicide tient and doctor. There are private options available – a quick Google search will provide a list of English speaking psychologists in the bigger cities. available on the big platforms you lated disorders such as anorexia, Expect to pay €65/hour for a ther- see advertised on Facebook, warn bulimia or overeating). apist or €75/hour for a psychia- that the platforms take the lion’s You will also need to consider trist (who can also write prescrip- share of the fee. This means you which type of therapy you want to tend to get inexperienced thera- try. There are a vast number of tions). therapies available – so it’s worth These are covered with some pists with little supervision. You might find a pri- doing a bit of Googling to know medical insurance vate therapist that which is right for you. In a nutplans – you will need online pro- shell, there are two broad types to get in touch with An economical works vides a better service to chose from: psychoanalytic your insurance proand is less expensive therapy – which is a long term vider for details. alternative than the big plat- treatment looking at the causes If heading to the to one-to-one forms. of your issues; and Cognitive Becity is not conveTech options also in- havioural Therapy (CBT) – which nient, another optherapy is clude apps for your looks at what maintains your curtion is tele-therapy or web-therapy. This support groups smartphone. They’re rent problems (usually 10-15 sesa nice idea, but un- sions depending on the presentoption offers lots of fortunately not ad- ing problem). convenience: you CBT is quite a wide umbrella, with can do it from home, in English, vanced enough yet to be of use. at a time that suits you. It may be I looked through a few of the op- many subsets, such as mindfulharder to form a good relationship tions and quickly realised they ness and couples therapy. In all, with a therapist that you do not are based on a set-script with lit- about 75% of UK based therapists are CBT therapists, with anmeet in person – but as with any tle room for individual insight. therapy, you may need to try a few An economical alternative to one- other 10% focusing on Cognitive to-one therapy is support groups. therapy and 10% Behavioural. before you find one that clicks. A couple of things to be careful of In the Malaga/Gibraltar area Keep in mind, the process of therthere are English speaking sup- apy can be uncomfortable at times – do your research. Always verify the therapist’s iden- port groups for substance misuse - facing the things you may have tity – ask to see their passport (Alcoholics Anonymous and Nar- been trying to ignore for a long photo. Check that the therapist cotics Anonymous) and impulse time. A good therapist will make is licensed – this includes con- control groups (Gamblers Anony- that process a lot easier, and more tacting the accrediting body and mous, sex addiction, and food re- likely that you see it through. checking that the therapist is indeed registered with them (and that that body is a reputable one Wendy Andersen [Ph.D. MPCBT (AAC)] is a CBT therapist such as the BACP – the British specialising in ex-pats living in Spain. More information is Association of Counselling and available on www.cadiz-therapy.com Psychotherapy). Also check for Appointments are available face-to-face or online. confidentiality and privacy rights. Critics of Online therapy, the ones

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COLUMNISTS Watch your back It’s Better than Brixton

RECENTLY moved to the centre of Fuengirola. I have really enjoyed the long walks along the paseo, visiting the castle, discovering new little streets, and the hustle and bustle of this friendly place. That all changed on Sunday night. I was coming home from dinner and the taxi dropped me 20 paces from my door. I had my keys at the ready and all of a sudden I heard a shout from behind me. I turned around and my bag was stolen in what seemed like a millisecond. I was more concerned about getting into my home than chasing them. My phone, credit cards, medical card, and driving licence were stolen. What an absolute nightmare. I reported it all to the Policia Nacional who were very amiable. I have managed to sort everything out now but these days your phone has everything in it. I am lucky to be able to sort technical problems quite quickly. There seems to be a rise in

Lisa Burgess

crime - people are desperate with this pandemic. I have heard of so many stories of squatters moving whole families into homes in areas around Mijas. They move the women and children in first so it is impossible to get them out sometimes for over a year. Thankfully my thief was not so clever and couldn’t get his hands on anything with all the security I have on my phone and cards. He tried twice to take out money without success.

Vigilant

I hope you are all extra vigilant in these times. I think it is more the shock of how much worse it could have been rather than anything else but watch your back and make sure it is impossible to access your money or your phone. I still love it here so I am not going to let one nasty individual change my life - but do be extra careful, especially now.

Making the front pages for all the wrong reasons, writes Giles Brown

ARBELLA made the front pages in the UK once again last month when The Guardian, not known for salacious reporting, ran a 10,000- ‘errant seagull casually tossword feature entitled A united ing away a cigarette mid-flight’ Nations of Crime. How Marbel- theory, that I tend to refer to la became a magnet for gang- when Marbella traditionally marks the weeks before the sters. What followed was the stan- start of the season by burning dard ‘Costa del Crime’ 101 ar- down a few thatched beach ticle. All the usual tropes about clubs. tattooed gangsters crashing The article also featured a variety of unnamed Rolls Royces sources – from and walking underworld figaway, North AfSaudi princes ures dishing the rican ‘foot soldirt, to worried diers’ having can be seen residents who stand offs with waddling from claimed they UK criminals not leave outside luxury superyachts to did their valuables boutiques and in their homes, the fire that detheir limos to the nightclub stroyed the Sisu public relations Hotel last sumgirl who claimed that there mer. The official initial inquiry on was a ‘no fat people’ policy in the cause of the blaze has Marbella clubs. Which must been released and concluded have come as quite a surprise that the fire, which started in to many of the Saudi princes three different locations inside who are regularly seen waddling from their superyachts to the building, was deliberate. They might as well have made their chauffeur driven limos to the equally Earth shattering be whisked to the luxury spot deduction that night follows of their choice. day, but at least it ruled out my Of course, it would be foolish to say that there is no crime in Marbella. I have lived here since the 80s when the origi-

LUXURY: Superyachts and supercars in Puerto Banus

REPORT: The Guardian took a look at Marbella nal London firms enjoyed their away from them. pre/extradition treaty Eden in And if the journalists had dug the sun. a little deeper, they might have But as in most cities, if you discovered that, as I always look for criminality you will say and with due respect to find it (County Lines, anyone?). the noble borough - where I The majority of residents know had a knife pulled on me in a which bits of Marbella are, mugging… ahem ‘colourful’, and stay “It’s better than Brixton”

Quarantine! So, what’s new?

ISITORS from the UK will have to quarantine for 10 days when returning from their Spanish holidays. So, what’s the problem? It used to take me at least two weeks to recover from my alcohol-fuelled, Dan Air, Iberian breaks during my younger, hey-ho, days. I have vague memories of struggling through Luton Airport, loaded down with donkeys, flamenco dolls, cassinettes and bottles of sangria, whilst desperately trying to balance a large Sombrero hat on my somewhat non-existent, numb bonce. And all this in the days when we were only allowed to take £50 on foreign holidays. Amazing, but life in Spain was vastly different, and much cheaper. Mucho pesetas to the pound, no motorways, only narrow, rough roads leading down to small village-type holiday resorts that offered everything a young single Englishman could wish for on his once-a-year holiday. Boozy days on sun-drenched beaches, boozy nights at frantic fiestas and sealing life-long friendships with local Spanish folk, whilst not understanding a bloody word that

was said. So, as I mentioned, the first two OLD HA CK weeks back home in IN TH E SU N London were always just a bit of a blur, Benny Davi s accompanied by the Ramblings of an 80-someth ing expat inevitable sore head and isolation of the brain But, worth every penny of my hard-earned, 12 months piggy bank savings of £50. About the price of a couple of airport cardboard cups of weak, brown-coloured liquid posing as ‘Café Americano,’ plus – forget the good old sausage sarnie and `BLT´– a choice of either a veggie and egg white sandwich with Shirataki rice? Or maybe, sausage, egg, free-range mayo, and cheese on croissant? I give up!

OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 6 Strike up, 8 Home, 9 Mum's, 10 Downside, 11 Renfrew, 14 Acres, 15 Start, 17 Zealots, 21 Republic, 22 Pews, 23 Fife, 24 Whispers. Down: 1 St Luke, 2 Pins, 3 Need-be, 4 Physical, 5 Smudge, 7 P O Ws, 12 Fortunes, 13 Wiz, 16 Thesis, 18 Euclid, 19 Toward, 20 Glow, 22 Pops.

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Street robbery shows how care needs to be taken

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

MUSIC

June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Knowing the drill

A controversial music craze that is the new buzzword in Spanish cities is a more violent form of rap, that became infamous in London after being targeted by the Met, writes Glenn Wickman

‘NEW’ music genre is sweeping the poorer and more multiracial neighbourhoods of cities throughout Spain. Where first hip hop, then reggaeton and finally trap used to reign supreme, now the buzzword is drill. Described as a ‘more violent form of rap’, drill was born in Chicago in 2010 and spread rapidly until reaching global infamy in London in 2018. That was when the Metropolitan Police began cracking down on

CASHING IN: El Bobe

artists after linking the genre with a sharp increase in gun and knife crime in the capital. Relying almost exclusively on social media for promotion and distribution, drill fans saw dozens of videos targeted by the Met removed from YouTube, as the issue was suddenly blown open and analysts were quick to demonise everything relating to the style. Gangs of threatening teenagers dressed all in black, with faces obscured by balaclavas and rapping about explicit gang violence and drug use proved an irresistible scapegoat on which to blame all of society’s wrongs. However, other analysts and fans themselves countered that the lyrics and attitudes are merely a reflection of the artists’ daily lives in poverty-stricken surroundings. This of course is nothing new. Underground music genres and pop culture in general have frequently been blamed for corrupting the nation’s youth when the underlying causes are too complex and uncomfortable to address – remember rock and roll, heavy metal, punk, hip hop and even video games. Either way, increasing numbers of young people, almost exclu-

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sively from racial minorities, are turning to drill as their possible ticket out of the food bank and dole queue. And as usual, Spain has taken a bit longer to catch on, but got there in the end. The style reportedly first appeared here in 2017, becoming recognised internationally two years later but is only now filtering through to the media and society at large. Hundreds of aspiring new artists upload their videos onto YouTube every day, with the STAR: Ghetto Boy (top and above) is one of the biggest stars in drill (inset) hashtag #spanishdrill opening up a universe of more than YouTube and Spotify. institutions and society, which racism, or police violence. 3,000 channels and 6,500 Ghetto Boy, a 23-year-old driller they claim leaves them open to However, analysts suggest that clips – and counting. son of Senegalese workers who attack and discrimination. Spanish drill is not as graphicalThe vast majority of Spanish was born and bred in Catalunya, Interestingly, Spain’s leading ly violent as its British or North drillers are sons typifies the new drillers register millions more American counterparts, and - women are breed of street streams of their songs on Spo- that often there is a thin line bestarting to break rappers: fre- tify and YouTube than estab- tween reality and fiction in the Ghetto Boy through very quently stopped lished national rock and indie lyrics and attitudes of artists. typifies the slowly - of African and identified pop bands – which is vitally and South Amerby the police de- important given the way online new breed of ican immigrants. spite being Span- music platforms work, where in cases of violence have yet One of the leadstreet rappers ish, and unable order to make any money artists No ing names in the to leave his par- need huge numbers of interac- been directly linked to drill in Spain and no police investigacountry is 19- performing drill ents’ house due tions from listeners or viewers. year old El Bobe, to not being able And, as always, controversy tions have been launched, albased in Barceto afford deposits sells. Drillers have discovered though it could only be a matter lona’s conflictive Raval area, or rent. that tracks praising family and of time. Either that, or the muwho reports earning between Other lyrical topics explored by friends don’t attract anywhere sic industry will find its next Ro€2,000 and €3,000 a month young artists are the rise of the near as many streams as songs salia or Bad Bunny and absorb with streams of his tracks on extreme right within Spanish about violence, drugs, prison, drill into the mainstream…

No violence

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FINAL WORDS

Bus-ted TWO robbers attempted to dodge police by using buses as their getaway transport across Costa Blanca. However, they were soon arrested - along with the stolen hotel bag - on an Alicante bus.

Boar off THERE was traffic jam chaos in Barcelona, as a mother boar and her cubs ran wild along one of the main streets. The humbug-like animals held up traffic for over two hours, during rush hour.

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voice in Spain

Vol. 15 Issue 370 www.theolivepress.es June 2nd - June 15th 2021

Nou-gat to be joking NUTTY Spanish sweet, Turron, could be given its own United Nations World Day, as Alicante Provincial Council looks to make November 7 World Turron Day.

Your

In a hole By Kirsty McKenzie

Feeling ruff A GIANT Poodle has become the first pet in Spain to be infected with the British ‘Kent’ COVID-19 variant. Experts at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) have been studying coronavirus infections in pets for a number of months. They have confirmed that a 14-year-old giant poodle tested positive in PCR tests for the ‘Kent’ variant which first came to light last December. AN unscrupulous businessman has been thrown in the slammer after he sold 800,000 kilos of horse meat as beef. The 60-year-old from Castellon has been sentenced to four years in prison and

FOLLOWING an argument with his parents, aged 14, hotheaded Andres Canto took a pickaxe into the garden and started digging to work off his frustrations. Six years later, the hole is now a den with a bedroom, wifi and sound system. Andres, from La Romana in Alicante says he can’t remember what the fight was about - but is delighted his bizarre act of petulance became an obsession, even enlisting a friend with a pneumatic drill to blast the 10 foot deep cave. The excavation was done by

What a mare! ordered to pay €470,000 in compensation by the Supreme Court. The conman supplied meat to a company in Torrent (Valencia)

Row leads to Hobbit style ‘home’

hand using buckets, but as Andres went deeper and deeper he developed a homemade pulley system. between the years 2011 and 2013. Although the contract was for beef, the supplier began surreptitiously introducing horse meat into the batches he sent the firm in order to increase his profit margin.

The layout of his retreat was often determined by the obstacles that got in the way of the project and authorities even paid him a visit to make sure the build was legal. Like his parents, they found no issue with Andres’s unique project, which he estimates has cost him a grand total of €50. The aspiring actor said the labour of love was inspired by his passion for building huts and tree houses as a child.

Good thrashing A POLICE car was given the ‘Basil Fawlty’ treatment when an angry man attacked it with a branch. In a scene that was almost a carbon copy from the famous UK TV comedy of the seventies, a 64-year-old man appeared outside the Alcantarilla police station in the Murcia region. Police officers saw him clutching a one-metre-long tree branch. He then started to give a police car ‘a damn good thrashing’, to use the line uttered by John Cleese.

Agog

They watched agog as the Portuguese national did substantial damage to the car’s bodywork. He also smashed the front and rear windows of the vehicle. The irate attacker was eventually calmed down and hauled in front of a judge. It’s unclear why he decided to vent his anger on the police car.