THE heatwaves and drought are threatening this year’s wine harvest in Spain. An exceptionally hot summer has left grapes withering on the vines with many winemakers choosing to bring the harvest forward by at least a month. The vendemia (grape harvest) usually takes place during Sep tember but many have decided to start picking in August. Yields are expected to be down by an average of 15% to 25% depending on the region. Positive Grapes will be smaller but some winemakers believe this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “We will have fewer grapes to pick but it will have a positive effect on the markets because the wine will be better quality and at a good price,” says Cas tilla La Mancha Agriculture Minister Francisco Martinez. Spain’s olive groves are also struggling with warnings that harvests will be massively re duced pushing up prices of oil. Meanwhile, the country’s corn, wheat and barley crops could fall by as much as 13% this year, with prices inevitably rising. It was degreesthreeabove the average as newtotemperaturesJulysoaranalarmingrecord and June were also the warmest on record, with AEMET warning that summer seems to be starting a month earlier than it did six de cades ago. As a result of the extreme heat and drought, Spain is suffering nearly its worst year of wildfires on record. Some 240,000 hectares had already been scorched in more than 370 blazes by the end of July. Meanwhile, water levels in Andalu cia’s reservoirs continue to drop at an alarming rate. The two main reservoir systems, the reservoirs of the Guadalquivir and those of the Andalucian Mediterra nean Basin continue to hemorrhage Thewater.Guadalquivir ba sin lost 70 cubic hec tometres in just a week and sits at a capacity of 24%, while the Anda lucian Mediterranean Basin sits at 45% ca Inpacity.total, Andalucia’s reservoirs sit at 28% capacity, some 7% be low where they were this time last year. Nationally, reservoirs sit at 40%.
SCORCHIO!
Battle for the bottle FOR A DRINK: Grape harvests threatened By Fiona Govan Opinion
COPING: Children in Madrid deal with the heat
SPAIN has suffered its hottest July on record. Official data shows the mercury soar ing to nearly three degrees above the average of the last 60 years, when records began. The country’s temperature for the month was 25.6 degrees, according to AEMET, the national meteorolog ical office on Monday. It makes it 2.7ºC higher than the average from records dating back to Predictably,1961. the hottest place in the country was Moron de la Frontera, in Sevilla province, where the dials hit 46ºC on July 24 during the sec ond heatwave of the summer. The period, which sizzled from July 9 until July 26, was described as ‘the most intense, the most extensive and the second longest’ in history. It has also been one of the driest Ju ly’s with the least rainfall in the last 15 Alarmingly,years. the months of May
olivewww.theolivepress.press newspaper cookbooks WWW.MASMOVIL.ES/EN ANTHONYSWANTED campaigned Page 2051Corruptionoutcrackdown with INSURANCE osquito creens Spain SPECIAL GIVE IT BACKcompanyreturnprobe A big thanks to all our readers as the OP hits yet another milestone Vol. 16 Issue 400 www.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 OPLIVERESS ANDALUCÍA FREE Mijas Costa TM952 147 834 Tel: 952 147 834 See Property Sup - Page V
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DYING
FOLLOWING a spate of needle attacks on vulnera ble women, metal detectors are being set up for Malaga’s crowded feria. Some 500 police officers will be on the lookout for crime and to protect the public, including plainclothes detec Theytives. will be watching partic ularly for people with syring es after police forces across Spain reported a surge in complaints from women who believe they were drugged. They often suffered memory loss and discovered bruising indicating that they had been pricked with a needle. A number of cases were re ported during San Fermin festivities in Pamplona, northern Spain, with at least four women seeking help from emergency services be cause they were dizzy or lost consciousness after feeling a Anotherpinprick. 56 cases have been reported in Catalunya, the Canary Islands, the Baleares, the Basque Country and An However,dalucia. only one of the victims has been confirmed to have been injected with drugs. But there are thought to be many other victims. One young woman went pub lic with her experience after a night out in Barcelona. “...at a club I was injected in the thigh. As soon as I realised I ran to the doorman who helped me. Ten minutes after being injected, I collapsed on the sofa feeling unconscious,” she wrote on Twitter. Dizzy The latest cases were record ed in Puerto de Santamaria in Cadiz where four women went to the police in the be lief that they had been in jected with a drug that made them feel dizzy.
Kamikaze driver TWO Estepona fraudsters have been ar rested for allegedly making more than €600,000 posing as a coronavirus test wholesaler online. One person attempted to buy 1,000 an tigen tests from the crooks, which were never delivered. National Police officers in Valencia said Negative tests they had detected nine similar scams perpetrated throughout Spain which they believe are connected to the same two people. The police have arrested a 38-year-old Spaniard in Estepona, and a 43-year-old Colombian woman, Ferrol Coruña, for their part in the fraud. The investigations started at the end of September 2021 after the head of a phar maceutical company reported being the victim of a scam by a sham company that offered healthcare essentials in bulk.
A NOISY parrot that had been stolen from Alhaurin last May, has been freed and returned to his Thanksowners.to ‘Willy’s’ frequent and insistent calls to ‘Amanda’ and collaboration of local resi dents, the bird, an African Grey parrot that had been reported stolen on May 19, was finally reunited with its owners and beloved ‘Amanda,’ the owner's daughter. Pretty boy A 35-year-old man has been arrested for drunk driving and reckless behaviour after he led police on a chase the wrong way down the A45 near Antequera. The dramatic and dangerous police chase, which lasted for several kilometres, saw numerous drivers having to swerve out of the way to avoid a head-on collision. The reckless driver ignored the numerous stop signals made by the officers during the pursuit, which finally came to an end when the police car was able to overtake the suspect’s vehicle and block his path.
targetedGypsies
Getting the needle
GYPSY groups are calling for action after the killing of a man sparked violence in the small town of Peal de Becerro, AJaen.29-year-old called Alvaro Soto was stabbed to death after an argument broke out with four members of the gyp sy Thecommunity.attackers were later ar rested on murder charges. After the death of Soto, some local residents started a cam paign of violence, setting fire to and damaging houses where gypsy residents lived and grafittiting walls with ob scene anti-gypsy slogans. According to gypsy groups, six families have fled their residences out of fear of mob Inretribution.astatement, Spain’s Fun dacion Secretariado Gitano said: “It’s unacceptable for a group of people to take justice in their own hands.”
POLICECannedhave arrest ed two Polish men who were CriedlandtoesinsidesmarijuanasmugglinghiddentinsoftomatotheirhomefromCadiz.foul A MAN who claimed to be a Valenciajailedhe€7,500hisandprofessionalMarbella-basedfootballerbusinessmantoconnewgirlfriendoutofthrough‘loans’neverrepaidhasbeenfortwoyearsbyacourt.
By Jorge Hinojosa
CRIMEwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 20222 NEWS IN BRIEF
Police to use metal detectors to avoid needle spiking at feria
CaughtFugitive A FRENCH fugitive aged 29 wanted by In terpol for large scale cannabis smuggling has been arrested in San Pe dro Alcantara and will be extradited to France.
Duo nabbed VIDEO footage showing two men trying to break into a British owned home in Marbella has been crucial in collaring the duo who were target ing upmarket properties on the Costa del Sol.
On the move
A real gift
POP star Shakira could be jailed for eight years if she's convicted of tax Barcelonadodging. prosecutors also want her to be fined almost €24 million for allegedly defrauding the Tax Agency out of €14.5 million on in come earned between 2012 and 2014. The prosecution demand came af ter the 45-year-old singer rejected a plea deal stating that she was innocent and that would be proven in a trial. Her position is that she worked outside Spain during the years in question. Prosecutors argue that she moved to Spain in 2011 due to her relationship with Barcelona footballer, Gerard Pique, but kept her tax residency go ing in the Bahamas until 2015.
FOOTBALL star Neymar will go on trial this October over financial irregularities in his transfer to Barcelona from Bra zilian club Santos. The 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain player, along with ex-Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, will be tried for alleged corruption and fraud re lated to the 2013 transfer, with prosecutors wanting Neymar to get a two year jail Investmentsentence.fund DIS ar gue that they were enti tled to 40% of Neymar's 2013 transfer fee when he left Brazilian club Santos. They are claiming compensation of €120 million.
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NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 3 info@estucointeriors.com, www.estucointeriors.com, +34 952 810 633 ESTUCO INTERIORS Centro Plaza 56-57, Avda. Manolete s/n, 29660 Nueva Andalucia
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IT may not be quite as difficult as herd ing cats but the annual roundup of young flamin gos at a Spanish reserve is still quite a challenge. The Laguna de Fuente de Piedra reserve hosted the return of its tra ditional ringing of the long-legged chicks after a two year Covid hiatus. A 400 strong work force, including many volunteers, was need ed to herd and catch around 600 chicks. Al though this may seem to be too many birds to wave a stick at, the birds’ natural tendency to flock meant this was exactly what the ‘catch ers’ Wavingdid. sticks to grab the chicks’ attention they herded them into a Aftercorral.this, the ring ing and marking of the chicks began, with each bird marked with a metal ring on the right leg and a plastic one on the left. Since 1986, some 20,000 flamingos have been tagged for scientific pur poses and to allow for bet ter planning to protect the population in their natu ral Thehabitat.tagged birds will be analysed throughout their life, making it possible to better understand the dis persion of the population, as well as their reproduc tive and grazing behaviors. Breeding The information is essen tial both for the manage ment of the breeding col ony and for evaluating the effectiveness of the Anda lusian Wetlands Network.
EVA LONGORIA has been bringing a sprinkling of stardust to Spain this Eversummer.since her friend Maria Bravo recruited her into the NGO Glob al Gift Foundation, she has been a regular visi tor to Marbella. This year The Desper ate Housewives star returned to the Anda lucian coast to com bine charity work with pleasure. She chaired the 10th edition of the Glob al Gift Gala where entertainment was provided by former Big Breakfast host Denise Van Out en (below), who was wearing her DJ hat The Global Gift Foundation supports many projects world-wide that help disad vantaged and disabled chil dren, wom en and families.their
FORMULA 1 legend Fernando Alonso is to join Aston Martin at the end of the season. The two-time world champion has been with the French team Alpine since 2021, but will now replace retiring Sebastian Vettel in his seat. The 41-year-old is a veteran of the sport every season except ning the champion 2005 and 2006. comes unexpected ly, with the Alpine team achievingconsistentlytop10 finishes all season and lying 4th in the constructors cham pionship, while Aston Martin is 9th, with only Williams lower.
Keep up withthe flockers corralVolunteers600 flamingo chicks annualunusualinevent
SHAKIRA’S GAMBLE
TOO MANY: to wave a stick at
AROUND 30 million visi tors will visit Andalucia this Ityear.means, numbers falling just shy of the 2019 figures by around two million tour Occupancyists. rates are around 90% for most resorts, with Torremolinos the fullest. The forecast for September also looks promising with over 85% expected in the key resorts and October, considered a ‘key’ month for consolidating the recovery.
IN response to huge confusion among the British expat community about driving licence rules in Spain, the charity Age in Spain has drawn up a Brexitguide.meant that British licences can no longer be exchanged for Spanish ones by those resident in Spain for more than six months. Negotiations are currently underway - backed by the Olive Press’ s U-turn Driving tips campaign - for a new agreement to al low British licences to be recognised but a delay and the refusal by Span ish authorities to extend the grace period has meant that since May 1, thousands of Brits have been unable to Agedrive.inSpain, which works with ex pats across the coasts, carried out an online poll and discov ered that 42.6% of respondents have yet to acquire a Spanish driving licence. While we await an agreement the Guide to Driving to Spain is available from ageinspain.org U-T
URNNOW!
POLICE in Huelva smashed a car window to rescue a toddler who had been trapped inside. It is believed that the central locking system of the vehicle had failed. The youngster’s parents had called police for help as tem peratures inside the car soared. The window opposite the child was successfully broken, with out causing any injuries to the toddler who was reunited with his concerned parents.
Offer tanked SCRAP: Tanks
AN offer to send Spanish tanks to Ukraine has been withdrawn because they're not up to the job and would cost too much to repair. The 10 German-made Leop ard 2A4 tanks had been moth-balled at the Casetas military base near Zaragoza. Defence Minister, Margari ta Robles, admitted they are in a ‘pitiful state’ and would actually endanger the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
For further information call: Gibraltar Tourist Board +350 200 74950 Or to download a brochure go to: www.visitgibraltar.gi
BANNED: Wild animals in circuses
SEVERE penalties have been introduced for the mistreatment of animals. The new animal welfare law brings Spain in line with most of its European neigh bours, with prison sentenc es of up to two years. It prohibits killing any do mestic pets except for specif ic sanitary or health reasons. It also stipulates that pets may not be sacrificed un less for sanitary reasons or A ‘MAGICAL’ beach restau rant in Malaga has been chosen as the best in Spain. MariCarmen Casa Playa, a chiringuito located just outside the city, was chosen by Tapas Magazine out of the country’s 25 best. “It is a magical place dif ficult to forget,” ruled the magazine, adding: “Wor ries, haste, stress and bad vibes have no place there.” There were three other winners in Malaga: Frida Pahlo (in Malaga’s El Palo), Alma Playa (Rincon de la Victoria) and La Milla (in Marbella).
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 20224
MEDITERRANEAN HeritageCUISINEBRITISH Food Festival National Week, Chess, Snooker, Phoenician Empire CalentitaTHE ROCK The Moorish Castle Pillars of Hercules 100000 NeanderthalYEARSSettlements #VISITGIBRALTAR
History, adventure and romance. That’s just the setting. Join us for a celebration of history, art, heritage and pageantry in a unique part of the world. Bring hearts, minds and soulswww.visitgibraltar.gi With a UNESCO world heritage site offering 120,000 years of human history and only short drive from the Costa del Sol, enjoy the warmth of the British Gibraltarians and splash out VAT-free in Sterling. Gibraltar. Sun, sea and history served with a very British twist. A year of Cultur e ibraltar
About timeSpain beefs up animal welfare law but doesn’t touch bull fights Dogillness.owners will now have to have official identifica tion for their pets and all breeders must be listed on an official register. The rules are hoped to stem an endemic abandonment problem in Spain, one of the highest in Europe. The country also has a prob lem with a proliferation of socalled ‘backyard’ breeders. The new regulation also bans the selling of dogs, cats and ferrets in pet shops and bans the use of wild animals in circuses, as well as cock fights. Rights Despite the beefed up laws, there is no mention of bull fighting, an omission that has been criticised by ani mal rights groups. All zoos and dolphinariums are also required to be con verted into 'centres for the recovery of native species'. A MAN in Granada has been arrested for carrying two puppies in asealed plastic bag in the middle of the suffo cating heatwave Police were called when several bystanders saw the man stuff two puppies into a plastic bag and then place them inside a backpack. The incident took place when exterior temperatures were close to 40ºC. The man was detained and the puppies rescued. Puppy cruelty THE JUNTA has just granted the authorisation for a second dog friendly beach in Adra, Almeria. The Costacabana dog beach will have 330 me tres of coastline.
beachPaw-some
toddlerTrapped By Fiona Govan backBooming placeMagical
Family appeal for missing Canadian man last seen in Madrid
Anyone with information that may help find Scott can contact ham@gmail.comFindScottGra YOU SEEN HIM?
A MECHANICAL fault left a group of thrill seekers hanging from a rollercoaster for an Thehour.midsummer hor rorshow at Madrid’s Parque Atracciones left them sitting ver tically on one of the Abysmal! hottest days on re cord. No one suffered any health issues on the Abismo ride, which re-opened the follow ing day.
NEWS 5August 10thAugust 23rd 2022www.theolivepress.es Los Romanes PRIVATE SALE Mobile / WhatsApp: 0044 7977 934 611 email: rtaylor998@gmail.com Full of rustic charm this spacious 100 year old country cottage offers beautiful open views from the terraces, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge/diner, office, workshop, parking space and walking distance to village. 740m plot. Casa Camaleon Country Cortijo, Los Romanes. 129,500 Euros Fixed rates on offer for 12 months to 5 year terms Capital Investmentsprotectionthatcan pay you a passive income monthly, six monthly or annually Minimum investments from £2000/€2000 Income can be paid in £/€/$ Can invest in £/€/$ Over 120 different investment options to suit all investors and savers needs Inflation beating returns Compound interest options to provide growth of wealth to support your future needs Returns ranging from 8-15% Per annum If you want to talk about 3B Face to face service both in the UK and worldwide | Independent investment brokers | Break down the jargon Over 50 years combined investment experience | Hands on approach to make sure your decision is quick and easy Do you want your hard earned money to work harder for you? Do you need extra income to help with the cost of living rise? Get in touch... call now to book your consultation go to www.3binvest.co.uk or call us on 0203 995 4168 or +34 951 822 893 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
THE family of a Canadian man who vanished in mysterious circumstances a month ago have issued a desperate appeal for help to find him. Scott Graham, 67, was on a solo trip across Spain when the bus he was travelling on be tween Vigo and San Sebastian departed without him after a rest stop. On board the bus was Gra ham’s luggage including his passport and daily medication he requires after having a kid ney transplant in 2014. His family are attempting to piece together his movements since “Nobodythen.wants to live this nightmare and every minute counts,” his daughter Georgia told the Olive Press. So far the family have con firmed that he showed up on July 15, but his problems worsened when he was unable to retrieve his bag from the bus company and contacted police in San Sebastian. Passport They told him to go to the Canadian Embassy in Ma drid for help and to get a new Laterpassport.that day, he was treated at La Paz Hospital in Madrid for injuries to his head and hand that he told doctors he had sustained in a fall. He had applied for a new pass port at the embassy and was told to pick it up on July 18, but he never showed up. “If you have any information about our father’s whereabouts please contact police or contact us directly,” said Georgia. “Our father is in poor health and needs to be taken home where he can receive medical treatment.”
HAVE
GIBRALTAR’S Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has won a libel case against a Vox politician. He was awarded damages of £20,000 to be paid by Au gustin Rosety Fernandez de Castro, the 75-year-old Cadiz Member of Parliament for the far-right party. Picardo took action after the posting by the politician of tweets Picardo deemed to be highly defamatory about his role as Chief Minister. Picardo has pledged to donate all money to charity. He said in a statement: “The judgement of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar exposes the untrue and defamatory com ments by a member of the Spanish far-right Party Vox for what they are: lies and fabrica tions, with no basis whatsoever in Roseltyreality.”had originally pub lished articles that linked Picardo with money launder ing and contraband tobacco. “The government of Gibraltar ... will never allow those who seek to defame us and do us harm to tarnish Gibraltar’s good name,” said Picardo. Vox Flop By Fiona Govan
And that’s just the start. Hundreds of politicians, busi nesses and intermediaries are involved in this massive fraud scandal that’s grabbed the headlines across Spain. The prosecution process is one of the longest – and slowest – in Spanish judicial history. At the root of it all is an un employment support scheme known as ERE that was sup posed to help companies in a region suffering the highest jobless rate in the country. Dubbed the ‘reptile fund’, this vast pool of money came from Madrid with the intention of stimulating employment and aiding ailing companies.
‘I drink beer when I have occasion… and sometimes when I have no occasion’, Jack Gaioni agrees with Miguel de Cervantes
● In March, 2021 the Heineken España, brewery in Jaen, crea tor of Cruzcampo, Alazar and Amstel beers, became the first AND largest brewery in Euro pe to be completely emissions free. With solar panels and heat energy generated by waste from the nearby olive oil indus try, they have eliminated 2,500 tonnes of carbon emissions.
● The expression ‘Numantian re sistance’ has become a Spanish proverb used to imply a strident, single minded resistance to au thority. Many Spanish authors, in cluding Cervantes, find meaning in Numantia similar to that of the Masada for Israelis.
● “ Cerveza Artesana “ or craft beer is rapidly beco ming part of the discussion of beer in Spain. In less than a decade there have been 400 new producers introducing 650 varieties of craft beer throughout Spain. Openly counte ring Charles V demand for strict regulations, craft beer brewers creatively experiment with flavours (e.g. coffee, citrus, honey) to the delight of many. Could Cerveza Artesana be posed to be the next exciting chapter in the his tory of Spanish beer? Welcome to the inferno
HIGH SCANDAL
THE above phrase could be a legitimate sign placed at airports across the costas in future as we have confirmation that July was indeed the hottest month ever recorded in Spain, with the mercury rising some 2.7ºC above the usual average temperature. The official data will come as no surprise to anyone who endured the month and who are suffering in what is now the third heatwave of the summer. You may have developed your own coping mech anisms to deal with the heat beyond staying at home with the blinds down. It almost certainly won’t include taking a cooling dip in the Med, whose waters have not surpris ingly also reached record warm temperatures surpassing 30ºC in some places posing a threat to marine life while encouraging a proliferation of jellyfish and invader algae. If you discovered that spending the hottest days wandering around climate controlled shopping centres brought a reprieve from the scorching heat, think again. Those days are over as the government brings in plans to limit A/C temperature to a rather balmy 27ºC. And don’t rely on ice-filled drinks as an anec dote to the heat. A perfect storm of early heat waves eating into the stockpile teamed with rising energy costs and distribution problems means those bags of ice we all depend on in summer are now rationed… if you can get your hands on them at all. If you’re not in a position to head for cooler climes in the nearby hills or even better, the more forgiving northern coast of Spain and cooler Atlantic waters to ride out the rest of summer, then we wish you good luck. And roll on September!
ERE (standing for Expediente de Regulacion de Empleo) is a procedure which allows companies facing bankrupt cy to fire workers and receive public funding to underwrite severance and early retirement But,packages.inreality, the funds were il legally syphoned off for private gain, creating what is the big gest public money corruption case in Spanish history – so Mostfar. fraudulent payments were made off the books and without any form of public scru tiny. But more than 500 people have been investigated since the scandal broke in 2010, and now the ERE fraud prosecu tions of politicians, companies, and intermediaries like lawyers and bankers, are coming thick and fast.
SPANISH wine culture dates back 3,000 years to the Phoenicians. But what about that other fermented de light - namely beer? Although not as consistent in its popularity as wine, the erratic and unpredictable popu larity of Spanish beer has a colourful story to tell. The Roman Republic’s conquest of Hispania (approx: 218 B.C.) was not seamless. The native Celtiberian tribes - a loose alli ance of ancient Celtic tribes - were strongly opposed to relin quishing control of Hispanic lands to Rome. Known as the Celtiberians Wars (181-151 BC), the native pop ulations were so fiercely combative that Rome was forced to send large armies to quell the unrest. In one battle at Numantia (Castilla y Leon), the warlike tenacity of the beer drinking natives led the Romans to reconsider their strategy. Numantian women, as part of their daily routine of baking bread, would often liquify the wheat, barley and hops left over from their bread making process. Left to ferment this ‘liquid bread’ (read: beer) was an extremely powerful intoxi cant. So potent in fact, that before every battle the Numan tians would increase their morale and courage by getting wildly drunk on the liquid bread. The Romans soon learned to fear them as ‘crazed, fierce, de monic fighters’. The ferocity of the native beer guzzlers success fully held off the invaders until the Romans had suffered enough losses to stop fighting. Instead, they reverted to building a wall, a moat and im paling rods around the settlement as part of laying siege. For two years the Numantians refused to sur render but as famine and suicide took their toll, the natives burned their city to the ground rath er then become Roman slaves. In the centuries to follow, the victorious Romans replaced the beer-drinking culture with one built around However,wine.when Charles V became King of Spain (1516) he began to change the culture. Although grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles was born Dutch and had inherited his crown via com plicated Hapsburg marriage arrangements. King Charles and his court imported their strong Northern European taste for beer to Spain. He hired Flemish, German and Alsatian brew mas ters and began Spain’s first beer factory along the Manzanares River in Madrid. Charles established rules and regulations as they applied to beer manufacture: the amount of wheat, barley and hops, the alcohol content, and fermentation time. If anything was changed, the brewers would suffer a penalty. Charles, his entourage and his beer were wildly unpopular - the public didn’t like him or his beer and rejected both. Wine remained the public’s libation of choice for the next few centuries. Only in the beginning of the 20th Century did a beer drinking preference begin to gain enough popularity for large breweries to open. Mahou and El Aguila Beer opened Madrid in 1900. Cruzcam po started brewing in 1904 in Sevilla, Estrella in Barcelona in 1906, while Alhambra began in Granada in 1925. By the 1960s with Spain’s boom in tourism, beer became the common drink in bars it is today. The ‘beer linked with tapas’ craze took off in thousands of tabernas throughout the pen insula. The splendid golden liquid has since far surpassed wine as the libation of choice. Spaniards now drink twice as much beer by volume than wine. Granted, Spain will always be fa mous for its amazing wines, but cerveza inarguably has taken on an important part of Spanish day to day life. As for the ‘Beer Today - gone to morrow’ trope? A definite yes to the former and not likely to the latter… DID YOU KNOW?
Special report by DollimoreLaurence and Sorrell Downer
Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow?
OVER €25,000 per month on cocaine, €400,000 for a fake chicken farm, and thousands of euros on holidays – just a few of the ways €680 million of embezzled Junta de Andalucia cash was spent. Now Andalucia’s ex-president and corrupt Socialist cronies face jail in one of the biggest fraud scandals to hit Spain’s political elite after their ap peals were rejected by Sevilla’s High Court. The appeal ruling comes three years after 19 former top offi cials in Andalucia’s then rul ing Socialist government were convicted for diverting public Spain’sfunds. top court upheld 16 of the 19 convictions, including that of the former president of the Junta, José Antonio Griñan, for embezzlement and misap propriation of public funds for which he has received a jail sentence of six years. The con viction of his successor, Manu el ‘Monolo’ Chaves, for malad ministration was also upheld, and Chaves was banned from public office. The ruling, now ratified by the Sevilla High Court, found that both former presidents of the Junta were ‘fully aware of the blatant and patent illegality’ of fraudulently allocated funds that were distributed from the public coffers between 2000 and Prison2009.sentences were also upheld for the ex-councillors Antonio Fernandez, Francisco Vallejo, Jose Antonio Vieira and Carmen Martinez Aguayo, who were each sentenced to be tween six and eight years.
NEWS FEATUREwww.theolivepress.es6 HEAD OFFICE Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva NEWSDESK: 0034 951 273 575 For all sales and advertising enquiries please contact 951 27 35 75 ADMIN Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 theolivepress.esadmin@ OFFICE MANAGER Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 theolivepress.esaccounts@ DISTRIBUTIONENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 theolivepress.esdistribution@ Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION 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. Deposito Legal MA: 835-2017 AWARDS Best expat paper in 2016Spain-2020 GooglelanguageBest2020EnglishpublicationinAndalucia2012-2022NewsInitiativegivestheOlivePressasubstantialgrant. PUBLISHER / EDITOR Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es Jo SimonChipchaseWade simon@theolivepress.es Cristina Hodgson cristina@theolivepress.es Fiona Govan fiona@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es George Mathias george@theolivepress.es Jorge Hinojosa jorge@theolivepress.es
The ex-president of the Junta, the union boss, a coke-addicted chauffeur - just three of the criminals who turned more than half a billion euros destined for unemployed Andalucian workers into a ‘reptile fund’ to pay for drugs, fast cars and prostitutes
A JUDGE’S HUNCH
3- U- turn campaign everything you need to know about the driving license exchange debacle for Brits in Spain
Hundreds of articlesfrom restaurant reviews to travel features and from crime stories to explainers on new laws - are not making the printed paper for many reasons. But fortunately, modern technology has come to the rescue in the shape and form of our website. The portal www.theolivepress.es gives us un limited space to expand on topics and really go to town on the most in teresting subjects. Our team of trained journalists, who have experience at The Daily Telegraph , The Times and the Dai ly Mail , spend hours each day investigat ing and producing great content for the site. This is where you will find a host of special web-on ly features and explainers as well as news from around the regions that we simply can’t fit in the print editions. FOMO So if you feel you are missing out (the so-called FOMO effect), the solution is at hand: Just go to our website and you will find a huge amount of high-quality articles, news and views – all at your fingertips. We are also pretty sure that you’ll soon get regis tered, ensuring you get a daily email giving you a breakdown of the main stories of the week. You’ll even get one a week on travel. With theolivepress.es you never have to miss out!
1- Family call for justice after British father of two dies in Magaluf after police knelt on him
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hundreds of fake retirees receiving money in a similar way. The diedmandthanpealed,Guerrerokickbacksreceivedfundedhisdrughabit,homeim-provements,fastcarsandinternationalholidaysforfriends,fam-ilyandhisfellowcoun-cillors.GuerrerowassentencedbySevillaHighCourttosevenyears,11monthsinprisonforembezzlement,andanothersixyearsonrelatedcharges.Heapspentlessayearonreincustody,andinOctober2020.
5- Exclusive: Two men arrested after being caught on camera as they tried to break into homes in Marbella in Spain’s Costa del Sol HE ERE scandal was exposed in November 2010 when campaigning judge Mercedes Alaya launched a probe into ir regularities in the municipal com pany Mercasevilla. It came after two former direc tors attempted to bribe a pair of hotel owners, offering them the concession for a hospitality training school for €450,000. Unluckily for them, the business men recorded the meetings and handed the tapes over to Madrid’s Ministry of Employment, which sent them to the prosecutor’s of fice. While the Junta’s then employ ment minister, Francisco Javier Guerrero, brushed it off as mere ly a fund which ‘helped business es breathe’, Alaya realised there was something more sinister going on. What quickly became clear was that chain-smoking Guerrero was the man with the keys to the safe. Along with the Minister, the Union Boss and the Missing Man, he is one of hundreds of fraudsters whose stories have been filling
THE MINISTER JUAN Lanzas, a socialist from the UGT union, is one of the intermediaries being investigated for admitting companies into the ring of corruption and pocketing an alleged €13 million in return. His mother once boasted to the Guardia Civil at their home in Jaen: “Mi hijo tiene dinero para asar una vaca” (literally: my son has enough money to roast a cow), meaning he had cash to burn. This was probably true, given he bought 16 properties and still had €80,000 cash left to stash inside a mat tress. But now the authorities would like it back. Lanzas faces multiple charges after more than a de cade of investigation. He’s due to stand trial for fraud relating to a €2.3 mil lion payment to Sevilla photographic laboratory Surcolor in July 2023.
L OOKING like a Mafia capo, Guerrero ruled the roost with energetic aplomb –fuelled, it turns out, by a €25,000-a-month cocaine habit. He could make anything happen as long as you played by his rules, vot ed Socialist and made sure he got generous kickbacks. His regal beneficence won him the name ‘the HeMarquess’.handed out cash from the fund at will. His hometown, El Pedro so, north of Sevilla, where he was mayor from 1999 to 2008, did part cularly well, and literally dozens of friends and neighbours benefited. His pal, Jose Llorente, received a severance package from a cork pro duction company despite never hav ing worked there. (Llorente told investigators he thought the money that arrived in his account was ‘a gift from God’.) Another neighbour was ‘fired’ from a bogus company he’d never worked for, earning himself a €1,100 a for countless locals who had supposedly worked in the nearby Alquife mine (despite never having set foot in Ait). network of fake compa nies was set up listing dozens of local res idents who had taken early retire ment. In to tal, the group was paid around €60 million over five years. The fake com pany nessesicpaniesmarketingschools,fakespreadnetworkwithlanguageITandcomandorganfruitandvegbusisetupacross
The Minister’s trial takes place at Sevilla High Court in September. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has requested 14 years in prison, and the money back.
2- Spanish tourism officials sets the record straight about travel requirements for British tourism visiting Spain
THE MONEYMISSINGMAN
The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:
G UERRERO’S driver, Juan Trujillo, provided the court with juicy testimony, admitting to judges he’d spent at least €900,000 of public cash on cocaine, booze and ‘par tying’ at brothels with his boss –as well as on antiques. He admitted accepting €1.4 mil lion in public funds from his boss for business projects which never materialised, including a non-ex istent chicken farm, for which he received €450,000. One of the sacked workers from the fake firms was his mother, who re ceived €122,468 in compensa He’stion. a cheating criminal, but wellgroomed, apparently: “Like a min ister,” said a neighbour of Trujillo in Andujar, Jaen. “In fact, that’s what we call him.”
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EURO MONTHLY NEWS
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4- Alert for high concentration of jellyfish in Costa del Sol Torremolinos and Marbella
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E are proud at the Olive Press to provide expat communities in Spain with the lat est news - and plenty of features - in our five print editions. But while each copy is guaranteed to be full of at least 50% editorial, sad ly plenty of things do not make the edition, which is fortnightly, after all.
www.theolivepress.es 7August 10th - August 23rd 2022
THE UNION BOSS EDUARDO Pascual Arxe is another intermediary –and a fugitive. A Catalan ex-banker who helped commission the fraudulent EREs, he fled to Africa in July 2015 and is yet to be extradited. The slippery money man was once the president of Eurobank, which he fraudulently bankrupt ed 15 years ago, enriching him self to the tune of €12 million. Pascual prepared an escape plan years in advance: After in vestigations began in 2005, he married a Bolivian woman, ac quired Bolivian nationality, and changed his name to Marcellino Jose Monasterios Arce, before fleeing to Africa. By the time the trial came to court Pascual was in Burkina Faso cultivating medical mari Hejuana.isnow suspected to be in the Republic of Benin. Should he ever show up, the An ti-Corruption Prosector’s Office is requesting he gets a 28-year jail sentence.
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info@markdentalclinic com aauradental.com markdentalclinic com Nueva Andalucia 951 563 459 Fuengirola 952 917 164 Estepona 951 272 267 MARK DENTAL CLINIC HAS CHANGED ITS NAME TO AAURA DENTAL. THIS IS TO BE CONSISTENT BETWEEN OUR CLINICS IN THE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. WE STILL OPERATE AS USUAL, STILL MARK´S BROTHERS IN CHARGE AND SAME STAFF. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ALL OF OUR PATIENTS WHO HAVE VISITED MARK DENTAL CLINIC AND LOOK FORWARD TO MANY YEARS TO COME WITH AAURA DENTAL. N E W N A M E B U T S T I L L T H E S A M E
Talk
● The impact on the environment caused by the murdering lunatic Putin ● Pretend that the Taiwan escalation is not hap pening (there’s nothing the rednecks like more than a war on foreign soil)
MALAGA City has logged the warmest sea-surface temperature since daily measurements began in It1984.seems that the prolonged high temperatures across most of the Peninsula have unleashed a marine heat wave in the Mediterranean Sea, including the capital of the Costa del Sol. The measurements tak en by local authorities on Wednesday August 3, read 27.8ºC—whipping the pre vious record of 27.3ºC set on October 1, 2018.
● Deforestation is increasing And focus on Pedro Sanchez’s solution. He recently announced that to save energy he is go ing to stop wearing a tie! This is unreal and truly farcical and worthy of a West End comedy. Bring back Morecambe and Wise. He is also advocating the same initiative for all pub lic employees and in the private sector. Tie shops must love him. I can’t recall ever witnessing such a blatant attempt to divert attention from the major challenges his leadership faces. Many political commentators are wondering what item of clothing he endorses removing next. Unreliable sources are expecting him to start pro moting the famed Spanish Straw Donkey. Remem ber those? They were highly popular with the advent of mass tourism in the 1970s. Less popular if you happened to be seated on a plane next to a muppet who had bought one. But now Pedro’s pony is set for a comeback. It’s made by hand and requires no electricity. All part of the government’s drive to encourage tourism to Spanish shores. (Forget the 90 day rule, the British driving licence exchange fiasco and the less than speedy Spanish residency application Soprocess).Sánchez has it cracked. God help us.
Plans approved to cut energy consumption By Alex Trelinski air-conditioned premises to have a door closing system in place before September 30 and for premises to review boilers and thermal installations be fore December 1. It’s also going back to the days of the Covid pandemic by en couraging more home working to ‘save on travel and heating
Too hot to grow
Furtherbuildings’.measures will be an nounced in September. It will be down to Spain's 17 regions to make sure that rules are be ing followed.
● The fact that only the misguided delusional op timists, and mentally challenged still think that keeping global warming within the agreed target of a maximum increase of 1.5C is possible
Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638 145 664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es about too little to late … the latest advice is farcical WHEN it comes to talking about climate change, it is impossible to stay away from politics. They are completely intertwined. My recent columns have focused on the dire situation that planet earth faces as a result of governments around the world failing to act quickly enough to reduce the more than obvious impact of global warming. So, this week, let’s look at the humorous side of things. That’s what we do in the face of adversity. I’m going to ignore:
SPAIN’S Agriculture Minister, Luis Planas, says this sum mer’s hot weather will dent this year's olive harvest if things don't change soon. Spain is the world's leading producer and exporter of ol ive oil, accounting for 15% of arable land in the country. It produces 70% of the EU’s olive oil and represents 46% of the worldwide market, according to government sta tistics. The effects of extreme weather are being felt right across Spain's agricul tural sector. Luis Planas has estimat ed that Spain’s overall production of grain crops like corn, wheat and barley, could fall as much as 13% this year to 17.5 million tonnes.
GREENwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 202210 +34 951 120 830 | gogreen@mariposaenergia.es | www.mariposaenergia.es 100% Certified Green Energy Reduce your energy bill Switch to our 100% Green Energy Save even more money with our solar PV panel installations! Generate your own electricity Solar PV Panels Simply send us a recent bill & we will calculate how much you can save. Get a quote today Contact us today
Too warm
SANCHEZ HAS IT CRACKED
NO TIE: PM Sanchez COMEBACK: Straw donkey NEW rules have come into force to save energy at public venues across Spain. The Council of Ministers ap proved the first tranche of measures to cut Spain's gas consumption by 7% as part of a European Union agreement to limit dependency on gas from Spain'sRussia. reductions will be low er than the EU-wide figure of 15% and will be maintained until at least November 1, 2023. Ecological Transition Minister, Theresa Ribera, said: “This is an unprecedented ef fort not seen since after the end of the Second World War.”
Offices, shops, cinemas, the atres, and hospitality venues will no longer be allowed to set their cooling systems below 27 degrees in summer nor raise heating above 19 degrees in the Thewinter.measure also applies to airports and railway stations. Shops will also be obliged to keep doors closed and heating systems must be checked more often to increase efficiency un der the new measures. The package also includes shops having to switch off win dow lights after 10pm. Street lighting will not be affected. The government is demanding A BIG TURN-OFF
Green MattersBy Martin Tye
roperty www.theolivepress.es P inpropertySpain’sbestmagEnglish AUGUST 2022
SPANISH country property sales were close to alltime highs in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Sta tistics (INE). There were 43,650 rural property sales in Q1, up 11% on the same period last year and 8.4% higher than 2019. It was the highest level of quarterly sales since the boom year of 2007. Country property sales have been steadily climbing since they bottomed out in 2011 with just 103,609 rural land sales that year, down from a peak of 192,302 in 2007, a decline of 46%. By last year rural property sales were up 53% compared to the trough of 2011. However, country property sales have really taken off in the last few quarters in the wake of the pandemic, with growth near or above double-digits in most quarters. Most rural property sales in Spain are located in the three biggest regions of Castilla y Leon, Andalucia, and Castilla –La Mancha. Along with the Valencian region they make up 58% of all rural property sales in Spain. If you look at the quarterly change in sales (year-on-year) in a selection of regions and provinces of most interest to foreign investors, you see the biggest growth in sales in Q1 came from the Catalan provinces of Barcelona (+40.5%) and Tarragona (+32.1%). This reflects a pandemic-related displacement of demand away from urban areas to rural areas with good access to city centres and transport hubs. Industry insiders report that rural property sales are being driven by lifestyle changes in the light of the pandemic, and some also mention a growing interest in rural real-estate as an inflation-proof asset offering a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Mark Stucklin is the owner and editor of property website www.spanishpropertyinsight.com
ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRYRuralpropertysalessoarto53%above2011lows,writesMarkStucklin Fincas&VillasCREDIT:PIC Making the Pueblos white, see page 16
The director of the report, Ger man Perez Barrio, claimed that Brexit has had a negative in fluence on home sales in Spain, partly offset by an increase in buyers from other countries.
SPLASHING OUT
Game plan SELL WITH THE BEST! Thinking of Selling? We urgently need properties all the way from Sotogrande to +34PhoneforBenalmadenaeagerbuyers.usnowon 951 516 905 Email us at info@thespanishestateagent.com visit our website at www.thespanishestateagent.com or visit us at Avenida España 250, Estepona 29680. • A database of over 10,000 potential clients across all continents. • Tap into our worldwide, award-winning marketing. • Experienced, professional and dynamic sales team. IT’S YOUR MOVE!
THE most expensive property on website Idealista has been revealed to be in Mallorca. The €35 million villa sits on a plot of 8,263 sqm in exclusive Cala Vinyes. Not only does the seaside property have its own bar, sev eral chill out areas and access to a private yacht dock, it also boasts its own cave, said to be perfect for private events. Unique “From the moment you get in the house you realise it is an unique property, you feel that you are in an unique place,” the owner explained. “The white roofs and the wide curves, in harmony with na ture, makes this villa special,” he Theadded.1,479 sqm home has sev eral terraces including outdoor dining areas, indoor entertain ment and relaxation rooms, an infinity pool, barbecue, gym and a separate guest villa. Costa lot
BLUESBREXIT
Recordlevelsof investmentaspropertysectorbooms By Dilip Kuner
PRICY: Buy cool A DESIGN has been chosen for Marbella’s new multi-million pound sports stadium. The plan was drawn up by Huete Arquitectos studio, with Marbella Mayor Angeles Muñoz describing the concept as ‘modern, sustain able and functional’. The €18 million plan beat 10 other entries. The criteria stipulated all plans had to be for an 8,000 capacity foot ball stadium, indoor hall, athletics track, gym, fitness room and suf ficient car parking spaces. Work is expected to start on demolishing flood lighting and perim eter fencing in February, with the old stadium to be knocked down in September 2023.
Love for rent
NEARLY €10 billion has been invested in Spanish property in the first half of the year - a new record. Real estate investment reached €9.87 billion, some 80% more than the same pe riod of According2021.to the CBRE con sultancy, the retail sector led the way with €2.9 billion invested, eight times high er than that recorded in the first half of last year. This was largely thanks to BBVA's €1.987 billion purchase of more than 629 branches of Merlin Properties. The residential sector was in second place with €2.451 billion, up 71%, with rental assets accounting for 60% of total investment in residen tial real estate, student resi dences for 19% and coliving another 18%. The hotel sector was worth €1.65 billion, the best result in the first half of the year for five Anotheryears.€1.175 billion was accounted for by the indus trial and logistics sector and the office sector fifth posi tion with neatly €1.15 billion worth of transactions - a 27% “Theincrease.investment volumes re corded in the first half of the year show that the real estate sector in Spain continues to be attractive to investors, even in a changing macroeco nomic context.” said Miriam Goicoechea, Director of Re search at CBRE Spain.
FANS of the ITV series Love Island can rent the villa used for filming from Septem ber The24.villa, Sa Vinyasssa in Sant Lloren, boasts an infinity pool, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and will be transformed after the series concludes in early August. The minimum that the villa can be rented for is seven nights, and it has the capacity for a group of up to 12 people and will cost around €6,000 a week. Thankfully, the villa will have its cameras removed with an interior overhaul before guests arrive. The distinctive neon signage will also be removed with exposed brickwork and snug sofas also to be added. The villa used for the previous series last year was recently sold for €3 million, and is a 10 minute drive from this year’s villa. Producers of Love Island opted for a shake-up after seven seasons in the previous lodgings. This year’s villa has bigger bedrooms, and more outdoor space than the last one.
THE proportion of Brits buy ing homes in Spain as part of the foreign market has halved since TheyBrexit.accounted for 12% of the total houses bought by foreign ers in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Before Brexit, the British made up 24% of foreign buyers ac cording to Idealista In 2016, after the Brexit referen dum, the UK share dropped to 15% in just a year and this fell to 10% in mid-2021 before starting a Accordingrecovery. to Idealista, Brits’ favourite regions are Valencia, Murcia and Andalucia.
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 2
The boom started after the first wave of Covid: “People stuck in flats in Madrid and Barcelona were calling us, desperate to es cape,” says Adkinson. “We had 26 people put deposits down on the basis of video viewings.” Now buyers are pouring in from as far afield as Australia and Abu Dhabi, with lots from Ire land – a place that’s similar in looks, just colder. “So far, the oldest client has been 80, the youngest, 18. We get lots with children who want to get away to somewhere na tural without vio lence and theft, and with fewer drugs. They’re not looking to farm, though most want enou gh land to grow fruit and vege tables and be reasonably inde pendent.” For many, that means starting a tourism business, ‘but we’ve also had buyers wanting to set up breweries and grow medicinal cannabis. We get all Focusedsorts’. mainly on Galicia and the north of Spain, Aldeas Abandonadas has caught peo ple’s imagination around the world. Specialising in deserted hamlets (aldeas), usually with four or five buildings to recons truct, the agency, like Galician Country Homes, is able to mobilise a team of specialists, and handle the hardcore pa
“I WALK my dog through olive fields in the morning and pick my own fruit and vegetables to eat in the eve nings. I can work less because I live more cheaply, and I do it with this view,” says Julia, a Ger man friend, looking over moun tains in Cordoba. She has a remote job in custo mer services for a sports com pany, but her main focus ‘is ha ving a healthy, simple life, being close to nature, and living the Thedream’.sale of rural properties is booming in Spain. Farm sales rose by 30% last year, and de mand for countryside homes outstrips supply. The pandemic made people think about how they’d like bi gger houses and some outdoor Itspace.made remote working normal and living anywhere possible. And plenty of people who’d had a break from work decided not to go back but to take early reti rement and follow their dreams. For a lot of people, the dream is a small farm in Spain. “People were looking in the countryside, but the pandemic accelerated the process,” says Adrian Llored of Busco Masia. The Barcelona-based agency specialises in the picturesque stonewalled farmhouses typical across Catalunya. “Most buyers are open-minded, a bit hippy, lets say. About 60% are from Spain and the rest from abroad, many from the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the UK.” People want farms but they don’t want to be farmers. “They want the countryside lifestyle,” says Llored, “a house of around 300m2 and two to three hecta It’sres.”hard to make a commercial success of a small farm, he says, but a few intend to do something useful with the land: “One wo man was looking to grow medi cinal plants,” he says, “and there are others who want to keep Propertieshorses”. are being snapped up fastest in areas that enjoyed a tourism boom last year. Sales of rural homes in the northwest province of Guipuzcoa (borde ring France), in Badajoz (in Ex tremadura, bordering Portugal), and in Ourense in the south of Galicia, have all shot up by over Ourense60%. has the advantage of being both beautiful and affor dable. According to analysts at property platform Idealista, last year three-hectare farm pro perties went for an average of €19,125 (around €6000/ha), making the land some of the cheapest in Spain. Rural land in Lugo, Asturias, and Castellon (Valencia) was chea per still, says Idealista, and in the Aragon province of Teruel, whe re it averaged just €3,000/ha, there was a 50% jump in sales. People are prepared to venture further afield for a bargain, but price isn’t always the top factor when it comes to dreams – bu yers are also flocking to the Ba leares, Malaga, Barcelona and Cadiz where rural land prices are on average the highest in the Vastcountry.empty estates are plentiful. Finding a piece of land that’s a manageable size, with a habi table house, correct paperwork, good access, which also mat ches the dream vision, and then negotiating a deal, is trickier – especially for foreign buyers. That’s where agents and brokers come in. They’ve all been busy: the number of property transac tions by foreigners jumped by over 40% last year, totalling a fifth of all sales. Old farmhouses may need in tensive modernisation, while long-abandoned farms often come with a ruin or just a nave (shed). Building a house might seem the easiest option, but laws governing use of suelo rustico are generally geared towards preventing that happening. “The biggest misconception in ternational buyers have is they Many of them are looking for land for rural businesses. “Our clients are typically mid-40’s and upwards,” says Lee Govier, “plus the occasional younger client who wants the good life living off the land.” As well as handling logistics, the agency is careful to discover the ‘client’s expectations, correct any mis conceptions, ensuring they are fully prepared for living in Spain’. The rural dream can be cha llenging, especially when it in volves a fixer-upper. Properties available through Galician Coun try Homes range from multi-mi llion euro chalets to a watermill in need of restora tion in Lugo for € For25,000.those with energy and time to invest, getting a bargain and creating a home is part of the appeal. Luckily, the agency has an army of local specialists on hand to stop it becoming a ni Unlikeghtmare.in many regions of Spain, ‘around 60% of the rural proper ties we handle are small, around half a hectare’, says founder Mark Adkinson. The combination of affordable fixer-uppers, green countryside, internet connectivity and mana geably-sized pieces of land, is proving a hit – they’re selling 1820 rural properties a month and getting 50 enquiries a day.
Demand for rural properties continues to grow as people dream of swapping a home in the city for a fixerupper with nice views and space to keep chickens in the Spanish countyside
TREEMENDOUS: Rustic bargains with character
AndaluciaInlandCREDIT:PIC
OLIVE PRESS’ GUIDE TO RURAL LIVING
Rural is on trend in the lu xury sector, too: “More clients are looking for larger plots and houses, more inland, to be in dependent tercountrysidebeplecreaseseeingBritish,thecia,Inlandsupply.”demandThereself-sufficient.andismorethanAndaluwherehalfclientsareisalsoanininpeowantingtooutintheaflockdown.
AUGUST 20223
THE GOOD LIFE
MasiaBuscoCREDIT:PIC
We had 26 people put deposits down on the basis of video viewings think they can build whatever they want,” says Anita Schmidt from Villas & Fincas. “Even though the law is opening up a bit in Andalucia, the building of private dwellings is still very Luckily,restricted.”the agency’s mainly American and northern Euro pean clients tend to have the budgets that allow them to choose a ready-ma de dream home.
AbandonadasAldeasCREDIT:PICCountryandCoastCREDIT:PIC
CHOICE IS YOURS: A doer-upper or ready to move in perwork that purchasing clus ters of properties, abandoned long ago by multiple owners, Asentails.well as retirees looking to invest upwards of €500,000 for top-end projects, they at tract ‘buyers who can run their existing businesses from a rural location, such as architects, and people with children who want to start a rural business or farm’, says manager Elvira Fafian. People don’t need a massive bu dget: aldeas with heaps of po tential are available from as low as €50,000. “There are many, aged 35 and above, who have been prompted by the cost of city properties and the economy to change their lives. “During the pandemic, people took the chance to explore a rural world which had become almost unknown to them. In our parents’ times, these places we ren’t appreciated,” says Fafian. There was an exodus to find work in the cities, and abroad. “But Spain has changed, and now these aldeas are recogni sed as jewels. Many people with Spanish ancestry from Mexico, Argentina, North America and Germany are returning to their roots, wanting to buy property in the regions where they or their parents were born. “It’s as if we all had to leave to make lives for ourselves. Now we are all coming home again, returning to the simpler times of the past, and the lives we re member as children.”
HousesCountryGalicianCREDIT:PIC
By Sorrel Downer
When Auriel Roe started looking for rural property in northern Spain, she didn’t imagine walking into a time capsule
Enquiries should
SEEKING respite from the hot summers of Jerez, we looked for a bolthole to buy in northern Spain. We were attracted by Arbo, in the Galician province of Pontevedra – not so much for its famous lamprey eels, but the river beaches along the Miño river which forms the border elderly owner who told her grand son. But he thought it was such a good idea he decided to try it him self, and so the sale was called off. We found another property nearby, less grand but with a va lley view and a pear orchard. The pears were ripe at the time of our visit and we were seduced into offering the asking price. But the lawyer we engaged to handle the sale discovered an ar chaic rule: To buy a property right on the Portuguese-Spanish border, we would need permission from the Spanish military. It would be a lengthy business with a slim chan ce of success, so we gave up and decided to look further afield. Buying in Asturias proved more straightforward. We eventually se ttled on a traditional stone house that had been empty for ten years, virtually unchanged for a hun dred, and still had oil lamps on the walls. It’s common for contents to be in cluded in the sale of old abando ned houses in Spain, but when we checked that would be the case, the late owner’s granddaughter became suspicious, suspecting there might be something of great value in there. In the end, we paid a little extra and kept everything. She never really understood our desire to be custodians of this mini-museum, but for us it was a fascinating time capsule and we wanted to preserve it.
Inhabiting two adjoining buildings, the proper ty comprises a well-appointed complex of 12 independent apartments and a restaurant, surrounded by a beautiful private garden and a biologically purified swimming pool. Open to the public since 2007, and with a loyal customer base, Oveja Verde is a tourist high light in the area. It is conveniently situated close to the Pitres town centre, providing easy access to amenities that include a supermarket, phar macy, 24-hour emergency health centre, bank branch and ATM, teaching school and institute, as well as several bars and restaurants. Well-placed in the heart of the Alpujarra of Granada, between two important tourist ar eas, La Taha of Pitres is an authentic part of LIVE THE DREAM
La Oveja Verde – opportunity to purchase an ongoing hotel business with the potential to sell separate apartments the region, where visitors can partake in hiking, mountain biking, horse riding, or simply relax and enjoy the magnificent mountain views and the many hours of sunshine that grace the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada. La Taha de Pitres sits at an altitude of about 1,250 metres and has been declared a Site of Cultural Interest for its exceptional architecture and landscape. La Taha also includes Mecina, Ferreirola, Fondales, Capilerilla, Atalbéitar and Mecinilla, which are quieter villages, with indi vidual charm. The rivers Trevélez, Guadalfeo and Poqueira run through its land. Bordering La Taha de Pitres are the other popular Alpujarran municipalities of Pampa neira, Bubión, Capileira, Pórtugos, Busquístar, Almegíjar, Torvizcón, Órgiva and Carataunas. Pitres is a 20min drive from Soportujar, which is popular for its witch theme and draws many visitors to the area. Currently for sale, La Oveja Verde offers the opportunity to continue with the established hotel business, or to form a small urbanisation, in which the apartments could be sold sepa rately to individual buyers. The building offers generous, ground-level storage rooms for the apartments, as well as five parking spaces. It is surrounded by more than 2,000 metres of gar den, with abundant irrigation water distributed through pipes and sprinklers. It also features a beautiful swimming pool. be made to Jose Ena – 00 34 649 118 079
OLD ANTIQUEHOUSE,CONTENTS
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 4 OLIVE PRESS’ GUIDE TO RURAL LIVING
FOR SALE Exceptional investment opportunity in Alpujarra de Granada Tourist complex 12 apartments 5 parking 1250m2spacesbuilt 200m2 of garden and swimming pool tel: +34 958 064 WWW.THEGREENSHEEP.ESinfo@laovejaverde.es109
ON DISPLAY: Just as Paula left it We learnt about the old owner and her life from the contents of the house. Her name was Paula Solis – we first saw her name car ved into a wooden mortar, and la ter found a branding iron with her initials on it. There were two pairs of tiny woo den shoes of the sort that are still worn by some people in rural As turias to this day. The dresses left behind in the wardrobe suggest Paula was tiny, perhaps only five feet Sometall.objects were mysterious. I called one a 'whey pig' because it had four legs, a sort of snout and with Portugal. We made an offer on a mansion stu ffed with dusty antiques. We thought we could turn it into a bouti que hotel and mentioned this to the esta te agent. The agent told the
THE Oveja Verde complex occupies a prime site at the entrance of the Alpujar ran town of Pitres, in the popular munic ipality of La Taha, which lies close to the Sierra Nevada national park. This area is popu lar with visitors of many nationalities, as well as permanent residents from Britain and northern Europe. La Oveja Verde is currently for sale, as a going concern that offers many opportunities.
MUSEUM: A reminder of times past
AUGUST 20225 *Data extracted from process closure surveys after using our roadside assistance and breakdown services. 952 147 834 TheOlivePress-256x170-MP0622.indd 1 6/6/22 10:43 looked like it might have been used to drain a large round of cheese. Another, found hanging on a wall, with a dangerous cluster of sharp nails protruding at eye level, was per haps used for carding wool. Hanging from Paula's kitchen ceiling were various baskets which, I imagi ne, were used for picking and storing apples. There were ceramic pots she would have put on top of the stove for keeping food warm. Some things she left behind gave us an intimate glimpse into her life. She had been mad on gingham, and used it for making curtains, cushion covers and aprons. We found her perfume bottles and talcum powder in a bedroom drawer, and a prayer stool (pictured right) beside her bed. And the wooden crib she had kept its stand is probably the one she had lain in as a baby, and used for her own.
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According to Bankinter's Analysis Depart ment Euribor will be 1.90% in December and 2.20% in 2023, although other ana lysts are not quite so pessimistic. Of course, the above figures apply to those on variable rate mortgages. There are other options that help buyers budget with more certainty, in particular fixedrate loans, which are very popular although, since the new European Mortgage Directive was introduced, these are not generally available to non-euro earn Iters.may be wise to sign up now while rates remain low. Some banks stopped offering fixed rates for a short while but are reintroducing them now at higher rates. At the Finance Bureau we can help you find the most suitable product for your needs, and have access to a wide variety of finan cial instruments so call us for a chat and we will be only too pleased to help. It may be wise to sign up now while interest rateslowremain
Autonomo hacks
RATES ARE RISING But despite inflation Euribor remains below 1%
How remote working self-employed can put housing expenses against their tax T HE COVID pande mic led to a surge in people buying rural homes with the idea of working re Manymotely.of these became self employed for the first time - Spain has around 3.2 million registered self-employed workers (autonomos) and they pay the highest monthly social security fees in Europe, not to mention declaring VAT (IVA) and paying Spain's national income tax, IRPF. In fact, new laws in 2022 have pushed monthly so cial security contributions up to €293.76, meaning autonomos are paying €96 more this year than in It's2021.no wonder that self-employed workers will be scouring for ways to reduce their end of fi nancial year tax declara tions, or looking for bet ter ways to manage their finances in 2022. What many don’t rea lise is that the cost of housing and related household expenses can be put against their tax Herereturns.are 13 ways to save money as a self-emplo yed worker, which you might be missing out on. If you rent a workpla ce it should be obvious to deduct your rental payments against your IRPF, whether through the quar terly modelo declarations or the end of year declaracion de renta But if you work from home you can also get deductions on your IRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Fisicas) or income tax. The only caveat is that your deduction will be proportional to the living area in which you conduct your self-employed activity. You can also get de ductions on electrici ty, water and heating bills for your workplace or Ifhome.you work from home, the deductions will be proportio nal to space you use for thebycalculatedactivity,businessyourand30%overpercentageofm2usedinyourhome.
MORTGAGE
T HE Bank of Spain has confirmed that the 12-month Euribor closed July at a monthly average of 0.992%, compared to 0.852% in ThisJune.continues the trend of rises that be gan at the beginning of 2022, although the rate of increase has started to slow. But as inflation stays high, it is likely that Euribor – the base lending rate against which loans are calculated - will continue to Therise.rise in the Euribor is 1.483 points compared to a year ago, when it stood at an average of -0.491%. Overall in July, it increased by 0.14 points, although the headlines were grabbed when the European Central Bank hiked it to 1.2% on July 22 before it fell back below the 1% mark at the end of the month. As mortgage rates are set according to the Euribor, the result of these rises will be more expensive mortgag es – although they are still comparatively cheap com pared to the double digit interest rates seen in the 90s. Nonetheless, those on a variable rate mortgage will have to dig deeper into their pockets when their annual or six-monthly review is calculated. For example, a 30-year variable mortgage of €150,000 will cost €90.28 a month more, assuming a Euribor of 0.99%.
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 6 We transport: Yachts, Cars, Motobikes, Power Boats, Work boats, Barges, Motorhomes Car transport and Removals, Tourers and all types of general haulage Casabermeja, Malaga 4 bed, 3 bath Build: 276m2 PROPERTY OF THE WEEK Totally detached, private villa with a Greek flair to the exterior. Inside there is a central hall that connects the spacious lounge diner to the well fitted kitchen with lots of storage and natural light. A second hall leads to two bright, spacious bedrooms and a full family bathroom. VL1142 369.000€ DETACHEDVILLA Mollina Office +34 952 741 Calleinfo@inlandandalucia.com525delaVilla14,29532Mollina,Malagawww.inlandandalucia.com OLIVE PRESS’ GUIDE TO RURAL LIVING
Both residents and non-residents will need to pay an an nual Impuesto Sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI) if you own a home in Spain. As above, the deduction will be proportional to the space in which you work, if you work from home, and will only be deducted in full if your property is used for the sole purpose of your autonomo activity. estate tax (IBI) Rental Payments 4 Interests on loans and credit cards can be deducted from your ta xes, as well as account.usesionscommisfortheofabank Mobile phone bills and internet Interests commissionsandContinuesonPage by mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola THINK TANK
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The Finance Bureau Centro Commercial Guadalmina, 2nOffice No. 7 Guadalmina, 29670
The costs of internet, fixed telephone lines and mobile phone services can also be de ducted from your IVA and IRPF. However, you will need to specifi cally take out a package for auto nomos to be able to deduct these costs, otherwise you will have sig ned up for a personal plan which is not Manydeductible.mobilephone operators will offer incentives for self-em ployed workers, such as additio nal mobile phones or discounts on upgrades.
Real
To contact Tancrede for all your mortgaging needs call: 666 709 743 or for insurance queries call: 951 203 540 Email: tdp@thefinanacebureau.com
By
Drumelia is looking to incorporate a person with extensive experience in accounting, management skills, data handling and a desire to be part of a company in the expansion stage and with a permanent vocation for innovation.
7 9 1012 13 11 8 CONTINUEDHACKSAUTONOMO
LOOKING to discover and buy your dream home here on the Costa del Sol - or perhaps the time has come to sell or up grade your property? You can eliminate the stress, hassle and general headache which can tend to be part and parcel of the process by choosing Imperial Estate to help guide and navigate you, professionally and seamlessly, through the whole process, from start to finish. Established in 1999 Imperial Estate offers clients a dedicated and personalised service, individually tailored to their clients’ in dividual needs and requests. A family business, centrally located in Fuengirola, Fabiola and her team bring to bear an intimate knowledge of the local market. And as part of an extensive network of estate agents with a shared database they guarantee that your property will be visible and accessible to any potential buyers. You can take advantage of the free cutting-edge virtual tours service, professional photographs, energy efficiency certification among many other features and personal touches which Fabiola and her team provide, as part of their service. You can also trust the team at Imperial Estate to take care of renting out your home or property, and ensuring it is managed securely and professionally. So why not drop into their Fuengirola office to speak to Fabiola or to one of her friendly, knowledgeable, multilingual team about your property requirements and take the first step in finding your dream Browsehome.their website and property listings on www.imperiales tate.com and take the opportunity to list your own property on the website absolutely free! Check out their handy online property valuation tool, and sub scribe to their mailing list, and be first in line to receive the latest property listings.
Very large apartment in prestigious building with all services and amenities on the door step. Comprising of 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, spacious kitchen, large lounge with access to large terrace of approx. 100m2, wrapping around most of the apartment. Very sunny and bright south facing with open views over Mijas mountains, sea and town. Needs updating having great potential as a home or divide into home and rental apartment. Must be seen! Ref: L016 – 549.000 € WE NEED PROPERTIES FOR KEEN CLIENTS WAITING TO BUY A HOME OR INVESTMENT PROPERTY. CONTACT US WITHOUT COMMITMENT AND WE WILL PROVIDE VERY INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION! TEL: 952 664 966 INFO@IMPERIALESTATE.COM WWW.IMPERIALESTATE.COM Have a look at our website and find your perfect home. Either second hand or under construction we are going to guide you all the way through purchase experience.
The purchase of a car can be deducted from both your IRPF and IVA, as well as any re pairs, parking fees, toll charges and The reductions depend on the purpose of your vehicle – if the car is solely for business, reduc tions can be 100%, but if your car is for both personal and bu siness use reductions are usually 50%. WE hope this list of tricks to save money as an autonomo in Spain helps you save some extra pennies for you! For any further information, check with your gestor, or consider using the services of one to get maximum advice and savings.
Drumelia is actively recruiting a rental agent to join their charismatic team. With previous rental experience in Marbella required, the candidate must be a determined individual with whocommunicationexcellentskillsandislookingtogrowtheircareerandexperienceinrealestate.
Ref: 154 – 205.000 € LOS BOLICHES, FUENGIROLA FUENGIROLA CENTRE
Gastos
Drumelia is seeking to incorporate a in-house lawyer with a solid background and prior experience in real estate sales and purchases. Excellent writing skills, attention to detail, very strong academic credentials and analytical ability are required.
ACCOUNTANTIN-HOUSE
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 8
your
Carservicesadministrationor From Page 6
Call or email Fabiola and her team on: +34 952 664 966 or +34 656 815 699, and at info@imperialestate.com
Many self-employed workers in Spain will use gestor to manage their business invoices and expenses, and prepare the relevant declara on their The costs of this service, as well as any services of a lawyer necessary for your business activity, can also be deducted as Legal
Feria ground area, very cosy and bright apartment in nice neighbourhood surrounded by shops, restaurants and near all kind of services. Offering 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted spacious kitchen and lounge leading to sunny terrace. Low running costs, makes a nice warm home and has great rental potential.
Ref: L026 – 235.000 € In the very prestigious Higuerón area, this modern apartment offers lots of space, tranquility, great views and comfort. Great investment as it has fantastic rental potential. Offering 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen, lounge and large terrace with panoramic views over the sea and mountains. Fully air conditioned. Beautiful communal gardens and pool, private underground garage space. You will enjoy the visit! Ref: L024 – 345.000 €
ESTATEREALAGENT
Very bright apartment in excellent location with all services at the door step. Spacious with 3 bedrooms, bathroom, fully fitted kitchen, lounge diner leading to sunny terrace with open views over city, sea and montains, very pleasant and cosy home it is really worth a visit. Ref: 065 – 250.000 € Lower part, beautiful apartment in residential area within walking distance to the beautiful beaches, train station, shops, etc. Very spacious and bright makes an ideal home. Offering 1 double bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, lounge and terrace overlooking the beautiful community gardens, fully furnished with the possibility to make another bedroom. Good value for this very pleasant apartment with community salted pool, gardens and parking. Ref: 069 – 149.000 €
Drumelia Real Estate +34 952 766 950 www.drumelia.com
Any equipment you purchase for your business, whether at home or your workplace, can also be deducted from your tax returns. These could be anything from a work desk to a new phone or computer, which could mean a significant reduc tion in both IVA and IRPF. In Spain anything considered a gastos de explotacion or ‘operating cost’ can be deducted. de explotacion
Insurance policies necessary for the operation of your business – such as life insurance, medical insu rance and civil responsi bility insurances – can be Ifdeducted.you’rea self-employed autonomo worker in Spain you’ll also be paying na tional insurance, seguridad social, contributions for healthcare and unemploy ment benefits. This can also be deducted from your tax declarations in full.
SUPPORTSALES Drumelia is actively looking to incorporate a driven and determined individual to support the sales team.
Any salaries or invoi ces paid to outsour cers or freelancers for the operation of your business activity can also be deducted from your tax declarations.
Contracts outsourcingor Included within gastos de explotación are also digital services, like software or subscriptions necessary for the management or operation of your business. This can also include the hosting, maintenance and set-up costs of a website, for example. Software Any funds spent on marketing or adver tising, whether for a service or freelancer, can also be claimed back as a business expense. Marketing You can claim on any taxi, train, bus or plane trip necessary for your self-employed ac tivity in Spain. Trips Insurance IN-HOUSELAWYER
SEARCHING FOR NEW TALENT
REAL ESTATE WITH THE PERSONAL TOUCH Imperial Estate brings more than 20 years experience to help smooth the way in your property transactions
Drumelia is actively recruiting a real estate agent to join their dynamic team. With previous sales experience in Marbella required, the candidate must be an ambitious individual with milecommunicationexcellentskillsandiswillingtogotheextratoprovidetheutmostprofessionalservices.
Very spacious apartment in very quiet area very close to the beach and services, train station, etc. Very bright with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen, spacious lounge and terrace overlooking the mountains. Very nice communal pool and gardens makes a perfect home or holiday rental income. Private garage space 100m from the building. Visit without commitment! Ref: L023 – 295.000 €
RENTALAGENT
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Country side small cosy house for nature lovers, situated in the outskirts of Fuengirola near Mijas Golf, this charming property in a very quiet area offers lots of potential, 77m2 built on 4626m2 plot. Overlooking mountains and country side and yet only a few minutes drive to town.
CAREERS AT DRUMELIA for more detailed information and how to apply for each position go to: https://www.drumelia.com/about/careers
Sea front, very bright and sunny apartment overlooking the sea, sun rise and sun set from the large south facing terrace. Very spacious with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, spacious kitchen with utility room, lounge-diner with direct access to 43m2 terrace with beautiful sea views and sun all day. Underground garage and store room included, community gardens. A real gem by the sea worth paying a visit! Great rental potential and ideal home. Ref: L025 – 595.000 €
MIJASFUENGIROLA FUENGIROLA, BENALMÁDENAFUENGIROLATORREBLANCATORREBLANCAFERIA
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 10
SUNNY DELIGHT
A SIMPLE STRAIGHTFORWARDANDPROCESS
As solartemperaturessoar,sodoesdemandforpowerandenergyprices er-growing client base.” With more than 300 days of sun per year, Spain is the perfect location for solar panels, yet historically the coun try has lagged behind some of its European neighbours in terms of the numbers of solar installations. This was mainly due to the infamous ‘sun tax’ which previously levied un fair taxes on those who chose to generate their own electricity with so lar Thankfullypanels. that tax has been abolished, paving the way for both homeowners and businesses to make substantial savings from this plentiful and renewable source of energy. “Interest in solar panels is at an all time high,” Martin Tye said. “And it’s easy to understand why when you look at all the benefits an installation has to offer.”
COMBATING CLIMATE CRISIS
THE solar energy revolution has firmly taken hold across Spain, with demand for solar panel in stallations soaring. Homeowners and businesses alike realise the huge benefits that gener ating their own electricity can offer. To cater for the growing demand, Spain’s leading solar panel and green energy company, Mar iposa Energía has just opened a new office in LaunchedAlicante. in San Pe dro de Alcántara on the Costa del Sol al most three years ago, Mariposa Energía has gone from strength-to strength, rapidly in creasing its reach from Andalucia ini tially to the whole of Spain. The new Alicante office is ideally lo cated to support the high level of in terest from the English-speaking mar ket, who welcome the ability to work with a company which speaks their Martinlanguage.Tye, CEO at Mariposa En ergía said: “We are delighted to have opened a new Alicante office, with a team on the ground in the area. “We pride ourselves on our first-class customer service and so it is important that we have solar specialists based in the Alicante area as local points of contact for
AN INVESTMENT THAT PAYS FOR ITSELF
Clients also receive an app so that they can monitor their solar instal lation from anywhere in the world, seeing how much electricity it is generating and how much they are What’sconsuming.more, the Mariposa Energía team handles all of the registration paperwork on behalf of their clients. All solar installations come with a 30-year comprehensive guarantee, giving you peace of mind that your solar installation will stand the test of time and full maintenance sup port is provided, although solar pan els require very little maintenance. “Installing solar panels really is a win, win situation. You will make huge savings, you will gain the free dom to use your high consuming appliances, such as the dishwasher and washing machine during the day and you will even add value to your home. What’s more you will be helping to protect our planet for fu ture generations to come.”
Wholesale cost of rocketedhaselectricitysky-overthelastyear
One of the main factors that has prompted consumers to opt for so lar panels is the volatility in the en ergy market as Martin Tye explains: “The wholesale cost of electricity has sky-rocketed over the last 12 months and with so many external factors that can cause fluctuations in those costs, many homeowners and busi nesses are choosing to produce their own electricity, putting themselves firmly in control of their electricity costs and allowing them to make huge savings. “In fact our clients are finding that, with the savings they are making, their solar installation has paid for itself in just two to three years.”
Installing and using solar panels is actually a lot easier than you may Atthink.Mariposa Energía it all starts with a satellite survey of the roof or available land space and analysis of your electricity bill to determine how much energy you consume on Fromaverage.there the solar specialist team creates a proposal, recommending the size and layout of the solar in Thestallation.proposal is incredibly detailed and includes information on the amount of electricity your solar pan els will produce, along with a 20year cash flow forecast so you can see how much money you will save and how soon your investment will have paid for itself. “The cost savings really are stagger ing and our clients are often really surprised at just how much money they will save and how quickly they see a return on investment.”
To find out more about solar panels contact the friendly team at Mariposa Energía today on +34 951 120 830, by emailing gogreen@mariposaenergia.es or by visiting the website www.mariposaenergia.es
And it’s not just the substantial cost savings which make solar panels such an attractive investment. It’s also a fantastic way for consumers to reduce their carbon footprint. “Climate change is a very real and very urgent problem. The planet’s average temperature is rising at an alarming rate and it’s vital that we take immediate action to slow down global warming. The effects of this temperature rise can already be seen with an increase in forest fires, droughts, flooding and the erosion of coastal areas. If action isn’t taken this problem will only get worse with an increase in crop failures, loss of habitats and rising sea levels,” Mar tin “Theexplains.burning of fossil fuels to pro duce electricity is one of the main contributing factors to climate change. The harmful emissions that are produced as a result of this pro cess, known as greenhouse gases, become trapped in the earth’s at mosphere, leading to global warm “Bying. moving to green energy sources, such as solar power, we can reduce the levels of harmful emissions in our atmosphere and help to protect the future of our planet. “Unlike fossil fuels, solar power does not produce these harmful emissions. What’s more it’s a re newable source of energy, meaning that as long as the sun continues to shine, it will never run out.”
Harness the power of the sun SOLAR PANELSPV Save money Save the planet Add value to your home CONTACT US TODAY +34 951 120 830 | www.mariposaenergia.esinfo@mariposaenergia.ess 30-Year Guarantee • Full Maintenance • Low-Cost Finance AUGUST 112022
Take a tour of the house Eva Longoria stayed in
EVA LONGORIA has been put up in the lap of luxury on her recent visit to Spain. The Desperate Housewi ves star certainly won’t be desperate to leave ‘Villa Aire’, a spectacular home in TheMarbella.villa,which luxury ho mes platform Pacaso ma nages on a co-ownership basis - it can have up to eight different owners and the price of each fraction of the house costs €788,668 - is located in Aloha, an exclusive community in Nueva Andalucía.
www.pacaso.comCREDITS:PIC
Eva took the opportunity to post a pic ture of herself sitting on one of the secluded terraces clad in a skimpy swimsuit and apparently indulging in a spot of product pla cement - which may well have helped pay the rent!
The contemporary style building is advertised for rent at €3,564 a month and features beautiful gardens and a luxurious designer swimming pool. It features an impressive entrance hall that opens onto a spacious open plan living room. It also has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a gymna Thesium.living rooms feature double height ceilings, large floor-to-ceiling win dows and large terraces. The master bedroom offers beautiful views of the gardens, La Concha mountain and the Golf CannyValley.
NICE PAD!
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 12
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 14
IN our current climate of ins tability, lots of people have lots of questions about the Spanish real estate market and what it means for them. Should they sell now before prices fall? Should they wait to buy until prices fall? Will prices fall at all? And, are we set for another crisis like The2008?short answer is this is not ‘another 2008’ for many rea sons. Let me explain. A cynical Costa del Sol estate agent may take inspiration from the movie of David Ma met’s masterpiece Glenga rry Glen Ross, in which Alex Baldwin distills his knowledge of the real-estate business to the famous acronym, ABC –Always Be Closing. However, there’s a new acronym, UBC – (Ukraine, Brexit, Covid), to which I would add two I’s, in flation and interest rates (UBI IC?) that threatens to burst the current boom…or does it? Against the apparent nega tive backdrop of UBC, the Costa del Sol real-estate mar ket has reached record levels of transactions and, in some locations, prices have risen as well. In Marbella and Estepo na, for instance, we see in creases in sales compared to the first quarter of 2019 (the last comparable quarter with no Covid restrictions), of 57% and 102%, respectively. In Malaga province as a whole, prices rose year-on-year by 7.6%, at least keeping pace with the general inflation rate.
INTEREST RATES & INFLATION
Nonetheless, in the news and in the forefront of many peo ple’s minds, speculation has settled on the two I’s – infla tion and interest rates – and whether these will spell trou ble for the property market. In the US, interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages have shot up from around 3% to nearly 6% (in Spain, fixed-ra te mortgages can still be found for just over 2%). Not surprisingly, this is having an impact on both sales and prices, as households are able to carry less debt in the face of higher interest rates. Here in the Costa del Sol, the effects of inflation are likely to be most felt, in the short to medium term, in the rising cost of new construction. This will have less of an immedia te impact on resale homes, which already have costs ‘baked in.’ In addition to the uncertainty of how the conflict in Ukrai ne could escalate, the most immediate effect is to drive various inflationary forces, es pecially fuel costs, which then will add to upward pressures. This will, again, hit new-build prices hardest. In 2015, Brits made up about 22.5% of foreign home pur chases in Spain. By the begin ning of 2018 – before Brexit –that had fallen to below 15%. Brits now make up about 12% of the market. However, in the same time period, Germans have risen from about 7% to almost 10% and both Moroc cans and Swedes have grown from around 2% to about 6% of foreign property buyers. Those percentage numbers also hide the fact that buyers from all the major purchasing countries have rebounded in total number of sales. The UK is still below its peak in 2016 but, if current trends hold, it will have returned to previous sales numbers within two years. So, we’re seeing a mix of indicators, which can be confusing. With that in mind, I’d like to suggest a new acronym to make sense of current trends and to have some predictive power, DSC. Let’s look at each of these.
C IS FOR COVID More than anything else, Co vid has dramatically changed the real-estate market, as there have been huge demo graphic shifts in work as well as housing. Many companies are finding that their emplo yees, who have tasted the exotic fruits of freedom, are reluctant to change their newfound homeworking lifestyle. According to studies, around 18% of workers in the EU now work remotely. In Spain, the number of remote workers has surpassed 1.7 million. The lifestyle change brou ght on by the pandemic has been nothing short of a cul
Economist. In this article, it was pointed out that while there are headwinds in the US market, the landscape is vastly different to the last crisis. As the author states: “The total value of mortgage debt is around 65% of household inco me, compared with nearly 100% in 2007.” This is the same in Europe and particularly in Spain where banks, their lessons learnt the hard way from the last crisis, have restric ted loan-to-value lending to sensible levels. In fact, my first-hand experience is that very few buyers on the Costa del Sol use a mortgage unless for fiscal Therereasons.is also the fact that the majority of homeow ners with mortgages are locked in to extremely low fixed-rate mortgages. This is borne out by the numbers. According to data from the College of Property Registrars, about 60% of home buyers in Andalusia have fixed-ra te mortgages. This is a massive sea change from pre-2007, when effecti vely 100% of mortgage holders held variable-rate Becausemortgages.ofthis, even if the ECB raises interest rates in line with those in the US, we won’t see the kind of massive defaults we saw in 2007. That means the market won’t be flooded with forced sales at bar
Marina
Does this spell trouble for the Spanish real estate market? tural revolution, similar to the mass production of cars and the change in living and working habits this brought about (think suburban Ame rica). Beliefs that this change is temporary seem mistaken, as the sheer numbers of lifes tyle buyers coming to Spain attests. This is a trend set to continue and which is reinfor ced by Spain’s introduction of a digital nomad law to make relocating to Spain for remote work much easier. Ten years ago, most pur chasers were holiday home buyers, spending summers or a few weeks in winter in the sun. Today, an enormous number of buyers are lifes tyle buyers. These are people looking to radically alter their lives by spending more and more time in the sun, living and working from home or running their business from afar.
Mov:
info@js-sotogrande.com www.js-sotogrande.com Price: €2,500,000 Price:
Spacious Villa – Valderrama Golf 6 bedrooms / 6 bathrooms • 796m2 built 4.421m2 plot • Jacuzzi • Cinema room Tennis/Paddle court • Solarium Underfloor heating (partial) Sold fully furnished including car Frontline Villa – Almenara Golf 5 bedrooms / 5 bathrooms • 509m2
3.859m2 plot • Great fully fitted kitchen Spacious open plan living 5 minutes from SO/Sotogrande 5 star hotel Central heating by radiators
FROM DSC TO USP Back to where we started. There are very good reasons to be concerned about the state of the world and, for our purposes, its potential im pact on the real-estate mar ket. However, many of these anxieties arise from wrongly believing the current moment is a parallel to the 2008 crisis. In addition to the statistics, I believe the USP – unique se lling proposition – of lifestyle pockets such as the Costa del Sol,mean they will continue to attract a significant amount of lifestyle buyers; retirees, digital nomads, start-up en trepreneurs, and more. This will remain true, as evidenced by current sales numbers and buyer interest, to the extent that these beautiful pockets of sun weather the oncoming storms and remain sunlit, flourishing refuges. Of course, how could you expect an estate agent to re main anything but confident (ABC)? Whether my optimism is well-placed, time will tell. But with record numbers of tourists predicted this sum mer and Costa del Sol hotels at 100% occupancy, many more people will discover the charms of the Spanish lifestyle and choose to stay long after their holidays are over.
Terra Meridiana, 77 Calle Caridad, Estepona • 29680 • Tel: +34 951 318480. Office Mob: +34 678 452109 Email: Website:info@terrameridiana.com.www.terrameridiana.com
Sierra
The figures quoted above about US interest rates come from a recent article in The gain-basement prices. In ad dition, the housing carrying cost for homeowners has fallen from over 50%, prior to the crisis, to a stable and sustainable 30% in Andalu sia. Spaniards now also have higher levels of savings and lower debt loads in general. So, I’m not expecting a delu ge of new properties to the market for quite some time. Which leads to our next letter: S IS FOR SUPPLY The negative effects of low supply have been well docu mented, leading to inflation in many types of assets from secondhand cars to housing. Supply in the Marbella pro perty market is a huge pro blem. It used to be the case that, in any given develop ment, there would be 5% of stock available, giving buyers a reasonable amount of choi ce. In the current market, in many developments we are down to 1-2% stock availabi lity and, for the reasons abo ve, the landscape looks likely to remain this way for some time. Basically, you have a combined situation of sellers not selling, while demand continues to rise. One of the effects of the Ukrainian conflict has been to increase Scandinavian inte rest in buying a second home in Andalusia, “just in case”. This reinforces what was al ready a trend in the market, which has led to the growth of a sizable Scandinavian com munity on the Costa del Sol and in Alicante.
D IS FOR DEBT
FROM ABC TO UBC byInsiderPropertyTheAdamNeale
UBC: Ukraine, Brexit and Covid are not the only factors on the property market Plaza, Ribera del Marlin, Marina de Sotogrande, 11310 Cadiz Calle Bermeja, Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro, 11311 Cadiz Tel: 956 795300 628 574953 €2,950,000 built
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TENDING THE FIRE: at the Museo de Cal Moronde
GETTING READY: Limestone is stacked... ...then when ready the kiln is lit... ...and a worker tests to see if it’s ready... ...with the final cal powder ready to be mixed into paint 19th century lime kilns and a shed ca lled ‘Del Caler’ built at about the same time and made with materials from the Bothperiod.the shed and all decorationretainmuseuminbuildingsthethethe
THE WHITE STUFF
MorondeCalMuseoCREDITS:PIC
Andalucia’s famous white village houses are cool and beautiful – and they might just keep out plagues By Livia Cockerell
OF all the possible images of An dalucia, the white village set against a mountainous landsca pe is one of the most iconic. In provinces such as Cadiz and Malaga, the pueblos blancos shimmer blindingly under the Andalucian sun. They happen to be as pretty as a picture, but there are practical reasons for why they are white. Between the 8th and 15th century, Anda lucia was an Islamic kingdom, separated from the north of Spain, which was ruled by Christian kings. During this period of divi sion, the decision to use lime (or cal) to whi tewash entire villages in Andalucia helped create a sense of unity between the Moorish pueblos Choosing the colour had practical as well as political benefits. The bright white reflects the sunlight, kee ping the houses cool during the hot summer months. The Moors had several ingenious strategies for combatting the Mediterranean heat, from building on the north face of crags to designing streets so narrow they were shaded by houses on either side, and using white was an integral part of their Inplan.the past, the whitewash that coats these buildings was made by artisan caleros from slaked lime, known to be both an effective insect repellent and a powerful disinfectant. During epidemics of yellow fever and pla gue, houses were whitewashed in an at tempt to prevent the further spread of disea se. While it’s uncertain whether this worked, it was a particularly valuable course of ac tion during the cholera outbreak of the 19th century, when the highly alkaline properties of slaked lime proved effective in killing this particular bacteria. So important was cal that UNESCO has granted the traditional method of its pro duction ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hu manity’ status. Today, most cal is industrially produced and the centuries old artisan practice is in dan ger of dying out – but not everywhere.
An hour’s drive from Sevilla, the Museo de Cal de Moron demonstrates the artisanal Itprocess.occupies a large area of 3,000 m2. Vi sitors can see two fully restored, traditional and utensils characteristic of the period. The museum has an interpretation centre and projection room, where visitors can learn first-hand the whole process of lime production and how its impact on Anda lusian culture has made it a world-fa mous symbol of the region's identity.
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to findout that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; andthat mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timberand irrigating rivers, but as fountains oflife. Awakening from the stupefying effectsof the vice of over-industry and the deadlyapathy of luxury, they are trying as best theycan to mix and enrich their own little ongoings with those of Nature, and to get ridof rust and disease.”
An imaginary sketch on how the mass development of the virgin coastline of Tarifa might go, writes Campbell Ferguson of Survey Spain
Does
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“In the meantime, the wildest health andpleasure grounds accessible and availableto tourists seeking escape from care anddust and early death are the parks and re-servations of the West.”
HAND S OFF OUR
PRISTINE: The Costa de la Luz remains unspoiled
Fight them onthe beaches HAN OF URC TAS Battle lines are being drawnas massive mega-projectcould see football pitchesof homes and hotels ‘swamp’Tarifa’s famous virginbeaches opmentSpainsome buildings,protectedoppositeareadehope ButEnvironmental building Lancesthe see plans whenValdeva schemes.Francisco COSTAS
IF ONLY
Lawbird is a firm of English speaking lawyers who specialise in property law, corporate law, litigation and immigration law. Whether you plan to buy a house, start a company or relocate to Spain, we offer a no-nonsense service to assist you. Lawbird Legal Services Slp C.Ricardo Soriano, 19 29601 Marbella (Spain) TEL: +34 952 861 890 FAX: +34 952 861 695 gary.newsham@lawbird.com www.lawbird.com AS she was driven from her luxury home to her plush office in central Madrid, Pilar, the CEO of ABC developments, reflected on the previous day’s events. After a busy morning signing off on the first occupation li cences for a brand new de velopment on the outskirts of the capital it was off to a long summer lunch at her favourite air-conditioned restaurant half way up the Paseo Castellana. It had become a repetitive con versation with the always eager Manuel, the principal financier, boasting of how much mon ey the company had and then complaining there were so few places to invest it and then wily Juanjo - who represents the company’s shareholders - urg ing Pilar to act. Juanjo was always looking for Pilar to use that money to main tain a continuing solid return on the shares, as that's what the pension funds required. Quite simply, the pressure was on to start new developments as soon as possible - and as big as possible - so that the cash flow would keep coming in. So today is the day for getting things moving. Her team of 20 professionals, all with substan tial salaries tied to mortgages, private schools, etc, are des perate for movement. Oh yes, and first she has a meeting with Miguel, the head of the construction company, that now has over 200 em ployed personnel, again all with mouths to feed, plus an army of subcontractors, self employed professionals and casual la bourers, all of whom depend upon the developer (her) to move things forward. It is a ‘beast’ that needs to be continuously ‘fed’. When did this treadmill start and how would it ever stop? She and hundreds of similar companies like hers couldn’t cover the whole country with concrete surely, but that's what was happening. The team had been primed to bring forward projects that could be acted on quickly and had a reasonable chance for Thesuccess.discussions continued well into the afternoon. Some were just run-of-the-mill extensions to existing developments, while most were coming out as too expensive and with low profit margins, even with the opti mistic projections of the sales Ateam.combination of high site ac quisition prices and ever-es calating construction and material costs, were the main problems. Even though inflation was go ing to lower the effects of his torical costs, Pilar just wasn’t in a risk-taking mood. Towards the end, when every one was tired and the post lun cheon coffee ‘rush’ had died, Miguel mentioned the two po tential sites at Tarifa on Anda lucia’s Costa de la Luz. Pilar admitted she had nev er been there, having been brought up in Cantabria, but she admitted the long pristine beaches and plentiful land be hind them seemed a natural choice for development. The luxury units to sell at over a half a million a throw would inevita bly However,shift. Carolina, the ecol ogist in the team, raised the natural problems such as lack of infrastructure, a shortage of water, and a reputation for the coast’s infamous winds to drive potential buyers mad. Also, said Carolina, it’s one of the in Andalucia and vital to pre serve with the looming climate Thecrisis.mention of the environ ment and global warming brought Pilar back to when she helped her daughter with her geography homework the previous night, stressing the need for radical changes in “Yousociety.build houses, don’t you Mummy?”, she had asked. ”Did you know all the concrete, steel and bricks account for ap proximately 40% of the world’s carbon pollution?” Pricked by the thought of her daughter and her potential grandchildren, she thankfully came to her senses. na says are sustainable. We may own the land, but we bought it cheaply, but we’ve now got to look at life and work differently. Caroline, you and I must visit there as soon as pos sible to get a better view.” And that’s how the company lost their CEO for a few months, who came, saw and was con quered by the Light. The temporary halt and hiatus of activity meant the company could survive in reduced form when the 2023 economic col lapse came, without having scarred the land with yet more Thedevelopment.beacheswould remain the pride and joy of thousands who would discover them in the
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John Muir, the driving force behind the Nationalparks of the USA
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 18 P h o n e : 9 5 2 9 2 3 5 2 0 w w w . s u r v e y s p a i n . c o m C u r r e n t M a r k e t V a l u a t i o n s B u i l d i n g C o n d i t i o n S u r v e y s N e w b u i l d S n a g g i n g R e g u l a t e d b y R I C S Having a First Occupation Licence/Licence of First Occupancy Will enable you to comply with current laws if you wish to rent your property short-term OR will improve your chances to close a sale if you wish to sell your property.
www.theolivepress.es 26th 2022 voiceSpainPOLIVERESSThe expat ANDALUCÍA FREE X + info@theskydoctor.comALLDOCTORUNLIMITEDPAY INFORMATIONMORE, ANTHONY’S ANTIQUES Mijas Costa beenfootballexpectedecologyremainingcamprojects6.2 develop its infrastructure.countlessscarceApartprojectsthisneedsGil,Torre
Did
While online correspondence is the main focus of most of Kris tina’s rivals, her business still sees the value of a face-to-face meeting so that a working rela tionship can be struck and they can understand exactly what clients want.
Commitment Kristina Szekely’s Puerto Banus office is open 7 days a week until late, such is their com mitment to accommodating prospective buyers whose busy schedules make it hard to stick to a daytime appointment. With experience unrivalled on the Costa del Sol, offices also in Sotogrande, Marbella, and Gi braltar, and staff who together speak almost every language in Europe, the real question to ask is, why would you not pop in for a chat? 952 81 40
KRISTINA SZEKELY real estate embodies the very best parts of Marbella with an internationalist company feel to match this truly global city. With an office in the heart of Puerto Banus, there is no bi gger champion of Marbella’s allure than Kristina Szekley, who lives and breathes the city. “Marbella is a unique place,” Kristina tells me. “Whatever you are into, whe ther it’s golf, tennis, polo, or shopping, the list here is end less. We are now in a stage of a new Marbella, which cele brates diversity and aspiration. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you can always make something of yourself in this glorious part of the world,” she Marbellasays. has been in the as cendancy for years, and now is in healthy competition with global cities, not just national Andone’s.Kristina Szekely real estate is at the forefront of this, with business continuing to be hi ghly resilient to the global cost of living “Businesscrisis.isstill great for us, because people understand that our properties offer a new chapter of life on the Costa del Sol, allowing you to work while enjoying life at the same time.” Her clientele has changed over the past six months, with un derstandably much fewer Rus sians buying property but also fewer Brits who are finding it harder to navigate Spanish red tape in the post-Brexit era. “Despite challenges we have seen a big increase in the num ber of mainland Europeans partnering with us, and noti ceably more Irish buyers. There are always new obstacles to Kristina Szekely - at the helm of the new Marbella overcome, but this ebbs and flows and always has. We are uniquely situated to weather any storm from international issues because people still see the fantastic properties and lo cations that we offer.”
AUGUST 192022
t +34
40 @kristinaszekelyhola@kssir.comrealty www.ksmarbella.com MARB E L L A · PU E R TO BA NU S · SO T O G RA N DE · GI BRA LT A R FRONTLINE MARBELLABEACH,EAST 4.800.000 euros KSSIR-26664P · Bedrooms: 4 · Bathrooms: 4 Built: 417 m2 · Plot: 1.016 m2 · Terrace: 180 m2 Stunning villa placed in a fully gated community with security cameras and night guard, located directly behind the fantastic protected dunes of El Arenal. FRONTLINE HARBOUR, PUERTO BANUS 1.195.000 euros KSSIR-26724P· Bedrooms: 2 · Bathrooms: 2 Built: 137 m2 · Parking Spaces · Terrace: 20 m2 OASIS OF TRANQUILITY IN MARBELLA CENTRE KSSIR-26719P · 795.000 euros KSSIR-26611P · 880.000 euros Built: 168 m2 · 3 Parking Spaces · Terrace: 27 m2 Elegant and unique residential complex built to the highest specifications, located in one of the most exclusive areas of the Golden Mile, in a enviroment of 6,500 m2 of tropical gardens. 24 hour service and security. Spectacular frontline sea apartment o ering the most impressive views over the Mediterranean Sea. JARDINES DEL PRINCIPE
STILL ON TOP
Have a look at our website and find your perfect home. Either second hand or under construction we are going to guide you all the way through your purchase experience.
HAVE A LOOK AT OUR WEBSITE AND FIND YOUR PERFECT HOME. EITHER SECOND HAND OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION WE ARE GOING TO GUIDE YOU ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOUR PURCHASE EXPERIENCE. WE NEED PROPERTIES FOR KEEN CLIENTS WAITING TO BUY A HOME OR INVESTMENT PROPERTY. CONTACT US WITHOUT COMPROMISE AND WE WILL PROVIDE VERY INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION!
Benalmádena near the budist stupa, modern bright and sunny apartment offering 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen and lounge leading to large terrace with panoramic views over the sea and mountains, fully air conditioned, hot-cold, within very nice community with paddle tennis, gardens and pool, private underground garage space. Ideal as home and great for rental income, viewing highly recommended! Ref: L009 – 235.000 € Torreblanca Fuengirola, near train station and only a few minutes walk to the beach, this apartment offers 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted modern kitchen, lounge and large terrace overlooking the mountains, air conditining hot-cold, community salted water pool and garden, private underground garage space. Must be seen! Makes an ideal home! Ref: L021 – 230.000 € Fuengirola centre, within the very prestigious complex Puebla Lucia, this bright and cosy apartment is waiting for a new owner to enjoy nice holidays or make a lovely home. Very sunny with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, large utility room, lounge and terrace. With great rental potential, community pools, gardens and Worthparking.avisit in this superb location. Ref: L001 – 295.000 € Fuengirola Torreblanca area, very cosy and bright apartment in nice neighbourhood surrounded by mountains and nature, only a few minutes drive to services and beautiful beach, this apartment offers a perfect home within 52m2 plus 17m2 terrace facing south. One bedroom, onebathroom, open plan kitchen, lounge and terrace with open views over the mountains and sea. Partly furnished it is ready to welcome a new family. Don’t miss the chance to visit at this unbeatable price! Ref: 065 – 115.000 € Prestigious and peaceful urb Doña Pilar, magnificent detached villa in very peaceful position. Built by the present owners with quality materials, offering 4 berooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, open plan Scandinavian kitchen, utility room, spacious lounge leading to large sunny terrace, storage room, bbq área, swimming pool and lots more. Plenty of room for fruit trees or orchard. Private parking for 2 cars, air con and underfloor heating. Ideal home for nature and lovers. Good value! Ref: L130 – 570.000 € Los Boliches, Fuengirola, restaurant Family busines for sale with freehold premises consisting of 104m2 built plus over 150m2 terrace to dine al fresco in the beautiful spring, summer and autum nights this legendary Greek restaurant is waiting for someone keen to take over the successful years of business since 1985. Tutorial offered to continue the business, otherwise, ideal location for any kind of restaurant. Must be seen! Ref: 071 – 270.000 €
LASFUENGIROLAFUENGIROLABENALMÁDENACENTRELAGUNAS,MIJAS
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AREA FUENGIROLA, TORREBLANCA
Fuengirola sea front, very bright and sunny apartment with lateral sea views and views over the castle, ideal location to live all year round or rental income. Very cosy with 2 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen, lounge and spacious sunny terrace. Underground garage space and storage room. Must be seen to be appreciated! Ref: L011 – 395.000 € Las Lagunas, Mijas área, a unique penthouse in good location near shops, schools and all kind of amenities, makes an ideal family home to enjoy large solárium and lounge, 18m2 terrace with sun all day. Comprising of 82m2 living área with 2 single bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen, utility room and 82m2 solarium. Good condition ready to move in with underground garage space. Must be seen! Ref: 148 – 215.000 €
By Alex Trelinski
LA CULTURA 11August 10thAugust 23rd 2022
NEW LADY PLEA ELCHE council has made a fresh appeal to the Ministry of Culture and the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid to return the ‘Lady of Elche’ bust. Mayor Carlos Gonzalez made the plea at a ceremony on the 125th anniversary of its discovery. The Lady of Elche is a stone bust that was found on August 4, 1897 at L’Alcudia. It’s an Iberian sculpture dating back to the fourth century BC and was bought by the Lou vre museum in Paris for 4,000 Infrancs.1941, it returned to Spain where it stayed for 30 years in the Prado Museum. Elche council has campaigned for many years for it to be perma nently displayed in its home city.
GAME OF THRONES fans are eagerly gearing up for the new prequel series House of the Dragon which premieres on August 21 in the US and over the following days inter Locationnationally. shoots happened last year in Spain, with Cace res being used, like in Game of Thrones, for the drama which stars ex-Doctor Who, Matt Smith. The original worldwide hit used stunning international locations and four of the top five most popular for visitors are in Spain. Pop culture specialists, Zavvi, produced their list of most visited locations by looking at photos posted on social media featuring location hashtags and filtering. The most visited location is the Castillo de Zafra in Gua dalajara - also known as the Tower of Joy, which featured in season six of Game of Thrones According to Google Trends, Thrones filming locations had a 92% rise in interest in July, with the Castillo de Za fra, seeing a 50% increase in Morocco’ssearches. Essaouira came second followed by Caceres with the old castle doubling up as King’s Landing. Fourth on the list is Itzurun beach at Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country which in season seven showed the landing of Queen Daenerys at Dragon stone. In fifth place is Peñiscola in Castellon Province which became the city of Meer een, which was captured by Daenerys.
Scent successof IT may be a feast for the eyes, but Madrid’s Prado museum also made one masterpiece a treat for the nostrils too. Last month it experimented with exhibiting The Sense of Smell by Jan Breughel and Rubens accompanied by scents and aromas. The painting’s original goal was to evoke the immense range of smells a human can distinguish through its sub ject matter of a sucious gar Soden.the Prado decided to go a step further by partnering with the Perfume Acade my Foundation to create 10 distinct scents to bring the painting to life for visitors. Using AirParfum, a technol ogy developed by Puig, the perfumer Gregorio Sola cre ated the fragrances which were wafted towards visitors.
TOP DRAWS
IT can not be overstated how important it is to read and under stand the documents that come with your insurance policies. Very few people seem to be aware of the importance of first checking if your policy documents are totally correct with all the right information. This is especially important for car policies where it is vital that the number plate information is correct. Also, these documents should be kept in the car, but make sure you have copies at home too in case the vehicle is stolen. For your home policies, ensuring that the address is correct and the same as that registered on the catastral will make life a lot easier, should you need to claim. Without understanding your insurance documents, you will not be fully aware of your exact coverage, should anything happen. With the increases to both inflation and the cost of living, unfor tunately burglaries are on the increase, especially with unoccu pied properties. Ensure you understand what you need to do to not only protect your property but also ensure you have the right cover with your insurance. It is worth making sure you know in advance what to do if any thing happens. For example, know what telephone numbers to call and research what documentation and information you will be required to provide. Obviously health insurance is a little more complicated. Ensure you know what information you need, have the contact details with you at all times and it helps to store the telephone numbers on your telephone, along with your policy number. If you are unsure how to use your medical insurance, ask your agent or broker. It is always better to be prepared, I know that insurance docu ments are not easy reading but it always pays to know and un derstand your policy. It will make your life easier, less stressful and in some cases, will prevent large unexpected bills. To help you with your claim, I have a special Claim Administrator to guide you through the process with Liberty Seguros, an ASSSA administrator to assist you with your health policy and a renew als department to help you with your renewals, and to check that your policy coverage is correct and up to date. Outside of my office hours, all the insurance companies have emergency contact information, which comes with your policy. Jennifer: It makes life so much easier if you know what to do in a crisis
Dear
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A QUOTATION, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF MY OFFICES, EMAIL INFO@JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET OR VISIT THE WEBSITE WWW.JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET
MOST VISITED: Castillo de Zafra
A Great place to eat with charcoal grill, wood oven, burgers, salads, pizzas, big ribs, fresh fish, vegan and vegetarian dishes. TOP QUALITY STEAKS From grass-fed free range cows, between 5 and 20 years old. SUSTAINABLE TUNA of the Wild Red company, the best you have eaten ! stunning spot, big garden,andpalmspool! Tel: +34 620 22 44 www.pachamamatarifa.com Ctra Nacional N-340, km 81 • 11380 Tafifa (Cadiz) email: infopachamamatarifa@gmail.com
Spain has 4 out of top 5 Game of Thrones locations
FOLLOWING THE
Three womenamazingauthors of La Alpujarra talk to Jo andaboutChipchasetheirliveslatestworks FROM Frederico Garcia Lorca to Gerald Bren nan and, more recent ly, Chris Stewart, Andy Bailey and David Ludding ton, La Alpujarra has played home to many successful Itsauthors.beautiful landscape seems to inspire word smiths of diverse genres to put pen to paper, or fingers to Now,keyboard.female authors are taking the area by storm, with three women from Orgiva launching their own novels from the same town where the Olive Press was born in 2006.
TREK: Horses took the high road
It took her a couple of years to write and was published in 2021. She has just finished the sequel, ‘ A Strange Prac tice ’, which continues Sho na’s story, along with an other mystery to solve. She is now working on the third book in the trilogy. ‘ Behind You ’ is available through Amazon in Paper back or Kindle edition, as well as on the shelves of Camac and Libreria Atlanti da in Orgiva.
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Hilly Barmby – Author of ‘From My Cold Dead Hands’ playing,” she says. Although it has taken 20 years to achieve her ‘over night success’, Hilly is now full speed ahead with various novels. Her first book – ‘ From My Cold Dead Hands ’, published by Blood H ILLY and her partner first came to the Alpu jarra from Brigh ton in the early 1990s, to work as Wwoofers (willing workers on organic farms). They ended up above Lanjaron, helping on a farm there. Hilly later set up an arts and crafts shop in the municipal market in Orgiva. She left the area in 1995 but returned in G RANADA cele brated its annual romeria of the Virgin de las Nieves, which is said to be the highest altitude pilgrim age in the world, taking place on Mulhacen and Valeta – the Iberian Penin sula’s two highest peaks. The event on Mulhacen, which started in Trevelez, attracted the usual ded icated horse riders who camped overnight on Au gust 4 at the Siete Lagu nas (seven lakes). It was also attended by hikers who parked at Hoya del Portillo at Capil eira and walked for three hours to see the mass, Granada celebrates Spain’s peaksnation’spilgrimagehighestonthetwohighest which occurred at noon. Those who returned to Trev elez enjoyed an evening fi
Sheree Griffin (aka Chloe Phoenix)author of ‘Behind You’ Hilly2016.lives in an old cortijo ’ near Orgiva with her musician partner, Malk, and two rescue dogs. She has created a ‘wooden lady shed’, where she paints, makes crafts and writes her novels, taking inspiration from the view. “I look out of my win dow and can see the Lujar moun tains, our vegetable patch, the wood pile and the dogs
LA CULTURA12 August 10thAugust 23rd 2022 Boutique de complementosmoda,yregalitos abierto lunes -sábado 10 am - 2 pm Calle Correo, 1 Orgiva, Granada, 18400 Email for information: admin@si-academy.com or visit us: www.si-academy.com A BRITISH EDUCATION WITH A APPROACHMODERN Reach Higher, See Further, Shine Brighter Shine inclusiveAcademyInternationalisanewand British primary school offering an alternative to the traditional school experience. ENROLMENT FROM APRIL 2022 SMALL CLASS SUPPORTIN-SCHOOLSIZESFOR ALL APPROACHCHILDTEACHINGEXCEPTIONALCENTEREDOPSUDOKUOP QUICK CROSSWORD All solutions are on page 17 Across 6 Cold, dry Adriatic wind (4) 8 Gloaming (8) 9 “---, home’s best” (4,4) 10 German idealist phi losopher (4) 11 Pot bakers (5) 12 “Who cares?” (2,4) 14 Lot, to Abraham (6) 16 Cake topper (5) 18 Burn slightly (4) 20 Kind of aural implant (8) 21 Pack it up (4,2,2) 22 “--- of the D’Urber villes” (4) Down 1 Essential constituent 2(4,3,6)Stately horse (5) 3 Small informal restau rant (6) 4 Very popular confec tion (4,9) 5 At that time (4) 7 Like some cysts (7) 12 Baste, perhaps (3) 13 “--- That Shook the World” (John Reed book) 15(3,4)Money held by a third party (6) 17 Chip off the old block 19(5) WWI field-marshal (4) S HEREE visited La Alpujarra on holiday from Warwickshire in the UK, met her now husband, Mark, and fell in love with both him and the area, which is con veniently close to the ‘love ly Mediterranean coast’. She decided to retire early and moved to Las Barreras, near Orgiva, with Mark and her cats and dogs. Her novel, ‘ Behind You ’, is a ‘cosy, whimsical, mystery about a middle-aged nurse, Shona Jones, who comes to La Alpujarra for a holiday and finds herself solving a mystery with a tall, dark Laflavouraddedwithally,personsheonthebasedShereeicenigmatman’.novelwhatknewandanofAlpujarra.
LAVERDEOVEJA AMANTHI visited La Alpujarra af ter bumping into a lady who ar ranged concerts in La Taha and Poquiera valley - this prompted her to explore the area with her hus band, and then their newborn daughter. In 2020, they moved permanently from ‘BeautifulLondon. Place’ is set in Sri Lanka, in a guesthouse on a re mote beach along the southern coast. It follows the lives of the owners of the guesthouse, their friends and the actual Saysguests.Amanthi: “I wanted to recapture the atmosphere of my childhood home in Sri Lanka, where I grew up.” The book took 10 years to write and was published in 2019 in the UK (Salt Publishing) and 2020 in South Asia (Pan Macmillan India). It has been praised in reviews from ‘The Guardian’, author Amit Chaudhuri and ‘Grazia India’. Amanthi is now finishing editing a collection of short stories, some of which have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, as well as planning her second novel. She is inspired by the “generous and creative folk of La Alpujarra.” A Beautiful Place’ is available from Amazon, Libreria Inusual in Granada, Camac and Libreria At lantida in AOrgiva.S well as playing home to many au thors, Orgiva has itself featured in various books. Olive Press editor, Jon Clarke, has written a timeer,BruekenChristianpredatorCannlinethesuspecttheploresbooknon-fictionthatexhowmaininMadeMccase,spentinOrgiva’s alternative communities, where the transient population would be unlikely to notice anoth er ‘van lifer’ appearing in their midst. The well-researched book is available on Amazon. co.uk
LA CULTURA sonderwell.co.uk 11-15 St Mary at Hill, London, EC3R 8EE LIVE IN SPAIN WORK IN THE UK EARN UP TO PER WEEK INTERESTED?£980 CALL OR EMAIL US! 07599 111347 jayne.vale@sonderwell.co.uk A little paradise in La Alpujarra de Granada In the heart of Alpujarra, tourist apartments and restaurants Long-term rentals and sale of apartments in Pitres LA OVEJA VERDE TEL: +34 958 064 WWW.THEGREENSHEEP.ES109
hound Books in July 2022 - is about a woman, Cassie, who has lost her memory: can she piece together the truth about her family, her life, and a friend’s murder? The idea for the book came from watching Michael Moore’s film, ‘ Bowl ing for Columbine ’. Hilly thought: “What if someone wakes up with amnesia in a particular world/ lifestyle? If she has a clean slate, would she view her world Hilly’sdifferently?”hasa threebook contract for her ondthrillers.psychologicalHersecbook,‘ The Pact ’, will be re leased by Blood hound Books on October 4, 2022, and the third book is pending. She also has a three-book con tract to write a young adult trilo gy for a ‘Boundpublisher,differentSpellBooks. From My Cold Dead Hands ’ is available on Am azon worldwide, Barnes and Noble, Kobi and Water stones. It has a 4.8 out of 5 rat ing on UK Amazon and 4.54 on Go odreads.
FOOTSTEPS OF LORCA
Top virgin
Amanthi Harris – author of ‘Beautiful Place’ esta of music and dancing. The Valeta route was at tended by people who parked at Hoya de la Mora in Monachil and then at 3.30am hiked 10km to Ta jos de la Virgin The virgin was carried from Pradollano, home of the Si erra Nevada ski resort, and passed Borreguiles, where the participants stopped to drink hot chocolate before facing a steep uphill trek to Tajos de la Virgin. The mass was at 8.30am, with the rising sun illumi nating the altar and the participants enjoying im pressive views.
THE Spanish government’s plan to in vest €12 billion in high tech industries is struggling to get off the ground thanks to a lack of chipmakers willing to take on the Theproject.newtech drive has received billions of euros of investment from the EU’s Covid recovery fund, but firms courted by the Spanish government are instead opting for partnerships with businesses in Germany, which already has an estab SPAIN'S unemployment fig ures have dropped below three million for the first time since According2008. to the National Sta tistics Institute, (INE), the total fell to 2.9 million for the sec ond-quarter of 2022 compared to 3.2 million for the first three months of the year. The welcome news - at a time of inflation hitting 10.8% - is the lowest jobless total since the world banking crisis 14 years ago. The unemployment rate stands at 12.5% with 617,000 additional permanent jobs compared to the second-quar ter of 2021. The figures validate labour re forms in Spain aimed at cut ting down temporary contracts and black market working.
BUSINESS14 August 10thAugust 23rd 2022Fairway LAWYERS www.fairwaylawyers.com C/Nuestra Señora de Gracia 28, 1C 29602, Marbella (Malaga) Contact Diego at Fairway Lawyers diego@fairwaylawyers.comTel:952771150WhatsApp:606307885 From Marbella to Mollina and Mijas to Manilva Covering the Costa del Sol and inland for 20 years FLOOROFFCONVEYANCINGPLANPROBLEMSCLAUSEISSUESFRAUDANDTAXLITIGATIONINHERITANCE
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SPAIN'S government has outlined details of new windfall taxes on banks and fuel companies which aim to bring €7 billion into state coffers over the next two years. The tax will fund measures to fight rising costs for people in the country. A 1.2% levy will be im posed on fuel company profits while banks will face a 4.8% levy on their
Rolls
Discover
Chief executives from both Santander and Sabadell banks warned that the tax would hit mostly small savers and shareholders. Santander CEO, Jose An tonio Alvarez, said: “If €3 billion of capital comes out of the sector, then it takes away €50 billion of lend ing capacity.”
By Alex Trelinski ROLLS-ROYCE has been given the go-ahead to sell its Spanish subsidiary ITP TheAero.company had originally announced the €1.7 billion sale last September, but has had to wait for Spain’s gov ernment to approve the deal. It is expected that the sale to a consortium of investors headed by Bain Capital Pri vate Equity will be complet ed within a few weeks. Rolls-Royce took action to strengthen its balance sheet after it was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
Off the
ENERGY SWINGS
Chips are down Discover hassle-fre currency transfers WANT TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY ON YOUR CURRENCY TRANSFERS? CALL, EMAIL OR VISIT US IN BRANCH! ESTEPONA Avd. España, nº 10, Local 5, Estepona, Málaga, 29680 MARBELLAestepona@currenciesdirect.com Plaza de las Orquídeas, Calle Orquídea, Local 5, Nueva Andalucía, Marbella, Málaga, 29660 +34marbella@currenciesdirect.com952906581 FUENGIROLA Avda. Alcalde Clemente Díaz Ruíz s/n, Urb. Puebla Lucía, Edificio Leo, Local 1, Fuengirola, Málaga, 29640 fuengirola@currenciesdirect.com +34 952 906 581 BENALMADENA Avenida Antonio Machado, Edificio Diana I Local 13, Benalmádena Costa, Málaga, +34benalmadena@currenciesdirect.com29630952906581 CalleNERJAAntonio Ferrandis Chanquete 1, Local 1A, Nerja, Málaga, 29780 nerja@currenciesdirect.com +34 952 906 581 AvenidaMOJÁCARMediterráneo 341, Mojácar, Almería, 04638 mojacar@currenciesdirect.com +34 950 478
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FRENCH retailer Auchan says its Spanish sub sidiary Alcampo will buy 235 supermarkets and a warehouse from the struggling DIA group. Subject to clearances from competition au thorities, the deal should be concluded within weeks with all transfers completed before the summer of 2023. pounces dole sell off semiconductor ecosystem. The EU and US are locked in a race to chip production, with Western governments keen to reduce their de pendence on an industry typically out sourced to Asian markets. The US recently announced a $52 billion investment semiconductors. 914 hassle-free transfers
GBP/EUR exchange rate drops from three-month high after BoE recession warning THE Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate climbed to a three-month high over the last two weeks as EUR investors grew increasingly concerned about the intensifying Europe an energy crisis. Meanwhile, Sterling rose as markets anticipated a 0.5% rate rise from the Bank of England (BoE), but a recession warning slashed the pound’s gains. GBP/EUR rose by more than two cents from lows of €1.174 to a three-month high of almost €1.199 before falling to €1.188.
Energy companies and banks targeted by windfall taxes net interest income and net Repsolcommissions.CEO,Josu Jon Imaz said that gas and oil com panies don't make windfall profits. “We must not forget the billions of euros of loss es we recorded in previous years,” Imaz commented. Banks are being targeted on the grounds that their profitability is boosted by rising interest rates. Fines set at up to 150% will be imposed if banks pass on the tax via increased cus tomer charges. Savers
lished
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR? Looking ahead, economic data is sparse through most of the second week of August. As a result, GBP/EUR may trade on external factors. Any fresh warnings or concerns about the gas crisis in Europe could weigh heavily on the single currency. Likewise, eurozone recession fears may dampen the appeal of the euro. As for Sterling, increased industrial action, social unrest and political instability in the UK may prevent the pound from making significant gains. UK GDP data on Friday could potentially see GBP/EUR fall. At the time of writing, economists expect the UK economy to have con tracted by 0.3% in June. The following week brings high-impact data for both currencies. The UK’s latest labour market report, inflation rate and retail sales will be the focus for GBP investors. Signs that the UK economy is slowing would likely hurt the pound, while any data that might prompt more action from the BoE – such as a hot inflation reading or above-fore cast wage growth – could see Sterling climb. Meanwhile, Germany’s latest ZEW economic sentiment index may dent the Euro. While no official forecasts are out at the time of writing, the worsening gas crisis and looming recession risks may see anoth er steep drop in morale.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING? Sterling soared through the final week of July, with GBP/EUR climbing to a three-month high. Throughout the week, recession fears hammered the euro. Poor economic data from Germany and the wider eurozone worried markets, with confidence among consumers, investors and busi nesses all Additionally,declining.Russia’s Gazprom slashed gas exports to Europe, ex acerbating concerns about the EU’s worsening energy crisis. Meanwhile, markets became increasingly confident that the Bank of England would raise rates by 50 basis points at its August meet ing. This lifted the pound to a three-month high against a weak ening However,Euro.concerns about economic and political instability in the UK may have limited GBP’s gains. As wage growth lags behind inflation and the cost-of-living squeeze tightens, workers across the country are striking to demand pay increases. In addition, the Tory leadership contest brought out bitter divides in the ruling Conservative Party, as the political turbulence con GBP/EURtinues. wavered higher at the beginning of August, although movement was perhaps limited as investors awaited the BoE de cision. The pound suffered from a downward revision to the final UK services PMI while a stronger US dollar weighed on the Euro. The BoE decision then slashed Sterling’s gains. Although the bank did raise rates by 0.5%, it also warned that in the fourth quarter of 2022 the UK economy would enter a recession, which would last throughout the following year. GBP/EUR slumped by a cent.
PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY
increase
Currency volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that two-cent gap between €1.17 and €1.19 translates to a €4,000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy. Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against volatility. Specialist currency brokers, such as Currencies Direct, offer different tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the currency market. For instance, you can use a forward contract to secure an exchange rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against Servicesyou.like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need Atthem.Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers. Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 325,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.
Fruits “The tourism sector has made a great effort to resist the effects of the pandemic and we are benefiting from the fruits of good work and the safety net that we de ployed to protect the sector and families,” Maroto con cluded. By Alex Trelinski No peace EASYJET has made peace with protesting cabin crew only for its pilots to call a series of Thestrikes.pilots’ union SEPLA has called for action over nine days in August to demand better working conditions for Spain-based pilots at the Theairline.strikes at the British low-cost airline are to take place for three periods of 72 hours each, with stoppages on August 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28 and 29. Meanwhile, Vueling cabin crew may also go on strike. Up until now, the Barcelona based The Iceman NO Cometh HIGH electricity prices is be ing blamed for an ice shortage across Spain as it suffers in the grip of the third heatwave of the Muchsummer.oftheice sold during the summer comes from a stock pile built up during the first half of the year, but as energy prices soared with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, produc tion Thenstalled.when an early heatwave hit in June, demand for ice shot up and supplies dwindled. As a result the price of ice is also soaring and supermarkets are selling out. Some have been rationing sales by limiting pur chases to two bags of ice per customer.
Tourism sector buzzing as number of visitors doubles June’searlier. 7.5 million visitors spent close to €9 billion with visitor numbers over the six months of 2022 running at over 80% of the same period back in Tourism2019.Minister, Reyes Maroto, said that based on June’s figures and if the cur rent trend is maintained, pre-pandemic levels will be ‘clearly’ achieved and de scribed the news as ‘extraor Speakingdinary’. to TVE, Maroto re flected on the 30 million-plus foreign visitors this year and their increase in spending power. She said: “We have tourists who spend more and who are staying longer. “This has to be the way for ward where quality and diversification are the hall marks of this recovery. We are avoiding very well the uncertainties derived from the Ukraine war and from in flation which makes us opti mistic but also realistic.”
OVER twice as many foreign tourists visited Spain in June than in the same month last year, according to official government figures. Arrivals also spent almost three times as much during their stay compared to a year
THERE will be a 30% re duction in bus and train prices from September 1, the Junta de Andalucia has Theannounced.discount will be applied to travel cards and means that the cost of a suburban bus journey within Malaga will be 57 centimos, down from the current cost of 82. The measure is aimed to combat the soaring costs of living crisis that has swept Europe.
Good times roll
Promote The event is organised by ‘ce lebrity’ ham carver Jose Maria Tellez and it aims to promote the quality of the iberican products of Andalucia. “I go every year with my fam ily to try the different jamon brands, the price and quality are amazing,” said Francisca Mena, a visitor to this event since 2019. But it is not only about hamSpanish wine and cheese are also be showcased. As every year, visitors can taste ham for just €5. As well as eating jamon and sipping wine, visitors have the chance to attend free concerts throughout the news!Ham-tasticevent.
CLEAR: Reyes Maroto PACKED: Beaches are busier than ever low-cost airline has benefited from strikes at two of its big rivals, Easyjet and Ryanair but now cabin crew are threatening strikes in Au gust over pay.
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL July 27th - August 9th 2022 15
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ESTEPONA will once again play host to the ‘Popi’ World Ham Contest, which brings together ‘jamon’ profession als and products from across TheSpain.gastronomic event, which started this week and will run until August 15 on the Paseo Maritimo Pedro Manrique, showcases 55 different brands of jamon from across Spain. Some 155 professional ham carvers will attend to show case the finest produce and more than 400,000 visitors are Deputyexpected.Mayor of Estepona, Begoña Ortiz explained: “This gastronomic event will have the best jamon companies in Spain.”
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL July 27th - August 9th 202216
TREE HOUSES
TREE houses were springing up in woods across Spain before the pandemic, and they proved a popular, safely-distanced, back-to-nature retreat option, during it.The wooden cabins, many high in the canopy for eye to eye contact with birdlife and ac cessed by steps wrapped around tree trunks, ladders or bouncing walkways, are like play houses. Cabañas en los Arboles Zeanuri, south of Bilbao in the Basque Country, has the range – from cabins 17 metres up, to others on the ground (where children over the age of seven are welcome) or deep in the woods for total disconnection. Showers, café, and other services are provided in a cen tral farmhouse. Breakfasts are delivered – if you’re up in the canopy, you’ll have a pulley system so you can pull it up to your platform. From €150-€270.
The Olive Press brings you a guide to some of the more unusual holiday spots to take a break in this summer... W HEN it comes to holiday accom modation, it’s fair to say four walls, a front desk and a lift not a ladder are fairly standard requirements.
CLIFF FACE
NEST like a lucky sand martin or an auk or some thing, tucked into the cliffs of the Bay of Palma, Mallorca. The Centinela rooms at former for tress Hotel Cap Rocat are carved into the rugged rock at the defence points where the cannons were hidden. Each has a ledge with pool and seating above the sea and is very special – with a special price of €9950 for the two-night minimum (mind, that is high season, and it does include breakfast). For cliff face accommodation that’s both more afford able and terrifying, opt for a portaledge experience. Rab Riglos Suite started it by offering beginners and experienced climbers the opportunity to spend the night in one of three ‘rooms’ hung 100 metres off the ground on the sheer cliffs of the Mallos de Riglos in Aragon (each with a ‘terrace to allow you to stretch your legs’). The ‘rooms’ aren’t there permanently, but the reviews were glowing, so hopefully they’ll be back by popular demand.
www.caprocat.com
COOL CAVES
QUIRKYnight.Butthesedaysrealluxurycomesinallshapesandsizes–andoftenwithspectacularviews,withoutthecrowds,andabitofadventureontheside.WepackourbagsandcheckoutsomeofthequirkierstaysinSpain.Sojoinusonaminibreakthatwon’tcostyouapenny....
www.cabanasenlosarboles.com/es
GRANADA is famous for its cave dwellings, and the town of Guadix is its Bedrock (one for Flint stones fans). Caves chipped and tunnelled out of rock have long been occupied by the re gion’s gipsy population. Most are still private homes, but several (whitewashed, with uneven walls, and vents for light) are available to rent. Hotel Cuevas del Zenete offers a range of ensuite caves from €66 a night. Higher up the budget – and the country –there’s Cuevas de las Bardenas by the Barde nas desert, south of Pamplona in Navarra. The caves carved into warm-coloured rock at this popular site should appeal to the most dis cerning troglodyte – they’re nicely authentic, but equipped with stylish furniture, barbecue and air conditioning. Caves come in various sizes, sleeping up to seven, from €240 a
It’s just possible if you and go visit one of the local wineries you’ll draw your own conclu sions about the best use for barrels. But if you’re looking for wooden and weird, you’ve found it.
OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword
BUBBLES WANT to continue gaz ing at the moon and the stars, but also really want to go to bed? These largely transparent bubble pods are for you. Fans of zorbing might think they know what to expect but will be in for a surprise: the orbs are firmly tethered, well-equipped and always luxurious. At Zielo de Levante in Tirig, Castellon (two hours from Barcelona, one from Va lencia), for example, the bub bles have hotel-style mod cons plus telescopes (from €240), while the Mil Estrelles site in Banyoles, Catalunya, has pool and sauna (from €116). Dozens of bubbles have been inflated at dark sky sites across Spain, pro viding spectacular views without the neck ache. There are no refunds if it’s cloudy, so you might want to check the forecast before booking.
STAYS
Down: 1 Part and parcel, 2 Steed, 3 Bistro, 4 Milk chocolate, 5 Then, 7 Ovarian, 12 Sew, 13 Ten days, 15 Escrow, 17 Scion, 19 Haig.
space for a family of five (hobbits), kids will love them – as will dogs, which are also Fromwelcome.around€460 high season for a two night stay.
www.campingalicanteimperium.comwww.experienciamitesoro.com/es
Across: 6 Bora, 8 Twilight, 9 East West, 10 Kant, 11 Kilns, 12 So what?, 14 Nephew, 16 Icing, 18 Char, 20 Cochlear, 21 Time to go, 22 Tess.
Holywww.latrattoriatarifa.cominfo@latrattoriatarifa.com765Trinity,1711380Rate true taste of Italian cuisine in Tarifa various pastas our famous linguine with seafood stands out homemadeensuresfermentationsoftdough
sinceestablished2001 Among
Open from noon and into the evening Italian staff Italian imported ingredients
Large shaded terrace on the old wall of Tarifa
BARRELS INDULGE your inner hobbit at Mi Te soro (My Treasure) in Lugo, Galicia. ‘Cute’ is one word for these three cheery little apartments poking out of the hillside; ‘eco’ is another, given they are naturally insulated by turf roofs and well integrated into the landscape. With to squeeze in the kids. These sleep four, though as the man agement points out, you can’t cook in there. The campsite is packed with services, sports facilities and a waterpark, and located in La Rioja.
The
www.zielodelevante.com HOBBIT HOMES
YES, wooden barrels are a ‘thing’. On their sides they are more like tubes. That’s not the most practical shape for accommo dation, so all you get in them is a bed, sheets, plug sockets and, if lucky, air conditioning. Thankfully, they tend to be lo cated on campsites that have shower blocks and more, like the Domus Baco barrels at Camping Alicante Imperium in Villajoyosa, where there’s a pool, restaurant and shop (€70 for two nights); or those at Camping El Nogalejo in Setenil de las Bodegas, near Ronda. Go for the larger Reserva, Gran Reserva or Crianza barricas at Camping Bañares (€1050 for seven nights) if you want
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
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We use recycled paper REREREuseducecycle OPLIVERESSThe ANDALUCÍA FREE Vol. 16 Issue 400 www.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 WORDSFINAL
By Alex Trelinski FEELING HORNY: Cops grab the goat Rags to riches area and after wrapping up her begging at around 2pm, she would pop into the shop. She’d only buy Bonoloto and Primitiva lottery tickets rather than Euromillions tickets as they were Localscheaper.described the woman as popular. She usually spent cash raised on food for her family. IT gives the term a ‘room with a view ‘ a whole new meaning. A luxury hotel in Ibiza is of fering guests the chance of an overnight stay for free, but the catch is that everyone can see Thisthem.is because the ‘Zero Suite’ has glass walls and is in the middle of The Paradiso Art Hotel’s lobby in full view of other guests as they check in and head for their own more private suites. The hotel website describes the suite as ‘A room with glass walls in the middle of the lob by of the Paradiso Art Hotel where you can sleep one night for free…’
withRooma view ofBarrelsfun AN Irish whiskey distill ery has saved 100-yearold Spanish wine barrels to reuse them maturing whiskey. The 68 Oloro so casks were bought by Boann Distillery when a Cordoban bodega closed.
rubbishUdder
itHoofed
AN Alicante beggar has scooped a life-changing €1.2 million first prize in the Bonoloto lottery. The unnamed winner would beg for cash every day close to a tobacconist which sold her the winning ticket. Shop owners Mariangeles Torregrosa and De siree Agorreta told the Informacion newspaper that the woman ‘told us that we have changed her Theylife’.added that the ticket holder lived in the WHAT could be worse than a bull in a china shop? Ap parently, a goat in a jewellery Astore.black goat caused chaos in Cartagena when it was chased around the city by police be fore smashing a glass display in the store. The animal had entered the city from the Murcia road and ran down Paseo Alfonso XIII. The female then hoofed it with police on motorbikes and in patrol cars in hot pur suit. Even passers-bye on electric scooters joined in the chase. She finally turned into pedes trianised Calle Mayor, scat tering shoppers before taking refuge in the ‘lo soy joy’ jewel lery Storeshop.owner Laura Nicolau told the newspaper: “She ran in very quickly. She had very large horns, it was a good thing that she did not hit anybody, especially a child. “She struck a glass item very hard and shattered it,” she added. Burly Seven people were in the shop at the time. It took four burly officers to corner the horned beast in the shop’s loo using riot shields, before two shepherds arrived to help tie up the ani mal and man-handle it out of the shop.
Clean escape BENIDORM firefight ers rescued a man from a city self-ser vice launderette after he was trapped when the front door auto matically bolted shut at Bad10pm.signal SPAIN’S bullet train service between Madrid and Barcelona ground to a halt when 600 me tres of fibre optic cable used for its signalling system were stolen. A man has been arrested. DJ Calvin Harris may have bought himself a farm on Ibiza but that does not necessarily make him a farmer. The Scotsman claimed on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show, that he can’t get a cow on Ibiza because the island is too hot. This will be a surprise to locals who have long kept cattle - in cluding a herd just 8 kilome tres from his property.
Cops get their goat after daylight chase shoppingthroughstreets
