OLIVE PRESS SPAIN ISSUE 422

THE expat mother of a reclusive British hacker jailed for five years in the US has revealed she thought he was ‘safe in his room’ on the Costa

Sandra O’Connor told a US court she believed he was ‘not being exposed to the dangers of alcohol, drugs or

“In fact, he was involved in a far worse world,” the former lawyer told It came as her son, Joseph James O’Connor, was handed down the prison sentence for hacking into the Twitter accounts of, among others, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The 24-year-old was arrested at his

By Walter Finch

home in Estepona in July 2021 after he undertook the hacking as part of a Bitcoin scam. Liverpool-born O’Connor, who used the handle PlugwalkJoe, was extradited to America in April to await this week’s sentence. His long-suffering mother, who was in New York for the hearings, told the court: “I wish I could have had more insight into this online gaming world he entered, and the dangers and influences he encountered.

“I didn't even realise it was occur-

Time to get away

ring,” added the mother-of-three. The ex-criminal lawyer believed that, after a troubled early childhood of bullying back home in Liverpool, a move to Spain would do her son some good.

While he spent most of his time in his room on computers, she felt his reclusive nature would at least keep him safe from ‘a world on the out-

side which he was illequipped to navigate.’

However, O’Connor was part of a hacking ring that shocked the online world when it managed to very publicly penetrate Twitter’s detailed security in 2020.

The scam involved posting directly to an estimated 350 million followers of Elon Musk, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates accounts, among many others.

Stalked

One bogus tweet from Biden read: “I am giving back to the community. All bitcoin sent to the address below will be sent back doubled! If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000. Only doing this for 30 minutes.”

Although the ploy seemed an obvious fraud, an analysis revealed that 13 Bitcoins were transferred to the hackers’ wallet in 383 transactions in the following 24 hours - or $117,000 (€107,000).

O’Connor also stalked underage girls and tried to extort famous people on other social networks, such as TikTok and Snapchat.

He hacked the actress Bella Thorne and stole 13 naked photos which he threatened to release if she did not promote his social accounts.

“It’ll be the entire internet looking at your personal shit,” one of his group of hacker friends wrote to her.

Thorne posted the pictures herself. “F*** u and the power you think u have over me,” she replied. “The FBI

will be at your house shortly.”

O’Connor had laughed off the dangers of the US authorities when the New York Continues on Page 2

RECLUSE: in cuffs and mum (below)

Attempted murder

A MAN killed himself with the same firearm he used to shoot his wife in Torrox (Malaga). The woman was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

Big whale

A DEAD humpback whale almost 10 metre long has been found on a Galician beach, the first such find since 2011.

Brit abuser

A 61-YEAR-OLD British man has been arrested and handed over to an anti-domestic violence court in Malaga on suspicion of assaulting his partner on a holiday flight from the UK to Malaga.

It’s a bust

MURCIA Local Police have apologised to singer Rocio Saiz after an officer stopped the artist’s gay pride concert after she showed her boobs.

ITALIAN and Spanish police are investigating if a man who allegedly murdered two women in Torremolinos is responsible for other killings back home.

Marco Gaio Romeo, of Nettuno (Italy), was arrested for stabbing his 28-year-old ex Paula to death at her apartment in May.

Police later realised that a previous part-

ner of the killer had disappeared in 2014. He then told them the body of Albanian Sibora Gagani was walled up in his old apartment.

Now Italian and Spanish authorities are investigating to see if the 45-year-old is linked to missing women in the Italian area of Nettuno.

Serial killer fear

CHARLIE DOWN

A NAZI fitness guru extradited from Spain to face terror charges in the UK has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Online radical Kris Kearney - who claimed Adolf Hitler ‘showed people the way’ and ‘did nothing wrong’ - was found guilty of promoting terrorism after he shared inflammatory material on his online forum.

The charges relate to numerous posts in which he shared among others the violent manifestos of New Zealand mosque killer Brenton Tarrant and Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik.

Expat nazi terrorist Kris ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’ Kearney gets five years

By Walter Finch

London’s Old Bailey heard he also shared a ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letter, in which readers were encouraged to ‘butcher a Muslim’ for 500 points and bomb a mosque for 1,000 points.

In 2021 alone, he posted 89 extreme right-wing documents, which encouraged violence in the battle against ‘white genocide’.

The member of Patriotic Alternative - who the Olive

DRIVER MURDER

A BOLT driver has been stabbed to death by a customer in Fuengirola.. The victim, who worked for a private hire vehicle company similar to Uber or Cabify, had picked up the alleged murderer in the early morning.

The 35-year-old passenger then pulled out two knives and stabbed the driver without warning.

After the deadly attack, the assailant locked himself inside the vehicle before police broke in and arrested him.

Press revealed travelled regularly between his home in Albir, on the Costa Blanca, to Marbella - ran an online platform called ‘Fascist Fitness’. The far-right podcaster - who had been on the run in Spain with his wife and three children when he committed his offences in 2021 - also spent time in Dubai.

The neo-Nazi, from Liverpool, had originally been stopped under the Terrorism Act and fled an arrest warrant two years before his arrest in Spain.

He was understood to have been on a layover in a UK airport en route to the UAE in 2019 when officers first detained him. It came after he refused to divulge passwords for three separate mobile phones he was travelling with, suggesting he may have been working for mafia gangs. A warrant was later issued for his arrest after he skipped a magistrate’s hearing on July

Hacked off

From front

Times managed to track him down.

“I don’t care,” he insisted.

“They can come arrest me. I would laugh at them. I haven’t done anything.”

But that is exactly what happened when the Policia Nacional hauled the social recluse out of his bedroom hideaway in July 2021 in cooperation with the FBI. Among the charges were a conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, as well as stalking two victims. The prosecution had requested the maximum sentence of 70 years jail for O'Connor for the ten criminal charges.

In an appeal to Judge Rakoff for clemency, O’Connor apologised for his deeds. “I'm sorry. My crimes were stupid and senseless. I want a life that makes sense.”

2 that year and fled to Spain. Kearney, a former soldier, had close links to the Costa Blanca, where his parents also lived, and ran a bar. Kearney, 39, pleaded guilty admitting he wanted to ‘spread fascist views’, but denied he shared the material on Telegram with the intention of causing terror attacks. Judge Richard Marks KC doubted this, insisting his ‘fanaticism’ in achieving his objectives meant he ‘intended for acts of terrorism to happen’. He sentenced him to four years and eight months.

He has been ordered to pay $794,000 the amount he received from his scam.

“Two years later, it’s still hard to understand how harmless gaming led to this,” Sandra told the court. “I am realistic that I have played a significant role in Joseph’s actions but ultimately, it is he who must take the responsibility.

“The effects of this naive, thoughtless boy have had devastating consequences, not just to him but to us all, and Joseph needs to lead an exemplary life from here on in and atone.”

Getting LIVely

SERGIO Garcia will be at the forefront of a host of golfing stars at Valderrama this weekend.

The Spanish superstar will tee up for a shot at the LIV Golf Valderrama title as the controversial Saudi-financed tournament visits Sotogrande.

The LIV tour threatened to split the pro-

fessional golfing world apart, with several players banned from the established PGA and DP World (formerly European) tours after throwing their hat in with LIV. But peace has broken out with an agreement between the three organisations to work together.

Other big names expected for the June 30 to July 2 tournament include Phil Mickleson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson.

SEEING RED

IT may be fun but it seems to be such a waste - 130,000 litres of wine will be literally poured away.

A crowd of 5,000 people will douse each other with tinto in Haro, a small town in the Rioja region.

The Haro Wine Festivalwhich is slated for June 29 - dumps as much Rioja as it consumes.

130,000 litres of wine ready to glug down the drain in Haro’s wine fight

By Isabel Max

Locals and tourists will continue a centuries old tradition to honour Saint Peter and

Paul's day, armed with cups, bottles, jugs, boots and water guns as they take part in the Battle of the Wines. Reputedly, the annual

wine fight began in a 13th century dispute over town lines between Haro and the neighbouring village of Miranda del Ebro. This ultimate fiesta is messy and it is a must-do. As tradition goes, the wine warriors will trickle in at 7am dressed in red and white.

The Haro mayor will lead a procession on horseback, wending its way seven kilometres into the cliffs of Bilibio to the Her-

Swift swoops on Madrid

MADRID has been selected as the location of Taylor Swift’s one and only concert in Spain, where she will perform at the news Santiago Bernabeu for the first time.

The American singer-songwriter will perform at the stadium - home to Real Madrid - on May 30, 2024 as part of her European Eras our.

This is the first major concert announced for the new Madrid stadium.

It has been remodelled as a multipurpose ground in order to host basketball, tennis and NFL games, as well as concerts and, of course, football.

mitage of San Felices. After a flag ceremony and a short mass at the historic chapel, the fighting commences. When the wine warriors are stained purple and soaked with the last of the drink, they descend into town, where they don’t have to be asked twice to begin dancing and slurring songs. A bullfight takes place in the afternoon, then more partying. A children’s version of the Batalla del Vino takes place on June 27, with grape juice.

TWO-time Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence graced the red carpet at the

drid premiere of her new summer comedy No Hard Feelings. The movie, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, is reportedly based on a true story. Lawrence plays a

NEW ARRIVAL

BENIDORM'S Mundomar wildlife park has a new resident- a baby flamingo born on June 8.

Its the second flamingo birth at the park since it opened in 1996 with the first making its appearance in 2021. The egg was spotted on May 11 which the parents then looked after carefully.

Mundomar said that the mother and father at no point neglected the incubation of the egg or caring for their new child when it arrived- with staff on hand to make sure everything went well.

Pink colours are associated with flamingos but that's far from the case in their early stage of life, as the colour is obtained over time from the food they eat which contain crustacean residues.

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HOURS OFF

SPAIN’S deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz has proposed lowering the working week from 40 to 32 hours.

The leader of left-wing alliance Sumar wants to start by dropping it to 37.5 hours next year.

She described the plan as ‘revolutionary’, insisting ‘time is the most valuable thing’ for workers who do not have ‘grand properties, nor important surnames’.

She insisted wages would not need to be cut ‘if productivity is improved’ from the scheme. The proposal is not the first time that the government has suggested a cut to employees’ hours.

A pilot project was put in place last year to trial a four-day working week, with the results not yet released.

MID-AIR SCARE

A FLIGHT had to make an emergency landing after a bird struck the plane shortly after takeoff at Malaga. The mid-air scare happened on a Vueling flight to Gran Canaria.

The plane was asked to return to land for essential checks to be carried out. After landing safely, it was found the aircraft suffered no major damage and got a green light to take off again.

Ex-Junta boss escapes jail over billion euro ERE scandal

FORMER Junta leader Jose Antonio Grinan will escape jail for corruption after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The disgraced politician (right) will avoid the sixyear prison sentence handed down for his key role in the so-called ERE scandal.

Under the fraudulent scheme up to €1 billion of public funds destined for the unemployed and struggling companies were syphoned off to individuals and businesses linked to the Junta.

Despite it being the largest corruption scandal in Spain’s

OFF LET

By Simon Hunter

history, a Sevilla court has suspended his sentence for five years.

The move comes after a forensic court doctor was tasked

Cold calls frozen out

NUISANCE calls interrupting you at dinner or while driving are set to become a thing of the past with a new Spanish law that comes into effect on July 1.

The General Telecommunications Law aims to tackle this form of spam which has become rampant in recent times. The law will outlaw ‘unsolicited phone calls to promote or sell goods or services.’

Unless someone has given explicit permission to companies to make these calls, they should now become a thing of the past. People must carefully check the conditions before ticking the box when dealing with companies, however, to prevent such requests from slipping through unawares. The permitted hours for commercial calls will remain between 9am and 9pm, except on public holidays when the hours will be from 10am to 3pm and from 4pm to 9pm.

with deciding whether he was in a fit state to serve his punishment.

After confirming he had a ‘very serious illness’ he ruled that the ‘prison regime’ would make recovery very difficult. Grinan had been found guilty of leading a part of the ERE scheme, which saw €680 million ‘vanish’ between 2001 and 2010.

Also sentenced in the case was another former leader, Manuel Chaves, while 12 of the 15 politicians sent to jail are appealing their sentences with the Supreme Court. A total of 21 PSOE socialist party officials went on trial in the ERE case, an acronym that refers to Spain’s workforce dismissal plan. Only two of them were acquitted. The ERE fund was handed a total of €855 million from the regional government, Madrid and the EU over just a decade, with more before and after. The ‘opaque’ system lacked any ‘control mechanisms’.

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Haaland Marbella once again

NORWEGIAN goal juggernaut

Erling Haaland has been spotted in his beloved party spot of Marbella again.

With an entourage of fellow blonde Nordics - plus one or two celebrity beach bar owners - he was first pictured en route

on a private jet from Barcelona. Having attended the wedding of fellow Manchester City star Eric Laporte in the Catalan capital, they hot-footed down to Malaga.

The gang quickly hit up Marbella’s famous Playa Padre chi-

ringuito and its popular Boho Sunday set in the sweltering Malagueño sun. The day-time shenanigans went on well into the nightbut after setting a new Premier League goal record in his debut season, perhaps he’s earned it.

A HUMAN rights group has claimed international laws were violated as it put the death toll from a Spanish/ Moroccan border fence incident at 37.

Amnesty International also ruled that the June 2022 ‘avalanche’ has also left 76 migrants still unaccounted for. The figure is considerably higher than the 23 official victims reported by the Moroccan authorities.

Amnesty has now accused the Spanish and Moroccan governments of failing to carry out ‘an effective and independent investigation’.

It claims it has left family members of those who died or disappeared in limbo.

The attempt to storm the border saw around 2,000 mostly Sudanese men approach the fence in Melilla at 8.30am.

The ombudsman has also revealed that 470 of the migrants were sent back to Morocco ‘without taking into account the national or international legal provisions’.

HAND S OFF OUR COSTAS

Black marks

Disgrace Spectacular verses

THE Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz have been singled out as key black spots for the ‘chronic cancer’ of environmental destruction.

An environmental charity has slammed both coastlines for the continuing urban ‘over-development’ they face. Ecologistas en Accion is partic-

Tarifa, Vejer and the Costa del Sol handed black flags for serious environmental destruction

ularly concerned about the two hotspots of Tarifa and Vejer de la Frontera.

The green group says both face ‘uncontrolled illegal construction’ with an alarming amount of further planned development, as revealed by the Olive

TURNING THE TAP ON

ESTEPONA is planning a €20m desalination plant to ease the pressure on dwindling water supplies.

The three year scheme was adopted as being of ‘urgency and a necessity’ for the town.

Mayor Jose Maria Garcia insisted guaranteeing water to residents is ‘a priority’, not just to for drinking water, but to ‘ensure the strength of the local economy.’

It comes after record lows saw the Vinuela reservoir sit at just 9.7% capacity - or a meagre 16 cubic hectometres of water last week.

Across Malaga province the reservoirs sit at just 30.5% of their total capacity.

In Almeria the levels are at just 15.1%, while in Cadiz they sit at 25% and Granada at 32%.

By Alberto Lejarraga

Press last year.

Much of it, around Atlanterra, and close to Tarifa’s virgin Valdevaqueros beach, has already been approved by the local town hall.

The number of illegal homes around El Palmar, meanwhile, is leading to the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea. The green group has also handed a black flags to the town halls along the entire length of the Costa del Sol, for its continual overdevelopment.

“The Malaga coastline has excessive light pollution generated by industry and mass tourism,” added a spokesman. The three areas are among 48 beaches singled out for black marks around the country this year.

An alarming ten are in Andalu cia, with Huelva city particularly fragile after a damaging oil spill in February, while nearby La Antilla beach gets one for overdevelopment. Meanwhile ‘recognitions’ were handed to Almeria for its continuing scandal surrounding the illegal 411-room Algarrobico hotel. Granada comes under attack meanwhile, for urban abuses and pollution at La Herradura and Pozuelo-La Rabita. The environmental group, which annually exposes beaches suffering from pollution and poor management, defines the issue as a ‘chronic cancer’.

“We only choose 48 to not overwhelm people, but there are actually hundreds of natural spaces being destroyed,” spokesman Cristobal Lopez told the Olive Press.

A POEM by Virgil has been found engraved in an ancient Roman amphora.

The 1,800-year-old oil vat, found in Cordoba, featured the fated words of the legendary poet inside.

The fragments, measuring six by eight centimetres, were found by archaeologists at the Noguera site, near Fuente Palmera, in 2016.

After seven years of laborious work, an international team of archaeologists from Cordoba, Sevilla and Montpellier have confirmed words engraved were from the classical Roman poet. Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid , is credited with having a great influence on western literature, most notably Dante’s Divine Comedy , in which Virgil appears as the author's guide through hell and purgatory. It is not known where the extraordinary find will eventually be housed.

A

Voted top

Flags of shame

SPAIN’S natural beauty is legendary. Just take a look at our special supplement on the Costa de la Luz this edition.

Historic towns and villages give a glimpse into an older way of life while the laid-back lifestyle is a draw for those who want to escape the rat race and for tourists alike.

Together with some of the most stunning beaches in Europe it is natural that people want to visit and enjoy the stunning surroundings of spots like Valdevaqueros and El Palmar.

But - and this is a message the Olive Press has long hammered home through our Hands off our Costas campaign - the authorities should be careful not to ruin the very surroundings that attract people in the first place.

The stretch of Cadiz coast is one of the last bastions of virgin coastline left in Spain, with the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and other costas so badly blighted by pollution and the scourge of overdevelopment.

While town halls (rightly) vie for Blue Flags to trumpet their beaches, putting an onus on them to clean up their act, Ecologists in Action have handed out some more unwelcome awards.

Some 48 playas in Spain have been given the dreaded Black Flag. These are designed to shame politicians into cleaning up pollution, protecting the environment and curbing further development. Many of us expect it on the Costa del Sol, but when this excellent pressure group highlights the largely unspoiled coastlines around Tarifa and Vejer it’s time to really take note.

The Olive Press has long stood shoulder to shoulder with the ecologists in opposing these plans - which we revealed last year. Enough is enough - protect our last costas from overdevelopment before they are all lost under a sea of concrete.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

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John Culatto

ADMIN Victoria Humenyuk Makarova (+34) 951 273 575 admin@theolivepress.es

For

DON’T BE A GILIPOLLAS!

WHEN former Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias lost his post to socialist Jaume Collboni of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) he could barely contain his annoyance.

Speaking after the investiture of Collboni as leader of a minority administration, he said: “At my age of 76, I had already said, ‘If I don’t end up mayor, they can all go screw themselves’,” (pictured below).

It was a statement of typical Spanish bluntness that is displayed in all walks of lifeeven in the full glare of publicity.

Indeed, if you have fully embraced Spanish language and culture you can’t go for an hour in Spain without insulting some ‘dickhead’ driver or roadworks in the middle of summer.

While there are hilarious phrases that can be harnessed as Spanishs insults (¡Que te folle un pez! or ‘get f**ked by a fish’) there remain some critical curse words you’ll need to season your day-to-day speech in Spain. Here are 12 Spanish insults that will slot

12 Spanish insults that will make you sound like a native

By Dilip Kuner

you right into Spanish culture and make you sound like native.

1. Me cago en... (insert object of hatred)

Any language that has no scatalogical (poo-related) insults is not worth learning. While Spanish has an equivalent for ‘s**t’ - mierda - it enjoys another creative method for expressing disgust, disappointment or rage.

The phrase usually starts ‘me cago en...’ (I s**t on...) followed by the object of hatred at hand.

The most traditional forms are as follows:

¡Me cago en tu puta madre! (I s**t on your whore-mother) ¡Me cago en la puta que te parió! (I s**t on the whore that gave birth to you) ¡Me cago en la puta! (I s**t on the whore)

¡Me cago en la leche! (I s**t in the milk)

¡Me cago en tus muertos! (I s**t on your dead ancestors) (EXTREME CAUTION: this is very, very offensive)

2. Gilipollas

Few Spanish insults are as satisfying as ‘gilipollas’. Literally it means ‘stupid dick’ and refers to someone who thinks with a dick for a brain. Though it’s more equivalent to ‘dickhead’ or ‘stupid idiot’ or ‘prick’. It can be used both to cause offence, naturally, but also among friends and acquaintances.

EXAMPLE

Porque sales a la calle con calcetines y chanclas tió, ¿serás gilipollas?

(Why are you going out in socks and sandals man, are you a dickhead or something?) (This happened, it was my mother-in-law).

3. Joder

Joder is a versatile Spanish curse word that traditionally has a similar meaning to ‘f**k’ but is extremely rarely used in a sexual context in Spain. Generally, it can be used to express anything from mild frustration to frothing anger. It’s very common to hear elderly people using joder and in general it wouldn’t be frowned upon in their presence.

EXAMPLE

Joder, has dejado la ropa fuera en la lluvia otra vez.

(F**k, you left the clothes out in the rain again.)

4. Mierda

Mierda is a simple insult for English speakers to slot into their Spanish, as in most situations it can substitute ‘s**t’. One situation where it can’t would be in vete a la mierda or ‘go to hell’. You will often hear Spanish people say una mierda when they mean something like ‘there’s no way in hell’.

EXAMPLE ¿Que mierda no?

(How s**t right?)

5. Puta

It’s strange the Spanish obsession with anything bad being attributed to whores - especially when one in five Spanish men admit to having used a sex worker’s services. But, whether a hangover from Catholicism or an act of denial, there it is. Puta is another versatile word that can be slotted in before any word to enhance the potency of an insult or expression.

EXAMPLE ¡El puto perro de ese gilipollas ha cagado en mis putos geranios otra vez!

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BALLAST FOR BACALAO

ON the surface of things, there is nothing to connect the Norwegian landscape with Spain. It couldn’t be more different: Norway, stretching north above the Arctic Circle, is a country of steep rock cliffs and deep fjords created by glacial erosion.

The country is synonymous with waterfalls, glaciers and fjords, along with perpetually misty mountains and copious amounts of rain and snow. Yet there is a part of these lands – albeit a very small part – that will remain forever Spanish.

Allow me to explain:

Norwegian shipping statistics show there was a constant flow of ships with vast tonnage leaving the ports of Norway for the Iberian Penin-

You don’t have to be in Spain to stand on Spanish soil, writes Jack Gaioni

sula between 1830-1900. They carried full cargos of lumber, ice and salted cod or bacalao. This export was very profitable but there was little Spanish cargo to load for the return trips back to Norway. Some grains, olive and wine products were sent north but demand for these products was low.

Given the weight of their rig and sail, the Norwegian sailing ships needed ballast once they were emptied of cargo. The process of ballasting involves loading heavy material into the bilge of the ship to give it stability and balance. The Norwegian shipmasters filled up with Spanish soil, and brought massive amounts of it back to Norway. ‘Ballast places’ were established along the Norwegian coastline, and Spain’s soil was subsequently put to good use. There was little topsoil around the rocky fjords, so much of the Spanish ballast soil was used as ‘fill’ in the construction of streets, parks, gardens and quays. In the port cities of Fredrikstad and Oslo, huge quantities of ballast soil was used to increase the size of the harbours. Some soil was sold for profit.

In a few instances, the soil was deposited in cemeteries to provide sufficient depth for proper burials, as was the case in Alesund, a coastal port just south of the Arctic Circle. According to local folklore, there’s a saying that to be buried in the Alesund Church or in the nearby Borgund Kirke Cemetery, is to be ‘buried in Spanish soil’.

Whereas Spanish soil may have changed the Norwegian landscape in a very small way, the exported cod changed Spanish culture. While it was a longstanding Catholic tradition not to eat meat on certain days (for example, Fridays during Lent), eating fish was encouraged.

The rise in the consumption of fish since the 18th century has been exponential, and Norwegian cod has gone a long way in meeting this demand.

Bacalao is now a well-established part of Spanish gastronomy. Ask anyone who has spent time in Spain for an opinion on it, and you’re likely to get a passionate response. Visit Alesund and anyone their opinion on being buried in Spanish soil, and … well, they’re sure to remain silent on the subject.

(The f**king dog of that dickbrain has s**t in my f**king geraniums again!)

6. Hijo de puta

Hijo de puta could be translated as ‘son of a bitch’.

But as we’ve seen, puta means ‘whore’ or ‘prostitute’ in Spanish.

Generally, if you want a good-and-proper Spanish insult you should direct your swearing towards someone’s upbringing - and especially someone’s mother - for maximum effect.

Commonly you’ll hear people in Spain shortening the insult to just hijoputa or hijaputa

EXAMPLE

Limpia las cacas de tu perro, ¡hijoputa! (Clean up your dog poo, son of a whore!)

7. Hostia puta

Hostia literally translates as ‘host’ in the Christian sense, meaning the body of Christ given to the confirmed during the Eucharist. But it’s been hijacked by the sharp Spanish tongue as a general expression of shock, either positive or negative.

For some unknown reason you’ll often hear people in Spain sticking a puta on the end for good measure.

EXAMPLE ¡Hostia puta! Tengo 500 seguidores en Instagram!

(Holy s**t! I have 500 followers on Instagram!)

8. A tomar por culo

While we don’t approve of homophobic connotations to this insult, it’s in the list because it’s such a widespread Spanish insult.

Vete a tomar por culo literally means ‘go and get it in the arse’ though in practice means ‘go f**k yourself’.

It’s generally a way to tell someone to get lost or get out of your business immediately.

EXAMPLE

Vino a pedirme que regularize mi nueva piscina con el ayuntamiento y le mandé a tomar por culo.

(He came asking me to declare my new swimming pool at the town hall and I told him to go f**k himself.)

9. Coño

The unfortunate translation of this colourful Spanish insult is the English ‘c u next tuesday’.

I say unfortunate because the Spanish version is really nothing like the gravest and most unsavoury of English insults. Coño is used in Spain to express anything from mild surprise to add weight behind an expression. For example: ¿Y a mi que coño me importa? or ‘and why the c**t should I care?’

EXAMPLE

¿Que coño te pasa?

¡Que estoy hasta el coño de escuchar tu reggaeton de mierda!

(What the c**t is wrong with you? I’m up to my c**t with hearing your s**tty reggaeton!)

10. Pringado

Pringado is a Spanish insult that speaks of someone who through naivety or worse gets fooled into doing

We help you escape

The Olive Press Travel site has gone up to a whole new level!

AS the world descends on the costas…we’d like to give you some alternatives. For those of us lucky enough to live here, now is the perfect time to explore some of the quieter - and cooler - corners of Spain. This issue we suggest the Costa de la Luz, a world away from the sweaty bun-fights in Marbella, Javea or Torrevieja in summer.

But equally, how about the moderate climes of Galicia or the mountains of Extremadura? We have researched and published hundreds of top-quality articles over the years.

Even better, they can all be found in one place: in the travel section of the Olive Press website. Chock full of ideas of where to visit, where to stay and where to eat.

Regular visitors to our website - check out ‘Olive Press Travel’ at theolivepress.es - may have noticed a difference over the past few weeks.

things other people don’t want to do, or always ends up with the blame. Pringado can also be someone generally failing at everything and with the worst luck. It could be translated as the US English ‘loser’ or ‘sucker’ or ‘chump’.

EXAMPLE Es un pringado, no le tienes que dar pena. (He’s just a loser, you don’t need to feel bad for him.)

11. Desgraciado This is an insult many Spanish people take immense pride in saying. There’s little worse than being a desgraciado or ‘wretch’. The word literally means ‘without grace’ and will generally be hurled in the direction of anyone acting without care or concern for others.

EXAMPLE Olvídalo, no es más que un desgraciado. Forget about him, he’s no more than a wretch.

12. Cabrón

Literally this essential Spanish insult means a male goat. If you’re not aware, male goats can be either aggressive or careless or annoying or all three.

A very common insult in Spain that can also be used to insult someone you’re envious of.

EXAMPLE

¿Has visto que el cabrón tiene un Range Rover? Vamos a pincharle las ruedas.

(Did you see the male goat now has a Range Rover? Let’s puncture his tyres.)

We have brought on board well respected travel writer Sorrel Downer - whose work is often featured in the Guardian - to drive the site on.

Ensuring it is full of not just excellent photos and well-informed articles but also useful information for any would-be traveller.

Tips on the most interesting museums to visit to reviews of the country’s best restaurants and hotels, the Olive Press always sends out staff and contributors to actually visit the places they write about.

This makes our site authoritative in a way that cut-and-paste merchants from lazier websites can’t hope to match.

At the moment we have two interns from America’s Princeton University - Isabel Max and Regina Roberts - who are sharing their journeys around Spain with our readers (you can read about their trip to Tarifa in this issue.)

Many more journeys are lined up in the coming weeks including special spots to cool down for a cooling dip, a trip to Nerja and a Best of the Islands special, plus much more.

This top quality content has not gone unnoticed among travel writers.

Indeed, seasoned author Paul Richardson is so impressed that he has agreed to serialise his latest book, Hidden Valleys, about life in Extremadura, in the Olive Press this summer - a real honour for us.

So what are you waiting for? Visit theolivepress.es and the whole of Spain is at your fingertips.

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

1- Around 200 members of a rainbow hippy family kicked out from Andalucia’s major national park

2- A VICTIM’S PLEA to Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner: You’re a loser. I survived and am loved and free

● BALLAST is one of those unusual words that is both a noun and a verb. The definition of the noun is heavy material (e.g. rock, soil, or iron) placed in such a way as to improve stability, control and balance. As a verb, it means to steady or fill in.

● BACALAO al Pil Pil is a Basque regional specialty with a fascinating story of origin. During the Second Carlist War (1846) a restaurateur named Simon Gurtubay ordered 20 to 22 Norwegian cod. There was a mix-up and he received 20,022 Norwegian cod. By coincidence, the order arrived on the eve of the Siege of Bilbao. Having only a few simple ingredients to hand (namely olive oil, garlic and peppers), he not only concocted his famous recipe, he helped save the city from starvation!

GILIPOLLAS: A common insult against drivers

3- Rejected Schengen visa applicants lash out at ‘merciless’ Spain and other countries

4-Shark sighting forces bathers out of water at Costa Blanca beach in Spain

5- IN PICS: Costa del Sol in the 1970s

JETSKI PESTS

Noise and nuisance caused by watersport enthusiasts should not be encouraged

AS a subscriber to the Olive Press I was disappointed when reading your article on ‘Best Beaches for Water Sports in Andalucia’. The disappointment comes from your inclusion of Jet Skiing as a sport ‘to enjoy’ (on

EUREKA!

BANDIDO now has a fantastic family thanks to The Olive Press! They called out of the blue just as we were thinking we would get no response as it was getting a little late. He is going to Malaga to the most lovely couple in the most beautiful house with stunning gardens. When I get Bailey out of Galicia (it’s a long way!)to Malaga I will discuss with the association the next dog that needs help and will be in touch with you!. This is surely a miracle.

Marianne O'Neill, Name and address supplied

EDITOR’S NOTE: Last edition the Olive Press published an appeal to find Bandido a home. He had been left alone tied up in a field with only sporadic attempts to feed him. We are happy to have helped find him a home

a beach).

In a very narrow sense, the relatively few people who ride these machines may well derive a short term thrill but do you not have any idea of the astronomical imposition it inflicts on the millions of people who live by the coast or frequent the beaches? There are, unfortunately, people who ‘enjoy’ shooting giraffes, lions etc.so would you present this in a positive light?

By including it you are, in essence condoning the activity or at least helping to promote it. Surely ‘Best Beaches’ are those where (the majority) of people can have a peaceful time without suffering the antics of this small number of very inconsiderate people. (Yes, there is the odd considerate Jet Skiers should not be ‘enjoying’ riding anywhere near beaches so including both in the same paragraph seems to be something of an oximoron. There are laws which are designed to keep them away from beaches. Sorry for the rant.

Nick Tasker, La Herradura

EDITOR’S NOTE: No need to apologise Mr Tasker! You raise a valid point. While I humbly note that the article was about the best beaches for water sports, there is no doubt an annoyance caused for other beach users by the noise. What do other readers think?

FLOATING: Violette

Enchanting display

MADRID was treated to a unique and enchanting display when French pianist Violette Prevost captivated hundreds with a floating piano performance.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, a mesmerised audience gathered around the Pradolongo artificial lake in Usera to witness an extraordinary concert.

Etheral

The renowned musical ensemble known as Piano du Lac orchestrated the event, their only stop in central Madrid during their summer tour across Spain.

Prevost took to her ethereal floating stage and blended classical melodies with contemporary compositions.

Gods of art

Graffiti and classical art fused by Spanish duo

TWO Spanish graffiti artists have built up an international reputation for creating murals of the ancient Greek gods on large high-rise buildings across the world.

The eye-catching works seamlessly combine modern artistic sensibilities with the ancient Greek mythological world. PichiAvo have been described

EUROPE’S largest vertical mural, on Spain’s south coast, is just weeks away from completion. Covering over 6,000 square metres, Les Rivages de Almuñecar, by artist Jose Ríos, is being painted on three 12-storey buildings.

The mural depicts a figure of a dog walking on the beach, the silhouette of a woman and the

Bonus success

SPAIN'S Youth Cultural Bonus for 2022, which provides €400 per head to invest in culture to young people who reach 18 years, has distributed more than €37.5 million since it started being issued last October.

952 147 834

By Alex Trelinski

as being ‘among the most prominent street artists on the current urban art scene’.

Pichi and Avo trained in Fine Art and Design and met on the graffiti art scene in Valencia before becoming a duo in 2007.

Tall order

waves of the sea and the golden sand. Its conception was to convey a sense of transparency and disguise the tower blocks on which it is painted.

It will be viewable in all its glory in the town of Almuñecar,

CLASSIC GRAFFITI:

From that moment they worked on developing joint projects, pursuing an unremitting search for a style of their own in fusion of graffiti and classical art.

Recently the pair completed stylized graffiti murals of the Greek gods and subjects from Greek Mythology in Spain and Canada, and also recently took part in the 2023 Mural Festival in Montreal.

In Spain, they have finished a mural in Merida, Extremadura, near to the city's famous Roman Hippodrome, once used for horse and chariot racing. Commenting on the new mural, PichiAvo said: “We painted a new version of the Venus del Mitreo which is exhibited in the Museo Nacional del Arte Romano also located in Merida.”

“It involved reconstructing the bust inspired by the Syra-

cuse-type Venus from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, since we found the similarity between the two works very fruitful,” they commented.

The synergy between classical art and graffiti can be seen in their many murals of the ancient Greek gods that combine contemporary street art with the sensibilities of the ancient world.

Some 277,754 people who turned 18 during the qualifying period for the 2022 Bonus applied for the money - around half of those who were eligible to do so. People who celebrate their 18th birthday this year can now apply for the 2023 grant with a closing date of September 30.

MAKING WAVES

FLAMENCO lovers with sea legs will soon be able to enjoy a highly original Mediterranean cruise experience in november.

Seven Seas Flamenco Experience consists of a voyage on board the Atlantis, which, with the Mediterranean as a backdrop, will put the gypsy artform centre stage. The cruise experience will transport flamenco lovers through four emblematic cities for an authentic flamenco experience at each stop; Cartagena, Almeria, Malaga and Cadiz.

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

Painted by PichiAvo (below)

DRYING UP

The recent rainfall has had little effect given the long-term lack of water in the country’s reservoirs

THE official start to the summer was marked by nearly 40% of the country being declared in drought.

That’s according to the latest report from the Ecological Transition Ministry.

The data shows that 33% of Spain is in a ‘prolonged drought’, with a particularly dry year so far in Catalunya and most of Andalucia.

The lack of rainfall in recent months has left the country’s reservoirs at 47.4% capacity, compared to the average of 66.7% over the past 10 years according to the data. However, there has been more rainfall than usual so far in the month of June, which has helped to stop the fall in water reserves. But this precipitation has not been enough to allevi-

Green wine

SPANISH winemaker Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos has been named the leading food and drink company in Spain at The Sustainability Awards. They won the garland by becoming one of the first to achieve Carbon Neutral certification and utilise only renewable energy across their many sites around Spain.

The jury also praised the company’s new Sustainability Plan, which outlines 100 actions to be implemented between 2023 and 2027, covering areas such as environmental initiatives, social practices, and corporate governance.

By Simon Hunter

ate the situation in many of the water basins across the country.

Last year was also very dry, meaning that the reservoirs have been at minimum levels for many months and at levels that have not been seen since a major drought that took place in Spain in the mid-1990s.

Despite the arrival of summer, however, there could still be some storms to come

in the north of the country. But in the long term, according to the AEMET state weather service, temperatures are likely to be above average for the next three months. The water shortage has

already affected wildlife, with the numbers of breeding flamingos in Andalucia’s Fuente de Piedra lake down to just a handful from its usual 10,000 as the water dries up (above).

GREEN CORRIDORS

A RECENT study by the Global Maritime Forum has identified Spain as a hub for green shipping corridors towards the rest of Europe and beyond.

Based on the scale of trade, energy demand, dominant trade segments and policy environment, the analysis showed that the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States are Spain’s most promising partner countries for developing green corridors.

The other three identified countries were Turkey, Morocco, and China with Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia singled out as the key ports.

IHAVE regularly written in this column that world leaders need to take urgent steps on a global level to tackle climate change.

As individuals, there are a number of measures we should be doing.

CUT OUT WASTING FOOD

According to a UN report the world wastes between 25 - 30% of its food. The same report states that around 10% of global carbon emissions are linked to produce we do not consume. This is a pretty staggering statistic.

FLY LESS, DRIVE LESS

Domestic flights have the highest emissions per person per kilometre. There are alternatives - train, bus, car share, and video conferencing for example. Look at an electric vehicle.

DO YOUR BIT

INSTALL SOLAR PANELS

This really is a no-brainer. If you have a useable roof or suitable land put it to good use. The sun is free… harness it. Solar-generated power is the cleanest form of renewable energy. And it pays back your investment in typically less than four years.

INSTALL LED LIGHTS

Led light bulbs are more energy efficient. They give better quality light and are much cheaper to run.

A 35w Halogen bulb costs over €6 a year to run (and has a short life expectancy). An equivalent Led bulb costs less than €1 per year. It’s not rocket science.

BUY ENERGY-EFFICIENT ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES

Read the label on every new appliance you buy to see how frugal it is to use - washing machines, fridges, dishwashers, ovens, etc.

DO I REALLY NEED IT?

We generally buy more clothing than we need. Get this; according to the UN’s data, when you take into account cotton production, manufacturing, transport and washing it takes over 3,700 litres of water just to make one pair of jeans. Wow! Try secondhand. Some of the charity shops have amazing clothing at a fraction of the new price. So whilst governments around the world redefine the meaning of being slow to act...there’s no need to drag your heels.

Every little helps.

Green Matters By Martin Tye

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FIESTA TIME

JUNE marks the start of fiesta season - the annual highlight of life in rural Spain.

It kicks off with Corpus Christi

in Granada, where decorated horses parade around the fairground, mounted by riders dressed in flamenco finery.

Dapper Andalus horses become a frequent sight at summer romerias, which celebrate religious events.

At this time of year, even the smallest villages spring to life. With balmier and longer evenings, Spanish families sit at tables placed directly outside their homes. Here, they can

congregate for a cold beer (or three) or card game.

Suddenly, you can’t find a park-

ing place in your town because visitors from ‘Barca’ or Madrid have arrived to see their rural families. At night, the bars are buzzing, and there’s a feeling of excitement in the air.

A week before your town’s pa-

tron saint day, or feria, the municipal street decorations appear, the columpios (rides) and shooting galleries arrive (where you pop at cheap toys with an air rifle), and market vendors set up their stalls. Everything from hot potatoes to artisan handbags are on sale. Not forgetting the delicious mojitos! A loud cohete (banger) marks the start of the fiesta – and off we go!

Trevelez and the fiesta of San Antonio

The Olive Press visited the fiesta of Trevelez – the Alpujarra’s highest village at 1,476m. Taking place from June 14-17, the fiesta celebrates patron saint San Antonio de Padua. The most popular attraction is a theatre of Moros y Cristianos held in Barrio Medio, on Saturday afternoon.

Summer in Granada is known for its fiestas, ferias and romerias – some have an unusual twist, writes Jo Chipchase

Photos by Jon Clarke

PICTURESQUE: Vista of El Palmar beach, while above an inlet with fishing boasts near Barbate, and a kitesurfer

Costa de la luz

BIGGEST DUNE IN EUROPE Laid back and unshowy

Bolonia’s iconic, giant sand dune is the texture of icing sugar, its waters Caribbean blue. The largest on the Continent it dares to be climbed, just to see what lies beyond.

While there is no secret cove or crock of gold at the end it is a lovely slow transition into a cool, scented pine forest. And the stunning views from the top are a reminder of how all coastal Andalucia once was.

Nearby look for Cala del Picacho, for some therapeutic mud-baking.

The mud treatments are popular and you smash up some wet slate stone to create your own mudpack, before letting it dry off.

From previous page

hotel suite like Califa in Vejer or Punta Sur, in Tarifa.

For spreading out in front of you are uninterrupted vistas of rolling fields and pine trees all the way down to white sandy beaches, with very little built on them.

An incredible sight, this patchwork quilt of greenery and long, unspoilt beaches is sadly practically unique to Spain these days, but what much of Andalucia’s coastline would have looked like 50 years ago.

The Costa de la Luz is only matched in beauty by Cabo de Gata in Almeria but there is something intrinsically different about the Costa de la

Luz: Laid back and unshowy, its friendly, unfussy locals complement the breathtaking scenery and distinctive vibe. The coastline is, without a doubt, for the more discerning tourist and, in particular, for lovers of fine food.

Vejer, in particular, has an incredible mix of stylish boutique hotels and probably the highest concentration of top restaurants per capita of anywhere else in Andalucia.

This is a true food capital and over the last few years, I have found at least a dozen great places to eat within a ten mile radius of the town. Tarifa has an altogether dif - ferent feel.

This is a party town, particularly in summer, when the back streets are heaving with lively bars well into the early hours. But its stylish mix of shops and restaurants added to its melting pot of worldly Spaniards and interesting expats make for a distinct Tarifa scene, not dissimilar to the one you find in Ibiza and it is one of the few places – thanks in the main to its breezes – that still has enough going on through the win -

ter.

The Moors would never have had it so good on arriving in Tarifa in 710AD.

While later dubbing Andalucia ‘paradise’, it was certainly anything but peaceful when they used the town as their bridgehead into southern Spain. This is quickly obvious wondering around Tarifa, its historic ramparts littered with statues and references to stirring catholic heroes such as Sancho El Bravo and Guzmán el Bueno. If you

have never taken a ride to these shores, the other side of the Rock of Gibraltar and around Cadiz you are in for a surprise.

This is Europe’s true deep south; a series of windswept flood plains,

fringed by miles and miles of mesmerizing and largely unspoilt white, soft and sandy beaches, ideal for a bucket-and-spade-holiday.

Aside from the austere ‘cubist’ towns, which were built by the

Moors who ruled this land for nearly 800 years, you will be spoilt by the numerous sites from the famous Trafalgar lighthouse –off which the key naval battle once took place - to the historic fishing village of Sancti Petri, near Chiclana.

Then there are the excellent Roman ruins at Bolonia and hidden gems, like Zahora and exclusive Roche, where Madrid’s captains of industry take their holidays.

My favourite spots though include the secret beach, a half an hour walk from Bolonia, where you will find just cows, the celebrated brown retinto cows of the region.

I also love the amazing walk through umbrella pines to the Torre del Tajo, high above Barbate, which finally gives out one of the best views in Christendom.

And then there is the ancient dovecote at El Palomar de la Brena, plus the historic inland gem of Medina Sidonia. But best of all it is the restaurants and food that make this region so very special. There is literally everything

COAST WITH THE MOST

THE Costa de la Luz officially stretches for around 200kms all the way up into Huelva and to the border with Portugal.

Split in two by the stunning Donana national park, the coastline also

includes the so-called 'sherry triangle' or 'Cadiz coast' towns of Sanlucar de Barrameda, Rota, Chipiona and El Puerto de Santa Maria.

It also includes the cities of Cadiz and Huelva.

here from the historic converted townhouses, like Califa, to the evocative dining terraces at Patria and Castilleria. And above all there are the ingredients… the amazing tuna, local vegetables and the amazing beef from the aforementioned cows.

And then up the road you have Jerez, its history and its sherries, not to mention the incredible historic gem of Cadiz and its nearby towns of Sanlucar and Puerto de Santa Maria and the true lungs of Andalucia, the celebrated Donana National Park.

Oh the incredible lightness of being!

Modern European Cuisine in the heart of Tarifa

HISTORIC: Bolonia’s Baelo Claudia (left), Tarifa’s castle (above) and ancient gate (right)

PICTURE THIS: Alleyway in Vejer

AFRICAN VISTA: Morocco looms large behind Tarifa and (left) Vejer’s main church

THE city of Cadiz is on a peninsula, precariously attached to the rest of Spain by three strings: the glorious Puente de la Constitucion (known as ‘La Pepa’); the ho-hum, but sturdy Puente Jose Leon de Carranza (both on the east side) and a 3 km strip of the CA 33 from the south.

Historically, people arrived by sea –first the Phoenicians back in 1100 BC, then the Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors, before a flurry of explorers returned from the new world loaded up with boats full of treasure. These riches would go on to fund the grandest of buildings of their time, including a series of towering houses with views to the sea, as well as a beautiful golden-domed cathedral. But, the place was already a gem when it came to architecture. As the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula, pretty much everything is historic so you don’t necessarily need to visit the Museo de Cadiz (though you probably should, if time allows).

The second biggest Roman theatre (right) in Spain is right there in the middle, uncovered during the excavation of a slightly newer building, while the underground foundations and sewers of the city can be seen in a fascinating museum.

WANDERING ABOUT

Exploring is easy in Cadiz. Mediaeval stone walls separate the shops, offic-

es and condos of modern Cadiz, from the old part. Once you’re

The creative cuisine is the perfect foil to the rich history of Spain’s oldest city Cadiz, writes Sorrel Downer

through the Puerta de Tierra arch, you can follow the sea wall or dive into the cross-hatch of narrow streets and plazas and end up where you end up.

To get your bearings, head to Torre Tavira with its fascinating ‘camara oscura’ (on Calle Marques del Real Tesoro), which, at 33 metres, is the highest lookout tower in the city. Protecting the city from pirates and raiders was a full-on job. Hence the hefty looking Castillo de San Sebastian on a causeway from Playa La Caleta and the star-shaped Castillo de Santa Catalina built on the other side of the beach in 1598 and definitely worth a visit.

But these days, for all its popularity, old Cadiz is a surprisingly peaceful place with quiet, unexpected plazas and its dense botanical garden, Parque Genoves.

THE BEACHES

La Caleta, between the castles, is small and busy, and easy to access. It’s also beautiful with its 1920s spa, the bright, white balneario. Playa Victoria, backed by condos and bars, and running along the western edge of modern Cadiz, is absolutely enormous, with chiringuitos and a neighbourly feel.

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

The best place to eat, Codigo de Barra (left), quickly rose to become a gastro-institution and now holds a Michelin star.

Dutch chef Leon Griffioen puts a new twist on Andalucian classics. Book ahead and try one of the tasting menus (Calle San Francisco, 7). Also innovative and exciting are La Marmita (Calle Ancha, 7) and La Curiosidad de Mauro Barreiro (Calle Veedor, 10).

Taberna Almarcen, right by the market with outdoor tables for people-watching, has an ever-changing menu based on local fresh produce, as well as Jerez vermouth (Plaza Libertad).

Others combining good food with great setting are Sonambulo with outdoor seating on Plaza de la Candelaria; and Garage Bistro, good for tapas, with outdoor seating on Calle Posadilla.

Fish and chips – except without the chips – is the Cadiz specialty, best taken away in a paper cone and eaten overlook ing the beach (though most freidurías have seating and some are quite fancy).

All are good, but El Freidor del Mercado is easy to find, and Casa Manteca, founded in 1953, has a great traditional atmosphere (Calle Corralon de los Carros, 66), while Freiduria Las Flores is a firm favourite with a top selection (Plaza Topete, 4. Cádiz).

For a drink you’re spoilt for choice, but try Casa Manteca; and Taberna la Manzanilla for sherries from the barrel; the super-popular tapas bar La Tabernita on Calle Virgen de la Palma, 32, (tiny as the name suggests but with barrels to stand at outside); and – for a bit of sophistication and great views over La Caleta– the bar-restaurant Quilla.

LUXURY: In the heart of the ancient city overlooking the cathedral

TASTY: Fish from the Atlantic and Mediterranean

WHERE TO STAY

It’s not the biggest or the swankiest, and it doesn’t have sea views, but Hotel Argantonio on a narrow street right in the centre is ideal for a short stay – a gem with prices that won’t break the bank. Another good mid-priced option is Casa de los Cuatro Torres, just 700 metres from the Museo de Cadiz, airy and spacious but with exposed beams and ancient walls here and there.

A converted 17th century convent, Hotel Boutique Convento offers modern, somewhat bland rooms, but fabulous public spaces including cloisters, just five minutes from the city gate.

While, for rooftop swimming pool views, you can’t beat Hotel La Catedral which, as the name suggests, faces la cathedral. Those on a budget should check out the friendly Casa Caracol, a 5-minute walk away on Calle Suarez de Salazar.

Costa de la luz

Oases of calm

IAWAKE to the sound of peacocks and throw open my shutters to find mother duck and her five ducklings waddling around my private garden. This is Punta Sur, the leafy paradise where anyone looking to really luxuriate heads for when staying on the Costa de la Luz these days.

The sister hotel of Tarifa’s famous Hurricane Hotel, it is anything but the poor cousin, being

better appointed and far more spacious. Hidden in a green valley beside Valdevaqueros beach, it offers larger rooms and you walk out into hectares of grounds that includes a tennis court, fountains and ponds full of fish, ducks and geese.

And then you find the swimming pool (or should that be reservoir!), a giant circular number that is easily the best place for families to relax be-

VARIETY: The kitchens at the Hurricane (left) and Punta Sur (right) are producing classic, good value dishes

LOCATION: The Punta Sur hotel sits on stunning Valdevaqueros beach and is a true green oasis with lakes and its own ducks and peacocks

LEAFY:

side, particularly when the wind is up thanks to its protection from deep shrubbery.

The hotel also counts on a pool table, while the shady El Jardin restaurant has become a reference for those-in-the-know along the coast.

This secret enclave is the perfect place to kick back for lunch - or chill out for the day - when the wind is blowing a hoolie from the west. There’s plenty of shade and the sound of water percolates from all around, while the menu is local and seasonal with plenty of special touches.

The local tomatoes, with fresh basil and mozzarella are excellent, while the tuna tartare is as good as any I have eaten in Tarifa.

Meanwhile the steaks and burgers are definitely to be recommended, in particular on a cool evening.

Take my advice and head for a stroll, crossing over the N-340, and heading down to the beach where you can walk through rolling sand dunes for a mile in either direction and meet no-one.

This is one of the least unspoilt stretches of coastline in Spain and the only buildings you will find are a few ancient pill boxes dug in by Franco during the dark days of his dictatorship, and a lot of fun to explore for the children. Keep heading west and you will eventually arrive at Tumbao and Liam Whaley’s kite school, where you can kick back for a spot of lunch and watch the world go by.

All three with different skills and different social circles, they formed a vision to turn a scruffy beachside hostel into one of southern Spain’s most emblematic places to stay.

“We each had our own strengths, but above all a love for the area,” explains Peter Whaley, 76, who divides his time between Ibiza and Tarifa, where he can still be seen out kitesurfing, surfing or increasingly windfoiling, almost every day.

Peter - whose son Liam is among the world’s best professional kitesurfers - had first landed in Tarifa in 1984 en route to Morocco, where his younger brother James owned an achingly hip hotel in Essaouira.

A keen windsurfer, he was amazed to discover that the winds continued to blow for almost 80% of the year and saw an opening to set up a rental firm for tourists.

Alongside Australian boardmaker Barry Pussell they opened a shack called 100% Fun that sold and rented windsurfs, plus his Dutch wife Terese’s clothes, from fashion label Graffiti Ibiza.

Easily the nicest swimming pool on the Costa de la Luz

Head in the other direction east and you will come to the Hurricane Hotel itself, another incredible oasis of calm that keeps getting better by the year.

This is a seminal place, which has entered folklore as one of the most evocative hotels in southern Spain, somewhere even Queen Camilla is said to have luxuriated at, without her current king, it should be added.

A little slice of paradise, the Hurricane hotel offers a choice of two pools, one strictly adults-only, while there is a fully-kitted gym, plus spa with sauna.

Yoga classes are on offer and the hotel can sort out any sort of adventure from cycling to horse riding or kitesurfing to dining.

I opt to take a cup of Earl Grey under the umbrella pines by the waters edge with a good book, while the wine glasses are being set out for dinner on the terrace just up a short flight of steps.

The Hurricane Group is the life’s work of the English Whaley brothers, who acquired this prime slice of Tarifa real estate back in 1985.

With careful marketing and planning they had soon ushered in the celebrated Tarifa wind revolution, an industry now worth tens of millions of euros every year. Back then, though, there was nowhere decent to stay so they bought a small ruined 12-room hostel across the road and started to renovate it.

This was where his brother Michael, 71, a talented builder and landscaper came in for his construction skills, as well as third brother James, who died in 2019.

The manager of 80s band Adam & the Ants and the producer of seminal films, Sebastiane and Jubilee, he was a genuine style guru, with an uncanny knack for the latest fashions.

Under his watchful eye the place slowly turned into one of Andalucia’s hippest places to stay. While the gardens and vegetation have matured each year, full of ponds and during the pandemic the team, including Michael’s son George, a DJ, have worked hard to improve the chill out areas and drive the quality of the food upwards.

The signing of a talented new hotel manager Greetja and executive chef, who has worked around South America, has really improved the menus and quality of food.

Visit www.hotelhurricane.com or www.hotelpuntasur.com

FLYING HIGH

IT was perhaps only a matter of time that Liam Whaley would open his own kite school. Having traversed the world competing on the international circuit and a former global champion, he has finally taken over the centre at Valdevaqueros beach, by Tumbao.

Sponsored by Porsche and after a big investment, the school is one of the best to offer the latest in kite technology, as well as windsurfs and windfoils.

His team of talented instructors offer classes by the week, day or hour and a handful of half day sessions is enough to give you a good basis of all three watersports. While Liam is not always about, talented Mateo has been working on the coast for nearly a decade and has great knowledge and advice.

www.liamwhaleyprocenter.com

TALENT:

And not just Liam

Punta Sur and the Hurricane are the best places to escape the wind in Tarifa, writes Jon Clarke

LEAFY: The gardens and restaurant at Punta Sur are hard to beat

Costa de la luz

UNDERWATER WORLD

UNDER the sun-kissed sea there lies an alien world, teeming with colourful life that makes the coast’s crowded beaches and bars seem a million miles away.

Scuba diving, a thrilling yet serene sport, abounds all around the Straits, and in particular near Tarifa. Whether you are an experienced diver or a novice, you will be struck by two underwater wow factors: the clarity of the water and the infinite variety of fish.

A number of companies operate out of Tarifa harbour

Discover the teeming aquatic wildlife of Tarifa with Jon Clarke

taking punters of all experience levels on dives and offer official PADI courses. After a thorough landbased briefing on safety, science and equipment from my dive manager, at Yellow Sub, one of the longest running firms in business, we kitted up and made our way to the boat. Given that my previous introduction to scuba diving was a university swimming pool, I was blown away by the vivid underwater landscape and clear visibility. The sheer number of aquatic species of all sizes and colours of

the spectrum is astounding. We chugged around Tarifa’s mini island, Isla de la Palomas, investigating every nook and cranny, marvelling at the magnificent orange anemones clinging to the rocks.

Sassy sea cucumbers, evil-looking moray eels with their malevolent mouths agape, fish that camouflage themselves in the sand… even Sir David Attenborough would wax lyrical!

At one point we came upon a pair of octopuses entwined in a passionate embrace, and, feeling like a third wheel, I edged away, but soon realised they were fighting over the

best hiding place under the rocks. It was fascinating to watch and, as the victor took up residence, the loser powered off to regroup.

Whether you’re a rookie or an expert seeking fresh challenges, Yellow Sub, or other companies such as León Marino will show you a breathtaking underwater world you’d never imagine existed.

PIC CREDIT: Leon Marino

CAPTIVATING: Crab and Eel are among the treasures of the deep

Whale of a time

WE are about equidistance between Spain and Morocco in the deepest part of the Straits of Gibraltar.

Flying fish, turtles and two types of whale are basking around, feeding and luxuriating in this food-rich marine paradise, some 15 minutes offshore from Tarifa. And that’s not to mention the dolphins, including a pair of Bottlenose, who are shepherding their calf, that is

apparently no more than a week old.

Soon we have found a school of dolphins swimming around the boat and, being so calm, we can see them clearly under the water.

It’s an almost religious experience for the boat-load of tourists, as the stunning mammals clearly swim over to take a closer look at us.

“These two are particularly inquisitive,” pipes up a voice from the cockpit above, as one

Flying fish, dolphins and giant turtles pay a visit on a trip into the Straits, writes Jon Clarke

particular pair come sniffing up to the boat, then swim underneath at an amazing speed.

The words come from Dr Katharina Heyer, a remarkable woman of 75 years of age, who has become, without a doubt, one of the world’s authorities on sea life off the tip of southern Spain.

It’s her 20th year working with

her foundation Firmm, which was set up after she was guid ed to Tarifa to see whales and dolphins by a ‘spiritual man’ in 1998. Then running her own fashion company in Switzerland, she visited the area to find nobody organising trips to see the mammals and almost no research on them.

“I arrived on a really rainy, awful day to find no whale boats, just fishermen, and had to rent a diving boat to take me out,” she explains. It may not have been perfect weather conditions, but what she saw completely changed her for good. While she had long enjoyed diving holidays with her teenage sons in the Caribbean and

the Maldives, seeing a group of Pilot whales and Bottlenose dolphins had a strong and immediate impact on her.

So moved was she by these large and graceful mammals that she quickly moved out to set up her ‘respectful whale watching’ foundation in Tarifa and has never looked back.

Indeed, so respected has been her research into the mammals over the last two decades - in particular her sensitization work for them - that last year she was awarded an honorary

doctorate from the University of Basel.

There are now a handful of companies taking visitors out to see the mammals from Tarifa, and on most days they can expect to see Sperm whales, Pilot whales and even Orcas, not to mention various types of dolphins and many other fish.

It is one of the best places in the world to see them, with the currents bringing a lot of food from both directions, explains Katharina.

However, this brings in itself severe risks, as they are entering one of the busiest waterways in the world with more than 300 freighters and other sea traffic passing every day.

Indeed, as you look out into the Straits you are witnessing a battle for survival.

“The lives of dolphins and whales are at risk from ferries getting faster and faster, the noise from shipping traffic and more,” she explains.

“We are trying our best to monitor their numbers and do our best to minimise the issues they face.”

PIC CREDIT: Turmares Tarifa

Costa de la luz

Vejer de la Frontera is the food capital of Cadiz counting on culinary influences from far and wide.

Jon Clarke traces its remarkable food revolution

ONE pinch Mediterranean, one grate of mountain fare and a wave of influences from the Atlantic. This is just part of the cocktail that makes the food culture of Vejer de la Frontera so exciting.

A genuine frontier of food, its sheer depth of culinary talent coupled with its ingredients, makes for an exciting melting pot of places to eat.

Forget its amazing beauty, its extraordinary location and its remarkable views, Vejer’s main draw is its competitive restaurateurs and chefs.

The white town is brimming over with exciting restaurants, all competitive in the extreme, and you will need deep pockets and a sharp business acumen, not to mention a keen eye for style if you’re

planning one.

“They should be doing university studies on the success of Vejer’s

Sierra

food revolution,” explains Alberto Reyes, who opened his restaurant 4 Estaciones in the town in 2017.

“Just when you think it might peak it picks up again and we have to constantly work on upping our game to survive.”

This has recently meant taking on Esperanza, a sous chef who worked with Andalucia’s top three-Michelin star chef Angel León, in El Puerto de Santa Maria.

And you can really note the freshness in their food, which has remarkable quality, stuff that foodies like me, immediately pick up on.

Having written a book and set up a website, Dining Secrets of Andalucia, over a decade ago, I regularly travelled down to Vejer and the small hamlets around it in search of new gems.

It was during one weekend back in 2004 or so when I first found the town and its then highly-rated restaurant, Trafalgar.

It stood out like a lighthouse, if you’ll excuse the pun, in a culinary desert back then and it was only when its wonderful nearby hotel, Califa, really cranked up the quality of its food soon after that the competition began.

“We set the standard for everyone else, we knew we had to match Trafalgar for service and we tried to create our own niche,” recalls owner James Stuart (above at nearby El Palmar), who now owns half a dozen restaurants in the town.

“From then on anyone who opened a restaurant in Vejer had to be at our level…and from about 2010 as the recession ended things started to take off,” continues the father-of-two, who actually arrived here 30 years ago to open a cycling business.

Indeed, by about 2015 the town and its nearby area had at least half a dozen buzzing places to head for, including Las Delicias, Judería and Casa Varo, while nearby Castilleria, Venta Pinto, and the famous tuna joint, Campero, in Barbate, and La Duquesa, in Medina Sidonia, were chestnuts waiting to be discovered.

I first found my personal culinary Nirvana (well, my second after San Sebastian, in the Pais Vasco) in a sleepy hamlet called Santa Maria, up a dead end

EYECATCHING: The Arabic arches of the Juderia to Alberto Reyes at 4 Estaciones

STUNNING: The view from Teteria, a dish at Califa and waiters at restaurant Fez

street 10 minutes out of town.

Hard to find and easy to miss, but Venta el Toro, is one of the most unpretentious and authentic places to eat in Spain. Hardly changed for decades this is where the locals in the know go for a dose of nostalgia and a great tapas lunch.

One of the last redoubts of quintessential Andalucia, the hamlet also counts on a couple of other interesting places to eat (and stay), while the remarkable Castilleria has been constantly evolving (and putting its prices up) for 25 years. For better value for money and for even more serious foodies - you need to be heading up an even longer windier lane into the hills above Vejer.

But I promise you a trip to Patria will be worth it.

This is the factory of light that Danish expats Ase and Thomas Donso opened to my eyes over a decade ago, a place as visually inspiring as it is pleasurable on your stomach.

Romantic and ground breaking in equal measures you’ll feel like you’re in another century, spending time on its ancient cobbled terrace in La Muela.

Come for the wonderful sunset with views as far as Cadiz and let the team plan your meal with the sort of lightness and joy that only this region can bring.

And if you still want more, head to Venta Pinto, a classic gem of a roadside pitstop, that has been a stopping off point for travellers and tradesmen for centuries.

It was actually around in the 17th century, when known as Posada de la Barca, it put up and watered people visiting these parts.

Today, it is still doing the same, with some people taking a coffee, others a tapa and a cana and those-in-theknow a wonderful lunch in one of two wood-beamed dining rooms.

All in all it has been a remarkable turnaround for a place that 25 years ago you would hardly have made a stop, apart from the loo en route between Cadiz and Tarifa.

But like a slow-cooked pork belly, Vejer has gently fused its ingredients to become a culinary hive only rivalled by the likes of Sevilla, Ronda and Marbella in Andalucia. Madrileno Javier Duenas, who opened his exciting spot Garimba in the main square a decade ago, is clear on why Vejer has done so well.

“We pride ourselves on working incredibly hard, never standing still and keeping the prices down,” he says. “And everyone works hard to keep the bar set high.”

One person who quickly realised this on arriving in Vejer in 2015 was expat Ellie Cormie, who has certainly lit the touchpaper with her extraordinarily successful joint,

Corredera 55, run alongside her husband James Stuart.

Cormie, an interior designer by trade, had already run Michelin-starred places back home in native Scotland, as well as in Asturias before she moved to Vejer and fell in love with its food scene (not to mention, its best seasoned expat).

“I immediately fitted in and loved the mix of places to eat,” she explains. “And with Corredera we have slowly carved a new furrow to make it one of the most successful places in town.”

RECIPEFORSUCCESS

MUCH of Vejer’s success is down to the local surround- ings, which produce some of the best quality ingredients in the world.

The obvious examples are sherry, fish and the wonderful beef from the classic brown ‘retinto’ cows, which you often see wandering around the nearby hills.

Of course the amazing ‘almadraba’ bluefin tuna, caught nearby, is spectacularly good and the vegetables available are also of a high quality, particularly from Conil, just down the road.

Another reason is the type of tourists who visit the town, which has seen a distinctly better heeled crowd than its nearby rivals on the Costa del Sol. They demand quality and are prepared to spend to get it.

FRONT LINE: The Corredera counts on half a dozen top joints including Sumia, Califa Tapas and Corredera 55

Costa de la luz

GET HOOKED

Gin Tunics, tuna lollipops and tuna yachts... despite Belinda Beckett not eating fish, Zahara’s legendary Ruta de Atún festival had her hooked!

FISH lovers travel from far and wide to the Costa de la Luz in Springtime to taste the first succulent almadraba tuna - caught by an ancient method dating back to Phoenecian times, just as these Leviathans leave the cold Atlantic for their warmer Mediterranean spawning grounds. During festival week in May there are as many fish fanciers on land as there are tuna in the sea, when the population of this pretty maritime pueblo of 1,300 residents fills up with another 15,000 hungry souls.

In total, they munched their way through 65,000 tapas made from 200 tuna weighing some 200 kilos apiece, netting restaurateurs an impressive €400,000 over one weekend– not bad in an economic crisis! And tuna isn’t the only temptation. There are some enticing prizes for eating it too, which only steeled my resolve. Eat 12 tapas for the chance to win a smart LGD TV, a Samsung tablet or a Nintendo Wii. Eat all 36 and a weekend for two at the posh Hotel Atlanterra could be yours. It was all so well organised (something of a surprise, in Spain). Everyone gets a menu map detailing the location of each restau-

rant and its speciality tapa, divided into six colour-coded zones, plus a sheet of paper drawn up with boxes that you have to get stamped as you eat.

The man responsible for this shining example of entrepreneurialism is local restaurateur Gaspar Castro, President of local traders association ACOZA.

“For most towns May is the month for communions and weddings but we don’t cater for those events in a big way as we’re only a small fishing village,” he says. “At the same time, it’s one of the best months to eat fresh red tuna, caught in our unique way. We’ve been making a party of it since 2009 and it’s really paying off.”

If high drama is you’re bag, there’s plenty of it with music, dancing, street parades and a demonstration of tuna filleting that’s pure theatre, complete with buckets of blood! It’s called

a ‘ronqueo’ after the ‘grunting’ noise the knife makes when separating flesh from bone. It takes experts with cleavers and sharp knives under tenminutes to reduce one silvery 200-kilo tuna to 17 choice cuts the colour and texture of prime beef (which is why bluefin tuna is confusingly called atún rojo in Spain) “Hardly any goes to waste which is why we call the tuna ‘el cerdo del mar’,” Gaspar told me. (That explains the float I saw go by, bearing a bunch of cheering children dressed as Peppa Pigs.)

A 200-kilo almadraba tuna will fetch €3,800 on the open market in Spain and the ventresca (stomach, best for tuna steaks) sells for €40 per kilo but some cuts are particular delicacies: the morillo (a kind of muscle in the head) costs circa €55 per kilo and the female eggs, €80 per kilo. Huevos de leche are also relished, though aren’t for the faint-hearted (being tuna sperm) but Gaspar swears they’re ‘very tasty’. Although, as his restaurant was responsible for the Mandarin Deception, I’m not so sure I believe him!

The most fascinating aspect of the local tuna industry is the almadraba – the large structure you can glimpse one kilometre out to sea. It’s a complex labyrinth of nets several kilometres long and more than 30 meters deep, designed to guide the tuna into a central trap (el copo) from

Immature tuna can wriggle out through the mesh and live to spawn

PURVEYORS: Amazing tuna at Antonio and (above) at Mezcla

IN ZAHARA

which there’s no escape.

Ecologically sound, immature tuna can wriggle out through the mesh and live to spawn another day. The thrilling part is the Levantá. Several will be held between April and June, dependent

on wind, tides and sea conditions and decided by the almadraba’s ‘captain’.

Then, the fishermen encircle this seething cauldron of captive tuna in their boats and hoist the nets out of the water. They will have no

more than six hours to raise thousands of kilos of frenzied fish. ‘Almadraba’ is Arabic for ‘place of fighting’ and the name’s well-justified. Zahara boasts one of the ‘big four’ Atlantic almadrabas in

Spain, along with those of Tarifa, Conil and Barbate which also hold their own rutas de atún during May and June. In 2010, Barbate welcomed 50 celebrity chefs to its festival including Ferrán Adriá, Juan María Arzak and

Dani García.

Quotas are strictly controlled to preserve declining stocks of this endangered fish and today, Japanese ships queue up in the bay to buy tuna directly from the almadrabas. Atún rojo is a highly prized ingredient of sushi and sashimi and sells in Japan for four or five times its price in Spain. The current record for a 278 kilo bluefin sold at auction in

Tokyo is a cool €2.7 million! If you can time it right, you can book a boat trip to see the levantá from a distance but there’s little chance of taking part, unless you’re well-connected or prepared to bribe your way onto a boat (a figure of €200 a head has been mentioned). Gaspar is disapproving . “It’s illegal and dangerous – one tourist lost three fingers.”

A destination of infinite possibilities

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info@pozodelduque.com

TARIFA is a place worth fighting for.

The town, which has changed hands between Phoenicians, Romans, Muslims, and Christians, straddles the Med and Atlantic and offers a commanding position of the Straits of Gibraltar. Historically, whoever controlled the town controlled the shipping routes between North Africa and Europe.

You need to dip back into the aeons of time, to AD 710, when the town got its name from an Arab officer named

Tarif-Ibn-Malik who led the Moors’ first successful expeditionary force into Spain. Today, it’s Tarifa’s expansive white-sandy beaches and famed winds which have tourists and kite surfers jockeying for space in her coastal waters.

But it’s the old town, a five minute walk from the beach, that ultimately gives the gorgeous landscape its windwhipped and sea-sprayed patina.

In narrow cobblestone alleys, hemmed in by white walls

Trip to the shops

By Isabel Max

inlaid with colourful doors, you’ll find yourself transported back in time to when Malik and his forces strengthened the mediaeval castle walls, parts of which still stand.

Very much the real Spain and ancient authentic Andalucia, the winding, cobbled streets were designed in AD 910 to offer shade at all times of day.

All the better for the modern-day shopper with the best shops to be found along Calle Nuestra Señora de la Luz which also offer something of a history lesson, as well.

The Moroccan shop, Etnika,

TARIFA is famous for its wind, which draws in many visitors looking to participate in the kite surfing scene. But its beaches are more than just a place to practise tricks in the water: the ankle-deep white sand and, thankfully even, some sheltered spots, ensure there’s something for everyone along the 35-km coastline. Of course, it’s useful to have a car. But can you enjoy a beach holiday here without one? Regina Roberts investigates on foot.

PLAYA CHICA

Located right next to Tarifa old

town, Playa Chica separates the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Just 10 minutes walk to get there from the heart of the old town, it is small and can get a bit crowded at certain times of day, not to mention noisy. But on the plus side there was no strong wind, which meant it was perfect for swimming and the water was calm and clear with no kitesurfers. The only beachfront restaurant is El Chiringuito Lounge Beach, and due to its location, it’s a little pricier than other places in town.

Playa Chica is ideal for those wanting to relax on the beach with friends but still feel the lively atmosphere of Tarifa.

HIT THE SAND!

PLAYA DE LOS LANCES

Playa de los Lances spans more than seven kilometres and is separated by the Rio Jara, making it an expansive beach that never feels too crowded.

While also close to the old town, the beach was a lot emptier and less overwhelming with a nice change of pace and seagulls in the sky.

It’s more windy, but was not too exposed and during the middle of the day, the wind is actually advantageous as the breeze offers reprieve from the heat.

The water at this end is not as busy with kite surfers, making it perfect for those just looking to go for a swim.

Father up on the northern part is characteristic of Tarifa’s

Life’s a beach, for Regina Roberts, on a trip to check out Tarifa’s famous sandy shores

Tarifa is the real Spain, a gem of a town with history reaching back to the Phoenicians, writes Isabel Max

drew me in with a kaleidoscope of colour. The dresses and scarves on display are just a precursor, though, to the textiles, ceramics and jewellery which crowded its corners. It is a treasure trove of inspiration from across the Straits.

We also popped into TalZen, a bohemian style boutique and an impressive one-wom-

an show. Though eclectic, everything from t-shirts to talismans is thought out. I found too many souvenirs and bought them all.

Hunger pangs

A near-synonym for ‘shopping’ is ‘hungry’ and, looking for comfort food, I found Chilimosa Vegetariana.

In a tiny kitchen across from my table, two chefs whipped up wonders borrowed from Greek, Afghan, Indian, Japanese, French and Italian cuisines. Our server, Jack, a British man who we later discovered is the restaurant owner, recommended the Indian mixed platter (left). It is a feast for one with

tangy korma, onion bhajis fritters, fresh chutney, green salad with beets, basmati rice and a conical spiral of crispy poppadom. Each element was spot-on.

My friend’s large portion of vegetable lasagne, made with soya granules, was just as comforting as its beef counterpart.

The food’s unpretentious presentation underpinned the restaurant’s mission: to bring a home-made flavour to international cuisine, with ingredients from local, sustainable sources.

Buzzing at night

We ended our night at Taco Way, a tourist-heavy bar with a rainbow of synthetic leis dangling from the rafters and garish (though strong) cocktails.

We fit right in until we decided we did not want to.

All around the once quiet old town it was completely buzzing, the bars alive, while queues built up outside clubs in the wee hours.

Smaller bars in plazas, such as Bar El Otro Melli, become well-positioned for people watching, as people zig and zag through the excited 1am maze.

A Sunday morning stroll

I woke up early to plan a route into the Parque Natural del Estrecho, which is a welcome adventure.

A mere 400 metres from the Old Town, the closest point of entry is the Colada de la Costa trailhead.

While the north east section of the park is the road more travelled to see the Baelo Claudia ruins, in Bolonia, the southeast end offers accessibility, solitude and breathtaking views for hikers or runners.

The path takes advantage of an ancient drovers path still used to herd livestock from Tarifa to Algrecias. Indeed, my hike was halted as I was forced to circumnavigate cattle under a bridge right in my path. Having just finished the chapter detailing bullfighting in The Sun Also Rises — Hemingway’s words are haunting: “As long as a bull-fighter stays in his own terrain he is comparatively safe. Each time he enters into the terrain of the bull he is in great danger.”

A pair of hikers caught up with me while I was hesitating (and taking photos) and they deftly walked right through, ‘¡Son amistosos!’ The woman shouted back at me.

I eventually crested a hill which gave way to a view of every shade of the sea, segmented by blades of eroded rock called ‘flysches’, and a herd of cattle grazing in the sun. I edged as close to the herd as I dared, then turned back. The bullfrienders were making their way up the hill. While I was not expecting to run alongside bulls, take my hiker friend’s word for it — the cattle were unperturbed and friendly, even.

Pre lunch sightseeing

A Sunday morning is optimal for a walk around Old Town — Tarifeño history comes into focus when the bustle is at bay. Aimless is the best way to do it. In an hour’s stroll, you will happen upon beautiful tiled plazas, church façades draped in blooming Bougainvillaea and street art of the evil eye. We ventured south and glimpsed Morocco from the steps of the Torre del Miramar, the Castilian tower constructed in the mid fifteenth century. If your stroll takes you back north, stop for a drink at Bossa, the bar which shares a wall with the emblematic

An Aperol spritz (made with Spanish Cava instead of Prosecco, of course) is refreshing enough to get pulled to Playa de Los Lances with the low tide.

Roll out the towel

The beach was no exception to the Sunday vibe in Tarifa — delightfully deserted. Though this spot on the Atlantic can get windy, we were lucky and it was just sun, not sand, in our eyes.

As the evening drew nearer, we made the ten minute walk back to the hostel.

Two hostel-mates, surfers from Argentina, invited us to share a taxi with them to Chiringuito Waves bar, better known as just ‘Waves,’ where a live DJ spun records for the setting sun.

A 15 minute drive out of town, Waves is the culmination of Tarifa’s kitesurfing spirit.

windsurfing scene, full of brightly coloured kites filling the sky and with the continual sounds of surfers making splashes in the water. The northern side of this beach is more difficult to get to although there’s a lot of parking for those driving their own cars.

Walking is hard and it may be best to get a taxi

from the old town. There are just as many kitesurfing schools along the northern part as chiringuitos. This may not be the best place for those looking to simply lounge as on windy days you’re going to feel that sand in your face.

PLAYA VALDEVAQUEROS

By far the windiest beach is Playa Valdevaqueros, making it popular among those

wanting to participate in water sports.

A picturesque beach with large sand dunes along its four kilometres, it is backed by various restaurants offering an array of food options.

There’s a lot going on and plenty of places with music playing through speakers, with Tumbao a top pick, while on the sand, you’ll see loads of people preparing their boards for the water.

Others jump in and out of the sea or play football with friends.

Getting here if you are staying in the old town involves taking a taxi as it is even farther along the coast. However, this section of the main coast road is lined with hotels for surfers. As a result, this beach draws in visitors from around the globe, but you’ll have to take a taxi to get here most likely, as while there are the occasional buses, it’s not easy to find out when they come or leave.

Old Town entrance, Puerto de Jerez, built during the Nasrid reign in the thirteenth century. Old school and, on a Sunday, uncrowded, Bossa is great for a card game, a little reading or a mid-day chat.

FUN FACT

The dirt road entrance is lined with camper vans and wetsuits on washing lines.

Tucked under a pergola, the bar looks out onto the expansive north end of Playa Los Lances, where kites pepper the sky.

To the south, the buildings of Old Town jut out into the Atlantic, looking pink in the dusk like the extended body of one of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon.

Whether it is a fun way to unwind after a day of kitesurfing, a precursor to your night out or the closing act of a day well spent, Waves is worth the excursion.

Tarifa is sometimes credited with being the origin of the word ‘tariff’, since it was the first port in history to charge merchants for the use of its docks.

After a dip in the warm waters as the last windsurfers skated to shore, we headed for an early night, with a morning bus home at 9am.

WILD AND WINDY: Sunflowers and turbines outside Tarifa

THERE are plenty of instagrammable shots around Tarifa, but few beat Tumbao. Sitting on Playa Valdevaqueros, one of Spain’s most famous beaches, this is the place to kick back and relax and take in the world.

Grab a bean bag, order up a cocktail and forget about reading matter… you won’t need it, there is just too much to take in. This is theatre at its very best, watching the huge cast of characters gliding by, not just on the beach, but in the background buzzing around with kites over the sea.

A slice of Ibiza cool, a dash of London savvy, few places offer up such a colourful mix of models and musicians, trustafarians and poseurs, alongside some of the world’s best kitesurfers and windsurfers.

This is a place for an introduction to the unique Tarifa vibe.

It’s literally mesmerising with its picturesque backdrop - mountains behind you, the ocean and Morocco in front and the massive Punta Paloma sand dune in the distance to the right.

The white sandy beach, frequently voted among Spain’s best, is the place to find everything from trinket salesmen to a rail of bikinis, while the sea is a wonderful clear blue and perfect for a dip.

In the protected leafy compound of Tumbao, you can grab a healthy buffet lunch, or a delicious burger, and also shop in the hip clothes shop next door.

If you feel active you can rent a windsurf or book a kitesurf lesson, while the vast majority of punters simply grab a beer and sit back and relax.

Visit @tumbaotarifa

Return to Al Andalus!

Vejer’s rich Moorish history has been brought back to life with its incredible hammam

COMPRISING the three traditional pools, a Tepidarium of warm water, a Caldarium of boiling water and a Frigidarium of freezing water, it is the perfect way to experience the centuries old hammam experience.

Add in a steam and sauna room and a chill out space to take mint tea and you could be sitting in central Fez. That’s at the stunning new hammam that has finally opened in Vejer after a decade of careful planning. It is certainly not the first time this white gem of a town had its own hammam.

During the days of Al-Andalus Moorish travellers would arrive by horseback in town in search of it. Worn out and filthy they would head to the hammam to relax and get cleaned up before getting on with their trip. All Arabic settlements had one and the ritual of cleanliness meant being closer to holiness and all men and women in Arabic Spain used them.

Installed in a strategic spot in the casco historico between the ancient Moorish Alcazaba castle and the former Mesquita (now the Church of Divino Salvador), the Vejer hammam

is the ultimate experience not to be missed.

Cleverly installed in an old merchant’s house, it was the brainwave of Vejer businessman James Stuart, who came up with the idea with his business partner Regli, while on a trip to Morocco in 2010. “We wanted to

do something really special, something completely different for Vejer,” James told the Olive Press. “And the hammam is not just great on a touristic level, but also on a cultural level, helping people to understand and appreciate our rich Andalucian history.”

The cavernous space comes as a real surprise after entering via a simple front door off the back street, Calle Eduardo Shelly. You are handed some typical Moroccan slippers, ushered through some heavy velvet curtains and the dark interior slowly comes into view as your

eyes get accustomed to the light after around two or three minutes. Beautifully designed and imagined by James’ wife Ellie Cormie, the rich red ochre walls gradually segway into lighter blues for the colder water areas. Dozens of candles light each corner, while the classical hamman ceiling lets in limited light through a grid of small star openings. The circuit, which you are meant to undertake three or four times, is excellent for health and at the end you take your pot of fresh mint tea.

IN a dusty pot-holed lane leading down one of the Costa de la Luz’s least known beaches, sits one of its true dining secrets.

La Traina, in the hamlet of Zahora, is one of those places you pass in the blink of an eye, but you miss at your peril.

Set in a leafy garden behind a high wall, the only real giveaway is the amount of vehicles fighting for a ‘hueco’ in its car park across the road. Even on a Tuesday lunchtime in June the place is packed and it is easily one of the coolest on the coast… and that’s not just from its deep shade and clever channeling of the area’s famous local breeze.

La Traina is the brainchild of house DJ, Antonio, and his brother Alex, a chef, who both have an intimate knowledge and passion for the local seafood, hence naming the place after a type of trawler.

Set in its verdant, shady garden, it is a veritable breath of fresh air at lunchtime and charming at night with candles. Want to try the famous blue fin tuna? This is one of the best places on the coast, in particular as its supplier of the world’s most prized fish is Spain’s most respected, based up the road in Barbate… but best of all its prices have stayed down, compared to its nearby rivals, such as Campero.

The tartare is unbelievably good although I also love the sashimi of ventresca and, in particular, the tartaki, which

There are so many hidden restaurants tucked away up in the hills around the Costa de la Luz. The key is knowing how to find them, writes

Jon Clarke

DINING SECRETS

comes with no less than 12 generous slices of delicious tuna belly, served with various garnishes and edible flowers. You might also try the ‘tarantelo’, one of the more unusual cuts served with cep mushrooms, braised in sweet Pedro Ximenez wine.

Zahara

Up the road in Zahara de los Atunes, a town named after its famous fish, you will find a number of excellent places to eat.

The best place - indeed something of a cathedral to tuna lovers - is Antonio (www.restauranteantoniozahara.com), a hotel and restaurant I first found two decades.

With the sort of swagger you’d only expect to find in somewhere like Barcelona or Ibiza, it is no surprise it is now booked up until mid-September, according to boss, Alejandro, who brings out the reservations book to prove it. It helps if you’ve booked a room in the hotel next door, but otherwise just jump on the waiting list and keep your fingers crossed.

If you can’t get a table, luckily you have a hipper, more informal rival in the heart of town called Mezcla

Run by Jose Maria Marques and wife Silvia, also from Barbate, it certainly has pedigree with Jose’s dad being a tuna fisherman… and a former executive chef at the Melia group. Opened in 2020 during the pandemic as a ‘hole in the wall’ for takeaway sushi lovers, it has now expanded to three local units and a series of tables in the alleyway outside. You can’t miss the giant tuna and squid arms that stretch out of a wall and the menu is exactly as its name says ‘a mix (or mezcla)’.

This is all thanks to the young, well travelled owners, who have picked a mix of dishes from their journeys to Mexico, France, Italy and the UK. “We just picked things up on the way,” explains Silvia, who is grafting away on a Thursday

OASIS: La Traina hides behind a narrow pot-hold lane

TOAST THAT: Tuna dish at Venta Pinto and (below) tartare at Antonio’s

evening, despite have a fourmonth baby at home.

My favourite picks are the tuna saam with fig, pine nut jam and sorbet, while the cold ajo blanco soup with coconut and spicy tuna and ‘apple cream’ is splendid.

The ‘nido of mezcla’, basically a nest of goodies, came out with a special type of pasta, a free range egg, tuna tartare and shaved truffle from Soria on top. The waiter kindly did the splitting up and prep to eat. Still looking for more tuna?

Head up the road to Barbate and try the famous El Campero, run by the stalwart chef Jose ‘Pepe’ Melero, who directs his team with Zen-like calm.

An unbelievable success story, he can easily serve up to 500 diners per session and has tuna dishes in around 30 different guises, including tuna lasagna and Facera, Galera and Parpatana.

Roadside legend

From Barbate the road naturally takes you towards Vejer, but you would be mad not to stop at Venta Pinto (www.ventapinto.com) that first served up its loin in lard roll dish in 1910. Served warm, normally with a snifter of sherry, it’s still on offer today and literally oozes with the feel-good factor, if not exactly a road to good health. Thankfully, the menu at this family-owned restaurant is as light or rich as you want it to be, with plenty of salads and gallons of seafood to boot. No surprise the tuna is good and my morillo cut is one of the best, but if it’s on offer definitely go for the creative tuna tostada’ served on wafer-thin toast, spread with mayo, wasabi, black salt and onion. A surefire winner.

If not for lunch, definitely stop for a coffee, to admire the centuries-old tavern still run by the Pinto family, under the watch-

ful eye of Cristina, a livewire, who buzzes from the bar to the restaurant and the terrace to the shop, usually with a big smile.

For something completely different, look out for Patria (www.restaurantepatria.com), on the other side of Vejer in the hamlet of La Muela.

This amazing place manages to tick just about every box in my book, combining theatre with romance and creativity with quality, not to mention exceptional prices.

Danes Ase and Thomas have turned this candle-lit flagstone terrace into the sort of place you might find in the Pyrenees or the south of France with its vine-clad veranda framing its views towards the coastline below.

Inside, it’s all cool jazz and colours and the joy of gour-

met food, provided by the fiery (actually pretty chilled) Viking Thomas, who drives his team forward in their bijoux kitchen. A purveyor of local ingredients, his baby fennels from nearby Conil, poached in an escabeche with goat cheese cream, were delicious. As was his pan brioche with beef steak marinated overnight, with gherkins, chives and dill and served on a baby lettuce.

A carpaccio of local Barbate prawns were carefully sliced and served with salicornia and a kimchi sauce, with some cherry tomatoes.

The tuna belly, salted for two days and then smoked for three hours, is one of the best tuna dishes around. And that is saying something.

Up in Vejer itself you are completely spoilt for choice for restaurants, as I have mentioned elsewhere in this supplement.

Cadiz’ definitive dining capital, its highlights include 4 Estaciones (www.4estacionesvejer.com), where owner Alberto is constantly refining and changing his menu, as others ‘keep copying it’.

This year, he is extremely keen for me to try the Saam with a tail of King Prawn, guacamole, trout roe, spring onion and kimchi, before anyone else steals it.

It turns out to be a lovely variation on the dish made famous at three Michelin star Diverxo, in Madrid, and is, in fact, better. I’ve eaten there and this is even fresher, in fact a bomb in the mouth, so to speak. The range of ‘fresh summer dishes’ also improve by the year (it is now year six), and

TEAMWORK: Towering Thomas at Patria and (right) evocative Sumar

The perfect spot for dining with flamenco and live music

DELICATESSEN Tarifa is a jewel in the crown of old town Tarifa.

Set in the charming old square and surrounded by beautiful old buildings, it is the perfect place to enjoy everything from breakfast to dinner, often accompanied by live music and flamenco events.

Their healthy breakfast offering includes a range of natural juices, cereals, fresh fruit, and a range of egg options.

They also provide a delicious brunch as well as a range of snacks and everything is freshly prepared in their open kitchen between 10am and 11pm daily.

The tuna platter is exceptional and recommended as are the range of fresh and delicious tapas.

Their paella afternoons are followed by a flamenco dancing display and are a great success, so why not stay and enjoy the complete event?

The delicious food can be accompanied by a range of fresh beers and good wines, in a perfect setting.

Live music is also offered throughout the week, showcasing a range of artists with something to appeal to everyone.

Delicatessen Tarifa fully deserves the excellent reputation it has built up by offering fresh, delicious and interesting food and beverages served by lovely staff and in a truly delightful historical setting.

DINING CAPITAL

From previous page

Alberto’s gazpacho sorbet with olive oil ice cream, prawns, ham and free range egg and black pepper was better than I first tried it in 2017. It needs to be stated that Alberto, from Vejer, is a massive supporter of local Cadiz wines, with no less than seven whites and nine reds coming from the province. Oh and his choice of sherries by the glass is the best in town. “One has to support one’s region,”

he insists, pouring me a glass of Sancha Perez, a pleasant flinty white made just outside Vejer using Palomino and Pedro Ximenez grapes. Next up is the grandfather of restaurants, the Jardin de Califa (www.califavejer.com), which has become a genuine foodie pilgrimage over the last decade.

The highlight of any culinary journey to the Costa de la Luz, its history goes back to the late 1990s when Scottish expat, James Stuart, decided to open a hotel and eventually rival to the hip restaurant Trafalgar just across the main square.

Reached through the labyrinthine corridors of his 16th century Califa hotel, its romantic palm courtyard is enclosed by ancient walls and is lit with Moroccan lamps after dark.

If you aren’t hypnotized by the scent of frangipani, jasmine and incense, the heavenly menu is crammed full of flavours from the Middle East and north Africa.

Created by a multicultural kitchen, the freshest dishes imaginable include pastela filled with chicken, almonds and cinnamon, baba ganoush and shish taouk. Service is always second to none, and the ambience is very much part of the set up.

If you can’t get a table here, try the excellent Garimba (www.

garimbasur.com) across the square.

One of the most charming places to eat in southern Spain, Plaza de Espana is always a hive of activity, so you might expect the food to be a little flat. Not at all, the excellent range of dishes including prawn pil pil and partridge salad, are fresh and excellent plates to share.

Run by father and daughter team of Javier and Claudia, both from Madrid, the place is organised, friendly and usually busy.

Califa Tapas, just up the road on Calle Corredera, is another good spot to eat with some of the best views in Cadiz. The menu is also good with a special mix of dishes. Next door, you must also definitely try Corredera 55, which is the highly-rated and constantly evolving restaurant of Stuart’s wife Ellie Cormie.

Having run a series of restaurants in Asturias and Scotland - some with Michelin stars - she has created a true gem with this joint, that also counts on lovely views. The menu changes regularly and it is easily in the top 3 best in the town.

Another brilliant choice is Taperia Sumia, which also has a great outdoor terrace on Calle Corredera.

Moroccan Anne Soumia has done an excellent job bringing this place back to life serving up an excellent north African-inspired menu, including delicious cuttlefish croquettes and excellent lemon chicken, with potatoes and an olive tagine. The inside cave dining room is a wonderful choice for hot or rainy days.

Staying with a Moroccan fla-

DYNAMIC: James Stuart and (left) Garimba, while (bottom left) Saamat 4 Estaciones

vour, you might want to check out Fez, the latest restaurant opened by the Califa group, also up in the heart of the old town.

A simple joint with an easy philosophy, it combines a clear love of the country

Last but not least, meat lovers must certainly look out for the fabulous Castilleria (www. restaurantecastilleria.com), in the idyllic hamlet of Santa Lucia.

This wonderful restaurant sits in a leafy garden offering up the best steaks available in Spain. Broken down into the different types of meat, there are literally dozens of cuts from eight months to 11 years old.

Tasty Tarifa

The most up-and-coming place to eat on the Costa de la Luz though is Tarifa, which is finally developing a competitive food scene.

There has been a real improvement in quality over the last few years as the town edges closer to competing with Vejer. There are some excellent new places here, in particular, Merkado 27, which has just opened up on the main drag Calle Santisima Trinidad in the heart of town.

A great menu with a nice mix of starters, salads and mains, I particularly like the croquettes of ‘cecina’ with pesto, while the artichokes (below) were was delicious served with rocket on top.

Other exciting places are MicMoc, Silos 19 and La Morena, which has a sister joint in

NAPOLITANO: Chef at Trattoria in Tarifa

Madrid and recently opened in a hidden square in the heart of the old town.

I also love Almacen %, where Georgina leads her kitchen team with an iron fist, pushing out some of the freshest dishes in the town.

Overlooking the port it has a lovely feel to it and the staff are excellent, very attentive and friendly.

Looking for a good Italian?

America,” explains Xavi, a former snowboard champion, who’s been cooking in Tarifa for years.

He brought in a team from Napoli to build his bespoke pizza oven

Trattoria (www. latrattoriatarifa. com) on Calle Santisima Trinidad, gets better by the year.

Run by sharp-eyed Napolitano Luciano Fabricio, a genuine foodie, who has a number of restaurants, his Pizzeria has recently won an award from the Verace Pizza Napoletana quality mark - the only one in Cadiz province.

No surprises, he brought in a team from Napoli to build his pizza oven and he only uses soft homemade dough with slow fermentation.

Up the road check out Lima, which has a wonderful leafy terrace and describes its food as ‘multicultural comida’, that’s

to say a mix of everything good.

“We’ve got dishes from all around Europe and South

TOP TERRACE: Mercado 27 and (below) Almacen%

Heading out of Tarifa up the coast road, look out for Pacha Mama (www.pachamamatarifa.com), which is an institution that can feed up to 1000 people a day in the heart of summer. And not just churning it out.

Owner Luciano (who also owns Trattoria) is a big fan of Italy’s Slow Food Movement and he insists on the best free range meats, from top breeds, including Simental, Holstein and Galician Blonde.

“All our steaks come from cows at least five years old and fed naturally with grass from the field,” he tells me. “This is the only way to impregnate the fat with that characteristic aroma of grass and milk.”

The restaurant sits in a wonderful sheltered garden, with plenty of shade and an excellent pool for the kids to play in. Also along this stretch of coast look out for the famous Hurricane Hotel and its superb lunch buffet and now romantic restaurant set up in the garden.

An institution that has gone up and down in quality over the years, right now it is heading to another peak, with its herb and vegetable garden full to burst and with a team of keen chefs at the helm. You must also look out for the El Jardin restaurant at the Punta Sur hotel (see feature), which is an amazing place to chill out and eat incredibly well.

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WHERE TO STAY

FROM rural estates to beachside boutiques and historic houses to restaurants with rooms, there are so many places to lay down your hat on the Costa de la Luz.

The place for romantics is Vejer, where you’ll find the seminal La Casa de Califa (www.califavejer.com), in the town's loveliest square.

This fabulous Moorish building is set around a charming central patio, where guests take breakfast and dine under candlelight each evening (but don’t forget to book).

Bit by bit its rooms have gone through a complete upgrade over the last year thanks to designer Ellie Cormie (see panel right), who has an incredible eye and uses a mixture of global influences in her work.

Next door, Plaza 18, is a classic design hotel which oozes style and history, but

DREAMY

The choice of hotels on the Costa de la Luz is huge

also features sumptuous suites as rooms. Meanwhile, around the corner, Las Palmeras , is the winner if you are looking for a pool to cool off after a day of sightseeing.

Down on the nearby coast, at Canos de Meca, Madreselva is just 50m from the famous beach, as well as most of the local restaurants. It has a sleepy courtyard, a small pool and the best breakfast on the coast.

In Zahara, you have the excellent Hotel

Antonio (www.antoniohoteles.com), sitting on one of

Andalucia’s top beaches and with one of the best restaurants on the coast, which is practically fully booked all summer,

UPGRADE: All Califa’s rooms have been overhauled, while (right) stylish Punta Sur

unless you have a room.

In the heart of Zahara, you must definitely check out Hotel Pozo del Duque (www.pozodelduque.com), which sits right on the best part of the beach and counts on two pools, one of them to die for on the roof with some of the best views in Cadiz.

Up in Tarifa, few places come better sited than Tarifa’s Hurricane Hotel and its sister Punta Sur.

Set up in the 1980s, the Hurricane (www.hotelhurricane.com) has counted on celebrities and royals among its guests, no surprise given its location in stunning gardens, at the end of celebrated Los Lances beach.

Its sister Punta Sur (www.hotelpuntasur. com) sits in an amazing leafy enclave, protected from the famous Tarifa winds, with well appointed rooms and the best pool on the coast. Oh and a tennis court and great restaurant to boot.

MISTRESS AT WORK

HAVING learnt her trade at Central St Martins in London, alongside the likes of Paul Smith, John Galliano and Stella McCartney, Ellie Cormie has more than a decent eye for interiors.

So husband and owner of the Califa hotel, James Stuart, was incredibly lucky when the interiorist found a window to upgrade the 20 rooms in his emblematic hotel in Vejer.

The results are nothing short of amazing as she has carefully worked with the ancient building’s historical quirks and imperfections.

Each room has its own specific feel and look, with its own signature pieces, be it furniture, material or antique.

One thing each room has is personality and a sense of place… and guests are made to feel at home and able to quickly relax.

“What James wanted was to make each room a little bit more luxurious and so I used his incredible family collection of items from Lebanon, Syria and Botswana and mixed them with my own love of rich textiles,” explains Ellie, who heralds from Scotland.

“I hope the results speak for themselves.”

www.elliecormie.com

PRIVILEDGE: Rooftop chilling at Pozo del Duque

LA CULTURA

UPCOMING FIESTAS FOR YOUR DIARY

● Santa Ana in Cañar – 24 - 26 July

A shining example of a village fiesta that hasn’t been commer- cialised. It might be a small town, but they sure know how to party!

● ‘Noche Vieja in Agosto’ in Berchules – August 5

HINTS AND TIPS

● Book accommodation well in advance if you’re planning an overnighter on a budget.

● Take enough cold water, or an empty bottle to fill at the fountain, if your fiesta is in a small village without shops.

● Park legally, and not where you can get blocked by later-arriving vehicles.

● Take a flower to adorn your hair.

● Wear sensible shoes, not your killer heels. Ouch!

Thanks to a power failure on New Year’s Eve 1994, the town started holding their festive event in August. It’s amazing to see Papa Noel and other Christmas characters in the height of sum- mer.

● ‘Virgin de Las Nieves’, Trevelez - August 5

This is a famous ‘romeria’ to Mulhacen to celebrate the snow virgin. Although another procession takes place to the peak of Veleta, departing from Monachil, many seasoned horsemen choose to ascend from Trevelez. There are reports of some be- ing worse for wear!

● Soportujar’s ‘Feria Embrujado’ (haunting fair) - August 7 to 13

The biggest attraction is the ‘Night of the Haunting’ on the 10th, with witches parading through town.

● Orgiva feria – last weekend of September

One of the area’s biggest fiestas, this features a fairground, mu- nicipal tent, horse cintas race and migas bake-off on the Sunday.

The performers include horses and riders, dressed to the nines, a comedy policeman and his compadre whacking passers-by with a fur-covered pole (be warned: it hurts your bottom!), and orators dressed in Moorish garb.

The fiesta also features a procession with San Antonio and the Virgen del Carmen and a horsemanship contest, to grab ribbons from an overhead wire (called cintas).

If you attend the next fiesta in Trevelez, Virgin de las Nieves on August 5, be sure to take your own water supply and a sun hat. The town is built on a steep slope (thirsty work, if you walk uphill), and its supermarkets close for siesta.

The madness of San Juan in Lanjaron Lanjaron, a spa town known as ‘gateway to the Alpujarra’, is famous throughout Spain for its fiesta of San Juan. Unfortunately, you have just missed it, but the Olive Press went along to get a taste of the action.

Annually, on the night of June 23, it hosts a mass water fight. Attracting revellers from far

afield, the ‘water race’ starts at the stroke of midnight and ends at exactly 1am.

The municipal firehoses soak anybody running through the town’s main street – many wearing crazy outfits, or swimsuits, and carrying floats. It’s advisable to take a towel, a change of clothes, and don’t slip over!

The Lanjaron fiesta is also renowned for ‘La Publica’ (carnival parade), which always takes place on the Saturday evening. Groups of residents work for months, making intricate costumes for the lengthy procession throughout town. Although the participants look fresh as daisies at 6pm, by the time they reach the plaza, several hours later, many ‘tinto de veranos’ and mojitos have been consumed. There’s a real party vibe, which continues into the early hours.

The fiesta also features a water-throwing contest, a traditional ‘romeria’, accompanied by religious sermon and paella, a ‘Dia de la Bicicleta’, and a contest to climb a greasy pole to dislodge (and win) a ‘jamon serrano’.

What more could you want from a town event?

● Get a drink drive fine.

● Stand directly beside horses’ hind legs at the romeria.

● Assume that feria food stalls will be open all day.

● Get heatstroke.

● Start a fight with the locals over who saw the parking space first/the last table at the bar/ who spilt the drink.

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IT was with a sense of coming home that I arrived back in Spain a few weeks ago and, in particular, my favourite region of Andalucia.

I first arrived in this country 25 years ago almost to the day and have now set up home again near Sotogrande.

After finishing university, I had headed out into the desert in North Africa to begin my career as a writer, aged 21, and after three months I travelled back to Europe to visit friends on the Costa del Sol, taking a boat from Algeria to Algeciras.

After three days of travel, following 90 days of dry (in both senses of the word) dunes, I arrived in the leafy gardens by the Alcazar in Sevilla.

There I was greeted by flamenco dresses spinning out Sevillanas in the warm summer night as a guitarist strummed and a bar served ice cold Cruzcampo. In the heat of Sevilla, I always retreat into Casa Matías on Calle Arfe to write – I’ve written about it in two books and in newspapers from the Financial Times to Daily Mail – although it was not me who discovered it. It was actually one of my oldest friends, actor Hugh Dancy, who

AT HOME WITH XANDER

In his inaugural summer column for the Olive Press, UK society page regular Alexander Fiske-Harrison on nights out in Ronda with Claire Danes and ‘coming home’ to Spain

joined me in Sevilla fresh from his own North African adventure in his first starring role in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down and, speaking Spanish, he quickly found the best bar in town.

Hugh went on to great things, from being nominated for an Emmy opposite Helen Mirren in Tom Hooper’s Elizabeth I and most recently starred as Detective Will Graham in the series Hannibal opposite our friend, the Dane, Mads Mik-

kelsen, the best of all Bond villains, who now lives in Mallorca. My fondest memories are of when he joined me here in Spain in 2009 with his wife Claire Danes on the heels of their wedding in France and they visited again to meet my polo player fiancée Klarina (that’s why we’re in Soto) in what turned out to be our last social engagement before COVID-19 lockdown. (They were also coincidentally the first friends I saw after lockdown when Claire was filming The Essex Serpent with Tom Hiddleston.) However, it is not the celluloid blockbusters or art house gems which have been the backdrops to my favourite stories of these meet-ups around the world.

Actors seem to have much more fun when working on projects destined not to do so well. Hence my fond memories of nights out in Dublin with Hugh and Mads and his Swedish pal Stellan Skarsgård, the charming Kiera Knightley and the legendary Ray Winstone – fresh from his extraordinary turn in Sexy Beast as a retired gangster on the Costa del Sol (actually filmed in Almeria). The last time we were together with Hugh and Claire was with financier friends in Ronda. The Olive Press had earlier covered their honeymoon in Gaucin, but the newspaper wasn’t there in Ronda, when we spent a lazy afternoon knocking back manzanillas and Ronda tintos over tapas telling old Hollywood tales at the once-famous De Locos Tapas. Nobody knew there were two Hollywood stars in town, and nobody bothered us, just as they didn’t when the King and Queen of Sweden recently came to visit, or Bill Gates had a dirty weekend (I assume), so anonymous and undisturbed is life in that ancient mountain redoubt.

It’s exactly why I was back last weekend, writing about the town for the Telegraph: only heaven can have a bridge which looks down so far...

While De Locos is no longer

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Impressionist, 8 Peerage, 9 Rabbi, 10 Thin, 11 Concrete, 15 Aberdeen, 16 Stud, 19 Value, 21 Chapati, 22 Lackadaisical.

Down: 1 Appetite, 2 Repay, 3 Isle, 4 Correct, 5 Limb, 6 Input, 7 Trice, 12 One, 13 Entrance, 14 Adrenal, 15 Anvil, 17 Drill, 18 Gassy, 20 Luck, 21 Coat.

there, in its place is a fine spot, Barrafino, where I drank finos and ate fabulous steak, before taking a walk around the wonderful casco histórico that hasn’t changed one iota. Next stop is Pamplona, where I am heading with Ernest Hemingway’s grandson John, with whom I co-authored a book. I hope to match my feet against the fighting bulls of Miura, Domecq and the other names that inspire dread amongst a certain Spanish crowd.

I know some readers will hate that, but as I have always said, you can always come and berate me to my face… at 8am on calle Estafeta on July 7. But tread carefully, the bulls may disagree with both of us.

BRONZED: Hugh and Xander on a Cadiz beach in 1998

HOLLYWOOD IN TOWN: Claire Danes in Ronda and Xander (top) with fiancee Klarina

photo by Jim Hollander

NO PAY

FOUR out of 10 workers in Spain receive no compensation for their overtime.

A study carried out by Infojobs and Adecco exposed businesses in Spain for not complying with the regulations placed by the Spanish Government in 2019.

The latest royal decree states that full-time employees can only work up to 80 hours of overtime a year. It also enforces companies to monitor and register their employees working time and to pay them for all the extra hours worked.

Those organisations not complying with these policies could face fines of up to €6,000.

However, the study shows that most companies ignored these regulations last year.

In 2022, over half of the workers (53%) did more hours than their theoretical annual working time.

BANKS in Spain have been told to start paying clients better rates for their savings as interest rates continue to climb.

The call has come from Economy Minister, Nadia Calvino, speaking at an event organised by the BBVA bank. Banks have cashed in with increased profit margins due to the European Central Bank tightening its monetary policy and lifting interest rates to 3.5% - the highest in over 20 years.

Most banks though have not passed on the full benefit of rate rises to customers who have deposit accounts. Nadio Calvino said: “I have no doubt that the Spanish banking sector has to start transmitting the rise in interest rates for the benefit of customers and Spanish citizens.”

Uncertain future

Vodafone mulls abandoning Spain

BRITISH telecoms group

Vodafone could pull out of Spain and has hired the Morgan Stanley investment bank to review its options in the country, according to Spanish media reports. Spain, which comprises around 9% of global operations, was Vodafone’s worst-performing region in the 2023 financial year, with service revenue growth falling by 5.4% - the highest in any of the company’s markets. The fall was blamed on ‘continued price competition and a lower customer base’.

In the group’s latest annual report, published in May, it noted a ‘strategic review’ of its operations in Spain was part of a multi-faceted

Big figures

THE El Corte Ingles Group closed the 2022 financial year with global revenues of €15.3 billion - up 22.5% compared to the previous year with net profits rising seven-fold to €870 million.

The group says the results are down to the way it has developed its business, cut costs, and introduced management improvements which has allowed it to consolidate growth despite customers having to endure higher inflation and interest rates.

“The solid financial position together with a strong recovery in profitability will allow the group to undertake new projects in the future,” an El Corte Ingles statement said.

The main growth driver has been the retail side of the business, which achieved sales of €12.2 billion representing a growth of 7.8% compared to the previous year with fashion doing well as sales went up by 16.3%.

Pension scheme boost

THE volume of assets in the individual pension system in Spain increased by €365m to €83.1bn in May 2023, according to data from Inverco.

By Alex Trelinski

action plan to spur growth across several European markets.

Deutsche Bank telecoms analyst Robert Grindle said that a partial or full sale of Vodafone’s Spanish division, including its fixed-network infrastructure, could attract private equity interest.

“Further strategic action by Vodafone to address underperforming assets following recent news of the proposed UK merger should prove sentiment supportive,” noted Grindle, referring to Vodafone’s planned merger with Three.

Vodafone is not the only firm in the Spanish market suffering from high competition with Orange having to strike a deal to merge operations with Masmovil to make savings, allowing it to increase investments.

Correos delivers

SPAIN’S national post service, Correos, has won two awards at the World Post & Parcel Awards 2023. It scooped the prizes for the Correos Market app, and in the Postal Evolution category for the Correos Frío service.

The public company said in a statement that these awards are considered the ‘Oscars of the postal and logistics sector’.

The company noted that the positive returns experienced during the month drove the rise in individual pension assets. This is the third month in a row that individual pension assets have increased in Spain, rising from €82bn to €83.1bn between the end of February and the end of May.

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We hope the information provided in this article is of interest. If you would like to contact Linea Directa please call 952 147 834. More information about Linea Directa online at www.lineadirecta.com

CALL: from Economy Minister Nadia Calvino

Boring

THE Spanish government has pledged €2.3 million towards a feasibility study for a highspeed rail network to Morocco through an underwater tunnel.

The longstanding proposal, known as the ‘Europe-Africa Gibraltar Strait fixed link’ was put on hold in 2009 but has now been revived.

A joint Spanish-Moroccan commission reconvened for the first time in 14 years back in April, sparking renewed enthusiasm for the initiative.

The Strait of Gibraltar, at its narrowest point between Punta Marroquí in Tarifa and Point Cires in Morocco, spans a distance of just 13 km.

Funding will be allocated from the European Union's Recovery, Transformation & Resilience Plan.

More parking

MALAGA Airport has added 350 spaces to its arrivals car park.

The expansion is in the preferential car park in the arrivals area, which has grown from 100 to 450 spaces just a few metres from the terminal. The expansion brings the total amount of available spaces at the airport to 6,300.

MANY CHEERS

Beer sales boom as pandemic worries drowned out

BEER drinking reached a record-high in Spain in 2022 helped by hospitality recovering after the pandemic and a surge in tourist numbers.

Figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food in conjunction with Cerveceros de España showed that 42.3 million hectolitres of beer were downed last year. That's 6% more than in 2021 and beats the previous best of 41.3 million hectolitres in 2019. In terms of production, Spain ousted Poland as the

By Alex Trelinski

second biggest producer in the EU and is now behind Germany.

Spain is ninth in the world standings, headed by China, the US and Brazil.

Almost all the beer consumed in Spain is made domestically: in total 41.1 million hectolitres were manufactured - 7.9% more than in 2021.

Exports rose by 13.4% last year, to 4.2 million hectolitres, with Portugal, the United Kingdom, China and Equatorial Guinea as

BRITS flying with Ryanair from the UK to Spain are to have their booze privileges severely curtailed after a spate of bad behaviour 10 kilometres up in the sky.

Passengers will now be banned from drinking duty-free alcohol onboard the plane, and anyone caught attempting to smuggle it in will be kicked off the flight.

Prospective passengers received an email from the airline outlining the stringent regulations for those flying with Ryanair from the UK to Alicante,

the main markets. Imports meanwhile fell by 3.63% in 2022 compared to the previous year, to 5.4 million hectolitres with

BOOZE OFF

Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga, Palma, and Tenerife South.

Whereas before passengers might be able to buy booze in the duty free and then chug it on the plane, those days now appear to be over.

At first, the information was that passengers would have their hand luggage searched for offending items and if found, they would be obliged to place them in the cargo hold.

History covered

THE June issue of National Geographic has captivated readers by featuring Spain’s Crown Jewel; The Alhambra Palace. The prestigious magazine dedicates an elaborate report to Granada's greatest monument, with the cover headline ‘The hidden Alhambra’ and a photo showing the characteristic architecture of the beautiful, ancient palace.

Belgium as the main seller. Consumption grew especially in the hospitality industry, 32% more, due to the boost of tourism. But pre-pandemic hospitality sector levels have not yet been reached, though tourist numbers so far this year suggest that could well happen.

Trend

Some 70% of beer was consumed outside the home in 2019, but last year this figure remains below 60%. Another trend was the rise by 11% last year in non-alcoholic beer sales, accounting for 13% of all beer consumption.

No entry

SPAIN is the EU country second most likely to refuse a visa application, according to applicants and EU data. Social media platforms have become a haven for applicants to vent their rage at Schengen countries for what they perceive as ‘merciless’ refusal of their applications. Recent statistics released for 2022 indicate that Schengen countries collectively rejected 17.9% of the 7,572,755 visa applications submitted worldwide. Spain followed France in a close second in rejecting 227,712 applications out of nearly 1,250,000 applications

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Served every Sunday from 1:00pm to 4:30pm and from 6:00pm

Chicken, roast pork or beef, all served with fresh seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding

Set in its own grounds, El Muro Mijas has a relaxed atmosphere and offers ample private parking.

We have a chill out area as well as a terrace looking up to Mijas Pueblo as well as two other terraces and an inside dining area.

Our menu has many different dishes including meats, fish, pasta, pizza, Asian cuisine and others to suit all, including various vegetarian options.

Come and check out this exciting new restaurant found on the road up to Mijas Pueblo!

Wednesday - Friday: 17.00 - 23.00

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T: +34 951 104 424

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SPAIN'S restaurants held their heads high at the Best Restaurants in the World Awards 2023' staged at Valencia's Les Arts Opera House.

The ceremony honoured the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 countries across five continents, with three out of the top four coming from Spain. But it was Central in Peru's capital of Lima that was named the best restaurant in the world by 1,080 restaurant industry experts.

TUCK IN!

Spanish gourmets dominates at awards

By Alex Trelinski

It edged out Barcelona’s Disfrutar, Madrid's Diverxo, and Axtondo's Asador Etxeberri, with Disfru-

THREE Malaga province restaurants have been named amongst Europe’s best eateries.

According to the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) ranking, based on reviews submitted by some of the world’s most experienced diners, three of the best restaurants in Europe - all of which have Michelin stars - are found in Malaga; Kaleja, Bardal and Skina.

Kaleja, which sits in an exclusive part of the Jewish quarter in Malaga, has been highlighted for its modern interpreta-

tar's second-place guaranteeing it the best restaurant in Europe award. Further down the list, Quique Dacosta in Denia came 20th and Mugaritz in San Sebastian was 31st.

FOODTASTIC

tions of Andalucian and Spanish dishes. Next up is Skina, located in Marbella, this restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2009 and brings the essence of Japanese cuisine to the Costa del Sol. It also has a new menu every fortnight.

Finally, Bardal, located in the heart of Ronda, is a gastronomic experience led by chef Benito Gomez.

Spanish restaurants had a strong showing further down the list, including the first appearance of Valencia’s Restaurante Ricard Camarina at 96 and the return of chef Albert Adria’s Engima in Barcelona at number 82.

Perfection

Total perfection was achieved by chef Antoni Luis Arduiz who received the Icon Award for his lifetime of work at San Sebastian’s Mugaritz and Madrid’s Diverxo. Diverxo's in-house sommelier Miguel Angel Millan also took home the prize for Best Sommelier in the World.

GREEK EATS!

Estepona restaurant brings Greece to the Costa del Sol +34

Located at Estepona Port, El Greek by Parviz is the only traditional Greek restaurant from Gibraltar to Malaga and one of the best on the Costa del Sol.

It opened its doors in the sum mer of 2021 and has since de lighted customers from all over the world.

The restaurant aims for clients to discover Greek cuisine, which has existed for over 4,000 years.

Their carefully selected staff will explain the history of each dish, cooked by a great team of chefs brought directly from Greece.

The succulent menu is a mixture of traditional recipes and creative cuisine, made with exquisite products shipped from Greece as well as fresh local groceries.

With a capacity for 50 people, the restaurant and its large terrace is in a unique, quiet location with a wonderful sea view.

“Our only neighbours are the boats and the sea,” they say.

El Greek is a truly irresistible spot, combining exclusivity with affordable prices.

The delicious food is accompanied by traditional music, transporting clients to the Greek coast. And every week customers can enjoy a new special as well as live music.

El Greek by Parviz is not just any restaurant, but a gastronomic and vibrant experience.

In the words of its owner, ‘more than food, it's a way of life.’

Book a table in person at Estepona port, Av. Virgen del Puerto, 29680 Estepona, Málaga or call 951 177 860 / 626 33 83 43 and check the menu at www.thegreekbyparviz.es

Bully for them!

Pamplona beckons as the San Fermin festival is poised to start

THE famous San Fermin ‘bull running’ festival is about to kick off with the ‘Chupinazo’ inaugural firing of a rocket.

People from all across the world will flock to the historic city of Pamplona for the July 7 to July 14 event.

While the running of the bulls and associated bullfights are the most high-profile events, there is much more to the festival than

By Alex Trelinski

that.

The city council organises more than 500 concerts, parties, firework displays and a ‘wine fight’ where merrymakers soaked each other in tinto

Every day at 8am, six fighting bulls along with four oxen run the 825 metre route from the Corrales de Santo Domingo to Pamplona’s Plaza de Toros.

An estimated one million spectators will watch thousands of people run with the bulls over the eight days of the San Fermin Festival. Runners are ticketed and strictly limited to 3,000 per day and, contrary to popular belief, most of the injuries are caused by other humans involved in trampling rather than any incidents with a bull.

Deadly

Although, of course, the bulls can be deadly. Since records started being kept in 1910, 15 people have been killed during the runs - mainly as a result of goring. The last non-Spaniard to die from a goring was an American tourist aged 22 in 1995. Some 200 people, mainly

"Our clients say they feel like they are in Greece but in Andalu cia".

GETTING READY: Safety barriers are being erected

SAFETY: Watch from the balcony to avoid danger

from the Cruz Roja (Red Cross), provide medical services every 50 metres down the route, with 20 ambulances on stand-by which can take people to hospital in less than 10 minutes. The event dates back to the 13th century tradition of transferring bulls from fields outside Pamplona to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. During that run, youths would jump among them in a display of bravado.

RESERVATIONS: +34 951 74 47 77 / +34 627 12 14 43

clive@cotorestaurante.com www.cotorestaurante.com

Monday to Saturday: 11am-12am Sunday: 11am-6pm

Ctra. de Ronda, A-397, Km. 44, 29679 Benahavís, Málaga

A unique dining experience in a inspiring location boasting stunning views of the Andalusian landscape all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea

THRILL: but with it comes danger while (below) a firework laden effigy of a bull

TIP FOR THE TOP

I’VE been trying to eat at Madrid’s highly-rated DSTAgE restaurant for years.

Either fully-booked or shut, every time I have been in the capital since 2018 I got a friendly message from chef Diego Guerrero that I’d need to try again.

So when a massive storm cancelled an outdoor concert by

Blur this month, I knew there would only be one surefire way to cheer up my daughter and I on a one-night stay in the city. Of course, predictably Diego, who I recently interviewed at a charity event in Marbella, was away in Saudi Arabia… but thankfully his business partner Tinuca insisted she had the perfect table for us.

And so she did, in the stalls, facing a line up of chefs, like bank tellers, in crisp blue tunics and caps and, thankfully, smiling, to break the ice, as such.

And so at last, I found myself in this two Michelin starred theatre of dreams that

Is the stage finally set for DSTAgE to win its third Michelin star, asks Jon Clarke

wouldn’t be out of place in the Meatpacking District of New York. A delightful space of exposed bricks and industrial lights, its entire feel one of authenticity, with wooden furniture and floors and even trays to match.

DSTAgE is an acronym ‘Days to Smell Taste Amaze Grow & Enjoy’, and Diego has a mission to make fine food less pretentious and more accessible. It’s an honourable - and often necessary - plan, given the number of top chefs who go off on their own personal missions, leaving the majority of their clients behind in a fog of

inventiveness. This was quite the opposite, an extremely inclusive evening, where dishes were not just well explained but conceived with real passion, not pretension.

Yes, there was some theatre throughout the 15 courses, but what we noted more was the quality of the ingredients and the talents of the waiters. There was genuine joy, for example, extolling the use of a wasabi root to flavour, but not necessarily burn your mouth, with a Mexican-style taco.

Described as ‘a palate cleanser dish’ the creamy wasabi sauce, served with a wasabi flower and shavings on top, was the real surprise of the night. Delicious and lingering with flavour. And that is saying something given - after we had raved about a dish of spicy chorizo - the waiter came out and told us it was 100% vegan, made from vegetables.

It turns out the creative edge to the operation is conjured up next door in their very own factory of light in the mornings.

“Yes, I suppose you could say it is something of an El Bulli in Madrid,” Tinuca confirmed. But while there was creationtake the ‘potato with honey’, which looked and smelt like brie, or the melt-in-the-mouth tortilla Francesa that came out looking like a bread roll - there were as many good solid dishes that brought you down to earth. The pigeon, which was served with pear, had been tenderised over an incredible two weeks we were told, while the ‘tears’ of green peas, triple podded and served in squid

ink were stunningly good. The cheek of hake (kokotxa) was everything you’d expect of a chef, who comes from the Basque region… and equally, the anchovy lasagna, a quirky-looking dish served on seaweed and with pine nuts, was breathtakingly tasty. But from the start with a biscuit of caviar and an impossible to explain black garlic sandwich, we were impressed. Our favourite dish was called just ‘maiz/kefir’ basically a big mix of ways to cook sweetcorn and it was full of flavours. We also liked the ratio of female cooks in the kitchen

FOOD PORN: Creative but not pretencious dishes

JOYOUS: An explanation of the wasabi taco

Biscuit of caviar and an impossible to explain black garlic sandwich, we were impressed

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

LIGHTING UP MARBELLA

IT’S a brave move opening a restaurant in Marbella, the culinary capital of the Costa del Sol, and even more so in the heart of the Old Town. But Candela has not only done it with style, it has done it with taste…Primarily the tastes of its well-travelled German owner, Michael Bormann, who is de-

Candela is a key addition to the Casco Historico’s dining scene, writes

manding, but down-to-earth.

What this means is a focus on great quality ingredients, served up at surprisingly fair prices.

It means eating acorn-fed jamon iberico from Cordoba’s Valle de Pedroches, award-winning Payoyo goats cheese from the Grazalema mountains and wild salmon marinated for three days, but not finding a hole in your pocket the next morning.

“What we wanted was high quality dishes but not over-

priced,” explains Bormann, from Hambur. “The prices in Marbella have crept up too much since the pandemic and we wanted to address that.”

LET IN THE LIGHT: A great mix of starters

and noted the contemporary music, not too loud, including salsa, jazz, soul, ska and even punk.

And with a sommelier who really worked hard to explain the matching wines, so what about that third star?

Given it’s seven years since they got their second star in 2017, they must certainly be itching for a third.

“We’ll soon have it,” Tinuca assured me. “We’re certainly all working hard to get it.” On this showing - and with the boss away for the week - they certainly deserve it. www.dstageconcept.com

Finding an excellent corner spot just off emblematic Orange Square, Candela may be German-run, but it is international in concept. And Bormann’s philosophy certainly seems to be working, with the restaurant nearly full most nights of the week.

POLE POSITION:

location next to Marbella castillo and two dishes

The reviews online are almost all excellent and Candela is already, rightfully, in the top 10 of most lists for the old town.

The reviewers single out the staff as being friendly and attentive and it is certainly hard not to praise maitre

Cristina’s ability to explain the food on offer.

Her partner Andy, from Cologne, is in the kitchen, sending out dishes that are among the best-looking I have seen in the Casco Historico.

I particularly liked the tuna tartare, as well as the teriyaki salmon, while the duck carpaccio was served with an apple garnish and seaweed, to give it a twist.

A super-creamy burrata meanwhile came out with

crisp raf tomatoes, while the pil pil prawns were handled perfectly.

The shoulder of lamb was a great choice for a main, while my top pick is the cod, deliciously served in a tomato sauce with fried green peppers. Being German, you have to try the amazing apple strudel with ice cream, while a cold chocolate torte with mascarpone also does the business. Looking for something special, but not too fancy and certainly not a burden on your wallet? Candela lets in the light.

www.candelamarbella. com

Pl. Gral. Chinchilla, 2, 29601 Marbella, Málaga

Jon Clarke

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Wasted time

MORE than 11 million primary care appointments have been missed in the past year when patients failed to turn up.

The El Pais newspaper has made the calculation on figures supplied by regional health authorities.

It says the actual total is higher because five regions (Asturias, the Canary Islands, Madrid, the Basque Country and Navarra) have not supplied data, either because they do not monitor missed appointments or

11 million doctor appointments missed in just a year

By Alex Trelinski

refused to provide information.

“At the management level, these figures reveal an inefficiency of the system and is a waste of a very valuable asset for the health system: namely the time of the doctors,” said the vice-president of the Spanish Society

Revolutionary scanner

A NEW x-ray scanner that cuts radioactive emissions by up to 85% is being used for the first time in a Spanish public hospital.

The unit costing €720,000 has been installed at Valencia's Doctor Peset University Hospital and operates vertically which means fullbody x-rays are conducted while patients stand. It will be used for the treatment and planning of surgeries in adults and children with musculo-skeletal problems involving mainly the spine, hip, knee and ankle.

of Health Directors, Jon Guajardo.

The differences in absenteeism between regions range from the lowest range from 2% through 10% in the highest, which include Aragon and Murcia, though those are said to be approximate ‘internal estimates’. Andalucia saw 3.3 million consultations (7.2% of its total) missed with the family doctor and 643,000 pediatric appointments (9.6%) also missed.

The Valencian Community said no-shows for family medicine appointments stood at 3.8% of all bookings but gave no figures for pediatricians.

Percentages in the Balearic Islands were 4.7% for doctors and 4.6% for pediatricians.

The Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians(SEMG) has investigated the no-shows via a survey based on a small sample of patients.

They say that two-thirds of males make up non-appearances along with people aged 65 and under- mostly prompted by work reasons.

HIGH-TEC: The new scanner

Just hanging

A MASSIVE snake of 15 kg which was rolled up on a tree has been rescued by firefighters in Barcelona’s district of Les Corts.

Last call

A PASSENGER who was late for his flight desperately forced his way to the end of the disconnected jet bridge and clumsily jumped onto the tarmac in Malaga airport.

Big deal

HUNDREDS of half-naked people queued outside two Desigual shops as the brand gave away two free items for the first 100 customers coming in underwear in Madrid.

CITY OF CHEATS

Catalunya dominates list for having the most unfaithful towns

IF you suspect your romantic partner may be susceptible to a bit of illicit hanky panky, avoid living in Catalunya.

A list of the ‘most unfaithful’ places in Spain not only gives the top three spots to Catalan towns, but the region dominates the score of shame with seven municipalities in the top 20.

By Cristina Hodgson

The stats for cheating partners comes from online dating forum Ashley Madison, which advertises itself as a platform that ‘caters to the needs of married people and/ or couples who are looking to add some spice to their rela-

Slithery surprise

A LARGE snake has come as a big surprise for a Rota homeowner, who found the reptile slithering around the patio of his house.

The reptile, identified as an adult horseshoe whip snake over one metre in length, was successfully captured unharmed by the police and returned to its natural habitat.

These snakes are slender, shy and fast moving and will defend themselves by biting, but are not poisonous.

tionships and have extramarital affairs’. The ranking shows the cities

with the highest concentration of cheaters in relation to the population of each city. And the leading cities are Manresa - top of the list for the third year in a rowGirona and Barcelona, all three of them Catalan municipalities.

According to Christoph Kraemer from Ashley Madison: “One in four Spaniards would like to have a non-monoga-

mous relationship.

“Whether with their partner, alone, in open relationships or in a non-unbundled way, more and more people are changing monogamy for other types of relationships that give them more satisfaction and happiness.”

Toledo, which last year was not in the top 20, is now ranked as the fifth most unfaithful municipality.

Additionally, three of the top 20 most adulterous cities are on the Costa del Sol; Marbella (eighth), Malaga city (14th) and Fuengirola (17th), and over on the Costa Blanca, Valencia comes in 13th.

COPS hunting a man in Valencia who was part of a masked crew that raided a home were confronted by an African Lynx when they stormed his flat. But reports say that the caracal, to give it its proper name, far from being fierce turned out to be a scaredy cat when it spotted the officers.

As they subdued the robbery suspect the wild cat ran frightened in circles before taking refuge on top of a fridge. The species can reach up to 19 kilos in weight, is a nocturnal species and tends to be shy. The lynx was handed over to one of the detained man’s relatives.

HOLIDAY TIME!

WITH rising temperatures the summer holiday spirit takes over shoplifters - and their favourite targets change too. While the rest of the year sees cheeses and hams as the most stolen items, in summer the trend changes. Instead, petty thieves target suntan lotions, condoms, alcoholic beverages, sun glasses and ice creams - €100 million’s worth each summer.