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OLIVE PRESS
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Andalucía
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voice in Spain
Vol. 13 Issue 343 www.theolivepress.es May 13th - May 26th 2020
ON THE HUNT OF THE NAZI GOLD Hot on the heels of our dispatch on a Nazi U-boat base in the Canaries, we investigate the Nazi Gold Trail to Madrid and, allegedly Gibraltar, shedding new light on a shady chapter in history that has never been fully resolved. See Page 10
Beached!
BRITS have been warned that holidays abroad this summer are ‘very likely’ to be cancelled. Health Secretary Matt Hancock broke the potentially devastating news for Spain during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday. “We haven’t made a final decision... but it is unlikely that big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer,” he told
By Laurence Dollimore
hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield. The move, if confirmed, would be a huge blow for the Spanish tourism industry, with the costas heavily reliant on the tens of millions of British tourists who visit every summer. Some 12% of the country’s GDP is
Hopes of vital British tourism returning this summer dashed as UK rules holidays ‘most likely cancelled’ this year from tourism, while locally in Andalucia and Alicante it is around 15%. The revelation by Hancock came just hours after Spain announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for
At least this is coming to a terrace near you soon...
all international travellers arriving from May 15 - the same measure announced by the UK on Monday. It would mean tourists having to stay inside their accommodation for two weeks, before having to quarantine once again when arriving back to the UK. “It will most likely continue throughout the de-escalation period,” confirmed Health Minister Salvador Illa. This could run into July. For those without second homes and who don’t plan on staying for months at a time, it makes a holiday to Spain practically impossible in the short term.
All the frills of the feria...at home
Find out how on Page 13
Photo by Allan Binderup
Died
FREEDOM AT LAST: Palma residents finally get to enjoy a drink on a restaurant terrace as Mallorca enters Phase 1
TURBULENCE ON THE STOCK MARKET BRINGS OPPORTUNITIES
The announcement caused Andalucia vice president Juan Marin to insist that international tourism is now effectively ‘dead’ this summer. “With the announcement of the quarantine, international tourism has practically died,” he insisted. “Nobody is going to come if you have to spend a vacation in a room for 14 days.” Leading expat hotel boss Mark Wardell, of Sunset Beach, in Benalmadena, said: “About 30% of the Costa del Sol relies on tourism and that can be as much as 50% in places like Torremolinos and Fuengirola. “If the planes don’t fly from the UK this will be a major problem.” There was a glimmer of hope, with Ryanair announcing that it would be restarting around 40% of its flights across Europe from July 1. Flying out of 80 bases, their destinations and the probability of them filling up will depend on agreements between countries. The UK has already confirmed, for example, that quarantine measures will not apply to those travelling from France or Ireland and there will be considerable lobbying by the Spanish tourism indus-
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