Costa Blanca Olive Press - Issue 29

OLIVE PRESS

The

COSTA BLANCA

FREE

A taste of freedom Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 2 Issue 29 www.theolivepress.es April 30th - May 13th, 2020

This is not Armageddon!

met and chatted with friends on street corners and in parks, without fear of arrest or a heavy fine.

Even better, from this weekend everyone will be allowed to exercise, as long as social distancing measures are kept. And, fingers crossed, the weather is meant to play ball!

Bitter sweet

Photos by Mike Riley

E IV US CL IC EX P IT was a taste of what’s to come for parents and children at the weekend.

Mothers and sons, dads and daughters headed out to take the air, pick wild flowers and jump in puddles around Spain.

On bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller skates or just shanks pony, they

Photos by Jon Clarke

Expat restaurateurs welcome four-step plan to recovery, but fear huge losses despite being able to open again in May

Mother of cancer victim Ashya King tells Olive Press why she has left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and wants to move back to Spain with her family

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EXPAT businesses across the Costa Blanca have welcomed the news they could reopen in May following seven weeks of stasis.

However, they remain extremely cautious about making plans until the international tourist market returns.

It comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez revealed his four-step ‘de-escalation’ plan last night after a week of positive COVID-19 data.

He insisted that life will return to a ‘new normal’ by June, with restaurants, hotels and businesses allowed to gradually open throughout May - albeit at heavily reduced capacities.

As long as the numbers of infections

By Joshua Parfitt, Laurence Dollimore and Jon Clarke

continue to drop, restaurant terraces will be allowed to open with a 30% capacity, as well as hotels and other tourist accommodation, on May 11.

Some two weeks later, restaurant dining rooms can open for business, while cinemas, theatres and museums will follow suit.

Cultural events such as weddings will be able to take place with a capacity of up to 400 people outdoors and 50 indoors.

By early June, it is envisaged that more restrictions will be lifted, al-

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though restaurants could still be limited to a capacity of just 50% with ‘strict separation’ between customers.

The president of the Hosteleria de España – the largest business association in Spain – insisted however that the measures are ‘unviable’.

“The hospitality industry cannot open under these conditions,” said Jose Luiz Yzuel, who represents 270,000 restaurants and hotels.

“Opening up a restaurant, cleaning the toilets, and all the work that goes into reviving an establishment, to then just attend 30% of outside tables will not earn enough for even the electricity bill.”

He called it a genuine ‘wind-up’ that the government was sticking to a Royal Decree clause requiring businesses not to fire anyone for six months after reopening.

He criticised the inflexibility of the ERTE, or temporary layoff mechanism that does not allow a progressive re-employment of staff.

“If the government wants us to re-open, then listen to us, and take measures that mean we can stay alive.”

Steve Jasper, owner of popular Father Ted bar, in Moraira, said the regulations lacked ‘clarification’ on conditions under which bars can open.

“The requirements need to be clear so they can be implementContinues on Page 4

2

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Speed freaks sought POLICE are looking for two drivers who broke the corona lockdown while speeding at 240 kph between Sevilla and Portugal.

The Guardia Civil have put a video of the pair online.

Neither is wearing masks or protective clothing, when they drove at 120 kph above the permitted limit on the A-49 highway in Huelva.

Jet set AT least 25 private jets have flown from Spain to the UK during the coronavirus lockdown.

Since March 23, another 27 private planes from France and 32 from Germany have also touched down in Britain, according to data from aviation consultancy WingX.

Cough up A MAN has been arrested in Valencia after coughing in a policeman’s face and claiming he had ‘coronavirus’ following a supermarket brawl.

Police were called to the scene in Ruzafa, where a security guard got into an argument when he tried to stop a couple entering together. When police forced him to show them his ID he removed his mask and coughed in their faces saying ‘I have coronavirus’.

The man was taken to a hospital for a test, despite not showing any symptoms.

He has been released on bail pending a court appearance.

Adams trio A TRIO from the same family have been arrested for robbing rural second homes in inland Malaga.

The thieves from Casarabonela took advantage of empty holiday properties not being taken care of during the coronavirus crisis.

Police however, caught the gang after a tip off and caught them red handed.

A range of valuables have now been returned to their owners.

NEWS

April 30th - May 13th

Lockdown lust EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore and Joshua Parfitt

SEX workers in Spain are still advertising for clients despite the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, the Olive Press can reveal.

They are breaking social distancing rules, while some are openly flaunting the Royal Decree with special ‘COVID-19’ discounts.

The adverts, printed in their dozens in various English newspapers, are ‘illegal’, particularly during the lockdown, Spain’s National Police confirmed this week.

One advert - offered by a

Sex workers are still meeting clients via British newspaper ads despite Spain’s strict coronavirus rules sex worker on the Costa del Sol - made reference to her location just metres from a Mercadona supermarket to give punters a cover story, if stopped by police.

While posing as a client, an Olive Press journalist was given a list of prices and services, answering to an advert, headed ‘Blonde - Offer COVID-19: €40,’.

When asked if she was still

Brothel of Europe Spain has been referred to as the ‘Brothel of Europe’ with a 2011 UN report ruling it was the third biggest prostitution Mecca in the world, behind only Thailand and Puerto Rico.

Since it was decriminalised in 1995, it has become a huge industry worth around €24.5 billion and with at least 300,000 workers.

However it has also led to a rise in human trafficking, with women shipped from around the world and forced to work at night.

One 2009 study by TAMPEP (European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers), estimated 90% of sex workers in Spain are victims of human trafficking.

An illegal prostitution ring was busted in Andalucia this month, with 12 victims from South America, including a young girl, freed from flats in Jaen and Cordoba.

Prison for politician THE Spokesperson for Podemos Madrid, Isabel Serra Sanchez has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for her intervention in an eviction of a disabled person.

The 30-year-old (right) was found guilty of attacking police and causing minor injuries during the incident in Madrid in 2014.

She has been fined €2,000 and been banned from holding public office for a number of years, but was not found guilty of public disorder, which would have landed her a stiffer sentence.

She claimed it was a ‘dispro-

portionate and unfair sentence’ and added she would continue to fight to prevent evictions of families.

Another Podemos leader Pablo Echenique insisted the police had no evidence she was violent, during the eviction. He insisted she was ‘demonstrating peacefully’.

working despite the lockdown, she replied: “Sometimes and with a discreet person.”

Other adverts continue to offer ‘incalls’ and ‘outcalls’ in ‘private apartments’ despite the country being in its seventh week of lockdown.

The sex adverts in English are continuing to be printed across local English papers on the Costa Blanca, too, suggesting there is a nationwide breaking of the rules.

Spain has been on a national lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak since March 14.

It has made all non-essential work effectively illegal and punishable under the law.

A spokesman for the Policia Nacional told the Olive Press that people should be aware that prostitution is illegal, whether the country is in lockdown or not.

“We want to clarify that prostitution is illegal in Spain,” he explained, “it does not matter if there is a lockdown or not.

“In Spain we are governed by the Organic Law 10/1995 of the penal code and its updates.”

People generally believe prostitution to be legal in Spain, but the reality is sex workers exist in a legal vacuum wherein the practice has been decriminalised since 1995 but no public laws have been written regarding their legal status.

But while the prostitutes may not be penalised, their clients can be. Although any sex worker caught meeting clients

Paedo breakthrough AUSTRALIAN police have helped link a child sex abuse video to a Spanish paedophile.

The suspect produced explicit videos of a young boy - aged four - to gain access to forums on the dark web.

International cooperation was key to cracking the case: with Europol supporting Spanish police by analysing information received from cops in Queensland.

Europol found that a 2015 video discovered in France may have been filmed in Spain.

Abuse

BREACH: Sex ads flouting COVID-19 rules

during the lockdown will also be punished.

One male escort was stopped and fined on his way to meet a client in Barcelona last month.

Another escort based on the Costa del Sol told the Olive Press he has been inundated with requests but has refused to meet with clients due to the coronavirus lockdown.

“I think a lot of sex workers are obeying the rules, but I guess some who have seen their incomes disappear are in desperate situations. It’s not an excuse though, just stay home,” he insisted.

The Olive Press has never published sex ads in our 14-year history, while other publications along the Costa Blanca have been cashing in on the murky trade and its suspect tax implications for years.

Cops worked out that the suspect was also using a social media network where he was in touch with a woman who shared the same surname as the one in the title of the abuse video.

They eventually tracked him down to a home in Barcelona, where they seized a large amount of material which they believe could lead to further arrests in Spain.

Fernando Ruiz at Europol’s cybercrime unit insisted: “‘This type of international cooperation during the COVID-19 crisis shows how children are being protected as a priority.

“We encourage everyone to be aware of the dangers to children during this time.”

No minor incident

A DAD has been arrested after dumping his son on the side of a motorway to divert police and flee a roadblock.

The 36-year-old abandoned his child on the hard shoulder of the A-44 in Granada after nearly hitting a Guardia Civil officer.He has been charged with ‘crimes against road safety’ – dangerous driving and driving without a license. He also faces two other charges – the neglect of a child and disobeying a police officer. The bizarre stunt allowed the man to shake off the Guardia Civil officers, who were obliged by law to help the young child.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Goodbye to the queen of the coast

April 30th - May 13th

3

By Dilip Kuner

FOR 19 years she has been one of Spain’s most loved icons.

Hundreds of thousands of people have gazed at the awe-inspiring sight of the beauty and power of Asmara the Sumatran tigress as she padded round her enclosure at Fuengirola’s Biopark.

But children will no longer be able to press themselves against the glass screen that was all that separated them from the terrifying-yet-beautiful vision of the jungle queen.

At the age of 19 the oldest feline resident of the parc – and third oldest Sumatran Tiger in a world-wide breeding programme – has passed away.

It comes two years after her partner Rokan died and a postmortem has confirmed she did not die of Coronavirus.

She died of a tumour close to her heart, breaking the hearts of her keepers and other park workers.

“She was very impressive and curious and will be badly missed,” said Marta Perez, who works in marketing at Bioparc.

“She needed to be treated with respect and she could be fierce with people she did not know well.”

She herself had several cubs with Rokan, helping save this highly endangered species from extinction.

AN Andalucian photographer has scooped third prize at this year’s World Press Photo contest for his unbelievable shot of Iberian lynxes.

Antonio Pizarro, 47, who works at Diario de Sevilla, captured the moment a pair of the wild cats fled the sound of gunshot near Doñana National Park.

The veteran lensman’s snap, titled The King of Doñana, shows one lynx suspended in mid-air

Snap to it!

as it leaps for safety.

Since 2013 Sevilla-born Pizarro has gone to extraordinary lengths to snap the world’s most endangered feline species. He has even sometimes used a camouflaged semi-underwater bunker so he can remain undetected while being close to the action.

OAP - Old Age Pugilist Battling Ana del Valle 106 years old - is the second oldest person to survive COVID globally

By Dimitris Kouimtsidis

SHE has survived two world wars and one civil war. Now an amazing centenarian, from Andalucia, has beaten the deadly coronavirus.

106-year-old Ana del Valle, from Ronda, has fought off the illness to the cheers of

her family and friends.

The pensioner, who has a good diet and walks daily, contracted the virus along with 60 other residents at her nursing home in Alcala del Valle.

While a few of them died, she was transferred to another home in La Linea, where she has just been transferred.

TERRI-TASTY AN EXPAT in San Miguel de Salinas has saved a large terrapin from starvation after stumbling upon the reptile while out walking the dog.

Liverpudlian Lezley Cresswell took the animal home and contacted Elche Wildlife Park, which advised feeding it a pork chop.

Much to Lezley’s delight, Terry his newly-adopted name - loved the dish.

“Once I realised how much Terry liked his pork, I couldn’t chop it up quick enough for him!” Elche Wildlife Park has arranged to house Terry once the lockdown ends.

ALIVE AND WELL: Ana with family Born in October 1913 she is the oldest survivor of the pandemic in Spain and only just behind 107-yearold Dutch survivor, Cornelia Ras. A farmworker, she had

only learnt to read and write at the age of 80, and outlived her husband, who died 24 years ago.

Incredibly, it has emerged she also survived the dreaded Spanish flu at the age of seven.

Her family that counts four great-grandchilA COUPLE who had set sail from Spain to cross dren - revealed the Atlantic on a sailing boat did not know about that she had the lockdown measures until they reached land a been discovered month later. ‘collapsed’ unItalian, Elena Manighetti and Brit, Ryan Osborne der an oak tree, set off from Lanzarote on February 28, when while out fetchCOVID-19 was still mainly contained to China. ing milk.

They were stunned to find the world in an ‘almost “She was found complete lockdown’ when they hit the Caribbean many hours latisland of Bequia on March 25. “When Ryan read er by her mother out the news our jaws just dropped,” Manighetti with a very high revealed. fever,” said her daughter in law Paqui Sanchez.

Incredibly, she SOME of his language Part of the BBC’s Bi- survived that on the pitch is probably tesize homeschooling horrific plague a bit colourful for young service, the Manchester that killed milpupils.

City striker is giving dai- lions around But Sergio Aguero is ly lessons for two weeks. the world and watching his language The 31-year-old who has since stayed as he teaches Spanish to has been at City for nine healthy with a children in England in years, had spent five good diet and a new BBC website and seasons prior to that at regular daily app.

Atletico Madrid. walks.

IT’S No wind up!

Spanish with Sergio

4

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

April 30th - May 13th

Adios to a guiri great

MISSED: Robinson

ONE of Spain’s most famous expats has passed away during the lockdown.

TV sports presenter Michael Robinson, has died at the age of 61, at his home in Marbella.

The former Irish international, who played for Liverpool for years, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2018.

He finished his career in Spain, playing for Osasuna before becoming a pundit, where he became

a popular household name.

Spanish tennis legend Rafa Nadal insisted it was ‘the death of one of our own.

“You were the one who always made us happy about sport,” he wrote on Twitter. “We are grateful to you.”

Spain’s World Cup winning goalkeeper Iker Casillas said: “Goodbye friend, it was a pleasure to share so many moments with you.

You leave a big mark.”

Gown with it

We will see sales drop of €6 million From Page 1

ed firstly by the owner, and then the police to enforce them fairly.”

He doubted he would open until Phase 3, when restaurants can open to 50% capacity.

Another restaurant owner Maria Jose San Roman, of Michelin-starred Monastrell, in Alicante, insisted her 45-year business would face ‘certain death’ in three months under the current plans.

She added: “If however we could lay off half our 120 staff and put the other half on reduced hours we would be wounded but not dead.”

Meanwhile, the British boss of Marbella’s internationally famous La Sala Group, was cautiously optimistic, despite

admitting his company would likely lose ‘over €6 million’ this year.

“While it is great news to hear that people can start to get back to their normal lives, and start the recovery of what was taken away from them, it’s not necessarily great news for businesses working mainly in the tourist market,” said Chairman Ian Radford.

“With our core market being mainly UK and Scandinavian, and the fact borders will not be open probably until July or beyond, being open will only increase our losses to date this year.

“We have already lost over 12,000 reservations booked over the last 12 months and we have reduced our sales forecast

by over €6 million for 2020.”

However, he continued that they had ‘bigger challenges’, such as trying to protect their 200-plus staff and families in the long term.

“We are working on finding a business model that protects our staff, but also provides our loyal customers with what they want. It will be a tricky balance to find, but we will find it. We have to!”

And he added: “Let’s put things into perspective there are so many people in much worse situations and we can only hope that something good for the world comes out of the misery.”

Opinin Page 6

By Joshua Parfitt

THE first batch of designer label Zara hospital gowns has arrived in a Galician hospital – the birthplace of the famous clothing line.

Some 4,000 of the green medical kits arrived at the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña (CHUAC).

Billionaire Zara founder producing thousands of PPE items to fight COVID-19

The splash-proof gowns have elastic cuffs to allow medical staff to pull their sleeves up, a waist band, and a Zara logo.

They are also washable.

It comes after Zara’s parent

Joining the fight A BRITISH nurse got a free ride across Spain to join her old team in the UK in the fight against COVID-19.

Trudy Laverick was offered a free taxi ride from Alicante to Madrid to catch a flight home.

She was given a lift from Benidorm, where she now lives, to Madrid airport by Alicante Transfers.

After a 24 hour journey she finally arrived at Barnsley Hospital, where she is now working around the clock during the British lockdown.

“It was the only way to get to Madrid and Alicante Transfers stepped to help with the early morning flight, she said.

company Inditex – founded by billionaire Amancio Ortega – announced it would begin making medical equipment while bringing in medical equipment through its supply lines.

The world’s largest textile company has brought more than 35 million units of medical equipment to Spain since the crisis began. The gowns themselves come from a Zara factory in Sabon, Galicia, which has been put at the service of Spain’s government. Nine of the Galicia region’s 11 Zara factories are currently dedicated to providing sanitary gear in the fight against COVID-19.

See The Irresistible Billionaire Page 7

Another exodus has begun…

In December 2018, during a large market fall, and again today, during the current crisis, Chorus received a record number of new enquiries. Nothing has changed in terms of our marketing, in fact at the moment we are hardly doing any! We always have a steady stream of new clients, but there is clearly something going on. We’ll need to go back a few years to understand why.

Back in 2015 I lived with the daily frustration that I was working against an industry that had set out to rip off each and every one of its clients. Every single major financial advisory firm in Spain, without exception, was exploiting the trust of their clients, and lining their own pockets.

After sitting with yet another couple who had become victims of this practise and having to explain to them that the large financial services company down the road had trapped them into a massively overpriced investment solution for many years, I decided enough was enough.

This was when I began to blow the whistle on my own industry. I started writing these articles, giving radio interviews, and doing dozes of presentations alongside major institutions, the British consulate and others.

The purpose of this campaign, which has now gone on for 5 years, was to educate our communities in Spain. To help you all avoid getting trapped into toxic, overpriced investments.

And of course, rather than joining me and doing the right thing by their clients, these companies began to fight back. They would write their own articles, this time trying to scare prospective clients into not seeking a second opinion. They would claim that smaller firms were somehow inferior – despite many surveys actually proving that clients of smaller firms tend to get better service and better investment returns. They would try to claim that somehow the size of their companies or the number of years they had been around made them a better option. That was literally all they had, and at no point did they attempt to improve the quality or transparency of their offering.

The deep pockets these companies have are as a result of years of hidden fees and backhanders. Years of taking between 7-12% undisclosed commission from their clients on the first day of the investment, dooming their clients to year of low returns or even losses.

And I know many thousands of you read my articles, but somehow the message still gets lost. Then suddenly, when the markets have a bad time, I get inundated with enquiries.

Clients telling me they signed up with firm A, B or C and they don’t understand why they’re losing so much money. Then I go through their plans and identify all the issues I warned about for 5 years. Issues that are well hidden in pages of complex paperwork that no clients could possibly understand. Afterall, these companies have had many decades of experience hiding these critical details from you!

By Sam Kelly Providing multi-award winning advice for your pensions, investments & tax planning.

DipPFS, EFA, BA (Hons).

Managing Partner, Chorus Financial Often these clients say they had even read my articles before they signed up with the other firm but felt more comfortable with a ‘bigger’ or ‘more established’ company. I’ve even been told on several occasions that they were specifically warned not to get a second opinion from Chorus! Clearly these firms knew we would be able to tear apart their recommendation and protect that client from years of problems.

So, here we are now, another big market fall, and once again Chorus clients have been protected from the worst of it, whilst those clients who became victims of other companies are suffering. And so another exodus to Chorus begins… and I’m rolling up my sleeves, and perhaps with this article… taking the gloves off!

Believe me, if you had had to sit in front of literally 100s of clients from other firms, and see their faces when you explained to them what they had been put into, and how it has affected their future, you’d understand why I’m so passionate about this! This is real, and there are many, many thousands of victims in our communities, and the numbers grow every day.

So please, don’t fall for the ‘bigger’ company myth. With financial advisories it is absolutely meaningless. Chorus build high quality investment solutions working with some of the biggest, most established institutions in the world, including Prudential, Royal London, Vanguard, Rathbones, HSBC and many more. Our clients are in very safe and experienced hands.

If you want qualified, expert financial advice with full fee transparency, from a truly independent firm, you will not find a better solution than a Chorus offering. Whether you have an existing plan, or are looking for an alternative quote for a new pension transfer or Spanish bond, for example from Quilter International or Prudential International, please email me today on s.kelly@chorusfinancial.es or call me direct on +34 664 398 702.

The advisers trading as Chorus Financial are members of OpesFidelio and authorised to give financial advice subject to contract in parts of the EEA, including Spain, CNMV No Registro Oficial 3970. OpesFidelio is a trademarked network of the Aisa Group which includes Aisa Financial Planning Ltd and Aisa International s.r.o. Aisa Financial Planning is authorised and regulated in the UK as an independent financial adviser for UK retail clients by the Financial Conduct Authority, Reference number: 189652, and has permissions throughout the EEA under both directives IDD and MiFID. Aisa International s.r.o. is authorised and regulated in the Czech Republic as a financial adviser by the Czech National Bank and has permissions through selected EEA countries, including Spain.

Investment contracts are intended as medium to long term investments, and all investments have some level of risk. Figures in our articles are examples of what can be achieved and cannot be guaranteed; the value of your investments can go down as well as up. Fees and charges can vary and will be fully ex- plained to you before any advice can take place. This article should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular product.

965 641 163

www.chorusfinancial.es info@chorusfinancial.es

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

April 30th - May 13th

‘Don’t forget the coriander!’

MIDDLE class British shoppers are helping keep Spanish farmers alive during the coronavirus lockdown.

Millions of Home Counties home chefs have been dusting off their recipe books seeking out key ingredients such as fresh parsley and coriander.

“This has helped our demand,” said British food chief Peter Langdale, 65, the boss of agricultural firm Horto Palma SL, whose herbs end up in Waitrose and Tesco in the UK and Mercadona in Spain.

The expat of 34 years, originally from Scarborough, employs 150 people, with his firm exporting 99.9% of its produce, with the UK supermarkets its main market.

“We have actually been in-

Bored UK housewives are driving demand for Spain’s fresh herbs, reveals one happy expat supplier credibly busy,” he told the Olive Press. “We have seen no real drop thanks to the foreign demand.

He added: “It’s thanks to the middle class households stuck at home and fed up with what they’ve been cooking... so they get the recipe books out, which all want fresh herbs.”

And that is good news for the hundreds of busy suppliers working around the clock in southern Spain to provide the demand.

Due to food production being an ‘essential service’ during the state of alarm, Langdale said his crops, including parsley, coriander and leeks, have

Health shocker

A SHOCKING 20% of Spain’s health workers have contracted COVID-19.

It is the highest percentage in the world, well above Italy with 10%, China at 3.8% and the USA at 3%.

Some 36,000 nurses, doctors and other workers have so far caught the virus, with around 40 losing their lives. The figures are blamed on the absence of ‘essential safety measures’ with not enough masks for workers and many defective.

largely been able to reach the UK as normal.

However, the company’s two garden centres in Malaga have been forced to close, with some staff put onto ERTE and others drafted into the food production side.

“When lockdown started there was some panic-buying and then a couple of weeks in there was a hiccup in retail sails, but now they’re back up,” Langdale added.

Brexit

He believes the Spanish farmers are doing a roaring trade, while less than normal was coming out of Italy and Portugal, much to do with the availability of labour.

While he said he considered himself privileged to be able to ‘keep going’, he said the crisis had been a ‘gamechanger for the global economy’.

He said: “Things will never be the same again and when added to Brexit and the rise of populism it’s certainly going to be tough.”

AT LAST: Families in Barcelona (above and left) get some exercise, while (right) a mum in Cordoba is singing in the rain

Photos by Mike Riley

By Charlie Smith

5

A bit of common sense

MEDICAL experts across the Costa Blanca believe six weeks of quarantine may have been wasted if people don’t adhere to social distancing rules.

One leading doctor Maria Angeles Medina said she feared an increase of cases again and a ‘lowering of our guard could take us back to the beginning.’

It comes after social media was awash with images of packed streets after it was announced children could go outside for daily walks with a family member.

Dr. Antonio Redondo, of the Vithas Medimar

Hospital in Alicante, added: “If we continue like this, the efforts of the six week lockdown is going to be for nothing.”

The head of the Paediatrics service at the General University Hospital of Elche, Jose Pastor, maintains that, ‘children are a very important factor in the spread of viruses and, although they do not suffer serious symptoms, they can infect adults.’

“Hence, social distancing between children is essential,” he added. Police forces have warned that they are still prepared to fine people up to €1500 for breaching social distancing rules.

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FEATURE

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

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

OPINION Tough love

THE Spanish government must feel stuck between a rock and a hard place as it attempts to take its country out of the coronavirus lockdown.

Its people are growing weary of being confined to their homes and want to have more freedoms returned, but letting things return to normal too quickly could result in a second and deadlier wave of COVID-19.

Either way, it’s hard for leaders to navigate deescalation plans while maintaining popularity. Luckily, Pedro Sanchez’s government seems to have the health and wellbeing of the Spanish people as its top priority.

Its four phase plan seems initially fair - if a bit short on detail - and is clearly designed by common sense.

The decision to let provinces which have been less impacted by the virus lift restrictions sooner stops unnecessary roadblocks to economic recovery.

Clearly businesses are going to be hurt, with capacity limits set at 30 to 50% until mid-June, but it’s what must be done, initially at least, to prevent a second wave of a disease which has killed nearly 25,000 Spaniards. Let’s hope businesses are supported both during AND after this whole crisis ends.

Sex sells IT is morally reprehensible at best: Pages of sex adverts advertising every kink and quirk under the sun.

But whether prostitution is legal or not and sex workers should be allowed to solicit or not, is irrelevent in the heart of the COVID-19 crisis.

For the current Royal Decrees make it implicitly clear who CAN and who CANNOT work.

And there are very good reasons behind that, however frustrating and painful it is for many workers, particularly self employed autonomos, who are really struggling in this crisis. It is called social distancing - preventing the spread of the disease - which can hardly be possible in the case of a prostitute. So when you find so-called ‘community newspapers’ openly encouraging ‘COVID-19 specials’ from sex workers on their pages, they can hardly be called responsible. They are cashing in on a mucky trade that sails mostly below the margins, particularly right now.

It is time to call out these hypocrites for what they are.

Publisher / Editor

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Charlie Smith charlie@theolivepress.es

Joshua Parfitt joshua@theolivepress.es

Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es

John Culatto johnc@theolivepress.es

Dimitris Kouimtsidis dimitris@theolivepress.es

Gillian Keller gillian@theolivepress.es

Isha Sesay isha.sesay@hotmail.com

Simon Wade simon@theolivepress.es

Admin Beatriz Sanllehí (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es

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‘

EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

‘THEY are holed up at home and terrified this is Armageddon,” says Naghmeh King, her distress unalleviated by the sunshine pouring into her apartment with its idyllic views along the Costa del Sol coastline.

“They think coronavirus is the great plague God prophesied and they will only be saved if their belief in Jehovah is strong enough” adds the 50-year-old mother of Ashya King.

The family made global headlines in 2014 when she and her husband fled Britain for Spain seeking ground-breaking cancer treatment for their youngest son, now 10, sparking an international manhunt leading to their arrest and imprisonment in Madrid.

Six years after that heart-rending saga, Naghmeh is in flight from a new terror: brainwashing.

“They are scared, so scared, and their father is being so strict,” she reveals. “Do this, do that, making them say their prayers before every meal and repeat them after him every night.”

Naghmeh is talking about husband Brett, 56, and their seven children, locked down in the family home in Milton Keynes, that she managed to escape just before the travel ban was enforced.

“I couldn’t deal with it and came at the beginning of March,” she tells the Olive Press at the modest three bedroom apartment in Casares, near Estepona, where she has pinned up photos of her children on the wall and various dictionaries and bibles are strewn on the coffee table.

“I told them I would come and self isolate here, where I will be safe. Brett said he didn’t want me to leave the house, he does not have enough faith that God will protect him. He thinks he will die from the coronavirus. I simply couldn’t take it anymore.”

It is a cautionary tale and moving proof that extreme religion can sometimes break up families.

Talking to the paper to express her ‘disgust’ at the religion she has been trying to leave for years, she claims her husband has been ‘brainwashed’ by the Jehovah’s Witnesses who ‘owe’ her a five-figure sum of money.

More of which later.

Hers is a story that was thrust into the global spotlight when she and husband Brett, from Portsmouth, decided that the cancer treatment their then-fiveyear-old son Ashya was receiving in Southampton was a danger to his life.

Believing he needed the much more benign Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) - which at €70,000 the NHS trust would not fund - they smuggled him out of the hospital and drove onto a ferry from Portsmouth to Europe to prevent him becoming a ward of court.

They planned to make for their holiday home in Malaga where four of their children were born

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April 30th - May 13th

CMY

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I’VE BROKEN FREE!

BIG FAMILY: Naghmeh King at home in Spain, while (inset) with Brett and her seven children and where they hoped the gen- helped get us out,” she insists. glint in her eye. “He was 24 and we tler Mediterranean climate would “Soon Ashya was getting treat- quickly fell in love and got married a year later.” allow Ashya to recuperate while ment in Prague.” they sought PBT elsewhere.

While her son is slowly improving While her parents were not happy But their departure led to a glob- from the trauma of brain surgery with her decision, wanting her to al outcry with Interpol quickly to remove a tumour, he still has come home to Iran, the pair led a called in to locate them. profound disabilities, she reveals charmed life, with the income Brett was making from his two jobs.

While they attempted to lay low in (see side bar). a hotel in neighbouring Axarquia Now Naghmeh is going through They bought a leafy home in Milton they were not hard to locate, be- another major upheaval in her Keynes, but their happiness was ing nine in number counting the life, having decided to leave the short lived when Brett was jailed for other children, Danny, now 29, church she became involved falsifying mortgage forms (a ‘white Naveed, 26, Sirus, 20, Yusha, in at the age of 20. it is defini- collar crime’, Naghmeh insists) which 14, Matty, 13, and Sion, 8. tively the time to move on, she ended up getting him sacked from “Basically, the receptionist found is making an urgent, heart-felt his bank job. out who we were and called the appeal to her husband to leave His term was only a year in the low police,” recalls Naghmeh today. the religion too and join her in security Bedford prison, but it would “Ashya was taken to hospital in Spain with their family, at least have a long-lasting effect on his life and their relationship, she insists Malaga and we were taken to the youngest four. jail. We were kept for three days It is clear she means it and - hav- today. “It was horrible for him and in a police cell in Malaga, then ing known her for six years and he came out all skinny,” she rememprison in Madrid. spoken to her on various occa- bers. “But while there he took a close “It was really, really sions - she and interest in religion…particularly from bad, I never knew I both know it a cell mate who taught him about how the authoriwill be a battle Noah’s ark and the floods. And it was ties worked, they Making them say as tough as the then that he started to say the Lord’s before meals and bed.” took over our life. prayers before one she went Prayer We were charged through with So when a few months after getting out they received the proverbial every meal and Ashya. with child cruelty and I feared losing repeat them after N a g h m e h ’ s knock on the door from a pair of local Ashya for good. I story began Jehovah’s Witnesses, Brett immeditook an interest. was so scared.” him every night when her Ira- ately Thanks to a masnian family “His name was Michael Michaels, a sive response by sent her to do Greek guy, and he gave him a few the UK media - and her A-levels in magazines which Brett found inthe Olive Press, which worked England at the age of 16. Pack- teresting,” recalls Naghmeh. Three closely with them, aiding their ing her off from Tehran to Black- weeks later Michaels returned to perappeal - a petition was raised burn, where she had an uncle, suade Brett to go to the local asking for their release, allowing they hoped she might end up at Kingdom Hall for a meeting. them to be reunited with Ashya.

Cambridge with a career in archi- “I refused to go, I was not interested and kept throwing “An amazing 250,000 people tecture or medicine. demanded that Ashya should “But things all changed when I the magazines out. I told him be given back to us,” continues met Brett, who was a bank man- they were simply brainwashNaghmeh, recalling the emer- ager, in Cambridge, with a sec- ing him.” gency court hearing in Madrid, ond job running a guesthouse But almost inevitably, she filinked up to the High Court in business,” she explains, with a nally got sucked in and while London, where it was agreed they should be allowed to take their son for emergency PBT treatment in Prague.

Ashya King was declared cancer free two years “Our lawyer Juan Isidro, from ago. But the courageous youngster is still proSevilla, was excellent and reaaly foundly disabled and may never fully recover from the trauma of his ordeal, as his mother Naghmeh tells the Olive Press in her own heartfelt words.

“He is OK, he can go up the stairs by himself but he has to sit down to come down the stairs. He can walk a few steps, but often falls. He is still paralysed and has a crossed eye.

“They took a big part of his brain, during the eight hour operation but chemotherapy would have killed him. We were told he would not have sight or hearing after it. His ears would dry out, his eyes would dry out. But they said Proton Beam Therapy would not work on his cancer, and would not fund it. We realised we had to leave, get away from England … the state would have taken him away so we didn’t say anything.

“We couldn’t risk him losing his sight or hearing. It was an intense pressurised time travelling with him in the car. I had to feed him through his nostrils, he could not eat or swallow anything, he couldn’t even drink water, he was totally paralysed. That said, we knew he was making progress, his eyes were opening and shutting, he was moving.

We felt he needed a chance to recuperate.”

On the mend, six years on

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on the border of the A GIANT stand-off ensued this weekend with hundreds of miSpanish enclave of Melilla with Morocco, grants storming the border. a Tangier to Tarifa ferry was In another attempt to enter Europe, three migrants hid themafter held up for two hours on Sunday, watched from the deck of the selves in the motor. Passengers were hauled from their Intershipping ferry, as the Moroccans estimated that 1,800 people hiding place near the blades. It is Mediterranean this year. have already died trying to cross the See our feature on drug- and people-trafficking

s facing a potenoutbreak after a an, 40, displayed of the deadly virus. s Haya hospital unched emergency on Sunday, while sources admitted completely unprean outbreak. s being kept in prolation until results ed. It is feared he the disease on a to Nigeria. out that he has got n we will all get it," worker said, adding ospital is unable to such serious cases.

- who lives in Anterived with a high fewas immediately put tion. m the fever, he did any other recognimptoms such as nauting and bleeding. two other suspected n Spain have turned false alarms over the ight.

See page 20

Save Our Son Malaga EXCLUSIVE: Costa friends reveal Ashya King was diagnosed in Spain, where his family had previously lived for many years

REUNITED: Ashya King and family (right)

on Page 6

By Tom Powell and Rob Horgan in Casares and Joe Chivers in the Axarquia TERMINALLY ill Ashya King was diagnosed with a brain tumour in Spain before being rushed back to England for emergency treatment, the Olive Press can reveal.

The seriously-ill British child - whose parents Brett and Naghmeh fled England last week sparking an international manhunt - had been taken to a local clinic after suffering headaches.

“He had been having headaches back in the UK as well so they took him to a doctor who referred him to hospital for a scan, which was when they found out he had just months to live,” said family friend Joseph Lathey, 20, who knows the Kings from Jehovah’s Witness meetings.

The family-of-nine had only just returned to the home they have owned in Casares for the last decade, looking forward to a long summer holiday.

The Olive Press can reveal they have been living on/ off in Spain since buying the beachside apartment 10 Turn to page 4

Find your dream property today!

SPLASH: Front page in 2014 she disliked the endless meetings and the way the ‘elders’ sometimes treated her children, she started to believe that she could save people’s lives and immersed herself in the religion.

The indoctrination continued as the couple launched their own successful property business renovating and selling homes in Milton Keynes, and starting a family.

They ended up buying a trio of homes on the Costa del Sol from the proceeds and finally moved to Spain ‘to learn Spanish and lead a simpler, holier life’, in 1999.

They arrived, via Honduras, with three children in tow, with Brett firstly working as a gardener before landing a cushy job as an estate agent with Kristina Szekely and later Interealty.

Over the next decade they had four more kids - all born in Marbella hospital - and ended up meeting a large group of like-minded families via the various Jehovah’s groups on the coast.

“I sort of put up with it and we had to go to church two or three times a week, we couldn’t celebrate birthdays, or Christmas, Halloween or Easter, and they kept telling us that in the next few years Armageddon would happen and everyone would die,” says Naghmeh.

“They want you to believe that the world is a terrible place. It was a joyless religion and it is no surprise that tens of thousands are leaving it every year,” she adds with a shudder.

After the drama with Ashya they returned to the UK, but life back there made Naghmeh think long and hard about the religion and her role in it.

“I have now completely come out and three years ago I told Brett I wanted to leave. I wrote a letter to the church and told Brett to deliver it. I just feel so angry that we have paid them so much money.

I worked out it is £42,000 and I want it back. They give you books and say they need money for electricity and to advertise, advertise, advertise. I’m writing to them to get it back.”

She continues: “I’m definitely happier now I’ve left, I feel free and have got more time to think and study.

Now I just want my children back. I want them to come over and live with me here in Spain and I have been looking at bigger homes to rent.

“Brett and I have not really discussed it, but I don’t want to go home.

“Brett is fairly brainwashed by it, right now for sure.

“I keep telling him we should sit down and discuss it, not allow other men in a church tell us what to do.

“Brett’s been telling me about divorce, he said if I’m not part of the religion he won’t allow the children to talk to me. It’s illegal.

It is more serious.

“It hasn’t got to the stage of a lawyer, but I am being really firm with him when speaking on the phone.

“I’ve told him I don’t want them to have to pray in the house any more. We can read the bible ourselves and discuss it, of course, but no more brainwashing.”

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April 30th - May 13th 2020

7

The Irresistible Billionaire

H

E’S the world’s sixth-richest person, with an eightbrand empire of 7,200 clothing shops spread across 93 countries.

There isn’t a lot that Zara-founder Amancio Ortega hasn’t conquered, other than his critics, perhaps but internet surfers with too much lockdown time on their hands have noticed a certain prominent left-wing politician reclining on a bench at Spain’s Congress of Deputies. in a black Zara jacket – a brand Ortega founded in 1975.

That man is Pablo Iglesias, the second deputy prime minister and outspoken leader of the anti-establishment Podemos party.

The man who, with fewer clean shirts than a badger, centre-right columnists love to refer to as ‘scruffy’.

The same man who, months ago, criticised Ortega’s donations to the Spanish health system saying: “Spain is not a banana republic nor a dictatorship that depends on some old toff.”

Then in March, Minister of Equality Irene Montero – Iglesias’ wife – was also caught trying to hide the label on her Stradivarius bag beneath an Instagram emoticon.

Gabriel Rufian, the pro-Catalan-independence politician who accused Ortega of thinking he was ‘Batman’ in March, has also been snapped wearing a Zara camel-coloured overcoat this year.

Despite his ‘bad billionaire’ image, overstitched with reports of tax-dodging and east-Asian sweatshops, perhaps Ortega’s incredible contribution to the country’s fight against coronavirus has finally won over his haters?

The 84-year-old textile tycoon began filling the gaps in the COVID-19 battleplan by doing what he does best: making clothes.

Washable, splash-proof, with elasticated sleeves, and in a functional-but-elegant turquoise, the hospital gowns manufactured by Zara have been a lifeline for desperate medical workers.

The first batch of 4,000 was distributed to a hospital in Galicia – Inditex’s homebase – with many thousands more planned after the conglomerate dedicated nine of its 11 Galician factories to strictly PPE production.

It comes after ‘kamikaze’ Galician nurses were featured on the front page of the New York Times on March 30, braving hospitals in homemade protective gear fashioned from bin bags.

While the somewhat red-faced government had to recall 350,000 faulty masks from frontline workers, Ortega has already flown in and distributed three million, along with 1,450 ventilators.

His efficiency is due to a business model built on speed and control.

Ortega founded his empire on two principles – give the customer what they want; and give it to them as fast as possible. To do that, he has ensured he owns his entire supply line.

The same diligence that means Inditex orders are delivered worldwide within 48 hours has seen urgent medical equipment arriving at its Zaragoza hub like clockwork. But there is a different side to Amancio Ortega, behind the logistical behemoth.

A side that perhaps explains why UK textile tycoon Philip Green is awaiting the removal of his knighthood over sexual harass-

How Spain’s richest man has clothed his critics since joining the fight V COVID, writes Josh Parfitt ment allegations, while Ortega has received 35,000 signatures on a Change.org petition putting him forward for the Premio Princesa de Asturias, Spain’s premier peace prize.

And it’s a side best understood by picking apart the first item of clothing Ortega ever made – a dressing gown.

It wasn’t necessarily the style of the dressing gown that shines a light on his persona - though the Inditex empire is rumoured to have fashion informants plugged into scenes the world over, and restocks its stores twice a week.

No. In 1963, when Ortega created his first fashion distribution network Confecciones GOA, he built it up by answering a massive call for work.

In 1960s La Coruña, thousands of husbands went out to sea to fish, leaving wives at home without a means to win bread.

“The women would do anything for a little money, and they were really good at sewing,” says Xabier R. Blanco, a Galician journalist and co-author of the unofficial biography Amancio Ortega: From Zero to Zara.

The budding tailor began organising sewing cooperatives, mainly producing quilted bathrobes that Ortega distributed under his own business’ name.

At Inditex’s HQ in Arteixo Ortega sat a desk in a corner of a Zara Woman workspace.

One of those women from the 1960s, Mercedes Lopez, has been kept in the family as Inditex’s textile union representative.

Legend places Amancio’s eureka moment back to the 12-year-old boy who watched his mother be-

ing denied food at a local shop in the Galician capital of La Coruña.

The shame this youngest of four brothers felt bore in him the determination to fully furnish his family beyond all financial need – and from there, say his supporters, was born a philanthropic destiny. Comparisons do paint a picture of the largely media-absent Ortega.

For argument’s sake, while Philip Green pays Rod Stewart £750,000 for a 45-minute serenading during a three-day toga party in Cyprus for 200 AirBus-flown guests on his 50th birthday, not a single picture of Amancio Ortega was published anywhere until he was 63.

Green owns a £20 million Gulfstream G550 private jet; Ortega hates flying. Green alternates weekdays between plush apartments in central London and Monaco; Ortega still drinks coffee in the neighbourhood where he grew up. While Green is considering the permanent closure of shops in his Arcadia group, Ortega decided not to lay off one single employee in his Spanish workforce of 50,000.

But ever since Inditex put itself at the disposition of Spain’s government, on March 18 there has not been a peep of criticism coming from the Pablo Iglesias front.

Whether that means it’s Zara’s style Iglesias likes, or the business practices of its boss, is unclear. But this means Amancio Ortega has at least achieved an incredible dream: from front-line hospital worker to the chambers of governance, a billionaire has, for once, given his nation the shirts off his own back.

DID YOU KNOW?

Zara’s name was a lucky accident.

Amancio Ortega initially wanted to call his first clothing brand ‘Zorba’ after his and his wife’s favourite film, the Greek-American comedy Zorba the Greek.

It turned out however that a local bar also had used the name. The tradeoff has paid off, however, as Zorba bears close resemblance to a Spanish insult for ‘bitch’ and generally sounds like a naff cleaning tissue.

Zara, meanwhile, has an exotic resemblance to a well-known name, Sarah, and is easily pronounceable in many of the world’s tongues.

Aside from its flagship store, Zara, Inditex also owns Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Stradivarius, Zara Home and Uterqüe.

The company’s success is built upon small runs of clothes, while relying on customer feedback and trend-spotting, to replenish stores with cutting-edge products.

New styles hit the stores within a matter of days, and 60% of manufacturing happens locally to shorten distribution times.

Ortega’s only official biography, written by long-time friend Covadonga O’Shea, carries the legendary story that epitomises Ortega’s business mindset.

“One day I was in a car and at a traffic light when up pulled a vespino, ridden by a kid with a denim jacket full of badges and patches. I liked it. I saw there was something new, genuine, trendy. Still in the car, I called the head of design and detailed what I was seeing. In two weeks, the jackets were in stores and selling like churros.”

April 30th - May 13th

7

Olive Press online ‘Spain’s best English news website’

DREAM TEAM Here below are 18 good reasons to support the Olive Press’ new contributions appeal on our website.

This is just some of our talented team of writers and journalists, who ensure that you are kept up to date on national news seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Based around the country, their remit is to find original and interesting stories, as well as get behind the headlines and investigate the crime and corruption that has often given Spain a bad name.

Despite tough times through the covid crisis, we have actually managed to expand and take on staff and vow, with your help to grow in strength during the rest of the year.

5,917 GLOBALLY

Visitors

Pageviews

2.3M 4.1M

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

Spain’s tourism industry unlikely to fully reopen until 1-lockdown the end of the year as initial plans to lift coronavirus restrictions revealed (114,024 visitors) in his 90s in Spain argues he should be allowed 2-toMan break lockdown rules as he’s the only inhabitant in left in his hamlet (36,868) COVID-19: Spain’s Andalucia plans to open shops 3- from May 11 and bars and restaurants from May 25 (30,727) in Spain are impounding Gibraltar-registered 4- Police cars, with some drivers invoiced up to €17,000 in COVID-19 clampdown (28,973) BREAKING: Spain set to allow individual outdoor 5- exercise and walks from May 2 in more loosening of coronavirus restrictions (27,976)

Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for a special quote

8

NEWS

April 30th - May 13th

Unmasked Major blunder sees hundreds of thousands of faulty masks sent to health workers AT LEAST 1,100 frontline health workers have been forced into self-isolation after Spain’s Ministry of Health distributed ‘faulty’ masks across the nation.

An estimated 350,000 units of the masks fell foul of medical testing, but not before at least 28 staff using them tested positive to COVID-19 at the Hospital de Ourense, in Galicia.

The masks have now been recalled from autonomous regions including Andalucia, Murcia, Madrid, the Comunitat Valenciana, Castilla-La

Mancha, Catalunya, Aragon, Galicia and Navarra.

Murcia has taken the most drastic measures by forcing more than 1,100 of its medical workers to self-isolate, while other regions have committed to test everyone who used the masks and move them away from intensive care units (UCIs).

Alarm bells were raised after up to 400,000 masks were sent to regional hospitals on April 7.

Analysis from Spain’s Institute of Work Safety and Hygiene – under the Ministry of Labour – revealed some of the Garry Galaxy-brand masks allowed in penetrative material at levels five times higher than EU regulations.

Official recall was due by April 18, last Friday.

Not effective

It is Spain’s second major blunder after 640,000 rapid coronavirus tests were also found to be faulty last month.

Manufacturer Garry Galaxy Biotechnology does sell the required FFP2 protective masks, but also sells ‘ordinary’ ones that are not effective against viruses.

It is not clear what exactly the Ministry of THE Spanish government has sets the Health intended to purchase. maximum price for surgical masks at 96 Fact-checking website Maldita.es pressed cents.

Maria Jesus Montero, Spain’s Minister of The Minister of Health recommends Finance, on when the contract with Garry their use for public transport and for Galaxy would be made public. work reasons or where the minimum The Minister said her government would recommended distance of two metres abide by the rules, but could not name a cannot be ensured. date when the press can scrutinise the govIt is not compulsory to wear one. ernment’s decision.

Masking the pain

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It’s coming NASA has announced that a huge asteroid will narrowly avoid hitting the Earth today (April 29), around 10.56 am, Spanish time.

Well, it will actually zip past at around five million kms away, the space agency’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies announced this week.

It was only last month that it revealed that it had spotted two asteroids, called 1998 OH and the 1998 ORD2, which have a trajectory ‘close to earth’.

Both are classified as ‘Potentially Dangerous Objects’ as they are large enough to cause dramatic global effects, if they hit the earth.

Hottest year on record IT will come as no surprise to anyone who lives in Spain.

2019 was the warmest year in Europe’s history and hotter than 2014, 2015 and 2018, showing the upward trend in recent years.

Since 2000, we have experienced 11 of the 12 warmest years on record.

Last year we had two heat waves, in June and July, which contributed to increased drought and low soil water levels. In Europe the average temperature has risen by 2 degrees since the 19th century.

LA CULTURA

Net gains NETFLIX has added 16 million new users during the coronavirus crisis.

The streaming platform had its biggest three month gain in its 13-year history, with shares also soaring by a staggering 31%.

The profits recorded during this period are €653 million, more than double that in the same period last year.

It is thought to be the media company least impacted by COVID-19, with the business model perfectly set for a population made suddenly housebound.

Glory for Gamel

Rotten tomatoes

Full works of expat poet Gamel Woolsey set to be released

By Charlie Smith

SHE is one of Spain’s most distinguished expats.

Buried in Malaga’s celebrated English Cemetery, she wrote widely about the country and was known around the world.

Now, the first complete works of her poetry are set to be released.

In perfect timing for the end of the lockdown the Complete Poetic Work of Gamel Woolsey will showcase the many poems she wrote about Andalucia,

Woody from the trees!

HE is one of the world’s most prolific - and controversial - directors.

Now Woody Allen’s latest movie about Spain is to get an Autumn release.

Set in the Basque region,

9

April 30th - May 13th

Rifkin’s Festival centres on a husband and wife’s individual love affairs at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The movie, starring Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel and

Gina Gershon, was made last year.

It comes as Allen recently denied again that he had molested his daughter Dylan Farrow, 34.

He wrote about it in his autobiography Apropos of Nothing, published in March.

In the Nick of time!

IT was set to be one of the most exciting tours of Spain this year.

But now a mini tour of the country and nearby Portugal by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds has been rescheduled for the same

Treasure hunt

Lawyers can salvage money sunken in off-plan house deposits lost after the financial crisis, write Sun Lawyers

I

t was a common scenario...

People would fall in love with an off-plan property (not built yet). Beautiful drawings. Maybe some good property scale models involved. A paid trip to Spain (including accommodation). A gorgeous area with more than 300 days a year of sunshine.

All this combined with a powerful dream: moving to Spain one day and living a much happier life here.

Then the inevitable happened...

Buyers were asked for an initial deposit. Why not pay it? After all, it’s the usual way to secure a home. Then it hit: the financial crisis.

Many property developers and building companies went bankrupt.

People’s deposits sank into the ocean, forgotten on the seabed. All that money paid in good faith disappeared… well, not completely.

Did you lose money on an off-plan deposit?

Please keep reading.

But there’s good news...

A Spanish Supreme Court ruling from 2015 obliges banks to repay the money that investors put down on off-plan properties that were sold.

In other words, if you paid a deposit for an offplan property and the developer went bankrupt, it’s the bank’s responsibility to pay it back to you.

However, despite the Supreme Court ruling, the majority of banks will not pay your deposit without court proceedings.

And here is where a reputable law firm, with

where she lived for many years.

American Woolsey, from South Carolina, lived with and married fellow expat Gerald Brenan, who is credited with writing some of the key 20th century books on Spain.

She and the Englishman lived in Churriana, near Malaga, in a home that is now a museum to Brenan’s life and works.

The news was announced on World Book Day by the Renaissance publishing house that is based out of the Gerald Brenan House. The collection of the writer’s poems have been translated by long-time expat Carlos Pranger, who is related to Brenan.

Woolsey also penned several acclaimed books, including Death’s Other Kingdom, which was reissued as Malaga Burning, and One Way of Love, which was initially rejected for being ‘too explicit’. She lived in Andalucia on and off for decades, before dying from cancer in 1968 in the home

the professional knowledge on this kind of procedure, should enter the scene.

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La Reina de los Ángeles, which was falling into dereliction before the Olive Press launched a campaign to save it in 2007.

In 2014 it finally reopened as a museum and has since hosted hundreds of conferences, gigs, film screenings and book clubs. The couple had first moved in in 1934 two years before the Spanish Civil War. They were forced to leave the country for over a decade to return in 1953 against a backdrop of Francoism and great poverty and strife. Over the years it became a cultural mecca for writers including Ernest Hemingway, Paul Bowles and Bertrand Russell. Brenan spent most of his life in Spain after first renting a house in the tiny village of Yegen in the Alpujarras region of Granada.

time next year.

The Australian/British legends - famous for the theme tune to smash UK drama Peaky Blinders - will be performing in Madrid and Barcelona in May 2021.

THE world’s biggest tomato festival, Tomatina, is the latest of Spain’s iconic festivals to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

First fell the Fallas of Valencia, then Sevilla’s sensational Semana Santa, then Pamplona’s San Fermin bull-running events.

Tomatina, which always falls on the last Wednesday of August, in Buñol, announced the suspension over ‘safety and responsibility’ concerns.

It is a blow to cancel the festival, which was in its 75th anniversary.

The Tomatina has only been suspended once, in 1957, for political reasons.

In 2015, it was estimated that almost 145,000kg of tomatoes were thrown.

All original tickets will remain valid, with additional tickets also on sale.

“When we finally do the shows they will be f***ing mind-blowing,” Cave promised.

10

April 30th - May 13th Check out our issues online at www.theolivepress.es

Hola and Hallelujah!

Mallorca Issue 78 The

Your expat

voice in Spain

April 17th - April 30th, 2020 Vol. 3 Issue 78 www.theolivepress.es

Photos by Jon Clarke and Mercat

de Santa Catalina

A SEMAN ed cell SANTA an C2020

EASTER SPIRIT: Server at the

Mercat de Santa Catalina (left)

LET US OUT! to the A SPANISH lawyer has complained European Parliament that the country’s coronavirus lockdown rules are illegal. are Jose Ortega believes the rules - which more draconian than other European and countries, such as Germany, the UK Italy - are an infringement of civil liberties. a letThe Valencia-based lawyer has sent ter to the Human Rights sub-committee movedemanding that the basic right of to the ment is added as a modification current state of alarm decree.

“The government has illegally introduced of a very dangerous and disturbing system could suspension of individual rights that be described as a de facto transitional

Lawyer appeals to EU over ‘illegal’ lockdown claims that infringe civil rights and make Spain a ‘de facto dictatorship’

and (above) street cleaners

taking no precautions in Andalucia

Getting you through

plenty Easter may be off, but there is still to look forward to in April, including...

Property tips from real estate expert Amanda Butler see p4

By Dilip Kuner

is dictatorship,” insisted Ortega, whonew best known for his work opposing coastal laws.

LoThe letter received by MEP Leopoldo fopez, who sits on the sub-committee, the cuses on the restrictions to travel and right to basic ‘outdoor activity’, where virus risks of catching or passing on the are low. right “It is an effective suspension of the to free movement,” insisted Ortega.

Get educated

Keys Isl nd to the

Lessons from history.

What Spanish flu can teach us about COVID-19 see p6

Continues on Page 2

Cooking up a storm in lockdown see p11

Gibraltar Issue 120 UK BASED

TRAVEL INSURANCE for Spanish residents

www.globelink.co.uk

see p14

Terenia Taras Telling it like it is

see p15

OLIVE PRESS GIBRALTAR

The FREE

How to stay fit as a fiddle from home

And our new columnist Terenia

96 626 5000 +44 (0) 1353 699082

The Rock’s ONLY free local paper

Vol. 5, Issue 120 www.theolivepress.es April 15th - April 28th, 2020

shutdown in Spain with only

cleaners like this out on the

SHINING LIGHT

By John Culatto

streets working, see report on

Photos by Jon Clarke

SEMANedA ell SANTA anc C2020

CLOSED: Easter was a total

page 10

Gibraltar’s

coronavirus restrictions that these measures should not last a minute longer THE success of Gibraltar’s set an example for Europe and Spain than necessary,” said Chief lockdown has been an exMinister Fabian Picardo. ample to the world with cas- recovered from COVID-19 virus in on the same date as three el- suspectedGibraltar, with one “That is why, in Cabinet, we es at an all-time low. casualty later be- are already seeking Despite predictions of a big derly people at the Hillside ing confirmed to have been on appropriate exit to work peak in the middle of this home came close to being negative stratefor coronavirus. gies to lift the restrictions month, there were only 36 declared recovered.

On going active cases on April 13, These figures were tak- down wasto press the lock- imposed as soon as possien from more than 1,500 ministers still active, with ble.” This week could prove with only one in hospital. suggesting that it a turning In contrast, 93 people had COVID-19 test results re- would continue until medi- continue point if figures ceived, with nearly 100 still cal advice suggested other- recovery to show signs of although there are to be processed. wise. fears relaxing restrictions The peak of active “Believe me when I tell you could see a second cases was reached I am committed wave of to ensuring the disease. on April 9 with 63 ongoing at the time, although there were also 60 recovered.

There have been no deaths so far from the TWO locals

Lockdown crackdown

who escaped the lockdown in Gibraltar to go on a drunken spree have been stopped in their tracks by the long arm of the law.

Ian McIntosh, 42, and Lizanne Golt, 37, were arrested for allegedly obstructing police while drunk on Lime Kiln steps.

The RGP were called by residents in the area who said the pair were making too much noise.

When they refused to budge they were told they were breaking COVID-19 social lockdown rules and taken to New Mole House in handcuffs.

Costa Blanca Issue 28 The

OLIVE PRESS

FREE

COSTA BLANCA

Vol. 2 Issue 28 www.theolivepress.es

Your expat

voice in Spain

April 16 - April 29, 2020

SEMANedA SANTA

CARRIED AWAY: Easter was

Lawyer appeals to EU over ‘illegal’ lockdown claims that infringe civil rights and make Spain a ‘de facto dictatorship’

a total whitewash particularly

A SPANISH lawyer has complained to the European ParBy Dilip Kuner liament that the country’s coronavirus lockdown rules fication to the current state of are illegal.

Jose Ortega believes the rules alarm decree.

- which are more draconian “The government has illegally than other European coun- introduced a very dangerous tries, such as Germany, the UK and disturbing system of susand Italy - are an infringement pension of individual rights that could be described as a of civil liberties.

The Valencia-based lawyer de facto transitional dictatorhas sent a letter to the Human ship,” insisted Ortega, who is Rights sub-committee de- best known for his work opmanding that the basic right of posing new coastal laws. movement is added as a modi- The letter received by MEP

with cleaners like this on our

Leopoldo Lopez, who sits on the sub-committee, focuses on the restrictions to travel and the right to basic ‘outdoor activity’, where risks of catching or passing on the virus are low.

“It is an effective suspension of the right to free movement,” insisted Ortega.

“It is a fundamental right of the individual contained in the European Convention on Human Rights and in other international human rights treaties

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Please Ped

Come on Pedro, we all need to get out and have a walk. The over-50s are in need of some type of daily exercise. Please, just an hour, we promise we will keep our distance, we are going stir-crazy. We are going to crack if we are indoors much longer. Just a stroll, that’s all we are asking for. Please.

Stephen Kim Raymond, Marbella

Stephen Proctor, Loja

Support your local I have endured a prolonged lockdown shopped at my local mini market - avoided supermarkets and some bright spark suggests opening up markets! There is no efficient hygiene, stall holders travelling from God-knows-where, and social distancing impossible. Open up small businesses to give them and their employees a chance to recuperate lost income.

Muppet show

What an absolute joke, what muppets for even suggesting that children could only go out to accompany adults to supermarkets etc.

Surely a simple walk around the block away from everyone is more beneficial and safer for everyone?

Tom Batley, Malaga

Eddie Stanton, Torrox

Herd immunity?

Double-edged sword

The only, only, reason I can see for this is to start getting kids exposed to the virus, and help build an immunity in the population.

There has been an argument all along that keeping children socialising or in school etc. would help build immunity, something we’re not able to do in this current, strict lockdown. When lockdown ends, with no immunity, there’s likely to be another wave. I am just reading between the lines here, trying to make sense of such a bizarre decision.

Cathy Chambers, Malaga

It’s all very well but for those of us who rely on the British market for 80% of trade (Andalucia to push for hotels and restaurants to open in summer to avoid ‘economic catastrophe’, Online, April 21).

It’s a double-edged sword as we have no idea how the UK situation will evolve.

It’s all very well to try and attract other markets but it takes time and money to develop that kind of trade.

Without enough subsidy it could be calamitous for small businesses.

Voted BEST

FREE

Vol. 1 Issue 1

www.theolivepress.es

(Free or paid for)

March 28th - April 10th 2019

HOUSE RULES

ANXIOUS expats breathed a sigh of relief this week after Parliament voted to wrestle back control of the Brexit process in yet another humiliation for Theresa May. The fresh blow for the British me Minister has put the future Priof a million expats in Europe firmly into the hands of MPs, who are expected to vote against a hard Brexit.

It comes after thousands of expats joined a million marchers at a mas-

Page 7

Page 14

Page 20

Page 26

PROTEST: Puns, pets and expats were all in attendance at the antiBrexit march in London at the weekend

Border battle as nuisance neighbour forced to cut down intrusive cypress trees

VENDORS

UK BASED

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for Spanish residents SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS

Continues on Page 4

EXCLUSIVE

By Joshua Parfitt

www.globelink.co.uk 96 626 5000 +44 (0) 1353 699082

Tel. (+34) 96 649 18 29 info@hispaniahomes.es www.hispaniahomes.co.uk

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Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea

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sive anti-Brexit protest in London at the weekend.

“It was great to be there making history I hope,” said Sue Wilson of Bremain in Spain.

“It is not the first time we have ted with our feet, but it was our voggest ever march contingent,” bishe added.

“It was a sign of commitment that so

GROWING PAINS AN expat is celebrating after his nuisance neighbour was told to trim a row of ‘intrusive’ trees, following an Olive Press probe.

American expat Gordon Capps, 59, is overjoyed after police confirmed they had ordered his Portuguese neighbour to cut the line of cypress trees to just 1.5 metres in height.

Capps had sought our help after the ‘disturbed’ 30-something neighbour planted a dozen trees alongside his garden fence, threatening to block his stunning views of the Sierra de Bernia y Ferrer.

The 59-year-old film worker said the move was the ‘last straw’ in a bizarre ongoing feud with the neighbour, who he claims recently approa- CONCERNED: Capps points at home of his ‘threatening’ ched him with a rifle on his and armed neighbour who worked as a prop master shoulder. everything about it, except Benissa last March with his “It feels like he’s putting up 12 for CSI Las Vegas, told the that one thing.”

French wife Catherine, a retimiddle fingers at us,” Gordon, Olive Press.

“We love this place, we love Capps, from Los Angeles, red yoga teacher. bought his stunning villa in But things quickly began to

Avda. Madrid, 24, 03724 Moraira - Alicante

and get the most success in your task

go awry with his neighbours, who he insists refused to be friendly ‘from the outset’.

Capps, who trained as a paramedic, claims the neighbour’s four dogs barked continually and their owner hid inside the house whenever approached.

Despite calling in the Guardia Civil to investigate and contacting the mayor of Benissa for help, he said the neighbour refused to negotiate a compromise.

A letter to the town hall, seen by the Olive Press, pleaded for help, insisting the man was deliberately threatening them and that he carried a gun.

Gun

As well as asking the town hall to check if he had a licence for the rifle, the September 2018 missive asked if local police could speak to him about his dogs.

Capps claimed he was ‘worried for his life’ and that the neighbour appeared to have ‘mental health issues’.

Another neighbour, Spaniard Jaime Serra Ortola, 43, has also denounced the neighbour for ‘death threats’ against him and his dog.

“I’ve denounced him countless times and the police have twice been round. It’s fair to say he is unhinged,” he told the Olive Press.

The feud began when Capps put up a low bamboo fence to create some privacy from the neighbour who spied on him while swimming, and then reacted furiously, screaming ‘this is war!’

Capps now fears the trees will not only block his view, but the roots could destroy his pool. The Olive Press was unable to speak to the neighbour, despite various visits.

Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@ theolivepress.es or message us on at www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

Brennan Street, Alhaurin el Grande

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Paul G, Alicante

Obviously as a BnB owner it would be disappointing if we were not allowed to reopen for another six to eight months.

However, people are dying and I have no trouble keeping my business closed if it helps save lives. It is also vital that the government keeps the ERTE payments in place until one’s business is allowed to reopen.

Readers call on the Government to let everyone out for exercise, not just kids

expat paper in Spain

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What drove this expat to cut off his member?

Celebrating the end of the Spanish Civil War

Costa Blanca home is voted best in Europe

Olive Press reviews Madrid’s hot new hotel

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Tel. (+34) 96 649 18 29 info@hispaniahomes.es www.hispaniahomes.co.uk

9

Photos by Jon Clarke

ell anc C2020

LET US OUT!

WELL done Olive Press and heroic lawyer Jose Ortega for daring to break the taboo and state the obvious: “Lockdown makes Spain a de facto dictatorship” (in your front page story and his letter to the European Parliament.) .

Ortega’s courageous action is all-too predictably being almost completely ignored by the world’s media.

LEAVERS: Trio is now not only an Orwellian poSpain course of Of Brits in Spain lice state/dictatorship - it’s also a notoriously and systemically corrupt dictatorship and arguably a locked-down lunatic asylum ruled largely by clowns and hypocrites, who - to prove it - have ruled that cigarettes are ‘life-essential’ and therefore exempted tobacconists from the lockdown.

Rose Moore sees the EU, essentially, as a political rd 325, pg 7). The Issue Absu dictatorship (Leave and proud, states, sovereign 28 are There . lungs and opposite your the is health, reality your destroy to want So if you become to chose ly voluntari yourself far which UK, making the thereby including system your immune the UK would pulmonary of serious Dunne mannerthat d. Steve le to allbelieves associate more vulnerab to not going g Covid-19 includin Not so.- I’m terms. illnesses on WTO scular better fairand cardiova s. and buy cigarette chapter or two to by quoting a mile go outpage yourtoletters are free you down weigh immune your the en into strength looks thatto Steve ndout want to go youI recomme But ifbut verse, cycling, by running, That Trump so much he knows. thatmore) systemof(and any industry specifics - you are alone airwith should a de fresh UKdeemed in the an EU-free walking deal a trade to get is trying Utterly ker.to law-brea Trump’s trade deals know:absurd. you want you all tellfacto now be will for parents how many AndUS-first speaks Brent Mahler Finally,smoking labels.more have surroundciggies enic carcinog their on away puffing force armed EU an of wary citizens UK of a number p apartsealed-u in their kids edanbyever are ideas , these Howeverown union.locked-d closer and ments? am I policy. not EUthe people andnce by specific floated silence media is disof complia 40-plus and insidious The years of prothethe Orwellia at is worried more the ean obedience of h, - as graceful by the Mail, EEC/EUpopulac against gthe paganda e. Telegrap Spanish gerly snitchin did What Sun. The course, and,isofback Times Express, in power. His spirit never Franco General so an- own he wasclamp-d was asked he militaris say -when Murdoch fascistic tic,why as the really left into as a go I “When of: lines the along g that say I Somethin (And ti-EU? proved. against the Catalans The to the EU.” when I go . do what Itsay: dence..)

10 they opponen No.civilised of Indepen he had to ask for an appointment! is thatively, implicati subvers Yours on

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All solutions are on page 14

Easy for Easter

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

EASYJET has launched its Easter flight dates for next year, a full five months ahead of schedule.

Flights to Spain are on offer for as little as €35 each way for next April.

Alicante and Malaga are among the destinations offered as part of the low cost airline’s Easter deals in 2021.

Easyjet has put on 39,000 flights between March 28 and April 18.

Robert Carey, a spokesperson said: “We know many people’s Easter holiday plans have been disrupted this year.

“So we’ve taken the decision to put our Easter flights for 2021 on sale early so our customers can either book a new break or, if they are rearranging their travel plans.”

CORONA SHOCKER: Expat bar forced to throw out over 2,000 pints of beer

A BRITISH pub has had to throw out €6,300 worth of beer due to the state of emergency.

The Victoria and Albert, in Estepona, has been forced to

11

April 30th - May 13th

Bottoms Up EXCLUSIVE

By Dimitris Kouimtsidis

tip away 2,100 pints of prime quality beer.

The pub, owned by husband and wife, Matt and Natalie Earnshaw, originally from

Newcastle, made the drastic decision as the beer was set to go off.

Faced with either drinking 2,000 pints between them, or emptying out the vats, they took the sensible - if more depressing - option.

Earlybird rewards A PAIR of enterprising restaurateurs have devised a clever way to help their community - and keep their vital cashflow coming in.

Brothers Miguel and Juan Herandez are offering prepaid vouchers of €50 and €100 to faithful customers to use once they reopen. The earlybird vouchers for their restaurant Sarmiento, in Casares, will guarantee not just a 10%

bonus on any meals, but the brothers will put an additional 10% towards their local community food bank.

“It will go to the town’s most disadvantaged families,” explains Miguel, 39.

“But is also means we will have some cash flow in order to pay our bills. We got the idea from another restaurant, but decided to add a twist with our vouchers.”

“We are going to make a massive loss because of coronavirus,” Natalie, 41, told the Olive Press this week.

“We only moved from Dubai to the Costa del Sol two years ago to launch the business so it is a real shame,” she added.

The couple were faced with the horrible situation as they had decided to get two big tanks as opposed to many more smaller barrels for their bar.

Most pubs get the beer by the barrel, which holds 90 pints each.

The bigger tanks, which hold 1,200 litres each, are a greener option and allow for ‘better flavour’ and less gassy beer.

But unfortunately the brew goes off after 45 days.

Bad night’s sleep OVERNIGHT stays in Spain dropped by 61% in March.

The number of nights spent in hotels and other accommodation fell by 8.3 million, on last year’s figures.

It also means that the quarterly drop for the first three months of the year is at 21.6%.

Border extension SPAIN has extended temporary travel restrictions for non EU citizens.

The extension will last at least until May 15 and only diplomatic staff and their families, long-term residents, cross-border workers, healthcare professionals and flight personnel are exempt However, this measure still does not apply on the land border with Gibraltar or with Andorra.

We’RE Getting ready for business Restaurateurs and hoteliers are getting creative for COVID free dining, writes Joshua Parfitt

I

T could be just like having your own private dining room.

A perspex partition surrounding your table for two - bringing total privacy - while a waiter in a N-95 mask serves you with aplomb in white plastic gloves.

It is a small price to pay for the millions of diners, who head out to Spain’s restaurants, cafes and bars each week.

Restaurateurs around Spain are looking at ingenious ways to ensure that diners will be able to eat safely when they are finally allowed to open this season.

It comes as the government has taken tentative steps towards normality with the lockdown being relaxed this week and regional authorities, such as the Junta de Andalucia, looking to allow restaurants to open before the end of May. Despite Spain’s Employment Minister Yolanda Diaz, hinting a fortnight ago that the hospitality and tourism sectors might not open until the end of 2020, many regional authorities are insisting they will ensure this is not the case.

After all, it would be a massive blow for the country’s estimated 300,000 establishments, which are currently locked tight, leaving 1.7 million out of work.

The knock on effect for the economy is huge, with the restaurant sector generating €124 billion a year… or approximately 6.2% of the Spanish economy.

Here are a few ideas and proposals:

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

A Madrid restaurant El Viejo Cafe has already put up custom-built screens (right) designed to protect customers.

“We are trying out several ideas, but obviously they are mere proposals at present as the Ministry of Health will have to approve them,” owner Enrique Abanades, 59, revealed.

He believes while costly, the construction could be easily sponsored by large breweries, with their logos on, as they have with branded parasols, serviettes and beer mats.

“We are going through difficult times and the future is not bright, but what we are trying to do is get ahead,” added Abanades, who is also the president of the Leganes hospitality association.

CERTIFICATE OF SAFETY Jose Luis Yzuel, president of the Hosteleria de Espana association, has other ideas.

His association, which represents 270,000 businesses, has plans for a ‘certificate’ to reassure customers of an establishment’s safety and to ensure tables are kept over two metres apart.

Requirements could include ‘thermal cameras’ to screen customers and prevent access to anyone suspected of having a fever, as well as distribution of disinfecting gels, deep-cleaning and mandatory testing of staff. Yzuel added the use of ozone in air conditioning – to kill any airborne viruses – could also be part of the plans.

HOTELS: QUARANTINE IN PARADISE “We want to be the safest hotel in all of Spain,” said Javier Perez Jimenez, the managing director of the VP chain, which includes five-star hotel Plaza Espana Design.

He plans to carry out rapid coronavirus tests on every single customer, which may take place in a makeshift clinic ‘on the ground floor’ or in ‘an ambulance outside’.

If a guest is healthy, they will proceed to reception and receive a welcome pack with personal protection equipment: gloves, face

mask and hand sanitiser gel.

All remote controls will be covered in plastic, and every corner of the room will have dispensers with disinfectant.

Breakfast meanwhile, will be brought in a picnic basket with fruit and yogurt.

Waiters will have to use steam cleaners in between meals.

“We are going to use dispensers as though it were the end of the world. But it will not be the end,” he promised.

12

April 30th - May 13th

Dear Jennifer: Why would I choose Jennifer Cunningham Insurances?

W

hat very interesting, frightening and often sad days we are all experiencing.

In the past we have all been far too busy, and many things were often pushed to one side.

One of these, I would imagine, would be the checking of your insurance documents, of which there are many, and they are all very important, especially if you do not speak fluent Spanish.

Therefore, can I suggest that you put aside some time to check your documents very thoroughly.

Ask yourself a question: ‘Do I really know what I am insured for?’

Accepting the verbal word is a waste of time, as you will discover. Also your policy could be a standard Spanish policy, one that the Spanish community are used to.

An expat policy is so very different, especially with the company I work with, Liberty Seguros, which has a special division dedicated entirely to the expats, and more in line with what you are used to.

Can I suggest that you pick up the telephone or go online and request a quotation from my company?

I suspect you could be very pleased, not only with the policy but the cost.

These insurance policies are also backed up by my company, with a special Renewals department, who contact you every year to check any changes to your policy.

Also, there is a Claims Administrator, who speaks perfect English and will help you with your claim process, which I know from my own experience can be quite daunting.

There is a particular bonus on a car insurance policy, of specially chosen garages, where you are treated as a VIP. All of this I know is unique, so why stay with a company who does not offer the best that you can buy?

My staff and I always go the extra mile and look forward to hearing from you.

If you would like more information, or a quotation, please contact one of my offices, visit the website www.jennifercunningham. net or email info@jennifercunningham.net.

&

BUSINESS

NO BOUNCE BACK Economy set to shrink by up to 14% this year as unemployment set to rise by 20% THE Bank of Spain has estimated that the economy will shrink by up to 14% this year.

The bank claims the economy has shrunk by 4.7% already up to the end of March.

The best case scenario would be a drop of 6.6%, while the worst case scenario could see figures as high as 14%.

That means that there won’t be the perfect rebound – called ‘recovery’ in a V shape – as many pundits had predicted.

Despite initial predictions the economy would recover to the state it was before the pandemic, it is now thought that

the crisis will leave considerable debt and unemployment levels will soar.

It is believed that unemployment levels will rise between 18% and 22%, without including the workers that have been put on ERTE schemes.

The bank led by Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos, recognises that there is great uncertainty and admits that circumstances may cause the numbers to change.

Some 80% of companies around Spain have seen a reduction in business, while only 10% have seen an increase.

Gem of an idea IT is as heart-warming as it is clever Jewellery firm TOUS is giving all women who have given birth during the COVID crisis a free gift from its new specially designed range.

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL Spice up your life These essential Spanish seasonings will quash your hunger for your favourite British condiments during lockdown

13

April 30th - May 13th Pimentón

(Paprika) it might not be worth it’s weight in gold, but is a rockstar found in Spanish food all the same. It’s what makes chorizo red and what gives the famed Galician octopus dish its characteristic smokey tinge.

Report by

Cristina Hodgson Azafrán

(Saffron) is the world’s most expensive spice and one of the most characteristic in the Spanish cuisine. Nicknamed ‘oro rojo,’ red gold. Cultivating saffron is an extremely labour-intensive crop.

The weight of the spice is worth more than gold. Think of that next time you eat a paella and I can guarantee you will not want to put any Worcester Sauce near it.

M

ISSING your English Mustard, Branston Pickle and a dollop of HP Sauce on

credibly diverse.

With countless peculiarities in the Spanish menu, surprise yourself by finding your plate? your new favourite Personally, I love a bit of sauce or realise that, brown sauce (even though in fact, you have no I’m a vegetarian). But be need for ghastly– or warned, you will not find this fancy, depending on much renowned British con- your the level of amor diment anywhere in inland patriae– sauces.

Spain.

Condiments in any Don’t even ask for it, no cuisine gives a one will know what on earth unique personality to you’re talking about. each dish.

But the local shopkeepers, In Mediterranean terin their willingness to help, rain it couldn’t be any will go through all the items other way: Saffron, Cayenne in the shop to see if they do Paprika, Pe p p e r indeed stock and Garlic this magical to name condiment, Spain has but a few. and you will 206 Michelin By using NOT be able the freshto leave until restaurants, est posthey’ve finincluding 11 sible produce, ished. fish, meats and On the coast, three-stars cheeses, basic insome sugredients are left permarkets to shine in Spanstock HP Sauce, but at exorbitant ish cuisine, needing only a pinch of salt or just one or prices.

You’ve come to a foreign two spices for seasoning. country, why on earth stick Making the English Musto fish and chips, mash and tard sometimes referred to green peas – or the stuff as ‘the most patriotic of all British sauces’ seem insigyou put on them?

The Spanish cuisine is in- nificant and insepid in com-

parison.

The simplest of compounds, salt, is however the most paramount to Spanish cuisine.

Where would Spain’s gastronomy and tapas be without their hugely popular cured meats, such as Jamon?

A Spanish chef would rather have his or her child nicknamed ‘feo’ than hear the word ‘sosa’ meaning bland, regarding his culinary arts.

And you would be hard-pressed to find a Spanish recipe that does not have salt in it, but mixed with other natural ingredients such as vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, fish, eggs, poultry, pulses and meat, the nosh will always be healthy.

But the true joy comes to those hardcore garlic fans, you will find garlic in every other dish prepared in Spain.

Why bother with

Pimienta de Cayena

(Cayenne Pepper), the smaller the spicier, these sun-dried peppers are incorporated in many local dishes, including the popular ‘pil-pil prawns’ served in a mouthwatering oil, garlic and cayenne pepper sauce. Some die-hard fans of cayenne pepper refer to it as not only a condiment, but a ‘philosophy of life.’

horseradish sauce, when you can have a totally natural flavouring which brings out the flavour with a bang to the blandest of foods.

Garlic in Spain is enjoyed in many forms: fried and crunchy with oil, lemon and salt as a salad dressing; spread on bread with some olive oil and is an essential ingredient in many cold summer soups like gazpacho, salamorejo, ajoblanco or alioli. Not that

the latter is a soup, rather a thick garlic sauce. Best NOT to slurp it up, especially if you’re out on the pull.

For those exceptionally brave, or with a fixation on vampires, there is also raw, pickled or smoked garlic.

Spices aside, I best warn of a peculiar beverage that might throw an unsuspecting tourist and even now after over a decade of living in Spain I’m not sure if I like it or not.

Chufa horchata, a plant milk beverage, originating as far back as the 13th-century Valencia, made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tiger nuts usually served with ice.

If rice pudding does it for you, be ready to be seduced by this milk beverage that is sweet and creamy, with a smooth texture.

Thankfully Churros make up for the oddity of the foremost ‘desert.’ and you don’t even need to feel bad about consuming so many calories at one go. As they say, ‘A churro is only a breadstick that dared to dream...’

However Spanish chefs must be doing something right, Spain has 206 Michelin restaurants, including 11 three-star restaurants.

There is a Michelin restaurant in nearly every region and major city of Spain.

Health & Beauty

April 30th - May 13th

Look better HEALTHin the buff: Get your Med for giving up everything without your head Death sentence SPAIN’S Mediterranen diet can help keep your brain in gear, as well as your waistline in the clear, scientists have found.

Frequently lauded by health gurus for its mixture of seafood, vegetables, nuts and olive oil, the Med way of eating can help fight dementia.

A study in the Alzheimer’s and Dementia journal found that people who eat more fish have slower rates of decline in their cognitive functions.

Benefit

Those with a higher genetic risk of Alzheimer’s, who are carriers of the APOE gene, were found to benefit from this diet, researchers found.

The study, authored by Dr Emily Chew from the National Eye Institute in Maryland, US, comprised two trials of almost 8,000 elderly volunteers.

Participants were sufferers of AMD, an ‘age-related eye condition’, and were tested for their consumption of grains, fish, olive oil and fruit and veg.

Looking sexy, svelte or built by BPT but additio in your clothing is one thing. may be requ Spain’sLooking high better coronavirus owes to its sculpting resu runners toll and yoga enthusiasts in the buff is a death topping the list. whole other ballgame. Clothing “TruSculp huge obesity problem, warns doctor According to board- exciting new - even low-cut necklines, shortA SPANISH scientist has why some Meditteranean na- the two Asian countries put certifithan ed plastic surgeon shorts could or tight-fi can worse non-surgical warned that obesity be tting tions tees have -fared together.

Walter L. “There Bernacki, MD articles your high flaws and accentuate The lower ab behind Spain hide and Italy’s China or South Korea. are several coronavirus mortality rates. but He saidyou thereare was of ‘some ev- Plastic that already clearly Ohio Surgery in show your assets, when handles can b Francisco Tinahones, pres- idence’ to support this ex- that subjects with obesity Central Ohio, “The newest there’s - orofway 15-mi ident of the nude, Spanish Soci-nowhere planation why COVID-19 are more at risk of dyingsingle and body intensive contouring ety for the Study of Obesity claimed the lives ofnon-surgical 23,521 in needing care, treatment even - to hide anything. ses (SEEDO), said this couldwant be Spain yet better less thansystem 5,000 inis more so intruSculpt those whohave are been ver Cutera’s If you to look morbidly obese” he said. radiofrequency naked, you are not alone. Far iD that uses body sculptin Morbidly obese coronavirus patients – those a to target and with from it. More and more people (RF) technology achieve with BMI of over 40 – are twice permanently destroy fat in your are into healthy living and system,” say as likely to experience comTHE Oxford Vaccine Group has started human trials on its trouble (think muffi tops gettingbut fitEurope these days. good Jeffarey S. Do and nbe put on coronavirus vaccine, is stillThe lagging behind over- spotsplications ventilator as just those15whoofare Skincare all.

- in news is that there is finally and love handles) are a ‘healthy weight’ – those The main research areas are the US (46% of ongoing projcomfortable minutes with no 19-25. something you can do about Chestnut Hill whose BMI is between ects), Asia (38%), while Australia and Europe are each confound that obeseBy and l The have risk of morbidly that doesn’t ducting 18% ofitcurrent studies. involve giving downtime. We needing In terms of cash of vaccine are privately the treatmentpatients works on all skinartificial up flow, carbs72%and sweets,efforts doing assitance breathing is 86%, funded, while universities are bankrolling 28% of studies. types, and excessive crunches or ongoing having trials it is physiques, 60% for obese peoOxford’s for sizeswhile ple (those with awho BMI of 30 its hAdOx1 coronaindividuals invasive cosmetic surgery.nCoV-19 including or more) and 47% for people virus vaccine are not set to were previously not considered Fully one-third of who are a ‘healthy weight’. finish until September. for body contouring Americans optIt for minimally Tianhones stressed that is being producedcandidates by the obese people are likely to exSerum Institute of India, the procedures.” invasive fat reduction or body perience increased inflamaworld’s largest vaccine promore, truSculpt sculpting treatments to look tion and have a ‘decreased ducer, which producesWhat’s 1.5 iD disproduces averagewhich fat make lungancapacity’, better in the buff , according billion doses forto various more susceptible to eases every year. reduction ofthem 24 percent, and a new survey of 500 men and COVID-19.

Around 1,100 people are visible women from Cutera, Inc.part And Around 25%are of seen the Spanish set to take in this trial, improvements population is overweight or which isregularly partly funded inby6the to 12 weeks following the those who exercise obese, with 131,000 deaths British Multiple areas are most likely toGovernment. have a first treatment. attributed to the diseases evin one session, body-sculpting treatment, with can be treated ery year.

The race is on

Magic helpers

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is an innovative means to heal the whole body and combat aging, write Clinica Britannia HORMONES control most of the basic bodily functions.

They serve as an internal communication system within the body, coordinating everything from digestion, appetite, immune function, moods to libido.

So, when your hormones become unbalanced, it can affect the well-being of the whole body.

All hormones are what we call ‘natural’, but BHRT hormones are identical in their molecular shape, make-up, and structure to hormones made in the human body BHRT hormones (from ‘bioidentical hormone replacement therapy’) are produced from plant oestrogens, and can be used as ‘keys’ to unlock the body’s receptor sites.

BHRT is often used as people age and their hormone levels drop – particularly for women who are in a perimenopause or menopause stage of their life.

The therapy boosts the levels of the hormones helps to regulate menopause

symptoms. It can also be prescribed to men and women to improve their daily lifestyles.

Benefits In addition to aiding with the above symptoms, BHRT may also reduce the risk of diabetes, tooth loss and cataracts.

There are various ways that BHRT can be administered – ranging from pills, patches, creams and injections, depending on the advice of your specialist.

Bioavailability allows us to monitor how much of what is taken gets absorbed in the bloodstream and how much toxicity it causes (mainly in the liver).

BHRT makes a big difference, for example with the transdermal administration, improving the former and to avoid the latter.

The therapy is not suitable for everyone, so contact your health provider for a personalised consultation to avoid side effects.

Come and visit us. We will inform you.

CLINICA BRITANNIA, 16 BIS (next to 16) FIRST (not Ground) Floor, Ejercitos

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Sunset, 6 Oslo, 8 Saved, 9 Paella, 10 Debt, 11 Rural, 12 Aden, 13 Yelp, 14 Crimea, 16 Due, 17 Asp, 19 Balsam, 20 Lull, 23 Ante, 24 Amiss, 26 Eton, 27 Pigged, 28 Kenya, 29 Levy, 30 Remind Down: 2 Unaided, 3 Silence, 4 Tsar, 5 Overseas, 6 Oddly, 7 Libel, 15 Italians, 17 Amalgam, 18 Pattern, 21 Untie, 22 Lanky, 25 Spar

SUDOKU

14

4 9 1 5 7 3 6 2 8

2 7 3 4 6 8 5 9 1

5 6 8 9 2 1 3 7 4

3 4 7 8 5 9 1 6 2

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HEALTH

www.weekender.news

Bridge the gap

buff: Get your sexy back p everything you love

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better e. Far people g and e good finally about giving doing having y. of imally body look ing to en and c. And gularly ave a , with

15

April 30th - May 13th

Dr Karan Sud British dentist Calpe

You may think that loose teeth can only be solved by dentures, but Karan Sud Dental’s fibrebond technology can save you the time, effort, pain and cost DREADED is the dentist – and dreaded still are dental implants.

movable denture, and it works really well,” Dr Karan Sud said.

The popular procedure to turn grin into treatments beaming smile fixed bridge looks the buttoothless additional loving“Thetheir truSculpt iD same, but feels amazing because you

by BPT is costly, lengthy and requires intensive surgeryfor to screw a tooth your palate covered anymore. may be required optimal results.won’t In have a separate study youryoga gums.

“There are who no hidden surprises, and you’re no worse off than runnersinto and enthusiasts sculpting results. of individuals had the not for the squeamish. Dental implants can when you should toppingIt’sthe list.

“TruSculpt iD also is create a verya risk procedure, 100started percent saidany complications arise.” chipped my front tooth on Saturday, phoned of infection to and pain, especially when pressing on unintended K Sudsatisfi Dental a British According boardexciting new development in they were ed, is would get dental clinic based in Clinica Bri- “I Monday, and got a cancellation appointment for tannia in Calpe.

We offer general and cosmetic dentistry nerves. certified plastic surgeon non-surgical bodycost-effective contouring. proit done againwith andfacial wouldrejuvenation refer along treatments. All work is car- Wednesday afternoon. I thought my 30 minute Which is why K Sud Dental are offering a new, was for Karan just to look, but he repaired Waltercedure L. to Bernacki, MD teeth The lower and a friend forout truSculpt iD.qualified And replace missing in justabdomen one visit to thelove dentist. ried

by British clinicians in a cross infection slot there and then. Perfect. This is the best, most orof Ohio Plastic Surgery in handles can be treated in just a everyone felt better in or out The fixed bridge can also replace dentures at an afford- quality controlled medical centre. ganised dentist I’ve ever been to. Great people, Central Ohio, able “Theprice. newest single 15-minute of - their clothes.

The procedure is also lowcomfortable risk, reversible Visit: www.ksuddental.com these are now my forever dentists.” non-surgical body treatment Our patients if you’re thinking about andcontouring doesn’t involve putting asession. screw in, well, anywhere. So,Email: ksud Mark Kirby system is Cutera’s truSculpt have been very pleased with the relooking into new83kind “We’ve been able to convert someone’s existing Call: +34a 965 75 53of iD that uses radiofrequency body sculpting results they can personalized body sculpting For more visit www.ksuddental.com (RF) technology to target and achieve with this innovative without resorting to information drastic (+34) 965 553 - 24h measures, emergency: 602 iD 612 688, Clinica Britannia, Avda Ejercitos Españoles 16, first floor, Calpe permanently destroy fat in yourTel:system,” says 837 Dermatologist find (+34) a truSculpt trouble spots (think muffin tops Jeffrey S. Dover, MD, FRCPC provider near you by searching and love handles) - in just 15 of Skincare Physicians in https://trusculpt.com/find-acomfortable minutes with no Chestnut Hill, MA. provider. downtime. We have found that By and large, people are the treatment works on all skin types, sizes and physiques, CANCER patients and pregnant women can to visit an applicant’s home for the swab including individuals who receive free coronavirus tests in Alicante’s test. were previously not considered Marina Alta.

“We’ve received 100 tests which are for candidates fortests bodytake contouring The rapid just 10 minutes for a the most vulnerable,” Maria told the Olive result and determine whether a person car- Press. procedures.” ries antibodies COVID-19.

“You don’t need to leave your house and What’s more,against truSculpt are 80% iDThey produces an accurate, average and fat can differenti- you get the results in 10 minutes.” ate an infected person from an asymptom- So far her team have travelled from as far as reduction of 24person, percent,as and atic infected well as people who Calpe to Ondara. visible arethe seenvirus and devel- They are asking for donations from comhave improvements already beaten inoped 6 to 12 weeks following the immunity. panies to get more tests, which cost just 10 A new batch Multiple of rapidareas tests have recently euros each. first treatment. been donated anyone interested can can be treated in and one session,

Free testing for cancer patients and pregnant women

call Maria Ferrer who will organise a nurse

Call her on 663 302 643.

The

OLIVE PRESS 100 not out Reuse Reduce Recycle

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COSTA BLANCA

Your

Goat on a hot tin roof

expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 2 Issue 29 www.theolivepress.es April 30th - May 13th, 2020

RECLUSIVE mountain goats have been photographed roaming empty streets and scaling

C VE PI SI U CL EX

Big cojones

Cops, neighbours and Olive Press surprise Costa Blanca expat on her 100th birthday in confinement

CORONAVIRUS may have stopped Peggy Bloomfield from celebrating her 100th birthday in style, but it didn’t stop neighbours and friends from surprising her with sirens and a ‘Feliz Cumpleaños’ sing along outside her Spanish villa.

Last dance

A MAN is under investigation for a serious disobedience after he was filmed dancing ‘Sevillanas’ dressed as a woman in sunglasses in Alicante.

He faces a fine of up to €30,000 for wearing a ‘wig’, a ‘mask’ and ‘women’s clothes’ in an attempt to hide his identity on a Santa Pola street.

But it took agents until just the next day to find out his real identity and charge him.

Daughter Val told the Olive Press a big celebration had been booked at the beachfront bar-garden Saxos, in Moraira, to mark the big day.

Her family from the UK were to be there among the 150 guests... until COVID-19 cut the lights!

“Everyone was coming over, but now we had to settle with the grandkids on Zoom,” said Val, who moved to Spain with husband, Roger, and mum Peggy from Cambridge in 2005.

“Peggy has so many friends,” added neighbour Shirley Young, who met her 14 years ago in one of Peggy’s many coffee clubs and social circles.

“I wish I could give her a hug!”

houses in one inland Sevilla town.

The Iberian Ibex were seen on the roof of this house in Moron de la Frontera.

While not an endangered species, the creatures are quite rare and become more active during spring as plants and food return to the mountainsides.

EXCLUSIVE

By Joshua Parfitt

Though not the blast Peggy had planned, her daughter Val passed the champers around thanking Teulada-Moraira PP leader Raul Llobell for the gift inside a surprise birthday basket. (Glasses passed around with sanitary precautions.)

Personalised balloons and decorations from the expat-run Letters R Us were also hanging outside, as were the Olive Press and camera crew. Sarah Richardson, a British member of Teulada-Mo-

raira PP, was also given thanks for organising the attendance of Civil Protection. The small crowd on site sang a second chorus of Happy Birthday, in English, before ironic shouts of ‘See you down the pub later!’ brought a sparkle of laughter on Peggy’s big day.

It was the least – and most – we could all do.

“It’s so very nice of you all, thank you, I really appreciate it. I really do,” Peggy said before neighbours went back to their respective lockdowns.

A DRIVER will be more careful with his words after leaving his parked car in a bus lane and tempting an angry bus driver to ‘hit it if you have the balls’.

He did have ‘cojones’, as they say in Spanish, and proceeded to ram into the back of the stationary white SUV in Valencia.

So big were they that he shunted the car 30 yards down the road before the pair continued to argue.

When police arrived the driver of the damaged car claimed he was hit by the 72 bus turning into Calle San Vicente, and had stopped to complete an insurance form.

EMT has opened an investigation into the bus driver’s ‘violent behaviour’.