The
OLIVE PRESS
COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA FREE
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 1 Issue 13 www.theolivepress.es April 30th - May 13th, 2020
This is not Armageddon!
Photos by Mike Riley
E IV US CL IC EX P
Bitter sweet
SLOW RETURN: A masked woman walks into the Barcelona Metro with flowers this week
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
See a mother’s moving interview on pages 6-7
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 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
By Joshua Parfitt, Laurence Dollimore and Jon Clarke
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, although 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 reopen, 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 implemented firstly by the Continues 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 30 - May 13 2020
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 costa
April 30 - May 13 2020
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
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, got 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. Born in October 1913 she is the oldest survivor of the pandemic in Spain and only just behind 107-year-old 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
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 great-grandchildren - revealed that she had been discovered ‘collapsed’ under an oak tree, while out fetching milk.“She was found many hours later by her mother with a very high fever,” said
her daughter in law Paqui Sanchez. Incredibly, she survived that horrific plague that killed millions around the world and has since stayed healthy.
4
NEWS
www.theolivepress.es
April 30 - May 13 2020
‘Lifebuoy filled with concrete’ Tourist bodies slam Spain’s de-escalation measures as ‘potentially catastrophic’
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 Opinion Page 6
NEW measures to get Spain back to a ‘new normal’ have been met with criticism from two leading tourist bodies. They believe the government is not doing enough to help businesses and that the new capacity measures for restaurants could be ‘catastrophic’. Both the Alicante Restaurant Association (ARA) and HOSBEC, representing Costa Blanca hotels, slammed the four point plan to get Spain back to
By Simon Wade
a ‘new normal’ by June. They see the announcement as lacking in thought, with so many unknowns yet to be resolved in an essential industry that employs hundreds of thousands in the Valencia and Murcia regions. “The de-escalation is very concerning due to the lack of measures that help the sector, with
Mayor forced to deny fake news AN English newspaper got slammed when it wrongly told locals that the beaches in Benidorm would be open last weekend. The fake online claims even forced local mayor Toni Perez to reiterate that all beaches remained CLOSED for health measures. The story - known as ‘click bait’ - told British expats in the area that they could go to the beach last weekend. The mayor has asked for ‘responsibility’ over the continuing COVID-19 measures and its slow departure from lockdown.
CARPET HEAVEN
Fitted & Edged Carpet from the UK Traditional & Modern Rugs Soft Step Cushion Flooring Burmatex Carpet Tiles
tel: 966 720 782
Avenida Del Mar 33B, 03187, Los Montesinos carpetheaven@hotmail.es
www.carpetheaven.es IF YOU LIKE COLOUR YOU WILL LOVE CARPET HEAVEN
normal activity seriously affected,” claimed a spokesman for ARA. In particular a reduction in the capacity of indoor and outdoor areas, of up to 70%, would be untenable and potentially ‘catastrophic’. The body also slams a lack of new rules on sanitary and hygiene measures. HOSBEC meanwhile highlighted the fact that de-escalation plans didn’t mention international tourists. “Without international air operations, there will be no tourism or normality,” insisted president Toni Mayor. He also said all businesses should be made exempt of Social Security, regardless of size. “If the Government does not contemplate this, the consequences will not be long in coming. “We can see how easy it is to drown, so we don’t need to be thrown a lifebuoy filled with concrete.”
NEWS
www.theolivepress.es
April 30 - May 13 2020
Adios to a guiri great
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 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).
AT LAST: Families in Barcelona (above and left) get some exercise, while (right) a mum in Cordoba is singing in the rain
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 See The Irresistible Billionaire Page 7
Photos by Mike Riley
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
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.
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
140828_o
C
M
6
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
Office manager Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es
Distribution ENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 distribution@ theolivepress.es
Newsdesk: 0034 951 273 575 For all sales and advertising enquiries please contact 951 27 35 75 Head office
Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva Deposito Legal MA: 835-2017
AWARDS
2016 - 2020 Best expat paper in Spain and the second best in the world. The Expat Survey Consumer Awards.
2012 - 2020
Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.
‘
Y
CM
MY
CY
April 30 - May 13 2020
CMY
K
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
S THE BEST MOBILE ON THE WWW.MASM
Ebol outb fear
MALAGA is tial Ebola Nigerian ma symptoms o The Carlos (above) lau protocols o hospital s they were ‘c pared’ for a The man is tective isol are receive contracted trip home t "If it turns Ebola, then a hospital w that the ho deal with s The man quera - arr ver, and w into isolat Aside from not show sable sym sea, vomit At least t victims in out to be f last fortni
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
olive_press.pdf
1
28/08/14
15:02
on its National Day. See our The Olive Press congratulates Gibraltar
8
page PREPAID TSee E PLANS MARKET! MOVIL.ES/EN
la break r
pullout on Page 19
olive press
the
FREE
guage The original and only English-lan investigative newspaper in Andalucía
September 4 - September 17 2014
Let HiFX help you reach your destination. www.hifx.co.uk
Migrant SOS www.theolivepress.es
epress.es Vol. 8 Issue 195 www.theoliv
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.”
8 to find out more Turn to page 2 694 473 055 spainbuyingguide.com
UK TV Solutions Installations Troubleshooting •
663 303 932 / 675 033 474 info@alpusat.com www.alpusat.com
Fully accreditted BSKYB technician based in Las Alpujarras Find us on facebook.com/alpusat.alpujarra
April 30th - May 13th 2020
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 30 - May 13 2020
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
www.theolivepress.es
Reporters Simon Wade and Joshua Parfitt
Your reporters, on the Costa Blanca Contact them with any stories or news on 951 273 575 or email newsdesk@theolivepress.es (Personal contacts on page 6) The
OLIVE PRESS COSTA BLANCA SOUTH
Your
expat
voice in Spain
April 30 - May 13 2020
‘Don’t forget the coriander!’ By Charlie Smith
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
Bored UK housewives are driving demand for Spain’s fresh herbs, reveals one happy expat supplier 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 incredibly busy,” he added. “We have seen no real drop thanks to the foreign de-
Unmasked
Major blunder sees hundreds of thousands of faulty masks sent to health workers For all your local advertising needs please contact our Sales Manager Charles Bamber 0034 661 452 180 charles@theolivepress.es
AT LEAST 1,100 frontline health workers have been forced into self-isolation after Spain’s Ministry of Health distributed ‘faulty’
By Joshua Parfitt
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 med-
ical 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
Masking the pain THE Spanish government has sets the maximum price for surgical masks at 96 cents. The Minister of Health recommends their use for public transport and for work reasons or where the minimum recommended distance of two metres cannot be ensured. It is not compulsory to wear one.
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 Health intended to purchase. Fact-checking website Maldita.es pressed Maria Jesus Montero, Spain’s Minister of Finance, on when the contract with Garry Galaxy would be made public. The Minister said her government would abide by the rules, but could not name a date when the press can scrutinise the government’s decision.
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.
mand. Father of one, Peter (above) 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 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.
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.
Almo-ready!
ALMORADI is to distribute 22,000 masks to all citizens, with children being prioritised. Brexit A team of 50 volunteers joined He believes the Spanish farmthe town hall’s efforts and ers are doing a roaring trade, made thousands of masks while less than normal was themselves. coming out of Italy and PortuDistribution around the Costa gal, much to do with the availBlanca town will be done in ability of labour. stages, with children coming While he said he considered first ahead of the slight relaxhimself privileged to be able ing of lockdown rules. to ‘keep going’, he said the criChildren’s masks will be sis had been a ‘gamechanger personalized with their inifor the global economy’. tials and given door-to-door He said: “Things will never throughout the town, along be the same again and when with a small rainbow magnet added to Brexit and the rise of - all in appreciation for their populism it’s certainly going good behavior. to be tough.” The washable masks can also be adapted by inserting a flexible plastic A COUPLE who had set sail from Spain to film into an cross the Atlantic on a sailing boat did not opening in the know about the lockdown measures until mask, in order they reached land a month later. to provide adItalian, Elena Manighetti and Brit, Ryan ditional proOsborne set off from Lanzarote on Feb- tection from ruary 28, when COVID-19 was still mainly Covid-19. contained to China. Over 5000 They were stunned to find the world in an pieces of PPE ‘almost complete lockdown’ when they hit have already the Caribbean island of Bequia on March been distrib25. “When Ryan read out the news our uted to essenjaws just dropped,” Manighetti revealed. tial service workers and retailers in the Almoradi area. SOME of his language Part of the BBC’s Bi- Almost all on the pitch is probably tesize homeschooling personal proa bit colourful for young service, the Manchester tective equippupils. City striker is giving dai- ment has been But Sergio Aguero is ly lessons for two weeks. obtained with watching his language The 31-year-old who council funds as he teaches Spanish to has been at City for nine and the genchildren in England in years, had spent five erosity of local a new BBC website and seasons prior to that at companies. app. Atletico Madrid.
IT’S No wind up!
Spanish with Sergio
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
9
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,
April 30 - May 13 2020
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. How to salvage your sunken money... Unlike other legal services, in order to recover your money from the bank, we won’t charge you any upfront fees; only a success fee. Yes. This means: ‘no win no fee’. No surprises. No unexpected charges during the deposit recovery process. No court fees. We are so confident we can help you that we can offer you getting your money back at ‘zero risk’. This way you won’t feel you’re putting more money on an apparently ‘lost cause’. So, let us ask you, is there anything to lose from your side? No. Nothing. You won’t lose a single cent of Euro in this procedure. We will recover your money, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. What is required...? Only one thing: that you provide us with all the information you have, such as contracts, bank statements showing deposit transfers, or any receipts if the payment channels were different to bank transfers. We will go through a preliminary study to make sure we have enough documentation to start the legal process. But before the preliminary study we would love to speak with you. Would you like us to salvage your sunken money from the seabed? If so, please send us an email at admin@ sun-lawyers.com. We will get back to you shortly.
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
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.
HEALTH
11
Death sentence Spain’s high coronavirus death toll owes to its huge obesity problem, warns doctor
A SPANISH scientist has warned that obesity could be behind Spain and Italy’s high coronavirus mortality rates. Francisco Tinahones, president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO), said
the lives of 23,521 in Spain yet less than 5,000 in the two Asian countries put together. “There are several articles that already clearly show that subjects with obesity are more at risk of dying and needing intensive care, even more so in those who are morbidly obese” he said. THE Oxford Vaccine Group has started human trials on Morbidly obese coroits coronavirus vaccine, but Europe is still lagging be- navirus patients – hind overall. those with a BMI of The main research areas are the US (46% of ongoing over 40 – are twice as projects), Asia (38%), while Australia and Europe are likely to experience each conducting 18% of current studies. complications and In terms of cash flow, 72% of vaccine efforts are pri- be put on a ventilavately funded, while universities are bankrolling 28% of tor as those who are studies. Oxford’s ongoing trials for its hAdOx1 nCoV-19 corona- are a ‘healthy weight’ – those whose BMI is virus vaccine are not set to finish until September. between 19-25. It is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, which produces 1.5 bil- The risk of morbidly obese patients lion doses for various diseases every year. Around 1,100 people are set to take part in this trial, needing artificial assitance breathing is which is partly funded by the British Government.
this could be why some Meditteranean nations have fared worse than China or South Korea. He said there was ‘some evidence’ to support this explanation of why COVID-19 claimed
The race is on
PPE given to retailers struggling for stock ORIHUELA City Council is distributing essential Personal Protective Equipment to businesses that remain open during the coronavirus lockdown. Given that access to PPE involves ‘great difficulty’, the council has stepped up to help workers on the front lines.
Víctor Valverde, Councilor for Emergencies, said that ‘food retailers are highly exposed to contagion by COVID-19 since they spend many hours serving the public.’ He reported that ‘about 1,600’ of the life-saving pieces of equipment will be distributed
April 30 - May 13 2020
by Civil Protection staff and the Department of Sports. Hundreds of bottles of hydroalcoholic gel will also be handed out to businesses. In a press release this afternoon, April 22, the council listed the types of establishment to receive deliveries of PPE.
86%, while it is 60% for obese people (those with a BMI of 30 or more) and 47% for people who are a ‘healthy weight’. Tianhones stressed that obese people are likely to experience increased inflamation and have a ‘decreased lung capacity’, which make them more susceptible to COVID-19. Around 25% of the Spanish population is overweight or obese, with 131,000 deaths attributed to the diseases every year.
Free testing for Med for your head patients in Alicante 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. 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.
CANCER patients and pregnant women can receive free coronavirus tests in Alicante’s Marina Alta. The rapid tests take just 10 minutes for a result and determine whether a person carries antibodies against COVID-19. They are 80% accurate, and can differentiate an infected person from an asymptomatic infected person, as well as people who have already beaten the virus and developed immunity. A new batch of rapid tests have recently been donated and anyone interested can call Maria Ferrer who will organise a nurse to visit an applicant’s home for the swab test. “We’ve received 100 tests which are for the most vulnerable,” Maria told the Olive Press. “You don’t need to leave your house and you get the results in 10 minutes.” So far her team have travelled from as far as Calpe to Ondara. They are asking for donations from companies to get more tests, which cost just 10 euros each. Call her on 663 302 643.
12
April 30 - May 13 2020 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
PARTNERING OWNERS FOR OVER 20 YEARS
Specialists in Luxury Villas Holiday Rentals and Sales SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea
96 649 1883 www.moraira-hamiltons.net
TRAVEL INSURANCE www.globelink.co.uk 96 626 5000 +44 (0) 1353 699082
mob: 647 575 152
GUIDE
HOW TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY QUICKER AND BETTER
for Spanish residents
Javea - Denia La Sella Golf Area tel: 966 424 505 www.vacationvillasspain.com
We made it!
Hurrah, despite the COVID-19 crisis, gota frias and a raft of detractors, we’ve made it to our FIRST birthday... see page 6
Continues on Page 2
VENDORS
UK BASED
streets, see full story on page
The Proven Path to Success
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
TRAVEL INSURANCE
GUIDE
HOW TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY QUICKER AND BETTER
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
Want to sell your property? Ask here for our VENDORS GUIDE
Certified Residential Specialist The Proven Path to Success
Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea
96 649 1883
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
Want to sell your property? Ask here for our VENDORS GUIDE
Certified Residential Specialist
Avda. Madrid, 24, 03724 Moraira - Alicante
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
REuse REduce REcycle We use recycled paper
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
www.moraira-hamiltons.net
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
Big picture
We all need air
and get the most success in your task
OP QUICK Crossword 1
2
3
4
5
6
Across
7
1 Evening (6) 6 Capital of Norway (4) 8 Rescued (5) 9 Spanish rice dish (6) 10 Something owed (4) 11 Arcadian (5) 12 Yemeni seaport (4) 13 Quick sharp bark (4) 14 Black Sea peninsular (6) 16 Owing (3) 17 Viper (3) 19 Aromatic ointment (6) 20 Temporary pause (4) 23 Poker stake (4) 24 Wrong (5) 26 English public school (4) 27 Ate greedily (6) 28 Home to the Maasai Mara Reserve (5) 29 Tax (4) 30 Prompt (6)
8 9
10 11
12
13 14
15
16
17
18
19 20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 28
29
30
5 3 1
OP Sudoku Sudoku OP
OLIVE PRESS MALLORCA
FREE
LETTERS
7 6
8 9 1
9 2 5 3
9 6
5
1 9 4 2 8 5 6
8 2 7
Down
4 8 7
Puzzle by websudoku.com
2 Singlehanded (7) 3 Stillness (7) 4 Former Russian ruler (4) 5 Abroad (8) 6 Strangely (5) 7 Defamation (5) 15 Natives of e.g. Venice (8) 17 Dental filling (7) 18 Template (7) 21 Undo (5) 22 Tall and thin (5) 25 Stout pole (4)
All solutions are on page 14
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL Spice up your life These essential Spanish seasonings will quash your hunger for your favourite British condiments during lockdown
13
April 30 - May 13 2020 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 your
Pepper and Garlic to name but a few. By using the freshest possible produce, fish, meats and cheeses, plate? basic ingredients are Personally, I love a bit of left to shine in Spanish brown sauce (even though I’m cuisine, needing only a a vegetarian). But be warned, pinch of salt or just one you will not find this much or two spices for searenowned British condiment soning. Making the English anywhere in inland Spain. Don’t even ask for it, no one Mustard sometimes rewill know what on earth you’re ferred to as ‘the most patriotic of all British talking about. But the local shopkeepers, in sauces’ seem insigniftheir willingness to help, will icant and insepid in go through all the items in the comparison. shop to see if they do indeed The simplest of comstock this magical condiment, pounds, salt, is however the most and you will paramount NOT be able to Spanish to leave until Spain has cuisine. they’ve fin206 Michelin ished. Where would On the coast, Spain’s gastronorestaurants, my and tapas be some superincluding 11 markets stock without their hugely popuHP Sauce, but three-stars lar cured at exorbitant meats, prices. such as You’ve come to a foreign country, why on Jamon? earth stick to fish and chips, A Spanish chef would mash and green peas – or the rather have his or her child nicknamed stuff you put on them? The Spanish cuisine is incred- ‘feo’ than hear the ibly diverse. word ‘sosa’ meaning With countless peculiarities in bland, regarding his the Spanish menu, surprise culinary arts. yourself by finding your new And you would be favourite sauce or realise that, hard-pressed to find in fact, you have no need for a Spanish recipe that ghastly– or fancy, depending does not have salt in it, but on your the level of amor pa- mixed with other natural ingredients such as vegetables, triae– sauces. Condiments in any cuisine whole grains, olive oil, nuts, gives a unique personality to fish, eggs, poultry, pulses and meat, the nosh will always be each dish. In Mediterranean terrain it healthy. couldn’t be any other way: But the true joy comes to Saffron, Paprika, Cayenne those hard-core garlic fans,
you will find garlic in every other dish prepared in Spain. Why bother with 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.
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.’
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
14
April 30 - May 13 2020
Recently arrived culinary expats give us their latest installment in their castaway cooking collection
F
Put some bang in your banger
OR the last few weeks they have been holed up in Granada following a coronavirus travel nightmare (Into the frying pan, Issue 340, March 16). But now British couple Yianni Papoutsis, 44 and Sophie O’Hara, 26, have turned lockdown into a culi-
nary showdown. To continue their new series of quarantine recipes for the Olive Press, the pair explore the curious Spanish origins of Jambalaya. Stay tuned for more and check out their blog @nice. olation on Instagram.
Sausage Jambalaya
appear in the Creole versions from New Orleans. Please feel free to add some if you’re in a tomatoey mood. Rice, (ideally long grain), is rice simmered in stock with a few simple spices, a variety of meats and vegetables. It almost always uses some kind of smoked sausage and the backbone of the flavour comes from the ‘holy trinity’ of Cajan cooking: onions, celery and green peppers. You can serve it dry like a paella or add more liquid to make it a soupy stew.
Serves 2-3 Ingredients: ●● 2 tbsp olive oil ●● 3 garlic cloves, whole with skins on ●● 5 large bay leaves ●● 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ●● 120g longaniza or other smokey sausage, sliced ●● 1 stick of celery, diced ●● 1 onion, diced ●● 2 long thin green peppers, one roughly chopped, one diced ●● 225g long grain rice ●● 750ml chicken stock ●● 1 dash of chilli sauce (optional) ●● Salt and black pepper to taste ●● 50g frozen peas
Castaway cooking By Yianni and Sophie
Method: Step 1 Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear then leave to soak in fresh water for at least twenty minutes, up to four hours. Step 2 Fry the garlic cloves, bay leaves, black pepper and sausage in the oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Brown the sausages remove and set aside.
Having arrived in Spain with nothing but hand luggage five days before the State of Alarm, we moved into our house exactly 12 hours before the lockdown was imposed. This left us with one very brief shopping trip to a Chinese bazaar to purchase everything we needed from pots and pans to bath towels and bedsheets. Hence we have very little in the way of kitchen utensils so have a new
found appreciation for one pot wonders such as this simple Jambalaya. Originated in the French quarter of New Orleans by Spanish sailors wanting to recreate paella; without access to saffron they used tomatoes supplied by the Italian community. This however is a Cajun Jambalaya hailing from the swamplands of Louisiana and as such it leaves out the tomatoes which
THE open air markets in San Fulgencio and La Marina will open following seven weeks of lockdown. However, severe restrictions will remain in place to prevent any further spread of COVID-19. The La Marina market next to Lidl will open on Saturday, May 2, while San Fulgencio village market will open on Tuesday, May 5. Meanwhile, the Urbanisation Market Place is to take
Select markets open in Costa Blanca from Saturday, but shopping still to be done on your own
Step 3 Fry the the peppers, onions and celery until they are a deep golden brown. Step 4 Drain the rice and add to the pan. Stir until it is all coated in the oil (about one minute).
Step 5 Add the stock together with the chilli sauce (if using) and cooked sausage. The liquid should just cover everything in the pan, if it doesn’t top it up with more stock, water (or chopped tomatoes for a Creole style Jambalaya). Stir to combine, add salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil then turn the heat down low and simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes until almost all of the liquid has disappeared. Step 6 Sprinkle the peas over the top, straight from the freezer, do not stir it. Cover with a tight fitting lid and leave off the heat for ten to twenty minutes to allow the rice to fluff up. Serve with cold beer, crusty bread and whilst singing ‘Jambalaya’ to the tune Bamboléo by the Gypsy Kings.
Markets return In this together
SCORES of chefs, restaurants, hotels and council staff have been recognised for their efforts in helping the needy during the coronavirus pandemic. Over 150 volunteers at Torrevieja tourist office have joined the Alicante Gastronomic Solidarity project which launched on April 20. So far nearly 10,000 meals
By Simon Wade
place on Thursday, May 7. Each market will only have one entrance and one exit and every customer will be given hand sanitizer and gloves as they enter. Meanwhile every stallholdhave been served for residents in the Alicante, Elche, Villajoyosa, Torrevieja and Orihuela regions. Different mayors from the Vega Baja region visited the site this week to show solidarity and witness the work they do to help families on low incomes.
Reality
Various public bodies are collaborating to ensure those in need don’t go without. “This has become a reality
er must wear gloves and there will be 2.5m between each stall.
Strict
Customers will only be able to come alone and must observe strict social distancing rules of 2m. thanks to the donations of many companies and unemployed professionals,” said president Carlos Baño. “They get up every day to work selflessly, putting their money and their own health at stake to help those who need it most.” The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolon, insisted that thanks to the initiative ‘no family will be left without food.’ Anyone that wants to contribute or help in any way, can email organizacion@ alicantegastronomica.com
San Fulgencio council insisted that people should not use this as a chance to socialise with friends, family and neighbours. “Please do your shopping and leave the market as soon as possible,” insisted a spokesman.
DO
? T U O D I STAN
OP Puzzle solutions
Across: 7 Yielded, 9 Erode, 10 Animals, 11 Frown, 12 Sweep, 14 Yardley, 16 Extinct, 18 Samos, 20 Cheer, 22 Blaenau, 24 Madam, 25 Overdue. Down: 1 Bypass, 2 Sediment, 3 Idea, 4 Performs, 5 Polo, 6 Teensy, 8 Dusty, 13 Panorama, 15 Lemonade, 16 Encamp, 17 Taboo, 19 Saucer, 21 Eddy, 23 Apex.
SUDOKU
Quick Crossword
CT CONTAORE IS FOR MMATION L AS TH A U R S R O I S F O IN E E AS V 35 75 RESS.E ULD B €75 AN ISSU O 951 27@THEOLIVEP C S S E S N A I S ITLE BUS SA L E YOUR FROM AS L
COLUMNISTS
Meme team
Charlie Smith
Charlie Smith discovers the educational benefits of Spanish coronavirus memes
S
INCE lockdown kicked in, my Spanish teacher Carola has been holding our lessons via Skype. This comes with the obvious benefits of wearing pyjamas and dipping out of view of the camera for a quick snack – all while learning verb conjugations. Despite my heavy workload – writing a never-ending stream of coronavirus articles while blitzing through The Office UK and Tiger King – lockdown seems to have helped my Spanish. It is not because I have been watching Span-
15
March 19th - April 1st 2020
ish TV and films, although I do intend to finally start La Casa de Papel soon and hopefully see Dolor y Gloria. No, I think it is more to do with the Spanish memes that have landed in my WhatsApp messages from both English expats and native speakers. My regular lessons have, of course, played their part in improving my speech too, but the crazy vocabulary of ‘memery’ seems to have worked wonders. “Os voy a enterrar a todos.”
This is the phrase from a recent meme for the Queen’s 94th birthday, which sees the words superimposed on the Piccadilly Circus big screen next to a giant picture of our scowling monarch. It translates as ‘I’m going to bury you all’, a darkly appropriate message for the current crisis. What I liked about this – other than the thought of our Liz decking people in with a shovel – was that I learnt the verb enterrar (to bury). The meme also uses os voy, a reflexive plural personal pronoun. This is the vosotros form, meaning the person using it, in this case the Queen, is telling a group of people that she will do something to them. I regularly read Spanish newspapers as part of my job and I would highly recommend this to aid your learning, especially as a lot of pa-
pers tend to write in a very formal style. But if you’re slow like me, a whole article may take half an hour to digest whereas a meme can be understood in seconds and will likely imprint itself on your brain. For students who now feel like they have a good enough grasp of Spanish to be able to explain quite a bit about themselves, there is much to be gleaned from memes, including help with different tenses. “Pues al final no era tan difícil cortarse el pelo uno mismo.” This is a meme making fun of the idea of cutting your hair at home. It roughly translates as ‘Well, in the end it wasn’t that hard to cut your own hair’. First of all using ‘pues al final’, is a great way to casually start a sentence. It also conjugates the verb ser (to be) in the imperfect tense, using the he/she/it form – era. This is a doorway into the complexities of conjugating estar’s tricky sister verb. Once you can do this, you’ll be chatting away at the bar in no time – at least once we’re allowed back out for a caña. In the meantime, mug up on those memes.
Quarantine blues
Terenia Taras Telling it like it is
If lockdown’s driving you crazy just have a little patience (but purlease don’t post that song online) writes Terenia Taras INSTEAD of stockpiling toilet rolls we should have been storing up our inner reserves of patience and selflessness because that’s certainly being tried and tested at the moment. But really, is it so bad to stay in for a short period of time? One of the best lines I’ve read throughout the coronavirus crisis is, ‘our grandparents were called to arms, we’ve been asked to just sit on our sofas’, which I’m sure you’d agree that in comparison is no real hardship. But by week three of lockdown and we’ve exhausted all the small DIY tasks, decluttered our cupboards to make space for all those loo rolls, and we’re all beginning to moan about how bored we are. It kind of feels a little like Christmas because we’re all at home just eating and drinking - except that Santa has been replaced by the Grim Reaper. There’s not really much else to take pleasure in right now and so what if we eat half that cake we just baked! We’re also bingeing on box sets, films, more box sets, checking in to catch the latest depressing TV news updates, then back to the box sets in despair. POSERS: Celebs with Marigolds
We jump on the latest TV or film recommendation from friends as one of the few forms of escapism from the real-life apocalyptic film we’re all actually living in. But there are only so many books you can read, box sets you can watch and cakes you can bake before the boooooordom returns. There isn’t the spare money and definitely not the mindset for shopping online because those of us who do still have an income are maybe having to support their partner who has lost theirs. Also, none of us know how long this may go on for so we’re all being super thrifty and fashion just seems so frivolous right now! And where would you wear it? Hence, in pretty much the same way bored celebrities do, we take to social media to share the minutiae of our lives. But do we really need to see posts of famous people wearing Marigolds just to prove they’re like the rest of us who have to clean our own toilets. If these people really want to help, then please make a hefty donation to all the real stars who have gone mainly unrecognised up until
INSPIRATION: Take That can help us get through this now, the nurses, doctors, specialists, delivery drivers, supermarket shelf stackers and anyone else who is helping to keep this crisis from spilling over into something even more unimaginable. Like everything in life, we will move on from this, so instead of all the daily negativity and boredom we should try and look beyond the here and now to the time when we can press the play button on life again. And maybe having had waaaaay too much time to think, we might just come out of this for the better, valuing what really matters, which is people instead of our relentless, selfish pursuit for more. In the words of Take That, ‘just have a little patience’ because we will get through this - without cute coronavirus renditions of that song online, thanks! LOCKED DOWN: Terenia and partner Paul
@tereniataras
The The
OLIVE PRESS 100 not out Reuse Reduce Recycle
We use recycled paper
COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA
FREE FREE
Your Your
Goat on a hot tin roof
expa ex patt
voice in in voice Spain Spain
Vol. 1 Issue 12 www.theolivepress.es April 30th May 13th,19th 2020 Vol. 1 Issue 7 www.theolivepress.es February 6th --February 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’.