Costa Blanca South Olive Press - Issue 15

OLIVE PRESS

The

A pot of bother

Your expat

voice in Spain

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Vol. 1 Issue 15 www.theolivepress.es May 28th - Jun 10th 2020

Pic: Allan Binderup

FREE

Spaniards boiled over with anger, banging pots and pans, and blocking roads across Spain in protest at Government’s COVID-19 response at the weekend

You can’t run from us!

Full story on Page 6/7

Inside Spain’s TV hit, White Lines Page 3

EXCLUSIVE

by Joshua Parfitt in Puerto Lumbreras

British fugitive who escaped from a UK court tracked down by cops to a rural bolthole

The million fines that shame Spain Page 6

ETA terrorist behind Page 9 Killing Eve

A FLEET-FOOTED criminal who bolted from a UK court has been arrested in Spain, the Olive Press can exclusively reveal.

Louis Robinson, 25, jumped the docks of Manchester Crown Court back in 2014 just moments after the judge handed him 12 months for attempted burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

Robinson had pinched scrap metal from a skip outside Harpurhey Shopping Centre, before crashing a stolen vehicle, aged just 19.

The wanted man nearly escaped justice again when, in April this year, he escaped Spain’s Guardia Civil by climbing over rooftops from his home in Puerto Lumbreras, Murcia.

A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil in Murcia told the Olive Press he had acquired residency using a false name with the initials LWJ. Armed police later tracked Robinson down to another hideout in Albox, Almeria, from where agents cuffed him and sent him to Madrid for extradition on April 27.

A spokesperson for Madrid’s High Continues on Page 2

PICKED UP: Gun-loving Robinson and wanted pic

Beds Beds Beds

Experts In Beds Since 1971 We offer FREE SAME DAY delivery (within a 30km radius)

and FREE assembly of divan beds

find us on Google Maps

Please call to book an appointment at your convenience Av. Los Alamos, Poligono Industrial Los Barrios, Rojales, 03170

www.bedsbedsbeds.net https://www.facebook.com/BedsBedsBedsSpain bedsbedsbedsspain@gmail.com

Landline: 966 792 449 Mobile: 660 052 406 Mobile: 603 854 342

2

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Bra stash TWO women have been arrested in Estepona for hiding marihuana, cocaine and heroin in their face masks and bras after police stopped their car at a checkpoint and conducted a search.

Terror raids POLICE have arrested two suspected terrorists in Ciudad Real who were planning to set up a jihadist cell through internet forums, just a few days after they detained an alleged would be ‘lone wolf’ attacker in Barcelona.

Phone tragedy!

UK’s Foreign Office call centre thought British dementia sufferer in late 60s was ‘drunk’ in the crucial hours before his death THE British Foreign Office (FCO) thought a British holidaymaker suffering dementia on the Costa Blanca was ‘drunk’ and just needed to ‘sober up’, the Olive Press can reveal.

A Freedom of Information request concerning the death of British grandfather Philip Pearce, 68, shows the FCO’s emergency contact centre believed he was ‘not vulnerable’ just hours before his death in a ditch in Benidorm.

Documents seen by the Olive Press show Spanish cops tele-

phoned a Malaga-based call centre asking for assistance with Philip, who had lost his bearings after going out for ‘cigarettes’.

He had been taken to the station around 10pm on September 9, last year, by a concerned British tourist who spotted Philip in a ‘disoriented state’.

Police asked a consular contact centre assistant what to do with Philip, who did not speak Spanish, and whether the FCO could figure out where his hotel was.

But an internal FCO report reveals Philip, from Bridgwater,

Brit nabbed Pair snared for A BRITISH fugitive wanted on suspicion of conspiring to murder two men has been arrested in Barcelona.

National Police arrested Jamie Rothwell, 33, from Manchester, at an apartment block on Sunday morning.

A European Arrest Warrant had been issued against him in October 2019 for allegedly conspiring to murder two men.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) liaison officers in Spain traced Rothwell, passing the information on to Spanish police.

Rothwell appeared in a Spanish court on Monday and was remanded in custody while waiting for an extradition hearing.

in Somerset, told the FCO officer he ‘couldn’t remember where he was staying’.

Furthermore, he couldn’t even remember ‘where he lived in the UK’.

Making matters worse, it was during the horrific ‘gota fria’ storms, which saw temperature highs of 28 degrees followed by torrential rainfall and flooding.

As the Olive Press revealed in a front page story in November, Philip was believed to suffer a sudden onset of vascular de-

May 28th - Jun 10th

mentia, perhaps brought on by the weather, and was not well.

Yet, incredibly, Benidorm Police let Philip leave the station at 3am on September 10, leading to his son Lee Pearce, 41, to insist the Spanish police had ‘failed’ in their duty to protect him..

“But I think in that phone call the FCO had the power to keep Dad alive,” Lee told the Olive Press this week.

An internal email seen by the Olive Press shows clearly that he was not well, with a consular official confirming in the following days that he ‘kept saying he was in England’ and had ‘no clue’ he was in Spain’ during

From Page 1

Brit’s slaying

Hot on his heels

AN expat in Murcia has been snared in connection with the shooting of a British businessman on the Costa del Sol. The man, based in Murcia, has been charged with the death of Peter Williamson, 39, from Manchester, who was killed outside his Mijas home last November.

The gunman and an accomplice picked up in the UK had been lying in wait to ambush him as he pulled up in his English plated Audi after going to the gym.

He had been shot seven times, with one bullet entering his heart. Williamson (above)had a history of drug trafficking and was allegedly linked to a smoking club in Fuengirola that was the subject of police interest for the alleged sale of hashish and marihuana. He was also being investigated for his alleged involvement in a plot to send cannabis packages via courier services.

Courts of Justice confirmed Robinson had ‘accepted’ extradition back to the UK and is awaiting transfer.

Robinson was described as ‘extremely violent’ and ‘armed’ by police who were acting on a European Arrest Warrant.

In 2018, UK police had sent out an appeal describing him as a ‘prolific offender with a history of robbery and burglary offences’ who ‘knew’ police were after him and actively ‘evaded’ capture.

Neighbours of Robinson’s bolthole in Llano del Espino said they had ‘no idea’ a fugitive was hiding out in their tiny hamlet, 15 minutes north of Albox.

“Suddenly the Guardia Civil turned up with guns and bin-

oculars to stake him out from the other side of the valley,” one neighbour, who asked to remain nameless, told the Olive Press.

“We had no idea a wanted criminal was living out here.”

Another neighbour said she had ‘never laid eyes on him’ and was ‘shocked’ when the Guardia Civil turned up outside her house. A local Guardia Civil source said Robinson’s trail had been picked up during a random police road block for the coronavirus state of alarm. He is currently awaiting an extradition hearing in Madrid.

Did you know Robinson?

Or seen him around?

Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es

Cycle Sales • Repairs • Hires • Tours Clothing & Accessories

...where cycling is passion enquiries@cyclogicalcostablanca.com

www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com Calle Los Arcos, 7, Ciudad Quesada, Rojales 03170, Alicante

TRAGIC: Philip Pearce that fateful phone call.

Despite these signs of senility, a spokesperson for the FCO told the Olive Press they were ‘not made aware that Mr Pearce was vulnerable’.

An internal report on Philip, a former joiner, just says ‘Police will hold onto [Philip] until he sobers up’.

Philip’s later disappearance made headlines in the UK and Spain, until he was identified in February from a ‘severely decomposed’ corpse found just 2km from the police station.

The corpse carried the same amount of money as when Philip was registered in the station, a death certificate revealed.

Philip’s son, Lee, told the Olive Press: “It leaves me speechless how a 68-year-old man with clear signs of dementia was let go in the worst storm for 100 years.

“You wouldn’t let your own dog out in that weather.

“I believe that had the authorities realised my dad was not drunk, but had got dementia, he would still be with us.”

A spokesperson for the FCO maintained that Philip was the ‘responsibility’ of the Spanish authorities.

“We class a British national as vulnerable if they cannot protect themselves from significant physical or emotional harm, or be protected by others,” he said.

“Our Global Response Centre provides emergency support to British nationals globally when embassies and consulates are closed.

An FCO spokesperson said staff have access to ‘detailed guidance and training on a wide range of issues, including mental health and mental capacity’. Despite this, there are zero guidelines for dementia patients abroad on the FCO’s website.

Secret fluaisons A TORREVIEJA resident who reported he had been kidnapped in the early hours of Wednesday morning, May 20, has now been arrested for simulating the crime.

Guardia Civil detained the 30-year-old after he’d claimed two Middle-Eastern men had taken him in his own car at 4am to a spot on the coast between La Mata and Guardamar.

A bag was allegedly placed over his head and €800 was stolen at knifepoint, before the ‘victim’ had to walk home.

Torrevieja’s Judicial Police Team took a full statement that afternoon, given the serious nature of the allegations.

The man even took agents to the secluded El Moncayo location, where the ‘crime’ was committed.

After what police sources describe as ‘nearly an hour of inconsistencies and contradictions’, the Moroccan national broke down and confessed he invented the entire story.

He admitted he needed a cover story to explain to his wife where he’d been until that time.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es THE carer of Spain-based snooker legend Willie Thorne (pictured left) has made a plea for help as the sportsman hits rock bottom in a new medical crisis.

Thorne, 66, has developed sepsis following chemotherapy treatment for a leukemia diagnosis he received in March from Torrevieja’s Hospital Universitario, on the Costa Blanca.

“Willie can’t feed himself or put a drink to his own mouth,” his carer told his GoFundMe fundraiser.

She is hoping to raise €30,000 to help Brit Willie through his medical battle – longtime friend and fellow Leicester sportsman Gary Lineker has donated €1,000 already.

But the GoFundMe also asks for lifts to and from the hospital, a translator to help Willie navigate his diagnoses, or just a

Read between the lines IT is the stunning beachside home that has left millions cooing about the beauty of Ibiza during the lockdown.

The sumptuous abode appears regularly in Netflix hit drama White Lines, about a DJ from Manchester who gets mixed up in drug-dealing on the Balearic gem.

Except the multi-million hideout is not on the White Isle at all… it’s in Mallorca.

Sitting in exclusive Cala d’Or on the south of the island, the four bedroom villa is actually named Can Pirata.

Owned by a wealthy Catalan woman, who lives between Madrid and Barcelona, it

3

Help Willie! ‘warm meal’ to his rented flat in Alicante.

It comes after the former world no.7 declared himself bankrupt in 2015 after racking up £1 million in gambling debts. He also beat prostate cancer that same year.

His carer wrote: “Willie’s life is no secret.. He is on his own and he makes his money through appearances, which have, for obvious reasons, had to stop.

“He isn’t entitled to any relief over here, and won’t receive any available funds in England.

“This GoFundMe request is not just a request for money, but a request for help of any information, contacts, and whatever else under these circumstances.”

RISING STARS: Zoe (Laura Haddock) and (left) Axel (Tom Rhys)

Hedonism, drugs and corruption - but the smash hit Ibiza series White Lines is actually mostly filmed in Mallorca, the Olive Press can reveal EXCLUSIVE

by Isha Sesay in Cala d’Or

May 28th - Jun 10th

STARRING ROLE: Villa home of DJ Marcus (left) is a TV hit boasts jaw-dropping views and has direct access to the sea.

Renting on Airbnb from around €1,200 a night, it also counts on expansive gardens, an outdoor pool and now, the real bragging rights factor.

Unsurprisingly, estate agent Montse Serradell from La Calma Rental Homes, who manages the property, has been inundated with requests to rent this summer.

“The interest has been huge since the White Lines crew reserved Can Pirata for 20 days in May and June for filming last year,” Serradell told the Olive Press.

The show is one of the most popular crime series of the year so far.

Penned by Alex Pina, the creator of the highly successful Money Heist, the story revolves around Zoe, as she attempts to find out what happened to her murdered

brother whose body has just been found dumped on the mainland in Almeria.

Offering a heavy dose of sun and sand in a world of hedonism, drugs and corruption, the 10-part thriller takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride leaving many pining for a holiday on the beautiful island.

Yet the vast majority was filmed in Mallorca and features the infamous Restaurante Illeta in Andratx, the Son Oliver villa in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, Tito’s nightclub, in Palma, as well as Michael Douglas' Valldemossa S'Estaca estate where a raucous orgy takes place in the first episode.

RICH: Grosvenor and girlfriend Harriet

Hugh goes huge!

A MASSIVE Andalucian estate and a few blocks of central Madrid have helped to catapult the young Duke of Westminster into Britain’s wealthiest top 10.

Property mogul Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke of Westminster, has edged his way up the Sunday Times Rich List, thanks to the COVID crisis.

The latest edition of this annual wealth parade values the world’s richest 29-year-old at €11.57 billion.

It puts him at the 10th richest person on the 2020 list, having been 14th last year.

It comes after the Olive Press revealed that the Grosvenor Group has ploughed more than €300 million into Madrid, over the last few years, while the Duke himself owns the sprawling La Garganta hunting estate in Andalucia.

He and his family already own more land in Britain than Elizabeth II – 0.22% compared to the Queen’s meagre 0.03%.

Unlike many Rich-Listers this year, the group has increased its wealth amid the pandemic.

PROPERTY: Madrid block and Andalucian estate

4

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Phase 2 now THE Mayors of two Costa Blanca towns want proper explanations as to why the Costa Blanca and the rest of Valenciana region will not be going into Phase 2 of de-escalation on Monday.

It comes after the regional authorities refused to make a formal request to the Spanish government for the region to move to the next phase.

Orihuela mayor, Emilio Bascuñana, and his Torrevieja counterpart, Eduardo Dolon, are demanding transparency over the decision.

Punished

Bascuñana has slammed decisions made at a regional level, demanding to know ‘the criteria used and who makes the decision’, claiming the lack of information is ‘contrary to the transparency law, and not typical of a democratic system.’

With the Costa Blanca south region, in particular, being the least affected area, he asked: “Why are we unfairly punished, robbing us of the most basic freedom and condemning us at a crucial moment of recovery?”

Dolon has sent a letter to the regional Minister of Health, Ana Barcelo, requesting the data and health parameters used to decide not to go to Phase 2.

Quarantine axed for summer STRICT quarantine rules on tourists visiting Spain will be lifted in July.

In a bid to save the nation’s vital tourism industry, worth 12% of the country’s GDP, the government confirmed the rules will change in time for the summer.

Up until then, all international travelers have been ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.

A TOP psychologist has warned of an increase in suicide due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Miguel Guerrero, who heads the Suicide Prevention Programme, in Malaga, said there must be a plan in place to prevent such an increase or to keep it as low as possible.

Guerrero insists that a study will need to be carried out to determine if there has already been an increase in people taking their own lives.

But he predicted the risks will actually increase at a later date.

May 28th - Jun 10th

Suicide fallout “An increase in suicidal behaviour is likely,” he said, “not now, not immediately due to the lockdown, but following the social, economic and health consequences of the pandemic.”

The expert called on health workers to be alert in looking for suicidal behaviour in the most at risk groups, particularly the elderly who are alone, people with illnesses

or patients who have been left unemployed.

He also appealed to the public to show solidarity with one another during this difficult time.

“Social support and cohesion are protective factors,” he said.

To anyone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts, Guerrero advises them to seek professional help via their GP.

Give us our money!

By Simon Wade

MAYOR of Orihuela Emilio Bascuñana wants to resolve the coronavirus crisis with surplus council funds from local town halls.

However, he wants the funds to be controlled by the rele-

Orihuela mayor slams regional and national governments for ‘stealing our savings’ and ‘drowning’ Costa Blanca towns vant municipalities, not the Spanish government.

Austerity measures prior to

All kicking off LA Liga will return behind closed doors from June 8, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.

“From June 8, La Liga will be back,” he said. “Spanish football has a huge

the coronavirus lockdown have meant that many local councils have saved millions

following but it will not be the only recreational activity that will return.”

Javier Tebas, the league’s President said he hoped the first round of fixtures could begin on June 12, but La Liga has yet to confirm a date.

of euros which, protocol dictates, must be sidelined for national spending.

“We cannot consent [to this] in a crisis … as they steal our savings,” the mayor said.

Referring to September’s disastrous floods and similar damage caused in the new year, he added: “Orihuela is in a situation of greater disadvantage when, in just five months, we’ve suffered two serious crises, the DANA and COVID-19.”

Controversially, Valencian authorities did not request a move into Phase 2 of de-escalation, with neighbouring Murcia now enjoying a freedom that won’t be seen by Oriolans until next week, at

least. He added: “The central government must enable town councils … instead of hindering a recovery that is already slowed down by not having requested the Generalitat to pass to Phase 2, condemning Orihuela to keep up with those who do advance.”

On the subject of tourism for the area, he said ‘we need to reactivate the economy and not lose the entire season, with thousands of jobs and business at stake.’

Bascuñana asked that regional and national governments ‘do not drown the municipalities any more, and that they provide us tools that help us overcome the economic crisis in which we find ourselves.’

Bulls, Bears or Unicorns?

What a crazy couple of months we have all experienced, one that I am very sure won’t happen in our lifetimes again. Here’s to keeping everything crossed that this virus is under control!

mainly because there were no fundamental issues with the financial markets, more of an economic slow/shut down and the markets recovered quickly once the pandemic had ended.

Whilst we’ve adapted our home lives, working lives and changed the way we go about our day to day business, how has this pandemic effected the world of finance? Let me give you a brief run-down of what has happened so far…

We are already seeing this happen with Covid 19. Despite the initial dramatic fall, we have now seen the markets calm, and history has always proven that at some point a new bull market (recovery) will begin. With that will come many opportunities for people already invested and those that are looking to invest. Let me give you a clearer picture of how a bear market (when the market crashes) then turns into a bull market (period of market recovery) oh and the unicorn…… just really to get your attention!

It all started at the end of February when the US markets experienced their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The UK markets shortly followed, and 9th March 2020 was labelled ‘Black Monday’ where the FTSE fell from its February highs of 7436, to lows of 4993, a drop in the region of 30%. The biggest losses unsurprisingly coming from the oil and travel industries. The key difference to this market crash was that it was unexpected, unplanned for and largely unprecedented.

The following table shows what impact previous epidemics have had on the world’s economy.

If we look at the SARs epidemic in 2003 you will see it was quite a dramatic drop but very short lived. Now, SARs is a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of Covid 19, but there are some similarities and things that we can learn from. Firstly, the market drop for both was steep, quick, but short lived, this is

The 2008 debt crisis was in a bear market for 17 months and lost a total of 57%, but 12 months into the subsequent bull market the markets rose by 68%. Some of you may remember the 1981 inflation crisis, that lasted 20 months and the markets lost 27% but 12 months after the bull market began, the markets had risen 58%. The pattern is clear, we know what will happen, but we don’t know when it will happen and that can make investors nervous.

My advice is this, don’t over think how long the pandemic will last or when the economy will recover, but think more about what sectors or companies can make it to the other side. If you’re already invested, make sure

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

By Tracy Storer, Senior Partner

your portfolio is being reviewed, and whilst it is important that you don’t make any knee jerk reactions, it’s at times like these where cracks can begin to show and, in some cases, urgent changes are necessary.

To give you some idea/reassurance, clients of Chorus Financial who have been invested in our balanced portfolio are 5% up over the last 12 months despite this recent crash. That is because we build our portfolios using funds that have exceptional track records, strong performance history and good value for money.

The mixture of funds we choose create a diverse spread of assets which helps protect our clients in volatile market conditions. If you are a cautious/balanced investor and your portfolio has experienced greater losses over the last 12 months, then there are likely to be some fundamental issues with the funds you hold, and I would strongly suggest you get a second opinion.

If you are an investor looking to enter the mar-

kets, well arguably these are some of the best times, as you are getting a ‘discount’ on funds that you buy into! Always make sure that you receive advice, even if you are an experienced investor, as quite often there can be institutional savings to be made and also a professional adviser will make sure your investments are structured correctly to ensure you don’t end up overpaying any tax.

So, whether you are already invested in Spanish Compliant product such as Quilter International, Prudential, Lombard etc or you may have a QROPs or International SIPP that you would like a second opinion on, or whether you are looking to get advice on a new investment or a pension transfer please give us a call and we can provide you with an independent opinion.

Call Tracy on 693 107 044 or email t.storer@chorusfinancial.es

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 explained to you before any advice can take place. This article should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular product.

965 641 163

www.chorusfinancial.es info@chorusfinancial.es

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

May 28th - Jun 10th

Tourists scared

Politician slams Government for ‘despising tourism’ over 14-day quarantine

Squat thrust A GANG of squatters stole so much loot in a series of burglaries they used a second home as a warehouse.

Guardia Civil noticed that a small area of Ibi had seen a rise in burglaries.

They all happened near a supposedly empty house, which they found to be occupied by squatters.

Police carried out a search of the house and found evidence that it had not only been illegally taken over, but was being used as a base for burglaries.

Investigators then searched a next door property and found a stash of loot.

This included 158 kilos of copper, 220 kilos of other metals and a large number of stolen tools.

Two men and a woman – who have a history of violence – were arrested by police.

TOURISM spokesman for the Partido Popular Agustin Almodobar has accused the Spanish government of ‘scaring away’ tourists.

It comes after a two-week quarantine was announced for international travellers arriving into the country from

By Simon Wade

May 15.

Benidorm-born Almodobar sees it having a ‘catastrophic’ effect on summer trade in the city and its surrounding

areas.

“Tourism is undoubtedly the most affected sector and this is a blow to the most important industry in Spain,” he said, “implementing [these] measures will only scare tourists away.”

The 42-year-old said he has

Muddy buddies

MURCIA will open up its beaches and mud-bathing sites from next week.

While travel from outside provinces or regions such as Valencia will not be permitted, beaches will be quiet, leading authorities to opt out of segregating bathing areas. They will instead carry out larger beach patrols.

Policia Local and Proteccion Civil will focus on the shores of Lo Pagan, La Llana, le Torre Derribada and El Mojon.

Meanwhile, mud baths will also reopen in San Pedro del Pinatar.

Facilities will be limited and no lifeguards will be present on beaches until June 15.

been working closely with businesses in tourism for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, something which he claims the government has ignored.

He suggested that while other European countries have worked to redevelop tourism, Spain’s industry has been left at a disadvantage.

“France, Italy, Portugal and Germany are promoting openwork measures so that their tourism sectors come out of the crisis as strong as possible”, he said.

A cessation of taxes for tourism companies is also on his agenda, as the industry prepares to recover from more than two months of lockdown.

Almodobar has long been a critic of the PSOE government, previously stating on his own website: “The socialist government of Pedro Sanchez treats the tourism sector with genuine contempt.”

But this week’s criticism goes further with diariodelevega. com quoting him as saying: “While the Sanchez government despises tourism companies, the Partido Popular demands they implement measures to mitigate the effect of the crisis in a sector on which 300,000 people in the community depend.”

5

Flights plummet AIRPORTS belonging to the AENA Group suffered a 99% year-on-year drop in passengers in April, figures have revealed.

Just 141,000 people travelled through its network of 46 airports and two heliports, reflecting the devastating impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

Malaga Airport handled 5,254 passengers throughout the month, with Alicante-Elche Airport welcoming just 2,378.

Urgent

Both are used to handling millions of passengers per month with their Costa del Sol and Benidorm holiday hotspots attracting an endless supply of British and other European holidaymakers.

Alarmingly, the new Corvera Airport (near Murcia) handled a measly 22 passengers.

Meanwhile, freight transport fell by 60% to less than 35,000 tonnes.

Since the pandemic started, AENA has concentrated all its efforts on operating essential flights, carrying PPE and medical supplies on board.

Additionally, it has focused on repatriation flights, organ transport for urgent transplants and law enforcement agency flights.

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 Cracks in care ALZHEIMER’S and dementia have become the UK’s biggest killers in recent years.

It’s a disease that, with no known cure, and tragically far too common, doesn’t always make newspaper headlines.

But in the same way that more than half of COVID-19 deaths in Spain have been in care homes, the death of Philip Pearce must be a symbol of the need for dementia awareness.

Neither Police in Benidorm nor the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) recognised the grave vulnerability Philip was facing.

Nor did his family, who told this newspaper Philip, 68, worked at a joinery right up until his trip to Benidorm and only had a mild spell of ‘memory loss’ back in 2018.

In a story that saw a six month search and today a tiny coronavirus-controlled burial far from the family’s preferred church, blaming someone might help the grief.

But, if anything, it’s the way this disease slips through the cracks that must face the biggest blame.

Closing all those cracks is the only way to prevent another disaster in memory-making Spain.

At present, there is no science linking onsets of vascular dementia with a holiday in the hot sun, but this is at least the second time in six months a British holidaymaker has gone missing with dementia in Benidorm and the FCO can play a massive role in stopping it.

Pot calling kettle The protesters on the streets of many cities this week have a very valid point.

But the way their anger has been hijacked by the far right party Vox is nothing short of shameless.

Until the weekend, the so-called pot-bashing ‘casserole protests’ were an outpouring of anger at the country’s draconian clampdown that even stopped residents from leaving their homes for exercise for six weeks and led to a million fines.

While they were initially spontaneous, a police investigation found, they have been turned into a political rant at the left wing government.

Whatever your leanings the government needs to be questioned over its extreme lockdown measures, but it shouldn’t be used as a political tool by the shady far-right.

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.

pic

FEATURE Photos by Allan Binderup

6

A pot of

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an easy target on the Spanish government’s back, and the opposition is in full attack mode with its ‘casserole-bashing’

I

T’S all getting a little bit tense in Spain.

Large numbers of cars, driven (presumably) by right wing voters, clogged up a number of cities on Saturday calling for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign and a ‘government of national unity’ to take control.

They arrived in their thousands in Sevilla, hundreds in Malaga, Palma and Valencia, and supposedly tens of thousands in the capital Madrid.

Flying Spanish flags and honking their horns, they drove around demanding a drastic change in the way things have been run for the last few months, and demanding the PM and his coalition partner Pablo Iglesias, of Podemos, step down.

The new ‘unity’ government would be made up by three main parties: PSOE, the Partido Popular (PP) and Vox, with the PP and Vox effectively running things, even though voters in the last elections chose otherwise (albeit by a small margin).

The pandemic and the lockdown are the key reasons behind the current protests, well, apart from the fact that no one likes their party losing an election.

It all started reasonably enough – with city dwellers going out on to their terraces each evening at 8pm to applaud the stretched

HONKING: Demonstrators in their cars hospital staff, who have worked long hours in considerable danger to save many thousands of lives.

Country Spaniards and most expats (if we can divide society into two for a moment) haven’t been as cooped up and were able to spend their time outside - picking the flowers, feeding the chickens and wondering at the strange antics of the townies.

The appreciative city-folk appeared to be saying ‘Gosh, nurses and doctors are more important for our safety than pop stars, actors and footballers’. Perhaps, indeed, they always were.

After a while though, people got a bit bored of the 8pm clapping, and took to singing or playing music from their terraces. And it was only a small step before some of those who

My thoughts by Lenox Napier

had voted for the opposition parties thought they could start bashing saucepans as a political protest instead. Everyone likes a spot of noise before dinner. They weren’t really in favour of a particular plan, but to let the rest of us know that they weren’t ‘socio-comunistas’.

Saucepan bashing, with a stick or something which makes a satisfying ‘clank’, is an import from Argentina and is known both there and here as ‘una cacerolada’.

The new government, which only took office on January 13, has been faced with an emergency that no one had any experience in handling.

Rather than protecting the economy, as a conservative government might have done – they erred on the side of caution and, under the advice of epidemiologists and other medical experts, they went with the lockdown strategy.

And after a short while the old right and left wing divides in Spain started to appear again.

Some media commentators claimed that the 40 years of democracy after the Franco dictatorship have failed to dismantle the power of the negative Spain – that of the young wealthy gentlemen, the cardboard-generals and ‘the retrograde cardinals’.

And of course the bishops have their own radio, COPE, and even a TV channel, Canal 13. They also have the tacit support of a number of conservative daily newspapers: La Razon and ABC among them.

That’s a fine mess!

After it emerges Spain’s police issued 1 MILLION sanctions during the lockdown more than three times Italy and 100 times the UK - the Olive Press looks at who’s on the right side of fine. By Joshua Parfitt

I

T will come as no surprise to anyone who lives here that Spain leads the European league table in police fines during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lastweek,thecountry’sadministrativepenaltiesbroketheONE MILLIONbarriersinceMarch14whenthenationwentintoastate of alarm.

ItistrailedbyItalywith310,323,andRomania,withjustover300,000 – until a Romanian court ruled the majority of lockdown fines were ‘unconstitutional’ as they had no yardstick.

Germany and Portugal had very few, while UK police have, so far, onlyissuedjustover14,000finestopeoplebreakingthelockdown restrictions.

Withoutadoubt,thismakesSpanishpolicethemostdraconianand over-zealous of all law enforcement organisations in Europe.

Whenyougetfined€600forwalkingyourdogjust150mfromyour house in the middle of nowhere, €1000 for walking too slowly, or €800 for stopping to chat to a neighbour on the way back from the supermarket, it is understandable there has been a lot of outrage.

Theapplicationofthelawhasbeenentirely variedthough,betweenutterleniencyto riAN expat diculous behaviour by local police, who are in Torre del normally not meant to do much more than Mar, in the watch the parks and deliver legal letters.

Axarquia, was fined We have had dozens of reports of our rea€600 for taders being unfairly fined or treated during king his dog the lockdown. for a walk One Olive Press reporter meanwhile, was just over threatened with a fine for arguing that he 150m from could not do his job at home watching the his home.

Apparently TV and from the internet. taking your The same police force, the Guardia Civil, in dog for a Gaucin,inAndalucia,enforcedaprintmedia ride in a blackout,bystoppingitslocalpetrolstation convertible is from picking up newspapers on the coast, just 20 minutes away, for OVER a month!

Now,asSpainstrugglesthroughitsdisparatede-escalationfromthecoronavirusstate zz MADRID police declined to fine a couple caught having sex in a of alarm, this is a police force that can STIcar because they ‘couldn’t find intimacy’ at home. Policia Local LL fine you at least €600 for not wearing a located the couple in a parked car ‘in full view’ on a street in mask.

Villaverde, but the couple complained there were ‘too many people’ in their house. Police let them go, after asking them to To help you navigate these penalties, here dress are a few examples of where the police reports have been fine or anything but fine. zz A SHAME-faced man in Motril was fined €650 after he was found guilty of going to the shops unnecessarily when police found a stale loaf of bread in a plastic bag on the front seat and nothing else

THE FINER POINTS

7

www.theolivepress.es

bother

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

I TORN RIGHT: Protestors aiming to change government It is argued that the current outpouring of anger is nothing more than a ‘Revolution of the Rich’ led from the smartest neighbourhood of Madrid, Barrio Salamanca, where the saucepans were being most enthusiastically bashed over the weekend.

Said to be waving ‘their hammer and golf-club’ banners, the leftist eldiario.es writes: “What’s happening with the revolution of the rich has nothing to do with the ravages of the pandemic, or the devastation of the economy, or the temporary lack of freedom; what is happening is a manifestation, however freaky, of the struggle of the young gentlemen to hold on to power.”

A more cynical version comes from Meneame, which coined it as the ‘Cayetano revolution’ (this

being one of Spain’s poshest names, similar to say Quentin, in the UK).

The website said the uprising ‘consists of a group of people who live in the most expensive neighbourhood in this country and who have never come out to demonstrate until they have had their vacations in Bali or Formentera cancelled’.

It continued: “Dozens of Cayetanos are demonstrating without keeping the required social distance, endangering their lives and that of their families, and inevitably that of the health workers who will soon have to care for them.”

Let’s not forget, after all, that anyone can fall

sick from the virus (our Eton-attending Boris did after all), and the lockdown is only a partial solution to the current COVID problem.

However, it’s more comfortable in a large apartment than a small one, or, for some poor folk, stuck for months in a car or a shack.

The economist Marta Flich reminds us that ‘the virus has no ideological preference’.

I couldn’t help but spot a sad video-clip on social media of a woman rooting through a dustbin as the flag-wearing ‘militants’ passed her by ignoring her completely.

Another clip showed a fellow in the back-seat of his chauffeur-driven convertible slowly nosing through the brightly dressed crowd while howling ‘resign, resign!’... A man of few words.

A meme from the left says: “Why bang an empty saucepan when you can fill it with stew and give it to your neighbour?”

Can one protest against the government without wearing a Spanish flag as a cloak?

The point is, the Government is seen as a mixture of the wrong kind of socialists plus the Venezuelan influenced extremists of the extreme left (Podemos to you and me), plus the nationalists, which in Spanish terms are the anti-nationalists – the boyos from Catalunya and the Basque Country.

‘Traitor’

HELD UP: A bicycle courier stopped by a police patrol while working in Barcelona

zz THE Guardia Civil in Alicante created an unauthorised list of 26 foodstuffs, 16 other products and 12 services that justified someone leaving the house back in early April. The list led to the fining of a man in Elche who told police he was going to the supermarket to buy ‘Nocilla’ – a chocolate-hazlenut spread – and this was written on the police report. Spain’s Minister of the Interior later retracted this fine and prohibited agents from using a list z z AN Elche man was sent to prison in April after receiving 47 police fines during the coronavirus state of alarm. The man was said to have ‘all kinds of addictions’ and suffered from an inability to lie successfully. On one occasion he told agents he was going to a town in the opposite direction to where he was walking; on another he told agents he was ‘walking his dog’, but had accidentally left it at home z z A POLICE officer was spotted ‘punching’ a young man carrying beer on a street in Spain last April. “A beer is not a primary need, stop taking the piss,” an officer was heard shouting in a video that went viral alongside condemnation of police brutality. Reports later revealed the boy was carrying a weapon in his belt, which he tried to withdraw after police asked him to empty his pockets. z z A MAN was investigated for serious disobedience after videos online showed him dancing ‘Sevillanas’ dressed as a woman in sunglasses. The Alicante man wanted to honour Sevilla’s Feria de Abril, but police traced him via social media and hit him with a fine of €601. zz A SERIES of brazen penitents were fined after being caught enacting a Semana Santa parade in Utrera, near Sevilla

Then there’s the republicans, who don’t like the royal family and have their own flag. That’s why we wear a Spanish flag, they say, because the others, the 51%, are traitors.

All good clean fun perhaps, and worth a few column inches. The ultras are on the warpath.

Yawn.

But they are good at manipulation… and Facebook and Twitter are full of their propaganda.

As Donald Trump or Cambridge Analytica can tell you, the point is to be read. And seen. And heard. Truth is in the eye of the beholder, and fake news often works better than the real thing. So we come to Saturday’s protest. A clever idea to make it a demonstration with cars (poor people don’t own cars). Some 6,000 cars and motorcycles, bedecked with flags of course, jammed the centre of Madrid.

The leaders of Vox were conveniently on their stage, at the symbolic Plaza de Colon: Columbus Square.

“We want to bring down the traitor Pedro Sanchez and imprison him for crimes against the Spanish people,” shouted Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far right party, wearing a nifty lapel pin of half Spanish colours, half black mourning.

The leader of the larger PP is now struggling for space on the political perch. Pablo Casado is trying to woo the far-right voters back to his colours with, as one left-leaning newspaper calls it, ‘his total war against the Government’.

Whether the Government, evidently inexperienced in matters of pandemics, has done or is doing a good job is irrelevant.

They will be judged once it’s all over. Right now, they are facing two dangerous enemies: the virus and the opposition, both set on scoring maximum damage. The fact is that the conservatives are winning the war at the moment – and Spain most certainly does not need a second open conflict.

Scraping the barrel

N early April a report in a rival newspaper insisted it was ‘pressing times’ for the Olive Press and it was ‘mourning’ our demise.

In its poisonous fake news rant, the downmarket ‘scraping’ media group, criticised us for launching a donation page on our website to help pay for the 20-plus journalists and writers who produce it.

Well, we clearly haven’t vanished...and to use a famous phrase from Mark Twain ‘reports of my (our) demise have been greatly exaggerated’.

Indeed, as we start easing out of lockdown, the Olive Press is waving the flag for our brave, vibrant and innovative expatriate community.

Be they British, Scandinavian - or even German! - we are helping them to nurture their businesses back to health, by offering competitive advertising packages utilising our website with millions of visitors a month and our FIVE regional newspapers that go from strength to strength.

Yes, the lockdown has been hard for us, like every other media group around the globe… and yes, we did launch a donations page on our website.

But this has had a great response with an amazing 300plus donors generously giving significant amounts to allow our journalists to get out and about as far and wide as Salamanca and Barcelona during the lockdown.

So cheap attacks by jealous rivals are anything but helpful.

Unbelievable To put you in the picture, our media rival claims to have had 10 million hits on its website in April and fast approaching 20 million in May. It also crows that it is the ‘42nd best website in the UK’, putting it two places behind the Daily Mail and in front of the Telegraph, Mirror and Times.

And, of course, this is not the case. But do you know why?

Well, it is because, in the words of a UK media lawyer, they are a classic ‘scraping’ site that simply hoovers up stories from other newspapers and presents them as their own often just minutes after they are published by the original site.

But worse than that they fail to credit the source and also often use identical headlines, introductions and even captions.

It is called plagiarism as we can see clearly from the Times, as an example, this week.

But tragically, it is not just the paper’s stories that are stolen… it is even its very own opinions.

Take last week’s ‘Our View’ (left) which lifted entire paragraphs from the Guardian newspaper.

People’s paper But then, what would you expect from the so-called ‘people’s paper’ that doesn’t even know the year it was born.

Why, for example celebrate its 21st birthday, last month, with a big fanfare, when Wikipedia states the paper’s first issue was in April 2002, making it 18?.

And to make matters worse its boss announced his 23rd work anniversary with the paper, just last week, on Facebook.

That would be FIVE years before it even launched.

When it comes to figures, will anyone ever believe anything it ever writes or says again?

As they say, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

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

8

www.theolivepress.es

‘Appy beach days

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 p6) The

OLIVE PRESS COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

Your

expat

voice in Spain

For all your local advertising needs please contact our Sales Manager Charles Bamber 0034 661 452 180 charles@theolivepress.es

GOING to the beach amid confusing COVID-19 restrictions may soon be made much easier thanks to an app being developed by the Costa Blanca authorities.

Mayors of coastal municipalities in the region aim to reactivate tourism by ensuring beaches are safe before they are re-opened fully to the public.

The app, still in development, will advise sun worshippers of how full their chosen beach is, well before they set off, in order to avoid crowds and reduce the risk of COVID-19 contagion.

Essential

“The intention is that it can be a useful tool for citizens to find out the state of occupation of the beaches when deciding which one to go to,”explained Ximo Puig, President of the Valencian Government.

“The objective is to achieve safe beaches for citizens.”

Some local mayors and regional authorities have accused the Central Government of acting too slowly when it comes to granting access to the beaches, seen as essential to the rejuvenation of tourism in the region.

Puig added: “70% of the coast is made up of beaches and coves, some of them never visited, so the initiative will [also] help to make them known to beachgoers. It is a great opportunity to show these extraordinary beaches.”

NEWS Spain issues a ‘go-electric’ order with plan for a ban on petrol cars and coal SPAIN will ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2040.

The measure is part of a draft climate change action plan, which aims to make Spain’s electricity system 100% renewable by the middle of the century.

The proposal, which needs to be passed by parliament, aims to make the country carbon neutral by 2050.

Immediate action would also see all new coal, oil and gas extraction projects abandoned.

Direct subsidies on the fossil fuel trade will be ended and all new vehicles made emis-

May 28th - Jun 10th

Off the roads!

sion free by 2040.

The aim is to reach the goal of reducing emissions by 23% from 1990 levels over the course of the next 10 years.

The country also aims to see

Bitter sweet

POLLUTION in Spain decreased by a third in April, one of the highest drops in the world.

Carbon Dioxide emissions dropped by an enormous 32% compared with 26% globally.

“Emissions fell on average between 20% and 30% in most countries,” said Joeri Rogel, at Imperial College London.

During the first days of April, pollution levels fell to lows that hadn’t been seen since 2006.

And some 17 million fewer tonnes were released into the atmosphere on April 7 alone, compared to the same day in 2019.

However, experts still do not believe it’s significant enough to make a difference to the atmosphere in the long-term.

“It won’t make any significant difference in the long-term”, added Rogel, who believes that there will be a rebound with an even greater emissions trajectory, once we emerge from the crisis.

renewable energy account for between 32% and 42% of total energy consumption by 2030.

To hit this target clean energy sources will have to make up at least 70% of the electricity mix by the end of the decade.

Efficiency measures will also be brought in to reduce energy consumption by 35% over the course of the plan.

This would be done mainly through renovating and improving homes and commercial premises.

The Pedro Sanchez-led government claimed that the plan could generate €200 billion in new investment in the next decade and create up to 350,000 new jobs.

It also forecast that these carbon-cutting measures would boost the country’s economic growth by 1.8% by 2030 compared with business as usual.

DANGER: Pigs on road

Beware the boars A WOMAN has been hospitalised after colliding with a wild boar while driving on the AP-7 in Ondara.

The 24-year-old was taken to Frances de Borja de Gandia hospital where she is reportedly recovering well.

Later the same day, a 20-yearold man drove into another wild boar on the CV-800 in Mutxamel, north of Alicante.

An ambulance also attended and he was taken to the San Juan hospital.

Recent quiet conditions and empty roads have seen wildstock of all types roaming the streets.

However, with the recent entry into Phase 1 of the de-escalation plan, roads are becoming more dangerous for our four-legged friends.

LA CULTURA

May 28th - Jun 10th

9

Making a killing Smash BBC TV drama is based on one of Spain’s most evil female terrorists

By Laurence Dollimore

A RUTHLESS Spanish terrorist has been revealed as the subject matter behind one of the UK’s biggest TV hits of the last few years.

Former ETA killer Idoia Lopez Riano - aka La Tigresa - was the inspiration behind Villanelle, the psychopath viewers just can’t get enough of.

Played by Jodie Comer in the hit BBC series Killing Eve, she’s the cold-hearted killer for hire with an eye for fashion - and herself.

Incredibly vain, but equally brutal and lacking in any empathy, the Russian mercenary embarks on a cat-and-mouse game-

Song and dance

ROLE MODEL: Comer’s character is based on killer Idoia Lopez Riano (left)

THE Granada International Festival of Music and Dance will launch on June 25, despite the crisis, it has been announced.

The 69th edition of the festival will be held ‘against all the odds’, the first such event to take place in Spain and in Europe.

It is going ahead, assuming Granada has entered Phase 3.

It will open in Granada Cathedral with the city’s orchestra and choir, under the direction of Andrea Marcon, performing Mozart’s Requiem to raise money for the Food Bank of Granada.

On July 9, the Festival’s Medal will be awarded to the Spanish healthcare system. All shows are only permitted to have audience numbers at 50% capacity and cannot exceed 800 people.

Picasso going for peanuts AN Italian woman has won a Picasso painting worth €1 million in a raffle.

The painting, titled Nature Morte was painted in 1921 in Paris and is an oil-on-canvas depiction of a newspaper alongside a glass of absinthe.

Claudia Borgogno from Ventimiglia, north-western Italy

received the raffle ticket as a Christmas present from her son.

Borgogno summed up her amazement: “I have never won anything before.”

Her son Lorenzo Naso referred to it as the best decision he’s ever made in his life.

Neither Naso nor his mother had watched the raffle, in fact they didn’t even know when the draw was taking place.

“When I arrived and I told her she had won she was like: ‘Please don’t joke’,” he said.

The 51,140 tickets were sold for €100 each, with the proceeds going to provide water for villagers in Madagascar and Cameroon.

The draw was originally scheduled for March, but that was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although organisers valued the painting at €1 million, the art collector who provided it, David Nahmad, claims it’s worth at least two or three times that.

Nahmad will be paid €900,000 for the work.

cum-love affair with an MI6 officer played by Sandra Oh. But in the real world, the assassin who inspired the multi-lingual Villanelle is the former terrorist who was found guilty of killing 23 soldiers and policemen - and rumoured to be behind many more.

Luke Jennings, who wrote the novels behind the series, revealed that Comer’s character was actually based on Riaño, the infamous Basque separatist hitwoman, who was behind some of the worst bombings Spain has ever witnessed.

Jennings revealed how he first came up with Villanelle while reading about Riaño, who was behind the death of 12 young policemen from one car bomb in Madrid alone in 1986.

She was allegedly so evil she would seduce off duty Guardia Civil officers in bars in Bilbao and San Sebastian to later extract key sensitive information during pillow talk.

“She was clearly a psychopath and completely, completely without empathy,” Jennings said.

The vanity of Villanelle, which sees her often staring longingly at herself in mirrors and shop windows, also

rings true of Riaño, who once became too distracted by her own reflection while en route to kill a policeman.

“At the key moment, Idoia, who was supposed to be doing the killings, didn’t actually see him because she was so entranced with the window of a fashionable store and her own reflection in it,” said Jennings.

Snared

Indeed her vanity was even noted by her killer compatriots, including fellow terrorist Juan Manuel Soares Gamboa, who once said she cared more about her appearance than murder.

In the TV series, Villanelle opts for female lovers who usually wind up dead or extremely damaged.

Riaño, who began her killing streak at just 20 years old, hid out in Algeria for seven years before being finally snared in France in the 1990s.

She is now 55 and is free after being released from jail in 2017 following a 23-year sentence.

Having lived for some years in Andorra, where her sister lives, she is now living in Barcelona, where she works for an NGO.

10

May 14th - May 27th 2020

LA CULTURA

FUNKY DREADS A heady mix of styles will make the ‘green’ Brota musical festival one of the hits of the summer FUSION: Steel Pulse and (below) DJ Steve Aoki, while (right) Rozalen

Bones, a testimony to pain

DANCE, funk and reggae fans will rejoice as American DJ Steve Aoki and British Reggae legends Steel Pulse fuse for the third annual

Brota Musica Festival.

The festival in Rota, Cadiz, is hoping to attract up to 20,000 music fans for the weekend in August.

Also high on the bill is Spanish songstress Rozalen who will use the festival as her only Andalucian date this year.

Spanish rappers Nach and Rel B will also take to the stage with funk-rock group O’Funk’Illo rounding out the star studded line up.

The third edition of the Brota Festival is unique in Andalucia as the only music festival to be recognised for its ‘sustainable’ credentials.

The United Nations Environment Program describes the event as ‘an event designed, organised and developed in a way that minimises potential negative environmental impacts, and leaves a beneficial legacy for the host community and all those involved’.

The festival is due to be held from August 7-8 and is currently awaiting confirmation from the Spanish government that it can go ahead amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Act of god

THE medieval inhabitants of Muslim Granada suffered from terrible teeth, bad backs and painful joints, scientists have concluded after the remarkable discovery of 40 ancient tombs.

Archaeologists uncovered the graves in a suburb of the city, which was the last stronghold of the Nasrid dynasty whose greatest monument is the Alhambra Palace.

Nine specialists from the University of Granada and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), analysed the skeletons of 40 males and females ranging from newborns to 60-year-olds.

Hard labour

They had been uncovered during excavations in the city’s ancient San Lazaro neighbourhood.

They found that the inhabitants of Middle Ages Granada were relatively small - on average 163.28cm (5ft 3”) for men and 157.95cm (5ft 1”) for women.

The experts concluded that the people analysed had led lives of hard physical labour, shown by evidence of inflammatory diseases to their joints and bones.

Many were afflicted with painful arthritis in their spines, fingers and feet. Poor dental hygiene meant they also suffered cavities, loss of teeth and tartar build-up.

However, infectious diseases were practically non-existent, at least in the bodies most recently discovered.

THE roof of an Orihuela church has collapsed, waking up local residents with a loud roar.

Thankfully, the incident at the Parish Church of the Saints Justa and Rufina was so early that no-one was nearby to get hurt.

Father Satorre revealed that an inspection had recently been carried and a test was planned,

before the surprise collapse.

Orihuela’s mayor, Emilio Bascuñana, has asked that the Department of Culture ‘act now’. His calls were echoed by the Councilor for Heritage, Rafael Almagro, who reiterated the need to invest in historical buildings for maintenance and conservation.

HEALTH

May 28th - Jun 10th

Snakes alive!

Lisa Burgess

Lisa Burgess confronts her inner serpent during lockdown and puts it right back in its cage...

M

ENTAL health is often neglected in these dire times so to keep the brain firing on all cylinders I do frequent Zoom quizzes in Dulwich with my British, Irish and French friends.

Friday night was girls versus boys and the subject was history. When asked what battle English Henry V won against the French, I was at the ready with the Battle of Agincourt but got stuck on what film was written and directed by Luc Besson in 1994? I knew it, it was on the tip of my tongue but my opponents got it: Leon (Lion).

Talking about ferocious beasts, my Facebook Memories threw up a picture of me with a large snake and 3 Irish models from 5 years ago, when I worked on Ireland AM's morning show. It was a moment in time where I had to face my ‘ophidiophobia’ and get on with it, much like my carcinophobia (fear of cancer). Actually, the snake was charming!

As I was browsing my happy

SLIPPERY CHARACTER: Some of Lisa’s old TV friends memories there was a sudden thud from my washing machine. Let's put this in context: the fridge, cooker and washing machine have all had to be replaced recently due to their antiquity, much like myself and The Hundred Years War ensued when my fella Joffrey, a chef in case you don’t know, did not appreciate that my TWO dressing gowns were being held captive in the load, hiss spit.

I commenced immediate social distancing from the kitchen and to say we were in a spin is an understatement but it was eventually resolved

by Chef with a little help from Alexa.

Prior to the laundry skirmish, we agreed Joff would trim my hair but I cast a beady eye on him hacking vigorously away at the onions and decided Mona Lisa should remain Co-

rona Lisa.

We were looking forward to our first night out in Phase 1, courtesy of friends at a luxury villa in La Cala, for another fierce quiz clash themed on the animal kingdom.

During my research, I found that spitting cobras can blind an adult male lion in seconds.

I pondered on the subject of toxicity and emotional well-being, especially the tumultuous internal mind battle one faces under lockdown.

The words of William Shakespeare's Henry V gave me some much-needed counsel: ‘men of few words are the best men’. It made me realise that my own human behaviour needs adapting so I intend to hold my asp tongue and be more subdued lioness at the quiz, the better to direct my focus on winning the lion’s share of the points!

11

Stubbed out THE sale of menthol cigarettes has been banned throughout Spain.

The ban is part of EU rules that were passed in 2016 and shops found selling them will face fines of up to €10,000.

The ruling was passed as, while menthol cigarettes are seen as less harmful, they are actually just as bad for your health, if not worse.

Menthol also has a dilating effect on the pulmonary alveoli, which causes a faster absorption of nicotine from tobacco by the consumer.

This in turn has a powerful

Spain bans sale of ‘gateway smoking’ menthol cigarettes addictive effect, which indirectly increases the addictive potential of the product as a whole.

“These flavours increase the attractiveness of the product and there is a false perception that they are healthier or less harmful than other cigarettes,” said a spokesman for Spain’s health ministry.

“Some consumers choose this alternative instead of quitting permanently, which has

a negative impact on your health.”

Campaigners have welcomed the new law on the so-called ‘gateway smoking’ products, as they encourage young people to pick up the habit.

The EU regulations also state that health warnings must now cover 65% of the packaging and it also bans promoting tobacco products, e-cigarettes and ‘herbal products’ for smoking.

Tel (+34) 699 500 734 A FEW POUNDS OR CENTIMETERS TOO MUCH…..?

WE CONJURE THEM AWAY FOREVER AND PAINLESSLY

“Before” and “After” one treatment

of 30 minutes

CRYOLIPOLYSE OUR TREATMENT REMOVES THE FAT CELLS AND AS A RESULT THEY ARE DESTROYED PERMANENTLY. FROM THE VERY FIRST TREATMENT THERE IS A PERMANENT RESULT !

REMOVAL OF LOCAL FAT AND CELLULITE (ARMS - LEGS - ABDOMEN - BUTTOCKS)

CRYOLIFTING OUR TREATMENTS MAKE YOUR SKIN TIGHTER AND FIRMER WHERE YOU WANT IT.

THE TREATMENTS ARE FOR MEN AND FOR WOMEN

C/ Richard Wagner n° 2 blq 5 Orihuela Costa (Urb Villamartin) (by appointment only)

www.institutocarmenmaria.com.

info@institutocarmenmaria.com

Webiste: in English, Español, Nederlands, Français, Deutsh

LETTERS

12

May 28th - Jun 10th Check out our issues online at www.theolivepress.es Mallorca Issue 80 MALLORCA

Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 4 Issue 80 www.theolivepress.es May 15th - May 28th, 2020

THE MAN WHO BEAT COVID TWICE

GIFTED: Trevor and Pauline are fighting on LEAVERS: Trio of Brits in Spain

An expat from Alicante has proven you can catch coronavirus a second time... and still survive

Every cloud

Find out how on P5

DISASTER TOUGH AS OLD BOOTS: Ian Tanner

Down the pecking order

has twice been diagnosed but cheated

death

The likely cancelation of summer holidays for Brits in Spain will ‘catastrophic’ for the Balearics be

THE European Union is making a desperate bid to salvage the holiday season for Spain.

By Laurence Dollimore and It comes after Brits were warned Isha Sasay abroad this summer are ‘very likely’ that holidays to be cancelled.

The move has been received with Health Secretary Matt Hancock broke asthe potential- tonishment ly devastating news for Spain the tourism by those working within sector in Mallorca, with during an appearance on ITV’s hoteliers and business associations This Morning on Tuesday. publicly criticising the decision.

AN emu has become the latest “We haven’t made a final de- The president of the Business Assovictim of coronavirus. cision... but it is unlikely that ciation of Balearic Travel Agencies The flightless bird in Verdegas, big, lavish international holi- (AVIBA), Alicante, has been left homedays are going to be possible the movesFrancesc Mulet, described as ‘completely wrong’, less after its owner died of COfor this summer,” he told hosts claiming that the quarantine period VID-19.

Holly Willoughby and Philip would ‘completely destroy the BaleIt was part of a menagerie of Schofield. aric economy.’ animals, which also included27 The move, if confirmed, would “Health a llama – since re-homed in Barbe a huge blow for the Spanish applied protocols should instead be celona – that were left abantourism industry, and more so This wasat airports,” he insisted. echoed by doned. the Minister for for Mallorca and the Balearic Labour, Commerce and Tourism, A concerned local called in Islands as a whole, a region Iago Negueruela, El who stressed the Refugio del Burrito donkey which is heavily reliant on the need to implement a health passsanctuary in Cordoba, which hundreds of thousands British port. has been sending supplies tourists who visit every sum- This would for monitor variables such the animals to be fed. mer. as the temperature of visitors, thus When it comes to being Some 12% of the country’s giving the rehomed, the emu has been left GDP is from tourism, while in sess the authorities a way to ashealth of those arriving to firmly down the pecking order.

Mallorca it generated 14.6% of the islands.

Nicky Cohen, from the refuge the region’s GDP in 2019.

However, said: “The problem is that you According to the president of hope for there is still a glimmer of need a special zoological the Government of the Balear- nounced tourism after Ryanair anlithat it would restart apcence to own an emu. ic Islands, Francina Armengol, proximatey 40% of its flights across “If there is anyone who does the autonomous community Europe from July 1. have the right papers, will suffer the most, foreseewe would love to hear from them.”

FREEDOM: Palma residents finally ing a 30% drop in earnings this get to enjoy a drink on a restaurant teryear. race as Mallorca enters Phase 1.

Positive See full story on page 6/7 Largely attributed to a loss of tour- In more positive news for Mallorca, ists, if the prediction rings true, the the airline also revealed that it inBalearic economy will shrink three tends to commence its first routes to times more than the rest of Spain.

Palma’s Son Sant Joan airport from The revelation by Hancock came the end of June. just hours after the central govern- Flying out of 80 bases, their destiment announced a mandatory 14- nations and the probability of them day quarantine for all international filling up will depend on agreements UK BASED travellers arriving from May 15 between countries. same measure announced by the the The UK has already UK confirmed, for on Monday. example, that quarantine measures This would mean that tourists would will not apply to those travelling have to stay inside their accommo- from France or Ireland and there dation for two weeks, before having will be considerable lobbying by the for Spanish to quarantine once again when ar- Spanish tourism industry and airriving back to the UK. lines over the next few weeks. residents “It will most likely continue This week, the European Union throughout the de-escalation www.globelink.co.uk pe- confirmed it would do everything it riod,” confirmed Health Minister could to help.

Salvador Illa.

It proposes a phased approach For those without second homes across the European Union that and who don’t plan on staying 96 626 5000 for sweeps away closed borders and months at a time, it makes a holiday travel restrictions. +44 (0) 1353 699082 to Spain practically impossible in The Commission said it is looking to the short term.

At least you can do this at last..

Dear Olive Press,

Photo by Allan Binderup

Get educated

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Gibraltar Issue 122

OLIVE PRESS

The FREE

Continues on Page 5

GIBRALTAR

The Rock’s ONLY free local paper

May 13 - May 26, 2020 Vol. 5, Issue 122 www.theolivepress.es

ON THE HUNT OF THE NAZI GOLD a Nazi U-boat base in the Hot on the heels of our dispatch onGold Trail to Madrid and, Canaries, we investigate the Nazi light on a shady chapter in allegedly Gibraltar, shedding new See Page 10 history that has never been fully resolved.

Unlock the Rock! by the public through social media and broadcasting.

PHASE FOUR

By Diexter Thomas on The fourth phase is set to start FREE movement will be allowed June 16 and will see people finally in Gibraltar from May 21 - with the able to go to bars and cafeterias. to lockdown to be ended in August.

These establishments will need The Chief Minister announced the get a permit, much like the opening proposed ending of COVID-19 reof restaurants in phase three. strictions on the Rock after steerPicardo said he expected the bathing ing clear of a serious pandemic on beaches to be allowed by midin of since the first case was recorded June, depending on the progress March. the virus.

The ‘Unlock the Rock’ plan was un“I want to be clear that our ambiveiled on Tuesday, and will consist tion will be to see a normal bathing of four main phases, with two reseason with normal beach going,” view stages to see if there has been Picardo revealed. restricany any increase in cases. see “We do not want to to The ‘Rock Unlocked’ phase could tions whatsoever on our ability 1, be in full effect from August attend beaches, but this will require with over 500 emergency beds still common sense from the public. available in case of a relapse.

“You will have to pitch your tents Gibraltar is currently undergoing further away from each other than the first phase of the strategy, with we are used to. the second phase set to start on “We will not be able to crowd spots best the May 21. and shore the around esThe second phase will see free as we each like to do, this will be movement re-established with musential.” seums, exhibitions and galleries opening again.

Bathing But it is not good news for everyone.

He warned that if there was a spike Chief Minister Fabian Picardo inin active COVID-19 cases, the Govwould reserve the right to sisted that people with a BMI of 30 ernment or or above, who are older than 70 ‘re-impose restrictions.’ have a weak or compromised im“We are considering making Europa mune system - are recommended pool in the bathing pavilion at NASA the Rock to be completely open must adhere to the rules for to stay at home as much as possible. exclusively available to our elderly DAWN: Locals can go out but “This will take effect from the 21st NEW contact tracing app will start to kick citizens. of this month if things are progresswaiting list after a long 60 day hia- into force, using people’s mobile “It will allow them to bathe without in Some schools, construction sites members of ing well, and we see no increase phones to alert them if they come mixing with younger gyms could also see a return in tus. added the Chief infection rates,” explained Picardo. and 2, with the latter ‘subject to into contact with someone with the community,” “We will continue to have rules Phasecontrols’.

PHASE THREE Minister.

COVID-19. five and six will about large gatherings so the law strict health services will restart This is also the phase where people Finally, phases third phase is set to take place will be able to eat at restaurants, serve as phases for reviewing those will still restrict the constitutional Many screening for patients on the GHA’s The and gyms from June 1 freedom of association.” be limited to a 50% occu- restaurants, cafes, bars and will see which will only if they have a permit that continue to remain closed. religious ser- pancy, but of Health.

“Assuming everything has gone well, taking from the Department then we vices Road will partially be which is a big assumption, place ‘under Line Wall Chatham Counterguard will move to ‘Rock Unlocked’ - phase very strict dis- closed and off as part of previ- ‘new normal’ as we head into the autancing con- will be shut the ous announcements to reduce air tumn,” said Picardo when we must trols’.

“That is the moment traffic to help with The Govern- amount of be most alert of how things progown quality. ment’s be ress.”

UK BASED Public transport will and coming with bus routes It is around then that weddings normal atseeing new timetables for funerals will have almost tendance figures returned. passengers and drivers. will Theatre performances take place behind closed Opinion Page 6 doors, but will be viewed

TRAVEL INSURANCE for Spanish residents

Tel: 952 147 834

Costa Blanca Issue 30 www.globelink.co.uk

See page 16

952 147 834

TM

96 626 5000 +44 (0) 1353 699082

* O f f e r

v a l i d

TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd

FREE

c u s t o m e r s

o n l y .

S u b j e c t

t o

c o n d i t i o n s .

E n d s

3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 .

21/6/19 13:30

1

COSTA BLANCA

Vol. 2 Issue 30 www.theolivepress.es

E IV US CL EX

The

OLIVE PRESS

n e w

f o r

Your expat

voice in Spain

May 14th - May 27th 2020

THE MAN WHO BEAT COVID TWICE An expat from Alicante has proven you can catch coronavirus a second time... and still survive

Find out how on P5

DISASTER TOUGH AS OLD BOOTS: Ian Tanner

Down the pecking order

THE European Union is making desperate bid to salvage the holidaya season for the costas.

It comes after Brits were warned that holidays abroad this summer are ‘very likely’ to be cancelled.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock broke the potentially devastating news for Spain during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday.

By Laurence Dollimore and Joshua Parfitt

has twice been diagnosed but cheated

death

Expats describe the likely cancelation of the summer holidays for Brits in Spain as ‘catastrophic’

“We haven’t made a final decision... but it is unlikely that big, lavish ternational holidays are going to inbe possible for this summer,” he told hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip huge blow for the Spanish tourism inSchofield.

“To have to wait four fallow months dustry, with the costas heavily reliant The move, if confirmed, would be a on the tens of millions of British tour- and then have the summer taken AN emu has become the latest away from you… it’s catastrophic.” ists who visit every summer. victim of coronavirus.

He added: “A number of entertainers Some 12% of the country’s GDP The flightless bird in Verdegas, is may be forced to go home, from tourism, while in the Comunidad though I do Alicante, has been left homeValenciana it is the biggest employer, believe it’s a question of staying strong less after its owner died generating 14.6% of the region’s GDP. in body and mind. When it does open of COVID-19. up, Benidorm will be ready like a ragThe revelation by Hancock came just ing bull.”

It was part of a menagerie of hours after Spain announced a mananimals, which also included27 datory 14-day quarantine for all inter- There is still a glimmer of hope for a llama – since re-homed in Barnational travellers arriving from May tourism, with Ryanair announcing celona – that were left abanthat it would be restarting around 15 - the same measure announced doned. by 40% of its flights across the UK on Monday.

Europe from A concerned local called in It would mean tourists having to stay July 1.

El Refugio del Burrito donkey Flying out of 80 bases, their destiinside their accommodation for two nations and the probability sanctuary in Cordoba, which weeks, before having to quarantine of them has been sending supplies filling up will depend on agreements once again when arriving back to for the animals to be fed. the between countries.

UK. When it comes to being rehom“It will most likely continue through- The UK has already confirmed, for ed, the emu has been left firmly out the de-escalation period,” con- example, that quarantine measures down the pecking order. firmed Health Minister Salvador Illa. will not apply to those travelling from Nicky Cohen, from the refuge France or Ireland and there will This could run into July. be said: “The problem is that you For those without second homes and considerable lobbying by the Spanish need a special zoological tourism industry and airlines over who don’t plan on staying for months lithe cence to own an emu. at a time, it makes a holiday to Spain next few weeks.

“If there is anyone who does practically impossible in the short have the right papers, term. we Flexible would love to hear from them.”

FREEDOM: Palma residents finally The moves were described as a ‘disas- Last night the European Union conterrace as Mallorca enters Phase get to enjoy a drink on a restaurant ter’ by the Costa Blanca’s leading hotel firmed 1 it would do everything it could association, Hosbec. to help “If the quarantine is still in place It proposes a phased approach across in July and August, we can wave good- the European Union that sweeps away bye to any hopes of British tourists closed returning this summer,” its president, The borders and travel restrictions.

Commission said is looking to Toni Mayor, said. give people the ability, confidence and “For places like Benidorm that safety pend so heavily on UK tourists,de- “Free to travel again. it movement and cross-border would be a disaster.” travel are key to tourism,” insisted He added: “I don’t see international spokesman. a flights to Spain resuming until July at But he warned: “This approach must the earliest. It’s a body blow.” also Local expats are certainly in agree- bilitybe flexible, including the possito reintroduce certain measures ment. if the epidemiological situation reFormer West End star and leading quires.”

Benidorm entertainer Jamie Somers, Germany is now studying an agreesaid he’s already seen ‘thousands in ment with Mallorca, while a corridor losses’ and won’t make a penny until is already set to open up between ‘July or August’.

Czech Republic and Croatia, takingthe SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS in The singer, who performs 14 times Austria and Germany. week in the summer, added: “Whata Whatever Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea happens, it will be a maspeople tend to forget, is most in sive blow for Spain if the usual British the entertainment game live hand-to- influx does not happen in July and mouth from November until the seawww.moraira-hamiltons.net son picks up.

After three months of hard work we opened our gift shop in Puerto de la Duquesa. political as a from essentia our cusEU,with sees the praise muchlly, Moore Rose l start a wonderfu We had The serpg 7).

325, Issue needed proud, ent much and and (Leave hipthe environm dictators lovely tomers for reality vice. is the opposite. There are 28 sovereign states, due to the to become to close chose 13, welyhad voluntari March which UK,on later, Four daysthe including lockdownd.. Steve Dunne believes that the UK would associate hadtogot so who wifeso.Pauline going for myNot I’m not shockterms. quite It was onaWTO better fair excited. down your letters page by quoting chapter and weigh be working. and it seemed her idea looks into the It was but nd that toSteve I recomme verse, a gift horse lookTrump going toThat pun, we were the industry Still, forgive he knows. that not of any specifics shop too. an online creating about set we so mouth, the in should UK EU-free an with deal trade a is trying to get friends and family with up catch to time the used also We deals trade Trump’s to know: tell you all you want friends Legion British Royal my and cing conferen video by for labels. Finally, Brent Mahler speaks have US-first zooming. wary of an EU armed force met through of UK citizens number aAlso e. has been most supportiv our landlord ideas arethe However closer ever an and fact that gifted by we are, these easy, but beenunion. not it’s yes So I am from policy.

EU not and people specific by floated support great had and virus-free we have remained proinsidious atinthe worriedity more . 40-plus years of Sabinillas the commun h, the by the the EEC/EU job despite great Telegrap a Mail, paganda have done the Spanish We thinkagainst Times and, of course, The Sun. What did Express, difficult time. so anwhy he was day and each asked sanitised wasstreets he the say when Murdoch to see We feel lucky into I gocontrol.

“When under lines of: things the keeping g along police Somethin and the ti-EU? kept clean No. 10 they do what I say: when I go to the EU.” The he had to ask for an appointment! implication is that Trevor and Pauline Andrews, Puerto de la Duquesa

Readers react to a Spanish sexpert warning against ‘rimming’ and French kissing as Spain emerges from lockdown (Dog days aren’t over, Issue 14, pg 16)

Ignorance is bliss I thought I knew a bit about this, but what the heck is ‘trimming’?

No don't tell me – I'm too old at 76 years!

Pauline Laverick, Torrevieja

Worth the wait That’s the funniest article I’ve seen during the whole lockdown.

It’s almost been worth being inside all this time just to read this!

Hilarious. Thank you Olive Press.

Sharon Dolman, Malaga

Help me, Google!

OMG, I actually spat my tea out! I confess, I had to Google ‘rimming’.

Jane Burgess, Marbella

Light relief The best article I’ve read in a long time.

Kelly Ainsworth, Blackburn

Photo by Allan Binderup

At least you can do this at last..

96 649 1883

Continues on Page 5

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

Dear Olive Press, I just wanted to say how much I love the paper and would like to thank you for your informative articles during the crisis.

I enclose a €20 donation in cash, as I don’t use all this PayPal malarkey. Keep up the good work!

Brian Snell, San Fulgencio

Misunderstanding I read in your paper some criticism of a vet who thought it wise to put a cat to sleep (Claws out, Issue 14, pg 2). I would like to say the Butibamba vet is one of the very best on the coast. I suggest that the owner was very stressed and hysterical, hence there was a row between her and the vet. I had two dogs in his care.

He was recommended to me and I have been a client of his for six years. Unfortunately I was not a witness to the incident but know him to be highly intelligent, gentle and very caring. I can’t believe it is in his nature to be aggressive at all and can only think that the woman concerned was in a highly emotional state and provoked him in her grief.

Nina Jones, Mijas

OP QUICK Crossword 1 6

2

3

4

7

5

8

9

10

11

12

13

15

16

14

17

18

19 20

22

OP Sudoku Sudoku OP

The

OLIVE PRESS

E IV US CL EX

FREE

What a bummer

Keep it up!

21

23

Across 6 Austrian Alpine resident (8) 8 Immediately following (4) 9 Spoken (4) 10 Memento (8) 11 Paving substance (7) 14 In this place (4) 15 Leaf of a book (4) 16 Camera stands (7) 20 Type of effigy museum (8) 21 Intentions (4) 22 Breezy (4) 23 Applying a protective layer (8) Down 1 Table-top game (4) 2 Ship (6) 3 Muzzle (5) 4 Submerged half-way up the legs (4-4) 5 Stir to action (6) 7 Fenced areas (5) 12 Main roads (8) 13 Exclamation of contempt (3) 15 Tranquil (6) 17 Rural (6) 18 Fiend (5) 19 Stage items (5) 21 Skills (4)

All solutions are on page 14

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Aubergines with attitude Life may be too short to stuff a mushroom but the plump purple berenjena makes it so worthwhile

F I

OR the last two months 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 culinary showdown.

To continue their new series of quarantine recipes for the Olive Press, the pair give us a wonderful way to fill a delicious local aubergine.

have a childhood memory of my Greek aunt pulling steaming trays full of Papoutsakia (little shoes) out of the oven first thing in the morning, before the heat of the day made cooking unbearable. I used to sneak a couple, scalding hot, there and then although these yummy stuffed aubergines were made to be enjoyed cold over the next couple of days.

Even though they grow wild in India and Africa and have been cultivated in China since the fifth century, Euro-

peans missed out on aubergines until they were introduced by the Moors in the Middle Ages.

Different culinary cultures stuff their aubergines differently - meaty, veggie, vegan. Berenjenas rellenas in Spain are stuffed with mince and topped with béchamel, as they are in Greece. I'll admit to leaning towards the Greek flavours but anything from Bolognese to minced meat with onions in gravy works, depending on what you fancy.

Serves 2

Ingredients: ●● 1 aubergine ●● 2 tbsp olive oil ●● 1 bay leaf ●● 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon ●● 1/4 tsp ground cloves ●● 1 tsp oregano ●● 1 tsp thyme ●● 250g minced pork, beef or lamb ●● 1 small onion, finely chopped ●● 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped ●● 50ml red or white wine ●● 200g tinned tomatoes The béchamel: ●● 25g butter ●● 25g all purpose flour ●● 220ml milk ●● 50g melty cheese (Tierno, gruyere, Emmental, cheddar etc.) ●● 1 egg yolk ●● 1/4 tsp nutmeg ●● Salt and pepper to taste ●● 1 handful of parsley

Can’t have your cake THE Mediterannean diet may be the pinnacle of a balanced diet, but neither olive oil nor fresh vegetables feature in the top 10 products bought by Spaniards during the lockdown.

Cakes and confectionery instead hold the top spot for supermarket purchases during Spain’s state of alarm, according to a report.

These are followed by spices, cheese and frozen fish.

The report by consumer statistics site Nielsen found the top purchases during the beginning of the state of alarm, on March 14, included basics such as toilet paper, rice, pasta and beans.

Then as a panicked public realised the supermarkets would

Anything but easy

EASYJET has announced that it will resume some of its flights on June 15, ahead of a bigger resumption on July 1.

The low-cost airline is only starting routes where it believes ‘there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying.’

That includes only one Spanish airport, Barcelona, and 10 UK airports, among them London Gatwick, Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast International.

x

But Spanish avoid Med diet staples in favour of comfort foods during the lockdown

By Joshua Parfitt

not sell out, sales of beer, wine and confectionary began to skyrocket.

It comes as the Official College of Dietitians and Nutritionists of the Valencian Community is fearing an increase in obesity following the coronavirus lockdown. The increase in the purchases of chocolate, cakes and alcoholic beverages, together with a decrease in physical activity, could leave a lasting impact on the health of Spaniards.

“Now that we are getting back to work, we are starting to see what’s ahead of us,” said Rafael Birlanga, the president of the college.

“Some 80% of nutritionists who

You are a healthy lot!

The 10 products with the highest sales include, in order: 1. Cakes and confectionary 2. Spices and flavourings 3. Grated cheese 4. Frozen fish 5. Dried fruit 6. Sanitary/ hygiene products 7. Sauces and condiments 8. Coffee 9. Beer 10. Tinned and preserved fish

have participated in a study of ours believe there has been a worsening in health and that levels of overweight and obesity have increased during this period of quarantine.”

13

May 14th - May 27th 2020

Castaway cooking

By Yianni and Sophie

Method: Step 1: cut it in half lengthways.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Remove the green stem of the aubergine and not to pierce the skin With a sharp knife score a criss-cross pattern over the flesh, being careful (but don’t worry if you do).

Step 2: roast flesh side down for Rub the flesh with olive oil and season heavily with salt and pepper; from the oven and cool.

Remove . wrinkled is skin the and soft is flesh the until 20-40 minutes Step 3: then add the onions, While the aubergine is baking, fry the mince in hot oil until it starts to brown, wine, scraping any yummy garlic, herbs & spices; cook until the garlic begins to brown. Add the the alcohol has boiled off. brown bits off the bottom of the pan and simmer for five minutes until Step 4: ally until most of the Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered stirring occasion soggy. be will es aubergin your or ‘wet’ too not is it sure Make liquid has evaporated.

Step 5: then slowly add the flour, Make the béchamel: melt the butter in a small saucepan on a low heat, to turn the heat up stirring continuously until it forms a paste. Be patient and don’t be tempted too high, it will take about five minutes to cook the flour.

Step 6: will slowly come together Add the milk in stages, incorporating it all before adding any more. It sauce. creamy into a smooth, Step 7: Add your cheese and stir until it has completely melted, then stir in the egg yolk and nutmeg. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Step 8: Assemble the shoes! Mash the aubergine flesh with a fork until you’ve hollowed out a container for the meat. Fill the aubergines with the meat, then spoon the béchamel over the top.

Step 9: Cook in the oven at 200C for 20 minutes or until the bechamel has turned golden brown. Garnish with parsley and serve hot with red wine or cold with white wine, and a couple of slices of crusty bread.

Stay tuned for more and check out their blog @nice.olation

on Instagram.

PROPERTY

14

May 28th - Jun 10th

Mega-mall

involves putting in transport links for the huge centre.

The whole project – which is expected to take three years to complete - looked on the brink of collapse when Intur ran into financial problems.

But it has recently completed the sale of two mega-centres - Puerto Venecia, in Zaragoza, and Intu Asturias – and is in the midst of a restructuring process.

It appears to have decided to sink its cash into what it has

A BRITISH company’s plan for a massive €850 million shopping centre on the Costa del Sol has taken a step forward.

Intur has given the Torremolinos project the green light and has submitted documents to the town hall for the first phase of the project.

This will cost €47 million and

dubbed Global Resort Intu Costa del Sol, which it is developing in partnership with local partner Eurofund.

The first phase is called ‘the link project’ and will include the construction of 6.5 km of roads plus the building of an overpass and underpass to cross the AP-7 main road.

The centre is slated to be built next to the Torremolinos Conference centre.

“In these times of general economic uncertainty, the pro-

Siesta’s over

Corona viewings RULES on how to safely conduct property viewings have been laid out by an estate agents’ governing body.

Agencies in regions that have entered Phase 1 of the lockdown exit can now show homes and open small (less than 400 sqm) offices to clients by appointment only.

The General Council of the Official Associations of Real Estate Agents (CGCOAPI) says that at the moment viewings can not be arranged to people living outside the same province as the property.

Homeowners will have to leave the premises at the time of the sales visit and it should be completed as quickly as possible.

Masks and gloves should be worn by both agents and customers, and social distancing maintained at all times, particularly when going through communal areas of buildings.

By Joshua Parfitt

AN iconic expat-run chiringuito in Spain’s Alicante has been suddenly shut down by authorities, leaving over 100 workers afloat amid coronavirus lockdown.

Famous beachfront bar La Siesta shut down as petition begs Costas to save over 100 jobs

La Siesta, part of Javea’s leading restaurant group Javea Company, announced

BREAK DOWN COVER

If you break down, stay calm and safe until rescue support arrives. Remember that while you wait for help, your priority is to safeguard yourself and any fellow passengers. Línea Directa policyholders simply call 919 171 171 and inform the emergenvePress-256x170-CAR-4.inddcy 1 hotline where you are. Línea Directa provides emergency roadside assistance anywhere in Spain 24/7 and 365 days a year, with a national network of operators and recovery vehicles.

GEOLOCATION SERVICE This service is exclusive to Línea Directa and allows breakdown recovery and roadside assistance services to pinpoint your location and send help directly to you. This service is available throughout mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. The technology is simple to use and really useful when you need it most.

TM

902 123 282

Destination Relaxation

BREAKDOWN KIT

To help you stay safe here is a checklist of some important safety items in the event of a breakdown. This emergency breakdown kit *Fully comprehensive offer valid for new customers only. Guarantee subjec t to cover, repair at approved garage, be and cour tesy vehicle availabilit y. Subjec t toat conditions.

O ffer ends The 30/11/18. should kept in your vehicle all times. kit includes: a torch and spare batteries, warm clothes and blankets, high-visibility jacket, first aid kit, jump start cables, empty fuel can, food2/8/18 and drink, two reflective warning signs, a road atlas, and a mobile phone charger.

OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERTISE As Spain’s most experienced provider of insurance for British expatriates, Línea Directa has been keeping motorists on the move for over 20 years.

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

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

Properties to rent and buy in the sunny Costa Blanca

17:01

We have beautiful homes for sale and luxury villas to rent Commission fee is only €2500 tel: (+34) 965 074 546 | email: info@azul-homes.co.uk www.azul-homes.co.uk

OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 6 Tyrolean, 8 Next, 9 Oral, 10 Souvenir, 11 Asphalt, 14 Here, 15 Page, 16 Tripods, 20 Waxworks, 21 Aims, 22 Airy, 23 Painting.

Down: 1 Pool, 2 Vessel, 3 Snout, 4 Knee-deep, 5 Excite, 7 Yards, 12 Highways, 13 Tut, 15 Placid, 17 Rustic, 18 Demon, 19 Props, 21 Arts.

SUDOKU

STAY SAFE

last week that Alicante’s Provincial Coastal Service had ‘sealed’ them off.

La Siesta said ‘for reasons they don’t know’ their allegations against the service – known in Spanish as Costas – have gone unanswered.

A change.org petition challenging the shutdown has hit 2,000 signatures, complaining that the state of alarm had cut off communications with authorities.

Plight

24/7 EMERGENCY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE If your car breaks down it can be an upsetting experience, especially if you don’t have roadside assistance cover. But they are also the most common type of problem on the road.

jected Global Resort means an important generation of jobs and supplier companies from all sectors, which will become an extraordinary economic engine for the whole province,” said the company.

The British company is also, together with Nuveen, owner of Xanadú near Madrid, one of the largest shopping centres in Spain.

Its major business interests are in the UK where it owns 17 centres.

“Hundreds of jobs are directly affected, not to mention those that depend on La Siesta’s custom,” a statement reads.

However, according to local reports, La Siesta has faced five legal proceedings from authorities due to environmental, urbanistic and spacial problems since opening in 2001.

The most recent one, in February 2019, dates back to a case in which La Siesta allegedly worked on a septic tank without permission.

The establishment also allegedly built a cocktail bar, various gazebos and installed a market stall on municipal land without permission.

Councillor Jose Luis Luengo said during a council meeting that ‘every years Costas fines them, they pay, and continue doing the same’.

Javea Company boss Edgar Slama, from France, told the council he was ‘more than happy’ to comply with council rules, but it is not yet clear for what particular reason La Siesta has been shut down.

The much-loved chiringuito’s social media continues to post positive messages with the hashtag ‘there’s no summer without la siesta’.

The business’ plight has also appeared on local television networks.

BUSINESS

15

We will not fly

HALF of Spaniards have said they will not go on holiday this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A new survey has also revealed that four out of 10 ‘will not fly’ until a vaccine

W

May 28th - Jun 10th

ISLAND BREAK: Mallorca this year?

Spain swaps foreign holidays for domestic breaks as tourist spending set to take corona hit

for the killer virus is developed. Domestic spots like the Costa del Sol, where

hile listening to Javea’s Bay Radio last week, when a guest speaker was in full flood about the effect of the virus on the world’s economy, insurance claims were mentioned as being extraordinarily high.

I was extremely cross when the speaker declared: “You know what insurance companies are like, when they have to pay out on claims, they try their hardest to refuse the claim.”

The remark was obviously based upon pure ignorance, as the amount of settled claims my company processes can be quite astounding.

Liberty Seguros have the reputation of being one of the best regarding their claims and, of course, due to the excellent policies, much more is covered to make a claim on.

Additionally I have a dedicated Claims Administrator, who will help you through the whole process and is prepared to go the extra mile for my clients.

However, there are a number of reasons why a claim could be declined.

The first one being fraud. Some claims are turned down due to poor or lack of maintenance – some people are convinced insur-

65% of holiday homes are Spanish-owned, are therefore the most popular op-

Dear Jennifer: Why would an insurance claim be refused?

ance gives them a life-long guarantee.

Then of course, some clients are under insured, and they think they are covered but they have decided to keep the insurance costs down and not taken the cover they require for, for example, accidental damage.

Then there are the consortium claims, which recently have cost millions.

Having an experienced administrator assisting on clients claims is especially helpful in a foreign country where, of course, many rules are different.

The assessors are very experienced, knowledgeable and totally independent, and are always very thorough with their reports. I know that they have a tremendous respect for Liberty Seguros, which is a professional, bona fide insurance company. So, no. The comment made does not apply to my company or the companies I work alongside with.

If you require help or information regarding a claim, please contact my Claims Administration and if you wish to ensure you have the correct cover for your particular requirements, contact one of my consultants on 966 461 690 or www. jennifercunningham.net.

Do’s and Don’ts Lawyer Jose Maria Lomax of Sun Lawyers provides some tips about how to buy the right way in Spain SPAIN is a wonderful country full of new unique experiences waiting for you such as gastronomy, history, architecture, affordable property, the sun and beaches.

However, being in love with Spain and dreaming about moving to this country is not enough to make your plans run smoothly, especially when it comes to purchasing property and the complexity of the related legal aspects.

So, if you are ready to buy property in Spain, you may have decided on the area, the type of property you would like to purchase as well as your budget. The following list of do’s and don’ts will help highlight the safe way to purchasing property in Spain.

Do’s

· Contract a lawyer. Nobody else can take care of this process more efficiently than an experienced property lawyer. A good metaphor: would you build your own home in Spain with your hands? Probably not. You would usually buy it either off-plan, newbuild or second-hand, through a developer or an estate agency, correct? Therefore, the best person to carry out the purchasing process in Spain is a registered and experienced lawyer. · Be tax savvy. The purchasing process involves different taxes, including non-resident tax once the property is on your name. The Spanish tax man will not forgive any mistakes, so our recommendation is to get advice on what taxes you will liable for, so you are prepared once you legally own the property. · Make a Spanish will. You should create your Spanish will once you’ve bought property in Spain. It’s a simple procedure that will make the inheritance procedure easier and

less expensive compared to only having a will from your country of origin.

Don’ts

· Try a DIY purchase. Big mistake. The purchasing process is not only an exchange of signatures and cheques at the notary. Many people end up paying high costs trying to do it themselves or through people who are not experienced in the legal side of purchasing property. · Ignore check-ups. Here are some powerful questions: Does the property have any debt in tax, utilities, community fees? Is the property fully registered at the land registry office?

Not revising some critical points could come back later in the form of expensive bills and fines. · Make a ‘risky’ deposit. When you contract the services of a law firm there will be a team of lawyers who will carefully review all the down payments. In Spain, it is quite common to pay a deposit to reserve the property. However, if you have not hired a lawyer to carry out your home’s purchasing process, how would you know your deposit is being kept in the correct way.

Sun Lawyers is a Spanish law firm founded in 1985 with offices in Cabo Roig, La Zenia, Campoamor, Playa Flamenca, Calpe & Javea. Our team of English-speaking lawyers represent both residents and non-residents of Spain in all aspects of legal, fiscal and property law, with giving every client a personal experience a priority. As many people remain in the UK throughout the buying process, we often deal with everything via email and phone.

tion.

Of the 50% of respondents who intend to take a vacation, 41% will do so in Spain, according to the EY-Parthenon study of 2,106 people.

An additional 8% who were due to holiday abroad, will now also take a break domestically, while 9% still plan to travel outside Spain in 2020. Meanwhile the research is damning for tourist spending, with 42% of those polled saying they will shell out ‘less, much less or nothing’.However, 16% claimed they would be willing to increase their holiday budget and 38% said it would remain unchanged.

On the other hand, 70% said they would be open to spending ‘a bit more’ if they were allowed more wiggle room over cancellations and booking modifications.

The study also found that 70% of people would spend the same in cafes, bars and restaurants, with the other 30% likely to splash ‘less, much less or no cash at all’.

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

The

OLIVE PRESS

Reuse Reduce Recycle We use recycled paper

FINAL WORDS

Cooking for trouble…

AROUND 200 chefs – including several Michelin-starred – have marched on Congress in Madrid in their whites to demand more help from the government during the coronavirus crisis.

Fallado DENIA’S firework-fuelled Fallas will be postponed until 2021, putting to bed rumours the May event would be reheld later in the year.

Stuck fast TWO hikers in Cartagena had to be rescued by sea after they decided to try to reach a beach, but got stuck on a steep slope at the foot of Monte Roldan.

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA FREE

Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 1 Issue 15 www.theolivepress.es May 28th - Jun 10th 2020

A star is born

Well-heeled compo A WOMAN has won €8,101 from Valencia Town Hall after her stiletto heel got stuck between a paving stone and a manhole cover.

Eva M, claimed she fell over on April 18 in 2017 after tripping over a paved manhole cover at a set of traffic lights in the Plaça del Ayun-

Pedestrian gets €8,000 from town hall after ‘avoidable’ traffic light trip tamiento. She reportedly received medical treatment for a ‘lesion’, and demanded €16,203 for damages caused.

The original compensation claim was broken down into: €451 for six days of ‘serious damage’; €4,066 for 78 days

Just the ticket

LOTTERIES have returned to Spain after two months of inactivity due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE, Spain’s state-owned lottery operator) will begin selling tickets online and in person.

Small ticket shops may now open – except for those in commercial centres that lack independent access.

SELAE suspended ticket sales and pre-programmed draws on March 15.

All suspended draws will take place in the next few days, with tickets having the same value and legitimacy as before.

See our online article for the dates of all upcoming and rescheduled draws.

BETSON: Lottery shops reopen

of ‘moderate damage’; and €1,834 for more days of ‘basic damage’.

In Spain, claims are also made by evaluating damages – termed ‘secuelas’ – on a scale of 0-50 where each ‘point’ translates to roughly €1,000.

The claimant asked for €5,012 for six points of ‘secuela funcional’, for reduction in mobility; €3,239 for four points of ‘secuela estetica’, for aesthetic damage; and €1,600 for medical intervention.

The Town Hall, which repaired the manhole cover after the accident, alleged the paving stone was ‘barely exposed’ and should not have been a significant obstruction to pedestrians.

The local authority, which sits on the same square where Eva fell, last Friday agreed to settle for half the amount requested after admitting the fall could have been avoided.

A SPANISH politician has become an internet hit – or rather the ostrich that photobombed him during a press conference has.

Miguel Angel Revilla, the President of Cantabria, was totally oblivious to the special guest that ended up stealing the show.

A video showed the inquisitive bird standing behind the politician and looking over his shoulder.

The bird looked at everything that was happening in absolute amazement.

Homer

The incident occurred when Revilla held a press conference to speak about the reopening of a zoo.

However, he did not notice the bird and continued speaking.

It was only later that the politician noticed the inquisitive bird. Proving he has a sense of humour, Revilla posted on social media an image of the incident together with one of Homer Simpson in an uncannily similar situation.