Euro Weekly News - Costa Blanca North 19 - 25 December 2013 Issue 1485

EWN

GETS IT

.com

ISSUE NO. 1485

EWN FRONT EXTRA

19 - 25 DECEMBER 2013

EWN WISHES

WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

READERS AND ADVERTISERS A MERRY XMAS

AP-7 accident TWO elderly Norwegian women died after they were run over on the AP-7 in Villajoyosa. Police are investigating.

Healthy eating SPAIN’S cardiac disease mortality rate has fallen by 40 per cent in 20 years but doctors at San Juan Hospital have warned against the risks of abandoning the Mediterranean diet.

Architect’s gem CALPE’S derelict Manzera social club will not be demolished. The coastal authorities decreed that the council must spend €21,780 on improving the access to architect Ricardo Bofill’s seafront construction.

Taking a chance ALICANTINOS spent an average of €67.63 per head on the Christmas lottery.

The Valencian Community’s total of €362,905,580 was the fourth-highest outlay in Spain after Madrid, Cataluña and Andalucia.

Licensing laws in the pipeline for holiday lets HUNDREDS of thousands of Britons with holiday homes on the Costa Blanca may have to pay for a licence

in order to rent them out.

New laws set to be passed could add hundreds of pounds to the cost

Care comes at a higher price OCCUPATIONAL and day centres will start charging disabled and handicapped people for some services.

Families have received letters explaining the new system due to be introduced on January 1. Depending on income, this could mean paying up to €700 a month in some cases. Laws were introduced seven years ago to assist the disabled but each year fewer people are covered by them, said Miquel Martorell, President of the Dependency Law Defence Platform.

of breaks for travellers as landlords will have to pay for a licence or risk hefty fines. The authorities are expected to ban unlicensed rentals by next spring. Under the new rules, those who want to rent out second homes will need a licence from their local council.

Some are worried that if the law comes into force, owners who rely on rental income could be forced to sell up.

Anyone who thinks they may be affected should seek advice from a property expert.

2

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

THIS WEEK IN

EWN News 1 - 18

Finance 21 - 26

Letters 27

LES SORTS: No danger of overflowing

That’s Les Sorts all sorted out!

WORK has concluded on clearing the Les Sorts stream in Moraira.

Cleaning up the streambed was a town hall priority to prevent the watercourse from overflowing during heavy rain, explained Environment councillor Jaime Perez.

The operation had to be approved by the Confederacion Hidrografica del Jucar (CHJ) water board since this affected a zone classed as public property.

The town hall financed the €27,459 project

which involved clearing scrub and cutting down reeds, a heavy job requiring an excavator, chainsaw and plant shredder.

The council also pruned pines and carob trees along the banks and applied herbicide to prevent regrowth of the rushes.

Work will continue throughout the coming year, Perez announced, principally to prevent the reeds from repopulating the entire length of the Les Sorts. This is unlikely to require a budget of more than €1,500, he said.

Leapy Lee 35

Daily TV Thu 28 Sun 34 Fri 30 Mon 36 Sat 32 Tues 38 Wed 40

Time out 45 - 48

Classifieds 73 - 75

Sport 80

NEWS Red-handed TWO men were charged with robberies in Sella, Relleu, Ibi and Cocentaina.

They were arrested in Alicante after police searching their vehicle found objects stolen the night before in Cocentaina.

Could do better VALENCIA region has 396 schools built more than 40 years ago. Twenty-four need urgent repairs and 28 require new roofs, better central heating or larger dining rooms.

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Alicante’s luck and lack of it ALICANTE city has often been lucky in the big Christmas lottery.

It landed the fat first prize – El Gordo – three times between 2006 and 2010 although there was a 50year gap when luck forgot the city.

According to superstition Francisco Franco, who controlled Spain from 1939

until 1975, had cursed the city which was the last to capitulate in the Civil War. Franco only made one official visit to Alicante, although his wife often visited her seafront Benidorm apartment in the Sixties.

The Christmas lottery went to Alicante city in 1937 during the Civil War, only returning in1987 with the number 20,064.

Can Alicante city expect good fortune this year? Lottery sellers say that punters are requesting 70913. This is the date when Ana Botella made her now classic remark about a “relaxing cup of cafe con leche” during Madrid’s pitch for the Olympics.

Also popular is 13313, the day when Pope Francis was elected.

DIFFERING TRADITIONS: Far left, El Tio de Nadal. Left, sweet treats.

Out for a duck FOR the first time in 27 years, none of El Hondo’s marbled ducks have mated. They nest only in southern Alicante and Doñana and their situation is critical, experts warned.

Houses will go A CITY HALL official will supervise demolition of six illegal bungalows on Tabarca Island. Work is due to start in the New Year.

Jail plea JOSE BRETON, serving 40 years sentence in Villena prison for murdering his two children, has asked to be transferred to Cordoba alleging “family ties” and his parents’ “delicate health.”

All aboard!

THE Tram connecting Alicante city centre to the University was inaugurated three months ago and already poaches 7,000 passengers a day from bus-lines.

Help from afar A BENIMAMET (Valencia) animal shelter, short of funds and inundated with cats and dogs, received 1,000 kilos of food and equipment from a German association.

‘

EWN

3

N

ews watch

Studios studied GOVERNMENT lawyers will argue Spain’s case against returning Ciudad de la Luz’s €268 million subsidy. No commercial concern would have backed the unprofitable enterprise on the Generalitat’s terms, Brussels claims.

Fast food CARREFOUR EXPRESS has opened a new franchise in Alicante city. The 185m2 store principally stocks and sells food and provides work for eight employees.

New song

A Spanish Christmas No gifts, but plenty of food...

A

lamb, bream, seafood and LTHOUGH nowadays traditional Spanish Christmas many customs have sweets and cakes, accompanied changed to fit in with by cava or cider, depending on other parts of the the region. world, in Spain the tradition is to It is traditional to have a celebrate Christmas Eve rather nativity scene in the home, a than Christmas Day. custom which was introduced by As well as celebrating the birth Saint Francis of Assisi in the of Christ, Christmas Eve has 13th century, when he put a always been an occasion to manger scene in a cave to gather with the family and celebrate mass on Christmas have a special meal.

Eve. It was brought to Spain This originates from the times in the 18th century by King when in the run-up to Christmas, Charles III. many Catholics fasted, and Although very rare nowadays, following Midnight Mass on it was customary for children to Christmas Eve, finally broke their ANCIENT CUSTOM: Putting a go from door to door, singing fast. However, other experts nativity scene in the home. and playing instruments in suggest that it dates back to exchange for money and Saturnalia, an ancient Roman sweets. festival in honour of the deity Saturn, held on In Spain, gifts are usually given on January 6, but in December 17, and later extended until December 23.

The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Cataluña, the Tio de Nadal - a large log - is put in the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum and a public house and ‘fed’ from December 8 onwards, and on Christmas Eve, children are allowed to beat the log, banquet, followed by private gift-giving and partying.

In Spain, on Christmas Eve, favourite dishes include which then ‘poops’ gifts and sweets.

Quote of the Week Princess Cristina was a shield against the Tax Office’

Carlos Masia, the notary who signed the creation of Aizoon, the company set up by the Duke and Duchess of Palma, who said in court that he told them not to use her name.

Number of the week

28,500

people are living on the streets in Spain, where there are 3.5 million houses standing empty, and every week, at least one homeless person dies. There are only 16,000 places available in shelters throughout Spain.

AGING crooner Francisco has joined the Ciutadans political party. The former heart-throb might consider running as Valencia city mayor during the next elections, he confided to regional journalists.

N-332 crash A MAN, 60, died in a collision between a car and lorry in Altea. His companion, 71, was admitted to Villajoyosa hospital with serious injuries.

Tough contest ONLY 40 per cent of 28,842 applicants for administrative posts in the region’s Health department turned up for entrance exams in Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.

Shock attack A PATERNA (Valencia) notary was bailed after trying to kill his business partner with a monkey wrench.

They were unaware of problems between them, friends and neighbours said afterwards.

And finally...

How many EWN logos the same as this one can you find in this week’s paper?

Visit www.euroweeklynews.com to enter your answer, for a chance to win €100! All correct answers will also go into a Christmas draw for a gift voucher to spend in local businesses.

4

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS EXTRA

Murder trial for Frenchman A 49-YEAR-OLD French national faces a 43-year sentence for allegedly murdering his partner in Denia in 2011. After attacking her with a knife, he reportedly shot her with a submachine gun.

Dark deeds THIEVES reportedly stole 4,000 metres of copper cable from streetlights on the Oliva-Nova urbanisation.

It will cost the town hall €9,000 to replace.

En garde!

ELDA Casino plans to put on fencing displays and mock duels will be held at the casino in conjunction with a local fencing club.

Private classes will also be available for those who wish to learn the basics.

Lean times ALFAZ DEL PI council approved the town’s 2014 budget featuring “austerity, efficiency and solidarity” in just 45 minutes. Local taxes will be frozen and debts reduced, the town hall said.

www.euroweeklynews.com

Testing times for Benidorm buskers STREET performances in Benidorm might be improvised but getting a pitch is strictly regulated.

Hopefuls must first register with the Social Security department as self-employed workers and pay the town hall a weekly €75 fee.

They are also auditioned before appearing on the “Paseo de los Artistas,” a route with 10 spots designated for entertainers throughout the town.

This provides work for 20 entertainers, as those selected work either a morning or afternoon “shift,” Competition is stiff and the jury appointed to assess and choose the acts is exacting.

The panel is composed of Manuel Troncoso and Jose Fuster, respectively music and dance teachers at the Municipal Conservatoire and the school’s

AUDITIONS: Experts put Benidorm buskers through their paces director Mariano Barreno. Also judging the last round of auditions were Jose Merino, representing Benidorm’s Residents Committee, and an official from the council’s Culture department.

The jury recently put groups, soloists, dancers, living statues,

acrobats and puppeteers through their paces at the town hall’s Function Room. The verdict will be announce within a week or so.

The decision to assign pitches was made in 2011 following incidents and bad feeling between entertainers and local businesses.

Arson suspected in Chinese blaze VANDALS deliberately set fire to a Chineseowned shop in Gandia.

“Everything has been destroyed by the flames,” lamented the owner, Pan Zhoungwang.

The shop was partially destroyed after three

hooded men were seen on CCTV camera images in the early hours of the morning. The same three men are believed to be resonsible for committing the crime.

The fire was started deliberately, investigators

said, as inflammable liquid had been thrown through the shutters.

The fire could be a settling of accounts by an organised Chinese crime group, police investigators suspect.

However, they could not

rule out the possibility that the fire was started by a business rival, police sources revealed.

Pan Zhoungwang acquired the premises three months after the long-established ‘Pastor’ shop closed down.

NEWS

Wine town suspicious about oil INLAND wine-producing Pinoso is fighting plans to store fuel in an underground deposit.

The chosen site is beneath Cabezo de la Sal. This is an emblematic area near the centre containing nowempty storage galleries once used for salt.

When negotiations commenced three years ago, townspeople were wary of the scheme and their suspicions soon intensified. The firm involved was the same company storing natural gas in a disused oil-well off the coast of Castellon. This was later blamed for repeated earth tremors felt in Vinaroz last September.

Pinoso’s mayor Lazaro Azorin has recently been in touch with his counterpart at Vinaroz town hall. He has also written to regional government, the regional Environment department and the central government’s ministry of Industry and Energy. He has asked all three for reassurance that the town is not at risk but still awaits a reply.

www.euroweeklynews.com

NEWS

Airport moniker in the pipeline THE provincial airport’s name was changed to Alicante-Elche in July.

Despite the official renaming, its new title is conspicuous by its absence although this will be rectified within two months, Elche town hall said.

State-owned airports operator AENA put the job of erecting new signs out for tender immediately after the change was made official.

It was understood that the cost would have to be met by Elche town hall and the contract has now been awarded.

The €50,000 contract has gone to a firm that will carry out the work for €24,446.

This amount will not have to come out of the town hall kitty, to the further satisfaction of mayor Mercedes Alonso.

Fifteen local businesses and families have between them collected the necessary sum.

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Praise for Alfaz’s groups’ efforts ALFAZ mayor Vicente Arques paid tribute to the town’s 120 groups and associations.

While at Alfaz Social Centre on a pre-Christmas visit he thanked

members of the different collectives for their hard work.

The setting was appropriate, Arques said, as it was planned as a centre where everyone

could connect. Local residents are worth all the local government’s efforts, the mayor added.

Local Norwegian charities presented donations to the mayor.

A project which is not to be rubbished LA NUCIA’S Alberca Ecoparque will recycle 30 different types of waste by 2014.

The second phase at the Calle Guadalest facilities on La Nucia’s industrial estate has now been completed.

The third and final stage of fencing and landscaping the 4,000m2 centre is due RECYCLING PLANT: (l to r) Councillor Miguel Angel to begin early next Ivorra, Foreign Residents’ councillor Bart Gommans year. and mayor Bernabe Cano.

It will also include an administrative area, a and encouraging rubbish by providing lecture room and an people to recycle. appropriate containers exhibition hall which The centre aims to for absolutely will be dedicated to make it easy for everything that they environmental education residents to recycle discard. The town hall

Pre-Christmas Generalitat PR shakeup GENERALITAT president Alberto Fabra has reshuffled his communications line-up.

The present team has been with him since he succeeded Francisco Camps two years ago. The new look is the culmination of what was described as “an internal revolution.”

This began six months ago but was hastened by controversy surrounding the Generalitat’s

decision to close the regional broadcaster RTVV. Neither were matters assisted by leaks regarding Fabra’s life coach, initially contracted by the Generalitat for €20,000. A public outcry prompted the president to announce that he would pay from his own pocket.

Ironically, rehabilitating the Valencian president’s public image has been allotted to Lola Johnson,

first a presenter and some years later director of RTVV’s Canal 9.

She was also a member of the Consell – equivalent to a Cabinet – where she was briefly both spokeswoman and head of Tourism.

Johnson must now cope with next year’s European elections followed by regional elections in 2015. These results will decide Fabra’s future, insiders say.

also hopes that the Ecoparque will discourage the present habit of disposing of rubbish by throwing it into gullies or on waste land.

The town will be cleaner as well as sustainable, said mayor Bernabe Cano.

“Recycling concerns us all and the Alberca eco-park supplies what was missing,” he declared.

The recycling ethos should begin with the young children who represent La Nucia’s future, Cano said. It was for this reason that the Provincial Government-funded €690,000 project includes the lecture and exhibition rooms, he explained.

EWN

5

NEWS EXTRA

Numbers fall for socialists THE Benidorm branch of the PSOE party has lost 41 per cent of its paid-up members over the past five years. There are now 502 compared with 295 in 2008.

Drain gain SEAFRONT homes adjoining Denia’s Almadraba beach have finally solved an old problem. After years of having to use septic tanks, they have now been connected to the town’s sewer system.

Debt-ridden BANKIA confirmed that it will not refinance Valencia CF’s €85 million debt. The football club, which now owes €200 million, will be put up for sale.

Going it alone SAN JUAN town hall still awaits regional government funding for its Adult Education school. Tired of all the delays it has faced, the council will meet all of the necessary €73,000 itself, a spokesman revealed.

6

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS EXTRA

Royal choice ALICANTE artist Paco Saez was chosen to illustrate the children’s page of the Spanish royal family’s website.

Animation specialist Saez has worked for Disney and Warner Bros.

Heavy haul TWENTY tonnes of copper cable disappeared from the site of new Ikea in Alfafar (Valencia). The haul worth around €100,000 could only have been removed by lorry, police said.

Carol concert ICAS MARE NOSTRUM foundation is organising an International Choir Festival at 6pm on December 26 at Alfaz del Pi’s Casa de la Cultura. Proceeds will go to the AECC anticancer charity.

www.euroweeklynews.com

DIY solution for Alicante’s infected palms PALM trees in gardens in Alicante city’s La Condomina neighbourhood are riddled with weevils.

Owners of affected trees must remove them by law but residents complained that the city hall lorry fails to turn up and take the palms away. Some prefer to pay private contractors up to €600 to get rid of

them. “The Generalitat has engaged a firm to remove the dead trees but they told me that palms are falling all the time in Elche and they cannot keep up,” said one La Condomina owner. “They told me to cut up my tree in one-metre sections and they would pick it up when they could.”

Fishermen’s friends ALICANTE Provincial Government has provided new oilskins for fishermen on the province’s 1,000 boats.

Alejando Morant, head of the province’s Public Works and Development department, visited Costa Blanca fishing ports to present the new safety wear.

The fishermen’s guilds had requested help in acquiring the high-visibility hooded jackets and bibbed trousers, Morant explained. Thanks to the €40,000 investment the men can now work in safer conditions, he said.

These difficult times are also hard for the fishing industry and they will not have to meet the cost themselves, Morant pointed out in Campello where he handed over 34 sets of the oilskins.

HI VIS: Campello’s acting mayor Lourdes Llopis, Alejandro Morant (second left) and councillor Noelia Garcia (centre) with fishermen The lion’s share of the new work clothes went to the fishing fleets in Santa Pola and Villajoyosa which received 319 and 168 sets respectively. Next in

line was Calpe, with 101.

Benidorm’s harbour sees more pleasure boats than fishing vessels, but is home to a small fleet and received 10 sets.

NEWS

A little Christmas cheer CREAMA workers have reportedly not been paid since August.

The regional government owes Creama (Consortium for Economic Recovery in the Marina Alta) €500,000.

Seventeen employees have had to manage as best they can without salaries and as Christmas approaches, Denia town hall intends to advance them €30,000. The debt was run up by Servef, the Valencian Community’s employment service, said Denia’s Finance councillor Vicente Chelet.

The regional government has rubber-stamped the payment but the cash has not yet materialised.

Once received and after employees have been paid, the €250,000 balance will be used to retrain those made jobless by the economic crisis.

NEWS

NEWS EXTRA

Stuck up VILLENA’s street-cleaning service has acquired a machine that removes chewing gum from pavements. Instead of the 15 minutes an person requires, the machine removes it in 35 seconds flat.

Truancy risk THE regional government’s stringent rules to decide eligibility for free school transport has withdrawn the service from 3,000 Benidorm pupils. This could encourage truancy, the town hall warned.

Tree mugger THE vandal that Torrente (Valencia) growers nickname “the orangetree murderer” has destroyed 600 trees there since July. In his most recent attack he axed 40 trees one night.

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Local beaches take a leading role in series

VILLAJOYOSA’s beaches provided the backdrop for two forthcoming episodes of the ‘Aguila Roja’ national TV series.

A 60-member production unit filmed on the La Caleta beach, to the satisfaction of the Tourism councillor Xaro Escrich.

“We feel very proud that La Vila has been chosen for Aguila Roja,” said Escrich.

The RTVE television series, named after its hero Aguila Roja (Red Eagle), is set in the 17th century. The central character defends the weak as he endeavours to disentangle the murder of his wife.

LA CALETA: Villajoyosa reverts to the 17th century The Villajoyosa episodes reveal Aguila Roja carrying out his most difficult and important mission yet. “This is good publicity for

the town and our wonderful beaches that are as famous for the quality of the water as their beauty,” said Xaro Escrich.

EWN

7

Hospital wins its tax case DENIA town hall will not receive a hoped-for €1.4 million from Marina Salud.

The courts recognised its entitlement to a 95 per cent reduction on the ICIO construction tax.

The town hall accepted that the health centre entered the category of “particular interest” but wanted to allow only a 10 per cent discount.

Alleging that Marina Salud did not act disinterestedly, it fought the company’s claim to a greater discount .

It has now come up against a dead end, with a ruling in Marina Salud’s favour to pay just €84,101.

The highest level of protection for the past BENIDORM’S Historic Heritage department wants recognition for the Tossal site in La Cala.

Councillor Eva Mayor has sent a request to the

central government’s department of Education, Sport and Culture to register El Tossal site as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).

This would afford it the highest level of protection under current Spanish legislation and guarantee that the site is safeguarded in coming

years, Mayor explained.

Excavations at El Tossal site which were carried out this summer confirmed that this small headland was once a Roman fort.

It was built approximately 2,090 years ago by the Roman general Sertorius during his conflict with Rome, experts believe.

8

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS EXTRA

Bonfire bonanza ALICANTE city can look forward to extended Hogueras festivities next June.

The regional government declared June 23 and June 24 as public holidays, promising a long weekend.

Stay public AROUND 170 employees demonstrated recently outside Alicante airport.

They want the airport to remain with state operator AENA and privatisation plans to be discarded.

Landlocked SEAWEED and sand blocked Javea’s Fontana canal from the Parador to the Arenal beach.

Boat-owners could neither leave nor enter the private or public moorings.

www.euroweeklynews.com

Family disputes BNP inheritance THE family of a deceased Briton who lived in Alicante at the time of his death is challenging his will.

Northumbria-born Joseph Robson died last March at the age of 81.

He reportedly left his entire estate outside Spain, valued at

£389,000 (€461,051), to the British Nationalist Party.

The contents of his Spanish bank account - £135 (€160) - was bequeathed to his sons Jeremy and Simon.

The BNP gift was illegal, the sons insisted, because their

father was not registered to vote in the UK during the five years preceding his death.

In the eyes of the law he was a “foreigner” not entitled to make political donations.

The BNP is now disputing these claims.

Police swoop on child porn network EIGHTEEN people in 17 provinces including Alicante were arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography.

Amongst them was a German, 62, living in Benidorm, connected to local youth organisations.

Police found encryption programmes enabling him to exchange files without detection.

One of the rooms in his apartment contained a camera and had blanked-out windows, National Police revealed.

ENTICEMENT: A drawer full of bait to lure victims A drawer contained dolls, new clothes and sweets to tempt victims enticed into his home.

Now remanded, he will also be charged with child abuse.

He was prosecuted in Germany for abusing a former partner’s daughter from when she was 10 until she reached 17. Photos and a video of the girl were found in the apartment.

A restraining order was issued in his own country, prohibiting him contact with minors.

Police tracked down the group thanks to a new computer programme.

NEWS

Bus row solution found ALICANTE and the Generalitat have reached agreement about the city’s bus service (TAM).

The region’s Infrastructure department and the city hall will now pay TAM bus lines in the l’Alacanti area per passenger and not by the kilometre.

“The system and the TAM service will not change,” declared Isabel Bonig who heads the region’s Infrastructure department.

The Generalitat will continue to contribute €1.9 million as before, she explained.

City hall will also make the same contribution as formerly, added mayor Sonia Castedo. By paying per passenger instead of distance covered, the council will not have to increase its share, she said.

10

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS EXTRA

Ticket to ride A TOTAL of 11,339 Valencia region passengers used urban public transport during October.

This was 1.8 per cent more than in October 2013, but 2 per cent below this year’s average.

Fireraiser bill SUBSTITUTING 11 deliberately burnt rubbish containers has cost Elche council €15,624. Nine of the rubbish containers were destroyed by vandals on November 24 and two more earlier this month.

New pipes JAVEA’S municipal water board, Amjasa, is renewing water pipes between the Cabo de la Nao road and the new Saladar roundabout. The work will cost an estimated €128,645.

www.euroweeklynews.com

Avoiding all of the sharks Euro Weekly News reader Linda Gonzalez had a suspicious call.

“This is the butano company.

Do you speak Spanish?” came a friendly voice.

“Quite a bit,” she answered.

“We’d like check your butane bottles,” the caller replied.

“Not today thank you,” Linda said and hung up.

Gas bottles come from Cepsa or Repsol, not a generic “butano company,” she pointed out after contacting the EWN. And there is

Electronic cigarettes going up in smoke

no butane contract in her name, she told our reporter.

Bogus gasmen are just some of many sharks who prey on foreign residents, especially the elderly.

Aware of this, the National Police held talks at Benidorm social centres. They gave a rundown on the perennial gasmen, and impostors posing as priests, town hall officials, and charity collectors.

PERENNIAL SCAM: Repsol and Cepsa visit only when asked

Marsh conflict lingers on and on TEN YEARS after Carlos Pascual despoiled the Pego-Oliva marsh, the council must pay up.

Pego’s then mayor and Agriculture councillor Jose Orihuel went to prison for illegally

draining part of the marsh, a protected area.

They received six-year terms and were ordered to pay €1.2 million to repair the damage caused between 1996 and 2003.

With only €131,500 paid and both men alleging insolvency, the high court is asking the town hall for the rest.

“Even if we wanted to pay this much, we would not be able to,” lamented

NEWS

the present mayor Enrique Moll.

“It’s impossible,” agreed Finance councillor Carmelo Ortola.

The sentence has been confirmed even though the town hall has since invested in the Marsh and reversed Pascual’s damage.

“We are negotiating with the regional government to reduce the debt or even write it off,” Moll explained.

If the Pego is obliged to pay, the town hall will insist that the money is reinvested in the marsh, the mayor added.

SALES of electronic cigarettes could be subject to the same controls as tobacco.

The central government is considering whether the placebos, sold in more than 500 Valencia region establishments, should now be regulated in the same way as cigarettes.

Should this happen, the electronic devices will then only be available from authorised outlets.

They would also be banned in closed public places including bars and restaurants, exactly the same as cigarettes.

Experts are undecided regarding reports on the potential health risks of electronic cigarettes.

These are still “contradictory and insufficient,” to make a decision, they said.

Users and Valencian businesses selling the cigarettes would welcome guidelines, it was claimed, as many of the devices imported from China do not list their contents and could potentially harm users and those around them.

NEWS

Getting in the swim CALPE has solved the problem of running its heated indoor swimming pool.

Club Natacio Calp signed an agreement with Mayor Cesar Sanchez and will take over the pool after Gestkal XXI used its contract get-out clause in August because it was losing money.

This company succeeded Gaia Gestion Deportiva which ended its contract by mutual agreement with Calpe town hall in 2009.

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Olive oil named for lighthouse ALFAZ businessman Antonio Alcaraz is to market olive oil named Faro del Albir.

The faro in question is, of course, the lighthouse that overlooks the sweep of coast all the way to Moraira.

Alcaraz is producing a limited edition of 20,000 numbered, signed bottles of the choice grade of oil.

He decided on the project less than a year ago, putting to good use his olive groves in Jaen, a province renowned for its production.

The result, made from choice ‘picual’ olives collected while green, will be on sale next year.

It joins Alcaraz’s wine production which reflects his regard for the Marina Baja with names like Altea and Fuentes de Algar.

ALBIR: Lighthouse that inspired choice oil.

EWN

11

Helping hand with Ikea ALFAFAR TOWN HALL is assisting residents hoping to work at Ikea when it opens there next summer.

Twelve computers have been installed in the old Bancaja building so that Alfafar residents can complete online application forms. Help will be available for those lacking computer skills.

The closing date for applications for the 400 jobs has been extended by five days to January 5.

12

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS EXTRA

Early arrivals VALENCIA PROVINCE’S Alto de las Picarazas archaeological site is one of Europe’s oldest, experts believe. They have found prehistoric tools and evidence of human habitation going back about 1.5 million years.

Jobseekers go MORE than 4,000 Spaniards left the Valencian Community between January and July, to seek work. This doubled the number immigrants.

www.euroweeklynews.com

Better airport access, in time THE Public Works Ministry have given the go-ahead for improving Alicante Airport’s access roads.

A budget of €24.5 million has been set aside for widening the N-338, which connects the N-332 with the Alicante bypass.

ALICANTE AIRPORT: 10 million arrivals and departures this year.

There is just one stumbling block: funding.

The ministry can assign just €100,000 from its 2014 budget,

without another euro available until 2017.

Few plans can be made until 2015, when the ministry can access Brussels-approved funds Wireless networks for developing the must be disabled when European transport working from laptops network which includes and computers disabled the airport. even for a temporary Planned improvements absence from the to the airport coincide workstation. with suggestions already Any regional put forward by the government employee Alicante Institute of ignoring the new rules Economic Studies (Ineca). or making incorrect use Ten million passengers of the information used the airport this year, faces disciplinary Ineca pointed out, and its action, the Valencia current access roads are Region’s official bulletin at risk of collapse by announced.

2015.

Waterproofing the leaks THE regional government is tightening up security.

A new set of safety

measures designed to ‘minimise the probability of threats’ to its computer systems must be respected by all employees who use or can access the systems.

The new rules stress that no documents may be ‘copied, extracted or transmitted’ for private use and copied documents removed immediately from printers.

NEWS ‘Ferry’ nice in Denia THE Balearia shipping line is investing a further €3.6 million in its Denia maritime terminal.

At present, passengers using the Pansa Pier board and leave the ferries via a passageway protected - in places - with a cane awning.

This will soon be consigned to the past, announced Balearia, which is now commencing the second phase of improvements to the port area.

Passengers will now board and dock via a bridge which connects the quay with the second floor of the ferry terminal.

Work will be carried out by Ferrovial, with the new system expected to be in place within six months.

NEWS

NEWS EXTRA

Clooney extras HUNDREDS of hopefuls queued up at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences after reading that the forthcoming Disney film ‘Tomorrowland’ starring George Clooney needed extras.

Back to Spain TWO lorry drivers held in Sierra Leone for 11 months, Jose Mocholi and Luis M Huerta have returned to Valencia.

Knife attack A WOMAN attacked a man with a knife during an argument at a house in the Alcoy neighbourhood of Batoy. The incident required the intervention of the Local Police.

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Benissa to host table tennis championship BENISSA is set to host the Ping-Pong Automatic Teams Championship at the weekend.

The competition starts on Saturday and will feature the best teams in the Valencian Community.

This was announced by the

president of the Valencian Federation, Jose Gomez and by PingPong Club President of Benissa, Vicente Esparza, along with the Councillor for Sports, Arturo Poquet.

It will take place at the Palau Sant Pere in Benissa and will include a

total of 16 men’s and eight women’s teams. There will be trophies for the top three finishers in each category.

The only team playing for the district of Marina Alta will be Benissa, which currently plays in the ‘superautonomic’ category.

Riverbank eyesore gone

THE old gravel works on the banks of the River Algar have been dismantled.

Disused since the late 1970s, the run-down installation stood out like a sore thumb and obstructed the pathway constructed three years ago.

Anyone wishing to venture further upstream had to return to the road and use the hard shoulder for a few hundred metres.

REDUCED TO RUBBLE: The gravel works on the River Algar.

The site has now been ceded to the town hall for six years.

Now that the site has

been cleared it can be replanted with the area’s traditional poplars.

Non-native plants that

have gradually invaded the river will be removed, Environment Councillor Miguel Angel Capilla said.

EWN

13

A family day to Expojove A TRIP to Expojove in Valencia is being organised by local town halls.

Expojove is a fair for children and young people held every year by Valencia Town Hall and this year Denia, Javea, Poble Nou de Benitatxell, Teulada, Benissa and Calpe have organised a trip to the event during the Christmas holidays.

The theme will be ‘Neverland’ with children enjoying a varied programme, with activities, games and attractions.

The excursion, designed for the whole family, will be held Saturday, January 4.

Those interested must reserve before Monday at the town hall of any of the organising councils.

Tickets are €10.

14

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Be a dynamic success with EWNGETSIT.com

EWN GETS IT .com

JOIN part of the newest and brightest business web directory in Spain The Euro Weekly News group has launched the perfect one stop shop for customers to find everything they need in Spain and Gibraltar - the EWNGETSIT.com business directory.

Already some of the Costas’ biggest success stories have signed up for what they see as a great value business opportunity.

Go-getting companies like Sala Group and VIP Cars have proved they know what it takes to make a business a success story and have been amongst the first to join the dynamic directory.

And we at the Euro Weekly News know what it takes to help people take their businesses up to the next level.

That is why we launched the directory – to give businesses the chance to reach the most potential customers possible, backed by the power of the EWN group.

EWN’s new online directory is a great value business opportunity.

EWNGETSIT.com is just the latest string to the bow of one of Spain’s greatest expat success stories.

Six newspapers read by half a million people every week, together with the

Euro Weekly News website packed full of local news, point directly to the site, guaranteeing plenty of online interest for our clients. And our readers can go to the site to look up businesses across a wide

spectrum of services.

EWNGETSIT.com offers flexibility and can tailor listings to individual business needs. You may enter your business into several categories to increase your business opportunities. We offer ongoing support ensuring you are always in control of the information in the listings for an annual fixed fee, as well as including links back to your own website within the online directory.

The directory is user friendly, the ideal way to reach a wider target audience.

The site is linked to various social networking sites and updated on a daily basis.

Special end of year offers of up to 70 per cent discount available for December.

Contact us by email directory@ewngetsit.com or call 952 561 245 immediately for the best deals.

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Mayor takes stand on La Pedrera DENIA’S Marina Salud hospital continues to avoid transferring patients to the La Pedrera centre.

Mayor Ana Kringe said the town hall is losing its patience.

La Pedrera, Denia’s state centre for long-stay patients, has a unit specialising in cerebral aftercare and takes patients from all over Alicante province.

Marina Salud, which provides outsourced HELP of Denia and Marina Alta Christmas Fayre held healthcare for the at Los Arcos in Pedreguer was reportedly a huge Marina Alta, should not success. allege financial reasons, Some 40 stalls were available and a constant Kringe warned. stream of people attended, making for a very festive “If the company has atmosphere. economic problems, There was entertainment provided by the choir who that’s their concern not created the Christmas feeling followed by Freeway, mine. Town halls have Ruby Blues, Lee Napier and a demonstration of rock them, too, but it would not occur to me to close and roll. privatise the The proceedings finished with the drawing of the or she raffle. All the prize-winning numbers with prize residence,” information can be found on the HELP website, declared.

“We will wait until www.helpofdenia.com and can be collected from the January and if nothing is office in La Xara.

A magnificent total of more than €4,200 was raised done, we shall take to fund charity activities. steps.”

Christmas cheer for all in Los Arcos

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

EWN

15

16

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

NEWS EXTRA

Christmas with the mountain walkers THE Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers are continuing with their walks over the festive period.

Anyone interested in joining them should contact the individual group leader.

On Saturday there is a 10am start for a moderately strenuous five-hour walk from Fleix or a six-hour walk with some rough terrain from Llosa. Call Alan on 965 583 637 or John on 646 310 164.

Next Saturday there is a 10am start for a five-hour walk from Denia, Eye of Montgo, with some rough terrain and scrambling.

Call Chris on 637 917 432.

A New Year’s Day special walk in Lleus starts at 11am with participants asked to bring food and drink for a party picnic afterwards. Call Colin on 608 000 697.

Walkers participate at their own risk.

Check the rules and guidelines for walking on the website: www.cbmwalkers.org

NEWS Rise in jobless SINCE August the number of unemployed people in the area has risen by 2,077.

The rise reveals the fragility of the job market and its reliance on tourism.

Mortgage aid

WORKING HARD: Keira undergoing special therapy.

Thanks for giving Keira a Happy Christmas...

By Dilip Kuner LITTLE Keira Alvarez Turner can have a Happy Christmas thanks to the generosity of the Costa community.

Generous donations from charities and individuals have meant the Cerebral Palsy sufferer from Finestrat has undergone a

course of much needed treatments which, said her mother Debbie Turner, have made a huge difference to her life.

Debbie said: “Keira did absolutely amazing as usual. It was hard for her but in the end worth it.

“Since being back from the therapy she has seen both her normal physiotherapists and they are both astounded by her progress.

“She has better balance, is using her left hand more,

taking better assisted steps and has better trunk control.”

Now Debbie would like to send her thanks to everyone who has helped Keira get ready for her best Christmas ever.

She said: “A big Christmas thanks to Moraira Charity Shop, Original Charity Shop Javea, Eurochange and Liars Bar and also

we had three kind donations from Euro Weekly News readers.

“Without their help this was not possible and we are eternally grateful for this.

Merry, merry Christmas to you all, my best and biggest present this year has been the support of such a great community for my little Keira throughout this year. I could not think of a better present.”

Killer gone MIGUEL RICART, convicted of the triple murder of three women in Alcasser, Valencia, has been released under the ‘parot doctrine’. He has left Catalonia and gone to France.

Work frozen WORK on the Els Algars water treatment plant will remain frozen. Alcoy and Cocentaina have criticised the regional government for stopping the project, which would serve to supply water to industry.

Less crime

Congratulations!

IT’S good news for EWN Head Translator Jennifer Leighfield and her partner Hakim – the couple are expecting their first child in June.

THE PAH action group against mortgage evictions has called for local municipalities to play a more active role in mediation with banks. PAH is currently helping 230 families in the Marina Baixa.

MICHEL AND STEVEN EUESDEN and all the staff at the Euro Weekly News send congratulations to Michelle Baker of Benidorm’s Round Town Times and husband Paco on the birth of their baby boy.

THE number of juvenile offenders in San Vicente has fallen by 23 per cent in one year.

€1.4m bail ALICANTE’S former mayor has been convicted of three tax offences and set €1.4 million bail. He was accused of defrauding money from the Tax Office Treasury.

18

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

S CANDINAVIAN P RESS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Stories making headlines in Europe

GERMAN PRESS Token women?

BRITISH PRESS Online library

Quality life

Starting up

NORWAY - The National Library is digitising all the books on its shelves, and putting them online. Anyone with a Norwegian IP address will be able to access the information free.

FIGURES released by the Office for National Statistics give weight to Chancellor George Osborne’s claim that his economy plan is working. The UK is now tied with Denmark and France in the living standards league table.

MORE than 500,000 new businesses have been started this year in the UK, according to new research.

Signing off SWEDEN - One of the best Swedish football players, Anders Svensson, is quitting the national team. After scoring 21 goals in 148 matches the player, aged 37, has decided that it’s time to step aside and leave room for younger players.

Selfie video DENMARK - After the massive media reaction and criticism about the popular ‘selfie’ taken by Helle Thorning, Denmark’s Prime Minister, with Barrack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s memorial in South Africa, she has posted a new ‘selfie video’ on Youtube to calm the waters.

Spice warning NORWAY - The Food Standards Authority has issued a warning to ‘heavy users’ of cinnamon to watch their intake during the Christmas and festive season. Coumarin, a substance found in cinnamon, could potentially cause liver damage when taken to excess.

School change SWEDEN - The Education Ministry has proposed barring the prestigious national boarding schools of Sweden from charging parents additional fees for their children’s education, turning them into government-funded free schools.

Schoolgirl suicide IZZY DIX, aged 14, hanged herself after years of bullying, an inquest heard. Her mother has now launched an anti-bullying campaign.

Firefighters strike FIREFIGHTERS across England and Wales have staged strikes over pension payments. Fire chiefs have warned people to take extra care during the strikes, even urging people to get a takeaway rather than cook at home when ‘under the influence’.

Baby death

Doughnut time

TWO women have been arrested after police were called to a property in West Yorkshire, after concerns were raised about a baby who later died in hospital.

The investigation is in its early stages and the women have been released on bail.

DUNKIN’ DONUTS has opened its first UK store in Harrow, London. It is one of 50 planned for Greater London and another 100 around the country over the next five years.

Learn English A TOUGHER test is to be introduced for migrants looking to claim benefits.

Migrants who cannot speak English well enough to get a job face being denied benefits.

SPREADING: 150 Dunkin’ Donuts stores planned for UK.

Russian military

Nuke threat

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has sent a warning that the country will not allow any nation to prevail over Russia in military terms. He added that ‘some’ countries are developing new kinds of weapons, but Russia knows how to counter them.

A SENIOR Russian official said Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional military strike and sees them as a great equaliser, reducing the likelihood of aggression.

RUSSIA is ‘defending traditional family values’ against ‘genderless and infertile Western tolerance’, according to President Putin. He said he is a defender of conservative values.

Can’t go GREENPEACE activists facing trial for a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic have been barred from leaving the country despite an international court ruling.

Winter Olympics SOCHI Winter Olympics Games will have enough snow in February, said Russia’s chief weather forecaster. There were concerns about a snowless Olympics.

COMPANIES could be forced to put more women in their boardrooms. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has suggested 30 per cent of board seats should go to women by 2016.

Looking up GERMANY and Ireland will take centre roles in the Eurozone recovery. The two countries are likely to see a significant pick-up in growth next year, according to the Bank of America.

New record F1 CHAMPION Sebastian Vettel has another record.

The helmet he wore at the 2013 German Grand Prix sold for $118,000 (€86,000) at a charity auction in the UK. The previous record was $114,000 (€82,900) for a helmet used by the late Ayrton Senna.

Wrong men

RUSSIAN PRESS

Traditional values

EUROPEAN PRESS

Polemic toy A TOY store chain is under investigation for stocking a game that allegedly promotes homosexual behaviour. The game allows players to seduce members of the same sex. The toy store, Katyusha, will be closed during the investigation.

Warhead storage RUSSIA has started building storage facilities for more than 100 Bulava missiles near the border with Norway. The missile can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads each 10 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

POWERFUL: Bulava missiles.

TWO Polish men who say they were beaten up by German police are to seek damages. The two men were pounced on and beaten by men wearing ski masks before being taken to a police station near Berlin.

It is thought to be a case of mistaken identity.

Top job LEADER of the German Social Democrats Sigmar Gabriel will lead a new Economics and Energy Ministry after the SDP entered a coalition with the conservative CDU/CSU parties.

Hot star HIGHLY-RATED Hoffenheim football club winger Kevin Volland, 21, is being targeted by Liverpool and Arsenal, according to press reports. They are said to be ready to pay €14 million to sign him.

20

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

MALLORCA

Unidentified horses ONLY 1 per cent of horses which are found abandoned in Mallorca have identification. Most abandoned horses are found on the Palma-Inca motorway and Carretera de la Serra.

www.euroweeklynews.com

News from our editions With six editions and read by more than half a million people, EWN is Spain’s largest free local English-language newspaper

A MAN, 40, was arrested in Manacor for allegedly exposing himself to small girls at the entrance to local schools.

THE Brigade of the Spanish Legion has presented the 101 kilometre test which takes place in Ronda with the participation of members from the Viator base.

A MAN, 22, had to be treated for smoke inhalation after a fire brokeout in his apartment in Palma. Other residents of the three-storey block were evacuated for safety.

In the swim

Church repairs

A REPORT by Palma Local Police shows that an exam within the force which was meant to be confidential to guarantee fair marking by the tribunal, was not.

Self defence A BAR in Palma, Sa Taverna, has been offering free personal defence classes for women for the past three months, with an expert in martial arts.

AXARQUIA

Conman sentenced A GRANADA resident has been sentenced to 22 months in prison after staying at a Motril hotel for more than a month and leaving without paying.

Santa fun run in Torrevieja RUNNERS from Running Wild took part in the annual Santa Run in Torrevieja. First was Helen Mitford, second Karen Pemberton, third Lin Gossage with Pat Murphy, Maureen Lockey, Sue Pullan, Julie Rushton and Yvonne Sherrington coming in together just afterwards.

Station co-funding NERJA council and the Malaga provincial government will co-fund the fire station planned for the town seven years ago until the regional government provides funds.

COSTA DEL SOL

High school protest

Body found

THREE THOUSAND people demonstrated on Sunday morning in Rincon de la Victoria asking for a new high school in the town.

THE body of a man was found outside the fire station in Avenida Moliere in Malaga City. It was found in an area destined for training.

Bad stepson

Hospital full

A MAN has been arrested in Salobreña after he reportedly beat his stepfather up in order to steal his car.

THERE have been complaints that the Emergency Department at Malaga Regional Hospital is overwhelmed by the number of people and the lack of beds.

Mourning day TUESDAY was an official day of mourning in Almuñecar after a civil servant, aged 43, died in a motorbike accident in the avenida Costa del Sol of the town.

Say it with flowers

Legion test

Smoke inhalation

Unfair exam

with 32,524 passengers an increase of 9.5 per cent on the same month of 2012.

ALMERIA City Hall continued the tradition of giving away 2,000 of the Christmas plants ‘Pascueros’.

Hundreds of people turned up in the city centre with the plants being snapped up within half an hour.

‘Pervert’ detained

THE bells of the Mare de Deu dels Angels parish church in Pollença have been taken down in order to carry out repair work.

NEWS DESK

Fatal accident A MAN, 45, died in an accident on the A-7 motorway in Las Lagunas when his motorbike was hit by a car which

ALMERIA swimmer Carlos Tejada has won four gold medals at the 18th Paralympics Swimming Open held in Cadiz.

On the beat LOCAL POLICE in Cuevas del Almanzora are to increase their presence on the streets during the festive period up until January 6.

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

Three kings

failed to pause at a give way sign and then fled the scene.

ORIHUELA COSTA’S Three Kings parade on Sunday, January 5 will depart from calle Nicolás de Bussy at 5pm and parade to Zenia Boulevard Shopping Centre where the reception of the Magi will take place.

Man found

Fair trade

A MAN, 85, who was reported missing, was found the following day in the Churriana area of Malaga. He was disorientated and had slight hypothermia but was otherwise well.

THE Fair Trade Shop in Orihuela is launching a campaign to promote the purchase of Fair Trade gifts at Christmas.

Train tickets RENFE has launched train tickets to travel between Malaga and Madrid until January 6, priced from just €23.85.

Dangerous driver A DRIVER caused an accident on the A-357 in Malaga when he hit a car after travelling seven kilometres in the wrong direction. Both men were injured.

COSTA DE ALMERÍA

Airport increase ALMERIA airport closed November

Entrepreneurship SANTA POLA has been recognised, for the second year running, for its Local Development Agency in promoting entrepreneurship in the town.

Bowlers’ generosity SAN MIGUEL Bowls Club has donated more than €400 worth of food to help local people in need this Christmas.

Caritas collection A CONCERT for Caritas has collected milk for the charity. It is the fifth time this event has been organised by the Musical Union Torrevieja (UMT) and the Youth Band.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

inance F A EURO WEEKLY NEWS 6 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION // WWW.EWNBUSINESS.COM

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

business & legal

EWN

STAT OF WEEK SALES over the Constitution holiday weekend were 8 per cent up on last year. Sunday opening helped to boost turnover, said retailers’ chain, Anged.

Inditex milestone Foreign foray that turned to gold ZARA opened its first shop outside Spain 25 years ago.

The chain is at the heart of the Inditex empire that made Amancio Ortega the richest man in Spain and the third-richest in the world.

The Leon-born businessman was then and still is - based in Galicia and did not go far for his first venture abroad in December

1988, choosing Portugal.

After expanding throughout Galicia and taking on Portugal, Zara arrived in New York in 1989 and Paris in 1990. Next came Europe, Latin America, the Near East and Asia.

If Inditex, now present in 86 countries and with 20 online outlets, has weathered the storm it is thanks to the international market.

Fishing boats are steaming back THE European Parliament has approved a new fisheries deal between the EU and Morocco.

This comes two years after it blocked a previous agreement with Spain.

There was concern over its terms and the legal position of the Western Sahara, formerly Spanish and now controlled by Morocco.

Rabat retaliated by banning all EU fishing boats from Moroccan waters.

A total of 126 licences will now allow boats from 11 EU member states to fish off the 1,000kilometres of the Morocco coast for the next four years.

One hundred licences are to go to

Spanish boats.

Brussels will make a €30 million annual payment, of which €14 million is destined for developing Morocco’s own fishing industry.

The EU will also require Morocco to provide periodic proof that the Saharawi population in the Western Sahara benefits from this help and the employment it generates.

“This is an excellent deal for both sides. It fulfils all the conditions requested by the European Parliament in 2011, ensuring both environmental sustainability and a decent return for the EU budget contribution,” said Spanish MEP Carmen Fraga Estevez.

B

usiness extra

Bottling out COCA-COLA Iberian Partners plans to close four of its seven Spanish bottling plants.

Relocations and other ‘voluntary’ measures will affect 1,200 employees, representing 20 per cent of its staff.

Job lot WITH a €30bn budget and 20,000 staff, government labour exchange INEM places only 2.6 per cent of the unemployed.

Between April and July it mediated in 98,775 jobs, mostly on temporary contracts.

Mind the gap!

DESPITE equality laws, Spain’s women executives earn unequal pay.

On average they receive 10 per cent less, even when carrying out the same jobs.

A survey by market consultants Randstad found that a female manager or director earns an average yearly salary of €33,851 compared with a male’s €37,793.

Equality only exists on entering the labour market, found Randstad’s

managing director Maria Angeles Tejada Barrio. As she advances, however, a female’s salary does not keep pace with a male’s.

The sector also makes a difference.

The biggest wage gap exists in transport and logistics where there can be a 28 per cent disparity in salaries.

Banking is little better, with women earning 26 per cent less even though 56 per cent of managerial positions go to women and 44 per cent to men.

21

SYDNEY: From small star t, Zar a spread round the world.

22

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

LONDON - FTSE 100

currencies direct

C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 16

C O M PA N Y PRICE(P) Aberdeen Asset Mngmnt 451.25 Admiral Group PLC 1240.00 Aggreko PLC 1602.50 AMEC PLC 1050.00 Anglo American PLC 1252.75 Antofagasta PLC 754.00 ARM Holdings PLC 995.25 Associated Brit Foods 2254.50 AstraZeneca PLC 3514.25 Aviva PLC 417.40 Babcock Intrntnl Group... 1268.00 BAE Systems PLC 433.40 Barclays PLC 253.03 BG Group PLC 1226.00 BHP Billiton PLC 1741.50 BP PLC 467.60 British Am Tobacco 3131.00 British Land Co PLC 596.75 British Sky Broadcasting 804.00

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G. -5.00 -1.10 7.52 0.61 86.84 5.73 0.00 0.00 -16.50 -1.30 -7.00 -0.92 -6.00 -0.60 10.00 0.45 -4.00 -0.11 0.10 0.02 10.00 0.79 -0.50 -0.12 1.55 0.62 9.00 0.74 -16.00 -0.91 1.90 0.41 6.65 0.21 -2.00 -0.33 0.29 0.04

NET VOLUME 179.78 13.99 335.00 46.49 275.85 203.93 454.66 19.25 115.45 838.87 34.76 261.78 3,527.15 343.63 809.54 1,465.44 86.15 149.15 131.72

www.euroweeklynews.com

COME DIRECT TO US AND START SAVING MONEY NOW- See our advert on page 25

0.84259

1.18680 Units per €

United States $......................................................1.37540 Japan Yen ¥ ...........................................................141.767 Switzerland Francs................................................1.22140 Denmark Kroner ....................................................7.46128 Norway Kroner.......................................................8.44958

currenciesdirect.com/moraira • Tel: +34 966 265 072 C O M PA N Y

PRICE(P)

BT Group PLC Bunzl PLC Burberry Group PLC Capita PLC Carnival PLC Centrica PLC Coca-Cola HBC AG

368.95 1349.50 1449.00 994.25 2173.00 323.85 1611.00

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G.

DOW JONES

NASDAQ

C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 16

C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 16

C O M PA N Y MMM 3M Co AXP American Express Co T AT&T Inc BA Boeing Co CAT Caterpillar Inc CVX Chevron Corp CSCO Cisco Systems Inc DD Dupont E I De Nemours & Co XOM Exxon Mobil Corp GE General Electric Co GS Goldman Sachs Group Inc HD Home Depot Inc INTC Intel Corp IBM International Business Machine...

JNJ Johnson & Johnson JPM JPMorgan Chase and Co MCD McDonald's Corp MRK Merck & Co Inc MSFT Microsoft Corp NKE Nike Inc PFE Pfizer Inc PG Procter & Gamble Co KO The Coca-Cola Co TRV Travelers Companies Inc UTX United Technologies Corp UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc VZ Verizon Communications Inc V Visa Inc

PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME 126.43 83.68 33.85 133.83 86.05 119.90 20.24 60.24 95.31 26.84 168.39 79.01 24.29 172.80 91.35 56.17 94.44 48.38 36.69 76.40 30.25 82.37 39.23 86.49 107.35 70.48 47.84 207.36

-0.15 +0.38 -0.04 +0.87 +0.48 -1.09 -0.27 +0.29 -0.05 +0.30 +0.06 +0.48 -0.18 -0.57 +0.19 -0.14 +0.34 +0.06 -0.53 +0.17 0.00 +0.07 +0.02 -0.14 -0.74 -0.53 -0.29 +3.92

-0.12% +0.46% -0.12% +0.65% +0.56% -0.90% -1.32% +0.48% -0.05% +1.13% +0.04% +0.61% -0.74% -0.33% +0.21% -0.25% +0.36% +0.12% -1.42% +0.22% 0.00% +0.09% +0.05% -0.16% -0.68% -0.75% -0.60% +1.93%

1.7M 3.6M 24.9M 3.1M 4.2M 5.3M 51.9M 2.7M 10.6M 39.8M 2.5M 6.0M 20.6M 4.2M 7.9M 11.5M 3.3M 8.4M 40.1M 3.8M 26.1M 7.4M 14.0M 1.6M 4.5M 4.7M 11.9M 4.4M

1.90 -2.00 3.00 -0.50 9.00 0.50 0.00

C O M PA N Y

0.52 -0.15 0.21 -0.05 0.42 0.15 0.00

NET VOLUME 484.45 13.52 68.91 36.04 33.10 931.82 5.97

PRICE

CHANGE NET / %

$ 12.49 $ 3.72 $ 8.88 $ 5.70 $ 4.19 $ 5.75 $ 9.66 $ 17.11 $ 60.89 $ 10.45 $ 12.79

2.49 / +24.90% 0.74 / +24.83% 1.36 / +18.09% 0.81 / +16.56% 0.56 / +15.43% 0.75 / +15% 1.21 / +14.32% 2.04 / +13.54% 6.90 / +12.78% 1.18 / +12.73% 1.39 / +12.19%

$ 38.06 $ 2.36 $ 2.84 $ 4.86 $ 6.67 $ 5.27 $ 9.20 $ 13.59 $ 11.72 $ 12.11 $ 15.52

7.05 / -15.63% 0.28 / -10.61% 0.31 / -9.84% 0.44 / -8.30% 0.5099 / -7.10% 0.39 / -6.89% 0.66 / -6.69% 0.91 / -6.28% 0.78 / -6.24% 0.72 / -5.61% 0.92 / -5.60%

Most Advanced YRC Worldwide, Inc. Performance Technologies, Incorporated ChinaCache International Holdings Ltd. Enphase Energy, Inc. Hudson Global, Inc. Supertel Hospitality, Inc. Ambit Biosciences Corporation Sungy Mobile Limited Adobe Systems Incorporated Star Bulk Carriers Corp.

VisionChina Media, Inc.

Most Declined Insys Therapeutics, Inc. MediciNova, Inc. Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Lakeland Industries, Inc. Global-Tech Advanced Innovations Inc. XOMA Corporation National Security Group, Inc. Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp.

American Independence Corp.

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. TASER International, Inc.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

C O M PA N Y PRICE(P) Compass Group PLC 914.25 CRH PLC 1434.50 Croda International PLC 2307.00 Diageo PLC 1889.75 easyJet PLC 1469.50 Experian PLC 1071.50 Fresnillo PLC 721.75 G4S PLC 255.35 GKN PLC 355.45 GlaxoSmithKline PLC 1577.50 Glencore Xstrata PLC 299.95 Hammerson PLC 491.45 Hargreaves Lansdown 1279.50 HSBC Holdings PLC 647.25 IMI PLC 1445.50 Imperial Tobacco Gr PLC 2246.50 InterContinental Hotels 1892.50 International Consldtd ... 376.10 Intertek Group PLC 2936.00 ITV PLC 182.45 Johnson Matthey PLC 3171.00 Kingfisher PLC 368.50 Land Securities Grp PLC 927.00 Legal & General Grp PLC 207.95 Lloyds Banking Grp PLC 75.18 London Stock Exchange 1585.00 Marks & Spencer Group 459.35 Meggitt PLC 495.30 Melrose Industries PLC 283.25 Mondi PLC 922.50 National Grid PLC 763.25 Next PLC 5447.50 Old Mutual PLC 183.10 Pearson PLC 1286.00 Persimmon PLC 1126.50 Petrofac Ltd 1149.50 Prudential PLC 1274.00 Randgold Resources Ltd 3929.50 Reckitt Benckiser Grp 4612.00 Reed Elsevier PLC 858.50 Resolution Ltd 327.85 REXAM PLC 487.60 Rio Tinto PLC 3165.75 Rolls-Royce Holdings 1213.50 Royal Bank of Scotland 316.75 Royal Dutch Shell PLC 2154.25 RSA Insurance Group PLC 89.88 SABMiller PLC 2982.75 Sage Group (The) PLC 374.35 Sainsbury (J) PLC 390.50 Schroders PLC 2417.00 Severn Trent PLC 1679.00 Shire PLC 2733.50 Smith & Nephew PLC 839.50 Smiths Group PLC 1377.00 Sports Direct Intrntnl 702.50 SSE PLC 1332.50 Standard Chartered PLC 1286.25 Standard Life PLC 338.05 Tate & Lyle PLC 772.75 Tesco PLC 325.25 Travis Perkins PLC 1695.00 TUI Travel PLC 386.35 Tullow Oil PLC 835.00 Unilever PLC 2377.50 United Utilities Group 658.50 Vedanta Resources PLC 775.00 Vodafone Group PLC 226.25 Weir Group PLC 2071.00 Whitbread PLC 3513.50 William Hill PLC 371.15 Wm Morrison Sprmrkts 260.65 Wolseley PLC 3154.00 WPP PLC 1304.00

CHANGE 3.00 16.00 31.30 4.50 -4.00 -1.00 5.50 -0.50 0.20 7.00 -1.00 2.10 -4.00 0.84 5.00 10.00 -4.00 1.30 -12.00 -0.10 12.58 4.50 -1.50 0.80 -0.21 5.00 1.50 1.20 0.60 15.00 7.00 -15.00 0.80 5.00 -8.00 2.00 6.00 -34.00 36.00 0.32 6.10 8.70 -12.00 10.00 0.80 -1.00 -2.55 -0.50 -1.19 1.40 5.00 9.00 19.00 3.00 7.00 0.00 1.00 -11.50 1.60 0.50 1.01 -4.00 2.50 -4.00 -8.50 2.00 1.00 -0.40 16.00 14.00 1.20 -0.40 28.00 4.00

% C H G. 0.33 1.13 1.38 0.24 -0.27 -0.09 0.77 -0.20 0.06 0.45 -0.33 0.43 -0.31 0.13 0.35 0.45 -0.21 0.35 -0.41 -0.05 0.40 1.24 -0.16 0.39 -0.28 0.32 0.33 0.24 0.21 1.65 0.93 -0.27 0.44 0.39 -0.70 0.17 0.47 -0.86 0.79 0.04 1.89 1.82 -0.38 0.83 0.25 -0.05 -2.76 -0.02 -0.32 0.36 0.21 0.54 0.70 0.36 0.51 0.00 0.08 -0.89 0.48 0.06 0.31 -0.24 0.65 -0.48 -0.36 0.30 0.13 -0.18 0.78 0.40 0.32 -0.15 0.90 0.31

VOLUME 198.17 81.96 18.63 132.64 44.57 111.62 49.28 84.76 201.01 448.67 1,002.51 36.56 20.67 1,558.30 19.22 72.06 17.12 651.94 11.89 192.54 9.05 822.79 46.69 303.26 8,196.64 5.78 117.50 76.46 79.08 64.39 363.87 21.10 365.40 49.40 77.74 40.81 139.66 26.32 46.94 75.25 241.46 136.87 176.26 193.64 715.14 246.03 17,850.82 54.07 59.08 267.42 3.89 19.16 143.59 74.15 17.37 124.78 148.01 476.12 167.13 8.91 2,421.68 34.97 165.23 68.88 118.97 98.29 62.65 12,923.62 11.58 22.49 305.46 329.79 18.09 229.37

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

EWN

23

Austerity is not the way forward – CEPR AN EWN SPECIAL REPORT A NEW paper from the American Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR, no connection to the British CEPR) proposes alternatives to austerity that could restore full employment to Spain by 2018 or even sooner.

The paper: ‘Policy Alternatives for a Return to Full Employment in Spain’ by economists David Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot describes how, contrary to claims by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that ‘there is no other alternative’ to austerity, there are feasible policy changes that would allow Spain to increase growth and put people back to work, without increasing debt levels.

“This paper shows that Spain’s 26 per cent unemployment is an unnecessary human tragedy,” said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the CEPR. “It can be reduced dramatically with or without the co-operation of the European Central Bank (ECB).

“The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has called for the ECB to engage in quantitative easing. As our paper shows, this would make Spain’s return to full employment much easier.” Quantitative

PRINT MONEY: Advice to Frankfurtbased ECB.

easing is the process of printing more money.

The paper models alternative options that would bring the economy to its potential GDP by 2018, with generally less debt as a share of the economy. One of these options shows what would result if the ECB were to buy some of the debt with the intent of rebating (or forgoing) interest payments, which the paper finds would lower Spain’s debt levels. As it is a money-creating central

bank, there would be no true cost to the ECB. “The European Central Bank should act as other central banks such as the US and Japan have done, and help put the unemployed back to work,” said David Rosnick, the lead author of the paper.

The paper argues that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ‘misdiagnosed’ the nature of Spain’s loss of output as structural rather than cyclical, leading to analysis and growth

projections that suggest that Spain’s economy is not far from its potential.

In comparison to the IMF’s estimate that Spain’s economy is running 3.6 per cent short of potential, the OECD estimates the 2014 output gap to be minus 9.4 per cent.

The paper notes that if output is well below potential, this means that the economy is full of qualified workers left unemployed because business does not foresee sufficient sales to make the hiring of these workers profitable.

Only increasing demand for goods and services will return the unemployed to work, and this usually means that the government itself must step up by purchasing domestic goods and hire the unemployed.

Normally a recession-hit country can boost growth by lowering the value of its currency, but since Spain shares a common currency with its main trading partners, a nominal devaluation is not possible, making government spending even more important.

“The IMF appears to have given up on the idea of many of Spain’s unemployed ever returning to work, and apparently so has the government,” said Rosnick.

“But this is a costly mistake.”

24

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

Don’t get sucked into bad debt this Christmas WARNING! There is a new cream on the market. It claims to miraculously slim you down to the size of a salad-dependent supermodel as you sleep.

That’s right – no exercise, no gym membership, no balanced diet, simply apply the weight-loss cream before bedtime and you’ll wake up inches slimmer.

When something sounds too good to be true, it often is. And in the case of this type of cream, I imagine the only thing it will slim down is your wallet. Scientists have labelled the product, which costs about €90, a complete con and accused manufacturers of ‘preying on vulnerable people’.

And at Christmas-time vulnerable people seem

Loose change A look at finance for females

Jane Plunkett

BUSINESS EXTRA

Borrowing down IN November Spanish banks borrowed €223.8 billion from the European Central Bank. That was down from €237.4 billion in October, the 15th consecutive month of falls, according to Bank of Spain figures.

jane.plunkett@euroweeklynews.com

to be everywhere!

Right now, advertisers, manufacturers, shop owners and sellers of things everywhere are dreaming up every trick in the book to encourage us to buy, buy, buy!

Hence, a magic cream that makes you lose weight as you sleep has suddenly appeared on the market.

The all-too-common lackadaisical ‘sure it’s Christmas’ mentality is fatal to our finances and it’s something that we need to put in check before smart advertising

Debt level MAKE A LIST: Do as Santa does.

and two-for-one offers empty out our piggy banks. Just because it is Christmas doesn’t mean we have to lose all control over our spending. It should be quite the opposite. At this time of year we need to be much more aware of our budget and really analyse what we buy.

Do as Santa Claus does -

make a list. Check it twice. And then stick to it. For those budgeting this Christmas, find out what family members really want and buy presents accordingly. If Mum wants a nice scarf, then that’s the job done.

There really is no need to also grab the new celebrity perfume pack that’s on offer at the pay

point. It’s an extra afterthought that isn’t necessary and will probably end up collecting dust in the gift box anyway.

You won’t see Santa’s name on the black list at the local bank. He doesn’t get into debt. He makes do with what resources he has – and so should we all.

Luxury tourism is the way forward LUXURY tourism is the way forward for the Balearic Islands as the region has seen a big rise in the numbers of British visitors.

With up-market hotels recently opened and more on the drawing boards there is optimism about big-spending visitors. Now the regional government’s Councillor for Tourism and Sports, Carlos Delgado, has expressed his optimism towards British tourism. He said the UK market is on an ‘upward trend’ and ‘good’ forecasts are in place for the Balearic Islands for next year. Luxury tourism is largely to thank for this.

Daniel Chavarria Waschke, Managing Director of Balearics Sotheby’s International Realty, agreed. “Whilst other markets such as Greece, Egypt, Turkey, may have lowered their prices to attract more tourists, the Balearics have taken the bold decision to target the high end.

“Levels of quality, the calibre of hotel stock and prices have all gone in an upward direction

GOING UP-MARKET: Balearic tourism offer. and the plan has worked.

Comprising 26.16 per cent of the total Balearic tourist market, Brits have spent 8.5 per cent more in the Balearics in the first nine months of 2013 over last year and flight arrivals from the UK are also up 7.9 per cent to 3,046,681 for the same period.”

Serious hotel operators are now in action on the Balearics.

Jumeirah chose Mallorca for its

first foray into Spain, opening the five-star Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa in 2012.

Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel has just reopened after a nine-month, €13-million refurbishment, and the golffront Park Hyatt Mallorca is set to open in 2015. They join existing five-star establishments including the St Regis Mardavall and La Residencia by OrientExpress.

Across in Ibiza the upmarket Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel opened in 2011 and the Ushuaia Tower this summer, joining such establishments as the five-star boutique hotel Hacienda Na Xamena and Ibiza Gran Hotel and Casino in Ibiza Town.

Melia Hotels International, founded in Mallorca in 1956 and now with 350 hotels in more than 39 countries, has also announced grand plans for the Balearics. Speaking this month at an event at ME London, a hotel within the ME by Melia premium range, Chief Executive Gabriel Escarrer said it would open ME Mallorca (formerly the Beach House on Calvia Beach Resort) and ME Ibiza (formerly Sol S’Argamassa in beachfront Santa Eulalia) for 2014.

Escarrer said: “We are reaffirming our commitment to the Balearic Islands, investing in the transformation of two products that will be drivers of change to enhance our position as a holiday destination of quality.”

BY the end of September Spanish debt stood at 93.4 per cent of gross domestic product. The government’s target for the end of the year is 94.2 per cent.

Not happy TWO major investment funds are taking the Spanish government to the World Bank’s arbitration service over cuts to renewable energy subsidies. RREEF Infrastructure and Antin say the cuts are an unfair retroactive change that will cost them millions of euros.

Bleak outlook RATINGS agency Standard & Poor’s has said that the Spanish unemployment rate will not improve significantly for at least two years. The agency predicted the jobless figures would stand at 26.7 per cent at the end of 2013, fall to 26.4 per cent in 2014, before dipping to 25.5 per cent in 2015.

Full steam IBERDROLA Ingenieria signed a €66-million contract with Mexican oil company Pemex. It will construct a pipeline to channel steam between the Salamanca co-generation plant and the Riama refinery.

No prospects EMIGRANTS from Spain outnumbered immigrants by just over 160,000 in 20012, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Poor job prospects were to blame.

OPINION & COMMENT

Stayed in for delivery then took cash hit HOW about this for price manipulation?

I ordered five large gas bottles from my regular supplier, Cepsa in Javea, on Tuesday, December 3, for delivery on Wednesday.

I stayed in all day but alas no delivery. So I rang Cepsa to be told that they had a problem and a delivery would take place on Thursday. Again I stayed in all day but again no-one turned up.

As Friday was a bank holiday I had to wait until Monday to speak with Cepsa who said the gas would be delivered today (Tuesday).

Initially I had been quoted €312.50 and my wife made out a cheque for the driver. But on arrival he said that the price was now €335 and that the gas had gone up on Friday, a rise of €22.50, and my delivery was classed as a re-order.

Cepsa are not interested.

Way to go, Cepsa!

Ken Ward, Sagra (Alicante) Bob Mitchell’s letter calling for a ‘democratic Marxist State’ (Letters, Issue 1483) drew this response from readers...

Utter unreality HOW unknowing, unread and untravelled Bob Mitchell must be to write such an utter unreality as Marxism giving up power!

I was born and grew up in China with the communist regime.

Once Marxists are in place nothing and no-one will ever be allowed to replace them. It just goes to show what nonsense someone can believe in. I would prefer having nothing in a Capitalist state than having it all with the Marxists.

I wish Mr Mitchell all the best for his journey to a Marxist state knowing that once he is there we will never hear from him again; he will be in some labour camp to be taught how to be a good Marxist.

V Nedelec, Neuva Andalucia (Malaga)

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

Letters YOURSAY@EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

Letters for Your Say should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com, posted to Euro Weekly News, C/Moscatel 10, P-62, Polígono Industrial, Arroyo de la Miel, 29631 Benalmadena, Málaga, Spain or faxed to 0034 952 440 887

Photographs for possible publication should be sent by email with a full caption to: photonews@euroweeklynews.com

EWN

27

outside of marriage as adultery and fornication, and only rent rooms to legitimate couples, as there is no variation of wrong within the Ten Commandments.

Furthermore, unless they refuse to rent rooms to any two people of the same sex, how can they be sure which ones are gay, unless they are told?

They are well within their rights to advertise their establishment as a Christian B&B, the same as gay-friendly businesses do.

I suspect they don’t as it would not only put off nonChristians but also those of us who abhor bigotry in any form and try to live by Christ’s words: ‘Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers is what you do unto me’.

Herrison Sharpe (by email)

Look out!

I WAS fortunate enough to be at the old Estepona (Malaga) bus station and managed to photograph this graceful Griffon Vulture which had lost its direction.

By Robert Hayward Courteney

Good point BOB MITCHELL certainly has a point. Capitalism and democracy are failing the vast majority of people and it should not be like this. But there does not seem to be any legal means to change things. Blair and his ilk of selfserving toffs destroyed any semblance of a socialist alternative as the gap between the poor and mega-rich became a chasm.

The French are attempting to restore fairness by taxing the super-rich, so Cameron completely undermines their efforts by saying ‘come to Britain’.

Switzerland recently tried to enact a law which limited top earners’ pay to no more than 12 times that of the lowest paid.

What a wonderful ideal!

Unfortunately, it failed.

Senior judges, police officers and politicians lie (e.g.

Hillsborough), bankers are still filling their pockets.

Why should anyone have any respect for authority? I certainly haven’t.

Why can’t we have a government with integrity that

WHEN YOU WRITE All letters, whether by email or post, should carry the writer’s postal address, NIE and contact number though only the name and town will be published.

Letters may also be edited.

Readers who have missed earlier correspondence can see all letters posted on:

www.euroweeklynews.com

acts in the best interests of the majority? Isn’t that what democracy should be all about?

Why can’t we have the kind of government we deserve?

Paul Whitfield, Murla (Alicante)

Pointless holiday WHAT is the point of bank holidays if staff are then forced to work on a Sunday to make up for it?

I am referring to the recent holidays for Constitution Day where, around where I live, most of the supermarkets were open on the Sunday following,

before having the Monday off as well. I do hope the staff on duty were paid a decent bonus, otherwise they have simply lost their day off.

While convenient for the public, it would not have taken people much planning to make sure there was enough food in to last until the Tuesday. Then staff could have had a long weekend off with their families like the rest of us.

Jeanie Macmillan, Fuengirola (Malaga)

Truly devout?

IF Leapy Lee had chosen the argument that registrars should have the right to opt out of presiding over gay marriages on moral grounds, in the same way doctors may decline to perform abortions, I might have agreed with him.

I do not agree, however, that people should be discriminated against by a commercial business.

If this couple were truly devout Christians then they are obliged to consider ALL sex

A WARNING to everyone who lives in Dona Pilar (Mijas, Malaga). I have spotted the gypsy ladies around the area again. Last time they were around it coincided with a string of robberies and attempted robberies from properties.

With Christmas around the corner and many homes filled with expensive presents I would suggest people are extra careful with security and keep their doors and windows securely locked.

Name and address withheld

Religious freedom TO celebrate the festival of Chanukah, the Southern Costa Blanca Jewish Community recently held its third annual public lighting of an eightbranch candelabra (Menorah) at Playa Flamenca Beach.

Through your pages I should like to thank Martina Scheurer and the council of Orihuela Costa for their help and support in this annual event.

During the course of the evening, which was attended by more than 100 people, Councillor Scheurer spoke of her pleasure in being able to participate, and also said how important it is that people of all religions are free to practise their religion here in Spain.

Alan Harris (by email)

The views expressed and opinions given in Letters are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements, and reject claims arising out of any action that a company or individual may take on the basis of information contained therein.

28

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

THURSDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

09 am

06 am

06 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 10:15am Heir Hunters 11:00am Homes Under the Hammer 12:00pm Caught Red Handed 12:30pm Helicopter Heroes 1:15pm Bargain Hunt 2:00pm BBC News at One 2:30pm BBC London News 2:45pm Perfection 3:30pm Escape to the Country 4:30pm Christmas Kitchen with James Martin 5:15pm Flog It! 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News at Six 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm The One Show 8:30pm EastEnders 9:00pm The Great Train Robbery 10:30pm Mrs. Brown's Boys 11:00pm BBC News at Ten 11:25pm BBC London News 11:35pm The Royle Family 12:35am This Week 1:20am Skiing Weatherview 1:25am BBC News

20

9:20am The A to Z of TV Cooking 10:05am Tudor Monastery Farm 11:05am Ronnie's Animal Crackers 11:35am HARDtalk 12:00pm BBC News 12:30pm BBC World News 1:00pm Lifeline 1:10pm College Road Trip 2:30pm Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam 3:00pm Cash in the Attic 3:45pm The Truth About Lions 4:45pm Cagney and Lacey 5:30pm Are You Being Served?

6:00pm 'Allo, 'Allo!

6:30pm Priceless Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Celebrity Eggheads 7:30pm Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two 8:00pm The Hairy Bikers' Christmas Party 9:00pm Alex Polizzi's Christmas Fix 10:00pm The 12 Drinks of Christmas 11:00pm Mock the Week 11:30pm Newsnight 12:20am Tudor Monastery Farm

05

6:05am The Jeremy Kyle Show 7:00am Daybreak 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30am This Morning 12:25pm ITV News 12:30pm This Morning 1:30pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 2:30pm ITV News and Weather 3:00pm Peter Andre's 60 Minute Makeover 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Show Me the Telly 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Tonight 9:00pm Emmerdale 9:30pm You've Been Framed!

10:00pm Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:35pm Utopia 1:35am Jackpot247

6:00am Countdown 6:45am Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard 7:10am According to Jim 7:35am According to Jim 8:05am Will and Grace 8:30am Will and Grace 8:55am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:25am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:55am Frasier 10:25am Frasier 11:00am Ruth Watson Means Business!

12:00pm The Big Bang Theory 12:30pm The Big Bang Theory 1:00pm Come Dine with Me 1:30pm Come Dine with Me 2:05pm Come Dine with Me 2:35pm Come Dine with Me 3:10pm Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 4:10pm Countdown 5:00pm Deal or No Deal 6:00pm Four in a Bed 6:30pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:55pm 4thought.tv 9:00pm George Clarke's Amazing Spaces 10:00pm Educating Yorkshire 11:00pm What Happens in Kavos...

12:00am Gogglebox 12:50am Karaoke Nights 1:45am 24 Hours in A and E 2:45am Embarrassing Bodies

50

6:50am ITV2 Nightscreen 7:00am Emmerdale 7:25am Coronation Street 7:55am You've Been Framed!

8:45am The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 9:30am Dinner Date 10:30am The Real Housewives of New York City 11:25am The Xtra Factor 12:25pm The ITV2 Panto 2:00pm Emmerdale 2:30pm Coronation Street 3:00pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Xtra Factor 6:15pm The ITV2 Panto 7:45pm You've Been Framed! Kids Special 8:30pm You've Been Framed!

Christmas Special 9:00pm The Xtra Factor 10:00pm MC Hammer's Big Shot Academy 11:00pm Celebrity Juice 12:00am American Pie Presents Band Camp 1:55am The Xtra Factor 2:55am Life's Funniest Moments

SkyMoviesComedy/

10:35am

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 10:00am NCIS: Los Angeles 11:00am NCIS: Los Angeles 12:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 1:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 2:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 3:00pm Hawaii Five-0 4:00pm Stargate Atlantis 5:00pm The Simpsons 5:30pm The Simpsons 6:00pm Futurama 6:30pm The Middle 7:00pm The Middle 7:30pm The Simpsons 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons

9:00pm Inside RAF Brize Norton 10:00pm Moone Boy 10:30pm Road Wars 11:00pm Trollied 11:30pm Trollied 12:00am Road Wars 1:00am Brit Cops: Frontline Crime 2:00am Brit Cops: Frontline Crime 3:00am Cop Squad 4:00am Brit Cops: Frontline Crime

SkyMoviesComedy/ 5:10am Zeus and Roxanne

7:00am Horrible Bosses 8:45am American Pie 2 10:35am Runaway Bride 12:40pm That's My Boy 2:35pm The Five-Year Engagement 4:40pm The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 6:45pm Ernest Saves Christmas 8:20pm American Pie 10:00pm American Pie 2 11:45pm That's My Boy 1:40am The Witches of Eastwick 3:40am The Five-Year Engagement 5:45am Vice Versa

Runaway Bride (Film, 1998)

•Julia Roberts •Richard Gere •Joan Cusack •Hector Elizondo

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 5:40am The Elf That Rescued Christmas 7:00am The Flight Before Christmas 8:30am We're No Angels 10:30am Naughty or Nice 12:10pm The Top Ten Show 2013 12:30pm Surviving Christmas 2:15pm Bad Santa 4:00pm Snowmen 5:40pm Naughty or Nice 7:15pm Surviving Christmas 9:00pm Bad Santa 11:00pm Money Train

Ike Graham (Richard Gere), is a less than respectable New York columnist. Graham's journalistic style is based around writing stories at the last minute and fabricating facts, a far cry from the honest, hardworking, investigative approach followed by most other journalists.

Hmm. He hears the story of Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts), a local lass notorious for leaving a succession of would-be grooms at the altar. When Graham writes an article based on Maggie, he is promptly fired by his publisher, who doubles as his ex-wife.

12:55am Snowmen 2:30am Money Train 4:30am The Flight Before Christmas

SkyMoviesAction/ 4:30am Murphy's Law 6:20am The Top Ten Show 2013 6:40am Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows Special 7:00am Flight of the Intruder 9:00am The Last Samurai 11:40am The Dark Knight Rises 2:25pm The Three Musketeers 4:20pm Stealth 6:25pm The Last Samurai 9:00pm The Dark Knight Rises

BBC3/ 8:00pm Great Movie Mistakes 2013 8:15pm Atlantis 9:00pm Don't Tell the Bride 10:00pm Christmas on Benefits 11:00pm Him and Her 11:30pm EastEnders 12:00am Family Guy 12:25am Family Guy 12:45am American Dad! 1:10am American Dad! 1:30am Him and Her 2:00am Christmas on Benefits 3:00am Don't Tell the Bride 4:00am Snog, Marry, Avoid?

4:30am Him and Her

Sarah Parish

Atlantis (Drama, 2013) BBC 3 from 8:15pm to 9:00pm Drama series. Penniless and starving, Jason cannot believe his luck when he stumbles across an abandoned feast.

Temptation proves too much and he helps himself to the bounty, savouring his first proper meal in days... But it soon becomes clear that Jason's gluttony has come at a price as he begins to exhibit some seriously strange behaviour. As things spiral out of control, it falls to Hercules and Pythagoras to save their friend before Heptarian and the palace guards bring his exertions to heel for good.

BBC4/ 8:00pm Battlefield Britain 9:00pm Ocean Giants 10:00pm Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities

11:45pm Big Trouble in Little China

TCM/ 9:10am Gunsmoke 10:15am The Spikes Gang 12:05pm Two Flags West 1:50pm Gunsmoke 2:55pm Gunsmoke 4:00pm Fort Dobbs 5:40pm Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend 7:25pm Young Guns of Texas 8:55pm The Night Riders 10:00pm Maximum Risk 11:55pm White Men Can't Jump

11:00pm Hidden Killers of the Edwardian Home 12:00am Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 1:00am Jet! When Britain Ruled the Skies 2:00am Ocean Giants 3:00am Battlefield Britain 4:00am Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities

30

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

FRIDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

06 am

06 am

06 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 10:15am Heir Hunters 11:00am Homes Under the Hammer 12:00pm Caught Red Handed 12:30pm Helicopter Heroes 1:15pm Bargain Hunt 2:00pm BBC News at One 2:30pm BBC London News 2:45pm Perfection 3:30pm Escape to the Country 4:30pm Christmas Kitchen with James Martin 5:15pm Flog It! 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News at Six 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm The One Show 8:30pm A Question of Sport 9:00pm EastEnders 9:30pm Citizen Khan 10:00pm Have I Got News for You 10:30pm Live at the Apollo 11:00pm BBC News at Ten 11:25pm BBC London News 11:35pm The Graham Norton Show 12:25am The Matt Lucas Christmas Awards 1:05am Virus 2:35am Weatherview 2:40am BBC News

40

6:40am The Charles Dickens Show 7:00am This is BBC Two 7:30am Homes Under the Hammer 8:30am Helicopter Heroes 9:15am Don't Panic - The Truth About Population 10:15am Africa 2013: Countdown to the Rains 11:15am Animal Park 12:00pm BBC News 12:30pm BBC World News 1:00pm The Importance of Being Earnest 2:30pm Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam 3:00pm Cash in the Attic 3:45pm The Truth About Lions 4:45pm Cagney and Lacey 5:30pm Are You Being Served?

6:05pm 'Allo, 'Allo!

6:30pm Priceless Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Celebrity Eggheads 7:30pm Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two 8:30pm University Challenge 9:00pm Mastermind 9:30pm Kangaroo Dundee 10:00pm 2013: Moments in Time 11:00pm QI 11:30pm Newsnight 12:05am Tamara Drewe 1:50am A Culture Show Special

05

6:05am The Jeremy Kyle Show 7:00am Daybreak 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30am This Morning 12:25pm ITV News 12:30pm This Morning 1:30pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 2:30pm ITV News and Weather 3:00pm Peter Andre's 60 Minute Makeover 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Show Me the Telly 6:00pm The Chase: Celebrity Special 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Text Santa 12:00am ITV News and Weather 12:45am Text Santa 2:05am Jackpot247 4:00am Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man 5:30am ITV Nightscreen

25

6:25am Countdown 7:10am According to Jim 7:35am According to Jim 8:00am Will and Grace 8:30am Will and Grace 8:55am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:25am Everybody Loves Raymond 10:00am Frasier 10:30am Frasier 11:00am Ruth Watson Means Business!

12:00pm The Big Bang Theory 12:30pm The Big Bang Theory 1:00pm Come Dine with Me 1:30pm Come Dine with Me 2:05pm Come Dine with Me 2:35pm Come Dine with Me 3:10pm Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 4:10pm Countdown 5:00pm Deal or No Deal 6:00pm Four in a Bed 6:30pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:55pm 4thought.tv 9:00pm Gordon Ramsay's Festive Home Cooking 10:00pm Big Fat Gypsy Christmas 11:00pm Alan Carr: Chatty Man 12:05am Stand Up for the Week

45

6:45am ITV2 Nightscreen 7:00am Emmerdale 7:25am Emmerdale 7:55am You've Been Framed!

8:45am The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 9:30am The Real Housewives of New York City 10:25am The Real Housewives of New York City 11:25am The Xtra Factor 12:25pm The ITV2 Panto 2:00pm Emmerdale 2:30pm Emmerdale 3:00pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Xtra Factor 6:10pm The Iron Giant 8:00pm You've Been Framed!

8:30pm You've Been Framed!

9:00pm The Xtra Factor 10:00pm The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 12:10am American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile 2:15am Celebrity Juice 3:10am The Only Way is Essexmas 4:00am MC Hammer's Big Shot Academy 4:50am Land of the Lost

SkyMoviesAction/

7:40am

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 9:00am Stargate Atlantis 10:00am Hawaii Five-0 11:00am NCIS: Los Angeles 12:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 1:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 2:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 3:00pm Road Wars 4:00pm A Very JLS Christmas 5:30pm The Simpsons 6:00pm Futurama 6:30pm The Middle 7:00pm The Middle

7:30pm The Simpsons 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm Yonderland 9:30pm The Simpsons 10:00pm Glee 11:00pm Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life 12:00am Cop Squad 1:00am Cop Squad 2:00am Cop Squad 3:00am Road Wars 4:00am Brit Cops: Frontline Crime

5:00am Dog the Bounty Hunter 5:30am Dog the Bounty Hunter

SkyMoviesComedy/ 5:45am Vice Versa 7:25am Beetlejuice 9:00am Liar Liar 10:30am Here Comes the Boom 12:20pm The Dukes of Hazzard 2:15pm The Three Stooges 3:55pm Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 5:40pm Liar Liar

•Nigel Terry •Helen Mirren •Nicholas Clay •Cherie Lunghi

7:15pm National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 9:00pm Here Comes the Boom 10:45pm The Dukes of Hazzard 12:35am Look Who's Talking 2:15am Look Who's Talking Too 3:40am Look Who's Talking Now! 5:20am Good Burger

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 6:00am We're No Angels 8:00am Christmas in Wonderland

Excalibur (Film, 1981) This is yet another adaptation of the Arthurian legend but with more action than any other.

The story, as the title suggests, follows the travels of the legendary sword Excalibur through Arthurian myth.

The story starts with Excalibur being in the very powerful, and violent hands, of Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne), after his death the sword took to a long rest in the famous stone from which it could only be drawn by the future King, this was to be Uther's son, Arthur (Nigel Terry).

9:50am The 12 Dogs of Christmas 11:50am Batman Returns 2:00pm Jingle All the Way 3:45pm Elf 5:30pm Jingle All the Way 7:15pm All I Want for Christmas 9:00pm Batman Returns 11:15pm Elf 1:00am Turbulence 2:50am Christmas in Wonderland 4:40am The Top Ten Show 2013

BBC3/ 8:00pm Great Movie Mistakes 2013 8:15pm Doctor Who 9:00pm The Call Centre 10:00pm Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 11:30pm EastEnders 12:00am Family Guy 12:25am Family Guy 12:45am Family Guy 1:10am Family Guy 1:30am American Dad! 1:55am American Dad! 2:15am Backchat with Jack Whitehall and His Dad 3:00am Bad Education 3:30am Him and Her 4:00am The Revolution Will be Televised 4:30am Bad Education

Will Ferrell

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Film, 2004) BBC 3 from 10:00pm to 11:30pm Knockabout comedy set in the sexist world of 1970s newscasting.

Ron Burgundy, San Diego's toprated anchorman, reigns supreme in the all-male world of television news, until the arrival of an ambitious female reporter upsets the status quo. When she steps in to present the programme in Ron's absence, an uncivil war breaks out in the newsroom.

BBC4/ 8:00pm Top of the Pops 8:10pm BBC Proms 10:00pm Legends: Roy Orbison - The 'Big O' in Britain 11:00pm The Andy Williams Christmas Show 11:30pm The Andy Williams Show: Duets 12:30am Duets at the BBC

SkyMoviesAction/ 7:20am The Top Ten Show 2013 7:40am Excalibur 10:05am Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of James Bond 11:50am Kingdom of Heaven 2:20pm Taken 2 3:55pm Bad Boys II 6:25pm Dante's Peak 8:20pm This Means War 10:00pm Taken 2 11:35pm Bad Boys II

1:30am Legends: Roy Orbison The 'Big O' in Britain 2:30am The Andy Williams Christmas Show 3:00am The Andy Williams Show: Duets 4:00am Duets at the BBC

32

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

SATURDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

07 am

08 am

06 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 11:00am Saturday Kitchen 12:30pm Nigel Slater's Christmas Suppers 1:00pm Football Focus 1:45pm Saturday Sportsday 2:00pm BBC News 2:10pm BBC London News 2:15pm The Olympic Journey: Inspire 2:45pm Equestrian: Olympia 2013 5:30pm Final Score 6:20pm BBC News 6:30pm BBC London News 6:40pm Pointless 7:30pm Strictly Come Dancing 8:55pm Atlantis 9:40pm Strictly Come Dancing 10:50pm The National Lottery Live 11:00pm BBC News 11:20pm Match of the Day 12:45am The Football League Show 2:05am Weatherview 2:10am BBC News

7:00am This is BBC Two 7:15am Natural World 8:15am Antiques Road Trip 9:15am Antiques Road Trip 10:15am Antiques Road Trip 11:15am Restoration Home 12:15pm Alex Polizzi's Christmas Fix 1:15pm The A to Z of TV Cooking 2:00pm 12 Dates of Christmas 3:25pm Confessions of a Shopaholic 5:00pm Are You Being Served?

Christmas Crackers 5:30pm Flog It! 6:25pm The Young Victoria 8:05pm University Challenge 8:35pm 'Allo, 'Allo!

9:20pm Dad's Army 10:00pm The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings 11:00pm The Many Faces of...

12:00am The Two Ronnies 12:30am The Wrong Mans 1:00am The Wrong Mans 1:30am The Wrong Mans 2:00am Wake Wood 3:25am The Day I Got My Sight Back 4:15am The Silent War 5:15am This is BBC Two

8:00am Canimals 8:25am Sooty 8:35am Horrid Henry 8:45am Om Nom Stories 8:50am Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil 9:00am Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil 9:15am Bottom Knocker Street 9:30am The Munch Box 10:25am ITV News 10:30am The Home of Fabulous Cakes 11:25am Murder, She Wrote 12:25pm ITV News and Weather 12:30pm Surprise Surprise 1:30pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 2:30pm The Unforgettable...

3:00pm The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 5:05pm Harry Potter: Behind the Magic 6:05pm ITV News London 6:15pm ITV News and Weather 6:30pm The Chase: Celebrity Special 7:30pm Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 10:10pm The Illusionists 11:15pm ITV News and Weather 11:30pm You, Me and Dupree 1:30am Jackpot247

50

6:50am Father Christmas 7:20am Dreamer 9:00am The Morning Line 10:00am The American Football Show 11:00am Frasier 11:30am The Big Bang Theory 12:00pm The Big Bang Theory 12:30pm The Simpsons 1:00pm The Simpsons 1:25pm Jamie's Best Ever Christmas 2:30pm Channel 4 Racing 5:00pm Gadget Man 5:30pm Come Dine with Me 6:05pm Come Dine with Me 6:35pm Come Dine with Me 7:05pm Come Dine with Me 7:35pm Come Dine with Me 8:05pm Channel 4 News 8:15pm Deck the Halls 10:00pm Four Christmases 11:40pm Sanctum 1:50am Stand Up for the Week 2:35am Fresh Meat 3:20am Hollyoaks Omnibus 5:35am 90210

50

6:50am The Hot Desk 7:00am The Hot Desk 7:10am Coronation Street Omnibus 9:00am Emmerdale Omnibus 11:55am The X Factor USA 1:50pm The X Factor USA 3:50pm The Xtra Factor 4:50pm The Only Way is Essexmas 5:50pm Peter Andre: My Life 6:55pm You've Been Framed!

7:25pm You've Been Framed!

8:00pm You've Been Framed!

9:00pm The Xtra Factor: The Winner's Story 10:00pm The Shawshank Redemption 12:55am Celebrity Juice 1:55am Through the Keyhole 2:50am Tricked 3:40am The Magaluf Weekender 4:30am The Magaluf Weekender 5:20am Girlfriends

SkyMoviesChristmas/

12:25pm

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 7:00am Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew 8:00am Luton Airport 9:00am The Fantasy Football Club 10:00am Sky Sports Game Changers 11:00am Soccer A.M. 1:00pm World Wrestling 2:00pm Hawaii Five-0 3:00pm Anchorman: The

Legend Continues...

3:30pm Harrow: A Very British School 4:30pm Andre Rieu - Home for Christmas 7:00pm All Aboard: East Coast Trains 8:00pm Inside RAF Brize Norton 9:00pm The Simpsons 10:00pm Flight of the Phoenix 12:10am Road Wars 1:10am Anchorman Movie Special

SkyMoviesComedy/ 7:00am Surviving Christmas 8:45am The Monster Squad 10:20am The Campaign 11:50am Elf 1:30pm This is 40 3:45pm Crazy, Stupid, Love 5:45pm Surviving Christmas 7:20pm Elf 9:00pm The Campaign 10:30pm Anchorman 11:00pm This is 40

• Olli Jantunen • HannuPekka Björkman

1:15am Wanderlust

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 7:00am Mickey's Once upon a Christmas 8:15am Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 9:25am The Elf That Rescued Christmas 10:45am Arthur Christmas 12:25pm The Flight Before Christmas 1:50pm The Elf That Rescued

The Flight Before Christmas (Film, 2008) Dreaming of joining Santa's elite sleighpulling team, a young reindeer leaves his herd and goes in search of Saint Nick's magical home. Andrew McMahon, Carly Baker, Norm MacDonald (all voices).

Christmas 3:10pm Rise of the Guardians 4:50pm Mickey's Once upon a Christmas 6:05pm Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 7:20pm Holy Night!

9:00pm Arthur Christmas 10:45pm The Nightmare Before Christmas 12:15am A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 1:55am Holy Night!

BBC3/ 8:00pm Great Movie Mistakes 2013 8:10pm Doctor Who 8:55pm Top Gear 10:10pm Con Air 12:00am Family Guy 12:25am Family Guy 12:45am Family Guy 1:10am Family Guy 1:30am Family Guy 1:55am Bad Company 3:45am Sweat the Small Stuff 4:15am Kerry 4:30am Bad Education

Nicolas Cage

Con Air (Film, 1997) BBC 3 from 10:10pm to 12:00am High-octane action blockbuster set aboard a federal aeroplane transporting convicts to a maximum security facility. Due for release on parole after eight years away from his wife and daughter, one of the prisoners has his freedom threatened when a psychotic team of inmates hijack the aircraft. In a race against time, he joins forces with the law to foil the criminals' master plan and make it home to his family.

BBC4/ 8:00pm Comet of the Century: 9:00pm Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 10:00pm Papillon

SkyMoviesAction/ 9:10am Anaconda 2: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid 10:50am The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 1:50pm Skyfall 4:15pm The Bridge on the River Kwai 7:00pm The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 10:00pm Skyfall 12:30am Anaconda

Steve McQueen.

12:25am When Albums Ruled the World 1:55am Top of the Pops 2:55am Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History 3:55am Comet of the Century:

34

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

SUNDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

07 am

07 am

06 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 8:30am Match of the Day 10:00am The Andrew Marr Show 11:00am Fern Britton Meets...

12:00pm George of the Jungle 1:25pm MOTD2 Extra 2:00pm BBC News 2:15pm Christmas Kitchen with James Martin 3:00pm When Miranda Met Bruce 4:05pm Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death 4:35pm Snow Babies 5:35pm Big Sing: The UK's Top 10 Carols 6:15pm Alice in Wonderland 7:30pm BBC News 7:50pm BBC London News 9:00pm Antiques Roadshow 10:00pm The Whale 11:30pm BBC News 11:45pm BBC London News 11:55pm Sting: When the Last Ship Sails 1:15am The Magdalene Sisters 3:05am Weatherview 3:10am BBC News

7:00am This is BBC Two 8:00am Natural World 9:00am Antiques Road Trip 10:00am Antiques Road Trip 11:00am Saturday Kitchen Best Bites 12:30pm Tom Kerridge Cooks Christmas 1:00pm Food and Drink 2:00pm EastEnders Omnibus 3:55pm Flog It! 4:25pm Nativity!

6:05pm Ski Sunday 6:50pm The 12 Drinks of Christmas 7:50pm Porridge 8:30pm TOTP2 10:00pm The Choir: Sing While You Work 11:00pm The Sarah Millican Television Programme 11:30pm Hebburn 12:00am A Bunch of Amateurs 1:35am Tai-Pan 3:35am Countryfile 4:30am Holby City 5:30am This is BBC Two

25

7:25am The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That 7:35am Dino Dan 7:50am Dino Dan 8:00am Canimals 8:10am Canimals 8:15am Canimals 8:25am Bookaboo 8:35am Horrid Henry 8:50am Victorious 9:15am Bottom Knocker Street 9:30am Fort Boyard 10:25am ITV News 10:30am Storage Hoarders 11:30am Sunday Side Up 12:30pm Sunday Scoop 1:30pm ITV News and Weather 1:35pm Inside the National Trust 2:35pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 3:35pm Show Me the Telly 4:35pm Midsomer Murders 6:35pm Harry Potter: Behind the Magic 7:35pm ITV News London 7:45pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Coronation Street 8:30pm Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince 11:30pm Sex, Lies and a Very British Scapegoat 12:35am ITV News and Weather

15

6:15am Suburgatory 6:40am The American Football Show 7:40am Garfield Gets Real 8:55am Jamie's Money Saving Meals 9:25am Jamie's Money Saving Meals 10:00am Jamie's Money Saving Meals 10:30am Sunday Brunch 1:30pm The Big Bang Theory 1:55pm The Big Bang Theory 2:25pm The Simpsons 2:55pm The Simpsons 3:20pm Kirstie's Crafty Christmas 4:25pm A Great British Christmas with Sarah Beeny 5:25pm Channel 4 News 5:30pm Scrooged 7:25pm The Snowman 7:55pm Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian 10:00pm Homeland 11:25pm Never Let Me Go 1:20am Alan Carr: Chatty Man 2:15am American Football Live 5:45am KOTV Boxing Weekly

3:55pm

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 11:00am World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars 12:00pm WWE Experience 1:00pm Road Wars 2:00pm Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew 3:00pm Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew 4:00pm Anchorman: The

Legend Continues...

4:30pm Cirque du Soleil 6:30pm The Smurfs Christmas Carol 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Yonderland 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm The Simpsons 9:30pm The Simpsons

•Nia Vardalos •Michael Constantine •John Corbett •Christina Eleusiniotis •Kaylee Vieira •John Kalangis

SkyMoviesComedy/

SkyMoviesChristmas/

12:15pm The Mask 2:00pm How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 3:55pm My Big Fat Greek Wedding 5:35pm National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 7:15pm The Mask 9:00pm Jingle All the Way

8:45am Chilly Christmas 10:15am The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol 10:45am Ernest Saves Christmas 12:30pm Frozen Special 1:00pm Miracle on 34th Street 2:45pm Sleepless in Seattle 4:45pm The Smurfs: A

10

8:00pm Doctor Who 9:20pm Madagascar 10:40pm Merry Madagascar 11:00pm Russell Howard's Good News 11:30pm Russell Howard's Good News 12:00am Family Guy 12:45am Family Guy 1:05am Family Guy 1:30am American Dad! 1:50am American Dad! 2:15am Sweat the Small Stuff 2:45am Bad Education 3:15am Backchat with Jack Whitehall and His Dad 4:00am Christmas on Benefits

6:10am Girlfriends 7:00am The Hot Desk 7:10am Emmerdale Omnibus 9:55am Coronation Street Omnibus 11:55am You've Been Framed!

12:25pm The Iron Giant 2:15pm Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties 3:55pm The Lost World 6:25pm Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 8:15pm You've Been Framed!

Christmas Phil Taggart Special 8:45pm Miss Congeniality 11:00pm Utterly Outrageous Christmas on Benefits Reality TV Moments 2013 (Documentary) 12:00am American Pie Presents: BBC 3 from 4:00am to 5:00am The Naked Mile With one in five young people 2:10am Utterly Outrageous in the UK unemployed, BBC Reality TV Moments 2013 Radio 1 DJ Phil Taggart - once 3:05am The Vampire Diaries unemployed and living on 3:50am The Magaluf benefits himself - presents an Weekender essential guide to Christmas for 4:40am The Magaluf the young and broke. Phil Weekender travels to Bristol to meet a 5:30am Girlfriends group of young jobseekers in the position he used to be in, and sets them the mission of organising a cracker of a Christmas party on a benefits SkyMoviesComedy/ budget.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Film, 2002) Joel Zwick's Oscar-nominated comedy, based on Nia Vardalos' stage play, stars Vardalos herself as Toula Portokalos, a Greek woman who's 'approaching a certain age', as her family are more than happy to remind her. But when she falls for Ian Miller, who's definitely not Greek, her family are in uproar. But Toula is determined to find happiness.

Ian agrees to be 'baptised' in the family's Greek traditions in order to marry Toula, but the path of true love does not run smooth thanks to the interference of Toula's overprotective family.

Christmas Carol 5:15pm The Search for Santa Paws 7:00pm Sleepless in Seattle 9:00pm Home Alone: The Holiday Heist 10:45pm The Top Ten Show 2013 11:00pm Money Train 1:00am A Christmas Princess

BBC3/

SkyMoviesAction/ 11:35am The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2:40pm The Karate Kid 4:50pm Jurassic Park 7:00pm The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 10:00pm Battleship 12:15am Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

BBC4/ 8:00pm Whisky Galore!

9:20pm The Rabbits of Skomer 9:30pm The Fir Tree 10:00pm The Ladybird Books Story: How Britain Got the Reading Bug 11:00pm John Denver: Country Boy 12:00am The Many Faces of Les Dawson 1:00am Legends: Roy Orbison The 'Big O' in Britain 2:00am The Andy Williams Christmas Show 2:30am The Andy Williams Show: Duets 3:30am The Fir Tree 4:00am The Bridge

Sonya Cross & Marco Ruiz

OPINION & COMMENT

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

The fight-back has started!

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT

W

E’RE fighting back!

At long last, after all the complacency, which has been basically a simple yearning for a quiet life, the British public is finally on the offensive.

And doesn’t it feel great? For years, proper-thinking Brits have meekly accepted all the bull**** presented by the predominately left-wing hypocrites, with their PC, environmental jobsworth opinions, directives on ‘global warming’, ‘green’ eco products, gigantic bloody propellers that blight our countryside and couldn’t light my pencil torch.

Holes in the ozone layer and Labour’s army of welfare and equal rights scroungers. It also came as no surprise that it didn’t take long for the jobsworth mob to come out and blame the

BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE: Wind turbines. recent storms, apparently the worst for 60 years, on ‘global warming’. What were we doing to the environment 60 years ago?

Allowing too much horse dung on the streets?

Almost every day there now seem to be common-sense announcements from more and more politicians.

Basically because they have at last come to their senses and, fearful of being slung on the scrapheap next year, are finally listening to the people who will ultimately decide their fate.

What does worry me, however, is the lack of commitment as to when all these new initiatives will

be administered. It’s all very well to keep announcing popular moves, i.e. benefit capping, deporting foreign criminals, restricting welfare payments for more than two children, only allowing offshore wind turbines, making squatting illegal, restricting access to free NHS and benefits to immigrants, and so forth, but when are we going to see all these goodies put into practice?

Many are already being promised ‘after the next election’.

My question is when ‘after’? Six months? A year? Or will they start to promise them again in time for ‘after’ the 2020 ballot?

We need to see some positive action now, not Miliband’s Santastyle promises, which will mysteriously fail to materialise once their vote-catching usefulness has served its purpose.

Just a quick ‘told ya so’ this week. Those who peruse this blurb on a regular basis will know I’m no big fan of the ‘X Fracture’.

But you may remember, some weeks ago, I predicted the final would be between the young Scots lad and the housewife. Dah da! All requests for me to appear on the judging panel next year on the back of a postage stamp, please.

Finally, after yet another disgraceful exhibition at this year’s comedy awards, may I suggest that it’s not ‘Comic Relief’ we need, it’s a bit of relief from these so-called comics. Come back, Max Miller, all is forgiven.

Have a good week, and whatever ya do - always keep the faith! Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com

EWN

35

LEAPY LETTERS

Pat on back THE comments that you make each week are always spot on. It’s a pity that the hierarchy in the UK do not think as you do.

As you say others only think it, you say it, and I must admit that you say it with heart and passion.

Your column is the first item that I read every week. Keep it going, mate!

Dave Marks (by email)

Wrist slap YOUR piece about the B&B owners was not particularly logical. But then I would not expect any logic from you. Your thinking seems somehow strained at times.

But I do enjoy reading your column!

J Brigs (by email)

36

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

MONDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

07 am

06 am

06 am

08 am

7:00am Breakfast 10:00am Snow Queen 11:00am Shrek: Donkey's 11:05am Ella Enchanted 12:35pm Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers 1:10pm Only Fools and Horses 2:00pm BBC News at One 2:30pm BBC London News 2:40pm The Santa Clause 4:15pm Toy Story 5:30pm A Christmas Carol 7:00pm BBC News at Six 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm Celebrity Mastermind 8:30pm A Question of Sport 9:00pm EastEnders 9:30pm Would I Lie to You? 10:00pm John Bishop's Christmas Show 11:00pm BBC News at Ten 11:25pm BBC London News 11:35pm Match of the Day 2 12:35am Citizen Khan 1:05am The Graham Norton Show 1:50am Weatherview 1:55am BBC News

7:00am This is BBC Two 7:20am Natural World 8:20am Food and Drink 9:20am Tom Kerridge Cooks Christmas 9:50am The Culture Show 10:20am The Bishop's Wife 12:05pm Westminster Abbey 1:05pm Operation Iceberg 2:05pm Operation Iceberg 3:05pm Equestrian 4:05pm Secretariat 6:00pm Flog It! 7:00pm Celebrity Eggheads 7:30pm The Great British Bake Off 8:30pm The Good Life 9:00pm University Challenge 9:30pm Jane Eyre 11:20pm QI XL 12:05am Never Mind the Buzzcocks 12:35am Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve 1:35am Witchfinder General 3:00am Film 2013 3:30am Fox Wars 4:10am This is BBC Two

05

6:05am The Jeremy Kyle Show 7:00am Daybreak 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am Murder, She Wrote 11:25am The Mighty Ducks 1:25pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 2:25pm ITV News and Weather 2:45pm Rod Stewart's Christmas 3:55pm Hulk 6:30pm You've Been Framed!

7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Tales From Northumberland with Robson Green 9:30pm Coronation Street 10:00pm Gary Barlow: Journey to Afghanistan 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:20pm Panto!

12:45am All Star Family Fortunes 1:20am Jackpot247 4:00am The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 4:40am ITV Nightscreen

10

6:10am Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard 6:35am Suburgatory 7:00am The Treacle People 7:15am Valiant 8:25am That Darn Cat! 10:05am Father Christmas 10:40am The Simpsons 11:10am White Christmas 1:30pm 100 Greatest Toys with Jonathan Ross 4:40pm Deal or No Deal 5:40pm Celebrity Come Dine with Me Christmas Special 6:45pm Channel 4 News 7:00pm 4thought.tv 7:05pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Nigella Bites Christmas Special 9:00pm Food Unwrapped's Christmas Dinner 10:00pm Heston's Great British Food 11:00pm Fresh Meat 11:50pm Raised by Wolves 12:25am Peep Show 12:55am Peep Show 2:00am Peep Show 2:30am Peep Show 3:25am Nashville 4:05am 90210 4:45am Suburgatory 5:10am Suburgatory 5:30am Deal or No Deal

25

8:25am The Hot Desk 8:35am Christmas Bonkers 9:00am You've Been Framed!

Christmas Special 9:30am I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here Now! Trials and Tribulations 10:30am I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here Now! Best of the Bush 11:30am I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here Now! Crown Jewels 12:30pm Boyzone at 20: No Matter What 1:30pm Emmerdale 2:00pm Coronation Street 3:00pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:15pm The Xtra Factor 7:15pm You've Been Framed!

8:45pm Ant and Dec's Christmas Show 10:00pm Peter Andre: My Life at Christmas 11:00pm Celebrity Juice 12:00am Pitch Black 2:10am Celebrity Juice 2:55am Peter Andre: My Life at Christmas

SkyMoviesComedy/

12:40pm

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 9:00am Sinbad 10:00am The Simpsons 10:30am Little Crackers 11:00am Treasure Island 1:00pm A Very JLS Christmas 2:30pm The Middle 3:30pm The Simpsons 4:00pm The Smurfs Christmas Carol

4:30pm The Simpsons 5:00pm Sinbad 6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Modern Family 7:30pm Yonderland 8:00pm The Simpsons 9:00pm A League of Their Own 10:00pm Strike Back: Shadow Warfare 11:00pm Banshee

12:15am Spartacus: Vengeance

SkyMoviesComedy/ 7:10am Look Who's Talking 9:00am The Longest Yard 11:05am Dr. Seuss' the Lorax 12:40pm The Guilt Trip 2:25pm Groundhog Day 4:10pm Look Who's Talking 5:50pm Surviving Christmas

• Barbra Streisand • Seth Rogen

7:25pm The Full Monty 9:00pm The Guilt Trip 10:40pm Groundhog Day 12:25am The Longest Yard

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 9:15am Booky and the Secret Santa 11:00am Mickey's Once upon a Christmas 12:20pm Mickey's Twice Upon

The Guilt Trip (Film, 2012) Andy Brewster (Seth Rogen) is ready to hit the road and peddle his new cleaning invention, but a visit to widowed mum Joyce (Barbra Streisand) earns him an extra bit of baggage for the journey.

She tells him about her long-lost love, who Andy discovers now lives in San Francisco. In a bid to get his mum back in the dating game after years on the sidelines, he invites her on his trip across America but, with all the bickering, molly-coddling and nagging, will Andy last the distance and get his mum to the surprise reunion of a lifetime?

a Christmas 1:45pm The Top Ten Show 2013 2:00pm Rise of the Guardians 3:45pm Elf 5:30pm Jingle All the Way 7:15pm Rise of the Guardians 9:00pm Elf 10:45pm Jingle All the Way 12:20am A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

SkyMoviesAction/ 10:00am Gangster Squad 12:00pm The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 3:25pm The Karate Kid, Part II 5:25pm Jurassic Park III 7:00pm The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 10:25pm Gangster Squad 12:20am Wrath of the Titans

BBC3/ 8:00pm Great Movie Mistakes 2013 8:30pm The Santa Clause 10:00pm Gavin and Stacey 11:00pm Bluestone 42 11:35pm EastEnders 12:05am Family Guy 12:25am Family Guy 1:10am Bluestone 42 1:40am Family Guy 2:05am Family Guy 2:25am The Hand That Rocks the Cradle 4:10am Bamboo 4:30am Bluestone 42

Eric Lloyd & Tim Allen

The Santa Clause (Film, 1994) BBC 3 from 8:30pm to 10:00pm Seasonal family comedy about a reluctant Christmas hero. When Santa Claus falls off Scott Calvin's roof on Christmas Eve, the divorced dad reluctantly agrees to don the oversized costume and help deliver presents for the night. He soon realises, however, that the small print commits him to the role permanently. The biggest trouble is that nobody but Scott's son Charlie (and the residents of the North Pole) knows the truth; all anyone else can see is that Scott's behaviour is becoming increasingly strange.

BBC4/ 8:00pm Time Shift 9:00pm Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

9:30pm Only Connect 10:00pm Len Goodman's Dance Band Days 11:00pm Perry Como's Christmas Show 11:55pm Frank Sinatra 1:30am Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

2:00am Only Connect 2:30am Len Goodman's Dance Band Days 3:30am The Bridge

38

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

TUESDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

07 am

06 am

06 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 10:00am The Gruffalo 10:30am A Cbeebies Christmas Carol 11:10am Sarah and Duck: Christmas Special 11:20am The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 12:45pm Only Fools and Horses 2:10pm BBC News 2:20pm BBC London News 2:30pm The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 4:40pm Toy Story 2 6:10pm Shrek the Halls 6:35pm BBC News 6:50pm BBC London News 6:55pm Finding Nemo 8:30pm EastEnders 9:00pm Holby City 10:00pm Last Tango in Halifax 11:00pm Not Going Out 11:45pm Outnumbered 12:30am BBC News 12:45am Westminster Abbey: The First Eucharist of Christmas 2:05am Protocol 3:35am Weatherview 3:40am BBC News

7:00am This is BBC Two 7:50am Natural World 8:50am Herbie Rides Again 10:15am Westminster Abbey 11:15am An American in Paris 1:05pm Splash 2:50pm Guys and Dolls 5:15pm Fantasia 7:15pm Carols from King's 8:30pm The Perfect Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special 9:00pm Victoria Wood's Mid-Life Christmas 10:00pm QI XL 10:45pm Mel Smith: I've Sort Of Done Things 11:45pm Comedy Connections 12:25am The Awakening 2:05am The Spiral Staircase 3:30am This is BBC Two

05

6:05am The Jeremy Kyle Show 7:00am Daybreak 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am The Christmas Takeover 12:30pm Catchphrase 1:15pm ITV News and Weather 1:30pm Let's Do Christmas with Gino and Mel 2:30pm Steppin' Out with Katherine Jenkins 3:45pm Gary Barlow: Journey to Afghanistan 4:45pm Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me 6:15pm The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song 7:45pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm You've Been Framed!

9:00pm Midsomer Murders 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:15pm Christmas Carols on ITV 12:15am Couples Retreat 2:15am The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 3:00am ITV Nightscreen

25

6:25am Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard 6:55am Wilde Stories 7:20am Wilde Stories 7:50am Wilde Stories 8:15am The Bear 8:45am The Nativity Story 10:45am The Big Bang Theory 11:15am The Big Bang Theory 11:40am The Simpsons 12:10pm The Simpsons 12:40pm The Simpsons 1:10pm Deal or No Deal 2:10pm It's a Wonderful Life 4:50pm How the Grinch Stole Christmas 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:25pm Hollyoaks 7:55pm Channel 4 News 8:00pm 4thought.tv 8:05pm Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas 8:30pm The Snowman and the Snowdog 9:05pm Big Fat Gypsy Christmas 10:00pm The IT Crowd 11:00pm The IT Crowd Manual 12:05am The IT Crowd 12:35am The IT Crowd 1:10am The Inbetweeners 1:40am The Inbetweeners 2:10am The Inbetweeners 2:35am The Inbetweeners 3:05am Idiocracy 4:25am 90210

10

6:10am Girlfriends 7:00am Emmerdale 7:25am Coronation Street 7:50am Coronation Street 8:25am Free Willy 3: The Rescue 10:15am The Big Christmas Reunion 11:15am The Only Way is Essexmas 12:15pm You've Been Framed!

1:15pm Emmerdale 1:45pm Coronation Street 2:15pm Coronation Street 2:45pm Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 4:45pm The Lost World 7:15pm Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 10:00pm The Bourne Supremacy 12:10am Celebrity Juice 1:10am A Celebrity Juicemas Carol 2:10am A Celebrity Juicemas Carol 3:10am Britain's Got More Talent 4:00am Britain's Got More Talent 4:50am Totally Bonkers Guinness World Records 5:10am Girlfri3nds

SkyMoviesComedy/

5:45am

SATELLITE CHANNELS/

BBC3/ 8:00pm Don't Tell the Bride 9:00pm Raiders of the Lost Ark 10:45pm Backchat with Jack Whitehall and His Dad 11:30pm EastEnders 12:05am Family Guy 12:50am Family Guy 1:10am Family Guy 1:30am Family Guy 1:55am Family Guy 2:20am Family Guy 2:40am American Dad! 3:05am American Dad! 3:25am Bad Education 3:55am The Call Centre

Nev Wilshire

The Call Centre (Documentary, 2013) BBC 3 from 3:55am to 4:55am At Swansea's third largest call centre, CEO Nev Wilshire and his staff are in festive mood.

Tea-lady Hayley is organising the office Christmas party, Nev is putting together a Christmas choir and, with bills to pay and presents to buy, an old face returns to the centre - but will this Grinch ever learn to love the festive fun?

BBC4/

Zeus and Roxanne (Film, 1997)

•Steve Guttenberg •Kathleen Quinlan •Arnold Vosloo

Marine biologist Mary Beth is amused by the friendship which develops between her dolphin Roxanne and a mutt called Zeus. She's even more surprised when she starts to fall for the dog's owner, rock composer Terry.

8:00pm The Titfield Thunderbolt 9:20pm Robins of Eden 9:30pm Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

10:00pm Top of the Pops 11:00pm The Richest Songs in the World 12:30am The Carpenters at the BBC

1:05am The Joy of the Single

Sky1/ 9:00am Sinbad 10:00am The Simpsons 10:30am The Simpsons 11:00am Treasure Island 1:00pm Little Crackers 1:30pm Modern Family 2:00pm Modern Family 2:30pm The Middle 3:00pm The Middle 3:30pm The Smurfs Christmas Carol 4:00pm Yonderland 4:30pm The Simpsons 5:00pm Sinbad 6:00pm The Simpsons

6:30pm Modern Family 7:00pm Modern Family 7:30pm The Simpsons 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm All Aboard: East Coast Trains 10:00pm Trollied 11:00pm A League of Their Own 12:00am Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life 1:00am A League of Their Own 2:00am Spartacus: Blood and Sand 3:15am Glee 4:10am Road Wars

5:00am Brainiac's Test Tube Baby

SkyMoviesComedy/ 5:45am Zeus and Roxanne 7:35am Big Top Pee-Wee 9:15am Identity Thief 11:15am Nutty Professor II: The Klumps 1:05pm Elf 2:50pm Ben Stiller: My Movie Life 3:05pm Bad Santa 4:55pm Stuart Little 6:25pm Identity Thief 8:20pm Elf 10:00pm Bad Santa

11:40pm A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 1:10am Here Comes the Boom 2:55am The Dictator 4:20am Big Top Pee-Wee 5:50am Stuart Little

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 8:45am Arthur Christmas 10:30am Holy Night!

12:15pm Miracle on 34th Street 2:15pm Naughty or Nice 4:00pm Arthur Christmas 5:40pm The Nightmare Before Christmas 7:00pm Miracle on 34th Street

9:00pm Sleepless in Seattle 11:00pm Surviving Christmas 12:40am Naughty or Nice 2:20am Sleepless in Seattle 4:10am The Flight Before Christmas 5:40am The Nightmare Before Christmas

SkyMoviesAction/ 9:00am Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 10:40am The Karate Kid, Part II 12:35pm The Next Karate Kid 2:25pm The Mummy 4:35pm The Mummy Returns 6:50pm The Scorpion King

8:25pm Gladiator 11:00pm Bad Boys II

TCM/ 8:20am Gunsmoke 9:20am Gunsmoke 10:25am The Tall Men 12:45pm The Last Stagecoach West 2:05pm Tarzan and The Slave Girl 3:35pm Tarzan Escapes 5:20pm The China Syndrome 7:40pm Scrooge 10:00pm The Family Stone 11:55pm Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

2:05am Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities 3:05am Perry Como's Christmas Show 4:00am The Bridge

40

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

WEDNESDAY TV

www.euroweeklynews.com

BBC1/

BBC2/

ITV/

CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

07 am

06 am

07 am

06 am

7:00am Breakfast 10:00am The Gruffalo's Child 10:25am The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper 10:40am Old Jack's Boat 11:00am Christmas Day: Live from Westminster Abbey 12:00pm Chicken Run 1:20pm BBC News 1:30pm The Princess and the Frog 3:00pm Top of the Pops 4:00pm The Queen 4:10pm BBC News 4:20pm Toy Story 3 6:00pm Strictly Come Dancing 7:15pm Call the Midwife 8:30pm Doctor Who 9:30pm EastEnders 10:30pm Mrs. Brown's Boys 11:05pm Michael Mcintyre's Showtime 12:05am BBC News 12:20am On Christmas Night 12:25am The Vicar of Dibley 1:10am Would I Lie to You? 1:40am Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 3:15am Weatherview 3:20am BBC News

7:00am This is BBC Two 7:20am Natural World 8:20am Herbie Goes Bananas 9:50am The Red Shoes 12:00pm Carols from King's 1:15pm Music of the Monarchy with David Starkey 2:20pm Swingin' Christmas 3:30pm The Perfect Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special 4:00pm Doctor Who at the Proms 5:15pm An Adventure in Space and Time 6:45pm The Queen 6:55pm Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty 8:40pm Christmas Night with the Two Ronnies 9:30pm Morecambe and Wise in Pieces 10:30pm The Tractate Middoth 11:05pm MR James: Ghost Writer 12:05am QI XL 12:50am Hebburn 1:20am Dead Poets Society 3:25am This is BBC Two

05

6:05am The Jeremy Kyle Show 7:00am Babar and the Adventures of Badou 7:10am Dino Dan 7:25am Dino Dan 7:40am Sooty 7:50am Bookaboo 8:05am Horrid Henry 8:20am Almost Naked Animals 8:40am Almost Naked Animals 8:55am Bottom Knocker Street 9:10am Bottom Knocker Street 9:25am Dinner Date 10:25am Santa Claus 12:25pm The Chase: Celebrity Special 1:30pm The Big Christmas Reunion 2:30pm You've Been Framed!

3:00pm River Deep, Mountain High: James Nesbitt 4:00pm HM the Queen 4:10pm ITV News and Weather 4:20pm Tangled 6:15pm Paul O'Grady: For The Love of Dogs 7:15pm Emmerdale 8:15pm ITV News and Weather 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:30pm Downton Abbey 11:30pm ITV News and Weather 11:45pm Love Actually 2:10am Christmas Carols on ITV 3:10am Closing the Ring 5:05am ITV Nightscreen

10

7:10am Ivor the Invisible 7:35am Prep and Landing 8:00am Famous Fred 8:25am Little Wolf's Book of Badness 8:55am Olive the Other Reindeer 9:50am James and the Giant Peach 11:25am Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who 1:05pm The Big Bang Theory 1:35pm The Big Bang Theory 2:05pm The Simpsons 2:40pm The Snowman 3:10pm The Snowman and the Snowdog 3:45pm The Simpsons 4:15pm Deal or No Deal 5:15pm The Alternative Christmas Message 5:20pm Channel 4 News 5:30pm 4thought.tv 5:35pm The Muppet Christmas Carol 7:15pm Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 9:30pm Bear's Wild Weekend with Stephen Fry 10:30pm Alan Carr: Chatty Man 11:35pm Man Down 12:05am Father Ted 1:15am Father Ted 1:50am Father Ted 2:20am Father Ted 2:45am Father Ted

6:00am Girlfriends 6:50am The Hot Desk 7:00am Emmerdale 7:25am Britain's Got More Talent 8:20am Britain's Got More Talent 9:20am Peter Andre: My Life at Christmas 10:20am You've Been Framed!

11:20am Ant and Dec's Christmas Show 12:40pm Peter Pan 2:50pm Emmerdale 3:20pm The Xtra Factor 4:20pm The Xtra Factor 5:20pm The Xtra Factor 6:20pm You've Been Framed!

6:50pm New You've Been Framed 7:20pm The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 9:30pm Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones 12:15am Shaun of the Dead 2:15am Celebrity Juice 2:50am Through the Keyhole 3:40am Peter Andre: My Life at Christmas 4:30am Christmas Bonkers Guinness World Records 4:55am You've Been Framed!

5:20am Girlfriends

SkyMoviesComedy/

4:00pm

SATELLITE CHANNELS/ Sky1/ 10:00am The Simpsons 10:30am The Simpsons 11:00am Soccer A.M. 1:00pm The Simpsons 1:30pm Modern Family 2:00pm The Middle 2:30pm The Middle 3:00pm Yonderland 3:30pm Yonderland 4:00pm The Queen 4:10pm Modern Family 4:40pm Sinbad 5:30pm The Simpsons 6:00pm Treasure Island 8:00pm The Simpsons

8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm Modern Family 9:30pm Modern Family 10:00pm Little Crackers 10:30pm Little Crackers 10:45pm Little Crackers 11:00pm Trollied 12:00am Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life 1:00am A League of Their Own 1:55am Spartacus: Blood and Sand 3:10am Strike Back: Shadow Warfare 4:10am Road Wars 5:00am Little Crackers

SkyMoviesComedy/ 5:50am Stuart Little 7:20am Cool Runnings 9:05am National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 10:50am Jingle All the Way 12:25pm Mean Girls 2:05pm Ted 4:00pm Cool Runnings 5:45pm Jingle All the Way 7:20pm National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 9:00pm Ted 11:00pm This is 40 1:20am Pitch Perfect 3:15am Mean Girls

•John Candy •Leon •Doug E. Doug •Rawle D. Lewis •Malik Yoba

SkyMoviesChristmas/ 5:40am The Nightmare Before Christmas 7:00am Mickey's Once upon a Christmas 8:20am Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 9:30am The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol 10:00am Santa Buddies 11:45am The Search for Santa Paws 1:30pm Home Alone: The Holiday Heist 3:15pm Rise of the Guardians 5:00pm Elf

Cool Runnings (Film, 1993) When three Jamaican Olympic sprint contenders trip at the trials, they join up with another Jamaican to form Jamaica's first bobsled team to find another way to represent their country. This is the true story of four Jamaicans in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.

6:45pm Home Alone: The Holiday Heist 8:30pm The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol 9:00pm Elf 10:45pm Bad Santa 12:30am Batman Returns

SkyMoviesAction/ 5:15am Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 7:00am Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 9:00am The Three Musketeers 11:00am Avengers Assemble 1:30pm Men in Black 3:10pm Men in Black II

BBC3/ 8:00pm The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper 8:10pm Madagascar 9:30pm Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 11:25pm EastEnders 12:20am Family Guy 1:05am Family Guy 1:50am Family Guy 2:10am Family Guy 2:30am Bad Education 3:00am Bluestone 42 3:30am Sweat the Small Stuff 4:00am Don't Tell the Bride

Madagascar (Film, 2005) BBC 3 from 8:10pm to 9:30pm Animated comedy about four spoiled animals from New York Central Zoo whose botched escape attempt finds them stranded in the Madagascar jungle with no experience of the wild. One of Madagascar's great strengths is its impressive cast including Ben Stiller, who is on top form as the neurotic lion, and David Schwimmer who also impresses as a melodramatic giraffe.

But it is Sacha Baron Cohen who steals the show as the riotous leader of a tribe of lemurs.

BBC4/ 8:00pm Arena

Sister Wendy

9:00pm The Royal Ballet: Don Quixote

4:40pm Men in Black 3 6:30pm Avengers Assemble 9:00pm Men in Black

TCM/ 9:10am Gone with the Wind 1:25pm Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 3:20pm An Affair to Remember 5:30pm A League of Their Own 8:00pm Terry Wogan Presents the Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show - Christmas Special 10:00pm The Fugitive 12:25am Exit Wounds 2:15am The Fugitive

11:15pm Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

12:00am Top of the Pops 12:50am Top of the Pops 1:50am The Richest Songs in the World 3:20am The Fir Tree 3:50am The Bridge

OPINION & COMMENT Cassandra Nash

A weekly look and not entirely impartial reaction - to the Spanish political scene

R

EGARDING the Hacienda squabble it is tempting but trite to quote ‘when thieves fall out...’

Trouble has brewed for some time with 29 resignations and sackings since last June when Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) chief Beatriz Viana was sacked.

Blunders over the Infanta Cristina’s tax history and allowing ex-PP treasurer Luis Barcenas to legalise ill-gotten gains through the government’s fiscal amnesty were too calamitous to overlook. Heads would roll anywhere for less. Matters worsened a few weeks ago when a ‘big payers’ inspector was sacked after rejecting an appeal by multinational cement company Cemex against a €450-million fine. Her superiors “wanted to study it more closely,” sources revealed.

Tax inspection chief Luis Jones has recently resigned, followed by nine more euphemistic ‘reassignments’ since then.

Hacienda comes under the Finance Ministry, whose head, Cristobal Montoro, blithely shrugged off the unrest. Most in AEAT’s upper reaches were socialists anyway, he remarked.

So that makes it all right, does it, Señor Montoro? All’s fair in love and war and politics too if they aren’t your own.

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Tax office unrest leads to purge

EWN

41

for the PSOE, but they’ve a dud lot to choose from too.

It all adds up SPAIN’s President Mariano Rajoy is comfortable making speeches but not giving interviews. Especially when he knows that corruption claims will crop up.

So he had to bite the bullet after agreeing to a marathon interview with journalists from the New Europe editorial project that includes El Pais and the Guardian.

Inevitably he had to answer questions about Spain’s endemic political and financial corruption. “In my party there is no double accounting,” Rajoy declared in a triumph of blind faith over evidence.

But as far as the president is concerned, this could well be true. It’s not uncommon for a general not to know what his sergeants get up to.

Shape of things to come BLITHE: Cristobal Montoro

Major mayor problem WHO will be Madrid’s next mayor?

Municipal elections aren’t so far off (only May 2015) and the PP will have to choose a candidate. Incumbent Ana Botella – wife of ex-president Jose Maria Aznar – has seen her popularity ratings plummet but would

POPULAR: Esperanza Aguirre like to repeat. She is no Rajoy fan and many in the PP hierarchy would allegedly like to see her gone.

How about Esperanza Aguirre? She was an extremely popular regional president, but like Botella is not ‘new’ PP and repeatedly reveals that she is underwhelmed by Mariano Rajoy.

This could be a toe-in-the-door moment

THE Spanish government received two warnings from Brussels. One was for the razor wire currently cutting illegal immigrants to shreds at the Melilla border.

Another for Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz’s law that erodes civil rights.

Rajoy rightly pointed out in the New Europe interview that Spain has no eurosceptic party. True enough. Possibly because when not fussing over the shape of bananas, Brussels occasionally spares a thought for the shape of society.

42

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

OPINION & COMMENT

Successful after-dinner speeches E

VER been asked to give an after-dinner speech? It could happen to you at any time; not just this Christmas or New Year but at weddings, anniversaries, or business events.

But it’s all quite straightforward, nothing to worry about. Basically, just a few rules to bear in mind and you’ll be fine.

Use whatever reason you’ve come together for the dinner as fodder for your speech. If it’s a company dinner, you can use anecdotes about the office and colleagues.

But best avoid reminding everyone of that occasion in the stationery cupboard when the lights failed and you stumbled over Sally from Accounts...

If it’s a family reunion, discuss some shared past events that everyone can recall fondly and with humour.

Again, you may have been dining out on the story for years but probably best not to draw attention now to Auntie Hilda.

Nora Johnson

Breaking Views A Costa del Sol resident for a number of years, Nora is the author of psychological suspense and crime thrillers. To comment on any of the issues raised in her column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/columnists/ norajohnson

PUBLIC SPEAKING: Just a few rules to bear in mind and you’ll be fine.

You know, the one who’s just a little too fond, shall we say, of the hard stuff.

After all, you may not be her favourite, but you can only assume drink had been consumed when she wrapped your Christmas present - a used hairbrush.

Another rule is to stay sober and wide-awake. There’s nothing worse than your audience seeing you slide off the edge of your seat before they do.

The best speeches are like the best theatre. There’s laughter and there’s pathos (though hopefully not because

you’ve been struck by stage fright).

People often think speeches have to be a barrel of laughs, but if there’s one golden rule, it’s this: if you're speaking, for instance, to politicians, don’t make jokes about expenses they’ve heard ’em all before (some in jail).

And don’t outstay your welcome. The Gettsyburg Address was two minutes.

Some of the best speeches are

just 10. If you’re planning on 40, you’ll be nodding off long before they do. Ditto aim to speak before 11pm.

You’re there to entertain the guests and help them digest their food, not regurgitate it.

Which reminds me. A pompous speaker with an inflated opinion of himself gave a long after-dinner speech. He then made the mistake of turning to his neighbour who happened to be Oscar Wilde,

and asked: “How would you have delivered that speech?”

“Under an assumed name,” was the reply.

Happy Christmas!

Nora Johnson’s thrillers Retribution, Soul Stealer, The De Clerambault Code (www.nora-johnson.com) are available from Amazon in paperback/eBook (€0.89; £0.77) and iBookstore.

Profits to Cudeca.

www.euroweeklynews.com

CROSSWORDS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Time Out

EWN

45

SPONSORED BY

EURO WEEKLY’S SPACE FOR YOU TO TAKE A BREAK, BE INFORMED AND ENJOY A CHALLENGE

MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE

Famous quote

This week

‘

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’

Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996), American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science communicator.

in history

Women’s wit

‘

1803: The French hand over New Orleans and Lower Louisiana after the US bought it for 50 million francs.

1952: Queen Elizabeth delivers her first Christmas speech.

1955: Yugoslavia wins a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council.

1958: General Charles de Gaulle is elected President of France.

1972: The survivors from a plane that crashed in the Argentine Andes are rescued 10 weeks after the accident.

They had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

1973: The Spanish President under General Franco’s dictatorship, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is killed by Basque separatist group ETA in a car bomb attack.

1977: Silent film actor Charles Chaplin dies aged 88 at his home in Switzerland.

1979: Ariane 1, the first rocket built in Europe, is successfully launched into space.

1984: Margaret Thatcher signs a declaration to return the British colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

1989: The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin opens for the first time in three decades.

1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as leader of the Soviet Union after seven years in office.

1992: Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas speech is leaked and published in a British national newspaper.

1998: American President Bill Clinton is impeached of lying after he denied having sexual relationships with Monica Lewinsky.

2003: British-built Mars probe Beagle 2 disappears for unknown reasons.

I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.’

Madonna Ciccone (1958 - ) American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist.

World of English In a cocktail lounge, Norway:

K a k u ro

COSTA BLANCA weather for next 7 days TOMORROW JAVEA

DENIA JAVEA

DENIA

CALPE CALPE ALTEA ALTEA BENIDORM BENIDORM

ALICANTE

ALICANTE

TORREVIEJA

TORREVIEJA

ORIHUELA

ORIHUELA

Alicante TODAY:

Benidorm

SHOWER MAX 17C, MIN 8C MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Mon - 16 7 S Tues - 16 7 Cl Wed - 17 9 S

16 6 S 16 6 S 18 7 Cl

SUNNY

MAX 19C, MIN 9C

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

17 8 S 17 8 S 18 9 Cl

Mon - 18 9 Cl Tues - 18 11 Cl Wed - 19 11 Cl

14 6 Sh 14 7 Cl 14 7 Cl S Sun,

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX MIN

Mon - 14 6 S Tues - 14 8 Cl Wed - 14 8 S Cl Clear,

TODAY:

9 -1 S 9 1 S 13 0 Cl

Fog,

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX 18C, MIN 8C MAX MIN

Mon - 16 8 S Tues - 17 9 S Wed - 17 10 S

16 7 S 16 7 S 17 9 S

TODAY:

SHOWER MAX 16C, MIN 11C

Fri Sat Sun -

13 11 Sh 15 9 Sh 15 9 Cl

MAX MIN

Mon - 12 1 Cl Tues - 11 3 Cl Wed - 12 5 Cl

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Mon - 14 8 Cl Tues - 14 9 Cl Wed - 15 12 Cl

Murcia

SHOWER MAX 16C, MIN -1C MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

SHOWER MAX MIN

Mallorca

MAX MIN

Madrid

SHOWER MAX 13C, MIN 7C MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Mon - 16 9 Cl Tues - 16 11 Cl Wed - 16 11 Cl

SUNNY MAX 10C, MIN 1C

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Barcelona TODAY:

14 8 S 15 8 Cl 16 9 Cl

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Bilbao

Almeria TODAY:

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Malaga

SHOWER MAX 16C, MIN 9C

TODAY:

14 0 Cl 13 -1 Cl 9 0 Cl C Cloudy,

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Mon - 10 0 Cl Tues - 12 1 Cl Wed - 11 2 C Sh Showers,

SUNNY

MAX 17C, MIN 8C

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

16 4 S 16 3 Cl 17 5 Cl

Sn Snow,

Fill all the empty squares using the numbers 1 to 9, so that the sum of each horizontal block equals the ‘clue’ on its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the clue on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once.

MAX MIN

Mon - 17 6 Cl Tues - 17 8 Cl Wed - 17 8 Cl Th Thunder

LOTTERY

TODAY

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

‘

Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

UK THUNDERBALL

IRISH LOTTO

EURO MILLIONS

LA PRIMITIVA

EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA

Saturday December 14

Saturday December 14

Saturday December 14

Friday December 13

Saturday December 14

Sunday December 15

13

21

2

2

16

1

12 24

29

13

35

41

24

12

16

3

23

27

24

28

41

46

22 19

26

23

27

31

31

19

20

24

BONUS BALL

THUNDERBALL

BONUS BALL

8

11

30

LUCKY STARS

6

11

40

REINTEGRO

31

7

REINTEGRO

9

46

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

CROSSWORDS

www.euroweeklynews.com

Time Out EURO WEEKLY’S SPACE FOR YOU TO TAKE A BREAK, BE INFORMED AND ENJOY A CHALLENGE

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) There is still a strong accent on family matters and getting things sorted out. The way ahead is clear. If you are able to persuade someone that an idea was theirs and not yours, so much the better. Being in a practical mood serves you well because it is possible to get a lot done in the next few days. The weekend, however, is another matter. It seems you are much in demand and jobs you thought would be done and dusted just aren't.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Your mind is still sharp this week and there are many questions that you would like answered. Doing a bit of research proves fruitful and also quite amusing. A recent contact may not come up with the proposition hoped for, but realise that it is still early days.

Sometimes, you feel that being far from perfect spoils your chances. We can all do with improvement. Ask your long-term friends what they like most about you and strengthen that area.

H ex a g r a m

Though Percy, the half-human son of Greek god Poseidon, once saved the world, lately he's been feeling less than heroic.

However, he doesn't have much time to brood: a horde of mythical beasts threatens the demigods' sanctuary Camp Half-Blood. In order to save Camp Half-Blood, Percy and his friends embark on a journey to the Sea of Monsters, also known as the Bermuda Triangle, to find the magical Golden Fleece.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) There is so much that has come to light in the past few weeks. It is no wonder that your mind is reeling. All will become clear in the weeks ahead and this cannot be rushed. However, there is a need to look after your health and get out in the fresh air. Any thought of joining a walking club or health group should be pursued. It will also serve as light relief and take your mind from less happy notions

50

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) Being considerably more relaxed about those things which cannot be changed has taken a weight from your shoulders. It is also easier to understand why others have taken this approach in the past. There is, however, a balance to

NEARER

DESIRE

SEATED

ELDERS

SMILES

ERASED

TINSEL (10)

FARMER

TWEEDS

GIANTS

WHEELS

December 22: Ralph Fiennes, 50.

British actor and Shakespeare interpreter.

December 20: Elena de Borbon. Born December 20, 1963.

She is the elder daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. She owns the titles of Her Royal Highness Infanta and Duchess of Lugo.

She is fourth in the line of succession to the throne.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Although last week was not run at the pace anticipated, now the pace certainly picks up. Finances are still firmly on the agenda, but this time you will be able to deal on a more relaxed basis. A contact made recently gives you the

DESERT

Your Stars

December 21: Samuel L Jackson, 65. American actor, producer and civil rights activist.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Make a point of putting on a happy face and your mood will stay high.

There is still some more to be done to improve your social life and a recent offer of charity work may be just the thing.

Avoid restricting the sort of folk who you are willing to mix with. Cultural differences apart, it is quite an eye-opener to find out how others live and think. Never assume that you know everything, there is so much out there to explore.

MILDER

1 Mouldy, 2 Ballot, 3 Resort, 4 Tested, 5 Luster, 6 Rumour, 7 Meteor, 8 Enters, 9 Muster, 10 Mender, 11 Uppers, 12 Cheers, 13 Render, 14 Holder, 15 Resent, 16 Barely, 17 Oceans, 18 Steady, 19 Spears

December 19: Karim Benzema, 26.

French international footballer.

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) A pleasant surprise makes you a little more optimistic midweek. It is possible for you to take on negativity too quickly. The next time something does not go according to plan, hold fire. It is amazing what a little time and distance will solve. Because you are in a practical frame of mind, use this to make a check on everyday routines. More could be achieved with forward planning.

METRES

CHARTS

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Taking the goat by the horns can prove tricky because you are not going to put up with being restricted. Anyone who tackles you head on may be either brave or stupid.

You, however, are brimming with confidence and raring to go.

opportunity not only to make some money but also to enlarge your circle of friends.

When taking up an educational course, throw yourself wholeheartedly into it to get the best results.

MANGER

CENTRE

GIRDLE

IF ITʼS YOUR BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK:

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) A meeting midweek could mean a change to your finances for the better. In the short term, it may be necessary for you to rearrange money and appointments but try not to be too put out.

Change is perhaps something that we become less tolerant of after a situation has gone on for a time. In this case, however, the basic problem is still there.

Instead of worrying, do your best and then get on with something else

ASTERS

be found. Don't be put off by people who have become sloppy in their approach because this is not going to affect you.

LEO (July 24 - August 23) Are you still patting yourself on the back for that recent achievement?

Socially, this is a lovely week when old friendships are strengthened and new acquaintances prove to be relaxing. It is another mellow week but one in which you seriously consider making a major change.

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Be your charming self this week without pushing too much. A natural approach when you are seeking a response is the best course of action. Simply being in the right place and under someone's gaze is all that is required. Are you getting itchy because an offer is not forthcoming? Well, if you absolutely must, then get a little bird to whisper in their ear.

December 23: Carla Bruni, 46.

ItalianFrench singer, songwriter and actress.

10-Star Quiz YULETIDE POSERS

1. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, which is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide?

2. First broadcast on Christmas Day 2003, Sleepless in Peckham was the title of the 18th and final Christmas ‘special’ of which famous television sitcom?

3. If you arranged the (traditional) names of Santa Claus’s eight ‘flying reindeer’ into alphabetical order, which would come first and which would come last?

4. The start of which novel, first published in 1868, is set at Christmastime, where Jo, the second eldest of the March sisters, grumbles: “Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents”?

5. Normally eaten during the Christmas season, what is the name of the traditional German cake containing chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts and spices and often marzipan and covered with sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar?

6. What did Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart take from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950?

7. Which novel, first published in 1843, features the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come?

8. Which song by Queen was the UK Christmas number one hit single in 1975 and again in 1991?

9. Which three-year-old British-bred, Irish-trained thoroughbred racehorse won the 1964 Irish 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and Irish Derby?

10. Who was crowned King of England, at Westminster Abbey, on Christmas Day 1066?

Nonagram How many English words of four letters or more can you make from the nine letters in our Nonagram puzzle? Each letter may be used only once (unless the letter appears twice). Each word MUST CONTAIN THE CENTRE LETTER (in this case B) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.

TARGET: 29 Average: 10 Good: 13 Very good: 19 Excellent: 23

December 24: Ricky Martin, 42.

Puerto Rican singer and actor.

December 25: Annie Lennox, 59.

Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) It is clear that you really love your hearth and home but, every now and again, there is a small voice calling. The good things in life appeal and, to have these, an effort is involved. Do not underestimate the amount of pleasure that you will enjoy when putting in that extra effort. It does, after all, involve other people. Some of those people prove to be quite fascinating.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Having put in extra effort to bring a zing to this year it is important that you keep the impetus going. This is not only good for your health and wealth, but also your mind. Although trying something new brings a few odd remarks your way, try not to be sidetracked.

Bringing together various friends and family proves fun and really bolsters your mood.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION atop, capo, carp, corp, crop, pact, pair, para, part, pica, pita, port, rapt, tapa, tarp, topi, trap, trip, apart, aport, atrip, carpi, copra, optic, patio, picot, tapir, topic, atopic, capita, captor, picaro, tropic, apricot, tapioca, CAPACITOR

Word Ladder SOFT

TOYS

Move from the start word (SOFT) to the end word (TOYS) in the same number of steps as there are rungs on the Word Ladder.

You must only change one letter at a time.

SOFT SOOT BOOT BOOS BOYS TOYS

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The purpose of the Hexagram puzzle is to place the 19 six-letter words into the 19 cells. The letters at the edges of interlocking cells MUST BE THE SAME. The letters in the words must be written CLOCKWISE. The word in cell 10 (TINSEL) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.

t1. WHITE CHRISTMAS by BING CROSBY, 2. ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES, 3. BLITZEN (originally called BLIXEM) and VIXEN, 4. LITTLE WOMEN, 5. STOLLEN, WEIHNACHTSSTOLLEN or CHRISTSTOLLEN, 6. STONE OF SCONE, also known as the STONE OF DESTINY and the CORONATION STONE, 7. A CHRISTMAS CAROL, 8. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, 9. SANTA CLAUS, 10. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR (Duke of Normandy)

NEW ON DVD

www.euroweeklynews.com

CROSSWORDS

Crosswords

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

EWN

47

SPONSORED BY

For more information about the sponsor go to www.lineadirecta.com

Cryptic

Quick

Unscramble the name of a famous Christmas carol (four words): WEAN AGAIN MARY

Across 1 Saul IV broke optic (6) 4 Romeo gets colleague to perk up (5) 9 A term in school clothes (7) 10 Celebration not completely unknown (5) 11 Iʼd heard and observed (4) 12 Thor, a man changed by battle (8) 14 Gala rips, bringing back the Twist (6) 16 The Parisian tour? Go wild! (3,3) 19 A card game daughter cut short (8) 20 Itʼs wrong to raise the pace (4) 23 One of the family finding sweetheart in Riviera resort (5) 24 In creche, loneliest place (7) 25 Fly a Greek character with a large amount (5) 26 Suffering queasiness in Barcelona, use a toilet (6)

Unscramble the name of a famous Christmas carol (five words): HID HEALTHY NOVELTY FUNAGRAM SOLUTION: AWAY IN A MANGER, THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

Play on Words

YYYMEN

18 Characters in a magazine were

21 Exercises authority over regulations (5) 22 How odd a call to stop (4)

Code Breaker

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 5 represents V and 6 represents Y, so fill in V every time the figure 5 appears and Y every time the figure 6 appears. Now, using your knowledge of the English language, work out which letters should go in the missing squares. As you discover the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and the control grid.

Across 1 Edible soft fruit (9) 4 Acquire (3) 6 Wish the best for (5) 8 Beer mug (5) 9 Move to music (5) 10 Very young person (5) 11 Hidden (6) 13 Photographer's device (6) 16 Food flavouring (5) 17 Studies literature (5) 19 Vapour (5) 20 Happening (5) 21 Writing implement (3) 22 Christmas decoration (9)

Down 1 Long strips of fabric (7) 2 Pay out money (5) 3 Thin slice of bacon (6) 4 Bona fide (7) 5 Weary (5) 7 Genuine (7) 10 Farce (7) 12 Deep red (7) 14 Disciple (7) 15 Small particles of bread (6) 16 Slumber (5) 18 Sugary (5)

English - Spanish The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.

NIGMASSHT

Men,

more up-to-date (5) 19 Woman of American nationality (4)

Wise

8 How you might need to start a song? (4) 13 Sea-dog in abandoned American naval base (3,5) 15 Salieri composition for Jerusalem resident (7) 17 Tie up an awkward flower (7)

Answers: Three Midnight mass

Down 1 More than one knave travels another way (7) 2 This set of rooms sounds charming (5) 3 Case confusing experts (4) 5 Type of soup bath, leap out (8) 6 Unusual curl for her dog (7) 7 Keats cooked some meat (5)

Funagram

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS CRYPTIC Across: 1 Sated, 4 Cheroot, 7 Mandela, 8 Chafe, 10 Rigid, 11 Granite, 12 Stoat, 14 Enact, 19 Needles, 21 Yearn, 22 Throw, 23 Adhered, 24 Resided, 25 Order.

Down: 2 Tonight, 3 Dread, 4 Change, 5 Enchain, 6 Okapi, 7 Mark, 9 Ewes, 13 Allowed, 15 Charred, 16 Unit, 17 Island, 18 Enid, 20 Earls, 21 Yahoo.

QUICK Across: 1 Scribe, 4 Sweets, 9 Bromine, 10 Reign, 11 Upset, 12 Restore, 13 Screwdriver, 18 Ravioli, 20 Stale, 22 Heron, 23 Agitate, 24 Dodges, 25 Heated.

Down: 1 Subdue, 2 Roots, 3 Brittle, 5 Works, 6 Episode, 7 Sonnet, 8 Rear admiral, 14 Covered, 15 Inspire, 16 Orchid, 17 Depend, 19 Ounce, 21 Apart.

Across 1 Presents (gifts) (7) 5 Compra (3) 6 Kiss (4) 7 Trinchar (carne) (5) 9 Jamón (3) 11 Relleno (para carnes) (8) 14 Nuevo (no usado) (3) 15 Chica (4)

Down 1 Cintas (de tela) (7) 2 Goose (domestic) (5) 3 Leño (3) 4 Media (8) 5 Nacimiento (5) 8 Duende (3) 10 To roast (4) 12 Juguete (3) 13 Diversión (entretenimiento) (3)

ENGLISH-SPANISH Across: 1 Suerte, 4 Wait, 8 Claro, 9 Lambs, 10 Uva, 11 Stars, 12 Tisis, 15 Asi, 16 Again, 18 Llave, 19 Tren, 20 Collar.

Down: 1 Socks, 2 Etapa, 3 Thousand, 5 Arm, 6 Tos, 7 Platillo, 13 Snail, 14 Swear, 16 Ant, 17 Ave.

48

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

THE TOP TEN BEST TV SHOWS 2013 THERE are some voices out there saying that TV shows are the new movies. With an incredible variety of series covering all sorts of genres, quality TV shows are getting a lot of media recognition with fans waiting eagerly every week for a new episode. This week, the TOP 10 takes a look at the best TV shows 2013.

CROSSWORDS

www.euroweeklynews.com

SPONSORED BY For solutions: http://www.euroweeklynews.com/puzzle-answers.html

A ‘lemon’ of an orange grove in Mallorca

BOOKS books@euroweeklynews.com

1. Downton Abbey Set in the early 20th century, this successful drama/soap opera provides a quality TV experience with several heart-stopping moments that many shows can only dream of.

Dame Maggie Smith steals 1 the show with every scene she’s in.

2. The Hour BBC Two’s most underrated show. Starring 007 Skyfall’s Ben Wishaw alongside The Wire’s Dominic West, it’s a seamless mix of drama, espionage and suspense, set in the late 50s in Britain following a group of journalists.

3. Doctor Who Is it really necessary to explain Doctor Who? Britain’s most well-known and loved allaudience sci-fi show tells the story of The Doctor, a humanoid Time Lord who fights monsters and travels through time and space in the Tardis.

4. Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin’s novel’s jump to the small screen has become a worldwide phenomenon. Every year, the fantasy and politics of Westeros gathers more viewers and fans that are heavily emotionally invested in the many characters in the show. On its third season, the show delivered one of the most shocking episodes ever seen on television, known as The Red Wedding.

Essentially humorous, at times hilarious, yet occasionally poignant, Snowball Oranges is the story of a ‘normal’ Scottish family who gave up the relative security of life in their native land to go and grow oranges for a living in a secluded valley in the mountains of the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. And the freak snowstorm which heralded their arrival on the finca of Ca’s Mayoral was only the first and

Crimes Unit. The character has been affected by personal tragedies that have made him into someone who has a very distinct idea of good and evil. A refreshing BBC thriller with well-constructed storylines.

6. The Good Wife An Emmy award-winning show about politics, law and current media affairs

Vine Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see with Vine. Available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices.

Mallorcan neighbours - including an eccentric goatherd who ate worm-ridden oranges to improve his sex life - restored the family’s faith in human nature and helped them adapt to their new and, at times, unexpectedly testing life in the apparently simple idyll of rural Spain.

all together in one of the best drama series on television.

7. Orange Is The New Black As the mind behind Weeds, Kenji Kohan has brought to Netflix its biggest success yet. Based on a true story, it’s a drama narrating the experience of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) during a one-year sentence at a women’s prison. The series had a huge impact on social media and received marvellous reviews.

8. Breaking Bad Vince Gilligan’s meth cooking drama said goodbye in September after five seasons of intense and thrilling unforgettable episodes. The misadventures of antiheroes Walter White and Jesse Pinkman brought a whole new level

5. Luther Idris Elba (The Wire, HBO) stars as a Detective Chief Inspector in London’s Serious

App of the Week

perhaps the least of many surprises to be faced and coped with before they could truly regard their new abode as home... if ever they could!

No matter how rose-tinted their trusting aspirations, it wasn’t long before they realised that they’d been sold a ‘lemon’ of an orange farm by the wily previous owners.

However, an oddball local chef with cats in his kitchen, and a few prickly-though-kindly old

Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey and Taylor Schilling in Orange Is The New Black.

Sudoku Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3X3 box contains the digits 1-9. There’s no maths involved. You solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic.

Breaking Bad characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. of western action to a modern setting.

Drugs, betrayals and a dying man’s ambition left a brilliant legacy hard to forget.

9. American Horror Story This independent pulp-horror TV show focuses on different terror and supernatural legends from American history. Every season showcases the same actors (with a few cuts and additions) playing totally different roles in different settings. Coven, its third season, follows the story of the witches and the voodoo legacy in New Orleans throughout two centuries.

10. Hannibal Hugh Dancy and Madds Mikkelsen are the stars of this new interpretation of the classic thriller novel Hannibal. The show follows the early events from The Red Dragon and will cover the story of Hannibal throughout the seasons. Gripping and gruesome, this is one of the best new shows of the year.

Boggled How many English words can you find in the Boggled grid, according to the following rules?

The letters must be adjoining in a ‘chain’. They can be adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Words must contain at least four letters and may include singular and plural or other derived forms.

No letter may be used more than once within a single word, unless it appears twice.

No vulgarities or proper nouns are permitted.

TARGET:

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Average: 16

Just Joking Why don’t you ever see hippopotamus hiding in trees?

Because they’re really good at it.

Did you hear about the new corduroy pillows?

They’re making headlines everywhere!

What’s the best part about living in Switzerland?

Not sure, but the flag is a big plus.

Good: 20 Very good: 29 Excellent: 36

SCORING: 4 letters: 1 point • 5 letters: 2 points 6 letters: 3 points • 7 letters: 4 points 8 or more letters: 11 points

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION gram, groin, groat, groan, gnat, anion, tram, tramp, tramps, trap, traps, tromp, tromps, tarn, tart, taro, taros, tang, tamp, tampon, tamps, taps, rang, rani, ramp, ramps, raps, roan, roam, roman, romp, romps, naps, atom, among, amps, aorta, apart, matron, matt, mart, manna, mania, manias, manor, maps, morn, morning, moat, moan, moaning, mops, patron, part, pang, porn, port, pain, sort, song, sonar, soar, soap, sang, spat, spar, span, sport

OPINION & COMMENT

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

EWN

49

Christmas would just not be the same without...

It’s that special time of year again. We asked people what makes Christmas special for them.

ELENA MAS, aged 44, from Parcent on the Costa Blanca, said: “For me it would not be Christmas without my daughter and my family, because I lost my mum only a few months ago and I realised that the most important things are not the food or the presents, but the people that you really love.”

Thomas Frietz, 22, is a German who has been living is Spain since he was a child. He said: “For me it would not be Christmas without a great party with my girlfriend and my friends, to have lots of fun. My mum’s Christmas food is also a must.”

For five-year-old Leyton, from La Marina, Costa Blanca, it wouldn’t be Christmas without: “Santa! I am hoping for a bike this year.” He added: “I want Santa to stay here so I can get presents every day.”

FAMILY: Most important for Elena Mas.

STREET TALK Shirley-Ann Barton, 61, from Guardamar, Costa Blanca, said: “It wouldn’t be Christmas without my family. I have been in Spain five years now but always go back home for Christmas to spend it with my family. My two granddaughters have been born since I came to Spain and have birthdays in December, so

BACK TO BASICS: Brian Reade.

SANTA: Fiveyear-old Leyton.

Christmas is extra special for that reason also.”

For Ann and Tom Noble, retired, from Cucador in Almeria, it would not be Christmas without Jesus. “We are Christians and Jesus is the reason for the season.”

Family time is the most important thing about Christmas for Brian Reade, retired, who lives in Zurgena, Almeria. He said: “We only have a small family so we work to get the family over and enjoy Christmas together, back to basics.”

JESUS: Ann and Tom Noble remember the religious message.

50

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

ealth & beauty H TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EWNLIFESTYLE.COM

Relief for an itchy scalp

know how to treat it.

The scalp has nearly 600 nerve endings per square centimetre. These endings can be activated for many reasons (cold, heat, mechanical pressure, stress, wrong shampoo, harmful water‌) and these neuro-transmitters chemical substances - activate the receptors in the brain, causing the sensation of itching and consequently, the need for

ITCHY SCALP: Many people suffer but don’t know how to treat it. scratching your head.

How to prevent it? You should use products specially

Memorable pop music POP MUSIC can help patients with brain injuries to recall memories.

A study by the University of Newcastle in Australia and the University of Lille in France found that when patients listened to music released within their lifetime it helped them to recall memories. They say patients with brain injury recalled a similar number of memories as those without.

BLAST FROM PAST: Patients were able to recall memories.

designed and formulated for frequent use on sensitive scalps. However, if you have other described symptoms including chronic flaking or excessive hair loss, you should consult a dermatologist first.

Physioprotector shampoos are the best solution for a sensitive scalp, because the formula contains polidocanol, an antipruritic, which limits the transmission of the nerve endings and relieves the symptoms.

These have a very gentle effect, do not contain additives and are hypoallergenic.

SCIENTISTS have discovered that mosquitoes detect even the faintest of human body odours when searching for potential victims to bite, which could explain why some people get bitten more than others.

Female mosquitoes use specific sensors to detect carbon dioxide being exhaled from humans and animals and now researchers from the University of California Riverside in the USA say they also use these same sensors to detect body odours, especially the smell of feet.

FLICKR_ZACDECLERCK

SUFFERING from an itchy scalp? There are many reasons why your head may be itching.

Dandruff, excess oil or hair pathology all may be causing it, but the truth is, having a sensitive scalp is the most common reason for it.

If you feel the immediate need to scratch your hair and a painful tightness in your scalp on a regular basis, you might have this condition and need to

Mozzies target odours

Mozzies target by smell.

HEALTH & BEAUTY

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Avoid stiffness in the muscles STIFFNESS: A problem that affects sportsmen.

MUSCLE pain provoked by stiffness after hard exercise can be severe.

Here are some steps you could follow to alleviate the pain: A hot bath activates the blood flow to the muscles. A cold bath, however, has an effect so it soothes the pain and makes moving and stretching easier.

Heavy massage hurts the damaged tissues and may cause injury, so always get more gentle massages.

Light exercise might be beneficial. Human bodies generate stress-relieving hormones that temporally reduce the pain. This can improve movement and help muscle recovery.

Analgesics are also a good choice to provide temporary relief and improve movement. This way, muscles get more blood flow and recover faster.

Magnesium helps relax the muscles.

Sports balm can also increase blood flow and accelerates muscle recovery. Even not doing anything at all is useful. Stiffness usually disappears after three days of inactivity with no tissue damage.

If your muscles hurt just by touching them or moving slightly, you should stop training at least for a day. That way, the muscles will rest and recover so the blood flow can heal the muscle tissue eventually.

EWN

51

52

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Advertising feature

Enhance pleasure with Pleasure Amor SPICE up your sex life this Christmas with a gift from www.pleasureamor.co m for the one you love.

Many people find adult shops embarrassing to visit so now, if you ever wanted to add a little variety and excitement to your love life, you can do so in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Pleasure Amor tries to cater for as many varied tastes as possible from the novice to the more experienced and their range of products is constantly being increased.

Whilst many are ‘toys’ implying just that; aimed to add fun and enjoyment for couples, many are also designed to assist individuals

looking to have a more fulfilling love life and to help overcome any problems or inhibitions.

The company is ideally based in Spain and discreetly ship products all over Spain and internationally.

Founder of Pleasure Amor said: “Take your time and browse the range of adult products on offer. Don’t close your eyes to the possibility of further experiences and the fulfilment of sexual happiness.”

Visit www.pleasureamor.com Remember this is an adult site, do not visit if easily offended.

www.euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

Get your best face with a homemade remedy IF you haven’t slept properly for days and the stress is highlighting the bags under your eyes, 100 per cent natural homemade facemasks are one remedy to eliminate that tired look and freshen up your face.

You only need one tablespoon of coffee beans, three tablespoons of honey, three tablespoons of yoghurt and two tablespoons of salt.

The first step is to grind the coffee with the help of a grinder or a mortar.

Then mix the ingredients until they form a dough and let it get cold in the fridge for an hour until it thickens.

Now you need to wet your face with warm water, get the paste, apply it to your face in circles and let it rest for five minutes. Once the time is due, rinse your face with warm water and dry it softly.

This remedy keeps the swelling down, thanks to the natural chemical product the honey contains, inhibin, which prevents swelling and eliminates the traces of a lack of sleep.

NATURAL FACEMASKS: You can create a perfect remedy in a few seconds with things from your kitchen.

The lactose acid from the yoghurt wipes the dead cells and brings to the surface a new fresh layer underneath your face. It also augments the skin capacity to stay hydrated and reduces wrinkles in the eyes and forehead.

Caffeine from the coffee will polish your skin. Furthermore, when you apply the mask, its texture exfoliates the skin and increases blood flow, as well as the benefits from the natural oils that will fill the eye contour area.

FOOD & DRINK

www.euroweeklynews.com

& DRINK

ood F

Costa de Almeria’s best

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

EWN

55

Spanish wine success To read more turn to Page 58 TO READ MORE VISIT: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM/FEATURES/RESTAURANTS

Costa Blanca’s best guide for local restaurants

Advertising Feature

Rebecca beats thousands to become winner of T:Factor ON October 21 Telitec launched their very first T:Factor competition.

The first prize a gob-smacking recording session in a TOP LONDON RECORDING STUDIO with FLIGHTS. Sales and Promotion Manager Gemma visited as many schools as she could in the vicinity and those she was not able to see personally were emailed with the information to participate.

Over the next weeks the word spread and Telitec received lots of videos.

A spokesman said: “The standard was amazing but then we expected nothing less from the talented kids here in Spain.”

To keep it fair the first two heats and the final were decided with an independent voting system.

Only one vote per person per day was

allowed and organisers witnessed FB, Twitter and the social media erupt as the kids promoted their entries within their own circles far and wide.

Areas got behind the T:Factor with bars, restaurants and shops displaying posters of their local representatives.

Thousands of votes were registered as the competition generated a buzz and great support for the contestants.

Eight weeks later and a winner has been chosen. She is the truly astounding Rebecca Tozia Tyszka from La Nucia, Costa Blanca.

Rebecca will be receiving the first prize of a recording session and trip to London courtesy of Telitec and the T:Factor, who are positive she is a star of the future.

Second place went to Tamara Gray

Morales, third to duo Maria Africa McMullen & Klaus Galvez, who will both receive top quality head phones for their fantastic entries.

Fourth and fifth were Tallulah Cousins and Ryan Dearden respectively.

SEE ALL the winners’ FANTASTIC PREFORMANCES at www.telitec.com.

The spokesman said: “We believe we have uncovered some of the stars of the future and Simon Cowell better look out! Thank you so much to all who took part and voted.”

Due to the resounding success of the competition they will be launching again in the New Year... with more amazing prizes And, due to demand, this time there will

NEW STAR: T:Factor winner Rebecca Tozia Tyszka. be a category for the over 18s.

Keep an eye on www.telitec.com for the ALL NEW T:FACTOR LAUNCH Email sales@telitec.net or call 965 743 473 for more information.

56

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

www.euroweeklynews.com

FOOD & DRINK

FUN & WELCOMING: The perfect place for festive celebrations.

Take the strain out of Xmas at Jacaranda IT is not too late to book in to Jacaranda for a delicious Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve celebration.

Jacaranda has got lots on for Christmas starting with their traditional Christmas Day Dinner. The four-course meal includes a cava reception and unlimited house wine and beer.

It features live music with the fantastic vocalist Becky BB & Guitarist WRX, all for just €59. So take the strain out of Christmas and let Jacaranda do all the work.

The New Year’s Eve Party starts at 8.30pm. The first bar drink is free and there will be tapas as well as a fun quiz and 60s/70s disco with Karaoke if needed.

Tickets must be bought in advance and are great value at just €5 per person.

You can find Jacaranda coming from Moraira towards Teulada/Benitachell and turning right at the roundabout just before Mas y Mas supermarket and they are at the top of the hill 600, metres on the left.

For Reservations 965 743 292

58

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

www.euroweeklynews.com

FOOD & DRINK

English-speaking markets grow Spanish wine sales SPANISH wine is drawing an increasing interest in English-speaking markets.

The money spent on Spanish tipple in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland increased during the first nine months

of the year, a report by the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (OEMV) found. However, while the US and Canadian markets seem to have a taste for sparkling and bottled wine, the UK and the Irish markets prefer to buy wine in bulk.

The price of Spanish wine in the US has been above average, which explains why more than $5.25 billion (â‚Ź3.8billion) was spent up to September despite a decrease in the quantity sold. Canada follows a similar tendency, with sales led by sparkling and bottled wine and a total of 2.05 billion Canadian dollars (â‚Ź1.45 billion) spent on Spanish wine.

Meanwhile, the money spent on Spanish wine in the UK increased by 1.3 per cent during the first nine months of the year due to a general price increase.

60

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

omes&gardens

H

SPONSORED BY

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA .COM

Christmas almost here but still jobs for the gardener Dick Handscombe

Gardening Corner

LIQUEURS: Part of the home-made collection.

By Spain’s best known expatriate gardening author living in Spain for 25 years.

J

UST had a week off from gardening and writing, so now have to catch up.

I was in the snowy Gredos Mountains west of Avila working as one of 25 English-speaking volunteers helping 25 Spaniards improve their spoken English on a Vaughan House intensive week immersion programme.

Volunteers and course attendees had to speak English to each other for 84 hours, speaking

DINNER: Ecologically fed on vegetable waste, edible weeds and grains.

Spanish being totally banned by Spaniards and Britons alike. We all

had to pick different topics of conversation so often I was comparing

attitudes to gardening in the North with those on the costas and what was

eaten for Christmas and the New Year.

As my Christmas lunch had started to sing loudly, it was prepared for the oven early to prevent it from being hijacked.

At 18 kilos it would not fit into the oven so it’s in the deepfreeze, cut into two for two festive dinners.

While making bread this evening, I coated it with chopped rosemary from the garden. It’s now frozen, ready to thaw out and warm up over Christmas. While the bread was cooking I checked out the homemade liqueurs prepared a few months ago with herbs, blackberries, sloes, Pacharan, cacti fruit and ground carobs.

I did a final weeding of the vegetable terraces and containers this afternoon and there will be plenty to harvest

for salads and cooked vegetables.

I also tried out a new idea. Although the fruits are smaller than normal the tangerine tree is well-laden. I therefore harvested a kilo and then chopped them for 10 minutes, skin and all, and added a large packet of lemonflavoured jelly powder dissolved in half a mug of hot water. Three hours later, a very refreshing full fruit jelly was ready to test. It tasted good and I intend to test it again once this column is finished!

As many readers know we are almost fully selfsufficient from the garden as were many Spaniards before they abandoned agriculture to become construction workers during the boom period. Our own drive towards selfsufficiency started as a result of three things: 1. The decline of agriculture in our valley.

2. A realisation of how much Spanish agriculture depended on chemicals and how difficult it was in most areas to purchase ecologically-grown fruit, vegetables and poultry.

Turn to Page 62

62

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

www.euroweeklynews.com

HOMES & GARDENS

Jobs for Christmas From Page 60 3. The wonderful vegetable gardens we saw in the semiabandoned villages we passed through during our 52-day, 950kilometre walk across Spain along the Pyrenees that separate Spain from France.

By chance my book ‘Adventure along the Spanish Pyrenees’ describing the walk was published yesterday in print and Kindle formats

by Amazon Books. It would make a good Christmas fireside read or present.

Well, the next edition of EWN will be published on Boxing Day so at this stage do have a great Christmas Day! ©Dick Handscombe www.gardeninginspain. com December 2013

64

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

PROPERTY

roperty P TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

Spanish property market showing signs of recovery

UPWARD TREND: Prime proper ty.

A GROWING number of experts believe that the Spanish property market is showing signs of recovery following the economic crash which plagued numerous global property markets.

With years of experience, Marc Pritchard, Sales and Marketing Manager of Taylor Wimpey España, suggested that the Spanish market will move in a positive direction in 2014, highlighting a number of aspects that will aid Spain's recovery.

Sale prices in Spain for quality properties in prime locations could be nearing the end of their fall, according to several reports released in recent weeks. Indeed, the Ministry of Development

Sale prices for quality properties in prime locations could be nearing the end of their fall reported that during the third quarter of 2013, homes recorded their lowest drop since 2010 - even becoming more expensive in several regions.

Pritchard indicates that this trend will continue into 2014 while properties in less popular inland locations which have reduced infrastructure or no views will drop further in price.

Indeed, the perception that the

housing market is nearing the end of its adjustment is gaining in popularity.

According to the Consumer Confidence Indicator for November, prepared by the Centre for Sociological Research, 46.4 per cent of those surveyed think that Spanish housing prices will stabilise over the next year, signalling a boost of confidence in the market.

Furthermore, Pritchard explains that 2014 is likely to see a surge of interest from foreign buyers outside the EU from countries such as China, Russia and the Middle East investing their money in Spanish property due to the ‘golden visa’ scheme which could be introduced

by January 2014.

Saying adios to Eurovegas LAS VEGAS SANDS has said ‘adios’ to building a Eurovegas resort in Spain.

Three months after Madrid lost the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games, the capital has now lost out on another big project, the Eurovegas resort, along with an investment of an estimated €17 billion and the creation of more than 600,000 jobs.

The first stone of the casino resort, which planned to house 12 hotels with 36,000 rooms over three phases, was originally scheduled for later this month and at the start of 2014, but will now never be laid. Government meetings with the US company Las Vegas Sands Corp failed to come to agreement over certain conditions imposed by the company, with some reports saying that Las Vegas Sands Corp wanted to allow smoking in some areas, forcing a change to the current smoking ban.

Sheldon Adelson, CEO of the company, said the company will now focus its attention elsewhere.

He said: “Developing integrated resorts in Europe has been a vision of mine for years, but there is a time and place for everything and right now our focus is on encouraging Asian countries, like Japan and Korea, to dramatically enhance their tourism offering through the development of integrated resorts there.”

66

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

NEWS / PETS

www.euroweeklynews.com

“Oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is” … time for Careline Theatre's annual pantomime from 8-12 January 2014 at their theatre in Alcalali.

Dick Whittington and his Cat is this year's choice featuring a talented cast.

The heroine, Alice Fitzwarren will be performed by Elysha Fish who was the delightful Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz last year while the role of Idle Jack will be in the hands of young Lily Hamer who cut her

pantomime teeth in Ali Baba and the forty thieves.

Also featured was Alan Gill, who now takes the part of Alderman Fitzwarren, the father of Alice; he made a memorable Godfrey in Dads Army in 2008.

Doors open at 7pm each evening with curtain up at 8pm; matinee performances start at 3 pm. Proceeds from the first night’s performance will be donated to Jalon Valley Help and Help of Denia & Marina Alta.

CREDIT Flickr_LanceJohnson

It’s panto time Have a jolly and safe Xmas David THE Dogman Listen to David on TRE every Saturday 10am to 11am Costa del Sol (Gibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm (San Roque to Calahonda) 91.9fm (Calahonda to Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92.7fm Costa Blanca (Torrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm (Elche to Calpe) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6fm, (Denia to Valencia) 95.3fm Mallorca 103.9fm

IT is the season to be jolly. Your stockings are hung by the chimney.

The decorations are up and packages wait beneath the Christmas tree.

Delectable treats sit elegantly on the dining-room table. Your home looks like the picture of a perfect holiday.

Add two unsupervised, hungry, excited dogs, and the idyllic setting can turn into chaos. In less time than it takes to say ‘Happy Christmas’ the dogs have torn open packages, chewed ornaments, bowled over a guest, unplugged the lights, pulled the roasting pan from the dustbin, eaten the biscuits, sent the best china shattering to the floor and vomited on the rug. Instead of listening to carols, you’re busy looking up the phone number for the emergency vet.

TEMPTING: Keep presents out of reach.

Holiday [pet] safety isn’t so different from other times of the year, except the dog gets forgotten in the chaos.

Don’t lose sight of your pet in the midst of celebrating. Use common sense. The best advice is to remain aware of potential problems.

Be especially careful of items animals can eat or chew. These include angel hair, which is made of spun glass; artificial snow, which may be mildly toxic; electric cables, wrapping paper, rubber bands, staples, etc, which can all cause internal

problems if eaten.

In general, don’t place decorations within your dog or cat’s reach.

Consider keeping your pets out of the rooms you decorate. Put a baby gate across the door to keep your dog out but allow visual access to where the family will be.

Don’t let young children and dogs play together unsupervised during such a hectic time. But, whatever you do, have a Happy Christmas!

COVERED: Peace of mind for all the family.

Advertising Feature

Protecting your health WITH cuts caused by the crisis there have been a lot of changes with respect to the cover of the Social Security System and in particular health cover. Which is why, now, more than ever before, a private health insurance policy is the best option to fully protect you and give you and your family, total peace of mind.

El Perpetuo Socorro has been providing health insurance to expatriates in Spain since 1951 and are able to offer expert advice in the sort of policy that suits your needs. They provide doctors that speak your language; documentation and multilanguage customer service; unlimited

hospitalisation cover; medication included when you are hospitalised; cover in Intensive Care Units (up to 45 days a year) as well as covering you for treatment at the best hospitals in your area with guaranteed cover for life.

For all of these reasons, there is no better protection than El Perpetuo Socorro and their multi-lingual agents are ready to speak to you in your own language to discuss your needs and the best cover for you.

Call 965 12 61 35 and they will put you in touch with a professional in your local area.

Or visit www.elperpetuo-socorro.com

www.euroweeklynews.com

SERVICES

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

ervices S

EWN

FOR RESULTS EVERY WEEK

AIRPORT PARKING | BUILDERS | LOCKSMITHS | PLUMBERS | REMOVALS/STORAGE | TV/SATELLITE BUILDERS

AIRPORT PARKING

CLEANING

DRAINS

AWNINGS DAMP PROOFING

AIR CONDITIONING

BABY EQUIPMENT HIRE

GAS

FIREWOOD

It’s cheaper than you think!

s a l e s @ e u r o w e e k l y n e w s . c o m

@dvertise online

965 842 777

N ews

67

68

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

www.euroweeklynews.com

INTERNET

MOTORING

PAINTERS & DECORATORS

PARKING

w w w . e u r o w e e k l y n e w s . c o m

SERVICES

SERVICES

www.euroweeklynews.com

PLUMBERS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

EWN

69

REMOVALS & STORAGE

REMOVALS & STORAGE

We d o n ’t s ay w e a r e t h e b e s t , our clients do!!

@dvertise online

965 842 777

N ews

70

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

REMOVALS & STORAGE

www.euroweeklynews.com

SWIMMING POOLS

TV/SATELLITE

I t ’s c h e a p e r t h a n you think

w w w . e u r o w e e k l y n e w s . c o m

SERVICES

SERVICES TV/SATELLITE

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

WINDOWS

EWN

71

72

A

I

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

E DV

R

S TI

CO

E

RS

www.euroweeklynews.com

SPOTLIGHT

Advertising feature

Grupo Benimarco offer the best solutions for plumbing needs

E RN

R

F you have any problems with your drains or septic tank, the best solution is to call Grupo Benimarco (Servicios Domingo). They offer a large list of services like emptying and cleaning of septic tanks, filtering wells, sewage treatment and pumping stations.

They can also unclog any kind of drains and sinks.

They are expert at locating septic tanks, wells, pipelines and automatic transmitters and they include in their services all plumbing and building works to provide a complete solution to your problems, eliminating the need to contract extra plumbers, electricians or builders, saving you extra time and money.

Grupo Benimarco (Servicios Domingo) workers are expert at unblocking swimming pool pipes and emptying and replacing the filters. They also empty pools for cleaning.

Their remote TV cameras can inspect pipelines to detect any cracks, holes,

Advertising Feature

ON SITE: Grupo Benimarco at work.

EXPERTS: Call Grupo Benimarco for all sewage, pipework and plumbing needs.

deformations, defective joints, penetrations of roots, corrosion and blockages and it is the most economical and fastest way to detect any problems.

You can ask them for a free no obligation quote for periodic maintenance of community water treatment plants and pumping stations.

They will travel at no cost to provide you

all the information about the frequency and the convenience of maintenance work.

They can also build manholes out of concrete and with foundry covers in order to facilitate possible future

blockage works.

They are well known for their excellent service in emptying and cleaning drinking water wells in cottages and also in cleaning terraces and frontages with pressurised water.

At Grupo Benimarco (Servicios Domingo) they adapt to market demands by incorporating new services and technologies and provide free quotes and advice.

They will be pleased to visit you to give all the information required and to help you with any problem that you may have.

Visit their website: www.grupobenimarco.es You can contact them at their offices by calling 966 113 909 or 647 616 898 or by sending them an e-mail to: grupo@grupobenimarco.es They also have 24 hours seven days a week emergency service available by calling 600 488 884.

www.euroweeklynews.com

CLASSIFIEDS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

lassifieds C

EWN

73

FOR RESULTS EVERY WEEK

BOATS / CARS / JOBS / SERVICES / PETS / BIKES / FURNITURE / PROPERTY / MOTORING / FOR SALES

AIR CONDITIONING

RIB Predator 2005. Optimax 135 engine. Awesome power. Carries 8 people. Good condition with extras. British registered.10,950€ ono. Tel 661 028 039 Benissa area (217594)

BUILDING SERVICES www.100percentplumbing.com Call for a free quotation 965 835 939 (87006)

ANTIQUES

MINI DIGGER, Dumper, Bobcat with operator for hire. Pedregeur based. Keith 639 620 448 (219568) QUICK RENOVATIONS. www.eurobuild.es. We build and refurbish fast, at the best price & quality. Call 677 671 713 (217896) ¡¡¡HEMME’S ROOF & BUILDING SERVICE!!! Traditional and modern Mediterranean roofing. 10 years guaranteed. Call 608 330 544 (200372)

BOATS

AT MICHAEL’S Several Myer’s English divans with drawers and more. See: www.michaelsjavea.com (215377)

ALL washers/dryers/dishwashers/boilers/electrics in the house repaired. 626 828 974 (217992)

AT MICHAEL’S Very high quality dining set in classic style. See 800 photos www.michaelsjavea.com (215377) AT MICHAEL’S High quality preowned furniture and New beds.

Deliveries free. www.michaelsjavea.com (215377) MICHAEL’S 30 YEARS IN JAVEA - ENSURES YOUR SATISFACTION! www.michaelsjavea.com Tel 96-579 1328

www.dragonreforms.com Tel. 966 807 098. Free quotes given.

COMPUTERS

CAMPING

Thermallinings.com offers a system to insulate non-cavity walls saving 35% heating costs. 678 179 346 (217935)

INSURANCE

FRIENDSHIP

GARDENING

CARPENTRY

CARPENTER - All types of woodwork, floors, decks, doors, renovations, etc. 20 years of experience. Call Raul 657 434 369. Free quotes given. (219787)

CHARITIES

www.euroweeklynews.com

INSULATION

FIND LOVE IN THE SUN w w w. i w a n t 2 m e e t y o u . c o m .

Browse for free Spain’s No. 1 online dating site. Bringing ex-pats together. (219566)

www.dragonreforms.com. Tel 966 807 098 Free quotes given.

For daily news visit

CHIROPODIST/PODIATRIST, Philip Mann, clinics in Benissa, Moraira, Javea, Calpe and Albir.

686 912 307 (217965)

FIREWOOD. Stored one year under roof. Best prices. Carlos 607 470 223 (206683)

www.dragonreforms.com Tel 966 807 098. Free quotes given.

(217756)

IT IS ILLEGAL TO SKIPPER BOATS WITHOUT A VALID LICENCE. If you are caught skippering a power boat without a licence, you WILL BE FINED. Possessing an (internationally recognised) RYA licence saves money. Contact us now with NO OBLIGATION. Richard Plaster 638 056 224 / enquiries@sereni tysailing.com / http://serenitysail ing.com/powerboating-level-2 (207534)

ELECTRICAL UPGRADES. Moving meter boxes to boundaries.

Rewiring with all paperwork issued. Surge protectors. 20 yrs experience on the Costa Blanca.

ELECTRICS GOODMANS. Follow us on Facebook. Mark tel. 608 669 165 / 965 831 082 (217967)

HEALTH & BEAUTY

FIREWOOD

I BUY RECORDS 50’s to the 90’s. Best prices for good records. Tel: 622 750 117 / 962 851 809 (218980)

VILLA Painting Northern Costa Blanca, Exterior, Interior, tidy-up your property or 10 year guarantee work call Paul on 667427271 (209216)

BUY & SELL

ELECTRICIANS

SOCIETY for the protection of Animals in Need (S.P.A.I.N). We buy, sell and exchange anything at CHARITY WAREHOUSE in Gata de Gorgos. House clearances, furniture, collectables, bankrupt stock etc. Collect/deliver 965 756 215 / 665 653 998 (216721)

CHIMNEY SWEEP DON CHIMENEA, chimney sweep.

Denia to Calpe and beyond. Tel 647 897 710 www.donchime nea.com (218989)

THE TEAM Gardening Maintenance. Pool and Jet Cleaning.

Quote Euro Weekly News for 10% discount. Call Stephen 650 984 348 (217949)

DAMP “RISING DAMP” can cure Rising Damp, Leaking Flat Roof or Terrace. WE can make your Underbuild Dry. Villa Re-painting Due! We can protect your villa and stop PENETRATING DAMP with a Protective coating. You can also pay in Sterling. Phone/email us for a free survey now. Tel 965 050 065 Mobile 634 322 672 www.dry zoneespana.com (217646)

DRIVING SCHOOL ENGLISH speaking driving school in Benidorm - EUROVIAL - unbeatable special offers - flexible hours - intensive courses - refresher lessons - Benidorm, next Hotel Baly - 645 475 949 / www.autoescuelaeurovial.com

DRIVEWAYS

ALL palm tree services. Please call Lee 618 146 228 or Thomas 699 524 934 (97547)

GOLD WANTED ALEXANDERS Antique Jewellers pay top London prices.

Est 2003, Open Mon-Sat 10am-2pm. Javea port seafront. 965 792 595 GOLD WANTED. English jeweller will buy broken, unwanted jewellery and coins. 664 890 990 (217530)

HANDYMAN PURELY MAINTENANCE For all your maintenance needs - big or small, contact Carl on 965 878 866 or 669 218 928 email pure lymaintenance@hotmail.com

SOS INSURANCE. www.sosin suranceinspain.com. Best prices available. CALL US FIRST for all your insurance needs, including best deals on funeral plans. Buildings and contents cover from just 98 euros per year. Tel: 966 787 123 / 686 116 297 (219746)

INSURANCE

CHIMNEY sweep.Clean,efficient service.660 844 623 (206562)

CLEANING A1 SPECIALIST CLEANING. Carpets, upholstery, 15 years experience 965 058 177 / 697 511 071 marc@barnaclebills.co.uk www.britishbusinesspagesin spain.es (208039)

Price per word: 0,42€ + IVA minimum 15 words - Discount: Book 10 weeks, get 2 weeks free - Deadline: 4pm Mondays Contact: Phone (0034) 952 561 245 • Fax (0034) 952 440 887 • email classifieds@euroweeklynews.com • www.euroweeklynews.com

74

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th (0034) 651 033 670 or (0034) 637 066 227. Email: info@petcouriers.com or www.pet-couri ers.com (200622) NEED YOUR PETS TAKEN CARE OF? Not kennels, just a friendly home. Large fenced area. 699 790 080 Altea (217753) www.woofersandfriends.com.

Your pets home from home while you are away. 663 540 300 (217879)

INTERNET

PET INSURANCE PROTECTAPET. Spain’s leading pet insurance. 965 756 371. www.protectapet.eu (216721)

PET TRANSPORT INTERPAWS: 20 years’ licensed pet transportation. Competitive rates. Difficult dog? Effective behavioural training in your home. www.interpaws.com, janette@in terpaws.com 689 742 289 (218076)

LOCKSMITH

PIANO TUNING

LOCKSMITH/ELECTRICIAN/C ARPENTER for emergency safe opening Altea area. Call Michael Rice 686 513 510 or Calpe area Sean Gannon 667 507 630

METAWORKS

PIANO TUNING and repairs.

PIANOMAN 607 346 658 + 608 191 616 pianoman@pianoman.es (217980) WANTED Cars, vans, caravans, 4 X 4’s British Spanish 600 781 873 ibuyany car@hotmail.com (215783) DISCOUNT TYRES, Call 966 875 600 (216579)

PAINTER/DECORATOR

MOBILE HOMES WE BUY, Sell, Remove all types of Mobile Homes. We pay CASH and cover all of Spain. More details call Suzi Caley 616 250 727 / 951 063 059 or email suzicaley@gmail.com (207499)

MORTGAGES GROUND CLAUSE: Paying too much mortgage interest due to Ground Clause? For more information and free calculation: www.Clausula-Suelo.com

MOTORING

W. D GILMOUR. Painter & Decorator. Established 35 years in Moraira. Estimates FREE. Call William on 609 691 776 or 966 197 170. (217855) www.decorlux.es painting, decorating, renovation. Covering the Costa Blanca and inland since 1996. Estimates free. Tel 649 181 526 (217755) PROFESSIONAL painter/decorator.

Quick, clean and economical. Interior and exterior. FREE QUOTE. Covering Beniform into Denia. Tel 966 868 077 / 639 246 298 (218777)

PEST CONTROL CHEAP, all insects and rodents.

648 057 091 (217992)

PETS

PLUMBING www.100percentplumbing.com Call for a free quotation 965 835 939 (87006) www.dragonreforms.com Tel. 966 807 098. Free quotes given (217756) THE DRAIN TEAM 24 hour services. No call out charge. All blockages, leak detection, pressure jetting. Quote Euro Weekly News for 10% discount.

Call Stephen 650 984 348 www.thedrainteam.es (217949)

www.euroweeklynews.com M141 - Second floor, 2 bed, 2 bath apartment in the sought after Port Xabia complex, Javea, walking distance to beach and all amenities 600 € per month plus bills. 965 745 969 (89468)

PET-COURIERS.COM – If you love your pet try us first – we are the best. Door to door service throughout Europe. Specialised vehicles – bespoke service. Full legal service including documentation if required. For further information call or e-mail us: Tel:

LA NUCIA - FOR SALE. Top floor apartment 90m2 in hacienda style building, big terrace with double glazed sliding windows. Incredible sea view, fenced park, large swimming pool, big garden. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, closed kitchen, marble floor, luxury furnishings, antique etc. Ready to live in. Tel 617 561 816, 136,000€. (218778)

PROPERTY UK LUXURY STUDIO APARTMENT FOR SALE ST ANNES ON SEA, UK. 10 mins from Blackpool airport. Ideal UK base. Large lounge/bedroom. Luxury kitchen and bathroom. Large attic room above. Double glazed. Parking.

Near shops, beach and Royal Lytham Golf Course. Reduced to GBP54,000. Ring British owner 0044 1772 701 237 for details or email elisepeterson1@live.co.uk

PROPERTY TO LET

PROPERTY WANTED

SITUATIONS VACANT FREE accommodation in Spain this winter in return for handyman work. For further details email: oasisparks@yahoo.co.uk or 696 090 776 (218521)

REMOVALS & STORAGE EUROPEAN removals and transport with scheduled UK routes. UK Company, fully legal, taking loads from 5kg to 24,000kg. Lowest prices and the best service. 952 816 582 or www.focustransport.com (201300) INTERNATIONAL and European Removals. Expert removals worldwide. www.uni versalremovals.com. Tel: 951 247 834 (208021) VAN SPAIN-UK-SPAIN leaving every 2 weeks. Great rates. Contact Joe on 966 074 576 or 650 341 087 or email civic1235@msn.com. Quote EWN1 (218889)

BENIDORM AREA. TRANSPORT SERVICES. FROM 20€.

655 239 797 (218771)

YES YOU CAN HAVE A POOL - We design & install Wooden Above-Ground Pools. Pools installed from 1,185€. With above ground pools there is “No Planning Permission Required”. You can also pay in Sterling. Phone or email for a FREE BROCHURE NOW. info@piscinasmadera.com Tel: 965 050 064 / 634 322 672 www.piscinasmadera.com (217646)

FURNITURE VAN FOR HIRE with driver. Careful local moves, Costa Blanca & UK. Hourly rate or fixed price. Call 676 644 014 (217894)

ROLLER SHUTTERS REPAIRS, cords, slats, winding mechanisms, motors. Calpe + 40 kms. Tony Bowers 659 464 992 w w w . t o l d o s a l c h e m y. c o m (215803)

PROPERTY FOR SALE

SEWING MADE TO MEASURE loose covers. Choose from a wide range of materials in your own home.

Javea area 686 453 827 (219535)

UK - SPAIN Removals. Masses of experience. New clean vehicles. Insured with AXA. Genuinely CARING service.

FULL and part moves. ONLINE QUOTES!! bmceuropean.com UK 08456 443 784 / ES 634 344 787 (207584)

POOL MAINTENANCE

M100 - BENITACHELL, top floor apartment of a 2 storey block, 2 bedrooms, quiet location, stunning panoramic views. 420€ pcm - 965 745 969 (89468)

BLUE SKY REPAIRS to all domestic appliances, also all TV and home audio. Entertainment equipment, professional audio & commercial appliances. Contact 626 430 671 or 966 875 283 (209232)

HOUSE FOR REFURBISHING. Gata de Gorgos, 160m2 area, 825m2 plot, 2.5km from Gata, 10kms from beach. 965 832 658 / 629 991 543 (217990)

PROPERTY FOR RENT

MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 902 123 153, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 902 123 153 for motor insurance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! (95302)

SERVICES

NEW HOUSE. Benissa coast, 335m2 area, 2025m2 plot, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, pool, big garage, sea views, 415,000€.

BUNGALOW in PEGO. 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, lounge, porch, patio, garden, marvellous views. 35,000€. Tel 611 338 272 (218852)

SCRAP VEHICLES SCRAP VEHICLES wanted for cash. Call 646 726 377 (215811)

PROPERTY FOR SALE

PLUMBING SERVICES. From leaking tap to full bathroom/kitchen installation. 24 hour call out. 634 303 830.

Moraira, Calpe, surrounding areas (217950)

APARTAMENTOS PLAYA ALBIR SL. Quality rental accommodation with reception, 2 beds, 2 bath. Washing machine, air con, sea views and swimming pool. Available for short or long term let. apartments@ playaalbirsl.e.telefonica.net / Tel/fax 966 866 206 (209176)

PROPERTY TO LET

CLASSIFIEDS

SKIP HIRE CONTENEDORES MATA - SKIP HIRE 3-5-10m3. Tel 965 790 172 / 679 440 046 (217930) JAVEA SKIP HIRE 626 670 038, Moraira, Benissa, Calpe, Denia from S & W TOOL HIRE & FERRETERIA MORAIRA (217861)

SOFT FURNISHINGS LOOSE COVERS, CURTAINS ETC. Made to Measure. Choose from a wide range of beautiful fabrics in your own home. Tel: 965 771 397 or 686 453 827 (217958)

SOLAR POWER LOWEST PRICES IN SPAIN, www.solarmegastore.es (217507)

STRUCTURAL SURVEYS MARK PADDON BSc Hons. Building surveying. MCIOB, CAAT. From 245 EUROS + IVA. Insured and legally registered in Spain.

Tel: 653 733 066 / 962 807 247 www.costablancasurveyors.com (219957)

SWIMMING POOLS 15 DAYS SWIMMING POOL. www.edenpool.net. We build your pool in 15 days, at the best price & quality. Pool experts. Call 677 671 713 (217896)

TELECOMS FED UP PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE CALLS? THEN CONTACT TELITEC TODAY. CALLS TO SPAIN 7C PER MINUTE INCLUDING MOBILES. CALLS TO UK 5.3C PER MINUTE. NO MONTHLY FEES, NO CONTRACT. WWW.TELITEC.COM TEL: 902 889 070 (0)

TILING JUST TILING, all floors terracing, kitchens, bathrooms. No job too small. From Oliva to Altea.

Contact Geoff 620 237 869 / 966 456 546 (218754)

CLASSIFIEDS REMOVALS / STORAGE

www.euroweeklynews.com

THERAPY/MASSAGE TREAT yourself! Deep, intense full body relaxation/stress relief.

Specialist masseur (formerly French Riviera). Also home visits ( Denia to Benidorm). Telephone: 602 711 645 (218871)

TAX AFFAIRS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th WATER FILTER SYSTEMS WE offer General plumbing work, drinking water filter installations, gasboiler, electric water heater, and Aircon servicing. Call your local plumber Todo-Agua on 965 889 923, (located in Altea - English, Spanish, German and Scandinavian) (218872)

WIG SPECIALISTS WIGS-R-US. Indoor Market Rincon de Loix, Benidorm. Monday Saturday 10 - 3. Also outlet at Wel Cisne, Benidorm Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10 - 2. Home visits.

690 378 844 (215804)

XXX RELAXATION TV/SATELLITE SITUATIONS VACANT

FREESAT UK TV via satellite (non subscription) From 299â‚Ź, Sky+HD, SkyCards (Without UK Address) BASE SATELLITE 962800807, 620255928, info@basesatellite.com, www.basesatellite.com

Readers of a sensitive disposition may find some of the advertisements in this section offensive.

WANTED

GENTLEMEN the amazing chewable fast-acting Kamagra. Also blues and jellies. All guaranteed.

Same day delivery. Ring Keith 687 357 529 (218888)

I BUY porcelain and small antique pieces. Any vintage and antique items considered. 965 732 741

SITUATIONS VACANT

ALBIR, BENIDORM. Young beautiful lady, speaks English, offers massage and escort service. 626 096 866 (217944)

www.euroweeklynews.com

GORGEOUS ENGLISH BLONDE 45 years, gives discreet massage, 1 hour or overnight stay. 15 mins Alicante airport. Tel Karen 662 049 021 (218999) JAVEA, Moraira, Christina, Eastern European lady massage and more. Older gentlemen welcome, also weekends. Tel: 667 817 407 or 661 034 261 (206501) DENIA, HALLE 36 years. Exotic luxury lady, attractive, sexy, playful, naughty, private apartment, full discretion. Only with previous appointments. 632 045 933. English & German spoken (218851) GENERIC Viagra extra strength 120mgs. Also Kamagra 100mgs and Weekenders (Cialis). www.costablues.com or phone Colin 680 878 735 (218839) BENIDORM. Luxury GermanSwiss girl, 28 years. Veronika.

High class escort service. Independent and discreet. 697 648 395 (217968)

EWN

75

76

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

www.euroweeklynews.com

otoring M TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

MOTORING SPONSORED BY For best rates in motor insurance call: 952 89 33 80

New Ford Mustang to be released in Europe in 2015 NEW MUSTANG: With classic appeal.

F

ORD Motor Company will launch the new Mustang in the European market in 2015.

The car was introduced at a special event in Barcelona, one of the six cities across four continents where the Mustang was simultaneously revealed.

This new model blends performance and refinement with Mustang’s heritage as a global icon, the manufacturer claims.

“The Ford Mustang inspires passion like no other car,” said

Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development.

Both the fastback and convertible models retain key design elements of the classic Mustang recognisable to car enthusiasts. They include the long, sculpted hood and short rear deck, incorporated into a contemporary execution.

Other key design elements include a low roof height and wide stance, a sleek profile enabled by steeply-sloped windshield and rear glass, or tribar taillamps.

The new Ford Mustang comes with a 5.0 litre V8 engine yielding more than 426PS and 529Nm of torque, which will be joined by an all-new 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine delivering turbocharged performance with the fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions demanded by European regulations.

A new perimeter subframe helps to stiffen the front structure while reducing mass, providing a strong foundation for more predictable wheel control that benefits handling, steering and ride.

styles. t to driving p a d a To : Y G E TECHNOLO INNOVATIV quickly adjust steering Innovative effort, engine response, and technologies to provide drivers transmission and electronic with information, control and stability control settings using connectivity are also part of the the available Selectable Drive new Mustang. The driver can Modes.

MOTORING

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca North

EWN

77

Nissan gives its 370Z a facelift with the 370Z Nismo JAPANESE manufacturer Nissan has given its 370Z model a sporty flare with the new 370Z Nismo.

The second member of Europe’s new Nissan Nismo (short for Nissan Motor Sports) range is in stores from €57,950.

Available only as a coupe with a six-speed manual gearbox, the 370Z Nismo features extensive engineering and styling enhancements.

Design modifications have been driven by aerodynamic improvement.

The front end features a more aggressive design improving airflow under the car, leading to improved stability at higher speeds and through corners.

This additional downforce is complemented by a reengineered suspension and chassis set-up, enhancing stability and dynamic handling on the road.

Other design elements include the distinctive Nismo red pinstripe lines visible at both the front and the rear and on the door mirrors.

Unique dark grey Nismo superlight 19-inch forged alloy wheels with sports-derived red brake calipers and wider high performance tyres are also fitted.

At the rear a smart new spoiler adds the finishing visual touch while also improving aero performance.

Inside, the 370Z Nismo design is driverfocused.

The steering wheel is finished in alcantara (artificial suede) and leather with a red raceinspired ‘top dead centre’ marker.

The sports seats are fully electric with special Nismo badging and red stitching.

The finishing touch is

a numbered Nismo plate adding exclusivity to each 370Z Nismo car.

The Z’s 3.7-litre V6

engine delivers 344PS, up from 328PS in the standard car, while torque increases from

363Nm to 371Nm. The result is improved responsiveness across the low and mid rev

GM to have its first woman CEO MARY BARRA, executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain at General Motors (GM) has been elected the next CEO of the company.

Barra, who thus becomes the first woman to hold this position at the Detroit-based company, will also join the GM board.

Her designation comes after Dan Akerson announced he will step down as CEO at GM on January 15 next year.

“I will leave with great satisfaction in what we have accomplished, great optimism over what is ahead and great pride that we are restoring General Motors as America’s standard-bearer in the global auto industry,” Akerson said in a message to employees.

With 33 years of experience at GM, 51-

MARY BARRA: The first woman elected as CEO at General Motors. year-old Barra has risen through a series of manufacturing, engineering, and senior staff positions.

She is a leader in the company’s ongoing turnaround, revitalsing GM’s product development process, resulting in the launch of critically-acclaimed new products.

range, and a 0-100km/h time of only 5.2 seconds.

The 370Z Nismo adopts

high rigidity brake hose and high performance brake fluid from the R35 GT-R model.

80

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca Nor th

Sport

British boxer Lee Purdy lost his European welterweight title bout against Italian Leonard Bundu.

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

Costa Blanca’s best guide to local sport

Calpe edge win after a tussle

CALPE BOWLS CLUB has had some tussles with Benitachell this season so their Jaguars’ visit this week was always going to be a daunting task.

Although they turned up in their Christmas outfits they weren’t in a generous mood and Calpe had to fight all the way for a 6-4 win (82 shots to 70).

Paul Brown, Val Street and Enid Duxbury lost 1016, Ray Collom, Ernie Ritchie and Gerry Heath won 36-8, Liz Griffiths, Ray Heath and Alan Steed lost 14-27 and Stan Walmsley, Terry Street and Geoff Pack won 22-19. With the Christmas break looming, Calpe has managed to consolidate its fifth place in the Northern League.

Entries for the Calpe Open Triples on March 2, 2014 are going well.

Anyone interested should ring Stan on 96 583 8972 or email stanatcalpe@ yahoo.com

SPORT

www.euroweeklynews.com

Stafford shows good form BONALBA was in poor condition for Orba Warbler’s Stableford competition, with dormant fairways and greens recovering from earlier maintenance.

Together with an overcast and chilly day and a number of tees back on the whites, it was no surprise that scores were below par.

The winners of Divisions One and Two probably had thoughts of a big score with 20 points each after the first nine, but couldn’t keep up the pace over the back nine.

Stafford Pemberton maintained his recent good form to lead Division One with 35 points well ahead of Michael Taylor and Bob Edwards, with 30 and 29 points respectively.

Bit of a surprise in Division Two with Nick Berry gradually piecing together his game to score 35 points, just ahead of Rosemary Edwards with 34 and Ken Robinson on 32.

HAPPY WARBLERS: Prizes were taken home.

Nearest the pin on holes 4, 8, 11 and 14 were Barbara Pollitt, Bob Edwards, Colin Harris and Glynn Braidley respectively with Colin

scoring a two and a Warbler ball for his effort. In the second semi final of the singles knock out Bob Edwards lost one down to Malcolm

Robinson who will meet Fred Cooley in the final.

The next fixture is at Oliva Nova on Wednesday January 8.

England reduced to ashes

By Tony Matthews IN the third Test, England’s cricketers were battered into submission

by Australia, Alastair Cook, playing in his 100th Test at the Waca got a golden duck in the

Good trip for Denia Tatami 0 - 55 Denia RFC

DENIA had to travel to Valencia for the second time in a fortnight to play Tatami.

The game started with both teams testing each other. Denia’s forwards soon showed their dominance and earned a penalty after 15 minutes, which was converted by Ricardo.

Tatami still kept testing the Denia defence which was not in the mood to fail.

From a loose ball Ricardo put a high kick to land near the Tatami posts and after the bounce the ball popped up for Leo to score, converted by Ricardo. Denia started to combine forwards with three quarters, resulting in tries from Filipe and Xuan, which were converted by Ricardo. The try just before half-time was the killer blow for Tatami and heads started dropping.

In previous weeks Denia were becoming notorious for folding in the second half, but this time everyone knew that if they continued playing as they were and not get greedy then more tries would come.

In the second half Denia scored five more tries.

second innings and now his team have lost the ashes after losing by 150 runs.

England now must dig deep to try to avoid a whitewash after losing their first three test matches.

• Andy Murray is the 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He received 51 per cent of the vote, and was presented with his trophy

by Martina Navratilova via satellite from Florida on Sunday’s televised show.

Murray became the first Brit to win the men’s Wimbledon singles title for 76 years when beating Novak Djokovic last June.

Female shooter Amber Hill was voted Young Sports Personality of the Year; the British and Irish Lions rugby stars took the Team of the Year prize; their boss Warren Gatland

was named Coach of the Year and former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson received the Lifetime Achievement award from Sir Bobby Charlton.

• Last weekend, North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham conceded 11 goals.

The Gunners crashed 6-3 to Manchester City while 10-man Spurs suffered their worst-ever home defeat, losing 5-0 to Liverpool. Everton, only one PL defeat this season, beat Fulham 4-1...

Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 2-1...

Manchester United (with two Danny Welbeck goals) clipped Aston Villa 3-0...

And after losing 1-0 at Cardiff, WBA sacked manager Steve Clarke.

The Baggies are now seeking their 13th manager in 20 years.

Without full set PEGO Golf Society played a three club competition at Oliva Nova, with a good turnout of 43 players.

Oliva Golf Course was looking well, with the greens and fairways recovering well in the last two weeks. Scores were good considering only three clubs could be used.

In first was Brendan Young (35) with Roger Brown (33) second, followed by Malcolm Wise (32), Alan Simpson (31), Bill Pike (31) and Steve Patton (30).

There was only one two, scored by Ian Robertson.

Nearest the hole at Hole 3 was Malcolm Wise, and at hole 16 the closest was Barry Levett.

More information: Martin Gates on pegosecretary@ gmail.com or visit www.pegogolfsociety.com