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

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ISSUE NO. 1485

EWN FRONT EXTRA

Royal choice ALICANTE artist Paco Saez has been chosen to illustrate the children’s page of the Spanish Royal Family’s website. An animation specialist, Saez, has worked for Disney and Warner Bros.

AVE discounts RENFE has launched 19,000 promotional seats for discounted travel on the AVE between Alicante and Madrid over Christmas.

N-340 crash A DRIVER was seriously injured after colliding with a truck on the N-340 in Orihuela. The victim had to be cut from the car by firefighters and the road was closed for more than an hour.

19 - 25 DECEMBER 2013

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READERS AND ADVERTISERS A MERRY XMAS

Claims denied

‘I did not kidnap my daughter’

By Gemma Quinn THE father accused of abducting his toddler has told the Euro Weekly News: ‘I did not kidnap my daughter.’

Belgian Kyshan van der Zanden has been featured in the Spanish and British press for ‘snatching’ his 21-month-old daughter Laylah from her Costa Blanca home and away from her mother Gemma Mountney.

She told the Daily Mail that he had treated her to a spa day and said he was taking Laylah to nursery.

When she arrived to collect her daughter, she

was told Laylah had not attended the nursery that day. She added: “I miss Laylah so much and just want her back in my arms and to be giving her a huge hug.”

Van der Zanden said: “I am not hiding or running away. I reported myself at the local police station and made a statement that my daughter and I were in this country, the first day I arrived at my destination.”

He added: “I left Gemma a letter saying where I had gone to, I did not kidnap my daughter!"

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THIS WEEK IN

EWN News 1 - 22

Finance 23 - 28

NEW LAWS: Higher rates for holiday lets.

Expats could be hit by rental law HUNDREDS of thousands of Britons with holiday homes in the Valencia and Murcia Regions could have to pay for a licence in order to rent them out.

New laws set to be passed could also add hundreds of pounds to the cost of breaks for travellers from Britain as they will no longer be able to pay cheaper rates direct to owners but will have to stay in apartments, villas or hotels operated by major firms.

The concern comes as the authorities are expected to ban unlicensed rentals by next spring.

Until recently it had been relatively simple for British property owners to rent out their home.

But now, under the new rules, those with second homes they want to rent out will need to have a licence from their local council, which is expected to incur a fee.

Some are worried that if the law comes into force, owners who rely on renting their property could be forced to sell up as the changes will make it too complicated and costly to keep the property going.

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

Couple fight for return of their children A MARRIED couple from Elche are fighting to get their children back from Social Services in time for Christmas.

Yolanda Garcia and Alejandro Bernal have one child together and four from Yolanda’s

previous relationship. Yolanda contacted the city’s Social Services Department asking for help after she discovered her ex-partner, the father of her four eldest children, had been abusing them. She requested counselling for

them but the children were taken into care.

Yolanda said: “It was never my fault but my ex-partner’s, and my kids are having a hard time in the detention centre, where they are worse off than at home.”

Letters 29

Leapy Lee 37

Daily TV Thu 30 Fri 32 Sat 34

Sun 36 Mon 38 Tues 40

Wed 42

Health & Beauty 56 - 58

Time out 61 - 64

Classifieds 84 - 86

Sport 88

NEWS Fit dogs MURCIA’S police dog unit has introduced a treadmill to keep the 10 canine members of the squad fit. It was donated by Murcia Quo Fitness Club.

Fast food CARREFOUR EXPRESS has opened a new franchise in Alicante City. The 185square-metre store provides work for eight employees.

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Low-cost airlines taking off LOW-COST airlines are leading the way.

The Valencia Regional Secretary of Tourism and Commerce, Daniel Marco, said the budget carriers transported to the region last month a total of 252,742 passengers from abroad. “That,” he said, “represents a

growth of 15.8 per cent over the same month last year, while the Spanish average is an increase of 10.8 per cent.”

Alicante-Elche Airport received 75.3 per cent of the total arrivals to the region this way, with 190,459 passengers using low-cost airlines during November, 20.5 per cent more than in November 2012.

Valencia Airport last month received 62,283 passengers, 3.5 per cent more than during the same period last year.

The number of British passengers using budget carriers grew by 13 per cent in Alicante and 16.4 per cent in Valencia, with the German market growing by 19.1 per cent and Italian by 4.7 per cent.

Tough contest ONLY 40 per cent of 28,842 applicants for administrative posts in the Regional Health Department turned up for entrance exams in Alicante, Valencia and Castellon. They competed for 200 jobs.

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

Numbers fall BENIDORM branch of the PSOE party has lost 41 per cent of its paid-up members over the past five years.

Stay public AROUND 170 employees have demonstrated outside Alicante-Elche Airport terminal.

They want the airport to remain in the hands of state operator AENA and privatisation plans to be scrapped.

El Gordo ALICANTE residents spent an average of €67.63 per head on the Christmas El Gordo lottery.

Studios studied GOVERNMENT lawyers will argue Spain’s case against returning Ciudad de la Luz’s €268-million subsidy.

Brussels claims that no commercial concern would have backed the unprofitable enterprise.

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Red-handed

AN Algerian and a Moroccan have been arrested in Alicante after police searching their vehicle found objects stolen the night before in Cocentaina.

Out for a duck DIFFERING TRADITIONS: Far left, El Tio de Nadal. Left, sweet treats.

FOR the first time in 27 years, none of El Hondo’s marbled ducks have reproduced, causing concern for environmentalists.

Knocking down

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

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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.

SIX houses on Tabarca Islan will be torn down after they were ruled illegal. Demolition is due to start in the New Year and will be overseen by a town hall official.

Hospital order THE health authority must pay €15,000 to a 45-year-old lady because they failed to diagnose her breast cancer.

The lady had to have a mastectomy five years later.

Tram v bus THE Tram connecting Alicante city centre to the university has already poached 7,000 passengers a day from buses on the route since it was inaugurated three months ago.

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

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.

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Father denies abduction From Front Page He said he was working around the clock to provide for Laylah but their home life was difficult, accusing Gemma’s family of being controlling and against him.

“I didn’t have a say in anything at all, over my daughter’s surname or nationality.”

With the Mountney family alerting police to the incident and working with Reunite International Child Abduction Centre, Van der Zanden claims Gemma has not tried to call him.

“Gemma took away my rights as Laylah’s father.

We left for a better life and a better future.

Everything I have done so far I have done legally and will continue to do so,” he added.

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National recognition for San Juan cardiologists SPECIALISTS from San Juan, Alicante, have been working with doctors in America on a study which has shown that death from heart attacks in Spain has fallen by around 40 per cent in 17 years.

Vicente Bertomeu from the Spanish Society of Cardiology and Dominic Orozco, first author and

vice president of the Spanish Society of Family Medicine, said the question now is whether the downward trend will continue as the economic crisis affects eating habits and future health policies.

They stated that people are at risk of ignoring the Mediterranean diet which is crucial for a healthy

Bomb disposal team deactivate hidden device A BOMB disposal unit was dispatched to a property in Murcia after an unexploded shell was discovered there.

It was found in Puente Tocinas, East of Murcia, by a person while cleaning out the garage.

Police immediately scrambled the specialist bomb unit who,

after careful examination, removed the device and took it to police premises for deactivation.

Police sources said that if anyone should discover any kind of object of this nature to call the police immediately and to not attempt to tamper with or move it.

heart and said it is becoming ‘more polluted’ with less people following it.

The study compared Spain and the USA and found that mortality rates had dropped in both countries and levels were similar.

The work has been recognised and awarded the second prize of the Spanish Society of Cardiology for the best articles published.

Breton wants to be moved JOSÉ BRETON, the father sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of his two children in 2011, has been asked to be moved from the Villena Prison in Alicante.

He said he wants to be transferred to the Alcolea centre in Córdoba citing ‘strong family ties’ and the ‘delicate health of his parents’.

NEWS NEWS EXTRA

Slower but surer THREE months after electronic prescriptions were introduced in Elche, pharmacies have reported that although the system is slower, fewer errors are being made.

Heavy haul TWENTY tonnes of copper cable have disappeared from the site of the new Ikea store in Alfafar, Valencia, valued at about €100,000.

Trade mission MURCIA’S Instituto de Fomento is on a trade mission in the USA to promote the region’s chemicals industry and attempt to attract investment.

NEWS Former mayor has sentence suspended TORREVIEJA’S former mayor, Pedro Angel Hernández Mateo, has had his prison sentence suspended.

The Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) agreed to suspend the threeyear jail term until such time as the issue of clemency is resolved.

The former mayor was handed down a jail sentence after he was found guilty of fraud in awarding the contract for rubbish collection to a ‘preferred’ company rather than putting it out to tender correctly.

The contract was worth €9.6 million a year for 10 years.

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90,000 fakes discovered FIVE Chinese nationals have been arrested in Benidorm on charges of distributing counterfeit products.

National Police worked in collaboration with Local Police in Alicante in the investigation, which led them to the existence of the gang operating in Benidorm and two establishments in the city which were selling the fake goods.

A total of six searches were carried out with more than 90,000 counterfeit goods including handbags, sportswear, jewellery and perfumes discovered.

In one search of a garage, 550 boxes of fake branded perfume were found.

In total, from the amount of products found, it has been estimated that the economic damage to legitimate brands would have totalled €6.3 million.

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NEWS EXTRA

Pensioners killed TWO Norwegian women, both aged 80, have been killed after being run over whilst travelling on the AP-7 passing through Villajoyosa.

Bus strikes MORE Alicante bus strikes are planned for tomorrow (Friday) and next week, reducing services during peak times in the city.

Benidorm jobs HOSBEC tourism management has set up an employment board to hire jobless people in the hotels of Benidorm. There will also be a specific area to contract disabled staff.

NEWS

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Goods pile not looky looky pitch

Property prices start to rise THE price of housing in the Valencia Region rose by 1.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the previous quarter.

This is the second

largest regional rise after the Balearic Islands (2 per cent) and is 0.7 per cent above the national average, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

ON THE RISE: Property prices in the region.

Fewer fires in the Murcia Region THE Murcia Region has recorded the best figures for the last decade in

terms of area destroyed by wildfires so far this year. The Committee on

Car con merchant charged A MAN from Alicante has been charged with defrauding almost €100,000 from people expecting to buy cars from him.

Police were brought in after a complaint was made by a customer who had paid a deposit to buy a motorhome from the 48-year-old.

When they returned for their purchase, it was nowhere to be found.

Police believe around 20 people lost money in the scam after paying deposits for cars and motorhomes.

Evaluation and Research of Forest Fires said there were 109 incidents recorded in 2013, affecting 78.27 hectares of land, compared to nearly 1,500 hectares destroyed last year.

Almost 50 per cent of the land affected was damaged by fires in March in the Sierra de la Fausilla, close to Valle de Escombreras industrial estate, when a fire burned 36 hectares.

Six people have been arrested for arson in relation to this year’s fires.

SHOE BOXES and clothing items piled alongside the road in Boulevard Parque, Elche, prompted speculation that they were counterfeit goods.

However, manager of Pimesa, Antonio Martinez, said that no police operation had been carried out in the Boulevard Parque in Parque Empresarial de Elche. He said: “The boxes belonged to a shop owner who had been evicted. The boxes were piled on the pavement because the owner had been evicted for not paying rent and was waiting to load them onto trucks.”

He added: “Stores in the Boulevard Parque offer high quality products and there has been no police operation targeting counterfeit goods.”

New water park plans for Santa Pola A WATER SKI park could become a reality in Santa Pola.

A private company is believed to be heading the project to be built in Avenida del Tamarit in the town next to the Pola Park, which will be open all year round and offer the facilities to practise sports such as water ski-ing, wake boarding and

fly boarding. Plans include 8,700 square metres of water as well as ‘chill-out’ areas and infinity pools.

Councillor for Tourism Loreto Serrano said: “The park will help tourism and promote employment in the town.”

It is hoped the project could become a reality next year.

NEWS

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NEWS EXTRA

Early arrivals VALENCIA’S Alto de las Picarazas archaeological site is one of Europe’s oldest, said experts, who have found prehistoric tools and evidence of human habitation from about 1.5 million years ago.

Nativity trip A COACH trip to Elche to see the live nativity scene and nativity museum takes place on December 29, organised by the Office for Urbanisations in La Marina.

Tickets €6.

Milk aid A CONCERT for Caritas has collected milk for the charity, organised by the Musical Union Torrevieja (UMT) and the Youth Band.

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Local Police get a handle on baton use LOCAL POLICE officers on the Orihuela Costa have undergone a special course on using extendable batons.

Organised by the Federal Union of Police and the National Police, nine officers took park.

The three-hour introductory

course covered basic knowledge and use of the batons including how to use them for self defence and to subdue potential criminals.

Hundreds gather for carols in the square HUNDREDS attended the annual English Carol Concert in front of Torrevieja’s Inmaculada Concepcion church.

The 10th annual event saw people of all nationalities unite and sing a mix of English and Spanish carols, headed by the Phoenix band. The choir was represented by a number of local groups and organisations, including the Nordic Choir.

Mayor Eduardo Dolon was also joined by most of the government team in celebrating the event.

CAROLS IN THE SQUARE: Hundreds got in the festive mood.

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Yacht school launches Xmas lottery SERENITY SAILING, based in Torrevieja, has launched a special Christmas lottery with the top prize a 10-day skipper training course.

The course is Royal Yacht Association (RYA) approved, meaning the winner will be licensed to charter a yacht on the Med whenever they want.

The lottery is the brainchild of Richard and Anna Plaster, who opened Serenity Sailing seven years ago. Last year they offered power boat skipper training.

“It went so well, we thought we’d do it again,” said Anna. “The school does a lot of charitable work.

Watching a novice being trained up so they can take their loved ones on the adventure of a lifetime makes us all really happy,” she added.

For terms and conditions and to enter, visit www.serenitysailing.com/ski pper2014

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Always someone needier MORE than 70 shop owners in the Avenida Jaime I in Benidorm are collecting food for Caritas and the Red Cross to help people in need.

Different ethnic groups and nationalities all are working together and collected 200 bags of food to donate.

The van to transport the food was provided by Paul Chen, owner of Cafe La Solana which displayed the message ‘There is always someone who is needier than you,’

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New community library and meeting point opens ORIHUELA COSTA’S Reading Point has been officially inaugurated.

Mayor Monserrate Guillen and Councillor for Education Rosa Martinez joined Councillor for the Coast and International Residents, Martina Scheurer, in opening the library located inside the Municipal Centre of Educational Activities in Calle Cipres, Lomas de Cabo Roig.

The library houses

LIBRARY: Mayor and Councillors for Education and the Coast and International Residents open the new Meeting Point.

10,000 books, in different languages, which have all been donated by individuals and are ready to

be lent out free of charge.

The books were collected and sorted by volunteers who will also man the service. Stating she was ‘delighted’ with the library, Scheurer said: “I appreciate the work of volunteers who have invested their time to make this possible and especially to people who have donated books.”

She said the facility is also a meeting point and multi-use centre which will be used to host activities

for children, English and Spanish classes, and dance and music classes.

The building was initially built to house a nursery but Scheurer said there was insufficient demand so it was important to put it to use: “To leave the centre closed was not suitable and we decided to use it as the centre of activities,” she added.

The library will be open Tuesday and Thursday from 2-7pm which the town hall hopes to be able to extend, but more volunteers are needed to help the community project grow.

NEWS Alicante to host European meeting EUROPEAN ministers are to meet in Alicante.

Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, and six other members of the European Union have agreed to create a new group to strengthen their dialogue on the Mediterranean.

They will hold their first meeting during the first quarter of 2014 in Alicante.

Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta will participate in the first meeting where issues including immigration, the political situation in the Southern Mediterranean along with the future of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will be some of the items on the agenda.

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NEWS EXTRA

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

Good job SANTA POLA has been recognised, for the second year running, for its Local Development Agency for 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.

NEWS

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Almost 32,000 visitors flock to natural park THE Natural Park of La Mata and Torrevieja welcomed almost 32,000 visitors during the 2011/2012 period.

That’s according to the annual management report which shows the targets set and reached, to emphasise the protection and conservation of the natural heritage of the park, with focus on ecosystems, species and ecological processes.

The report says it wants to protect and manage environmental demands of educational and recreational activities.

In a bid to document rare or endangered flora inside the natural park, conservation projects have been carried out for the first time with a total of 3,071 species of flower A MAN has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for decapitating his 18-month-old daughter in Girona in November 2011.

Girona Provincial Court has

MANAGEMENT REPORT: Released on the natural parks of Torrevieja and La Mata. recorded, an increase of 2,071 compared to 2011. The Orchid Orchis Collina conservation project has

recorded a total of 1,111 plants in the vicinity of the lakes of La Mata and Torrevieja.

Jail for beheading daughter found him guilty of murder and although the sentence was increased because the victim

was his daughter, it was also taken into consideration that he confessed to the crime, as he

Not alone this Christmas SEVENTY people from Torrevieja are taking part in the ‘You are not alone at Christmas’ programme.

Offered by the Valencian Government, the scheme is aimed at senior citizens who have no one to spend Christmas with, to allow them to enjoy it in the company of others who are also on their own.

Those receiving a place will be treated to full board at a Valencia hotel from Monday to Friday.

There were 600 places available, with Torrevieja being awarded 70 of them.

rang the emergency services just minutes later.

The prosecutor and the jury decided he had no mental illness which could have led him to kill his daughter.

NEWS

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More people using San Javier Airport JUST under 40,000 passengers passed through San Javier Airport in November.

Airport operator AENA said national

figures were positive for the month registering an in-crease in passengers across Spain thanks to the opening of new routes and emerging markets.

San Javier Airport’s figures are an increase of 14.2 per cent compared to November 2012, POLINA BEREZINA has with 16 routes won a bronze medal in available this Brazil at the World School autumn, 13 of them Games. to the UK with the The Torrevieja gymnast British market picked up the only medal remaining the for the Spanish Rhythmic biggest group of passengers.

Gymnastic However, despite team. the increase, the Polina figures are sill some trains at way off the Torrevieja’s Municipal numbers recorded School of Gymnastics in November 2007, and currently combines before the her training as one of economic crisis hit, eight gymnasts from the Spanish National when more than Individual Rhythmic 100,000 passengers Gymnastics. had travelled through San Javier Airport.

Bronze in Brazil

AWARD-WINNING: Gymnast Polina’s performance wins her a bronze medal.

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Cruz Azul Christmas market

NEWS EXTRA

Market change LA MATA’S weekly market is changing dates for Christmas. It will be open on Tuesday, Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Eve.

Cycling comp SEVENTY cyclists took part in Torrevieja’s 18th edition of the ‘Carrera Ciclista La Purisima’ covering 20 laps of the circuit; a total of 65 kilometres.

Change of date CHILDREN'S play ‘Lucinda y la máquina del tiempo’ at the Municipal Institute of Culture, has been postponed until Monday December 30 at midday. Tickets already sold will be valid for the new date.

NEWS

ALADDIN: Centre stage, owner of the lamp.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER: Aladdin and Princess So-Shi wed.

Aladdin lights up the stage in Old Peking

STUDIO 32 has taken to the stage in their first ever production as they performed the pantomime Aladdin.

The musical theatre company was formed in the summer by a group of like-minded people, young, and the young at heart, who wanted to have fun, put on a good show and raise money for local causes, and they did just that.

Performing at the Cardenal Belluga Theatre in San Fulgencio, against the backdrop of Old

Peking, where Aladdin lives with his mother Window Twankey and his brother, Wishee Washee; a comedy duo with hilarious stage presence, the audience was transported to the land of panto from The Imperial Palace, The Magic Cave and even to The Street of a Thousand Goldfish.

With the traditional hero, heroine, a dame and a villain, it had all the ingredients for a good show with younger members of the Totally Dance studio in Benijofar also joining in with

plenty of singing and dancing, including the vocal talents of Susan Zillah Wilson as Aladdin and Stefanie Lohse as Princess So-Shi. Proceeds from the ticket sales and raffle are going towards the San Fulgencio Alzheimer’s Association, with €2,660 already raised.

Studio 32 welcomes new members and will be announcing their next production soon.

For more information call 966 318 019 or visit www.studiothirtytwo.org

IT was a busy Cruz Azul Christmas market at Time Out in San Javier as many turned out to find Christmas gifts among the wide variety of items and unique gift ideas available.

“It’s our first craft market and we’re very happy with the results,” said Cruz Azul President Lyn Baines. “We’re extremely grateful to all our stallholders and to Time Out for providing the venue free of charge,” she added.

Cruz Azul Murcia provides veterinary care for the sick and injured pets of people in need and promotes responsible pet ownership. For more information or to volunteer or donate, call 693 017 616 or visit www.cruzazulmurcia.es.

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Cultural jobs up and down THE number of workers in Valencia’s cultural sector in 2012 decreased by 500 people from the previous year.

In 2011, the region had 42,000 people in cultural employment, which fell to 41,500 people last year. The number of businesses whose main activity is culture-related fell by 270.

The Cultural Statistics Yearbook 2013, published by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, showed cultural employment increased in Madrid and Asturias.

Murcia also saw an increase from 6,700 workers in 2011 to 8,900 last year.

The report also noted a decline in spending on cultural activities.

MANUEL GALLUD: Offering work to the unemployed in the public interest.

For the public good

TEN unemployed people are to start work on cleaning Orihuela’s ramblas.

Patients portal PATIENTS in Murcia can now consult their medical histories and check appointments via the patients’ portal on www.murciasalud.es. They will be issued a password from their health centre which will allow them to request appointments, see clinical history and test results and even have a medical consultation with their doctor.

Councillor for Employment Manuel Gallud said the recruits will remove debris and clean all the areas.

The work contracts have been implemented in collaboration with Servef, who will continue to pay the workers unemployment benefits, with the city making up the rest of their salary during the five-month contracted work period Gallud said: “This method allows us to hire people to work in the public interest. In this case, the removal of debris and restoring the natural beauty of the ramblas.”

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NEWS Hospital hosts charity concert

TOP NOTCH: Carol Smith receives her award from Gail Grainger.

FESTIVE CHEER: Performing at Dos Mares Shopping Centre.

CAROL SMITH has been named Barbershopper of the Year 2013 for her work behind the scenes of Spangles Ladies Harmony Chorus.

The group this year, in honour of Jane Chapman who had been with Spangles since 2006 and passed away in the UK, created a new award, the Jane Chapman Cup for best

commitment to the chorus and her love of singing.”

The Jane Chapman Cup was won jointly by Lyn Baines, Carol Smith and Thelma Adams, who each missed only one rehearsal throughout 2013.

It has been a busy lead-up to Christmas for Spangles as they held their Christmas show in the Los Alcazares Town Hall’s Salon de Plenos with Mayor Anastasio Bastida and local councillors present.

Barbershopper of the year attendance. “We thought that the trophy for best attendance was very appropriate,” explained Lyn Baines, CoChorus Manager, who added: “Jane went through a lot with her illness but she never complained, would never let it beat her and turned up at rehearsal, no matter how ill she felt. It’s a fitting tribute to her

RBL Chicken run THE recent ‘Chicken run raises €400’ story was organised and run

by The Royal British Legion Legionnaires Bowls Group and not the San Luis Bowls Club as The Royal British Legion originally stated.

Secretary Harry Epson said the ‘unfortunate error’ and the confusion “no doubt arose from the fact that San Luis Bowls Club is based at Casa Ventura, where the event took place.”

The Legionnaires is not a bowls club, it is a friendly group, that meets twice weekly at Casa Ventura to make the most of their social and bowling facilities.

They have also sung at a Christmas Fayre and at the Dos Mares Shopping Centre.

All money raised by the group will now go towards funding their trip to the UK where they will be representing Spain at the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers Convention in Harrogate next year.

For more information on Spangles call Lyn on 968 432 525 or visit www.spangleschorus.com

New Year raffle for AECC RESTAURANTE RIANXEIRA on the Cabo Roig strip is selling raffle tickets to raise money for the AECC cancer charity.

Tickets are now on sale costing €1 available from the

restaurant. The draw takes place during their New Year celebrations.

For more information email booktablerianxeira@hotmail.com or call 673 149 527.

TONIGHT (Thursday) a charity concert takes place in the hall of Torrevieja Hospital at 6pm to help raise funds for those affected by the typhoon in the Philippines.

Hospital worker and singer and songwriter Shani Ormiston will be performing, accompanied by musicians and guest artists.

The concert is free to attend with donations being asked for, which will go to Unicef.

It is not the first time the hospital has raised awareness and funds to help people affected by natural disasters.

They have previously raised around €4,000 which was donated to Doctors Without Borders and Spanish Red Cross, who acknowledged the work of the staff and appreciated the interest shown after disasters in Haiti and Lorca.

To make a donation to Unicef for the Philippine’s relief effort, they have a number of charity accounts including at Banesto bank: 0030 8301 78 0000046271; ING Direct: 1465 0100 95 6000000000; Santander: 0049 1804 16 2610410756 and BBVA: 0182 2370 40 0208517159

NEWS

Segarra Asesores correction

PLEASE note in last week’s Euro Weekly News, we stated ‘state pensions received by a resident in Spain are only taxable in the UK and are not subject to the Spanish annual tax return.’

This should have read ‘public sector pensions, (those occupational pensions paid to civil servants and government workers) are not subject to the Spanish annual tax return.

We apologise for any misunderstanding and to Segarra Asesores who had supplied the correct information. For more advice contact Segarra Asesores on 865 774 291 or email torretaasesores@gmail.com

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19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

Big-hearted Lions Club THE Torrevieja Costa Lions Club has raised €4,860 for the Philippines Appeal following the recent typhoon.

The Lions Clubs International Foundation has been working in the Philippines since November 8 and every cent goes to those most in need, at the point of delivery.

The Lions will remain in the Philippines long after the emergency organisations have gone. Donations can be made through the Torrevieja Costa Lions Club Charity Account IBAN ES88 2038 6012 4460 0014 6853.

Account name Club de Leones de Torrevieja Costa at the Bankia

LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL: Relief effort in the Philippines.

Cabo Roig.

Contact idsbennett@hotmail.co.uk or

phone 966 731 495 for more information.

EWN

15

Nations unite for carol service CAROL SINGING takes place tomorrow (Friday) from 6pm in the Social Centre of Urbanisation La Marina.

Bring your singing voice as well as your own traditional cakes and sweets as this is an event to share Christmas traditions of the many different nationalities that live within the municipality of San Fulgencio.

16

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

NEWS

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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.

Spend and receive free vouchers TORREVIEJA’S ‘Divershopping’ campaign is now under way.

Spend €35 in any of the stores in the city centre and take your receipt to the Tourist Information office in the Paseo Vista Alegra.

On presentation of the receipt, you will receive one of a number of vouchers covering various activities,

including one for a free game of bowling in the Ozone Centre, two tickets for a free ride at the funfair, a ride on the tourist train, a visit to the Delfin submarine, six free churros from the kiosk in the Plaza de la Constitución, or a free cake from Confiteria Monge.

Expiry dates apply to the vouchers and there are only 500 available.

NEWS

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19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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17

Crescendo’s gifts CRESCENDO INTERNATIONAL CHOIR followed the initiative of the Three Wise Men and gave the local community three gifts for Christmas.

First was a programme of fun and entertainment at El Paraiso in Torrevieja.

Amongst the Christmas songs and carols was an item by Lesley Rolls bemoaning the fact that she never made it to the altar, ‘Why am I always the bridesmaid?’ which caused much merriment. Money raised from this annual event helps with the normal expense of running a choir.

The public who attend the mostly free concerts are the main benefactors.

A retiring collection enabled the choir to donate €50 to Age Concern.

For gift number two Crescendo adopted a more sombre mood at the church in Benijofar. This was the day

that Nelson Mandela had died so it was very appropriate that Martin Luther King’s words ‘I Have a Dream’ should be one of their songs. A closing collection was made for Caritas, who received €175.

As the third gift, those who attended the United Carol Service at Torrevieja Christian Church Fellowship were able to enjoy a double package with the inclusion of ‘Just Brass’ band.

APANEE, an association for children with special needs, received €500 from the red buckets on the way out.

In total, during the year 2013, a total sum of €2,640 has been donated to various charities by Crescendo International Choir.

For more information, visit www.crescendo-choir.com

BEARING GIFTS: Crescendo International Choir.

‘Good dogs’ on parade at Campoverde Canine Club CHRISTMAS COLOUR: Vivace Classical Choir.

Community carols for San Miguel VIVACE CLASSICAL CHOIR hosted an evening of community carols in the Casa de Cultura.

The venue had been decorated, the choir was dressed in informal Christmas colours, and the atmosphere was warm and seasonal.

Everyone was provided with carol sheets and invited to join in many of the most popular and familiar carols – some in German or Spanish, as well as English.

The choir sang three items during the course of the evening, a Ukrainian carol, a negro spiritual and finally a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

The evening was hosted by Musical Director Tom Pargeter, with everything being translated into Spanish by his wife, Katy.

Bearing in mind the economic crisis and its dire effects upon some families, for the first time, Vivace decided that there would be a bucket collection at the end of the evening. All proceeds are to be divided between two charities – Caritas, who will ensure that funds will be distributed locally to the needy in San Miguel, and Finca la Castellana, an animal refuge based in San Miguel, which has been overwhelmed as people can no longer afford to keep their pets.

For more information about Vivace, phone Tom or Katy on 620 618 069, or email to tomandkaty@tpargeter. com.

For more information about Finca la Castellana, ring Janette Lopez on 610 451 133 or email to janettemlv@hotmail.com.

THE results from the obedience courses are now in and winners have been presented with their certificates and trophies at the sports ground in Pinar de Campoverde.

The Campoverde Canine Club (CCC) was formed in July 2000 and since then many owners have benefited from tuition and are proud of the way they are able to control their pets.

Each year they present a trophy for ‘character of the year’ This year it was awarded to Tina Capel and her young German Shepherd, Rio, whose merriment and mirth was enjoyed especially in this

ON PARADE: The winners line up with their prizes. festive season.

Third place with 107.4 marks

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

was Terry Pierce and his Lab/Chow cross, Luna.

Second place went to Manfred Elster and his little dog, Tula, gaining 108 marks.

In first place with a score of 108.8 was a poodle called Charlie and his proud owner, Chris Parkes.

The final prize, The Fred Moeken Memorial Trophy, awarded to the dog which has made the most progress during the year went to Mata, a very large, lumbering, Mastin and his proud owner, Dave Hook.

New courses will start on January 4.

If you are interested phone Roy on 966 762 265 or email taffthedog@hotmail.com

18

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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A slightly adult panto SMILE Charity Group presents a slightly adult panto, Panto Loons, written by John Wallace.

The performances on January 7 and 8 are in aid of Elche Children’s Home, and the performance on January 10 will benefit the Benjofar Crisis Appeal. Dinner and show €10, doors open at 7pm, dinner at 8pm, show at 9pm.

On January 7, the show will be at the Marial Campsite in Guardamar; on January 8 in The Club, Quesada, and on January 10 at Restaurante El Alto La Dolores, Guardamar.

Tickets from the venues, the Post Room Benijofar and the Card Place, Benimar.

Hotline: 966 712 382.

NEWS

Four new members at Christmas dinner

Santa fun run 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.

THE HELP Murcia Mar Menor Christmas dinner at the Olympia restaurant attracted a good number including four new members from La Manga.

They are Vicky and Jerry Saunders, and Carol and Geoffrey Watson, who will become active and involved volunteers. New members are always welcome and needed.

President Bernard Ash had a weigh-in and recorded a loss of 13 kilos. His sponsored slim realised €330 with one member sponsoring at €3 per kilo. This is, in part, preparation for April, when Bernard, Janneke Chambers and Lynda Fleming will be walking the 120-kilometre ‘Camino Ingles Pilgrims Walk’ from Ferrol to Santiago de Compostela to raise funds for HELP MMM, CARITAS and DEBRA (The Butterfly Children). They need sponsorship for this and forms are available in the office behind Roblemar Restaurant in Los Alcazares.

20

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

S CANDINAVIAN P RESS

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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.

22

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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.

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

Unfair exam 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 self defence classes for women for the past three months, with an expert in martial arts.

AXARQUIA

Con man 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.

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

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 added.

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. 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.

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, demanding a new high school for the town.

THE body of a man was found outside the fire station in Avenida Moliere in Malaga City. It was discovered 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

Church repairs

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

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

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

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

Man found 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.

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

In the swim 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 NORTH

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

Dark deeds THIEVES 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 in conjunction with a local fencing club. Private classes will also be available.

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.

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.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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.

23

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

24

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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

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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/la-zenia • Tel: +34 965 994 830 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 South

EWN

25

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.”

26

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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 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-toocommon lackadaisical ‘sure it’s Christmas’ mentality is fatal to our finances and it’s something that we need to put in check before

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.

Debt level MAKE A LIST: Do as Santa does.

smart advertising 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

BUSINESS EXTRA

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)

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29

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.

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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.

30

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

SATURDAY TV

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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

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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

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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:

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E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

SUNDAY TV

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BBC1/

BBC2/

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CH4/

ITV2/

07 am

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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 South

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

37

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)

38

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

MONDAY TV

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07 am

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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

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

EWN

39

Fifteen to One to return for full series and celebrity specials Richard Shanley

DISHING THE DIRT OF EUROPA DIGITAL

C

HANNEL 4 has confirmed that Fifteen to One will return for a full series next year. Adam Hills will host four celebrity editions of the classic TV quiz, while Sandi Toksvig will front a normal series of 20 episodes in the daytime. A one-off celebrity special was hosted by Hills for Channel 4’s 1980s’ night in September.

William G Stewart presented the original series, which ran from January 1988 to December 2003. Hills said: “I am thrilled to be part of the ongoing institution that is Fifteen to One. The celebrity specials combine two of my favourite things – general knowledge questions, and the chance to watch well-known

Greig, LeBlanc and Mangan. Inset: Sandi Toksvig. people try not to make d**ks of themselves in public.”

Toksvig added: “I’m thrilled to be taking up the mantle of hosting Fifteen To One. It is a legendary quiz show with tough questions. I’m glad I’ll be asking, not answering.”

Filming is expected to begin in early 2014, to air later in the year. Prospective contestants can apply to audition by emailing 15to1apps@remedyproductions.

tv. The closing date is January 17, 2014, and early application is encouraged.

• BBC TWO has commissioned a follow-up to its comedy Twenty Twelve. W1A will follow Hugh Bonneville’s Ian Fletcher as he takes on his next big job as Head of Values at the BBC. In his new role, Ian’s task is to reshape and redefine the BBC “in particular for Licence Fee Renegotiation and Charter Renewal in 2016

and 2017.” The new four-part series will also see Jessica Hynes reprising her role of Siobhan Sharpe, but will otherwise feature new situations and characters.

• EPISODES has been renewed for a fourth season.

The Showtime and BBC comedy starring Matt LeBlanc, Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig - has been ordered for nine more episodes. The third season of the show has not yet aired in the US or UK, and will premiere on January 12 as part of Showtime’s winter schedule.

Season three will pick up with Sean (Mangan) and Beverly (Greig) back together, as LeBlanc, who plays a fictionalised version of himself, continues to see his career and

ego pummelled. Confirmed guest stars for the series include 24’s Chris Diamantopoulos, Revenge’s Roger Bart, who will play LeBlanc’s agent, and Revolution’s Tracy Spiridakos as a family member of actress Morning Randolph (Mircea Monroe). The fourth season will begin production in 2014.

If you would like me to answer any questions you may have on satellite TV or to expand on anything I have written about please call me on 678 332 815 or email richard@europa-digital.com. I look forward to your comments and questions. Don’t forget to listen to my radio show every weekday from 10am on Spectrum Radio (90.8FM Coastal & 96.1FM Inland), now covering over 2000 sq kms of Costa Almeria or listen online at costaalmeria.spectrumfm.net for the latest news and views from the world of satellite TV.

40

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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

42

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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

44

E W N 19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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

Tax office unrest leads to purge

OPINION & COMMENT 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.

HELP continues the good work AT the last general meeting of HELP Murcia Mar Menor (HELP MMM), President Bernard Ash reported that

2013 had been a successful year thanks to the volunteers and the contribution of members. HELP MMM is a registered charitable organisation, whose accounts are made available to members.

HELP MMM will be donating to good causes after the AGM in March, THE last event of the year for HAH Mar Menor was when members vote on the Craft Fayre held at Bacchus Restaurant, Los which charity or cause Narejos. they wish the money to A selection of gifts and cakes (most made by HAH be given to. volunteers) and the ‘everyone wins’ tombola raised They also give clothes €523. and donations to Caritas The giant hamper raised €210 and was won by and the Samaritans as Nicky Robinson, blue ticket number 483. well as ADAPT. The hamper at The British Supermarket in Los HELP MMM has been Belones brought in €115 and was won by Jeannie, helping the local ticket number 107. community of the Mar Menor for 12 years, and HAH have had another very busy year, and as so should not be confused many volunteers are going away for Christmas they with similar sounding will be unable see new clients until January 6. charities, ‘Help At Home Contingency plans will be put in place for existing Costa Blanca’ and ‘Help clients.

At Home Mar Menor’.

Thank you all from HAH Mar Menor

46

EWN

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

www.euroweeklynews.com

FEATURE

Snow set to arrive in Los Montesinos COVERED: Peace of mind for all the family.

Advertising Feature

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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 multi-

language 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.

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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 965 126 135 and they will put you in touch with a professional in your area. Or visit www.elperpetuo-socorro.com

SNOW is guaranteed in Los Montesinos in January.

Members of Rojales panto group are presenting their version of Snow White, written in panto style

by Barry Cox. Snow White will be performed in the school of music in Los Montesinos on January 9 and 10 at 7.30pm. The Saturday matinee performance is on January 11 at 2.30pm.

Tickets are priced at â‚Ź7 per adult and â‚Ź5 per child.

These can be obtained from various outlets, including The Christmas shop in San Luis, Kennedys supermarket in Los Montesinos and Quesada Fish and Chips. They can also be reserved by contacting Barry on bazbov@yahoo.co.uk or Chris on shimserv@gmail.com. Tickets will also be available on the door half an hour before each performance.

Rojales Panto Group have raised thousands of euros for local worthy causes and hope to raise a substantial sum again this year.

OPINION & COMMENT

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

EWN

47

The importance of being a traditionalist Ulrica Marshall

Expat Strife

Swedish-born Ulrica is a freelance journalist living in Mallorca with her family. Her debut novel $Expat Wives is available on Amazon and iBooks.

To comment go to: www.euroweeklynews.com/columnists/ulrica-marshall ulrica@euroweeklynews.com

E

VEN if you have changed your surname to Gonzales, dine on Calamares a la Plancha at 10 in the evening and listen to ‘canciones de amor’ by Malu, I bet that when it comes to Christmas you revert to the traditions you grew up with.

For me (being Swedish) that means a sudden need to bulk buy in the food section of Ikea - pepparkakor (ginger biscuits), lussekatter (saffron buns) and julskinka (Christmas ham) are prerequisites for a Feliz Navidad.

And even though I ultimately lived in England longer than in Sweden, I don’t pine the same way for the Queen’s Speech as I do for the obligatory compilation of

cartoons that air on Swedish television year after year; we all know them by heart, yet it’s not quite Christmas without them.

Then there is the 1963 short film Dinner for One that is compulsive viewing every New Year’s Eve in much of Scandinavia as well as Germany. It is a comic take on a lady in her latter years and her ageing butler, who tries his best to imitate the absent guests at her 90th birthday dinner by toasting each course from each place setting, ensuing in a rapid descent into inebriation. It’s still hilarious after the umpteenth time.

We are creatures of habit and nothing tends to bring this out more than religious festivals, even if the last time you went to church was your own christening. And it is the habits of the childhood years which outweigh the more recent ones in bringing out the lyrical traditionalist that lurks behind our adventurous, expat façade.

FESTIVE CUSTOMS: Ingrained during childhood.

Psychologists reiterate the importance of traditions for children especially, who crave and need the love and security this level of

sameness brings.

But it is also important for the rest of us as markers of time and meaning in what otherwise may seem to be a

series of random, unrelated events. Family traditions, whether cultural or religious, remind us we belong to a core group, in a world where meeting one another is increasingly difficult, not least for us expatriates, who live far from one another.

So, humour Uncle Frank who invariably falls asleep and snores in front of the TV; make the turkey or julskinka the traditional way, because jazzing it up would be plain wrong, and let yourself get childishly excited about the gift in the cracker or the flickering lights from the Christmas candles.

Celebrate life and its joys with gusto!

With this in mind, I shall myself be following tradition and taking a ‘holiday’ during the holidays. But look out for more of Expat Strife in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

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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.

NEWS

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A little bit of Spain in Manchester portion of paella - cooked in a wok.

‘Little Spain’, situated in Albert Square, A TASTE of Montesinos has hit oozes with the smell of Spanish chorizo rolls, paella, Spanish ham, Cruzcampo Manchester this year.

A ‘Spanglish’ Christmas brings the beer and Rioja wine. “It was like being in Spain, with the paella and chorizo choice of both worlds - be it paella rolls being cooked,” said or Lancashire Hot Pot - at Helen, from Los the Manchester Montesinos, Alicante Christmas Markets. and Penwortham, “Feliz Navidad,” said Preston. Tens of Clara from Spain thousands of visitors who has Spanish have once again chocolate and headed for biscuits on sale at Manchester’s Christmas Manchester Christmas Markets this year - with Markets - the oldest and biggest Christmas 300-plus stalls - serving market in the UK. up food and drink from ANDREW ATKINSON: at Expatriates returning Manchester Christmas Markets throughout Europe. home this Christmas From Spanish paella have joined in the festivities - with flights to Dutch cheeses and mini pancakes, from both Alicante-Elche and Murcia French breads and mulled wines, Airports this Yuletide. The Manchester Hungarian goulash and French Market - celebrating its 15th year - has in profiteroles to hot chocolate, German situ ‘Little Spain’ with paella, Spanish beer, hog roast, bull sausages, Black cerveza, vino tinto, and chorizo on offer. Forest German sausage, chestnuts, and “Home-from-home,” said wife Helen, as the traditional mince pies, not forgetting she enjoyed a glass of vino tinto - and a Lancashire Hot Pot!

By Andrew Atkinson

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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OPINION & COMMENT

A different perspective on death Mike Walsh Mike Walsh. Based in Mediterranean Spain, is an international journalist, author and professional writer.

I

HAVE attended my fair share of funerals, services, graveside eulogies and visits to crematoria.

Sombre occasions, tears are shed and thoughts shared with relatives we haven‘t seen for years.

Eastern Europeans take death and its rituals far more seriously than do Westerners. When in Latvia I was invited to a graveside memorial service. From the four corners of the nation relatives travelled to a cemetery in the almost impenetrable forests on Lithuania’s borders.

An annual event, the emotional service was to commemorate family members who had passed on a long time ago. I presumed the placing of a few bouquets and brief prayers would be whispered.

Duty done, we would soon be dearly departed too.

Not so fast. The graveside service with its acclamations was heart-wrenchingly long. Whilst 20 or so family members circled the graves a lone violinist played

RITUALS: Eastern Europeans have a different view of death to Westerners.

laments, prayers were said and tributes made.

When my Ukrainian wife’s mother, Liudmyila shrugged off her mortal coil I was quite unprepared for the raw emotions exposed. Passing on is no passing matter.

For Russian Orthodox Christians there is a sequence of rituals following the death of a family member. The only cutting of corners is in the interment. This takes place within 24 hours of a natural death.

A glass of water and bread is placed on the sideboard for the departed soul’s needs. On the day of the funeral the Orthodox priest with small choir arrives at the family home. Hymns accompany the service. The curious do not peer from windows, balconies or cross in front of the cortege. Donations are made to pay the funeral bills.

In the family home all glass, mirrors and

glass-framed pictures are covered by white sheets. It is believed that the soul of the departed remains in the family home for nine days after which the coverings can be removed. The spirit then departs to Hades; weeks later to be admitted to Paradise.

The morning following interment the family gathers around the grave to share breakfast. Whilst doing so the deceased will be implored to join them. Enjoy a glass of wine but no toasting each other.

For approximately 40 days, the period being determined by the priesthood, a monastic period of mourning will be expected. A church service of remembrance takes place on the 40th day. This will be a substantial gathering, a sad occasion unlike that of Irish tradition.

Many Celts see death as rebirth, therefore balance is drawn between woe and celebration. “I am no more afraid of death than I was of being born,” said Spartacus.

There is nothing mawkish about such rituals. If cynical or bemused by such traditions, I imagine our fellow Europeans are equally baffled by clinical, quick-fix funerals and our get-on-with-life approach to life after death.

FEATURE

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Advertising Feature

F

Go for gold this Christmas

OR unique, precious and meaningful gifts this Christmas, visit Gold Rush in Zenia Boulevard, Torrevieja and Quesada.

From antique pocket watches, to bespoke, hand crafted rings, there is something for all tastes and budgets. Even items they have bought in from customers in exchange for cash are first sent to the workshop where they are cleaned and any cubic zirconia replaced with real diamonds and gems, and all are resold at realistic prices.

Expert jeweller Paul Mentessi said: “We work as closely to trading prices as possible so there is not a large mark-up, meaning buyers are getting great pieces at great value.”

Gold Rush now also work with the Geological Institute in America (GIA) on diamond certification and valuing: “We are actually buying better than anywhere in the UK at the moment for diamonds.”

Paul owns and runs Gold Rush along with businessman

GOLD RUSH: For all your gold, jewellery and cash services.

Cesar Ripanu and together they ensure that all Gold Rush shops adhere strictly to all laws and guidelines that are in place when running such a business.

When they purchase any item the seller must provide identification and items are photographed and immediately sent to a police database to ensure they are not stolen. “I believe this helps make the neighbourhood safer and the

communication we have with the Guardia Civil is perfect,” explained Cesar, who believes the business is helping to boost the local economy by helping people get cash when they need it, which they then use in other stores and services in the area.

When valuing items Gold Rush operate an honest and professional service and will value the whole item and not

GREAT GIFTS: Unique, one-off pieces are on sale. just the gold, as Cesar explains that other companies will ignore antique and unique pieces of jewellery and their precious stones, and simply go on the weight of the gold.

“This is criminal in my opinion and we will keep unique pieces for our own shop,” said Cesar.

Jewellery repairs are available, through Paul’s expertise and knowledge as a jeweller. He can also create bespoke, one-off pieces to a customer’s own design. Gold Rush are also proud to announce they can offer the latest technology in 3D manufacturing of jewellery allowing customers to again design their own pieces which are then ‘printed’ in Germany.

So for all gold and jewellery, and cash services, visit Gold Rush situated within the Alcampo supermarket gallery, Zenia Boulevard.

The store is open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 10pm.

Call 966 793 952. The Torrevieja store, just 100m from the main church on Calle Caballero de Rodas 25, can be contacted on 965 712 029, or call Quesada on 966 716 620.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

ealth & beauty H TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EWNLIFESTYLE.COM

Advertising Feature

Enhance your pleasure with Pleasure Amor SPICE up your sex life this Christmas with a gift from www.pleasureamor.com 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

SPICE IT UP: Add some excitement to your love life. 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.

BLAST FROM PAST: Patients were able to recall memories.

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.

HEALTH & BEAUTY

www.euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

Mozzies target odours

FLICKR_ZACDECLERCK

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.

Mozzies target by smell.

NATURAL FACEMASKS: You can create a perfect remedy in a few seconds with things from your kitchen.

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 a 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 has elapsed, 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.

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’s 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 bringing the benefits from the natural oils that will fill the eye contour area.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

Avoid stiffness in the Relief for muscles an itchy 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 give 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.

scalp 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 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 scratching your head.

How to prevent it?

You should use products specially 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.

FEATURE

E

VERY wine has a story to tell and there is no better story than that of Jean Leon, and there is no one better to tell it than sommelier and owner of MG Bodegas, David Fanailou.

The Euro Weekly News was invited to one of David’s regular wine tasting sessions. The monthly events are intimate and informal for those who simply like their wines and wish to be introduced to new varieties and brands and get an early preview of wines to be stocked in the bodega. His demeanour and expertise combine to make the sessions informative and fun.

This month’s meeting was focused on the Jean Leon range.

Born in Santander in the north of Spain, Ceferino Carrión went travelling at the age of 19 and ended up in New York as a stowaway on a merchant ship in the early 1950s. After working as a taxi driver, he headed west to Hollywood and changed his name to Jean Leon. He found work at the Villa Capri restaurant, owned by Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio. It was a job that introduced him to some of the biggest names in Hollywood. It was some of these friends, including Sinatra and DiMaggio, that helped him open his

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19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

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Advertising Feature

Wine with a story reminiscent of a Hollywood movie

WINE TASTING: Regular events at MG Bodegas. restaurant, La Scala, in the heart of Beverly Hills in 1956. It was soon entertaining the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Zsa Zsa Gabor and even John F Kennedy.

With his restaurant booming, his love of good wine prompted his return to Spain where he set up his own vineyard in Penedès and brought French vines to Spain, becoming a pioneer in

planting Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in Spain. His Chardonnay Gigi (named after his daughter) which was sampled at MG Bodega and the Reserva, still originates from those first vines.

The 3055 range, named after his taxi number from his New York days, was also on the tasting including the hedonistic

JEAN LEON: On the menu for the latest tasting session. white, the rosé with its fresh, floral undertones and the intense red with four months of oak ageing. All were accompanied with carefully chosen tapas dishes.

The Jean Leon vineyards are

now run by the Torres family after Jean Leon appointed his close friend Miguel Torres to carry on with his legacy after being struck by a serious illness and departing alone on his boat ‘la Scala di Mare’ to spend his last days at sea.

The Jean Leon wines are reminiscent of a Hollywood tale and so many more wines hold stories that David is only too happy to share with his wine club and customers.

So for any wine-related questions or help and advice to choose a gift for someone or a wine to go with your Christmas dinner, call in at MG Bodegas in Benijofar. The bodega in Calle Ramon y Cajal 13, is open Monday to Friday from 10am-7pm and Saturdays from 10am-2pm.

Call 966 714 960 or visit www.magicagourmet.com

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OPINION & COMMENT

Advertising Featire

The fastest growing goalkeeper glove range to launch on the Costa Blanca THE fastest growing goalkeeper glove range in the world is coming to the Costa Blanca.

Just4keepers is one of the fastest growing brands, with over 10,000 grass-roots goalkeepers already wearing Just4keepers gloves alongside many professional goalkeepers.

With the high specification of gloves and the very competitive price range (and also sponsorship scheme) it is little wonder they are in the top five for goalkeeper gloves in the world.

At Just4keepers, they pride themselves on their service and have been running successfully for over a decade and, because most of their customers that purchase off the website train at a Just4keepers goalkeeping training school (soon to come

JUST4KEEPERS: Range of goalkeepers’ gloves.

JUST4KEEPERS: Adult pro-range. to the Costa Blanca) they have a product that exceeds expectation.

The main difference between Just4keepers goalkeeping gloves and the other brands is that the company is managed by all exprofessional goalkeepers; they are a goalkeeper business run by goalkeepers for

goalkeepers. They know what you as a goalkeeper looks for in a glove because they look for it too.

Working to high specifications they also ensure their prices are affordable and fair with a Just4keeper glove that is €45, for example, closer to €70 in another brand.

This is why their goalkeeper gloves are becoming so popular within the goalkeepers’ scene globally. They have goalkeeper stores and training centres all over the world, are currently in over 19 countries and are now coming to the Costa Blanca.

To view the complete range

of goalkeeper products visit www.just4keepers.es/en/store where you can make safe credit card purchase via Paypal and have the fastest growing brand of goalkeeper gloves delivered quickly and efficiently.

Mark Kavanagh, who is already sponsoring young, up and coming goalkeepers with discounted gloves, said: “I can guarantee you will not be disappointed with the quality or service.

“I have been a professional goalkeeper and I have coached in professional academies and I am yet to find a better glove.”

For more information, or to register your interest in the forthcoming training schools, email just4keepersspain@ hotmail.co.uk

Donation to the Philippines

WEST END STANDARD: Footwork Dance.

Fancy Footwork FOOTWORK DANCE performed their Christmas show Dancing in the Musicals, and according to the audience, it was astounding.

The choreography by Principal Erica Dorrill was said to be fantastic.

Annie, Thriller Live, and Phantom of the Opera were just a few of the highlights of the evening, and it has been said that their finale Les Miserables was ‘West End standard’.

Footwork was raising money for the underprivileged of Los Montesinos, but a mugging took place just outside the theatre and some of the money was taken. Footwork will still make a donation as promised. In spite of that Footwork continued into the evening performance.

If you would like to be a part of their team then classes resume on January 7.

LIONS CLUB President Janette Bennett has announced that the Ladies Friday Club who regularly meet at the Country Club in Quesada have pledged a donation of €1,000 to The Lions ‘Hope for the Philippines’ appeal.

The Ladies of the Friday Club held a preChristmas raffle and agreed that the funds should go to those in the Philippines who are suffering from the effects of Typhoon Haiyan.

Lions Club President Janette will receive this donation when the Ladies Friday Club reconvenes in January after the festive season.

www.euroweeklynews.com

CROSSWORDS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South

Time Out

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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

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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,

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TODAY:

9 -1 S 9 1 S 13 0 Cl

Fog,

Fri Sat Sun -

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16 7 S 16 7 S 17 9 S

TODAY:

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SHOWER MAX 16C, MIN -1C MAX MIN

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Malaga

SHOWER MAX 16C, MIN 9C

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SUNNY

MAX 17C, MIN 8C

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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

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BONUS BALL

THUNDERBALL

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8

11

30

LUCKY STARS

6

11

40

REINTEGRO

31

7

REINTEGRO

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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

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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)

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Crosswords

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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.

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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.

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A ‘lemon’ of an orange grove in Mallorca

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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

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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.

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& DRINK

ood F Costa Blanca’s best guide for local restaurants

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Five drinks to enjoy this Christmas

C

HRISTMAS is almost here and the season to spend more time with family and friends has already started.

And what better way to have some quality time with loved ones than having long conversations over a drink?

Surprise your guests with these five Christmas-themed cocktails to make the most of this year’s holiday season.

Eggnog: The Christmas drink par excellence in the US, eggnog is made with milk, sugar, whipped eggs and spices. It may be alcoholic or nonalcoholic, so it suits everyone. Nondairy versions of eggnog are also available, so there’s no excuse to not have a glass this Christmas.

Mulled wine: A winter classic, mulled wine is also enjoyed by many during Christmas. Said to be created in the Roman times, almost every

EGGNOG (left): A Christmas classic.

BUTTERED RUM (right): To feel cosier this Christmas. country in the world has a version of this drink. The most popular one has red wine as a base and it’s complemented with spices and raisins.

Hot buttered rum: This mixed drink is made of rum, butter, cider and spices. With its origin dating back to colonial days in the US, this drink would certainly make anyone feel cosier after having a sip of it.

Poinsettia: Apart from being the plant used in Christmas floral displays, poinsettia is also a cocktail.

Being a Champagne-based cocktail, this drink is bubbly and wintery thanks to the use of cranberry juice.

Chocolate Raspberry Martini: It is made of raspberry vodka and white crème de cacao, and can be garnished in many ways. A delicious Christmassy drink.

MULLED WINE: Hot and spicy.

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World’s first 3D food printer A SPANISH startup has decided to take a step further and has developed an appliance that brings 3D printing technology to food.

Their creation, Foodini, is a 3D printer that makes hard and time-consuming tasks in the kitchen easier.

The revolutionary appliance gives shape to dough or fills pasta with ingredients so that its users can focus on other not-so-samey tasks.

This, according to Barcelona-based startup Natural Machines, would encourage people to eat healthy foods.

Foodini is able to make food with height and shape (chocolate 3D

FOODINI: Bringing 3D technology to food. figures, for example), or flatter foods (crackers or even pizza).

It does not cook food, but can keep it warm as a heating element is built in to the appliance.

Foodini is expected to be available in June next year at an estimated price of €944.

Truffle treats

AMERICAN restaurant chain Umami Burger has created a burger for those for whom money is no object.

The luxurious sandwich, rightfully called MNO or ‘Money’s No Object’, is being sold for $75 (€54) for a limited time only.

It is made of dry-aged beef, vintage Port wine reduction, white Alba truffles from Italy and a foie gras topping.

A version without foie gras is available in California as this ingredient is now illegal in that state.

The millionaire snack is part of the American chain’s celebration of the truffle season.

Other dishes making up the ‘It’s Truffle Season’ menu include a truffled ahi tartare salad, a truffled shiitake royale burger and Irish truffle nachos.

Fortunately for American restaurant-goers, these products are available at more down-toearth prices.

PROHIBITIVE: MNO burger features white truffle.

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Advertising Feature

Christopher launches new set menu for steak and lobster lovers to enjoy CHRISTOPHER’S has done it again!

If you are already fed up of turkey and all the trimmings and are looking for a special treat in the New Year, then book yourself in to Restaurante Christopher in the heart of Mar Azul, Torrevieja, for their new three-course steak and lobster supreme menu.

With the Euro Weekly News being offered a sneak preview of the exciting and tempting menu available from next Friday, there is now something to look forward to after the festive period. For €19.95 diners will be spoilt for choice with the special 10th anniversary menu. They have an extensive range of starters from fillet of beef carpaccio and mango and chilli king prawn crostini, to Christopher’s tempting range of salad starters. Lighter, yet in no way less delicious, the smoked

LUXURY: Lobster Thermidor with king prawn. duck and goat’s cheese salad and date, walnut and blue cheese salad will help you feel less guilty about overindulging at Christmas, and they prove the perfect complement to the mains of either prime Galician steak or the Lobster and king prawn Thermidor. And that is all included in the special menu price.

Whichever you choose, you can be assured you will be back to sample the other choices. The steak is cooked to your preference and can be served in its purest, simplest form to allow you to appreciate the quality of the meat, or with a range of sauces. Steak Black Mexican, Cordon Bleu, Au Poivre or Carpet Bagger; a unique take on surf ’n’

JUST DESSERTS: Finish off your meal with a mouthwatering dessert turf with a scallop served in the middle, are also an option. All come served with seasoned wedges, roasted peppers and cinnamon onions.

For lobster lovers the Thermidor with king prawns is sweet and succulent.

There are 10 desserts to choose from, from chocolate

and mint truffle cheesecake and chocolate fudge cake, to tangy citrus tort with lemon coulis and spiced organic carrot cake.

The special steak and lobster menu will be served throughout January and into February alongside the usual a la carte menu, prepared by owner Christopher Cain himself and his executive chef Neil Lloyd, with head waiter Sergiy, who also jokes that while Christopher is the owner, he is really the boss, attending to your every need front of house.

Restaurante Christopher is open Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm until late and for Sunday lunches. To reserve your seat to the hottest eatery in town call 600 012 824 or 965 710 007.

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Interest grows in Spanish wine 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 sold in bulk.

The price of Spanish wine in the US has been above average this year, which explains why more than $5.25 billion (â‚Ź3.8 billion) 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

SPANISH WINE: A success in Englishspeaking countries. the year due to a general price increase.

Spain is the fourth largest wine provider in the UK market, which is led

by France.

Finally, Ireland imported 38 per cent more Spanish wine during the first nine months of 2013.

Irish imports of Spanish wine follow the opposite tendency to the rest of the world, with a raise in the quantity sold, but a decrease in its value.

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Healthy is not expensive EATING a healthy diet costs just £1 (€1.17) more a day.

The research looked at 27 studies from 10 highincome countries that included price data for

individual foods and eating habits. It evaluated the differences in prices per serving and per 200 calories, for individual items of foods and prices per day and per 2,000 calories for overall diet patterns.

Mayuree Rao from Harvard University (America) said: “People often say that healthier foods are more expensive and that such costs strongly limit better diet habits. But, until now, the scientific evidence for this idea has not been systematically evaluated, nor have the actual

FLICKR_UNKNOWNDOMAIN

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HEALTHIER DIET: A Small price to pay. differences in cost been characterised.”

The research suggests that compared to the costs associated with long-term illness, the

slight daily price increase of eating healthily pales into insignificance.

The study was published in the British Medical Journal Open.

Belly-busting biggest Snickers bar now on sale KR

FLIC

RIES MO ME ROID A L _PO

INDULGENT: Giant chocolate bar.

A GIANT Snickers bar has gone on sale for chocolate lovers.

The bar, available via www.firebox.com, is eight times the size of a standard bar at 25cm (nearly 10in) long and contains a belly busting 2,000 calories; the equivalent to a woman’s recommended daily intake.

The website, however, does warn it is not a suitable replacement for a healthy diet and says it is nine servings.

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FEATURE

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omes& gardens

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SPONSORED BY

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T T H E S P O N S O R G O T O W W W . L I N E A D I R E C T A . C O M

Christmas almost here but still jobs for the gardener Dick Handscombe

Gardening Corner

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

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

LIQUEURS: Part of the home-made collection. 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.

Turn to Page 72

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Christmas jobs in the garden From Page 71 While the bread was cooking I checked out the home-made 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 self-sufficient from the garden as were many

DINNER: Ecologically fed on vegetable waste, edible weeds and grains.

Spaniards before they abandoned agriculture to become construction workers during the boom period. Our own drive towards self-sufficiency started as a result of three things: 1. The decline of agriculture in our valley.

2. A realisation of how much Spanish agri-culture depended on chemicals and how difficult it was in most areas to purchase ecologically-grown fruit, vegetables and poultry.

3. The wonderful vegetable gardens we saw in the semi-

abandoned 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

HOMES & GARDENS

Caring for your Christmas tree IT’S Christmas time and there is nothing better to get you in the festive feeling than the smell of a freshly-cut Norwegian spruce.

With just days until Christmas, now is the perfect time to get a real tree - by ensuring it’s cared for correctly it should last through the Christmas season.

Once your tree has been cut down, it should be placed in water as soon as possible. Most species can go six to eight hours after cutting the trunk and it is preferable to try and keep the base clean.

Stands holding and supporting the tree should provide one quarter of water per inch of stem diameter.

Keep trees away from major sources of heat such as fireplaces and heaters. The hotter the room the quicker the tree dries out and the more water it will consume each day. Drilling a hole in the base of the trunk does not improve water intake and the temperature of the water is not too important.

Fallen pine needles should be cleaned up as soon as possible to prevent pets eating them and at the end of your TREE CARE: Tips tree’s life try and for a healthy find a recycling Christmas programme. tree.

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roperty P

PROPERTY

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

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.

Spanish property market showing signs of recovery 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.

PROPERTY

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PETS

CREDIT Flickr_LanceJohnson

Have a jolly and safe Xmas David THE Dogman

New charity shop COUNCILLOR Mark Lewis will cut the ribbon to officially open the new Pets in Spain charity shop on Monday, located in Calle Francisco de Quevedo, La Marina urbanisation (near to Consum supermarket). There will be free mulled wine and mince pies, and the draw for the bumper Christmas hamper. The shop will be open weekdays from 10am till 5pm, and on Saturdays 10am till 2pm. To donate items please either take them to the shop or phone 645 469 253.

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!

For your local radio frequency log onto www.talkradioeurope.com

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RS E S T I ER R V E RN D A CO

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SPOTLIGHT

Advertising feature

Rebecca beats thousands to become winner of the T:Factor

O

N 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

Advertising feature

NEW STAR: T:Factor winner Rebecca Tozia Tyszka.

Fourth and fifth were Tallulah their entries within their own circles Cousins and Ryan Dearden far and wide.

Areas got behind the T:Factor with respectively.

SEE ALL the winners’ FANTASTIC bars, restaurants and shops displaying posters of their local PREFORMANCES at www.telitec.com. representatives.

The spokesman said: “We believe Thousands of votes were we have uncovered some of registered as the the stars of the future and Simon competition generated a Simon Cowell better look Cowell buzz and great support for out! Thank you so much to the contestants. all who took part and better Eight weeks later and a voted.” look out! winner has been chosen.

Due to the resounding She is the truly astounding success of the competition Rebecca Tozia Tyszka from La they will be launching again in Nucia, Costa Blanca. the New Year... with more amazing Rebecca will be receiving the first prizes prize of a recording session and trip And, due to demand, this time there to London courtesy of Telitec and the will be a category for the over 18s.

T:Factor, who are positive she is a star of the future.

Keep an eye on www.telitec.com Second place went to Tamara Gray for the ALL NEW T:FACTOR Morales, third to duo Maria Africa LAUNCH McMullen & Klaus Galvez, who will Email sales@telitec.net or call both receive top quality head phones 965 743 473 for more for their fantastic entries. information.

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BOATS / CARS / JOBS / SERVICES / PETS / BIKES / FURNITURE / PROPERTY / MOTORING / FOR SALES

ALARMS

ALARMS: All types, quality systems, very reasonable, guaranteed. Tel: 966 797 370 / 600 237 223 (206434) KEEP BURGLARS OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE WITH A GRILL ALARM. REJAGARD THE ORIGINAL GRILL ALARM 645 495 484 (207577)

ANTIQUES CHARITIES/CHURCHES

BOATS

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)

BUSINESS OPP. WANT TO WRITE for profit?

Established author available to help. At-home courses, total support. Guaranteed formatting for Kindle. janette@readus.com 689 742 289 www.readus.com (218076)

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS IS ALCOHOL COSTING YOU MORE THAN MONEY? Drinking to excess not only affects your health it can spill over into every other aspect of your life – damaging everything that is important to you. Englishspeaking AA meetings are held throughout the Costa Blanca from Valencia City to Murcia. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting or discuss a possible drinking problem contact Costa Blanca North: *648 169 045* or Costa Blanca South: *625 912 078* or Costa Calida *679 385 105*. All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. AA in German: 645 456 075; Spanish: 679 212 535; Flemish: 635 047 053; and Scandinavian: 659 779 222. www.aacostablanca.org (93323) ROUNDABOUT CHARITY SHOP. We are now into summer and very soon we will be feeling the heat! It is time therefore for another visit to the shop where you might find a bargain or two.

Choose from the clothing selection, jewellery, household goods, books or bric a brac. There is usually something there for everyone —- but not always. Charitable donations have recently been made to The Alzheimers Centre, Cancer Research and The Amigos Ambulance Service. We still need your help with donations etc. Please keep them coming in! During July and August the shop will only be open Wednesday to Saturday from 09.30 until 13.00. We are situated on Avenida Del Furs close to the Fountain Roundabout and immediate left by Don Colchon bed shop. (93325)

BUY & SELL

FULL GOSPEL Business Men’s Fellowship International. We are a Christian organisation with a difference. Breakfast meetings for men each month including a testimony time, & time to ask questions for those who seek answers. Info: Stuart 968 575 417 or 664 673 863

CHARITY BOOK STALL PEGO THURSDAY MARKET. Selection of over 500 books, all proceeds given to the elderly/disabled of Pego and local Animal Rescue.

More stock always required please contact Chrissie 965 977 228/617 647 395 (95460)

THE SPIRITUALIST CHURCH OF QUESADA, meets at new premises, Hamiltons Bakehouse, Calle Vicente 62, Blasco Ibañez, Benijofar.

Sunday Service at 11.30am. A Tuesday evening of Mediumship at 7.30pm and every Thursday there is an opportunity to develop your skills at the Open Circle at 7.30pm.

Spiritual Healing is available Sunday and Tuesday. Contact Wendy on 965 323 028. (95454)

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, La Fustera. For more info: contact Frank Bentley on 966 495 188 (95461)

THE ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION, Torrevieja Branch, meet at 17.00 on the first Wednesday of each month at the Restaurante El Paraiso, Urb. Jardin del Mar 3 (behind Carrefour), Torrevieja. Contact Mike Wright, Chairman 966 722 895 or Margaret Forshaw, Secretary 966 921 996. (95455) HELP VEGA BAJA. We help anyone, any age and any nationality, 24hr helpline. Offices based in San Miguel at Calle Lope de Vega and in Torrevieja on Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 4. You can contact us on 966 723 733 between 10am and 1:30pm or online at www.helpveg abaja.com. For emergencies 24hr helpline 965 704 282 (95456) THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Orihuela Costa - covering from Punta Prima to San Javier. The branch meets at Olympia restaurant, Mil Palmeras on 3rd Thursday of each month at 19.00 - 19.30pm. More info can be found on branch website www.orihuelacostarbl.co.uk.

THE BAKER FOUNDATION for SPIRITUAL AWARENESS. 16 Nicolas De Bussi Ave, Playa Flamenca.

Sunday Service every week 11am to 12 noon, everyone welcome. For further details please phone/fax 966 760 665 (95458) THE PHILIP SCOTT LODGE No 10671 of the RAOB meets every Friday in the Bar Catorce, Benijofar. Please call the secretary, Colin Bird on 653 066 919 for further information. (95459)

CANCER SUPPORT GROUP (MABS) MURCIA/MAR MENOR Help and support is just a phone call away, Avda Rio Nalón, Tel: 693 275 779 (95462) PILAR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH, Calle Canalejas, 3. Pilar de la Horadada. Sunday Service at 11am & Thursday at 5pm for Prayer and Praise and Worship. Home groups meet during the week. All welcome from any church background or none. For further information, contact PilarChristian.Commu nityChurch@gmail.com / 968 575 417 / 966 848 806 Reg No: 2009-SG/A (95463) TCF is a multi-national English speaking church now located on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas 68, Torrevieja. The Sunday Service, including Communion and Creche/Sunday School, commences at 10.30am with a Bible Study/Prayer Meeting on Wednesday evenings at 6.00pm. Telephone 966 700 391 or call in to the Church any day between 9.00am until 1.00pm. Monday to Friday to find out more about Church activities. (95464) THE AIRCREW ASSOCIATION COSTA BLANCA BRANCH. Former & serving aircrews of the UK or Allied Armed Forces are welcome to join this convivial & friendly organisation, now in its 21st year. www.acacostablan ca.org or call the Secretary on: 966 495 042 (95465) HELP MMM CANCER SUPPORT GROUP Appointments for cervical, breast and prostate screening in the Murcia area, please ring 680 393 257 (95466)

CHARITY

THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION JAVEA BRANCH meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month @ Scallops Rest on the Arenal at 11.00am. Everyone is welcome to attend as a visitor and join the branch if they wish. Anyone needing any help or advice on welfare, or any information regarding the branch can contact either Sheila on 965 791 270 or Roger on 965 790 123 (95472) TORREVIEJA STROKE SUPPORT GROUP meets each Friday 3pm to 5pm in The Annex, (behind Age Concern Centre), Calle Paganini, Urb. La Siesta. Our aim is to support stroke survivors and their carers by a range of facilities from speech therapy, rehabilitation exercise, group discussion etc. For info: Louie 96 671 8964 or Carol, Secretary: 966 765 488, e-mail: strokesupportgroup@ hotmail.com Donations and further voluntary helpers are needed and guest speakers with relevant knowledge or experience are very welcome. (95473) THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Gran Alacant Branch meets 1st Tuesday of every month at The Norwegian Club on Sierra Mar Urbanisation at 7pm for 7.30pm prompt. For further info contact Barbara Turnbull, Branch Secretary on 608 994 456 or email b_dmt1966@yahoo.co.uk CAMPELLO CONTRA CANCER in conjunction with AECC Association Español Contra Cancer has opened a charity shop at C/Virgen de los Desamparados No 13 (next door to Mas y mas) El Campello.

The shop is open Mon-Fri 10 2pm and is run by unpaid volunteers and all monies raised goes to the AECC. We urgently need donations of clothes, books, large and small furniture etc, and we will arrange collection of large items. We need volunteers to help out in the shop and also clothes rails, shelves etc. for display.

Please support your local Cancer charity and if you wish to obtain literature or simply talk to someone. Please stop by at the shop.

Contact Mina or Trisha. Tel 650 071 278 or 610 921 413 e-mail aecc_campello@hotmail.com (95475)

International Christian Assembly Calle Pilar de Horadada 5, Torrevieja Evangelical non-denominational Sunday services 11am Children’s church 11am House groups in Torrevieja, Los Balcones, San Javier Ladies meeting Thursdays 11am Pastor, Rafael Restrepo All nationalities welcome 966 799 273 / 660 127 276. (95476)

CHIMNEY SWEEP PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SWEEP. Family business established over 60 years. 660 478 881 (217460)

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.dryzonees pana.com (217646)

ELECTRICIAN UK ELECTRICIAN Fully qualified all aspects of electrical work. Free estimates. Also pool cleaning services. 965 725 445 / 616 226 083 (218525) MR FIXIT. For all your electrical, plumbing, general & appliance & boiler repairs. No call out charge. 698 320 434

FRIENDSHIP FIND LOVE IN THE SUN w w w. i wa n t 2 m e e tyo u . c o m .

Browse for free Spain´s No. 1 online dating site. Bringing expats together. (219566)

GARDENING GARDENER, 25 years working in Spain. English/Spanish spoken. Private gardens and communities. Free quotes, billthe gardener@hotmail.es. Tel 699 682 630 (217645)

GEN. MAINTENANCE QUALIFIED TRADESMAN Electrical, plumbing, fencing, painting, balustrades, satellite TV installation and general maintenance. Tel 965 328 361 or 680 934 549 (219789)

GOLD WANTED GOLD WANTED. English jeweller will buy broken, unwanted jewellery and coins. 664 890 990 (217530)

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.es

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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)

WANTED MOBILE HOMES

WANTED Cars, vans, caravans, 4 X 4’s British Spanish 600 781 873 ibuyanycar@hotmail.com (215783)

FOR SALE

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 suzica ley@gmail.com (207499)

MOTORING

CAMPER VAN, British reg, 1996.

Peugeot chassis, Turbo diesel, 2.5 only 36,000 miles, 6 metres. Tax and MOT for 11 months. Includes safari room. Bike rack, many extras. Ready to go. Lady owner.

View at Caravanning la Manga.

15,000€. Tel 639 537 666 Pictures available (215369)

NURSERY HIRE KIDEASE NURSERY HIRE. Wide range of Children’s Equipment FOR HIRE. FREE DELIVERY 7 DAYS A WEEK. Family business.

Tel: 966 764 267 / 665 124 448 www.kideasenurseryhire.com (215842)

PERGOLA COVERS TAILOR made, durable canvas, sails, umbrella, spa and BBQ covers. Mazarron based, and at Procomobel Market, Guardamar Saturday mornings. 667 879 399 krugercanopies@in.com (219740)

PET INSURANCE PROTECTAPET. Spain’s leading pet insurance. 965 756 371. www.protectapet.eu (216721)

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. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us and why not like our facebook page at www.face book.com/sosinsurancein spain.com to help promote our services to other expatriates. (207808)

PETS

19 - 25 December 2013 / Costa Blanca South PET CHARITIES EASYHORSE CARE RESCUE CENTRE We aim to rescue HORSES. If you would like to DONATE please call 965 967 033 or sales@easy horsecare.net www.easyhorse care.net or call Sue 652 021 980 (95706) SPAMA GANDIA SHELTER. Dog and cat rescue registered charity, La Safor area. 500 animals awaiting re-homing. Shelter open 7 days a week 12noon - 2.00pm & 3.30pm - 7.00pm. (Spanish speaking staff) or phone Gail 962 896 118. Visit our website for directions. www.spama.org and view our new blog at www.spa ma-safor.blog.com.es PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THEM (95707) P.E.P.A. VOLUNTEERS & FOSTER HOMES URGENTLY NEEDED. By fostering an abandoned dog, or spending a few hours each week on our telephone helpline, you could help save the lives of many animals. Please call: 650 304 746. For more information browse our website: www.pepa spain.com EURO WEEKLY NEWS CLASSIFAX AGENT GATAMI ORGANISATION, to help kittens and cats, looking for good homes, also spaying wild cats in the community. Kittens require adoption, fully vaccinated, de-wormed, de-fleed. We also need volunteers to help Car boot sale in Polop on Sundays Tel Anna: 966 806 976 / 654 729 977 (95709)

PLUMBER MR FIXIT. For all your electrical, plumbing, general & appliance & boiler repairs. No call out charge. 698 320 434 (217946)

POOL SERVICES 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)

SM147 - Large 5 bedroom detached villa in El Galan, San Miguel. 4 large bedrooms & small occasional bedroom, 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 lounges, dining room, sun room, terrace, garage and private swimming pool. For long term let 995€ pcm - 965 720 766 (89468) VILLA for rent situated amongst amongst fruit trees in 31,000m2 plot, Catral / San Isidro, pool, garages, stunning mountain views. €550pcm. 0044 7797 862 874 / 0044 1534 490 901 (200466)

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) UK-SPAIN-IRELAND. Removals with the personal touch. Pets transported 965 696 750 / 0044 (0) 7447 918 589 e-mail chrisy ounge73979@aol.com (217041) MAN AND VAN UK - Spain. 2 vans travelling twice a month, Murcia North / South UK. Tel 610 846 260 or 0044 751 918 6355 email van.man@hotmail.co.uk (215762) UK - SPAIN Removals. Masses of experience. New clean vehicles. Insured with AXA. Genuinely CARING service.

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SEWING QUALIFIED SEAMSTRESS 40 years experience, turn-ups to tailoring patterns taken from your favourite cloths, reasonable prices. Torrevieja, Sandra: 966 799 188 / 680 486 336 (216564)

For daily news visit www.euroweeklynews.es

PROP. FOR RENT

SCRAP YOUR CAR LEGALLY. Cash paid for newer cars, but all cars taken and legally disposed of for free and Baja Final issued. Call 667 711 380 (216565)

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PET TRANSPORT INTERPAWS: 20 years’ licensed pet transportation.

Competitive rates. Difficult dog? Effective behavioural training in your home. www.interpaws.com janette@interpaws.com 689 742 289 (204958)

SM203 - 2 bedroom, first floor apartment in Pinada Golf, Villamartin, bathroom, lounge/diner, kitchen, utility room, terrace, balcony, communal swimming pool and 3 air con units. For long term rent, 350€ pcm - 965 720 766 (89468) SM65 - San Miguel - Unfurnished 3 bed det villa in Torrestrella.

Villa has stunning views across the valley of San Miguel and mountains. 2.5 baths, utility room & garage, private pool, summer kitchen with bbq. Plot size 675 sqm, build size 136 sqm. For long term let 750€ pcm - 965 720 766 (89468) SM106 - El Galan - Spacious part furnished 3 bed detached villa in El Galan, San Miguel. 2 bathrooms, dining room, private swimming pool, patio area. For long term let 695€ pcm - 965 720 766 (89468)

REMOVALS / STORAGE

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SITUATIONS VACANT

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SITUATIONS VACANT EXPERIENCED CARERS REQUIRED! Join our team of carers who work in the UK. Earn from £868 - £1330 for 2 weeks. Good written/spoken English/ British or EU Passport required. Contact Sandra on 658 965 204 or email s.field@consultuscare.com.

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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 driver can E TECHNOLO INNOVATIV quickly adjust steering effort, Innovative technologies to engine response, and provide drivers with information, transmission and electronic control and connectivity are also stability control settings using the part of the new Mustang. The available Selectable Drive Modes.

RE-PLATE MATE

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 comple-mented by

a re-engineered suspension and chassis setup, 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 sportsderived 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 driver-focused.

The steering wheel is finished in alcantara (artificial suede) and leather with a red race-

inspired ‘top dead centre’ marker. The sports seats are fully electric with

special Nismo badging and red stitching.

The finishing touch is a

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Sport

SPORT

www.euroweeklynews.com

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

Murcia Matchplay League

THE Murcia Golf Matchplay League held its fourth match at Las Ramblas.

The first game brought together the two top teams - leaders RocoJuna against second placed Club 25.

On this occasion, the ever improving Club 25 were too strong for the boys from Roco Juna, running out winners by 7 pts to 1 and holes 28 to 18.

Second off were neighbours La Manga v/s Hacienda 7pts to 1 and 26 to 17 holes won for LaManga, pushing them up the table.

Next into the fray, San Javier v/s Marinasol and San Javier ran out winners by 5pts to 3pts and 24 holes each won.

San Javier remain the only unbeaten team in the league.

Last year’s champions were next to test the Las Ramblas ravines, only to run up a drawn game with the ever improving Costa Blanca - 4pts each with 25 to 24 holes won.

WINNERS ALL: Some of the La Marquesa line-up.

Good turnout for Eurogolf SIXTY-FOUR players took part in Eurogolf’s December Monthly Stableford La Marquesa.

Paul Manning returned a very good 39 points to win the competition.

In second place was John

Tony Matthews

International Sports A former football player and the world’s most prolific author of football books (more than 100 published), Tony is also the sports reporter for Spectrum Radio and lives in the Cabrera mountains.

Costa de Almeria

Barraclough (35) with Tony Hitt (35) third.

The Silver Division winner was Ian Stewart (37) points with Dave King (35) second and Tony Stanley (33) third.

In the Bronze Division, Colin

Silver: First, and overall winner, was Ian Stewart (35), second Hedy Paehlig (33) and third Margaret Richings (32).

Bronze: First Brian Heard (33), second Morag Turner (33) and third Liz Menzies (32).

England reduced to ashes, top man Murray, and goals galore in the PL IN the third Test, England’s cricketers were battered into submission by Australia, Alastair Cook, playing in his 100th Test at

La Finca in fine form TWENTY-EIGHT members and guests of TMGS arrived at La Finca to find the course in splendid condition for this time of the year.

The Silver crew found points a little difficult to come by and it only needed

Hobden (35) was first, followed by Frances Buckeridge (34) and Chris Stanley (31).

The TOFFS results were: Gold Division first Bob Buckeridge (35) second Roger Richings (33) and third Paul Manning (32).

29 points for Alex Goslan to take fourth spot, with Robbie Rea and Pearl Sabine’s 31 points good enough for third and second. Winner of the Silver Division was new member Jack Daroszeski with 32 points.

The Gold Division saw Steve Higgins’s 33 points good enough for fourth behind Steve McGuinness on 37, Norbert Spaniol on 37 for second place and the top spot of the day went to Hermes Woedermann with 40 points.

the Waca got a golden duck in the 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.

• This week, there have been two League Cup quarter-final ties - Leicester v Manchester City and Sunderland v Chelsea - plus a batch of FA Cup 2nd round replays while the pick of the pre-Christmas PL games are Arsenal (top) v Chelsea (3rd), Fulham v Manchester City (4th), Liverpool (2nd) v Cardiff, Manchester United (8th) v West Ham and Southampton (9th) v Spurs (7th).

• Championship leaders QPR play Leicester (2nd) and Burnley (3rd) visit Leeds.