Euro Weekly News - Mallorca 3 - 9 April 2014 Issue 1500

3 - 9 APRIL 2014

ISSUE NO. 1500

WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

‘Pub-crawling’ now made legal in Calvia PUB-CRAWLING has been ‘legalised’ in Calvia. Until now, the activity, consisting of organised tours during which participants, led by a guide, went from one pub to the next, drinking as they went, was seen by local business owners as a way to make extra profit. But now the town hall has come up with a law to regulate pub-crawling. It was approved by the Conservative Partido Popular, and there is now

no chance of pub owners evading tax and Social Security payments. Anyone wanting to organise a pub-crawling tour must be registered

with Social Security and have authorisation from the town hall. The organisers will also have to have civil liability insurance for alcohol-

induced comas, accidents or damages. Tourists will pay a set amount to the organisers and the price of drinks will be kept low, something that business owners do not agree with, but have accepted in order to ensure they get a piece of the pie. Mayor Manu Onieva said the activity had been on the rise for several years and it needed to be regulated; also to ensure fair competition.

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THIS WEEK IN

EWN News 1 - 16

Finance 17 - 22

Letters TOOLS FOUND: The body was dismembered and put into two freezers.

Killer accepts 10 years in prison A RELIGIOUS Studies teacher who confessed to killing his younger brother and keeping his dismembered body at home has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The 38-year-old was remanded in prison in October 2013, 20 days after committing the crime in the Pere Garau district of

Palma. He confessed to National Police from the start, telling them the remains were in freezers. They had reportedly argued constantly for the year they had been living together. On the day of his death, the younger man, 31, tried to attack his brother with a hammer after he was told

to leave the house. However, his brother managed to snatch the weapon and hit him in the head until he was dead. He bought a chest freezer, but finding the body didn’t fit, he cut it into pieces and put them in two freezers. He said he had previously wanted to confess and finally told his ex-wife.

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Daily TV 26

Leapy Lee 28

Time out 32 - 33

Classifieds 43 - 45

Sport 47-48

NEWS Long-term residents SEVENTY-FIVE per cent of immigrants living in the Balearic Islands have been there for more than five years. More flights PALMA Mayor Mateo Isern met with airline Norwegian to discuss the possibility of them extending flights to the city until November. . Hospital works USERS of Manacor Hospital are happy because the Health Department has announced that expansion works will be included in the 2015-2017 budgets.

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Sentenced for ‘rapist’ attack A MAN has been sentenced to three and a half months in prison for beating his step-brother, who allegedly sexually abused his biological sister. The events took place in 2012, when the woman confessed to her family that between the ages of five and 12 she had been sexually abused by her step-brother several times a week. Her brother got extremely angry and went to their step-brother’s house in Palma, where he threatened to wreck his car if he didn’t open the door.

When the man came outside, he failed to respond to the accusations against him and the accused hit him in the head several times, causing him some injuries. He was sentenced by a local court and also has to pay the victim €1,034 in compensation. He appealed the sentence, but it has been confirmed by the provincial court. Two days after the events, the woman reported the abuse to the police and her step-brother was arrested. The case remains in the hands of a court.

MOSQUITOES: They choose to bite humans rather than animals as their skin is thinner.

Sexual abuse A MAN, 76, has been sentenced to a year in prison for sexually abusing his partner’s granddaughter in Sineu in 2006.

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ews watch

Listen up!

ARE you musically gifted? Mallorca’s Got Talent held its third heat at Aroma in El Toro to find the best musicians on the island. Full story page 6.

Savage dog THE owner of a dog which has killed more than 20 chickens in Manacor has been charged for the third time.

A WOMAN was arrested in Porto Cristo for allegedly threatening another on a social networking site.

Fewer fines LOCAL POLICE in Palma issued an average of 507 traffic fines per day in 2013, which is an average of 40 fewer per day than in 2012.

Religious minorities THERE are 187 minority religious groups in the Balearic Islands, according to the President of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, Fernando Arias.

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Woman threatened

Lift broken PEOPLE attending the Sant Agusti Health Centre had reason for complaint recently as the only lift was not working.

Palace concerns THERE is reportedly concern amongst the German and British tourism market due to delays in building the Congress Hall in Palma.

EWN

Watch out for those little suckers

W

ORLD HEALTH DAY is celebrated on April 7, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). It is held to mark WHO’s founding and seen as an opportunity to draw attention to a subject of major importance to global health. The goal of the World Health Day 2014 campaign is better protection from vector-borne diseases, transmitted by mosquitoes, sandflies, bugs, ticks and snails. Mosquitoes, for example, transmit malaria although there is no danger of this in Spain, where they are simply annoying. The last confirmed case of malaria caught in Spain was in 1961. In Spain, the two most prevalent species are the Ochlerotatus which bites during the day, and the Culex pipens, or common mosquito, which bites after nightfall. According to a study published in Nature magazine, mosquitoes are attracted by carbon

Quote of the Week “Who do these people from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe think they are to come to Spain and watch the police as if it was a banana republic?” Esperanza Aguirre, President of the conservative Partido Popular in Madrid.

dioxide (CO2) in the breath. With every breath, an adult human emits 100mg of CO2, and this happens about 13 times per minute. Mosquitoes detect a current of CO2 and realise that there is a human around with fresh blood to suck, according to Valencia University Professor Juan Rueda, from the Spanish Entomology Association. Levels of CO2 are normally higher in adults and vary depending on a person’s diet and the amount of exercise they get. The mosquitoes which ‘bite’ are females, with a life span of up to 60 days and need the proteins in blood for their eggs to mature. They choose humans over other mammals because their skin is thinner. To facilitate the extraction of blood, mosquito saliva contains a powerful anti-coagulant which enters the bloodstream. The body recognises the foreign substance and attacks it, causing inflammation and itchiness.

Number of the week per cent of hashish seized in the EU is found in Spain, as well as 27 per cent of cocaine, according to the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martinez, who also pointed out that Spain is the main entrance to Europe for cocaine shipments.

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Green route WORK has started on the green route between Manacor and Arta which will follow the old train tracks and will be used for hiking and cycling.

Fewer mortgages MORE than 28 per cent fewer mortgages were signed in the Balearic Islands in January this year compared to the same month last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Employee arrested AN employee of the Sencelles filling station was arrested by Guardia Civil for allegedly stealing more than €90,000 over several years.

And finally... SPANISH students under the age of 15 have more problems using an MP3 player, purchasing combined transport tickets or using a robot vacuum than the average in the 34 countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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NEWS

Mallorca’s Got Talent

Amazingly talented contestants at Aroma THERE were seven amazingly talented contestants for last week’s Mallorca’s Got Talent contest at restaurant Aroma in El Toro Friday night, with over 150 in the audience hosted by Izzy Newman. It again was a very close contest with only five votes being the difference between three girls for second position - Elly Stacher, Jessica Shereda and Mary Ellen Linzel. In the end Jessi, sneaked through to snap up the last position and perform at Pirates Theatre on Saturday, April 26, and have the chance to win the €1,000 prize money. The runaway winner was Arthur Nuruwe from The

Horse rescued MALLORCA firemen had to rescue a horse which fell into a swimming pool. The pool was emptied as the animal was nervous as it couldn’t reach the bottom.

More tourists MORE than 73,800 Polish tourists visited the Balearic Islands last year, 8.2 per cent more than in 2012. The tourism department is promoting the islands in Krakow.

Netherlands. He was a firm favourite, getting the full support of the Aroma audience, on the night he won by more than 30 votes. Now the competition is at the midway point, it is all the people in Mallorca are talking about, and both audience and contestant places are filling up rapidly, so contestants are advised to apply as soon as possible, it is only €10. There will be a full night’s entertainment for the final at the Pirates Theatre, including a live band, last year’s winner Jessica Sophie, a special preview / showing of the new Pirates show, a duet and songs from the two hosts throughout the contest, Paul

Martin and Izzy Newman and of course the 12 finalists and the after show party back at Restaurant Aroma. Finals tickets are available through Pirates and start at only €25 which is amazing value. The evening will be hosted by popular Radio 1 DJ Richie Prior who hosts the breakfast show with Ayshea Wood. There are three weeks left of heats and there is still time to be a part of the best talent show Mallorca has hosted in years so call into Restaurant Aroma in El Toro or download an application from the Mallorca’s Got Talent facebook page. Next heat is on Saturday April 5.

Young man killed in crash A MAN, 23, died, and two more were seriously injured in a crash on the old Sineu road at Santa

Eugenia. The accident occurred on a straight part of the road when one car, the two occupants

of which were uninjured, went to turn left. Another vehicle was overtaking at speed when the two collided, the driver lost control of the car, which flipped over several times and crashed into a wall, where the engine caught fire. He is facing three One passenger died in years in prison and a ban the crash and the driver, from coming near her or 27, and another man, communicating with her 20, had to be extracted for eight years. Arresting from the wreckage by officers found him firemen. Both were praying and he admitted taken to hospital in he had “slapped” his critical and serious daughter because she conditions, respectively. wouldn’t dress as he told Guardia Civil are her to. investigating.

Girl beaten by father for not wearing veil A SENEGALESE man, 42, has been sentenced in Palma to six months in prison for beating his 15year-old daughter because she refused to wear a ‘hijab’ (veil). He reportedly cut her hair against her will in August 2013 after putting his knee on her

neck, beating her with a belt and hitting her in the face and head because he didn’t accept her way of life and dressing. She attempted to commit suicide in September last year and was rushed to Son Llatzer Hospital.

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NEWS

15 months for death of Briton A BRITISH man has accepted 15 months in prison for killing another Briton following a fight in Port d’Alcudia. He and a German man stood trial in Palma Provincial Port for the involuntary manslaughter of Briton, Matthew Blue, 32, in April 2009. Three friends, including the victim, went out for a drink and met another group in the street at around 1am. One of the victim’s friends reportedly commented on the appearance of someone in the other group and a fight ensued. Blue was punched in the head and pushed to the floor, where he hit his head and was also kicked in the head. He passed out but minutes later he got up, apparently fine. An hour later he began feeling dizzy, but his friends thought he was drunk and put him to bed. At around 5am, one of his friends

heard a noise and found him on the floor, unconscious. Paramedics were unable to revive him and he died at Son Dureta Hospital. The Briton admitted in court that he had kicked the victim when he was on the ground and that it was possible he had kicked him in the head, but he had been drunk and couldn’t remember. The German denied having been involved in the attack and is facing four years in prison. The British man, however, says the German fought the victim, punching him in the head before he fled the scene. This was confirmed by one of the victim’s friends, as well as by a police officer who was told when he arrived at the scene that the attacker had fled. Matthew Blue had two children and another on the way when he died. Editor says... Page 16

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Marratxi to look into Bauza’s salary MARRATXI Town Hall will investigate whether it was legal for Jose Ramon Bauza to earn money as mayor when he held the position at the same time as other jobs. Bauza was Mayor of Marratxi until June 2011, and at the time was the owner of a pharmacy in

Port d’Inca and managed two other companies. The left-wing Esquerra Unida party in the town asked for a Palma court to look into this. As they have no representation on the local council, the request was rejected. However, they appealed this decision and it has been accepted by the Balearic

Supreme Court of Justice. The council, governed by the Conservative Partido Popular, will have to explain how come he was paid to be mayor while maintaining incompatible private activities. If it is proved this was illegal, he could be made to pay back the amounts he received.

Drive to stop ref attacks THE Balearic Islands Football Federation has launched a campaign against violence following several attacks against referees in Mallorca. Two recent cases in which players’ parents had attacked referees led to the decision that young footballers have to be taught better sportsmanship. The campaign slogan is ‘insulting is cowardly, attacking is a crime’ and the federation hopes that

teams will collaborate by putting up posters in sports facilities and at matches. The campaign, presented by Federation President Miquel Bestard with the support of Inca Mayor Guillem Torres; the Islands Council’s Sports Representative Joan Antoni Ramonell, and President of the Federation’s Referees’ Committee, Tomeu Riera, is aimed at parents, spectators, players, managers and trainers.

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Cleaning company to pay back cash THE company in charge of the cleaning and maintenance of the Marivent Royal Palace has been sentenced to pay €250,000 for works which it didn’t carry out. In 2007, the Balearic Government signed a two-year contract with Lireba Serveis Integrats to the maintenance of the summer residence of the Spanish Royal

Family, which was later extended for two more years. However, in 2011, the contract was cancelled when it was found that the company was not meeting with the terms. It had been agreed that four people would work full-time on maintenance, and three more would do cleaning, all for €5,300 and depending on the stays of the Royal Family at the Marivent Palace. The company was paid in advance, but the Balearic Government took them to court, claiming A MAN, 30, was arrested after his vehicle overturned on that the agreed number of the Andratx motorway and drugs were found. workers had not been The accident occurred when he and another man assigned, although the were driving from Palma. Firemen, paramedics and company claimed to be Guardia Civil were called to the scene and found that paying them. although the vehicle was wrecked, the occupants were The company denied only slightly injured. the charges in court, but While clearing the road, they found 500 grammes of the Balearic High Court of hashish and Guardia Civil from Calvia opened an Justice has considered investigation. that they breached the They discovered that the drugs had been bought in contract and should pay Palma for distribution in Santa Ponsa. They found back the money. another kilo of drugs during an authorised search.

Overturned car leads to drugs

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NEWS

Eight years for apologetic rapist A MAN, 36, has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for raping a woman in Palma in 2012. He admitted in the Provincial Court that he had come up behind the 33year-old at a bus stop on Christmas Eve at around 6am, put a kitchen knife to her neck and taken her to a nearby park. He told her he had been

following her and ordered her to be quiet. Terrified, she said she would do whatever he wanted. He raped her, then took her to a more secluded area where he forced her to perform other sexual acts. He then left, taking her mobile phone and told her not to move. He also told her to be at the same bus stop every day at that time so he could do the same

again and threatened to rape her children if she didn’t show up. She went to a nearby petrol station for help and the National Police caught the man nearby with his zip down, his belt undone, carrying a knife and the victim’s phone. He was remanded in prison but claimed he didn’t remember anything because he was drunk.

The woman required four months of counselling. The prosecution was asking for €6,000 in compensation for the victim but the accused paid double. The 14-year prison term the prosecutor had requested was reduced. He also made use of his right to respond to apologise to the victim profusely.

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Malen missing now for four months IT has been four months since 15-year-old Malen Zoe Ortiz went missing from Calvia. A restraining order which her mother had against her father has now ended and despite their tempestuous past, the couple has said they intend to join forces to search for their daughter. They say they are also doing it for her little brother, who is “suffering the most.” The teenager was reportedly heading to her boyfriend’s home in Son Ferrer on December 2, but she never arrived. She was wearing pink shoes, a checked shirt, blue denim jacket, torn trousers and carrying a bright green skateboard. Her father says that around 3.30pm she caught a bus and got off outside a Magaluf theme park. She called her boyfriend and asked him if she could go to his house, because she had forgotten her own house keys. She then called her father to let him know, but was unable to locate him and left a message with his secretary. Nothing has been heard of her since and her phone was turned off just 10 minutes later.

MALEN ZOE ORTIZ: Went missing from Calvia in December. Malen lives in Cala Vinyes and studies at the High School on Galatzo Urbanization. The search for the girl continues, and although Guardia Civil have not ruled out any possibilities, while they initially thought she had left home voluntarily, it’s now thought she was taken against her will.

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‘Intruder’ denies all charges against him A MAN, 42, is facing 11 years in prison for allegedly attempting to cut the throat of a woman who caught him stealing in her home in Can Blau, Port d’Alcudia, in May 2008. According to the prosecution, he entered the house, took several items and when he

was caught, he attempted to kill the homeowner. The woman claims she came downstairs and saw a man with a balaclava, who threw her to the floor, grabbed her hair and began hitting her head on the floor before grabbing a knife with which he stabbed her neck and arm. A neighbour heard screaming and came to her assistance. The clothes of an Argentinian man who lived on the ground floor were found nearby. He had been living there between 2004 and 2005, SEVERAL schoolchildren were injured and was arrested three-and-aduring a playground fight at Maria de la half years after the attack and Salut Primary School. remanded in prison. Apparently, a Moroccan student became He denies the attack and aggressive for reasons which are not claims he was at home with his known and attacked between 15 and 20 wife and children, as well as children. having his right arm in plaster Some of them had to be taken to the due to an accident at work. health centre to be treated. He also claims that after he Parents were shocked by the events and stopped living at the house he said that teachers had taken the rest of never returned but that some the children to another area to protect of his clothes had remained them. Local Police are investigating and there. the boy has been expelled.

Pupil turns violent at primary school

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In prison for failing to pay maintenance A RETIRED doctor, 73, has entered Palma prison to serve a seven-month sentence for failing to pay

maintenance to his ex-wife. According to a report in the local press, the prestigious former radiologist said he

Four years for domestic abuse A MAN, 41, has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for abusing his wife. The abuse was carried out over a period of four years at their home in Inca. The Malian man admitted in Palma Provincial Court that he beat his wife almost every day between 2008 and 2012, when he was given a restraining order and remanded in prison. On that occasion, he had been arrested by the Guardia Civil for hitting the woman in the face and spitting at her in front of one of their children, as well as holding her against her will in the house for three weeks. On one occasion, he punched her in the eye, and on another, when she was pregnant with their fourth child and carrying another in her arms, he threw a basket containing clothes at her back.

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was unable to pay the €550 per month because he only gets a pension of €600. Eight years ago he reportedly paid her €6,500 per month until he appealed and the amount was reduced to €2,500. Another appeal got it down to €1,000, yet another to €250, but his wife also appealed and the amount was set at €550 for life. He man claimed he lost his house and car in order to pay off a debt of €30,000 caused by delays in paying her. He said he was resigned to the fact that he will spend his life going in and out of prison because he will never be able to pay the amount. Meanwhile, his wife’s lawyer claimed that he had more money and assets than he admits to.

A note from the

Editor

Violence is never justified A

BRITISH man has been jailed for the death of a young father in Mallorca. A German man faces up to four years in jail over the same incident. Briton Matthew Blue, 32, who had two young children and another on the way, was enjoying a night out with friends in the popular party area of Port d’Alcudia, just as many thousands of others do every year, mostly without incident. But a comment from one of his friends was enough to draw the attention of another group of young men. That was to be fatal for Matthew. He was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head. He later died. A family was left without a father, three young children left without a chance to have the normal

upbringing many of us take for granted. There will be no dad to take them to the park, no father to help bring them up. No cherished memories of a care-free upbringing. Three young lives blighted. Leaving aside the sentences (is 15 months enough punishment for the death of a man, even if it was not intended?) it was, and remains, a tragedy. It should be a lesson to everyone, young men in particular, that violence is never justified. Too many young men seem to think a punch-up is just part of the night’s entertainment. This tragedy is a lesson that drink-fuelled aggression can kill and leave young children with a life sentence to endure. Fun? Not for Matthew Blue and his three young children.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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

business & legal

the public and the main political parties, but the gesture will not come cheap. Aena, Spain’s airports’ operator, immediately announced the name change on its web page. It is now developing a programme for the name change, including some airport signs, announced Jose Manuel Vargas, president of state-run Aena. Other modifications will be carried out gradually, he added, without offering specific dates.

Chicken farmers halt abuses SPAIN’S poultry farmers threatened to sue DIA supermarkets for selling chicken as a loss leader. The small farmers’ and growers’ union UPA claimed that the DIA chain sold whole birds at €2.15 a kilo, despite production costs of €2.73 a kilo. As UPA members announced protests outside DIA supermarkets, the chain backed down ‘for the moment.’ “We cannot allow the big corporations to fool around with us,” warned UPA, which claimed that the sector lost €5 million during every week of the DIA offer. Retail chains Leclerc and Vegalsa are also

accused of selling cheap chicken as a loss leader by the UPA producers, although the practice is not allowed under Spanish law. Supermarkets use cheap chicken to persuade customers that they are patronising cheap establishments when this is not always the case, complained UPA’s Roman Santalla. The union was satisfied that its rapid reaction and the loss leader accusation were sufficient to halt abuses, he observed. The union would nevertheless be on the lookout to stem the loss leader practice on the part of any retailer, Santalla warned.

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usiness extra

Bumpy ride on toll roads THE government will create a state-owned company for lossmaking toll roads. A 30year, €2.3 billion bond will cover their debts with a 50 per cent haircut for creditor banks, sources revealed.

Branches lopped TWENTY THOUSAND bank employees were dismissed last year and 4,451 offices closed. A total of 12,352 branches have shut in the last five years, 26.7 per cent of the pre2008 count.

Black gets blacker NO MORE than 5 per cent of Spaniards admit to working without paying tax or Social Security. Only 8 per cent of the population confessed to the European Commission’s Eurobarometer to having bought something or paid for a service knowing it would not

be declared to the taxman. Both answers failed to tally with the 33 per cent of Spaniards personally acquainted with someone working ‘on the black.’ The number of people who knew a clandestine worker grew by 6 percentage points in the period between 2007 and 2013.

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STAT OF WEEK SPANISH car factories produced 223,060 vehicles in February, a 9.02 per cent increase on the same period last year.

New name for Barajas BARAJAS airport is to be named after Adolfo Suarez, former president of the Spanish government. The Ministry of Public Works’ decision was announced immediately after his recent death. “Neither was the decision prompted by the current online campaign as the Partido Popular suggested honouring Suarez in this way in 2009,” sources added. The decision met with the approval of

EWN

BARAJAS AIRPORT: To be renamed after Adolfo Suarez.

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LONDON - FTSE 100 MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MONEY WITH US

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 1

C O M PA N Y PRICE(P) Aberdeen Asset Mngmnt 387.60 Admiral Group PLC 1438.00 Aggreko PLC 1507.00 Anglo American PLC 1536.25 Antofagasta PLC 840.50 ARM Holdings PLC 1019.50 Ashtead Group PLC 959.50 Associated British Foods 2778.00 AstraZeneca PLC 3897.75 Aviva PLC 484.95 Babcock International 1365.50 BAE Systems PLC 414.25 Barclays PLC 235.07 Barratt Developments 414.45 BG Group PLC 1117.50 BHP Billiton PLC 1877.25 BP PLC 480.70 British Amcn Tobacco 3317.00

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G. -3.00 -0.77 11.00 0.77 7.00 0.47 9.50 0.62 5.00 0.60 21.50 2.15 8.00 0.84 -3.00 -0.11 21.50 0.55 8.10 1.70 20.00 1.48 0.00 0.00 1.70 0.73 2.00 0.48 0.00 0.00 33.00 1.79 0.75 0.16 -18.00 -0.54

NET VOLUME 483.82 11.34 23.10 211.75 36.59 677.25 42.07 23.56 161.26 746.44 97.48 233.30 3,848.26 60.46 301.55 765.77 907.96 113.85

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0.82756

Units per €

US dollar.................................................................1.37894 Japan yen .............................................................142.405 Switzerland franc................................................1.21856 Denmark kroner.................................................7.46579 Norway kroner...................................................8.24670

currenciesdirect.com/mallorca • Tel: +34 687 906 226 C O M PA N Y

PRICE(P)

British Land Co PLC British Sky Broadcasting BT Group PLC Bunzl PLC Burberry Group PLC Capita PLC Carnival PLC

657.75 915.75 380.35 1600.50 1393.00 1099.50 2289.00

DOW JONES

NASDAQ

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 1

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 1

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 E I du Pont de Nemours and 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 WMT Wal-Mart Stores Inc DIS Walt Disney Co

PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME 135.66 90.03 35.07 125.49 99.37 118.91 22.42 67.10 97.68 25.89 163.85 79.13 25.81 192.49 98.23 60.71 98.03 56.77 40.99 73.86 32.12 80.60 38.66 85.10 116.84 81.99 47.57 215.86 76.43 80.07

+1.46 -0.43 0.00 +1.03 -0.02 +0.41 +0.085 +0.48 -0.02 +0.01 +1.55 +0.41 +0.194 +2.04 +0.79 +0.67 +0.79 +0.79 +0.69 +0.32 +0.24 +0.84 -0.29 +1.11 +2.03 +0.37 +0.15 +3.77 +0.42 +1.08

+1.09% -0.48% 0.00% +0.83% -0.02% +0.35% +0.38% +0.72% -0.02% +0.04% +0.96% +0.52% +0.76% +1.07% +0.81% +1.12% +0.81% +1.41% +1.71% +0.44% +0.75% +1.05% -0.74% +1.32% +1.77% +0.45% +0.32% +1.78% +0.55% +1.37%

2.7M 5.2M 30.5M 3.0M 5.8M 5.5M 32.9M 2.8M 12.4M 32.1M 2.5M 5.7M 29.3M 8.5M 7.5M 15.2M 4.9M 14.2M 46.9M 3.2M 18.5M 8.5M 24.5M 2.1M 3.6M 3.5M 20.7M 2.9M 4.7M 6.8M

1.20837

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G. 3.84 3.00 0.90 4.00 -2.00 3.00 5.00

C O M PA N Y

0.59 0.33 0.24 0.25 -0.14 0.27 0.22

NET VOLUME 81.21 88.83 903.49 14.42 67.40 25.43 50.57

PRICE

CHANGE NET / %

Vimicro International Corporation $ 4.97 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ 33.65 Reliv' International, Inc. $ 2.50 Egalet Corporation $ 13.99 Builders FirstSource, Inc. $ 9.10 Cara Therapeutics, Inc. $ 18.66 Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc. $ 29.04 SMART Technologies Inc. $ 4.79 Atlanticus Holdings Corporation $ 2.29 Xencor, Inc. $ 11.73 American Capital, Ltd. $ 15.795

0.89 ▲ 21.81% 4.61 ▲ 15.87% 0.33 ▲ 15.21% 1.67 ▲ 13.56% 1.06 ▲ 13.18% 2.14 ▲ 12.95% 3.18 ▲ 12.30% 0.52 ▲ 12.18% 0.24 ▲ 11.71% 1.18 ▲ 11.18% 1.585 ▲ 11.15%

Most Advanced

Most Declined Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MannKind Corporation Fate Therapeutics, Inc. SORL Auto Parts, Inc. Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. Liquid Holdings Group, Inc. Achaogen, Inc. Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. ProShares UltraShort Nasdaq Biotech UTi Worldwide Inc. The9 Limited

$ 11.65 $ 4.02 $ 9.74 $ 3.73 $ 10.46 $ 3.90 $ 15.53 $ 23.20 $ 17.82 $ 10.59 $ 2.41

2.36 ▼ 16.85% 0.81 ▼ 16.77% 1.52 ▼ 13.50% 0.56 ▼ 13.05% 1.11 ▼ 9.59% 0.3001 ▼ 7.15% 1.13 ▼ 6.78% 1.55 ▼ 6.26% 1.16 ▼ 6.11% 0.67 ▼ 5.95% 0.15 ▼ 5.86%

C O M PA N Y Centrica PLC Coca-Cola HBC AG Compass Group PLC CRH PLC Diageo PLC easyJet PLC Experian PLC Fresnillo PLC G4S PLC GKN PLC GlaxoSmithKline PLC Glencore Xstrata PLC Hammerson PLC Hargreaves Lansdown HSBC Holdings PLC IMI PLC Imperial Tobacco Group InterContinental Hotels International Consldtd Intertek Group PLC ITV PLC Johnson Matthey PLC Kingfisher PLC Land Securities Group Legal & General Group Lloyds Banking Group London Stock Exchange Marks & Spencer Group Meggitt PLC Melrose Industries PLC Mondi PLC National Grid PLC Next PLC Old Mutual PLC Pearson PLC Persimmon PLC Petrofac Ltd Prudential PLC Randgold Resources Ltd Reckitt Benckiser Group Reed Elsevier PLC Resolution Ltd REXAM PLC Rio Tinto PLC Rolls-Royce Holdings Royal Bank of Scotland Royal Dutch Shell PLC Royal Mail PLC RSA Insurance Group SABMiller PLC Sage Group (The) PLC Sainsbury (J) PLC Schroders PLC Severn Trent PLC Shire PLC Smith & Nephew PLC Smiths Group PLC Sports Direct Intrntnl... SSE PLC Standard Chartered PLC Standard Life PLC St. James's Place PLC Tesco PLC Travis Perkins PLC TUI Travel PLC Tullow Oil PLC Unilever PLC United Utilities Group Vodafone Group PLC Weir Group PLC Whitbread PLC William Hill PLC Wm Morrison Sprmrkts Wolseley PLC WPP PLC

PRICE(P) 328.90 1489.00 915.50 1685.50 1848.75 1727.50 1086.50 844.25 242.60 394.40 1599.00 310.30 558.00 1466.00 607.55 1463.50 2427.00 1930.50 418.15 3081.50 191.55 3281.00 421.70 1023.50 206.50 74.78 1981.00 452.55 480.40 297.55 1049.50 821.25 6660.00 201.60 1043.50 1345.50 1440.00 1275.50 4513.00 4869.50 919.00 299.60 487.15 3368.50 1083.50 312.35 2337.00 565.00 89.12 2982.25 418.40 312.65 2610.00 1826.50 2965.00 914.50 1277.00 856.50 1469.00 1251.75 378.05 834.25 292.73 1887.00 439.70 747.25 2541.50 788.75 221.05 2486.00 4173.50 342.20 212.50 3424.00 1245.00

CHANGE -0.80 -4.10 1.00 9.00 -12.20 12.92 6.00 1.00 1.10 4.00 8.00 1.55 4.00 7.00 0.10 6.00 4.00 4.00 1.00 9.00 0.10 9.30 0.20 3.00 1.70 0.13 10.00 1.00 0.80 0.60 0.00 -1.00 60.00 0.50 -19.00 0.00 2.78 7.00 12.00 -17.00 3.14 1.10 0.17 31.50 9.50 1.42 -3.50 2.00 -0.45 -12.50 0.50 -3.48 11.00 5.00 21.00 5.50 5.00 4.50 0.00 -1.50 0.79 9.50 -2.70 2.00 1.50 -1.50 -20.00 1.00 0.75 -50.00 13.00 1.10 -0.50 11.00 8.00

% C H G. -0.24 -0.27 0.11 0.54 -0.66 0.75 0.56 0.12 0.46 1.02 0.50 0.50 0.72 0.48 0.02 0.41 0.17 0.21 0.24 0.29 0.05 0.28 0.05 0.29 0.83 0.17 0.51 0.22 0.17 0.20 0.00 -0.12 0.91 0.25 -1.79 0.00 0.19 0.55 0.27 -0.35 0.34 0.37 0.03 0.94 0.88 0.46 -0.15 0.36 -0.50 -0.42 0.12 -1.10 0.42 0.27 0.71 0.61 0.39 0.53 0.00 -0.12 0.21 1.15 -0.91 0.11 0.34 -0.20 -0.78 0.13 0.34 -1.97 0.31 0.32 -0.23 0.32 0.65

VOLUME 472.67 7.07 190.62 70.28 320.24 40.82 96.87 18.73 117.77 93.45 366.34 1,302.23 39.96 12.70 2,102.04 25.48 138.07 11.04 294.24 13.40 342.33 14.17 255.14 32.34 769.00 9,261.09 8.77 289.42 20.58 52.54 32.80 170.00 14.70 186.42 279.86 20.82 33.00 205.28 15.39 45.87 51.27 476.30 42.00 357.99 209.93 548.44 217.81 45.88 2,280.54 181.84 75.99 455.77 6.45 11.09 105.91 86.86 43.74 16.87 117.15 269.01 117.34 62.35 2,068.82 24.04 11.98 88.13 174.19 83.81 2,070.79 279.30 14.17 105.37 825.91 12.60 420.43

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

3 - 9 April 2014 / Mallorca

EWN

19

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Eurozone inflation provides a little cheer THE global economy shows signs of expanding gradually in most advanced economies, on the back of firming domestic and external demand coupled with an extremely accommodative monetary policy. However, growth numbers are fairly uneven across the globe, as emerging markets have taken a hit as the US Federal Reserve winds down its stimulus measures. Janet Yellen, in a hawkish stance, has also indicated to the markets that the Federal Reserve will wind down stimulus by the latter half of 2014 with a possibility of an interest rate hike as early as spring 2015. European stock markets finished February in positive territory, after a fairly volatile period owing to the uncertainty from the Italian elections. In terms of economic data, Eurozone inflation numbers came

Ask the expert Peter Loveday Contact me at euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com

in slightly better than expected prompting intermittent strength in the Euro, dispelling deflationary risks to the economy. This has also buoyed up the currency and gives the European Central Bank (ECB) some breathing space in terms of interest rates and Mario Draghi’s Long Term Refinancing Option scheme, which are both put on hold for the moment. Despite inflation coming in well below the ECB’s target of 2.0 per cent, Mario Draghi reassured markets in a statement saying, “we are clearly not in deflation, which is defined as a selfreinforcing fall in prices that is broad-based across items and

MIXED DATA: But expect the Euro to remain fairly weak. across countries.” With such divergent policies from Central Banks coupled with the crisis in Ukraine, it could bring further weakness to the Euro in the near term. Compared to Sterling, the Euro looks to be fairly stable closer to the 1.20 mark despite the barrage of positive economic data from the UK that has been fairly

consistent over the last three quarters. The UK economy is due to move forward as the fastest among the advanced economies, so intermittent Euro weakness is set to persist over the month if data from the UK is continually optimistic. Meanwhile, German IFO Business climate numbers as well as the ZEW Economic sentiment

continued to help the Euro maintain its strength, as markets are fairly confident of the recovery as Germany has also been upgraded to ‘stable’ from a ‘negative’ rating by Moody’s. As far as Southern Europe goes, France disappointed in terms of services as well as manufacturing data, GDP estimates for Spain were revised downwards marginally and Italian GDP numbers revealed contraction in the region. With such mixed economic data coming out of the Eurozone, markets are fairly circumspect on the recovery, which, although gaining traction slowly is not out of the woods just yet. With such caution and trepidation in the markets, expect the Euro to remain fairly weak over the coming month and to regain levels of 1.20 against Sterling, at best, as the UK economy is nicely set up for a surge forward.

Visit us at our Spanish offices in Costa del Sol, Costa Almeria, North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca. Telephone: UK +44 (0) 207 847 9400 SPAIN +34 950 478 914 Email: euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com • www.currenciesdirect.com

Spanish homes remain uninsured THE Spanish are cutting down on insurance. Car owners increasingly downgrade from comprehensive cover to third party insurance, according to the Kelisto.es website. Property owners are giving house insurance a complete miss, and Kelisto’s Celia Duran calculates there are now 8.5 million houses and apartments - 30 per cent of the total - without any kind of cover. This is a slight improvement on 2010, however, when there were a total of 9 million uninsured homes. In the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, 78.3 per cent of properties are uninsured, followed by the Canary Islands (55.7 per cent), Castilla-La Mancha (52.7 per cent) and Extremadura (50.6 per cent).

A bigger stadium BARCELONA football club’s stadium, inaugurated in 1957, is no longer adequate for its needs. Paid-up members will decide in a referendum whether or not €600 million should be spent on remodelling Camp Nou. The stadium’s capacity would increase from 99,000 to 105,000 with a roof for the existing structure.

Getting your advertising right WHY do you think the bookies have six paying-in tills but only one that pays out? For me, gambling is a mug’s game. Then, during a moment’s reflection I had to admit that I have gambled all of my life. Every time I started a new job or business venture I speculated. Each time I pull my plastic out and advertise I gamble on it being a success. We all have to advertise including those manufacturing household name brands. If you don’t yell you don’t sell but how do you make your advertisement work for you? There are no guarantees but you can increase the chances of it doing so. Never blame the messenger. The newspaper or radio sells space so use it to sell your business. Advertising departments will help you but the obligation to sell is yours. Every salesman has heard the term, KISS. It is an acronym of ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’

Talking shop Mike Walsh Mike Walsh was for 20 years Regional Assessment Manager for the Guild of Master Craftsmen, Britain’s biggest quality assurance body for businesses.

www.michaelwalsh.es 966 786 932

In reading time you have about five seconds to grab the reader’s attention and interest him enough to act: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA).

ADVERTISING: Important to get the reader interested. An A5 flier should never have more than 50 words in it; a newspaper advert fewer words. Keep to the point and include your full contact details including web link and email. The advert is your shop window. Get the reader interested enough to step inside and you have the opportunity to sell them what they want. Readers’ needs may not coincide with your advert’s

offer. When they need your service they will refer back to it. For this reason a regular advert is more cost effective than the occasional half page. Advertise how your business can help readers. A special offer and discounts always attract interest. Try selling something different. Having attracted new clients treat them right and you will discover the best advertisement is word of mouth.

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www.euroweeklynews.com

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL BUSINESS EXTRA

Barefaced fundraising has succeeded THERE are some things in this world that are very close to a woman’s chest and breast cancer just happens to be one of those things. Most women know or know of someone that has been affected by the disease making it a very real ‘reality’ for many girls. Currently on the world’s number one social media site, you may have noticed a barrage of ‘selfie’ photos depicting women with no make-up on. The photos are said to be in support of those suffering from breast cancer and to raise awareness of the disease. The trend has divided internet users, with some people loving the idea while others dislike it. It does appear odd that

Loose change A look at finance for females

Jane Plunkett jane.plunkett@euroweeklynews.com

not wearing make-up is being used to highlight cancer, as they don’t seem related and there is nothing terribly brave about not wearing make-up either. While, implying that not wearing make-up is a fitting tribute to those affected by the disease is a bit like going without your midmorning snack for poverty and hunger. But regardless whether women are uploading photos with good intentions

to join the fight against cancer or just to feed their ‘like’ ego, the fact remains that this spontaneous campaign has raised lots of money. So any sort of smugness has been outweighed by the amount of cash that’s flown in. Over £8 million (€9.67 million) has been raised for Cancer Research UK from text and online donations. Apparently this is enough money to fund 10 new clinical trials testing new treatments for cancer and analysing tumour samples from patients. No matter what your opinion about ‘no make-up selfies,’ surely anything that raises lots of money for research and gets people talking is a positive thing. Remember, people do marathons, wear funny outfits, shave beards - do all sorts of things to raise

Internet robbery SPAIN’S broadband is the EU’s second-dearest after Cyprus, costing €38.70 a month for the cheapest medium-speed connection. Prices are lowest in Lithuania, where the same speed costs €10.30 a month.

Foreign fans FASHION exports grew by 47 per cent since 2008 although domestic sales slumped. Inditex and Camper now see €8 of every €10 of their turnover originating outside Spain. NO MAKE-UP: Posting selfies to raise funds. money for charity. The fact that social media is involved has been fantastic in helping to raise a load of money that the charity might have struggled to raise otherwise. If even 10 per cent of the people who post the ‘selfies’

donate money to Cancer Research, then it has been a success for the charity, and it doesn’t really matter if the other 90 per cent were posting pictures purely for compliments they would probably be doing that anyway!

Growing again SPAIN’S Central Bank says the economy will grow 1.2 per cent in 2014. The following year it expects the growth to accelerate to 1.7 per cent thanks to more domestic demand.

Who owns it, community or owner? Two friends of mine have purchased a townhouse at the end of the terrace. You and the When talking to them, we mentioned that the land at the side of their house is Law in Spain community property with access to all By David Searl the residents. They replied that the seller had included the land in their title deed, the ‘escritura,’ and that the land now belongs to them. Now they are concerned about the situation as to the legality of the ‘escritura’ and the land. Can you advise? T.S. (Costa del Sol) A. This situation is similar to the terraces of an apartment building or the bits of garden behind many townhouses. It is your terrace and your bit of garden, as shown on your title deed. However, you are limited in what you can do with it, as we saw in a recent column. Spanish courts have ruled that anything outside the enclosing walls of the building or block is finally controlled by the Community of Property Owners. Each homeowner has the ‘exclusive use’ of these areas, but the community has a say in what they can do with them. Properly, the terraces of an apartment building may not be enclosed, although they often are glassed in. Your community might allow the end townhouse to enclose the land, or it might insist the space remain open. Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

SPANISH OIL: Would create many jobs.

On track for fracking SPAIN’S offshore oil currently occupies the headlines, but there is inland oil too. It was discovered in landlocked La Lora (Burgos) in 1963 and extraction started a year later. Production peaked in the late 60s and early 70s before dwindling. Industry experts calculated that despite reserves of up to 100 million barrels, the Ayaluengo oilfield’s wells were too scattered to be profitable. Oil prices have risen since then and plans to increase production could be resumed. The British Leni Gas and Oil (LGO) whose subsidiary Compañia Petrolifera de Sedano exploits the wells has ceded a 65 per cent stake in the latter to Italian company, Pansoinco. In return Pansoinco will finance the cost of developing the Ayoluengo field between

now and 2017 in a deal that should be signed by April 30. Meanwhile Repsol subsidiary Ripsa has extracted offshore oil since 1981 off the Ebra Delta in Cataluña. It produces 8,000 barrels of crude oil from three separate wells. Further prospection plans off the Gulf of Valencia, the Balearics and the Canary Islands are meeting bitter opposition from environmentalists and the tourism and fisheries industries. Oil and gas exploration and subsequent production in Spain would create 260,000 direct and indirect jobs, revealed a study by Deloitte for ACIEP, an association of Spanish companies specialising in hydrocarbon investigation, exploration and production.

OPINION & COMMENT

Ever-changing landscape is a constant delight I AM amazed by the way the landscape changes in Spain. Its harshness and unforgiving presence would lend you to think that nothing would survive, yet it does. The land is actually very fertile and arable. On many walks I have seen areas of emptiness turn into vast areas of green one month, then empty the next. Several crops a year of lettuce, green beans and celery and polytunnels that make the area look like lakes from a distance change the landscape almost before your eyes. Workers toil relentlessly, shredding and discarding the waste and packing the good produce into boxes. As the workers make their way through the field in the searing heat it is like watching an insect eating a leaf as the green gradually disappears. A couple of days later the field is scattered with debris, the irrigation hoses removed and rolled up at the side of the field. The tractors then come in and cultivate the area, ploughing the crop debris back into the land. The irrigation hoses are replaced and the whole process starts all over again. I love my walks, not just for the exercise but also for the experience of seeing the landscape change, and knowing why. Primus Lambert (by email)

Caveat emptor? I WAS in despair when I read your recent headline ‘British lead the way.’ Do people realise the vipers’ nest they are walking into when they buy in Spain, especially in this area? The prevalence of corruption and control are enough to deter anyone. The British press have warned many times what can and does happen here all too frequently. These people must be masochists, but ignorance is bliss. Buyers beware! S Torgerson, Estepona (Malaga)

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3 - 9 April 2014 / Mallorca

Letters

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23

hotels and apartments in the area it might be expected that the water quality would suffer unless there was an efficient treatment plant. Can anyone cast any light on this matter? Paul Bennett (by email)

YOURSAY@EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

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

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

No soft touch READING your newspaper I noticed the letter from T Freeman. I would like to say that just this morning I had a phone call from someone pretending to be ringing on behalf of Microsoft as they thought I had a problem with my computer. Obviously I didn’t! The caller sounded Asian and the number was 0019. Needless to say I told him: “I don’t have a problem, all is fine, goodbye,” and hung up. They are still trying, so readers beware. Wendy Howard (by email) Editor’s note: Two readers, Yvonne Thomas and T Freeman, warned readers about a telephone scam currently doing the rounds.

I managed to capture this shot of the magnificent Alhambra in Granada on a recent visit. Janice Overby (by email)

Smart question IT’S just a thought: do you own a mobile telephone or does a mobile telephone own you? Think about it. James the Sage, Motril (Granada)

Sign mystery WE live in Mojacar Playa and in common with many, have an apartment to sell as we have recently moved. We placed the apartment with one of the local agents but as there was no response we chose a different agent. A ‘Se Vende’ sign was attached to the terrace railings and soon after it went missing. On searching around we found it in the garden and replaced it on the railings. Within days it had gone again and on investigation we found the plastic ties on the terrace. A neighbour found the sign at the bottom of the road and once again we attached it securely to the railings.

WHEN YOU WRITE All letters, whether by email or post, should carry the writer’s postal address, NIE and contact number though only the name and town will be published. Letters may also be edited. Readers who have missed earlier correspondence can see all letters posted on:

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The same thing happened a few days later but this time the sign had gone! We purchased and placed a personal ‘Se Vende’ notice with our private telephone number on the railings, which was pulled off after several days. Not to be beaten we have since replaced this and to date it is still in place four days on. I would point out our terrace railings cannot be reached from the road. Is this a common occurrence around here and who’s responsible for it? What’s going on? Mick Rawles (by email)

Recognition due I NOTED from the Euro Weekly News that Mijas Town Council erected a plaque in honour of Japanese tourists. Then I read elsewhere that British people are among the main buyers of property in the Costa del Sol and that the British market maintains its hegemony despite an increase in other foreign buyers. Why then do the British not get similarly honoured, especially when you consider how long and faithfully we have contributed to the economy of Costa del Sol? Ann Grogans (by email)

Pure praise I’VE been visiting Garrucha for several years and have been impressed with the quality of the sea water particularly at the beach close to the harbour. One would imagine this mightn’t be the case, being so close to all the activity in the port. Is there a sewage treatment plant in the area? With all the

Mean trick YESTERDAY while shopping in Vera I was asked by a small greyhaired man to reach some sweets for him from a top shelf When I got to the till my wallet, which contained my debit and credit cards, driving licence, medical card and a new Residencia card, was gone. The staff, though sympathetic, did not appear surprised as if it was a regular occurrence and did not even take my name and address. I am over 70 and this has made me feel very vulnerable for the first time in my life. Lindsay Baker (by email)

Time wasted MAY I warn readers that prepaid envelopes from outside Spain are NOT acceptable and postage must be paid? I found out the hard way, having spent three hours filling out a benefits form and copying relevant documents. I now have to start all over again with loss of disability benefits in the meantime Paul Knight, Los Gallardos (Almeria)

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.

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I AM writing this from my sick bed. I have a cold. Not man flu, not even flu, just a cold. But it’s a mean one: it has completely silenced me. I am dosing myself up with the Mallorcan version of Junior Disprin. I know this because it is written on the packet: ‘Frenadol Junior.’ I would use the grown up version of the cold cure or the headache pills if I could figure out which was which: can you answer me this question please, why don’t any of the Spanish medicines that you would buy over the counter in a pharmacy have the slightest bit of guidance on them as to what they are for? Not even Ibuprofen seems to have a sentence on it about it being for, ooh let me think, inflammation and pain. This has led to us owning much more than our fair share of drugs over the years. We have packet upon packet of something called ‘Sueral’ which I think is a rehydration salt. We also have many different tubes of ‘pomada’ although we can’t remember what they are for either. It’s strange isn’t it that there’s nothing written on the packets except for the chemical name? Or is it just me. Not so long ago you could even buy antibiotics over

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OPINION & COMMENT

What’s in a medicine name? Vicki Mcleod

Family Matters

FRENADOL: A chocolate flavoured Lemsip impersonator - not the best! the counter without a receipt, but they didn’t bother telling you if they were for a throat infection or cystitis, interesting mistakes can be made if you’re not

concentrating properly. I intermittently take the lot down to our friendly neighbourhood chemist in the village. She speaks French, Spanish, Catalan

and English and is terrific. We go through each and every packet and she explains to me what is what and which should be rubbed in and which should be inhaled. I

have applied eczema cream to hot water burns before now you see and made the situation a lot worse. Still doesn’t answer my original question though does it. Is it because it is thought that it’s safer for us to not know? Is it another way in which the Spanish health service like to maintain control of us? Have you ever been to the GP and suggested you might have an opinion about your own health? I have and it didn’t go down well. At least the Junior Frenadol tastes better than the grown up version. I remember once sending my husband to the chemists to buy Beechams Powders only to have him return with our first ever packet of Frenadol. Ah well, I though, it will be the same. A hot lemon and honey is on its way. I comforted myself with this fact until he presented me with what may be the most misguided, disappointing and disgusting flavour for a cold cure ever. Chocolate. Yes, what an insult to God’s finest creation, a chocolate flavoured Lemsip impersonator. Revolting. www.familymattersmallorca.com

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Thursday

Friday

SATELLITE CHANNELS - SkyMoviesDrama//

BBC1/

BBC1/

4:00pm Escape to the Country 4:45pm More Creatures Great and Small 5:15pm Flog It! 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News at Six 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm The One Show 8:30pm EastEnders 9:00pm MasterChef 10:00pm Spring's Supermarket Secrets 11:00pm BBC News at Ten 11:25pm BBC London News 11:35pm Question Time

4:45pm More Creatures Great and Small 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 Gay, Married and Legal 9:00pm EastEnders 9:30pm MasterChef 10:00pm Have I Got News for You 10:30pm Outnumbered 11:00pm BBC News at Ten 11:25pm BBC London News 11:35pm The Graham Norton Show

BBC2/ 4:15pm Planet Earth 5:15pm The Great British Bake Off 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Revenge of the Egghead 7:30pm The Voice: Louder on Two 8:00pm Antiques Road Trip 9:00pm Nature's Weirdest Events 10:00pm Kim Philby - His Most Intimate Betrayal 11:00pm Mock the Week 11:30pm Newsnight

ITV/ 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Tonight 9:00pm Emmerdale 9:30pm Ade at Sea 10:00pm It'll be Alright on the Night 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:35pm Edge of Heaven

CH4/ 5:30pm Four in a Bed 6:00pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 9:00pm The Hoarder Next Door 10:00pm 15,000 Kids and Counting 11:00pm Jockey School

ITV2/ 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Real Housewives of New Jersey 6:05pm The Millionaire Matchmaker 7:00pm Dinner Date 8:00pm You've Been Framed! 9:00pm Two and a Half Men 10:00pm Tricked 11:00pm Celebrity Juice 11:50pm 4:00pm Escape to the Country

BBC2/ 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Revenge of the Egghead 7:30pm The Voice: Louder on Two 8:30pm Antiques Road Trip 9:00pm Mastermind 9:30pm Gardeners' World 10:00pm A Very British Renaissance 11:00pm The Trip to Italy 11:30pm Newsnight

ITV/ 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Student Nurses: Bedpans and Bandages 9:30pm Coronation Street 10:00pm Martin Clunes and a Lion Called Mugie 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:35pm National Lampoon's Animal House

CH4/ 5:30pm Four in a Bed 6:00pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:30pm A Very British Mission 9:00pm Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 10:00pm Gogglebox 11:00pm Alan Carr: Chatty Man

ITV2/ 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Real Housewives of New Jersey 6:05pm The Millionaire Matchmaker 7:00pm Dinner Date 8:00pm You've Been Framed! 8:30pm You've Been Framed! 9:00pm Two and a Half Men 9:30pm Two and a Half Men 10:00pm The Butterfly Effect

TV LISTING

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9:00pm Sunday

•Sigourney Weaver •Bryan Brown •Julie Harris •John Omirah Miluwi

Saturday BBC1/

Gorillas in the Mist (Film, 1988) Sigourney Weaver stars as Dian Fossey in this dramatic true account about Fossey's study of gorillas, and her efforts to stop the decimation of the endangered apes. Dian travelled to Rwanda, Africa to enable her to research the affects poaching had on two rare breeds of mountain gorilla. Whilst studying these gorillas her interest turned from plain research to passion and finally obsession.

Sunday BBC1/

5:30pm Final Score 6:15pm Shrek 2 7:40pm BBC News 7:50pm Regional News 7:55pm Weather 8:00pm The Voice UK 10:05pm The National Lottery Live 10:15pm Casualty 11:05pm BBC News 11:20pm Weather 11:25pm Match of the Day

4:55pm Songs of Praise 5:30pm The Boat Race 7:35pm BBC News 7:50pm Regional News 7:55pm Weather 8:00pm Countryfile 9:00pm Antiques Roadshow 10:00pm The Crimson Field 11:00pm BBC News 11:15pm Regional News 11:20pm Weather 11:25pm Match of the Day 2

BBC2/

BBC2/

4:00pm The Glass Bottom Boat 5:45pm Mountain Gorilla 6:45pm Collectaholics 7:45pm Flog It! 8:30pm Dad's Army 9:00pm The Plantagenets 10:00pm F1 the Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Highlights 11:15pm Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle 11:45pm QI XL

ITV/ 6:30pm Local News and Weather 6:40pm ITV News and Weather 7:00pm You've Been Framed! 8:00pm Saturday Night Takeaway 9:25pm The Cube 10:25pm Law and Order: UK 11:25pm The Americans

CH4/ 6:15pm Fifteen to One 7:15pm Channel 4 News 7:35pm Lent Diaries 7:40pm Gadget Man 8:10pm Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 9:05pm Hostages 10:00pm Colombiana

ITV2/ 5:00pm FYI Daily 5:05pm Kangaroo Jack 5:45pm Britain's Got More Talent 6:50pm Two Weeks Notice 7:50pm FYI Daily 7:55pm Two Weeks Notice 8:50pm The Incredible Hulk 9:50pm FYI Daily 9:55pm The Incredible Hulk 11:00pm Celebrity Juice 11:50pm Crazy Beaches

5:30pm Tennis 6:30pm Flog It! 7:30pm The Olympic Journey: Inspire 8:00pm Great Barrier Reef 9:00pm Border Country - The Story of Britain's Lost Middleland 10:00pm Louis Theroux's LA Stories 11:00pm F1 the Bahrain Grand Prix Highlights

ITV/ 5:00pm For Your Eyes Only 7:20pm Local News and Weather 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 7:45pm Catchphrase 8:30pm Off Their Rockers 9:00pm Endeavour 11:00pm ITV News and Weather 11:15pm Piers Morgan's Life Stories

CH4/ 4:25pm Hairspray 6:40pm Deal or No Deal 7:35pm Channel 4 News 7:55pm Lent Diaries 8:00pm Iceman Murder Mystery 9:00pm Secret History 10:00pm The Grey

ITV2/ 4:35pm Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway 6:00pm Cats and Dogs 7:00pm FYI Daily 7:05pm Cats and Dogs 7:55pm Year One 8:55pm FYI Daily 9:00pm Year One 10:00pm Fast and Furious 11:00pm FYI Daily 11:05pm Fast and Furious

Monday

Tuesday BBC1/ 4:00pm Escape to the Country 5:00pm More Creatures Great and Small 5:30pm Flog It! 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News 7:30pm Regional News 8:00pm The One Show 8:30pm EastEnders 9:00pm Holby City 10:00pm Shetland 11:00pm BBC News 11:25pm Regional News 11:30pm Weather 11:35pm Have I Got a Bit More News for You

BBC1/

BBC2/

6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News 7:30pm Regional News 8:00pm The One Show 8:30pm Bang Goes the Theory 9:00pm EastEnders 9:30pm Don't Take My Car: Bailiffs Undercover Panorama 10:00pm Treasure Hunters 11:00pm BBC News

4:15pm Planet Earth 5:15pm The Great British Bake Off 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Eggheads 7:30pm Escape to the Continent 8:30pm Great British Menu 9:00pm The Great British Sewing Bee 10:00pm Battle of Britain's Breakfast 11:00pm The Sarah Millican Television Programme

BBC2/ 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Eggheads 7:30pm Escape to the Continent 8:30pm Great British Menu 9:00pm University Challenge 9:30pm Mary Berry Cooks 10:00pm The Money Programme Special 11:00pm Rev

ITV/ 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm Local News and Weather 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm I Never Knew That About Britain 9:30pm Coronation Street 10:00pm Undeniable 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather

CH4/ 6:30pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:55pm Lent Diaries 9:00pm Dispatches 9:30pm Shop Secrets: Tricks of the Trade 10:00pm One Born Every Minute 11:00pm 8 Out of 10 Cats

ITV2/ 6:05pm The Millionaire Matchmaker 7:00pm Dinner Date 8:00pm You've Been Framed! 8:30pm You've Been Framed! 9:00pm Two and a Half Men 9:30pm Two and a Half Men 10:00pm Mom 10:30pm Mom 11:00pm American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile

ITV/ 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm Local News and Weather 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm UEFA Champions League 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:35pm UEFA Champions League

CH4/ 4:30pm Deal or No Deal 5:30pm Fifteen to One 6:30pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:55pm Lent Diaries 9:00pm Kirstie's Best of Both Worlds 10:00pm New Worlds 11:15pm True Stories

ITV2/ 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Real Housewives of New Jersey 6:05pm The Millionaire Matchmaker 7:00pm Dinner Date 8:00pm Britain's Got More Talent 9:00pm Two and a Half Men 9:30pm Two and a Half Men 10:00pm The Vampire Diaries 11:00pm Celebrity Juice 11:50pm The Faculty4:00pm Escape to the Country

Wednesday BBC1/ 5:00pm More Creatures Great and Small 5:30pm Flog It! 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News 7:30pm Regional News 8:00pm The One Show 9:00pm MasterChef 10:00pm Monkey Planet 11:00pm BBC News 11:25pm Regional News 11:30pm Weather 11:35pm Marine A: Criminal or Casualty of War?

BBC2/ 4:15pm Planet Earth 5:15pm The Great British Bake Off 6:15pm Antiques Roadshow 7:00pm Eggheads 7:30pm Escape to the Continent 8:30pm Great British Menu 9:00pm Under Offer: Estate Agents on the Job 10:00pm Ian Hislop's Olden Days 11:00pm W1A 11:30pm Newsnight

ITV/ 4:00pm Dickinson's Real Deal 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm Local News and Weather 7:30pm ITV News and Weather 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Big Star's Little Star 10:00pm Law and Order 11:00pm ITV News at Ten and Weather 11:35pm Paul O'Grady's Animal Orphans

CH4/ 4:30pm Deal or No Deal 5:30pm Fifteen to One 6:30pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 8:55pm Lent Diaries 9:00pm Secret Eaters 10:00pm Dead Famous DNA 11:00pm Sci-Fi Pets: Give a Dog a Clone

ITV2/ 4:05pm The Jeremy Kyle Show 5:10pm The Real Housewives of New Jersey 6:05pm The Millionaire Matchmaker 7:00pm Dinner Date 8:00pm Britain's Got More Talent 9:00pm Two and a Half Men 9:30pm Two and a Half Men 10:00pm Through the Keyhole 11:00pm Couples Retreat

FINANCE The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne delivered his Budget to Parliament on 19th March. By far the biggest surprise was the announcement of a complete overhaul to the pension regime. Here is a summary of the issues that may affect British expatriates. I will cover more issues in my next article. Personal tax Personal allowances increase £10,000 for the 2014/15 tax year, and again to £10,500 for 2015/16. The higher rate threshold also increases to £41,865 from 6th April 2014, and by a further 1% a year later. The Government will consult on whether to withdraw the personal allowance from non-UK residents, except those with ‘strong economic connections in the UK.’ As previously announced, married couples and civil partners will be able to transfer up to 10% of their personal allowance to their partner. This may apply to expatriate couples if one of you has UK source income. Savings On 1st July 2014, cash and shares ISAs will merge into a “New ISA” or “NISA”, with an annual limit of £15,000. Expatriates will still be liable to tax in their country of residence on interest, dividends and gains arising within ISA wrappers.

EUROPEAN PRESS

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The UK Budget – How Does It Affect You? Part 1

By Peter Worthington, Senior Partner, Blevins Franks The amounts that can be invested in premium bonds will increase to £40,000 in 2014/2015 and £50,000 from 2015/2016. There will be more £1 million prizes. Winners resident outside the UK may be liable to tax in their country of residence. Pension reform Several measures were introduced in one of the largest reforms of the

defined contribution pension system since 1921. Pension holders are now being granted a far wider range of access to their funds after retirement. These changes came into effect on 27th March 2014: • A reduction in the minimum income requirement for accessing flexible drawdown to £12,000. • An increase in the capped drawdown limit to 150% of equivalent annuity. • The total pension wealth people can have before they are no longer entitled to receive lump sums under trivial commutation rules increases to £30,000. • An increase to the small pension pots lump sum limit to £10,000, and the number of pots that can be taken as a lump sum increased to three. From 6th April 2015 members of defined contribution schemes will have much more flexibility in how

they deal with their pension on retirement. The requirement to buy an annuity has already been removed and the 25% tax free lump sum continues to be available, but from April 2015 retirees will have three choices for the balance of their pension: 1) Withdraw their entire pension fund on retirement, with the withdrawal taxed at their marginal income tax rates, rather than 55% as currently the case. 2) Purchase an annuity. 3) Flexible drawdown benefits over time. Remember, you need to consider local tax in your country of residence. A consultation has been launched regarding transferring out of Defined Benefit Schemes into Defined Contributions Schemes. Consideration will be given to allowing individuals aged 75 and over to claim tax relief on pension

contributions. The Government will consult on increasing the minimum pension age so it remains ten years below state pension age. HM Revenue & Customs has been given new powers to help prevent pension liberation schemes being registered, and to make it easier to de-register them. This measure is designed to catch schemes which allow members to access their pension fund before reaching retirement, which HMRC views as fraud. My next article will look at capital gains tax, property tax and inheritance tax. Tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; an individual is advised to seek personalised advice. To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www.blevinsfranks.com.

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OPINION & COMMENT

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It’s a dog, not a little human...

HEN are people going to realise that animals are animals and not human beings? When are they going to realise that treating our felines and darling doggies like Homo sapiens is not only dangerous but in the world of pooch pampering and odd haircuts, bordering on near unacceptable cruelty? Frankly, allowing dogs and cats to actually lick faces and mouths can often make me feel physically sick. They’ve just been licking their nether regions, for heaven’s sake! How much muck gets transferred to your mouth when you allow them to slobber over you and the children? I also thought the recent photo of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and baby George gave out the wrong message. I don’t care how docile their pet is. In the picture their dog’s mouth is about two inches from

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT

DISCONCERTING: In the recently-published official photograph, the dog’s mouth is just inches away from baby George’s face.

little George’s face. What if the dog suddenly got a sharp toothache or other unexpected pain? What if it was harbouring some form of jealousy? It could have ripped the little tot’s face in the blink of an eye. Now we find our cats are spreading TB. Isn’t it time we all took a step back and tried to inject some common sense in the treatment of our pets?

REUTERS/Jason Bell/Poo

W

Please don’t get me wrong, I am a pet lover. The difference is I’ve always treated my animals like animals and believe me they are much happier for it. I’ll give you an example. Many years ago, I managed a singing trio. These three girls had a miniature poodle which they absolutely doted on and treated like a baby. The thing was shampooed two or three times a

week, carried everywhere and generally ruined. Consequently it was an overweight, snappy, badtempered little tyke and I hated it. One day they were offered a tour of South Africa and naturally couldn’t take the dog. With great reluctance they had no choice but to leave it with me. Right, I thought, things are going to change. The first thing

I did was give it water to drink instead of milk! Instead of carrying the thing around I began taking it on long runs in Hyde Park. Shampooing was of course completely out of the window. The transformation was nothing short of miraculous. Within a couple of weeks, its little body had taken on a whole new shape and become toned. Its curly coat was tight and firm and its whole demeanour had changed to a happy, lovable, healthy little DOG. Which was as nature intended. On the girls’ return I expected them to be pleasantly surprised at the remarkable change in their little ‘oochy coo’. Not so, within two or three weeks of their usual treatment, it reverted to the miserable, pampered, snappy little cur it had always been. I rest my case. Keep the faith Love Leapy Leapylee2002@gmail.com

Achieving your goals: An inspirational presentation DR JAMES B RIELEY will be presenting on this subject at the next Supper Club. Dr Rieley is an advisor to CEOs and senior leadership teams in both Europe and America. He has a doctorate degree in Organisational Effectiveness. In addition, he has a BS in Business Administration and was the president of a successful plastics manufacturing company for over 20 years. After selling his company in 1987, he began to work with organisations in the area of innovation and business organisation He has written extensively on the

subject of organisational dynamics and quality, being an ongoing columnist for the Daily Telegraph (London), and having been published in several business journals. Dr Rieley has developed curricula in the areas of organisational learning, leadership development, systems thinking, community building, systems thinking archetype applications, and strategy development. Certified by the Covey Leadership Center in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he was the founder of the Southeast Wisconsin Organisational Learning

Vicki Mcleod

Business Matters Consortium (SEWOLC). He has taught at college and university levels for institutions both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He is the author of Gaming the System, ( The Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, 2001) , Plain Talk About Business Performance ( Pen Press, 2004 ), Leadership ( Hodder, 2006 ), Strategy and Performance ( Hodder, 2006), and Change and

Crisis Management (Hodder, 2006). As well as all that, he is the author of the weekly subscription newsletter Plain Talk about Business Performance . He lives in Mallorca. Dr Rieley has previously presented at the Small Business Support Day and at the Supper Club and is a welcome return speaker as he well-known for his witty, incisive, realistic and motivating presentations. He will be presenting on this subject because he says he has “noticed a great trend in people who live in Mallorca who seem unable to achieve

Photo: Phoenix Media.

Have you ever struggled to achieve the goals you have set for yourself? Have you ever felt that what you want is out of your reach? Have you ever thought that you are unable to realise your potential?

MOTIVATING: Dr James B Rieley. their goals. For many of these people, the ‘barriers’ to goal achievement seem overly daunting but the reality is that the ‘barriers’ have been selfconstructed. Consequently, it makes them appear to be, or feel like, they can’t get past them and then they begin to fall into a trap of believing that if they can’t achieve this or

that goal, they may be terrible at other goal achievement as well.” If you seriously want to become better at achieving your goals, come to the Supper Club at Mood Beach in Costa d’en Blanes on April 17 at 7pm and learn how.

Reserve your place by emailing info@moodbeach.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

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

Stress can double women’s risk of infertility STRESS can double the risk of infertility for women. That’s the conclusion by scientists who carried out a study of 501 women, following them for a year, which is the clinical cut-off to define infertility. They found that women suffering from stress are half as likely to conceive after 12 months of trying compared to those with lower levels of stress hormones. Women aged between 18 to 40 without known fertility problems and who had just started trying to conceive were followed and a saliva test was used to determine stress levels. The researchers say they don’t want women to blame themselves for not getting pregnant, but suggest light exercise or Yoga to lower stress levels and improve the chances of falling pregnant.

Blood test could detect if a child is going to be obese A BLOOD test for children may be able to detect if they will become obese by the time they are teenagers. Researchers at the Universities of Southampton, Exeter and Plymouth have

developed the test and claim that checking for specific DNA changes at the age of five can predict how much body fat a child will have at the age of 14. The test will assess the level of changes in the PGC1a gene, which regulates fat storage in the body. They hope it will be used to identify children at risk of being overweight and provides further evidence that obesity in childhood is not just due to lifestyle, but may also involve important basic processes that control genes.

PGC1a GENE: Regulates fat storage in the body.

Smoking causes 20% of TB cases SMOKING causes 20 per cent of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Spain. That’s the claim by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Surgery Thoracic

(Separ) which warned that 20 per cent of TB cases are attributable to smoking and, although in 2012 there were more than 5,700 cases, this disease is decreasing

compared to previous years. Coinciding with the commemoration of World TB Day, Separ, which has its headquarters in Barcelona,

reports that in 2012 there were 4,516 cases of respiratory tuberculosis, 89 of tuberculous meningitis and a further 1,109 cases related to TB.

WhatsAppitis? What’s that? A WOMAN, aged 34, was diagnosed with tendinitis after using her mobile phone continually for six hours. Medical journal The Lancet has reported that the woman, who was 27 weeks pregnant, was diagnosed at Christmas after feeling a sharp pain in her wrist. She then spent around six hours instant messaging people using WhatsApp on her mobile with the pain increasing. Doctors said the tendinitis was caused by continually using her phone in what they believe could be the first case of ‘WhatsAppitis’.

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CROSSWORDS

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

Mallorca weather

Spring is in the air!

NEW ON DVD MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE

for next 7 days

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Directed by Peter Jackson this is the second instalment of his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein’s 1937 novel. Ian McKellen stars as Gandalf who is investigating an evil at Dol Guldur. Martin Freeman has a starring role as Bilbo Baggins who is continuing his quest with the 13 dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.

TODAY

CALA MILLOR

INCA

CALVIA

CALA d’OR

PALMA ANDRATX

LLUCMAJOR MAGALLUF

ALCUDIA

POLLENÇA

TOMORROW CALA MILLOR

INCA

CALVIA

CALA d’OR

PALMA

Run time is 161 minutes and it has a certificate of PG 13.

ALCUDIA

POLLENÇA

‘DARLING - THIS SEX DRIVE ALL YOU MEN ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE - DID YOU HAVE TO PASS A TEST?’

ANDRATX LLUCMAJOR

again. Although there are adjustments to be made, you are now more at ease. Whichever way you go now will be a lucky improvement in your sphere.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) The buzz in your head is not a mysterious thing. It is the sound of something quite different. Clearly, it is time to act on an idea held for a long time. The buzz will not go away until you are satisfied. Get with the yoga and plan your approach.

LEO (July 24 - August 23) A branch is dangling in the wind. You feel that, if you grasp it, finances will improve. Your hesitation is felt as weakness but it is good to check. See this branch from all angles. The last thing that you want is to tug on it and find that it is too much to hold.

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) An emotional journey which you made last year comes to mind

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Are you hoping that a recent acquaintance will provide the

6-Star Quiz CHOCOHOLICS 1. In Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, what was the name of the eccentric chocolatier who owned the factory? 2. In the UK, the Isle of Man and Ireland, the chocolate bar Snickers was sold under what brand name until 1990? 3. In which 1994 film does the title character philosophise: ‘Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’? 4. The operetta The Chocolate Soldier, composed by Oscar Straus, was based on the play Arms and the Man, written by which dramatist? 5. What is the name of the model village on the south side of Birmingham, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate? 6. What is the name of the Yorkshire-born author of the 1999 novel Chocolat, which tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young mother, whose confections change the lives of the townspeople?

FLICKR BY ELHORMIGUERO

Your Stars

April 6: Miguel Angel Silvestre. Spanish Actor. Born in Castellon de la Plana and best known for his role in the popular TV series ‘Sin Tetas no hay Paraiso.’ He originally wanted to be a professional tennis player but after an injury his aunt introduced him to theatre and he got hooked. As well as TV he also made a film with director Pedro Almodovar.

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answer to a question? Your friends have given their opinions but you are still not convinced. Here is a situation where expert advice is needed, not a random opinion.

let in. As you are currently seeing things so clearly, make some choices. Your quality of both life and work will change for the better. You are not being selfish. You know there is such a thing as necessary self-preservation.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) There is a lot to take on board this week. At times, you may feel that it is too much to cope with. You, however, are made of stronger stuff. Are you telling me that Fred down the road is better than you? No, of course not.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) Sometimes you feel that you are on a stage. Attention is on you, lights shining bright, people waiting. There is no problem with doing what is expected, but maybe an uneasy feeling about where you are.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Yours is a big heart, but be more selective about what and who you

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) There is a difficulty with someone not standing on their own two feet. It's someone close, but it's certainly not you. It is not possible to stand by and see bad mistakes happen. On the other hand, there needs to be a balance so as not to enforce dependency.

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.

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) Working in the dark is not your favourite thing. Blazing lights on everything is more your style. Why, then, do you not have control of the facts? Maybe hiding in the shadows and avoiding something has put you where you are.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Throwing money at a problem will not make it go away, it will merely be a delaying tactic. Life is not always so simple that it brings you comfort. Coming to terms and dealing with something is necessary for your peace of mind.

LOTTERY UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

UK THUNDERBALL

IRISH LOTTO

EURO MILLIONS

Saturday March 29

Saturday March 29

Saturday March 29

Friday March 28

14

16

21

47

49

5

13 22

16 31

5

12

19

21

29

45

BONUS BALL

THUNDERBALL

BONUS BALL

29

11

8

Almeria

CLOUDY MAX 19C, MIN 12C MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

22 13 C 24 14 Cl 22 14 Cl

3

4 28

LUCKY STARS 3

7

EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA

Mon - 22 13 C Tues - 22 13 S Wed - 22 13 Cl

6

14

30

41

43

49

REINTEGRO 36

6

11

15 23

Fri Sat Sun -

Fri Sat Sun -

19 12 C 18 13 S 19 13 C

SHOWERS

Fri Sat Sun -

19 12 C 22 14 Cl 22 14 C

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX 18C, MIN 11C

TODAY: Fri Sat Sun -

17 8 C 21 8 C 23 9 C

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Mon - 19 12 Cl Tues - 19 12 Cl Wed - 19 12 Cl Cl Clear,

CLOUDY MAX 22C, MIN 12C MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun Fog,

Sn Snow,

MAX MIN

24 13 C 27 14 Cl 27 14 C

Mon - 27 13 S Tues - 27 14 S Wed - 26 13 C

C Cloud,

Sh Showers,

Th Thunder

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 M) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.

TARGET:

Average: 19

Very good:34

Good: 24

Excellent: 42

abed, bade, bake, band, bane, bank, bard, bare, bark, barn, bawd, bead, beak, bean, bear, bend, bide, bier, bike, bind, bird, brad, brae, bran, braw, bred, brew, drab, drib, kerb, abide, bairn, baked, baker, bared, beard, biked, biker, braid, brain, brake, brand, brawn, bread, break, bride, brine, brink, debar, rabid, rebid, banked, banker, barked, binder, braked, brined, debark, inbred, rebind, riband, bandier, bawdier, brained, webinar, WINDBREAK

Word Ladder NEWS

Move from the start word (NEWS) to the end word (ITEM) in the same number of steps as there are rungs on the Word Ladder. You must only change one letter at a time.

18 40

REINTEGRO 3

MAX MIN

Mon - 24 11 C Tues - 24 11 Cl Wed - 23 9 C

Murcia

MAX MIN

S Sun,

MAX MIN

Mon - 19 16 C Tues - 19 16 S Wed - 19 15 Cl

SHOWERS MAX 14C, MIN 5C MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Mon - 23 13 S Tues - 23 13 S Wed - 23 13 C

SHOWERS MAX 16C, MIN 11C 18 11 C 20 12 S 20 12 C

20 15 C 21 16 Cl 19 16 Cl

Madrid

Mallorca Fri Sat Sun -

CLOUDY MAX 18C, MIN 13C MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Mon - 19 13 Cl Tues - 18 13 Cl Wed - 18 12 Sh

MAX MIN

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Mon - 23 15 S Tues - 24 16 S Wed - 23 15 C

Benidorm

Malaga TODAY:

22 14 C 23 15 C 23 16 Cl

TODAY:

SHOWERS MAX 16C, MIN 12C

Sunday March 30

Saturday March 29

19 43

LA PRIMITIVA

MAX MIN

Barcelona TODAY:

CLOUDY MAX 19C, MIN 12C

TODAY:

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Sudoku

8

Alicante TODAY:

ITEM

STEM ITEM

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Starting on a new hobby or job has opened your eyes to much that is round you. You ask yourself why it was not so clear to you before. This does not matter. This is where you are and where you need to be at the moment.

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK: You will see shadows if you look over your shoulder too much. Decide to live in the light in the months to come. Be yourself and let others accept it.

NEWS SEWS SEES SEEM

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) There is something comfortable about your life at the moment. Even though there seems to be a good reason to change it, you hesitate. A situation seems to have become outdated and no longer works well.

MAGALLUF

1. WILLY WONKA, 2. MARATHON, 3. FORREST GUMP, 4. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, 5. BOURNVILLE, 6. JOANNE HARRIS

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CROSSWORDS

Crosswords

3 - 9 April 2014 / Mallorca

EWN

33

SPONSORED BY

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

Cryptic

Quick

Across 7 The rest of the afternoon (6) 8 First person in business gives a long, angry speech (6) 10 Not off to go without holiday in the services (2,5) 11 Move the golf shot (5) 12 The Yugoslav people in general (4) 13 Beer off, left to start a riot (5) 17 Zulu seen by river formerly an African river (5) 18 Sweet smell, it’s said, of money (4) 22 Aircraft seen in tree? (5) 23 Boil rocks in wood scrap (7) 24 I am at present visiting Rhode Island coastal resort! (6) 25 Grumble about Ben catching a flightless bird (6) Down 1 Bodyguards for the lawless sectors (7) 2 Agent prevaricated but answered (7) 3 Way to strike or flog (5) 4 Messes around with violins (7) 5 VAT I’d worked out for the ship’s crane (5) 6 The Sussex town in a little western

Across 7 Give to a charity (6) 8 Head (6) 9 Light-coloured (4) 10 Catch up with and pass (8) 11 Artist (7) 13 Discourage (5) 15 Talk (5) 17 Competition (7) 20 Shares (8) 21 Great anger (4) 23 Containing salt (6) 24 Ecstatic (6)

part (5) 9 Broadcast share in genuine show trial (9) 14 Beauty display from leaf insect (7) 15 Left former idol to find dictionary (7)

16 Really wanting to make thin cig (7) 19 A character in different places (5) 20 Second class fighting force, it’s daft (5) 21 Went on horseback round cowboy show (5)

Code Breaker Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 17 represents T and 16 represents Q, so fill in T every time the figure 17 appears and Q every time the figure 16 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.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS CRYPTIC Across: 1 Restrain, 4 Lime, 7 Sling, 9 Rigid, 11 Theme, 12 Seize, 13 Dearer, 15 Spurns, 19 Diets, 21 Tiara, 23 Ad-lib, 24 Elgin, 25 Sore, 26 Reappear. Down: 1 Resided, 2 Saint, 3 Israel, 5 Evoke, 6 Ages, 8 Geese, 10 Drier, 14 Arena, 16 Peace, 17 Seminar, 18 Stable, 19 Danes, 20 Sold, 22 Angle. QUICK Across: 1 Peach, 3 Bless, 7 Stamina, 9 Ruler, 10 Extra, 11 Darling, 12 Sadden, 14 Shorts, 18 Insects, 20 Learn, 22 Amuse, 23 Elevate, 24 Bonus, 25 Dense. Down: 1 Possess, 2 Apart, 3 Brandy, 4 Error, 5 Soldier, 6 Shrug, 8 Irate, 13 Disturb, 15 Halve, 16 Sincere, 17 Assets, 18 Italy, 19 Clean, 21 Again. ENGLISH-SPANISH Across: 1 Coser, 4 Siglo, 7 All, 8 Aliento, 9 Sash, 10 Screws, 14 Perhaps, 16 Ajo, 17 Abeja, 18 Stars.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Down: 1 Crabs, 2 Sales, 3 Real, 4 Suitcases, 5 Gun, 6 Oro, 11 Etapa, 12 Shoes, 13 Casa, 14 Pea, 15 Rie.

English - Spanish The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English. Across 1 Interruptor (eléctrico) (6) 4 Soup (thick) (4) 8 Silla (asiento) (5) 9 Owner (of land, property, company) (5) 10 Medusa (9) 13 Dose (of medicine) (5) 15 Climate (5) 16 Ganar (sueldo) (4) 17 Caballos (animales) (6) Down 1 Enfermo (4) 2 Imagen (5) 3 Descuidado (persona) (8) 5 Deber (dinero, explicación, respeto) (3) 6 Garlic (3) 7 Building (house, office etc) (8) 11 Cielos (5) 12 Abanicos (para darse aire) (4) 13 Tinte (producto) (3) 14 Southern (side, part) (3)

Hexagram 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 (SERVES) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues. AGREES

RATTLE

AWARDS

REARED

BREAST

RESTED

DARTED

SEARED

HAULED

SEATED

LEADER

SERVES (10)

LEERED

TESTED

PLEDGE

TRIBAL

PRICES

VEERED

QUOTED

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Funagram Unscramble the name of a US state and its capital: SEVENTEEN SANE HILLS FUNAGRAM SOLUTION: NICHOLAS PARSONS. TENNESSEE, NASHVILLE

Unscramble the name of an English radio and television presenter and actor: SON SPOILS AN ARCH

Down 1 Settee (4) 2 Grotto (6) 3 Get better (7) 4 Change (5) 5 Conflict (6) 6 Feebleness (8) 12 Acceptance as satisfactory (8) 14 Gangster (7) 16 Acquire (6) 18 Menace (6) 19 Heavenly body (5) 22 Became larger (4)

1 Enters, 2 Meters, 3 Panted, 4 Houses, 5 Resent, Seared, 7 Waters, 8 Earned, 9 Tramps, 10 Weakly, 11 Beards, 12 Prayer, 13 Weaker, 14 Papers, 15 Elapse, 16 Awards, 17 Adhere, 18 Repeat, 19 Crease

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OPINION & COMMENT

Strong and silent or chatty man? Relationship experts believe male silent types are considered more attractive because their fewer words are considered

more manly and appealing. Our question to women out there: Are you more attracted to the

O

rugged, quiet type or do you prefer a more gregarious ‘metro’ with lots to say? What attracted you to your mate?

them, particularly my husband. It took PPOSITES attract for me two weeks of ‘accidentally’ bumping entrepreneur Anna into him to even get a ‘hello’ from him.” Plaster, 34, from Algorfa Pamela Roderick runs a greenhouse (Alicante). She said she has nursery outside Mijas pueblo (Malaga). previously been drawn to the She agrees that men who keep to more rugged, themselves are more appealing. She was gregarious think they are the material for long- attracted to her husband specifically for types who lasting relationships. “I think most that reason: “He didn’t say much when were suited to women would admit they are we first met, but I knew that when he her bubbly tual MIKE and JULIE EVERT: Mu initially attracted to a manly spoke, he was sincere. I think that kind of personality. “I t quiet. attraction because he’s no exterior and the loud guy at the simplicity is masculine and attractive. I used to go out bar, but deep down we all want don’t usually with outgoing, with her husband Mike. that sensitive soul. There’s more staying see that in a eccentric types super She’s not sure that silent power in the silent types,” she believed. who were a bit Retired civil servant Sharon Cole- chatty types are more attractive, wild, but that e tely tru e changed when I saying: “I’m very quiet. I Williams, on the Costa Blanca for the guy.” Ultima : or A m N a in AN met my husband was attracted to Mike winter, was always attracted to the silent d n as fou who is the complete because he is expressive types. She said: “There is definitely love w pe. ty t n e opposite and is quiet and outgoing. If he was a something attractive about them, maybe il s and patient. I think we silent type, I doubt he’d ever be able to a bit of mystery. When I was younger and complement each draw me out, and that’s one of the things looking for relationships, I was drawn to other’s personalities,” she said. I love about him.” Julie Evert is a schoolteacher from Student Karolina Byron, aged 21, is PAMELA RODERICK: Thinks quiet means honest, Bristol, on holiday in Fuengirola (Malaga) attracted to ‘men’s men’ but doesn’t which is attractive.

STREET TALK

How drama was removed from Spanish politics Cassandra Nash

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

ON Franco’s death in November 1975, his then prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro took charge of the government. He lasted seven months because he did not see eye to eye with King Juan Carlos. The King, wanting a prime minister who was open to change and receptive to democracy, chose Adolfo Suarez whom he had known since 1968. Women were immediately taken with

Suarez’s good looks which did not necessarily endear him to male critics, who said he resembled a store assistant. His immediate past endeared him still less to those with families on the losing side in the Civil War. Suarez was by then the Minister and secretary general for the Movimiento, Spain’s one and only legal political party during the dictatorship, but Juan Carlos chose well. Suarez, still Movimiento secretary general at the time, revealed what was to King Juan Carlos (left) and Adolfo Suarez.

come when he addressed parliament on June 9, 1976 in the preliminaries to allowing political parties. “We are simply going to remove the drama from our politics. We are going to raise political normality to the category of what is simply normal at street level. We are going to lay foundations of lasting understanding beneath rule of law.” In 1977 Suarez and the UCD won the first democratic general elections since before the Civil War, rapidly dismantling the dictatorship within a framework of legitimacy and consensus. Political parties and outlawed trade unions were legalised, the Communist Party was allowed into the fold and the Constitution was passed in 1978. At the beginning of his reign Juan Carlos said he wanted to be King of all Spaniards. Adolfo Suarez made it possible.

Three brave men ADOLFO SUAREZ’S party Union del Centro Democratico was seriously disunited from the outset. By January 1981 the increasingly beleaguered president, isolated and undermined within his own party, resigned and MPs met to vote in his successor Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo on February 23. This was the time and place chosen for a military coup which King Juan Carlos and the fledgling democracy were strong enough to dismantle. But as MPs and ministers cowered on the floor of the invaded parliament chamber beneath the muzzles of the conspirators’ guns, Adolfo Suarez remained defiantly upright. So did Emilio Gutierrez Mellado, a general now staunchly committed to democracy but once a military spy for Franco. So did Santiago Carrillo, leader of Spain’s Communist Party. The three vastly different men are now dead, but 35 years ago they were clear proof that the ‘two Spains’ were finally reconciled and military coups were past history.

The last word “No se puede adelantar por la derecha” (you don’t overtake on the right), Adolfo Suarez, during a 1995 interview.

FEATURE

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Advertising Feature

Euro is worst performer of top currencies Commentary by Moneycorp

EUR Having stalled the previous week the euro went into reverse. It was the worstperforming major currency, losing half a US cent and one cent to sterling. The change of heart follows comments from Euroland central bankers which suggest they want a weaker currency. The possibility of a decision by the European Central Bank in the coming week to relax monetary policy further, perhaps with negative interest rates, is weighing on the euro. USD After a respectable performance the previous week, when the Federal Reserve chief set out the timetable for higher US

interest rates, the dollar enjoyed less success over the last seven days. Its problems stemmed from remarks by a Fed district governor. He suggested that when the Fed chairperson said rates would head higher “around” six months after the bond purchase programme ended, what she really meant was “at least” six months. Less urgency for higher rates meant less appetite for the dollar. CAD It wasn’t the weakest performer but the Canadian dollar had another joyless week, falling by two US cents and by two and a half cents against sterling. It was almost a one-way street down for the Loonie

Clarisse Musselwhite is Moneycorp’s Account Manager for Mallorca

She can be contacted on Tel: +34 902 887 243 Mobile: +34 687 932 472 Email:mallorca@moneycorp.com

902887243 mallorca@moneycorp.com despite a perfectly serviceable - if short set of Canadian economic data. Inflation was a touch higher than expected in February, and January’s retail sales were well over forecast. Yet investors are still uneasy about the Canadian dollar. AUD The Australian dollar is on a roll. For a second successive week it was the top performer, strengthening by three and a

half euro cents, two US cents and by two and a half cents against sterling. Unusually, the Reserve Bank of Australia governor helped it on its way with a speech that emphasised a prospective housing boom and a shift in economic emphasis away from mining and towards other industries. NZD For a second week the Kiwi played second fiddle to the Australian dollar. It still did well though, strengthening by one and a half US cents and by nearly two cents against sterling. Sentiment, rather than hard economic data, was the main reason for the NZ dollar’s success but the ecostats did help too: New Zealand’s trade surplus widened in February with exports increasing by more than expected and imports by less.

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FOOD & DRINK

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& DRINKS

ood F

Costa de Almeria’s best guide to local sport

Mallorca’s best guide for local restaurants

FIFTEEN years ago Blas Hervias, director and founder of Blanc Gastronomy, came up with the idea of dedicating himself to the commercialisation of snail eggs as ‘white caviar’. From the company’s offices in Puerto Real, in

TO READ MORE VISIT: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM/FEATURES/RESTAURANTS

Gourmet snail caviar Cadiz, Hervias explained he first became interested when he read about the medicinal properties of snail secretions and eggs. He signed agreements with the Universities of

Cordoba and Cadiz to investigate the properties of these commodities about which there was no information at the time. After investigation he began to commercialise

the product but said the main retail area is outside Spain in the more adventurous markets of Dubai and Singapore, among others. Blanc Gastronomy has

been going for five years and today produces ‘to order’ around 300 kilos of white caviar. Hervias goes on to comment that within Spain the product has been well received by chefs but has not yet reached the household cooking market.

Home-made bread fever IT can be bought in internet forums, it is passed around colleagues at work, some people make it themselves from yeast and bacteria; the buying and selling of ‘mother dough’ is on the rise in Spain. Home-made bread doesn’t just make economic sense, it is also an absorbing hobby. Iban Yarza, pioneer in the home-made bread community and participant in the TV programme ‘Robin Food,’ comments that four years ago people would look dumbfounded if you said you made your own bread but now it has become increasingly popular. With the descent in quality of the bread on sale in supermarkets many people are fed up with the ‘plastic’ texture and are yearning for more

BENEFICIAL HOBBY: Making bread has become more popular. quality and variety. Evidence of this is the soaring sales of cookbooks dedicated to this art including one written by Yarza himself: ‘Pan Casero’ (home-made bread).

Part of the fun, comments Yarza, “is you are working with something organic, something alive that expands and changes while you manipulate it. The benefits are obvious: it’s fun and you can eat it.”

OPINION & COMMENT

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Nomads Amateur Dramatics T

HE North Of Mallorca Amateur Dramatics Society have been running for 12 years now. They try to produce at least one Pantomime at Christmas, but have also done various other productions over the years including The Killing of Sister George and Educating Rita both of which, were brilliant. Over the years, all profits from all events are donated to different charities, either local or national. A ‘Music Hall’ evening in commemoration of the start of the 1st World War was held over the weekend at the Casa de Cultura in Alcudia and and also in Pto. Pollensa. It was a Singalong with various sketches from that era, papier mache hats for a Keystone Kop scene, and everything all good fun! Both of these productions this weekend went

MUSIC HALL: In commemoration of the 1st World War. A singalong with various sketches from that era. well, with good audience participation and enjoyed by all. Charlie Chaplin

made an entrance with his bowler and walking stick, being completely authentic

by way of belonging to member Dorothy Loeffler’s father from early 1900’s

and the pennies thrown to Eliza Doolittle, (Bonita O’Hara) were from 1890.

The songs were as authentic as they could be taken from from the Music Hall era such as Underneath the Arches, My Old Man and of course Knees Up Mother Brown and some interpretation of mime and silent movies were injected, with the whole show being overseen by Nomads’ President Brandon Clark who was the MC for the night. Director Sharry Cooper certainly had her hands full as she produced and choreographed the show. All profits as ever will be donated to local or national charities, some of them being : The Alan Graham Charity for kids, Puerto Pollensa Church, The Alzheimer’s Society in Pollensa, Asnimo a charity for disabled children, The Listening Ear, Prodis a cancer charity are just some of the worthy causes receiving donations.

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omes&gardens

H

HOMES & GARDENS

SPONSORED BY

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM

April is the month for planting annuals for window boxes, pots or flowerbeds Dick Handscombe

Gardening Corner By Dick Handscombe Spain’s best known expat gardening author about to start his 26th winter cut back.

ALTHOUGH some towns have had displays of annuals for some weeks and garden centres have been stocking up for a month, safe plantings really start in April. However with Easter being late this year splendid displays can be developed by then if you are still into the English garden idea that annuals and especially any new colour is a must. A bed of antirrhinums in front of flowering bougainvillea can be an eye catcher as can petunias cascading down from a first floor balcony. But recognise that such displays require good soils,

ANNUALS: Shade is required during the summer months.

GOOD ADVICE: Annuals provide instant colour, learn how to grow from seed. regular feeding and daily watering. If you are not acquainted with the range of annuals available in Spain we

included descriptions and photographs of 25 in the book ‘Your garden in Spain - From planning to planting and maintenance’.

They range from marigolds to candytuft, sweet peas to tobacco plants and low growing nasturtiums to three metre high sunflowers. With such a spectrum of sizes annuals can be found for window boxes, large

pots, hanging baskets, and flowerbeds. The benefits of annuals include instant colour, by careful sequencing year round colour can be achieved, long flowering seasons and that many can be raised from seeds. If you have not grown flowering plants from seeds before there is a chapter in the above book to help beginners achieve successes from day one. The greatest problems with annuals are as follows. 1. Having shallow roots they are thirsty. 2. Regular dead heading is often required to stimulate continuous flowering. 3. Shade is required during the hottest months. 4. Many can be flattened by heavy rains and winds. 5. Most are not frost hardy. 6. Maintaining constant temperature conditions when growing from seeds. 7. The difficulty of

locating good seed composts in Spain. 8. Soils and composts need to be very fertile, rich in humus, water retaining but well-draining. Fortunately if you don’t want the bother of annuals, garden centres are also now full of flowering perennial plants and shrubs which will give you pleasure for many years with little maintenance. ‘An Easter garden without annuals’ As it a good time of year to buy plants for containers as well as the garden consider whether you would benefit from closing the gap between the garden and the house, which in combination are your home. Recognise that the garden, if appropriately designed, can be where you spend most hours of the week from Easter to the autumn, even if you never do an hour of gardening. © Dick Handscombe www.gardenspain.com April 2014

OPINION & COMMENT

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The real Spanish driving rules... 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 on any of the issues raised in Ulrica’s column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/columnists/ulrica-marshall

ulrica@euroweeklynews.com

L

IKE most of my friends at the time, I couldn’t wait to take my driving test and began lessons with an instructor as well as my mother, who nearly had a coronary the first time she handed over the car keys. Still, after many lessons and some hard graft, I got my UK licence and have pretty much remembered all the rules of the road ever since. Fast forward a couple of decades, I am now spending a fair bit of time behind the steering wheel in Spain and I have had plenty of time to consider their psychology of driving. It is an entirely different cup of tea. Never having been to a driving school

SCARY: Driving can be a daunting business. here, I have taken a wild stab as to their Highway Code, judging by many (though, admittedly, not all) the drivers out there… Parallel parking: Seek out a spot which looks roughly big enough, then pull in at speed, enlarging the space using the bumpers until sufficient for the size of your car. Always fold in wing mirrors, since other

people are typically bad drivers. Speed limit: The numbers indicated on the little signs are suggestions only or a recommended minimum. Shave off two minutes of your journey time at all cost. Sign up for our other popular course: Learning to avoid radar speeding fines. Motorway driving: Choose a lane and stay there, drivers needing to pass should do so by

zig zagging into pole position. Don’t be afraid of hogging the fast lane even if you drive an articulated lorry. When you need to exit, do so at the very last minute by cutting across all lanes of traffic at an acute angle. If in doubt, watch re-runs of Formula 1 for inspiration. Roundabouts: Annoying hurdles. Make them more interesting by launching car into the traffic when you like rather than when traffic allows unless the Guardia Civil happens to be there. Overtaking: As often as possible - add a touch of exhilarating danger by narrowly avoiding oncoming cars in the other lane. Insurance: An optional extra a bit like the driving licence come to think of it. In case of accidentally damaging another car, drive away at great speed. Admit nothing. Choice of car: Only foreigners are silly enough to drive prestige cars. Anything old,

worn with big bumpers is advisable. Indicators: A strange addition to car manufacturing, purpose uncertain. Use sparingly if at all. Inter-driver communication: Flash headlights to signal ‘get out of my way,’ apply hazard lights when parking in the middle of a busy street - in fact hazard lights are a ‘get out of jail free’ for all slightly tricky scenarios, the horn can be readily used to vent your anger at any annoyance such as parents dropping off children at school and taking more than one second to do so, or should you take an ad hoc dislike to another driver. Equally shouting obscenities or waving a clutched fist are useful. If you have any personal ideas of what must be in the Spanish manual or there are any particularly hair raising driving incidents to divulge, do feel free to write to me at ulrica@euroweeklynews.com. Until next time, drive safe!

At last, happy to be identified… Penn to Paper Laura Penn NEVER has a piece of paper been more despised! The much-hated green residence certificate is soon to be consigned to the shredder and the oldstyle residence card featuring a photograph is due for a return. We have heard all this before but it seems that this time it may be true. A recent vote in parliament signals the return of the old and the demise of the new. Kate Mentink of the Balearic Government and President of the Europeos por Espana expects to see the back of the green certificate by the end of this year. Kate has been campaigning tirelessly for the return of the old residence cards since they were abolished a decade ago and replaced with the useless bits of green paper. Even getting the useless greeny was a major trial of effort and will as the process was long, time consuming and usually frustrating involving a trip to Palma, a bank and waiting in several lines. There is good news on this too as the whole process is to be streamlined. Wonder of wonders you will be

RESIDENCE CARD: Featuring a photograph is making a welcome return. able to download the necessary forms from the internet, make an appointment and sort out the renewal of the certificate in one go. All this is music to the ears of foreign residents who have had the sneaky suspicion for a while that the Balearic Government were not making it easy for non-Spanish people to get the required paperwork to live on the island. It is a major triumph for Kate Mentink who has taken the issue to the highest level both at the Balearic government and in Madrid and nagged incessantly for change. Not for the first time I wonder what expats on the island would do without the indomitable spirit of Ms Mentink and how many actually appreciate all that she has achieved in making the foreign population living on Mallorca matter to the authorities. Finally it amuses me that feelings are so strong about the return of the residence card particularly amongst Brits who would not be seen dead carrying an identity card back in Blighty.

Laura Penn is a presenter on the Holiday & Cruise Channel on Sky 284.

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PROPERTY

roperty P TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

No insurance THE recession has also affected the home insurance market. According to a web study, done by Kelisto.es, using information from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), 8,5 million homes in Spain have no insurance - that’s 30 per cent of the total; at the

beginning of the crisis only 13.3 per cent of homes were uninsured. Data has revealed the majority of uninsured homes are in villages or old apartment blocks that few insurance companies would want to insure. Home insurance has gone up by 18.5 per cent since 2007.

Rental market goes up by nearly 50 per cent in one year RENTING is beating buying by a long shot in the Spanish market, especially in the larger cities. Last year 195,264 occupation contracts were signed; of these 77 per cent were for rentals and only 22 per cent for purchases, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This ratio is the complete opposite of the pre-crisis situation when only 17 per cent of contracts were for rentals. As demand for rentals has gone up, prices have come down. In Barcelona the average price of a rental property, of 70 square metres, is €681,6 this is 5.4 per cent less than in 2013. For the second year in a row no Spanish city has an average rental price over €1,000. The rental situation in the Catalan capital proves the housing market is responding to the demands made on it and that prices can go down as well as up. This rise in rentals is attributed to banking restrictions on mortgages and the difficulty that owners are having in selling their properties.

RENTING: Market is improving.

Slight optimism in housing market as more people are looking to buy ALTHOUGH they are waiting for the final drop in prices to happen, more and more people are beginning to look into the housing market with a view to buying.

According to Spanish real estate network Look & Find, 35 per cent of the population think that the time is not yet right for buying a house or flat. Another 26 per cent

believe that they should wait and see how the market develops. Sales of ‘second hand’ homes have risen by 2.2 per cent year on year while sales of new homes

New mortgages dropping ACCORDING to the National Institute of Statistics (INE) the numbers of new mortgages are still going down in Spain. New mortgages in January, usually the month with the most new mortgages, were down 32.4 per cent by comparison with January 2013. Only the Navarra housing market is in the black, with all other regions in the red, mortgages in this province went up by 16.2 per cent compared with last year.

has gone down by 6.8 per cent. The Look & Find online survey also revealed that many people see 2014 as the year bargains are going to be found in all areas of the housing market, this is attributed to the constant fall of prices over the last few years. The survey also revealed that housing prices had gone down an average of 36 per cent since the beginning of the crash in 2006; in the last few years the drop has not been so steep.

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PETS/BOATING

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THE yacht ‘Fortuna’ used by the Spanish Royal Family for more than 13 years, has been renamed ‘Foners’ and is in Port Adriano, Calvia, waiting for a new owner. It was repaired in Porto Pi, Palma, following the King’s decision to give it up last May as a show of austerity due to its high maintenance costs. It had been given to him in 2000 by businesses and institutions which were part of the Balearic Islands Tourism and Cultural Foundation (Fundatur). The National Heritage Department returned it to them and they decided to sell it. The 41-metre-long yacht was specially equipped for the King and originally cost €18 million. It was built in 1997 in Cadiz, and replaced the former ‘Fortuna,’ a name which can only be used for the King’s Yacht, which was donated in 1979 by Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd. With a weight of 35.4 tonnes it can reach speeds of up to 130kph and was last used by the King in August 2012. It has a living room, dining room, kitchen and four cabins for eight passengers, as well as three other rooms for the crew of up to eight people. The money from its sale will reportedly be used by Fundatur for the cultural and tourist promotion of the islands.

PHOENIX MEDIA

King’s yacht needs new owner Lauren Watson, Maxine Meah and Dom Miles.

Calanova Cancer volunteers.

Shaken and stirred! Dancing into the wee small hours.

MORE than 200 people joined the Casino Royale night organised by the Cala Nova Cancer Care group and hosted at Mood Beach in Costa D’en Blanes. The guests enjoyed a James Bond themed evening with a performance from a fabulous Shirley Bassey impersonator, well known local entertainers Liam Live and Stevie Reye sang together and Mood’s resident DJ spun popular

tunes into the small hours. The guests were served cava and canapes on arrival and then encouraged to play Backgammon, Roulette and Blackjack to benefit the charity. The moneys are still being counted as we go to press and will be donated to a variety of groups working with cancer sufferers and their families on the island.

Mallorcan round-the-world sailor dies at home SINTO BESTARD has died at the age of 83 in his home in Palma. The news was cause for great sadness at the Royal Nautical Club of Palma

(RCNP) where he was a member and where he moored the Snooty Fox; the legendary boat in which he sailed around the world and even

reached the Antarctic. His friend, Biel Morell - who accompanied him on many of his voyages, explained he had died of

a heart attack. Morell went on to say Bestard was an exceptional person, a fun friend, an excellent sailor and he knew how to enjoy life despite his handicap. He particularly remembered the way Bestard would always make the crew, of any boat he was on, eat at the table with a white tablecloth. Bestard was blind from the age of 41 but this did not deter him from his passion of sailing, although he always had to be accompanied by his son, Rafael, Snooty Fox captain.

You are what you eat WHEN it comes to diet for dogs, as a behaviourist I try to give out an opinion that is logical and makes sense. We are what we eat. Food affects behaviour; for call: example, many children who eats please r all dog tr o F 813 are hyperactive change their / 634 152 1 887 007 7 9 diet and, hey ho, they are different. Many studies have been carried out to verify that a Dogman balanced diet like dried food is David THE 11am turday 10am to far healthier for dogs than raw on TRE every Sa Listen to David braltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm food. If anyone adds anything to Costa del Sol (GiCalahonda) 91.9fm m (San Roque to Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92.7f the dried diet then the balance of (Calahonda to rrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm Ibiza) 104.6fm, (To & ia nca nd Bla Ga to Costa ) 88.2fm, (Calpe the food intake is totally different (Elche to Calpe cia) 95.3fm (Denia to Valenfm and can affect not only behaviour, Mallorca 103.9 but also trigger allergies. To be direct; a dog on dried food will show a healthy coat and does not problem. Food allergy is a very break wind. common component of itchy skin in Usually foods with ‘tasty bits’ of dogs. Chicken, beef, lamb, corn, soy, food, that is meat, satisfy the human’s wheat, egg and dairy products are emotional needs more than the dog’s common ingredients which induce nutritional needs and are often the these allergies, but, whether they are cause of obesity (a common killer of raw or cooked, the immune system dogs). looks at them the same. The idea of this approach is that With the wealth of foods that are raw food is closer to what a dog would available to help many different eat in the wild. conditions, the lack of evidence that A good example is a dog with a skin raw food provides any advantages,

Y SPONSORED B

US Navy ships visit DRY DIET: For now the best option for dogs. and the potential risks of raw food, I can’t recommend that it is a good choice at this time. As research is done, we may one day find that there are advantages, but, for now, highquality commercial food is the better choice.

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

FROM today and for the first time in two years, US Navy ships are due to visit Palma Port. One is the USS Harry S. Truman CVN 75 aircraft carrier and the other the USS San Jacinto CG-56 cruiser which are due to spend five days in port, during which 6,000 sailors are due to visit the city, spending an average €120 per day. Just recently tripartiteclass minehunter ‘Capricorne’ from France, also visited the port.

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DELFINOS (Crazy Dolphin). Menu del dia - 3 courses and drink 9.95€. Dinner for 2, 19.90€. 971 676 449 (216841)

DRIVING LESSONS

BUILDING SERVICES

LEARN TO DRIVE IN MALLORCA. Scottish Driving Instructor now qualified to teach in Mallorca. Classes in English or Spanish. Obtain your Spanish licence easier or have refresher lessons and get behind that wheel. Interested! Call 648 133 929 (201557)

HEALTH & BEAUTY

CAR HIRE INSURANCE

AIR CONDITIONING

BOATS CHIMNEY SWEEP ‘SOOTY & SWEEP’, chimneys swept, repaired and installed. Tel 971 231 623 / 629 547 685 (216900)

INTERNET LIVE MUSIC

CLEANING

LIVE music with the fabulous Rosae, every Saturday night at Delfinos ( crazy Dolphin ) Tel 971 676 449 (216841)

MOTORING

INSURANCE COLLECTABLES WANTED

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COLLECTOR seeks rare: Coins, Banknotes, Medals, Stamps, Autographs, Antique Silver, Art Deco Jewellery, Rolex watches, best price and confidentiality guaranteed. Andrew 640 509 761 / a.fillingham@tis cali.co.uk (216943)

WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company fleet insurance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to offer an excellent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 902 123 309. (200726)

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Price per word: 0,42€ + IVA minimum 15 words - Discount: Book 10 weeks, get 2 weeks free - Deadline: 4pm Mondays Contact: Phone (0034) 971 682 795 • Fax (0034) 971 680 438 • email classifieds@euroweeklynews.com • www.euroweeklynews.com

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OPPORTUNITY

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

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INTERNET

PROPERTY FOR SALE

CLASSIFIEDS

PROPERTY SERVICES

RESIDENTIAL/NAUTICAL

REMOVALS

RUBBISH CLEARANCE

LOVELY one bedroom apartment. Furnished with very large terrace. Front line Paseo Maritimo €110,000. 639 377 755 (216912) WAREHOUSE 950m2 with showroom, office and loft apartment, gardens and private parking. Reduced to €490,000. 639 377 755 (216912)

PROPERTY FOR RENT LLUCMAJOR. Completely furnished first floor apartment with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, lounge, terrace, 450 euros/month. Ref 2940 Inmobiliaria Llucmajor. Tel 971 662 402 (222097)

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PROF SERVICES FREE FOR YOU FREE. MOBILE PHONE SIM CARD CALLS TO THE UK FOR ONLY 1 CENT PER MINUTE FREE CREDIT WORTH 12 EUROS.FREE MOBILE PHONE CALLS. CALL NOW TO FIND OUT HOW. TEL 902 887 091 WWW.TELITEC.COM (0)

MOTORING

PROPERTY

PET-COURIERS.COM – If you love your pet try us first – we are the best. Door to door service throughout Europe. Specialised vehicles – bespoke service. Full legal service including documentation if required. For further information call or e-mail us: Tel: (0034) 651 033 670 or (0034) 637 066 227. Email: info@petcouriers.com or www.petcouriers.com (206497) FELIX Dog and Cat Kennels. Based at Manacor. Boarding available. Home sitting Island wide. Tel 689 795 049 (216938)

PARTY HIRE

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LANGUAGE SERVICES

PROPERTY SERVICES BRITISH property services in Mallorca. Construction & home reform services. Our promise: We WILL beat any price like for like ISLANDWIDE. All work guaranteed. See our large advert in this edition. Contact us at enquiries@jmac.es or tel 971 230 136 (216932)

THE MAN & VAN ISLAND WIDE REMOVALS & STORAGE. CHEAP, CHEERFUL, FAST, EFFICIENT AND MOST IMPORTANTLY LEGAL. Tel: 626 792 037 (216884)

DARRMAR Excavation, demolition, overgrown gardens cleared, ponds and swimming pools, reforms prepared, tree felling & landscaping. 608 790 007 (81692)

VAN MAN FAST, FRIENDLY, EFFICIENT. REMOVALS, STORAGE 25 euros p/h. 638 478 204

WE CLEAR building rubble, garden rubbish, furniture etc. Quick & reliable. Tel 629 547 685 (216900)

2ND HAND FURNITURE

CLASSIFIEDS REMOVALS / STORAGE

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SITUATIONS VACANT

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XXX RELAXATION READERS OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION MAY FIND SOME OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS SECTION OFFENSIVE.

TELECOMS

SITUATIONS VACANT 40 HGV Class 1 European drivers required. 4 days on, 4 days off. 11GBP per hour, 27GBP night out. Call 0044 7846 624312 or email camb scontractors@live.com (207716)

FED UP PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE CALLS? THEN CONTACT TELITEC TODAY. CALLS TO SPAIN 7C PER MINUTE INCLUDING MOBILES. CALLS TO UK 5.3C PER MINUTE. NO MONTHLY FEES, NO CONTRACT. WWW.TELITEC.COM TEL: 902 889 070 (0)

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BIZARRE DREAMS and FETISH FANTASIES Tel 670 210 581 (209776)

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TANTRA massage. Sensual, gentle and stimulating. Couples welcome. 676 165 727

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otoring M TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

SPONSORED BY For best rates in motor insurance call: 952 89 33 80

Porsche to replace engines of current 911 GT3 models S

PORTS car manufacturer Porsche will be replacing the engines of all 911 GT3 vehicles of model year 2014. This is the corrective action derived from intensive internal analyses that were initiated in response to two engine fires. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that engine damage resulted from a loosened screw joint on the connecting rod. The loose connecting rod damaged the crankcase, which in both cases led to leakage of oil which then ignited. After becoming aware of the two accident cases, Porsche promptly took action to avoid any risk to customers by advising them to cease using the affected 785 vehicles until further notice and have them picked up by a Porsche Centre. Now, engines with optimised screw fittings will be

911 GT3: Porsche are replacing all the engines.

used in all Porsche 911 GT3 vehicles of model year 2014, including in those that have not been delivered yet. The relevant Porsche Centres are in direct communication with customers worldwide to discuss the further course of action. Porsche points out that no other 911 models or other model series are affected by this action.

Alpine and Le Mans 24 Hours A LPINE’S successful return to motor racing in 2013 harvested one race win and three podium finishes, which confirmed the legendary

marque meant business. The priority for its second season of the modern era is the Le Mans 24 Hours. “A new chapter in the brand’s extraordinary history began last season,” noted Bernard Ollivier. “We were aware that it was an ambitious programme, yet the talent of everyone involved with the team and the hard work they all put in helped us claim our first successes of the era. That was just the beginning. “Alpine’s roots are steeped in motorsport, human adventure, a taste

for technical challenges and exciting production car projects. We also have an international calling and are delighted to announce we will have a British driver in our line-up for 2014.” “Winning the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles in 2013 was a tremendous reward for everybody’s efforts,” added Signatech-Alpine’s Team Principal, Philippe Sinault. “The popularity of Alpine’s return to motor racing and the different trophies we have won since have sparked off an incredible energy, and our

second season promises to be even more captivating! Everyone in the team is ready for the year’s challenge and the focus is on Le Mans 24 Hours.” In terms of its drivers, this year has seen it take on an international dimension with the arrival of the upand-coming British youngster Oliver Webb. The Alpine A450 was due to make its first public appearance this week at the European Le Mans Series’ official pre-season test at Le Castellet, France.

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One ‘L’ of a time for Liverpool, Lewis Hamilton and Laura Massaro! 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

THIS WEEK’S ACTION... On Tuesday in the Champions League quarter-finals, it was Manchester United v Bayern Munich and Barcelona v Atletico Madrid, while last night Chelsea visited PSG and Real Madrid played Borussia Dortmund. This evening eight teams compete in the Europa League. Tomorrow, GB start their vital Davis Cup tennis match against Italy in Naples; on Saturday, it’s the Cambridge-Oxford Varsity boat race, the Grand National from Aintree (my each-way tips: Monbeg Dude and Lion Na Bearnai). Plus important PL games featuring Cardiff-Crystal Palace, Chelsea-Stoke, Manchester City-Southampton and Norwich-WBA... And on Sunday, it’s EvertonArsenal and West HamLiverpool, Rangers v Raith Rovers in the Ramsden SL Cup final, the third F1 Grand Prix of 2014 in Bahrain and the County Cricket season starts! RECENT SOCCER ROUNDUP In the Premiership, battling Crystal Palace stunned Chelsea

1-0. This allowed Liverpool (eight wins on the bounce) to take over top spot hammering Spurs 4-0 after Arsenal (4th) had drawn 1-1 with Manchester City (3rd). WBA and Cardiff scored in the 94th and 95th minutes in a 3-3 six-point relegation battle at The Hawthorns... Swansea eased their worries with a 3-0 win over Norwich... in-form Everton won 3-1 at Fulham... Southampton battered poor Newcastle 4-0... Manchester United got back on track by beating Aston Villa 4-1... Stoke edged out Hull 1-0... And Sunderland met West Ham on Monday Championship leaders Leicester won 2-0 at secondplaced Burnley, leaving QPR, Derby, Wigan and Reading in the play-off places... Wolves (1-0 winners at MK Dons) and Brentford are clear in FL1... Rochdale, Scunthorpe and Chesterfield stand 1-2-3 in FL2... north of the border, Celtic, who clinched their 45th SL title eight days ago, are on course to win the PL by a record margin, likewise their rivals Rangers, who have won all 15 away games this season, are 32 points clear of Dunfermline in SL1. Atletico Madrid (2-1 winners v Athletic Bilbao), Barcelona (1-0 v Espanyol, courtesy of another Lionel Messi penalty) and Real Madrid (5-0 v Rayo Vallecano) are 1-2-3 in La Liga with 76, 75 and 73 points respectively. Meanwhile, Juventus are racing away in Italy’s Serie A.

DID YOU KNOW? West Bromwich Albion fielded an all-English team when winning the 1888 and 1931 FA Cup finals… and England bowler Sidney Barnes took a record 49 wickets in four Test Matches against Australia in 1913-14.

Squash champion Congratulations to Preston-born Laura Massaro who became the first Brit for 15 years and the first English woman ever, to win the World Squash Championship. FORMULA 1 Lewis Hamilton ‘comfortably’ won the Malaysian GP last Sunday - his 23rd race victory overall. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was second with Sebastian Vettel third. This was the first Mercedes one-two since 1955 when Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling were driving. Only 15 cars completed the distance in Kuala Lumpur.

CRICKET England (193-7) bowed out of the Twenty20 World Cup at the hands of South Africa (196-5). This was bitter disappointment, having beaten favourites Sri Lanka when Alex Hales (116) became the first Englishman to score a century in the competition. Meanwhile, England’s women reached the semi-finals of their

20/20 cricket World Cup. SNIPPETS • Unbeaten Bayern Munich have clinched their 24th Bundesliga title. • Five Manchester United stars - Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, and Paul Scholes - have applied to the FA to buy Salford City.... all have links with the non-League club. • Of the five West Midlands football clubs, only WBA made a profit in 2013. Villa, Birmingham, Walsall and Wolves, lost £87.5m between them. • Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3 to win the Masters Open in Miami. • Reigning champion Marc Marquez (Spain) held off Valentino Rossi (Italy) to win the first MotoGP of the year in Qatar. The second is in Texas a week on Sunday. • Former GB number one tennis player Elena Baltacha has been diagnosed with liver cancer.

Playoffs loom as season comes to an end From Back Page team players who endeavour to pass on their love of the sport and also show the children what it means to be part of a rugby team. The other team taking part in the final playoff is Ibiza RC, the only Ibiçencan team who play in Can Misses, just outside Ibiza town. They gained strength towards the end of the season moving up from third place and defeating Bahia RC in the playoff. RC Ponent, who were defeated in the semifinal by El Toro RC are due to meet Bahia RC to play for third and fourth place. RC Ponent was founded in 2000 and play their home matches at Principes de España in Palma. They have

EL TORO RC: The oldest rugby club in the Baleares. been able to manage two senior teams throughout the season, but their first team taking priority does reduce their

player availability for the local encounters. RC Ponent also plays teams in the younger categories and has gone

from strength to strength over recent years. Bahia RC was a break-away team from RC Ponent a long time ago and over the last season have improved considerably, remaining in second place in the league until the last few matches. Both matches will take place at Son Caliu rugby pitch this Saturday. Kick-off to decide third and fourth place will be at 12.30 followed by the main event of the day, the final between El Toro RC and Ibiza RC. Kick-off at 14.30. The trophies will be presented to the teams after the games. Spectators are welcome. Free entry to the matches and refreshments will be available.

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port S Teams prepare for final playoff Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton ‘comfortably’ won the Malaysian GP last Sunday - his 23rd race victory overall. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was second with Sebastian Vettel third.

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

By Lynda Demangeat AS the Baleares Senior League season comes to an end, the final of the playoffs to decide which is the top senior rugby team in the Baleares League looms large. The culmination of a season’s commitment to training, determination and tactics will all be put to the test. The final of this season’s Baleares League

is between El Toro RC and Ibiza RC, the only team to beat El Toro RC during the season. El Toro Rugby Club is the oldest rugby club in the Baleares. Founded in 1990, it has grown in strength and size especially over the last few years as rugby on the islands has gained popularity. From sharing a grass pitch in El Toro, which is where the name began, to an unforgiving

PHOTO: PABLO MATEU ZELARAYAN, BALEARES RUGBY FEDERATION.

Mallorca’s best guide to local sport

pitch shared with footballers in Son Ferrer. In 2009, they arrived in Son Caliu, where they

have one of the few international standard artificial pitches in Spain.

The senior team spent a few seasons playing in the Primera National

The Girls’ League The only match played last weekend was in the girls’ league between Ponent RC and El Toro RC. Final score was 5 points to 22 for El Toro RC, who have returned to strength after a few injury-hit games. As well as the Senior Finals, the U18 teams will also be in action in Son Caliu. Sunday is for the younger players when the U8, U10, U12 and U14 categories will be playing in Inca.

BAHIA RC: Shown great improvement over the last season. League in Spain but lack of both financial and human resources made it difficult to sustain two teams. Although they are entitled, as League winners to participate, they turn down the opportunity, preferring to play in the Baleares League and encourage the advancement of the game on home territory. The club has a very strong U18 team and coaches all ages down to the ‘Escoleta’ which has children from as young as three. Coaching is mainly provided by the senior Turn to Page 47