Euro Weekly News - Mallorca 17 - 23 April 2014 Issue 1502

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17 - 23 APRIL 2014

ISSUE NO. 1502

EWNFRONT EXTRA

Building work on the rise THERE has been growth in the construction industry in the Balearics during the first quarter of 2014, the first time the trend has been positive in the last five years.

Nadal still top MALLORCAN star Rafa Nadal is still number one in the men’s world tennis ranking as he prepares to battle it out in the Monte Carlo Masters.

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Calvia and Soller in the Top 10 CALVIA and Soller are amongst tourists’ Top 10 favourite destinations in Spain. Calvia came in eighth place on the classification given by travel website TripAdvisor, and Soller was in 10th position. The first three positions were held by Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla. The mayor of Calvia,

Manuel Onieva, picked up the Traveller’s Choice Award given by TripAdvisor based on the opinions of the site’s users about hotels, restaurants and places of interest. Mayor Carlos Simarro represented Soller to collect the award from General Manager of Turespaña, Marta Blanco, at an event in Madrid.

On a worldwide level, Barcelona came in 15th position. The first three positions were given to

Istanbul, Rome and London. Awards were given to 500 destinations worldwide.

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Photo from flickr by Tobias Leeger

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THIS WEEK IN

EWN News 1 - 18

Finance 21 - 26 SPANISH TOURISTS: More are expected this summer.

Spanish tourists return FOLLOWING four years of falling figures, Spanish tourists are returning to the Balearic Islands. According to travel agencies and tour operators, reservations for Easter and throughout the summer months

are on the increase. This is partly thanks to ferry companies offering more routes and discounts. There has also been a steadier price for airline tickets.

Pictures for foreign patients INCA Hospital has introduced picture cards to ensure better communication with foreign patients. The cards, in English, French, Arabic, Romanian, Russian, Catalan and Spanish, have numbers and parts of the body as well as key words, such as ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘sometimes,’ ‘always,’ ‘pain,’ etc. They aim to help patients who don’t speak any of the official languages of the Balearic Islands to provide information on their health and receive basic instructions. The proposal came from nursing staff who deal with many tourists and immigrants at the hospital who don’t speak Spanish.

Letters 27

Daily TV 30

Leapy Lee 32

Time out 36 - 37

Classifieds 46 - 48

Sport 56

NEWS Split up SCHOOLS in sa Pobla plan to distribute students in a different manner to prevent most North African children from going to the same school. Lesser evil HOTELIERS in Calvia consider that limiting works with heavy machinery in tourist areas between May and October from 10.30am to 1pm is a ‘lesser evil.’

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Injured soldier awarded €1,010 A SOLDIER based in Palma has taken the Ministry of Defence to court for limiting the compensation for injuries sustained in Afghanistan to €1,010. The professional soldier, originally from Colombia, was travelling in a convoy in Afghanistan four years ago when an anti-tank mine exploded, killing one soldier and injuring six others. He had to abandon his unit and was returned to Palma as a driver. When he was initially examined at a military

hospital set up in Afghanistan his injuries were said to be slight. When he returned, examinations in Spain also ruled that he had slight loss of hearing and no serious injuries, and it was decided that he deserved €1,010 in compensation. He disagreed and presented a report to the National Court proving that he has memory and hearing loss as well as having to undergo counselling and demanding €75,000. However, they have accepted the evaluation of the Ministry of Defence.

PHOTO: Iakov Filimonov / Shutterstock.com

Price rise ELECTRICITY is more expensive at night now for almost 900,000 clients in the Balearic Islands whose tariffs are affected by recent changes. Prison threat SEVEN University students are facing 18 months in prison for occupying the headquarters of the Balearic Department of Education, Culture and Universities in May 2012.

Health matters THE Balearic Islands’ Foreign Health Department prescribed 15,137 vaccinations, attended 301 public health emergencies and seized 15,300 shipments of drugs in 2013. Water quality THE upkeep of the waters on the beaches of Mallorca for bathing has been put out for public tender until 2016 with a budget of €1.4 million.

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ews watch

More light for Magaluf

CALVIA Town Hall is installing 1.5 kilometres of new lights along the beaches of Magaluf to help to prevent crimes and vandalism.

Rubbish laws RESIDENTS of Calvia can expect large fines for failing to abide by the new rubbish disposal laws, and the town’s socialist party has demanded that the amounts to be fined be revised.

No paintball

Carts immobilised LOCAL POLICE in Palma stopped three horse-drawn carts from working because they hadn’t passed their compulsory annual checks. Local produce SUPERMARKET group Mercadona increased purchases in the Balearic Islands to the value of €124 million in 2013, purchasing a variety of local products.

EWN

By George, say it with a book

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PRIL 23 is Saint George’s Day, the National Day of England, as well as having been declared by UNESCO International Day of the Book. This is because April 23, 1616, was the date of the death of English playwright William Shakespeare and the birth of Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. In Cataluña, books have an even more important role in celebrations, as it is customary for sweethearts to exchange books on what is known as ‘La Diada de Sant Jordi.’ The day is also known as ‘Dia de la Rosa’ (Day of the Rose) or ‘Dia del Llibre’ (Day of the Book). Since Medieval times, men gave roses to their lovers to mark this day, and in return, women would give them books. The saying went “a rose for love and a book forever.” With Barcelona being the publishing capital of

Quote of the Week Let’s see, erm... Measures to create employment? Well the truth is that something really strange happened to me, I wrote down the solution but I can’t read my own writing.” Mariano Rajoy on being asked what he was planning to do about the unemployment situation.

ST GEORGE’S DAY: The National Day of England is shared by UNESCO International Day of the Book. Spain, it is not surprising that in the 1920s, the tradition of giving books began to be promoted in a big way. In Barcelona’s most visited street, La Rambla, and all over Cataluña, thousands of stalls selling roses and books are set up for the occasion and some four million roses and 800,000 books are purchased on this day alone. This is almost half of the total book sales for a year in Cataluña. The colour of the roses has also gained importance, as different colours are said to signify different feelings including love, friendship, happiness, etc.

Number of the week the amount of money spent per €505 isweek by the average European

tourist in Spain according to a Skyscanner survey; this includes flight, hotel, meals out and entertainment.

RESIDENTS in Santa Ponsa have opposed plans for a paintball attraction on the beach at a meeting held by Calvia Town Hall.

Dog park A NEW area for dogs with a surface of almost 2,500 square metres has opened in Son Parera Park in Palma following requests from many of the residents in El Molinar.

Fresh fish FISHERMEN in Cala Rajada have opened a fish shop at the port which will sell freshly caught fish from 6pm to 7pm.

Full house DURING the summer months last year, the population of Mallorca rose 60 per cent from the yearround population to more than 1.37 million inhabitants.

And finally... Cheating husbands are fuelling the building boom in China; dormitory towns of concubines are springing up across southern China to cater to Hong Kong businessmen’s mistresses.

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NEWS NEWS EXTRA

Doctors and nurses WOMEN account for more than 75 per cent of healthcare staff at Manacor’s two hospitals and health centres.

Internet use

CHARLEY’S ANGELS: Walking for a very special little boy.

Charley’s Angels A GROUP of ladies known as Charley’s Angels are raising funds for a very special little boy named Charley and ensuring that his welfare and well-being are maintained. They are organising a walk across the island starting from Cap des Pinar in the North and finishing at the House of Katmandu in Magalluf. This event will take place from April 24-27. The walk will tackle some difficult terrain and spans more than 110 kilometres and the Angels will be walking from six to eight hours per day over the four days.

There are five ladies involved: Debbie Crooks (Charley’s Mum), Mary Willoughby, Emma Conlin, Victoria Dearing and Carol McCarthy. There is also a back-up Angel, Sophie Kneller. Charley was born on September 4, 2008, weighing just 1.280 kilos, and spent his first seven months of life in intensive care. Charley has been diagnosed as having some of the signs of CHARGE syndrome. Mallorca’s Son Espases Hospital and London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital share Charley’s care. Charley’s Angels are

hoping that all Euro Weekly News readers will lend their support and this can be done in the form of direct sponsorship or coming to the Katmandu event on the day. If you wish to donate directly please do so via http://www.youcaring. com/medicalfundraiser/charley-sangels/137476 For more information about the Angels and their fundraising, check their Facebook page https://www.facebook. com/groups/629352947 100343/. If you want to join in for the last leg of the

ALMOST 76 per cent of residents of the Balearic Islands used the internet in 2013, and 14 per cent more of the population aged 64 to 75 showed an interest in going online.

Body found THE body of a woman in her 30s was found in a car inside a private garage in es Rafal, Palma. She is thought to have died three days earlier from an overdose. journey, new Angels are welcome to walk the Palma to Magalluf route on Sunday April 27. If you would like to do this or volunteer to help in any way, please contact Charley’s Angels through their Facebook page.

Teenage prostitute defends boyfriend A WOMAN admitted in court that she slept with men for money when she was 16, but denies that her boyfriend, facing 14 years in prison forced her into it. The Romanian woman, now 18, claims that when she was 13, her father forced her to enter an illegal marriage and that when her ‘husband’ left her, she went back to her family in Palma before meeting the accused and going to live with him in Barcelona in 2012. Her father reported her missing, but said she called home once a month. National Police brought her back to Palma, but as soon as she turned 18, she returned to the accused. She said that she had worked as a street prostitute, sharing her earnings with her boyfriend to help with the rent. His defence is asking for an acquittal or two years in prison because although he did accept money from the girl, he maintains he never forced her into it.

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NEWS

FIRE AT SEA: The burning boat just a few miles from El Toro islet.

Ship catches fire at sea off Calvia A SMALL ship caught fire for reasons which are unknown, just a few miles from El Toro islet off Calvia. The 7.5-metre-long Cabranes was completely wrecked and sunk, although the only person on board was rescued uninjured. He was in a state of shock. Another ship saw a column of smoke

and approached the area while notifying coastguards. A rescue mission was launched, although the man who was on board was taken by the other ship to Port Adriano while coastguards put out the fire. After collecting the debris, they returned to Port Adriano to attend to the victim.

German’s death reveals arranged marriages THE death of a German man in Palma a month ago uncovered a network which arranged marriages and false contracts for illegal immigrants, and led to six arrests. The man, 64, was living in Palma with his girlfriend, who

reportedly suggested they should get married so she could get a widow’s pension. He confessed that he had married four Nigerian and Ecuadorian immigrants in exchange for money, and offered others false work contracts in exchange

3 years for abuse A MAN, 63, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for hitting his partner with a dog leash and breaking three of her teeth in Palma in 2013. The couple argued in their home and he began hitting her. When she fell to the floor, he got on top of her and punched her several times in the mouth, breaking three teeth and inflicting several other injuries. The man, an alcoholic, was drunk at the time. He is banned from coming near the victim or communicating with her in 10 years and will have to pay her €600 in compensation.

for sexual favours. An investigation was launched which revealed that one of the women had paid €6,000 to marry him and from then on, found illegal immigrants who wanted to legalise their situation in Spain and put them in touch with the man. Most of them later moved to Switzerland. The woman had up to 22 people registered as residents at her address. She and her partner ran a bar which was searched by the police, and her daughter had received money to marry an Ecuadorian who was also living in Switzerland. Six people have been charged with fraud and document falsification, one of them a prostitute wanted for mugging tourists in s’Arenal.

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Second post-mortem for victim of hotel fall ANOTHER post-mortem examination will be carried out on the body of a young

Italian tourist who fell to her death in Palma in 2011. Martina Rossi was on

holiday when she fell from a sixth-floor balcony of the Santa Ana Hotel in Cala Major and died almost instantly. The case was closed as National Police and a Palma court considered she had jumped or had had an accident. However, in 2012, at the request of her family, an investigation was launched by the Italian authorities, who believed that two Italian men, aged 22 and 23, were directly responsible for her death. They were staying in the same hotel and are believed to have returned with Martina after a night partying, attempted to force her to have sex, and when she tried to escape to the neighbouring balcony, she lost her balance and fell.

They have been charged with attempted sexual assault, manslaughter and failing to help the victim, although at present they remain free. Two of their friends have also been charged for giving them a false alibi. They deny the accusations but admit they were with the victim, claiming she began to undress before attacking one of them and jumping off the balcony. They had previously told the Spanish police they knew nothing of what had happened. Her body, buried in Imperia, will be exhumed and taken to Pisa where within two months a new forensic report will be supplied.

DECISIONS: Taxis plan strike.

Decisions ahead for taxi drivers TAXI drivers in Palma plan strikes today (Thursday), tomorrow and Monday, as well as protests next Thursday and on April 20. However, they promised to cancel the protests if the city hall went ahead with a referendum regarding proposed new systems. Many drivers are asking for plans to increase all taxis to seven-seaters to be scrapped, as well as doing away with benefits for electric taxis and measures to legalise other types of vehicles, which they consider unfair competition. There will also be a referendum on April 28 to decide the new summer timetable. More than 1,240 drivers will decide whether to keep the current timetables or change them. One union is promoting four days working and one free, while another proposes a choice of 16 hours work and then three days off, or 19 days work followed by six days off.

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NEWS NEWS EXTRA

Wanted man arrested A MAN, 52, who has been wanted since June for the alleged sexual abuse of minors was arrested at his home in Llucmajor by the Guardia Civil. COCAINE: Package burst in victim’s stomach.

On trial for death of drugs ‘mule’ SEVEN Nigerians are on trial for the death of a drugs smuggler who had swallowed a pellet of 400 grammes of cocaine which burst in his system. Between 2011 and 2012, the network brought large quantities of cocaine and heroin into Mallorca for distribution, via packages sent from South America,

Nigeria and Holland, as well as by smugglers. Four of them recruited a 22-year-old Romanian to carry drugs from Madrid to Palma in January 2012. He began to feel ill on the flight and was arrested upon arrival at Palma. He was taken to hospital where he expelled 22 pellets, but another burst inside him, causing his death. Several more ‘mules’ and packages were intercepted in the months running up

to his death. The network was dismantled in a police operation in Son Gotleu in February 2012. The four leaders of the network are facing between 13 and 15 years in prison, the others are facing nine-and-a-half years. Another man failed to appear in court and an arrest warrant was issued. The defence is asking for the case to be annulled, claiming the phone taps on which the case was based were illegal.

Capdepera crash A MAN, 52, was seriously injured in a traffic accident in Capdepera when the vehicle in which he was travelling left the road and crashed.

Cyclist rescued FIREFIGHTERS had to rescue a cyclist in his 60s who fell down a 15-metre embankment after his bicycle left the Puigpunyent road.

Walking accident A WOMAN, 79, had to be rescued by firemen and Guardia Civil after she fell and hit her head in the Binifaldo area of Escorca.

Drunken outburst TWO men, apparently drunk, burst into the Sant Jaume Parish Church in Palma during mass. They were identified by the Local Police.

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NEWS EXTRA

Queen in Mallorca QUEEN SOFIA has started her traditional Easter holiday in Mallorca, accompanied by her sister Irene. Other members of the royal family are expected to join her soon.

More jobs over Easter THE Easter and May holiday periods will help boost the Balearic economy by creating 2,700 temporary jobs. Many out-of-work professionals are now competing for the posts alongside those seeking their first employment placement.

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Palma Cathedral bomb hoax caller detained A MAN who called in a false bomb threat to Palma Cathedral has been arrested. The 39-year-old, who was detained in Santiago de Compostela

but lives in Madrid, burst on to the set of a live news broadcast on Spanish state TV station TVE at 9pm on April 2. He had started making

hoax calls on March 31, claiming bombs had been planted in the cathedral, monuments and museums, as well as media headquarters throughout Spain.

Singer guilty of tax fraud SPANISH singer Ana Torroja has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and a fine of €477,600 for tax fraud. However, she will exchange the prison sentence for another fine of €9,000, having admitted to the charges in court in Palma and reaching an agreement with the anti-corruption prosecutor and state lawyers. She admitted that she had failed to pay taxes in 2003, 2006 and 2007, hiding part of her income in foreign companies in the Dutch Antilles, Holland and Panama, as well as three Spanish companies.

Photo from flickr by portaldelsures

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Ana Torroja: Tax evasion woes.

The day before he was arrested, he claimed there were bombs at Santiago de Compostela Airport and one of the city’s university buildings. The calls caused some alarm, people had to be evacuated and bomb squads were called in, but none of the searches revealed any explosives. In the case of Palma, he claimed he had planted a bomb and that the building should be evacuated. A search revealed a lost backpack but no explosives. Although visitors to the cathedral were surprised to see police officers in the building, there was no panic. He could face six months to a year in prison or fines.

NEWS Young vicar reconsiders his decision A YOUNG Manacor vicar has reportedly hung up his cassock just a year after being ordained. According to a report in Diario de Mallorca, Joan Isern, 27, has thought long and hard about his decision, and decided that he is not cut out to be a vicar. He became Vicar of Els Dolors, Crist Rei and Sant Pau churches in September 2013, after becoming Deacon in May 2012, and Chaplain in November that year. Rector of Manacor, Andreu Genovart, said that Isern had done an excellent job, and that although they were saddened by his decision, they respected it and were proud of him. His place will be taken temporarily by the former Vicar of Manacor, Xisco Vicens.

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Police on trial for torturing Brits TWO Guardia Civil officers are standing trial in Palma Provincial Court for allegedly torturing two British men while in custody in Palmanova, in November 2009. The two men were arrested after a pub fight during which one of them knocked out an off-duty Guardia Civil. Two members of the force who handled the investigation into the alleged torture said in court that the injuries sustained by the two detainees did not appear to be self-inflicted, as claimed by the accused officers.

This contradicts what was said by the two officers, who claimed that the detainees sustained the wounds by throwing themselves against the patrol car when they were being taken to the station, and that one of them fell when he was attempting to escape. They claimed that the two men were “out of control� and that they had had to use force to control them. However, the investigation showed that the stories of the two Britons coincided, despite them having been in different cells. One of them claimed he had heard his friend being beaten and the other said he was hit with a truncheon and gloves, kicked in the crotch and that food he was given was thrown on the floor. Two other officers who A MORTAR projectile was found by a man were on duty said no cleaning out a storage facility in the Sant Jordi excessive force was used district of Palma. against the two men, who He alerted Local Police who evacuated the were violent, while others area and took the projectile, which had once say they observed strange been fired and contained no explosives. behaviour that night.

Projectile found while cleaning

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Paddy’s Got Talent! A SEVENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD British expatriate was the star of the show of Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent. Despite being buzzed by Simon Cowell early in what seemed a dull routine, Paddy Jones and her dance partner Nico Espinosa held their nerve to launch into an acrobatic dance routine that left the audience and judges gasping. A twirling Paddy performed a series of moves that would put competitors 60 years younger to shame with her energy, technique and courage. And that led to a standing ovation from the huge crowd at Birmingham’s ICC where the audition was filmed, an apology from Simon Cowell for buzzing her and Amanda Holden hitting the Golden Buzzer. That puts Paddy (real name Sarah) and Nico straight through to the smash ITV show’s semi-finals. Paddy said her dreams of becoming a dancer ended in 1956 when she married and decided to raise a family. She and husband David finally retired to Gandia on the Costa Blanca, but shortly afterwards, in 2003, he died of leukaemia. So the great-grandmother decided to fill the hours by taking up dance again. She walked into Nico’s dance studio hoping to learn Flamenco. The pair hit

Photo by ITV

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TWIRLING: Paddy and Nico wowed the audience. it off and were soon competing in club competitions around Spain. In 2009, they won the Spanish TV talent competition Tu Si Que Vales. Editor says... Page 19

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Lottery scam NATIONAL Police in Torremolinos have detained three people for allegedly swindling others on the ‘Nigerian Lottery’ email scam.

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

Olive Oscar

THE beaches and waters of the Costa del Sol are at a good level of purity, according to a report by the Department of Health.

Hotel occupation HOTELS in the Costa del Sol area are at 65 per cent occupancy and are expected to hit at least 75 per cent before the weekend.

COSTA DE ALMERÍA

Meteor shower THE last two weeks of April bring the Lyrid meteors. According to www.earthsky.org the best time to see them is the few hours before dawn on April 22.

Rubber robber GUARDIA CIVIL have arrested a man, 43, accused of stealing 50,000 feet of irrigation rubber from a farm in Cuevas del Almanzora.

Goods recovered COMPUTER equipment and powdered milk stolen from the hospital in Vera have been recovered by police. They are questioning a minor in connection with the incident

Summer’s coming

Sharing skills VILLENA fireman Francisco Jose Catalan, a ‘Firefighters without Frontiers’ member, spent three weeks in the Dominican Republic helping to train local volunteers in fire prevention and extinction.

ALICANTE CITY’S municipal tow truck will target cars parked at bus stops. These often make it impossible for the disabled to use public transport, the Alicante Accessible Association said.

Malaga donations

Good beaches

popular destination for Russians after Cataluña, with 128,398 arrivals last year.

Firm line

MALAGA Company Finca La Torre-Finca la Reja is among the Spanish companies which will receive the Mario Solinas prize for 2014. The prize is considered the equivalent of an Oscar in the olive grower’s world.

MALAGA fire service is to donate two fire trucks to NGO Firemen without Frontiers. The engines will be destined to help in the Third World.

NEWS DESK

Death explained OWNER HEARTBROKEN: Red tape has meant closure.

Kennels’ nightmare

HUNDREDS of supporters of the Eurasier Dream Kennels in Los Montesinos have signed an online petition protesting against the business’s closure. The kennels were closed earlier this month, devastating owner Lynne Cooper who said she had become a victim of bureaucracy and red tape. Problems arose after Lynne and her partner bought the kennels and moved over from England to ‘live the dream’. “It has has now become a nightmare,” said Lynne. The couple tried to transfer the licence into their names but were met with obstructions at the town hall. They invested more money in carrying out a range of checks and getting licences at the request of the town hall. “We have done everything they asked and even paid €420 for a fence licence to since be told that no such thing exists,” added Lynne. The issues have resulted in the breakdown of Lynne’s relationship. “The amount of people and the customers we are letting down is heartbreaking,” she said. Lynne is seeking legal advice on the situation. collected 855 kilos. The goods are distributed to the needy.

newborns, as part of activities to mark World Health Day.

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

Market hug

Three killed THREE people have been killed in a car crash on the N-332 at Torrevieja. A priest was killed in one car as it collided with another being driven by a couple from Toledo.

Residents’ ideas

A BODY washed up in Villajoyosa belonged to an 88-year-old Santander woman staying in Benidorm. She was swept away by the sea after suffering a heart attack, police believe.

Nice try A FIND-THE-LADY ‘trilero’ trickster operating on Benidorm’s streets is suing a National Police officer. He arrested him for preventing police from frisking a female accomplice, the man complained.

AXARQUIA

Cruise season THE cruise season opened in Granada with the arrival of the MS Prinsendam, which brought more than 30,000 people to the locality.

Motril drugs TWO sales points, in the same building, have been closed down and three people detained for the possession of marijuana in Motril. Police also confiscated €1,755 in cash.

Nazarene market

A HUMAN chain surrounded the Central Market of Elche symbolising a ‘hug’ as residents expressed their opposition to the construction of a new market building.

CALAHONDA is hosting a Nazarene market during Easter. There will be falconry exhibitions as well as many stalls selling artisanal products.

Palm Sunday

Torrenueva Masterchef

AROUND 60,000 people lined Elche’s streets for the annual Palm Sunday parade. The procession of palms has been declared of ‘International Tourist Interest’ in the city.

RESIDENTS of Torrenueva were glued to the TV on Wednesday to watch Cristobal Gomez, son of a local restaurateur by the same name, as he participated in the popular Masterchef programme.

COSTA BLANCA NORTH

67 countries

TEMPERATURES in the mid-20s have been forecast for the week across Almeria. Very little cloud is expected.

NEIGHBOURHOOD association San Miguel Archangel of San Miguel has presented 242 proposals for promoting the economic development and living conditions of the municipality.

Correos food banks

Infant massage

More flights

COUNTRY-WIDE, Correos (Post Office) has collected more than 24 tonnes of food for the Food Bank of Spain. Almeria

NEW mothers in Santa Pola have taken part in an infant massage workshop to help strengthen the bond with their

RUSSIAN airlines S7, VIM and Orenair have requested more slots at Alicante Airport. Alicante is already the second most

RETIRED Motril lawyer, Kandy Garcia Santos, has been going round and round the world since she retired 14 years ago. She now has 67 countries in her backpack.

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Networking expats THE expats club Mallorca is set for its next networking party. It will be held on April 21 at the Key West Cocktail Bar from 7pm. The club will welcome all international English speaking people in Calvia to join them at the first Expats Club Mallorca party, in Puerto Portals. This will be a great evening of social and business networking in the international Calvia expats community. Entrance is â‚Ź10 and

includes a welcome drink, finger food and high quality networking, as well as lifetime membership in the Expats Club International. Bring your business cards, your biggest smile and your best social skills! The programme will run as follows: 7pm to 7.45pm, registration, mingle and welcome drink, 7.45pm welcome speech by founder Peter Redrin and guest speaker. From 8-11pm there will be social and business

Schools assist

REMOTE translation services will be available at schools in the Balearic Islands in 51 languages. The Council of Education, Culture and Universities offers the service to improve communication between teachers and pupils’ families who do not speak any of the official languages of the Balearic Islands. The project is financed by the Department of Cooperation and Immigration and the languages most in demand are Chinese, Hindu, Russian, German and English. Translation of documents, letters and three-way phone calls with immediate interpretation are also planned.

networking, music and a nice party. Email: contact@ expatsclubinternational. com for guest list or visit www. expatsclubinternational .com

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S CANDINAVIAN P RESS

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Stories making headlines in Europe

GERMAN

BRITISH PRESS Cold amnesia

Horse brawl

Bean warming

NORWAY - A man, found unconscious in a snowdrift with total amnesia in Oslo last December, has been identified by his parents in the Czech Republic. Police are still looking into the circumstances which led to his disappearance and amnesia.

A BRAWL erupted at a horse fair in Hampshire when two warring families set against each other with catapults and batons. Six people were arrested.

FAMILIES in the UK should eat fewer baked beans because of the impact of their ‘smelly emissions’ on global warming.

Cloned dog

Teenage smuggling

BRITAIN’S first cloned dog, Mini Winnie, cost a whopping £60,000. Fortunately this was paid for by winning a South Korean competition to clone your dog.

TWO students, aged 16 and 17, sneaked two rusty old WWII bombs onto a flight out of Heathrow bound for the USA. Airport authorities are still looking into how this could have happened.

Everyone’s got talent

Hunted NORWAY Police have arrested 12 men on suspicion of the illegal hunting of wolves, which are an endangered species in Norway. Illegal hunters have killed as many as 100 wolves over the last decade.

Record level SWEDEN - The number of people who left Sweden last year hit historic levels when they headed over the borders in droves; most went to Norway or Denmark.

Bargain fruit SWEDEN - A punnet of strawberries went under the hammer in Stockholm for $27US. Last year, they cost $116US. Swedish strawberries are considered a delicacy due to their sweetness.

Lyme disease patients THE Dutch association of Lyme disease patients raises the alarm about the number of patients that killed themselves in the past few months because of their hopeless medical situation.

SIMON COWELL’S homegrown hit, the ‘Got Talent’ franchise, has received a Guinness record for being the world’s most popular TV show.

WOLF: Hunted. BOMB: A right caper.

RUSSIAN PRESS Collapse investigation STATE Duma lawmakers have requested an investigation to be opened against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev for his role in the dissolution of the U.S.S.R.

social networks to house Russian users’ personal data on Russian soil.

Dear chair AN online group, dedicated to monitoring state purchasing, has revealed that one government official’s chair cost $9,300US, when it could have been bought online for half that price.

Russia G20 THE Australian Treasurer has lain to rest rumours that Russia might be barred from the G20 Summit in Brisbane over the Crimea annexation, by confirming their attendance.

PRICEY: Careless purchase.

Patriotic maths

Digital gulag MOSCOW lawmakers are trying to expand Russia’s ‘digital sovereignty’ by passing legislation that would require all online

EUROPEAN PRESS

A MATHS textbook is to be removed from the national curriculum, due to the characters not being sufficiently Russian and, as such, ‘not conducive to instilling patriotism.’

DUTCH PRESS Telescope back

Father shot

Horse panic

AFTER two years of restoring the radio telescope in Dwingeloo, radio amateurs, amateur astronomers and schools can use it again for searching the sky.

THE Dutch father Van der Lugt, was kidnapped from his home by armed men, beaten and then killed by two bullets to the head in front of his house.

SEVERAL deaths among horses have caused panic amongst equestrian centres. The animals became ill and died shortly after eating hay containing the poisonous plant ‘Colchicum autumnale.’

PRESS Asylum seekers THE number of people applying for asylum in Germany has sky-rocketed by 80 per cent in the last year, due to global crises including Syria and Afghanistan.

Satanic trial TWO Satanists went on trial in Tubingen, southern Germany, for the alleged ‘bloodlust murder’ of a taxi driver outside a cemetery. Apparently, one of them thought he was a character from a Harry Potter book.

Cubs named NOBBY and Nela are the official names chosen for the two polar bear cubs born in Munich’s Hellabrunn zoo. The names were chosen by their ‘godparents,’ two benefactors of the zoo.

NSA denial USA spy bosses have denied a request from Chancellor Angela Merkel to look at her own secret service file, which contains over 300 reports on her mobile phone activity.

Toll motorways IN a controversial move, Germany’s transport minister has said that foreigners wishing to use Germany’s motorways can expect to start paying for the privilege from 2016.

DNA brings success THE Cold Case team of the The Hague police succeeded in identifying a man who was missing for 27 years by the DNA in a leg that was washed ashore on the isle of Terschelling.

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NEWS

A note from the

Editor

Follow your dreams T

O those who have lived on the Costas it is an all too familiar story. After a lifetime of hard graft, having brought up a family, it is time for many couples to put their feet up and enjoy their golden days. The dream of retirement to the sunny climes of Spain can finally be made a reality with the promise of many years to come enjoying the Spanish lifestyle. But for some that dream can end all too quickly when one half of a happy partnership sadly passes away. What to do far away from ‘home’ in unfamiliar surroundings and maybe no family or friends nearby? Loneliness can soon set in with the partner of a lifetime no longer there for company and love. Such was the scenario for Paddy

Jones when her beloved husband David passed away just months after they moved to Spain. But Paddy is a woman with a strong spirit, and a certain determined glint to her eyes. Grieving as she was, she decided not to sit back and mope, but to go for dance lessons, hoping to learn Flamenco. When she walked into the dance classes of Nico Espinosa it was the first step on a journey which would lead her to perform in front of a TV audience of 10 million in the hit show Britain’s Got Talent. She drew gasps and a standing ovation for her daring and acrobatic routine at the grand old age of 79. A lesson to us all. No matter your age you can still follow your dreams … you never know where they will lead you.

17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

EWN

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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

17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

business & legal

EWN

21

STAT OF WEEK FRAGRANCE and fashion company Puig reported profits of €176 million last year, a 2 per cent increase on 2012. The firm’s turnover of €1.499 billion was up by 1 per cent.

THE Spanish would rather work for IBM than any other company, a survey revealed. The research was carried out by Randstad, one of the world’s largest human resources consultancies for the fifth edition of its yearly awards to Spain’s best-regarded companies. Samsung and Hewlett Packard

were the next most-voted in the electronics sector after IBM. The BBVA group, Santander and Banco Sabadell were the most popular banks and Mercedes Benz, Renault and Volkswagen-Audi came out top in the automobile sector. Air Europa, Iberia and Renfe topped the transport category and

Starting to get money back... DESPITE the financial crisis, preference share sales continued long after it hit. Between 2008 and 2011 the finance sector placed a total of €12.55 billion as bank employees, pressured by superiors, talked thousands of the financially unsophisticated, in many cases, pensioners, into buying high risk products. They ignored the exceptionally small print and no-one bothered to explain that they would have to wait decades - if ever - to redeem their money. Nor were they told that after the second year, interest would be pegged to the Euro

Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) rate and they were not covered by the European Commission Guarantee Scheme. Scandal-spattered banks and the Spanish stock market regulator CNMV have since pledged that the scandal will never be repeated. Thanks to arbitration, more than 60 per cent of small investors sold preference shares by Bankia, Novagalicia Banco and Catalunya Bank have since received some redress. So far 269,379 clients have received repayment of €1.890 billion, with many more cases due to go to arbitration.

El Corte Ingles, Ikea and Decathlon were the most-valued stores. Desigual, H&M and Inditex were voted favourite clothing labels and Accor hotels, Melia and NH the best hotel chains. Randstad media awards also went to Antena 3TV (Atresmedia), Mediaset and the state broadcaster TVE.

B

usiness extra

Digging for the dirt THE Ministry of Labour will pay data-mining consultants €5 million to track down labourrelated and Social Security fraud. It was not outsourcing, Minister Fatima Bañez claimed but “adaptation to new technology.”

Time to go FORMER socialist Finance Minister Miguel Boyer leaves the board of REE in May. The 75-year-old, who foregoes an annual €147,000, will be succeeded by civil engineer Socorro Fernandez Larrea.

Iberia routes to be reinstated FLAGSHIP airline Iberia, who merged with BA to create IAG, will return to Latin America. Direct flights between Madrid Barajas and Santo Domingo have been reinstated and the Istanbul and Athens routes are returning a year after they were eliminated. All were money-losers but IAG is taking a different view following

productivity agreements with pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. Low-cost Iberia Express begins flying from Barajas to Amsterdam twice daily in July and twice-weekly flights to Stockholm will commence in July. “We are committed long-term to Madrid, Spain and the T4 terminal,” said Iberia.

JEXWEBER.FOTO

IBM most popular workplace IBM: Most preferred company to work for.

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E W N 17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 14

C O M PA N Y PRICE(P) Aberdeen Asset Mngmnt 425.60 Admiral Group PLC 1358.00 Aggreko PLC 1483.00 Anglo American PLC 1518.25 Antofagasta PLC 837.25 ARM Holdings PLC 943.50 Ashtead Group PLC 847.50 Associated British Foods 2657.50 AstraZeneca PLC 3738.75 Aviva PLC 495.70 Babcock International 1376.00 BAE Systems PLC 394.45 Barclays PLC 235.38 Barratt Developments 377.85 BG Group PLC 1104.00 BHP Billiton PLC 1905.75 BP PLC 469.83 British Amrcn Tobacco 3431.25

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G. -6.60 -1.53 -1.00 -0.07 -11.00 -0.74 -19.00 -1.24 12.50 1.52 -15.00 -1.56 -32.70 -3.72 13.00 0.49 -41.50 -1.10 -3.40 -0.68 -19.00 -1.36 -4.00 -1.00 -0.60 -0.25 -8.60 -2.23 -8.50 -0.76 -3.50 -0.18 -5.75 -1.21 39.00 1.15

NET VOLUME 340.66 36.04 33.73 541.37 220.57 389.17 441.13 60.22 234.44 257.68 95.69 473.37 3,372.05 610.56 175.24 387.98 3,686.37 234.64

See our advert on page 25

0.82794

Units per €

US dollar..................................................................1.38516 Japan yen..............................................................140.729 Switzerland franc ...............................................1.21480 Denmark kroner ................................................7.46630 Norway kroner ..................................................8.24544

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

651.00 874.75 355.50 1586.00 1412.00 1077.00 2218.00

DOW JONES

NASDAQ

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 14

C LOSING P RICES APRIL 14

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 132.39 84.54 35.20 122.07 101.45 117.03 22.47 66.09 96.72 25.43 152.72 75.70 26.18 195.19 96.87 55.30 99.29 55.92 39.21 71.25 29.86 80.76 38.63 85.30 113.93 78.95 47.07 196.63 76.50 77.01

-1.58 -0.82 +0.08 -1.57 -0.81 +0.34 -0.19 -0.38 -0.06 -0.15 -3.26 -1.08 -0.2451 -0.49 +0.33 -2.10 -0.14 +0.07 -0.151 -1.20 -0.75 -0.33 -0.26 +0.31 -0.63 -1.04 -0.40 -4.92 -0.39 -0.50

-1.18% -0.96% +0.23% -1.27% -0.79% +0.29% -0.84% -0.57% -0.06% -0.59% -2.09% -1.41% -0.93% -0.25% +0.34% -3.66% -0.14% +0.13% -0.38% -1.66% -2.45% -0.41% -0.67% +0.36% -0.55% -1.30% -0.84% -2.44% -0.51% -0.65%

2.4M 4.0M 34.6M 3.9M 5.4M 7.0M 47.3M 4.4M 13.4M 37.3M 6.5M 8.4M 36.1M 4.8M 8.7M 47.2M 6.6M 13.6M 34.3M 4.3M 40.8M 11.8M 18.1M 2.1M 3.1M 3.4M 25.8M 7.5M 8.0M 9.2M

1.20780

C H A N G E ( P ) % C H G. -4.00 -2.00 -2.60 -11.00 -1.00 -11.00 -30.00

C O M PA N Y

-0.61 -0.23 -0.73 -0.69 -0.07 -1.01 -1.33

PRICE

NET VOLUME 74.60 92.92 1,105.00 18.46 86.05 44.99 51.52

CHANGE NET / %

Most Advanced Zygo Corporation $ 19.43 Phibro Animal Health Corporation $ 17 JAKKS Pacific, Inc. $ 8.28 Titan Machinery Inc. $ 19.90 UBIC, Inc. $ 11.48 BofI Holding, Inc. $ 80.45 Achaogen, Inc. $ 13.31 Credit Suisse AG $ 7.37 ProShares UltraShort Nasdaq Biotechnology$ 20.86 China XD Plastics Company Limited $ 6.05 EveryWare Global, Inc. $ 4.05

4.75 ▲ 32.36% 2 ▲ 13.33% 0.75 ▲ 9.96% 1.76 ▲ 9.70% 0.99 ▲ 9.44% 6.01 ▲ 8.07% 0.72 ▲ 5.72% 0.39 ▲ 5.59% 1.04 ▲ 5.25% 0.28 ▲ 4.85% 0.17 ▲ 4.38%

Most Declined Arrowhead Research Corporation Retrophin, Inc. LDR Holding Corporation China Mobile Games and Entment Gr Ltd MacroGenics, Inc. RMG Networks Holding Corporation Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. NewLink Genetics Corporation Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Control4 Corporation

$ 13.13 $ 15.36 $ 23.95 $ 15.97 $ 20.38 $ 4.04 $ 3.69 $ 19.97 $ 14.02 $ 24.12 $ 17.44

2.74 ▼ 17.27% 2.89 ▼ 15.84% 3.95 ▼ 14.16% 2.58 ▼ 13.91% 3.11 ▼ 13.24% 0.60 ▼ 12.93% 0.49 ▼ 11.72% 2.54 ▼ 11.28% 1.60 ▼ 10.24% 2.72 ▼ 10.13% 1.96 ▼ 10.10%

C O M PA N Y PRICE(P) Centrica PLC 334.60 Coca-Cola HBC AG 1493.00 Compass Group PLC 904.25 CRH PLC 1733.50 Diageo PLC 1895.75 easyJet PLC 1668.50 Experian PLC 1054.50 Fresnillo PLC 917.25 G4S PLC 245.25 GKN PLC 373.35 GlaxoSmithKline PLC 1535.25 Glencore Xstrata PLC 315.47 Hammerson PLC 558.00 Hargreaves Lansdown 1239.50 HSBC Holdings PLC 618.30 IMI PLC 1499.50 Imperial Tobacco Grp 2486.00 InterContinental Hotels 1893.50 International Conslidtd ... 387.80 Intertek Group PLC 2906.50 ITV PLC 181.20 Johnson Matthey PLC 3131.00 Kingfisher PLC 425.05 Land Securities Group 1020.50 Legal & General Group 210.05 Lloyds Banking Group 72.15 London Stock Exchange 1783.00 Marks & Spencer Group 432.65 Meggitt PLC 466.35 Melrose Industries PLC 288.80 Mondi PLC 982.50 National Grid PLC 809.75 Next PLC 6345.00 Old Mutual PLC 197.55 Pearson PLC 1034.00 Persimmon PLC 1295.00 Petrofac Ltd 1392.00 Prudential PLC 1292.50 Randgold Resources 4711.50 Reckitt Benckiser Group 4809.50 Reed Elsevier PLC 872.25 Resolution Ltd 277.70 REXAM PLC 491.55 Rio Tinto PLC 3332.00 Rolls-Royce Holdings 1018.50 Royal Bank of Scotland 305.05 Royal Dutch Shell PLC 2341.75 Royal Mail PLC 492.90 RSA Insurance Group 92.97 SABMiller PLC 3142.50 Sage Group (The) PLC 387.90 Sainsbury (J) PLC 313.60 Schroders PLC 2536.50 Severn Trent PLC 1764.00 Shire PLC 2869.50 Smith & Nephew PLC 880.50 Smiths Group PLC 1231.50 Sports Direct Intrntnl... 760.75 SSE PLC 1464.00 Standard Chartered PLC 1331.25 Standard Life PLC 371.35 St. James's Place PLC 758.00 Tesco PLC 282.50 Travis Perkins PLC 1750.50 TUI Travel PLC 419.15 Tullow Oil PLC 831.50 Unilever PLC 2656.00 United Utilities Group 757.00 Vodafone Group PLC 213.05 Weir Group PLC 2478.50 Whitbread PLC 3953.00 William Hill PLC 321.95 Wm Morrison Suprmrkts 201.05 Wolseley PLC 3317.00 WPP PLC 1208.50

CHANGE -0.30 0.00 -5.00 -4.00 22.00 -32.00 -3.00 9.00 -1.10 -4.20 -17.00 3.75 -4.00 -17.00 0.80 -18.00 39.00 -12.00 -4.30 -8.00 -1.80 -29.00 -2.60 -2.00 -1.00 -0.83 -19.00 -2.90 -3.50 -3.62 -16.00 0.00 -43.57 -1.30 -2.50 -19.00 -12.00 -10.00 38.30 77.00 -9.00 -1.12 -8.40 3.22 -14.00 -1.00 -8.50 -2.10 -0.70 32.00 -2.59 4.08 -14.00 -6.00 -5.00 -3.00 3.00 -10.50 -4.31 10.00 -2.18 -6.00 1.30 -19.00 -3.20 3.50 19.00 -1.95 -0.75 -18.75 -79.00 -1.80 -0.20 -10.00 -11.00

% C H G. -0.09 0.00 -0.55 -0.23 1.17 -1.88 -0.28 0.99 -0.45 -1.11 -1.10 1.20 -0.71 -1.35 0.13 -1.19 1.59 -0.63 -1.10 -0.27 -0.98 -0.92 -0.61 -0.20 -0.47 -1.14 -1.05 -0.67 -0.75 -1.24 -1.60 0.00 -0.68 -0.65 -0.24 -1.44 -0.86 -0.77 0.82 1.63 -1.02 -0.40 -1.68 0.10 -1.36 -0.33 -0.36 -0.42 -0.75 1.03 -0.66 1.32 -0.55 -0.34 -0.17 -0.34 0.24 -1.36 -0.29 0.76 -0.58 -0.79 0.46 -1.07 -0.76 0.42 0.72 -0.26 -0.35 -0.75 -1.96 -0.56 -0.10 -0.30 -0.90

VOLUME 917.71 14.23 150.47 111.86 418.95 110.09 146.62 109.79 144.47 856.42 789.93 2,732.61 66.58 72.99 3,204.14 32.70 136.56 30.27 921.51 14.32 1,033.39 21.13 134.55 96.02 1,455.54 12,393.80 25.93 283.18 62.98 150.01 69.41 298.99 14.94 330.94 171.88 54.13 49.24 158.71 59.28 150.76 293.23 398.17 151.87 353.31 383.56 637.67 246.59 235.14 1,146.67 191.22 85.62 626.56 15.97 20.14 166.14 73.87 37.69 305.12 56.83 501.21 179.71 108.40 2,494.80 27.69 47.82 150.14 414.08 67.70 7,591.06 14.41 39.72 103.31 941.69 49.09 275.89

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

EU wins stand-off with China THE EU’s successful tussle with China over customs duty will benefit Spanish wine. China had threatened to slap on duty after Brussels accused China of exporting solar panels at lower than cost price. Until then Spain, which had an endless supply of cheap panels, had few complaints but EU members condemned China’s commercial practices. Brussels caved in and imposed a provisional 11.8 per cent duty on Chinese solar panels in June 2013. In return, Beijing launched an antidumping and anti-subsidy probe into European wine which, it claimed, received state help. China is the world’s fifth-most important wine consumer. France, Spain and Italy between them provide two-thirds of the wine that is drunk there and Spain, which exports 24.4 million bottles a year to China, would have been hardhit by punitive duties. Both sides have now reached agreement.

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17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

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Two-tier Spain is now paying for past excesses THE economic crisis has widened traditional differences between richer and poorer autonomous regions. Before the economic crisis Cataluña made the greatest contribution to Spain’s national GDP, accounting for 18.5 per cent of the total. Almost six years into the crisis, its 18.8 per cent contribution in 2013 was still higher than any other region’s. Madrid was not far behind and by the end of last year contributed 17.9 per cent of the GDP, 0.15 per cent more than in 2008. The GDP contributions from Andalucia and the Valencia region suffered the greatest reductions, with the former now second from the bottom amongst the 17 autonomous regions. It contributed 13.5 per cent to the national economy last year,

INDUSTRY: Drives Cataluña’s economy.

8.7 per cent less than in 2008. The Valencian Community’s contribution of 9.5 per cent was

10 per cent lower than six years ago. It was the same story with the

Best way of dealing with debt 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

THE best way of dealing with debt is to avoid people who expect credit. When people owe you money, for the period it is outstanding, you invest in their business not yours. Some businesses thrive by running their business on clients’ money; debt. These businesses could go to the bank to borrow money. After all, lending money is the bank’s business, not yours. They don’t approach banks because the bank qualifies credit history, sets rules, adds interest and imposes sanctions for those who don’t play ball. You are the soft option. When your business is owed money there is much collateral damage. Why borrow €5,000 plus interest from a bank if you are owed

EWN

CASH PROBLEMS: You can’t afford to invest in your business. a similar amount that is interest free? If you suffer cash flow problems you cannot take advantage of bulk discounts or special offers. You spend time chasing debts instead of promoting your business; you can’t afford to advertise, to invest in your business. Dealing with debt is more problematic in Spain than it is in Britain. For this reason Spain has attracted many shysters who have a cavalier attitude to paying their dues. The disreputable turn to their advantage the difficulties encountered in chasing debt. They work on the presumption that you will write it off and put it down to experience.

The artful dodgers then shamelessly move to the next sheep to be fleeced. The best way of avoidance is to insist on 50 per cent or full payment up-front until a working relationship is established. A genuine client will understand. I know of one businessman who boasted a confidence winning strategy. Having won the confidence of a client he would scam them for a massive amount and do a runner. Now serving time in the UK he will be out in less than 40 months. Not bad for decades of luxurious lifestyle. He still has his yachts, villas and cars to fall back on. Yes, crime does pay.

GDI (the GDP divided by the number of inhabitants) in rich and poor regions. In the Basque Region, Madrid, Navarra and Cataluña this either improved compared with the national average between 2008 and 2013 or did not fall. The country can be split into the half that is industrialised and the half that relied on the construction and property industries. “A crisis regulates past excesses and accentuates structural weaknesses,” pointed out economic strategist Jose Luis Martinez Campuzano. “The objective should cushion the first while carrying out reforms to overcome the second.”

No niche in Spanish high street for foreign banks WITH Citibank selling to Banco Popular, Barclays could be looking to dispose of its Spanish high street business. Other foreign banks like Natwest, Abbey and Lloyds have already thrown in the towel in Spain. “In the Eighties, everybody believed foreign banks would burst onto the scene and consolidate their position, but it didn’t happen. They said the same in the Nineties but again nothing happened,” a Spanish banking source told the national daily, ABC. Instead the foreign banks had an uphill struggle, not least because Spain’s leading banks had the retail market practically sewn up and they never acquired sufficient clients to be profitable. “To succeed in a niche like this, closeness to savers and companies is fundamental. It’s important

to know them personally,” the same source said. There was “a certain rejection” of foreign banks, the banker admitted. This rejection was invariably cited by foreign banks to justify their lack of success here, another banker agreed: “But that’s an excuse: there was no aversion. It never existed.” What did exist, Spanish bankers said, were management blunders and errors of judgement. These included foreign banks’ appetite for the property industry - and the mortgage market, with Barclays and Deutsche Bank sustaining bad debts of more than 40 per cent from the property sector and portfolios bulging with repossessions. Barclays, which has closed 161 branches since 2013, rebuffed rumours that the bank would sell the entire business.

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

A night with your boss in pyjamas!

Loose change A look at finance for females

Jane Plunkett jane.plunkett@euroweeklynews.com

THE typical modern system of managing a business often sees the boss at the top and the employees at the bottom. The boss being a Grand Emperor ruling over his servants, who nod and genuflect agreeably as they carry out their tasks. It’s true that many employees rarely see their employer and are often almost too scared to ask for an appointment to have a chat about working conditions. This type of environment is not conducive to motivating employees. Rather it leaves them feeling undervalued and resentful.

A recent study on ‘employee engagement’ reveals that a shocking 70 per cent of workers hate their jobs or are completely disengaged. Not good for the bottom line and not good for the health and satisfaction of workers either. But there is a way to change this - have a sleepover with your boss! Slumber parties were once refined to young girls and their friends but nowadays one super successful business has learned that a sleepover can benefit an employer and staff too. Whole Foods is a natural and organic food store across the US, Canada

sleepovers with the boss are commonplace, as the chief executive feels that spending time with and the UK. It opened its colleagues in a more first store in 1980 with the personal setting is the best idea to govern staff in a way to build up a trusting different way. A ‘caring relationship. leadership’ mental“I know this sounds ity was adopted weird, but there’s somethat strives to thing about sleeping in the value and retain same house and then fixing staff. At Whole breakfast or dinner Foods, together that is very much staff a bonding experience,” he said. The caring leadership approach allows all staff to have a say in the running of the company. For example, when a new member of staff starts working they are put in a team and put on SLEEPOVERS: two months Not just for probation. Only young girls. when they are approved by at

Keeping a UK car in Spain I read with interest your article last year in EWN regarding vehicles with foreign You and the registration plates on Spanish roads. We own a holiday home in Mallorca in which Law in Spain we spend the summer. We are not By David Searl Spanish residents. We were stopped by the Guardia Civil and told because we owned a house we needed to supply all paperwork to the authorities within seven days. We complied but have heard nothing since September. What is my situation? C.J. (Mallorca) A. It is true a foreign-registered vehicle owned by a non-resident can remain in Spain all year. The vehicle can be used on Spanish roads for six months in any calendar year. However, this vehicle must be at all times road-legal in its country of registration. This means your car must have an up-to-date MOT from the UK. Otherwise, it is not legal in the UK, which means it is not legal in Spain. The only legal way to obtain a UK MOT is to take the vehicle back to the UK. If I failed to make this clear earllier, I apologise. A Spanish ITV, does not meet the requirement. My advice is to take your car back to the UK and purchase a Spanish-registered car to use on your visits to Spain. If you have not heard from the Guardia Civil so far, they are doing you a favour. Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

BUSINESS EXTRA

Tried and true

least two-thirds of their team members in a secret ballot can they stay on permanently. There is a conscious effort made not to promote the ‘jerks’ within the company, while the pay system is nothing like Wall Street. The seven-strong executive team, all earn the same salary, which is capped at 19 times the average pay of a full-time worker. Every meeting is wrapped up with ‘appreciations’ to thank team members for their hard work. It may all sound a little airy-fairy to us cynical Europeans but the proof is in the pudding. Fastforward 30 years and the company now has 80,000 staff across 373 shops in the US alone. The results suggest caring leadership is very effective. Happy staff and big earnings!

DIA supermarkets offer only 33 per cent of manufacturers’ new lines in food, drink, cosmetics and cleaning products. Mercadona sells still less, with just 15.8 per cent.

Late payers SPANISH multinational OHL is claiming €116 million from Algeria’s motorways agency, ANA. The amount arises from a €450 million contract awarded in 2006 to construct a second Algiers ring road.

Low aid SPAIN gave just 0.16 per cent of its gross national income to official development aid (ODA) in 2013, according to new OECD figures compared to an average 0.41 per cent OECD average. The UK gave 0.7 per cent - the level recommended by the United Nations.

Vast majority of downloads ‘illegal’ A NEW report on online ‘piracy’ says that a massive 84 per cent of content like films, music and books acquired online in Spain is unlawfully downloaded. The report, which was commissioned by music, videogame, publishing and movie companies, said that more than half of internet users in the country were downloading content illegally in 2013. The report was brought out last week to coincide with a Congressional debate on intellectual property. But the Culture Ministry was left unimpressed by it, calling it a rough opinion study that had been paid for by interested parties. It added that there had been no chance to analyse its findings. Called the Observatory of Privacy and Digital Content Consumer Habits for 2013, the report says that illegal downloads are growing at a rate of 4.6 per cent. The coalition that commissioned the report says that ‘piracy’ is seriously harming the interests of the authors of

ONLINE PIRACY: High in Spain. the works downloaded and causing huge losses to the companies that develop videogames and make movies. The report called for Google, which is the search engine used by the vast majority of people, should do more to combat piracy.

OPINION & COMMENT

Supply and demand is nature’s way WATCH television any night and there will be at least one plea to save the life of a child who is starving to death or forced to drink filthy water which will cause its death. As a so-called developed nation I suppose we must respond because we can’t stand by and allow this to happen. But this is not a twentieth century problem. It has been like this for thousands of years: famine and drought have been responsible for millions of deaths during the history of this planet. It is the way Mother Nature handles supply and demand not just for the human race, but every species. Millions of pounds have been raised by organisations, governments, and the entertainment industry. Thankfully their efforts have been a great success in saving the lives of thousands of children. But are we not just adding to the problem of supply and demand? I am not suggesting we do not save these young lives, what else can we do? I do not know how many lives have been saved over recent times, but I do know that these children will have grown, married and produced more mouths to feed from still-limited resources. I don’t have a solution. Do you? Tom Hawksworth (by email)

Still at it I WONDER who runs these Microsoft scams. Over the past 18 months or so I’ve had several scam calls. Always a person with a Pakistani or Indian accent addressing me in English although I live in France and answer the phone in French. I think they only target Anglophones, as I’ve not met any French people who have received calls. Sometimes I just tell them that I know it’s a scam, other times I’ve pretended to do what they tell me. I’ve asked them where they’re calling from; once they said the UK but my phone screen showed a Moroccan code. Today they claimed it was California, but

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17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

Letters

Spare the rod

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

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HEAVY rain caused problems in Santa Ponsa, including this landslide that I photographed while out walking.

Edward Grummit, Mallorca

Home cooking WITH regard to the article advocating dry food as best for dogs, I disagree strongly. I feed my two dogs dried food in the morning and either fish, eggs, chicken, chicken liver or hearts in the evening. I buy a chicken carcass cheaply, cook it with carrots in water and give them the meat, which I scrape off, and the carrots. I also do this with bones that I get free of charge from the butcher. Bones that contain marrow they have raw, which they just love. My dogs are very healthy and in extremely good condition. Furthermore, they enjoy their food and never leave any. The only food they often leave behind is the dried food. In addition it costs nothing or next to nothing to feed them this way! Beverley Saunders (by email)

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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Special vocab I HAVE had enough of Spain and the total disregard for Brits. Yes, I know we should learn the language and I know a lot but not when it comes to banking. Trying to get a person in a Spanish bank to talk English is virtually impossible. They take billions from us but that’s where it ends. If I had a business that attracted different nationalities I would make sure I could get somebody to speak their language. It’s a bit like Carrefour. You want to buy? Hey ho, perfect English. Returns? Nobody speaks English! I had Spanish lessons in Spain for two years but banking was not

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women are just as bad as the men. Derek McMahon (by email)

YOURSAY@EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

the number was from Wheaton (Illinois) in the US. Someone locally lost nearly €500 to these scammers, so beware. Rose Marie Hughes, Reynes (France)

EWN

covered, so to people who say I have not tried: rubbish. Jim Massey, Benidorm (Alicante)

Which way to turn I HAVE just read Ulrica Marshall’s article regarding Spanish driving and I couldn’t agree more. If they park on pedestrian crossings, corners or loading bays, as long as the hazard lights are flashing that’s alright then! She also mentioned the lack of use of indicators. Mainly they leave the right or left indicators flashing because they know that eventually during their journey they may have to turn in that direction, so why cancel the indicator? Bless’ em. Bob Hall (by email)

No-brainer I REALLY enjoyed Ulrica Marshall’s article in this week’s newspaper. One instance comes to mind when I was driving towards Los Montesinos at 80 kilometres per hour and a motor-cyclist passed me doing a wheelie. If he had landed on his head he wouldn’t have had brain damage as he obviously didn’t have a brain. Don’t take offence, but the

I RECENTLY saw a cartoon in which the counsel for the prosecution asks of the little girl in the witness box: “And can you see the man who refused to buy you a horse?” It was not until I read Leapy Lee’s article about the new Cinderella law that I understood its significance. That’s the trouble with lawmakers: if they don’t make laws they are out of a job. It was okay when we only had 10 laws but now that there are thousands it is difficult to make sensible new ones. The Spanish suffer from this problem more than most. J Glazer, Nerja (Malaga)

Charity queries I HAVE several questions that have been worrying me for some time now. With regard to charities here on the Costa Blanca, are they really charities? Do they really have charitable status? What do their statutes say? Where does all the money raised really go to? Do they have a committee and an AGM with a treasurer’s report available for people to view? I have noticed more and more ‘charities’ appearing over the past 10 years and wonder if they are genuine and if people really benefit from them. I am curious and I wonder if anyone else is? Kelly Boluda, Ondara (Alicante)

Jab request IS the new meningitis vaccine that came out in December 2013 in the UK available here? There was a big hoo-ha in the UK because it wasn’t going to be available on the NHS but I don’t care if I have to pay for it for my daughter. The only problem is that when I asked my doctor here he mentioned the two vaccines my daughter already had as a baby and again as a toddler. He seemed to know nothing about the ‘new’ one! It can’t only be England that’s got it, can it? Sarah (by email)

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

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OPINION & COMMENT

Is ‘for better or worse’ dying out? With a recent survey revealing that nearly a quarter of newlyweds expect to divorce, is

A

NN MARTIN from Benitachell (Alicante) has been married for 35 years. She is shocked by the survey saying nearly a quarter of newlyweds expect to divorce. “There is no point in getting into marriage thinking it will fail.” She added: “I think it is too easy to get out of marriage and to get divorced. Around 80 per cent of my acquaintances are divorced but I’m sure they didn’t get married thinking it would end.” Rebecca Lawson is a small business owner from Fuengirola (Malaga). Although the 29-year-old is young she has traditionalist views. “I think traditional wedding vows should be just that. A vow is not something you go into thinking that hopefully there’s an escape clause. You do it because you are committed, 100 per cent. Otherwise, don’t make the vow,” she said. Darrell Clayton, a DJ from Gata de Gorgos (Alicante), is on his second marriage and really believes it is ‘for

the phrase ‘for better or worse’ dying out? Should people stay together for life, or

STREET TALK

ANN MARTIN: Married 35 years.

should they accept that they may grow apart and split up?

better or worse’. “I married her purely remarked: “I know so many people for love and it is forever. I would who have divorced who never not survive without her.” He expected to. It’s not that they STAN joked his first marriage to a didn’t love each other at JAYSON: Dutch lady ended because one point. I like to think Maybe it’s “she was very expensive!” that those who say too easy to something like ‘for better or Stan Jayson for worse’ truly mean it at divorce from Mojacar the time. Maybe it’s too easy (Almeria) said he to divorce and go back on those doesn’t want to vows. Maybe they never should have think the phrase is made them in the first place.” dying out, but Allison Beard from Algorfa maybe it is. The 58- (Alicante) has been married since year old retired 2006. After meeting her husband in engineer Spain whilst on holiday, Allison moved over from the UK a month after getting together as a couple, ALLISON showing that romance is certainly BEARD: alive and well. “Unfortunately, a lot Met husband in of couples do get divorced, many times for reasons out of their Spain and control. But I think it is really sad to moved over think that a quarter of couples go to be with into a marriage union expecting it to him. end,” she said.

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FINANCE My last article looked at the reforms to personal tax, savings and pensions announced in the UK Budget. Although the pension news was the biggest element, there are other aspects that may affect expatriates. Capital gains tax The capital gains tax annual allowance increases to £11,000 on 6th April 2014. New legislation will ensure that capital gains made by a remittance basis user in the overseas part of a split year are not charged to tax. The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement had included the announcement that the exemption from UK capital gains tax afforded to long-term non-residents on the disposal of UK property will be withdrawn from April 2015. The budget did not contain any new information on how it would work, but a consultation was later published on 28th March. It looks like only gains arising from 6th April 2015 on disposals of UKsited residential property will be taxed, but we cannot be certain at this stage. As announced in the Autumn Statement, from this April the Principal Private Residence Relief – the period of deemed ownership where a property has been the main home and is exempt from capital gains

EUROPEAN PRESS

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The UK Budget – How Does It Affect You? Part 2

by Peter Worthington, Senior Partner, Blevins Franks tax – is reduced from 36 months to 18. Property tax Where companies own UK residential property valued at over £2 million, there is an annual tax charge – Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) - currently between £15,000 and £140,000, depending on the value of the property.

New legislation will reduce this threshold to £500,000 and introduce a new range of annual charges. This is effective 1st April 2015 for properties valued at between £1 million and £2 million, and from April 2016 for properties between £500,000 and £1 million. With immediate effect, the 15% rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax applying to purchases of residential property by companies will be extended to properties worth £500,000 or more. Any non-UK residents wishing to restructure out of current enveloped structures will need to focus on doing so in good time before next April. Inheritance tax UK inheritance tax is charged on the net value of a person’s estate, after deducting the nil-rate band, any reliefs and exemptions, and outstanding liabilities. Property situated outside the UK belonging

to, or settled by, a non-UK domiciled individual is ‘excluded property’ and does not form part of a person’s estate. Legislation introduced last year allows a deduction for a liability only if it has not been used to acquire, maintain or enhance excluded property, except in a few specified circumstances. Foreign currency deposits in UK banks are not taken into account in determining the value of a person’s estate if the depositor is non-UK domiciled and non-UK resident at death. Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2014 to treat foreign currency accounts held in UK banks in a similar way to excluded property for the purposes of how liabilities are deducted for inheritance tax. As previously announced, various measures will be introduced to simplify the inheritance tax

treatment of relevant property trusts, including treating retained income as accumulated after five years when calculating the ten year anniversary charge. These changes could have a significant impact on the inheritance tax payable by existing trusts. Most changes are deferred until April 2015, pending further consultation. This is just a summary. It is important to seek specialist advice to clarify how you are affected, particularly when it comes to the interaction between UK and local Spanish taxation, and if you want to explore your new pension options. 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

A bunch of overgrown schoolboys W

HEN are people going to get it into their heads that most MPs are nothing more than a bunch of immature, overgrown, mainly public, schoolboys? Their antics in the Commons are a continuation of their behaviour in the ‘old school’ debating societies. Likewise, a number of them still retain the sexual practices that are nurtured in the all-boystogether environments they were educated in. It’s the reason former Speaker Betty Boothroyd could keep order far more easily than that Bercow person. Many of them love a dominant woman, a throwback to the nanny and house mistress fantasies of yore. I’ve seen a few of them in action. I remember one wildeyed member approaching me at one of Diana Dors’ more dubious ‘gatherings’ clad in a pair of Y-fronts and a string vest, begging me to take over in the

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT IMMATURE: MPs’ antics in the House of Commons. bedroom as he simply ‘couldn't cope’. I was also acquainted with the boyfriend of the late Lord Boothby who, for services rendered, the Kray twins had ensconced in a Bayswater flat for his lordship to enjoy whenever he felt the urge. I was present when another prominent ‘bowler hat’ was caned for being a ‘naughty boy’. I lost respect for a number of our politicians many years ago. Of course, what, I hear you asking, was I doing in those environments? Ah ha, well I’m afraid you’ll have to read the book for that. (Part three out this summer - plug plug). The frightening thing is that our

futures are in the hands of these people. Let’s hope that there are enough ‘straights’ in the House to run our country like adults. I know it’s against most popular opinion, but I am beginning to think that Oscar Pistorius’ version of events on that tragic night could possibly be true. He’s obviously an obnoxious, gun-happy young man, but I feel his story has a

ring of truth to it. I know one thing I’m glad it’s not me facing the ‘bull terrier’ prosecutor Nel. Whoever he thought was behind the door when he started blasting away was posing no threat at the time. Therefore, the best he can hope for would be culpable homicide. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating case and one that has, in the light of the danger and gun

culture that exists out there, made me grateful that I didn’t go through with my intention to emigrate to South Africa in the mid-70s! And that’s about it. Good luck to my little David in his Karate championships this week.

Keep the faith Love Leapy Leapylee2002@gmail.com

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HOMES & GARDENS

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Finding the right tools for the trade WHEN gardening ensure you have the right tools for the trade. If new to the garden world, you don’t need to rush off and buy a range of costly equipment, but you do need to be aware of what you need to do what. Gardening gloves and knee pads. Gloves are essential for the novice or beginner as there is nothing more discouraging than painful blisters or cuts from sharp thorns when you’re trying to start a garden. Knee pads will also make you a little more comfortable when kneeling on the hard ground. Rakes. There are a few different kinds of rakes to consider for any garden. A leaf rake has thin, flexible tines for gathering leaves without damaging or pulling up plants. A bow or garden rake has shorter, stiffer tines which are ideal for raking heavier materials. This rake can be used for removing rocks or other debris from your garden area and for smoothing out the soil before planting. Shovels and hoes. A hoe is a great tool for digging up weeds and breaking up the surface of the soil. A garden hoe is ideal for removing tough grasses and a broad hoe is good for moving soil, weeding and digging trenches. A round-nosed shovel is good for heavy digging and mixing and is best for preparing holes for planting. You may also want to consider a spade shovel, which has a pointed blade, for breaking through the soil more easily. Pruners. Bypass pruners are the most common kind and are scissor-like and great for cutting small live branches, harvesting vegetables, and cutting flowers. Bypass loppers are similar to hand-held ones but have longer handles.

Take care when choosing which trees to plant Dick Handscombe

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

IT was great to meet and chat with a good number of EWN readers at the recent Homes, Gardens and Lifestyle Show in Calpe (Costa Blanca). One of the questions frequently raised was the planting and care of trees particularly in exposed, windy situations. Trees are important ingredients of gardens for their: • Provision of shade from summer sun • Provision of shelter from wind especially in the winter • Ability with careful pruning to block out the view of surrounding houses • Provision of beautiful displays of blossom, and • Provision of fresh ripe seasonal fruit and nuts. Our bestselling book Your garden in Spain – From planning to planting and maintenance, describes some 46 evergreen and flowering trees and in particular indicates their relative drought and frost resistances. In addition the book Growing healthy fruits in Spain describes over 50 fruit and nut trees that can be grown in Spain in appropriate microclimates. So with careful choice trees can be planted from the coastal plain to the top of high inland mountains. But care needs to be taken

GET DUG IN: Be careful with your choice of trees. in the choice of the age and size of trees, their planting and initial care. When buying trees recognise that trees direct from the nursery fields with their full rootball covered in earth or dry rooted will be easier to establish than trees in small pots with trimmed rootballs as sold in many garden centres. In general, short trees of one to two metres with good rootballs relative to their heights will be easier to establish in gardens than trees of four to six or more metres with trimmed rootballs in small pots relative to their heights. It is important to

recognise that trees rely on a good head of leaves to establish the sap flow from roots to leaves to achieve healthy growth. With evergreen trees this is possible all year round, but with deciduous trees, which lose their leaves from autumn to spring, this is only possible from spring to autumn. At this point it is important to look at what is known about the sap flows in plants. Moisture, minerals and nutrients flow within plants in three ways. 1. From root tips upwards through plants by osmotic pressure differences between the cells.

This works well on low growing plants but is not a strong enough upward flow for tall shrubs and trees. 2. By capillary action through the conical shaped capillary tubes within outer xylem conduits from rootball of plant to top leaf crown driven by effect of evaporation of moisture from leaves which stimulates movement of moisture/sap. Damage from insect and fungal attacks can interrupt this upward flow and cause trees to die back or become stunted. In mature trees this transportation only occurs in the outer light coloured layers of cells immediately under the bark. The inner darker and harder woody cells create the strength of the tree but do not transfer moisture and minerals, etc, essential to further growth. So short trees with a wide leaf crown will be easier to establish than tall trees with just a few leaves and a severely trimmed rootball in a small pot. 3. Transportation of nutrients formed in leaves, including chlorophyll, formed by solar stimulated reactions via phloem cells that thread through the plant structure. Naturally the taller the tree planted and the smaller the rootball, the greater the need for a strong support post and guy ropes.

© Dick Handscombe www.gardenspain. com April 2014

HEALTH & BEAUTY

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

Tips to eat yourself slimmer this summer THE weather is warmer and summer is just around the corner. In a bid to stay trim, try these somewhat surprising slimming methods: Eat with the wrong hand. A lot of people eat out of habit, but breaking that habit, such as eating with the ‘wrong’ hand can lower the amount of food you eat, according to researchers from the University of Southern California (USA). Chew on chillies. A study of 78 people in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that chewing chillies or taking supplements containing a key substance in chilli, dihydrocapsiate (DHC), can aid weight loss as DHC can raise the body’s metabolism rate and burn more fat. Make a fist. Clenching your fists for 30 seconds

HOT CHOICE: Chewing on a chilli can aid weight loss. can halt temptation when you have a food craving, reported the Journal of Consumer Research in 2011. An apple a day. Or more specifically apple peel, as the peel contains an acid which increases muscle and the levels of brown fat which helps the body to burn calories. Dessert for breakfast. Researchers from the Tel Aviv University (Israel) concluded from a study of dieters that those who ate a sweet dessert at breakfast lost more weight over eight months than those on the same calories who had a smaller, low-carb breakfast. This is believed to be because the metabolism is the

most active in the morning and you have

longer to work off the calories.

WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

36

E W N 17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

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

NEW ON DVD MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE

for next 7 days

The Wolf of Wall Street The Wolf of Wall Street is a black comedy, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland, based on the book of the same name. It tells the story of a stockbroker who runs a company that is involved in securities fraud.

TODAY

ALCUDIA

POLLENÇA

CALA MILLOR

INCA

CALVIA

CALA d’OR

PALMA ANDRATX

LLUCMAJOR MAGALLUF

ALCUDIA

POLLENÇA

Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film has won a Golden Globe. It runs to 180 minutes and is rated 18.

TOMORROW CALA MILLOR

INCA

CALVIA

CALA d’OR

PALMA ANDRATX

LLUCMAJOR

project is irksome. A new start that seemed so promising seems to be going off course. A real injection of time and effort will make all the difference, however.

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) Being unusually uncertain of yourself this week could throw confusion into your ordered life. There is a partnership problem to be sorted out. Let some time pass so that someone close can get the message without feeling pressured.

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) You are holding a good hand. Deal with the right people and the rewards are high. There is potential for being cheated out of something that is morally yours, so it may be necessary to be 'difficult' or 'awkward' to get what you deserve.

LEO (July 24 - August 23) Some loss of control over a

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) Being a brave and forthright soul,

5-Star Quiz

BY GEORGE Next Wednesday, April 23, is the feast day of St George, the patron saint of England, so this week’s quiz is all about famous English people named George 1. Born in Manor Park, London in 1945, which darts player/presenter is widely recognised as one of the game’s biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which he makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra to the sound of Queen’s We Are the Champions? 2. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou is the real name of which English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer? 3. The films Trouble Brewing (1939), Turned Out Nice Again (1941) and Much Too Shy (1942) all starred which British actor, singer-songwriter and comedian, born in Wigan in May 1904? 4. What are either of Prince George of Cambridge’s other two first names? 5. What is singer-songwriter Boy George’s real surname?

FLICKR BY JRC8806N

April 18: Nuria Fergo. Singer/Actress. Born in Nerja, Malaga, this Spanish singer first came to fame in the popular ‘Operacion Triunfo 2001.’ She has taken part in several TV programmes, sold over half a million records, given over 300 concerts and released five albums; she debuted on the music market in 2002 with Brisa de Esperanza.

35

it is easy this week to dispel the negative thoughts of others. A relationship that makes you hesitate could be of great benefit to you. There is little to lose by 'going for it'. The outcome could be beyond your dreams, something that you have not had many of lately. SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Hidden forces are working away in the background. These give good and bad influences but life will not be dull this week. Sometimes you wish others would leave you alone more. SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) Petty arguments should be

TODAY:

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Let others whinge if they will. Being determined to get your own way, they will stand little chance. Recent disagreements have left a sour taste. In the best of worlds, things will not always go your way. Life would be boring if that were the case.

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

UK THUNDERBALL

IRISH LOTTO

EURO MILLIONS

Saturday April 12

Saturday April 12

Saturday April 12

Friday April 11

26

31

47

14

13 19

4

6

12

22

29

36

BONUS BALL

THUNDERBALL

BONUS BALL

32

3

33

Mon - 23 14 C Tues - 22 13 C Wed - 21 13 Cl

8

12 30

33

11

LA PRIMITIVA

EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA

Benidorm Fri Sat Sun -

Madrid

23 14 S 23 13 C 21 13 Sh

CLEAR 22 12 S 21 13 Cl 20 13 C S Sun,

CLEAR

MAX 27C, MIN 12C

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Mon - 21 12 C Tues - 21 12 C Wed - 21 13 Sh

MAX MIN

26 11 Cl 25 10 C 19 9 Sh

Mon - 19 8 Sh Tues - 19 7 Sh Wed - 19 7 Sh

Murcia MAX 21C, MIN 11C

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX MIN

Mon - 21 16 Cl Tues - 20 16 C Wed - 19 16 Cl

21 16 Cl 21 16 Cl 21 16 C

TODAY:

MAX 22C, MIN 14C

Mallorca TODAY:

CLEAR MAX 21C, MIN 16C MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Mon - 18 13 Sh Tues - 18 13 Sh Wed - 18 13 Sh

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX MIN

Mon - 22 14 S Tues - 21 14 Cl Wed - 21 15 Cl

24 17 S 24 16 C 22 15 S

TODAY:

Malaga

TODAY:

MAX MIN

Mon - 21 13 Cl Tues - 20 13 Sh Wed - 19 13 Sh Cl Clear,

SUNNY MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun Fog,

Sn Snow,

MAX 28C, MIN 13C MAX MIN

31 14 S 29 15 Cl 27 14 C

Mon - 26 14 C Tues - 24 14 C Wed - 24 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 C) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.

TARGET:

Average: 16

Very good: 29

Good: 20

Excellent: 36

aced, acme, acne, acre, arco, came, cane, card, care, coda, code, coma, come, cone, cord, core, corm, corn, cram, cran, cred, dace, deco, mace, marc, narc, once, orca, race, acorn, acred, arced, cadre, cameo, caned, caner, canoe, cared, carom, cedar, coder, comer, comma, coned, cored, crane, cream, credo, crone, dance, decor, macer, macro, nacre, narco, ocean, raced, recon, candor, canoed, carmen, cornea, corned, craned, dancer, deacon, macron, caromed, command, commend, comrade, crammed, romance, romanced, COMMANDER

4

13

19

22

24

27

REINTEGRO 1

5

PAID

Sunday April 13

Saturday April 12

19

LUCKY STARS 4

Fri Sat Sun -

MAX 17C, MIN 13C

18 13 S 18 13 C 17 13 Sh

SUNNY

MAX 24C, MIN 17C

MAX MIN

Word Ladder

LOTTERY 12

MAX MIN

23 14 S 22 15 Cl 23 14 C

CLEAR

SUNNY

TODAY:

Barcelona TODAY:

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Avoiding a decision will not help this week. Who will deal with this matter but you? A relationship is threatened if you do not make a move. Will loved ones always be there for us no matter how much we neglect them? Why take such a chance?

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) Awkward situations usually bring out the best in you and this week proves that. In the longer term, you will be grateful to those making things difficult now.

9

Fri Sat Sun -

forgotten. More important things are afoot. Have you heard about fiddling while Rome burns? This may be you at the moment. Avoid wasting time with certain individuals and projects.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

22

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) In your heart of hearts you know what you want out of life. It is a little timidity of spirit that is now stopping you. I know that recent experiences have sapped your confidence, but I have a message for you.

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.

17

Almeria

SUNNY MAX 22C, MIN 13C

MAX MIN

Sudoku

4

Alicante TODAY:

19

23 37

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

33 53

REINTEGRO 8

BACK

BANK BACK

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Outside influences and pressures make it hard to concentrate. However, finances in particular need attention, so do not be distracted by others trying to put a finger into your 'pie'. Do not be concerned about making changes in your social life.

Your Stars

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK: Taureans can be elusive and even slippery customers. Making use of the element of surprise serves you well. Keeping rivals guessing puts you well ahead of the game in many respects.

PAID SAID SAND BAND

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Be determined not to be intimidated by someone who thinks that they are superior. Decide who you will take advice (or orders) from and stick to it. You are not the person that you were in the past and others need to realise it.

MAGALLUF

1. BOBBY GEORGE, 2. GEORGE MICHAEL, 3. GEORGE FORMBY, 4. ALEXANDER LOUIS, 5. O’DOWD

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CROSSWORDS

Crosswords

17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

EWN

37

SPONSORED BY

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

Cryptic

Quick

Across 7 Understand in depth (6) 8 A Brie I made from the peninsula (6) 9 Dust off a form of poker (4) 10 Hurry preparation for set point (4,2,2) 11 Locks vessel in trees (7) 13 Disc about a period behind bars (5) 15 A Southern state is to test metal (5) 17 Afterwards a learner gets in the side (7) 20 Claret is drunk at these concerts (8) 21 The prime minister went round the queen for a hairdo (4) 22 King discovered echo in ravine (6) 23 A British way found in other places (6) Down 1 Possibly strafe more quickly (6) 2 Some reach a delightful place in Africa (4) 3 Sam is back in the shed very drunk (7) 4 Homes for Queens or the workers (5)

5 Drank demon ale in confusion and found out it was non alcoholic (8) 6 Restricted in E-fit version (6) 12 Someone from Barcelona and Paris, maybe (8) 14 Cover laurel for cable winder (7) 16 Given directions to garden in the

country (6) 18 I brag about revolutionary car safety device (3,3) 19 Horses from the farm are saddled (5) 21 Left some reports (4)

Code Breaker Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 9 represents B and 7 represents Z, so fill in B every time the figure 9 appears and Z every time the figure 7 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 Consul, 4 Serial, 7 Discharge, 9 Suet, 10 Asia, 11 Relic, 13 Slogan, 14 Choice, 15 Search, 17 Treats, 19 Hague, 20 Open, 22 Hear, 23 Sapphires, 24 Edison, 25 Snares. Down: 1 Crisis, 2 Suit, 3 Lichen, 4 Static, 5 Riga, 6 Legate, 7 Decorates, 8 Estimates, 11 Ranch, 12 Chore, 15 Snooze, 16 Harp on, 17 Tunics, 18 Stress, 21 Nags, 22 Hera. QUICK Across: 1 Scald, 3 Debut, 7 Academy, 9 Shawl, 10 Audio, 11 Confess, 12 Summer, 14 Fakers, 18 Eminent, 20 Occur, 22 Extra, 23 Luggage, 24 Needs, 25 Clean. Down: 1 Scarabs, 2 Award, 3 Dry ice, 4 Basin, 5 Trapeze, 6 Calls, 8 Erode, 13 Moisten, 15 Among, 16 Surgeon, 17 Stalls, 18 Eject, 19 Evade, 21 Chase.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

ENGLISH-SPANISH Across: 1 Flaco, 4 Leave, 7 Margarita, 8 Tal, 10 Dad, 15 Enamorado, 17 Ridge, 18 Ahora. Down: 1 Face, 2 Arm, 3 Otro, 4 Lead, 5 Amiga, 6 Edad, 9 Ataud, 11 Beer, 12 Bone, 13 Baya, 14 Cura, 16 Oro.

English - Spanish The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English. Across 1 Avestruces (9) 8 Hedgehog (5) 9 Used (second-hand) (5) 11 Cup (vessel, amount) (4) 12 Almost (4) 14 Amanecer (4) 16 Each (4) 19 Toalla (5) 21 Free (at liberty) (5) 22 Sirloin steak (9) Down 2 Espinillas (5) 3 Raíz (de planta) (4) 4 Cross (sign, decoration) (4) 5 That (f) (3) 6 Rescue (7) 7 Más joven (7) 10 Triste (persona) (3) 13 Hielo (3) 15 Tree (5) 17 Something (4) 18 There (4) 20 Quién (interrogativo) (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 (EITHER) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues. BLOUSE

PRISON

BUBBLE

REPENT

EITHER (10)

RETAIN

ESTATE

ROTUND

GROUSE

SOURCE

GRUNTS

SPLASH

GUESTS

STRIDE

LEADEN

STRIPE

MANGER

TABLET

NURSED

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Funagram Unscramble the name of a famous 19th century German composer: REWARD CHAGRIN FUNAGRAM SOLUTION: SHOOTING STARS, RICHARD WAGNER

Unscramble the name of a famous television comedy panel game (two words): GHOST ARSONIST

Across 1 Extreme (6) 4 Frighten (5) 8 Songbirds (5) 9 Rich and superior in quality (7) 10 Garments (7) 11 Heavenly body (4) 12 See 18 14 List of choices (4) 15 Deficiency (4) 18/12 Defraud (3,3) 21 Dutch cheese (4) 23 Pungent gas (NH3) (7) 25 Of great consequence (7) 26 Sound of any kind (5) 27 Sugary (5) 28 Appealing to the emotions as well as the eye (6) Down 1 Choose (6) 2 Long-winded (7) 3 Busy travel period (4,4) 4 Avoid deliberately (4) 5 Accomplished (5) 6 Complete (6) 7 Body part (5) 13 Large wading bird (8) 16 Place limits on (7) 17 Against (6) 19 Brief halt (5) 20 In the recent past (6) 22 Accord (5) 24 Water vessel (4)

1 Rumour, 2 Closed, 3 Course, 4 Packed, 5 Motors, 6 Clothe, 7 Pamper, 8 Stitch, 9 Aflame, 10 Poised, 11 Theirs, 12 Advice, 13 Trails, 14 Factor, 15 Novels, 16 Raised, 17 Action, 18 Desire, 19 Banner

38

E W N 17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

WE’VE just been back in London for the weekend; a combination of working and playing. Boy, it’s changed. In the decade since we left the city there have been breathtaking investments and changes. Over the weekend we managed to spend quite a lot (read: A LOT) of our hard-earned money on food and drink. London’s obsessed with eating it seems and you can’t walk down the road without a takeaway coffee in your hand. There are some amazing cuisines that have popped up in corners of London that we’d previously have driven through with the car doors locked: Vietnamese in Hoxton, for example. But one of the most startling changes is the attitude to service. Yes, it was always quite polite, but now waiters and assistants are really going out of their way to make your experience better, just as well because it costs a bomb! We went to a place on Sunday afternoon which was deceptively expensive. It served free range chicken and organic beef so I was expecting that part of the meal to be pricey, but I wasn’t prepared for the insanely expensive wine. We were at a birthday party so it wouldn’t have been particularly classy of us to start moaning about the cost of the vino, but the wine was the equivalent of €35 per bottle for rosé. Ouch. It doesn’t help when you recognise some of the vinos from the shelves of Mercadona being trotted out

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Service with a pricey smile Vicki Mcleod

Family Matters

RESOURCEFUL: Makeshift ‘suitcase’ to bring home our London-bought goodies.

OPINION & COMMENT with a 1000 per cent mark up. Anyway, it was a great party and my husband and I have decided to never speak of the bill again (apart of course from me talking about here!). On our way home, loaded down with my husband’s summer wardrobe, we knew we wouldn’t be able to get it all on board as hand luggage so we’d booked a hold baggage. Of course, being the cheapskates that we are we didn’t want to lash out on a new suitcase so we improvised with a laundry bag straight from our favourite shop (El Corte Chino) and a roll of gaffer tape. We certainly struck a sartorial note as we waited in line to check in. Not. The final word on my adventure over the weekend has to go to the very nice people at easyJet. I can’t remember ever being so impressed with a pilot as I was on the Gatwick to Palma flight. As we were boarding the plane our pilot came out and addressed all of the passengers explaining about some minor delay, and then proceeded to tell jokes and keep everyone informed throughout the flight. It showed such personality, such a respect for the passengers to let us know what was going on and such a pride in his company as well as he introduced all of the cabin crew that I wanted to mention him here. I believe his name was Captain Phil! www.familymattersmallorca.com

Are expatriates the odd ones out? T

HE shelves of English bookstores are full of them: the quaint and rustic accounts of expats arriving here in Spain. Some find that the neighbour’s sheep eat their orchard, the plumber who finally turns up weeks late to discover there are in fact no tubes installed or some sourly locals who are eventually won over and end up donating a kidney to save your life. Like me, I am sure you’ve read a few. But there is of course the more forgotten flip-side of the coin; the oddities we presumably appear to be to the locals. We may seem extremely normal to ourselves but even the language suggests that they have allocated certain traits to each nationality. There is the ‘despedirse a la

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

francesa’ which colloquially means leaving without saying goodbye. There is also ‘hacerse el sueco’ which broadly means pretending not to hear something or the ‘puntualidad inglesa,’ because the English are, apparently, always on time. Now, unlike tourists, foreign residents in Spain may make greater efforts in blending in to our new environment. Most of us are Europeans after all and we should, according to the bureaucrats in Brussels, be indistinguishable from one another, treated equally and

GUESTS: Playing host to sheep for tea.

singing a European national anthem rather than our own. Yet, reality is a tad different. A reliable local source has explained (over a copa or two) that we, the foreigners residing here, are referred to as ‘guiris’ and that as many of us tend to live in the same neighbourhoods, these are called ‘Guirilandia’. Whilst the origin of this term may have derogative implications, the same source assures me that in the strict hierarchy of society in Spain, we are far from the bottom

ranks. Younger Spaniards are more welcoming of us guiris, the source then explained, while older generations still live in the vacuum left by Franco’s dictatorship and tend to be more resistant to change. To many, we range from ‘curiosities’ to ‘necessary evils’. Bearing in mind that Spain was practically a closed

country until the 1970s, it is not surprising that we are regarded with some suspicion. Even so, it seems our love affair with Spain remains strong. Perhaps we all have to try to be just a little more respectful of our differences. Even if it means having the neighbour’s sheep over for high tea.

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

EWN

39

Advertising Feature

Sterling top performer in an eventful short week Commentary by Moneycorp

EUR Even with the long Easter break the shortened week has not been uneventful. Sterling was the top performer, with the US dollar not far behind, and the euro could not match their pace. It was down by half a US cent and lost two thirds of a cent to the pound, helped lower by the European Central Bank president’s comment that the strength of the currency “requires further monetary stimulus.”

USD The US dollar lost just a dozen or so ticks to the pound and strengthened by half a cent against the euro. It was helped by an improvement in consumer confidence, better than expected retail sales growth and an inflation rate that rebounded to 1.5%. CAD Sterling was the top performer and the commodity-related currencies, including the Loonie, could not keep

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 up. It lost half a US cent and was down by one cent against the pound. Other than a respectable monthly increase in manufacturing shipments there were no ecostats to affect the Canadian dollar; it was all down to sentiment. AUD Again, the commodity-related currencies, including the Aussie, like

the Loonie, could not keep up with Sterling. It lost a dozen ticks to the US dollar and half a cent to the pound. There were no Australian ecostats to affect the Aussie and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy meeting minutes brought nothing new to the table. It was all down to sentiment. NZD Another commodity-related currency, Kiwi, could not keep up either. It lost half a cent to the US dollar and a cent to the pound. The only NZ ecostat was for inflation, which at 1.5% was lower than the previous figure when it should have been higher. It was enough to relegate the NZD to the rear of the field.

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17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

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OPINION & COMMENT

Keep your computer healthy T

HIS week’s Business Matters covers something that is a very important tool for many of us. Computers, love them or hate them, they’re an integral part of our lives. And we want them to run properly ALL OF THE TIME! When they don’t it can feel like the end of the world, but Micky from Palma PC says that there’s lots of things you can do to keep it healthy. Hot topics at the moment at Palma PC in Santa Ponsa are all about computer security and keeping it free from viruses. Micky says that there are some very simple things you should be doing which really are a matter of common sense. You can install any number of different free Anti Virus programs, but Micky recommends Avast, AVG or Avira. Make sure you visit the official websites for any software that asks for you to update it. Use your common sense when clicking on links sent to you via email and when browsing. Yet the majority of problems

Vicki Mcleod

Business Matters come from Trojans, Malware and Adware, which can steal passwords and access your data without your knowledge. Micky says, “You may not even know that your computer has caught a cold. But if your PC is running slowly, if pages aren’t loading, or you are getting adverts popping up, then you may well have a lodger lurking in your hard drive.” It’s hard to understand why a person writes such software, but Micky says that the answer will always be money. “The person who has written the adware will be getting paid every time it pops up on your PC, even if it’s only a penny a go, that’s a lot of money over time.” There are a few sensible precautions to take to avoid picking these up.

PC TEAM: Micky and Miguel at Palma PC. 1) If you want to install some free software then make sure you go for the Custom option rather than just installing it automatically, and read through every stage, don’t install adware or spyware by not reading through everything. And the same goes for when you might uninstall a progam as you can be installing things you

don’t want. 2) If someone calls you claiming to come from Microsoft or another software company, don’t believe them. They are ‘phishing’ for your information. Just hang up. 3) Keep a record of your passwords and user names for any websites that you use. And make sure you don’t share them

with anyone. Change them regularly. If you do end up with a nasty intruder on your PC or Mac, then get it to your trusted computer repair centre.

You can contact Micky on 971 904 256 or info@palmapc.com for any advice or help.

FOOD & DRINK

EUROPEAN PRESS

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41

& DRINKS

ood F

17 - 23 April 2014 /Mallorca

Costa de Almeria’s best guide to local sport

Mallorca’s best guide for local restaurants

BEER: Not a simple choice.

The best of Spanish beers

SPAIN is better known for its wines but they also produce some excellent beers. Here are some of the best of the local amber nectars: Damm Inedit - This beer was created in conjunction with Ferran Adria (of El Bulli fame) and is made with cilantro in the hop mix as well as some orange peel and liquorish. Proof: 4.8º. Price: €3.90 for a 75cl bottle. Alhambra 1925 - This beverage has a distinctive caramel taste followed by a slightly bitter, refreshing aftertaste. Proof: 6.8º. Price: €1 for a 33cl bottle. Mahou cinco estrellas - A real classic and especially refreshing; it has a light acidity and a taste of toasted hops. Proof: 5.5º. Price: €2.70 for a 25cl sixpack. San Miguel 1516 Spain’s best known brewing house has a range of offers but this one is the top with a fresh, bitter taste. Proof: 4.2º. Price: €0.80 for a 33cl bottle. Cruz Campo Gran Reserva 1904 - Made from 100 per cent best quality malt. It has an intense and balanced taste with a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. Proof; 6.4º. Price: €1 for a 33cl bottle. So now you know what to order next time you go to the bar!

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

Carrefour brings out app to find products in-store SHOPPING in an unfamiliar supermarket, when you don’t know the layout, can be a real problem but now supermarket giant Carrefour has brought out an app to help shoppers find the food they are looking for in their shops. C-ou is the name of the app brought out by Carrefour, available for iOS and Android, which will help shoppers find their way around the supermarkets without having to walk down every aisle, examining

every single shelf until they finally find what they want. All the app

needs is the name, either by brand or generic, of the product being looked for and then it shows a map of the supermarket with a red dot where the product in question is located. Apart from guiding them around the shop the app also informs shoppers of any special promotions and will suggest recipes based on the ingredients in their baskets. At the moment it is only available in France but, hopefully, will spread out to their franchises soon.

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E W N 17 - 23 April 2014 / Mallorca

PETS

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Advertising feature

A recommended healthy treat for your favourite four-legged friend DOGS’ diet is hugely important if they are to be happy and healthy. For that reason it is vital to feed your pet with a nutritious and healthy diet that has been specially formulated with the animal in mind. For that reason many vets and dog experts - including the EWN’s David the Dogman - recommend Barker and Barker’s range of treats and supplements. The company has been manufacturing its own natural and low fat products for dogs since 1976, when they were first used at Crufts. The company was originally created in the belief that there was a real gap in the market for truly healthy products for all dog breeds - products that follow the needs of a dog’s ‘natural’ diet. Today there are many products available that appeal to the owner and not the dog. In actual fact dogs have different digestive and nutritional needs and for this reason Barker and Barker develop their products with the dog’s health in mind. There are no artificial additives or cereal in any of their products. They do not add any carb loaded ingredients such as oats,

corn, wheat, rice or grains. Despite what people may read elsewhere these things do not form part of a canine diet in the wild and are not necessary to maintain good health. In fact a carb rich diet is what has caused the explosion of human type diseases in the dog population such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and various cancers. These diseases have never been recorded in wild dogs. Barker and Barker are also committed to never using generic meat, fish or vegetable ‘meal’ which basically contain all the ‘waste’ parts of the core products. They only use top quality ingredients intended for the human food chain that are quality assured and that are guaranteed to be produced to the highest food safety standards. Consequently when you give your dog one of their products you can be sure that it is going to be naturally healthy, low in fat, full of goodness and, most importantly, they will be nutritionally in-line with a dog’s natural diet (high protein, low carb). Barker and Barker has always been a family run business with a high

New partner for Blevins Franks

BLEVINS FRANKS has appointed Rafael Belloch Rodrigo as the new, full time regional Partner for the North of Mallorca. He is working alongside Peter Worthington, the Blevins Franks Senior Partner for the Balearics. Rafael has 20 years of professional experience in the financial sector. He has previously worked as Partner at Arabesque NEW PARTNER: Rafael Wealth Management, Belloch Rodrigo. Director of Corporate Finance at PWC, Strategic Planning Director at NEFINSA and Director of Corporate Banking and Structured Finance at BNP Paribas in Madrid. He has also worked for AB Asesores (now N+1 Private Equity) and KPMG Management Consulting in London. Blevins Franks specialises in providing highly personalised, integrated international tax and wealth management advice to wealthy expatriates in Europe. It has earned a reputation as the leading international tax and wealth management advisers to UK nationals living in Europe. Together with Peter Worthington in the South of the Mallorca, their key aim is to help expatriates living here preserve their wealth, during their lifetime and through to the next generation.

commitment to customer service and top quality natural products. It was originally set up by experienced dog trainers and behaviourists. Today the owners have extended the company’s commitment to canine ‘health and nutrition’ by using only top quality, traceable, all natural ingredients, as well as introducing updated manufacturing and product testing standards. There are a wealth of new ideas for product improvements and new products that we expect to bring to the market regularly, in particular in the supplement range.

For more information: visit www.barkerand barkertreats.co.uk 971 887 007 / 634 152 813.

The geriatric check-up CARING for an older cat is directed at preventing premature aging, minimising physical and emotional stress, and meeting the special needs of the elderly. Cats older than seven should have a complete veterinary examination at least once a year - often twice a year is preferred. If the health of the cat is questionable, she should be seen by a veterinarian more often. If symptoms appear, she should be seen at once. The annual geriatric check-up should include a physical examination, complete blood count, blood chemistries, stool exam, and urinalysis. Depending on the results, special liver and kidney function tests, a chest X-ray, and an electrocardiogram may also

DOG’S DIET: It is vital to feed your pet with a nutritious and healthy diet to keep it happy and healthy.

be needed. Some veterinary clinics include checking blood pressure as part of the geriatric exam for cats. Thyroid hormone levels, such as T4, are also important in older cats. Kidney disease is relatively common in older cats easy to be checked for protein leakage. This test may pick up kidney failure very early on so you can take steps to slow its progression. Routine dental care, including scaling the teeth, may be needed more frequently than once a year.

SPONSORED BY For all do g treats p lease call: 971 887 0 07 / 634 1 52 813

David THE Dogman Listen to David Costa del Sol on TRE every Saturday 10 am (G (San Roque to ibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7f to 11am m (Calahonda to Calahonda) 91.9fm Costa Blanca Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92 (Torrevieja to (Elche to Calpe Elche) 105.1fm .7fm (Denia to Valen) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6 cia Mallorca 103.9 ) 95.3fm fm, fm

AGING CATS: Important checks. If you see any of the following signs, take your cat to the veterinarian as soon as possible. • Loss of appetite or weight • Coughing, shortness of breath, or rapid, laboured breathing • Weakness or difficultly moving about • Increased thirst and/or frequency of urination • Change in bowel

function with constipation or diarrhoea • Bloody or purulent discharge from a body opening • An increase in temperature, pulse, or breathing rate • A growth or lump anywhere on the body • Any unexplained change in behaviour.

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

PROPERTY

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Property TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM Advertising feature

Quality work on your property with transparency and consistency By MARIA ROSA FERRE on Flickr.

FOR island-wide professional property services for English, German and Spanish speaking clients, Option Services is the company on Mallorca for you. Quality that lasts and transparent prices; this is what Option Services offers its clients. Owner Jon described how their property management services cover all kinds of properties including sale and rental homes. Services offered range from gardening and cleaning all the way up to construction. Option Services is able to offer assistance with all home trades, from construction to reforms, general maintenance, air conditioning, plumbing and more. One interesting perk is that you can watch your live work on Facebook at Option Services. This is a great tool where

you as a client can monitor the work on your holiday home or residence step-by-step, regardless of where you may be in the world.

You can also always ring to receive regular updates, on 680 160 366. Having successfully traded in Mallorca for nine years, Option

Services is built entirely and exclusively around their clients’ needs and requirements. Jon has amassed a team of highly qualified tradespeople, including Mallorcan rustic stone masons, a recognised architect, a top Spanish financial advisor and a civil engineer. Each of these professionals recognised and embraces Option Services’ high standards and work ethic, which means that your projects are completed to your absolute satisfaction since they all meet the highest specifications which go right

along with Option Services’ mark of quality. Each employee is a qualified, insured and registered contractor on the island of Mallorca to monitor, maintain or work on your property, giving you the assurance that everything is above-board. Their business is based on long-term client satisfaction, and their client base proves their consistency and dedication to what they do.

Normal hours are 10am-2pm. Option Services www.optionservices.es 971 230 590

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To buy or not to buy that is the question THE British mentality has always leant towards buying but, in these times of a housing crisis, the better option may well be to rent. At one time renting

was considered similar to throwing money away, but with the latest conditions to get a mortgage in Spain making things even harder, where between 20 and 40 per cent of the total purchase price must be given as a deposit, it makes more and

more sense to rent. Current thinking is that if you want to be in a central, residential zone then it’s better to rent, but if you want to be out in the countryside then buying is the best option. Renting has many benefits for the tenant, including no worries about any household repairs, such as the washing machine breaking or the walls needing a coat of paint. Also, as the money saved on the downpayment can be put to other uses, there is no feeling of being stuck. Just a month’s notice and the property goes back to its owner. IN TOWN: Renting is best, but in the countryside, buying is best option.

NEAT AND TIDY: Homes look bigger when uncluttered.

Six common mistakes to avoid when selling a house SELLING a house is difficult, especially in the present market, so here are some handy tips to make it easier to show: 1. First impressions count. The first thing a potential buyer sees is the entryway. Make it presentable, clean and uncluttered. 2. Clean, clean, clean. Every last nook and cranny should be gleaming, even if the potential buyer is unlikely to see it. Data shows that showing a dirty or shabby house will bring a lower offer, if any at all. 3. Walls are important. They may not seem it but they can show a prospective buyer how the home was treated. Fill in

any dents and paint them a neutral colour. Take special care in the kitchen and bathroom, making sure all the grouting is gleaming white. 4. Fix everything. The prospective buyer will be looking at everything in the greatest of detail. 5. Tidy up and de-clutter. A neat and tidy house will look bigger and cleaner. 6. Make it impersonal. The prospective buyer needs to be able to imagine their own items in the space and having someone else’s stuff around the place makes this more difficult for them.

PROPERTY

Luxury housing could be about to hit bottom THE luxury housing market in Spain could be nearing the end of its price fall, at least according to data released by Lucas Fox, one of the biggest estate agencies in luxury housing. Data collected by their offices indicates that the market may be beginning to recover after its 3040 per cent drop since 2007. According to Alexander Vaughan, co-founder of Lucas Fox, prices are nearing their lowest point and should remain stable for the rest of 2014. Vaughan was quick to underscore the fact that this stabilisation was not evident in all areas of Spain, but in some select areas. The rise in sales of luxury housing, which made 2013 the best of the nine years of recession, reflects, in Vaughan’s opinion, an optimism and confidence from buyers not seen since the beginning of the crisis. The market has benefited from the government’s decision to allow non-EU members to gain legal residency in Spain when they purchase a property worth more than €500,000. This law has translated into greater sales to the Far and Middle Eastern communities and Russian sector. Some of the areas that have seen the best improvements are Marbella, Mallorca and Ibiza.

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CLASSIFIEDS MOTORING 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)

OPPORTUNITY

PETS

FELIX Dog and Cat Kennels. Based at Manacor. Boarding available. Home sitting Island wide. Tel 689 795 049 (216938)

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PROFESSIONAL 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)

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TWO one bedroom apartmennts. For sale (Portals Nous and Palma Nova). 99,000€ each. Tel 971 601 543 / 675 368 905 (224718)

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 email us: Tel: (0034) 651 033 670 or (0034) 637 066 227. Email: info@pet-couriers.com or www.pet-couriers.com (206497)

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

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REMOVALS/STORAGE THE MAN & VAN ISLAND WIDE REMOVALS & STORAGE. CHEAP, CHEERFUL, FAST, EFFICIENT AND MOST IMPORTANTLY LEGAL. Tel: 626 792 037 (216953)

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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)

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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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MOTORING

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

Telefonica gets connected with world’s leading electric car manufacturer TELEFONICA has announced an agreement with Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, to provide Machine-To-Machine or ‘M2M’ connectivity for the Tesla Model S in Europe. Telefonica and its M2M World Alliance partners will provide connectivity for Model S across multiple countries in Europe, including in Germany and the United Kingdom on Telefonica’s O2 network, in Spain on Movistar, and in the Netherlands on KPN. Telefonica’s global M2M solution, powered by Jasper, will enable con-nectivity for Tesla’s industry-leading, in-car infotainment telematics including navigation, online music, internet browsing, and remote vehicle diagnostics that relay information about

LEADING THE WAY: The award-winning Model S. the car’s safety, security and performance to the driver and Tesla service in real time. The Tesla Model S, an award winning five-door sedan, was launched in 2012, with deliveries

beginning in Europe in 2013. Its state-of-theart features include remote driver support and a connected infotainment control centre. The 17-inch touch-

screen puts rich content at the fingertips of drivers and passengers alike, seamlessly integrating media, navigation, communications, cabin controls and vehicle data.

Toyota announces vehicle recalls TOYOTA has recalled nearly 30,000 cars in Spain for safety modifications. The recall is in relation to three issues affecting some RAV4, Hilux, Yaris and Urban Cruiser models. The problem has affected a total 28,957 Spanish registered cars. Worldwide, there have been no reports of any accidents or injuries relating to these issues. Toyota is conducting the recalls as a precaution. Toyota has identified a possible issue affecting

the spiral cable assembly in the airbag module fitted to some RAV4 and Hilux models. Due to the shape and location of a retainer for the Flexible Flat Cable in the airbag unit, there may be a risk, when the steering wheel is turned, of damage to certain circuits that provide connectivity to the airbag. If connectivity is lost, the airbag warning light will illuminate on the instrument panel and the driver’s airbag may be deactivated.

The vehicles subject to this recall are RAV4 and Hilux models manufactured between June 2004 and December 2010. All the vehicles affected by this issue are being recalled so that an improved spiral cable can be fitted. The installation will take about one hour to complete and the work will be carried out free of charge. Toyota is also aware that the weld which connects the steering column bracket to the

instrument panel on some Yaris and Urban Cruiser models between 2004-2009 might break when the steering wheel is repeatedly turned with full force.

The agreement establishes Telefonica as Tesla’s largest European connectivity partner, and is supported by KPN in the Netherlands and Belgium as part of the M2M World Alliance,

simplifying Tesla’s deployment of connected cars. Telefonica’s services offer flexible and reliable connectivity solutions for Model S customers across Europe. José Luis Gamo, CEO at Telefonica Multinational Solutions, said: “As we accelerate our transformation into a digital telco we see lots of opportunities to empower consumers. Connected cars that provide drivers with more information and a better and safer driving experience is a perfect example of this. “Tesla is one of the world’s most forward thinking businesses. We share their passion for innovation and are thrilled to be working with them to deliver a superb in-car experience to Tesla drivers across Europe.”

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Car trade helps ANEN IN a series of meetings organised by the National Association of Nautical Businesses (ANEN), consultants from the motor and nautical industries have joined forces to discuss similarities between the two sectors. The main objective of the talks was to look at the motor industry and discover whether lessons learned in that sector could be applied to nautical sales. Salvador Espinal, an expert in car dealing, recommended a change in current practice with regard to second-hand boats. “The market needs to be transparent,” he said, explaining that used car sales increased significantly when vendors became more professional and started to offer guarantees with their vehicles.

PALMA BOAT SHOW

Bigger and better! THIS year’s Palma Boat Show will take place from April 30 to May 4. The 31st edition of the world-renowned event will be based in Palma’s port area along the Moll Vell, Escalera Real and Consigna quays and the Lonja P1-P2P3 piers. Normal opening hours are 11am until 8pm, though the Sea Night event on May 2 will run until 11pm. Standard tickets for the show cost €5 for adults and €4 for young people but there is no charge for

pensioners and children under 12. Nautical professionals can have free entry on production of a business and identity card. With the super yacht display area already completely sold out this year’s exhibition promises to be bigger, more luxurious and more exciting than ever. The organisers have aimed to provide something for everyone and there will be a wide range of businesses on show. Exhibitors include everyone from yacht

EVENT: The 31st Palma Boa manufacturers and brokers to nautical tourism, fishing and water sport companies, sailing schools and boat maintenance firms. Coupled with the nautical

Changes to Spanish navigation laws m THE new boat licences will soon be official. The celebration of the second Nautical Conference, which took place in Barcelona, provided the Spanish Merchant Marine with the opportunity to present the new navigation

licence regulations to representatives from the nautical industry. Changes in the legislation mean that a licence will not be required for motor boats which are a maximum of five metres long or

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'YACHTS AT THE PALMA BOAT SHOW' BY JON RAWLINSON ON FLICKR

PALMA BOAT SHOW

at Show. goodies on offer is an excellent range of gastronomic options. Visitors can choose from cocktails and light meals at an exclusive beach club

sponsored by Louis Vuitton, meals prepared by a Michelin-starred chef in the super yacht area, or enjoy the numerous tapas and seafood bars until midnight.

mean no licence for some for sail boats of up to six metres. What was previously known as a Navigation Licence will be valid for motor boats of up to six metres in length. This qualification can be obtained on completion of two hours of theory and four of practical training. Turn to Page 52

Boat sales are on the increase THE nautical industry is showing sustained signs of growth. The Merchant Marine has published figures for the number of recreational craft registered in Spain during March. The numbers are considerably more positive than for the same period last year and show an increase in new boat sales of more than 15 per cent. The second-hand market is even more buoyant and March figures for this sector are 18 per cent higher than they were in 2013. In both markets the latest figures continue the upward trend, which has been in evidence since the beginning of the year. Motor boats sales show the greatest growth rate, followed by sail boats and semi-rigids.

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PALMA BOAT SHOW

Licence changes ‘imminent’

Public moorings are to be taxed USERS of public moorings in the Balearics will soon have to pay a tax. Changes in the Ports Law will enable the government to compile a register containing the full names of users of all the public moorings in the islands. There are currently more than 14,000 of these, spread across 32 ports in Mallorca, six in Menorca and three in Ibiza. The value of the tax payable has not yet been announced but according to Jaime Martinez, Councillor for Tourism, it will only be a symbolic amount and will go towards the costs of controlling the allocation of the moorings. A proper register will also facilitate the transfer of mooring rights from one user to another. The updated legislation will also bring into being what is to be known as the General Ports Plan. The purpose of this document is to increase control over port development and ensure that future modifications in port design and size meet the requirements for sustainability and environmental protection. A further modification to the current law could mean that the post of Vice President of Ports is done away with. This would be an advantage in economic terms; however, the proposal is still under discussion.

AFFORDABLE: New yacht range targets less affluent buyers.

Cut-price yachts

THE luxury yacht market, traditionally perceived as being accessible to only the better-off members of society, is opening its doors to a wider cross-section of the population. Specialists in the field, such as the German company Hanse, have decided to exploit a niche in the market by creating cut-price models aimed at the less affluent buyer. The Dusseldorf International Boat Show, one of the most prestigious events of its kind, was chosen by the firm for the presentation of its two new ‘basic’ models. The ‘Varianta’ range, as it is known, is based on a more expensive yacht which

is now out of production. Savings have been made by equipping the standard Varianta models with only basic trimmings and fitments. Buyers will profit from the same sporty design and can look forward to excellent performance and handling but will have to dig deeper into their pockets if they want to couple that with a more luxurious interior. Numerous additional and upgraded features are available as optional extras. The basic model of the Varianta 37, a three-cabined yacht of almost 12 metres in length, with a high-quality rig and a 12CV motor, is available in Spain from Marina Estrella, price €74,900 plus VAT.

From Page 51 Holders of the Basic Captain’s Licence will be authorised to take out boats of up to eight metres whilst Recreational Captain’s Licences (PERs) have been extended to cover crafts of up to 15 metres. Permission to navigate between Spain and the Balearic Islands will only be given after 24 hours of practical training, but completion of this will allow applicants to take charge of boats of up to 24 metres. The Yacht Captain’s Licence will authorise holders to sail yachts of 24 metres or less and to travel a maximum of 150 miles from the coast. The Merchant Marine’s spokesman, Fernando Hernandez, confirmed these imminent changes.

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PALMA BOAT SHOW

PALMA BOAT SHOW

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SPORT

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port SFinal of Mallorca Girls League Sir Dave Brailsford

Sir Dave Brailsford has quit as performance director of British Cycling to concentrate on running Team Sky. The 50-year-old led Team GB to eight gold medals at both the Beijing and London Olympics and has transformed the sport during his 10-year reign. Shane Sutton takes over his role while Andy Harrison has been named perform-ance director.

By Lynda Demangeat EVEN though the main Senior League in the Baleares has come to an end there is still plenty of rugby being played before the weather gets too hot. El Toro RC and RC Ponent met on Saturday at the Son Caliu pitch. This match was the last in the girls’ league and with El Toro RC on five wins and RC Ponent on four it was all up to the visitors

who needed to win to stand a chance of equalising. RC Ponent girls won a very closely fought match by 10 points to 26 and won the first Mallorca Girls League having scored more points over the season. The Baleares U16 league is also reaching its closing matches. El Toro RC played RC Ponent at the weekend. In this category the Ponent team have been stronger throughout the

SUSANA HOZ CULLEN, MARIA DEL MAR.

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Mallorca’s best guide to local sport

WINNERS: The RC Ponent team. season and did not disappoint with a win of 69 points to 0 for El Toro RC. During the weekend of April 26-27, Son Caliu, Mallorca, will play hosts to the National Territorial U16 championships. Provincial teams from Andalucia, Madrid, Navarra, Cataluña and the home Baleares team will compete

in this tournament. Competition will be fierce and there will be plenty of action for spectators who will all be welcome. Preliminary matches will be played on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. Also coming up just after the holidays on Saturday and Sunday May 3 and 4 is the extremely popular

Majorca Beach Rugby Tournament, now in its seventh year which takes place on Magaluf beach near Punta Ballena. Teams from all parts of Europe join the local teams for a weekend of rugby action and plenty of entertainment. This year there are 42 men’s teams and also 13 teams in the

ladies competition. On May 17-18 there is the HM Palma Beach Rugby Tournament, incorporating competitions for all ages from eight to veterans and for the girls too. This event will take place on the beach in front of Palma Aquarium and will be opened by Women’s Rugby star Margaret Alphonsie.