Euro Weekly News - Mallorca 11 - 17 August 2016 Issue 1623

ISSUE NO. 1623

11 - 17 August 2016

MALLORCA

YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION

@FelipeVIRey

The royal visitors

By John Smith Despite the fact that the Royal Family is on holiday in Mallorca, it is clear that the King and Queen in particular fully understand the fact that they are always going to be in the public eye. On Saturday August 6, after competing in the Copa del Rey regatta (but unfortunately finishing near the bottom), His Majesty presented the trophies to the winners of the various classes of competition.

On the following evening, King Fe-

lipe and Queen Letizia, accompanied by Queen Sofia hosted their now annual reception at the Almudaina Palace where some 450 guests drawn from the great and good of the island were greeted and entertained.

Various political leaders attended and although some representatives from Més and Podemos had declined invitations, those in a senior position in those parties decided that it would be politic to attend.

Before formally welcoming their

guests, the royal couple made a point of meeting members of the public who had gathered outside of the palace to wish them well.

During the previous week, the royal couple made themselves and their children available for a general ‘Hello’ style photo session in the grounds of the Marivent Palace, which it has been announced will be open to the public by January of next year, although an area will be fenced off for the exclusive use of the Royal Family.

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LOCAL NEWS

Third-floor fall A TEENAGER was rushed to hospital after falling from a balcony in Puerto Alcudia on Tuesday (August 9).

The 19-year-old male was taken to Son Espases by paramedics who treated him

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British bandits caught Photo by Shutterstock

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immediately at the scene after he fell from the third floor of a building in Avenida Tucan. His condition is reported as being ‘serious.’

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Room rentals PALMA’s room rental prices have increased the most in the Balearic Islands.

The average price of a room in August last year was €272 in the capital, but this summer this has risen nearly 14 per cent to €310.

Across Spain, the next biggest increase was Alicante City just over the water on the mainland which has seen a 10.2 per cent increase in room prices.

House to parking FELANITX Council has announced they have purchased a house in Calle Juevert, on the corner of Calle del Convent.

The house will be demolished and public parking

spaces formed in a bid to help resolve the problematic parking situation, with Mayor Joan Xamena saying: “There has been an obvious lack of places for years.”

MAGALUF HOTELS: Targeted by a couple of burglars who stole mobile phones and cash.

By Matt Ford THE beady, ever vigilant eyes of the Guardia Civil have come to rest on a pair of burgling Brits, who allegedly committed up to 20 robberies at a series of hotels in Magaluf over a period of just a few weeks.

Following sustained success, the freestyle filchers were eventually clocked by a Guardia Civil patrol as they were in the midst of their latest smash-and-grab, leading officers to move in and snaffle them red-handed.

O nc e the pilfe ring pa ir were safely ensconced be-

hi nd bar s, i nvest i gat or s found that they had booked a r oom i n a near by hot el , pr esum abl y posi ng as tourists before sneaking into ot her est abl i shm ent s and breaking into unoccupied rooms, where they hoovered up any portable valuables they came across, mostly

mobile phones and cash.

Upon searching the men’s room, officers found a range of high-end smartphones, laptops and large amounts of money, and anyone who has lost such items in recent weeks is encouraged to contact the Guardia Civil office on 971 301 100.

NEWS

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FEATURED NEWS

US Navy Photo Wikimedia

Death on the Rock revisited On two occasions that vessels were stopped, senior IRA officers were found on board.”

MUAMMAR AL-GADDAFI: Provided assistance to the IRA by supplying material for their use.

By John Smith WITH the current security alerts all over Europe due to fear of terrorist attack and the ongoing activities of both Spanish and Gibraltarian authorities to detect potential threats, I decided to revisit the IRA plan to explode a bomb in Gibraltar back in 1988 and to see whether there were any links to any other country which might explain the reason for choosing Gibraltar as a potential target.

There has been a huge amount of controversy about the events that led up to the shooting of three members of the Irish Republican Army in 1988 with accusations of incompetence on the part of the British authorities, inefficiency by the Spanish, obfuscation and even misdirection by the British government and the printing of untruths by the press immediately after.

The first question that needs to be asked is where did the IRA get its arms and explosives from and the answer goes back to the 1970s where, apart from traditional support from Irish American sources, the group made contact with Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi who was, to say the least, a maverick and decided to assist the organisation by supplying material for their use.

As early as 1973, the Irish government seized the Claudia which contained five tons of munitions and weapons sent by the Libyans for the use of the IRA. It is believed however that three additional shipments plus as much as $5 million got through and helped the IRA to undertake

120 tons of armaments were seized by the French when they intercepted MV Eksund.

their campaign of terror in Ulster and mainland UK. This all came to an abrupt end in 1976 when Gaddafi broke off all contact with the IRA and had nothing more to do with them until the early 1980s when he decided to back the IRA again especially as relationships with the UK had deteriorated dramatically. It is estimated that in 1985 and 1986, four enormous shipments of up-to-date arms and ammunition including surface to air missiles, arrived in Ireland and at one stage the IRA were said to have had ‘an embarrassment of riches’.

Just one consignment was intercepted, on this occasion by the French, who boarded and seized the MV Eksund which carried more than 120 tons of armaments. On each of the two occasions that vessels were stopped, senior IRA officers were found to be on board.

One of the reasons that Gaddafi wanted to support the IRA was because Britain had allowed the

US Air Force to use bases in the UK as starting points for attacks on both Benghazi and Tripoli in 1986 and he certainly had a wish to see Britain suffer the consequences of its actions.

So turning to Gibraltar, the question is why would the IRA focus its attention on what was a tiny British Colony sitting opposite the Maghreb States and the closest British point to Libya?

From my research it seems likely that the operation was undertaken either at the request of the Colonel or as a gesture of thanks for all of the support that he had given.

The British authorities were very lucky that they became aware of the planned attack months in advance when a supposedly retired member of the IRA let drop to another member that he was off to Spain on ‘a recce’ which clearly meant that he was going to be undertaking a review of an area for a potential attack and this would most likely target Gibraltar. Unfortunately for the IRA the man he mentioned it to in passing was an informer and the British authorities were alerted.

There has been some disagreement about how the IRA planned the attack but it appears more than likely that an Irish woman, who did not take part in the actual attack, spent a great deal of time visiting Gibraltar and working out the plan.

All of the time, she was under surveillance and as the three-person gang arrived in Spain, so were they. On the day they were killed, it was believed that they were intending to plant a car bomb near the assembly point for the British regiment which was to take part in the changing of

the guard outside the Convent (the Governor’s Official Residence). The targets were clearly British; Gibraltarian casualties would have been unfortunate but acceptable.

In the event one member of the ‘gang’ parked a white Renault 5 at the assembly point and walked off whilst the other two walked into Gibraltar having left their car on the Spanish side.

It was decided that this was the actual attack and a decision was made to ‘neutralise’ those responsible and the result was that all three senior IRA members were shot as they were heading back towards the border.

Controversy still rages over whether this was a simple planned execution or whether the SAS members who undertook the shooting genuinely believed that they were about to detonate the explosives remotely.

Upon investigation, it turned out that neither car contained the explosives and it was assumed that the Renault had been parked to reserve a space so that the real bomb could be driven in to Gibraltar for the next changing of the guard.

Once again, there was element of luck in the fact that three car keys were found on the bodies and having received permission from the Spanish authorities to search the car in Spain, a ticket from a parking garage in Marbella was found.

It was this third car that was parked up in Marbella which was full of explosives and would have caused untold suffering and multiple deaths if it had ever been taken onto the Rock.

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INDEX News 1 - 19

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Island most under threat Photo by Maymonides, Flickr

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Featured News 3

Finance 23 - 28

Stocks 24

Leapy Lee 29

Letters 30

Time Out 32 - 33

CONEJERA ISLAND: One of the most threatened areas for bird life in the world.

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn

Daily TV 34

Our View 35

Colin Bird 35

THE Conejera Island (near Ibiza) is one of four Important Bird Conservation and Biodiversity (IBA) sites and among the most threatened areas of the world, according to a study by SEO/BirdLife.

The island of Conejera also includes the islets of Bledes and Espartar, but BirdLife said the

threat to birds in this area is “very high,” particularly among the nesting species of the Shearwater seabird, with urbanisation and the impact of tourism seen as the factors to blame.

The coordinator of Conservation for SEO/BirdLife, Juan Carlos Atienza, said that despite the conservation work they perform in the different organisa-

tions, they do not have enough data to determine whether evolution is positive or negative.

The report warns that the deterioration in this area “can be very fast if you do not act, as threats could take effect in just four years.”

SEO/BirdLife has been working on the conservation of birds and their habitats since it was founded in 1954, conduct-

ing scientific studies, disseminating knowledge, performing activities related to international co-operation and developing environmental programmes with volunteers.

The group focuses on the conservation of bird species, identifying the threats that cause this situation and proposing conservation measures to improve their status.

Health & Beauty 38 - 39

Social Scene 41

Property 42 - 44

Homes & Gardens 46

Pets 47

Classifieds 48 - 49

Boats 50 - 51

Vicki 52

Motoring 54

Sport 56

Homicide charge after motorbike accident A T E E N A G E R h as b e e n c h arg e d w ith re c k l e s s h o mic id e fo llo w in g the death of another youngster on his motorbike.

The rider of the motorbike w a s 17 but his 19ye a r-old pa s s e nge r fe ll from the bike on the Llucmajor motorway near exit

12 and was killed.

Te s ts re ve a le d the 17year-old was three times over the alcohol limit at the time of the accident.

Police believe that the bike struck a guard rail and the passenger suffered fatal i nj ur i es when he was thrown off.

NEWS

NEWS

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Mechanic dies at work from injuries

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn A WORKER was killed after being hit by a truck on the industrial estate Son Castello in

Tourists are spending more THE Balearic Islands led the expenditure of foreign tourists visiting Spain in June.

According to the National Statistics Institute, the overall expenditure of foreigners during that month in the islands reached â‚Ź1.8 billion, a rise of 11.6 per cent compared to the same month last year.

The average expenditure per tourist visiting the islands also rose slightly by 0.2 per cent, to â‚Ź959 per stay, while the daily average spending of each tourist reached â‚Ź135, 4.7 per cent more than in 2015.

In bankruptcy A TOTAL of 30 companies of the Balearics filed for bankruptcy during the second quarter of the year, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Of those 30 companies, 13 are within the real estate and construction sector, five belonging to wholesale and two to the hospitality industry, among other sectors.

Palma. The mechanic, aged 45, was working in one of the industrial units when he was hit and run over by a heavy vehicle. The victim was crushed and died instantly from his injuries.

National Police and the Labour Inspectorate have launched an investigation to try and clarify the circumstances surrounding the accident but it is believed that a trucker moved the vehicle

without seeing the mechanic. He was the second person to die from a work accident in Palma within a week as another man, aged 35, was killed after being hit by a truck.

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NEWS

Katie Price in Mallorca

By John Smith

Photo Credit Featureflash Shutterstock

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MULTI-TALENTED Katie Price arrived in Mallorca in order to make guest appearances at two nightclubs in Magaluf, but her performance in a Karaoke bar in Santa Ponsa drew far more attention, but not of the good kind.

There has been a great deal of press and media coverage of the incident.

According to reports, she appeared to have over-imbibed and apart from singing off-key, she swore at other customers who included parents with young children and reportedly made what was considered a tasteless comment about her son Harvey who suffers Prader-Willi syndrome, autism and ADHD. Whilst she has made no response to the accusations, there has been a great deal of press and social media coverage concerning her behaviour.

KATIE PRICE: Her behaviour at a karaoke bar drew comments.

Domestic violence deaths on increase IN just seven months, Mallorca has equalled the worst year for women killed at the hands of their partners, since 2003.

Already four women have been killed this year.

The shocking statistics come as the family of Xue Sandra Saura Menendez announced she had died following burns after her partner doused her with petrol and set fire to her in Alcudia. Her death came more than a month after the attack. She had been in the burns unit at the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona. Her partner confessed his crime and remains in jail without bail.

In a statement, the family said they were thankful for the support they had received in recent weeks but also requested they be left to grieve privately and that the funeral will be a private event.

In January a British woman was killed by her husband who strangled her with the cord of her mobile phone charger in

their apartment in Calvia.

In March, a 19-year-old died in Son Servera after being strangled by her boyfriend and in May a man stabbed his exwife to death in Port de Pollensa.

There have never been so many domestic violence deaths recorded since 2003 when the year also had four such deaths. Now 2016 is being marked as a black year in terms of violence against women.

After the death of Xue, around 40 representatives of the Consell de Mallorca, Palma City Council and all political groups in the Parliament, gathered to observe a minute of silence.

Secretary General of the Government Delegation in the Balearics, Evelio Antich, expressed his support for the “rejection of gender violence” and said more preventative work must be done to raise awareness amongst citizens.

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Shopping sprees boosting local Mallorca businesses Photo Credit Balakate/Shutterstock

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TRADE BOOST: Indicates a clear and consolidated recovery of the sector.

SMALL businesses have reported a boost in trade in Mallorca.

Around 60 per cent of retailers said they had improved their results in July compared to the same month last year and only 10 per cent said sales were down.

Pimeco small business association said the data “indicates a clear and consolidated recovery of the sector and a greater

willingness to purchase by customers resident in Mallorca.” They added that “we have more people working and less unemployment” resulting in a stronger spending power.”

The report prepared by Pimeco focused primarily on shoe and clothes shops but said results across the rest of the sector were “very similar.”

NEWS

‘Learning tools’ to be banned

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn MOBILE phones and electronic devices such as tablets will be banned from classes at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) from September. It comes following the introduction of a new ruling against their usage adopted by the institute.

Margalida Capella, from the UIB, said it was realised that students were no longer taking notes in class, but were simply taking a photo of the screen or book with their phone, but now, she said: “Students and teachers are forbidden to take pictures, both projected content or written on the board.” The exception is when their use is justified by the type of activity, is authorised by the teacher or the stu-

NO PHOTOS: Unless authorised by the teacher. dent has a disability that requires their use.

The news opened some debate on social networks with a professor of Educational Technology saying “It seems to go against the spirit of the times, and in my case, what I

teach.” Another teacher welcomed it saying students were often distracted by things like Facebook.

But they did add that calls should never be taken and sound should be on silent mode.

Abandoned rescue flare causes alarm AN artefact of unknown origin abandoned in the harbour

of Palma caused alarm in the area and within minutes saw

police officers, bomb disposal, fire and even an ambulance crew on site.

Eyewitnesses reported to the police an abandoned backpack with what appeared to be an old sea rescue flare.

Officers cordoned off the area by the harbour as agents from the bomb disposal unit removed the package and took it to be exploded in a controlled manner.

It is believed it may have been an old flare from Bengal.

Depending on the shipping areas for which it is authorised, a vessel can take on board objects for rescue, among which may include flares and smoke canisters, but without the necessary security conditions, or if not disposed of correctly, they can become dangerous devices.

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RESIDENTS in the Bonanova-Porto Pi area of Palma say they have had enough of cargo ferries operated by Balearia and Acciona.

The president of the local residents association said “We’ve put up with it for 15 years and we can’t take it anymore.”

They say the constant noise and operations within the area by the cargo ships is blighting their lives with some neighbours saying they get no sleep and others adding that they have a constant vibration of windows in their houses.

Around 500 residents say they are affected by the noise from instructions shouted to workers via megaphones, and more still are affected depending on the direction of the wind and height of the buildings.

The residents did point out that they have no problem with cruise ships as, despite being much larger, they have more modern technology and are quieter.

The residents association met with Joan Gual, the president of the Balearic Ports Authority, in February and discussed the issue, but the problems have continued. They have asked for alternative solutions, such as in Alcudia where ships now have to anchor outside the port at night or in Ibiza where ships arrive only during the day.

NEWS

Islands are coping with the summer influx

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn THE Balearic Islands are not in a state of collapse.

That’s the message from the vice president of the government and minister for innovation, research and tourism, Biel Barcelo, who said the infrastructure is enduring the summer season.

However, he added that they did need to work to improve winter tourism with alternative products that provide differentiation and which would potentially draw more tourists to the islands outside of the summer months.

“We are aware that in summer we have the capacity for housing, water, roads and cars available and we cannot expect more, more and more, as it will get to the point of collapse.”

The vice president highlight-

TAKE ON TOURISTS: Coping with summer but winter tourism needs improved.

e d the w e a lth ge ne ra te d by tourism but stressed the need to strike a balance and maintain environmental sustainability.

“It is a debate that is on the table and you ha ve to ta ke the measures to ensure sustainability and make sure that e ve rything good w hic h produc e s tourism will last e ve n longe r,” said Barcelo.

He also a dde d tha t the y ne e d to re gula te the holida y re nta l indus try but stressed that “this does not me a n a tota l ban.”

Photo by Shutterstock

Cargo concern for residents

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Rubbish burden Photo by Shutterstock

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OVERFLOWING CONTAINERS: Have left residents angry.

RESIDENTS in Can Picafort say they are angry by the negligence of those responsible for municipal street cleaning.

They report overflowing rubbish containers and various objects, some of which haven’t been emptied for days, as well as all sorts of rubbish strewn on the streets. “It’s a disaster” said one resident: “I don’t think I have ever seen it so dirty or people having to put up with these conditions. The worst part is that it is not a matter of one or two streets, but a general problem which all the people are experiencing.”

Residents said the council is aware of the problem but has not come up with solutions

to improve the situation. Municipal sources recognise they have a shortage of containers, especially during peak summer season, which increases the feeling of dirt on the streets.

Councillor of Can Picafort, Joan Monjo, responded that several aspects recently have also aggravated the situation. One was the wind storms that occurred during the last week which caused plastics, packaging and other waste to run free through the streets.

Another was the misuse of the waste service by citizens with people not disposing of their rubbish in the correct containers and due to the severe influx of visitors during the summer months, services are overloaded.

FINANCE

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Do you own buy-to-let property in the UK? The UK government has introduced various changes that make owning property in the UK less attractive for expatiates, from a taxation point of view.

Non-UK residents no longer escape capital gains tax on UK residential property; stamp duty land tax has increased and changes from next year mean that many landlords will pay more tax on their rental income.

All these changes were implemented before the UK’s EU referendum and are not related to Brexit.

The current tax rules on buy-to-let income Landlords are able to offset their mortgage interest against rental income; a direct deduction against income. This is effectively a relief on your highest rate of tax, so the tax saving is 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 45 per cent, depending on your tax band.

So, let us say, you earn £10,000 a year from a buy-to-let property and pay mortgage interest of £5,000. You offset the mortgage interest and only pay tax on £5,000. If you are a basic rate

By Simon King, Partner, Blevins Franks taxpayer you save £1,000 in tax (£5,000 x 20 per cent). If you are a higher rate taxpayer you save £2,000 and if you pay the 45 per cent income tax rate you save £2,250.

New taxation rules starting April 2017 This relief is being slowly removed over four years from April 2017.

Ultimately, from April 2020, you will only be able to deduct 20 per cent of mortgage interest as a tax credit. In

the above example, your tax savings will be £1,000 (20 per cent of £5,000), regardless of your income tax band. The change is being introduced over a transitional period.

For the 2017/18 tax year, the deduction from property income will be restricted to 75 per cent of finance costs, with the remaining 25 per cent being available as a basic rate tax reduction.

For 2018/19 landlords will be able to claim 50 per cent of the mortgage interest relief against the income (so £2,500 at your marginal rate of tax) plus 20 per cent of £2,500 as a tax credit.

For 2019/20 the mortgage interest rate relief falls to 25 per cent, plus 20 per cent of £3,750 as a tax credit.

From April 2020 onwards there is no deduction against mortgage interest and everyone will receive only 20 per cent of the interest as a tax credit.

Stamp duty land tax Landlords have also been affected

by the new higher rates of stamp duty land tax.

Stamp duty land tax is charged on purchases of additional residential properties, such as for second homes and buy-to-let. It also applies if you live abroad and buy a property in the UK. As announced in the 2015 Autumn Statement, the government is introducing higher rates.

These apply from 1st April 2016 and are 3 per cent in addition to the existing standard rates.

The starting rate is therefore now 3 per cent for properties under £125,000 (the first £40,000 is tax free), rising to 15 per cent for properties over £1,500,000.

Capital gains tax Do not forget that non-residents now pay UK capital gains tax when selling a UK residential property, whereas prior to April 2015 you were exempt.

And while the 2016 budget reduced capital gains tax rates, rates on

property were excluded from this reform and remain 18 per cent and 28 per cent.

For non-UK residents, however, tax will only be paid on the gains arising from April 2015.

If you are resident in Spain and concerned about the tax liabilities on your UK property, talk to an adviser who can guide you on taxation in both the UK and Spain to establish what more tax-efficient investment opportunities are available to you in Spain. You can then weigh up your options and determine the best solution for you.

Summarised tax information is based upon our understanding of current laws and practises which may change.

Individuals should 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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Women cannot be used as sex objects

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn MORE is being done to raise awareness about domestic violence in a bid to prevent it.

In September, courses and protective measures will be extended throughout the legislature, said Director of Equality of the Consell de Mallorca, Nina Parron: “Gender violence cannot be solved with laws if there is no citizen awareness.”

September’s course will target professionNO MORE: Raising awareness.

als and will be led by security forces, social workers and health personnel. In October a training course of 30 hours will be arranged for teachers to help stamp out the problem in future generations.

Parron also wants to address sexism in adver-

tising campaigns: “We cannot be allowed to have billboards that show women as sex objects.”

The move comes following the death of a woman who was doused in petrol and set alight by her partner in Alcudia: the fourth female victim to die at the hands of a partner or ex this year.

NEWS

Cliffside rescue A SPECTACULAR cliffside rescue took place after a man, operating a bulldozer, fell off the edge in the village of Camp de Mar, near Cala Blanca.

Guardia Civil from Andratx attended the scene and launched the 90-minute rescue operation with a police helicopter.

The events surrounding the accident are still unknown, but it is believed the man, aged 58, lost control of the bulldozer he was using for the construction of a villa in the area, with both him and the 20-ton machine going off the edge.

The man managed to cling onto part of the cliff before being rescued.

He was transferred to the Son Espases hospital for treatment.

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Chatty islanders

Photo by Shutterstock

THE WOMEN: Spend more time talking, but men use more data.

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn

RESIDENTS in the Balearic Islands are the most talkative it seems.

Citizens like to keep in contact as a study has shown that the Islands’ residents spend an average of 101 minutes per month on their mobiles, compared to the average of 91 minutes across the whole country.

The study was carried out

100

minutes per month is the average time spent on the phone by communications company Masmovil on the consumption habits of more than 90,000 customers.

After the Balearic Islands, Murcian customers were the

most communicative spending an average of 100 minutes on the phone each month, followed by those in the Canary Islands with 99 minutes.

La Rioja users spent the least time on their phones at 78 minutes on average.

As in 2015, residents on the Islands also headed the study for the most text messages sent with an average of 11 per month, a decline on previous years, accountable perhaps to the increasingly

widespread use of free instant messaging services such as WhatsApp. Across the country, women were the ones who spent more time talking on their phones, although it was men who used more mobile data, establishing an average consumption over 800 MB per month. The highest consumption of data is recorded in the age group between 15 and 20 years with an average of 1,343 MB per month.

Book bank project C A LV I A h a s a l l o c a t e d €60,000 for a project drafted by the Municipal Institute of Education and Libraries Calvia (IMEB), which aims to raise awareness of the importance of reusing textbooks.

This project will be implemented through IMEB along with the Schools and the Association of Parents of the Salle de Palma de Mallorca (Amipas) College.

The plan is also aimed at schools and colleges, encouraging them to create a bank of books and materials owned by the centre, which can be

passed on to families from year to year.

A grant will be awarded to each centre for primary and secondary schools, in order to create the book bank, depending on the number of students per centre. Books for the fifth and sixth year in primary and first and second in secondary schools will be given priority.

The council said it is part of a long term project aimed at promoting values such as recycling, solidarity and making economic savings among the entire educational community.

City break award PALMA has been selected as a finalist in the awards for ‘Best European City Break for Families.’

The title is a tourist award from the British publication Family Traveller, reaching 80,000 homes in its print edition and more than 110,000 visitors in digital.

Voting can be done via www.family traveller awards.com/vote.

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Child friendly Palma MAYOR of Palma, Jose Hila, said the intention of the council is to make the city “more child friendly” and to improve the conditions for children.

It comes following the mayor’s meeting with the new president of the committee of Unicef, Mercedes del Pozo, in which they discussed Palma being part of the network of ‘Friendly Cities for Children.’ This is a Unicef initiative aimed at helping to improve the living conditions of children and adolescents through the promotion and implementation of municipal policies to ensure their comprehensive development with a human rights approach.

Del Pozo said that there are different departments within the council who are already working hard to achieve this goal. More meetings will be held in the future with a view to Mallorca’s capital being declared a ‘Child Friendly City’ in 2017.

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Tricky technicians cause owners alarm wavebreakmedia shutterstock

NEWS

By John Smith

BEWARE a new scam which could be very expensive if you fall for it. Recently a householder in the prosperous area of La Quinta near Marbella received an unexpected call from some individuals claiming to be from their alarm company who advised that they needed to make some improvements to the system.

Having no reason to suspect that they weren’t genuine, the householder let them in and they proceeded to undertake the work. As events unfolded the next day however, it transpired that these guys were completely bogus and had actually wired up the property so that they could see and hear what was going on.

When the owners were out and the housekeeper had also gone out, this crew calmly went into the house, suppressing the alarm which they had previously doctored and over a period of more than three hours stole whatever they could that was loose and discovered the house safe.

Once they found that they could not open the safe, they simply attacked it from the wall to which it was affixed and removed it to open

PHONEY POSSE: Claimed they needed to check the alarm system. away from the house in their own time.

The home owners were devastated with the results of the burglars’ day’s work when they returned home and naturally when they called the alarm company, they sadly confirmed that these ‘workmen’ were not on their books.

It is a lesson to be shared with all of our readers who are advised to check with the head office of any company, should you receive an unexpected visit from anyone advising that they are due to check anything in or on your property.

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NEWS Photo by Ben Ward, Flickr

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More sustainable plans for Palma PALMA is to create a new cycle route within the Gotleu neighbourhood of Palma. The plan was announced by the Deputy Mayor for Mobility, Joan Ferrer, who said the scheme was part of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Palma (PMUS) 2014, and will have an invest-

ment of €56,000: “This work will include 48 bicycle parking bays and civil works, especially on Calle Metge Josep Darder,” said Ferrer.

The inauguration of the work takes place during the ‘European Mobility Week,’ held from September 16-22.

The project will be implemented in different phases, starting with traffic lights, extending the bike path down Calle Metge Josep Darder, following the Plaza Miquel Dolç until the beginning of Calle Indalecio Prieto, which has one lane in both directions, with access to Barrio El Rafal.

HOPEFUL HARVEST: A good harvest is expected.

Hopeful for good harvest

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn THE grape harvest is due to begin this week and Mallorca’s wine producers say everything is pointing to a strong harvest in terms of both quantity and quality.

Unlike other cultivators on the island, the wine producers have no particular issue with the water shortage and a lack of water can even improve quality. Councils for both the

Binissalem Designation of Origin (DO) and Pla de Llevant DO areas, had given authorisation to irrigate vineyards but it wasn’t needed.

The white Chardonnay and Moscatel grapes will be the first to be collected with the harvesting period expected to last until October, with red varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and the indigenous Gorgollassa being among the final grapes to be picked.

NEWS

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

www.euroweeklynews.com

17

Fighting in the street THE two people arrested at the weekend in s’Arenal for an altercation with police, have been released.

The men, of Sengalese origin, were arrested as a group of street hawkers argued and fought with police. Both denied having beaten or heckled police. One acknowledged a brawl did break out but denied having taken part in it. He said he did not throw a stool at officers as they

PARTY BOATS: Are now also not permitted to go into protected areas.

Checking out the party on board

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn BOARDING a so-called ‘party boat’ this summer?

Well you can expect to see more police patrolling the seas with you.

The authorities of the islands a r e f o c u si n g a n e w campaign on such vessels to preven t d r u g s o n b o a rd .

They will also carry out alcohol tests for crew piloting the boats.

Already, 20 inspections have been carried out with the capacity of the vessel checked along with the nec-

Fines of between €6,000 and €100,000 can be issued for those failing to comply. essary documentation and compliance with the noise regulations. Lifejackets and flares, the required lifesaving equipment, will also be assessed.

Party boats are now also

not permitted to go in protected areas, following the approval of a new law in July. Fines of between €6,000 and €100,000 can be issued for those companies failing to comply.

Before it came into force, the Department of the Environment said it would put all means at its disposal to enforce the ruling.

The pa rty boa t a c tivity especially affects the coast of Ibiza and Formentera but a ls o to a re a s s uc h a s the bays of Palma and Alcudia.

alleged and the other said he was thrown to the ground by police and lost consciousness so could not have been involved in the brawl.

They claimed police always harass them.

The version by police officers differs saying the suspect attacked and hit them and due to the amount of violence shown, reinforcements were called in including National Police in riot gear.

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www.euroweeklynews.com

Tourism plans

NEWS EXTRA

Lower price

A TOTAL of €150,000 has been allocated by the Consell de Mallorca for tourist information in municipalities.

The money directed to municipalities will finance projects including the development and distribution of information material for visitors, on paper or in digital content.

Town halls may submit their

THE Asaja farmers’ union estimates the price of the almond crop in Inca will be around €3 cheaper than in 2015 as the trees are dying from fungi and the crop is affected by the drought conditions.

Tributes paid TRIBUTES have been paid to the ‘exemplary career’ of Sebastià Crespí Mir, a retired auditor for Palma City Council who passed away in his home town of Sa Pobla, aged 74.

Children welcome SANT ELM in Andratx has its own version of the Moors and Christians fiestas.

Attracting hundreds of spectators. It is particularly popular as children get to join in the more casual event.

NEWS

COCKROACHES: Cause three out of 10 infestations in Spain.

The list no-one wanted to top

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn THE Balearic Islands are among the top three regions in Spain most affected by cockroach infestations, according to Rentokil.

Cockroaches cause three out of 10 infestations in Spain with Valencia, Murcia and the Balearic Islands the communities most affected.

Nationally, termites and woodworm represent the second plague with a more nationwide presence.

According to data from the fourth Regional Observatory Rentokil Pest survey, of the total number of actions by the specialist sanitation company in the Balearic Islands last year, almost half (47 per cent) were to combat the presence of cockroaches.

proposals for tourist information until August 31 and can be awarded a maximum amount of €15,000.

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Cosmbe Bonet, said: “This new line of funding is part of the process of reactivating the entire area of tourism to improve services Mallorca offers as a tourist destination.”

More blood reserves needed MORE blood is needed on the islands, according to the director of the Foundation of Blood Bank and Tissue Baleares (FBSTIB).

Enrique Girona said the company only has reserves for 48 hours but did note that hospitals are covered. Girona has indicated that the most needed blood groups are A-, 0- and 0+.

In the last week the FBSTIB has organised 33 blood donation campaigns in different locations such as Palma, Santa Eulalia and Fornell, to encourage donors to come forward.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 people will need blood this summer due to transfusion operations, accidents and emergency treatments.

NEWS

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

www.euroweeklynews.com

Photo by Shutterstock

Photo by Shutterstock

Work for all

19

DRINKING WATER: Cuts to be temporary.

Water cuts due to start LABOUR MARKET: There are still prejudices which hamper employment of young people with disabilities.

By Gemma Elvins-Quinn PREJUDICES are still hampering the employment of young people with disabilities.

A report found that just 28 per cent of this group are employed compared with 37 per cent of under 25s.

According to the study by the Adecco Foundation, factors such as family overprotectiveness, low levels of education or

business prejudices continue to hinder the participation of young people with disabilities in the labour market in the Balearics and over half are unemployed.

The CEO of the Adecco Foundation, Francisco Mesonero, said: “It is time to eradicate the prejudices that limit the participation of young people with disabilities in employment, not only an important matter of ethics or social justice, but because our economy needs them to get ahead.”

Ending the dispute THE government will pay €22.4 million for the construction of the Palma Arena.

It co m e s a s a n a gre e ment is signed with the joint venture behind the Palma Arena which will see the government paying for the extra cost of the works, although this figure is some €6.9 million l e ss t h a n wh a t th e construction company demanded.

Government spokeswoman Pilar Costa said the agreement “puts an end to the disputes” as they will make a schedule of payments until 2019 as construction works are carried out and de-

ficiencies corrected.

C o s ta a d d e d th a t the project was one of the “large mortgage mismanagement projects” of previous legislations.

The works of the Palma Arena were awarded in 2 0 0 6 fo r a to ta l co s t of €47.7 million, but once awarded, the figure went up. Current estimates sugg e s t it w ill h a v e a c o st overrun of 60 per cent.

The agreement between the government and the joint venture has nothing to do with the issues that are under judicial investigation. In 2008, the project was accused of a ‘misuse’ of public funds.

To mark tomorrow’s (Friday August 12) International Youth Day, Adecco has stressed that the commitment and participation of young people is essential to achieving sustainable human development.

The Foundation, which surveyed 800 young people with a disability certificate, stressed that the participation of these people is considerably less than the youth of the same age.

DEIA has begun to make water cuts due to the lack of water resources.

The mayor of Deia has issued an edict reporting the implementation of restrictions on the supply of drinking water which came into force at the start of the week.

Temporary cuts are currently affecting s’Empeltada, Llucalcari and Cala de Deia.

Cuts will be made for 24 hours and three days a week in different population centres. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Llucalcari cuts are made; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays there will be no water in the Cala de Deià; while in the area of s’Empeltada cuts between the upper area and the lower area will be on Mondays and Sundays.

The mayor said the cuts are a result of the water shortage to ensure supply throughout the municipality, but assured residents they were a temporary measure and the ban would be lifted in September.

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EUROPEAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS

Viking hero SWEDEN: A fireman stripped down to his underwear to jump into a river to rescue a stranded sheep north of Gothenburg. The man has since been named a ‘real Viking man.’

Caught on film SWEDEN: A bus driver has been sacked after he was caught on camera hitting and kicking an asylum seeker. The bus company said it was “unacceptable” and have launched an internal enquiry.

GERMAN

Top job on offer FOMER Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly been offered a £36 million (€42,436,477) job in Kazakhstan working for the president where he would have the title ‘sultan’ and have his own harem of women.

Euro win THE British Euromillions winner has handed £12 million (€14,145,492) to each of her children apart from her estranged son. The Gloucester woman won £61 million (€71,906,252) after buying a ticket following successful surgery saying she “felt lucky.”

Street safety MORE police officers have taken to patrolling London’s streets after

BRITISH PRESS a man, armed with a knife attacked people in Russell Square. One woman was killed and five others were taken to hospital.

FORMER PM: Would be called sultan.

Free fighting A BRITISH actor who starred in Pirates of the Caribbean, has ditched his Hollywood career to go to Syria to fight Isis as a volunteer. Fifty-two-year-old Michael Enright from Manchester previously went in 2015 to fight with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.

Alive or dead?

US intelligence believes that German rapper Deso Dogg may still be alive. He joined Daesh in 2012 and is thought to have been killed in an air strike in Syria.

FIVE young Germans were arrested after a flashmob stunt in Girona, north Spain, went wrong and sparked a terror alert. The group pretended to be chasing after a celebrity, but people thought it was a terror attack.

NORWAY: An Oslo court jailed two jihadists of Pakistani and Chechen origin who were living in southeastern Norway for joining the so-called Islamic State group in Syria.

DENMARK: Thieves have robbed Denmark’s Olympic team of mobile phones and clothes. The team also complained about the state of athlete’s rooms and apartments in Rio.

A GERMAN who went to Syria to join Daesh has told of how he was asked to return to Europe and carry out attacks there instead. The man was speaking from his prison cell where he is serving a three-year sentence.

Not funny

Jihadists jailed

Olympic theft

Homeland attacks

A GERMAN man has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of starting a wild fire in the Canary Islands which resulted in around 700 residents being told to evacuate. It is not clear if the 27year-old started the fire deliberately.

SWEDEN: Malmo is to host the Vans Pro Skate Park Series World Championship final on August 20. Malmo has become a popular destination for skateboarding since the early 2000s when a new outdoor skate park was built.

NORWAY: Unemployed Norwegians are being urged to try Sweden, particularly in the construction sector, teaching and computer engineering as the country’s unemployment rate has fallen in the past few years.

PRESS

Arson suspect

Skateboarding comp

On the move

NEWS

DATING SITES: Dutch people have been paying vast amounts of money to people operating fake accounts.

Love con on internet MORE people are being conned by people they met online on dating sites.

Since January, 73 Dutch people have reported paying around €1.2m to conmen and women they met online who were operating fake accounts.

Alternative worries A DUTCH woman has died at an alternative cancer clinic in Germany.

The 43-year-old is thought to have died under ‘suspicious circumstances’

DUTCH PRESS and German police have issued a warning about allegedly dangerous practices.

Strike delayed A STRIKE over pay and temporary contracts by KLM staff at Schiphol air-

In-flight sleeping

port, Amsterdam, was stopped by a court after KLM said it was illegal. The judge has stopped it until August 11 to have more time to look over the issue.

GERMAN scientists say they have proved that birds can fly while sleeping. Researchers in Bavaria studied the frigate birds in the Galapagos Islands which fly for months.

Safer staff

No blame

THE number of attacks on public transport sector staff has fallen sharply since 2005, according to research that collated figures from railway firm NS and bus and tram companies nationwide.

A SURVEY has shown that 69 per cent of Germans believed that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policies were not to blame for the recent attacks in the country.

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NEWS

RUSSIAN P RESS

UNITED RUSSIA: Reported to be the biggest beneficiary of funds from the government.

Spider’s web POLITICAL parties friendly to the Kremlin are being funded discreetly by the government, who award contracts to private companies making donations to those same parties, according to a report from an independent election monitor. The pro-Putin United Russia party is the biggest beneficiary, receiving the vast majority of corporate donations.

Currying favour PRESIDENTIAL contender Donald Trump may have curried more favour with Vladimir Putin after suggesting that the Crimean population is much happier under Russian control.

The Republican nominee has also suggested that NATO’s European members have been free loading on the military alliance and should pull their own weight in the future.

Football furore A SQUAD’S-WORTH of Russian footballers will be investigated by FIFA over doping allegations, as

Maketh the man IT was an intense 11 days and six hours for Russian Orthodox priest and renowned explorer Fedor Konyukhov who barely ate or slept as he voyaged around the globe in a hot air balloon in record breaking time, surviving lightning storms, exploding fuel canisters, extreme fatigue and freezing temperatures to make history.

FEDOR KONYUKHOV: Making history.

11 players in the Football Union become the latest athletes to become embroiled in the growing scandal. The decision comes as many Russian athletes stage a pretend ‘games’ having been banned from this year’s Olympics.

Sitting ducks SHOUTING that the judgement was a political set-up, former Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov was handed a 12-year prison sentence for extortion.

The popular politician is one of dozens of mayors who have been arrested during Putin’s reign, as they struggle to run cities in the face of complex bureaucracy.

Apocalypse now AN anthrax outbreak in Russia’s far north has killed one child and hospitalised dozens of nomadic herders.

Climate change thawing the permafrost is thought to be behind the first flare-up of ‘Siberian plague’ since 1941.

There is now a quarantine zone around the Arctic town of Salekhard.

FINANCE

Mallorca

11 - 17 August 2016

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Ryanair is not ripping off its passengers with seat charge

By John Smith IN what could be described as a piece of sensible logistical action, Ryanair, criticised in the past for putting profits before passengers, has announced with effect from September 1 at least one passenger travelling with a child under 12 years of

Quote of the Week

£1.2 billion (€1.4 billion) is the forecast profit for Ryanair for their year ending March 2017.

age will have to purchase an allocated seat on each leg of the journey at a cost of £4 (€4.8) per leg.

Whilst some believe this to be an attempt to raise additional funds, the airline explains this is to eliminate problems when checking in as children are not al-

“Brexit hasn’t started the economic Armageddon some predicted but there’s still sufficient uncertainty in UK outlook to warrant the Bank of England cut.” Peter Hemington head of corporate finance, BDO UK

Photo Credit Katie Chan Wikimedia

BUSINESS EXTRA

BANK OF ENGLAND: The London headquarters.

UK interest rate cut TWO things have happened as forecast over the last week or so. Firstly, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England unanimously cut the bank rate from 0.5 per cent to 0.25 per cent in order to try to help the economy and secondly the value of the pound immediately took a knock.

In addition, it has decided that it will buy back £60 billion (€72 billion) of UK government bonds and £10 billion (€12 billion) of cor-

porate bonds in order to help stimulate the economy.

Growth forecasts have been reduced whilst it is expected that unemployment will increase slightly in the coming year.

It doesn’t look as if there is likely to be a recession (which according to the Bank of England is in part due to its current actions) but the next few months could be difficult for the economy although not catastrophic.

Indian tax ONE of the legacies left behind by the Empire and honed by Independent India was the concept of duplicated bureaucracy and now, the current Indian government is trying to introduce a common rate of taxation on products across the country.

Currently, it is quite possible for goods to be shipped from one end of India to the other and for each State through which the goods travel to impose its own duty. Now if a minimum of 50 per cent of the Indian States agree, there will be a single tax of perhaps 17 per cent collected by central Government although it will compensate individual States for lost revenue.

Below par NIKE has become the second major sporting company to announce it will stop selling all golf products except for clothes and shoes, following the lead of German based competitor Adidas.

The company explained that its golf accessories businesses have seen regular reductions in annual sales and this has prompted the decision.

Hinkley Point Project news WHEN, in issue 1622, we reported that the Hinkley Point Project would proceed assuming that the board of EDF approved the expenditure, we had no indication that it might be put on hold by the new British government which seems worried about continued Chinese investment.

The Chinese government however has gone

23

£25.2 million (€29.7 million) is the profit made by bookmakers Ladbrokes in the first half of 2016, thanks in part to some favourites failing in a period of ‘bookie friendly’ results.

STAT OF WEEK

business & legal

EWN

to some pains to politely explain to Mrs May that the decision to put the matter on hold whilst being considered further could cause irreparable damage to Sino British relationships and damage on-going investment in Britain from the ‘Middle Kingdom’ (‘zhong guo’ the Mandarin words for China).

ways being allocated seats with parents.

Once the adult has paid to choose their seat, a free adjoining seat for the child will be allocated resolving frustration and upset for parents and children at check in. It also makes life easier for passengers asked to move to make way for a child.

IBEX 35

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Make the move THERE is some crafty work afoot in Barcelona as the city and regional government have their eyes fixed firmly on encouraging British companies who don’t have confidence in post referendum Britain to move to pre-independence Cataluña.

A campaign to try to attract a range of existing and new companies is due to begin in September and Barcelona has already indicated it would like to see the European Medical Agency (EMA), currently in London, relocate whilst Madrid is interested in attracting financial companies from London.

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LONDON - FTSE 100

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C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 8

PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) COMPANY 3i Group PLC 637.50 5.50 Admiral Group PLC 2223.00 12.00 Anglo American PLC 890.55 30.50 Antofagasta PLC 530.50 16.50 ARM Holdings PLC 1686.50 1.00 Ashtead Group PLC 1204.50 6.00 Associated British Foods PLC 2921.00 8.00 AstraZeneca PLC 5249.00 28.00 Aviva PLC 425.25 6.50 Babcock International Group... 988.00 11.50 BAE Systems PLC 532.25 1.00 Barclays PLC 157.42 5.45 Barratt Developments PLC 446.10 9.30 Berkeley Group Holdings (Th... 2701.50 44.00 BHP Billiton PLC 1047.75 33.50 BP PLC 420.38 1.05 British American Tobacco PLC 4786.50 -44.50 British Land Co PLC 677.00 8.00 BT Group PLC 410.07 3.45 Bunzl PLC 2353.00 2.00 Burberry Group PLC 1330.50 15.00 Capita PLC 968.75 13.50 Carnival PLC 3706.00 23.00 Centrica PLC 233.45 0.61 Coca-Cola HBC AG 1591.00 22.00 Compass Group PLC 1449.50 -18.00 CRH PLC 2316.50 21.00 DCC PLC 6820.00 30.00 Diageo PLC 2173.00 -7.00 Direct Line Insurance Group 397.40 2.46 Dixons Carphone PLC 349.35 3.41 easyJet PLC 1042.50 9.00 Experian PLC 1466.00 3.00 Fresnillo PLC 1875.00 -9.00 GKN PLC 302.20 3.10 GlaxoSmithKline PLC 1682.25 -12.50 Glencore PLC 194.95 3.15 Hammerson PLC 569.00 7.00 Hargreaves Lansdown PLC 1338.50 17.00 Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC 2327.00 -69.71 HSBC Holdings PLC 538.60 8.20 Imperial Brands PLC 4020.75 -27.50 Informa PLC 714.25 2.00 InterContinental Hotels Gr 3234.50 60.00 International Consolidated 400.95 5.36 Intertek Group PLC 3482.00 9.00 Intu Properties PLC 310.70 3.40 ITV PLC 201.90 2.95 Johnson Matthey PLC 3295.00 21.00 Kingfisher PLC 351.70 0.60

% CHG. 0.87 0.54 3.55 3.21 0.06 0.50 0.27 0.54 1.55 1.18 0.19 3.59 2.13 1.66 3.30 0.25 -0.92 1.20 0.85 0.09 1.14 1.41 0.62 0.26 1.40 -1.23 0.92 0.44 -0.32 0.62 0.99 0.87 0.21 -0.48 1.04 -0.74 1.64 1.25 1.29 -2.91 1.55 -0.68 0.28 1.89 1.35 0.26 1.11 1.48 0.64 0.17

NET VOL 124.17 38.25 693.84 221.71 589.36 58.96 43.99 345.89 648.84 29.11 208.41 8,605.72 331.33 79.24 988.18 2,522.61 244.17 251.22 1,352.61 17.54 161.18 99.17 27.70 1,215.35 23.96 788.59 143.77 7.36 198.14 579.05 338.79 228.68 77.59 134.72 685.19 743.04 9,752.26 92.68 27.24 89.98 3,467.97 115.23 112.56 112.33 655.08 20.23 146.76 397.12 18.46 903.08

COMPANY PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) Land Securities Group PLC 1107.50 7.00 Legal & General Group PLC 218.60 5.10 Lloyds Banking Group PLC 54.18 1.06 London Stock Exchange Gr 2797.50 18.00 Marks & Spencer Group PLC 325.80 4.20 Mediclinic International PLC 1079.00 -2.00 Merlin Entertainments PLC 474.75 -0.70 Mondi PLC 1581.50 18.00 Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets 185.80 1.00 National Grid PLC 1065.75 -3.00 Next PLC 5277.50 60.00 Old Mutual PLC 220.05 2.90 Paddy Power Betfair PLC 9142.50 -5.00 Pearson PLC 880.00 -2.50 Persimmon PLC 1746.00 23.00 Provident Financial PLC 2786.00 43.56 Prudential PLC 1406.00 28.50 Randgold Resources Ltd 8407.50 30.00 Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC 7421.00 -9.96 RELX PLC 1423.50 -7.00 Rio Tinto PLC 2549.50 65.00 Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC 765.25 6.00 Royal Bank of Scotland Gr 180.80 2.60 Royal Dutch Shell PLC 1983.50 6.50 Royal Mail PLC 515.50 2.35 RSA Insurance Group PLC 504.25 1.00 SABMiller PLC 4359.50 2.00 Sage Group (The) PLC 720.00 3.59 Sainsbury (J) PLC 232.30 2.34 Schroders PLC 2723.50 55.00 Severn Trent PLC 2388.00 -11.00 Shire PLC 5107.50 -39.12 Sky PLC 913.25 4.50 Smith & Nephew PLC 1266.50 0.20 Smiths Group PLC 1296.50 17.00 SSE PLC 1539.00 1.00 Standard Chartered PLC 654.15 15.40 Standard Life PLC 321.95 7.30 St James's Place PLC 961.50 17.00 Taylor Wimpey PLC 156.50 2.40 Tesco PLC 154.50 -0.30 Travis Perkins PLC 1583.50 28.09 TUI AG 995.75 8.50 Unilever PLC 3540.00 -1.50 United Utilities Group PLC 981.75 -5.90 Vodafone Group PLC 234.17 0.38 Whitbread PLC 3975.00 27.00 Wolseley PLC 4189.50 25.00 Worldpay Group PLC 302.85 4.49 WPP PLC 1745.50 1.00

% CHG. 0.64 2.39 1.99 0.65 1.31 -0.19 -0.15 1.15 0.54 -0.28 1.15 1.34 -0.05 -0.28 1.33 1.59 2.07 0.36 -0.13 -0.49 2.62 0.79 1.46 0.33 0.46 0.20 0.05 0.50 1.02 2.06 -0.46 -0.76 0.50 0.02 1.33 0.07 2.41 2.32 1.80 1.56 -0.19 1.81 0.86 -0.04 -0.60 0.16 0.68 0.60 1.50 0.06

NET VOL 119.53 1,878.92 23,089.98 11.89 502.47 44.13 67.26 243.43 359.13 732.95 39.68 874.84 2.64 158.89 108.84 10.84 531.48 60.72 74.93 162.80 417.39 538.30 2,618.42 461.95 150.01 207.43 73.21 100.46 574.61 21.71 47.16 115.93 301.57 100.67 77.72 199.18 850.43 1,019.62 110.36 2,733.47 1,585.98 90.71 50.44 172.34 133.94 1,880.20 32.05 29.92 145.86 152.75

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US dollar ................................................................1.109007 Japan yen ..................................................................113.416 Switzerland franc ..............................................1.087753 Denmark kroner...................................................7.43638 Norway kroner ......................................................9.41477

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DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 8

COMPANY MMM 3M AXP American Express AAPL Apple BA Boeing CAT Caterpillar CVX Chevron CSCO Cisco KO Coca-Cola DIS Disney DD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co XOM Exxon Mobil GE General Electric GS Goldman Sachs HD Home Depot IBM IBM INTC Intel JNJ Johnson & Johnson JPM JPMorgan Chase MCD McDonald's MRK Merck MSFT Microsoft NKE Nike PFE Pfizer PG Procter & Gamble TRV Travelers Companies Inc UTX United Technologies UNH UnitedHealth VZ Verizon V Visa WMT Wal-Mart

PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME 178.57 +0.76 +0.43% 1.8M 65.52 +1.58 +2.47% 4.9M 107.48 +1.61 +1.52% 40.6M 131.73 +0.52 +0.40% 3.1M 82.56 +0.79 +0.97% 3.3M 100.51 +0.12 +0.12% 6.7M 31.04 +0.24 +0.78% 18.9M 43.48 -0.03 -0.07% 10.4M 95.83 +0.67 +0.70% 6.5M 69.22 +0.37 +0.54% 1.8M 87.56 +0.08 +0.09% 9.6M 31.28 +0.11 +0.35% 21.6M 162.09 +4.04 +2.56% 2.7M 136.91 +0.86 +0.63% 3.0M 162.10 +1.95 +1.21% 3.8M 34.98 +0.40 +1.16% 20.0M 124.24 +0.38 +0.31% 5.1M 66.30 +1.74 +2.70% 20.8M 119.21 +0.91 +0.77% 3.9M 63.86 +6.02 +10.41% 72.9M 57.96 +0.57 +0.99% 29.3M 55.85 +1.06 +1.93% 7.5M 35.44 +0.29 +0.83% 27.2M 85.78 -0.27 -0.31% 6.7M 118.58 +0.70 +0.59% 1.2M 107.74 +1.38 +1.30% 2.7M 142.99 +0.28 +0.20% 2.0M 53.64 -0.29 -0.54% 13.5M 80.14 +0.66 +0.83% 6.7M 73.76 +0.46 +0.63% 5.4M

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 8

COMPANY

PRICE

CHANGE NET / %

Most Advanced Lantheus Holdings, Inc. Mid-Con Energy Partners, LP Freshpet, Inc. PTC Therapeutics, Inc. Willdan Group, Inc. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. Control4 Corporation

$6 $ 2.58 $ 10.60 $ 7.77 $ 12.55 $ 5.38 $ 14.79 $ 6.47 $ 8.88 $ 20.19 $ 10.87

2.11 ▲ 54.24% 0.66 ▲ 34.38% 2.34 ▲ 28.33% 1.68 ▲ 27.59% 2.24 ▲ 21.73% 0.83 ▲ 18.24% 1.97 ▲ 15.37% 0.84 ▲ 14.92% 1.13 ▲ 14.58% 2.53 ▲ 14.33% 1.36 ▲ 14.30%

$ 27.47 $ 9.84 $ 20.61 $ 20.86 $ 32.99 $ 13.94 $ 20.52 $ 33.78 $ 3.02 $ 9.17 $ 6.43

11.63 ▼ 29.74% 2.79 ▼ 22.09% 5.69 ▼ 21.63% 5.434 ▼ 20.67% 7.76 ▼ 19.04% 3.23 ▼ 18.81% 4.16 ▼ 16.86% 5.83 ▼ 14.72% 0.52 ▼ 14.69% 1.55 ▼ 14.46% 1.07 ▼ 14.27%

Most Declined Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. Hortonworks, Inc. Liberty Interactive Corporation Liberty Interactive Corporation SAExploration Holdings, Inc. Sierra Wireless, Inc. Encore Capital Group Inc Shenandoah Telecommunications Co PDL BioPharma, Inc. Fluidigm Corporation Immersion Corporation

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

Yet another Premier League club sold to overseas investor AT the end of the latest Premier League season, no less than 11 of the 20 clubs were owned by overseas investors and another two clubs had overseas investment.

Following the end of that season, the statistics stayed the same with one foreign owner relegated and one promoted.

The situation changed with an announcement on August 5 that chairman and owner of West Bromwich Albion (‘the baggies’) has accepted an offer for an undisclosed amount from a Chinese investment group fronted by well-known entrepreneur Guochuan Lai who is ready to appoint former Blackburn CEO John Williams as the new English based boss of the club.

The 41-year-old Mr Lai who made the bulk of his money in landscaping in China through the publicly listed Palm group w hich i s sa i d t o b e w o rth £ 1 . 8 b illio n (€2.1 billion) is quoted as saying “My immediate priorities will be to maintain the club’s stable structure, respecting its well-

Photo Credit Warwick Gastinger flickr

By John Smith

SAIDO BERAHINO: May be en route to Stoke City. run nature and its heritage and I have no intention of changing the club’s ethos.”

H e w e nt on to s a y “ I bel i eve t hat we have a competitive team, with the right

management and coaching staff in place,” which must have come as some relief to head coach Tony Pulis.

The club has been for sale for some time (at least eight years) and there was some suggestion of a sale to a different Chinese consortium last year which fell through.

The sale of the club which reportedly made £7.6 million (€9 million) profit in the last financial year is subject to approval by both the Premier League and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Chinese investment in European football is growing dramatically as there is a potentially enormous market not only for revenue from TV exposure but from the sale of merchandise to the growing number of fans of British clubs in particular.

I n addi t i on, wi t h a num ber of ast ut e signings and possible sales, there are immediate profits to be made during the transfer window, especially as Stoke City have made a £20 million (€24 million) bid for unsettled striker Saido Berahino.

WHEN the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio finally saw the opening ceremony on August 5 amongst a great deal of controversy both within Brazil and internationally, with athletes banned from competing due to failed drug tests, some not participating because of the Zika virus and many worried about pollution in the waters and dangers from local hoodlums, sponsors who had invested millions must have been wondering whether they had done the right thing.

Some of the biggest companies in the world, many from the USA and Japan jumped at the chance to be associated with the Olympic Games and interestingly some have been very clever in the way in which they have taken local street artists (Pichação) who have been very negative about the Games in their graffiti and paid them to decorate walls with images of their product.

Many of the artists undertake the work and then still criticise, but the major companies believe that many in Brazil and overseas will be influenced positively by tweets and other social media featuring the ‘cool positive image’ of the product.

By and large, those sponsors who

Marshallhenrie Wikimedia

Sponsors still positive about Rio Olympics

STREET ARTISTRY: The Selaron Steps are now a tourist attraction.

have invested heavily in the Games have kept their thoughts to themselves as to possible side effects of the negativity surrounding the event as they clearly don’t want to upset their shareholders or indeed make matters worse.

There is a certain irony in the fact some companies who are being blamed for promoting obesity in the young are supporting such a major athletic event but they will of course argue they are changing their entire philosophy and product to ensure healthy options are always available to all.

One company that is positive about the sponsorship is Nissan which has supplied an amazing 5,000 cars for officials and the Brazil team to use.

When it first became involved in sponsoring the event, the company was selling nearly four million cars a year in Brazil but over time this has dropped to two million.

Whilst some would question the wisdom of investing in such a falling market, the Chief Executive of the company sees it as a positive way of raising product awareness so that when the market does (as they believe it inevitably will) recover, then Nissan will benefit from new sales.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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Airbus Industries investigated for corruption

Photo Credit Dmitry A Mottl

UNDER INVESTIGATION: Airbus, manufacturer of the A380.

By John Smith ON Sunday August 7, Airbus, the European manufacturer of a range of different aircraft issued a statement saying that it is co-operating with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) which is investigating allegations of ‘fraud, bribery and corruption’ related to some of its third party consultants.

The investigation which commenced in July coincides with the suspension of Export Credit facilities by Britain, France and Germany where the bulk of the aircraft parts are manufactured. Export credits are used to assist companies such as Airbus to sell high value product to companies with limited liquid funds by guaranteeing bank loans.

Whilst the availability of export credit is useful, it is not the main source of funding for most airlines and a great deal of credit comes from the manufacturer itself which is said to have extended €583 million in the first

It’ s common knowledge some governments within the Union offer ‘incentives’ to ensure firms in their countries receive orders.”

six months of the year although this is a drop in the ocean compared to its order book which supposedly exceeds €900 billion.

The company employs more than 70,000 people around Europe with 2,000 in Spain where the tail planes of various aircraft are constructed and tested and it is a very important company as far as the economies of France, Germany and the UK are concerned.

Although legislation has been introduced throughout the EU in order to make the payment of financial inducements illegal, the huge

amounts of money involved in the purchasing of aircraft and the fact that bribery is a recognised way of life in certain countries (in some, the value of the third party inducement is even included in government contracts) means that in order to do business, the use of agents and consultants is widespread.

It is common knowledge that even some governments within the Union offer ‘incentives’ to purchasers to ensure that firms within their country receive orders rather than those in countries competing for the work.

Whilst this current investigation and an ongoing one into Rolls-Royce Engines may make the companies tighten their appointment procedures for consultants, in today’s cut-throat market any changes are most likely to be cosmetic when such large amounts of money are involved and there is more than one company offering an aircraft product.

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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27

OPINION & COMMENT

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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EWN

Has never fooled me for a moment LEAPY LEE SAYS IT

OTHERS THINK IT THE one thing that gratifies me in all this Labour fiasco of late is the fact that it has finally brought to the surface what a sorry bunch of sad losers most of them actually are. It does frankly amaze me how anyone can possibly even consider voting for any of them.

Corbyn, probably the worst leader they have ever had, is a prime example of everything that is wrong with the party. His softly spoken, peace and love approach, has frankly never fooled me for a moment.

Some of the most dangerous leaders and dictators in history have been of a quiet, unassuming demeanour. The truth of the matter is that he is an ag-

ing, left wing, disillusioned, bitter hypocrite.

He is a man who has been on a mission all of his life His barely disguised support for Palestine and Hamas and his failure to eradicate the anti-Semitism that is rife among his cronies, is not because he is unable to solve the problem.

It’s because he doesn’t have the will to. Oddly he reminds me of Tony Blair.

Blair used the Labour party as a vehicle for his own personal ambitions.

Corbyn is endeavouring to do the same. His refusal to stand down, when the majority of his party are voting against him, shows how stubborn and uncaring he is.

This man is not interested in the policies and politics of the Labour party; he is in it for his own dangerous ends. Clear thinking, genuine Labour party members know they have to get rid of this man and his supporters, or

face decades of life in the wilderness of political desolation and disaster.

The fact that they can’t seem to shift him shows us just what a bunch of ineffective and weak incompetents they all actually are. Run the country? They couldn’t even run a brewery event.

Thanks for all your mail and support. I can’t reply to them all and some are just too lengthy to publish, but I do read every one.

Don’t worry, the ol boy can still take it!

Keep the faith.

Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com

JEREMY CORBYN: In it for his own dangerous ends.

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29

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

LETTERS

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OPINION & COMMENT

YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION

Letters for Your Say should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments straight on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com

Don’t be a target, fight smart A TERRORIST who dies killing a British citizen should be buried in a pig cemetery. This has the effect of releasing his 72 virgins.

I believe that just the threat of these three measures should be enough.

During the Second War, Sir William Stephenson ran a propaganda campaign in the US. Part of his scam was a fake horoscope, in which Hitler was targeted. Since Hitler was very superstitious, this was quite successful, and the Nazis did not connect it with the British Secret Service, as it was run in America. Jihadis, likewise, are very influenced by propaganda.

A good ‘archaeologist’ could ‘locate’ an ancient document (hadith, sira) which adds to the Islamic scriptures. It could ‘reveal,’ for example, that if a jihadi is buried in close proximity to pigs, he forfeits his 72 virgins.

It’s time we learned to fight smart, instead of repeatedly serving as targets. Of course the liberals and other bleeding hearts will squeal. That’s how we’ll know that it’s the right thing to do.

Vivienne

No direction home HATS off to a recent, hard hitting, factual, letter by Colin Granville, regarding the crazy Brexit debacle.

In the lead up to Brexit vote, several of us expat ‘stay’ campaigners were labelled as unpatriotic by a few ‘leave’ advocates on a Facebook group chat site.

EWN contributor Colin Bird was one such person who refused to listen to reasoning, persistently referring to UK being in a position of controlling its own borders if it left EU. Have he and Loopy (sorry Leapy!) Lee never stopped to wonder why huge amounts of asylum seekers choose UK ahead of other EU countries?

The UK does not need to leave EU, simply adopt a system similar to that c u r r e n t l y o p e ra tin g in Spain, thus dramatically reducing (if not stopping entirely) benefits to not only asylum seekers, but also non-UK passport holders.

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

Life after love...

YOUR article dated July 14-20 titled ‘What makes for a great marriage’ I viewed with great interest and read several times. I agree for a good marriage it’s companionship, laughter, working together, being as stress free as possible.

We made the decision to move to Spain to take life at a slower pace, just as many couples before us had and are doing right now. We chose to buy a rambla in the campo, with the ideal first years a tonic to us. We never considered when leaving the UK what could be around the corner.

Then at Christmas 2009 there was tragedy as I lost my beloved wife. Unprepared for so much hurt and loneliness my whole life was turned upside down.

Since then some friends have moved away, some passed away and some chose to stay away.

You build an emotional wall around yourself, hide

Do they really believe that leavin g th e E U w o u ld imme dia te ly prevent terrorists entering UK? What about the hundreds that already reside there?

Messrs Bird and Lee might not miss the drastic decline in pensions that the vast majority of us expats have experienced since the Brexit vote as a result of the plumme tin g p o u n d , b u t s ure ly e ve n they cannot have missed how it has prompted realistic predictions

emotions, feelings, and live day to day.

Here in the south of Spain there must be many people who are not computer literate, maybe don’t drive and, as time passes, maybe their dream home becomes like a prison.

Perhaps there could be a column informing the likes of myself and others in the same situation of forthcoming events? Our main source of information is your paper, which I’m sure others scan as closely as myself.

It seems the over 60’s living in outlying places have no access to information. Even arranging to collect and take them home afterwards would be helpful. A night out once a week does the soul a power of good.

We still have the ability to laugh and dance (in a fashion) and there are times when it’s good to put good and especially bad memories on the backburner, they will still be with you tomorrow.

of another recession in the UK economy.

Steve

Mob rules I AM glad you print at the bottom of the letters page that you are not responsible for any accuracy, errors, etc. because in the July 28 to August 3 edition you had two letters from people that are confused.

Firstly a ‘Colin’ said that it was a mistake to leave the EU. That is his opinion but a democratic vote said leave. Does he not understand democracy? You lost, get on with it.

And a ‘Brian’ stated ‘a majority of Scots want to quit the UK.’ Am I wrong in saying that you have just had a referendum and voted to stay in the UK? You lost, get on with it.

Ron, Mallorca

Bigger picture I WATCH with growing alarm the vast expansion of the tourism industry across Spain as foreign visitors flock to a destination thankfully free of terrorism for the time being.

It is of course a tremendous boon t o t he l ocal econom y and keeps t he seasonal econom y swinging but at what cost?

In Mallorca, where I reside, the environment is facing imminent peril as thousands of polluting cr ui se shi ps haul m i l l i ons of tourists to our small, beautiful land each year.

Lest we forget, economic conditions are but a fad in fashion of history and once big business has dried up Spain, forcing it always t o t hi nk shor t - t er m pr of i t , not l ong- t er m sust ai nabi l i t y, our adopted nation will be cast aside for the wolves.

Perish the thought.

Harry, Palma

Terrible twos IF you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. Newspaper columnists were originally considered people capable of cutting through the headlines to offer an independent take on the day’s events.

Unfortunately they occasionally drift off into ignorant, attentionseeking prattling which, given the f act t hat t hey ar e on a nat i onal platform, needs to be challenged, debunked and ridiculed accordingly.

When you have an egoist like Leapy Lee tooting his own horn and babbling incoherently about serious current affairs, it is important that he is corrected.

Yet when anyone offers a considered critique he throws a tantrum and uses his entire weekly column space to moan about people saying what they think. Pitiful.

Edward, Sotogrande

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

Letters may also be edited.

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

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The 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.

E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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EURO WEEKLY’S SPACE FOR YOU TO TAKE A BREA

Word Ladder

NETS NESS NEST TEST TEXT

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Use your energy wisely. You may find yourself in the limelight for the wrong reasons. Someone envious of your popularity may challenge you to a debate.

Travel for business purposes may bring the highest returns. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

Fri Sat Sun -

Fri Sat Sun -

Fri Sat Sun -

a will or with an insurance policy. Your lucky day this week will be Thursday.

(July 24 - August 23)

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Put your efforts into being creative.

Don’t give out any personal information that you don’t want spread around. You could lose a good friend because of it.

Learn some new skills that will increase your income. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday

charm members of the opposite sex this week. Have some fun, but draw the line if someone tries to fast talk their way into your heart. You have to let go of your past if you wish to get out of any sentimental mood that might be hanging over your head. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) New partnerships will develop if you join investment groups. Property investments could be prosperous. You can’t do everything on your own. Family responsibilities are escalating. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) Your ability to visualise will help you convince others of the possibilities. Insincere gestures of friendliness may be misleading. Spend some time with people who can shed some light on your personal situation. Don’t be too quick to voice your opinion. Listen to others carefully.

Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

ARIES (March 21 - April 20) Your home environment may be hectic, which could result in emotional upset if you aren’t well organised. Try not to take everything so seriously. Be sure to find out all you can before you commit to anything. There might be a problem with

Saturday August 6

34

39

42

6

17

18

47

53

54

30

40

43

BONUS BALL

BONUS BALL

8

46

2

8 38

27 46

LUCKY STARS

2

6

Friday August 5

16

19 35

24 37

LUCKY STARS

2

Mon - 29 22 C Tues - 30 22 S Wed - 32 23 Cl

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Mon - 27 18 Cl Tues - 28 20 S Wed - 29 21 Cl

25 19 C 27 18 S 27 18 Cl

CLOUDY MAX 28C, MIN 18C

TODAY:

MAX MIN

28 18 S 30 18 S 30 18 S

Mon - 31 18 Cl Tues - 32 19 S Wed - 32 20 Cl

Murcia

CLOUDY MAX 27C, MIN 21C

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

Mon - 28 22 C Tues - 29 23 Cl Wed - 30 24 Cl

27 20 S 28 21 Cl 28 21 C

S Sun,

CLOUDY MAX 29C, MIN 18C

TODAY:

Cl Clear,

F Fog,

Sh Showers,

Sn Snow,

MAX MIN

29 17 S 29 17 Cl 30 19 C

Mon - 31 19 Cl Tues - 34 20 C Wed - 35 22 C

C Cloudy, Th Thunder

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

Nonagram

TARGET: • Average: 13 • Good: 18 • Very good: 26 • Excellent: 33

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION abed aced acid adit aide bade bead bide cedi dace data date dead debt dice died diet edit iced idea tide tied abide acted aided baaed bated bided bidet cadet cited dated debit diced dicta edict tided abated abided acedia addict baddie baited caddie abdicate ABDICATED

Sudoku

Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3X3 box contains the digits 1-9.

There’s no maths involved. You solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic.

EURO MILLIONS Tuesday August 2

MAX MIN

28 19 S 28 20 S 27 21 C

Mallorca

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) You can’t make things better if you don’t know what to fix. You may interest people in a service you have to offer. Work quietly behind the scenes for best results.

Don’t hesitate to look for alternatives that will enable you to raise the kind of donations you need to do the job right. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

LOTTERY Saturday August 6

Fri Sat Sun -

SHOWERS MAX 24C, MIN 18C

MAX MIN

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) You are likely to reveal information unintentionally. You’ll find it easy to

IRISH LOTTO

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

Benidorm TODAY:

Mon - 34 19 C Tues - 35 20 S Wed - 34 20 S

SUNNY MAX 28C, MIN 20C

TODAY:

Mon - 33 24 C Tues - 34 25 Cl Wed - 34 25 Cl

30 20 S 29 20 S 30 22 C

MAX MIN

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) You need to sit back and enjoy. Things have been moving so quickly that you need to do something physical to release your tension. Unexpected changes in friendships could occur. Make creative changes to your living quarters.

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

MAX 30C, MIN 22C

Barcelona TODAY:

MAX MIN

33 18 Cl 33 18 S 33 19 C

Malaga

SUNNY MAX MIN

Fri Sat Sun -

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) Arguments with children or friends may leave you steaming. You will have excellent ideas and you should be able to help your partner get ahead. Concern yourself with legal matters and formulating contracts rather than finalising your objectives.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Changes involving your domestic scene may be unpleasant. Try to mix business with pleasure while travelling. You can

Fri Sat Sun -

Almeria TODAY:

MAX 31C, MIN 17C

MAX MIN

Mon - 29 22 C Tues - 30 23 Cl Wed - 31 24 Cl

27 20 S 28 20 S 28 21 C

SUNNY

TODAY:

MAX MIN

MAX MIN

convince anyone of anything. Get your domestic chores out of the way early.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) You can ferret out secret information if you just listen to what others have to say.

Travel will be good if you are seeking knowledge. Minor accidents may occur if you don’t concentrate on what you’re doing. Problems with financial investments could make you nervous.

Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

Madrid

CLOUDY MAX 27C, MIN 21C

7

LA PRIMITIVA

EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA

Saturday August 6

Saturday August 7

12

17

30

39

43

47

REINTEGRO

32

2

8

9 25

12 33

REINTEGRO

9

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

GETS NETS NEWS NEWT NEXT TEXT or GETS

YOUR STARS

for next 7 days

Alicante

Those you work with may have little consideration for the underdog. You can raise your standard of living if you pick up some freelance work on the side. Don’t jump into investments too quickly. Try not to overreact to the loss. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

LEO

Weather TODAY:

Solution GETS LETS LESS LEST TEST TEXT or

TEXT BACK

MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE

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

You must only change one letter at a time.

GETS

TIME

www.euroweeklynews.com

Answers 1. AER LINGUS, 2. SEVEN (1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996), 3. The highest PEAKS/MOUNTAINS in Ireland, 4. HIBERNIA, 5. GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH, 6. PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON, 7. SHERGAR, 8. CORK, 9. MARY ROBINSON, 10. BALLET/DANCE

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OUT

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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AK, BE INFORMED AND ENJOY A CHALLENGE

page

Enjoy filling in the following puzzles and check the answers in next week’s edition

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS CRYPTIC

Code Breaker

Quick Across 1 Rough or vulgar (6) 4 Horse's fastest pace (6) 9 Oblivious (7) 10 Fierce stare (5) 11 Sugary (5) 12 Outlive (7) 13 Fix firmly (6) 15 Implored (6) 18 Reached a destination (7) 20 Tumbles (5) 23 Lag behind (5) 24 Egyptian monument (7) 25 Domesticated ass (6) 26 With a light touch (6) Down 1 Societies (5) 2 Cognisant (5) 3 Disperse (7) 5 Wrath (5) 6 Act of departing (7) 7 Make believe (7)

33

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Crossword

EWN

Across:

Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 7 represents C and 25 represents V, so fill in C every time the figure 7 appears and V every time the figure 25 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.

1 Charades, 5 Tsar, 9 Andes, 10 Loafers, 11 Curious, 12 Burns, 13 Strode, 15 Erodes, 19 Ditch, 21 Residue, 23 Brigade, 24 Outer, 25 Teal, 26 Ceremony.

Down: 1 Chances, 2 Adder, 3 Abscond, 4 Enlist, 6 Sheared, 7 Roses, 8 Barb, 14 Retsina, 16 Restore, 17 Swear by, 18 Breeze, 19 Debut, 20 Heap, 22 Ditto.

QUICK Across: 1 Shrinks, 5 Facts, 8 Moist, 9 Aware, 10 Success, 11/19 Tai chi, 12 Twist, 14 Crude, 20 Skilful, 22 Exact, 23 Since, 24 Tasks, 25 Elderly.

19 Worth (5) 8 Thick, closely spaced, compact (5) 13 Commenced (7) 21 Greatest possible degree 14 Sure, confident (7) of something (5) 16 Compel to behave in a certain way (7) 22 In an unfortunate way (5) 17 Make fit or suitable (5)

English - Spanish Across 1 Melodías (5) 4 Tiger (5) 7 Tinte (producto) (3) 8 Winner (7) 9 Newspaper (9) 13 Limpiadora (persona) (7) 15 That (f) (3) 16 Águila (5) 17 Tiburón (5) Down 1 All (4) 2 Sobrina (5) 3 Following (9) 4 Forks (cutlery) (9) 5 Dios (3) 6 Ganar (sueldo) (4) 10 Cave (5) 11 Dolor (4) 12 Oscuro (sin luz) (4) 14 Huevo (3)

Hexagram

Down:

The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.

1 Sample, 2 Ruins, 3 Notices, 4 Shared, 5 Fears, 6 Created, 7 Static, 13 Writers, 15 Refused, 16 Accept, 17 Little, 18 Bakery, 20 Seals, 21 Lunar.

ENGLISH-SPANISH Across: 1 Peanut, 4 Eggs, 8 Thumb, 9 Menor, 10 Stage, 11 Rocks, 14 Debil, 16 Leave, 17 Gato, 18 Pocket.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 1

J

14

V

2

X

15

S

3

Q

16

Z

4

G

17

I

5

Y

18

M

6

L

19

U

7

8

9

21

22

O W

20

K

B

N T

Down:

10

11

12

13

23

24

25

26

H A

C R

D P

F

E

1 Patos, 2 Aguja, 3 Umbrella, 5/14 Gun dog, 6 Sur, 7 Amarillo, 12 Chalk, 13 Sleet, 15 But.

Cryptic 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 (COOKIE) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.

ADORES ARTFUL COFFEE CONFER COOKIE (10) ECHOES EXHORT EXOTIC FECUND HACKLE

HEATER LETTER LICHEN LOCALS STATED TEETHE THENCE THREAT WALLOW

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 1 System 2 Stingy 3 Subtly 4 Cancel 5 Yeasty 6 Rotate 7 Glacis 8 Lounge 9 Abrade 10 Gaggle 11 Detour 12 Bleach 13 Mignon 14 Rhombi 15 Alkali 16 Urgent 17 Cockle 18 Seamen 19 Volley

Across 1 Wish for something ornate (5) 4 Kind of rash letters from National Archives (5) 9 I sing about first independent red wine (7) 10 Empty shower after last showered (5) 11 Tight for time (5) 12 Tearing around monumental rock (7) 14 She hides a ring in her footwear (4) 16 Part of St Jerome's Symphony is sloppy (5) 18 I read about broadcast (5) 21 Damages the fourth planet (4) 24 The fish in the ring is in a spin (7) 26 How come Galileo has the last letter? (5) 28 Buddies forming teams (5) 29 Journey Tristan made (7) 30 Gym in the vehicle, that's a lark (5) 31 Aristocrat keeps a car for him (5) Down 2 Foreign ale in disguise (5) 3 Reveal criminal starts finding exotic solid silver (7) 5 Asian country found within diagram (5) 6 Think about former dictator and England (7) 7 Someone calling out in jargon (5) 8 Inferior to a couple of foreign articles (5) 9 Mention view, we hear (4)

13 Raise the back (4) 15 Sound chap of sacred song (4) 17 Treacle pie for mythical being (7) 19 Is Opposition leader not on time, then keep apart (7) 20 Muck in mug rim edge (5)

22 Rock a barrier (5) 23 Turns up in non-negotiable inducement (4) 25 Offspring is with little Susan (5) 27 Lee is out to get her (5)

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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TV LISTING

THURSDAY 11 AUGUST

FRIDAY 12 AUGUST

SATURDAY 13 AUGUST

SUNDAY 14 AUGUST

MONDAY 15 AUGUST

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OPINION & COMMENT

Flickr by malgor.

True heroes of our lives Colin Bird A weekly look Each week, Colin brings his slightly off-thewall view of the world to the pages of EWN in his own irreverent style.

WE have recently returned from England where we attended the wedding of one of my grandsons.

We gave ourselves a few extra days in which we met up with some old muckers from my jack-the-lad days and I took the princess on a tour of the beautiful countryside of West Berkshire.

In addition I wanted to show her Goring-onThames, a place that brought back happy memories and, I was pleased to note, was still as breathtakingly picturesque as I remembered.

There are locations in this world that inspire and others that have the ability to relax the mind and spirit and give us a sense of perspective.

The English countryside does all of these things

GORING-ON-THAMES: As breathtakingly picturesque as I remembered. for me.

My Dad was a sheet metal worker and for most of his working life was employed in a factory that was originally set up to make tins for Huntley & Palmers biscuits.

They were hard working

conditions for scant reward, and I remember him putting in many hours of overtime before Christmas and the summer holidays each year, so that we could enjoy quality time together.

He neither owned his own house, or a car, but I

never heard him once complain. He was generous with his time and would help anybody who required it, never needing to be asked.

He was no Leonardo or Hepplewhite, but he would often retire to his garden

Dad was generous with his time and would help anybody who required it, never needing to be asked.” shed and paint a rural scene or knock up something in wood.

His speciality was model gypsy caravans constructed from thousands of spent matchsticks.

I suppose that it is all part of the ageing process, that we examine our lives and acquire an appreciation of just what is important and what is in fact inconsequential dross that we have wasted so much precious time on over the years.

This includes materialistic aspirations and silly hero worship.

Driving around the lanes of my native Berkshire last week, I was reminded too late, that in fact my dad was my one true hero and I was never able to tell him so.

Marc Nozell Wikimedia

It’d be funny if it wasn’t so scary John Smith Random thoughts...

AS it gets closer to the presidential elections, the Republican candidate Donald Trump appears to be going through a period of everyone except the converted conspiring against him.

Within the last fortnight, his Slovenian born wife Melania was accused of plagiarising a speech from the wife of the current US president which he tried to spin and suggested the Obama camp also plagiarised him.

Then Mr Trump accused the US government of bribing Iran to release US hostages not once, but twice even though his own camp admitted after the first occurrence that this was not the case.

It is generally accepted that the sum of $400 million (€361 million) in cash which was flown to Iran was in settlement of an outstanding claim against the US for the supply of substandard military machinery which had been in dispute for years and was part of the general settlement between the two countries as part of their rap-

DONALD TRUMP: On the campaign trail. prochement.

In addition, Mr Trump became involved in what turned out to be an unfortunate exchange when Khzir Khan, the father of a young Muslim officer who died whilst protecting his unit in Iraq, criticised him for being unpatriotic and selfish. The initial response from

Mr Trump was to suggest that the speech was written by the Democrats and that Mrs Khan had probably been instructed not to speak.

Presumably his advisors explained to him that this wasn’t the most sensible way to respond and he issued a belated statement saying “Captain Humayun

OUR VIEW

Gustavo Frazao Shutterstock

Youths seek employment.

Out of work youths WITH reports indicating unemployment in Spain is continuing to markedly decrease, let’s remember this is not the case with those aged between 16 and 24 where unemployment is a major scourge which can affect youngsters dramatically as they feel inadequate.

What it has done is encourage many to return to education and look at new lifestyle options which is very encouraging but it has also seen quite a lot of loss of impetus and children look to live off of their parents who in many cases are themselves struggling.

There is no question however that if those out of work put their minds to finding a job, no matter how beneath them they may consider it, there is work to be had, even if it’s short-term or part-time.

If it’s difficult for Spanish people to find work, then it’s more difficult for incomers to obtain jobs especially if their Spanish is limited but again work does exist. Unfortunately a number of young expats appear to expect to flit into a job with large salaries, short hours and the flexibility to come and go as they please!

The Spanish sometimes have a negative view of the British because of their apparent inability to assimilate into the local culture where they are simply immigrants, no more or no less and also the fact that a small percentage has imported certain bad habits with them which jar with the Spanish mindset.

We live in Spain because it’s welcoming and accepts a great deal but we all need to remember that Spain is our host, not the other way round and does not owe a living to those who are not prepared to support themselves and contribute to society.

Khan was a hero to our country and we should honour all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe.”

The presidential candidate seems to have a penchant for ‘trophy wives’ as following all American Marla Maples, he became attached to Czech born Ivana who was ‘traded in’ for model Melania although in fairness, their marriage has lasted 11 years. What is not perhaps quite so helpful is the fact that the latest Mrs Trump is being accused of being in breach of her visa terms when she arrived in the USA in either 1995 or 1996.

In theory she arrived in 1996, but reports suggest that she posed topless for photographers in 1995 when she may only have been in the USA on a visitor’s visa which meant she wasn’t allowed to work.

Despite the fact that many Trump supporters are dyed in the wool midwestern Christian WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) no-one seems Now we too affronted by the fact that there are want to plenty of nude photographs of Mrs hear your views.

Trump in circulation but as the presidential candidate is so ‘gung-ho’ YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE about the evil of illegal immi- YOUR OPINION grants, this could turn out to be yet www.euroweeklynews.com another problem for his campaign.

OPINION & COMMENT

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Can you choose any ITV station?

AS part of the series, we answer some common driving questions and keep you updated on the latest driving and road news kindly provided by members of the Guardia Civil based in Torrevieja, Costa Blanca, who set up the N332 website and Facebook page to help break down barriers.

ANY STATION: Although beware of laws specific to your region.

CAN I choose where to take my car for its ITV test? It is a common question asked to the N332 Guardia Civil team and in short the answer is yes.

In Spain you can select the ITV station you wish to use as long as it is a legal and authorised station. However, there is an exception to the rule and that is if you live in a Spanish Region, such as the Valencian Community, which in 2002 passed the Law of Noise Pollution.

Following this in 2004, a decree was issued to specify that all vehicles had to pass the noise emission test so therefore if your vehicle is legally registered in Valencia it

has to pass this test and so should be taken to an ITV station in the Region.

If a vehicle that is to be included in this decree has an inspection at an ITV station outside of Valencia, the owner must also ensure that it has its noise emission levels checked at an ITV station within the Valencia Region within one month of its ITV test.

Regional and Local Police are also responsible for ensuring that this noise policy is fulfilled.

The Guardia Civil traffic division can also send a vehicle for a sound test if they feel the vehicle exceeds the noise level established and issue a fine.

For more news and articles visit www.n332.es or search N332 on Facebook.

Can they pay the president?

Our Community voted many years ago to pay a small yearly stipend to the president for his expenses. We approve this each year at the AGM. Now a new member declares that this payment is illegal under Spanish law and he insists that the payments stop and all the money be returned. What is the position, please?

M.M. (Costa Blanca) The payment is perfectly legal.

Spain’s law on Communities says nothing at all about payments to the president to cover his expenses.

The law does not require or prohibit such payments.

If the Community approves them at the AGM, it is all right.

11 -17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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David Searl You and the Law in Spain

Perhaps your new member recalls the early days of the Horizontal Law, in the 1970s, when Spanish courts ruled that the president could not receive payments.

This position changed over the years, on the grounds that being president should not cost the holder any of his own money.

Also note that Catalonia, which has many of its own laws, does indeed prohibit making payments to the President.

Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

EWN

37

Dating uncovered Mike Senker

In my opinion Views of a Grumpy Old Man EVEN though I’m old I like to think that I am still up or as they say ‘down’ with the modern world. The one thing I am confused with is some of the new dating stuff. When I was young we got dressed up and went to a club or bar or party and if we were lucky enough to meet a young lady you would chat with her and maybe walk her home or if you had a car give her a lift.

Hopefully you might get a kiss goodnight and if she liked you maybe you would see her again. You would have to be courting for some time before, err how can I put this delicately... well you know what I mean. So imagine my shock when I turn on the TV the other day to see a new dating show which was as far away from Cilla’s Blind Date as you could get. It was called ‘Naked Attraction.’

There’s another dating show on TV called ‘Take Me Out’... but this new show is more ‘Get It Out!’ If you missed it I’ll give you a brief rundown. There were six tubes and inside these tubes were six totally naked blokes

and the young lady had to choose which one she fancied by looking at their bits first. The tubes rise up a bit at a time and there they are in all their glory and being discussed as if it was Mary Berry judging a Swiss roll!

This one’s too big, this one is too small.

After she has decided which bits she liked they carried on judging and finally get to their faces. Finally, the last thing she did was talk to them! Then after she’s chosen the bloke she likes best she trots off and comes back naked too. Now am I missing something here? Or is it just nuts... excuse the pun!

Then there are these apps you get on phones. Tinder just shows you loads of men and women nearby who want to meet up and do the business and not to be out done you have Grindr for the gay community.

Seems to me that the fun, mystery and excitement have gone or maybe I’m just old fashioned. I was in a supermarket years ago and as I was checking out the very pretty young lady at the till she said to me, “Excuse me sir, you are single aren’t you?”

I gave her a little smile and said, “How can you tell? Is it the dinner for one I’ve got?

And the one apple? The one orange and banana? Or the choc ice?” She looked at me and said, “No it’s just that you are an ugly bugger!”

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11 - 17 August 2016

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Keep cool but watch out for throat issues WITH temperatures outside now sizzling, many of us use air conditioning to try and keep cool, but with it comes an increase in the number of throat proble m s i n t h e su m me r s u ch as pharyngitis, laryngitis and speech disorders.

The Spanish Society of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC) explains that cold air expelled from these devices causes a number of changes in the natural de-

fence systems that are in the nose and throat.

N o rmal c irc ula tion c a n be c ome slower which can lead to conditions such as sinusitis and otitis.

Pharyngitis is the inflammation of the pharynx, a region in the back of th e th ro a t a nd is the mos t c ommon cause of a sore throat resulting in 36 per cent of the consumption of antibiotics in Spain.

It is also particularly common in

HEALTH BEAUTY

Ask The Doctor

&

Brought to you by

Natural remedies

the summer as a result of the changes in temperatures and dry environment and low humidity from air conditioning.

Laryngitis is mainly caused by sudden changes in temperatures as well as factors such as smoking, pollution and irritating vapours.

Experts recommend trying to limit time spent in air conditioned rooms a nd a void s udde n te mpe ra ture changes.

SPECIALIST: Doctor Luis Perez Belmonte.

THIS week we have asked the doctor about alternative and natural remedies and the healing qualities of certain foods and substances, which have recently been receiving a lot of press. as nasal congestion, al- Are home remedies for though how helpful it really certain problems, such as is has sparked many a heatonions as a natural way to ed discussion as there is no reduce mucus, really usescientific research to back it ful or are they all just old up. Yet many people do find wives tales? it helpful.

Certain foodstuffs and - Can these substances natural substances can often substitute medicines? be very helpful in reducing Definitely not! For some symptoms of certain illnessminor ailments which do es and complaints and they not strictly need medication are not simple old wives some foodstuffs or natural tales. Food is an important substances can be used to part of our lives and the alleviate symptoms but this well-known expression ‘we should always be done unare what we eat’ is the best der the control of an expert. way to sum up the benefits - Can abuse of this type of some foodstuffs. of remedy be dangerous?

Some conditions have Yes. This type of remedy been linked to consumption should be used with caution, of foods which favour the especially if the condition is appearance of heart probserious enough for a doctor lems, cancer, etc. meaning it to prescribe medication. is very important for everyHome remedies can be used one to ensure they follow a to complement medication healthy, balanced diet. in these cases but never as a The Mediterranean diet is substitute. a good example. Onions - What about to prevent and other vegetables prorather than cure ailments? vide many essential minerUnder the supervision of als and vitamins which help a professional, there are the body function correctly. some foodstuffs which can Onion in particular has been help prevent certain ailtraditionally used to alleviments. ate breathing problems such If you have any questions for Dr Perez Belmonte, please send them to: jefemedico@helicopterossanitarios.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

Keeping your brain healthy WHEN we think of health we usually think of our bellies, muscles and bones, rarely our brains. There are strategies you can employ to improve brain health and its power, making you smarter and healthier.

Exercise for instance is crucial to improve blood flow to the brain and nerve production, while lessening the risk of stroke. Primate studies have shown that exercising monkeys learnt new skills far faster than their inactive counterparts.

Fats are important too, particularly animal-based Omega3 fats which comprise a significant proportion of your brain tissue. DHA in particular is essential and provides structural support to your central nervous system, while supplementation can even reverse degenerative conditions.

Get a decent sleep to repair, revitalise and rejuvenate your body and mind. It’s been shown to improve your memory, cognitive scope and ability to learn and adapt to new information.

Is flossing a waste of time?

COULD flossing your teeth be a waste of time?

A new investigation has claimed there is little proof that flossing works in preventing g u m d i se a se an d cavities.

Other studies also showed it can a c t u a l l y d a m a g e health, causing harmful bacteria to dislodge from in between the teeth and enter into the bloodstream.

The British Dental Association and the Oral Health Foundation has also agreed there is n o e v i d e n c e fo r flossing.

They recommend that the best way to reduce your risk of toot h d e c a y a n d g u m disease i s t o b r u sh t e e th twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, see the dentist regularly and cut back on sugar.

11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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EWN

39

Disconnecting from your work for some true holiday time THE summer holidays are here and whilst many still have to work, most are able to enjoy some form of down time.

Holidays serve to act as a necessary way to rest and recharge the batteries, but it is not possible for all workers.

A survey by Randstad revealed that 28 per cent of Spanish employees said they were unable to disconnect from work during the holidays. Everyone knows the theory, but when it comes to putting it in practice, over a quarter can’t switch off, so what can you do to help?

Sleep when you need it. After months of hard work, take the holidays as a chance for your body to physically recharge itself. Forget setting alarms and sleep as much as you need to.

Make plans. Enjoy time with family and friends that you sometimes don’t always get the chance to see.

Turn the phone off. Don’t allow yourself to get distracted with phones and tablets as you will then be tempted

CHILL OUT: Enjoy the freedom of your time off work. to check emails or return work calls.

Forget the time. Don’t clock watch or stick to schedules. Holidays are the chance to have more freedom and see where the mood takes you, not to con-

tinually be looking at the clock and planning.

No one is indispensable. Many in the survey said they worried about what happened at work when they

were away but remember no one is indispensable. Think of all the times you have covered colleagues when they were away, they will do the same for you.

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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OPINION & COMMENT

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

EX-PRESIDENT Felipe Gonzalez won three elections on the trot and was in power for more than 13 years.

He therefore possesses more political common sense than the current PSOE mob have in their little fingers “Let Rajoy be elected president, even though he doesn’t deserve it,” was the former president’s message to Pedro Sanchez and the PSOE party barons.

A third election would be the politicians’ fault, he said, although they are giving the impression that the public is to blame. Rajoy doesn’t deserve to be president, but neither does Spain deserve self-serving politicians who put their jobs first, the party second and voters third.

Tough line THE acting government wants to prosecute Carme Forcadell, Speaker of the Catalan parliament, for disobedience. She is clearly

Accentuate the negative

Double standards

THE musical ‘Oklahoma’ had the unforgettable song ‘I’m just a girl who can’t say no.’ She sounds exactly the kind of politician than Spain needs just now, someone capable of saying yes even when they shouldn’t.

Albert Rivera is saying ‘no’ to voting in favour of Mariano Rajoy’s investiture when he should say yes, and Pedro Sanchez is saying no when he should be saying maybe.

MADRID’S Complutense University suspended Juan Carlos Monedero, lecturer and co-founder of the Podemos party for six months without pay.

He failed to tell the university or Hacienda that he had earned €425,000 for assessing the Venezuelan government in 2010 although he wasn’t paid until 2013. Now he must return €42,500 to the university for the oversight.

What with Monedero and party Number Three, Pablo Echenique, who paid his carer in the black, the Podemos hierarchy is practising what it preaches against. Railing against the hypocrisy and corruption of the political caste is dangerous unless your own affairs can stand close scrutiny.

“implicated and affected by” the CUP party’s parliamentary call to set in motion a unilateral declaration of independence, Madrid claims.

Forcadell, like most Catalans with independence leanings, has little love for Madrid and Madrid is doing nothing to make itself more lovable. Prosecuting her will only recruit more separatists.

Felipe Gonzalez

Wikipedia commons

Deserved and undeserved

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Jericho Summer release new album

NIGHT TRAIN: Jay and Vanessa recorded album at the Music Farm. mainly at the Music Farm in Cumbria.

The artists have recorded two videos for the album in 2016. One for ‘Bitchin with a Woman’ the focus track and one for a track called ‘Running Free,’ which is themed

The Other Side Facebook

ALTHOUGH becoming a duo when Jay Zeffin and Vanessa Joy were married in 1997, they had been involved in music and musical theatre long before that and they actually met at a recording studio in 1995.

Following their marriage, they decided to move to Mallorca in 1998 to restore a 10metre yacht as a project and although they hadn’t expected to stay there forever, they fell in love with the island and are still Mallorca residents.

The couple have never lost their love for music and have now released a brand new album ‘Night Train’ under the name of Jericho Summer which features a number of very famous names from the world of country and southern rock.

Apart from the couple, the main musicians on the album were Tom Tyson, Rodders Godders, John Marcangelo and Guy Lancaster, all well-known names in the music industry, whilst some star names such as Marco Mendoza from Thin Lizzy, guitar legend Albert Lee, Richard Fortus from Guns N Roses and session musician Stuart Duncan all added instrumental pieces to the overall sound of the album which was recorded

Photo Credit the Music Farm

By John Smith

THE OTHER SIDE: Will present an evening of Pink Floyd music.

Two top tribute bands TWO Saturdays in September promise to present tribute performances of two of the greatest British bands of all time at the Auditorium in Palma.

First up on September 3 is local band Whole Lotta Band who will perform nearly three hours of Led Zeppelin songs so make sure that you have cleared your ears and get ready for a rumbustious performance from four experienced and professional musicians who have played together since forming in Mallorca in 2011.

Tickets are €30 and the band will start their marathon performance at 9.30pm.

The following Saturday, September 10 sees The Other Side, this time a dedicated band from Menorca who are stopping in Mallorca as part of their extensive tour of

Spain when they will present an evening of the music of Pink Floyd.

Again lasting nearly three hours, this promises to be a feast of fantastic music, d raw in g numbe rs from the huge Pink Floyd catalogue, Tickets for this concert cost €35 and the performance starts at 9pm.

When you consider that both original bands have been riven by death and artistic differences, it is unlikely that they will ever perform again.

Whilst all of their music is available to download, the chance to see and hear perfect reproductions of their music performed with energy and professionalism by these two groups will have a real appeal to many.

around a guy riding a Harley Davidson. For this video they looked everywhere for a specific blacked out Harley Davidson Street Glide Special. In 2016, a friend found the motorcycle they wanted for the video in

Harley Davidson Reading.

Jay contacted the dealer and made the purchase; he then travelled across Europe to collect the bike and took it back to the island of Mallorca by road and sea where the videos are shot against stunning scenery.

There will be a feature article in the October edition of the Harley Davidson Owners magazine about the band and their involvement with Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

While Jericho Summer have been dedicated to producing and finalising the Night Train album, they have coordinated the entire project from Mallorca.

There is one thing about Jericho Summer, which sets them apart from the many artists trying to achieve recognition for their music.

They have made an album, they have some of the biggest names in rock and country on the album, but they have no plans to tour and do gigs at present. So while everyone else is making albums to promote tours and obtain fame, Jericho Summer are doing the opposite.

Night Train comes from the Country and Southern Rock genre but with a unique sound so for more information on how to obtain the album visit www.jerichosummer.com.

Charity concert for Indian school AFRICAN Flamenco is perhaps not a phrase that you would expect to hear too often, but Concha Buika was born in Palma in 1972 to a family who had fled from Equatorial Guinea for political reasons and she grew up in an area that had a strong gypsy presence.

Now living in Miami and having recorded nine albums of her own very distinctive take on the music of Spain for which she has won Latin Grammy awards, she will be appearing at the Torre de Canyamel in

Night parade AN old tradition which died out in the 1960s but was revived in 1978 by El Centre de Cultura Tradicional Mallorquina Sarau Alcudienc sees a fantastic parade around the old town of Alcudia with children carrying hollowed out melons and watermelons with candles.

This children’s evening takes place on August 24 which is St Bartholomew’s Day.

Capdepera on August 13 starting at 9pm with tickets costing €40 in aid of Associació Amics de Tilloli which helps support a school in India.

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PROPERTY

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How to work out what would be a sensible offer

DREAM HOME: Make sure you don’t miss out.

John Graham The property expert

BUYERS ask me all the time for professional tips on how to negotiate with the seller or estate agent on the price of a property in Spain.

We call it the seller’s preferred asking price versus the buyer’s preferred buying price.

When you have found your dream home in Spain it is almost certain you will try to negotiate a reduction on the asking price either direct with the seller or through the agent.

Several buyer surveys have been carried out in the property

industry and the stats are quite interesting.

Recent surveys have found that around 73 per cent of buyers made offers below the asking price and 66 per cent secured a purchase below the asking price.

However, in some cases the survey found that around 5 per cent of buyers actually paid above the asking price. This is common in competitive prime locations and when it is a seller’s market or where demand is higher than the supply and sellers could receive offers from more than one buyer.

In order to work out what would be a sensible offer for a property, make sure you compare several comparable properties in the area.

Write out a check list of all the key points in each property you view, which could include location, views, local amenities, size, condition, number of rooms, etc. This will help you to get a good idea if the asking price is good value or not.

When making an offer below the asking price EWN buyers should remember the asking price does not always reflect what a property is worth.

Here are some top tips for EWN buyers offering less than the asking price: 1. Comparable properties were sold for lower prices and the market hasn’t changed.

2. The property is not in good condition and some repairs or improvements would need to be carried out.

3. If the seller is motivated to sell quickly because they need to move to a new location.

4. If you find out that the property has been on the market for a long time and no one else has made an offer recently.

5. Or you can take the guessing game out of offering the right price by retaining a surveyor to value the property.

Before putting in your offer, ask yourself the question: is the saving worth risking losing your dream home over and do you want to risk losing your dream home to another buyer?

John Graham is a Fellow of The Architecture & Surveying Institute. If you would like a professional valuation or advice contact John by email gk.ipad@me.com.

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43

Advertising feature

An exceptional Lifestyle service CARL FLAY is the Director of both Lifestyle Properties and also Lifestyle Building Solutions.

With more than 30 years of experience within the building and reform business and 20 years in the real estate sector, Carl has built up an exceptional reputation in providing not just a professional approach, but also offering clients the most competitive prices in terms of building and reforms. With his extensive knowledge of the island Carl has built up an excellent portfolio of properties, plots and exclusive homes within the south/south west of the island to offer both old and new clients the ideal home here on the island of Mallorca.

They have four offices running under the Lifestyle banner, with the main office being located in the village of Portals Nous, along with their showroom, a second office in Santa Ponsa and their recently opened new office in the village of Calvia, with their collaborating agent business which is growing year on year.

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LIFESTYLE BUILDING SOLUTIONS: Promoting the brand.

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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PROPERTY

Buoyant Spanish property market

By Matthew Elliott

HOME sales across Spain rose by almost 20 per cent in June, heralding a hugely significant increase, which led to the greatest number of private property transactions since January 2013.

There were 36,856 sales across the period, which became the fifth consecutive month to see year-onyear increases.

Second-hand homes drove the surge, accounting for more than 30,000 of the sales, while coastal locations played a considerable role in the improvement.

The Balearic Islands, Valencia and the Canary Islands were the provinces registering the greatest number of sales per 100,000 residents, while Andalucia clocked up the most in volume at 7,496.

The data, published last week by the National Statistics Institute, comes at a

SECOND-HAND HOMES: Have helped to drive the surge in sales. time when Spanish real-estate is enjoying a steady and serious recovery, as yet incomparable to the vora-

cious pre-crisis figures, but far more stable and enjoying a firm degree of investor confidence.

Indeed Spain is now considered the ninth most popular destination for international investors in the

real-estate, construction and property markets, while the legions of private foreign buyers continue to

grow.

With all the key markers seeing solid results, consistently improving across recent years and months, confidence has also returned to the street as local residents and younger professionals move away from renting and towards home ownership.

The good news is coupled with an optimistic forecast from famous holid a y - h o m e b u i l d e r Ta y l o r Wimpey who expects ‘good progress’ in the sector throughout 2016. Their statistics show a startling 20.4 per cent jump in the average selling price of a Tayl o r Wi m p e y b u i l t h o m e , from €284,000 in 2015 to €342,000 this year.

The willingness of international buyers to pay a premium price is especially indicative of enhanced consumer confidence, particularly among foreign residents, a key mainstay of the Spanish property scene.

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

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HOMES

Gardening with nature Dick Handscombe

Gardening Corner

By Spain’s best known expatriate gardening author living in Spain for 25 years.

GARDENING can be a lifetime of learning if you regard it as one of your prime hobbies and moving to live and garden in Spain opens up new challenges, positive and negative, compared to gardening in northern Europe. The soil mixes, the climates, the water tables, the insects and fungi vary, the type of views and the range of plants and seeds available all vary.

Naturally one can rush into doing things as one did in the UK and sort out problems as they occur, which will start in the first month in many cases, or first spend some time observing what you are inheriting by moving to Spain and what the most significant differences are today and will be season by season.

Taking account of nature in your garden design, soil improvements, water utilisation, when you work in the garden, plantings and seasonal harvestings can result in a better garden at less cost and with less time spent on travelling to garden centres and garden material suppliers.

One way of immediately saving personal and

PUKKA PLANTING: Some first vegetables grown on the drive in builders buckets. purchased energy is to decide before you start to work the soil where planted areas will be and where terraces, paths, sheds, pools and gravelled areas will be. You can then concentrate on improving only on soil areas to be planted up for all other areas will be covered over and the firmer the base the better knowing how nature can change rock hard clay soils to unstable heavy clinging mud with the first heavy rainstorm.

Secondly prepare home-made compost to

work into soils by composting mixes of weeds, soft prunings, fire ash, leaves and kitchen waste.

Work in the garden when it’s safest, most comfortable and when nature is most active. At present that means day break until about 11.00am.

Start growing a few vegetables, perhaps in builder’s buckets, the first week you take over a new house. Why not eat well from day one rather than wait two or three years until you have completed the total layout and have a pukka veg-

&

GARDENS

etable plot prepared for planting.

When you purchase vegetable seeds select ones collected in countries around the Med and not from northern England that may shrivel up before being ready to harvest. Most importantly recognise we have two springs along the coastal plain and in the inland valleys, the regular spring and the autumn, and that many popular vegetables such as broad beans, broccoli, garlic, early onions and Christmas new potatoes are planted in the autumn here and not in the spring as in the UK. When you start to think about plants recognise that many coastal mountains and abandoned agricultural lands are green for much of the year with nature’s bounteous spring flowers and perennial herbs and native trees. Plants that survive with deep roots even in recent years where rain has been scarce for most gardeners. So research which plants are most likely to be drought resistant. A useful starter list is included in the book ‘How to use less water in your garden’ available from Amazon Books and other internet book shops. (c) Dick Handscombe www.gardenspain.com August 2016

Adios and gracias to Dick Hanscombe AT the tender age of 80, our gardening correspondent Dick Hanscombe has decided the time has come to hang up his pen and devote his time to his many hobbies and interests.

We are most grateful to Dick for all he has written for us and we know our readers found his

insight and advice on how to tend gardens in Spain particularly helpful so we will try hard, not to replace the irreplaceable, but to at least find another writer to carry on the tradition.

Having had a varied but highly successful career, Dick, author of more than 20 books,

settled in Spain 22 years ago and whilst ineligible to vote on the Brexit, he wishes all of the Euro Weekly News readers the very best.

If anybody feels they could try to fill Dick’s well-worn gardening boots, then please do feel free to contact us.

A reason to love coffee COFFEE is good for more than just waking you up in the morning, your garden will appreciate it almost as much as you do!

We’re not talking about Nescafe out a jar; for the following to work you need proper coffee grounds. It will give you and your plants a boost and you’ll also reduce household waste by recycling: another bonus!

Firstly, slugs and snails really hate coffee, so if you pop it round the base of your plants the pests should stay away.

It can also be used as a natural fertiliser, coffee grounds are high in nutrients and will help plants grow bigger and better.

PETS PAGE

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Skye, Bella and their new friend Sienna

This old cat...

BEST BUDDIES: Children give lots of love and affection. love pet-sitting, and give the dogs lots of love and affection while owners are away.

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House-sitting can be win-win for both parties, free house and pet-sitting and experienced checked sitters get free accommodation! Register now for a 20 per cent off introductory offer using coupon code PERFECT20. Find a house pet-sitter at www.HousesitMatch.com.

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SKYE and Bella are Beagles, very well-travelled Beagles! They’ve lived with their Mum and Dad (Kemkem and Federico) in Italy, Malta and Spain wherever the family’s work has taken them.

They currently live just outside Sevilla where they’ve settled for a few years but Mum and Dad still travel quite a bit.

How can they manage this when they’ve moved so often and have little established networks around them? They find checked house-sitters through HousesitMatch.com the online house and pet-sitting network.

Meet Sienna, she’s from Australia and is the youngest child of Cam and Karen, registered house-sitters who travel the world with their family world schooling their children from whichever home they’re sitting. Karen used to run a cake baking business from home and Cam worked on oil rigs. They decided to take a few years out, sell their home and travel with their children while they’re young. The children

47

MATURE MOGGY: Treasured time in twilight years.

David THE Dogman Listen to David on TRE every Saturday 10am to 11am Costa del Sol (Gibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm (San Roque to Calahonda) 91.9fm (Calahonda to Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92.7fm Costa Blanca (Torrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm (Elche to Calpe) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6fm, (Denia to Valencia) 95.3fm Mallorca 103.9fm

I’m getting on in years, My coat is turning grey.

My eyes have lost their lustre, My hearing’s just okay.

I spend my day dreaming Of conquests in my past, Lying near a sunny window Waiting for its warm repast.

I remember our first visit, I was coming to you free, Hoping you would take me in And keep me company.

I wasn’t young or handsome, Two years I’d roamed the street.

There were scars upon my face, I hobbled on my feet.

I could sense your disappointment As I left my prison cage.

Oh, I hoped you would accept me

And look beyond my age.

You took me out of pity, I accepted without shame.

Then you grew to love me, And I admit the same.

I have shared with you your laughter, You have wet my fur with tears.

We’ve come to know each other Throughout these many years.

Just one more hug this morning Before you drive away, And know I’ll think about you Throughout your busy day.

The time we’ve left together Is a treasured time at that.

My heart is yours forever.

I Promise – this old cat.

Author: K C Bigamon

Protect your garden and dog Choosing a pet that’s

compatible for you IT is important you think carefully before getting a new pet. The first thing you have to be sure of is if you really do want one - if you’re not 100 per cent sure then don’t. It’s not like buying a pair of shoes that can be returned or consigned to the back of the wardrobe. If you do decide to get a pet, consider the following.

How much spare time do you have? Dogs take a lot of spare time, cats less and hamsters or fish not much at all.

How healthy are you? Similarly dogs need exercise. If you are unable to go far yourself then your dog will suffer.

Have a good look around. Don’t rush to a decision and don’t limit yourself to pet shops. Try

animal shelters and charities.

Think about the supplies and food your animal will need. Can you afford this, is there somewhere you can easily obtain this? There’s no point buying an exotic animal if you can’t find a food supply for it. If you are buying ensure you purchase a stock of food and supplies before the animal enters your home.

Finally, think of your family set up if applicable. Do you want a new dog if you are planning to have a baby or have small children? Does anyone have allergies or just not like certain animals?

This is an important choice for both you and your pet so choose wisely.

IT’S frustrating for a gardener when a pet decides to ‘help’ leaving holes in the lawn or torn off flowers but how bad would they feel if their dog fell ill after contact with a toxic plant or fertiliser they didn’t know was dangerous. Follow these tips to keep dogs safe from gardens and gardens safe from dogs.

1. Make a playground A large, shallow box filled with sand will give somewhere safe to dig and play.

2. Fence off your flowerbeds Quick, cheap and easy to keep dogs away from blooms.

3. Choose fertiliser carefully Manure, seaweed and compost are safe or if buying check the label and research beforehand to avoid nasty accidents.

4. Treat your pet to a kennel It’s cool and shady in summer, warm and dry in winter.

5. Watch what you plant Some plants and flowers (lilies, tulips, narcissus and ole-

ander) are highly toxic and can cause serious health problems.

6. Remember the furniture It’s not all pet-friendly, stick to wood, leather and wicker.

7. Careful with bird feeders Nice to attract birds but droppings can carry lots of bacteria.

8. Pave paths Teach dog to stick to paths.

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BOATS

Photo Credit RCNP

35th Copa del Rey 30 Years i

PRIZES AWARDED: King Felipe with the winners at the presentation.

By John Smith THE 35th Copa del Rey Mapfre took place at the Real Club Nautico de Palma from August 1 to August 6 when King Felipe attended the club in order to present the prizes to the winners of the eight different classes.

In near perfect conditions, the races started and in a six-day regatta, stamina and planning are considered so im-

portant as this would turn out to be a ‘marathon not a sprint.’ The weather however did prove to

125

yachts from all over the world took part in the regatta

be troublesome with only two days of perfect racing, but the 125 yachts from

many parts of the world which took part in what is regarded as one of the most important regattas in the European yachting calendar certainly put heart and soul into the completion.

The winners who came from Mallorca (two), Galicia, Sotogrande, France, Germany, Italy and the USA were delighted to be presented to His Majesty who takes a great interest in the competition.

ERIC MARTIN, owner of Sunbird was the first to open an office in Puerto Portals in 1986. Having been in the UK yacht sales business for 14 years, the time felt right to expand into different waters.

Sai l i ng i n t he Medi t er ranean felt like an exciting progression. Sunshine was, of course, a huge draw to the Mediterranean and having heard about a new and prestigious marina being compl et ed i n Mal l or ca, seven kilometres west of Palma t own t he expansi on f el t right.

When he saw the site he knew it was the perfect opportunity to open Sunbird SA. Puerto Portals combined an incredible location with clear ambitions to become a luxury destination.

Eric had met Simon Crutchley, a fluent Spanish speaker whose l ocal knowl edge, great contacts and yachting exper i ence m ade hi m t he ideal candidate to manage the new operation. The potential was huge and it felt

YACHT SALES: Sunbird have right to get in from the start.

Sunbird Mallorca opened its doors in August 1986.

As the port grew, developing a formidable international reputation, Sunbird grew with it. It was a great plus for customers at Boat Shows

BOATS

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Photo Credit Yodasky Wikimedia

in Puerto Portals

a long-standing relationship with Beneteau yachts. to be able to buy from Sunbird UK and know there was full back-up on hand when they headed to the sunshine.

Their long-standing relationship with Beneteau yachts continues, both in new sales and brokerage, and in the last two years Sunbird has be-

come distributor for Monte Carlo Yachts in the UK and Palma, ranging from 65-105ft. The power boat side of the business is most professionally handled by Nick Martin. Keeping the office on an even keel is Denise Parkin, who handles listings and administration. Both Nick and Denise

have been with Sunbird SA since 2000.

In 1999, Turkey beckoned, thanks to a new development in Gocek. A visit echoed the excitement of the early days of Puerto Portals - crystal waters, stunning scenery and, just as it once had been in Mallorca, the added benefits of being VAT-free.

Sunbird la unc he d in G oc e k in 2000, followed by a second office in Marmaris, taking Sunbird from strength to strength alongside their operations in Scotland and Hamble in Engla nd. The c ompa ny’s c us tomers are diverse - from the UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany and beyond - and they offer them an individually-tailored wealth of experience, wherever they choose to drop anchor.

There is no doubt Puerto Portals is firmly established as one of the best and most beautiful marinas in the Mediterranean, with a fantastic future ahead. Thirty years after Sunbird SA opened its doors, Portals’ original marina resident could not be prouder to have been here since day one.

Sunbird offers a wide range of new and brokerage yachts from its office in Puerto Portals local 10, and their website www.sunbirdy achts.eu.

EWN

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More debutantes for Cannes

Photo Credit Cantieri Estensi

NEW MODEL: THE 535 Maine in action.

ITALIAN boatyards are taking a great deal of space at the Cannes Yachting Festival which takes place between September 6 to 11 and boasts that it is the largest show of its kind in Europe.

Latest to announce the debut of two new models at the show is Cantieri Estensi with the 535 Maine and 545 GS. Attending its first international boat show after the change of ownership, the shipyard presents a comprehensive image makeover, new management and, most importantly, two brand new models, both launched for summer 2016.

The new 535 Maine is a 17m trawler that offers plenty of space for socialising, including an outdoor dinette in the stern cockpit and the flybridge designed to provide guests with comfort and relaxation. Inspired by traditional lobster boats, the 17m Goldstar 545 retains all their distinctive style features, from the shape of the superstructure to the elegant varieties of wood used for the deck. For both models, the shipyard and designer Zuccheri Yacht Design have joined forces to produce alternative interior layouts.

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11 - 17 August 2016 / Mallorca

www.euroweeklynews.com

OPINION & COMMENT

Cybercrime: at the fraudsters’ mercy Nora Johnson

Breaking Views Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist.

To comment on any of the issues raised in her column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/nora-johnson

YOU are now 20 times more likely to be robbed while at your computer by a criminal based overseas than mugged in the street, new official figures have revealed. The explosion in online fraud and cybercrime involved almost six million offences last year, in other words, one in 10 of us fell victim.

Oh dear, Mrs May only left the Home Office a few weeks ago and already crime seems on the increase. The conspiracy theorists will blame it all on Brexit. Brexit, it appears, is Britain’s great gift to the rest of the world. A failsafe excuse for Italy’s failing banks, Germany’s failing Deutsche Bank and faltering economies everywhere. Blame everything on Brexit! Little matter that the vast majority of these problems existed long before David Cameron came up with the idea of THAT referendum.

SOPHISTICATED CRIMINALS: Exploit weaknesses in server, database or browser software.

But hang on! Actual crime levels haven’t increased, online offences weren’t covered previously! These online crime numbers simply give the very first official snapshot of the

scale of the threat we all face from online attacks and scams every day.

The problem is most people parade around the internet with the same attitude they have when on

holiday: far too laid back. And there really needs to be a distinction drawn between crimes by idiots who hand over their personal information on a platter to strangers on

the internet, and crimes by sophisticated criminals exploiting deep weaknesses in server, database or browser software. After all, there have been enough high profile cases of phishing, identity theft and especially hacking (e.g. TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone).

But, sorry, I’m too busy to add any more now as I’ve just got an exciting email from Reverend Jo King in Africa offering me the once-in-alifetime chance to invest in his oil well for £60k and get 1,000 per cent return... and an ex-US Marine who needs help getting gold bullion out of Iraq.

Isn’t the internet exciting? But wait a moment, all the money’s vanished from my bank account. What was his name again? Reverend JO KING?! Ooh, er...

Nora Johnson’s thrillers ‘No Way Back,’ ‘Landscape of Lies,’ ‘Retribution,’ ‘Soul Stealer,’ ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.norajohnson.com) available from Amazon in paperback/eBook (€0.89; £0.79) and iBookstore. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.

Photo by shutterstock

The impossible art of tidying up Vicki McLeod

Family Matters MY family and I are watching the Olympics.

It’s irrelevant which sport it is really as we’ve become armchair experts in each and every one. It hasn’t taken us long. We’ve not watched Women’s gymnastics since, well, the last Olympics, but they really should hire us all as judges because we’re really good at it.

Despite not even ever actually attending a competition my daughter, husband and I are tutting and shaking our heads as every perfect gymnast throws herself over the vaulting horse, flips three times, somersaults and lands backwards and has the gall to STEP BACKWARDS on the landing! We know that this is a bad thing. As are the divers being ‘TOO SPLASHY’ on their entrance into the pool.

The Olympics are a great distraction from the real issue which is our living room. We haven’t actually lived in the room for a few months since our kitchen was transformed. To be honest, I haven’t even been in the room.

There’s been no time and no inclination because there’s still quite a lot of kitchen lurking in the sitting room alongside the ‘sporting

TIDYING UP: How can I be sure I won’t ever need something again? corner’ (two bikes and a rowing machine) and the ‘musical corner’ (a baby grand piano, anyone want it? Come get it). So being in our living room is depressing. However in order to be sofa judges we’ve had to find a spot, and we couldn’t figure out a way to watch on our PC, so it had to be the telly which hadn’t been

turned on in four months either.

This has inevitably led to something I have been dreading. Tidying up. It’s not so much the action of tidying up but the decision making that goes with it which I find to be annoying and difficult. There’s a book, written by a woman called Marie Kondo. It’s called ‘The

Life Changing Art of Tidying Up.’ Her advice is to first, put your hands on everything you own, ask yourself if it sparks joy, and if it doesn’t, thank it for its service and get rid of it (so far I’ve found her advice to be a little naive as my vacuum cleaner does not spark joy in my heart, but I need it, so it has to stay).

Second, she says, once only your most joygiving belongings remain, put every item in a place where it’s visible, accessible, and easy to grab and then put back. Only then, according to Kondo, will you have reached the nirvana of housekeeping, and never have to clean again. Ooh, hang on! Never have to clean again, now that I can get into. But how can I know for sure that I won’t ever need something again? And what about all those lovely paintings La Gidg did when she was a baby, am I heartless for getting rid of them?

Or all those newspaper clippings of articles I’ve written over the years, should I just shred them? But probably my main problem is my 10-year-old daughter, because as quickly as I’m decluttering she’s recluttering behind me.

Now if we could make tidying up into an Olympic sport maybe there’s something we could do there, I could watch that on the telly all night long. mallorcamatters.com

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E W N 11 - 17 August 2016

Mallorca

FOR BEST RATES IN MOTOR INSURANCE CALL: 952 89 33 80

Electric Avenue

WITH all the hoopla about electric cars, Mercedes have raised the stakes by beating the drums for an electric van version of its hugely successful next-generation sprinter.

Mercedes have already announced an electric semi-truck, known as the Urban eTruck concept, specialising in short city drives, it’s thought electric vans will play a major role in future.

Brexit blues?

BACK in Blighty July was uncommonly slow for new car registrations, the market witnessing a measly 0.1 per cent increase. The slight positive only made possible by the fleet car sector as private registrations declined by 6.1 per cent.

The motoring industry will keep a close eye on economic developments and government policy given the slow-down in new car registrations in 2016.

In July 178,523 new cars were registered, Ford Fiesta was most popular, with Vauxhall’s Corsa and Astra taking second and third place respectively.

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MOTORING www.euroweeklynews.com

The King’s wheels restored

By Matthew Elliott AN impressive restoration which took two years to complete, has seen BMW Classic bring a 507 roadster, once the pride and glory of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll himself Elvis Presley, back to life.

Though classic restorations are difficult to properly execute, the historic legacy of this car presented a new challenge, especially as last owner Jack Castor spent his last days on earth working to see the 507 in its original condition i.e. ‘through the eyes of the King.’

A 23-year-old soldier based in Germany, Elvis took delivery of the 507 on December 20 1958. A global star at the time, Presley’s female stars mobbed him as he drove the 507 from his German home to the US Army base in Friedburg, adorning it with love messages in red lipstick. In 1960 Elvis returned to the States trading it in at a New York dealership. They then sold it to radio DJ and future racer Tommy Charles for just $4,500 (€4,036).

By 1968 Jack Castor owned it, a space engineer

RESURRECTED ROADSTER: The rusty ruin before and the impressive finished car.

and classic car collector he dreamt of restoring it. Finally uniting the BMW team they’ve made his fantasy a reality, following his specs to the letter. The 150hp, 3.2 litre V8 engine was restored and the original feather white painted over a classic red as expert engineers resurrected one of only 254 of the models ever produced.

The restored 507 was deliberately built using traditional 1950s influenced craftsmanship, although modern production techniques were used to fine hone window wipers and doors and 3D printing used to ensure dimensions were precise.

Unveiling Elvis’ brand spanking old car is part of BMW’s celebration of its centenary anniversary.

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E W N Mallorca

11 - 17 August 2016 DEL POTRO, the Argentinian ousted Novak Djokovic from the tennis singles at the Olympic games.

TO READ MORE

Mallorca’s best guide to local sport

SPORT www.euroweeklynews.com

All winners but kudos to Adam Peaty Tony Matthews International Sports A former player and now the world’s most prolific author of football books with almost 150 published since 1975, Tony is also the sports correspondent for Spectrum Radio and lives on La Pilica in the Sierra Cabrera Mountains overlooking Turre.

Costa de Almeria

WE’LL start with the Olympic games and last weekend, swimmer Adam Peaty became the first Brit to win a gold medal in swimming for 28 years.

ADAM PEATY: On fire winning Gold and setting a new world record.

The 21 year-old set a new world record (by a second) in the men’s 100m breaststroke and now holds five titles: the British, Commonwealth, European, Olympic and world. Soon after Peaty’s triumph, Jazz Carlin won silver in the women’s 400m freestyle event.

Unfortunately there were no gongs for cyclists Lizzie Armistead (fifth after a crash) or Chris Froome, swimmer Hannah Miley or the Murray brothers

in the tennis doubles, but Andy was still in the singles at the start of the week, but not Novak Djokovic (ousted by Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro) or the Williams sisters in the women’s doubles.

Hopefully there’s been more success for Team GB in the women’s rugby sevens and gymnastics with ‘pocket rocket’ Claudia Fragapane.

Here is this week’s programme of events in Rio: • Today: men’s golf, rowing (men’s pairs and lightweight fours); canoeing ( m e n ’s slalom, double C2); track cycling; women’s 78kg judo, all-round gymnastics final.

• Tomorrow: men’s swimming 200m individual medley and women’s 100m freestyle finals (early hours); rowing finals; women’s heptathlon; equestrian dressage final; table tennis; cy-

cling (men’s team pursuit).

• Saturday: rowing finals; tennis; keirin/team pursuit events (women cyclists).

• Sunday: men’s long jump and 10,000m finals; women’s 100m final; heptathlon ends (early hours); then golf, tennis (men’s final); sailing, gymnastics; sprint cycling.

• Monday: women’s triple jump final and men’s 100m and 400m finals (early hours); open water swimming; equestrian (dressage); sailing (men’s laser); men’s omnium cycling final.

• Tuesday: men’s 800m & women’s 400m finals (early hours); sailing; gymnastics; cycling (various finals); diving (men’s 3m springboard).

• Wednesday: men’s high jump final (early hours); golf; sailing and equestrian team jumping final.

• Next Thursday: women’s long jump final, 200m final and 100m hurdles (all early hours).

FOOTBALL: The new domestic season started last week-

end with action in the Championship, Leagues 1 and 2 and in Scotland. In the Championship Norwich won 4-1 at Blackburn, Bristol City edged out Wigan 21, Fulham beat Newcastle 1-0, Ipswich defeated Barnsley 4-2, Nottingham Forest overcame Burton Albion 4-3, QPR whipped Leeds 3-0 and Sheffield Wednesday accounted for demoted Aston Villa 1-0, while in the SPL Celtic won 21 at Hearts and Rangers, on their return to the top flight, were held 1-1 at Ibrox Park by Hamilton.

The English Premiership kicks-off on Saturday with Burnley-Swansea, Crystal Palace-WBA, Everton-Spurs, Leicester- Hull, Manchester City-Sunderland, Middlesbrough-Stoke and Southampton-Watford, followed on Sunday by Arsenal-Liverpool and Bournemouth-Manchester United with Chelsea-West Ham on Monday.

Last Saturday, before a near 90,000 Wembley crowd, Liver-

pool crushed Barcelona 4-0 in the ICC and 24 hours later, a similar attendance saw Manchester United beat Leicester 21 in the FA Community Shield, Zlatan Ibrahimovic heading the winning goal on his United senior debut as José Mourinho got off to a winning start!

CRICKET: England (297 and 445-6 declared) beat Pakistan (400 and 201) by 141 runs in the third Test at Edgbaston to go 2-1 up in the series with one game remaining. This starts today at The Oval. England trailed by 103 runs on the first innings but hit back strongly with my ‘Man of the Match’ Moeen Ali taking the final wicket. A total of 81,739 spectators attended the five day contest.

GOLF: American Jim Furyk created history last Sunday by becoming the first golfer to card a round of 58 in a PGA tournament, doing so in the final round of the Traveller’s Championship in Connecticut, USA.