Euro Weekly News - Costa Blanca South 22 - 28 April 2021 Issue 1868

News

The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1868

22 - 28 April 2021

Good service TWO Guardamar shops, two businesses linked to the local fishing industry and two of its beaches received Quality in Tourist Destinations System (SICTED) certificates for their contributions towards a new approach to tourism, based on quality and satisfying visitors’ needs.

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

A BRAVE SHAVE

Fiestas plan FIESTAS associations throughout the province are reducing the monthly quotas that members pay to finance the celebrations.

They trust this will prevent ‘mass desertions’ after two consecutive years of cancellations, revealed the National Union of Moors and Christians Organisations (UNDEF).

Cheaper water THE Generalitat’s Department of Agriculture hopes to install solar power at Torrevieja’s desalination plant in a bid to lower production costs. This would theoretically provide cheaper irrigation water for local growers and offset the proposed cuts in the Taja-Segura pipeline.

STEVE: Has not had a shave or a hair cut for over a year.

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Housing scheme SANTA POLA Town Hall offered to provide municipal land that would enable the regional government to build social housing to compensate for the lack of affordable rental properties for the many local families who cannot get onto the property ladder.

FREE • GRATIS

A disappointing decision ORIHUELA learnt recently that it has not been chosen as the Spanish army’s principal logistics base.

The huge project, which would have provided 1,600 Min‐ istry of Defence jobs ‐ most of them for civilians ‐ has instead gone to Cordoba.

Orihuela’s Emergencies councillor Victor Valverde recently described this decision as “opaque,” the online daily, Alicante Plaza reported. He was particularly critical of the absence of any kind of official communication explaining why the Vega Baja city had been overlooked for the €350 million logistics base.

Last January councillors from the Partido Popular, Ciu‐ dadanos, PSOE and Vox parties voted in favour of Orihuela’s candidacy.

Only Cambiemos Orihuela opposed the proposal, claiming that the 2.2 million square metres of land that city hall was offering near the La Matanza district, was at risk from flood‐ ing.

If the choice of Cordoba came as a blow to Orihuela, Jaen in Andalucia was even more disappointed. Its city hall has now written to the Ministry of Defence, calling for full details of the criteria it applied in reaching the decision to award the contract to Cordoba, asking for a reply within 10 days, accord‐ ing to eldiario.es.

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NEWS

Plan To Save The Mar Menor Town hall helps new businesses MURCIA’S regional government launched an urgent plan to save the Mar Menor.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has published a report containing a battery of urgent actions required to protect and aid the recovery of Spain’s Mar Menor.

Situated in Murcia in the south-eastern part of the country, the Mar Menor is Europe’s

MAR MENOR: The saltwater lake prior to pollution.

largest saltwater lagoon and home to the famous mud baths which attract throngs of tourists every year for their reported healing qualities.

Dance date for May SAN FULGENCIO Town Hall recently gave the go‐ahead for the Contemporary Dance Festival on May 1 and 2.

This will feature Gustavo Ramirez and Raquel Linares at the Cardenal Belluga theatre at 7.30pm on May 1 and 2.

Dancer and choreographer Gustavo Ramirez will give a Master Class in the theatre on May 1 at 10am.

Raquel Linares, a dancer and teacher, will also give a Mas‐ ter Class, again in the Cardenal Belluga theatre, at 10.30am. on May 2.

“In this second edition of our Dance Festival we wish to highlight two dancers of great relevance in national and in‐ ternational dance,” a town hall statement said. “And not many people are aware that they are both from San Fulgen‐ cio.”

Back in November 2019, residents woke to the horrific sight of hundreds of dead fish washed up along the shores, something which the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) attributed to the heavy rains in the area. In fact, the IEO predicted that some 80 per cent of the flora and fauna of the Mar Menor had perished due to a lack of oxygen.

Now, the new publication by MITECO aims to develop a green programme for the recovery of the area that will organise and prioritise actions to reduce the contribution of pollutants. The main actions will be to monitor local activity for any unauthorised practices that may impact marine life, such as illegal dumping, and to issue heavy sanctions for any transgressions.

PILAR DE LA HORADA’S mayor and the Employ‐ ment councillor presented symbolic cheques rep‐ resenting last year’s municipal aid to new busi‐ nesses.

Both Jose Maria Perez Sanchez and Susi Sanchez Martinez wanted to meet the owners of the start‐ups and thank them for choosing Pilar de la Horadada for their businesses.

“Although 2020 was an especially difficult year, the town hall has provided financial help of be‐ tween €1,000 and €2,500 for these 25 new busi‐ nesses,” Perez Sanchez explained.

The aid was made available through the Em‐ ployment and Local Development Agency via a €50,000 allocation from the town hall’s Budget.

Talking to the new entrepreneurs, the mayor told them about his own personal experiences to encourage them to continue in their efforts.

The town hall would be behind them, and ev‐ ery Pilar de la Horada business, Perez Sanchez pledged.

He also reminded all those hoping to open a lo‐ cal business that they can make an application for aid from this year’s allocation until December 31.

Setting a good example A SIX‐YEAR‐OLD on his way to the Poeta Miguel Hernandez school in Rojales spotted a mobile phone lying on the ground.

Picking it up, he went up to a nearby Local Police officer who was directing traffic and handed it over.

“I was rather surprised, but I took the phone and thanked him for what he had done,” the officer later told the local Spanish media. “It was the first time that something like that had ever happened to me,” he admitted.

Antonio Perez also had praise for the local lad’s “exem‐ plary behaviour” and “admirable conduct” but added that somebody finding a telephone and handing it in should not be newsworthy. “I’d like everyone to follow his good exam‐ ple,” Perez said.

Shortly afterwards, the telephone’s owner, used another phone to call his own, and was told by the police that it had been found.

Better-looking Bigastro BIGASTRO Mas Guapo (Better‐ looking Bigastro) is a town hall initiative to give the municipality a facelift. Urban Development councillor Antonio Meseguer ex‐ plained that many local proper‐ ties were old.

“The town hall will pay 50 per cent of the Works Licence for re‐ habilitating exteriors while drafts will be covered by the Urban De‐ velopment department,” he said.

Owners or residents’ commu‐ nities may apply for regional or state grants of up to €12,000, not only for repairing exteriors but al‐ so for improving accessibility.

NEWS

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NIBS EXTRA Balanced diet TWO Miguel Hernandez University students who analysed the food in Elche bars and restaurants found that on average meat made up 40 per cent of a meal and carbohydrates 38 per cent. Vegetables and fruit accounted for just 5 per cent of the ingredients in 17,500 dishes analysed.

Clear-up CREVILLENT has received a €24,000 allocation from the Diputacion, Alicante’s provincial council, which will be used to eliminate illegally-dumped rubbish from different parts of the Barrosa neighbourhood that adjoins the Tajo-Segura pipeline. This will also help to reduce fire-risk during the summer, the town hall’s Environment councillor said.

Book-keeping ORIHUELA City Hall announced that it will pay an outside firm €44,286 on a 10-month contract to oversee its financial transactions and provide backup for the municipal audit department. The auditor and Finance councillor said that the outsourcing was justified owing to the lack of specialised city hall personnel.

Jabs working THE over-80s’ mortality rate in the Valencian Community has plummeted now that all have received one shot of the antiCovid vaccine and 58 per cent have had two. Earlier this year they accounted for 71 per cent of deaths instead of the current 30 per cent, the Generalitat revealed.

Sell-off SPAIN’S central government is auctioning off eight properties in Elda, Alicante City, Alcoy and Torrevieja described as ‘old and in bad condition.’ Motives for the sale were given only for the Cabo Cervera property which has a €45,900 reserve price and reached the Administration after the owner died intestate.

Making waves ENVIRONMENTALIST association, Friends of the South Alicante Wetlands (AHSA), complained that residents living in first-line properties on Guardamar’s Babilonia beach are piling up rock barriers to protect their homes from the encroaching sea. This is illegal and occupies what little is left of the beach, AHSA said.

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Help Vega Baja still supporting A CHARITY such as HELP Vega Ba‐ ja exists purely because of the dedication of its volunteers and supporters. One such volunteer is our dear friend Ann Townsend.

Ann joined the charity in 2009 and has played a major part in raising much needed funds at Campoamor Market every Thurs‐ day. Come rain, wind or sun, Ann was there.

She became an extremely popu‐ lar person with other stall holders and of course customers. The in‐ come Ann’s hard work provided has been tremendous over the years and enabled the charity to support many people within the community who were struggling in one way or another.

With an unforgettable laugh and sense of humour people went

ANN: Played a major part. along each week to support Ann and even donated many items of clothing for her to sell to raise funds. Sadly, then came Covid! De‐ spite all the clothes that we sold be‐ ing sanitised, not only before they reached the market, but also on the day they were sold, the local council decided they did not want ‘second‐hand’ items being sold,

ALICANTE Province’s Brigada Red Natura 2000 (Nature Network Brigade 2000) team is marking out pathways in Torrevieja’s Cabo Cervera zone.

The Nature Brigade, which is attached to the regional government’s Environment de‐ partment, and Torrevieja Town Hall are col‐ laborating on the project, which has authori‐ sation from the Coastal Authority, given that the paths are so close to the shoreline.

These paths are intended to protect the

Preparing to race PUPILS at the San Jose Obrero school in Orihuela have embarked on a new pro‐ ject.

The school’s director Fr Vicente Mar‐ tinez explained that they are preparing and modifying a Kawasaki motorcycle, ready for the Superbike championships.

Orihuela’s Sports councillor Victor Bernabey drew attention to the San Jose Obrero school’s “great work” in in‐ volving teachers and pupils in the pro‐ ject to prepare the bike for former pupil Joaquin Garcia.

“This is an exciting undertaking and we didn’t think twice about taking part,” Valverde said.

“This is a social and professional inte‐ gration project that involves everybody at the school and is going to take the name of Orihuela all over Spain.”

Orihuela’s Tourism councillor Mariola Rocamora underlined the school’s ef‐ forts and the great work it was carrying out in ensuring that the pupils could identify with a project and see for them‐ selves that all work has its rewards.

Like Valverde, Rocamora expressed satisfaction that the name of Orihuela would be seen throughout Spain.

“There could be no better way of tak‐ ing the Orihuela Historia del Mediterra‐ neo brand to every national Superbike race,” she declared.

and Ann was told to leave! Believe me, Ann fought her corner as did the charity, but we have now ac‐ cepted that we cannot have a stall at Campoamor and with the sup‐ port of our Treasurer and other vol‐ unteers, we are now attending var‐ ious other markets, stalls and car boots around the area to continue our fundraising.

We are delighted to say that we may have lost the stall, but we have certainly not lost Ann! When re‐ strictions permit, Ann will be back co‐ordinating the Friendship Centre at La Zenia.

For more information of the var‐ ious venues we will be attending (in addition of course to our charity shop in San Miguel which is open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10am to 1.30pm), please fol‐

low or message our Facebook page or visit www.helpvegabaja. com where we will shortly be pub‐ lishing not only our selling venues, but also awareness sessions.

We would like to hear from any bar/café who would like our ‘tour bus’ to come along with a stand to raise awareness of how we can support people, answer questions and offer our memberships at just €10 per annum.

NB. All services offered by the charity are completely free includ‐ ing assistance with applications for Attendance Allowance. However, HELP Vega Baja members receive additional benefits including free €150 of interpreting service, annual blood analysis at Quiron Hospital and discounts on many other items ‐ full details on our website.

Keeping to the strait and narrow Cabo Cervera’s vegetation and plants which include the rare ‐ and vulnerable ‐ Helianthe‐ mum caput‐felis (Cat’s head rockrose) by set‐ ting out defined routes that will still allow beachgoers to access the shore. The project is included in the regional government’s poli‐ cy of conserving local plants and wildlife, es‐ pecially in the coastal areas which adjoin beaches that have been awarded coveted

Blue Flags. At the same time the Nature Brigade is eliminating exotic and invasive plants, many of which have accidentally es‐ caped from private gardens, while planting more native species like the rare rockroses.

The pathways will also provide greater se‐ curity for those walking in the area while at the same time helping to prevent erosion, Torrevieja Town Hall stated.

Free Bus Service THE department of Territorial Policy, Public Works and Mobility reported that from Mon‐ day, April 19 it is launching a free bus service to the mass vaccination points based in the Ali‐ cante Fair Institution (IFA) and the Ciudad de la Luz. The services will cover the areas of Elche, Santa Pola and Alicante City.

Four services will take passengers to and from the IFA. The first bus will depart from Elche (Car‐ rus) on a route through the city while the second

picks up at the Santa Pola bus station. Shuttle three will depart from the Aspe bus station and stop at Avenida Sant Vicent Ferrer de Crevillent.

Shuttle Three B will start in Hondón de los Frailes and pass through Hondón de las Nieves, Aspe and Crevillent, before arriving at the IFA. Regarding the Ciudad de la Luz vaccination point, one bus will run from 32, Avenida Oscar Pla in Alicante while the second shuttle leaves from the Archaeological Museum (MARQ).

Open a book Nothing lost ROJALES is celebrating International Book Day on April 23 by leaving books in children’s playgrounds, parks and open spaces.

The town’s Culture department has distributed hundreds of books in 20 open‐air libraries through‐ out the town in an initiative that bears the warning ‘La lectura perjudica seriamente la ignorancia’ (Reading is seriously detrimental to ignorance).

The books can be read there and then or taken to read at home and later returned, explained Rojales Culture councillor Inmaculada Chazarra.

This is also a two‐way system, as members of the public are also welcome to add their own books to the shelves, she said.

“Anywhere is good to stop for a moment and open a book, even if it’s only to read a few lines,” Chazarra added.

in translation

FIVE Vega Baja towns which habitually uni‐ fy some municipal resources, now have an 18‐language telephone translation service.

This is designed to assist personnel at health centres and doctors’ surgeries as well as the town hall’s Social Services de‐ partments in Algorfa, Jacarilla, Redovan and San Miguel de Salinas who make up the Mancomunidad La Vega.

This will be of great help in assisting the integration of the town’s non‐Spanish resi‐ dents and helping them to access essential services, explained Pilar Diaz Rodriguez, who is both president of the Mancomu‐ nidad as well as mayor of Jacarilla.

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Vaccine Scam THE coronavirus pan‐ demic has been the perfect time for un‐ scrupulous people to take advantage of the vulnerable.

With expats and Spaniards alike anx‐ ious to be vaccinated against Covid, the scammers have wast‐ ed no opportunity to make a quick buck.

And so the Generali‐ tat Valenciana has warned of yet anoth‐ er scam circulating the Costa Blanca, aimed at siphoning money from the un‐ witting victim’s ac‐ count.

Officials have con‐ firmed that the latest trick involves sending a WhatsApp message indicating that the re‐ cipient has been ‘se‐ lected’ by the Nation‐ al Institute of Social Security to receive the AstraZeneca vac‐ cine. The government took to Twitter to warn the general public about this lat‐ est con, and pointed out the main ways to spot a fraudster.

Firstly, officials were quick to high‐ light that there is no ‘selection’ process where a chosen few are given the jab ahead of others ‐ the President, Pedro Sanchez, has devised a vaccination sched‐ ule which will be strictly adhered to.

Secondly, messages notifying a person of the vaccination date are always sent through SMS, and never via WhatsApp. Finally, the gov‐ ernment has asked people to look out for obvious spelling or grammar mistakes in the messages, such as the scammer typing ‘Generalitad’ instead of Generali‐ tat.

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from Front page »

Steve’s Ready for the Shave WHILST in lockdown last year, Stephen Hibberd was inspired

by Captain Tom Moore’s phenomenal Zimmer frame marathon.

“This was the catalyst for me to do my bit for a worthy cause,” Steve said.

“So I’ve decided to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society UK, by not having a shave or getting my hair cut for over a year, when the whole lot will be hopefully painlessly removed!”

His mother succumbed to this dreadful illness three years ago, which is why this charity is close to his heart.

Steve’s Brave the Shave will be held at The Club Quesada at 2pm on Saturday May 1, during a craft fare event.

Donations will be gratefully received, and should be sent to his JustGiving page (www.JustGi ing.com/fundraising/ STEPHEN-HIBBERD3), or given to him in person.

In addition to sponsorship monies raised, he will be personally donating money he has saved by not shaving or having a haircut for almost 14 months, to AFA Torrevieja (Asociacion Familiares Alzheimer) and Alzheimer’s Society.

NEWS

Passport to normality

ANA BARCELO, who heads the regional government’s Depart‐ ment of Health, has received her first dose of the As‐ traZeneca vaccine.

As a 62‐year‐old, this is the vaccine currently administered to Barcelo’s age group, and she emphasised that it was safe and reliable with benefits “far outweighing” possible adverse reactions. The Health chief lives in Sax and was vaccinated at Elda’s Pabellon Azul sports centre which has been con‐ verted into a mass vaccination centre.

“Vaccination is the begin‐ ning of the end of the pandem‐ ic,” Barcelo said. “It is the only way out of the health crisis,” she declared.

Shortly afterwards, referring to the Costa Blanca, the Gener‐

alitat president Ximo Puig told a Cadena Ser radio interviewer that Covid passports were the answer to reactivating tourism. “What is important is that in June the possibility will exist of travelling throughout

Europe,” Puig said, while con‐ ceding that it was likely that the passports might need to be renewed annually.

Referring to the European travel, the regional president also raised the likelihood of

Covid‐safe travel corridors with, inevitably, special em‐ phasis on the UK. “Obviously, if this option were to exist it would con‐ tribute enormously to our eco‐ nomic recovery,” Puig said.

ANA BARCELO: Valencia region’s Health chief receives her first AstraZeneca dose.

Hidden camera THE National Police in Valencia has arrested a man, 57, who has been accused of recording three of his coworkers using a hidden camera and a memory card that he concealed in a pen and installed into a ventilation grille in a changing room.

A worker noticed there was a foreign object in the ventilation grille in the changing room where she was undressing, thinking it was a spoon she attempted to remove it only to discover it was actually a pen with a hidden camera.

NEWS

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Rights Campaign FOLLOWING an outpouring of during the pandemic it is a prioriconcern from expats that the ty for Britons here for tests to be high prices being charged in the affordable enough to see their UK for PCR tests to travel could families again. prevent loved ones seeing each “The many Britons here with other again, the EWN has begun tourism-related businesses are ala campaign to help make a difso eager to ensure that UK travMichel & Steven Euesden. ference. ellers are not deterred from visitAccording to reports, the price of PCR tests for ing Spain this summer due to the high price of travel can range from £60 (€69) to £214 (€246). tests.

And while the UK requires tests on both entering “I would be very grateful, therefore, if you could and leaving, this could add hundreds to the price of please tell me if the government has any plans to travel for many hoping to see their friends and introduce a cap on the price companies can charge family again this summer.

UK travellers? Or whether it plans to introduce a After the Euro Weekly News ran a poll asking standard test price to help UK nationals reunite readers whether they believed the UK government with their loved ones?” should introduce a price limit on the cost of tests, a The EWN is now waiting for the government’s whopping 85.2 per cent agreed prices should be response and is encouraging Britons in Spain concapped. cerned about the impact of high costs on seeing Now CEO of the EWN, Michel Euesden, has family and on business to get involved with its camwritten to the UK’s Secretary of State for Transpaign via our petition here. port, Grant Shapps MP, calling on him to introduce Trish in Vera, who signed the petition, said: “I a price cap on PCR tests making them more affordlive alone in Spain after my husband died. I am a able for Britons in Spain looking forward to seeing pensioner on a fixed income and all my family live their loved ones again when international travel is in the UK. I would like the chance to go and see permitted. them and vice versa without it causing any of us fiIn her letter, Michel wrote: “With around nancial hardship.”

360,000 Britons in Spain, many of whom still have To make your voice heard and to support all family, homes and businesses in the UK, readers Brits hoping to see their families again, as well as have been getting in touch concerned about the our tourism industry, join our petition now at price of UK PCR tests for international travel. www.euroweeklynews.com and work together to “After such a long separation from loved ones help bring families together again this summer.

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AGE CONCERN May 2021

TIME TO TASTE at La Prova Restaurante: Many thanks to the restaurant and staff for holding this event to help raise funds for Age Concern. It was an excellent afternoon with a great selection of food and wines and a perfect

chance for all our supporters and friends to get together.

Apologies to those who missed it, time was short when we organised it so we were only able to advertise it on Facebook and Costa Calida Radio. Until life gets back to

normal for us all please check our Facebook site Age Concern Costa Calida for news on future events or updates.

Although all our regular monthly activities at our Drop in Centre have been put on hold we are still here for advice and information, shopping and medicine collection, so give us a call if you need help. All our phone lines as listed below will be manned as usual. If you would like an in-person chat with one of our team, please feel free to drop in to our Centre which is open at present every Tuesday between 10am and 1pm. Masks are compulsory.

Also don’t forget our Facebook site for updated information.

Date for Your Diaries: VE Day Celebration Saturday May 8 at the Maypu Restaurante located just before the old Naura Garden Centre on the road between Mazarrón and the Puerto.

Menu del Brasa - log barbecue to include house salad, BBQ meats or fish on the plancha, veggie option, dessert, drink and tea or coffee. Tickets €15 per person.

Tickets must be bought in ad-

EVENTS & UPDATES: Check out our Facebook page. vance from our Drop in Centre in Camposol on Tuesday mornings or from Costa Calida Radio Station, between 11.30 and 4pm, Monday to Friday at Edf las Lanzas, Calle Teide, Puerto de Mazarrón. The studio is just in front of La Cumbre Hotel.

Can you help?: We are looking for volunteers to help either in our office for a couple of mornings a week, or to assist with arranging our monthly lunches with the local restaurants or simply to give a helping hand to our clients, perhaps a drive to a hospital appointment or to get their

shopping from the local supermarket or pharmacy?

If you would like to volunteer for any of the above and meet our friendly team, please give Isabel Stewart a call on 634 344 589 or send an email to agecon cerncostacalida@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you.

Age Concern Drop in Centre, Calle Valencia 12, Camposol A, Mazarrón Enquiries - 634 344 589 Volunteer Coordinator - 634 312 516 Lifeline Puerto de Mazarron Area - 634 325 408

NEWS

Volunteers needed!

REACH OUT Extienda La Mano celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year and due to the retirement of their current Treasurer they need a replacement in the near future.

This voluntary post in‐ volves normal Treasurer procedures, accounting for donations and shop income and paying bills etc, and in conjunction with the Accountant pro‐ ducing tax returns, Annu‐ al Financial Reports etc.

The current Treasurer will complete an in‐depth handover including use of the Accounting software in use. Hours of opera‐ tion in their Centre in Calle Bella Antonia would be between 9.00 and 2.00pm any weekday.

Interested parties should enquire by email in the first instance to president@reachouttor revieja.eu with a basic ex‐ perience background.

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NEWS

Virtual Dog Walk to raise money for guide dogs

GUIDE DOGS: Are trained to help blind people.

DOG lovers on the Costa Blanca are being encouraged to grab their leads and put on their walking boots to join hundreds of other people in a virtual walk for charity.

To celebrate International Guide Dog Day (April 28) and raise funds for the ONCE Foundation for Guide Dogs (FOPG), Specsavers Ópticas is launching its Virtual Dog Walk 2021 initiative.

Taking place between April 26 and May 2, this will be a chance to fund the vital work that this guide dog association does and allow dog owners to get involved with the campaign without concerns about social distancing and Covid19 restrictions.

Mike Stone from Specsavers Ópticas in Javea and Calpe explains, “Due to the pandemic, we have sadly been unable to plan any big public events this past year to support our national chosen charity, the ONCE Foundation for Guide Dogs (FOPG). However, we are not going to be defeated by lockdown restrictions and have an exciting new campaign to raise vital funds for the charity - a virtual dog walk.

To put it simply, members of the public will be encouraged to walk their chosen distance with (or without) their dog and help raise money for FOPG. All they need to do is donate a minimum of €5 to the charity in their local Specsavers Ópticas store and choose a walking route and distance that suits them - along the

beach, in their local park, wide open spaces or just down their local streets. It’s entirely up to them.

Not only will this event raise much-needed funds for the charity, it will also increase awareness of the important work they do in breeding and training guide dogs and placing them with people with severe visual impairment in the community, enabling them to live the fullest lives possible.

We have pledged to raise over €5,000 for FOPG during 2021 and this will be an important event to help us to reach our goal and fund the training of the guide dogs, which are so essential.

To participate in the Virtual Dog Walk, visit your local Specsavers Ópticas store to make a donation to FOPG and collect your Virtual Dog Walk Certificate.

There are stores in Javea, Calpe, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Guardamar and La Zenia on the Costa Blanca.

Specsavers Ópticas want to see participants getting involved and share the love. They’re asking you to take a picture of your dog on their walk and tag @Specsavers Opticas on Facebook or @specsaversspain on Instagram and the best will be shared to show our support for guide dogs. To find your nearest store to make a donation visit www.specsavers.es.

To find out more about FOPG visit www.perrosguias.once.es.

About FOPG Fundación ONCE del Perro Guía (FOPG) is a welfare foundation created by ONCE in 1990

with the purpose of breeding and training guide dogs for people with severe blindness or visual impairment. It provides its services to people with visual disabilities throughout Spain, by virtue of the collaboration with ONCE itself, and offers the guide dog as a free social service for people affiliated with that organisation who request it and are eligible.

The FOPG is a permanent member of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), the European Guide Dog Federation (EGDF) and the European Breeding Network, a working group specialised in the breeding and genetic improvement of guide dogs in Europe and the USA. The foundation breeds its own dogs and takes responsibility for the entire process of training the guide dog and pairing it with the most suitable applicant. They also train the new owner how to make best use of this mobility aid and supports both the owner and the dog throughout its life as a guide dog.

The work of this foundation is essential to increase the autonomy of blind people or those with a serious visual disability. Changing from walking with a cane to doing it with a guide dog represents a huge improvement in their mobility, speed and security of their movements and allows them to integrate with society in a much more meaningful way.

Find out more about FOPG www.perrosguias.once.es.

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Bookings take a Surge

THE president of Spain’s govern‐ ment, Pedro Sanchez, an‐ nounced recently that May 9 is the date when the State of Alarm ends in the country. This has led to a rush in hotel reservations shooting up 122 per cent from one week to the next.

There is a breath of air for the tourism sector and it seems that the Canary Islands, Andalucia and the Balearic Islands are the desti‐ nations preferred by the Spanish when it comes to starting what is already known as ‘the great stam‐ pede.’ But, as Ricardo Fernández

(Destinia’s CEO) advises, “you have to be prudent.”

The majority of fresh bookings are for local regional stays as bor‐ ders still remain closed in most communities. However, it is ex‐ pected that by May, many of these restrictions will be lifted.

NEWS

Gap Between Vaccines

HOLIDAYS: May still happen for the summer period.

A Lack of Mask warning Accountability CRITICISM is being levelled at Spain’s Presi‐ dent Pedro Sanchez over a lack of account‐ ability over the State of Alarm after he last year extended the State of Alarm to six months from the normal 15 days set out.

The politician is also being slammed for only giving three hours of speeches over the State of Alarm in six months.

Pedro Sanchez has now said that the State of Alarm in Spain will end on May 9.

The decree establishes restrictions for the movement of people that the au‐ tonomous communities have been apply‐ ing.

Among these limitations have been the curfew to limit mobility at night and the perimeter closures of autonomous commu‐ nities, provinces or municipalities, as well as confinements of certain areas.

ON Wednesday April 14, the Professional Union of the Ertzaintza (SiPE) has requested the immediate withdrawal of the FFP2 masks because of the pul‐ monary risks due to graphene being found present.

An investigation has begun by the AEMPS into the risk present when inhaling these nanoparticles because of pulmonary toxicity and has found that the type IIR surgical masks with graphene are being marketed in Spain.

After Canada raised the alarm over the masks, au‐ tonomous communities of the Basque Country and Castilla y Leon ordered the precautionary removal of masks made with this material. Following this, Madrid City Council then requested the withdrawal of the masks after they had been administered to municipal staff.

The specific mask models are the FFP2 Healfiber mask manufactured by Shandong Shengquan and distributed by Iturri SA. Also the IIR surgical mask from the same manufacturer and distributed by Amevisa SAU.

IN a huge about‐turn, the Ministry of Health in Spain has suggested delaying the period between the first Covid vaccination and sec‐ ond from 21 days to 42, af‐ ter previously insisting they would follow the guidelines of the jab man‐ ufacturers to the letter.

Now, ministers have backtracked and feel that expanding the time be‐ tween doses would allow for more people to receive the first vaccine in a short‐ er period of time.

According to the press, the proposal was to be put to the appropriate repre‐ sentatives of the au‐ tonomous communities on Tuesday, April 20. The Ministry of Health has de‐ nied that the decision is al‐ ready a done‐deal, but the Ministry of Health is rec‐ ommending that the space between inoculations with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines be doubled, from three weeks to a month and a half.

NEWS

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Child Protection Law

SPAIN’S lower house of parliament took another step forward on Thursday, April 17 in approving the pioneering new legislation which aims to better protect children and adolescents in Spain, with 268 votes in favour, 57 against and 16 abstentions.

The Social Rights Commission of the Congress of Deputies approved a draft bill of the groundbreaking Rhodes Law on Wednesday, April 7, and it will next pass to the Senate for final approval. It is hoped that the new legislation will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) by June.

Lucai Munoz of the Unidas Podemos party said on Thursday that the approval of the law puts Spain at the forefront of the protection and promotion of the rights of children.

Driven by the Department of Social Rights, the new legislature will extend the statute of limitations on serious crimes against minors until they are 30 years of age, whereas it currently runs out when they turn 18.

Additionally, the law will prohibit the hiring of anyone who has been previously convicted of

PROTECTION: For the legal rights of children. abusing a minor to jobs dealing with children, such as schools and leisure centres.

A specific article is included to prevent parents gaining joint custody of a child in a family environment where gender violence has been observed, and a comprehensive care package will be provided for children who have been subject to violent crimes of a sexual or genderbased nature.

Specialist units within the authorities will be developed to deal with victims of abuse and

dedicated training will be provided to judges and prosecutors.

One of the major changes will be the removal of the use of the socalled Parental Alienation Syndrome (SAP), which has long been accused of allowing undue parental influence over abuse cases.

Guarantees will also be strengthened so that minors can participate in legal proceedings; a judge will therefore be prevented from rejecting the testimony of a minor ‘due to lack of maturity.’

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Booster Shot will be likely THOUSANDS of British and Spanish nationals have already received their vaccinations, some were administered with the A stra Zeneca vaccine and others with the P fizer/ B iontech drug.

P fizer I nc’s C E O is now

saying he believes people will most ‘likely’ need a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

During a panel discussion hosted by CNBC in conjunction with C V S Health that aired on Thursday April 15, Albert Bourla said a poten-

tial booster shot would be administered six to 12 months of being fully vaccinated. Bourla added that he thinks it is possible that people will need to be immunised against coronavirus annually.

R esearchers still don’t know how long protection against the virus lasts once someone has been fully vaccinated.

Vaccination Passports IN an enormous boost to summer tourism in Spain, the general secretary of Digi‐ tal Health, Information and Innovation Alfredo González, confirmed on Thursday, April 15 that travellers from Eu‐ rope to Spain that hold valid

Lower Fares SPANISH Rail Operator Renfe has announced it will lower the rates for the AVE and long‐distance trains throughout the summer. Renfe is to scrap its previous 148 rates and come down to just three, the new simpler rates and discounts ap‐ ply for seniors, families and young people.

The president of Renfe, Isaís Táboas, explained that this new system ‐ matching that of aviation ‐ will also solve the problem that many people now face who cannot apply the discounts to which they are entitled to in the lowest rates.

The new system establishes three ticket options: Basic (the cheapest), Choose (the most flexible) and Premium, (all‐inclu‐ sive), which can be customised with additional services.

Renfe already offers the possibility of buying one‐year tickets, which will be added to the new system ‐ managers hope to encourage advance purchases of these lucrative tickets as much as possible.

vaccination cards ‐ or Digital Green Certificates as they are to be officially known in the EU ‐ will not have to go the expense of getting a Covid test done or enter into a period of quarantine on ar‐ rival. Speaking at a National Health System meeting, the secretary said that the cer‐ tificate, which will take the form of a QR code, will be rolled out in Spain in June and will open up the country to “more people in a safer manner.”

“This certificate is not a passport, it’s not a travel doc‐ ument, and it’s not a require‐ ment for travel,” the general secretary clarified. “It’s a mechanism that will facilitate mobility in the European Union. It will respect data protection, safety and priva‐ cy. It is planned so that it will not be discriminatory, and that is one of the major ad‐ vantages,” he added.

NEWS

New Speed Limits IN a bid to cut down on the number of road traffic acci‐ dents in Spain, new laws will come into force throughout the country on May 11, dras‐ tically reducing the speed limit on city streets.

On November 10, 2020, the Council of Ministers ap‐ proved a package of legal re‐ forms with the aim of reduc‐ ing the number of road deaths and serious injuries by 50 per cent.

The modification of the Traffic Regulations means that from May 11, the speed limit on one‐way streets in urban areas will be reduced to 30km/hour, while larger vehicles carry‐ ing dangerous goods will circulate at a maximum of 40 km/hour on city roads of two or more lanes.

On all other crossings, the maximum speed limit will be 50km/hour, while munic‐ ipal councils may be able to increase the speed on one‐ way streets in exceptional circumstances.

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Ghost Estate WHO’s stance Nightmare

THE southern Costa Blanca is known for its white sandy beaches, picturesque vistas and often opulent homes, but the residents of Calle Vince Van Gogh in Murcia would describe their beloved neighbourhood as anything but an oil painting.

Some 32 homes along this stunning stretch in San Pedro del Pinatar have simply been abandoned with no sign of work recommencing.

One resident who contacted Euro Weekly News highlighted the fact that it’s not only the unpleasant view that is a concern, but rather that many locals are frightened to walk their streets as the properties have now become a gathering place for various undesirables drinking late into the night and shouting abuse at concerned locals who try to challenge them.

Over time, many of the houses have been systematically stripped of their windows, doors, shutters and even security bars, while the

walls, pavements are gardens surrounding them are not just an eyesore but downright dangerous.

The concerned resident told this paper that she has contacted the police, the keyholder for the properties and even the mayor, but all of her grievances have fallen on deaf ears.

To add insult to injury, major work is currently being carried out on the approach road to Montesol Villas with plans in place to construct new villas, while the existing properties are falling down around residents’ ears.

“These eyesores are a blight on the landscape and I have been threatened on more than one occasion trying to move people on, especially during lockdown,” the frustrated resident told EWN. “The only good thing is the night lights are now coming in and I will not be in fear going to the bin at night. My husband is immobile and is unable to do this task,” she added.

THE World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee announced on Monday, April 19 - maintaining its stance on an issue that is under growing debate among governments and the travel sector experts worldwide - that the outcome of their meeting on Thursday April 15 was a recommendation that proof of vaccination should not be required by the government of any country as a condition of international travel.

The independent experts,

said in a statement, that the facts and data discussed in their meeting last week cited limited evidence on whether vaccination against Covid-19 reduces people’s ability to transmit the virus and ‘the persistent inequity in global vaccine distribution.’

With this in mind, the emergency panel of the WHO has recommended that states should recognise that requiring proof of vaccination deepens inequities and promotes unequal

THE WHO: Welcome news for people wanting to travel. freedom of movement, which can only come as welcome news to people who want to travel this summer, and who are still waiting patiently to know exactly what the rules will be.

Tolls for future income

IN its latest bid to appease the European Union and assure Brussels that Spain is on top of its financial plan to cover the bailout, the government of Pedro Sanchez has amended its recovery plan to include the introduction of tolls on so-called ‘high-capacity’ roads in order to contribute toward the €140 billion expected from the EU. The plan, due to be submitted on April 30, has committed to generating an income that will guarantee the funds necessary to preserve the road network.

“The financing of high-capacity roads will be reviewed and an income system will be estab-

lished that guarantees the necessary funds for the conservation of the state road network,” the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan states.

Spain currently has one of the lowest investment rates in its roads in all of Europe, only spending around €22,489 per kilometre, according to the latest available data from the Association of Infrastructure Conservation and Exploitation Companies (Acex).

In fact, this country spends around half the amount on infrastructure as other European giants such as France, Italy and Germany.

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NEWS

Smoking Ban Divide Wine price influences IN what many are considering yet another blow to Spain’s hospitality industry and future tourism prospects, in a surprise move on Thursday April 15, the Ministry of Health confirmed that they had draft-

ed a proposal prohibiting smoking on all outdoor terraces, regardless of whether or not a two-metre safety distance can be maintained.

The proposal has divided opinion, which is hardly

surprising since the regional governments of the autonomous communities can’t seem to agree on whether it’s a good idea either.

T here are currently six communities in Spain which have imposed a total ban on smoking and the use of electronic cigarettes on outdoor terraces of bars, restaurants and cafes: V alencia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Asturias and Aragon.

As soon as the proposed measure was announced, the Gremi de Restauracio union in B arcelona completely rejected the ban, insisting that it “is not endorsed by any type of scientific support.”

M inistry of H ealth sources confirmed that while a draft study has been compiled, it has not yet been submitted and wasn’t on the table for discussion at the meeting of the Public Health Commission on Thursday, April 15.

THE price of wine can vary as‐ tonishingly, from amazingly cheap to staggeringly expen‐ sive, but a study has found that the price of wine can influence how much you enjoy it. Brits in Spain have explained how the price of wine affects them, and spoken about the quality of lo‐ cal Spanish wines.

Spain is home to a stunning variety of wines and the impor‐ tant things to know are the dif‐ ferent grape varieties and the geographical location which the wine comes from.

Spanish wines come from a stunning 69 major wine re‐ gions, each of which has their own quality standards and wine laws. According to wine‐ tourismspain, “Spain has 69 major wine regions, the more correct term being “Designa‐ tion of Origin” (DO).

A study carried out by the University of Basel in Switzer‐ land tested out a series of wines using their real price, no price and a fake price. It now seems that how expensive you think a wine is affects how much you enjoy it.

SPANISH WINE: There is a stunning variety available.

European Coffee MANY expats and Spanish alike cannot think about starting the day off without a good cup of coffee, but something which is not known to many is that Spain produces the only coffee in Europe. In order to find this coffee though you would have to go on a hunt.

The coffee from the Agaete valley is said to be not only a gourmet coffee but one of the best in the world. The town can be found in the north‐east of the island of Gran Canaria. The Spanish island is a stun‐ ning tourist attraction mainly known for its beaches, and many cruise ships stop off in Gran Canaria’s Las Palmas.

Many people cannot start the day without a cup of coffee, but what makes a perfect coffee for you and where do you find it? Coffee is only normally grown in countries which have a subtropical or tropi‐ cal climate and the beverage is one of the most consumed in the world.

The Canary Islands have been home to coffee plantations since the 18th century, but this is not a very well‐known fact. The area not only produces coffee but also grows avocados, mangoes and oranges in the volcanic soil.

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General Election AS the pre‐election campaigns begin to heat up ahead of the May 4 elections in Madrid, rela‐ tions between the PSOE and Podemos are becoming increas‐ ingly strained, so much so that many autonomous communi‐ ties are gearing up for an an‐ nouncement that the general elections will be moved forward.

The Spanish general elections, during which all 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies will be up for grabs, as well as 208 of 265 seats in the Senate, can be held no later than December 2023.

But recently, Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo hinted that they could take place as early as October this year, with members of the PSOE suggest‐ ing they will definitely happen “before the spring of 2022.”

One of the main concerns of all political parties in Spain at the moment is the economic and tax future of the country, which cur‐ rently faces a deficit of €80 billion in 2021 alone. The socialist ranks in particular are nervous that no matter how much of a positive spin the government puts on economic recovery, the EU may step in if they detect further fi‐ nancial difficulties.

Pregnant women

THE Joint Committee on Vac‐ cination and Immunisation (JCVI) in the UK has now ad‐ vised that pregnant women can be offered the Covid‐19 vaccine.

This change to the guid‐ ance comes after data from

the United States shows that 90,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines (such as the Pfizer vaccine being used in Gibraltar) without any spe‐ cific safety concerns being raised.

Inmate Foiled

A 31-YEAR-OLD Spanish man, currently serving time in a Murcian prison after being arrested in the Spanish au‐ tonomous community of Cueta, has been arrested while still incarcerated by anti‐terrorist officers accused of re‐ cruiting jihadists within the penitentiary.

The inmate was originally jailed for being an ‘informant,’ a well‐known term used by Daesh globally to recruit fellow jihadist followers, and has been serving his sentence in the Murcia II prison, Campos del Rio, where he was once again arrested on Thursday, April 15.

The investigation into this individual began back in 2019, when prison officers trained in the field of the prevention, detection and control of radical groups within peniten‐ tiaries learned that he was still trying to recruit people to his cause while locked up.

The surveillance on him was thus redoubled, and offi‐ cers discovered that he was still deeply entrenched in the jihadist organisation and had outside knowledge on how they were operating.

Dr Krishna Rawal, Medi‐ cal Director of the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA), said: “The Covid‐19 vaccine we are using in Gibraltar has undergone extensive clinical trials and has been approved as safe for use by the UK’s Medical and Healthcare Products Regu‐ latory Agency (MHRA), as well as European Health‐ care Regulators.

“Recent data shows that although uncommon, severe illness due to Covid‐19 is more likely in later pregnan‐ cy and that pregnant women who do get symptomatic Covid‐19 infection are two to three times more likely to give birth to their baby pre‐ maturely.”

Whilst this information was released and targeted at pregnant women in Gibral‐ tar, the opinion coming via the UK Health Authority fol‐ lowing trials in the USA ap‐ pears to be appropriate for all, although local advice should also be sought.

NEWS

UK Covid Checkpoints

EXPATS face ‘up to six hour’ waits at UK Covid checkpoints due to people not having the correct documentation to return home.

Footage that has emerged showing a woman collapsed at Heathrow after reportedly waiting seven hours in a queue for a Covid test has led to widespread concern in the expat community wanting to return to the UK. After Heathrow chief solutions officer Chris Garton confirmed that the Home Office has not increased the number of border control staff, excessive waiting times in crowded airports are now added to concerns of pricy coronavirus test kits and complicated paperwork.

One worried Facebook user posted on a local information site on behalf on an elderly friend soon to travel back to the UK who is concerned about ‘scare stories’ she has heard about waiting times. Many helpful expats replied to confirm that while leaving Spain had been a breeze in most cases, it was a different story once they landed in the UK. One Euro Weekly News reader told the paper that he was not allowed to board a flight at Alicante airport at the end of March as he had neglected to complete the traveller locater form, and had to book another flight a few days later. Yet another traveller posted in a popular Facebook group for expats and explained that, while her experience was positive, she witnessed people being refused entry at the UK border for not having a reference number for their booked Covid tests on their forms.

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NEWS

Spanglish Life?

Masks after

the vaccine

THE vaccination campaign is progressing around Europe and the UK, but when will we really be able to return to ‘reality’?

It is a complex question and it seems there is no short‐term an‐ swer, however, we do know that we will not be able to return to normal without continuing some of the protective measures we have adopted over the past year ‐ such as the use of masks, wash‐ ing hands regularly and safe social distancing.

According to health authorities, it is important that we contin‐ ue these protective measures since most people who have been vaccinated will be protected from the virus but can still transmit it, even without presenting any symptoms.

It is important to note that until we have reached group immu‐ nity, we will need to continue these safety measures.

It appears we could all be wearing the mask for some time to come.

SPANISH is the mother tongue of nearly 500 million people, and is the world’s second‐most spoken native language, only behind Chi‐ nese. As of January 2021, around 360,000 British citi‐ zens were registered as per‐ manent residents in Spain, according to Inews, but how many of us expats actually speak the lingo?

Well, according to a study conducted by the Foreign Of‐ fice, some 58 per cent of the Britons living in Spain inter‐ viewed claimed to regularly use Spanish in their day to day lives, while a further 36 per cent said they were mak‐

New legal status

ON Tuesday April 20, the plenary of the Congress of Deputies were to consider a proposal of the law of the PSOE to modify the Civil Code, the Mortgage Law and the Civil Procedure Law to provide animals with a legal status to be considered as ‘living beings endowed with sensitivity’ and not goods or things.

The initiative was approved unanimously in 2017 by the Plenary of Congress, however, it was declined due to it not completing its full parliamentary process when the Cortes Generales was dissolved in March 2019.

Currently, the Civil Code endows animals with the legal status of things, specifically

Sensitive living beings. under the condition of ‘moveable property.’

The new proposed law introduces an article in the Civil Code that will consider animals ‘are living beings with endowed sensitivity’ and that owners must have a duty of care over them, as well as ‘ensuring their well-being, according to the characteristics of each species.’

ing efforts to learn.

On expat forums, the vari‐ ous Costas are often re‐ ferred to jokingly as ‘Little Britains’, because of the high volume of non‐Spanish resi‐ dents, as well as bars, restaurants, cafes and shops that, if not staffed with na‐ tive English speakers, cer‐ tainly employ people who can speak our language flu‐ ently. So, for a person living in these areas, is it really necessary to speak the lan‐ guage? According to the vast majority of expats, the an‐ swer is a resounding yes.

Spain To Relaunch Cruise Industry AFTER months of uncer‐ tainty, the Spanish Gov‐ ernment has announced that a pilot project will be conducted at the port of Barcelona, in conjunction with Costa Cruises and MSC to evaluate the rein‐ troduction of cruises in the country this summer.

The president of the port confirmed that the first cruise passengers will arrive in Barcelona in June, although they will not be permitted to visit restaurants, bars or shops.

The first liners will dis‐ embark at only 10 per cent capacity ‐ that’s a maximum of 600 people per cruise on ships that can carry 5,500 passen‐ gers, and Costa will carry out Covid tests on all trav‐ ellers; they’ll also be of‐ fered a PCR test before re‐ turning home after the trip.

“We will organise shows with small groups, we will eliminate the free buffet and we will reduce capacity. We have also equipped the ventilation systems with new filters,” Costa Cruises told Spanish outlet Nius Diario.

In addition, the MSC group will require its pas‐ sengers to wear an elec‐ tronic bracelet that allows them to open doors with‐ out touching them, and can also track any possible infections.

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EWN 19

Estate planning for UK nationals in Spain British expatriates living in Spain need to be aware of, and plan for, a number of inheritance issues.

Spanish succession and gift tax

Your last will and testament If you live in Spain, it is advisable to make a Spanish will to deal with your Spanish based assets. It will save your heirs time, trouble and money.

A UK will may be effective in Spain, but a major disadvantage is that it will have to go through the UK probate process. This can create long delays and high costs, and it has to be notarised and translated before being accepted in Spain.

If you have assets in the UK you can have two wills, one for each country.

By Fiona Keogh, Private Client Manager, Blevins Franks

two thirds of an estate’s assets, so under Spanish law you cannot leave everything to your spouse.

This Spanish succession law will apply to foreign nationals living in Spain by default.

Spanish succession law In the UK you are generally free to distribute your estate as you wish, but Spanish succession law imposes ‘forced heirship’ rules. In general terms, children are entitled to receive

You can however use a European Succession Regulation, ‘Brussels IV’, to opt for the succession law of your country of nationality to apply on your death instead. You must specifically state this in your will.

Inheritance tax in Spain works very differently to UK inheritance tax. Tax is paid by each recipient, not the estate, and tax rate varies depending on the relationship between the person passing the money and the person receiving the money.

There is no blanket spouse to spouse exemption.

The state tax rates range from 7.65% to 34%. Multipliers based on the familial relationship and beneficiary’s net worth can take tax rates much higher.

Reductions and allowances are low. Spouses, descendants and ascendants generally only receive a reduction of €15,957; it is generally lower (or nil) for everyone else. There is a 95% reduction against an inherited main home, but only for spouses or descendants who keep the property for at least 10 years, capped at €122,606 per inheritor.

However, the autonomous communities can adjust the tax rates, allowances and reductions to make them more beneficial for habitual residents, so you need to establish the rules for your region (eg, Murcia, Comunidad Valenciana or Almeria).

Spanish succession and gift tax is due if the asset being inherited or gifted is located in Spain or if the recipient is resident in Spain.

you want to control how they receive their inheritance? What can you do to make the inheritance process as easy and costeffective as possible for them?

Then seek specialist crossborder advice on how you can achieve your wishes for your heirs, while keeping inheritance taxes as low as possible. Estate planning for Spain and the UK can get complex, but with careful planning you can get peace of mind that you have the most suitable approach in place, for yourself and your family.

UK inheritance tax Many British expatriates remain liable to UK inheritance tax since it is based on domicile rather than residence. Your estate could be liable to both UK and Spanish inheritance taxes, but credit is given in Spain for tax paid in the UK.

Tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change.

Tax information has been summarised; an individual is advised to seek personalised advice.

Succession planning Start by establishing your goals. Who would you like to benefit from your estate? Do

You can find other financial advisory articles by visiting our website here www.blevinsfranks.com

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Compulsory Sterilisation Of Pets IN a highly controversial move, the Junta de Andalucía has drawn up a preliminary draft of its new animal welfare law which would require pet owners to sterilise all companion animals. The legislation has been welcomed by animal welfare societies and shelters,

who want to see the “establishment of guarantees for the sterilisation of animals and their purchase, breeding and responsible sale to avoid overpopulation, abandonment and, ultimately, their sacrifice.”

This same animal protec-

tion law actually came into force in La Rioja in 2018. In 2020, the Constitutional Court made some amendments but left in the section covering the mandatory sterilisation of private pets, something which the government maintains is still “constitutionally legitimate,” and therefore will mostly be adopted by other autonomous communities before too long.

The new draft proposal states that “companion animals that are the object of sale, transfer or donation must be previously sterilised before reaching one year of age and, preferably, before their first heat.”

The legislation proposes stricter registering methods for breeders and explicitly prohibits the “reproduction, breeding and sale of companion animals by private persons outside the breeding and sale centres that meet the legal requirements, as well as their transfer or donation without being previously identified and registered in the name of the transmitting person.”

NEWS

Spain Extends Quarantine W I T H the ending of the State of Alarm next month and renewed hopes that Spain might be ready to welcome back tourists in the near future, the government is taking no chances with countries it believes to be high-risk, particularly from

the more contagious Covid variant.

To this end, Spain has decided to extend its quarantine requirements for travellers returning from 12 countries for the third time.

The order, which was published in the Official State

Barcelona Virtual Concert

IN a first for the musical world in Spain, Barcelona has held a concert that featured live, in‐house perfor‐ mances as well as musicians from around the globe taking part virtually, through the use of an artificial in‐ telligence tool called Cantāmos.

The groundbreaking event was held in Barcelona’s Santa Maria del Pi church and organised by vocal group Cantoría, the European project TROMPA, Pompeu Fab‐ ra University and the Catalan College of Music.

Catalan College of Music students performed live at the venue, while musicians from around the globe per‐ formed two songs in unison through the Cantāmos on‐ line learning tool, which allows people to practise and record the song, which is then put together by the arti‐ ficial intelligence system so that all those taking part are heard as one seamless choir.

Gazette (BOE) by the Ministry of Health, will be in force until May 3, and imposes a mandatory 10-day quarantine on people coming to Spain from Brazil, Peru and Columbia, as well as from nine countries in Africa.

Far from being a bad sign, the Ministry insists the measures are necessary to reduce the spread of infections and overcome this latest wave of coronavirus so that international travel can open up again as soon as possible.

Travellers from the affected countries will be required to self-isolate for 10 days following their arrival, or for the duration of their time in Spain if the trip is shorter than the quarantine period, and can only leave home for essential reasons, such as to buy food or seek medical attention. According to the B O E, quarantine in these cases “can only be suspended on the seventh day if the person undergoes a diagnostic test for active infection with a negative result.”

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Naked Gardening

GREEN‐FINGERED expats are gearing up to bare all for World Naked Gardening Day. This unofficial holiday is celebrated around the globe on the first Saturday in May every year, and for the 2021 edition brave expats are al‐ ready gearing up to prune in the buff on this fun occasion aimed at promoting body confidence in a very tongue in cheek way. The main con‐ cern this year isn’t baring all in the backyard, but it’s actu‐ ally the weather. Members of a popular gardening group took to Facebook wondering if May 1 will be too nippy to garden in the nip.

According to Wikipedia, World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) was introduced in 2005 as a nudist movement to discourage body shaming and encourage acceptance of all forms of the human body, and the movement shows no sign of slowing down among the green‐fin‐ gered expat community here in Spain.

NEWS

Green List ready ITV car sticker colours

ROBERT BOYLE, a former British Airways strategy chief, was com‐ missioned to conduct research in‐ to the potential travel move‐ ments after the non‐essential travel ban is lifted in the UK after May 17, by studying data that is currently available. Mr Boyle’s re‐ port predicted that only eight countries would actually be in the government’s ‘green list’, and free for British travellers to visit.

Under the government’s pro‐ posed ‘traffic light’ system, green‐ listed countries will be free to visit, while returning from an amber country will require 10 days of self‐isolation, and Mr Boyle pre‐ dicted that most of Europe would only be in the amber list, including

Spain, Greece, and Italy, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Of course, this is only his analy‐ sis report, and by May 17, many countries’ situations can change, with the good news today that Spain currently has the fastest‐ growing vaccination rate in main‐ land Europe, which can hopefully go from strength to strength, and land Spain in the green list.

His list of predicted ‘green list’ countries are Gibraltar, the USA, Israel, Malta, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, and even tipped Turkey, France, and Croatia to end up in the ‘red list’, but he said he thought the government might not red list them due to po‐ litical and economic reasons.

Still No Tax Hikes

THE Minister of Equality in Spain, Nadia Calvino has ruled out any fur‐ ther tax increases in the near future, despite claims from the govern‐ ment that they intended to raise wealth and corporate taxes as a means of stimulating national income without negatively affecting those who had been hardest hit by the pandemic.

Instead, the Minister said on Thursday, April 15, her main focus is to boost economic growth and create jobs, insisting “it is not the time to raise taxes.” Ms Calvino added that taxes have not been raised this year as the government is looking at ways to improve the current system.

ON Saturday April 17, the N332 posted information on ITV car stickers and colours, saying on their Facebook page: “Remem‐ ber that once you get the new ITV sticker, you must remove the old one before placing the new one in its place.

“The ITV sticker is classified as sign ‘V‐19’ in the Spanish Traffic Law. It is compulsory to show it on the right‐hand side of your windscreen. Please, dis‐ play only the last one.”

The website goes on to ex‐ plain the stickers are colour

Must be displayed correctly. coded “on a three‐colour cycle of green, yellow and red.”

As long as you are displaying only one sticker on your vehicle in the required place, which is

Vaccination Race

AFTER a painfully slow start, Spain has upped the ante in recent weeks in its vaccination rollout plan, to the ex‐ tent that it is now above the European Union average.

According to the latest information released by Our World In Data (OWID) which has gathered figures from most of the countries around the globe, Spain has pushed ahead of France, Germany, Italy and Portugal in terms of the number of people vaccinated.

The most recent data available from OWID relates to April 14 and 15 and shows that Spain is now in the ‘top 10,’ while the UK continues to streak ahead and is now among the countries in the world that have vaccinated the most people with the first dose.

in the upper right corner of your windscreen as you are looking out, it is then clear to traffic and police officers who are carrying out roadside checks that you have the cor‐ rect sticker displayed.

Known as the V‐19, your sticker indicates to officers that your vehicle has passed its peri‐ odic technical inspection and displays when the next inspec‐ tion is due.

This sticker is self‐adhesive and should be stuck to your windscreen, however, in vehi‐ cles that do not have a wind‐ screen it must be in a clearly visible place.

As well as the sticker, it is al‐ so mandatory to have the ITV report in your vehicle.

NEWS

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Covid-19 Predictions

Symptoms vary widely.

IN a bid to beat the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020 the ‘More unstoppable than ever’ campaign was launched by Spain’s José Carreras Foundation.

In a study that has been carried out by the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in collaboration with the Bellvitge Biomedical Re-

Economic transformation ACCORDING to Spain’s President Pedro Sánchez, €140 billion in EU funds could lead to the greatest economic transformation that Spain has seen since the 1980s.

Full details of the recovery plan have not been released but on Tuesday April 13 Sanchez hinted of how the money could be spent in the forthcoming years. In what will be the biggest public investment in recent history Sanchez aims to modernise Spain’s economy with an intensity that has not been witnessed since the late 80s, when Spain joined the European Union.

It is expected that around €72 billion could be handed out in the form of grants, and the remaining amount in loans. Back in the 1980s European cohesion funds to the tune of €8 billion were received by Spain.

The current plan is still to be finalised and member states have been given until April 30 by Brussels before plans need to be submitted. It is expected though that 29 per cent of the fund will be used for digital transformation, while 39 per cent will be used for ecological transition.

search Institute researchers have discovered that a person’s genes could be used to predict the severity of Covid 19 in an individual.

There is a dramatic variation in how Covid 19 affects people, from them being asymptomatic and showing no clinical symptoms, all the way up to those who require I C U support. The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has claimed over one million lives across Europe already.

Researchers now believe they have discovered a potential indicator of why these symptoms vary so dramatically between people.

The researchers carried out a study on around 400 people who were not considered to be in any of the normal “at risk groups” for the virus, and who had tested positive.

The expert explained that, “We found that there were epigenetic variations, in the chemical switches that regulate D N A activity, in those positive for the virus who developed severe Covid-19.”

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NEWS

AIRPORT Covid Check SUMMER holiday fears for British travellers have another problem on the horizon as while giving evidence on Wednesday April 14 to the Commons Transport Select Committee, Chris Garton, the Chief solutions officer at Heathrow, told MPs passengers are being forced to queue for up to six hours due to coron‐

QUEUES: Build up at the border.

Jellyfish Invasion CONCERNED beach‐goers have been posting photos of a staggering number of jellyfish washed up on Costa Blanca shores in recent days, but the experts agree that, for the most part, they are not to be feared. While the current critters closely resemble the deadly Portuguese man o’ war, they are in fact completely harmless.

According to the press, strong easterly winds over the past couple of weeks have led to a raft of the sea crea‐ tures being dragged to the Spanish coast from east to west, resulting in higher than usual numbers not just in Alicante, but on the beaches of Mallorca and the Costa del Sol also.

The jellyfish, known as By‐the‐wind‐sailors, have sails on their backs that allow them to catch the wind and travel on ocean currents, but they are at the mercy of the wind with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, fre‐ quently washed up on Mediterranean beaches after stormy weather.

avirus checks at the border.

Explaining the situation to the committee of MPs, Mr Garton told how the shortage of staff for processing passengers at the border had always been a prob‐ lem, but that now, the pandem‐ ic “has just made that so much worse than it was before.”

He continued, “We want to see that bottleneck removed as quickly as possible. It’s a prob‐ lem today, it will become a much bigger problem after May 17, when foreign leisure travel from England could resume,” saying that he believes the solu‐ tion could be that every passen‐ ger’s entry to the UK is “as‐ sured” before they begin their journey.

Passenger locator forms should be checked for errors and corrected in advance, and the documents should be checked by eGates automatical‐ ly, he told the MPs, which would allow arriving travellers to “flow as you would normally through the eGates, rather than having to line up and present your paperwork to a rather overstretched border official.”

NEWS

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

Roaming confusion

FOLLOWING the UK leaving the European Union, there have been many questions and queries, one being how data roaming will work with UK phone companies. Many are still confused about using their UK phone contracts in Spain and the charges it may incur.

One confused Facebook user asked: “Has anyone recently found their U K contract phone provider has updated their fair usage policy

ROAMING: Many are confused about using UK phone contracts in Spain. following Brexit? I’ve been hit with a £40 data charge on top of monthly paid contract because I have been in Spain for longer than 63 days. It seems this was changed at

Trips For Elderly REYES MAROTO, the Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism for Spain, has reaffirmed that her department is already working to accelerate the reactivation of the Imserso programme, which allows the elderly to go on trips planned by the government, and is confident that it can be resumed in October.

She said, “The elderly population has not only been the population most at risk, but at the moment it is the one that perhaps needs more affection and more encouragement when it comes to travelling. They are the first to be vaccinated and therefore the conditions are in place, so that our elders begin to travel.”

The government has reportedly allocated a budget of €118 million for the Imserso programme in 2021, and they are now busy working on a calendar of dates, although the contract has to be reapproved, as the last one was terminated due to the pandemic.

the start of January.

“Is it worth using this to escape from the contract early, as going through any policy updates this was never mentioned?”

Although having a Spanish SIM can be much easier when joining a new bank in Spain or applying for internet in your property, some users prefer to keep their old SIM contract and telephone number.

Vodafone claimed in January that they had no plans to change roaming fees, and 02 said: “We’re committed to providing our customers with great connectivity and value when they travel outside the U K. We currently have no plans to change our roaming services across Europe,” according to the BBC website.

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Exit hits food exports SPANISH imports from Britain have been hit in the first two months since their exit from the European Union as new EU rules disrupt trade across the channel.

In the first two months of this year, Spain’s imports from the UK have dropped by 49 per cent when compared with the same period last year. In contrast to this, trade data shows imports between EU countries and Spain only dropped by 7 per cent, according to the Spanish industry minister.

A breakdown of the type of goods by country was not provided by the ministry, however, they pointed out that sectors with the largest weight in exports were capital goods, food, beverages and tobacco, with each accounting for around 20 per cent of the total.

EUROPEAN PRESS

Human And Monkey hybrid UK imports to Spain down.

SOUNDING like something from a science-fiction story, Spanish scientist, Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, the director of the Gene Expression Laboratory of the Salk Institute of California, in La Jolla, and his team of scientists from various countries, has just successfully carried out in laboratories in China, the cultivation of 132 ‘chimera embryos’ with a mixture of monkey and human cells.

Within six days of development, each of the monkey embryos in the blastocyst phase was injected with 25 human cells, specifically, reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells - capable of copying all types of cells in the body - with a fluorescent protein.

One day later human cells were detected in 132 embryos, as the cells had survived and integrated into the embryo, and 10 days later, 103 of them were still developing, although, survival soon began to decline, and 19 days later only three chimeras were still alive.

Izpisúa stressed, “Our goal is not to generate any new organism, any monster. And we are not doing anything like that. We are trying to understand how cells from different organisms communicate with one another.”

Adding, “This knowledge will allow us to go back now and try to re-engineer these pathways that are successful for allowing appropriate development of human cells in these other animals.

We are very, very excited.”

Professor Julian Savulescu, a director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and co-director of the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, University of Oxford, told Irish News that the research “opens Pandora’s box to human-nonhuman chimeras.”

EUROPEAN PRESS

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EUROPEAN NIBS DENMARK

FRANCE

Vaccine ditched

Notre Dame

DESPITE the fact that the World Health Organisation has declared that the risk of death from use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to blood clots was minute, the Danish Government has decided to stop using that vaccine completely but will continue with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

WHEN Notre Dame Cathedral was devastated by fire two years ago, French President Macron promised that it would be open for worship again by 2024, but despite a spend so far of €165 million to reinforce the structure, no actual restoration has even been started.

NETHERLANDS Rain Forests

NORWAY First murder

ACCORDING to a new report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature the use of soy in feed for the Dutch livestock industry means that the Netherlands is the largest European contributor to destruction of tropical forest cleared for soy production.

WHILST many countries report murders on an almost daily basis, Norwegian Police have just confirmed that Norway’s first murder of the year took place on April 13 and already a 30-year-old man has been arrested for shooting another man in a quiet Oslo suburb.

BELGIUM

FINLAND

Brazen beaver

Gender law

AS she wandered into her garden, a woman in a suburb of Leuven was amazed to see a beaver happily using her swimming pool. It took three volunteers from the local animal protection service to catch the beaver and return it to the wild.

A NEW report in Helsingin Sanomat reveals that the Ministry of Social Affairs is considering giving the right to employees to be able to access information regarding salaries paid to their co-workers if they suspect that they are being discriminated against due to gender.

GERMANY

SWEDEN

Lufthansa plan

Hot line

ANXIOUS to ensure that all of its 63,000 staff in Germany are inoculated against Covid-19, Lufthansa has announced that it plans to set up vaccination centres in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich to arrange staff vaccinations but now awaits allocation of vaccine.

THE Swedish Navy is setting up a hot line for residents who live near its 48,000-kilometre coastline to call in if they spot any unusual activity at sea. In 1981, coastguards were contacted by a boat owner and found a Russian submarine which had run aground.

22 - 28 April 2021

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FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Matchbox cars NOW owned by Mattel, Matchbox cars are still being produced but are moving into environmentally friendly territory with the launch of a new all electric vehicle collection which starts with a Tesla model alongside an electric charging station and they will contain some recycled material.

Taking off AFTER founding Clickair which became part of Vueling, Bilbaoborn Alex Cruz was recruited by IAG eight years ago and most recently was the non-executive president of British Airways.

The 55-year-old has now parted company with IAG and it is rumoured is looking to become SAS CEO.

Kerb to kitchen FOOD delivery company Ocado has announced it will support driverless vehicle software startup Oxbotica by investing £10 million (€11 million) to help create self-driving vehicles as well as what are referred to as ‘kerbto-kitchen’ robots which if successful will help to greatly reduce the cost of delivery.

Greater liquidity SANITAS, the Spanish subsidiary of BUPA has decided that with an end of year surplus of €259 million, it will transfer €218 million to reserves in order to ensure that it has additional liquidity to cope with any significant call upon insurance funds due to Covid19.

One Stop Shop THE Gibraltar Ministry for Business has announced that the Business Liaison Team’s One Stop shop has reopened for faceto-face meetings from April 19.

It exists to provide support and guidance to individuals on the business start-up process for those wishing to set up on the Rock. With internal Covid-19 restrictions relaxed, these meetings will allow new start-ups to collect all paperwork from one source rather than have to visit different government departments. Those interested in booking an appointment may call + 350 200 59801.

28

STAT OF WEEK

www.euroweeklynews.com • 22 - 28 April 2021

€315 million

was the 2020 turnover of Spanish/Portuguese law firm Cuatracasas which was just 0.3 per cent down on 2019 figures.

Línea Directa goes public THE National Securities Market Commission (CN‐ MV) has approved the list‐ ing of shares in Línea Direc‐ ta Aseguradora on the Spanish Stock Markets on April 29.

Currently owned by Bankinter, which will retain a minority shareholding in the company, Línea Directa is the fifth largest insurer in Spain and currently has more than 3.2 million clients and an annual

turnover of close to €900 million in premiums.

Originally set up as a mo‐ tor insurer, it now has the largest market share in the country, but after adding home and health insurance to its offerings, it also en‐ joys a growing share of those markets.

Arguably, Línea Directa is the company that leads the digital transformation of the insurance sector with its commitment to ad‐

LEGALLY SPEAKING

vanced technology and says that more than 60 per cent of its new policyholders ar‐ rived via digital channels and that around 80 per cent of clients use the inter‐ net to review policies.

Initially to be launched at €1.3175 per share, the company is valued at €1.434 billion, but it is an‐ ticipated prices may fluctu‐ ate quickly as Bankinter is giving shares to current bank shareholders by way

of bonus dividend and it may well be that they will wish to sell some or all of their holding.

“Listing Línea Directa is a natural step given the ma‐ turity and profitability achieved by the company.

This milestone is a source of pride for us and we are very excited to soon become the third largest Spanish insurer listed on the Stock Ex‐ change,” commented CEO Miguel Angel Merino.

The cost of dying in Spain

Is it IBI or Community?

I pay Community fees for two plots in my Community.

Both have the same square metres but one has my house on it. The other is vacant. I pay €204.75 each plot for the first semester plus €204.75 for the second semester each year. Total is €409.50.

Last year I had €258.37 deducted from my bank for each plot, totalling €517.74. That’s an in‐ crease of €107.26.

I have questioned the difference, but the Presi‐ dent replied that it’s an administration query and she passed my e‐mail to the administrator who never replies.

A J (Costa Blanca) Has your communi‐ ty voted at the YOU AND THE LAW AGM to raise the IN SPAIN fees? I suspect that the sums taken from your bank are not community fees at all, but municipal property tax charges. This is the IBI, the Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles. This is equivalent to the ‘rates’ in English. This tax is charged on the sur‐ face area of the land, no matter what is standing on the land. It seems that yours have been raised. Check with your bank. If your president and administrator would not inform you of this, they are not serving you well.

DAVID SEARL

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

MARKS & SPENCER has launched an intellectual property claim in the UK against supermarket giant Aldi, citing alleged similari‐ ties between its Colin the Caterpillar cake with Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar.

M&S, which lodged the claim with the High Court, is arguing that the similarity of

Arrangements have to be different.

WHEN a loved one dies in Spain, there are costs and procedures which need to be covered, which is why having a pre‐paid funeral plan elimi‐ nates the stress and worry at such a difficult time.

Prices will depend a lot on the location, but incineration costs a lot less than burial.

If you want your remains returned to your country of origin, this will mean an extra cost, whereas if you are buried in Spain, the norm is to ‘rent’ a niche for 10 years at a price of between €150 and €600 per year. At the

end of this time, there is also a fee to remove the remains.

Other costs generally tak‐ en into account in Spain in‐ clude: the coffin, which varies a lot in price depend‐ ing on the style; the funeral parlour, which depends on the number of hours the re‐ mains stay there; transfer to the cemetery; headstone, which depends on the de‐ sign; flowers, guest book and memorial favours; obituar‐ ies, and finally the adminis‐ trative procedures such as registering the death, getting a death certificate, etc

www.goldenleavesinternational.com enquiries@goldenleaves.com Facebook: goldenleavesspain

Caterpillar Wars!

Aldi’s product leads con‐ sumers to believe they are of the same standard and “ride on the coat‐tails” of M&S’s reputation with the product.

An M&S spokesperson

said: “Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves,

so we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, inno‐ vation and value.”

It is understood that M&S has three different trade‐

Trade agreement close TWO important European Parliament committees have overwhelmingly approved the UK’s post‐Brexit trade deal with the EU according to the BBC. Although there are still some concerns about the sit‐ uation in Northern Ireland, it is recognised that the De‐ cember provisional Co‐oper‐ ation Agreement is far bet‐ ter for both sides than the implementation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

The final ratification of the deal (which will still make it more onerous for Europe and the UK to trade than be‐ fore Brexit) is due to be placed before the European Parliament before the end of April.

Going naked worked NAKED WINES (formerly associ‐ ated with Majestic Wines) has confirmed that the pandemic has given the company a real fi‐ nancial boost with profits up by more than two thirds.

According to CEO Nick Devlin, its decision to return to its roots and supply only online turned out to be the right one as it now has 885,000 regular customers, an increase of nearly 50 per cent over the previous year.

Whilst results for 2021 are difficult to forecast, he believes that growth, particularly in the USA will continue.

marks against Colin the Caterpillar. It believes Colin has a distinctive character and reputation that will en‐ sure the courts will rule in their favour.

With numerous Aldi stores in Spain and very few M&S outlets, caterpillar cake con‐ noisseurs may wish to check locally.

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C LOSING P RICES A PRIL 19

COMPANY PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) 3I Group 1.265,50 1.266,00 Admiral Group 3.212,0 3.237,0 Anglo American 3.204,0 3.218,4 Antofagasta 1.887,60 1.902,50 Ashtead Group 4.665,0 4.680,0 Associated British Foods 2.414,9 2.430,3 AstraZeneca 7.393,0 7.419,5 Auto Trader Group Plc 578,40 580,26 Avast 470,30 470,60 Aveva 3.844,0 3.852,0 Aviva 408,69 410,70 B&M European Value Retail SA565,80 566,00 BAE Systems 519,20 524,90 Bank VTB DRC 1,182 1,206 Barclays 188,61 189,32 Barratt Developments 790,77 793,00 Berkeley 4.621,4 4.634,8 BHP Group 2.225,50 2.240,00 BP 302,00 302,53 British American Tobacco 2.894,4 2.900,5 British Land Company 514,56 519,26 BT Group 154,92 154,90 Bunzl 2.507,5 2.512,0 Burberry Group 2.078,0 2.083,0 Carnival 1.660,9 1.665,3 Centrica 56,84 56,92 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.521,0 2.522,0 Compass 1.589,50 1.601,74 CRH 3.504,0 3.516,0 Croda Intl 6.785,2 6.808,0 DCC 6.452,0 6.484,0 Diageo 3.232,4 3.245,5 DS Smith 423,50 425,60 EasyJet 990,17 1.001,50 Experian 2.752,0 2.755,0 Ferguson 9.378,0 9.420,0 Flutter Entertainment 15.560,0 15.650,0 Fresnillo 930,76 933,12 GlaxoSmithKline 1.348,40 1.353,00 Glencore 302,80 304,55 Halma 2.568,0 2.580,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.678,50 1.678,50 Hikma Pharma 2.388,00 2.390,00 HSBC 427,42 427,95 IAG 207,09 209,65 Imperial Brands 1.591,90 1.592,48 Informa 595,80 598,00 InterContinental 5.214,0 5.228,0 Intermediate Capital 2.005,00 2.023,00 Intertek 6.144,0 6.149,9 ITV 122,25 123,50

% CHG. 1.256,00 3.202,0 3.200,5 1.880,86 4.648,0 2.411,0 7.330,6 576,00 464,50 3.811,0 407,75 559,40 519,20 1,182 187,41 783,60 4.613,6 2.222,00 299,70 2.884,1 514,20 153,20 2.503,8 2.047,0 1.651,8 56,43 2.492,0 1.589,50 3.496,0 6.749,7 6.428,0 3.225,4 420,00 982,57 2.712,0 9.322,0 15.520,0 923,04 1.338,00 302,15 2.562,0 1.661,49 2.367,52 426,33 205,71 1.576,50 593,20 5.184,0 2.001,00 6.100,0 122,00

NET VOL 63,83K 29,11K 6,74K 6,30K 23,62K 8,11K 23,38K 15,51K 202,44K 6,84K 78,39K 44,40K 70,00K 32,83K 1,75M 92,43K 0,49K 168,21K 451,92K 27,57K 9,44K 1,24M 2,28K 19,93K 10,53K 133,77K 10,66K 3,40K 29,24K 1,52K 4,16K 13,42K 157,25K 104,15K 93,99K 16,76K 8,14K 28,88K 536,38K 1,47M 16,80K 44,84K 3,70K 51,31K 742,18K 24,46K 61,11K 9,58K 12,70K 1,15K 306,31K

COMPANY

PRICE(P)

J Sainsbury Johnson Matthey Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Banking London Stock Exchange Meggitt Melrose Industries Mondi National Grid NatWest Group Next Norilskiy Nikel ADR Ocado Persimmon Phoenix Prudential Reckitt Benckiser Relx Rentokil Rightmove Rio Tinto PLC Rolls-Royce Holdings Rosneft DRC Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell B RSA Insurance Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Smith & Nephew Smiths Group Spirax-Sarco Engineering SSE St. James’s Place Standard Chartered Standard Life Aberdeen Taylor Wimpey Tesco Tui Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Group PLC Whitbread WPP

251,60 3.204,0 720,00 277,94 43,62 7.739,7 476,30 178,30 1.981,00 904,80 199,10 8.252,0 33,36 2.206,41 3.206,3 757,20 1.549,00 6.685,0 1.935,00 526,00 611,25 6.071,0 105,18 7,17 1.402,51 1.403,0 1.342,1 683,00 648,00 1.865,00 15,03 3.630,0 1.244,98 987,80 2.443,4 1.438,50 1.643,50 12.210,0 1.509,29 1.342,50 493,10 288,40 192,50 233,08 394,05 4.157,0 964,60 135,10 3.524,0 976,40

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

252,50 3.231,0 724,94 280,09 43,70 7.816,0 485,00 183,64 1.993,00 909,50 199,80 8.294,0 33,69 2.207,94 3.223,0 763,20 1.552,25 6.710,0 1.941,00 526,20 613,86 6.099,0 106,96 7,22 1.407,31 1.408,4 1.346,8 683,80 649,20 1.875,00 15,09 3.636,0 1.252,00 993,40 2.450,2 1.453,00 1.650,50 12.245,0 1.513,50 1.343,00 493,60 291,05 192,70 233,33 396,94 4.176,5 967,39 135,88 3.549,0 982,80

247,10 3.191,0 719,40 277,70 43,27 7.698,0 475,30 177,73 1.969,50 901,80 198,45 8.052,0 33,27 2.181,81 3.196,8 756,40 1.545,50 6.648,0 1.934,13 521,00 610,03 6.059,0 104,83 7,15 1.395,01 1.394,6 1.333,9 682,80 642,60 1.865,00 15,02 3.610,0 1.240,19 984,40 2.442,0 1.438,50 1.636,50 12.090,0 1.495,00 1.338,73 491,00 288,40 190,70 231,00 392,67 4.135,0 959,20 134,63 3.505,0 973,20

882,29K 14,05K 5,41K 254,89K 8,89M 49,25K 28,10K 100,44K 37,38K 210,38K 314,02K 36,94K 49,21K 8,35K 4,60K 43,67K 28,30K 33,67K 15,81K 69,91K 14,74K 109,34K 5,38M 186,92K 24,30K 407,66K 65,40K 58,76K 84,13K 1,42K 4,81K 4,02K 317,09K 56,48K 1,73K 149,10K 15,21K 4,41K 11,37K 3,26K 94,95K 53,81K 427,03K 533,68K 260,43K 129,34K 12,55K 331,36K 3,37K 190,27K

1.15695

0.86485

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ......................................1.19069 Japan yen (JPY)......................................129.956 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.1021 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4363 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.007

currenciesdirect.com/la-zenia • Tel: +34 965 994 830 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES A PRIL 19

COMPANY 3M Alphabet C Amazon.com Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Facebook Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com Tesla UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walmart Walt Disney

PRICE 198,58 2.297,76 3.399,44 255,71 134,16 248,18 233,36 102,96 52,80 53,68 306,18 342,31 328,08 232,11 133,59 64,75 162,24 153,30 233,08 77,47 260,74 134,31 137,25 231,91 739,78 391,01 58,28 226,41 140,61 187,26

CHANGE 199,67 2.306,44 3.406,80 258,82 134,67 253,05 235,94 104,36 53,18 53,80 308,95 343,74 328,67 232,35 134,10 65,52 162,51 154,51 234,26 77,75 261,00 134,77 137,90 234,00 749,41 393,92 58,48 227,80 140,96 189,47

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 197,98 2,77M 2.284,45 1,13M 3.355,59 3,19M 254,67 2,77M 133,28 84,92M 246,23 14,61M 232,27 2,13M 102,43 7,46M 52,26 28,33M 53,38 17,97M 304,61 13,06M 338,62 4,23M 323,94 6,21M 230,05 4,10M 132,95 5,29M 64,57 24,63M 160,56 9,05M 152,69 13,77M 232,31 2,69M 76,82 11,94M 257,60 24,88M 133,73 6,85M 136,88 7,71M 229,89 5,09M 724,60 27,98M 385,46 4,53M 57,80 19,87M 225,76 6,83M 139,71 8,83M 186,20 9,45M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES A PRIL 19

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

+1.80% +12.50% +0.60% +5.96% +73.89% +1.95% +3.34% +6.84% +7.69% +1.63% +1.32%

783,479 4.51M 3.19M 22.65M 5.69M 3,047 83,837 19.04M 4.62M 995,161 1.04M

-6.29% -2.20% -9.52% -3.12% -0.76% -30.40% -1.49% -36.85% -1.39% -0.92% -14.56%

762,793 499,563 6.86M 2.67M 4,636 9.10M 383,441 247,336 8.38M 148,549 1.48M

Most Advanced Booking Holdings Inc. Novavax Inc. Amazon.com Inc. Coinbase Global Inc. Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Atrion Corp.

Credit Acceptance Corp.

Moderna Inc. BioNTech SE ADR O'Reilly Automotive Inc. Charter Communications Inc. Cl A

Most Declined MicroStrategy Inc. Trade Desk Inc. Cl A Splunk Inc. Roku Inc. Cl A Broadcom Inc. 8% Pfd. Series A Esports Technologies Inc. Equinix Inc. Sequential Brands Group Inc. NVIDIA Corp.

CoStar Group Inc. Veracyte Inc.

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Ibercaja Bank reveals future plans

GOING ALONE: José Luis Aguirre and Víctor Iglesias announced the plans.

WITH the merging of Spanish banks being recommended by the Bank of Spain, Zaragoza based Ibercaja Banco has just confirmed that it intends to continue alone.

It started as a savings bank 145 years ago and expanded in 2011 by taking over other savings banks which allowed it to grow significantly.

The President José Luis Aguirre and CEO Víctor Igle‐ sias have now revealed their strategy to take the bank for‐ ward by publishing their 2021‐2023 ‘Challenge Plan’.

In this, they are looking to continue to offer a wide range of customer services which includes, banking, mortgages, insurance, pen‐ sions and much more with the aim of adding an addition‐ al 50 per cent of customers in personal, business and pri‐ vate banking.

Another target sees a de‐ termination to exceed a 7 per cent return on investment with a new focus on the de‐ velopment of technological knowledge to help increase customer satisfaction and to reduce costs.

There is also a plan to strengthen the bank’s finan‐ cial position to ensure that it is able to cope with any new and unexpected problems which may arise as Spain emerges from the pandemic and it has over the past three years reduced the burden of non‐performing assets by al‐ most €5 billion.

A statement from the Presi‐ dent makes it clear that he and his board have every con‐ fidence in the future of the Spanish economy for the fu‐ ture.

According to the Expansion website, there are also plans

Product recall SAINSBURY’S supermarket group in the UK has issued a product recall warning with regards to the possibility of Taste the Difference Medjool Dates being contaminated with Hepatitis A. The packs which are being recalled are 200g and 500g, with supplier/site code K0014EW on the date label.

Readers with UK relations, especially Muslims who eat dates during Ramadan are advised to warn them of the problem.

Whilst there have been no reports of any customer falling ill, Hepatitis A is an unpleasant infection and the company could be open to a claim for damages should anyone be infected.

for Ibercaja to be floated on the Madrid Stock Exchange, either in 2021 or 2022 de‐ pending upon the state of the share market.

BUSINESS EXTRA Beer goggles THE Revolut beer-ometer™ showed that English pub spending was up by 200 per cent when pubs reopened compared to a normal Monday. It said that £2,086 (€2,295) was being spent every minute with the biggest boozers being men aged 25 to 34, quaffing an average 4.8 pints.

O2 merger NOW that the UK Competition and Markets Authority has given a provisional green light for the merger of the O2 and Virgin mobile phone groups, Spanish owner of O2, Telefónica can look forward to reducing its debt burden by nearly €5 billion.

Renewable power WITH renewable power the next big money spinner in Spain, the Canadian group Northland Power has entered into a €1 billion deal to take over a number of projects in Spain from Helia, a fund controlled by Plenium Partners Asset Management and Bankinter.

22 - 28 April 2021

EWN 31

32 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

FEATURE

True problem lies in the home

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT I’M utterly sick and fed up with the media and woke brigade endeavouring to make us feel sorry for thugs and criminals. George Floyd was a habitual criminal, out and about breaking the law. Had he been a law abiding citizen, legally going about his business, the police would have had no reason to arrest him and he would be alive today.

The case of a 13‐year‐old, shot dead by police at the weekend was undoubtedly a tragic event, but he was out at night, with his friend, both carrying loaded guns! What do you think they were up to, charity work?

In that particular circumstance I actually feel sorry for the police officer, who I understand was in tears after the event. Apparently a second before he was shot, the police video showed the boy was actually holding a gun. He then raised his arm to discard it. The officer had a split second to decide whether or not the boy was about to shoot him, what was he supposed to do, let the boy take the first shot!?

He was simply protecting himself.

NO CONTROL: Why are they carrying guns to begin with?

Naturally the popular media are not showing the young man actually with the gun in his hand, merely the split second after he had discarded it. After all, the more hatred and trouble they can whip up the more newsworthy content they can glean for their sensationalist hungry viewers.

And why is there always such a

kerfuffle when many black drivers are ordered to put their hands on the wheel or the dash where they can be seen?

The majority of these drivers’ immediate reaction seems to be frantic jerking around, shouting protests, waving their arms and generally escalating the whole event

which then often culminates in screaming police dragging them from the car. If they would simply comply immediately there would be no need for all the violence and possible tragedy that often ensues.

I know if I was shouted at by an armed officer to put my hands on the wheel, they would be glued to the

steering wheel in a heartbeat.

Returning briefly to that shot teenager, no doubt his tearful Mother will soon be telling all who are prepared to listen what a ‘wonderful son’ and ‘good boy’ he had always been! If anyone is to blame here it is (as usual) the parents or, more often than not, the ‘absent father family,’ who have so little control or care for their offsprings that they are actually allowed to run amok at night carrying guns and knives. That is where the true problem lies; in the home.

Far too many ‘ladies’ from these so called ‘deprived’ areas appear to be so free and easy with their favours, they often end up with a whole brood of children from multiple fathers ‐ all absent and totally untraceable. No wonder their children are out of control. It’s time these people got their own houses in order before blaming society and the police for the wrongdoings of their errant offsprings.

Keep the faith Love Leapy Leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland Mon. Wed. Fri.

Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

EWN 33

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FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

How can you confuse a gun?

MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION

Views of a Grumpy Old Man A POLICE officer who shot and killed a driver during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Sunday afternoon, meant to deploy her Taser instead of her gun, police said.

In a press conference on Monday, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said he believes the female officer intended to deploy her Taser when she ‘accidentally’ shot 20year-old Daunte Wright.

How do you accidently confuse your gun with a Taser? To me an accident is knocking over your drink or maybe driving into the back of someone’s car, but shooting someone when you are a trained police officer isn’t an accident especially when your gun and Taser are on different sides of your belt.

My point here is that the USA is an absolute mess where guns and killing people are concerned apart from gawd knows how many mass shooting there are. Their police forces are particularly gun happy.

We live in a country where all police are armed, but I can’t think of one instance here where a police officer has pulled someone over for a traffic violation and finished up

shooting them dead. Never heard of any mass shootings either.

The reason might be that the average punter here can’t buy a gun, never mind ones that fires 10 to 20 rounds a second like the AR15. Let’s see if Biden will finally do something about it or will be bought off by the NRA. Shame about Prince Philip dying, totally politically incorrect bloke, but all in all he did a good job and was a great partner for the Queen. He was after all 99 years old and had a pretty good innings. But I do think the coverage of his death went overboard especially the BBC. The total blanket coverage of BBC1 and BBC2 was well over the top and other stations too with looped broadcasting hour after hour. Then all the Royal correspondents were wheeled out giving their views.

They even invited members of the public to email in if they had met him. So basically anybody could have said they had met him without any confirmation just to get a shout out on the telly! I think it backfired as people turned off in their millions after a couple of hours and, in fact, Gogglebox, a TV programme about people watching TV programmes got higher ratings. But their biggest mistake, as far as Mrs S was concerned, was postponing the final of MasterChef!

Email: mikesenker@gmail.com

Mike’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

22 - 28 April 2021

EWN 35

36 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

FEATURE

GO LOCAL

T H E E U R OW E E K LY N E W S is urging its readers to support local businesses in the community by go‐ ing local through the lockdown and for your all your shopping this year, instead of feeding online giants and super‐ stores.

During this lockdown, we challenge you to re‐ discover your local high streets, markets, butch‐ ers, greengrocers and all

of the wonderfully quirky independent busi‐ nesses in your area.

Due to the Covid‐19 pandemic, you may have to support many local businesses by ordering online and making use of any click and collect ser‐ vices they can operate if you are unable to get out due to health rea‐ sons or lockdown re‐ strictions.

The joy of shopping lo‐

cal means that indepen‐ dent businesses can help support the local com‐ munity.

Although it may be a euro or two cheaper elsewhere or online, consider where your money is actually going.

By shopping at an inde‐ pendent store you’re putting food on a local family’s table, and there is no better time than now to give back to your community by making a small gesture and shop‐ ping in this way.

Many local stores sup‐ port local charities, sup‐ port and sponsor local sports teams and in many cases the small in‐ dependent stores are ac‐ tually much more than just a small high street shop, they’re a family’s legacy, often passed

down through numerous generations and support not just the current owner but the genera‐ tion before.

For those stores which are new, that extra cou‐ ple of euros spent there are supporting some‐ one’s dream and ambi‐ tion, and also the courage it took them to step out alone, which is no easy task.

It takes quite a large chunk of money to set up an independent store and compete with the multinational and chains.

So be sure to pre‐or‐ der your meat from a lo‐ cal butcher and get your spuds from a local greengrocer, let us re‐ vive that community spirit and get to know our neighbours again.

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

EWN 37

TAX COP-OUTS WORTHY OF AN OSCAR? 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

HAVE you been targeted by one of those ‘phishing’ scams doing the rounds recent‐ ly? You know, those scam emails pretend‐ ing to offer customers a tax rebate? Or worse still, you missed the January 31 deadline for online UK tax returns? If so, you’d better come up with a better excuse than those given by HM Revenue and Cus‐ toms as the worst examples people have come up with for filing / paying their tax return late.

These range from the usual “my pet dog ate my tax return … AND all the reminders”; “I was up a mountain in Wales, and couldn’t find a post box or get an internet signal” and “I was in Australia” to the “poor me” variety (“I fell in with the wrong crowd”; “I live in a camper van in a supermarket car park”; “a work colleague borrowed my tax return, to photocopy it, and didn’t give it back”; “my girlfriend’s pregnant”) to the truly bizarre

WORST EXCUSES: “My pet dog ate my tax return... AND all the reminders.” (“I’ve been busy looking after a flock of es‐ caped parrots and some fox cubs”; “I’ve been travelling the world, trying to escape from a foreign intelligence agency”).

Unsurprisingly, none of these led to a successful appeal ‐ or worthy of an award at Monday’s Oscars. To return, briefly, to ‘phishing’, maybe the best advice nowadays

is, sadly: ‘Trust nobody’.

The world in which we now live. Fake tradesmen in hi‐vis jackets knocking at your door to check some phoney gas‐leak/pipe‐ work ‘problem’ and walking out with your wallet. The elderly being palmed off with third‐rate stuff at outrageous prices. Or a worthless plot of land as an ‘investment’.

This happens, we all know it happens.

The answer may partly lie with the media: more publicity given about the punishment dished out to offenders to scare off those hell‐bent on committing such crimes. And more, much more success in catching the offenders...

What’s really disturbing is that the police often know who the offenders are, but can’t get enough people to testify against them. Perhaps we’re all to blame here.

What’s your view?

Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘The Sentinel’, ‘No Safe Place’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribu‐ tion’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora‐johnson.net) available on‐ line as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, pa‐ perback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.

Nora Johnson’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

Slap on some cream Shake up your muscles

AS temperatures begin to soar and layers of clothing begin to be shredded, spare some thought for your skin and remember to cover yourself in sun cream.

Protecting yourself from the sun could be one of the most important things you do for yourself this year as the incidence of skin cancer continues to rise, particularly among young adults.

Even if your skin tans easily, don’t think you don’t need sun protection. Skin turning brown is actually a sign of sun damage, even if there is no redness or peeling. It does this as a way of trying to protect itself because the UV rays are damaging living cells. And don’t shy away from using a high sun protection factor. Even SPF 50 only blocks up to 98 per cent of UV radiation.

Remember, skin cancer is serious and was the direct cause of over 2,500 deaths in each of Spain and the UK last year. Treatment for skin cancer involves much more than simply having a lesion removed.

It can include major surgery, chemotherapy and can result in per-

manent scarring. Skin cancer can also spread to other parts of your body.

The good news is that it is almost totally preventable, so follow the advice of the Aussies and take these five steps to protect yourself: ‘Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide!’

CREAM YOURSELF: Be careful to avoid your eyes.

WITH summer drawing ever closer, many people are starting to think about getting lean and muscular to swagger with confidence along the seafront.

Of course, in addition to watching your diet and attending the gym as much as possible, there are other things you can do - or rather take - to help you achieve your goals. And all you need is some protein powder, a shaker bottle and some water.

Protein supplements are an ever-popular option that can improve lean body mass and muscle strength. Fundamentally, they are shakes that consist of whey protein, although milk, soy, casein, egg, hemp, rice, and pea protein powders are also popular.

Taken after a strenuous workout, protein shakes deliver amino acids to muscle cells and help them to recover. In addition to this, they manufacture hormones, enzymes, cellular messengers, nucleic acids and immune-system components, so they can be very beneficial for the body

as a whole. Without adequate protein, our bodies can’t put together the structures that make up every cell, tissue, and organ in our body, nor can it generate the substances needed for cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, growth, and healing.

Absorbing enough protein is important as without an adequate amount our muscles wouldn’t heal up as quickly, which could lead to overtrain-

ing your muscle and causing injury.

Downing a protein shake is an easy way to get your protein if you work a full time job and don’t always have time to prepare meals. However, do bear in mind that protein shakes can only make a small contribution.

You will also need to train properly and eat right to get the results you’re after.

PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS: Down a protein shake after a sweaty session.

Damage limitation

WHETHER you’re on holiday or are one of the Costa’s expatriates, it can be tempting to have that second or third drink as the evenings begin to draw out that bit longer.

However, you don’t want to lose a valuable day of your holi-

day - or an important day off work - simply because you got carried away. With that in mind, here are some suggestions to achieve a pain free morning after the night before.

Try to have a good meal before you take a drink or two. If

you can, have a meal that includes carbohydrates (such as pasta or rice) or fats as these will help slow down the body’s absorption of alcohol. One littleknown secret is to take a spoonful of olive oil or prickly pear extract beforehand.

Also, avoid dark-coloured drinks if you’ve found these to be particularly harsh on you.

These drinks contain natural chemicals called congeners, which irritate blood vessels and tissue in the brain and can make a hangover worse. In between your drinks, have a glass of water or non-fizzy soft drink and when you get home do the same before you nod off to sleep.

If all your well-intentioned attempts fail and you wake up the morning after the worse for wear, you might be tempted to have the ‘hair of the dog.’ This can be a risky habit, and there’s no scientific proof that it actually works. Best to have a non-greasy breakfast and a glass of fresh juice. Of course, the most successful and least heeded advice is to not drink more than you know your body can cope with.

HEALTH & BEAUTY

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

To My Shadow Bipolar MS BIPOLAR

UP AND DOWN WITH BALANCE UNEDITED

I had to be really careful so I wouldn’t wake or upset you. Maintaining that mask was stressful; but for a while, everything seemed to be under control.

That was until a traumatic, life-changing experience triggered you to explode.

It was utterly devastating. You wreaked havoc in every area of my life. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to keep you out.

IT’S been 10 years since being diagnosed with you. Ten years of struggling to tame the violent chaos you’ve hurled into my mind. I wasn’t aware you had already started building camp at a young age. I thought you were nothing but a phase all teenagers go through. So I ignored you, thinking you’d eventually go away if I pretended you didn’t exist, I didn’t know any different.

But just like a shadow, you followed me everywhere I went. I tried to be oblivious to the selfdestructive thoughts you constantly whispered into my ear.

For a long time, I survived this constant battle with you. Little by little, I was successful keeping you quiet - the monster living inside msbipolar@euroweeklynews.com of me. It wasn’t easy;

I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t get out of bed and couldn’t stop my mind from racing. I felt alone, worthless and unloved. Some days I just felt nothing , numbness.

Ten years ago you were given many names: clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder.

Bipolar 1 disorder. Finally. Your real name. After a long, frustrating journey, I now know who you really are and how I’m going to manage you. It’s definitely not been an easy ride - and it took a lot of time to get the right mix of medications to tame you - but I won’t let you destroy me again.

Thank you for showing me how much my family loves me, and how amazing my friends are. Without their support and understanding, I wouldn’t have been able to survive all the sh*t you put me through.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help and reach out to people who are like me. You gave me the chance to show compassion, kindness and understanding to people who are also struggling with an invisible war inside their heads.

Finally, thank you for making me realise how strong I am Love Ms Bipolar x

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Gentle exercise is necessary and needed when pregnant WOMEN who exercise when they are pregnant can reduce the chance of needing a Caesarean by 10 per cent.

Evidence gathered from around 12,500 women in 16 countries found that mothers-to-be who do gentle exercise during their pregnancy such as aerobics, walking or using a bike maEXERCISE: Reduces chance of a chine, and eat a Caesarean. healthy diet are more likely to have a natural birth. cent of women put on too Currently, around one in much weight, raising the risk four births in the UK are by of a Caesarean. But regular Caesarean which, although exercise significantly reduces regarded as very safe, can the mother’s weight gain and carry the risk of complicababies are not at risk from tions. exercise. Although, it is alExperts said that many ways advised to stop exerciswomen wrongly believe they ing if you feel unwell or beshould be ‘eating for two’ come so breathless you when pregnant and 47 per cannot talk.

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22 - 28 April 2021

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SOCIAL SCENE

Theatre comeback

FAMILY shows are making a comeback at the Wagner Theatre in Aspe.

On Sunday, April 25, at 12 noon, the Wagner will host ‘The Happy Moment Collector,’ a family show that takes place in a future in which there are “fewer and fewer happy moments to feed the stars.”

For this reason, the Intergalactic Agency of Collectors will be in charge of encouraging children to save more happy moments so that the universe is not plunged into darkness.

ASPE’S Youth Council has scheduled new activities for April, May and June.

Some will take place in person and others online, but there will also be activities that offer both options.

The first is a Videogame Programming course that will take

Tickets for both shows cost €5 and €4 depending on the location of seats, from the Aspe City Council website, on the Notikumi.com page or at the Wagner box office on Thursdays from 7pm to 9pm, as well as on the day of each show two hours before they start.

Councillor for Culture, Rosa Ruiz, highlighted “the need to recover this type of activity, with all the prevention measures derived from the pandemic, to offer fun activities to the whole family.”

Spring activities place over four Thursdays, from April 15 to May 6.

The objective is to train participants in the basic development of video games. The course is aimed at children and young people up to 16 years old.

Between April and May there will also be Telematic Adventures from home.

Participants can live multiple fantasy adventures, working as a team and developing unique skills in a fun way.

The activity will be carried out in four sessions on Saturdays throughout April and May and is aimed at children up to

the age of 12.

Others include ‘Young Explorers’ expeditions and challenges, a nature activity called ‘Sow Forests,’ environmental awareness activities related to the conservation of birds called ‘Nest Boxes’ and a Youth Hiking initiative. Councillor for the Youth area, Jonatan Molina, stressed that “the youth of our town need to have an alternative leisure offer after so many months of limitations.”

All activities are free. To register, call 965 491 964 (from 4pm to 8pm) or e-mail: inscriptionsju ventud@aspe.es.

22 - 28 April 2021 • www.euroweeklynews.com

SPONSORED BY

New puppies? They need company while you are away IF you have recently brought home one or more puppies then you need to plan more carefully than usual when you go away.

Moreover, are you tentatively planning to get away later this year? Even if you are planning just a short trip you’ll know that you simply can’t travel with some pets.

Puppies especially usually need to stay be‐ hind so they can follow their routines at home. So, plan ahead.

Take a moment to plan ahead for pet and house‐sitters, if you have trips planned later this year. Now is the time to get ready. We will help you as much as we can. Our philoso‐ phy is that we are all in this together. These are the steps to take: 1. Register as a homeowner on House SitMatch.com 2. Choose a Premium account (£89 per year) to ensure you can help online when needed 3. Create a profile with photos of your pet and the house 4. Post a house‐sit advert stating your plans for next year’s holiday Covid permitting Do you need a pet‐sitter in 2021? Then get started right now.

How does it work?

HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable

New puppies always need company, and a guiding hand when you are not there. sitters. Join our network for a small annual fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are going on holiday. House‐sitters see your advert, they respond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets.

Trustpilot Testimonials ‐ 4.8 / 5 Excellent rating (New Trustpilot rating scale) Here’s what members have said about us‐ HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house‐ sitter…

HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house‐ sitter while we were away in Canada and we

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Ros Morris ‐ Dog owner How do you join?

Please register online via our website www.Housesitmatch.com ‐ Choose a membership plan ‐ Please note prices go up soon so sign up now on subscription to secure these prices: • Standard (DIY option) = £69 pa • Premium (with support at each step) = £89 pa

Do you need a house-sitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and pet-sitting, and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either house-sitter or homeowner with a 20 per cent discount using coupon code P2020 - an exclusive offer for readers. To find a house or pet-sitter go to www.HousesitMatch.com.

PLAYING is essential for kittens, to develop their hunting and fighting skills. It is also a well‐known fact that cats love to play, and usually with the simplest of toys, including boxes, paper bags, plastic balls, twists of paper and cotton reels.

However, it is worth having a look at some updated and more stylish alternatives that are avail‐ able for the cat and of course, the owner to enjoy!

The latest toys are colourful and look good but are also very practical, and the first is a ‘Toys R Us colourful Tri‐Tunnel toy,’ which pops up, folds down and has a dangle toy inside for when your cat ‘wants to be alone.’

Next, there is the ‘Kong Criss‐ cross Rolling Cat Toy,’ which rolls along the floor, with a bell that rings and a rolling ball inside or you could go for a ‘Petlinks Wild

Top cat toys Thing Motion Cat Toy,’ that does all the work with its electronic mo‐ tion ball, that moves and spins around dangling a feather.

Other toys include the ‘Smar‐ tyKat Crackle Chute Collapsible tunnel’ and the ‘Cat1st Ninja Cat Cube’ that can easily be stacked

and connected to more cubes with Velcro.

As cats get older, like humans, they need more of an incentive to get up and jump around for the sake of it, whereas kittens are young and have boundless amounts of energy.

47

PETS

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My dog keeps falling over, what does it mean and what should I do?

IF your dog suddenly los‐ es their sense of balance they could be suffering from a serious health problem that requires immediate veterinary at‐ tention. The condition relating to a sensory dys‐ function that results in a loss of coordination in the dog’s head, limbs, or rear is called Ataxia.

There are three types of ataxia commonly seen in dogs: cere‐ bellar, propioceptive and vestibular.

Cerebellar ataxia in dogs occurs when the cerebellum is af‐ fected and the main symptoms are loss of coordination, tremors, falling, and weakness. Proprioceptive ataxia is diag‐ nosed when the spinal cord is slowly compressed due to an in‐ tervertebral disk herniation, a tumour, trauma or a vascular in‐ farct. This cause from an inability to properly place a foot on the ground when walking to a paralysis.

Vestibular ataxia is the result of a problem in the inner ear or brainstem and the main symptoms are loss of balance, head tilt, nystagmus (rapid eye movements) and leaning or circling to one side.

A neurological exam, blood tests are required and in most cases a CT scan or MRI will be necessary.

In Costablanca Sur: Centro Veterinario de Diagnóstico por Imagen de Levante

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48 EWN

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CARE HOME

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS IS ALCOHOL COSTING YOU MORE THAN MONEY? Drinking to excess not only affects your health it can spill over into every other aspect of your life – damaging everything that is important to you.

English-speaking AA meetings are held throughout the Costa Blanca from Valencia City to Murcia. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting or discuss a possible drinking problem contact Costa Blanca North: 648 169 045 or Costa Blanca South: 625 912 078 or Costa Calida 679 385 105 All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. AA in German: 645 456 075; Spanish: 679 212 535; Flemish: 635 047 053; and Scandinavian: 659 779 222. www.aacostablanca.org (93323) CAMPELLO CONTRA CANCER in conjunction with AECC Association Español Contra Cancer.

Please support your local Cancer charity and if you wish to obtain literature or simply talk to someone.

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

CARS WANTED

CHARITY

52

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CANCER SUPPORT GROUP (MABS) MURCIA/MAR MENOR Help and support is just a phone call away, Avda Rio Nalón, Tel: 693 275 779 (95462)

PHILIP SCOTT LODGE No 10671 of the RAOB. Please call the secretary, Colin Bird on 693 287 614 for further information.

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CHURCH SERVICE IN ENGLISH Tel: 950 617 549 www.givinglight.com.(1000 6)

PILAR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH. All welcome from any church background or none. For further information, www.pilarchurch.org Reg No: 2009-SG/A (95463)

FREEMASONRY. Are you aware that Freemasonry is thriving on the Costa Blanca? There are various lodges meeting up throughout the Valencia region. If you already are a Mason or simply wish to know more about Freemasonry in Spain please contact Harry Palmer Membership Committee. Tel: 966 712 326 or email: 2palmers.quesada@gmail. com (95477) HELP VEGA BAJA. We are a non-profit making organisation that helps and supports anyone, without prejudice, in times of need or crisis within the Vega Baja area. Our offices are based in San Miguel at Calle Lope de Vega 46 (Tel 966 723 733), Torrevieja at Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 4 (Tel 965 704 282). We are online at www.helpvegaba ja.com and also on Facebook. You can email the San Miguel Centre at of fice@helpvegabaja.com.

We also have a 24-hour Emergency helpline which is available to both members and nonmembers on 966 723 733 (95456) INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY, TORREVIEJA Calle Urbano Arregui, 23, Torrevieja 03185, Alicante Evangelical non-denominational church. Sunday morning Sevices at 10am and 11:30am. All nationalities welcome - Contact 966 752 543 / 966 799 273.

For other church matters phone: 966 799 273 / /617 215 463 www.icatorrevie ja.org (95476) LA SIESTA EVANGELICAL CHURCH on Urbanisation La Siesta, Torrevieja is a friendly, English speaking church. For more information see our website w w w. l a s i e s t a e v a n g e l i calchurch.org (10005) www.euroweeklynews.com

ROYAL AIR FORCES ASSOCIATION COSTA BLANCA BRANCH 1359. The association supports the welfare needs of ex-members of the RAF and their dependents. Due to ongoing covid-19 restrictions we cannot hold General Meetings at the moment. In normal times we provide a social hub for members and hold lunches every month.

To fund Welfare we raise money through the Wings Appeal. To find out more contact Chairman Tony at tony.elaine.cuenta@gmai l.com. For Welfare contact Andy on 0034 711 00 86 84. For general information on RAFA visit www.rafa.org.uk. .

(238593) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Why not make this year the year you volunteer?

See how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Telephone Buddy. We also visit beneficiaries who are housebound or in hospital.

If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyhhvisits@gmail.com If you or your partner served or are serving, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big, sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feeling more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help directly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be. If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at, http://branches.britishle

gion.org.uk/branches/ori huela-costa - covering from Punta Prima to San Javier. More info can be found on branch website www.orihuelacostarbl.co.u k. (95457) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Gran Alacant & La Marina Branch. For info, contact the branch Secretary at granalacant.secretary@rbl. community ROYAL MARINES ASSOCIATION (Costa Blanca) The aim of the Association is to bring together not just ex Royal Marines, but ex Service personnel with an affinity to the Royal Marines. For further details Hon Sec 692 938 664.(10004) ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION For information please contact Chairman Paul Edwards on 618 644 934, Vice Chairman Danny Kay on 966 716 274 or Secretary Margaret Forshaw on 966 921 996.

(95455) STROKE ASSOCIATION Spain (formally known as Torrevieja stroke support) Our aim is to help and support stroke survivors and their carers. With rehabilitation, speech therapy, OC therapy and a very active social group. For info please contact 654 801 260 or email strokesup portgroup@hotmail.com, website: torreviejastroke support.org. We are always looking for volunteers who have the skills and knowledge to support. (95473) THE AIRCREW ASSOCIATION COSTA BLANCA BRANCH. Former & serving aircrews of the UK or Allied Armed Forces are welcome to join this convivial & friendly organisation, now in its 21st year. www.aca costablanca.org or call the Secretary on: 966 495 042 (95465)

contact Linda Schug Tel. 606 990 665 for more details (95458) THE PATIENCE LODGE No 2177 of the R.A.O.B Please call Secretary Dave Tonge on 688 704 091 for further information.

(253807) THE SPIRITUALIST CENTRE, Benijofar will be closed for the immediate future due to Covid-19.

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PET CHARITY SPAMA GANDIA SHELTER. Dog and cat rescue registered charity, La Safor area.

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54 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

The Seat Leon 1.0 UNLESS you’re the kind of per‐ son who is always in a hurry the extra 28bhp of the new Desire Red 1.5‐litre turbo petrol Leon is very welcome, but if that’s not enough, you could be tempted by the addi‐ tional 20bhp on offer for an‐

other approx €890.

The Seat Leon has an impres‐ sive variety of powertrains available also. There is a mild‐ hybrid version of the 1.0 TSI; a 113bhp 2.0‐litre diesel; and a 1.4 TSI petrol‐electric plug‐in hybrid with 201bhp and a 40‐

mile electric‐only range ‐ you can order a dual‐clutch auto‐ matic gearbox too.

The 1.0 TSI Leon is very satis‐ fying to drive. Its modest en‐ gine, keen chassis and taut steering combine to make this an enjoyable car with which to explore Spain’s inviting and mainly flat country roads.

The long list of features in‐ clude a reversing camera and keyless entry and start in ad‐ dition to the full LED lights, scrolling indicators, four se‐ lectable driving modes, ‘mi‐ crosuede’ upholstery, tri‐zone climate control, seat heating, heated leather steering wheel, rain‐sensing wipers, wireless phone charger, ambi‐ ent interior lighting, electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, manual height adjust‐ ment for the front passenger seat and adjustable lumbar support for both that are added by the FR and FR Sport trims below.

Seat claims that the Leon “oozes class,” a statement that I find hard to argue with. Check online for big price reductions.

MOTORING

Lexus LS Luxury Flagship THE updated Lexus LS luxury sa‐ loon flagship comes bristling with new technology, new styling and ‘even smoother driv‐ ing performance,’ according to the manufacturer ‐ BMW’s 7 Se‐ ries rival is available to order in a choice of three trim levels.

An LS standard is priced from approx €91,000 with an optional Premium upgrade package ‐ priced at €8,889 ‐ adding heated rear seats, an up‐ graded stereo and four‐zone climate control. Mid‐range F Sport trim costs €99,981 and brings a performance‐inspired body‐kit alongside extra equip‐ ment including the brand’s new BladeScan adaptive headlights, while the top‐rung Takumi trim is priced from €122,000, and in‐ cludes a digital rear‐view mirror, bespoke 20in alloy wheels and 22‐way electrically adjustable front seats.

Top of the revisions to the LS range is a revamped hybrid drive system that aims to improve the driving experience in Normal mode, which, Lexus says, is where the average LS spends 90 per cent of its time, and in which the driver uses only moderate

NEW STYLING: And even smoother driving performance. accelerator inputs.

New technological additions include the BladeScan adaptive high‐beam headlight system, as first seen on the updated RX SUV, which uses a fast‐rotating mirror to project light from LEDs to provide enhanced illumina‐ tion compared with convention‐

al systems and the digital rear‐ view mirror that improves rear‐ ward visibility. Elsewhere, the 360 degree camera gains a new pedestrian detection function and there are new motors that tighten the seatbelts when the pre‐collision warning system is activated.

MOTORING

www.euroweeklynews.com

22 - 28 April 2021

EWN 55

VW Arteon - a shooting brake for a modern generation ROAD TEST

by Mark Slack AS estates go VW’s Arteon Shooting Brake has a pres‐ ence, the wide frontal look, muscular rear and sleek lines makes for a stylish driveway addition. Based on the Passat the Arteon shooting brake is aimed at being a mix of the practical with added style. It certainly turns heads and usually for all the right rea‐ sons.

The term shooting brake is a delightfully old fashioned one harking back to a time when cars had little space and upper class shooting par‐

A very class act.

ties needed transport for all their kit. This German inter‐ pretation of the shooting brake, although not without compromises, is a particularly appealing one.

Prices start at €40,759 (£35,395) and peak at €50,070 (£43,480) for the top‐ line version with all‐wheel‐ drive. As with all German au‐ tomotive machines the prices can reach even headier finan‐ cial heights if you make a start on the options list. My R‐Line with 2.0‐litre TSI petrol power, was listed at €44,243 (£38,420) but had a whop‐ ping €9,212 (£8,000) worth of extra cost options.

Although the test car was

not my favourite in terms of colour, dark grey with black interior, a much brighter and classier colour palette is avail‐ able and makes the car look much more than its circa €46k (£40k) price tag.

If you’re looking for a capa‐ cious load carrier then the Ar‐ teon Shooting Brake is not for you. Its striking lines means the load practicality, while better than an equivalent sa‐ loon, is not the best but then that really isn’t the point of the Arteon. Your walking gear, picnic paraphernalia, children’s travel accou‐ trements or other outdoor activity kit can easily be ac‐ commodated.

Manufacturers have be‐ come expert at smaller capaci‐

ty, more efficient engines that still possess decent perfor‐ mance. My Arteon’s 2.0‐litre, four‐cylinder petrol engine passes the benchmark 100 kph in 7.8 seconds and a 233 kph maximum speed while re‐ turning, during my week of mostly local driving, 8.3

litres/100 km. There’s even the option of a plug‐in hybrid.

The Arteon Shooting Brake isn’t a small car, in fact it looks even larger thanks to its design, and inside it feels spa‐ cious. Standard kit is good with such fare as keyless en‐ try and start and tailgate, a

superb panoramic sunroof and much, much more.

There’s the usual VW solid, quality feel, it’s a car that combines the very best of practical SUVs and traditional estates without their bulk and boxiness. It’s a car that’s a very class act.

SPORT

56

Real Madrid Shock

22 - 28 April 2021

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Spanish Cyclist Win IN a stunning fifth stage victo‐ ry, Spanish cyclist Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego came in first at the fifth stage of the 56th Presiden‐ tial Cycling Tour of Turkey which was held on April 16.

The Tour of Turkey which is

SERGIO RAMOS: Leaving the club.

FLORENTINO PÉREZ, the president of Real Madrid, appeared on Monday night (April 19) at El Chiringuito de Jugones, to talk about the bombshell caused by the announcement of the formation of the new breakaway European Super League that will involve 12 of the biggest clubs in the world of football, and that he himself will pre‐ side over.

In the closing minutes of his interview with Josep Pedrerol, just as the mood was coming back to a more calming state, a harmless question from the interviewer about any Real Madrid news sudden‐ ly turned the atmosphere bad again, as Pérez dropped the shocking news that after 15 years with the club, their enigmatic captain Ser‐ gio Ramos will definitely leave at the end of the season.

At that point, the president, clearly agitated, refused to elaborate more, simply saying, “I’m leaving. We have come here to talk about the Super League,” but then seemed to relax and said, “I love him very much, but we are in a very bad situation, and in Madrid, no‐ body puts the money. We have to be realistic with what happens to us. Right now we are all very bad and Madrid too. For now, we have to fix this season.”

in its 56th edition started from the central province of Konya, rather than the intended start point in Nevsehir, due to snow‐ fall in the region.

The Spanish cyclist is a mem‐ ber of the French team Delko,

Europa League VILLARREAL played their quarter‐final second‐leg Europa League 2021 tie against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday April 15, at La Ce‐ ramica, already one goal up from the match in Croatia last week, and a 2‐1 victory on the night saw Villarreal secure a semi‐finals match with Arsenal.

The yellow submarines now carry the hopes of Spain alone in this competition, after Spain had two teams in the last eight, but Granada bowed out against Manchester United in one of the other quarter‐finals, but a good omen for their semi‐final is that the Europa League competition is something of a speciality for their coach Unai Emery, having already won it three times with Sevilla.

With the away goal already in the bag from the first leg, Emery’s men did a good job against the Croatians, going ahead after 36 minutes through Alcacer, before Moreno put them 2‐0 up, and really put the match to bed, though Mislav Orsic did pull a goal back with a penalty on 74 minutes, but by that time it was always going to be too late for any comeback.

and he completed the near 100‐mile stage in a staggering four hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds. The stage came in at 160.3‐kilometres (99.6‐miles) on the Mediterranean coast in the Antalya province.

Gallego had been confident of a good result, but it was only shortly before the finish line that he realised that a win was possible. On the Tour of Turkey’s Twitter account, the Spanish cyclist was quoted as having said, “I was confident for a good result but only 50 me‐ tres [164 feet] before the line I realised I could win. This is a very important win. It’s the first of the team this year. Now we’ll try to win the overall as well.”

The sixth stage will take in slightly less ground as cyclists will only have to cover just over 80 miles as reported aa.com.

The fourth stage of the Tour of Turkey was marred by a crash which saw many riders injured.

Grand Prix IN an announcement that will disappoint many fans the Spanish Grand Prix will now be held without spec‐ tators in attendance for the second season in a row.

Racing fans who have al‐ ready paid out for tickets though will be issued with a refund.

With only weeks to go before the planned event that is set to be held at the Circuit de Barcelona‐ Catalunya on May 7 to May 9, many fans will be disap‐ pointed by the news that spectators will not be able to attend. Spain is set to host the fifth round of the 2021 campaign.

According to event or‐ ganisers, government bod‐ ies have told them that with only weeks to go before the event is set to take place, ongoing Coronavirus restric‐ tions which limit public gatherings are unlikely to change before the event takes place as reported Mo‐ torsportweek.