Euro Weekly News - Costa de Almeria 6 -12 May 2021 Issue 1870

THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 26 - 29 ISSUE NO. 1870

6 - 12 May 2021

Special thanks GADOR celebrated Labour Day on May 1 with a homage to its municipal workers in recognition of all their years of hard work and dedication. There was also special gratitude from the mayor for their efforts and “extraordinary performance” during the State of Alarm and afterwards.

News

The people’s paper

COSTA DE ALMERIA • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

LIONS PRIDE

Road reopens THE Alhabia section of the A1075 has now reopened to traffic following emergency work carried out by the Junta’s Infrastructure department. The road had to be closed due to heavy rain at the end of last year and the effects of Storm Filomena in early January.

Arabic out TELEVISION presenter and journalist Merced Mila, together with other prominent media figures, has criticised the regional Education department’s decision to stop the Arabic classes at El Ejido’s Official School of Languages.

Arabic is one of the UN’s six languages, she argued, and spoken by 300,000 people.

LIONS DONATION: Financial help for Asprodalba association.

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FREE • GRATIS

Vaccination rhythm increases MORE than 17,000 Almeria Province residents received the anti‐Covid vaccine in the week ending on May 1.

The arrival of the Janssen vaccine on April 23 enabled the Health authority to increase the daily rhythm of injections to a daily 2,491. In comparison, vaccinations in the two pre‐ vious weeks were carried out at the rate of 700 each day, Junta figures revealed.

A total of 228,240 anti‐Covid jabs have been adminis‐ tered since vaccinations began on December 28 and 161,930 people have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.

In all, 68,390 Almeria residents have completed their im‐ munisation process after receiving either two jabs or the one injection necessary with the Janssen vaccine.

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6 - 12 May 2021

Fiestas takeaway HUERCAL DE ALMERIA’S San Jose Obrero fiestas began with traditional drinking chocolate and churros for almost 200 senior citizens.

Owing to the current anti‐Covid restrictions they were presented with takeaways, explained Huercal de Almeria mayor Ismael Torres.

“This is the start of fiestas that will be very

limited and different but still special,” he said.

“We began with the most important collec‐ tive, the Third Age, which usually participates most, but has been the worst‐hit by the pan‐ demic,” Torres added. “We wanted to do our bit so they can enjoy Huercal’s fiestas despite the situation.”

SPAIN’S National Statistics Insti‐ tute (INE) for 2018 show that Huercal de Almeria had a net per capita annual income of €16,450.

This was the province’s highest, followed by Almeria City’s €15,050 with both Roquetas and Pulpi on €13,650.

Next, in descending order,

Figure it out came Vera, Huercal‐Overa, Al‐ box, Mojacar, El Ejido, Macael, Tijola, Carboneras, Olula, Garrucha, Cuevas del

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Almanzora and Vicar.

Nijar was amongst the less well‐off with an annual net in‐ come of €8,750 for every man, woman and child.

Nationwide, Barcelona with €19,950 was at the top of the list of Spain’s big cities,slightly ahead of Madrid (€19,250) and followed by Valencia (€16,450) and Sevilla (€15,050).

Kidnap story didn’t wash RESPONDING to an emergency 062 call, the Guardia Civil went to the aid of 41‐year‐old kidnap victim. He explained he had managed to escape from three hooded men with foreign accents who abducted him at gunpoint before bundling him into a car. They then drove him to Playa de los Muertos in Carboneras where they threatened and attacked him.

FOUR HUNDRED metres of wooden walkways connect both sides of Vera’s Lagoon at the mouth of the River Antas.

The Lagoon is officially pro‐ tected as a Site of Community Importance owing to its plants and wildlife which includes nu‐ merous birds living there year‐ round, although it also pro‐ vides a resting place for migratory species on their jour‐

While taking his statement, officers noticed sev‐ eral contradictions and when they questioned him more closely the supposed victim finally admitted that he had invented the kidnap to justify breaking the seal on his boat which had been impounded by the Guardia Civil.

He now faces charges of falsely reporting a crime.

Vera’s boardwalk path neys between Africa and Eu‐ rope.

Thanks to the wooden boardwalk, the public can cross the zone while avoiding traffic on the road that links the Puer‐ to Rey and Las Marinas.

The slatted sections of wood that were installed by the town hall last year are still in good

condition but the path was re‐ cently overhauled, ready for the summer season, municipal sources explained.

Wood has had to be used for the walkways as the Coastal Authority, Costas requires them to be removable owing to their closeness to the mar‐ itime strip, they added.

Bitter blow for Aguadulce THE Aguadulce en Marcha political party protested about the substitution of an Aguadulce road sign.

The sign on the main road telling drivers they were leaving the Aguadulce boundary in El Cañarete has been replaced by another indicat‐ ing that they are leaving Roquetas de Mar. Aguadulce might be part of Roquetas, but it is also a town in its own right and was treated

as such when the road was part of the central government’s network, Aguadulce en Marcha argued on its social media pages.

Now that the road has reverted to Roquetas, its name has disappeared in El Cañarete.

“Roquetas’ mentality is obvious. It does not re‐ spect us as one of the municipality’s towns,” the party complained. “It has been trying to erase the name of Aguadulce for 30 years."

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NIBS EXTRA Kitten season ANIMAL rescue centres are currently overwhelmed with kittens who are ready to go to loving homes, or soon will be.

This particularly applies to Maz’s Canine and Feline Rescue (634 304 498) in the Albox area, as well as PAWS-PATAS (www.paws-patas.org) whose shelter is located between Los Gallardos and Turre.

AVE advance THE central government’s Subdelegate insisted that Almeria receives more funding from Madrid than any other Andalucia province and was third in line nationally. He also announced that €655 million would be spent this year on the Murcia-Almeria high-speed AVE train, with advances on all sections apart from Pulpi-Lorca.

Big business THE National Police arrested 47 people in Almeria on drugs-related charges during the first three months of this year, confiscating half-a-ton of hashish and 600 kilos of marihuana.

They also located 24 indoor plantations and 685 illegal power connections as well as 12 firearms and €116,000 in cash.

Easy boarding A DOZEN bus-stops in Almeria City are being remodelled to make them entirely accessible and safe for all members of the public. City hall’s Mobility councillor Maria del Mar Garcia Lorca also pointed out that the €30,000 modifications improved manoeuvrability for drivers when arriving at the busstops and leaving.

Women doctors THE National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that 1,407 women doctors practised in Almeria Province last year compared to 1,384 men. Almeria is the only province in Andalucia where women medics outnumber their male counterparts, with INE’s 2020 records revealing a regional balance of 22,374 males and 20,712 females.

More jobs ROQUETAS Town Hall has engaged 13 new employees thanks to a recently-signed municipal contract with the AVS security firm. Eight of the new staff will be working as security guards and five as telephonists and receptionists, each on a year’s contract to begin with.

6 - 12 May 2021

She bravely shaved it!

DID Gemma Brave the Shave?

Of course she did!

Last month we told readers how Gemma Moreton-Clark, part-owner of Cordob’r in Zurgena, intended to raise money for the local Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) cat sterilisation programme with a sponsored head-shave on May 1.

She also organised a raffle at the Cordob’r where the shave would be held, donating the first prize.

The day arrived and Gemma said goodbye to her hair but raised an astonishing €1,000 and with more cash still coming in, the final total is expected to exceed €1,200.

GEMMA MORETON-CLARK: Shorn, but the local TNR programme will be €1,200 the richer.

Raffle prizes included a hamper from Brenda Baglin, plus a long list of contributions from local bars and

businesses that have all been affected by the Covid pandemic but still gave generously.

Other members of the community deserved a pat on the back, not only for raffle tickets and sponsoring the shave but for attending the event and generally providing support for the programme.

TNR is so important because female cats can become pregnant six weeks after giving birth and while feeding a current litter. As a result, one female kitten can produce 20,000 descendants in four years.

Neutered male cats do not feel the need to protect territory or find and defend females, eliminating the fights that can result in major injuries and disease.

Alive thanks to a Guardia Civil A GUARDIA CIVIL officer saved the life of a baby of seven months that had choked on plastic and a bottle top.

The drama occurred in Roquetas late at night when officers on a routine patrol in the 200 Viviendas neighbourhood noticed sev‐ eral women screaming and calling for help.

One had an unconscious baby in her arms, its eyes were rolled back and there

Tourists’ choice AS Almeria prepares for its sec‐ ond summer of the pandemic it can also prepare for a good tourist season.

According to the online hotel reservations website www.que hoteles.com, national and inter‐ national tourists are choosing Almeria this summer.

At present the Costa de Alme‐ ria is one of Spain’s five most popular destinations along with the Canary Islands, Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and the Costa de la Luz on Andalucia’s Atlantic coast.

The website also revealed that although future visitors are mak‐ ing province‐wide reservations, Mojacar and Roquetas stand out as favourites.

All‐inclusive holidays account for 30 per cent of Almeria’s sum‐ mer 2021 reservations so far, which is seven percentage points up on 2019, the website said.

Holiday apartments bookings ‐ 23 per cent of the tally to date ‐ are three percentage points high‐ er than in 2019.

“But the most striking aspect is the great increase in refundable reservations, accounting for 99 per cent of the total. Flexibility regarding cancellations is key for clients,” the website said.

was blood in its mouth.

While one of the officers called for an am‐ bulance, the other took the baby in his arms and after performing the Heimlich manoeu‐ vre succeeded in making it eject a piece of plastic.

Seeing that the baby was still failing to re‐ act, he put a finger in its mouth and man‐ aged to extract a bottle top, after which it

began breathing and started to cry.

Overcome with nerves and in shock, the child’s mother and aunt also needed atten‐ tion after they both fainted, the officers re‐ vealed afterwards. They accompanied the mother and baby to the nearest health cen‐ tre where medical staff assured them that the child was only alive thanks to their rapid and decisive action.

Take a photo or video ALMERIA’S Guardia Civil is or‐ ganising a photography and video competition to cele‐ brate the force’s 177th an‐ niversary.

There are two age groups, one for those aged between 14‐18 and another for over‐18s.

There are also two sepa‐ rate categories for black and white and colour photos.

Entries should be sent via the WeTransfer programme

to the opcalmeria@gmail. com email address while videos, lasting a maximum of 20 seconds, should be upload‐ ed to Instagram, the Guardia Civil organisers explained, with the guardia_civil_almeria label and the #177añosg calmeria hashtag.

Rules and conditions can be consulted on the Almeria force’s Twitter account, Almería @gcalmeriaopc, as

well as Guardiacivilalmeria on Facebook and guardia_civil_ almeria on Instagram.

Closing date is May 16 with awards for the prize‐winners presented during the Guardia Civil’s 177th anniversary events.

More information is avail‐ able from the Almeria Guardia Civil’s Oficina Per‐ iférica de Comunicación (950 621 956 or 680 411 337).

Bicycle-friendly Nijar More interaction NIJAR, which now belongs to the Cycling Friendly project, has mapped out 10 routes for cyclists.

Taking in the coast and the mountains, the routes cross the area from north to south and from east to west, revealed Nijar’s mayor Esper‐ anza Perez and Tourism councillor Tonibel Sanchez.

Announcing Nijar’s official status as a bicycle‐ friendly municipality, they explained that the routes, which can be downloaded directly to a mobile phone via a QR code, include easy‐to‐ne‐ gotiate mountain passes as well as spectacular views.

“These routes are not an isolated initiative but another element in the town hall’s post‐Covid re‐ covery plans that include not only spending on public works but also services and projects that complement Nijar’s tourist offer,” they said.

ADRA Town Hall is investing more than €53,000 in creating a new website.

The project, which was included in the project that sets out the municipality’s Sustainable and Integrated Urban Devel‐ opment Strategy (EDUSI) plan, will be co‐ financed by the EU’s Regional Develop‐ ment Fund.

The new website will have a Trans‐ parency section that gives the public ac‐ cess to municipal procedures and finances, as well as a municipal App for mobile phones, explained Adra’s mayor Manuel Cortes.

“We want Adra residents to be able to interact more easily with the town hall by using a more modern design and the newest technology,” he added.

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Preparing for visitors LAST year the Junta maintained and im‐ proved 1,265 kilome‐ tres of forest paths throughout Andalucia.

“This signifies more fire prevention, more protection for our mountain zones and more employment in rural areas,” said Car‐ men Crespos, the Con‐ sejera (Head) of the Junta’s Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Devel‐ opment department.

“This is an injection of public funds that will contribute to post‐pandemic recov‐ ery,” she said during a recent visit to El Nacimiento Recre‐ ation Area in Laujar de Andarax.

Her department has spent more than €40,000 on preparing the zone and the Monterrey path for visitors, Crespo an‐ nounced as she toured the area accompanied

by Laujar mayor, Al‐ mudena Morales.

Work included pruning trees, remov‐ ing stones that had fallen during minor landslides and provid‐ ing more rainfall‐ runoffs, Crespo said.

“From an environ‐ mental point of view Laujar is a most im‐ portant municipality that we must look af‐ ter in partnership with the town hall,” she added, while applaud‐ ing Almudena Morales’ commitment to safeguarding Lau‐ jar’s ‘extraordinary’ natural heritage.

During her visit, Crespo made a call for everybody to act re‐ sponsibly and take care of Andalucia’s mountain areas and forests as the region begins to open up once more.

“We are asking for the utmost precaution and awareness,” she insisted.

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6 - 12 May 2021

Free TIE Advice FREE advice and processing of applications for the TIE ‐ for those who arrived in Spain before December 31, 2020.

The Almanzora Group of Friends (AGoF), Albox, is host‐ ing an event on Thursday May 27 when a representative of the International Organisa‐ tion for Migration (IOM) will be providing free help with the post Brexit residency pro‐ cess.

The IOM has been funded by the UK government to pro‐ vide assistance with the resi‐ dency process to UK Nation‐ als living in seven regions of Spain, including Andalucia.

As part of this campaign, t h e I O M h a s b e e n g i v i n g i n‐ formation to UK nationals on residency requirements and

giving practical support, both in person and online, to help individuals complete applica‐ tions for the TIE. A representative came to the AGoF centre on March 26 and helped applicants to com‐ plete the necessary forms and to make appointments in Almeria for these to be pro‐ cessed. This included chang‐ ing current residency forms/ cards for the new TIE. Their help was most appre‐ ciated and we asked if they could return. A representa‐ tive has arranged to come again on Thursday May 27.

To book an appointment: email: UKnationalsSP @iom.int email subject: Albox Appointment

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from Front page » RECENTLY Vera and District Lions became associate members of Mojacar Red Cross, who support families in need in Mojacar, Garrucha, Turre and Los Gallar‐ dos.

On a visit to the Red Cross it was evident by the empty shelves in the food store that stocks were run‐ ning low. It was explained there was approximately enough food for one more week to feed 40 families, all of whom have the appropriate paperwork to con‐ firm they need support.

Although Vera and District Lions have helped the Red Cross in the past, the club has now committed to monthly financial support.

It is possible for anyone to become an associate member either as an individual or a business for as lit‐ tle as €5 a month. This commitment means they can plan for the future. However, if you wish to donate food or cash just visit the Red Cross offices, open in the mornings where there are both Spanish and En‐ glish‐speaking staff to help.

They need dried food, flour, sugar, sauces, cooking oil, tins of fish etc. Also cleaning products, household and personal hygiene products.

Please consider supporting if you can. Lions Presi‐

LIONS PRIDE dent Andy Pearson said, “I visited last year with some food packages and saw full shelves, this time I was devastated how little resources remained.”

Vera and District Lions support food banks all over the area on a regular basis, helping Turre and Vera monthly and others when there is a need.

Since their formation Vera Lions Club have been strong supporters of Asprodalba in Vera. This disability support and occupational therapy organisation has both residential and day care facilities. In November the club agreed to help with a donation of €2,500 to fund the purchase of a specially adapted vehicle.

There is now a more pressing need to build an ex‐ tension to their residential premises which can accom‐ modate 16 residents in order to accommodate six more local people in need of their specialist services.

The club has agreed to redirect the original funding of €2,500 and increase the grant to €5,000 to help with the extension, so Asprodalba can carry on their amazing work.

Every little helps farmacias CONFRIDES‐L’ABDET Town Hall’s income was recently re‐ duced by €200 a month.

Local mayor Ruben Pico de‐ cided to waive the €200 that pharmacist Jose Manuel

Zaragoza pays each month to occupy municipally‐owned premises.

The last council meeting ap‐ proved the four‐year agree‐ ment in a move that Pico

trusts will ensure that the far‐ macia can remain open. “Los‐ ing essential services is a factor that has favoured the exodus of the young,” Pico said. Far‐ macias are a symbol for vil‐ lages.”

The Confrides‐L’Abdet farma‐ cia also helps, in a modest way, to create employment as Zaragoza also employs a part‐ time assistant from Confrides.

The two linked mountain vil‐ lages in the Marina Baja have a combined population of 187, of whom roughly half are elderly.

They would have problems go‐ ing elsewhere for their medica‐ tion, Pico pointed out.

“It is one of my obligations as mayor is to take necessary deci‐ sions,” he explained.

“If we don’t help each other, we run the risk of finding our‐ selves without residents,” Pico warned. Jose Manuel Zaragoza makes the 45‐minute journey to and from Confrides each day from his Altea home, highlight‐ ing the difficulties that threaten rural farmacias.

“Most of us with farmacias like these aren’t in it for busi‐ ness,” Zaragoza said, “but be‐ cause of a vocation to serve.”

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Tax returns now due BRITS in Spain are being told what they can claim against their tax returns.

According to the press, while the date by which residents in Spain can file their tax returns is June 30, many people do not know what can be claimed against their returns.

The tax return, known as la declaracion de la renta, is normally completed by anyone who lives in Spain for more than 182 days a year.

For those who divide their time between several countries or have property or businesses in other countries, international tax treaties show where a person is a resident for tax purposes.

Those who are tax resident in Spain who earned €22,000 and over in 2020 must file a return.

However, experts are saying that some people are unsure on what can be claimed against their tax returns and although much of the tax deductible expenses depend on the criteria and regulations of each autonomous community, there are some common deductions

Claiming expenses. on bills related to education or self-employed income.

Self-employed people can claim back some expenses related to where they work, including electricity, water, internet or telephone bills.

They can also claim back some medical expenses, including deductions for their own and their family’s health insurance premiums for children under 25 up to a maximum of €500.

Those who are self employed can also deduct clothing that is used exclusively for work, as well as for public transport costs or work trips. They can also claim back for training expenses, including for conferences or learning materials.

Other deductible expenses include banking services, salaries of employees or the payment of independent external services in Spain.

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The 6K Any Way Challenge 2021- And They’re Off! UNABLE to have the Walk again this year Walk for Life are once again challenging people to do six kilometres any way and some people just couldn’t wait! Jane and Mick Thomas have already finished their walk and raised a fabulous €235, Irene Lee-Barber is in the last week of walking 6k a day for six days each week for six weeks and Maureen Boulton, recovering from leg surgery, has walked up and down her street 20 times to complete the 6K. On Friday May 7 Jo Paige and Maria Heed will set off at 9am and do the 6k Walk route.

Later that day a big group from Slim Well Spain will do the route. Their leader, Toni Harrington says they will burn 400 calories. Later that evening a team from Arboleas Town Hall will also walk the route.

On Saturday May 8 at 9am Stuart Copland will do the walk

Working on cruises to restart THE Junta de Andalucia has initi‐ ated working meetings to discuss how to resume cruise activity in the port of Malaga which was in‐ terrupted due to the Covid pan‐ demic.

These actions took place after the approval by the Governing Council of the Protocol of the Min‐

istry of Health and Families of ac‐ tion for cruises of exclusively na‐ tional itinerary and with a stop‐ over in Andalucia.

This was the first of many meet‐ ings that will bring together the dif‐ ferent administrations in order to guarantee that the return of cruise activity to Malaga port is carried

Tests sold in a Farmacia Mick and Jane Thomas. route, he does it every year in memory of his wife Vicki. Representing Smooth FM, Richard Bond will do the route on the same day at 10am.

There are many more, walking, running, swimming and cycling. Check Walkforlife Arboleas on Facebook for updates. If you want to get involved and raise money to help people in this area who are affected by cancer you can get a

Irene Lee-Barber. sponsorship form from Total Entertainment Arboleas and Albox message Walk for Life on Facebook or go to the website walk4lifearboleas.com.

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THE National Police have arrested a 24‐year‐old man who is an employee of a pharmacy in El Ejido, accused of selling PCR tests with falsified negative results, at a price of €130 each, to citizens of Mo‐ roccan nationality to enable them to travel back to Morocco as well selling flight tickets to Morocco.

As reported, the accused worked in the pharma‐ cy where antigen and antibody tests were taken, and results given, so it was easy for him to falsify the results to state the person’s test was negative.

During the course of their investigation, the offi‐ cers discovered an elaborate scheme in place, where the PCR, antigen, and antibody tests were sent from the accused’s place of work in El Ejido to a laboratory in Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, for analysis, and then by gaining access online to computer data stored in Barcelona, with his knowl‐ edge of Arabic, he falsified the original document.

out in a safe environment for both visitors and the city. The Malaga Port Authority is confident that the majority of cruise ship trade lost during the coronavirus pandemic will return to the area in the sec‐ ond half of this year, having al‐ ready received several reserva‐ tions from shipping companies.

68% in Favour of Vaccine Passports A REPORT by the Fundacion Centro de Estudios Andaluces (CENTRA) has found that 68 per cent of people in Andalucia are in favour of vaccine passports.

According to Spanish press, 60.9 per cent of those in Andalucia also think Spain is vaccinating slower than other countries.

It also found that 64.7 per cent of the partici‐ pants in the study said the Junta de Andalucia’s handling of the vaccinations was good, while, 50.8 per cent are in favour of Andalucia buying its own vaccines. A further 38.4 per cent said they do not think all the doses that Spain is re‐ ceiving are reaching the region.

The news comes after Spain’s government announced that visitors with vaccination pass‐ ports will not need tests or have to quarantine.

Mr Gonzalez said the free certificate will al‐ low officials to check if a person has received the vaccine.

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‘Double Call’ Scam VISHING: Used to get the user’s data or to change provider.

Speed limits SPAIN’S DGT has revealed an exception to new speed limits from May 11.

The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) recently announced changes to Spain’s Highway Code with a series of modifications set to come into force from May 11.

These include changes to the points system of driving li‐ cences, road assistance rules, the wearing of a seatbelt and hel‐ met, overtaking and speed limits in cities and towns.

With regards to the latter, the speed limit on urban roads has been reduced to 30km per hour in an attempt to cut down on the number of accidents, and 20km per hour on roads with a single carriageway.

But not all roads are going to change their generic traffic limit.

According to DGT, there are roads that will maintain their maxi‐ mum speed.

These are urban roads with three lanes in each direction, one being a cycle lane, in which ‘the generic speed limit does not change, it will be 50 km/h,’ explained the DGT in its tweet.

SPAIN’S Organisation of Con‐ sumers and Users (OCU) is warn‐ ing of a new type of telephone con known as the ‘double call’ scam, in which those targeted are first threatened with a price increase in their rates to get victims to change their phone supplier, impersonat‐ ing the companies and even the OCU itself.

The double call scam is actually a ‘vishing’ technique, in which cyber‐ criminals impersonate companies to get the user’s data or, as in this case, to change telephone provider.

How to avoid becoming a victim of the scam: Firstly, verify with your phone company if these increases are real.

If you are offered a good offer over the phone, always ask them to send it to you in writing by email.

Remember that if you decide to contract a new rate over the phone, you have 14 calendar days to withdraw from the contract.

Be wary of those who do not identify themselves properly. And be even more suspicious of anyone who uses the name of OCU to en‐ courage you to agree to a contract, product or service.

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Balearics on the TV Adventure Parks Reopen A NEW documentary series exploring piracy in the Balearics is being filmed in Mallorca by Canal History, IB3 and Mapa films. Filming locations around the island will include the Caves of

Drach, Bellver Castle, Almu‐ daina Palace, Poble Espany‐ ol, Cap de Pera Castle, Cap Blanc, Alcudia Beach, Pollen‐ sa and on board the Galera Rafael Verdera sail‐boat ‐ which dates back to 1841.

Concerns Over Brits’ Holidays BRITS in Spain have spoken of concerns over the risk of losing money after travellers in the UK are being told to book holidays before the government has published its list of green list coun‐ tries.

However, expats have said they are concerned that the move could see family and friends losing money if they book holidays to Spain and it is then not placed on the UK government’s green list of countries not requiring quarantine to travel to.

Travellers to green list countries will still have to take PCR tests to go abroad, however.

The UK government is due to announce which countries Britons can travel to from May 17 without having to quarantine when returning to the country, however officials are warning that prices are likely to rise once the list is published.

Several airlines are offering refunds if customers have to can‐ cel holidays however, with Jet2’s Holiday Refund Guarantee of‐ fering a refund to customers if the company has to cancel a holi‐ day.

The documentary, ‘Pirates in the Balearics,’ will dive in‐ to the details of piracy in the Mediterranean and the im‐ pact it had on the Balearic Islands. The documentary will depict where bloody battles took place, with the islands being the perfect strategic point to attack, take refuge and make preparations for attacks on other ports in the Mediter‐ ranean.

Broadcast in four episodes and through writers, the military and historians, the series will discover how pri‐ vateers played a pivitol role in the power disputes in the Mediterranean. It will also investigate the most impor‐ tant battles and incursions and the impact they had on the inhabitants of the is‐ lands.

The documentary will broadcast on Canal HISTO‐ RIA, via Movistar+, Voda‐ foneTV, OrangeTV, Virgin Telco, Euskaltel, R, Telecable and Local Cable and on IB3 Televisió.

AFTER Catalonia’s Procicat civil protection body lifted the coron‐ avirus restrictions on amusement parks, PortAventura World, the theme park located just south of Tarragona, will reopen its doors for the first time on May 15 since October 16, 2020, while its Caribe Park will reopen on June 23.

The company will reopen Por‐ tAventura and Ferrari Land, and the Colorado Creek, plus the PortAven‐ tura, and Gold River hotels, which had all been originally scheduled to reopen on March 27, but had to be postponed due to the extension of the restrictions.

After spending €5 million on se‐

WATER PARK: Is set to open up again on June 23. curity measures, PortAventura World will be hoping that every‐ thing keeps heading in the right di‐ rection, but they will still enforce the mandatory use of face masks, and there will be a limit on the ca‐ pacity allowed into each facility.

Barcelona’s Tibidabo amuse‐

ment park will also reopen to the public on May 15, with health mea‐ sures in place for both visitors and staff, as agreed by the relevant local authorities, with some of the regu‐ lar activities being adapted to suit the current restrictions, and the use of more outdoor shows.

1.5M AstraZeneca Doses SPAIN’S government has sent 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines across different regions, meaning that during this week Spain will have given two doses of vaccines to five million people.

The doses will be joined by 1,750,000 further from Pfizer.

Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, said the doses will mean Spain will have vaccinated five million people.

The news comes after it emerged that 100 per cent of all those over the age of 80 in Spain have now received at least their first jab and 78 per cent have received both doses.

It was also revealed that 67 per cent of those aged between 70 and 79 have also received both doses.

The vaccination of people aged 60 to 69, who have been given the AstraZeneca drug, has acceler‐ ated with almost half of this age group having received their first dose.

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€10.5m Investment On Resurfacing

THE Almeria Provincial Council has announced the approval of three projects by the Junta de Andalucia, that will improve the network of rural roads in the Poniente Almeriense - sometimes also known as the ‘sea of plastic,’ due to the many greenhouses that cover the whole region - in Roquetas de Mar, Adra, and Enix, with an investment of €10.5 million to be spent between 2020-21 on the 103 municipalities of the province of Almeria. Óscar Liria, the councillor for Development, pointed out that the rapid execution of these works, financed 100 per cent with its own funds, will reach each and every one of

RURAL ROADS: Improvements works are taking place. the towns in the province of Almeria, with 21 stretches of road being resurfaced and ren-

ovated in the region.

Mr Liria said, “Roads give access to farms, agricultural and

livestock farms, and are also important for the promotion of rural tourism. They guarantee the safety of workers, neighbours, and visitors, and are the starting point of the Almeria agri-food that we export throughout Europe.”

Work in Enix will include the improvement of a mountain track that crosses a cattle track, which starts from the AL-3402 to the Rural Complex ‘Las 3 Patas’ and also connects the urbanisation ‘Cortijo del Rey’.

Hefty penalties SPAIN’S General Traffic Department (DGT) has recently announced a number of changes to the Highway Code which will come into force from May 11, including alterations to the points system on driving licences and speed limits including hefty penalties for the use of mobile phones, GPS, headsets and radar trackers.

The new law will see an increase in the number of points which can be deducted from your licence from three to six along with a €200 fine for anyone who has a mobile phone in their hand while driving, whether they are using it or not.

But in a major change, motorists will be pe-

nalised for using mobiles on conference too, an offence which will carry a €200 fine and the loss of three points.

The same applies to the use of GPS and headsets while driving which, according to the new regulations, ‘causes a distraction and is, therefore, a serious offence.’

The only exception to the rule is the use of transmitter systems when giving motorcycle driving lessons, and in the corresponding exam.

The only way to legally use a mobile phone while driving is to use an approved hands-free system integrated into the car.

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NEWS

Third Country travel ban THE Spanish Government has again extended restric‐ tions on entry into Spain by air for passengers from countries outside the Euro‐ pean Union and the Schen‐ gen Area until May 31.

The Ministry of the Interi‐ or revealed on April 20 that the country will consider lift‐ ing the entry restrictions on non‐essential travel from Eu‐ ropean countries while ex‐ tending the existing restric‐

tions on entry to Spain from countries where Covid‐19 variants have widely spread.

The new order, which fol‐ lowed one that expired on April 19, was effective until May 3, 2021, but the mea‐ sures have been extended again for a further 28 days.

As from May 1, travellers coming, with or without stopovers, from India, Brazil, South Africa, Botswana, Co‐ moros, Ghana, Kenya,

Promising April S P A I N’S Health Ministry has reported fewer than 3,000 deaths last month for the first time since September 2020, a significant drop that experts at‐ tribute to the roll‐out of vaccines and may indicate that the country has seen the worst of the pandem‐ ic.

In an update on April 30, the ministry confirmed there were 2,757 Covid‐related deaths in April, the first time there have been less than 3,000 fatalities in six months.

In the last 30 days, as more than eight million doses of vaccine have been administered, mortality has plummeted from the more than 200 deaths per day reported in March to around 90 last month.

The Carlos III Health Institute is still analysing the data, which can take three weeks, but the trend ap‐ pears to be promising, reports El Pais.

Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Peru and Colombia may only en‐ ter national territory if they are ‘persons resident in Spain or Andorra.’

Other exceptions are Spanish citizens and their “spouse or partner with whom they maintain an analogous conjugal union registered in a public reg‐ istry, and those ascendants and descendants living un‐ der their care, provided they are travelling with or to join them.”

“They may also do so if they are transport person‐ nel, sailors and aeronautical personnel required and it is necessary to carry out air transport activities,” added the ministry.

And this applies to “diplo‐ matic, consular, internation‐ al organisations, military, civil protection and mem‐ bers of humanitarian organi‐ sations, in the exercise of their functions” or “persons who can document reasons of force majeure or situation of need, or whose entry is permitted for humanitarian reasons.”

Police And Endesa

DURING the first quarter of 2021, the National Police of A lmeria and E l E jido, in a joint effort involving the

electricity provider, Endesa, has uncovered almost 700 illegal and fraudulent electricity connections in prop-

erties in the region.

Properties with illegal connections can overload the supply lines by pulling too much power from the grid, and in some cases, it can prove very dangerous, with some properties know to have had fires as the result of an overload.

Between January and March 2021, officers from the Almeria National Police conducted 40 house searches, concentrated mainly in the neighborhoods of Pescadería, Quemadero, Almendros, Puche, or Torrecárdenas, while officers from El Ejido carried out six searches, mostly in Pampanico, Las Norias, or the Llanos de Vícar.

A total of 95 officers took part in the anti-fraud operations, accompanied by technicians from Endesa, with 685 illegal connections being found, and all searches are the result of a preliminary extensive investigation by the police.

NEWS

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EWN 13

Nestle cut 600 jobs Robot cooks paella CHOCOLATE confec‐ tioner, Nestle, is plan‐ ning on cutting 600 jobs in the UK, to close a factory and move the produc‐ tion of some of their products to Europe.

Nestle slashing jobs.

New Apple warranty APPLE now has to offer at least a three‐year warranty on their products in Spain after the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a new national consumer protection standard.

The recent approval means the extension of the existing war‐ ranty period to a mandatory three years. The move aims to bring the country a step closer towards a circular economy, according to Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

It is not yet known when the new regulation will take effect, however, it has been confirmed that it will have an impact on all new Apple devices sold in Spain, including Mac devices, iPad and iPhone models.

As well as the extended warranty coverage, manufacturers will also be required to keep spare parts for a minimum of 10 years ‐ this is up from five. The limitation period will also be ex‐ tended from three years to five.

There are further details in the new consumer protection regu‐ lations, such as allowing customers to choose whether they would like a replacement device or a repair on a defective prod‐ uct.

Officially, Apple only offers a one‐year warranty on iPhone products, in addition to local rights provided by country‐specific consumer laws.

The Swiss‐owned firm is plan‐ ning the closure of its site in Fawdon, in Newcastle, at the end of 2023. This will entail cutting around 475 jobs and a further 98 job cuts in York.

A spokeswoman said the company “regrets the uncer‐ tainty” the changes will have on workers and their families.

However, the confectionery gi‐ ant added: “Nestle Confec‐ tionery has an ambitious busi‐ ness strategy in the UK and these proposals are intended to support our long‐term success in an increasingly competitive category.”

However, the GMB union’s national officer Ross Murdoch said it was “sickening” that lives and families were “being ruined in a ruthless pursuit of profits.”

He added: “Nestle is the largest food producer in the world, with astronomical profits. It can afford to treat workers right. In‐ stead, they’ve allowed factories to deteriorate, outsourced pro‐ duction overseas and now slashed 600 jobs.”

SPAIN has created the world’s first robot that cooks paella!

There’s a fine art to making paella, one of Spain’s most‐ loved traditional Valencian dish‐ es, and for those of you who have tried it at home, things can go horribly wrong.

But two Spanish companies have teamed up to create a robotic arm which can pull off the perfect paella without burn‐ ing a grain of rice.

The world’s first robotic paellero was unveiled at a hospi‐ tality industry fair last month, and is already stirring up plenty of interest.

A joint project between the young company br5 (Be a Robot 5) and the paella stove manufac‐ turer Mimcook, the robot has at‐ tracted attention from hotel and restaurant chains, as well as a Japanese firm.

Not surprising really as the robotic arm means all that is necessary is to place sofrito, rice, stock and seafood into a paella pan, and the robotic arm, which is hooked up to a computerised stove, will do the rest.

Br5’s founder, Enrique Lillo,

told the Guardian the invention is the latest in a long line of labour‐saving devices that “save humans drudgery and allow them to focus on creativity.”

“It’s a multifunction robot: right now it cooks rice because it’s hooked up to a Mimcook,

but you could hook it up to a fry‐ er so it fries potatoes, or you could attach a grill so it can cook burgers, or an oven so it can cook pizza or croissants,” said the engineer, who named his company after the robot from the 1986 film Short Circuit.

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NEWS

Tapas Bar challenge Champagne is protected.

TAPAS bars in Barcelona, called champanillos may see a legal challenge from the Champagne region of France if the European Court of Justice responds to a legal opinion that was published on Thursday 29 April.

The industry body that represents Champagne makers in France has made a complaint

Indian Variant In Vigo THE Galician Health Service, Sergas, confirmed on Saturday May 1, the discovery of the B1.617 (Indian variant) subvariant 2 of coronavirus in three of the five crew members of the Prometheus Leader ship which had docked in Vigo, with Sergas assuring that the outbreak is controlled and that the two sailors hospitalised in the Vithas Fátima in Vigo are stable.

After the outbreak was reported on the ship, which docked on Thursday April 29 in the Vigo Trasatlánticos Port, all 22 crew members were tested for coronavirus, with five returning a positive result by the Microbiology Service of the Álvaro Cunqueiro de Vigo Hospital, and two were admitted.

The Singapore-flagged cargo vessel has a crew made up of Filipino and Indian nationals, and had arrived in Spain from Southampton in England, and now with the crew all quarantined, it must remain in the port, unless its owner decides to replace the crew and continue for it to continue on its route.

that the Spanish bars violate their designation protected under EU law by using a name similar to and derived from ‘Champagne.’

The court’s advocate general has said that even though the EU law is in place to prevent protected designation of origin (PDO) products from “all parasitic commercial practices,” which includes services, “does not constitute ‘use’ within the meaning of that regulation, of the PDO ‘Champagne’.” In this case the use of the word ‘champanillo.’

Champanillo comes from the Spanish word for Champagne, ‘champan’, with the diminutive at the end making a word meaning ‘little Champagne’.

The advocate general’s opinion added a warning that, if a champanillo has a sign or a featured link to Champagne then this could infringe the protected Champagne name.

Opinions from the advocate general are considered by the court, though it is not bound to follow them.

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NEWS

Cloth vs surgical masks WhatsApp Privacy Policy Cloth masks are effective.

CLOTH face coverings are as ef‐ fective as surgical masks at pro‐ tecting against Covid according to researchers from the Univer‐ sities of Bristol and Surrey.

A study has found that well‐ fitting, three‐layered cloth masks can be as effective at re‐

ducing the transmission of Covid‐19 as surgical masks.

Face coverings suppress the onward transmission of the virus through exhalation and protect the wearer on inhala‐ tion.

In a paper published by the Physics of Fluids journal, the re‐ searchers detail how they looked at how liquid droplets are captured and filtered out in cloth masks by reviewing and modelling filtration processes, including inertial impaction.

Inertial impaction does not filter as a sieve or colander does ‐ it works by forcing the air in your breath to twist and turn in‐ side the mask so much that the droplets can’t follow the path of the air.

Instead, the droplets crash in‐ to fibres inside the mask to pre‐ vent inhalation.

The team found that, under ideal conditions and dependent on the fit, three‐layered cloth masks can perform similarly to surgical masks for filtering droplets ‐ with both reducing exposure by around 50 to 75 per cent.

WHATSAPP is again at the cen‐ tre of controversy as it delays it’s planned privacy policy. The terms of service has become one of the biggest controversies that the company has suffered since its inception over 10 years ago.

In February 2021, changes in the data collection and informa‐ tion that Facebook would send meant that many users stopped using WhatsApp and even start‐ ed a campaign against it.

Now, a new message sent to users who have not yet accepted these changes announces that the time for acceptance of these conditions is delayed until May 15.

How is WhatsApp changing?

WhatsApp has now published a chart series which help to un‐ derstand what this is about, but in Europe, the privacy policy is different from that of the rest of the world. The data that What‐ sApp shares with Facebook is much more limited thanks to the General Data Protection Regula‐ tion (GDPR).

WhatsApp have made it clear in their latest statement that,

“there are no changes in data ex‐ change practices in the Euro‐ pean region (including the Unit‐

ed Kingdom) arising from the up‐ dated Terms of Service and Pri‐ vacy Policy.”

Nose iD App for Dogs AS reported by D P Review, Iams are to launch a new app, No‐ seiD, that can reunite lost dogs with owners through nose scan‐ ning. The company plans to use smartphone cameras to scan dog’s noses, acting as a unique fingerprint, allowing someone to track the lost dog back to its owner.

Losing a dog can be a very stressful and traumatic experience, for both dogs and owners. Iams says of the app: “The app helps you capture your dog’s unique nose print and guides you through what to do in case your buddy ever gets lost. It can even help people who have found your dog get in touch with you faster.”

Unlike microchips, NoseiD isn’t at all intrusive (it should be said, however, microchips are a great idea for pets should they be‐ come lost or stolen). Owners take a photograph of their dog’s nose, with the dog facing the camera head‐on.

Owners can also include photographs and a physical descrip‐ tion of their dogs on the app, helping to speed up the process of reuniting owners and lost canines.

4-day working week SINCE the outbreak of the Covid pandemic working from home has become the norm for millions of workers and the crisis has highlighted the fact that roles and industries previously deemed unsuitable for flexible working can be adapted.

The Spanish Government announced last month plans to invest €50 million in an experiment to test whether there would be advantages in changing to a four-day working week without damaging the economy.

It is anticipated that the Government will invite some 200 companies throughout the country to take part in the three-year experiment starting later this year. But a study on Business Flexibility and Competitiveness released by the Adecco Group Institute and the Cuatrecasas Institute of Legal Strategy in HR, in which 500 Spanish companies were surveyed - the majority believe the move would not work.

For 74 per cent of the firms consulted, it is “impossible to implement the four-day working week in the short term,” although 14 per cent see it as feasible as long as the salary is proportional to the time worked.

The remaining companies (12 per cent) believe that it could even be achieved, maintaining the current salary level.

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Economic Recovery Plan To The EU SPAIN has said it will press ahead with its economic recov‐ ery plan despite an expected delay in the arrival of European Union support funds, financing initial investments via govern‐ ment borrowing, President Pe‐ dro Sanchez said on Tuesday, April 27.

The Community Executive now has two months to evalu‐ ate the plan and, if it gives its approval, the Member States will then have four weeks to ap‐ prove it by qualified majority.

Spain formally presented its recovery, transformation and resilience plan to the EU with details of the reforms and in‐ vestments, amounting to €70,000 million, which it plans to execute between 2021 and

Low PCR Prices on offer RYANAIR: Offering a discount.

Animal Cruelty

Sanchez is pressing ahead.

2023 with the help of the aid from the European recovery fund.

“We have received the re‐ covery plan from Spain,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the social network Twitter. The European funds

will help “to finance the coun‐ try’s recovery through projects related to the ecological and digital transition, cohesion and gender equality,” said Von der Leyen.

The 348‐page Spanish plan is structured around four pillars: green transformation; digital transformation; social and terri‐ torial cohesion; and gender equality, the community execu‐ tive specified in a statement.

In addition, the Commission added, it includes measures on sustainable mobility, energy ef‐ ficiency in buildings, clean ener‐ gy, digital skills, digital connec‐ tivity, support for the industrial sector and SMEs, and social housing.

NEWS

A 27-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for eight months at the Gibraltar Magistrates’ Court after being found guilty of cruelty to animals, in what a spokesperson for the local veterinary clinic de‐ scribed as the worst case of neglect and cruelty it had seen to an animal in 32 years.

Dyson Lima, had taken his dead German Shepherd, ‘Rooke’, to the vet’s clinic on October 27, 2019, and the state of neglect was so bad that the Royal Gibraltar Police were informed by an Animal Welfare Officer, and he was later arrested and charged with the crime of cruelty to animals.

Lima claimed in his court hearing that his dog had suddenly deteriorated in health over the weekend, a claim that was reject‐ ed by Stipendiary Magistrate, Charles Pitto, as photos were shown displaying the dog’s emaciated body, with the shape of its rib cage exposed.

Expert witnesses described how the Alsatian dog was clearly ill‐treated and neglected to such an extent that it would have gone through ‘extreme suffering’ before it died, while another witness described the dog as looking like images he had seen from concentration camps in the Second World War.

Your Belgian estate agent at the coast!

EXPATS are speaking of hopes of seeing family and friends again this summer after Ryanair announced it was offering low PCR test costs.

Brits in Spain have been speaking of their hopes of seeing family again this summer after Ryanair announced cheap PCR tests for travellers.

According to the press, Ryanair is offering half price PCR tests for its passengers, reducing the costs to £60 (€69).

Ryanair’s discount for passengers will be available on both pre-departure tests, and testing kits for days two and eight once a holidaymaker is back in the UK. The airline has said that discounts will be available to UK-based customers only.

Expats had previously reported concerns that the price of PCR tests, which can cost up to £214 (€246), could stop some from being able to afford to see family and friends this summer.

The news comes after a study found that Brits in the UK would pay up to €57 for PCR tests for travel.

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EUROPEAN PRESS

EUROPEAN NIBS DENMARK

FRANCE

Sustainable beer

Manslaughter?

IN order to celebrate the fact that it has become Denmark’s first CO2 neutral brewery, Svaneke Bryghus has launched a new beer, appropriately named Game Changer which comes in a white and green can. The brewery has solar panels on the roof and is 100 per cent organic.

HAVING received requests for assistance from the relatives of three people who died of blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccination, French prosecutors are reviewing evidence following postmortems to decide whether they should bring charges of involuntary manslaughter against the company.

NETHERLANDS Party on POLICE in Holland were hard pushed to deal with the thousands of young people who decided to enjoy impromptu parties in Amsterdam, Breda, Haarlem and Utrecht to celebrate the King’s birthday on April 27, ignoring safety rules and riot police arrested 50 people in Amsterdam alone.

BELGIUM Crazy price

NORWAY Munch bunch AFTER considerable delay, made worse by the pandemic and the unavailability of chosen fire doors, the new MUNCH Museum has finally been completed and is expected to open to the public in Oslo by this autumn once the 20,000+ paintings, prints and drawings are hung.

FINLAND

ALTHOUGH the saying goes ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ it certainly does for one house plant in Ghent where a 15cm tall rare Monstera Adansonii variegate (Swiss cheese plant) was sold for €1,799 as it had white and yellow leaves compared to €10 for green leaves.

Recovery plan

GERMANY

SWEDEN

Court order

Explosive whale

IN response to an action taken by environmentalists against the German Government a court has ruled that the country’s 2019 climate protection act is in part unconstitutional as it doesn’t give details of how greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced after 2031.

AFTER the corpse of a humpback whale appeared off the beach of Mörbylånga, locals started to turn up to have a look. The local council has however warned people to keep away as there is a strong possibility that internal gases could make it explode.

A DECISION has been made by the Finnish Constitutional Law Committee that any vote in favour of the European Union €750 billion recovery plan will have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of MPs. If this is not achieved the plan could be cancelled.

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NEWS

Scrambling to get residency AS many are still scrambling to get their Spanish residency, TIE (Tarjeta de identidad de extranjero) completed after the Brexit withdrawal, it has become apparent that third parties are taking advantage of some British people’s desperation.

One EWN reader told us "I contacted a law firm in Valencia to enquire about how much it would cost me for them to assist me with getting my residency, I had tried to look through all of the information I needed and was a bit overwhelmed with getting my documents together.

I arrived before the withdrawal agreement came into force on January 1 this year and had been told it wouldn’t cost much to have a gestor help me.

“The lawyer quoted me €1,500 (£1,302.57) for the help - which I thought was extortionate. I then went to my town hall for advice and they gave me a list of gestors in the area, I went to one of them who has sent my resi-

dency application and quoted me €120 (£104.21) for the service.

“I think it’s worrying that other firms are charging so much and preying on the fact people are so confused and stressed about applying for

the residency.”

Of course, there will be variants in the fees due to the documents the gestor may need to assist applicants with obtaining, however, such a huge difference in price does beg the question

of whether some third parties may be taking advantage of Brits who are desperate to acquire their residency in Spain.

You can get free help via Age in Spain and Citizens Advice Bureau Spain.

Medical School Applications A S a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, Spain has seen an increased interest in health and wellbeing, diet and fitness, but the health crisis has also had an impact in the choices youngsters are making about their future careers.

A ccording to data released by the Department of Universities, applications to study Medicine at Valencian public colleges has jumped by a substantial 30 per cent for the 20212022 academic year.

According to Jesús Andicoberry, coordinator of the Valencian Community of the State Council of Medical Students (C E E M), while Medicine has always been a very popular course, the reasons for the increased

demand this year are twofold: “The romanticisation of the profession and the humanitarian raison d’être of Medicine, which lies in helping others.”

T he upsurge may seem surprising since the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the stressful working environment for those in the medical profession, who, for more than a year now have put their own lives at risk in order to treat those less fortunate.

One attraction may be the fact that a university course in Medicine sees students receive six continuous training years, compared to a maximum of four offered by most other courses.

Officces at No 155a Carretera Estation, H cal-Overa & at No 26 Avenida Huer Andalucia, La Alffo oquia.

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FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Negative territory SPAIN’S Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 taking it back into negative territory according to the National Institute of Statistics. GDP is defined as the final value of the goods and services produced in a specified period.

Cryptocurrency ALTHOUGH Bitcoin commands all of the headlines due to its massive increase and fall in value, US bankers JP Morgan suggest that the second most popular of this type of digital asset, Ethereum has not been badly affected and continues to rise in value having exceeded €2,300.

British boom AS part of Barclays Bank first quarter report, CEO Jes Staley has indicated his belief that the British economy is on course for its biggest economic boom since 1948 as the country’s vaccination programme allows consumers to go out and spend what they have saved during the pandemic.

Retail sales THE Spanish National Institute of Statistics has released good news about March retail sales which rose by 18.1 per cent, a significant reversal following 12 months of decline attributed to the pandemic and closure of many shops for so long.

Dixons Airport closures ELECTRICAL retailer Dixons Carphone is to close airport store business Dixons Travel after it was hammered by the pandemic and the end of tax-free tourist shopping from January 2021.

The stores will be the first major casualty of the post-Brexit ‘tourist tax’, which was bitterly fought by retailers, hospitality and other tourism-dependent businesses. Experts said the 35 Dixons Travel stores would be the first of many closures, possibly triggering off tens of thousands of job losses.

In London, there are eight Dixons Travel outlets at Heathrow and four at Gatwick.

26

STAT OF WEEK

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€1.12 billion

is the profit earned by Spanish bank BBVA in the first quarter of 2021 which is slightly more than earned in the first quarter of 2020 prior to the lockdown.

Property taxes down IN a bid to help stimulate the economy and to gener‐ ate taxable income, the Junta de Andalucia has re‐ duced two taxes with im‐ mediate effect until the end of 2021.

First there’s the Transfer Tax which is payable when‐ ever a ‘second‐hand’ prop‐ erty is sold which ranged from 8 per cent to 10 per cent and will now be charged at a flat rate of 7 per cent regardless of the

price or make up of the property.

Until the Decree‐Law 7/2021 of April 27 came in‐ to effect, there was an 8 per cent tax on properties selling for up to €400,000, 9 per cent on the next €300,000 and 10 per cent on anything higher, there‐ fore the more expensive the property, the bigger the saving.

New builds are not in‐ cluded as they attract an

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Can they cut trees?

Who is responsible for trimming danger‐ ously overgrown trees in a Community?

If trees are outside my fence but so tall one is leaning towards the busy road and likely to fall on my house or road? Community says I cannot touch the trees because they are the other side of my fence. The town hall said exactly the same. Nobody is allowed to trim or cut trees anywhere. Administrator said first it was town hall responsibility. Another time he said it was Junta de Andalucia. A committee member told me that we pay for trimming of trees in our fees. There are many big trees cut down to two meters or less all over our Community.

J O (Costa del Sol) All of the answers to your questions YOU AND THE LAW are correct. The IN SPAIN basic rule is that you cannot trim or cut down trees on your land. The en‐ forcement of this rule might fall to any of the official bodies you mentioned, depending on the circum‐ stances. If a tree is likely to cause danger, you must seek permission from the body in charge. It appears that the two‐metre stumps around your community have been illegally cut.

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.

IN a speech given on April 29, Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain warned that many businesses were still finan‐ cially vulnerable having seen incomes decline dur‐ ing the pandemic.

He admitted that the out‐ look has improved, but warned that despite the

element of IVA (VAT) and at the moment, with prop‐ erties you shouldn’t be hit with two separate taxes.

The same Law also saw a reduction of Stamp Duty to 1.2 per cent from 1.5 per cent which is charged on the notarisation of any document that has an economic value and un‐ like Transfer Tax, a new build does require that the deed of sale be no‐ tarised and recorded in

public registries.

There has been a great deal of building across An‐ dalucia, especially on the Costa del Sol and it is hoped that these reduc‐ tions will encourage the sale of properties generally throughout the au‐ tonomous community.

This information was provided by Marbella based JCA Abogados, but other lawyers will also be able to advise.

A stressful time

Prepaid plans.

WHEN someone passes away in Spain, their relatives must carry out several procedures in a short space of time.

Doing this abroad, in a for‐ eign language, makes this painful time more difficult; which is why it makes sense to have a prepaid funeral plan to handle things for you.

If someone dies of natural causes, call the Emergency Ser‐ vices (112) for a doctor to certi‐ fy the death. Make sure you have the person’s ID. If the death is not due to natural causes, the Local Police must be called (092).

Once the doctor has issued

the Certifi‐ cado Medico de Defuncion, the funeral parlour (tanatorio) should be contacted to take the body. Within 24 hours, take the temporary certificate to the civil registry office (Reg‐ istro Civil) to get the official death certificate. Get several copies. You will then need the burial or cremation licence from the Civil Registry office, as in Spain, this should go ahead within 48 hours of death.

To ensure your family has fi‐ nancial and emotional support when you pass away, enquire about the different prepaid fu‐ neral plans available.

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

Bank of Spain warning fact that the Spanish Gov‐ ernment had helped con‐ siderably with loans and fi‐ nancial support such as ERTE, the economy was still heavily indebted and the solvency of many compa‐ nies both large and small

was under scrutiny.

Effectively many owe more money and have less income to service their debts which increases the possibility of defaults and bankruptcy.

This in turn could re‐

bound upon the banks who could face some losses if companies do go under, even though part of the loans given during the crises may be underwritten by the Government.

He believes that not only

Cuban trade blockade IT was in 2019 that the Don‐ ald Trump Administration passed the most stringent laws trying to block not just American companies but others around the world with trading with Cuba.

During the Obama admin‐ istrations relationships were established and sanc‐ tions started to be relaxed and due to the long‐stand‐ ing relationship with Cuba, Spanish businesses saw it a decent potential market.

With the election of the new President many Span‐ ish politicians believe that the blockade should be stopped and the council of the Andalucian town of Ara‐ hal has written to the Na‐ tional Government demand‐ ing that it takes action to protect Spanish/Cuban commercial interests.

Staff shortage AS British diners get ready to return to reopened bars and restaurants in May, owners are finding it difficult to recruit staff according to a recent BBC re‐ port.

It appears that many former workers have left the hospitali‐ ty industry due to the lock‐ down and many European workers have left the UK due to Brexit.

Popular recruitment website caterer.com literally has thou‐ sands of hospitality jobs situat‐ ed throughout the UK on offer and also warns that ‘no shows’, people who make reservations and then don’t turn up, could also hit restaurant profitability, especially if ‘walk‐ins’ are not allowed. must the Government look at those who need contin‐ ued financial assistance, but lenders also have to consider the reform of debt structure to try to ensure that the minimum number of businesses face closure.

Banks also need to con‐ sider their bad debt provi‐ sions.

28 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

6 - 12 May 2021

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MONEY WITH US

LONDON - FTSE 100

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C LOSING P RICES M AY 3

COMPANY PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) 3I Group 1.282,00 1.284,50 Admiral Group 3.129,0 3.246,0 Anglo American 3.070,0 3.141,0 Antofagasta 1.865,50 1.911,00 Ashtead Group 4.651,0 4.734,0 Associated British Foods 2.308,0 2.325,0 AstraZeneca 7.715,0 7.867,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 570,20 574,60 Avast 477,70 485,20 Aveva 3.480,0 3.538,0 Aviva 400,30 400,70 B&M European Value Retail SA565,80 567,20 BAE Systems 506,20 509,00 Bank VTB DRC 1,326 1,330 Barclays 175,50 180,24 Barratt Developments 772,00 778,00 Berkeley 4.627,0 4.678,0 BHP Group 2.184,50 2.217,00 BP 303,00 307,45 British American Tobacco 2.682,0 2.695,0 British Land Company 518,40 522,00 BT Group 164,95 165,55 Bunzl 2.327,0 2.339,0 Burberry Group 2.061,0 2.091,0 Carnival 1.681,4 1.702,0 Centrica 56,66 56,66 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.502,0 2.533,0 Compass 1.572,50 1.592,50 CRH 3.427,0 3.494,0 Croda Intl 6.764,0 6.822,0 DCC 6.284,0 6.430,0 Diageo 3.251,0 3.279,0 DS Smith 420,80 427,50 EasyJet 1.036,00 1.042,00 Experian 2.792,0 2.805,0 Ferguson 9.132,0 9.256,0 Flutter Entertainment 14.840,0 15.435,0 Fresnillo 823,60 839,20 GlaxoSmithKline 1.339,60 1.348,80 Glencore 295,20 301,20 Halma 2.588,0 2.599,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.719,50 1.722,50 Hikma Pharma 2.440,00 2.468,00 HSBC 452,80 457,00 IAG 202,80 205,15 Imperial Brands 1.507,50 1.512,00 Informa 562,20 567,60 InterContinental 5.152,0 5.230,0 Intermediate Capital 2.186,00 2.196,00 Intertek 6.138,0 6.176,0 ITV 121,00 121,50

% CHG. 1.269,00 3.124,0 3.064,5 1.865,50 4.643,0 2.279,0 7.502,0 566,60 477,60 3.473,0 397,60 551,60 501,40 1,286 174,62 762,00 4.601,0 2.183,50 301,75 2.632,5 513,20 163,25 2.305,0 2.050,0 1.654,0 55,60 2.499,0 1.552,00 3.416,0 6.722,0 6.262,0 3.246,5 417,40 1.007,00 2.768,0 9.058,0 14.765,0 820,20 1.330,80 294,90 2.561,0 1.667,00 2.379,00 448,95 198,00 1.473,50 555,20 5.130,0 2.108,00 6.062,0 119,40

NET VOL 1,50M 486,18K 3,19M 1,65M 750,46K 773,85K 3,37M 2,30M 3,02M 420,44K 6,36M 2,80M 6,81M 3,82M 133,10M 2,54M 308,12K 3,70M 53,34M 5,04M 2,25M 23,22M 821,06K 810,92K 1,24M 17,53M 354,12K 2,76M 612,82K 249,40K 430,57K 2,10M 2,63M 2,04M 1,72M 416,66K 440,08K 1,63M 7,81M 24,46M 569,77K 1,14M 743,34K 30,79M 19,54M 2,43M 2,39M 295,54K 875,34K 251,36K 11,03M

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

237,70 3.250,0 720,80 272,40 45,44 7.400,0 466,00 162,90 1.965,00 910,60 196,60 7.802,0 33,93 2.097,00 3.132,0 711,40 1.534,50 6.451,0 1.879,50 500,40 614,00 6.076,0 104,62 6,91 1.364,11 1.365,0 1.299,0 682,40 638,00 1.821,00 15,74 3.608,0 1.259,00 1.005,50 2.477,0 1.570,50 1.625,50 11.815,0 1.468,00 1.361,50 519,60 277,50 179,60 221,00 430,70 4.231,5 968,20 136,80 3.244,0 975,60

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

238,60 3.295,0 724,80 274,20 45,72 7.502,0 471,90 166,75 1.990,50 914,90 197,70 7.908,0 35,38 2.193,00 3.165,0 717,60 1.544,00 6.461,0 1.882,50 504,40 619,40 6.164,0 105,44 7,05 1.380,90 1.381,0 1.311,6 683,20 643,20 1.840,00 15,92 3.644,0 1.288,00 1.011,00 2.480,0 1.574,50 1.638,00 11.925,0 1.472,50 1.369,50 527,00 279,10 181,05 221,70 431,30 4.262,0 969,80 137,84 3.314,0 994,20

235,10 3.224,0 709,20 270,80 45,14 7.372,0 456,80 162,25 1.951,50 894,30 194,15 7.794,0 33,93 2.089,00 3.108,0 709,20 1.522,00 6.350,0 1.861,00 495,80 610,20 6.062,0 101,46 6,90 1.360,40 1.360,6 1.293,4 682,20 636,20 1.816,50 15,70 3.568,0 1.256,50 997,00 2.422,0 1.543,00 1.622,00 11.780,0 1.454,00 1.343,50 516,40 272,50 178,60 219,75 421,70 4.192,5 947,00 135,32 3.232,0 974,20

6,14M 538,32K 1,66M 11,87M 184,48M 1,00M 1,73M 7,68M 1,19M 6,00M 15,21M 534,98K 2,02M 1,32M 723,70K 1,29M 3,34M 1,29M 2,60M 2,70M 1,95M 2,71M 34,35M 2,25M 6,44M 6,44M 9,03M 2,69M 1,94M 12,66K 3,34M 233,07K 2,08M 1,62M 796,07K 3,70M 1,45M 135,88K 1,69M 1,38M 9,82M 4,81M 21,04M 17,64M 3,23M 3,15M 2,00M 57,44M 659,49K 2,60M

1.14845

0.8695

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ......................................1.20385 Japan yen (JPY)......................................131.995 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0989 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4361 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.004

currenciesdirect.com/mojacar • Tel: +34 950 478 914 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES M AY 3

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 197,14 2.410,12 3.467,42 239,64 131,46 234,31 228,11 103,07 50,91 53,98 325,08 348,45 323,67 223,04 141,88 57,53 162,73 153,81 236,08 74,50 252,18 132,62 133,42 230,32 709,44 398,80 57,79 233,56 139,91 186,02

CHANGE 198,99 2.427,14 3.554,00 240,66 133,56 236,77 228,39 105,39 51,23 54,27 329,82 352,82 325,84 223,58 143,83 58,43 164,33 154,49 236,29 75,08 253,08 133,88 133,67 234,50 715,47 401,86 57,86 235,93 139,99 186,32

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 196,13 2,51M 2.402,16 1,96M 3.462,50 7,01M 234,20 3,42M 131,07 109,84M 232,70 10,38M 224,88 3,95M 102,97 13,73M 50,41 19,93M 53,69 14,91M 324,50 26,33M 347,20 2,10M 321,61 3,12M 221,04 2,22M 140,55 8,87M 57,07 30,73M 162,52 9,08M 153,01 11,71M 233,87 2,64M 73,48 17,23M 249,60 30,95M 132,05 5,64M 132,27 9,19M 229,52 5,02M 666,14 40,76M 398,35 2,33M 56,96 16,86M 232,29 10,26M 139,11 6,56M 183,54 7,87M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES M AY 3

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

+4.79% +2.08% +7.87% +4.32% +4.14% +4.48% +4.80% +0.98% +10.18% +9.44% +2.99%

40.76M 669,770 2.08M 2.06M 3.07M 2.74M 3.51M 119,059 105,867 4.38M 2.59M

-1.64% -2.40% -8.44% -1.41% -2.78% -6.98% -3.20% -0.81% -2.63% -1.09% -8.35%

2.24M 34,724 2.74M 328,219 150,985 15,084 1.37M 1.96M 455,621 271,379 7.12M

Most Advanced Tesla Inc. Equinix Inc. Five9 Inc. Willis Towers Watson PLC Atlassian Corp. PLC Cl A Fortinet Inc. BioNTech SE ADR First Citizens Bancshares Inc. Cl A NVE Corp.

Overstock.com Inc. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Most Declined Alphabet Inc. Cl A Broadcom Inc. 8% Pfd. Series A DexCom Inc. Booking Holdings Inc. CoStar Group Inc. II-VI Inc. 6% Pfd. Lam Research Corp.

Alphabet Inc. Cl C Trade Desk Inc. Cl A MercadoLibre Inc. Skyworks Solutions Inc.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

Currency outlook: Euro firms as EU vaccine rollout accelerates

POUND: Sterling started off strong in April, but struggled to sustain these gains.

ASK THE EXPERT Peter Loveday Contact me at euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com

Euro EUR/GBP: Up from £0.85 to £0.86 EUR/USD: Up from $1.18 to $1.20 The euro stumbled at the end of March as EUR investors were unnerved by a resurgence of coronavirus cases throughout Europe, and the subsequent renewed restrictions in France and Germany.

However since then, we have seen the euro steadily climb higher throughout April. EUR gains have been partly due to a pullback in the US dollar but are mostly attributed to the accel‐ eration of the EU’s vaccine rollout.

Increasingly positive EUR data releases have also lent support to the single currency recently.

Looking ahead, the immediate focus for EUR investors will be on the Eurozone’s latest GDP release. This could put considerable pressure on the euro as the preliminary figures from the first quarter look set to confirm the bloc suffered a double‐dip recession over the winter.

Pound GBP/EUR: Down from €1.16 to €1.15 GBP/USD: Up from $1.38 to $1.39 The past month has seen the pound trade in a wide range as optimism over the reopening of a large portion of the UK economy was coun‐ tered by profit taking and vaccine concerns.

Sterling enjoyed a strong start to April, with the news that the UK government would be proceeding with its plan to reopen the economy on April 12 helping propel the GBP/EUR ex‐ change rate to a one‐year high of €1.18.

However, the pound struggled to sustain these gains as it was undermined by a bout of profit taking as well as concerns over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has seen wide use in the UK. Turning to May, the Scottish parliamentary elections will be a key focus for GBP investors as a strong showing for the Scottish National Party could raise the possibility of another indepen‐ dence referendum.

US Dollar USD/GBP: Down from £0.72 to £0.71 USD/EUR: Down from €0.84 to €0.83 The US dollar came under considerable pres‐ sure throughout April, mostly as a result of a se‐ ries of dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

These saw Powell mostly dismiss concerns over rising inflation, whilst also suggesting that the Fed’s next rate hike is unlikely to take place until at least late 2022.

Also denting USD exchange rates has been a weakening of safe‐haven demand in recent weeks as an improving global economic outlook has helped to lift the market mood.

Looking ahead, the upcoming US GDP figures could provide a boost to the US dollar in the short‐term, amidst expectations for a healthy expansion of growth in the first quarter. Howev‐ er, the longer‐term outlook will largely depend on market sentiment, with USD likely to suffer if the mood becomes increasingly upbeat.

Currencies Direct have helped over 325,000 customers save on their currency transfers since 1996. Just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more about how you can save money on your currency transfers.

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6 - 12 May 2021

EWN 29

30 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

6 - 12 May 2021

FEATURE

Heaven forbid they would fight

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT SOME 25 years ago (yep) I wrote that if we didn’t recognise the ‘enemy within,’ one day it will all be far too late. At that time I likened it to large numbers of Germans being allowed to integrate into our societies before the Second World War. Had that situation arisen we would have been defeated and under the domination of Adolf Hitler before you could say Jackboot! Thankfully, we were not at the time influenced by woke lefties and the culture of the politically correct. Well we are now!

If we don’t do something to overrule these naïve numbskulls I’m afraid there is a strong chance that our children will never know the peace and freedom millions of our ancestors fought and died for. What I have noticed of late is the increasing numbers of highly placed military and Secret Service personnel appearing on our media outlets.

Many tell of the changing face of war and are warning that in the so‐called ‘grey zone’ the temperature is rising rapidly and we are simply not giving it enough attention. Cyber‐attacks and

the blatant assassination attempts on foreign soil by the Russians, Chinese and Saudis should be raising red flags but they are not. We prefer to concentrate on organisations akin to the BLM, or whether we should ‘take the knee’ or promote diversity and political correctness to levels of pure insanity. And it’s not only in the UK. Last week a thousand members of the French military, including 30 ex generals, published a letter stating their concern that huge areas of their cities had become no go Muslim enclaves.

They also chastised the Macron government for constantly refusing to acknowledge that immigration was mainly at the root of their civil disobedience and terrorist attacks.

Of course the lefties immediately dismissed the letter as ‘far right propaganda’ which is akin to accusing someone of racism, the usual card these people flourish when an argument they have no answer for tends to disagree with their own biased views. Well to my mind it’s high time we put the wokers out and the awakes in! These high ranking military

personnel are not ‘far righters’ they are intelligent professional experts, warning us of very possible civil or worldwide war. Our complacent politicians really do need to get a grip and start listening to these men and women who, when it hits the fan will be our first and last line of defence. The very least we can do is to give them our full cooperation and support.

Of one thing I can assure you, if it does kick off, the wokers, the lefties and those they choose to support, will desert us in droves. Heaven forbid these people would actually have to fight FOR the country that succours them.

‘So now it’s ‘Shedding’! Apparently, any contact with males who have had the ‘jab’, is now interfering with the menstrual cycle of their partners. No change there then.

Keep the faith.

Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com.

Mon. Wed. Fri. 1am till 4.

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

WARNING: Many tell of the changing face of war.

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

END OF THE LINE FOR LANDLINES? 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

ARE you a mobile phone devotee or are you still, err, attached to your landline?

Mobile and online calls are increasingly being made while the amount of time Brits spend mak‐ ing landline calls has fallen by more than 60 per cent in the last seven years. Although most UK families still have a landline connection, only 54 per cent actually use their landline to make calls.

The only reason some have a landline is be‐ cause it is part of the contract and, in rural areas, there’s no fibre optic cable anyway. Reportedly, nearly half of under‐25s don’t have a landline. But then, how many under 25s can afford a place to warrant having one installed?

As for scam calls, scammers target both landline and mobiles with programs that just dial random numbers until someone answers.

Romance fraud (scamming someone out of money by pretending to want a relationship) increased during lockdown. According to UK Fi‐ nance, there was a 20 per cent increase in bank transfer fraud linked to romance scams in 2020 compared to 2019 and £68m lost ‐ an‐

other increase on the previous year.

But apart from the fake recorded messages from ‘Amazon’ or ‘HMRC’, beware the ones try‐ ing to gather personal information or sell you fake computer protection, home appliance guaran‐ tees or loft insulation that all start by telling you your name and address in order to delude you in‐ to thinking they are genuine. Having got this info straight out of the phone directory, of course.

We are told that every call made today is on record somewhere in some gigantic ‘provider’ database. We are also told our ISP ‘footprint’ re‐ mains available even if we personally wish to delete it. We are bombarded online to protect our privacy, we accept cookies, then must update new ‘security features’ constantly. Yet the sim‐ plest tracing of spam calls on any phone is almost impossible. Why? However, should you get a text from someone claiming to be the First Lord of the Treasury say‐ ing they can ‘fix’ things for you, it probably IS gen‐ uine...

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’, ‘Retribution’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora‐johnson.net) available online as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, paperback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cude‐ ca cancer charity.

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

6 - 12 May 2021

EWN 31

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The Repair Shop Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Dragons' Den Ian Wright: Home Truths BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather

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Weather Elections 2021 BBC News BBC London News Weather Celebrity Mastermind The Hit List I Can See Your Voice Elections 2021 Update Casualty Casualty BBC News

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Dynasties BBC News BBC London News Weather Countryfile Antiques Roadshow Call the Midwife The Pursuit of Love BBC News BBC London News Weather Match of the Day 2

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SUNDAY 09/05

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Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show Drugs, Cops and Lockdown - Panorama EastEnders Fawlty Towers Three Families BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather

7:00pm

Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News CThe One Show EastEnders Holby City For Love or Money NewThree Families BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather Weather

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Escape to the Country Money for Nothing Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show Garden Rescue The Repair Shop The Great British Sewing Bee BBC News at Ten

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MONDAY 10/05

FRIDAY 07/05

THURSDAY 06/05

Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Dragons' Den Ian Wright: Home Truths BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather Weather

TUESDAY 11/05

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Nature's Microworlds Great Barrier Reef Eggheads Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Great British Railway Journeys Rick Stein's Long Weekends Great British Menu Saved by a Stranger Mock the Week

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Great Barrier Reef Eggheads Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Great British Railway Journeys Rick Stein's Long Weekends Great British Menu Saved by a Stranger Mock the Week Mandy

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Live Challenge Cup Rugby League Final Score Live Challenge Cup Rugby League Dad's Army Top of the Pops: The Story of 1987 Muhammad Ali: A Life in Ten Pictures When We Were Kings Cold in July

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Mississippi - Tales of the Last River Rat: Natural World Flog It! All That Glitters: Britain's Next Jewellery Star Catch Me If You Can This Farming Life Africa: Our Wild Adventures Gods of Snooker Alex Higgins: The People's Champion

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Richard Osman's House of Games Great British Railway Journeys Nigellissima Between the Covers The Great Northern Garden Build Motherland Inside No 9 Have I Got a Bit More News for You

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Eggheads Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Great British Railway Journeys Rick Stein's Long Weekends All That Glitters: Britain's Next Jewellery Star Hospital QI XL Newsnight

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River Walks: The Lea The Joy of Painting Citizen Kane The Eyes of Orson Welles Handmade A History of Art in Three Colours The Joy of Painting River Walks: The Lea Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema: British History Movies

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River Walks: The Lea The Joy of Painting Citizen Kane The Eyes of Orson Welles Handmade A History of Art in Three Colours The Joy of Painting River Walks: The Lea Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema: British History Movies

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Francesco's Venice Michael Palin's New Europe Blinded: Those Who Kill Blinded: Those Who Kill The Killing The Killing The Killing Michael Palin's New Europe Francesco's Venice

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Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century Britain's Pompeii The Windermere Children: In Their Own Words The Sky at Night Horizon: Cosmic Dawn The Real Moment of Creation Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore

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The Pennine Way The Joy of Painting Fake or Fortune?

Gettys: The World's Richest Art Dynasty NewDancing Nation Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore Danceworks: Firedance Latin Fever Danceworks: Sharon Eyal A Basic Instinct

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FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

EMMA WALLSWORTH WELCOME to our new monthly article where you, your family and friends can all learn to make simple herbal creams, balms and salves in the comfort of your own home, whilst learn‐ ing about the individual health benefits of the selected ingredients. Our articles will include different eco friendly living tips, which can help us all reduce our carbon footprint.

A Little About Us Our family live on a 28 hectare farm which is situated in the desert region of Almeria. We have left 25 hectares fallow, in the hope to rein‐ troduce lost local wildlife from previously over‐ worked farmed land. The last four years have been a real eye opener to see just how quickly the land has grown and flourished when left.

Within four months the wildlife started to move back in. Every year we have had an increase in visiting birds including golden eagles, eagle owls, little owls, bee‐eaters, an array of different finches, hoopoes and many more, reptiles in‐ cluding snakes and lizards, insects and mam‐ mals including a large herd of wild boar of all sizes.

We live an eco friendly lifestyle which for us personally involves recycling waste which in‐ cludes plastics and metals/paper and glass, we have a number of compost heaps that dispose of any other waste which is then turned into compost and is then used on our land. We con‐ serve water and minimise the use of electric,

Simply Natural FREE LEARNING with the Euro Weekly:

6 - 12 May 2021

EWN 33

just turning off and unplugging sockets makes a huge difference. All this helps us as a family re‐ duce our carbon footprint.

We have 120 almond and olive trees, we use the organic oil in our home‐made products. Our family support a number of local charities by do‐ nating an amount to them from every single sale we make. So far we support AA Dog Res‐ cue, Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre and we reg‐ ularly donate to the Arboleas families in need charity. We buy our padded envelopes from our local Spanish post office (Correos) as an amount from each envelope bought goes to the WWF Reforestation project. Our family Facebook page ‘The Simply Natural Group’ is open to everyone.

Please follow our progress by scanning the Facebook QR code below and like our page. Sub‐ scribe to our YouTube Channel QR code below.

Happy Learning and stay safe everyone. You can contact us at email: thesimplynaturalgroupltd@gmail.com.

Our next article will be on the 15th where you can learn how to make a soothing foot balm at home.

Face book The Simply Natural Group

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HOME-MADE PRODUCTS: We have almond and olive trees and make organic oil.

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

34 EWN

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6 - 12 May 2021

FEATURE

GO LOCAL

THE EUROWEEKLY NEWS is urging its readers to support local businesses in the com‐ munity by going 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 rediscover your local high streets, mar‐ kets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky independent business‐ es in your area.

Due to the Covid‐19 pan‐ demic, you may have to sup‐ port many local businesses by ordering online and making use of any click and collect services they can operate if you are unable to get out due to health reasons or lockdown restrictions.

The joy of shopping local means that independent busi‐ nesses can help support the local community.

Although it may be a euro or two cheaper elsewhere or online, consider where your money is actually going. By shopping at an independent 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 shopping in this way.

Many local stores support local charities, support and sponsor local sports teams and in many cases the small independent stores are actu‐ ally much more than just a small high street shop, they’re a family’s legacy, often passed down through numerous gen‐ erations and support not just the current owner but the generation before.

For those stores which are new, that extra couple of eu‐ ros spent there are supporting someone’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‐order your meat from a local butch‐ er and get your spuds from a local greengrocer, let us re‐ vive that community spirit and get to know our neigh‐ bours again.

You could also consider purchasing gift vouchers from local businesses to help them over the coming weeks, think‐ ing outside the box can often lead to some fantastic ideas.

Why not buy a meal for two, an hour’s tattoo time at a lo‐ cal studio, a hair cut at a local salon or an online study course for someone looking to change their career path.

As people are struggling with finances thinking about what friends and family may

actually need is important too. Whilst it’s nice to give a glamourous gift perhaps pre‐ paying a family member’s phone bill for the month would actually be a better gift.

Helping people alleviate stress and worry , give the gift of peace of mind through these difficult times.

Choosing to spend your money locally will really make a difference in the recovery of the local economy. When we buy local, our money stays lo‐ cal, and it strengthens the lo‐ cal economy in two ways.

First, buying local keeps mon‐ ey circulating within the local economy.

Studies have shown that lo‐ cal businesses recirculate a greater share of every euro as they create locally owned supply chains and invest in their employees.

Data shows that local retail‐ ers return 52 per cent of their

FEATURE

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SPENDING LOCALLY: Will make a difference to the local economy.

revenue back into the local economy, compared to just 14 per cent for national chain retailers.

Money circulating through the local economy benefits everyone who is a part of each transaction. For exam‐ ple, let’s look at a local farmer growing produce.

First, they sell to a local restaurant, which in turn pre‐ pares the fresh produce and sells it to local customers.

The farmer pays its local em‐ ployees and the restaurant uses revenue from sales to buy supplies from a neigh‐ bourhood hardware store.

This example illustrates how the recirculation of mon‐ ey in the local economy leads to a stronger financial founda‐ tion for our neighbours and communities.

Buying local also fuels new employment and job opportu‐ nities for people within our community. Studies show, lo‐ cally owned businesses em‐ ploy more people per unit of sales and retain more employ‐ ees over time.

A fantastic example of how to support your local commu‐ nity is with a Charity Gift cer‐

tificate, why not donate to your loved one’s favourite cause.

Just remember to follow the latest government advice and any guidance businesses have to keep everyone safe.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

Growing on you IF you are thinking of taking your beard to the next level this summer, now is a good time to think about what style you want to achieve so you can begin creating your masterpiece.

Beards generally tend to be trimmed neatly to create sharp cuts and an elegant appearance. However, increasingly many men have been letting their beard grow long, bushy and full.

These messy but masculine facial hairstyles work beautifully with many men’s hairstyles. In addition, there are so many ways to combine stylish haircuts and beards, including the transition between head and face hair.

Depending on your genetic, it netics and lifestyle it could take a few months to grow a thick beard. But once you have achieved the length you long for you can begin to play around with it.

There are many different ways to wear a long beard. The best long beards should be full and thick, with no irregular parts.

The great thing about full beards is that they are versatile and look great with short, medium and long hair.

They can even be combined with handlebar whiskers for a modern touch.

If your plan is to stylise a full beard this year, you will surely want to invest in some quality beard oil or balm to keep your facial hair soft. But be careful not to brush too much or become impatient, as you will never be able to grow your beard to your full potential.

LONG, BUSHY & FULL: Achieve your length and then experiment.

PETS

44

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Mature pets prefer to relax at home IF you have mature pets, you’ll know that often their sense of adventure diminishes.

They often prefer routines in their daily ex‐ ercise, their eating and resting times. It is worth remembering that if you are planning a trip later this year. Perhaps you are already making plans for a post pandemic get away.

Even if you are planning just a short trip you’ll know that you simply can’t travel with some pets. Mature pets may benefit from staying behind so they can follow their rou‐ tines 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

STAYING HOME: Ruby loves to sleep in the same spot every afternoon. started right now.

How does it work?

HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable 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 were delighted with the care and attention that HouseSitMatch took in helping us find the right person.

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.

Pussycat’s telling tails CAT’S tails are fascinating, seeming to appear as if they have a life of their own. They look like an antennae or some kind of detector that speaks a language all of its own.

In fact, the cat’s tail can open up a world of information to the own‐ er, making them better equipped to care for it. It is worth paying more attention to the tail movements, as it reveals their moods and inten‐ tions.

In general, a whipping tail makes most people instinctively stay away, as this action has the effect of making the cat look extremely majestic and powerful. This is an accurate response as it actually means that they are on high alert, nervous or potentially aggressive and it’s a brave person that even thinks about touching them. Vets ad‐ vise owners to pay attention to the whole body and not just focus on their tails. A cat that’s asleep can still tap their tail, which is due to dreaming or it could just be resting and focusing on something.

A straight tail and hooked tip means that the cat is calm and greet‐ ing you, but a straight‐up tail signals aggressiveness. If they have an arched back and a puffed‐out tail, it means they’re afraid of something and with a tail that curves downwards, they are on the defence.

A cat is calm when the tail is in a low and neutral position and finally if it decides to suddenly bolt, it’s just letting off some steam.

One of the main reasons for lameness in dogs is patella luxation THE patella is a small bone that sits in a groove (trochlea) in the femur in the knee. This is essential for the perfect functioning of the limb and in the case of patella luxation, it comes out of the trochlea. Most of the time it comes out towards the inner (medial) face of the knee and in less than 20 per cent it occurs towards the outer (lateral) face. It occurs mainly in small breeds or toys. It is due to a poor alignment of the limb as a result of poor development of the ani‐ mal, and can affect one or both limbs. It is a congeni‐ tal pathology. Sometimes it can be caused by trauma.

There are different grades of patella luxation, from grade 1 in which the patella is manually dislocated but returns to its normal place when pressure is released and the dog only limps sporadically to grade 4 where the patella always remains dislocated and cannot be replaced and limps always.

In moderate and severe cases, surgery is required to correct the dislocation. Techniques vary depending on the case: trochleoplasty (deepening of the trochlea), transposition of the tibial tuberosity, medial demoto‐ my and capsular imbrication. In grade 4, it sometimes requires correction of bony angular deformities. But my dog only limps a little. He takes a couple of steps with his leg raised but then he gets it right. It’s even funny. Is it absolutely necessary to operate?

Yes, during the time this condition occurs, the patella constantly jumps from one side to the other, ulcerating the cartilage of the same and of the trochlea. That is why it is convenient to operate when young and not wait for an adult to have permanent lameness due to arthritis generated.

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For directions, details and to find out more about our church activities please see our website http://www. almeria-anglican.com (10002) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Why not make this year the year you volunteer? Call and 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, www.britishle gion.org.uk/counties/spain-north ZURGENA Branch meeting on the first Thursday, Coffee Morning on the third Thursday and Buffet & Quiz Night on the last Tuesday of the month all at The Heathers La Alfoquia, for further details please email zurgenarblsecretary@ya hoo.co.uk - (253989)

DRAINAGE

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(200726)

For daily news visit www.euroweeklynews.com

SOLAR ENERGY SOLAR WIND POWER SOLUTIONS. Over 20 years installation experience. Established 17 years in Spain. Call Phil for competitive prices on 636 261 240 or email info@sunergyalmeria.com (283080)

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V60 modern with a luxury feel VOLVO’S high‐tech march to‐ wards electrification includes plug‐in hybrid models that offer a more practical solution to those who currently find pure electric isn’t for them.

The V60 is Volvo’s mid‐size es‐ tate and despite the popularity of SUVs Volvo estates are still in demand, and for good reason.

Forget any sign of utility because although these are load carriers (not in the same league as the square box Volvos of old but still pretty good) they are also packed with luxury touches.

Standard fare across all mod‐ els are such things as auto dim‐ ming mirrors, auto lights, high beam assist, auto wipers, key‐ less start, cruise, electric and power folding door mirrors, leather, heated front seats with electric adjustment and lumbar support, heated wiper blades, dual zone climate control and as you would expect from Volvo there is a plethora of standard safety kit.

Prices start from €39,994 (£34,855) and my test model was the T6 AWD Inscription (€53,648/£46,750 + a staggering €9,180/£8,000 of options) which

added, amongst many other items, ventilated seats, active lights that match the steering, keyless entry/exit and remote opening power tailgate, heated wiper blades add to the stan‐ dard array of features.

Power comes from a 2.0‐litre four‐cylinder unit mated to an eight‐speed automatic gearbox and all‐wheel‐drive for any kind of weather. With added electric power the V60 propels its rather large frame to the benchmark 100 kph (62 mph) in just 5.4 sec‐ onds and a maximum of 112 mph. In pure electric mode the Volvo can take you 48‐54 km (30‐34 miles) so enough for a commute, but whether you’re running a pure EV or a hybrid you really do need a home charging point to make EVs a practical proposition.

Gear changes are smooth, the refinement is excellent and the V60 has an air of unruffled calm even when doing 112 kph (70 mph UK limit) on a motorway.

It’s one of those cars that you feel could take you from one end of the country to the other and you would emerge with no aches or feeling in any way jad‐

ed. The interior is modern and minimalist but at the same time has a look and feel of a luxury car rather than a premium one.

It’s an object lesson in how light interiors can look so classy yet remain practical.

In case you haven’t gathered, I liked the V60, I liked it a lot!

6 - 12 May 2021

EWN 47

SPORT

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6 - 12 May 2021

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Sevilla’s Title Hopes Are Blown Apart IN a must‐win LaLiga Santander match on Monday May 3, at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla, six points adrift of leaders Atletico Madrid, hosted Athletic Club, and went down 1‐0, surely bringing the curtain down on their hopes of winning the title this season, for the first time since 1946.

Julen Lopetegui’s team was not short of chances, as Lucas Ocampos failed to bury a cross from Suso, and Unai Simon denying Sevilla’s top scorer, Youssef En‐Nesyri, on several occasions, but the first half was scoreless.

Growing in confidence, Ath‐ letic pushed more in the second half, with a low shot from Asier Villalibre going just outside the post, giving the home side a fright, which resulted in a counter‐attack almost being finished off by an Ivan Rakitic

IÑAKI WILLIAMS: Blasted a shot into the top corner. shot from outside the box.

Marcelino decided it was time to introduce the Williams brothers, with both producing chances, and Neco getting the ball into the net for Athletic Club, only to be ruled offside.

The hammer blow for Sevilla came in the 90th minute, as an‐ other counter‐attack by the vis‐ itors saw Iñaki Williams blast a shot into the top corner of the

net, and it was game over.

With this defeat, Sevilla re‐ main six points behind Atletico Madrid, and four adrift of Barcelona and Real Mardrid, with this weekend seeing two massive matches as the top four teams are in action against each other, with Barcelona hosting Atletico, and Sevilla travelling to play Real Madrid.

Valencia Back to Second BARCELONA made the short trip to the Mestalla in Valencia on Sunday May 2, knowing that only a win could keep them in the four‐horse fight at the top of LaLiga Santander, after both Madrid teams had won on Saturday May 1.

Once again, it was their Argentinian wizard, Li‐ onel Messi, who conjured up the goals to seal a hard‐fought victory that leaves Barca two points behind Atletico, with the two teams squaring up next weekend in a crunch fixture.

Barcelona could have been two up within the first 15 minutes had Pedri and then Araujo taken their opportunities better, with former Blaugrana keeper Jasper Cillessen keeping the latter at bay, and Valencia’s Uros Racic missing a good chance, in what turned out to be a pretty uneventful first 45 minutes.

A corner kick on 50 minutes opened the match up, as a Ter Stegen slip allowed Gabriel Paulista to head home for Valencia to put the home side ahead.

A handball by Antonio Lato after 57 minutes was Messi’s chance to level, but when Cillessen saved the Argentinian’s poor penalty, luckily Busquets was on hand to allow Messi to even‐ tually put the ball in the net for 1‐1.

With Barca pushing forward it was Jordi Alba who fed Frenkie de Jong, whose headed attempt was snuffed out but rebounded to Griezmann who

made no mistake on 63 minutes to put Barcelona 2‐1 up.

It was then time for the Messi magic show, as he curled a left‐footed free‐kick over the Los Che wall and into the net to make it 3‐1, after 69 minutes, though Valencia were not going to roll over, and a stunning long‐distance strike by Soler after 83 min‐ utes pulled them back to 3‐2, but, in the end, to see Barcelona edge Valencia and grab those vital three points.

MESSI: Sealed a hard-fought victory.