Euro Weekly News - Costa Blanca South 16 - 22 December 2021 Issue 1902

THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 30 - 33 Issue No. 1902

16 - 22 Dec 2021

All paid up ORIHUELA City Hall, which has 660 employees, has again outsourced its payroll management.

The contract has gone to a Cox‐based firm that spe‐ cialises in salary and Social Security payments and will receive €104,541 over three years with an optional two‐ year extension.

This measure was essen‐ tial, city hall explained, as there were insufficient hu‐ man and material resources to deal with the huge vol‐ ume of work involved.

Nor is this the local gov‐ ernment’s only outsourced service, as last May it en‐ gaged a firm of auditors to supervise city hall’s fi‐ nances.

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

RECOGNITION WELL DESERVED

Turn to page 2 » OFFICIAL HONOUR: Maureen Payne, with Ambassador Hugh Elliott, Consul Sarah Jane Morris, Torrevieja’s mayor and International Relations councillor.

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16 - 22 December 2021

THE Alcachofa Vega Baja association recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The gala event at Orihuela’s Lonja was attended by representatives from the Vega Baja’s economic, cultural, gastronomic and agricultural sectors as well as mayors and councillors from the 10 municipalities that produce artichokes marketed as Alcachofa Vega Baja produce.

Also present was the head of the regional government’s Agriculture department, Mireia Molla and her second-in-command Roger Llanes.

Antonio Angel Hurtado, president of Alcachofa Vega Baja, said he was proud to preside an association that was so successful and had such a promising future.

“This gala allows us to look back at the past, see what we have done dur-

Photo credit: Alcachofa Vega Baja

Promising future

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from Front page »

Maureen Payne receives her award MAUREEN PAYNE, president of Age Con‐ cern Costa Blanca Sur, was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2020’s New Year Honours.

Maureen, who arrived in Spain in 2003 and received the award recognition of her efforts for Age Concern, has finally received the medal itself which was presented by Britain’s ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, on his recent visit to southern Alicante.

Age Concern promotes the well‐being of all older people through its network of vol‐ unteer, aiming to meet the needs of who‐ ever calls on the organisation, whether for friendship, support, counselling, informa‐

tion and advice.

Maureen became an Age Concern volun‐ teer 17 years ago and has been president for the last 10, during which time the num‐ ber of volunteers has grown from 50 to 150.

During this time she has given up a huge amount of her time to ensure the smooth running of the organisation and has been instrumental in the expansion of Age Con‐ cern’s services.

For more information about the organi‐ sation, visit their www.ageconcern costablancasur.org website and also their Age Concern Costa Blanca Sur Facebook page.

City hall steps up control ANNIVERSARY GALA: Alcachofa Vega Baja’s president Antonio Angel Hurtado foresees a promising future.

ing this time and discover what we are capable of doing when we join forces,” Hurtado said.

“We demonstrate the

Vega Baja’s strength and can confidently proclaim that we belong to the land which is full of opportunities.”

ORIHUELA’S Palmeral palm forest is the second‐most important in Europe, after Elche’s.

Surprisingly, 3,000 of its 9,000 date palms are located on 30 privately‐owned properties and only 40 per cent of the Palmeral, which has Asset of Cultural In‐ terest (BIC) status, is municipally‐owned.

To ensure continued defence of the palm forest, city hall’s Environment de‐ partment intends eventually to acquire these private plots and recover them for public use, Environment councillor Dama‐ so Aparicio announced.

“Meanwhile we shall be exploring other avenues in our efforts to advance to‐ wards overall control,” the councillor said.

These include applying the Territory Pro‐ tection clause included in Spain’s Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Law, which also appears in Orihuela’s Date Palm by‐law.

This enables city hall to offer adequate maintenance when a property‐owner is unable to provide this, the councillor said.

Parallel to fines or situations where city hall takes action and then sends the bill to the owner, the local administration wished to collaborate “and not only oblige or sanction,” Aparicio stressed as he urged land‐owners to take advantage of the offer.

City hall has already reached agree‐ ment with the owner of 30,777 square metres of abandoned land with 521 palm trees.

Some very comfortable fishing CARP‐R‐US resumed their Winter‐Spring series on the

Rio Segura on a section be‐ tween Jacarilla and Bigastro.

The weather was very pleasant for the time of the year, which made fishing very comfortable, said Carp‐ R‐Us secretary Steve Fell.

“The river was relatively low, but had a good colour and steady flow, so all looked good. However, the stretch responded to a match as it al‐ ways does and although ev‐ eryone caught, weights were not great,” Steve added.

Willy Moons, who knows the stretch well, won again.

Fishing Peg One and using the method feeder with a va‐ riety of hook baits, Willy weighed in 8.70 kilos.

Second from Peg Seven was Steve Fell who had 4.70 kilos, while Terry Screen managed 4.43 kilos on Peg Three and Dave Hutchinson from Peg Four was fourth with 3.76 kilos.

For more information, visit www.carp‐r‐us.weebly.com.

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NIBS EXTRA Motorway jam TWO accidents on the A‐7 motorway in Elche and Ali‐ cante City shortly before 9am on December 13 caused six kilometre‐tailbacks and delays of 45 minutes as hun‐ dreds of commuters were driving to work. Although ve‐ hicles gradually began to move,the Guardia Civil re‐ mained at the scene five hours later.

Crafty plan TORREVIEJA Town Hall awarded an €18,000 con‐ tract to draft plans for the open‐air craft market known as the ‘Hippies market’ in Paseo de La Libertad. This is the first step towards re‐ designing the site and stalls although the town hall com‐ missioned and paid for a sim‐ ilar plan in 2009.

No choice ONLY 18 residents in Rojales (population 17,000) voted online for one of the four participatory Budget choices suggested by the town hall.

In the event, Participation councillor Pedro Llopis ig‐ nored the most‐voted op‐ tion, and will spend the €96,000 on renovating the cemetery façade and remod‐ elling Calle Juan XXIII.

Leafy city ALICANTE’S city hall an‐ nounced that it intends to plant more than 1,000 trees between now and February.

Newly‐contracted STV Ges‐ tion will carry out the opera‐ tion, replacing the empty spaces left by felled or dis‐ eased trees throughout the city which already has ap‐ proximately 100,000 trees and palm trees.

Chance find LOCAL POLICE officers called to a traffic accident in Elche noticed that several suspi‐ cious‐looking bags had fallen from a parked articulated lor‐ ry ostensibly transporting vegetables. A closer inspec‐ tion with sniffer dogs re‐ vealed that it was marihua‐ na, leading to four arrests and the confiscation of 500 kilos of the drug.

16 - 22 December 2021

Ambassador praises San Fulgencio integration SAN FULGENCIO welcomed the UK Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, on December 9. He was invited by mayor Jose Sampere to view the home of a significant number of UK nationals, while highlighting local projects. San Fulgencio has 3,000 British residents.

“It is a great honour for us to welcome the Ambassador and acknowledge the contribution our British residents have made for more than 30 years,” Sampere said.

Mr Elliott and British Consul to Alicante, Sarah-Jane Morris, were given a short

Photo credit: San Fulgencio town hall

DIPLOMATIC VISIT: UK ambassador Hugh Elliott, San Fulgencio’s mayor and councillors discuss current issues. tour of the town hall building and signed the Visitors’ Book.

They also saw San Fulgencio’s promotional video showing the way the local population came together in the

aftermath of the storms of September 2019.

San Fulgencio is the only municipality in Spain with two British councillors - Samantha Hull and Darren Parmenter -

who belong to the local government and Mr Elliott discussed issues such as residency permits and driving licences. “I am delighted the Ambassador was able to accept my invitation to visit San Fulgencio,” said Parmenter.

“I’m proud that this municipality has been a popular choice for UK nationals,” he continued.

Following the visit, Mr Elliott thanked the town of San Fulgencio: “I am proud and delighted to see the tremendous contribution so many British people are making to their communities,” he said.

Preparing for the Volta Local party general assembly ALICANTE Province will play a prominent role in next Febru‐ ary’s Volta Ciclista a la Comuni‐ tat Valenciana cycle race.

Carlos Mazon, president of the provincial council, the Diputacion, accompanied by Eduardo Dolon, who heads its Sports department, an‐ nounced details of the Volta earlier this week.

Between February 2 and 6, the 73rd edition of the race will attract 23 teams from the World Tour and Pro‐Continen‐ tal categories.

“The Alicante Diputacion is totally committed to this event which as well as helping to re‐ activate our municipalities also publicises our spectacular mountains and the richness of our scenery,” Mazon declared.

The provincial council had

increased its contribution to‐ ward the event to €140,000, conscious of its great economic impact, he added.

Returns from the two nights that the thousand‐strong Volta ‘caravan’ spends in Torrevieja would double the Diputacion’s investment, Mazon said.

The cyclists arrive in Alicante City on Friday, February 4, for the 156‐kilometre stage that includes five mountain passes, culminating at the top of Sierra Maigmo in inland Tibi.

The following day, the com‐ petitors tackle the practically flat 193‐kilometre stage in a sprint that leaves Orihuela and finishes in Torrevieja after crossing Bigastro, Hondon de los Frailes, Hondon de las Nieves, Crevillent, and Los Montesinos.

CLARO, the Orihuela Costa political party founded in 2006, held its 15th general assembly on Thursday De‐ cember 9.

As well as members, rep‐ resentatives from Orihuela Costa’s principal neighbour‐ hoods were also invited.

Owing to Covid and the party’s changed statutes, this was the first General As‐ sembly since 2019 and the outgoing Executive Commit‐ tee presented a comprehen‐ sive report on activities in 2020‐2021 carried out inde‐ pendently and in coopera‐ tion with its election partner, Cambiemos Orihuela.

These covered saving Cala Mosca from massive devel‐ opment, aid for Orihuela Costa’s services sector, a sec‐

Turn down the volume TORRELLANO residents living directly under Ali‐ cante‐Elche airport’s flight paths maintained that noise has increased in recent months.

The Union of Torrellano Associations has now submitted a letter to the local town hall, asking Spain’s airports authority, Aena, to study aircraft movements.

So far there has been no response to the letter, Mari Angeles Llorens, the association president told the local Spanish press.

Aena refuted claims that procedures have been altered or that there have been unjustified changes to flight paths. If there has been an occa‐ sional variation, this would have been a one‐off

diversion “owing to an unforeseen situation.”

The airports authority also acknowledged that it was “probable” that an aircraft could have used a different approach owing to weather condi‐ tions, particularly during autumn’s high winds.

Aena also insisted that aircrafts’ height limits over Torrellano are “super‐controlled” without “any type” of improvisation.

Torrellano property‐owners were also urged to take advantage of the Sound Insulation Plan to improve day‐to‐day living conditions. The homes of 3,100 of the 3,400 householders who applied for sound proofing have been, or are being, insu‐ lated thanks to this plan, Aena said.

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ond Health centre and ur‐ gent improvements for sewage collection and treat‐ ment.

The party also sought the prompt opening of the near‐ ly‐completed Emergency Services Centre with a 24‐ hour municipal police ser‐ vice, plus a new parks and gardens contract, basic town hall services for urbanisa‐ tions not yet receiving them and improved street clean‐ ing and rubbish removal.

Antonio Cerdan, was vot‐ ed CLARO president of a new five‐person Executive Committee, with Huberto Canovas as secretary gener‐ al, Alain Lager treasurer and Bob Houliston and Bob Hunkin as members.

The new committee main‐ tains the balance of Spanish, British and a Scandinavian member representing the main population groups of Orihuela Costa.

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Cambiemos takes a stand THE Cambiemos Ori‐ huela party criticised the decision to appoint Jose Ignacio Munilla as bishop of the Orihuela‐ Alicante diocese.

Formerly bishop of the San Sebastian dio‐ cese in Guipuzcoa (Basque region), Munil‐ la takes over in Orihuela from the now‐retired Jesus Murgui.

“He is known for posi‐ tions and declarations that openly oppose the rights of the LGBTIQ movement and femi‐ nists,” the Cambiemos Orihuela communique stated.

“As well as being dan‐ gerously extremist, Mu‐ nilla has a rather grubby economic record,” the party maintained, refer‐ ring to complaints from some members of the clergy and Catholic com‐ munity in San Sebastian who claimed the bishop had attempted to spec‐ ulate with Church as‐ sets.

“There should not be room for someone like him in our municipali‐ ty,” said Cambiemos councillor Carlos Bern‐ abe.

“Somebody who uses such a powerful posi‐ tion to send out mes‐ sages against women’s rights, against diversity and the emotional and sexual freedom is some‐ body who encourages hate,” Bernabe argued.

and finally...

GETTING somewhere. Last September Brendan Staunton con‐ tacted Euro Weekly News, detailing the bureaucratic obstacles involved in connecting water and electricity in Algorfa.

An exasperated Brendan explained that he had bought the Algorfa house in 2019 for his daughter and her four children but after two years they were still battling to obtain both vital ser‐ vices.

On recently hearing from Brendan once more, he told us that the water had been reconnected four weeks ago, although he had only just found out that he now needed a plumber to con‐ nect it to the house.

“Now that’s sorted I have to sign the contract for electricity, so I’ll let you know what’s happening,” Brendan said, “but I’m not holding my breath!”

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16 - 22 December 2021

Booster jab extension SPAIN is to consider ex‐ tending its booster jab roll‐ out to people aged be‐ tween 50 and 59 years old. Now, the country is offering booster jabs to people aged over 60 years.

The booster jab inocula‐ tion is progressing un‐ evenly across the au‐ tonomous communities.

Galicia is steaming ahead and has called for the age group for booster shots to be lowered.

On December 13, Gali‐ cia called on the Public Health Commission to lower the age range for booster jabs to people aged over 50 years old.

The issue would need to

VACCINES: Calls for age to be lowered. be recommended by the vaccines committee first before being discussed by the directors of public health.

According to sources in the vaccines committee, dropping the age limit was not on the agenda for the meeting to be held yester‐ day, December 15, but it could be added as it is al‐ ready being discussed elsewhere.

Digital Nomad Visa SPAIN is set to introduce a Digital Nomad Visa to attract digital workers to the country and help them ‘set up in Spain.’

The measures have been approved in draft form and will now be sent to the Spanish Parlia‐ ment. The digital nomad visa will attract people from other countries to Spain and allow them to work remotely while con‐ tributing economically to the country.

Under the new scheme, people would be able to work remotely in Spain for up to six months. This would apply to residents in non‐European Econom‐ ic Area (EEA) countries as

well as people from coun‐ tries in the Schengen Zone. EU passport holders will also be able to apply for the scheme.

Economic Minister Na‐ dia Calvino commented on the scheme and said that it has been created to “attract and retain in‐ ternational and national talents by helping remote

workers, and digital no‐ mads set up in Spain.”

The Minister pointed out that registration fees will not be needed and that new companies will be easy to create: “Star‐ tups are the foundation of the new digital econo‐ my; they generate highly skilled jobs and have high growth potential.”

Hero sells medals A ROYAL MARINE soldier who was recognised for his bravery in combat has sold his seven medals for £150,000 to ‘provide opportunities’ for his children.

Sergeant Major John Thompson, 43, a single father of three from Devon, served in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The medals included a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) for ‘selfless and courageous actions.’

Before selling the medals, he said that his children al‐ ready “know their daddy is a hero.” The medals were valued at between £120,000 and £140,000 by auction‐ eers Dix Noonan Webb, however, they sold for a whop‐ ping £150,000.

Sgt Maj Thompson, known as Tommo, said before he sold the medals: “The money will enable me to provide the best opportunities for them (his children) as they grow up.

“Being a father is the most important role I’ve ever had, which I didn’t fully appreciate when I was running around Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’m doing this for them.”

NEWS

Pool death inquest inconclusive FAT H E R-O F-T W O, An‐ drew John Openshaw was in Tenerife for a friend’s stag do when he fell into an empty swimming pool and suffered a ‘catas‐ trophic brain injury’ that later cost him his life.

He was found by emer‐ gency services in an unre‐ sponsive condition, dressed only in his boxer shorts. An inquest that concluded on December 10 has proved inconclu‐ sive.

His family believe he was attacked before the fall in February 2014. He was given just 48 hours to live, but survived three more years until he passed away on July 15, 2017, at Salford Royal In‐ firmary due to multi‐organ failure. Friends and family had raised more than £30,000 to bring him home to Leigh, Greater Manchester.

On the day before the fall, he had been seen con‐ suming ‘an unknown but significant quantity’ of al‐ cohol. Senior Coroner for Greater Manchester West, Timothy Brennand, said: “The precise circum‐ stances as to what caused Andy to fall into the emp‐ ty swimming pool cannot be established.”

Mr Openshaw was later questioned by police, helped by an intermedi‐ ary, and made an allega‐ tion of an assault before his fall. “These were inves‐ tigated by police and not deemed to be a viable ba‐ sis for the institution of criminal proceedings, as the veracity of the allega‐ tions cannot be verified,” said Mr Brennand.

Andy’s wife Laura spoke at the inquest and said: “I am a firm believer that the truth never changes. I tru‐ ly believe that there was something untoward that night in that country.”

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16 - 22 December 2021

UK Omicron booster BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation on December 12. In a special pre‐record‐ ed broadcast, he warned the country of the im‐ pending danger brought about by the new Omi‐ cron Covid variant.

As part of an ‘Emergen‐ cy Omicron Boost,’ he urged every person aged over 18 to take advantage of the booster jabs. The third dose of the vaccine will be made available much quicker than first anticipated.

Speaking directly from Downing Street, the PM

JOHNSON: We must act.

said: “No‐one should be in any doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming, and I’m afraid it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need.

“But the good news is

that our scientists are con‐ fident that with a third dose ‐ a booster dose ‐ we can all bring our level of protection back up.”

He concluded, “At this point, our scientists can‐ not say that Omicron is less severe, and even if that proved to be true, we already know it is so much more transmissible ‐ that a wave of Omicron through a population that was not boosted would risk a level of hospitalisa‐ tion that could overwhelm our NHS and lead sadly to very many deaths. So, we must act now.”

Earthquake hits Granada AC C O R D I N G to the National Geo‐ graphic Institute (IGN), Alhama de Granada in the Granada Province was hit with an earthquake early on Tues‐ day December 14. The quake regis‐ tered at a magnitude of 3.2 on the Richter scale.

According to reports, no one was injured by the quake and no material

damage was reported.

The National Geographic Institute said the quake hit at just after 5.30am. The impact of the earth‐ quake was reduced as it hit at a depth of 53 kilometres.

No emergency calls were received and so far, no injuries or damage to property have been reported.

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16 - 22 December 2021

Airport chaos SPAIN’S Airlines Association (ALA) has urged the govern‐ ment to act urgently and asked the Ministry of the In‐ terior to hire more border staff at Spanish airports, fear‐ ing that Brit holidaymakers will be put off visiting Spain.

The ALA said there has been “chaos” at airports and that thousands of passengers have missed flights due to a huge queue at Madrid air‐ port.

Other airports affected in‐ clude Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona, Palma de Mallor‐ ca, Ibiza and Gran Canaria.

Because of Brexit, tourists from the UK now need to have their passports stamped every time they en‐ ter and leave the Schengen Zone, including Spain, and Brits are only allowed to visit Spain for 90 days out of ev‐ ery 180 under the new laws.

It’s thought that the new Brexit legislation has led to massive queues at border controls in Spain.

NEWS

Gay dads make Catalan language row history yet again FOLLOWING a ruling in favour of a Catalonian family who had pushed for 25 per cent of their son’s schooling to be in Spanish, the High Court has had to discuss mea‐ sures to protect the boy and his parents from the region’s nationalists. The family have been the vic‐ tims of harassment and abuse by some who view their request as an attack on the area’s dialect and culture.

According to reports, there was a WhatsApp group dedicated to dis‐ cussing the family and whether to identify them to the wider public.

Tweets have been shown to the courts that suggest‐ ed stoning their house and shunning the boy at school. One tweet said: “The other children should leave their class when lessons are taught in Spanish. If we don’t re‐

BOY SHUNNED: Attacks against family criticised.

act, they’ll kill our lan‐ guage.”

The Catalan High Court sent instructions out to the regional education minister, Josep Gonzàlez‐ Cambray, as well as to the head of the boy’s school, ordering them to take steps to protect the boy’s identity.

Gonzàlez‐Cambray con‐ demned “any kinds of threats or violence” but did call the court’s deci‐ sion to make 25 per cent

of lessons be conducted in Spanish “an intolerable at‐ tack.”

The leader of the Cata‐ lan Socialist Party, Sal‐ vador Illa, has criticised the attacks against the family and reaffirmed the school’s need to follow the decision made by the courts: “This doesn’t go against Catalan; it’s about complying with rulings, and still guarantees Cata‐ lan as the educational cen‐ tre of gravity in Catalonia.”

THE UK’s first gay dads are set to make history again as they look to register their new triplets’ birth certificates with three parents listed on the document.

They are set to welcome the triplets after a £1 million journey to complete their IVF family through an American surrogate.

Barrie Drewitt‐Barlow, 51, is celebrating the news with fiance Scott Hutchinson, 26, and ex‐husband Tony, 56. It was 21 years ago that Barrie and Tony became the first

British same‐sex couple for‐ mally registered as parents.

In 1999, Barrie and Tony went to court to be allowed to have both their names on the birth certificates of their children who were born through a surrogate, the first time in Europe a same‐sex couple had given birth in this way. They were allowed to be ‘Parent One” and ‘Parent Two’ on the document.

This time, they will look to change the law again and have three parents listed on the certificates.

and finally...

RECORD PRICE. Originally forecast to sell for around $70,000, a Harry Potter first edition sold for $471,000 at an auction in the United States. The price is a record for a 20th century work of fiction. Written by J K Rowling, the 1997 hardback British edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,’ with a colour illustration on the cov‐ er, was described by Heritage Auctions as “"magical, in‐ credibly bright and so very near pristine.”

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16 - 22 December 2021

Diana’s legacy at risk PRINCESS DIANA had championed the interna‐ tional campaign against landmines. This worth‐ while cause has been put at risk as the British gov‐ ernment has reduced its funding by 80 per cent.

Support from the UK has been used to help disarm mines in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and South Sudan. This support has helped numerous peo‐

ple over the years and pro‐ tected them from the dan‐ ger of landmines.

Two years ago, Prince Harry visited Angola and followed in Princess Di‐ ana’s footsteps. He previ‐ ously commented on the UK’s role in clearing land‐ mines. According to Harry, the UK had supported landmines being cleared “through funding and the expertise brought by UK specialist organisations

such as the HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group.”

If Princess Diana were still alive Harry believes that she would still be fighting for this cause.

CEO of Mine’s Advisory Group (MAG) Darren Cor‐ mack, commented on the cuts: “It’s not right that children face being burned on the way to school. That shouldn’t be the kind of deadly equation that peo‐ ple have to calculate.”

Shocking prices ELECTRICITY prices continue to spiral out of control. After the most expensive Saturday and Sunday prices in history, December 13, set a record cost for Mondays.

The average price of electricity on the wholesale market reached €268.21/MWh. This is an increase of 4.37 per cent on the day before.

The record costs came even though prices tend to relax compared to weekdays, due to the decrease in electricity demand. The maxi‐ mum price was reached between 9pm and

10pm, when it hit €315.43/ MWh. The cheap‐ est time was between the hours of 5am and 6am when it was €217.71.

Wholesale prices have a direct impact on the regulated tariff to which almost 11 million consumers in the country are connected. This serves as a reference for the other 17 million who have contracted their supply in the free market.

The constant rise in prices in the electricity market in recent months is being blamed mainly on high gas prices.

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16 - 22 December 2021

EWN Community Guides: How to avoid internet scams in Spain THE internet has brought many of us a way to stay in touch with loves ones abroad, buy from our favourite brands

around the world and book our travel.

Surfing the web also has its downsides though, and the

rise in online scams is one of them.

But how do we protect our‐ selves from internet scams?

The Spanish office for inter‐ net users, OSI, said there are five main ways to protect your‐ self when online, including when on your mobile, tablet and computer.

1. Configure your devices OSI said it is important to make sure all your devices are set up to protect you against harmful viruses and scams.

They recommend installing anti‐virus software on all your devices, installing any updates on it, not clicking on any links that are sent to you that look dubious and never to connect a USB to your computer if you do not know where it’s from.

2. Establish secure internet connections Having WiFi at home with‐ out a password not only allows other people to use your inter‐ net, potentially slowing your

There are several scams common online be aware of these.

connection, but could also al‐ low others to steal your details.

OSI recommends that you should put a good password on your WiFi. They also recommend tak‐ ing care when using public WiFi without a password, by not logging in to any services while connected to a public network and avoiding making banking transactions, online purchases or any other task that involves the exchange of private data.

3. Safeguard your infor‐ mation OSI recommends protecting the information we share on‐ line by configuring privacy op‐ tions on social media profiles and controlling who has access

to your posts.

4. Be careful with your on‐ line activity Many browsers offer the op‐ tion to remember information about us, including auto saving our passwords. However, this can be used by hackers so OSI recommends avoiding this.

5. Have information about the most common scams There are several scams that are the most common online and OSI says you should be aware of these.

They include phishing scams, fraudulent job offers and sellers claiming to sell items for much lower than their normal price to get access to your banking details.

NEWS

Christmas travelling BRITS wanting to head abroad to Spain will still need to be fully jabbed.

Spain is sticking to its tight entry rules ahead of Christ‐ mas. The rising number of cases of the Omicron vari‐ ant is a major concern.

Spain updated its travel restrictions on December 14 and is only letting fully vaccinated holidaymakers into the country. This in‐ cludes people heading in‐ to Spain from a country that is on Spain’s at risk list.

For Brits heading into Spain on holiday, Spanish rules mean that travellers will have to prove they have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organi‐ sation in the form of a vac‐ cination certificate. Trav‐ ellers will also need to have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days before they arrive in Spain.

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16 - 22 December 2021

NEWS

Berlin vaccine wristbands Bishop stripped of power WITH calls for retail shopping in Berlin to become easier under the city’s newly en‐ forced ‘2G’ restrictions, the answer may lie in ribbons.

The so‐called ribbon regu‐ lation provides wristbands for vaccinated Germans so that they don’t need to re‐ peatedly show their vaccina‐ tion status at every store.

The wristbands can be used for those who have recov‐ ered from the virus as well.

The managing director of

the trade association Berlin and Brandenburg, Nils Busch‐Petersen said: “We hope that this will relieve the employees and take some pressure off.”

Businesses must clearly regulate the conditions for this, and the first shopping centres have already applied the scheme. Many trade as‐ sociations have requested the introduction of such rib‐ bons and they could become widespread soon. Germany’s

famous Christmas markets have already started using the system to ease the work‐ load on staff.

A spokesman for the health administration said: “There are no objections from our side. In Berlin, most shops are only open to vacci‐ nated and people who have recovered from Covid‐19. A negative corona test result is no longer enough. Excep‐ tions include supermarkets, drug stores and pharmacies.

Priti Patel for PM HOME SECRETARY Priti Patel is said to be considering taking a run at being prime minis‐ ter and Conservative party leader. Boris John‐ son has been fighting off rumours regarding alleged government parties that were held while the rest of the country obeyed lock‐ down rules last year.

Johnson apologised last week after footage of a mock press conference was leaked. It showed former spokesperson Allegra Stratton joking about a Christmas party that should not have taken place.

The footage was reportedly shot on De‐

cember 22 last year. Only a week before this a party was said to have been held at Downing Street. During the film, multiple staff could be seen joking about a party.

Stratton commented in the leaked footage: “This is recorded … This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially dis‐ tanced.”

Confidence is said to be waning in the prime minister and MPs could possibly call a vote of no confidence. Patel had backed John‐ son as leader of the Conservative Party in 2019.

A CO N T R OV E R S I A L Spanish bishop has been stripped of his church powers after abandoning his clerical career to mar‐ ry a novelist known for her transgressive erotic novels, some of which contain references to Sa‐ tanism. Xavier Novell i Goma was Spain’s youngest ever bishop when he was appointed to the Catalan municipal‐ ity of Solsona in 2010, aged just 41.

Novell was a highly controversial member of the church, having supported and partici‐ pated in so‐called gay conversion therapy, and for being outspo‐ ken about his support for regional indepen‐ dence. He found him‐ self at the centre of more controversy at the end of August 2021 when he resigned from his post on ‘strictly personal grounds.’

It soon emerged he

The bishop fell in love.

had fallen in love with a 38‐year‐old clinical psy‐ chologist named Silvia Caballol, a novelist known for her transgres‐ sive and erotic books.

Sources say that the bishop confided in friends at the time and said: “I’ve fallen in love with a woman for the first time in my life, and I want to do things right.”

In a statement re‐ leased on December 11, the Spanish Episcopal Conference said that Novell had automatically forfeited his powers after marrying Caballol in a civil ceremony last month.

and finally...

TV SERIES. Acclaimed British filmmaker, 83‐ year‐old Ridley Scott has revealed that a pilot project is well underway to bring his movies ‘Bladerunner’ and ‘Alien’ to television screens in the form of a series. ‘Bladerunner’, starring Harrison Ford, and Rutger Hauer, hit cinemas back in 1982, and was an instant enormous suc‐ cess. ‘Alien’, another of his huge sci‐fi franchis‐ es, went on to spawn a whole trilogy of adven‐ tures in outer space.

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NEWS

Rare gold coins recovered TWO valuable coins have been discovered by officers from the National Police in Leon and Ciudad Real’s Saceruela. The coins are tremisses, and one of them is said to be unique and very valuable due to its previ‐ ously unknown onomastic variant.

The first coin was recovered as part of an operation carried out by the National Police to detect and recover items of historical interest. Officers dis‐ covered that a person in Leon had found a coin when they were refurbishing a house. The person was contacted and asked to come to the police headquarters. The officers then recovered the coin.

The coin was checked out by specialists and discovered to

VALUABLE COINS: Discovered by police officers.

be a tremís of Sisebuto, a Visig‐ othic king who reigned be‐ tween 612 and 621.

Markings on the coin sug‐ gest that it was minted in the Murcia Province. This is only the third specimen of a Visig‐ othic coinage with this prove‐ nance to be discovered. This makes the coin exceptionally rare which increases its value

considerably. The coin has now been given to the Provin‐ cial Museum of Leon.

Officers from the National Police recovered the second gold coin in Saceruela. Officers were able to trace the person who had advertised the coin on social media. After travel‐ ling to the town, they recov‐ ered the coin.

Spain-shaped town IN 2019, Spain had 8,131 municipalities spread throughout its territory. In recent years, the merger of towns and small cities has been the order of the day, due to economic and func‐ tional problems after the economic crisis.

Municipalities usually have their boundary dictated by whatever area they cover on the map of Spain. But one town with just 14,000 inhabi‐ tants, was custom‐built to re‐ semble the outline of Spain.

Badia del Valles is just 20km from Barcelona and is the birthplace of one of Span‐ ish football’s most celebrated players, Sergio Busquets.

It was built in the 1970s, with the idea of reproducing the map of Spain. Thus, some of its streets represent the territory of the country, even with the corresponding boundaries. They are all locat‐ ed within the town’s outline in their corresponding posi‐ tion on a map of Spain. For example, Calle Algarve is lo‐

cated where the border be‐ tween Spain and Portugal would be.

This unique municipality was created to alleviate the high concentration of immi‐ gration in Catalonia that came from other parts of Spain. The Ministry of Hous‐ ing planned more than 12,000 social housing units, although in the end only about 5,000 were built. Juan Carlos I, and Doña Sofia, were invited as guests at the grand opening of the town.

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NEWS

Honest citizen ON December 10, one very honest citizen gave the Mu‐ nicipal Police of Valladolid €1,000 in cash. It came from an ATM machine of a BBVA bank in the city.

According to Municipal Police, the woman went up to two police officers in the street and handed them the money. She explained that she had found it in the ATM machine of the BBVA bank located at the intersection

of Calles San Maria and San‐ tiago.

The bank’s office said that they are still trying to locate the owner of the €1,000 through the acknowledg‐ ment of a receipt found.

With the data protection law, it is not possible to use all the information shown on the receipt, so the money is still being kept at the bank in the hope that the owner will

Woman found cash at ATM.

come looking for it.

The police commented: “Fortunately, there are still very honest people around.

We will always applaud these gestures of civility.”

Choking baby saved ON December 11, officers from the National Police were able to save a young baby’s life. The baby had been choking and was un‐ able to breathe.

According to the Nation‐ al Police, the incident took place in the Villaverde dis‐ trict of Madrid. The emer‐ gency services received a call to say that a young ba‐ by was semi‐conscious

“apparently because she had choked on an object.”

Public Safety officers rushed to the scene of the incident to help the 13‐ month‐old baby girl.

When the officers arrived on the scene they found the child was not reacting to any stimulus. The girl also had her eyes closed.

The officers stepped in and performed the Heim‐

lich manoeuvre. The baby soon started to cry and began breathing again.

Due to the nature of the incident, the police offi‐ cers rushed the baby and her mother to the hospital in the police car. The baby who had luckily been saved by the officer’s quick actions received medical attention at the hospital.

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TMAS SH S I R H C E O H P T

NEWS

Fake document crackdown IN a combined effort, the UK and Spain are cracking down on crooks using fake documents to help people gain Spanish citizenship. Officers from the Spanish Na‐ tional Police have been working with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Inter‐ pol to thwart an organisation focused on faking certificates and diplomas needed to obtain Spanish citizenship.

During the joint operation, more than 30 people have been arrested and offi‐ cers managed to identify more than 1,600 clients who had paid money to the criminal organisation.

Payments made to the organisation for their services had been between

€1,000 and €4,500.

To obtain Spanish citizenship, language competency (DELE) and cultural knowl‐ edge (CCSE) titles are required. It is thought that more than 1,300 people had obtained these documents from the criminal organisation already.

The documents are legally issued by the Cervantes Institute under the over‐ sight of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice.

Twenty‐nine people were arrested in Barcelona and one of the leaders of the gang was arrested in the UK. The majori‐ ty of people using the service were from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

Coffee doubles in price AROUND the globe, the price of coffee is said to be skyrocketing. In the last 12 months alone, prices have shot up by 102 per cent. It is expected that prices will con‐ tinue to increase into the New Year. Consumers have not seen many price increas‐ es so far but this could change.

After water, coffee is the

Coffee is second most consumed beverage.

second most consumed bev‐ erage in the world. Numerous factors are causing the price of coffee to increase.

Coffee prices are increasing due to production issues in Brazil and Colombia caused by droughts and floods. An in‐ crease in demand along with high energy costs and increas‐ ing transport costs are also bumping the price up.

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NEWS

Super Nintendo creator dies MASAYUKI UEMURA, the engineer who was the lead designer of the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Super Nintendo Enter‐ tainment System has passed away aged 78.

His death was confirmed on Thursday December 9, by the Ritsumeikan Centre for Game Studies at Rit‐ sumeikan University locat‐ ed in Kyoto, Japan.

Uemura first joined Nin‐ tendo in 1971, having previ‐ ously worked for the Sharp Corporation. Joining up with Gunpei Yokoi and Genyo Takeda, they worked on solar cell tech‐ nology for the Laser Clay Shooting System arcade game, which was released in 1973.

He subsequently became Nintendo’s R&D division manager, and it was under his leadership that the Nin‐ tendo Entertainment Sys‐ tem, and the Super Ninten‐ do Entertainment System were born. After his retire‐ ment in 2004, the computer and video game genius con‐

NINTENDO: Masayuki Uemura was the lead designer.

tinued to work as a consul‐ tant for Nintendo. Even into his 70s, Masayuki Uemura

combined this with his reg‐ ular routine as a professor at Ritsumeikan University.

New Covid variant detected ON Thursday December 9, experts from the IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille posted on their of‐ ficial Twitter account that they have detected another new Covid variant.

This latest strain was found in coronavirus patients from Forcalquier, in the Alpes‐de‐Haute‐Provence re‐ gion of France.

It has been registered on the GISAID network (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian In‐ fluenza Data), under the

name of B.1.640.2 and has al‐ so been dubbed the IHU vari‐ ant.

There is not a lot of infor‐ mation available yet, so no‐ body knows whether this strain will be as virulent as the first ones. According to the latest studies, the Omi‐ cron variant is not as danger‐ ous as Delta or Alpha, al‐ though it is thought to be more transmissible. Vaccine companies are racing against time to develop doses to counteract the new variants.

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Drug haul at airport Monkees star dead at 78 THE Guardia Civil have an‐ nounced they found 20 ki‐ los of heroin at Lanzarote Airport and have taken a man into custody. The 46‐ year‐old man had the drug shipment concealed in his luggage and has been ar‐ rested on suspicion of drug trafficking.

It is one of the biggest seizures of this type of drug that has been carried out on the Canary Islands in recent years and comes after an‐

other cache of 10 kilos was discovered at Gran Canaria Airport at the end of Octo‐ ber. That shipment was found upon a passenger travelling from Brussels.

The announcement was made a week after the inci‐ dent, which occurred on De‐ cember 4. Suspicions were raised after a passenger who arrived on a flight from Amsterdam began to act anxious in the presence of the officers on duty. They

began to see other signs that something was amiss and began a random stop and search.

They found four parcels that were labelled as flour for making confectionery.

The contents were tested for the presence of opiates and the results came back positive. The merchandise was seized, and the passen‐ ger detained for the alleged responsibility of a crime against public health.

Car smoking ban doubt THE Spanish Ministry of Health announced proposals to increase tobacco taxes and in‐ crease smoke‐free places before 2023.

These spaces include the terraces of estab‐ lishments and private cars.

Some Spanish law experts including Juan Jose Bestard, President of the Sanitary Sec‐ tion of the Madrid Bar Association, have questioned the constitutionality of banning smoking in cars and other measures pro‐ posed.

According to Bestard, the ban on smoking in one’s own vehicle would have a “complex

application.” This, he said, is because “there is legal coverage as long as it seeks to pro‐ tect the health of passengers. If the passen‐ gers are children, then yes, but there would be no justification for prohibiting a person smoking alone in the vehicle, unless it is ap‐ pealed that it constitutes a distraction to the driver,” Bestard pointed out.

“That would be a different matter, in the same way as eating, or looking at the mo‐ bile phone behind the wheel. But, limiting a smoker’s right to smoke while alone is de‐ batable.”

MICHAEL NESMITH, singer with 1960’s pop group The Monkees, has died at the age of 78. He was surrounded by his family at the time of his death on De‐ cember 10.

It is believed the singer‐ songwriter died of natural causes, not long after fin‐ ishing a recent tour with the legendary band, in‐ cluding former bandmate, Micky Dolenz.

“With infinite love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully of natural caus‐ es,” said a statement from his family.

Famous for always wearing his trademark bobble hat, he played his iconic custom‐built Gretsch guitar on most of the band’s hit records in‐ cluding ‘Daydream Believ‐ er’ and ‘I’m A Believer’, penned by Neil Diamond.

The Monkees rose to

Mike had a solo career.

fame in the mid‐60s after being formed for a televi‐ sion show, a fact that nev‐ er sat well with Mike. In the show, aired between 1966 and 1968, the four members would get up to all sorts of antics and

play their hits.

This led the record com‐ pany to release their songs and they became a huge success all over the world, selling millions of records.

Mike had a solo career after leaving the band.

and finally...

A NEW batch of measures are being trialled by Meta, Face‐ book’s parent company, to help creators. Namely, they plan on testing a feature to provide live chat support with users who have lost access to their accounts.

Through this support line, the creators of Facebook and In‐ stagram can solve different problems in people’s accounts, as well as solve doubts about recent functions of the platform, such as Instagram Reels.

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NEWS

Phantom jellyfish Santa apology ONE of the ocean’s most elu‐ sive creatures stunned ma‐ rine biologists when it glided in front of their underwater cameras.

The giant phantom jellyfish has only been spotted in the wild around 100 times since

humans first discovered it in 1899. The creature lives in the so‐called ‘twilight zone’ be‐ tween 1,000 and 4,000 me‐ tres underwater.

Researchers at the Mon‐ terey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in America

Holiday fatalities OVER the Constitution and Immaculate Conception long weekend, 12 people lost their lives on Spain’s roads. In 2020, when movement restrictions were in place between the autonomous communities due to the coronavirus, 13 people lost their lives during the same holiday period.

According to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), in the space of six days from 3pm on Friday, December 3 until midnight Wednesday, December 8 a shocking total of 10 fatal accidents occurred on Span‐ ish roads.

These 10 fatal accidents claimed the lives of 12 peo‐ ple. One of the accidents took place on a motorway while the nine other accidents occurred on conven‐ tional roads.

The majority of the accidents occurred on Sunday, December 5, with seven fatal accidents taking place.

So far this year over 900 people have died in accidents on Spanish roads.

were stunned at the sight of the massive creature.

“This ghostly giant is a rare sight,” they wrote. “The bell of this deep‐sea denizen is more than one metre (3.3 feet) across and trails four rib‐ bon‐like arms that can grow to more than 10 metres (33 feet) in length.”

It measures the same length as the biggest fish in the sea, the whale shark, and is around half the length of a London bus. This amazing creature is also used as a haven for other smaller crea‐ tures who swim within the jel‐ lyfish’s structure for cover from larger predators.

Ghostly giant’s a rare sight.

A ROMAN CATHOLIC diocese in Sicily has had to issue an apology after its bishop told a group of children that Santa isn’t real. The diocese of Noto said Bishop Antonio Stagliano was trying to underline the true meaning of Christmas.

The diocesan communications director, the Reverend Alessandro Paolino, said Mr Stagliano was also trying to explain the story of St Nicholas, a bishop who gave gifts to the poor and was persecuted by a Roman emperor.

Quotes from the bishop appeared in the local

media saying that Santa doesn’t exist and that his red costume was created by Coca‐Cola.

“First of all, on behalf of the bishop, I express my sorrow for this declaration which has creat‐ ed disappointment in the little ones and want to specify that Monsignor Stagliano’s intentions were quite different,” Mr Paolino posted on their Facebook page.

“We certainly must not demolish the imagi‐ nation of children, but draw good examples from it that are positive for life,” he added.

Massive planet discovered A GROUP of astronomers has discovered one of the biggest ever planets orbiting an ex‐ tremely hot two‐star system.

This, despite previously be‐ lieving that such an environ‐ ment was too inhospitable for a planet to form in.

The planet was discovered

by Markus Janson, a profes‐ sor of astronomy at Stock‐ holm University, and col‐ leagues, according to research published on December 8 in the science journal Nature.

Janson and his colleagues found the planet using the

very sophisticated Spectro‐ Polarimetric High‐contrast Ex‐ oplanet REsearch instrument (SPHERE) on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Named b Centauri (AB)b or b Centauri b, they described the planet as an “alien world experiencing conditions com‐ pletely different from what

we face here on Earth and in our Solar System.”

The planet is 10 times big‐ ger than Jupiter, making it one of the biggest ever found. Moreover, it revolves around the binary star at 100 times the distance than Jupiter does from the Sun, one of the widest orbits ever recorded.

STATS

1,792

The Eiffel Tower has 1,792 steps.

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Scam warning Extortion arrests MANY people are getting ready for Christmas and buying their Christmas presents online.

Fraudsters are trying to take advantage with a text message scam.

According to TSB Bank, criminal gangs are us‐ ing text messages to pretend to be delivery com‐ panies. The scammers originally approach their victims by sending a text message which asks the victim to register details to allow them to track a parcel. The victims hand over personal in‐ formation without thinking too much about it.

A few days later the victims are rung up by

someone who claims to be from their bank. The scammers then use details gained from the text message to convince the victim that their bank account has been targeted and action needs to be taken immediately. Victims are then con‐ vinced to transfer money to a ‘safe account.’ At this point, the Christmas stealing fraudsters have won and take off with the victim’s savings.

The scammers have already conned one per‐ son out of £4,000 and another out of £7,000 by pretending to be from the Royal Mail, DPD and Hermes amongst others.

Test subjects wanted A NEW study is looking for test subjects for antiviral Covid treatments. Partici‐ pants must be over the age of 18 and have certain un‐ derlying health conditions.

Participants must have Covid symptoms which be‐ gan in the last five days and have taken a PCR test that came back positive. The study will be carried out by the University of Oxford.

The study will test

whether new antiviral treatments for Covid‐19 can help people in the early stages of the illness recover faster and therefore reduce the number of people being admitted to hospital.

Those in the UK that have

a positive PCR result may be contacted by a health care professional about tak‐ ing part in the study.

You can also register yourself via the Oxford Uni‐ versity website www.pano ramictrial.org.

STATS

600

Buckingham Palace has over 600 rooms.

FOLLOWING an investigation by the Judicial Police Brigades of the Denia Police Station, five people have been arrested for extorting money from dating website

users. The arrests come after complaints from four affected individuals.

All the victims had either used dating websites or had responded to dating ads on-

Mercadona pay rise for all staff MANAGEMENT at Mercadona, Spain’s largest super‐ market group, are aware of the tough times its staff have endured during the pandemic. With inflation at its highest in a long time, the company has rewarded its staff with a cost of living increase this year.

Juan Roig, Chair of the group, says that it is impor‐ tant as a “socially responsible company” to continue applying initiatives to satisfy the people who make up their workforce. He expects the inflation rate to continue at its current high level, saying that it is un‐ likely to fall below 5 per cent before the end of the year.

As a result, the company will raise the salary of its workforce from January 1 to bring it in line with infla‐ tion that is to apply the CPI rate at the end of the year. That way the company says, employees do not lose purchasing power.

line. In all cases they were contacted either through text messages or via instant messaging platforms. They then threatened physical harm unless they were appropriately compensated, or they would share the information with family members.

The police think that the messages were sent using an automated system and to large numbers of people, in the hope that someone would respond.

Once contact had been made, the perpetrators would research the targeted individual to make sure they knew as much as possible about their potential victim.

That information was then used to decide the amount of money demanded.

Three men and two women of Spanish and Brazilian nationality were arrested, each with their own role in the operation. The investigators believe that the criminals netted around €150,000 over the last year.

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Big tip waitress fired RYAN BRANDT, a waitress at the Oven and Tap in Ben‐ tonville in Arkansas, was fired after refusing to hand over her share of a £3,300 tip. The customer asked for the mon‐ ey to be shared specifically between Ryan and another waitress.

Local company owner, Grant Wise, turned up at his wife’s favourite restaurant with around 40 guests. Mr Wise called in advance to tell the restaurant of his plan to tip just one or two members of staff and that his tip was not to be shared. Each of his guests con‐ tributed £75.

After they tipped Ryan and another waitress, the restau‐ rant manager demanded the pair hand over the tip and sacked Ryan when she refused.

A few days later, Mr Wise heard the news and returned to the restaurant to demand his money back, but the owner re‐ fused to speak to him.

Mr Wise posted on social media, “I’m saddened to hear the girl we tipped the other night has been fired from her

Waitress refused to share her tip.

job. I don’t fully understand why this would happen.”

He continued, “Nonetheless, I’m committed to showing her that there are great people in

the world that will do good when they can.” He subse‐ quently set up a GoFundMe page which has raised £6,580 so far.

Olympics boycott IT has been announced that no UK government minister or official will attend the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

In a statement Boris Johnson said that this effectively amounts to a diplomatic boycott of the event due to be held in Beijing, China in 2022.

The news comes as the US and Australia announced diplomatic boycotts of the games because of human rights concerns.

Johnson was pressed at PMQs, saying that no diplomats were expected to go to the games. However, he added: “I do not think that sporting boycotts are sensible and that re‐ mains the policy of the government.”

Athletes from the countries boycotting the games will still be competing.

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SANNA MARIN, the prime minister of Finland, has apologised for going out clubbing in Helsinki after having close contact with a confirmed case of Covid‐ 19. The Foreign Minister from her government had tested postive just a few hours before she went out for the evening on Satur‐ day, December 4.

Finnish PM apology The advice she was ini‐ tially given was that there was no need for her to isolate due to her full vac‐ cination record, but later a message was sent that reversed that decision and recommended self‐isola‐

tion until after a negative result. Critics have jumped on her decision to not originally self‐isolate until after she had been tested.

The prime minister has said that the message that

changed the advice given was sent to her work phone, which she had left at home. The message clarified she should avoid social contact until proven negative. She claims that as soon as she saw the

text on Sunday, she sourced a test immediate‐ ly and the result was neg‐ ative.

The criticism from her opponents came as a gos‐ sip magazine published photographs of the Finnish PM out at the Butchers Club, where she stayed with friends until 4am.

NEWS

Marin has been criticised.

Work party survey TO party or not to party? The return of the office Christmas party is being met with some reluctance, as the latest re‐ search from Mintel reveals more than four in 10 (41 per cent) British workers say the risk of catching coronavirus is making them feel uncomfortable about going to a work’s Christmas par‐ ty.

Fear of catching Covid‐19 remains high, as 43 per cent of consumers now say they are worried/extremely wor‐ ried, about catching the virus, like the 44 per cent who said the same in early November 2020. But it’s not just office

parties that are making consumers ner‐ vous, as one in four (24 per cent) Brits are uncomfortable/extremely uncom‐ fortable about going to a bar or restau‐ rant indoors.

One potential reason for lingering discomfort around socialising could be that the majority (61 per cent) of Brits say they plan to see their families at Christmas and don’t want to put any‐ one at risk. Meanwhile, 44 per cent of Brits say they are planning on having a smaller Christmas (with fewer people) this year, compared to before the pan‐ demic.

Sienna Miller case settled AC T R ES S Sienna Miller has settled her case against The Sun newspa‐ per after almost a decade of pursuing it through the High Court. She has claimed the paper “very nearly ruined her life” by allegedly “leaking” the news that she was preg‐ nant after her claim that they unlawfully gathered

information about her.

In a statement read out on her behalf, she has told how she felt her choice was “brutally” taken away from her by the paper and their publishers, News Group Newspapers (NGN).

The legal action was be‐ gun by Miller as she claimed she was the “vic‐ tim of unlawful informa‐

tion‐gathering by various journalists and executives at The Sun,” and that a medical records tracer was hired by them to discover more about her pregnancy.

NGN has denied the alle‐ gations of any illegal acts but has settled with Ms Miller for “substantial damages” without admit‐ ting liability.

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Plastics report A NEW report by the Food and Agriculture Organisa‐ tion of the United Nations (FAO) has said that al‐ though the use of plastic in agriculture has made it possible to increase pro‐ duction, plastics in agricul‐ ture are bad for people’s health.

The report, which calls for new and innovative solu‐ tions, says that plastic is used in many forms in agri‐ culture from the protection of plants and soil to irriga‐ tion and pesticides. They es‐ timate that around 12.5 mil‐ lion tonnes of the product are used every year, almost half of which is in Asia. In ad‐ dition, around 37.5 million tonnes are used in packag‐ ing of food products, 80 per cent of which is not recycled and ends up in the environ‐ ment, landfills, and incinera‐ tors.

Plastic that is not recy‐ cled is known to degrade rather than to break down,

ending up as micro‐plastics which are being dispersed around the planet and mak‐ ing their way into the food chain. More specifically the report said: “Despite the many benefits, agricultural

plastics also present a seri‐ ous risk of contamination and harm to human and ecosystem health when damaged, degraded or dis‐ carded in the environ‐ ment.”

Mandatory vaccines ruled out DURING a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday December 7, the majority of the European Union’s Health Ministers took a stand against the idea of adopting legal measures to force mandatory vaccines on European citizens.

This strategy has also been discouraged by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which believes that such a move should only be considered as an ‘absolute last resort’.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Com‐ mission, although it is outside her powers, had recently rec‐ ommended opening a debate about mandatory vaccination to end the huge number of around 150 million people still un‐ vaccinated in the EU. Europe has several states with high vaccination levels, in‐ cluding Spain, Ireland, and Portugal, while countries like Bul‐ garia have only 25 per cent vaccinated, and Romania, 38 per cent.

The Austrian representative was allegedly the only one who mentioned the idea of making vaccination mandatory.

He explained the measures that his government plans to take, and, in statements to the press, several ministers spoke out against his idea.

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Ireland border concerns THE deputy premier of Ire‐ land has said he will raise concerns with the UK gov‐ ernment over their pro‐ posed plans to bring in ad‐ ditional paperwork for non‐Irish and non‐UK citi‐ zens, including those from the EU, when crossing the Irish border.

Under the Nationality and Borders Bill, they would need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisa‐ tion (ETA) to enter the UK, including Northern Ireland, creating a hard NI border.

The bill is currently going through the House of Com‐ mons. Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty said about the plans: “The British govern‐ ment’s intention to intro‐ duce a requirement for travel clearance for EU citi‐ zens, who are not Irish citi‐ zens, to cross the border in Ireland is disgraceful and shameful and undermines the Good Friday Agree‐ ment and the Common Travel Area.”

He raised his concerns

IRISH BORDER: Proposed plans are worrying.

with Leo Varadkar in the Irish parliament on Thurs‐ day December 9 as he claimed it would threaten livelihoods and the tourism sector in the northwest and place stress on residents.

He said: “Ireland once again faces the prospect of

the collateral damage of a Tory government in West‐ minster that doesn’t give a damn about Ireland, and it’s so divorced from the re‐ ality of life on the border that it could even counte‐ nance such a measure like this.”

and finally...

A CAMEL which escaped from a drive‐through nativity scene in Bonner Springs, Kansas in the US, led police on a chase for a whole day before it was caught. The escaped camel notched up speeds of 40mph as officers in a ‘commandeered’ golf cart chased it along the street.

The police were surprised at how fast the animal moved as they described the event as something out of ‘just another cop movie’. One officer jumped out of the golf cart to finally lasso the camel and return it to the show.

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Suicide capsule legalised EUTHANASIA or assisted sui‐ cide is legal already in Switzer‐ land. The country has taken one step further and has now approved the use of an assist‐ ed suicide capsule. The Sarco capsule or machine was de‐ signed by Nitschke and Alexander Bannink.

The designers hope that their assisted suicide machine will allow people to die in a dig‐ nified manner. The person who wants to die is placed in‐ side the capsule. Once activat‐ ed the capsule makes the per‐ son fall asleep where they then die painlessly. The ma‐ chine uses nitrogen to help the person die without pain.

The person wanting to die

Trump 2024 optimism DONALD TRUMP said his base would be ‘very angry’ if he did not decide to run

for president again in 2024, as the date for his an‐ nouncement comes closer.

Camels beauty show ban CAPSULE: Can be used around the world.

can activate the machine using a button inside the capsule. If the person is paralysed, then they can activate the machine by just blinking. The capsule can be made with a 3D printer so can be used around the world.

Once activated the machine

sucks out oxygen from the air until only 1 per cent remains.

The patient will start to lose consciousness within seconds of the process being started.

Death will occur within five to 10 minutes and will be pain‐ less.

British Airways axes flights MORE than 2,000 flights have been grounded until March 2022 by British Airways. A spokesperson said that it is not due to worries over the Omicron variant or coronavirus travel restrictions being put in place.

British Airways commented: “Like other air‐ lines, due to the continuing Coronavirus pan‐ demic we are operating a reduced and dy‐

namic schedule.”

Some countries in Europe are already begin‐ ning to re‐implement lockdowns to try to keep the virus at bay. The travel industry has been relieved though as initial reports suggest that the Omicron variant leads to mild symptoms.

Not much is known about the new variant at the moment.

NEWS

DOZENS of camels have been barred from a Saudi Arabian beauty contest be‐ cause of Botox and other artificial touch‐ ups.

The annual pageant, King Abdu‐ CAMEL FESTIVAL: Annual pageant. laziz Camel Festival, is a prestigious event in Saudi Arabia with $66 million awarded to those breeders whose camels are deemed to be the best in breed. With so much on offer, breeders will go to any lengths to win. This year the authorities decided to put an end to cheating by disqualifying 40 camels that had received cosmetic treatment.

Entrants in standard beauty competitions will recognise many of the practices including face lifts and botox injections, but per‐ haps what they may not recognise is the reshaping of humps, necks, and posture.

Such is the scale and extent of the technology in use, judges of the month‐long festival in the desert northeast of the capital Riyadh have been forced to act.

STATS

10

Einstein slept 10 hours a night.

Trump has long teased that he will announce another crack at the presidency af‐ ter the 2022 midterms have been completed.

Radio show host Hugh He‐ witt spoke to the former president on December 8: “I want to talk to you about 2024. You know your base better than anybody, you know, the people who come to the rallies. If Donald Trump decides not to run again in 2024, who out there will that base flock to?”

Trump replied: “If I do decide that I think my base is going to be very angry.”

He added, after some push‐ ing from Hewitt, “They will be very angry, I think we have a couple of people that are ‐ would be very good. But it’s, you know, very early. It’s very, very early.”

Trump told Hewitt that he’s optimistic about 2022 and 2024 as Republicans vie to retake the House, Senate and later White House.

EUROPEAN PRESS

www.euroweeklynews.com

EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK

Irish Hamlet

Plastic triumph

ALAS poor Hamlet, he wasn’t Danish but Irish according to research undertaken by medieval scholars. It is understood that the character was based on Amlothi whose tale was recorded in the 12th Century Deeds of the Danes and it is now believed that his name is not Scandinavian.

A REPORT by the Dansk Erhverv chamber of commerce suggests the average person in Denmark only used 32 plastic bags in 2021 which is four years ahead of schedule on an EU directive that requires all member states to average under 40 bags per person by 2025.

THE NETHERLANDS Art attack

Ironic fine

WHO needs another Rembrandt is a question being asked on Dutch social media, after the government there put up €150 million towards a €175 million price tag that the Rothschild family want for his The Standard Bearer?

Many suggest the money would be better spent elsewhere.

THE Dutch tax office is being fined €2.7 million by the data protection authority AP for discriminating against dual national families who were targeted in a childcare benefit scandal. Ironically as no individual employee has to pay, the fine will come from taxes collected.

BELGIUM Poor publicity

My Corona Risk

AN investigation undertaken by a group of three Belgian media companies has revealed that charity Poverello, an organisation which says it is there to help the poor, owns €50 million’s worth of real estate and has €14 million in the bank.

HEALTH platform Citizens on the Move has helped create Europe’s first online platform My Corona Risk which assesses the chances of becoming infected with the coronavirus and how severe the infection will be based on questions about their location, precautions taken and state of health.

GERMANY Fake news

Green credentials

THE German news agency DW has made it clear that a Facebook post entitled ‘Mistletoe, anyone?’ supposedly showing a DW article featuring hundreds of German anti-vaxxers kissing is not only fake, but uses a kiss-in photograph taken 10 years ago in Chile.

THE new Minister for Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir of Turkish descent who represents the Green Party in the German coalition government kept true to his beliefs by turning up at the presidential palace on a bicycle to collect his certificate of appointment.

FRANCE Happy ending

History sold

A MOUNTAINEER discovered a metal box in the snow near Mont Blanc in 2013 which contained a number of precious stones and it transpired that the box was from an Indian aircraft which crashed 50 years earlier. Now he has shared a €300,000 reward with the local council.

NAPOLEON first came to power following a coup in 1799 and so popular is he still that the jewel encrusted sword that he carried as well as five of his guns were sold at auction in the USA to an anonymous buyer for $2.9 million (€2.56 million).

NORWAY Sadly missed

Sad tree

THE late Kim Karen-Christine Friele was accorded the highest honour a Norwegian citizen can receive with a state funeral attended by members of royalty, the government and hundreds of admirers as she was remembered as the woman who had done the most to champion Norwegian gay rights.

THERE are tongue in cheek suggestions that because Manchester United sacked Norwegian football hero Ole Gunnar Solskjær that the annual Christmas tree sent to Trafalgar Square was below par and that London should be encouraged to buy a new tree and send the bill to Oslo Council.

16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 27

28 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

NEWS

Pension divorce limit Adele bans unvaccinated THE Supreme Court in Spain has set limits for granting an ‘indefinite’ compensatory pension after a divorce. The court considers that it is nec‐ essary to investigate whether the partner can earn an in‐ come in the future and sup‐ port themselves. The factors considered include age, health, education and whether there are children to take care of.

A compensatory pension is a benefit that one former spouse receives from the oth‐ er. This occurs when the breakdown of the couple cre‐ ates an economic imbalance compared to the situation when married.

The new limits were first set out in a ruling in Novem‐ ber. The Supreme Court par‐ tially upheld an appeal from a man who had been ordered to pay a considerable com‐ pensatory pension by the Madrid Provincial Court. He had originally been ordered to pay €2,000 indefinitely.

The Supreme Court has dropped this to a period of

Factors to be considered are age, health, education and children.

five years and to a payment of only €1,000.

The man had agreed that his wife who had stopped working to look after the fam‐ ily should receive a compen‐ satory pension. However, he

disagreed that it should be an indefinite pension and that it should be for such a high sum.

The Supreme Court partial‐ ly agreed with him and limit‐ ed the amount to be paid and the duration.

Tesco strike TESCO warehouse workers and drivers are set to cause chaos in strikes just days before Christmas.

The supermarket has said it will make sure shelves re‐ main fully stocked during the strikes from Unite and the US‐ DAW (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers).

Union representatives have said that the dispute involves some 6,000 workers at distribution centres after a 4 per cent annual pay rise was rejected.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “Our distribution col‐ leagues have worked tirelessly through the pandemic in or‐ der to keep products moving for customers. We are disap‐ pointed that some have voted to proceed, and we have contingency plans in place to help mitigate any impacts.”

ADELE is returning after a four‐year hiatus. Fans though have been shocked

after she banned anyone who is not vaccinated from her concerts. This will also

No smoking in cars THE Spanish Ministry of Health has finalised an ambitious com‐ prehensive plan against smoking that introduces, among other issues, the prohibition of smoking in cars, the generic packag‐ ing of tobacco brands and limiting electronic cigarettes.

The European Union and the WHO now have ambitions to achieve a ‘tobacco‐free generation’ in Spain.

For this and ‘before the year 2023’ it will propose to increase smoke‐free spaces, including electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, such as terraces of bars and restaurants and the vicinity of public buildings.

The Ministry of Health also wants to adapt all the regula‐ tions against smoking ‘to the changes produced in the market with the appearance of new products and achieving progress in the regulation of smoke‐free spaces.’

These smoke‐free spaces also include ‘certain spaces of the private sphere’ such as ‘private vehicles.’

In addition, they want to stop the increasing covert advertis‐ ing and promotions on social networks and platforms of new tobacco products.

Spain plans to reach the goal established by the WHO of a relative reduction of 30 per cent in tobacco consumption by the year 2025.

include people who have only had a single dose of the vaccine.

The 33‐year‐old British su‐ perstar announced last month that she will perform to 4,000 people a night in a run of concerts from Jan‐ uary 21. The concerts will take place every Friday and Saturday after that until mid‐April.

Seventy‐six‐year‐old Sir Rod Stewart will also be per‐ forming at the same venue which can hold 4,300 peo‐ ple. He will allow unvacci‐ nated fans to attend though so long as they wear ‘masks at all times unless eating and drinking.’ Attendees will also need to have ‘a temper‐ ature check at the venue en‐ trance upon arrival.’

STATS

76

Halley’s comet passes the Earth every 76 years.

Adele to appear in concert.

EUROPEAN PRESS

www.euroweeklynews.com

EUROPEAN PRESS FINLAND

Light marvel

Biogas production

AS temperatures drop considerably in part of northern Finland, a natural phenomenon means that pillars of light are created when moisture in the air turns directly into ice crystals and they can reflect the light of a street lamp as they descend very slowly towards the ground.

THE southern Finnish port of HaminaKotka is doing its bit to help reduce pollution in the Baltic Sea as it has started the process of transforming the waste water discharged from arriving freighters into biogas that can be used as fuel for commercial vehicles.

IRELAND Fishy story

Disruptive solicitors

USING EU funds, the Irish Government plans to have 60 small fishing trawlers decommissioned whilst other European Union based fleets will continue to have access to Irish waters. Despite a payment of €12,000 per tonne of weight of each trawler, small communities may be wiped out.

IRISH law does not give any absolute right for a person arrested to be given access to a solicitor but in practice this does happen, however a new law being considered may give the Garda (police) the right to ban ‘disruptive’ solicitors from interviews.

ITALY Confession accepted

Christmas tree

A PRIEST aged 40 has confessed that he used money from the collection plate in his church in Tuscany to buy drugs which he then sold at sex parties and has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison by the court.

ACKNOWLEDGED by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest Christmas tree which is made up of lights and is 750 metres tall, it towers above the mediaeval town of Gubbio and its 700 lights are ‘adopted’ by residents who dedicate each light to their loved ones.

PORTUGAL Street brawl

Amazing space

IF Covid wasn’t enough, football hooliganism has returned to Lisbon where police had to break up a brawl between Benfica and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev supporters prior to their Champions League game leaving 12 in hospital and 54 arrested. Benfica eventually won 2 - 0.

SOMETHING went wrong with the snagging list in the 200-year-old Santa Maria do Castelo church in Tavira as what is believed to be an abandoned space for a small altar has just been discovered when a display case containing a statue was moved for renovations.

RUSSIA Clever marketing

Billionaire club

A BAKERY in St Petersburg has stormed the Russian internet with a video showing what appears to be Timothée Chalamet, star of the latest Dune remake, staring lovingly at a cake, but in fact it is a remarkable local lookalike who is the star.

EVERY year, Forbes magazine publishes details of the world’s richest people and the countries they come from. As we get near to the end of 2021, they estimate that Russian billionaires have a combined wealth of €556 billion, putting them third in the list behind American and India.

SWEDEN ABBA Mania

IKEA names

FORMED in 1989, British tribute group ABBA Mania is now being sued by the four members of ABBA who have just released their first new album in 40 years and are launching a virtual stage show. ABBA object to the words original and official in advertising.

A NEW campaign by the Swedish tourist office called Discover the Originals, has selected 21 popular IKEA products with names associated with different locations in Sweden and described them so that customers will recognise that they are not just toilet brushes or waste paper bins.

16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 29

FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Xmas lunch CHRISTMAS comes but once a year and this may be important to British family finances as according to analysts Kantar, the cost of lunch on December 25 will be higher than last year, with a 7 per cent hike on turkeys and 5 per cent on Brussels sprouts and Christmas puddings.

Bid rejected THE proposed takeover of mutually owned insurance company LV= by US investment company Bain Capital was only supported by 69 per cent of the members (shareholders) when a minimum of 75 per cent was required even though the offer on the table was £530 million.

Solar petrol REPSOL now has 272 service stations in Spain which are powered by solar panels on forecourt roofs just two years after it launched its green energy programme and plans to have installed the panels on a total of 400 locations by the end of 2022.

Cecilia for rent WITH fears that there will be insufficient staff available to man the pumps in pubs around Britain, even with the return to work from home, due to the Omicron variant, some landlords are considering employing Cecilia, a robotic bartender available to rent at £1,500 a month.

Fish wars DESPITE threatening Britain with sanctions if fishing licences weren’t granted to small French fishing boats, the Macron Government and the EU have now agreed a compromise. With other more newsworthy events catching the headlines, the British Government alongside those of Crown Dependencies, Guernsey and Jersey issued 83 additional licences, less than demanded but more than expected. In theory this should stop a Calais blockade on British goods, but much will depend on how many French fishermen were not granted licences and still feel hard done by.

30

www.euroweeklynews.com • 16 - 22 December 2021

STAT OF WEEK

€66.577

billion is the latest estimate of the cost to Spain of the bail out for banks following the financial crisis and this may still increase according to the Court of Auditors.

Spain wants new startups TRUE to its word, the Spanish Gov‐ ernment is in the process of woo‐ ing new startup companies and foreign workers to the country as it wants to catapult Spain into the forefront of the digital economy.

It can afford to offer very attrac‐ tive deals to new employers and their workers thanks to the fi‐ nance guaranteed by the EU Re‐ covery Fund and it clearly plans to use the money received both as a grant and cheap loan to kickstart the new tech economy.

On Friday December 10, Minis‐ ter of Economic Affairs and Digital

Transformation, Nadia Calviño an‐ nounced that the new Startups law was ready to be presented to parliament for final approval ex‐ plaining that with this regulation to promote innovative en‐ trepreneurship, Spain is going to be among the most attractive countries for the creation of star‐ tups, “thinking very especially of the generation of opportunities for young people and in attracting investment and talent.”

In essence, the government will lower corporate tax to 15 per cent from the current 25 per cent for

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Grants for electric cars?

I know that Spain for some years has offered grants for purchase of new cars and tax rebates when you junk your old car. Is this still in effect and how would I find out about it?

M L (Costa del Sol)

Yes, it is DAVID SEARL called Plan Moves III and is YOU AND THE LAW now limited to IN SPAIN grants for all‐elec‐ tric and hybrid vehicles. It offers no grants for gasoline‐ powered vehicles. The plan went into effect in September and will run over the next three years. It offers total aid of €67.5 million. Specifically the maximum amount an indi‐ vidual can receive would be €7,000 if he buys an all‐elec‐ tric or a plug‐in hybrid vehicle and junks his present car more than seven years old. If he does not junk his old car, the grant drops to €4,500. The grant does not apply to ve‐ hicles whose range is less than 90 kilometres, so it cannot be used for mobility scooters. Private persons can get grants of 70 per cent to install charging stations. The best way to inform yourself is simply to go to your automobile dealer. He wants to sell you a car, so he will make sure that you get the best deal possible.

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

FRACKING is an important source of energy in the USA and was promot‐ ed by the Conservative Government under David Cameron in the face of considerable criticism from environ‐ mentalists. Although the go ahead was given for tests to be undertaken in the Midlands and north of England with companies looking to extract gas in particular, a decision was made by Whitehall to ban any large‐

startups and will cut taxes for for‐ eign workers who move to Spain to take up jobs in these companies or to become digital nomads, working for overseas companies but from a Spanish base.

For generations, bureaucracy has been considered a stumbling block for smaller businesses wish‐ ing to set up in Spain, but Calviño has indicated that the new law will make it far simpler to set up a company online without need for notary or registry costs and wom‐ en will be encouraged to be part of this digital revolution.

What is a pre-paid funeral plan?

WHILE many peo‐ ple plan their next night out or holi‐ day, most do not think ahead to their funeral.

From what type of service to have Pay for your funeral in advance. to the music, plan‐ ning a funeral can be difficult, but a Golden Leaves funeral plan can help prevent your loved ones from having to plan it for you in a different country and another language.

Golden Leaves Funeral Plans aims to support grieving fam‐ ilies during these times.

Its international division offers expat prepaid funeral plans in Spain. Purchasing a funeral plan with Golden Leaves en‐ ables you to plan, design and pay for your funeral services in advance.

Pre‐planning and pre‐paying at today’s prices ensures that your preferences are closely followed and respected, and the funeral fees stipulated in your plan are guaranteed to be paid, no matter how prices rise in the future.

Most importantly, you can take comfort knowing that your family is spared the emotional and financial burden of organising and financing your funeral in the time when they are least able to cope.

Contact Golden Leaves to begin choosing the right pre‐ paid funeral plan for you.

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

Possibility of action scale fracking following a number of minor earthquakes in 2019 which were blamed on the fracking experi‐ ments. Understandably those who had been involved in investing in equipment, licences and testing were aggrieved by the decision and re‐

quests were made for the govern‐ ment to reverse the decision which was not forthcoming. Now however, according to The Daily Telegraph, those involved have warned the British Government that they are considering taking legal action to try

Point of law A COURT decision in Ger‐ many may impact the whole of the work envi‐ ronment throughout the European Union as after having his initial claim re‐ jected by a lower court a man who worked from home has had his appeal upheld.

Very simply, as a home worker employed by a company, he claimed that as he fell down the stairs going from his bedroom to his study where he worked, he was entitled to be covered by his em‐ ployer’s accident liability insurance.

Whilst the Spanish Gov‐ ernment encouraged home working, the actual law concerning accidents in the home is undefined, but this may act as a use‐ ful precedent.

Industrial unrest WHILST there was little indus‐ trial action in Spain during the period from March 2020 until the end of summer 2021, things are beginning to esca‐ late with a number of demonstrations on the streets.

Farmers in Oviedo rode their horses around the city complaining about the rise in prices in almost everything, except their produce.

Metal workers in Cadiz Province became embroiled in quite violent conflict with the police and one of the main roads to La Linea de la Frontera was closed by strik‐ ers.

Now for Christmas, expect strikes from delivery drivers and even El Gordo lottery sellers. to recover some or all of the estimat‐ ed £500 million that they have spent.

Should this go to court and if the government lost, the compensation would have to be paid by taxpayers at a time when Britain is suffering from high electricity prices and the fear that important gas supplies from Russia could be cut off because of the UK’s stance against Russian policy on the Ukraine.

32 EWN

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16 - 22 December 2021

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

LONDON - FTSE 100

See our advert on previous page

C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 13

COMPANY PRICE(P) 3I Group 1.412,00 Abrdn 238,30 Admiral Group 3.076,0 Anglo American 2.976,5 Antofagasta 1.395,00 Ashtead Group 6.270,0 Associated British Foods 1.933,0 AstraZeneca 8.154,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 734,80 Avast 614,40 Aveva 3.276,4 Aviva 395,25 B&M European Value Retail 642,80 BAE Systems 546,92 Bank VTB DRC 1,224 Barclays 183,08 Barratt Developments 735,40 Berkeley 4.744,0 BHP Group 2.169,50 BP 342,85 British American Tobacco 2.749,0 British Land Company 515,20 BT Group 176,73 Bunzl 2.979,0 Burberry Group 1.831,5 Carnival 1.307,9 Centrica 67,02 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.473,9 Compass 1.527,00 CRH 3.804,0 Croda Intl 10.403,7 DCC 5.656,0 Diageo 3.954,0 DS Smith 392,40 EasyJet 517,54 Experian 3.645,5 Ferguson 12.485,0 Flutter Entertainment 10.940,0 Fresnillo 874,90 GlaxoSmithKline 1.606,60 Glencore 373,25 Halma 3.152,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.321,50 Hikma Pharma 2.220,00 HSBC 437,75 IAG 134,96 Imperial Brands 1.584,50 Informa 500,80 InterContinental 4.629,0 Intermediate Capital 2.200,00

CHANGE(P) 1.414,00 238,90 3.087,0 2.991,0 1.398,50 6.271,0 1.950,5 8.161,0 735,80 615,80 3.291,0 396,20 646,20 551,20 1,224 183,46 738,00 4.761,0 2.183,00 345,30 2.763,0 520,80 178,50 2.985,0 1.836,5 1.317,2 67,70 2.478,0 1.532,00 3.810,0 10.435,0 5.710,0 3.970,0 394,00 530,80 3.651,0 12.495,0 11.060,0 875,20 1.609,80 374,00 3.154,0 1.336,50 2.228,00 440,05 137,86 1.593,00 503,60 4.666,0 2.201,00

% CHG. 1.393,00 236,50 3.067,0 2.959,0 1.379,00 6.193,1 1.924,5 8.109,0 731,80 613,60 3.259,0 393,90 640,20 546,80 1,180 182,30 729,40 4.712,0 2.163,50 342,65 2.749,0 514,80 175,55 2.960,0 1.821,5 1.296,6 66,92 2.455,0 1.519,00 3.776,0 10.275,0 5.652,0 3.936,5 388,50 516,60 3.620,0 12.370,0 10.920,0 860,40 1.598,20 370,85 3.130,0 1.315,00 2.204,00 436,45 134,86 1.579,50 500,40 4.629,0 2.173,00

NET VOL 54,09K 228,22K 22,06K 344,00K 79,29K 4,66K 48,80K 179,45K 80,57K 141,78K 11,98K 777,01K 102,67K 167,83K 2,96M 1,30M 127,32K 13,23K 439,64K 4,15M 317,28K 133,16K 2,58M 29,72K 64,10K 129,42K 2,11M 36,29K 178,07K 46,64K 35,97K 6,39K 157,10K 346,65K 577,14K 45,88K 8,85K 16,17K 63,64K 703,41K 2,43M 21,90K 25,63K 29,18K 2,37M 3,25M 88,72K 138,49K 16,70K 8,89K

COMPANY

PRICE(P)

Intertek ITV 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 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 Taylor Wimpey Tesco Tui Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Group PLC Whitbread WPP

5.764,0 111,03 272,80 2.011,0 748,20 294,20 46,12 6.632,0 737,80 149,00 1.838,50 1.046,84 216,60 8.228,0 29,55 1.588,20 2.817,0 649,80 1.302,50 6.154,0 2.406,00 625,40 769,40 4.833,5 121,38 7,64 1.655,90 1.656,0 1.652,6 828,57 1.628,50 15,90 3.434,0 1.402,65 1.409,00 2.916,0 1.225,48 1.508,00 16.300,0 1.628,75 1.615,50 426,20 167,91 285,45 218,70 4.006,0 1.117,50 113,09 2.881,0 1.109,50

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

5.768,0 111,45 275,50 2.046,0 752,80 294,70 46,33 6.714,0 739,60 149,40 1.840,50 1.049,60 217,30 8.296,0 29,75 1.612,88 2.825,0 650,60 1.312,00 6.164,0 2.408,00 626,60 772,40 4.857,6 123,12 7,73 1.665,20 1.664,8 1.661,6 829,80 1.631,50 16,05 3.443,0 1.407,38 1.412,00 2.948,0 1.233,00 1.508,00 16.325,0 1.633,52 1.616,00 427,70 168,28 285,95 222,80 4.010,5 1.121,00 113,50 2.907,0 1.119,00

5.706,0 110,35 272,50 2.008,0 748,00 292,70 45,98 6.612,0 735,60 148,30 1.818,50 1.045,20 215,80 8.154,0 29,41 1.583,00 2.801,0 643,80 1.300,50 6.096,0 2.396,00 621,80 766,40 4.812,0 121,18 7,60 1.654,50 1.655,0 1.651,0 821,80 1.624,00 15,76 3.413,0 1.397,00 1.401,00 2.906,0 1.221,00 1.496,50 16.130,0 1.623,00 1.607,00 423,80 166,04 283,30 217,50 3.990,0 1.114,00 112,32 2.846,0 1.102,50

8,27K 486,76K 191,78K 34,90K 64,92K 612,64K 20,38M 67,47K 35,03K 446,81K 59,57K 156,17K 1,20M 12,48K 53,65K 24,71K 26,20K 75,88K 330,52K 65,01K 80,83K 85,06K 102,84K 44,18K 4,89M 261,27K 501,62K 515,68K 770,15K 233,42K 1,60K 748,06K 10,15K 387,76K 102,32K 14,32K 113,34K 39,71K 5,32K 15,40K 27,34K 537,15K 196,88K 749,86K 634,72K 227,74K 67,06K 4,94M 26,78K 378,45K

1.17275

0.85141

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ......................................1.12671 Japan yen (JPY)......................................128.116 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0427 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4362 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.138

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

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 13

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

PRICE 177,10 2.973,5 3.444,24 210,89 179,45 205,06 203,46 118,34 59,25 56,28 391,06 415,40 209,81 124,09 50,59 165,49 159,82 264,97 72,62 329,75 342,54 169,06 155,46 266,03 1.017,03 478,23 50,19 213,40 141,03 152,71

CHANGE 177,94 2.988,0 3.518,54 214,45 179,63 209,00 205,90 119,20 59,34 56,32 398,86 415,61 210,04 125,33 51,07 166,69 161,70 265,27 73,23 335,03 343,00 170,24 155,80 270,57 1.020,98 478,48 50,33 214,25 141,30 154,66

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 176,11 1,54M 2.947,1 1,04M 3.410,00 2,97M 210,01 2,73M 174,69 112,53M 203,48 6,00M 202,11 3,31M 116,87 9,07M 57,91 19,22M 55,07 23,09M 388,66 1,88M 410,26 2,56M 205,82 3,24M 123,36 4,96M 50,05 22,58M 164,65 6,32M 159,13 10,12M 262,43 2,35M 72,25 11,39M 326,37 14,21M 334,79 36,99M 167,33 4,71M 153,43 6,88M 264,44 3,48M 982,53 19,66M 471,01 2,38M 49,99 17,90M 210,86 8,65M 137,57 12,52M 151,45 9,24M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 13

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

Most Advanced Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Cl A 1.54% NVR Inc. 1.23% AutoZone Inc. 1.89% White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. 1.84% UBS AG FI Enhanced Large Cap Growth ETN 1.67% Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced ETN1.67% Markel Corp.

1.15% Oracle Corp.

15.61% Chemed Corp.

2.72% Martin Marietta Materials Inc. 2.83% Anthem Inc. 2.70%

1.57K 12.8K 161.27K 22.67K 35 575 39.15K 45.82M 98.69K 550.65K 1.22M

Most Declined Shopify Inc. Cl A Wayfair Inc. Cl A Sea Ltd. ADR HubSpot Inc. Generac Holdings Inc. Cloudflare Inc. Cl A Cooper Cos. United Rentals Inc. Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. Cl A Fiverr International Ltd. GXO Logistics Inc.

-2.23% -7.80% -6.62% -2.12% -3.44% -6.47% -2.17% -2.45% -1.03% -5.62% -7.61%

794.29K 2.75M 7.21M 577.85K 756.68K 5.64M 379.35K 599.97K 153.56K 749.57K 2.31M

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

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Credit: @ThierryBreton Twitter

Mobile roaming with no extra fees

DEAL REACHED: Part of the negotiating team.

MOBILE roaming with no extra fees for EU residents is to be extended until 2032 after the presidency reached a deal with Euro‐ pean Parliament.

The EU’s successful roam like at home scheme will be extended until 2032, ac‐ cording to the provisional agreement reached on De‐ cember 9 by negotiators from the Council and the European Parliament.

The updated roaming rules will ensure that peo‐ ple can continue to make calls, text and browse the web while travelling in oth‐ er EU countries, without the fear of a shock when they get their bill, after the current roaming regulation expires on June 30, 2022.

The ‘roam like at home’ policy has made communi‐ cation easier and cheaper whenever people are trav‐ elling in Europe and is con‐ sidered one of the greatest success stories of the digital single market.

The revised roaming reg‐

ulation adjusts the maxi‐ mum wholesale prices to ensure that the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices is sustain‐ able for operators through‐ out the EU although the fair use policy, which is de‐ signed to prevent perma‐ nent roaming, will contin‐ ue.

It increases transparency for services that may be subject to extra cost, and will also protect customers from bill shocks resulting from inadvertent roaming on non‐terrestrial mobile networks when on ferries or aeroplanes.

The provisional agree‐ ment reached is subject to approval by the Council and the full European Parlia‐ ment.

Unfortunately for those who have contracts with UK based mobile suppliers there will be no such pro‐ tection, due to Brexit, al‐ though Three are unlikely to start charging before May next year and O2 offer

Improvement of 15 fishing ports THE Junta de Andalucia is to invest in the improve‐ ment of 15 fishing ports as the Ministry of Agricul‐ ture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Develop‐ ment has allocated almost €8.2 million to carry out work.

This was confirmed on December 8 by Minister Carmen Crespo, who emphasised that this financial aid would cover 86 per cent of the total investment on these projects.

The beneficiary ports are Malaga, Fuengirola, Velez‐Malaga, Marbella and Estepona in Malaga Province; La Linea, Chipiona, Sanlucar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa María, Barbate and Cadiz in Cadiz Province; Punta Umbria, Isla Cristina and El Rompido in Huelva Province and the port of Almeria.

some free roaming, but EE and Vodafone are charging already.

BUSINESS EXTRA Profits up THE Frasers Group in the UK has seen its pre‐tax profit soar by 75 per cent to £186 million in its lat‐ est half‐year results thanks to the reopening of stores following lock‐ down and a continued growth in its online busi‐ ness, although an Omi‐ cron Christmas may see a slow‐down.

Cherry picking LOOKING to boost its eco‐ nomic forecast depart‐ ment, the European Cen‐ tral Bank has appointed Oscar Arce, former direc‐ tor for Economics, Statis‐ tics and Research at the Bank of Spain as new di‐ rector general of its eco‐ nomics department, an important role which in‐ volves growth and infla‐ tion forecasts.

Flat line LATEST information from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that GDP (Gross Domestic Prod‐ uct) rose just 0.1 per cent in November, well below the forecast 0.4 per cent growth due to ongoing sup‐ ply chain problems and staff shortages and this may get worse.

16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 33

34 EWN

16 - 22 December 2021

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT JUST how far back are we going with these accusations of so‐called ‘historical’ racism?

Thoroughly respectable citizens are now finding their careers and very livelihoods in jeopardy, merely because years ago they may have used a term or word that today isn’t considered acceptable.

As ludicrous as it may seem, you can bet that one day some woke committee, or another will suggest bringing the creators or participants of ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ or ‘The Black and White Minstrels’ to book.

It truly wouldn’t surprise me if compensation wasn’t sought from (ironically) the BBC, or some production company involved in these programmes of yore. Well, it’s all payback time, isn’t it?

The recent testimony of cricketer Azeem Rafiq was a case in point. His tearful account of experiencing racism in cricket and his naming of Michael Vaughn, who (a decade ago) was one of those censured, was enough despite a public apology, to just about destroy Vaughn’s whole distinguished career. At the hastily called public enquiry, the bleeding‐heart committee, with compassionately furrowed brows, delivered unctuous apologies, while the Yorkshire cricket club

www.euroweeklynews.com

Payback time awarded him £200,000 in ‘compensation’.

The fact that this same ‘sportsman’ had himself been accused and admitted making several anti‐Semitic and racist remarks some years ago, was conveniently omitted. He was also brought to book for harassing and sending vulgar messages to a 16‐year‐old girl. The biased media of course completely brushed over these facts, which never saw the light of day again.

From my experiences in apartheid South Africa, where the black community hated both the white and Asian ‘Cape coloureds’ (and vice versa) and Saudi Arabia, where I employed quite several Pakistani men, I can quite categorically state that the majority were the most blatant racists of all. The UK’s ethnic immigrant minorities are no strangers to racial inequality.

Whereas much of British so‐called racism has been steeped in light‐hearted humour and comedy (Manuel!) in their own countries of origin, many ethnic communities have experienced years of violence and hatred provoked by their different cultures and religions. The woke brigade are a gift from heaven for many of

these people and they will take every opportunity to make us all feel bad, while they craftily milk it for all its worth.

The recent case of actor Jussie Smollett, who faked his own racist and homophobic attack, is a similar case in point. I reiterate once again that I am not condoning racism in any form; but I won’t be sucked in by the crocodile tears of the ‘offended victims’ as if they are bewildered by it all, when their own societies have been steeped in it for eons.

Yet another American court case will be decided next week. Gird yer loins for the violent reactions and blanket left‐wing media coverage if the American white female police officer, who allegedly shot a black man by mistake, is found not guilty ‐ incidentally a verdict I would completely agree with.

Keep the faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com Mon and Wed 1pm till 4 To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

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

FEATURE

TV & Film Review by Laura Kemp

Streaming now: ‘And Just Like That…’

THE highly anticipated spinoff of the iconic TV show Sex and the City ‐ which ran from 1998 to 2004 ‐ has debuted on HBO Max with its first two episodes. The series continues from where it left off in the 2010 movie ‘Sex and the City 2’, following Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her girlfriends in New York.

There are some surprises in the spinoff so if you don’t want any spoilers, look away now. Shockingly, sex‐obsessed Samantha is no longer with us.

The first time we see Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), the group is waiting to be seated at a restaurant. However, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is missing.

Even though fans knew Cat‐ trall wouldn’t be involved in the reboot (allegedly due to her feud with Parker), her fate wasn’t known. But now we discover she has moved to London.

Back in New York, Carrie

has moved with technology and is now an influencer.

“Wow, Instagram, podcast,” exclaims Miranda. “I guess you’re passing as younger, too.”

So far, there’s been no sex.

For a show that was originally based on four single women and their relationships, the re‐ boot is surprisingly tame. The only person who seems to be having sex is Miranda’s horny teenage son, Brady.

The biggest surprise is that John Preston (Mr Big) dies at the end of the first episode. He is seen getting off his Peloton exercise bike and heading into the shower, sending a text to Carrie. He then falls to the floor, appearing to suffer a heart attack. Carrie returns home to find his body propped up against the show‐ er wall.

As she cradles his lifeless body in her arms, the episode ends with Carrie’s iconic voiceover: “And just like that...

Big died.”

FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 35

Advertising Feature

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But many spectators have voiced their concerns that the conference has not gone far enough to tackle this pressing problem.

The burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity is one of the main contribut‐ ing factors to global warming, the ef‐ fects of which can already be seen with rising sea levels, increased forest fires and more and more weather‐related disasters and, while governments made pledges to ‘phase down’ coal produc‐ tion, many believe these commitments fall short of the urgent action needed.

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The Mariposa Energía team takes care of the whole process for you, including the registration of all paperwork. Instal‐ lations come with a 20‐year fully com‐ prehensive guarantee and maintenance support is provided. Plus, there are low‐ cost finance options available.

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To find out more visit: www.mariposaenergia.es, call +34 951 120 830 or email info@mariposaenergia.es

36 EWN

16 - 22 December 2021

www.euroweeklynews.com

FEATURE

WHAT BURGLARS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW! even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbour hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and listen. If he doesn’t, he’ll just return to what he was doing. It’s human nature!

To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a great way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invi‐ tation. And, if you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in the house.

Sorry if it happens to be yours …

But no hard feelings, eh? Just doing MY job.

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

WHEN I was last in the UK, I caught up with an old friend who’d just been bur‐ gled. She was livid as she’s most partic‐ ular about security. But not half as par‐ ticular as the burglar himself. Here are some things he WON’T be telling you as you’re about to leave your house for your Christmas or New Year holiday ...

Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your windows or delivering your new freezer. And hey, when I was working in your garden thanks for let‐ ting me use the bathroom where I un‐ latched the back window to make my return that bit easier.

I just love your flowers. They tell me you have taste. And taste means there are nice things within. In fact, those toys your kids leave outside always make me wonder what type of elec‐ Nora Johnson’s opinions

BURGLAR: Will break a window to enter, even if it makes a little noise.

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 on‐ line as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, paperback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.

tronic games are inside! alarm system.

Another point: I always knock first. If Sometimes I carry a clipboard. Some‐ you answer, I’ll ask for directions times I dress like a gardener and carry a somewhere or offer to clean your gut‐ strimmer. You see, I do my best never To read more articles from our columnists ters. (Just don’t take me up on it!) to look like an old lag. And two things I and to have your say in the comments go And, remember, a loud TV or radio can hate most? Loud dogs and nosy neigh‐ to www.euroweeklynews.com be a better deterrent than the best bours. I'll break a window to get in, are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

Christmas traditions

IF you’re getting into the holiday feel at this time, you may be already be getting involved with some traditional Christmas activities.

But to ramp up the festive vibes, why not take a look at some of our Christmas traditions to take part in that involve the whole family?

Christmas carols No Christmas would be complete without a trip to a carol concert, or even to do some carolling of your own.

writing their letters to Father Christmas to get all their presents in on time.

Making your own cards More personal than buying a box of cards, this year why not make some cards for your friends and family?

All you need is some coloured card, scissors and glitter to make your own set of festive notes this year.

Decorate your tree.

Letters to Santa If you have children, now is the time to get them to start

Write a letter to Santa.

38 EWN

CDS

16 - 22 December 2021

euroweeklynews.com

10 of the best comedy films at Xmas

CHRISTMAS is all about being together with those you love. And what better way to spend time together than in front of a classic festive comedy?

Here, the Euro Weekly News sets out the 10 of the best Christmas comedy films for you to watch this year.

These films include some of the classics from across the years, as well as some new movies you may not have seen, and also offer something for everyone, from the younger members of the audience to older relatives.

1. Jingle All the Way 2. A Christmas Story 3. Christmas with the Kranks 4. Elf 5. Bad Santa 6. Four Christmases 7. The Muppet Christmas Carol 8. Just Friends 9. Ernest Saves Christmas 10.Get Santav

To get the full Christmas film experience, add popcorn, hot chocolate, your favourite cinema-style pick n mix and a blanket to snuggle up together under.

euroweeklynews.com From pooping logs to midnight mass, Spain marks some parts of Christmas differently to the UK. And here are five of the best traditions.

1. The caga tio A tradition from Catalonia, the caga tio or pooping log is a log that has been given legs and a face and is fed by children before Christmas.

On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, children then hit the log with a stick and it poops out nougat.

2. Midnight Mass Many Spanish go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, known as La Misa Del Gallo, eating their main Christmas

16 - 22 December 2021

CDS

Christmas traditions around Spain CHRISTMAS traditions vary from country to country, and Spain has some of the best customs of anywhere in the world.

Many Spanish go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. meal before or after mass instead of on Christmas Day. 3. Three Kings In Spain, the Three Kings are the ones who

bring children their presents on January 6 after parading through the town on January 5 throwing sweets for the children.

4. Roscon The Spanish also often have a Roscon de Reyes over Christmas. This sweet bread ring, topped with fruits and sometimes filled with whipped cream, is the cake eaten at Christmas in Spain.

5. Basque Santa The Basques have their own version of Santa, Olentzero a mythical giant, dressed in peasant’s clothes and smoking a pipe. He brings presents for children on Christmas Eve in the Basque Country.

39

THURSDAY 16/12 FRIDAY 17/12 SATURDAY 18/12

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Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The One Show Sort Your Life Out with Stacey Solomon EastEnders MasterChef: The Professionals News at Ten

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Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The One Show Spider-Man: Far From Home Have I Got News for You BBC News at Ten

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BBC News BBC London News; Weather Weather Superman & Lois The Weakest Link Strictly Special Strictly Come Dancing: The Final Michael McIntyre's The Wheel BBC News

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BBC London News; Weather Weather Countryfile at Christmas Antiques Roadshow at Christmas BBC Sports The Girl Before BBC News BBC London News; Weather

6:00pm

Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather Mary Berry's Festive Feasts EastEnders Would I Lie to You? at Christmas The Girl Before BBC News at Ten

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Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The Goes Wrong Show: The Spirit of Christmas EastEnders Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off The Girl Before

6:00pm

Pointless Celebrities Christmas Special BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The Repair Shop at Christmas The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas Special The Girl Before

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Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Strictly: It Takes Two Celebrity Antiques Road Trip Mary Berry - Love to Cook Nadiya's Fast Flavours Surgeons: At the Edge of Life Mock the Week Newsnight

8:00pm

Africa's Lion Kings: Natural World Winter's Weirdest Events Flog It! Strictly: It Takes Two Richard Osman's House of Games Walking with Jim Moir Gardeners' World Winter Specials Vienna Blood Newsnight

8:30pm 9:00pm

Great Expectations Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas Flog It! Chris & Michaela - Under the Christmas Sky Whisky Galore!

The Snow Wolf: A Winter's Tale Madonna at the BBC Desperately Seeking Susan Madonna: Truth or Dare

8:00pm

Nigella's Cook, Eat, Repeat Christmas Special Last Woman on Earth with Sara Pascoe The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Beauty and the Beast: A Pantomime for Comic Relief The Ranganation Christmas Special

8:00pm 8:50pm 10:00pm

South Pacific Porridge Dad's Army Mastermind Only Connect University Challenge QI Christmas Special: Seasons Greetings Two Doors Down: Christmas Special We Wish You a Mandy Christmas

8:00pm

Remarkable Places to Eat at Christmas The Good Life Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing Dad's Army University Challenge A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver Impeachment: American Crime Story What We Do in the Shadows

9:00pm

Guys and Dolls Dad's Army Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em University Challenge The Hairy Bikers Go North for Christmas Inside the Christmas Factory Live at the Apollo: Christmas Special Secrets of the Apollo

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The Joy of Painting: Winter Specials University Challenge The Culture Show The Color Purple The Sky at Night A look back at the programmes from 2021.

Horizon: Seeing Stars James May at the Edge of Space The Culture Show

5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm

Sounds of the 70s Top of the Pops: Christmas 1989 Saturday Night Fever The Ultimate Disco Movie Disco at the BBC Rod Stewart Christmas Concert: Old Grey Whistle Test The Story of A Fairytale of New York

5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:30pm 10:45pm

All Aboard: The Great Reindeer Migration The Lady in the Van The Galaxy Britain Built: The British Force Behind Star Wars Toy Empire: The British Force Behind Star Wars Toys Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice Disco at the BBC

4:55pm 6:00pm 7:00pm

Natural World Swinging Christmas Daniel Barenboim: In His Own Words BBC Proms Classics: Barenboim Conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms Sound of Musicals with Neil Brand Handmade in the Pacific: Yidaki

3:05pm 5:40pm 6:05pm 6:15pm 7:15pm

Top of the Pops: Christmas 1990 What We Were Watching: Christmas 1991 Keeping Up Appearances Xmas 1991: The Father Christmas Suit Pet Shop Boys in Concert The Ice House James May: My Sisters' Top Toys

5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm

A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley Dinnerladies Victoria Wood: Seen on TV Some Santas with Jokes The Truth About Christmas Carols Bought with Love: The Secret History of British Art Collections

5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm

Top of the Pops: Christmas 1978 Yes, Minister One Foot in the Grave Eric, Ernie & Me Stuffed: The Great British Christmas Dinner How Quizzing Got Cool: Tv's Brains of Britain Handmade in the Pacific: Taupoo

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Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Walk the Line Gordon, Gino & Fred: Desperately Seeking Santa ITV News ITV News London

4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm

Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Walk the Line It'll Be Alright on the Night ITV News ITV News London

6:00pm

The Chase: The Bloopers The Brits Are Coming Rolling In It: Christmas Special ITV News and Weather ITV News London Moneyball The Chase Celebrity Special Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Christmas Line Up The Jonathan Ross Show

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Licence to Kill ITV News and Weather ITV News London The Pet Show Sitting on a Fortune Celebrity Christmas The Royal Variety Performance ITV News and Weather ITV London Weather Michael Bublé's Christmas In The City

3:35pm 4:35pm

Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Gino's Italian Family Adventure Coronation Street The Big Soap Quiz: Coronation Street vs Emmerdale

4:00pm 5:00pm

Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Gino's Italian Family Adventure Love Your Garden Philip: Prince, Husband, Father ITV News at Ten ITV News London

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Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs Coronation Street Madame Tussauds: The Full Wax ITV News at Ten

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Moneybags A Place in the Sun Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News The Dog House at Christmas One Night in Alton Towers Literally Just Told You

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Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News The Truth About Disability Benefits: Dispatches Sainsburys: Christmas Food Secrets Celebrity Gogglebox 2021

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Jamie: Keep Cooking at Christmas Bee Movie Channel 4 News A Lake District Farm Shop at Christmas Christmas at Chatsworth House 48 Hours to Victory The Equalizer 2 Daddy's Home 2

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Moneybags Kirstie's Handmade Christmas Eddie the Eagle Channel 4 News Devon and Cornwall at Christmas Escape to the Chateau at Christmas Guy Martin's Lancaster Bomber Catch Me If You Can

4:05pm

A Place in the Sun Chateau DIY at Christmas Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Jamie: Together at Christmas Inside Liberty at Christmas

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A Place in the Sun Chateau DIY at Christmas Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country at Christmas Amazing Spaces: George's Icelandic Adventure The Great British Truck Up

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Countdown A Place in the Sun Chateau DIY at Christmas Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Kirstie and Phil's Love it or List it First Dates at Christmas

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A Ring For Christmas 5 News at 5 Secrets of the Mega Christmas Buffet World's Strongest Man 2021 Inside the Tower of London Murder in Suburbia Critical Condition The Boy with No Brain: Extraordinary People

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Christmas at Dollywood 5 News at 5 Secrets of the Christmas Factory Secrets of the Imperial War Museum The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson Gregg Wallace's Magical Christmas Market

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Surviving Christmas with the Relatives Entertainment News on 5 Surviving Christmas with the Relatives Journey Back to Christmas 5 News Update Journey Back to Christmas Scrooge

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Entertainment News on 5 The Christmas Set Up A Unicorn for Christmas 5 News Update A Unicorn for Christmas 5 News Weekend A Winter Cruise with Jane McDonald Hamleys at Christmas Britain's Favourite 90s Toys

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Entertainment News on 5 Christmas Everlasting A Christmas Contest Entertainment News on 5 A Christmas Contest Surviving Christmas with the Relatives 5 News Update A Snowy Scenic Railway Journey

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A Nutcracker Christmas Entertainment News on 5 A Nutcracker Christmas Christmas CEO 5 News Update Cadbury's at Christmas & Other Chocolate Treats Harrods at Christmas Christmas Cruising with Susan Calman

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A Godwink Christmas: Miracle of Love Entertainment News on 5 A Godwink Christmas: Miracle of Love A Christmas Stray 5 News Update World's Strongest Man 2021 Christmas at the Tower of London

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FEATURE

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16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 41

Advertising Feature

Savage Martial Arts’ 1st graduation SAVAGE MARTIAL ARTS held its very first gradua‐ tion in Spain on Decem‐ ber 5 at Kings College, Murcia.

Having only opened schools on the Costa Blanca in September this year it was an amazing sight to see more than 60 children and their fami‐ lies take part in our very

first graduation day.

Each student from our Minis (three‐five years), Littles (six‐eight years) and Junior Savages (eight‐12 years) had suc‐ cessfully passed their red belt grading the week before and were award‐ ed with their new belt at the graduation ceremo‐ ny by their very proud

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GRADUATION DAY: More than 60 children and their families took part.

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come in a short period of time. Their focus, disci‐ pline and confidence was absolutely astounding and they all thoroughly deserved their new belts.

It was humbling to be part of and to see just how much it meant to the children’s parents and families ‐ proud does not do it justice!

With new schools opening and more chil‐ dren joining, our next graduation ceremony is sure to be even more amazing.

EW YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com Views expressed and opinions given are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements.

INEQUALITIES

From our Facebook

BREATH OF FRESH AIR: Claire Gordon’s column in complete contract to the view of Leapy Lee.

What a breath of fresh air to read Claire Gordon’s column last week in complete contrast to the views of Lee, in her statement quote! (The irony of people making these sorts of ignorant statements at a campaign aimed at making spaces more welcoming for people is completely lost) While she is specifically referring to LGBTQ+ everything she has said also applies to the continual ignorance shown by her fellow columnist towards the BLM movement who are only asking that more tolerance should be shown towards all genders. Thankfully the majority of the public through these organisations are now seeing the importance of equality as shown by the hundreds of thousands at football matches when every week the taking of the knee is widely applauded.

Many thanks Ramon

Last week’s Leapy I don’t always agree with you... but I really thought your article last week was spot on ... I really loved the statements from Sheikh Rahid too...

Regards

Import duty Yes I had the same problem, this time with a parcel from the UK, I had to pay €23.64, God knows where they got this amount from. But that’s what I had to pay at the Correos to get my parcel. But I didn’t know it also applied to Xmas cards. So there will be no more parcels and maybe Xmas cards and birthday cards now.

Susan

Bollotics!

Will you be partying with your family in the UK this year? While, 50,000 new cases are being spread daily by the partially masked partying, socialising, sport and concert attending home population, new restrictions will now apply to triple vaccinated Brits living in mask protected Spain, hiking the cost of seeing them this Christmas. Recent revelations have confirmed that Covid restrictions can be disregarded by government members and their cronies, and ‘lying’ has now been reclassified as ‘denying’. Welcome to bollotics! The new way to exercise power.

A disgruntled grandad

Janet

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME THE lead up to Christmas has been a tense time for everyone. In the UK, rows have erupted over breaches of public trust as the government asks people to follow guidelines that they seem to neglect themselves. Meanwhile, in Spain and elsewhere, there are fears of another wave of the pandemic just as everyone could sense normality returning.

But amongst the gloom,

CORRECTIONS

OUR VIEW

there are always moments of joy and cheer that restore your faith in humanity. On Sunday, December 12, fans of Sevilla-based football club Real Betis carried out their annual tradition of bringing soft toys to their pre-Christmas home game.

Following a signal, the toys are tossed onto the pitch and then collected by local charity groups and distributed to needy children around the

city. The initiative is aimed to ensure that no child goes without a gift at Christmas.

The sight of thousands of furry creatures raining down in the stadium from home and away fans is a heart-warming sight. It is a lovely gesture that brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘The Beautiful Game.’ It is also a reminder that despite our differences, we can come together in the name of a worthy cause.

CHILDREN’S VACCINATION: It is doubtful they will be useful.

Tom Batley Children who catch the virus are mainly asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms, they can also spread the virus whether vaccinated or not, so I can categorically say neither of my children will be getting this jab and most parents I know say the same!

Nikki Dean Absolutely not! Until these trials are completed and FULL implications and long term side effects are established, they shouldn’t even be thinking of moving on to the children!! NO NO NO!

Norman Shaw Absolutely yes, everyone should be vaccinated (unless for medical reasons) including children.

Christine Moore Children need to build up their natural immunity. The vast majority of kids that get infected are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms.

Louise Catterall Definitely not. Children have a 99.997 per cent chance of surviving Covid yet the jabs have had no long term testing and results so far show they are causing paralysis, heart attacks, myocarditis and even death.

Ruma Jordan This is not a normal vaccine, it’s an mRNA treatment ... until the trials have finished and proven safe these should not be forced on anyone!

At the EWN, we pride ourselves that reports are accurate and fair. If we do slip up, we promise to set the record straight in a clear, no-nonsense manner. To ask for an inaccuracy to be corrected. Email: editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

GO LOCAL

THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has urged its readers to support lo‐ cal businesses in the commu‐ nity by shopping locally in re‐ cent times. Now things are heading back to normal, we challenge you to maintain that habit by supporting local high streets, markets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky indepen‐ dent businesses in your area.

Local businesses make our villages, towns and cities what they are. They add unique character. They are conve‐

nient. And they offer excellent produce from known suppliers.

The joy of shopping locally means that independent busi‐ nesses can support the local community. You may find something a euro or two cheaper online but have you considered where your money is actually going?

By shopping locally you’re putting food on a local family’s table and there is nothing bet‐ ter than giving back to the communities that have given us so much. Local stores sup‐

port charities and they sponsor local sports teams. In many cas‐ es, they are much more than

just a business, they’re a legacy.

They may have supported gen‐ erations of the same family.

EWN 47

48 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

FEATURE

PIONEERS AND LEGENDS

DAVID WORBOYS THE term ‘legend’ suggests ‘a tra‐ ditional story or person, some‐ times popularly regarded as histor‐ ical but not authenticated’, such as King Arthur. It can also mean an extremely famous or successful person, especially in a particular field. Unfortunately, it tends to be used to describe any obscure foot‐ baller who scored two goals in a match for Arsenal or Liverpool 30 years ago, which does not do jus‐ tice to the true (living) legends of the game such as Pele or Messi.

This word is used too much to describe the best in their field but not the first in their field ‐ the pio‐ neers. These include Cervantes (the novel), Newton and Einstein (mod‐ ern physics), Haydn (the sympho‐ ny), Darwin (evolution), Freud (psy‐ choanalysis) and Berners Lee (the worldwide web). All of these made huge contributions to the develop‐ ment of various elements of under‐ standing, convenience and plea‐ sure. However, it will be argued

Marco Polo - Foremost of the great explorers.

that, had the above persons not made the breakthrough, some‐ body else soon would have done.

Newton paved the way, centuries later, for Einstein. Haydn did so for Beethoven.

And what about the great explor‐

ers? In the 13th century, Marco Po‐ lo from Venice was the first Euro‐ pean to pursue the silk road, thus discovering the cultures and tradi‐ tions of Asia, staying in China from where he visited Indonesia, Viet‐ nam and India. He also recorded

impressions of Japan and Persia.

Two hundred years later, Christo‐ pher Columbus from Genoa sailed west from Cadiz in search of the spice trade in the East Indies (In‐ donesia). In fact, he landed in the West Indies (Caribbean), thus dis‐ covering the American continent in 1492. Further voyages led to the discovery of North and South America. He captured natives and took them to Spain, paving the way for the conquistadores by his exam‐ ple of brutality towards the indige‐ nous.

In 1498, Vasco da Gama from Portugal became the first European to reach India by sea. As there was no Suez Canal, he had to circum‐ navigate the southern tip of Africa.

Unfortunately, he introduced an early form of European colonialism by enslaving and mistreating many Indian subjects.

Ferdinand Magellan from Portu‐ gal sailed east in 1510, to discover the Malay Archipelago. Prior to that, south‐east Asia was unknown

to Europeans. Later he returned to the region by sailing west, becom‐ ing the first European to cross the Southern Ocean which he renamed the Pacific. Here he found the Spice Islands of Indonesia, before dying in a battle in the Philippines. The above three explorers were all sponsored by Spain.

James ‘Captain’ Cook (1728‐79) touched neither Asia nor Africa but concentrated on the Pacific. He conducted voyages from the Bering Straits to Antarctica. In 1769, he dis‐ covered New Zealand and a year later Australia. He was murdered on a beach in Hawaii.

They all overcame formidable limitations. In those days, travel for Europeans was by foot, horseback or boat. These navigators are above legendary status.

To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

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

Volcano update, migrants landing and Covid LETTER FROM

CANARIES DEAR reader, December’s missive will try to cover other Canarian news than La Palma’s volcano. Reporting for USA and Eire radio and EWN from there, it’s been difficult to forget how dreadful it is. Feeling earth tremors here when at home, 167 kms away on La Gomera, doesn’t help either.

A TV newsflash gets forgotten: an‐ other disaster, amongst the many.

Being there, senses affected, talk‐ ing to stressed and depleted is‐ landers, going inside devasted exclu‐ sion zones and witnessing this natural disaster, has longer term ef‐ fects than the sore eyes and sketchy breathing I’ve come back with each time and I don’t live there, have lost nothing.

Some 20 psychologists from the Grupo de Intervención Psicológica en Emergencias y Catástrofes are there.

More arrive soon. Their brief is pro‐

Volcano continues to cause damage.

viding ‘emotional ventilation’ for a tough community, whose jokes and apparent insouciance mask increas‐ ing stress.

Over 7,000 people are evacuated.

Lots have lost everything. Recent predictions that, far from stopping, this eruption will be the longest on record since Tehuya lasted for 84 days in 1585, provide little comfort.

As I write, new volcanic mouths and lava flows cause further damage and evacuation.

Sailing into this, incredibly, are in‐

creasing numbers of mostly sub‐Saharan Africans, flee‐ ing their own disaster. Use of the so‐ called Canarian Route to Europe brought 9,255 migrants to our coasts between January and August, some 135 per cent more than last year.

Politics exacerbates the situation.

Relations between Spain and Moroc‐ co are still precarious, although both Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Albares, and his Moroccan counter‐

part, Nasser Bourita, are supposedly ‘working towards a new spirit of un‐ derstanding’. Bourita’s failure to at‐ tend a Barcelona meeting with Al‐ bares on 29/11 indicates otherwise.

Meanwhile, the unchecked role of Moroccans continues in organising and charging €3,000‐€6,000 a head for the privilege of boarding small boats to come here. Last year 1,851 migrants paid, on‐ ly to die in the attempt.

Many of them were children and babies.

Deaths will be higher this year.

As for Covid, well... everything was good on the islands for a few months, with few cases and no deaths. Covid‐free and with restric‐ tions lifted, we nevertheless exer‐ cised caution.

It’s all different now. Record num‐ bers of foreign tourists arrived to en‐ joy October and November here, many of them German.

Germany’s dramatic rise in cases, with more vaccinations, has pro‐

duced a 67 per cent vaccinated pop‐ ulation. According to German Im‐ munology Society President, Dr Christine Falk: “This is insufficient and, together with lack of contact restric‐ tions, allows the virus to spread al‐ most exclusively among the unvacci‐ nated.” Are stories of false test and vaccination certificates available there true?

Cruise ship Vasco de Gama’s 1,000 passengers strolled unmasked into local bars and shops recently, causing concern, despite ‘all passengers are vaccinated’ assurances.

Surprise! An ill, unvaccinated pas‐ senger had Covid. Passengers were quarantined, too late for all of us who live here of course.

It seems that Tourism = Covid.

So, what do you think? Do we sell our safety or get serious?

Merry Christmas everyone.

Barbara Belt. barbarabelt@gmail.com

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

To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

www.euroweeklynews.com

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?

WHILE winter may be a time when we traditionally hiber‐ nate a bit, getting a little more sleep than normal, for many of us colder, wetter weather can still take its toll, leaving us looking tired.

Lack of sleep can leave its mark all over our bodies, giv‐ ing us dry hair, chapped lips, dull skin, and bags under our eyes.

Luckily, it is possible to undo a lot of this damage by simply getting an extra hour or two of sleep a night, as well as upping your intake of water and fresh fruit and vegetables.

In the meantime, there is al‐ so plenty you can do cosmeti‐ cally to hide any evidence of tiredness. One of the biggest markers of a healthy, well‐ rested body is shining hair, skin, and nails.

Fake the look by using a deep conditioning mask on hair, left on for at least 10 min‐ utes, preferably under a warm towel.

Next, apply plenty of serum or leave‐in conditioner to the ends of hair to restore mois‐ ture and create a sheen. For

an added boost, apply any natural oil ‐ even olive oil ‐ to the very ends of the hair be‐ fore going to bed at night be‐ fore washing out thoroughly the next day.

Tiredness and wintry condi‐ tions can also leave us with chapped or dry lips.

Reverse this damage by cre‐ ating your own lip scrub by mixing brown sugar with equal parts honey and gently massaging this onto your lips before rinsing off.

Next, apply a thick balm, making sure to reapply regu‐ larly throughout the day and before bed.

Now you can deal with your skin by using a gentle chemical

FEELING TIRED: It is possible to look wellrested while still tired.

exfoliant to slough off dead skin cells, revealing a glowing complexion.

Alternatively, use a face mask containing vitamin C, which also works to brighten the complexion.

Either way, finish with a massage using a gentle facial oil, which will help to boost the circulation and tighten the skin, leaving you glowing.

Finally, if you still feel like you need an extra boost, there are multiple beauty products available which will cover up signs of tiredness.

The first step to brighten the complexion is starting off with an illuminating primer under any foundation or tinted mois‐ turiser. This will create a subtle glow and leave you looking naturally rested.

Finish off with a light‐reflect‐ ing concealer under the eyes, applied in the shape of an in‐ verted triangle stretching down towards your cheek‐ bone rather than a traditional half‐moon shape.

This will draw attention away from bags, leaving you shadow‐free.

16 - 22 December 2021 WE all have them. Whether from an injury, surgery, ill‐ ness, or burn, most people will end up with a scar at some stage.

While scars can remind us of our body’s remarkable ca‐ pacity for survival and healing, there are some times when we don’t wish them to be par‐ ticularly prominent.

In this case, there is plenty we can do to help fade or heal some scars, making them less visible, and also often helping to lessen any discomfort, itch‐ ing or pain they may cause.

If you have only recently sustained a cut or burn which you think may scar, unless on the advice of a doctor or phar‐ macist, it is important to let any scabs or open wounds heal before you begin to treat them.

Similarly, if you think there is any chance a wound may be infected, or you have suffered a bad burn, seek medical ad‐ vice.

Once the cause of the scar has healed, you can now take steps to help limit any future redness or change in texture by massaging oil into a recent scar, keeping skin hydration levels up and promoting the

EWN 49

Removing scars creation of collagen.

For a burn, aloe vera gel can work particularly well. Also re‐ member it is important to limit any sun exposure to the dam‐ aged area as this can make any scarring worse.

For marks which you may

have had for some time, and are perhaps white or raised, it is necessary to take a different approach. While keeping skin moisturised will still help with older scars, there are other al‐ ternatives which may help more.

50 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

FEATURE

Travel

CLAIRE GORDON FINDING BALANCE IN AN UNEVEN WORLD AS the UK has been boiling with rage about Christmas parties held in No 10 a year ago, a new bill has passed through parliament that has made second class citizens out of more than six million British people. Anyone granted British citizenship can now have it taken away with zero warning, a move branded unconstitutional by human rights lawyers.

It also gives immunity to border force staff if people die during their operations and allows them to transfer refugees to offshore ‘processing centres’ where they can be detained indefinitely.

T he B orders and N ationality bill has been deemed dangerous and unethical by critics, yet it passed through the Commons after just nine minutes of debate, with its main backer, Priti Patel “delighted.”

Little has been written in the press about this, as the space has

Smoke and mirrors Skiing in Spain

been taken up with Christmas quizzes, cheese and wine, and leaked videos. While I support holding the government to account for breaking rules and showing disregard for the people they are supposed to represent, we must remember to stay alert.

For every scandal, something worse may be lurking. For every furore that fills column inches, there’s something else could be sneaking its way in. Just as Matt Hancock was conveniently thrown to the wolves as another controversial bill had its first reading, Allegra Stratton and others will provide cover as this unethical law-making is waved through.

The next piece of democracystealing, rights-stripping law will come via the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, legislation that would not look out of place in an authoritarian regime.

Effectively banning the right to protest, it takes away the democratic right to dissent and the voice of people who are dispro-

portionally affected by government policy. Again, spearheaded by the Home Secretary, who made serious amendments to the bill while people looked the other way.

Patel is dangerous, and that’s why my inkling for what is next is so scary.

Boris Johnson has shown himself to be ruthless when it comes to axing people who disagree with his aims. But I think he will soon fall on the sword left out for him.

With the news that Patel is making a leadership move, I felt a scared resignation. When Johnson gets the chop, amid the inevitable uproar over this winter’s inescapable Covid deaths, a wolf in home secretary’s clothing will come through the door, and they will spin it like it’s an upgrade. Terrifying.

To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

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

TONI C. EASTWOOD OBE, MBA

#TheWomanBeyond I SAID I liked a great sporting analogy and here is another ‐ there is always so much we can learn from sport in life ‐ if we stop to think about it!!!

Jack Nicklaus once said that the real key to being a great golfer was “playing badly well.” I love that.

It’s one thing to play well when ev‐ erything’s good.

It’s an entirely different thing to be able to play well when things aren’t go‐ ing so smoothly.

Jim Afremow, one of the world’s leading mental toughness coaches and author of The Champion’s Mind calls it being “ugly but effective” and having “good bad days.”

So, we need to master the art of hav‐ ing good bad days. How do we do that?

What’s the trick?

Well, first, and I am talking from ex‐ perience here, expect to have some rough days and to do silly things on oc‐ casion.

WITH its reputation for sun and sand, Spain is often overlooked as a ski destination. Yet, the country has over 30 ski resorts covering well over 1,000 kms of slopes.

Most people are aware of the Sierra Nevada ski resort in Granada, which is one of the most popular due to its proximity to the Costa del Sol and its peaks which reach more than 3,000m.

Other popular resorts amongst enthusiasts in‐ clude those in Heusca in Aragon and Lleida in Catalonia, where a good covering of snow is guaranteed every year.

There are several re‐ sorts to choose from in each of these locations with Baqueira/Beret in Lleida and Formigal in Huesca ranked among the best with 160km

and 137km of slopes, respectively.

Other skiing locations in Spain include the fa‐ mous wine region of La Rioja which boasts a top‐class resort called Valdezcaray with over 20km of slopes.

You can also ski in Castilla y Leon, Cantabria, Asturias, and Madrid.

The Madrid commu‐ nity has slopes at Puer‐ to Navacerrada and Valdesquí. There is also one resort in Ourense in Galicia offering 10km of slopes at heights above 1,500 metres.

With so many op‐ tions, ski and snow‐ board lovers are spoilt for choice in Spain. The ski season generally runs from November until April depending on the location and weather.

GOOD BAD DAYS I’m not sure which golfer said it but, they expected to have x number of bad shots in any given round, so when they had the inevitable bad shot they didn’t lose it. They just said, “Yep. There’s one!” And then they moved on.

We need to do the same thing in life.

We need to expect mistakes, the proverbial to hit the fan and rough patches when we’re not as connected as we’d like to be. That’s the first step.

Then we don’t fall into a destructive cy‐ cle of wondering what’s wrong with us.

We just need to acknowledge we’re not at our best and take the next baby step. (No big deal ‐ LOL!!!)

Now here’s what we DON’T want to do ‐ all the stupid things we tend to do when we’re stressed.

I know you know what I’m talking about.

I like to call those habits ‘kryp‐ tonite.’ The stuff that, for whatever reason, we tend to gravitate toward

when we can least afford to be se‐ duced by them.

What are they for you?

They’re different for each of us. You know those sirens who tempted Odysseus and his sailors ‐ making them crash into the rocks? Did you know that they sang a different song for each of the different sailors? Yep, sneaky eh!

What’s your song ‐ the one that leads you on a path that results in you crash‐ ing into the rocks and turning what could have been a good bad day into a really bad day?

Expect the challenges. Know your bad habits (Kryptonite). Steer clear of the rocks.

Stay Focused, Keep Positive and Choose to +1 in Every Moment. Fulfil Your Dreams and Awaken Your Great‐ ness!

Love, Hugs, High Fives and Fist Bumps Toni x

Toni Eastwood OBE, MBA #TheWomanBeyond PS. If you want more out of life. Sign up for our January Visionary Women Programme and in just four, three‐ hour online sessions you could Reach Beyond Your Limits, Soar Beyond Your Barriers and Live Beyond Your Dreams and make 2022 your Best Year Yet. 25 per cent off for Euro Weekly News Readers ‐ Just Quote Offer Code EWN25 ‐ for more info and to book head on over to https://quantumvan tage.co.uk/visionarywomenpro gramme Don’t hold back another moment.

You could be just one step away…

To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

Please do get in touch if you have any questions. Follow me, chat and share your thoughts and network with other fabulous women in my Visionary Women Facebook Group.

@tonieastwood

@SixSecretsToSuccess @VisionaryWomen

tonieastwoodobe

sixsecretstosuccess

SOCIAL SCENE

www.euroweeklynews.com

16 - 22 December 2021

EWN 51

Mingle Bells Shopping prizes AN event to raise mon‐ ey for the Stroke Asso‐ ciation raised €317 on Friday, December 10.

Taking place at the Marina Bar in Torrevie‐ ja, Mingle Bells started with a two‐course Christmas lunch fol‐ lowed by a quiz, prizes, raffle and the crowd participating in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’

Organisers David and Lorraine Whitney raised €317 for the Stroke Association with the total including a generous donation of €50 from a lady called Margaret who had per‐ sonal reasons for do‐ nating to this charity.

Rita and Dave and their trusty team of helpers at the bar worked hard to provide bar service and provide a delicious meal.

Members of The

THE Department of Com‐ merce at Elche Council is sup‐ porting a campaign to boost Christmas shopping in La Mari‐ na.

The campaign will run until January 4 in the more than 40 establishments that are partici‐ pating in it with six €200 vouch‐ ers on offer. The businesses will distribute tickets in the raffle with each purchase.

The councillor for Com‐ mere, Felip Sanchez, said: “There is a large volume of commerce and hospitality in the district, and it is essential that on these dates when the volume of sales increases resi‐ dents go to local shops and en‐

MINCE PIES: Were served by Santa Claus.

Phoenix Band also played Christmas Car‐ o l s a n d N e d Fa g a n asked his good friend Santa Claus to pop in and serve the diners with mince pies which were generously pro‐

vided for the event by Iceland Overseas Su‐ permarket.

David and Lorraine thanked everyone for coming and will be or‐ ganising further charity events next year.

ELCHE COUNCIL: Supporting local businesses.

joy them and the initiative.”

Felip Sanchez, together with the president of the Pinomar Association, Isabel Valentin, and the representative of the Shops, Conchi Amoros, sup‐

Christmas concert TORREVIEJA will be hosting two concerts ahead of Christ‐ mas. The Palacio de la Musica will be hosting a concert on Saturday, December 18 at 11am.

The concert will be free until capacity is reached and will last 90 minutes.

On Sunday, December 19, at 12pm, there will also be a Christmas concert at the Municipal Theatre in Torrevieja with free entry.

ported the Christmas cam‐ paign, which has been promot‐ ed by the Pinomar La Marina Association and the Depart‐ ment of Commerce.

Councillor Sanchez said: “The initiative aims to encourage citi‐ zens to buy in store and sup‐ port both the hotel industry and local businesses on the im‐ portant dates that are yet to come, through a raffle of prizes valued at €1,200 to spend in the businesses.”

The councillor has encour‐ aged residents to spend money in local businesses during the campaign.

PETS

52

www.euroweeklynews.com • 16 - 22 December 2021

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Dog Marleys want reggae A STUDY carried out in Scotland by the SPCA and the University of Glasgow has revealed that reggae and soft rock are the preferred sounds of dogs in shelters.

Heart monitors were

used on shelter dogs to keep track of their stress levels while different musical genres, including Motown, pop, soft rock, classical and reggae were piped through the kennels.

Although in a similar way to humans the re‐ sults showed that differ‐ ent dogs preferred different musical styles, hinting that hounds have their own tastes for more than just lamb chops, reggae came top of the list for reduc‐ ing stress levels.

Professor Nell Evans said: “Over‐ all, the response to different gen‐ res was mixed highlighting the possibility that our canine friends have their own indi‐ vidual prefer‐ ences.

That be‐

ing said, reggae and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in be‐ haviour.”

Following the study, the SPCA is planning to install sound systems in its kennels.

As Evans pointed out, this will help dogs cope better with the stress of institutionali‐ sation.

MUSICAL STYLES: Dogs have their own tastes.

Advertising Feature

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The diagnosis of a brain tumour involves a co‐ ordinated effort between the vet who usually cares for the patient, the neurologist, the radi‐ ologist, the oncologist and the surgeon. Given this situation, it is necessary to advise the own‐ ers of the affected pets in the best way.

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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.

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(10004) ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION For information please contact Chairman Paul Edwards on 618 644 934, Vice Chairman Danny Kay on 966 716 274 or Secretary Margaret Forshaw on 966 921 996. (95455) STROKE ASSOCIATION Spain (formally known as Torrevieja stroke support) Our aim is to help and support stroke survivors and their carers. With rehabilitation, speech therapy, OC therapy and a very active social group. For info please contact 654 801 260 or email strokesupportgroup@hotmail .com, website: torreviejas trokesupport.org. We are always looking for volunteers who have the skills and knowledge to support. (95473)

THE SPIRITUALIST CENTRE, Benijofar will be closed for the immediate future due to Covid-19. To join the centre on ZOOM on a Tuesday evening at 7pm download the ZOOM App. To enter use ID Number 8451471869, then Password 3uf5TE. Identification Fiscal G54713789 (95454)

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Fined for using dashcam in car

MANY drivers have invest‐ ed in a dashcam at some point with the idea of fit‐

ting it in their vehicle, maybe in the hope of cap‐ turing insurance footage in the event of their having an accident. Some might use it simply to try and record an interesting event while driving. Others might install one as a form of se‐ curity, to record images while they leave their car unattended.

The current laws in Spain do not prohibit the installa‐ tion of such a device in ve‐ hicles. Having said that, a driver in A Coruña found out recently that there is a regulation applying to the consequences of using this type of recording device.

Stopped by the Local Po‐ lice whilst out driving, they questioned his having a dashcam on show. He justi‐ fied the use of it by ex‐ plaining that his vehicle had been the subject of re‐

cent vandalism, and that he had subsequently fitted the cam in the hope of catching the perpetrators, or at least scaring them from doing it again with the cam visible.

The officers raised the question to the Spanish Agency for Data Protec‐ tion, with the result being a €1,000 fine. He was told that even though the dash‐ cam itself is not prohibited, what is illegal, is to capture images on the outside of the vehicle.

They explained that he must have a justified rea‐ son to record external im‐ ages, and that in their opinion, he was not justi‐ fied in capturing images of the innocent members of the public who might ap‐ pear in the view of his dashcam while the vehicle is stopped.

MOTORING

VW shaky on production

COMPACT ELECTRIC: Volkswagen has plans to manufacture one at its plant in Barcelona.

THE Volkswagen group has plans to manu‐ facture an electric SUV at the Landaben plant in Navarra, as well as a compact electric at its Martorell plant in Barcelona, from 2025. It now seems that a final decision on both initi‐ ates will depend on conditions and govern‐ ment incentives.

An investment of €159,000 million is planned over the next few years, €89,000 million of which will be focused mainly on electromobility and digitisation. As Alfredo Morales, the president of the Volkswagen Navarra works council, said, this statement by the Volkswagen Group represents “very good news for Navarra as a whole.”

While its final decision rests on govern‐ ment incentives, Mr Morales assures that the Spanish government, “has done a good job,” in relation to the PERTE (strategic pro‐

ject for the recovery and economic transfor‐ mation) of the electric car. He also stressed that it “is a matter of time” before it materi‐ alises. “It will be the government that puts the icing on the work done so far,” Morales said.

The president of the committee has af‐ firmed that the Volkswagen statement is “a confirmation of everything that has been said these days,” and has assured that “Volk‐ swagen Navarra has a future in the medium and long term.”

He highlighted the two vehicles that could reach Landaben, both in the SUV segment, “are vehicles that are currently booming in the market, and leave a greater profit mar‐ gin, which is better for everyone, so they can negotiate better conditions for the company and the staff itself.”

MOTORING

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16 - 22 December 2021

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SsangYong Rexton - unfamiliar name, premium feel ROAD TEST

A welcome change from similar vehicles.

by Mark Slack IT may be an unfamil‐ iar name but SsangY‐ ong has been produc‐ ing vehicles since 1954. The company currently has a three model line‐up ‐ the Tivoli, Korando and Rexton ‐ plus the Musso pick‐up range.

It’s the large Rexton SUV that’s the focus of our road test this time. There are two versions, the Venture and Ulti‐ mate, with the lead‐in version priced from €44,489/£37,995.

Both versions use a four‐cylin‐ der 2.2‐litre diesel power unit mated to an eight‐speed auto‐ matic gearbox and selectable four‐wheel‐drive with low ra‐ tio.

The standard equipment list is very generous even on the lower specification model. My Ultimate version is priced at €47,615/£40,665 and comes with leather upholstery, pow‐ er adjust front seats, heated front and rear seats, ventilated

Facts at a Glance Model: SsangYong Rexton Ultimate Engine: 2.2-litre turbo diesel Gears: 8-speed automatic with selectable all-wheeldrive and low ratio Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 10.7 seconds/Maximum Speed 183 kph (114 mph) Economy: 8.59l /100km (32.9 mpg) WLTP Combined Emissions: 225 g/km WLTP Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets front seats, dual zone air con‐ ditioning, LED lights, power tailgate, electronic cruise con‐ trol, auto dimming rear mir‐ rors, auto lights and wipers, rear privacy glass, keyless en‐ try, exit and start, 3D camera and seven seats. Phew!

To say the Rexton is large is somewhat of an understate‐ ment. With seven seats it’s not only a genuine family holdall but a properly capable off‐roader too. Fold down both rear rows of seats and you have the carrying capacity

of a small van, al‐ beit a very luxuri‐ ously appointed one.

On the road the Rexton’s slightly old‐tech 2.2‐litre diesel isn’t the most refined unit, particular‐ ly under hard acceleration, but nonetheless has a decent amount of punch and returns excellent fuel economy. If you found the roughest road sur‐ face possible I really don’t think it would upset the Rexton’s in‐ terior comfort, such is the sup‐ pleness of the ride. No vehicle of this size is designed for sports handling and twisting roads do highlight some body roll if you’re too exuberant.

The build quality is excellent and it has a premium feel throughout with sensible con‐ trols and buttons as opposed to the increasing trend of over digitalisation. Styling is very subjective but it’s fair to say the Rexton is distinctive, that

overly large grille certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste.

On the positive side it’s a wel‐ come change from vehicles that all look the same.

At its price the Rexton is tremendous value, but residu‐ als will not be to the level of more established badges.

Having already driven the ex‐ cellent Korando, SsangYong’s smaller SUV, the Rexton is a similarly impressive story.

Even bearing in mind the residuals don’t let the relative‐ ly unknown badge put you off investigating the range more thoroughly.

SPORT

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16 - 22 December 2021

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Verstappen world champion THE Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday December 12 pro‐ duced one of the most dra‐ matic and controversial season climaxes ever seen in Formula One. After two overturned appeals from

Mercedes, 24‐year‐old Red Bull driver, Max Verstap‐ pen, was eventually con‐ firmed as the new world champion.

A final lap move saw the Dutchman squeeze past reigning champion, Lewis

Barcelona academy boss accused ON December 10, the 71‐year‐old former head of Barcelona FC’s youth academy, Albert Benaiges, was accused of historic sexual abuse.

The allegations, which Benaiges has denied, date back to when he worked as a PE teacher in the Les Corts district of the city, in the 1980s and 90s. It has been claimed that one former student went to the police with a formal complaint, and that others are now expected to follow.

No allegations have been made against him by any of the former Barcelona academy players who worked under Be‐ naiges at ‘La Masia’ between 1992 and 2011.

Accusations include making children undress in front of their classmates, touching them, showing them pornographic videos, and exposing himself to the children. At least 70 wit‐ nesses are believed to have verified the complaints. Benaiges left his recent role as a football coordinator with Barcelona a day after the allegations came out.

Hamilton, to take the che‐ quered flag. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff lodged two complaints against the re‐ sult following a controver‐ sial decision by race stew‐ ards to allow several lapped cars to move out of Verstappen’s way under the safety car.

This gave the Red Bull pi‐ lot the opportunity to ex‐ ploit his new set of soft tyres to accelerate past the Brit and take the win. The new world champion said: “It’s been a very stressful day.2 Adding he would “have a tiny drink” to cele‐ brate his new status.

MOVING FORWARD A F T E R a few expected teething problems, the Costa Blanca Walking Football League is now in full flow and with the festive break looming it’s Hondon Valley Flyers who lead the way.

Moraira are on their tails with a game in hand and Portobello’s three points awarded for Pinoso’s no show keeps them in the hunt with two games in hand, as have For‐ mentera who had a creditable draw with the league leaders who dropped their first point.

Pinoso are anchored at the bot‐ tom with a reduced squad with play‐ ers unable to return from the UK.

Fixtures:

The new world champion.

As in the first half of the season some very competitive matches are expected when the season resumes in January.

Formentera will play their out‐ standing matches against Moraira, Portobello and Pinoso and will be looking to pick up full points to put pressure on Hondon who will play Portobello.

The league continues to attract at‐ tention from new teams and there is the possibility of a sponsor next year.

In other news Esquina Park Rangers held their Christmas Day out on Saturday December 4 on the nearby 18‐hole Mini Golf Course fol‐ lowed by food and refreshments at the club bar rounding off a superb day out.

If you haven’t tried walking foot‐ ball yet, if you’re over 50, come and have a go... find your nearest club at walking football on Facebook or www.wfai.info.

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