Euro Weekly News - Costa Blanca South 6 - 12 January 2022 Issue 1905

THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 28 - 31 Issue No. 1905

6 - 12 January 2022

Naming names ORIHUELA Town Council’s last plenary session called for Miguel Hernandez Uni‐ versity’s (UMH) name to re‐ main unchanged.

Although the UMH is Elche‐based, the poet Miguel Hernandez whose name it bears, was born in Orihuela and Partido Popular, Ciu‐ dadanos, PSOE, Cambiemos and Vox councillors support‐ ed a motion opposing Elche Town Council’s moves to add ‘Elche’ to the universi‐ ty’s name.

The motion also asked the UMH’s rector and staff not to alter the name, but to call instead for more courses and investment.

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Maintaining the rhythm of recovery REGIONAL president Ximo Puig began his end‐of‐year address by paying trib‐ ute to the Valencian Community’s 8,097 Covid victims.

Repeating his 2021 watchword of re‐ sponsibility, Puig declared that the re‐ gion’s vaccination rate set an example to a world challenged by a pandemic that had dealt a “devastating” blow to all so‐ ciety.

By the end of 2020, the Health depart‐ ment had administered 5,000 Covid vac‐ cinations: “Today we are approaching 10 million doses,” he said.

“We now have better defences,” Puig added, insisting that while the hospital situation permitted, health and safety measures adopted in 2020 would give way to protective measures “appropri‐ ate to 2022.”

The Generalitat president also re‐ vealed that the Valencian Community had set a historic record for employ‐ ment in 2021. Puig pointed out that he made his 2020 end‐of‐year address

putting his trust in social and economic recovery.

“Since that uncertain moment, 81,000 people have found work, 222 jobs each day,” Puig said.

He announced that the Valencian Community would reach another mile‐ stone in January 2022, with more than two million people registered for Social Security.

His 2022 priority was to maintain this rhythm of recovery with more ‐ and bet‐ ter ‐ employment, because it was unac‐ ceptable that there should be “poor” workers.

“It is unjust to see working families who cannot live decently on what they earn,” Puig declared.

The Generalitat president was speak‐ ing from the Elca (Oliva) home of the po‐ et Francisco Brines who died last year.

The location was symbolic, Puig stressed, as it evoked the value of thoughtful words “not shouts, insults or affronts.”

NEWS

Palm-loppers required ELCHE Town Hall is having little luck in engaging professional palmeros to lop local palms us‐ ing traditional methods.

After advertising four posts on a 12‐month contract with Labora, the region’s official em‐ ployment office, only two ap‐

plicants were engaged as palmeros although another two will be employed in town hall’s Parks and Gardens de‐ partment, Human Resources councillor Ramon Abad an‐ nounced.

Although his department re‐

‘No-strings’ fund THE Generalitat has again launched its ‘no‐strings’ fund guar‐ anteeing the financial capacity of Valencian Community town and city halls.

For the sixth consecutive year, the regional government’s Municipal Cooperation Fund will transfer €40 million ‘gradually and without conditions’ to local governments in the three provinces of Valencia, Alicante and Castellon.

To this should be added €4 million from the Fund to Combat Depopulation and a further €4.5 million from the Tourist Mu‐ nicipalities’ Cooperation Fund, announced Antoni Such, the re‐ gional government’s Local Administration director‐general.

“In all we shall be transferring €48.5 million for town and city halls to use as they see fit, as these funds are unconditional,” Such said. “This guarantees stable and ongoing finance for Va‐ lencian Community municipalities.”

The Local Administration director general also thanked the Diputacion provincial councils of Valencia and Castellon for their “active collaboration” as they have agreed to match the Generalitat’s Cooperation Fund cash that reaches their respec‐ tive municipalities.

ceived 16 CVs, only two candi‐ dates were sufficiently skilled at climbing palm trees to lop branches using the traditional ‐ and rudimentary ‐ marcola.

This occupation recently re‐ ceived Asset of Cultural Inter‐ est (BIC) status under a new law and has also been taught for some years at local high schools including La Torreta.

But at present, local govern‐ ment sources revealed, the on‐ ly option is outsourcing some pruning operations although this alternative can be risky, as a private company from Mur‐ cia contracted to lop the 8,000 palms last year used chain‐ saws. Operatives also dam‐ aged several trees in Calle Pe‐ dro Juan Perpiñan.

Unions, palmeros and groups including the Volem Palmerar, the Palm Forest de‐ fence group, and Elche Town Hall itself agreed that outsourc‐ ing was not the answer.

Instead, the government decided to reinforce the workforce although this has proved more difficult than an‐ ticipated.

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NIBS EXTRA Grassed up ORIHUELA’S Local Police im‐ pounded 216 marihuana plants discovered in a sub‐ basement in a property on the Las Ramblas Golf urbani‐ sation in Orihuela Costa. Al‐ though no arrests have been made, they were alerted to the clandestine plantation by local residents who reported seeing suspicious‐looking people loitering in the area.

On fire THE regional government’s Forest Firefighting Service was called out 3,071 times in 2021 although only 60 per cent of the operations involved extin‐ guishing fires on woodland.

On the remaining 1,210 occa‐ sions they were called on to carry out rescue operations or clear roads following torren‐ tial rain or blizzards.

New arrivals AINHOA SANTANA, Alicante Province’s first 2022 baby, ar‐ rived in Elche’s Hospital Gen‐ eral at 12.20am, weighing 3.110 kilos. Hugo Moldovan (3.220 kilos), who was born at 12 midnight in Gandia, was Valencia Province’s first ar‐ rival, while Antonella Sos (2.81 kilos) entered the world at 8.46am in Castellon.

Army help THE regional Health depart‐ ment incorporated 20 mobile army units in addition to its own teams to speed up Covid booster vaccinations in eight Health Districts. In Ali‐ cante Province, army medics are currently assigned to Al‐ coy, the Escorratel senior citi‐ zens’ centre in Orihuela, Cal‐ losa Town Hall and Torrevieja hospital.

Home grown ORIHUELA Town Hall has di‐ vided 3,000 square metres of land in the Camino de En‐ medio area into 30 allot‐ ments where residents can grow organic produce for their own use. Two of the plots will be allocated on a temporary basis to local groups or associations, an‐ nounced Environment coun‐ cillor Damaso Aparicio.

MEMBERS of the Camposol Residents Assocation (CRA) can now benefit from free, initial legal advice regarding their properties.

“It was good to be given the opportunity to look at some individual problems and give some initial advice,” said bilingual lawyer Gerardo Vazquez, who has dual Spanish and English nationality.

“After successfully dealing with property problems in Andalucia, I hope that I can also help people in Murcia,” he added, alluding to the predicament of many of the Mazarron urbanisation’s residents.

Sr Vazquez, who was speaking after the successful first free clinic, has a proven track record in dealing with property issues.

He is legal advisor to AUAN, Andalucia’s leading homeowners’ group which played a major role in bringing about legal reforms both nationally and regionally, benefiting some 300,000 properties in Andalucia alone.

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Free legal clinics

Photo credit: Camposol Residents Association LEGAL ADVICE: Lawyer Gerardo Vazquez (right) with CRA members.

“We are happy to provide this new service to our mem-

bers in addition to the activities that we are undertaking

with Gerardo and the rest of the legal team,” said the CRA’s president Phillip Gelling. “This will help us address outstanding issues and improve the Camposol experience for everyone who lives there.”

For more information about Camposol Residents Association (CRA) or to request a clinic appointment, please contact the info@camposolresidents.es email address.

Seafront transformation TORREVIEJA’S last plenary council session of 2021 cleared the way for two first‐line tower blocks.

Critics claim that the 26‐storey buildings will transform Torrevieja’s urban landscape, chang‐ ing beyond recognition the emblematic Doña Sinforosa seafront park and the mediaeval Ace‐ quion canal.

Owing to the governing Partido Popular’s overall majority, there was no opposition to the municipal reports in the project’s favour despite the insistence of coastal authority Costas that the planned buildings will occupy part of the

state‐owned maritime strip.

Mayor Eduardo Dolon defended the develop‐ ment, dismissing criticism not only from the PSOE, Los Verdes and Sueña parties, but also a significant number of Torrevieja residents.

Dolon reminded those present that a town hall cannot refuse to process a building applica‐ tion, while pointing out that the initial process was begun by his socialist predecessors.

The mayor also announced that the promot‐ ers will be obliged to retain the Doña Sinforosa pines and eucalyptus trees, some of which are more than six storeys high.

Path closure issue No more disasters

ORIHUELA COSTA residents are outraged at the contin‐ ued closure of the path between Agua Marina and the La Caleta beach.

In mid‐December, Orihuela City Hall bricked up the entrance to this 60‐metre stretch of coastal walkway, whose closure now entails a two‐kilometre detour.

The CLARO political party and its coalition aly Cam‐ biemos introduced a motion at the city council’s last plenary meeting, decrying the closure and urging its re‐ opening as soon as possible.

The motion expressed incredulity that the local gov‐ ernment’s Partido Popular and Ciudadanos coalition failed to take steps to prevent the closure following a 2016 legal victory for Bella Vista property owners who consider that the Paseo occupies private land.

“Shamefully, the motion was defeated by the PP and Ciudadanos parties,” said CLARO’s Bob Houliston.

“The city hall coalition did not take into account an additional element that CLARO introduced into the de‐ bate, namely the danger,” Bob pointed out.

“Frustrated walkers pass behind the wall enclosing the Paseo, risking a vertiginous fall in order to avoid the two‐kilometre detour,” he pointed out.

“Given the opposition of the governing parties to the motion, it is more and more open to doubt that the government will approve expropriating the ‘private’ pathway and reopen the coastal Paseo by the summer as they continue to promise.”

THE Confederación Hidrografica del Segura (CHS) is constructing a barrier in Sierra de Cal‐ losa’s Cueva Ahumada district.

This will prevent sedi‐ ment and debris from be‐ ing swept downhill dur‐ ing periods of heavy rain, explained Callosa’s may‐ or, Manuel Martinez Sir‐ vent, and Environment councillor Elena Estañ.

During the disastrous High Level Isolated De‐ pression (DANA) storms of September 2019, silt, rocks and stones were carried downstream by the area’s swollen water‐ courses and caused seri‐ ous damage, blocking the road that links Callosa and Redovan.

Callosa Town Hall and the CHS later assessed where action was need‐

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ed to prevent a repeti‐ tion of the devastation and agreed that the Cue‐ va Ahumada retaining wall was one of these priorities.

The CHS recently began constructing a €250,000 rock‐filled dike that has been authorised by the regional government as well as Callosa Town Hall and is expected to be fin‐ ished within two months.

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Hope and pride GENERALITAT vice‐presi‐ dent and spokeswoman, Monica Oltra, declared that she was proud of the Valencian Community’s response to the Covid vac‐ cine. Speaking to the me‐ dia following the last ple‐ nary meeting of the Consell, the Generalitat’s Cabinet, Oltra said that she was satisfied with what had been achieved during the pandemic.

She was also hopeful, Oltra said: “We have a vac‐ cine to put an end to the pandemic and here in the Valencian Community we have a ‘social vaccine’ and can be proud of a popula‐ tion that walks together, leaving nobody behind.”

Summing up the period between the March 2020 State of Alarm and De‐ cember 2021, Oltra ex‐ pressed satisfaction with the regional population’s response both to vaccina‐ tion and the health and safety procedures that had to be introduced during the pandemic. She also drew attention to the Gen‐ eralitat’s measures intro‐ duced to offset the crisis: “Since March 2020 it has pushed through funding worth €1.623 billion,” she said. The vice‐president al‐ so referred to the “social vaccine” and the concept of how the regional gov‐ ernment hoped to emerge from the pandemic in a manner “totally different” from the crisis of 2008 with its spending cuts and in‐ equality.

and finally...

GUARDAMAR Town Hall signed one‐year work contracts for 15 new municipal employees. It was able to do so via the regional government’s Empuju and Ecovid schemes, receiving grants of €150,249 for the under‐30s and €161,485 for over‐30s, revealed Guardamar’s mayor Jose Luis Saez. Both the Empuju and Ecovid projects are co‐financed by the EU’s European Social Fund introduced to alleviate the effects of the pandemic, while Guardamar Town Hall contributed a further €163,972.

Saez welcomed the new employees on December 28, ac‐ companied by Gisela Teva, the town hall’s Economic Develop‐ ment councillor. It was her department’s mission to create ca‐ reer opportunities, Teva explained, so that the unemployed could combine improving their future job prospects while pro‐ viding improved services for the local population.

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and finally... A great position A NEW YEAR’S asteroid wider than Big Ben is high is due to burn through the Earth’s atmosphere on Tuesday January 11. NASA has labelled the huge piece of space rock as a “potentially hazardous object.”

The 104‐metre‐wide rock will pass within 3.84 million miles of Earth. The distance may seem to be soothingly large, but in terms of distance in space NASA classifies anything that passes within 120 million miles of Earth as a Near‐Earth Object (NEO). It isn’t an uncommon occur‐ rence for space rocks to come close by, but the New Year’s asteroid is a big one and worth tracking!

STUDIO32 Musical Theatre Company are pleased to an‐ nounce that as a result of a successful run of their musi‐ cal South Pacific, they are in a great position to contribute once again towards local charities.

Their Chairman Philip Wil‐ son and their show Director met with the Chairman of the San Fulgencio Man Shed project Barry Wallis and handed him €500 to go to‐ wards the project.

The San Fulgencio Alzheimer’s association and Age Concern will also receive donations in the very near future.

Rehearsals for their sum‐ mer production Guys & Dolls will begin at the end of Jan‐ uary and they are holding an

Chairman Philip Wilson with Chairman of the San Fulgencio Man Shed project Barry Wallis.

Open Day at Lakeview Bar and restaurant in Quesada starting at 11.30am on Sun‐ day January 9.

So if you are interested in auditioning for the show or to work backstage then go along and join them for a free glass of wine and find out what they are all about.

No experience is necessary as you would be given ex‐ pert tuition on stage craft and acting.

NEWS

Return to La Palma ON January 2, the Canary Islands Volcanic Risk Pre‐ vention Plan, Pevolca, de‐ cided that many residents of the island could return to their homes on January 3. The decision affected be‐ tween 900 and 1,000 resi‐ dents who were previously evacuated to safety after the volcano began erupt‐ ing.

According to Miguel Án‐ gel Morcuende, the techni‐ cal director of Pevolca, 345 hectares of land that had previously been evacuated is now considered to be safe to return to.

Morcuende advised re‐ turning residents that they should not access below ground levels including storerooms, basements and garages without gas

LA PALMA: Residents can now return to their homes.

measurements being tak‐ en. Residents have been advised to contact the au‐ thorities if gas readings are required.

The authorities have also recommended that resi‐ dents be accompanied when they enter their homes. Homes should be ventilated for a minimum of 15 minutes before resi‐ dents turn on the electricity to ensure their safety.

Runaway pet appeal NEW YEAR’S EVE is fun time for many, but for pet owners and their loved ones it can be a traumatic time. Many animals are terrified of fireworks and may even run away from their owners if they are out‐ side when fireworks go off. Those who are kept indoors will often hide and shake with fear until the bangs subside.

Charities such as RSP‐ CA and Help for Heroes in the UK have previously called on the British pub‐ lic to practise ‘The Fire‐ work Heroes Code’ and to be mindful of the ef‐ fects of fireworks on vet‐ erans and animals. Ani‐ mal Protection groups in Spain also warn of the harmful effects fireworks can have on our furry friends.

If you know of anyone who has lost a pet during the recent New Year’s Eve celebrations in Spain, please get in touch and we can post the details in Euro Weekly News.

Get in touch at editori al@euroweeklynews.com

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THE Three Kings Festival takes place on January 6 each year. But what does the festival stand for?

The festival celebrates the arrival of the kings, Melchior from Arabia, Caspar from the Orient and Balthazar from Africa following the birth of Jesus Christ.

The kings brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And that idea continues to run through the festival with the tradition of giving gifts and showering sweets on those who watch the annual processions. This is a fun festival enjoyed as much by the adults as it is by the children, with all

6 - 12 Jan 2022

Three Kings

Celebrating the arrival of the kings. clamouring to collect sweets. Some people even bring umbrellas to shield against the rain of sweets or to catch them as they fall.

For Spaniards the Three Kings or wise men is much

DESMOND TUTU’S funeral took place on January 1, in Cape Town, within the cathedral that the South African cleric turned into a centre of struggle against racial injustice. As rain fell down outside St George’s church, people gathered to pay tribute to the Nobel laureate The Rev Michael Weeder, the dean of Cape Town, welcomed those who were present and “the many multitudes who would have wanted to be with us, in all places where they have gathered.” Weeder quoted the singer Billie Holiday, saying that Tutu’s smile had

the same as Santa Claus at Christmas, so on the evening of January 5 children should leave a clean pair of shoes outside their doors for the nocturnal visitors to fill with gifts.

Tutu’s farewell moved people “like the wind that shakes the bough.”

Adding, “his smile calmed and focused those who saw it, whether in person or from afar.” Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “The most striking common thing people have said [of Tutu] is that when they were in the dark, he brought the light, the light of Christ.”

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Pets part of the family FROM January 5, pets have a different legal status in Spain, meaning they are no longer classed as ‘material things’ but as living beings with sensi‐ tivity. This means that Spanish pets can be considered as part of the family and arrange‐ ments must be made for them accordingly. This change

is due to a triple legal reform of the Civil Code, the Mort‐ gage Law, and the Procedure Law. The changes were finally approved by the Congress of Deputies on December 2.

The new rules regulate the joint custody of Spanish pets in the event of divorce or sep‐ aration. They should not be

Coronavirus end in sight THE Head of the World Health Organisation has said the end of Covid-19 could be in sight by the end of 2022. Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus gave his hopeful message just as many countries are reimposing restrictions and locking down due to the Omicron variant driving up cases.

Ghebreyesus still believes this even as global infection rates hit record highs last week, with over a million people a day infected in the run up to New Year. Despite the

new strain looking to produce much milder symptoms than previous variants, the sheer number of infections has been threatening to overwhelm health services around the world.

But the health chief struck a positive note during his end of year address and said this could be a pivotal period in the fight against coronavirus. He said: “As we enter the third year of the pandemic, I am confident that this will be the year we end it, but only if we do it together.”

abandoned, caused suffering or pain, or be used as a tool in gender violence.

The law introduces a new article in the Civil Code that considers that ‘animals are liv‐ ing beings endowed with sen‐ sitivity’ and that the owner must exercise their rights over them, and their duties of care to ensure ‘their well‐being ac‐ cording to the characteristics of each species.’

One of the children.

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Dinosaur embryo discovered A PERFECTLY preserved 72‐ million‐year‐old dinosaur em‐ bryo has been discovered in a fossilised egg. The fossil, named Baby Yingliang, has given scientists new insights into how birds and dinosaurs are linked by evolution.

The embryo was discovered inside an egg originally found in China’s Jiangxi Province 20 years ago. The oviraptorosaur embryo has been dated be‐ tween 72 to 66‐million‐years‐ old and the fossil is said to be “remarkably rare.”

Scientists had been analysing the object which led to the discovery of the embryo inside. Scientists previously thought that this behaviour was unique to birds. The di‐ nosaur embryo looks “like a baby bird curled in its egg.”

The research was carried out by scientists from the Uni‐ versity of Birmingham and the China University of Geo‐ sciences along with experts from Canada, the UK and Chi‐ na.

The University of Birming‐ ham’s Fion Waisum Ma com‐ mented: “Dinosaur embryos

EMBRYO: Was found in a fossilised egg.

are some of the rarest fossils and most of them are incom‐

plete with the bones dislocat‐ ed.”

Medical aid dog A MUM who suffers from non-epileptic seizures has become the first in the UK to give birth in hospital with her dog as a medical aid.

Charlotte Beard, aged 24, from Dorset also suffers from a heart condition and post-traumatic stress disorder, and has suffered three miscarriages. Charlotte’s beloved dog Flump, a Maltese multipurpose assistance dog, became her companion two years ago and is trained to detect when she is about to have a seizure. She was in labour for 50 hours at Poole Hospital, with her faithful companion by her side. Charlotte gave birth to her son, who she named Alfie, who weighed 6lb 10oz.

She said Flump and Alfie were brothers, adding, “we say Flump is like my partner or an extension of myself. The idea of doing such a momentous moment in my life without Flump by my side just didn’t seem right.”

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Press Release

UK nationals in Spain honoured TWO UK nationals in Spain were named in the New Year Honours List on January 1.

Lloyd Milen Lloyd Milen served as Vice Consul in Alicante from 2008 to 2015, when he was ap‐ pointed British Consul General in Barcelona where he is re‐ sponsible for the UK Govern‐ ment’s relationships with the autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Aragon, and Andorra. This co‐ operation has been notewor‐

thy during the Covid‐19 pan‐ demic and the Balearic Gov‐ ernment recently presented Lloyd and his team with an award in recognition of this.

Lloyd also supports the tens of thousands of UK nationals who live in the region and has led over 50 outreach events to help people continue living in Spain after EU Exit. He also spearheaded ‘Stick with your Mates,’ an award‐winning campaign to reduce the num‐ ber of serious falls affecting young British visitors to the

Balearics. In 2019, the num‐ ber of falls and fatalities more than halved, compared to the previous year.

HMA Hugh Elliott said: “Barcelona is Spain’s second‐ largest city and a key partner to the UK on culture, tourism, and trade, so it is crucial to have a Con‐ sul

Lloyd Milen.

General who can build the kind of relationships Lloyd has and represent and promote HMG’s interests in northeast Spain and Andorra.

Likewise, it is no under‐ statement to say that without his exceptional efforts, thou‐ sands of UK nationals in Spain would find themselves in a much more difficult situation than they currently do.

Since the 2016 referendum, Lloyd has made it his priority to ensure that they felt lis‐ tened to. And in doing so, has worked closely with the Span‐ ish authorities, ensuring close collaboration, and solving problems as they arose. I, and the communities that he serves, are very grateful for his constant com‐ mitment to making a differ‐ ence in their lives.”

Lloyd Milen said: “Growing up as a gay kid in Middles‐ brough, I never imagined I’d have the role of Consul Gen‐ eral in a city like Barcelona, nor that I’d receive an honour such as this. It truly is amazing, and I hope it helps demon‐ strate to kids growing up and wondering about their future that anything is possible. It is also a reflection of the amaz‐ ing team I work with across the FCDO’s network in Spain.

I’m truly thankful.”

Pamela Twissell‐Cross After retiring to Spain, Pamela Twissell‐Cross be‐ came involved with the Royal British Legion as a welfare vol‐ unteer caseworker in 2011, becoming District Community Support Coordinator three years later. he voluntary role is almost full time, covering an area from the French border down to Almeria, including the Balearic Islands. Pamela

Pamela Twissell-Cross.

works to identify potential beneficiaries and make them aware of the support that the RBL can provide. In 2020, Pamela and her team assisted 569 people with advice and RBL support.

HMA Hugh Elliott said: “As with most voluntary organisa‐ tions, the Covid‐19 pandemic has added to the RBL’s work‐ load. I know how busy Pamela has been over the past two years, managing and support‐ ing an increasing number of calls. Yet, despite the volume of work, Pamela treats each beneficiary as an individual, showing seemingly endless compassion and care. She is also a tremendous help to our consulate in Alicante, provid‐ ing a level of support to pris‐ oners, and welfare and hospi‐ talisation cases, which we would not be able to offer alone. This honour is very rich‐ ly deserved.”

Pamela Twissell‐Cross said: “I feel very honoured to be nominated for this honour, let alone chosen. I do wish my parents were still here to see it.

“I feel very privileged and excited as I undertake volun‐ tary work to give back for the wonderful life I have had and expected nothing in return. It would be impossible to achieve anything without the amazing team around me es‐ pecially the caseworkers who support beneficiaries in so many ways and I cannot thank them enough for their support, ideas and trust.”

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Blue badge doubt THE UK government has admitted that many EU destinations no longer recognise the British disability Blue Badge. There are over two million Blue Badge holders in Britain.

Recognition on an automatic basis stopped when the EU transition period ended on De‐ cember 31, 2020. It was promised that the gov‐ ernment would negotiate deals with countries in the EU to ensure that Blue Badge holders could still use their badges in popular tourist destinations. Countries such as Spain, Italy,

THE news that vinyl sales are at their highest in 30 years will be music to the ears of older folk who remember the vinyl album and its rich sounds all too well.

In 2021, sales were up 8 per cent on the previous year marking the 14th consecutive year of growth according to the British Phonographic In‐ dustry (BPI). More than five million vinyl albums were sold, the biggest number since the early 90s when Phil Collins topped the charts with ‘But Se‐ riously.’

Amongst the top selling vinyl albums were the ABBA reunion ‘Voyage,’ Adele’s

France, Portugal and Greece are still in talks with the government in the UK. A Department for Transport spokesperson commented on the is‐ sue and explained: “It has always been the case that disabled drivers should check the local rules in the country they are travelling in before using a disabled parking card abroad.

“Negotiations on Blue Badge recognition are ongoing between the UK and individual EU States, and motorists can always contact their embassy for advice or assistance if they need it.”

Vinyl revival

VINYL SALES: At their highest in 30 years.

comeback ‘30’ and Sam Smith’s ‘Seventeen going un‐ der.’ Also interesting is the comeback of cassette tapes with more than 190,000 sold

in 2021, up 20 per cent on the previous year.

This is the highest number sold since 2003 when Now 54 was the big seller.

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Noel criticises ABBA Swedish band ABBA is set to wow fans with holo‐ grams at their concerts. The band will use a custom‐ built arena, but will not ap‐ pear before their fans. For‐ mer Oasis star Noel has slammed the band’s holo‐ grams as meaningless.

He explained: “I would not consider gigs with me as a hologram. No, there would have to be an audi‐ ence involved. You need a crowd in front of you. It’s a human interaction, and if you don’t have that it is meaningless.”

He went on to add: “Do I want to live another 50 years? No. Just think how s**t the world is now. I would rather not live through it. At 75 I want to go. My plan for the next 10 years is to make three great albums.”

Noel has also spoken out regarding his political be‐ liefs. He is prepared to ditch his allegiance to the Labour party. Speaking on the Matt Morgan podcast

he commented: “They’ve betrayed the working class‐ es; they’ve betrayed ordi‐ nary people and they’ve al‐

lowed this shower to run the country for however long they’ve run the coun‐ try.”

Driving extension ACCORDING to the British Embassy in Madrid, the Span‐ ish Government has extended the grace period during which you can drive in the country with a valid UK li‐ cence. The new date is the end of February 2022.

The Embassy has said that it is working with the Span‐ ish Government to achieve a long‐term solution so Brits who missed the registration deadline can exchange their licences without taking a test. However, this is by no means certain.

The Embassy said “We recognise that the extension is relatively short, and therefore it is important that ‐ if it is imperative for you to drive ‐ you consider all your op‐ tions, which may include looking into taking a driving test now.”

The extension applies to UK nationals living in Spain.

Short‐term visitors can continue using their UK licence to drive in Spain without the need for an International Driv‐ ing Permit.

STATS

4.3

Sound travels 4.3 times faster through water than in air.

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More UK food disruption A LEADING industry has warned of food supply dis‐ ruption that is set to hit the UK in 2022 due to Brexit re‐ strictions.

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) said that new border controls on EU plant and animal products could cause major delays at ports.

New rules that came into place on January 1 state that importers must make a full customs declaration for goods coming into the UK from the EU or other coun‐ tries.

In a measure that was in‐ troduced to cope with the disruption of Brexit, traders

FOOD SUPPLY: New rules coming into place.

can no longer delay comple‐ tion of full import customs declarations for up to 175 days.

BFFF chief executive Richard Harrow said: “Whilst the new UK rules will be introduced in stages, we are concerned that not

enough planning has been done to ensure the new re‐ quirements are understood by everyone in the food supply chain.

“We remain concerned that January could be a fraught month for our members.”

NEWS

Snowiest on record T H E extreme drought that triggered water shortages and wildfires across California’s Sierra Nevada has finally come to an end as five metres of snow made D ecember the snowiest on record.

O fficials from B erkeley’s C entral Sierra Snow Laboratory reported the snow as being “deep and hard to get through” taking them around 40 minutes to get to where the measurements are taken less than 50 metres away from their front door. Lead scientists suggested that more snow was still needed to account for the drought: “If we don’t get another inch, we’re still below what we would expect for the entire winter, which means that we can contribute to the drought rather than resolving it.” California relies on the snowpack for its water, stored

CALIFORNIA: Recorded five metres of snow.

through the winter in the form of ice and snow and released slowly as temperatures warm up in the process filling the reservoirs. According to the California Department of Water Resources, the Sierra Nevada accounts for 30 per cent of California’s fresh water supply in an average year.

Fear of prescription changes NEW UK government pro‐ posals mean free NHS pre‐ scriptions may be aligned with the state pension age of 66. Policy currently al‐ lows those between the ages of 60 to 65 to receive free medication.

Even though some peo‐ ple in this age bracket might still qualify for free medication if they are med‐ ically exempt, most people aged between 60 to 65 will have to start paying.

Now, the average pre‐ scription in England costs £9.35 per item, including common medications for pensioners which can be purchased over the

counter.

Those living in Scotland and Wales get free NHS prescriptions regardless of their age as their health systems are devolved to their separate govern‐ ments.

Age UK has launched a campaign in response to the change. Director Caro‐ line Abrahams said: “The money the government raises if it goes ahead with this proposal will be easily outweighed by the addi‐ tional costs to the NHS if, as is predictable, some people fail to take their medication and become sicker, more quickly.”

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NEWS

Welsh ban certain words AN A‐Z style guide has been drawn up by the Labour‐run Welsh Government, listing politically correct ‘do not use’ words and phrases that the 32,440 civil servants in Wales must adhere to. It was updat‐ ed in December and the work to compile this guide was funded by taxpayers’ money.

Among terms banned by the list, are ‘Her Majesty’s Gov‐ ernment’, with civil servants being instructed to say ‘UK Government’ instead. BAME is also banned. ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’, is to be used now says the guide. The phrase ‘able‐bodied’, must from now on be replaced with ‘non‐disabled’.

“Use transition period to re‐ fer to the time between Febru‐ ary 1 and December 31, 2020,” instructs the guide, telling staff that ‘Brexit has happened’, so now the word must be replaced.

One civil servant comment‐ ed, “They are just words and phrases used every day by or‐ dinary people,” adding, “It is just nit‐picking.”

WELSH GOVERNMENT: Issued an A-Z style guide.

Government approves hotel aid A MASSIVE €30 million bailout grant has been approved by the Spanish Government. It will go to the Soho Boutique group, which has 34 hotels spread across the country.

The hotel chain is led by President Gonzalo Armenteros, a Malaga businessman. It had requested this loan from the government, and now the green light has been given by the Cabinet. A participatory loan for €24 million will make up the largest part of the package, with an ordinary loan of €6 million making up the balance.

In 2014, Soho Boutique opened its first Spanish estab‐ lishment in Malaga, and just six years later, the company was already ranked in 16th position out of the big hotel companies in the country. It currently employs more than 600 people.

Expansion plans were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, efforts have been concentrated on the domestic market. The chain has 27 of its 34 hotels in Andalucia.

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NEWS

Babies in the chamber THE Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has said MPs should be allowed to bring babies into the chamber if they do not disturb parlia‐ mentary business.

Last month, MP Stella Creasy received an email banning her from bringing her baby into the House of Commons after she took her three‐month‐old to the chamber, sparking debate about whether parents should be able to bring children to work.

Now Sir Lindsay has told one publication that he backs babies in the Com‐ mons, but that the chair of each debate should have control over whether they are allowed.

He said: “I saw that baby come into the chamber when I was in the chair.

And did it affect the de‐ bate? No. Was it a quiet and peaceful baby? Abso‐ lutely. Did it disrupt? Not in the slightest. So, did it mat‐ ter to me? Absolutely not.”

“What I would say, and I’ll be quite honest with you, is each chair will make

a decision. Unfortunately, it’s become highly politi‐ cal.”

False antigen guidance PERFORMING a self‐diagnostic antigen test at home, with‐ out following the correct procedure, can possibly end up with you getting a false result.

The first thing that medical experts ask you to keep in mind when performing an antigen test at home, is to follow the instructions correctly. Maintaining proper hand hygiene, placing the tube in an upright position, and waiting the ap‐ propriate length of time before checking the results, are some of the essential guidelines for the correct operation of the test.

Pharmacy antigen tests have an expiration date. They usually range between four and six months. Therefore, sav‐ ing antigen tests and running them over time, without checking their expiration date, can give you a strong possi‐ bility of a false result.

Antigen tests should also be done at room temperature and the storage temperature is equally important and any extreme temperature could corrupt it. Experts also advise against taking the test right after eating or brushing your teeth and using mouthwash.

STATS

6

The night vision of tigers is 6 times better than humans.

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NEWS

Animal assistance AN animal rescue centre in Gaza is giving disabled dogs a second chance by making wheelchairs out of chil‐ dren’s bikes so that they can walk and run again.

Sulala Animal Rescue fa‐ cility in the Gaza Strip cares for homeless dogs and cats in need of help and hopes to cut the number of stray animals by providing them with a sanctuary “so they can have a happy life away from the torture they may receive on the streets,” said animal keeper Saed al‐ Aer. Saed works as an animal keeper at the rescue facili‐ ty and said it is the only centre in Gaza that is doing this essential work to give dogs a second chance in life.

“We will continue pro‐ viding them with artificial limbs, since the possibili‐ ties here in the Gaza Strip are few, and there are no centres for artificial limbs specialised for animals,”

he said.

The centre makes wheelchairs for disabled dogs that are unable to walk by using wheels from toy cars and children’s bi‐ cycles.

Sulala Animal Rescue.

True millipede discovered SCIENTISTS in Western Australia have announced they have discovered the first ever true millipede. The record‐setting species was found during a subterranean environment impact assessment according to peer reviewed scientific reports.

Several species have been referred to as millipedes in the past, the Latin word meaning ‘a thousand feet’ and although many species have been given this name, this is the first true mil‐ lipede.

The creature, which was found 60 metres underground in an area that is being mined, breaks all records for the number of legs having more than 1,000. Named Eumillipes Persephone af‐ ter the Greek goddess of the underworld, the worm has 1,306 legs breaking the previous record set by a species found in cen‐ tral California, Illacme Plenipes, which has up to 750 legs The worm differs from others in that it is composed of around 330 segments each with a double set of small legs and a cone‐ shaped head. The millipede lives below the ground and in com‐ plete darkness.

NEWS

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Cancer screening breakthrough SCREENING for deadly cancer could be ready in just five years, according to experts.

Each year, around 12,000 people in the UK die from prostate cancer which is one of the most common cancers with a staggering 50,000 people diagnosed each year.

The Institute of Cancer Research’s Professor Ros Eeles revealed that routine screening could be available soon as improvements are made in genetics and medi‐ cal imaging.

Speaking to the BBC Ra‐ dio 4’s Today Programme, the expert explained: “With the advances in genetics and also imaging, particu‐ larly MRI, realistically we do need some more data, but we’re probably looking at getting close to a tailored screening programme in the next three to five years.

“We might need to use all of them together… so we can find those who have significant disease.”

Not everyone diagnosed

with prostate cancer needs immediate treatment.

Some people decide to wait for treatment until it can no longer be delayed.

Current NHS guidance

says: “Although screening has been shown to reduce a man’s chance of dying from prostate cancer, it would mean many men receive treatment unnecessarily.”

Beach smoking ban SPAIN will ban smoking on all its beaches, imposing fines of up to €2,000 for anyone caught lighting up, as it aims to combat pollution caused by cigarette butts.

Cigarette butts are one of the most harmful pollutants and release toxic compounds. They are a huge environmen‐ tal issue on Spain’s 3,000 miles of coastline.

Analysis carried out by the European Environment Agen‐ cy in 2018 found cigarette butts and their filters are among the most found items on Europe’s beaches.

Several regions in Spain including the Canary Islands and Barcelona already have smoking bans on their beaches.

The ban comes after a petition was signed by over 283,000 people and given to the government to request that the law changes. The new law was introduced as an amendment to a government initiative recommending that coastal areas promote no smoking on beaches.

The law received 182 votes in parliament, with 70 voting against it and 88 abstaining.

STATS

4

A King Cobra is the biggest of all poisonous snakes and can grow to over 4 metres long.

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NEWS

Royal service BUCKINGHAM PALACE has announced that a ser‐ vice of thanksgiving for the life of Prince Philip will be held in spring this year at Westminster Abbey.

It is understood that the guest list is being finalised and the date is still due to be confirmed.

The service will consist of family, friends, digni‐ taries and representatives of the charities and organ‐ isations which Philip was associated with.

Prince Philip, who was married to the Queen for 74 years, died in April at the age of 99.

Only 30 guests were permitted to attend his fu‐ neral service at St George’s chapel in Wind‐ sor Castle because of the Covid pandemic, with Thames Valley Police warning people to stay away because of the re‐ strictions in place.

Just a few people were

in the town during the morning of the funeral; however, hundreds gath‐

ered outside the castle lat‐ er in the day to pay their respects.

Lost dog payout FORMER Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been ordered to pay a man $30,000 (€25,500) for finding his lost dog.

Sturridge, who now plays for Perth Glory in Australia’s A‐League, claimed his Pomeranian, Lucci, was stolen from his house in LA in 2019, offering a reward to anyone who found it.

Foster Washington, a rapper known as Killa Fame, said he reunited Mr Sturridge and Lucci but was not paid. A court in LA ruled for Mr Washington after Mr Sturridge did not respond to the complaint. Judge Curtis Kin ordered the footballer to pay Mr Washington $30,000 in damages and costs of $85 (€75).

Mr Washington said that he felt “let down” by the footballer. “Hopefully he pays up and doesn’t try to appeal it,” he said.

The striker posted videos on social media of damage to his home in West Hollywood and CCTV images of three men wearing hoods when the dog went missing.

He said: “Whoever brings my dog back, 20 grand, 30 grand, whatever.”

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NEWS

Daniel Craig blasts Amazon TV DANIEL CRAIG, the British ac‐ tor and former James Bond 007 star has blasted Amazon TV’s proposed plans of stream‐ ing spin‐offs of the famous franchise on its channel. Craig, aged 53, said he believes such a move could eventually spell the end of cinemas.

With the streaming giant in the middle of securing a takeover of the iconic MGM Studios for £7 billion, it has hinted at developing 007 spin‐ offs, similar to those of the Marvel franchise.

One hiccup in their plans could be the fact that the British company that owns the rights to and created the Bond films, Eon Productions, is against the idea.

“One of the greatest things that has happened is we got this movie into the cinema,” commented the actor who stepped down after his fifth and final 007 movie No Time To Die. “That’s where Bond movies should be. They don’t look so good on a phone. They look great on an Imax screen. It looks great on a 30ft screen.”

Bond looks great on Imax.

Newborn miracle HEART-WARMING photos show an abandoned new‐born ba‐ by who was kept alive by a litter of stray puppies who cuddled up to her to keep her warm.

The tiny new‐born girl, who has now been named Akanksha, was discovered naked with her umbilical cord still attached in a field in Chhattisgarh, India.

Locals were shocked when they came across the tiny baby, claiming she would have not survived the night in the freezing temperatures. The survival of the baby has been called a “mira‐ cle” as residents living nearby say the stray dogs in the area can be aggressive. Doctors checked the little one and, amazingly, she was unhurt.

One local said: “It’s possibly the warmth from the puppies and their mother who kept this baby alive. Usually, the temperature dips at night and it’s already December. I must say, it’s sheer luck.”

STATS

70

A violin contains over 70 separate pieces of wood.

NEWS

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Tesla camera trap A MOTORIST was caught keying a £50,000 Tesla by the car’s cameras. The

footage led to the first prosecution of this type in the UK.

Food alert in Spain DARK CHOCOLATE: May contain traces of dairy products.

THE Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has reported the withdrawal from the market of a Ferrero Rocher product. This is reportedly due to the presence of milk proteins not declared on their labelling, which could cause some type of reaction in allergy sufferers.

It was the company itself that first detected the prob‐ lem, in one of its control mechanisms, and subsequently notified the health authorities of Catalonia about the issue.

They, in turn, transferred the information to AESAN. Grand Ferrero Rocher Dark, is the product in question. It is made of dark chocolate, with hazelnuts. In addition, the company alerted consumers on its website about the pres‐ ence of traces of dairy in said products. They recommend‐ ed that consumers who have purchased this product, and who have a severe allergy or sensitivity to milk, should not consume it.

Anna Valente was caught out by the sensory cameras fitted on the car to help it drive itself should this be permitted in the future.

Valente had been shop‐ ping at a retail park in Dorset. She parked her Nis‐ san Juke on the white lines of a parking spot and was not happy when she came back to find the Tesla parked close to her car. She used her keys to cause around £1,000 worth of damage to the vehicle.

The owner of the Tesla commented: “When my wife arrived home and parked the car in the drive, I saw the scratch on the passenger door and asked what she had done to the car?

“She had no idea. I took the hard drive out of the Tesla and plugged it into a computer and downloaded all the video files. I felt a bit like a modern‐day Sherlock Holmes when I found the incriminating footage.”

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Rapper extradition refused THE justice system in Bel‐ gium has rejected a call to surrender the rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, also known as Valtònyc, to Spain.

The ruling was made on Tuesday, December 28. The musician is wanted by the Spanish justice system for insulting the Crown and the glorification of terrorism.

The decision was made by the Ghent Court of Appeal.

Lawyer Simon Bekaert com‐ mented: “There is no extra‐ dition for any of the three cases. It is over.”

The prosecution still has the option to appeal the decision, but according to the lawyer, this is unlikely.

Valtònyc believes that mag‐ istrates in Belgium “have shown that they are inde‐ pendent.” He believes they have also respected “21st century European stan‐ dards.”

The musician went on to add: “Belgian society can be happy that the right of

expression, the freedom to express oneself, has been respected.”

Platinum pub hours PUBS, clubs and bars could have extended opening hours next year to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years since she ascended to the throne. The Jubilee celebra‐ tions will continue for a year throughout the UK, however, venues such as pubs may see a special benefit.

According to government proposals, English and Welsh venues will be able to stay open for another two hours.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is reportedly wanting to ex‐ tend licensing hours from 11pm to 1am from June 2 until June 4 during the bank holiday.

The plans are intended to mark the ‘unprecedented mile‐ stone in national life’, and ministers are promising a celebra‐ tion mixing ‘ceremonial splendour’ with ‘technological dis‐ plays.’ Under Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003, Priti Patel is allowed to extend opening hours and can give per‐ mission for premises to stay open longer to mark occasions of exceptional significance.

Ms Patel said of the proposal: “Her Majesty the Queen is an example to us all ‐ she has served the UK and the Com‐ monwealth with the utmost dignity, steadfastness and re‐ solve throughout her remarkable reign.”

STATS

20,000,000

The average iceberg weighs 20,000,000 tons.

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EUROPEAN PRESS

EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK

Ultra famous

Bang to rights

COPENHAGEN often wins accolades for being amongst the best cities in the world for a number of different reasons and Brøndby has been voted fifth and FC Copenhagen seventh in the poll of the best Ultra football (most fanatical) fans in the world.

THE uncontrolled letting off of fireworks to welcome in the New Year can be dangerous and also extremely irritating for animal owners. By late December last year, the Danish customs agency revealed that it had confiscated a record number (almost double) of illicit fireworks.

THE NETHERLANDS Swimming not sport

Move away

AFTER being threatened with a €2,500 fine for not checking Covid passes, the owners of a private swimming pool in Hilversum sued the council and the Court ruled that swimming lessons could not be considered sport, but education and parents’ passes did not have to be checked.

DUE to the high cost of renting property in Amsterdam and the influx of international workers, many of whom work out side the city, a councillor has suggested that these new arrivals should be made to live outside of the city to reduce rents.

BELGIUM Day trippers

Antarctic Covid

POLICE in Antwerp had to appeal to motorists to avoid the centre of the city after it was gridlocked by huge numbers of Dutch residents driving across from Holland to take advantage of open shops, bars and restaurants for Christmas and the New Year.

ALTHOUGH it is situated in one of the most remote parts of the world, two-thirds of the 25 members of staff based in the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station in Antarctica have been infected with Covid-19 despite following very strict health measures.

GERMANY Edible ticket

Cheap meat

FOR the price of €8.80, travellers can purchase a ticket which is valid for 24 hours on Berlin’s public transport system and afterwards they can eat it and enjoy the calming effect of the impregnated hemp oil to relieve the stress of Christmas and the pandemic.

THE newly appointed agriculture minister, Cem Özdemir who was elected on the Green Party ticket wants to see an end to the sale of lowquality, low-priced meat in Germany and said that “the price of food should reflect the ecological truth.”

FRANCE Shellfish ruse

New coin

ENRAGED by the fact that thieves stole three tons of his oysters, shellfish farmer Christophe Guinot came up with an unusual form of future protection by placing secret notes into the new crop being nurtured and has given details to the police to enable arrests.

EACH member of the eurozone is able to issue its own designed euro coins which are legal tender in all member states and on January 1 France released a new €2 design to celebrate its French presidency of the European Union council and 20 years of the euro.

NORWAY Corona tax

Happy workers

SINCE 90 per cent of the Oslo population is fully vaccinated and the majority now attending hospital with Covid being unvaccinated, a respected think tank is suggesting charging a new Corona tax payable upon entry to hospital to encourage more inoculations.

A NUMBER of Norway’s major hotel chains threatened to lay off staff due to the current lockdown, but after considering the situation, the Norwegian Government has increased Covid financial support which has resulted in workers keeping their jobs for the immediate future.

EUROPEAN PRESS

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EUROPEAN PRESS FINLAND

Firework display

Wolf hunts

THE Helsinki Council decided to divide its usually large New Year’s Eve firework display into three smaller shows and ensured that they were sent higher than usual to encourage people not to congregate in one place, but to view them from their own homes.

NOW because wild wolves are at their highest population count in over 100 years, a decision has been made by the Finnish Wildlife Agency to issue four licences to allow the hunting and culling of 18 throughout the country in 2022.

IRELAND Smokeless zone

Lockdown boozers

THE Irish Health Service (HSE) is undertaking a review of strategies intended to reduce the number of smokers in Ireland and is considering recommending a complete ban on the sale of tobacco or a sharp reduction in the number of outlets allowed to sell such products.

NOW it’s the turn of the Irish Government to apologise after it has been revealed that about 20 Department of Foreign Affairs staff members, held an impromptu Champagne celebration after Ireland was elected to the United Nations Security Council in June 2020 during lockdown.

ITALY Christmas lights

Platform heels

RUNNING until January 6, Rome will illuminate the city hall building at Palazzo Senatorio with a light show of Roman Renaissance drawings and paintings in order to express the concepts of harmony, symmetry and proportion, whilst other buildings will feature the Nativity.

EUROVISION Song Contest winners in 2021, Italian glam rock band Måneskin have been welcomed by America, despite the fact that they sing mainly in Italian and will be one of the bands playing in the New Year on American TV with Ryan Seacrest.

PORTUGAL Oligarch news

Madeleine McCann

THE Portuguese Government was quick to dismiss claims made by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that the granting of a passport to Roman Abramovich was due to bribery, saying he was able to claim descent from Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal at the end of 15th century.

EVEN though the German Police believe that Madeleine McCann is dead, the Portuguese media has reported that British police officers have received a further £350,000 in order to allow them to try to prove that she is alive and to trace her whereabouts during 2022.

RUSSIA Cooling off

Natural gas

AFTER a round of meetings in St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) took to the ice with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko (67) in an ice hockey match where Putin scored seven goals, and Lukashenko scored two, but Putin’s team lost.

WITH Europe beset by ever increasing electricity prices, both the European Union and Germany have indicated that it could take up to six months to decide whether to approve Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline which is already filled with natural gas ready to send.

SWEDEN Electrifying news

Cruel prank

SWEDISH battery manufacturer Northvolt announced that on December 28, after more than four years of experimentation, it successfully produced the first lithium-ion battery cell to be designed, developed, and built completely in Europe by a homegrown company and plans to expand production as quickly as possible.

SWEDISH police are trying to find out who registered the fact that a woman in her 40s living in the town of Jämtland had died, since she had a considerable shock as she only found out when she went to a local pharmacy to obtain medicine.

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FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Dubai meeting THE Spanish Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates has been in discussion with the CEO of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to see whether there is a role for Spanish companies to participate in projects involving clean and renewable energy and water

Loyalty repaid WITH effect from January 1, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) instructed UK insurance companies to ensure that anyone renewing their policy should pay no more than they would as a new customer in order to reward loyalty and make it less attractive for people to switch insurers annually.

Not sporting AMERICAN sportswear brand New Balance having won the right to terminate a distribution agreement with Experience Store, has confirmed all of its 22 stores in Portugal and Spain are to close during January and their entire workforce will be dismissed.

Bitcoin beaten ALTHOUGH Bitcoin receives the greatest amount of publicity and has seen a price rise of 65 per cent in 2021, this is small beer in percentage terms when compared to the 25 largest cryptocurrencies, seven of which have reportedly jumped more than 1,000 per cent.

Inflation rises EVERY month the Spanish Office of Statistics (INE) releases key figures concerning the country’s economy. December inflation figures have been revealed and thanks to significant increases in the price of electricity and food, the figure of 6.7 per cent shows the fastest growth since March 1992. Whilst higher inflation has hit most of the eurozone, this was more than 1 per cent above what was expected and although the European Bank and Bank of Spain keep saying rampant inflation is a short‐term matter, it currently shows no signs of slowing.

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STAT OF WEEK

$300 million

is the amount that French venture capital manager PAI Partners has borrowed to finance the purchase of Uvesco, the distribution group that owns BM Supermercados.

An unexpected Christmas bonus SANTANDER bank is desperately try‐ ing to claw back millions after they paid out to thousands of individuals and businesses in a huge Christmas Day blunder.

In fact, £130 million (€155 million) was paid out to around 75,000 peo‐ ple and companies from around 2,000 accounts with the bank who were mistakenly paid for a second time on December 25.

Financial experts now believe that the Spanish‐owned bank will strug‐ gle to get their money reimbursed because it has been sent to recipi‐ ents who belong to several other

banks such as Barclays, HSBC and NatWest.

According to The Times, there are fears that some of those rival banks are not keen to give the money back because some customers would be pushed into their overdraft having already spent the money over the Christmas period.

A Santander spokeswoman told The Times: “We’re sorry that due to a technical issue some payments from our corporate clients were in‐ correctly duplicated on the recipi‐ ents’ accounts.

“None of our clients were at any

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Can I retire at 65?

The importance of a Will in Spain It is essential to have a Will.

I have lived and worked in Spain as a legal resi‐ dent for more than 35 years. I was always an em‐ ployee and my employers always deducted Social Security payments from my salary slip. These payments rose over the years as my salary rose. I am now approaching retire‐ ment age and I wonder if I can in fact retire at 65. I have seen various articles about retirement age being raised.

Can you clarify?

J J (Costa Blanca) You can in fact retire DAVID SEARL at 65 with 100 per YOU AND THE LAW cent pension if you IN SPAIN have paid into the system for 37 years and six months. If not you can retire at 66 years and two months. The bad news is that a range of reforms passed at the end of 2021 includes an extension of the time used to calculate the final amount of your pension.

In 2013 this period was 16 years and it has gradually risen to 24 years.

This is bad news because formerly your pension was based on the last 16 years of your working life when your income was highest. Now it will be based on the last 24 years, thus including 18 more years of lower income mean‐ ing your pension will be less. Yes, it is complicated.

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

IT seems that Spain continues to be a major spot for successful start ups and one that has been doing well since being created in 2017 is Madrid based Playtomic.

The founder’s view was relatively simple in that the game of padel was becoming increasingly more popular but individual courts weren’t really set up to accept online bookings.

Having started off just in Spain and

point left out of pocket as a result and we are taking steps to recover the duplicated transactions in line with industry processes.”

The spokeswoman added: “The duplicated payments were the result of a scheduling issue, which we quickly identified and rectified. The recipients and purpose of payment will have varied among clients but could have included wages or suppli‐ er payments.”

Pay UK, which runs the main pay‐ ment systems in the UK, is now said to be discussing the issue with San‐ tander.

MANY British people move to Spain for the sunny lifestyle, with most buying up assets in the coun‐ try, including homes, cars and other valuables.

But while many expats may have a British Will, many do not also have a Spanish one to ensure their assets here go where they want when the time comes.

For expats with property or assets overseas with dif‐ ferent legal systems it is essential to have a Will.

This way, you can avoid leaving your loved ones with a lengthy and expensive legal succession process, and con‐ fusion as to your intentions. Also, valuable tax savings can be achieved with proper documentation.

Creating your Will is obviously a very important proce‐ dure, and allows you to consider a number of important planning issues, including paying for care fees and who you want your assets to go to.

Contact Golden Leaves today for help with your Will and to choose the right pre‐paid funeral plan for you.

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

A Spanish success just with padel, the company has ex‐ panded considerably to incorporate other racket sports such as tennis and with an initial round of funding managed to take over two other nascent companies.

Since then, it has expanded dra‐

matically, increasing staffing levels to 150 and with a December injection of a further €54 million it wants to nearly double its workforce and to continue to expand.

Playtomic now offers players in some 34 countries (having acquired

Requiem in Power ALTHOUGH the concept of in‐ stalling solar panels in unusu‐ al places such as above tun‐ nels, irrigation canals and motorways has caught on, cemeteries have generally es‐ caped the net.

Now however, according to the Renewables Now web‐ site, the mayor of Valencia City has announced that hav‐ ing received the ok from the local Archbishop, the council plan to cover its cemeteries with some 7,000 solar panels to produce its own power, become greener and save costs.

The idea is to put around 2.8 MW of solar panels on crypts and other above‐ ground structures at public cemeteries as part of the pro‐ ject named Requiem in Pow‐ er (RIP).

Top of the Pops EVEN though there is a worldwide shortage of vinyl, the sale of records continues to increase in the UK thanks to new releases by Adele, Abba and Ed Sheeran.

A total of five million records were sold, another increase over previous years although the sale of CDs con‐ tinued to drop to the lowest figure since 1998.

Whilst a large number of the young download albums or listen to them on plat‐ forms such as Spotify, it is be‐ lieved that CD sales were res‐ cued by the fact that the artists appealed to an older generation, more comfort‐ able with the CD physical for‐ mat. existing businesses in a number of countries around the world) access to book courts at some 4,000 differ‐ ent clubs and in 2021 its software broke through one million bookings barrier.

It is also now being recognised as a great platform for those wanting to find new partners to play against and to generally discuss the sports that they love.

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C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 3

COMPANY PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) 3I Group 1.454,50 1.457,00 Abrdn 239,40 240,50 Admiral Group 3.143,8 3.146,8 Anglo American 3.023,5 3.036,0 Antofagasta 1.335,00 1.341,00 Ashtead Group 5.963,4 6.006,0 Associated British Foods 2.002,7 2.003,0 AstraZeneca 8.621,0 8.704,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 736,40 737,20 Avast 607,00 608,00 Aveva 3.393,0 3.403,0 Aviva 409,00 411,40 B&M European Value Retail SA639,80 641,00 BAE Systems 550,60 550,80 Bank VTB DRC 1,254 1,258 Barclays 187,06 188,44 Barratt Developments 747,20 752,00 Berkeley 4.790,0 4.822,0 BHP Group 2.194,55 2.209,50 BP 331,44 332,45 British American Tobacco 2.719,5 2.729,0 British Land Company 534,04 535,60 BT Group 170,03 170,00 Bunzl 2.882,0 2.922,0 Burberry Group 1.813,5 1.816,0 Carnival 1.388,0 1.406,6 Centrica 71,42 71,76 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.548,7 2.557,0 Compass 1.641,50 1.651,00 CRH 3.916,0 3.930,0 Croda Intl 10.070,0 10.100,0 DCC 6.052,0 6.066,0 Diageo 4.020,5 4.035,5 DS Smith 385,40 387,60 EasyJet 558,40 558,60 Experian 3.633,8 3.640,0 Ferguson 13.105,0 13.190,0 Flutter Entertainment 11.665,0 11.675,0 Fresnillo 890,20 895,00 GlaxoSmithKline 1.603,64 1.611,40 Glencore 376,10 377,85 Halma 3.196,0 3.206,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.353,25 1.360,00 Hikma Pharma 2.206,00 2.212,00 HSBC 446,68 448,75 IAG 142,34 143,48 Imperial Brands 1.619,08 1.632,08 Informa 513,40 517,40 InterContinental 4.773,0 4.775,0 Intermediate Capital 2.200,51 2.200,00

% CHG. 1.449,00 236,80 3.125,5 3.008,0 1.326,00 5.954,0 1.990,0 8.606,0 724,60 599,00 3.349,0 408,95 634,40 546,80 1,206 187,00 745,00 4.771,0 2.192,50 330,00 2.700,5 532,80 166,55 2.805,0 1.797,5 1.382,6 71,28 2.535,0 1.631,50 3.861,0 9.970,0 5.986,0 4.011,5 384,96 550,60 3.579,0 13.095,0 11.445,0 871,80 1.601,80 374,00 3.179,0 1.351,00 2.186,00 445,00 141,38 1.614,50 512,60 4.716,0 2.140,00

NET VOL 39,64K 377,30K 3,48K 164,22K 43,11K 52,68K 41,51K 102,20K 107,93K 80,92K 19,31K 202,63K 217,05K 661,63K 114,80K 2,15M 172,67K 16,78K 414,35K 3,21M 209,31K 110,80K 1,56M 54,74K 75,96K 179,03K 1,35M 39,74K 247,23K 58,97K 22,61K 5,47K 239,19K 76,38K 504,98K 50,64K 15,05K 63,16K 149,27K 634,24K 3,54M 45,54K 32,97K 28,99K 1,91M 3,31M 45,52K 125,83K 16,27K 18,15K

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 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

5.624,0 110,90 275,56 2.046,9 773,98 295,98 47,91 6.966,0 736,80 158,35 1.834,64 1.065,80 225,10 8.132,0 30,95 1.676,50 2.861,4 650,80 1.269,75 6.316,0 2.394,22 582,30 797,60 4.871,0 122,39 8,13 1.621,4 1.623,0 855,05 1.647,50 15,84 3.536,0 1.339,12 1.430,50 2.946,0 1.287,00 1.585,50 16.040,0 1.634,50 1.685,50 446,45 175,40 289,67 230,00 3.932,0 1.088,25 111,95 2.988,4 1.119,00

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

5.666,0 111,55 276,60 2.070,0 774,80 296,50 48,28 6.982,0 738,60 158,75 1.837,50 1.077,80 225,60 8.148,0 30,97 1.683,00 2.867,0 651,40 1.272,50 6.360,0 2.401,00 585,20 800,20 4.895,5 122,74 8,14 1.629,0 1.630,4 857,00 1.654,00 15,84 3.557,0 1.343,00 1.437,50 2.965,0 1.290,50 1.587,50 16.110,0 1.646,50 1.686,50 446,50 175,90 290,95 230,00 3.960,5 1.094,00 112,08 2.999,0 1.127,50

5.622,0 109,60 274,80 2.042,0 765,00 295,20 47,84 6.880,0 732,00 153,00 1.822,50 1.062,00 224,00 8.024,0 30,34 1.642,50 2.800,0 648,20 1.257,00 6.316,0 2.387,00 572,00 795,20 4.860,5 121,02 7,87 1.607,2 1.610,2 850,20 1.644,00 15,56 3.500,0 1.338,00 1.417,50 2.941,0 1.273,00 1.561,50 15.965,0 1.630,00 1.651,00 443,70 175,00 289,25 227,70 3.932,0 1.088,25 111,50 2.975,0 1.118,50

9,61K 417,90K 276,23K 93,26K 93,50K 613,70K 17,26M 52,90K 30,09K 1,03M 46,67K 953,69K 1,84M 9,09K 85,90K 75,41K 29,76K 126,02K 303,02K 65,54K 137,52K 279,29K 44,49K 156,17K 2,65M 83,70K 586,78K 1,20M 199,50K 1,42K 172,46K 12,02K 331,54K 206,74K 37,23K 136,49K 31,32K 3,42K 198,89K 33,63K 329,56K 786,77K 1,41M 642,52K 322,51K 11,99K 6,06M 24,14K 400,76K

1.19033

0.83995

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ......................................1.13207 Japan yen (JPY)......................................130.331 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0334 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4370 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................9.9900

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 J ANUARY 3

COMPANY 3M American Express Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Dow Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com The Travelers UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walgreens Boots Walmart Walt Disney

PRICE 177,64 164,16 226,47 178,20 202,71 206,08 117,43 63,62 58,78 56,78 385,52 409,94 207,11 133,91 51,74 172,31 158,48 267,21 77,14 339,32 167,49 162,77 255,33 156,81 504,43 52,25 217,87 51,99 143,17 155,93

CHANGE 179,18 165,80 229,55 180,57 206,00 208,91 118,69 64,14 59,23 57,83 389,78 413,44 208,90 134,37 52,14 172,88 160,24 269,26 77,61 343,13 170,12 164,59 257,90 158,42 509,23 52,57 219,15 52,92 143,70 157,07

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 177,58 1,03M 164,00 1,62M 226,14 1,51M 178,09 59,20M 202,60 6,92M 205,93 1,46M 117,34 5,97M 63,47 8,99M 58,76 7,14M 56,72 3,68M 385,20 1,15M 408,40 1,75M 206,91 1,27M 133,33 3,15M 51,65 15,53M 171,75 4,06M 158,37 6,23M 266,70 1,68M 76,97 5,84M 338,82 15,37M 167,20 2,66M 162,61 5,14M 254,46 2,91M 156,71 408,15K 503,65 1,25M 52,08 15,36M 217,15 3,76M 51,94 3,62M 142,48 4,96M 155,51 7,18M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 3

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

Most Advanced Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Cl A Danaher Corp. 5% Mand. Pfd. Series B Cable One Inc. Danaher Corp. 4.75% Mandatory Conv. Pfd. Boston Beer Co. Cl A Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ADR Sea Ltd. ADR Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. Cl A Carvana Co. Cl A Twilio Inc. Cl A Fiverr International Ltd.

0.13% 5.79% 2.07% 1.38% 2.53% 9.72% 4.86% 1.05% 3.46% 2.96% 5.71%

1.56K 1.54K 25.71K 3.62K 150.32K 45.44M 3.79M 57.62K 1.25M 1.43M 863.72K

-0.89% -0.93% -0.74% -1.66% -5.21% -1.13% -1.76% -3.19% -0.75% -0.46% -1.72%

8.33K 76.22K 24.2K 108.64K 212.73K 231 463.34K 160.88K 344 17.15K 271.21K

Most Declined NVR Inc. AutoZone Inc. Markel Corp.

W.W. Grainger Inc. Herc Holdings Inc. Biglari Holdings Inc. Cl A Moody's Corp.

Acuity Brands Inc. UBS AG FI Enhanced Large Cap Growth ETN Texas Pacific Land Corp.

Globant S.A.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

Currency outlook: Emergence of Omicron rocks currency markets at the end of 2021

OMICRON VARIANT: Actually heped to reverse the downtrend in the euro currency.

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

Euro EUR/GBP: Unmoved at £0.84 EUR/USD: Up from $1.12 to $1.13 The euro has fluctuated over the past month, with the single currency initially strug‐ gling amidst concerns over a resurgence of Covid cases in Europe.

However, the emergence of the Omicron Covid variant then actually helped to reverse this downtrend as concerns over the new strain helped to limit the pricing in of policy di‐ vergence between the European Central Bank (ECB) and its peers, on the assumption it would result in a more cautious outlook from the central banks.

The euro also found support in the wake of the ECB December policy meeting, in spite of the bank announcing plans to temporary in‐ crease its asset purchases to cushion the im‐ pact of winding down its pandemic‐era stimu‐ lus in March.

However, the subsequent announcement from most European nations that they would be imposing new restrictions to combat the spread of the Omicron variant then weighed on EUR sentiment towards the end of Decem‐ ber.

Looking ahead, the focus for EUR investors will be on how long these restrictions remain in place, with the euro potentially getting off to a poor start in 2022 if it looks like these mea‐ sures could last more than a couple of weeks.

Pound GBP/EUR: Down from €1.19 to €1.18 GBP/USD: Up from $1.33 to $1.34 The pound also traded in a wide range over the past four weeks, as the currency was rocked by the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest in‐ terest rate decision.

Ahead of its December policy meeting, GBP investors were initially confident the BoE would raise interest rates, before these expec‐ tations quickly faded with the emergence of

the Omicron variant, with analysts assuming the bank would opt to wait for more informa‐ tion about the new strain before acting.

This resulted in Sterling spiking after the BoE surprised markets by ultimately choosing to hike interest rates following its final policy meeting of 2021.

Elsewhere we have seen the introduction of the UK government’s ‘Plan B’ Covid restric‐ tions apply some pressure to GBP exchange rates in recent weeks, while speculation over further measures have also infused volatility into the pound.

Turning to the start of 2022, we might see the introduction of new Brexit customs regula‐ tion place some pressure on Sterling, as they threaten to further disrupt trade between the UK and EU. US Dollar USD/GBP: Unmoved at $0.74 USD/EUR: Down from €0.89 to €0.88 The US dollar climbed to new year‐to‐date highs over the past month as renewed Covid fears tied to the Omicron variant, gripped mar‐ kets and bolstered the appeal of the safe‐ haven US dollar.

Reinforcing the upside in the ‘greenback’ was growing speculation the Federal Reserve might accelerate the tightening of its mone‐ tary policy, particularly after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the recent spike in US inflation can no longer be described as ‘transitory’.

While the Fed ultimately confirmed it will accelerate the tapering of its pandemic‐era stimulus, Powell’s comment’s suggesting it would be ‘inappropriate’ to begin hiking inter‐ est rates before the tapering process is com‐ plete, undermined hopes for an earlier hike and dented USD exchange rates.

The US dollar also gave up some additional ground in late December as reports indicating that Omicron results in fewer hospitalisations than previous Covid strains, cheered markets at the expense of the ‘greenback’.

The US dollar could quickly bounce back at the start of 2022 however, on the expectation that Omicron restrictions might dampen glob‐ al growth prospects for the first quarter of the year.

Visit us at our Spanish offices in Costa del Sol, Costa Almeria, North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca.

Telephone UK +44 (0) 207 847 9400 SPAIN +34 950 478 914 Email euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com • www.currenciesdirect.com.

6 - 12 Jan 2022

EWN 31

32 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

6 - 12 Jan 2022

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT IF we don’t start using some common sense and start concentrating on things that truly matter the woke brigade could one day lead us all into total disaster. The latest edict from this collection of fruit cakes is their disapproval of the characters that play the Puerto Rican gang in the musical West Side Story. Apparently the PCs are peeved because the cast don’t all originate from Puerto Rico! You really couldn’t make it up.

This statement is a bit rich, emanating from a bunch that were quite happy to condone a black actress portraying Anne Boleyn or the distortion of British history by the BBC when it presented a whole cast of black actors portraying the aristocracy in the period series Bridgerton. However, the fact of the matter is, all these people are precisely that ‐ actors. It’s fantasy land folks; pretending to be something, or someone other than themselves is what thespians do ‐ it is the whole purpose of their profession. In fact, their entire worth and success largely depends on how convincingly they can actually pull off these various personalities.

It’s nuts Heaven help any film company, who under the jurisprudence of the wokers, decided to do a remake of Ben Hur. Making sure all the thousands of extras and multitude of stars all came from Rome or at the very least Italy, would be a marathon task indeed, and don’t even get me started on the Wizard of Oz! These examples of wokism are of course pretty silly and somewhat light hearted, but the fact of the matter is that these pathetic cranks have now infiltrated everywhere. Many have attained positions which enable them to influence, and even ruin the lives of a whole multitude of citizens. Their apparent unchecked ability to instigate loony left‐wing policies and continuing efforts to suppress the freedom of speech is the direct result of a PC brainwashed British society having been made to feel thoroughly ashamed of a whole host of historical achievements and accomplishments.

Indigenous white Brits, desperate to appease and reconcile their past ‘evils’ are allowing these nutcases to get away with actions and edicts that would have

been laughed at a few years ago. And why do I consider them all so dangerous? Because of their completely irresponsible priorities.

While they have us all (including the politicians) twitching about same sex toilets, taking the knee, multi gendering and encouraging millions of immigrants, the Iranians, with their nuclear aspirations; Russia, with its troops gathering on the borders of Ukraine and the Chinese portending to take back Taiwan, are threatening to drag us all to the brink of a third ‐ and undoubtedly final Global War. If we don’t stop wasting time and get rid of these politically correct jokers, we truly will become diversified. There will be bits of us mixed up everywhere!

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

The Lost Daughter A SEASIDE holiday caus‐ es a professor, and mother of two, to relive past struggles with par‐ enting and motherhood.

Released on Netflix on December 31, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut is adapted from the novel of the same name. It is a meandering and subtle look at one woman’s tumultuous ex‐ periences as a mother.

Set on a fictional Greek island, the won‐ derful Olivia Coleman (Peep Show) plays mid‐ dle‐aged English profes‐ sor Leda, who becomes enthralled by a young and beautiful, but strug‐ gling, mother called Nina (50 Shades’ Dakota Johnson) and her daugh‐ ter Elena.

Following two differ‐ ent timelines, we see Le‐ da watching Nina strug‐ gle with her daughter which forces her to look back on her own experi‐

ences with motherhood and infidelity. It’s an in‐ tense movie that doesn’t really go anywhere, ex‐ cept to delve deep into the mind of a woman who found children to be a ‘crushing responsi‐ bility.’

This film is beautifully shot, from the bright sunlight of the beach to the sparkling streets at night. And the close camera angles of the young Leda give a sense of claustrophobia when revealing the truth of her past.

If you’re looking for an action film, this isn’t it.

At two hours long, how‐ ever, it does keep you gripped, and Leda’s prickly character can be amusing and relatable.

And the mystery of Ele‐ na’s missing doll makes the audience wonder whether Leda has deep‐ er issues than first ap‐ pears.

THURSDAY 06/01

6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:25pm

SATURDAY 08/01

FRIDAY 07/01

7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:25pm 6:18pm 6:20pm 8:40pm 9:30pm 10:30pm 11:10pm 11:25pm 11:30pm 1:00am

WEDNESDAY 12/01

TUESDAY 11/01

MONDAY 10/01

SUNDAY 09/01

4:45pm 5:45pm 6:00pm 6:05pm 6:10pm 7:10pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:00pm 11:25pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:20pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:25pm 11:30pm 11:35pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 7:55pm

8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm

Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The One Show EastEnders Dragons' Den The Apprentice BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather

5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm

BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The One Show A Question of Sport EastEnders Would I Lie to You? Death in Paradise BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather

5:15pm

Weather Match of the Day Live: The FA Cup Pointless Celebrities Michael McIntyre's The Wheel Casualty BBC News Weather MOTD: FA Cup Highlights The NFL Show

5:25pm 6:50pm 7:40pm 8:40pm

Attenborough's Wonder Of Song BBC News BBC London News; Weather Weather Countryfile Around the World in 80 Days The Green Planet Call the Midwife The Tourist

2:00pm 6:15pm 7:00pm

Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather The One Show Match of the Day Live: The FA Cup BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather

7:30pm 8:00pm

BBC London News; Weather The One Show EastEnders EastEnders Holby City Rules of the Game BBC News at Ten Regional News and Weather Weather Gossip Girl

2:00pm 6:15pm 7:00pm

BBC News at Six; Weather BBC London News; Weather Party Political Broadcast by the Conservative Party The One Show Panorama The Repair Shop Rules of the Game BBC News at Ten

2:00pm 6:15pm 7:00pm

7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 12:10am

6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 10:45pm 11:30pm

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8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:55am

8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:25pm 11:30pm

7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 12:10am 12:15am

7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:15pm 11:30pm 12:10am

Nature's Weirdest Events Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall The Hairy Bikers Go North Digging for Britain Andy Warhol's America The Apprentice: You're Fired!

Newsnight Weather

8:00pm

Life in Polar Bear Town with Gordon Buchanan Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall The Hairy Bikers Go North Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens QI XL Live at the Apollo Newsnight

8:00pm 8:10pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm

Viva Las Vegas Flog It! Inside the Factory The Perfect Morecambe & Wise Shirley Bassey at the BBC Elvis: The Rebirth of the King David Bowie and the Story of Ziggy Stardust David Bowie at Glastonbury 2000

8:00pm

Live Snooker: The Masters Flog It! Borneo: Earth's Tropical Islands Antiques Roadshow Ski Sunday Last Woman on Earth with Sara Pascoe The Sisters Brothers Snooker: The Masters Neil Robertson v Anthony McGill.

8:25pm

Rick Stein's Cornwall Tom Kerridge's Fresh Start Mastermind Only Connect University Challenge Inside Dubai: Playground of the Rich Couples Therapy Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs Newsnight

9:00pm 10:00pm

Live Snooker: The Masters Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall The Hairy Bikers Go North Digging for Britain The Hunt for Bible John Toast of Tinseltown Newsnight Weather NFL This Week

8:00pm

Live Snooker: The Masters Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall The Hairy Bikers Go North Digging for Britain Inside the Factory Mandy Mandy Newsnight Weather

9:00pm

8:30pm 9:00pm 11:45pm 1:10am 2:10am 2:40am 3:10am

11:00pm 11:50pm 1:20am 1:50am 2:20am

8:10pm

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8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am

10:00pm 11:30pm 12:30am 1:00am 1:30am 2:00am 2:30am

Great British Railway Journeys Winter Walks The Sound of Music Viva Las Vegas Sings Elvis Winter Walks Great British Railway Journeys The Windermere Children: In Their Own Words

7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm

Sounds of the Seventies The Shirley Bassey Show TOTP: 1992 TOTP: 1992 Dame Shirley Bassey: Electric Proms 2009 Shirley Bassey: I Am What I Am David Bowie: Five Years TOTP2: David Bowie TOTP: 1992 TOTP: 1992

4:59pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:20pm

Around the World in 80 Treasures Shorts Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues Around the World in Eighty Days Inspector Montalbano Parkinson: The Interviews The Ghan: Australia's Greatest Train Journey

4:00pm 5:20pm

Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet The Sky at Night The Enigmatic Maestro, Bernard Haitink The Sky at Night Guides: Stars Coast Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet

11:00am

Stealing Van Gogh Art on the BBC: Van Gogh - Life and Art Vincent van Gogh: Painted with Words John Berger: The Art of Looking Winter Walks Great British Railway Journeys Art on the BBC: Van Gogh - Life and Art

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

Great British Railway Journeys Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age Keeping Up Appearances Yes, Prime Minister What's Wrong with Our Weather? Horizon Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History Cruel Sea: The Penlee Lifeboat Disaster

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

New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands The Last Survivors Diary of Anne Frank Diary of Anne Frank The Sky at Night Great British Railway Journeys Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands

6:00pm 7:00pm 7:25pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm

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ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale How Much Is Your Car Worth? Tonight Emmerdale The Martin Lewis Money Show: Live The Real Anne: Unfinished Business ITV News at Ten and Weather

3:10pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:05am

Countdown A Place in the Sun A New Life in the Sun Four in a Bed The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News The Dog House Screw First Dates Taskmaster's New Year Treat

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

ITV London Weather Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Live FA Cup Football ITV News at Ten and Weather ITV News London The Bourne Identity

4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm

A Place in the Sun A New Life in the Sun Four in a Bed The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News George Clarke's Amazing Spaces 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Gogglebox Festive Special

7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm

The Story of SM:TV Live The Chase: Celebrity Special ITV News and Weather ITV News London Celebrity Catchphrase The Masked Singer Ant & Dec's Limitless Win The John Bishop Show ITV News and Weather ITV London Weather

4:45pm

The Great New Year Bake Off Channel 4 News Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke Location, Location, Location Independence Day: Resurgence Skyscraper The Maze Runner

5:30pm 7:10pm 7:15pm

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen ITV News and Weather ITV London Weather Live FA Cup Football Live FA Cup Football ITV News and Weather ITV News London Vera ITV News and Weather

5:10pm

A New Life in the Sun: Road Trip Channel 4 News Grand Designs Billionaire Cruise Ship: Paradise Island The Great Pottery Throw Down Louise Woodward The Sinking of the Concordia: Caught on Camera

3:00pm 4:15pm 5:15pm

The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Britain's Busiest Airport Heathrow Coronation Street Beat the Chasers Celebrity Special ITV News at Ten and Weather

4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm

A Place in the Sun A New Life in the Sun Junior Bake Off The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Food Unwrapped Goes Veggie Louise Woodward: Villain or Victim?

Party Island: Summer in Zante

5:00pm

Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Wonders of the Border The Secret Life of Our Pets Beat the Chasers Celebrity Special ITV News at Ten and Weather

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Steph's Packed Lunch Countdown A Place in the Sun A New Life in the Sun Junior Bake Off The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country Louise Woodward: Villain or Victim?

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Travel by Alex Glenn

CLAIRE GORDON FINDING BALANCE IN AN UNEVEN WORLD MY latest thought of the week has been about letting people know it’s ok to change their minds.

Life is not black and white, it’s more like a million shades of grey and thinking in black and white terms, without letting yourself grow and adapt, helps no one except people who gain things from situations having no nuance. Like I have said before, it is only people who do not have your best interests at heart that will not allow you to change your mind once you have formed an opinion on something.

Or the other strand to this, allowing yourself to not have an opinion on something at all. In this world of inyour-face information 24/7, it sometimes feels like you must know something about everything and have formed a staunch and unwavering opinion about it too. This isn’t true.

A phrase I wish was used more often is “I don’t know enough about that subject to have made a suitably informed opinion about it.” This isn’t a sign of weakness or stupidity, more

Opinions Ronda

a sign of maturity that shows you would like to have enough knowledge around something before stepping into the breach! This way of thinking is incredibly helpful when it comes to areas of life that don’t affect you in the same way as it does the people who are talking about it. In these cases, it really does pay to listen.

If you do hold a strong opinion about something, great. The next question to ask is “If I was presented with more information about this subject, would my opinion change?”

This begins to open your mind to the possibility of growth and flexibility. There are some things to which the answer will be an absolute no.

You will sit and think about any possible snippets of information that could come in about this subject and know that you will remain of the same mind. At least you have asked the first question. What follows is the kicker.

The next and final step is to look at your strongly held opinion and ask: “Am I only so firm in my thoughts

about this because I feel like I would be judged if I changed my mind?”

Science author Adam Grant said: “The hallmark of an open mind: not letting your ideas become your identity. If you define yourself by your opinions, questioning them is a threat to your integrity. If you see yourself as a curious person or a lifelong learner, changing your mind is a moment of growth.”

For some, their strongly held opinions are a cage. If you, like Katie Hopkins, for example, have created a brand for yourself by saying only the very strongest and sometimes offensive opinions, then reversing out of those opinions doesn’t feel like an option you can take, even if you do change your mind.

Sometimes it takes more courage to admit you’ve learnt more than it does to ‘stand by your convictions’.

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.

FOR a true taste of Spanish culture and history head to Ronda in the Malaga Province. The town is per‐ fect for a day trip from the Costa del Sol, located just 100 kilometres from Mala‐ ga City. By car it only takes around an hour and a half from Malaga and Sevilla is less than two hours away.

Julius Caesar first de‐ clared Ronda a town in the first century AD. At this point, it was named Acinipo. The town was lat‐ er renamed Izna‐Rand‐On‐ da ‐ Ronda when Moorish troops invaded the region.

Around 20 kilometres away from modern‐day Ronda the ruins of Acinipo can be found.

Ronda is located over two hills, and a deep ravine called the El Tajo de Ronda runs between them with several bridges span‐ ning the gorge. The town is

the third most visited town in Andalucia.

The most famous fea‐ ture of Ronda is the Puente Nuevo bridge which runs across the El Tajo Gorge.

The iconic bridge features on many postcards and it is the perfect place to take in some amazing views.

The Ronda bullring is al‐ so a main attraction for vis‐ itors. Whether you support bullfighting or not, the his‐ tory is worth knowing.

Ronda’s 5,000‐capacity bullring is one of the oldest in Spain and it was de‐ signed by the same archi‐ tect as Puente Nueve. Ron‐ da is also home to a bullfighting school and a museum.

Anyone looking to relax in Ronda should head to the 13th‐century Arab baths, parts of which are said to have been inspired

by Granada’s Alhambra.

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FEATURE

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GO LOCAL

THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has urged its readers to support local businesses in the com‐ munity by shopping locally in recent times. Now things are heading back to normal, we challenge you to maintain that habit by supporting local high streets, markets, butch‐ ers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky inde‐ pendent 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 suppli‐ ers. 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 cases, they are much more than just a business, they’re a legacy. They may have sup‐ ported generations of the same family. Likewise, brand new local stores and bars may help the generations of the fu‐ ture fulfil their dreams and am‐ bitions.

Remember, your local store

is going up against multination‐ als and chains. They can’t win that battle on their own. So give them your support.

Spending your money locally will make a real difference to the local economy. Local busi‐ nesses recirculate a greater share of every euro they re‐ ceive at local level. They create locally owned supply chains and they invest in their em‐ ployees.

So remember. When you go shopping ‐ go local!

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6 - 12 Jan 2022

TONI C. EASTWOOD OBE, MBA

#TheWomanBeyond IF you’re anything like me, as the year draws to a close you’re already thinking about what you achieved in 2021 (and of course what a crazy year it has been ‐ again!!!) and setting your goals for 2022.

What is it that you want to achieve or accom‐ plish? Do let me know I love to hear what you are all striving for.

Most people go about goal setting in a way that makes it really difficult for them to achieve their target.

Want to know how to get things done and achieve those goals you are seeking?

In the world of Mental Toughness Dr Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading coaches, he specialises in developing mental toughness for peak performance ‐ I don’t know about you, but when I am wanting to achieve a goal, I want to be the BEST I can.

In the book written with his colleague Dr Ellen Reed ‐ Relentless Solution Focus ‐ they tell us that the one characteristic all phenomenally successful people share is mental toughness.

Mentally tough people are better at making de‐

HEALTH & BEAUTY

RELENTLESS SOLUTION FOCUS cisions more quickly and with better results.

They possess the uncanny ability to control what goes on between their ears. (I’m still work‐ ing on that One ‐ LOL) Instead of allowing their minds to focus on their problems when adversity strikes, the most successful people have learned to direct their thoughts in a systematic manner that produces positive emotions and productive actions: they have a Relentless Solution Focus.

When you master this practice, confidence and momentum grow, taking you and your team to higher levels of performance and achievement.

Note: RELENTLESS solution focus.

Here’s the game he tells his elite athletes (and executives) to play: When something goes sideways, give your‐ self 60 seconds (that’s it! 60 seconds!) to feel bad about it, blame someone for it, whatever works for you.

60 seconds. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

DING! Whining over.

Now? Now, it’s time to find a SOLUTION to your problem.

You don’t need to solve the whole thing ‐and

you shouldn’t try to. Just find one TINY (!) thing you can do right now that would move you for‐ ward in a positive, constructive direction.

Relentless. Solution. Focus.

R E L E N T L E S S. Quick consult with dictionary: relentless |rəˈlen(t)ləs| adjective oppressively constant; incessant Yep. Relentless. Solution. Focus.

So… What’s your #1 stressor right now?

What’s going to get in the way of you achieving your goals for the next year?

Give yourself 60 seconds to whine.

Starting now…

And… Time’s up!

Now: What’s the one little thing you can do right now to improve the situation by 1 per cent? Get on that!

As we get ready to see the New Year in what’s the outcome you are striving for in 2022, stop to think about the process, the baby steps, what’s the micro things you need to be doing that will get you to the outcome? Now go work the process.

Prepare yourself to receive the good things you are after. Here’s to a successful 2022.

Stay Focused, Keep Positive and Choose to +1 in Every Moment.

Ignite Your Passion, Fulfil Your Dreams and Awaken Your Greatness!

Love, Hugs, High Fives and Fist Bumps Toni x Toni Eastwood OBE, MBA #TheWomanBeyond PS. Want to ignite your passion and pur‐ pose? To get laser focused on your Biggest Most Audacious Goals? Grab one of the last few places on my Visionary Women Pro‐ gramme for January 2022. In just four, three‐ hour online sessions you could make 2022 Your Best Year Yet. Twenty five 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/vi sionarywomenprogramme 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

HEALTH & BEAUTY

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6 - 12 Jan 2022

Easy weight loss in 5 steps IT’S a new year, which means that many people will be get‐ ting on top of looking after their health, whether that’s through cutting down on drinking, reducing the amount of junk food they eat or trying to lose some weight.

And if you are trying to lose weight this year, the Euro Weekly News has put togeth‐ er five tips to help you lose it easily and healthily.

1. Buy foods you enjoy The most important when losing weight is to make sure you have the right foods at home to ensure you aren’t tempted to go and grab something naughtier when you’re feeling hungry.

Buying a range of foods which are both healthy and that you really enjoy will make you far less tempted to over‐eat.

Similarly, try to make some of your favourite meals in ad‐ vance and put them in the freezer, so you always have something you like on hand

EXERCISE: Stick to a gentle plan which you can easily fit into your day.

when you’re hungry.

2. Fibre As well as eating more fruit and vegetables and generally reducing the calories you con‐ sume, getting enough fibre in‐ to your diet is an important part of weight loss as it makes you feel fuller and less likely to fill up on other foods.

3. Drink more water Drinking plenty of water is

good for your health and also helps you to feel full.

4. Exercise Exercising is an important part of weight loss, but don’t be tempted to embark on an exercise regime that will leave you exhausted and demoti‐ vated. Instead, stick to gentle exercise that you can easily fit into your day. This could be anything from parking further

away from the shops to tak‐ ing the stairs instead of the lift or escalator. Gentle workouts like yoga will also help to burn calories as well as improving your flexibility.

5. Add some treats Diets arent always fun, which is why its important to make sure you add some treats in to your eating every week.

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6 - 12 Jan 2022

Danny Sawyer at the Sala Babel THE influential singer‐songwrit‐ er and poet is appearing at the Sala Babel in Alicante on Friday, January 21. The jazz pianist and model is known for his highly thoughtful lyrics, and creative music, which reflects a wide range of influence from com‐ posers to more popular musi‐

cians such as the Jonas Broth‐ ers. He is also famed for his compositions that are impro‐ vised on the spot, during which he plays chance style music, meaning he does not use modes, tone, chords, and vo‐ cals typical in most other music.

He is also known for his pas‐

sion for the movie ‘Buckaroo Bonzai’, and his favourite music genre is known to be Reggae‐ ton. Tickets to see Danny can be bought from www.song kick.com with doors opening at 10pm. The Sala Babel is on the Calle del Comercio, Polígono In‐ dustrial Babel 03008 and tick‐ ets cost €10.

Torrevieja Concerts TWO classical music concerts have been announced for the city, the Torrevejense Musical Union and the second the Concerto d’amore, by Percosax and UMT. Both shows will see full orches‐ tras playing a range of well and lesser known classical pieces with the shows lasting around an hour and half each. The first show, Con‐ certo d’amore, takes place on March 12 in the Palacio de la Mu‐ sica at 8pm and the second, Tor‐ revejense Musical Union, on March 13 in the International Au‐ ditorium at 12pm.

Tickets for Torrevejense are free with entry on a first come first serve basis and for Concerto d’amore tickets are €5 from www.entradasatualcance.com.

SOCIAL SCENE

Where the stars live A FREE play is being put on at the Community Social Centre Felicidad Sanchez on the Avda, Mayor Lorenzo Carbonell in Alicante with numbers per group limited to four.

The play, which starts at 7pm, covers the story of Manel, Anna and Dario, three children that live on the same street. The three children whose unique talents be‐ come known during the play, join forces to make a great discovery for it is their neigh‐ bour the grumpy hermit who experiences a major turning point in his life as a result.

Through the story the ac‐

THREE FRIENDS: Live on the same street.

tors try to show family and functional diversity without falling into drama. They are just children, without preju‐ dice, learning to be friends.

Their families will accompany them in their growth, sup‐ porting their decisions with‐

out becoming overprotective.

The play takes place on Fri‐ day, February 11 with tickets available from www.eventbrite or the venue. The tickets are free, but needed to reserve your seats.

Spanish Pop Jamones con Tacones THE Spanish pop band will be appearing at the Sala Euterpe in Alicante on Friday, January 28. Ja‐ mones con Tacones, loosely translated as Pigs on Heels, is a six‐piece band from Murcia.

A firm favourite with the younger set who en‐

joy their fun brand of mu‐ sic and shows. The band who recently released their album ‘Disco Power Walking’, bring together a combination of rhythm and Spanish sounds.

The show is a good one for anyone who enjoys popular Spanish music

with the musicians bring‐ ing a live and characterful performance to the stage.

Tickets are available from www.songkick.com or from the venue Sala Euterpe, Dr. Ivorra 34, San Juan de Alicante or by phone 635 832 168.

PETS

46

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Wishing you a safe and healthy 2022! Chocolate poisoning

IF you are planning a trip you still need to plan early for pet and house‐sitters. Perhaps you are already making plans for a staycation get away.

Even if you are planning just a short trip, you’ll know that you simply can’t travel with some pets. Young pets in particular may benefit from staying behind so they can follow their routines at home. So, plan ahead.

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in cats and dogs INGESTION of chocolate is one of the most common causes of poisoning in dogs. Chocolate con‐ tains theobromine and dogs and cats metabolise theobromine more slowly than humans.

The lethal dose (LD50) for dogs is 300mg / kg and for cats 200mg / kg.

Chocolate is Cats are more sensitive but have little not healthy. desire to eat chocolate. A dose of 80mg / kg is enough to cause severe poisoning. Even with an ingestion of 20mg / kg, slight signs such as polydipsia / polyuria (drinking and urinating a lot) and diarrhoea may ap‐ pear.

The amount of theobromine depends on the type of chocolate. Only 24 grams of pure chocolate coverage would cause the poisoning of a 20kg dog and it would be necessary four times more if it was treats of milk chocolate.

The clinical signs are vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle tremors, rapid breathing, cyanosis, hyperthermia, hypertension, rest‐ lessness and if the poisoning is significant, seizures, coma and death. Symptoms appear after four to 12 hours.

If you think that your pet has been able to eat a significant amount of chocolate, you should go to the vet immediately.

In Costa Blanca Sur: www.resonanciaveterinaria.es Centro Veterinario de Diagnóstico por Imagen de Levante C/Los Arcos 23 Ciudad Quesada, Rojales. Tel: 609 779 109

Musical influence can benefit dogs MUSIC is a therapeutic medium for humans, but dogs can also benefit from the healing powers of music.

The wolf, which is known for howling, uses it as a form of communi‐

cation and for assembling the pack. They will change their tone as oth‐ ers join in because they prefer to finish on a dif‐ ferent and discordant tone. This suggests that canines do have a sense

of pitch.

It is believed that dogs engage in vocalisation to produce musical sounds in the same recreational way as humans do. When they hear music, especial‐ ly from wind and reed in‐

struments, they are natu‐ rally inclined to join in with the chorus; while making sure their tone is heard above the rest.

As research has con‐ firmed that dogs have musical preferences and

react differently to a range of musical styles; then it’s worth sharing your collection of music with your dog and wait‐ ing to see what happens.

They might even influ‐ ence your taste in music.

DOGS: Have musical preferences.

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There are various Lodges meetings up throughout the Valencia region. If you already are a Mason or simply wish to know more about Freemason ry in Spain please contact sec@glpvalencia.com Tel 600 841 064 (95477) HELP VEGA BAJA. We are a non-profit making organisation that helps and supports anyone, without prejudice, in times of need or crisis within the Vega Baja area. Our offices are based in San Miguel at Calle Lope de Vega 46 (Tel 966 723 733), Torrevieja at Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 4 (Tel 965 704 282). We are online at www.helpvegabaja.com and also on Facebook. You can email the San Miguel Centre at office@helpvegabaja.com. We also have a 24-hour Emergency helpline which is available to both members and non-members on 966 723 733 (95456) INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY, TORREVIEJA Calle Urbano Arregui, 23, Torrevieja 03185, Alicante Evangelical non-denominational church. Sunday morning Services at 11:00am. All national-

CARS WANTED CHARITY ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS IS ALCOHOL COSTING YOU MORE THAN MONEY? Drinking to excess not only affects your health it can spill over into every other aspect of your life – damaging everything that is important to you. English-speaking AA meetings are held throughout the Costa Blanca from Valencia City to Murcia. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting or discuss a possible drinking problem contact Costa Blanca North: 648 169 045 or Costa Blanca South: 625 912 078 or Costa Calida 679 385 105 All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. AA in German: 645 456 075; Spanish: 679 212 535; Flemish: 635 047 053; and Scandinavian: 659 779 222. www.aa-costablanca.org (93323)

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ities welcome - Contact 966 752 543 / 966 799 273. For other church matters phone: 966 799 273 / /617 215 463 www.icatorrevieja.org (95476) LA SIESTA EVANGELICAL CHURCH on Urbanisation La Siesta, Torrevieja is a friendly, English speaking church. For more information, including details of our services, see our website www.lasiestaevangeli calchurch.org (10005) PHILIP SCOTT LODGE No 10671 of the RAOB. Please call the secretary, Colin Bird on 693 287 614 for further information. (95459) PILAR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH. All welcome from any church background or none. For further information, www.pilarchurch.org Reg No: 2009-SG/A (95463) ROYAL Air Force Association Costa Blanca Registered Members Group: The RAFA Costa Blanca RMG replaces the RAFA Costa Blanca Branch 1359 which is now closed. The RMG is a social group of caring people and remains affiliated to the parent Association. Contact with the Royal Air Force Association and the RMG can be made via the RAFA website rafa.org.uk. Tel:0044 800 018 2361. (238593) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Why not make this year the year you volunteer? See how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Telephone Buddy. We also visit beneficiaries who are housebound or in hospital. If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyhhvisits@gmail.com. If you or your partner served or are serving, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big,

6 - 12 Jan 2022 • www.euroweeklynews.com SPONSORED BY

sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feeling more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help directly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be.

If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at, http://branch es.britishlegion.org.uk/branch es/orihuela-costa - covering from Punta Prima to San Javier. More info can be found on branch website www.orihuelacostarbl.co.uk. (95457) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Gran Alacant & La Marina Branch.

For info, contact the branch Secretary at granalacant.sec retary@rbl.community ROYAL MARINES ASSOCIATION (Costa Blanca) The aim of the Association is to bring together not just ex Royal Marines, but ex Service personnel with an affinity to the Royal Marines. For further details Hon Sec 692 938 664.

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

ELECTRICIAN MR FIXIT. For all your electrical, plumbing, general & appliance & boiler repairs.

No call out charge. 698 320 434 (288064)

FOR SALE/WANTED WANTED Gold, Silver, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)

GOLD WANTED

THE PATIENCE LODGE No 2177 of the R.A.O.B Please call Secretary Dave Tonge on 688 704 091 for further information. (253807)

BENEFICIAL INSURANCE SERVICES. Car, Home, Business, Travel, Life, Funeral, all insurances available. Policies in English. BEST rates, covers & service. Immediate quotes. Tel 961 129 215 / 622 275 561, (WhatsApp) info@beneficialinsurancein spain.com or visit www.ben eficialinsuranceinspain.com for online quote. (294254)

LOCKSMITHS HOME IMPROVEMENTS BATHROOM & KITCHEN Conversions Costa Blanca, contact 698 320 434.

(289423)

INSURANCE

THE AIRCREW ASSOCIATION COSTA BLANCA BRANCH. Former & serving aircrews of the UK or Allied Armed Forces are welcome to join this convivial & friendly organisation, now in its 21st year. www.acacostablanca.org or call the Secretary on: 966 495 042 (95465)

THE BAKER Foundation Spiritual Centre Playa Flamenca.

Calle Luis Gordillo, 1 Playa Flamenca Alicante 03189. You can join us on Facebook, The Baker Foundation spiritual centre. Or contact Linda Schug Tel. 606 990 665 for more details (95458)

FED UP OF NOT BEING SENT YOUR RENEWAL? CUT YOUR INSURANCE COSTS AND STILL HAVE 100% COVER. YOU HAVE TRIED THE REST NOW TRY THE BEST WITH SOS INSURANCE. WE CAN EVEN INSURE YOU FOR UPTO A €1,000 OF WATERLOSS. CALL 686 116 297 (WHATSAPP TO) OR VISIT www.sosinsuran ceinspain.com or email tracey@sosinsurancein spain.com (294212)

STAY SAFE! Abbeygate Insurance Call 971 277 455 For your security www.abbey gateinsure.com

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, La Fustera. For more info: contact Frank Bentley on 966 495 188.

(95461)

CHARITY

INSURANCE

TABLE TENNIS

ALARMS TORREVIEJA, Install & Repair all types of Alarms & CCTV. Call/Whatsapp 600 933 667 www. alarmastorrevieja.com (294577)

CLASSIFIEDS MISCELLANEOUS GOLD & SILVER Bought & Sold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)

MOTORING

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CARS WANTED Quality LHD & RHD Vehicles bought & sold. All paperwork undertaken quickly & professionally. Immediate payment for all purchases. Mobile / WhatsApp +34 600 726 221 Office +34 965 687 976 www.fwreurocars.com info@fwreurocars.com (294576)

FOR SALE WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company fleet insurance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to offer an excellent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 902 123 309. (200726)

MUSIC TUITION PIANO, Keyboard, Organ, Qualified Teacher. Please call 606 984 535 (290217)

NAUTICAL

If you can read it, so can your clients.

Contact us and have your business grow at + 34 951 386 161 INSURANCE

INTERNATIONAL SKIPPER LICENCE: Courses held in English and starts soon. RYA VHF and Radar Courses. 626 245 098 (294950)

PERGOLAS TAILOR MADE, durable canvas, sails, umbrella, spa and CAR COVERS. Mazarron based, and at Procomobel

Market, Guardamar Saturday mornings. 15% off cushions.

Mail Order and Ordering online 667 879 399 kruger canopies@yahoo.co.uk

PET CHARITY EASYHORSE CARE RESCUE CENTRE. We aim to rescue HORSES. If you would like to DONATE please call 965 967 033 or sales@easyhorse care.net www.easyhorse care.net or call Sue 652 021 980 (95706)

6 - 12 Jan 2022

PLUMBERS MR FIXIT. For all your electrical, plumbing, general & appliance & boiler repairs. No call out charge. 698 320 434 (288064)

POOL MAINTENANCE Repairs, Spares and Leak Testing. Call 965 725 565 / 676 945 360 www. pooltechspain.com (286740)

SPAS & JACUZZI

SPAMA GANDIA SHELTER. Dog and cat rescue registered charity, La Safor area. 500 animals awaiting re-homing.

Phone Gail 962 896 118. Visit our website for directions. www.spama.org and view our new blog at www.spama-safor .blog.com.es PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THEM (95707)

NOELIA. Only visit home.

Massage, fantasy and sex.

697 207 715 (292064)

XXX RELAXATION Please note that in Spain there is NO legislation banning adverts in this section. Neither regional nor national governments are able to pass such a law due to rules governing freedom of publication and printing.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS FED UP PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE CALLS? THEN CONTACT TELITEC TODAY. CALLS TO SPAIN 7C PER MINUTE INCLUDING MOBILES. CALLS TO UK 5.3C PER MINUTE. NO MONTHLY FEES, NO CONTRACT. WWW.TELITEC.COM TEL: 902 889 070 (2001)

TV & SATELLITE UK TV – get all your favourite television channels. No satellite dish required, all you need is internet connection. Full back-up service. Also available Lobster SIM Cards. Call 651 199 406 (294587)

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TORREVIEJA CENTRE Girls big ass, tits & transvestite big cocks. Credit cards accepted. 24hr appointments 691 128 099 (293695) ATTRACTIVE, Girlfriend, Escort, Professional Masseuse.

Telephone: 693 357 526 (293267)

POOL MAINTENANCE

GATAMI ORGANISATION, to help kittens and cats, looking for good homes, also spaying wild cats in the community.

Kittens require adoption, fully vaccinated, de-wormed, de-flead. volunteers to Tel Anna: 966 806 976 / 654 729 977 (95709) P.E.P.A. VOLUNTEERS & FOSTER HOMES URGENTLY NEEDED. By fostering an abandoned dog or spending a few hours each week on our telephone helpline, you could help save the lives of many animals. Please call: 650 304 746. For more information browse our website: www.pepaspain.com (95708)

WANTED

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READERS OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION MAY FIND SOME OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS SECTION OFFENSIVE.

XXX FEMALE SOPHIE naughty, slim, elegant, sexy French lady. 3 languages spoken. Visit all areas 693 357 526 (291686) EXPERIENCE the best with a 1hr unique massage with Veronica. Shaving or permanent hair removal available.

For appointments call 679 292 678 (293296) SPANISH lady - classic. Playa Flamenca, private house, 40 years, attractive. All erotic services, massage, sexy lingerie. From €40.

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XXX MALE RELAXING MASSAGE FOR MEN - Mario qualified masseur in Alicante - Special Massage for Men 7 days 10AM to 10PM APPOINTMENTS visit: www.masajeyrelax.es/en or WHATSAPP 649 761 607 (293855)

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XXX VARIOUS Male/Female viagra, cialis, kamagra jelly, mixed trial packs available, all areas mail order. 604 385 476. viagra4you19@gmail.com KAMAGRA Gold 100mg plus Kamagra Jellies. Collection or Delivery. Roy – 602 579 481 (289485)

54 EWN

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6 - 12 Jan 2022

No smoking ACCORDING to the Gen‐ eral Directorate of Traffic (DGT), current traffic reg‐ ulations do not explicitly prohibit smoking in the

car in Spain. But, they do point out that should you get stopped by traffic cops who consider that this action is generating a distraction that puts road safety at risk, then the driver might be pe‐ nalised.

The Ministry of Health is known to have drawn up a draft in which it pro‐ poses, ‘before the year 2023’, to increase taxes on cigarettes and their derivatives. It also plans to increase the number of smoke‐free places, so that it is not possible to smoke in cars, or fix generic packaging on cigarette packets.

Data indicates that lighting a cigarette re‐ quires 4.1 seconds. This implies that, while travel‐ ling at 100kph, 113 me‐ tres are covered without paying full attention to the road. The DGT states

that 60 per cent of acci‐ dents, and 30 per cent of fatalities are caused by distractions, and smoking is a frequent cause of dis‐ traction.

The Traffic Regulations indicate that ‘the driver of a vehicle is obliged to maintain their own free‐ dom of movement, the necessary field of vision, and permanent attention when driving, to guaran‐ tee their own safety, that of the rest of the occu‐ pants of the vehicle and of the other users of the road’. However, smoking is not prohibited.

In May 2018, coincid‐ ing with World No Tobac‐ co Day, the DGT pointed out, “Smoking while driv‐ ing is not prohibited, but we recommend not do‐ ing it, because it can be distracting. And if chil‐ dren travel, less, for health reasons.”

MOTORING

When to blow the horn THE DGT is clamping down on drivers and the way they conduct themselves while driving on the roads of Spain. One trait that most drivers have is that of sounding the car horn un‐ necessarily.

In accordance with article 11.7 of the General Vehicle Regulations, all motor vehicles are required to have a horn installed to alert other drivers and pedestrians to danger if necessary.

But, it also establishes the prohibition of using them without just cause or in an exaggerated way.

Sounding the car horn at the wrong time can land you with an €80 fine.

According to what is es‐ tablished by the General Directorate of Traffic, (DGT), there are only three very specific cases where blowing the horn is accept‐

BLOWING THE HORN: Only three uses.

able: 1. To avoid pos‐ sible accidents If you find yourself in a situation where an early warning can prevent a colli‐ sion, or accident, then feel free to use the horn. This also applies if you are driv‐ ing on narrow roads, be‐ fore a level crossing, or on roads with poor visibility.

2. In an overtaking proce‐ dure If your intention is to

warn the driver in front of you that you are going to overtake and pass in front of them.

3. If your vehicle acts like an emergency service To notify others of your presence when you pro‐ vide a service reserved for emergency vehicles, and therefore, you have priority to circulate. In this in‐ stance, you will need to sound your horn intermit‐ tently, in addition to turn‐ ing on your hazard lights.

MOTORING

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ROAD TEST

by Mark Slack THERE are a number of car makers offering a single model with self‐charging hy‐ brid, plug‐in hybrid or pure electric powertrains.

For those not yet con‐ vinced to go fully electric then self‐charging hybrids are the most practical, with no range anxieties and no plug‐in issues. The UK gov‐ ernment’s lamentable inde‐ cision on what hybrid vehi‐ cles can continue to be sold after 2030, when conven‐ tionally powered new car sales will be banned, means we have no idea what will be available to buyers.

So if full electric is not a practical proposition, and for many it certainly isn’t, then you have a limited time to make your mind up.

One of the most popular cars with multiple eco op‐ tions is Kia’s Niro, with prices starting from €30,503/£25,705 for the self‐charging hybrid, A nice place to be.

6 - 12 Jan 2022

Kia Niro HEV €36,863/£31,065 for the plug‐in version and €39,035/ £32,895 for full electric. Buy‐ ers will find, not just with Kia but all car makers, that any

kind of hybrid or electric model comes at a price pre‐ mium over conventionally powered cars. That will hope‐ fully come down as 2030

Facts at a Glance Model: Kia Niro ‘3’ HEV Engine: 1.6 GDi Gasolina (Petrol) electric hybrid Gears: 6-Speed DCT automatic Price: €33,066/£27,865 Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 11.1 seconds/Maximum Speed 162 kph (101 mph) Economy: 5.20l/100km (54.3 mpg) Combined driving (WLTP) Emissions: 119 g/km (WLTP) Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.

looms closer. You certainly get plenty of standard equip‐ ment for your money with Kia. The Niro’s extensive list includes alloy wheels, 10.25” touchscreen, navigation, Ap‐ ple Car Play, Android Auto and Bluetooth, reversing camera, smart cruise, auto dimming rear view mirror, auto lights and wipers and rear privacy.

With a raised ride height the Niro lacks the boxiness of some designs and has the usual Kia feeling of quality and solidity of build on both the exterior and interior.

There’s a good range of ad‐ justment for both the driver and passengers with plenty of space in terms of both leg and head room.

P o w e r switches be‐ tween petrol and electric au‐ tomatically, or even uses both, with selectable

driving modes. The dual clutch automatic gearbox is one of the better systems be‐ ing smooth and lacks overtly racing engine revs and lag, unless under hard accelera‐ tion.

The Niro acquits itself well for this type of car and is pret‐ ty refined too with decent rather than exceptional per‐ formance, but economy and

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emissions figures are good.

Overall the Niro is trans‐ port, more than any kind of motoring inspired nirvana, and none the worse for it.

If you had to be in your car every day, then the Niro is a nice place to be whether for work, family or both. It offers all the creature comforts you need for long days behind the wheel.

SPORT

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6 - 12 January 2022

to read more visit www.euroweeklynews.com

Costa Blanca league resumes

FOTO: Formentera WFC

PRESSURE IS ON: Formentera WFC will be looking for a win against Pinoso.

ALL teams on the Costa Blanca wish a Happy New Year to all walking football clubs and Euro Weekly News readers.

After a very quiet seasonal break most teams will start returning to training after the last of the holi‐ days, the Three Kings, and on Jan‐ uary 6, although Lo Crispin MWFC had their first session on Monday January 3 at Algorfa.

Keeping in mind the current

Covid situation and restrictions the Costa Blanca Walking Football League is scheduled to begin in the middle of this month with several friendlies lined up before the com‐ petitive games commence.

Pinoso having got over their de‐ pleted squad problems will face Forementera in one of the opening games. This is usually a very com‐ petitive fixture and more so this time with Pinoso looking to exit

bottom of the league after their points deduction. Formentera on the other hand will be looking for a win to put pressure on league lead‐ ers Hondon. The CBWFL is confi‐ dent that 2022 will be a positive and proactive year for walking foot‐ ball, not only on the Costa Blanca but throughout Spain.

For more news, fixtures and re‐ sults make sure you get your copy of the Euro Weekly News.

Haaland may join LaLiga ERLING HAALAND, the young Norwegian international footballer is one of Europe’s hottest proper‐ ties, with many top clubs known to be clamouring for his signature.

Currently on the books of Bun‐ desliga club, Borrusia Dortmund, speculation is rife that he will be leaving Germany this season. They have reputedly offered their star player €30 million a year to stay.

The January transfer window opened on Saturday, January 1, so, who knows. Meanwhile, Haaland has been spotted taking a break in the famous Malaga resort of Mar‐ bella. He often visits the popular holiday destination, and his father is apparently a huge fan of the golf courses on the Costa del Sol. When stopped on the street and asked by some fans about his fu‐ ture, he reportedly told them straight, “I will play here, in Spain.”

Real Madrid have long been tipped as the hot favourites to be

Haaland is hot property.

Haaland’s next club, although there is talk that Barcelona presi‐ dent, Joan Laporta, has already had talks with his representative, Mino Raiola.

Raiola recently revealed that his client had purchased a house in Spain, and the Norway interna‐ tional has made no secret of his love for Spanish football in past in‐ terviews.