Euro Weekly News - Costa de Almeria 19 - 25 May 2022 Issue 1924

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Issue No. 1924

19 - 25 May 2022

COSTA DE ALMERIA • EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

Linda Hall THE Avatel Spanish Cross‐ Country championship re‐ turns to Lorca with the Baja Lorca‐Ciudad de Sol rally.

As one of the sponsors, the Euro Weekly News has a spe‐ cial interest in this ninth edi‐ tion of the Baja Lorca on May 20, 21 and 22. Only a few months after last November's 2021 edition, the rally now returns following the decision on the part of Lorca Automo‐ bile Club ‐ the event’s organis‐ ers ‐ to vary the date.

Once again Spain’s best ral‐ ly teams will be present in Lorca, including Jose Antonio ‘Toto’ Ramos and Daniel Mesa, Daniel Alonso and Ale‐ jandro Lopez,together with Santiago Carnicer and Lorca’s Miguel Angel Lazaro who were all winners last year.

This year’s Baja Lorca fol‐ lows a format very similar to the previous rally with three Offroad, Side by Side and

Photo credit: Automovil Club Lorca

RALLY ROUND! Turn to page 2 BAJA LORCA: Everything now set for this year’s rally.

Regularity categories.

On Friday May 20, the vehi‐ cles will be parked through‐ out the day in the Huerta de la Rueda trade fair ground until 7pm when they move on to Avenida Juan Carlos I where fans will be able to

have a close look at the rally cars. Opening with a Pro‐ logue at 7.55am on the morn‐ ing of Saturday, May 21, the drivers will then compete over a 167‐kilometre special stage to Caravaca de la Cruz.

The day finishes with a sec‐

ond Super Special stage, this time covering 100 kilometres back to Lorca.

The following day sees a re‐ peat of the 167‐kilometre special stage, with trophies awarded in Alameda de la Constitucion at 2.45pm.

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19 - 25 May 2022 Photo credit: CC/Luispihormiguero

FIÑANA: Now home to 40 Ukrainian orphans.

Joint operation

PROTECCION CIVIL in Berja and Almeria’s Brotherhood of Auxiliary Guardias Civiles continue to help the province’s Ukrainian commu‐ nity.

Luis Cara Galafat, the

Brotherhood’s communica‐ tions chief, told the local Spanish press that together they have collected and dis‐ tributed clothing, food and all types of medication amongst the Ukrainians now living in the province.

Although there is assis‐ tance for all members of the Ukrainian community, spe‐

cial attention is paid to the 40 orphans now living in Fiñana, who have received dum‐ mies, nappies, baby wipes and jars of baby food.

Berja’s Proteccion Civil vol‐ unteers, having learnt of the Brotherhood’s charity work, contacted them and are now assisting in collecting and dis‐ tributing the donations.

Water from afar

ALMERIA growers are looking further afield in the quest for water to irrigate their crops.

The Aguas del Al‐ manzora Society, based in Huercal‐ Overa’s El Saltador, is finalising a €15 mil‐ lion deal to buy 50 WATER SUPPLY: Needs approval. cubic hectometres of water from the Acequia Real del Jucar irrigation syndicate in Valencia Province.

The supply, spread over the next five years, will cost 30 cents per cubic metre, cheaper than the 45 cents that public sector Acuamed charges for a cubic metre of water from their desalination plant.

The growers’ agreement with Acequia Real del Jucar now needs only formal approval from the organisation’s commit‐ tee, which should arrive on May 25.

The Acequia Real del Jucar is one of Spain’s oldest irrigation syndicates, founded in 1258 during the reign of Jaime I, when members were granted the right to use River Jucar water for their crops.

Meanwhile, Almeria’s agreement with the Acequia Real will not go down well with growers in Alicante Province’s Vinalopo area, who have never yet been granted a share in the syndicate’s irrigation water.

NEWS

Nuisance calls to annoy neighbours A PECHINA woman was fined for reporting bogus emergencies to the 112 number in order to an‐ noy her neighbours.

An Almeria City court heard that she made multiple calls over seven days in late August 2021 and on three days at the beginning of September.

Despite the probable untrustworthiness of the calls, the Guardia Civil were sent out to Pechina each time to investigate cases of alleged gender abuse as well as fires.

As the judge pointed out, not only the Guardia Civil but also the fire ser‐ vice and ambulances were mobilised to deal with the supposed emer‐ gencies, which would have prevented them from attending to gen‐ uine cases. After arriving so often at the scene of a non‐existent crime or emergency and finding that they were not re‐ quired, the Guardia Civil decided to trace the calls, leading them to the Pechina woman.

During the hearing she claimed not to recognise her voice when asked to listen to recordings, but was held responsible for making the 112 calls and fined €6 a day for a year.

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NIBS EXTRA Flying high ALMERIA Province now has 35 beaches and two marinas entitled to fly Blue Flags awarded yearly by the Foun‐ dation for Environmental Edu‐ cation (FEE) in return for meet‐ ing their stringent standards.

“These flags endorse the quali‐ ty of the Almeria coast,” the Junta’s Territorial Tourism del‐ egate Vicente Garcia Egea said.

In the swim TWENTY‐ONE lifesavers will be present on Adra’s beaches throughout this summer. The town hall has now announced the conditions for the selec‐ tion process, which will in‐ volve an eliminatory round with two practical tests and an interview. Amongst other re‐ quirement candidates should be over 16 and under retire‐ ment age.

New degree ALMERIA UNIVERSITY (UAL) received the official go‐ahead for a six‐year degree course in Medicine for 60 students from the 2022‐2023 academic year onwards. He was “very satis‐ fied” UAL’s rector Carmelo Ro‐ driguez said on receiving the definitive confirmation, en‐ abling staff to announce timetables and details of the course online.

Tidy up OLULA DEL RIO Town Hall an‐ nounced that all plots of un‐ built land must be fumigated to eliminate vermin and cleared of vegetation to re‐ duce fire risk as the summer approaches. Should they fail to do so, the town hall would carry out the work, later billing the owners.

Contract scam NATIONAL POLICE officers have arrested four people in Nijar who allegedly charged North African immigrants be‐ tween €3,000 and €5,000 for bogus work contracts en‐ abling them to legalise their position. Police investigators found links between the own‐ ers of two agricultural con‐ cerns and two intermediaries who also acted as translators.

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Mortgages booming

Josh Manning THE Industrial Construction Observatory has revealed there has been a huge growth in mortgages in Almeria.

The accumulated number of mortgages on houses in 2021 in Almeria amounted to 8,162, 37.6 per cent more than in the previous year and 34.6 per cent more than in 2019.

With regard to mortgages on fincas, the cumulative figure is 12,031, which is 35.7 per cent more than in 2020 and 34.2 per cent more than the previous year.

The average number of

ALMERIA: Has seen a huge growth in mortgages.

Social Security affiliates in construction during 2021 reached 16,565 workers (11,436 in General Regime

and 5,129 Self-employed), which means an increase of 6.5 per cent compared to the previous year and 6.5

A VERA judge temporarily shelved the case against Sal‐ vador Hernandez, a former mayor of Carboneras.

The local PSOE socialist party lodged an official complaint against him for ordering the de‐ molition of the Simon Fuentes school and the adjoining sports centre.

The Fiscalia (Public Prosecu‐ tion department) declined to take action against Hernandez after an ‘extensive’ investiga‐ tion failed to uncover any type of criminal offence.

Although the PSOE brought the case against Hernandez, the party did not subsequently re‐ quest that he or Felipe Cayuela ‐ deputy mayor and Finance

per cent compared to 2019, both positive bigger increases than at national level, according to data collected from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

The number of construction companies registered on autonomo in Almeria increased by 2.7 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020 (reaching 1,956), and by 5 per cent compared to 2019.

The figures reinforce their driving role in the economy, as they account for 6.6 per cent of the total number of companies in the province of Almeria.

All is explained

Former mayor cleared councillor at that time ‐ should go to trial, Fiscalia said.

The Public Prosecution de‐ partment also told the court that the Simon Fuentes building was in a bad state of repair “ow‐ ing to its age and the sea air.”

The demolition’s technical report had emphasised that the abandoned and empty building, which still bore the re‐ sults of two fires that had af‐ fected the building, was also a security risk.

Salvador Hernandez also told the Vera court that he had act‐ ed in line with municipal reports from 2015 and the town hall had approved the 2016 demoli‐ tion, assigning a Budget alloca‐ tion to cover the cost.

A SCULPTURE of an eagle now presides the Villaz‐ go roundabout in Huercal‐Overa.

The artwork is not to everybody’s liking, prompting mayor Domingo Fernandez to explain via the social media the reasons behind the choice.

The town hall had decided it was necessary to remodel the roundabout after removing its foun‐ tain, which had begun to leak, Fernandez said.

Sculptor Manuel Hervas presented a project which featured the eagle that appears on Huercal‐ Overa’s coat of arms. This is the same eagle which, according to local historian and judge, Enrique Gar‐ cia Asensio, represents the “grandeur” of Huercal‐ Overa, the mayor said.

“All of this information can be found on the town hall’s web page or by looking up ‘Huercal‐ Overa eagle’ in Google,” Fernandez added.

He also pointed out that what he described as the “eagle of discord” was perched on top of 26 stones, each of which bears the name of one of Huercal‐Overa’s 26 districts.

Getting to know Cuevas

CUEVAS DE ALMANZORA Town Hall organised a fa‐ miliarisation visit (fam trip) for personnel from Almeria province’s Tourist Offices.

The objective was to en‐ courage cooperation be‐ tween Almeria’s tourist destinations while introduc‐ ing the visitors to Cuevas, the town hall’s Culture and Tourism department ex‐ plained.

Cuevas mayor Antonio

Photo credit: Cuevas de Almanzora town hall

NEWS

FAM TRIP: Personnel from Almeria Province Tourist Offices in Cuevas de Almanzora.

Fernandez Liria, accompa‐

nied by Culture and Tourism councillor Maria Is‐ abell Ponce, welcomed the Tourist Office personnel at the emblematic Marques de Los Velez Castle.

From here they visited Cuevas’ different museums, architectural gems, archae‐ ological sites and Almeria Province’s only Cable Ski in‐ stallation.

Expressing hopes that vis‐ its like these would become

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a permanent feature, Fer‐ nandez Liria also revealed that Tourism and Culture department was planning further fam trips for more tourist sector groups.

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Slow train to Vera VERA promoter Miguel Alonso is planning a 40,000‐square metre shopping centre adjoining the future station for the high speed AVE. The complex, still at the planning stage, will in‐ clude a charging station for electric vehicles, gar‐ den centre and a branch of one of the leading interna‐ tional DIY stores, accord‐ ing to local Spanish media.

Other features include a cafeteria, car hire office and secure parking, Meanwhile, Spain’s rail infrastructure administra‐ tor, ADIF, has temporarily taken over 8,000 square metres of Alonso’s land to store materials and ma‐ chinery, ready for when work begins on this sec‐ tion of the Murcia‐Almeria track.

ADIF will also acquire a plot of land from Alonso for the future station, the same media sources re‐ vealed.

In 2011 the Ministry of Public Works spent €332,000 on plans for a 1,000‐square metre sta‐ tion with two 400‐metre platforms, a cafeteria‐ restaurant, vestibule, tick‐ et office, shops, toilets and parking for 200 cars.

Ten years on, the Min‐ istry of Transport and Adif announced on Thursday May 12 that a definitive design for Vera’s station is now in the pipeline.

“The future building’s di‐ mensions will be similar to those of the original plans although the architectural image could change, given that Adif now works with a new design team,” the statement said.

and finally...

ALTHOUGH the central government lifted practically all anti‐Covid measures on April 19, face masks and antigen tests are still selling.

Face masks are in any case still required in chemists, health centres and on public transport but now that official Covid testing is no longer routine, kits are selling well, Almeria Province pharmacists said. “Sales of face masks have fallen compared to previous months, but remain steady,” said Gema Martinez, president of Almeria Province’s official College of Pharmacists.

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NEWS

Taking a stand Plants seized ALMERIA CON ORGULLO, (Almeria with pride) held a demonstration against LGTBIphobia on Tueday, May 17.

“In Almeria this rally is of vital importance. First‐ ly because political par‐ ties like Vox, together with their political al‐ liances, are trying to do away with the LGTB Law that protects the collec‐ tive and gives us rights,” the association explains.

“They want to take a step backwards in all the conquests we have achieved so far and that is why it is very impor‐ tant for them to see that there is a response, be‐ cause we will not keep

POLICE have dealt a blow to small‐scale drug traf‐ ficking in Almeria City af‐ ter four people were caught hiding a total of 2,600 marihuana plants inside a house.

Officers from the Na‐ tional Police arrested the four after carrying out a

ALMERIA WITH PRIDE: Held a demonstration on May 17..

quiet in the face of their aggressions.”

The reason behind the date of this demonstra‐ tion and the commemo‐ ration of the Internation‐ al Day against

LGTBIphobia is due to the fact that on May, 17, 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) re‐ moved homosexuality from the list of mental ill‐ nesses.

Plants found in a house.

Tunnel safety THE Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) has formalised a con‐ tract for works to improve the road in the Aguadulce tunnel in Almeria on the A‐7.

The works will cost €6.4 mil‐ lion and are part of the Recov‐ ery, Transformation and Re‐ silience Plan (PRTR) to improve safety and road safe‐ ty on the State Road Network, financed by the NextGenera‐ tionEU funds for recovery in Europe.

The PRTR has a budget of €357 million from the NextGenerationEU fund to adapt the tunnels to European standards and to enhance the

protection of wildlife and vul‐ nerable users.

It will finance actions in tun‐ nels of the State Road Net‐ work focused on the improve‐ ment of emergency exits, signalling, beaconing, lighting, ventilation, electrical installa‐ tion, fire protection, drainage, communication or traffic man‐ agement, etc.

search in Calle Bahía Al‐ ta, where they found 2,681 marihuana plants and 1,220 grams of buds and marihuana mince.

The list of items seized by the Spanish National Police consisted of €1,205 in cash, 104 elec‐ trical transformers, 99 spotlights, 99 bulbs, 12 filters, nine extractors, and a 10,000 kw taser pistol.

During the search, it was found that the house in Almeria had an illegal connection to the elec‐ tricity supply, so Endesa technicians were notified and proceeded to carry out an inspection and subsequent cut‐off of the electricity supply as the house was fraudulently connected.

Day of Families THE mayor of Almeria, Ra‐ mon Fernandez‐Pacheco, has spoken about the high participation in the work‐

shops organised to mark the International Day of Families on Sunday, May 15.

Parents, children and grandparents took part in circus activities, ceramic workshops that, and laugh‐ ter therapy in the Parque de las Familias.

Accompanied by council‐ lors Juan Jose Alonso, Ana Martinez Labella and Sacra‐ mento Sanchez, Fernandez‐ Pacheco said: “The pro‐ gramme organised by the council to celebrate this day has attracted many families to the park.”

Juggling games, tightrope walking, music and laughter were mixed with a pottery workshop throughout the morning, to offer families in Almeria one more reason to “share leisure, fun and also values” and to high‐ light the importance of families and spending time together.

NEWS

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THE Burial of the Sar‐ dine put the icing on the cake on Sunday, May 15 at the Carnival festivi‐ ties in Almeria, which have returned after the pandemic “with more shine than ever.”

The ‘funeral proces‐ sion’ went along the Paseo, Puerta de Purchena and into the old town until it reached the Plaza Vieja.

There, the sardine was pardoned, and the tradi‐ tional fire was by colourful pyrotechnics.

The first deputy may‐

19 - 25 May 2022

Sardine burial or, María Vázquez, ac‐ companied by the coun‐ cillor for Culture, Diego Cruz, and the president o f Fe m a c a , N i c o l á s Castillo, attended the Burial of the Sardine.

Vázquez highlighted “the wide participation of the people of Almeria in this tradition, both in the Apolo Theatre and the Auditorium, as well as in the streets.

“There have been

m a n y c h i l d r e n i n c o s‐ tume and a great carni‐ val atmosphere.”

Fo r h i s p a r t , D i e g o Cruz, who was elected Carnival crier, spoke about “the quality and talent of the musical groups that have partici‐ p a t e d i n t h e c o m p e t i‐ tion, many of them from other provinces, which shows the strength that our Carnival is gaining in Andalucia.”

Street markets THE Spanish Socialists Workers’ Party (PSOE) councillor in Almeria Council, Lidia Compadre, has denounced the state of street markets of the city.

The Almeria PSOE councillor has made a compilation of complaints from traders and customers to be addressed by the City Council and has sent them to the areas of Promotion of the City, Envi‐ ronmental Sustainability and Municipal Services “in order that they take note

and address these demands.”

She has asked for the repainting of the markings that delimit the different stalls in Almeria, with special attention to those of the Bola Azul and El Alquián car parks, which are the ones that need work most urgently. She has also said traders should have water and electrici‐ ty points, something they have been demanding for a long time, as well as litter bins for customers.

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Furious fans

Josh Manning A L M E R I A FC fans were reportedly furious on Monday, May 16 after not being able to buy tick‐ ets for the team’s football match against Alcorcon on Saturday, May 21 after the club’s site collapsed.

The match sees the red and white team have a good chance of being pro‐ moted.

The collapse of the club’s website from 10am, when tickets went on sale at the same time as the ticket offices, meant that not a single ticket could be sold on‐ line. In addition, fans were also infuriated by the fact that the club has not given its 10,000 sea‐ son ticket holders prefer‐ ential treatment, as al‐ most all clubs usually do.

The ticket office was packed from early in the morning. Four tickets could be bought per per‐ son and there is

widespread anger at the suspicion that many of the purchasers intend to resell their tickets.

In its terse message on its official social media channels, the Almeria

club said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by the high de‐ mand today. We thank you all. This Saturday, we will fill the Mediter‐ ranean.”

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NEWS

Digital information Lowest inflation in EU OV E R half of Spaniards feel uncertainty when they put their personal data in the digital envi‐ ronment, saying they are

aware of what can hap‐ pen when information is shared. And yet three out of four citizens, 74 per cent, admit that

All Blacks in Madrid THE legendary All Blacks New Zealand rugby team per‐ formed their traditional ‘haka’ (Maori dance) on Monday, May 16, in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente, where they were re‐ ceived by the mayor, Jose Luis Martínez Almeida , and the deputy mayor, Begoña Villacis.

The All Blacks are in the capital, which celebrates its San Isidro festivities, on the occasion of the friendly match that they will play on Saturday, May 21, against the Spanish team at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

The New Zealand players were accompanied by several members of the Spanish rugby team in an act in which the captains of the two teams, Corey Flynn and Fernando Lopez, took part.

In a busy Plaza de Oriente, the striking Maori dance, which the New Zealand team customarily performs before each match, was watched with great anticipation on the esplanade in front of the Royal Palace.

technologies are ‘ex‐ tremely important’ in their lives.

This is what was dis‐ covered in a survey car‐ ried out by the DYM In‐ stitute jointly with WIN International (the world’s leading associa‐ tion in market research and opinion studies) on the role of technology in our lives. The survey was answered by more than 33,000 people from 39 countries, 1,000 of them in Spain.

According to this re‐ port, more than half of Spaniards (52 per cent) are concerned about sharing personal infor‐ mation via mobile or computer, 4 per cent more than the world av‐ erage percentage. Both men and women show this uneasiness equally, although it is slightly higher in the case of women (53 per cent com‐ pared to 50 per cent).

ECONOMISTS in Brussels suggest that Spain will experience the lowest rate of inflation of all the countries in the EU, in 2023.

The report, released on Monday May 16, suggests that the current rate of inflation in Spain is roughly equal to the average across the European Union (EU) but that it will fall to the lowest of all countries in the bloc by 2023.

Brussels expects inflation to fall back to normal levels in 2023, with the rate’s highest for many decades, fuelled by the combination of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. That combination has seen energy prices at record highs and shortages of basic supplies, as well as key components

LOW RATE: Will be good news for Spain.

used by manufacturers worldwide.

The EU forecast that Spain will expe‐ rience the lowest rate of inflation in 2023 will be good news for the coun‐ try, which has been hit by high infla‐ tion and a third year of lower than usual number of tourists.

University acclaim BARCELONA has hosted the third UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education (WHEC2022), a world‐renowned event that welcomes around 2,000 people in person and around 8,000 people vir‐ tually. This means the city of Barcelona was the capital of higher education for a week. Jordi Martí, dDeputy mayor for Culture, Education, Science and Community of the Barcelona City Council, said how “the choice of Barcelona to host the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education for the first time shows the potential of the city as a global benchmark for a university city.” The representa‐ tive of the council highlighted the importance of the events which “makes us debate and reflect on the future of our universities for all people.”

Your Belgian estate agent at the coast!

NEWS

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Spain’s bike boom

Spy chief sacked THE government in Spain has dis‐ missed the country’s spy chief, Paz Esteban, following the disclosure of the use of the Pegasus spyware to ‘listen’ in on Spanish officials.

According to reports, unidentified government sources said the deci‐ sion to sack the spy chief had been made but that no date had been set for her dismissal. It is understood that President Pedro Sanchez is keen to draw a line under the issue and to move on, hence the quick decision to remove her from the post.

The decision follows last month’s announcement by Citizen Lab, who said that more than 60 people linked to the Catalan separatist movement had been targets of ‘Pegasus’ spy‐ ware made by Israel’s NSO Group.

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Peter McLaren‐ Kennedy SPAIN reached record bicycle sales and manu‐ facturing levels in 2021 accord‐ ing to the Asso‐ ciation of Brands and Bicycles of Spain (AMBE), with the vol‐ umes doubling in just six years.

AMBE reported that demand remains strong following the pandemic, rising 10.7 per cent in 2021 recording a record

THE Spanish goverment reopened the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla with Morocco at midnight on Tuesday, May 17.

The Spanish goverment said in a state‐ ment on Thursday, May 12, that the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande‐Marlaska, would sign the minis‐ terial order on borders to modify the one that has kept these crossings closed since March 2020.

Production of bicycles rose.

turnover of €2,887 mil‐ lion.

The association high‐ lighted the growth in Spanish manufacturers which rose by more than 7 per cent, which was accompanied by a 3 per cent growth in peo‐

Borders reopen The reopening is the result of the bilat‐ eral work carried out with the Moroccan authorities after the recent meeting held

by President Pedro Sánchez, and the King of Morocco, Mohamed IV. The first phase of the reopening began at midnight on May 17, at which time cit‐ izens and residents of the European Union and those authorised to move

ple employed in the sec‐ tor.

Currently, there are more than 3,000 businesses in‐ volved in the sale, repair and rental of bicycles with more than 25,000 families said to living off the industry.

According to the Min‐ istry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the pro‐ duction of bicycles in Spain increased by 75.1 per cent in 2021 with ex‐ ports rising by nearly 50 per cent.

within the Schengen area will be able to enter Spanish territory through the El Tarajal crossing in Ceuta and Beni Enzar crossing in Melilla.

In order to access Ceuta and Melilla, it will be essential to comply with the health requirements established by the Ministry of Health.

From Tuesday, May 31, legally recog‐ nised cross‐border workers will also be able to enter Spanish territory.

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Famed lioness dies

MATRIARCH LIONESS: Sortuda was a popular attraction.

THERE was much sadness at the Bioparc in Valencia after Sortuda, their much‐loved matriarch lioness, died on Fri‐ day May 10.

The lioness was put down after developing an untreat‐ able malignant tumour and reportedly showing signs of being in a lot of pain.

Sortuda was transferred to Bioparc 17 years ago from the Jardim Zoologico de Lis‐ boa to form a breeding group of the Angolan lion sub‐ species.

The lioness, who quickly became the matriarch of her pride, was a popular attrac‐ tion after she grew a mane, much like young males do.

Tests later revealed that she had some ovarian cysts that were producing a hormonal change.

This made her more mas‐ culine than normal and en‐ abled to her to become the more dominant lioness.

Sortuda was known for her cohesive role in keeping the pride together as well as for her maternal nature. Dur‐ ing her time at the Bioparc she mothered a number of cubs, some who went to oth‐ er animal parks while two, Tata and Shanga, remained with her.

Together with Luana and Lubango they form the park’s pride of lions.

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NEWS

€140m Mercadona boost P O P U L A R Spanish su‐ permarket chain Mer‐ cadona has made signif‐ icant improvements to its Andalucia stores so that they are more en‐ ergy‐efficient and sus‐ tainable following an investment of €140 mil‐ lion.

In 2021, the company, from Valencia, made upgrades that enabled it to reduce its carbon footprint in Andalucia by 5,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared to 2020.

IMPROVEMENTS: Have been made to many stores.

This progress has al‐ lowed Mercadona to minimise not only direct

Brits react

THE news that Spain wants automatic access to the DVLA database has evoked an emotive response from UK nation‐ als.

Spain, which requires British drivers resident in Spain to obtain a Spanish licence, wants the UK to give the DGT direct access to the DVLA database in exchange for allowing UK na‐ tionals to swap their licence instead of taking a new driving test.

They say the access is necessary to be able to follow up those who commit driving offences in the country.

A number of the comments made online on the Euro Weekly News’ Facebook page were supportive of the idea, with no shortage of respondents saying they are aware of people who have happily broken the law in Spain, knowing that the Spanish authorities will have difficulty tracking them down when they return home.

While some readers argued that Spain should not be able to automatically access DVLA information due to privacy laws, many said that expats had been given ample time to change their licences before the UK left the EU and should have had their papers in order already.

greenhouse gas emis‐ sions produced by its supermarkets and logis‐ tics network, but also indirect emissions de‐ rived from the purchase and consumption of electricity in its net‐ work of shops, logistics centres and offices.

The company’s invest‐ ment in Andalucia has been used for the ex‐ p a n s i o n a n d i m p r o v e‐ ment of its three logis‐ tics blocks, located in Guadix (Granada), Ante‐ quera (Malaga) and Huévar del Aljarafe (Sevilla), for the open‐ ing of 13 new shops (it closed another 11 be‐ cause they did not meet its new quality stan‐ dards) and for the refur‐ bishment of 35 super‐ markets, so that they can be adapted to its more efficient store model.

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19 - 25 May 2022

£1,000 Barbie doll THE Barbie doll of the Queen to commemo‐ rate her Platinum Jubilee has been selling for up to £1,000 online amid a souvenir scramble.

As is often the case with collectables such as the new Queen Barbie, scalpers have been quick off the mark to make a fast buck as they try to resell the limited edition dolls.

Dozens of ads have popped up on eBay and other resale sites offering the collectable from £200 (€236), with others taking a chance offer‐ ing theirs for nearly five times that price.

With only 20,000 made and priced at £95 the expectation is that prices could go higher as the doll becomes more scarce with a huge demand for the toy worldwide.

Released on the Queen’s 96th birthday in April, the doll sold out in seconds.

Instantly recognisable, the doll is fitted out with an elegant gown and blue ribbon, adorned with decorations of order. It also fea‐

QUEEN BARBIE: Limited edition dolls.

tures a tiara modelled on Queen Mary’s fringe tiara, which she wore on her own wedding day.

NEWS

No bald jokes A CLAIM brought against a West‐Yorkshire based company by an electrician who was fired in 2021, has resulted in an employ‐ ment tribunal ruling in his favour, saying calling men at work bald is sexual ha‐ rassment.

Tony Finn, who took the British Bung Company to tribunal, complained that he was a victim of sexual harassment, due to com‐ ments made about his lack of hair. This included being called a ‘bald ****’ by factory supervisor Jamie King during an argu‐ ment in 2019.

Giving his ruling, Judge Jonathan Brain who head‐ ed the three‐person pan‐ el, said: “In our judge‐ ment, there is a connection between the word ‘bald’ on the one hand and the protected characteristic of sex on the other. “[The company’s

lawyer] was right to sub‐ mit that women, as well as men, may be bald.

“However, as all three members of the tribunal

will vouchsafe, baldness is much more prevalent in men than women.

“We find it to be inher‐ ently related to sex.”

Hamilton jewellery row MOHAMMED BEN SULAYEM, the For‐ mula One President, has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will be fined, possibly banned, if he has not removed all jew‐ ellery in time for the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May. After buckling un‐ HAMILTON: Will be fined. der pressure from the Formula One and his team at the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton has questioned why the safety rule is only being implemented now. The driver, who has been given a peri‐ od to remove other piercings on his body, is putting his ca‐ reer on the line as he tried to fight what is a losing battle.

Sulayem has confirmed that those who do wear jew‐ ellery will be fined in accordance with the rules if it is not removed in Monaco, however he stopped short of saying whether Hamilton might be banned.

12 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022 POPE FRANCIS, holding mass for 50,000 people in the Vatican Square on Sun‐ day, May 15, declared 10 new saints, with each name being cheered by the audience as it was read out.

In what is the largest gathering in the square since the start of the pan‐ demic, the 85‐year‐old Pope spoke personally to the au‐ dience, regularly going off script.

Amongst those declared saints were Titus Brandsma, a member of the Carmelite religious order and served as president of the Catholic uni‐ versity at Nijmegen. He was well known for speaking out against Nazi ideology even before the Second World War and the German inva‐ sion of the Netherlands in 1940.

Throughout the Nazi oc‐ cupation, he continued to speak out against anti‐Jew‐ ish laws, and he publicly urged Dutch Catholic news‐ papers not to print Nazi pro‐ paganda. He was killed by the Nazis after being sub‐ jected to biological experi‐ mentation.

NEWS

10 new saints He was 61, dying a martyr in what the church calls “in hatred of the faith.”

POPE: Spoke personally to the audience.

Flu jabs ditched THE UK government has faced criticism after NHS England announced that free flu jabs will no longer be given to those over 50 and under 65.

Scotland and Wales plan to continue providing the free flu jab to those over 50, with the jab only offered to over‐ 65s, primary schoolchildren and those at risk prior to the pandemic.

The government’s decision has been criticised with ex‐ perts fearing that the UK is headed for the worst flu season in years.

Senior advisers said they were ‘surprised’ by NHS Eng‐ land’s decision to scrap jabs for the two age groups. They say they weren’t consulted.

Speaking to one publication, Professor Adam Finn, a paediatric vaccine expert and member of the Joint Com‐ mittee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said: “It’s rare for there to be differing vaccination positions across the union, and in this case it appears as though these are govern‐ ment‐led financial decisions because we haven’t been asked to advise.”

NEWS

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

Civil service cuts

BORIS JOHNSON has is‐ sued orders to his minis‐ ters to find ways to cut 90,000 civil service jobs, so that money can be freed up to ease the cost of living crisis.

Johnson held an away‐

WORKERS carrying out exca‐ vations outside the old city walls of Vienan, near Utrecht in the Netherlands, were sur‐ prised to find a mass grave, the skeletons having now been identified as British sol‐ diers.

The mass grave of over 82 skeletons was uncovered in November 2020, but only now made public with the work carried out by the foren‐ sic anthropologists called to the site, now complete.

They concluded that all but four of the men were from southern England and were most likely teenagers or young adults.

Researcher April Pijpelink told the press: “At first we

day with ministers on Thursday, May 12, dur‐ ing which he asked min‐ isters to reduce their staffing levels back to those of 2016.

The plan would ac‐ cording to treasury fig‐

ures free up around £3.5 billion, with the work‐ force being reduced by about one fifth to around 360,000.

The news comes on the same day that fig‐ ures showed that the

Mass grave

SKELETONS: Have been identified as British soldiers.

thought these men died of in‐ juries in battle.

“But during my research, it became clear that around 8 per cent of them suffered from one or more infections,

while basically all their trauma wounds had healed.”

That would suggest these were not soldiers who died in battle but who died from an‐ other cause.

UK’s economy contract‐ ed in March, with the spectre of a recession looming.

Johnson, who is under pressure to do more to address the cost of liv‐ ing crisis, has been criti‐ cised for being more in‐ terested in the Ukraine crisis than he has the one at home.

His own party has been pushing for tax cuts for some time, whilst the opposition Labour Party have ac‐ cused him of lacking ideas in which to deal with the situation.

EWN 13

Only partly to blame OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has announced it will be increasing production following global shortages, partly caused by the war in Ukraine, and causing oil and fuel prices to rise considerably. However, despite its promises the organisation’s April production levels failed to reach the required levels.

The organisation’s monthly Oil Market Report shows that production increased by just 153,000 barrels per day (bpd), rising to 28.648 million bpd.

That is more than 800,000 bpd less than what the organisation signed up to.

The top three OPEC producers, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE, increased their output the most last month, while output in Libya fell by 161,000 bpr dropping output below one million bpd.

According to oil price.com, the gap is largely down to the under production in African coun‐ tries, with Angola, Nigeria and Libya all falling short.

NEWS

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

iPod is no more

THE iconic iPod, which rev‐ olutionised music and which brought multimedia to mobile phones, has been discontinued by Ap‐ ple with production of the music player now ceased.

First released 20 years ago, the iPod was the first MP3 player that could hold 1,000 songs and which had a battery lasting up to 10 hours.

The launch of the iPod brought many new cus‐

tomers and in the process transformed how we listen to music today. But it has according to Apple passed its sell by date, made re‐ dundant by mobile phones that provide the same ca‐ pability.

Although similar music players were launched by Sony and Microsoft, nei‐ ther managed to achieve significant success.

The visionary Steve Jobs, co‐founder of Apple, said

at the time: “With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go.”

However, with mobile phones getting more pow‐ erful and the way people listen to music, Apple has been slowly winding down the product, and has now been discontinued.

Airline remove seats

EASYJET has said it plans to remove some seats on its planes as staff shortages continue, with six fewer seats meaning each aircraft can fly with one fewer crew member.

With almost all the airlines operat‐ ing out of the UK struggling to recruit s t a f f p o s t t h e p a n d e m i c , c a n c e l l a‐ tions have been common place.

Many have been reluctant to return to work after being laid off, whilst others have found alternative em‐

ployment.

Add to that Brexit, which has re‐ stricted the ability to recruit staff or to relocate staff from Europe. Slow processing of security clearances has also been a problem.

In the meantime, easyJet think they have found a way around the prob‐ lem. They have said that limiting pas‐ sengers to 150 on their A319 fleet means they only need three rather than four cabin crew members.

EWN 15

16 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

NEWS

Inclusive Barbies MATTEL, the makers of the iconic girl’s toy doll Barbie, has announced that it is making the range even more inclusive.

The new range will be launched in June, Barbie’s 63rd year, maintaining the doll amongst the top‐sell‐ ing girl’s toys as makers Mattel keep the range in touch with a changing world.

Global Head of Barbie Dolls, Lisa McKnight, said that the new range will help kids “see themselves reflected in the range” adding that it was impor‐ tant for them to “under‐ stand and celebrate the im‐ portance of inclusion.”

Barbie in its 63rd year.

The new range will deal with differences that range from a Barbie that wears hearing aids to a Ken who has a skin condition.

Dr Jen Richardson, a leading practitioner in edu‐ cational audiology, was brought in to help accurate‐ ly portray behind‐the‐ear

hearing aids. He believes that the pony tailed Barbie with hot pink hearing aids could help to remove the stigma of wearing the de‐ vices.

He added: “I’m beyond thrilled for my young pa‐ tients to see and play with a doll who looks like them.”

Good neighbours

THE UK government is planning to allow neighbours to have a vote over each other’s applications for extensions.

Speaking to UK media, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said that com‐ munities will be able to vote on whether planning permission should be granted for extensions to existing homes on their street.

Residents will also be allowed to de‐ cide rules governing the layout and ma‐ terials used for new developments.

Gove said previously ‘dormitories’ had been built instead of neighbour‐

hoods, adding: “Communities have been understandably resistant because new buildings haven’t been beautiful, they haven’t been built with the quality required.”

He vowed to target the ‘astronomical profits’ of big developers, using the raid on profits instead to fund schools, roads and GP surgeries.

Mr Gove said: “Communities have been resistant because the infrastruc‐ ture that they need ‐ the GP surgeries, the new primary schools, the roads ‐ haven’t come with those houses.”

Sanctions Moon plants take effect

DESPITE what Moscow might wish us be‐ lieve, that sanctions aren’t hurting the coun‐ try, it certainly is hurting the rich as oligarchs see their fortunes tumble as they drop off the Forbes rich list. Those that have been the sub‐ ject of sanctions have seen prized possessions impounded or blocked, with everything from art to savings to super yachts held by coun‐ tries around the world.

Forbes magazine has now removed 34 Russians from its annual billionaire list. The majority of those affected are either or were close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, having made their fortune on the back of the Soviet Union’s collapse. With their fortunes made, many of them looked abroad where life seemed much rosier with everything from better weather to a rich and famous lifestyle attracting them away from their homeland.

A GROUNDBREAKING experiment has seen plants grown in moon soil for the first time, after scientists used samples of dust collected during the 1969‐1972 Apollo missions.

Researchers planted a type of cress and, much to their excitement, the seeds sprouted two days later.

The excitement was, however, short‐lived, with the plants developing more slowly and end‐ ing up stunted. Those involved say, however, that the experiment is a breakthrough and has earthly implications. Anna‐Lisa Paul, a University of Flori‐ da professor who co‐authored a paper on the findings, said: “I can’t tell you how astonished we were.

“Every plant, whether in a lunar sample or in a control, looked the same up until about day six.”

Unfortunately, the team were not given much to work with, with NASA only providing 1g of soil per plant, which had been kept locked away for decades. The researchers acknowledge the re‐ sults may have been different had more soil been available.

18 EWN

19 - 25 May 2022

euroweeklynews.com

NEWS

Lidl pulls out

T H E international su‐ permarket group and budget retailer, Lidl, has announced it is pulling its World Cup advertising campaign over growing criticism of the decision to hold the tournament in Qatar.

A spokeswoman for Lidl told one publica‐ tion that the decision was the result of “a number of factors.

With what is going on in the world right now, we don’t feel the time is right to mount a big campaign.”

Lidl is the third‐ largest supermarket chain in the Nether‐ lands and one of the most successful across Europe and the UK.

Albert Heijn, the market leader in The Netherlands and one of the World Cup’s of‐ ficial sponsors, has not yet said how it will be promoting the champi‐ onship but has already said that no AH dele‐ gation will be travel‐ ling to Qatar.

A spokesperson for the group said: “We are looking for ways to show we support the Dutch team from the Netherlands.”

No decisions have yet been taken by oth‐ er supermarket chains around the event, with millions traditionally spent on advertising during one of the world’s largest and most supported sport‐ ing events.

20 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

NEWS

Serial killer engaged

SERIAL killer Levi Bellfield has reportedly got down on one knee and proposed to his lover in front of stunned prison staff at HMP Frankland in Co Durham.

The move has outraged former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland as report‐ ed in the British press on Thursday, May 12. Buck‐ land said the stunt by Milly Dowler’s murderer “beg‐ gars belief.”

“Milly never got to see her wedding day. It cannot be right that he gets to have his,” Buckland said.

Bellfield, 53, is serving a whole‐life term for at least three murders – including that of 13‐year‐old Surrey schoolgirl Milly in 2011, who he abducted in Wal‐ ton on Thames.

He was convicted in 2008 of killing Marsha Mc‐ Donnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22, plus the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18.

He followed his murder

victims through South West London before launching vicious hammer attacks.

Bellfield has reportedly

applied to marry a blonde woman in her 40s who is a regular visitor to the jail af‐ ter the pair started com‐ municating two years ago.

Ibuprofen may not help A MAJOR UK study has found that using ibuprofen to treat a bad back may increase the chances of long‐term pain.

Ibuprofen was one of the anti‐inflammatory painkillers assessed in the research that looked at usage among half a million British adults compared with those who had taken alternatives such as paracetamol, as reported in the British Press on May 11.

Findings show that users of anti‐inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen had a 70 per cent high‐ er risk of developing long‐term pain.

Researchers believe that anti‐inflammatories hin‐ der an aspect of the immune system that plays an important role in repairing damage.

Approximately 10 million Britons suffer back pain.

In England some 5.5 million have severe back pain that has lasted three months or more, according to an estimate from Imperial College London.

Professor Blair Smith of the University of Dundee, who was not involved in the study, said: “More re‐ search is needed to confirm and investigate this fur‐ ther.”

22 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

Passenger lands plane

A PASSENGER in an 11 seat Cessna plane with no flying ex‐ perience, landed a plane with help from air traffic control af‐ ter a medical emergency left the pilot unable to fly.

The man called air traffic control in the US on Monday, May 10 saying: “I’ve got a seri‐ ous situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane, but I’m maintaining at 9100.”

Responding to his call, air traffic control at Fort Pierce Tower asked for his position, to which he replied: “I have no

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MISSING SOCKS AND INSURANCE

SMALL PLANE: Laneded with help from air traffic control.

idea. I can see the coast of Florida in front of me.” The despatch told the passenger to maintain the wings level and follow the coast, adding they would locate the plane and help him down. After locating

it, the controller guided the plane to Palm Beach Interna‐ tional airport where it touched down safely. No further infor‐ mation was provided, other than confirmation one person was taken to hospital.

Russian Colonel threatens Musk A RUSSIAN Colonel, Dmitry Kormyankov, who was cap‐ tured by the Ukraine military, has threatened Elon Musk, saying “you will be held ac‐ countable.”

In his testimony, Ko‐ rmyankov, accused Musk of assisting Nazis militants in Ukraine by supplying the tech‐ nology used to capture him.

NEWS

Musk, who tweeted an ex‐ cerpt from the testimony, sup‐ plied the Starlink equipment that has allowed the Ukraini‐ an military to use satellite links to connect with the world and to keep in touch locally. The equipment is said to have been a game changer for Ukraine, increasing its intelli‐ gence capability and its ability

to control its defensive opera‐ tions. Musk sent a response to Russian media, at the same time tweeting: “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya.”

According to Starlink’s web‐ site, the company provides high‐speed, low‐latency broadband internet across the globe.

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NEWS

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

Record-breaking EuroMillions A SINGLE ticket‐holder from the UK has come forward to claim a record‐breaking Eu‐ roMillions jackpot of £184 mil‐ lion.

Camelot said that the win‐

ner came forward on Wednesday May 11, and that the claim will now go through a validation process to make sure terms and conditions are met.

New £1 coin THE Royal Mint has announced that the UK is to get a new £1 coin in 2023, marking 40 years since the modern version first came into circulation.

Retaining the new security features added in 2017, the coins will feature the fifth effigy of Her Majesty the Queen on the back and new designs on the front.

The new coins, which will enter circulation in 2023, have been designed by Kenyan born British artist Michael Ar‐ mitage. Included in the release will be a special collector’s edition. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, speaking at the official opening of the RCA’s Rausing Re‐ search and Innovation Centre, said: “I am delighted that Michael will lend his vision to the creation of this new £1 coin design in its 40th anniversary year.

“This coin will symbolise the rich tapestry of modern Britain and honour our deep heritage and history.”

The winnings have beat the previous record of £170 mil‐ lion won by an anonymous ticket‐holder in October 2019, it was reported, and the win‐ ner is set to receive a huge £184,262,899.10.

The winning EuroMillions numbers were 3, 25, 27, 28 and 29 and the Lucky Star numbers 4 and 9.

Camelot’s senior winners’ advisor at The National Lot‐ tery, Andy Carter, said: “This is absolutely incredible news.

Last night saw history made with the biggest ever National Lottery prize won by a single UK ticket‐holder, and we’re ecstatic that we’ve now re‐ ceived a claim.

“Our focus now is on sup‐ porting the ticket‐holder through the process and help‐ ing them start to enjoy their truly life‐changing and record‐ breaking win.”

EWN 23

26 EWN

19 - 25 May 2022

euroweeklynews.com

EUROPEAN PRESS

EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK

FINLAND

Firestarter

Bizarre fact

ALTHOUGH he denies being responsible, the head of the local fire brigade in the town of Egtved has appeared in a local court charged with starting 11 wildfires and if found guilty may be charged with starting more, as an additional 29 were started in the past two months.

A STUDY by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare highlighted a strange fact in that of 2,400 suicides which occurred between 2016 and 2018, 21 per cent of suicide victims attended a health care appointment in Finland on the day of the suicide.

THE NETHERLANDS

IRELAND

Beached whales

Vegetable fuel

DEAD beached whales should be left where they are because they improve biodiversity, a study by the infrastructure ministry and Wageningen Marine Research has shown after they recorded the results over seven months of a cadaver washed up on the uninhabited Wadden island.

IN a bid to go green, the Irish postal service has introduced a number of electric vehicles, but there are no electric options for its lorries so it is trialling the use of specially treated vegetable oil in Co Galway in order to reduce diesel usage.

BELGIUM

ITALY

Royal stock

New blood

TRAIN buffs will be pleased to follow in the footsteps of King Filip and visit the latest exhibition at the national rail museum Train World in Brussels to view the story of the Belgian Royal Family and their trains which is open until January 2023.

ACCORDING to a report by CNN, 80 per cent of those who ended up purchasing 26 houses being offered for sale at €1 to €2 in Sambuca di Sicilia are from America and the plan to reinvigorate the town by bringing in ‘new blood’ has proven successful.

GERMANY

PORTUGAL

Mighty Mann

Tuk Tuk

NOW aged 81 years old, the first internationally acclaimed rock star from South Africa, organist Manfred Mann is back on the road again having reformed his Earth Band and will be in and out of Germany during 2022, performing no less than 21 concerts.

VISITORS to Thailand will recognise the name tuk tuk as it is the tiny three wheel ‘taxi’ that transports people precariously through its streets, but a Dutch company which manufactures electric tuk tuks there is relocating production to Santo Tirso, Porto to save transport costs for European sales.

FRANCE

UKRAINE

Less privileged

Gas cut

DESPITE the fact that France moved very quickly to ensure that refugees from Ukraine would be admitted to the country and given help and support, this is not the case for around 1,000 French speaking African students who were at universities in Ukraine who want to continue their education.

A SIGNIFICANT amount of Russian gas is still being pumped through Ukraine to Europe, but to add to the problem of inflation and higher energy costs, it has been announced that due to Russian presence the Sokhranivka gas distribution station is going to stop transmission.

NORWAY

SWEDEN

Not welcome

Security pact

NORWAY celebrated Veterans and Liberation Day as usual on May 8, with one major difference as Russian officials were not invited to ceremonies in the city of Kirkenes, even though it was liberated from Nazi German occupation by the Red Army of the former Soviet Union.

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed a mutual security agreement with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Wednesday May 11 which could result in Britain sending troops to the country in the event of an invasion by Russia or any other belligerent.

FEATURE

euroweeklynews.com

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT AT long last a touch of common sense emerges to strike back at the murky mire of dangerous woke indoctrination. After complaining to management of what they considered ‘controversial content’ in their Closure series production, a number of Netflix employees have been told that, ‘if they don’t agree with the broad spectrum of the company output perhaps it would be better to seek employment elsewhere’.

Apparently this woke inspired Trans segment of the corporation planned to stage a walkout in protest of the crime series ‐ which has been one of the most successful programmes in Netflix history. The bosses subsequently issued a statement, which read in part that the company would ‘not censor specific artists or voices, even if some employees do find them ‘harmful,’ and will never allow these people to ‘silence artistic expression’. This ultimately led to the sacking of the leader of the group of employees ‐ Yaay!

It’s money of course, which has actually triggered these actions of common sense. They have finally

19 - 25 May 2022

So misguided

realised that to pander to 3 per cent of dissenters and ignore the 97 per cent of viewers who consider their protests nonsense, is not good business at all!

‘Go woke, Go broke’ is the new battle cry echoing around the corridors of this highly successful media company.

Let’s just hope that other large and influential organisations take up the same cry and put this misguided and often highly dangerous bunch, back down to the bottom of the priority list where they all belong. Left wing minorities have been given far too much credence and credibility over the last few years. Because the simpering media has given them such disproportionate attention, they have become drunk with power, they are also totally undemocratic. People of this ilk are generally insecure and often angry to be part of a minority. In their efforts to become the majority they will basically stop at nothing (their ‘cancel culture’ is a nothing less than pure malicious evil!)

The more appeasement they get the more they’re encouraged; give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Well let’s just hope the sooner rather than later the woke species of our societies are

given enough rope to hang themselves (metaphorically speaking of course!) ‘Go woke, Go broke’. Dontcha just love it?

Great result for Ukraine in the Eurovision song contest. Of course the song was absolutely ghastly, but the lift for the citizens of this beleaguered land must have been magical. This competition has always been influenced by politics and it was interesting to see the UK finally coming out of the wilderness and into second place.

Although I felt the British entrant was pretty good, I couldn’t help feeling that the recent actions of the UK government, with its overwhelming support of the Ukrainian nation, had something to do with it. The only problem now is where to hold next year’s event? Let’s just hope it’s in Kyiv!

Keep the faith Love Leapy. leapylee2002@gmail.com.

Expatradioscotland.com Mon. Fri. 1pm till 4.

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

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

EWN 27

NEWS

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We don’t like how they work MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION

Views of a Grumpy Old Man WE’VE had a couple of holiday rental apartments for some years now. Initially it was a very simple thing to do. There were several little websites that we advertised on and business was fine. Then a few years ago all these little indy websites got swallowed up by massive multinational companies who have a whole different way of doing business and were constantly telling us how we should run our little rental business. It used to be so simple. Clients emailed Patti and if dates were available would send a deposit and then pay the balance four weeks before arrival. But the big companies don’t take a deposit; they collect payment and pay us after clients arrive and after they have taken their commission which, of course, means we get less. And now people can cancel anytime plus you are no longer advertising with one company. A booking can be from any one of six or seven companies.

Then Covid happened and we didn’t rent anything for about two years. All our regu-

lars moved their dates around. When bookings restarted one elderly couple from Denmark arrived but after a couple of days we were advised that they didn’t like the apartment and wanted a full refund. This was all being done via email and was a nightmare.

Patti decided to go and see them and discovered that they had moved out but left the heating on and not left the keys. We turned the heating off. Patti went back a few days later and was amazed that they had been back and left the heating on again! The real problem was that it had been raining since they had arrived and they couldn’t really get out and about and because of their age needed to be in a hotel.

The best was still to come - they left a terrible review on the website which was a total nonsense. How can you give a one for location for a beachfront apartment? In 15 years of renting we have never had anything but great reviews on the various websites which now of course don’t exist. We complained to the company but they said they couldn’t do anything because the booking came via a third party site. Since then we have had a few cancellations and have now decided not to rent anymore as we just don’t like the way these big companies do business.

Email: mikesenker@gmail.com.

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

19 - 25 May 2022

EWN 29

BUSINESS EXTRA Final countdown ALTHOUGH Spanish banks Unicaja and Liberbank legally merged 10 months ago after initially, severing ties, it is only now following, a number of further disagreements, that the 1.8 million Liberbank clients will by the end of May have their accounts transferred to Unicaja.

euroweeklynews.com • 19 - 25 May 2022

STAT OF WEEK

(€2.33tn) was the value of Saudi oil and gas producer Aramco on May 12, making it the most valuable company in the world after trailing Apple for two years.

$2.44 trillion

War in the air

Bitcoin battered

Credit: Heathrow Airport

FINANCE

30

BIBA conference GIBRALTAR FINANCE has been attending and exhibiting at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) annual conference and exhibition at Manchester Central. The BIBA conference is one of Europe’s largest insurance gatherings and was last held as an in‐person event in 2019 when more than 8,300 visitors attended.

Shein shines NOW valued at more than Inditex and H&M combined at just short of €100 billion,Chineseonlinefashioncompany Shein attracted more downloads on its App in the first few months of 2022 than Amazon Shopping and saw a 50 per cent increase in customer visits.

McColl’s rescued ALLIANCE PROPERTY HOLDINGS LIMITED, part of the Morrisons Group has agreed a rescue deal for struggling retailer McColl’s that will see all 16,000 staff transferred, alongside more than 1,100 outlets with the added bonus that Morrisons will take over its two pension funds which have 2,000+ members.

RENFE investment SPANISH train giant RENFE is committed to innovation and supporting new technology and in 2018 launched TrenLab, a call to startup companies to carry out different challenges in areas such as logistics, transport or accessibility.

Now it has announced it is to move a step further and plans to make its first financial investment in an undisclosed start up company sometime this year according to Business Insider Spain.

Also in September it will launch its mobility platform to allow access in a single app to journeys by train, commuter trains, buses and other types of public and private travel.

One way of earning extra income.

THERE’S war in the air as Heathrow and UK flag carriers fall out over the cost being charged per passen‐ ger travelling.

A report, commissioned by Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and IATA from WPI Economics blasts both the management of Heathrow Air‐ port and the Civil Aviation Authori‐ ty (CAA) over proposed increased charges.

Understandably during the lock‐ down and suspension of interna‐ tional flights caused by the pan‐ demic, Heathrow as the UK’s main airline hub suffered a significant loss of income as fewer flights meant fewer travellers and less

airport revenue.

Anxious to start to recoup some of its lost income, Heathrow pro‐ posed increasing the amount charged per passenger from £19 to £43, a huge 117 per cent hike and in the event, a temporary rise to just over £30 (56 per cent) was ap‐ proved by the CAA to give it a chance to consider the long‐term situation.

Britain’s two major flag carriers oppose this increase arguing that as the UK economy is already in a difficult position and the airlines are struggling to recover their own lost income, it would be un‐ feasible to increase prices signifi‐

cantly to passengers.

They argue that the end result will be to make the UK’s global avi‐ ation industry less competitive, un‐ dermine the hub operation at Heathrow and reduce the domestic and international connectivity that is vitally needed to achieve Global Britain.

Not unsurprisingly, Heathrow Airport which is owned by a con‐ sortium of overseas investors from Canada, China, Qatar, Spain and the USA dispute the airline claims as well as the suggestion that it is deliberately underplaying the cur‐ rent number of travellers in order to try to justify increased charges.

Spanish inflation anomaly EXPERTS at Caixa Bank spotlighted an anomaly in Spain’s inflation calcula‐ tions which suggests that the figure is regularly overstated.

Spain and Portugal have been work‐ ing together to persuade the European Union to accept their proposals on cap‐ ping energy prices and the two coun‐ tries share a wholesale electricity mar‐ ket according to Reuters.

Although the April inflation figures show a drop from almost 10 per cent to 8.4 per cent, this is still higher than neighbour Portugal which calculates its electricity costs in a different way.

In simple terms, Spain assumes that all consumers are contracted on a vari‐

FINANCE

Casting light on inflation calculations.

able rate, so that if the price of electrici‐ ty rises so does inflation but this is real‐ ly not the case anymore as a significant number of individuals and more im‐ portantly companies have opted for fixed rate contracts.

As is the case with Portugal, it means that even if the price of energy contin‐ ues to surge, those in fixed rate con‐ tracts continue to pay the agreed rate and would only lose out if the whole‐ sale price dropped below that amount.

In April of this year, the Bank of Spain said government plans to reform public pensions so that they increased annually in accordance with the Con‐ sumer Price Index (CPI), would cost €1.8 billion extra for each 1 per cent in‐ crease.

Assuming that inflation is overstated by 2 per cent (then this year will mean that the government will need to find an extra €3.6 billion for pensions alone.

ALMOST since the first up‐ turn in the value of cryp‐ tocurrency, the Bank of Spain has been warning investors to be very aware of the risks of investment.

For more than a year, the leading cryptos have seen a huge increase in value and investors have been jumping in, buying and selling and making really good profits.

However, like the 17th cen‐ tury Black Tulip disaster in The Netherlands and 18th century pricking of the South Sea Bubble, Bitcoin suddenly this May saw a dramatic halving in value from its all‐ time high of around €58,000 to just over €26,000.

It has dropped and bounced back before, so time will tell whether the de‐ cision by El Salvador and the Central African Republic to make it legal tender was a wise one.

Charge to return goods THE lockdown saw a huge growth in shoppers in the UK purchasing fashion online and this has to some extent contin‐ ued even though shops are now open and easily accessible.

One problem however for re‐ tailers is that it appears con‐ sumers have got used to order‐ ing more than they actually require and then returning un‐ wanted items in larger volumes than if they bought in store.

Now, Spanish fashion giant Zara has joined Uniqlo and Next in making a returns charge (in Zara’s case £1.95) for items sent by post, although there is no penalty if goods purchased on‐ line are returned to one of their stores.

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

LONDON - FTSE 100

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C LOSING P RICES M AY 16

COMPANY PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) 3I Group 1.321,00 1.323,00 Abrdn 188,85 189,15 Admiral Group 2.251,0 2.252,0 Anglo American 3.387,0 3.389,5 Antofagasta 1.392,32 1.393,00 Ashtead Group 3.922,0 3.955,0 Associated British Foods 1.659,0 1.666,0 AstraZeneca 10.292,0 10.322,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 557,80 558,80 Avast 493,20 499,90 Aveva 2.104,2 2.119,0 Aviva 401,05 401,35 B&M European Value Retail SA464,20 468,30 BAE Systems 753,60 754,40 Bank VTB DRC 1,000 1,000 Barclays 151,36 151,54 Barratt Developments 481,30 485,60 Berkeley 3.970,0 4.001,0 BHP Billiton Ltd 2.611,50 2.612,50 BP 414,41 415,55 British American Tobacco 3.435,0 3.445,5 British Land Company 505,60 506,00 BT Group 183,85 184,85 Bunzl 2.924,0 2.930,0 Burberry Group 1.566,5 1.574,5 Carnival 1.077,0 1.080,5 Centrica 79,72 79,90 Coca Cola HBC AG 1.752,5 1.762,0 Compass 1.829,50 1.829,50 CRH 3.183,5 3.189,5 Croda Intl 6.852,0 6.872,0 DCC 6.228,0 6.230,0 Diageo 3.824,5 3.847,0 DS Smith 308,20 312,40 EasyJet 489,70 498,70 Experian 2.660,0 2.664,0 Ferguson 9.752,0 9.794,0 Flutter Entertainment 8.900,0 9.036,0 Fresnillo 744,80 744,80 GlaxoSmithKline 1.762,06 1.764,60 Glencore 476,00 477,09 Halma 2.196,0 2.210,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 876,20 892,80 Hikma Pharma 1.734,50 1.737,50 HSBC 501,86 502,20 IAG 122,00 123,24 Imperial Brands 1.699,00 1.707,00 Informa 544,40 544,60 InterContinental 4.840,0 4.862,0

% CHG. 1.296,50 187,00 2.234,0 3.237,5 1.339,00 3.849,0 1.650,0 10.136,0 553,00 492,50 2.088,0 384,00 456,90 736,00 1,000 148,94 480,00 3.964,0 2.559,50 407,05 3.404,0 497,80 179,80 2.897,0 1.552,0 1.054,5 77,70 1.735,5 1.796,00 3.127,0 6.790,0 6.176,0 3.816,0 307,50 483,10 2.624,0 9.648,0 8.790,0 719,80 1.747,00 458,75 2.167,0 862,40 1.699,00 495,45 120,04 1.688,50 537,40 4.788,0

NET VOL 202,46K 408,57K 50,89K 277,88K 34,54K 72,19K 46,10K 204,74K 151,14K 63,25K 34,29K 2,34M 339,64K 513,22K 0 6,16M 84,54K 9,43K 425,86K 5,48M 422,29K 183,10K 2,24M 52,34K 79,18K 65,36K 1,40M 98,48K 297,71K 104,51K 22,50K 17,81K 240,58K 1,18M 741,28K 132,27K 67,87K 23,17K 125,57K 422,30K 1,01M 83,27K 141,60K 164,85K 3,77M 5,59M 204,06K 172,72K 35,87K

ºCOMPANY

PRICE(P)

Intermediate Capital 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 Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Shell 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

1.439,50 4.922,0 69,80 241,06 2.335,0 733,80 249,01 43,58 7.238,0 775,60 115,90 1.551,00 1.215,00 210,30 6.456,0 1,89 814,20 2.093,0 631,20 971,40 6.362,0 2.300,00 515,00 564,60 5.381,6 81,99 0,60 676,20 1.294,00 0,0453 2.864,0 798,50 1.119,50 3.088,0 2.308,5 1.278,50 1.495,50 10.950,0 1.865,78 1.244,50 587,60 125,25 283,32 240,90 3.688,5 1.116,00 121,66 2.665,0 982,80

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

1.441,00 4.946,0 69,86 242,10 2.358,0 734,00 249,50 43,87 7.270,0 776,80 116,20 1.561,00 1.223,00 210,70 6.488,0 1,89 816,80 2.119,0 633,00 972,20 6.458,0 2.300,00 519,00 565,00 5.384,6 84,25 0,60 688,60 1.300,00 0,0453 2.868,0 800,40 1.121,00 3.097,0 2.316,5 1.280,00 1.497,00 11.185,0 1.871,50 1.247,50 588,20 126,10 284,10 241,10 3.706,0 1.123,00 122,80 2.668,0 984,00

1.410,00 4.875,0 68,68 238,00 2.326,0 726,40 244,70 43,20 7.210,0 772,20 114,30 1.535,00 1.210,00 207,80 6.388,0 1,89 794,80 2.087,0 623,00 940,00 6.328,0 2.270,00 508,80 557,60 5.226,0 81,34 0,60 673,20 1.292,00 0,0453 2.832,0 792,80 1.105,00 3.063,0 2.292,0 1.265,50 1.487,00 10.895,0 1.848,00 1.230,00 572,80 124,25 279,70 234,90 3.653,5 1.110,50 121,06 2.642,0 971,40

77,96K 17,03K 1,52M 398,59K 35,99K 107,38K 361,75K 15,88M 19,34K 39,91K 529,94K 226,59K 430,45K 2,18M 32,09K 0 128,80K 30,94K 880,77K 564,81K 102,48K 343,18K 260,37K 222,88K 23,54K 4,99M 0 202,97K 3,34K 0 15,48K 588,99K 212,59K 28,90K 2,38M 136,01K 49,22K 8,48K 269,55K 71,95K 1,21M 1,32M 2,22M 586,13K 515,40K 72,49K 17,25M 33,86K 203,64K

1.17394

0.85245

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ........................................1.0544 Japan yen (JPY)......................................158.332 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0468 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4413 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.207

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

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES M AY 16

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 149,30 158,75 243,40 147,11 127,20 204,33 167,87 49,56 65,72 67,56 306,99 296,03 193,53 133,60 43,60 176,85 119,09 245,04 90,41 261,12 113,01 153,62 166,91 172,78 485,40 48,18 199,23 43,55 148,05 107,33

CHANGE 150,35 160,09 245,00 148,10 130,80 206,46 168,79 49,63 65,80 68,32 309,63 299,42 194,95 133,80 43,84 178,89 120,25 247,18 91,05 263,04 113,11 153,73 168,68 174,23 487,00 48,45 200,54 43,71 148,38 107,69

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 147,97 2,73M 155,88 3,33M 241,29 2,63M 143,11 113,99M 122,38 20,82M 202,92 2,32M 164,88 9,20M 48,53 18,77M 64,12 15,46M 67,26 3,89M 303,57 2,10M 288,45 3,92M 190,93 3,23M 131,05 4,18M 42,97 31,99M 175,80 7,26M 117,96 10,33M 242,28 3,25M 89,26 10,10M 255,35 34,67M 108,67 9,57M 150,42 5,65M 162,01 6,18M 171,37 1,19M 475,81 2,40M 47,61 20,67M 196,50 6,68M 42,97 5,74M 146,14 6,58M 105,31 16,64M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES M AY 16

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

+154.87% +49.60% +44.51% +43.96% +42.77% +38.70% +38.38% +37.21% +34.58% +34.51% +34.45%

180.55M 14.40K 78.25M 108.91M 20.47M 7.87M 1.45M 18.15M 2.02M 25.78M 1.39M

-45.36% -40.00% -36.44% -33.63% -26.67% -26.41% -25.39% -24.98% -20.89% -20.00% -18.71%

6.69M 3.92M 2.70M 2.29M 21.04K 1.39M 1.29M 22.42M 2.85K 0.15K 7.97M

Most Advanced ShiftPixy Epiphany Technology Acquisition Polarityte Veru Calithera Biosciences Inc View Inotiv Amyris Leap Therapeutics Molecular Data Expensify

Most Declined LiqTech Actelis Networks Jupai Holdings Ltd Brilliant Earth Immuron Tenon Medical Vallon Pharmaceuticals Figs Otr Acq Lixiang Education Armstrong Flooring

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

Lazy gits NEVER one to mince his words, business guru and presenter of The Appren‐ tice Lord Sugar took a snipe at working from home as accountancy firm PWC an‐ nounced that their accoun‐ tants could take Fridays off in the summer, tweeting “This is a bloody joke. The lazy gits make me sick.”

Fixed price WITH sales of more than €8 billion in the first quarter of 2022, Spanish energy company Naturgy has de‐ cided to offer its gas cus‐ tomers a supply at a fixed price for relatively long‐ term periods, emulating what it did with electricity in 2021.

Gold standard IN an unusual step to try to avoid the impact of the rise in the cost of living, the CEO of e‐money provider Tally‐ Money, is offering his 20 staff the option of being paid in gold rather than sterling although they will be taxed as if paid in cash.

Financing Cabify SUCCESSFUL Spanish start‐ up Cabify is a ridesharing company which provides vehicles for hire via its smartphone mobile app.

Set up in 2011, its busi‐ ness is aimed at supplying vehicles to self‐employed drivers and is gearing up for the move to greener driv‐ ing.

It has created a wish list in order to purchase 1,400 new electric vehicles for its fleet and estimates the likely cost as €82 million.

Thanks to the sustain‐ ability of the project, it made a successful ap‐ proach for funds to the Eu‐ ropean Investment Bank which has confirmed that it will provide financing of €40 million to help the company achieve its aim.

David and Goliath D AV I D A N D G O L I AT H lawsuits make fools of large corporations and history is littered with pointless actions seemed destined to not only make money for lawyers but to make corporations look extremely stupid.

Previous examples include the attack in the UK on a Chinese take away called McChina which did Mc‐ Donald’s no favours es‐ pecially as they lost, then there is the cor‐ ner shop owner in Newcastle who was made to change the name Singhsbury’s but seems to be ok with the new moniker of Morrisinghs.

Latest to feel the pain of a lawyer’s let‐ ter, according to Corn‐ wall Live, is a pub go‐ ing by the name of The Star Inn at Vogue which has been open in the village of Vogue for

Credit: Star Inn Facebook

BUSINESS EXTRA

200-YEAR-OLD: The Star Inn at Vogue.

200 years or more.

According to Vogue magazine, there is a fear that their readers might get confused by the name which doesn’t really say much for the compa‐ ny’s opinion of the in‐ telligence of its read‐ ers.

One of the most pub‐ licised arguments be‐ tween large companies saw Marks & Spencer

launch launched an in‐ tellectual property claim in the UK against supermarket giant Al‐ di, citing alleged simi‐ larities between its Colin the Caterpillar cake with Aldi’s Cuth‐ bert the Caterpillar.

In this case, the two parties agreed in November of last year to a secret deal where‐ by the lawsuit was dis‐ continued.

Although M&S intro‐ duced the first cater‐ pillar cake some 30 years ago, they could be in for an expensive time, considering that there is Calli the Cater‐ pillar from Tesco, Wig‐ gles the Caterpillar from Sainsbury’s, Cecil the Caterpillar from Waitrose, Charlie the Caterpillar from the Co‐op and Clyde the Caterpillar from ASDA.

Flexible office space from Tesco T ES CO i s o f f e r i n g o f f i c e s p a c e and a shopping option in one location as it has partnered with flexible working company Regus, part of the IWG Group.

In an experiment to utilise un‐ used space and earn money from its properties now that more people are shopping on‐ line, the Tesco Extra store in Beverley Way, New Malden, Surrey has seen a transforma‐ tion to its mezzanine floor.

Ef f e c t i v e f r o m M o n d a y M a y 23, those who prefer not to work at home but equally don’t fancy a long commute, will be able to rent flexible office space at this large property which has plenty of parking and business‐ es can even rent meeting spaces by the hour.

There is a lot going on around the area, so users can enjoy all of the facilities offered by Tesco or pop out for coffee or lunch

FINANCE

Credit: Regus

34 EWN

EXPERIMENT: A typical Regus workspace.

and then return to the newly refurbished office space.

Clearly if this proves to be a success then more stores will have rooms converted as it ap‐ pears that the concept of flexi‐ ble working space gathers mo‐ mentum following the recovery

from the pandemic.

According to the BBC, a sur‐ vey from the Chartered Insti‐ tute of Management found more than 80 per cent of firms had now adopted hybrid‐work‐ ing since the end of the pan‐ demic.

NEWS

Cheaper electricity IT was confirmed on Friday May 13 by Min‐ ister for Territorial Policy, Isabel Ro‐ dríguez, that the Span‐ ish government was now able to formally cap the price of natu‐ ral gas.

This follows a special agreement reached by the Portuguese and Spanish government with the European Union for the two countries to move out‐ side of the normal col‐ lective decisions made by the EU. It now seems likely that users of electrici‐ ty in all areas in Spain will be able to expect a reduction of up to 30 per cent in the amount that they have to pay, although this agree‐ ment may be reviewed should wholesale gas prices fall.

Call for help SPEAKING on the Pe‐ ston Show on ITV on May 11, Dame Sharon White who was at one time a senior civil ser‐ vant in the UK Treasury called on government to do more.

Now the Chair of the John Lewis Group which also owns Wait‐ rose, she explained that something has to be done to help all of those who are currently suffering from the huge jump in the cost of liv‐ ing.

Comparing the prob‐ lems with those faced during the pandemic, Dame Sharon said “The time has absolutely come for action whether it is an emer‐ gency budget or whether it is another vehicle.”

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36 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

LETTERS

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

LICENCE DEMANDS

LICENCE EXCHANGE: Not as easy as it’s made out to be.

HAVING read your article on licence demands. I moved to Spain in Novem‐ ber 2020 unaware that you had to register with the DVLA about intending to change your licence for a Spanish one. I’ve been trying to exchange my licence since January 2021 and been told by my solicitor and agents who would nor‐ mally help you exchange your licence that they are no longer able to help and I like thousands of others are stuck in this situation, it’s not that we have had plenty of time to do it. We haven’t been allowed to do it.

Thank you. Rita

Dear Mr Leapy Lee (Assuming you are more than a pseudonym): YOU must undoubtedly be right: among conspiracy the‐ orists, as well as anti‐con‐ spiracy theorists, there must be sufferers of rampant in‐ security or inferiority com‐ plexes. Yes sir. But what does that have to do with the truth or falsity of their claims?

Recommended reading: Introduction to logic, Macmillan Publishing, Co.

Inc, New York, 1953.

By the way: Lord Bertrand Russell, Nobel Prize winner, was a conspiracy theorist about the John F Kennedy

assassination… Do you find Lord Russell a typical case of inferiority complex… or just ‘dangerous people’?

Jose

OUR VIEW ERRATIC POSTAL SERVICE BACK in 2020, the Spanish Post Office, Correos launched a campaign under the title Live Where You Want in which it promised to recruit 6,000 new postal delivery officers to ensure that those who live in rural areas would have their post delivered. Nowadays, a huge amount of correspondence is undertaken via email, WhatsApp and the like, but there is still a large amount of traditional mail that needs to be delivered through the post. To a great extent, mail delivery appears to be erratic even at the best of times, with mail from the UK often taking up to a month to arrive even in relatively large towns and cities but what is more difficult to understand is how Correos decides who to deliver to and why.

In some urbanisations, communal mailboxes for streets of houses have been done away with and each resident required to obtain their own individual mail box with delivery taking place every few days. In other areas and suburban Madrid is a good example, Correos has decided to suspend home delivery and residents are required to travel to their local post office to see if there is any post to collect.

Not a major problem one might think, but a large number of post offices are only open from 8.30am to 2pm on weekdays, so if you work and commute, then there is a problem, especially as mail is generally only held for 15 days before being returned or disposed of.

There is a petition on Change.org which has already collected several thousand signatures asking Correos to change its mind otherwise, in theory, everyone affected would need to either take time off from work or arrive late twice a month.

38 EWN

19 - 25 May 2022

euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

Plantar fasciitis treatment PLANTAR FASCIITIS is in‐ flammation of the plantar fascia, a band of elastic tis‐ sue that connects the heel to the base of the toes. It can cause pain and irrita‐ tion on the bottom of the feet, particularly in the heels and arches.

• Common causes of plantar fasciitis This type of ailment is very common in people who frequently practise running or other sports in‐ volving movement on hard surfaces and high‐impact exercises, as the feet are put under a lot of pressure.

Wearing unsuitable footwear with poor sup‐ port when doing sport or standing for long periods of time can also cause plantar fasciitis in the long run, as can poor postural habits.

Some people are simply genetically predisposed due to the anatomy of their feet, which may be excessively flat or have particularly large plantar arches.

INFLAMMATION: Can cause pain and irritation.

• Treatment of plantar fasciitis If the pain is not too se‐ vere or persistent, you can apply ice to the area for a few minutes several times a day. You can also com‐ bine this with painkillers to help get the pain to sub‐ side.

Other treatments in‐ clude ultrasound sessions or massages. Physiothera‐ py treatments can effec‐ tively reduce the tension

that has been accumulat‐ ing in the soles of the feet and stretch the plantar fas‐ cia.

If you are an active run‐ ner, you can use specially designed bandages to cushion the pain in the area when running.

However, in extreme cases where there is no im‐ provement and the person is experiencing a lot of dis‐ comfort, surgery can be an option.

HEALTH & BEAUTY

euroweeklynews.com

Reduce heat damage from hairdryers USING a hairdryer on a regular basis can damage the hair fibres, leaving them dry, rough and dull. Experts recommend letting your hair air dry to avoid heat damage, but the weather may be cold or you may need to style your hair with a hairdryer to get it just how you want it.

Guidelines for reducing heat dam‐ age when using a hairdryer Firstly, avoid trying to dry hair that is soaking wet. Remove excess water with a towel and only turn the hairdryer on when your hair is slightly damp.

Your hair needs heat protection to prevent damage and stop it from drying out, as it can be subjected to temperatures of over 200 degrees.

When styling your hair with a hairdryer, always use the nozzle, which allows you to control the di‐ rection of the hot air and reduces the exposure of the hair to harmful heat. If you are using a brush, use a round one with short bristles.

Avoid holding the hairdryer too

BLOW DRYING: Always use the nozzle which helps to protect the hair from harmful heat.

close. Move it a little further away so that the heat does not impact your hair so directly. If possible (ie you are not using a brush to blow‐ dry your hair straight), keep a dis‐ tance of around 25 centimetres.

If you divide your hair into several sections rather than trying to dry it all at the same time, it will dry faster and will not be exposed to the heat for so long.

Finally, check the condition of your hairdryer. Newer models are made with materials and have set‐ tings that are less harmful.

19 - 25 May 2022

EWN 39

40 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

NEWS

Discover: Costa Brava Cancer fundraiser

THE Costa Brava is rated as one of Spain’s top beach destinations, characterised by its rugged natural beau‐ ty, stunning shores and charming coastal villages.

Here you will find secluded sandy beaches surrounded by imposing cliffs and tiny coves to discover.

The popular beach resorts are found in the historic town of Blanes, the walled medieval town of Tossa de Mar, the elegant town of Lloret de Mar and the quiet village of Santa Susanna.

The quaint fishing village of Cadaques, nestled on the Cadaques Bay of the Cap de Creus (peninsula), has a rocky coastline with magnifi‐ cent cliffs and quiet coves.

This whitewashed town is steeped in history and at‐ tracted famous painters dur‐ ing the 20th century. Several art galleries and museums reveal the town’s artistic heritage.

One of the houses in the Old Town of Cadaques was the home of Salvador Dalí

THE Spanish Cancer Association - AECC launched a new social movement on Thursday, May 12 nationally to continue to fight for cancer survival. They are encouraging everyone to ‘battle under their ribbon’.

The AECC has a range of personnel nationally, including volunteers, medical staff, psychologists, social workers, etc, all working to help increase post-cancer survival rates. Overall the association has over 1,000 investigators and

525 projects investigating different aspects of cancer.

According to their statistics, and through work in investigation and research, the survival rates of those who have had cancer are rising steadily, 7.6 per cent since 2016. The current goal is to achieve a 70 per cent survival rate by 2030. One of the keys is to correct the inequalities in access to advance care and investigation, and that all cancers are thoroughly investigated.

‘Time traveller’ warnings The beautiful and historic town of Blanes.

and is now the Salvador Dalí House ‐ Portlligat Museum.

Fans of Salvador Dali and surrealist art should also visit the Dalí Theatre‐Museum in Figueres and the Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol.

The small fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell has re‐ tained its authentic Spanish feel despite the beaches get‐ ting quite crowded during the summer. Tourists love the oldy‐wordly charm of the Begur tower, overlook‐

ing the sea and L’Escala, which has an atmospheric historic quarter and Greek ruins from the second centu‐ ry BC at the Empuries ar‐ chaeological site.

For lovers of watersports, the Costa Brava is the per‐ fect place ‐ from snorkelling to sailing, diving to windsurf‐ ing. The uninhabited nature preserve of the Medes Is‐ lands is a great place for snorkelling and scuba diving in the crystal clear waters.

A SELF-PROCLAIMED ‘time traveller’ has made some massive ‘predictions’ for the coming months, including that a new species will apparently emerge on Earth after the ground opens up in America…

Judging by the amount of ‘time traveller’ accounts on social media platform TikTok, it’s safe to say you should take these claims with a grain of salt!

For those who don’t use TikTok, dozens of accounts have popped up lately claim-

ing to be ‘from the future’ in order to warn the public of various catastrophic events TikToker Kawhi Leonard, who goes by the handle @thehiddengod1, is one of them.

The account has a massive 174k followers and posts timetraveller themed content that is clearly interesting for some.

One video, which has been viewed 6.7 million times, tells viewers that a ‘leaked document’ from one of these timetravellers tells of three dates in 2022 where frightening things will happen…

First up, on July 14, they say America’s biggest ever earthquake, nicknamed ‘The Great Split’, will hit and the ground will open up. This one isn’t completely out of the realms of possibility, considering the strange and extreme weather conditions that we have seen over the past few years.

On August 9, the alleged document says two million people across the Earth will mysteriously disappear whether or not this is related to the first prediction is unknown.

FEATURE

euroweeklynews.com

19 - 25 May 2022

EWN 41

GO LOCAL

THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has urged its readers to support local businesses in the community by shop‐ ping locally in recent times. Now things are heading back to normal, we challenge you to main‐ tain that habit by support‐ ing local high streets, mar‐ kets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky inde‐ pendent businesses in your area.

L o c a l businesses make our villages, towns and cities what they are.

They add unique character.

They are conve‐ nient. And they offer excellent produce f r o m known suppliers.

The joy of shopping locally means that independent business‐ es 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?

BUY LOCAL: By shopping locally, independent businesses can help support the local community.

By shopping locally you’re putting food on a local family’s table and there is nothing better than giving back to the communities that have giv‐ en us so much. Local stores support 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 supported generations of the same family. Likewise, brand new local stores and bars may help the generations of the future fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

Remember, your local store is going up against multinationals and chains.

They can’t win that battle on their own. So give them your support.

Spending your money lo‐ cally will make a real differ‐ ence to the local economy.

Local businesses recircu‐ late a greater share of ev‐ ery euro they receive at lo‐ cal level. They create locally owned supply chains and they invest in their employees.

So remember.

When you go shopping ‐ go local!

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM

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PETS

Most trainable dogs T H I N K I N G of getting a dog but can’t decide on the breed? Of course, there are so many dogs in rescue centres that need loving homes and it is always best to adopt rather than shop, but it is still possible to choose the breed of dog if you do decide to go down the adoption route.

So, here is a list of some of the most train‐ able dogs ‐ whether you are looking for a small lapdog or a dog you can

WORKING DOG: The German Shepherd is one of the most trainable and loyal breeds.

train for commands.

Goldendoodle A favourite breed

across the world, the Goldendoodle looks like a teddy bear, comes in all shapes and sizes and has an amazing temper‐ ament ‐ being a cross between a golden re‐ triever and a poodle.

This breed is highly trainable and can learn new commands and be‐ haviours quite quickly.

German Shepherd One of the most highly trainable dogs in the world, German Shep‐

herds originated in Ger‐ many as working dogs.

German Shepherds are also confident, loyal, in‐ telligent, obedient, watchful and sometimes stubborn!

Because of their intel‐ ligence and desire to please, as well as have a purpose, puppies can be trained to understand basic commands and house training within two to three months.

Border Collie Another highly train‐ able dog that was also bred for herding is the Border Collie, which is considered a more ener‐ getic breed and softer in nature German Shep‐ herd.

Because they are so trainable, Border Collies are also used for search and rescue missions, narcotics, and bomb de‐ tection by law enforce‐ ment.

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46

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PETS

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The services that were being held in the South American church Albox have now returned to the chapel and Communion is held on the second Thursday of the month at 11am. Priest in charge rev canon Alan Bennet telephone number 680 243 436. For further information, please go to The Anglican Chaplaincy of Costa Almeria and Costa Calida web page. Or contact Tony Noble 950 069 103. (10002)

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19 - 25 May 2022

Which electric car?

THERE are currently five different technologies for electrified vehicles on the market: 48V hybrid, electric hybrid, plug‐in hybrid, 100 per cent elec‐ tric and hydrogen bat‐ tery. All of these options raise a lot of doubts and questions among drivers who are considering making the leap to ECO mobility.

To resolve these doubts, Hyundai has launched a new install‐ ment of its Hyundai Elec‐ troschool project, ex‐

plaining the differences between the options for electrified vehicles and advice on choosing the most suitable one for mobility needs.

The Korean manufac‐ turer analyses four pro‐ files of drivers who in‐ tend to move to ‘0 emissions’ mobility, and offers the most appropri‐ ate solution for each case.

“The best decision will be the one that takes in‐ to account the use that each person makes of the

Hyundai explains the differences between electric cars.

vehicle,” taking into ac‐ count factors such as the frequency of use, type of route that is made, dis‐ tances travelled, driving style or use, on a day‐to‐ day basis, the brand said.

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