Costa Blanca South 6 - 12 October 2022 Issue 1944

NEW REGULATION BRINGS CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!

With Funeral Plans now falling under the jurisdiction of the UK regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, there have been widespread changes for plan providers to navigate, both in the UK and in Spain.

But as regulation has arrived at the same time as a cost­of­living crisis, has this made matters easier or more difficult for planning companies and consumers?

Barry Floyd – Golden Leaves CEO commented:

“To be quite blunt, the arrival of this regulation should be hugely welcomed by both planning companies and consumers alike. It has now become evidently clear which funeral planning companies people should avoid and these are essentially any who are NOT FCA registered now. This is the clearest indicator of which companies consumers should consider. Some businesses in Spain and elsewhere will (and have) risen from the ashes of their failed companies in the UK, to trade again in Spain. Consumers should not be fooled and should not take the risk with what is a singular, once in a lifetime purchase.

It has never been simpler, buy from an FCA regulated and authorised company or run the risk of potentially losing your money (If you purchase from an FCA regulated company your funds are covered by the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme)) – The collapse of Safehands in the UK has clearly demonstrated what could happen if the company you purchase from failed and that company ISN’T FCA regulated.

Make no mistake, there are companies in Spain that could pose a significant threat to consumers. If you are deciding which company to purchase a funeral plan from – do your homework, research the company and ensure that you are comfortable that they are FCA regulated and credible. If they are not, and you purchase from them anyway, at least you will have made that decision knowing the potential risks involved.”

Golden Leaves’s Incredible “unattended cremation” plan coupled with a new “Immediate cover” instalment plan option!

In times of inflationary pressures and rising costs, funeral plans products that combat rising funeral costs are even more valued than ever before. In light of this, Golden Leaves have taken additional steps to help consumers by launching a new more economical “unattended funeral” plan type and a payment instalment option that covers you immediately (with NO outstanding balance to pay, should you die in the repayment term) even though you can pay for it over a period of up to 8 years!

Barry Floyd – Golden Leaves CEO commented:

“It was extremely important to recognise that people want to be covered but many are finding money incredibly tight due to inflationary issues. We wanted to do what we could to help potential buyers at this difficult time and seeing that this type of plan of ours has been gaining attraction in the UK, we believed that now was the right time to launch it Internationally.

We have also launched a totally new and ground­breaking credit financed option that will allow a consumer to purchase our plans over instalments of up to 8 years duration, but they are covered immediately with no more to pay should they pass away in the payment term. This will help not only make monthly payment options more affordable, but will remove the considerable concern surrounding remaining balances, removing those from the next of kin at such a difficult time.”

With quality FCA regulated businesses now easily recognisable from those which are not, consumers should be able to make clearer and more informed choices surrounding the brands that they purchase funeral plan products from and the brands they will not buy from.

Combined with more affordable products and faster coverage payment options available, some brands like FCA regulated and authorised Golden Leaves, are leading the way in making these buying decisions far easier for consumers at this difficult time.

How to choose a funeral planning company that is right for you

Do background checks on the funeral planning company, owners, how long have they been in the industry, etc

Make sure the funeral planning company are regulated by the FCA

How does the funeral planning company invest the money

What services are covered in the suite of plans

Can the plans be changed, upgraded, or downgraded after purchase

Does the funeral planning company provide dual cover with the UK or international cover

Search the company’s details on the FCA’s funeral plans

HOW TO CHOOSE A PREPAID FUNERAL PLAN THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU

you speak to a funeral planning company

of what you would like for

family and

Contact the funeral planning company

a funeral planning appointment, this can be conducted by, phone, video or a facetoface

to their office or your home.

company works differently, however in general there is a short overview presentation

conversation into your needs and

suite of plans and payment options will be presented to you for your

you decide to take a plan, the funeral planning company will take you through this

you with an

with

Barry Floyd Golden Leaves CEO.

FLOOD PLANS

Linda Hall

SPAIN’S government has agreed €10 million in di rect aid to prevent Vega Baja floods and to protect homes and other build ings.

As well as 27 official Ve ga Baja municipalities, the grant will also cover Cre villent’s Realengo and San Felipe Neri districts which are geographically includ ed in the area’s flood plain.

Acknowledging that the Vega Baja is one of the country’s most at­risk ar eas as regards flooding, the Environment Ministry specified that most of the grant, up to 50 per cent, should be assigned to pro tecting town centres, resi dential neighbourhoods, public buildings and in frastructure.

Seventy­three per cent of Vega Baja land ­ ap

proximately 13,000 hectares ­ is given over to crop­growing and least 25 per cent of the €10 million is to be used to protect the Vega Baja’s agricultur al sector, its installations and its irrigation network.

There will also be cash for the Vega Baja’s 118 livestock farms.

Approximately 10 per cent of the Madrid mil

lions must be set aside for engaging technical per sonnel to contribute stud ies, reports and research to the Generalitat’s Vega Renhace regeneration plan introduced after the disastrous and damaging floods of September 2019.

Already in Madrid for the Cabinet announce ment, Antonio Alonso di rector of the Plan Vega

Renhace office in Ori huela, had a Moncloa meeting with Hector Izquierdo, Commissioner for the Recovery of La Pal ma, the island ravaged by the Cumbre Vieja volcano last autumn.

Both have agreed to ex change information on their respective plans for emerging from destruc tive natural disasters.

Photo credit: Plan Vega Renhace

MONCLOA MEETING: Vega Renhace director Antonio Alonso with his La Palma counterpart, Hector Izquierdo.

TORREVIEJA’S €26 million per annum rubbish collection and street cleaning concessionary

Acciona is also responsible for the town’s beaches.

The company has requested ­ and received ­ a compatibility certificate from the town’s Urban Development department to store seaweed for three months at the old La Mar quesa­Casagrande waste transfer station.

Acciona now needs to request a municipal

Seaweed storage snags

licence from the director­general of the Ur ban Development and Projects section in its attempt to find a location for the seaweed and tree­prunings.

Earlier, the Generalitat ordered the compa ny to stop using the Alto de la Casilla lookout

point following last May’s reports in the Span ish media that it was appropriating a green space.

A move to the municipal Ecopark was no more successful after both residents and Ac ciona employees complained that the site

Horses might fly

A FIRE BRIGADE helicopter was brought in to airlift a horse trapped in a gully in inland Pinoso on Saturday October 1.

The horse, a mare from a near by riding school, fell several me tres into the deep crevice in the hilly Cabezo de la Sal area.

After receiving an alert just be fore 4pm, the firefighters initially attempted to lower a ramp so the horse could get out of the gully unaided. Instead, seeing that the animal was by then too stressed and tired, the rescuers from the Provincial Consortium of Fire Brigades realised that an airlift was the only solution.

Experts from the Special Res cue Group (GER) went into the gully where they placed the

horse in slings and a harness, en abling it to be hoisted safely into the air.

By 7.20pm the horse was back in the stables, thanks to six fire fighters from Elda, a Consortium helicopter and crew as well as the GER specialists.

was unsuitable for storing seaweed and gar den waste.

The La Marquesa­Casagrande was closed in 2012 during current mayor Eduardo Dolon’s first term in office, precisely because it lacked a licence to operate as a waste trans fer station.

It is located 500 metres from the Torrevieja salt lake and barely 40 metres from the na tional park’s protection zone.

Last minute venue change

CARP­R­US fished the 10th round of their SummerAutumn Series at El Bosquet near Elche.

“The match was scheduled for the River Segura at Bigastro, but rain at the beginning of the week meant that the river was flooded and unfishable,” Carp­R­Us secretary Steve Fell said.

“The match was fished on what was probably the coolest day for several months, with the temperature only rising to the mid­20s,” he added. “Members fished the long back channel and, as is the norm there lately, the lower peg numbers did better than the higher ones.”

The winner was Jeremy Fardoe with 10.9 kilos, caught mainly down the edge on peg 29.

Returning Tony Flett came second (5.5 kilos from peg 33) withWilly Moons in third place (5.2 kilos from Peg 30). Terry Screen and Steve Fell took joint fourth place with 3.4 kilos apiece from Pegs 39 and 38.

Further information about the club can be found on its website www.carp­r­us.weebly.com or on the Facebook page Carp­R­Us Fishing Costa Blanca.

Consorcio Provincial de Bomberos

AIRLIFTED: Horse is rescued from a deep gully.

Paint job neededBad idea

THE Confederacion Hidro grafica del Segura (CHS) has put on public display a draft of its plans to connect Torrevie ja’s seawater desalination plant to Aguilas in Murcia. Ecologist groups and the Asaja growers’ union both oppose the project on account of its ‘enormous cost’ and impact on the environment.

Pipe down

TAKING advantage of plans to re­asphalt Calle Antonio Machado and Calle Miguel Hernandez in Campoamor, Orihuela’s Infrastructure councillor Angel Noguera an nounced that city hall will re new the main drainage pipes there. Materials used for the existing network were obso lete and responsible for the area’s frequent problems, Noguera said.

Long wait

TWENTY years ago the thenpresident of the Spanish gov ernment, Jose Maria Aznar, laid a symbolic crosstie for an AVE track linking Valencia and Alicante City. Scheduled for 2024, the 60­minute connec tion has been set back to 2025 owing to holdups on the Xati va­Alicante section, the Trans port minister announced.

Fare idea

PARTIDO POPULAR council

lors, in a majority at Torre vieja Town Hall, voted to take into account an adviso ry report on the municipali ty’s new bus service which will no longer be free. Thirtytwo hybrid buses will oper ate more frequently, includ ing a late­night service for districts furthest from the town centre.

Barely there

MORE than 80 people took off their clothes as they demonstrated at Punta Pri ma’s old Civil War barracks and air raid shelter in protest at plans to build 2,200 prop erties in Cala Mosca. It was imperative to preserve Ori huela Costa’s last remaining kilometre of virgin beach, they declared.

Elche’s Local Police promise

Linda Hall

ELCHE’S L ocal Police chief recently called for a force of 400 officers and a totally re newed fleet of vehicles.

Police commissioner Cesar Zaragoza was speaking on Sunday October 2, feast day of the force’s patrons, the Guardian Angels, and the first time that the ceremoni al event had been held since the pandemic.

Zaragoza’s speech was fol lowed minutes later by an other from Elche’s mayor Carlos Gonzalez who an nounced that city hall was drafting a strategic plan for the Local Police, covering the 2023-2025 period.

This would ensure that the current force would be brought up to 400 officers

and, as Zaragoza requested, all vehicles would be re newed.

There were also plans to introduce intensive digitali sation. “All of this will be car ried out to ensure that Elche continues to have one of the lowest crime rates in the Va

ELCHE stands to save 44 per cent on a five­year contract to prune the city’s 6,500 palm trees.

City hall has decided to outsource the trees’ upkeep owing to a shortage of skilled municipal workers, ex plained Parks and Gardens councillor Hector Diez.

Having put the contract out to ten der for an annual €165,000, city hall is

lencian Community and the country.

In other words it is one of the safest in Spain,” Gonza lez said.

The mayor also asked the commissioner to continue steering the force through the modernisation process,

Cut-price palm lopping

on the point of accepting a €93,600 bid from a local firm. This would bring a total saving of €358,000 over five years, Diez revealed.

Breast Cancer Awareness

A SUBJECT close to many people’s hearts, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Founded in 1985, the international health community marks the month of October with campaigns, charity fundrais ers and educational events to raise global aware ness of breast cancer and seek a cure for the dis ease.

Raising awareness is particularly important postpandemic due to many people missing routine healthcare appointments.

Campaigns are organised throughout the month with the goal of improving early breast cancer de tection, such as educational initiatives encouraging regular check­ups and breast examinations. Breast cancer groups also fundraise for their support pro grammes which include financial, emotional and practical support through treatment and afterwards for sufferers and their families, as well as raising money for research into the disease and for a cure. Organisations also raise awareness about breast cancer in men.

A variety of events are held throughout the month internationally including in­person and virtu al challenges, charity walks and runs, bake sales and talks with oncologists and survivors.

THE Vega Baja hospital in Orihuela plans to spend €1.5 million on making structural improvements to the build ing.

The hospital was built in 1989 and since then little has been done to tiling, walls and other elements.

assuring him of the local gov ernment’s backing. “For city hall, and for me as mayor, Elche’s Local Police is a truly essential service, whose ac tivities and fundamental mission are guaranteeing peaceful, free and safe coex istence,” he declared.

The palms will be lopped each year between June and October, not only for the health of the trees but also to prevent fallen dates from littering and staining streets and pavements.

As the new contract does not come into force until November, city hall will have to use its own workforce to clear away the ripe fruit, Diez admit ted.

Transfers for victims

PILAR DE LA HORADADA Town Hall will facilitate transfers for domestic abuse and sexist vio lence victims working in the public sector. Susi Sanchez, Pi lar’s Equality councillor, an nounced that the town hall has confirmed its affiliation to a re gional government scheme that assists university and municipal employees who need to move away from their abusers.

Thanks to the agreement be tween the Generalitat’s Justice department and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities they will be able to relocate without having to take a pay cut or losing seniority rights. Pilar’s affiliation to the Generalitat scheme is included in the town hall 2020­2024 Equality Plan set ting out its measures to protect victims of domestic and sexist

abuse. Susi Sanchez tabled the mobility for victims motion at the town council’s August ple nary session, when it was backed by all parties.

Hospital sources ex plained at the end of September that action is be ing taken now to prevent further wear and tear and halt the building’s “continu ing deterioration.”

The constant passage of beds and hospital equip ment has scraped paint and chipped plaster from the corridor walls, they said, adding that repairs have been limited to replacing fallen tiles and touching up paintwork.

Hospital wards were also affected during the DANA storms of 2019 with flooding on lower floors, causing damage that has never been entirely repaired.

To this has to be added the ‘aggressive’ deep clean ing and disinfection that were constantly necessary during the Covid pandemic, which was responsible for even more damage in the corridors.

“It is essential to halt fur ther deterioration to walls and passages,” explained the hospital management as the €1.5 million contracts were put out to tender.

The Euro Weekly News

more content

in its papers than any other English

Spain.

CEREMONIAL EVENT: Elche’s Local Police officers on their Saints Day.

Photo credit: Elche city hall

THE regional government announced an in come tax break that will benefit taxpayers whose earnings do not reach €60,000 a year.

“This will encourage economic activity and employment, while protecting the people who have been hardest hit by inflation,” an nounced Generalitat president Ximo Puig.

The reductions will be backdated to Jan uary 1 this year, so will apply to 2023’s tax returns.

“While some reduce taxes for the richest,

TORREVIEJA mayor Eduardo Dolon presided the presentation of the mu nicipality’s UNED (Open University) on Saturday October 1.

The Torrevieja campus, dependent on UNED Elche, opens on October 10 and will offer an in-person degree course in Early Childhood Education. It will be the first time that UNED has of fered this option.

Students unable to attend the Torre vieja lectures will be able to follow the course in Elche or via video link.

The Torrevieja centre will also offer courses for the over-55s and prepara tion for access to university for the 25

Tax breaks for (nearly) all

here we are helping most of society reach the end of the month,” he said. “When the objective is social justice, the route is called fiscal justice.”

The central government in Madrid has not received Puig’s announcement with open arms, although the regional president is a PSOE socialist, as is the president of the

Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez.

In his defence, Puig cited the Valencian Community’s status as an autonomous re gion, giving it sufficient clout to make its own decisions within its permitted areas of competence.

A university town Nordic Tourism

to 45 age group.

Initially the department will occupy the Music Conservatoire, but will later relocate to the Agamed building under construction in central Torrevieja.

At the October 1 launch Eduardo Dolon thanked all those who had giv en Torrevieja the opportunity of be coming a university town, particularly Education councillor Ricardo Re cuero, and all the personnel from his department.

There were also thanks for Jesucristo Riquelme, the Torrevieja campus coor dinator and the Francisco Escudero, di rector of the Elche UNED.

ALICANTE has become Spain’s hot spot for Nordic tourism.

Travel agents and tourism companies from Sweden, Norway, Den mark and Finland have spent time getting to know what the city has to offer.

From taking trips and going to events the group also visited Benidorm on Saturday, October 1.

The deputy mMayor and head of the Tourist Board Alicante City & Beach, Mari Carmen Sanchez, stressed that

“the Nordic market is the second in the overall computation of tourism we receive in Alicante.

“The Nordic market is of special interest due to its high purchasing power and in the business and incentive travel segment, as well as in the organisa tion of events, it has great potential, so it is an op portunity for its operators to get to know our offer first-hand,” she added.

As part of their tour of Alicante, the travel agents and tourism com panies visited the Santa Barbara Castle. They visit ed the Alicante Royal Yacht Club where they were able to learn about what the nautical side had to offer and they also attended a workshop on how to prepare an Ali cante rice dish.

BRAVE MOVE: Ximo Puig announces lower income tax in the regional parliament

TORREVIEJA UNED: Eduardo Dolon at the presentation of the new campus.

Photo credit: GVA.es

Photo credit: Torrevieja town hall

Celts Golf Championship

THE Celts Golf Club celebrated their annual September championship on September 25 at La Serena. It was a windy day out on the course, which affected some of the scores though an excellent turn-out was still recorded.

Club Vice-Captain, George Thomas awarded prizes to club members for the month as well as to players in the tournament. The club’s monthly medals went to Kevin Russell, Karl Di Masio and Sheila Coyne for each of the respec tive categories.

Category I was won by Micke Stott, Jim Im rie took second place followed by Jean Randell.

The top three finishers in Category II were Pe ter Dunne, David Marriott, and Gordon Mont gomery. Category III’s top three finishers were Martin Fitzpatrick, Sally Hopkins, and Aki Stott.

The Celts expressed gratitude to staff at the club for their excellent maintenance of the course and hospitality and to the tournament committee for arranging the event and return ing scores to the federation as well as all of those who attended the championship.

Celts Golf Club is also taking registrations for their International League in 2023 by email to: theinternationalleaguelvmail.com.

Go local in October!

AN exciting programme will put the spotlight on local business in Torrevieja this month for a ‘Local Business Month’. The council un veiled the schedule at a press conference chaired by councillor for Business, Rosario Martínez Chazarra, and attended by key local business figures on Friday September 30.

The programme coin cides with the harvest sea son in Torrevieja, meaning there is plenty of local pro

duce on display. Events will showcase local seafood, street food and handicrafts as well as workshops to boost local business and traditional Halloween activ ities.

Activities got underway on October 4 with digital workshops for business owners. Workshops will al so take place on October 19 and 25. A seafood market will take place from Octo ber 7­9 followed by an arti san market from October

14­16 and street food mar ket from October 21­23. There will also be a huge raffle.

Speaking at the press conference, Martínez high lighted the importance of supporting local businesses after the sector suffered particularly during the pan demic, “Governments must continue to support busi nesses, big or small because they are the life, soul and heart of our towns and cities.”

Police Canine Unit

SANTA POLA Local Police has incorporated a canine unit to enforce security.

The Santa Pola Local Police has incorporated a canine unit among its services, which started operating at the begin ning of September.

The councillor for Police, Ana Blasco, confirmed that “Santa Pola already has a cynological team both in secu rity and control, as well as in the search, detection and loca tion of narcotic substances.

“The work with the animals which began during the September festivities has giv en us unbeatable results.”

Since the use of the service dogs, it has been possible to deactivate a point of sale of re tail drugs on public roads and more than 50 records were drawn up for the possession or consumption of narcotics.

The Santa Pola Local Police also used the canine unit in a pilot programme for the early detection of the presence of drugs in the body for vehicle drivers at traffic controls. The

results were 100 per cent posi tive, the dogs detected the presence of drugs before any drug tests were carried out.

Pilot programme started.

Firefighters flood training

FIREFIGHTERS are to train law enforcement agencies to deal with floods.

Alicante City Council has organised a technical conference on safety in emergency interventions to act in floods.

The conference was to be given by the Firefighters of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Service of Alicante and aimed at the Security Forces and Corps.

The councillor for Security, Jose Ramon Gonzalez, stressed the importance of the Security Forces and Corps “being the best trained, coordinated and prepared to act in flood situations in our city and can improve their response and effectiveness in rescues.”

The training programme began with the first course which was attended by 20 officers of the Local Police of Ali cante, on Sunday, October 2.

Following this, it is planned to train members of the Na tional Police and Guardia Civil.

Image: Santa Pola Town Hall

Energy use reduction

ALICANTE is to reduce energy consumption by 31 per cent.

The reduction will be thanks to the energy ef ficiency measures pro moted by the govern ment team, such as the improvement of lighting with the replacement of LED lights and the im plementation of solar panels in municipal buildings and 33 schools.

The mayor of Ali cante, Luis Barcala, high lighted that the city council is currently in vesting €1.1m in energy efficiency measures.

The mayor confirmed, “these are in addition to the more than €8m that we have already invest ed since 2018.”

The mayor stressed that the city council’s commitment to sustain able mobility is reflected in the works underway for the pedestrianisation of the traditional centre, as well as in other traffic calming and urban mod ernisation projects.

“We do not want these energy saving measures to be short term, but medium and long term so that they are consolidated over time,” the mayor added.

SANTA POLA Council has announced a packed cultural programme for the autumn full of theatre, music, litera ture and art. The council an nounced its programme on October 3, with events begin ning on Tuesday October 4 and running until the end of the month with something for all of the family.

Autumn in Santa Pola kicked off with a theatre pro duction on October 4 per formed by theatre students. An artwork event on October 5 saw primary schoolchildren contribute to a community art mural.

A rock concert for all the family will follow on Saturday October 8 at Glorieta. Special events will be held the fol lowing day to mark Valencia Day, but cultural events will begin at 12pm with speeches and a musical performance.

Other events this month include a book launch about football in Santa Pola, a mu sic event by Cool de Sac, a concert by a music school, a language and heritage exhibi tion, a children’s puppet workshop and further the atre productions.

Residents can access the full programme online and view further details about

Catral through time

‘LA VILLA DE CATRAL A TRAVES DEL TIEMPO’ is the first per manent exhibition sponsored by the town council of Catral.

The exhibition will be shown in the Municipal Library and has had the collaboration of the Association of Researchers of Catral and the Archaeological Museum of Alicante.

The aim is to contribute to the recognition, protection and dis semination of the rich Historical and Cultural Heritage of the town of Catral and to make its history known to all the residents living in Catral.

The exhibition is on the second floor of the Municipal Library in the entrance hall. A selection of archaeological, ethnological and bibliographic pieces are shown, as well as archival docu ments and musical scores from different eras, all interrelated with the evolution of the local history.

each event at: https://www.santapola.es/2 022/09/30/octubre-culturalen-santa-pola/

Cultural autumn in Santa Pola Gym for seniors

DOLORES is to begin gymnastics workshop for seniors

The Provincial Council of Alicante has granted a subsidy to the town council of Dolores, for carrying out social pro motion activities aimed at vulnerable groups.

A subsidy of €2,800 has been granted for the Gymnastics Workshop for the Elderly.

If you are interested in joining, pop into Dolores Town Hall or call (+34) 965 726 526.

Alternatively email: in fo@dolores.es.

SANTA POLA: Has a packed cultural programme ahead.

THANKSGIVING FOR OUR PETS

ON Sunday October 2, Campoverde Church in the Community held its much-anticipated and very popular annual Pet Thanksgiving Service in Campoverde Church Garden.

Maggie Dew, Church Warden, said, “Cam poverde Church in the Community knows how important people’s pets are to them. That’s why, every year, we hold a special service of Thanksgiving and Blessing for Our Pets in the Church Garden. Each year we put together a very special service full of prayers, songs and readings of thanks, that draw out the compari son of the unconditional love our pets show us with the unconditional love of God for us.”

This year, 35 people and their pets (all dogs this year) gathered in the beautiful Church Gar den for this delightful celebration, led by Pip Shail with music by Mike Shail. All of the pets

ELCHE’S natural park, El Clot de Galvany, is celebrating World Bird Migratory Day on the weekend of October 8.

This year participants will visit the site in the morning equipped with binoculars and bird guides.

The route will be guided and assisted by the environ mental monitors of the Envi ronmental Control and Edu cation Service of the Clot de Galvany, so they will be able

and their owners behaved impeccably.

During the service a collection was taken, all of which is to be given to local animal charities.

World Bird Day

to observe and identify the great variety of birds that live in the area in the middle of nature.

The activities also include a theoretical­practical work shop for beginners in bird watching, which is a good opportunity for those who want to get started in the world of ornithology.

The activities are to raise awareness of the impor tance of birds and the envi ronmental issues surround ing them.

To take part in these activi ties, those interested should call the Department of the Environment on (+34) 966 658 028 or sign up via the website clotdegalvany.es.

Image: Campoverde Church in the Community.

SPECIAL SERVICE: Loving our pets unconditionally.

A NEW school being built in Elche is on track to be the most sustainable in the area. La Paz de Torrellano school will have its own sustainable power plant to generate electricity for onsite facilities. Council represen tatives visited the site on Thurs day September 29.

The school’s sustainable fea tures set it apart from any oth er school in the Valencian Com

Sustainable school go-ahead

munity, as the leading school in energy efficiency.

Representatives from the lo cal council visited the building site to inspect progress and dis cuss the project. They discussed the power plant which will gen erate more than 46 gigawatts

an hour and the site, which re cently caused a slight delay due to land quality concerns.

The project received an in vestment of more than €6 mil lion from the local council and an overall budget of nearly €32 million. It has a timeframe for

completion of around 14 months. González reassured the council about the construc tion’s timeline, saying that de spite the setbacks, project lead ers expect the school to be completed within the planned timeframe.

Guinea-Bissau grants renewed

Betty Henderson

ELCHE City Council will invest more than €25,000 in health and economic initiatives in a long­standing relationship with Guinea­Bissau. The move was announced on Sunday October 2 after a meeting be tween Elche deputy mayor, María Dolores Galiana and NGO (non profit organisation) leaders, Manuel Martínez Ferrer and Eu genio Jorge Mango.

The money from Elche Council will be used to fund optical care practices in São Domingos Hospital as well as the creation of a workshop for bicycle repair and main tenance in Guinea­Bissau, it is vital to have functioning bicycles which will allow peo ple in Guinea­Bissau to travel to work and stimulate the economy.

Since 1999, Elche City Council has in

NGO leaders and council figures announce funding for bicycles and eye health in Guinea-Bissau.

vested more than €1.1 million in the west African country, mainly in the north of the country, close to the border with Senegal. Elche has helped to improve sanitation, access to health and educational services, boost the economy, gender equality and sports and cultural programmes. The latest grants will be implemented by the NGOs in due course.

Care home leisure

CARE home residents in San Pedro Pinatar have been enjoying new out door leisure areas after investment by the local council. The council an nounced the new facili ties in two local care homes on Wednesday September 28, San Pedro and Lo Pagán homes.

The project has con sisted of the installation of a new petanque court, shaded bench areas for residents to enjoy the outdoors without risk of exposure to direct sun light and installation of static outdoor gym equipment. The care homes also received funds to improve air con ditioning systems and in door accessibility.

Town mayor, Vis itación Martínez, visited the care homes with lo cal councillor for Social Welfare, Fuensanta Gar cía, where they viewed the improved facilities.

Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Elche

Satisfaction

SPAIN has a satisfaction level of 96 per cent among tourists to the country this summer, ac cording to the latest Visi tor Satisfaction Survey.

The country’s leisure facilities were its most highly rated aspect (94 per cent), followed by its infrastructure (92 per cent).

North Americans, Latin Americans, British and Irish tourists were the most satisfied and more than half (55 per cent) plan to return in the next 12 months, the Spanish government confirmed on Monday, October 3.

The Minister of Indus try, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, said: “Lis tening to the opinion of our international visitors is an essential exercise in order to continue improv ing.

“The high level of satis faction shown by tourists who come to Spain is proof of the high level of professionalism and qual ity of our tourism sector, and should serve as a cat alyst for us to continue improving tourism and progressing towards ex cellence.”

Spain receives a satis faction level of 96 per cent from summer tourists.

Spain’s oldest man

ANTONIO ALVARADO

LARGO, officially Spain’s old est man, has died in a nursing home in Vegaquemada, Leon, at the grand age of 110. He had been a resident of the home for several years.

Earlier this year, on January 18, Antonio officially gained the title of the oldest man in Spain after the death of Sat

urnino de la Fuente, also from Leon, who passed away at the age of 112. Fuente was recog nised as the oldest man in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records after Puerto Rican Emilio Flores died on August 12, 2021, at the same age.

Born on July 8, 1912, in the Leon town of Remolina, in the

Science goes wrong

AN explosion caused by a scientific experiment going badly wrong in Girona’s Casa de Cultura building hospitalised five peo ple and left at least another 12 injured on Friday, September 30.

A total of two adults and three children were hospitalised suf fering from injuries after the explosion. Seventeen people were injured when a drum of liquid nitrogen exploded during a scien tific outreach event, which mixed magic and science, designed to bring science closer to children. Video footage that was upload ed onto social media showed the exact moment that the mas sive explosion occurred. Multiple emergency services were im mediately deployed to the location, including six fire crews from Girona, along with units from the Mossos d’Esquadra and ambu lances from the Emergency Medical System (SEM).

ALMOST half of Spaniards aged 25­34 have a university degree or equivalent, beating the European average.

The figure has risen by more than eight points in a decade, to 48.7 per cent. The data was published in ‘Education at a Glance: The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Indica tors 2022’.

The report was presented by the Secretary of State for Education, Jose Manuel Bar,

Best in class

to the Spanish Government on Monday, October 3. In to tal, 48.7 per cent of young people in the age group will have a higher education quali fication in 2021, 8.4 points more than in 2011 and almost 15 points more than in 2000 (34 per cent). This figure is above the average for OECD countries (46.9 per cent) and for the 22 EU countries (45.9 per cent).

municipality of Cremenes, An tonio was part of a large fami ly, with 15 brothers. He was christened El Patriarca in the Leonese wrestling circles for his longevity and is now the patriarch of Spain.

Pixabay

OLDEST MAN: Has died in Spain at the grand age of 110.

‘Megadron’ unveiled

SPAIN’S National Police force has unveiled their new super drone, the largest unmanned aircraft available, nicknamed the ‘Megadron’.

The Megadron went through a testing period af ter its acquisition in 2021 and has now passed.

Made in China, it weighs 600 kilos, is powered by electricity, and is capable of reaching 130kph in flight. The drone has the capacity to transport two people in side. Its maximum load is 220 kilos and this will be the first time it has been used in Europe by police forces.

Police say it will most like ly be used in areas where a helicopter cannot reach due to lack of space. Although it

is the largest police drone, it is at the same time a very small aircraft with a 5.6­me tre wingspan and standing 1.85m tall.

Officers say the drone may also be used for inves tigating possible nuclear or chemical spills. Its makers say it can also be used for transportation and could even be combined with technology which would help it avoid accidents.

118% food hike

SPAIN’S food prices have risen at record rates according to the Organisation of Con sumers and Users (OCU), who said that sun flower oil had risen the most at 118 per cent.

They add that in general terms prices have risen far quicker than consumers are used to, with items like cleaning products rising 15.3 per cent, the fastest in 34 years.

But it is those products worst affected by the war in Ukraine that have seen the

biggest jump, led by the extraordinary rise in sunflower oil prices. Other products that have seen big jumps include muffins (75 per cent), margarine (75 per cent), bananas (64 per cent), pasta (56 per cent), olive oil (53 per cent), flour (50 per cent) and eggs (47 per cent).

The OCU says there has never been a bet ter time to shop around with the average consumer able to save as much as €994 a year just by changing their shopping habits.

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: The new super drone.

New wealth tax

ON Thursday September 29, new measures were an nounced by the PSOE leftwing coalition government to tax wealth in excess of €3 mil lion.

The country’s Finance Min ister, María Jesús Montero, announced the measure as a “movement of solidarity” during the economic crisis. The tax is a temporary mea sure to combat rocketing en

MULTIPLE warnings from British expats in Spain sug gest that Sabadell has al legedly put up its banking prices.

“After promising not to charge for using their bank if your pension insurance and savings are paid into your account, this is what Sabadell have decided to do to their loyal cus tomers,” one of the Span ish bank’s British expats told Euro Weekly News.

Upon sharing a copy of a

ergy bills and inflation.

The tax will affect around 21,000 Spanish taxpayers. The measure will tax in incre ments, starting at 1.7 per cent for people with €3­5 million, 2.1 per cent for those with €5­10 million and 3.5 per cent for individuals with more than €10 million.

Income tax is also likely to rise from 26 to 27 per cent for those earning

more than €200,000.

The agreed package of eco nomic measures will raise €3.1 billion during the next two years. Montero de scribed the measures as aim ing to make the economy “more progressive, efficient and fair.”

Opposing regional govern ments with devolved power are likely to introduce mea sures including tax relief.

Bank warning

letter he received from the bank, Geoffrey S said: “Along with rising food prices and petrol costs, Sabadell has decided to im part more costs on their customers.”

He added: “Unbeliev able. I have tried to discuss this with the bank but have been passed from pillar to post or ignored.”

The letter shows that in order for the commission to be 0 euros, customers need to meet four require ments, including having taken out three free or combined insurance poli cies.

However, it appears that if customers do not meet these needs, then prices do in fact go up.

A NEW report released on September 29 has found that Spain is one of the cheap est countries in Europe for learner drivers.

The study found that Spaniards spend an average of €1,191 learning to drive. Only Polish, Portuguese and Maltese drivers pay less to get their licence. By per centage of yearly income, Spain remains a cheap country to learn to drive. At 8 per

Cheap licence fees

cent of an average yearly income, Spain ranks as 10th cheapest in Europe.

The report crowned Malta as the cheap est country in Europe to learn how to drive, costing just 5 per cent of an annual

income. The most expensive country is Sweden, costing more than 13 per cent of an annual salary.

The report investigated the total cost of learning to drive, considering the costs of

lessons, tests, provisional licences and full licence costs, assuming a driver passes the test on the first attempt.

Car insurance company, confused.com conducted the research to investigate learner driving trends in Europe. The full report as well as tips for passing driving tests the first time is available online from confused.com.

Record-breaking siblings

THE Guinness World Records confirmed the new holders of a special record on Thursday September 29. The Hernández­Pérez siblings broke the record for the highest combined age of 12 living siblings, with a mega total age of 1,058 years, 249 days.

The seven sons and five daughters of Modesto Hernández and Martina Pérez were all born in Moya, Gran Canaria between 1924 and 1946, meaning they are now between 98 and 76.

The siblings were recognised by the local council this summer in a ceremony attended by a notary who recorded their age in preparation for their record attempt. The family said in a statement that the record­breaking bid began as a joke when the family was gathered in June.

Having their record recognised has helped the

A PROBABLE impact crater has been discov ered in Almeria Province, which would be the first of its kind on the Iberian Peninsula.

Scientists believe a four­kilometre wide crater in Betic Corrillera was created by a colli sion because of the rock composition in the area. There are around 200 impact craters in the world, but none have been confirmed on the Iberian Peninsula until now.

Project lead, Professor Juan Antonio Sánchez Garrido announced the exciting dis covery at Europlanet Science Congress on Fri day September 23 saying that they believe

siblings to develop an even closer bond, with them hoping to bring recognition to their com munity and heritage.

After confirming the siblings’ age, the Guin ness World Records said that the new record holders surpass the previous Pakistani D’Cruz family’s record by 16 years.

Impact crater found

that an impact event happened around eight million years ago.

The discovery is the culmination of 15 years of research by an international working group of scientists from Spanish universities in Alme ria and Madrid and Danish universities in Copenhagen and Lund.

Sánchez Garrido also highlighted the positive impacts that the discovery could have on the surrounding area, contributing to the scientific and tourism attractions Almeria has to offer.

New record holders confirmed.

Credit Shutterstock/360b.

Eye ‘donation’

AN image of Spanish actor Javier Bardem’s eye is set to raise thousands for a sightsaving charity.

A striking image is being auctioned as a digital non­

fungible token on Septem ber 29 for a charity that deals with treatable blind ness in developing coun tries. Bids can be entered until today, October 6 and

the money raised from the sale will fund the charity’s work and raise awareness about treatable blindness.

The NGO Ojos del Mundo was founded in Barcelona in 2001 and has since restored the sight of thousands across the globe. The charity has worked to restore 37,000 people’s sight in African countries including Mali, Mozambique and Al geria and in South American countries like Bolivia. Ojos del Mundo also trains staff on the ground, to continue its work in its absence.

Javier Bardem is an inter nationally­acclaimed actor, having starred in huge movies including as a Bond villain in Skyfall. Speaking about the decision to sell the portrait, Bardem high lighted the value of our senses saying “Being able to see, to hear, to touch, to feel: these are things that we don’t really appreciate until we lose them.”

Migration deal success

ON Tuesday September 20, the Spanish Min istry for Migration held talks with the Moroc can Ministry for Labour and Migration in Tangi er, with Spanish authorities securing 5,000 more workers than expected. Though the fig ure remains below the numbers requested by employers, the total number of almost 16,000 Moroccan agricultural workers represents a near­return to pre­pandemic figures in the mi grant employment sector.

The majority of the workers will be em ployed by strawberry­growing companies in Huelva Province during the upcoming 2022/23 season. Around 1,000 migrant workers will also be employed in agriculture in Albacete and Segovia.

Head of the Spanish Ministry for Migration, Santiago Yerga said the deal was a success and

A COPPER cable theft gang, who allegedly stole 15 tonnes of the valuable metal across Spain, has been busted follow ing a nearly year­long police operation.

Officers from the Guardia Civil arrested 12 and are investi gating another three following the thefts in Cuenca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Albacete and Madrid, the Guardia Civil confirmed on Saturday, October 1.

In the operation, nearly a ton

highlighted the importance of cooperation be tween Spain and Morocco. He said “investing in mutually beneficial migration deals helps to guarantee a future for the migrants and to stop illegal immigration routes.”

Moroccan authorities will now begin a pre liminary selection process to find eligible candi dates for the work. The positions are typically filled by young women.

All tied up

of stolen cable was seized, as well as around €2,000 in cash, clothes for camouflage, several mobile phone terminals, docu mentation related to economic benefits, and the seizure of four high­end vehicles.

The operation began in De cember of last year, when the Guardia Civil learned of the

theft of coils of copper cable, mainly from solar panel installa tions in La Manchuela, Cuenca.

The gang allegedly used work vehicles similar to those used by labourers, or camouflaged themselves with the workers’ own clothing to sneak onto work sites undetected and steal the cable.

YOUNG WOMEN: Typically fill the positions.

Photo credit: Rido / shutterstock.com

Labour’s poll surge

Rupert

Good news for Keir Starmer.

€16,000 golden find

A METAL detectorist who unearthed an old gold coin was over the moon when it sold for £16,000 at an auction in London on Friday, September 30.

The old gold coin he unearthed on a muddy field was initially expected to go for around £30,000 at Noonan’s auction house in London.

Mick Edwards was enjoying a trip away on his 35th wedding anniversary when he decided to take a morning stroll with his metal detector around the fields of the farm they were staying at in Etchilhampton, near the town of Devizes in Wiltshire.

Mick has already agreed to split the proceeds with the Wilt shire landowner.

His discovery dates to between 1495 and 1521 and is believed to be the first of its kind ever dug up in Britain. A Latin inscription on the gold coin translates as: ‘In this sign shall we conquer’. It weighs around 30 grams and has a diameter of 36mm. The Por tuguese coin was buried in about 10 inches of mud when Mick located it.

Peter McLaren­Kennedy RESULTS from the latest YouGov Times poll on Fri day, September 30 put the Labour Party 33 points ahead, the biggest lead en joyed by the party since 1998 during the early Tony Blair years. Interestingly the poll found that 17 per cent of those who had voted for Boris Johnson said they would now vote Labour.

A Survation poll put the Labour lead at 21 points, the biggest Labour lead the poll sters have ever recorded with 49 per cent saying that would vote for Labour against 28 per cent for the Tories. Similar results came from a Deltapoll / Mirror poll.

Worryingly for the Liberal Democrats, the YouGov / Times poll found that up to 50 per cent of those who voted for the party in 2019 said they would now vote Labour.

It also found that 26 per cent of Tory voters did not know who to vote for.

Short working week

A TRIAL being carried out in the UK into the effectiveness of a four­day working week appears to be proving a success for the companies involved.

The largest pilot scheme towards bring ing in a four­day working week was launched in the United Kingdom in June. It is a six­month trial that more than 70 companies signed up for.

At the halfway point of the trial, the or ganisers have conducted a survey of the companies participating in the experi ment.

Of the total surveyed, 88 per cent of re

spondents said that the four­day week is working ‘well’ for their business at this stage of the test. Another 46 per cent of respondents said their business productiv ity had ‘remained at the same level’, while 34 per cent reported that it had ‘improved slightly’, while 15 per cent said that it had ‘improved significantly’.

When it was asked if they would, at this point of the trial, consider maintaining the four­day week, 86 per cent of respon dents said that they would be ‘extremely likely’ or ‘likely’ to do that after the trial period concluded.

Heathrow plane crash

AN emergency was de clared at Heathrow Air port on Wednesday, September 28 after two planes taxiing on the apron collided.

Footage on social me dia suggests the two air liners collided around 8pm resulting in emer gency crews being scram bled to the scene.

The airport confirmed the incident saying that the two planes were not involved in a head­on collision but that one air craft scraped the side of the other.

Passengers on the plane told one publica tion that the wing of one plane hit the other, but that the damage

was not serious.

According to passen gers, it appears one plane passed by the oth er too close resulting in the wing being hit. One said: “I was watching out the window thinking we were awful close to the tail for a parked plane.

“And then it looked like we grazed it.”

New price highs

THE British Retail Con sortium (BRC) reported on Wednesday Septem ber 28 that price rises in shops and supermarkets had risen to their highest level since records began

back in 2005, increasing to 5.7 per cent from Au gust’s 5.1 per cent.

Speaking on behalf of the industry, the BRC said that the increase had been led by food

Mortgage products pulled

A RECORD 935 mortgage products were pulled in the last week of September as UK financial markets re mained in turmoil.

Experts claim banks had been pushed into making the unprecedented move after the chancellor’s minibudget sent the markets into a tailspin.

The Bank of England responding to the collapse in the pound had said it would do whatever it needed to do to protect the pound and to keep the inflation rate within the target 2 per cent. That led to fears of sharp rate increases.

Government bonds which influence the cost lenders pay to borrow money have risen quickly as a result of the Bank’s intervention. That has made it difficult for bankers to price mortgages.

Experts say this could now have an effect on house prices with averages expected to fall by around 10 per cent.

The record number of mortgage products pulled surpasses the 80s financial crisis which saw borrowing costs rise to unprecedented levels and a massive slump in the housing market.

prices which had risen by 10.6 per cent on the back of the war in Ukraine.

Inflated costs of key raw materials such as fertiliser, animal feed and vegetable oils had the BRC said, pushed the cost of food production upwards.

The consumer price in dex produced by the Of fice for National Statis tics (ONS) covers a broader range of prod ucts than the BRC sur vey.

By its measure infla tion hit a 40­year high of 10.1 per cent in July be fore easing back to 9.9 per cent in August.

The mini­budget with its tax cuts and high bor rowings pushed the pound down by nearly 8 per cent, which will fur ther add to the import element of inflation.

That could see UK shop prices race to even more new highs in October.

Betty Henderson

A UNIQUE art exhibition has been on display on the seafront in Guardamar del Se gura over the weekend of Oc tober 1 and 2. The theme of the exhibition was ‘Living with skin conditions’ and work from more than 20 students was displayed for the public to view. Local talent was on display as well as the work of several English and Polish stu dents from a local art school.

The portraits have been completed over the past two weeks. Portraits at the exhibi tion showed a woman in local places with a skin condition on display to reduce stigma about skin conditions and

covering up blemishes. The exhibition aims to raise awareness about living with skin conditions, improving ac ceptance of skin conditions and helping sufferers. The ex hibition is particularly power ful in the digital age of photo

Seafront art exhibition Panto in Rojales

shop and filters which often airbrush reality.

Town mayor, José Luis Sáez tweeted his support for the exhibition, adding images to allow those who missed the exhibition to view the por traits.

Celebrating Diwali

PUNJABI PALACE are celebrating the Di wali Festival, which is one of the most sig nificant festivals in India, a five­day cele bration that includes fireworks, coloured sand, special candles and lamps plus good food. On Saturday, October 22 at Cabo Roig and on Monday, October 24 at La Marquesa there will be Bollywood enter tainment and live music plus a special menu. Booking is advised.

If you’ve not been to the La Marquesa restaurant, then you have been missing out on a treat, as the regular diners can vouch for a wonderful view of the golf course, along with an outside terrace that is just perfect for a spot of al fresco dining during the long summer nights.

vian, Swedish, Norwegian, French, Italian and German all come back for an evening of amazing food and the wonderful atmo sphere.

ROJALES Pantomime Group are proud to present its produc tion of Treasure Island which will be held at the Cardinal Bellu ga Theatre in San Fulgencio. Join Long John Silver and his mot ley crew sail away to the Caribbean to search for buried treasure, accompanied by Mum (whose a man) and her son Jim (whose a woman) ­ only in pantomime!

Performances will be held on Thursday, December 1, and Friday, December 2, at 7.15pm and Saturday, December 3 at 2.15pm.

You can join in the fun by purchasing tickets from local outlets or by email: voreilly16@googlemail.com.

Tickets are €10 for adults and €5 for children.

The three Punjabi Palace restaurants are synonymous with serving up superb quality food coupled with outstanding service and a friendly atmosphere for you to enjoy your lunch or dinner. That’s why they get so many repeat customers not only English and Spanish but Scandina

All three restaurants are open daily from noon until late when you can enjoy the popular lunchtime special for only €11.95 per person. At Punjabi Palace II you will find a large outside terraced area perfect for birthdays, parties and wed dings etc. They even cater for the younger ones and have a varied children’s menu. There is also a takeaway service available.

Feeling the pinch

Betty Henderson

A REPORT into the cost of living crisis has found that 94 per cent of British peo ple will be forced to make changes to their household financial management this winter. SellCell released a report on September 28, in which 3,000 UK residents were asked about their spending to learn more about supporting people to save money.

The survey asked partici

pants to name measures they would take to save money. The results showed that over 70 per cent will be reducing household heating or turning it off, 62 per cent will be reducing electricity use. Other spending measures were mentioned including cut ting out social spending, stopping clothes shopping, stopping subscription ser vices, and selling posses sions including cars.

Almost a quarter of re spondents said they were extremely worried about spending pressures at Christmas time with a huge 71 per cent saying they would cut Christmas spend ing this year.

The survey also found that almost 75 per cent of respondents did not feel the government is doing enough to support people through the cost of living crisis.

Mortimer health update

Peter McLaren­Kennedy COMEDIAN Bob Mortimer has given an update on his health after he was hospitalised over the weekend of September 24 and 25.

Speaking at a Leicester Square pod cast, Mortimer, who underwent a triple heart bypass in 2015, explained he had been overdoing it with work when he fell ill.

While shooting his popular Gone Fishing show alongside Paul White

house, Mortimer said that filming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday had proved too much.

The star is also reportedly suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, which he was initally diagnosed with 40 years ago.

He said that had returned recently after living for decades without it.

The condition is believed to have re turned in September, affecting his joints, hands and feet.

World Heart Day

Betty Henderson

WORLD HEART DAY takes place every year on Septem ber 29, putting the spotlight on heart conditions which are currently the leading cause of death in the EU and in many countries globally. This year the EU is marking the day by telling residents to ‘Listen to your heart’.

The EU’s Health Commis sioner, Stella Kyriakides spoke

this week to raise awareness about cardiovascular condi tions and the importance of good heart health. She called heart conditions “one of the greatest health challenges of our time”, saying that six mil lion more cases are diagnosed each year, with 1.8 million yearly deaths from cardiovas cular diseases. Kyriakides highlighted the importance of heart health in the context of

the pandemic saying that car diovascular illnesses increased people’s chances of dying of Covid­19. She encouraged people to take care of their heart health in their daily lives to avoid increased risk of oth er conditions.

Heart health is a crucial part of the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan and the body regularly conducts research into cardio vascular conditions.

Humanitarian solutions

THE EU unites the humanitarian communi ty ahead of the winter and concerns about the fallout of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. A meeting between key EU crisis manage ment figures opened on September 26 to discuss EU strategy to deal with the crisis and its humanitarian issues. The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič will work with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Olha Stefanishyna to discuss and coordinate responses to the conflict. The delegation will discuss likely

challenges and ways to overcome them. Organisations participating include the Red Cross, the World Bank, EU funded organisa tions and other individual organisations. Lenarčič highlighted the challenges ahead saying, “The upcoming winter will be one of the harshest Ukrainians are ever going to face, they will be threatened by freezing temperatures due to damaged housing and heating systems and the Commission hopes to create a “continue supporting Ukraine through the hardships.”

Royal grandchildren lose titles

QUEEN MARGRETHE of Denmark has taken four of her eight grandchildren’s royal titles away from them so that they can “shape their own lives to a much greater extent without be ing limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves.”

A statement released by the Danish royal family on Wednesday September 28 said: “As of January 1 2023, the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Joachim will only be able to use their titles of Count and Countess of Monpezat, their previous titles of Prince and Princess of Denmark ceasing to exist.”

Nikolai (aged 23), Felix (20), Henrik (13) and Athena (10) are the children of Queen Mar grethe’s youngest son, Prince Joachim, from

two different marriages.

The mother of Prince Joachim’s two eldest sons, Countess Alexandra, told local media she was “shocked” at the news. “This came from out of the blue. The children feel excluded. They can’t understand why their identity is be ing taken from them,” she said.

English in the lead

CELEBRATED on Monday September 26, the European Day of Languages is a means of promoting awareness among the general public of the impor tance of language learning and protecting the linguistic heritage of Europe. According to a recent Eurostat report with data from 2020, the majority of pupils in

primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education in the EU study at least one for eign language, with 96.1 per cent, 98.4 per cent and 90.3 per cent, respectively.

In 2020, 60 per cent of pupils in upper secondary school in the EU studied two or more for eign languages as compulsory subjects. This was 100 per cent

in Luxembourg and France, 99 per cent in Romania, Finland and Czechia and 98 per cent in Slovakia and Estonia. English was the most commonly stud ied foreign language at this lev el, with 96 per cent of students learning it. Spanish ranked sec ond (27 per cent), Russian was the non­EU language most commonly learned (3 per cent).

LOST IDENTITY: Queen Margrethe and three of her grandsons in 2010.

Tamsin

ANIMAL welfare leaders have issued a warning that EU countries remain top des tinations for stolen wildlife, urging governments to close loopholes that allow ex ploitative practices to contin ue. A report released on Tuesday September 27 stat ed that the European Union is a “main hub” for the trade of stolen wildlife and ex

Wildlife warning

posed EU countries as “com plicit” in the smuggling of na tionally protected species.

The report is based on case studies including wildlife traf ficked from Cuba, the Philip pines, South Africa, Brazil

and Morocco. Three animal welfare organisations pro duced and commissioned the report; the Humane Soci ety International/Europe, IFAW and Pro Wildlife. They argue that current legislation

is allowing the import and onward trade of illegally bred and traded animals into the EU. The phenomenon is particularly notable in the ex otic pet trade where wealthy owners take drastic mea sures that ultimately drive wildlife trafficking. The re port demands the EU pro hibits the import, sales, purchase and possession of wildlife that has been il legally sourced in the country of origin. The Eu ropean Parliament have proposed several motions in support of the EU adopting such a policy in law.

New strikes

Betty Henderson

A NATIONAL strike has been called in France over ongoing disputes about pay for teaching and transport staff. Primary school teachers, train and bus workers and nuclear power industry workers walked out of the work place on Thursday September 29 to demand a pay rise.

The strike is the largest walk­out since President Emmanuel Macron won re­election in April and is being seen as a test to gauge union strength.

Teachers and transport

Macron’s previous admin istration was repeatedly tested with strikes.

workers demand that the government addresses concerns related to the cost of living crisis and sky­high energy bills by increasing pay.

Striking workers marched on the streets with posters calling on the government to in crease wages in line with inflation. One in 10 schools in Paris were closed on Thursday while 300 in the Marseille re gion were closed.

Unions are also protest ing a proposed govern ment bill to push back the retirement age from 62 to 65. Phillipe Martinez, head of the CGT union, said that it was an out rage to raise the retire ment age while unem ployment remains rife.

It remains unclear how Macron’s government will deal with a fresh round of strike action.

Photo credit: Alexandros

Europe’s busiest airport

ISTANBUL Airport was named the busiest airport in Europe once again dur ing the week between September 19 to Septem ber 25. The airport served thousands of passengers

operating a daily average of 1,286 flights.

Second on the list was Amsterdam Schipol with 1,272 flights, followed by Paris’ Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt Airport and Lon

Classical music award

SPANISH musical symphony project is one of the winners of the European Union’s biggest cultural heritage prizes.

Spanish musical project ‘Symphony’ was awarded a top prize at the European Cultural Heritage award ceremony held at the iconic Prague State Opera on September 27.

The musical project won the ‘Grand Prix’ prize for Digital Transformation. ‘Symphony’ was a project offering immer sive audio­visual experiences to bring traditional classical music to life for modern audiences. Prizegivers praised the ‘cutting­edge technology’ developers used in the project.

Other projects awarded in the ceremony were an inter national team’s computer system to improve research into European silk heritage, a Bulgarian project which opened Sofia’s riverbed to the public, and an Italian team who hiked and documented the 8,000km­long Sentiero.

Prize winners receive a cash prize of €10,000 after being selected by a judging panel.

don Heathrow.

Airport CEO, Kadri Sam sunlu, stated that the air port has now served more than 47 million passengers in 2022.

Turkish Airlines is the largest flight operator at the airport and is a popu lar choice with tourists, coming within 1 per cent of its pre­pandemic opera tions.

The airline was also re cently awarded a prize as Europe’s best carrier at the World Airline Awards re cently.

This comes at the end of a busy summer season for the airport. Turkey is a top choice holiday destination, particularly with tourists hoping for a last minute getaway as the weather remains reliably sunny and warm in many parts of the country.

Istanbul is a destination of choice for many tourists given its rich history, vi brant culture and proximi ty to beautiful beaches.

Movie star Terry Stone

WITH not one but two films premiering at this year’s Marbella International Film Festival, the Euro Weekly News sat down to talk to actor and producer Terry Stone.

Stone, whose life’s story takes in music, movies and some seriously sharp business moves, explained his road to success was not an obvious one, leaving school with no qualifi cations to start out in a fast food chain. As the actor joked to the EWN, “Ronald McDonald gave me my start in life.”

He quickly wanted more however, moving into sales with a lucrative income until the re cession hit in the 80s, which he said left him with nothing. “For a year it felt like the world had ended,” said Stone.

Still in his 20s, Terry was determined to en joy life however and found himself joining the rave scene. At a time when a night out tradi tionally meant, “a club with a sticky carpet, some bad music and then a kebab,” Terry said he found the music and culture of the emerg ing rave movement a breath of fresh air.

He explained: “There were no fights, every one was friendly and there was a great vibe.”

Getting involved, first as a leaflet tout and then as a promoter and organiser, Stone turned raves into a multi­million pound busi

ness, founding the brand One Nation and lat er Rave Nation and Garage Nation.

Now well­known in the UK for his raves, Terry said was tiring of the non­stop hours and increasingly different vibe when he met his now wife, who said that at nearly 30 it was time to get out.

Having sold the business, Terry was now in a position to do what he wanted and em barked on a career in acting, finding himself an agent and acting classes. Within his first year he had two appearances in EastEnders as well as several other mainstream TV gigs un der his belt.

Realising he had only made €8,000 in that year however, Terry turned his business mind to the problem and after a friend pointed out he’d spent years successfully attracting in vestors and promoting One Nation, Terry re alised he could make his own movies.

Starting with One Man and His Dog, which he says, “was like going to film school,” Terry continued creating his own work until one day he was reading the book Rise of the Foot soldier, and realised it would make a great film.

Buying the rights, Terry launched the huge ly successful Rise of the Footsoldier franchise

which has now spread to five films. This en during series has starred Vinny Jones, Craig Fairbrass, and of course Terry himself.

Speaking about his life now, Terry said: “I still get offered plenty of roles but I like having control over what I choose to work on or not.

“I get the best of both worlds really now and there is plenty more coming in 2023, so stay tuned.”

uing to create his own films as well as ex ploring his musical roots with two films at this year’s Marbella International Film Festi val.

The Last Heist will premiere at Red Dog Cin emas in Puerto Banus on Friday, October 7, while 25 Years of Garage premieres at the same venue on Saturday, October 8.

For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk

Credit: Terry Stone

TERRY STONE: The actor created the successful Rise of the Footsoldier franchise.

TONY TUCKER: Stone as his memorable Rise of a Footsoldier character.

Credit: Terry Stone

PRESSEUROPEAN

DENMARK

Drone power

RUDOLPH may soon be out of a job as the Danish Post Office is currently testing the delivery of small parcels by fixed wing drones which can travel at more than 100 kmh and if successful, they may be scaled up to allow for the delivery of much heavier parcels.

THE NETHERLANDS

Menthol cigarettes

THE May 2020 European Union ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes saw many menthol smokers in Holland giving up according to research undertaken by scientific journal Tobacco Control, which involved 1,300 Dutch smokers. Those with a craving for menthol can however still purchase them in Gibraltar.

BELGIUM

Winter Wonders

DESPITE the fact that Covid figures are starting to increase, Brussels is already looking forward to its 21st Winter Wonders festivities which will run from November 25 to January 1 to include the light show, cultural activities and ice rink as well as markets.

GERMANY

Difficult future

AS German politicians make it clear that they are in favour of offering asylum to Russians who want to escape being called up to Putin’s reserve armies, the large number of Ukrainians who have already found refuge in that country are worried about their future safety.

FRANCE

Bullfighting

WITH the main focus being on stopping bullfighting in Spain, not many people realise that there are a number of regular bullfights across much of France which are supported financially by the French government. Now one MP is tabling a bill to see the practice abolished.

NORWAY

Crab is King

ONE benefit of the rising prices in shops is that Norway’s King Crab fisherman have not only seen demand rise but also the income they obtain from netting this popular delicacy and by the end of September they had earned more than they did during 2021.

FINLAND

Chinese cards

SAVVY Russians who have been unable to use their MasterCard and Visa credit cards due to sanctions have discovered that if they possess a Chinese card UnionPay, they can pop across the border with Finland and use it to download money from cash machines there.

IRELAND

United Ireland

NOW that the 2021 census figures have revealed that for the first time since partition, Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for a poll to give Ulster residents the chance to decide on the possibility of a unified island.

ITALY

AstroSam

ITALIAN astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti known by the nickname AstroSam has become the first European woman to command the International Space Station (ISS) with effect from September 28, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced as she assumed control in a televised ceremony beamed back to Earth.

PORTUGAL

Moroccan deal

WITH a continued shortage of labour especially in the agricultural sector, the Portuguese and Moroccan governments have launched a pilot project whereby 400 Moroccans will be granted admission to Portugal to work, after receiving necessary training and will be given help to learn the language.

UKRAINE

Water tax

A DRAFT bill going through Lithuania’s Parliament to slap a 1c tax on water which would have raised €4,000 a day to assist the reconstruction of the Ukraine has been dropped as it was decided that it would be too complicated to implement.

SWEDEN

Sabotage

SWEDISH Foreign Minister Ann Linde has announced that three leaks on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were due to explosions and whilst police have been instructed to investigate, the Swedish government has not ruled out the possibility of sabotage by persons as yet unknown.

BUSINESS EXTRA The Break FINANCE

Tax cuts

IN a statement made on Thursday September 29, the Spanish Minister of Finance Maria Jesus Montero confirmed that from next year, the government will reduce income tax for those earning up to €21,000 per year which should benefit some 50 per cent of all those employed and there will be changes for the self­employed.

Food banks

AS food prices continue to rise, more Spanish families are finding it difficult to afford to feed themselves and are turning to food banks for assistance but in a ‘Catch 22’ situation, there are less donations although the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund has committed to supply 50.7 million kilos of food.

EV problem

A STUDY by researchers at Stanford University in the USA has come to the conclusion that with the expected growth of sale of electric vehicles over the next decade, there will be a problem with a huge surge in demand as owners recharge at night once home, possibly overloading the grids.

VAT reduction

BOWING to a long­standing wish by Podemos, the Spanish Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz announced on her Twitter account that the next budget will include a decision to reduce VAT on feminine hygiene products from 10 per cent to 4 per cent (known as the ‘pink rate’).

Windfall tax

THE European Union has agreed in principle to allow members to introduce short term emergency measures to charge energy firms on their record profits. The plan is to raise funds from taxation to allow countries to increase their support for those most affected by the cost­of­living increases and to reduce energy consumption.

King Charles III coin

THE first of the new King Charles III coins have been revealed by the Royal Mint, which will start to enter circulation from December this year.

Announced on Friday September 30, the Royal Mint said that the first to bear the new King’s like ness will be a new 50p coin.

In keeping with tradi tion, the image will show the King looking to the left and in the opposite direction to those bear ing an image of Queen Elizabeth II.

The reverse of the coin features a design that originally appeared on the 1953 Coronation Crown and includes the four quarters of the Roy al Arms depicted within a shield. It depicts the four nations with a rose, a

thistle, a shamrock and a leek.

A commemorative £5 coin is also to be released which features two new portraits of the late Queen on the reverse side, a younger and an older picture.

According to Nicola Howell, Chief Commer cial Officer at the Royal

Mint, King Charles worked closely with the sculptor Martin Jennings to design the new coins. He is also said to have personally approved the designs and the effigy.

Inscribed with the Latin: “CHARLES III: D: G: REX: F: D: 5 POUNDS: 2022” this translates to: “King Charles III, by the

Grace of God, Defender of the Faith.”

Ms Howell said: “We expect customers will start to be able to receive the commemorative range from October and then we expect the 50p memorial circulating coin to be appearing in peo ple’s change probably from December.”

THE Ministry of Industry, Com merce and Tourism, through the Foundation of the School of Indus trial Organisation (EOI) and the col laboration of Impact Hub Madrid, has launched a programme to at tract Female Entrepreneurship in Spain.

The objectives of ‘The Break’ are to contribute to reducing the gen der gap in entrepreneurship, learn ing and improving the projects of the participating women en trepreneurs and the creation of a European network of women en trepreneurs known as the breaker community, to create business and opportunities.

After sharing experiences in their innovation projects, the en trepreneurs will develop them in 12 local communities and the pro gramme, financed by Next Gener ation EU funds, is part of the Gov ernment’s Recovery and Resilience Plan with a budget of €10 million.

Inflation fall

SPAIN’S Consumer Price Index for September is currently at 9 per cent according to an initial forecast released on Thursday September 29 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This compares to the final August figure of 10.5 per cent and whilst still high is heading in the right direction.

ON October 1, crucial changes to the UK’s Right to Work legislation became law and this could have a major impact on the already diffi cult process of employing new staff.

According to government­certi fied digital identity provider Xydus many businesses don’t appreciate the requirements of the new law and could find themselves in consid erable difficulty.

Prior to the pandemic, the majori ty of Right to Work checks were conducted in person as required un der Home Office rules and prospec tive employees showed documents providing evidence of their right to work to employers who stored a copy.

During the pandemic, temporary adjustments were made to these requirements in order for remote work to be facilitated, and help businesses continue to hire in lock down.

For the first time ever, in­person checks were permitted to be carried

out over video calls, and job appli cants were able to send a photo of their documents to employers via email.

Now all UK businesses must use government certified Identity Ser vice Providers (IDSPs) to complete digital Right to Work checks.

Digital checks require the submis sion of images of personal docu ments using certified ID validation technology to verify the employees

right to work. Any other method is non­compliant.

Failing to comply can result in a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per non­compliant check with those found guilty losing the ability to sponsor work visa applications for foreign nationals and even criminal convictions in serious cases.

In addition, records need to be kept for up to two years after an employee leaves the business.

The reduction is mainly due to the fall in electricity prices, which rose in September 2021 whilst the fall in fuel prices, compared with the rise in the previous year, and the fall in transport also played a role, albeit to a lesser extent.

The annual rate of the leading indicator of core inflation de creased by two 10ths of a percent age point to 6.2 per cent.

A STUDY commissioned by lin gerie brand Pour Moi, showed most UK men admit they don’t have a clue when it comes to buy ing new underwear for their part ner.

The lingerie brand conducted the survey after analysing sales and search data that revealed a trend in the rise of men purchas ing underwear for their partners which has been on the up for the last five consecutive years.

COMMEMORATIVE: The new Royal effigy.

FURTHER CHECKS: Job interview is no longer enough.

Credit: The Royal Mint

3I Group 1.077,00 1.091,97 1.072,00 24,21K

Abrdn 135,73 138,48 135,38 238,05K

Admiral Group 1.883,0 1.901,7 1.876,8 6,27K

Anglo American 2.704,5 2.723,5 2.657,0 29,62K

Antofagasta 1.104,00 1.108,00 1.091,50 11,82K

Ashtead Group 3.976,0 4.063,0 3.963,0 92,14K

Associated British Foods 1.238,2 1.261,8 1.237,3 16,00K

AstraZeneca 9.720,0 9.824,0 9.673,1 29,78K

Auto Trader Group Plc 509,60 516,20 503,80 41,48K

Aveva 3.136,0 3.140,0 3.128,0 7,15K

Aviva 384,60 391,40 380,56 537,40K

B&M European Value Retail SA311,10 316,27 304,30 123,44K

BAE Systems 783,55 793,60 779,13 233,89K

Barclays 142,02 144,50 141,34 2,75M

Barratt Developments 351,00 352,80 338,11 465,58K

Berkeley 3.351,0 3.374,0 3.252,0 84,37K

BHP Group Ltd 2.236,00 2.249,93 2.223,50 27,76K

BP 441,00 443,75 432,13 890,72K

British American Tobacco 3.221,5 3.231,4 3.153,0 66,45K

British Land Company 351,40 354,90 345,59 44,46K

BT Group 122,00 123,45 120,67 663,93K

Bunzl 2.739,0 2.748,0 2.721,0 96,80K

Burberry Group 1.793,0 1.810,0 1.773,0 157,71K

Carnival 532,6 558,5 531,9 320,20K

Centrica 70,74 71,89 69,60 791,65K

Coca Cola HBC AG 1.837,1 1.864,7 1.823,0 31,70K

Compass 1.768,50 1.788,00 1.765,00 349,78K

CRH 2.880,0 2.884,0 2.855,0 2,18K

Croda Intl 6.325,0 6.436,0 6.316,0 11,46K

DCC 4.673,0 4.675,0 4.619,0 36,70K

Diageo 3.703,4 3.766,0 3.695,0 46,27K

DS Smith 254,73 257,61 251,46 230,96K

EasyJet 282,10 288,80 280,70 524,44K

Experian 2.584,6 2.635,7 2.572,0 12,24K

Ferguson 9.182,0 9.342,0 9.170,0 1,30K

Flutter Entertainment 9.821,5 9.884,0 9.688,0 2,35K

Fresnillo 765,00 773,22 753,32 18,77K

Glencore 477,44 480,39 469,19 739,77K

GSK plc 1.301,00 1.304,15 1.286,20 112,39K

Halma 1.978,5 2.042,0 1.978,1 23,12K

Hargreaves Lansdown 834,60 879,40 833,60 287,80K

Hikma Pharma 1.343,00 1.360,00 1.330,00 96,68K

HSBC 454,96 462,25 454,75 278,86K

IAG 91,54 95,68 91,52 2,57M

Imperial Brands 1.836,56 1.850,00 1.831,79 45,09K

Informa 508,60 516,40 506,40 150,55K

InterContinental

Intermediate Capital 975,80 998,40 964,20 313,53K

Intertek 3.591,0 3.694,4 3.591,0 2,07K

ITV 57,00 58,18 56,09 394,45K

J Sainsbury 173,90 175,55 171,40 359,16K

Johnson Matthey 1.846,5 1.854,0 1.807,5 4,54K

Land Securities 521,60 524,40 513,40 16,15K

Legal & General 212,00 218,20 211,44 1,86M

Lloyds Banking 40,63 42,20 40,59 21,15M

London Stock Exchange 7.548,0 7.560,0 7.464,0 4,51K

Melrose Industries 98,33 101,27 98,30 257,83K

Mondi 1.377,05 1.395,50 1.367,50 132,78K

National Grid 925,60 933,80 916,40 159,38K

NatWest Group 221,03 225,90 220,93 425,33K

Next 4.708,4 4.810,0 4.648,0 86,58K

Norilskiy Nikel ADR 9,10 9,10 9,10 0

Ocado 455,40 474,35 455,00 49,81K

Persimmon 1.260,0 1.269,5 1.221,5 78,16K

Phoenix 516,00 526,80 514,30 156,88K

Prudential 864,20 884,40 859,80 71,15K

Reckitt Benckiser 5.930,0 5.946,8 5.884,0 36,73K

Relx 2.160,34 2.192,00 2.159,00 34,26K

Rentokil 465,61 473,30 465,60 24,04K

Rightmove 465,12 480,80 465,12 34,07K

Rio Tinto PLC 4.830,0 4.882,3 4.787,5 24,16K

Rolls-Royce Holdings 68,21 70,01 67,98 1,95M

Rosneft DRC 0,20 0,20 0,20 0

Sage 683,00 694,00 682,00 10,34K

Samsung Electronics DRC 903,00 913,20 903,00 2,38K

Schroders 386,0 389,2 382,0 341,53K

Scottish Mortgage 749,19 765,97 745,26 539,18K

Segro 747,40 759,40 737,36 151,53K

Severn Trent 2.321,0 2.365,0 2.295,8 12,49K

Shell 2.273,5 2.289,9 2.247,5 133,81K Smith & Nephew 1.024,32 1.054,95 1.020,72 44,71K

Smiths Group 1.479,00 1.499,50 1.475,00 69,91K

Spirax-Sarco Engineering 10.070,0 10.255,0 10.005,0 0,48K SSE 1.565,00 1.574,50 1.516,50 80,16K

St. James’s Place 995,30 1.023,50 994,80 18,25K

Standard Chartered 552,20 559,60 549,70 228,07K Taylor Wimpey 89,56 90,52 86,76 1,81M

Tesco 204,40 206,30 201,70 783,28K

Tui 102,65 107,65 101,91 576,73K

Unilever 3.904,0 3.924,5 3.893,3 42,41K United Utilities 869,98 888,60 860,00 83,13K

Vodafone Group PLC 100,24 100,92 99,64 2,12M Whitbread 2.259,6 2.298,0 2.248,0 83,27K

WPP 728,87 742,60 727,40 58,74K

DOW JONES

3M 110,50 113,15 3,10M

American Express 134,91 138,67 134,62 3,71M

Amgen 225,40 230,00 225,17 2,54M

Apple 138,20 143,10 138,00 123,56M

Boeing 121,08 125,47 120,99 8,28M

Caterpillar 164,08 167,78 163,89 2,95M

Chevron 143,67 145,13 142,49 9,38M

Cisco 40,00 41,04 39,96 27,88M

Coca-Cola 56,02 57,13 56,00 15,89M

Dow 43,93 44,84 43,80 5,72M

Goldman Sachs 293,05 301,09 292,70 1,93M

Home Depot 275,94 281,79 274,76 4,77M

Honeywell 166,97 171,20 166,63 3,76M

IBM 118,81 122,43 118,61 5,33M

Intel 25,77 26,57 25,74 43,37M

J&J 163,36 165,74 163,32 8,96M

JPMorgan 104,50 107,62 104,40 15,86M

McDonald’s 230,74 234,83 230,58 3,61M

Merck&Co 86,12 87,62 86,10 9,01M

Microsoft 232,90 240,54 232,73 35,48M

Nike 83,12 86,20 82,50 47,92M

Procter&Gamble 126,25 129,04 126,21 9,39M

Salesforce Inc 143,84 148,63 143,75 7,54M

The Travelers 153,20 156,45 152,94 1,40M

UnitedHealth 505,04 516,55 504,84 3,10M

Verizon 37,97 38,79 37,95 23,40M

Visa A 177,65 182,92 177,60 9,44M

Walgreens Boots 31,40 31,79 31,34 7,99M

Walmart 129,70 132,36 129,70 6,48M

Walt Disney 94,33 97,48 94,28 12,01M

Most Advanced

FingerMotion +82.16% 31.73M

Golden Falcon Acquisition +56.32% 6.60K

SAITECH Global +43.36% 5.34M

F45 Training Holdings +41.10% 37.04M

Avenue Therapeutics +39.03% 27.39M

Sobr Safe +38.86% 27.50M

Ainos +36.96% 35.10M

Alset Ehome International +30.85% 3.64M

O2Micro +30.15% 1.79M

Gold Royalty Wnt +29.64% 10.00K

Polarityte +27.94% 909.44K

Most Declined

Natural Order Acquisition -50.00% 113.31K

Laser Photonics Unt -48.40% 7.08M

Atlis Motor Vehicles -39.91% 315.92K

Aterian -37.06% 15.38M

Edesa Biotech -35.12% 7.47M

American Virtual Cloud -32.41% 10.89M

Antelope Enterprise Holdings -32.00% 669.15K

Fednat Holding Co -27.63% 2.09M

5E Advanced Materials -27.58% 676.18K

Epiphany Technology Acquisition -24.81% 7.64K

Panbela Therapeutics -24.71% 1.81M

Currency outlook: Euro rocked by energy price volatility, US dollar storms to new multi-year highs

Euro EUR/GBP: Up from £0.84 to £0.87

EUR/USD: Down from $0.99 to $0.98

The euro traded in a wide range over the past month, with the single currency initially coming under pressure at the end of August following a sharp surge in European energy prices.

EUR exchange rates then rebounded at the start of September. Supported by the EU’s promise to intervene in energy markets and rein in prices, in additional to a stronger-than-expect ed Eurozone inflation print as it bolstered expec tations for a 75bps rate hike from the European Central Bank (ECB)

While the ECB delivered a 75bps increase as hoped, this was overshadowed by the bank’s bleak forecasts and concerns over the indefinite closure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

EUR exchange rates then then recouped some ground following reports of Ukraine’s suc cessful counteroffensive against Russian forces.

However, the euro then faced another set back after Vladimir Putin announced a ‘partial mobilisation’ of Russian forces. EUR investors fear this could prolong the conflict in Ukraine and place even more pressure on the Eurozone economy.

Looking ahead, the immediate focus for EUR investors will be the Eurozone’s next inflation re lease as another record jump in prices is likely to increase the chances of another 75bps hike from the ECB.

Pound GBP/EUR: Down from €1.18 to €1.14

GBP/USD: Down from $1.18 to $1.13

The pound found itself on the defensive through much of the past month amid an in creasingly gloomy outlook for the UK economy.

GBP investors were spooked by reports sug gesting domestic inflation could climb as high as 22% in 2023 and warnings that the UK is already in recession.

Sterling then found some brief respite after Liz Truss was confirmed as the UK’s new Prime Minister and promptly announced a plan to freeze household energy prices for two years.

Some mixed UK economic releases then re sulted in some volatility in mid-September, be fore the pound came under renewed pressure as the Bank of England (BoE) delivered its latest interest rate decision.

The BoE’s 50bps hike came as a blow to GBP investors hoping for a 75bps increase, although its hints that further hikes could be more ‘force ful’ help to keep a lid on Sterling’s losses.

With GBP investors fearing the UK faces sig nificant economic hardship in the coming

months, we may see may see this gloomy out look continue to limit interest in the pound over the next few weeks.

US Dollar

USD/GBP: Up from $0.84 to $0.88

USD/EUR: Up from €1.00 to €1.01

The US dollar trended broadly higher over the past month, with demand for the currency being underpinned by risk-off flows and Federal Reserve interest rate speculation.

The prevailing risk-off mood came amid growing global recession fears, in addition to re newed uncertainty over the situation in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Fed rate hike expectations were turbocharged after August’s US inflation print beat forecasts, with the US dollar skyrocketing as some investors went so far as to suggest the Fed might pursue a 100bps hike.

The Fed ultimately delivered a 75bps hike, with the US dollar striking a new multi-year high shortly thereafter.

Looking ahead, the increasingly uncertain out look for the global economy is likely to see the US dollar maintain its upward trajectory through the coming month. Especially amid the prospect of US interest rates rising to 4% before the end of 2022.

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

EXTRA

Turning off

A SURVEY conducted by re search platform quantilope has revealed 23 per cent of all British households indi cated that they intended to cancel contracts with video streaming companies in or der to try to save money.

Air Miles

SPANISH Minister of Indus try, Reyes Maroto, travelled to Australia to inaugurate the first Queanbeyan bat tery energy storage system built by Naturgy, whilst Min ister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez flew to Quebec to inspect an Airbus facility.

Water wars

AFTER entering into an agreement to allow rivers to flow undisturbed between Spain and Portugal in 1998, the Spanish government re portedly plans to cut the amount of water to Portugal in the River Duero.

Tax cuts warning

THE IMF has warned Britain that tax cuts could be damaging to the economy in an almost unprecedented criticism of the monetary policy of a G7 nation.

Some observers suggest the tax cuts amounting to £45 bil lion announced by new Chan cellor Kwasi Kwarteng as part of his Growth Plan on Friday September 23 are more akin to a gambler placing all of their money on black in the hopes of winning.

As the government reduces the amount of tax it will be able to collect and continues to promise aid during this time of worldwide economic crisis, the only solution will be to borrow even more money.

The actual statement from the International Monetary Fund which was issued on September 27 included the ob servation: “We understand that the sizeable fiscal package an nounced aims at helping fami lies and businesses deal with the energy shock and at boost ing growth via tax cuts and sup ply measures.

“However, given elevated in

Chancellor Kwarteng leaves No 11 to deliver his Growth Plan.

flation pressures in many coun tries, including the UK, we do not recommend large and un targeted fiscal packages at this juncture, as it is important that fiscal policy does not work at cross purposes to monetary policy.”

The Chancellor reportedly chose not to take note of any advice from the Office for Bud get Responsibility which is a non­departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent eco nomic forecasts and indepen

dent analysis of the public fi nances.

It is expected the Bank of England will urgently consider increasing bank rate yet again as both sterling and the FTSE share index tumbled and rat ings agency Moody’s warned it may cut Britain’s credit rating.

Clearly the increasing criti cism of the decision to reduce income tax top rate to 40 per cent from 45 per cent hit home as on Monday October 3, Chan cellor Kwasi Kwarteng con firmed his first u­turn so that will no longer take place.

Supermarket sweep

THE annual survey of the cheapest supermarkets in Spain was published by the Organisation of Con sumers and Users on Tuesday September 27 after visiting more than 1,100 stores in 65 cities across the country.

Overall, the cost of products from supermarkets has increased by 15.2 per cent when comparing May 2021 to May 2022 and that will have increased since the survey was compiled.

Although some individual Alcampo stores gave best value for money, the two cheapest chains were Tifer located in Castilla y Leon and Dani found in An dalucia.

None of the big names such as Aldi or Lidl featured in the top 10 cheapest, whilst prices at Dia and Mer cadona had risen the most.

Mass demonstration

EXPECT a number of ral lies across Spain on Octo ber 7, 14 and 28 by mem bers of the country’s largest trade union CCOO union followed by a mass demonstration in Madrid on November 3.

The union which repre sents workers at numer ous supermarkets and stores believes that with the ever­increasing rise

of the cost of living, ne gotiations starting in Jan uary should be based on inflation plus an agreed 18 per cent increase in wages over the next four years.

Working with the UGT union, the CCOO believes that big business should already be making signifi cant offers rather than ig noring the situation.

Credit: HM Treasury flickr

Advertising Feature

Property market update

REBECCA SERWOTKA ­ “We sell hous es! It’s what we do, it’s ALL we do!” Your favourite local resale property expert, in Ciudad Quesada. Author of ‘Moving Forward ­ 25 Essential Rules For Buying & Selling Real Estate Without Going Crazy’. Request your FREE copy! Prestige Award Spain ­ Winner for ‘Real Estate Agency Of The Year 2021/22 & 2022/23’.

As we’re now official ly at the start of the fi nal quarter of 2022, let’s take a brief look at how the lo cal property market has performed dur ing this past third quarter.

In general there has been a lack of properties on the market for sale.

More buyers than sellers! In fact, it was

reported that foreign buyers pur chased almost 90 properties a day in the first six months of 2022 in the Ali cante Province alone!

The average house sales price in the Ciudad Quesada and sur rounding areas during the third quarter of 2022, jumped up to €196,600. This is a huge 10 per cent increase compared to the second quarter of 2022. And almost 35 per cent higher than the third quarter of 2021!

This proves the in terest continues with buyers from around the world wanting to pur chase both holiday homes and British buyers going through the process of relocating here per manently.

For award-winning guidance for buying your property on the Costa Blanca, download your complimentary ‘Spanish Property Buying Guide for 2022!’ Head to www.BuyMyHomeInSpain.com today! See our advert in the centre pages of this newspaper! www.homes4u.es

Rebecca Serwotka.

AT the time of writing, I am truly not too happy with the UK’s Conservative government. However, one thing I am satisfied with is that in no way would I ever consider actually replacing them with a Labour regime. The lefty’s con ference this week was absolutely de plorable. They had no true ideas of how to actually rescue the UK from the turmoil it finds itself in. The singing of God Save the King instead of the Red Flag rather summed up one of the pa thetic ways they consider drumming up support.

Nothing they came up with was a true answer to any real problems, merely ways of making the public think they would be financially better off if they voted them in. Of course the BBC absolutely revelled in it. In complete league with the Labour party’s enrap tured anti conservative attitude; their presentations were completely crammed with derogatory reports, opinions and concerns of a beleaguered public, many afraid they could be con fined to the workhouse this winter.

Once again of course, every single member of the dissenting public they

No Labour fan

interviewed was white! They obviously have no intention whatsoever of show ing other cultures who could be facing financial or personal hardship over the ensuing months. Why not? I can only assume it’s because over the next two years they will be promoting left wing ideals to non­white residents, purely because they want to paint a glowing picture of everything in the garden looking lovely ­ as long as they vote Labour!

As further proof of the conspiracy now taking place in the UK, I have just observed three British TV commercials, each advertising fairly important com panies and products. The first advert featured a number of young, obviously gay black men, all partying and enjoying themselves in a carefree brightly coloured environment.

The next presented two attractive mixed race ladies enjoying a kiss and sharing a romantic moment. The third introduced a mixed race family sharing a splendid meal at the table of their pretty luxurious abode. Nothing wrong with any of that. I personally enjoy dif ferent cultures and the varied points of view of fellow human beings; but who

are these companies actually trying to sell their commodities too? Three per cent of the population? Of course they are not, that would be ridiculous.

Thousands of illegal immigrants have now entered the country. According to records, none have been sent to Rwan da (the first plane was cancelled in June). These people are still costing the country millions of pounds a week; money which funnelled into the correct resources could help thousands of struggling British residents in these troubled times.

Believe me, somewhere up there in the anonymous high echelons of televi sion, businesses and Leftie politics there is a heavy conspiracy to change the face of the UK into an easy to manage, mixed race of citizens, all voting for a left wing society. And they’re gonna take some stopping!

Keep the faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com.

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

With Love - now open

WITH LOVE offers an extensive range of ser vices including cards and gifts at great prices.

However, the shop is much more than just a card and gift shop! Also incorporating All in 1 offering a comprehensive Passport service in a relaxed environment, which includes tak ing your passport photos, completion of the passport application and safe courier service returned directly to the shop. The friendly staff will then contact you to let you know your new passport is ready for collection.

There is also both a UK and Worldwide Postal/Courier service, a secure inbound post facility.

The shop is very welcoming being modern, light and airy and offers a host of other ser vices including Helium Balloons, Partyware, Stationery, Graphical Design, Business Card, Top­Ups / SIMS, Canvases, Photo restora tions, Flight bookings and Boarding Passes and more!

Stock is constantly being refreshed giving customers plenty of choice so you are sure to find something suitable.

Giftware ranges from inexpensive impulse

gifts to the more exclusive items for those special occasions and the prices remain at tractive throughout the store.

Other services offered include NIE/TIE/Visa and ID Photographs, Mobile Top Ups, Photo copying, Laminating, general printing and much more!

With Love is open Monday to Friday 09.00 until 17.00, Saturdays from 09.00 until 14.00.

So please pop in and see what they have to offer, they are a very friendly team and will be delighted to meet you.

Love is not only words

BETINA VON HOHENDORFF

MOST people think that to love some one is always to say, “I love you”.

Love is not only words…

Words are like a summer breeze… you feel something, you remember, but with the time you forget.

Love is to know when is the time to speak, time to listen or time to be silent.

To love is to give your time, to give an understanding of your opinion with out forcing the other to accept yours.

To share good and bad times, to ac cept the strengths and the weakness es.

To cry without showing a tear, to fight without showing the fear…

To be sometimes the shadow, even when you know you are the light.

To help in silence.

To accept the edges and imperfec tions.

To love is not to change someone to fit your idealisation.

To love is to give without expecting

anything in return.

To love is to surprise with small ac tions…

To love someone is priceless, a dia mond can never be a substitute of a hearty cuddle or kiss.

To love is not only to share mo ments.

But also, to create memories.

My advice:

Listen to your heart before you say “I love You.”

These three words can change a life.

Love Betina

Preventing sore feet

BUNIONS are bony lumps that form on the side of the feet.

Surgery is the only way to get rid of them, but there are things you can do to ease the pain they cause.

Symptoms of bunions in clude hard lumps on the sides of your feet, by your big toes, your big toe pointing towards your oth er toes and/or hard or swollen skin.

The bunion may look red or darker than the sur rounding skin.

You may also have pain along the side or bottom of your feet. This is usually worse when wearing shoes and walking.

You cannot get rid of bunions or stop them from getting worse yourself, but there are things you can do to relieve any pain such as wearing wide shoes with a low heel and soft sole.

Bunion pads which are

soft pads you put in shoes to stop them rubbing on a bunion can help, and can be bought from most pharmacies.

An ice pack (or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a

tea towel) to the bunion for up to five minutes can also help ease the pain.

The cause of bunions is unknown. It’s not clear if you can do anything to prevent them.

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 maintain that habit by supporting local high streets, markets, butch ers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky independent businesses in your area.

Local businesses make our villages, towns and cities what they are. They add unique character. They are convenient. And they offer excellent produce from known suppliers.

The joy of shopping lo cally means that indepen dent businesses can sup port the local community. You may find something a euro or two cheaper online

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

but have you considered where your money is actu ally going?

By shopping locally you’re putting food on a lo cal family’s table and there is nothing better than giv ing back to the communi

ties that have given 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 genera

tions of the same family. Likewise, brand new local stores and bars may help the generations of the future fulfil their dreams and am bitions.

Remember, your lo cal 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 locally will make a real difference to the local economy. Local businesses recirculate a greater share of every euro they receive at local level. They create locally owned supply chains and they invest in their employees.

So remember. When you go shoppinggo local!

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.

TOTAL MADNESS

GIVEN the unrest in the UK and Spain’s economy, it is fair to predict that a sum mer holiday for 2023/2024 will be the very last thing on people’s minds .

There are an estimated 800,000 British home own ers in Spain, does it not make sense to allow these home owners (those that can afford to) to visit their properties and help boost the Spanish economy.

This 190­day rule is abso lute madness with people selling up in their droves be cause of it and is a very well­ known fact that the Brits spend the most when abroad. If your tourism is going to be hit hard (you don’t need a degree in eco nomics to know it will) then do something about it AND LET THE HOME OWNERS USE THEIR HOMES !

Susan Hannah

Good work

Even though I am only here for a couple of months at a time, being non­resi dent, I thoroughly enjoy your newspaper comments. Keep up the good work, especially the anti woke, politically correct and snowflake comments. You only have to watch the BBC programmes like Strictly Come Dancing and Channel 4 Bake Off to see how woke the TV programmes have become!

Paul Slaughter.

Unhinged

Having just read the Leapy Lee rant I believe you should contact a medical

specialist of a specific race acceptable to the obviously unhinged Lee.

The BBC are blamed for all the self inflicted disasters of a government able to successfully find a worse re placement than the previ ous incumbent. All the peo

ple who contributed are now neo fascists because they don’t agree with his opinion. Then it’s the fault of the BBC that people in adverts are black… adverts do not appear on the BBC!

Stephen Hunt

FACT OR FICTION OUR VIEW

SOCIAL MEDIA and even the comments section of the Euro Weekly News website appear to be full of observations concerning the reasons for the unex pected and often unexplained death of people young and old around the world.

The general opinion expressed by those who both er to comment is that all of those who died were vic tims of the vaccines introduced by the various gov ernments around the world and some people go further and suggest that this is part of a global con spiracy to hoodwink the public and manipulate them for some, as yet unexplained long-term end.

This seems to be a popular trend with the infer ence that the major pharmaceutical firms were in cahoots with governments to ensure that their prof its were greatly inflated to the detriment of individu als at large.

Moving on, there is a groundswell of opinion that there was no serious illness caused by coronavirus and that if the governments hadn’t over reacted the majority of those who caught whatever the virus might have been would found their anti-bodies fighting it off.

Looking back to before the pandemic it seems that although unexplained deaths were taking place, there was less inclination by the media at large to report the fact except locally and the fact that for ex ample a 10-year-old in Belgium had died unexpect edly whilst playing soccer, it was unlikely that it would have been mentioned in the media outside of Belgium.

Nowadays however any unexplained death espe cially of a young person or someone involved in sports is regularly picked up by the media around the world and it is possible that this coverage is in turn fuelling the social media observations.

Have you been connedyet by scammers?

NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

EVERY day, millions of people get bo gus ‘419’ emails (so­called after a sec tion of Nigeria’s legal code) promising millions. Police estimate the average loss in the UK alone is £35,000+.

The sender poses as a banker, official, royal toadie (even fleeing Ukrainian refugee) want ing to move huge sums your way. There’s no money to be moved ­ ex cept yours!

Additionally, fraud sters have taken advan tage of the summer holi days to swindle parents out of thousands of pounds, using a ‘Hi Mum’ text scam posing as their children who’ve ‘lost their phone’.

from a random number purporting to be a son/daughter who’s lost their phone. Once parents are convinced they’re speaking to their child and save the number onto their phone, scam mers ask them to send money claiming it’s needed to pay off debts.

Call me a cynic but this got me think ing about all the other internet scams so cutthroat they make a Siberian gulag look like a Swiss Finishing School. It’s often said a fool and his money are soon parted. Hardly! At this cost­of­living­crisis time, a fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place…

Nora’s latest thriller.

Basically, victims receive a message

Nora Johnson’s criti cally acclaimed psycho logical crime thrillers (www.nora­johnson. net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, au diobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

NoraJohnson’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

Noraistheauthorofpopularpsychological

Origin of the Spanish Water Dog

THE Spanish Water Dog (Perro De Agua Español) is a dog breed originally from Andalucia, used traditionally as a sheep dog and on hunting ex cursions.

The breed was recog nised by the Real Canine Society of Spain in 1985. It is believed that the Spanish Water Dog has strong genetic links with other water breeds, such as the Portuguese water dog, the French water dog, the Irish wa ter dog and the poodle.

Your pet makes you healthier

PETS come with many bene fits and who doesn’t appre ciate a furry friend to cuddle or a loyal companion so you’re not just talking away to yourself!

Pet owners will often shout about the joy of shar ing their home with a feline

friend or puppy pal, and in fact pets do have incredible mental health benefits, ac cording to recent studies.

Many dogs especially have developed to under stand their owner’s mood and behaviour through the close bond that they share.

They’re also remarkably good at interpreting hu mans’ tone of voice, body language and gestures.

This is why dogs and cats especially can often reduce our stress, depression and anxiety levels by easing loneliness and encouraging us to get up off the couch!

Studies suggest that not only are there lower rates of depression amongst pet

owners, but people who have a pet also have lower blood pressure in stressful situations compared to peo ple who don’t own a pet.

Caring for a pet can also help children develop more responsibility and a better attachment style as they grow up.

There exists various theories about this dog’s origin but the most generally accept ed is that this archaic breed was introduced to Europe during the Is lamic invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 711.

Naturally, this meant the dogs entered Spain from the South and were established in An

dalucia as a result.

Despite being one of the oldest breeds of dog in Spain, little in terest was shown in the Spanish Water Dog until the early 1980s.

In 1982, through its presentation at the World Canine Exhibition in Valencia, the Spanish Water Dog was recog nised as an official dog breed.

Arthritis in cats

DOGS commonly suffer from arthritis and both owners and vets easily recognise the clinical signs. However, arthritis in cats is not commonly diagnosed or treated. This may be due in part to the cats’ survival instinct to conceal signs of pain.

In a study, it was found that 90 per cent of cats over 12 years of age had radiographic signs of suffering from osteoarthritis.

Some factors increase the risk of arthritis in cats:

Obesity.

Joint that has suffered trauma.

Hip Dysplasia, abnormal development of the hip seen more frequently in Main Coon but also in the breeds.

Patella luxation, more frequently in Abyssinian and Devon Rex cats.

Acromegaly, is an unusual condition of older cats where a tumour in the pituitary gland secretes too much growth hormone.

How can I detect that my cat suffers from os teoarthritis?

Sometimes it is not easy, since the cat hides its dis comfort very well, but if your cat no longer jumps on the furniture when before it jumped, no longer goes up and down stairs, plays less, sleeps more, grooms less, more irritable you have to visit the veterinarian, comments José Rial, veterinary traumatologist at the Anicura Marina Baixa Veterinary Hospital. Your vet may suggest taking X­rays of the joints.

Many options should be considered when manag ing a cat with arthritis, not only medications but also modifying the environment in many ways can greatly help to maintain quality of life for an arthritic cat.

EMERGENCY

Traditionally used as a sheep dog.

PAINTERS/DECORATORS

GLASS

POOL MAINTENANCE

J & J PAINTERS. Insideoutside - clean - fast - low cost. Torrevieja - Orihuela Costa and surrounding ar eas. Tel: 650 363 159 (294244)

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

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY, TORREVIEJA Calle Beniajan 16, Torrevieja 03185, Alicante Evangelical non-denom inational church. Sunday morn ing Services at 11.00am. All na tionalities welcome - Contact 966 752 543 / 966 799 273. For other church matters phone: 966 799 273 / /617 215 463 www.icatorrevieja.org (95476)

LA SIESTA EVANGELICAL CHURCH on Urbanisation La Siesta, Torrevieja is a friendly, English speaking church. For more information, including de tails of our services, see our website www.lasiestaevangeli calchurch.org (10005)

PHILIP SCOTT LODGE No 10671 of the RAOB. Please call the secretary, Colin Bird on 693 287 614 for further information. (95459)

not just ex Royal Marines, but ex Service personnel with an affinity to the Royal Marines. For further details contact Hon Sec P S Wilkins Tel: 966 194 158 email: inkinspain@yahoo.co.uk (10004)

ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION

For information please contact Chairman Anthony Jenk ins +34693866709, Vice Chair man Dusty Miller +34 711 006 670, Secretary Mike Cock man +34 670224822, Treasurer Carl Louden +34678518202, email rnatorrevieja@aol.com (95455)

GOLD WANTED

STAY SAFE! Abbeygate Insur ance Call 971 277 455 For your security www.abbeygateinsure. com

TORREVIEJA - Norma masseuse, Russian, tall, attrac tive, gentle discreet 627 101 792 (302063)

HEALTH & BEAUTY

PRIVATE collector will buy your Gold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)

CAMPELLO CONTRA CANCER in conjunction with AECC Associ ation Español Contra Cancer. Please support your local Cancer charity and if you wish to obtain literature or simply talk to some one. Please contact Mina or Tr isha. Tel 650 071 278 or 610 921 413 e-mail aecc_campe llo@hotmail.com (95475)

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

CHURCH SERVICE IN ENGLISH Tel: 950 617 549 www.giving light.com.(10006)

FREEMASONRY . Are you aware that Freemasonry is thriv ing on the Costa Blanca? There are various Lodges meetings up throughout the Valencia re gion. If you already are a Mason or simply wish to know more about Freemasonry in Spain please contact sec@glpvalen cia.com Tel 600 841 064 (95477)

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

ROYAL Air Force Association Costa Blanca Registered Mem bers Group: The RAFA Costa Blanca RMG replaces the RAFA Costa Blanca Branch 1359 which is now closed. The RMG is a so cial group of caring people and remains affiliated to the parent Association. Contact with the Royal Air Force Association and the RMG can be made via the RAFA website rafa.org.uk Tel:0044 800 018 2361. (238593)

STROKE ASSOCIATION Spain (formally known as Torrevieja stroke support) Our aim is to help and sup- port stroke sur vivors and their carers, with re habilitation, speech therapy, OC therapy and a very active social group. For info please contact 653 588 475 English and 620 907 474 Spanish or email strokesupportgroup@hot mail.com , website: torreviejas trokesupport.org. We are always looking for volunteers who have the skills and knowledge to sup port. (95473)

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

PERSONAL TRAINER, WEIGHT LOSS, TONING, RESULTS GUAR ANTEED. CERTIFIED WITH 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE. FORMER US KICKBOX CHAMPION. CALL 747 438 225 (301319)

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

BATHROOM & KITCHEN Con versions Costa Blanca, contact 698 320 434. (291660)

INSURANCE

MISCELLANEOUS MOTORING

WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company fleet in surance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has al ways been to offer an excel lent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 952 147 834. (200726)

WE buy, sell & transport all makes of static caravans for more information contact 630 055 418 or Elsyd7@hotmail.com (294686)

CARE home in Torrevieja, full care, full board from €800 per month. Call 747 438 225 (295552)

HELP VEGA BAJA. We are a non-profit making organisation that helps and supports anyone, without prejudice, in times of need or crisis within the Vega Baja area. Our offices are based in San Miguel at Calle Lope de Vega 46 (Tel 966 723 733), Tor revieja at Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 4 (Tel 965 704 282). We are online at www.helpvegaba ja.com and also on Facebook. You can email the San Miguel Centre at office@helpvegabaja. com. We also have a 24-hour Emergency helpline which is available to both members and non-members on 966 723 733 (95456)

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - Why not make this year the year you volunteer? See how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Tele phone Buddy. We also visit ben eficiaries who are housebound or in hospital. If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyh hvisits@gmail.com. If you or your partner served or are serv ing, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big, sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feel ing more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help di rectly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be. If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at, http://branches.britishle gion.org.uk/branches/orihuelacosta - covering from Punta Pri ma to San Javier. More info can be found on branch website www.orihuelacostarbl.co.uk. (95457)

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Gran Alacant & La Marina Branch. For info, contact the branch Secre tary at granalacant.secretary@ rbl.community

ROYAL MARINES ASSOCIATION (Costa Blanca) The aim of the Association is to bring together

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, La Fustera. For more info: contact Frank Bentley on 966 495 188. (95461)

THE BAKER Foundation Spiritu al Centre Playa Flamenca. Calle Luis Gordillo, 1 Playa Flamenca Alicante 03189. You can join us on Facebook, The Baker Foun dation spiritual centre. Or con tact Linda Schug Tel. 606 990 665 for more details (95458)

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

THE SPIRITUALIST CENTRE, Benijofar meets at Hamilton´s Bake House, 62 Calle Vicente, Blasco Ibañez, Benijofar 03178. We hold a Sunday Sevrice at 11.30am. For further informa tion: www.spiritualidtcentre -benijofar.com . Telephone 711060171. Email martindroute 66@hotmail.com . Fiscal G54713789

MR FIXIT . For all your electri cal, plumbing, general & appli ance & boiler repairs. No call out charge. 698 320 434 (290228)

FED UP OF NOT BEING SENT YOUR RENEWAL? CUT YOUR INSURANCE COSTS AND STILL HAVE 100% COVER. YOU HAVE TRIED THE REST NOW TRY THE BEST WITH SOS INSURANCE. WE CAN EVEN INSURE YOU FOR UP TO A €1,000 OF WATER LOSS. CALL 686 116 297 (WHATSAPP TO) OR VISIT www.sosinsuranceinspain. com or email tracey@sosin suranceinspain.com (301159)

BENEFICIAL INSURANCE SER VICES. Car, Home, Business, Travel, Life, Funeral, all insur ances available. Policies in En glish. BEST rates, covers & ser vice. Immediate quotes. Tel 961 129 215 / 622 275 561, (What sApp) info@beneficialinsuran ceinspain.com or visit www.ben eficialinsuranceinspain.com for online quote. (301135)

INSURANCE

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

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

MOTORHOME / Campervan wanted. Left or right hand drive. Cash waiting for right van. Tlf 650 722 905

TUITION

PIANO, Keyboard, Organ, Qual ified Teacher. Please call 606 984 535 (294805)

PERGOLAS

TAILOR-MADE in durable can vas, pergola covers, sails, um brella, spa and CAR COVERS. 10% off Cushions. Mazarron to Costa Blanca. RETIRING SOON DON’T MISS OUT Google: KrugerCanopies.com WhatsApp: 667 879 399 krugercanopies@ yahoo.co.uk (293100)

CHARITY

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

GATAMI ORGANISATION, to help kittens and cats, looking for good homes, also spaying wild cats in the community. Kittens require adoption, fully vaccinated, de-wormed, deflead. volunteers to Tel Anna: 966 806 976 / 654 729 977 (95709)

P.E.P.A. VOLUNTEERS & FOS TER HOMES URGENTLY NEED ED. By fostering an abandoned dog or spending a few hours each week on our telephone helpline, you could help save the lives of many animals. Please call: 650 304 746. For more in formation browse our website: www.pepaspain.com (95708)

SPAMA GANDIA SHELTER. Dog and cat rescue registered chari ty, La Safor area. 500 animals awaiting re-homing. Phone Gail 962 896 118. Visit our website for directions. www.spama.org and view our new blog at www.spama-safor.blog.com.es PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THEM (95707)

MR FIXIT. For all your electri cal, plumbing, general & appli ance & boiler repairs. No call out charge. 698 320 434 (290228)

MAINTENANCE

POOL MAINTENANCE Repairs, Spares and Leak Testing. Call 965 725 565 / 676 945 360 www.pooltechspain.com (289147)

/ JACUZZIS

RELAXATION

Please note that in Spain there is NO legislation ban ning adverts in this section. Neither regional nor nation al governments are able to pass such a law due to rules governing freedom of publi cation and printing.

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

FEMALE

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

FRENCH ELÉGANTE naughty, slim, elegant, sexy Sophie. 3 languages spoken. Visit all ar eas, also private apartment in Villamartin. 693 357 526

SPANISH lady - classic. Playa Flamenca, private house, 40 years, attractive. All erotic ser vices, massage, sexy lingerie. From €40. Ana 657 603 495 (295475)

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

ATTRACTIVE, Girlfriend, Es cort, Professional Masseuse. Tel: 693 357 526 (295448)

LA ZENIA AREA Busty English Masseuse offering erotic mas sage and lots more. Incalls at discrete apartment. Outcalls within 20kms of La Zenia. Call 711 041 330 (301279)

EXPERIENCE the best with a 1hr unique massage with Veron ica. Shaving or permanent hair removal available. For appoint ments call 679 292 678 (295446)

TORREVIEJA 58yr blonde lady. Gives massage with happy end. English spoken. Miriam 604 382 799 (302062)

MALE

RELAXING MASSAGE FOR

MEN - Mario qualified masseur in Alicante - Special Massage for Men - 7 days 10AM to 10PM - APPOINT MENTS visit : www.masajeyre lax.es/en or WHATSAPP 649 761 607 (296490)

LA ZENIA Incall or outcall Sen sual Massage service offered for men by either an English Male or a Male/ Female couple. Out calls within 15km of La Zenia area. Call or Whatsapp 711 059 849 (301279)

KAMAGRA Gold 100mg plus Kamagra Jellies. Collection or Delivery. ROY HAS A NEW TEL. – 613 584 915 (295447) tp

Male/Female viagra, cialis, kam agra jelly, mixed trial packs available, all areas mail or der. 604 385 476. viagra4you19@gmail.com

Suzuki Vitara - lots to like!

THE colour palette of cars seems to consist of largely black, grey or silver with little variation unless you start tick ing the extra cost option box es. With all the differing colours available you might wonder why a potential buyer would pick Suzuki’s solar yel low and pay an addi tional €959/£835 for the privilege. It’s very bright! Thankfully for those without the need for a look at me car there’s a range of less vi brant paint finishes.

Luminescent paint apart, the Vitara is a delight and comes with lots of standard equipment, even on the leadin version, and offers an ad mirable absence of digitisa tion except for the sensible things you might expect to be placed on a touchscreen.

Buttons are easier to use than having to dive into nu merous sub menus on a

the case these days.

Power comes from 1.4 or 1.5­litre, four­cylinder petrol engines, manual or automatic gears, two or four­wheeldrive, mild or full hybrid pow er and two trim levels, with prices starting at a very com petitive €24,195/£20,999.

comes with adaptive cruise, smart phone integration, au tomatic air conditioning, auto lights and wipers,

My test model was the SZ5 full hybrid priced at €28,514/ £24,749 and adds a superb panoramic opening roof as standard along with keyless

parking sensors and a rear parking camera to name but a few of the standard features.

The SZ5 test model also came with all­wheel­drive and Suzuki’s automatic gear box, which is actually an auto mated manual transmission.

Rather like the CVT automatic

gearboxes this system is fine unless you are under hard ac celeration when the engine revs rise, with a delay before the transmission effec tively catches up and changes the gear. Your ears end up being des perate for the next ratio.

The other issue is that were you to buy the mild hybrid Vitara in the same trim level, still with allwheel­drive but a six­speed manual gearbox, the compari son is interesting. Instead of the 1.5­litre engine you get

the 1.4­litre Boosterjet unit. It provides 62 mph some three seconds faster, the same level of Co2 emissions and 0.3 mpg less. In my view it’s also a nicer drive.

All told the Vitara is an im mensely likeable SUV, practi cal, plenty of equipment and nicely bolted together, along with sensible and competitive pricing. My advice would be to opt for the manual version unless you need an automat ic. It’s a nicer engine, nicer drive and handles surprisingly well.

Facts at a Glance

Model: Suzuki Vitara SZ5 AllGrip Hybrid AGS

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Gears: automated manual gearbox

Performance: 0-100 kmh (62 mph) 12.7 seconds/Maximum Speed 178 kmh (111 mph)

Economy: 5.3l/100km (53 mpg) Combined driving (WLTP)

Emissions: 121 g/km (WLTP)

Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.

VITARA:

plenty

equipment and sensible pricing.

Bond car goes to auction

A STUNT car used in the latest James Bond film raised more than €3.3 million at auction on Thursday September 29. The Aston Martin DB5 is one of eight replicas made especially for the film’s exhilarating opening sequence which sees 007 engaged in a car chase and shoot­out in winding Ital ian streets.

Being 007’s vehicle of choice, the car is not without exclusive features worthy of an MI6 agent. This particular model features rotating num ber plates, pop­out prop ma chine guns, prop bomblets and retractable headlights.

The car went to auction at a special edition ’60 Years of Bond’ memorabilia auction at

Christie’s in London. The event also saw a classic V8 Vantage, a new DBS Superleggera 007 Edition and 25 pieces of iconic Bond memorabilia sold to the highest bidder for charity.

Aston Martin donated the replica for the auction with Marek Reichman, Executive Vice President saying, “We are incredibly proud to be part of

James Bond’s DNA and are de lighted to celebrate this 60th anniversary with the sale of a truly unique Aston Martin.”

Experts speculated that the high selling price may be due to the film being the last Daniel Craig Bond film as well as the car’s ravishing design and exciting on­screen fea ture.

Electric vehicle boom Most popular new car

AS infrastructure gradually improves to support transitions to elec tric vehicles, sales figures show car owners are turning towards electric cars in record numbers. In line with similar policies across Europe, Spain is set to ban diesel and petrol car sales by 2035, which is encouraging drivers to turn towards electric vehicles.

Recent figures revealed 3,829 new electric cars were sold in Spain in September, a growth of 21.08 per cent on the same period last year. Similarly, during the first nine months of the year, sales of electric vehi cles were up 42.54 per cent on 2021. Reports found an increase in hy brid cars which sold a total of 4,191 units during September.

Tesla topped sales charts for electric vehicles, with its Model 3 and Model Y selling more units than any other brand during September.

The Tesla Model 3 was launched in 2017 and is marketed as a cheaper alternative to previous Tesla models. With a full electric range of nearly 450km the car appeals to environmentally­con scious drivers while its self­driving capabilities and smart style attract business and technologically­minded buyers.

INCREASING energy prices have not been enough to put off drivers in Spain. Figures just released for September found an in crease in car ownership of 12.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. The report also revealed that the most popular new car bought during September was the Hyundai Tucson, with 1,664 sales. Here, we investigate why this car topped Spanish sales records this September.

The Hyundai Tucson regularly picks up top reviews for its spacious and smart interior, comfortable driving experience and robust safety features. Described as an example of ‘adventurous styling and luxu ry’ in a review, the car appeals both to families with its five door build and roomy interior, and business people with its sleek finish and smooth motorway and countryside driving.

The Japanese manufacturer offers several different models in cluding automatic and manual options as well as different engine configurations. The latest Tucson is also hybrid, appealing to sustain ably­minded drivers, with the car 53 per cent cheaper to maintain.

Photo credit: wjarek

BOND CAR: The Aston Martin DB5 featured in the thrilling chase that opened ‘No Time to Die’.

Walking Football League returns

AFTER a short delay, Oc tober finally sees the opening fixtures in the 2022/23 season of the Costa Blanca Walking Football League (CB WFL).

The opening games will see Formentera WFC host league new boys Red Lions of Fortuna, while current league champions Portobello Campoverde play a ‘local derby’ against the other new boys Portobello Shamrocks WFC. Dates to be announced.

The four competing teams will play home and away monthly through until May with a break in December and January.

The League will ex pand next season with more teams expected to participate.

Last Friday, September 30, Formentera hosted

new club Portobello Shamrocks in a pre­sea son friendly.

Both teams used their full squads and put their training ground plans to full use.

With the game close until the final quarter Formentera stepped up a gear and ran out win ners 6­0.

In next week’s edition of the Euro Weekly News read about Hondon Val ley Flyers WFC who are looking to recruit new members.

More information re the Portobello Campov erde ‘Open Day’ on Sat urday, October 22, 11am to 1pm.

And news about a

grand 12 team walking football tournament tak ing place in Torrevieja on Saturday, October 29 hosted by Esquina Park Rangers and the town hall of Torrevieja.

Teams from here on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Basque Coun try,Portugal, Scotland and England will partici

CBWFL trophies.

pate. This is sure to be a fiercely contested and entertaining tourna ment.

All proceeds from this tournament will be do nated to The Asociacion Charity, Torrevieja.

So be sure to get your copy of the Euro Weekly News ... major support ers of walking football.

OPENING GAME: Action from Formentera v Portobello Shamrocks. CBWF League table.

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