www.theolivepress.es
May 11th - May 24th 2017
Mallorca’s original community newspaper
Alive in Spain? Olive Press probes the 10-year Maddie case
Page 6
FREE
Vol. 1 Issue 2
www.theolivepress.es
971 706 972 taylorwimpeyspain.com
May 11th - May 24th 2017
Help save Serena! Desperate need for blood type ‘O Negative’ to beat Mad Cow ruling
Waste of space Don’t bother visiting Palma Cathedral, so says TripAdvisor
Page 13
Courageous
Captain’s amazing scrapes with drug barons and CIA
Page 16
Forget stars
Olive Press interviews masterchef Ferran Adria
Page 27
By Laurence Dollimore
A BRITISH family have made a heartfelt plea for blood to help save their daughter’s life. They urgently need donors of the type O Negative, as Mallorca runs desperately low on supplies. It comes after 11-year-old Serena Chappell found out she had leukaemia following a random test last month. The Mallorca-born girl - a keen dancer, who is trilingual - had been complaining of having no energy and began to look increasingly pale. Doctors at Son Espases Hospital discovered the ‘normally energetic girly girl’ had leu-
Expat family’s urgent plea for blood donors for their cancerstricken daughter, 11
APPEAL
BRAVE: Serena and mum
Sacre Bleu! What has this jobsworth Ports’ Policeman got against this unfortunate teenager? FIND OUT ON PAGE 8
www.oaklandfurniturespain.com
Three Lions EL AVISO pub
We deliver to Mallorca Tel: 951 979 221 | sales@oaklandfurniturespain.com
See our adverts inside
kaemia in just four hours and she was immediately rushed in for a blood transfusion. But, now it has emerged there is a desperately low supply of her blood type and few people are eligible to donate due to a ruling over Mad Cow disease. Her father John Chappell, 34, has now appealed to big hearted Olive Press readers to come to the rescue. The removal man, from Yorkshire, who now lives in Valldemossa with wife Sarah, said: “Serena is doing amazingly, but needs as much help as she can get. “She is brave and strong and is facing many of her fears, especially needles, which have been a massive issue for her before.” The father, who has been by her side in hospital for the last two weeks, added: “We have started to cut her hair shorter as she will lose it from chemotherapy. She knows everything that is happening with her treatment and diagnosis.” As well as frequent blood
Best English Pub in Palma Great food Live Music Every Night from 12am Ave de Gabriel Roca 4, Palma
DE MALLORCA
MORE revenue with German clients! Put your ads in EL AVISO newspaper! CONTACT US 971 619 234 661 901 290 Info@el-aviso.es
New quality homes 1 since 1958
transfusions she has had an eight-day chemotherapy course and bone marrow and lumbar punctures. “We are in intensive care 24 hours a day and treatment continues, but the hospital is now very short on her type of blood and she needs more,” added her father. The main issue is that getting the type has been hampered by legislation. Chiefly, if you lived in the UK for more than two years between 1980 and 1996 you can’t donate the blood in Spain due to a risk of carrying traces of Mad Cow’s disease, which rocked the UK back then.
Strong
“As they do not test the blood here they simply refuse to accept it,” explained Chappell, “Even if we pay privately for the tests they will not accept the blood.” Chappell says the whole family is remaining strong for Serena while having tests to see if they are a match for a potential bone marrow transplant. “Her little brother misses her terribly and juggling time is tough right now, but we are getting there,” he said. Serena, who attends school in Valdemossa, is said to be doing ‘ok’ after her chemotherapy and is hoping to be in her own room soon, but she still needs around the clock attention. “I hope people can find it in their hearts to donate,” added Chappell, “The blood that comes to the hospital can't be guaranteed for Serena but it does have a good chance. “In any case it’s not just for Serena, many other children in the hospital may also need blood, so this will help them too.” Blood donation can be done at the Hospital Son Espases on Thursdays from 8.30am to 3pm planta O module F, or at the Red Cross Palma from Monday to Friday. Opinion Page 6
Must stop the muggings
ROBBED: Tourist mugged EXCLUSIVE
EXPAT bar owners are demanding a crackdown on muggings by criminal gangs in Calvia. The group insist the problem is getting ‘out of control’ and the council must take action. It comes after a British tourist, 70, claimed he was attacked by a ‘gang of prostitutes’ in Magaluf. The regular visitor, who has a home in the area, is understood to have lost over €100. “The saddest thing is he knows not to take too much money with him as he can guarantee he will get propositioned on the way home,” said his friend Abbey Wright. Another expat Craig Beattie claimed that the problem is affecting tourism.
Let down
“Two ladies told me their friends have stopped coming due to the muggings… they don’t know if they will be back either, they have been coming the last 20 years or so!” One bar owner confirmed the problem. “I feel let down by the authorities’ inability to deal with the threat that is posed by the gangs posing as prostitutes.” Speaking anonymously due to fear of reprisals, he added: “There are victims every day, many of whom don't report the incident for fear of embarrassment.” The council failed to comment as we went to press. It comes after it introduced its controversial sound limiter policy that keeps sound in bars no louder than 62 decibels.
Flat wrong AN investigation has been launched over the rental of council flats to tourists. The probe is looking into how properties in the Sa Gerreria area of Palma are being rented via rental sites, including Airbnb and Booking.com, for up to €150 a night. Owners currently benefit from lower protected rents, and under rental rules, tenants are banned from renting to tourists. The Olive Press found that at least three properties in the area were being rented by the online sites. All of them are fully booked until September.