Olive Press Newspaper - Issue 299

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Vol. 12 Issue 299 www.theolivepress.es August 29th - September 11th 2018

‘You can’t get prosecuted… it’s just cheating’

Our link to the Ivy League All about the Princeton and OP partnership

Page 6

An ox-tale What have Hitler, Gandhi and Ferdinand the bull got in common?

Page 12

Faking it

BUSINESSES in Andalucia are paying to post dozens of FAKE five-star reviews on TripAdvisor in a bid to increase their rankings.

An Olive Press investigation has unearthed companies offering packages of 50 glowing reviews for just €400.

Restaurants, hotels and garages have utilised the services of Malaga-based company GCI Global, which promises ‘genuine reviews’ that will be ‘tailored to your business’.

We can reveal that one of its clients, a Malaga restaurateur, managed to get to number one in his town on TripAdvisor after ‘purchasing’ dozens of ‘excellent’ reviews over just two months.

In total, 99% of the comments for his restaurant - which we are not naming for legal reasons - are ‘excellent’ 5/5 with only one ‘very good’.

“The restaurant was over 100

launches probe, as Olive Press exposes a Costa del Sol business ‘selling’ fake customer reviews on to the global giant’s website EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore and Elisa Menendez

(in the list) but look at it now,” GCI boss Ben Fisher boasted to the Olive Press.

“It doesn’t matter if (the reviewers) eat there or not, although if you want to pay a bit more we can actually send someone,” added Fisher, who lives in Alhaurin de la Torre.

“In fact if you pay we can send four people to share one pizza.

Then we spread the reviews out over a few days. “I have dozens of clients.”

The Olive Press probe was launched after we were ap-

Please forgive us!

In an open letter to Spain, the Olive Press apologises for our unruly tourists

We’re Sorry Dear Spain, WE ARE SORRY.

W

by the sinvere ask that you judge us Brits not balconies or guenzas who choose to poo over your but by the perform oral services for a free cocktail, privileged to majority of respectful expats who are call your beautiful country home.

Seriously though, how did we get here? manners and puncBrits used to be famed for their polite drinking excessive our for known better are tuality. Now we ed by the senseless and outrageous party antics compound alcohol-fuelled sport of ‘balconing’. injuries after falling or deSome 46 patients were treated for between 2010 and 2015 liberately jumping from balconies - and 60% were Brits. grow, with almost The last two years have seen this number 10 Brits dying this year alone (CHECK). whole catalogue of outraAnd that’s only one example from a high jinks sink to a geous behaviour that has seen holiday shocking new low. from Benidorm which Just this week we were sent a videopenis in the mouth of a showed a British reveller putting his passed-out compatriot.

girl who performed oral And who can forget the brazen British or the man who fell sex on 24 men for a free drink in 2016, while trying to defecate from a balcony in Mallorca last month over the edge. stabbings at Costa del and brawls Closer to home, beach club summer. last headlines the dominated Sol haunts streets of Puerto Banus Two rival gangs’ fight spilled onto theto run over his rivals. and ended with one member trying biggest resorts are Is it any wonder that some of Spain’s starting to resist tourists? are the terrorist,’ are just ‘Tourists go home’ and ‘Tourist, you graffitied across tourbeen have that messages the of some ism hotspots in the past few years. from visiting Brits every Just because resorts make a killing up with such antics. year, it doesn’t mean they have to put the next time you roll your We hope you will bear this in mind about a British reveller eyes in disgust at yet another story on behalf of the behaving badly, and accept our apology whole damned lot.

proached by an angry reader, who had been targeted by an unsolicited email from GCI last month.

The advert read: “We offer tailor made professional review packages giving your business a boost and the edge over your competitors.”

Posing

Posing as potential clients with a holiday rental business in Marbella, our reporters were told by Fisher that the reviews would be ‘from real people’.

“The reviews are from real people on the Costa del Sol, it’s not a bunch of fake accounts putting reviews on,” said Fisher, from Hull.

“A potential customer doesn’t know if they are real or fake. It

is not illegal. You can’t get prosecuted... it’s just cheating.”

Describing himself as a ‘web marketing specialist’, he explained how if our reporters bought 50 reviews, our new business would receive two five-star reviews per day from his network of users consisting of ‘friends and family friends’.

He offered to do 20 reviews for €150 or the 50 reviews for €400 - with payments made by cash or PayPal. So confident was he that it would boost our business ranking he offered a 100% satisfaction or a ‘money-back guarantee’. “You’re paying for direct marketing - the higher you go on TripAdvisor the more you pop up as recommended and the more business you get,” he insisted. Sadly, the process is

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not new. TripAdvisor has been caught out before, including a famous stunt pulled off by VICE website in which an undercover reporter set up a fake restaurant, The Shed at Dulwich, and made it the number one restaurant in London.

Just this week a simple Google search unearthed a US-based company, Reviews that Stick, offering packages on the global supersite from $69 per month.

“We can provide TripAdvisor reviews that would help your hotel or restaurant to improve its reputation and increase its number of customers,” it offered.

Local hoteliers and restaurateurs were quick to support out investigation.

“I’m sure it is very common with restaurants here,” said Mark Wardell, manager of the Sunset Beach Club hotel, in Benalmadena.

“TripAdvisor is particularly very open to manipulation and fake reviews.

“You often see these small places pop up with phenomenal reviews that quickly sink without trace,” he added.

Restaurateur Robert Grimmond, of well-established El Jardin restaurant in Frigiliana, added he had been aware of this practice for years.

“It’s disappointing that businesses on the coast are still buying reviews in this way,” he added.

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“If you really want to know if a restaurant is good or not, ask someone you trust or go yourself!”

Last night TripAdvisor thanked the Olive Press and confirmed it was ‘investigating the case’.

“We strongly oppose any attempt to manipulate a business’ ranking,” said a spokeswoman, adding that its investigations team was ‘proactive and effective’ at catching anyone who attempts to market paid review services. “We take serious steps to penalize any properties caught using their services,” she added. After revealing ourselves as journalists, Fisher told the Olive Press: “People pay for direct traffic, people purchase the reviews, then a team of four will go into the premises, share food and leave a review on their experience… it’s a service that is genuine and helps everybody… the reason my clients pay is to cover the cost of the food purchased by each customer!”

Opinion Page 6

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Hot

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www.theolivepress.es

Expat mum ‘drowned’ finds inquest

NEWS IN BRIEF

Friendly home

A BRITISH expat who was found dead on a Marbella beach drowned, an inquest has heard.

Rebecca Muldoon, 35, disappeared from the Costa del Sol on January 2, sparking appeals from her family and friends.

The mother-of-two’s lifeless body was found washed up in Marbella on January 14.

An inquest at Essex Coroner's Court heard how Rebecca, originally from Southend,

AN LGBTQ+ retirement home is set to open in Madrid by the end of the year, following a campaign by a pensioner who experienced homophobic abuse in a residential centre.

Busted BRITS posing as tourists have attempted to smuggle more than €8,800,00 worth of cannabis into mainline Spain from Ceuta on a yacht.

Dutch and Belgian gangsters shot at as they come out of Marbella’s upmarket Olivia Valere nightclub

Rental rise A THIRD of Spain’s Airbnb landlords own five or more homes, it has been revealed.

Abuser POLICE in Cadiz have detained a 42-year-old man who is accused of abusing four children and showing them pornographic material after establishing relationships with their mothers.

August 29th - September 11th 2018

died due to asphyxia by submersion - commonly known as drowning.

After Rebecca’s body was found, her sister, Sabrina Foakes, said: "Twinx always did right by her children and that’s what she did even until the very end.

"Everyone has their own memory of her and that will live on."

Rebecca’s husband, Paul Muldoon, 35, had been arrested the day before her disappearance at their penthouse flat over

allegations of domestic abuse.

Neighbours had allegedly heard screaming and arguing coming from the home.

He was later released after his wife failed to attend a hearing to give evidence against him.

However, police confirmed Muldoon was still in custody when his wife went missing.

A full inquest will take place on January 29.

Dancing with death

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

A HIRED assassin has attempted to murder two alleged senior drug cartel members outside one of the Costa del Sol’s most popular luxury nightclubs, it can be revealed.

A Dutch man and his Belgian associate were shot at as they got into their car following a night of partying at Olivia Valere nightclub, in Marbella.

The Olive Press can reveal the victims were from Antwerp and the other from Rotterdam.

According to a well-placed source in Belgium, the main target is a ‘high level player’

SCENE: Outside club in the import of cocaine into Europe, while the other is described as ‘a big deal in Rotterdam’. According to Spanish police, a hired assassin had been waiting for the pair in the shadows

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of the car park next to the club on August 4.

As soon as they got into their car, they both received shots to the shoulder and chest.

Police believe the attack was a settling of scores and that

the intention was to kill them, given that they were shot in the upper body.

They were taken to hospital but their injuries were not serious and they avoided surgery.

Detectives from UDYCO, the National Police crack Drugs and Organized Crime unit, have taken over the investigation.

They do not believe the shooting is linked to two other shootings this month in Mijas and Estepona.

This year has seen a spate of drug-related assassinations as the import of narcotics via the Costa del Sol and Cadiz continues to soar.

One man was murdered in front of his family by suspected Colombians outside a church

TRAGIC: Rebecca

Pina coca-da SEVEN smugglers have been arrested after shifting 148 pounds of cocaine into Spain inside pineapples.

The fruits were found at the Mercamadrid, a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Madrid, where they arrived from Costa Rica via the Portuguese port of Setubal.

Each pineapple was ‘perfectly hollowed out and stuffed with compact cylinders’ containing the drug and was coated with wax or yellow paraffin to conceal the ‘odors of the chemical products which the drug contains and avoid its detection,’ police said in a statement.

Seven suspects were arrested – three in Madrid and four in Barcelona – in connection with the smuggling ring.

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POLICE have seized cocaine worth €17 million on a luxury UK-registered yacht close to the Ibiza coast.

Officials say it is the biggest cocaine haul they have ever discovered on the Balearic Islands.

It comes after 300 kilos of the Class A drug were intercepted on Sunday morning around 15 miles from Ibiza.

Five people, who were on board the lavish yacht, have been arrested in connection to the load.

While the boat was flying a Gibraltar flag, four of the suspects are Dutch and one is German.

Half of the cocaine was found in packets tied with ropes and the rest was discovered under the floor of the captain’s cabin in a secret compartment.

The vessel was tracked by Policia Nacional leaving Palma and heading towards the mainland.

Officials found the crew collecting bales of cocaine which had been thrown into the sea from a larger ship.

The common “drop off” technique allows smaller boats to pick up the drugs and take them back to the coast.

www.theolivepress.es

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

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Bombshell for beauty queen

SHOOK: Gonzales

Queen of the Costas BRITISH reality TV icon Gemma Collins has revealed details of her upcoming ITV special Diva España.

The Only Way Is Essex favourite said filming for her very own reality show was ‘a dream come true.’

According to Lime Pictures, ‘The Queen of Essex is back’ and this time she's calling the shots in a brand new oneoff special following her life around Essex and Marbella.

Launch

Heading to Marbella to launch a pop-up shop, Gemma's personal and professional worlds collide as she endures yet another hurdle in her on/off relationship with co-star Arg, who has been working part time at his pal Elliott Wright’s restaurant Olivia’s in La Cala.

The special one-off will air on ITVbe tonight (August 29) at 10pm Spanish time.

A FORMER Miss Marbella has been seriously injured after being blasted by a car BOMB that was intended for her boyfriend.

Olatz Bilbao Gonzales is in hospital with serious leg injuries following the attempted assassination in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Costa del Sol native, 20, was sitting in the passenger seat of the Audi car waiting for her partner, Strahinja Stojanovic, 28, who had run back into their apartment to retrieve his phone.

Police believe the bomb was intended for Stojanovic, a local man known to police who has

Costa del Sol expat ‘threw herself’ from cruise ship despite claiming she ‘fell’, probe alleges

recently been released from prison. He was not hurt. Gonzales, who won Miss Marbella in 2015, managed to get out of the car, screaming with pain, after the bomb went off and was rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Police believe the device was activated remotely.

The investigation continues.

‘She jumped’

A BRITISH expat who survived in the sea for 10 hours after ‘falling’ from a cruise ship ‘jumped voluntarily’, investigators have claimed.

Costa del Sol-based Kay Longstaff, 46, told rescuers she had fallen from the back of the Norwegian Star during a cruise from Croatia to Italy.

Toppled

The air stewardess - who lives in Benalmadena with her partner Craig Rayment later told TV crews she had accidentally toppled from the 75ft seventh deck, some 60 miles out at sea.

She revealed how she was forced to tread water in the Adriatic overnight and thanked her fitness and

HAPPIER TIMES: Kay with partner yoga classes for keeping her alive.

However authorities in Croatia and Italy have both

Don Danny

TV STAR: Gemma

HOLLYWOOD actor Danny DeVito is gearing up to receive a lifetime achievement award at the San Sebastian Film Festival next month.

The 73-year-old Batman Returns star will receive the coveted Donostia Award on September 22 for his ‘versatile career’ in theatre, film and TV lasting almost five decades.

Past winners have included Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Bette Davis, while the Basque film festival is considered the oldest and most prestigious of its kind

 

 



  

in the Spanish-speaking world.

Currently starring in hit TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, DeVito rose to international success after winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his iconic performance in Taxi in 1998.

concluded that she did not fall accidentally, but it was ‘voluntarily’ and in a ‘determined fashion’.

Croatian officials say CCTV images show she was alone at the time of the incident at 11.45pm.

Her partner Rayment, who runs CR Electrical from a base in Benalmadena, was said to be in bed when the drama unfolded, but the pair are believed to have had an argument.

It was Rayment, who reported her missing at 2am later that evening.

The Olive Press has so far been unable to speak to Longstaff about the incident.

It is understood she will not have to contribute to the cost of her rescue, which allegedly set the cruise company back more than €500,000.

STRIPPED DOWN: On costa run and (right) in tennis gear

Speedo Gonzales NOVAK Djokovic has been spotted jogging along the Costa del Sol ahead of this year’s US Open - in tight swimming trunks.

The tennis star was seen enjoying a run in Marbella wearing nothing but his Speedos, cap and sneakers.

He completed the minimal look with a black necklace featuring a gold crucifix.

The father-of-two even had a go on the public gym equipment along Marbella’s beach promenade, performing pullups and leg presses, all the while sporting the rather tight budgy smuggler.

The 31-year-old Serbian was later seen taking a dip in the sea after changing into different swimwear.

He is believed to have been staying at the luxury Puente Romano hotel on the Golden Mile, where he has regularly been spotted training on its tennis courts.

Djokovic defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in his first match of the US Open last night.

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

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www.theolivepress.es August 29th - September 11th 2018

5

EU migrants can stay in UK... but expats could lose access to pensions in case of no-deal Brexit

Taking the high ground

SPANISH migrants living in the UK will be given the right to remain in the country even if there is a no-deal Brexit, it has been revealed.

The UK government is set to take the ‘moral high ground’ even if the EU and Spain act

differently, according to a leaked government report.

The deal will be offered to all 3.8 million EU citizens residing in Britain who will still be able to use the benefits system and access the NHS. It comes after fears grew over

potential labour shortages in certain sectors once Britain is no longer in the EU. British expats in Europe were warned of losing access to their pensions and hit with taxes when using credit cards if no deal is agreed.

Mum mowed down THIS is the Gibraltar-based mother who was killed after being mowed down on the street at the weekend.

Adrienn Baltes, 43, was walking home from work in La Linea when a car hit her as she crossed the road.

The Hungarian mother-of-one, who has lived on the Rock for at least 20 years, is said to have been killed instantly.

According to investigators, the tattoo artist - whose brother runs popular parlour Gib Ink - died on Calle Principe de Asturias at around 1am on Sunday morning.

It happened when a silver Volkswagen Golf ploughed into her as she crossed at a red light.

Tributes have been pouring in for the expat who had been working that evening at a cafe in Gibraltar.

“She was a great person always with a smile on her face and had a very big heart,” one wrote.

Another said: “I’m totally shocked by the news.

“Adrienn was a wonderful and caring lady, my condolences to her family.

“She will be sadly missed and the Cyber Cafe won't be the same.”

Initial reports in Spanish press that the incident was a hit-and-run appear to have been unfounded.

According to friends of Adrienn, the driver who hit her stayed with her until police and paramedics arrived and was ‘visibly shaken’.

August 29th - September 11th 2018

5

Annuities, deposit services, lending and insurance are just some of the financial actions where expats could face difficulties if the EU does not take action.

UK citizens in the European Economic Area will not be able to access these products without intervention from Brussels before the Brexit deadline.

It comes after the UK government released its no-deal preparation plans last week, in a bid to offer guidance in the event of a so-called ‘hard Brexit’.

Inconvenience

Hugh Savill, director of regulation at the Association of British Insurers, said leaving the EU without a deal would cause ‘major inconvenience’ to millions of pensioners, travellers and drivers.

He added: “We urge the Government to agree a deal as a matter of urgency.”

Savill revealed that insurers have been making ‘contingency plans’ for months but the issues are too deep-rooted for them to fix alone.

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Fe at u r e

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than 500,000 people a month.

OPINION TripAdvisor on trial IT’S something everyone has suspected for years, but now, thanks to good old fashioned journalism, it has been finally exposed. In a classic newspaper sting, the Olive Press has this week proven that a variety of businesses along the coast are not scared to cheat in order to get on.

Our front page on TripAdvisor has caught a businessman selling fake reviews in order to help restaurants and rental homes move up the rankings.

And it’s not just a few places.

In one incredible case, a restaurant allegedly rose from 100th position to first place in just two months.

It is a scandal that is as shameless as it is fraudulent and it is lucky TripAdvisor says it is investigating.

If only Twitter and Facebook also better probed those businesses who shamelessly buy followers and ‘likes’ to make them appear more popular.

Well, the proof is in the pudding.

When you see a website, or an Instagram or Twitter feed suddenly grow from 5,000 to 20,000 followers almost in a week, you know something is wrong.

Take it from us, we have built up our massive web following organically and ethically over a decade, with no artificial injections.

It’s a shame some of our rivals have done it differently! Either way, next time you are looking for the ‘best restaurant near you’, take the results with a pinch of salt - many of them could have been paid for! As we are about to hit ‘scroll free September’ and a British campaign against social media, perhaps it’s time everyone tried to go back to genuine, old fashioned experts. All in all, If you want real, honest reviews use good local media, proper independent websites and good local bloggers. And, above all, trust the word of someone you know. It’s not Fake News, honest.

Publisher/ Editor

Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es

Newsdesk newsdesk@theolivepress.es Tel: (+34) 665 798 618

Head of SALES Sarah Adams sales@theolivepress.es

Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es Elisa Menendez elisa@theolivepress.es Pablo Balbontin pablo@theolivepress.es Gillian Keller gillian@theolivepress.es

Admin Beatriz Sanllehí (+34) 951 273 575 admin@theolivepress.es

Distribution Graham Warters distribution@theolivepress.es

Designer Keith Franks

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AWARDS

Princeton University’s partnership with the Olive Press goes from strength to strength as the Class of 2018 graduates with flying colours.

This year’s interns Diana Tang and Grace Lee write up their end-of-term report

F

OR the past nine years, Princeton University has sent two interns to the Olive Press as part of their International Internships Program, a project that sends undergraduate students from the world-famous Ivy League campus to all corners of the globe for eight weeks of summer work experience.

Soon after applying, we were carted off to ‘Sabi’ (Sabinillas) a small beach town on the southern coast of Spain, with no idea what to expect. But before we knew it, we were caught up in the whirlwind of life at the Olive Press.

As our eight weeks come to a close, here are the highlights of our experience writing for the best expat paper in Spain.

Ivy League on the Costas INTERNS: (Left) Grace Lee and (right) Diana Tang

Work Experience

At the Olive Press, our voices were not just heard but our works were published. We were treated as journalists, not just as interns, which motivated us to produce original, engaging pieces. We wrote both hard news stories and features.

Although many of our working days were spent at our desks, typing away on our laptops, the diverse stories in Spain and our weekend travels made even those sedentary less vineyards at a bodega in Ronda. hours enjoyable. Many of our assignments al- We’ve tackled a lot in the past eight weeks lowed us to experience Spanish culture first but have yet to set foot in the Basque Country hand. We wrote about Malaga’s campaign or in Mallorca where an edition of the Olive Press is published every two weeks, which to award Unesco protection to gives us the perfect excuse to its espetos (sardines roasted olive press return and add to our long list online on skewers from boats on the of the strange things we found beach) and reported on the T 2 in Spain! Here’s what stood out new government decree to al3 for us this time round: 4 low live music in the city. And 5 after the last word had been Shrine to written, we chowed down on a mass these delicious fishy skewers murderer and listened to musica en vivo at a local café.

There were fascinating backstories and quirky details to Figuring out the dining customs be explored and reported on has been quite an ordeal, from at every location we visited. having to flag down a waiter for everything to the crazy eating hours, with dinner at around 9 or 10pm. Even after eight VARIETY: From weeks, dinner at 8pm is the on war criminals in We were both newcomers in articles best we managed.

Sevilla to iconic poet Lorca Spain so every chance we saw In American restaurants, you CULTURA LA LACULTURA to explore, we jumped at it. walk in for dinner around 6pm We made the trek up to the An ode and are greeted with free water bustling cities of Barcelona I and bread, courtesy of the resca Lor to and Madrid and climbed the taurant. When we walked into steep hills of Sacromonte in our first restaurant in Spain at Granada under the scorching 7pm the waitress gave us a puzheat. We drank our way along zled look (presumably because the sun-kissed beaches of we were so early) and brought the Costa del Sol. We chased out two bottles of water and a after one of our biggest pasbread basket for which we were sions, jamón, in Jabugo and charged €5 euros on the bill. marvelled over beautiful caThings which are free in the thedrals and delicious tapas States and which we’ve come in Sevilla and Córdoba. We to take for granted aren’t free also fell in love with the rich culture and his- in Spain. tory of Granada.

Another surprise was the Spanish penchant And on our memorable last weekend in for drinking. Whether at lunch or dinner, it Spain, we danced with the locals in flamenco was common to see most customers casualdresses at the famous Feria de Málaga and ly downing glasses of vino blanco or cerveza. sipped wines on a balcony overlooking end- And while restaurants in America will often round off your meal with free mints, we were taken aback by the shots of red Pacharán liquor that were brought out with the check.

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Visitors to Sevilla’s Basílica de la Macarena little realise they are admiring the tomb of Franco’s chief executioner - thanks to Spain’s Pact of Forgetting

October 2015

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By Grace Lee

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HEY say history is written by the victors but no victor is immortal and no victory permanent. However, for almost one century, Spain has wrestled with remnants of the Spanish Civil War that still pervade the nation in general and its seemingly benign Catholic monuments in particular.

Sevilla is famous for its ornate royal palace and Catholic cathedral. Yet, both these iconic sites and the grand stone walls that surround parts of the city belie the atrocities committed there. Following the Civil War, more than 5,000 civilians were executed by the city walls by a military commander whose tomb now lies in the Basílica de la Macarena, just a few steps away from those very city walls.

Gonzalo Queipo de Llano was a general loyal to Francisco Franco, the fascist dictator who ruled Spain for nearly four decades after his victory in the civil war. Queipo is also singlehandedly responsible for the execution of more than 50,000 civilians in Sevilla during the war.

I don’t know what I expected as I walked into the basilica. A group of visitors huddled around his plaque paying tribute? Pointing fingers at the deceased? I’m not sure, but I do know that I did not expect the complete ambivalence toward the two rectangular plaques that greet you as soon as you walk in the chapel in the Macarene suburb.

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EXECUTIONER: Quiepo de Llamo (inset) is buried here in Sevilla

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Horrific

People are so immediately enraptured by the burnished gold statues, dimly-lit atmosphere and ornate decorations that no one gives Queipo’s name a second glance. Perhaps this is what the ‘Pact of Forgetting’ looks like in action.

Following the death of Franco and the downfall of his dictatorship in 1975, leading political parties agreed on a tacit policy of Pacto del Olvido (Pact of Forgetting). The agreement silenced discussions about the horrific civil war and its legacy. It embodied fears of reopening old wounds and repeating the past. Hence, the atrocities committed by Queipo and others have long gone unaddressed.

Salvador Cardús, Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a leading researcher in Spanish culture and religion, describes the pact as an ‘erasure of memory’ and ‘a collective amnesia’.

A move for national reconciliation, it attempted to bury the violence and brutality that marked the era of Francoism. It was a masterful act of creating nothing out of something, allowing Spain to seemingly avoid this painful subject for decades. But whether the memories are truly forgotten is questionable.

‘Memories of the war were not so much forgotten as ‘disremembered’,’ writes Madeleine Davis, Senior Lecturer of Politics at the Queen Mary University of London.

For the past century, the pact was kept despite a few largely unsuccessful attempts to overturn it. Although La Ley de Memoria Histórica (Law of Historic Memory) was passed in 2007 during the term of the previous Socialist prime

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minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, its enforcement was promptly halted when Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Populist party regained power in 2011.

The law had called for full state cooperation for families hoping to move bodies of relatives killed during the civil war from mass graves, as well as the removal of all remaining monuments of Franco. Both measures never came to fruition.

Now, with the appointment of socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez this June, possibilities for the exhumation of Franco and his military subordinates, including Quiepo, from the Valley of the Fallen have come back into the spotlight.

Andalucia has been in the forefront of this rekindled movement. Last year it passed La Ley andaluza de Memoria Histórica y Democrática (Law of Historical and Democratic Memory) which bans all ‘elements in opposition to democratic memory’ on private properties ‘under public projection’.

The Basilíca de la Macarena, a private property belonging to the Brotherhood of the Macarena, is subject to this law. However the exhumation of Queipo from the basilica ultimately lies in the hands of the Brotherhood, which has been lukewarm about doing so. Earlier this year, José Antonio Fernandez, the head of the Brotherhood, recognised Queipo as ‘a protector of the movement of the Catholic Church’, noting his contribution in building the basilíca and criticising politicians for attempting to ‘open all this’.

Pain

Travels

CONTROVERSIAL: Grave of Queipo

16 16

But recently, Fernandez confirmed to El Pais that he will propose the removal of Queipo’s body to the governing board of the Brotherhood. “The law speaks and the brotherhood abides,” he said. The day after his statement, the Brotherhood clarified that it ‘has not made any decision or reached an agreement’ on the matter, indicating a potential time lag before any action is taken.

Despite the Brotherhood’s reluctance, the Andalucian government has shown robust support for its new law and remains optimistic that Queipo’s remains will be removed from public display. “It’s only a matter of time,” said the vice-president of the Junta.

However, the emotional complexity of the issue far exceeds the legal complications. Just as left- and right-leaning politicians remain sharp-

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RICHES: The golden arches of the Basilica

ly divided on the treatment of civil war memorabilia, stark divisions still exist amongst the people of Spain: those who want to bury history, perhaps to avoid the pain; those who want to unearth it, perhaps to see justice for the pain; and even those who to this day celebrate Franco’s legacies.

For now, individuals who wish to address and rectify history seem to have the upper hand.

Last week, premier Sánchez announced that the decision to exhume Franco is firm. “The wounds have been open for too many years, and the time has come to close them. Our democracy will stand as symbols that unite citizens,” he said. Whether the fate of the bodies of Queipo and Franco would reopen or heal old wounds is a question that may never be answered with certainty, even after everything has played out. A city so visibly imbued with silent history, Sevilla has and continues to play host to an uncanny hide-and-seek between history, truth and pain.

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GONE NATIVE: Grace and Diana proud of their Spanish lunch spread

Diana Tang retraces the footsteps of Spain’s most famed and tragic poet during his centenary year

works that still FELL in love with Federico avant-garde with readers today.

Garcia Lorca when I was resonate 100 years since Lorca 17, sitting in a circle on It’s his first book, Ima dirty school carpet with published y Paisajes, his only my Spanish Literature class presiones of prose. More than a reading La Casa de Bernar- work of his travels, the book da Alba. I found myself in a diary a social commentary on world vastly progressive for is politics and aesthetics. its time of writing. year would also have There’s a reason why Lorca’s This the poet’s 120th birthname has gone down in his- beenwhich has given the city tory as one of Spain’s best day,Granada two reasons to of poets. The genius behind 2018 the Year of great literary classics like declare Bernarda Alba’s House and Lorca. held a special Blood Wedding constructed Granada the artdescriptive, place in the heart of unforgettably

ist who once said that if he ever became famous, ‘half of that fame will belong to Granada, which formed me and made me what I am.’

The city had a profound impact on his works, instilling his deep love for nature, introducing him to some of his closest companions, and, in the words of Lorca himself, giving him ‘a sympathetic understanding of those who are persecuted.’

Taking a copy of Impresiones y Paisajes as our guide, the Olive Press ventured forth to discover how Lorca’s Granada compares to the modern provincial capital of today.

Restaurante Chikito

MODERN THINKER: Lorca supported

Office manager Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@theolivepress.es

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the perscuted

Lorca, who was sadly murdered by fascist thugs during the Spanish Civil War, found some of his closest friends and fellow intellectuals in Cafe Alameda, a meeting place for discussions of the at Hierta de San Vincente Rinconcillo tertulia (debatgot to understand how servants lived ing society)and members COUNTRY LIFE: Lorca poet’s memory. of Granada’s Artistic, LiterLorca is also present. His life- the to come. pleased to ary and Scientific Society. group for years name has sized sculpture is appropri- Lorca would beis still great, in the know the food These encounters provided The cafe’s is Restaurante ately seated at a table and but the real wow factor an outlet for Lorca’s artistic changed but the spirit corner, pencil in hand in the very perspective and progressive Chikito still upholdsIts motto, seemingly deep in thought. being able to sit poet and by room where the conversation. It was here of the Rinconcillo. amigos - the The statue was created in his friends broke bread and unveiled he met famous musicians el arte de hacer over everyfriends - is evi- José Castro and and artists such as Manuel art of making layout of the 2015 by the mayor of Grana- chewed the fat for Orienfrom the fad de Falla, connections that dent in the openits cozy vibe. da, José Torres Hurtado, in thing would form his support restaurant and

Siestas are for real

2016 - 2018 Best expat paper in Spain and the second best in the world. The Expat Survey Consumer Awards.

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Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.

GOURMET-TOUR: To Jabugo in Huelva

On our first day in Spain, we tried to find a place to buy a phone charger at around 3pm.

Big mistake. Wandering along the streets of Estepona, we found ourselves faced with closed door after closed door. We hadn’t realised the famous Spanish siesta wasn’t just some archaic piece of trivia we learned in Spanish class but still alive and well!

Then there’s Spain’s Sunday hours … or not.

Nothing’s open, as we discovered after depleting our supply of groceries for a week and setting off for Mercadona on a Sunday. Still, dinner out was an unexpected treat.

A festive feast

We had no idea Spain held so many festivals and we came at the best time to enjoy them, during the summer months. Here’s where we mingled with the locals: Feria de Estepona (July 3-8) Día de la Virgen del Carmen (July 16) Feria de Málaga (August 11-19) Festividad de la Asunción de la Virgen (August 15) Certamen Mundial del Jamón (August 10-15)

Going forward

When we applied to the Olive Press, we were unsure about journalism as a career. After eight weeks, we’re still unsure but our passion for investigative journalism and honest reporting has only grown during our time here. We’ve witnessed our tenacious newsroom colleagues asking tough questions on behalf of the victims of medical tragedies, chasing down paedophiles and staying at the office until sunrise to meet press day deadlines, putting all their energies into producing a quality, free newspaper.

As we head back to Princeton, we not only take with us an impressive portfolio of our work but great tans and a newfound appreciation for all the backstage drama, pressure and late nights involved before your paper hits the newsstands.

Thanks Olive Press for giving us such a good experience of life at a truly regional paper.

www.theolivepress.es

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August 29th -

Each print issue of the Olive Press can be read in its entirety on www.theolivepress.es And our site is updated September 11th 2018 daily with the latest news, making it one of Spain’s most visited news websites.

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Brits on tour in

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In an open letter to Spain, News editor Laurence Dollimore apologises for the sordid minority who reclassify ‘British’ and ‘tourist’ as dirty words

BE ‘APPY!

Dear Spain,

W

e know you are a patient and long-suffering bunch, well, please can we ask you once again not to judge us Brits by the sinverguenzas who choose to poo over your balconies or perform oral services for a free cocktail, but by the majority of respectful expats who are privileged to call your beautiful country home.

Seriously though, how did we get here?

Brits used to be famed for their polite manners and punctuality. Now we are better known for our excessive drinking and outrageous party antics compounded by the senseless alcohol-fuelled sport of ‘balconing’. The facts speak for themselves.

Some 46 patients were treated for injuries after falling or deliberately jumping from balconies in Spain between 2010 and 2015 - and 60% were Brits.

The last two years have seen this number grow, with almost 10 Brits dying this year alone (CHECK).

And that’s only one example from a whole catalogue of outrageous behaviour that has seen holiday high jinks sink to a shocking new low.

Just this week we were sent a video from Benidorm which showed a British reveller putting his penis in the mouth of a passed-out compatriot.

And who can forget the brazen British girl who performed oral sex on 24 men for a free drink in 2016, or the man who fell from a balcony in Mallorca last month while trying to defecate over the edge.

Closer to home, beach club brawls and stabbings at Costa del Sol haunts dominated the headlines last summer.

Two rival gangs’ fight spilled onto the streets of Puerto Banus and ended with one member trying to run over his rivals.

Is it any wonder that some of Spain’s biggest resorts are starting to resent the tourists?

‘Tourists go home’ and ‘Tourist, you are the terrorist,’ are just some of the messages that have been graffitied at hotspots in the past year.

Just because resorts make a killing from visiting Brits every year, it doesn’t mean they have to put up with such antics.

And while most Brits behave themselves, as we know, it’s only the headline-grabbing activities which are etched in the memories’ of fed-up Spaniards - like Freda Jackson, who famously complained this month of there being ‘too many Spaniards’ during her recent trip to Benidorm.

So yes, there will always be Brits behaving badly in Spain, but please, don’t tar us expats with the same brush!

We embrace the culture, we learn - or try to learn - the language and we have the utmost respect and pride for our adopted homeland and Spanish neighbours.

We hope you will bear this in mind the next time you roll your eyes in disgust at yet another story about a British reveller behaving badly, and accept our apology on behalf of the whole damned lot.

Dusculpanos

The Olive Press team

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Our amazing successes

PRIME TIME: Marion and Martin with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning

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RADICAL CHANGE: Sara Price lost half her body

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Costa del Sol-based cognitive therapists star on UK television special

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olly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have publishers Hay House in New York, and were then talked with Martin and Marion Shirran about invited to share details of their work at two leading their Gastric Mind Band® permanent weight European psychology conferences at universities in loss treatment on the This Morning TV Show. Portugal and Poland.

The Costa del Sol is acknowledged around the world They were recently invited to appear on the This for a number of reasons, but for a few in the know, Morning show to talk about the treatment and its including a growing number of celebrities, it remains development, you can see the full interview on the the Go-To destination for those wishing to achieve clinics web site – www.gmband.com.

The revolutionary treatment which can be completed Permanent Weight Loss.

The incredible story around the over either three or four days delivers what is surely Gastric Mind Band® treatment Utopia for dieters... Permanent Weight Loss using a goes back to 2012 when it was range of proven psychological interventions. Today developed at a small clinic the Gastric Mind Band® is regarded by many as the gold standard in permanent non-surgical weight loss in Fuengirola, treatments.

by Martin and Marion Shirran. Helping people The unique approach has been refined during a decade of research and extenShortly afterlose weight is sive client trials. Every element of the wards Claudia Connell (left) a complex task treatment is evidence based. There’s no smoke and mirrors, no diet plan, and no of the Daily Mail, travelled requiring various exercise regimes to follow.

“Helping people to successfully, and perto Spain to techniques manently lose weight is a complex task, meet the developers and experience the requiring a careful fusion of empirically treatment for herself. Two weeks later proven interventions. The treatment inshe wrote a two-page feature in the Daily Mail newspaper detailing her treatment that literally got the corporates Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Neuro-Linwhole world talking. Martin and Marion were then guistic Programming and the clinic’s own registered, flown to New York to be featured in a Good Morning TactileCBT along with Mindfulness Techniques, each America TV special regarding their approach; result- underpinned as and when required by Hypnotherapy. ing in them establishing a number of licensed clinics The treatment has been further enhanced following the new and exciting research in the field of Neuroaround the world.

Following the TV appearances they signed a multi- plasticity. title publishing contract with leading Mind Body Various past clients have been interviewed in the media and on TV worldwide. One Sara Price, lost half her body weight following her treatment, Katie Drew, went on to lose over 100 pounds. Kaye Lindley, a past client was interviewed by Lorraine Kelly on GMTV Breakfast show after losing 105 pounds and reversing her diabetes.

Read their stories at www.gmband.com

TRANSFORMATION: Katie Drew lost 100 pounds

MODERN: the team’s Fuengirola clinic

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Written by expat cognitive therapists Martin & Marion Shirran Gastric Mind Band Therapy Elite Clinic, Fuengirola +34 951 311 591 mail@gmband.com www.gmband.com www.pausebuttontherapy.com

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Waiting on mañana

British graduate forced to stay in Spain for year on drug case that ‘makes no sense’

48

Miller, 25, was arrested in October last year after six marijuana plants were found at the Airbnb property he was renting in La Linea.

The Glasgow lad was working out in the garage-cumgym next to the apartment when police stormed in

A BRITISH expat is still stuck in limbo after Spanish police took his passport off him following a ‘wrongful arrest’ almost one year ago. The Olive Press first revealed how Robbie Mc-

and questioned him about six plants they had found growing around the back.

He was arrested the same day – October 20 – and put in front of a judge and has had to appear on the 1st and 15th of each month since.

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Summer Fun LOS Álamos Beach Festival, a five-day summer electronic-music event, will move from Torremolinos to Estepona next year (August 1-5).

Prime Location AN estate agency from popular Channel 4 show ‘Sun, Sea and Selling Houses’ has opened a new branch in Albox.

Holy Moly!

A PRANKSTER changed a nativity scene near Madrid to show reindeer copulating and Mary performing leud acts on Joseph.

Vol. 12 Issue 281 www.theolivepress.es December 20th - January 3rd 2018

Young Brit arrested for marijuana plants slams Spain for ‘violating’ his human rights A BRITISH expat is demanding answers after a ‘wrongful’ arrest over marijuana plants has left him unable to work for months.

Robbie McMiller, 24, has had his passport confiscated since October and will be stuck in La Linea over Christmas.

The Glasgow lad was working out in the garage-cumgym next to his rental apartment when police stormed in and questioned him about six plants they had found growing around the back.

He was arrested the same day - October 20 - and put in front of a judge the next day

BUM-NOTE

Planted!

By Laurence Dollimore

MCMILLER: In Limbo

and has had to appear on the 1st and 15th of each month since.

The West of Scotland University graduate had only been in Spain for two weeks when the raid happened, but this still didn’t stop him being the prime suspect.

“It is ridiculous,” he told the Olive Press this week, “the plants were between two and four metres high, I only arrived in Malaga on October 1.”

Since appearing before the judge, he has been given no more information on his case nor has he been given any trial dates.

“I feel absolutely stuck, I might make it through to the New Year but I don’t know what I will do after then.”

McMiller had recently moved to the area and had been applying to work in Gibraltar’s gaming industry sector. He had just landed an interview with gambling

giant BetVictor. But now, with no passport, NIE or Spanish bank account, Robbie feels helpless and furious with the Spanish legal system.

“This would never be allowed to happen in the UK,” he added.

Bullish behaviour

A BRITISH politician has waded EXCLUSIVE into the case of a seriously ill British

By Elisa Menendez man who has been locked up with terrorists for more than two months Police claim he is linked to 1.5 in Spain. tonnes of hashish found in the deChichester MP Gillian Keegan has tached garage, while the owner of been in touch over the arrest of Robthe property has yet to be probed. ert Anthony Mansfield-Hewitt, who Both friends and colleagues of Robhas yet to be charged since being arert are very concerned about his rested over drug-dealing claims in health and insist he was in no way June. involved in the crime.

The Olive Press revealed This week, his British MP last issue how the 51-yearKeegan told the Olive Press old consultant engineer she was ‘very concerned’ was arrested when police about the situation and was TRAPPED swooped on his Airbnb speaking to his secretary in IN HELL rental home, in San Roque, Gibraltar. while he was on a business Robert’s PA Pilar Ford addtrip to Gibraltar. ed she had not had any conVoted BEST

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Pension shocker

THE EGG TEST

Everyone has heard of the claims that it is hot enough in Andalucia to cook an egg on the pavement... we visited Ecija, the ‘Frying pan of Spain’, to test out the theory, CRACKING JOB PAGE 6

EXCLUSIVE

By Luke Madeira

BRITISH pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their spending power over the last two years as a direct result of Brexit.

Richard Hill, vice president of Brexpats in Spain, claims plummeting exchange rates, taxes and a rise in the cost of living have caused significant income losses.

It comes as the pound sunk to a new low of just 1.10 to the euro last week, as worries of a hard Brexit magnified.

The pensioner, who claims he’s around 22% ‘worse off’ since the referendum, believes expats will struggle regardless of whatever deal is reached ahead of Britain’s exit from the EU. The pensioner added: “The significant problem at this stage with Brexit is the fluctuating exchange rate.

“Obviously fluctuations are normal, however the steady downward trend is seriously affecting people.”

Plummet

It comes after the Rabobank in London warned that a no-deal Brexit could end in euro-sterling parity, while last week saw the pound plummet to an eight-month low.

British expat Karen Watling, from Sheffield, claims she has lost as much as a third of her monthly budget.

“Over two years this has caused us problems financially,” she told the Olive Press. “Prices and commodities have also risen so it has been like a double hit.”

The exchange rate was an average 1.24 in 2014 before climbing to an average 1.38 in 2015.

However the year of the referendum saw the average fall to 1.22 before falling again to 1.14 in 2017. This year so far has been lower at 1.13 and it currently stands at 1.12.

Brexpats in Spain has called for a government-run internet bank offering basic current accounts, debit cards and the option to carry out international and national transfers online.

The group even suggests ordering RBS - the only bank in the UK in which the government has a stake Turn to page 8

Seriously ill Briton locked up with terrorists after being fingered for 1.5 TONNES of hashish found at holiday rental home

A BRITISH businessman - who atEXCLUSIVE tended Eton with David Cameron

By Elisa Menendez and Boris Johnson - is seriously ill in an Andalucian prison having on June 27. Colleagues and friends told been accused of drug smuggling. the Olive Press that Mansfield-Hewitt, Robert Anthony Mansfield- who has a PhD and no criminal record, Hewitt, 51, was arrested after po- is an ‘innocent man’ and has been lice swooped on his rental home wrongfully imprisoned. during a short business trip to Gi- They added that the Chichester-raised braltar two months ago. engineer is currently in a critical conThe consultant engineer, who dition and is being held in the insists he is innocent, has yet to wing at Botafuegos prison in medical Algeciras be charged over the 1.5 tonnes of - a dangerous jail, which notoriously hashish police found in the ga- houses a number of Basque ETA terrage of the villa he rented through rorists.

Airbnb.

The Brit, a consultant at electrical com- CAGED: Notorious prison while (right) Mansfield-Hewitt He insists he has absolutely ‘no pany Genco Holdings Ltd in connection’ to the drugs that were who regularly travels to the Gibraltar, and (above right) ETA terrorist Rock, sufbeing stored at the rental in Cam- fers from severe liver disease Ascites daily for his illness.”

“The doctor said he hadn’t been pamento, in San Roque. and walks with a cane.

After spending two days in a cell, he given CAPTION: his medication and his liver The owner of the villa, the Olive His PA, Pilar June Ford, 54, said she appeared in front of a judge at San was functioning Press understands, was charged was ‘horrified’ when she received a call Roque court before being sent to Bota- heartbeat was at just 15%. His for importing cocaine into Gibral- from her boss screaming at almost non-existent La Linea fuegos prison. and he was delirious.” tar last year. police station.

Ford is concerned he has not been re- His lawyer Jose Maria Castro In the case, that has strange par- She told the Olive Press: “He Esallels to the plight of Scottish stu- station shouting ‘please helpwas at the ceiving the correct medication, after he cudero believes he is now being dent Robbie McMiller, Mansfield- me, bring me clothes, there’sme, help collapsed in shock as his ‘body started administered the correct medicaloads of to shut down’ on the way to prison. tion, but still remains in a Hewitt was woken up and ‘dragged drugs in the house.’ It was horrible.

He was rushed to ICU at Hospital Pun- condition. The nightmare critical out of bed practically naked at gun- “I rushed there with a huge began point’ by police officers at 8.30pm medication, which he needs bag of ta de Europa where his survival chanc- after police were alerted to the to take es were described as ‘touch and go’. stash after following a man of Moroccan nationality, who

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Hot water

Tranquilo,

Costa del Sol hotel has three months to fight decision before it is demolished

SOME 14 fire bosses have been arrested for allegedly embezzling €7 million in public funds.

The Policia Nacional found that the Consortium of Bomberos Cadiz took out mass early retirement insurance policies.

A HOTEL is to be knocked down for not having enough class!

Benalmadena’s Hotel Vista de Rey must be demolished within three months, a court has ruled, Andalucia’s Superior Court of Justice ruled that the hotel falls short of its four-star requirement.

But when their employees retired early, chiefs siphoned off the money from the payouts.

Authorities also found discrepancies in the consor-

tium’s training courses.

Large sums were paid to a company to provide training courses, but no evidence has been found that these courses took place.

Meanwhile, irregularities were also found in grants and subsidies, which cops believe were used to pay for private trips.

The irregularities date back to 2008 and cops believe at least €7 million has been stolen by those at the top.

Pipe ban

December 6th - December 19th 2017

‘He deserves it’ Not enough stars From Page 1

Probing

It began probing the three star hotel and apartment block in 2011 after it was denounced over planning rules which set aside the plot for a four star hotel only.

According to the PGOU town plan an apartment block was not permitted and it also breached rules by being over 700 square meters bigger

FRUIT growers in the Axarquia are facing a 60% reduction in water use from the La Vinuela reservoir with no solution in sight.

The Junta has decided to limit its use as the reservoir is already at 22.7% capacity and could drop even lower if the dry weather keeps up.

NEWS

DOOMED: Costa hotel

than permitted.

Although the town hall and developer maintain this excess was later corrected, the judge ruled that the rectification would have taken place after the granting of the licence, so does not count.

The building has 61 apartments and 46 parking spaces.

The original building was granted planning permission by then mayor Enrique Bolin in 2001.

SMUGGLERS’ WALL POLICE officers have formed a human wall along a beach in La Linea to ensure that the construction of a beach wall went ahead.

The wall, between the church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen and the perimeter wall of the fishing port of La Atunara, hopes to

deter drug smugglers from using the beach as a drop off zone.

A combined police presence of Guardia Civil, local and national officers were present as fears grew that drug smugglers would try and disrupt the work.

they’re on their way home..

He even got himself a financial advice slot on a well known radio station, through which he snared unsuspecting victims.

However, a comprehensive Olive Press investigation exposed his scams that involved stamps, coins and gold.

We also revealed how he and his close pal Barry Nathan wined and dined up to a dozen criminals, anonymously, through the food column.

He eventually fled the country following our expose, but we soon tracked him down to the UK, where he had changed his name by deed poll and was selling coins and antiques on eBay from a small Berkshire cottage.

He was quickly found guilty under English law of conning people and given a suspended prison sentence only due to health reasons.

“And because he promised to never go back to his online cons,” one of the British victim explained.

But this is apparently not the case with two victims claiming he is still using eBay to sell ‘dodgy’ coins and stamps from his unpaid flat in Brighton, using the names ‘gqtrading’ and ‘gqtrading2’.

“We are pretty sure he has broken his bail conditions and will have to finally go back to prison,” said one victim.

“The nerve of this man is unbelievable.”

His landlord last night insisted he should have known something was up from the start.

“When we met to sign the contracts I thought he was a bit slippery, I went to pay for my coffee only for the barista to tell me he had left without paying his bill.”

He continued: “He paid for the first couple of months but then just stopped. He told us his account had been frozen due to a money laundering investigation, which is probably true. “He then told us to stop contacting him and accused us of harrassment.

“Now he is claiming he is seriously ill and can’t work to make payments.

“We’ll see him in court.”

Opinion Page 6

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SOME of southern Spain’s most beautiful towns will be on cinema screens as a new animated blockbuster featuring a talking bull will the talk of town this winter.

20th Century Fox’s Ferdinand, the story about a Spanish pacifist bull mistaken for a violent beast will be a real tear-jerker as it depicts Ronda’s famous Puente Nuevo bridge.

Based on The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, the family-friendly film wrestles with the controversial issues surrounding bullfighting.

Featuring voiceovers from John Cena, Kate McKinnon, David Tennant and NFL star Peyton Manning, it will be released in Spain on December 22.

Teacher fined for gay insult

tact with Robert since August 18.

“We have not had any telephone calls - it’s very worrying,” she said, “Usually he calls two to three times a week.”

Robert, who suffers from severe liver disease Ascites, is currently in a critical condition at the medical wing at notorious Botafuegos prison in Algeciras - which houses ETA terrorists and most recently Kinahan cartel member James Quinn.

The Brit who has a PhD and works for electrical company Genco Holdings Ltd in Gibraltar regularly travels to the Rock on business and has no criminal record.

Robert’s lawyer, Jose Maria Castro Escudero, told the paper two weeks

pulled up outside the property and attempted to get into the garage.

Police found 48 packets of hashish weighing around 33 kilos each, or almost 1.5 tonnes.

If found guilty he could be sentenced to up to six years in a Spanish prison.

According to his lawyer he is ‘fighting every day to free Robert’ and get him bail, meaning he would likely have to report to police once a month while he awaits

A HIDDEN handwritten note has been found up the bum of an 18th century statue of Jesus Christ in Northern Spain.

The message dating back to 1777, documents key information about the period including famous people, popular pastimes and political matters.

Signed by Joaquin Minguez, priest of the cathedral of Burgo de Osma at the time, it was found when restorers removed a piece of fabric used to cover Christ’s derriere, exposing a small gap.

Double sided and two pages long, experts believe that the priest’s intention was to make a time capsule.

The wooden statue is now kept at the church of Santa Agueda in Sotillo de la Ribera, in Burgos.

FLASHBACK: Our firstSky’s the limit story

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STUCK: Robbie

December 20th - January 3rd 2018

Voted

FINAL WORDS

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

Quality not quantity, and at least half a million readers a month www.theolivepress.es

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A TEACHER has been fined 417 euros for saying that homosexuality is unnatural in a philosophy class.

The 64-year-old at the school in Lleida has now apologised to students after comparing homosexuals to being ‘lame or one eyed’.

The comment, which was recorded on a mobile phone, is in violation of law which guarantees the rights of LGTBI members.

versity graduate had only been in Spain for two weeks when the raid happened, but this still didn’t stop him being the prime suspect.

“It would have been impossible for those plants to have grown in just a fort-

A MILLION more passengers have used Malaga airport this year.

Some 17.6 million travellers came through the hub between January and November, an increase of 11.9%.

The figures released by Spanish airport authority Aena, also showed that more than 15 million people flew to or from airports outside of Spain, with domestic flights representing just under 7% of the total.

Growth is expected to continue next year, with a new route between Malaga and Lyon launching in April by Transavia.

Stubbed out POLICE have raided an illegal tobacco factory capable of producing two million cigarettes per day.

Some 18 suspects have been cuffed in raids at the factories in Granada and Malaga, where the cigarettes were sold and distributed.

The factory had a €3 million investment from crime bosses, including more than 14 tonnes of tobacco.

The gang had the same production levels of other legal factories and even had their own packaging process and brand.

It had already made at least 4.5 million cigarettes when it was busted.

night,” he told the Olive Press this week. “Yet they have still not let me off the hook.”

The case has forced him to stay in Andalucia, as police have kept his passport and he has been scraping a living doing some software development work.

“It’s been a really hard year,” he continued. “There have been no updates on the case at all and I have yet to have my day in court.

“I’m still waiting on a manaña that never seems to come.”

Lucky

DESPERATE: Briton Robert ago that a judge was due to visit the prisoner and make a decision on whether to grant bail.

But last night he revealed that the judge has still not visited his client.

“He is desperate,” added the lawyer.

He added: “I'm lucky to have God and friends and family have been helping me out too.”

His lawyer Alvaro Gracia told the Olive Press: “We have asked the court of appeal in Cadiz if Robbie can have his passport back and a NIE so he can rent and work properly in Spain, but that was five months ago and I am still waiting for the judgement.”

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n e ws

August 29th - September 11th 2018

Catch 22

Expats’ car torched after being gassed in their sleep EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

A BRITISH expat couple have been left in insurance limbo after their vehicle was stolen by a gang before being torched.

John and Jacqueline Armitage, 72 and 70, had their car stolen from outside their house, after they were gassed at night by brazen thieves.

But incredibly their Gibraltarbased insurance firm is ‘refusing to pay out’ without the original documents, which were destroyed in the fire.

“It’s a complete catch 22,” John told the Olive Press.

“Spanish law says you must keep all documents in the car, now we are having to spend hundreds to try and get them duplicated.”

The former Royal Navy employee is warning expats to keep the documents at home.

“The system is stupid,” he added, “In our case only the originals are accepted, so if your car is stolen or destroyed like ours then you’re screwed.”

FED UP: John and Jacqueline Armitage The couple still don’t know if the duplicates will be enough for a payout from the company Tradewise.

The retired couple, from Portsmouth, had been awoken

by Guardia Civil agents banging on their doors the morning after their Toyota was found torched.

It had been involved in various robberies, police told them.

“We had no idea we had been robbed,” added John, “I’m a light sleeper and our dog barks at the slightest noise so police are 100% sure we were gassed.”

The couple, who moved to Mollina, near Antequera 11 years ago, have had to fork out hundreds to travel to Malaga to duplicate registration and the vehicle’s ITV documents.

The car was bought in the UK but had been transferred to Spanish plates.

Tradewise Gibraltar told the Olive Press: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on individual cases, however Ley 50/1980, de 8 octubre, Contrato de Seguro, the law applicable to insurance contracts in Spain allows the insurer 40 days from when the claim is reported in order to complete their internal investigations, at which point they must make payment of the minimum amount of compensation due.

“Where Spanish Law has been applied to the contract we will endeavour to comply with the above practice and settle the matter accordingly.”

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Packed

Councillor Cynthia García said the auditorium was packed with hundreds of people - both locals and tourists - on every night of the festival.

It is hoped that VélezMálaga will continue to promote the rich cultural heritage of the region.

A

joblanco Festival, September 1

ALMACHAR will host its annual celebration of ajoblanco, a traditional cold soup made of garlic and almond. Throughout the day, both visitors and locals can enjoy the dish accompanied with local wine and raisins as well as local dance, Andalucian choirs, and the Ajoblanco Flamenco Night.

Top secret

Flamenco The Olive Press frenzy ALMOST 2,000 people flocked to Velez-Malaga for a spectacular flamenco show featuring award-winning artists.

The second Festival Fusión 'Acompasao' was held in the San Cristóbal Hill auditorium on August 3, 10 and 17.

The festival welcomed renowned artists including Tomasito, who dances, sings and raps, Diego Guerrero, nominee for best flamenco album in the Latin Grammy Awards, and songwriter Javier Ruibal, recipient of the Medal of Andalucia and the National Current Music Award in 2017.

what’s on

organisation, as a short film competition to use the arts to help inmates reintegrate into society after serving their term.

During the event, inmates will watch the films and participate in a seminar with the producers and actors of those movies.

“It’s a great honour for us that this event has continued on for a decade,” said Juan de Lucas, the director of the Arrabal Association. “We have to thank the authorities for their interest in this project and social inclusion.”

MORE than a hundred prisoners are set to enjoy a host of short films as part of an inBEfestival ‘APPY! novative which aims to get culture into jails.

The Arrabal Association and the Alhaurín de la Torre Prison have joined forces to host the 10th edition of the annual Alhaurín en Corto Festival in mid-September.

Download now and The event aimsourtoapp introduce modernbegin cinema culture to enjoying the best Spanish prisons and stimulate artistic newsamong on the go. initiatives inmates.

The film project was first started in 2008 by the Arrabal Association, a non-profit ON A MISSION: Helping prisoners reintegrate through film

Audiences invited to take part in a festival with unknown locations across Malaga A SECRET arts festival has officially arrived in Malaga where viewers are warned to expect the unexpected.

The Festival de Arte Clandestino kicked off on Monday and will be hosting a unique performance every night in secret locations until September 2.

Guessing

It could be a cosy living room in a house, an empty art gallery, or even a garden laced with fairy lights where guests can sit back and enjoy the show.

And the festival certainly aims to keep viewers guessing. The location for each show will be kept a secret until 24 hours before when they receive an email notifying them of where they are set to

spend the night.

Encouraging a new and unconventional way of enjoying culture in the capital, the festival combines theatre, dance, live music and the underground Malaga arts scene A highlight of the week is set to be an immersive French theatre-dance piece, LOVE, in which the public will interact with the actors and dancers before the beginning of the show through a mobile app.

It seems the best will be saved until last, with an explosive ‘Top Secret Show’ taking place on Saturday September 1, aiming to surprise ‘the most daring viewers’ with no information revealed beforehand.

Tickets are available to buy at www.arteclandestino.es

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rape Harvest Festival, September 1 - 2

MANILVA will celebrate the end of the grape harvest in the Fiesta de la Vendimia, in which grapes will be tread for the first wine of the year, then offered to attendees to taste. The festivities will last for the entirety both days, with a brass band, the charanga, kicking off Saturday morning.

F

eria de las Maravilla de Maro, September 6 - 8

DEDICATED to the patron saint of Maro, the Virgin of Wonders, this event celebrates the year’s crops as the Virgin is paraded through streets, accompanied by rockets and fireworks.

There will also be traditional and modern music as well as beach barbecues.

WACKY: Art shows

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Loved by Ghandi, banned by Franco and Hitler... how a loveable Spanish toro in a children’s book raised hackles all over the world, writes Jack Gaioni

A

T first blush, The Story of Ferdinand comes across as an innocent and heartwarming tale. After all, it is a children’s book, as well as a 1938 Walt Disney film. Yet Ferdinand’s legacy has taken on an unexpected life of its own, with many layers.

The pacifist bull who prefers flowers to fighting has been caught in the crossfire of political ideologies, drawing world leaders, behavioural psychologists and top professional

AUTHOR: Munro Leaf

sports stars into the argument. Seldom has any book, much less one written for youngsters, become a sounding board for so many.

Written in 1936 by American author Munro Leaf, it quickly became a bestseller, with many reviewers proclaiming it ‘the greatest juvenile classic since Winnie the Pooh. The tale has been translated into 60 languages and has been in continuous publication for over 80 years.

The plot is set in Spain with many illustrations depicting Ronda, rural Andalucia and Madrid. Ferdinand, unlike most bulls, is a passive and peaceful creature with no interest in bullfighting. He prefers to smell the abundant flowers, his true passion. One day, men come to his pasture to choose a fierce bull to fight in Madrid. Ferdinand, as usual, is in the meadow indulging his floral fetish when he is stung by a bee. The pain sends him wild, snorting, charging and causing mayhem. Mistaking him for an aggressive bull, the men rename him ‘Ferdinand the Fierce’ and take him away to the capital to fight. In the ring, Ferdinand is distracted by the many flowers worn by the female spectators and refuses to fight.

After his adventure, he returns home to his favourite cork tree to continue smelling the flowers.

The fictional tale ends there but the story opened up a

The beef about Ferdinand NO BULLY: Pacifist bull Ferdinand was taken from his homeland in a field near Ronda (right and below) on the long journey to fight in Spain’s most famous bullring Las Ventas in Madrid

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whole new chapter of controversies. Because of the sensitive time it was written - three months before the start of the Spanish Civil War - hyper-political ideologies on both sides interpreted its meaning through very different lenses.

Pro-Franco factions perceived it to be a political tract promoting subversive pacifist propaganda and Franco banned it, calling it a dangerous message that encouraged disloyalty to cherished Spanish traditions. It remained on the blacklist in Spain until after Franco’s death in 1975.

In Germany, Franco’s ally Adolf Hitler was equally inflamed by the book’s ‘degenerate democratic propa-

ganda’ and ordered all copies to be burned.

After the war, attitudes changed.

In Germany 30,000 copies were distributed to the country’s youth in an international mission to promote peace, while anti-Franco ideologues saw Ferdinand as a positive metaphorical alternative to the ‘toughest, meanest bull’ (i.e. Franco). Other leftists saw Ferdinand’s behaviour as an effective sit-down strike against capitalist exploitation.

The saga didn’t end there. Ferdinand’s message has

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August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

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CONTROVERSIAL: Ferdinand was among the thousands of books burned by Hitler

been hotly debated in the world being a kind, lovable bull’. of behavioural psychologists. The For various reasons, Saldanha the book prominent Freudian journal Ameri- chose American professional ath- and mentioned it in multiple news can Imago interprets Ferdinand as letes for the voices and person- conferences. Mahatma Gandhi (far the ‘eternal child … locked in happy alities of the animated characters, left) called it his favorite book. H.G. innocence, nursing himself with the with reigning world wrestling cham- Wells and Thomas Mann repeatedabundance of infantile pleasure’. pion and bodybuilder John Cena as ly said much the same thing. Even The professional Ferdinand.

Cena, Joseph Stalin granted Ferdinand journal concludes an intimidating and favoured status as the only nonthat the bull’s ‘pasfierce-looking man communist book allowed within the Stalin made sion for flowers with yet soft-spoken Soviet Union. his nostrils widened Ferdinand the only and gentle, likens Meanwhile Ernest Hemingway, a Reand his eyes half personality and publican sympathizer and bullfightnon-communist his closed - like a wombuild to Ferdinand’s: ing aficionado, played devil’s advoan in ecstasy - to be book allowed in “I’m a gentle soul cate with his own children’s story, a clear-cut castrawith a big body… The Faithful Bull. His opening stanza Soviet Union tion threat’.

People think Ferdi- states: ‘One Time there was a bull not Other psychoananand is fierce be- named Ferdinand and he cared nothlysts have judged cause he has a big ing for flowers…he loved to fight…he Ferdinand to be manic-depressive, body but he has a heart of gold… was a champion!’. Most literary critics schizoid and homosexual while psy- sound familiar?” believe that Hemingway’s piece was chologist Lori Day took another view, The character of Guapo, Ferdi- a pointed rebuttal to Ferdinand. The calling the story ‘the first children’s nand’s determined and confident Story of Ferdinand is a quick read book on gender nonconformity’. companion, is played by Peyton (less than 800 words) and Munro The LGBT community in particular Manning, arguably the greatest Leaf claimed it only took him 45 has embraced Ferdinand’s mes- quarterback in American profes- minutes to write. So give it a go sage. Writing in The Guardian, cul- sional football. When Manning and judge for yourself. ture critics asserted that Leaf took asked Saldanha Does Ferdinand tell a on one of the most virile aggressive why he had been larger story? Are animals in nature and made him a chosen the dithere political ispassive, loving, almost effeminate rector replied, sues here? Did creature. Ferdinand’s message “Because I keep the story tell you resonates with boys who dislike imagining you anything about sporty, often violent heteronorma- in your position yourself psytive activities. It reflects the stand with all you have chologically? all non-conformist kids must even- - the skills, the Spiritually? tually take, that ‘this is who I am body, the mindset Will the text and I will not apologise’. ...Don’t you somehave a permanent The controversy continues to this times have anxiety place on your day. Accomplished Brazilian film- before a game? bookshelf as it maker Carlos Saldanha found I want to tap into has for so many Ferdinand the Bull so inspiring he that side of your perothers? The anproduced and directed the 2017 sonality.” swers to these quesanimated movie of the same name, A long list of famous tions may not necwhich was nominated for an Oscar. people have also emessarily tell us how In his own words, Saldanha wanted braced Ferdinand. PresiFerdinand sees the to ‘capture and preserve the origi- dent Franklin Roosevelt world but rather how nal elements of Spain…yet, also to and First Lady Eleawe see the world. stay true to Ferdinand’s essence of nor greatly admired VOICEOVER: Jon Cena What’s your take?

CENSORED: Franco banned the book

•

From time to time as Ferdinand has been continually rebranded, there have been international calls for Munro Leaf to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

•

Carlos Saldanha’s film version of Ferdinand was not the first attempt to put the bull in the movies. In 1938 a Ferdinand animated short won an Academy Award for best cartoon. It was produced by an up-and-coming director named Walt Disney.

•

Leaf always maintained that he had no hidden messages in mind when he wrote Ferdinand he merely wanted to write a funny story. He did admit however that the story was indeed ‘propaganda for laughter’.

•

The Story of Ferdinand is no stranger to the world of music. The story has been set to classical compositions and used as solo pieces for famous violin, piano and cello recordings.Recently, some of Ferdinand’s musings have been used as lyrics for some contemporary rock bands.

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Bandits once ruled the roads in Andalucia and most of them shared their loot with the poor

By Diana Tang and Grace Lee

T

HE word ‘bandit’ typically evokes an image of a stealthy robber in black, stealing money and other treasures. But in Andalucia during the 18th and 19th centuries, bandits were so much more.

They were flamenco dancers, bullfighters, smugglers and travellers.

The bandits played dangerously along the line of separating good and evil and terrorizing and relieving people all at once. Although they would show no mercy to their victims, many bandits would redistribute the stolen goods to the poor who were denied justice by the law. They established their own sense of justice at a time when widespread poverty and wealth inequality was rampant across Spain.

August 29th - September 11th 2018

The real Robin Hoods HORSING AROUND: Jose Maria

branded as a brigand. Then there were the Almogavars of the Christian Iberian kingdoms and Monfíes during the Moorish rule. Finally, after the French invasion in the early 19th century and the consequent civil unrest in Spain, the last generation, and perhaps the most famous, of bandits thrived in the steep mountains of Andalucia.

The high life

The mountain ranges of Andalucia were the perfect playground for these rebels who defied convention and transversed moral and ethical boundaries. In his book History of the Islamic Spain, the historian Reinhardt Dozy calls the mountains the most romantic part of Andalucia where majestic forests in the chain of mountains inspire a kind of poetic terror.

The banditry in Spain goes way back to the Roman times. The term ‘bandit’ was first used as a nickname for Viriathus, a Lusitanian leader who resisted the Roman rule and was

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Smuggled goods & culture

NOTORIOUS: Joaquin Camargo

Fully integrated into these vast Andalucian terrains, the bandits had the numerous paths and tracks of the dense woods in the palms of their hands. Their expertise provided the perfect platform for not only burglary, but also smuggling. Smuggled goods from the southern hemisphere entered Europe through Gibraltar and were transported through the mountainous routes of Spain. Along with tobacco and textiles- the most sought-after items- culture, news and

be messed with. By 13, he had killed a man and joined a gang of bandits to avoid arrest. But by 27, he was pardoned by the king and named the commander in chief of Spain’s police.

One of Andalucia’s most famous Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, el bandits was José Maria Hinojosa Ca- Tempranillo met his end at the hand bacho, known as ‘el Tempranillo’, or of another bandit as a police officer in pursuit. the Early Bird. His fame has grown Sevilla-born Joaquín Camargo to the point that much of his Gómez, ‘el Vivillo,’ was another story cannot be separated Robin Hood bandit. A tobacco from legend. Nicknamed the smuggler, he is known for a King of the Sierra Morena, raid near Setenil, during el Tempranillo was an early which he bound, gagged Spanish Robin Hood, stealand robbed 25 merchants ing from the rich and giving coming from a fair. Regardto the poor. During his time, less, el Vivillo was a wellhe was known for being respected and admired charming and polite, captain of a gang of even in the midst of bandits, but after aca heist, so much so cumulating a fortune that English traveller from his escapades, John Ford wrote that he embraced a more the bandit was the righteous lifestyle as ‘love of Andalucia.’ a picador, one of the Regardless of his horsemen in Spanish popularity, el Tempranillo was not a man to ROBIN HOOD: Francisco Rios bullfights, garnering

ideas spread through these smuggling paths.

Famous bandits

NATIONAL HEALTH NEWS FOR EXPAT’S

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August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

BANDIT HAVEN: Ronda was one of dozens of hotspots for bandit activity

MOVIE TREATMENT: Films chronicling Spain’s most famous bandits

more fame. He would later move to bandolero. After spending his time Buenos Aires with his family and, as a soldier in the war between the according to reports, become a leUnited States, Spain, and Cuba, he gitimate businessman. On July 16, turned to hunting and stealing- both 1929, the family man lost his wife illegal at the time- to make a living. and took his own life out of sorrow.

After being caught by the Guardia But not all bandits were so warmCivil and serving time in prison, hearted and loving. Francisco Ríos he sought revenge, killing the park González, who went by ‘el Perguardian who reported him to the nales,’ was cold and heartGuardia Civil as well as his son. less. He cut down anyone Maneuvering through the counand everyone in his way, and tryside, he was able to evade mistreated those in his family. capture with his charisma and For him, banditry was not an knowledge of the land, up until opportunity for social justice the unfortunate moment the outside of the law, but rather Guardia Civil found and a way to satisfy his deshot him in the chest. sire for violence. A pasWhile Pasos Largos estor turned criminal, caped, following treatel Pernales had no ment for his wound sense of loyalty, murand despite the prodering fellow bandits tests of the public, and delivering their he was brought back bodies to the Guarto prison. At 59, his dia Civil to reap the popularity led to a benefits. In the end, pardon, only for him however, he was to return to huntshot by the Guardia ing and go back to Civil as he was fleeprison after working to Valencia in ing as the guardian the hope of one day of the property of reaching Mexico. a man he robbed Juan José Mingolla years earlier. It was Gallardo, or Pasos two years later in the Largos (Long Steps), caves of Sierra Blanhad the honor of bequilla that Andalucia ing Andalucia’s last LEGEND: Pasos Largos said goodbye to its last

beloved bandit.

But the legacy of Pasos Largos, along with the stories of those before him, outlive the lifespans of these legendary thrill seekers.

Lasting impacts

Rabal in the film Llanto por un bandido. Moreover, the lives of bandits were brought to homes through the popular Spanish drama series Curro Jiménez set in the mountains of Ronda.

Living on the edge of the good and the bad, Andalucia’s bandoleros have been immortalized by the artistic scribes who recorded the risky escapades of bandits, romantic travellers who witnessed their exploits firsthand and visitors today who still head to the rocky terrains of Ronda or further afield to trace the steps of the bandits. Their legacy lives on.

The memories of bandits are engraved forever in history through the arts. From the 18th to early 20th century, many artists fascinated by the phenomenon of banditry flocked to Andalucia to capture its grand, mountainous landscape. The drawings provide a window to the covert, adventurous lifestyle of bandits and the remote and risky paths they travelled on.

From the 1940s to the 80s, bandits made frequent appearances on the screen as the adventure genre took off in the Spanish cinema. José María El Tempranillo Join a successful, international award-winning, came back to life through the real estate company with 15 offices in France. thrilling perforWe are opening a new office in the area of La Cala de mance of Paco

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16

G REE N

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War on herbicide SPANISH green party Equo is demanding an ‘immediate ban’ on the herbicide Glyphosate which has been linked to terminal cancer.

The call comes after American courts ordered the manufacturer to compensate a victim who fell prey to the disease after exposure to the product.

Developed in the 1970s by Monsanto, now owned by pharmaceutical giant Bayer, Glyphosate has been denounced on multiple occasions due to its negative effects on the environment and human health. Based on official government data, ecologists claim that at least one of Spain’s three major rivers is contaminated with the substance.

Equo pointed to Bayer’s difficulty in getting its manufacturing license renewed in Europe. “It’s no coincidence that the European Parliament blocked Monsanto which has been accused of interfering with scientific reports about Glyphosate”.

However the European Commission maintains that use of the herbicide in the EU is based on ‘scientific evidence’, adding that every country is free to use it or ban it as they choose.

A Bayer’s spokesman said: “The court’s decision doesn’t change the fact that more than 800 scientific research reports state that Glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer”.

August 29th - September 11th 2018

Designer water on tap

PIONEERING: Water kiosk

RESIDENTS of Sabinillas can now enjoy ice cold water just steps away from their homes without adding to the world’s mountain of single-use plastic.

The Casa de Agua in Plaza Blas Infante is the first permanent water kiosk in Spain, dispensing both still and sparkling water 24/7 for just nine centimos per litre with a rechargeable card or 10 with cash.

The new initiative is a joint effort between Manivla’s Department of the Environment and the Italian company

Ecozona, which manages more than six thousand water installations in Italy.

According to Mario Jiménez, Mayor of Manilva, these newly installed kiosks will bring three main benefits to the community.

As well as the environmental impact of reducing plastic, it will mitigate the pollution emitted during the production and transport processes and is healthier for consumers but not harder on their pockets.

Final straw

Green campaign launched as it emerges Spain uses more plastic straws than anywhere else in Europe GREEN campaigners are demanding new laws to ban plastic straws around Spain.

It comes after it emerged that the country is Europe’s biggest user of straws, which take up to 500 years to decompose.

A shocking 4.7 BILLION are discarded every year in

Spain - around 13 million each day - and it is the fifth most common waste found on the country’s beaches.

On average every Spaniard uses 110 of these plastic single-use items annually, or one every three days.

Greenpeace is now calling on Spain to introduce laws to ban plastic straws and

other disposable products.

"Plastic straws have become one of the most fre-

SICK STUFF

TWISTED: Stuffed lion

A WOMAN is under investigation for trying to sell a stuffed lion online in Spain.

It comes after Malaga cops found the advert offering the stuffed beast for €6,000 in Barcelona.

In a sting, police arranged to meet the woman to buy the item before seizing it.

Specialists confirmed it was a male African lion and that it was ‘in perfect condition.’

“From the side it doesn’t look very real, but when you see it, with its head and teeth, you know it’s authentic,” said sources from Seprona.

The woman claimed her late father-in-law had killed the animal on a hunting trip to Namibia in the 1990s.

He brought the animal to Spain and kept it in a storage room.

The lion remained there until it was passed on to the woman, who decided to sell it on the classified website for €5,995.

Seprona has launched an investigation into the alleged possession and trade of an endangered species and passed the case on to prosecutors.

quent pollutants in our seas, beaches and rivers, despite being the most unnecessary plastic utensil,” said Julio Barea, of Greenpeace.

“In the Mediterranean they already account for 6% plastic pollution."

He added that they ended up being ingested by fish as microplastic, so therefore return to our tables through our own consumption.

Cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles and plastic bottle caps are the top four most found waste products on Spain's beaches. It is estimated that between 40 and 60% of the turtles in Europe's seas ingest plastics, while more than one million birds and about 100,000 marine mammals die every year as a result of plastic pollution.

Pig of a problem THERE are now more pigs in Spain than people.

According to the environment ministry, the resident swine count stands at 50 million - some 3.5 million more than the human population.

Their number has soared by nine million in the past five years, causing concern over the environmental impact of one of the country’s most profitable industries.

The sale of pork products added €6 billion to Spain’s coffers last year, but pigs are now the fourth-largest generator of greenhouse gas emissions after transport, electricity generation and industry.

Meanwhile, every pig consumes 15 litres of water a day, totalling 750,000,000 litres – a worrying trend in a country plagued by drought.

Their waste, which contains high levels of nitrates, is also beginning to contaminate ground water, according to green groups.

It’s the latest in a a litany of food safety scandals which have damaged the industry’s image.

A police probe was launched earlier this year after a customer returned a worm-riddled ham to a Carrefour.

Investigators revealed a network of unscrupulous suppliers and more than 50 tonnes of ham that was destined for the incinerator but instead had been relabelled with new sell-by dates.

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

17

18

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Vol. 3 Issue 77 www.gibraltarolivepress.com August 15th August 28th 2018

Pension shocker

THE EGG TEST

Everyone has heard the claims that Andalucia is hot enough to cook an egg on the pavement in the summer... we visited the ‘Frying pan of Spain’ to test out the theory,

EXCLUSIVE

By Luke Madeira

BRITISH pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their spending power over the last two years as a direct result of Brexit.

Richard Hill, vice president of Brexpats in Spain, claims plummeting exchange rates, taxes and a rise in the cost of living have caused significant income losses.

It comes as the pound sunk to a new low of just 1.10 to the euro last week, as worries of a hard Brexit magnified.

The pensioner, who claims he’s around 22% ‘worse off’ since the referendum, believes expats will struggle regardless of whatever deal is reached ahead of Britain’s EXCLUSIVE exit from the EU.

By Elisa Menendez, Luke Madeira & The pensioner added: “The Laurence Dollimore significant problem at this stage with Brexit is the fluctuLETHAL painkiller Nolotil is ating exchange rate.

“Obviously fluctuations are being sold in Gibraltar despite normal, however the steady being banned in the UK and downward trend is seriously other parts of Europe.

It comes after a two-year Olive affecting people.”

Press investigation in Spain linked the drug to at least 10 Plummet deaths of British and northern It comes after the Rabobank European patients. in London warned that a no- The drug - also known as Metdeal Brexit could end in eu- amizole - is believed to attack ro-sterling parity, while last the immune system by depletweek saw the pound plummet ing the patient’s white blood to an eight-month low. cells.

Kill ThE British expat Karen Watling, While not yet banned in Spain drug from Sheffield, claims she has it is currently under investigalost as much as a third of her tion, following our probe, and monthly budget. is unlicenced in the UK, US, “Over two years this has France, Australia and elsecaused us problems financial- where.

SALE ly,” she told the Olive Press. Incredibly though, the Olive 59 “Prices and commodities Press this week found a numhave also risen so it has been ber of pharmacies still appar- READ IT HERE FIRST: (Inset left) Our campaign last year and (right) recent story like a double hit.” ently handing out the drug on was available or ‘sometimes in macy told a journalist he could The exchange rate was an av- the Rock. said with the amount of pain An undercover Olive Press stock’ in at least three pharma- be given the painkiller with a I was in it would be stronger,” journalist was told the drug cies.

Turn to page 4 prescription.

An employee at Wesley Phar- A parallel investigation by GBC she told the Olive Press this week. found six pharmacies selling “I was also taking 600mg the drug, and was able to buy a ibuprofen and 500mg packet for £2.50. paracetamol but he suggested I The Gibraltar government is should take the Nolotil instead now looking into several phar- of paracetamol.” macies for illegally selling the Another Gibraltar resident also painkiller. confirmed she took the drug on It came after one Gibraltarian, the Rock. who asked to remain anony- “I go to the chemist and just mous, said she was sold the buy them, never heard of needdrug at a pharmacy in March ing a prescription,” she said. without a prescription.

After we launched a campaign “The man just sold it to me and to have the drug regulated

SEE CRACKING JOB PAGE 6

‘Killer’ drug for sale

Olive Press probe discovers lethal painkiller Nolotil for sale in Gibraltar

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Save our home!

1 23/02/2017 11:31 679702_DFS_SPANISH_BOX_AD_40x40_MIJAS_COSTA.indd

EXCluSiVE By laurence dollimore

A BRITISH expat couple are fighting to save their Malaga home from demolition over a technicality.

Gill and Bob Ward, both 74, have been locked in a battle with their town hall, which claims their house in Almayate is illegal.

Just yesterday the retired couple from Cornwall were given

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Voted

See page xx 4

CAMPAIGNER: Cristina

olive Press medical campaign finally draws blood with Nolotil regulation close EXcluSiVE

By Elisa menendez

need for more research

again.

“He said she would be alive if she hadn’t taken it, but I have heard from dozens of Brits and Irish who have been given it,” added Graeme.

It is the third victim of the drug the Olive Press has reported on in under a year.

Sometimes known also as

wife, and Billy Smyth

Metamizole, Nolotil is banned in the US, the UK, Ireland and most of Europe, but it is prescribed widely in Spain.

‘Billy’ William Irishman Smyth was given a five-day course of the drug in February.

But when the 66-year-old returned to a different Spanish

doctor to get a renewal in April, tests showed the drug had caused a toxic poisoning in his bone marrow and his white blood cell was dangerously low.

Billy, a keen sportsman, developed sepsis and necrotising fasciitis as a result and required ‘radical surgery’ to remove the affected tissue in an attempt to save his life.

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loomS

AN Olive Press health campaign has led to ‘the drug probes in Spanish biggest’ history.

Our investigation into the terious deaths of expats mysthe painkiller Nolotil last from is finally being acted on. year, In a landmark breakthrough, a national probe is expected to lead to new regulation drug, which is banned of the UK and most of Europe. in the “It has been a long time ing and by raising soin comawareness, I am sure livesmuch have already been saved,” and legal translator medical Cristina Garcia del Campo told the Olive Press. The medical professional found our 1000-strong petition online and took it forward one of her patients died after TRAGIC: Graeme Ward with wife Mary (left) the drug. “Spain wants from Billy Smyth, who both to help, and died from Nolotil

The dad-of-two later died from septic shock – believed to be linked to taking the Nolotil.

BritAnother ish expat Hugh Wilcox was prescribed the same for medication

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“If I hadn’t come across article I wouldn’t have your alised what was happening rethe English community,” to added. We launched our she ‘Kill the Drug’ campaign against the painkiller last August, learning that dozens of after British and Irish expats had died after their immune systems were allegedly destroyed by the monly prescribed drug. comof families told us howA trio their relatives had died unnecessarily in excruciating pain. authorities refused to take Yet, claims seriously, despite our the evidence being backed up by local doctors. Fortunately, Ali-

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BEACH CAM FAIL

A SERIES of new beach webcams are being bizarrely turned off at night.

The government claims the switch off from 10pm to 7am is due to ‘data protection’ issues, not to protect late night illegality.

It was forced to give the reason, after being accused of protecting smugglers who were allegedly filmed Eastern Beach on the first night they were operational. According to GBC, one of the six new cameras recorded a group of men tobacco smuggling at the beach. The government insists this is entirely untrue and uses other ‘more sophisticated, intelligence-led’ measures to stop smuggling. The live camera feeds, similar to the ones at the border, allow beach-goers to check for up-to-date conditions and access updates on weather conditions.

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cante-based Garcia del spotted our campaign,Campo working with an Irish while expat who suddenly became critically ill with sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis after taking the He died later in November.drug.

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Vol. 11 Issue 271

Save our home!

679702_DFS_SPANISH_BOX_AD_40x40_MIJAS_COSTA.indd 23/02/2017 11:31 1

EXcluSiVE By laurence dollimore

A BRITISH expat couple are fighting to save their home from demolition Malaga over a technicality.

Gill and Bob Ward, both 74, have been locked in with their town hall,a battle which claims their house in Almayate is illegal.

Just yesterday the retired ple from Cornwall were cougiven

www.theolivepress.es

August 2nd - August 15th

2017

info@simply-shuttles.com Tel: 951 279 117 www.simply-shuttles.com

gET iN iT To wiN iT!

THE Olive Press is giving away three pairs of tickets for two certs on the Costa del Solof the best conAnd all you have to do is this summer... answer two simple questions!

Michael Bolton takes to the stage for an emotive end of season night Puente Romano on August at Marbella’s 10, while Estepona is set for its biggest rock concert in years with mammoth

Doctors and dentists join olive Press appeal for ban on dangerous painkiller Nolotil EXcluSiVE By laurence dollimore

tribute bands Think Floyd, Whole Lotta Led rocking Deeper Purple and out the greatest hits of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin at the Plaza del Toros on For a chance to win a August 26.

Bolton, just answer the pair of tickets to see was Michael Bolton born question; what year For the Pink Purple Zep in?

Fest in Estepona, just tell us; Where was Jimmy Page born? Email answers to the newsdesk@theolivepress.es.

Kill ThE drug

THE Olive Press is calling on Spain to ban a lethal painkiller that is killing countless of unsuspecting expats.

British dentists and doctors are supporting the ban ter Briton Graham Ward, afcomplained to the Olive 75, Press of how he was prescribed the deadly Nolotil drug by tist last week. It’s thea denone month to knock down very same drug that was only property (pictured their blamed for killing his wife in 2006.

In a court order seen above). by the The Marbella-based Olive Press, the Wards are was furious when he wasexpat warned they will be held told to take the painkiller nally responsible if they crimiSpanish dentist, after by his “I don’t know what to refuse. suffering from a difficult abscess. more, I’m at the enddo anyHis wife Mary, 59, had tether” Gill told the Olive of my died afPress, ter being prescribed the “I’m totally exhausted from the drug following a double same whole ordeal.” vasectomy at Costa del Sol Hospital.

The retired pair, who have “Within 24 hours she spent thousands of euros now in intensive care, her was gal costs, bought the old on lewhite blood cell count plummeted house ‘in ruins’ in 2004,farmto zero within days,” explains were given permission and Graham, a former computer Velez-Malaga town hall from HAPPIER TIMES: Graham to retechnician, from London. build it. with wife, and Billy She never regained conscious- again.

Smyth But when the original wall colness and was on a life Metamizole, Nolotil is lapsed of its own accord support “He said she would be banned machine for FOUR months, construction, the Wards’during she hadn’t taken it, but alive if in the US, the UK, Ireland and before spending three I tect told them it would archiyears heard from dozens of have most of Europe, but it is prefighting the impact and that he would let thebe fine of the and Irish who have been Brits scribed widely in Spain. drug, which led to organ given Irishman hall know. Unfortunatelytown William fail- it,” added Graeme.

‘Billy’ for ure.

Smyth was It is the third victim “The chief surgeon at of the course of thegiven a five-day Continues on Page drug the 8 drug in Februpital promised me he hos- portedthe Olive Press has re- ary. on in under a year. never prescribe that would Sometimes But when the 66-year-old drug known also as turned reto a different Spanish

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Dr Nina King, of Oasis Dental Care in Marbella, the campaign, telling the Olive Press the drug is fully supports she prescribes. not something “It’s not a drug I use, I stick to safe and standard medication,” she said, “And after seeing what damage it can do, I won’t be using in the it’s a drug Marbella-based privatefuture.”

Almeda also agrees the doctor Dra. Victoria María Chacón the drug,” she told the drug is dangerous. “I don’t prescribe tients and I am aware ofOlive Press, “I have lots of British pa“There needs to be a lot what it is capable of doing. more research on its impact.” doctor to get a renewal in April, tests showed the drug had caused a toxic poisoning in his bone marrow and his white blood cell was dangerously low.

Billy, a keen sportsman, developed sepsis and necrotising fasciitis as a result and required ‘radical surgery’ remove the affected tissue to in an attempt to save his life.

The dad-of-two later died from septic shock – believed to be linked to taking the Nolotil.

Another British expat Hugh Wilcox was prescribed the same medication for mild shoulder pain on the Costa del Sol. He developed severe head Continues on Page

2

APPEAL: Our 59 Mosquito Screens campaign last year Nolotil, or Metamizol, one of the most popularis still killers in Spain, yet the painmost feared side effect is agranulocytosis, a severe and rapid white blood cells, whichdrop in patients unable to fight leaves infections.

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in Marbella, fully supports Dr Nina King, of Oasis Dental Care the drug is not something the campaign, telling the Olive Press she prescribes. and standard medication,” “It’s not a drug I use, I stick to safe it can do, it’s a drug she said, “And after seeing what damage I won’t be using in the future.”

Victoria María Chacón Marbella-based private doctor Dra. “I don’t prescribe Almeda also agrees the drug is dangerous.

“I have lots of British pathe drug,” she told the Olive Press,capable of doing. tients and I am aware of what it is on its impact.”

“There needs to be a lot more research

HAPPIER TIMES: Graham with

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and tribute bands Think Floyd, Deeper Purple hits Whole Lotta Led rocking out the greatest Zeppelin of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Led at the Plaza del Toros on August 26. to see For a chance to win a pair of tickets what year Bolton, just answer the question; was Michael Bolton born in? just For the Pink Purple Zep Fest in Estepona, Email tell us; Where was Jimmy Page born?

Fest tickets WIN WIN WIN: Bolton and Pink Purple Zep answers to the newsdesk@theolivepress.es.

EXCluSiVE By laurence dollimore

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EXCLUSIVE: Poems from Gibraltar soldier locked up in Andalucia prison for murder

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gET in iT TO win iT!

THE Olive Press is giving away three conpairs of tickets for two of the best certs on the Costa del Sol this summer... simAnd all you have to do is answer two ple questions! an Michael Bolton takes to the stage for emotive end of season night at Marbella’s EstePuente Romano on August 10, while years in pona is set for its biggest rock concert with mammoth

Doctors and dentists join Olive Press appeal for ban on dangerous painkiller Nolotil

THE Olive Press is calling on Spain to ban a lethal painkiller that is killing countless of unsuspecting expats.

British dentists and doctors are supporting the ban after Briton Graham Ward, 75, complained to the Olive Press of how he was prescribed the deadly Nolotil drug by a dentist last week. It’s the very same drug that was blamed one month to knock down their for killing his wife in 2006. only property (pictured above).

The Marbella-based expat In a court order seen by the was furious when he was told Olive Press, the Wards are to take the painkiller by his warned they will be held crimiSpanish dentist, after suffernally responsible if they refuse. ing from a difficult abscess.

“I don’t know what to do anyHis wife Mary, 59, had died afmore, I’m at the end of my ter being prescribed the same tether” Gill told the Olive Press, drug following a double vasec“I’m totally exhausted from the tomy at Costa del Sol Hospital. whole ordeal.”

“Within 24 hours she was The retired pair, who have now in intensive care, her white spent thousands of euros on leblood cell count plummeted gal costs, bought the old farmto zero within days,” explains house ‘in ruins’ in 2004, and Graham, a former computer were given permission from technician, from London.

Velez-Malaga town hall to reShe never regained consciousbuild it. ness and was on a life support But when the original wall colmachine for FOUR months, lapsed of its own accord during before spending three years construction, the Wards’ archifighting the impact of the tect told them it would be fine drug, which led to organ failand that he would let the town ure. hall know. Unfortunately for “The chief surgeon at the hospital promised me he would Continues on Page 8 never prescribe that drug

www.mosquitonick.ws nick@mosquitonick.ws

and Irish patients had been suffering with sepsis at hospitals along the Costa Blanca.

“I thought, this can’t be normal,” explained the translator, from Madrid.

And after looking at patients’ notes, she found that each had one thing in common were all taking Nolotil. - they Although manufacturers list side effects such as locytosis, necrotizing agranufasciitis and sepsis, they are considered ‘very rare’ affecting one in every 10,000.

The figures did not seem up to Garcia del Campo to add set about doing her so she own research. However, no information existed in Spanish media.

The only articles she could on the drug and its lethal find side effects was in the Olive Press.

“I was in disbelief,” continued the Javea-based translator, lived in the UK for 18 years.who “I thought this was surely known and someone was welldoing something about it. Except it wasn’t.

“I felt I had to inform Spain Continues on Page

2

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in Spain last summer, health campaigner Cristina Garcia del Campo took up the cause and has managed to take our case studies and around 100 more to the country’s top health chiefs.

A decision on whether to bring in new regulations is imminent.

It came after we reported how the drug left several British expats dead or fighting for their lives.

Benalmadena-based Hugh Wilcock, 80, had to plan his own funeral after being prescribed the drug for pain relief following several back operations. But six weeks into taking the pills, he developed sores on his forehead and felt weaker and weaker until he had to be rushed to Malaga’s University hospital, where he remained in intensive care for weeks until his immune system recovered.

He is just one of dozens who have been brought close to death.

The Gibraltar government did not get back to us as we went to press last night.

In Mallorca

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29th 2018 Vol. 2 Issue 35 www.theolivepress.es August 16th - August LIKENESS: Brit Phillip looks like drug lord Pablo

THE EGG TEST

MALLORCA EXPAT: I’m Escobar’s love child

Everyone has heard of the claims that it is hot enough in Andalucia to cook an egg on the pavement... we visited Ecija, the ‘Frying pan of Spain’, to test out the theory, CRACKING JOB PAGE 6

By Laurence Dollimore

EXPATS in Spain and France have joined forces to launch a fresh legal challenge against the Brexit result.

It comes after the UK’s Electoral Commission ruled that the Leave campaign illegally overspent by £675,000 during the run up to the 2016 referendum.

The request for a judicial review has been submitted to the High Court in London by the UK in EU Challenge group, which represents Britons living in France, Italy and Spain.

It argues that the referendum on Britain’s departure from the EU was not a lawful, fair or free vote given that BeLeave and Vote Leave both overspent.

“We hope to demonstrate that you cannot win by cheating. If there is another referendum, there must not be a repeat of the illegal activity witnessed last time around,” said Sue

B

A BRITISH expat claims he is the love child of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Mallorca-based Phillip Witcomb, 53, is penning a book about his life as Roberto Sendoya Escobar, who was taken from his Columbian drug lord father in the 1960s.

The artist was later adopted by a British couple in Bogota, the capital of Escobar’s infamous crime operation.

His new parents had to later hire a private security team because members of the Escobar family allegedly tried to kidnap him on several occasions.

The privately-educated Brit is now penning a biography which he wants to serve as a Expats launch prequel to hit Netflix series Narcos. legal battle to

WE’LL STOP BREXIT stop Theresa May pulling out of the EU

Wilson, of Bremain in Spain, based in Valencia.

“We have not taken back control – we have been put in the hands of those that care more about their careers and political party than their country. The UK deserves better, we deserve better, and we will not stop fighting until we suc-

RITISH pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their spending power over the last two

years as a direct result of Brexit.

Richard Hill, vice president of Brexpats in Spain, claims plummeting exchange rates, taxes and a rise in the cost of living have caused significant income losses.

It comes as the pound sunk to a new low of just 1.10 to the euro last week, as worries of a hard Brexit magnified.

The pensioner, who claims he’s around 22% ‘worse off’ since the referendum, believes expats will struggle regardless of whatever deal is reached ahead of Britain’s exit from the EU. The pensioner added: “The significant problem at this stage with Brexit is the fluctuating exchange rate.

“Obviously fluctuations are normal, howevdownward trend is seriously er the steady Untitled-1.pdf 1 16/06/2017 15:36 affecting people.”

ceed.”

While the UK government claims the challenge has come too late, this is being contested

by QCs Patrick Green and Jessica Simor, of Croft Solicitors, who argue that the Electoral Commission’s findings were only revealed last month.

They insist that the £675,000

Pension shocker EXCLUSIVE

It comes after the Rabobank in London warned that a no-deal Brexit could end in euro-sterling parity, while last week saw the pound plummet to an eight-month low.

British expat Karen Watling, from Sheffield, claims she has lost as much as a third of her monthly budget.

“Over two years this has caused us problems financially,” she told the Olive Press.

“Prices and commodities have also risen so it has been like a double hit.”

that BeLeave spent should have been declared and the result is therefore null and void.

“Our clients contend that the prime minister’s decision to trigger article 50 and start the Brexit process was based on a factual error, namely that the referendum truly represented

The exchange rate was an average 1.24 in 2014 before climbing to an average 1.38 in 2015.

However the year of the referendum saw the average fall to 1.22 before falling again to 1.14 in 2017. This year so far has been lower at 1.13 and it currently stands at 1.12.

Brexpats in Spain has called for a government-run internet bank offering basic current accounts, debit cards and the option to carry out international and national transfers online.

The group even suggests ordering RBS the only bank in the UK in which the government has a stake - to provide a basic facility for expats without a UK address.

“The situation could be eased for many people if they could open a UK bank account, with many having closed theirs years ago having moved to Spain permanently.

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The popular TV show chronicles the rise and fall of his alleged father’s drug smuggling empire.

Witcomb claims his adoptive father told him he was Escobar’s son when he reached his 20s.

“In reality, I hadn’t really heard of Pablo then, so wasn’t really aware of what he’d done,” he revealed.

“But when dad told me about everything, I honestly couldn’t believe it. It all came as a complete shock and made me rethink my life.”

Witcomb doesn’t have a birth certificate to prove his story but a baptism certificate shows that he was born to a Maria Lucia Sendoya Cheating and lists his father as ‘Pablo “The principle of nullity when Escobar’. inon According to the document, a decision was made correct or misleading facts is he was placed in a Catholic a longstanding one and we orphanage before being adwish to ensure that continues opted at four months old by to apply. his current parents.

the will of the people following a lawful, free and fair vote,” said boss Robert Croft.

“We argue that the decision to trigger article 50 to withdraw from the EU was therefore not in accordance with the UK’s constitutional requirements.

“We look forward to having this important constitutional case considered by the court.”

One expat Elinore Grayson said: “It is fundamental that illegal intervention in British elections does not go unchecked.

“Many people across the EU, myself included, are reliant on bestowed rights to live their daily lives; there must be zero tolerance when it comes to cheating, misrepresentation and non-disclosure of information.”

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Deadly dive A TOURIST from the Czech Republic, 24, has died after jumping off a cliff in s’Illot and drowning.

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SEE MORE IN THE RESTAURANT SECTION INSIDE

August 29th - September 11th 2018

Goodbye Spain

Play with fire...

It’s not free. (British holidaymakers are in for a surprise with free alcohol on package holidays set to be banned in Spain.) Nothing is free. It’s built into the price. Goodbye Spain and the hotel tax.

Tourist hospitalised after being gored by bull with flaming horns at festival in Spain

Sean Frain, Benidorm, UK

Count me out I don't want to be counted as a binge drinking balconyjumper. (Posters encouraging tourists to jump off balconies spotted in Brit hotspots in Spain) I don't feel offended by these posters, I feel offended by the sick behaviour of certain British tourists.

No sympathy Are we supposed to feel sympathy for a reckless individual who put himself in danger by standing in front of a bull that is being tortured? Well I certainly don’t feel anything for him, but feel so sad for the bull. It’s disgraceful that a supposedly forward-looking country still allows this to happen!

Chris Jopp, UK

Stop the barbarism

Burnt

Shame it was only one person... Bulls belong in the fields not in the streets or bullrings. Spain needs to join the rest of the civilised world and put and end to this sort of barbaric behaviour.

Disgusting, shouldn’t be allowed. You play with fire, you get burnt.

Shaw Swanton, Portsmouth, UK

Not entertainment This is not entertainment. The whole point of it seems to be to watch the distress of the animal. How do you expect the bull to react?

Judith Lowe, Bristol, UK

Daive Rodriguez, Alcalá de Guadaira, Spain

OUCH: Tourist speared by raging bull

Cost of living abroad As an expat who has abandoned the UK, do not complain that those of us who remain in the UK and accept all the problems of living here may have affected your income overseas! (British pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their spending power over the last two years as a direct result of Brexit.) If you want to live in Spain – fine – but you have to accept the cost of doing so.

Graham Laraine Alberto White, Málaga, Spain

Absolute disgrace Absolute disgrace condoning bull fighting. I can’t feel sorry for anyone who goes to bullfights condoning such barbaric acts of torture to innocent animals.

They should be deeply ashamed of showing such cruelty to animals and tourists encouraging such cruelty should be publicly humiliated and given the same treatment as they gave that poor animal. Sick cretinous SCUM.

Anonymous

John Squires, London, UK

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So most people know this drug can potentially kill you.

(Lethal painkiller Nolotil being sold ILLEGALLY in Gibraltar). There are obviously other drugs of a similar nature that won’t kill you. Why would anybody sell it and what sort of a***hole wants to buy it and take it?

Disgrace, such animal cruelty. Shame on Spain and the Spanish people to let this continue. We all know this is wrong.

Jean O Neill, Andalucia

Letter

of the

week

Richard Taylor, Andalucia

Dear Olive Press, I dont think anyone is in a place to judge, even Spain (Migrants storm touristpacked beach in southern Spain, online).

These people are fleeing war torn places like Syria and Afghanistan, we (as in the west) have absolutely no place to point fingers when our governments have contributed to this very crisis by selling arms and poking their noses in other countries because they want to take ownership and make profit from oil and other resources.

When people start talking in an ignorant way about these people coming up on the shores, and assume to know why they are here and the actions that one or two “possibly might” take all it says is they have been brainwashed by the media and other peoples’ opinions, and are failing to look at them as human beings due to the media portraying them this way. The whole thing is disgusting. You’d think that image of the boy that was washed up on the shore a couple of years ago might actually sink in, or might make people look a bit deeper. sadly people only see what they want to see.

Kerstin Inga, Spain

No justice Why is he still in prison when he hasn’t been charged with anything? (Seriously ill British man locked up with terrorists in Spain’s Andalucia after 1.5 TONNES of hashish found at Airbnb he was renting) 48hrs anyone? Yet we have murderers still walking the streets threatening people even though the evidence is damning.

Ian Roberts, Marbella, Spain Voted BEST

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FREE

s August 15th - August 28th 2018 Vol. 12 Issue 298 www.theolivepress.e

WITH RESERVATION

Pension shocker

THE EGG TEST Everyone has heard of the claims that it is hot enough in Andalucia to cook an egg on the pavement... we visited Ecija, the ‘Frying pan of Spain’, to test out the theory, CRACKING JOB PAGE 6

EXCLUSIVE

By Luke Madeira

BRITISH pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their two spending power over the last years as a direct result of Brexit.

Richard Hill, vice president of Brexpats in Spain, claims plummeting in exchange rates, taxes and a rise the cost of living have caused significant income losses.

It comes as the pound sunk to a new low of just 1.10 to the euro last week, magniBrexit hard a as worries of fied.

The pensioner, who claims he’s the around 22% ‘worse off’ since will referendum, believes expats struggle regardless of whatever deal exit is reached ahead of Britain’s from the EU. The pensioner added: “The significant problem at this stage with Brexit is the fluctuating exchange rate.

“Obviously fluctuations are normal, however the steady downward trend people.” is seriously affecting

Plummet

It comes after the Rabobank in London warned that a no-deal Brexit could end in euro-sterling parity, while last week saw the pound plummet to an eight-month low.

British expat Karen Watling, from as Sheffield, claims she has lost much as a third of her monthly budget. us “Over two years this has causedthe problems financially,” she told Olive Press. “Prices and commodities have also risen so it has been like a double hit.”

The exchange rate was an average an 1.24 in 2014 before climbing to average 1.38 in 2015. referendum However the year of the saw the average fall to 1.22 before falling again to 1.14 in 2017. This year so far has been lower at 1.13 and it currently stands at 1.12. a Brexpats in Spain has called forofgovernment-run internet bank fering basic current accounts, debit out cards and the option to carry international and national transfers online.

The group even suggests ordering in RBS - the only bank in the UK stake which the government has a

Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@theolivepress.es or alternatively message us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

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Seriously ill Briton locked up with terrorists after being fingered for 1.5 TONNES of hashish found at holiday rental home

TRAPPED IN HELL

A BRITISH businessman - who attended Eton with David Cameron and Boris Johnson - is seriously ill in an Andalucian prison having been accused of drug smuggling.

MansfieldAnthony Robert Hewitt, 51, was arrested after police swooped on his rental home during a short business trip to Gibraltar two months ago.

The consultant engineer, who insists he is innocent, has yet to be charged over the 1.5 tonnes of hashish police found in the garage of the villa he rented through Airbnb.

He insists he has absolutely ‘no connection’ to the drugs that were being stored at the rental in Campamento, in San Roque.

The owner of the villa, the Olive Press understands, was charged for importing cocaine into Gibraltar last year.

In the case, that has strange parallels to the plight of Scottish student Robbie McMiller, MansfieldHewitt was woken up and ‘dragged out of bed practically naked at gunpoint’ by police officers at 8.30pm

EXCLUSIVE

By Elisa Menendez

on June 27. Colleagues and friends told the Olive Press that Mansfield-Hewitt, who has a PhD and no criminal record, is an ‘innocent man’ and has been wrongfully imprisoned.

They added that the Chichester-raised engineer is currently in a critical condition and is being held in the medical wing at Botafuegos prison in Algeciras - a dangerous jail, which notoriously terhouses a number of Basque ETA

Mansfield-Hewitt rorists.

Notorious prison while (right) The Brit, a consultant at electrical com- CAGED: and (above right) ETA terrorist pany Genco Holdings Ltd in Gibraltar, suf“The doctor said he hadn’t been who regularly travels to the Rock, daily for his illness.” given his medication and his liver fers from severe liver disease Ascites After spending two days in a cell, he CAPTION: 15%. His at San was functioning at just and walks with a cane. she appeared in front of a judge His PA, Pilar June Ford, 54, said call Roque court before being sent to Bota- heartbeat was almost non-existent and he was delirious.” was ‘horrified’ when she received a fuegos prison.

Castro Esfrom her boss screaming at La Linea Ford is concerned he has not been re- His lawyer Jose Maria now being after he cudero believes he is police station. the ceiving the correct medication, started administered the correct medicaat was “He Press: Olive the told She collapsed in shock as his ‘body tion, but still remains in a critical station shouting ‘please help me, help of to shut down’ on the way to prison.Pun- condition. The nightmare began me, bring me clothes, there’s loads at Hospital ICU to rushed was to the He alerted drugs in the house.’ It was horrible. of ta de Europa where his survival chanc- after police were stash after following a man of Mo“I rushed there with a huge bag es were described as ‘touch and go’. roccan nationality, who medication, which he needs to take pulled up outside the property and attempted to get into the garage.

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Costa del Sol hotel has three months to fight decision before it is

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ibraltar National Day

Vol. 12 Issue 299 www.theolivepress.es August 29th - September 11th 2018

Red, white and wonderful Gibraltar National Day - always a celebration of sovereignty and self-determination takes on an added importance this year

PATRIOTIC: A sea of red and white will fill in Casemates Square, while (inset) various characters

F

ORIGINAL: Fancy dress is a popular tradition

IREWORKS and beers at the ready... The Passion truly makes this party... and organisRock is set to rumble as Gibraltar pre- ers expect more than 30,000 revellers - not pares for its National Day celebrations. to mention the monkeys (Barbary macaques, Just over half a century on from the ref- if we are being pedantic) - to join the celebraerendum that gave it such a unique appeal, tions. the Rock is standing taller than ever.

“There is always a real buzz around Gibraltar An abundance of local pride spills out over in the build up to national day,” explains Britvarious days of celebration - including mu- ish journalist Joe Duggan, who covered the sic of all genres, arts, food, Rock for the Olive Press for a photography, fancy dress and year, while based in La Linea.

Overwhelming competitions - and is a perfect “National Day was always one 99% of excuse to bring locals and tourof the highlights of the year ists alike onto the streets. and is a time when Gibraltar Gibraltarians But the big day is September showed off how proud it was of voted to remain 10, a day to show the world its history and successes.”

British there really is nowhere quite The festival is a mix of looklike Gibraltar, and there is no ing back at Gibraltar’s proud group of people quite like Gihistory; and looking forward, braltarians. celebrating the business opportunities, innoThis year, it’s a statement as well as a cele- vation and building plans for this very modern bration; because with Brexit it’s a tense time peninsular. politically, and that only fuels the fire of the Organised by the Self Determination for Gilocals. braltar Group in conjunction with Gibraltar For just as the Rock is a symbol of the coun- Cultural Services, the annual celebration try’s strength and unity, the people are a re- commemorates one of the most important flection of its charm and character and stand moments in Gibraltar’s history: the referenup as one of Europe’s most recognisable land- dum of 1967, when citizens had a say on their marks. sovereignty for the very first time.

On that day, an overwhelming 99% of Gibraltarians voted to remain British and, 51 years later, they are just as, if not more, impassioned - largely due to the ever-volatile relationship with their Spanish neighbours.

As if to make clear where their allegiance lies, the Moorish Castle is illuminated in red and white to mark the occasion for a period of three weeks before the big day.

While the Queen may not have made an appearance since 1954, five years ago Prime Minister David Cameron joined the celebrations in spirit, rallying his loyal troops from a giant screen in Casemates.

“For 300 years we have stood together, as one with our shared sovereign. Let me assure you that the British people and my Government stand with you now. Our relationship is solid, sure and enduring,” he proclaimed to roars of approval.

These sentiments are increasingly important to Gibraltar in the light of international tensions, being stretched to the limit by current Brexit negotiations and how they will play out for the Rock.

National Day is an opportunity to tell Spain Continues overleaf

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

ibraltar National Day

August 29th - September 11th 2018

Solid as the Rock From previous Page

DRESSING UP: A pair of war bairns

what chance it has of taking over Gibraltar.

While it’s about a party, it sends a message, loud and clear, in the best possible way - Gibraltar is British with a capital B! The day itself kicks off with live music and a children’s fancy dress competition from 9.30am in Casemates square.

Later there is a Freedom of the City ceremony for Joe Bossano, who has served the Rock for decades, followed by a political rally at 12.40pm, with various speakers.

From 1.15pm there will be various music and DJs in Casemates, while kids will be catered for from 1.30pm to 7pm at John Mackintosh Hall.

Meanwhile, the King’s Bastion Leisure centre will have a series of concerts and special ice skating events, while Ocean Village will have a series of things happening and will be as busy as ever.

Finally at 9pm to 12.30am there is a big concert in Casemates Square with various local acts, while a firework display will light up the night at 10.30pm.

And while not directly connected to the National Day celebrations this year, later in September the MTV Gibraltar Calling Music Festival plays host to the

BOTTOMS UP: Group of girls getting in on the act

likes of Stormzy, Two Door Cinema Club and which also opened two years ago.

Chase and Status, as well as Rag and Bone Quality schools are a priority as booming busiman and Bad Manners. ness means Gibraltar is attracting top talent from Once again held at the national around the world for a new life in football stadium, Victoria Park the sun. the two-day bash on Septem- The Rock already The Sunborn, the world’s first ber 21 and 22, will also feafive-star superyacht hotel, is gohas a university ture the Boomtown Rats, Sister ing from strength-to-strength in which opened at Ocean Village and the nearby Sledge and Suzi Quatro.

Europa Point in But Gibraltar certainly deWorld Trade Center has been inserves a bigger platform in the credibly successful. It has quickly 2016 global arena and the National become a hub of Gibraltar’s busiDay celebrations gives Gibralness sectors, in particularly in tar a chance to show off its ever-evolving so- gaming, cryptocurrency and the fintech areas. ciety.

So while National Day has history at its roots, it is The Rock already has a university, which also a celebration of the enclave’s future: if there opened at Europa Point in 2016 as well as a was ever a time to stand up and be proud of Girecently opened new private school Prior Park, braltar, it really is now.

Celebrate!

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ibraltar National Day

Gibraltarian Yvonne Bassedone on why National Day is so important to the Rock

O

August 29th - September 11th 2018

n the morning of September 10, 1967, over 12.000 Gibraltarians lined up eagerly yet patiently at the polling station in Town Range to cast their vote in a Referendum to decide their future.

It was a vote they were actively encouraged to make, a vote that had been desperately fought for and - in the end - one that spoke with overwhelming clarity.

Only 44 people voted for Gibraltar’s sovereignty to pass to Spain.

The Referendum was a pivotal event in Gibraltar’s narrative, and a key point in the Rock’s history.

In many ways it was the making of our common identity; together we had found a way to defend ourselves against Franco’s Spain and have an effective say on what our future would look like. A future that has remained dedicated to keeping the Rock British and us, as British Gibraltarians.

Today, five decades later, this spirited sentiment of nationalism and nationhood is still very much alive.

The fight for self-determination in the 1960s served to unite and politically mobilise Gibraltar, but it also charged Gibraltarians with a deep sense of pride and patriotism.

Yet, even today there still exists a certain self-consciousness about being Gibraltarian, and it involves an acceptance of our turbulent yet progressive history and how this makes us such

August 29th - September 11th 2018

Reasons to celebrate FINALE: Fireworks are set for 10.30pm

a unique community.

Casemates square. It will be It’s no surprise then that Sep- the heart of the activity, blantember 10 has become synony- keted by a sea of red and white mous with celebrating what it as thousands of Gibraltarians means to be Gibraltarian. waving the Gibraltar and Union The fact that festivities begin Jack flags congregate to take weeks beforehand (you cer- part in the political rally. One tainly can’t in which reavoid the fercent years has vour on the picked up in We all share Rock) is quite pace. stories of the telling: GibralDespite the past; what Gib tarians enjoy a political tone, good show. the emphasis was like with a A selection of is very much closed frontier art exhibitions, on festivity as choir and clasfamilies join in sical concerts, all the enterand quirky events such as a tainment. theme painting and a scale With live music, dance performodelling competition are all mances and plenty of food and on offer. Most are free to the drink, there is an air of a welpublic and allow for an authen- coming street party. tic insight into the Gibraltarian Yet it is the exchange between way of life. different generations that National Day itself centres on makes this party so interesting.

Despite the youngest not having experienced the historical context setting the backdrop, there still exists a very visceral appreciation of our Gibraltarian identity and how far we have come as a people since the first referendum took place.

The year that remains most poignant for many was back in 2007.

This National Day saw 30,000 red and white balloons released in the air, a symbolic representation of each inhabitant on the Rock to mark the new enhanced Constitution.

As I see it, the most striking aspect of the National day celebrations is the conviviality that permeates throughout the Rock.

Doors are flung open for families and friends of friends to visit. We all share food and stories of the past; of what Gibraltar was like when the frontier was closed and how resil-

FAMILY DAY: Kids hold aloft a blow up monkey ient the ‘barricade’ years have made us.

Each different area of the Rock has its unique focus.

Take for example the Caleteños, from the Caleta area. I am told many families spend much of their National Day on the beach meeting friends for a breakfast of churros, followed by a day of shared bbqs and drink on this small cove.

Here sunshades can go up 48 hours beforehand to secure a good spot as visitors know the locals will look after their be-

longings.

Wherever the day finds you, the atmosphere is always one of goodwill.

Gibraltarians know how to share and how to make guests feel welcome - and any visitors to the Rock that day will be more than looked after. We are 30,000 inhabitants living in three square miles, a fusion of different people, and in many cases cultures, that have learnt to live side by side agreeably.

This in itself is enough for a huge celebration.

Timetable of events

What, where and when?

Your guide to all the events in the run up to National Day

August Wednesday 29th to Friday 7th September 8.30am to 9.30pm ‘Our Gibraltar’ Photographic Exhibition Organised by the Gibraltar Photographic Society Lower Exhibition Room

John Mackintosh Hall Entrance Free

For further information please contact mobile: 54409000

Thursday 30th August to Saturday 1st September 10am to 6pm Thursday & Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturday

Thursday 30th August 8pm

Gibraltar Scale Modelling Exhibition Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery

Choir Anniversary Celebration Concert Organised by the Gibraltar Academy of Music & Performing Arts John Mackintosh Hall Theatre Tickets sold at buytickets.gi as from Monday 20th August For further information please contact email: info@gampa.gi September Wednesday 5th September & Thursday 6th September 2nd Gibraltar Backgammon Open Tournament Organised by the Backgammon Association of Gibraltar Latinos’ Restaurant For further information please contact telephone: 20047755 or mobile: 58772000 Thursday 6th September to Friday 28th September 10am to 6pm

INTO THE SPIRIT: Everyone is set to dress up

Gibraltar Theme Painting Exhibition Fine Arts Gallery

Organised by the Fine Arts Association Entrance Free For further information please contact mobile: 57857000 or Facebook page: Fine Arts Gallery Gibraltar Thursday 6th September 8pm National Celebrations Classical Concert St Michael’s Cave Organised by the Gibraltar Philharmonic Society Featuring the European Symphony Orchestra and renowned international performers Tickets priced at £20 on sale from Monday 30th July at Sacarellos Coffee Shop, Irish Town, the Silver Shop at 222 Main Street and online on buytickets.gi Tickets priced at £10 for senior citizens and students are available at the John Mackintosh Hall reception at 308 Main Street.

Tickets include a return shuttle from the Public Market and opposite the Cable Car. For further info contact the Gibraltar Philharmonic Society on telephone: 20072134 Friday 7th September 8pm

Dance Presentation Organised by the Gibraltar National Dance Organisation Tercentenary Sports Hall Tickets priced at £5 For further information please contact the GNDO email: gndo1981@icloud. com Saturday 8th September 7.30pm Boat Procession From Coaling Island to South Mole For further information contact the Rector at the Shrine of our Lady of Europe on email: rector@ourladyofeurope.net Sunday 9th September 6.30pm National Day Thanksgiving Mass

Shrine of Our Lady of Europe For further information contact the Rector at the Shrine of our Lady of Europe on email: rector@ourladyofeurope.net Monday 10th September See poster back page

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

23

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ibraltar National Day

Remarks of

The OP asks locals wha

W

ITH Gibraltar’s National Day festivities fast approaching, the entire Rock is buzzing with excitement.

For residents of the British territory, the September 10 holiday —

Kristin Mahon, 67

“

Gibraltar always pulls together anyway, but Gibraltar Day is like everybody- dogs, people, children- it’s our day, and we celebrate it big-style.

Everywhere you’re walking it’s just streams of red and white. Everybody’s out celebrating- all the cafes, the bars, the restaurants- it’s brilliant.

Me and my neighbour, we normally go down to Casemates, and they normally have shows on, people talking, so we normally go down to Casemates in the morning and we just walk around talking to everybody because everybody’s in the jubilant ‘it’s a great day’ happy-go-lucky mood… I mean we’re all lucky, everyone living here. Very, very lucky.”

Clive Borg, 64

“

The day is very important because we were given the freedom to vote. We voted that we wanted to remain British so that’s what we celebrate: freedom to vote and to be British. It’s a day for families. There are parties at night for young people. During the day, a jumping carousel for the children. In Casemates, they bring UK MPs and they assure us that Gibraltar will always be British as long as the people of Gibraltar want.”

Joseph Cirdao, 50

“

It’s a great day. I have an excuse to drink more; 10 drinks instead of one. I don’t go to the city centre. I do something different and go to the beaches on the outskirts.”

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the Rock

August 29th - September 11th 2018

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

at National Day is all about celebrated on the anniversary of Gibraltar’s first sovereignty referendum of 1967 — represents historic pride. With a fair amount of hedonistic partying thrown in for equal measure.

And whether it’s fun at the feria, a day of dancing or a barbecue on the

beach, there’s something for everyone at the celebrations.

One thing is certain: If the enthusiasm of these Gibraltarians is any indication, the patriotic tunes and red balloons are sure to soar higher than ever at this year’s celebrations.

Priscilla Link, 68

Annalise Rodriguez, 50

“

We celebrate being Gibraltarian and British, and this all began about 20 years ago to celebrate that day, and we all dress up in red and white. The whole day is full of celebrations and nobody works that day.”

Jon Ignacio, 66

“

We’re Gibraltarians. Not English, we don’t want to be with Spain.

We’re just all Gibraltarians.

We just want to be independent.

We’re friends with the Spanish, coming in and out, but the government doesn’t want to be Spanish, and we’re clearly not about that. We don’t like that.”

Ryan A, 24

“

It’s celebrating our national identity - our ability to vote, to remain British and to have our own self-determination. Our family tends to go out to a restaurant and drink wine. We also go to the beach together.”

“

We want to be British. We celebrate all day. Everybody dresses in red and white to say that we’re British, and everybody goes out for lunch in Casemates. We get people from England to come and talk about Gibraltar. And then they party into the night.”

Patricia Gerada, 63

“

I was only 13 when they closed the frontier. We had a referendum before that where we decided that we didn’t want to be Spanish. So it brings back nice memories; the whole of Gibraltar was dressed up in blue, red and white, and we painted all the steps and we did everything. It brings back nice memories.”

Megan V, 23

“

National Day is a celebration of being Gibraltarian. It’s also my dad’s birthday so there’s always a family party. Also, there are street parties and other parties in the stadium for teenagers.”

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William Vass, 74

“

We celebrate our independence. We are not independent from England, but it reminds us of our roots. We are Gibraltarians. We were born here.

Spain used to harass us a lot. It’s a way to make ourselves strong and celebrate Gibraltar Day.”

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ibraltar National Day

August 29th - September 11th 2018

rock reflections

The Olive Press sent its American interns Diana Tang and Grace Lee to give us their feedback on Gibraltar

T

HE first thing we saw when we crossed the border was a red telephone booth, the iconic postcard staple of Great Britain.

But we were nowhere near Buckingham Palace, nor the London Eye. We were at the southern tip of Europe, literally just two steps away from Spain.

Gibraltar is an anomaly on the Iberian Peninsula. The famous British rock juts out from the sun-kissed beaches of southern Spain seemingly out of nowhere. A geographical freak of nature and all the more impressive the nearer you get.

Crossing the border from Spain into Gibraltar was a real new world for us, a melting pot of Spanish and British cultures and incredibly eye-opening.

Restaurants served both tapas and fish and chips, while the residents spoke both languages, occasionally mixing the two.

Occupying a space between the two nations as an isolat-

ed British territory sharing a border with Spain, Gibraltar has forged its own unique identity.

Despite the fusion of culture we witnessed, Gibraltarians do not want to be defined by the intermingling of identities; instead, they are just Gibraltarians, proud British, and nothing else. When we interviewed locals about their thoughts on National Day, ‘pride’ and ‘freedom’ were the two words that dominated their responses.

To them, it represented a day when Gibraltar was recognized as not just a subsidiary sect of other countries, but as an independent body which had a right to determine its own identity in a referendum that granted its people autonomy and freedom.

Most assured us that National Day is a day not to be missed as the whole territory would be covered in red and white, rejoicing in festivities that would start at Casemates Square in the centre of town.

Casemates Square and the Main Street that leads off from the square are hubs of activity in Gibraltar, filled with scrumptious food and quirky merchandise. And they were perfect reminders that we were no longer in Spain. The cobbled Main Street is lined with fish and chips pit stops and red and white banners, as well as plenty of Union Jacks.

The colourful building facades seemed straight out of a movie set.

We would definitely come back as there was clearly so much more to see.

So as we walked back to Spain, across the airport runway with the Rock to our backs, we thought about the woman who reminisced about her childhood day when Gibraltar became free, the man passionate about his ability to vote for his future and the Union Jack postcards on every store’s window display - distinct fragments which contribute to the strong identity that is Gibraltar.

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ibraltar National Day

Born to be wild

IN THE KNOW: Dr Shaw

Gibraltar’s famous Barbary macaques have been branded as vicious but that’s a load of old monkeys, Dr Eric Shaw tells Bradley Stokes

T

HEY’RE more photo- To find out more, I visited the graphed than Miss Gi- Helping Hand Trust where braltar and they grab he has been in charge of Gias many headlines as braltar’s non-military troupes the Rock’s Chief Minister, since 1988, and has an intimostly because of their mis- mate knowledge of their perchievous monkey ways. But sonalities and behaviour. despite a few hairy moments, There are many tales spread the Barbary macaques of Gi- about Gibraltar’s monkeys, braltar are not even though as scary as they are tailpeople think. less themAccording to selves, I joke.

Dr Eric Shaw, Well, there’s the British Terthe first monritory’s resikey myth exCHEEKY dent Monkey ploded. They do MONKEY Snakes Man, they’re have tails, says alive! more chilled Dr Shaw, but than we are. they are only “They are the length of a the most tolgrain of rice! erant speAlso contrary cies you are to popular beever going 1099€ to lief, there are 899€ find,” insists not as many Dr Shaw, a leading player macaques on in monkey conservation for Gibraltar as 649€ people think over 25 years.

196 to be exact, dispersed 56

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Unlucky for some

FINAL WORDS

A REPORT has shown many in Spain regard Tuesday 13 unlucky as opposed to Friday 13. Martes translates from Mars who was the Roman God of War.

Thunderbirds!

THUNDERBIRD 4 has rocked up in Spain during a 1’800 mile journey.

A charity bought along the famous vehicle after travelling across Europe in aid of Alzheimers Research.

Clock off

CARLOS Recio has been banned from public service jobs after skipping work every day for ten years. Arriving for work at 7.30am, he would clock on then leave, before returning to work at 4pm to clock off.

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July 18th - July 31st 2018

Family loses five passports and money at the top of Gibraltar to

SCARY: Serpent

an ape named Dracula EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

IT is possibly the last place you would want your handbag grabbed by a monkey.

And particularly when it contains your entire family’s passports, not to mention holiday spending money.

But this is what happened to one unfortunate British family when they took a trip to the newly-installed Skywalk in Gibraltar last week.

Having made their way up to the top of the Rock they came face to face with one of the enclave’s cheekiest monkeys, appropriately named Dracula.

As they made their way along UNMOVED: Dracula the death-defying glass instal- swiped the unprepared mothlation, the aggressive male er’s handbag. macaque swooped over and As quick as a flash he climbed

down below the see-through glass walkway and proceeded to empty it out, throwing all five of the family’s passports and around €100 out of the bag.

“There was literally nothing they could do,” explained staff member Shaun Williams.

They could only watch as their documents got scattered on the nearly vertical slope and the money blew away.

“There was no way they could go down and get them and they had to go to the police station to report them missing. It took a shine off their day trip from Marbella,” he added.

“That Dracula is a really evil one and was only after food. As soon as he realised there wasn’t any

he ran off.”

This week the Olive Press managed to track down Dracula, who looked entirely unperturbed by his actions. Two of the passports could still be easily seen below.

“They were just lucky that the father had kept the hire car keys in his pocket or they wouldn’t have even got back to their hotel that night,” added Williams.

Last year, the Olive Press reported how a British tourist filed a sexual assault claim against a Gibraltar monkey, only to be told there was no law against it. She was furious after police allegedly asked her if she expected them to arrange a line up to pick out the guilty ape.

Bijoux corner sofa

THIS is the second snake to be captured by terrified homeowners in Malaga this month.

It came after an alarmed family came home to find it on their patio on Calle Subida San Cristobal.

In a video shared by the Policia Nacional, one plucky officer grabs the serpent, measuring more than a metre in length, and puts it into a plastic bag.

It was released into its natural habitat in the fields nearby.

Another snake was found sleeping in a baby’s pram, last

around the Rock in troupes day. Gibraltar’s macaques ranging from a pueblo-sized are wild, the only free-rang10 to a metropolis-sized 36. ing primates in Europe. They When Dr Eric have the freeShaw and dom of the his team are Rock in no counting them As primates, we’re small thanks it can take the legend also curious but to them up to a that if they year to com- the danger comes leave, Gibralplete the task! will cease from getting too tar It is believed to be British. that the maSir Winston close caques have Churchill been resident took that very since the 12th much to heart century as they are depicted when he topped up their in paintings of the period. dwindling numbers during There are 80 different spe- WW2, just in case... cies but centuries ago, this Females rule specific type – the only ones in this mathat live outside Asia today - t r i a r c h a l was also found in Scotland, m o n Ireland and Italy, probably as a result of the international exotic pet trade which continues to-

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Pocket of patriotism

Admiral Nelson’s legacy in Gibraltar lies beyond cemetery walls DESPITE its name, Trafalgar Cemetery is home to just two victims of 1805’s almighty battle.

Instead, many tombstones commemorate those who died in three devastating yellow fever epidemics around the same time.

Nonetheless, this tiny pocket of Gibraltar still radiates patriotism. Its moss-covered graves and low-hanging branches could tempt anyone in for a moment of reflection while enroute to the cable car.

The cemetery – originally known as Southport Ditch Cemetery – was abandoned for many years until a huge restoration effort in the 1980s.

Each year on the Sunday closest to the battle of Trafalgar (October 21), the Royal Navy holds a ceremony here.

While most of those that died at Trafalgar were buried at sea, Admiral Nelson’s body was being transported back to London for a state funeral and burial at St Paul’s cathedral.

However, he was initially taken to Gibraltar’s Rosia Bay, in his ship HMS Victory, where his body was put in a vat of rum to conserve it, before being sent to the UK. But the connection goes deeper, before his heroic death Nelson would have been a regular on the Rock, especially at naval haunts like the Victualling Yard and Old Naval Hospital.

And it was his close friend Aaron Cardozo – a wealthy Gibraltarian merchant – who inherited Nelson’s medal commemorating his victory in the Battle of the Nile.

TROUPE: With the mother always at the helm

MonKEY facts •

Macaques are not apes. Apes have no tails but macaques do (sort-of)

•

A number of Gibraltar’s monkeys are killed in traffic accidents

•

Mother Nature gave them furry raincoats – a long-haired outer layer to drain the water off and keep the shorter body fur dry

•

They are wild and free-roaming and no Spain/Gibraltar border can contain them

•

Keep a three-metre distance to avoid a monkey pout

•

They have few predators and live for around 25 years

•

They like their own space, often under cafe tables between customers’ legs

•

A campaign to end to their urban forays means they’re now mainly confined to the Upper Rock Nature Reserve

August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

PATIENT: The macaques are slow to react to photos

key society although males help to raise their young and have a playful and protective instinct where offspring are concerned. Indeed, male monkeys are sometimes protective to human babies and have been known to dash over and scare parents.

They’re also territorial and when we approach them too closely to take pictures we often leave them only two choices: fight or flight. Macaques have sharp teeth and can weigh a boisterous 20 kilos so watch out.

“They are not vicious, it’s just the natural behaviour of wild animals,” says Dr

Shaw.

“They are curious and protective and we shouldn’t be misled by their occasional outbursts of anger, they are really very chilled.”

However human interaction rubs off on macaque behaviour which resulted in cheeky monkeys invading the town and private homes and snatching tourists’ belongings, once even climbing onto a baby’s pram.

“People have a bad habit of feeding them so they have become accustomed to knowing when food is around,” says Dr Shaw. “It’s a common mistake made by new mothers taking prams up the Rock with baby food stored underneath - the macaques will go for it.”

Warning

As primates ourselves, we’re also naturally curious but the danger comes from getting too close. If that happens, look out for a monkey pout, a warning sign not to come closer. If you feel a monkey invading your own space, pout back.

Gibraltar’s monkeys have adapted to Instagrams and selfies to become regular social media stars but that’s another monkey myth.

Dr Shaw has a simpler truth: “Macaques are threatened by prolonged eye-to-eye contact and when you’re taking your shot, your eyes are covered.”

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BE ‘APPY!

Booming tourism sector sparks job growth in Andalucia

THE tourism industry is now the biggest employer STAYING: In Spain Download our app now and in Spain.

Figures show more than begin enjoying the best Spanish 2.65 million people – 2.17 news on the go. million contracted workers and 483,861 private contractors – were employed in the sector this spring.

This represents 13.7% of DESPITE Spain’s working populathe closing tion (19.34 million peoof Toys ‘R’ Us ple), meaning tourism has stores in the United overtaken construction as The Press States and the Olive UK, the top employer in the the international country. retailer TOP is here stay in i nSpain! fortonews In fact, a whopping 75.5% Spain and Portugal.

Some 60% of the Iberian subof the country’s working sidiaries of the multinational population are employed company has been acquired in a service-related job.

by Portuguese investment However despite the firm Green Swan. booming tourism secThe remaining 40% is still tor, wages have remained under the current managestagnant.

Good job!

On the up

Save our toys

SPAIN’S economy is set to grow by 0.7% over the rest of this year.

The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) has predicted it will speed up on the back of the 0.6% growth registered in the second quarter.

Target

ment team.

Ambitious

With this investment, the toy and baby retailer has managed to save its existing 51 stores in Spain and 10 in Portugal, as well as 1,300 jobs.

Portuguese Paulo Sousa Marques will replace Jean Charretteur, the current CEO of Toys ‘R’ Us in the Iberian peninsula and France.

The company has announced that under the new leadership, it will undertake an ‘ambitious long-term development project’ over the course of the next couple of years.

It is set to open a new store in September in Islazul one of largest shopping centres in Madrid.

Increase

Hospitality employees were paid an average of €9.32 an hour in the first semester of 2018, while construction workers received €11.73 an hour.

Catalunya welcomes the highest number of tourists in Spain, with 19 million foreigners and five million Spaniards visiting the region last year, according to the INE. It is also the region that employs the greatest number of tourism workers, with 457,944 people employed in the sector in the second quarter of this year.

TOURIST BOOM: Some 13.7% of the workforce are employed in tourism

Sunny Andalucia comes in second place with 433,853 workers – a 7.5% increase upon last year’s figures from the same period.

Although Madrid receives fewer visitors than the Balearic and Canary Islands, it has more people working in tourism – 400,000 compared to 169,000 and 244,000, respectively.

Booze ban for brits BRITISH holidaymakers are in for a surprise with free alcohol on package holidays set to be banned in Spain.

The Balearic Islands gov-

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August 29th - September 11th 2018

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August - September March 29th29th - April 11th 2018 11th 2018

ernment is set to crackdown on boozy all-inclusive trips in Mallorca and Ibiza by bringing in new regulation.

It comes after a string of

No switching off!

MORE than half of Spanish workers admit they respond to work emails during weekends and holidays.

According to a new report, 51% of Spain’s workforce find it impossible to switch off completely from their job.

And the higher up you are, the more likely you are to keep your mind at work during your time off.

While only 45% of low-ranking employees check their emails outside working hours, 68% of middle managers and 84% of senior managers deal with work on their weekends and holidays.

laws were recently introduced by the local government in a bid to control unruly tourists in areas such as Magaluf.

The new rules suggest tourists must order and be served drinks from a waiter, which they will have to pay for, instead of hitting the bar without a wallet at an all-inclusive hotel.

Holidaymakers

This also stretches to holidaymakers sitting outside of the main dining area during allocated meal times, while free drinks in mini bars will also be strictly off limits.

BAN: All-inclusive

This improvement in expectations comes from the latest data for social security affiliation, as well as electrical energy consumption and financing for companies and households.

The national deficit, however, will reach 2.7% of GDP this year, remaining five base points above the original target of 2.2% set

by Brussels, opening Spain up to punitive fines.

32

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In the red

CAR

SPAIN’S public debt has reached a record-breaking €1.162 trillion.

The figure represents 98.8% of the country’s GDP and beats the previous high of March’s €1.160 trillion.

The country’s 16 different regions also share a combined economic hole of €29.2 billion.

Dodgy dealings THE black economy in Spain swallows more than €70 billion every year, new figures reveal.

A sum equivalent to 6% of the country’s GDP - the same amount which is spent on public health services - is going unrecorded and untaxed.

Evasion

Andalucia is one of the worst offenders for tax evasion, along with Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and the Canaries.

Madrid and Navarra have the lowest amounts of tax evasion, according to the report by the Fundacion de Cajas de Ahorros.

It comes as other p l a t forms such as Uber and Airbnb h a v e b e e n met with much resistance from authorities across Spain.

Woman threatened with €600,000 fine for giving tours of her village A TOUR guide app has called in lawyers after a woman was threatened with a €600,000 fine for offering guided tours of her Spanish village.

Susana Meseguer, 50, was making up to €60 per month by using the app GuruWalk and by posting small ads for tours in local shops.

Meseguer, who lives in Vilafames in Valencia, signed up to GuruWalk, which connects tourists to tour guides, when she lost her job in May. But the Valencia government has now sent her a letter demanding she cease all tour guiding activity as she lacks authorisation, and that if she continues she could face a fine of between €100,000 and €600,000.

business

No more tours

Clocking off HOLIDAYS are a time where most people anticipate spending time with family or taking a much-needed breather from the hustle and bustle of working life.

But in small businesses in Malaga, particularly in bars and local shops, workers do not have that luxury.

According to a recent report by the National Association of Autonomous Workers (ATA), half of self-employed workers in Malaga will not go on holiday this year.

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Businesses

José Luis Perea, coordinator of ATA in Andalucia, stressed the economic importance of working during time off for small businesses in Malaga.

The peak business season, from the end of July to the beginning of September, is when the area receives the bulk of its tourists and income.

The ATA also found that the lack of holidays is no new phenomenon. Around one in five self-employed workers haven’t had the opportunity to take time off for the past five years, and 22% of small business owners have never taken holidays longer than four days since starting their business.

We do, even when your car breaks down.

Degrading

“We are currently with our lawyers to solve this issue,” a GuruWalk spokesman told the Olive Press: “but the amount of the fine looks disproportionate to us.”

Official tour guide groups argue GuruWalk - a Valenciabased site - is degrading the profession.

Meseguer, 50, told El Pais

32

August 29th - September 11th 201832 August 29th - September 11th 2018

FINED: For tours of Vilafames in Valencia

that she has found ‘her place in the world in Vilafamés’, but has succumbed to the pressure and left the GuruWalk platform and removed her adverts from around the town.

She added: “I was not doing tours from 9am to 9pm every day, as they said, it was a spo-

radic thing, some weekends, as a hobby, because I love my village.

“I liked the walks where I would explain information and tell stories, and I would always warn that I was not an official guide. The most I ever made was around €60 in one

month. If they had called me I would have cleared everything up, but they never did.”

She also claims that the town hall knew what she was doing, and that the tourist office had even sent her groups when staff couldn’t leave their post.

Peace of mind Our house, our refuge, our castle ... In short, our home

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The first thing you should know is that you do not have to contract your home insurance with the entity that is granting you the mortgage but you can compare prices in the market

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Until a couple of years ago, banking entities could condition their mortgage lending with an "obligation" to contract some linked products, such as the Home insurance. But now, with the approval by the European Parliament of the Mortgage Credit Directive, banks are prohibited by law from linking a mortgage to the purchase of insurance.Your insurance company might include a clause in your policy registering your lending bank as mortgage beneficiary, to cope with the request of the bank.

Then, the key question is, what is the best insurance for my house? In this article we give you the keys so that you can make the best decision when taking out your home policy insurance.

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ICONIC: Cave homes and (right) refugee residents

Meet the cavemen

Photographer documents the locals staying put in The Olive Press Andalucia’s cave homes TOP for news in Spain!

A CHILEAN photographer has spent two weeks in Andalucia documenting hundreds of cave dwellers and their fascinating homes.

As part of her project, Tamara Merino photographed cave homes and their residents in Gaudix and Sacromonte in Granada.

“The most important thing was not to have any preconceptions,” she told The National Geographic magazine.

“I like to sit with people and hear their stories. I share my life with them as well.”

Gaudix is home to around

2,000 underground houses, where many residents still live an agricultural life similar to that of 500 years ago.

“They still live with the animals inside the caves,” added Merino.

Tocuato Lopez and his family have lived in the Guadix caves for four generations. They offer shelter from the unbearable summer heat while ‘providing a sense of deep-rooted community’.

by mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola

“I’m very proud of being from the cave and still living in the cave,” he said, “I will die in the cave.”

Sacromonte, which sits across from the iconic Alhambra in Granada, is mainly occupied by illegal squatters.

Meanwhile, the lower portion is mostly home to legal residents drawn to cave life for environmental and cultural reasons.

Many members of the com-

munity, like Henrique Amaya, continue to live in the caves as a way to honour their Romani culture.

“I was born inside a cave with the animals and the beasts,” Amaya, whose family has lived in the Sacromonte caves for six generations, told photographer Merino.

His ancestors were the originators of the Zambra flamenco, first performed in the caves more than 500 years ago.

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MORTGAGE THINK TANK

Brexit rush

A

Why a Spanish mortgage is the way forward as the UK prepares to leave the EU

S Brexit looms closer and closer, the window of opportunity for Brits to invest in Spanish property before everything potentially changes is closing.

There are just seven months until the UK leaves the EU and Spain’s favourable laws mean its government is actively encouraging Brits to put their money into its property market.

If you are looking to finally buy your dream home in the sun, when it comes to mortgages, there are several things you need to consider.

Faster

One option may be a mortgage loan from a UK bank, as the process is faster and it is easier for the bank to check applicants’ creditworthiness. However, this option will only be available to you if you have property in the UK with sufficient equity available.

The increasingly popular route is to borrow from a Spanish bank as a non-resident, as banks have shown a greater willingness to lend and interest rates have become more competitive.

Spanish mortgages are calculated using

the Euribor rate and adding a margin, with the rate now at an all-time low following nine years of decline.

Spanish mortgage rates for variable mortgage products typically lie in the 1.7 to 3% range (although, we do have rates as low as 1.25%), and fixed rate loans coming out at around 2.4% to over 3%.

Another way to save money on transactions is to open a euro account with an overseas bank. This way, you can convert sterling to euros when rates are at their most favourable.

That is where a mortgage broker comes in.

The Finance Bureau is able to assist in the account opening process whether you are abroad or in Spain.

It is also essential to have someone in your corner to highlight any hidden fees or compulsory add-ons tucked away in the small print and to ensure you get the best possible mortgage rate to suit your needs and circumstances.

The Finance Bureau has more than 15 years’ experience in finding expats the best deal possible and making sure they’re avoiding the many pitfalls associated with buying abroad.

When it comes to buying a mortgage, getting it wrong is not an option.

To contact Tancrede for all your mortgaging needs call: 666 709 743 or for insurance queries call: 951 203 540 Email: tdp@thefinanacebureau.com The Finance Bureau Centro Commercial Guadalmina, 2nOffice No. 7 Guadalmina, 29670

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PROPERTY PENSIONERS in Spain are selling their homes for half the price, but on one condition - the buyers let them to live in their property until they die.

Known as ‘naked ownership,’ the trend is growing in hot markets like Madrid, where young buyers in particular are struggling to get on to the property ladder.

"What I want is to die in my house,” 92-year-old Carmen Segovia told El

Costa del Sol home buyers getting younger and younger

PAD: In Marbella

Luxury life A BEACHFRONT mansion in Marbella topped the list of the 10 most expensive houses currently in the Spanish market recently published by Idealista.

The luxurious 6,663 square meter property is listed for 50 million euros. It features six ‘suite’ bedrooms and two guest houses.

Another Andalucian pad, a 7,000 square meter villa with 12 rooms, a tennis court and a swimming pool in Mijas, came in second with a market price of 35 million euros.

Six of the 10 properties featured on the list are located in Andalucia, making it the autonomous community with the greatest number of the most expensive properties in Spain.

THE average age of property buyers in Marbella has plunged to a record low of 42 years old.

A report by estate agents Lucas Fox Marbella also found foreign interest in Costa del Sol properties is on the rise.

Foreign buyers have contributed to 31% of this year’s home sales, a 3% rise from 2017.

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August 29th - September 11th 201834 August 29th - September 11th 2018

Betting on death

Español, who’s planning on selling her 100sqm flat in the capital for just under €200,000.

“I have all my family memories here so until I die, I’d like to live well."

Madrid-based estate agency Eduar-

do Molet is now one of many which specialises in the purchase and sale of properties under bare ownership.

Some commentators reiterated that the legal practice is completely above board but other Twitter users found it macabre.

“One way or another, isn't it disturbing? You could actually wish someone else's death to have access to their homes? I wouldn't sleep well,” wrote one Twitter user.

Starting early

Brexit

PRICEY: Mansion has huge dining room and pool

Many of these buyers are entrepreneurs or CEOs, citing their ability to work remotely as a reason for moving.

The average age of those buying Marbella properties is believed to be drop-

ping due to Brexit pushing Brits to secure a holiday home or even move to a

sunny location.

Unsurprisingly, the properties that were most in

demand were homes near the beach, especially in Torremolinos and Marbella. With their beaches recently awarded with ‘Q’ status, a recognition of quality by the Spanish Institute for Quality Tourism, beachfront properties can expect to see this popularity rise in the coming years.

Meanwhile, overall property sales and prices are on the rise in Malaga province as well.

Estate agent Idealista said that properties in the province were 12% more expensive compared to last year.

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OWNER: Punyet

Stirring the pot A CATALAN chef has received death threats over a ‘controversial’ menu including dishes such as ‘grilled Andalucian Guardia Civil’.

Nova Font Blanca restaurant in the region of Lleida, has come under fire after creating an unusual menu, causing quite a stir among Spanish far-right groups.

Dishes such as ‘slow-cooked hands of Constitutional Court prosecutors and judges’ offended social media users who targeted owner Toni Punyet with ‘hundreds’ of death threats, which regional police are now investigating.

The chef describes the incident as a ‘misunderstanding’ and apologised, reassuring that ‘everyone is welcome’ at his modest restaurant.

“A grilled Guardia Civil is a grilled sardine,” added Punyet, “It’s a typical Catalan culinary expression.” He also pointed out that there is a Spanish pig trotters recipe called ‘manos de ministro’. It comes as tensions continue to run high between Spanish authorities and Catalan separatists, following the independence referendum in October last year. There has been hostility particularly between the Spanish Guardia Civil and civilians, after police used violence against voters and secessionist politicians were jailed.

Punching for pintxos

restaurant | lunch and dinner restaurant | lunch and dinner

Dining out in the Basque Country voted ‘world’s best eating experience’ IT’S official. Spanish cuisine is the best food experience in the world.

Well, more specifically it’s Basque cuisine, with pintxo hopping in San Sebastian’s historic old town voted the best culinary journey by Lonely Planet.

Choosing from 500 different food experiences from all over the globe, the travel bible’s panel awarded the coveted top spot of the ‘Ultimate Eatlist’ to the Basque Country’s mini taste explosions.

The guide recommends spending a night hopping from bar to bar tasting as many different pintxos as humanly possible, while washing them down with a glass of vino as you go.

“If there’s a better way to explore a culture’s cuisine than pintxos in San Sebastian, we’ll eat our shorts,” reads the mouth-watering guide.

Runners up include tucking into a creamy curry laksa at

TOP SPOT: Pintxos are a must

a stall beneath the towers of Kuala Lumpur and testing your maki rolling skills at a sushi masterclass in Tokyo.

Typically the ‘tiny bites’, or ‘Basque tapas’ if you don’t mind offending locals, consist of fresh meat, fish or vegetables piled sky-high on a slice of freshly baked bread.

As culinary trends changed, the pintxo evolved and now hungry diners can find a mixture of traditional dishes to molecular gastronomy renditions all beautifully laid out in rows on bar tops.

Compiled by top chefs, food writers and Lonely Planet authors, the guide

was inspired by the ‘inextricable link between food and travel’ and its ability to unlock ‘social customs’ and ancient traditions.

No other Spain-based experiences graced the top 20 list.

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Something fishy POLICE have seized 45 tonnes of illegally treated frozen tuna on Spain’s eastern coast.

The fish had been been authorised for tinned consumption only but was labelled as ‘freshly caught’,

while vendors were selling it at four times its worth.

Seprona, the government’s environmental agency, intercepted the fish in Alicante, Barcelona, A Coruna and Cartagena.

Officers are currently in-

Tomatina on tour SPAIN’S biggest, messiest and most famous food fight has gone on tour to London.

La Tomatina - a huge tomato-throwing battle - painted the streets of the UK’s capital red with mushy fruit and sangria this month.

The annual festival, held on the last Wednesday every August, normally sees thousands of tourists flocking to the tiny town of Bunol in Valencia to launch around 130 tonnes of tomatoes.

And now the giant fruit fight has taken over a venue in Marylebone, where guests were given ponchos and masses of tomatoes to get involved in the action.

But in true London fashion, the fight took a more environmentally conscious approach by using tomatoes that would have gone to waste from Spanish restaurant Aqua Nueva, with leftovers sent to a compost centre afterwards.

vestigating four people for crimes against ‘public health and fraud’.

The staggering mass of tuna had been illegally treated with dangerous levels of additives to enhance the colour of the meat to make it look fresh rather than thawed.

Altering the colour can also hide any spoilage of the meat and could be harmful to consumers.

¡Ven a disfrutar de una comida increíble y unas vistas maravillosas!

Come and enjoy an incredible meal and wonderful views!

Fire

One establishment which came under fire could not provide any certification of where the fish came from or that it was practising appropriate hygiene measures.

It was also found that the intercepted vessels had not been freezing the fish at the required level of below -18 degrees.

Officials believe at least three companies and three fishing boats are linked to the crime and are investigating it on an international scale.

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Delica-sea!

AS Málaga pushes the boat out to win Intangible Cultural Heritage status for its iconic espetos, the OP samples the province’s other UNESCO-worthy fish dishes with fin-esse, writes Diana Tang

Espetos Open Tuesday to Sunday. until 22.00 Closed 12.00 until mid February

w Ne lla rbe t a M o tsp o h

www.cascadamarbella.com | +34 951567849 Urb Montua, 39, 29602 Marbella

Nothing says summer on the Costa like espetos. Rows of silvery sardines roasting on bamboo skewers poking out from blue fishing boats add to the theatre of dining and turn a shoreline paseo into pure aromatherapy. The custom began with famished Phoenician fishermen in need of cheap fast food after a long day at sea. Malgueño Miguel Martinez Soler, aka The Sardine Man, added the Royal Approval when King Alfonso XII stopped by his humble chiringuito in 1884 and pronounced them royally finger-lickin’ good.

Simple yet delicious, add a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt to enjoy Malaga’s hot heritage fish dish.

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Ensalada Malagueña

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Pipirrana The Mediterranean Diet in a salad. Refreshing and nutritious, it was originally a simple mix of leftover veggies but it has become a staple of Malaga cuisine. Different regions add their own gastronomic twists depending on what grows in their garden but the Malaga version majors on tomatoes, red and green peppers, garlic, onion, olives, tuna, mussels and other assorted seafood dressed in what else but - olive oil and sea salt. This summery salad is both easy and economical to make!

This crispy seafood cornucopia is one of Malaga’s guiltiest pleasures but be damned to the calories.

For a crunchy concoction of deep fried anchovies, cod, calamari, prawns, baby and baby octopus, finished off with a zesty squirt of lemon, it’s worth the extra trip to the gym. Despite the cooking method, fritura is never greasy. The secret is in the combination of extra virgin olive oil and flour to produce a dry crust that crumbles in the mouth.

Fritura Malagueña This refreshing Spanish twist on potato salad is made with salt cod, onion, green olives and the juice of succulent Sevilla oranges. Perfect for warm weather, it’s full of distinct flavours that mesh together well, showcasing Malaga’s famous Mediterranean fish and veggies in a light, citrusy dressing. The cod is the star while Aloreña olives, native to Malaga, add the tang of bitter rounding out the flavour of the dish.

Gazpachuelo Malagueño While the name might sound like Andalucia’s famous chilled tomato soup, this winter warmer bears little resemblance to summery gazpacho. The original recipe, a chowdery mix of fish, potatoes, water, salt, mayonnaise, and wine vinegar, was created by the poor fisherman of El Palo, the same Malaga fishing village where King Alfonso XII enjoyed his sardines - maritime gastronomy clearly runs in the blood. In time, shrimp, langoustines and clams were added, along with a hard boiled egg garnish and toast to turn it from a stick-tothe-ribs staple into a culinary classic.

Boquerones en vinagre Don’t call them anchovies (or anchoas)! Boquerones have been nowhere near a pickle factory or a can. They are fresh-from-the-sea anchovies marinated in olive oil, vinegar, parsley and garlic and a top tapa treat.The first recipe dates back more than 3000 years, and the Tartars, Phoenicians and Romans improved on it and the 17th century Malaga poet Juan de Ovando mentioned it in an ode. Since the 18th century, their importance in Malaga culture has been discussed at the Real Academia Española and the 19th-century novelist Pedro Antonio de Alarcon wrote that Malaga was home to the ‘best anchovies in the world’.

Gastronome Dionisio Perez added, “There’s only one type of anchovies, which are fished from Estepona to Malaga”.

Locally known as boquerones victorianos in reference to the best month to catch them, September is also dedicated to the Virgen de la Victoria, patron of Malaga.

Try them yourself next month at Rincón de la Victoria’s Fiesta del Boqueron Victoriano (September 21-23).

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Ronda’s winery brings the best of nature to its wines, writes Grace Lee N a bright Sunday

O

morning, I hopped on the bus from San Pedro and watched the landscape gradually change from emerald blue beaches to rocky mountains and lush plains through the window.

At my final destination, the Bodega Garcia Hidalgo winery in Ronda, Miguel opened a bottle of his finest red wine while his wife Isabel picked the reddest tomatoes from her vegetable garden for tapas.

Spain has the largest land area dedicated to wine production in the world with more than 2.9 million acres of vineyards.

And Ronda is one of the places where the renowned Spanish vino is born. Since the days of the Phoenicians and Grecians, Ronda and its surrounding mountainous region has produced wine.

Wine production continued through the centuries in nearby Roman cities of Acinipo and Arriate from where wines were then transported all over the Roman Empire. In fact, the name Acinipo actually translates into ‘land of

August 29th - September 11th 2018

A Taste of Ronda GOLDEN SLOPES: The vine-covered hills around Bodega Garcia Hidalgo in Ronda

wine.’

The beautiful countryside provides an ideal environment for vineyards. Situated at a high plateau with an altitude of over 600m, the region features a unique terroir that combines the warm Mediterranean highland climate with cooler winds from the Atlantic.

Although Ronda’s wine production was halted in the 19th century due to the outbreak of the phylloxera virus, it has enjoyed a thriving revival since Ronda’s first modern vineyard opened in 1986. Now, more than half of t h e wines under the D.O. Sierras de Málaga appellation are produced by more than 30 wineries in Ronda.

The wineries dotted across R o n d a ’ s breathtaking terrain take pride in their sustainable approach to winemaking.

At the Bodega Garcia Hidalgo winery, the entire process, from

the water sourcing for the grape vines to the labelling of the final product, is natural. Many small rivers run through the countryside of Ronda, and one - the Guadalcobacín River runs right through Miguel’s vineyards, maintaining the ideal level of soil fertility determined by nature. Less human intervention the better, Miguel continued to stress throughout the winery tour. No pesticides are used in the process.

The two hectares vineyard cultivates three different types of red grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah

GOING UNDERGROUND: The bodega under the vineyard

and Merlot. Red, white and rosé wines are all produced with the same grapes, just through different variations and methods. As Miguel led us through the rows of the vineyard that provide ample room for each vine, he pointed out the grapes that showed a blend of fully ripe deep purples and virgin greens.

During the summer months when the grapes ripe, the stark contrast of temperature between day and night allows acidity to develop within the grape, inducing a more complex, unique flav o r in the wine. In a few short weeks, clusters of purple will overtake the field as September, the prime grape harvest month, comes in full swing.

Once they are harvested by hand, the grapes destemmed and crushed to be put in the metal tanks for fermentation. At this stage, grapes to be used to

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Riviera del Sol

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS & OLLIE MURS

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Lofty Ronda lords over the hilly terrain known for its wines while (inset) Grace with Isabel

produce red wines need to be fermented longer to achieve the rich, Burgundy shade.

Lastly, the wine is poured into the oak barrels and placed in the cellar below ground of the winery for ageing.

During this crucial final stage, the wine develops its rounder, richer flavours and toasty aroma from the wooden barrels. The blend name and the vintage of the wine are carefully noted on each barrel and collection of wines stored in the cellar.

Just before leading us to the patio for wine tasting and tapas, Miguel took us to the ultimate station that all of his wines must pass through: the labelling machine.

Here, he turns the lever that glosses over the surface of the wine bottle and leaves a gleaming label on its track. Although many wineries have switched

over to an automatic ma- Ibérico and cheese, tortichine, Miguel says that for lla and tomatoes with the as long as he runs this win- brightest scarlet shade that ery, the hand-operated gad- she had picked in the mornget is here to stay, ensuring ing. As she placed the food, that every bottle of Bodega Miguel introduced the secGarcia Hidalgo holds his ond wine: 2016 Roble de personal touch.

Alcobazín.

When I finally arrived at Its oacky, vanilla aroma the patio for tasting, the and leathery tannins attable was altested to the ready fully six months garnished it had spent Our ability to with freshly aging in the baked bread continue serving a oak barrels with olive oil and then two from a farm good glass of wine years in the next door, fills us with pride bottle. as well as When Isabel paté, homeserved her made chili homemade spread and paella still tomato jam. The first wine hot from the stove, she also was 2016 Moscatel, white brought out the final wine wine made from centenar- named after herself: Zabel ian vines. Its fruity, citrus de Alcobazín. Aged in the aroma with a fine aftertaste French oak barrels for 14 was the perfect preamble months, it had a creamy to the endless flow of food body with a warm, lingering and wine that followed. finish.

Soon, Isabel brought out “The day of the harvest is plates of assorted jamón my favorite day of wine-

making,” said Isabel as she walked me to the front gate of the winery. “It’s a right of passage for all grapes. But also every day at the vineyard is a blessing.

“Our organic cultivation and ability to continue serving a good glass of wine fills us with satisfaction and pride.”

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HEALTHY: Ronda wines develop well thanks to their 600m-plus altitude

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It mightn’t be tea at the Ritz but Spain’s own-brand supermarket products turn this great British tradition into a merry merienda at half the price.

Diana Tang reports hot from the kitchen at the Great Olive Press Cake-Off.

Afternoon Tea Español

was staring blankly at the scene on my breakfast table - a jar of strawberry jam and a box of cereal when I noticed the brand Hacendado stamped on both these morning essentials.

Curiosity got the better of me and I started rooting through all the products I had picked up in the supermarket the day before: milk, chocolate, salad mix, cookies, the list goes on ... Without exception, they were all branded the same.

Hacendado is the marca blanca (white label product) of Mercadona, the biggest supermarket chain in Andalucia. The Spanish are the biggest consumers of generic brand goods in the world which ring up 39.5% of total sales in supermarkets here.

7.1%. Which gave us the idea of recreating our own version of Britain’s most lavish gastronomic tradition: afternoon tea with a Spanish twist - to see which store worked out the cheapest..

For savouries, traditional vol au vents and cucumber sandwiches have been swapped for tea montaditos and a biscuit canapé topped with queso fresco and dulce de membrillo (quince jam), a firm bronze-coloured jelly made from the quince fruit which grows on the Iberian Peninsula and in many South American countries. Queso fresco, a soft, creamy cow’s milk cheese, is another Iberian speciality.

For the montaditos, we prepared two Spanish favourites (there’s a lot you can do with

I

TASTY: Selection of tapas

By creating their own ‘storebrands’ chains can deliver quality products to consumers at a much lower price than other branded producers.

Mercadona currently leads the market with 43.5% of sales coming from Hacendado products. Dia trails behind with 16.2%, Lidl with 11.2% and Carrefour with

HOSTESSES WITH THE MOST: Grace and Diana

one freshly baked barra, the Spanish-style baguette). The first we topped with jamón ibérico, a celebrated Spanish delicacy. After drizzling the bread with olive oil made in Spain, the largest producer in the world, we added grated tomato and a slice of jámon and está!

The second montadito stars queso manchego, the artisan cheese of Spanish cuisine made with sheep’s milk.

The buttery, fruity taste of

the cheese goes amazingly well with chorizo and olives, which add a savoury kick.

For sweets, we’ve kept it simple with a mix of British and Spanish classics. Let’s start with the staple. What is a cup of tea without biscuits? You can find generic brand digestive biscuits, both plain and chocolate-coated, at all four of the largest supermarkets in Spain. As for the Spanish treats, we have all textures with flan de huevo, bizcocho

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August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

CLASSIC: Montadito featuring manchego, chorizo and an olive to sweeten the deal

and turrón: creamy, crumbly and crunchy.

One of the most common desserts in Spain, flan de huevo, is a rich, creamy custard made with eggs, water and sugar. Although bizcocho can refer to different desserts in different countries, in Spain it’s a scrumptious sponge cake in classic flavours like vanilla, chocolate and lemon.

And we couldn’t forget the turrón a chewy testament to the great diversity in Spanish cuisine. This Moorish

nougat, a traditional Christmas treat in Spain, is typically made with honey and almonds.

Finally, for sipping with one’s little finger crooked, there is classic English Breakfast Tea - with milk and a little Spanish something to jazz up this generally teetotal ceremony: a glass of sparkling cava, which should never be referred to as ‘Spanish champagne’, although it often is.

Our Olive Press’ Spanish Afternoon Tea was curated entirely with generic brand

AERIAL SHOT: Of delicious food spread

items from Spain’s top four supermarkets. With the most affordable options, your grand total comes to just €24.26 euros for all the sweets, savouries and sips.

And even after your tea party is finished, you’ll have plenty left over for many more merry meriendas. Bien provecho!

High Tea at the Olive Press Savoury Biscuit canapé Dulce de membrillo & queso fresco Tea Montaditos Jamón Ibérico, tomato & olive oil Queso manchego, chorizo & olive

Sweet Digestive biscuit dipped in chocolate Flan de huevo Bizcocho Turrón Sip English Breakfast Tea Glass of cava

SET MENU: Olive Press brunch

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Costa jewel A COSTA del Sol golf club has been named the third-most beautiful in the world.

The Finca Cortesin, based in Casares, was named in the top three by Golfscape, one of the world’s largest golfing blogs.

Designed by American Cabell Robinson, Finca Cortesin’s 18-hole championship course has hosted numerous highprofile tournaments including the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2009, 2011, and 2012. The resort became the first in Spain to feature a new, environmentally-friendly type of Bermuda grass.

It was beaten out by Sperone Golf Club in France and the Villingili Golf Course in the Maldives, which claimed first and second prize respectively.

GOLF

August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

Rahm it home

As Spanish youngster Jon Rahm rises to the top, we rounded up 10 facts you might not have known about him

SPAIN’S Jon Rahm is on a roll.

After a successful past few years, the Basque 23-year-old will now follow in the footsteps of Spanish legends Severiano Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal as this year he will make his Ryder Cup debut in Paris at Le Golf National.

Ahead of his career-high moment, we’ve rounded up some lesser-known facts about the star.

Rahm attended Arizona State University where 1second he collected 11 collegiate victories. This ranks in the school’s history behind Phil Mickelson’s 16 wins.

He was born in a small town called 2located Barrika, in the Basque region of Spain at the very north of the country. currently holds the record for 3teurHe being the number one ranked amain the world for the longest period of time. Overall he held that distinction for 60 weeks between 2015 and 2016.

He became the first golfer ever to win the Ben Hogan 4 award in two consecutive years. The award i s given to the best player in college golf in the US.

In January 2017 he secured his first 5sional PGA Tour victory and first profeswin at the Farmers Insurance Open. He secured the win with a 60foot eagle on the 18th.

To help him learn English, Rahm lis6 tened to a lot of hip-hop. Two of his favourite songs were Eminem – Love The Way You Lie, and Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools

Last golf resort THIS is the moment emergency services in Spain resorted to collecting water from a golf course to battle a Costa del Sol wildfire.

The chopper collected water from a water hazard of a golf club to tackle a fire in a Manilva apartment in a high rise residential block.

Several people were rescued from a balcony after a fire allegedly broke out in the maintenance room on the ground floor.

Smoke

It is believed to have caused smoke to fill the stairwell of the entire block and the top floor apartment.

Witnesses claim residents became trapped on their balcony and began screaming for help before firefighters arrived with a cherry picker.

The building, Edificio Maicandil, is the tallest in Sabinillas and is just metres from the beach.

girlfriend is Kelley Cahill (below), a former javelin 7His thrower at Arizona State.

Right now he has five professional 8 wins despite only being a pro for two years. two best finishes in Majors 9PGAHis came this year at the Masters and Championship. He finished

fourth on both occasions.

an early age, his father 1ed0From pushed him to move to the UnitStates because he believed thats where the future of golf lay.

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Put your phone down!

IF you are texting while driving and have an accident, you could soon pay the same price as those caught drinking under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The current penalty for using your phone is three points being docked off your driver’s licence, but this will soon increase to up to six points, depending on the situation.

It comes after repeated research has revealed that distractions are the biggest cause of accidents in Spain.

In future cases where a crash has been caused by a driver using their phone, the responsible party will have to pay for everything: including repair, compensation and even funeral costs, if there is a death.

Although there is no date for this new regulation, the DGT will try to bring out as soon as possible.

Police intercept wheelchair user filmed driving on Costa motorway - but let him off scotfree GUARDIA Civil have intercepted a man caught travelling on the A-7 in an electric WHEELCHAIR. It came after several drivers phoned the 112 emergency line on Friday morning to report the daredevil for ‘risking a serious incident’ or crash.

The unnamed wheelchair user was seen driving on the busy motorway in the Mijas area, heading towards Marbella at around 8.40am.

He was travelling at around 10 km/hr.

According to Diario Sur,

Wheely lucky SNAPPED: Wheelchair user on motorway

the individual was found by traffic cops at the BilBil castle in Benalmadena,

Dat ist not gud BMW has recalled 320.000 vehicles across Europe to ‘avoid any fire risks’.

The vehicles affected are the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 series and the X3, 4 and 5 series.

All have four or six cylinder diesel engines manufactured between April 2015 and September 2016, and July 2012 and June 2015.

The company has warned that in some cases the glycol, a liquid component which can be found in the car’s radiator, can filter and mix with oil remains inside of the car, which can generate an explosive chain reaction.

The warning sign came from South Korea after various motors started to burn spontaneously.

but as he was on the sidewalk by the time police arrived, he was not sanctioned.

It comes after Malaga police opened an investigation to find a man who was filmed repeatedly driving on motorways on a disability scooter.

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In one video he is seen running a red light.

But despite policia local opening an investigation in May, he has not been caught.

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The Rock’s contrary street names are enough to lead you up a blind alley, writes Belinda Beckett BRITISH Bobbies are famous for knowing every street on their beat but they have their work cut out in Gibraltar.

At 6.7km2, it’s not a big place to get lost in but things can take a complicated turn in a bilingual territory where most streets have two names.

Take Calle Real, Gibraltar’s famous shopping street.

Nope, I’d never heard of it either but I nearly fell out with our Spanish plumber

Columnists

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August 29th - September 11th 2018 August 29th - September 11th 2018

Lost in Gibraltar CONFUSION: Most streets on the Rock have two names

who was equally insistent there was no such place as Main Street. And a word of

What democracy?

Town halls should be afraid of their people NOT the other way around ACCORDING to Churchill, ‘Democracy is the worst MIJAS form of government except MATTERS for all those other forms that have been tried from

By Bill Anderson time to time.’

Churchill’s famous irony does however, highlight that democracy is not without its flaws, but perhaps that it just has fewer flaws than the other systems of government.

Democracy comes from two Greek words and means ‘Rule by the People’. They are therefore, acting on our behalf to manage our tax money, ensure our security, provide services and so on.

English writer Alan Moore, said: ‘People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.’

In Mijas we have a situation which is the product of democracy, whereby all the losing parties got together, thereby creating a ruling body which represented the ‘majority’ of the people of Mijas. This questions motivation - to be in power, or to represent and work for the people? There are nevertheless, some problems with this system.

If a government is acting on my behalf, I have the right to know what they are doing with my money and giving them a mandate does not mean I give up my rights to have a voice.

The Mijas government has not submitted its accounts to the tax department for 3 years, so how do I know what my money has been spent on? The Mijas Tripartite has consistently come a resounding bottom of the league table in transparency in Spain. Their mandate does not give them immunity or invisibility, it heaps accountability on their shoulders.

Bewildered

When a coalition government get together, they still do not represent all the people. We have an interesting mixture of far left, middle of the road, and the lost and bewildered working together, supposedly each of them having had vastly varying commitments in their election manifestos.

Yet, these are put aside in the interests of getting into power. There is another group of voters whose interests and rights are scarcely, if at all, represented. In the case of Mijas this is almost 40% of the electorate, who voted for the winning party headed by Angel Nozal.

So, surely Nozal and his councillors are still representing their voters? Given the chance, yes. But when the ruling groups refuse to discuss the issues they are raising on behalf of Residents, they think they are rejecting Nozal. No, they are rejecting 40% of the Mijas electorate. Democracy?

What democracy?

If democracy meant only representing those who voted for you, only those who voted for an incumbent government would have to pay their taxes. No, democracy is representing the interests of ALL the taxpayers, regardless of political inclinations. It may be the best system we have but unless a new way of thinking enters the heads of those in power, it will always feel less than satisfactory.

Our current government (Ciudadanos, PSOE, and Tic Tac) should be very afraid of the people. They have ignored the people’s voices for too long and will pay the price for it.

warning - Main Street does not translate into Calle Principal, nor Calle Real into Royal Street, unless you want to end up in queer street arguing about four streets.

Before the British arrived, Gibraltar’s streets had colloquial names made up by the locals, usually after some activity or landmark.

There were no street signs so for generations everyone

simply knew them by word of mouth. It wasn’t until 1870 that English names were given and signs put up but by then it was too late.

The Spanish had stuck. Indeed, Calle Peligro (Danger Street), notorious for its disease-infested brothels, was expressly renamed ‘New Passage’ so that visiting sailors couldn’t find it.

It caused such confusion for newcomers in the early

EXPLANATION: Behind Calle Comedia

days of the British garrison that a code book of street names had to be drawn up to prevent messages falling into the wrong hands.

Remembering Mel The Costa del Sol music was shocked by the sudden death of Mel Williams this month.

From thousands of people in Marbella and further beyond, Mel was the music scene on the Coast. From running clubs, to playing solo or with bands, to MCing charity functions, Mel’s career spanned over 40 years on the Coast alone I first met Mel when I came to Marbella in the mid 80s. Puerto Banus was very much a different place back then, with dozens of live music and piano bars.

The musicians who played wanted somewhere to relax and let off steam, and so Mel’s Beach was born.

Soon, the rich, the famous and the infamouswere partying on a Sunday afternoon like there was no tomorrow with some truly hedonistic jam sessions and building huge pyramids of beer cans.

Musicians passing through made sure they stopped off – including on one occasion Stevie Wonder’s backing band. The Great Man himself had played the Football Stadium the night before and was resting, but the band turned up in three black limos, played an amazing threesong set, before disappearing back into the limos.

My memory from Mel’s Beach was that unforgettable afternoon when soul legend Edwin Starr turned up unannounced to do a set, followed straight afterwards by Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott and his new band, who blew the roof off the place.

Mel also had his own club in Banus ‘Mel’s’ that became the late night venue of choice for locals, tourists and the odd passing celeb. Jo Cocker would be in there when he was in town, as would Rod Stewart, Jasper Carrott, and Kid Creole – who fa-

mously took one look at my fashionable waistcoat and ordered a cocktail from me, thinking I was a waiter.

Mel was always playing, always performing, and the rock behind him was his wife Sally. Behind every great man is an even greater woman, and this was doubly true with Sally. Quite simply, Mel wouldn’t have been able to perform without Sally, whosworganisational skills were second to none.

It might not have been a career that brought fame and fortune – his autobiography was called ‘Nearly Famous’ - but there were innumerable highlights, including appearing on stage at the Royal Albert Hall with Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler and Roger Daltrey for his friend Lonnie Donegan’s Tribute Concert. Over the years he raised thousands for charity.

If you were organizing a charity event, Mel was always the first to say yes.

At his funeral, hundreds crammed in to see Mel arrived flanked by an honour guard of his beloved Harley Davidson biker brothers. Sally, incredibly strong, gave a deeply moving eulogy of love, tears and laughter, and the wake afterwards turned into a rock n roll party, with Mel’s memorabilia on display. It was the sort of party that he would have been mad that he had missed!

RIP Mel. Yours was a life well lived, and you were so, so much more than ‘Nearly Famous’

Some streets gained multiple names as the landscape changed. There’s a great new vegan restaurant called the Kasbar in Castle Street, if you can find it up a steep alleyway aka Calle Comedia after its 19th century burlesque theatre and Calle de la Cuesta because of the slope.

Gibraltar’s second largest square has had at least 14 different names since its Moorish heyday including Alameda, The Parade, Commercial Square, Plaza Mayor and Plazuela del Martillo. The insistence of some Gibbies on still calling it the Piazza rather than John Mackintosh Square, its current name, had me running round in Google map circles and late for an interview.

Holy

Governor’s Street is also Calle Cordoneros after the Catholic Brotherhoods who shopped for their Holy Week robes there in days gone by.

Tuckey’s Lane (after a local bigwig) is also Callejon del Jarro (Jug Alley) after a long-defunct wine merchants. Library Ramp, known as Ball Alley after a racquets court, is pronounced ‘El Balali’ – that’s Llanito, a kind of Spanglish patois that the Gibraltarians also speak! It’s easy to see how the ordinary man in the street could get totally lost.

However in a street-smart move of its own, Gibraltar Tourist Board has turned administrative chaos into a heritage walking trail with street plaques giving explaining their curious origins. Everybody wins.

Gibraltar gets a new tourist attraction, visitors are less likely to suffer the ignominy of getting lost on a tiny rock and the Royal Gibraltar Police can reserve their built-in GPS for more pressing frontier business than the whereabouts, or not, of Royal Street.

-final of Spanish TV talent show 3065 views

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Spanish players furious at plans to host La Liga games in the US

THE union of Spanish footballers (AFE) has Download our app now and unanimously come out begin enjoying the best Spanishin opposition to La Liga's plans to play regular seanews on the go.

BID: For World Cup by son games in the US - and Morocco and Spain it won’t rule out going on strike to protest against the proposals.

La Liga’s organising body announced in partnership with multinational media, sports and entertainment The Olive Pressgroup Relevent that it MOROCCO is planning to plans to hold Spanish topjoin forces with Spain and flight games in the US in TOP news in to Spain!

Portugal to for launch a bid the future. joint-host the 2030 World

Football’s staying home

Shared goal

Cup. According to Moroccan news outlet Al Yaoum 24, relevant parties from all three countries have met regularly over the past few months and an agreement has been drafted for the first-ever pan-continental bid to host the tournament.

Losing

Fouzi Lekjaa, the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, has claimed there is ‘no doubt’ that the country will bid for the World Cup again after losing out on five previous occasions.

The bid will have stiff competition given that the 2030 edition will mark 100 years since Uruguay, in association with Paraguay and Argentina, first held the cup, and the trio of Latin American countries will be bidding again, as will England.

Compensate

La Liga has not given details on when the first matches there would take place, how many games per season would be involved, how they would be selected or whether it would compensate the loss of home advantage for teams involved.

Captains and vice-captains representing the 20 clubs in the league including Barcelona's Sergio Busquets and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos attended a meeting in Madrid called

by AFE president David Aganzo in response to the announcement.

"The captains are surprised and angry that such an important decision was taken without being consulted. The players are unanimously against this,

no-one is in favour of it," Aganzo told a news conference.

"There are some clubs that are in favour and others that are against it, but I'm speaking on behalf of the footballers."

Aganzo, who became head of the union this year when Luis Rubiales left the role to become president of the Spanish Football Federation, did not rule out organising a players' strike if their concerns are not

heard.

"I will state very clearly that we will do everything possible to avoid this," he added.

A La Liga spokesperson said the organising body "will meet with AFE in the appropriate forum to discuss the plans".

We’ll be just fine REAL Madrid will be fine after losing Cristiano Ronaldo as long as they ‘keep calm under pressure’, coach Julen Lopetegui has said.

It comes after Los Blancos came from behind to win 4-1 against Girona.

"Both halves were tricky," Lapotegui told Spanish TV station Movistar.

"Girona have a good collective game, they started well got an early goal and could have had another.

"We kept calm under pressure and played well enough in the second half to deserve the victory.

"We were calm and clear and had plenty of space When we have that this team gets going, it works and the goals start to flow.”

CONFIDENT: Julen

Suits you, sir!

FAUX PAS?: Serena in catsuit and (right) Nadal

Pique-ing sides GERARD Pique has ruled out ever returning to Manchester United or the Premier League - while praising their rivals.

The Barcelona defender joined United in 2004 but failed to establish himself at Old Trafford before returning to the Nou Camp in 2008.

Pique went on to win seven La Liga titles, three Champions League trophies, the World Cup and European Championships.

When asked if he would return to England, Pique said: "I don't think so. I'm very happy here.

"It's my home, with my family and friends, and playing for the club I always dreamed to play, and I hope to win more titles here."

RAFAEL Nadal has supported the French Open’s decision to ban Serena Williams from wearing her iconic catsuit.

The US tennis star returned to Roland Garros earlier this year donning the sleek black and red ensemble, but French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli insisted that her ensemble would not be ‘accepted’ in future tournaments.

“I think we sometimes went too far,” he told Tennis Magazine’s 500th edition. “The combination of Serena this year, for example, it will no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”

Quizzed

When quizzed on the move, Mallorca-born Nadal sided with the event he’s won a record 11 times.

“I think that everybody is fair to do whatever works better for the tournament,” he said.

“I really believe when you have a tournament like Wimbledon that they do what they want.

“You cannot say to another event that they have to do another thing. That’s my opinion.

“Why if Wimbledon have their own rules, why Roland Garros cannot have it?”

Williams has yet to address the French Open comments.

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Knock off NEW Spanish TV series, El Continental, has been slammed as a ‘cheap copy’ of Birmingham-based hit show Peaky Blinders, with users editing the show’s Wikipedia page.

FINAL WORDS

Stop war AMATEUR football team, Clapton Community FC, has gone viral in Spain for its anti-fascist shirt commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.

Bumped A MAN has been crushed by a 250 kilo giant globe while taking part in the running of the balls festival in Madrid.

Vandalized history A VANDAL has drawn a cat face in blue on a 12th century marble sculpture at the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, a World Heritage site. The vandalism is seemingly a tribute to rock band Kiss.

Masked A man wearing a medical mask and a cap broke into a coffee shop in Málaga and threatened the workers at gunpoint, robbing about 1,000 euros.

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Vicious black fly is buzzing its way down to the Costas VILE blood-sucking flies are on the rise in Spain - and they're spreading around the country.

La Mosca Negra - or the black fly - was first detected in the country in 2006 along the banks of the river Ebro, in Aragon.

Unlike other flying insects, the black fly attacks during the day, and is able to get inside long garments to reach your skin.

Only the female bites and in the most serious cases they can land you in the hospital.

When they bite, they remove a little piece of skin and inject a special anesthetic to be able to feed on your blood for a while without you noticing.

The saliva of the fly causes the reaction, which is usually a red lump which can swell and be aggravated depending on how

Bite-mare!

WATCH OUT: Black flies leave a nasty bite allergic you are.

Their bites are capable of killing mice and birds.

When they first appeared in Aragon in 2006, over 2,000 people had to be treated for

bites.

Last year the region saw a whopping 28,500 medical consultations, according to El Confidencial.

They are slowly coming south,

Rough rental WHY rent a room when you could rent a ‘grubby’ sofa for €375 a month?

This is the advert which has caused outrage across social media this week, after a Facebook user advertised a ‘sofa for rent’ in a shared apartment in tourist hotspot Ibiza.

The Facebook post read: “Sofa for rent in ample living/dining room with very nice views from the balcony. There are three of us and we need to reduce expenses to feed ourselves.”

The current roommates - three professionals - were looking for a ‘quiet tenant with a job and good vibes who does not go to parties often’.

A blurry image of the 6.6 foot couch was accompanied by a shot of the view from the balcony, while social media users slammed the grim-looking piece of furniture as ‘grubby’.

People living on the party island are forced to pay astronomical prices, especially during the summer season.

with residents of Madrid suburb Butarque, now suffering the consequences of a black fly plague.

Experts say they have colonised on the nearby Manzanares River, which will most likely help them expand to other areas.

The black fly has already reproduced massively in Catalunya and Valencia and most recently in Murcia.

"They are here to stay, and they are going to go further...

In the last ten years we have seen how specific plagues have already multiplied," animal expert Javier Lucientes said.

He added that climate change was making the matters worse, as the mild winters were not killing them off.

“They are taking advantage of the higher winter temperatures,” he said.

Slice of fortune A SPANISH restaurant has forked out €14,300 for a block of cheese.

The owners of Llagar de Colloto, in Oviedo, paid the astronomical sum for a block of the Asturias region’s famous Cabrales.

The cheese in question was a 2.5kg Valfriu, whose makers Salud and Francisco Herrero, won top prize in this year’s annual Cabrales Awards.

You can buy your own Valfriu by the same cheese makers at supermarket Corte Ingles for €20 a kilo.

Cabrales is a blue cheese made with cow's milk or a mixture of goat, cow and sheep’s milk, and with the same fungus as Roquefort cheese, its French predecessor.

Cabrales cheeses are matured for between two to four months.

The gag is up THERE have been ZERO fake food poisoning claims by Brits on package holidays to Spain this year.

It comes after 2013 saw a 500% hike in the bogus claims, which were dubbed by the Spanish hotel industry as the ‘diarrhoea scam.’

Last year was one of the worst on record in the Balearics, with Mallorca’s Hotel Federation announcing false gastroenteritis claims had soared by 700% since 2015 and had cost hotels on the island €50 million in 2016 alone.

Marbella Avda. Ricardo Soriano, 12.

Tel. 952 863 332 Fuengirola Avda. Ramón y Cajal, 6.

Tel. 952 467 837

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