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Moraira MARVELLOUS
May 2022
Close to Benidorm
J
yet a world apart
- discover the Spanish
UST half an hour up Benidorm, you’llfrom builtBy Kimberley Mannion of the most relaxed find one seaside towns in Spain. Oozing with charm, Moraira is one fishing villages, and it remains full of the Costa Blanca’s of history classic old unspoiled and tradition, and largely today.
charmer with expat
You won’t find signs for English breakfasts or lager pint here, this is an at one euro a as popular with upmarket resort
refined Spaniards as it is with upmarket foreign tourists-in-the-know.
appeal
This is not to say Moraira is undiscovered by holidaymakers – far from it. The demographics confirm its status as a popular tourist destination. Continues on next
We also have delicious pies and Scotch We have gluten eggs. free and Keto diet Contact us for any options as well. special requests. Call for details about delivery.
Don’t miss our special pullout on the evocative secret village of the Marina Alta
early til late.
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MARVELLOUS MORAIRA
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COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA
...and what were Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn doing there?
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 3 Issue 65 www.theolivepress.es May 19th - June 1st 2022
Policy of denial Driven to distraction The UK licence drama deepens
Page 4
Get on board
Travel industry bounces back
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Expats’ €14,000 medical bill because insurance company ‘wouldn’t answer phone’ after accident
A BRITISH couple have been handed a huge medical bill for hospital care, despite being fully covered by their private health insurance company. The expats have been slapped with a debt of €14,000 because of the company’s negligence - they claim. Dawn Bridge, a 50-year-old writer, originally from Cheshire, suffered a bad fall in her hometown of Mazarron, Murcia, in December 2021. Husband Adrian, an academic, immediately went to call the number on his nsurance medical card, believing emergency staff would be on call to deal with it. However, after a whole NINE MINUTES of waiting - while Dawn screamed in agony - the 59-year-old still had no answer. Eventually he was persuaded to call
EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
an ambulance by a concerned neighbour and a local emergency service turned up ‘within minutes’. She was soon receiving emergency treatment for two bad fractures at Cartagena’s public hospital Dawn to St Lucia. She also had to have a dislocated ankle put back into place. But, in reality, her problems had only just begun, as despite paying two premiums for a policy that promised ‘immediate access to care’ and ‘no copayments’ the opposite occurred. Indeed, on leaving St Lucia Hospital, some days later, they were handed the bill which their insurance company REFUSED to pay. This despite them paying €1,300 a year.
MYSTERY SOLVED OVER MASS DEER DEATHS
Off the beaten track Our picks for a Spring adventure with a difference
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BETTER DAYS: The Bridges on holiday and (right) Dawn after accident
The main reason given; because Dawn was treated in ‘the wrong hosAN investigation has ruled that 100 deer found in an Andapital’. lucian natural park died from a rare lung complication. “Yet during that week, I received no Scientists from the Junta have ruled the animals found in advice on transferring her to a hospithe Sierra de Baza in April died from a severe pulmonary tal recognised by our insurance comcongestion caused by the bacteria Pasteurella. pany,” slammed Adrian, a former It comes after extreme weather in late March, known as the history lecturer at York University. Calima, brought episodes of heavy rain and a drastic drop in “We had no help in providing additemperature. tional care, no communication and no explanation why our emergency call wasn’t answered.” And over the last half year, he claims they have received ‘not an ounce’ of concern or compassion regarding their plight. This despite Dawn still being heavily dependent on a wheelchair for mobility and having to endure intensive physiotherapy sessions. A remarkable email stream, the Olive Press has seen, demanded if the couple could ‘prove the [emergency] call’, and also questioned if PHOTOVOLTAIC they had even rung the CHARGERS FOR INSTALLATIONS ELECTRIC VEHICLES right number. “We both feel totally abandoned, and lost within a spiral of conautoconsumo@solarworks.es +34 965 085 888 fusion, bureaucracy and data protection,” continued Adrian. “If only they’d an-
swered their own emergency number (and we’d gone to an appropriate hospital), my wife would have been treated in a timely manner AND without costs.” Thankfully, the Cartagena Hospital has been gracious enough to offer the Bridges a staged payment scheme which eases the financial burden. In the meantime, they hope their experience might save others from the same pain, cost and anxiety. “It’s the principle,” insisted Adrian, “they’ve just washed their hands of us, all down to their own terrible service when we needed them most.” A spokesperson from St Lucia de Cartagena told the Olive Press “When the insurance company does not cover the services provided or the patient is not registered with Seguridad Social, we require them to pay the bill.” The couple paid €1,300-€1,400 a year for their insurance health bill. On deadline the Olive Press received a letter from the insurance company's lawyer saying that the company had acted ‘in strict and rigorous compliance with the terms of the policy’. Opinion Page 6