OLIVE PRESS
The
Andalucía
Mijas Costa
FREE
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 14 Issue 360 www.theolivepress.es January 13th - January 26th 2021
Peri-less crossing A BRITISH expat has branded Spanish border officials ‘ridiculous’ and ‘clueless’ after they confiscated his Nando’s Peri Peri sauce at the Gibraltar border. Joseph Lathey, 27, was left fuming when much of his weekly shopping was binned as he tried to cross back into La Linea. This meant seeing his bananas and leeks being tipped into a customs officer’s bin. It also included his vegetable samosas, one of his favourite weekly treats he buys from Ramsons, on Waterport Road. Meanwhile, his chili and cloves were deemed acceptable. “I was completely stumped. I had a chicken which I thought might have been stopped but not the Peri Peri sauce,” Lathey told the Olive Press. “The officials said it contained onion puree, meaning it contained processed veg and was therefore not allowed over. “I said that that was ridiculous as that would mean most of my shopping Continues on page 2
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Deathbed threat
British wife of seriously-ill husband cannot return to Spain ‘unless he is close to dying’
EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore
E IV US CL IC EX P
A BRITISH expat stranded in the UK has been told she can only return to her chronically ill husband ‘if he is on his deathbed.’ Carole Clarke, 68, is pleading for help after she got stuck in Belfast after flying out on December 19 to deliver Christmas presents to her daughter and grandchildren. Her husband Frederick, 81, is chronically ill back at home near Almuñecar, suffering lung disease COPD and diabetes. Despite this, the former nurse and FIRST aerobics instrucPICTURE: tor, who has lived Andalucia for 20 Expat in years, was refused boxer who boarding on her flight back allegedly easyJet to Spain after new killed tragic coronavirus meaUlrich sures demanded she must prove her See Page 2 residency. “I have been trying
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CONCERNED: Carole is desperate to get back to husband Frederick to get an appointment since December to start the process but it was impossible, ” Carole told the Olive Press. “There were none available anywhere.” She added: “If I had known I would not be allowed back I would not have flown in the first place.” It has turned out to be a total nightmare for the pensioner, who
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has long lived with her husband, Frederick, 81, both from Portsmouth, in a villa at La Herradura, in Granada. Despite having a negative PCR test, which set her back €120, Carole was told that having a dependent husband did not qualify as an exemption. “The Spanish Embassy told me that unless he is on his deathbed, I won’t be allowed back,” she added. “It’s horrific, my husband should not be going out but he is alone and has no choice.” The 81-year-old should be sheltering at home being in the severe atrisk category with his illnesses. “He has been on his own now for a month, he has to get his own shopping which means putting himself
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constantly at risk,” added Carole, “What am I supposed to do?” Fortunately, Frederick was able to get his residency sorted out in December, but Carole has been unable to get an appointment. It comes after Spain brought in tougher restrictions on UK arrivals following the discovery of a more contagious coronavirus strain, dubbed the UK variant.
Compassion
Anyone returning from the UK must be either a resident or a Spanish citizen. A British Embassy spokesperson told the Olive Press they would be looking into it, as we went to press. She said: “We have raised the issue of compassionate cases with the Spanish authorities, who have confirmed they will consider, on a case-by-case basis, the circumstances of nationals who wish to enter the country on compassionate grounds to support a vulnerable family member.” Opinion Page 6
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