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Cookshop, Household Goods, General Hardware, Beach Accessories & more 46 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 75188 Email: bia@gibraltar.gi Facebook: GibraltarBIA
Game over A STUNNING electoral defeat has ended the PSOE’s stranglehold on Andalucia after more than three DECADES in power. The 36-year reign - mired by a litany of corruption scandals - has finally come to an end, and Spain’s most populous region looks set to usher in a right-wing government for the first time since 1982. In a dramatic twist, Sunday’s snap election saw the Socialists lose a massive 17 seats, just months after leader Susana Diaz called for the vote, confident of a resounding victory - after all, Andalucians had always voted for the left. But the once loyal voters, it seems, finally snapped. Misstep The epic misstep left the PSOE with just 33 seats, which when paired with Adelante Andalucia’s 17, gave her a coalition of 50, five short of the 55 absolute majority needed to form a government. It comes after decades of corruption have plagued the region and made once sensationalist stories the norm, from the ERE slush fund to the millions of euros of public money spent by bent politicians on strip clubs and luxury items. Paired with a lacklustre approach to the migrant crisis and the perceived lack of progress made on the local economy, voters finally turned to the right for an alternative. Centre right Ciudadanos picked up 12 new seats, giving them a total of 21, while the far right Vox - which campaigned hard on illegal immigration - picked up its first ever seats with an astonishing 12 members elected to the regional parliament. Coupled with the conserva-
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Vol. 4 Issue 85 www.gibraltarolivepress.com December 5th - December 18th 2018
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GET LOST IN THE GUADALHORCE Charlie Smith discovers why so many expats have found their Eldorado in the white towns of the green Guadalhorce
Don’t miss Coin’s famous Flea market, while (left) a town near Alhaurin
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SPEND 15 minutes gaw- It feels like we’re in the with a piping ping at the rugged Alhau- wilds cafetiere of Over a second cuppa, Hazel g r e e n , rin el Grande mountain licias, but this is Las De- the good stuff, lives up to and fellow British expat Ur- g r e e n range from our balcony Coin an urbanisation in the Las Delicias name. sula before I realise I am late for laga, just 33 km west of Ma- We aren’t the only guests at galingLewis endorse that, re- grass of me with tales of their her and 30 km north of the Palms breakfast. ex-hoand Lights B&B adventures Marbella. through the me. which Hazel runs with her valley We’re running on empty After during their 25-year “Every pulling my travelling husband but the cloud-covered peak partner SunTony, having made friendship. day there is a flea of the Sierra de Mijas loo- fortable Juan from his com- the leap to Spain from Wo- “Sundays ming beyond the palm trees downstairsbed, we amble kingham 18 months ago. gettable,” in Coin are unfor- market in La Trocha,” says Ursula, who Hazel continues, where our host There are outside the window is more Hazel referenRennalls has cooked ying which Americans sta- has travelled over 600 km cing the swish than enough to distract me up is clear proof. from her home commercial a mean breakfast. in Valencia centre Guadalhorce from hunger pangs. ‘Spanish toast’, complete ternational Valley has in- for another glimpse of the likes that has enticed the of El Corte Ingles and appeal. valley - a reminder of the Dunnes Stores to branch
Ye Ole’ Butchery
A Traditional Butchers supplying all the best cuts of meat. Homemade sausages, burgers, cooked meats and savouries.
out into the rural hinterland to cater for the growing expat population. Continues overleaf
Mumtaz Mahal Indian Restaurant, Coin
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Outrage after Spanish warship sails into Gibraltar territory while blaring national anthem
AUDACITY! A SPANISH warship has ‘illegally’ sailed into British waters off Gibraltar while blasting its national anthem. Gibraltarian Fisherman Nicholas Karnani filmed the Spanish naval vessel passing the Rock before uploading the incendiary clip to Twitter. In the video, ‘Marcha Real’ can be heard blaring in
the latest gesture of military might near the British Overseas Territory. Karnani wrote: “Enough is enough, it may not undermine sovereignty for the UK, but for us Gibraltarians it's an invasion of BGTW (British Gibraltar Territorial Waters). “The UK Government must take action in defence of its people.”
The UK Defence Journal also confirmed the news and said the boat was an Infanta Elena, a Descubierta class corvette dating from 1980. Another Gibraltarian, John Connor MBE said: “Clear provocation. Looking forward to the Foreign Office’s impotent PC verbal response.” The inflammatory military exercise by the Spanish comes after the British nuclear submarine HMS
Astute arrived in Gibraltar at the weekend. Last month also saw a Royal Navy ship off Gibraltar fire a warning flare when a Spanish Guardia Civil boat got too close to nuclear submarine HMS Talent. There have been growing tensions between the UK and Spain since discussions over the future of Gibraltar’s sovereignty emerged during the Brexit talks. Spain’s troublesome foreign minister Josep Bor-
rell ignited fierce debate after he said: “I think the United Kingdom will split apart before the Kingdom of Spain.” He also claimed Spain would not stop an independent Scotland joining the EU before Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also appeared to reopen the debate on the sovereignty of the Rock when he attempted to amend the draft withdrawal agreement to include more Gib concessions.
SPANISH activists have demanded the UK government stop docking nuclear submarines in Gibraltar. Ecologistas en Accion blasted the British Navy following the arrival of the HMS Astute S119 into the overseas territory at the weekend. The green group called the submarine a ‘floating bomb’ and said it put the whole of Andalucia at risk from a nuclear fall out. “This is the largest submarine in the British Navy, a successor to the Trafalgar class with
a capacity of 7,400 tonnes,” the group said in a statement. “It is the same submarine which ran aground on the island of Skye in Scotland - without there being victims - before being refloated and repaired later.” It criticised the vessel being docked on the Rock in 2014, 2015, and 2016, adding that the ‘floating bomb’ is ‘endangering the population of the Campo de Gibraltar end beyond’. It added: “We regret that Gibraltar welcomes submarines of different kinds which have
continually had breakdowns or design flaws, and which are continuously putting at risk the Campo de Gibraltar area.” The group, which campaigns on environmental issues, said it was time for Gibraltar to be ‘free from nuclear-powered submarines and other vessels that are real floating bombs once and for all’. “A nuclear submarine like the ‘HMS Astute 119’ can cause a nuclear accident with a fallout radius engulfing most of Andalucia and the Maghreb,” it said.
‘No more nukes on the Rock’
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June 26 - July 9 2014
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