The original and only English-language investigative newspaper in Andalucía
the
olive press
FREE
Maddie mystery solved
FALSE ALARM: Sisson EXCLUSIVE by Wendy Williams AN Olive Press reader sparked an international manhunt after she claimed she saw missing Madeleine McCann on a campsite with a German family. Karen Sisson, 49, messaged our website insisting she had seen the toddler while on holiday at a Cabopino campsite just days after she disappeared in 2007. She came forward after a recent police investigation in the Axarquia, and claimed the girl looked ‘groggy’ and ‘out of it’.
German
But after the world’s press quickly followed up our exclusive – even naming the suspected ‘German’ tourist – the family were traced to a town in Switzerland. Father-of-three Karsten Mayer confirmed he had Turn to Page 7
Vol. 6 Issue 135
www.theolivepress.es
Expats ordered to court to remove prickly pears from their garden EXCLUSIVE by Wendy Williams A BRITISH couple have been ordered to court for planting prickly pears in their back garden. Pensioners Barry and Valerie Kay are baffled after their neighbour denounced them for planting over 100 of the emblematic cacti, introduced into Europe by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The expats, who live in Periana, were forced to call a translator and later their solicitor, after the neighbour went to the town hall. The first they heard about the problem was when a team of SIX town hall workers suddenly arrived at their home for ‘an inspection’ last month. They have since been issued with a court date and ordered to remove the plants – whose fruits were once used by sailors to ward off scurvy. “It is unbelievably petty and very heavy handed,” Barry Kay, 67, told the Olive Press. “The neighbour doesn’t even live next door, he just comes up now and again. “All he has is a few olive trees on his land, I fail to understand the problem. “And anyway, why didn’t he come and talk to us first?” The pensioners, who moved to Spain from
e l ia su ec en ’ is Sp recia G ‘ lu da
An
ASANDALUCIA” OLIVE PRESS FINALLY OLIVE PRESS VOTEDHAPPY “BESTEASTER OF THE INDEED, BUNCH IN BY NEW REACHES ISSUE OF ALL THE ROUGH GUIDE EIGHT ANDALUCIA PROVINCES WITH 30,000 PAPERS PRINTED
May 17 - 30, 2012
‘Firewall’ fears for Spain
Prickly issue
Cacti facts
Huddersfield six years ago, had initially dug them in to combat erosion and protect the top soil. “They are effectively telling us what plants I can and cannot grow,” said Kay. “They are on my land, there was no dispute about that, but he insists the prickly
pears could spread. It is unbelievable.” The couple have been so concerned about the demands they have now complied with the order and uprooted their pears. “We have done it just to keep him quiet but we have still been called to court. “It is all so incredibly silly.”
• Prickly pears were brought to Europe from Mexico by Columbus in 1493 • The cactus is used to help combat soil erosion • Prickly pears are found along the Med but are generally only eaten in the south • The fruit is edible, although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines before consumption
ORGANIC FARMING TRIPLES ORGANIC farming has nearly tripled in Malaga in just a decade. In fantastic news for the environment, it is down to an increase in demand and more funding for organic farmers. While in 2001 there were only 12,291 hectares of land without pesticides, today there are over 32,822. The biggest growth has been in organic citrus groves, which have seen 300 hectares planted in the last year. Meanwhile there have been big rises in
Huelva with 200,000 hectares, and in Sevilla with 120,000 hectares. However, as Luis Mendez from Malaga’s Young Farmers’ Association (Asaja) pointed out, you cannot compare Malaga to other provinces because it is much more mountainous. He added though that there was still a ‘false belief’ that organic food is much more expensive. See our 12-page Green Andalucia pullout starting on page 19
FEARS are growing that a €500 billion firewall would not be enough should Spain require a bailout. It comes after Greece’s exit from the eurozone looks imminent, causing panic in the financial markets over the effect it would have on Spain and Italy. The instability saw Spanish borrowing costs soar to the highest level this year (6.2 per cent) amid continued uncertainty over the banking sector.
Struggle
This was heightened after the country was forced to nationalise Bankia - the fourthlargest lender - as it struggled with €32 billion of loans linked to the troubled property market. Luis de Guindos, the Spanish finance minister, insisted the jittery markets were due to political uncertainty in Greece and not because of Spain’s economy. “Spain has taken measures, implemented a very deep banking clean-up, to improve our fiscal Turn to Page 35