Olive Press Newspaper - Issue 177

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN....OLIVE PRESS REACHES ITS SEVENTH BIRTHDAY

Earpiece Don’t let the Don’t let thein banks cash new size banks cash in 39mm www.hifx.co.uk www.hifx.co.uk xsee 50mm page 13 see page 13

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Vol. 7 Issue 177

Abortion: Back to the dark ages

Seasonal wishes to all our

readers and advertisers

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Vol. 7 Issue

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Decembe

- January

23 2013

- January

Freedom

The Femen movement, which staged a topless protest at parliament in October, warned on Twitter: “If they take away our right to decide, we’ll have to abort the Church and everything that limits our freedom.”

The ruling PP party had promised to change the law in its run up to the 2011 election.

Currently women can abort without restrictions until the 14th week of pregnancy.

In a 2012 poll, 81% of Spaniards said they were opposed to changes to Spain’s abortion laws.

The PP was keen to empha-

See page 2

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evada

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Sierra N

177 www.the

8 2014

By Claire Wilson PROTESTS have erupted around Spain after the government approved abortion laws that take the country back 30 years.

The new abortion law will permit the procedure only in cases of rape, mental or physical risks to the mother, or lifethreatening foetal deformities.

Hundreds gathered outside parliament in Madrid and burnt an effigy of Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz Gallardon who masterminded the law.

Protesters took to the streets in around 20 other cities, including Malaga, Bilbao and Barcelona, while the Socialist party has already announced further protests.

December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

Winter rland wonde arrived ia when hemassive to ski in Andaluc become a it was possible arder, he has had no idea keen snowbo Liam Kirkaldy ago. Now, as a here six monthsfan Sierra Nevada

Photo by Telemark

ANGRY: Protesters

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was once his it that there EGEND haslord who lived with casa wealthy in a remote on the southbeautiful daughter Alpujarras, tle in the Sierra Nevada. of the because he ern slopes controlling, and off to a felThe lord wasmarry his daughter hidden away planned to he kept her not meet she could low landowner world so from the had anyone else. to him, his daughter at night, But unknown out the housewith somebeen sneaking fallen in love and had already father’s a local shepherd. one else – two learned of her through the When the decided to elope mountains plans, they Sierra Nevada if it meant snow-bound the north, even and flee to accordlover, deaths. his their way to meet bumped into to But on his the shepherd him a broom ing to legend, who offered in the snow. the devil, the hide his tracks the rich lord, Pursued by fled until they young couplepeak of Alcazamereached the sits at 3,371 ba, which few less than its tres, just a rivals Veleta and two nearby(3,482m).

Mulhacen they dropped the But when to sweep by broom it beganan avalanche itself, causingtheir pursuers. and burying goes that the The story was left ‘devil’s broom’where it still there forgotten, landslides sweeps, causing to this day. the base at When I arrived Nevada last of the Sierra by jutting patches week, greeted hills with scattered were the of snow, landslides on my mind. last thing mountain range The tallest Europe, the Siin southern is higher than erra Nevada and has one the Pyrenees

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No donkeys, sledges or snowboards...the three kings trudge up the snowy slopes of the Sierra Nevada... see our annual skiing supplement on page 15

HIDDEN ASSETS: Goldman with Suzanne Couling

HE has been one of the coast’s most colourful characters for years.

Regularly hosting charity auctions and appearing on radio phone ins, he even had his own restaurant column in a local newspaper.

But now things appear to

the Olive Press INVESTIGATES have come unstuck for ‘Sir’ Nigel Goldman with police and lawyers actively seeking his whereabouts.

The self-styled poker wizard, who dealt in gold and coins, has allegedly fallen foul of regulators by offering bad financial advice and leaving investors empty handed.

Spanish police are now probing two of his financial companies - Harvard Private Client and International Fi-

nancial Investment - with Goldman allegedly fleeing the country back to the UK. A separate police report has now been filed with Action Fraud UK. Two victims alone, expats Roy and Jennifer Feather, claim to have lost €550,000, while another Geoffrey Whitton claims to have lost over €20,000.

“I’d like to find him and get my money back,” said Whitton, a writer, from Cornwall, currently based in Madrid.

According to Marbella lawyer Antonio Flores of Lawbird,

Sky’s the Limit to keep Russians happy A BITTER war of words has broken out between Marbella’s new and old guard over plans to erect a 50-storey skyscraper off the Golden Mile.

Prince Pablo von Hohenlohe, whose uncle built the Marbella Club hotel, insists the project is totally out of keeping with the town’s low-rise, low-density housing.

“You can’t mortgage the future of the town for the benefit of a few,” said Hohenlohe of the first block that would be built on the Istan road, overlooking the palace of the Saudi royal family.

The scheme, designed by architect Ricardo Bofill, could be the first of six to be allowed in the Marbella area, after the town hall published a new proposed PGOU town plan.

Heated

Colourful Costa character ‘Sir’ Nigel Goldman sought in fraud probe

Where’s naughty Nigel?

PLAN: Skyscraper

there are ‘likely to be’ many more victims.

Public school educated Goldman - who lived in an upmarket Elviria development and drove a Mercedes - certainly had pedigree. Indeed,

See page 2

At a heated meeting on Friday at El Fuerte hotel, a mix of locals, including aristocrat Beatriz de Orleans and environmentalist Javier de Luis, vowed to fight the plans, setting up a new platform.

They warn that the skyscrapers would destroy the charm of the town and thousands have now signed a petition against the building.

Developer Pedro Rodriguez however, insisted the scheme would be positive for the town, which is rapidly becoming more popular for Russians and Eastern Europeans.

He said: “The British and Scandinavians like old style architecture, but the Russians demand modern apartments.”

Pablo Moro, who is responsible for town planning in Marbella, also dismissed the outcry. He said: “There was opposition in Paris when then they built the Eiffel Tower.”

However, the town hall has agreed to set up a public consultation body and listen to the views of its people.

Visit www.change.org to sign the petition

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the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

CRIME NEWS

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Where’s Naughty Nige?

From page 1 he penned a biography High Stakes, chronicling how he lost £14 million and served two prison terms for fraud.

But after arriving on the Costa del Sol over a decade ago he claimed to be a reformed character and reinvented himself as a stockbroker and gold trader and could often be seen at fairs and conferences buying and selling coins.

He maintained a high profile, via his charity work, including the hosting of this year’s Positively Pink Ball and had a restaurant column in the Euro Weekly News, with his sidekick Barry Nathan.

He travelled the world to attend his beloved poker tournaments and his friends included singer Stephen Lloyd Morgan and Nick Holland, as well as former cavalry officer James Hewitt and Sir Mark Thatcher.

He and the latter had at least

one thing in common. They both had knighthoods, although, as he often bragged that his had been bought, meaning he could use the prefix ‘Sir’ before his name and use it on his email and even on his credit cards.

His dealings went mostly under the radar for years, despite a number of posts on the Internet.

It was only when he set up a new business International Financial Investment PLC, based in Tangier, earlier this year that he started to run into trouble.

Despite not being regulated he was encouraging people to invest in Morocco.

It seems the Spanish authorities finally got wind of what he was up to and shut down the operation. Goldman confirmed to friends this summer that both his bank account and paypal facilities had been ‘frozen’.

Burglar shops paedophile Thief hands in dossier of sex abuse he stole from a victim’s house to police POLICE have arrested a suspected paedophile after a thief handed over a collection of videos he stole from his house.

Three video tapes featuring sexual acts with children aged around ten were handed over by the burglar, according to the Interior Ministry.

The burglar called 091 from a public telephone to tell police that he had left the video evidence underneath a car together with an anonymous note giving the alleged paedo-

French gang rounded up after kidnap drama MARBELLA police have arrested three men and one woman – all of French nationality – accused of kidnapping a Costa del Solbased mother to force a €50,000 ransom from her son.

The group, based in Algeciras, sent a female member to the house so she could gain access without raising suspicion.

After the female kidnapper got inside the other members of the gang arrived, taking a woman, 55, hostage.

The group then drove her to Estepona and demanded €50,000 from the son in ransom.

But police were waiting when the group arrived at a Marbella address to claim the money.

Three were arrested fleeing the scene, while the fourth was identified following a police raid on the gang’s Algeciras home.

phile’s address.

The suspect works as a trainer for a five-a-side football team in Jaen, giving him easy access to young children.

“I have had the misfortune to come into possession of these tapes and feel obliged to hand them over and let you do your job, so that you can lock this... up for life”, said the burglar in his declaration.

Identity

So far four victims of sexual abuse have been identified, including a 16-year-old girl who has been subjected to the abuse since the age of ten.

Investigators managed to identify the author of the video tapes and, after searching his home, arrested him.

The suspect had reported the burglary to the police nine days earlier, saying that thieves had broken in through a window in the property.

PALS: Nigel with Euro Weekly News boss Michel Euesden and Nick Holland Almeria-based journalist David Jackson has been highlighting Goldman’s activities for the last year on his blog.

“I have been contacted by several people who claim they have invested money in his company and are now trying to get hold of him.” he told the Olive Press.

“These included several elderly people who have invested their life savings.”

He insists that he has refused to remove his blog despite Goldman phoning him up angrily threatening to sue him.

Goldman has also now seemingly fallen foul of the poker community.

Blackballed

One restaurant Frankies, in Marbella port, banned him from the weekly tournament in September after he was caught marking cards.

Its owner said: “Scottish Jim nearly swung for him, he had taken a couple of hundred off him before we realised. He is blackballed now and is no longer welcome at any of the poker places in Marbella.”

The Olive Press was unable to contact Goldman this week for a comment.

Abortion ban From page 1 to emphasise that under the new laws - which make abortion an offence as it was in the 1980s - women will not be punished if they have an abortion.

Doctors carrying out procedures could face up to three years in prison.

All of the principal opposition parties have condemned the legislation.

NEWS

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3 the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

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Festival folk get the hump!

JACKPOT: Winners sing and dance after scooping prize in Bailen

Alegria for Andalucia One of Spain’s poorest regions Jaen scoops El Gordo prize, while Sevilla also gets a sprinkling of El Gordo magic, writes Liam Kirkaldy

THE largest lottery in history has been won in part by groups of friends and families in Jaen.

No less than two shares in the winning El Gordo ticket – ‘62246’ – went to towns in one of the poorest provinces in Spain.

In total there were reportedly 15 winners in the south, with Bailen and Huelma in Jaen, and Sanlucar la Mayor, in Sevilla, each receiving a share of the €640 million jackpot.

A total of €4m went to Sanlucar la Mayor and the same to Huelma, which has the highest level of unemployment in Jaen province.

Meanwhile €60m went to Bailen, which has a population of 18,000 and is best known for making bricks.

The mayor Simona Villar described it as a ‘huge boost´for the town, which has over 3000 on the dole.

One in three Spaniards took part in the famous El Gordo lottery, drawn on Sunday The prizes - which reached €2,240 million in

total - were drawn by pupils from The College of San Ildefonso, according to El Gordo tradition.

Leganes, near Madrid, and Modragan, in the north, also had winners with shares in the lucky number. Some 45 winners shared €180m in Mondragon.

The number ‘79712’ came second in the draw, with a prize of €1,250,000 to be divided among those with shares – with each likely receiving around €125,000.

Tax

For the first time, winnings of more than €2,500 will be subject to a 20% government tax.

El Gordo sales account for nearly half of all lottery tickets sold in the year.

The El Gordo lottery sees the greatest odds of all the large draws of ticket-purchasers holding a winning number, and although the prize money is substantial to the average person, it is not a ‘life-changing’ amount.

It is more likely to be a few thousand than several million, the idea being that with lower prizes, more people LESS than four in 10 Spaniards said they would get the chance to win somegive up work if they won the Christmas lottery thing. jackpot. The majority – 96 percent – said they The lottery is the longestwould use the money to help their family, while running continual lottery in 76 percent would travel either long-term or on the world, going back over several holidays.

200 years.

Lotto vows

RIDLEY Scott is under fire for ruining a traditional Christmas procession.

The British movie director left locals in Telde, Gran Canaria, fuming after he rented all the camels from a zoo for his latest film.

It means there’s none left for the city’s annual Three Kings’ Parade.

Organizers are now being forced to look at alternative transportation for the gift-giving kings, who normally go on camel back.

The popular parade winds its way through the city’s streets every year on

NO CAMELS: For Three Kings’ parade the evening of January 5, marking the night when the Three Kings arrived to see the baby Jesus.

But this year the filming of Scott’s biblical blockbuster Exodus on the nearby island of Fuerteventura has ruined the traditional plans.

Martin has told youngsters not to worry and the Kings will still arrive in Telde.

Royal Christmas THE Spanish Royal Family have put out their various annual Christmas cards – with only Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia opting for a family photo.

While the heir to the throne used a shot, including his two daughters, Leonor and Sofia, the King and Queen chose to stay out of the limelight, using

Not hot for long

an illustration by 16th century painter Jacopo Bassano instead.

Meanwhile, there was no message from Princess Elena or Princess Cristina Infanta at all.

SHOPPERS have just one week left to get their What’s Hot cards from El Corte Ingles in Puerto Banus and be in with a chance of scooping one of six fabulous prizes, including cruises, holidays and a 46 inch Samsung TV. Entries can be made until December 31 both online, and at the What’s Hot information desk at the Banus branch.

Canaries flying high… and no, not Norwich

ONE would expect Madrid or Barcelona to be in the world’s Top Ten tourist destinations… not the Canary Islands.

But incredibly, Spain’s most westerly tip has soared in the popularity ratings at Christmas this year. The islands are now the eighth most popular tourist destination in the world at Christmas, beating Dubai and Sydney.

And according to travel website Expedia, the islands are the second fastest growing destination in the world, after Sydney.

The islands have increased in popularity by 91% in just one festive period.

The figures - based on current bookings for the Christmas period - show the top destinations this year are New York City, London and Paris.

Season of goodwill all year long LA SALA GROUP has shown its charitable side this year, raising an impressive €25,000 for local causes.

The figure brings the group’s total charitable donations to €32,000 since its inception in 2008.

Monthly golf days have attracted many top names this year, including golf legend Miguel Angel Jimenez, who donated a Ryder Cup flag signed by the entire European team.

Meanwhile, a summer raffle funded a trip to Disneyland for Lidia, a young girl diagnosed with cancer.

Caritas, Macmillan, Kim’s Animal Rescue and Debra have also benefitted from the local restaurant group’s charitable actions.

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the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

NEWS

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NEWS

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Mayor won’t testify

THE mayor of Manilva has used her right to refuse to testify over alleged ‘irregularities’ in employment contracts handed out by the Town Hall.

The investigation, launched in 2007, is centered over claims of nepotism in the allocation of Town Hall employment contracts.

One employee was found to have been paid for more than 24 hours of overtime – in one day.

The mayor missed a previous court date after insisting she was ill.

the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

Youngsters toe the line MORE than 40 children from Malaga have taken part in a performance of The Nutcracker, alongside the Russian Ballet.

The 44 dancers, aged between four and 10, were selected in October and played the angels, dwarfs and children in the classic ballet.

Principal dancer of the Ballet Imperial Ruso Radamaria Duminica has been working with the youngsters since their selection.

AMAZING GRACE: Children danced with top ballerinas

Leaders MUST have known were fully aware of the ERE payments scandal, involving up to €1.3 billion in fraudulent payments.

While no exact details of any charges have been released, Alaya insists that the ‘cupula’, or leadership of the Junta

knew of the illegal system of siphoning off money.

She maintains that the former leaders will be brought in for questioning in the new year, along with five other senior figures.

Alaya has also ordered police

Corruption cops swoop on PP HQ SPANISH police have swooped on the ruling PP party headquarters.

Detectives spent 14 hours combing the Madrid offices for evidence of ‘black money’ payments as part of the Barcenas investigation.

Judge Pablo Ruz was looking for documents that might, in particular, provide evidence of cash payments linked to renovation work on the building carried out from 2005 to 2011.

The judge is investigating an alleged slush fund operated by former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas, who has admitted channeling millions of euros of cash donations into the pockets of party leaders.

Barcenas, who is awaiting trial on charges of money laundering and tax fraud, had hidden at least €48 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Prime Minister Rajoy and other PP leaders have denied wrongdoing.

to seize trade documents from UGT union offices, as the ERE scandal continues to widen.

Raids – involving around 50 Guardia Civil officers, came following the announcement that 1,756 documents relating to the ERE case have ‘disappeared’ from the Sevilla branch of the union.

A spokesman said, “We do not know if the judge is looking for information about these files in Cordoba, but if so, it may be very difficult to find something.”

The ERE scandal began after money for redundancies was

News IN BRIEF

Slippery one POLICE stepped in to catch a two-metre long albino python that was wreaking havoc in Ibiza Town. The nine kilo creature put up a 30-minute fight before finally being captured.

Out of court THE €500 million City of Justice project in Madrid has been wound up. Just one of a proposed 19 buildings was completed.

ERE scandal engulfs former Junta bosses as Judge says...

A JUDGE has once again implicated two former Andalucia leaders in the largest public money fraud case in Spanish history.

Judge Mercedes Alaya insists that both Manuel Chaves and Antonio Grinan

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Net loss

A TOTAL 259,227 people (39,690 of them Spanish) left Spain in the first half of this year, while some 134,312 citizens from abroad moved here.

Take a dip ANIMAL Charity PAD is arranging a New Year’s Day sponsored swim followed by hot toddies. Contact Lisa for more information on 658 351 642

AWARE: Grinon and Chavez found to have been distributed fraudulently.

UGT boss Juan Lanzas has been convicted for acting as a ‘fixer’ for corrupt payments, though he was released from prison after his family paid €200,000 in bail.

#impressive SPAIN´S National Police has the second largest number of Twitter followers of all crime fighting agencies in the world.

More than 680,000 follow the account, more than the FBI.

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the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

OPINION Magnificent Seven ENERGETIC, demanding, loud – yes, seven year-olds can be a lot of work.

And, as the Olive Press hits its seventh anniversary, it is anything but different.

After humble beginnings nearly a decade ago, the Olive Press has grown into the best investigative and campaigning English language paper in Spain.

Despite moving to the coast this year to support our expansion, we have not lost sight of our original remit… to do something positive for this fantastic region.

Whether this be campaigning for the environment, exposing crooks, or promoting the very best of Andalucia, we continue to offer a varied and colourful diet.

This year has been no different to most. While the paper launched in 2006 exposing the greedy developers behind Ronda’s Los Merinos scheme, this year we have highlighted the short-sighted plans within the Alcornocales and Donana parks.

Meanwhile, our investigations have brought more threats and lawsuits from fraudsters and cheats that we have continued to expose.

But that is what we do and we have never been afraid to choose a side, to stand up for the little guy and protect what is right.

Rival papers even turned on us after we threatened their cozy coastal carve up, with proper news by real journalists, a few years ago.

One even ended up devoting an entire editorial, describing us as negative and depressing and like a ‘snake, slithering its way down to the coast.’

How funny then, that this very issue we should exposing a columnist and close friend of the owner of that very paper.

All in all, the Olive Press is still developing, with an ever-increasing online presence and big ambitions for the future.

So why don’t we slither our way back from the coast, where everything might be so much easier?

Well, because at seven years old, we are just getting started.

Got a news story?

Contact our team of journalists in our Costa del Sol office on 951127006 or 691831399 or email newsdesk@theolivepress.es

the

The original and only English-language investigative newspaper in Andalucía

olive press

E

E FR

Tel: 951127006 (admin/editorial/sales/advertising) or admin@theolivepress.es or sales@theolivepress.es

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in southern Spain - 200,000 copies distributed monthly (130,000 digitally) with an estimated readership, including the website, of more than 500,000 people a month.

Luke Stewart Media S.L - CIF: B91664029 Urb Casares del Sol, bloque 21, portal 70, bajo b, Casares 29690, Malaga Printed by Corporación de Medios de Andalucía S.A. Editor: Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es Reporters: Newsdesk Newsdesk@theolivepress.es Liam Kirkaldy Liam@theolivepress.es Claire Wilson Claire@theolivepress.es

Distribution/Admin: Sally Anne 951127006

Accounts: Pauline Olivera 658 750 424 accounts@theolivepress.es SALES TEAM: Stephen Shutes 655825683 West Costa del Sol Jane Jewson 673 958 858 Axarquia Charlie Bamber 661 452 180 Cadiz Elizabeth Gould 683 337 342

FEATURE

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It’s a wonderful life . . . with a sting in the tale Giles Brown (top) tells of the trials and tribulations of starting a new life in the mountains and the difficulties of getting a girl to ‘stay over’ in his Casita del Loco

A

COUPLE of years ago I had what incomprehension, asking, “how can you could be euphemistically called a survive with no wifi?” ‘lifestyle’ change and, as part of a Although my location is idyllic, a good friend process that involved clean living, pointed out that as a single guy the Casita regular meditation on life’s big questions had one drawback. “You live 11 kilometres (which for once didn’t involve Eva Longoria) up the twisting Istan road, down a track on and more self help books than are probably the side of a mountain, in a house on its own, healthy for one man, took the opportunity by a lake. You’ll never get a girl back. Or if you of moving away from the temptations of the do she might not be the type you want to stay coast. At the time I was living on the street over”. known to my friends as desperate lane, He had a point, but a few weeks later I recontaining all the distractions that a (not ceived a call from a girl I was somewhat so young) man could dekeen on. “I’m at an office sire. They included a gym, bash in a Santa outfit and corner mini market, Indian I’m getting a little tipsy. Do Although idyllic, restaurant, Chinese resyou want to meet up for a taurant, mechanic, a bank little ho ho ho?” as a single guy with cash machine (perfect I was down from the lake in the Casita has one for making late night witha shot. drawals) and two ‘alternaCollecting the young lady drawback... tive clubs’.

– resplendent in her Santa So when when the chance outfit – I hurried back up came to move into a the road. When we turned friend’s lakeside cottage near the pueblo onto the track, she looked at the Casita, blanco of Istan came along, I leapt at it. glinting in the moonlight, on its own and Reached by a two kilometre track that runs miles from the nearest neighbour. Then down the side of Marbella’s emblematic La she looked at me, and uttered the immorConcha mountain – and I do mean down, in tal line. an Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom “I know. I don’t really know you that well, do I?” kind of way – the Casita del Lago sits in But it’s not just female guests who can get splendid isolation. The house is off the grid the willies up at the lake. A few years ago (I use a generator) and pumps water from I was judging the Marbella Film Festival, its own deposito. I also have no internet, which entailed watching about 12 films leaving visitors staring at me with blank over a weekend. The last movie was War-

OFF ROAD: The treacherous track to the casita can get a bit tiresome

IDYLLIC: The house bathes in sunshine and lake view top house, which I assumed would be a Boy’s Own style shoot ‘em up. I therefore wasn’t prepared for an army of demons to appear - scaring the whatzits out of me. I then had to walk out across the gardens, in the pitch black, to start the generator. Which was when the cat decided to launch a surprise attack on me...

I’ve also had various run ins with other flora and fauna. The neighbour’s guard dog once leapt through the patio windows to say hello (I was chopping onions at the time and almost lost a finger). Plus there was the time I ran over a wild boar at some ungodly hour of the morning. My Spanish friends asked me why I didn’t go back, fling it the Freelander, and have the mother of all BBQ’s the next day. I explained that it wasn’t that big a boar and I didn’t want to come face to face with an enraged Daddy boar at 4am. I had enough of that in my teenage years dating in Marbella.

But my biggest bugbear – excuse the pun – has been wasps. I received the most painful sting ever, in the history of mankind (well it felt like it) when one of the little bxxxxds got me on the inside of the big toe. My cries of pain caused the local wildlife to stampede.

And only last week I indulged in a spot of total fear and head slapping when another wasp flew into my hoodie while I was enjoying a little winter BBQ. A friend remarked that I must have looked like a ninja, but ninjas are meant to be as silent as the melting snow on Mount Fuji. I certainly wasn’t...

Despite the ‘unique’ challenges that the house presents at this time of year, with the cool crisp Christmas mornings and the log fire blazing merrily away, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Although I might rename the house Casita del Loco...

FEATURE

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the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

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OLIVE PRESS CHRISTMAS APPEAL I

Surfing… and salvation!

Olive Press appeal to help loving couple who take Mexican street kids away from the drug war horrors of their past, combining surfing and safety, writes Liam Kirkaldy HAT’S CLEVER: And a Merry Christmas

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HAT happens when you cross a Mexican with a surfboard?

It may sound like the start of a bad joke – but for one children’s refuge, the answer is a matter of life and death.

When Pam and Alan Skuse went to Mexico to volunteer at a childrens home, they never thought they would still be there 13 years later.

But when the home ran out of funding after six months, the remaining seven children faced life on the streets.

So the Skuse’s made the life- them a second chance at life. changing decision to look after But to continue to run their all of them full time, opening house, the couple desperately a home for abandoned and need help both financially and abused chilthrough volundren with the teers. motto ‘love, life Three-year-old Alex The refuge reand hope’. a famwas found wandering sembles And it has not ily home rather the streets covered stopped there. than an instituSince 2001 in scars and burns tion - the youngthe home has sters attend grown and school, somegrown – over thing most of the last decade Mision Mexico them had not experienced behas transformed the lives of fore, and also have access to more than 250 children, giving tutors, as many of the children

SMILES OF HOPE: A far cry from life on the streets

find it hard to learn due to their abuse.

If the story sounds extraordinary, it gets stranger still – because as well as giving the kids a safe place to live, the Skuse’s also passed on their love of surfing.

It started with an impromptu surf lesson from dad Alan and his biological sons, Rohan and Aaron.

Next the refuge received some old boards as a donation from volunteers.

Then, in 2007, as news of the surfing Mexican children spread, they received a shipment of 17 boards from ‘Global Surf Industries.’

A previously unknown activity in the area, there are now around 50 surfing kids on the beaches of Tapachula.

And it has become a uniquely transforming sporting activity for these children.

Providing a release from the horrors of their past, surfing allows them time to just splash around in the waves and be kids.

Based in the coastal town of Tapachula, Chiapas - right on the Guatemalan border – the refuge offers a sanctuary from

OLIVE PRESS CHRISTMAS APPEAL II

Olive Press supports expat vision to set up hospice in Granada, writes Claire Wilson

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T has taken a few years of non-stop fundraising and appeals.

But now expat-run Acompalia has finally launched its palliative care service for residents in Granada.

Aiming to eventually set up a residential hospice - the first in Granada - its telephone line took its first calls last month, using volunteer counsellors trained by the charity.

Open from 10am to 2pm on

INSPIRATION: Boss Emmott

Up and running Tuesdays and Thursdays, the service is for anyone struggling with emotional, non-medical issues surrounding the diagnosis of a terminal illness.

Tina Emmott, the charity’s president, said: “We hope to extend these hours as more trained volunteers become available.

“We now have a few wonderfully active fundraising groups and we want to encourage many more people so we can expand the helpline and move forward with helping helping terminally ill people and their families.

“A Spanish Helpline is also planned as more Spanish volunteers come forward for training.”

The charity was founded in 2012, and since then a range of fundraising events have helped to raise cash for its projects.

Run by a dedicated team, it was set up by Emmott, who

studied psychology, before working for various UK charities.

She retired to the Alpujarras in 1999, where she had the idea to set up the hospice.

The charity now has a nine-strong board, including Driving Over Lemons author Chris Stewart, who lives near Emmott.

The most recent fundraising event, the Festive Concert, raised €1273.

Guests were welcomed to the Lecrin Valley home of fundraisers Glynn and Anne Snelling, where they were treated to a raffle, a lucky dip and an auction of artwork by Sylvia Kopecek.

Entertainment was provided by 94-year-old Agnes CookBainbridge, who performed a programme of piano solos.

HELPING HAND: The line provides valuable support and (top) Chris Stewart See www.acompalia.org

MEXICAN WAVES: Splashing times ahead the violence and chaos going and was recently diagnosed on all around it. with a neurological condition Since 2006, at least 100,000 which affects her vision, as well people are thought to have as her ability to learn. been killed in the ‘drug war’ The refuge is trying to find a launched by Mexican authori- Spanish-speaking home tutor ties against the gangs shipping to give her the chance to comcocaine, weapons and people plete her education. across Mexico, through both Jose, from Valencia, says he its northern and southern fron- couldn’t ignore Mision Mexico tiers. after he heard their story. “The Mexico has become more and Skuse’s started from scratch, more prominent in trafficking kept going and rolled with the cocaine from Colombia to the punches, and you can see in US, with gangs also moving into the faces of the children of human trafficking. mission Mexico how their lives And as the war has continued, have changed completely, “ he more and more civilians have said. been caught in “The kids now the crossfire. know that they Many of the are capable of Some youngsters children are anything, that victims. Some lost their parents to they can get have lost their the war - others were wherever they parents to the wish, and that taken by gangs war, others they deserve to were taken be loved on the by the gangs way there.” themselves.

But the refuge Their stories are harrowing. does not receive any funding Alex was found wandering the from the state. streets at three-years-old, cov- The Skuses desperately needs ered in scars and burns and support in the form of volunclearly malnourished. teers to help its day-to-day runAfter years in the refuge he has ning, as well as financial assiscome out of his shell. tance for clothing and food.

He still carries terrible scarring, So what happens when you both on the outside and the cross a Mexican with a surfinside, but they have become board? The answer – an amazless noticeable, and the boy is ing story of love, life and hope. more lively and confident.

For more information on Mision He is now very mischievous, Mexico, to make a donation or with a constant smile on his to order a copy of Somewhere face. He attends school and near Tapachula. loves nothing more than being See lovelifehope.com. the centre of attention.

And the kids are starting to get plenty attention.

In 2010 pro surfers and filmmakers Stefan Hunt and Jonno Durrant travelled to the refuge and made a film, Somewhere near Tapachula, telling the children’s story.

And now the film has hit Spain, as the charity tries to attract more Spanish speakers.

Volunteer Jose María Campos Coll has translated Somewhere near Tapachula into Spanish, in an effort to attract more Spanish volunteers, which are needed for professional roles as psychologists and health workers.

Jennifer, seven-years-old, was CHRISTMAS CUDDLE: born to a drug-using mother

I’m safe at last

8

GIBRALTAR NEWS

8

the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

Rock still favourite with William Hill BRITISH bookmaker William Hill will keep an online betting base in Gibraltar - even though a tax clampdown will cost it tens of millions of pounds.

Several bookmakers have set up internet operations in Gibraltar in recent years, allowing them to sign up British gamblers, while benefiting from lower taxes on the Rock.

Britain is planning to impose a 15% duty on bookmakers’ online winnings from British customers from December 2014, which is expected to bring around in 300 million pounds a year.

Concern Gibraltan authorities have been concerned that bookmakers might move their operations, which would have a significant impact on the local economy.

Andy Lee, managing director of William Hill Online said: “We have over 400 people in Gibraltar, we run our global operations from there.

Our staff are very happy and there are reasons we will remain there in order to be competitive in this market.”

2014 is expected to be a busy year for bookmakers, with the World Cup expected to bring a sharp surge in online betting.

www.theolivepress.es

CHARITY DISGRACE Border police block aid for Philippines from crossing border SPAIN’S customs officials banned food and aid donated in a charity drive for the Philippines from entering Spain.

The emergency aid was due to be shipped from the port of Algeciras to the Red Cross in Manila.

But the departure of the 20-foot container packed with food, blankets, vitamins and drinking water was held up on the border in a red tape wrangle.

It will now be delayed until after Christmas, due to apparent problems with issuing certificates.

By Claire Wilson The container will be collected directly from Gibraltar on December 29 at greater expense to the Maroc Atlas Gibraltar 4x4 group which organised the relief shipment, worth just over £600.

The Spanish Customs Authorities told freight company Redwood that only clothing, water and canned tomatoes would be allowed across the frontier because health certificates could not be issued due to the lack of facilities.

A spokesman for Madrid’s Customs and Excise department said that food was denied access into La Linea as the office there “is not enabled by European legislation for the importation of products intended for human or animal consumption”.

ON the Rock

The Olive Press guide to What’s On in Gibraltar over the next two weeks

December 26

December 31

January 3

Traditional Boxing Day Polar Bear Swim Catalan Bay, 11.45am For further information contact the Caleta Hotel Tel: 20076501 or email: sales@caletahotel.gi

Music of the 50s 60s 70s and 80s with the band THE X-IT. New Year’s Dance Catholic Community Centre, 12.30 pm Contact : 54031625, 54013591 or 54033794

Jazz Night.

O’Callaghan Eliott Hotel, 9pm For further information, contact Tel: 20070500

December 26

December 31

Gibraltar Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) Polar Bear Swim GASA swimming pool – 10 Europort Avenue, 10am For further information Tel. 20072869

New Year’s Celebrations Casemates Square, 10.30pm Further information contact the Ministry of Culture – Events Team on 20067241 email: culture.info@culture.gov.gi

January 5 Promenade Market.

Ocean Village, 11am - 4pm For further information contact Tel: 00350 54023166

www.theolivepress.es

GIBRALTAR NEWS

the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

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10

the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014 10

News IN BRIEF

Bird watch BRITISH tour operators who specialise in birdwatching holidays, enjoyed a familiarisation trip to the region. Local town halls want to promote the area as a birdwatching destination.

Memorial park ALMUNECAR has decided to rename the Parque del Pozuello, Parque Jose Matias, in memory of the town hall’s head of electrical engineering, who died in a traffic accident in December.

Lotta lights SALOBRENA has revealed that this year’s Christmas illuminations have cost €5000. The lights have been erected in the two main shopping streets.

AXARQUIA NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Defeated house owners vow to continue their battle to save their homes MORE than 100 Alcaucin residents and members of Save Our Homes Axarquia (SOHA) joined forces to demonstrate against the demands of the Junta to revoke the licences of 16 houses in the town.

The protesters marched on the main square after the Junta warned the town hall to revoke the licences - or face legal action.

The demo coincided with a special council meeting to discuss the Junta’s demands.

Before the meeting Councillor Mario Blanke addressed the crowd gathered in the square outside the town hall.

Waving various documents in the air Blanke asked: “Why does the Junta want to punish the homeowners and not the perpetrators of these crimes?

“We’re not talking about houses that were built outside the law. Each and every one of the homes had and has all legally required permits.”

FURY: Protesters outside the town hall

On the warpath!

Residents then crowded into the packed council meeting room, where mayor Domingo Lozano insisted that the town hall was legally obliged to approve the motion and revoke the licences. Councillor Blanke said that his conscience wouldn’t allow him to vote for the motion as it represented an injustice against innocent victims.

Arrest in La Cala pensioner murder POLICE have made an arrest after the shocking broad daylight murder of a 70-year-old grandmother in Rincon de la Victoria.

It comes after the pensioner Dolores RV was stabbed to death by a blonde woman in her 40s on the paseo maritimo in La Cala del Moral.

Witness described seeing the two women sitting on the steps behind a chiringuito, apparently chatting happily.

The blonde woman then passed her hand over the shoulder of Dolores who then collapsed. Passersby thought that she had faint-

ed but then saw blood and started shouting for help.

In the meantime the suspect calmly stood up, covering her face with her hand and walked away with her victim’s handbag.

The bag was later found by police in a nearby rubbish bin, and contained a travel card that was used to identify Dolores.

Police immediately carried out a large scale forensic search, which led to the arrest of the suspect 48 hours later. The motive for the crime is not yet known.

Although, the motion was carried, protesters vowed to continue their fight - even if it meant taking the battle outside of Spain.

Speaking afterwards the Chairman of SOHA, Philip Smalley, said: “The decision of the Junta to push for the licences to be revoked beggars belief. These houses have stood for more than 10 years with all proper documentation, and all taxes paid.

“Now the Junta wants the owners, most of whom are pensioners, to live in fear of demolition.

These actions further sully the reputation of Spain and do nothing to alleviate the economic plight of Andalucia. Moreover, these actions are a clear violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It may be that our fight will continue outside of Spain. “

www.theolivepress.es

GREEN NEWS

Protection racket Government’s new bill to streamline environmental policy may lead to new danger LAWS designed to protect the environment could open the door to a new danger to wildlife - fracking.

Fracking is the controversial method of extracting shale gas by creating fractures in the rocks and injecting chemicals.

The drilling process has not yet been used in Spain, but has already caused uproar in the UK and has been banned in other countries.

The Spanish government has approved a nationwide bill designed to simplify and

Nothing to grouse about!

ANDALUCIA’S Sandgrouse population has grown by almost 300% in the last three years, according to a Ministry of Environment report.

The number of grouse has increased from 102 birds in 2010 to 374 this year.

And two of the three breeding areas are within Donana National Park’s Guadalquivir marshes - an area under threat after the Spanish Government granted permission to extract and transport oil from the area.

Donana alone has seen an

11

FRACK ATTACK: Drillers could put wildlife at risk streamline environmental policy.

The new law has created a so-called conservation bank, which will help protect endangered species. Essentially, it creates a compensatory system where some development can happen, but not at the cost of species or their habitat.

Raised concerns

BOOM TIME: For the Sandgrouse increase of 108 grouse and there is also a population based in Los Pedroches, near Cordoba.

With 25 different species, Andalucia has the highest number of marsh dwelling birds in Spain.

Some 15 are considered under threat of extinction.

Developers pay into a bank that conserves and preserves the species, while infrastructure developers purchase credits from a land conservation bank to ensure there is no net-loss of species from their activities and to offset the unavoidable impacts of their development.

However, worried environmentalists have raised concerns about other aspects of the new legislation, which they fear could open the door to fracking.

The government said it would evaluate the controversial technology - which has already been banned in France and Bulgaria.

PUBLIC NOTICE

the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

The persons listed in this notice have offered financial services and products to the public and received money from the public, without having the necessary authorization from the CNMV, or overseas EEA regulators. Consequently, these persons are not authorized to provide any type of financial services, as described in the Securities Market Act, or appeal and get savings from the public. Occasionally, the persons listed in this notice would appropriately record the false investment as a personal loan, with the aim of hindering legal action and avoiding criminal prosecution, once their victims demanded refund of the money.

These persons have now fled with substantial ill-gotten gains, having been duly reported to the Spanish National Police for fraud.

Finally, all of the persons listed in this notice have previous criminal convictions, for fraud.

Nigel Ivor Goldman (aka ‘Sir Nigel Goldman’) Reported to the Spanish National Police: 17/12/2013 Country of previous criminal conviction: United Kingdom

Graham Etson

Reported to the Spanish National Police: 19/11/2013 Country of previous criminal conviction: United Kingdom

Frances Diane Stein

Reported to the Spanish National Police: 31/1/2013 Country of previous criminal conviction: United States of America

Lawbird Legal Services, Edificio Alfil Floor 4, Ricardo Soriano, 19 - 4B, 29601 Marbella T: +34 952 861890

www.lawbird.com

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12

LETTERS

the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

POTTED POINTERS ANDALUCIA RESERVOIR LEVELS This week: 76.22% full Same week last year: 70.62% Same week in 2003: 52.98% AIRPORTS Gibraltar 00350 22073026 Granada-Jaen 958 245 200 Jerez - 956 150 000 Malaga - 952 048 844* *For English press 9 Sevilla - 954 449 000 EMERGENCIES Police 091 Guardia Civil 062 Medical service 061 Fire 080 EURO EXCHANGE RATES 1 euro is worth 1.36 American Dollars 0.83 British Pounds 1.46 Canadian Dollars 7.46 Danish Kroner 10.60 H Kong Dollars 8.37 Norwegian Kroner 1.73 Singapore Dollars

UK wrong over Gibraltar Dear OP, I´m writing after reading your latest Border Watch (OP176).

The reality is that the UK has been engaged in duplicitous maneuverings designed to obfuscate on this issue for some time.

Great Britain, compelled to countenance de-colonization by the UN, has sought to retain its colony in Gibraltar by invoking the principle of self-determination in a clearly self-serving way (contrast the UK spin on self-determination with its treatment of the inhabitants of Diego Garcia for comparison).

However, there cannot be self-determination until there is real, rather than pseudo, self-government for Gibraltar.

The conundrum for the UK is that to grant real selfgovernment to its colonists in Gibraltar would be a clear breach of Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht which is the only basis on which the UK has any claim to the Spanish territory of Gibraltar.

Spain will continue to pressure both the UK and its colonists until the UK stops playing games and takes meaningful steps to comply with its obligations under international law to decolonise Gibraltar.

Bella Leguese, La Linea

I´ve been affected by the blaze at the Big Blue Box (Mystery Blaze, OP176)I had two beds in there. The lady and her husband seemed nice so I didn´t ask for a receipt to have them in their showroom on consignment.

I checked in every so often to ask if they’d had any luck selling the beds.

I wonder how they intend to compensate the owners of the stuff in there?

It’s my understanding almost all of the furniture in there was on consignment, owned by others.

Alex Watson, San Pedro

Sorry Spaniards The Spanish government needs to stop punishing its own citizens (Border Watch, OP 176). They have to come in to Gibraltar to work every day because their country cannot provide them with a job, and this is how the Spanish government pays them back, with a two to four hour queue after work!

We Gibraltarians go to Spain if we feel like it, but they have to come to earn a living. This is the sad truth and it’s going on every day on our doorstep.

Nan Brown, Gibraltar

To stop people in their cigarette smuggling tracks I propose the €1.90 Gibraltar price of a packet of cigarettes be equalised with the Spanish price of €4.75 and the difference used to pay for a couple of nurses in the Gibraltar cancer hospital.

This would then make it unworthwhile for the Spanish unemployed to cross the border in order to smuggle tobacco, thereby reducing the queues and would wrong-foot the Spanish authorities who would not then be able to use long waiting-times at the border as a form of protest.

Ron Palmer, La Linea

TV meanies I´ve been watching with interest the online comments on the TV switch off (Are you ready for the ‘Big TV Switch Off’ in Spain? OP Online February 2013). I think some of the comments are a little cruel , many of us older people are not able to afford the extra cost of IPTV , I have a Sky dish and already pay for my viewing , its only €25 a month and gives me access to Sky channels which we are

Poligono San Pedro de Alcántara Calle Budapest 16 29670 San Pedro de Alcántara Marbella • Málaga T: +34 620 630 376 in info@woodfactory.es

OPENING HOURS

Mon - Fri: 10.00 - 16.00 Saturday: 10.00 - 14.00

It is a common human trait (unfortunately) to want to kill any species that interferes with our sports, pleasures or money-making ventures. It still amazes me here to see men trapping small passerines (goldfinches etc) by using live caged birds down on Torrox Costa / El Morche.

Store fire bed bother

Stop Smuggling

VISIT OUR SHOWROOM

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Letters should be emailed to letters@ theolivepress.es. The writer’s name and address should be provided. Published opinions are not necessarily those of the Editor.

Mon -

Paul Coulthard, Torrox Costa

i Pad robbers

led to believe are not changing to a different platform.

I don’t have a Spanish TV aerial but would gladly have one fitted and try to learn enough Spanish to get by. We are not sad people who cannot do without English TV, but it makes for a more pleasing time for those of us that do not want to spend our evenings getting drunk in the bars!!

Anna Coyle, Estepona

Shop shock My local Eroski has just finished a huge make over, after spending years looking a but worse for wear. It seems a shame that they are all to be sold now (Supermarket giant Eroski embarks on shop sell-off in southern Spain, OP176). It’s always pretty busy, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t profitable.

Layla Nobel, Costa del Sol

Bad bankers I’ve just read Spanish bankers hit the big time (OP 176) and think it´s quite unbelievable, while millions have hardly anything to eat, these people roll in the cash like bank robbers.

If there was one thing outstanding that could destroy democracy, this is it, rotten to the core, a world-wide web of collusion to maintain grossly immoral payouts.

If these people had any sensitivity at all they would donate

at least half to charity, hardly likely as they decide on their next yacht, with a Rolls each for the kids.

Tony Randall, Costa del Sol

Start up shock I have to wholeheartedly agree with the article Spain bad for start-up businesses (OP 176). After moving from Boston, (a hot bed of start ups) I was shocked at how inept and incompetent the society and the government are..

It’s ironic that on one hand the government is playing the ‘entrepreneurship is sexy card’, and on the other hand making it really hard for setting up companies.

Unfortunately this is attracting a lot of scammers wanting to set up so-called mentoring services.

Prashman Karam, Via web

Bird woe I´ve just read the Action group launch anti-bird poisoning campaign (OP 175).

Raptor poisoning is still prevalent in the UK too – generally by some gamekeepers – ostensibly to protect game birds from being predated.

Shooting game birds is legal (conditions apply) and of course the raptors are merely pursuing natural instincts, and taking advantage of surpluses created by gamerearing and management systems.

There is definitely a robbers gang around Monte Halcones lately (Highway robbery, OP 176). I had an Ipad stolen from my car right outside the OpenCor Monte Halcones. I had left the car for no more than three minutes and came back with the Ipad missing (which wasn’t even visible as it was underneath two jackets) The robbers called me a week later to ask me for my pin code for the Ipad, saying that they had bought it and needed the pin! It was completely useless for them without it. I had blocked the Ipad only minutes after it was stolen and had “Apple” put my phone number on the screen for when someone turned it on plus the message that it had been stolen.

Dunja Royer, San Pedro

Stay sad I’m writing in after reading the article by James Coney that appeared on the OP website (Retired expats whose Spanish homes may be demolished are victims of corruption on monumental scale OP Online, November 28) Spain is a great country to live in but not a brilliant one in which to own certain types of property.

Fortunately, renting is a relatively painless and very economical alternative.

Dealing with Spanish bureaucracy is a little more time consuming than in other countries but it only takes a small effort to ease the process.

Those of us who make the effort and are content with what already (legally) exists are, for the most part, very happy here.

Most of the moaning is nothing more than a manifestation of the British mentality – being so miserable keeps us happy.

Arthur Webster, Mijas

CROSSMOT 22

Across

7 Inventors (3, 10) * 8 Fijado (8) * 9 Envidia (4) * 10 Aprendido (7) * 12 Metro (5) * 14 Oferta (5) * 16 Cubos (7) * 19 To Pray (4) * 20 Annoyed (8) * 22 Coating (13).

Down 1 Jewel (4) * 2 Amargo (6) * 3 Advances (7) * 4 Joined (5) * 5 Rocket (6) * 6 Más Pesado (8) * 11 Cumplir (8) * 13 Suppresses (7) * 15 Ha ganado (6) * 17 Gatito (6) * 18 Nacimiento (5) * 21 Fecha (4).

la cultura

13the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 13

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A tale of pain and passion in the palace New book by local author tells of the trials and tribulations of Alhambra heiress A NOVEL based on the life of an Alhambra heiress has been released by local author SA Carney.

Granada Gold, a sweeping historical tome set in Moorish Spain, follows the fictional life of Juana Trastamara, daughter of Queen Isabel and King Fernando.

The protagonist’s life is turned upside down when her parents defeat the Moors, expel the Jews and send Columbus sailing across the Atlantic.

She is pushed into an ar-

ranged marriage with an abusive husband, son of the family’s deadly rivals, leaving her with just one place to turn: England.

Here she meets King Henry VIII, who falls deeply in love with her, setting the stage for international royal passion, betrayal and death.

Author SA Carney said: “I’m fascinated by the twilight of Moorish Spain and the Alhambra palace and gardens.

“This book is written ‘on location’ in Andalucia. As an investigative historian I’m in-

Oh Oh Heaven - your chance to plunge from 15,000 feet…

S

KYDIVE SPAIN offers the fantastic opportunity to enjoy the experience of a lifetime - to jump from an airplane at 15,000 feet!

The skydiving centre is located just 20 minutes outside of beautiful Seville and it is based at Aeródromo La Juliana, only 10 minutes from the A49 motorway, exit 11 (direction Huelva).

The 15,000-feet jump offers a full minute in freefall before a large parachute, especially designed for two, is opened by your instructor. Once the parachute is open you can chat with your instructor, have a go at steering and take in the lovely Andalusia countryside.

There are professional in-air photographers to capture this exceptional activity on video and still photos to show your friends and family, or simply to keep as a memento forever.

Skydive Spain is the only company in Spain to offer all of this 365 days a year, and they welcome customers from

G

ranada, Virgen de las Angustias church, December 26 – Special service to thank the patron of Granada for her protection against earthquakes in the city.

From 11:45.

M

arbella, Gun Pub, Ed. Doña Sofia, Paseo Martimo, January 1 - Charity swim for PAD, followed by hot toddies.

For more information, contact Lisa on 658 351 642.

M SECRET LIVES: Local author SA Carney lifts the lid on palace life trigued by real people: Juana struggles to survive catastrophic change” .

Spanish playwright celebrated A SPANISH playwright is being honoured as part of a UK town’s Golden Age season.

Lopa de Vega’s A Lady of Little Sense and Tragedy Without Revenge are being shown at the Theatre Royal, directed by Laurence Boswell.

The first play stars an unmarried stupid girl with a huge dowry, which causes indecision among her suitors. Love eventually transforms the beautiful airhead into the brain of Spain.

As its title suggests, Tragedy Without Revenge is a play rippled with tension and has an

what’s on

horrific conclusion.

Nicknamed the ‘Phoenix of Wits’ and ‘Monster of Natur’´ the Spanish contemporary penned more than 400 plays in his life.

He was one of the key figures in Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature, and his reputation in the world of Spanish literature is second only to that of Cervantes, while the sheer volume of his literary output is unequalled, making him one of the most prolific authors in the history of literature.

The plays have received glowing reviews.

Skyfall!

arbella, La Sala, December 28 - The Rat Pack Live. The event will be hosted in the private restaurant and piano lounge, where a full a la carte menu will be served (€10 cover charge).

M

alaga, Teatro Cánovas y Sala Gades - Christmas Circus, Evenings from December 26 - 29, 6.30pm.

T

orremolinos, Passion Nightclub - Local 29 presents Amnesia Ibiza 12 hour non-stop party.

December 25, from midnight. €25.

Advertorial

FREE AS A BIRD: It’s a bit windy up here

over the world: from Australia, India or the United States. Skydive Spain is a family business which stems from another skydiving centre still in operation in the UK after more than 20 years. You might say that skydiving is in their blood.

With the upcoming Christmas season, Skydive Spain is offering something special: €30 discount on gift certificates, to give a loved one an experience to be remembered forever.

A professional operation with a dedicated booking office open 09.00-19.00 Monday to Friday

helps all customers by phone and email. You can even submit your interest via the website and the staff will get back to you promptly.

The centre is open seven days a week from 09.00 until dusk and there is a café/bar on the airfield too. After all you might want a beer after your exhilarating jump..!

Are you up for the challenge..?

Web: www.skydivespain.com Mobile Web: www.skydivespain.mobi .

Tel: 955 766 056 Email: info@ skydivespain.com

CENSORED: Bikini added

Censorship in Spain A FILM historian has released a book of censored memorabilia from the Franco era.

Welcome Llopis began collecting postcards, posters and magazine advertisements from the period in 1982, which he has compiled for his book, La censura franquista en el cartel de cine He found that not only were people’s clothes and appearance censored, but also political, religious and social issues.

Movie stars such as Joan Crawford, or James Cagney, who had shown their support for the Republican cause during the war, were declared persona non grata; their faces could appear on the poster for a film, but not their names.

Censorship was active for 40 years, before being abolished

by President Adolfo Suarez in 1977.

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the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

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the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 15 15

Sierra Nevada December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

Photo by Telemark

Vol. 7 Issue 177 www.theolivepress.es

Winter wonderland Liam Kirkaldy had no idea it was possible to ski in Andalucia when he arrived here six months ago. Now, as a keen snowboarder, he has become a massive Sierra Nevada fan

L

EGEND has it that there was once a wealthy lord who lived with his beautiful daughter in a remote castle in the Alpujarras, on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

The lord was controlling, and because he planned to marry his daughter off to a fellow landowner he kept her hidden away from the world so she could not meet anyone else.

But unknown to him, his daughter had been sneaking out the house at night, and had already fallen in love with someone else – a local shepherd.

When the two learned of her father’s plans, they decided to elope through the snow-bound Sierra Nevada mountains and flee to the north, even if it meant their deaths.

But on his way to meet his lover, according to legend, the shepherd bumped into the devil, who offered him a broom to hide his tracks in the snow.

Pursued by the rich lord, the young couple fled until they reached the peak of Alcazaba, which sits at 3,371 metres, just a few less than its two nearby rivals Veleta and Mulhacen (3,482m).

But when they dropped the broom it began to sweep by itself, causing an avalanche and burying their pursuers.

The story goes that the ‘devil’s broom’ was left there forgotten, where it still sweeps, causing landslides to this day.

When I arrived at the base of the Sierra Nevada last week, greeted by jutting hills with scattered patches of snow, landslides were the last thing on my mind.

The tallest mountain range in southern Europe, the Sierra Nevada is higher than the Pyrenees and has one

Turn to page 17

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the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

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the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 17 17

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ll about

Sierra Nevada

Fairy- tale touches ... plus surprises From page 15 of the longest skiing seasons in the world.

As the road from Granada began to rise up, strangling the side of the emerging mountain, I saw the first snowy peaks looking down at me.

The serrated valleys could have been carved with a bread knife - though drivers would be advised to try and keep their eyes on the tight bends, with some sheer drops, rather than the stunning scenery.

But on arrival, after a three hour drive from Estepona, I was greeted by a scene closer to the fall of Saigon than a Spanish skiing resort.

Dozens of American squaddies were strewn chaotically across the piste, collapsed on their backs, crawling to safety and cursing their fate.

Stationed at the naval based at Rota, near Cadiz, they had been given a day-off to go skiing. The problem is that few of them had an idea what they were doing.

“I just can’t get these goddam things to work,” muttered one, while his friend was trying to extricate his snowboard from the chair lift.

But if the sailors were not finding skiing as relaxing as they had hoped, at least they had picked a good day for it.

The resort was bathed in sunshine, and although a waterproof jacket and trousers were definitely called for, the weather was beautifully mild.

I had arrived sceptical that there would be any snow at all, given the warm December sun, and reports that snowfalls had been scant this year to say the least.

In fact, considering that there has been so little rain this winter - and therefore snow in the mountains – the long line of peaks had an impressive coating of the white stuff leaving a wonderful wintery scene.

And unlike in years gone by in particular ‘the famous drought of 1995’ in thanks to the snow machines there was an impressive amount of powdery snow on the pistes.

Amazing day out

The machines can produce artificial snow, albeit on a smaller area than nature would normally provide.

And they are doing a good job, keeping the resort open (until a proper dump arrives) and allowing the thousands of skiiers each week to have a very alternative day out in Andalucia.

Like most northern Europeans I had been utterly unaware that you could ski in Andalucia.

And so being a keen snowboarder (taking my first lesson in native Scotland as a kid), it was a real surprise that I could have such an amazing day out.

In fact, unlike its more famous Alpine or Pyrenean cousins, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada are only an hour from the coast at Motril (even nearer as the crow flies) – hence the famous boast that it is one of the few places in the world where you can ski in the morning and then spend the afternoon on the beach.

But having arrived in the country unprepared for snow sports, I had to head to the resort’s hippest snowboard shop Surfin’, where I was kitted out with some decent gear (Burton boots, board and clothing).

A lift pass costs €45 per day in the peak season (plus €3 deposit), though you can also buy a week long pass for €273, making the resort a cheaper option than some of its northern rivals.

One major advantage is the relative peace of the place, in comparison to places in France and Italy, which can often feel closer to a theme park, with lengthy lift queues, than a mountain hideaway. It is said to change at busy times, such as Semana Blanca and Easter, but outside of these dates you can often have the runs largely to yourself.

Restaurants

WINTER THRILLS: Sierra Nevada offers fantastic skiing and even a great park (above) for daredevils

Resort facilities given a lift SIERRA NEVADA has introduced a new family area in the centre of Borreguiles, called the ‘Sea Slope’, where the old snowpark was previously based.

The Sea Slope – based on a marine theme with sea creatures and boats - will be aimed at beginners, with a new ‘magic carpet’ lift and space for families to meet.

There is also a new snow-park, the Sulayr, with the largest jump in Europe and a total of 110 different ramps and rails.

In addition to the new facilities, Sierra Nevada has made maintenance improvements, with three new snow guns to ensure snow in any weather.

On the day of my visit the pistes were quiet and, although only 10 kilometres of runs are currently open, there was plenty of space to move without fear of collision.

Ski schools snaked their way past me, with the children, flying down the hill in single file and seemingly without an ounce of fear, offering a sharp contrast to the flailing military men.

In fact even a child who had chosen to improvise - tackling the slope on his head - seemed more relaxed than the flailing soldiers.

And for those more interested in soaking up the winter atmosphere - the town of Pradollano, lying at the bottom of the slopes – though still at an elevation of 2,100 metres - offers a range of restaurants and cafés for après, or even pre-ski refreshment.

Located just under 30 kilometres from Granada, the Sierra Nevada resort is a winter wonderland, offering a great option for a fairy-tale day out.

Just watch out for ‘the devil’s broom’.

While in Granada why not also visit…

Alhambra and the Albaycin

G

RANADA city is famous for its stunning Arabic monument The Alhambra, but why not spend a day wandering around its largely pedestrianised former Moorish quarter the Albayzin, where you will find some of Andalucia’s most charming

hotels and truly step back in time. The city also counts on a special train that takes tourists from the Albayzin to the Alhambra via the city centre, which is also worth a visit. It’s Andalucia’s main university town so there is normally plenty of cultural offerings on the agenda.

R

Riofrio

IOFRIO is one definite stopover for foodies. It is here that UK celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey found, what he described as, the ‘best caviar in the world’. Conveniently right next to the main motorway enroute to the slopes, you can park up, have a coffee in one of the many bars, then head under the motorway bridge to the fish farm, where a Finnish company is currently breeding no less than 30,000 sturgeons from all around the world.

Aside from the famous Russian caviar, there is caviar from Iran and also - the one Ramsey liked - an organic caviar, which takes up to 20 years to create. While it is not cheap it is the perfect Christmas or Reyes present.

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Sierra Nevada

Going downhill fast

I

Jon Clarke on the terrors of attempting to teach your children how to ski

F there’s one golden rule of skiing it’s DON’T teach your children how to do it.

It was a lesson I learnt the hard way when I recently found myself flailing down a green run in the Sierra Nevada with both my youngsters in tow.

Enthusiastic and fearless - like their dad - they had somehow persuaded me to take them up for a couple of runs before their scheduled lesson was set to begin at 11am.

But when we all fell over in the first lift queue I got the hint that I might have been a touch foolhardy.

Pulling them both up again we finally alighted the chair only for Alfie, my five-year-old, to fall off the other side, stopping the lift for him to be scooped up by the lift operator.

Within 30 seconds of moving again came the first cry of cold and then the announcement that he was ‘not going to ski down’ And after falling over again as we got off the lift, I felt pretty certain he was going to have to be carried down.

However, he suddenly got his ski legs and we took off - well tumbled really – down the slope.

I had tried to get their skies into the classic snowplough position and told them to head sideways not straight downhill.

But, of course, it doesn’t work like that and while IN SAFE HANDS: Alfie went left, Maia, eight, shot off to the Jon finally hands right, screaming blue kids over to a murder. teacher A horrible moment having to decide which of your two children to save, I plumped for the youngest, a daredevil, with no fear, but no sooner had I picked him up, I skidded off after Maia, who was by now on a totally different run 100 metres away and in floods of tears.

We regrouped and I attempted to get them to follow me down in a zig zag with promises of bravery medals and hot chocolate at the bottom.

After five falls each and a shout from an angry teacher, when we bombed straight through his class sending the pupils tumbling, they made it to the bottom with, guess what, huge smiles on their faces.

It was a lesson in damage control and I just about passed, but I vowed to leave the job of training them to the professionals.

The rest of the hour before their lesson was spent on the very, very nursery slope (and its bizarre ‘magic carpet’ tunnel), luckily with a Dutch friend and her daughter, who was an equal novice.

Up there on the one degree slope practically nothing can go wrong, and it was a huge relief when I handed them over to the very capable teachers at the EIE ski school, whose patience apparently knows no bounds.

So why on Earth am I so keen for my youngsters to learn to ski?

The unselfish reason is I want them to develop

a skill that will keep them fit and that they can enjoy for years to come.

The selfish reason is that I want an excuse to go to the Sierra Nevada as much as possible throughout the season.

For there is nothing as lovely as taking in the mountain air and breathtaking views of the Sierra Nevada. Bright sunshine, a gentle breath of wind and a glass of Veuve Cliquot in the champagne bar on the way down.

Now something of a winter ritual since moving to Andalucia over a decade ago, a day or weekend away in the Granada skiing resort is always great fun.

Heading up with friends, there are usually between 50 and 100kms of runs in a good year and the choice of places to eat in the resort is surprisingly good, not to mention good value compared to the normal skiing resort prices.

Then, of course, you get the health benefits. All that fresh air and movement for hours at a time has got to be good for you. My search engine produces millions of results when the keywords ‘health benefit’ and ‘skiing’ are entered.

A random look at one describes it as so ‘Pure zingy mountain air contains lower levels of oxygen than we are generally used to… the body becomes more efficient in its circulation and oxygen delivery… which is great for sluggish deskbound types! Quite.

It goes on to talk about stress-busting, facing fears and overcoming frustrations.

Without a doubt few things are as exhilarating as heading to the top of the highest ski lift, at 3,300 metres, just below Mulhacen, where the views make the Mediterraneanan below look like a small pond, with half the coastline of Morocco clearly in view.

It is an amazing place, although it can be a little nippy up there with the wind whistling past, so make sure to bring a coat and jumper.

From here, competent skiers are spoilt with the amazing runs of the Laguna de las Yeguas area, including the celebrated Olympic run, which is full of twists and turns.

Here, you can sometimes find yourself skiing alone midweek and the sheer nature and landscape are spectacular.

While a modern resort, Pradollano itself is a pleasant place to simply take in the air or a spot of lunch, and there is a fair amount for children to do, with entertainers and Disney figures wandering around, particularly at Easter and Christmas.

It has also, rightfully, got a good reputation as being a resort for fun, with the famous apres ski being some of the best in Europe.

The resort really started to evolve quickly from 1995 when the World Skiing Championship was

Skiing: Who would have thought it could have become so popular since Norwegian Sondre Norheim invented the modern binding in the 19th century and called the resulting downhill traverse slå lom (meaning tricky route)?

‘ MOVIN’ ON UP: Maia and Alfie on the ‘magic carpet’ scheduled to be held there (it actually took place the following year due to poor snow).

“Since then the infrastructure changes were huge and it is now a big resort,” explains Giles Birch, who has run the rapidly-growing British Ski Center for over two decades.

“It has one of the longest seasons in the world, opening at the start of December and often going through to mid May. There have even been snowfalls in June and when the snow and weather are favourable, the openness of the terrain provides some of the most exhilarating off-piste

I DO not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of the hill” Erna Bombeck, 19271996

skiing to be found anywhere.”

And so ultimately came as a lovely surprise that after one of the most exhilarating mornings skiing I could remember, I picked up my kids with huge smiles on their faces.

I proposed lunch down in the resort with their mother to which, they screwed up their faces and insisted it should be a bocadillo and chips at the top, followed by an afternoon’s skiing with dad.

I can tell you it got better. And by the end of the second day, these two tornadoes were hooked.

It made my year.

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Sierra Ne

It used to be a two h

Rout

T

HE only way to get to the top of was to walk... or take a friendly Indeed, until the first two ski reguiles and Parador) were 1969, this was the preferred route.

The resort actually dates back to 19

Brits on the pistes British ski teachers Giles Birch and Jonathan Buzzard still love the Sierra Nevada two decades on

W

HEN Jonathan Buzzard walked into Sierra Nevada’s seminal Crescendo bar in the early 1990s, Giles Birch knew he had found his man.

With a long flasher’s mac, ‘big hair’ and a friendly, outgoing persona, he knew he would make the perfect transport rep.

In his first season working as a coordinator for the big travel companies, including First Choice and Thompsons, he needed someone with a bit of knowledge and experience to help him out.

TAKING OFF: The British Ski Center is still going strong

“I had no idea what was going on but had been told that Crescendo was the place to find the Brits and the reps-in-the know,” he recalls.

“Next thing in walks Jonathan with just the right attitude and he was soon helping me deal with the three to four flights we regularly dealt with on a Sunday.”

The pair are still working together some two decades later, collectively running the extremely successful British Ski Center from their base near the resort.

Great mates, they both now teach,

GOOD FRIENDS: Giles and Jonat

as well as sort out holidays wit the help of two staff, Kristel an Alastair, for hundreds of clien each year.

“Of course things are complete different to what they were bac then,” explains Jonathan, wh lived in Marbella in the golde years before it was ruined by co rupt leader Jesus Gil. “We used to bring in thousands o foreigners every week, but after couple of dry years in the 1980 the resort’s reputation suffere badly and things all began change.

Hard to beat

“Luckily the snow came back, bu these days it is all independen travelers and the agencies hav all but disappeared.”

Of course there have been som

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evada

hour bus ride from Granada and then a donkey up the slope

te to the top

f the slope y donkey! lifts (Bore built in

912 when

Spain’s oldest ski club, the Sierra Nevada Society was founded.

However, it was not until the 1920s – with the modernisation of Granada’s roads - that the Sierra Nevada started to become known.

By the late 1950s a bus used to chug its way

CHANGES: Buses used to chug their way to the top, before skiers had to walk or take a donkey to the pistes. Now it takes 30 minutes from Granada and a tiny bit more by skateboard!

ely ck ho en or-

of ra 0s ed to

ut nt ve

me

most glamourous with the likes of Principe Alfons Hohenlohe, the owner the Marbella Club hotel, regularly bringing up friends, including Sean Connery to ski.

The best selection of old pictures, not just some of the vintage visitors to the resort, can

be found in the charming Tito Luigi restaurant, which has been open for 25 years and counts the King as an occasional visitor. “We have had them all in here,” explains owner Javier, who heralds from Menorca. “Spain’s best footballers, bullfighters and its leading politicians... everyone loves to ski in the Sierra Nevada.”

One of the longest-established workers in the resort Jose Carlos Villanueva remembers the 1960s well.

Easy does it for the southerly skiers

IT is incredibly easy to have a couple of days skiing in Europe’s most southerly skiing resort.

Just two hours from the Costa del Sol, you head up to the resort of Pradollano, 20 minutes above Granada, where you can park easily in the underground car park right below the main square for around €20 for the day.

Staying longer - or on a budget - take the turning left, marked ‘albergues’ just before you arrive and head uphill through a pine forest, before taking a right towards the resort.

Drive down a long windy road through the resort, keeping your eyes peeled for a free space, but beware tow trucks are out in force and you will be towed away if you park badly.

From here, you are a five or ten minute walk down to the centre of the resort, where you will find dozens of places to rent skis and buy your forfait (or ski pass) from a machine using your credit card.

It is not cheap at between €37- 45 euros for a day’s skiing, but you can get a half day for just over €30 kicking off at 1pm and children get decent discounts.

No surprise

“I actually had my first communion on the slopes wearing ski boots and a jersey. I was the only one in Spain” .

He had arrived there in 1961 when his father got a job running the ‘alberge’ one of just three buildings in the resort back then.

Living there for five years, it was no surprise that he always had a strong urge to return and at the age of 15 he became a ski teacher.

Now, appropriately – after 38 years teaching and an incredible 50,000 students – Jose Carlos is running the charming bar Bodega Casablanca.

Into the wilds!

Not certain about skiing? Why not take a mountain adventure with Telemark ski school instead

T

HERE is off-piste... and then there is off the scale!

With Telemark you can have a wilderness trip that literally ends up in another world... the charming cobbled villages of the Genil valley.

Specialists on the slopes for over two decades, the company offers one and two-day crosscountry adventures into the mountains.

Both trips end up taking you through deep off-piste snow onto narrow mountain tracks.

than have worked together for 20 years

th nd nts

up to the slopes, while cars would turn up in their dozens at weekends.

Visitor numbers slowly grew and then, in 1964, Cetursa, a business dedicated to reserving ski tickets, was founded.

It was around then that the resort was at its

bad years such as 1995 when Jonathan recalls cycling up Borreguiles run on a mountain bike in shorts on Christmas Day. “But generally it is as good as most other international resort and the range of skiing and schools is hard to beat,” explains Giles, who particularly likes the length of the season.

“We start in late November and stay open until early May while other resorts don’t open until mid December and end their season in March.”

This is partly due to the resort’s altitude and the quality of the snow which is constantly worked on during the night.

“That’s why you’ll never see slush even in the latter part of the season.” he adds.

Visit www.britishskicenter.co.uk for more info

“We try to put an emphasis on ecology and nature and it is impressive to see the typically old farmhouses in the area and how little they have changed,” explains boss Luis Casanova, who spends the other half of the year in Africa.

“It is a real, fun adventure, something you will not forget.

“Best of all, a team of mules ends up helping to bring your stuff back to Pradollano,” adds Luis.

The day trip costs just € 100 per person and includes trans-

ADVENTURE: Telemark offers another option for those seeking the wilds

port and lunch.

Another popular pastime for those, who don’t fancy risking life and limb on the pistes, is to have a day of cross-country skiing on two or three well established paths around the resort.

“It is great fitness and you do get to enjoy the fabulous views and nature at the same time,” he adds.

The company can also help organise hard-core uphill climbing for mountaineers to a half day soft snow walking trip with snow rackets. www.telemark.es

DONKEY POWER: Back to basics off piste

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SPAIN

22

+34 958 24 91 11

For expert 5 days tickets

For expert 2 days tickets

For beginner

2 days tickets

路 ski/sb rental 路 ski/sb sch

ool

www.snowup.es

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Where to stay

Sleep in the hills I T is hard to describe Pradollano as an authentic mountain village.

But, with a metre of snow on the ground and the sun finally out, it certainly has its charms.

In terms of places to stay there are plenty of modern hotels, such as the stylish Sol Melia in the heart of the town or the five star Vincci at the top of the hill.

But by far the hippest – indeed one of the

S

coolest in Andalucia – is the recently opened El Lodge, owned by the Marbella Club group (see below).

Bought by the group last year, the stunning conversion was undertaken by London interior designer Andrew Martin and it counts numerous stylish touches.

Another true stalwart is Hotel Kenia Nevada, which is well located near the centre of town and open all year. Run by the friendly Don Pe-

Skiers can now rest and recuperate in five-star luxury of El Lodge, writes Jon Clarke

Alpine style

I

T was first earmarked for the King. So El Lodge was always going to be one of the more upmarket places to stay in southern Spain.

But it is the quirky feel of the place, original décor and amazing extras, such as ‘boot warming’ and outdoor slippers - not to mention a lift to the slopes in a Hummer - that makes this such a superb place to stay.

There is literally nothing normal about the latest addition to the hotel scene in the Sierra Nevada.

With Spain’s only outdoor skiing resort swimming pool – heated to 38 degrees – and a Turkish bath, sauna, gym and jacuzzi in the basement, El Lodge was designed with an emphasis on luxury.

Expect to be wowed by the dozens of special

touches from the 14-speaker sound system on the terrace to the Space Invader video game in the lounge.

There is even a Minimec kids club in the basement and a fantastic lounge, where you can watch vintage films.

I was lucky enough to be the very first guest to stay in the hotel, as part of this supplement on the Sierra Nevada last year.

I lived like a king and drank vintage champagne with hotel manager Francisco and area general manager Franck Sibille.

The place is a true stylemeisters dream. Nordic-style with a unique ambience, it has the feel of a hunting lodge, but with natural materials that echo its location.

Styled by London designer Andrew Martin, its alpine charm has been complemented with faux skin throws, cow hide armchairs and stylish antler-chandeliers.

Best of all though is its restaurant, which has a similar menu as the Marbella Club grill and a similar team of top class chefs and waiting staff.

The tartare of tuna with avocado was elegant and tasty, as was the wild sea bass with guacamole.

With just 18 rooms, EleLodge retains the feel of a private chalet and can be booked by room per night or in its entirety for private parties.

More information and bookings www.ellodge. es

dro, it is clean, well run and serves up one of the best breakfasts in Spain. It also has gym and plenty of communal areas.

For those looking for a budget option why not stay outside the resort at Hostal Los Puentes, which also has an excellent restaurant with superb home-cooked food.

Open now for nearly 40 years, the owners are friendly and make a big effort to make you feel at home. You can park for free and get up early to drive into the resort.

Another good option is to rent an apartment in the resort, which can cost from €50 a night.

The best specialist for this is to use the excellent company Apartamento sur y nieve, which has no less than 35-odd properties at their disposal.

Run by friendly Rondenans Juan and Rocio, they will find you the best possible deal and can help with any number of other requests.

Visit www.apartamentosurynieve.com

SLEEPY TOWN: but plenty of beds

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Where to eat

From piste to plate

Jon Clarke runs a rule over the incredible range of dishes on offer in the Sierra Nevada

O

MASTERCHEF: Stevie at Ci Vediamo

N the walls of restaurant Tito Luigi lies the evidence that he has provided good food and ambience for the past 25 years in Sierra Nevada.

Alongside photos of the King with its owners Javier and Luis (see page 21) are snaps of politicians, flamenco stars and bullfighters who have all come up to enjoy its unique brand of hostelry.

As well as organising parties in the ‘secret’ cave at the back, diners are treated to a great range of pizzas, salads and pasta dishes in the wooden beam restaurant.

My pick: most definitely the spaghetti with salmon and caviar.

But every year the quality of

food improves in the Sierra Nevada.

While you might expect stale canteens and raclette, the truth is you are rather well served in the gourmet stakes.

There are some excellent tapas bars, including the amazing La Muralla, rarely empty and with some delicious foods and wines by the glass.

Its owner Gonzalo is a particular foodie with a good knowledge of Spain’s best products.

I particularly enjoyed the selection of tostas, one with Iberican pork and Badajoz cheese, as well as the superrich milhoja of foie gras with goats cheese, caramel and apple, which exploded in the mouth.

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Sierra Nevada

Another great place to tapear and some great shrimp frittais La Lonja, which rightly calls tas. itself the best place to eat sea- Next door, try not to miss Bodega Casablanca, run by food in the mountains.

Buzzing at lunchtimes, the se- Jose Carlos Villanueva, who lection of marisco is impressive grew up on the slopes, with his and there are always fresh lob- father opening one of the first hostals in the 1960s. sters waiting to He, of course, be cooked. knows a fair bit On the slopes about catering, for 28 years, The bar has a great boss Antonio range of photos and and the bar has a great range began life as of photos and a waiter in memorabilia and is Granada, but well worth a look in m e m o r a b i l i a and is a great now counts the place for tapas King as a fouror simply to times visitor.

He has another restaurant in hang out.

Sanlucar de Barrameda and His chef Mari Fe, from Pais unsurprisingly stocks its fa- Vasco, knows a bit about mous langoustines, as well as food too and you will love the knocking up a fine tuna tartare prawns wrapped in potato with

a soya mayonnaise, as well as lovely lamb chops with whisker thin wild asparagus.

Another great tapas bar, with a real slant on top quality meats, is La Carreta. It has a superb selection of hams and chorizos and its owner Paco is a real whizz on the grill.

Without a doubt, the most consistent restaurant is the brilliant Italian Ci Vediamo, where chef/owner Stevie Silva produces a great range of food.

Silva, a professional snowboarder, has a great range of light bites, a splendid pizza oven and some chestnuts such as a superb duck roll with ginger, guacamole, tuna and soy sauce.

There are fabulous mini ‘gam-

the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 201425 25

bas pil pil’ hamburgers and a lot of the classics such as raclette and provolone with tomato. That said the mozzerella and caviar pizza takes some beating and the wine list has an excellent and good value range.

For a great place to eat overlooking the slopes make your way to Tia Maria, which has a good mix of dishes and is a great place for breakfast.

Sister restaurant of the charming Tito Luigi, it is also very much an institution – open for 16 years – and with a decent selection of Tex Mex dishes including guacamole, quesadillas and ribs.

VARIETY: (From top left) Paco at Carreta, Antonio at La Lonja, Gonzalo at Muralla and inset his fabulous ‘milhoja’. While (right) Jose from Bodega Casablanca beside a photograph of him as a child

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Sierra Nevada snow, sun and much

The family grows up in Sierra Nevada at the same time as entertainment facilities increase; because the size of the family and beginners’ area has extended with the start up of a new conveyor ski lift service in Borreguiles to a new skiing area ideal for the little ones to take their first turns on the snow. With the new Maitena carpet there will now be three in operation in the Beginners’ area where there is a daycare centre and the Dream Land, an ideal centre where the little ones can put on their skis hardly before they can walk.

Sierra Nevada will once again host twenty-odd official competitions of all disciplines and categories of winter sports during the 2013-14 season. For their commitment to the basic sport and their effects on the skiing talents, the most noteworthy of these is the ISF-World Schools Championship Ski, which will bring the best schools with a ski team in the world to the resort pistes.

The Spanish National Alpine Ski Championship will be particularly relevant and used to open the Universiade piste in an official competition, the new speed race setting in Sierra Nevada, which is currently operating as a commercial piste.

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With more than 105 kilometres of trails contained in 118 ski runs, Sierra Nevada provides one of the largest and most attractive skiing domains in southern Europe. This most southernmost winter resort in Europe stands out as having the greatest skiable vertical drop in Spain (1,200 metres), for the size of its trails, and for the daily ski slope grooming (382 snowcat-groomed hectares), with clean, wide, obstacle-free slopes for all levels.

For a couple of seasons now, on the Sierra Nevada pistes it has been rumoured that “something is happening at Loma Dílar”. And what is happening is in fact that ever since the Sulayr Terrain Park was set up the Loma de Dílar area is now a worldwide point of reference for freestyle: tricks, impossible somersaults, extravagant manoeuvres, pro riders and gliding in an explosion of colour with juvenile audacity. The biggest permanent half pipe in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe puts the final finishing touch to installations that have absolutely everything.

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/sierranevada2.0

Does a leading ski resort exist at only 30 minutes by car from a monumental city famous for its cultural and leisure facilities, at only 90 minutes away from the resplendent Mediterranean beaches, and with half a dozen golf clubs on the way? Sierra Nevada, Granada and the Costa Tropical have all these and a great deal more in an environment difficult to find in any other part of the world.

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/SierraNevadaTv

sierranevada.es

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Top Dollar

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THE Spanish tourist board has announced it is to launch an annual fashion awards bash to celebrate and promote the country’s industry.

The Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (MINETUR) said the awards would recognise those individuals, institutions, orgaisations and industries, which have made significant efforts to achieve excellence in the field of fashion.

The awards would support creation, devel-

The Olive Press fortnightly business section taking a look at the Spanish economy and offering tips on how to save AND make money

Dedicated followers . . .

opment and strengthening of the fashion industry as part of the strategy to promote initiatives that create more trade in the sector, in times when the economy needs a boost.

The five categories under which various organisations and firms would be recognised are: the National Award for SMEs in the fashion industry; National Award

for large company in the fashion sector; National Award for entrepreneurship; National Award for fashion design, which has two sub-categories, lifetime achievement and new designer honour; and National Award for professional communication and outstanding work in enhancement of Spanish fashion.

Money in the bank!

ON TRACK: Metro funding secured

Multi-million euro loans will boost the economy and help to keep the Granada metro on track

designed to finance, in tandem with EU funds, priority investments for the region under Andalucia’s 20072013 Strategic Reference Framework. The loan will be used by the Government of Andalucia to fund the Region’s contribution corresponding to the European Regional gic sectors for the region.

Development Funds and Cohesion “At the same time, they send an im- Funds. portant signal of the EIB’s commitment to supporting the productive Urban link economy in line with its strategy of promoting sustainable growth that The construction of the first metro line for the city of Granada will recreates jobs.”

The first €250 million operation is ceive €130 million, the second installment of a €260 million loan.

The project includes the construction of the first 15.9 km line, the acquisition of rolling stock and the buildAgency also reported a total 2,007 businesses were dissolved ing of a maintenance depot. in October. Of those businesses, 299 were Andalucian.

It will link the north and In annual terms, the number of businesses dissolved fell by 9.7%in south of the city via the 2012, while on a monthly basis the number increased by 46.3%. centre and benefit some Of the total, 60% were dissolved voluntarily, 13.8% via merg500,000 users. ers and the remaining 26.2% for other reasons.

THE European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Junta two loans totalling €380 million to finance key investments in the region.

The environment projects, renewable energy, sustainable urban development - as well as the Granada metro - will all benefit from the injection of cash.

EIB vice-president Magdalena Alvarez Arza said “These operations will reinforce the Bank’s contribution to fostering Andalucia’s economic growth by financing strate-

Now it’s a case of business boom and bust ANDALUCIA registered for the second largest number of new businesses in October, following the registration of 1465 new enterprises.

The region accounted for 18% of all new businesses in the country and was second only to Madrid.

The national total, 7760, represented a 2.3% year on year increase, and a 23.3% monthly surge.But the National Statistics

BUSINESS IN BRIEF

Bank swap HSBC is to sell its 8% stake in Bank of Shanghai Co to Santander for an undisclosed sum. The shareholding is valued at around €340 million on its balance sheet.

Hola Moto MOBILE phone manufacturer Motorla is to open new offices in Spain next month. The move is a result of the high smartphone and Android penetration rates in the country.

Hooking a deal BANKRUPT fish producer Pescanova has agreed to consider a non-binding offer for the company from a consortium of investors, including US private equity firm KKR and shareholder Damm.

Trouble ahead SPANISH banks will struggle with profitability over the coming years as lending shrinks further and housing prices keep falling, according to the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

Top Dollar

28 28the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

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Advertorial

MODELO 720 THE LULL BEFORE THE FATCA STORM! ARE YOU COVERED?

A

nyone moving to Spain or currently is either a beneficiary or a signatory. tax resident in the country needs Despite the law giving the authorities to know that at the end of 2012 power to impose massive penalties for nonthe Spanish Government launched disclosure it is reckoned that for the first a new initiative to ensure that it was no annual declaration required at the end of longer possible to hold assets offshore April 2013 less than 5% of those required to without disclosing their existence to the make the declaration did so. tax authorities. Whilst there Not only have the tax was no immediate taxation The tax authorities authorities threatened to liability the disclosure of nontarget specific nationalities are threatening Spanish sited assets may including UK expats moving to target specific well have implications when forward, they are significantly nationalities it comes to capital gains, increasing the number of tax including Britons wealth and inheritance taxes investigators they employ. further down the line.

Other measures have also Modelo 720 requires each tax been taken to ensure that there can be resident to report on annual basis assets in no way of avoiding disclosing assets and various categories including investments, paying the proper amount of tax due. deposits and real estate where the Spain has signed an agreement with UK combined value in each category exceeds and other major European countries to 50,000 Euros. Interestingly the law extends share and exchange information on a to Companies and Trusts if the tax resident regular basis. Of course this is only part

of a worldwide onslaught on undisclosed assets to warrant an investigation or just assets with the US FATCA regime in full simply refuse to believe it will happen to swing and the UK government signing a them. number of disclosure agreements with the There are perfectly legitimate solutions that Channel Islands, IOM and various offshore will work and stand the test of time without jurisdictions such as BVI and Cayman the need to simply hold all of your assets islands. Alongside this the EU inside a Spanish bank with has put tax evasion at the top all the risk that particular of its agenda and a revision Too often we meet strategy entails. Whilst we of the EU Savings Directive to clients who have cannot do anything about the include automatic exchange buried their heads in past we can make sure that of information in respect of the sand and don’t moving forward you hold your Companies and Trusts has investments in the most tax believe it moved a step closer. efficient way possible without Tax planning and tax having to have sleepless mitigation strategies are a core part of the nights worrying about a knock on the door investment services offered by Fiduciary or a Cyprus banking style haircut on your Wealth. Far too often we meet clients who savings. have buried their head in the sand and To resolve your problems call Tel: refused to believe that the tax authorities 956796911 or email enquiries@ will bother about them because they are fiduciarywealth.eu. under the radar or don’t have sufficient YOU NEED TO TALK TO US URGENTLY!

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the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 2929

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AGONY ANT

Market mumbles

Taking stock at Christmas

YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED

Financial and Investment Advice in Spain: ‘Chiringuitos Financieros’

B

anks provide 90% of the investment and financial advice given in Spain, while the remaining 10% is offered by various authorized investment businesses: financial and investment advisors, broker-dealers, securities dealer companies and brokerage houses.

The system has proved disastrous in Spain: hundreds of thousands (literally) have been mis-sold financial products by their own banks that by and large, deliberately dumped billions of their own worthless stock on their customers. Conflict of interest does not begin to cover it.

Other than banks, any person or company not deemed a regulated investment business (empresa de servicio de inversion), either directly with the Spanish regulator (CNMV) or through the ‘passporting’ system, which gives rights to firms to conduct business into the European Economic Area (EEA) under the single market directive, is not allowed to provide financial advice, let alone take funds from the public.

A third category we cannot miss are those who operate illegally, without any authorization. The Spanish CNMV calls them ‘chiringuitos financieros’, a term that is increasingly used officially to best describe how these rogues operate. The activities of these cowboys are dangerous to different extents: some just provide advice (never innocent though), others take funds from the

public and invest them more or less sensibly and then, the most dangerous of all: those who take funds from others, on the pretext of carrying out a sound investment, and either run a Ponzi scheme, sell worthless stocks or, quite simply, make off with the monies. This type of con artist, who often has a previous conviction abroad, unfortunately finds Spain a ‘fertile ground’ full of trusting retirees sitting on substantial savings.

And there is sun too.

Scot free

Some of these fraudsters have learnt that, if they take money under the promise of returning the capital plus say 20% and they record the transaction as a personal loan, they can get away with it and, at worst, get successfully sued in a civil court. If you are desperate to lend money to others for a nice return, do it officially via a Spanish Notary and if possible use real estate as collateral (just as banks do).

Currently, there are only 50 or so regulated Spanish financial and investment advisors (called “EAFI”) and approximately 10 times that figure operating with a EU ‘passport’. Any person or company offering services not appearing on the CNMV list of authorized investment services businesses is operating illegally. Don’t deal with them, not evenhave a beer.

UK

Last Week

Last week in the UK we saw the recent broad based recovery translate into job creation.

The unemployment rate dropped from 7.6% to 7.4% as the 7% review threshold starts to appear on the horizon.

Meanwhile the inflation rate dropped to 2.1%, its lowest level since 2009

This Week

Monday 7am Nationwide House Price Index Dec previous 6.54% y/y Tuesday 9.30am BBA Mortgage Approvals Nov previous 42.8K Wednesday Markets closed for Christmas Da Thursday Markets closed for Boxing Day

Europe

Last Week

Last week in Europe the inflation rate remained at 0.9%, however with the strength of the Euro the

Not an open and shut case!

These simple tasks may in fact prove to be quite difficult

A

We are going back to England; how do we close our Spanish bank account?

That should be straightforward you would think! If we were in the UK, it would simply be a case of letting the bank know that you wished to close the account and you would need to ensure that you transfer any standing orders or direct debits to your new account. The closure of the account would be simple.

Not so in Spain it would seem! While the process started easily enough, with a balance of around 360 Euros in the account, once the account was closed, the net proceeds were a mere €57. The bank said it was their fee for closing the account – that was outrageous to my mind. The whole process only took 10 minutes so at

that rate, the bank were charging something like €1800 an hour for their time.

When questioned, they simply stated that the Bank of Spain allowed them to charge these fees so charge them they will. Not exactly the best of terms to part on – perhaps a better solution would be to leave 1 Euro in the account and then simply move back to the UK! Are QROPS good?

That is another question I have been asked several times just lately and of course, I could write a book in giving a full answer.

People’s experience of QROPS varies greatly between exceptionally good, to disastrously bad!

debacle FOMC and the highlight for this week will be whether the FOMC decide to taper or not

This Week

This Week

No scheduled economic releases Wednesday Markets closed for Christmas Day

US

Last Week

In the US retail sales grew by 0.7% in November, showing signs of the economy strengthening Congress passed the spending budget which avoids another Government shutdown

Monday 1.30pm Personal Spending Nov previous 0.4% m/m Monday 2.55pm Reuters/ Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Dec previous 75.1 Tuesday 1.30pm Durable Good Orders Nov previous -2% Tuesday 3pm New Home Sales previous 444K m/m Wednesday Markets closed for Christmas Day

Contact HiFX to help you with your international transactions, call in at Centro Plaza, call 951 203 986 or email olivepress@hifx.co.uk

Road to Riches, by Richard Alexander

S we approach Christmas, it occurs to me that sometimes, the simplest of questions can be the hardest to answer! How many times for example have you asked someone: “What would you like for Christmas this year?” only to realise how difficult a question that can be.

A couple of other seemingly easy questions I have been asked lately have resulted in complicated consequences!

pressures still remain to the downside The PMI surveys for both manufacturing and services reported fragile recovery

There are some very strong and positive reasons why a QROPS could be a good home for your UK pension benefits, particularly if your plan is to remain in Spain forever, and even if you may return to the UK one day, they can still provide significant benefits.

For others however, things could not be worse. A situation I came across recently where the person had been persuaded to transfer to QROPS a couple of years ago, to enable their whole fund to be turned into cash has become a nightmare. This was the worst case of ‘pension busting’ I have seen. In my view, there are very few and extreme circumstances where pension busting can be justified but for this person, not only have they sacrificed their retirement income, they may lose the majority in tax and penalties.

The lump sum they had been told was ‘tax free’ was not tax free at all. Not only is there tax due in Spain, but they had not been out of the UK for a sufficient length of time at the date of transfer which has resulted in an unauthorised payment charge from HMRC. I am pleased to say that there are more good QROPS stories than bad though – Merry Christmas.

Richard Alexander Financial Planning Limited is an appointed representative of L J Financial Planning Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK. Contact him at Richard@ra-fp.com

30

the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

30

Property

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35

We shall not be moved vows hillside community

Hands off the Cavern Club!

By Claire Wilson

A CAVE-DWELLING community is digging in and resisting eviction - refuting claims that their homes are unsafe.

The dwellers - many of them young people - say the threats are just an excuse to throw them out of their beloved caverns.

The furnished, ecletically decorated caves, located on the San Miguel hillside overlooking Granada, have panoramic views of the Alhambra,

Spain’s most popular tourist attraction.

San Miguel is the site of one

SAVE THE CAVE: Inside one of the homes under threat

Golden times for investors

THE Golden Visa scheme has resulted in a 2,500% surge in interest from Middle Eastern property buyers in 2013-to-date.

Asian and Russian investors have also been scoping out the market in much greater numbers, since the announcement that any non-EU national spending more than €500,000 will automatically be granted a residency permit.

The minimum investment is €500,000 but this does not have to be in just one property, it is accumulative and can be made up by investing in one or more properties.

Interest from Russian and Lithuanian investors has risen 190% compared to 2012.

The glut of property for sale has also boosted tourism, with potential investors heading to Spanish hotspots to investigate the market and enjoy a holiday in their potential new homes.

The Balearic Islands continue to be particularly popular, accounting for 19.6 percent of total spending by investment tourists and increasing 9% on last year.

The Property InsidmeNreale

by Ada

of the four main cave neighbourhoods in southern Spain.

The caves carved out of the hillside have been home to gypsies and homeless settlers for hundreds of years.

Today – especially since the global recession and austerity measures in Spain – the caves have attracted dozens of young people, artists and the unemployed.

Granada’s city council, which claims the caves are unsafe, calls the residents squatters and says it has the authority to evict the residents because the caves are on municipal land.

The eviction failed after at least 200 protesters set up a human blockade.

Third attempt

Demonstrators, including activists from Stop Evictions, a housing rights organization, chanted: “The caves are not bought or sold.”

It was the city’s third attempt in six years to evict residents.

Authorities managed to seal several homes in 2007.

Stop Evictions spokesman Antonio Redondo rejected the eviction threat and called on the city to restore the area, which he said has an important historic heritage.

Marbella right back on track

T

HE glitzy seaside resort of Marbella might well have lost some of its charm since its heyday as a millionaires’ playground – but it looks as though the tables are turning again.

Marbella’s worldwide fame perhaps peaked during the swinging sixties, when the likes of Audrey Hepburn (left) and Cary Grant could be spotted chatting over a spot of breakfast.

But over the years it lost some of its celebrity appeal, due in part to a reputation created by lessthan-savoury British criminals running from the law on the ‘Costa del Crime’.

Now though, the sunny beach town with its Golden Mile, exclusive cocktail bars, and pristine beaches is starting to get a bit more of what it deserves thanks to renewed international interest and positive promotion.

The people buying in Marbella are getting richer and more ‘jet-set’. Russians – many with their pockets lined with gold – are particularly enamoured with the town;the number of Russians arriving at Spanish airports has doubled since 2008.

“They’ve got money and they want to invest, and what with the fall in prices there are many opportunities for them,” said Ricardo Sanchez Bocanegra, chairman of the Federation of Foreigners’ Associations of the Costa del Sol. “With A-list property buyers, the glitzy Russian set and the dazzling Starlite Festival, and Global Gift Gala, no wonder there is a buzz,” said Louise Cook Edwards, editor of online magazine Marbellas.com.

What’s more, gated communities such as Cascada de Camojan, Los Granados, Los Monteros – and the daddy of them all, La Zagaleta, provide luxury retreats for even the most private of celebrities.

Terra Meridiana. 77 Calle Caridad, 29680 Estepona.

Tel: +34 951 318480. Office Mob: +34 678 452109 Email: info@terrameridiana.com. http://www.terrameridiana.com

OP Columnists

www.theolivepress.es

the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 31 31 Brussels Sprouts are not just for Christmas, writes Belinda Beckett, aka the Mistress of Sizzle

Read all a sprout it!

W

HEN Kermit sang “It’s not easy being green,” Brussels sprouts the world over identified with his predicament.

Because sprouts, like frogs, have had

a bad rap.

They are the most unappreciated food crop that ever came out of the soil; more scorned than the swede, less tolerated than the turnip, more reviled than the runner bean.

But the leafy green spheres that practically everyone loves to hate are about to come into their own, because December is The Month of the Brussels sprout. And, as a vital component of traditional Christmas Lunch, they’ll be cropping up among ‘the trimmings’ at a British restaurant near you.

Quite why, at Christmas, everyone rushes out of cooked sprouts. to buy these dwarf cabbages by the kilo is a The noxious vapour they give off when boiling mystery, given their unpopularity throughout in water, and which they continue to exude the rest of the year. In 2001, as cold leftovers in the fridge, Thomas Cook actually used is not dissimilar to the smell It’s a defence them in an advertising camof methane gas … as are the paign promoting Christmas holmechanism. Sprouts after-effects of eating them, idays abroad to escape them! have feelings! Which roughly six hours later … (see photo).

No one seems to like them, makes us all serial Of course, anyone who booked apart from me and the citizens sprout killers! for the Spanish Costas would of Belgium, the first European almost certainly have met their nation to adopt them from the nemesis here where, in British Middle East and Asia in the bars from Cártama to the Campo de Gibraltar, 16th century. The Belgians are so crazy about come December 25th, you’ll be very fortunate their bite-sized brassicas they erected ‘an indeed to escape the festive fumes (phew whiff) homage’ to them in the centre of Brussels for their Brusselicious food fest – a sculpture of a stork carrying a sprout in a napkin (go figure). The French quite like them too, or else why would they go around calling their loved ones ‘mon petit chou’ (my little cabbage)?

But there’s a scientific reason why so many of us are turned off by them. When a sprout is bitten into, it exudes a bittertasting sulphurous substance as unpronounceable as it’s inedible (allyl isothiocyanate), otherwise known as mustard oil – the stuff of chemical warfare!

Dinging his dong merrily on high, Giles Brown sends in his last column of 2013

A

Auld Lang sighs!

S 2013 draws to a close, it’s a time for most people for reflection on the previous 12 months, see how many days they can last before breaking their resolutions and plan for the ‘biggest night of the year’ – New Year’s Eve. With my, ahem, ‘colourful’ history on the Marbella social scene and general freebooter behaviour you might be surprised to learn that December 31 isn’t my favourite night.

From long and painful experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that New Year’s Eve is for amateurs and I’m a professional. Far too often NYE turns into a grim affair as people are determined to have a great time.

That’s all well and good but one of the great things about socialising in Spain is the spontaneous nature of it all.

Some of my (admittedly dimly recalled) nights have been afternoon lunches on the beach that turn into impromptu celebrations and end with everybody at a private villa somewhere in the hills.

On NYE people tend to go

into overdrive, getting stuck into the cheap cava with a vengeance with the normal and predictable results of tears before the clock strikes midnight as well as some truly awful dance moves – normally to Blurred Lines.

There’s also the small matter of trying to get home after your night of revelry.

For reasons best known to themselves most Spanish taxi drivers seem to take the night off, and so the taxi ranks look somewhat like the Ameri-

can withdrawal from Vietnam - though you had a better chance of getting a chopper off the roof of the US embassy than a taxi out of Marbella on New Year’s Eve. And in case you are wondering, I plan to see in 2014 up at the Casita in front of a roaring fire, a huge tub of Quality Street to dip into and boxed set of Game of Thrones on the DVD. And then take great pleasure in maliciously phoning up my friends who went out the night before in a Brian Hanrahan.

Boiling point

Long lunches

WASH OUT: NYE

“I counted them all out and I counted them all back in again” style. Happy New Year!!!

Talking about legendary socialising, I’ve had the dubious pleasures of partying with quite a few hellraisers in my time, including Danny “Eastenders” Dyer and Tamer Hussan at an impromptu wrap party for their Spanish crime movie The Business, as well as several long lunches with the late Sir Dai Llewellyn and even a quick pint with George Best.

I never had the opportunity to meet up with the recently depart-

INFAMOUS STAR: O’Toole legends live up ed Peter O’Toole, though. I think we would have got on famously.

The story goes that at the height of his 1970s drinking, he met a few friends for lunch at a restaurant in London’s Soho.

As was his custom, a bottle of wine was ordered, then another, then several more. After the food, they then reconvened to various pubs throughout the afternoon.

As evening rolled around, the group got the idea to go and

see a play. The drunken crew stumbled into a theatre, bought tickets, and took their seats.

It was a good few minutes into it that O’Toole froze, then turned to his companion and whispered “Bloody hell, I’m in this fxxxking play,” before dashing backstage, donning his costume and taking the stage.

RIP Sir!

I was deeply disturbed by this revelation because, if sprouts emit this compound when they’re eaten, it must be a defence mechanism. Which means that sprouts have feelings! Which makes us all serial sprout killers!

There’s no Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Sprouts although zillions have suffered at the hands of incompetent cooks. First they’re flayed within an inch of their lives; then they’re given the vegetable equivalent of an episiotomy (the completely unnecessary little cross some people cut in the stalks); finally, they’re subjected to waterboarding at boiling point.

Genocide? Assisted sproutricide? Call it what you will – it’s still mean to sprouts.

I’ve toyed with the idea of giving them up this Christmas, as some kind of ‘humani-vegitarian’ gesture. But after due consideration I’ve decided to give up peas instead. Go on, ask me why?

Because I want to ‘give peas a chance’!

(Well, I thought it was funny)

32 32

www.theolivepress.es

the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

GOLF In the swing of it

Sotogrande has got it down to a tee...

La Reserva Club de Golf lands top tournament SOTOGRANDE will host the prestigious World Corporate Golf Challenge in June 2014, it has been announced.

Since its inception in 1993, the event has seen more than one million golfers from 20 different countries around the world compete on behalf of their employers for the title of World Champion.

Coveted crown

Next year’s tournament will be held from July 1 to 6 at La Reserva Club de Golf.

The 2013 tournament was

HE’S A CHAMP: Pedro Linhart, the top Spanish pro

Pedro is truly a driving force ON COURSE: La Reserva Club to host the prestigious world event

held near Loch Lomond, in Scotland, with a local team representing Rolls-Royce eventually winning the coveted crown.

José Guerra, Chairman of

the WCGC, said: “We are delighted that the WCGC World Final will be held in Sotogrande and we are sure the event will be a great success.

“Sotogrande’s facilities are outstanding and the Almenara Hotel and La Reserva are first class venues. We really look forward to being hosted there.”

PEDRO Linhart has won the Spanish Senior Professional Championship at the Font de Llop resort in Alicante.

The Canary Islands-born pro finished with a score of 199 (66, 67, 66) - seven lower than second placed Santi Luna, from Madrid.

Linhart now heads to Mauritius, along with Luna and Miguel Angel Martin (third with 207), to compete in the last event of the European Senior Tour - the MCB Tour Championship.

Designed by Blake Stirling and Marco Martin, Font de Llop Golf Resort was opened in May 2010.

Watching the birdies!

THE JUNTA has been called in to keep an eagle-eye on elections to the Andalucian Royal Golf Federation (RAFG), after the previous two results were bunkered due to ‘irregularities’ in the voting process.

Eight officials from the Andalucian Ministry of Sport were sent in to monitor proceedings after accusations of faked votes and secret pay-

ments to officials in charge of postal votes The election is being fought between President of Guadalhorce club, Angel de la Riva and Pablo Heredia Larios, President of Real Club de Golf de Sevilla.

The Federation has 45,000 members, each of whom pay a €74 membership fee.

CUP THIS: A delighted Jimenez now sets his sights on the Ryder Cup team

A winner by smiles!

MALAGA-BORN golf veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez has won the Hong Kong open - for the second year running - and for the fourth time in his career.

Jimenez took pole position, with a cash prize of over €150,000, after finishing 12 under par.

Jimenez said: “I love this place, I love this country and I love this tournament. I’ve played very well - I holed many putts on the first play-off victory.”

Jimenez previously won the event in 2005,

2008 and 2012.

And with 13 wins since he turned 40, the tournament veteran - who will be 50 in January - has now set his sights on joining the Ryder Cup team - which would make him the oldest player to participate in the tournament.

He said: “I think this win will help my chances a lot and you never know. I would love to join the team.”

Jimenez already holds the record of oldest winner on the European tour.

n Buen C amino E ................

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33

.................

Deals on wheels

Chance to grab a bargain as more than 80 official motors go under the hammer A CAR auction is being held by the cash-strapped Junta with official motors being sold from as little as €200 euros.

So if you fancy a Lancia or want a Toyota for your motor, turn up at the Sevilla auction on February 4.

The Junta will auction off 82 official vehicles as part of costcutting measures aimed at balancing the Andalucian budget.

The vehicles - which are ex-

pected to sell at prices ranging from €200 to €5,000 - are generally in good condition, though some may need maintenance work.

The auction comes as the Junta restricts access to official vehicles, with only the most senior members retaining their cars.

The total valuation of the 82 cars is around €122,000.

The auction will be held on

Let’s have a Ball, by Gum

SALES DRIVE: The auction is part of attempts to balance the budget

February 4, but interested parties only have until January 20 to submit their bids.

The lots will be awarded to the best offer, as long as bids reach at least 25% of the appraised value of the vehicle.

The vehicles - the majority of which were registered between 2000 and 2006 - include Peugeots, Lancias, Renaults, Citroens, Toyotas and BMWs.

RECOVERY ROAD: Motor manufacturing has outperformed the rest of the Spanish economy

Back in the driving seat RALLY HO!: Gumball Rally ends in Spain THE 2014 Gumball 3000 motor rally will finish on Spanish soil.

The annual event - which was founded in 1999 - will start in Miami Florida and finish in Ibiza.

Competitors will enjoy a road trip adventure across 3000 miles of public roads.

A total 120 mostly exotic and powerful sports cars compete, although there is some lightheartedness with vehicles like police cars and camper vans also taking place.

There is no official time keeping and prizes are awarded for such things as bad behaviour, enthusiasm, and back seat driving rather than being the fastest.

Private jets

The route of the rally changes every year. Leaving Miami on May 29 next year, the cars will cruise through Florida, towards Georgia and Atlanta, then on to New York.

All 120 super cars will then be loaded onto cargo planes and flown to Scotland, with their drivers following in private jets.

Roaring south from Scotland to London, the participants will then cross the channel to Paris, driving through France and Spain until they reach Barcelona. From there, the home stretch is just a short drive and ferry ride to the finish line in Ibiza.

THE SPANISH car manufacturing industry has continued to show signs of recovery - despite the economy registering a drop in overall manufacturing for November.

The manufacturing industry had reported 0.8% growth in September - the first positive figure to emerge in a year, according to the National Statistics Institute.

But although industrial production dropped by 0.8% in October, compared to the same month last year, the fall is lower than in previous years.

And the motor manufacturing industry is already showing signs of recovery, which is up 30.7% since 2012 – the largest increase in three years.

Sales to private customers rose 33% in November and accumulated a rise of 16.3% in the full year.

Experts put the increase down to the industry’s success in the export market.

33 the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 201438 33 33 57

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Guide to all that is best for Xmas, New Year and Three Kings

PRIZE QUIZ Answer these three questions and you could win a prize in a special draw: A. Where can you enjoy New Year’s Eve for € 25 a head ?

B. What is the name of the English- style tearoom in a garden center?

C. Who is open from 12-12 seven days a week?

Send your answers by e-mail to:

admin@theolivepress.es or by post to Urb Opened just 500 metres Casares del Sol, Bloque 21, Portal 70, Bajo B, from Garry Waite’s successful Casares 29690, Malaga by December 25th, 2013. restaurant Nueva Campana, this modern eaterie is open from 12 to 12 seven days a week serving cocktails and 12 different wines by the glass.

The menu combines classic tapas with a twist and some www.nuevacampana.com amazingly creative plates that taste fabulous and NUEVA ANDALUCIA -T: 952 814 041 look...well...FUNKY! And the prices, funky silly!’

www.funkytapas.com NUEVA ANDALUCIA Tapas - Wines Cocktails 952 811 590

Benalmadena bathers strip down A group of ‘Dippers’ from the Benalmadena area Costa Del sol, will travel to Benidorm to brave the seas on Christmas day 2013 to raise funds for Cudeca Cancer Care Hospice.

The annual event is part of a six day trip with 160 friends staying at the Hotel Calypso.

The fun starts at 11am with fancy dress in the reception, followed by a march down to the beach for the ‘dip’.

Last year the group raised more than €1550 for the hospice, which helped Cudeca to continue offering the cost free “Special Kind of Care” to patients suffering from advanced cancer.

Nueva Campana is one of Marbella’s top references for quality food. We are fully booked for Christmas Day, but have some spaces are left for New Year’s Eve. And don’t forget the ‘Hair of the Dog Day’ on January 1st 2014.

A cut above the rest A MARBELLA barber has caught the Christmas spirit – by giving free haircuts to the poor and homeless of his home city.

A photo of Antonio Perez performing one of his impromptu street haircuts has gone viral on social networks, with thousands of ‘likes’ and hundreds of users sharing the image.

Enjoy delicious clotted cream teas, homemade cakes, Ploughman’s lunches, sandwiches, hot soups and jacket potatoes all in a lovely English style tearoom in La Vega Garden Centre, Camino de Coin.

T: 656 454 753

Santa takes to the streets Around 6,000 people dressed as Santa Claus and his elves ran a “mini-marathon” through the streets of Madrid to promote festive cheer.

While grown-ups dressed in red costumes with wispy white beards, children donned green elf outfits to run the 5.5 kilometer city centre.

The race was organized by El Corte Ingles and it contributed €1 for each entrant to a charity that buys Christmas presents for deprived children around the world.

Javier Menendez, one of the runners, said he was surprised at the number of people who have donned the robes for the run.

FOOD & DRINK with DINING SECRETS of ANDALUCIA.com

www.theolivepress.es

This machine gives food for thought

A DONATION BOX in the guise of a vending machine has been installed near a Madrid church to raise money for local food banks.

Passersby insert their change and choose which of the 24 items provided by the food bank they want to fund.

Items cost between €1 and €3 and include sugar, flour, chick peas, and eggs.

The machine drops a little box that shows what has been purchased.

FOOD BANK: Proving a popular The idea came about when the group was brainstorming ways to donation box increase donations to their annual food drive.

Formula for a festive feast of flavour SCIENTISTS have come up with the formula for the perfect Christmas dinner.

They’ve worked out the exact portion sizes to leave you satisfied rather than stuffed and concluded - it´s best to include a good range of different ingredients.

The perfect plate was created for Aldi by TV food psychologist, Dr David Lewis, of Channel 4’s Secret Eaters and eating expert Dr Margaret Yufera-Leitch.

They identified how the unique blend of protein and amino acid found in turkey, carbohydrates in potatoes, vitamins and minerals in vegetables and the sweet taste of cranberry sauce, all work together to make a traditional Christmas dinner the ideal meal.

After the main course they suggest a 28g slice of Christmas pudding, mince pie and a fresh clementine.

Dr Lewis said: “It’s not just the taste of the turkey and all the trimmings, or the memories it evokes of Christmases past, that make roast turkey such a favourite at Christmas.

“It’s the variety of colours, tastes, aromas and textures in a traditional Christmas dinner that has guests’ mouths watering before they have even tasted a mouthful.”

Dr Lewis added: “When you then look at the effects each different ingredient has on the body, it becomes clear why a good Christmas dinner really is the perfect plate of food.”

Spain’s own cruelty-free foie gras A SPANISH producer is touting an ethical foie gras, which involves seasonal feasting instead of force-feeding.

Eduardo Sousa and Diego Labourdette claim geese by nature have the capacity to create and store fat in their livers, but this natural connection has been broken over the years after Greeks and Romans began to force feed geese with figs to fatten them up.

Instead of force-feeding the geese, they are allowed to feast on the wild foods they find around them in nature.

Sousa said: “Windfall fruit, wild seeds and grasses and, most importantly, acorns – the same acorns, rich in cholesterol-reducing oleic acid, that form the diet of Extremadura’s famous Ibérico pig,

Family farm

“It’s superbly delicate flavour and characteristic golden colour, which derives mainly from wild yellow lupin seeds, is a direct consequence of the birds’ varied natural diet and quality of life.

The 200-year-old farm, based in Extremadura in Spain, now produces around 2,000 jars of foie gras from 1,000 geese annually.

“A whole year is required to produce a small, uniformly coloured, regular and fine-textured foie gras,” Sousa added.

He explained that wild geese still fly over the family farm, which is situated beneath the birds’ migration path.

“Our free-range geese are partly domesticated, but are visited annually by their wild cousins, thus renewing the gene pool and maintaining the feeding instincts of the established flock.”

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37 the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014 37

News IN BRIEF

Quality picking ALMOST half of shoppers, 48%, said the quality of their food shopping is more important than its price this Christmas. This marks a reversal of last year´s survey results.

Taste factor AN ARTIST has immortalised the UK X Factor finalists by creating portraits of them using Christmas dinner ingredients. He used 2kg of turkey, 144 slices of ham, 89 sprouts, 168 carrot batons, five large Christmas puddings, and some mince pies.

Juicing Turkey’s Toksoz Group has acquired Spanish fruit juice producer Zumos Palma, which owns fruit juice producer Zumosol for an undisclosed sum.

Chain reaction

SPANISH tapas chain Camino will more than double its number of restaurants in London next year. The group is planning to open another six across the UK capital.

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38 the olive press - December 23 2013- January 8 2014

FOOD & DRINK www.theolivepress.es with DINING SECRETS of ANDALUCIA.com

Loads of praise

MUNCH BUNCH: Strangers can now tuck into dinner

Guess who’s coming to dinner

Strange but so true! The big question is just who are you?

YOUR eyes meet across the dining table, but you don’t whisper words of love.

The big question on your lips is: “Who are you?”

For booking a restaurant table online may be common - but how about booking a table at a complete stranger’s house?

Well, a new service has been launched in Spain giving people the chance to do just that.

The site – www.eatwith.com – which allows diners to register as a host and charge people to come round for dinner, has now expanded to include Andalucia.

Hosts post mouth-watering

FINE WINE: Day trippers visit one of Ronda’s bodegas

Heard it on the grapevine ANDALUCIA has a new red wine to look out for in the form of Mencia, according to Kelly Kannisto, co-founder of TrippyVines.

Kannisto said, “Everyone should be familiar with Spain’s celebrity reds such as Tempranillo, Garnacha and Monastrell. But Mencia is a new kid on the block.

“It’s youthful yet with complex qualities and flavours of red fruit and dusty tannins. It is maybe not such a well-known grape, but it produces a high quality wine.”

The company – which run tours of Andalucia’s vineyards – was founded by Kannisto along with his wife Vanessa in effort to make Andalucian wines more accessible.

The company can run pick-ups from all along the Costa del Sol and organises with tours and tastings at wineries in Ronda, Jerez, the Axarquia, or the Alpujarras.

For more information see - www.trippyvines.com

menus, along with a drinks list, prices and logistical information.

One of the site’s founders - Guy Michlin - said he was inspired to create the slap-up meals with strangers after a friendof-a-friend invited him to visit a Greek family’s home for dinner, giving him a different take on the country.

He said: “As a tourist, it’s easy to feel disconnected, like you’re walking in a bubble. The best way to break the bubble and enrich your connection to a place is to interact with real people in their own private spaces.”

TIO Pepe’s workers are celebrating, after the famous bodega’s Four Palms wine made it into the Wine Advocate top nine wines for Spain, Argentina and Chile.

The Amontillado was awarded 97 points in the Wine Advocate’s ‘premiere wines’ category, which critic Luis Gutierrez described as displaying ‘elegance, character and finesse.’

Gutierrez also highlighted the quality of the rest of the Las Palmas wines, awarding 95 points for the Fino Tres Palmas, 91 for the Fino Two Palmas and 90 for the Fino One Palmas.

A fruity flop PLANS to introduce a new shipping route transporting thousands of tons of fresh fruit from Spain to the U.K. have been shelved.

The proposal was to operate a three-day shipping route and cargo service between ports in Almería and Southampton, transporting 500,000 metric tons of Andalucian produce to the English docks.

The route promised to create jobs, and improve trade between the two countries.

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the olive press - December 23 2013 - January 8 2014

39

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Covering Andalucia in 2013 with over 200,000 papers EE (130,000 digital) and around 220,000 visits to the R F website each month… The Olive Press just keeps growing!

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January 8, 2014

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Immigrant crackdown

FINAL WORDS

Earth shaking AN EARTHQUAKE shook the provinces of Sevilla and Huelva on Monday morning after reaching 5.5 on the Richter Scale at its epicentre in northern Morocco.

Google fine SPAIN has become the first country to fine Google for invasion of privacy.

Its Data Protection Authority has slapped the search engine giant with a €900,000 fine on three counts of abuse.

Light sentence BRITISH drug mules Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid have been handed the lightest possible jail sentence after admitting trying to smuggle £1.5million of cocaine out of Peru. They face six years and eight months in prison.

THE Bishop of Malaga has condemned a petition to remove a priest who told mourners NOT to cry at the funeral of a 10-year-old girl.

The out-of-touch obispo commended Nicholas Timpu’s ‘clear, direct style’ and accused the parishioners in Sabanillas of ‘harassment’.

He was forced to step in after a 1,500 name petition was launched against the priest, after he told mourners not to cry because they knew ‘she was going to die’.

To add insult to injury he then said that ‘the worms are eating her now’.

SPAIN REIGNS: Green indicates the best lovers and red the worst

THE number of illegal immigrants entering Spain has dropped 12% on 2012. During the year’s 2,600 operations against illegal trafficking, the police have arrested 6,246 people.

NUMBER 1: Banderes

‘Self-confident’ Spaniards are world’s best lovers... beating ‘sweaty’ Turks, ‘hairy’ Russians, ‘selfish’ Welsh and ‘screaming’ Scots

Sex-pot hotspot SPANISH men have been voted the world’s best lovers, according to an international poll.

And to rub salt into the wounds, England came second-last last - after German men - for being ‘too lazy’ in bed.

Spanish men were considered ‘natural and self-con-

fident’ between the sheets, while Germans came last for being ‘too smelly.’

The top five went - Spain, Brazil, Italy, France and Ireland.

The other UK nations did marginally better than the English, though the Welsh

SEX SYMBOL: Nadal (7th worst) were criticized for being ‘too selfish’, while Scots (8th worst) are ‘too loud.’

The Greeks (6th worst) are ‘too warm,’ Turkish men (9th worst) are ‘too sweaty,’ while Russian men were found to be the 10th worst, because they are ‘too hairy.’

Itsy bitsy ban!

Ryanair brought back down to earth over racy calendar

RYANAIR has been banned from advertising its annual hostess calendar in Spain on the grounds of sexism.

A Malaga court ruled it was ‘unlawful’ and ‘unfair’ to use women as mere objects and has ordered the budget airline not to repeat the cam-

paign in the future.

The case was brought to court by a consumer association in December 2012, which declared the calendar contravened Article 3 of the General Law on Advertising.

In the view of the Judge, the human female body was being used as a tool to sell air tickets.

While the court agreed there was a charitable purpose, with proceeds going to a cystic fi-

Bishop steps into priest protest

Burn in hell

Locals also claim the priest refused to perform communion for a girl because she was ‘full of sin’ and would ‘burn in hell’.

He is also reported to have chastised mourners for crying at another funeral, because the deceased ‘was a sinner’.

When mourners questioned him over the comments, he told them to ‘shut up’ because ‘the same thing could happen to you’.

But the bishop said: “Some of his phrases have been taken out of context and manipulated, changing the true meaning.”

Spain reign again and again SCANTILY CLAD: Air stewardesses in bikinis brosis charity, it was more obviously a marketing campaign for commercial gain.

Careless talk costs drives

A GRAN CANARIA driver has been fined for simply TALKING to a passenger while driving.

Armando Chiriqui, 41, was fined €80 for “driving a vehicle without maintaining constant attention to the road.”

Chiriqui said he was pulled over in what he thought was a routine check, but was shocked to be fined for having a chat.

He insisted: “We were not a danger to the public.”

Chiriqui has decided not to fight the fine because of the likely cost of a court case, so instead chose to publicise his ‘ridiculous’ fine.

Ryanair, who have the right to appeal, issued a statement saying: “We have instructed our lawyers to appeal this ruling regarding last year’s (2013) cabin crew charity calendar, which raised over €100,000 for a Polish charity.”

The company also pointed out that it is the advertising of the calendar that has been banned, not the calendar itself.

SPAIN has topped the year-end FIFA rankings - for the sixth year on the trot.

The reigning world and European champions were No. 1 for the 28th consecutive month in the December rankings released Thursday.

Germany was second in an unchanged top 10, followed by Argentina, Colombia, Portugal, Uruguay, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Brazil.

Happy NEW YEAR We’ll be back on January 8 with a special edition wall planner