Costa Blanca South/Murcia - Issue 38

The

OLIVE PRESS COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

expat

voice in Spain

SAN JAVIER Mijas Costa

Vol. 2 Issue 38 www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2021

PL US

FREE

Your

IBIZA Spring travel special

Bare s e i t i s s e c e N

Where is our top rated secret watersports school ? - see page 14

EXCLUSIVE The expat helping to change Spanish law - see page 6

With national travel inching ever closer, the Olive Press offers a special guide to Ibiza, including an insider’s look at the trendy hotel that has welcomed the likes of Peter Doherty and Bryan Adams - see page 12

EXCLUSIVE By Alex Trelinski in Costa Blanca and Fiona Govan in Madrid

A COSTA Blanca expat has been forced to value each item of clothing - including her underwear - that she sent via a removal company from the UK. Patricia McKinley was stunned at having to list everything sent in packing cases as part of a permanent move to her new home in Guardamar.

The businesswoman, from Leamington Spa, told the Olive Press how she ended up paying three times the previous quote she had been given for moving the 30kg package of clothes.

“I was originally quoted €45 by a luggage-forwarding company, but ended up having to

Knickers in a twist

pay an extra €79, when I went back to wrap up my old house in January,” she said.

The price hike from DHL Spain was down to a ‘double-wham-

Award Winning Rehabilitation Clinic

Are you feeling depressed?

Addiction problems?

2 147www.villaparadisospain.com 834

Expat shock at ‘exorbitant’ fees even on clothes - being levied on goods sent from UK my’ of two unexpected charges.

Firstly a €40 levy for ‘additional paperwork’ and then €39 in IVA (VAT) payments on her clothes.

“I had no idea about this charge and of course I had to pay it,” Patricia continued.

“Despite insisting they must be kidding, DHL said they had to follow the rules arising from Brexit.

“I never thought I would be moving to Spain and having to itemise my T-shirts at 50p each or my underwear,” she added.

“At least they arrived quickly and I didn’t have to wait long.”

This however, was not the case

for Madrid-based Jemima Austerfield who was stunned when the postman demanded pay €40.77 for a present that arrived TWO months after her birthday.

Doorstep demand The beaten up package, smaller than a shoe box, came late despite being sent by her mother from London two weeks before her birthday at the cost of £40 (€45).

“My mother sent the packet with various gifts over ten weeks ago in the hope that the

Tel: 952 147 834

See page 11

TM

FURIOUS: Austerfield gifts would arrive in time for my birthday on February 6.” she told the Olive Press.

But after several weeks the box arrived back in London with a note in Spanish saying they had been unable to deliver it in Madrid, presumably because the mother-of-two had not been at home to pay the fee on arrival.

“My mother had to pay £30 (€33) pounds just to collect the package from the post office and then to pay the £40 again to resend it,” the caterer explained.

It meant that over €160 was spent in order for Austerfield to receive the package, close to double the value of the contents within it.

Under new rules that came in with the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1, all parcels, whether commercial or private, are required to have customs declaration forms.

It means they may be subject to extra import taxes even if they are gifts.

For packages being sent from the UK to countries within the EU, the rules now state that a CN22 or CN23 form is required to be displayed on the outside of the package as well as details of sender and recipient.

Michael Smith, owner of Villamartin-based South Coast Removals told the Olive Press: “Things were really bad in January as nobody really had a clue what to do and what the rules meant, but at least it is settling down now.”

He continued: “The only way of avoiding tax on transferring Continues on Page 4

2

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Hidden stash POLICE chased down a car that veered away from their petrol vehicle on the Orihuela Costa. Two Albanian men were arrested after the pursuit with 32 kilos of hashish discovered in the fleeing car’s boot.

Granny con AN Alicante man has been charged with illegal withdrawals totalling over €2,500 from a bank card belonging to his 99-yearold grandmother.

Hoaxed GUARDIA Civil explosive experts went to San Javier’s Ruiz de Alda secondary school after a bomb hoax email was sent to staff and pupìls about a teacher who ‘disrespected Islam’.

Pedal power WORK has begun on a continuous 18 kilometres cycleway stretching across the whole length of La Manga de Mar Menor.

The €1.2 million project will integrate existing bike lanes into a full uninterrupted route.

Elderly robbed POLICE have arrested a thief who travelled up and down the coast to steal from elderly foreigners.

The 57-year-old Romanian was detained after taking a wallet from a man in a Mar Menor supermarket. He’s been charged with five thefts and the fraudulent use of credit cards around Cabo de Palos and La Manga.

One card alone was used to make several ATM withdrawals in Cabo de Palos totalling €1,200. Another stolen card enabled him to buy €700 of cigarettes from a La Manga tobacconist.

The thief has lived in Spain for over 20 years and is based in the Alicante area at El Campello.

CRIME

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Serial killer fears

Police search for missing sex worker after three women murdered in Valencia region

POLICE are urgently trying to trace a prostitute who disappeared near Elche, where three other women have been murdered in recent months.

The Argentinian who could be pregnant was reported missing by a friend last week.

The missing woman reportedly worked the same strip of road - the ‘Silla slip’ – just outside the town

All that glitters AN Elche businessman was conned out of €153,000 by a 42-year-old Nigerian man posing as an African diplomat.

The fraudster lured him in with promises of an easy profit on a money swap scheme.

The Nigerian, along with a friend, contacted the Elche man in early March. They spun a yarn that they were high-ranking diplomats from Liberia who needed help in converting a large amount of money they had smuggled into Spain.

They offered him a deal where he would make a good profit on ‘camouflaged’ notes which he would buy off them.

The man was given a demonstration involving high denomination notes of €100, €200 and €500. They were dyed black to allegedly avoid detection and chemicals were poured onto them to suddenly reveal them as ‘legal tender’, but which were in fact fakes.

of Catarroja, where a teenage hooker was found dead three months ago.

Florina Gogos, 19, was discovered on January 30 between Silla and Albufera.

She had been strangled and her body dumped in an irrigation channel.

Police are investigating whether her murder is linked to that of Olga Pardo, 43, who had been strangled and dumped in a canal outside nearby Massarrojos two weeks ago.

The hotel cleaner was discovered on April 6 with cops trying to determine her movements in the hours up

to her disappearance.

There is no suggestion that she was involved in the sex industry.

The two recent killings bear striking similarities to that of a third woman who was killed last November.

Identified only as ‘Alicia’, the 45 year-old civil servant was found strangled in a ditch 200 metres from her home in La Hoya.

Given the similarity and location of the three murders, all within Elche, police are investigating whether they could be linked and fear the Argentinian could be a potential fourth victim.

TRAGIC: Olga Pardo (left) and Florina Gogo

Expat paedo caught AN Icelandic paedophile has been arrested in connection with eight sexual assaults on children in the Torre Pacheco area of Murcia.

The pervert approached his victims in a friendly manner to build up some trust before offering them €5 so that he could sexually abuse them.

The 59-year-old man was convicted of paedophilia in Iceland in 1988 after assaulting four youngsters.

He subsequently moved around several South American countries and Interpol are investigating whether the man has any pending charges against him.

Complaints

The Guardia Civil moved against him after getting complaints from several parents in Torre Pacheco with reports of abuse that had been happening since last summer.

Despite his Icelandic nationality, local people nicknamed him ‘The Englishman’.

Officers seized his laptop and mobile phone that were full of pornographic images, including pictures and videos of children.

The paedophile appeared before a San Javier judge who ordered him to be detained in prison.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Howzatt!

On show FASHIONISTAS flocked to Madrid Fashion Week, after the 73rd edition of the show kicked off in style.

Catwalk star Nieves Alvarez, 47, walked down the runway at the Maite by Lola Casademunt fashion show showcasing an array of stunning outfits.

The Madrid-born beauty, who has modelled for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood and Prada during her career, was right at home walking the capital city’s catwalk.

WHILE many sports in Spain have been playing on a sticky wicket during the pandemic, one is booming – cricket.

It may come as a bit of a surprise to many, but the quintessential English game is rapidly taking a hold in the land of sun and sangria.

Traditionally, its strongholds are Catalunya and the Costa Blanca (with a special mention to Madrid and Murcia) but the game is now spreading.

There are even set to be full blown international games soon with Almeria’s Desert Springs ground just being granted accreditation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to host one day internationals and ‘T20 matches’.

Now the Costa del Sol is following suit with an interna-

EXCLUSIVE: Get your pads on for Europe’s fastest growing sport, writes Dilip Kuner

tional tournament designed to boost the profile of the game in Spain.

Hosted at the picturesque Cartama Oval, near Malaga - where British ambassador Hugh Elliott once strapped on

his pads – the European Cricket Championship (ECC) will run from September 13 to October 8.

In total, 15 nations will take part, including an England Amateurs squad and Scotland A. Speaking at the launch of the event at BenalBy Jon Clarke madena’s Sunset Beach Club, The European told the Olive Press after taking a trip up to San Cricket Network (ECN) Sebastian to pick up the gong.

CEO Roger Fiener told “I decided the legal profession was not for me, the Olive Press: “People while working as a lawyer in Zurich and I always don’t realise it, but crickwanted to come home and open a restaurant in et is the fastest growing my home town of Marbella.” sport in Europe, and secHe picked up the award in San Sebastian alongond fastest in the world. side Valencian and Murcian chefs, who were also “In Germany there are honoured this year. now 350 clubs - there They included the chefs from Cal Paradis in Caswere only a handful a tellon, Saiti, Arrels, Entrevins and Toshi in Valenfew years ago.” cia, plus El Xato and Casa Pepa in Alicante.

Jay Wild (pictured), of In Murcia, AlmaMater, Local de Ensayo, Odiseo the Costa del Sol Cricket and Pepe Toma were honoured.

Club, based at Cartama “It’s the first time I have left Malaga since the lockadded: “We see this as down last year and it was amazing to travel again,” an opportunity to desaid Alcala. velop the game not just He naturally made the most of his trip by pulling in Andalucia, but across in a favour to get a table at legendary Asador EtxSpain. ebarri, in the Basque country, which was voted as We need more juniors the ‘third best restaurant in the world’ in the latest and want to diversify the Pellegrino awards. player base – and this There are 618 restaurants listed in the Repsol tournament will have an guide this year, with 304 restaurants around impact on that.

Spain having one Sol, 126 with two Sols and 37 “Many people don’t rewith three Sols. alise that cricket is even There are 53 restaurants with sols in the Valencian played in Spain – I am region, with Catalunya, the Basque Region and sure once they find out Madrid taking top spots. many people will come See food and drink, page along, and bring their 16 for full review on Kava kids as well.”

I’m the law (in the kitchen) A SELF-taught chef with a Masters degree in law is lighting the way for a new culinary revolution on the costas.

Lawyer Fernando Alcala, 30, has snared a ‘sun’ award in the annual Repsol Soles awards for his creativity and hard work at his Marbella restaurant Kava.

It comes after the young chef also won a Red Meals (Bib Gourmand) award from the Michelin guide last year and became the stand-out ‘sensation’ at the Madrid Fusion event in 2019.

“It’s a massive honour to win the Repsol award,” he

www.laterlife.es

Get FREE advice for end of life peace of mind

Call us on +34 627 76 71 91

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

3

STEPPING INTO OBLIVION A THIRD of Spain’s flamenco venues have shut down due to the COVID crisis.

An alarming 34 of the country’s 93 tablaos have been sythed by the pandemic.

Their intimate set-ups, with a stage nestled between the tables and chairs, has meant that most have been unable to reopen since March last year.

President of the tablao association Juan Manuel del Rey has warned that ‘tablaos are on the path to extinction.’

The knock on effect for flamenco artists will be huge as 95% of their work comes in tablaos.

While the Spanish government donated more than €2 million in support of the sector during the pandemic it is too little, too late.

“Tablaos have acted like a springboard for generations of flamenco artists to launch their professional career and without them Spain is in danger of losing ‘the universities of our flamenco,’ said Rosana de Aza, a producer from Sevilla.

READY, steady, bake!

AMAZON is investing its dough into a Spanish version of Celebrity Bake Off. With the pandemic leaving viewers stuck at home eager for new shows to devour, the global streaming giant is making a 10-part Celebrity Bake Off España.

The show will see a

dozen famous faces compete each week to prove their are cream of the crop and come away with the coveted title of best celebrity amateur baker.

The BBC has now licensed the show to 35 territories across the globe including Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, and France.

4

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Cash shock From front Page

goods like clothes from the UK is in the case of people moving permanently over to Spain.”

To do this people emigrating would have to produce a recently-obtained NIE number; documented proof that they had sold their house; and a supporting letter from the Spanish consulate in the UK. For everybody else, costs have rocketed, admitted Smith.

“You need inventories for everything and customs officers will charge tax. Additionally, the paperwork for removal companies and agents has doubled and that means a hike in costs plus time delays in making deliveries.

“Customers are seeing these costs passed on plus plus tax on top of that. It’s been very hard for everybody.”

Immigrants arrested FOUR illegal immigrants that landed on Guardamar beach shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning were taken to Alicante, arrested and given PCR tests.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

All bark, little bite IT might be to blame for a staggering 86% of new cases… but the so-called British variant of COVID is having very little impact in Spain.

The B.1.1.7 strain has actually been described as a good thing by the nation’s chief epidemiologist.

It is now responsible for the vast majority of the cases behind the current fourth wave spreading around the country, a huge increase on the 2% detected in January when the third wave reached its peak.

Early fears over the new variant - that got its name as it was first detected in Britain - led to Spain closing its borders to travellers from the UK unless they were resident here.

It was feared that not only was it more contagious, but it could prove more lethal, pushing Spain’s hospitals into a critical condition again.

However, despite being responsible for almost all cases now detected, the nation’s hospitals

A HUMAN chain rescued a man from a ditch near Daya Vieja.

An earth wall had given way causing the construction worker to be trapped. Almoradi firefighters along with police officers and by-standers joined forces to make the chain to

While it’s nearly 90% to blame for the fourth wave, the British COVID variant has no teeth in Spain

By Fiona Goven

are not being overwhelmed in the same way they were during earlier waves.

What’s more, the effect on the Spanish health service is far smaller than in other countries, like France or Germany.

Fernando Simon, Spain’s Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, predicted that the British variant could in fact be advantageous for Spain.

“It’s now our variant,” Simon said, adding that it ‘could actually be benefiting us’ as ‘it’s leaving no room’ for the potentially more dangerous South African and Brazilian variants to take hold.

Now it is hoped that the prevalence of the British strain could

Hole ordeal get the 38-year-old out of the ditch.

He suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Torrevieja Hospital.

work in favour of loosening restrictions on travel between Spain and the UK sooner than later.

In what would be excellent news for the tourist industry, it is now likely that British holidaymakers will be allowed to visit en masse over the summer.

Currently Britain is considering the categorisation of countries under a traffic light system based on the level of risk, with Portugal and Malta currently most likely to open first.

Those returning to the UK from ‘green light’ destinations won't have to undergo the compulsory quarantine that is currently required.

The latest data from April 19 shows that the British variant is responsible for an average of 86% of cases across Spain while

just three cases of the South African variant, and 32 cases of the Brazilian have been detected.

Asturias has the highest prevalence of the British variant with 98.8% of cases detected, while Aragon has the lowest with 74%.

Good news

Meanwhile Andalucia records 96% of cases as British strain, the Valencia region counts 89%, Madrid 80%, Catalunya 79% and the Balearic Islands 78%.

Further good news arrived this week showing that current vaccines in use in Spain are effective in preventing the British variant, something that may not be the case with the Brazilian and South African strains.

Spain insists it is still on track Opinion Page 6

Animal despair AN Animal charity has had to start turning pets away after funds dried up due to the pandemic.

Big Reds, in Catral, is now pleading for help so it can carry on helping abandoned pets.

Owner Suella Winston-Campbell said: “We can’t take in any more animals until we can actually afford to.

“If we do, the animals we already have will suffer.”

A tearful Suella, added: “There are so many animals that need help every day but the number of volunteers is dwindling as folk have their own lives and have to prioritise their own families.”

Both Suella and her son, Jon, are looking for paid work, as the expense of running the charity has taken its toll on the pair.

The pandemic has meant no fundraisers have been possible, but the bills and veterinary expenses keep rising.

“Due to our regular donations of food and PayPal donations we can feed the animals but with rent and utility bills due again soon, I’m in full panic mode,” added Suella.

The charity has eight pups in foster care that need feeding, as well as the dozens of animals.

Olive Press readers can donate via PayPal to bigredsassociation@gmail.com

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

AN Alicante policeman has been suspended for 18 months without pay for refusing to wear a mask at work.

Rafa Navarro repeatedly broke health and safety laws and could have been sus-

5

Getting legal

Camel horror

A CAMEL ride through Valencia’s Turia Natural River park ended with the death of a 20-year-old tourist.

It came after the man - and his sister - were thrown off the camel as it bolted after being shocked by a horse.

The man, whose name was given as Christian BD, suffered irreversible brain damage and died in hospital three days later, while his sister, 22, suffered two broken legs.

The pair had been thrown off, but their legs got caught up in the saddle and they were dragged for 200 metres.

The drama unfolded in front of the victims’ shocked parents who were seated on a camel behind them. The loose animal was eventually stopped by a car that blocked its path.

Neither sibling was wearing a helmet, which is not compulsory at the park.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

BRITISH expats previously living illegally in Spain have helped the country to reach a record number of foreign residents.

As of December 31, 2020, there were over 5.8 million foreigners living in Spain. The figure was boosted by a 6% rise in UK nationals getting residency

Beach ready A MURCIA school has moved its classes to the seaside in a truly COVID-safe environment.

The Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente school took its desks to Playa de los Nietos on the Mar Menor as part of a ‘Clean Air’ initiative across the region.

Teachers set up the furniture in specially-designated grids at 8 am each weekday.

Around 100 youngsters in eight age groups between three and 12 years then get a 20 minute lesson on the beach, weather permitting.

Some of the lessons have been specially tailored to the outdoor environment with Mar Menor fishermen showing the kids how they catch fish.

Un-masked crusader

pended for up to six years.

It came after he took part in a series of protests against

mask-wearing in December.

He also used social media to express his views including his belief that COVID-19 ‘is a hoax’. He has since gone on Facebook to encourage people that share his stance to ‘not be afraid’.

Registered Brits in Spain surged as Brexit deadline looked

ahead of a final Brexit deadline. Official government statistics put the total of foreign residents at 5,800,468 which is 137,120 more than in 2019.

The number of registered UK

Bison are back

IT would have been a dream for cavemen holed up in prehistoric Spain.

To have a farm specially breeding their favourite evening dish: that of grilled bison.

Now a special conservation project is set to reintroduce the European bison back into Andalucia after an absence of thousands of years.

The farmstead in Encinarejo, in the Sierra de Andujar natural park, a stunning area in inland Cordoba is already home to successful wolf and lynx colonies.

nationals in Spain is logged at 381,448, a rise of 6% over the 2019 total. Over 20,000 UK nationals got residencias/TIE cards ahead of the December 31 deadline, to officially increase the number of expats in Spain.

Spain’s overall foreign population growth would have been higher had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant it was the smallest overall rise since 2016. Nevertheless, the country’s foreign residents figure has gone up by 19% over the last decade.

Breaking down the numbers, 61% of foreigners in Spain come from the EU or member countries of the European Free Trade Association like Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland.

UK residents are the third largest foreign group in Spain, with Romanians coming in top (1,079,726) and Moroccans in second spot (811,530).

Seven provinces account for 57% of the total number of foreigners, namely Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga.

From a percentage perspective, Alicante, Almeria, the Balearics, Girona, and Lleida have the highest foreign numbers out of their total population.

6

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than two million people a month.

Open up!

THE big question on all our minds, from hotel and restaurant staff who fear the tourist industry can’t survive another COVID summer, to those desperate to see and hug relatives that they have been separated from since the pandemic struck, to holiday home owners keen to revisit their property in the Spanish sun, is when will we be able to travel freely to and from Spain?

News that Spain is now in the grip of a dreaded fourth wave may have put a dampener on hopes that the country could open again in time for the summer season, but there is still reason to be optimistic.

For Spain is coping rather better than it has when other waves hit thanks, in part, to the fact that the strain of the coronavirus that was first detected in the UK and is therefore known as the British variant is to blame for more than 80% of recent infections.

Although that strain has lived up to its reputation and proved to be far more contagious than the original, it hasn’t proved more lethal and Spain’s hospital beds aren’t filling up to crisis occupancy with new cases.

In fact, its prevalence is thought to be keeping out other potentially more dangerous strains.

One of the criteria that could see destinations put on the ‘red’ list of a new traffic light scheme proposed by the British government that will determine whether travellers have to quarantine or not is likely to be based on the strains prevalent in that country.

So countries with high incidence rates of dangerous new strains such as Brazil and South Africa are likely to automatically require enforced quarantine, most probably in designated hotels at huge cost to the traveller, those where the British variant is dominant may yet escape such a measure.

So if the British strain is already rampant in Spain and with half of Britons already vaccinated with their first dose, it makes no sense to stop tourists from the UK from enjoying a trip to Spain this summer.

Come on Spain ... do the right thing! Let them in !

Publisher / Editor

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Fiona Govan fiona@theolivepress.es

Kirsty McKenzie kirsty@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Isha Sesay isha@theolivepress.es

James Warren james@theolivepress.es

Simon Wade simon@theolivepress.es

Glenn Wickman glenn@theolivepress.es

Office manager Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es

Distribution ENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 distribution@ theolivepress.es

Newsdesk: 0034 951 273 575

For all sales and advertising enquiries please contact 951 27 35 75 Head office

Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva Deposito Legal MA 1650-2019

AWARDS

2016 - 2020 Best expat paper in Spain and the second best in the world. The Expat Survey Consumer Awards.

2012 - 2021

Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.

The British Harrowing sexual abuse, addiction and self harm were all flagged up due to his campaigning for a new child protection bill, but British expat James Rhodes says the experience has only ‘deepened’ his love for Spain, writes Heather Golloway

OPINION

Admin Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es

NEWS FEATURE

C

ONCERT pianist, writer and sex abuse victim, James Rhodes is feeling both relieved and disconcerted: relieved that Spain’s new ground-breaking child protection law has finally been passed at last... and disconcerted that it has been labelled ‘the Rhodes Law’ – the first Spanish law to be

PUSH: Pablo Iglesias

named after a Brit. the bill agreed upon by the warring polit“I got such a shock when I heard,” he ical factions. tells the Olive Press. “I was like, ‘You “It should never have been a struggle,” should have told me first, Pablo!’”. he says. “This law started with the PP He’s referring to Spain’s deputy prime (conservative Popular Party). It’s the only minister, Unidos Podemos leader Pablo thing all the parties agree on.”

Iglesias, who helped push through the But what is basically a humanitarian agenda. issue got turned into a A kindred spirit, who he met political football with the through his connections in right-wing press weighing Moved to act Madrid, where he has lived in and attacking Rhodes, for four years, he is decid- after becoming mercilessly picking over his edly modest about his role past and even ridiculing his aware of the in the law’s passing.

Spanish.

“It’s not about me. It’s a scale of sexual “I don’t hate journalists,” misconception that I got he laughs. “What I objectabuse in Spain ed to were the absolute the law done,” he continues before a busy book signing lies I had to read about session at a well known Mamyself, particularly when I drid bookshop. was sitting in the hospital with my dying “The NGOs have been working on it for mother.” years. But what the law is called is irrel- Now a household name in Spain, Rhodes evant anyway. The main thing is that we - already a celebrated pianist and TV prehave come out of it.” senter in the UK - was moved to act after After signing up to the child protection becoming aware of the scale of sexual crusade, Rhodes, 46, from London, abuse after moving to the country in spent three fraught years helping to get 2017.

You’ve been Jamie-d!

Barnaby Bouchard serves up some food for thought: Chorizo in Paella?

T

HE other day, while treating dren playing with a paint box, mixing myself to a paella in Valencia’s and matching, creating and discovePlaça del Mercat, I asked a pas- ring. Food is not an object of pride for sing waiter for alioli. us, although never let it be said that it The horror on the faces of my fellow is not an object of love. diners was only comparable to that This could explain the British percepjaw-dropping scene in Back to the tion that the continental approach to food is picky, if not preFuture after Marty unwittingly insults ‘Mad Dog’ tentious. And why none Tannen. of us understood the They are not “You can’t do that!”, a fuss that had all Spain boy of about eight said baying for Jamie Olisaying you ver’s blood when he dato me, laughing increducan’t add lously. red to add chorizo to his “Why not?” I smiled, paella. If it tastes good, chorizo to “does it taste yucky?” what’s the problem? paella “Oh no”, the boy reBut I think that I’ve finaplied, looking left and lly got to the bottom of right before telling me the Spanish attitude to conspiratorially, “It tastes amazing. food. And it’s not unreasonable at all.

But you can’t do it. It’s a crime!”.

They're not saying you can’t add choriThis experience stayed with me be- zo to paella, any more than the French cause I had never felt more distanced are saying you can’t make a croissant from my adopted countrymen. At the that isn’t curved, or the Italians are saage of eight I’d quite happily have ying you can’t add pepperoni to pizza. poured ketchup on paella, given half Just don’t call it paella, or a croissant, or a pizza, because it isn’t; it’s sothe chance.

In northern Europe, food is essentia- mething else. Here in Spain, adding lly something we enjoy putting in our alioli to paella mouths. We like it but we don’t identify is rather like with it. Of course we have traditional adding a sax dishes, like Yorkshire pudding and solo to Elgar’s Victoria sponge (emotional repression Nimrod; no with a side of empire guilt). But it’s one’s saying not like anyone kicks up a fuss if you you can’t do choose to diverge from the accepted it, just don’t recipe. dare call it We add fruit to traditional meat pies, Elgar anymake fish and chips from whatever more. could be trawled up that morning and The pillars slather roast potatoes in ever-crazier of any naconcoctions of herbs and goose grea- tional cultuse, all in the very reasonable pursuit of re - music, literature, art and so new things that taste nice.

Our lack of cultural identification with on - are considered what we eat allows us to be like chil- such because they reflect

the essence of its people and their lives, and evoke feelings; specifically, the feeling of being Spanish, French, Italian, British or whatever. Few could deny that, just as music or poetry can move us, so can flavour and smell.

Here, then, food is the same as any other expression of group identity.

This is the real reason Valencians defend paella with the same watchful diligence as the British defend Shakespeare, the Russians Tchaikovsky or the Colombians Garcia Marquez. What they’re saying is, 'Here is a window into who we are. If you fog up this window, even a little bit, you won’t see us anymore'.

Britain’s relaxed approach to food is, in its own way, admirable. But the next time you’re dining in Valencia, I invite you to forego the sax solo and enjoy your paella the way it was intended: as a beloved and proudly guarded expression of regional culture.

www.theolivepress.es

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

7

law-maker

Olive Press online ‘Spain’s best English news website’

Sign of The TIMES THE Olive Press is dedicated to providing quality journalism and providing a news source that readers can rely on to tell them what is going on in their local communities and what they need to know about the goings on in the country that they have adopted as or love to visit home.

So we are delighted to announce a new addition to our growing team of journalists across Spain with the arrival of Graham Keeley, a seasoned reporter from London who has been covering the Iberian Peninsula for more than 15 years.

Correspondent

ABUSE: Child sex victim Rhodes (with close pal actor Benedict Cumberbatch) has helped change Spanish law

He should know. He himself suffered sex abuse between the ages of six and 10 at the hands of his PE teacher at his expensive prep school Arnold House, in St John’s Wood, insisting the only way of describing it is as ‘rape’.

It is a subject that has consumed him for most of his life and the workings of the Spanish justice system angered him to such a degree that he told the media in 2018: “It makes me sick.”

And he certainly had a point: Prior to Rhodes law, victims in Spain who felt unable to speak out within the specified time frame of between five and 15 years beyond the age of 18, would miss their window and the aggressor could not be prosecuted.

Given that only a fraction of child abuse victims even tell anyone at the time, it meant that the vast majority of child abusers were getting away with their crimes scot free.

In addition, the Spanish courts made it far from easy for a former victim to see his abuser prosecuted.

Head of Child Policy and Sensibilisation at charity, Save the Children, Catalina Perazzo explains: “The justice system has not been child-friendly because it made children relive the whole thing, sometimes up to six times.”

So bad was the system, she believes that victims who went to the police would often end up with considerably worse mental health problems than the child who didn’t.

Rhodes himself can identify entirely with the silence to which many Spanish victims of sexual abuse have been condemned until now.

“If you spend long enough thinking you

ANGRY: Catalina Perazzo says system is ‘not child friendly’

will die if you tell your secrets, then you end up believing it,” he wrote in Instrumental, a blisteringly raw book published in 2015 which flew off the shelves in Spain.

“If a rapist tells a five-year-old child again and again what monstrous things will happen to him if he ever tells anyone, it is assimilated, unquestioned and accepted as absolute truth.”

Once finalised, the Rhodes Law will revolutionise the way child abuse is dealt with in Spain while affording the pianist a modicum As Rhodes writes about the need to ‘proof peace, along with Bach, his son, as well as his fiancee, Ar- tect’ his new home, clearly this need has been fulfilled. gentinian actress, Micaela Breque.

“To get the law passed was my way of rec- Due to the abuse he suffered as a child onciling with myself, forgiving myself and and its corrosive impact on his mental of having the fucking certainty that less health, Rhodes felt like an outsider in children would have to live through what London, taking refuge in composers I lived through,” he writes in his new book Bach and Beethoven and resorting to self-harm and addiction problems to bury Made in Spain, published this month.

A love letter to his adopted land, the book his demons. is peppered with expletives and strong While Britain became synonymous with opinions, yet, in the flesh, Rhodes comes hell; Spain offered him the chance of renaissance. across as a gentle, almost It is the Spanish and their fragile soul with a disarming way of life that has made smile.

‘When I get him feel he belongs at “I chose the words I use in the last. book carefully,” he explains close to the Referring to the response at the book signing at Tipos city, I notice to Covid-19 last year, Infames this month; words Rhodes tweeted; “Britain that, impressively, were a wave of is united in its arrogance, mostly written in Spanish – “I emotion’ while Spain is united by think it’s so disrespectful not compassion. There’s a to learn the language,” he reason for the different insists.

They are also words that express nothing uses of our balconies.” short of passion for everything from the Now, it’s back to his piano and fiancee public transport system to the arts in a Mica, an Eminem fan who sent him a country that honoured him with express message from Buenos Aires on Instagram in 2016 and who now shares his citizenship at the end of last year.

At least, that’s how it begins. The second apartment in the upmarket district of half, which gives a blow-by-blow account Salamanca. of his participation in getting the Rhodes Back too to immersing himself in his muLaw to Congress and the abuse he suf- sic and in Madrid, a city he describes as fered at the hands of the press, reads ‘something else,’ in his book. like an ‘aha’ moment, as if he’s finally “When I get close to the city, I notice a morphed from being a tourist to being a wave of emotion that’s so intense, I feel like crying,” he writes. fully-fledged Spanish national.

Author of two books, the second is out in “A soft voice inside of me tells me that, after everything, after running for so Spain this week.

Asked by the Olive Press if the struggle to long, trying to escape, of feeling an unpass the Rhodes law detracted from his imaginable weariness, I’m home. I feel love of Spain, he says, “No, it only deep- as though I form part of a huge united family.” ened it.”

Based in Barcelona, Keeley served as correspondent for The Times between 2008 and 2019 during which time he covered the financial crash and deep recession that hit Spain.

He has reported on the rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos which revolutionised Spanish politics and was on the ground for the Catalan independence drive of 2017 which sparked the worst political crisis Spain had experienced in decades.

Since leaving the Times to freelance, he has been a regular contributor for The Independent, The Sunday Times, Reuters and Al Jazeera and will now be writing regularly for the Olive Press, keeping readers abreast of developments in northeastern Spain as well as providing news and analysis on national issues and dispatches with interesting tales from his corner of Spain.

Millions

Last month the Olive Press had over 1.3million page views on our website and each week we count more and more signing up as subscribers, an essential support that will enable us to continue to go from strength to strength in providing independent journalism to a community that matters to us.

Join us online and receive daily newsletters with the latest articles plus a weekly round up of the most important stories of the week.

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are: Spanish government publishes COVID 1 -vaccination calendar for each age group 94 municipalities in Spain's 2 - LISTED:Andalucia in red zone Read the label : Spanish health autho3 -rities warn against the use of facemasks containing graphene What we know about 4 - EXPLAINED: proposed travel rules to Spain borders to close in 5 - 98 Municipal Spain's Andalucia

Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for a special quote

8

LA CULTURA Loss, Life, Love

by Nalanie Harilela Chellaram On April 30 from noon until 4pm Nalanie will be launching her new book in The Bookshop San Pedro.

Based on Nalanie’s spiritual knowledge and personal experiences, Loss, Life, Love offers hope and advice on how to move on with life following the loss of a loved one.

The underlying messages are that, even though the pain may never fully leave you, finding a purpose in life can help the healing process.

“Throughout the last weeks of our life together, every time our emotions got too hard for us to understand and digest, we would just look at each other and say, ‘it is as it is’, and that helped us through,” said Nalanie of the time leading to her husband’s death.

Loss, Life, Love explains the process of bereavement and describes the many tools that help during the most difficult and painful of life’s experiences. €12.99 The Bookshop San Pedro, www.thebookshop.es

A

N Art Deco-style poster of a palm-tree-lined promenade whimsically welcomes visitors to ‘Sotogrande Cadizfornia’. Scarlet Alexandra’s art is a reflection of her wit as well as her grit.

One day the 27-year-old was living the dream in Dubai working for a digital start-up company. The next day she was on the plane home to Sotogrande with her career in the shredder, collateral damage of the pandemic.

She did, however, have a plan ...

“I saw a gap in the market for bespoke posters of Spain that went beyond the traditional” she tells the Olive Press when we catch up with her at her Sotogrande studio. “Most images seem to show bullfighting or flamenco dancing, but nothing about the towns and villages, which is why I went for something different.”

In under a year this can-do e-entrepreneur has built up a thriving online start-up sell-

Posters from

Sotogrande artist Scarlet Alexandra is the poster child for post-pandemic reinvention - and she prints them herself! Alex Trelinski checks out her sexy start-up

ing limited editions of her enchanting, Belle Epoque-inspired travel posters – quite some achievement for the times we live in.

With a vintage vibe that evokes the glamour of a bygone era, Scarlet’s ‘Saxdoodles’ are a fusion of Scarlet and Alexandra tacked on to ‘doodle’, although these intimate portraits of her own home turf and beyond are far from casual scribbles: café society at Ke Sotogrande, chiringuito life at El Chambao beach bar, Guadiaro FeINSPIRATION: Classic Spanish posters dating to the early 1900s ria, Tarifa’s giant Valdevaqueros sand dune, the Costa del Sol of mine, from spending a ence,” enthuses Scarlet who coastline …every poster tells few years in Buenos Aires looks far more artist than IT a story. through to studying art de- whizz with her multi-coloured “Travel is a real passion sign at the University of Flor- bandana and purple-washed

LA CULTURA

the edge

Do you have a what’s on?

Send your informa tion to newsdesk@theolivepr ess.es

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

9

BEAUTIFUL: Scarlet has used places she knows to turn into these fabulous posters

hair. “I looked to combine that with my design experience to create posters that typify an area.”

Scarlet started up saxdoodle.com last April with six initial offerings, one of which was a map of the Sotogrande area in San Roque.

“Nobody had done anything like this before and I started to get inquiries and orders from people with holiday

homes wanting something to remind them of where they stay in Spain,” she says.

Ten months down the line, 350 posters have been sold, much to this modest artist’s surprise. “We had no advertising or publicity with ‘word of mouth’ and our website the only way we got customers. I’m quite surprised at the level of interest.”

Indeed, wall posters are a venture, they also became highly collectible art form. a cheap and powerful adverVintage versions range in tising tool that had their heystyles from Art day during the Nouveau and Golden Age of Cubism to Art Travel, enticing Every poster Deco and Bapassers-by to huaus. book holidays tells a story Dating from by train, boat of Spain’s the invention of and new-fanmass produc- beautiful towns gled jet plane. tion lithographMost OP readand villages i c ers will be too printyoung to reing in member the the mid-19th centu- old Fly TWA (Trans World Airry, they gave aspir- line) buillboards; or the Jolly ing painters in gar- Fisherman, a 1908 poster rets a new source for Great Northern Railways of income (at one depicting a chubby mariner time, the streets of dancing a hornpipe on the Paris were known sand captioned ‘Skegness as the ‘poor man’s is so bracing. It’s quicker by picture gallery’) rail’. and allowed or- Luckily for Andalucia tourdinary people to ism, which badly needs the own artwork by publicity to attract visitors famous artists back post Covid, Scarlet’s at lower prices. collection has a strong local Although maybe bias. More lately, she has not today. Chris- expanded beyond her own tie’s sold Henri regional borders to encomde Toulouse-Lau- pass Gibraltar and other trec’s 1891 Mou- places outside Spain. “Some lin Rouge - La friends of mine live in MarGoulue lithograph rakech in Morocco, so I crefor £314,500 in ated some posters for them, 2014, making it as well as for places that I the highest-gross- know like Buenos Aires and ing travel poster Dubai,” she says. in history.

A key aspect of Saxdoodle is Posters were the way her limited edition used to celebrate posters are made. unique cultural “Every A3 size poster is institutions - in produced on sustainFrance, the cafe ably-sourced hand-lined and cabaret: in bamboo paper in our 100% Italy the opera; carbon neutral printing stuin Spain the feria dio,” she explains. Each print and the bullfight; comes with a certificate of in Britain, the cir- authenticity and is personalcus and the sea- ly signed, adds Scarlet, who side holiday. also takes on individual priWith their vate commissions. h e a d - t u r n i n g As for the future, Scarlet’s colours, large career journey is clearly scale and abili- mapped out. “I want to exty to inspire ad- pand my poster range up

the coast through the Costa Blanca and all the way through to Barcelona,” she

declares. Today she’s conquering Spain; tomorrow, maybe, the world.

Local heroes A GANDIA band has entered Spain’s top 10.

Zoo - also known as Zoo Posse - were formed in 2014, adding rap, breakbeat and electronic elements, plus a trombone and saxophone, to a rock and ska base while maintaining the protest and socially aware lyrics of punk.

The band’s third album, Llepolies (‘Sweets’ in valenciano) is currently the tenth most sold record in Spain, ahead of international reggaeton superstars such as Bad Bunny and Ozuna.

The six young musicians have managed it independently, through their own record label Zoo Records and without having their album on sale at high-street shopping centres.

This is a band that also sells out all their concert tickets as soon as they announce new tour dates, including two shows at Valencia’s open-air Marina scheduled for June 5 and 6.

Furthermore, the second best-selling album this week is La pequeña semilla (‘The small seed’) by Alba Reche, from Elche, beaten only by the omnipresent Madrid rapper C Tangana but above releases by Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa and many others.

10

LA CULTURA

Hot ticket

TEXAS, arguably Scotland’s biggest and most enduring rock band, has added an extra concert date in Spain for their rearranged 2021 tour.

Albacete, in Castilla La Mancha, will have the band perform on Friday, March 25, 2022.

Four other Spanish venues originally formed part of the 2021 tour, but growing popularity in light of their new album means demand for tickets is higher.

The band spokesman said: “As many of you will have expected, we are having to move our remaining 2021 tour dates to early 2022.

“We are as disappointed as anyone about this as we are desperate to get back playing live, especially as we now have some new songs to play!”

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Out of the depths Droughts revealed the dolmen that had been completely submerged for over 50 years

AN ANCIENT structure known as ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ was recently revealed in its entirety for the first time since being ‘lost’ when a reservoir was created in 1963.

But calls for it to be moved to higher ground to save it from water damage have been rejected on the basis that their ‘historical-archaeological context’ would be destroyed.

Put simply, experts from the Ministry of Culture have decided that moving the ancient stones - thought to date back 5,000 years - will cause irreparable damage to the archaeology. It would also mean that they could not be viewed in POLICE have seized three forged Goya, El Greco and Modigliani paintings which were being sold for €12.5 million to unsuspecting collectors.

The owner of the pieces was a builder who apparently accepted the pictures as payment for jobs done - despite him knowing nothing about art.

He had amassed a collection of

Is it or isn’t it?

STONE CIRCLE: The Dolmen of Guadalperal will not be moved edge of the water at Embalse Valdecañas Reservoir and

By Simon Wade de Valdecañas, in Extremad- hydro-electric dam to supply underdeveloped parts of ura. their original setting - despite After more than 50 years, the western Spain. the fact the blocks spend most stones became visible after Some local residents and of their time underwater. successive droughts in the cultural groups had mootThe Dolmen of Guadalperal region. ed relocating the stones and is a stone circle consisting of In 1963, Franco’s government move the monument to safer 150 large granite slabs by the flooded the area to create the territory.

In turn, this would preserve the monument, promote profits. tourism, and proudly display The sale of the fake Spain’s prehistoric history, Modigliani was reportedthey said. But the Ministry 1,000 pieces. ly backed up with several of Culture has turned down He decided to cash in by put- forged documents certifythe plan, saying in an official ting the artworks up for sale, ing the ‘authenticity’ of the bulletin that while it was declaiming they were authentic, painting, with the aim of claring it an Asset of Cultural with the help of a network of selling it to buyers in SwitInterest any scheme to move dodgy art dealers. zerland, Mexico or Gerthe dolmen would ‘risk a loss They enticed international cli- many at an asking price of of authenticity if its relocaents in exchange for 10% of the €8.5 million. tion were to be considered’.

Bricking it

A PAINTING that could be worth up to €150 million if it turns out to be a long-lost masterpiece by Caravaggio was about to go under the hammer with a bargain reserve of €1,500.

Spain’s Ministry of Culture imposed a last minute export ban on the oil painting while experts examine it to see if it is a work by a lesser artist or an original by the Italian master.

Madrid auction house Ansorena said it had withdrawn the painting identified as The Crown of Thorns after being told that the work could not be exported until experts determined its provenance.

It is currently attributed to an unnamed artist within the studio of 17th century Spanish painter Jose de Ribera.

The sale was pulled after experts from the Prado lobbied the government to place an emergency export ban while they studied it.

OP QUICK Crossword Across 7 Central part (4) 8 Hangs, perhaps (8) 9 Amusing person (4) 10 Gland for the Establishment? (8) 11 Social science (6) 13 Was not convicted (3,3) 15 “The ---” (2001 Nicole Kidman film) (6) 17 Experience anew (6) 18 Greenhouse operation (8) 20 “Mary Poppins” chimney sweep (4) 21 According to the Shadows, stars fell on it (8) 22 Fail or misplace (4)

Fantastic fun in a stunning setting with coaching from world class professionals.

Really there’s no need to fly when the perfect family escape is so much closer than you think.

Did you know Europes most popular watersports complex was just a drive away?

Wakeboard Wakesurf

Come and enjoy a great day out or a weeks holiday.

Lakeside log cabins, Bar, Restauarnt, Terrace & Plunge pool Covid safe environment!

xtreme -gene.com

Xtreme Gene Watersp Email: info@xtrem orts Complex, Cordoba Southern Spain e-gen e.com Tel: 0034 957057010 WhatsApp: 667739392

For the latest news and information, find us on Facebook & Instagram

OP Sudoku

Waterski

Down 1 Faithful supporter (8) 2 Feat (4) 3 Largo and lento, for example (6) 4 South Vietnamese delta (6) 5 Entire quantity (3,5) 6 “It’s a warm wind, the --- wind ...” (Masefield) (4) 12 Dilapidated fence fit for practical purposes (2,6) 14 Excited (8) 16 Southampton team (6) 17 Stand-in ruler (6) 19 Boring routines (4) 20 Loudness units (4)

All solutions are on page 20

952 147 834 * O f f e r

v a l i d

SurinEnglish-256x334-HOME0421.indd 1

f o r

n e w

c u s t o m e r s

o n l y .

S u b j e c t

t o

c o n d i t i o n s .

E n d s

3 0 / 0 7 / 2 1 .

13/4/21 12:32

12

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

There has never been a better time to visit the normally packed island of Ibiza, writes Jon Clarke

I

T’S approaching high Spring and the beaches of Ibiza would normally be filling up and the hip boutiques of Ibiza town inundated with English, American and German accents.

Instead there is merely a gentle trickle of European tourists circling the White Isle and you’re more likely to hear the cries of a curlew or the flapping wings of a flamingo, than a persistent house beat.

Best of all, you hardly need a reservation for a single restaurant, and you’ll be surprised to find more than a dozen people on any of its wonderfully varied beaches and coves.

The island has never looked more beautiful and the interior is awash with wild flowers and blossom, and the comprehensive series of countryside walks and bike trails are better marked than ever before.

This is the Ibiza that often gets forgotten, with so many associating the island with pumping house music and partying to ex-

Island e p esca

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

BACK TO BASICS Liberal Ibiza is laid back in vibe and historic in heart cess. or to its lesser known cor- true gem, which will take redoubt that was once Forget the beach parties ners, to find its best green at least an hour to wan- the centre of Ibosim, one and concrete blocks of spaces, many designated der about, its warren of of the key Mediterranean San Antonio, head inland, as Natural Parks. narrow cobbled streets ports, first built by the Visiting Ibiza this Spring, and tunnels (yes, tunnels!) Phoenicians. is like returning to the Ibi- amazing in the extreme.

Meaning ‘Upper Town’ za of the Sixties, when a Chances are, Dalt Vila is handful of bespoke trav- towards suncertainly not ellers upped sticks from set, you will for the faint With nobody northern Europe to set up almost see hearted and about, it feels it is decidedly homes on the island. nobody, yet The roads are nearly emp- many of the so swap eerie, actually hilly, ty and you can sightsee at galleries and your heels for forts or beauty spots with- museums will edgy, strolling trainers. out a crowd of tourists still be open With nobody about with selfie sticks driving and restauabout, it feels you up the wall. rants are soon somewhat eeTake advantage of a once- set to stay rie, actually in-a-lifetime chance to open until 10.30pm (early edgy, strolling around. At clamber up into Dalt Vila, by Spanish standards, but least one part of it, just the ancient citadel above positively late for the Brits outside the main wall at Ibiza Town, with nobody and certainly Scandina- the extreme east, is almost in front of you. vians). a slum, with squatters and This Unesco protected A fortress within a for- drug dealers around, so World Heritage Site is a tress, this is a solid stone be careful.

But once inside the walls proper, you will be amazed at how well it has been maintained and how much there is to see.

Head in via the Portal de Ses Taules, an impressive ramp and drawbridge, that you can imagine would have been anything but easy to scale during a time of battle.

Once inside, make sure to walk right to the top to see the Cathedral de Nuestra Senora de las Nieves and some incredible views, before taking a look around the Archaeological Museum (www.maef.eu), with its impressive collection of Phoenician relics, said to be among the best in the world.

Look out for the tunnels

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

PINK SURPRISE: The salt pans are home to hundreds of flamingoes that take you up and down into the heart of the alcazar and ideally try and end up heading out of the back and then down the ring road back to the centre.

When you get back down you will be in the ritzy part of town with all the hip boutiques, including the likes of Paul Smith, Tous and Mayurka (www. mayurkaibiza.com), which has been around for 30 years and stocks the likes of Balenciaga, Kenzo and Marc Jacobs.

For a totally different experience, head up the coast a little to the salt pans, where you can find not just an impressive area of natural beauty, but some incredible wildlife and a splendid walk with lunch bundled in.

This is part of the Ses Salines Natural park and where the famous Sal de Ibiza comes from.

Salt has been continually exploited here since 600 BC by the Phoenicians - the commodity has brought great wealth to the island over the centuries - and there is some historical evidence today including an old milling wheel.

What is also very much in evidence is the impressive range of birds including sandpipers, curlews and stalks, that share the wetlands.The most exciting by far though are the flamingoes, when in season,

that can be watched from until you reach the salt a number of hides along- pans that can be partly side the colourful pans. walked through, past two There is even a special huge piles of salt, en route visitor centre dedicated to to being commercialised. them.

Eventually you will reach The place to start your the interpretation censaline adventure is near tre at the Church of Sant Restaurante Francesc, La Escollera, worth stopwhere you ping for a You can eat will evendrink at and tually have to take in the at tables your lunch or flamingoes. supper. From Your final overlooking here you stretch is the beach or on walk down along the the stunning ometimes round day beds sbusy Platja des CaCami des vallet beach Cavallet, but to the ancient it is not far so Torre de ses Portes watch- bear with it, as you are tower, from where you nearly at one of the iscan clearly see the island land’s coolest restaurants. of Formentera.

Restaurant La Escollera Be warned, the beach was ( w w w. l a e s c o l l e r a i b i z a . the first in Ibiza to be de- com) really is something clared a nudist beach so special, a true locals’ fayou may have to avert vourite and I heard that your eyes. It is also a keen time after time. area for the gay scene It sits in an incredible poand a bar called Chrin- sition at one end of Cavelgay, that can only be ac- let beach, with amazing cessed by foot has long views towards Formencatered to this market. tera.

From the 16th centu- Now two decades old you ry tower you head south can eat at tables overabout two kilometres looking the beach or on through a fascinating round day beds in any stretch of coastline full of way you so choose, with hidden coves and inlets sea bass in a salt crust my and fronded by a pine top pick. forest.

The tradition is to drink Ibiza at its very best with a cold flute of Cava on no construction, just na- arrival, although I was ture, with Cala Pluma happy with a iced Mahou. cove the real standout.

It’s not cheap but the peoWhen you finally hit the ple-watching is free and El-900 road, head east, there is plenty of that to enjoy.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

13

Ibiza Three great places to stay in m) Finca Legado (www.legado-ibiza.co is set in a secret valley just 10 minutes of outside Ibiza Town. Set up by a pair creatives from Austria it has a very laidof back feel and counts on 3.5 hectares i, cact of full nds grou ent verd extremely palms, fruit trees, wild asparagus and an flowers. The rooms are ‘eclectic, artis ble, forta com mely extre all vintage’ and focusing on top quality sheets and mattresses and the vibe is very hip. The saltwater pool is awesome.

m) is a Hotel Mikasa (www.mikasabiza.co ing look over Town Ibiza from w stone’s thro the main Botofoc Marina.

The views of the Dalt Vila old town are wonderful and you could spend all day watching the ferries coming in and out, plus graze on the excellent food in its terrace restaurant Kasamore. There are only 16 rooms of varied sizes and s, onie standards and some don’t have balc so do ask before booking. ry Cas Gasi (www.casgasi.com) is a luxua agriturismo in the heart of the island, the genuine address book secret, that is els mod ous fam of ns doze escape for and actors. It’s not cheap, but the h of organically-certified farm grows muc and oil olive its all uces prod s, its vegetable ilyhas a superb restaurant on hand. Fam See dly. frien and ming char are staff its run, review over the page.

open Three great beach restaurants all year in Ibiza Restaurant La Escollera (www. d laescolleraibiza.com) sits in a privilege h. beac allet Cav Es of end the location at the Focusing heavily on seafood, this is day of a plan and back kick y reall to e plac ing. chill and ing read sunbathing, Hip and near the action, Nassau Beach Club (www. nassaubeachclub.com) sits on Playa d’en Bossa, close to Ushuaia nightclub and the Hard Rock hotel.

It’s a very cool vibe with loads of day beds right on the beach.

There’s some great sushi.

Es Boldado (www. restauranteesboldadoibiza.com) is one of those secret spots that

e two you could not find by accident. Som prize the , track dirt a n kilometres dow is easily one of the most breathtaking, le romantic places to eat in Spain. Simp Es zing ama the rds towa s food, giant view Vedra islands.

14

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Could a tiny organic hotel hidden in the White Isle’s rural heartland really be Ibiza’s hippest place to stay? Jon Clarke finds out

THE first decision to make as you stroll stretches to the 475-metre tip of Sa Tadown the drive from the car park at Agro- laia, Ibiza’s highest mountain, this pasturismo Cas Gasi is which path to take toral vernacular is as far removed from to reception: the first follows a perfumed the fleshpots of ‘San An’ as you could bank of roses, planted four rows deep; possibly imagine. the other meanders beneath a floral ar- So when you hear that Pete Doherty bour of wisteria and jasmine. mixed the ‘perfect’ Sex on the Beach It’s springtime in the rucocktails in the bar, ral heart of Ibiza, a part while fellow rocker Bryof the island few tourists an Adams was also in The grounds ever reach, and the air is house, you’re not sure if produce much you heard right. heavy with the scent of orange blossom. just Google the of the fruit and But There’s nothing but wild place online and you’ll countryside for miles find a trawl of A-listers, all the virgin around. Just an artfulwho have allegedly olive oil ly-updated 19th century stayed at the low key farmhouse set in its own property, including Richlittle Garden of Eden, with ard Gere and European orchards, grape vines and an organic royals, such as the King and Queen of kitchen garden thriving with cabbages, Norway. lettuces and leeks.

The key to this is privacy, being off limits The grounds produce much of the fruit to external visitors without a reservation and veg for the hotel menus and 450 and, of course, the peace and quiet. The carefully clipped trees provide all the ex- price at 425 euros a night for a Deluxe tra virgin olive oil the hotel needs - sus- Queen room also helps. tainable agritourism at its best.

But what you get is a lot more than just With a view of rolling green hills that amazing ambience.

MASTERSTROKE: New eaterie is the perfect venue

Fantastic fun in a stunning setting with coaching from world class professionals.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Rock ‘n’ Roses

RURAL IDYLL: And even rockers Pete Doherty and Bryan Adams couldn’t ruin the peace at Cas Gasi The suites are particularly opulent, while the Ibizan Palaces, a pair of 165m2 villas secluded from the main hotel, list luxuries like ‘XXL beds’ with feather mattress toppers and imported damask sheets. They were also very chic inside.

My upgraded double room had similar bedding and was equally well-appointed with a giant bath, sitting area and stylish antique wooden furniture, as well as a superb balcony with views to relocate for.

There are four hectares of grounds to wander around, with floral walks starting right from your door. There’s also a fully-equipped gym and a yoga space.

Oh, and a free Vinyasa flow class every morning at 8.30am, Namasté … if you get up in time!

But the real masterstroke for me is the impressive open-plan industrial kitchen,

added last year with the intention of hand to tinkle the ivories on the showbiconverting one of the suites into a ful- zzy white grand piano. ly-fledged restaurant.

I chatted to the Ibizencan sous chef, who Led by chef David Reartes, it focuses is very aware of the island’s new foodie on home grown produce focus and believes ‘up to with some classy culithree or four’ restaurants nary twists, such as the The chatelaine could be vying for a star farm chicken cannelloni, over the next year or two. floats around served in a rich truffle “There is a real buzz and sauce, or the leek tatin, with a cookery school set glamorously with almond praline, a to open over the next few with Viz the dog years the island could visual masterpiece.

The timing for the restaufinally start competing by her side rant’s opening is imwith Mallorca,” he insistpeccable. Ibiza is finally ed. seeing a real resurgence When I suggest Cas Gasi in the culinary stakes, gaining its first could be one of them, owner Margaret Michelin star this year. shrugs, contending that she would be Mirroring the natural style of the hotel, more than happy with one of the new expect candles on every table, flowers ‘Estrella Verdes’ (Green Stars) for susand cool jazz – that’s if no pianist is on tainable restaurants, introduced for this year’s guide. (see https://www.theolivepress.es/ spain-news/2020/12/24/new-starsare-born-and-only-one-lost-as-the-celebrated-michelin-foody-bible-reveals-itspick-in-spain-for-2021/) Very much the life and soul of Cas Gasi, this inspirational chatelaine floats glamorously around the place with her water dog, Viz, padding faithfully by her side.

She spends almost as much time nurturing the staff and gardeners as she does helping the guests.

Coming from noble European lineage, we drive up a winding dirt track to the lakeside office, her family earned the Fleur-de-lys hon“We came here for a nice life.” our back in the 13th century for repelThe 54-year-old from Egham left behind a marketing ling the Moors in the Pyrenees (and job at Bacardi to set up Spain’s top ski and wake centre there is also an intriguing connection with Matt, 48, a former world number five water skier. to Marie Antoinette and a passport…)

The ex-champ from Macclesfield is at the helm as XtreThe heraldic emblem is the motif of the me Gene’s wakeski head coach, his world-beating exhotel. pertise played down by a laid-back attitude and hillbilly straw hat.

His professional but easy-going manner filters down But Margaret is anything but snobbish through the entire Xtreme Gene family, including the and her family are equally down to wakeboard and wakesurf head coach Jordan Elizondo. earth, with her husband lighting the The 24-year-old is another champion, who first came fires and chauffeuring guests to and to Xtreme Gene on his 12th birthday and from the airport. basically never left.

Their children regularly return for holiHe trains with the Spanish team, having days to help out and enjoy their former won the nationals several times and even home. the European Wakesurf Championship in “There is almost nowhere else like 2019. this left on the island,” she tells me.

Amid the pandemic, business slowed to a “We are a genuine local family busitrickle but since Spain opened back up, ness that started 30 years ago and there has been a new surge of interest we’ve just kept growing organically ever from those gagging for a better adrenasince. I don’t like crowds and don’t go lin rush than supermarket shopping. out much. This is my life until it’s no fun Debbie said: “We are flexible and peoanymore. ple can stay in one of our air conditio“I guess I am a housewife who became a hotelier,” she adds jokingly. ned cabins for a day or a week, we can Just as I am leaving (typically), Margaaccommodate all group sizes.” ret tells me they are preparing for the arrival of a group of models and photographers for a shoot. “From all over Europe,” she explains. “The first time they For more information ring have left their countries for a year.” the lakeside office on They will be in for a rare treat. It’s spring+34 957057010 or email Detime in Ibiza, quite the best time to visit bbie at debbie@xtreme-gethe island, and Cas Gasi really rocks it ne.com with those roses.

Waking on water

Amazing resort near Cordoba has the world’s best watersports

Really there’s no need to fly when the perfect family escape is so much closer WHEN it comes than you think.

to having a go in the world of extreme watersports Extreme Gene is an experience not to Did you know Europes most be missed. popular watersports complex After where was just all, a drive away? can you not only get a lesson from a European champion but also have the chance to shoot the Come and enjoy a great withholiday. them over an apres ski lunch. daybreeze out or a weeks rd This is exactly the kind of A-list experience you can expect Lakeside log cabins, Bar, at Xtreme Gene Restauarnt, Terrace & in Cordoba. surf pool ThePlunge wakeboard, waterski and wakesurf centre has been a Mecca for watersports fiends since its inception in 2002.

Covid safe It is no surprise that the globe’s top pros flock to the environment! area every year, especially when you first set eyes on the xtreme stunning Embalse de la Breña, on the fringes of -gene.com Almodovar del Rio. Watersp h t u orts Complex, Cordoba So ern Spain lake is a natural paradise far from the e.com pp: 66The A s t a 773939 h W Tel: 0034 957057010 2 hustle and bustle of the Costa del Sol. nd information, find us on Facebook & Instagram As you enter the town you are greeted by the imposing sight of Castillo de Almodovar, a hilltop castle which doubled as Highgarden in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones.

Upping sticks from Britain to this charming outpost of rural Andalucia was a no-brainer for Xtreme Gene’s husband and wife team, Matt and Debbie, whose extended family includes eight dogs, two cats and a horse.

“We didn’t come here to be millionaires,” Debbie explains as

Housewife

If you’re looking for a career where you can make a real difference to people’s lives, become a live-in carer for Helping Hands Home Care.

Earn up to £650 per week • Flexible working patterns • Travel costs covered • No paid experience necessary • Be part of a friendly, supportive team •

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

16

Different Strokes

TUI and WizzAir have offered different takes on summer prospects for UK holiday-makers seeking a Spanish or European sunshine break.

Budget airline WizzAir says its plans to increase services over the next few months to pre-pandemic levels ‘cannot be guaranteed’ due to fears of governments continuing to impose travel restrictions. On the other hand, travel operator TUI says it ‘feels optimistic’ about the summer because of the vaccination programme.

Routes

WizzAir has been increasing its portfolio of routes with the airline planning a 10% hike on its services prior to March 2020 numbers.

It’s chief executive officer, Jozsef Varadi, said: “We need to reconcile these increased numbers with reality. We cannot guarantee an increase in services due to uncertainty over governments imposing restrictions.”

His caution contrasted with that of TUI boss, Friedrich Joussen, who said: “Bookings in March alone hit 2.8 million and we expect to run up to 75% of our normal schedule over the summer season.

“We are confident that we will have a decent summer thanks to COVID vaccinations.”

Air Nostrum Bailout THE Valencian airline Air Nostrum has asked for a €103 million bailout loan from the Spanish government’s rescue fund.

The company says that it lost €129 million last year because of travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Air Nostrum started up in 1994 with its main base at Valencia airport with hubs in Barcelona and Madrid.

It operates as a franchise of Iberia under the Iberia Regional label with 91 domestic and international routes. In 2019, Air Nostrum won the Airline of the Year Gold Award presented by the European Regions Airline Association.

Air Nostrum’s application to the government states that it would repay the proposed €103 million loan over seven years.

It’s entire workforce of 1,439 people has been on the ERTE furlough scheme for over a year.

Last November it announced a package of measures including a 25% drop in salaries to avoid redundancies ‘as much as possible’.

Other savings include reducing its fleet of aircraft by 14 to 39 and renegotiating deals with their external suppliers. Air Nostrum has published a full summer schedule with additional routes above those advertised prior to the start of the pandemic.

More than 500 customers can’t be wrong

The Covid Friendly Store!

Replace just your kitchen cupboard doors or install a complete kitchen

English Speaking 200+ different models available Porcelain, quartz, granite and laminate worktops Huge range of sinks and taps Impressive glass splashbacks Complete revamp (tiling, electrics, plumbing service) all in one stop, save your time

See more examples of kitchens fitted on our Facebook page www.kitchensplus1.com

Business Hours: Monday-Friday: 9.00 to 14.00 Home visits in the afternoon

ASK FOR A FREE HOME VISIT, DESIGN AND 3D VIEW MADE WITH THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY Av. Artero Guírao, 30, San Pedro del Pinator, Murcia Find us on the AP7, exit San Pedro del Pintar, 200 yards past LIDL on the opposite side

968 184 235 info@kitchensplus1.com

EASYJET has unviled three new routes between Spain and the UK this summer.

Mallorca, Malaga and Alicante will be served by the budget carrier from Birmingham during the summer season. The route between Malaga and Birmingham will be operational from June 29 to October 30, with two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

This new route reinforces the airline’s commitment to Malaga, a city in which it will inaugurate its new seasonal base in June with three aircraft.

Flight-tastic The Alicante flights will operate from June 30, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with one-way fares from £23.99 and the Mallorca services will begin on July 3, departing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with one-way fares from £22.99.

The three new routes are already available on the airline’s website with sister brand easyJet holidays offering packages to all Spanish destinations.

Shuttered SOME of Barcelona’s most famous and longest established restaurants have been forced to shut for good.

They may have survived in some cases - a Civil War and decades of fascist dictatorship, and financial crisis galore but they have finally been done in by COVID. They include Cal Pinxo was a hugely popular seafood eatery in the Barceloneta beach area that had been serving customers for over 60 years, while Senyor Parellada had been open in the Born neighbourhood of the capital city for 38 years.

Other historic names to go under include Agut in the famous Gothic quarter, shut after 97 years, and Diaganol Can Soteras in the Eixample, which has pulled down the blinds for the last time after a whopping 105 years of business.

All hopes were on Easter, after a disastrous year with practically zero international

Restaurants up to 100 years old forced to close due to travel restrictions

By Glenn Wickman

tourism and no visitors from outside Catalunya since last summer. However, the holidays did not pan out as expected, and ongoing restrictions – including the perimeter closure around the region

and the reinstatement of the district closures this week – have sealed the fate of these legendary establishments.

But they are far from the only ones. The local hospitality union estimates that around 30% of bars and restaurants in Barcelona city centre have been forced to close down.

Unanimous verdict!

Jon Clarke judges the legal eagle behind Marbella’s hottest new restaurant Kava

T

HERE is almost nothing routine about Kava.

The cooks also serve as waiters, the head chef taught himself at home and everything on the wine list can be served by the glass.

And one thing it is very big on is precision. Precision in its presentation, precision in its ingredients and precision in its service.

But when the man in charge is a legal eagle with a Masters degree in law and a half German upbringing you perhaps shouldn’t be that surprised.

Fernando Alcala is a young chef of just 30 years with a big future in front of him.

The man from Marbella spent years in Switzerland working as a lawyer, before packing it in to set up his own restaurant.

He is very well suited to it.

His attention to detail is big in both the decor (Scandinavian, almost ski lodge in feel) and layout of his central Marbella joint, where you see the chefs beavering away in the kitchen before they bring their dishes to your table.

And what works of art they are: Carefully skinned cherry tomatoes, next to some tiny shrimps laid on carrots, pickled with cumin, then bathed in a carrot soup.

Courgette-stuffed wontons in a creamy lobster broth, a Japanese ‘chawanmushi’ of red shrimps from Santa Pola, with claims and a ‘vegetable bolognese’.

It not only looked good, but was awash with spicy flavours and best of all was largely healthy, macrobiotic food, with almost all the dairy coming from sheep and goats.

He also has an exclusive deal for various products from a farm in Fuente Obejuna in

the Sierra Morena, that delivers each day, including the best butter I have tried for years.

It is no surprise that Fernando is a born adventurer, who loves to eat good food, including various trips to the best restaurants in Spain, a number of journeys to Japan and most other parts of Europe.

The international menu is a genuine mix of many cultures and impressed me in the extreme.

Best of all was the price at €65 a head which included bread and butter, two amuse bouche starters, four wonderful petit-fours, a six course meal, a glass of wine, a glass of champagne AND the service.

Visit www.kavamarbella. com or call 952 82 41 08

On the palAte - Restaurant review

New collection of bathrooms and wardrobes available

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Are you planning on moving to Spain?

Blevins Franks has 45 years of experience advising UK nationals moving to and living in Spain. We can guide you through various aspects of your move, from residence and Brexit, to tax and estate planning, to how best to structure your investment capital and pensions for a Spanish resident.

Talk to the people who know 965 705 502 benijofar@blevinsfranks.com

We have nine offices in Spain as well as one in London. Our local advisers would be more than happy to have a chat with you and see how they can help you establish your dream life in Spain.

108-es

I N T E R N AT ION A L TA X A DV IC E • I N V E S T M E N TS • E S TAT E PL A N N I NG • PE NSIONS Blevins Franks Wealth Management Limited (BFWML) is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, registered number C 92917. Authorised to conduct investment services under the Investment Services Act and authorised to carry out insurance intermediary activities under the Insurance Distribution Act. Where advice is provided outside of Malta via the Insurance Distribution Directive or the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, the applicable regulatory system differs in some respects from that of Malta. BFWML also provides taxation advice; its tax advisers are fully qualified tax specialists. Blevins Franks Trustees Limited is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority for the administration of trusts, retirement schemes and companies. This promotion has been approved and issued by BFWML.

www.blevinsfranks.com

18

GREEN

www.theolivepress.es

Plants will improve air quality and save energy A SPANISH airport is using 10,000 live plants to build living walls.

In sharp contrast to the low air quality onboard planes, disembarking at Malaga airport will offer a breath of fresh air.

Airport operator AENA has put in motion the installation of four automated vertical gardens at various points inside the airport to improve acoustics and clean up the air.

The green façades, currently being finalised, will also help reduce sound reflection and filter harmful

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

VERTICAL GARDEN

By Cristina Hodgson

airborne pollutants like carbon dioxide from the air.

The living wall arrangement works with a ventilation system that helps to reduce energy consumption by lowering temperatures in the summer.

These plants will also generate tons of oxygen that will circulate in the airport each year.

Malaga airport isn’t the only space in the Andalucian city to boast a strik-

SPAIN is one of the most expensive countries in Europe to charge and run an electric car.

Using data from Eurostat, Switcher.ie has published results that could be cause-forconcern among the environmentally-conscious in the country.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been growing in popularity and now make up over 10% of new car sales across the continent. Spain is the fifth most expensive place to charge an EV in Europe, with only Germany, Den-

ing vertical garden.

Restaurant Jose Carlos Garcia, one of the Miche-

Electric shock

mark, Belgium and Ireland more costly.

The UK is only slightly cheaper, being seventh most expensive. It costs on average €13.99 to fully charge an EV in Spain, while in the priciest country - Germany - the cost is €19.02 with an average of €10.13 .

For the cheapest charge head to Ukraine, where a full charge will set you back a mere €2.91 on average.

Time for change By 2050 the country should be ‘carbon neutral’.

The aim is also that renewable energy should make up a 42% share of final energy consumption compared to around 20% at present.

All cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants will have to adopt sustainable mobility plans that include low-emission zones similar to those in Madrid and Barcelona.

Silver lining SPAIN plans to use €13.2 billion of EU pandemic recovery funds to boost electric vehicle use.

It is one of 20 ‘flagship’ measures being taken to modernise the Spanish economy over the next three years, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Other initiatives include spending €6.8 billion on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and €4.3 billion to updating the public administration, he said.

He added that the investments will boost economic growth by around 2% annually, starting in 2022 and create more than 800,000 jobs.

Spain and Italy are set to receive the greatest portions of the EU fund because their economies faced the deepest contractions last year.

Spain will be handed a total of €140 billion.

One reason why a third of Spain’s population is breathing in polluted air

N

COMPOST KING: Gardener Paco

lin star restaurants on the Costa del Sol, isn’t just famed for its outstanding gastronomy, but also for its vertical garden made up of native plants from the Montes de Malaga— thyme, lavender and rosemary.

These are herbs which are used in the restaurant’s kitchen.

As they grow without any type of pesticides and inside the restaurant, the ferns and other species aim to recreate the Mediterranean Sea.

SPAIN has approved a bill to combat climate change and its effects, although the document still needs to be ratified by the Senate.

Parliament approved the first Climate Change Law in Spain, which aims to bring the country into line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement, five years after it was signed.

It establishes measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The law sets a target by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions a minimum of 23% compared to 1990 emissions.

o smoke without fire - this is a well known idiom that is true.

But replace the ‘m’ in idiom with a ‘t’ and you now have IDIOT. Idiot and Bad Company (who had a song with the same name above) bring me to the theme of burning cuttings in the campo.

I receive many emails from readers of this column (please keep them coming), but one really sparked my interest (if you’ll excuse the pun).

It came from Clive, who lives in a lovely rural area near Polop in a house with fabulous views to Altea, on the Costa Blanca.

He wrote to tell me that his views are consistently blighted by locals burning garden waste, rather than simply composting, which is so easy to do.

And it’s almost a daily basis, he added. So, I return to a previous theme - air pollution.

While the UN passed a groundbreaking resolution recognising that access to clean water is a basic human right in 2010, no similar resolution exists on the right to breathe clean air.

Green Matters

By Martin Tye

NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE

Incredibly, 17.5 million Spaniards (over a third) are breathing air that the European Union considers polluted.

This is air that contains excessive levels of three main pollutants: ●● Nitrogen Dioxide - caused by traffic and predominantly a problem in the cities (Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia mainly) ●● PM10 particulate matter, consisting of dust, ash, soot and similar substances produced by traffic as well as central heating systems, industry and construction. ●● And finally ozone, a pollutant linked to the others, which is prevalent during hot weather and can spread long distances.

I have discovered that 36 out of 126 regions of Spain have illegal levels of ozone gas.

Furthermore ‘OVER HALF OF SPAIN DOES NOT MEET EU AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND

GUIDELINES’ according to green group Ecologists in Action.

I find this quite staggering. More people die from pollution than road accidents.

And Government action is predictably far too lethargic.

I believe air pollution is also a human rights issue. Pollution on today’s scale clearly violates the rights to life, and the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

We tend to be more aware nowadays of the vulnerability of future generations to the perils resulting from current environmental decision making.

A very correct standpoint, BUT, more needs to be done. Not just on a global scale, but on a local level to help protect the Clive’s of this world who deserve a life not contaminated by idiots in the campo.

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es

SOLAR PV PANELS

100% Certified Green Energy

GENERATE YOUR OWN ELECTRICITY Make huge savings Get paid for any surplus

Make free use of the sun!

FULL INSTALLATION & REGISTRATION - MAINTENANCE - 20-YEAR GUARANTEE - LOW-COST FINANCING

GET A FREE NO OBLIGATION QUOTE TODAY! +34 951 120 830 | INFO@MARIPOSAENERGIA.ES | WWW.MARIPOSAENERGIA.ES

BUSINESS Zombie cars SPAIN’s ever growing problem with so-called ‘zombie cars’ has reached a 10 year high as COVID-19 adds to motoring’s greatest pandemic. Zombie cars is a term coined by insurance companies to describe any vehicle that is travelling without insurance or any other legally required paperwork.

According to a recent study by Linea Directa, a total of 2.65 million cars are on the roads without all the correct paperwork, representing over 8% of the total cars registered across the country.

This has been added to the 400,000 vehicles in the past 10 years that have already been written off the books by the DGT for spending five years or more unaccounted for.

Linea Directa has revealed that the main discrepancy on Spain’s roads is the lack of insurance, a crime that can lead to fines of up to €3,000. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue over the past 12 months leading to figures reaching a 10 year high.

FASHION chain H&M will shut 30 of its stores in Spain, putting 1,100 jobs at risk.

The closure affects one fifth of the retailer’s branches across the country.

H&M announced its intention to 350 stores across the world and after net profit dropped tenfold in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The firm, however, was able to take adA NEW Amazon logistics centre will open in Murcia City this autumn with 1,200 jobs set to be created over three years.

The 160,000 square metre facility will use state-ofthe-art technology to speed up the distribution of orders across the whole of south-east Spain.

On a site visit, Amazon's Spanish director, Fred Pattje, said: “We should be operational by October and we will have the capacity to send out 550,000 parcels per day.”

The new centre has been built just off the A-30 highway in the Southeast business park at Valladolises in Murcia City.

It's also just six kilometres drive from the regional in-

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

PM outlines plans to spend €140 billion on investment and reforms SPAIN’S Prime Minister has outlined his Recovery and Resilience plan for the nation aiming to revive and modernise its economy using €72 billion in grants from the European Union.

Spain has earmarked a total of €140 billion to spend by 2027 for an investment and reform programme closely monitored by the European Commission.

Roughly half of it will take the form of grants from the EU while the rest will be paid out in loans.

The proposal will be fine-tuned before it is sent to Brussels by the April 30 deadline.

“We only come by opportunities like this a few times every century and we cannot let it pass us by,” Sánchez said in a televised address following the weekly cabinet meeting in Madrid on Tuesday.

He described the funds as Spain’s ‘greatest opportuni-

Jobs blow vantage of online sales, with shopping on the H&M site up more than 40% from 2019. Currently, e-shopping accounts for almost a third of H&M’s overall turnover.

The company, which was founded in

veyor belts. 250 lorries per day will bring in goods each day for onward distribution.

The Murcia facility will be on a par to Amazon's other two big centres in the Barcelona and Sevilla areas.

Crypto con SPAIN’S first-ever class action involving crypto-currency fraud has been presented to the National Court in Madrid.

The lawsuit claims that over 300 small crypto investors in Spain were ripped off to the tune of over €250 million by Javier Biosca Rodriquez.

Papers filed to the court say that Biosca created a scheme in 2019 which offered clients weekly returns of up to 25% on their crypto investments.

He concentrated on getting bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin with the money provided from his clients.

Dividends

By Fiona Govan

ty’ since joining the European Union and heralded his government’s recovery plan as ‘the most ambitious and transcendental in the economic history of Spain’. Sanchez said the plan includes 212 measures,

Sweden in 1947, is the second-largest global clothing retailer, behind Inditex, who owns Spanish brands Zara and Bershka.

H&M said the ‘content growth of online’ sales represented a ‘great change’ for the brand and plans to invest further into e-commerce as part of the shake-up of its operations.

In Prime Position

ternational airport at Corvera. The facility will be operational 24 hours a day with three work shifts using up 900 workers at a time.

Up to 1,000 robots will also be used to process orders with 13 kilometres of con-

Hey big spender

19

ENERGY company Endesa is in trouble over hundreds of birds dying after making contact with the firm’s high voltage power lines and pylons in Catalunya.

Barcelona’s environment prosecutor, Antoni Pelegrin, has filed charges after two years of investigations. Endesa and six of its managers are being prosecuted for environmental crimes and failing to protect wildlife.

The action says that a 2008 national law has been broken which requires ‘appropriate’ protective measures in areas which have overhead high voltage cables.

Prosecutors claim that

of which 110 involve the allocation of funds into 10 broad policy areas while the remaining 102 measures are reforms, including of the public health system, energy and renewables, or the modernization of the justice system. He envisioned that the programme should bring growth of two percentage points to gross domestic product growth annually in the coming years.

Central, regional and local governments will be largely in charge of spending the money, with 18% of it going to education, a whopping 39% to environmental projects and digitalisation, and large sums earmarked for housing renovation and rural repopulation.

The first group consisted of 19 people, who were acquaintances of Biosca. The promised dividends were paid out and Biosca’s client base then expanded to over 500 through word of mouth.

His investors included notaries, judges, tax inspectors, and small business owners.

But in January 2020, the weekly payout dropped to between 8 and 10%, and the dividends totally dried up by last November. Biosca told investors that he was in charge of a brokerage company called Algorithms Group, but it was not registered with the Spanish National Securities Markets Commission.

Deadly Pylons

lona, constituting a veritable plague.”

A Endesa spokesman said that it acted ‘in full compliance with the law in environmental issues and especially birds’.

Between 2018 and 2020, Endesa said that it made changes to over 2,000 pylons and this year alone would be investing €4.6 million in the Catalunya region in making changes to power cables purely to protect birdlife.

According to the lawsuit, Endesa had ‘not taken measures to repair the affected (parts) that fail to comply with the safety measures... deliberately disregarding and ignoring its legal obligations to prevent harm to wildlife’.

Endesa failed to adequately insulate its cables and pylons, leading to 255 bird fatalities in the Osona area of Barcelona which is home to a number of protective species including buzzards, eagles, and vultures.

The legal action states: “The electrocution and death of birds due to direct contact with the exposed conductors on pylons owned by the defendant has affected the whole province of Barce-

20

COLUMNISTS

Livin’ La Vida Liga!

I

N case you have been living under a rugby ball sized rock recently, the media has gone into meltdown over plans for a European Super League.

Flicking through radio stations as I trundled inland to my Casita on Sunday night, it seemed that every radio show had a panel of serious, angry men discussing the world-shattering implications.

It made the funeral of HRH Prince Philip sound like a Cbeebies special. Nevertheless, it did make me ponder on all things to do with La Liga that’s been dominated by Real Madrid - Franco’s team - and Barcelona, for decades.

Every Spanish town and village (and, I mean, EVERY one) has its Real and Barcelona supporters club, as I discovered when living in one such pueblo near Antequera. On the night of the ‘El Classico’ (or derby) I had wandered into the Real pub to watch the match with a pal.

Greeted with stares akin to ‘An American Werewolf in London’, we were only finally accepted when 20 minutes in Madrid’s de-

fender Sergio Ramos received a kick to the family jewels.

The whole bar winced in sympathetic pain and, seeing us wince too, the patrons deduced that we must be Real fans, after all.

Drinks were ordered all round Real won the match and most of the bar went outside to let off fireworks, including the chap who had brought a fully-functioning air raid siren. Village life is different, especially when you consider most locals had never even been to Malaga – a mere 40 minutes’ drive away. What would they make of a night in the capital itself? I suppose the one good thing that might come out of the Big Three leaving La Liga, is that other, worse-funded clubs might have a chance at the title.

However, if Real Betis were to win La Liga, the celebrations in half of Sevilla would probably last until Semana Santa!

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Maybe it’s time to simply relax and go Spanish TO all fellow retired expats. Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy life in this beautiful country we now call home, the last leg of many of our lifetime journeys.

Your future is bright, your future is secure - that is as long as you have kept your head above the tidal wave of bureaucracy that has always engulfed life in Spain. I well remember the obstacle course of having to apply for NIE registration, and subsequently SIP health cards many years ago.

Forms after forms after forms.

My first encounter with officialdom was after travelling for about an hour to apply for an NIE card, I was turfed out of

To TIE or not to TIE the office because I had not made a prior appointment by telephone. Although the office was empty, the official blankly refused to serve me.

Then, in a light-bulb moment, I stepped just outside the entrance, phoned the given number, watched the same person answer and requested an immediate appointment, which I received.

Although it wasn’t the most pleasant of cross-the-desk encounters, I won the day.

Since then, the world has moved on from pure, unadulterated mountains of paperwork to online impersonal befuddlement, with not even an over-zealous official to glare at.

Forget the, NIEs, NIFs, CIFs, and ‘Uncle Tom Cobleys and all,’ this is the biggie that evidently secures our place in the sun.

Entitled, Permiso de Residencia you would presume it would be known as a PDR, not on your Nelly, just to confuse us, our new bureaucratic bigwigs scored a major victory over their venerable predecessors by naming it, NIE. Since this Brexit-orientated identity card was launched in July 2020, Social media sites have been inundated with questions from confused.com expats, inquiring whether their existing residencias are still valid, or change is necessary.

OLD HAC K IN THE SUN

Benny Davis

Ramblings of an 80-somethin g expat

This created a rapacious response from all ranks of the legal brigade offering friendly help in exchange for fees ranging from €50 to over €1000 a time. Some expats have taken free advice from CABS (Citizens Advice Bureau) and dealt directly with either the online services or applied in person.

On the other hand, if you prefer to wait until the dust has settled before entering the fray - go Spanish. Pour yourself a glass of plonk, relax in your favourite lounger and slowly repeat after me, m-a-ñ-a-n-a. Cheers!

OP Puzzle solutions Across: 7 Core, 8 Executes, 9 Card, 10 Prostate, 11 Civics, 13 Got off, 15 Others, 17 Relive, 18 Grafting, 20 Bert, 21 Stockton, 22 Lose.

Down: 1 Loyalist, 2 Deed, 3 Tempos, 4 Mekong, 5 Sum total, 6 West, 12 In effect, 14 Feverish, 16 Saints, 17 Regent, 19 Ruts, 20 Bels.

SUDOKU

Quick Crossword

When you take out an advertising campaign with the Olive Press, you get a lot more than just the printed newspaper e l ee ia 00 it Fr tor 5,0 ebs i w ed ur 2 ay o -d in r-a to

si

y r or ou rs st to we ur d llo Yo ete fo e 0 Tw ,00 10

vi

Sponsored posts on our website with to your site and with an average of links 25,000 page views per day

Our Twitter feed gives users direc to all our stories and every digitalt access newspaper published

c Fa

s ur to er Yo tory ed s ot 00 llow om 9,0 fo pr 2 ok o eb

s r r nd ou e sa in ap ou s sp Th viewnew l of ita g di

Fully interactive digital copy of the newspaper containing all advertisi ng seen online globally via Issuu

We promote you on our hugely popu Facebook page with 29,000 likes lar and as many followers

We give you more! contact sales@theolivepress.es or 951 27 35 75 for more information

To read or not to read?

WILLIAM Shakesbeer is Valencia’s newest English bookshop online, with plans to stock craft beers in the near future.

Run by Nic and Nick, the shop combines the couple’s passion for English Literature and craft beers.

On the website, customers will find a wide variety of quality, secondhand English books for adults and children, at competitive prices.

“We have something for everyone, from crime, romance and saga, to fantasy, fairy tales and books to help with your little ones’ first words,” says Nick.

A few brand new books are stocked and there is also a selection of non-fiction, including cookery books.

The original idea for Shakes-

There is an exciting new option for bookworms and craft beer lovers in Spain: William Shakesbeer beer was to have a shop front in Valencia city, but as with so many other things, this plan has been paused due to the pandemic.

So for now, the independent bookshop is online. Delivery is by Correos throughout mainland Spain, or clients in Valencia can arrange a free pick-up and save some cents on postage.

Reading is such a great way to escape into another world, especially in the current global climate.

It is a relaxing way to enjoy a sense of continuity and definitely something calming to indulge in. Add to that the benefits of being a regular reader: having a wider vocabulary and more fact-based knowledge; feeling less stressed and being more creative, are just a few advantages.

There is a weekly blog post on the website to inspire you, and the collection of children’s books is currently being expanded, so there will soon be even more to choose from.

William Shakesbeer is aiming to do a few pop up stalls around Valencia in the coming months, where you will be able to peruse English books and craft beers to take home.

Follow the new business on Instagram, Facebook or the shop website www.shakesbeer.es to find the latest news on this unique project.

PROPERTY OWNERS of homes on the costas - particularly holiday properties have been warned of a spate of burglaries.

Coronavirus lockdown and travel restrictions have meant that people in towns and cities have not been going out much, meaning burglars have turned their attention elsewhere.

A report called ‘Burglaries in insured homes. Data 20192020’ examined figures from 27 insurance companies that cover 11.8 million dwellings in Spain. The report analysed 78,000 burglaries that occurred

Watch out! in properties during the 12 months between the summers of 2019 and 2020.

While initially burglaries followed the usual pattern of being more prevalent in the big cities, the lockdown from March 14 2020 changed all that.

Practically all the provinces with the worst rate are on the coasts - particularly Gerona, Tarragona, Barcelona and Murcia. On the other hand, Madrid residents saw their chances of being burgled plumet.

Feeling Lucky?

April 22nd - May 5th 2021 MORE than 600,000 Brits have been left in expensive tax limbo by the latest government update on overseas travel, according to experts.

Non-resident holiday homeowners have to pay Spain’s 24% Modelo 210 tax on the estimated letting value of their property, whether rented out or used exclusively by the owner, said accountancy firm Spanish Taxes Online.

“Holiday home-owners have

21

Expat tax hit Foreign travel uncertainty is costing holiday home owners thousands been hit hard financially by a mixture of COVID-19 and the UK leaving the EU, which

saw their Modelo 210 bills increase by 25%,” said marketing director, Nick Ball. “More

Towering sale A SLICE of history is on the market for over €1.3 million.

The ancient Torre de las Aguilas in La Albufereta has been listed with two real estate agencies. Included in the deal is its connecting house, and a substantial area of land.

Torre de las Aguilas is classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest. It’s part of a set of the defensive Torres de la Huerta

BRITISH couple Martin and Debra Else are raffling-off their self-built Costa Blanca holiday villa with all of the money going to the Big Issue charity.

They’ve taken the dramatic step because they have retired to Malta as opposed to Spain. The four-bedroomed property is in Aguas de Busot, a short drive away from the coast.

The villa is valued at £795,000 but a winning £5 raffle ticket can secure it with the bonus of no taxes or transfer fees. All of the raffle money will be donated to the Big Issue Foundation that helps vulnerable and homeless people in the UK. Ex-builder Stephen, from Derbyshire, designed and constructed the luxury villa along with his son Martin over a two year period starting in 1999. Tickets can be obtained via the website winmyspanishvilla.co.uk

fortifications built between the 16th and 17th centuries to look out for Berber intrusions from the sea.

All 20 fortifications were given BIC status in 1997 and are part of a special protection plan which regulates distances that new buildings can be constructed close to them.

Torre de las Aguilas is on a large 2,800 square metre plot between Calles Virgilio and Horacio. It’s just a stone’s throw away from the Playa de San Juan golf course and plenty of supermarkets.

Besides the history and location, the marketed property also includes a pine forest with a swimming pool.

The linked house consists of 400 square metres with five bedrooms and bathrooms. For many years it was used for farming purposes but then was transformed into a residential building. But whoever shells out the asking price may have to spend some extra money as there have been no modifications in 50 years.

Money Matters

with Tracy Storer, Senior Partner, Chorus Financial.

delays and uncertainty are worrying, costly and unfair.”

Under new plans, would-be holidaymakers will have to follow a traffic light system for trips away later this year.

It will see countries ranked either green, amber or red, to determine whether travellers need to quarantine and if COVID -19 tests are needed.

Report

The traffic light system was detailed in a new report by the Global Travel Taskforce but will only apply to English travellers. Governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can set their own rules.

Under the current plan for easing restrictions, the earliest date people in England could go abroad for a holiday would be 17 May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was ‘too early’ to set out new foreign travel rules for the summer.

It is currently illegal for anyone to leave England for a destination outside the UK without a reasonable excuse, such as for work, education or medical treatment. Those who do could face a £5,000 fine.

Why has my financial advisEr dropped me?

Money Matters answers all your questions on finance, tax, pensions, investments and more here in Spain This week we received the following question from Mrs Sue B, Orihuela Costa Hi Tracy, I’ve been living in Spain as a Spanish resident for over 15 years and during this time, I have continued with my UK financial adviser (he has advised us for some 25 years now). In January this year, he wrote to us to advise us that he has to withdraw his services due to Brexit. This is a big concern for us as we know him and trust him. I’m not sure what I should do and whether I can keep my existing investments which he set up for us?

Hi Sue, Thanks for sending in your question. Unfortunately, this is a big problem for a lot of people at the moment. The Financial services sector has been impacted by Brexit and for many expats, some financial products and services have been removed as a result.

For many UK based financial advisers, it is just not possible to comply with the regulatory changes and therefore they are having to remove ongoing servicing to their non-UK based clients.

Whilst I fully understand and appreciate the relationship and trust you would have built up with your current adviser over the years, it is just another change brought on by Brexit.

Change isn’t always a bad thing; a local adviser will have a much better understanding of the Spanish tax system and you could find yourself in a product better designed for your current circumstances. I have worked alongside a number of UK advisers to help their clients transition to having a local adviser here in Spain and I’m happy to extend this service to yourself and anyone reading this who has lost their adviser due to regulatory changes.

If you have any questions about finance, tax or money matters here in Spain, call +34 965 641 163 or please email them to me on t.storer@chorusfinancial.es with subject ‘Money Matters’.

All emails will get a response, and some may even appear in our column!

Money Matters answers all your questions on finance, tax, pensions, investments and more here in Spain.

22

HEALTH

Special REPORT

Jab confusion

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

HOPES: Expats getting impatient for a jab

Worry and frustration for expats waiting for vaccination

F

OREIGNERS living in Spain have expressed worry and frustration at not knowing when and if they will be called up for a COVID-19 vaccination jab.

The biggest concern is from those who are not registered in Spain’s public health system, either because they have private health insurance or because they are still going through the residency process.

Some readers have described how they have been passed from one health authority to another, without getting any answers.

“My husband and I are both retired expat residents who have lived in Sevilla since 2017 where we registered with the town hall (empadronado) and are paying our income taxes,” explained Cristina Covalschi who got in touch with the Olive Press.

The couple said they have never used the public health system and therefore are not registered at their local Centro de Salud but they both have private health insurance.

“We only want to learn how we can be included in the proper database so that we will be contacted when the vaccine becomes available for our age group,” she said.

So far efforts to find out how to do that have proved fruitless.

by Fiona Govan “I have made appointments with various agencies during the last weeks and have been asking this question repeatedly,” she explained.

“But instead of getting a clear answer, we have been sent from one to another without any result.”

Andalucia’s Consejeria de Salud (regional health department) told her they had no knowledge of the situation and to contact their consulates in case there might be an agreement for vaccination in place.

“We did that but our consulates said they have no knowledge of any agreement and advised us to contact our health insurance company.”

Next stop Sanitas.

“Our health insurance company Sanitas had no knowledge of the situation and told us to contact the local centro de salud in our neighborhood,” she said.

“Then the centro de salud in our neighborhood had no knowledge and told us to contact our health insurance company (Sanitas).”

The Olive Press put in a call to Spain’s Ministry of Health to ask for clarification and was assured that ‘everyone living in Spain will be offered the vac-

Calle Los Arcos 7, Ciudad Quesada, 03170 Cycle Sales, Repairs, Hires, Accessories & Clothing

LARGE SELECTION OF E-BIKES IN STOCK OVER 250 CYCLES IN STOCK • NEW AND USED The Costa Blanca’s No.1 Pinarello Road Bike Hire Centre

www.roadbikehirespain.com COMPLETE RANGE NOW AVAILABLE

ROAD BIKES OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 09.30-17.30 Saturday 10.00-14.00

For more information call Gary or Lynn on: 637 487 377 Find us on Facebook

www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com

Destination Relaxation

Properties to rent and buy in the sunny Costa Blanca

We have beautiful homes for sale and luxury villas to rent Commission fee is only €2500 tel: (+34) 965 074 546 | email: info@azul-homes.co.uk www.azul-homes.co.uk

cine’. legally - were still entitled to the vac“The Spanish government has said cine. that everyone living in Spain will have “Yes, here it gets more complicated,” access to the vaccine, whether they she admitted. “But people will be are registered in the public health entitled to it as they are to emergensystem or have private health insur- cy health care, so when it becomes ance,” the spokeswomavailable for the group an said. they fall into based on But she admitted that age and vulnerability, Those without she could not give clear they should be able to proper guidelines on how that access it.” would happen.

The British Embassy paperwork are “It is up to the indiin Madrid also offers vidual regional health still entitled to reassurance on the authorities to put a matter, if not a clear a vaccination system in place to noanswer. tify them. If in doubt “The Spanish Governpeople should contact ment’s Vaccination their local health authorities to ask Strategy is clear that, as a matter how this is being done.” of public health, all people living in She emphasized that even those who Spain are eligible for the vaccine, rewere in an “irregular” situation – that gardless of nationality or residency is those who did not have proper pa- status,” a spokesman from the Britperwork to prove they were in Spain ish Embassy told the Olive Press.

“At the current time, those in the priority groups are being vaccinated – irrespective of nationality or type of sickness insurance. The Vaccination Strategy is updated regularly to include new priority groups as the number of doses available gradually increases.

“Those UK nationals who are already registered in the public health system should be contacted by their regional health service to arrange an appointment.

“The Spanish authorities are asking insurance companies to coordinate with regional health services in order to provide vaccines to their customers.

“We are in touch with the Spanish authorities regarding progress of the rollout and what that means for UK nationals. Meanwhile UK Nationals living in Spain can contact their local health centre or insurer for more information.”

Traveling by motorhome in the COVID era: an Vax opportunity to travel in safety and freedom cards

M

OTORHOMES are currently the safest and ‘freest’ option to enjoy your free time and feel at home while traveling.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, travelling by motorhome is one of the best alternatives, being the perfect choice to move around safely and with total freedom, all while feeling at home.

It is the ideal option to travel comfortably at a leisurely pace, especially if you have children.

It allows you to adapt the trip with total freedom as your mood suits and to forget about schedules.

Being in total control, it permits people to visit both the most popular destinations and the most hidden secret corners. And it is a great way to get to know local customs and make new friends.

One of the main advantages of travelling by motorhome is comfort. You only have to choose a good place to spend the night and enjoy all the built-in facilities that rival any hotel.

These include fully rotating driver and co-driver seats, 150-litre refrigerators, independent showers, state-of-the-art toilet, washbasin, kitchen with oven, TV aerial even satellite - drinking water and waste water tanks, GPS, several beds -island, double or bunk beds- heating, air conditioning and hot water, motorcycle racks and bicycle racks, among other details.

Safety at the wheel Safety at the wheel is fundamental to any trip, but even more so when travelling in this type of transport.

It is essential to choose a vehicle that meets a series of conditions, among which safety stands out. This is why it is so important to be advised by qualified professionals such as Caravanas Cruz, who offer the best alternatives according to the needs of each person.

Caravanas Cruz has been offering its services as a distributor of caravans and motorhomes for more than 40 years and is one of the leading companies in Spain for services and facilities in the world of caravanning.

As it has one of the largest accessory stores in the country, an online sales service and a large specialised workshop with the capacity to work on more than 10 vehicles, caravanners are in safe hands.

Its sales department has professionals who guide the purchase process according to the needs and tastes of each family. And if you want to try before you buy, the company offers a motorhome rental service so you can dip your toes into the water of caravanning.

Its facilities are expansive, with 14,000 sqm of exhibition space and more than 100 vehicles, both new and second-hand, from top brands such as Benimar, Adria, Autostar, Hymer or Hobby, among others.

Caravanas Cruz follows the anticovid protocol of the Spanish Association of Industry and Commerce of Caravaning. Among its measures, it has implemented a new appointment service, which can be reached by calling 965 457 819.

Cruz Caravans Address: Carretera de Dolores, km 1. 03290 Elche (Alicante) Telephone: 965 457 819

VACCINATION CARDS are being iven out with COVID jabs in the Valencian Community from this week.

As a new mass immunisation programme started a card with vaccination type and date was given out.

Ximo Puig, President of the Valencian Region, has already announced the start-up of four large vaccination centers in the Community: sited in Valencia, the Castello de la Plana Alicante and Elche.

In addition, 18 other smaller centres such as Orihuela and Torrevieja will be put into action.

Those 22 centres in total, will have more than 1,000 professionals, with the ability to administer more than 4,000 doses per hour.

Some 48 health centres will also be utilised, minimising the need to travel long distances.

It is reported that the 70 sites in all are considered more than enough to handle the number of vaccines arriving in the region.

The Health Department has already claimed that, if necessary, the number of vaccination points can be increased to 161.

The vaccination card is meant to be used for information only, and should not be confused with the so-called ‘Vaccine Passport’ that has been mooted by the European Union.

However, the document will go some way to reassuring both the card-holder, and anyone they come into contact with, that they have been partially or fully immunised.

HEALTH

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Loss of life

Life expectancy drops most in Spain during pandemic LIFE expectancy in Spain fell by a year and a half in the last 12 months, according to new data.

EU statistical agency Eurostat found that the average lifespan across Europe has plummeted since the start of the pandemic.

Die

And Spain has seen the biggest drop in Europe, with a loss of 1.6 years compared to 2019.

Bulgaria was next with a loss of 1.5 years, followed

by Lithuania, Poland and

By Kirsty McKenzie

Romania, which all saw a drop of 1.4 years.

In England, life expectancy dipped by 1.1 years compared to 2019. While the Netherlands, France, and Austria all saw a loss of 0.7 years.

Denmark and Finland were the only nations to see a rise, increasing by 0.1 years.

According to Eurostat, life expectancy had been steadily increasing in the EU until the past few

WOMEN are twice as likely to give birth to a girl if they experienced more stress around the time of conception, a Spanish study has found.

Researchers at the University of Granada analysed levels of stress in 108 women from the first weeks of pregnancy to delivery.

Stress levels were recorded by analysing the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone that is released in response to stress) in the hair

OLD AGE: The life expectancy in Spain has fallen

years.

Official data reveals ‘that life expectancy has risen, on average, by more than

Boy, it’s a girl

of pregnant women in the period spanning from before conception to week nine of pregnancy, to determine whether there was any link with the sex of the baby.

The findings confirm that foetuses are vulnerable to the effects of maternal stress and that strain can play a key role in their development.

two years per decade since the 1960s’, the agency said.

"However, the latest available data suggest that life expectancy stagnated or even declined in recent years in several EU member states."

Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time a baby born today is expected to live.

Data

Dear Jennifer: How do I get the best protection after Brexit?

I

understand that there are still different versions going around as to what is required under the Brexit terms for remaining in Spain.

Please make sure that you take legal advice and not just listen to various people’s interpretation. The rules are quite simple but very rigid and believe me, the Spanish are not playing a game. It will be very easy for them to discover who has adhered to the rules and those who have not, so take care.

I am sure there are many that have been reassessing, not only their lives, but where to live and checking all their paperwork is in order.

Please make sure that you have a very good house insurance and if you are eligible, life insurance would be a very good investment to have in place. I recommend a Liberty Seguros policy which amazingly costs half of what the banks offer and for a better product that protects the ones you love.

Although the life insurance we offer includes a certain amount towards the funeral costs, it is far better to have a funeral plan to work alongside.

There are two ways to be protected from the high costs of a funeral in Spain, and the speed which you have to have the money in place. Never forgetting that bank accounts tend to be frozen for a while.

My company is able to offer you either a funeral insurance or a funeral plan, whichever is best suited to your needs and age.

The insurance policy starts as a little as €100 per year, so you could very easily, I’m sure, commit yourself to this amount.

Unfortunately age restrictions do apply for the funeral insurance. However, funeral plans have no limit on age or health and an easy payment scheme is available and this policy is dual country, so even if you are limited to a 90 day stay in Spain, you will be covered in the UK as well.

The data is calculated based on the number of deaths at a specific age and therefore at what age the person is most likely to die.

Please call one of my staff who will be able to help you make the right decision for your family. For more information, visit the website www.jennifercunningham.net or email info@ jennifercunningham.net.

Your body deserves the best.

Put your mind at ease by taking care of your body to the best with our innovative treatments.

Yes, we sometimes do wonders and make dreams come true!

Permanent results already from the first treatment.

New in Spain! cryolipolysis · cryolifting · facial treatments

for man and woman

begins

Beauty the moment you decide

to be yourself.

+34 699 500 734 www.institutocarmenmaria.com info@institutocarmenmaria.com

23

C/ Richard Wagner nº2 blq 5, 03189 - Orihuela Costa (Urb. Villamartin)

OLIVE PRESS

The

What a haul!

Reuse Reduce Recycle We use recycled paper

Irate ladies TWO elderly women came to blows over who was first in a Javea supermarket checkout queue. A 66-year-old customer was arrested by the Guardia Civil after breaking the nose of a 77-year-old.

Barcelona paraglider Nil Farre Berge went viral after he was caught on camera speeding 12,000ft up at 60mph before picking up a can of Red Bull in one fell swoop.

Red carded SPAIN’S super rich football clubs faced backlash after they decided to join up with England’s ‘Big Six’ and three top Italian teams to form a Super League. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been accused of hypocrisy and betrayal, and could be expelled from the Spanish league.

expat

voice in Spain

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

FREE

Vol. 2 Issue 38 www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Quacking the case POLICE have rescued 20 wild ducks from a dreadful dinner-plate fate.

The cops in Sevilla saved the birds after carrying out a routine inspection on the premises of an oriental food warehouse.

The Mallard ducks were crammed in one small cage without any accredited veterinary documents, while there were several other health irregularities found on the site.

The birds were removed by vets to a wildlife centre outside the city.

Heart warming Decade-long wait for transplant arrives on the day his first child was born

By Cristina Hodgson

HE had been waiting years to be told by doctors that a match had been found and he could undergo a desperately needed heart transplant.

But when the call finally came, it couldn’t have been at a more

Pink paradise SPAIN has been named as one of the top gay counties in the global rankings.

Research carried out by makeup brand Jecca Blac found Spain to be the seventh most friendly city in the world for the LGBTQ+ com-

munity.

Spain was ranked ahead of the UK, which came in at number eight on the list.

Canada ranked number one in the world, with Malta coming in second and Sweden rounding out the top three

A GIANT catfish almost two metres long and weighing 100 kilos has been caught in the Guadalquivir River.

Until now, the catfish species had only been fished in Andalucia in the gigantic Iznajar reservoir, where it was introduced around 2011 in an illegal bid to encourage angling tourism.

Birds

DOUBLE DELIVERY: Patient’s transplant arrived same day as first child, Samuel inconvenient moment for Antonio Salvador.

For the 39-year-old Madrileno was at his wife’s bedside in the delivery ward at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañon hospital and their first child was on its way.

After pausing for a moment to think, he took the decision to have the transplant and underwent surgery at the same time and in the same hospital as his wife gave birth.

“When I woke up, there was twice the sense of delight,” said Salvador, who suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a

hereditary heart disease which can cause sudden death.

“Two very special moments for which we’d been waiting for a long time occurred at exactly the same time,” he added.

For his wife Ana Maria Gonzalez, 44, the timing couldn’t have been better.

“I couldn’t believe that after 10 years we were going to receive the most wonderful thing in our lives at the same time that Antonio was receiving the life that he himself needed,” she said.

“Our new son, Samuel, brought a heart for his dad.”

The continent’s largest freshwater fish, native to Eastern Europe, will devour anything below it in the food chain.

It can even lunge onto the water’s edge, beaching itself to feed on birds and small mammals.

Green group Ecologistas en Accion has called on the Junta to help fight against these invasive predators, requesting urgent control measures.

The pigeon-eating fish has a life expectancy of up to 30 years, and is easily recognisable by its two to four pairs of cat-like whiskers or barbels around its mouth, a broad flat head.

FIBRE Packages you'll love

600 00 25 from

up to

Mb

ING OU AV

S

Terms & Conditions Apply. Availability and Price may vary depending on where you live

LANET RP

TH FIB WI

Tel: 965 743 473 sales@telitec.net www.telitec.com

RE

FINAL WORDS

Daredevil

Your

€

inc IVA

per mth