OLIVE PRESS
The
MALLORCA
FREE GERMAN police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have announced they have found new evidence in the case. There are suggestions this may be a discovery of fibres from Winnie the Pooh pyjamas in a vehicle driven by the prime suspect Christian Brueckner, the very pyjamas Maddie was wearing on that fateful night 15 years ago. A Portuguese investigator has revealed that it is one of many different clues that point the finger directly at the convicted sex offender. Journalist Sandra Felgueiras announced the discovery on prime time Portuguese television. “I am certain Brueckner did it and the Portuguese police know he worked with an accomplice,” she told the Olive Press. Her SABADO investigation on the CMTV channel managed to establish that the main evidence is a ‘trace of the English girl found by German police inside the motorhome he drove in 2007’. Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters refused to
Vol. 5 Issue 130
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MADDIE MCCANN 15TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Maddie alibi trashed By Jon Clarke
confirm or deny this week that a DNA link had been discovered in the VW van. However, he may have also been driving a large Winnebago - the first of two - that he acquired around the time. And he was also driving a dark Jaguar. It’s not clear at this stage exactly what traces were found in which vehicle. Neither Wolters or Felgueiras would be drawn further on it, today. But, he explained to Felgueiras - who has been
investigating the case since May 2007 - that he could not confirm it ‘because the suspect has not yet been informed’. The infamous yellow and white van was part of the original appeal put out in a bombshell German police appeal in June 2020.
Missing
It was photographed parked alongside Barranco beach, near Praia da Luz, where three-yearold Maddie went missing while on holiday on May 3, exactly 15 years ago. The van, which Brueckner had borrowed from
SUSPECT: Brueckner with the VW camper a German mechanic friend, had been taken on ‘a potential dummy run’ along the Costa del Sol to Almeria from Portugal just weeks before Maddie went missing. “It was him. He is guilty,” Felgueiras said. “The key point is that Wolters doesn’t deny it.”
See pages 5, 6 and 7
Testing Times Time up for UK driving licence holders as grace period ends and fines already handed out THOUSANDS of Brits across Spain are now unable to drive after an extension period that allowed Brits to use their British driving licence in Spain ended on Saturday. It means that British residents who have been living in Spain for more than six months are forbidden from driving with a UK licence. The news is expected to impact tens of thousands of Brits living in Spain and also applies to anyone holding a Gibraltarian licence. Darren Parmenter, a councillor on the Costa Blanca, told the Olive Press: “I understand people’s frustration. Everyone was expecting the deadline to be extended again.” Parmenter revealed he has had a lot of calls from concerned con-
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By George Mathias
stituents, and it is far from just those who simply forgot to swap their licence in time. “Many people who I have spoken to received false assurances by legal representatives that their interest to swap their UK licence for a Spanish one had been registered on their behalf before the December 2020 deadline.”
Let down
But in reality it appears the registrations were never made. Parmenter, who is in office in San Fulgencio, added: “Now they are suffering the consequences. These people have been badly let down.” He echoed the advice that has
PROBLEM: Cllr Parmenter says people have been let down
been consistently given by the British embassy that if anyone needs to drive in Spain, they should immediately start the process to book their theory and practical test and not wait for a breakthrough in negotiations. Alastair Carmichael, (pictured left) who has lived in Spain for over 40 years, is now stranded in the small town of Lloreda in Cantabria as he didn’t renew his licence. “I am absolutely screwed,” he said. “I have lived here for 40 years and don’t consider myself an expat.” Carmichael, 62 and originally from Sussex, runs the Carmichael Alonso Libros bookshop.
“I am 6km from the nearest shop and 30km from my bank. I don’t understand why an agreement can’t be struck, it’s not rocket science!”
Tel: 952 147 834 TM
Foul
Elsewhere, Brit Stephan Bramley reported what is surely one of the first fines handed out for falling foul of the law change: “For those still driving on a UK licence but a resident, this morning I was fined €200. It was my understanding that I could still drive on my UK licence until October 31 but apparently not,” he said on Facebook. Some reactions on social media were less than sympathetic. Rebecca Grimes on Facebook said: “To be fair we did have about two years warning to change for a Spanish licence as a resident.” The UK has an agreement with all other EU member See page 16 states on driving licenses allowing Brits to swap their UK licence for that of the
country they reside in. Spaniards living in the UK are also permitted to swap their Spanish driving licence for a UK one. Tory MP Ian Duncain-Smith publicly criticised the news: “It’s a case of ‘mañana, mañana’ it’s time [the Spanish government] pull their finger out and do what they agreed,” he said. Negotiations between the UK and Spanish government are still ongoing, but it is impossible to predict when, if ever, a deal will be struck. The average cost of passing a Spanish test, according to autobild.es, ranges from €600 €2000, varying wildly depending on the region and on driving experience. Were you ‘falsely’ registered with the authorities by a gestor and have now missed your chance to swap your UK licence for a Spanish one? Contact newsdesk@ theolivepress.es Opinion Page 6