OLIVE PRESS MALLORCA ISSUE 175

Hackers busted

AN international operation led by the UK's National Crime Agency and the FBI in America has severely disrupted a hacking group that launched cyberattacks on two Balearic councils. Websites and computer networks belonging to Calvia in Mallorca and Sant Antoni in Ibiza were hit by the LockBit cybercriminal group, leading to severe disruption of council services.

The hackers demanded a €10 million ransom from Calvia after its attack in early January, which the authority refused to pay. Council services were affected for several weeks.

Sant Antoni was attacked in a similar way at the beginning of the month.

With the collaboration of Europol, two members of LockBit have been arrested in Poland and Ukraine and some 200 crypto currency accounts related to the group seized.

The UK's National Crime Agency said that agents had infiltrated the group’s internal network and managed to ‘take control of LockBit’s services, compromising its entire criminal organisation’.

Some 28 servers belonging to members of the hacker group have also been taken down.

The Agency added that it was in control of the organisation’s site on the dark web where it stored stolen data that it threatened to publish if ransoms were not paid.

A large amount of information about the group including its secret codes had been obtained and the agency said it was just the start of a series of actions against LockBit and its members.

The Olive Press celebrates International Women’s Day by highlighting some of the most influential characters, both past and present, and how Spain stacks up on gender equality in our special pullout inside

Ose's desire to provide ‘an innovative approach to the role of the Museum international stage, while incorporating a clear desire to connect with on the role of art at the beginning of this century, without shying commitment to the social issues surrounding cultural institutions’.

The jury was made up of representatives of the institutions and members career in the international and local artistic sector: Joan

STITCH UP

Expats’ retirement dream ruined by shock €11,200 tax bill dating back three decades

A BRITISH couple’s retirement dreams have been shattered after their lawyers failed to pick up an ‘outstanding’ property tax that only emerged 26 years later.

John Stephenson, 75, and wife Kathy, 78, are stunned that the ‘unfair’ €11,200 levy was applied last year. The ‘theft’ by the Hacienda tax authorities has nothing to do with them, they insist. It should have actually been paid by the previous owners of the three-bedroom property in 1996 - SEVENTEEN years before they bought it. But this didn’t stop the taxman deducting it from the €375,000 they received from the sale of the Costa del Sol home in May. The former estate agents - who closed their Marbella firm due to Covid in 2022 - had decided to down size from San Pedro to Tarragona

Legends lined up

LEGENDARY Scottish rock band Simple Minds are set to perform in Mallorca this summer as part of the eagerly-anticipated Palma Concert Series.

Led by lead vocalist Jim Kerr, the 80s rockers join Tom Jones and James Blunt as the first three performers announced for the exciting, new musical project.

The event will include four intimate concerts at sunset, designed to bring a unique musical experience to residents and tourists alike.

The event will take place in July and August at Trui Son Fusteret, with organisers hoping to attract music lovers from all over the world.

Simple Minds, known for chart-topping tunes such as Don’t You (Forget About Me) and Alive and Kicking, will perform in the Balearics on July 17 as part of their new world tour. James Blunt will perform on July 23, whilst Tom Jones, still touring at the ripe old age of 83, will take to the stage on July 30. One more act is still to be announced, with tickets available from €65.

(Catalunya). They calculated the sale, plus other investments,

Deputy Barcelona City Council; Elsa Ibar, Director General of Cultural Heritage Catalunya; Ainhoa Grandes, president of the MACBA; María Carrillo de Albornoz, Director General of Fine Arts of the Ministry of president of the Association of French National Museums, Grand Palais the MACBA Advisory Committee;

By Walter Finch

would take care of them through retirement.

However, the outstanding IBI (rates) bill from 1996 has left them ‘financially short’.

They had bought the property in 2013 and hired a legal firm to do the conveyancing.

“Our lawyers obviously didn’t do a proper job as they assured us there was no debt on the house, we made sure of that,” John “The money was er debts. Instead, we are struggling to pay them - at an age when we should be enjoying our “When our lawyer gave us the news, I said there must be some mistake. In varo Moreno, of vices, admitted the case was

DREAM TURNED TO NIGHTMARE: Massive tax paid on sale of their home has left John and Kathy Stephenson out of pocket

ANGRY: John feels betrayed by his lawyers

‘quite strange’. “Normally these things come to light when you’re going through with the purchase, but there was no mention of the debt on the title deed,” he told the Olive Press this week. The problem, he admitted, was that the outstanding debt was only being posted on the official public buletin for Andalucia ‘at least once every four years’, meaning it stayed valid. It is normally the responsibility of the lawyer handling the sale - in this case Moreno’s former partner, Rafael Arevalo. But, it turns out Arevalo was not acting as John’s legal representative in the purchase.

While an email chain seen by the Olive Press shows Arevalo acting as ‘Mr Stephenson’s Lawyer’, he oddly only signed the title deeds to the property as ‘a witness’. It was something John failed to pick up on at the time due to not knowing the Spanish word for ‘witness.’

And as a witness, it means Arevalo was ‘not liable’ for failing to find the outstanding charge.

“If I’d wanted a witness, I could’ve got anyone off the street to do it,” in-

sisted John.

The Olive Press has been unable to get in contact with Arevalo to clarify the situation and the ex partners at Armo Legal are ‘no longer on speaking terms’.

“This is totally unacceptable,” insisted well known property lawyer Antonio Flores, who runs Lawbird, in Marbella.

He insisted it is completely up to Arevalo and Moreno to prove they correctly did the due diligence in 2013 - and not the other way round.

“The lawyers have to prove they did everything right,” he said. “They have to show that they looked in all the right places.

“They should’ve fought harder against this mystery tax bill. John and Kathy shouldn’t give up.”

Photo by Maureen Evans

Subirats,

João Fernandes, artistic director of

Bums on seats

MALLORCA is expected to welcome 185,192 flights and over 33.4 million seats this summer season. It will be the second year running the record is broken.

Finally found

A MESSAGE in a bottle thrown out to sea by an 11-year-old German boy living in Mallorca in November 2022 was recently picked up by an Italian in Naples 1,400km away.

Bad cops

A PAIR of brothers from Belarus evicted squatters from their flat in Barcelona - only for the police to come and arrest them and throw them in jail.

Kids rescued

NEARLY 30 children had to be airlifted off Puig Tomir mountain in stormy conditions after sudden winds threatened to blow them off the peak.

EXPENSIVE ROMANCE

A VICTIM of Spanish-based serial fraudster Mark Acklom won’t get any compensation from her bank after being conned out of £750,000. Barclays Bank says that a six-month internal investigation has shown that they are not liable to make Carolyn Woods any payment.

Woods argued that since a Barclays worker and a former employee were arrested during the police investigation on suspicion of conspiracy, the bank had failed in its duty of care to her as its customer. Neither of those probed were subsequently arrested. Mark Acklom, 50, moved to Spain with

his Spanish wife Yolanda Ros in 2013 after a romance scam involving Woods. He duped her out of her life savings by using the alias of Mark Conway who claimed to be a Swiss banker and MI6 agent. He persuaded Woods to move her money into a Barclays account and then got her, to transfer it all in a series of ‘loans’ into the account of an associate who was a former Barclays employee.

EVIL SPIRITS

A BOGUS shaman has been arrested in Palma for swindling €18,000 out of a woman who he forced to perform sex acts to ‘ward off evil spirits’.

The Spaniard, 36, forced her into perfoming sex acts so that she could ‘chase away demons that were inside her’.

Sham shaman tricked vulnerable woman into sex and out of thousands of euros

By Alex Trelinski

The assailant - with a history of sexual abuse - was part of a well-organised gang which included a mutual friend who was arrested as a co-conspirator. The ‘friend’ recruited the

Stole fares

A BRITISH travel agent who fleeced customers of nearly €325,000 from her agency in Magaluf has been spared jail. Nicola Roberts, 60, was handed an 11-month suspended sentence after striking a plea bargain with prosecutors.

At a pre-trial hearing in Palma de Mallorca, Roberts confessed to scamming British Airways and Lufthansa among other air-

lines between December 2019 and January 2020.

The expat had been warned that she could be sent to prison for a year and a half if she went to trial and was found guilty. She was accused of accepting money from customers to pay for flights from her business Ticket Agencia de Viajes in Portals Nous. But instead of handing it on to the airlines, she pocketed most of it. She has repaid the money stolen but still owes €10,500 in interest.

victim by taking advantage of her psychological weakness. She first met the fake shaman in June who claimed to be an exorcist with the ability to see the future, ‘capture’ bad energy, and to see demons. He claimed to have seen a dream where the victim and her young daughter

were in an accident, with the child appearing in the form of a demon.

Fearing that her life was in danger, she was tricked into making a series of payments totalling €18,000 to ‘scare off the demons’. The transfers were sent through Bizum to other members of the shaman’s group who had online meetings via Skype.

She told the Policia Nacional that he sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions in order to ‘ward off evil’.

Several of the 10 cases of abuse between June and November were on Calvia’s Playa del Mago which the shaman said was a sanctuary. The scammer had firsthand knowledge about the woman’s life provided by their mutual friend which was used to exploit her.

Reckless move

POLICE are looking for eye witnesses after a hit and run driver seriously injured a motorcyclist in Palma on Sunday. The incident happened at around 6pm on the Inca motorway at the Son Moix-Palma Airport junction. The biker, 35, was in a queue on the junction exit lane when the driver of a Hyundai Tucson jumped in front of him. He tried to avoid a collision but he lost his balance and ended up on the ground. The car fled with other motorists angry about his behaviour while the injured man suffered knee, tibia, and fibula fractures and a broken ankle.

Bag snatch

AN Irish reveller was robbed of nearly six figures by a husbandand-wife scammer team after they stole her bag in a nightclub. The 44-year-old woman was enjoying a night out in Ibiza last year when her bag containing her identification, credit cards, and mobile phone vanished. Not long later, a series of bank transfers saw €86,000 disappear from her account.

The Guardia Civil launched an investigation and managed to identify who was on the other end of the fraudulent money movements. The detective work pointed to a married couple from Romania, who were tracked down and arrested.

Zorra in the dog house

A FEMINIST association has collected more than 1,500 signatures in a bid to cancel Spain’s controversial Eurovision entry, Zorra The song from Alicante duo Nebulossa was chosen as the winning entry at this year’s Benidorm Fest. Zorra, however, has caused controversy due to its lyrics and its title, which means ‘vixen’ in Spanish but can also be used as an insult similar to ‘bitch’.

Rafa Nadal in hot water after criticising equal pay for men and women in the world of sports

RAFAEL Nadal has sparked a backlash after doubling down on his belief that women in sports should not automatically be paid the same as men. The Grand Slam champion, 37, was talking to La Sexta presenter Ana Pastor to discuss the opening of his new tennis academy in Malaga. However questions soon turned to recent controversial topics, including his collaboration with Saudi Arabia and his thoughts on the gender pay gap in sports. Pastor told Nadal that he seemed ‘uncomfortable’ at

By Laurence Dollimore

the mention of feminism. The Mallorca native - who has won €125.2 million in his career - has previously said he is against women and men being paid the same in tennis. Nadal told Pastor: “Not at all, what I am not is a hypocrite to say that these things are easy, and I don't think they are.

“Investment? The same for men and women. Opportunities? The same. The same salaries? No, for what? “What is unfair is that there are not equal oppor-

In response, the MFM Madrid feminist movement has launched a petition about a song that it claims ‘represents a sexist insult and is a trivialisation of violence against women’. For its part, the band Nebulossa (pictured) has defended its song.

“The word zorra is going to start to be seen in a different way,” said singer Mery Bas.

“People say it freely, we have totally redefined it,” she added.

tunities. If you're saying that being a feminist is believing that a man and a

woman deserve exactly the same opportunities, then I can say that I am a fem-

FANS of legendary Australian rock band AC/DC are in for a treat later this year, when the group pays a visit to Spain.

As part of their Power Up European Tour 2024, the authors of Thunderstruck and Highway to Hell have chosen Sevilla for their only Spanish date on May 29 at the Estadio de la Cartuja Vocalist Brian Johnson will be on the mic, with guitarists Angus Young, Stevie Young and drummer Matt Laug. New bassist Chris Chaney will be taking over from original band member Cliff Williams.

The tour will kick off on May 17 with gigs in Germany and Italy, before the Spain concert on May 29.

The band will then travel to the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, Slovakia, Belgium, France and Ireland.

On the prowl TREND SE TTER

HE is more used to wearing Armani, but now famously elegant actor Luke Evans (far left) will be able to show off his own line of clothes.

The Welsh star and his Spanish boyfriend Fran Tomas (left) have teamed up with stylist Christopher Brown to launch a menswear brand called BDXY.

It will feature outfits inspired by the screen legends of Old Hollywood, concentrating on basics and everyday essentials.

Evans, who is the star of major movies such as The Hobbit , Beauty and the Beast and Fast & Furious 6 confirmed his relationship with Tomas back in December 2020.

Tomas, who is originally from Alicante, works as a project manager in the construction sector.

inist. “But equality for me is not based on awarding for awarding’s sake, equality resides in if Serena Williams generates more than me, I want Serena to earn more than me.”

Williams is the leading woman having won €88.2 million in her career.

Some users of X blasted Nadal’s comments as machismo, or sexism, while others backed him, with one writing: “It’s not fair that someone who generates more sales from tickets and t-shirts earns the same as someone who generates much less.”

in danger of becoming extinct, with less than 800 left in the jungle. Numbers have fallen due to poaching and the destruction of their natural habitat, namely rainforests.

A PAIR of Sri Lankan leopards called Uda and Okanda have a new home at Bioparc Fuengirola after transferring there from French zoos. The Sri Lankan leopard is

Body riddle

AUTHORITIES are trying to identify a male body found floating in the Moll Vell breakwater next to Palma Cathedral on Tuesday.

The fully-clothed corpse had been in the water for a few hours and was spotted by a passer-by close to the rocks.

The white male is said to be aged around 60 and there are no signs of violence.

There were no documents on him with the Guardia Civil hoping that fingerprint and DNA evidence will help find a name.

BABY BOUNCE

THE Balearics was one of just three autonomous communities in Spain to register more births than deaths in 2023.

According to estimated data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), there were 8,839 births across the region last year, a fall of 2.6% compared to 2022.

Meanwhile, there were 8,772 deaths, representing a 5.9% decrease.

October was the most popular month for new arrivals with 852 babies born, in contrast to April which saw just 632 births.

Across the year, 276 more boys were born than girls.

Badly hurt

A MAN was seriously injured after he was hit by an EMT bus in Palma on Wednesday night. He was crossing Calle Indalecio Prieto at around 8.30pm when he was struck.

The victim - in his late 30s - was taken to Son Espases Hospital. Police are investigating the circumstance behind the accident.

‘Traitor’ killed

A RUSSIAN pilot who was assassinated in a car park in Alicante has been branded a ‘traitor’ and a ‘moral corpse’ by Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

Maxim Kuzminov, 28, was found shot dead in Villajoyosa last week, just metres below tourist apartments on the Costa Blanca.

The death, if found to be ordered by Russia, would be an unprecedented attack carried out on Spanish soil.

CANCER CHALLENGE

A CANCER support group will hold its second ever Walk Against Cancer this April.

Members hope to raise over €10,000, with the support of some 200 participants.

The event will see the young and old from Mallorca’s expat community give themselves a ‘step challenge’ which they will have to meet by the end of the month.

Last year, some 100 people took part, raising a whopping €9,000.

The fundraising will begin with a coffee morning to be held at the end of March.

Budding walkers can sign up from March 1 on the Cancer Support Mallorca website.

One fundraiser, Anita, will again be tackling four days on the GR221 path as part of the challenge. Participants are invited to join her on the final day, April 1, to walk from Son Amer Refuge to Liberty Kitchen, where a party will be held.

Unmasked

PPE corruption scandals arrive in Spain: ExBalearic president in spotlight for her role in no-bid contract for dodgy masks

By Walter Finch

THE former president of the Balearic Islands has been embroiled in a PPE procurement scandal over a government contract for defective masks.

The PSOE government of Francina Armengol dished out a €3.7 million contract to a company that had no experience in the medical field at the height of the first Covid lockdown in May 2020. The contract was awarded to the company Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Em-

presas under a ‘fast track’ emergency process that did not involve a public tender - a tale that may sound familiar to British readers.

The masks ordered by Armengol,

QUESTIONS: Armengol handed out €3.7m contract

who is the current president of the Congress of Deputies in the central government in Madrid, turned out to be unusable as they ‘did not comply with regulations’.

COLD SNAP

TEMPERATURES across the Balearics are set to plunge as a cold Atlantic front of ‘polar air’ hits the islands.

The unseasonably warm weather will come to a crashing halt from today (Friday) according to AEMET, the Spanish meteorological service.

Yet despite this, Armengol did not request a refund until July 6, 2023 - her last day in government before making way for the new incoming PP-Vox government.

Temperatures could return to seasonal averages of 13C, a fall of over 10C from springlike highs seen this week. Strong northwesterly winds could bring rough seas with waves of up to nine metres, whilst rainy conditions could develop into snowfall at high altitudes.

Temperatures will rise once more following the weekend.

FUN OF THE FAIR

Eye in the sky

A FLEET of drones are set to take to the skies over Palma tasked with watching out for antisocial and drunken behaviour.

The hi-tech eye in the sky is part of tougher regulations aimed at tackling vandalism, public drinking, damage to public property, and the dangerous use of e-scooters in the capital.

As well as the drones, the city will deploy both surveillance cameras and harsher fines for those caught in the act.

“This tool is crucial for promoting public safety,” Palma Mayor Jaime Martinez said.

The announcement has coincided with a city-wide clean up which has removed over 2,000 graffiti tags, power-washed every street, weeded 76 km of curbs and cleaned over 9,000 bins.

RIP ANNE

THE muchloved founder of the Brexpats in Spain support group Anne Hernandez has died.

Tributes have poured in for the ‘tireless’ campaigner following her death from a short illness.

revenues sky rocket from zero to over €50 million throughout the Covid pandemic.

The investigation has already seen a number of arrests, most prominently Koldo Garcia Izaguirre, who was the former righthand man of ex-transport minister Jose Luis Abalos. He was detained by the Guardia Civil after an investigation carried out by the Spanish High Court’s corruption prosecutor. His personal wealth has reportedly greatly increased in recent months.

The investigation is focussing on the emergency contracts that were signed by the department to purchase

The PP has already accused Armengol of ‘ignoring reports from the Anti-Corruption Office that warned the sole administrator of the company was being investigated for corruption.’ The company saw its masks and other medical equipment during the worst months of the coronavirus pandemic.

ONE of Spain’s biggest fairs - Mallorca’s Fira del Ram with 180 attractions - returns this Friday running until April 7. The Son Fuseret site in Palma is expected to welcome up to 200,000 people. Organisers have predicted that numbers will rise by around 10% this year.

Two favourites are returning after a few year’s absence - a witch’s tunnel and a children’s roller coaster.

Around 70% of stallholders are from the mainland and attraction prices will be kept at last year’s levels of between €3 and €6 since expenses on Mallorca are lower.

Izaguirre is alleged to have played a part in the negotiations to make these purchases, while the Transport Ministry was also involved in deals with airlines to fly the material into Spain.

Prosecutors suspect that Izaguirre received bribes for these contracts and has subsequently tried to launder the money.

Anne worked tirelessly to help the hundreds of thousands of Brits whose lives were upended by the Brexit vote, for which she was awarded an MBE in 2021. She worked closely with the Olive Press in recent years, and wrote a column for a time.

Publisher Jon Clarke said: “Anne was tireless in her work and a true inspiration to the expat community. “We worked very hard together to campaign against Brexit from Spain, and I always admired her tenacity. “Despite not getting the result either of us wanted, Anne dedicated years to helping Brits deal with the fallout. My condolences to Anne’s friends and family.”

PLAZA MEJOR

PALMA’S iconic Plaza Mayor will undergo renovations next year after the local mayor confirmed a budget of €21 million for the project.

Jaime Martinez, Mayor of Palma, announced on Wednesday that work would begin in 2025 with the aim of improving the Plaza Mayor and its surrounding areas. A contract for the area’s development will be awarded via a competition, which will see a judging panel vote for the best architectural design. The works will affect the Plaza Mayor and its surrounding areas, including a tunnel that goes to the Parc de la Mar.

CREDIT: Facebook

CREDIT: Jose Juan 'Potti' Luna flickr

In the dock

YOU trust them to look after your best interests - especially when large amounts of money are involved.

Lawyers are the first port of call when buying a property - especially if you do not speak the language or know the system.

As our front page story (Stitch up) shows, retired estate agent John Stephenson, 75, and wife Kathy, 78, did everything right when they bought their property - at least they thought they did.

They put their faith in lawyer Rafael Arevalo to navigate them through the sometimes choppy waters of buying a house.

They thought all the proper searches were completed - the most important of which was to ensure there was no outstanding debt on their dream home when they bought it.

All seemed well until 10 years later when they sold up to help finance their retirement.

It was only then they were stung with an €11,200 bill for past IBI taxes that really should have nothing to do with them.

They have had no option but to pay up. But what of their lawyer at the time of the sale? Arevalo should be held responsible for the mess they are in and his insurance should pay up for his oversight.

After all it was literally his job to make sure they would not have any nasty surprises.

Or - and here comes that phrase again - so they thought.

It turns out that in all the documents, he signed as a ‘witness’ not as a legal representative.

So, they hired a lawyer, he did the paperwork, but it is now claimed he was never actually representing them legally.

And - as is so often the case with incompetent lawyershe is now nowhere to be found.

And then there’s the lawyer today. As other lawyers consulted by this newspaper have suggested, Alvaro Moreno should have done more to contest the clearly unfair IBI payment.

It is a story we at the Olive Press have heard time after time. ‘Professionals’ who expats trust are too often incompetent at best, corrupt at worst and never seem to face the music.

Well they should be made to, in the dock if necessary.

Jon

CRACKDOWN ON NOLOTIL

THE British family of the first suspected Nolotil victim in Spain have recalled their heartbreaking experience amid a growing campaign to crackdown on the ‘lethal’ painkiller.

When James Hanley, 72, decided to move to Spain in 2016, he was dreaming of retirement in the sun.

KILL THE DRUG

But within a year he would be dead, after taking Nolotil to numb his pain following successful cancer treatment. His story would go on to serve as a leading case study for a campaign to ban the drug, launched by medical legal expert Cristina del Campo.

James, a former ferry steward, ‘had very good friends in Spain’ and went to visit them often before deciding to leave Ipswich in search of the expat dream.

His nephew, Daniel Preston, told the Olive Press: “He embraced it and threw himself into the local community.”

‘If he hadn’t gone to Spain he could still be alive’: British family of ‘first known Nolotil victim’ speaks out

James was ‘living his best life’ in Javea, Alicante, getting a ‘nice’ apartment, adopting a stray cat and enjoying local restaurants.

Just months into his retirement dream, the ‘bubbly’ expat, received the shocking news he was suffering from rectal cancer. After removing the tumour, James was given

Readers respond

Our postbag has been full since we revealed the Nolotil scandal

Great campaign!

I AM really pleased you are campaigning for the banning of Nolotil. When I had a hip replacement operation at IMED in Benidorm in 2019, this was put in my drip bag until I noticed, then told them to replace it. I then contracted an infection in the hip, which took about two years to be eradicated but, obviously, I have no specific knowledge that it was because of the Nolotil.

Since then every time I go into a hospital or health centre, I tell them that I am allergic to Nolotil but very few note it on my records, so I have to be very aware in situations where it might be used. Similarly, for Ibuprofen, as I am on Lixiana, a blood thinner. That has to be closely monitored too!

John Price

Editor’s note: Keep taking care! As a clarification, we are not calling for Nolotil to be banned, but rather that the official guidance be followed and Nolotil not be prescribed to Northern Europeans.

Dr’s advice

I WAS prescribed Nolotil 575mg capsules in June this year. But when I spoke to my husband’s doctor in the hospital she told me not to take them. She explained they are not for British or Scandinavians, they are for Spanish people. So I never took them, in fact I still have them untouched.

Mrs Carol Dundridge

No effect

I SUFFERED extreme pain from a rib fracture and was prescribed painkillers that had no effect. The doctor at the Ciudad Patricia care home then prescribed Nolotil. I took seven and still had pain. However I am still alive, having not suffered any apparent side effects. I wonder if the fact that I am half Italian has made me immune to the severe side effects suffered by many expats.

Pamela Murphy

Nolotil, also known as Metamizol, to combat the pain of his cancer treatment.

All seemed well, until just days later ‘he couldn’t breathe’.

Back in the UK, concerned family members urged James to see a doctor and he was immediately hospitalised.

Daniel flew to Alicante ‘not really sure’ what was wrong with his uncle.

iel.

But at the service, he reunited with Cristina del Campo, a medical translator who was ‘adamant’ that something wasn’t right with James’s case.

She said: “After James died they told me he also had sepsis amongst other things, I had heard that word recently, in relation to the death of an Irish woman.

“I started looking into it and I began to see a pattern, everyone who died had taken Nolotil. Many had sepsis and Fournier Gangrene.”

After James’s funeral the family began

to question his untimely death

The rapidly progressing illness was soon revealed to be a form of sepsis known as Fournier Gangrene, an aggressive, flesh-eating disease.

“I remember at one point the bedsheets fell away and exposed his body. It was horrific, this flesh eating bug had ripped through his body and was eating away at him,” Daniel said.

“It was clear to me that there was no stopping it, it was too aggressive. And sure enough, we went home due to work commitments and a few days later he was gone,” said Daniel. For James’s sister, Bridget, the news came as a terrible shock.

The care worker, who stayed in Essex due to a fear of flying, said it was ‘absolutely awful’ to not be able to be there for her ‘beloved’ brother.

It wasn’t until James’s funeral that the family began to question his untimely death.

“We just thought it was a really unfortunate case at first and we didn’t think too much about it,” said Dan-

It is thought the drug reduces patients’ white blood cell count, leaving them vulnerable to infection.

The condition, known as agranulocytosis, is believed to be a result of genetic differences in Northern European populations.

Cristina has now been fighting against Nolotil for the past seven years with her campaign group the Association for Drug Affected People (ADAF).

It aims to compel health workers to stick to a 2018 directive which restricted the prescription of Nolotil for ‘short term use’, with ‘significant consideration’ of patients’ backgrounds, including genetic vulnerability to dangerous side effects.

When asked for comment, one company that supplies metamizole in Spain, Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “Agranulocystosis is a very rare, adverse reaction that has been known for decades and is well-de

YOU CAN TAKE ACTION

Sign our petition to urge healthcare providers to stop giving the ‘lethal’ painkiller to northern Europeans

THE Olive Press has launched a petition to urge Spanish healthcare providers to stop giving Nolotil to northern eu- ropean patients.

Also known as metamizole, Nolotil is a popular painkiller in Spain.

However, it is known to cause agranulocytosis, or se- verely low white blood cell count, in northern European patients, leading to organ failure, sepsis and gangrene. The drug has been linked to at least 40 deaths of British and Irish people in Spain.

Despite a 2018 informative note issued by the Spanish Medicine Agency advising medical professionals to not administer the drug to northern europeans, people keep dying.

Yet still, readers contact us everyday saying they have been offered the drug.

That’s why we’ve launched a campaign urging medical professionals to comply with the 2018 advice.

If you agree that it should be followed, please sign our pe- tition, go to Change.org and search Stop Nolotil Deaths.

LIVING THE DREAM: but sadly James’s (left) time was cruelly cut short

PROGRESS: Spain’s gender equality ranking has improved since 2020

WHAT’S THE SCORE?

Spain ranks fourth in the EU Gender Equality Index and Yzabelle Bostyn explains why…

FEMALE equality in Spain had a big year in 2023.

In December, Spanish politicians approved an ‘Equal Representation’ Law designed to encourage gender parity in politics and business.

It followed a landmark victory for the country’s menstrual leave law, which was the first in Europe to grant leave for women with painful periods.

Despite all these laws, controversy surrounding women’s rights continues to sweep the country. While some 67% of women believe discrimination remains ‘quite large’ in the country, over 44% of Spanish men say equality has ‘gone too far’.

activities, the gender imbalance flips.

Some 39% of Spanish men say they frequently take part in such activities, compared to just 33% of women.

So, how does Spain really perform when compared to other EU countries? The Olive Press investigates.

With 76.4 points out of 100, Spain ranks fourth in the EU’s Gender Equality Index. 6.2 points above the EU average, the country has moved up two places in the ranking since 2020.

The index is calculated based on a number of different indicators including time, knowledge, work, money, power and health.

Each of these is given a score worked out using a variety of data, for instance, power takes into account the amount of female board members in high ranking companies.

Although overall the country performs well in the GEI, it is still underperforming in various areas and is important to be aware of these, so where are Spanish women thriving and where are they struggling?

The improvement of the country’s time score ( +6.4 ) has been one of the main drivers of Spain’s climb to fourth place. This category considers the amount of time women spend doing care, domestic work and social activities compared to men. Although Spain has improved in this area, women still carry the burden of care activities and domestic labour.

Some 41% of women care for family members, elderly people or those with disabilities, compared to 33% of men.

Meanwhile, 64% of women do cooking or household cleaning everyday, some 20% more than their male counterparts. When it comes to social, leisure and cultural

This category has also contributed to Spain’s fourth place position, increasing by 1.7 points since the 2020 index.

The knowledge category surveys not only educational achievement but the segregation of men and women by subject studied.

In Spain, women outnumber men in educational attainment, with 34% having degrees or their equivalent and 23% currently in vocational training. The figures for men are 32% and 21% respectively.

Women also outnumber men in the fields of education, health and welfare, humanities and arts, representing almost half of university students.

Although men represent just 25% of students in this area, other studies indicate they greatly outnumber women in STEM subjects, accounting for 65% of university students.

Meanwhile, 70% of Spain’s childcare work absences were granted to women, showing that they often sacrifice time at work to care for their families.

One of the areas where Spain performs the best, this category looks at women’s health, life expectancy, habits and access to services. While some 74% of Spanish men perceive their health to be ‘good’ or ‘very good’, compared to 69% of women, male life expectancy is some eight years lower than women’s, at 80 years. Despite this, both genders’ ‘healthy life’ years are equal, with men and women enjoying 63 years of good health.

Perhaps this balance is due to the fact that although women stick to healthier habits, they have less time to spend exercising compared to men.

Some 79% avoid tobacco and alcohol consumption compared to 69% of men.

Not far enough

A STUDY released by the Spanish Sociological Research Institute hit the headlines after stating 44% of Spanish men believe ‘women’s equality has gone so far that it is now discriminating against men’.

While 32% of women agreed, the majority, 67%, believe inequality remains ‘very’ or ‘quite’ large.

In comparison, just 48% of men agreed with this statement.

But why do Spanish men feel disenfranchised?

Digging deeper into the data, we can see that they think women have better, or at least, equal opportunities in almost every aspect of life; from promotions at work to educational access.

However, when the survey asked women, they reported that they felt their opportunities were ‘worse’.

For instance, just 27% of men said women’s access to positions of political responsibility were ‘worse’ than men’s, compared to 47% of women.

Responses like this follow recent advances in women’s rights in the country. In 2005, then prime minister Jose Zapatero, introduced some of the world’s most advanced gender equality laws. The move came after an Andalucian woman, Ana Orates was burnt alive in her own home by an abusive ex partner who she had spoken out against on television.

Advances

Since then, subsequent governments have also made strides towards equality. Most recently, Pedro Sanchez’s left wing coalition introduced a new ‘Equality Law’ designed to create equal access to positions of economic and political power.

This, alongside other laws promoting equality for LGBTQ+ people, have sparked controversy across the country and ruffled feathers amongst the right wing.

Many men are - wrongly - seeing these laws as advantages not offered to them. In fact, the so-called ‘discrimination’ many Spanish men claim to be facing is better described as the feeling of being threatened by the slow eradication of their privilege as men.

Although Spain’s score may seem high, the country has actually dropped five places in the EU work ranking, now standing in 17th position. This category looks at equal access to employment and good working conditions as well as the quantity of women in full-time work and the length of their careers.

Some 14% fewer women are employed in full time work compared to men, standing at 41% and 55% respectively.

On the career prospects index, an EU wide indicator of job quality, prosperity and security, Spanish women score 56 compared to men’s 57.

All of these statistics, though improved, indicate that women’s careers are affected by expectations to care for children.

A recent study by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) showed some 24% of women aged 24-49 with children resort to part-time work in order to care for their children in comparison to 4.7% of men.

But only 38% of women take part in daily physical activity and eat sufficient fruits and vegetables, 11% fewer than their male counterparts.

This domain looks at women’s decision making power in political, social and economic spheres.

Spain’s political equality has greatly advanced in recent years - women account for 48% of ministers, 42% members of parliament and 46% of regional assemblies.

In the economic sphere, 37% of directors in Spain’s largest companies are women. Meanwhile, board members of Spain’s central bank are split 50/50.

However, in the world of sports and TV, the story couldn’t be more different.

Men represent 73% of decision makers in the country’s Olympic sports organisations and 60% in publicly owned broadcasters.

In the domestic realm, women are still suffering the effects of gender stereotypes, which oblige them to sacrifice their free time and careers for their families.

Women are not getting ‘more rights’ but solutions for the sexism that persists in modern society.

This becomes evident when we consider that almost 20% fewer men than women think inequality still exists in the country. It seems that while laws and legislation are making it seem women have more rights than men, the lived experience for women is very different.

It is clear that Spanish women still experience high levels of sexism in their daily lives.

In my personal experience, I am still warned not to walk home alone at night, have been verbally abused on dating apps and been catcalled while on my own balcony.

Until women can live without fear, there is no doubt that inequality still exists. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the sexism that remains in Spanish society will be eradicated by laws.

A much deeper social intervention is required to make meaningful change, which will not create the backlash this survey has uncovered.

OPINION by Yzabelle Bostyn

WHAT’S THE HISTORY OF IWD? 8

nternational Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900’s - a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

PIONEERING: New York suffragettes

LEADER: Clara Zetkin

CUFFED: Pankhurst

POWER: UN backs

IWD

WEBSITE: For IWD

MARCHING: Annie Lennox in London

HELP: From Hillary

1908

Great unrest and critical debate was occurring among women. Oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1910

A second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day every year on the same day in every country.

1911

International Women’s Day was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, hold public office and end discrimination.

1913 1914

International Women’s Day was transferred to March 8 and this day has remained the global date ever since. In 1914 women across Europe held rallies to campaign against war and to express women’s solidarity. In London there was a march in support of women’s suffrage on March 8. Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.

1975

International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations. Then in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.

1996

The UN adopted an annual theme in 1996 - ‘Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future’. This theme was followed in 1997 with ‘Women at the Peace table’, and in 1999 with ‘World Free of Violence Against Women.’

2000

By the new millennium, International Women’s Day activity around the world had stalled in many countries. The world had moved on and feminism wasn’t a popular topic. International Women’s Day needed re-ignition. There was urgent work to do - battles had not been won and gender parity had still not been achieved.

2001

The global internationalwomensday.com digital hub was launched to re-energise the day as an important platform to celebrate the successful achievements of women and to continue calls for accelerating gender parity.

2011

Saw the 100 year centenary of International Women’s Day. Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be ‘Women’s History Month’, calling Americans to mark IWD by reflecting on ‘the extraordinary accomplishments of women’. Hillary Clinton launched the ‘100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges’. In the UK celebrity activist Annie Lennox led a march across one of London’s iconic bridges raising awareness in support for global charity Women for Women International.

The world has witnessed a significant change in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality. Many from a younger generation may feel all the battles have been won, while many feminists from the 1970’s know only too well the ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, women can work and have a family, women have real choices.

February 2024

A WOMAN’S INFLUENCE

Queen Letizia is among the most influential women in Spain - but how many of the others do you know?

WHEN Forbes released its second list detailing Spain’s most influential women it highlighted Queen Letizia, Spain’s Women’s Football team and singer Rosalia. But the magazine’s list, designed to ‘celebrate women’s success and educate future generations’ is full of inspirational Spanish women most people don’t know about. Here we reveal some of the lesser known people honoured, as well as their more famous sisters…

PIONEERING VOICES

Spain’s early feminists and suffragettes

SPAIN at the end of the 19th century was undergoing a massive economic and social upheaval - and women wanted a piece of the action too. The country saw the emergence of a band of courageous feminists and suffragettes who fought for social, political, and economic justice.

But it would be a long road before they were to get the vote - and in many ways they had to wait until the death of Franco in 1975 before the deep-set conservatism that kept women ‘in their place’ began to give way. This is a process that is still continuing with modern day women fighting their own battles.

A wave of feminist thought had begun to take root in the late 19th century, with works like Emilia Pardo Bazan’s The Feminist Question (La Cuestion Feminista) published in 1892, serving as a catalyst for discussions on women’s rights, education, and equality.

Another pioneering figure was Concepcion Arenal, whose writings and activism challenged traditional gender roles and advocated for women’s education and legal reforms. Her work was in many ways key to the growth of subsequent feminist movements in Spain.

In 1918 - the same year as Germany agreed to extend the vote to women in time for the 1919 elections and women over 30 in the UK got the vote - the Asociacion Nacional de Mujeres Españolas (National Association of Spanish Women) was founded by Consuelo Gonzalez Ramos.

It attracted leading figures including Clara Campoamor and Victoria Kent.

Born in Madrid, Campoamor was one of the first women to enter Parliament in Spain and had a long history of feminism and campaigning for universal suffrage. During the 1931 elections women could not vote but

By Yzabelle Bostyn

QUEEN LETIZIA OF SPAIN

A journalist and divorcee, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano has broken royal taboos as Queen of Spain.

Before her coronation she was awarded the Madrid Press Association’s Larra Prize as the year’s most outstanding journalist under 30. As Queen she advocates for youth education, scientific research and greater awareness of rare diseases.

GROUNDBREAKERS:

Emilia Pardo Bazan (above) and Concepcion Arenal (right)

they could stand to be MPs. Campoamor and fellow lawyer Victoria Kent were the only two women elected.

Their work on the Constitutional Committee helped to enshrine the principle that women had the same rights as men in the Spanish Constitution of 1931 - with one glaring disagreement. Malaga-born Kent, as a member of the Radical Socialist Republican Party, felt that it was too soon to allow women the vote.

Far left thought at the time was that women tended to be too conservative and in thrall to the Catholic Church and so would most likely vote right wing. Campoamor, a member of the Radical Party, saw it as a human rights issue and was instrumental in achieving universal suffrage for women in time for the 1933 elections after ‘winning’ a debate with Kent. During the Franco era women nominally retained the right to vote - although voter lists became restricted to ‘heads of households’, usually men.

Campoamor and Kent had already shown herself to be an inspiration to women. They were the first two female members of the Madrid Law Association having both broken through a glass ceiling by entering university to study law.

Campoamor went into exile during the Civil War and died in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1972 at the age of 82. Kent too was exiled and died in New York aged 96 in 1987.

2024

CAMPAIGNERS: Clara Campoamor (above) and Victoria Kent fought for women’s rights

(Córdoba, 1974) will be the first woman to hold the position of D Contemporani de Barcelona. She is currently Director and Chief Curator of as well as Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University the Thought Council, Fondazione Prada. She has previously International Biennial of Contemporary Art; Curator of International London; Artistic Director of Rencontres Picha Congo; Curator of Contemporary Art at the Centro Andaluz de Ar Seville; Senior Curator at Creative Time in New York Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) in Las Palmas, Gran

PRINCESS LEONOR OF ASTURIAS

Heir to the Spanish throne (right), the 18-year-old has been making headlines recently whilst completing the military training. Described as ‘loyal’ by Forbes, the princess was praised for her support of the Spanish women’s side at the recent World Cup final. Leonor has studied in the UK, attending prestigious private school UWC Atlantic College in Wales.

THE SPANISH WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM

Although celebrating the whole team, Forbes highlighted the Balon d’Or winner Ataina Bonmati (far right) and teammate Salma Parallelo, who was crowned the best player of the tournament. The team, who beat the English side 1-0 in the World Cup final last year also received the Spanish Royal Award for Sporting Merit.

ROSALÍA

Infusing flamenco and pop, Rosalia (left) has conquered the charts at home and abroad, becoming the first Spanish woman to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone USA

Consortium of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona the committee of experts, which innovative approach to the role of the Museum on the local and incorporating a clear desire to connect with contemporary debates beginning of this century, without shying away from a firm issues surrounding cultural institutions’.

Her Motomami tour broke records, covering 21 countries and 2 million attendees. The Barcelona native’s logo has also appeared on her home team’s kit during the hotly contested El Clasico football match between Madrid and Barcelona.

WELENA ARZAK

In 2012, Basque chef Elena Arzak was crowned ‘World’s Best Female Chef’ in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards Now, more than a decade later, she is as influential as ever. Her three-Michelin-starred restaurants are known for their relaxed vibe where local families have dined for generations. She comes from a Spanish culinary dynasty, following in the footsteps of three generations of chefs. Her dishes are known for preserving Basque traditions whilst adding flavours inspired by cultures worldwide.

ELVIRA DYANGANI OSE

Director of Barcelona modern art mu seum (left), the MACBA, the art histo rian proudly oversees a 90% female workforce. In 2022, the Turner Prize judge was included in ArtReview’s Power 100 list for her influence in the art world.

FRANCINA ARMENGOL

The President of the Spanish Congress, Francina Armengol is known for her tact in

reaching agreements and her support for using regional languages in government. In 2015, she became the first female leader of the Balearic Islands whilst raising two children as a single mother.

SARA GARCÍA ALONSO

The molecular biologist (below left) became the first Spanish woman to be selected for the European Space Agency reserve. Not only the first Spanish female astronaut, the scientist is also part of the National Cancer Research Centre and leads projects to find new drugs to fight lung and pancreatic cancer.

GLORIA LOMANA

The Executive President of 50&50 Gender Leadership, journalist Gloria Lomana (below right) is a pioneer in female leadership and communications. In 2019, she founded a communications consultancy focussed on equality and female leadership. She also pioneers leadership programmes for young women aged 15-18 and shares her insights in the national media.

IRENE CANO

Head of Meta for Spain and Portugal, Irene Cano is at the forefront of world changing technology. Under her leadership, Spain will become Europe’s first ‘metacountry’, a multinational centre for innovation and planning of the metaverse.

ANA OBREGON

In March this year, actress Ana Obregon (left middle) became the centre of a national controversy when she decided to become a mother using her dead son’s sperm at almost 70-years-old. The story shocked Spaniards. Following the controversy, Ana published a book her son had started writing before his death in 2020.

The Boy with the Shrews went on to become a best seller and Ana a successful influencer.

KNOW WHERE YOU STAND

representatives of the institutions and members with a recognized and local artistic sector: Joan Subirats, Deputy Mayor for Culture of Ibar, Director General of Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat de president of the Fundació MACBA; María Dolores Jiménez-Blanco Director General of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture; Chris Dercon, of French National Museums, Grand Palais, Paris, and member of Committee; João Fernandes, artistic director of the Instituto Moreira

HEN setting up a business in Spain Jennifer Cunningham realised that the qualities she learnt during her time in the Royal Air Force would stand her in good stead.

There she learnt not to accept excuses or lies, as well as gaining an iron discipline, fearlessness, determination - and the overwhelming importance of honesty and integrity.

“Being in the RAF was one of the happiest times in my life and where I had discipline instilled in me,” she tells the Olive Press.

“As a result I don’t stand for any nonsense, but that also means people know where they stand with me, which is very important in business.”

It was still anything but easy for her to set up her insurance business on the costas three decades ago, when women were not taken seriously in business.

“I was a widow, surviving on a meagre widow’s pension and so the only way I could start up was to re-mortgage my home, borrow money and make it work,” she recalls, from her home in Javea, on the Costa Blanca.

“I had problems finding a bank who would support me and I remember the first time I presented my business plan to get a loan, the bank manager wouldn’t address me directly but kept looking towards the male friend I had brought with me.

Honesty and integrity are key to setting up a business - lessons learnt in the RAF by expat business leader Jennifer Cunningham

She then began working with a giant American company, Liberty Insurance, designing special packages for the expat market and has built up a reputation as a hugely successful expat businesswoman.

They didn’t take me seriously, I walked out and went somewhere else

“I had to point out that it was me who was borrowing the money, that I was the business owner and when they didn’t take me seriously, I walked out and went somewhere else.”

She eventually found a sympathetic bank manager, a man who has supported her ever since her first venture, and who she has stayed with as he moved across different banks.

“At the beginning they didn’t want to take me on and they felt sure that I would fail,” she reveals. “My style of selling was completely new to them, the culture here in Spain was so different.”

“As an entrepreneur I had to take risks and convince those who had the financial backing of huge institutions behind them to take a risk on me, but I proved myself and in the end, those very same people looked to me to lead strategy and even asked me to teach them how to do it.”

Today Jennifer Cunningham Insurance has seven offices in Spain (including one in the Canaries) and thousands of expat customers.

While an incredible success story - not just for a woman, but also as an expat - she however, is most proud of the fact that she leads a team of 23 staff, predominately women.

“It isn’t a policy to only employ women, it just turns out that

IRON DISCIPLINE: The RAF taught Jennifer well

they are the ones that have thrived,” she explains.

“Applications are open to everyone and we do employ men and I try to keep a balance in the teams, but it’s the women that seem to be most successful in this business and the ones that stay on for years and years, while the men just don’t seem to keep up.”

Photo by Maureen Evans

Life SAVERS

FOR Eva Perez, receiving the all-important phone call kickstarted a complicated mix of emotions.

“You’re happy because your loved ones are celebrating that it’s your chance to continue to live and to follow your dreams, but at the same time you know there’s another family, somewhere else, who are crying,” she explains from her home in Madrid.

It’s a confusing mish-mash of feelings - fear, hope, happiness, grief, responsibility - that Eva, now 55, knows all too well.

She was aged just 11 when doctors discovered she was suffering from hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, which required extensive treatment and medication.

But then liver transplants didn’t exist in Spain and, even when they did get introduced in 1984, they were highly experimental and dangerous.

Indeed, it wasn’t until 11 years later in 1995 when Eva was finally offered the life-saving surgery.

It went well and two years on, she was pregnant with her son, Fernando.

But she had to stop taking the medication which would have had damaging effects on the foetus and, as a result her new liver was rejected and she needed to go under the knife once more in December 1997.

Lucky

She was incredibly lucky, with a donor available within two months of giving birth: “I felt incredibly fortunate, because getting a transplant is not like buying something from El Corte Ingles.

“You can have all the technology in the world but the entire process is dependent on a family experiencing the worst moment of their lives, but agreeing to give life to someone else”.

However, for this she is eternally grateful. “The first family gave me life, the second gave me life with my son”, she explained.

Eva is one of tens of thousands of Spaniards who have benefited from the selflessness of grieving families.

She is also one of many to have benefited from Spain’s famous organ donation and transplant model, widely regarded as the best in the world.

An incredible 5,861 or gan transplants took place in Spain last year, meaning the coun try topped the global list for a record 32nd consecutive year. One in four donors within Europe and 5%

Ben Pawlowski discovers why Spain has been the world leader for life-saving organ transplants for 32-years

of ALL donors worldwide are Spanish, with over 140,000 transplants successfully completed since records began.

But why has the Spanish model had such success and longevity?

According to Gonzalo Diaz, a researcher at the University of Granada several factors come into play.

“The opt-out system is one of the fundamental pillars of the Spanish system - unlike other countries, in Spain you are an organ donor automatically, unless you opt-out of the system”, he explained.

The opt-out system is the antithesis of the opt-in system, whereby potential donors have to explicitly state their desire to have their organs used after death.

REACHING

CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN

Ystudy from Diaz and his colleagues found over 90% of Andalucians were supportive of the system, whilst almost three-quarters want their organs to be donated after death.

In 1989, the Spanish Health Ministry created the National Transplant Organisation (ONT), an agency in charge of the coordination and oversight of donation, procurement, and transplantation activities.

Diaz believes that the organisation’s ‘magnificent’ work has been integral to Spain’s success.

The opt-out system is a fundamental pillar of the Spanish system

The success of the system has seen other counas the UK, adapt the policy in hope of replicating Spain’s model, which has a world-leading donation rate of 48.9 donors per million people. However, for Diaz, there are other vital cogs to the successful policy: “It really helps having the high levels of support and confidence the population has for the national transplant and medical system.”

A recent

“Their capacity to explain the importance of donation is incredibly effective”, he said.

A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Transplantation likewise highlighted the importance of the ONT, claiming Spain benefits from ‘a specific organisational approach to ensure the systematic identification of donation opportunities’, whilst simultaneously ‘promoting public support’ for donating organs after death.

And the model continues to flourish, with 2023 seeing a 9% rise in the number of organ transplants conducted in the country.

Beatriz Dominguez-Gil, head of the ONT, explained to the Olive Press that the increase could only have been possible ‘thanks to the constant search for new ways to increase donation and transplant activity’.

“It ensures that one day in the future, this incredibly complex medical procedure will be available for every single patient that needs it,” she added.

Despite the success of the Spanish model, 4,790 patients remain on the waiting list, a number of whom will either die while waiting, or be removed from the list as they become too ill.

Discussing how Spain can continue to improve its model, Diaz continued: “I believe that addressing new technological challenges within the sector, maintaining high levels of training for medical professionals, and continuing to be transparent and honest towards the general public will be key”.

Nevertheless, Spain’s carefully nurtured model continues to be the best in the world.

For Eva, who today works as the President of the National Federation of Liver Transplants, her opinion is definite. “It is clear in my mind that if I had not been born in Spain, I would not be here today”.

MEET THE OP TEAM

zabelle Bostyn’s career in journalism began during the Coronavirus pandemic, when trapped in a cramped flat with a Peruvian family she had just met, she turned to a local journalist for help.

She felt first hand how journalism can help people when just a few weeks later, she found herself on a chartered flight home courtesy of the UK government.

Arriving back at the University of Sheffield, she began writing for student newspapers such as The Tab and UniFresher, where she worked her way up to Sheffield Editor.

After finishing her degree in English Literature and Hispanic Studies, she enrolled in the university’s prestigious journalism MA.

While studying for her masters she developed a love for journalism, frequently being published in local papers.

Once she finished her degree, she worked in marketing before setting off an epic trip around Latin America.

From Mexico to Colombia, she chronicled her travels on her blog, cementing her love for travel writing.

Perfect fit

She loved scaling volcanoes in Guatemala, finding the best vegan ceviche in Mexico and swimming with sharks in Belize.

Tragically, her trip was cut short by news that her Nana had terminal throat cancer, so she left the backpacker life to care for her.

Her grandma’s death brought life into sharp focus for Yzabelle’s family and she made the decision to pursue her longtime goal of returning to Spain. She had firm links with the country, having lived in Barcelona as part of her year abroad and visited her family’s Alpujarran holiday home every summer for 16 years.

DISCWORLD: Yzabelle playing in the Spanish championships with Volaores

When she found the Olive Press, it seemed like a perfect fit, a place where she could perfect her Spanish and work as a journalist. She has now settled in Estepona, where she is a proud member of the local Ultimate Frisbee team.

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:

1- ‘Blood rain’ is coming to Spain: New DANA will bring the weather phenomenon to Andalucia and beyond this week

2- PICTURED: British expat and urbanisation president who ‘paid himself more than the deputy PM of SPAIN’

3- What will happen to Spain’s property market in 2024? Expert Mark Stucklin gives his verdict

4- Why Brits staying with friends or family in Spain should consider carrying THIS document

5- Farmer strikes in Spain: Chaos to continue today with tractors blocking roads and ports from Malaga to Barcelona and Valencia

BLESSED: Eva has had two liver transplants

BOSS: Beatriz is the head of Spain’s transplant body

OH MY GOD!

A GAY white Jesus and a Roman orgy. That’s the verdict of some furious locals after seeing the posters for two hugely traditional festivals in Spain this year.

The first poster is for Semana Santa in Sevilla, which shows a scantily clad Son of God wearing just a crown and a piece of cloth covering his manhood, which is tied around his waist by a rope.

Since it was posted on Instagram last month, it has caused a huge backlash on social media, with some comparing the Jesus to a ‘gay man taking a gym selfie’.

Others commented that he was far ‘too white’ for a man who would have been born in the

Posters for religious events in Spain cause outrage for being ‘too sexual’

By Laurence Dollimore

Middle East.

However the artist behind the poster, Salustino Garcia, said if someone sees something dirty in his painting, it is ‘his own internal dirt that he is projecting onto the image’.

It comes as more than 10,000 people have signed a petition on change.org to remove the image as the official Holy Week poster in Sevilla.

Garcia added in an interview:

“He is very white? Like all Euro-

Junior delight

SPAIN'S national public broadcaster RTVE will host this year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time.

The country won the second-ever competition in 2004 and came second in Nice last year.

The host city and dates for the 2024 event will be announced in due course.

The Valencian government has already told RTVE that the region would like to be considered as a host. It already has the annual Benidorm Fest to pick Spain’s entry for the senior event.

Martin Osterdahl, the EBU’s JESC Executive Supervisor said: “20 years after their Junior Eurovision Song Contest win, we’re thrilled to finally bring the Contest to Spain.

pean Christs, all Gothic Christs. That he is half naked? Like all the crucified and resurrected Christs of Spain and Europe.”

The second controversial poster is for the Carnival in Molins de Rei, Catalunya, a traditional weeklong festival which celebrates Dijous Llarder (Fat Thursday) on the first day, ushering in ‘six days of excess and fun’ before finishing on Ash Wednesday. Although it seems the artist for the promotional material this year focused a little too much on the ‘excess’ - with the image of more than a dozen intertwined nude and semi-nude bodies being deemed ‘inappropriate’ by locals.

OUTRAGE: More than 10,000 people have signed a petition against the image

“It looks like a Roman orgy,” one woman told Spanish newspaper Metropoli.

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

Feels like home

Hola Quooker!

Quooker has arrived in Spain. You can now benefit from official technical service and local warranty. Visit www.quooker.es to know more or to find a dealer near you! With a Quooker in your kitchen you always have 100 °C boiling water alongside regular hot and cold. Add a CUBE and you will also have filtered chilled and sparkling water – all from the same tap. The tap that does it all.

info@quooker.es

& TRAVEL

What a

Spanish town that could be a set for a

A TOWN in northern Spain has gone viral for being ‘identical’ to the Beauty and the Beast village.

At some point, everyone has wished they were in a

From the glaciers of Arendelle to the temples of imperialist China, there’s always enchanting scenery fit for a fairytale.

If your favourite princess was the erudite Belle, you’re in luck.

A town in northern Spain has been dubbed the country’s answer to Beauty and the Beast by travel influencers.

Covarrubias, Burgos, is ‘full of corners that will transport you’ to the film, with

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 7 Megawatt, 8 Obey, 9 Eke, 10 Valuable, 11 Garages, 14 Bathe, 15 Brave, 17 Session, 21 Offshore, 22 Peg, 23 Bear, 24 One-on-one.

Down: 1 Geneva, 2 Dare, 3 Larvae, 4 Still, 5 Nowadays, 6 Wealth, 12 Advisers, 13 S I S, 16 Refuel, 18 Eleven, 19 Organs, 20 Got on, 22 Pane.

By Yzabelle Bostyn

cobbled streets snaking through ramshackle Medieval buildings and historic monuments.

The walled city has been inhabited since the paleolithic period and is home to one of Spain’s best preserved roman bridges.

It was founded in 653 by a Visgoth king, where the San Cosme and San Damian churches now stand.

Some 100 years later, the Moors destroyed the city and built its first defensive towers, eventually making Covarrubias front line of the reconquest of Spain.

After Catholics had retaken hold of the Iberian peninsula, Covarrubias became the capital of Castille, a highly influential Spanish kingdom which reigned from 1065 -1833.

It is this period which has shaped the city’s legend.

In 1258, Kristina of Norway married Prince Felipe of Castille before moving to Sevilla.

Unfortunately the princess, known for her beauty, died of heatstroke in the ‘frying pan of Spain’. Her body was subsequently moved to Covarrubias and today, singles from

all over Europe visit her tomb, hoping for better luck in their dating lives.

There is also a festival dedicated to the princess, held in October with music, artisan crafts and theatre performances.

The city is also

home to a ‘Book Museum’, housed in Covarrubia’s archive. Nearby, there are two historic monasteries, Silos and San Pedro de Arlanza. They are found in the Lerma area, which is well known for its gastronomic offering, including the exqui -

site DO Arlanza wines. Adventurers can also follow the Arlanza river to discover the stunning countryside, found in the heart of the old Castille kingdom.

EVOCATIVE: The medieval streets of Covarrubias are reminicent of the ancient alleys and architecture of the village in Beauty and the Beast

SOME FRONT: Timber-framed buildings are crucial to the charm of Covarrubias

THE average wait to see a family doctor or primary care health staff is 9.12 days in Spain, according to figures compiled by the Defence of Public Health group (FADSP).

The study says that 25.9% of patients wait 11 days or more, while 38.2% of people suffer delays of three months or more for appointments with a hospital specialist. There are many regional variations with the

WAITING TIMES

average primary care delay standing at 12.4 days in Catalunya, followed by 10.4 days in Andalucia and the Valencian Community with 9.8 days. In contrast, Asturias comes in with the best figure of the 17 regions with a 4.8 day wait.

Viagra link

Vaccine study

Covid jab health probe ordered by Spanish court

A COURT has ordered an investigation over whether Covid-19 vaccines that allegedly contained graphene oxide posed any health risk. Complaints were submitted in 2022 and Almeria Provincial Court now wants to see whether there is ‘any indication of a crime against public health’.

The court overturned a decision made by a judge last May to dismiss the case as unjustified, without clarifying the facts.

The ruling upholds an appeal by the complainants and concludes that the police need to carry out investigations, especially since

By Alex Trelinski

probes had been started in other parts of Spain.

The case was initially brought after the opinions of a University of Almeria (UAL) chemistry professor were published on social media over an alleged contamination of the vaccine following the study of a sample. His findings suggested that analysis provides ‘solid evidence of the probable presence of graphene derivatives, although it does not provide conclusive proof’. The university dissociated

itself from his conclusions and said that the analysed sample was ‘of unknown origin with a total absence of traceability’. The UAL clarified that it was not an official report or a scientific study, while stressing its total support for vaccines in fighting diseases. In response to complaints acted on by the Court of Instruction 2 - and now revoked by Almeria Provincial Court - the judge last May said that there were no indications of any crime ‘given that it is not proven that the Covid-19 vaccine had a toxic component that generates danger to people’s health’.

MEN who take Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction could have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.

The study saw nearly 270,000 men take part, with an average age of 59 - the participants were newly-diagnosed with erectile dysfunction and did not have dementia symptoms at the start of the research.

The men were then followed by researchers for an average of five years.

Some 55% took drugs including Viagra, Cialis, vardenafil and avanafil, whereas the rest did not.

Men who had been prescribed the drugs were 18% less likely to develop dementia, although more research is needed to prove the link.

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DIABETES CASES SURGE

DIABETES is surging in Andalucia at an alarming rate, health experts have warned.

Dr Diego Fernandez, head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition department at Xanit Hospital in Benalmadena, revealed: “We are facing a high incidence of diabetes in the region, a phenomenon that we cannot ignore.

“Although Andalucia has been recognised for its development and quality of life, the prevalence of diabetes has experienced a constant increase in recent years.”

Doctor advises exercise and good diet are key factors in avoiding the disease

He added: “Genetic factors and unhealthy lifestyles are contributing to this increase. It is crucial to understand that diabetes is a complex disease that requires a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early diagnosis and effective management.” He added that to avoid the disease: “You have to maintain a Mediterranean diet, that each day… eat a healthy diet and avoid sugar and saturated fat… and do not smoke tobacco.’

for me is one of the main keys.

“Also, awareness about the importance of regular physical activity is essential to reverse this trend.”

A Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, nuts, healthy oils and fish.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advises people to ‘reach and keep a health body weight’.

It adds that they should ‘stay physically active with at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise

Meanwhile, new specialist diabetes care units are to open next year across the Costa Blanca and Valencia regions. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1, which is widely believed to be genetic, and Type 2, which can be prevented. According to the World Health Organisation, Type 1 is characterised by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin. Type 2 diabetes ‘affects how your body uses

Over time, it can lead to damage of nerves and blood vessels

sugar (glucose) for energy. It stops the body from using insulin properly, which can lead to high levels of blood sugar if not treated.’ Over time, it can lead to serious damage to the body, particularly against nerves and blood vessels.

You are more at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes if you are overweight, do not exercise enough and if it runs in the family.

It is important that you are regularly tested for the disease, as early diagnosis helps you to avoid its worst effects.

Mon-key to freedom

A MONKEY which was held in brutal captivity in a flat in Barcelona for 35 years has finally been freed after an an animal rights organisation filed a complaint with local authorities

Ton-up

THE first woman to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Spain, Araceli Hidalgo, received birthday wishes from Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday after turning 100 years old.

Water hazard

THREE golf courses based on the Costa del Sol are under investigation after being accused of stealing water for irrigation. The region is currently suffering its worst drought in decades.

WITH their traditional pastry business scuppered by the cost of living crisis, a community of cloistered nuns in Sevilla has had to take drastic measures to survive.

Described as the ‘perfect location to relax in the heart of the city’, the nuns are offering stays within their convent through Airbnb.

The secluded nuns, from the Order of Saint Clare, have opened four flats which can each be rented for between €90

How nuns are turning their convent into a holiday rental

and €180.

Only one member of the Convent of Saint Mary of Jesus, Sister Ines, maintains contact with the outside world, using a revolving hatch through which their famous pastries are sold. But with a falling number of vocations and climbing inflation, the nuns have turned to the rental market to top up the

Picky prioress

By Ben Pawlowski

The flats, located within the 16th-century walls of the convent, are managed by Javier Bernal and Luis Bidon, who successfully negotiated a oneyear agreement with the nuns after passing them a message through an intermediary pastry-buyer.

A COMMUNITY of cloistered nuns in Ronda is in desperate need of new members, with the Vatican threatening to close the convent.

The group needs two new sisters ‘as soon as possible’ to persuade the Vatican to keep the convent open.

Several young women have enquired about the ‘position’, but the prioress of the convent has stated that prospective nuns must have a CV including ‘substantial previous experience’.

Two years ago the congregation was home to nine nuns, but a succession of deaths has left just four sisters.

The Vatican states that cloistered congregations must have a minimum of six nuns.

NUN OF YOUR BUSINESS: Convents must diversify income streams

The bells of the convent ring to announce when a paying guest arrives, more often than not a foreign tourist, according to Bernal.

Nowadays, the community consists of 18 nuns, with the Bishop of Sevilla recently advising the city’s 34 convents to diversify their income streams.

The convent was founded in 1502, the height of Sevilla’s thriving Golden Age, by Alvaro de Portugal, a cousin of Isabella the Catholic, the Queen of Castilla y Leon.

One of the flats currently has a rating of 4.86/5, with past guests complimentary of the location, cleanliness and architecture.

Grapes of wrath

AN intruder literally poured €2 million worth of wine down the drain at a renowned bodega. He entered the Valladolid winery on Sunday and emptied three tanks containing 60,000 litres of maturing premium wine.

Expert

The Guardia Civil is searching for the hooded person that appeared to have expert knowledge of how to turn on the taps at the Cepa 21 winery in Castillo de Duero - a complicated procedure meant to safeguard against accidents.

And he also knew which tanks contained the premium Horcajo and Malabrigo brands, which are sold at over €90 a bottle. He accessed two other tanks but, fortunately for Cepa 21, they were already empty.

PIC CREDIT: Matthew Murphy and Oliver Rosser