partner: I’m innocent
THE alleged mastermind behind one of Spain’s biggest investment frauds has insisted he’s innocent.
Darren Kirby, who founded infamous Continental Wealth Management (CWM), told the Olive Press he left Spain with ‘just €50’ in his pocket.
This was despite his firm leaving hundreds of elderly expats ‘around €35 million’ out of pocket when it collapsed in 2017.
Having fled Spain, first for Australia and then Cambodia, he is now living in London, working in pubs.
The 60-year-old told the Olive Press this week, he was ‘aware’ of various lawsuits against his former firm and that his ex-partner Jody Smart (top) had just been sentenced to three years in prison.
However, he insisted he was innocent and ‘there was no fraud committed by CWM’.
No money
The former financial advisor also claimed he had made ‘no money’ from the offshore investment scheme that he set up in Alicante in 2010.
In a bombshell phone interview from the UK, he insisted his ex-partner Jody, now Jody Pearson, had ‘stolen everything from me’.
“She even took my Savile Row suit and a sculpture of my baby daughter when she was just six months old,” he claimed.
Kirby also insisted he ‘transferred everything’ into Jody’s name in 2015 on the advice of lawyers.
She was left with ‘all the assets, totally, completely,’ he claimed.
This even included the Costa Blanca villa that Kirby had been ‘planning to retire in’.
“Everyone says I ran away – I didn't run away,” he insisted this week, speaking publicly for the first time.
“But as soon as I left, Jody stripped all my assets, the cars – and a lot more too.”
The Olive Press will be revealing more of his sensational claims about the CWM scandal over the coming weeks.
See Payback Time, page 6
DISGRACE
AN alarming 70,000 children are still living in squalor, trauma and uncertainty since the disastrous floods ripped through Valencia six months ago.
Anger is mounting against Valencia region president Carlos Mazon over the October 29 deluge that left 228 people dead.
So far six large demonstrations have demanded his resignation given most victims had died well before an official regional government warning message was sent to mobile phones. Locals are also furious at how little has been done since the catastrophic storm turned quiet towns into disaster zones, leveling more than 75,000 homes in its path.
While officials promised a swift recovery, the reality on the ground is devastating - and it’s children who are suffering the
when we walk through town.”
According to Save the Children, the psychological toll is staggering.
response.
“Things are slowly improving for some, but the job is far from done.”
That’s certainly not the case for Eduvmary Lopez (pictured left), a single mum, who lives with her 10-year-old son and her baby daughter in a Paiporta flat riven by damp.
“The mould has destroyed everything,” she said. “The woodwork, the clothes - all gone. My children have caught respiratory infections.
Infections
“And every time it rains, my eldest son panics and begs me to pick him up from school.”
most.
“We’ve been caring for kids whose childhoods were literally stolen by this flood,” said Rodrigo Hernandez, head of Save the Children’s flood emergency
She tries to calm him with emergency plans.
“I tell him: if it floods again, go upstairs, don’t come home, and help your classmates. But I shouldn’t have to say that to a 10-year-old.”
Carol, another local mother, fears for her five-year-old daughter’s mental health.
“I tried to act normal when the storm hit, but she remembers. She talks about the water, the mud… even now, she’s scared
Children are terrified of weather, struggle to sleep, and have shown signs of depression, rage and emotional shutdown.
Adolescents, in particular, are suffering in silence.
“Mental health services for children must be urgently expanded,” said Hernandez.
“This disaster has left invisible scars on thousands of young people.”
And the flood didn’t just destroy homes - it shattered classrooms too.
Nearly 40,000 children were left without schooling in the immediate aftermath. Even now, some are still being taught in makeshift barracks, while others have missed entire subjects.
“With the school year ending, urgent action is needed to help kids catch up,” said Hernandez.
“They shouldn’t be punished by having to repeat the year - it’s unfair and socially damaging.”
Despite over €1.2 billion being poured into recovery efforts, thousands of families remain in overcrowded, unhealthy housing. And the most vulnerable - those in informal or contractless rentals - have fallen through the cracks.
“We need stronger housing sup-
port now,” warned Hernandez. “Children are growing up in toxic, unsafe environments. Their development, their future, their health is at risk.”
His charity has opened seven safe spaces where social workers and psychologists offer care, play, therapy, and schooling in secure, child-friendly environments.
“These centres give kids a chance to be kids again,” said Hernandez.
“To laugh, to learn, to begin healing. But they can’t undo six months of pain alone.”
As the humanitarian crisis drags on, protesters have zeroed in on leader Mazon, accusing him of mismanagement and prioritising ‘press conferences over people’.
Banners reading ‘Six Months, Still No Home’ and ‘Your Speeches Won’t Keep Us Dry’ filled Valencia city during a recenteek’s mass demonstration.
Environmentalists meanwhile, point to poor urban planning on flood zones and the destruction of wetlands as reasons the floods were so destructive.
One protester told the Olive Press: “This isn’t just a housing crisis. It’s a full-blown social emergency. The kids of Valencia have been forgotten. And people are done with waiting.”
Half year on: More calls for Mazon to go as anniversary marks tragic floods update
By Dilip Kuner & Alex Trelinski
TRAUMA: Children who lived through the devastating floods (left) have been suffering with mental scars
KANYE WEST: Is currently staying in a Mallorca rehab centre
WEST BAILS
KANYE ‘Ye’ West has caused fresh drama during his first interview from a luxury rehab centre in Mallorca.
Appearing via video link from the exclusive Balance Rehab Clinic, West joined Piers Morgan Uncensored from a lavish villa balcony, boasting: “Judge me by the view.”
Patronising
But things quickly went south. The rapper stormed off mid-interview, accusing Morgan of ‘patronising’ him by using his old name, West, instead of ‘Ye’
YouTuber Sneako, who appeared alongside him, claimed that’s why ‘Ye’ bailed.
Morgan later raged that West had ‘mucked us around’ and wasted time and money for crews in Spain and London. Their last clash saw West defending anti-Semitic rants.
AN independent group of anti-tourism protestors in Soller have been accused of ‘racism’ after calling tourists ‘guiris’. It comes after the 50-strong group hung t-shirts with the slogan ‘wherever you look, they’re all guiris’ in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
A flash protest, the t-shirts seemed to appear out of nowhere yesterday, showing an image of a sweating tour -
‘Not racist!’
ist holding an ice cream and suitcase. The phrase, ‘miris on miris, tot son guiris’ in Catalan, has gained traction in the anti-tourism movement across the Balearics and Catalunya.
Despite some foreign residents approaching protestors and accusing
Blackout wake-up
Spain’s blackout is a warning for europe’s fragile power grids future.
THE massive blackout - the worst in Europe in over 20 years - has sent shockwaves far beyond the Iberian Peninsula.
While the Balearics has its own power system and escaped the outage, investigators are probing what caused half of Spain’s electricity generation to fail in seconds, experts warn that the incident must serve as a turning point for Europe’s energy transition.
Without urgent upgrades to its ageing power infrastructure, the continent risks more widespread and prolonged outages in the near
CYCLE DEATH
A BRITISH amateur cyclist died during the 312 Ok Mobility races on Mallorca.
Philip Williams, 39, came off his bike and hit security fencing when riding through the Coll d'en Claret between Esporles and Valldemossa.
Reports suggested that Williams - a member of the Liverpool Braveheart Cycle Club - had suffered a heart attack.
An ambulance crew took him to the Rotger clinic in Palma but he died en route. Fellow Liverpool Braveheart member, Hannah Fawcett, issued a statement:
“Phil will be deeply missed by us all.”
“An exceptional bike rider with so many outstanding achievements and a wonderful person too.”
By Dilip Kuner
The 12.33pm fault in southwest Spain caused a cascade of grid failures that rippled across the peninsula.
Trains ground to a halt, mobile networks collapsed, traffic lights went dark, and hospitals were forced to suspend routine operations. While the precise cause remains under investigation, Spain’s rapid growth in solar and wind power - without sufficient grid modernisation or energy storage - has left its electricity sys -
TRAGIC: British cyclist Philip Williams is thought to have had a heart attack
The 312 races were first staged in 2010 and attract over 8,000 riders with options covering three distances.
them of ‘racism’, they have defended their actions in an open letter.
They said: “We’re trying to make people aware of how much this problem affects us day to day, with a little bit of provocation: we don’t want to leave Soller, we want to live here with dignity.”
“We have nothing against the tourists, we just want to survive.”
DESPERATE FOR NEWS: Residents in Barcelona crowd around a radio for updates
tem stretched and vulnerable.
That warning should resonate across Europe, where many countries are similarly increasing renewables without adapting their networks to cope with intermittent supply.
“This isn’t just Spain’s problem - it’s Europe’s preview,” said Janusz Bialek, a power systems expert at Imperial College London.
“Our grids were designed for steady, centralised power plants. But the new era of distributed renewables needs an entirely different architecture.”
Renewable
Wind and solar power, while essential to decarbonisation, do not provide the natural inertia of fossil fuel turbines, which help stabilise frequency and prevent blackouts.
Without significant investment in grid-balancing technologies - such as batteries, flywheels, or synthetic inertia - Europe risks falling behind its climate goals and energy security.
The Energy Transitions
Commission estimates the world will need to double its electricity grid length by 2050, with around $800 billion in annual investment in the 2030s and 2040s.
Europe alone ‘must inject €584 billion into its grid this decade’, according to the European Commission. Yet progress remains slow, stymied by regulatory lag and fragmented planning.
“There’s a missing money problem across technologies,” said Kristian Ruby, head of Eurelectric. “Storage, transmission, and system flexibility need urgent financial and political backing.”
Countries like China are already investing tens of billions to expand and reinforce their grids, accepting some inefficiency in exchange for resilience.
Spain’s failure shows what can happen when those investments are delayed.
As Helge Barlen of Wood Mackenzie put it: “It was an accident waiting to happen.”
Europe has the tools and technology to avoid similar disasters. But it must act now - not after the next blackout.
THE jobless total in the Balearic Islands dropped by 5.6% in April compared to the same period last year, with 1,599 fewer people out of work. The Easter period sparked a 7.7% month-on-month fall as the hospitality sector ramped up hiring ahead of the summer. A total of 15,531 contracts were awarded to foreign workers, including 3,520 from outside the EU. So far this year, 114,841 new contracts have been signedover 70% of them permanent. Nationally, unemployment fell to just over 2.5 million. The figures highlight economic recovery, but also the islands’ ongoing dependence on seasonal tourism jobs.
Good news Hiker fall
AN ELDERLY British hiker was rescued after a fall in the hills above Port d'Andratx.
The 82-year-old man suffered a serious leg injury after not wearing the right kind of footwear.
When he tried to get up, he suffered serious pain in one of his legs and was unable to walk. Two friends called emergency services and firefighters lowered him down to an ambulance which took him to a Palma clinic.
Property ban rejected
A PLAN to stop foreign non-residents snapping up homes in the Balearic and Canary Islands has been shot down in the Spanish Senate. Pushed by La Gomera’s socialist party, the motion aimed to curb overseas property grabs blamed for pricing out locals and wrecking island life, and was backed by representatives from the Balearics. But it was crushed by rightwing heavyweights PP and Vox. Backed by leftist parties including PSOE and Coalicion Canaria, the proposal warned of ‘unprecedented pressure’ on local housing markets, especially in tourist hotspots. Campaigners say soaring prices are forcing islanders out, leaving ‘dignified housing’ out of reach and eroding community life.
EXPERTS WHO
WHO
CARE ABOUT YOU
It was a joint prosecution brought by three separate victims, although tragically the most affected, Mark Davison, who lost nearly a million euros, died before the verdict.
“I think the difference between this case where Jody was found guilty and 2023 was this one was nice and simple,” pension campaigner Angie Brooks told the Olive Press this week.
Granada-based Brooks has dedicated years to help compile the case against CWM on behalf of victim groups.
Alongside various Spanish lawyers, she is now compiling ‘a much larger case’ against other executives behind the fraud, while she is aware of various separate cases representing victims on the Isle of Man.
“In the recent case there was no need to explain complicated pension rules and trusts and insurance bonds. They simply took the money and kept it, and that was it,” she continued.
While Smart told the Olive Press, via a lawyer, the fraud was ‘a consequence of loans between individuals, in which my…signature does not appear’, the judge, Francisco Javier Guirau, waved it away.
In fact, he dismissed her entire defence, claiming her ex-lover Darren Kirby (above) had ‘coercively’ taken advantage of her ignorance to make her the sole administrator of the com-
DEVASTATION:
Leader Mazon (left) vanished for hours and failed to send out warnings as 228 people drowned
Mazon. I was informed at all times.”
However, amid the grief, there is a glimmer of hope - provided by Judge Tobarra, who has quietly become a symbol of justice. Her own courthouse in Catarroja was flooded that day, but since then she’s gathered testimony from over 250 families, listened with empathy, and acted with resolve. Victims describe her as more than a judge‘like a close friend,’ said one grieving relative. She has worked steadily to determine who held responsibility for warning the public, concluding that civil protection was a regional duty.
Even with the alert system overlooked, she noted, officials could have warned residents through radio, TV, or digital media.
While Mazon himself can only be charged by the Superior Court of Justice of Valencia, he has twice declined to testify, and still hasn’t explained where he was during those critical hours.
October’s unprecedented ‘natural’ disaster could yet become a landmark legal case.
SHINING A LIGHT
THE historic blackout on April 28 sent millions of businesses and organisations into a tailspin.
At around 12.30pm, wifi went down across the country, traffic lights stopped working and millions of worried workers gave up for the day.
But not at the Olive Press.
We were one of the few media outlets able to soldier on through the fog of war, providing readers with comprehensive reporting of the day as it unfolded.
We were there on the dot to break the news that an unprecedented power outage was to blame even as many people still assumed it was just in their own building.
GLAMOUR: While Jody has published 2,600
pany – and set her up as the fall guy.
In his verdict he wrote that Jody had ‘closed her eyes to the fraudulent activities of Kirby… because she was benefiting personally and handsomely.’
And indeed she had. Despite her protestations, Jody had not raised the alarm when receiving over €2 million in transfers over the space of two years from a Continental Wealth Trust bank account.
And exactly €652,800 winged its way into the accounts of her fashion label, Jody Bell, between 2015 and 2017.
According to bank statements presented to the court, a further €1.34 million landed in her property company, Mercurio Compro, during the same period.
As well as now facing prison, Jody was ordered to pay €70,000 to one victim defrauded through a sham loan agreement and €300,000 to another who was tricked into buying a property from CWM that was not even theirs to sell.
It marks an ignominious fall from grace for the costa socialite, who freely admitted in 2017 that ‘although I work in finance, I’m not a qualified financial adviser’.
By several accounts, she started life in Spain ‘cleaning the pool and toilets’ at the Oliva villa of Darren Kirby’s brother Patrick at the start of 2016. Darren immediately fell in love and quickly took her off scrubbing to promote her to a job at the CWM headquarters, near Javea.
Together, they lost over half a million of their pension savings, despite having indicated a ‘low-to-medium’ risk preference.
Shamefully, they used a range of dubious shady tactics, including even asking a client to sign and return a blank dealing instruction.
One British victim, who lost €200,000, told the Olive Press: “My paperwork that I sent was altered, my risk changed from medium to high risk and my dealing instructions were photocopied repeatedly buying and selling assets I didn’t authorise.”
He added: “Some people have lost everything and don’t have enough to live on. One person only has 50,000 euros left from 480,000 euros.”
Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores, of Lawbird, who was representing various victims, said signing blank sheets was ‘very worrying’.
“This negates the very essence of financial advisory services,” he said.
And while the CWM clients’ life savings tanked catastrophically in risky insurance bonds and other financial vehicles, bosses took up to 8% in commissions and fees each year.
But a series of clever and tactical payouts meant that victims, the majority expats based in Spain, kept coming to them with their life savings.
The money was really rolling in, millions of euros each year, in fact, and Kirby and his colleagues including Alan Gorringe, now dead, Dennis Radford, Paul Clarke and Ward, who was based in Moraira, were living high on the hog.
They used a wide range of dubious and shady tactics
But aside from giving her a job in his office he – crucially – convinced her to sign the documents that would eventually get her convicted in 2025.
The Olive Press established during a long investigation (top) that CWM had started operating on the Costa Blanca around 2011.
While we only started exposing their fraudulent activity in 2017, the first reports of clients losing their life savings came as early as 2012.
It was Angie Brooks’ company Pension Life, based out of Lanjaron, that first started to hear the horror stories.
She told the Olive Press one couple, named only as ‘Pete and Val’, were convinced to lump their entire pension pot into a high-risk QROPS (Qualifying Recognising Overseas Pension Scheme) by a seasoned conman Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions.
The former British government pensions advisor, who has a Florida real estate empire, did not work for CWM. However, ‘his company was accused of scores of transfers of retirement funds on its behalf’.
They were largely disastrous. In the case of ‘Pete’ a CWM investment of £250,000, was soon worth only £93,000 – meaning a loss of 63%. While Val’s was ‘even more catastrophic’ dropping from £280,000 to just £50,000.
That was until, suddenly, at the end of 2017, clients received notice from Momentum Pensions Malta, the trustee company responsible for safeguarding and administering the pension funds, that CWM had ceased trading.
And then the dominoes started to tumble.
How did they think they could get away with it?
“People like Jody, Darren and co never really thought more than the next step” reflected Brooks this week.
“There was no thought given to what's going to happen to the victim,” she continued. “Because they're not very bright, they didn’t think ahead to what could happen to them, either.”
She added the philosophy of the CWM team was simple: “'I've taken money off this guy, and I know he's never going to get it back, but I don't care, as long as I get money to feed my coke habit, my champagne habit, my Jimmy Choo habit.’ That's really all they thought about.”
While Jody is currently appealing her sentence, it's highly doubtful she’ll be able to convince the judge she doesn’t bear responsibility as the sole administrator, given her name is clearly on the documents.
Meanwhile, a new ensemble of lawyers in Madrid has been instructed on a fresh round of legal action against Jody, Darren and the remaining culprits, many who still remain at large on the Spanish costs. Only time will tell, but finally, at least, some justice is being served.
This was thanks to the ingenuity of our new digital editor Walter Finch, who crossed the border into Gibraltar, hearing that the power hadn’t turned off there.
Set up with electricity and functioning wifi, the Olive Press was able to keep our readers informed, from breaking news stories to regular social media updates.
We reported regular updates from the Spanish national grid and the nearby Junta – while Pedro Sanchez remained suspiciously quiet until power had returned to many places. Everyone wanted to know what had caused it? Was it a cyberattack? Our friends from Russia? We remained cautious and didn’t spread ‘bulos’ or fake news as was the case by certain rivals during COVID.
We reported on tales of people trapped in lifts, a woman giving birth in a hotel lobby and window cleaners left dangling from the side of skyscrapers.
Our editor-at-large Jon Clarke meanwhile, provided a gripping first-person account of the confusion and anxiety of ‘zero day’, as everyone – including the politicians – tried to under stand what was happening.
And we’ve been reporting on the fallout ever since.
This is why over 70,000 of you have now registered to get our regular newsletters and thou sands are also paying for our service, avoid ing ads and getting lots of special of fers.
For under a euro a day you get a daily newsletter/update plus four other newsletters on Property, Health, Travel, plus a weekend missive from our oneman news army, digital editor Walter Finch.
November 29thDecember 12th 2023 LOOKING FOR
FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
Meet one of the last four esparto weavers in Andalucia as she strives to preserve the traditional craft
By Yzabelle Bostyn
WOVEN baskets, espadrilles and rugs often come to mind when people think about Mijas.
These items are made from a coarse, wild grass known as esparto
Once a sign of poverty, esparto was originally used as a cheap material to weave a myriad of useful items. Now, this traditional handicraft is getting a modern makeover with artisans like Sonia Lekuona leading the way.
She is one of four official esparto weavers left in Andalucia, the former epicentre of this craft.
Hailing from Santander, the 51-yearold discovered weaving over a decade ago when she moved to Mijas after initially taking an interest in it during her university days.
The 2008 financial crash saw her lose her job as an archaeologist, so she started a children’s clothing business, Musketa.
This allowed her to connect with other local artists, one of whom offered to teach her esparto weaving.
Francisco Moreno Tamayo began teaching her in 2014 and 11 years later she is at the forefront of An
some older people who remember how to do it, so we run workshops where grandparents can teach their grandchildren how to weave,” she said.
“It’s amazing. I once taught a class in a nursing home for people with dementia and this lady kept insisting she didn’t know how to weave, but at the same time, her fingers were already doing the work for her. Her mind didn’t remember but her hands did.”
As well as teaching the next generation, Lekouna is updating this ancient art by combining ceramics, fabrics, pom poms and feathers to bring weaving back into the modern age.
The former archaeologist also creates art and decorations from the grass, a departure from its traditional functional use.
She experiments from her workshop at the Puerta del Agora artisan space in
Mijas Pueblo alongside four other artists.
There, she teaches the next generation of weavers and holds workshops for beginners.
She is also a university teacher in ‘experimental archaeology’ courses where students get to learn the crafts they are studying and she holds therapeutic courses for mentally ill or disabled people.
I was lucky enough to become one of Lekuona’s students for the day when she invited the Olive Press along for a taster session.
A warm presence from the get go, Lekuona began by explaining what esparto is and its cultural context as well as the technical side of how it is cultivated, harvested and prepared for weaving.
Esparto is a wild plant, meaning it is not farmed in the traditional sense but collected from where it naturally grows.
This makes it very sustainable and natural, especially when paired with organic dyes made from turmeric, spirulina and cinnamon.
During our whistlestop workshop of
about two hours, Lekuona guided us patiently through the process of making a brush to clean tables, each of us came out proud of our creations. Lekuona was a calm, adaptable and
com or visit
AU NATUREL: Esparto’s natural condition is perfectly paired with organic dyes
STEADY ON: Patience and attention to detail are key in the weaving process
Puerta del Agora in Mijas Pueblo.
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
FOR the first time, the prestigious Michelin Star gala is heading to Andalucia, with Malaga chosen as the host city for Spain’s biggest night in gastronomy. It highlights Mala-
Star turn
ga’s growing reputation in the culinary world. The gala rotates cities annually - previously visiting Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Murcia.
November 29thDecember 12th 2023
LOOKING FOR MORE TRAVEL STORIES?
Scan to visit our website
Around €1 million will be invested to bring the event to Malaga, with an estimated €30 million in media and tourism returns expected.
The province currently holds 11 Michelin stars across nine restaurants.
May 9th - May 22nd 2025
Marbella’s Skina, led by Marcos Granda, is a strong contender for a third star, which would place it among Spain’s top restaurants. Michelin’s awards remain secretive, judged by anonymous in spectors.
PACK your bags and ditch the all-inclusive drudgery – a sizzling new Spanish itinerary has just been crowned one of the most ‘authentic’ travel experiences in the country!
The Villages with Soul: Routes of Andalucia tour, cooked up by Booking.com and the Junta, scooped the prize at the Traveller Review Awards 2025 in Cordoba – and it's based on a whopping 360 million real-life reviews.
Picture-perfect Winding through eight picture-perfect pueblos – Cazorla, Las Negras, El Gastor, Competa, Carmona, Aracena, Priego de Cordoba and Montefrio –this route is a feast for the senses.
Think cobbled streets, whitewashed walls, sizzling tapas, and locals who treat you like family.
CASHING IN ON DEMOS
BRITISH holidaymakers are heading to Spain in record numbers, but fresh figures reveal many are swerving traditional island hotspots after a wave of angry anti-tourism protests. New stats from Spanish airport operator AENA show a massive 21% surge in UK passenger numbers this March compared to last year and their eternal love affair with the Spanish sun. Brits made up nearly a quarter of the 16 million international arrivals, clinging to their spot as Spain’s top foreign visitors by numbers.
Popular
But while mainland airports like Malaga and Alicante are thriving – with traffic up 13% and 18% respectively –the popular island regions
By Walter Finch
are losing their shine. The Balearic Islands, home to Ibiza and Mallorca, saw an actual drop in passengers. The Canary Islands, usually a safe bet for sunseekers, only just managed to match last year’s levels. It’s no coincidence. The islands have been rocked by furious protests, with locals hitting the streets over mass tourism, rising rents and disappearing local culture. Graffiti like ‘Tourists go home!’ and ‘This island is not for sale’ have become common sights in resort towns.
While Brits are quietly avoiding the drama, other nationalities are filling the gap. Italian tourist numbers
They’re still chasing the sun –but Brits are beginning to sidestep Spain’s protest-hit islands
Get authentic FLIGHT LIMITS
PROTESTS: Spaniards have taken to the streets in their tens of thousands demanding action
soared by a whopping 30% in March. Spain’s still a winner for holidaymakers - but many are
rethinking where they go. The costas are rising, and the islands might be losing their crown.
MALLORCA may soon follow Ibiza’s lead by capping flights and rental cars in a bold move to rein in mass tourism. Local officials say the island is buckling under the pressure of surging tourist numbers, with proposals set to be presented to the Balearic parliament in the coming weeks. Balearic Vice-President Antoni Costa confirmed the regional government has requested a flight cap from Spain’s central government and airport operator Aena, warning: “We’ve hit our limit - airport expansion during peak season is not sustainable.”
This Easter alone saw 11,240 flights across the Balearics - a 46% jump from last year. Ibiza has already approved tough new measures. From June 1 to September 30, a cap of 20,168 rental and tourist vehicles will be enforced. Tourists bringing cars from ports like Barcelona and Valencia must now register via ibizacircular.es and pay €1 per day.
LAUNCH: To celebrate the Michelin bash in Malaga
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
1
ATOCHA STATION IN MADRID
It’s the busiest station in the whole of Spain and one of the most recognizable icons, but Atocha isn’t just functional: it’s also a visual spectacle.
Atocha is the main hub for Spain’s AVE high-speed trains to major cities like Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, and Malaga. Redesigned in the 1990’s after a devastating bombing by Islamist terrorists, the old terminal now houses a tropical garden inside the station, which is open to the public and features 7,000 plants. Its interior tropical garden stands out, where hundreds of plants coexist under an iron and glass dome.
CONCORDIA STATION IN BILBAO
The Concordia station in Bilbao is a jewel of Basque modernism with colourful stained glass windows and ceramic decorations throughout.
Opened in 1902, the station serves as a terminus for several narrow-gauge railway services in the area. Narrow-gauge tracks were laid down due to the region’s difficult topography.
After the construction of a new high speed line is finished, Bilbao-Abando station will be renovated to accommodate all railway services starting in Abando, which will include the narrow-gauge services currently starting at this station. Bilbao-Concordia will cease to serve as a railway station after then, and its future use is still unclear.
Across: 6 Shanghai, 8 Omit, 9 Debtor, 10 Caters, 11 Mortar, 14 Snags, 15 Leave, 17 Darwin, 21 Ethnic, 22 Hearty, 24 Size, 25 In denial.
Down: 1 Phlegm, 2 Sherpa, 3 Ditch, 4 Don’t-know, 5 Oil rig, 7 Net, 12 Revenues, 13 Rod, 16 Entail, 18 Aphids, 19 Not far, 20 Acrid, 23 Ann.
ON THE TRACK OF TRAVEL GEMS
From neo-Romanic to modernist:
These are the six most
beautiful train stations in Spain
By Dylan Wagemans
TRAIN travel is undeniably romantic - the gentle rhythm of the rails, the slow reveal of rolling hills and dramatic coastlines, and the grand old stations that serve as gateways to adventure.
Spain boasts over 15,000 kilometres of railway lines and more than 200 stations, and the journey often begins - and ends - in buildings so beautiful they deserve a trip in their own right.
Many of the country’s railway stations are steeped in history, culture, and jaw-dropping architecture.
From ornate Belle Epoque masterpieces to Moorish-inspired gems, these stations aren’t just transport hubsthey’re living museums, bursting with stories and style.
Some still hum with the bustle of daily commuters, others have been restored and repurposed into hotels, galleries, or cultural centres.
Whether you're a rail enthusiast, a history buff, or just someone who appreciates fine design, Spain’s most beautiful stations offer a journey through time, culture, and craftsmanship.
And the best part? They’re scattered across the country, giving you the perfect excuse to hop on a train and discover the artistry of the tracks at leisure.
So pack your bags, grab your ticket, and let the Olive Press guide you to seven of Spain’s most beautiful train stations. These are destinations in themselves that prove the magic of travel begins long before you reach your final stop.
We start off with the old station in the Andalucian city of Almeria.
Designed by a French architect at the end of the 19th century, the building stands as a great example of the iron and glass blend architecture that was popular during the Industrial Revolution.
The building was damaged in a fascist bombing raid in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, but rebuilt back to its former glory.
The station has been defunct since the coming of the 21st century, but there are plans to transform the building into an event hall.
Located in the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon, the neo-plateresque station of Zamora stands out, with its four towers, coats of arms and its central clock.
Although it was designed in 1927, the building wasn’t completed until 1958, as the Spanish Civil War slowed down much of the construction.
The station played a crucial
VALENCIA’S ESTACIO DEL NORD THE STATION OF ZAMORA
role in the post-war economic recovery, facilitating the transport of essential goods and the movement of people at a time when other forms of transport were limited.
In addition, the station building became an architectural emblem of Zamora, representing the rebirth of the railway infrastructure after years of conflict.
Opened in 1917, Valencia’s main station is an icon of Valencian modernism.
The building fascinates with its façade adorned throughout with motifs inspired by local agriculture, such as oranges and flowers.
As the main station of Valencia, it receives around 15 million passengers every year.
Due to its architectural characteristics and ornamental attributes, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1961 and an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1983.
For decades it was considered the most spectacular international station in Europe. Built in 1928 in the middle of the Pyrenees, Canfranc was a key railway link between Spain and France. This came to an abrupt end in 1970 when a train derailment damaged an important bridge in France. With only minimal services over five decades, Canfranc station experienced a major decline and neglect, resulting in much of the site becoming derelict.
As of 2024, the site has been reborn as a luxury hotel, with the original platforms and façade still preserved.