8
NEWS
www.theolivepress.es
NEWS IN BRIEF Deluge stemmed MIGRATION from Africa has fallen by 39% this year after the EU and Spain granted €170m to Morroco to bolster its security measures. Spain’s acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez won €140m from Brussels, to which his government added €30m, in a bid to clamp down on migration via the Western Mediterannean route. It comes after Spain became the largest destination for migrants after Italy closed its ports last year, with an alarming 65,000 entering the country without papers last year. Spain’s pledge to cut illegal immigration by half before the end of this year may not be far away, with the funding as part of that effort. The efforts appear to be bearing fruit, as the numbers of migrants reaching Spain fell to 18,018 people arriving without papers from January to August. The combined funding particularly helped the Moroccan Royal Navy to return migrants to their point of departure, with over 8,000 returned in this way.
October 10th - October 23rd 2019
Living in Limbo British family whose home was devastated by floods are STILL waiting for assessors to survey the damage EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
A BRITISH couple who lost ‘everything’ in the Vega Baja villa during last month’s horrific floods are STILL in limbo as insurance assessors are yet to evaluate their claim. Ruined furniture, clothes and toys are still piled high on the Harighi family’s patio a month since the deluge devastated their Vega Baja home. These and other treasured mementos are all that remains of the house they spent 10 years slowly renovating. Tragically two pet cats, presumed drowned, have not made it home. “This is a never-ending nightmare and our lives are completely in limbo,” Hannah Harighi, 43, told the Olive Press. “Our dream of a place in the sun for us and the kids has been shattered.” Her husband Harry, 46, has
DEVESTATION: The Haighi’s and their flooded home now joined her on mercy leave from his job as a printer in the UK to help try and get his family’s life back on track. His wife, a marketing consultant, ‘cannot work’ as she is still forced to take care of their two children Darius, 11, and Suri, 6, whose school is still closed. But despite their obvious financial constraints, not even promised municipal emergency funding up to €4,500 has materialised to help them. They blame this on their local town hall in San Fulgencio which ‘doesn’t fully understand the forms’. While the family, including dog Skip, has been able to stay with friends nearby, the situation is so bad they are considering a move back to the UK. “Everything we worked for, to provide a beautiful and happy
It’s nice to be home. Soft furnishing add colour, texture, softness and elegance making our homes or rentals appealing to us and others. 2019 is about a range of new shades to enhance and create. • Energizing Coral • Dusty Blush • Optimistic Yellows Yorkshire Linen in Jávea and Altea have an unique and varied quality range of textiles and fabrics. Visit us and chat to our friendly and experienced staff.
Centro Com. Mongtó Avda del Pla 68, Jávea
Partida Planet 177 Altea
T 966 462 275
T 965 841 399
Mon to Fri 10.00 – 19.00 Saturday 10.00 – 18.00
Mon to Fri 10.00 – 19.00 Saturday 10.00 – 14.00 www.spanishlinen.com
home for our family, has been snatched from us,” continued Harry, who has now set up an interim GoFundMe page, called ‘Family lost everything in Spanish floods’, to help. “It will probably take months for the government insurance to come to fruition, and in the meantime we must pay the mortgage and utilities on an uninhabitable property. “We must also begin the soul destroying task of itemising all of our belongings for the insurance. “We’d spent 10 years renovating the place, it was beautiful, and now it’s all gone.” Hannah revealed how they had to ‘run for their lives’ as the home was destroyed in a single weekend following the catastrophic flood in September. They made it to the local community centre on higher ground just before the villa was ‘destroyed’, when the Segura river burst its banks. “We’ve had floods before, but rainwater just covered our garden – but we still kept an eye on the storms, just in case,” Hannah told the Olive Press. “When we got up at 9.30am, we had to run to get the children because floodwater had already got in. “By 10.30am, we were ankle deep in muddy sludge, and we decided it was time to go. “It was like a scene from a disaster movie - it was apocalyptic chaos.” The couple are still missing two cats, presumed drowned, who were birthday presents for the children just a week before the storms. Donate at: https://uk.gofundme. com/f/family-lost-everything-in-spanish-floods
The Bighearted radio listeners of BIG FM CARING listeners of an English radio station have rallied round to donate furniture, electrical items and cleaning equipment to an urbanization left with just ‘one working kitchen’ following the devastating floods last month. El Saladar, in Almoradi, was so badly hit following September’s gota fria that families could not even cook themselves a warm meal, according to BIG FM station manager, Richie Sparks. (above) Sparks immediately started making urgent appeals for help through his station, collecting thousands of euros and truckfulls of furniture and bedding. He was overwhelmed with the response that has raised €16,500 so far, through concerts and other appeals. “The generosity of Brits is overwhelming, along with Peter and Chris at the House of Furniture stores who donated thousands of euros of stock,” Sparks told the Olive Press.