Olive Press Newspaper - Issue 347

Mijas Costa FREE

Vol. 13 Issue 347

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OLIVE PRESS

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July 8th - July 21st 2020

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UPROAR: Beach protestors in Tarifa and virgin Cala de San Pedro (below)

SOON LEGAL?: Algarrobico one, but TWO new hotels on virgin beaches in the supposedly protected natural park of Cabo de Gata.

The first involves the green light for a 30-room hotel near the globally famous Bahia de Los Genoveses beach, while the second is for a twostar hotel close to the pristine Cala de San Pedro bay (pictured above).

Protestors fear the new law will also now allow the legalization of nearby El Algarrobico hotel, built disgracefully on a virgin beach, near Carboneras, See page 24 due to a planning mix up.

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By Dilip Kuner

SWATHES of rural Andalucia are in danger of being concreted over after a new planning law was brought in by the regional government.

Green groups including Ecologistas en Accion and Greenpeace have joined with hundreds of local associations to fight on a series of new fronts opened up during the COVID crisis.

They are up in arms over the socalled LISTA law - passed during the lockdown - that is set to allow dozens of previously outlawed projects to go ahead.

In particular, activists are outraged about a controversial new golf course in Nerja, as well as a final stand of woodland in Mijas.

They are also furious about not

NDS O

FF

Last stretches of pristine coast endangered by new law, alongside inland beauty spots

OU

Hands off!

HA

OLIVE PRESS Launches CAMPAIGN to protect our last green spaces and coasts

The hulking shell of concrete - once set for a 311-room mega resort - has remained an eyesore for years after work was halted by the courts.

Bunkers are also being dug to stop a 700-home golf course scheme, near Nerja, which will see the development of one of the Costa del Sol’s final stretches of pristine coast.

And protesters in Mijas are also digging in to stop the law being used to build in woods overlooking the sea at El Chaparral.

The first of many planned protests took place outside council offices in la Cala de Mijas this week.

It could also see the controversial Valdevaqueros project of hundreds of homes go up on a heavily-protected virgin beach, near Tarifa.

Under the recently resubmitted project, backed by TV celebrity Ana Rosa Quintana, the stunning area between Bolonia and Tarifa would see a series of hotels get built.

Ecologists are also worried that the Los Merinos project for two-golf courses and hundreds of houses on UNESCO-protected virgin land near Ronda could be revived, despite being quashed by the Supreme Court.

Fairway to hell: See page 6

CRIME

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Brit raped POLICE are hunting a man who allegedly raped a 21-year-old British tourist in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar at 4am.

Roasted ANTONIO Tejon, leader of La Linea’s powerful Castañas gang has been re-arrested after being released from Granada’s Albolote Prison on money laundering charges.

Hit for six

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Seeing double

Slayed for her meat!

A PREGNANT horse, worth €20,000, has been killed and dismembered in a shocking night time attack - allegedly for meat!

Police in Campanillas are investigating the gruesome crime after the body of thoroughbred Lola was found next to a dead foal that had been cut out of her stomach.

“She had two stab wounds to the neck, all the meat from the

loin was taken out and the spine cleaned, as well as one of her thighs and a raw hind quarter.”

Police have backed the owners’ claims that due to the precision of the cuts, the meat will be used in the illegal horse meat trade.

Witnesses claim to have seen a man pulling the horse into a grey van. Lola was registered as a ‘purebred ‘pura raza española’ and had a potential value of up to €20,000.

A TWIN has been badly beaten up after being mistaken for his brother.

Police have now arrested two attackers - also brothers - for the vicious attack in Estepona on June 27.

The perpetrators were actually looking for the victim’s brother after he had liked an Instagram picture of one of their girlfriends.

The man was badly beaten up but managed to run to a police station to escape.

SAD DEMISE: Lola was butchered

Paper trail

SIX alleged drug traffickers have been jailed after nine were arrested in a police probe involving 100 officers, which seized half a tonne of hash and €50,000 in cash at two homes in Manilva and one in Cadiz.

Find my son’s killer SOME eight years on from his tragic ‘one-punch’ death in Spain, the family of Craig 4 Mallon have launched a NEWS fresh appeal for information.

Holiday hell The 26-year-old surveyor was killed by a single blow to the head outside the RockeYour fellers Bar in Lloret De Mar reporters, here to Profits in 2012. and help on losses the Costa Craig’s murderer was never Blanca found and on the anniversary of his death his father Ian, 55, has asked the public for O information. He said: “Our PANGER: Over article (above) whole life changed from the and car used in drive minute we got the phone call to say our son was dead.” rights stealing Olive www.theolivepress.e s

In denial EXCLUSIVE

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Reporters Simon Wade and Joshua Parfitt

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PENSION OUTRAGE

SPAIN’S accused prime minister Catalan has Puigdemont leader sion’ after of causing Carles ‘confusigning of independence. a declaration Mariano clarify if Rajoy demanded he had he independence really day’s nail followingdeclared Catalan biting address Tuesparliament. to the If so, Rajoy insisted trigger he Article constitution 155 of could Spain’s take direct to allow Madrid control of to “There Catalunya. is an urgent put an end need to Catalunya to the situation is going through that - to Continues

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Expats millionslose

in CONFUSION life savings reigns over should foot through who hotels hit the bill for Mallorca by the collapse failed line Monarch. investment of airBalearic scheme €10millionhotels are facing a lapse that bill over the colrepatriationsaw the emergency EXCLUSIVE of over back to

By Joe 110,000 Duggan Palma. the UK, many from Administrator HUNDREDS Olive Press KPMG ish expats of Brit‘the debt told the Monarch to retrieve are battling to hoteliers owed by as an unsecured sions after their will rank the defunct penclaim’ against losing up £20 million “They will airline. to pension in a failed the joint have to file a scheme. investment the moneyadministratorsclaim to OFF TO Spanish-based for all they are OZ: a spokesman. owed,” said and (above) Boss Kirby cial advisory “It has finanteam at tinental firm Con- March charity (yet) hownot been determined agement Wealth Manbash available much money to creditors.” will be last (CWM) folded Many month

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whose by hasboss Darren Kir- It is believed moved now allegedly 300 of to Australia. at least One CWM’s Costa-del-Sol- clients have based 900 pension had their Olive expat told pots Press the mated, with deci£59,000 he sunk shocked victims CWM, to later through cover the value had lostonly realising dis- to end £39,000 he investments of their ain on up back in his pension when meted dramatically. benefits.” Brithad plum“I have sent a statement. trustees However, praise for nothing “I couldn’t close to a source [Trafalgar but Tony Barnett have lost believe the case thousandsit. I sisted: ‘There MD] pounds,” in- Stewart and are still revealed of many customers mentum Davies [Movictim, the are happy asking tive]. Theychef execumain anonymous. to re- pension with who “The adviser portfolio.’ their magnificent have been A ing to ing me, kept tell- taxn d a l u c i a in tryspecialist b a s e d money.”recoup people’s teed, it ‘This is guaranBrooks, can’t go certain a leadingAngie The Olive below a pert of them level’.” ing many obliterat- transferred Untitled-1.pdf derstands Press erationon pension ex- possible had His money, and unBrits’ life heartbroken it is vate 1 16/06/2017 schemes libthat of the founder pri- others UK their savings. legal highly through15:36 pensions France,across and may be taken action of Pension the company, high-risk was Spain and Life, has parties put into a fight now launched againstby some investor ‘professional to help CWM, tims’ money get has been only’ assets, back. vicclaimed. it She is working side pension alongTrafalgar trustees International and sions.Momentum Pen- based “People out of headquarare terribly ters in Alicante, distressed,” executives. and its based Brooks Granada- Both the Olive Press. told and the office in Javea lost large “They the recently website amountshave When their have shut. of ings.” retirement the Olive sav- spoke to Press She added: boss Kirby ‘definitively’ these people “Some he of responsibility denied are going crash. over world,” “I have lost the my A closehe said. associate Kirby’s Find out told of Press more on formerthe Olive staff page XX 20 set’. were all ‘veryCWM up“It is still quite Ave de Gabriel for them, Roca 4, Palma working and they raw next,” he out what to are do said.

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2019 See Property SPAIN’S PP party cious plans Magazine has set for back inside out control a power grab audafrom to take and theValencia a u t o n other regions.o m o u s Leader Casado Pablo announced commitment his strengthen to the central government’s to the national role in the He insisted elections run up that such in a fortnight. prevent in taxes. corruption and a move would lead to It comes a drop off the as the party threat from attempts Party, whose EXCLUSIVE an insurgentto see

By Joshua autonomous leader has described Vox Parfitt cer of Spain’. parliaments as the the THE Under the Voted REuse ‘canbeleaguered REduce plan, the se resources wealth expat REcycle PP wants paper managementboss of in Spain delegations for regional allegedly to increaa failed Govt in exile and government transfer million lost expats company which of power paralyse any court. has ignored more than €20 Voted to the regions.further a summons expat Darren paper in Spain to REuse Kirby, Continental REduce Supremacy of REcycle Casado Confusion (CWM), Wealth Alicante-based reigns insisted Spain being court on failed to turn Management the move up at Denia administered tively’. would AccordingMarch 26. see was ‘more effecThe election due to Olive Press party would hopeful sources business to turn up, alongside Who’s he partners, carry out stated that view of The paying former us? a sweeping his who case involves who did turn operate how the regional a trio of up. looking re- moneylost substantial ty.’ investors, at ‘efficiencyauthorities amounts Spain’s 2017. when the company and equiShould quasi-federal have of ‘autonomous Kirby folded of legged it Three Lions in the constitution states’political system pub llowingallegedly fled ter Pedro ning to the collapse,to Australia in 1978. was added to HOW foSanchez, WE TOLD Prime Ministhe constitution, “DarrenAlicante last finally returThree Lion whose pub s IT: Our plan, insisting strongly party drafted which he has been year.

England.”

2017 reports sent a didn’t opposed ‘tooth and the will now The the ways,” have sign for, so Burofax how Olive Press nail’ thePSOE would defend nal self-government. exclusively principal CWM a sourceto pursue himthe court abruptly “A judge losing of regioformer in other revealed said. it’s under is dealing vings inhundreds of folded in 2017, “It was member of staff. with this a prestigious legal review,” “We understand The firm,the process. expats’ life day and sa- said, they just he added.

Marriott which was shut place but he is currently asking based out to ten’ Hotel, in Denia, not to the door,” one Victims of telesales in ttered she had the asked had raised be named. fears about to sign around staff and clients‘eight tions blank dealing Europe, being revealedsca- vestedand their pensions instruca large in high-risk commissions.assets being inNO SHOW: which paid One pensioner Darren ta Blanca res. “It based Kirby is a blank on the told the lost €210,000 wherever, CosOlive Press whenever.cheque to €470,000 “It is invest he investing very worrying despiteafter transferring low to as they clients’ “I wasmedium risk stating he had risky attitude. asked, a funds investments money in were blank form.

‘Can just becauseas well as highly We will you sign ls.’ I did gher commissions.” fill in the this they paiddubious that trusting in my best He added detaithe hiinterests,” they would “They investors that losses act he said. sustained for me should have been verable should however, and they by looking their own led to as the investments be recowere out what they nests. To just feathering linked perform, or that faiwent bust, Lawyer were doing.”me they knew See pages When to life insurance were 26-29 Lawbird Antonio Flores, hold of the Olive Presspolicies. of victims,is representing whose firm denied Kirby in Octoberfinally got all responsibility. ment sheetssaid signing a number my world,” 2017, blank investwas “This he said.

“I have he Tel. (+34) negates ‘very worrying’. lost financial 96 649 18 Are you the info@hispaniahomes.es advisory very essence 29 member? a victim services,”said of www.hispaniahomes.co.uk or former the case? Do you know FloContact more staff newsdesk@theolivepress.es the Olive about HOW TO Press at SELL YOUR

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me they doing.” knew what they were He added: “I believe the investments some of rying’. without were “This negates that is themy knowledge. I made case because think of the service the very essence recall signing I offer,” said they are meant investments sheets for do not all the Flores. “It to cheque An email, I had.” is a blank whenever.to invest wherever, Press, showsseen by the has gone CWM asking Olive down by “If standard ent to need compensation half and a cliand return dealingsign very worrying. practice, this back on a blank instruction. to get itI “Signing is track.

Another “But some blank is tryingBritish expat, 55, documents have lost people who would be €200,000, to recover around thing and everyseen as irregular ers ‘have said some pensionhave enoughdon’t lost everything’. in a court of “My paper to live on. work problem law. The One rehas been tired victim altered, that I sent these firms with was changed my risk has €50,000 only is that level PENSION they from ‘medium’ ‘high’ and left from €480,000.” all into tions have my dealing instrucOUTRAGE vestingwere Andalucia-based in highly risky investments repeatedly been photocopied lawyer without ing assets for buying and Flores, Antonio the clisellI didn’t ents knowing.” he said. whose authorise,” firm He claimed Lawbird “I still have are that representsome losses sustained and I am ing some still youngmoney left by get compensation, CWM enough to victims, would investors but my fund vestmentsaid signing blank hopefully be sheets was as the investments inrecoverable ‘very worto perform, or went that failed linked to bust, were Pension life insurance policies. trustees and Trafalgar Momentum are now ing to attemptlosses. recoup CMW clients’ The Olive unable to Press has so far registered discover if CWMbeen was ment adviceto provide investcial financial with Spain’s offiregulator CNMV. Opinion Page 6

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Pension peril

Expats millionswho lost rage at ‘unauthorised’ deals involving ‘worrying’ signing of blank sheets

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November

CATALUNYA’S leader has beleaguered vowed to from abroad. fight on It came after Carles mont handed PuigdeBelgian himself police when in to pean arrest warrant a Eurosued. was isHe and four other are accused politicians on charges bellion, of republic sedition, misuse funds, of and breach disobedience of trust.

A judge up to twoin Belgium now they will weeks to decidehas if to Spain. extradite the group

BRITISH expats who to €20 million Fight lost sion advisory in a failed up Given the firm believe pensignatures whole extradition process tocopied may have been their days, it can take up ments. onto investment phodocuto run means he mayto 60 Around have campaignhis entire election in Spain, 300 Brits, most are battling living European for the Catalan their funds to retrieve Democratic after Alicante-based from Belgium. firm Continental Party His party agement Wealth wants him for continued tember, (CWM) folded Manto the regional leadershipfight Olive as first reportedin Septhe December parliament of Boss Press a month ago. in the Puigdemont 21 elections. in tralia Darren Kirby left following for Ausdenied fled to Brussels the company’s the clo sure he had tice but main Javea of fices. that he to avoid jusofthe Spanish left because Victims, preparing government Spain, aswho are spread was across well as in sion and a ‘wave of oppreslorca, Portugal, Ibiza, Malseparatists. violence’ against Turkey, France fear illegal and “I’m absolutely after being asked to practices that the convinced dealing instructions. sign blank a harsh state was preparing Their pension for whichwave of repression pots were invested in high-risk then been held we would have which promised responsible,” all commissions. said yesterday. to pay outassets he large “The Spanish One 69-year-old mitting state is told the a brutal compensioner if we don’t repression… €210,000 Olive Press he together, battle repression lost €470,000 after transferring may win the Spanish had a ‘low despite stating this state to medium In a show fight.” he to risk’ attitude aversion BOSS: of support deposed “I was asked, to investment.

Kirby now president, to the 200 Catalan Australia in blank form. ‘Can you sign around this We will dence pro-independetails.’ he said. fill Brusselsmayors travelled would actI did that trustingin the “They to should in my best they a rally. on Tuesday to out for me have been looking interests,” stage but they feathering their own were just nests. To

A PALMA thief months in jail foris facing 18 leg of ham. stealing a Prosecutors the lengthy are requesting term for the eight co Jotas' kilogram leg oftaking ¡ jamon 'Cinin the capital. from a shop The Iberico €685, and ham is valued has yet to at ered. be recov-

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EXCLUSIVE

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They’ve been getting stoned for centuries.

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As Spain celebrates Hispania the Olive Day, runs a Press rule over Columbus

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PENSION OUTRAGE

SPAIN’S accused prime Catalan minister Puigdemont has leader sion’ after of Carles signingcausing ‘confuof independence. a declaration Mariano Rajoy clarify if he had demanded independence really he day’s nail bitingfollowingdeclared Catalan address TuesIf so, parliament. to the trigger Rajoy insisted Article constitution 155 he could take direct to allow of Spain’s Madrid control “There of Catalunya. to put an is an urgent end to Catalunya need the is going situation to through that - to

SEE PAGE

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Expats millionslose

CONFUSION in life savings should reigns hotels foot the bill over who through hit by for Mallorca line Monarch. the collapse failed investment Balearic of air€10millionhotels scheme are lapse bill over facing that saw repatriation the col-a the emergency back EXCLUSIVE of Palma.to the UK,over 110,000

By Joe many Duggan Administrator from Olive HUNDREDS KPMG Press Monarch ish expats ‘the debt told the of Britto hoteliers as an owed to retrieve are battling unsecured by the defunct will rank sions claim’ after their pen“They airline. against £20 million will have losing the joint pension up to to file in a failed a claim the moneyadministrators scheme. to investment a spokesman. they are owed,”for all Spanish-based OFF “It has TO OZ: said cial (yet) hownot been advisory finan- and (above) Boss Kirby tinental determined much available firm money team agement Wealth Con- March charity to creditors.” at will be last (CWM) Manbash

folded ing month obliteratBrits’many heartbroken life savings.

SPECIALIZING CRIMINAL IN: LAW CIVIL LAW BANKING (FLOOR CLAUSE) FAMILY LAW

whose by hasboss Darren now moved Kir- It is allegedly to Australia.

One 300 believed at least based Costa-del-Sol- clientsof CWM’s Olive expat pension have had 900 £59,000Press told the mated, their pots he sunk CWM, shocked with decithrough cover only realising had victims to later the value his lost £39,000 he investments dis- to of their ain end up sent apension when meted back had plumtrustees However, statement. on dramatically.

“I couldn’t “I havebenefits.”in Brithave close believe a source praise for nothing lost thousands pounds,” it. I sisted: to the [Trafalgar Tony but victim, revealed of many ‘There case in- Stewart Barnett MD] are still mentum asking main customers the are happy Davies and “The anonymous.to re- pension [Mowith who tive]. Theychef adviser ing me, portfolio.’

A their magnificent haveexecu‘This kept tell- taxn d a l u c teed, Many ing to ia-b been it can’t is guaranspecialist certain of them transferred a s e d money.”

Brooks, recoup in trygo below level’.” vate people’s had His money, a pert on a leadingAngie The Olive through UK their pri- others eration pension ex- derstands pensions France,acrossand that Press the company, schemes lib- possible of the unit is high-risk was Spain and Life,founder and may legal highly put into of investor ‘professional be taken a fighthas now Pension parties action has been only’ tims’ to helplaunched againstby some assets, money get claimed.

CWM, it She is back. vicworking side pension alongTrafalgar trustees and International sions.Momentum “People Pen- based distressed,” are ters in out of headquarterribly executives. based Alicante, Olive Brooks Granada- Both and its told the office lost Press. “They the and the in Javea their large amountshave recently website ings.” retirement shut. have of When She sav- spoke the Olive to boss these added: “Some ‘definitively’ Press people Kirby of responsibility he are going denied crash. world,” “I have over the A closehe said. lost my Kirby’s associate told Press XX 20 of formerthe Olive staff set’. were all CWM Ave de Gabriel ‘very “It is upRoca 4, Palma still for them, working andquite raw they out what next,” are he said. to do

A WELL-KNOWN NOTORIOUS: signer has expat fashion Disgraced businesswoman been accused to €1million of receiving deaccused Jody Smart from an unlicensed EXCLUSIVE up Blanca financial in financial GUIDE

By Joshua Costa scandal advisory company.

Companies three British Parfitt in Jody Smart’s given the money huge sums inal charges claimants are seeking ‘without falling by defunct name were Worse, Wealth Management accounting for aggravated fraud,crim- after CWM’s Continental into it comes years’ before fake (CWM) in September ens of victims as it emerges losses’. organisation.and belonging to a 2017 collapse criminal left him with just €22,000 left destitute that doz- The left hundreds its high-profile the two less by investments complaints the and collapse from initial €20million of investors an estimated concern bungled of more Smart and Denia-based firm arepenni- transactions, (approx out of pocket, her former suing pension house Davison €900,000). than ₤800,000 unpaid vealed.

Kirby. partner Darren it can be rePage 18 investments loans and A total of In the first ants over €1million that lost the failed sion just was diagnosed with €999,435 case to reach claim- turning weeks after the depresto her fashion was paid the courts, One of the victims, between them. collapse, before to alcohol SL and propertylabel Jody Bell Mark ically died, aged 59, in Davison, trag- ing type-2 diabetes, abuse and developpany Mercurio holding comaccording shot July this Conpro SL to a video tween 2015 year His just before his death. bebody, ing to bank and 2017, accordsores, had covered with lesions to the Olive statements shown a week in lain undiscovered for and In documents the mid-summer Brit Jody, Press. up to home in Sanet. heat at his Press, CWM seen by a €144,00043, was also paid “Mark died the Olive commission was paid €3,391,873 as a result telling a court salary - despite done to him,” of what had bonds and for selling of know what that she ‘did not been low claimant, Timothy Benjamin, prus-based investments insurance sole director it meant to be a by two Cy“By the end told the Olive Press. a felfinancial of company’ October was only involved firms, between and 2015 and to appear.” he didn’t want the A January in ‘marketdaylight September ing and PR’.

Benjamin, 2019 statement 2017.

Spain’s financial In a series after he lost67, likewise felt ‘ashamed’ of shocking from insurance regulator larations his €250,000 decsion, reinvested given to private penbreach of bonds were revealed Court of Instruction Denia’s

by CWM investments, sold in into ‘risky’ Page 20 What is the law. has emerged No.3 it In his officialvia QROPS. funded a certain is that ny could ill that the compatestimony court how ‘lavish lifestyle’this money afford to pay he told the players Kirby these (€375,000he had transferred ₤325,000 and Smart, for its key in a relationship sale to CWMapprox) from a to March together who were investing it on the basis the property 2017, according from 2011 staff members. firm was But court in a villa in Monte Pego. to former papers revealed went directly to the bank ₤200,000 account of Continues on Page 2 Tel. (+34) 96 UK BASED 649 18 29 info@hispaniahomes.es PARTNERING OWNERS www.hispaniahomes.co.uk FOR

USIVE EXCL

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Wickedness In what is Spain’s VENDORS largest GUIDE legal scrutiny of Want to sell ABSENT: Kirby financial scamsBritish-run your property? to date, Jodie (right) and(above) was a no-show at the trio were grilled court, 96 649 1883 a previous Olive falsifying documen about Press front page miss-selling toxic ts and Another is widow Karen ” Smart has invest- O’Hagan ments. , who lost previously de(Personal contacts of her RBS pension.€72,000 nied ever dealing A total of 17 claimant ents or having with clibrought the private s have It came after she on page 6) anything was prosetold to do with the

by CWM staff that cution as Denia running to bring formercourt seeks ring the money wastransfer- CWM other than promotioof boss Kir- way the only online and by and sole director to protect in the media. n Jody young children it for her two Smart to justice. if she passed Your away.

Kirby failed to expat attend the voice in hearing on February COSTA BLANCA SOUTH Spain 24, and could now face Shame Meanwhile, Smart arrest. to delay attendin was able Angela Brooks, who is leadg the hear- ing the private ing until next month prosecution, damage to a restaura due to told the Olive Press the case owns during Storm nt she will set a major ‘precede nt’ Gloria. across Europe.

Court transcrip the Olive Press ts passed to “It’s a disgrace that the ex-employeesreveal how taken a Spanish lawyer it’s in denied Spain all and accusations put a Spanish criminal judge The defendan to them. ts claimed wickedness to recognise the that former boss of actions taken responsible for Kirby was by all parties concerned. moving “There is no the funds from preceden t for low-risk to this. It is high-risk. going to shame all the other jurisdict For all your local One of the victims, advertising ions former throughout Europe needs please contact Blackpool bus and beSales Manager our Hutchings, 67, driver Les yond into acknowledging lost nearly what many Charles Bamber his entire €117,000 offshore adviprivate sors have been 0034 661 452 pension when it doing for charles@theolivep180 toxic portfolios ended up in years. “The scale of this case ress.es without his has made knowledge. the courts sit up and take notice.

Contact them with stories or news any on 951 273 575 or email newsde sk@the olivepress.es

A MAN, 49, has been arrested in Velez-Malaga for allegedly defrauding an 87-yearold neighbour he helped care for, of €1,891.

March 5th - March

Defendants in ‘landmark’ case against fraudulent financial firm claim they did pensions were not know clients’ put at risk

USIVE EXCL

Duty of care

DEFENDANTS in a ‘landmark’ case against a British-run financial firm have denied all knowled ge of a scam that lost €35 million of its clients pension investment.

Instead they blamed the boss of Continen tal Wealth Management (CWM) Darren Kirby (above) for destroying the hopes and dreams of 750 expats around Spain.

In a tense hearing Court three former at Denia employees denied they knowing ly put their clients funds into ‘high risk’ investme The trio, Anthony nts.

Downs, Neil Hathaway Stogsdill, are and Dean fraud, disloyal accused of administration and falsifying commercial documents.

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A BRITISH tourist stabbed, robbed has been talised by three and hospiminors who recorded the attack on their phones.

The trio were cuffed lice in Sant Vicent by pode Raspeig, near Alicante, their victim suffered after a collapsed lung and dergo emergency had to unA statement said surgery. the group stabbed the victim in the back with a whilst recordin pen-knife, on their mobile g the attack phones.

The unnamed holidaym was taking a morning aker stroll when he sensed ing followed, sohe was bereturned home as a precautio The gang caught n. him and a struggle up with ensued, where he was attacked and robbed of his wallet and mobile.

A passerby help, calling anstopped to ambulance straight away.

The man suffered a collapsed lung and immedia tely went into surgery.

CCTV quickly the identity of theestablished two of which wereattackers, already known to police.

Matching clothing and the weapon used in were found in the attack house searches. subsequent The 16 and 17-year-o rested were chargedlds arthe crimes of robbery with violence and woundin with g with intent.

GOTCHA: Financier banged to Press newspaper to cover up his links to fraud trial THE former chairman of a crooked wealth management company has been accused of stealing hundreds of copies of the Olive Press newspaper, court documents have confirmed.

Police have grilled the wealthy moneyman over the theft of up to 20 bundles of the paper on the Costa Blanca.

It comes after witnesses spotted Neil Hathaway jumping out of a black SUV and lifting entire bundles from our stands along with an accomplice.

Hathaway, who had been grilled over his involvement in the Continental Wealth Management scandal, took umbrage to his name appearing in an article in our March 5 edition.

He insisted he had taken the papers as he ‘was angry’ with the story headed ‘In Denial’, about how he and his colleagues scammed hundreds of investors out of an estimated €35 million.

Tee company is accused of fraud and falsifying commercial documents among other crimes.

The Olive Press is now taking legal action against the British financial advisor, who worked alongside the CWM team at Javea’s upmarket Marriott Hotel.

EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

While many victims lost everything and, at least one killed themselves, its owners lived lives of luxury with sports cars, exotic foreign holidays and designer clothes.

Director Jodie Smart launched a fashion label and twice flew to New York fashion week, it was claimed in official court documents.

When the Olive Press tracked Hathaway down to his multi-million euro mansion in the hills above Javea he couldn’t deny the theft, with his SUV parked in the drive.

“But it was a lot less papers than the police claimed,” he insisted.

Angry

“I was angry, just very angry, as you printed documents from the court,” he added.

“My wife was approached at work. I was just protecting my name along with everything else,” he added.

As for the CWM situation he insisted he ‘didn’t go out to scam anybody’ and added he had lost ‘a lot of money’ as well, but declined to say how much.

Denia court is set to continue its probe into how 750 victims

lost millions, with at least 17 losing their entire pension pots.

These include former Blackpool bus driver Les Hutchings, 67, who lost nearly his entire €117,000 private pension when it ended up in high-risk portfolios without his knowledge.

Another is widow Karen O’Hagan, who lost €72,000 of her RBS pension in similar circumstances.

She was told by CWM staff that transferring the money was the only way to protect it for her two young children if she passed away.

In declarations made in February, Hathaway, along with two other former colleagues Anthony Downs and Dean Stogsdill, claimed their former boss Kirby was responsible for convincing claimants to move investments from low to high risk.

Pensions investigator Angela Brooks told the Olive Press the case would set a major ‘precedent’ across Europe.

“It’s a disgrace that it’s taken a Spanish lawyer in Spain and a Spanish criminal judge to recognise the wickedness of actions taken by all parties concerned.

“The scale of this case has made the courts sit up and take notice.”

Mown down in Mercadona AN Italian expat has been run over and killed in a supermarket car park row.

The Tarifa restaurant owner Roberto, originally from Naples, was in collision with a car after an argument inside Mercadona, in Palmones.

The argument had begun in the supermarket, according to eye-

witnesses, before spilling over outside. The driver was arrested at the scene by the Guardia Civil, while Roberto was rushed to hospital where he later died.

Roberto had moved with wife Liliana to Tarifa in 2004 and ran popular Italian restaurant, Punto Pizza. He had a 14-year- ROBERTO: And old daughter.

Liliana

18th 2020

Contact the Olive Press on 951 27 35 75 or at newsdesk@theolivepress.es

TRAGIC: Craig Mallon

Cycle death probe AN arrest has been made after a popular cyclist was killed in a hit and run on the Costa del Sol. Mario Zumaquero, 44, from Ojen, died while training, following a collision with his bike and a car on the AP-7 in Estepona.

An unidentified ‘Mercedes driver’ smashed into the dad-of-one at around 6:50am on Sunday but failed to stop.

Motorists called the emergency services about the crash at kilometre 167 but he was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The vehicle, a grey SUV with a smashed windscreen, has been recovered from Estepona and police have begun taking statements.

Some reports have suggested that the driver could have been partying in Marbella, due to the time of the incident.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

BAD COMPANY: Fury with Kinahan

Bite of the Big Apple DANI Garcia has announced his return to New York with a fine dining restaurant and a ‘fast food’ venture.

The controversial Marbella chef is descending on the Big Apple six years after his dream opening there, Manzanilla, closed with debts of €600,000.

The 44-year-old is famous for shutting down his eponymous Costa del Sol eatery, just a month after it garnered a third Michelin star.

Garcia, who also launched a McDonalds burger, aims to open 15 ‘full service’ Casa Dani restaurants and up to 100 ‘quick service’ Minük joints in the US and worldwide.

THE MTK Marbella boxing gym, which was originally co-funded by Irish gang boss Daniel Kinahan will not reopen after its coronavirus lockdown.

Opened by former Irish, British and European champion Matthew Macklin – who has no link to criminality - in 2013 it was originally called MGM (Macklin’s Gym Marbella).

Initially it brought a lot of welcome attention to the Costa del Sol city with sportsmen of the stature of Frank Bruno and Graeme Souness attending events.

July 8th - July 21st 2020

3

Counted out There is no suggestion that any of the gym’s celebrity visitors knew of any underworld links.

MGM was renamed MTK Marbella and taken under new management in 2017, with links to Kinahan being severed.

The gang boss resurfaced in the boxing world recently when he was publicly thanked by heavyweight champ Tyson Fury for brokering a €200 million series of clashes with Anthony Joshua.

Chequebook love Ex-lover of former king claims she was given €65 million out of ‘gratitude’

By Scarlet Jenkins

GERMAN aristocrat Corinna Larsen says her former lover, King Juan Carlos gave her €64.8 million ‘out of gratitude and love.’

She believes the ‘gift’ might have been an attempt to ‘win her back.’

THE King and Queen of Spain have embarked on a royal tour in order to promote the new normality and encourage tourists to visit.

Felipe VI along with his wife Letizia spent a few days in Andalucia as part of their tour, visiting both Sevilla and Cordoba.

The glamorous duo started their tour in the Canary Islands, before moving to the Balearics, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia and most recently Murcia.

The official objective of this tour of the country is ‘to promote the most characteristic activities of each region in all sectors, economic, social and cultural.’

In addition, the Royal couple want to thank and recognise in person the effort that everyone made to overcome the pandemic.

"We promote the message that now travel throughout the country," said the King.

LOVEBIRDS: Corinna Larsen and King Juan Carlos She made the statement to the Geneva Prosecutor's Office in 2018, but it was only released recently due to Larsen claiming her right within Swiss law to appeal sending her statement to another country.

Going walkabout

It is now seen as crucial in an ongoing investigation into the retired king for money laundering and tax fraud.

The business woman, whose full name is Corinna Zu Saynn-Wittgenstein, claims ‘it was a gift,’ and not an attempt ‘to get rid of the money’.

Larsen stated she was called up by Juan Carlos’s lawyer, Dante Canonical, who told her the retired king wanted to give her the cash to ensure a ‘good future for my children and me.’

Donations

Larsen was also questioned about €1.5 million given to her by her royal lover in 2011, but she claimed it was a ‘donation’ so she could buy a house in central London.

The four people involved, including Larsen, Juan Carlos, Canonical, and the king's manager, Arturo Fasana, are being tried for money laundering, which would result in a five year prison sentence.

KIM CLARK

HOLLYWOOD HUNK: Hugh Jackman’s global goal

Wolverine a fan of PM Sanchez

HOLLYWOOD actor Hugh Jackman has shared an Instagram story of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, along with the Spanish flag.

The Australian actor posted these stories as part of the worldwide campaign Global Goal: Unite For Our Future.

On June 27, world leaders from around the world took part in the campaign, along with music stars, such as Justin Bieber and Shakira, who performed in order to raise money.

Many famous figures from numerous industries have been involved with this campaign, including Bill Gates, who donated millions.

The social initiative calls on world leaders to commit the financial resources necessary to deliver tests, treatments and vaccines to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the world's most vulnerable people.

In the video, Sanchez said: “We must mobilise so that the health crisis does not provoke a human rights crisis.”

Jackman's post, which also features a waving flag of Spain, has caused quite a stir among his followers, who have commented hundreds of times.

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OPINION

H

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

E has been at it for two decades… but now the world has changed, is it time for Leapy Lee to stop his racist

rants?

Those who have been unfortunate enough to read his rants in the Euro Weekly News have long known of his hatred of Muslims.

He has stirred up resentment against Britain’s Islamic community on a regular basis for years.

Without a shred of evidence he makes statements like: “These fanatics will one day find themselves sitting cross-legged on the carpets of Westminster, issuing out the rulings of Sharia, sending out legions of men with sledge-hammers and drills to our precious museums and chopping off heads in Trafalgar Square.”

Formerly known for his one hit single, Little Arrows in 1968, Lee, who is based in Mallorca, was jailed in the UK for a knife attack against a pub landlord, which might give an insight into his mind-set.

But it has to be said that Lee does not just single out the Muslim world which he lumps together as one, tarring all followers of the religion with the same extremist brush.

He has also recently waded in on the Black Lives Matter movement.

His recent column on the BLM protests in the UK, actually blames THEM for creating racism.

“BLM demonstrations have managed to create more racial divisions in society than any other movement in living memory,” he wrote last month.

Then, forgetting to present any evidence more than his own prejudiced views he said: “As far as stop and search is concerned, the problem

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Loopy Lee As the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps the world, is it time for Spain’s most notorious expat racist to stop his xenophobic hate speeches?

“If we don’t toughen up and stop denying the existence of the ever-increasing amount of pure evil and hatred in our midst, these fanatics will one day find themselves sitting cross-legged on the carpets of Westminster, issuing out the rulings of Sharia, sending out legions of men with sledgehammers and drills to our precious museums and chopping off heads in Trafalgar Square”

“...tribal, drug-infested killing field...

This is a black community problem.”

there is that the percentage of criminality, particularly among young black men, is so high it stands to reason they are going to be targeted.”

In his latest rant Lee - in the worst possible taste - raises the spectre of the holocaust ‘forecast by a politcian ‘far more intelligent and visionary than I’ in reference to BLM demos and ludicrously says the streets of Britain’s cities will soon resemble Beirut as he himself forecast 30 years ago.

RACE RANTS: Loopy Lee’s ravings (left to right) on violence in London (2018), terrorism and British Muslims (2015) and why ethnic minorities are to blame for high coronavirus death rates in the UK (2020) Some years back he even claimed that Britain’s high rate of secondary infections in hospitals was due to

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its mostly Muslim cleaners who had lower hygiene standards.

Not only is the Euro Weekly News

DIVISIVE: EWN asylum seekers poll

“The only reason there are more people dying from the ethnic communities is because the majority consider themselves totally alien from the rules” giving Lee the platform to spout his repugnant views, now the newspaper itself seems to have been infected with the same malaise.

Its Facebook page (above) last week carried a poll that identified asylum seekers as ‘modern day savages.’

This provoked such a backlash, it was thankfully soon taken down but for some reason the owners feel it appropriate to keep giving Loopy Lee the oxygen of publicity.

It really is time that his ‘articles’ were taken down too.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Buzzing in MOSQUITOS have boomed in numbers due to a ‘perfect storm’ of wet weather in the spring, a nationwide lockdown and searing summer temperatures.

Experts have warned of three types of blood-suckers along the Costa del Sol this year; the common Culex, the tiger and the marsh mosquito.

“The Culex is the one that bothers you as you try to sleep and bites in the night,” said expert Raimundo Leal.

Their numbers have been aided by the wetter than usual spring which created much more areas of accumulated water.

Suckers

“Any container left with water in it allowed for the mosquitos to multiply,” he added.

The more harmful tiger mosquito has also experienced a boom this year, and this is the one governments need to tackle.

They usually attack more in urban settings and are attracted to any small container carrying water, such as a flower pot.

They attack during the day and on the street, rarely making it into the home, and they normally go for the legs and transmit serious tropical diseases such as Zike or Dengue.

Back to school ANDALUCIA is to hire 6,300 extra teachers for the next school year.

They will be used to reduce class sizes to 20 in an attempt to keep a lid on COVID-19.

This is just one of the measures costing a total of €600 million put in place by the Junta in an attempt to tackle the pandemic.

In addition, 152 extra school assistants and 1,600 more cleaners will be employed to help provide a ‘safe’ environment.

Both state and subsidised private schools will benefit from these measures.

AROUND 30 beaches on the Costa del Sol were forced to close over the weekend after reaching maximum capacity.

In total, 55 beaches were closed throughout Andalucia in order to maintain social distancing.

Malaga, Cadiz and Huelva were the three provinces most affected.

Affected beaches included Benalmadena and Zahora and Bolonia in Cadiz.

Town halls tried to discourage potential beachgoers by posting closure informa-

Retired Brits ‘heartbroken’ after lads trash ‘dream’ home and upload pics to social media EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

POLICE are probing how a group of local yobs broke into a British couple’s holiday home and uploaded pictures of themselves vandalising it.

Beverley and Steve Morris, both 65, are ‘heartbroken’ after seeing the lads drinking and smoking in their Costa del Sol apartment, after daubing their walls with paint.

The Hertfordshire couple were alerted to the images, uploaded to Instagram and Snapchat, by the gardener of the urbanisation in Estepona.

“We were absolutely shocked,” Beverley, a retired NHS counsellor, told the Olive Press.

“We were disgusted they had been in our house and slept in our beds.

“You can see them smoking and drinking in the pictures and they have written all over the walls.”

The couple, who have had the home for over 30 years, asked their cleaner to assess the damage as they have yet to

Beach bummer tion on their websites and on phone apps.

The problems are expected to worsen later in the month, as more foreign tourists are expected to arrive – especially Brits who will no longer have to quarantine upon their return to the UK from July 10 – and Spaniards start their annual summer holidays.

Wreck heads

TRASHED: Yobs broke into luxury villa in Estepona be able to fly out due to travel restrictions.

The boys, believed to be local teens, have stolen two televisions and took the store room door off of its hinges to access

Murder arrest

A BRITISH fugitive has been arrested on the Costa del Sol over the murder of 19-year-old Aya Hachem.

The unnamed Mancunian, 30, was picked up in Fuengirola on a European Arrest Warrant.

He is also being held for the attempted murder of a man officers believe was the original target when Aya was killed in a drive-by shooting in Manchester last May.

VICTIM: Aya Hachem

a safe.

“The damages run into the thousands,” added mother-oftwo Beverley, “they took jewellery from the safe and painted over some very expensive new tables we had just bought.”

The group also trashed most of the furniture and they need new beds and new towels.

While police are now investigating no arrests have yet been made.

“It’s quite frustrating,” added Beverley, “you can see their faces clearly in the pictures and we even have some of their names and an address for one, I’m not sure what else the police need.”

The pair are due over in Spain this month to take stock of the exact damage.

July 8th - July 21st 2020

5

Expats destroyed vital DNA clues as Maddie suspect linked to more child sex crimes EXCLUSIVE By Jon Clarke in the Algarve

MADDIE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner was twice extradited from Portugal to Germany for child sex abuse.

The sick German expat - who spent a lot of time in the Granada region, as the Olive Press revealed last issue - was also probed over the sexual abuse of four children in Portugal as recently as 2016.

He has also been linked to a series of rapes, a number of which were filmed.

Now expats in Andalucia are wondering if he was linked to crimes in Spain during his many trips between Germany and Portugal between 1995 and 2017.

In particular, one user of popular Facebook page, Orgiva Massive, questioned whether he could have been involved in a child rape during the Dragon Festival in Granada in 2007.

It comes as it has emerged police in Portugal failed to put him on a list of 600 suspects in the disappearance of Maddie.

This was despite living for many years in the resort of Praia da Luz, where she vanished in May, 2007.

Shockingly, a British expat has also now admitted unwittingly destroying all DNA evidence at the home Brueckner rented in the resort.

Next door neighbour Ruth Maclean did this despite the unease she felt about living next door to ‘monster’ Brueckner.

She revealed she had cleaned the house on the order of its owners, after Christian, 43, ‘vanished’ a few months before Maddie went missing.

She didn’t know he was actually in prison at the time with his friend Michael Tatschl, long-time expat of Orgiva, who told the Olive Press last issue he had made a series of sickening videos including one of him raping an elderly woman.

The British neighbours had finally gone into the property in May 2006 after an apparent burglary, and on the request

UNSUSPECTING: Maclean scrubbed Brueckner villa clean

of the owner had cleaned out most potential DNA matches with Brueckner.

“It was in a really terrible state with food in the fridges, rats, it was not pleasant, not pleasant at all. We just emptied the house,” said Ruth.

“There was a massive mess, several computers all turned over, on the floor, dirty clothing, blankets, everything just had to be ditched.”

Despite the evidence of what happened at the house police have yet to search it or the nearby area.

They have also failed to search another house, located by the Olive Press, in Foral, 45 minutes inland, where it has now emerged Brueckner lived for up to five years.

Bizarrely, his next door neighbour at Villa Bianca was a retired Scotland Yard detective Roy Whitehouse.

Brueckner became the partner of a German woman Nicole Feringer, who alarmingly was running a rehabilitation programme for troubled teenagers from Germany.

This week German prosecutor Wolters continued to insist he had evidence Maddie was dead and would like to ‘investigate more in Portugal’.

6

NEWS FEATURE

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

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

OPINION Enough is enough!

THE entire country has suffered during the COVID-19 crisis.

Money is tight and people are desperate to return to normality and get the economy up to full steam.

But this should not be used as an excuse to allow the wholesale destruction of what remains of Andalucia’s beautiful countryside.

All along the more than 1,000 kilometres of the region’s coastline massive developments have sprung up over the past 40 years – many to the benefit of locals and newcomers alike.

But when the last few virgin beaches and undeveloped rural valleys – many supposedly protected in ‘natural parks’ - are put under threat of development there is only one driving force. Greed.

This land is relatively cheap as it is not classified for development. So it is often snapped up by ‘businessmen’ looking to make a fortune by using legal loopholes or lax regulations to push through construction projects. Andalucia’s new LISTA planning laws are a prime example of permissive legislation (see front page).

The Olive Press has a long and proud history of opposing the worst excesses, including campaigning against the Los Merinos project that would have devastated the countryside near Ronda.

We will continue to do so. We say it once more, loud and clear: Enough is enough!

Good to have you back THE first set of Brits have been arriving on the Costa del Sol in recent days and we could not be happier that they’re here.

Some expats don’t seem to be too thrilled that Brits are flying over, seeing the way in which the UK government has handled the coronavirus crisis.

The economic crisis that Spain is facing however, with 3.86 million people out of a job nationwide means that tourism is essential for people’s survival.

We sent our reporters out and about to talk to some of the new arrivals. Without exception, they were thrilled to finally make it to Spanish shores.

And we would like to extend a very warm welcome to every visitor. The costas face a difficult year and need every last one of you. Just remember to be careful and follow the rules.

But most of all - welcome back!

Publisher / Editor

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Charlie Smith charlie@theolivepress.es

Joshua Parfitt joshua@theolivepress.es

Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es

John Culatto johnc@theolivepress.es

Dimitris Kouimtsidis dimitris@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Isha Sesay isha.sesay@hotmail.com

Simon Wade simon@theolivepress.es

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

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

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Fair

The clock is ticking in the battle to save the last natural jewel on the Nerja coastline from the clutches of developers who want ANOTHER golf resort. James Warren reports

T

HE battle lines have been drawn between green groups and wealthy developers over one of Andalucia’s last undeveloped stretches of coastline.

At stake is the future of what is claimed to be the last unspoilt stretch of Malaga’s eastern Costa del Sol. Soon it could be riddled with bunkers and fairways.

Sociedad Azucarera Larios SA plans to develop a 250-hectare strip of coastal land a stone’s throw from the tranquil village of Maro, near Nerja, into an 18hole PGA-standard golf course, luxury hotel and around 700 luxury homes.

The project has been touted by the company as a complete transformation of the area - as

BEFORE AND AFTER: The near-virgin coastline and fertile farmland of Nerja to be ripped up for huge Maro Golf resort (right) seen in a glitzy promotional video doing the rounds on websites like Conde Nast Traveler - ridding the hillsides of ‘unsightly ‘farmland’ and ‘hippies’ who currently call the district their home. It also features renowned American golf course designer Cabell Robinson, who is responsible for some of the region’s finest courses.

Nerja town hall, led by controversial mayor Jose Alberto Armijo (PP), has given the plan his full backing. Echoing the sentiments of the developers, he is

eager to ‘clean up the area’ and bring in some much needed income and jobs.

But the project, while popular with some locals, has met with ferocious opposition, not only from Armijo’s political rivals but also from expat residents and environmental groups.

They accuse the developers and town hall of using ‘underhand tactics’ to make the so-called Maro Golf project happen by sowing the seeds for the project over the last 25 years.

“For years, the landowners have

Free-for-all

The new LISTA development law, while in some ways needed, could be a concrete belt that strangles the last green spaces on the costas

T

HE empty spaces in Andalucia, those few bits between the concrete, are under threat: a rare resource that it is apparently now the time to cash in on.

The President of Andalucia has approved an urban reform that allows one to build anywhere where it is not expressly prohibited.

This is the reverse of the old LOUA laws that prevented building on rural, undeveloped land unless it was expressly included in an urban plan.

In all, 21 laws and six decrees have been amended by PP leader Juanma Moreno, with the consternation of the opposition parties and a raft of environmentalists.

Already, three appeals to the Constitutional Court have been brought, and 80 different organisations have filed a joint complaint with the Ombudsman (or Defensor del Pueblo).

It is nevertheless the case that the laws needed amending (let’s not forget the 300,000 illegal homes spread around the region), but perhaps this U-turn is a bit more than necessary.

What most concerns green groups is the possibility that ghastly urban projects such as the Los Merinos golf project in Ronda, or the Valdevaqueros development, in Tarifa, may now be allowed to continue.

Greenpeace and Ecologistas en Accion particularly worry that the horrendous Hotel Algarrobico, built illegally on a virgin beach in Almeria, may now be legalised. And then there is the current controversial golf scheme planned for Nerja.

The new LISTA law, meaning the Law of the Sustainability of the Territory of Andalucia, is designed to replace the 18-year-old LOUA law, which, as Maura Hillen, the ex-president of the mostly expat homeowners’ group AUAN described as ‘torturous and extreme’.

“It placed a stranglehold on development with its urban-centric philosophy and a torturous planning approvals process that failed to differentiate between a village and the city of Sevilla,” she explained.

LOUA effectively stopped homes being built on rural ground unless they were to be used for farming purposes - with many people getting around it with warehouses with windows (naves, for example).

Meanwhile municipalities were only allowed to grow by 4% every eight years, which meant

My thoughts by Lenox Napier a village of 50 houses could only build two more in that time.

And, usually this would be for the mayor’s brother.

So when Johnny foreigner turned up looking for a nice place to live, they just ignored the rules and simply built an extra house, well, converted it from an old corral really, just down past the cemetery and not far from Paco’s Bar. And, of course, they built, given the lack of money to be made from goats or olives these days.

The small villages were (and still are) dying, and an injection of new residents, especially those who were retired and would bring business to the local bars and shops, could only be a good thing.

A good, if crooked, lawyer was drafted in and local town halls often gave ‘planning permission’ later rescinded by the Junta.

The environmentalists were ignored, after all they are just city creatures with a romantic and wildly inaccurate view of the country.

And while the vast majority of owners got away with it, far too many expats got caught up in the mess and fined or ordered to tear their homes down even though they thought

NOTORIOUS: Hotel Algarrobico in Almeria

been paying off people to give up their land, causing great rifts in families

PRIORS: Expats saw dream home razed they had all their papers in order.

The best example was Helen and Len Prior, who had their home bulldozed in front of the world’s media in 2008 outside Vera, it was neither in a particular beauty-spot, nor was it in a flood-plain.

Many scratched their heads as their nearby neighbours’ homes survived, while a nearby ‘irregular’ urbanisation on the beach called Puerto Rey - that frequently floods and led to the death of a British woman in 2012 - also remained unscathed.

Odd that many apartments there should be owned by ex-ministers.

While these new laws are a way of legalising many of the homes currently in a legal limbo where they can not be sold, ecologists certainly do have a point about layering the whole of the Mediterranean coast in concrete.

While many of the poor inland villages need investment to survive, there are very few green spaces on the coast left.

So it’s quite a disgrace that these wealthy coastal resorts are looking at expanding into their remaining fields, salt-flats and coves for an entirely different reason: profit.

The new schemes currently being bandied about include hotels, golf courses and urbanisations from Chiclana to Cabo de Gata... and not forgetting Marbella.

One paper, El Mundo, confirmed that the Junta was now ‘relying on construction to alleviate the huge losses in tourist income’ due to the pandemic. And Andalucia has lost a lot, many billions of euros at least.

Making a profit is an underlying philosophy of conservatism and the current PP bosses in Sevilla.

So it comes as no surprise that the Junta, reborn last year (after four decades of corrupt socialism), would want to put its resources to good use.

And if these developments are finally allowed to go ahead - assuming the huge opposition doesn’t sink them - will the profits be re-ploughed back into the local economy or find their way offshore, as they did under the PSOE? That’s a debate, for which I think most of us know the answer.

7

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hilltop is flaunting a square HE classic Spanish for its choco- Mijas which saw the main recognifrom Chelsea to China the transformed beyond direct late box charm nailsvibe tion, with 70% coming kitty. quaint-small-town from Mijas is flaunting from the European throw get around at just a stone’s And the ways to a €4 million the two the coast. are myriad, from(€10 on a globe’s Discovered by the and dozen burro-taxis makeover which to more bohemian artists saddle, €15 in a carriage) and 60s, writers in the 1950s in Ron- saw its main square the white stallions bearing it was immortalised Cinderella-style carriages. transformed book, The square, ald Fraser’s 1973 Set just up above the to cast coming to Pueblo, and continues Tuk-Tuk Spain is been a maa spell on visitors today. on third year and has go the end of its anyone lackAnd it’s still improving up attractions that for thrill-seekers and perfection, ramping donkey taxis, colourful jor draw 20 Continues on Page beyond the famous zippy Segway-mounted tourist tuk-tuks and

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Paedophile unearthed offering

lessons to children in British

expat hotspot on Costa del Sol

PREDATOR WARNING EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore and Aleesha Hansel

A CONVICTED British paedophile has been offering one-on-one home tuition for children on the Costa del Sol, the Olive Press can reveal.

Mark Jales (left), who was part of an evil paedophile ring in the UK throughout the 1970s and 80s, has posted several teaching adverts online after moving to Torrox RRP 3,000€

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last year. The 55-year-old, who now goes by the name ‘Mark Grayson’ or ‘Mark Kneel-Thornton’, offers to teach English to anyone ‘aged between 14 and 70’, and is willing to do it in person ‘or on Skype’.

He claims he is able to help any children of ESO level, which is in fact 12 to 16 in age.

Jales was jailed for his part in the London gang, which sexually abused at least four young choir boys - although police believe there could be more victims who have not come forward.

Each were ‘groomed’ with alcohol, pornography and takeaway dinners.

During the trial, one victim recalled how Jales laid out pornography on a bed before undressing and abusing him.

“It was furtive and it was squalid,” the victim told the

COSTA BLANCA

Vol. 2 Issue 33 www.theolivepress.es

The Brits are back!

Your expat

voice in Spain

Christian Brueckner’s Spanish hideaway

A DANGEROUS paedophile believed to have snatched English tot Maddie McCann visited southern Spain on many occasions.

German pervert Christian Brueckner hid out in the Alpujarras region of Granada often Press can sensationally reveal. dealing drugs, the Olive According to his best friend, an Austrian who lived in the area for many years, he even visited just two or three weeks after Maddie went missing.

Michael Tatshl, who spent eight Brueckner, now believes he is guiltymonths in prison with of the murder of Madeleine.

Having spent 14 hours being grilled by police over the crime, he spoke to the Olive Press for the first time to explain why.

“He was a real pervert and talked about selling Morocco, I am pretty sure he did children to it,” he said this week.

Micha, 46, who lived in Orgiva for over a decade, revealed that Brueckner had visited the town many occasions in his jaguar on and various vans.

One concerned expat who first tipped us off to Jales’ whereabouts by finding his Facebook account, told the Olive Press: “The register is extremely strict about attempting to contact or even making yourself available to be connected to kids.

“His Facebook profile alone is a breach of such conditions, nevermind advertising to teach children.”

It comes after he was exposed by the UK press for launching a legal firm to help families get their children back in the UK after he was released from prison.

Parents in family court cases paid £300 (340 euros) for his support as a ‘McKenzie Friend’ – an aide who does not need formal legal qualifications.

FAMILIAR SIGHT: Brueckner’s ‘Winnebago’

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com. In one advert he says: “I am a warm and kind teacher who believes that learning should also be fun so that you can practice and improve your English without feeling stressed or under pressure.

“I am a native English teacher and have two years of experience teaching online.

“I teach students from 14 to 70 years of age, conversation or business English with individual classes by Skype.

“I also have classes for up to 6 students at a local café in BUSTED: Jales’ advert Torrox.”

Jales, who was convicted of court in 2014.

Croydon But since being released the indecent assault at half Olive Press can reveal Jales Crown Court and served behas he where of a 12 months sentence Spain, to moved hind bars, must stay on the family and friends. register While here he has been seek- UK’s sex offenders’ ing students as an English until 2024. including The conditions state he must teacher on websites children findmyfavouriteteacher.com have no contact with tuclasesparticulares. under that age of 18. and

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HE Olive Press stands for strong, independent, investigative local journalism.

And you don’t have to take our word for it – just ask Google.

The internet giant has recognised us through its Google News Initiative and dipped into its coffers to give the Olive Press a substantial grant.

Its Journalism Emergency Relief Fund was set up to help small and medium sized news organisations weather the COVID-19 storm.

But applicants had to meet stringent conditions to qualify.

First and foremost they had to produce ‘original news for local communities’, with the emphasis on news, and have a digital presence, among other criteria.

Google set high standards for the awards and not many applicants achieved them.

The Olive Press was chosen as one of a handful in Spain - and just 1,550 newsrooms around the three continents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East to get the grant.

We have already invested some of the money in taking on new journalists, not buying Bentleys or i-Macs, and we continue to break dozens of big stories in Spain every month.

We pride ourselves on producing relevant investigative news that connects with the expat community – and we are glad to see Google agrees. www.ibexinsure.com

OLIVE PRESS – 70mm x 40mm FRONT COVER 28 March

as some people want to sell and others, with long lines of farming heritage, do not,” explained expat Deborah Fountain, 53, a retired hairdresser from London.

“Families who have worked this land for over four generations have been torn apart,” she continued.

The Adelante political coalition in Nerja has also explained that for years, Larios has allowed settlers to live on the land for next to no rent, yet now is using them as a political tool to develop the area.

“This situation of neglect has been encouraged by renting out the land to people, many of whom are not in agriculture at all. This way they already have an excuse to say that you have to end this situation of abandonment of the land when it is them themselves that have caused it.” explained Andres Jimenez Perez, a member of Izquierda Unida in Nerja.

Fountain, along with her husband Paco Galvez, are members of the official opposition platform, Otro Maro y Nerja es Posible. She has lived in the area for 35 years and the couple have an idyllic life on a smallholding.

“We have been fighting this for years but it is forever a losing battle,” explained Galvez.

And now they have garnered strong support for their cause with the likes of Ecologistas en Accion and Greenpeace Spain on board, as well as Royal Holloway, University of London, whose students visit the site every year as part of their geology

syllabus.

There are also 19,000 signatures and counting for their Change.org petition.

Ecologistas en Accion has also been extremely vocal in its opposition to the project and the new government bill that would allow it to come to fruition (see Free-for-all, inset).

During its annual ‘Atila’ awards, the group singled out Andalucia President Juanma Moreno Armijo for gongs for their ‘eagerness to destroy’ the coastline.

The bill in question (LISTA, the ‘Law for the Promotion of Sustainability of the Territory of Andalucia), aims to simplify the categorisation of undeveloped land.

But it means that, potentially, even protected land could be opened up to developers, as seen in two places of the fragile and endangered Cabo de Gata Natural park, in Almeria.

In response to the massive backlash, Nieves Atencia, Nerja councillor for urban planning, has quashed any claims of a secret agreement between Larios and the PP. “I urge the opposition to this to be more responsible and to change their approach to a more constructive one, instead of seeking media prominence,” she said.

However local Podemos spokesperson Juan Jose Aido Haro, told the Olive Press that his party strongly opposes the plans.

“We are against developing this project. It has been farmland for many generations,” he said.

“The golf course is just an excuse to build a luxury hotel and

BRAINCHILD: Of Maro Golf designer Robinson and Armijo (right)

hundreds of homes for tourists.

Its implementation would have the Costa del Sol, with some a completely negative influence even closing including Monte Mayor in Marbella. on Maro.”

Meanwhile, the Otro Maro Baviera went into receivership groups insist the job claims are last year, threatening jobs, and inflated, with the average golf only an 11th hour buyout saved course only employing 16 peo- it from closure.

But despite this, manager Aurople.

“And do you really think they will ra del Rio Garces remains upuse local builders?” said Debo- beat about the new Maro projrah, “They will bring in whoever ect. “It would create another golf destination comes cheapest.” east of MalaHer sentiments are echoed by fel- Project that could ga,” she said.

Among other low Maro resident tear this last locals in favour expat Graham, a the course, retired financier remaining oasis of Ana Guierro, from Dublin who who works at has owned a plot of tranquillity the Puente Aguof land in the area apart ila bar near the for five years.

Cuevas de Ner“I came here for ja, said: “It’s a the scenery, the good idea, it will ruggedness and tranquillity but if they go ahead with the golf bring many opportunities to the course, I’m sure many people area.”

Meanwhile, there are rumblings will want to relocate,” he said.

The row is underscored by the of discontent behind the scenes recent struggles of neighbour- at Larios Azucares SL, with one ing Baviera Golf, 15 minutes of the four main shareholders along the coast in Caleta de expressing concern over the fiVelez, which has fallen on hard nancial investment in the projtimes, as have many of the oth- ect, raising questions over the er 50-plus golf courses along management of the company.

Barbara Gutierrez-Maturana-Larios, along with her mother and sister, insist that the company does not have the assets to invest €300 million into the project.

They are also concerned over internal differences in the running of the company and are calling for it to be disbanded, putting the whole project in doubt unless a truce can be worked out.

And with the new law coming into force in Sevilla, it means they could potentially put pen to paper this summer on a project that could tear this last remaining oasis of tranquillity apart.

The Olive Press has approached Sociedad Azucarera Larios SA and Nerja Town Council for comANGRY: Nerja residents Deborah Fountain and her husband Paco Galvez are against the Maro Golf ment. plans, which could see the old Maro sugar factory (right) turned into a swanky new hotel

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July 17th to July 30th 2019 Vol. 13 Issue 322 www.theolivepress.es

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Jet setters...

(far BIG FANS: Obama, Cameron and it right) Saudi royalty know how to spend

J.Lo-ving it!

she JENNIFER Lopez has confirmed will play on the Costa del Sol to celebrate her 50th birthday.

49, The forever-young Latina legend, will take to the stage at Marenostrum Castle Park in Fuengirola. will The unmissable gig on August 8 mark over seven years since the Jenny from the Block singer’s last Spain appearance.

J. Lo takes part in the Marenostrum Festival, which has also seen the likes Rod and Cox Carl Yankee, of Daddy Stewart.

Having sold in excess of 80 million records worldwide, Lopez, who was the in born to Puerto Rican parents the Bronx, New York, is regarded as US. most influential Latin artist in the

Is it up? Is it down?

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page VI

and property Giant €750m multi-sports final furlong development enters EXCLUSIVE By Laurence

Dollimore

and will be massive for Mijas sporting “This will sports tourism and multibe the largest A RAFT of international in Europe,” the back an exciting stars are lining up to and residential sports events venue the project, Anbusinessman behindthe West Midlands, €750 million sportsdel Sol. project on the Costa Ferdinand and thony Arnold, from this week.

Maria Sharapova, Rioexpressed a keen told the Olive PressSharapova has been ace left) Ian Woosnam have all of the proj- Russian tennis and Ferdinand (below in the interior design Sharapova, Woosnam interest in the huge British-funded long-neglect- involved called ‘Mijas City of Sport,’ TRIO OF BACKERS: project, ect to revolutionise Mijas’ site. captain Ferdiwhile former England sports ed hippodrome racecourse of the big names the site to his Football style resort for the professional The trio are just some Mirage develop- nand is set to add community’. and sports business looking to back the a golf course, a Escapes company. premier football It will include a five-star hotel, spa, casino The firm provides ment, which includes a trio of hotels and coaching courses at some of the most and luxury apartments. multi-sports venue, and university the Olive the world.

An entertainment venue exclusive resorts around over 1,000 luxury apartments, Woosnam, mean- campus are also being considered for the reveal.

Welsh golfing legend Press can exclusively detailed 17-page the signature site, according to the while, has helped design and will be heading overview of the project, seen by the Olive 18-hole golf course the up the gold academy. - which sits over Press. planned to begin by The proposed projectdivided into three Construction is if Mijas town hall 250 hectares - will be the brand name middle of next year a working govwhich has still not formed different areas under elections following recent localArquitects Mirage.

HCP a large sport- ernment gives it the green light. unveiling the Mirage Sport will feature training facility officially ing events venue, elitealongside a com- of Malaga will benext few weeks. and a 400-room hotel business centre. masterplan in the on this for eight years “I’ve been working the mercial, conference and Golf will also have now and we are so close to getting “It Meanwhile Mirage Arnold. apartments, hotel, casino and apartments backing we need,” continued a hotel and 1,200 luxury designs include five-star for not only MiMIRAGE: Development’s alongside its course. will be an exclu- will be hugely important Costa del Sol.” Finally Mirage Club‘designed as a life- jas but the whole sive sporting club

FREE INSIDE

Innocent Brit wrongly fingered for drug

CAMPAIGNER: Cristina

olive Press medical campaign finally draws blood with Nolotil regulation close

See page 6

haul finally released from year in violent

HE’S OUT!

prison

EXclUSiVE

By Elisa menendez

Olive Press for Robert Mansfield-Hewitt thanks year-long campaign for his release engineer wrongly accused of storing BRITISH A tonnes of hashish in the wrongly imprisoned for a 1.5 of a property where year for drug smuggling garage he was renting a room in has finally been released.

Roque.

Robert Mansfield-Hewitt, San innocent Brit - who has 51, was let go without The for the MOD for 20 charge after being locked workedmuch of it in Gibralup for more than a year years, - was taken to infamous alongside terrorists and tar prison in Almurderers in a Spanish jail. Botafuegos on June 27 last year The Ministry of Defence geciras a dramatic night (MOD) worker had been following

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

raid. He quickly became the Guardia Civil’s main suspect despite having no previous convictions and the actual owner of the property having a previous drug conviction in Gibraltar.

Despite, a lack of evidence and three front page stories

of our front pages THRILLED: Hewitt with two a shocking seven months to by this paper - he was held at formally charge him - after the notorious jail, home to denying him bail three times.

ETA terrorists and Irish maDespite a serious long-term fia members, until last week. liver condition, which saw “It is amazing to be finally him moved in and out of hosout,” Hampshire-based Manpital, he did not get his day in sfield-Hewitt told the Olive court until May 27.

Press from a restaurant in La Incredibly, he has still been Linea this week. ordered to pay a €1,500 fine “I’m still getting used to being for ‘renting unlicensed tourout, it has been a crazy ride.” accommodation’. ist paper the He also thanked He revealed he is now set to for all the support and legal take legal action against the pressure we have put on the state but for now is focusing authorities since his arrest. on getting home.

“It is great to have had a local He is flying back from Malaga media group keeping this in the public eye. Without your Continues on Page 4 help, I’m sure it would have taken longer,” he said.

Opinion Page 6 In draconian circumstances, it took Spanish authorities

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AN Olive Press health campaign has led to ‘the biggest’ drug probes in Spanish history.

Our investigation into the mysterious deaths of expats from the painkiller Nolotil last year, is finally being acted on.

In a landmark breakthrough, a national probe is expected to lead to new regulation of the drug, which is banned in the UK and most of Europe.

“It has been a long time in coming and by raising so much awareness, I am sure lives have already been saved,” medical and legal translator Cristina Garcia del Campo told the Olive Press. The medical professional found our 1000-strong petition online and took it forward after one of her patients died from the drug. “Spain wants to help,

NoloTil VicTory

loomS that’s for sure. I have had support from every healthcare professional I have spoken to.

“If I hadn’t come across your article I wouldn’t have realised what was happening to the English community,” she

TRAGIC: Graeme Ward with wife Mary (left) and Billy Smyth, who both died from Nolotil

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added. We launched our ‘Kill the Drug’ campaign against the painkiller last August, after learning that dozens of British and Irish expats had died after their immune systems were allegedly destroyed by the commonly prescribed drug. A trio of families told us how their relatives had died unnecessarily in excruciating pain. Yet, authorities refused to take our claims seriously, despite the evidence being backed up by local doctors. Fortunately, Ali-

KILL THE DRUG

cante-based Garcia del Campo spotted our campaign, while working with an Irish expat who suddenly became critically ill with sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis after taking the drug.

He died later in November.

Voted BEST

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Mijas Costa See page 18 xx

Save our home!

Vol. 11 Issue 271

679702_DFS_SPANISH_BOX_AD_40x40_MIJAS_COSTA.indd 23/02/2017 11:31 1

EXCluSiVE By laurence dollimore

A BRITISH expat couple are fighting to save their Malaga home from demolition over a technicality.

Gill and Bob Ward, both 74, have been locked in a battle with their town hall, which claims their house in Almayate is illegal.

Just yesterday the retired couple from Cornwall were given

Continues on Page 8

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gET in iT TO win iT!

THE Olive Press is giving away three pairs of tickets for two of the best concerts on the Costa del Sol this summer...

And all you have to do is answer two simple questions!

Michael Bolton takes to the stage for an emotive end of season night at Marbella’s Puente Romano on August 10, while Estepona is set for its biggest rock concert in years with mammoth

Doctors and dentists join Olive Press appeal for ban on dangerous painkiller Nolotil EXCluSiVE By laurence dollimore

one month to knock down their only property (pictured above).

In a court order seen by the Olive Press, the Wards are warned they will be held criminally responsible if they refuse.

“I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m at the end of my tether” Gill told the Olive Press, “I’m totally exhausted from the whole ordeal.”

The retired pair, who have now spent thousands of euros on legal costs, bought the old farmhouse ‘in ruins’ in 2004, and were given permission from Velez-Malaga town hall to rebuild it.

But when the original wall collapsed of its own accord during construction, the Wards’ architect told them it would be fine and that he would let the town hall know. Unfortunately for

tribute bands Think Floyd, Deeper Purple and Whole Lotta Led rocking out the greatest hits of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin at the Plaza del Toros on August 26.

For a chance to win a pair of tickets to see Bolton, just answer the question; what year was Michael Bolton born in?

For the Pink Purple Zep Fest in Estepona, just tell us; Where was Jimmy Page born? Email answers to the newsdesk@theolivepress.es.

WIN WIN WIN: Bolton and Pink Purple Zep Fest tickets

Kill ThE drug

THE Olive Press is calling on Spain to ban a lethal painkiller that is killing countless of unsuspecting expats.

British dentists and doctors are supporting the ban after Briton Graham Ward, 75, complained to the Olive Press of how he was prescribed the deadly Nolotil drug by a dentist last week. It’s the very same drug that was blamed for killing his wife in 2006.

The Marbella-based expat was furious when he was told to take the painkiller by his Spanish dentist, after suffering from a difficult abscess.

His wife Mary, 59, had died after being prescribed the same drug following a double vasectomy at Costa del Sol Hospital.

“Within 24 hours she was in intensive care, her white blood cell count plummeted to zero within days,” explains Graham, a former computer HAPPIER TIMES: Graham with wife, and Billy Smyth technician, from London.

She never regained conscious- again.

Metamizole, Nolotil is banned ness and was on a life support “He said she would be alive if in the US, the UK, Ireland and machine for FOUR months, she hadn’t taken it, but I have most of Europe, but it is prebefore spending three years heard from dozens of Brits scribed widely in Spain. fighting the impact of the and Irish who have been given Irishman William ‘Billy’ drug, which led to organ fail- it,” added Graeme.

Smyth was given a five-day It is the third victim of the course of the drug in Februure.

“The chief surgeon at the hos- drug the Olive Press has re- ary. pital promised me he would ported on in under a year.

But when the 66-year-old renever prescribe that drug Sometimes known also as turned to a different Spanish

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Dr Nina King, of Oasis Dental Care in Marbella, fully supports the campaign, telling the Olive Press the drug is not something she prescribes.

“It’s not a drug I use, I stick to safe and standard medication,” she said, “And after seeing what damage it can do, it’s a drug I won’t be using in the future.”

Marbella-based private doctor Dra. Victoria María Chacón Almeda also agrees the drug is dangerous. “I don’t prescribe the drug,” she told the Olive Press, “I have lots of British patients and I am aware of what it is capable of doing.

“There needs to be a lot more research on its impact.” doctor to get a renewal in April, tests showed the drug had caused a toxic poisoning in his bone marrow and his white blood cell was dangerously low.

Billy, a keen sportsman, developed sepsis and necrotising fasciitis as a result and required ‘radical surgery’ to remove the affected tissue in an attempt to save his life.

The dad-of-two later died from septic shock – believed to be linked to taking the Nolotil.

Another British expat Hugh Wilcox was prescribed the same medication for mild shoulder pain on the Costa del Sol. He developed severe head Continues on Page 2

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As the summer hordes descend, the Olive Press looks at the entourages and bloated budgets of the rich and famous who regularly holiday in Spain

STUNNER: Lopez landing on Marbs

EXCLUSIVE: Poems from Gibraltar soldier locked up in Andalucia prison for murder

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Nolotil, or Metamizol, is still one of the most popular painkillers in Spain, yet the most feared side effect is agranulocy-

tosis, a severe and rapid drop in white blood cells, which leaves patients unable to fight infections.

Garcia del Campo noticed that a large number of other English

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and Irish patients had been suffering with sepsis at hospitals along the Costa Blanca.

“I thought, this can’t be normal,” explained the translator, from Madrid.

And after looking at patients’ notes, she found that each had one thing in common - they were all taking Nolotil.

Although manufacturers list side effects such as agranulocytosis, necrotizing fasciitis and sepsis, they are considered ‘very rare’ affecting one in every 10,000.

The figures did not seem to add up to Garcia del Campo so she set about doing her own research. However, no information existed in Spanish media.

The only articles she could find on the drug and its lethal side effects was in the Olive Press.

“I was in disbelief,” continued the Javea-based translator, who lived in the UK for 18 years.

“I thought this was surely wellknown and someone was doing something about it. Except it wasn’t.

“I felt I had to inform Spain Continues on Page 2

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- Multi-millionaire rocks art world with 4gallery removal of Mata Mua painting from Madrid as talks with Spanish Government crumble (22,898)

- British couple stuck in UK 'devastated' after 5partying seeing pics online of yobs vandalising and in their home on Spain's Costa del Sol (19,928)

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DEATH: Of coal in favour of renewable energy

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Two Costa del Sol resorts handed black flags over environmental mismanagement

By Dimitris Kouimtsidis

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SPAIN has closed seven out a total 15 coal-fuelled power plants after EU restrictions have cut profitability in the sector drastically.

On June 30, the plants in A Coruña, Asturias, Leon, Teruel, Cordoba and Palencia closed their doors for the last time.

Increases in penalties for the production of CO2 emissions to punitive levels have caused traditional fossil fuel factories to fall behind natural and renewable energy sources.

A large drop in the price of natural gas due to European surpluses have also encouraged energy companies to replace outdated coal production with gas.

A PAIR of Costa del Sol towns have been named and shamed after being handed black flags by a leading green group.

Ecologistas en Accion doled out the unwanted ‘awards’, an alternative to the annual blue flags for the most pristine playas.

The offending duo are Nerja’s Maro cliffs area and Estepo-

ILLEGAL: Waste disposal

Just toxic

ACTIVISTS: Highlighting blighted beaches na’s Litoral zone near Playa del Padron.

The area in Nerja received its black flag over a string of ‘environmental mismanagement’ incidents over the past few years.

The town’s Mayor Jose Alberto Armijo has presided over a period that has seen Nerja become an environmental blackspot.

In the last 12 months raw sewage has been videoed flowing into the sea at Burriana beach, Torrecilla beach and just off the Maro cliffs.

The pollution, along with an illegal landfill site of 15 years near the La Miel River, have tarnished Nerja’s reputation and seen calls grow for Armijo to be jailed.

Estepona’s black flag credentials are less clear, with ‘water purification’ given as the rea-

son for its unwanted gong.

Poor water quality, due to spillages, is behind some 40% of this year’s 48 black flags, with two handed out to each province.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the first Black Flags report and includes an extra section reporting on the situation in the last six years, during which some 284 black flags have been awarded.

“Despite the fact that only two examples are used for each province, unfortunately the list should include more beaches," an Ecologistas en Accion spokesperson said.

Alongside sewage leaks, other common problems for beaches included invasive species, erosion on sandy beaches, or ‘unjustified’ port expansion projects.

SPANISH police have arrested 34 people who were smuggling toxic waste from the Canary Islands to Africa.

Amongst the 2.5 tonnes of waste material were electrical materials destined to be melted down rather than disposed of safely.

The criminals loaded maritime containers with old vehicle parts, household goods, and a huge amount of electrical waste and electronic equipment.

Investigators say that the electronics were shipped to several African countries to be sold as scrap metal.

One Italian woman was arrested for preparing customs clearance documents stating the scrap appliances were in working order.

Under Spanish and EU law, electronic devices – particularly fridges – must be disposed of properly by licenced businesses.

They can contain cadmium, mercury, lead, arsenic, oils, gases and other harmful substances.

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LA CULTURA What’s the Mata Do you have a what’s on?

Send your informa tion to newsdesk@theolivepr ess.es

Art world up in arms over Spanish socialite’s shady dealings during crisis

CERVERA: And Mata Mua KNOWN as ‘La Misteriosa’, she has shadily presided over an art collection worth €390 million that counts Matisse, Picasso and Rodin among its 429 pieces.

But now Baroness Carmen Cervera has once again stepped back into the spot-

waves after announcing that Mata Mua (1892) by French impressionist Paul Gaugin light, after the removal of a would no longer hang on the €40 million painting from gallery’s walls. the Thyssen Museum in Ma- At 7am on June 9, the oil candrid. vas, which features a scene The 77-year-old Barcelo- of Maori women in Tahiti, na-born socialite made finally left the Madrid museum, where it has been since 1999.

Art experts wrapped the painting in acid-free tissue paper before packing it into an 82-kilo cliA PAIR of Flamenco-dancing sismate-controlled ters have launched a ‘gypsy cave capsule, with night’ to kickstart Granads’s famous the insurance nightlife. and shipping Antonia and Jara Heredia are holdcosts totalling ing a one-hour music show at Venta €82,000.

El Gallo in Sacromonte every night Cervera even of the week. travelled in the The cosy venue, which is cut into the truck carrying mountainside, offers views of the the painting, Alhambra Palace from its terrace. which was acThe sisters, whose family owns the companied by neighbouring Casa Juanillo restauprivate security rant, are joined by a guitarist and guards armed guest artists until the end of the with machine year. guns.

Tickets are €20 available Since 2011 the from marialacanastera.com OLE: Kickstarting nightlife ‘Thyssen colBy Charlie Smith

Gypsy roses

lection’ – named after Cervera’s late husband Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, who died in 2002 – has been loaned to the museum, with a contract renewed annually.

But on December 13 last year she secured a ‘definitive export license’ for Mata Mua, granting her the right to transport the work unopposed.

Government ministers salvaged a partial deal for the treasure trove of art, meaning that 425 of its pieces can still be displayed in the Capital.

But this left uncertainty over four of the greatest works, which have now been removed from the museum, including Mata Mua. The trio of other 19th and 20th century classics are Degas’ Racehorses in a Landscape (1894), Monet’s Charing Cross Bridge (1899) and Hopper’s Martha Mckeen of Wellfleet (1944).

Cervera has pledged in the past that she will not sell Mata Mua and recently said she is open to further negotiations with the Government.

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Olive Press Costa del Sol – 170mm x 256mm – Colour

8th July

10

LA CULTURA

what’s on

T

wo geniuses

HEAD down to the Museo Casa Natal Picasso in Malaga for the Trozo de Piel exhibition exploring Picasso and Camilo Jose Cela’s relationship, on until October 4.

F

uengirola art

THE Gallery Art Club in Fuengirola is hosting an exhibition of art works

by Lars Hedin and Edom Alemu, as well as Magga Nancy and Klas B, on until July 24.

B

lues night

THE free-entry Noche de Blues annual festival will take place on July 11 at the Auditorio Municipal de Mijas, including acts such as The Lito Blues Band and The All Women Bluesers.

T

100 Spanish Icons

In our continuing occasional series we look at the famous names you may have heard of, but probably don’t know the fascinating history behind. As the shops open up again, we continue with one of Spain’s top designers

F

ANS of TV show Sex and the City will remember the scene when Carrie Bradshaw got mugged in New York.

The mugger wanted her shoes. Carrie was outraged, they were her prized Manolo Blahniks.

But did you know the iconic shoe designer hails from Spain?

Who is he?

Probably the most famous shoe designer of our times. Born in 1942 in Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands, to a Spanish mother and Czech father who fled Prague to escape rising fascism in the 1930s.

His mother’s family owned a banana plantation. He recalls having an early fix-

he classics

MALAGA’S Philharmonic Orchestra will play pieces by Shostakovich, Borodin, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky at the Castillo de Gibralfaro on July 9 at 10pm.

July 8th - July 21st 2020

MASTER: Manolo Blahnik at work

SINGLE IMPLANT

2. Manolo Blahnik ation with feet – specifically those of the lizards that invaded the gardens of his home.

Manolo would shape sweet wrappers into shoes for the unsuspecting reptiles.

Destined to be a designer?

Well yes, except his parents had other ideas and wanted him to be a diplomat and sent him to university to study politics and law.

But he rebelled, changed his course to literature and architecture and then moved to Paris to study art and set design.

His friend Paloma Picasso no less introduced him to the legendary Diana Vreeland. Seeing Manolo’s sketches Vreeland took one look at high-heeled sandals decorated with ivy and cherries and told him, “Young man, stick to the extremities and make shoes!”

His big break?

British designer Ossie Clark asked Manolo to design shoes for his catwalk show in 1971.

There was no stopping him. He made shoes for other London fashion designers, such as Jean Muir and Zandra Rhodes.

With a loan of £2,000, Blahnik bought

IMPLANT BRIDGE

the Zapata Shoe Company from its owner and opened his own boutique.

Manolo hated bulky platforms and preferred elegant, sexy shoes with skyscraper heels. It’s not just the stilettos that are eye-watering, a pair of Manolos – as they are known – start at around €800!

And although they are the most gorgeous shoes on the planet, they are bloody hard to walk in.

And now?

He is still passionate about shoes, still designs, and has boutiques all over the world.

His office is in London, but he lives in Bath in what he calls a shoe museum.

He has a prototype of every pair he has designed, currently around 30,000!

In 2007 he was awarded a CBE by the Queen for his contribution to British fashion.

Best quote: “Men tell me that I’ve saved their marriages. It costs them a fortune in shoes, but it’s cheaper than a divorce. So I am useful!”

ICON: Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘Manolos’

IMPLANT DENTURE

LA CULTURA Good to have you back Do you have a what’s on?

Send your informa tion to newsdesk@theolivepr ess.es

British tourists could not be happier to be back on the Costa del Sol, discover Dimitris Kouimtsidis and Scarlet Jenkins

NICE SURPRISE: Stevensons

11

SISTERS DOING IT: Lesley and Fiona hit the shops in Banus

B

RITISH tourists are finally out in force on the Costa del Sol, many lavishing praise on the Spanish Government’s COVID-19 safety measures.

As well as insisting the journey over was ‘straightforward’, holidaying Brits have been impressed with Spain’s tough stance on social distancing and mask usage.

One, Adrien Dawson, 50, who is travelling with wife Julie, 57 and daughters Holly, 21 and Niamh,19, told the Olive Press he actually ‘felt safer in Spain’.

Staying at a hotel in Estepona, the businessman from Durham, said: “We actually feel safer in Spain than we do in the UK because of how well managed the pandemic was here.”

His wife, Julie, also heaped praise on Ryanair for keeping its middle seats empty during the flight over on July 4.

“We were pleasantly surprised because the middle seat was kept empty on every row and according to staff it was done on purpose,” she said.

Meanwhile, Richard, 29 and Janette Stevenson, 36 from Derbyshire were also pleasantly surprised with the fact that they had their temperatures checked at East Midlands airport prior to going through security.

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Fairway L AW Y E R S SAFER IN SPAIN: Reckons the Dawson family, staying in Estepona after they flew in from the UK

HAPPY HOLS: For Jade from Reading (left) and John “We had heard about checks in Sisters, Lesley Nichols, 49 and Spain, but we didn’t know that Fiona Scott, 50, from Glasgow was also happening in the UK, flew out to Malaga on July 5, havit’s good to see that they’re tak- ing booked their flights before ing it seriously at home as well,” the announcement by the British company director Richard insist- government that the UK would ed. The safety measures in Spain lift its quarantine from July 10. also impressed “As we both work Londoner John from home, we Taylor. didn’t really care “It’s great to “It feels safer here about having to be back in the quarantine on than in the UK because everyone our return, it’s sun with all here has to wear so nice out here, a mask when the lovely local it’s worth it,” said they’re indoors, Lesley. people” even in shops and Insurance brosupermarkets, kers, Steve and whereas in the Sophie Johnson UK it’s optional.” from London are now encourThe 59-year-old is staying in Es- aging other Brits to jump on a tepona for two weeks with his plane and come and enjoy their girlfriend, Cathy Hyens, 51. own sun-kissed adventure on “The journey over was very the Costas. Steve, 48, said: “We smooth, the airport was eerie would definitely recommend oththough, only WHSmith was open er potential tourists come out, it’s and people were actually queu- very safe here, none of the shops ing up to go in,” she added. are overly packed and social dis-

tancing is very well maintained.”

Meanwhile Federica Polise, 23, a fashion stylist from London, has been impressed at how well the beaches have been maintained.

“I was also impressed with how well the Spanish have followed the social distancing rules.

“The beach protocols are starting to take shape, but everyone is being very responsible and keeping their distance from each other.

“The locals have been very gracious and are happy to see us back in Estepona, they can’t wait for the summer season to really take off,” she added.

Another holidaymaker staying in nearby Sotogrande, Jade Jemima Smith, 21, from Reading, said: “It’s great to be back in the sun with all the lovely local people, they’re all so welcoming to having us here.”

Finally, John Peters, aged 52, from Southend, was really happy to see that the prices in almost all his favourite bars and restaurants were the same.

“There is one bar I go to that has put 50 cents on a pint, but everywhere else is the same,” he explained.

“Either way, it’s still far cheaper than the UK. And for the most part everything is the same as it was before.

“I am having a great time and Spain is certainly still very good value for money.

“I definitely raise a glass to the Spanish for knowing how to keep the tourists happy!”

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LETTERS

12 Check out our issues online at www.theolivepress.es

‘Keep em out’ Olive Press readers respond to expats who ‘didn’t want British tourists’ bringing the virus with them (Online, June 24)

Mallorca Issue 83 OLIVE PRESS MALLORCA

The

Tourists back!

We tracked them to the beach, See Page 8

FREE

Your

NO THANKS: Some expats not up for Brit tourists LEAVERS: Trio of Brits in Spain

Christian Brueckner’s Spanish hideaway

Lead the way

FAMILIAR SIGHT: Brueckner’s ‘Winnebago’ was parked up in the village of Los Tablones in the Orgiva Valley just two weeks after Maddie vanished

Tel: 952 147 834

v a l i d

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S u b j e c t

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OLIVE PRESS WORLD EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

Brueckner hid out in the Alpujarras region of Granada often dealing drugs,

the Olive Press can sensationally reveal.

According to his best friend, an Austrian who lived in the area for many years, he even visited just two or three

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weeks after Maddie went missing.

Michael Tatschl, who spent eight months in prison with Brueckner, now believes he is guilty of the murder of Madeleine.

Having spent 14 hours being grilled by police over the crime, he spoke to the Olive Press for the first time to explain why.

“He was a real pervert and talked about selling children to Morocco, I am pretty sure he did it,” he said this week.

Micha, 46, who lived in Orgiva for over a decade, revealed that Brueckner had visited the town on many occasions in his jaguar and various vans.

See full story on page 6

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Splashing good fun!

We join champions in the Andalucian sun...

See Page 12

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The Rock’s ONLY free local paper

June 24th - July 7th 2020 Vol. 5, Issue 125 www.theolivepress.es

ZEROED OUT World Health Organisation congratulates Gibraltar as coronavirus is banished from the Rock

SUCCESS: All 176 people who

tested positive for COVID-19

have fully recovered, with Chief

Minister saying it is something

for the Rock to be proud of

report to the people of Gibraltar Health Organisation (WHO). today that we have zero active casAs one of the only non-island es of COVID-19,” said Picardo. nation states to completely stop “We need to keep it that way by the spread of the to follow the rules of pandemic, its re- continuing distancing, respiratory and sponse has been socialhygiene. by hand commended importantly, we have to be international ex- “Most that this could change toaware perts. but we must be pleased to In total, Gibraltar morrow this result.” has had 176 re- see covered cases with 4G UNLIMITED Result Chief Minister FaINTERNET bian Picardo an- The achievement has been recIDEAL FOR nouncing that the ognised by WHO, as no-one had STREAMING TV number of active had severe symptoms or died.

ALSO IPTV, COVID-19 cases Professor David Heymann of the SATELLITE TV on the Rock had fi- WHO even invited the Director nally reached zero of Public Health, Sohail Bhatti, tel: (0034) 952 763 840 on June 17. to speak at its Strategic Advisory info@theskydoctor.com “I am so happy to Group on Infectious Diseases. www.theskydoctor.com “There is a great deal of interest in our situation, with the locking down of the over70s, difficult as it was for us to do, singled out as critto See page 16 want ical in our success in saving lives,” said Minister for Public Health John Cortes.

“We have been encouraged to

THE Gibraltar success story of bringing COVID-19 cases to zero has been recognised by the World

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share our story, and a number of scientific publications will be hitting the relevant journals in the coming months.”

More than 11,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 so far, adding up to a third of Gibraltar’s population.

Picardo concluded: “Undoubtedly, this is a huge achievement for all of us as a community and I am extraordinarily proud of what we have all achieved together, “There can be no greater political achievement for us now than to have deprived COVID-19 of any Gibraltarian victim in Gibraltar.

“Now that is something for all of us to be proud of.”

Surprisingly, 26 of the 176 cases involved people who caught the virus twice, which could be a concern if a second wave of COVID-19 ever hits Gibraltar.

There are also some who caught the virus but have tested negative for antibodies, casting doubts about immunity from the virus after having recovered from it.

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OLIVE PRESS

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COSTA BLANCA

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Vol. 2 Issue 33 www.theolivepress.es

The Brits are back!

Your expat

voice in Spain

June 25th - July 8th 2020

MADDIE SUSPECT’S GRANADA LAIR

Exclusive interviews See Page 8

Christian Brueckner’s Spanish hideaway

OLIVE PRESS WORLD EXCLUSIVE

Dear Olive Press, Your newspaper is always at the front of items and seems to have the ear of some people in authority!

With this in mind I wonder if you would care to enlist to attempt authority Andalucian tourist the Spanish/ as a political essentially, Moore sees thetoEU, Rose tay rule 90-day-s remove the 325, to persuade Brussels pg 7). The Issue proud, and hip (Leave dictators n zone? in the Schenge states, 28 sovereign There are opposite is the reality bars, for cafes, incomes reduce. winter will This rule become to chose ly voluntari which UK, the on holincluding products nce restaurants, golf and maintena UK would thattothe believes Dunne their d. Steve reduce associate will have Brits as many iday homes better fair 50%.terms. Not so. I’m not going to stayonbyWTO winter and chapter quoting byhave selling a problem letters page yourdevelope rs will weigh new-build Also, down the days!

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Dougie Ross, Edinburgh and Elviria

Get educated

Terrible attitude, we need tourism here if our favourite businesses are to survive! If we all wear masks and maintain our two metres distance, we protect ourselves. I hope the police will enforce the face masks for tourists as well though – it does make a difference.

Katie Jackson, Estepona

Lifeblood

Tourism is the lifeblood of the Costa del Sol. There are thousands of people living from hand to mouth now in the area, like waiters, bar staff, cooks literally in despair and on the breadline. It’s time to get the economy going again ASAP. But I do understand the snobbish wealthy residents getting used to the blissful state of not having sunburnt annoying riff raff tourists around.

Marco James, Malaga

Bean there done that

I miss seeing egg and bean-stained football vests – NOT! Aldis Gordon, Malaga

Scot-free

Don’t lump all Brits together! Scotland has maintained 12 weeks of lockdown with strict restrictions in place.

Jillian Gillespie, Fife FAMILIAR SIGHT: Brueckner’s

See full story on page 6

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POLLY’S International Bookshop

Quality Used Books since 1985

Polly’s Bookshop in Javea Port is 35 years old.

“Polly’s is as old as me,” says Sam, her proud owner, “and to celebrate, we are opening a new Polly’s Bookshop in Moraira.”

Like Polly’s Javea, the new shop has thousands of quality used books, fiction and nonfiction, in English, Spanish, German, French and Dutch. Apart from the books that are extra special, they’ll still be 3 euros each with a euro credit if you want to return it.

We are continuing with our busy proofreading and editing services and our popular book finding and ordering services too. It feels great finding an out of print book for someone who has been searching for it.

Shirley Hunt, Coin

I’ve lived here for 17 years, and am a recently divorced, single parent. I have lost my work from COVID-19, and gladly welcome the tourists here. If they keep to the rules, we are all happy.

A DANGEROUS paedophile believed to have snatched English tot Maddie McCann visited southern Spain on many occasions.

German pervert Christian Brueckner hid out in the Alpujarras region of Granada often Press can sensationally reveal. dealing drugs, the Olive According to his best friend, an Austrian who lived in the area for many years, he even visited just two or three weeks after Maddie went missing.

Michael Tatshl, who spent eight Brueckner, now believes he is guiltymonths in prison with of the murder of Madeleine.

HILL TOP GASTRO PUB

Every normal person that first heard of missing Maddie has hoped for a ‘happy ending’ (Maddie suspect’s Granada lair, Issue 346, pg1). I can’t help wondering if she’s still out there, maybe in Morocco. Her very unusual right eye would identify her even after all this time. This lovely young child haunts me. If the law is undecided on what punishment to mete out to the perpetrator of this appalling crime, I’ve got an excellent punishment.

Follow the rules

Having spent 14 hours being grilled by police over the crime, he spoke to the Olive Press for the first time to explain why.

“He was a real pervert and talked about selling Morocco, I am pretty sure he did children to it,” he said this week.

Micha, 46, who lived in Orgiva for over a decade, revealed that Brueckner had visited the town many occasions in his jaguar on and various vans.

Haunting

Sonia Warren, Benidorm

Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@ theolivepress.es or message us on at www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

AGONY Property ANT

BREAD WINNER: Eddie’s loaves

Don’t rise to it I am a retired chef and restaurant owner who now lives permanently in Spain (Flour power, Issue 346, pg 24). I have taught many people how to make their own bread, so I have a little issue with last week’s misleading article which seemed to suggest that Spanish flour was inferior to British flour. There is certainly a difference, with normal cheap supermarket Spanish flour containing less gluten, ideal for pastries and rolls. For proper bread we mix integral flour which contains more gluten with normal cheap white flour, 50/50 or even 70/30 to make great loaves (see picture).

Eddie Cheeseman, Javea

Javea Port, Calle Santisimo Cristo del Mar 03730 – tel: 665 314 404 Moraira-Teulada, 237 Moraira Calpe Road 03724 – tel: 711 010 439

OP QUICK Crossword Across

YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED BY ANTONIO FLORES

Clock’s ticking

7 Language (5) 8 Refrigerator compartment (6) 10 Wife of your son (82-3) 11 Flowering shrubs (6) 12 State positively (6) 14 Squirts (6) 16 Very handsome young man (6) 20 Supreme commander (13) 22 Velvet-like fabric (6) 23 Upright (5)

Thousands of British expats to receive new residency status

FROM Monday July 6, 2020, the Directorate General of Migration and the Policia Nacional will issue - upon application - a new residency card and, with it, a new residency status specifically created pursuant to the Withdrawal Agreement (Part Two), published jointly by the EU and the UK on November 14 2018.

This new residency status sits in between the standard EU citizens status and the nonEU citizens status and will have its own terms and conditions, in particular in respect to duration of the residency cards (and notably the introduction of a photo on the card).

These are the most important points to consider: UK national residents in Spain prior to December 31, 2020 will have the rights to residency, freedom of movement and Social Security as recognised in the Withdrawal Agreement. Applicants for residency after this end date may have differing rights, either those recognised in a future agreement between the EU and the UK or, by default, those recognised by existing Spanish laws and those that may be approved.

UK nationals (and their family members) will not have to apply for a new status but will be entitled to receive a card that confirms their status as beneficiaries of the rights contained in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The Instruction refers to various ‘statuses’ and procedures: Applicants who have been residents for a period above five years and do have a permanent residency certificate, will submit their applications at the police station, receiving a permanent 10-year residency card.

Applicants who have been residents for a period above five years but do not have a permanent residency certificate, will submit their applications at the police station, receiving a permanent 10-year residency card.

Applicants who have been residents for a period under five years but do have a residency certificate, will alsosubmit their applications at the police station, receiving a ‘temporary’ five-year residency card. Applicants who do not have a residency certificate will submit their applications initially at the Foreigners Office and once approved, they will need to request the issuance of their five-year validity cards at the police station. UK nationals arriving in Spain after the end date of the transition period (December 31, 2020), will have three months to apply for residency. Where not, the authorities reserve their right to grant extra time to submit the application. Temporary or extended absences from Spain will not affect the rights under the residency cards.

Email Antonio at aflores@lawbird.com

Down

OP Sudoku

e r

A DANGEROUS paedophile believed to have snatched English tot Maddie McCann visited southern Spain on many occasions.

German pervert Christian

See page 16

TM

Our responsibility

expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 4 Issue 83 www.theolivepress.es June 26th - July 9th 2020

MADDIE SUSPECT’S SPANISH LAIR

52 147 834

July 8th - July 21st 2020

1 Solemn promise (6) 2 Followed (6) 3 In a maternal manner (8) 4 Small roofing slabs (5) 5 Abominable snowman (4) 6 Scottish sheep dog (6) 9 Study hard (4) 13 Evade (8) 14 Droops (4) 15 Leased (6) 17 Sounds (6) 18 Condescending (6) 19 Extreme (5) 21 Public disturbance (4)

All solutions are on page 20

BUSINESS

Crash landing

SOME 900 jobs in Spain are to go after Airbus announced plans to slash 15,000 people from its world-wide workforce.

The aircraft giant aims to ‘resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the COVID-19 crisis’ and will begin negotiations with trade unions this autumn in order to reach an agreement.

The cuts will affect 5,100 jobs in Germany; 5,000 in France; 1,700 in the United Kingdom; 900 in Spain and 1,300 in the rest of the world.

The company has told trade unions that business activity has fallen nearly 40% in recent months because of the ‘unprecedented crisis’ facing the industry.

Furthermore, air traffic is not expected to recover to preCOVID-19 levels before 2023, possibly not until 2025.

Price war THERE will be bargains aplenty along the Costa del Sol this summer as hotel bosses have said a price war is all but ‘inevitable’.

President of the Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos) Luis Callejon made the comments as 12 extra hotels opened their doors to welcome international tourists.

They will be added to the 50 or more hotels and accommodations which had already opened for business.

And despite occupancy rates expected to be around 35%, many businesses have already begun marketing price slashes and special offers in a bid to attract custom.

“It seems inevitable that we will see a summer of price wars,” Callejon told Diario Sur, “Everyone will be looking to cover their expenses, but you have to know how far you can go.”

Local independent hotels told Diario Sur that they feel they have no choice but to lower prices. “If last year we sold the room for €180, now it will be €110 and with breakfast included,” one told the paper.

T

July 8th - July 21st 2020

SWEDISH banking giant Klarna is set to launch its ‘shop now, pay later’ service in Spain.

The payment provider has introduced a ‘Pay in 3’ option, which allows shoppers to split their purchases into three interest-free equal payments that will be charged every 30 days.

Klarna, whose current part-

Shop now pay later nerships include Asos, Nike and H&M, is set to go live in Spain with fashion house Michael Kors, with other brands to follow shortly after.

Klarna’s manager for Spain Daniel Espejo said: “A common problem merchants are facing is to offer a seamless

online shopping process.

“Consumers find something they’d like to purchase online but end up abandoning it due to long or complex checkout processes, extra fees or the lack of willingness to pay online for something that may not end up being delivered or

not look as expected.

“This is why we’re so excited to bring our shopping solutions to Spain and open an office in Madrid.”

According to research by Statista, revenue from e-commerce in Spain is expected to grow at an annual rate of 7.6%, with a projected market volume of €22.9 billion by 2024.

In the slow lane Spain may never recover from pandemic, top bank warns

SPAIN’S central bank has suggested the economy will not recover from the COVID-19 pandemic until late 2022.

In its annual report, the bank predicted that recovery would take years and that women, low-income workers and young people will bear the brunt of the crisis.

“Spain’s economy faces the COVID-19 crisis with inequality significantly higher than before the financial crisis of 2008. The COVID-19 crisis is having the biggest impact on vulnerable groups, which suggests further deterioration of equality,” says the report.

The report

By Andy McInnes

Damage

GLOOMY: Economic forecast of Hernandez de Cos And we have to put it into action urgently,” said Spanish central bank Director Pablo Hernandez de Cos in a video message.

“But once the crisis comes to an end, we will find ourselves with the highest level of pub-

Lovisa lost

GONE: Jewellery giant won’t reopen

HE coronavirus crisis has radically changed the financial situation of many off-plan buyers in Spain, who are now not able to afford the rest of the purchase price.

In the event of non-payment, the developer has the option to terminate the contract and keep the down payment before returning the property to the market.

The buyer could also be compelled by law to pay the balance.

It has led many buyers to try and claim that the ‘force majeure’ declared during the crisis makes the contract null and void and they have the right to get their deposits back.

The answer will depend on whether a clause was included in the sale that allowed the parties to withdraw in the event that their financial situation changed due to force majeure.

In most cases, such a clause will not have been foreseen, and if one exists, it is most likely to be there to protect the promoters, since they draft most of the contracts.

INROADS: For Primark

Fashionably late PRIMARK has opened its second largest store in Spain.

The Irish clothing giant unveiled its new store in the heart of Barcelona, at number 23 Placa Catalunya.

It has over 4,800 square metres of commercial space and will be the chain’s second largest in Spain, only behind the one on Madrid’s Gran Via, that has 12,400 square metres of surface.

Safe

details how Spain’s economy suffered its steepest losses ever in the first quarter of the year (5.2%), but that the drop is expected to be much sharper in the second quarter.

The bank predicts that unemployment in Spain will shoot up to 18.4% in the most optimistic scenario but could reach as high as 24.7% if there is a second wave of the pandemic.

“We need a growth strategy that’s integral, ambitious and based in consensus.

13

JEWELLERY group Lovisa has quit Spain due to the coronavirus lockdown.

It has abandoned plans for a rapid expansion through the country and will not reopen its nine Spanish stores.

The group has put the blame on a ‘disappointing’ response from landlords when it sought help on its rent bills.

The company has set aside €2.03 million as an ‘impairment charge’ to cover the cost of the closure.

lic debt in decades. We’ll then have to undergo deep budgetary reform that reduces debt and gives us room to face future challenges.”

Spain has been operating in a post-lockdown new normal since June 21.

The country has also been warned that future economic growth will be sluggish unless major reforms are enacted.

Medium-term growth potential - only around 1% before the pandemic ­- is at risk of falling further with businesses near collapse and some sectors facing weak demand for years to come.

“In this context, it’s absolutely imperative to put in place measures that compensate for the damage triggered by the crisis, to increase growth potential,” Bank of Spain chief economist Oscar Arce said.

For Primark, the opening of this store will mean a leap forward in the Catalan capital, where it’s already present in the L’illa Diagonal shopping centre.

The store was due to open a few months ago, but the opening had to be delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.

Carlos Inacio, the company’s CEO in Spain thanked the 300 workers for their ‘hard’ work in recent weeks to open and welcome customers into a ‘shop with a safe environment for everyone.’

Job crisis THE number of unemployed people in Spain has risen by over 5,000 in June to 3.86 million.

In a normal year, unemployment would have fallen drastically in the sixth month, with the approach of the summer season.

This rise in unemployment is the first increase the month has seen since 2008, right before the financial crash.

Get out of an off-plan hole

Jose Ramon Gutierrez of www.lawfirminspain.com on how buyers can get deposits back for off-plan purchases in Spain So what should buyers do?

Only in the event of a delay in delivery do buyers normally have an opportunity to recover these amounts. Law 57/1968 that regulated the protection of the amounts paid was repealed by Law 20/2015 and Law 38/99 to comprise the new legal regulation for the sale of homes off plan.

This new regulation came into force in 2016, but despite this any delay in the delivery of the home is the best option that the buyer has to invoke their recovery clause.

And here is the good news: It is very likely that most of these promotions will be delayed due to the current crisis: 1. Firstly, because construction has most likely stopped by law for at least 10 days.

2. Secondly, because many construction workers are on sick leave due or on a temporary lay-off to illness derived from COVID 19 and the promoter has not been able to find other workers to re-

place them.

3. Thirdly, because many building supply companies were shut during the crisis so developers will not have been able to continue their activity as normal.

All buyers have a bank guarantee and the best method is to go after the insurer to recover their money.

The new law states that in the event of non-compliance by the developer on the delivery of the home, the developer may request an extension, but you don’t have to accept it and can request a refund, including applicable taxes and interest.

If within 30 days the promoter has not returned it, you can claim the payment and corresponding compensation from the insurer.

The insurer must indemnify the insured within 30 days from the date of the claim.

The insurer, upon receiving the buyer's request, must immediately contact their client (the developer), to find out whether or not he has received

the request.

The limitation period of the claim is two years from the date in the contract for the delivery of the house.

NB: It is vital to claim against the promoter before obtaining the habitation license.

Lawfirminspain.com offers no win no fee.

Contact José Ramón Gutiérrez, who is registered at the Bar Association of Malaga (6.182) at jose@lawfirminspain.com or call him at 0034 699794751

PROPERTY Big spenders The costa living 14

July 8th - July 21st 2020

JUST three transactions accounted for nearly half of all real estate investments in the second quarter of the year.

Only €1.06 billion worth of sales were made in the period, 65% less than a year ago, according to figures from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The three major operations in the quarter included the purchase of a portfolio of 36 supermarkets from Mercadona by LCN Capital.

The other two were the sale of 919 homes to AXA IM by developer Tectum, and the acquisition of an office complex by DWS in Barcelona.

Disastrous

Lockdown has been disastrous for the real estate sector, but this was mitigated by a good start to 2020.

During the first six months of the year, investment stood at €4.187 billion, 23% less than a year ago.

The residential sector is emerging as one of the drivers of the recovery. Investment in the second quarter amounted to €255 million, accounting for 24% of the total. The build to rent market is gaining ground as it is seen as a relatively safe sector with great potential.

Malaga now sixth most expensive province to rent in Spain after prices soar by 20%

MALAGA province has seen the steepest rise in rents in the whole of Spain, new figures have revealed.

Data released by urban and transport minister Jose Luis Abalos shows that the Andalucian province saw the cost of renting a home soar the most between 2015 and 2018.

The information was gathered from the tax declarations relating to more than 11.2 million lease contracts nationwide.

PRICEY: Benahavis is Malaga’s most expensive town to rent in

Between 2015 and 2018, the report shows, rent increased in Malaga province on average by 20%, rising from the average of €500 per month to €600.

The Costa del Sol province

By Laurence Dollimore

is followed by Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, which both experienced a 15% rise.

Malaga is now the sixth most

Slash tax for new-builds THE Spanish Government is being urged to reduce the IVA (VAT) rate on new-build properties from an average of 10% to 4%.

The APCE (Association of Promoters and Constructors in Spain) says this move would be a central pillar in a package of measures to boost the sector and stop it falling into a long-term

crisis. Despite the call to action, promoters are generally optimistic about the new-build property market.

The APCE does not foresee significant reductions in price but says there may be significant delays in launching new projects unless help is given, with a knock-on effect of lower employment and a lower tax take.

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expensive province to rent a property in the country, following Madrid, Ceuta, Barcelona, Melilla and the Balearic Islands.

It is now outpacing the regional capital of Sevilla, where average rents from 2015 to 2018 increased from €508 to €561.

Within Malaga province, the most expensive town to live in is Benahavis, with average rental costs reaching €899, growing by 28% between 2015 and 2018.

Next is Marbella on €700, seeing a 17% increase, then Malaga and Fuengirola both on €600, with rent growing by 15% and 20% respectively.

Rent by the hour MERLIN Properties is offering customers the chance to rent office space by the hour as the post-pandemic economy kicks in.

Spain’s biggest property firm will also make meeting rooms available at hourly rates.

Merlin expects clients will continue to rent about fourfifths of their space through fixed, long-term contracts and the rest through flexible arrangements.

The pandemic has raised speculation that landlords will suffer as more companies become accustomed to their employees working from home. But Merlin believes that companies will also need more space to ensure compliance with social distancing requirements.

“There are going to be less square metres because of working from home but on the other hand more square metres because of social distancing,” said Fernando Ramirez, head of investor relations at Merlin.

Under Merlin’s new product, known as Loom Passport, tenants will purchase credits, which can be used in any of its nine co-working offices in Madrid and Barcelona.

“Companies want to offer their staff a workspace option that combines the facilities of an office with the convenience of working closer to home,” added Ramirez.

Working on sunshine Coronavirus can’t cast a cloud on Costa del Sol property values while the world’s rich and famous aspire to a place in the sun, predicts Adam Neale

E

STATE agents are eternal optimists, even in the most adverse of circumstances.

Ask them for a forecast in the current crisis and almost anyone whose livelihood depends on Costa del Sol property changing hands - ideally frequently and for as much money as possible - will tell you the future looks bright.

The esteemed economist John Kenneth Galbraith pithily pointed out, however, that ‘the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.’ Realists know that what truly sustains growth in any marketplace is demand outstripping supply.

But you don’t have to be blindly optimistic to forecast a sunny outlook for the Costa del Sol’s long-term prospects as a luxury real-estate destination.

In-demand enclaves like Marbella, Estepona and Sotogrande, along with exclusive urbanisations like La Zagaleta and El Madroñal, consistently draw wealthy people from around the globe looking for a place in the sun.

The global financial crisis proved a temporary setback, but these top destinations recovered quicker than most from the downturn.

And a large share of that resurgence in demand has come from the top-end of the marketplace.

According to the latest Global Wealth Report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute, there are nearly 47 million millionaires, in US-dollar terms, worldwide. Of the top-ten

places where they The reside, five are Pr operty found in Europe – Ins ider the UK, Germany,

by Adam Neale France, Italy and Spain – all in easy reach of the Costa del Sol. It goes a long way to explaining the area’s enduring popularity with Europe’s richest citizens.

Curiously, the pandemic may even have bolstered the Costa del Sol’s credentials as a safe haven for property investment. Most of the world’s wealthiest have been confined to permanent residences in big cities where they live and work, and where the coronavirus risk is considerably higher. Lockdown has demonstrated that they don’t need to live in urban metropolises to remain productive, have access to world-class healthcare and ensure their children are well-educated.

Places like Marbella, Estepona, Sotogrande and Benahavis offer all that too, in spades, along with the privileged lifestyle wealthier property buyers expect as a matter of course.

Hence, I predict that the Costa del Sol’s time in the sun is set to continue for a long while to come. That’s not optimism. It’s logic.

Terra Meridiana, 77 Calle Caridad, Estepona • 29680 • Tel: +34 951 318480. Office Mob: +34 678 452109 Email: info@terrameridiana.com. Website: www.terrameridiana.com

HEALTH

Coronavirus countdown A CORONAVIRUS vaccine may be available to the general public in Spain within the next year.

Spanish Science Minister, Pedro Duque said that Spaniards may have access to a COVID-19 vaccine as early as in six months.

Duque said that Spain is part of a group of seven European countries leading the EU’s negotiations with vaccine makers.

The other six EU countries are France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

“We are optimistic that there will be a

vaccine, that we will be able to determine which vaccine works best and that it will be available to the Spanish healthcare system when its safety and effectiveness have been sufficiently demonstrated,” said the 57-year-old.

The need for a vaccine has pushed public institutions and private companies into manufacturing experimental vaccines before running thorough testing programmes.

“We don’t know if the first one will be the most effective one, or if we might have to wait for another one,” said Duque.

Nicotine surprise NICOTINE can help battle COVID-19, it has been found.

A Spanish study has discovered that the stimulant drug, found in cigarettes, can be an effective tool in stopping coronavirus in its most virulent phase.

The surprising find was discovered by researchers at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, working with the public hospitals of Alcazar de San Juan, Avila and Salamanca.

According to the study, although smokers are more vulnerable to catching COVID-19 due to their damaged and weakened lungs, fewer of them end up in hospital or ICUs compared to non-smokers.

Researchers say this is because the nicotine in their system can act as an inhibitor, stopping COVID’s cytokines

Study suggests patches may help fight coronavirus

from inflaming the lungs, which often proves fatal.

The study analysed patients across the three hospitals during the peak of the pandemic.

Investigators discovered that

HERE?

Cigs spread covid

gestive pain?

to improve your SPAIN’S Health Ministryhealth has advised against smoking cigarettes

as they allegedly help transmit coronavirus.

The Ministry has said that in addition to the health risks posed by tobacco, people’s hands coming into contact with cigarettes and their mouths could help transmit the virus.

It also warned that exhaling smoke releases microdroplets from the mouth, the main way the disease spreads.

When smoking in a social setting, people tend to loosen up and relax, without maintaining the correct social distancing procedures.

A spokesperson for the Ministry said: “Its consumption should be avoided in social environments and if it is carried out, it must be done in separate open spaces, with hand washing taking place prior and after handling products and employees’ utensils.”

200 foods

there were far fewer numbers of habitual smokers than expected.

This, the study suggests, is because the chemical can prevent a so-called cytokine storm, which can lead to respiratory failure and the attack of healthy tissues, causing multi-organ failure.

Several other studies, including in Israel, the US and the UK, have also suggested that nicotine could be beneficial in fighting the virus.

This should not be taken as the green light to start smoking, however.

Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, from the University of West Attica, Greece, said that it may be feasible to replace cigarettes with nicotine patches in order to fight COVID-19.

ust 7 patients - Thursday 16 July

www.TheBodyworksClinic.com

Lisa Burgess is getting by with a little help from her friends

CANCER can be a lonely business and I would not have got through it without my friends. I am a lucky girl indeed to have such wonderful people stand by me during my struggles. I believe that having a diverse social network is an important factor for your health and science backs that theory.

A study by a team of psychologists at Brigham Young University in Utah, USA reviewed 148 studies that tracked social interaction and the health of 308,849 people over an average of 7.5 years.

According to the study, reported in the journal Plos Medicine “being lonely and isolated is as bad for a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic. It was as harmful as not exercising and twice as bad for your health as being obese”.

Other recent research published

by Dr Claudia Wascher from Anglia Ruskin University in Animal Behaviour studied captive carrion crows over a six-year period. The crows living in large social groups were found to be healthier than those with fewer social interactions.

I have lived in 6 countries so I learnt quickly that to combat loneliness you need to make a real effort to make friends and keep them, friendship is a twoway street. I found joining a group that shares the same interests

was an easy way to meet people or helping with a community project.

Even learning a new skill can cultivate friendships which are essential for well-being.

I think of all my absolutely fabulous friends who have kept my spirits up and I recall a favourite quote by Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, who once said: “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends”. I certainly feel glorious and that really is some- FAB: And her thing to crow about. mate ‘MV’

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Lisa Manley Cahill, the Digestive Health Expert at Bodyworks has spent her recent enforced ‘free’ time campaigning on your behalf.

“When I was practising in the UK and Ireland we had access to a brilliant, simple food intolerance test from the York Test Laboratory. I found the results made a real impact on my patients’ lives and symptoms. Now I have arranged for this test to be available to my patients here in Spain – I’m so excited!”

For more information on the servies we offer, please visit www.theBodyworksClinic.com

Gut feeling Over 200 food types Traditionally food intolerances were managed with an exclusion diet – you cut out pretty much everything we assume can trigger a reaction for a few weeks. Then gradually reintroduce certain trigger foods in a controlled way, documenting symptoms daily.

This process could take months! And it was a LOT of work every day.

Lisa explains why she uses the York Test instead.

“Most of my patients lead busy lives and don’t have time for the extensive cooking and documentation that an elimination diet requires, especially over a period of months. With this test we do a simple blood test, combined with a detailed history and then, we get clear, easy to follow results which we work together to turn into a simple, comprehensive and practical plan. Same results but in weeks not months.”

Even better, Lisa has arranged a special introductory offer to celebrate the launch of this test in Spain!

HERE?

Clear, laboratory tested answers to improve your health Test for intolerance against over 200 foods

Special Offer for just 7 patients - Thursday 16 July 699 703 936

Use this code on our website or mention in our store to receive 15% discount on all products.

The discount can be used 1 time per customer.

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Like so much in our lives, our digestion is unique to us.

Your food history and your personal body chemistry mean that the way your body reacts to specific foods is completely unique.

But if you don’t know which foods your body loves, and which it struggles to tolerate then you could have uncomfortable and unnecessary symptoms.

NOT SURE WHAT GOES

952 883 151

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Top mates

Understanding your digestion

HAT GOES

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July 8th - July 21st 2020

Lisa Burgess

www.TheBodyworksClinic.com

16

July 8th July 21st 2020

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL Chilled out

Restaurante Colinas del Faro is welcoming summer with a stunning range of freshly prepared dishes.

The well-established eatery in between La Cala and Fuengirola has drink and main course offers every day of the week, for as little as €7.50.

Located several streets back from the hustle and bustle of the coast, you will feel relaxed on their shaded terrace.

The superb menu includes chicken curry, chicken wings, fish, pasta dishes, goulash, salads, burgers and pizza.

There is something for everyone at Colinas del Faro and with the weather improving, BBQ season has arrived.

Colinas del Faro also holds a weekly international music and dancing night every Wednesday from 8pm - 10pm.

All musical styles and abilities are welcome, so grab a partner and come along.

For more information and bookings, contact restaurantecolinasdelfaro@gmail.com or call 951 06 87 10

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Feeding the many FOOD: For vulnerable

A SPANISH charity is set to benefit from downloads of an e-book featuring recipes from the world’s best 50 restaurants. #ChefsForSpain has served more than 1,500,000 meals in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, A Coruña, Sevilla, Cadiz, Huelva, Jaen and Malaga, The team cooks from 15 different kitchens with the help of more than 100 chefs and 4,500 volunteers.

UNSUSPECTING wine lovers in Spain have been left with a sour taste in their mouths after falling victim to an Italian fake wine scam.

Empty bottles of expensive wines were refilled with low quality plonk and marketed online as genuine ones ‘on offer.’

The Italian Carabinieri police, supported by Europol, carried out raids in eight Italian provinces (Avellino, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Brescia, Como, Foggia, Pisa, Prato and Rome) to bring down the counterfeiting network.

The wines were sold in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, often ending up in the glasses of unsuspecting wine bar and restaurant customers.

Empty bottles were harvested from restaurants by two people working in the food industry. These bottles were then refilled with cheap wines bought online or at discount stores.

Afterwards, the bottles were re-corked and sealed with counterfeit foil tops.

Spanish charity to benefit from global challenge

Home Comforts: simple lockdown recipes from the world’s best chefs and bartenders, and features meals that some of the world’s best chefs cooked for their families at home during lockdown.

It has been produced to benefit the 50 Best for Recovery Programme announced earlier this year by the organisation that ranks the best restaurants in the world.

People can download the book from theworlds50best. com website.

Every day, #ChefsForSpain distributes meals to the disadvantaged from more than 150 distribution points as well as making thousands of door-to-door deliveries thanks to the collaboration with the Post Office, local fire departments and home delivery companies such as Glovo.

The e-cookbook is called

Sour taste

Once contact with a buyer was established via a major e-commerce platform, the counterfeiters extended promotional offers, setting prices way cheaper then authentic bottles w o u l d cost.

A magnum (1.5 l) of some of the genuine wines often cost more than €1,000.

Inspired

The organisation is also giving people the chance to take part in a social media competition to showcase its own cooking talents.

Its #50BestRateMyPlate Instagram challenge allows food lovers to create, and post, dishes inspired by those in the Home Comforts recipe book. Every week for five weeks from July 20, the three best dishes will be chosen , with the site’s 1.1 million followers voting for a finalist.

The eventual winner will receive two VIP tickets to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards event in Antwerp, Flanders in 2021.

The Hip cat!

IT is one of the most exciting new expat businesses on the coast.

And, despite the lockdown, it has been bubbling up nicely.

Appropriate then, that La Catarina makes craft beers!

But, it also does a lot more than that.

The hip new secret spot between Estepona and Marbella has its own restaurant Cat’s Kitchen, as well as a live music programme.

But, best of all, you can take a tour of its state-of-the-art beer factory with American co-owner Chris Cousins, when he’s around.

Installed at the back of the famous Agrojardin garden centre, it produces no less than seven different types of beer.

As well as a stout and an IPA, it has a mean range of lagers… and brews a range of bespoke beers for upmarket companies and hotels, including five-star Finca Cortesin, in Casares.

Sniff it out at www.lacatarina. beer or by calling 659920421

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

18

If you’re chomping at the bit to get out, sightseeing from the saddle is the ONLY way to travel in Andalucia, home of the purebred Spanish horse. You can keep to social distancing and don a bandana mask like the local banditos of old. Cristina Hodgson shows you how to hire the horsepower and giddy-on-up to cowboy country

Blazing I MAGINE getting up a family posse for a trek into the mountains this summer, or cantering along the sands at sunset with a stirrup cup to finish.

Andalucia is the perfect place to discover your inner Lone Ranger and you don’t have to be a veteran vaquero or Tonto to try it!

There are riding stables all over the region waiting to ease you into this exhilarating outdoor sport and help you win your spurs.

Andalucia is the cradle of the Pura Raza Espanola, royalty in the horsey world. This sturdy but elegant breed originated in the Jerez

countryside and has been prized by kings and sultans throughout history for its prowess as a war horse.

But don’t worry if you normally shy away from bucking broncos with large teeth - Andalucian horses are also noted for their intelligence, discipline and docile nature. In case you’re tempted, the Olive Press has picked out some of the best classes, routes and group excursions offered by riding centres in Andalucia for all levels and ages. You’ll appreciate the wonders of nature from a whole new angle - Hi Ho Silver Away!

VIEWS: Horse riding is a great way to see the real Ronda and other areas of Andalucia

Family posses

F

or an unforgettable day out the whole family can enjoy, head up to Paddock Paradise in the Serranía de Ronda, a trekking centre that lives up to its idyllic name.

Tucked away in a wood with awesome views of the Tajo river and the romantic city of Ronda, the centre boasts the most spectacular routes, the ‘happiest horses’ and the most authentic rural experience - for families, couples and equestrian experts.

One of their most popular excursions is the horse trail with forest picnic (above) - a threehour experience for a minimum of four people, priced at €75 per person.

Or for true romantics, the Dream Sunset route is probably the most original way to propose to your loved one that won’t break the bank. This linear trail of circa three hours takes riders through olive grove country and right into the old city of Ronda via its famous Puente Nuevo bridge. For a grand finale there’s a bottle of sparkling wine on ice and sunset views from the Ermita rupestre de la Virgen de la Cabeza, a ninth century hermitage cave dug out of the rock face. The panorama is the perfect backdrop for popping the question.

Paddock Paradise prides itself on keeping its horses in conditions which simulate their innate habitat to keep them content and motivated. The animals are kept loose in open meadows to free-range feed ecologically, their working hours are kept on a tight rein so they don’t overdo it, and horseshoes, spurs and whips are outlawed.

Beach trekking

paddockparadiseronda.com

Junior jocks

S

et in the foothills of Granada’s Sierra Nevada surrounded by olive groves, El Club Hipico La Zubia will give the kids a great start in the saddle.

Riding instructors have over 20 years of experience in both teaching and competition and offer lessons (practice and theory) for kids of all levels in small groups or one-to-ones, with classical dressage and jumping an option for intermediates. A 30-minute initiation class costs €12.

The centre bases its philosophy on respect for the animals, the essential foundations of horsemanship, and their immaculately groomed horses certainly have a beautiful home.

Birthday parties can even be organised, giving children a fun afternoon in the countryside with supervised pony rides, games and a chance to feed the horses. centroecuestrelazubia.es

I

f the idea of galloping along a virgin beach with the wind in your hair and the waves at your hooves whips you up into a romantic frenzy, this is the excursion for you.

Donana Hipica El Pasodoble in Matalascañas, the closest coastal town to Donana National Park, has privileged access to its protected dunes and pristine sea shore where there’s not a chiringuito nor a beach towel in sight.

This classic two-hour trek over rolling dunes down to the sea is suitable for all abilities and ages from five years up. It is a group activity shared with other clients, priced from €30 p.p. donana-rutas-caballo.com

CARE: Is top priority at La Zubia

NATURE: Dune tour in Donana

July 8th - July 21st 2020

saddles

TRAVEL ASSISTANCE HOME START

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Spectator sport

I

f you’re just looking to sit back and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the Andalucian horse, surrounded by magic and music, Club Hipico El Ranchito in Torremolinos showcases their incredible discipline and dancing abilities to perfection.

Ritmo a Caballo (Rhythm on Horseback) is an authentic equestrian ballet - 90 minutes of classical and cowboy dressage with Spanish music and period costumes. Directed by José Carlos González Guerrero, Spanish dressage champion in 2009, this magical choreography between

horse and rider has been running every Wednesday at 5:45 pm for 28 years without a break (until now - since the pandemic you’ll need to check the website for updates on what’s on).

Also planned this summer is Andalucian Night, which includes the horse show, dinner and flamenco.

Ritmo a Caballo Show: €26 / €15 for adults / Children 6-11 yrs. Show plus dinner: €57.5 / €36.5 ra n c h i t o . c o m / r i t mo-a-caballo/

BUCKLE UP: For horse ballet in Torremolinos

TheOlivePress-256x170-CAR-4.indd 1

RURAL: Live life like a ranchero with this trek through the Andalucian outback

Ranchero style

S

easoned equestrians looking for a more challenging ride through Andalucia’s wild outback can saddle up for a horse trek through bull ranch country in Cordoba Province.

The two-hour route organised by Entre Toros y Caballos will give you a glimpse into the running of a traditional ranch dedicated to the breeding of horses, cattle and toros bravos.

The welcome includes an introduction to the history of the farm and its current owners, a demonstration of Doma Vaquera (cowboy dressage) and a chance to ride out with the head herdsman to view the livestock and experience part of a typical day.

Riders need to know how to trot and gallop and the excursion is not recommended for beginners or under-16s. Priced €70 per person for a minimum of two people, you can do it year-round.

The ranch also organises longer tailormade horseback trails of up to five days duration through some of Andalucia’s most beautiful landscapes. Packages include accommodation, transport and visits to the best shows and events in the region (coronavirus permitting), such as the Royal School of Equestrian Art in Jerez, the Feria of Sevilla in April and the Sanlucar Horse Races in August.

For more information contact Diego Martinez at info@entretorosycaballos.com

19

TheOlivePress-256x170-CAR-4.indd 1

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They will aim to get you on Best price. Better cover We hope the information provided in this article is of interest. If you would like to contact Linea Directa please call 952 147 834. More information about Linea Directa online at www.lineadirecta.com

2/8/18 17:01

All About Gifts Gift Shop – Tienda de Regalos Puerto de la Duquesa

The home of Home Fragrance

20

FOOD, DRINK & TRAVEL

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Back to the beach

Kat’s Innoscent Candles Small Melts €1.00 Small Melts €3.00 Burners from €5.00 Essential Oils Tea Lights

Incense €2.00

Scarlet Jenkins explores the history of Spain’s iconic chiringuitos

Diffusers €18.95

Buy online or smell & pick yourself in our shop

@allaboutgiftsDuquesa Online Shop

(click and collect or courier delivery) y compras online (Click, recojer o entrega)

www.allaboutgifts.eu

T

HE sight of chiringuito beach restaurants putting out their parasols is the annual signal that summer has arrived. A little late this year, perhaps, but COVID-19 has not altered the allure of wining and dining on the Mediterranean shoreline with your toes in the sand.

And where else can you enjoy the freshest fish, caught the same morning from the very ocean lapping at your feet.

Sardinas! The daily catch is

We are a family restaurant with Mediterranean style cuisine and Argentinian style grilled meats All in a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere BARBECUE SPECIAL – Friday and Saturday nights LIVE MUSIC – Wednesdays

threaded onto wooden espeto skewers and gently grilled over hot embers, often from traditional blue fishing boats.

Along with an ice cold beer or a chilled white wine and uninterrupted Med views, it’s the perfect treat on a hot summer’s day.

Often ‘temporary’ establishments boarded up in winter or dismantled and reassembled from scratch, chiringuitos blossom into thriving locations come summer to become an indispensable aspect of beachgoing in Spain.

Yet for such an iconic Spanish summer tradition, their history is not well known, maybe because it is hotly disputed.

In the 1930s, ‘chiringuito’ was used to describe open air food and drink stalls in Catalunya and the Balearic Islands, and the term spread throughout the country. However, a chiringuito in Barcelona claims to be the original and first of its kind in Spain.

Taking pride of place on Ribera de Sitges beach, ‘El Chiringuito’ first opened its doors in 1913. The name was bestowed by one of their most regular customers, a journalist called

ESPETOS: These skewers are the taste of summer, while (top) world’s first chiringuito Cesar Gonzales-Ruano who lona’s Paseo de Colón, right nicknamed his favourite writing next to a drinks kiosk called spot after the Cuban name for ‘El Chiringuito.’ The article also coffee, ‘chiringo’. theorised that the word chirinRuano is said to have chosen guito originates from rum, not the name in homage to his coffee, as it was the name for time in Cuba, where ‘chiringo’ cane brandy in 18th century was the name Spain. given to the cofThe Real Acafee 19th century demia Española, You can’t sugar cane workhowever, considmiss this ers drank during ers the Sitges their break time.

‘El Chiringuito’ quintessential It is believed as the first and that small kiosks original in Spain, beach dining made of cane and the first to experience and leaves were coin the word built so that the with that meanworkers would ing. A letter sent have somewhere to sit and sip to the owners in 1983, still distheir chiringos. played on the wall to this day, However, Diario de León re- confirms that the word ‘chicently published an article ringuito’ and its new meaning claiming an alternative origin. would be added to the official Their theory is based on an Spanish dictionary.

1899 report in La Publicidad Traditionally, chiringuitos open detailing an arrest on Barce- in June for midsummer’s San Juan beach bonfires (cancelled this year) and close in mid-October. Between those dates, you’ll be most unlucky to find a beach in Spain without one.

With their reputation for fresh fish, a repertoire that extends to cod, swordfish, prawns, squid, octopus, and sea bass, garnished with crisp and colourful salads harvested from the local huertas, you can’t miss this quintessential beach dining experience. It’s the very taste of summer in Spain.

What’s your favourite chiringuito?

Send your picks to newsdesk@ theolivepress.es

HISTORY: An early 20th century chiringuito in Valencia

tel: 951 06 87 10

OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword

restaurantecolinasdelfaro@gmail.com Urb. Colinas del Faro, Módulo 4, Local 2, Mijas, Andalucia

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SUDOKU

OPEN: Tuesday to Sunday – 11.00 till 22.00 Closed Monday

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

July 8th - July 21st 2020

Jabas con Jamón (Serves 2) Ingredients:

Artichoke Toast (Serves 2)

●● 1 tbsp olive oil ●● 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced ●● 1 small shallot, thinly sliced ●● 2 slices of Jamón Serrano ●● 1 handful of fresh broad beans, removed from pod ●● A few mint leaves

Ingredients:

Method:

Dos Tapitas These rustic tapas will go down a storm at your socially-distanced garden party FOR the last few months they have been holed up in Granada following a coronavirus travel nightmare (see Olive Press Issue 340, pg 4). But since then Yianni Papoutsis, 44, founder of MEATliquor in the UK and his partner Sophie O’Hara, 26, have turned lockdown into a culinary showdown. Continuing their series of quarantine recipes for the Olive Press, Sophie serves up two tapas, perfect for summer. Check out their blog @nice. olation on Instagram.

A

lthough knocking out three meals a day plus snacks for the past 10 weeks or so has been a much needed diversion from the realities of the world, the gradual reopening of the tapas bars here in Granada over the past couple of weeks has made us very, very happy.

Now the lockdown has eased we’ve been able to get out

and explore; from Trevelez in the Alpujarras to the eerily deserted ski resort of Pradollano we’ve been making the most of our new found freedom. Up in the mountains you’re never sure what little morsel might arrive with your drink and the two recipes here are a nod to some of the fantastic food we’ve had over the past few fortnight.

Step 1: Blanch the beans in boiling salty water for one minute then rinse under a cold tap and pop the beans out of their shells.

Step 2: Very gently fry the garlic and shallot in the olive oil for about eight minutes until they are just starting to brown.

Step 3: Keeping the heat low, add the Jamón Serrano and cook it gently for a couple of minutes.

Step 4: Transfer to a plate and add a few torn mint leaves. Serve with crusty bread.

21

Castaway cooking

By Yianni and Sophie

●● 100 g of artichoke hearts in olive oil, drained ●● 1 handful of mint leaves ●● Juice of 1/4 lemon ●● 2 tbsp olive oil ●● 1/2 tbsp vinegar ●● Salt and pepper to taste ●● 2 slices of crusty bread ●● 2 thin slices of Manchego (or other Spanish hard cheese)

Method: Step 1: Finely chop the artichoke hearts with the mint leaves.

Step 2: Mix with lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar and season to taste.

Step 3: Toast the bread, top with cheese slices then artichoke mix and serve garnished with fresh mint leaves.

22

COLUMNISTS

Typical Spanish!

July 8th - July 21st 2020 MIJAS MATTERS

By Bill Anderson

One size doesn’t fit all, as every ‘typical Brit’ should know, writes Mijas Councillor Bill Anderson

I

HAVE supported the British community in Spain in a number of articles over the years. During the COVID-19 crisis, I have seen many fine examples of how the International Community has rallied round in practical support, and I commend it highly.

However, something keeps happening that is now getting on my nerves.

I have heard it on occasions from German friends, but I hear it more routinely from Brits.

‘Typical Spanish!’ or ‘What do you expect from the Spanish?’ I will hasten to add that these types of comments never precede or follow positive or complimentary remarks.

What exactly is ‘typical Spanish?’ Paella? Jamón Serrano? My wife is Spanish, and there is certainly nothing ‘typical’ about her. How would we feel about being referred to as ‘typical Brit’? Doesn’t sound too good, does it?

And what does it actually mean? The stereotypical characteristics which we associate with a nation are, in truth, nothing more than caricatures. How many people really fit this profile is highly questionable. I’ve lived almost 20 years here and would find it difficult, if not impossible, to find one adjective which could be applied across the board to every Spanish person I know. Some Spaniards love bullfighting, some hate it. Some Spaniards enjoy hunting, others are totally against it. Some love paella, others get nausea just thinking about it. Some are very noisy, others (like my father in law) are allergic to shouting. Flamenco music sets some Spanish toes tapping while others reach for the ear plugs.

The Mijas Donkeys often provoke the outcry of ‘typical Spanish’ because we, as Brits, KNOW how things should be done, unlike ‘the Spanish’. What level of arrogance must we have to make statements like this? I have a Spanish friend who is currently in the process of setting up a donkey sanctuary at her own cost. She has her first three donkeys homed there. Typical Spanish!

The attitude I want to challenge here is that we Brits know best about everything, and everything that is bad in Spain would be improved if they just did it our way. As if Britain is in a better state than Spain, which is full of Brits anyway.

Don’t get me wrong here. This article is not aimed at every Brit living on the Costa del Sol. But it is unashamedly aimed at those who think they are better than the people whose homeland we have invaded; parts of which we have tried to turn into ‘Little England.’

No two Spaniards are the same, and we do them a great disservice when we refer to them in this derogatory manner. If we stopped making everything an ‘us and them’ issue, we might even find that there are many Spaniards who agree with us but are often as powerless to change certain things as we are.

A challenge: Give me ONE word that describes EVERY Brit. Can’t find one? Well don’t do it to the Spanish!

Disoluzenment days

Giles Brown realised he wasn’t the only one heading for the beach post-lockdown

PACKED: Spain’s beaches are busy once again with the arrival of Brits and other tourists

H

OW were things for you in the first weeks of the ‘new normal’?

As I mentioned before, I was lucky enough during lockdown to have permission to travel to the radio station to broadcast – my status as an ‘essential worker’ probably being the first time that I’ve been an ‘essential’ anything.

As a single man living in splendid isolation by the lake – apart from the house guest

in the guest cottage (three years now and still no sign of leaving) – my routine before, during and after the lockdown has tended to be home-studio-home, so the quarantine didn’t have too dramatic an impact on my life.

Although the shutting down of restaurants did mean that freebie meals as a freelance food critic were curtailed.

I can hear you lamenting my predicament from here.

Once the shackles of confine-

Covidentiallyspeaking First it laid waste to our lifestyles, now it’s invading our language, writes Belinda Beckett

H

OW’S your New Normal working out?

If, like me, you don a visor over your face mask like a medieval knight of old every time you step out of the front door, probably not that normally.

Even with these extreme precautions, the world is full of ‘covidiotas’ no matter how socially distanced you try to be. Last week on my dawn hike through the campo I was forced off the bridle path into a thicket of thistles by five walkers and two big dogs marching abreast minus masks or muzzles. I refrained from faking a hacking cough as they passed…

The Spanish have another word – coronaburros – to describe those demonstrating asinine stupidity under the present circumstances (although it’s a bit racist to donkeys). Carallovirus (Galician for f.ckvirus) and cuarenpena (the pain of quarantine) are other neat neologisms here. Globally there has been a viral explosion of new words. The Oxford English Dictionary has already printed an extra edition to include them.

Covidivorce may not have made the cut but there’s been an explosion of those too. In Saudi Arabia marital breakups shot up by 30% during lockdown when Muslim women got to find out about their husband’s secret ‘other wives’. They’re allowed up to four under Sharia law. Being zumped (dumped by your partner on Zoom), possibly after you gave them a dose of Miley Cyrus (Cockney rhyming slang) are unlikely to make the OED but I’d like to see Blursday recorded for posterity – that fuzzy don’t-know-what-day-it-is feeling you have all week instead of just on Sunday mornings. Coronials (babies conceived in the time of coronavirus), is also kind of cute.

ment were lifted, however, there was no stopping the public from heading towards the beaches en masse.

On the first weekend after the lockdown one of my friends – unsurprisingly a grua driver (the Landcruiser is still off the road) – reported that there were queues of an hour to get onto the beach at Cabopino.

Elsewhere my social media feeds were jammed with so many images of Tarifa, Bolonia and Zahara that I reasoned that 80% of Marbella had taken the advice of The Village People and gone west.

It also led me to conjure up a new verb; disoluzenment. To drive to the Costa de la Luz with the aim of lounging on the golden sands, only to find that new social media regulations mean the Guardia Civil have blocked the roads.

Talking of roads, another sign that life was returning to normal was the fact that I found myself in a traffic jam coming onto a roundabout for the first time in three months.

Sanitiser

CHEERS: The perfect medicine The Germans have a great word for the panic buying that laid siege to supermarket shelves at the outbreak of the crisis: hamsterkauf (a merger of ‘hamster’ and ‘buy’). A video of a signer interpreting a government minister’s warning not to hoard food with a twitching nose and clawing rodent paws went viral.

Coronaspeck (lockdown flab) describes the curve that needs flattening above hamsterkaufer belts and the Germans also gave us geisterspiel – ghost game – coined when their Bundesliga premiered the beautiful game in stadia without fans.

I can’t see it catching on even if it solves soccer hooliganism at a stroke. Out East, everyone’s talking about chao zuo ye, a trending hashtag on Weibo (Chinese Twitter) since Donald Trump called Covid-19 ‘The Chinese Virus’ and then followed that up with ‘Kung Flu’. Literally, it means to copy someone’s homework. In Chinese Covidspeak, it means that the West is copying their pioneering pandemic tactics without giving them credit. Personally I wish we’d done a bit more copying and we might have emerged from ‘hibernation’, as Boris Johnson so quaintly put it, a lot sooner. Me, I’m diving back into my burrow and reverting to Covidmodo (keeping my head down to avoid the covidiotas) with a quart of quarantinis to ease the cuarenpena.

Namaste!

For a split second I almost enjoyed the novel experience.

And of course, the cyclists are back on the Istan road with a vengeance.

Maybe it’s because they were run out of town by an angry population, (a situation I am more than familiar with, trust me), when they crossed over the Istan/Marbella border (Istan has since put up some signs to mark its boundaries).

Or maybe it’s because the Lycra brigade has been cooped up inside for months. Whatever the cause, my drive home is somewhat akin to making my way through the peloton of the Tour de France at the moment.

But as the socially aware citizen that I have become over these months of lockdown, I have found a new way of helping keep the risk of cyclist-carried coronavirus at bay.

I’ve affixed a large water cannon to the roof of the Focus, taken out the rear seats, rigged up an industrial tank of hand sanitiser and now blast the bicycles as I breeze past.

They seem to appreciate my impromptu act of civic duty, and I often glimpse them waving their Lycra-clad limbs at me in my rear view mirror!

SPORT

July 8th July 21st 2020

23

Finally

BASKONIA have won the Spanish basketball league title for the first time in 10 years.

The Basque side defeated reigning champions Barcelona, 69-67, to win their fourth title and first since 2010.

In a repeat of history, Dusko Ivanovic’s side beat the same team they defeated a decade ago, during the Montenegrin coach’s second spell at the club.

The Catalans were looking to retain the ACB championship for the sixth straight season but fell just short.

VALENCIA manager, Albert Celades has been sacked, and the club’s sporting director has resigned immediately.

Celades was only in charge of the Bats for nine months, and was named manager in September following the sacking of Marcelino.

He is the sixth manager to lose his job since Singaporean billionaire, Peter Lim bought the club in 2014.

Voro Gonzalez will now step in as temporary boss until the end of the season for his sixth spell at the Mestalla.

He first took over in 2008,

Wa k e s u rf Wa k e b o a rd Wa te rs k i

Baskonia end decade long drought without a league title, by defeating Barcelona in Championship game with last second shot

By Dimitris Kouimtsidis

The game was neck and neck for the entire 40 minutes, with neither side getting a comfortable lead.

With 3.4 seconds of time left to play, Achille Polonara made an incredible assist to Luca Vildoza, who scored the

You’re fired following former Southampton and Everton boss, Ronald Koeman’s sacking and helped the La Liga side avoid relegation.

Cesar Sanchez, the club’s sporting director was only appointed in January, but also followed Celades out the door.

He is the sixth sporting director to leave his position in the six years that Lim has owned the club.

game winning lay-up.

Cory Higgins had the chance to win it for Barca but his off-balance 3-point attempt from the corner was off the mark.

Vildoza finished with a teamhigh 17 points plus four assists and was named Final MVP, becoming the second consecutive Argentinian player to win the award, following in the footsteps of Real Madrid guard, Facundo Campazzo.

The coronavirus pandemic had forced the ACB to temporarily suspend all games.

When basketball was allowed to restart, the league held a shortened version where the top 12 teams were split across two groups, playing five games each.

The best two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals, with the winners then moving onto the grand final.

All matches were a one-off knockout game held at Valencia’s Pavello Municipal Font de San Lluis.

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FINAL WORDS

Better safe than selfie THE Guardia Civil has released a video warning about the dangers of taking a selfie and how to make sure you don’t die in the process.

Truth or lion

Andalucía

Vol. 13 Issue 347

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Your expat

voice in Spain July 8th - July 21st 2020

Hardened criminals THE elderly members of a British gang face stiff sentences after being caught selling fake Viagra-style drugs.

The organisation was allegedly led by a 72-year-old

It doesn’t fit THREE women have ended up in the hospital after a fight broke out in a Zara fitting room in Galicia.

Stolen cock SIX men will be going on trial for the murder of a man in Malaga province who had supposedly stolen their rooster used for cock fights.

Pensioner expat gang busted for selling fake Viagra-style drugs British man who lived in Marbella with his 65-yearold wife.

Size does matter A DEFLATED Romeo put in an official complaint when he bought condoms that turned out to be too small for him.

He had purchased what turned out to be counterfeit Durex from a grocery store in the Barcelona district of Les Corts. But when it came time to use them, he found himself in a tight spot.

On unwrapping the offending articles, he discovered they were far too short for him - not something he was used to with the genuine brand.

So he decided to stand up and be counted and headed off to put in an official complaint with the Ministry of Health’s Spanish Medical Agency (AEMPS).

They in turn called in the Mossos d’Esquadra Catalan regional police who have reported two men to the courts for allegedly distributing the dodgy condoms.

He had previously been arrested in 2012 for selling the drugs in person, which were tagged as for curing erectile dysfunction.

Now, he and his entire organisation have been detained for selling the pills from an online pharmacy.

All members of the gang were British, apart from one American and they were all in their sixties or seventies.

The drugs were sourced from a factory in India and imported via the UK. They had not been through required health and quality controls and were not approved for sale in Spain.

A parallel police operation has closed down a similar online site based in Valencia, with 33 arrests being made across both raids.

All members have been detained for crimes against

public health, with the police investigating if any of the buyers suffered health problems. Both gangs had set up websites that were meant to look like legitimate pharmacies and offered miraculous pills that would eradicate erectile dysfunction.

In Spain it is illegal to sell pharmaceuticals online, unless your business is a registered online pharmacy.

It is thought that across the two gangs, they had made over €3 million in profit from the fake drugs.

Both gangs then proceeded to launder that money in order to buy luxury items and invest in cryptocurrencies.

A ROW has broken out between the Junta and a local businessman over the validity of a lynx video.

The video of the endangered wild cat went viral after Enrique Ruiz posted it on the social media account of his vineyard business, the Bodega Antigua Real Fabrica.

In what could be just a PR stunt to attract more customers, Ruiz claimed that a German tourist named ‘Mandfred’ had gone hiking in the area and spotted the endangered mammal.

The Spanish businessman told Diario Sur: “When he returned from his hike he showed me the video, thinking that these animals were common here and I told him they weren’t.”

The Junta however disputes the story, insisting that the video was filmed in Sevilla or Huelva.

Ruiz hit back angrily: “I love seeing how they manage the environment from an office.

“If they decree that there was no lynx, there was no lynx.”

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