A
ll about
www.theolivepres
s.es
Moraira MARVELLOUS
May 2022
Close to Benidorm
J
yet a world apart
- discover the Spanish
UST half an hour up Benidorm, you’llfrom builtBy Kimberley Mannion of the most relaxed find one seaside towns in Spain. Oozing with charm, Moraira is one fishing villages, and it remains full of the Costa Blanca’s of history classic old unspoiled and tradition, and largely today.
charmer with expat
You won’t find signs for English breakfasts or lager pint here, this is an at one euro a as popular with upmarket resort
refined Spaniards as it is with upmarket foreign tourists-in-the-know.
appeal
This is not to say Moraira is undiscovered by holidaymakers – far from it. The demographics confirm its status as a popular tourist destination. Continues on next
We also have delicious pies and Scotch We have gluten eggs. free and Keto diet Contact us for any options as well. special requests. Call for details about delivery.
early til late.
Don’t miss our special pullout on the evocative secret village of the Marina Alta
OLIVE PRESS
The
Open 7 days a week,
page
MARVELLOUS MORAIRA
VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR FREE Vol. 2 Issue 38 www.theolivepress.es
Your expat
...and what were Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn doing there?
voice in Spain May 19th - June 1st 2022
Policy of denial Driven to distraction The UK licence drama deepens
Page 4
Get on board
Travel industry bounces back
Page 6
Piece of the action Our Spanish language picks on Netflix
Page 18
Expats’ €14,000 medical bill because insurance company ‘wouldn’t answer phone’ after accident
A BRITISH couple have been handed a huge medical bill for hospital care, despite being fully covered by their private health insurance company. The expats have been slapped with a debt of €14,000 because of the company’s negligence - they claim. Dawn Bridge, a 50-year-old writer, originally from Cheshire, suffered a bad fall in her hometown of Mazarron, Murcia, in December 2021. Husband Adrian, an academic, immediately went to call the number on his nsurance medical card, believing emergency staff would be on call to deal with it. However, after a whole NINE MINUTES of waiting - while Dawn screamed in agony - the 59-yearold still had no answer. Eventually he was persuaded to call an ambulance by a concerned neighbour and a local emergency service turned up ‘within minutes’. She was soon receiving emergency treatment for two bad fractures at Cartagena’s public hospital Dawn to St Lucia. She also had to have a dislocated ankle put back into place. But, in reality, her problems had only just begun, as despite paying two premiums for a policy that promised ‘immediate access to care’ and ‘no copayments’ the opposite occurred.
EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
Indeed, on leaving St Lucia Hospital, some days later, they were handed the bill which their insurance company REFUSED to pay. This despite them paying €1,300 a year. The main reason given; because Dawn was treated in ‘the wrong hospital’. “Yet during that week, I received no advice on transferring her to a hospital recognised by our insurance company,” slammed Adrian, a former history lecturer at York University. “We had no help in providing additional care, no communication and no explanation why our emergency call wasn’t answered.” And over the last half year, he claims they have received ‘not an ounce’ of concern or compassion regarding their plight. This despite Dawn still being heavily dependent on a wheelchair for mobility and having to endure intensive physiotherapy sessions. A remarkable email stream, the Olive Press has seen, demanded if the couple could ‘prove the [emergency] call’, and also questioned if they had even rung the right number. “We both feel totally abandoned, and lost within a spiral of confu-
Open every day Closed Monday
BETTER DAYS: The Bridges on holiday and (right) Dawn after accident sion, bureaucracy and data protection,” continued Adrian. “If only they’d answered their own emergency number (and we’d gone to an appropriate hospital), my wife would have been treated in a timely manner AND without costs.” Thankfully, the Cartagena Hospital has been gracious enough to offer the Bridges a staged payment scheme which eases the financial burden. In the meantime, they hope their experience might save others from the same pain, cost and anxiety. “It’s the principle,” insisted Adrian, “they’ve just washed their hands of us, all
reservas:
963 51 49 94
down t o their o w n t e r rible service when we needed them most.” A spokesperson from St Lucia de Cartagena told the Olive Press “When the insurance company does not cover the services provided or the patient is not registered with Seguridad Social, we require them to pay the bill.” The couple paid €1,300-€1,400 a year for their insurance health bill. On deadline the Olive Press received a letter from the insurance company's lawyer saying that the company had acted ‘in strict and rigorous compliance with the terms of the policy’. Opinion Page 6
BALCONY DEATH reservas@palaciodelabellota.com www.palaciodelabellota.com C/Mosent Femades, 7 CP. 46002 VALENCIA
A BOY aged 12 has died in Valencia’s La Fe Hospital after falling from a fourth floor balcony in Algemesi. The youngster was playing with some other children when he plummeted onto the concrete patio. The boy underwent emergency surgery but died later in the ICU.