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Issue 35

29th Dec - 4th Jan

Reporting The News

Inside this week... tourism boom

Evocación Nazarí, the latest mural to be unveiled in Estepona Photo Credit: Ayuntamiento de Estepona

51st mural added to collection by Michael Cano THE council in Estepona has added the 51st wall mural to it celebrated Route of Artistic Murals which was only initiated in 2012. This latest work by the artist José Fernández Ríos is described as example of hyperrealist art which is a movement that uses photographs from

A Happy & Prosperous New Year to all our Clients and Readers from the RTN team

which the artists work and which they try to copy as accurately as possible. This 600 square metre work covers several buildings in the recently remodelled Plaza Antonia Guerrero and features a number of Andalucian images including the Alhambra in Granada, the Alcazaba in Malaga or the mythical city of Medina Azahara. The artist has taken advantage of

the different heights and architectural elements of the buildings to produce a ‘trompe l’oeil’ meant to appeal and perhaps surprise passers-by where the arches and battlements typical of Arab architecture share the spotlight with natural landscapes of great beauty and colour. The new work Evocación Nazarí (named after the Nasrid Kingdom

of Granada) is the most recent of the murals in Estepona to be produced by José Fernández Ríos who was also responsible for Day of Fishing, the largest vertical mural in Spain to occupy almost 1,000 square meters over six blocks, Girl watering, which has become one of the most photographed for its hyperrealism and Reflections of the Garden.

five children detained

P10

drug baron arrested

P12

Renfe’s superfast AVE train

High speed travel by Jemima Roberts THE HIGH SPEED rail connection at Malaga is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The AVE, which has allowed the city to connect to Madrid, is thought to have increased Malaga’s economy by €3,600 million. According to Alfredo Duran, director of Viajeros-Servicios Comerciales Sur at Renfe, the service is used mainly for work, with 50 per cent of users of the Malaga Madrid route doing so for profesional, work or business reasons. A further 20 per cent used the line for family trips, and another 24 per cent for leisure and tourism. Earlier this month it was announced a

court has started looking into the MalagaSeville train derailment. The Seville court has now received a police report and has asked Renfe and the Train Infrastructure Administration (Adif) to hand over the black box after 37 people were injured in the crash. Sources say the court will ask Renfe and Adif for several reports about the train’s state before it derailed shortly after the line was reopened after flooding. The judge is also expected to ask Renfe for information on, "the influence of the weather situation as well as the content of the black box that will indicate, among other data, the speed” at which the train was travelling.

Ice rink now open

THE 600-METRE ICE RINK in Marbella’s Palacio de Ferias y Congresos is now open to the public until next Sunday January 7. The Christmas-themed installation has been built to resemble an eskimo village and offers fun for

all the family. Next to the ice rink there are bouncy castles, a carousel and a train and there are various activities being run for children. Entrance is €10, €8 for children for the age of 14 and youth card holders.

On the buses

AUTOCARES RICARDO recently extended the Line 1 route to include the La Lobilla health centre. To respond to public demand, the bus will go to the health centre from the Islas Canarias urbanisation (next to the Delta building) twice each day Monday to Friday. The first trip will leave the Islas Canarias urbanisation at 07.27am and arrive at the health centre at 08.06am and the second will leave at 08.47am and arrive at 09.30am.

€1.9 m to asphalt Marbella

AT THE most recent Governing Board of the Diputacion de Malaga, more than €2.7 million of investment was approved for development and infrastructure work in nine municipalities across the province. About €1.9 million will

be spent on Marbella’s asphalt plan, while the rest will fund road paving projects, accessibility, sewerage and rehabilitation of buildings in the towns of Almargen, Alpandeire, Benadalid, Benarraba, Canillas de Albaida, Gaucin, Pizarra and Torrox.

Tourism boom by Richard Johnson TORREMOLINOS is set to host a tourism conference. The Palacio de Congresos will host the event, which will see businesses come together under a programme to promote tourism. The project, which will last around five months, will offer 20 places to entrepreneurs. In October, Mijas Council was chosen to represent Andalucia in attracting Japanese tourists. The town was selected alongside Malaga, Ronda and Nerja to take part in an initiative to improve the region’s competitiveness in the Japanese market. With more than 12,000 visitors in the last year, Mijas is one of the province's preferred destinations among the Japanese, according to Mijas’ Councillor for Tourism, Fuensanta Lima, as well as manager of the Costa del Sol Tourism Promotion Division, Antonio Diaz. The plan is expected to last approximately two years and will include promoting how to interact with Japanese tourists, including customer service, etiquette, translating signage and cultural differences. Councillor Lima explained, "we are very happy to announce that Mijas is once again at the head of the municipalities of the province in terms of tourism," adding it was, "the result of the effort made by the council, thanks to collaboration with other entities and agencies, which is essential for further

The Palacio de Congresos

progress in this area.” The Costa del Sol Tourism Promotion Division will put aside around €18,000 to pay for the training, which will begin on October 19 in Mijas. The forst workshop will involve a theoretical and practical class in Japanese etiquette and customer care and will be attended by members of the council as well as local and regional tourism operators.” Councillor Lima explained, "through these initiatives we seek to promote this type of tourism, betting on public-private collaboration to consolidate our reputation as a quality destination on the Costa del Sol."

In 2016 around 30,000 Japanese tourists visited the province. Antonio Diaz explained, "this plan arose precisely because of the need to boost Japanese tourism on the Costa del Sol," adding, "we are talking about a very important market, not just for its high purchasing power, but also because these are tourists which break with traditional seasons and visits us at all times of the year.” The project is expected to run until 2019, and will include Japanese translation of the town’s map and signage, as well as Japanese explanations of the town’s biggest attractions.

Ship ahoy by Pippa Harris MALAGA’S port will be graced by a galleon until January 7. The vintage ship, which arrived in the city last week, will be on display at Pier One. The Galeon Andalucia is a replica of Spanish ships used between the 16th and 18th centuries. The ship has already visited Puerto Rico, the United States, the Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic and Canada. This summer, a new cruise ship, Seabourn Encore, made its first ever trip to Malaga after visiting Gibraltar. The luxury ship measures 210 metres long, and can accommodate 640

passengers and 400 crew. The vessel, belonging to American company, Seabourn Cruise Line, was welcomed by Malaga’s Port Authority, the council’s department for tourism and company Cruceros Malaga. The ship’s captain was also given a commemorative plaque to mark the inaugural visit at a reception held on board. The cruise liner stopped in Malaga to enjoy the city’s feria, before moving on to its next stop, Cartagena. Another cruise, Panorama II, also stopped for a night at Malaga’s Palermal Terminal for the feria. The small, exclusive vessel, measuring 50 metres, is run by Greek company, Variety Cruises.

New roof IN AN effort to preserve the historical heritage of Marbella and San Pedro, a new roof has been installed over La Villa Romana de Rio Verde. The La Villa Romana de Rio Verde remains are located next to the Rio Verde pedestrian bridge which connects the maritime promenades of Marbella and Puerto Banus. The remains date back to the second century and the site was excavated in the 1960s. The site’s decorative richness is popular with residents and tourists alike and it is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10.30am 1.30pm

The Galeon Andalucia

Jobs vacant MUNICIPAL water company Emasa is hiring two new technicians to join its Malaga office. The company is looking for a geographic information systems technician and information technology technician. Earlier this month Emasa announced smart metres are helping to lower water bills by detecting leaks. The devices, which warn of possible leaks and monitor consumption in real time, have found almost 600 leaks in Malaga since being installed in April. Customer service operators monitor the 41,663 meters, telephoning customers if they detect a problem.

Raul Jimenez, Councillor for Environmental Sustainability, explained the service helps customers, saying, “since we spent a lot money getting this data it is normal we use it for the benefit of all residents.” He added the metres check yearly household expenditure and average consumption, giving clients more control over their bills. The council explained most of the leaks identified were small and would have been hard to find if not for the meters. Water supplier Emasa said most clients fixed their leaks within 10 days of being told about them. Once repaired, an updated invoice is sent out.

Spain’s most expensive house RECENT FINDINGS revealed that the most expensive house currently on the market in Spain is not in Madrid or Barcelona, but instead in Marbella. Situated on an 8,000square metre plot on Marbella’s ‘Golden Mile’, the €80 million 12-bedroom, 10-bathroom property

boasts a 500-square metre terrace and eight parking spaces. The sheer dimensions of the house push up its price, occupying an area more difficult to find in Madrid or Barcelona. Marbella's Golden Mile starts at the western edge of Marbella city (Plaza Bocane-

gra) and extends for some five kilometres as far as the Río Verde, which is just before Puerto Banus. Some of the Marbella's early luxury developments were established in this area, such as Marbella Club Hotel (1954) and Puente Romano district including Puente Romano Hotel.

Council supports small businesses

City’s remaining officers to patrol Malaga centre

Police to move to Catalonia by Jemima Roberts MALAGA police will be sent to Catalonia to help keep the peace around the elections there. The city’s remaining officers will be focussed on the centre of Malaga to help prevent petty crimes including pickpocketing. The National Police has also set out a series of safety tips for businesses to avoid thefts after 61 crimes were discovered in the city over Christmas last year. Police will monitor shops until January 8, including using plainclothes agents to prevent crimes. Additionally, more than 1,500 leaflets have been distributed to busi-

ness owners to help prevent robberies. Earlier this month it was announced 36 new Local Police officers have been sworn in in Malaga. The city’s Mayor, Francisco de la Torre, accompanied by Mario Cortes, Councillor for Security, presided over the event, which coincided with the body’s 175th anniversary. Meanwhile, last month, 3,000 police officers gathered in Malaga to demand equal pay with their regional counterparts. The protest took place in Plaza de la Constitucion, with officers waving banners saying, “it’s now or never.” They claim the issue came to a head after po-

lice from all over Spain were drafted in to help out with the constitutional crisis in Catalonia, highlighting the disparity in pay between officers from different areas. One officer said, “the wage discrimination was there before, it is an old issue, but from that day it went from being a police problem to one for all of society. That’s why it’s now or never. We will never have such social backing again.” They claim police in the Guardia Civil are paid €1,350 a month, while their equivalents in Catalonia are paid around €2,000 on average a month. In addition, offices are claiming they are subject to overcrowding and “terrible” hygiene and food.

MARBELLA CITY COUNCIL and the Cameral Institute Foundation for the Creation and Development of Business (Incyde) signed two collaboration agreements this week. The agreements will, with European funds, promote training programmes for entrepreneurs and the digitalisation of small businesses and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Marbella Mayor Angeles Munoz signed the collaboration agreements with Incyde Director Javier Collado and stressed the importance of “using funds to support companies in improving their management systems, which will allow them to achieve better results thus increasing the creation of employment.”

Woman beater arrested A 37-year-old Spanish man was arrested on Wednesday for an alleged crime of gender violence. Emergency services received a call alerting them to a situation in the neighbourhood of Fuente Nueva in San Pedro Alcantara just after 7.00pm. Local and national police units arrived at the scene together with an ambulance which took the victim to the health centre. The victim got away without sustaining any serious injuries and the man remains in custody awaiting trial.

Court cases up by Pippa Harris

64,873 matters dealt with in the third quarter

MALAGA’S courts dealt with 3 per cent more cases in the third quarter of the year. Courts in the province handled 64,873 matters, almost 3 per cent more than in the same period in 2016. Of this increase, 1,747 cases involved civil matters, according to the Situation of Judicial Bodies report. Cases involving crime decreased by 367 in this period. A Malaga judge has said at least 30 more judges are needed in the city. Jose Maria Paez, Dean Judge of Malaga, has been re-elected for the third time and has lost no time in setting out what the city’s justice system needs. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Paez explained, “the priority project is to increase

the number of judges, since we are still very few. Spain has a number of magistrates well below the European average and thus it is impossible to give an answer with a minimum quality in a reasonable time.” The judge added Malaga’s judicial system also needed more funds, as well as improvements to some courts. In May, the Malaga Bar Association warned more courts would need to be opened to deal with the influx of floor clause mortgage cases. Jose Maria Paez,"unless more resources are allocated, it will be very difficult to process this number of demands without incurring big delays.” A second specialist court to deal with these claims is planned for Malaga but no date has yet been announced. Jose Maria Paez believes at least another

four may be necessary to deal with the weight of cases. The group says the use of just one specially-appointed court to deal with these claims as led to significant delays, hindering justice and leaving claimants with years to wait before their case will be heard. The Malaga Bar Association says the plant, which was put in place to expedite these claims, has failed and site the 2,100 cases lodged since June 1 as evidence the court is overburdened. It also warns having one central court in Malaga limits justice to those living in remote areas of the province. Belen Rincon, a lawyer specialising in bank claims, also explained more claimants than expected were forced to take their cases to court after banks have been reluctant to pay out.

55 found off coast

The 1948 Universal Declaration,

by Richard Johnson SPANISH authorities have rescued 55 people from a boat off the coast of Malaga. Maritime Rescue Officers intercepted the boat of Sub-Saharan immigrants after an airplane located it 42 miles southeast of the city. Among those transferred to Malaga Port were seven women. All on board were helped by the Red Cross and lawyers and are said to be in good health. Meanwhile, last week the Malaga Bar Association celebrated the International Day of Human Rights. Attendees read out extracts of the 1948 Universal Declaration, the document written after the end of the Second World War to protect human rights, as well as discussing areas for growth. Francisco Javier Lara, the association’s dean, explained all countries still had issues surrounding, "attention to immigrants and refugees and inequalities of all kinds, many of which are manifested with special cruelty when they affect women.” He added more than 1,900 people had risked “their lives at sea” to reach the province and confirmed the Malaga Bar Association was committed to defending their rights. Last month a councillor urged the central

government to make other arrangements for illegal immigrants. Mercedes Montero is asking the government to open a new, permanent prison for those who illegally reach Spain’s shores by boat after it was claimed Archidona’s Local Police headquarters are being used to hold around 500 immigrants. The councillor explained she had spoken to the Security of State for Security and, “he has assured me that they will be held for a maximum of 40 days and that another jail will be opened in January as promised.” The Malaga Bar Association also met in August to discuss rising immigration levels. The group has appointed a panel of experts to analyse the situation and “make proposals to the relevant administrations, as the situation is increasingly worrying,” according to one lawyer, Francisco Javier Lara. Mr Lara said the association will “from now on work to coordinate” with other towns which also attract immigrants, including Cadiz, Almeria and Granada. He explained he was also looking in to liaising with bodies in Italy and Morocco to create "a kind of congress of the Mediterranean" and address "this phenomenon, how the situation is and what it takes the means and legislation to make a proposal to administrations, including Europe.”

Desperate dog A 93-YEAR-OLD woman who died in her Marbella home was eaten by her dog. The pensioner had been dead for about 10 days when police found her in her city centre apartment on Paseo Maritimo. There was rubbish strewn all over the home and the body of the woman lay in

the middle of the floor, with half of her leg having been eaten by her Maltese Bichon. The tiny dog was hiding behind the sofa “as if he were ashamed”, officers told the Spanish press. The deceased is reported to have been crushed to death when her bookshelf

fell on her. There was no dog food either inside or outside the house and the dog switched to survival mode to stay alive. The dog is now resident at the municipal kennel awaiting adoption, which it is feared may never happen once people know his story.

Five children detained in ‘prison’ by Pippa Harris THE JUNTA DE ANDALUCIA has rescued five more children from Archidona prison. Social Services took the Algerian immigrants into custody after discovering they were under 18. A group of around 300 prison officers gathered outside the prison to protest the use of the building to detain immigrants. Last month, several visitors were turned away from a detention centre as they tried to deliver clothes to their relatives. After waiting all morning to see their loved-ones, visitors were asked to return to Archidona prison in the afternoon. Every day large numbers of mother, children, fathers and siblings queue outside the prison to see their families who were detained after illegally enetering Spain on the coasts of Almeria and Murcia. A plainclothes police officer was stationed outside the centre to organise visitors, some of whom say they have been waiting days to see their relatives. Sources told one publication numbers had to be limited to control the situation which is said to have become heated. One father told a newspaper, “my son is on hunger strile because the other day they put out pork to eat.” Relatives say they are concerned after hearing news reports of clashes inside the

Archidona prison

prison between inmates frustrated they will have to return home. A source told one publication there had been “some encounters,” which were “not serious.” Last week a councillor urged Spain’s central government to make other arrangements for the immigrants. Mercedes Montero is asking the government to open a new, permanent prison for those who illegally reach Spain’s shores by boat after it was claimed Archidona’s Local Police headquarters are being used to hold around 500 immigrants.

The councillor explained she had spoken to the Security of State for Security and, “he has assured me that they will be held for a maximum of 40 days and that another jail will be opened in January as promised.” The immigrants, who arrived at the shores of Murcia before being transferred to Malaga, have received healthcare, personal hygiene kits and the services of an interpreter. Around 2,000 food rations have been put aside for the inmate as well as bottled water.

Street hygiene concerns go on RESIDENTS of Malaga’s Calle Bodegueros are up in arms over the sight of over spilling rubbish. As litter remains strewn around the street’s rubbish containers, one local told a publication, “the street is practically impassable due to the excess of garbage left over from the containers for more than a week.” In another area, Camino de San Rafael, residents are also claiming businesses are using the area to dump commercial rubbish including sofas and televisions. Meanwhile, residents of the Gualdhorce poligono will breathe a sigh of relief after it was this month announced a wastewater treatment plant will be covered over. The plant, which has been the source of odours in the area, will be given new covers which will help reduce smells given off by sewage as it is treated. The €342,100 project, which will take three months, will see a retractable roof placed over parts of the plant. The facility is one of three managed by Emasa in Malaga, helping to treat water from Churriana, Camapanillas, Puerto de la Torre, Torremolinos and Alhaurin de la Torre.

Playstation fraud by Jemima Roberts A MAN has been for scamming 1,000 people online. The Italian is alleged to have promised buyers a Playstation 4 console on social networks before taking their money and neglecting to send the product. Two other people who allegedly helped the man have also been arrested while Francisco Lopez Canedo, provincial police commissioner, announced a safe online shopping campaign had been launched to protect buyers. The scam is simply the latest to hit the Costa del Sol. Earlier this month, a man pretending to be from Endesa has swindled a 90-year-old woman in Malaga City. Police are now trying to find the alleged thief who is believed to be a “young man, between 25 and 30 years

The Playstation 4 console promised

old, with short curly hair and a Spanish accent.” The incident occurred at around 1pm when the man knocked on the woman’s door, telling her “we are changing the metres and I have to do a series of checks on your home.” He was let in and begun to ask the woman to turn the property’s lights on and off. When her carer arrived he also instructed them to check the electrics. He allegedly held a mobile phone to his ear all the time pretending to be reporting back to his team. When he left, the woman checked on her belongings in her bedroom but found her jewellery and €35,000 in cash had been taken. Police are warning this type of scam is becoming commonplace, with the elderly often targeted. The Ministry of the Interior has warned people never

Lost my way

Not going out

CHEVROLET ORLANDO volkswagen GOLF PLUS VOLKSWAGEN POLO

ford fiesta

EMERGENCY SERVICES were called last Saturday to help find a 26-year-old woman who was lost on her way down from La Concha. Her family had last heard from her at around 5.30pm when it was agreed they would collect her from the Parador de Juanar as she was getting cold. But when they arrived at the parador, she was not there. he family called emergency services who

initiated a search and rescue operation. The woman was without warm clothes, nor was she able to be located through GPS as her mobile phone was without battery. After hours of searching, she was finally located in an area known as 'Salto del lobo'. She explained that she had taken the wrong turn when she was heading to the car. Despite being cold, she was in good health.

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80 per cent of the fishing fleet in Malaga, specifically in the ports of Caleta de Velez, Estepona, Fuengirola, Marbella and Malaga remained moored on Wednesday, unable to go out to sea due to the strong gusts of

to allow strangers in their house, particularly if they claim they are carrying out a review as companies always warn customers before any inspections. They recommend instead calling the company to check before allowing someone into a property. Last month it was revealed five people had been arrested in Seville for scamming holiday-makers online. The group allegedly conned their victims out of around €7,000 by promising holiday rentals in properties in Malaga, Cadiz and Huelva. The accused are said to have used an internet shopping site to get in contact with holiday-makers before charging them €200 for a bogus reservation. A total of 28 complaints were made against the group, according to one publication, 21 of whom were from Seville.

wind. President of the Federation of Guilds and Fishermen of Malaga Miguel Angel Carmona, confirmed "80 per cent of the fleet has been moored” and said that given supply and demand, once the boats make it

opel corsa

out of the ports "there are some species that will have a high price.” As an example, he said seafood, prawns, crayfish and monkfish, among others as "the most typical Christmas products" will be expensive.

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Drug baron arrested by Richard Johnson NORTH AFRICA’S largest cocaine smuggler has been arrested. Officers from the National Police and Tax Agency brought down a family allegedly using real estate and financial institutions as a smokescreen for their operation. The agents also uncovered one ton of the narcotic hidden inside pineapples as it was shipped from South America. Officers were forced to search thousands of fruits after finding 33 kilograms of cocaine hidden in cylinders coated in yellow wax inside pineapples in one shipment from Costa Rica. A 72-year-old Moroccan man has been arrested, believed to be the head of the organisation. Police say the accused has been smuggling drugs since the 1970s, starting with hashish before graduating to cocaine and moving to Malaga to evade detection. Officers claim the organisation used its’ company’s commercial shipments to transport the drug from South America. Police first allegedly uncovered the drugs in a shipment of drugs coming from Ecuador, finding 960 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside pineapples. Last week it was announced the Guardia Civil have smashed a criminal ring using a new route to smuggle cocaine from Brazil to Spain. Officers have arrested four people in Malaga and seized around 11 kilos of the

The hidden cylinders narcotic under operation Banca Latvia, which discovered the organisation was smuggling cocaine through Morocco, a route not previously used. Working with police in Madrid, officers found the group were flying smugglers from Brazil to Morocco and then on to Spain using suitcases with false bottoms. The Guardia Civil found the organisation had recruited mules from various different countries, flying some people from Madrid to Buenos Aires and then on to Brazil where they would be given a ticket for Morocco and then Malaga. Last month, a Spanish man was detained in France for smuggling one ton of cannabis from Malaga. The 35-year-

old is being held after his truck was searched by officers in Montmarault near Lyon. Police say he was stopped due to collaboration between the Spanish and French authorities. Also in November, a man was arrested in Malaga for importing 65 kilos of cocaine. The accused has been handed over to a court in Alegciras and police have not ruled out further arrests after they discovered the drugs at Algeciras port. Officers from the Tax Agency and Guardia Civil seized the narcotics after becoming suspicious of a shipment. Using a non-intrusive scanner, officers discovered the cocaine had been hidden in eight small metal cylinders covered in lead.

Cleaners protest contract changes MALAGA’S Limasa workers have said they feel “cheated” by proposals to change their contracts. The municipal cleaners have the backing of party PSOE who want to “discuss in the light of day” a recent decision to partly privatise their work. Daniel Perez, a party spokesman, said, “it is the most damaging decision for the city and the PSOE is totally against Limasa being divided.” Malaga’s Mayor, Francisco de la Torre, says there are “no reasons” for the workers to take industrial action, however. Last week politicians finally reached an agreement over the future of Malaga’s cleaning services. Francisco de la Torre, announced the political hot potato will be resolved by privatising street cleaning while allowing waste collection services to remain publicly run. De la Torre had faced criticism from his own party, the Partido Popular (PP), as well as from opposing Ciudadanos over his plans to bring cleaning company Limasa under municipal control. Fellow PP politicians had instead wanted the company to be privatised, leading to a mixed management model in place from April whereby the company had been 51 per cent privately owned. Giving way to his own party, the mayor will now allow street cleaning to be put out to tender.

Standard family Christmas feud? POLICE are investigating a stabbing that took place in Malaga on Wednesday that left one person wounded. A fight broke out just after 11.00am in a building on Avenida Doctor Maranon in Martiricos. A man was stabbed in the throat and remains in hospital under supervision. Sources close to the case told the Spanish press that the fight was a family feud.

Man dies in brawl A 44-YEAR-OLD Portuguese man died in a brawl in Marbella on Wednesday. According to police, the fight broke out between squatters living in a house in Elviria just after 6.00pm. The cause of death is not yet known - the body did not show any injuries, so police have ruled out that the man was killed with a weapon.

Have your Say!

Four years’ prison for airport killers by Pippa Harris

A popular post this week is

“Correas announces Correos delivery improvements” reaching 1,216 people with 17 comments

Tina Howard Jones “I think they give a great service, post my letters in Dona pepa on a Monday morning, and their in England by Wednesday, well done Correos,,,”

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Our most liked posts from this week Spain’s King Felipe calls on Catalan leaders to avoid confrontation in Christmas speech Happy British killmas Judge releases nine Guardia Civil officers on bail Concern grows for ‘missing’ British woman on Spain’s Costa Blanca What do I do with all these left overs?

PROSECUTORS are asking for four years in jail for four men accused of killing a homeless man at Malaga Airport last year. The men are facing convictions for reckless homicide and degradation after 51-year-old British man Steven Allford was found bound and naked at the city’s airport with ham on his buttocks and his genitals inserted into a can of tuna. The accused are then said to have filmed the man who later died choking on his own vomit. Prosecutors say the man would have found it difficult to get up after he had been restrained. The deceased is thought to have spent the previous afternoon with the four suspects, three Finnish men and one Irishman. Lawyers say the men “recording the scene of Allford collapsed and laughing at his help-

lessness even placed a cigarette in his mouth after having out it between his buttocks.” The accused are said to have carried out further demeaning acts “to the delight” of all. In the video the men can allegedly be heard “narrating” the crime before posting it on Facebook. Prosecutors say, “when they had laughed a lot, they left Steven Allford to his fate, who, as a result of his drunkenness, and because of the contribution of the almost impossibility of moving because of the use of restraints, would end up dying from choking on his own vomit.” Finnish police reported the incident to the Spanish authorities after finding the video on Facebook. Using the images to identify the men, the four were put on trial. The Irishman, who initially acted as a witness, told a court “I’d give anything to help them find the culprit,” before later being identified for his alleged part

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in the crime by the video. Meanwhile workers at Malaga Airport are concerned about their working conditions after new managers are due to move in. The employees of the airport’s bars and restaurants have received support from all Malaga’s political parties after the current operator Aena put out a €100 million tender to find new op-

erators for the catering facilities. The workers fear the eight-year contract does not provide any assurances over their rights. Miguel Angel Salazar, chairman of the works council, confirmed, “the Aena specifications do not guarantee that all conditions will be met,” if the tender is awarded to several different companies.

Two years’ jail time for scam A man has been given two years in jail for defrauding his partner and sister-in-law. The man will also have to pay his in-law €30,000 in compensation after being convicted of deception. The accused swindled the money after his girlfriend’s credit card was fraudulently used. The man told his partner to use a lawyer he recommended, giving her a phone number and email address. Urging her to transfer the ‘lawyer’- who was in fact the accused- €12,000, he later posed as a policeman and asked for the woman’s security details. Using these the man withdrew a further €12,000 from his partner’s accounts. When the woman realised her money had been taken, her boyfriend recommended another ‘lawyer’; another defendant in the case. The boyfriend also defrauded his sister-in-law by charging her

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€12,000 promising he could get her compensation for a previous failed transaction. The other defendant was also fined €1,080 and given one year in prison for fraud. Meanwhile prosecutors are asking for 21 years and 8 months in prison for a man accused of killing his sister. A 48-year-old man may also be forced to pay €150,000 to each of the victim’s two children after she was found strangled using the cord of an iron in Torremolinos. The woman was found dead by one of her children after the incident on October 23 last year. Police believe the accused killed her when he was staying with her on a visit from his native Morocco while he received treatment for diabetes in Spain. Officers claim the pair did not have a good

relationship, arguing about the man’s lifestyle in Morocco. Lawyers claim the accused entered his victim’s bedroom in the early hours of the morning before hitting her on the head with an iron, “with the obvious intention of causing her death.” His 52-year-old sister is said to have woken up, “screaming and trying to defend herself,” before he covered her mouth with his hand and strangled her with the iron’s cord. He then fled before later being arrested. The same week an 18-year-old boy was detained after stabbing his mother, sister and grandmother whilst on hallucinogens. The man has been arrested for ill-treatment of his family and could face charges for attempted murder after consuming a hallucinogenic plant in Churriana and attacking them and police.

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Estepona drug den bust THE NATIONAL POLICE have arrested four people, two men and two women aged 42 - 79 for crimes against public health (drug trafficking) as they were found to be selling drugs from their home in Estepona. Operation ‘Gesta’ began in September when officers detected the address as a possible point of sale of drugs. After installing a surveillance device, they soon realised that the address in question was indeed a very active point of sale, with a continuous flow of customers arriving at the property every day. Once sufficient evidence had been obtained, officers raided the property the day before Christmas Eve. A total of 720 grams of hashish, 177.8 grams of marijuana, 0.5 grams of heroin and 62 wraps of cocaine were found ready for sale and consumption, along with 29 methadone tablets. Officers seized tools to manipulate and prepare the drugs for sale – wires, plastic bags and nine pre- c i sion scales along with €201 euros in cash, eight weapons, one shotgun and 22 cartridges, two simulated pistols, 16 smartphones, six tablets, four televisions, four laptops and other objects. The drug den was run by a 42-year-old man together with his elderly parents and a lady friend.

Squatters are moved on by Jemima Roberts A SQUAT in Malaga City has been dismantled. The building on Avenida Juan XXIII, which has been the scene of many fires in recent months, has been cleaned and secured. Residents have said they can finally “sleep peacefully” after fearing for their safety but explained they are still waiting for the building to be sold off and redeveloped to provide a permanent solution to the problem. Council workers encouraged squatters to move on voluntarily, offering them alternative accommodation. In November the building suffered its seventh fire in recent weeks. The site was attended by fire fighters after a mattress apparently caught fire in the afternoon. The flames have now been extinguished and no one has been reported injured. Malaga City Council is now waiting for a court to decide whether they can remove squatters from an empty building. Commercial Court Number One is due to make a decision over whether the council can brick up the building’s entrances or take up any other measures which would see its squatters removed. The court will also consider whether the building, a housing block on Avenida Juan XXII, could be bought by a third party who would reform it. Following a series of fires at the property, Local Police have been forced to visit

Avenida Juan XXIII, Malaga

the site around 25 times this year, identifying those squatting in it. The building’s current most recent occupiers were evicted after a latest fire on Sunday. Residents claim the spot has become a target for thieves since a construction company which owned the building declared bankruptcy. Up to one hundred people have squatted in the building since then, including some families and children. Despite police efforts to evict the occupiers, many have returned. In October it was revealed police have now learned the identities of squatters living in a building in Las Lagunas’

Calle Clavel. Officers from the Local Police and Guardia Civil visited the building to identify the 15 people living there, as well as to tighten security and carry out a cleaning operation. The Mayor, Juan Carlos Maldonado, visited the site accompanied by the councillors for Industry and Cleaning, Andres Ruiz and Jos Carlos Martin to inspect the building. The council has now reinforced police surveillance of the Las Flores neighbourood and provided extra cleaning services in an attempt to solve the issue.

News from around Europe RUSSIA

NETHERLANDS Child stabbed A 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL was stabbed during a conflict in a home in The Hague on Christmas day. The police confirmed on twitter that the girl was taken to hospital by ambulance and they arrested a 36year-old man. Exactly what happened is not yet clear as the investigation continues. Suspected terrorists arrested THE POLICE arrested three Dutch men and one Swedish man in Rotterdam on Christmas Eve on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, After the arrests, four addresses in Vlaardingen, Delft, and Gouda

were searched. No weapons or explosives were found but the police did seize a number of data carriers for further investigation. Whodunnit? THE CAR OF Hennie de Laat, who was found murdered on Hoogvensestraat in Tilburg last Saturday, was found on Bachlaan in the city on Boxing Day. A police officer noticed the Opel Corsa parked on the street. The police are looking for witnesses who saw the car being parked, the Dutch press reports. That’s the spirit DUTCH KING Willem-Alex-

ander has called on people to work towards a sense of community in his traditional Christmas address to the nation. Speaking at his home on the De Eikenhorst estate, the king said people, should “not be looking for a bigger I, but for the greater we.” Caught on camera ROTTERDAM FOOTBALL CLUB Feyenoord has suspended a player for one match and two training sessions after he was caught on camera eating a white bread roll and croquette during half-time in last week’s cup match against Heracles Almelo.

Second collision leaves one dead A REGIONAL TRAIN TER collided on Boxing Day with a vehicle in Morbihan, northwest France. The car driver lost his life in the collision, which comes after a train smashed into a school bus in southern France on December 14, killing six teenagers. Bring it back! TURKEY’S Ministry of Culture and Tourism has requested that France return china tiles stolen from Sultan Selim II’s

tomb at the Hagia Sophia in the 1890s. Some 60 Iznik tiles were stolen by Albert Dorigny of France in 1895 and replaced with imitation tiles. The stolen tiles were later displayed in Paris’ Louvre. The end of fossil fuel FRANCE has just passed a new blanket ban on fracking and oil extraction that will enter into force in 2040. After 2040, no new drilling permits will be issued and licenses will not be renewed, putting an end to the fossil fuels’ production in France and its overseas territories. Doh! FRENCH children’s magazine ‘Youpi’ has been withdrawn from newsstands after it admitted a “mistake” in writing that Israel wasn’t a “real country.” The January issue of the magazine for children aged 5 - 8 was removed from kiosk sales in France and Belgium.

ICELAND It’s getting lighter... ICELAND has celebrated its shortest day of the year when the sun was only in the sky for four hours and seven minutes, rising at 11.22am and setting at 3.29pm. Members of the Ásatrú religion celebrated the Winter Solstice with a blót (sacrificial) ceremony at Öskjuhlíð hill in Reykjavik. Windblown...but safe A MINIBUS carrying 16 tourists was blown off the road during a strong gust of wind close to the town of Reynisfjall. Emergency services were called to the scene but although

Back off THE ROYAL NAVY monitored a Russian warship as it sailed close to Britain’s territorial waters over Christmas, the Ministry of Defence in London said on Tuesday. The Admiral Gorshkov’s passage off the Scottish coast was part of an “upsurge” in Russian naval activity near the British Isles during the festive period, the government added. No, thank you SYRIAN rebel and opposition groups have

FRANCE Lactalis under investigation FRENCH prosecutors have opened an investigation into the country’s dairy giant Lactalis following 20 cases of salmonella infection in small children. Nearly 7,000 tonnes baby formula milk and baby food products produced by a contaminated factory in Craon, northwest France have been recalled.

Why? THE RUSSIAN internet watchdog has demanded an explanation from Facebook and Instagram over the blocking of social media accounts belonging to the controversial Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov has accused the US government of pressuring the social networks to disable his accounts, which he said were blocked last weekend without explanation.

some passengers needed to be helped, nobody was injured in the accident. Hotel promotion success TOUR operators spent the pre-Christmas season working steadily on increasing the tourist flow to Iceland. A spokesperson for Icelandair Hotels said: “It’s very important that Christmas in Iceland isn’t popular just for one year. Hopefully it will become a popular season for years to come.” Award winning capital...again The 2018 Luxury Travel Guide (LTG) has named Reykjavík as the European

Adventure Destination of the Year. This is the second consecutive year that the prestigious travel periodical has selected Reykjavík as a destination: In 2017 Reykjavík was LTG Winter Destination of the Year. Early morning shakes TWO earthquakes were registered at Bárðarbunga on Christmas Eve, both at a magnitude of over 4 on the Richter scale. The first occurred at 4.57am and measured 4.1 and the second at 5.29am measuring 4.4. According to the Iceland Met Office there are no signs of a resulting eruption.

rejected Russia’s proposed peace talks next month, accusing Moscow of what they called “war crimes” in Syria and failing to put pressure on the Syrian government to end the six-year civil war. Here to help RUSSIA is ready to act as a mediator between North Korea and the United States if both parties are willing for it to play such a role, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. “Russia’s readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a phone call with reporters. Woman blown off balcony GALE-FORCE WINDS blew a woman off her balcony on the Pacific island of Sakhalin on Boxing Day. The 65-yearold woman from the town of Shakhtyorsk went out for a cigarette on the balcony and was blown off, breaking an arm and three ribs and leaving her with a concussion.

SCANDINAVIA World record height NORWAY is about to be the home of the world’s tallest wooden building. “Mjøstårnet” will be more than 80 metres tall and stand 30 metres higher than the current record holder and named after the country’s largest lake Mjøsa, an hour and a half’s drive north of Oslo. Norway’s airways flying high AS many thousands of people flew home for the Christmas holidays through Norwegian, aviation officials were announcing prospects for even more airline traffic in

the years ahead. Norway is a world leader in terms of air travel per capita, and shows no sign of slowing down. Suspected ‘terrorist’ arrested DANISH police have arrested a Syrian asylum seeker from Sweden for “attempting to commit a terrorist act” in Copenhagen. They said they arrested the 30-yearold man over a failed attack which he plotted with another 21-year-old man in November 2016. A warm welcome here? SINCE it began in 1989,

the Icehotel located in the town of Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden, has been built and rebuilt. Situated near the Arctic Circle, the latest 2017 edition is made up of thousands of ice blocks from a nearby frozen river. Concert collapse SEVEN people were injured at a concert called “Heavy Christmas (Raskasta Joulua)” when large ventilation pipes and lighting rails came crashing down over the audience standing near the stage at Vaasa Arena in Vaasa, the largest city of the Ostrobothnia region of Finland.

GERMANY Führer’s fortune A Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen once owned by Adolf Hitler is to be put up for auction next month. The auction house didn’t estimate the potential value of the car, but a classic car valuation expert has said it could fetch between $5-7 million (€4.2-5.9 million). Festive freedoms The Justice Ministry in North RhineWestphalia released 631 prisoners ahead of Christmas so that they may celebrate the holiday with their families. At least 160 other prisoners were released from Berlin, although the state of Bavaria has refused to release prisoners, saying it undermines judicial norms. Migrant attacks decreasing Attacks on refugee shelters in Germany have decreased significantly this year, although politically-motivated attacks remain

far more common than before Germany opened its borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), 16 attacks involved arson and two involved explosives. Thanks be to Trump... Daimler and BMW have said that a new sweeping US tax reform giving major breaks to corporations will add hundreds of millions of Euros to their 2017 earnings. The tax law is expected to see Daimler’s net income grow by around 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) this year. Rapist sentenced to life A German court has sentenced a Romanian truck driver who confessed to the rape and murder of a jogger to life imprisonment. He had admitted in court to sexually assaulting and killing a 27-year-old German woman who had gone for an afternoon run.

Pet cemetery to open by Jemima Roberts AN ANIMAL cemetery could be open in Malaga City by the beginning of 2019. The €1 million project would see around 2,400 services carried out each year, including cremations, burials and services. The 15,000 square metre plot will be located next to San Gabriel Cemetery and would be used as an alternative to the cremations currently offered by several companies. Last month it was announced Carmen Marin, the disgraced president of Parque Animal has asked for her prison sentence to be suspended due to psychiatric problems after she was found to have put down hundreds of animals unnecessarily. Parque Animal was run from 1998 to 2010 by the accused, until she was convicted after Guardia Civil officers found the bodies of dozens of animals in rubbish bins and freezers. At her trial, the judge found Marin had made a “lucrative” business out of the charity, which benefitted from zero tax, and carried out “culling sessions” on a “massive and unjustified” scale. Marin also faced further charges of using the charity’s money to fund luxury travel, restaurant trips and cars. At her latest trial, the judge said he believed Parque Animal paid out €104,382 to department stores, using the funds to reform and decorate her daughter’s beauty centre. Marin was also accused of using public funds to pay for a lift in one of her buildings, supermarket purchases and car

rental, after receiving tens of thousands of Euros from the council. Over the summer, the troubled charity’s future became unclear after a tender to find new managers for the sanctuary failed to attract any offers. The council will now reopen the application process, with the building’s current managers, Animal Home, continuing to take in animals in the meantime. Torremolinos’ Environment Department had offered up to €67,000 to the successful applicant for taking over the

shelter. Three companies were invited to take part in the tender, which would see the successful firm collect, transport and shelter the town’s lost and abandoned animals, but not one chose to submit an application. The Council is now said to be considering upping its offer to attract more companies. Animal Home have managed the site since the investigation concluded in 2012, although the property continues to be owned by Parque Animal after it was given a 50-year lease in 1998.

Firemen conflict discussed

MALAGA CITY COUNCIL has discussed the ongoing firemen strike. The council meeting saw a group of left-leaning politicians supporting the stirking workers, with Eduardo Zorilla from paralagente MLG saying the fireman had shown “an example of dignity for all citizens.” The conflict has been rumbling on for a year with Malaga’s firemen still not back at work. The labour dispute over working conditions continues without any progress in negotiations according to the fire department. One spokesman said, “the summary of the year is that we have made zero progress.” The strike has caused a series of controversies over the year with a Malaga councillor condemning firemen in October for not taking part in new training courses while on strike. Councillor for Security, Mario Cortes, said the men had other ways of taking industrial action “without endangering the safety of residents.” He added, “how do you explain to the public who have asked for flood specialists for years that they will not attend the training sessions a month after the rainy season begins.” He claimed the firefighters had crossed “a red line they thought they would not cross,” adding unions should, “ask for reason. These are courses other cities want to join in on. Let’s hope they handle this so that the security of citizens in not affected.” A spokesman for the firemen hit back, however, saying, “we do not want to be criminalised. This is the only opportunity we have to strike without citizens being harmed.”

May

Third edition launched today after EWNMG takeover

THE RTN newspaper welcomes you to its first-ever edition specifically produced for the Costa del Sol. After firmly establishing itself over the last 18 years as a popular free weekly newspaper with two editions throughout the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol now also becomes part of our circulation, readership and advertising area. Just three short months ago the RTN brand, with a reputation throughout the Costa Blanca for community news, was taken over by Euro Weekly Media Group (EWNMG). Since then the RTN staff – under the leadership and direction of the bigger EWNMG with headquarters in Benalmadena and offices throughout southern Spain – has been laying the foundations to publish its own Costa del Sol edition. So today is an historic day for the RTN - with colleagues now also based on the Costa del Sol – as it looks forward to providing the same high quality local and regional news coverage, feature articles and more that it has built a reputation for on the Costa Blanca over so many years. With the added strength being provided by EWNMG management plus

its larger and more experienced support infrastructure, RTN is already benefitting from increased circulation, better distribution points and more local representatives. It’s no boast to say that advertising clients are already being offered a fuller, more rounded service, and now Costa del Sol based newspaper readers can look forward to experiencing exactly what RTN has only been able to offer Costa Blanca-based families previously. Michel and Steven Euesden, who head EWNMG and who have been involved at the highest level of newspaper publishing in southern Spain for almost 25 years, said “The launch of the RTN Costa del Sol issue further cements our ongoing expansion plans. Despite challenges throughout the global media industry, these are extremely exciting times for us all within EWNMG.” Meanwhile with the launch the RTN team looks forward to receiving feedback as well as hearing from anyone with local news, information on clubs, societies and general items of interest, including unusual local photographs.

Michel and Steven Euesden

May

Reaching the world

Malaga airport is flying high. by John Smith MALAGA Airport is becoming more globally friendly to travellers. With the choice of direct flights already in place to New York, now local international travellers are set to benefit from further new routings connecting the Costa del Sol´s own airport to key global flight hubs. From the end of this month travellers will be able fly directly to Tel Aviv from Mlaga in five hours with Israeli national carrier El Al introducing a new flight. While initially scheduled until the end of October, and expected to be used predominantly by Israeli tourists who flock to the Costa del Sol, the flights will additionally provide business travellers with an important new option, as well as national and locally based tourists seeking new holiday options.

In addition Qatar Airways’ is planning a new direct route between Malaga and Doha, the Qatari capital, starting in 12 months’ time. The carrier already services Madrid and Barcelona, but local travellers wishing to use the airline will in future be able to cut out lengthy connections. The Qatar flight plan will also be welcome to football fans hoping to attend the 2022 World Cup, set to take place in the Gulf state. With Qatar Airways huge global network, this will also give Costa del Sol travellers easier flight connections to the Far East including China, the Far East, as well as to Australia and South Africa. Malaga airport opened in 1919 and in the last 13 years has expanded immensely servicing more than 14 million passengers a year to around 60 different countries.

Important cruise day for Malaga by Staff Reporter Four major cruise ships and an estimated 10,500 passengers have recently visited the Costa del Sol’s capital. One of the giants of the Royal Caribbean fleet, the Freedom of the Seas, made its Malaga debut during the day after entering the Mediterranean for the first time after crossing the Atlantic. Until now, the impressive ship which carries 4,300

passengers and launched in 2006, has concentrated its cruising schedules around the Caribbean but for this summer it will be based in Barcelona and bringing its luxury and elegance to a new selection of cruisers. It will operate a series of week-long trips around the western Med before returning to Malaga in October and then back across the Atlantic for the winter holiday season. Paulino Plata, Malaga’s

May

port authority president, said that Malaga would see Royal Caribbean dock its ships 16 times during this calendar year, thus demonstrating that the city was an important ‘link point’ for the Atlantic-Mediterranean. Plata also expressed his pleasure at the anticipated increase of 48% in cruise passenger traffic for Malaga over the spring period after both tour operators Thomson and Pullmantur chose the location for their home port.

Science wiz

June

MIJAS is playing host to its first Science and Health Conference, organised by Anteneo Mijas. by Staff Reporter

The event, which saw the organisation collaborate with the council, Fundacion Descubre and the company Fun Science, will take place on 2, 3 and 4 June, under the name “AteneoConCiencia.” Fuensanta Lima, Councillor for Culture, commented, “once again the council is helping children learn about science through practical activities and conferences tailored for all.” She added the conference was the, “fruit of public initiatives and different organisations, and a great addition to the cultural programme already offered in the area.” The event will include children exhibitions, workshops and informative conferences on science and health. In the Cortijo Don Elias, there will also be an exhibition entitled ‘Crystals of life’, which will explore the history of crystals and their influence on daily life. Children will also enjoy workshops on microbiology and astrology, amongst others, which will be taught by Fun Science, a company specialising in interactive programs for children of all ages in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Director of Ateneo Mijas, Rocio Bautista, explained, “we have organised a three-day event…focused on adults and children, based mainly in Las Lagunas.” Participants will also enjoy workshops on health and nutrition, with conferences on future medicine. Ms Limas commented, “the council want to encourage all families to participate in the event, which we are sure will not disappoint.” Registration for the workshops is now open and can be done at www.ateneomijas.org

Persecuted girls June lead pride parade by Sally Underwood MARIA JIMENA RICO and Shaza Ismail, the two girls who were held in the Middle East over to their sexuality, have led Torremolinos’ gay pride parade. The event, which was also attended by Dana International; the first transsexual winner of Eurovision, highlights equality. The girls were chosen to lead the parade because their sexuality “almost cost them their freedom.” The young couple who were imprisoned in Turkey after fleeing homophobic oppression in Dubai, have also recently met with Albert Rivera, leader of the political party, Ciudadanos, to discuss women’s equality. The girls say they spoke with the senior politician as a “first step” towards highlighting the “struggle” for equality amongst the LGBT community “in many countries”. The women, who are 28 and 22, became embroiled in an internationally-covered ordeal after flying to Dubai to visit Shaza’s mother, who was supposedly sick. Once there, however, it became clear Miss Ismail’s Egyptian father wanted her to face

trial for her sexuality, which is punishable by death in Dubai. The couple fled to Georgia, where the man ambushed them and tore up their travel documents. Police intervened and took the girls to the Turkish border, where they crossed over. Turkish police soon intercepted them though, and imprisoned them on suspicion of terrorism without access to legal advice or phones. The Spanish Government became involved when Ms Rico’s family reported her missing after receiving voicemail saying she feared for her life. The authorities tracked the girls to a prison in Istanbul and quickly secured their release. The couple, who say they are “shattered” by their experience, are now engaged, planning on getting a dog, and have both been offered positions at the Funky Buddha Beach, a club in Marbella. They have continued to share details of their ordeal, however, which they say involved being “spat at” and questioned about their sex-life by police in Turkey. The couple say they now want to highlight persecution of homosexuality.

Science days: organisers celebrate the event’s launch

July

Fire it up!

Tradition marks summer start

by Jimmy Grayling The Costa del Sol will erupt in flames tonight (Friday) as municipalities up and down the coast celebrate the magical Saint John Bonfires [Hogueras de San Juan] festival.Coinciding with the summer solstice, the shortest night of the year, and rooted in ancient tradition, the event is among the most important in Spanish culture and should not be missed. It is normally held on the beach with raging bonfires rage and screaming fireworks, while revellers also light smaller fires of their own in permitted areas. In Malaga province, it is

also typical to burn cloth dolls known as Juas before leaping over the flames three times in order to cleanse the soul. At midnight, everyone runs to the sea to jump the first seven waves of the new day before taking the plunge to guarantee a year of health and good luck, thus combining the purifying elements of fire and water. Other traditions include washing the face in the sea, a river or natural spring for eternal beauty. Inland, locals may even remove their clothes and walk through dewy meadows to fulfil the water part of the

ritual. One custom peculiar to the Costa del Sol is said to have originated in Torremolinos. Participants, especially youngsters, write three wishes or requests to Saint John on a piece of paper which is then thrown into the fire. Some may also add undesirable aspects of their lives, such as vices, to be devoured by the flames. Whether on holiday or a long-term resident, tonight is the night to get involved in a truly memorable example of how the Spanish celebrate like no other European nation.

Pamela Anderson sets pulses racing by Staff Reporter THE stars were out in force for the opening of glitzy new beach club Playa Padre in Marbella. Guest of honour was former Baywatch star and philanthropist Pamela Anderson, who turned heads in a long nude gown. She was joined by Spanish actress and Marbella resident Maria Bravo, whose Global Gift charitable foundation is set to benefit from the party venue’s takings. After the two stars had snipped the red tape to officially open the venue, they posed for photos in front of the waiting press before Maria whipped out her smartphone for some impromptu selfies. Other celebs in attendance included ex-Made In Chelsea beauty Ashley James who played a guest DJ set alongside fellow TV personality Charlotte de Carle. The two 30-year-olds whipped up a party storm before Pamela relived her years on 90s hit series Baywatch by taking a dip in the Mediterranean while wearing her long gown.

June

The 49-year-old stunner certainly seemed to enjoy her evening in Marbella, which has set the stage for a star-studded summer in the glam capital of the Costa del Sol.

€264,000 investment in lifesaving fire equipment

High-tech: firefighters check out the new vehicle

July

by Sally Underwood BENALMADENA’S firefighters have been given a new, light-weight fire vehicle, capable of holding 1750 litres of water. The town’s Mayor, Victor Navas, explained, “it is the first vehicle that the town has acquired for our firefighters in 12 years, and has the latest advances in fire prevention and extinction.” He added, “since our arrival in government we have considered it essential to provide firefighters with the appropriate emergency equipment for their work, something which we hope will culminate in the construction of the new fire station.” Navasalso announced further investments will follow in the coming months with the acquisition of two new 4x4 vehicles. Commenting on the new vehicle, Javier Martin, Councillor

for Security, explained, “it is a light vehicle, ideal for use on urban streets.” He added the vehicle is equipped with the latest technology in fire-fighting, and works at low pressure. With this latest acquisition, the Benalmadena Fire Department’s mobile fleet now has three auto-pump vehicles, a stairlift, a salvage vehicle and two light vehicles for the

transport of personnel. This purchase is in addition to the recent incorporation of new fire extinguishing systems, “showing the council’s firm commitment to provide new technical equipment and boost the mobile fleet of both firefighters and local police,” according to the council.

€151,562 in housing aid RESIDENTS on the Costa del Sol are set to benefit from thousands of Euros in rent relief.

Girl power takes to the streets Augu

by Jemima Roberts

MIJAS COUNCIL has begun to receive suggested female names following a school campaign to increase the number of streets in the town named after women. Local women’s associations have been sending in proposals after the council decided to name all new roads after illustrious women following a project entitled Merezco una calle (I deserve a street), carried out by students at Mijas’ IES Cartima school, which found the number named after women is 42, compared to 178 named after men. The students carried out research of 220 road names and found that of the few streets named after women, a remarkable 60% took the name of saints rather than famous female figures. The town’s Councillor for Equality, Mari Carmen Carmona, met with Rosa Liarte, a teacher from IES Cartima, last month to discuss the campaign, commenting, “we found it very interesting because it shows it still takes so much for women to be noticed. The council want to prioritise equality which is why we wanted to get involved with the project Rosa has presented to us.” The campaign began in an Equality and Social Change class when students were dealing with the issue of “backdoor sexism.” Through their research

Velez Malaga’s Council, which gives away the second highest amount of housing aid in Malaga province, is offering up to €200 a month to help families pay their rent, or up to €500 for those who are “especially vulnerable and at risk of social alienation.” Applications, which can be submitted until July 15, will be considered from anyone on a limited income, or considered to be “vulnerable”. Those eligible “must be the leaseholder, or have the right to use the property, and be registered in the municipality.” Zoila Martin, Councillor for Social Services, explained those covered would include people “who were unemployed, disabled or dependent, as well as victims of domestic abuse or terrorism.” She added the council received 147 applications in 2016, 109 of which were accepted, and explained “all citizens of Velez Malaga have the right to a decent home.” Until July 28, the council will also be taking applications for assistance in adapting and improving the safety of houses for those over 65, or who have reduced mobility. Those interested in applying for funding can do so at the Community Social Services building on Calle Hojaleteros.

July

September

is returning home to Malaga with a new €6 million factory. by Juliana Marlow

THE new Cerveza Victoria plant in Malaga was inaugurated yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) following a whopping €6 million investment. The Damm group, who bought the brand back in 2011 from Heineken, gave local business representatives and politicians a first glimpse of the new factory on Avenida Velazquez and answered questions about the venture. Although Victoria Cerveza continued to be marketed as a Malagan beer, in 1994 the company changed site to Murcia when the original plant on the Guadalhorce estate closed. The Cerveza Victoria brand was originally founded by Ricardo and Luis Franquelo on September 8, 1928, coinciding with the day of Malaga’s public saint, and became one of the country’s most popular beers in the 60s. It seemed particularly symbolic that nearly 90 year later to the day, the beer’s production returned to its origins. The factory sits on an area of over 3,300 square metres and has the capacity to produce up to 30,000 litres of beer a day. Forty employees will work at the site across the four areas – fermentation, packaging, distribution and the museum. After twenty years, the beer’s famous slogan “Malagueña y Exquisita” (Exquisite and Malagan) makes sense once more.

Cracking one open at the new site

Mari Carmen Carmona and Ros Liarte pose in front of a road name they found the number of streets named after men was almost four time the amount named after women. Ms Liarte explained “the children questioned whether sexism still existed so I set out to analyse the streets of Cartama to see how many of them had a man's name and how many women, and when they saw the results, the children could not believe it.” Now both the students and their teacher are campaigning to the council, and have caught their attention after carrying out an analysis of Mijas’ roads. The council has now committed to using women’s names for any new roads built in the extension of Las Lagunas and are taking suggestions on the names of important female figures from students.

Photo Caption: Shutterstock

Local beer brings it home Cerveza Victoria

€70,000 shopping budget September

by Sally Underwood BENALMADENA’S Council is handing up thousands of Euros in aid to small businesses. Councillor Javier Carnero, Victor Navas, the mayor of Benalmadena, Víctor Navas, and the president of ACEB, Rosa María Gonzalez, have reported on the funding, which is hoped will imrprove the competitiveness of small businesses. The €2.3 million overall budget will help businesses fund vital investments, including signage, lighting, decking, air conditioning and CCTV systems. Councillor Carnero explained the move would bring a host of advantages, "such as increased sales and pedestrian traffic in the municipality, improvement of

the city centre, and creating a pleasant, safe and accessible environment for consumers and visitors to the municipality.” Javier Carnero also explained another fund for small businesses had been approved this month from which owners can request aid of up to €21,000 for projects involving digital modernisation and business expansion. The project has a budget of €3.9 million and is available until the end of 2018. The mayor of Benalmadena praised the Councillor for Commerce, Bernardo Jimenez, for his work, which he said, "has been essential and decisive.” He also explained the importance of this initiative, "thanks to which we can revitalise and modernise all the commercial spaces in the

historical centres of the municipality so they can compete with large areas." He added the town hall would always support small businesses, explaining, "we cannot forget that it is one of the main elements that energises our economy, as well as creating jobs.” He added, thanks to the funding, “we will be able to access subsidies lines for new technologies, energy efficiency, customer loyalty resources, management expenses, security, etc." There are currently 40 other areas eligible for the funding in Andalucia, of which eight are in Malaga province. Others are located in Alora, Ronda, Nerja, Malaga city, Antequera, Marbella and Cruz del Humilladero.

New HQ for EWN Media Group SPAIN’S leading English language newspaper publisher has a new home. Switching from a quiet area in Arroyo de la Miel, Benalmadena, to a busy street in Fuengirola, it is another clear sign that the EWN Media Group (EWNMG) is continuing to go from strength to strength. Since the start of this year the company has acquired two additional newspaper brands - the RTN Newspaper and Sol Times. Meanwhile the Euro Weekly News (EWN) won the accolade of being voted Best Free Publication at the 2017 Spanish Periodical Association Awards in Madrid. The EWNMG office relocation comes after the company outgrew its former

headquarters. But the foundation of family values throughout all group publications remains even though the team to produce ten weekly newspapers is ever-increasing in size. More than three quarters of a million people now read EWNMG newspapers every week and the team also produce Spain’s leading news websites in English with more than 700,000 page views a month (August 2017). These are figures backed by nationally respected sources from a company that can be fully trusted and now operating from state-of-the-art new premises with the future looking ever brighter.

Septem

ber

Carnero, Navas and Gonzalez: present the scheme

ON THE UP: The new EWNMG head office

€100,000 education boost WORKS to improve Arroyo de la Miel’s IES Cerros del Viento school have now finished. The town’s Mayor, Victor Navas, visited the school alongside Patricia Alba, a delegate from the Ministry for Education. Mayor Navas explained, “the Board has made an important investment effort in improving our educational infrastructure, as demonstrated by the nearly €100,000 invested last summer, and a future investment of €1 million in IES Arroyo de la Miel.” Councillor Alba added, “thanks to last summer’s investment, IES Cerros del Viento has a new classroom designed for the Baccalaureate of Arts.” The works, which were funded by the Ministry of Education, were completed over the summer holiday, increasing the school’s size and capacity. A space measuring 90 square metres previously used as a reception space was converted to create a classroom. An outside space measuring 150 square metres was also converted to be used as a classroom. Patricia Alba explained, “these two improvements are part of the more than 50 projects in terms of school infrastructure undertaken by the Ministry of Education in recent months and have meant an investment of more than €10 million.” At the IES Benalmadena space has also been remodelled to include two new class-

EDUCATION: Given the space it needs in Arroyo de la Miel

rooms, benefitting around 1,500 students. Both schools are bilingual and IES Cerro del Vientooffers a Bachelor of Science, as well as one in Humanities and Social Sciences and Arts and vocational training. Alba praised the effort made by the council “in maintaining, conserving and monitoring its educa-

Photo credit Pexels

by Jemima Roberts

October

tional spaces.” Mayor Navas explained investment from the Ministry for Education last year allowed Benaldadema Council to open specialist school, the Poeta Salvador Rueda school. He concluded, “taking advantage of this visit, we have again told the delegate about

the urgent need for a new institute in Benalmadena. The Town Hall continues to work to buy the plot in Retamar to make it available for the Board and create a new school, which we hope will be a reality in the academic year 2019/2020.”

National treasure 1,000 benefit December from tax help r e b ovem N

by Richard Johnson

Photo credit: Wikimedia

NATURAL WONDER: The Sierra de las Nieves

by Jimmy Grayling THE Sierra de las Nieves is likely to be declared a National Park after an 84-year wait. It comes after Spain’s Secretary of State for the Environment, Maria Garcia, addressed the issue in a Madrid press conference. The official said the Spanish Government “is convinced” that the area deserves to become a National Park due to its outstanding biodiversity, and that she intends a draft law to “reach the courts by the middle of next year.” She went on to express regret that the issue “dates back to 1934,” the year that Ronda Council first applied to elevate the park to a Natural Site of National Interest, a process that was shelved due to the outbreak of civil war in 1936. But the final decision cannot be made un-

til the Junta de Andalucia regional authority and Spanish National Parks body finish a technical report that they are working on together, although a “basic agreement” is already in place. The Sierra de las Nieves forms part of the Serrania de Ronda mountain range and its heart lies just over an hour’s drive inland from the Costa del Sol. Named after the snow which often covers the upper slopes in winter, its highest peak is the 1,919-metre La Torrecilla, while several rivers, including the Rio Verde which feeds the La Concepcion dam at Istan, rise in the park. The largely unspoiled 993-square-kilometre area was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1995 and is home to an enormous diversity of wildlife including a number of endangered plant and animal species.

FUENGIROLA COUNCIL has revealed it helped 1,000 residents pay their tax this year. Maria Hernandez, Councillor for Finance, explained the town offered financial aid and practical assistance to locals, making it one of the easiest municipalities to pay tax in. She added residents had been given the option to split payments, a solution used by many. Councillor Hernandez explained, the measure “has been very well received, since 776 taxpayers took it up in 2014, 884 in 2015, 840 in 2016 and 1,000 so far this year.” Up to 30 per cent off property tax (IBI), tractor tax and Environmental Waste Management fees are available providing residents fulfil various criteria, according to Hernandez. Fuengirola Council’s finances are looking in good shape, with its debt down by 75 per cent and the town hall is passing on its fortune to residents with funding for a community project of up to €1 million. Locals are being encouraged to put forward their ideas for how the money should be spent. The initiative, put forward by Mayor Ana Mula, is aimed at allowing residents greater control over how council money is spent. An online suggestion submission app has been created and all ideas will be analysed for their viability. Mayor Mula explained, "like I always say; My

Black days are good too There wasn’t much about 2017 that brought a feel good factor. I waited 12 months for mine, which I hope isn’t misby placed. Grinning broadly, I watched ecstatic Africans welcoming the first White farmer to return to the ranch Mugabe’s regime had ousted him from. Remember keyboardcosmetics@ Marxist Robert Mugabe, knighted by the gmail.com queen, slobbered over by politicians and mainstream media. The opinions One rose doesn’t make a summer but it published in Mike´s weekly column was cheering to see Zimbabwe President are not necessarily Mnangagwa show pragmatism and Forrepresentative of those eign Minister Sibusiso Moyo tell the West of the publishers, to butt out. advertisers or newspaper sponsors. Upon his return to his beloved Lesbury Farm, 71-year old Robert Smart punched the air as he was besieged by ecstatic Africans. The farmer brings with him a wealth of experience, the bank’s confidence; he returns hope, jobs and prosperity to the impoverished community. Darryn Smart, the farmer’s son said, “Words can’t describe the feeling. Getting back to the farm has given not just us, but the whole community hope that it is a new Zimbabwe, a new country.” Such jubilation won’t be lost on Zimbabwe’s new administration. One hopes it won’t be lost either on the Westminster canker and its media. Sold as a transition of power to Black rule it was nothing of the kind. Europe’s colonies were surrendered to globalist banking corporations by corrupt European politicians. The banking clique think waiters are farmers and restaurant tables are gar-

Michael Walsh

dens of plenty. This elite’s only interest is to squat toad-like on Africa’s vast mineral resources. As a consequence Africa today is poorer than ever, millions of Africans are uprooted and as many more starve. As in Zimbabwe, many Africans would welcome return to peaceful colonialism that enriched everyone. Hopefully, Zimbabwe’s realism won’t result in yet another Washington DC regime change. Is it too much to ask that the hapless anti-White South African regime, hopelessly mired in corruption, crime and poverty, might learn from the new Zimbabwean president? Regardless of ethnicity I remind all South Africans that separate development was not as black as fake news mainstream painted it to be. In 1972, South Africa’s non-Whites owned more vehicles than all the Black ruled nations put together. In 1988, the monthly income of Africans per capita was a comfortable R352pm, the highest in Africa. There is much more we don’t know because we are not supposed to know. Is there hope for 2018? Yes, the banking clique’s worst fears will be realised. Ousting the bankers, Russia and China will demonstrate how everyone can benefit from the resources of richest continent on earth. Sadly, to prevent that happening, NATO could get the war with Russia and China. Michael Walsh is author of Rhodesia’s Death Europe’s Funeral. Amazon.

best team is the residents themselves. And in that sense, we have put in place different tools that have allowed us to work as a team with the people of Fuengirola so that they can also send us their requests, their concerns, their complaints, ... and in short, that they participate as a team to improve our city.” Fuengirola Council last week announced it has reduced its debt by 75 per cent to €10.1 million. The amount has gone down considerably from the €42 million owed at the end of 2014. The town’s Mayor, Ana Mula, has said the council’s economic policies were responsible for the achievement, claiming they were “above all transparent.” She added, “I have a plan which is reflected in our yearly budgets and how we manage them. The approach is paying off.” Mayor Mula explained, “thanks to good economic management we even have the opportunity of running a surplus,” which allowed the council to pay off some of its loans.

Advertising feature

A bilingual lawyer who understands expatriates and Spanish law ANTONIO FLORES founded the Marbella based lawyers Lawbird 15 years ago and his practice works predominantly for English speaking clients. He was educated in the English system and is totally bilingual as are the majority of the company staff which includes a brother who is a partner in the firm and his sister who is an expert in immigration matters. Antonio qualified as a lawyer in Madrid and therefore is registered to practice in Spain but because of his unusual understanding and command of English, he has become a popular choice for English speaking clients who need to receive legal advice in Spain. The company specialises in litigation work particularly with regards to claims against banks where individuals lost their deposits which were lodged with builders and developers who may have gone into liquidation. Unless the money was placed in a protected account, the banks have been declared liable to refund the lost deposits and although they tend to try to fight any claims, in the long term,

Antonio expects to be able to win the majority of cases for his clients although patience will be necessary. Another area of interest for the company is the large number of mis-sold equity relief mortgages and 12 of his clients have recently recovered €6 million from a British company. It is alleged that a number of European companies wrongly advised many British and Irish nationals that they would save inheritance tax by taking a mortgage and then interest rates shot up and in some cases properties were claimed by the lenders, so Lawbird has been active in fighting foreclosures. Overall, the company offers a complete legal service to expatriates and can assist in any legal matter including obtaining NIE and Social Security numbers as well as setting up companies and dealing with house sales. Antonio Flores enjoys his work and understands the frustrations that some expats suffer with the slower way in which the Spanish system can work but with a foot in both camps, this qualified lawyer with two children and a love of cycling is

Founder and Director of Lawbird Antonio Flores able to navigate the sometimes difficult waters between the two mind sets. With an office in the heart of Marbella,

Government agrees to raise minimum wage SPANISH PRIME MINISTER Mariano Rajoy signed an agreement with unions and companies' representatives this week to raise the country's minimum wage. Spain's minimum wage would be raised by 4 per cent in 2018 to €736 per month from the current €707.60. The following year, it would be raised to €773, a 5 per cent increase and in 2020 the wage would stand at €850 per month, increasing by 10 per cent. These increases would be implemented if the country

experiences a real GDP growth of more than 2.5 per cent and the average amount of people affiliated to the social security system surpasses 450,000 people. Rajoy said that job creation "is and will continue to be the main goal of his term.” "We want economic recovery to reach everyone's household and all wages, especially the lowest and that is why we are going to improve them," he said. The Spanish government is expected to pass the increase at today’s cabinet meeting.

and an easy to navigate website, it is easy to learn more about the services offered by visiting www.lawbird.com.

Use it wisely!

SPAIN'S Christmas lottery has paid out some €200 million to tickets sold by a bar in a village in the north-western region of Galicia. The parish priest in San Juan de Alba urged the winners to use the money "wisely". The bar's owner said they were "humble and hard-working" people. El Gordo, the world's biggest Christmas lottery, has no single jackpot, with winnings distributed among thousands of people in a complex system. This year the prizes totalled €2.38 billion. Each ticket has a five-digit number, reprinted numerous times in so-called series, costing €200. Because of the price, they are divided into 10 subtickets or décimos, each costing €20. El Gordo, Spanish for "The Fat One", is a Christmas tradition. People traditionally chip in together, participating with friends, families or workmates. Some 130 series with the winning number 71198 were sold in Vilalba, a town of 15,000 people and annual budget of around €11 million. They will share a prize of some €520 million. Of those series, 55 were sold in the San Juan de Alba parish.

The way I see it… Shock? Horror? Confusion?

Harvey Mann The opinions published in Harvey’s weekly column are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or newspaper sponsors.

A Christmas present had arrived a few days earlier than expect for the Catalan region, after a snap election held in Barcelona had delivered a crushing blow to Mariano Rajoy and the Madrid government, or did it? The self-imposed exiled Carles Puigdemont leader of one of the three separatist parties of Catalonian, was the winner, or was he? just hours after the victory, or was it? He requested that Rajoy recalls the Spanish police from Cataluña, who had been policing the region previously to prevent voters from voting last October. The victory for the three secession parties together had deliver a crushing blow to Spanish President Mariano Rajoy, or had they? Rajoy had requested for a very large turnout at the polls, believing that this would give him a majority, this the voters did, with an 82% turn out, his gamble failed. The morning after the night before, many thousands of Catalans are still in a daze state, not necessarily from alcohol, but their hangover had come from a famous victory, or is it? delivered against the Madrid government that had in the past gone to violent extremes, metred out after Madrid claimed that the previous October voting to be illegal. With 99 percent of the votes counted the three secessionists parties had together had won 70 seats of the votes of the 135-seat assembly, this allows the separatists a chance to form a coalition regional government if they wished to. If they did, will they? it would be a massive blow to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Madrid government and a fresh headache for the E.U. I’m sorry for all the question marks placed against my earlier statements, but confusion seems to be the only winner of the election held in this North-

Western region. Spain most guaranteed life style is sunshine and Sangria, however in the past Spain has been divided by a different language, dialects, and politics, this division had even caused a civil war, The snap election called was held hopefully to resolve a constitutional crisis, just two months ago Madrid had given orders for the police and guada civil officers to use force if necessarily to stop Catalans from voting, now the vote has officially happened, has it brought an outcome that Madrid fears? If the three separatist’s parties form a coalition then they will have a majority in the assembly, but it will need more negotiations with Madrid who does not want Cataluña to become an Independent region, as they provide a huge amount of finance to an ailing Spanish government. The next question is? will Madrid allow Carles Puigdemont to return from Brussels without arresting him for sedition, this was the charge levelled at him, Puigdemont said “That he will not return to Spain owing to the charges by the Spanish government, I would be arrested”, the only way forward is dialogue, but will President Rajoy leave Spain to have talks with me, I don’t think so”, “this is a very bad result for Madrid”, the Pro-independence party had a much stronger resolve, but it will need plenty of talking and more negotiations”.

Will the Madrid government want this thorn in their side for ever? The next national Spanish elections are due to take place in 2020, so will they just allow that this regional election, will fester on until then. So, this fight is over, but the battle has not really begun for the separatists, will they ever get autonomy from Spain? It’s as clear as mud, your answer is Mariano Rajoy as good as mine.

Baby boom

MALAGA PROVINCE’S population is set to almost double in 20 years. By 2040 almost 30 per cent of residents will be aged over 65, twice the current amount, according to research carried out by experts. The province’s growth will counterbalance a population decline in other areas of Andalucia, including Jaen, Cordoba, Cadiz and Granada, meaning the number of people living in the region will remain the same over the next 20 years. Almeria is also expected to gain around 76,000 residents, while Seville and Huelva will gain around 5,000 and 7,000 each. In Malaga

Carles Puigdemont

province, the number of people aged between 16 and 65 is expected to decrease by 8 per cent, meaning a potential 90,000 fewer people in work. The number of people living in the province aged over 65 is expected to increase by 225,000, leading to fears over how pension bills will be funded in future. Life expectancy is also expected to increase with women born in the province in 2040 anticipated to live to 90 and men to 84. In addition, the number of over 80s will more than double by that time, while the number of children will decrease by 20 per cent.

Christmas party

MALAGA’S hospitals are preparing special Christmas menus for their patients. Hospitals Carlos Haya and Clinico will serve up lamb’s lettuce and arugula with pickled chicken and a monkfish medallion. On Christmas day, patients were served broth, veal in chestnut sauce, French fries and a pumpkin dessert. New Year’s Eve dinner will include mackerel salad, piquillo peppers, a seafood bisque, and turkey chops in orange and honey sauce. Doctors and nurses at the hospitals will dine with patients

and their families to celebrate. Last week it was announced Carlos Haya Hospital is doubling its capacity to deal with stroke victims. The move will mean fewer patients will be sent to Cordoba to be treated after the hospital’s stroke section increased from four to eight beds. Patients requiring a thrombectomy to remove a clot will now be able to be treated in Malaga in the evenings and weekends. So far the procedure- which can only take place within six hours of

a stroke- has only been carried out from Monday to Friday in the morning. Last year, 14 patients instead had to be treated in Cordoba owing to Carlos Haya’s limited treatment times. Two new doctors have now been hired at the hospital to add to the existing two specialists at the unit. The expanded section will open in the second half of January, benefiting around between 450 and 500 patients a year. The €60,000 project will see the unit fitted with the latest technology to monitor patients.

Nunca, nada, nadie Basic Spanish for everyday needs by

Jane Cronin

It’s time for another small digression away from verbs, just to let you know that there are other things to learn! Today we are going to learn three negative words, that is, the words that mean “never”, “no-one” and “nothing”. These are as follows: never is “nunca”, no-one is “nadie” and nothing is “nada”. Well that was easily done! However, as usual we need to look at them in a bit more detail because they are not used in exactly the same way in Spanish as they are in English. The first thing to realize is that in Spanish we can use a “double negative”. For example, in English it is incorrect to say something like “I don’t

nada

say nothing”, or “I don’t see no-one”. We got told off for these kinds of things as children and told that if you say “I didn’t say nothing”, that means you said something, because two negatives make a positive. Well, in Spanish this isn’t the case. We say “No digo nada” (I don’t say anything) and “No veo a nadie” (I don’t see anybody). This means that the words “anything”, “anybody” and in fact the word “any” itself in most cases have no real translation into Spanish. There are a few very common phrases that use this double negative. One is “no pasa nada” which we say as a response to an apology when we want to reassure someone that there isn’t

a problem. When someone is struggling to understand something which doesn’t make sense, you may hear them exclaim “No entiendo nada” – I don’t understand anything! The word “nunca” works in exactly the same way. “No voy nunca al cine” (I never go to the cinema), “no juego nunca al golf” (I never play golf). However, (the second big however in this article), if we change the word order round of our sentences and put the “nunca”, “nadie” or “nada” first, we end up with only one negative word again. For example – “Nunca voy al cine”, “Nunca juego al golf”. “No pasa nada” is more of a set phrase that doesn’t change in any way,

No veo a nadie

nunca jamás

nadie Nunca No digo nada

Here’s to the next one by

Colin Bird The opinions published in Colin’s weekly column are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or newspaper sponsors.

Another Christmas comes to an end, and a new year beckons. As the beggars carry on their daily vigils for a few tourist euros outside the Vatican City walls, some without limbs and all without hope, the Pope gives his Christmas blessings to the world and prays for world peace from the opulence of St Peter’s. And once again as in Christmases past, not a thing will change with the hate and killing continuing on an industrial scale. The extermination of the world’s wildlife will accelerate and significantly more percentage points will be added to the 58% loss since 1970, giving credence to the forecast of a 67% reduction by 2020. Talking will continue on the subject of climate change, with the self satisfied politicians patting themselves on the back for their wisdom and leadership, but effectively doing precious little to prepare us for the inevitable and irreversible changes that are rapidly coming about. The leaders of the world’s most influential nations range from power hungry megalomaniacs to brainless buffoons, with many others regarding their position as a ticket to rampant corruption. And with such a large proportion of the globe’s leadership portraying distinct strong sociopathic tendencies, it seems to have now become part of the job description. The farcical Brexit talks will continue, with the EU making their demands and Mrs May and her incompetent side-kicks cravenly surrendering concession after concession, and thereby making a nonsense of the word ‘negotiation’. The end result will almost certainly be a betrayal of the wishes of the majority of the British people as made clear on the 23rd June 2016.

Our beloved NHS, once the envy of the world, but no longer, will stagger on from crisis to crisis and will remain a political bone for the hounds of Westminster to fight over, with our social services continuing their nosedive into becoming a toothless force with vulnerable adults and children paying the price, often with their lives. But not to worry, because lessons will have been learned. The escalation of international terrorism, the poisoning of our seas and oceans and the insatiable demand for more, more, more from the citizens of the wealthiest nations will continue, and the influence of mega rich corporations and individuals will still hold sway over our lives. But where there is life, there is still a glimmer of hope. Perhaps some strong and intelligent leadership will emerge from the melee, and at last begin to put the world to rights. But I shan’t be holding my breath. Happy New Year.

although we could say “Nada pasa en este pueblo” (nothing happens in this village). When we put the negative word at the beginning of a sentence we do so for the sake of emphasis. “No voy al cine nunca” is simply a statement of fact, whereas “Nunca voy al cine” sounds more like a strong complaint or strong statement against visiting cinemas! There is another way of emphasizing the idea of “never” which would translate for us as “never ever” or “never more” and that is “nunca jamás”. Peter Pan, who you will remember lived (or lives, I beg your pardon) in Never Never Land, in Spanish lives in “El País de Nunca Jamás”.

Friday 29th December - Thursday 4th January

Pick of the Day

FRIDAY 7:00am 10:00am 11:25am 11:55am 1:15pm 1:45pm 2:00pm 2:10pm 2:55pm 3:25pm 4:50pm 5:20pm 6:45pm 7:30pm 7:45pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 10:10pm 10:15pm 12:40am

Breakfast Monsters vs Aliens The Farmer’s Llamas Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom Bargain Hunt BBC News BBC London News Father Brown Revolting Rhymes Up Room on the Broom Brave Pointless BBC News BBC London News Celebrity Mastermind Tim Vine Travels Through Time Christmas Special EastEnders Would I Lie to You? BBC News BBC London News Gone Girl Michael Mcintyre’s Big Christmas Show

8:35am 9:55am 10:55am 11:25am 11:55am 12:55pm 2:35pm 3:05pm 4:05pm 5:05pm 6:30pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 10:30pm 11:00pm 11:30pm

G-Force The Big Family Cooking Showdown Nadiya’s British Food Adventure Nadiya’s British Food Adventure Natural World Three Coins in the Fountain Nature’s Weirdest Events World’s Most Extraordinary Homes Inside the Factory The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel Thailand: Earth’s Tropical Paradise Christmas University Challenge 2017 Morecambe and Wise in Pieces Eric and Ernie’s Home Movies Vic and Bobs Big Night Out Live at the Apollo Frankie Boyle’s 2017 New World Order QI XL

7:00am 9:30am 10:25am 10:50am 12:45pm 1:45pm 1:55pm 2:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 7:45pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 11:50pm 12:10am

Good Morning Britain Lorraine Best Walks with a View with Julia Bradbury Everything or Nothing: The Untold Stories of 007 Bond Girls are Forever ITV Lunchtime News ITV News London Midsomer Murders Tenable Tipping Point The Chase Paul O’Grady: For The Love of Dogs ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ITV News Tina and Bobby

8:05am 9:50am 10:50am 11:20am 11:50am 12:15pm 2:20pm 4:40pm 5:45pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 1:05am

Black Nativity Lego Masters The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Hotel for Dogs Cutthroat Island Four Rooms with Sarah Beeny Channel 4 News The Simpsons The Simpsons Hollyoaks Travel Man Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Gogglebox 2017 I Give it a Year

7:00am

Childrens TV

10:00am

Arthur 2:

On the Rocks

12:10pm

Dirty Rotten

Scoundrels

2:20pm

Labyrinth

4:20pm

Look Who’s Talking

6:10pm

Footloose

8:00pm

Yorkshire:

A Year in the Wild

9:00pm

World’s Strongest Man

2017

10:00pm

Victoria Wood

by Her Friends

11:00pm

Victoria Wood Live

Birds of Paradise Pirate Fairy The Big Family Cooking Showdown Natural World Behind Closed Doors Mansfield Park World’s Most Extraordinary Homes Six Robots and Us All About Eve Talking Pictures Alice in Wonderland Dad’s Army Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs Feud: Bette and Joan Feud: Bette and Joan Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Absolutely Fashion

7:00am 10:25am 10:30am 12:25pm 2:15pm 2:30pm 3:30pm 5:25pm 7:10pm 7:20pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 11:40pm 12:00am

Childrens TV ITV News Saturday Morning with James Martin at Christmas Endeavour ITV News The Chase 3 Men and a Baby Despicable Me 2 ITV News London ITV News Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway Guess the Star Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 ITV News The Mask

6:15am

The Three Musketeers

7:00am

Childrens TV

8:05am

Bridge to Terabithia

11:50am

The African Queen

9:50am

Lego Masters

10:55am

The Simpsons

1:55pm

Greystoke: The Legend

11:25am

The Simpsons

of Tarzan,

11:50am

The Simpsons

Lord of the Apes

12:20pm

The Simpsons

4:30pm

Live Premiership Rugby

12:50pm

We’re Going on a

Bear Hunt

7:05pm

World’s Strongest Man

1:25pm

Born Silly

2017

1:50pm

Ever After

8:00pm

Blind Date

4:15pm

Pride and Prejudice

9:00pm

Greatest Celebrity

6:40pm

Channel 4 News

Wind-Ups Ever!

6:55pm

Crocodile Dundee II

9:00pm

The Price is Right

10:00pm

5 News Weekend

10:00pm

The Hunger Games:

10:05pm

Football on 5

Mockingjay - Part 1

11:15pm

Football on 5

Speed

11:45pm

How Magic Changed TV

7:00am 7:30am 8:00am 8:30am 9:00am 9:30am 10:00am 10:30am 11:00am 11:30am 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:30pm 4:30pm 5:00pm 5:30pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:30am

Futurama Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family David Attenborough’s Galapagos Hawaii Five-0 Fungus the Bogeyman Fungus the Bogeyman Modern Family Modern Family The Simpsons Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Modern Family Delicious Music Legends We Lost A League of Their Own

Gone Girl, 10.15pm, BBC1

7:00am 8:00am 8:30am 9:00am 9:30am 10:00am 10:30am 11:00am 12:30pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 4:00pm 6:15pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 1:45am

Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew Futurama Futurama Futurama Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Soccer A.M. Greatest Goals Funniest Moments Sky Sports Funniest Moments Gillette Soccer Saturday Gillette Soccer Saturday The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Football’s Funniest Moments A League of Their Own Minority Report Spielberg

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part One, 10pm, Channel 4

Saturday 7:00am 11:00am 12:30pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 2:15pm 3:50pm 5:10pm 6:30pm 6:40pm 6:50pm 7:20pm 8:10pm 9:00pm 11:10pm 11:30pm 12:55am

Breakfast Saturday Kitchen Nigel Slater’s New Year Suppers Football Focus BBC News 102 Dalmatians The Penguins of Madagascar Final Score BBC News BBC London News Celebrity Mastermind Pointless A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong Avengers: Age of Ultron BBC News Match of the Day The NFL Show

7:35am 8:35am 9:45am 10:45am 11:35am 12:35pm 2:20pm 3:20pm 4:20pm 6:35pm 7:20pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 10:45pm 11:30pm 1:40am

12:20am

NEW YEARS EVE 7:00am 9:00am 10:25am 11:55am 1:25pm 1:40pm 2:40pm 4:35pm 5:05pm 6:05pm 7:05pm 7:20pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:20pm 12:20am 12:55am

Breakfast Match of the Day Bolt The Croods BBC News Comic Relief 2017: ‘Twas the Thanks After Red Nose Day Bedknobs and Broomsticks Songs of Praise Top of the Pops Attenborough and the Giant Elephant BBC News BBC London News Celebrity Mastermind Countryfile Antiques Roadshow The Real Marigold on Tour BBC News The Graham Norton Show Nile Rodgers and Chic: Good Times 2017 New Year’s Eve Fireworks 2017

7:35am 8:35am 10:00am 11:00am 12:30pm 1:15pm 2:55pm 3:55pm 4:40pm 6:15pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 11:00pm 11:50pm 12:20am

Birds of Paradise Mars Needs Moms The Big Family Cooking Showdown Saturday Kitchen Best Bites The A to Z of TV Cooking Shall We Dance? Six Robots and Us Talking Pictures 84 Charing Cross Road Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Robot Wars Special Into the Woods: Stage to Screen Match of the Day 2 Live at the Apollo Jools’s Annual Hootenanny 2017

7:00am

Childrens TV

10:25am

Countrywise

10:50am

Casino Royale

1:25pm

ITV News

1:30pm

All Star Musicals

3:20pm

A Very Royal Wedding

4:30pm

A Right Royal Quiz

5:30pm

Victoria

7:25pm

ITV News London

7:35pm

ITV News

7:50pm

Cannonball!

8:50pm

Harry Potter and the

Deathly Hallows: Part 2

11:15pm

The Real Full Monty

12:45am

ITV News

6:45am 8:35am 9:00am 9:25am 10:30am 1:30pm 1:55pm 2:25pm 2:55pm 5:20pm 5:25pm 6:25pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 12:00am

The Four Musketeers Frasier Frasier F1: Grand Prix Sunday Brunch The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons We Bought a Zoo Channel 4 News Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast Britain’s Wildest Weather 2017 Amazing Spaces Snow and Ice Special The Crystal Maze Alan Carr’s New Year Specstacular 2017 Big Fat Quiz of the Year

7:00am 11:20am 12:25pm 1:00pm 1:55pm 3:55pm 4:55pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 9:50pm 10:00pm 10:55pm

Childrens TV Football on 5 Football on 5 Alaska: A Year in the Wild 3 Men and a Little Lady Groundhog Day 5 News Groundhog Day The Lego Movie Brick by Brick: The Lego Story World’s Strongest Man 2017 5 News Weekend Aviva Premiership Rugby Highlights All New: When TV Goes Horribly Wrong 2

7:00am 8:00am 8:30am 9:00am 9:30am 10:00am 10:30am 11:00am 11:30am 12:00pm 1:00pm 3:00pm 5:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:30pm 12:45am

The Hour of Power Futurama Futurama Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons WWE Raw Greatest Premier League Moments The Last Dragon Slayer Attenborough’s Natural History Live Modern Family Modern Family The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Carpool Karaoke Special Take That Live: Wonderland New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Jools's Annual Hootenanny 2017, 12.20am, BBC2

Pick of the Day

New Years Day 7:00am 10:00am 11:40am 11:55am 1:25pm 1:55pm 2:00pm 2:15pm 3:05pm 4:30pm 6:00pm 7:30pm 7:45pm 7:55pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 11:50pm 12:00am

Breakfast Cars 2 How to Train Your Dragon: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon Bedtime Stories The Highway Rat The Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Year Message BBC News A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong Shrek Forever After Blue Planet II Maleficent BBC News BBC London News Grandpa’s Great Escape EastEnders McMafia Mrs. Brown’s Boys BBC News BBC London News Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

7:25am 7:55am 9:15am 10:15am 11:15am 1:45pm 2:35pm 5:25pm 5:30pm 6:30pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 1:10am

Stick Man Frankenweenie The Big Family Cooking Showdown The Big Family Cooking Showdown New Year’s Day Concert Live From Vienna 2018 Natural World Dances with Wolves The Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Year Message Final Score Eric and Ernie’s Home Movies Great British Railway Journeys Reindeer Family and Me Only Connect Christmas University Challenge 2017 Sue Perkins and the Chimp Sanctuary Noah Frankie Boyle’s 2017 New World Order

7:00am

Childrens TV

7:05am

Jamie’s Cracking

10:25am

Cannonball!

Christmas

11:25am

You’ve Been Framed!

11:55am

50 Greatest

7:15am

Flash Gordon

Harry Potter Moments

9:15am

Thunderbirds

1:45pm

ITV News

11:05am

The Simpsons

2:00pm

ITV Racing:

11:35am

The Simpsons

Live from Cheltenham

12:05pm

The Simpsons

4:30pm

Charlie and the

12:35pm

The Cat in the Hat

Chocolate Factory

2:10pm

Hugo

6:45pm

Paul O’Grady:

4:35pm

Ice Age:

For The Love of Dogs

7:40pm

ITV News

The Meltdown

8:00pm

Emmerdale

6:20pm

Channel 4 News

8:30pm

Coronation Street

6:30pm

Mrs. Doubtfire

9:00pm

Spectre

8:40pm

The Great Festive

11:45pm

ITV News

Bake Off

12:05am

The Keith and Paddy

10:00pm

Pitch Perfect 2

Picture Show

12:15am

7:00am 7:30am 8:15am 9:00am 10:00am 12:00pm 1:00pm 1:05pm 2:45pm 3:15pm 4:15pm 5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm

Flog it! Trade Secrets Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman The A to Z of TV Cooking Celebrity Antiques Road Trip BBC Newsroom Live Westminster Abbey Coast The Wooden Horse The Wonder of Animals Operation Wild Penguins Spy in the Huddle Planet Earth II Flog It! Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track Christmas University Challenge 2017 Inside the Factory The Real T Rex with Chris Packham Inside No 9 Newsnight

7:00am 9:30am 10:25am 11:30am 1:30pm 2:30pm 2:55pm 3:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 11:40pm 12:10am

Good Morning Britain Lorraine The Jeremy Kyle Show This Morning Loose Women ITV Lunchtime News ITV News London Midsomer Murders Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale The Greatest TV Moments of All Time ITV News and Weather ITV News London The Keith and Paddy Picture Show Clueless

7:00am 7:20am 7:45am 8:10am 8:35am 9:00am 9:30am 10:00am 10:35am 11:05am 12:00pm 1:00pm 1:05pm 2:05pm 3:10pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am

7:00am

12:25pm

Oliver!

3:10pm

Mrs Caldicot’s

Cabbage War

5:20pm

The Hundred-Foot

Journey

7:30pm

World’s Strongest Man

2017

9:00pm

The Two Ronnies

11:00pm

Britain’s Greatest Ever

Double Acts

First Dates

1:50am

Football on 5

7:00am 7:30am 8:00am 8:30am 9:00am 11:00am 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:30pm 5:00pm 5:30pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 12:25am

Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas 3rd Rock from the Sun 3rd Rock from the Sun 3rd Rock from the Sun Everybody Loves Raymond Everybody Loves Raymond Frasier Frasier Frasier Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA Sun, Sea and Selling Houses Channel 4 News Couples Come Dine with Me Posh Pawn Countdown The Secret Life of the Zoo A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News The Secret Life of the Zoo 24 Hours in A and E Prince Naked Attraction

7:00am 10:40am 11:05am 12:45pm 1:40pm 1:45pm 2:40pm 4:15pm 6:00pm 6:35pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:30pm 12:30am

Childrens TV Cats Make You Laugh Out Loud Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return GPs: Behind Closed Doors 5 News Lunchtime The Hotel Inspector 10.0 Earthquake A Date to Die for 5 News Barging Loving Celebs 5 News Tonight Secrets of the National Trust with Alan Titchmarsh Diet Secrets and How to Lose Weight Celebrity Big Brother One Night with My Ex Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Side

7:00am 7:30am 8:00am 8:30am 9:00am 10:00am 11:00am 11:30am 12:00pm 12:30pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 5:30pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 1:30am

Childrens TV

10:25am On the Town

The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Last Dragon Slayer David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies Attenborough’s Flying Monsters The Bachelor King Modern Family Modern Family The Simpsons Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Best of the Late, Late Show Air Force One Football’s Funniest Moments

Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons Moonfleet Moonfleet Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Football’s Funniest Moments Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-0 NCIS: Los Angeles Modern Family Modern Family The Simpsons Futurama Futurama The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Harry Hill The Blacklist Trollied Sky Sports Funniest Moments The Force: North East

Spectre, 9pm, ITV1

Tuesday 7:00am 10:15am 11:00am 12:00pm 12:45pm 1:15pm 2:00pm 2:30pm 2:45pm 3:15pm 4:00pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 11:45pm 1:15am

Breakfast Rip Off Britain Homes Under the Hammer Wanted Down Under Close Calls: On Camera Bargain Hunt BBC News BBC London News Doctors Father Brown I Escaped to the Country The Farmers’ Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News BBC London News EastEnders Holby City McMafia BBC News BBC London News Match of the Day Stacey Dooley in the USA

Celebrity Big Brother, 10pm, Channel 5

Pick of the Day

WEDNESDAY 7:00am Breakfast 10:15am Rip Off Britain 11:00am Homes Under the Hammer 12:00pm Wanted Down Under 12:45pm Close Calls: On Camera 1:15pm Bargain Hunt 2:00pm BBC News 2:30pm BBC London News 2:45pm Doctors 3:15pm Father Brown 4:00pm I Escaped to the Country 4:45pm The Farmers’ Country Showdown 5:30pm Antiques Road Trip 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm Celebrity Mastermind 8:30pm A Question of Sport 9:00pm EastEnders 9:30pm Would I Lie to You? 10:00pm Miriam’s Big American Adventure 11:00pm BBC News 11:30pm BBC London News 11:45pm Pretty Woman

7:30am The Farmers’ Country Showdown 8:15am Antiques Road Trip 9:00am Fern Britton Meets... 10:00am BBC Newsroom Live 12:00pm Westminster Abbey 1:00pm Coast 1:10pm School for Scoundrels 2:45pm The Wonder of Animals 3:15pm Operation Wild 4:15pm Penguins - Spy in the Huddle 5:15pm Planet Earth II 6:15pm Flog It! 7:00pm Eggheads 7:30pm Great British Railway Journeys 8:00pm Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track 8:30pm Christmas University Challenge 2017 9:00pm Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good 9:30pm Trust Me, I’m a Doctor 10:00pm Rick Stein’s Road to Mexico 11:00pm Mock the Week 11:30pm Newsnight 12:15am Inside the Factory

7:00am Good Morning Britain 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30am This Morning 1:30pm Loose Women 2:30pm ITV Lunchtime News 2:55pm ITV News London 3:00pm Midsomer Murders 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV Evening News 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Coronation Street 9:00pm Tonight 9:30pm Coronation Street 10:00pm Girlfriends 11:00pm ITV News and Weather 11:30pm ITV News London 11:45pm Car Crash Britain Caught on Camera 12:40am Britain’s Busiest Airport Heathrow

8:10am 3rd Rock from the Sun 8:35am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:00am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:30am Frasier 10:00am Frasier 10:35am Frasier 11:05am Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA 12:00pm Sun, Sea and Selling Houses 1:00pm Channel 4 News 1:05pm Couples Come Dine with Me 2:05pm Posh Pawn 3:10pm Countdown 4:00pm The Secret Life of the Zoo 5:00pm A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 6:00pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 9:00pm Kirstie and Phil’s Love it or List it 10:00pm 20 Kids and Counting 11:00pm 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown 12:05am Miranda Does Christmas

7:00am Childrens TV 10:40am Primates of the Caribbean 12:10pm Pets Make You Laugh Out Loud 12:45pm GPs: Behind Closed Doors 1:35pm 5 News Lunchtime 1:40pm The Hotel Inspector 2:30pm A Father’s Denial 4:20pm Drew Peterson: Untouchable 6:00pm 5 News 6:35pm Barging Loving Celebs 7:30pm 5 News Tonight 8:00pm Starting Up, Starting Over 9:00pm GPs: Behind Closed Doors 10:00pm Celebrity Big Brother 11:00pm Marnie Simpson in Therapy 12:05am Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Side

7:30am Futurama 8:00am The Simpsons 10:00am Dogs: An Amazing Animal Family 11:00am Modern Family 11:30am Modern Family 12:00pm Modern Family 12:30pm Modern Family 1:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 2:00pm Hawaii Five-0 3:00pm Hawaii Five-0 4:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 5:00pm Modern Family 5:30pm Modern Family 6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Futurama 7:00pm Futurama 7:30pm The Simpsons 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm A League of Their Own 10:00pm A League of Their Own 11:00pm xXx2: The Next Level 1:00am The Force: North East

7:00am Good Morning Britain 9:30am Lorraine 10:25am The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30am This Morning 1:30pm Loose Women 2:30pm ITV Lunchtime News 2:55pm ITV News London 3:00pm Midsomer Murders 5:00pm Tipping Point 6:00pm The Chase 7:00pm ITV News London 7:30pm ITV Evening News 8:00pm Emmerdale 8:30pm Tonight 9:00pm Emmerdale 9:30pm Coronation Street 10:00pm Piers Morgan’s Life Stories 11:00pm ITV News and Weather 11:30pm ITV News London 11:45pm Great Art 12:45am Joanna Lumley’s Postcards

7:20am 3rd Rock from the Sun 8:35am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:00am Everybody Loves Raymond 9:30am Frasier 10:00am Frasier 10:35am Frasier 11:05am Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA 12:00pm Sun, Sea and Selling Houses 1:00pm Channel 4 News 1:05pm Couples Come Dine with Me 2:05pm Posh Pawn 3:10pm Countdown 4:00pm The Secret Life of the Zoo 5:00pm A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 6:00pm Come Dine with Me 7:00pm The Simpsons 7:30pm Hollyoaks 8:00pm Channel 4 News 9:00pm Food Unwrapped Diet Special 10:00pm Hunted 11:00pm Derry Girls 11:30pm 20 Kids and Counting 12:35am 24 Hours in A and E

7:00am Childrens TV 10:45am The Unbeatables 12:00pm Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 12:25pm Access 12:30pm GPs: Behind Closed Doors 1:30pm 5 News Lunchtime 1:35pm The Hotel Inspector 2:30pm The 19th Wife 4:20pm Deadly Stage Fright 6:00pm 5 News 6:35pm Barging Loving Celebs 7:30pm 5 News Tonight 8:00pm Baby Ballroom 9:00pm Big Family Values: More Kids Than Cash 10:00pm Celebrity Big Brother 11:00pm Celebrity 100% Hotter! 12:05am Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Side

7:30am Futurama 8:00am The Simpsons 10:00am Dogs: An Amazing Animal Family 11:00am Modern Family 11:30am Modern Family 12:00pm Modern Family 12:30pm Modern Family 1:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 2:00pm Hawaii Five-0 3:00pm Hawaii Five-0 4:00pm NCIS: Los Angeles 5:00pm Modern Family 5:30pm Modern Family 6:00pm The Simpsons 6:30pm Futurama 7:00pm Futurama 7:30pm The Simpsons 8:00pm The Simpsons 8:30pm The Simpsons 9:00pm Duck Quacks Don’t Echo 10:00pm A League of Their Own 11:00pm Delicious 12:00am Carpool Karaoke Special

Girlfriends, 10pm, ITV1

thursday 7:00am Breakfast 10:15am Rip Off Britain 11:00am Homes Under the Hammer 12:00pm Wanted Down Under 12:45pm Close Calls: On Camera 1:15pm Bargain Hunt 2:00pm BBC News 2:30pm BBC London News 2:45pm Doctors 3:15pm Father Brown 4:00pm I Escaped to the Country 4:45pm The Farmers’ Country Showdown 5:30pm Antiques Road Trip 6:15pm Pointless 7:00pm BBC News 7:30pm BBC London News 8:00pm Celebrity Mastermind 8:30pm EastEnders 9:00pm DIY SOS The Big Build 10:00pm Death in Paradise 11:00pm BBC News 11:30pm BBC London News 11:45pm Mrs. Brown’s Boys 12:15am New Tricks

7:30am The Farmers’ Country Showdown 8:15am Antiques Road Trip 9:00am MasterChef: The Professionals 10:00am BBC Newsroom Live 12:00pm Westminster Abbey 1:00pm Coast 1:10pm Lucky Jim 2:45pm The Wonder of Animals 3:15pm Operation Wild 4:15pm Penguins - Spy in the Huddle 5:15pm Planet Earth II 6:15pm Flog It! 7:00pm Eggheads 7:30pm Great British Railway Journeys 8:00pm Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track 8:30pm Christmas University Challenge 2017 9:00pm Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure 10:00pm A House Through Time 11:00pm Live at the Apollo 11:30pm Newsnight 12:15am Robot Wars Special

Realities and hopes “Isn’t the life of any person made up out of the telling of two tales, after all? People live in the space between the realities of their lives and the hopes they have for them. The whole world makes more sense if you remember that everyone has two lives, their real lives and their dreams; both stories are only a tape’s breadth apart from each other, impossibly divided, indivisibly close.” Every year, Robert’s family come together at a rambling old house to celebrate his birthday. Aunts, uncles, distant cousins - it has been a milestone in their lives for decades. But this year Robert doesn’t want to be reminded of what has happened since they last met - and neither, for quite different reasons, does his granddaughter Kate. Neither of them is sure they can face the party. But for both Robert and Kate, it may become the most important gathering of all. As lyrical and true to life as Norris’s critically acclaimed debut Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain, which won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, this is a compelling, emotional story of family, human frailty, and the marks that love leaves on us.

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Delicious, 11pm, Sky1

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this weeks weather FRI Dec 29

sat Dec 30

sun Dec 31

mon Jan 1

tue Jan 2

wed Jan 3

thu Jan 4

20º 10ºC

21º 10ºC

22º 9ºC

19º 8ºC

16º 7ºC

13º 7ºC

15º 5ºC

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Life

Popular local singer has two shows in Benalmadena THE ever popular Welsh local performer who thinks he’s Italian Ricky Lavazza is performing this Saturday and Sunday in Benalmadena. Both shows are at the Moonlight Club at the Sunset Beach Club and see Ricky performing with two different shows. On Saturday, its Rock and Roll time with the Memphis Trio playing some of the greatest numbers from the 50s and 60s which will be guaranteed to get everyone jiving. Tickets for this show are €15 per person, doors open at 8pm and the performance starts at 9pm. The following day sees Ricky performing some of the great love songs by artists such as Billy Fury, Bobby Vee and Connie Francis from the same era in his Dreamboats and Petticoats show. This event sees doors open at 7.30pm with the performance starting at 8.30pm and admission costs €12.50 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the Sunset Beach Club or www.lava-productions.rocks

10 tips to make your New Year’s resolution a success P38

Ricky Lavazza live at the Moonlight Club

The do’s and don’ts of Spanish gardening P40

Pre-war Alfoa Romeo to be the star of the auction P44

community news

The International Music Society ‘TIMS’

San Pedro artist tribute to St Nicholas AN artist from San Pedro has been inspired by the work of the Concordia charity for HIV/AIDS sufferers which raises funds with its annual St Nikolaus Gala. Salu Sanchez Mena, a 32-year-old painter and decorator is also an accomplished artist and produced a superb painting of St Nicholas which he has presented to the charity. All who have seen it have commented very positively about the strength of character shown and the depth of the image. Information on the work undertaken by the charity which covers from Estepona to Malaga can be viewed at http://www.concordiamarbella.com/. St Nicholas by Salu Sanchez Mena

The Christmas season of concerts of TIMS finished last Saturday with a Ecumenical service at Torre del Mar. Along with a German and a Spanish choir, a selection of traditional carols were performed, including Silent Night in three languages. Last week a concert was held in the Cultural Centre in La Cala, under the auspices of the Ayuntiamento of

Mijas. This has been an annual event for 25 years and was as well received as ever. There was also a full concert in the Danish Church in Fuengirola that had the audience demanding encores. Lastly, but not least, there was a concert for shoppers in the El Corte Ingles store in Fuengirola in aid of Cudeca the hosts charity which raised over 120 euros. All the

Water companies give generously to Food Bank HIDRALIA, Aguas de Benahavis and Aguas de Torremolinos donated over 1,250 kilograms of nonperishable foodstuffs to the Food Bank. Throughout the course of December, the companies participated in the Gran Recogida de Alimentos (Great Food Collection), organised nationally every year around Christmas time by Banco de Alimentos (Food Bank). Hidralia offices in Marbella, Estepona, Rincon de la Victoria and Manilva donated 941 kilograms, collected mainly by workers themselves and supporters who donated at their offices, together with a direct donation from the company. Anguas de Benihavis donated over 100 kilograms of food and Aguas de Torremolinos 210 kilograms.

concerts were conducted by the Musical Director - Margaret Williams. The Choir would always welcome new members, and anyone interested can get details at timschoir.org The choir would like to wish all its supporters on the Costa Del Sol a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Rock on!

'DEVILS IN THE SKY’, the Malaga rock’n’roll kids band formed of six children aged between 8 – 15 recently presented the music video for their first single ‘Something to say’, a collaboration with ‘O’funkillo’ vocalist Andreas Lutz, Devils in the Sky’s influences are the likes of ‘Black Sabbath’, ‘Iron Maiden’, ‘AC / DC’ and ‘System of a Down’ with Sara and Maria on vocals, Lluvia on bass, Blanca on

guitar, Julia on keyboard and guitar and Sergio on drums. ‘Something to say’ is about the scourge of school bullying. The song does not address the bully or the victim but instead addresses the rest of the students – those who see the bullying but are silent and do nothing to stop it. In the words of Lluvia: "We do not want to normalise bullying, we must talk." ‘Something to say’ will feature on Devil in the Sky’s upcoming EP ‘New Age’, out on February 23, 2018.

Upcoming Events of Concordia 2018 19 MAY 2018 Charity Golf Tournament Aloha Golf Club. Urb. Aloha Golf s/n Nueva Andalucía 29660 Marbella Donations are very welcome! 27 JULY 2018 Summer Gala of Concordia At Hotel Marbella Club. Limited Places. Reservation at Day Care Center. Tel: (+34) 952 78 59 97

Steven Saunders FMCGB The Little Geranium La Cala De Mijas www.thelittlegeranium.com

Masterchef Steven Saunders star of the hit TV Show Ready Steady Cook shares his 12 Top Tips for a perfect New Year’s Eve party at home!

LET’S be honest New Year’s Eve is usually a bit of an anti climax and that’s because of so much expectation. The best New Year’s that I can recall have been spent at home and we close The Little Geranium here in La Cala de Mijas and Marbella because we feel that NYE is generally over-priced and over rated. Guests shouldn’t have to pay a fortune for a good night out but as we are small we would have to charge a premium for so few tables (no one will sit on the terrace outside!) so we close. To make NYE really work we need you out of the kitchen and mingling with guests and family so keep it simple. Nothing wrong with a cold buffet of beautiful foods with warm breads and let everyone just help themselves and eat as little or as much as they want! Here are my Top 12 Tips for helping to make NYE a great success! 1. Do a BYO party and ask each guest to bring something for the buffet table that they would love to eat but know what they are bringing so that you can fill in any gaps. 2. It’s ok to buy in some ready-made nibbly things (like mini spring rolls, fried mozzarella sticks, nuts and crisps) for NYE but keep the

core buffet as fresh as possible. 3. We are lucky to have excellent fish here on the Costa del Sol so I always put a focus of fresh fish as the grand centre piece like cooked lobsters, king prawns (Mercadona have two kilos of frozen giant prawns at €21.90.) Poached salmon or cured salmon blinis ( recipe below) maybe a seafood salad with cold mussels, crab, smoked salmon, and lots of dips like marie rose, garlic mayo, some mustards sweet chilli sauce etc. (You can buy whole frozen cooked lobsters for about €10 in most supermarkets) 4. I always have a simple cold meat section on the buffet with rolled horseradish and garlic spiced and roasted whole fillet of beef or you can use rib eye and some pates and terrines. Keep away from Turkey! 5. Guests should bring some wine too but specify what you need. There is no point of everyone bringing champagne and then you don’t have any red wine for example. Nothing nicer than some mulled wine on a cold night when guests arrive or a glass of pomegranate cava. Have plenty of Champagne or Cava cold ready to pop at midnight. 6. Have some veggie things on the buffet, like a simple feta and asparagus salad, good

cheeses and a vegan salad like Christmas Quinoa salad is really delicious. 7. A masked or fancy dress party with masks and wigs always adds fun and is traditional in Madrid in the Plaza. 8. Organise a New Year’s Eve playlist that includes some of everyone’s oldie favourites and Auld Lang Syne at midnight. “Auld Lang Syne” is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world, its traditional use being to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight. Remember to organize to be able to hear the clock chimes at 12 through the TV or radio but Spanish chimes NOT UK as they are one hour behind us! Spanish tradition is to play Latin inspired music after the clocks chime. 9. Eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve is both a tradition and a superstition in Spain. Rare is the Spaniard who will risk poisoning their fate for the coming year by skipping the grapes, one for each stroke of midnight. Keep the tradition going by buying lots of grapes! 10. Organise some party games. Good ones are always Who am I? Using post it stickies

Mr and Mrs game always gets giggles and I love a Karaoke! 11. Use up some of the Christmas leftovers like mince pies, xmas cake and xmas pudding on the buffet. A homemade trifle alongside that lot would be more than enough to wow the guests. 12. In Spain the tradition is to eat sweets like Turron made from egg white sugar and almonds, you can see at piled high at every supermarket inspired by the Moors. Also Rosca de Reyes (King Cake) is the Three Kings bread cake made from cinnamon dough and candied fruits which is traditionally eaten on January 6 to celebrate the arrival of the three kings. An old tradition is to bury a figurine of the Christ child in the cake and whoever gets it is blessed! I think it would be nice to include this cake onto your buffet and you see examples in supermarkets.

Happy New Year everyone! Love and best wishes

Steven Saunders FMCGB

www.thelittlegeranium.com

steven@thelittlegeranium.com

Gin & Tonic marinated Salmon blinis You will need to organize to cure the salmon as you are reading this! It ideally needs two days in the cure, it is absolutely delicious and once cured easy to serve which is key to NYE food. Recipe for one whole Salmon (two sides) Buy a whole salmon from any fishmonger and ask for it to be filleted into two fillets. It should cost around €22 and no more than about €25 so it’s reasonable as we are getting a lot of portions from it. Once you have the salmon sides trim down the sides and remove some of the obvious fatty pieces and you will need to pin bone the fish with tweezers ensuring there are no bones. Leave the skin on. Now measure out one tea cup of white sugar and two thirds of a cup of cooking salt. Top the space in the salt cup up with more sugar and then mix the two cups thoroughly together in a bowl so

that effectively you have a cure with approx. 60 per cent sugar and 40per cent salt which will mean that the salmon will not be too salty when cured. Place the two prepared sides of salmon on cling film skin down so that you see the flesh. Now pack the salt/sugar mix onto the flesh neatly covering every little piece of pink flesh. You will have noticed that the fresh salmon was rather wet and watery, the cure will de hydrate the salmon removing that water and adding flavour. The end result will be a smaller side of salmon (it shrinks) tighter flesh and a deep dark colour. This will take 48 hours or two days in the fridge. After this time wash off all the salt and sugar and put the two sides of Salmon this time skin side upwards in a deep tray and pour in gin and follow with tonic and some slices of lemon. Leave the fish in this marinade for at least four hours. You can do this on NYE afternoon.

Now remove salmon and coat with herby breadcrumbs (optional) it’s now ready to slice and serve!

Gin & Tonic Salmon Blini

To make the Blinis There are loads of different blini recipes but the truth is that the dish tastes better with a simple blini rather than one made with buckwheat flour or spelt flour, so I use plain flour. 200g Plain Flour 2 eggs 300 ml milk 50g butter 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of slat Sunflower oil Juice of 1 lemon Small bunch chives chopped Make the blinis as if you were making pancakes but separate the yolks and whites and beat the whites in a separate bowl. Whisking the egg yolks with a little salt in one

bowl and then add the milk and the sifted flour bit by bit and sift in the baking powder. Finally fold in the whisked whites. Add a squeeze of lemon and the finely chopped chives. Always taste the raw mix for seasoning and flavor In a hot non stick frying pan add a little sunflower oil and now add a small ladle of blini mix about ½ cm thick and allow it to colour and rise

a little. Flip over and colour other side. Repeat. When you have made all the pancakes cut small rounds approx. 4 cm with a metal cutter. Warm the blinis to serve. Pre slice the salmon and serve with a stack of the warm blinis and some shots of good gin flavoured with fresh lime juice to get the party swinging! Also nice is some soured cream and Avruga caviar served separately.

Steven Saunders FMCGB, The Little Geranium www.thelittlegeranium.com steven@thelittlegeranium.com

Puzzles Code Breaker

Mercury takes a commanding position to ensure that the year begins with all levels of communication ready and awaiting your further instructions. With Mars currently in cahoots this brings the opportunity for you to start as you mean to continue and brings balance to your current situation in more ways than you can imagine.

Word Pyramid

Word Wheel There is 1x11 letter word and 105 others! Make as many 3 or more letter words as you can using any letter combination just once and you must use the central letter in every word!

Where there has been conflict see peace and resolve as the actions of Uranus bring you the ability to see things in a new light. Much that has happened has served to test you but this has taken you beyond the realm of forgiveness, and as such assisted in closing your eyes on something you will now take on board.

Actions of Mars see you seeing the light, and putting two and two together. The past weeks have brought about a lot of soul searching, but you must know that your integrity is balanced with your ego, and that now things can really get off the ground. Expect a busy year; be true to yourself and all whom you really love. Mars is backing you, and whilst the conflict now is within you, in this your most indecisive phase, good can come from even your most negative thoughts. Empowered and willing use this inner energy to make a start on just what it is that turns you on right now. You are reluctant to commit, but the timing is spot on. Saturn is en route to bring sage wisdom to you before you give up on something. There is a need to make amends, and to see the challenge that is developing. Nobody is saying what you are about to do is easy, but you have to rely on your gut instincts and sheer determination if all is to work with you the way it could. Mars balances nicely with Virgo, just at a time when you are feeling it is time for a change. Beware of a simple request which sees you taking on more than you can handle at the moment, and know that you are protected by your faith and devotions at this time. Go the extra mile because a sign from you is what’s needed. Mercury knows that you have written a message in your heart, and encourages you to pass this on to those who really do need to hear it. There has been a catalogue of excuses and delays, but facing facts is what you are all about, and what needs to happen right now. Things won’t be as bad as you think. You are about to be rewarded for a job done well. It took courage and foresight to be able to do what you did, and though you expected no thanks there are so many people who have been touched by your need for transparency and resolve. Only one thing remains, and that’s to walk away with your head held high. Venus forms a strong bond as you balance Virgo and Mars in conjunction this week. With love in your heart, and a strong intention to let bygones be bygones and to move on, you now have the right recipe for the future. Not all will take what you have on offer, but you can’t please them, and you must think of yourself. You attract so many people to your side with your mystical energies and your superior spiritual strength. This year ahead is all about change, and though there is nothing you would want to change for yourself, use your abilities to attract those around you who will help you in your journey and they will show you your destiny; as it is calling.

M N B O T

Start at a letter and spell out a 10-letter word by moving to adjacent letters. Each letter will be used at least once, but no letter will be used twice in a row.

Venus enters into Neptune bringing love around you on all different levels. Honest and truth seeking Neptune demands answers to the questions you dare not even ask your self. The Goddess of Love herself helps you to open your eyes, see what you are missing, and to, above all, give her blessing to open your heart.

Be methodical in your approach, and just let sleeping dogs lie for a while as you make decisions based on your own instincts and not the gossip spread by others. Some say that you have made your bed and now you have to lie on it, but this is the chance you have been waiting for, don’t lose any part of it.

Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 15 represents R and 24 represents Z. Now using your knowledge of the English language work out which letters should go in the missing squares. As you discover the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and the control grid.

Kenny’s Postbag Kenny what are your resolutions this Year ahead? Wenke H.

WORD fit

Using just logic, can you make all the words fit correctly into the grid?

Well, Wenke! I have great hopes for the year ahead and all that it may bring both myself and those that I love and care for, and each one of you, dear readers. I never set unrealistic resolutions because they just don't last. Though they sound wonderful at the start of another year, they are only a reflection of what I would like to happen. This year is different, I want to make things happen and so I know, personally that I have work to do, and I am unafaid to do it! 2018 here we come!

Don't forget to email or message me with your Postbag Questions!. Check out my new website: www.kennycorris.net

For Birthday Celebrants Inspiring energies are working with an open and free

Cosmos in this peaceful and tranquil start to the cal-

endar Year. Keep your eyes open because you are about to be shown the way forward, and how to use your inner energies in pursuit!

5 letter words ADAPT ADEPT CAMEL CRAMP CUPID LINER NAIVE NERVE NOISE QUEST REACT TENSE

6 letter words

7 letter words

EDITOR

ABSENCE

EVENTS

COMFORT

QUAINT SCORER SIESTA STICKY

CYCLIST ENSURED IGNORED PAINTED POPCORN RAPIDLY SCIENCE TORRENT

More Puzzles

Cryptic

ACROSS 1 One or two dairy products (10) 7 Trouble in Naples is not hurting (8) 8 Man in formal evening wear (4) 9 Pickpockets? Detective inspector has second thoughts (4) 10 VIP’s sea trip producing no reaction (7) 12 Money for guardian appointed by court? (5,6) 14 Take this if put out (7) 16 Goddess appearing in this island (4) 19 Scottish leader with horse problem (4) 20 Sermon translated by an old Scandinavian (8) 21 Fly from coloured container (10) DOWN 1 Meals provided for governors? (5) 2 It brings a guy down to earth (4-3) 3 Need to cultivate first garden (4) 4 Tin makes alloy wrong (8) 5 Sugar plums, perhaps? (5) 6 Bird beginning to peck sweetheart (6) 11 Refinement, for example, in eastern weapon (8) 12 Regret having broken mantle (6) 13 Sweet, with hair swept up? (7) 15 Majestic beer brought up (5) 17 Range of notes in Tosca, Les Miserables, etc. (5) 18 Members of an industrious group of musicians (4)

Word Ladder

Can you by changing 1 letter at a time, get from the first word to the last word in the given number of moves?

foods 1 2 3 4

pound Soduku

Quick

Futoshiki

The purpose of the game is to discover the digits hidden inside the board’s cells; each cell is filled with a digit between 1 and 6. On each row and column each digit appears exactly once; therefore, when revealed, the digits of the board form a so-called Latin square. The board may also contain some inequalities between the board cells; these inequalities must be respected and can be used as clues in order to discover the remaining hidden digits. ie > is greater than and < is less than.

Fill the grid so every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9

Quiz 1 What in the world is at Zero Degrees Latitude and Zero Degrees Longitude: North Pole, South Pole; NATO HQ; or A weather observation buoy? 2 The first most popular book of seven from CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56) is The Lion, The Witch and the: Table; Armchair; Bed; or Wardrobe? 3 Under normal Earth sea-level conditions water boils at how many degrees centigrade: Zero; 32; 100; or 212? 4 The term ‘histrionics’, referring to excessive emotion, is Latin ‘histrion’, meaning: Historian; Politician; Acrobat; or Actor? 5 Kangchenjunga, Nanda Devi, and Kamet are the three (What? of Where? - two answers required): First rulers; Highest mountains; Top security prisons; India; Australia; or Game of Thrones? 6 Spell the word for a type of neck pendant: Medalian; Medallian; Medalion; or Medallion? 7 A spoken error, considered perhaps more truthful than the intended word(s), is called a ‘(What?) slip’: Jungian; Freudian; Dickensian; or Shakespearian? 8 Dr Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), author of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, is most famous in what literary genre: Crime/thrillers; Chick lit; Horror; or Children’s? 9 Roughly what is the volume of a ball 10 inches wide (in cubic inches): 105; 162; 524; or 2,500? 524 10 The name of which famous island borough, also a cocktail and Woody Allen film, derives from Lenape Native American Indian, land owners until Dutch settler acquisition, 1626?

ACROSS 1 Badger’s burrow (4) 3 Hindrance (8) 9 First book of the Bible (7) 10 Passenger ship (5) 11 Short-legged dog (5) 12 Tinned (6) 14 Pact (6) 16 Grown-ups (6) 19 Not moving (6) 21 Unit of weight for gems (5) 24 Name of eight English kings (5) 25 Bureaucratic procedures (3,4) 26 Flute player (8) 27 Isle of Wight resort (4)

DOWN 1 Wisdom (8) 2 Male singing voice (5) 4 Cut in two (6) 5 Sharp hooked claw (5) 6 Hide (7) 7 Nobleman (4) 8 Aid (6) 13 So to speak (2,2,4) 15 Baltic country (7) 17 Period of ten years (6) 18 Nuts from an oak (6) 20 Romantic assignation (5) 22 Prepared (5) 23 Gordon Ramsay, for example (4)

Last Weeks Solutions on page 43

health Steam your skin at home

CLOGGED PORES are one of the top contributing factors to acne breakouts, no matter what your age is. One of the best ways to cleanse your pores is by giving them a steam bath. Steaming your skin is like taking a bath that cleans from the inside out. Steam cleanses your pores by causing you to sweat, which opens the pores and helps push any dirt and debris out.

1. Pull your hair away from your face with a hair tie or headband. 2. Wash your face with a mild cleanser and rinse well. 3. Put five cups of distilled water into a large pot and bring to a boil. 4. Transfer the hot water to a large glass bowl, making sure that the bowl is set securely on a table. 5. Sit so that you can comfortably place your face over the bowl of steaming hot water. 6. Drape a towel over your head so that you make a tent over you and the bowl of water. If at any point you feel the steam is too hot on your skin, move your face farther away from the water. 7. Stay over the steam for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the steam cools. 8. Wash your face with the cleanser of your choice, then rinse three to five times with lukewarm water. 9. Place some astringent or vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over your face. The astringent helps remove debris and cleanses the pores. Rinse the astringent with lukewarm water, then make your final facial rinse with cool water. Pat your skin dry with a clean towel.

10 tips to make your New Year's resolution a success Many of us will make a healthy New Year's resolution – maybe to lose weight, quit smoking or drink less – but what's the best way to stick to it? Psychologists have found we're more likely to succeed if we break our resolution into smaller goals that are specific, measurable and time-based. Top 10 goal-setting tips 1. Make only one resolution. Your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour. 2. Don't wait until New Year's Eve to choose your resolution. Take some time out a few days before and think

about what you want to achieve. 3. Avoid previous resolutions. Deciding to revisit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment. 4. Don't run with the crowd and go with the usual resolutions. Instead think about what you really want out of life. 5. Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating subgoals that are concrete, measurable and time-based. 6. Tell your friends and family about your goals. You're more likely to get support and want to avoid failure.

7. To stay motivated, make a checklist of how achieving your resolution will help you. 8. Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, which will help to motivate you and give you a sense of progress. 9. Make your plans and progress concrete by keeping a handwritten journal, completing a computer spreadsheet or covering a notice board with graphs or pictures. 10. Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary setback rather than a reason to give up altogether.

Keep taking away... BE honest, we’ve all done it. Out for a few pints with the lads and then there’s that urge for a late-night takeaway. Even in Spain, the number of tempting outlets is increasing and while takeaways are often cheap, convenient and satisfying, unfortunately, they're not always very healthy and can lead to a variety of health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. The law now insists that food outlets now list calories on their menus, which lets you make a healthier choice. Fish and chips There are lots of ways to make your trip to the chippy a healthier one. Have a portion of baked beans or mushy peas with your fish and chips. The thicker the chips the better, because they absorb less fat. Ask for your fish and chips without salt – if you want some salt, add a small amount yourself. Fish and chips that are cooked in oil at the

right temperature taste better and absorb less fat. So watch out for soggy batter and chips, because this is often a sign that the oil wasn't hot enough. Italian If you're having pizza, choose lower-fat toppings, such as vegetables, ham, fish and prawns, and don't ask for extra cheese! With pasta dishes, if you want a lowerfat option go for a sauce that's based on tomatoes or vegetables, rather than cream. Chinese Anything that’s battered or marked as "crispy" on the menu means it’s deep-fried. Watch out for starters such as prawn crackers and spring rolls, because these are generally deep-fried. Anything in batter will be high in fat. Sweet and sour pork is usually battered. Indian Try to avoid anything that’s creamy or

health

St. John‘s wort Natural relief from stress and mild depression St. John‘s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.), with its yellow flowers, can be found not only in all of Europe, but also in large parts of Asia, America and Australia. The leaves have distinc¬tive dark green dots, which are in fact tiny little containers of the red active agent hypericin. For a long time people thought it was the main ingredient, but nowadays it is known that it is the combination of the many different ingredients, acting together as a whole, that give it its synergetic effect. Quite recently, it has been discovered that St. John‘s Wort stimulates the pineal gland. Me¬latonin, a highly active hormone produced by this gland, influences and regulates our nerves and hormone production and plays an important role in our organism. St. John‘s Wort has a stabilizing

and strengthening effect on the body when it is under nerv¬ous or mental strain. The effects of stress are lessened. It regulates and strengthens the func¬tions of the nervous system and has a favorable effect in cases of nervous strain and light depression. On the one hand St. John‘s Wort relaxes, on the other, it has a stimulating effect; it lessens tiredness, but does not reduce energy and the ability to react. Hence, strained nerves can be balanced and strengthened in harmony with nature and our environment. To achieve the full strengthening effect on the nerves, it is

recommended that it be taken over a prolonged period of time. The effects build up slowly, appearing within two to three weeks. While taking this St. John’s Wort, intensive UV-radiation should be avoided.

Ginger on the skin can increase skin's radiance and decrease inflammation that may contribute to conditions such as psoriasis and acne. Ginger is an antioxidant, which means it inhibits harmful free radicals that cause skin damage and aging. People can experience the benefits of ginger on the skin by eating ginger in foods, drinking ginger tea, consuming ginger supplements or using a ginger-infused skin care product. Improve Skin Tone Ginger's antioxidant, gingerol, not only fights skindamaging free radicals, but also promotes smoothness and evenness in skin tone. Blue ginger from Madagascar is a type of ginger that is a particularly potent antioxidant. Lighten Age Spots Ginger also has the ability to lighten age spots while acting as an energy-booster in aromatherapy spa treatments. Because ginger is energizing and is believed to improved circulation, it is often used in cellulite-reducing treatments. Fight Blemishes Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, which makes it a natural acne fighting ingredient. Ginger is also an antiseptic, which means it is effective in killing the bacteria that causes acne.

Chipped nail polish.... no problem Here is a two-minute fix that will hide chips in your nail polish without having to start a whole new manicure from the beginning. The trick? A glitter topcoat. Just paint it on right over your chipped polish for a perfect quick fix.

but in moderation

deep-fried. To reduce the amount of fat in your meal, choose dishes with tomato-based sauces, such as tandoori and madras, plain rice or chapatti. Also choose plenty of vegetables, including lentil side dishes (known as dhal).

Ginger packs all the beauty benefits

Kebab and burgers Doner kebabs can be high in fat. For a healthier option, go for a shish kebab, which is a skewer with whole cuts of meat or fish and usually grilled.

home & garden

Protect plants from frost Cover plants before nightfall Covers don’t have to be elaborate or expensive in order to work. A row of sticks with newspaper, cardboard or sheets and towels tented over them will do just fine. If you don’t have sticks, lay the covers directly over your plants. This too will prevent heat loss. If you’re going to cover up your plants before a hard frost, do so before dusk. If you wait until darkness falls, most of the stored heat in your garden will have dissipated. No matter what type of cover you use, make sure that it extends down to the soil on each side. In the morning, after the frost has thawed, remove the covers. Warm plants with water jugs Fill plastic milk jugs with water and place them in the sun, allowing them to soak up heat during the day. Before dusk, set the jugs around your plants and throw a cover over them. The water in the jugs will lose heat more slowly than the soil and the air and the warmth it emits will keep your plants warm. Water before a frost It may sound crazy, but watering around plants the night before a spring frost can protect them from freezing. During the night, the wet soil will release moisture into the air, which will raise the temperature and keep plants warmer. Cover plants with cloches Strictly speaking, cloches are removable glass or plastic covers that protect plants from cold. Sometimes called bells or bell jars, most fit over individual plants, but some are large enough to cover a row. Glass cloches are highly ornamental. When you’re not using them outside for frost protection, you can use them indoors over humidity-loving houseplants like violets. Plastic cloches are generally less expensive than glass ones.

Because they are lightweight, they must be staked into the ground to prevent them from blowing away in high winds. Like other covers, cloches should be placed over plants before the sun goes down and removed in the morning after the frost has thawed. Place plants in frost-resistant spots It’s as true for plants as it is for property: location, location, location. Set out seedlings and store-bought spring plants in areas that are less likely to experience damaging cold. As cold air moves to lower ground, it will pass by plants located on high ground or slopes. That’s why it’s best to place seedlings and other plants that are susceptible to frost in these locations. Shrubbery also provides protection from light frosts. Placing plants by walls and fences can provide additional protection, particularly if the structures are dark in colour. During the day, the structures absorb heat. Throughout the night, they radiate it, keeping plants warmer than they’d otherwise be. Avoid frost pockets Frost pockets are depressions in the ground. Cold air drains into these “pockets,” and it can’t get out. When this happens, plants located in the depressed areas can suffer frost damage. Avoid sowing seeds and bedding new plants in these low places. Harden off seedlings Before setting out seedlings, acclimate them to the outdoors by gradually exposing them to conditions outside. This process, called hardening off, will help you grow stronger plants that are more likely to withstand the vicissitudes of early spring. Begin the hardening off process about 14 days before transplanting. When the weather’s mild, place the seedlings

outside during the day in a warm, shady spot that’s protected from the wind. At night, bring them indoors. After two weeks, the seedlings will be stronger, sturdier plants, ready for transplanting. Protect potted plants When frost is predicted, bring planters and hanging baskets inside. The roots of potted plants experience more severe temperature fluctuations than those planted in the ground. They’ll reach lower temperatures, too. That’s why potted plants are especially susceptible to root damage due to cold. It can cause their roots, particularly those near the edge of the pot, to turn spongy and black. Although root damage may not kill the plant, it will stunt its growth. If you opt to cover a hanging basket rather than bring it inside, place it on the ground first, and then place the cover over it in order to take advantage of the ground’s relative warmth. Wrap fruit trees If you grow fruit trees, be sure to wrap the trunks in the fall with burlap strips or tree wrap. Most fruit trees have thin barks that are susceptible to splitting when temperatures fluctuate dramatically. Tree wrap will prevent this splitting, which is known as frost crack.

The dos and don’ts of Spanish gardening The Spanish landscape is a study in contrasts. Boldly coloured glazed tiles are set against the sun-baked terra cotta of Saltillo pavers, while vivid plantings mingle with weathered iron and stone. These contrasts bring a lively sense of timelessness to the Spanish design style.

WHITE: Still the most popular colour for Spanish properties

The dos Do choose iconic Spanish elements such as white or coloured stucco, Saltillo pavers, coloured tile and iron work. These are the common threads that help your landscaping fit in with the Spanish style of architecture. Do choose bold paint colours for the outdoors. While most people choose quiet colours for the interior, the garden is a place to play with stronger colours. Because there’s no ceiling reflecting the colour back at you, bright colours can enliven an outdoor space without overwhelming it. Do embellish concrete patios and pathways to give them personality. Adding a meandering line of river rock or repeating elements like tile

within the concrete can make even your pathways an artistic part of the décor. Do connect every plant to a drip irrigation system. In a hot landscape, a drip irrigation system is an easy way of making sure each plant and pot is getting just the right amount of water, with no waste. The don’ts Don’t be shy in choosing one-of-akind found objects for your landscaping. Antique stores and salvage shops can be a great source for unusual items, and the timeless beauty of an antique iron grate or a lamp with a patina brings an enduring charm to your Spanish-style landscape. Don’t throw away stone, brick or concrete that’s already on your property. You can construct attractive knee walls, terraces or pathways with salvaged materials. Not only does re-using materials save money, it also provides a unique character and sense of history in your garden. Don’t be afraid to overplant succu-

lents and perennial flowers for a full look right away. Planting ground covering plants in this way helps hold down weeds, and if you end up planting too many, you can easily remove a few later. Don’t feel that every piece must be authentic to a period or style of architecture. To create a feeling of continuity throughout the landscape, repeat colours or materials. Mixing styles and regions lets you explore your personality and leads to an artistic, interesting space. In any landscape, think about how you’ll use the space. One of the key considerations is examining what’s happening inside the house. For example, if you have a small dining room, you may like to open it up by adding sliding glass doors and creating a courtyard garden to improve the look and usefulness of your space. By expanding your room to include an outdoor view, you can create a whole new living area.

air conditioning

animals/PETS

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air conditioning

domestic

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AIR CONDITIONING by Cool and Cosy. The family company that cares. Installation and repairs. Quality machines. EsoSense movement sensor supplied and fitted for 80 euros. Coin meters supplied and fitted from 260 euros. For other energysaving products, visit www.coolandcosy.es. Tel 952 935 513

storage & REMOVALS

builders INLAND CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE building services. Fully Legal and Insured. We cover all areas from Marbella to Granada. Call 695 903 825 today for a free estimate (257111)

antiques WANTED! All types of antiques, paintings, jewellery, watches, silver etc. Any condition. Immediate cash settlement. For more information call into Anthony’s Antiques and Jewellers shops, extensive premises at C/Ramon y Cajal 40, Fuengirola. Mobile 609 529 633. Telephone 952 588 795

charities ACE CHARITY “El Refugio” in La Cala de Mijas is a registered charity. We have on average 275 dogs in our care and we receive no help from the Town Hall or the Andalucian government. We desperately need foster homes and adoptants for our many dogs, especially the small ones and puppies who do not do well in a big shelter. We are grateful for any help offered, including donations of food and blankets. Visit-

ing times are from 13.00 to 15.00 and you can always turn up or make an appointment by calling Denise on 669 018 736. Our website is www.ace-charity.org where you can view all the dogs in our care ADANA THE ANIMAL SHELTER IN ESTEPONA. We always need volunteers to walk and socialise with our dogs and help with cleaning. We also need good homes for our animals that you can see on www.adana.es. Kennels open every day 10-1.30, Camino de Casares, near Parque de los Pedregales, Estepona. (5 minutes from the Poligono) For more information call 952 113 467, available from 10.00am until 14.00pm SEPE the horse and donkey charity is open to the public week-ends from 10.00 to 5.00. Volunteers are much needed in all departments and are welcome at anytime. For our riding for the disabled classes, we are also in need of extra helpers. We are nationally registered by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior (164640) but only with your support can we give the equine a voice. If you can just commit to 2 or 3 euros a month it will really help make a difference. You can find us at Lauro Golf Equestrian Centre, Alqueria, Alhaurin de la Torre. Tel. 608 258 950 info@sepeonline.net www.sepeonline.net

cleaning services

Professional Carpet And Upholstery Cleaning, 27 Years Experience, Wet/Dry Clean. Honest, Reliable. 678 808 837 952 669 701 acservs@outlook.com (252581) Rugs Fitted Carpets, Upholstery Including Leather Cleaned On Site 685 524 921 (252581)

concrete

CONCRETE – OZBUILD. The specialists of printed concrete. Reseals, Brickwork, Tiling, Plastering, Reforms. 14 Years in Spain. Competitive Prices, Quality Finish. 952 426 074 606 745 920 www.ozbuildspain.com

computers

COMPUTER PROBLEMS SOLVED. Error messages fixed, viruses removed. Repairs and upgrades available. Laptops in English. Kindle, iPad & Android help. One-to-one training. Experienced, reliable service. Paul 630 652 338 / 952 493 859

computers

PC DOCTOR Computer Sales & Repairs in any Language. 24HR IT Support. 20 Years on the Coast. We come to wherever YOU are – Home or Business. 952 591 071

obituaries

42 decorators

RAINBOW PINTURAS. English professional, reliable painting & decorating company. Furniture spraying. Building service available. Free quotations. Daniel 628 066 308 www.rainbowpinturas.com

dentist NHS REGISTERED DENTIST in Fuengirola. Specializing in Zircon crowns, bridges etc. Free check up! drvisky@hotmail.com 689 887 019

electrician MARBELLA BASED ELECTRICIAN call richard on 687 352 358 or email richi@europe.com all installations & maintenance. Surge protection, garden lights, upgrades, boletins. (257525) BS ELECTRICAL, All electrical work, rewires, Boletins, Endesa helpline, professional genuine service, www.bselectrical.eu. Call Sean 952 961 108, 669 070 011 CSW ELECTRICAL & MAINTENANCE for all your Electrical & Maintenance needs. No Job too Small. Call Craig for a FREE QUOTE on 604 106 414

floor polishing

marble floor (2.50€/ M2) why pay more .We clean, crystallise, seal then polish your marble to high gloss, non slip. Professional guaranteed, fast service. 25 Years experience. Also repairs damages to marble, clean and seal terracotta terraces, covers all costa del sol. Tel: 671 244 683

furniture The Warehouse – We Buy A Single Item To A FUll House Clearance – 602 610 103 Furniture Wanted, Same Day Collection, Also House Clearance And Removals. 602 610 103(252581)

gardening PROFESSIONAL garden

glass curtains GLASS CURTAIN repairs, specialist in replacement of discoloured plastic strips that act as a seal between the glass panels. Call Julian 655 825 931

holiday rentals Nerja 2 Bed Well Equipped Rental Villa, Close To All Amenities And Beach. Please Call Kim +44 7596 379 686 (251269)

services from Fuengirola to Estepona. All aspects of gardening and full maintenance and landscaping, free quotes, competitive prices. Contact Andrew 600 259 981 Andrew@garden-profes sionals.com TOP-JARDIN. No tree too tall, palm & tree pruning - removal - pests bio treatments. Town hall licence process advice. Timber

house clearance The Warehouse – We Buy A Single Item To A Full House Clearance – 602 610 103(252581)

irrigation F&P-IRRIGATION: professional new sprinkler systems and repairs, 30 years’ experience. 14 days free trial, fixed price. Six Solid Rock Guarantees. Free quotation. 952931558 (258952)

logs. Mulch. Urban veggie gardens. Visit us www.top-jardin.com or call Andres mob 686 948 552 / 602 130 250 GARDEN SERVICE – from €10 per hour. Monthly contract from €90. Benalmadena to Marbella. RICARDO 637 160 129

F&P PUMPS: pressure and pool pumps, service, sales and repairs Six Solid Rock Guarantees 952931558 (258952)

locksmiths 24/7 Locksmith Emergency / Appointment. Doors Opened Without Damage, Locks Changed, Patio Doors And Windows Secured, 24 Hour Honest, Fast And Reliable Service. Call Paul 657 466 803 (251072)

24 Hour Locksmiths Safe Engineers. 30 Years Experience, Call Daren Or Bob 952 660 233 667 668 673 www.securityofspain.com (240915)

metalwork ALL METALWORK UNDERTAKEN – New Fabrication & Repairs/Alterations. Work Guaranteed. Reliable. 14yrs on Coast. Steve Call or Whatsapp 655 040 648

mobility MOBILITY scooters, electric wheelchairs, wheelchairs, walking frames, etc, for sale and rent. Large selection of quality used scooters at competitive prices. Rascal vantage X, Rascal Veo X, Shoprider Sovereign, Pride Go Go, Neo 4 and 8, Mercury Prism, Pride XL8, Rascal 388, Rascal 329, Rascal 125 Wheelchair, Shoprider electric wheelchair breaks up for boot, Rascal 330 electric wheelchair as new condition at considerable saving, Rascal turnabout electric wheelchair, plus many more all with guarantee. New and used wheelchairs for sale at competitive prices. Brand New Pride Go Go Mobility Scooters All models just arrived huge savings on retails prices. Rentals from 55 euros weekly. New mobility scooter batteries supplied and fitted. Mobility scooters bought for cash. www.mobilityscootersdi rectspain.com email info@mobilityscooter sdirectspain.com Tel 609581139

SENIORWORLD - MOBILITY scooters, wheelchairs, stairlifts, nursing beds, rise ´n´ recline chairs and a large range of daily living aids for sale or hire. Visit our showroom in Los Boliches - or call on 952 663 131 or 670 964 181 for advice & best prices

motoring PARKING, STORAGE & SALES. Caravans - Motorhomes - Boats - Cars and Vans etc. Short / long term - Safe & secure, drop off & collections. Excellent rates, discount for long term, 5 mins from Fuengirola. Established 25 years. www.eurodog.es / info@eurodog.es 679 786 669 / 606 101 807 MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 902 123 153, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 902 123 153 for motor insurance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! LSM INSURANCE. No fat singing blokes or trumpeting telephone´s, just professional service at the best prices for all your insurance needs including car, household, commercial, life, health and travel. Tel 952 578 008 or www.lsminsurance.biz for a quotation

MOBILE MECHANIC will come to your home or work. Servicing, repairs, ITVs & diagnostics. Call Mick on 617 553 072 WANTED all cars vans and anything interesting also classic cars, bikes, etc, with or without paperwork considered, same day decision, cash waiting, 653 777 073

pest control COCKROACHES, ANTS, insects, fleas, mice, rats, wasps, termite specialists. Fumigations, bars, restaurants, houses, etc. Sanitary department officially registered certificates. Guarantee. Serving the coast since 1985. Only legal English owned pest control company on the coast. If you want the best then phone N.P.S. Nigel 606 008 940

pets/animals EURODOG Boarding Kennels & Cattery. Under new ownership by animal loving family. Large kennels and exercise yards, fully licensed and sanitary approved. Safe, secure and caring environment. Inspections welcome anyt ime. 5 minutes from Fuengirola 679 786 669 952 464 947 / www.eurodog.es PETCARE PET HOTEL. Alhaurin el Grande. Holiday accommodation for dogs and cats. Heated/Air conditioned kennels available. Tel: 952 112 284 685 400 216 www.petcarespain.com. Find us on Facebook at Petcare Spain

43 ACCOMPANY your pets to their new home. Fully licensed pet transport service. Denise www.petchauffeur.eu 952 197 187 696 233 848 info@petchauffeur.eu

pool services www.perfectpools.es. Maintenance, Repairs & Renovation. Professional & Reliable Service. All Areas. info@perfectpools.es. 650 348 785

685 514 835 WWW.INMOANDALUZ.COM Bargain inland properties for all budgets, fincas, village homes, apartments and villas. Legal building plots. 952 491 609 685 514 835 LONG TERM RENTALS. Super prices, no commission. Apartments, townhouses, villas, fincas, shops, offices, bars, restaurants. Coast & inland. Tlf 679 111 522

removal services

WESTARPOOLS. Pool construction, renovation, repairs and heating. 619 246 372 / www.westarpools.com

Man and van / HOUSE CLEARANCES 20€ per hour 609 321 958 (257550)

SWIMMING pool construction, reforms, architectural services available www.advasolsolutions.com 951 965 309 664 871 133

property management PROPERTY MANAGEMENT ANTARIOS Let us take good care of your Property www.renovarsecostadelsol.com call Piero: 605 379061 email: piero.ceciarelli@gmail.com (246580)

property WWW.INMOANDALUZ.COM is always looking for realistically priced inland properties to sell to our interested buyers. Tel 952 491 609

roller shutters ACE OF SHADES - PERSIANA (security shutter) electric and manual, various colours available including wood effect, we also offer a repair service. Make your home more secure! Tel: 951 273 254 671 732 204 / info@aceofshades.design ROLLER shutter repairs, 7 days a week, conversion from manual to motorised, new installations. All areas covered. Coast and inland. 655 825 931

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soft furnishings Curtains, Blinds, Cushions And Much More. Free Estimates And Home Visits. Tel 657 369 343 Or rosannacarmella@ hotmail.com (252512)

tuition MARBELLA DESIGN ACADEMY – Validated programms. UK Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Interior architecture, Graphic design & Fashion design. www.designschool.com

tv & satellite REPAIRS – TV’s, Plasmas, LCD’s, Digi – Boxes, Video, Hi-Fi and microwaves. Free estimates, can collect. 35 Years experience. John 952 491 723 or 600 706 201

ENGLISH TV bbc 1, 2, 3, 4, itv, ch4 & ch5. no internet needed. No subscriptions. good prices also dish realignment. Tel: 652 023 012 BRITISH freeview channels via satellite for a one off payment. Also full sky package available (Internet required). Call for details. TV solutions 600 038 950

upholstery Rugs Fitted Carpets, Upholstery Including Leather Cleaned On Site 685 524 921 (252581) Advanced Cleaning Services. Professional Carpet, Upholstery Cleaning, 27 Years Experience, Wet/Dry Clean. Honest, Reliable Service 678 808 837 / 952 669 701 Or Email acservs@outlook.com (252581)

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motoring

Pre-war Alfa Romeo to be the star of the auction THE oldest-known surviving Alfa Romeo, a 1921 Alfa Romeo G1 sports roadster, has been consigned to RM Sotheby’s annual Arizona auction in January, part of a private collection of 11 Italian cars collectively entitled “A Century of Sports Cars,” each of them offered without reserve. The preauction estimated value is $1 million to $1.5 million. The Alfa G1 is the sole intact example of the first batch of automobiles produced by Alfa Romeo after the company was taken over by Nicola Romeo prior to World War I. Just 52 examples of the G1 were built after the war, including two prototypes, powered by huge, 6.3-liter straight-6 engines. Like many early cars, the roadster has a chequered past. The Alfa was purchased by an Australian businessman, who hid the car from his creditors after going bankrupt. The owner died and the car remained stashed away for 25 years. In 1947, the derelict Alfa was acquired by farmers who proceeded to use it for farm chores, including rounding up cattle. At some point during its rural duties, the car was crashed into a tree, and thereafter used to power a water pump.

The damaged roadster was rescued in 1964 and purchased by Ross Flewell-Smith, who restored the G1 during the next decade. Back in the limelight, the Alfa was twice awarded at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the latest time in 2013, according to an RM Sotheby’s news release. It also participated in the 2014 Mille Miglia and the 75th Goodwood Members’ Meeting, and was displayed at Museo Enzo Ferrari in 2015. “The only complete G1 in existence today, the offering of chassis No. 6018

is a rare opportunity to acquire the earliest piece of Alfa Romeo history,” Sotheby’s said when the auction was announced. The Italian car collection includes two other historic Alfa Romeos, a 1942 Alfa 6C 2500 SS Spider valued at $900,000 to $1.1 million and a 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Speciale by Buono valued at

SURVIVOR: 1921 Alfa Romeo G1 sports roadster valued at over a million

$1.25 million to $1.75 million. The most valuable car in the collection, which also includes seven Ferraris and a Ford GT, is a 1964 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso by Scaglietti valued at $1.8 million to $2.2 million. The collection will be part of around 160 collector cars offered at the auction.

motoring

Running on close to empty HOW many miles can you actually travel when your fuel warning light comes on? Fuel economy is incredibly important and now modern cars tell you how much range you have left, but what if you get stuck miles away from a petrol station when your tanks ticks over to empty? Every driver has felt the dread when the fuel needle hits empty and the warning light glows on the dashboard. Ideally, you should never let your car hit empty before getting it refuelled, but sometimes it is unavoidable. Cars don’t immediately shut down as soon as you hit zero as there is usually some fuel left in the tank as a reserve, for this very eventuality. But, how much further can your car travel when it hits empty? Of course, there is no way to give a definitive answer on how many miles you can continue on for. This is because of the amount of variables that affect the fuel economy. Your driving style, average speed, road surface, temperature, make and model of your car, engine size among others drastically impact how thirsty or frugal the car is.

CORSA: Likely to run out of fuel reserve before the rest Research conducted in 2016 by Your Mechanic revealed data about a number of cars and how they performed when the needle hit zero. The results showed:

8. Audi A3 – 40 miles, 9. Mini – 45 miles, 10. BMW 3 Series – 44 miles.

1. Ford Fiesta – 38 miles, 2. Vauxhall Corsa – 32 miles, 3. Ford Focus – 41 miles, 4. Volkswagen Golf – 42 miles, 5. Nissan Qashqai – 43 miles, 6. Volkswagen Polo – 41 miles, 7. Vauxhall Astra – 33 miles,

Just because there is reserve fuel in your car, however, it doesn’t mean you should use it or rely on it, as when fuel levels get low the car can start picking up debris from the bottom of the fuel tank. This can damage the fuel filter and pump and also have a negative effect on the catalytic converter. If your fuel pump runs dry as a result of you running out of fuel, it can land you a bill of up to €250 to repair.

X-Class sure to pick up off-road market THE NEW X-Class unites the typical characteristics of a pickup with the classical strengths of a Mercedes: convincing robustness with modern design, impressive off-road capabilities with high driving dynamics and safety, sophisticated functionality and stylish comfort. The new performance pickup has a comfort suspension with a ladder-type frame, rear multi-link solid axle, front independent wheel suspension and coil springs at both axles. On this platform it enters the market with different design and equipment lines, various drive variants, the largest choice of materials and colours in the segment and an extensive range of accessories developed by Mercedes-Benz which allow for further individualisation. The X-Class thus meets a wide variety of use cases – from a robust, off-road capable pickup to an urban lifestyle and family vehicle. It was launched in the European market in November 2017, and in Germany it is presently available at a price from € 37,294. At the beginning of 2018 the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand will follow, and in early 2019 Argentina and Brazil. The X-Class has been specifically developed for the

WORKHORSE: X-Class Mercedes launches in the UK in January changing requirements of the international pickup markets. The demand for mid-size pickups with typical passenger car characteristics and comfort features has been steadily on the rise for years. At the same time, the proportion of pickups for private use is increasing. They are no longer viewed purely as "workhorses". MercedesBenz is the first premium manufacturer to take these

changes into account. The X-Class is aimed at very different customer groups: land-owners and farmers in Argentina, business owners such as building contractors in Australia, families with an affinity for premium products in Brazil, trend-conscious individuals in South Africa or Great Britain, as well as sporty adventurers in New Zealand.

sport

Spanish tennis ace dismisses thoughts of retirement SPANISH tennis star David Ferrer has said that he’s not quite contemplating retirement just yet and that he will continue playing as long as he enjoys playing the game. “I still do not think about retirement. I go day by day and learning, I will continue playing because I look forward to it and with a lot of motivation. In case I see that I do not enjoy playing tennis, I will decide to hang the racket; it would not make sense to continue,” said Ferrer, who is currently at No 37 in the world rankings and now into his 36th year. He’s particularly looking forward to seeing his country enjoying success in the 2018 Davis Cup. “I think we can do some great things in the Davis Cup. We start the event playing at home and we have very good tennis players like Carreño, Bautista. We also have some good doubles teams in the top-ten, Spain has very good tennis players; I think we can win the Davis Cup in 2018, but we'll have to be calm.” Ferrer – who is about to begin the 2018 season chasing a record-breaking fifth title in Auckland and ahead of the first major, the Australian Open – was asked about what he believed has been the most important match in his long career. “If I had to pick a special victory it would be the Davis Cup final against Juan Martín

FOOTBALL: The Manchester City bandwagon continues to roll on, and after the festive season results, their chances of claiming four major trophies in the 2017-18 is quite and simply definitely on. Pep Guardiola’s goal-happy team currently leads arch-rivals Manchester United by a mile. Indeed, no team has ever had such a massive points advantage at this stage of a League season (1888-2017). City have been terrific; they’ve already scored over 100 top-flight goals in 2017 and the last time this happened was back in 1982 when Liverpool bagged a century. And star striker Sergio Aguero netted his 100th Etihad Stadium goal for City just before Christmas. In the recent Everton-Chelsea 0-0 PL draw at Goodison Park, the reigning champions failed to get a single shot on target – the first time this had happened for six years. Bristol City, who sensationally knocked the holders Manchester United out of the League Cup, now face favourites Manchester City in the semi-final, while the other ‘semi’ showdown features an all-London clash between Arsenal and Chelsea. Barcelona’s recent 3-0 El Clasico win over out-of-sorts Real Madrid, was their third successive La Liga victory at the Bernabeau. Harry Kane has already scored 56 goals in 2017, including a record 39 in the Premiership alone - beating Alan Shearer’s tally of 36 in a calendar year. He’s also netted eight hat-tricks in 2017 and, in fact, the Spurs’ striker is the top-marksman in all European top-flight Divisions this year, bagging more goals than Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski.

del Potro in Sevilla, or when I won the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. There are also some great matches that I didn’t win, such as the one in the Davis Cup final in Prague against Tomas Berdych; easily the best I’ve ever played on a tennis court.”

Opener Cooks the record books in the Fourth Test Match AS the RTN goes to press, England’s cricketers are well in charge in the Fourth Test Match being played in Melbourne, but with the series and the Ashes lost, the encouraging fight back is all in vain. However, a number of cricket records are being broken during this latest England and Australia encounter such as... During Alastair Cook’s 244 not out, he moved up to sixth on the list of alltime Test run scorers and is now above Brian Lara. With nine wickets down, this could be the first time that Cook has carried his bat in 271 first-class matches. It all depends on Jimmy Anderson at No 11. This is Alastair Cook’s fifth Test Match double century, putting him in second place for England behind Wally Hammond (7) and in front of Len Hutton (4) and Kevin Pietersen (3). He has also joined the select band of batsmen that have scored at

A former player, Tony Matthews is now the world’s most prolific author of football books with 150 published since 1975. He has also been a PE teacher, policeman, radio correspondent and is now a quiz-organiser and fund–raiser, for various charities.

The team who is sitting at the bottom of the Premiership on Christmas Day usually goes down! This year it was Swansea City, who sacked manager Paul Clement a few days earlier, the sixth PL boss to lose his job in 2017. WBA are next to bottom and their ex-boss Tony Pulis is now in charge at Middlesbrough. Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey was sent-off in his first Premiership game of 2017-18 in the 2-2 draw Manchester United. Newcastle United ended a run of eight games without a win with a 3-2 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium. CRICKET: At the time of going to print, England were heading for victory in the fourth Test against the Aussies in Melbourne. Having been battered in the first three fixtures, losing the Ashes in the process, Joe Root’s team have responded superbly, thanks mainly to Alastair Cook’s 244 not out after day three. They dismissed Australia for 327 and replied with 491-9 before stumps. HORSE RACING: The annual King George VI Steeple chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day was won by 6-4 favourite Might Bite and it was hearty congratulations to one lucky punter who placed £10,000 bet on the winner.

least two double centuries in Ashes cricket. They are Donald Bradman (8), Wally Hammond (4), Bobby Simpson (3), and current Aussie captain Steve Smith (2). Former captain Cook also overtook Wally Hammond's 1928 innings of 200 as the highest by an England batsman in a Test at Melbourne and then subsequently Viv Richards' score of 208 as the highest by a visiting batsman at the ground, and only four

visiting players have made individual scores of at least 250 in Australia, the highest being Ross Taylor's 290 for New Zealand at Perth in 2015. Another record to fall during the England innings belongs to Stuart Broad whose innings of 56 is the highest by an England No 10 batsman in Tests in Australia, surpassing the 50 not out from Tich Freeman at Sydney in 1924 and by David Allen at Sydney in 1966.

DIARY of EVENTS: All of Rugby Union’s AVIV Premiership teams will be in action over the next three days, with these fixtures to look out for – Bath-Wasps (tonight), Gloucester-Sale Sharks, secondplaced Saracens-Worcester and Harlequins-Northampton Saints (tomorrow), and in-form and current leaders Exeter Chiefs against Leicester Tigers (Sunday). Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor (playing in his final major tournament), Michael van Gerwen and Gerry Anderson were all going well in the annual WDC end-of-year Darts tournament at London’s Ally Pally which is nearing its climax. The World Junior ice hockey championships are taking place (until 5 January)… there are ATP/WTA tennis tournaments starting this weekend in Brisbane (Australia), Doha (Qatar), India, New Zealand and Shenzhen in China… the women’s U18 World ice hockey championships,

Group 1 and qualification matches, are underway (ending in early February)… Poland’s Kamil Stoch is attempting to retain his Four Hills Ski jumping title in Oberstdorf, Germany (which runs until 6 January)… and the forthcoming top football matches include Chelsea-Stoke City, Liverpool-Leicester City and Manchester United-Southampton, Celtic-Rangers and Bristol City-Wolves (Saturday), followed by Crystal Palace-Manchester City and WBA-Arsenal (Sunday) and virtually a full programme of Premiership fixtures early in the New Year, including BurnleyLiverpool, Everton-Manchester United and Stoke City-Newcastle United (on the 1st January), Manchester City-Watford, Southampton-Crystal Palace, Swansea City-Spurs and West Ham United-WBA (on the 2nd) and Arsenal-Chelsea (on the 3rd). And after that we have 32 third round FA Cup-ties to look forward to.

And with that, I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year.