ISSUE NO. 1696
4 - 10 January 2018
€200m budget revealed A BUDGET of €203.8 million has been proposed for Almeria Province in 2018. It represents an increase of €6 million on 2017’s budget. This year’s budget was proposed by president of the provincial council, Gabriel Amat, who said infrastructure, social services and job growth were the three main priorities. Almost €50 million will be spent on social services, some €33 million on infrastructure, and another €33 on creating new jobs. Tourism and the agribusiness sector will be the biggest beneficiaries of the jobs drive. Amat is keen to strengthen the Costa de Almeria brand’s international reputation and also boost ‘Sabores Almeria,’ which promotes the province’s cuisine across Spain. Another €11 million will be spent on promoting sports and culture, and a sizeable amount allocating to reducing the province’s debt. It reached a high of €201 million in 2011, which Amat claims to have since reduced by €103 million. Amat, who is also mayor of Roquetas de Mar, also pledged to allocate more funding to municipalities with populations of less than 5,000 people.
COSTA DE ALMERÍA
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Hospital attack A 57-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested after allegedly attacking a police officer and threatening two nurses. Police were reportedly called to Torrecardenas hospital after receiving information from security staff that a person was threatening two nurses in the hospital.
When officers arrived at the scene, they were reportedly met with a barrage of abuse from the individual, before he allegedly punched one of the officers in the arm. He has now reportedly been charged with crimes of assault and threats.
LOVE BIRDS: The calendar will feature rare birds from the park including the trumpeter finch (inset).
Flying off the shelves A calendar featuring images of birds found at the Cabo de Gata Nijar Natural Park is to be released. It c o mes a s th e ic o n ic park prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The park was officially given its name on January 2 6 , 1 9 8 8 an d b e c a me t he first Spanish natural park to combine marine and terrestrial habitats. Created by the Mediterra n ea n E c o lo g is t G ro up
(GEM), the calendar will feature pictures of a number of bird species found in the park. Jose Rivera, of GEM, ex-
plained to Spanish media that birds were chosen because “they are the living indicator that shows a place is doing well ecologically.”
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Festive feast SOLDIERS in Iraq were treated to a Christmas hamper of Almeria speciality products. The King Alfonso XIII Brigade brought over the festive food to almost 400 Spanish soldiers helping train the Iraqi army. The serving men and women are based in a newly developed city just south of Baghdad. They are on a six-month tour of the struggling country. To h e l p s t a v e o f f t h e Christmas blues as they are separated from their families in Spain, Almer i a ’s p r o v i n c i a l c o u n c i l donated 120 kilos worth of sausages, hams, and cheeses and from the Almanzora region. Soldiers were able to wash down the feast with 180 bottles of Almerian wine.
4 -10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
Football park plan SPAIN’S top flight football organisation La Liga plans to open a ‘La Liga football theme park’ on land owned by Almeria football club as a tourist attraction and youth tournament centre.
Car smash FOUR people were injured in a three-car collision on the AL-12. They included three women and one man, aged between 32 and 55, who were all taken to Torrecardenas hospital for treatment.
Fire escape FIREFIGHTERS rescued five people, including three children, who took refuge on their Roquetas balcony when a fire suddenly tore through their home in the early hours.
Festive snub slammed ‘Missed opportunity’ say critics CITY politicians in Almeria have come under fire for concentrating Christmas in La Plaza and leaving the rest of the city bereft of festive cheer. PSOE councillor Adriana Valverde accused the Popular Party leadership of doing nothing to help small businesses and struggling communities. Instead, she argued, the city had thrown all its eggs in one basket. All the decorations, and €225,000 of Christmas lights were cobbled together in the city centre while areas like Los Angeles and El Quemadero had nothing, she said. “It was a missed opportunity to revitalise these commercial spaces just at the time of year when more people are out to buy fresh produce,” Valverde said. “The image is de-
SLAMMED: Almeria’s Christmas effort has been panned by opposition politician Adriana Valverde (inset). pressing considering the time of year.” She has the support of her fellow PSOE councillors. The local branch of the Socialist party has accused the council leadership of betraying small business owners, who pay their taxes and could do with some festive fortune.
NEWS
Water bias slammed Photo by PP Almeria Capital/Twitter
NEWS EXTRA
www.euroweeklynews.com
www.euroweeklynews.com
2
EWN online Latest news and more as it happens
THE Water Board of Almeria has accused Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture of discrimination against the province. They are outraged that the central government has approved an €8.3 million subsidy for irrigators based in Murcia and Alicante Province. A similar request from Almeria’s irrigators had no response whatsoever from Madrid, claim the Water Board. The money was requested to help lower the price of desalinated water, essential aid at times of drought. “For the second year in a row the government has lowered the price of desalinated water in other provinces, once again causing significant grievances among Almeria’s irrigators, who continue to suffer while the ministry turns a blind eye,” said Water Board spokesman Jose Antonio Fernandez. . Reducing the cost of desalinated water could have huge benefits for Almeria Province, he said, given the abandonment of the Villaricos desalination plant. The Water Board, an alliance of irrigators, farmers, businessmen and politicians, said it understood that different provinces have different needs.
NEWS
P29
Babies on board THIAGO was the first baby born in Almeria Province in 2018. Weighing eight and a half pounds he was born in Huercal-Overa hospital at 1.25am. His parents reside in Albox. The first baby girl was Emma, who was born at Torrecardenas at 2.08am.
Victorian era BY the e n d o f t h e y e a r A lmeria City’s iconic old train station will be converted into a cultural and shopping ce n t r e . T h e n e w s p ac e w ill have a c o n c e r t h a l l , res ta u ran ts , shops, and conference facilities. Considered an architectural masterpiece, the old building was built in 1893.
Drive by diddy A LOCAL man, aged 28, was arrested after allegedly driving around Dalias threatening people with a shotgun and even firing live rounds, forcing some people to dodge bullets. He has a chequered history filled with violent offences and was found hiding in his mother’s house.
Health tourism A HEALTHCARE bill of €3 million was invoiced by public medical centres in Almeria who attended foreigners using European health insurance cards. The vast majority come from the UK, Germany, and France. Politicians have rejected the notion that Almeria is being subjected to ‘healthcare tourism.’
Tax bonus C O A S TA L t o w n s i n A l m e r i a P r o v i n c e , i n c l u d i n g Ve r a a n d Roquetas de Mar, are among the few across Spain which will see properties revised downwards so that the IBI property tax decreases. Almost 2,000 Spanish municipalities saw IBI revisions take ef-
3
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FINANCE
P38
Our 5page spotlight on the business world
TECH FOR THE TIMID From fears over online banking to a simple new address
TIME OUT
MOTORING
WEEKLY LEISURE INCLUDING PUZZLES,STARS AND MADDOCK’S VIEW ON LIFE
ALL THE LATEST CAR NEWS PLUS OUR WEEKLY TEST DRIVE
P45
PLUS THE REGULARS
SPANISH FACTS OF LIFE...44 January 6 sees the arrival of the best-loved Christmas tradition in Spain, as the Three Kings bring presents for children and huge parades take place, Joe Gerrard reports.
SANTA VS THE KINGS DEBATE rages as to who is preferred in Spain, Santa Claus or the Three Kings. In a 2015 survey of Spanish children the kings came out on top, 67 per cent to Santa’s 27 per cent.
ANDALUCIAN KINGS? THE previous Pope, Benedict XVI, claimed in his book on the nativity the three kings were from the ancient kingdom of Tarsis (Tartessosa). Historians place this kingdom somewhere near Huelva, Cadiz and Sevilla, in modern day Andalucia.
News
We three kings JANUARY in Britain sees families pack away their Christmas decorations and get back to business as usual. In Spain however Christmas festivities continue until January 6, when the country celebrates the annual Three King’s Day holiday, also known as Epiphany Day. The day (El Dia de los Reyes in Spanish) marks the moment in the nativity story when the three kings or wise men visited the baby Jesus to give gifts. The three kings in the modern-day festival, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, are now said to give out presents to Spanish children, similar to Santa Claus in Britain and elsewhere. Spanish children polish their shoes and leave them outside for the kings to put presents in on the night of January 5.
PAGAN ORIGINS THE origin of the celebration goes back further than Christianity. In pagan times celebrations were held on January 6 to welcome the longer days that followed the winter solstice on December 21.
These presents only go to well behaved children however, and Balthazar is tasked with giving coal or wood to those children on the naughty list. The night of January 5 also sees the annual parades (the Cabalgata de Reyes), beginning at dusk. The three kings appear here too, standing on floats and trailers that go through Spanish towns and cities throwing sweets to excited children. Some of these parades involve hundreds of actors and are broadcast live on Spanish TV. On January 6 the Spanish traditionally enjoy a round bread cake called Roscon. The cakes are baked with a figurine of the baby Jesus and a dry flava bean. The person who finds the figurine is crowned king or queen of that day’s festivities. The one who finds the bean has to prepare next year’s Roscons. January 6 is marked by a bank holiday in Spain and children don’t return to school until after the festival. CROWNING GLORY: The kings in a Cabalgata de Reyes parade.
ALMERIA airport attained its European air safety certificate just be-
Leapy 35
Letters 39
Couch Critic 43
Health & Beauty 53 - 54
Social 55 - 57
Albox 58 - 61
Property 62
65
DURING parades Balthazar has traditionally been played by a white actor in ‘blackface’ make-up. Critics have branded this racist and Madrid’s council employed a black actor for the first time last year in response.
Super safe
1 - 28
Pets
CONTROVERSY
fect on Monday.
P68
Classifieds 66 - 67
Sports 71 - 72
fore the New Year, the last Andalucian airport to do so. This puts the airport at the top international level for safety and also confirms that it is financially solvent and well-managed.
151
The total number of news and features which appeared in Issue 1695 of the Euro Weekly News Costa de Almería edition, including 55 local stories.
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Shell shock! Photo by Ibense #Enfarinats/A. Guillem/Danza Invisible/Twitter
4
NO YOLK: Revellers hurl eggs at each other as Carles Puigdemont (bottom right) prepares to take his punishment. INHABITANTS of Ibi, Alicante have staged their annual mock battle to mark the biblical Massacre of the Innocents by King Herod. Known locally as Els Enfarinats - the floured ones revellers hurl smoke bombs, flour and eggs at each other in one of the world’s greatest food fights. Clad in military gear and wearing goggles to protect their eyes, some participants also brandish firecrackers as
the flour and egg artillery whizzes by. The fake coup d’état dates back around 200 years and sees Els Enfarinats take control of the village as they stage a revolution against the authorities. A new mayor is elected and a series of ridiculous new laws are announced, with citizens who break them fined and the money later donated to charity. Meanwhile, a second group called La Oposicio - the opposition - attempts to restore or-
der before both sides storm the streets armed with 12,000 eggs, 8,000 kilos of flour and 6,000 firecrackers. Taking place on Innocents’ Day (December 28), there was a political edge to this year’s event, as one plucky participant dressed as ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. He was set on by a gang of battle-hardened soldiers wielding fire extinguishers filled with flour before being locked in an imitation prison cell.
NEWS
POLL OF THE WEEK Should Spain follow Mexico’s example and legalise marihuana-based products? LAST WEEK’S POLL: Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
Yes 19%
No 81%
EWN online this week
103,766 Page views Top 5 stories
BUNNY LANE: Barry Lane Hickey.
Costa del Sol entertainer 7,279 Legendary Bunny Lane dies earthquakes shake Spain’s Costa 7,235 Two del Sol weather alerts as Spain set to 6,472 Severe be lashed by storm Bruno Bruno arrives in Spain bringing 4,594 Storm rain, snow and strong winds as Spain bans fish and chips 4,495 Outrage to support ‘more sustainable’ fishing views
views
views
views
views
*For week 25 December 2017- 1 January 2018
www.euroweeklynews.com @euroweeklynews euroweeklynews +euroweeklynews
FOR COMMENTS FROM EWN ONLINE TURN TO LETTERS PAGE CORRECTIONS At the EWN, we pride ourselves that reports are accurate and fair. If we do slip up, we promise to set the record straight in a clear, nononsense manner. To ask for an inaccuracy to be corrected. Email: editorial@euroweeklynews.com
NEWS
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Saucy New Year, old snails OUR VIEW
problems
THE New Year brings plenty of excitement and new challenges. Spanish families will be excited for the festival of the Three Kings - and all the festivities that Friday and Saturday brings with it. But the end of the Christmas period also heralds the lead up to carnival season - meaning the partying will only continue. But, perhaps most pressingly, the New Year brings with it the fall out from 2017. A full-blown drought appears increasingly likely - even if there is significant rainfall this month. That will have implications for farming, water usage, wildlife and the environment, as climate change continues to take its toll on southern Spain. Information is still scarce on the impact Brexit will have. British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to look after the rights of expatriates, but the detail of any deal - if there is one - remains unclear. Meanwhile, the impact of the Catalan election and independence crisis is still difficult to predict - and the threat of Spain being separated remains real, if unlikely. The migration crisis, drug problems, corruption and crime will continue to be big news, as expatriates get set for the coming summer season, with tourists arriving en masse in the next few months.
Now we want to hear your views. YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION www.euroweeklynews.com
SNAILS from Turre are Almeria Province’s latest gourmet product. Local company Meson Meko has been serving freshly made snails in sauce to Turre residents for more than 30 years. But now the owner’s son has sights set on selling his father’s snails to every corner of Spain. The first batch of several hundred tinned snails with sauce is now on the market. They can be purchased online and the family soon hope to see their snails on the shelves of gourmet shops in Almeria and beyond. The new product is faithful to the original recipe but has a longer shelf life. If their snails are a hit, the family plans to sell more of their traditional home-made dishes online.
5
Friends reunited REAL MADRID star Isco took advantage of Spanish football’s winter break by visiting former teammate Alvaro Morata in London. The 25-year-old midfielder from Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol and his stunning girlfriend Sara Salamo, 25, shared a number of pictures on social media as they took in the sights. After checking out Camden Town the loved-up pair met with Alvaro, 25, and his newly-pregnant wife Alice Campello, 22, with the Chelsea striker captioning a photo of the quartet: ‘What a joy to be able to share a while with you two. We hope to do it again soon!’ Isco and Sara made their relationship official at the end of October following months of speculation. He has a young son from a previous relationship and was earlier this year linked with actress and model Carmen Muñoz before being pictured with a bikini-clad beauty at a Las Vegas hotel swimming pool.
Back on the beach
EYE POPPING: Jess Impiazzi.
Alvaro Mor ata/ I
SHE’S rumoured to be joining the next edition of Celebrity Big Brother. And former Ex On The Beach star Jess Impiazzi was spotted topping up her tan in Tenerife as she prepares for her next appearance on reality TV. The 28-year-old beauty flaunted her ample curves in a tiny black-and-white bikini as she frolicked in the shallows during her winter break.
nst ag ram
ALL SMILES: Isco (second right) Alvaro Morata and their partners.
Photo credit Jess Impiazzi/Instagram
FESTIVE FROLICS: Olivia and Alex.
A whole lotta love (island) THEY shot to fame after finishing second on reality dating show Love Island in 2016. But Olivia Buckland, 24, and Alex Bowen, 26, showed they are still going strong after jetting to Ibiza for a Christmas break. The ITV2 stars got engaged a year ago and sent temperatures soaring again after posting a series of sizzling swimwear shots on social media.
While Olivia slipped into a barely-there red bikini which highlighted her many tattoos, Alex donned an equally skimpy pair of maroon trunks as he showed off his rippling form. The couple admitted it was “hard work” to continue their relationship after leaving the popular show, but say their love has lasted as they made an effort to see each other daily despite their busy schedules.
Celeb focus What a gem ON OR OFF?: FORMER The OnGemma and ly Way Is Essex James. (TOWIE) stars James ‘Arg’ Argent, 30, and Gemma Collins, 36, have set tongues wagging again. It comes as the on-off couple teamed up for a rendition of Andy Williams’ You’re Just Too Good To Be True during a New Year’s party at TOWIE pal Elliot Wright’s restaurant Olivia’s in La Cala de Mijas on the Costa del Sol.
Lady in red SHE recently claimed she has no time for romance. But actress, model, and bikini designer Elizabeth Hurley, 52, was snapped dancing the night away with a mystery man on New Year’s Eve. And the ageless stunner donned a Spanish flamenco-style outfit, complete with acoustic guitar and black wig, for the occasion.
Gemma Collins/Instagram
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
Photo credit Olivia Buckland/Instagram
6
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
NEWS
Lights out over solar squabble RESEARCH centre the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) faces an uncertain year ahead. The giant Tabernas desert-based solar energy lab has lost €2.7 in funding from its biggest benefactor. The Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (Ciemat) will be spending the money elsewhere. Europe’s largest solar energy research, development and testing centre is now enduring a severe lack of personnel and has seen several high profile resignations. At the end of 2017 director Sixto Mato quit over the funding issue. Last week he said he saw “no light at the end of the tunnel” for the PSA due to obstacles set up by government bureaucracy. The PSA is in an odd situation. Funding is being affected by austerity measures imposed on public research bodies in 2016. CLIMATE change poses a major threat to the province’s agricultural industry, warned Almeria’s Association of Farmers and Ranchers (Asaja). Association president Francisco Vargas is particularly concerned about wild variations between minimum and maximum temperatures. He claimed that the autumn harvest was down by 10 per cent across the province as a direct result of climate change.
Photo by Heba Hashem/Twitter
8
LIGHTS OUT: Solar centre faces funding disaster. The centre itself has funds locked away and lots of projects waiting on the green light, but is forbidden by Madrid from hiring any new staff or buying proper equipment. This makes undertaking any major projects impossible, says Mato, and threat-
ens the centre’s future. The PSA was established in the 1980s and has a speciality focus on solar desalination and treatment of water. It boasts 20,000 square metres of solar panels at a huge 103 hectare site in the desert.
Yo-yo weather fears “Not only was autumn hotter than usual,” he said, “it also produced large temperature differences between highs and lows, more akin to a continental climate.” He cited November as an example. Minimum temperatures were lower than usual but the overall average was higher. This pattern continued
in December and, said Vargas, considerably lowers production. Compound the problem was the severe lack of rainfall in autumn, 59 per cent less than is typical for the season. Overall 2017 was one of the three driest years on record since 1965. Vargas called for a contingency plan to prepare the
province for the inevitability than the climate continues to change, with damaging consequences for the sector. He asked all irrigators across the province to prepare proposals that would help meet the water demands of their local communities. These ideas should then be presented to the central government to ensure that water scarcity is ‘prioritised in the 2018 political and social agenda.’
www.euroweeklynews.com
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
Photo by Policia Nacional
NEWS
NEWS EXTRA
Nicked motor A DUTCHMAN driving a car stolen in France was arrested at Almeria port as he tried to sneak his way to North Africa. The luxury car was registered in Germany.
Hold up A BURGLAR was caught red-handed by National Police officers whilst wearing a balaclava and trying to force open the door of an Almeria City shop with a crowbar.
Bus pest A MAN , a g e d 3 6 a n d from E l E j i d o , wa s jailed for eight months for sexually abusing a woman who fell asleep next t o h i m o n a b u s travelling from Madrid to Almeria.
ARMED: Both real and replica guns were seized.
Casino royale firearms to terrify staff at gaming halls, before making off with substantial sums of cash. Due to witness accounts and the evidence compiled, police believe that, with the arrests, they have solved at least 13 serious crimes. After tracking the gang for months, National Police officers were Endangered Iberian Lynxes were killed last year, soon almost 10 per cent of the 475 estimated to be left in able to the wild. At least 21 of them were run over by cars. identi-
POLICE smashed an armed gang who conducted at least 13 robberies of casinos and gaming halls in Almeria and Granada provinces. All of the gang members, including the suspected ringleader, are now in custody. The five men, who made up the gang, were of different nationalities. They used both real and replica
34
fy the leader. They began a surveillance operation and arrested him and several others who identified vulnerable targets while he and another individual committed the robberies. The other man, a Moroccan national aged 22, was the last to be arrested. With the other members of the gang in custody police knew his plans and caught him red-handed ploughing into a games room in Granada with a shotgun.
9
Posing for charity SOCIAL services funding has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010. New figures show a steady decline in the budget devoted to protecting the most vulnerable residents of Almeria City. In 2017 just €66.89 was allocated per inhabitant. This is down from €77 in 2015 and represents a 27.5 per cent drop since 2010. In response to the statistics, the Municipal Socialist Group (GMS) has accused mayor Ramon Fernandez-Pacheco of abusing his responsibilities by posing for charity photos instead of making serious investments in helping the city’s poorest residents. Socialist PSOE party are urging the city to up expenditure on social services to at least €100 per inhabitant, which would require an increase of more than a third. The €100 figure is advised by social policy experts and has been attained in both Baza and Granada. Socialist councillor Manuel Vallejo claims that four in 10 Almeria residents are at risk of social exclusion and more than 20,000 are unemployed. This is at a time, he noted, when the city spent more than €250,000 on Christmas lights, an increase of 31 per cent on last year, while social services spending collapses. He urged the city council to stop using charity events as an ‘electoral weapon’ and instead to implement serious plans to help the needy.
10
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Photo by Voz de la Mascota/Twitter
NEWS EXTRA
Elite squad recruitment THERE is tough competition i n C a r b o n e r a s with 146 applicants vying for one of three Local Police officer positions . Ph y si c a l e x a ms take place on Wednesday J a n u a r y 1 7 a t t h e Las Marincas football pitch.
Wet and wild THE Spanish windsurf championships were held at Almerimar this week with 60 top athletes arriving to compete in the wave and slalom events.
Thief nabbed A SERIAL thief from Ukraine, aged 26, suspected of dozens of burglaries of homes, shops and cars around El Ejido and Aguadulce was arrested by National Police officers.
Naked lunch NUDISTS were provided with their own festive space in Roquetas de Mar last Friday after the Naturalist Association of Poniente requested permission to celebrate Christmas stark naked.
SCOOBY SNACKS: Animal centre gets Christmas bonus.
She sells sanctuary SEVEN companies are vying to expand Almeria’s Zoosanitary Centre. A budget of €80,000 has been approved to help improve the animal rescue facility. The funding will help add an extra 340 square metres to the premises. There will also be better security, a pressing issue following a series of
WHILE Cuevas del Almanzora won plaudits for its animal-friendly nativity scene, Vera went a step further. The town has an environmentally-friendly crib that expresses the importance of recycling. It can be visited until Sunday and has proven popular for school trips and guided tours. Located in the botanical
thefts and break-ins in 2017. Enhanced security will see nine surveillance cameras set up. They will be installed around the perimeter and the cameras will be directly connected to the Local Police station nearby. A stateof-the-art alarm system will also be installed. Extra space means extra
room for the a nima l s. The number of dog kennels will be expanded from 50 to 80 a nd a s e pa ra te s e c tion f or dangerous dogs will also be built. There will also be a quarantine area for animals with contagious health problems and an improved plumbing system.
Mothers’ broken hearts ANGRY mothers have begun sharing their disgust at late diagnoses of congenital heart defects in newborn children. A Facebook page was created after the death of a young boy, whose parents reside in the Almanzora Valley, and several other cases across Andalucia. The Andalucian Health Service is facing an administrative investigation over the boy’s death. His parents had taken him twice to the emergency unit at Baza hospital. He died from heart failure despite having been given a bill of clean health in his neonatal report. The Facebook page ‘Fathers and mothers of children with congenital heart defects of Andalucia’ is managed by a mother from Tabernas, Alejandra Castillejo, whose young daughter was not diagnosed until the parents noted her unusual physical responses. The girl went four months without proper treatment. The parental protest group is urging the Andalucian Health Service to make proper heart tests routine in the maternity wards. One simple test performed in some but not all hospitals is cheap, performed within two days of birth, and has a 92 per cent detection rate of major congenital heart problems. “It is a test which is so simple and cheap that we cannot understand why it is not performed on all newborns,” said Alejandra. Another, more advanced but readily available test, is only applied when the mother herself has congenital heart disease.
Manger magic gardens it features all the usual nativity scene characters but with each designed with respect for the environment.
NEWS
Both the Virgin Mary and Joseph are made from waste that was initially destined for the dump. The manger itself is
comprised of bottles, plates, CDs, pipes, newspapers, cans, tins, glass, wheels, and broken toys. Council elves began working on the crib in September, gathering materials after the town hall decided it wanted an original idea. It was built by volunteers who brought a range of creative ideas to the process.
FINANCE
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
11
New year financial planning review Here we are at the start of another year, when we tend to reflect on the previous 12 months and look ahead to what the coming year may bring. It is a good time to reflect on your financial planning and ensure it is up-to-date and designed to protect your long-term wealth for you and your family. Brexit If you have not yet registered as tax resident in Spain, the clock is ticking. You need look at obtaining official permanent residence ahead of the UK’s withdrawal date, scheduled for March 2019. Take specialist advice on how to benefit from the local tax rules to ensure you are in the best position to enjoy life in Spain. If you are still at the planning stages of moving here, you may wish to accelerate your plans. Tax planning It is always a good idea to review
By Gerald Turner, Partner, Blevins Franks your tax planning from time to time to confirm it is up-to-date. Take advice to ensure you are taking advantage of the tax planning opportunities available in Spain. The right tax-efficient arrangements can keep most of your investments in one place and help you legitimately avoid paying too much tax. The new global automatic exchange of information regime, implemented through the
Common Reporting Standard, is well underway. 50 jurisdictions made the first exchange by September 2017; another 50 jurisdictions will start sharing by September 2018. Cross-border tax planning is complex, especially if you earn income in one country and live in another. Are you sure you are paying tax in the right place? Specialist advice can give you peace of mind as well as potentially save you tax. Savings and investments Successful investing is about managing risk versus return and having a well-thought out strategy specifically based on your personal circumstances, needs, aims and risk tolerance. You should obtain a clear assessment of your appetite for risk, then match your profile to the optimum portfolio. Ensure you have adequate diversification, so you are not over-exposed to any given asset type, country, sector or
company. You should then review your portfolio around once a year, because as asset prices rise and fall it can become unbalanced, and your circumstances may have changed. Pensions There are more choices than ever for your UK pension funds, but care must be taken to ensure you make the right decision for your objectives and to protect your retirement savings. Weigh up all your options, as well as the tax implications in Spain, to establish the best course of action for you. Estate planning It is important to review your estate planning after moving to Spain, as both succession law and tax work very differently to the UK. How much succession and gift tax your heirs will pay depends on the degree of relationship to you, their pre-existing wealth, the local
rules in your region and whether the local or state rules will apply. There may be steps you can take to lower their tax liability. Spain imposes forced heirship, which may prevent you dividing your estate as you wish. You can however use the EU succession regulation ‘Brussels IV’ to opt for the succession law of your country of nationality to apply, but must state this in your will. Take advice first to confirm if this is the right course of action for your family. Reviewing your wealth management arrangement once a year should prove profitable and provide peace of mind. You should look at all the above areas together, as changes in one could affect the other, and establish holistic solutions that work for your personal situation. Keep up to date on the financial issues that may affect you on the Blevins Franks news page at www.blevinsfranks.com
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
NEWS EXTRA
Better late than never PULPI, Adra, Chirivel, Huercal-Overa, Tabernas, Las Tres Villas and Adra will receive a combined €318,000 to help fix infrastructure damaged in the storms of autumn 2015.
Nice shot HUNDREDS of petanque players with learning difficulties gathered in Pulpi to play festive competitions in four different categories. There were also teams from Albox, Vera, Macael and Tijola.
www.euroweeklynews.com
Lights, camera, action THE location of three new speed cameras in Almeria Province has been confirmed. All three will be operational within months and bring the total number of fixed cameras to 14. The installation of the first has already been completed at kilometre nine of the AL-3111 near the exit to Campohermoso. The second camera is planned for
NEWS Photo credit Emilio Lucas Marin/Twitter
12
EASY NOW: Three new cameras will monitor Almeria’s roads.
kilometre 0.5 of the AL-14, a short highway which accesses the port. Speed here will be limited to 90kph. The third will be found at kilometre five of the A-358 connecting El Ejido with Berja. This stretch is a notorious traffic blackspot, which clocked up one fatality as recently as November. Excepting the New Year’s weekend, the data on road fatalities is
now for 2017. Twenty two people were killed on Almeria’s roads. A further 79 were hospitalised and 973 sustained minor injuries. The vast majority of crashes resulting in death or serious injury occurred on secondary roads around the province. Almost all involved speeding or distraction at the wheel, typically due to the use of mobile phones. Speeding was by far the most
common traffic offence. There were 13,610 speeding fines issued in 2017. Fixed speed cameras caught 7,681 drivers, while Guardia Civil officers with mobile cameras nabbed 5,929. Almost eight in 10 drivers fined were exceeding the speed limit by at least 20kph. Four out of 10 were aged under 34. Men were eight times more likely to speed than women.
Power out
Pesky ex A JILTED lover who harasse d t h e Al m e ria w oman wh o d u m pe d him was jailed for one year for phoning her up to 48 t i m e s a d a y a n d threatening to track her down.
HUNDREDS of people gathered in Almeria’s Plaza Viejo to mark the 528th anniversary of the expulsion of the Moors from the city. The flag of Castile was first waved on top of the Alcazaba when Almeria was taken under the umbrella of the Catholic Kings in December 1489. The Day of the Banner is a long tradition that was celebrated with aplomb in Almeria this year, with a symbolic march and the firing of 21 salutary shots in honour of the Spanish flag. All the city’s political factions were out in force for the event, except councillors from the United Left, who oppose
Centuries of celebration Photo credit Carlos Sanchez/Twitter
SOCIALIST politicians have taken up the cause of s ix S e ro n f a mi l i e s who have been without a m ainf ra me e l e c t ri c i ty connection for almost four y e a rs d e sp ite promises from Almeria’s provincial council.
HONOUR: Carlos Sanchez leads patriotic parade.
the Spanish monarchy. Following tradition, the youngest member of the council was invited to carry the banner of Castile through the city streets. For the seventh year running that was Popular Party member Carlos Sanchez. “More than 500 years of history are celebrated here today,” he said in a speech to the crowd. “This is beyond politics and ideology and about knowing and respecting the history of our city,” he said. Members of the crowd were dressed in clothes adorned with St George’s Cross. They shouted “To Spain, Andalucia. To the Catholic Monarchs and the unity of our country”.
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
Mortality stats DISEASES and ailments affecting the cardiovascular system are responsible for around seven out of 10 deaths in Almeria Province. Mortality data recently released from the Andalucia Institute of Statistics also found that Almeria has the lowest mortality rate in Andalucia. The last full year of mortality statistics relates to 2016. That year 4,929 Almeria residents died, 2,631 men and 2,338 women. Seven out of 10 died from either a heart attack, stroke, myocardial infection, respiratory failure, or a tumour which affected the cardiovascular system. Cancers of the bronchi, trachea and lungs were most common among men, killing 209. Eighty six women and one man died of breast cancer. One striking statistic was the doubling of Alzheimer’s deaths in men. In 2016 a total of 225 Almerians died from the disease, of which 146 were women.
www.euroweeklynews.com
Child football prodigy
Bungling muggers
Local boy signed by Barcelona A FOOTBALL prodigy from Almeria is being hailed as the new Lionel Messi. Like the Argentine superstar, 12year-old Cristobal Muñoz has signed with Barcelona. Several of the world’s best clubs were after ‘Cristo’s’ signature. He chose Barcelona ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid and has lit up the club’s youth team since joining from Almeria-based UD Palvia. Over Christmas he was announced player of the tournament at the ‘La Liga Promises’ competition, which pitted some of the brightest young stars in Spain against one another in a series of friendlies. He was the top scorer with five goals. Several of them were feats of individual brilliance, driving through helpless defences just like his hero. In the Catalan capital football journalists and the Barcelona hierarchy have made glowing comparisons between Muñoz and Messi, who is considered one of the finest players in history. Scouts have hailed his left wing
NEWS
NEWS EXTRA
Photo credit Twitter
14
TWO muggers were caught when police tracked the GPS signal from a phone they’d stolen on the streets of Almeria after threatening their victim with a knife.
Team work A TURRE man, aged 40, who went missing on Friday was found alive and well less than 24 hours later thanks to a coordinated effort from police and volunteers.
WHIZZ KID: Muñoz being hailed the new Messi. wizardry, dribbling technique, fearlessness in front of goal and ability to score with two feet. At exhibition matches in Barcelona’s La Nou stadium, journalists noted his ‘technique, speed, skill and determination to win.’ After joining Barcelona in 2017,
Muñoz looks set to play for the club’s youth team, progressively moving through the ranks of one of the world’s most acclaimed football academies. He still harbours dreams of playing professionally for UD Almeria, who play in Spain’s second division, but his future may be even brighter than that.
Good deed PLAYERS from Almeria football club lent their faces to a photoshoot for a calendar created by the Altea Association, which provides help to parents with children with autism.
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Photo by Servigroup/Twitter
NEWS
SUMMER’S NEAR: Costa chiringuitos dotting their ‘i’s.
Beach bar perfection JUST 10 of the 65 chiringuitos d o t t e d a r o u n d th e Costa de Almeria have all their paperwork in order. New data shows there are als o pl a n s f o r a n o t h e r 2 4 beach b a r s t o b e se t u p along the coast. The fully compliant chiringuitos are in Vera, Garrucha, Roquetas and Adra. Three new chiringuitos in Pulpi, Vera and
Carboneras are close to finalising deals with local councils. Sorting out their paperwork fully means getting a favourable report from the Andalucian Delegation of E n v iro n me n t a n d L and Management. All but nine of Almeria’s 65 chiringuitos have put in their applications and are awaiting inspections.
A favourable report cements their right to sell food a nd drink a t s ome of the best locations on the coast. Among the 24 proposed new chiringuitos to be set up this summer, eight are in Carboneras, three in Vera, three in Mojacar, and the rest spread between Nijar, R oque ta s , C ue va s , a nd Almeria City.
17
18
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
NEWS
NEWS EXTRA
New Year pitch party
UP AND DOWN: Yoyo demographics for places like Mojacar.
Population rise and fall SPAIN’S demographic crisis won’t affect Almeria Province for some time. A new report has projected population figures for Andalucia between 2016 and 2070. It comes from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalucia (IECA). The headline news is that the population of Almeria Province is expected to increase until 2030. Though the study covers up to the year 2070, that is only for A nda luc ia a s a w hole . For re s pe c tive provinces, including Alme-
ria, the projections stop at 2040. The worst case scenario is that Almeria’s population grows until 2030. But by 2040 it will barely be 25,000 people more than in 2016. A high growth scenario sees the population rise to more than 820,000 in 2040, roughly 125,000 more inhabitants than there are today. Either way Almeria Province ranks alongside Malaga Province as among the top Andalucian provinces for population growth. Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, and Jaen will
see populations fall by 2040. Almeria’s biggest problem isn’t demographic decline, concludes the report, but an ageing population. By 2040 more than 187,000 people will be aged 66 or older, while 587,000 will be below retirement age. Extending towards 2070, the forecast for Andalucia is for the population to drop from around 8.4 million people in 2040 to 7.6 million 30 years later. By that time almost 30 per cent of the population will be aged over 65, and around 8.4 per cent aged over 80.
A €200,000 GRANT will help renovate the Andres Soler Guerrero municipal football pitch in Cuevas del Almanzora, helping to build new stands, changing rooms, and toilets.
Mystery fire A BURNING car was found on the A-7 near the Almeria port exit on Saturday afternoon. It creat ed a severe t raf f i c j am and t he cause, and dri ver ’s identity, are as yet unknown.
Crop ruined POLICE arrested a man they suspect of smashing hi s way t hrough an El Ejido greenhouse in order to steal wiring and ruining a huge crop of peppers wort h more t han €40,000 i n t he process.
No excuse TEN thousand hygienic packs for picking up dog poo were distributed by Almeria City Council to kick start the new year. The packs include refillabl e wat er scoosher s among other items.
Look out TH REE wom en i n their 60’s and a young man were hospitalised when t hei r cars smashed into one another in Almeria City late on Sunday afternoon.
20
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Selling like hotcakes SOARING: Mojacar prices defy drop across province.
In a league of its own RESIDENTS of Almeria Province pay a far lower mortgage than the Spanish average. But the proportion of their salaries used to pay the mortgage is almost exactly the same, reflecting the province’s lower wages. The average monthly mortgage payment in Almeria is €385, compared to €530 across Spain. Total mortgage amounts average €82,480
in the province, and €114,000 nationwide. People fork out 16 per cent of their salaries to pay the mortgage, compared to 16.7 per cent in Spain. Property owners in Almeria also spend the most time in Andalucia trying to sell their home, taking an average of just over 10 months. Yet Almeria was the fifth best performing province in Spain when it came to
the number of sales per capita, surpassed only by Malaga, Alicante, Madrid and the Canary and Balearic Islands. Prices have bucked the national trend by falling slightly to an average of €941 per square metre. The Spanish average is €1,264. Yet in Almeria’s coastal hotspots prices continue to rise, with Mojacar registering some of the fastest increases in Spain.
NEWS
NEWS EXTRA
Seven nations RUGBY i s bei ng pr omoted at schools across the province. Competit i ons f or t he under 18 age group began before Christmas and are set to cont i nue t hr oughout 2018 after proving popular.
Pep talk
HEALTHY TREAT: Spain’s avocados in hot demand over Europe. AVOCADO exports from Almeria Province were up by €1 million after the last campaign. Roughly 772 tons of the fatty fruit worth €2.5 million were exported, compared to the 517 tons and €1.6 million of the 2016 campaign. The bonus is not a consequence of a bumper harvest. Production remained roundly the same but food companies based in Almeria are now sourcing fresh avocados from Granada and then exporting them abroad. These include Agroponiente, which is expanding its new tropical range of avocados, papayas and mangos. Although Almeria is among the biggest fruit and veg producers in Andalucia, it accounts for
only a tiny fraction of avocado exports. In the last campaign more than €250 million worth of avocados were exported to Europe from the region. Eighty per cent of Andalucia’s almost 90,000 tons of avocados are grown in Malaga and Granada provinces. The UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands buy the bulk of avocados, with demand rising by 150 per cent as their health benefits become better known. Almeria has plans to start growing avocado en masse in specialised greenhouses. The fruit requires a particular microclimate to grow optimally. Scientists are trying to develop a type of avocado that will thrive in the fields of Nijar and El Ejido.
AFTER the club’s poor f i rst hal f of season, Mayor Ramon Fernandez-Pacheco stepped in to support UD Almeria chairman Alfonso Garcia and called for the players to unite on the pitch.
Local snaps PHOTOGRAPHERS h a v e b e e n u rg e d t o send their snaps of themes affecting Almer i a P ro v i n c e , s u c h a s migration or drought, to the Andalucian Center of Photography for its 2018 focus on local issues.
Sneak thief A MAN suspect ed of stealing a valuable set of Wor l d War Two bayonets from a storage facility in El Ejido was arrested. Drills, tools, and a welding machine were also taken.
Dawn blaze TWELVE people were evacuated from two h o u s e s n e x t t o a f e rtiliser warehouse in Canjayar which caught fire at dawn o n N e w Ye a r ’s D a y. No injuries were reported
Chill alert AFTER a sunny start to the New Year, temperatures are expected to dip over the weekend with highs of around 12 degrees and possibly rain early next week.
NATIONAL
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Peak death A SECOND climber in two weeks has died after suffering a fall on the Mulhacén peak of the Sierra Nevada in the province of Granada, Andalucia. In th e l a t e st a c c i d en t a climber died while scaling the north face of Mulhacén, at 3,47 9 m ( 11 , 4 1 4 f t ) th e highest mountain in mainland Spain The 112 Andalucia emergency c o n t r o l c e n t r e w a s alerted b y t h e c l i m b e r ’s companion. Mountain rescue teams and the Guardia Civil’s air unit r e c o v e r e d t h e d eceased’s body from a steep slope i n t h e a r e a o f th e Laguna de la Mosca in the munici p a l i t y o f Gü é ja r Sierra.
Fatal fall A MAN has died in a fall from a balcony while trying to enter the 10th-floor apartment of his ex-partner in Sabadell, Cataluña. The Mossos d’Esquadra police force is investigating the fall which appears to be accidental. It is understood that the 38year-old man had a restraining order on him preventing him approaching his ex-partner. Local reports suggest that when the woman denied entry to the man via the front door he got impatient and tried to access her flat from the roof.
Stabbing horror A WOMAN h a s b e e n stabbed to death by her husband in front of their three children. After killing his partner the alleged attacker attempted to kill himself. The 112 emergency control centre in Castilla-La Mancha said the crime took place i n Az u q u e c a d e Henares (Guadalajara). The three children, who were at home at the time of the murder of their mother, are b e i n g c o u n selle d by a specialist Red Cross team.
21
Boy loses ears in dog attack A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy has lost both ears and suffered bites to his face and left thigh after being attacked by a dog in Madrid. The child is in a 'serious but stable' condition in Madrid’s La Paz hospital after suffering the attack by a bull terrier
on a farm in the town of El Molar, north of the capital. It is reported that the boy’s family was visiting a friend’s house and he had been playing with the dogs at the farm. Later they found him unconscious and wounded and rushed him to the
Emergency Medical Centre in the town. The child was stabilised at the centre and then transferred to the intensive care unit at the Hospital de La Paz where his condition is described as ‘serious but stable.’ The Guardia Civil is now investigat-
ing the incident. The bull terrier is not included in the list of potentially dangerous dogs in the Community of Madrid. In April a woman died in El Molar after suffering bites at her house where she was breeding pitbulls.
22
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
COMMUNITY
Innocents’ Day: Best of the rest ON the day of the Innocents Spain’s take on April Fool’s Day - a few of you fell for our fishy online prank hook, line and sinker. Here are a selection of Spain’s best attempts at fooling the ‘innocents.’ The Guardia Civil were on good form on social media, telling followers they had fined a ghost pedestrian for not wearing a reflective jacket and mocking up a picture of a new police Ferrari Enzo supercar which ‘exceeds 350km per hour.’ The Community of Madrid announced in a press release that the eighth series of the popular HBO show Game of Thrones would be set in the capital’s Royal Mail House, where the regional presidency is based. They added that the dragons might ‘fly over or climb the clock tower of Puerta del Sol.’ No one appears to have fallen for it. Football fans will have chuckled at Sports World’s story that Cristiano Ronaldo is set to return the World Player of the Year Award after losing in El Clasico against Barcelona. Ronaldo is quoted as saying he must return the Ballon D’or to Lionel Messi, since “the whole planet witnessed once again” that the Argentine forward is the world’s best. Despite the chances of Ronaldo returning an individual award likely being around the square root of zero - he recently put on a gala in his own name - another
GAME OF GROANS: The Royal Post Office will not become a GOT set.
Photo by Guardia Civil/Shutterstock
FAIR COP: The Guardia Civil’s fake Ferrari. site was fooled into republishing the unlikely story. Staying with football, and La Liga outfit Eibar made the strange announcement on Twitter that their captain’s dog was the club’s third winter signing. The pooch supposedly signed a three year deal, sparking the hashtag #WelcomeManolito. Meanwhile, a special television show dedicated to the day raised over €2 million for children suffering with cancer.
GOTCHA?: Our story last week.
According to Spanish media, the prank programme featured a fake meteorite falling next to one victim’s house, before a ‘government scientist’ arrived to say there might be alien life within. The Athletico Madrid
president was met with a herd of sheep and a ‘permit’ allowing them to enter into his stadium, while a world champion figure skater was told he had discovered a Picasso behind another painting in an art gallery.
Golden tickets hidden in cake By Harrison Jones OVER 1,000 lucky festive shopper s ar e set f or a golden reward, after a supermarket group decided to hide gold worth thousands of euros in Spanish cakes. Three one ounce golden pieces - worth around €1,100 each - and 1,000 one gram pieces have been placed in Roscon de Reyes, the traditional Three Kings’ Day cake. The surprise treats can be
found in Supercor, Supercor Express, Hipercor and El Corte Ingles supermarkets throughout Spain. The El Corte Ingles group worked in collaboration with the precious metal company Degussa to undertake the initiative. With 600,000 cakes reportedly being produced by the supermarket for Spain’s traditional January 6 festival, buyers have a roughly one in 600 chance of striking gold.
FEATURE
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
23
Advertising feature
FUNDRAISERS: Walk for Life and ACRAA committee members.
A fayre-ly good effort! THE ACRAA Christmas Fayre raised €1,700 for Walk for Life. A cheque was presented to Walk for Life representatives Val Dix, Irene Barber and Trudy Sailes by ACRAA committee members Ray Walsh, Colin Richardson and Christine and Bernt Axelsen. ACRAA is a registered
77.8
million
charity helping deserving causes across the region. In the past it has raised funds for Asprodalba, Vera Orphanage, Age Concern, Arboleas School and various animal charities. This generous donation will enable Walk for Life to help more people affected by cancer, particularly at this time of
Tourists arrived to Spain from January to November last year, 2.3% more than during the whole of 2016.
year, helping bring a little festive cheer to families with no other financial resource by providing translators, covering travel costs and offering a friendly hand and a listening ear to people with cancer and their nearest and dearest. Walk for Life would like to thank the ACRAA team for all their hard work, the stall holders and Smooth FM for supporting the day and all the visitors who made the event a success.
LINEA DIRECTA: Guarantees the use of OEM parts in their repairer network.
OEM parts exclusively used in national repair network OEM PARTS OEM parts are Original Equipment Manufactured parts as made by your car’s manufacturer. They are brand new, usually more expensive and sometimes take longer to order. But they are a no brainer. Body shops love them because they fit perfectly and install easy. LÍNEA DIRECTA ONLY USES OEM PARTS Línea Directa is the only insurance company that guarantees the use of OEM parts in their repairer network. Thanks to an exclusive purchasing and distribution agreement with the major manufacturers, when you repair your vehicle through its exclusive network of body shops and repairers, they guarantee the use of OEM parts. After vehicle repairs are complete, they send a list of the OEM parts used for you to keep in your log book. It’s one less thing to worry about. DO ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES USE OEM PARTS? At the time of publishing this article, no other insurance company in Spain guarantees the exclusive use of OEM parts in their repairer network. Some insurance companies rely on after market parts and used parts to keep the repair costs to a minimum, only paying for
OEM parts if no other parts are available. After-market parts are parts made by a company other than your vehicle’s manufacturer. They are new and the spec should be very close to the original specs. However, some minor fitting adjustments may be required by the body shop. Used parts come from the scrap yard. Cars involved in accidents, engine trouble or age, mean that scrapped cars will have some working parts, which can be resold. The used parts are usually OEM parts. NATIONAL NETWORK OF BODY SHOP REPAIRERS Using the Línea Directa network to repair your car means more than just OEM parts. The whole repair service is handled from start to finish. Your vehicle is collected at the agreed time and place. The repairs are carried out swiftly, efficiently and according to original manufacturer specs. You can request a replacement vehicle for the duration of the repair. They will keep you updated on progress and after completion; your vehicle will be delivered at the agreed time and place.
We hope the information provided in this article is of interest. If you would like to contact Linea Directa please call 902 123 309 More information about Linea Directa online at www.lineadirecta.com
24
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
EUROPEAN PRESS
DENMARK
NETHERLANDS
Princess lonely
Bizarre interview
THE Australian wife of Denmark’s heir to the throne has spoken about her loneliness upon moving to the country in 2004. Princess Mary met Prince Frederik in a Sydney bar.
THE US Ambassador has apologised after an embarrassing interview went viral. Confronted with previous remarks saying the Netherlands had “no-go zones” - Pete Hoekstra cried “fake news,” only to be shown the footage and then claim he had not said “fake news.”
Joint operation A DOPE Y m a n c a r r y i n g o v e r a thousand joints mistook a police car for a taxi, according to Copenhagen Police. He could face jail and a fine.
the Danish government, according to rep o rts . T h e public s e rvic e channel will be funded by television licences.
‘Danflix’
Tax cut
A NATIONAL streaming service to rival Netflix is being planned by
PRIME MINISTER Lars Lokke Rasmussen chose to talk about tax in his New Year’s Day speech. He
LONELY?: Princess Mary revealed she struggled to settle in Denmark.
hopes to implement plans to cut taxes for low and medium earners this year.
Wind power A VAST island surrounded by wind turbines could send electricity to the Netherlands and the UK. Plans by the Dutch power grid, to build the farm off the East Yorkshire coast, could save billions of euros.
GERMANY
SWEDEN
Cruise crash
Not Maddie
AT least 25 people were injured when a 100-metre long Swiss cruise ship hit a motorway bridge on the Rhine. Four were hospitalised, but most only suffered minor injuries in the incident, near Duisberg.
Prison break A DARING prison escape was cap-
tured on CCTV in Berlin. A manhunt is underway for the four men, who broke a concrete pillar and jumped a fence.
Fat alert A WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION expert has warned that increasing numbers of German children are overweight. The WHO
called for advertising restrictions on sweets, junk food and beer.
Paid to go home REFUGEES are being offered money by the German government to go back to their homeland, according to reports. The amount of €1,000 per person and €6,000 per family is available until February.
FRANCE
BELGIUM
Car burn
Telegrams STOP
FRANCE’S annual New Year ’s Eve torching of cars continued on Sunday, as the total number of burned vehicles hit 1,031, according to the government. Two police officers were also attacked in Paris.
BELGIANS sent their final telegrams last month as the service - which had been running in the country since 1846 - ended. Eight thousand telegrams went sent between January and November 2017.
World of oysters NEARLY a tonne of oysters has been stolen from an oyster farm near Ile De Re in western France, disappointing diners who were hoping to eat the luxury shellfish on New Year’s Eve.
No fly zone A HALF-CENTURY old anti-airport activist camp is thought to be under threat. President Macron is due to make a ‘final decision’ on the future of La Zad ‘ a utopian hippy community - imminently.
Apple bitten APPLE are reportedly facing a lawsuit in France adding to others around the world - after allegations emerged that the company were deliberately slowing down iPhones, supposedly to save battery life.
Baby box ANTWERP’S heart-wrenching ‘baby box’ has had a record year, according to reports. The facility provides a safe place for desperate mothers to anonymously leave babies for adoption or fostering.
Becoming Dutch AN area the size of 23 football pitches has become Dutch. The changed status of an uninhabited peninsula on the River Meuse eases legal issues with an investigation into a headless body’s discovery.
Private jets BELGIUM’S Finance Minister has requested data from Eurocontrol on private jets in tax havens, following the ‘Paradise Papers’ leak. The revelations suggested industrial scale tax avoidance across Europe.
A S WEDI SH wom an who sparked a media frenzy in Italy after being mistaken for missing Maddie McCann has reportedly returned home. Embla Jauhoharvi was discovered speaking English on the streets of Rome in 2016.
Stunning survival THE Swedish town of Gavle is celebrating after its 13-metre high Christmas goat survived for more than three weeks. The festive straw decoration has traditionally fallen victim to fire-wielding pranksters, since 1966.
Snack ban FEYENOORD have suspended a player for one match and two training sessions after he was caught eating a white bread roll and croquette at half time. Michiel Kraer was also fined.
Inequality DUTCH CEOs earn 171 times more than their average employees, according to an analys i s b y B l o o m b e rg . T h e s t u d y shames the country as fifth worst in the world for wage inequality.
Gender-neutral God THE Church of Sweden has t o l d i t s c l e rg y t o u s e g e n d e rneutral terms when referring to God. They are encouraged to sacrifice phrases like ‘The Lord’ and ‘He’ in favour of the simple ‘God.’
Wolf hunt CAMPAIGNERS’ attempts to st op a wol f hunt r epor t edl y failed earlier this week, when a cull of the animals was set to go ahead. The licensed hunt permits 22 killings. Around 350 wolves live in Sweden.
NORWAY
PM Trumps ERNA SOLBERG, the Norwegian Prime Minister, is set to be the first world leader to visit US President Donald Trump this year. Miss Solberg is visiting the White House on January 10.
Auto-dim A FIVE-MILE stretch of road will reportedly be home to auto-dimming street lights to s a v e e n e r g y. T h o u s a n d s o f kilowatt hours will be saved by the lights, which brighten from 20 per cent to 100 per cent when detecting movement.
Sex scandal THE Deputy Leader of Norway’s opposition party has temporarily stood down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Trond Giske, from the country’s Labour Party, apologised for ‘unsuitable’ behaviour but rejected several more severe allegations.
Gas high NORWAY’S pipeline gas exports to Europe hit a record high last year, according to gas company Gassco. This year’s total was a 7 per cent increase on 2016.
28
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
RUSSIAN PRESS
www.euroweeklynews.com
OIL PAINTING: Tough priests defy stereotypes.
Biker priests ORTHODOX biker priests have released a 2018 calendar showing them posing in black and white next to their motorcycles. Entitled ‘Thy Ways,’ the album will show the clergy in a different light, hopes the orthodox biker community. In 2015 a similar calendar featuring priests with their cats was a huge hit.
Bomb terror AN explosive device rigged with shrapnel blew up at a St Petersburg supermarket, injuring 10 people. Authorities are working on the assumption that it was a terrorist attack but no group has claimed responsibility. Last April 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on the city’s metro.
Animal rights SENATORS voted to reject a law against animal cruelty while using hunting dogs and birds. Senator Sergei Kalashnikov said it was a slippery slope towards following other ‘western fads.’ These included political correctness and the rights of sexual minorities, he said to applause.
Ticket touts TOUTS reselling World Cup tickets face increased fines of up to 1.5 million rubles (€22,000) as Russia cracks down on the trade. Dozens of incidents of fake tickets being sold have also been recorded. More than 700,000 tickets for games in 11 cities have been sold so far.
Tensions rise
Cash amnesty
ALEXEI NAVALNY has called for a boycott of Russia’s 2018 presidential election after being banned from standing as a candidate. The anti-corruption crusader was ruled ineligible to stand due to a previous conviction for fraud, but says that President Putin is running scared of free competition.
WEALTHY Russians with undeclared funds held abroad have been offered treasury bonds in exchange for bringing their assets back home. An amnesty exempting them from any prosecution related to undeclared assets will also be extended to encourage the rich to keep their money in Russia.
Video games Paseo del Mediterraneo 30, Mojacar Playa, Almeria
T: 950 473 104
E: info@mojacarhomeimprovements.com www.mojacarhomeimprovements.com
BANNED: Kadyrov kicked out of Instagram account.
CHECHEN leader Ramzan Kadyrov woke up to find his Facebook and Instagram accounts blocked. Russia has demanded an explanation from the American social media giants. Kadyrov famously uses Instagram to post videos of himself wrestling crocodiles and threatening dissidents. He has three million followers on the site.
FINANCE ECB approves takeover of BMN
THE Spanish government has said that it will increase its military to approximately €18 billion by 2024 in order to meet a benchmark set by NATO in 2014. At a 2014 summit, members of each of the 28 countries that comprise NATO reportedly promised to move towards contributing 2 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defence spending within a decade. According to reports, the rise will lift the defence budget by 80 per cent by 2024, but that increase still
Photo by Chiradech Chotchuang
Robots might hurt humans area that is most likely to be affected is those which require little skill. It is posited therefore that lower-skilled jobs could well be phased out, meaning that only those with higher-skills would be able to find work and then obtain higher wages. With the high unemployment in Spain, the economy could become even more burdened by the increasing number of people unable to find work and claiming social security.
By John Smith equates to a figure that is below the 2 per cent of GDP benchmark set by NATO. Depending on GDP growth, this increase could see Spain’s spending equate to between 1.5 and 1.6 per cent, with the earliest that Spain could possibly reach the 2 per cent goal reportedly being 2028. Spain is currently one of the lowest spending NATO countries on defences, forecast to spend just
BUSINESS EXTRA
Another move ENDESA is one of the latest of 3,160 companies to have moved headquarters out of Barcelona. In this case its electrical distribution group formally registered its new office in Madrid, but has not confirmed the reason for the move.
Large fine A FINE of €500,000 has been levied on investment company Renta 4 Banco by the National Securities Market Commission. Whilst the Commission refers to a very serious infringement concerning lack of clear data, Renta has confirmed that it intends to appeal.
Cross over MARÍA GARAÑA, vice president of the business solutions division of Microsoft for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) is moving to the UK. Not only is she crossing the channel, but is crossing from Microsoft to Google as general director of professional services.
Apple to reduce costs AS reported in the Finance pages in last week’s edition of EWN, Apple confirmed that it has been slowing down some older iPhone models. It has now announced that by way of apology it
29
A EURO WEEKLY NEWS 6 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION | WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM/3.0.15/FINANCE
We don’t want anyone to be left behind and that’s why we’re going to improve wages, starting with the lowest.” Mariano Rajoy on the decision to raise the national minimum wage by 4 per cent.
AUTOMATION: When man meets machine.
EWN
is the amount of additional profit that energy company Iberdrola will make in the USA thanks to a change in the accounting laws introduced by Donald Trump.
Spain’s military spend
AGREEMENT has been received from the European Central Bank (ECB) to allow Bankia to formally take over BMN. The Banco Mare Nostrum (BMN) which was set up just seven years ago received a massive cash injection from the Spanish government due to its instability and now the merger will make the new group the fourth largest bank in Spain. Once the merger goes through, the government expects to be able to recoup some of the funds invested in both banks.
A BRITISH thinktank The Institute for Public Policy Research has published a paper concerning the introduction of robots which if correct could have meaning for Spain. Whilst it sees the benefits of such automation within the workplace, it also believes that government needs to be aware of the possible changes in social mobility which could adversely affect the economy. Whilst much has been said about Artificial Intelligence, the
€1.2 billion
STAT OF WEEK
business & legal
Quote of the Week
Costa de Almería
4 - 10 January 2018
will be reducing the cost of replacement batteries from $79 (€66) to $29 (€24) and plans to issue new software so customers can monitor battery health.
0.92 per cent in 2017. It is however a major supplier of military hardware around the world as it produces naval vessels as well as aircraft with the UK as one of its largest customers followed by other European countries and Saudi Arabia which is its major purchaser of ammunition and shells. Time will tell whether Brexit will have a serious negative affect on Spain’s arms industry which could then inhibit the planned NATO spend.
Credit rating group S&P rate India ACCORDING to credit rating organisation, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), the Indian banking sector is now on the same level as Spain in category 5 BBB-. These two countries share a slot with Ireland, Italy, Panama, Bermuda, Poland, Peru, Qatar, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates and the decision has been made due to the rate of bad loans that have been granted over the years. This rating is just positive and the countries in that category are ‘considered lowest investment-grade by market participants.’ The company considers that those classed as BBB- do have the potential to grow their economies and to be considered a safer investment option in the future.
30
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
LONDON - FTSE 100
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MONEY WITH US See our advert on opposite page
C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 2
PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) COMPANY Anglo American 1,548.50 -6.55 Associated British Foods 3,200.00 380.00 Admiral Group 2,032.00 30.00 Ashtead Group 1,899.00 -93.00 Antofagasta 982.50 -22.50 Aviva 500.75 -5.75 AstraZeneca 5,119.50 0.00 BAE Systems 567.50 -5.50 Barclays 203.13 -0.70 British American Tobacco 5,013.00 -21.04 Barratt Developments 648.75 -2.08 Berkeley Group Holdings (The)4,201.00 25.48 British Land Co 689.00 -2.50 BHP Billiton 1,522.25 -10.53 Bunzl 2,051.00 -21.00 BP 522.40 -2.82 Burberry Group 1,787.50 -4.50 BT Group 271.55 -3.15 Coca-Cola HBC 2,490.00 70.00 Carnival 5,046.00 154.00 Centrica 138.00 0.70 Compass Group 1,550.00 -50.00 Croda International 4,423.50 -0.50 CRH 2,728.50 71.50 DCC 7,242.50 -222.50 Diageo 2,722.75 -37.86 Direct Line Insurance Group 410.80 29.10 Experian 1,610.00 -26.00 easyJet 1,437.50 -26.50 Ferguson 5,410.00 80.00 Fresnillo 1,380.00 -49.00 G4S 290.00 23.00 GKN 310.00 -9.40 Glencore 389.43 -0.16 GlaxoSmithKline 1,320.25 0.00 Hargreaves Lansdown 1,777.50 -24.50 Halma 1,250.00 -10.00 Hammerson 556.00 9.00 HSBC Holdings 766.50 -1.81 International Consldtd Air Gr 637.00 -14.00 InterContinental Hotels Grp 3,885.00 -834.00 3i Group 951.00 37.50 Imperial Brands 3,168.00 0.00 Informa 721.75 1.71 Intertek Group 5,192.50 12.45 ITV 166.00 0.50 Just Eat 690.25 -90.75 Johnson Matthey 3,270.00 195.00 Kingfisher 336.00 -1.70 Land Securities Group 1,015.00 7.00
% CHG. NET VOL -0.42 21,595.93 13.48 22,428.13 1.50 5,626.53 -4.67 9,818.93 -2.24 9,784.63 -1.14 20,096.48 0.00 63,280.09 -0.96 18,112.05 -0.35 34,692.11 -0.42 113,660.42 -0.32 6,565.59 0.61 5,734.84 -0.36 6,862.07 -0.69 31,670.52 -1.01 6,913.44 -0.54 102,782.14 -0.25 7,605.21 -1.16 26,515.19 2.89 8,840.64 3.15 10,268.69 0.51 7,727.92 -3.13 24,965.43 -0.01 5,787.85 2.69 22,339.15 -2.98 6,654.39 -1.39 67,063.95 7.62 5,171.38 -1.59 14,891.32 -1.81 5,723.77 1.50 13,337.26 -3.43 10,242.82 8.61 4,041.90 -2.94 5,446.12 -0.04 55,484.53 0.00 64,948.48 -1.36 8,466.59 -0.79 4,768.30 1.65 4,308.68 -0.24 152,439.40 -2.15 13,271.35 -17.67 8,958.04 4.11 8,828.86 0.00 29,885.35 0.24 5,978.16 0.24 8,303.54 0.30 6,617.77 -11.62 5,167.43 6.34 5,982.12 -0.50 7,455.63 0.69 7,466.32
COMPANY
PRICE(P)
CHANGE(P)
Legal & General Group 271.25 -2.05 Lloyds Banking Group ORD 67.94 0.00 London Stock Exchange Grp 3,789.50 0.00 Micro Focus International 2,446.50 -76.50 Mediclinic International 662.75 13.25 Marks & Spencer Group 327.00 12.20 Mondi 1,975.50 44.50 Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets 216.00 -3.90 National Grid 874.80 -2.19 NMC Health 2,890.50 0.00 Next 4,626.50 101.50 Old Mutual Group 221.50 -10.20 Paddy Power Betfair 8,800.00 -25.00 Prudential 1,904.25 0.00 Persimmon 2,499.00 -239.00 Pearson 730.00 -6.00 Reckitt Benckiser Group 6,918.50 -30.72 Royal Bank of Scotland Grp 266.50 -11.50 Royal Dutch Shell 2,479.00 -7.97 Royal Dutch Shell 2,506.25 0.00 RELX 1,727.50 -11.50 Rio Tinto 3,941.00 -45.55 Rolls-Royce Group 858.00 11.00 Randgold Resources 7,210.00 -200.00 RSA Insurance Group 650.75 18.25 Rentokil Initial 319.00 1.00 Sainsbury (J) 240.00 -1.40 Schroders 3,519.00 0.00 Sage Group (The) 785.00 -13.00 Segro 588.00 0.00 Shire 3,895.25 -11.05 Smurfit Kappa Group 2,506.00 0.00 Sky 1,031.00 19.00 Standard Life Aberdeen 445.70 9.10 Smith (DS) 517.75 -3.42 Smiths Group 1,492.50 1.50 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust444.50 -4.50 Smith & Nephew 1,300.00 12.00 SSE 1,303.00 -17.00 Standard Chartered 780.05 -5.43 St James's Place 1,225.50 -6.43 Severn Trent 2,111.00 -51.00 Tesco 209.28 0.02 TUI AG 1,565.00 25.00 Taylor Wimpey 209.70 3.30 Unilever 4,124.75 -7.93 United Utilities Group 815.50 -14.00 Vodafone Group 234.93 -0.05 Worldpay Group 459.20 33.20 WPP Group 1,357.50 16.50 Whitbread 3,923.50 -76.50
% CHG.
NET VOL
-0.75 0.00 0.00 -3.03 2.04 3.88 2.30 -1.77 -0.25 0.00 2.24 -4.40 -0.28 0.00 -8.73 -0.82 -0.44 -4.14 -0.32 0.00 -0.66 -1.16 1.30 -2.70 2.89 0.31 -0.58 0.00 -1.63 0.00 -0.28 0.00 1.88 2.08 -0.66 0.10 -1.00 0.93 -1.29 -0.70 -0.52 -2.36 0.01 1.62 1.60 -0.19 -1.69 -0.02 7.79 1.23 -1.91
16,147.20 48,628.35 12,995.69 10,765.02 4,744.16 5,139.06 9,288.64 5,162.93 29,370.23 5,803.59 6,633.33 11,093.68 7,439.60 48,678.79 8,453.37 5,886.50 47,961.43 33,039.86 113,135.52 93,131.53 18,453.48 52,145.06 15,580.64 6,829.72 6,392.62 5,756.36 5,298.11 7,955.99 8,542.29 5,827.00 35,291.79 5,864.30 17,241.74 12,838.92 5,467.65 5,908.25 6,272.23 11,231.14 13,186.72 25,506.95 6,433.54 5,086.81 17,070.43 8,987.02 6,776.07 50,807.47 5,601.71 62,497.41 8,456.00 17,156.79 7,267.37
0.88934
1.12423 Units per €
US dollar ...............................................................1.20361 Japan yen ............................................................135.573 Switzerland franc..............................................1.17070 Denmark kroner ..............................................7.44489 Norway kroner ..................................................9.81485 currenciesdirect.com/mojacar • Tel: +34 950 478 914 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER
DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 2
COMPANY 3M AMERICAN EXPRESS APPLE BOEING CO CATERPILLAR CHEVRON CISCO SYSTEMS COCA-COLA DOWDUPONT EXXON MOBIL GENERAL ELECTRIC GOLDMAN SACHS HOME DEPOT IBM INTEL CORP J.P.MORGAN CHASE JOHNSON & JOHNSON MC DONALD'S CORP MERCK AND CO. NEW MICROSOFT NIKE PFIZER PROCTER AND GAMBLE TRAVELERS CIES UNITED TECHNOLOGIE UNITEDHEALTH GROUP VERIZON COMMS VISA WAL-MART STORES WALT DISNEY CO
PRICE 235,370 99,3100 169,230 294,910 157,580 125,19 38,300 45,88 71,22 83,64 17,4500 254,76 189,5300 153,42 46,1600 106,9400 139,7200 172,1200 56,27 85,540 62,55 36,2200 91,880 135,64 127,57 220,46 52,93 114,02 98,7500 107,5100
CHANGE% -0,15% -0,39% -1,08% -0,49% -0,53% -0,31% -0,75% +0,35% -0,41% -0,45% +0,52% -0,68% -0,13% -0,40% -0,13% -0,79% -0,60% -0,57% -0,58% -0,21% -0,64% -0,41% -0,21% -0,01% -0,43% -1,04% -0,94% -0,29% -0,65% -0,24%
CHANGE VOLUME(M) -0,350 140.521,82 -0,3900 86.547,04 -1,850 872.628,18 -1,440 176.094,70 -0,840 94.159,42 -0,39 238.169,71 -0,290 192.302,08 0,16 196.033,30 -0,29 167.016,80 -0,38 355.582,18 0,0900 151.205,61 -1,74 96.314,63 -0,2500 222.374,37 -0,62 142.450,59 -0,0600 217.704,67 -0,8500 373.064,89 -0,8400 377.026,22 -0,9800 137.378,99 -0,33 153.699,10 -0,180 662.046,38 -0,40 82.043,18 -0,1500 216.612,10 -0,190 233.848,93 -0,02 37.148,74 -0,55 102.105,15 -2,31 214.725,97 -0,50 216.883,47 -0,33 207.324,56 -0,6500 293.646,06 -0,2600 162.605,57 M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 2
COMPANY
PRICE
CHANGE NET / %
Most Advanced Presbia PLC Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. Merus N.V. QIWI plc Casa Systems, Inc. Insys Therapeutics, Inc. TiVo Corporation CRISPR Therapeutics AG Flex Pharma, Inc. ProQR Therapeutics N.V. LexinFintech Holdings Ltd.
$ 3.78 $ 18.10 $ 19.40 $ 17.33 $ 17.76 $ 9.62 $ 15.60 $ 23.48 $ 3.49 $ 3.225 $ 13.90
0.66 ▲ 21.15% 2.85 ▲ 18.69% 2.75 ▲ 16.52% 2.11 ▲ 13.86% 2.02 ▲ 12.83% 1 ▲ 11.60% 1.60 ▲ 11.43% 2.23 ▲ 10.49% 0.33 ▲ 10.44% 0.30 ▲ 10.26% 1.27 ▲ 10.06%
$ 3.68 $ 19.35 $ 2.16 $ 2.03 $ 5.38 $ 3.53 $ 9.70 $ 4.17 $ 2.68 $ 3.68 $ 16.43
0.62 ▼ 14.42% 2.90 ▼ 13.03% 0.24 ▼ 10.00% 0.20 ▼ 8.97% 0.52 ▼ 8.81% 0.34 ▼ 8.79% 0.93 ▼ 8.75% 0.37 ▼ 8.15% 0.22 ▼ 7.59% 0.29 ▼ 7.30% 1.24 ▼ 7.02%
Most Declined Forward Pharma A/S ADTRAN, Inc. Zion Oil & Gas Inc Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Papa Murphy's Holdings, Inc. Medallion Financial Corp. Synlogic, Inc. Future FinTech Group Inc. China Finance Online Co. Limited Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.
32
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
GBP set to end the year weaker, EUR/USD up 16 cents Ask the expert Peter Loveday Contact me at euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com
THIS year was another dramatic year for the major currencies. Read our summary of the year’s biggest news, and find out what you should be looking out for in the year ahead. Latest currency news Over the last 12 months the GBP/EUR exchange rate has fallen from €1.17 to €1.13, EUR/GBP has risen from £0.85 to £0.88 and EUR/USD has advanced from $1.04 to $1.20. What’s been happening? Brexit continued to dog the pound in 2017. Slow progress in negotiations kept Sterling under pressure throughout the year, but it was political news that inspired the most significant GBP movements. Prime Minister, Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election back in April initially drove the pound to its best levels of the year, but an ill-judged campaign saw the Conservatives lose their majority and Sterling lose its strength. The pound’s been battling its way back over the last few months, despite concerns that the Bank of England (BoE) will leave interest rates on hold next
UNCERTAIN TIMES: An eventful year ahead. year after raising borrowing costs for the first time in over a decade in November. However, while the British government finally concluded the first stage of Brexit negotiations, concerns that the second stage could prove just as protracted prevented the pound from seeing much benefit. In terms of euro movement, the early half of the year was dominated by fears of a rise of populism, with the common currency unsettled by speculation that elections in the Netherlands and France could result in victory for Eurosceptic parties. These fears proved unfounded, and the euro
gained after Emmanuel Macron secured victory in France. However, a surprising result in September’s German elections left the common currency on less stable ground during the last quarter of the year. Although the Eurozone’s economic recovery continues apace, stagnant Eurozone inflation, and the expectation that the European Central Bank (ECB) will choose to leave monetary policy accommodative for the foreseeable future have conspired to limit the euro’s gains against the pound. EUR/USD has surged by around 16 cents this year, however, despite the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates three times.
What do you need to look out for? The currency market in 2017 has certainly been a volatile one and 2018 looks set to be equally eventful. The outlook for pound exchange rates is highly dependent on the second phase of Brexit negotiations. Progress would be Sterling supportive, while delayed or fractious trade discussions could send GBP lower. The BoE interest rate hike outlook will also be key to how GBP performs in the months ahead. Sterling will benefit if wage growth rises, inflation remains persistently high, and the odds of a rate hike in 2018 improve. Meanwhile, the euro could be boosted if the political situation in Germany stabilises and Eurozone data continues outperforming forecasts. However, as it would take a notable uptick in consumer price pressures to significantly alter the ECB’s stance on monetary policy, EUR exchange rates may be restrained by inaction from the central bank. At Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers. Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 210,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.
Visit us at our Spanish offices in Costa del Sol, Costa Almeria, North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca. Telephone: UK +44 (0) 207 847 9400 SPAIN +34 950 478 914 Email: euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com • www.currenciesdirect.com
A vital bid has been received for Niki IT would seem that the New Year may bring some positive news for Austrian and German travellers to Spain as IAG hopes to purchase Niki Airline for €20 million. Originally founded by former racing driver, Niki Lauda, the Austrian holiday airline suffered from its association with Air Berlin which was declared insolvent in August after main shareholder Etihad Airlines (of the United Arab Emirates) withdrew its support. Whilst Air Berlin cancelled its flights at that time, Niki continued, with support, in the hope and expectation that it would be rescued by Lufthansa, but when the European Commission expressed its concern over the possible takeover by the German company of both Air Berlin and Niki, the ‘plug was pulled’ and Niki ceased trading. With flights to seven Spanish destinations including Malaga and Palma de Mallorca, the Austrian airline was an important link for Austrian
Photo by Oliver Holzbauer Wikimedia
More flights to Spain
GOOD NEWS: Niki flight from Palma arriving at Frankfurt.
EWN online Tweet us your opinions @euroweeklynews
and German holidaymakers and its closure alongside Air Berlin was not helpful to the Spanish tourist economy. Niki Lauda had himself indicated that he would be interested in taking back the airline, but the liquidators appear to prefer the concept of IAG (owner of Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia and Vueling) injecting funds into the failed airline and relaunching as an
arm of Vueling. In addition to the initial purchase price of €20 million, IAG has indicated that it will keep on some 740 staff and will spend a further €16.5 million on assimilating the airline into the group. The acquisition which still has to be approved by the EU will bring with it 15 aircraft and a number of important landing rights in Austria, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Approval has already been given for easyJet to take over Air Berlin’s base at Tegel Airport in Berlin and it will operate internal German flights, but also regular flights from the German capital to Palma de Mallorca, having taken over a number of routes from the bankrupt airline. Although fairly vocal in its criticism of the support given by the German government to Lufthansa in its bid to obtain ownership of Air Berlin, Irish based airline, Ryanair has currently missed out on the opportunity to add to its fleet.
Future car production looking positive THE Spani sh aut om obi l e industry is forecast to produce three million vehicles i n 2018 accor di ng t o Spain’s Association of Car Manufacturers (ANFAC). This would bring production back to the same level as 10 years ago when the world financial crisis struck. In 2017 production was broadly the same as 2016 with an estimated 2.8 mill i on vehi cl es bei ng pr oduced, but the future forecast is positive because of t he need t o i ncr ease t he number of alternative energy vehicles for the internal market. With the value of the automobile industry representi ng near l y 10 per cent of Spain’s GDP, any significant movement in production and sales will be good for the economy.
www.euroweeklynews.com
Photo Credit: Eqtec Iberia
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
EQTEC IBERIA: A gasification plant in Croatia.
www.facebook.com/euroweeklynews
Irish company take-over Spain EWN online Join the conversation on our Facebook page
FOLLOWING a suspension in trading in its shares, Irish company EQTEC has returned to the UK AIM market following a €16 million take-over of a Spanish company. This was a somewhat complicated arrangement as the deal was technically a reverse take-over of a fellow subsidiary of its Spanish parent Ebioss energy. The all share arrangement saw it gain ownership of Eqtec Iberia which specialises in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of power plants. EQTEC which produces energy from waste products believes that
the Spanish company’s EGT gasification technology will help the Irish company to extend its involvement with energy projects in the UK. Coinciding with the acquisition, EQTEC issued a further 246.5 million shares at a heavily discounted price to raise £1.6 million (€1.8 million) of working capital and installed a new board of directors. The new Irish company with access to both the British and European market believes that it is now ideally placed to become a leading player in the creation of electricity by converting waste into synthetic gas.
Disney to expand its coverage through pay TV THE Disney Company has its eyes firmly fixed on expansion of its services within Spain and has entered into two deals with major telecoms suppliers. On December 22, it launched Movistar Disney, as part of the Movistar+ pay TV offer which is a 24-hour a day service broadcasting a whole range of different Disney-owned properties. In addition to cartoons and children’s programmes, it will also be supplying the latest and classic movies from both Walt Disney Studio and Pixar which includes the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and a whole selection of animated films such as Toy Story. Existing subscribers to Movistar+ will receive this new channel at no addition-
al cost. To add to its coverage in Spain, the company which had an estimated worldwide turnover of $55 billion (€46 billion) has also signed a new deal with Vodafone’s Videoclub which supplies video-ondemand through set-top boxes and Vodafone TV Online. Some of the Disney channels are already available to view with Vodafone TV Online contracts, but the video-on-demand option is a new pay service which not only gives access to the studio’s movie selections (including some Star Wars products) but also allows subscribers to see pay-TV channels, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior seven days before other suppliers.
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
EWN
33
FEATURE
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
35
British heritage is disappearing LEAPY LEE SAYS IT
OTHERS THINK IT THE Ghosts of Christmas Past. That, I’m afraid is all that London (and according to colleagues, most of our other great cities) had to offer this Yuletide. This was my first Christmas visit to the great Metropolis in over 30 years, which is about the time I began voicing my concerns over the future of our British heritage and democratic freedom. Well I’m afraid ‘Leapy’s Rants’ of yesteryear are now manifesting in harsh and terribly sad reality. I truly did feel like a stranger in the country of my birth. Whole areas, that in days of yore, glistened and danced with lights and decorations marking the most important event in the Christian calendar, now show no signs of special celebration or joyful occasion whatsoever. Indeed, in many places, whole rows of shops bore no Christmas decorations at all, not even stuck on bits of cotton wool graced the bare windows that prevailed on a number of high streets I visited. Where were the wonderful Salvation Army Bands that once regaled us with joyful carols and uplifting seasonal music on the street corners of our main shopping areas? When I rang the Sally Army offices to enquire
LONDON: Still festive in places including Regent Street as seen here. as to their conspicuous absence, I was informed that these appearances were local decisions and I needed to contact the area offices for more information, (no joy with that at the time of writing!). Not one carol singer presented themselves at the portals of our fairly suburban semi, or in any other street as far as I could make out.
Frankly I’m not angry anymore (I’m not allowed to be!), merely saddened by the manifestation of all my worst predictions. As I prophesised all those years ago, there is no need for violent confrontation, or indeed any stomach for it among the diverse cultures now rapidly becoming more and more glaringly apparent.
The outcome of the present cultural revolution is being decided by sheer weight of numbers alone. All too late you see, should have restricted the borders years ago. Ah well, hate to say I told you so but........! Anyway, before I close this subject, although Christmas tinsel was also missing from a considerable number of its larger stores, the centre of London still regaled all with the breathtaking overhead street decorations that are just about unsurpassed in any other city in the world. Shame it was all restricted to about a square mile. Ah well, make the most of it. To my reckoning, their days are probably numbered as well. And so, another 12 have snuck up on us. To all my readers, friends, dissenters and those who would like to see me in the stocks, I wish you a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year. Keep that mail coming in. Remember the pen is a mighty therapeutic sword (feels great to get it off yer chest dunnit?). Don’t forget my trio of books on Amazon. Delighted to report 560 sales to date. Must be doing something right. It’s all a game folks. Hang in there. Keep the faith Love Leapy columnists@euroweeklynews.com
leapylee2002@gmail.com
Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
38
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
TECH FOR THE TIMID NOVELIST Lee Child recently confessed his difficulty when writing a new book: he can’t figure out Word’s automatic page numbering. Can you? Decades after the nostalgic clacking of typewriters gave way to the magic of the word-processor, at best, we sit in the driver’s seat and can just about steer the thing. It’s surprising how few of us can manage to even switch on the wipers, as it were. With most people using less than 10 per cent of what these programs can do, say the experts, Lee Child’s dilemma sounds familiar. (He gets around it, incidentally, by simply writing his next book over the previous one). Microsoft certainly didn’t help back in the day when it managed to infuriate pretty much everyone with Clippy the dancing paperclip to ‘help’ us find our way around Word. If that’s not when the Oxford Dictionary admitted ‘computer rage’ as a real term, it should have been. I graduated years ago from PCWrite with the screeds of keystroke cheat-sheets needed to work it, to the
www.euroweeklynews.com
A word in your eye Since starting to word-process Terence Kennedy no longer has terrible handwriting; now he just calls it his ‘own font.’
WORD PROCESSING anno 1982: €7,500 in today’s money.
THURSDAY THOUGHTS By Graham Braben, Albox
A messy ending! WELL, that’s it, two reports I saw recently prove beyond doubt that life as we know it is spiralling to a crashing, messy end! First of all, just at the beginning of November, someone was caught cheating at Scrabble! Really! That’s tantamount to pinching someone else’s Squeezy bottle so you can make your Blue Peter replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, without putting in the hard yards before you start. When I read that there was this - alleged - cheating in a tournament by a well respected Scrabblist, I just had to pinch myself, what could possibly motivate the person in question do this? I’m sure that, in Scrabble circles, whatever the tournament was is very important, but to the rest of the world, it probably matters as much as the results of the forthcoming games in the Birkenhead Sunday League Division 3 fixtures. Then there is the strange case of McGruff the Crime Dog. You may not know McGruff but it was actually an actor dressed as a private eye dog to be part of a campaign in America to increase personal safety and crime awareness. One of the actors who played McGruff was stopped in his car by the police for a minor offence - driving whilst under the influence of Lassie perhaps? To cut a long story short, they found drugs in his car then, when they went to search his house they found more drugs and, amongst other things, a grenade launcher! The positive side though is that now this man gets to raise crime awareness in prison as he got a 16 year sentence. Thankfully it wasn’t all bad news for him, he was put on a free course of worming medication! columnists@euroweeklynews.com Readers interested in submitting articles for this guest column should send articles of around 250 words on topics felt to be of interest to the cosmopolitan EWN readership to editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
much-lamented WordStar and then the doyen of them all, WordPerfect. Which wasn’t, but it tried. ‘Also-rans’ apart, today we’re down to just two main alternative word-processors of note against Microsoft’s steamroller. WordPerfect staggers on, still cherished particularly by lawyers who love its ability to sort all their ‘whereas and inasmuch as the party of the first part’ convolutions into very pretty sub-sub-sub-paragraphs. Then there’s the excellent though slightly-dated and astonishingly free complete office suite, LibreOffice. Did I mention that it’s
free? It’s free. Amazing. As a self-confessed computer nerd I can happily fossick among the esoteric delights of obscure software manuals, or get my smart TV to play files from my tablet which got them from my computer which got them from my router which got them from dark web programs which fell off the back of the internet. But I still have to admit defeat with even the simplest things in Word occasionally: Where the hell is my euros symbol? Why must my shopping lists automatically have bullet points? Why do I keep having to scroll all the way past Albanian, Burmese, Corsican and Dzonghka (what?) to specify English for each and every document I create? Thank heavens my native language isn’t Wolof or Yoruba. How do I start page numbering after the title pages? How do I place photos on the page where I want them, not where Word decides they should be? And most exasperatingly of all: exactly where has Word automatically decided to save my precious document this time? I want it back, dammit!
FEATURE
Should you ‘RTFM’? YOU don’t have to buy a Dummies book just to put words on a screen, despite how patronisinglyamusing they can sometimes be. There are plenty of free tutorials online not just for Word in its various three-yearly iterations, but for the whole Office shebang, including excellent guides at https://www.gcflearnfree.org/sub jects/office/ or http://www.freetraining-tutorial.com/microsoftword-online.html. There’s a popular smartphone app called Tutorials for Word Free, or you can download a free starter guide to use offline: https://www.computer-pdf.com/of fice/word/472-tutorial-introduc tion-to-word-2016.html. A Google search will reveal these and fleets of other free and paid options. Whatever you do though, don’t ever admit that you need a manual to anyone below 40, for whom the well-known acronym RTFM is a despicable admission of defeat. RTFM? Read The (er, Flaming…) Manual.
Playing the name game: what your name says about you... Nora Johnson
Breaking Views Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist. To comment on any of the issues raised in her column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/nora-johnson
WHAT will fashionable babies be called in 2018? Will slebs carry on giving kids daft names (Apple, Moon Unit etc) or follow the example of George and Amal Clooney with more traditional ones (Ella and Alexander)? Whilst I’m all in favour of the Clooneys’ choice of names, let’s hope their kids don’t grow like their parents telling the rest of us what we should be doing, whilst they themselves live a life of wealth and privilege far away from the effects of the policies they espouse. You know how it usually goes: lots of trips to Africa, visiting broken-down schools and orphanages. Great photo opportunities all round!
TRADITIONAL CHOICE: George and Amal Clooney. When I was a girl, we were given girls’ names rather than the names of fruits, continents or the place where we were conceived. The world has changed and will doubtless change again before long. Things have certainly changed in France where a baby was named ‘Jihad’ (‘holy war’). The chief prosecutor in France (which suffered Europe’s worst Islamist terror attacks in recent years) had to rule on the case after the couple’s name for their
son was referred by authorities in Toulouse. As for the UK, I’ve always had a weakness for great name combinations. Sue, for instance, who married a Mr Flay and Annette, a Mr Curtain (think about it!). I know someone who went to a school with a girl called Justine Bardon. So far, so good. Her mother remarried, taking the husband’s name: Case. She was known by all as Justine Case. One morning, the headmistress announced to the whole
school at assembly that Justine had won a prize. She declared, “And first prize goes to Justine ... Bardon-Case”. She was never forgiven for making the kids miss the opportunity they’d all been waiting for... Finally, there used to be a well-known printing firm in Belfast NI called ‘Reid and Wright’ and in Sligo a firm of solicitors called ‘Argue and Phibbs.’ Not to be outdone, there was also a policeman in the Bedfordshire force of the 1980’s called Robin Banks... Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘The Girl in the Red Dress,’ ‘No Way Back,’ ‘Landscape of Lies,’ ‘Retribution,’ ‘Soul Stealer,’ ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora-john son.net) available from Amazon in paperback/eBook (€0.99; £0.99) and iBookstore. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity. columnists@euroweeklynews.com
OPINION & COMMENT
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
EWN
39
YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com
Views expressed and opinions given are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements.
Big thanks to Good Samaritans SIR, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to a very kindly couple who came to our help at Velez-Malaga Supermarket on Saturday December 23. My wife and I were on our way to Mijas Costa for Christmas when we decided to stop at this supermarket for some shopping. My wife managed to turn over her mobile scooter and was badly injured. This very nice couple came to our rescue and were a big help, and with their help and the help of the security forces there we managed to get her to hospital. Unfortunately with all that was going on we did not get the names of this couple, so I am hoping that they read your wonderful paper as we very much appreciated their help. Mr and Mrs Frost, location undisclosed
Gender issue LEAPY LEE’S latest comment brings me to write to a newspaper for the first time in my life. He says of Joshua Sutcliffe that he is
HAVE YOUR SAY
Hunters not a wildlife threat YOUR recent feature clearly heads with ‘The two sides of the Spanish hunting story.’ I have hunted in many countries in the course of my career as a field exploration geologist, often being required to feed many workers, necessitating the taking of several large antelope a week while in Central and East Africa. Modern day ethical hunting is a field sport meriting praise. Those participating become truly conversant with ecology and all of nature. They know that in order to have game to hunt, the most important aspect is that natural habitat must be preserved and all wildlife respected. That way there is sustainable use of land and habitat so that there will
SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL?: Hunting is a controversial subject. be game to hunt in future years. Greens and animal rightists are vociferous against hunting, yet they contribute little in terms of actual payment towards habitat preservation. The more habitat lost to agriculture and housing development the less wildlife there will be. Only when game becomes a contributor
All letters by email or post should carry the writer’s address, NIE and contact number though only the name and town will be published.
to economics is its existence guaranteed. In Africa, indeed in most countries nowadays where there are wildlife reservations, most game reserves receive more funding from highly controlled ‘unpopular’ hunting, often as controlled culling, than from other visitors and tourists’ fees. Hector Kleinot, Estepona
Readers who have missed correspondence can see all letters - which can be edited before publication - posted on: www.euroweeklynews.com.
Toll road charges go up in Andalucia I avoid them now and will definitely avoid in the future. Counter productive. If they lowered the toll then more people would use them. Stella Scott Can’t ever recall paying a toll and have no intention of ever doing so. I will stop driving this November on my 80th, so can’t see that that is going to be difficult. Ted Milsom What idiots are responsible for making these stupid decisions? Andy Funnell
Comments from EWN online ing??? My god! Three-year-old toddler playing with a friend’s dogs??? You just don’t allow it!! It’s common sense! Hope the poor child is ok. Julie Jones Peel
Boy, aged three, sav- Road traffic deaths up in Spain aged in dog attack So sorry for the boy, bless him but it is the parents that are to blame when it comes to being in a situation with dogs and even more so with other people’s . It is NOT the dogs that are at fault and society keeps discriminating between what is a good breed and bad breed dog! There i s n o s u c h t h i n g , j u s t b a d o w n e r s t h a t t a ke these animals on with zero knowledge on animals. People have so much to answer for. Deb Morgan What where the parents and dog owners think-
Too many pedestrians wander across the roads wherever they fancy, no zebra, no traffic lights. They also expect drivers to stop, and give them a dirty look if they don’t. So many step on to zebra crossings without looking first, and assume cars will stop. People seem to go about in a trance these days and it makes driving quite worrisome. Jenny Dodd So so many drive too close, and seem to lack the ability of complete over all awareness, coupled with the lack of forward planning and use
of indicators. David Starkey Let me tell you why, Every day I’m out in my van I see, bus drivers, van drivers, HGV drivers, coach drivers, Kids on motos, even people sitting up my a**e doing 120 on the mot o r wa y, a l l o n t h e i r m o b i l e p h o n e s a n d t h e police do nothing about it. Start banning these people instead of giving them stupid fines. Matt Coy
Legendary Costa del Sol entertainer dies Shocked to hear this... was honoured to have him perform one of his last shows before he retired.He was a pleasure to work with.. a true genuine gentleman. RIP BUNNY X Andrea Gallacher So sad, was only talking to him the other week and wished him a Happy Christmas!! Many a good night I had in his bar over the years!! May he Rest In Peace x Berni Hickey What a shame. He was a Genuine Legend. R. I. P. Tomas Kirken
an unfortunate and caring teacher who faces suspension because he said “well done girls” to a group which included a transgender boy. In fact, he persistently and deliberately misgendered the child and the parents only became involved as a result of his persecution. Leapy then goes on to say: “Chromosomes identify a person’s gender at birth OK? Problem solved.” Well, problem not solved for the millions of transgendered people in the world for whom life is made so miserable that 42 per cent of them commit suicide! Transgender people have always existed. This is not a new thing. Excellent treatments are now available, but transitioning is still a long, hard road. All the rest of us need to do is be kind and understanding and accept diversity. Problem solved! Angela, Mijas Costa, Malaga Dear Angela, I HAVE nothing whatsoever against transgender or any other sexual preference of our fellow human beings. You have totally missed the point of my article. I was simply pointing out the absurdity and confusion which resulted in this unfortunate teacher in danger of losing his job for addressing a group of girls as ‘girls.’ What was he supposed to say? “Well done girls and er.....?” That attitude to my mind reeks of discrimination. Those who are indecisive should be given every sympathy and encouragement to follow whatever course their hearts and minds tell them, but for sheer convenience and uncomplicated order those born with male genitalia should to my mind be referred to as boys and those with the female equivalent girls. Hope this clears up any misunderstanding and thanking you for your interest. I leave you with the kindest of regards. Lee (Leapy) Graham
What a waste THERE is supposed to be a national water shortage, especially in Murcia and Almeria provinces. This morning, in Mojacar, I saw guys from Ferrovial (paid by our rates) watering the cycle track and the cactuses on the beach!!!! Roger Page, Mojacar
Sunny smiles HAVING spent part of New Year’s Day in glorious sunshine on the beach I can only say that while climate change is of course a terrible thing, sometimes I don’t mind it at all! Margaret Freeman, Alhaurin de la Torre
42
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de AlmerÃa
www.euroweeklynews.com
TV LISTING
THURSDAY 4:45pm
04 JANUARY
5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
FRIDAY 05 JANUARY
SATURDAY 06 JANUARY
SUNDAY 07 JANUARY
4:00pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:00pm 11:25pm 5:00pm 6:10pm 6:40pm 6:50pm 7:00pm 7:40pm 8:25pm 9:30pm 10:20pm 10:35pm 2:40pm 5:00pm 5:30pm 6:05pm 7:05pm 7:20pm 7:30pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
MONDAY 08 JANUARY
TUESDAY 09 JANUARY
WEDNESDAY 10 JANUARY
4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 4:00pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 3:15pm 4:00pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm
The Farmers' Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News Celebrity Mastermind EastEnders DIY SOS The Big Build Death in Paradise I Escaped to the Country The Farmers' Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News Celebrity Mastermind Match of the Day Live BBC News at Ten BBC London News Final Score Celebrity Mastermind BBC News BBC London News And They're Off... for Sport Relief Pointless Wedding Day Winners Casualty BBC News Hard Sun Match of the Day Live Escape to the Country Songs of Praise Antiques Roadshow BBC News BBC London News Countryfile Still Open All Hours Attenborough and the Sea Dragon McMafia The Farmers' Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show An Inside Out Special EastEnders Panorama Silent Witness I Escaped to the Country The Farmers' Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Holby City Silent Witness Father Brown I Escaped to the Country The Farmers' Country Showdown Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show The Truth About Looking Good
5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm 4:00pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 6:45pm 7:15pm 8:15pm 9:15pm 9:45pm 10:15pm 2:40pm 3:10pm 3:50pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
4:15pm 5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 4:15pm 5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
4:15pm 5:15pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 9:30pm
Planet Earth II Flog It! Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track Christmas University Challenge 2017 Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure
3:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm
Antiques Road Trip Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Natural World Mastermind Christmas University Challenge 2017 Rome Unpacked QI Newsnight
5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm 10:00pm
The Letter Natural World Trust Me, I'm a Doctor Tom Kerridge's Lose Weight for Good Hugh's Wild West A House Through Time Dad's Army Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs Feud: Bette and Joan
3:40pm
Money for Nothing Talking Pictures Ladies in Lavender Flog It! Ski Sunday The Real T rex with Chris Packham Robot Wars Special Dragons' Den Michael Palin: A Life on Screen
2:40pm
5:35pm 5:45pm 5:55pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:35pm 10:50pm 1:30am
3:45pm 4:45pm 5:00pm 5:10pm 7:00pm 9:00pm 11:00pm 11:10pm
The Great British Winter Planet Earth II Flog It! Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Match of the Day Kate Humble: Off the Beaten Track Only Connect University Challenge
4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm
The Great British Winter Planet Earth II Flog It! Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Rick Stein's Road to Mexico Inside the Factory House of Saud: A Family at War
3:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm
The Great British Winter Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough Flog It! Eggheads Great British Railway Journeys Rick Stein's Road to Mexico Tom Kerridge's Lose Weight for Good Trust Me, I'm a Doctor
3:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:25pm
9:30pm 10:00pm
10:00pm
7:30pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 9:30pm
Midsomer Murders Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV News Emmerdale Tonight Emmerdale Coronation Street Piers Morgan's Life Stories
4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV News Emmerdale Coronation Street River Monsters Coronation Street The Big Soap Quiz: Coronation Street v Emmerdale
2:05pm 3:10pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm
The Greatest TV Moments of All Time ITV News London ITV News The Chase Celebrity Catchphrase Take Me Out The Voice UK ITV News Spectre Jackpot247
12:45pm
The Big Soap Quiz: Coronation Street v Emmerdale Celebrity Catchphrase ITV News London ITV News Happy Feet Two Dancing on Ice Vera ITV News Captain Phillips
1:30pm 6:30pm
Dickinson's Real Deal Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV News Emmerdale Coronation Street Best Walks with a View with Julia Bradbury Coronation Street Next of Kin
12:00pm
10:00pm
The Secret Life of the Zoo A Place in the Sun Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News includes sport and weather. Food Unwrapped Diet Special Hunted Posh Pawn Countdown The Secret Life of the Zoo A Place in the Sun Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast The Beatles
4:20pm 6:00pm 6:35pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:05am 2:35pm 4:20pm 6:00pm 6:35pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 11:30pm
Sun, Sea and Selling Houses Darts A Place in the Sun Channel 4 News Spying on the Royals Princess Diana's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 The Transporter
4:30pm 4:35pm 5:55pm 6:00pm
Darts The Great Festive Bake Off Channel 4 News The World's Wildest Weather The Biggest Little Railway in the World SAS: Who Dares Wins The Sweeney Moonrise Kingdom
1:40pm 3:40pm 4:10pm 5:15pm 7:00pm 9:00pm
1:05pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:05am
Sun, Sea and Selling Houses Darts Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News How to Lose Weight Well The Undateables First Dates Hotel Derry Girls
4:15pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:05am
Judge Rinder Dickinson's Real Deal Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV News Emmerdale Save Money: Good Food The Martin Lewis Money Show Live School for Stammerers
1:00pm 1:05pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am
Channel 4 News Darts Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News The Secret Life of the Zoo 24 Hours in A and E Working Class White Men Naked Attraction
4:15pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm
Judge Rinder Dickinson's Real Deal Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London Party Political Broadcast by the Conservative Party ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Britain's Brightest Family Coronation Street
12:00pm
Sun, Sea and Selling Houses Channel 4 News Darts Come Dine with Me The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Kirstie and Phil's Love it or List it Kiri
3:15pm 4:15pm 6:00pm 6:30pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm
1:45pm 6:30pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 12:40am
7:45pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 1:10am
1:00pm 1:05pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm
9:55pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am
9:00pm 10:00pm
9:00pm 10:00pm
Deadly Stage Fright 5 News at 5 Barging Loving Celebs 5 News Tonight Baby Ballroom Big Family Values: More Kids Than Cash Celebrity Big Brother Celebrity 100% Hotter! Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side
2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm 4:30pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:30pm 12:00am
SKY Sports News SKY Sports News Info not available SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News Info not available Football Harry Kane's 2017 Live PGA Tour Golf
Family Secrets Deadly Paradise 5 News at 5 Barging Loving Celebs 5 News Tonight Greatest Celebrity WindUps Ever! Costa Del Celebrity Celebrity Big Brother Will and Grace Celebrity Big Brother
4:45pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am
Best of Sky Cricket SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News Info not available Sky Sports Tonight Sky Sports Tonight Sky Sports Tonight The Debate - Live Cricket
5 News The Hundred-Foot Journey 5 News Weekend Playful Pups Make You Laugh Out Loud The Wonderful World of Puppies Greatest Celebrity Wind-Ups Ever! Blind Date Celebrity Big Brother
9:00am
Good Morning Sports Fans Cricket Rugby Union Rugby Union My Icon Sky Sports Tonight Live NFL: Wild Card Round Game Live NFL: Wild Card Round Game
9:30am 4:00pm 6:30pm 8:45pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 2:00am
2:00am 3:00am 4:00am 5:00am
Cricket Football My Icon Live NFL: Wild Card Round Game Live NFL: Wild Card Round Game SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News
Killer Mom 5 News at 5 Neighbours Home and Away 5 News Tonight Car Crash TV Police Interceptors Celebrity Big Brother Not So Sweet Sixteen Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side
9:30am 4:45pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 8:40pm 8:55pm 11:00pm
Cricket Best of Sky Cricket SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News To be Announced La Liga Greatest Games La Liga Greatest Games Football Cricket
Eyewitness 5 News at 5 Neighbours Home and Away 5 News Tonight Secrets of the National Trust with Alan Titchmarsh Greatest Diets: Fact or Fiction? Celebrity Big Brother
9:00am 9:30am 4:45pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:00pm 12:00am
Good Morning Sports Fans Cricket Best of Sky Cricket SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News Info not available Live Carabao Cup The Debate - Live SKY Sports News
3:00pm 4:00pm 4:30pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 8:30pm 11:00pm 12:00am 1:00am 2:00am
SKY Sports News Info not available SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News Info not available Live Carabao Cup The Debate - Live SKY Sports News SKY Sports News SKY Sports News
Practical Magic Will and Grace Blind Date The Love Punch The Two Ronnies Aviva Premiership Rugby Highlights 5 News Weekend Celebrity Big Brother Hot Pursuit 5 News
NCIS The Wrong Babysitter 5 News at 5 Neighbours Home and Away 5 News Tonight Starting Up, Starting Over GPs: Behind Closed Doors Celebrity Big Brother
9:30am 4:15pm 6:15pm 6:30pm 10:00pm
The schedules for the television programme pages are provided by an external company: we regret that any changes or errors are not the responsibility of Euro Weekly News.
FEATURE
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
TV Couch Critic
The Street is currently a ‘must see’ Photo by ITV
CORONATION STREET (ITV1, weekdays) fans are reportedly shocked by recent events focusing on Alya. Apparently the producers suffered a backlash from vocal viewers when they introduced a pre-watershed storyline with offensive language and racial abuse, but before Christmas I asked for something chunky from soap writers and The Street has delivered. Recently, Alya was in the throes of closing a business deal with Aidan Connor, played brilliantly by Shayne Ward, and was joined by new clients Dale and Justin Parker at The Bistro. You need to suspend belief that Bistros anywhere actually look like the one used in The Street - what is with those lights and the freaky Father Christmas on the bar - but having got over that, Dale and Justin racially abused Alya and threw some disgusting language at her. This made uncomfortable viewing and I was genuinely shocked by what was said, but judging by the chatter on social media, the storyline got people talking. It will be interesting to see where the writers take this next.
43
DO NOT MISS: Coronation Street. Fans of the show no doubt share my own bewilderment around why residents have deserted Roy’s Milky for Costa Coffee. That isn’t a con leche on the sand, but the high street brand. Where have Costa opened a branch in Weatherfield? New Year’s Eve television limped us into 2018 with a predictable offering of Graham Norton (BBC1), Jools Holland (BBC2) and the ITV News.
I worry about Graham, does he ever sleep? It seems to me that the only person who gets more air time than Mr N is Paul O’Grady and Paul has to share with miscellaneous pooches on ITV1, so it’s not all about him. The BBC had Ed Sheeran on both main channels, Top of the Pops on BBC1 and with Jools on BBC2, so clearly someone somewhere in Broadcasting House is a fan. I’m not and
was pleased to have a small party to head off to in my local Plaza. New Year’s Day was altogether a better TV offering. Two shows from BBC1 stood out for me. Firstly, Grandpa’s Great Escape starring Sir Tom Courtenay was an early evening delight. If I’m honest, I am not usually a big fan of anything David Walliams but I really enjoyed this. Jennifer Saunders was brilliantly cast as up to
no good Miss Dandy; not sure if this one has made it to Catch Up, but if you missed it, try and search it out. Mrs Brown’s Boys was a welcome burst of humour later on New Year’s Day. I loved Agnes being part of the neighbourhood watch scheme. Fans of the show will be pleased a new series of All Round to Mrs Brown’s is scheduled for later in 2018 - I don’t see the attraction myself but, for me the original format of the show shouldn’t have been messed around with. I am also really enjoying the latest BBC1 drama McMafia (next episode Jan 7 at 10.00pm). A little like Ed Sheeran, the star of this crime, honour and family masterpiece is everywhere but unlike Ed, James Norton is brilliant. This is an eight part burst of thrilling action which sees James playing an ethical banker (don’t Google that, will you) forced to enter a world he is trying to leave behind. If you liked James in Granchester and what wasn’t to like, you will enjoy this one too. Happy New Year everyone. Critique - AWL, Casares, Costa del Sol
Travel
TARIFA: Beach paradise right on your doorstep. By Matthew Elliott GHOST town in winter and a surfing paradise in summer, nowhere in Spain is the seasonal swing more emphatic than in Tarifa. Boasting some of the best beaches, not in Spain or Europe, but in the world, the seaside town comes alive in spring, making it a hugely popular day out for Costa del Sol families at this time of year. A trip to Tarifa takes you out of Malaga P r o v i n c e a n d i n t o C a d i z a n d S p a i n ’s southern Atlantic coastline. But it is surprisingly close to the Costa del Sol, just 45 minutes along the A-7 from Marbella, or 90 minutes from Malaga. Those times depend on the traffic but, with it being a
Tarifa: Paradise found straight road almost all the way, Tarifa is easily the wildest destination right on the doorstep. Beaches, surfing and other adventure sports are the main reasons people come to Tarifa. A wander around the historic old town is an enjoyable treat by itself, with plenty of Moroccan inspired restaurants to choose from. Of course many also come to take the short ferry from Tarif a p o r t t o Ta n g i e r. N o r t h A f r i c a i s s o close you can see it on a clear day.
The easiest to reach and most popular beach is Los Lances which is almost 8km long and very rarely crowded. A walk along the beach and back would easily be a day’s work itself. Beyond Los Lances is Valdevaqueros which is even long and, being on the Atlantic, much windier. Both are kitesurfing havens where world championships are often held. If the beaches are a little too vast for your taste, or the weather doesn’t permit sunbathing, Tarifa has plenty of cultural
options up its sleeve. There is the Guzman Castle which is more than 1,000 years old and considered one of the best preserved medieval castles in Spain. Likewise the gothic San Mateo church is a terrific place to explore, as are the Roman ruins of Bolonia, a small fishing village just a few kilometres away. Animal lovers can take up horse riding on the beach for the afternoon, or even whale watching as part of special guided tours from May to September.
44
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FEATURE
Live a healthy happy life Every month I write about how the Astrology, Numerology, and Tarot for the month ahead affects you. Below is your forecast for January 2018: Sally Trotman www.sallytrotman.com Sally Trotman is a qualified Counsellor who works with Astrology, Numerology and the Tarot. Each month she will deliver the forecast as an intuitive tool to aid increased self awareness.
ASTROLOGY: MAKE A PLAN Sun in Capricorn : Until January 21, the sun is ruled by the earthy sign of Capricorn. The influence of this sign will enable you to make a practical plan for the year ahead. This no nonsense sign is helping you to overcome procrastination and to think big. Create goals which excite you and motivate you to get up in the morning! Where would you like to be by the end of the year? Get in tune with the moon: This month on the January 2 and 31, the moon is full. The first full moon is ruled by the sensitive sign of Cancer, bringing the focus to your home and asking you to look at how you nurture yourself. The second full moon of the month is ruled by the fiery sign of Leo,
MAKE A PLAN: Create goals which excite you and motivate you to get up in the morning. helping you to become a self confident and generous leader, in all areas of your life. This blue moon month is a powerful way to start the year, so make the most of this positive energy by finding a balance between meeting your own needs and helping others. Listen to your intu-
ition, and each day act on what you know to be right for you. NUMEROLOGY: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT Number 1: In numerology, numbers are seen as symbols that carry energy. The number one indicates a time building new foundations, initiating projects
and using your creativity. Is there anything new you wish to begin this year? Or is there perhaps a hobby or talent you would like to develop? January is the perfect time to start something new, so consider your natural gifts in order to develop a new skill this year, which you are passionate about.
The Magician: make it happen! In the Tarot deck The Magician is the first card in the Major Arcana deck. Depicted as a man with many tools at his disposal, this card reminds you that you have all the necessary skills to create the life you desire and deserve. Become clear about what you want and set an intention for the month ahead. Take action everyday towards fulfilling your goal. Consider where you might be creating blocks to success through self doubt or fear, and repeat a positive affirmation to help you with this. Living a healthy and happy life is your birthright, so take steps today towards this in whatever way you feel inspired. YOUR 2018 FORECAST Sally Trotman is an Astrologer, Numerologist, Reiki Master and Counsellor. To book in for a one hour Astrology, Numerology and Tarot Forecast via Skype, Facetime or email visit her website www.sallytrotman.com or email at sally.trotman@btinternet.com.
Travel
Natural waterfalls to take your breath away WITH temperatures still soaring along the costas, why not head inland slightly to the cooling waters of the Fuentes del Algar. Situated in Callosa d’en Sarria, just 15km from Benidorm, the waterfalls are a picturesque nature reserve offering crystal clear waters and cooling waterfalls which are a world away from the bars and beaches just a short drive away from the coast. Upon entering the waterfalls you can weave your way against the current along the waters and little streams, cooling off in the natural pools as you go. The sun shines through the welcoming shade of the trees, speckling the rocks and waters like shiny crystals glistening from the water’s edge. Such is their beauty it is no surprise that they caught the attention of TV producers and it was here that the famous Timotei shampoo advert was filmed with many trying to recreate those moments in the Cascada Principal, which is the first
main waterfall you arrive at. Keep pushing up along the wooden pathways to the Estret de Sacos and the waters seeping through the mountains are perfect for a cooling dip; and they are cooling, if not positively freezing, so be prepared for the Algar waterfalls to take your breath away in more ways than one. Whilst a protected nature reserve, the waterfalls are manned by lifeguards watching from the diving points and there are toilets and a restaurant within the waterfalls. Entry is €5 for adults in the high season and €4 in the low season. Taking your own picnic inside is prohibited with checks being carried out at the gates. However, just outside the waterfalls there is a picnic and park area, ideal to spend another few lazy hours. From the numerous parking areas on the way to the waterfalls just outside of the village of Callosa d’en Sarria there are a number of restaurants offering snacks and menu del dias, many with their own pools also which are free to those eating.
Just a few minutes away there is the popular Dino Park introducing visitors to the mysterious world of the dinosaurs with moving and static models in life-size form set amongst natural surroundings. Dino Park is suitable for youngsters of all ages and has a 3D cinema, playgrounds, parking and Dino shop. Dino Park is open from 10am-8pm during August and until 6pm in September and October with tickets costing €15 for adults and €10 for children aged from four to 12. Whilst the waterfalls seem like a blissful hidden retreat, sadly they are no longer a secret delight for a few in the know, and can be busy in summer months but they make a lovely day out for those on the Costa Blanca. Also remember to take swim shoes with you as the pebbles and rocks under foot can be extremely slippery and brace yourself for the cold! For opening times and directions visit www.lesfontsdelalgar.es.
NATURAL AREAS: The Algar Waterfalls literally take your breath away.
TIME OUT
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
EWN
45
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM
SPONSORED BY
MADDOCKS’ VIEW ON LIFE
YOUR STARS FOR NEXT 7 DAYS AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19) Eager Mars meets affluent Jupiter and enriches your financial forecast. It might show a foretaste of money to come, or on-stream benefits. If you intend to make alterations to your personal and home interests, you'll undoubtedly cope with both offbeat and upbeat activities.
PISCES (February 20 - March 20)
‘ YOU TWO DELIVER THE GIFTS - I’M OFF TO SEE HARRY AND MEGHAN! ’
Photo credit Google
Trivia from around the world *** There is a giant Coca Cola logo in Chile that can be seen from space. It was made using 70,000 glass bottles and constructed to celebrate the soft drink brand’s 100th anniversary.
‘
Beauty is when you can appreciate yourself. When you love yourself, that’s when you’re most beautiful.” Zoe Kravitz, Actress
ARIES (March 21 - April 20)
Famous quote
*** There are secret poems written on sidewalks in Boston, United States, that can only be seen when it rains or when liquid is poured on the lettering.
‘
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas Edison, Inventor
FIZZ FACT: The giant Coca Cola logo. *** New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow women to vote in 1893, 25 years before the UK and 38 years before Spain.
*** In Tokyo, Japan, you can see the head of Godzilla on top of the Toho Building in the Shinjuku neighbourhood. The head towers over the city at 40-feet tall, with glowing red eyes and claws, and roars every few minutes.
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Women’s wit
*** The world’s longest fence is 5,614 km long and can be found in Australia. It was originally built to keep wild dogs away from fertile land.
IRISH LOTTO
DID YOU KNOW? THE sunrise in parts of China can be as late as 10am because the country operates on a single clock despite spanning five geographical time zones.
World of English
‘
Polyptoton - repetition of word in same sentence with multiple inflectional endings “The signora at every grimace and at every bow smiled a little smile and bowed a little bow…”
EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA
LA PRIMITIVA
EURO MILLIONS
One thing is certain, when you come through this week's restless planetary antics, you won't be totally the same Piscean who walked in. Whether you're figuring out numbers, analysing your dreams, or getting into a playfully social mood, there'll be much to enjoy and put to the test.
Education, media, creative and social connections are given star merit. The solar eclipse in your own sign bursts with vitality and success, more so for an array of bold moves, replacements and makeovers covering your personal affairs.
TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Stand by for a week of whoosh and whirl. More importantly, try to avoid getting tongue-tied or dogmatic on Tuesday and Friday. Promising potentials appear, especially if you spruce up your competitive streak.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Throughout this fortunate week, whatever else you decide, refuse to discard your hopes and wishes. As a Gemini, you like to have two strings to your bow of life, which gives you an alternative option, especially if the going gets tough.
LOTTERY
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
Saturday December 30
33
37
Saturday December 30
2
8
Tuesday December 26
4
Friday December 29
4
47
14
18
30
22
58
BONUS BALL
34
39
44
BONUS BALL
16
44
48
LUCKY STARS
LUCKY STARS
2
1
10
5
8
9
Sunday December 31
10 12
21
26
11
21
26
28
34
42
44
52
23
43 55
3
Saturday December 30
8
17 42
Thursday December 28
EL MILLON: VLD65841
12
A vivid star pattern portends a frantic personal and social diary. Ensure that any tight planning is carefully handled, especially if you hope to fit in everything you would like to say. Don't allow Monday or Wednesday's tensions to spoil opportunities for settling something important.
31
REINTEGRO
42
2
JOKER: 347 442
REINTEGRO
22
8
JOKER: 2 084 066
LEO (July 24 - August 23)
REINTEGRO
2
Pave the way for any ambitious schemes you may have, rather than actually starting them. With
your ruler the Sun eclipsing your kindred fire sign, determined Aries, you are now more likely to get the support and affection you need from the powers that be or someone who thinks the world of you.
VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Even if the opposite to what you want happens, it could prove useful. One clue to this week's planetary crossword puzzle is ‘What word could also mean success?’ Check it out, and make it work for you. Never forget that important ideas and developments can stem from seemingly trivial discussions.
LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) The solar eclipse in your opposite sign of Aries intensifies your willpower. Before you say 'go', find out where you stand. It might pay you to leave things be for a little longer to see if anything begins to change. Some of the consequences of your actions will become obvious as your charming ruler Venus begins to have an effect.
SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) The planets mobilise your streak of Scorpio daring, but don't stretch your limits. Your most effective weapon against personal and work-related pitfalls is your ability to be objective. Your desire to make specific situations and conversations work needs to be combined with your faith that they will work. Even if a different approach is required, try it and see.
SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) The main gist of the solar eclipse in fiery Aries and the link between plucky Mars and your ruler friendly Jupiter will stir surprises. Whether you create the right atmosphere all round depends on how you interpret other people's views. Stick to crisp, simple but sensitively tuned answers, then no one can accuse you of not trying.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Hard-working, enterprising and self-sacrificing are just some of the words that describe your zodiac sign. It will be these qualities that count. Friday will boost your powers of persuasion, but you won't have too much to complain about if you follow this lucky trend into next week's encouraging tide.
46
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM
Quick
Across 1 It’s dead easy when commander-in-chief gets to hospital (5) 3 Use Band-Aids without a split (7) 7 Retsina cocktail is not so nice (7) 9 Flies the deer back north in (5) 10 Order some sudden action (5) 11 He's after lampblack to feel better (6) 13 Notice cut in playground equipment (6) 15 English flower festival (6) 18 Prisoners of a cleric and leading light (6) 20 Once a sort of river craft (5) 22 As a refugee you are forbidden to enter the city area (5) 23 Liberal in vicious scrap (7) 24 The varied uses of a classical hero (7) 25 Inspect German car factory's centre (5)
8 A quiet street to cut off (5) 12 Minimal French cheese celebration? (8) 14 Musical direction by an Italian poet (7) 16 Tango danced in Friendly Islands (5)
Code Breaker
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION FACING PAGE
17 Against poetry on the radio (6) 19 Mabel arranged a leisurely walk (5) 20 A girl from the Channel Islands taking everything back (5) 21 Only fair (4)
Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 1 represents S and 25 represents C, so fill in S every time the figure 1 appears and C every time the figure 25 appears. 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.
CROSSWORD PAGE
Cryptic
Down 1 Reduce cones, end problem (8) 2 Lift one in many (5) 3 Engineers in some French ship providing force (6) 4 Leo, perhaps, or a foreign lady (7) 5 Part of Ottawa’s harbour is flooded (5) 6 Be in a hurry to use a punctuation mark (4)
TIME
SPONSORED BY
Across 1 Brings in from abroad (7) 7 Having full belief (9) 8 Relating to the mouth (4) 9 Can do (4) 11 Light silvery-grey metal (9) 12 Communication (7)
Down 2 Being on a very small scale (9) 3 Leave out (4) 4 Quivering (9) 5 Entertainer who performs spectacular gymnastic feats (7) 6 Small, narrow rivers (7) 10 Triumphs (4)
English - Spanish
Across 1 Raw (uncooked) (5) 4 Spoon (7) 8 Biscuit (7) 9 Nidos (5) 10 Gust of wind (5) 11 Dummy (for baby) (7) 12 Día libre (3,3) 14 Ruidos (6) 17 Path (7) 19 To put (5) 21 Hedgehog (5)
The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.
22 Oraciones (7) 23 Uña de pie (7) 24 Temprano (5) Down 1 Puro (5) 2 Desafortunado (7) 3 Sheep (5) 4 Puddle (6) 5 Kangaroo (7) 6 Nave (de iglesia) (5) 7 Respuestas (a
preguntas, en examen, test) (7) 12 Postre (7) 13 Mop (for floor) (7) 15 To smile (7) 16 Evangelio (6) 18 Playing card (5) 19 Paz (tranquilidad, no guerra) (5) 20 Oxidado (5)
OUT
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
47
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM
SPONSORED BY
Hexagram
The purpose of the Hexagram puzzle is to place the 19 six-letter words into the 19 cells. The letters at the edges of interlocking cells MUST BE THE SAME. The letters in the words must be written CLOCKWISE. The word in cell 10 (EMBARK) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.
BARBER BEATEN BEHOLD BONNET DREAMT EMBARK (10) EYELET FOURTH INFECT LAMBDA PONCHO SELVES SHELVE SWEATY TELLER VERBAL VOTARY WORKUP WORSEN
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 1 Knives 2 Aching 3 Awaken 4 Shanty 5 Nation 6 Facial 7 Govern 8 Twinge 9 Result 10 Viewer 11 Paunch 12 Cheery 13 Guffaw 14 Bushel 15 Earthy 16 Facade 17 Choice 18 Curfew 19 Rotund
Nonagram
EWN
Boggled How many English words can you find in the Boggled grid, according to the following rules? • The letters must be adjoining in a ‘chain’. They can be adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally. • Words must contain at least four letters and may include singular and plural or other derived forms. • No letter may be used more than once within a single word, unless it appears twice. • No vulgarities or proper nouns are permitted.
Kakuro
How many English words of four letters or more can you make from the nine letters in our Nonagram puzzle? Each letter may be used only once (unless the letter appears twice). Each word MUST CONTAIN THE CENTRE LETTER (in this case H) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.
Fill all the empty squares using the numbers 1 to 9, so that the sum of each horizontal block equals the ‘clue’ on its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the clue on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once.
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
TARGET: • Average: 18 • Good: 26
• Very good: 37 • Excellent: 47
TARGET:
SCORING:
• Average: 17 • Good: 23 • Very good: 34 • Excellent: 44
4 letters: 1 point 7 letters: 5 points 5 letters: 2 points 8 or more letters: 6 letters: 3 points 11 points
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION sorer sorel songs droll drone dorks doric donee rodeo redone reeds order oreos lords kerned kernel kerns kefir krone kroner erode eerie nerds needs jerks jello cered cello ironed irons ferns freer fired firer groks green greens grief snore snored snorer sneer snell scene
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION file filo fire fled flew floe flow foil fold folk ford fore fork fowl frow kerf lief life rife wife wolf field filed filer fiord fired flier fried kefir lifer rifle florid flowed flower foiled folder forked fowled fowler refold rifled wolfed lifework FIELDWORK
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS
QUICK Across:
1 Hopes, 4 Son, 6 Let, 7 Piano, 8 Apt, 9 Year, 11 Yell, 14 Ant, 15 Robin, 17 Era, 18 Ear, 19 Bonus.
CODE BREAKER
Down:
1 Happy, 2 Pea, 3 Slow, 4 Stare, 5 Net, 10 After, 12 Lends, 13 Grab, 14 Ate, 16 Ban.
CRYPTIC
ENGLISH-SPANISH
Across:
Across:
1 Ladders, 5 Slice, 8 Abode, 9 Actress, 10 Acetate, 11 Scale, 12 Easier, 14 Septic, 18 Loads, 20 Repaper, 22 Contact, 23 Evade, 24 Merit, 25 Restore.
1 Saleros, 5 Menos, 8 Torre, 9 Anciano, 10 Iron, 11 Cojinete, 13 Grillo, 15 Waiter, 18 Cucumber, 19 Plug, 22 Alumnos, 23 Nogal, 24 Ovens, 25 Suegras.
Down:
Down:
1 Leakage, 2 Drone, 3 Elevate, 4 Scales, 5 Sates, 6 Inexact, 7 Ensue, 13 Spanner, 15 Express, 16 Cortege, 17 Crater, 18 Locum, 19 Scant, 21 Plato.
1 Sitting, 2 Largo, 3 Reed, 4 Season, 5 Mochilas, 6 Nearest, 7 Smoke, 12 Alemanes, 14 Include, 16 Regalos, 17 Feasts, 18 Clavo, 20 Lugar, 21 Knee.
App of the week Rolly Vortex In this game, players must roll quickly, be alert and manage their way through obstacles to score the highest result possible.
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM
BOOKS
weather
Costa de Almería TODAY
TOMORROW VELEZ RUBIO
ALBOX
VELEZ RUBIO ALBOX
HUERCAL OVERA
HUERCAL OVERA
GARRUCHA MOJACAR
MOJACAR
ALMERIA
ALMERIA RETAMAR
ADRA
RETAMAR
ROQUETAS
ADRA
Almeria
Bilbao
Madrid
TODAY: MAX 22, MIN 11-S
TODAY: MAX 20, MIN 10-S
TODAY: MAX 19, MIN 12-CL
TODAY: MAX 14, MIN 7-C
Fri 13 Sat 9 Sun - 8 Mon - 8 Tues - 10 Wed - 11
Fri 10 Sat 8 Sun - 8 Mon - 8 Tues - 8 Wed - 9
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed -
18 13 12 14 15 15
7 - Sh 5-C 5-C 5-S 9-S 8-C
20 14 12 14 14 15
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed -
8-S 6-C 6-C 7-S 9-S 8-S
6 - Sh 5 - Sh 4 - Sh 2 - Sh 4 - Sh 5-C
1 - Sh 0 - Sh -1 - C -3 - C 0-C 1-C
Benidorm
Mallorca
Barcelona
TODAY: MAX 24, MIN 8-S
TODAY: MAX 20, MIN 8-S
TODAY: MAX 20, MIN 10-S
20 15 14 15 15 16
S: Sun
9-S 6 - Sh 6 - Sh 7-C 8 - Cl 8 - Cl
20 15 14 14 15 16
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Cl: Clear
9-S 6 - Sh 6 - Sh 8-C 7 - Cl 8-C
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed -
17 15 14 14 14 14
C: Cloudy
9-S 7 - Sh 6 - Sh 7 - Sh 7 - Sh 8-C
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed -
17 13 12 13 12 13
VELEZ RUBIO ALBOX
HUERCAL OVERA GARRUCHA MOJACAR
Alicante TODAY: MAX 23, MIN 11-S
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed -
ROQUETAS
SATURDAY
Malaga
8-S 5 - Sh 5 - Sh 4 - Sh 4-C 4-S
Sh: Showers
ALMERIA RETAMAR ADRA
ROQUETAS
Sn: Snow
Th: Thunder
Euro Weekly News strives for accuracy, but cannot be held responsible for any errors in published forecasts
BIRTHDAYS
TWELVE YEARS after they took part in their first bank heist, Carl Fisher celebrates his 40th birthday, but just hours later his body is discovered in his hot tub with a single gunshot to his head in what is believed to be an execution style killing. Talented detective, Grace Dalton, is called to find the killer but struggles to mentor her new partner, rogue DS Ryan Nash. With the suspect list evergrowing and prime suspect murdered, Dalton soon finds herself plunged into a maze which leads her to the highly controversial and dangerous Ringfield Estate. Ruled by a vicious gang who call themselves ‘The Ringfield Crew,’ Dalton must face media scrutiny and public criticism in order to pursue her line of enquiry. With her career in jeopardy, and leads turning into dead ends, she juggles increasing pressure from her superiors with her own personal demons, but will her intuition guide her to the killer?
GARRUCHA
books@euroweeklynews.com
Sudoku LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
• Labrinth, Music known for his disturbing, Producer, January 4, 29 horror-inspired fashion sense. Hip-hop producer Labrinth • Eddie Redmayne, Actor, shot to fame after co-writing January 6, 36 The British actor won an and producing Tinie Tempah’s hit single Pass Academy Award for his Nicolas Cage. Out in 2010 and has gone on portrayal of Stephen Hawking to have hits including Earthquake, in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything Beneath Your Beautiful and Jealous. and has also starred in crtically acclaimed films My Week with Marilyn, Les • Marilyn Manson, Rock Singer, January 5, 49 Miserables and Harry Potter spin-off Born Brian Hugh Warner, the shock Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. rocker first made it big with his cover of • Nicolas Cage, Actor, January 7, 54 Cage is known for starring in a number of Sweet Dreams are Made of These, and is
Hollywood movies and won the academy Award for Best actor in 1995 for his role in Leaving Las Vegas, going on to also star in Gone in 60 seconds, National Treasure and Kick-Ass. • Stephen Hawking, Physicist, January 8, 76 Legendary physicist who became renowned for creating a cosmology that relied on the unification of the theory of reality and quantum mechanics. His book, A Brief History of Time stayed on the Sunday Times’ list of best-sellers for a record 237 weeks.
Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3X3 box contains the digits 1-9. There’s no maths involved. You solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic.
Sierra Nevada SNOW REPORT Snow is forecast to fall tomorrow (Friday) evening and throughout the weekend as temperatures plummet below zero. Monday will see lows down to -14 degrees, with snowfall and sub-zero temperatures expected to persist over the remainder of the week.
Word Ladder HAIR
FILM BACK
Move from the start word (HAIR) to the end word (FILM) in the same number of steps as there are rungs on the Word Ladder. You must only change one letter at a time.
1066 - Harold II crowned King of England Following the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwineson, head of the most powerful noble family in England, is crowned King Harold II. 1768 - First modern circus staged Englishman Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London, including acts such as trick riders, acrobats, clowns and trained animals. 1789 - First US presidential election America’s first presidential election is held with voters casting ballots to choose state electors. Only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. 1838 - Morse demonstrates the telegraph Samuel Morse’s telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. 1933 - Golden Gate Bridge is born Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge as workers begin excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for huge anchorages. 1972 - Fire breaks out on Queen Elizabeth The ship, Seawise University, formerly known as the RMS Queen Elizabeth, sinks in Hong Kong Harbour despite a huge firefighting effort over two days. 1996 - GM announce electric car At the 1996 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors announces it will build an electric car, dubbed the EV1. 1999 - The Euro debuts For the first time since Charlemagne’s reign in the ninth century, Europe is united by a common currency when the euro debuts as a financial unit. Eleven EU nations launch the currency.
This week in history
Beware of the quiet ones
TIME OUT
SPONSORED BY
Solution HAIR HAIL HALL HILL FILL FILM
48
DVD Stay away from the drains
A SMALL group of neighbourhood children are terrorised by a demonic clown, Pennywise. Pennywise, who lives in the underground sewer system, is able to see the fears of the children and turns their ultimate nightmares into a reality. In order to fight the clown the group band together to figure out just who Pennywise is, why he has invaded their small town and where he will strike next. When one of the group’s families is torn apart by the clown, they must fight back and battle their deepest fears.
50
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
FEATURE
Outsider coming along nicely Cassandra Nash A weekly look - and not entirely impartial reaction to the Spanish political scene
THE Partido Popular has a problem on two fronts. One, as the governing party in Spain it has lost credibility in Cataluña where it nominally governs after suspending the region’s autonomous status. Following the regional elections it now has only four MPs in the regional parliament, on level pegging with the anti-system CUP party. The second problem that the PP must contend with is the Ciudadanos party, the most-voted in the Catalan elections. Ines Arrimadas, Cs leader in Cataluña, didn’t put a foot wrong there, compared with the clumsy
footwork executed by the PP’s Xavier Garcia Albiol. But the problem posed by Cs is not confined to Cataluña. Rajoy and his closest advisers see the party snapping at the party’s vulnerable flanks nationwide and stealing votes in the same way that Podemos has poached PSOE supporters. And unfortunately for Rajoy, there is not even a whiff of corruption attached to Cs, unlike the PP which despite all its efforts cannot exorcise the
MOST VOTES: Ines Arrimadas. Cuidadanos Photo credit
spectre of corruption that still haunts the party.
Agreeing to agree WHEN Francisco Franco died in 1975, wounds from the Civil War still afflicted and influenced Spaniards who had fought or lived through the 1936-1939 conflict, regardless of which side they or their families fought on. Lingering or inherited rancour did not prevent the apparently impossible from happening and despite hiccups the Atocha massacre of left-wing lawyers, the attempted military coup of February 1981 - the Spanish took the road to democracy. They reached their destination because Adolfo Suarez’s government obtained consensus from communists and the right wing alike. It was feasible because everyone at the time wanted consensus without believing this demonstrated weakness. The pro-independence parties and the national government headed by Mariano Rajoy hope for consensus in Cataluña, but neither will cede a
centimetre for fear of appearing to waver. And unfortunately for Spain and Cataluña they are the weaker for it.
Move along, please MADRID mayor Manuela Carmena had already earned the enmity of thousands of citizens with driving restrictions in the centre of the city. As Christmas approached, the former Supreme Court judge and a lawyer who by chance escaped the Atocha massacre in 1977, went one step too far. Calle Preciados and Calle Carmen were made one-way for pedestrians with others due to follow.
Footnote TO put the lid on it, Barça beat Real Madrid on their home ground in the Bernabeu stadium 0-3 two days after the elections. And Rajoy a Madrid fan, too.
Anyone who has ever tried to shop in Madrid over the holiday season would agree with the wisdom of this move. Apart from anything else it has prevented head-on collisions between people absorbed in their mobiles.
Play the game FIFA recently warned the government not to meddle in the election process of a new president for Spain’s Football Federation (RFEF). This is temporarily headed by Juan Luis Larrea after former president Angel Maria Villar, now bailed, had to step down following corruption charges. Failure to comply could bar Spain’s national side from all international competitions including the next World Cup in Russia FIFA warned. As though Spain didn’t have enough to cope with over Cataluña, it’s facing a crisis with far-reaching effects on the nation’s happiness and well-being. Tinker with laws if you have to Sr Rajoy. But leave the footie alone. columnists@euroweeklynews.com
New Year’s resolutions: as easy to break as to make Ric Polansky Ric Polansky moved to Mojacar in 1969 as a pioneer developer. He reads extensively and has travelled in South America panning gold and looking for El Dorado.
THE road to hell is paved with fine resolutions and good wishes. Yet, change is as inevitable as death. It’s good that each year we seem to give ourselves that opportunity to resolutely make changes that are totally necessary. Unfortunately our blurred and fuzzy psychic, still well confused from New Year ’s revelries often indistinguishable from mature thought and progressive utilitarian improvement easily falls into whimsical fantasies that wouldn’t be implemented in a millennium of attempted new starts. Soon the drudgery of rhythmic attempts wears thin and unperceived problems appear that alter our scheduling for ‘me time’ and all the best of intentions slowly fizzle or fret themselves away. Lost in a busy day of frenzied activity leading to being busier, but what was accomplished could rarely be written down. Nevertheless, our yearning heart
DON’T OVERDO THE RESOLUTIONS: There’s always next year. and beseeching soul begs for more. Yes, but make it better still sweet Lord. We want it bestowed upon us as a gift from high, if effort is involved, possibly what we desired wasn’t meant for us.
I look at this time of the year as the ‘trade-offs.’ What has to be given up to accomplish what we think we desire most? So it goes, the constant inner struggle, at least for the first two-three weeks of the
New Year. Until the consciousness grows weary of the struggle or the entire affair is conveniently forgotten. After all, it was the American school of transcendentalism that
purported ‘a foolish consistency is but the hobgoblin of little minds.’ The underlying statement was to caution taking oneself too seriously. Giving up on resolutions then is likewise taken with less attitude. After all, let’s not be cruel about this thing. First there is always next year, another list, shorter if possible and less exaggerated on what you seek. The propensity of the situation is lifted and you can sincerely enjoy the next 11 months. Remember, drink the good wines first. Life isn’t for looking at but rather chocking the neck of the bottle and filling the glasses amongst your friends yet once again. Let the bon humour flow and the wine even more so. Reconsider lowering your desires. Spend more time with the dog. Take your wife for lunch with no apparent excuse. Meet new Spanish friends and learn a few more conversational arguments. (You will never win, as they have perfected the art of bar room banter to an art form). Then again, you don’t need to win either, that’s not the point… it’s showing up and being heard and sharing in the laughter.
52
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
Five courses or nothing! Mike Senker
In my opinion Views of a Grumpy Old Man WELL that’s that lot over for another year. Christmas and New Year’s Eve done. I went to the UK for Christmas. Was it uneventful? What do you think? The BA flight out was absolutely fine. They put a big label on my wheelchair saying, ‘return to aircraft door on arrival.’ Did they? Of course not and it finished up going to the baggage reclaim. I had a bit of a moan but there’s no point. It’s nothing to do with BA - it’s the ground staff and they do as they wish. We then went to the 4-star quaint pub/hotel I had booked. Well, the only four stars I saw were through the hole in the roof! I walked in the room and knew instantly we had a problem. The girl that was checking us in didn’t know anything about the rooms as I’d asked for a room with disabled access. She was just the barmaid and was helping out as the manageress wasn’t there. So in steps my daughter, who has become very protective of her ‘rents in recent years, and demands to see the manageress. When the boss finally appears Dr S explains the room is totally unsuitable for a disabled person and, on top
of that, the room is really shabby. The boss, who was nice and polite, agreed and said, ‘I suggest you find somewhere else to stay!’ So there we were - Christmas Eve and there’s no room at the inn! Sound like a familiar story? There was nothing else to do but go last-minute shopping for food, pressies and now a hotel room. As luck would have it, the extraordinarily expensive, beautiful hotel just down the road we had originally discounted due to the horrendous price, had had a cancellation. So our budget trip turned into an expensive but luxurious outing and a good time was had by all. One thing I did find strange was that on Christmas Eve the only food choice at this fabulous hotel was either a £75 per head fivecourse dinner or nothing! No room service literally nothing - which I thought was a bit out of order. Anyway I’m not one to complain, as you know, plus it was the season of goodwill or maybe it was Mrs S dragging me out of reception that stopped me screaming the place down. How can anyone think a fivecourse dinner or nothing is acceptable? So here we are in 2018. My New Year resolution suggested by Mrs S is to moan less. Yeah right ‘o let’s see how we go with that one! columnists@euroweeklynews.com
Email: mikesenker@gmail.com.
www.euroweeklynews.com
FEATURE
LEGALLY SPEAKING Time to check your lights again WE answer some common driving questions, kindly provided by members of the Guardia Civil based in Torrevieja, Costa Blanca, who set up the N332 website and Facebook page to help break down barriers.
ESSENTIAL: Working lights. ALTHOUGH we are getting closer to the time when the evenings start to get lighter, the lights on our vehicles have possibly been in use more than ever, and so it’s a good time to check that all of the lights on our vehicles are fully working. Until quite recently, all vehicles had to carry a spare set of bulbs, this is no longer the case. The Spanish government recognised that changing a bulb is no longer a simple task, and in many cases can only be done by qualified mechanics, and so carrying a spare set was pointless, if the ability to change the bulbs had been removed. However, it is still important to check all of the lights on a regular basis, even those not used too often, such as fog lights. It is better to have an assistant to help you do this so that one of you can be in the car operating the switches, the other on the outside monitoring the results.
Remember, check every light, headlights (including full beam), indicators and hazard lights (front and back), rear lights and brake lights, reversing and fog lights, and the lights that illuminate the number plate at the rear. If your vehicle is a modern one you might also have Daytime Running Lights installed. Although these lights are often more reliable than traditional lights, on account of them being LEDs, they should also be checked on a regular basis. If you don’t have anybody to help you can still carry out the checks by using reflective surfaces such as shop windows or other parked vehicles. Make sure you do this in an isolated location though as you don’t want to confuse other motorists. If any of the lights have failed make sure you get them replaced immediately as it is an offence to drive with defective lights.
For more news and articles visit www.n332.es or search N332 on Facebook.
Can their plan work? My partner and I reside in Mallorca. We are both residents. I started a Death Benefit Policy with her as beneficiary some years ago. My teenage daughters live in South Africa with their mother. They will move to Europe and study at universities when they finish school. They both have Netherlands passports as I have. My partner has a German passport. The insurance policy will pay out a substantial amount on my death. What is your opinion of the following plan? My partner could purchase two apartments in the names of my daughters to avoid inheritance tax on them when she herself dies. She would establish an usufruct enabling her to rent out the flats until she dies. After that my daughters will be in full possession of them. Can we do this? H L (Baleares) Yes, you can do it. It might be a good idea for you and your partner to register in Mallorca as a ‘pareja de hecho,’ which is a
David Searl You and the Law in Spain
common-law couple and gives you many husband and wife benefits, such as lower inheritance tax. You need a good lawyer to see you through this.
Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
HEALTH BEAUTY
&
FOR those of us not blessed with the metabolism of Kate Moss, the effort to lose the pounds accrued over Christmas can seem like a Herculean task. But if you are embarking on a fitness regime this January, there may be a way to boost the effectiveness of your workout without breaking any more sweat. According to one personal trainer, working out in the cold really does help you burn more fat by taking advantage of your body’s natural shivers. Max Zeumer from the 13th Street New York Health and Racquet Club has told one publication his tips for burning off calories using the winter’s naturally cooler temperatures without having to put any extra effort in. He explained: “Your body will work really hard to stay warm and burn a ton of calories to do it, but that really only starts when you’re shivering.” The trainer said the good news is the workout does not have to be too strenuous, explaining: “If you want to burn a couple of extra calories, just walk outside. It sounds funny, but it will add up.” There are added health benefits too, “indoors, you’re
Costa de Almería
4 - 10 January 2018
EWN
53
V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E W W W. E U R O W E E K LY N E W S . C O M
TO READ MORE
Burn fat with a Scarlet fever winter workout on the rise exposed to sunlight, which means you’re not getting enough vitamin D. When you’re not getting enough vitamin D, your simple carb cravings are increased,” explains Zeumer. He concludes, “outside, you get vitamin D, which you really need since you have a deficit in the winter. It will reduce those sweet cravings, plus improve your serotonin, which both makes you happier and will boost your immunity.”
OUTDOOR EXERCISE: Recommended in winter.
not
IT might sound like a disease from a bygone era, but cases of scarlet fever increased by 55 per cent in the UK last week. In total, 544 people were struck down with the illness in just one week, bringing the year’s figure to 17,350 cases, the highest it has been since 1967. The infection - which mainly affects children under 10 - can cause a fever, rash and sore throat, with severe cases sometimes leading to pneumonia. Although the illness is more commonplace in winter and spring months, experts are also blaming declining living standards for the rise in cases. In the late 19th centu-
ry and early 20th century the infection was widespread, mainly due to poor hygiene, and was deadly for large numbers of children. The illness is on the rise again though, with cases rising dramatically since 2014, although experts are unable to explain why. Since July this year 5,743 cases have been reported, a sharp rise from the 4,292 in the same period in 2016. Symptoms of the illness include a blotchy rash which is pink or red in colour and often located on the chest or abdomen, followed by a sore throat, fever and headache within a week. Those infected should seek medical treatment which may include antibiotics and rest.
54
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
No more jabs
MICRONEEDLE PATCHES: The future for diabetes sufferers? FOR diabetes sufferers daily insulin injections can be a stressful and painful experience. But now scientists have discovered a new skin patch could replace jabs altogether by stimulating the body’s own insulin production. Dr Richard Leapman, scientific director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in Maryland, United States, explained the development could be good news for those with type 2 diabetes as they are still producing insulin. He added: “A weekly microneedle patch application would also be less complicated and painful than routines that require frequent blood testing.” Senior investigator Dr Xiaoyuan Chen, explained: “Most current approaches involve constant release. Our approach creates a wave of fast release when needed and then slows or
even stops the release when the glucose level is stable,” adding, “that’s why we call it responsive, or smart, release.” He concluded: “Diabetes is a very serious disease and affects a lot of people,” adding, “everyone is looking for a long-acting formula.” The pancreas converts sugar from carbohydrates using insulin by moving glucose from the blood into cells where the sugar is converted to be used as energy or stored. Those with type 2 diabetes struggle to make or use insulin and generally require insulin therapy through injections which use different amounts of insulin depending on how much is present in a diabetes patient’s blood. Researchers have found insulin therapy was not managed correctly in around half of cases, however, leading to studies into more effective, less painful alternative methods.
www.euroweeklynews.com
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Start the New Year right WITH the New Year comes the inevitable slew of new health crazes. And 2018 is no different with several foods promising to improve your wellness for the year ahead. So if you are on a health kick one Sydney-based dietician has given her tips for the foods to watch out for next year. Belinda Reynolds says medicinal mushrooms are set to feature heavily, explaining, “more and more are recognised for the multiple benefits they provide for supporting health,” adding, “mushrooms such as reishii, shitaki, cordyceps, tramete and maitake have been used for thousands of years in traditional forms of medicine.” She adds the fungi are good for your “gut, lungs and kidneys.” Belinda said the next craze will be DNA diets, “we’re becoming more aware there is no one-size-fits-all approach to health, as we have variations in our genes, diets, environments and lifestyles which can impact how we respond to certain things.” She adds, “next year, more and more practitioners will be looking towards genetic testing, which will help them to design a
IT has often been said oily fish is good for us. But scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found eating fish just once a week can have a dramatic effect on IQ and sleep quality of children. In a study of more than 500 children aged nine to 11 in China, the study showed children who ate oily fish weekly scored an average of 4.8 IQ points higher than children who rarely ate the food. Children who ‘sometimes’ did still scored 3.3 points higher than those who ‘never’ did. Professor Adrian Raine, the
MUSHROOMS: Many have medicinal properties. personalised health plan for their patients.” Finally, Reynolds explains diet has been linked to dementia and brain deterioration, saying, “these factors suppress what is known as neuroplasticity,” adding, “this is the process of brain cell renewal, and also
compromises protection and survival of neurons in the brain - which means brain health and its functions are compromised.” To counteract this she suggests upping your intake of resveratrol, found in red wine, as well as Vitamin D, Zinc and curcumin.
Brain food OILY FISH: Good for the brain. study’s lead author, explained fish was also shown to have a positive impact on sleep and
behaviour, saying, “lack of sleep is associated with antisocial behaviour and poor cogni-
tion is associated with antisocial behaviour. We have found that omega-3 supplements reduce antisocial behaviour, so it’s not too surprising that fish is behind this.” He added, “doing that could be a lot easier than nudging children about going to bed,” concluding, “'if the fish improves sleep, great. If it also improves cognitive performance - like we’ve seen here even better. It’s a double hit.” Scientists encourage parents to introduce children to eating oily fish from around 10 months old.
4 - 10 January 2018
Photo Credit: Jarabe de Palo
Update on food, drink, entertainments, what’s on and weekly happenings
The current touring band.
Jarabe de Palo celebrate 20 years IF you want to explore Spanish rock music which isn’t heavy metal then Jarabe de Palo are just about to return from a sold out US and Latin American tour. Celebrating 20 years as a band and the new 50 Palos album (their 11th) the band will be appearing at the Teatro Auditorio in Roquetas de Mar on Saturday February 3 with tickets costing between €21 and
Costa de Almería
€31. After two years away from live playing, the new album is a double accompanied by a book which is a retrospective of the band’s most popular songs played in a jazzy style with piano backing. With 70 gigs in this current tour, founder member and leader Pau Donés is celebrating his 50th birthday in style and a promise that every gig will be special.
EWN
55
TO READ MORE VISIT WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Rock en Familia brings Queen to the Teatro Cervantes ROCK EN FAMILIA is an organisation which is aimed at children and a dults he lping to e duc a te c hildre n about the pleasures of rock music. Parents and their children have the opportunity to see a whole range of tribute bands playing live accompanied by stories explaining the history of some of the most important and influential bands that have ever played live and in many cases inviting the children to join in. On Sunday January 21, the Queen tribute will perform at the Teatro Cervantes in Almeria City with the performance starting at 11.30am and tickets costing just €12 with a promise that the music will be loud enough to rock, but quie t e nough to prote c t young ears. Through their storytellers and the best tribute bands in the country, Rock en Familia introduces the next generation to such bands as The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Ramones, Mecano, AC/DC, Kiss, U2, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Led
Photo Credit: Rock en Familia
SCENE
OCIAL
ROCK MUSIC: Scenes from an earlier show. Zeppelin, Nirvana, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden and Queen. It’s a novel approach and has been very successful which is why the organisation is able to put so many different shows on the road.
A word to the future as those who like their music loud, Queenie, the World Queen Tribute Band which has been touring the world since 2006, will be at the same venue on Thursday March 15 with tickets costing €30.
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
SOCIAL SCENE
Some great young chefs with music Photo Credit: Ayuntamiento de Albox
Photo Credit: df028 Shutterstock
56
Expect great music from Por un Puñado de Tercios. A CLASSIC: The Chorus of Swans.
Swan Lake arrives from Russia THE Moscow State Ballet with stars from the Bolshoi will bring this classic piece from its repertoire to the stage of the Teatro Cervantes in Almeria City. Swan Lake is the first of the three ballets composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and is one of the most famous and well-loved of his ballets. The work, based on a German legend, moves between love and magic, linking the eternal struggle of good against evil as it tells the story of Prince Siegfried and love for Odette, a young woman turned into a swan by an evil
spell and Odile, the black swan and daughter of a wizard. Swan Lake is undoubtedly the most popular ballet of all and with lead dancer Chinara Alizade, showing the eventual victory of love, the evening promises to bring a feeling of inspiration and magical performance to Almeria. This is just one of the many Romantic ballets that sprang from the genius of 19th century composers which still manage to captivate audiences around the world.
First presented in 1877 at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre with the choreography of Julius Reisinger, it was not very well received, but when reworked by choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in 1895 it was acclaimed as the classic it is today. The music will be supplied by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra as more than 40 dancers appear on stage. The performance will take place on Thursday January 18 at the Teatro Cervantes commencing at 9pm with tickets costing €30.
THE finals of a mini Masterchef competition will take place at the Francisco Torrecillas Pavilion in Albox tonight at 8pm. Young people aged between 8 and 13 have won through the qualifying round with a selection of first class dishes and they can be viewed on a giant screen as they battle it out for the title. There will be an appearance from local band Por un Puñado de Tercios.
The Wizard of Oz THERE is a special awardwinning version of the musical Wizard of Oz based on the classic movie showing this Sunday in Adra. Aimed at children, the story of Dorothy and her adventures with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion is presented with six musical numbers which range from country to rock to funk and pop together with a number
of spectacular magic tricks. The musical which lasts one hour and 20 minutes takes place at the Adra Cultural Centre in the Plaza del Mar starting at 5pm and tickets which cost €8 and €10 can be purchased online from www.re dentradas.com. The show has been produced and directed by Javier de Pascual and is presented by Mundiartistas for one day only.
SOCIAL SCENE
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Symphonic Queen on tour Photo Credit: Moon World Twitter
ly show presented by the One World SymEACH year sees different rock stars fall by phonic Orchestra in Almeria during this tour the wayside due to their extravagant lifestyles and tickets may be purchased online. or simply because The orchesold age catches up tra and a huge with them. cast of rock It is now no musicians and longer possible to singers from a see so many farange of Scanmous bands from dinavian and the 1970s but other European many live on will once again through high present this quality tributes highly praised and one of those show which covwill be playing ers the entire catin Almeria in the alogue of Queen New Year. in a way which is The Symquite unique. phonic Queen This promises show has been to be an excepseen by nearly tional show which 500,000 people combines the taland its seventh ents of professiontour will see al rock musicians the musical exand a symphony travaganza arorchestra in a two rive at the A Killer Queen performance. hour show. Teatro Auditorio in Roquetas de Mar on Saturday March 3 Visit with tickets costing €28 to €31 for the spechttps://www.queensymphonicrhapsody.com/ tacular performance starting at 9.30pm. to find out more about the show and to view For those who love the music of one of the videos of past performances. greatest bands of all time, this will be the on-
A happy wine WHILE Lambrusco is not among LAMBRUSCO: An alternative to Spanish wine. Italy’s best wines it is one of the Grasparossa di Castelvetro: From the leaders in export sales and can be smallest producing region, typically dry, found in wine shops and supermarkets full bodied, tannic with a deep purplishthroughout Spain. red colour. Lambrusco is the name of an Italian red Mantovano: The only Lambrusco from grape and the wine from Emilia Romagna Lombardy, either dry or semi-dry. and Lombardy has a history Reggiano: The most exported dating to Etruscan’s times. and made from up to four types of Most Lambrusco is made Lambrusco grapes: Maestri, from more than one variety Marani, Montericco, and and often blended to a maxiSalamino with up to 15 per cent mum 15 per cent with other Ancellotta. grapes, including Ancellotta, by Lorenzo Salamino di Santa Croce: ConMarzemino, Malbo Gentile Barbareschi sists of at least 90 per cent of and Cabernet Sauvignon. Salamino grapes; frizzante, light in colour Mostly frizzante (slightly sparkling), and body and semi-sweet or dry. Lambrusco can be secco (dry), amabile Di Sorbara: Regarded as the highest (semi-sweet) and dolce (sweet). quality; fragrant, with high acidity and It is typically made using the Charmat berry flavours with deep ruby colour. process with a second fermentation conGenerally inexpensive with little comducted in a pressurised tank. While the plexity and easy to drink, unfortunately the grape is not particularly sweet, most comquality of exported Lambrusco rarely mercial Lambrusco is sweetened with the equals that found in its native region. addition of grape must. Salute and happy tasting. Lambrusco denominations are:
BACCHUS CELLAR
57
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
ALBOX & SURROUNDING AREAS Photo by Twitter
58
APPEAL: Scandal hit Trabalon (centre) unhappy with guilty verdict.
Disgraced mayor launches appeal EIGHT of the politicians and civil servants convicted in the notorious Costurero corruption case have appealed against their sentences. They include former Zurgena mayor Candido Trabalon, who illegally granted licences for the construction of 1,500 homes between 2003 and 2007. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and banned from holding public
office for 18 years for his part in the scandal, which affected hundreds of British buyers of the illegal homes. His co-conspirator and former councillor, Manuel Tijeras, received a 30-month prison sentence and a 14 year ban from politics. He is also appealing against the judgement to the Supreme Court. All of the defendants had pled their innocence before
being convicted in July and claim their trial by Almeria’s provincial court was unfair. In the summer ruling judges said Trabalon’s plans for 1,500 ‘defied the rational use of natural resources and put the local community at risk’ by almost tripling the population overnight. Trabalon was also convicted of enriching his family and other close contacts through the illegal scheme.
ALBOX & SURROUNDING AREAS
Fire delay fury THREE children and one woman were rescued from a fire at an Albox property on Saturday night. The blaze broke out in the courtyard of a building on Calle San Leonardo. There was serious smoke damage to the three-storey building. The mother and her three children stayed on the first floor and had to spend the night at their relatives. There was immediate criticism levelled at Albox mayor Francisco Torrecillas. One of his first actions after taking power was to close
the local fire station. Popular Party spokesman, Juan Perez Quiles, said that the promised savings from the closure had not materialised. “Instead we have lost the €150,000 subsidy provided by the provincial council and the fire engine provided by the council,” he said, warning that Albox residents will pay for the mistake. Quiles also noted that firefighters from Turre had taken 45 minutes to arrive and that it was sheer luck that there were no serious injuries.
Smart cookies DOZENS of young people aged between 14 and 30 took part in a free English language course in Albox. They took advantage of 25 teaching hours offered by the Training for Youth programme, which operates across Almeria. The courses are offered in municipalities with populations of less than 20,000. The Albox youngsters were given face-to-face training by qualified teachers. They studied up to the B1 level, where learners can understand the key themes of long texts and write simple ones of their own.
www.euroweeklynews.com
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
59
4 - 10 January 2018/ Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
ALBOX & SURROUNDING AREAS Photo by AAFFComarcadeBaza/Twitter
60
TRAIN CREW: New Year’s Eve protesters kept tradition alive.
Bring her back A CROWD gathered on New Year’s Eve to call for the reopening of the old GuadixBaza-Almanzora-Lorca railway line. It closed on December 31, 1984 and each winter for 33 years local residents have held a rally at the old Baza station at noon on New Year’s Eve. The line used to pass right through the Almanzora Valley, taking in Purchena, Olula
del Rio, Cantoria, Arboleas, and Zurgena, as part of a wider Granada-Murcia connection. It was up and running in the late 19th century and is sorely missed by residents across the region. In the three decades since its closure it has been widely recognised that the move was a mistake. Now groups, including the Association of
Friends of the Railway Region of Baza, are seizing on recent railway developments in Almeria and Granada to demand it reopens. They are urging the government to consider pumping money into the project, while a high-speed connection is established between Almeria and Granada, and Almeria and Murcia in the early 2020s.
62
E W N Costa de Almería
4 - 10 January 2018
V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E W W W . E U R O W E E K LY N E W S . C O M
TO READ MORE
PROPERTY www.euroweeklynews.com
€500,000 payout
SOARING: Home prices in Andalucia continue to rise.
Bank loses legal battle
CALA ROMANTICA: Site of the failed development.
HOUSE prices shot up by 2 per cent in the final quarter of 2017. The average cost per square metre now stands at €1,228. Also in the final quarter, 117,068 sales were made, bringing the total for 2017 to 491,005 sales, slightly less than the most optimistic projections last January of a half million sales. A report from the Gesvalt housing consultancy describes the October to December results as indicating that 2017 was a year of consolidation for Spain’s property market. “The market is growing more slowly but more in line with the wider economy,” said general director, Sandra Daza. “This is a sign that
Prices enjoy quality quarter prices are starting to reflect anticipated growth, that construction will become more economically viable, and both home prices and rents will continue to rise.” Gesvalt also noted that there have been wide variations in Spain’s different regions when it comes to prices. The company says that
tourism is the main indicator of how high prices will rise, or how low they will fall. While the national average was a 2 per cent increase in the final quarter, in Madrid, Galicia, Murcia and Andalucia the increase surpassed 5 per cent. In places like Cantabria and La Rioja, prices fell.
NEW data from the Ministry of Development reveals that almost €54 billion worth of transactions took place in Spain’s real estate market between January and September. During the same period in 2016 the amount was closer to €44 billion and the total for the year was €60 billion. The record high remains 2010 when more than €80 billion of capital shifted in 12 months. With the data in for most of 2017, it shows that Madrid, Cataluña and Andalucia together accounted for more than half of the total value of Spain’s real estate market. The €54 billion spent relates to 374,027 properties sold during the period, an 18.5 per cent rise on 2016. Second-hand homes accounted for
FORMER bank Sabadell Solbank - part of Banco Sabadell since 2014 - must return almost €500,000 to buyers who bought properties in Mallorca. The decision by a Marbella court comes after the developer of the Cala Romantica, off-plan project in Manacor filed for bankruptcy in 2011, with houses paid for but never built. The development should have been completed by 2008 and buyers who paid deposits have been fighting to get their money back ever since. But the bank has since argued that it has no legal relationship with the claimants since it was not involved in drawing up their contracts with the developer. They also pointed out that
it is not mentioned in any of the paperwork and that money paid to the developer before it went bust was not paid into its Sabadell Solbank accounts. The judge presiding over the case rejected these claims out of hand, stating that the developer signed a number of guarantees with the bank in July 2006 and ruling that it must also reimburse the claimants’ legal costs, plus interest amounting to an additional €200,000. This is the 43rd case won this year using the so-called ‘Keith Rule strategy,’ sonamed after British expatriate Keith Rule, who in 2006 discovered a Spanish law making banks responsible for guaranteeing deposits paid on off-plan properties.
Casa cash flowing
BOOMING: The Spanish property market is on the rise. roughly €48 billion, while new homes lagged behind, reaping just €6 billion. In 2018, new homes are expected to account for a larger share of the market. Also this year the total number of
sales is expected to surpass 550,000 as the property market continues its successful recovery. A study from Servihabitat projects sales to increase at a faster rate this year than they did in 2017.
64
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de AlmerĂa
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPONSOR GO TO WWW.LINEADIRECTA.COM
www.euroweeklynews.com
SPONSORED BY
HOMES
&
GARDENS
The easy way to grow your own fresh and tasty potatoes even in a small space GRAEME TYRRELL IF you have even had the privilege of eating home grown potatoes from an organic garden you will probably always be disappointed with commercially grown potatoes. The difference in taste is dramatic as the additional micronutrients give a flavour and vigour to the potatoes that is hard to find from most potatoes in the market place. The problem with growing your own potatoes though is the hard work to harvest them from the soil and the damage that can occur when digging with ordinary home garden
tools. There is an easy way however to make the growing and harvesting much more enjoyable and productive without the hard work. Some potatoes can even be grown in containers on your balcony or terrace with good results from following a few simple steps. If you have a vegetable garden this procedure has been well proven to work in northern Europe with less weeding and the ability to selectively harvest the best potatoes and let the rest continue to grow and mature. The procedure is quite simple and just requires straw and a nutrient rich SEED POTATOES: Ready to plant. compost with plenty of manure included to provide ample nitrogen and other essential growth elements. In the garden you need to have a way of containing the potato bed. You can dig a trench in the soil, just get
PERMACULTURE EDUCATION SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Telephone: 666 33 33 35 info@permamed.org http://permamed.org/
some hay bales to act as a wall to surround the area you want to grow the potatoes in or use blocks, bricks or wood planks to make raised bed on the soil surface to the size you want. Add the straw and compost in layers or mixed together to fill the trench, raised bed or container about 15cm deep. Place seed potatoes at about 30cm apart in all directions in the garden for the largest potatoes, but they can be 20cm apart in containers for smaller but a more plentiful harvest. Next, cover the seed potatoes with layers of straw and compost another 15cm deep. The straw/compost mixture will settle and the growing potatoes will need to be covered, so more mixture will need to be added. It is important to keep c o v e r i n g t h e e m e rg i n g potato plants around the base of the plant to ensure that the expanding potatoes growing from the roots are not exposed to the light as they will turn green and will not be suitable for eating. This method requires regular watering but as the mixture holds the water so well it requires less watering than soil based culture. Weeds are much less of a problem and are much easier to remove from the mixture. Harvest is easy as you can just lift the straw to check the progress of the potatoes and remove the potatoes that you consider ready and leave the rest to keep growing until needed. Just make sure you press back the mixture to exclude the light from the roots and remaining potatoes. It’s a great way to enjoy delicious potatoes without the hard work.
PETS PAGE www.euroweeklynews.com
4 - 10 January 2018
David THE Dogman
GRADUALLY introduce changes in your dog’s routine as soon as you know baby is on the way - if he does not connect them with the baby’s arrival he has less reason to be jealous. - Your dog should not be the centre of attention at all times, and should not sit on your lap (if at all) only when invited by you. - Get him used to being away from you sometimes in an-
POOCH PALS: Only introduce your dog to your baby when he is calm.
65
SPONSORED BY
Your dog and new baby
LISTEN to David on TRE on Saturdays 10am to 11am Costa del Sol (Gibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm (San Roque to Calahonda) 91.9fm (Calahonda to Motril) 88.9fm, Costa Calida 92.7fm Costa Blanca (Torrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm (Elche to Calpe) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6fm, (Denia to Valencia) 95.3fm Mallorca 103.9fm columnists@ewnmediagroup.com
Costa de Almería
other room, or indoor kennel (‘crate’), and ban him from the nursery. - Take a refresher course at a training school, and think about practice walks with the pram - it can be trickier than it sounds! - Check with your vet about canine hygiene and worming. When your baby is born your dog may be left for hours while you are in hospital, or upset by the excitement if you are at home. Arrange for someone he knows to look after/walk him. It is an old wive’s tale (letting your dog drink breast milk or play with dirty nappies) this will not help your dog and baby to become friends, but sending home a blanket that the baby has slept on may help your dog to get used to her scent. When you come home let someone else hold your baby while you greet your dog; introduce them later when he is calm. Do not try to keep your dog and baby completely apart, you won’t be able to keep it up! Teach them both to interact calmly and gently, no
licking by the dog or grabbing by the child. Never ever leave dogs alone with babies or young children; shut your dog out of the room or pop the baby in a secure play-pen. This applies every time you use the bathroom, answer the door/phone or get a meal. It is not a matter of ‘trust.’ Toddlers can accidentally injure or alarm dogs (eg by falling on them) and startled dogs may react impulsively, lashing out or biting. The most tolerant dog needs peace and quiet sometimes; allow him a place (eg his bed) he can escape to without being followed. Allow the child to go there at other times to prevent it becoming an exclusive area which he feels entitled to defend. When your baby starts to crawl and walk teach your dog to step back out of her way in doorways and on stairs.
IS it true you can cut out the cost of pet care when you go on holiday? Yes it is! You can join a membership network like HouseSitMatch.com to find suitable petsitters and house-sitters securely online. Many pet owners are completely shocked at the end of a holiday to find that their pet care costs have almost doubled the cost of their trip. Are the petsitters and housesitters checked? Yes! HouseSitMatch is a safe alternative that enables you to meet sitters with police and background checks in place, so you can go on holiday with peace of mind. Aren’t there any costs? Yes there is a small membership fee each year which starts as low as £35 per year.
Free pet-sitters … cut the cost of pet care?
PET CARE: Find a suitable pet-sitter free online. By joining a house-sitting membership network for a moderate annual fee you can secure access to suitable free pet-sitters all year round. Who are these petsitters and why will they want to housesit for free? Most of the pet-sitters and
house-sitters who join HouseSitMatch are looking to spend time in a new location and to exchange their experience as pet-sitters for free accommodation while they discover a new location. Client testimonial - Susan, Pet owner I have absolutely no reservations about using HouseSitMatch in looking after my pets and home. Lamia is always available and extremely flexibile in ensuring the well-being of the animals and security of all. I would use HouseSitMatch always knowing I can leave home without any worries.
Do you need a house or pet-sitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and pet-sitting and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either house-sitter or homeowner now with a 20 per cent off introductory offer using coupon code PERFECT20. To find a house or pet-sitter go to www.HouseSitMatch.com call Lamia on 00 44 (0) 777 214 2742 or email admin@housesitmatch.com
66
E W N Costa de Almería
4 - 10 January 2018
SPONSORED BY AIR CONDITIONING
DRAINS
INTERNET GET YOUR business noticed online! Make sure that expats in Spain can find your product, service, restaurant, bar or shop. Contact Spain’s newest and brightest online directory TODAY. Call 951 386 161 or email mark.w@eu roweeklynews.com for more details.
BUILDERS
HOME FURNISHINGS LANGUAGE CLASSES
MOTORING WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company fleet insurance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to offer an excellent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 902 123 309. (200726)
NAUTICAL
COURSES
CHARITIES / CHURCHES
INTERNATIONAL SKIPPER LICENCE: Courses held in English and starts soon. RYA VHF and Radar Courses. 636 444 929 (257523)
INSURANCE MOTORING
ZURGENA branch of the Royal British Legion hold Branch Meeting on the 1st Thursday of the month. Coffee morning 3rd Wednesday of the month. Quiz night with a hot and cold buffet last Friday of the month. We also arrange outings to places of interest and have regular lunches together. (253989)
MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 902 123 309, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 902 123 309 for motor insurance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! (200726)
THE FIVE BONE HOTEL, TURRE. Little dogs 6 euros, medium dogs 6.75 euros, big dogs 7.50 euros, cats from 5.25 euros a day. 630 234 556 / the5bonehotelturre@gmail. com New opening hours Mon-Sat 9.30-12.30 and 18.00 – 19.00 Sundays 9.30-10.30 (255365)
COMPUTERS
PLUMBING SERVICES
www.euroweeklynews.com
INSURANCE DRAINAGE
PETS
KNOWLES PLUMBING. No 1 for plumbing! Central heating, solar hot water and water deposits. Tel: 950 137 197 or 606 807 797 (250103)
PERSONAL
CLASSIFIEDS www.euroweeklynews.com
CLASSIFIEDS REMOVALS & STORAGE FULLY INSURED UK/Spain Removals & Storage, UK Trading Standards Approved www.indalotransport.com 634 336 468 or Freephone Uk 0800 999 33 68 (259258) UK-SPAIN-UK 18 years Experience. New Clean Vehicles running weekly. ONLINE QUOTES. Insured with RSA. 1cbm to ANY size move. Worried who to use? We’ll look after you. www.bmceuropean.com +44 8456 443 784 or 951 242 430. (257152)
2ND HAND FURNITURE
www.euroweeklynews.com WE ARE looking for a full time local reporter for the Almeria edition of our newspaper. Candidates must have relevant experience and Spanish is a bonus. Please contact me for further details, jackie@euroweek lynews.com
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
SOLAR ENERGY SOLAR WIND POWER SOLUTIONS. Over 20 years installation experience. Established 17 years in Spain. Call Phil for competitive prices on 636 261 240 or email info@suner gyalmeria.com (256957)
TILING FLOOR AND WALL TILING SPECIALIST Not a jack of all trades, just a master of one! Call Steve Holman on 697 678 708 (255340)
READERS OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION MAY FIND SOME OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS SECTION OFFENSIVE.
TRANSLATION SERVICES
VARIOUS HGV CLASS 1 Drivers Required. Earnings up to £1000.00 per week. Tramping in the UK. Various shift patterns/ depots. Work for a couple of weeks, months or ongoing. Guaranteed tramping for the duration you are here. You choose your location. We supply the work. Trusted, reliable, professional. Enquire today: 0044 1487 842165 Text/ WhatsApp - 0044 7846624312 in fo@cambscontrac tors.co.uk www.cambs contractors.co.uk Find us on Facebook (252187)
www.euroweeklynews.com
VIAGRA/Kamagra/Cialis/W eight loss pills the best prices in Spain! BUY ONE GET ONE FREE on certain items. Order securely & discreetly online: www. costapills.net Postal Nationwide delivery sales @costapills.net (257177)
SPANISH LESSONS
VIAGRA, CIALIS, kamagra all areas mail order. 604 385 476. viagra4you19 @gmail.com (259055)
SWIMMING POOLS GENECO Pool construction. Tel 950 478 086 for no obligation quote
For daily news visit www.euroweeklynews.com
SITUATIONS VACANT REMOVALS / STORAGE
SPANISH LESSONS
VETS
ARE YOU self-motivated and hard working? We are looking for administration/telesales candidates. Experience not essential as full training is given. Applications by email with full CV should be sent to recruitment@euro weeklynews.com
XXX RELAXATION
EWN
67
68
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018
Costa de Almería
FOR BEST RATES IN MOTOR INSURANCE CALL: 952 89 33 80
Clarkson Quote of the Week By Matthew Elliott VOLKSWAGEN is attempting to undo the damage done by the diesel scandal and return to its hippie routes. The German giant has revealed plans for 30 new electric models to be released by 2025, including a green-friendly remake of its legendary microbus. Named the Buzz, the electric hippie wagon is slated for release in 2022 and appeared for a test run in the fitting location of Venice Beach, California. Other electric concept cars unveiled include a hatchback and crossover SUV, which should both be in production by 2020. Most of the buzz will be about the Buzz, which is suitably colourful in a two-tone yellow and has spin around front seats that can face backwards. Back in the realm of reality, Volkswagen is enjoying rave reviews for its new T-Roc SUV. It has now debuted in the UK and
SPONSORED BY
MOTORING www.euroweeklynews.com
On the Crysler PT Cruiser. “The front looks like a face, a friendly face from the land that gave us friendly fire.” Some might say...
Hippie bus is back Plus T-Roc acclaim
GAME CHANGERS: VK’S T-Roc and electric Buzz (inset) part of image makeover. across Europe, with the 114hp 1.0 litre TSI model with frontwheel drive and a manual gearbox expected to be the top seller. Though with a slightly less
powerful engine than other SUVs in a packed market, the T-Roc is advertised as perfect for nipping around town and is 225kg lighter than previous models. It is simi-
lar to Audi’s Q2 and smaller than Volkswagen’s own Tiguan. It is mechanically basic but practical and modern, with no elaborate 4Motion all-wheel dri-
ve but an eight-inch infotainment system, two-climate control system, and optional LED headlights. It is comfortable, agile and comes with a three-year, 60,000 mile warranty. There are no electric or hybrid options, aiming at the petrol market. UK prices begin at around £20,000 (€22,500).
Built in Britain BREXIT and diesel concerns have seen British drivers lose their appetite for British-built cars. Domestic demand for cars built in the UK crashed by almost 30 per cent at the tail end of 2017. Exports rose but couldn’t make up for the drop in domestic sales. Now 85 per cent of all cars built in Britain are sold abroad. Overall in 2017 domestic demand dropped by 9 per cent, leading to an overall decline of 2 per cent. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), cites Brexit uncertainty and diesel tax confusion as reasons for the demand drop. Chief executive Mike Hawes said the figures show the importance of negotiations with the EU over Britain’s future car trade with the bloc.
MOTORING
www.euroweeklynews.com
ROAD TEST by Nick Fletcher THERE are plenty of four-wheeldrive models to tackle tough terrain and there are many SUV models which are great on the tarmac but less so off-road. There are also many people who would like a combination of the two, and the Mitsubishi Outback is an outstanding example of a vehicle able to take on this dual role. It is a formidable off-roader which is also at home on city streets, an ideal blend for those who meld urban and rural lifestyles. The Outback is quite refined to drive, very well equipped, looks stylish and classy and prices start at €37,197 (£32,995).There is a sporty 2.5 litre petrol model for those seeking sharper performance but for most, the well-proven 148 hp 2.0 litre diesel will be the choice, and this was the version I tested. In SE Premium Lineartronic trim, with CVT auto transmission and all wheel drive, it costs €39,452 (£34,995) and is exceptionally well equipped. Standard kit includes alloy wheels, roof rails, auto LED lights and wipers, powered tailgate, leather upholstery, powered and
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
EWN
69
Subaru Outback SE Premium
heated front seats, slide/tilt sunroof, privacy glass, seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Bluetooth, sat-nav, connectivity, adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, hill start and hill descent assist, keyless entry and push-button start. It also has plenty of safety features including multi-airbags, blind-spot warning, lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic assist. Top speed is 191 kph (119 mph) and the 0-100 kph time of 9.9 seconds is nippy for a vehicle of this size and weight. It is quite frugal too - fuel economy is 16.4 kpl (46.3 mpg). The engine pulls smoothly and quietly and the CVT box changes with minimal fuss. The gears can be manually shifted with paddles if re-
quired. With nicely-weighted steering and a well balanced suspension set-up, everything combines to give a refined drive on smooth surfaces. The Outback also feels quite nimble in town, quite easy to handle and park. On the open road, it
corners well with reassuring grip. The exterior of the Outback makes a strong visual statement, and while the cabin is laid out for functionality rather than style, it still looks smart. There is plenty of room for five
Stats panel Model: Subaru Outback SE Engine: 2.0 litre diesel Transmission CVT Auto Performance: 0-100 kph 9.9 seconds, top speed 191 (119 mph) Economy: 16.4 kpl (46.3 mpg) Emissions: 159 g/km THE OUTBACK: Makes a strong visual statement.
Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.
occupants, and the boot space of 559 litres (expanding to 1,848 litres) is substantial. The Outback comes over as a robust yet refined contender, underpinned by Subaru’s excellent reputation for dependability.
70
E W N 4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
Real life Transformer The €59,000 car able to turn into a robot Designed by famous Videogame designer Kunio Okawara, the Earth-1 is capable of shifting from a normal car to an upright robot which
can be moved with a joystick. The car, which has a large cockpit that opens up for the driver to step into, has everything that would be normally expected, steering wheel, brakes and large fins at the back for brake lights, until it transforms upright into a robot which can be manoeuvred by a joystick at the front. It has not yet had a trial on public roads and is awaiting permission to do so ahead of actual sales. The Earth-1 is expected to cost eight million yen (€59,426) when it eventually goes on sale.
Credit: Twitter
STUNNING: The Bugatti Chiron set to go up for sale in February.
Chiron clearance! Prized Bugatti to go up for auction ONE of the first Bugatti Chirons to be delivered last year is set to go up for auction next month. RM Sotheby’s will put the super car under the hammer on February 9 in Paris with a huge figure expected for the unique Bugatti. The limited edition supercar has an eight litre quad-turbocharged W-16 engine, with 1,480 horsepower capable of doing 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds. Its top speed is limited to 261 mph reportedly due to the fact that no current tyre can handle the exceptional force produced by the Chiron past that point. However, Bugatti are reportedly currently
working on special tyres for the Chiron that could possibly raise the top speed past that point and to 285 mph. The specific model up for sale, one of the first 20 delivered to customers, has been hardly used, driven less than 630 miles, and comes with a number of special features including carbon-fibre steering wheel and maritime blue brake callipers. Deliveries for the car only began in March last year, with only 70 currently dispatched, and the car is expected to fetch between €3.2-3.6 million ($3.8-4.3 million) when it goes under the hammer next month.
A Focus on Ford IMAGES of the new Ford Focus 2018 have been revealed ahead of the car’s expected launch next year. In the images, the car is heavily camouflaged in bright colours with the slogan #TimeToFocus in plain sight, but several new features seem to have been added, including a new grille. While much of information about the new Ford Focus remains under wraps, the British carmakers have confirmed that an estate version of the car will be produced.
Credit: Twitter
JAPANESE firm Four Link Systems has unveiled its brand new electric car that can transform into an upright robot.
MOTORING
COLOURFUL: Images of the Ford Focus 2018 have been revealed. Details of the estate’s specs are yet to be announced, but it is widely expected that the new Focus will be an upgraded version of the MK3, with features like the Active Park Assist Traffic Sign
Recognition and Adaptive Front lighting likely to be a part of the new model. The new generation of the popular family hatchback will be officially launched in spring 2018.
SPORT
4 - 10 January 2018 / Costa de Almería
www.euroweeklynews.com
EWN
71
Toffees’ Big Sam chews over Giroud’s wife’s orders LIVERPOOL host Everton in the FA Cup third round on Friday at Anfield with The Toffees backed with almost 8,000 fans for the tie. Everton’s ticket allocation of 7,946 tickets is the biggest travelling support they have taken across Stanley Park since the all-seater stadium was introduced in 1994. Everton gaffer Sam Allardyce, looking to sign a new striker in the January transfer window, said: “Up front is an area we need to improve in January, a quality front man.” Everton’s interest in Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud has been given the cold shoulder by Allardyce - and Giroud’s wife: “As far as I know he doesn’t want to move north of Wat-
UKSPORTSCENE with Andrew Atkinson ford - well his wife doesn’t,” said Big Sam. “It’s very important to the wives - believe you me - normally they are the bosses,” said Allardyce. FA Cup third round: Friday: Manchester United v Derby, Liverpool v Everton. Saturday: Ipswich v Sheffield United, Watford v Bristol City, Birmingham v Burton, Aston Villa v Peterborough.
‘HE HAS EVERYTHING’: David Silva.
Bournemouth v Wigan, Coventry v Stoke, Newport v Leeds, Bolton v Huddersfield, Yeovil v Bradford, Brentford v Notts County, QPR v MK Dons, Exeter v West Brom. Doncaster v Rochdale, Middlesbrough v Sunderland, Fleetwood v Leicester, Blackburn v Hull, Cardiff v Mansfield, Manchester City v Burnley. Wolves v Swansea, Stevenage v Reading, Newcastle v Luton, Millwall v Barnsley, Fulham v Southampton, Wycombe v Preston, Norwich v Chelsea, Carlisle v Sheffield Wednesday. Sunday: Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon, Shrewsbury v West Ham. Monday: Brighton v Crystal Palace.
David Silva/Twitter
Pep’s Silva lining DAVID SILVA has been heralded as one of the main keys that have unlocked Manchester City’s door to win the Premier League.
SPORTSCENESPAIN with Andrew Atkinson
Kane’s Real deal REAL MADRID and Manchester City are in a race to sign England a Spurs star, striker Harry Kane - described by Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino as the world’s best. “Harry is world class - the number one striker in the world - who’s better than him?” said Pochettino. Kane, with a touted value of £170m, netted his eighth hat-trick of 2017 in Spurs’ 5-2 win against Southampton on Boxing Day. Kane bagged 39 Premier League goals in 2017, breaking Alan Shearer’s record for goals scored in a year: “A massive achievement for Harry, and well deserved,” said Pochettino. Pochettino, desperate to keep Kane, said: “Harry is a talented player - that’s the secret we are so ambitious and looking forward. “Hopefully the next year will bring us a lot of victories - we want to win every game - who knows what can happen?” City gaffer Pep Guardiola also has Real Sociedad’s defender Inigo Martinez on his radar.
Dutch courage BARCELONA are linked with Manchester United defender Daley Blind who could be allowed to begin negotiating a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January. Barca, keeping tabs on the Dutch star’s contract talks, are set to swoop for Blind - for free if United don’t trigger an extension on his contract. Blind, a £14m signing by ex-United boss Louis van Gaal in 2014, sees his current contract expire next summer. United are set to trigger extension contract clauses with Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young. Real Madrid are targeting Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi along with Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.
Gareth to bale out REAL star Gareth Bale is set to snub a move to Manchester United - to remain at the Bernabeau in the January transfer window - moving to Old Trafford in the summer. United have reportedly agreed a deal with Wales international winger Bale, 28, valued by
STRIKER SOUGHT: By Sam Allardyce in the January transfer window. “He has absolutely everything,” said City boss Pep Guardiola as the Blues enter 2018 topping the table. Valencia youth Silva was at Valencia CF for six years, winning one Copa del Rey in 2008, prior to joining City in 2010. Silva, set to feature in City’s FA Cup third round tie against Burnley on Saturday, in his eighth season at City, has won the FA Cup, two Football League Cups and two Premier League titles. “I’m so happy for him,” said Guardiola, who awarded Silva
the captain’s armband at City in the absence of Vincent Kompany this term. “He is a real leader - he never hides - and always wants the ball to make something,” praised Guardiola, in the wake of Silva attracting interest from AC Milan and Las Palmas. Silva, who won his first international call up aged 20, capped 118 times, a member of Spain’s 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016, is set to be named in national coach Julen Lopetegui’s 2018 World Cup squad.
Real at £79m, with United planning a £53m bid, to lure the ex-Spurs ace away from the Bernabeu. Manchester United’s Angel Gomes is a target for Borussia Dortmund. Stoke’s Switzerland international Xherdan Shaqiri, 26, is eyed by West Ham. United host Derby County on Friday in the FA Cup third round. Shanghai SIPG star striker Hulk, 31, linked with Chelsea and Manchester City, hasn’t ruled out a move to the Premier League. “I received contact from the Premier League which I admire very much, the best league in the world,” said Hulk.
Luiz Real chance DAVID LUIZ’S uncertain future at Chelsea after a rift with Blues boss Antonio Conte - has alerted Real Madrid. Brazilian centre-back Luiz’s spell at Stamford Bridge could be set to end with Zinedine Zidane set to bolster his defence in the January transfer window. Luiz, wanting a regular slot on Conte’s teamsheet, is in his second spell at Chelsea after rejoining the Blues in a £34m move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2016. Chelsea travel to Carrow Road on Saturday to
Born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Silva departed Valencia CF to City in 2010, the club having been thwarted to sign Silva and Valencia teammate David Villa in 2008, in a £135m deal. Silva, who celebrates his 32nd birthday this month, has been among the goals in City’s table-topping campaign: “He has absolutely everything,” said Guardiola. “I think he is a star. At 31 years old he is enjoying to learn more - to score goals - that is so important,” said Guardiola.
play Championship club Norwich City in the FA Cup third round.
Valverde’s targets ARSENAL duo, Barca target Mesut Özil and Real Madrid and Manchester City target Alexis Sanchez, are both out of contract in June. Özil and Sanchez become free agents in the summer and are eligible to negotiate with clubs in January. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, whose Gunners meet Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, signed Özil and Sanchez at a combined cost of £74m. Liverpool and Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho remains Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde’s transfer target. Barca are also eyeing Özil to play alongside midfielder Andres Iniesta. Barca trio ArdaTuran, Aleix Vidal and Denis Suarez have uncertain futures. Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka, 22, is interesting Bayern, Real Madrid, Barca and Arsenal. Schalke midfielder Max Meyer, refusing to sign a new deal, is eyed by Liverpool. Barcelona star and Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano has been linked with a move to Liverpool.
72
E W N Costa de Almería BARCELONA have never lost a La Liga game that defender Thomas Vermaelen has started. The former Arsenal centre-back has featured just 16 times since moving to the club in 2014 but has won 13 times and drawn the other three.
vCosta de Almería’s best guide to local sport
S PA N I S H s n o w b o a r d e r Regino Hernandez has admitted his focus is now fully on competing at this y e a r ’s Wi n t e r O l y m p i c games after retaining his S n o w b o a r d C r o s s Wo r l d Cup title last month. Regino Hernandez, along with partner Lucas Eguibar, retained their titles at the International Ski Federation (FIS) S n o w b o a r d C r o s s Wo r l d Cup in Montafon, Austria, last month. They beat Italian pair Omar Vi s i n t i n and Emanuel Perathoner in a nail-biting finale to secure the victory and after the event, Hernandez told t h e E u ro We e k l y N e w s :
4 - 10 January 2018
TO READ MORE
SPORT www.euroweeklynews.com
Going for gold Spanish ‘boarder aiming for PyeongChang OLYMPIC DREAM: Hernandez in Sochi 2014 (inset).
“ To w i n a r a c e i s a l w a y s something incredible, but to retain the title is amazing. “I had a really good start section. Lucas (my partner) is really patient and waited to pass the rivals then I managed to get into first.” Now that the title is back in Spain, Hernandez admits that his focus is solely on obtaining Olympic glory at the games in Korea that begin next month. “Of course this season the Olympics are the most important event,” he continued. “ We w i l l b e w o r k i n g continuously to be in the best shape for February. “I want to be the top rider and I’ll always give 100 per cent to achieve that.” The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea officially begin on February 9, with Hernandez expecte d t o b e o n e o f S p a i n ’s medal hopes.