Voted Best
ISSUE NO. 1719
Newspaper in Spain 2017 & 2018
COSTA DE ALMERÍA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
14 - 20 June 2018
Migrant smugglers jailed
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Workplace plunder
by Gregory Kirby AN Almeria court sentenced two men to four and a half years in prison on Tuesday for organising the illegal entry of migrants into Spain from Algeria using Facebook. Two women and a child were among those on the boat travelling from the coast of Algeria, the Almeria courtroom heard. They charged each migrant €600 for the trip, according to judges. And the pair - known only as MAB and MZ - were convicted of acting against foreign citizens’ rights and ‘directly’ promoting the illegal immigration of people from Arzew, Algeria to Spain. MAB lead the recruitment of collaborators on Facebook, according to the prosecutor’s initial notes. He was paid for organising the boat and the equipment necessary to make it to Spain, the notes read. The men skippered the boat ‘using a compass’ and gave passengers instructions to follow if Spanish authorities spotted them, the court heard. The 40-horsepower vessel departed at midA VICTIM is in a serious condition in hospital after a drunken driver allegedly drove 30 kilometres on the wrong side of the A-7 motorway before colliding into an oncoming vehicle. The incident - which police are still investigating - is thought to have happened near the Viator municipality at 1.22am on Sunday night. The 44-year-old suspect,
INTERCEPTED: Coastguard vessel powers back to base after rescue operation night on July 23 last year. And the Guardia Civil’s maritime surveillance service picked up the ribbed boat at 4.15pm the next day, 62 nautical miles northeast of Cabo de Gata in Almeria. The boat failed to meet the technical requirements for such a voyage as it was carry-
ing more than its six or seven-person capacity. And it also lacked minimum security items like lifejackets ‘endangering the lives of those on board,’ the court heard. Police seized €345, mobile phones and a long-range laser pointer from the men upon arrest.
‘Kamikaze’ crash known only as ADA, may have entered the motorway at the Motor City exit and proceeded to drive along it in the wrong direction. He suffered light injuries after colliding with the oncoming vehicle and was later arrested by Guardia Civil
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officers who attended the scene. Firefighters had to cut the car open to free the 30-yearold victim who was brought to Torrecardenas hospital. Investigators are still looking into the details of the incident, including the
exact entry point used to access the motorway. The man - who has been termed the ‘kamikaze’ driver by media - has been arrested for crimes against road safety including driving dangerously and under the influence of alcohol. The victim remains in a serious state in Torrecardenas hospital in Almeria’s capital.
GUARDIA CIVIL officers have arrested a 38year-old suspect living in Almeria on suspicion of stealing €21,252 from a safe at his workplace in Huercal de Almeria. His boss reported the theft on May 7, the day the Guardia Civil began the investigation. A CCTV camera cable had been cut just days before the robbery, according to the Guardia Civil’s initial investigations. The person who reported the missing money had a list of those who knew the access codes to the safe and who knew where the keys were kept. Officers began to follow several lines of investigation based on the information gathered. Officers managed to locate and arrest the suspect, known as ALRH, thanks to their detective work. The case proceedings are now being dealt with by an Almeria court.
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14 - 20 June 2018
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Water torture By Matt Ford A BRITISH mum who almost lost her leg after a waterslide accident saw the limb infected with flesh-eating bugs is suing a Benidorm hotel. Helen Priestly, 42, cut her leg in two places and was twice forced to have surgery. And the mother-of-one from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has filed charges against the hotel for its ‘death trap’ chute as she battles to get it shut down. She said: “The slide I was on is a potential death trap. It’s only a matter of time before an adult or child is seriously injured on it.” The incident came after she forked out more than €950 on a four-star break in the Costa Blanca resort with husband Leon, 40, and 15-year-old daughter Danielle. Helen rode on the slide without knowing that someone had
broken their leg on it earlier the same day. She explained: “I didn’t stand a chance really as the gap to go through wasn’t really big enough to get through. “The water current was really strong and it slammed me into the opening. I was in agony.” After fighting against the flow to get off the attraction she realised how badly she was hurt. “I started nearly passing out from the shock and blood loss. I had a big massive hole in my leg like an indent,” she added. An ambulance took her to a private hospital where medics x-rayed the leg and put her on an IV drip before letting her go. The hotel refused to cover the cost of a wheelchair, leaving the family to pay, and they were not visited by a rep for two days. She continued: “I was in constant pain but they wouldn’t help us at all from then on. I was in intense pain and couldn’t
wait to get home.” But things took a turn for the worse six weeks after they arrived home, when she was admitted to the Rochdale Infirmary in massive pain before being diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, commonly known as flesh-eating disease. She said: “A cloudy, milky liquid was pouring out of my
leg, it was disgusting. “One time I woke up and my bed was soaking from all the liquid and it was so bad the nurse thought I had spilled a glass of water on the sheets. “But as the poisons were gone I felt a bit better.” Doctors then performed two emergency operations in a bid to save the leg after a transfer to Royal Oldham Hospital, where she was admitted to the high dependency unit. She added: “I actually felt better and had a cup of tea. But then the doctors looked at my leg and said I might lose my leg and told my husband and daughter I could also die. “I was hysterical I couldn’t believe all this had come from a water slide. It was like something out of a horror film. “There were massive holes and gaping wounds in my legs and you could see the bone.” An official from travel opera-
Photo credit Facebook
Brit holidaymaker sues over horror injury
‘I WAS HYSTERICAL’: Doctors told Helen she could lose her leg or even die. tor Jet2 said: “The health and safety of our customers is extremely important to us, we are exploring Helen’s claim fully. “As this is part of an ongoing legal process, we are unable to
comment further at this time.” Helen’s legal representative Paul Stevens added: “It defies belief if the same slide that severely injured Helen is open and still causing injuries.”
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14 - 20 June 2018
Hotel set to open
THE BIG PICTURE Nº 18
ALMERIA City’s Grand Hotel is set to reopen its doors before the end of the summer after being closed for almost four months. The site reportedly has planning permission and a licence for tourist activity, with owners Oh! Tels currently operating in Roquetas de Mar and El Toyo in the province.
Space talk AN astrophysics conference has been held in Almeria City, with leading Spanish astronomer Jose Manuel Vilchez, in attendance. Vilchez, who direct the Andalucian Astrophysics Insitute, said that we are all star dust and are “infinitely” connected to the cosmos and also covered the role of asteroid strikes in Earth’s development.
Sea plan COUNCILLORS in Almeria have met to draw up plans for a ‘Blue Economy’ featuring targets to move towards a boosted economy on the back of the area’s coastline. The Local Strategic Plan features measures on fishing, maritime industries, farming, biotechnology, academia and the environment, according to Manuel Guzman, the official responsible.
Scoring views RAMON FERNANDEZPACHECO, the mayor of Almeria City, has authorised the placement of screens near terraces in the city so that people can watch the World Cup which begins today (Thursday). The mayor added the plans were in response to the growth of tourism and hospitality and said it would boost business.
Park works ALMERIA’S City Council has begun the first stages of works to parks in neighbourhoods across the city. The Landscape Revitalisation Project, which has a budget of almost €1.4 million, will see green spaces in Villablanca, Berardino Delgado, Torrecardenas, the Plaza de Mayo, El Zapillo, San Isidro and others developed.
Healthy look SPAIN’s Minister of Health, Marina Alvarez, has highlighted in Parliament the significant work done by the Andalucian authorities in improving the quality of public health in Almeria. She praised its role in creating new services, opening new infrastructures, expanding the workforce and investing in the development of new technological equipment.
Photo credit Twitter
SPEARS OF DESTINY: Workers in Caparroso, Navarra.
White gold IT must be collected at night to protect its delicate colour and texture. And the asaparagus dubbed ‘white gold’ is now being harvested by temporary workers in northern Spain. Within a few hours of being picked, the delicacy is either sold in local markets or boiled and placed into tins or jars, otherwise its high water content - considered critical to its distinct flavour - can be lost. And if exposed to the sun, the pricey veg can quickly turn purple. Those responsible for picking it must move quickly, and a dozen people can harvest up to 1.5 tonnes in a single night. And there is another reason for their haste, since
salaries for the seasonal workers, here pictured in Caparroso, Navarra, are partly based on the amount they collect. The region’s climate, comprised of cold winter and spring nights, is said to be ideal for producing top quality asparagus, which receives a special label of geographical origin under European rules. A kilo typically sells for €2.90 if bought directly from farmers, with the price doubling or tripling in food markets elsewhere. Locals eat the asparagus by holding it with two fingers upside down above the head and lowering it slowly into the mouth.
Bin burning intensifies SIX more rubbish containers have been set ablaze taking this year’s total of burned bins on Almeria City’s streets to 89. Vandals were to blame for the repeated acts of arson, according to the authorities from Almeria Town Hall. A resident alerted emergency services after spotting the blaze which also damaged a lamppost on General Luque street, according to Almeria firemen. Four other bin fires blazed on Blas-
co Ibanez, Santiago, Blas Infante and Granada streets between just after midnight and 1.20am. And police were warned of yet another container burning on Las Cruces street at 3pm last Sunday. Burning bins often cause ‘collateral damage’ to building faces, vehicles or trees, according to a statement from Juan Jose Alonso, the Urban Services minister. The fire damage bill so far this year comes to €83,400.
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REGULARS INSIDE News 1-28 Finance 30 Leapy 34 Letters 48 Time Out 50-51 Health & Beauty 53-54 Social 56-57 Albox 58-61 Pets 64 Classifieds 66-67 Motoring 68-70 Sport 72
Arrest in €39,000 jewellery swipe THE National Police of Almeria has arrested a woman, 44, on the grounds of stealing around €39,000 in jewellery from four elderly people. The woman has been a domestic worker over the past 19 months, during which she all e g e d l y t o o k a l a rg e h a u l o f valuables to sell at pawn shops. According to the police, she admitted to her crimes at the police station, which took place across four homes where
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she worked. Given the fact that the elderly pensioners she was supposed to be caring for suffered from memory loss, it was difficult for them to remember or recognise jewellery as their own. Investigations began at the end of April when one of her victims filed a complaint about missing valuables, knowing that only her husband, daughter and the suspect had access to her house.
The total number of news and features which appeared in Issue 1718 of the Euro Weekly News Costa de Almería edition, including 65 local stories.
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14 - 20 June 2018
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POLL OF THE WEEK
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Do you agree with Spain’s decision to allow the boat carrying more than 600 migrants to dock in Valencia? LAST WEEK’S POLL: Do you think Spain will be better off under its new government?
Yes 74%
RED LETTER DAY: The recovered document and (inset) a depiction of Columbus’ 1492 landing in the Americas.
The right note A 500-YEAR-OLD letter written by Christopher Columbus has been returned to Spain by the United States. It comes after a seven-year international probe which reached as far afield as Paris and Brasilia. Written in 1493 and addressed to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the letter describes the notorious explorer’s discoveries in the New World. It was among 16 original copies, of which several were stolen from Barcelona’s National Library of Cataluña archives in 2004 and 2005. They were replaced with forgeries, but the switch was only discovered in 2011 when experts received a tip off about the plot from an informant. Spain’s US ambassador described the repatriation of the letter as ‘a showcase of the ties that bind the United States and Spain together’ when receiving it during a ceremony in Washington, DC. “We are truly honoured to return this historically important document back to Spain, its rightful owner,” US Attorney David Weiss added. The letter was a manual copy of the original, written in Spanish to the monarchs who paid for his journey to the Americas.
It covers the people, landscape and wealth that the navigator found between his August 1492 departure from Puerto de Palos in Huelva, Spain, and return to Lisbon in March 1493, seven months later. It was at the time translated into Latin before being sent to kings and queens across Europe. Investigators said the document was sold by two Italian book dealers for €600,000 in 2005, before a Brazilian businessman snapped it up for €900,000 in 2011. And it is believed they were alerted to the scam by an expert employed by the latest owner to check its authenticity. An agent was then dispatched to Spain to check that the archived version was a fake, sparking a joint enquiry by US Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), and the Department of Justice. The unnamed owner reportedly agreed to hand the letter over after being contacted by the authorities. ICE said in a statement that it has recovered 11,000 stolen artefacts from 30 countries since 2007, and that a second copy of the same letter was in 2016 returned to Italy.
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OUR VIEW
Forget the past NO matter what anyone may think about the leaders of North Korea and the USA, their meeting in Singapore on Monday is without doubt of historic importance. It has been suggested that Chairman Kim Jong-un has actually outfoxed President Trump by appealing to his vanity as the first US President to establish a ‘friendly’ relationship with North Korea. The North Korean economy has been significantly disadvantaged by the sanctions imposed upon it and if these are to be eased as the two countries discuss nuclear disarmament then Kim will be able to take the credit whilst making promises of things to come. The Americans had demanded ‘complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation,’ but there was no mention of this following the meeting and whilst the two parties have signed a document of understanding, full details of the content are awaited. At the end of the day however, when one considers that technically North and South Korea are still at war (there is only a ceasefire in place) any move to lessen the tension in the area has to be positive and will also come as a relief to neighbours including China. According to President Trump the pair have forged “a special bond” whilst Kim said “We’ve decided to leave the past behind.” The next few months will determine whether this is a game of smoke and mirrors on the part of either side, but any action that helps to make the world a safer place cannot be criticised.
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14 - 20 June 2018
by Gregory Kirby SWATHES of new young farmers have taken part in workshops at La Mojonera and Albox county agricultural offices to gain training in organic production and the creation of businesses. Theoretical sessions included the organic farming basics, current regulations in field and gained access to a range of support resources for producers the agricultural board boasts. The participants visited two ecological farms managed by young people in the practical section. “In Almeria Province, in the last bid for finances, a total of 131 requests for incentives to establish young farmers’ businesses were
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Young farmers unite
GREEN-FINGERS: Young farmers learning the trade successful, 47 per cent of them women, who together have benefited from aid worth €7.66 million euros,” explained Agriculture minister José Manuel Ortiz. Andalucian organic agri-
culture represents 48 per cent of Spain’s production of these crops and 8 per cent of European produce. Almeria has 49,148 hectares dedicated to organic production, 2.33 per cent
more than in 2017. And it is the leading province in Andalucia in the organic vegetables sector with 3,296 hectares, 2,679 of them in greenhouses, 27.5 per cent more than the previous season. As for nuts, the province occupies the second position, after Granada, with 21,218 hectares of production land. Ortiz highlighted the growing involvement of women in the agricultural sector with respect to organic farming. In Almeria there are 919 women working in the sector, making up for 34 per cent of all workers.
CAJAMAR mortgage surge CAJAMAR rural bank has completed the placement of a new issue of mortgage bonds for a period of five years running up until June 18, 2023. The issue amount is €500 million while orders placed are to the value of €950 million. This means mortgage demand exceeds supply by 180 per cent. And interest rates for the mortgages have
been set at 54 basis points higher than the benchmark for long-term issues. The high demand for the new loans shows national and international institutional investors are confident in the Spanish cooperative banks’ financial activity, led by the BCCCajamar Group, according to media. BBVA, Santander, UBS, Crédit Agricole and Raiffeisen Bank Int underwrote the
mortgage issue. Cajamar Caja Rural is the leading Spanish rural savings bank and the top Spanish credit cooperative, with more than 1.3 million members and four million clients in 43 provinces. It is the majority shareholder of Cooperativo Cajamar Group, which as of March 31 this year has assets amounting to €41,857 million euros.
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14 - 20 June 2018
SHE set pulses racing after hooking up with US singer Ginuwine in the Celebrity Big Brother house. And Ashley James, 31, turned up the heat once again after slipping into a skimpy orange bikini in Ibiza. The blonde stunner flaunted her enviable curves as she soaked up the sun at a beach club opening party, posting a series of racy images on social media.
PLACE IN THE SUN: Peter Stringfellow.
In the lap of the gods
Flash of Ash ORANGE CRUSH: Ashley James.
HE was Britain’s most famous nightclub owner. And tributes have poured in for Peter Stringfellow, who died aged 77 after losing a decade-long lung cancer battle. The self-made millionaire had a long-affiliation with Spain, and in the 1990’s bought a villa near Puerto Portals in Mallorca. He once said of the island: “I liked it immediately. The first thing I did was buy a boat, which
I lived on for around six years before buying the villa.” He listed the property as one of the five things he couldn’t do without in a 2013 interview, but last year put it up for sale before buying land in southern Italy to be closer to his half-Italian wife Bella’s family. At the time he said: “The area’s probably like Mallorca was 20-odd years ago. It’s incredible value, the land is incredibly easy to buy and you can build a lot cheaper than anywhere else.”
Total angel
Piqued the lock
SHAKY GROUND: Gerard and Shakira.
BARCELONA footballing star Gerard Pique confirmed to the King of Spain that his luxury Barcelona home was ransacked while he was watching pop star girlfriend Shakira performing in Germany. The admission came as Felipe VI visited the Spanish national team’s training camp before they jetted to Russia for the World Cup. It is believed that the 31year-old defender’s parents were sleeping inside the man-
sion in Esplugues de Llobregat when burglars described as ‘professionals’ broke in and made off with luxury watches and jewellery. Video footage posted online shows Pique shaking hands with the royal before explaining that his mum and dad were unharmed and that no arrests had been made. He had travelled to Cologne to watch his partner of eight years, 41, as she completed the latest leg of her world tour. Spain begin their World Cup Group B campaign against fierce rivals Portugal on Friday.
CELEB
ISLAND FEVER: The Love Island 2018 contestants.
Summer of love IT’S back. The 11 initial singletons are now ensconced in a luxury villa somewhere on Mallorca. And the Love Island 2018 contestants are now looking to couple up or clear out as the popular ITV2 series gets underway.
Known for its raunchy sex scenes, this year’s line-up includes Eastenders star Danny Dyer’s daughter, Dani and Adam Collard, who once shared a three-way kiss with Charlotte Crosby and Chloe Ferry in a cameo on Geordie Shore.
SHE’S best known for hitting the runway in skimpy lingerie. But Dutch Victoria’s Secret angel Romee Strijd, 22, showed she’s not averse to swimwear as she topped up her tan in Ibiza. Joined by boyfriend of nine years Laurens van Leeuwen, the beauty put on a jaw-dropping display by the water.
BEACH BABE: Romee Strijd.
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14 - 20 June 2018 BORED OF THE FLIES: Silvia.
BUG OFF: Sandra and Rocio.
NET PROFIT: Miguel.
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STREET TALK
Are you a mossie magnet? A WET spring has created ideal breeding conditions and raised fears of a summer mosquito explosion as the heat kicks in. But with holidaymakers and residents warned to be on high alert by public health experts, how many of us are really terrorised by the bloodsucking pests? Sandra Canero, 33, and Rocio Gallego, 31 both traffic wardens from Malaga. Sandra: “Yes, we do. We wear thick black trousers for our work as traffic wardens and they still manage to bite our ankles. It is worse for some colleagues though. One is allergic and comes up with swollen red boils when bitten. She scratches the bites, they get infected and then she can’t work.” Rocio: “At home we use the liquid plug-in devices, which do the trick. We have even tried to get our fluorescent work tops changed because they attract bugs, and also because people mistake us for police.” Miguel Angel Nadal Pedrosa, 35-year-old bar worker from the Costa del Sol. “At home I have mosquito nets everywhere. It is a kind of fabric you can easily find in the shops. I use to cover my windows and even my balcony to stop them coming in. It works! But they don’t bite me anyway. I’m not sure why. Maybe it is because of my skin or my blood type.”
Silvia Edwards, originally from Berkshire, resident in Fuengirola for 12 years. “Mosquitos aren’t a problem, it’s the flies in October that bother me. They are a real nuisance. If you go out to a restaurant they swarm over you, especially if you are eating fish. We have mosquito nets at home but the odd one occasionally gets in so we use the anti-mosquito plugs just in case.” Minna Kivimaki, 22, from Lapland, visiting Spain to gain practical experience for her Science degree. “There are a lot of mosquitos in Lapland, which might surprise some people. Back home we have lots of reindeer and the mosquitos feed off them. But actually, they don’t bite me at all in Spain. I don’t understand why people complain about them so much.” Raquel, 23, from Amsterdam, on holiday in Spain. “Yes, it is funny you should
ask because we actually had a one-and-a-half-hour battle with a squad of seven mosquitos last night. There were no batteries in the air-conditioning remote control so the bugs were flying happily. They woke us up at four o’clock. My friend was lying in the bed with a sandal waiting for them to fly past while I walked around the room. It was like an insect warzone, with mosquito bodies piling up around the room. We definitely won. It was quite an adventure!” Olafur Isleifsson, 64, from Iceland, on holiday in Spain. “I rarely get bitten. But if I do I never notice. They do come into the house and bite my wife, but not me. She uses repellent from the pharmacy which seems to do the job. But compared to my friend, my wife hardly suffers at all. He gets bitten all over his face and has to be admitted to hospital. Everyone wonders why they get bitten, or don’t get bitten. Maybe it is because I have AB negative blood type.”
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Calls to recover Roman ruins PSOE councillor Manuel Vallejo has called for Almeria Council to recover Roman ruins that have been abandoned. He claims they have been “covered in gravel and left dirty” as well as garden and access areas showing “clear signs of lack of maintenance” in the Aristoteles street area. Vallejo has directly criti-
cised the mayor’s “obvious neglect that has the heritage of the city and the historic centre of Almeria, which should be a reference for the enjoyment of Almeria.” He has also warned residents to remember “the lack of real interest of the PP for this area of the city during the 15 years it has been in the municipal government, and however much they are
now announcing with great fanfare performances for the upcoming municipal elections, something that is exemplified in the state of the site where Roman remains are found, which has been covered by gravel for a long time, without any serious approach to recovery. “There are even rubbish bags full of bottles there,” he added.
ROMAN RUINS: Can barely be seen under the gravel.
Love Island break-in TWO local boys in Mallorca have reportedly snuck into the villa where Love Island Australia is filming and chatted with some of the singles there. Further details of the incident are unclear, but it would be enough to make even the programme’s makers blush. The Channel Nine show has a Mature Adult (MA) rating, meaning adult content can be broadcast, including nudity. One of Love Island Australia’s evicted contestants, single mum Kim Hartnett,
LOVE STRUCK: The boys would have had plenty of distractions in the villa. revealed that some couples openly had sex inside the house.
However, a spokesman for ITV studios has denied any breach of the premises took
Flying high
GUARDA CIVIL officers arrested three pensioners at an airport in Spain after they were caught with kilos of cocaine in their luggage. The trio landed at Madrid-Barajas from Peru when the two women, 67
and 72 years old, were pulled to one side when suspicious white packages were found in their bags at customs
place and emphasised that the villa is monitored by round-the-clock security.
control. Four kilos of cocaine powder was seized as well as two liquor bottles with cocaine inside. The man travelling with the pair was also arrested.
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Council takes fight to forest fires
Road to ruin ‘Drunk’ Brits puzzled by futuristic crossing A NEW ‘smart’ zebra crossing on the Costa del Sol has baffled British holidaymakers. The surface includes LEDs which light up when hidden cameras detect pedestrians approaching. But the crossing in Fuengirola has left unsuspecting revellers in the holiday hotspot baffled, after hilarious footage of partygoers trying to cross the road emerged online. In one clip, four women are seen approaching the crossing,
Photo credit Facebook
by Staff Reporter
MAKING THEM CROSS: The revellers seem bewildered by the lights. and stop dead in their tracks as it lights up before one moonwalks across it.
SKYROCKETING holiday rental prices have led to locals offering creative accommodation such as bunk beds on a balcony for €50 a night. Tourism chiefs were stunned by the offers, appearing on holiday let sites such as Airbnb. One apartment has been advertised as ‘turning into a mini hostel each summer’ and offers nine beds in total, with bunks
The quartet then retreat to the side of the road before trying to work out how it is triggered.
MORE than 400 professionals have been involved in the drafting of a forest fire strategy plan, to be implemented by Almeria Council across several areas in the province. These areas include the Provincial Operational Centre and the forest defence centres of Alhama de Almeria Seron and Velez Blanco. Delegate of the Junta de Andalucia, Gracia Fernandez, accompanied by the delegate of the Environment, Raul Enriquez, has outlined the plans which aim to make the process of tackling forest
squeezed into tiny spaces including the balcony. The Platja d’en Bossa flat even had a security camera in the living room to monitor the tenants. Local newspaper Diario de Ibiza claims one week’s rent in Ibiza costs the same as a whole month in Lanzarote. Other unusual rentals include wooden shacks and even vans converted into ‘caravenettes’ for €90 a night.
Bargain-hunting Ibiza tourists offered balcony bunk beds for €50 a night
fires more robust. The strategy is called the Plan Infoca and its Advisory Committee in Almeria has met with the Junta to officially implement it during the period of maximum fire risk: June 1 and October 15. The Committee is composed of representatives of the Andalucian and state administrations, of government security forces, the Emergency Military Unit and the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office. It is the body in charge of co-ordinating the actions of all organisations involved in the fight against forest fires. Gracia Fernandez said: “This campaign is not only for the summer, which is when the Infoca plan is on the front line, but can be co-ordinated for the rest of the year to boost prevention.” It was also emphasised the public should be as careful as possible when spending any amount of time in forests.
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NEWS EXTRA Clean veg and fruit ALMERIA’S fruit and vegetable sector is leading Europe in the reduction of active materials used which is reportedly down to increased biological controls and better cultural practices, according to the regional agricultural delegation.
Eviction aid ANDALUCIA government has attended a total of 768 cases of people at risk of eviction seeking advice in Almeria since the SAID service began operating in October 2012, media reports.
Rail cash PARTIDO POPULAR (PP) lawmakers have called on Pedro Sanchez’s new Partido Socialista (PSOE) government to back their amendments to the national budget which would provide more funding for a high speed rail link between Almeria and Murcia.
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14 - 20 June 2018
Elderly man found dead AN 81-year-old man has been found dead in Seron, Almeria, by Local Police. Luis Matias Corral disappeared on Saturday, and was only found on Monday after a wide search opera-
tion that located him near the Camino Viejo del Marchal. The search effort was made up of more than 70 people, including the Guardia Civil, Local Police,
and various groups of Civil Protection Volunteers from the province. The man was from the Guadix region but had gone for a walk during a visit to his daughter.
Ronaldo settles €19 million tax bill CRISTIANO RONALDO has reached an agreement to pay the Spanish authorities €19 million to settle his tax affairs. The Real Madrid and Portugal star has been trying to resolve the situation for some time, after being accused of tax fraud. However, no resolution will be official before the start of
CREDIT: Twitter
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SUITABLE AGREEMENT: Ronaldo (centre) hopes to put the tax saga behind him. the World Cup, due to the recent change in the national government. Ronaldo has reportedly admitted four of the fraud charges, meaning he will not have to spend any time in jail.
Meanwhile, he is believed to have been offered a staggering €32.5 million annual contract to stay at Real Madrid, but whether that is enough to keep him remains to be seen.
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‘Aggressive’ passenger gets life ban A DISRUPTIVE passenger on a Jet2 flight to Spain has been handed a lifetime ban after forcing the plane to divert to France. The man was travelling with a group which was “aggressive towards crew and passengers,” Jet2 said. According to reports the flight, bound for Ibiza, was forced to land at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France with police having to remove the unruly passenger. A spokesperson for the airline said it was “very clear that consuming alcohol illicitly contributed to this behaviour.” Managing director of Jet2 Phil Ward said “we will not under any circumstances tolerate this type of disgraceful behaviour on board our aircraft,” said Mr Ward. “We will be taking further action in support of our crew to ensure [the passenger] is held accountable for his actions and indeed [he] has already received a lifetime ban from future Jet2 flights.”
14 - 20 June 2018
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Shredded Brit’s luggage ripped to pieces A BRITISH passenger on an easyJet flight to Spain has slammed the airline after his luggage arrived on the conveyor belt ripped to shreds. Harry Drew, 26, was told his hand luggage had to go into the hold on his return flight from Barcelona to Bristol but he claims as soon as his bag came into view he could immediately see it was damaged. The council worker from Exeter was left fuming after he found most of his clothes had been ruined, including an Exeter City football shirt given to him by his uncle who had recently passed away. Harry told news outlets his “uncle passed away two months ago. That’s irreplaceable. “The bag had just come out on the carousel and it was all ripped. The bloke at the bag-
Credit: Facebook
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RIPPED: Harry’s luggage arrived from the conveyor belt torn to pieces. gage desk reckoned it could have been chewed up by the conveyor belt. “No one brought it out and asked whose it was, it was just dumped on the belt and that was it,” he added. Harry claims he has tried contacting easyJet on numerous occasions to complain
about the incident but hasn’t heard anything back yet. “It’s frustrating because it’s all my clothes I took away and they’re not giving me the time of day. “I want a response and some sort of compensation for this. They need to do something about it,” Harry said.
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Nine burglars facing jail By Christophe De Chaume NINE men have been arrested for their alleged part in the robberies of 11 homes in Poniente Almeria. The suspects are all residents of the Roquetas de Mar district, and are of Moroccan origin. According to the Prosecution Service of Almeria, they are believed to be part of a criminal network that had an ‘organised and established structure’ to carry out the burglaries. They prepared their raids thoroughly, breaking into the homes with ease before stealing any valuables they could find, including the home owners’ cars. Sources also indicate that these cars were then used to commit further robberies, before being abandoned. Each member of the group had a specific task to carry out, including surveillance work, co-ordinating the amount of time to spend in the homes, carrying out the robberies, and keeping a lookout as they happened.
RUMBLED ROBBERS: The suspects can expect a heavye sentence. Other members were responsible for deciding which homes and locations would be targeted, but everyone acted under the orders of an unnamed defendant who was the mastermind. The Prosecution Service of Almeria will argue for a sentence ranging from 21 to 23 years for the suspects.
People carriers Albanian migrant smugglers caught A GANGSTER mob who smuggled Albanian immigrants into the UK has been busted by Spanish investigators. The undocumented migrants are believed to have paid €6,000 each for passage to Britain, with some of the cash paid up front and the remainder transferred once passage had been secured. A total of 14 people - nine men and five women - have been held including the ringleader, who has also been charged with drug trafficking after a raid on his home in Pielagos, Cantabria revealed he was buying large amounts of cocaine in the Netherland before selling it locally. Migrants would also stay at the property for short periods before travelling as stowaways on ferries from Santander or Santurce after sneaking into the trailers of articulated lorries under cov-
Photo credit Guardia Civil
by Matt Ford
PLOT FOILED: Fourteen people were arrested during the crackdown. er of darkness. The vehicles’ locks would be forced in such a way that they could be resealed by gang members, allowing the illegal immigrants to steal inside while the drivers slept at service stations or the ports themselves. A second tactic employed by the traffickers saw Spanish motor home drivers paid to hide the migrants in their vehicles before driving to Calais and entering the UK via the Channel Tunnel or by ferry to Dover. The latter ploy was foiled three times by border forces in England and Spain.
The Albanian crime boss had himself unsuccessfully tried to enter the UK on eight separate occasions. Two migrants were found a t his home during the swoop, with officers also seizing 17 kilos of hashish, 300 gra mme s of c oc a ine a nd 60 gra mme s of methamphetamine alongside incriminating bank docume nts , la ptops a nd othe r electronic devices. One Albanian woman and two children are also set to be deported from Spain in the wake of the probe, a Guardia Civil statement said.
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Migrant crisis Spain takes in ship refused by Italy and Malta THE Spanish government allowed a ship carrying more than 600 migrants to dock in Valencia after both Italy and Malta refused its entry. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had ‘given instructions for Spain to comply with its international commitments in matters of humanitarian crises’ according to a Moncloa statement. Italy’s new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said “saving lives is a duty, turning Italy into a huge refugee camp is not. ‘Italy is done bending over backwards and obeying - this time THERE IS SOMEONE WHO SAYS NO,’ he wrote on Twitter. He suggested that Malta should accept the Aquarius, but it refused arguing that it fell under Italy’s jurisdiction. Mr Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, promised to take a tough stance against migration and has also said he was considering taking action against organisations that rescue migrants at sea. He has accused them of working with peoplesmugglers. “Malta takes in nobody,” he added. “France pushes people back at the border, Spain defends its frontier with weapons.”
CREDIT: Twitter
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DENIED: Italy refused to allow the Aquarius to dock. Mr Malvini said it was time for Italy to “say no to human trafficking.” The ship was carrying 629 people on board. According to reports there were 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 younger children and seven pregnant women as well as 15 others with serious chemical burns. The humanitarian group Medicos Sin Fronteras initially refused to make the trip to Spain as they were concerned over food supplies. The migrants were then split onto a further two boats, with Italy providing food
and water for the three-day trip to Valencia. Both the mayor of Barcelona and the mayor of Valencia offered their cities to take in the ship, with the latter being the end destination for the Aquarius’ 1,300km journey. This comes after Spain’s maritime rescue service launched a huge operation to save 334 migrants - four of which died - in the Mediterranean Sea. The migrants were crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Africa in nine different boats.
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NEWS EXTRA Rubbish riots ALMERIA Council has registered a total of 89 garbage containers which have been set on fire on public roads as a result of vandalism this year.
Friendly fair THE Provincial Delegation of Almeria has participated in an exhibition for Latin Americ a n p ro f e s s i o n a l s t o demonstrate the attractions of the ‘Costa de Almeria,’ in which around 80 tourist operators were involved.
Farm hands YOUNG farmers are receiving training in org a n i c p ro d u c t i o n i n Almeria, with the publicly funded workshops including the basic princ i p l e s f o r p ro d u c e r s ; current regulations; and a c c e s s t o s u p p o r t re sources.
Bank job THE Guardia Civil has arrested a resident of El Ejido for allegedly renting out a property belonging to a bank at a price of €100 per person to illegal immigrants.
Lucky shot THE Provincial Court of Almeria has sentenced a man to two years in prison for a crime of attempted murder after he acknowledged he shot a man who survived the attack.
Football fest THE mayor of Almeria, Ramon FernandezPacheco (PP), has issued a bill allowing licensed bars to transfer their television screens to terraces and tables, during the football World Cup.
SPAIN’S monarch is due to travel to the United States today (Thursday) and is due to meet President Donald Trump in Washington days later. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the trip last week. Officials added King Felipe and Queen Letizia will begin their visit in New Orleans in the state of Louisiana. They will then travel to San Antonio in Texas before being received by Trump at the White House in Washington DC next Tuesday. The king and queen are being accompanied by Spain’s new Foreign Minister Josep
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King goes state side Borrell. The Foreign Ministry said Louisiana and San Antonio were chosen as stop offs for their historic connection to Spain. “It is to keep important historical testimonies of the deep and close ties that unite Spain and the United States,” officials said. King Felipe previously said the United States was an
“essential” ally of Spain. “In our relations, which go back to the earliest moments of the great American nation, the continuity and quality of shared values and interests prevail,” he said. Louisiana was part of the Spanish empire until 1800 while San Antonio has its roots in a mission founded by Spanish Franciscan Antonio de Olivares in 1718.
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By Staff Reporter A REMORSEFUL punk rock bank robber who fled to Spain has been freed after handing himself in following a €2 million heist. Gilles Bertin, 57, was handed a five-year suspended jail term 30 years after he took part in a raid on an armoured lorry depot in Toulouse. And the man described as France’s Sid Vicious will now be allowed to return to his family in Barcelona. Bertin went on the run to Spain and Portugal after the 1988 hold-up, and investigators believed him to be dead, but in 2016 he turned himself in because he was ‘tired of living a life of nervous suspicious and lies,’ accord-
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Barca calling Punk rock bank robber freed Photo credit Twitter
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ing to reports. The raid took place while the former heroin addict was fronting cult Bordeauxbased punk outfit Camera Silens. And he replaced his drug habit with the ‘thrill’ of crime, telling French media: “More than the money, it was the adrenaline I was after most.”
BACK FROM THE DEAD: Billens onstage with Camera Silens and (inset) arriving at court. Working with 12 accomplices, he spent a year planning the robbery of a depot run by American security firm
Brink’s. The gang picked up old uniforms from a flea market near Paris, painting them blue
to disguise themselves as police. They made off with around €2.9 million in today’s mon-
ey, very little of which was ever found. After fleeing to Spain Bertin changed his name to Dider Ballet, running a small Barcelona café owned by his new partner’s parents. He was in 2004 sentenced to 10 years behind bars in absentia, but six years later the authorities declared him dead. A French Assize Court ruling ‘took into account his approach’ during sentencing, with the verdict sparking applause. He told the judge he had been living “without an identity” since the raid, and wanted to raise his son “in the truth.” He added: “I am relieved, I will now be able to find my identity.”
Driven mad A SPANISH bus driver has been held and charged with dangerous driving after allegedly pleasuring himself while at the wheel. The sordid incident took place in Valencia, with the 60year-old’s arrest coming after a young woman filed a complaint. According to a police statement, she sat in a seat to the suspect’s right after getting on the packed local service, and immediately saw him leering at her through his rear-view mirror. She then realised he had his trousers undone and was performing a sex act on himself, before catching sight of his manhood as he ‘brazenly rubbed it back and forth.’ The horrified victim rang the bell and got off the bus at the next stop before reporting her sickening experience. Investigators contacted public transport firm EMT, with the culprit identified in the wake of a short internal probe. It is believed he has been freed ahead of a court appearance.
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Drugs baron snared by Matt Ford A COSTA DEL SOL drugs lord has been captured during a major anti-drugs operation in La Linea de la Concepcion, Cadiz. Around 100 armed officers were involved in the swoop, with Antonio Tejon Castaño, the younger of two notorious siblings known as the ‘Castaña brothers’ cuffed as he visited Patricia Parody Cano, the mother of his two children. Earlier raids had seen him escape by fleeing over rooftops in the La Atunara neighbourhood, a drug trafficking stronghold. A police source confirmed: “The meetings between them were always brief and organised through third parties with
CUFFED: The raid saw Antonio Tejon Castaño (inset) held. heavy security measures.” The Castaña brothers are known as the ‘kings of narco’ in the Campo de Gibraltar area, and the arrest is seen as a coup for drugs police, who on this occasion received help from a Costa del Sol-based special response team dubbed The Greek
Club’s sale brewing ALMERIA’S main football club, Union Deportiva Almeria, is likely to be sold for €20 million within the next few days. Pablo Cortacero would be the leading shareholder, taking over from Alfonso Gardia Gabarron who held the position since 2003,
Brigade. Castaño had been on the run since 2016, when 30 of his closest associates were jailed, and his cartel is believed to employ hundreds of otherwise jobless families in the area. The move saw his drugs empire - which is among Europe’s
biggest and mostly imports hashish from Morocco - collapse briefly, but most of those arrested were released after a few months and the network picked up where it left off. Investigators had resisted the temptation to storm his home, described as a ‘mansion fortress’ in a police statement, instead preferring to survey his movements covertly before launching a dawn raid on the property he had been seen visiting at night on several occasions. They are now thought to be seeking his brother Francisco and nephew Samuel, who was in February broken out of a local hospital by a hooded gang while in police custody.
according to sources. Cortacero would be backed by a Swiss investment group if the purchase goes ahead. The Granada resident has been implicated in the football world for several years. And the change of hands is expected to take place during a special shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
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State of play By Joe Gerrard
Congress and the Senate
election meaning his left-leaning Partido Socialista (PSOE) will have to work with other parliamentary parties to get legislation passed. Credit: Pedro Sanchez/Twitter
SPAIN’S new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has now finished making ap-
pointments to his Council of Ministers, with more women given cabinet briefs than ever before. Sources close to Sanchez claimed he has ruled out a snap
FEATURE
THE PSOE currently has 84 seats in the 350-strong Congress of Deputies and 62 members out of 266 in the Senate. Sanchez struck an agreement with smaller parties such as the far left Podemos and Basque and Catalan nationalists to unseat Rajoy. He will need their support to get laws passed until another election is held, due on or before July 2020.
Congress of Deputies THE Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados in Spanish) is the lower house of Spain’s Parliament, the Cortes Generales. Deputies cover some 52 multi-member constituencies and are elected to serve four year terms unless snap polls are called. The Plenary of the Congress refers to the meeting of all members for debates and votes. There are also Commissions made up of a smaller number of members to examine legislation and government policy.
Senate THE Senate (Senado in Spanish) is the upper house of parliament. Senators represent each of Spain’s Autonomous Communities or regions, with larger provinces such as Andalucia having more members. A total of 208 of the members are elected to serve four year terms while a further 56 are appointed by regional assemblies. Senators are tasked with debating and voting on legislation, as well as approving some government appointments and members have the power to suspend regional governments.
The Cabinet
SANCHEZ’S team has already met at the Prime Minister’s official residence of La Moncloa for their first meeting. He said of his cabinet: “It is a team prepared and aware of the challenge we face, ready to work for dialogue and to serve Spanish society.”
1 • Pedro Sanchez (PSOE) President of the Government (Prime Minister) Born: February 29, 1972 (46) in Madrid Previous work: Chief of staff to UN envoy in Bosnia, Economics Professor, Madrid City Council member, Congress Member. 2 • Carmen Calvo (PSOE) Vice President of the Government, Minister of the Presidency, Government Relations and Equality (Deputy Prime Minister) Born: June 9, 1957 (61) in Cabra, Andalucia Previous work: Junta de Andalucia, Congress member, Minister of Culture. 3 • Josep Borrell (PSOE) Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Co-operation Born: April 24, 1947 (71) in La Pobla de Segur, Cataluña Previous work: Engineer, Academic, Congress Member, European Parliament Member, Civil Servant. 4 • Dolores Delgado (Independent) Minister of Justice Born: November 9, 1962 (55) in Madrid Previous work: Prosecutor in Spanish courts and the International Criminal Court. 5 • Margarita Robles (Independent) Minister of Defence Born: November 10, 1956 (61) in Leon Previous work: Judge, Civil Servant, Congress Member. 6 • Maria Jesus Montero (PSOE) Minister of the Treasury Born: February 4, 1966 (52) in Sevilla Previous work: Health Manager, Andalucian Parliament Member, Junta de Andalucia Minister. 7 • Fernando Grande-Marlaska (Independent) Minister of the Interior Born: July 26, 1962 (55) in Bilbao Previous work: Police officer, Magistrate, Judge. 8 • Jose Luis Abalos (PSOE) Minister of Public Works Born: December 9, 1959 (58) in Torrent, Valencia Previous work: Teacher, Councillor, PSOE official, Corts Valencianes member, Congress Member. 9 • Isabel Celaa (PSOE) Minister of Education, Spokesperson of the Government Born: May 23, 1949 (69) in Bilbao
Previous work: PSOE official, Basque Parliament Member, Basque Government Minister. 10 • Magdalena Valerio (PSOE) Minister of Labour, Migration and Welfare Born: September 27, 1959 (58) in Torremocha, Extremadura Previous work: Civil Servant and Councillor in Guadalajara, PSOE official, Congress Member. 11 • Reyes Maroto (PSOE) Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Born: December 19, 1973 (44), Medina del Campo, Castilla y Leon Previous work: Academic, Madrid Assembly Member. 12 • Luis Planas (PSOE) Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Born: November 20, 1952 (65) in Valencia Previous work: Labour inspector, Cordoba Assembly Member, European Parliament Member, Junta de Andalucia Member and Minister, Ambassador to Morocco. 13 • Meritxell Batet (PSOE) Minister of the Territories Born: March 19, 1973 (45) in Barcelona Previous work: Academic, PSOE official. 14 • Teresa Ribera (PSOE) Minister of the Environment Born: May 19, 1969 (49) in Madrid Previous work: Academic, Civil Servant, NGO and UN Advisor. 15 • Maxim Huerta (Independent) Minister of Culture and Sports Born: January 26, 1971 (47) in Utiel, Valencia Previous work: Radio and Television Host, novelist. 16 • Nadia Calviño (Independent) Minister of the Economy and Enterprise Born: October 3, 1968 (49) in La Coruna Previous work: Civil Servant, European Union Budget Director. 17 • Carmen Monton (PSOE) Minister of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare Born: March 9, 1976 (42) in Burjassot, Valencia Previous work: Burjassot Councillor, Congress Member. 18 • Pedro Duque (Independent) Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities Born: March 14, 1963 (55) in Madrid Previous work: Astronaut, Academic, Company Chair.
Political parties Partido Socialista (PSOE) PRIME MINISTER Pedro Sanchez’s party the current ruling party of Spain. It is led by Sanchez and its name in English is the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. The PSOE is the oldest political party currently active in Spain and it has enjoyed historic ties with the country’s trade unions. It is centre-left and progressive, with a liberal social outlook and a preference on higher public spending and for state intervention in the economy. Podemos PODEMOS translates as ‘We Can’ in English and the party was founded following protests against inequality and corruption. It is headed by Pablo Iglesias, a left-wing academic, and is currently a part of a broader coalition of far-left parties in Parliament known as Unidos Podemos. They have a liberal social outlook and economically they have proposed taking key industries into government ownership and providing citizens with a basic income. Unidos Podemos have 67 seats in the Congress and 20 seats in the Senate. Ciudadanos CIUDADANOS, or Citizens in English, was formed in Cataluña in response to what they claim is the failure of Spain’s two main parties and the rise of Catalan nationalism. It is led by Albert Rivera and rose to become the largest party in the Catalan regional parliament following a snap election this year. They emphasise Spanish unionism, are socially liberal and promote business-friendly policies such as lowering corporation tax and cutting red tape. It has 32 seats in Congress and four in the Senate. Partido Popular (PP) THE party of former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the name of which means the People’s Party. Rajoy remains the caretaker leader of the party with a new leader due to be elected later this year. Its roots lie in the now defunct Alianz Popular, a conservative party founded by politicians sympathetic to dictator Francisco Franco. The modern day PP is socially conservative and promotes policies friendly to the Catholic Church, and it tends to favour less intervention in the economy. The PP has 134 seats in the Congress and 148 in the Senate. Other parties THERE are several smaller parties in the Spanish Parliament representing a variety of causes and interests. Many of these are part of what is known as the Mixed Group, Deputies and Senators in parties with too few seats to form official groupings. Most represent regions such as Cataluña, the Basque Country, Valencia and the Canary Islands. The regionalist party platforms vary from advocating for more autonomy in the Spanish system to outright independence.
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NEWS
Litter plague CREDIT: Photolib
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BAG DROP: Plastic litter is a plague for marine life. A REPORT to mark World Oceans Day has revealed that tourists are causing a 40 per cent spike in marine litter entering the Mediterranean Sea. The vast majority of the waste is plastic, and Turkey and Spain are two of the worst culprits, followed by Italy, Egypt and France, the study by wildlife charity WWF said. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of microplastics are dumped in the sea each year, and wildlife is suffering for it. More than 200 million tourists flock to the Mediterranean each year, including many Britons, and WWF is trying to raise awareness of the problem to holidaymakers. The conservation charity is urging people to bring a bag for life on holiday, and cut down on
face wipes, chewing gum, and straws. While China is the largest plastics producer in the world, Europe is second and the detritus can injure, entrap and kill marine animals. Spain also only recycles 21 per cent of the electronic waste that it produces according to recent figures, placing it well below the European average of 35 per cent. Figures provided by research group Eurostat reveal that of the country’s 930,000 tons of electronic refuse produced per year, only 198,000 are processed. Only Romania and Russia, with rates of 13 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, have a worse record on this issue.
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Act up and have fun THE Indalo Players recently held the first of their ‘Act Up And Have Fun’ days in the Roof Garden at the Parque Comercial in Mojacar. The group has enjoyed a very successful season with their murder mystery ‘The Speakeasy Murder’ and with a new mystery already penned entitled ‘The Mississippi Murder.’ As per the group’s tradition during its long 20 years, they were able to give substantial sums of money to MACS and the Vera Orphanage. Don’t forget that this Saturday, the new group’s presi-
MAKING FRIENDS: Some of the attendees. dent, Ruth Johnson-Wood, will have a reading for her production of ‘Play On’ which will be staged later this year. This will take place in the
Evangelical Hall in Turre. If you would like more information about the group or its forthcoming events, please call 671 810 819 or email williamwhite9552@aol.com.
Starry eyed A STARS IN YOUR EYES charity event will be held on Saturday at Legends Bar in Arboleas. The event has been organised by Helen and Edna in aid of Andreas animal rescue and the Henrietta Foundation Animal and Donkey Sanctuary. The event will have a range of non-professional entrants and a panel of judges
who will present the winner with a trophy. Entrance costing €5 which includes a hot and cold buffet can be purchased from Legends, Girasol Health Shop, Cutting Edge Hair Salon, Harrison, Sol Mar and The Corner Shop supermarkets. Please arrive at 7.30pm to be seated by 8pm prompt. For more information call Helen on 638 092 638.
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STAT OF WEEK Fuel firm set to fork out €15bn SPANISH energy firm Repsol has pledged to sink €15 billion into exploration, production and refining over the next two years. It comes after years of costcutting exercises after the company was boosted by a rebound in global oil prices. The investment will be partfunded by the €3.8 billion sale of a 20 per cent stake in utility Gas Natural to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Oil production soared from 727,000 to 750,000 barrels per day over the first quarter of 2018, an official said.
€80
14 - 20 June 2018 million The amount that information technology failures at British bank TSB have cost Spanish parent Sabadell since 2015 after a rise in fraudster attacks, according to a company statement.
FINANCE
business & legal
Thieves in the bagging area SHOPLIFTERS cost the Spanish economy more than €1 billion per year, a new report says. The probe by the Association of Large Consumer Companies (AECOC) shows that alcoholic drinks, Iberian ham and chorizo, creams, make-ups and perfume top the rankings of products targeted by petty crooks across the country. And an estimated 22 per cent of the culprits are employees stealing while at work, according to the 2017 data. The food and drink section of the analysis shows Iberian meat products
by Matt Ford are singled out by 73.3 per cent of peckish raiders, with wine, beer and spirits chosen by 86.7 per cent of thirsty thieves. Jams and marmalade are the secondmost popular foodstuffs pilfered. In textiles, clothing including shirts, trousers, underwear, jumpers and socks are looted by 81.8 per cent of shoplifters, with hair bobbles, earrings, bracelets, rings and other accessories also taken during 54.5 per cent of swoops. Creams are the most desirable cosmetic product for criminals, being
stolen in 86.4 per cent of cases, with make-up and perfumes picked out 69.2 per cent of the time. Tools and batteries are top of the list for 70 per cent of hardware villains, according to the AECOC statistics, while consoles and video games, computer accessories and mobile phones are earmarked by 60 per cent of electronics jackers. The report reckons that most of these items are chosen for ‘their physical characteristics, monetary value or the ease with which they can be resold on the black market.’
Deals on wheels set new records SPANISH carmaker SEAT has set a new sales record. The Cataluña-based firm shifted 49,200 cars in May, beating the previous high of 48,400 set in 2000, after sales rose by 15.5 per cent. Vice-president for Sales and Marketing Wayne Griffiths said: “Our May sales enable us to maintain our position as one of the fastest growing brands in Europe. Our results went up by at least 14 per cent in the main European markets, and by more than 20 per cent in the case of Italy.”
€14.5 tax payout leaves sour taste
» BUSINESS EXTRA
Wage war set to end THE Spanish association of employers and the country’s biggest trade unions are close to reaching an agreement which will see the national minimum wage rise to 14 payments of €1,000 following months of talks, according to reports.
Cat nabbed
SUPER CHARGED: The Apple Store in Barcelona. TECH giant Apple has paid €14.5 million to the Spanish Tax Agency in the wake of an inspection. Subsidiary Apple Retail, which manages the US firm’s 11 official stores across the country, footed almost €14.2 million of the bill after its VAT, corporate and income tax payments were probed. The rest of the cash was stumped up by Apple Market-
ing, a wholesale branch responsible for charging commission on products sold to shops by Ireland-based Apple Distribution International. Spain recently announced a new tax aiming to crack down on taxation strategies used by multinational companies, which often set up sales divisions in countries with low tax rates including Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands.
ALMOST 72 per cent of the 2,849 firms that have set up headquarters in Madrid since last October have left Cataluña in the wake of last year ’s illegal independence referendum, according to new Spanish Finance Ministry data.
Swiss move SWISS food and drink company Nestle has revealed it plans to move 850 jobs to Spain over the next 18 months as it extends its Barcelona technology hub in a bid to improve its e-commerce offering.
Swede idea over plastic SWEDISH furniture firm IKEA has pledged to phase out all single-use plastic products from its stores by 2020. The flat-pack specialist said that plastic straws, plates, cups, freezer bags, bin bags, and plastic-coated paper plates and cups would be discontinued or replaced by alternatives. A company official said: “We don’t have all the
answers yet but we are working together with our suppliers to find solutions that are good for both people and the planet.” The chain has already committed to axing oilbased plastics and the latest move will see all its plastic products made with recycled materials. It comes amid rising fear over plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
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PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) COMPANY Anglo American 1,885.00 35.60 Associated British Foods 2,710.00 -30.00 Admiral Group 1,961.25 58.75 Ashtead Group 2,400.00 25.00 Antofagasta 1,114.50 16.00 Aviva 520.70 14.10 AstraZeneca 5,365.00 12.00 BAE Systems 649.00 0.80 Barclays 200.00 1.00 British American Tobacco 3,622.50 -33.50 Barratt Developments 576.50 -9.50 Berkeley Group Holdings (The)4,262.00 -59.00 British Land Co 685.50 1.50 BHP Billiton 1,755.00 -8.60 Bunzl 2,305.00 33.00 BP 586.00 2.20 Burberry Group 2,113.50 -0.50 BT Group 205.95 1.00 Coca-Cola HBC 2,649.50 49.50 Carnival 4,687.50 167.50 Centrica 146.00 0.50 Compass Group 1,489.50 -89.50 Croda International 4,791.00 -39.00 CRH 2,609.00 -216.00 DCC 7,205.00 0.00 Diageo 2,697.50 -26.50 Direct Line Insurance Group 351.00 3.20 Evraz 510.00 10.60 Experian 1,898.50 15.50 easyJet 1,730.00 16.50 Ferguson 5,894.00 0.00 Fresnillo 1,267.00 51.00 G4S 277.75 2.05 Glencore 390.00 6.15 GlaxoSmithKline 1,519.00 -9.00 Hargreaves Lansdown 1,934.00 -28.00 Halma 1,485.00 64.00 HSBC Holdings 730.00 0.10 International Conslidtd Airs Grp 692.50 2.70 InterContinental Hotels Grp 4,910.00 -5.00 3i Group 966.00 -1.40 Imperial Brands 2,677.00 92.50 Informa 817.60 1.20 Intertek Group 5,695.00 -19.00 ITV 170.65 1.50 Just Eat 741.50 -117.70 Johnson Matthey 3,760.00 -28.00 Kingfisher 304.00 2.60 Land Securities Group 939.00 -0.30 Legal & General Group 271.50 1.30
% CHG. NET VOL 1.92 26,437.76 -1.09 21,422.70 3.09 5,546.21 1.05 11,748.83 1.46 11,189.47 2.78 20,432.45 0.22 67,638.97 0.12 20,748.35 0.50 34,413.76 -0.92 83,605.56 -1.62 5,803.92 -1.37 5,758.00 0.22 6,705.52 -0.49 37,383.67 1.45 7,686.71 0.38 117,654.36 -0.02 8,850.88 0.49 20,136.50 1.90 9,567.68 3.71 9,369.70 0.34 8,207.07 -5.67 24,737.05 -0.81 6,366.26 -7.65 23,897.30 0.00 6,457.97 -0.97 66,356.49 0.92 4,846.88 2.12 7,352.16 0.82 17,340.05 0.96 6,897.52 0.00 14,423.85 4.19 9,572.25 0.74 4,321.19 1.60 56,840.69 -0.59 75,374.81 -1.43 9,329.85 4.50 5,352.94 0.01 146,710.52 0.39 14,172.92 -0.10 9,342.83 -0.14 9,437.20 3.58 24,840.08 0.15 6,743.66 -0.33 9,205.86 0.89 6,879.42 -13.70 5,846.80 -0.74 7,267.18 0.86 6,597.36 -0.03 6,946.74 0.48 16,249.80
COMPANY
PRICE(P)
Lloyds Banking Group ORD 63.56 London Stock Exchange Grp 4,504.00 Micro Focus International 1,320.00 Mediclinic International 641.90 Marks & Spencer Group 290.00 Mondi 2,107.50 Melrose 218.50 Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets 245.00 National Grid 827.00 NMC Health 3,313.00 Next 6,015.00 Old Mutual Group 221.20 Paddy Power Betfair 7,602.50 Prudential 1,855.00 Persimmon 2,893.50 Pearson 891.00 Reckitt Benckiser Group 5,850.00 Royal Bank of Scotland Group 270.00 Royal Dutch Shell 2,605.00 Royal Dutch Shell 2,700.00 RELX 1,671.00 Rio Tinto 4,437.25 Royal Mail 482.75 Rolls-Royce Group 835.70 Randgold Resources 5,925.00 RSA Insurance Group 661.60 Rentokil Initial 311.85 Sainsbury (J) 267.00 Schroders 3,266.00 Sage Group (The) 677.00 Segro 671.80 Shire 3,985.00 Smurfit Kappa Group 3,075.00 Sky 1,362.50 Standard Life Aberdeen 359.00 Smith (DS) 545.60 Smiths Group 1,775.00 Scottish Mortgage Invstmnt Trst 540.00 Smith & Nephew 1,360.00 SSE 1,360.50 Standard Chartered 737.50 St James's Place 1,193.00 Severn Trent 1,960.00 Tesco 246.50 TUI AG 1,795.00 Taylor Wimpey 193.00 Unilever 4,100.00 United Utilities Group 780.00 Vodafone Group 187.40 WPP Group 1,222.00 Whitbread 4,355.00
CHANGE(P) 0.66 0.00 -16.00 91.10 0.00 10.50 -18.50 -1.20 -1.50 -121.00 -39.00 -1.20 -982.50 19.00 13.50 8.20 -24.00 2.40 -1.50 0.00 -2.50 17.25 0.45 0.30 95.00 18.20 -36.65 -37.80 13.00 6.00 2.79 -13.00 113.00 22.50 8.00 -10.20 -9.50 12.00 0.00 18.00 10.90 0.00 23.00 -1.40 61.00 1.95 -15.50 0.80 -0.08 6.00 210.00
% CHG. 1.05 0.00 -1.20 16.54 0.00 0.50 -7.81 -0.49 -0.18 -3.52 -0.64 -0.54 -11.44 1.03 0.47 0.93 -0.41 0.90 -0.06 0.00 -0.15 0.39 0.09 0.04 1.63 2.83 -10.52 -12.40 0.40 0.89 0.42 -0.33 3.81 1.68 2.28 -1.84 -0.53 2.27 0.00 1.34 1.50 0.00 1.19 -0.56 3.52 1.02 -0.38 0.10 -0.04 0.49 5.07
NET VOL 45,879.72 15,666.36 5,851.03 4,094.65 4,698.86 7,715.73 11,305.78 5,795.63 27,852.80 7,264.88 8,451.42 11,192.47 7,306.69 47,768.00 8,956.47 6,943.28 40,663.19 32,473.76 120,490.94 101,071.96 17,501.45 59,100.11 4,921.00 15,522.37 5,597.99 6,657.22 6,451.67 6,678.36 7,406.75 7,335.44 6,795.62 36,639.77 6,917.09 23,206.73 10,845.10 6,041.18 7,036.61 7,476.50 11,919.14 13,770.99 24,577.45 6,375.42 4,646.19 24,258.47 10,197.04 6,230.52 49,955.65 5,362.37 50,023.89 15,396.58 7,612.11
0.87926
1.13697 Units per €
US dollar.................................................................1.18157 Japan yen ............................................................129.937 Switzerland franc..............................................1.16498 Denmark kroner................................................7.44831 Norway kroner ..................................................9.51394 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 UNE 11
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 206,590 101,0000 191,700 369,500 155,320 126,44 43,480 43,95 69,49 83,60 13,9300 233,39 198,3300 146,14 55,0500 111,1100 124,0600 168,9100 62,58 101,630 74,90 36,6700 77,180 131,32 127,61 250,68 49,18 134,74 84,3600 103,9800
CHANGE% +0,74% -0,47% -0,91% +0,26% -0,62% -0,41% -0,39% +1,17% +0,10% +0,87% +1,09% -0,03% +1,10% +0,54% -1,49% +0,28% +0,59% -0,34% +0,95% +0,74% +0,19% +0,49% +1,87% +1,19% +0,02% +0,68% +0,35% +0,67% -0,69% +1,47%
CHANGE VOLUME(M) 1,520 122.668,70 -0,4800 86.892,28 -1,760 941.150,62 0,970 215.333,58 -0,970 92.837,68 -0,52 241.717,33 -0,170 209.417,46 0,51 186.997,52 0,07 161.236,66 0,72 354.160,25 0,1500 121.030,19 -0,06 88.219,84 2,1600 228.920,73 0,78 134.188,61 -0,8300 256.950,06 0,3100 378.253,69 0,7300 332.814,58 -0,5700 132.687,13 0,59 168.426,48 0,750 782.529,96 0,14 96.048,10 0,1800 214.533,02 1,420 194.127,08 1,55 35.496,09 0,03 102.159,59 1,70 240.951,63 0,17 203.227,33 0,90 240.667,71 -0,5900 248.874,22 1,5100 154.584,89 M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES J UNE 11
COMPANY
PRICE
CHANGE NET / %
Most Advanced EDAP TMS S.A. Stitch Fix, Inc. Savara, Inc. Fanhua Inc. Bilibili Inc. Ascena Retail Group, Inc. Versartis, Inc. T2 Biosystems, Inc. Proteon Therapeutics, Inc. Synaptics Incorporated ObsEva SA
$ 3.60 $ 24.88 $ 11.41 $ 35.76 $ 18.95 $ 4.58 $ 2.15 $ 9.42 $ 2.50 $ 47.17 $ 14.655
1.39 ▲ 62.90% 5.21 ▲ 26.49% 1.99 ▲ 21.13% 5.28 ▲ 17.32% 2.73 ▲ 16.83% 0.62 ▲ 15.66% 0.25 ▲ 13.16% 0.96 ▲ 11.35% 0.25 ▲ 11.11% 4.61 ▲ 10.83% 1.275 ▲ 9.53%
$ 25.57 $ 9.30 $ 34.27 $ 3.46 $ 41.38 $ 7.11 $ 5.33 $ 13.03 $ 7.86 $ 20.15 $ 103.15
5.41 ▼ 17.46% 1.50 ▼ 13.89% 3.89 ▼ 10.19% 0.36 ▼ 9.42% 4.12 ▼ 9.05% 0.65 ▼ 8.38% 0.45 ▼ 7.79% 0.91 ▼ 6.53% 0.54 ▼ 6.43% 1.38 ▼ 6.41% 6.90 ▼ 6.27%
Most Declined Evolus, Inc. Liberty Tax, Inc. nLIGHT, Inc. Alphatec Holdings, Inc. SMART Global Holdings, Inc. scPharmaceuticals Inc. ArQule, Inc. Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Ramaco Resources, Inc. Turtle Beach Corporation MKS Instruments, Inc.
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
EWN 33
34 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
FEATURE
Lawless Britain fuelled by family breakdown LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT PERSONALLY, I think the crime wave of tsunami-like proportions, which is at the moment practically engulfing the UK, has very little to do with the countries lack of police resources. I believe a large part of the blame can be firmly apportioned to the breakdown of the family u n i t . Hu g e n u mb ers o f familie s across the UK, have for years taken full advantage of the liberal benefits policies of successive governments. Child benefits have been a particularly lucrative source of earnings. Consequently, many children have been conceived and born purely to add to the family income. This has resulted in enormous dysfunctional families, of individuals to whom benefits are a way of life and children merely a means to a financial end. There is no love or guidance in these families. Once the children’s purpose has been served, they are left to roam the streets with no sense of decency or compassion for their fellow h u m a n b e i n g s w h a ts o ev er. H o w could there be, when there have been no examples of it at home? Once let loose, they link up with like-
YOUNG OFFENDERS: Are benefits to blame?
minded offsprings of their fellow dysfunctional neighbours and begin to run riot. They soon begin to realise, that the impossibly priced electronic devices and expensive ‘toys’ they have been bombarded with on television, are completely out of their financial reach, even if they took a ‘proper’ job. So, they turn to crime. Heaven forbid I could condone their often-horrendous actions, but quite frankly I
can easily see that they must actually feel they have very little choice. To be honest I can see no answer to the immediate situation. Lock up as many of them as possible I suppose. As to the future, only allowing child benefits for up to two children would be a start. At least this would curb the temptation to pour even more unwanted and unloved future criminals into our society. More police
are certainly needed, but only because the numbers of young criminals have escalated so al ar m i ngl y. I woul d l i ke t o see boot camps built all across the country, where these young offenders can be sent to learn discipline, values and respect for their fellow human beings. Trades could be taught. Even simply showing someone actually cares may rescue at least a proportion of them that can then be released to become valued members of society. Although Spain also has some problems with young offenders it is nothing like the enormous criminal issues confronting the UK at this time. I firmly believe that a great deal of this lies in the simple fact that the Spanish family unit is still as strong as ever. Love and respect are firmly entwined and pr act i sed f r om gr anni es and gr anddads down to the youngest of the broods and although I do feel they spoil some of their kids rotten, its infinitely better than chucking them out to survive with no pre-preparation, guidance or sense of decency whatsoever. Thanks for all the mail. Keep ‘em coming. Keep the faith. Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com leapylee2002@gmail.com
Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
TECH FOR THE TIMID O K AY I ’ l l f i n a l l y o w n u p . Guilty as charged of broadcasting without a licence m’lud. In mitigation you’d have to be just a few metres from my home to pick up my illegal transmission on a standard FM radio. You’d also have to be a fan of the BBC’s unrivalled speech station, Radio 4, because that’s all I’m pirating. And technically I’m narrowcasting, not broadcasting. It’s just one way of several today of bringing the world’s radio stations into your home. If your purse can stand the pain you could buy a dedicated internet radio for upwards of €100, and then devote your entire life to the thousands of stations it pulls in. A smart speaker like Amazon’s Echo or Google Home now does the same, as indeed can your smartphone or tablet with an app like TuneIn
Video didn’t kill the radio star Terence Kennedy confesses to running his own pirate radio
FM TRANSMITTER: Start your own station. Radio. You could use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, as a homesick friend of mine has done. His computer pumps out BBC radio constantly through a little Bluetooth dongle, but most Bluetooth speakers like the one he then moves around die a death just a few metres from their source. FM goes further. My solution has simplicity on
its side once you’ve set it up the ability to listen to your programme of choice from any old FM r a d i o , a n y where. We l l , a n y w h e r e w i t h i n about 10 metres, which puzzled the heck out of our Spanish neighbour suddenly hearing ‘The World At One’ where Radio Nacional should have been. (Tip: for cross-cultural harmony, don’t choose a frequency already ocupada). Here’s my recipe, and it’s definitely not rocket surgery. 1 ) C h o o s e y o u r s i g n a l ’s source. The easiest is a radio station streamed from your computer (though I used my UK-tuned satellite decoder instead because I just love making life difficult
for myself). 2) Buy any one of the dozens of tiny personal FM transmitters o ff e r e d o n A m a z o n a n d e l s e where, the kind normally plugged into a smartphone to play music through the car radio. Plug it straight into the computer’s headphone socket. (If you do prefer my more challenging decoder route, you’ll need something like a SCART [or RCA plugs] to 3.5 mm stereo jack socket adapter, plus a common 3.5 mm male-to-female stereo extension cable). 4) Choose an empty channel on the transmitter so as not to obliterate your neighbours’ favourite Spanish station. 5) Fire up your radio source and the transmitter, pick up any FM radio, tune it to the chosen frequency. And bingo, there’s Britain’s unofficial second national anthem every weekday at two. Dum-ti-dum-ti-dum-ti-dum, dum-ti-dum-ti-daah-dum….
London calling FINDING an FM transmitter rather than Bluetooth is becoming trickier but they are available, like the one shown here, at around €10. Running it constantly will hammer the batteries, but rechargeable units can normally be left plugged into a power source. The audio plug goes directly into your computer’s headphone socket. If you decide to use a decoder instead you’ll need a 3.5 mm stereo cable with a male plug at one end to go into that SCART adapter mentioned earlier, and a female socket at the other to take the transmitter’s audio jack. Run an internet search for ‘Hama SCART adaptor’ (other brands are available, most around €10), and although this is an equal-opportunity column, do make sure you get the male one.
38 EWN
14 - 20 June 2018
www.euroweeklynews.com
FEATURE
Matt LeBlanc to leave Top Gear Richard Shanley
Dishing the Dirt OF EUROPA DIGITAL
MATT LEBLANC is to leave Top Gear after the next series. The Friends and Episodes star began presenting the BBC Two show alongside Chris Evans in 2016. LeBlanc went on to front the show with Rory Reid and Chris Harris when Evans left after his first series. LeBlanc said that despite Top Gear being “great fun,” the “time commitment and extensive travel... takes me away from my family and friends more than I’m comfortable with.” He added: “It’s unfortunate, but for these reasons I will not be continuing my involvement with the show. I will forever be a Top Gear fan and I wish the team continued success. Thanks for a great drive”. BBC Two controller Patrick Holland said: “I want to thank the fabulous Matt LeBlanc for being a brilliant co-host on Top Gear.
MATT LEBLANC: Has said he will always be a Top Gear fan.
Matt has thrown himself into the show with real passion, revealing his extraordinary car knowledge and a willingness to get down and dirty. We were always going to be borrowing him from his day job as one of the top comic actors in Hollywood so I wish him all the very best.” LeBlanc’s last series will be his fourth. Critics and fans responded positively to LeBlanc’s first series without Evans. The news comes following the fifth and final series of BBC Two’s Episodes, in which LeBlanc starred alongside Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan. Attention will now turn to who could replace LeBlanc. The last series of Top Gear was sold to more than 150 territories, so producers may be looking for someone with similar global appeal and star quality.
If you would like me to answer any questions you may have on satellite TV or to expand on anything I have written about please call me on 678 332 815 or email richard@eu ropa-digital.com. I look forward to your comments and questions. Don’t forget to listen to my radio show every weekday from 10am on Spectrum 96.1 AND 106.8FM, now covering almost 3,000sq kms of Costa Almeria and Calida or listen online at costaalmeria.spectrumfm.net for the latest news and views from the world of satellite television.
40 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
FEATURE
Getting the rules right in Spain Ric Polansky TOP DOG: A change of government has given Spain a new sheriff in town.
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.
H AV I N G a r r i v e d h e r e t o o e a r l y, 1 9 6 9 ( b e f o r e w o r k permits were even considered a necessity) obtaining them was made up ad hoc along the trail by the administrators presuming what might be or could be the valid requirements. There really was no systematic system in place for obtaining such an obtuse item. Getting a paper to work didn’t fit into any sociological process or government qualification. It had to be invented at each department where it might be required. It goes without saying that no one in Malaga passed along their rules to Almeria or Madrid so nothing ever became standard or categorised. Can you imagine the human body with each appendage acting in the way it feels; one hand
Cassandra Nash A weekly look - and not entirely impartial reaction to the Spanish political scene
PEDRO SANCHEZ, Spain’s latest president, immediately took advantage of the Partido Popular’s disarray following the Gurtel verdicts by calling for a vote of no confidence in Mariano Rajoy. That it succeeded, thanks to Podemos, the Basque nationalists and the Catalan secessionists flummoxed everyone. The motion had little chance of prospering and everybody said Sanchez should have gone along with a general election, but that was the last thing he wanted. Sanchez only entered the national parliament in 2009 and 2013 by default when others ahead of him on the PSOE voting list renounced their seats. As party leader he led the party to its worst-ever defeats in 2015 and 2016 and has consistently repelled PSOE voters although not the paidup party members who twice handed him the primaries. That’s why Sanchez, who looks so imposing but has until now sounded so unconvincing, couldn’t risk a general election.
saluting and the other waving frantically; one leg walking and the other running? Even that minor reality has taken me a lifetime to discover but embrace it I cannot. It won’t happen as the rules will have been changed by the time we are both cognizant of the problem. Bit of a ‘blowing in the wind’
everyday solution - that is one of the few constants that thrive here. Carved in stone laws were for the Romans and as Spanish governments change frequently like seasons, so do also the governing regulations. Many important laws do exist
but are not likely to be enforced, unless someone makes too much noise and leaps into the media spotlight. Then things have to be done from higher up to resolve the media outcry before it overflows into a public popular protest.
Public passions quickly become uncontrollable and dangerous for the ruling political party to manage. And so the Spanish river flowed, that is until a week ago when the judicial sector announced an inclusion into the complicated puzzle of government and condemned the PP party for one of its many corruption charges pending. Wi t h i n h o u r s t h e wounded system tried to substantiate itself, but a change of government came about as a knee jerk reflection to the crisis. Fasten your seat belts, more c h a n g e s a r e o n t h e w a y. B a r stool lawyers will render you a disservice. Like all new ‘politicos’ in office they will wish to demonstrate their powers immediately, whether bad or good. You are to know unequivocally there is a new sheriff in town.
Sidling in through back door He has sidled into the Moncloa palace through the back door on a vote of no but would he have won a general election? Not an earthly.
Peor imposible THE Spanish nationalists, who can be found in all of Spain’s political parties, were not happy that Pedro Sanchez accepted the support of the Catalan secessionists to become president. They were even less happy that he
promised dialogue or - heaven forbid - negotiation. It’s not accidental that Catalan secessionism began to gather momentum once Rajoy became president in 2011 and instead of seeking a political solution turned the problem into a colossal court case. Dialogue and consensus are the only way out of the Catalan labyrinth and these are what Sanchez is promising. His work will be cut out for him, with only 85 PSOE MPs in the national parliament, but at least things
can’t get any worse in Cataluña than they were with Rajoy.
Faces that said it all SOON-TO-BE-FATHER Pablo Iglesias, he of the €600,000 pad, looked ecstatic on June 1 when Rajoy was given his marching orders, but is already throwing a wobbler. Sanchez, who in-
Waiting in the wings CIUDADANOS leader Albert Rivera might have won if a general election had been called immediately after judges censured the PP as institutionally corrupt. Rajoy knew it, too, and this knowledge was his undoing. Rivera refused to back the no-confidence vote because Pedro Sanchez had the support of the Basque nationalists (bad) and the Catalan secessionists (infinitely worse). Instead he wanted elections but must now bide his time while making life as difficult
as possible for the PSOE and the Partido Popular. Rivera, whose party helped Rajoy become president in October 2016, knows he has lost out. However much he tries to upstage Sanchez he remains the understudy who won’t be called on to take the starring role.
tends to govern alone, has not brought Podemos into the government and Iglesias warned: “If we aren’t partners, we’re the Opposition.” Felipe VI didn’t look ecstatic when he signed Pedro Sanchez’s nomination as president, but perhaps he was reflecting that Spain’s is a constitutional monarchy and it’s just a job, really. But Pedro Sanchez who drove a stake into the heart of the PSOE and split it down the middle with his ‘No means no’ refusal to give the presidency to Mariano Rajoy in October 2016, has made everybody happy. He has given the party back its hope and self-confidence so if you see a smiling face in the street, that’s a PSOE voter. Until the next general election, anyway.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Albert Rivera could have won a general election.
columnists@euroweeklynews.com
42 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
FEATURE
Advertising Feature EVERY year thousands of expats realise their dream as they buy their ‘Place in the Sun.’ Living in Spain can be liberating for them as they adapt to the more relaxing, laid back lifestyle. What very few people warn them about, however, is the winter! Most Spanish houses are not built with winter in mind, and most hardy northern Europeans think ‘How bad could it be?’ To which the answer is: ‘Pretty bad!’ A general lack of insulation means that Spanish homes can be like an ice block once the sun goes down at night, and the chattering of teeth from frozen new expats can be heard like cicadas! However, you need not despair, the solution is at hand, and you do not need to re-invent the wheel. Over 10 years ago Richard and Tony were in the same situation. Having recently moved to Spain, they were fruitlessly looking for a decent home heating solution for their two families when, by chance, Tony discovered a Norwegian convector heater that was unavailable in Spain. Already using electric heaters, Tony was amazed at the efficiency of the
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to keep them cold! Richard and Tony decided to make these heaters available throughout the
Costa Blanca, and set up Neater Heater to achieve this. In fact, they have become so popular that there
are outlets selling Neater Heaters from the Costa Blanca all the way down to the Costa del Sol, and now even in Portugal. However, if you have no agent near you, never fear, they can be bought from their internet shop and delivered to your door, often by the next day.
Advertising Feature
No-one is above the law I SOMETIMES find it difficult to understand why people stick so stubbornly to an idea or path of action even when everyone is telling them they are wrong and at the end of the day it is going to cost them a lot of money. Money that could better be used for the benefit of our own family for example. Stay with me this week because the outcome of a recent case could impact on all our communities with similar problems. I want to share with you a situation that came to an end only last week in the English courts. Of course it concerned an owner of an apartment in Spain. The owner bought it off plan 12 years ago. For the first few years he and his family used it and enjoyed it, then it was rented out to various families and then for the past eight years it was left empty. Throughout the whole period Management Fees were hardly paid, a few Euros occasionally to keep the Community from taking strong action and as we know that is not unusual in Spain. Finally in 2016 my firm was instructed to collect €19,000 from the owner. The owner lived in England and we approached him for
payment. He gave us the usual answers, basically refusing to pay. He also quoted the English Statute of Limitations stating that debts over six years old could not be sued for, although there was nothing to stop us asking. Fortunately for the community the property was repossessed by the Bank, as the owner had also defaulted on his mortgage. Under Spanish Law the bank paid the last three years, but this still left a large sum still due. The community instructed us to sue for the balance that remained, but it had to be for the Statement amount left within the last six years, which amounted to just €6,000…………… ………………But now the interesting part happened……………………….. We had a long think about the Law and realised that all contracts regarding Management Fees are made in Spain under Spanish
Law. In Spain The Statute of Limitations up until a few years ago was actually 15 years, although now changed to five years. Spanish law also stated that any amounts due under relevant contracts before 2015 could still be chased up to 2025 (now recently changed to 2020). As EU law dictates that these rules can apply on any legal action taken in another EU state, we pointed this out to the Judge. He had to agree and let us amend the proceedings to include ALL outstanding amounts plus costs. Despite vigorous defence arguments, to no avail, this month the Community was awarded Judgement for over €23,000. This amount was duly paid under further threat of Judgement Execution. Several lessons can be learnt by us all on this matter. Owners should never assume that they can just walk away from their legal
obligations and communities should not let them. In this case it did take a leap of faith to pay out legal costs but the result still gave back a healthy return and at least nearly all legal costs were repaid by the debtor. Even though we await the dreaded Brexit, our legal advisors are confident that the current EU/UK legislation that led to this great result will remain on the UK Statutes together with thousands of other laws. The most important lesson is that no one should be above the law and if we are going to enjoy the benefits of our Spanish communities then we should all take a deep breath and sometimes take a legal leap to collect overdue fees. LPL Commercial Investigations Worldwide Debt Recovery Specialising in the recovery of Outstanding Community Charges In Spain, Cyprus and Portugal www.lplgroup.com communitycollections@lplgroup.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 551 4019 (UK office) Mob: +34 689 408 412 (Greg Bryan Spanish Speaking local Representative)
44 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
How to get through to Boris the pranksters’ way 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
HEARD about the hoax call that duped Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson into talking to a man he thought was the Armenian prime minister for 18 minutes? During the phone conversation Boris was asked about the Salisbury poisoning and how to deal with President Putin. He’s just the latest victim of two Russian pranksters who previously called Sir Elton John in the guise of Mr Putin, and who also convinced President Erdogan of Turkey he was speaking to his Ukrainian counterpart. Well, this won’t be the first - or the last prank call. There was, reportedly, an incident over 20 years ago when a radio presenter from Quebec managed to get through to the Queen claiming to be the Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien. Her Majesty thus appeared live on a radio programme, demonstrating an excellent
BORIS BLUFFED: The UK Foreign Secretary was tricked by an impersonator. grasp of Quebec politics, in fluent French! Clearly this isn’t - for once - a lapse by Boris, but rather a security breach by his aides in not adequately vetting calls put through to him. I’d suggest he uses the same automated systems that most of the companies in the UK use and then these pranksters would never get through or simply hang up in the process! Maybe an automated system like the following: 1. If you want to discuss the latest faux pas of Mr Johnson, please press 1.
2. If you want to discuss our worldclass, leading-edge strategy: ‘Taking Back Control,’ please press 2. 3. If you want our Three Brexiteers to appear at your next stag do, please press 3. 4. If you want to discuss the UK’s foreign relations, you are held in a queue of 250,000. 5. If you want to discuss or offer a free trade deal (however unilateral), forward the contract clearly marked where to sign. 6. If you want to discuss Mr Johnson’s next attempt at getting fired or staging a coup, please call 007. ‘Buffoon Boris’ is a featherweight, a blundering featherweight, in a heavyweight contest. Get him out of the ring before he does any more damage. Please! 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-johnson.net) available from Amazon in paperback/eBook (€0.99;£0.99) and iBookstore. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.
FEATURE
LEGALLY SPEAKING Can they use ‘Proceso Monitorio’? I am the president of our urbanisation. We have two owners who do not pay the community fees and give no response to the administration. For each of the properties the debt is now more than €20,000. We are taking the necessary court actions to obtain embargoes on the two properties. One of our members has read an article which refers to the ‘proceso monitorio’ as a means of asking the court to order payment or even a forced sale of the property within three months to cover the debt. It is particularly the aspect of forced sale which attracts our interest. A M (Costa del Sol) The ‘ Proceso David Searl Monitorio’ is a You and the Law sort of smal l cl ai ms in Spain court procedure which can be usef ul i n some cases. Unfortunately, for any debt over €6,000 it turns out to be almost the same procedure as a normal court case. It appears that you have already gone to court to claim the debt in a normal proceeding, so you are doing the right thing, even if it takes a long time in the over-loaded Spanish courts.
columnists@euroweeklynews.com
Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
You want to pay cash? Mike Senker In my opinion Views of a Grumpy Old Man DID you all see the headlines last week? The one that looked as though the end of mankind was nigh? You know the one that said people had to use money to pay for a cup of coffee. Yeah, I know the actual problem was that Visa had a glitch for a few hours but you would have thought that it was definitely the end of the world. I mean who carries a few quid on them any more? Well apparently in the UK nobody does and to tell you the truth that scares me more than the fact that Visa had a problem. We are turning into a cashless society. There’s Apple Pay, this pay and that pay. You only have to stand next to a machine and get your phone out and it pays your bill. The dangerous thing is we aren’t ready for it and the reason for that is because if a hacker or a computer techy gets the hump or the power dies, the whole system goes to hell in a hand cart. There are actually already shops and restaurants that do not take cash at all. So imagine what happens to them if something major happens and they can’t get the system going again for a week or two. Then there is the Big Brother aspect where you are
being tracked 24/7. I know we are anyway but I also know of people that are paying for items that cost as little as £1 on a card! Commentators often suggest the phenomenon is driven by ‘consumer demand’ which is partially true. Ask a room of people to raise their hands if they wish to be able to use digital payment, and most will do so. But if you reframe the question as, ‘Do you want to not have the option to use cash?’ and people are more hesitant. We like new options, but we don’t like having options removed. A society without cash is a society without on-demand, easily accessible money. It is a society that relies entirely on the banking sector and the vulnerability that comes with digital wallets. Although there are obvious benefits to digital cash, we cannot live without a balance of both. Ok a quick revisit to some of the things I’ve mentioned before, but which this week have ticked me off again. Why do motorbikes not have to pay for parking spaces? Why do they insist in parking right in the middle of a space or on the edge of disabled bays? They will cross over the centre line when there’s a traffic jam and head towards you in a way that you have to swerve to miss them, even though they are on your side of the road. Zebra crossings do not even exist in their world. Why? mikesenker@gmail.com
46 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
14 - 20 June 2018
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48 EWN
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14 - 20 June 2018
OPINION & COMMENT
YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com
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Spain would be great but for the Spanish
HAVE YOUR SAY
No matter be it humble here’s home AS I opened the lid of our bottle bank I was amazed to see a wasp busily making its home it’s still there working away in its rubbish house, at least until the bin is emptied! Then it will probably have to buzz off. Tom Gibson, Costa Blanca
Waiting time I HAVE received a bill of €4,700 for external repairs to the building that has finally been almost completed, but still not quite right to move in, although it was started in 2005. It’s not only me that has to pay, but to wait eight years to obtain the building li-
Credit: Tom Gibson
I LOVE living here on the coast... wonderful weather, most of the time, meet so many interesting people... wonderful food. But, what is it with the Spanish? They seem to obey no laws. From the former prime minister being caught up in corruption/bribery scandal to the lady mayor of Madrid, eventually resigning when caught on camera apparently shoplifting! The president of our community is in the same position. I know the idea of democracy is still relatively new to Spain... post Franco, 1974? On the roads it is anarchy... Is it the national hobby to disobey traffic signs? Just returning from the supermarket, the traffic signs clearly show the direction of flow... but no, every other Spanish registered car (not rented) was determined to go in the other direction! I know I am a ‘grumpy old Englishman’ but am I alone in having this problem? Michael Colin, Estepona
BUSY WASP: It’s not just ants that work hard.
cence from Elche Council is another joke. I really wouldn’t mind if the building was old, but now 13 years in and I’m still having dramas. I now wish that I hadn’t bought in Spain, but been like many others who sold and now rent. I’m sick of property problems. Paul Butler, Elche
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.
Con and pro Leapy I AM normally a great advocate of your column and agree with a majority of your views. Unfortunately your latest subject has left me angry and disappointed. I am a retired 30-year police officer who spent time in uniform and as a de-
Readers who have missed correspondence can see all letters - which can be edited before publication - posted on: www.euroweeklynews.com.
‘Aggressive’ passenger banned for life They shouldn’t let people board if they are intoxicated. They should also take away their ‘duty free’ bottles. Eileen Hanworth
Comments from EWN online
Make it a criminal offence, heavy fines plus all costs involved. Ban for life. Why should flight staff have to put up with this behaviour? Why too should French police have to deal with these ignorant louts? Chris Symington
Not entirely Bill, big insurance payouts are also to force the industry involved to make sweeping safety improvements to avoid further big losses. Matt Silver
Yup and it should work like the pub blackwatch scheme and their details handed to all the other airlines so they can’t fly with them either. Andrew Fitzgerald
Scot OAP spends birthday trapped in Spain
Good don’t need this behaviour, make it clear it will not be tolerated. Val Anderson
€17.2 million compensation for crushed hand How can anyone justify that, if she had carried on working for the rest of her life she wouldn’t earn anything like that amount, which is what compensation is for. Bill Newall
He received excellent treatment, the doctors maybe even saved his leg and this family is whining over a language barrier? Utter arrogance, that is all I want say about this. They could have complained about the heat on top of that to round it up. Show some gratitude instead. Peter Sauer
Uber begins operating on the Costa del Sol
This is typical, no thanks or acknowledgment of a job well done. All the hospitals have interpreters, but they are there to interpret medical and welfare matters. I wonder how many British hospital, or Scottish ones have multilingual interpreters. People like this make my blood boil. Kathryn Ramsden
I used Uber a lot in the UK because to be honest they were miles chesper than black taxis but looking this morning at the cost of fares of destinations I use regularly, here in Calahonda I’m seeing it as a lot cheaper to use the local taxi company.. eg Calahonda to La Cala cost us 1011€ , Uber quoting 13.75€ - big difference... just something to keep in mind Mr and Mrs Holidaymaker. Señor Simon and Dee
You couldn’t drag me back to the UK if I was ill, Spanish hospitals all day long. A friend of mine who lives here broke her leg in the UK visiting her family and was TRAPPED over there, that’s even worse but she didn’t whinge. Kaye Jane Riley
About TIME, taxis here are a rip off, cost me €10 before I even got off my urbanisation the other day as I needed picked up and I’m on the border with Marbella and Mijas and I was crossing over it straight away. Matt Silver
tective in the Metropolitan Police. Your article in some respects is wholly inaccurate and portraying what is one of the hardest jobs any person could undertake. Addressing your points on reality shows, I have to say my wife makes me watch them. The shows themselves follow officers in real time. I and my colleagues have given access to the media on occasions, and I don’t recall after kicking a door in or questioning a subject getting a director shout ‘take two!’ The programmes highlight the type of work and people they have to deal with. The thing that encourages these idiots is the courts handing them such paltry punishments. After all the police are racist, homophobic and every other ist and phobic that can be thrown at them. The poor female officer subjected to the behaviour at Notting Hill was part of the usual order from above, ‘Don’t arrest anyone, it might kick off.’ If you want to have an opinion, it is good to have done some research and at least have some facts at your fingertips. Dave, Porto Petro.
Gone too far Leapy, ONCE again you’ve hit the nail on the head and vocalised what I have been thinking about these police shows for a long time. Every time some skank sees a fellow criminal on TV abusing the police and behaving like an ass, then getting no more than a slap on the wrist, it will just encourage him to do the same. Why respect the law if doing so makes no difference to your sentence? For me though one of the worst things about those cop shows is seeing the huge amount of effort the police put into apprehending some violent idiot who then resists arrest, screams and swears, and lies about his details, and at the end the announcer says ‘no charges were brought.’ How about the resisting arrest and telling lies? No, just a ‘don’t do it again, son’ and be on your way. If that doesn’t encourage criminals and general disrespect and bad behaviour towards the police, what will? Problem is, the liberals would scream human rights the minute they said anything that might offend the criminal, so I guess they have to be careful. But I feel it has gone too far if those TV shows are any guide. Angus Silvie, Torre del Mar
50
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Down 1 Hold off being freed in error (5) 2 By the end of December, any red sort of fox (7) 3 Rise late, panic and be the first to arrive (8)
4 Assistant put in the wrong dye (6) 5 Fire container (4) 6 A falsehood pointed to a foreigner (5) 7 Supposed it's erupted at sea (7) 12 To scrap plane is not unusual (8) 13 Refunds are best when resolved (7)
Code Breaker
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION FACING PAGE
15 The deacon tends to demonstrate deal (7) 16 Church area making capital hot (6) 18 Left one recipe for a solitary sole (5) 20 Avoid a western city (5) 21 Stupid cats flee (4)
Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 12 represents T and 18 represents H, so fill in T every time the figure 12 appears and H every time the figure 18 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 Across 1 Giggles start to interrupt dreadful sad song (5) 4 Hopelessness I spread about (7) 8 Head of flower, partly developed, that catches insects (7) 9 Primate uniting church with devil (5) 10 Practical folks damaged the saltires (8) 11 Join knight outside in turn (4) 13 Salad vegetable which is hard to chop up (6) 14 Received hot stuff - crossed swords (6) 17 Bighead, is elderly, yet daring (4) 19 Need break after quick bound (8) 22 Pick-me-up that's too nice not to finish (5) 23 Alternatively, some of Britain’s tea drinkers (7) 24 Withdraw because of a very minor injury (7) 25 For example, brown back or elbow (5)
TIME
Across 1 Meet at a point (5) 4 Hold firmly (5) 7 Asylum (9) 8 friendly nation (4) 10 Strong and sharp (5) 13 Proprietor (5) 14 Money, goods or services owed by one person to another (4) 17 Come upon, as if by accident (9) 19 Spend thoughtlessly (5) 20 Slightly intoxicated (5)
English - Spanish
Across 1 Lamer (4) 3 Scoreboard (8) 9/6 Toothpaste (5,2,7) 10 Barrer (5) 11 Cansado (5) 12 Oil (6) 14 Carnation (6) 16 Sad (6) 19 Marble (6) 21 Short (length) (5) 24 Lino (ropa) (5) 25 Mop (for floor) (7) 26 Asterisco (8) 27 Eastern (side, part) (4)
Down 1 Relaxed and unconcerned (6) 2 Possess (3) 3 Badger's burrow (4) 4 Quick look (6) 5 Whenever (7) 6 Written agreement between two states or sovereigns (4) 9 Anarchic (7) 11 Free from harm or evil (6) 12 Robust (6) 15 Be informed or assured of (4) 16 Fair, impartial (4) 18 Extreme end of something (3)
The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.
Down 1 Lápiz de labios (8) 2 To sew (5) 4 Bees (6) 5 Swan (5) 6 See 9 Across 7 Maduro (4) 8 Silla de montar (6) 13 Limonada (8) 15 En contra de (7) 17 Cohete (6) 18 Acantilados (6) 20 Smaller (in size) (5) 22 Habitaciones (5) 23 Pan (pot) (4)
LOTTERY UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
17
20
55
56
58
BONUS BALL
IRISH LOTTO Saturday June 09
‘ IT’S NOT STRICTLY - IT’S YOUR NEW GOVERNMENT ANTONIO! ‘
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.
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 P) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.
11
12
19
27
30
38
BONUS BALL
16
Tuesday June 05
BONUS BALL
9
• Very good: 18 • Excellent: 23
15
22
4 5
46
39
Friday June 08
BONUS BALL
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
8
arty aryl awry dart dory dour drat draw dray lard lord lory lour oral road rota rout taro tour trad tray trod trow troy tyro ward wart wary word wort yard your yurt dowry drawl dural lardy rawly rowdy royal tardy trawl truly ultra warty wordy world dourly tawdry toward outdraw outward outlawry OUTWARDLY
19
32
2 8
46
43
EL MILLON: DJR42594
Sudoku
Thursday June 07
BONUS BALL
1
9
17
25
28
44
21 4
JOKER: 6 363 148 Saturday June 09
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
2
9
BONUS BALL
13
24
35
29
26
1
JOKER: 2 897 864 EL GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA Sunday June 10
5
8 35
29
BONUS BALL
36
7
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS
ENGLISH-SPANISH
CRYPTIC
Across:
Across:
1 Faroles, 5 Socks, 8 Robin, 9 Gerente, 10 Enemigo, 11 Which, 12 Grueso, 14 Manner, 17 Helar, 19 Bruises, 21 Lechuga, 22 Spoon, 24 Style, 25 Nearest.
Down: 1 Fur, 2 Roble, 3 Lentils, 4 Siglos, 5 Screw, 6 Cancion, 7 Shepherds, 10 Eggshells, 13 Unlucky, 15 Apuesta, 16 Obtain, 18 Route, 20 Stone, 23 Net.
1 Spliced, 5 Shear, 8 Revenue, 9 Ogres, 10 Palma, 11 Rapture, 12 Erupts, 14 Talent, 17 Dictate, 19 Rheas, 22 Wheat, 23 Reading, 24 Doric, 25 Sleuths.
Down: 1 Scrap, 2 Level, 3 Contact, 4 Dreary, 5 Sloop, 6 En route, 7 Rosiest, 12 Endowed, 13 Unclear, 15 Airfare, 16 Hearts, 18 Aztec,20 Exist, 21 Sagas.
QUICK
Primarily, you are wanting to see some appreciation. That is understandable given the efforts that you have made. Do not be annoyed, however, if it is a while coming yet. Others are not always as well tuned in as you. If necessary, use a go-between discreetly to make sure of progress.
PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Increased activity in your love life means less time to really concentrate on business. Make sure that priority financial matters are dealt with. Not doing so will see you kicking yourself later on. A close relationship is going well. There’s no reason to wonder why, the charm offensive is obviously working.
Relatives issue words of warning but they have only your best interests at heart.
LEO (July 24 - August 23) Opposing opinions on a matter close to your heart see you hesitating. There is nothing wrong with asking for advice. The chances are that you know someone who has already been through your situation. Don’t let pride make you miss out on a solution.
VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Not everything in the garden is rosy but you are made of strong stuff. Your conviction that something is right helps you in discussions. Support given to a loved one may be misguided, especially if it is a huge financial gamble.
ARIES (March 21 - April 20)
LA PRIMITIVA
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.
AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19)
EURO MILLIONS
TARGET: • Average: 9 • Good: 13
YOUR STARS
KAKURO
Across: 1 Curate, 4 Spread, 9 Abstain, 10 Ocean, 11 Toys, 12 Delicate, 14 Handy, 16 Cider, 20 Agitated, 21 Cage, 24 Evade, 25 Examine, 26 Siesta, 27 Reject.
Down: 1 Chaste, 2 Risky, 3 Thaw, 5 Prohibit, 6 Elevate, 7 Dinner, 8 Under, 13 Adjacent, 15 Agitate, 17 Bakers, 18 Rebel, 19 Repeat, 22 Alike, 23 Fake.
CODE BREAKER
Keeping an eye on your health is particularly important at the moment. Because you have been active, it could be that you need to give yourself a bit of time. Pampering and just plain relaxing are all going to stand you in good stead during the coming week.
LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) This is a time to enjoy the present and look forward to the future. Don’t forget, along the way, to congratulate yourself for all that you have achieved in the last year. Sometimes you do not blow your own trumpet and people appreciate you in a quiet way.
TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) Opening your mind to a new idea has convinced you that it is time for a change in direction. This is such a time, but not all changes will be permanent. Give yourself a way out of any situation this week. Using your tact and charm, it will require only a little application to please everyone.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Improvising within a new business situation may not give you the perfect answer to a problem. What it will do, however, is give you an insight into the way others live. Until now, your approach to life may have been a little onesided.
SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) An appetite for something new means that you tread unknown ground. It’s an exciting time when you may find it easier to do things alone. This does not mean you have to feel alone as others can be told of your progress.
SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) Part of being ‘you’ is your independent mind. Some may try to change that this week. Why would someone want to make you more dependent on them? Could it be that they feel insecure? Giving reassurance may be all that is needed. We all feel the need for appreciation.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23) A recent holiday has set your mind racing. This being a romantic time means that you can get a little over-excited. Your romance may not be set to last but you should fully enjoy it nonetheless.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Trying to be everything to all people is tiring. No one knows this more than you. Give yourself a little time and space this week because it will make a great difference to your spirits.
QUIZ: UNDER THE WEATHER 1. Brontophobia is a morbid fear of which dramatic weather phenomenon? 2. From Spanish for ‘the little boy’, what name is given to a periodic large-scale warming of the surface of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, especially off the coast of Peru and Ecuador, associated with extreme meteorological phenomena in the Pacific region? 3. In which year was TIROS I, the first successful low-Earth orbital weather satellite, launched? (± two years) 4. Released in September 1982, what was the title of the Weather Girls only UK hit single? 5. What name is given to a dark cloud of great vertical extent charged with electricity, often associated with thunderstorms? 6. What name is given to the branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather?
7. Which actor played the television weatherman, Phil Connors in the 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day? 8. Which famous 1970s UK number one hit single contains the lines ‘Thunderbolt and lightning, Very, very frightening me’? 9. Which fictional superhero character from Marvel Comics’ X-Men, has the psionic ability to manipulate weather patterns over vast areas? 10. Which international scale of wind force, named after the English admiral and naval hydrographer who devised it, ranges from from 0 (calm air) to 12 (hurricane)? Not a lot of people know that... the fastest a raindrop can fall is 18 mph (29 km/h)
Answers: 1. THUNDER (astraphobia is a morbid fear of thunder and lightning), 2. EL NIÑO, 3. (April 1) 1960 (accept 1958 to 1962), 4. IT’S RAINING MEN, 5. CUMULONIMBUS, 6. METEOROLOGY, 7. BILL MURRAY, 8. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, 9. STORM, 10. BEAUFORT SCALE.
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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
Exercising your jaw A LT H O U G H b a n n e d i n S i n g a pore, many people love chewing gum whilst going about their daily business. F o r s o m e i t ’s a h a b i t , w h i l s t others love the range of juicy flavours that certain gums can offer. But most won’t have realised that chewing gum whilst you walk could help you to lose weight. According to new research, when you chew gum you actually walk faster which in turn means that your body burns more calories. Walking faster also increases your heart rate which is another important factor in losing weight. T h e s t u d y, f r o m Wa s e d a University in Tokyo, was the first to look at how chewing gum affects the body whilst
GOOD GUM: A chewing gum a day might keep the doctor away.
walking. All previous studies had set out to discover how it impacts the body whilst resting. The research team which presented the findings at the recent European Congress of Obesity in Vienna concluded that: “chewing gum while walking affects a number of physical and physiological functions in men and women of all ages.” This is welcome news for the chewing gum industry and not the first time that chewing gum has been associated with health benefits. Previous studies have found that chewing gum on a regular basis can help to reduce stress and protect your teeth from plaque and decay.
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
Beat the bite this summer SUGAR CONTENT: Most fruits, vegetables and sweets contain sugar.
Not so sweet S UGAR i s a n a t u r a l c o mp o n en t o f food like fruits and vegetables, but eating too much of it comes with consequences. We are now a lot more aware of the risks of too many sweets, but there are still plenty of myths about sugar and what it does to us. The industry has long denied that it plays any role in chronic disease, but research suggests otherwise. Studies have connected excessive consumption with memory loss, high blood pressure, heart disease, cavities and weight gain. Most people could eat less sugar, less often. However, quitting sugar completely is unlikely to improve your health. Some sugar-free diets encourage people to cut out foods such as fruit and dairy, without evidence to support their exclusion.
B u t w h o le fruit is a gre a t source of fructose as well as other essential minerals and vitamins. However, research does show that reducing your intake of sugar in drinks such as coffee, tea and fizzy drinks does have a positive effect on your health. So, if you want to start somewhere, this is the place. This doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the sugar-like flavour that you have come to love. Sugar substitutes such as raw honey or stevia can mean you can still enjoy the taste, without the unhealthy consequences. Remember however, that as with carbs and fat, it’s important not to quickly and completely eliminate any one food group from your diet.
AS ever yone pr epares for the holi day season, health authorities are urging holidaymakers to use repellents. This comes as aggr essi ve t i ger m osqui t os capabl e of carrying Zica, Dengue and Chikungunya fever have been found in parts of Europe. With the invasive insect active across the cont i nent , aut hor i t i es i n several European count r i es have been urgi ng travellers to be vigilant from May to September. Many travellers to short haul destinations believe ‘ t he i nsect s t her e don’t carry diseases.’ Resear ch has shown that a staggering 63 per cent of the 20.72 million holidaymakers who travel to Europe do not use insect repellent and 23 per cent of shor t - haul t r avellers believe ‘there are no biting insects’ at their destination. In addition, 16
BUZZ OFF: Tiger mosquitoes are spreading across Europe.
per cent don’t purchase insect repellent until their arrival. However, public health authorities have been urging holidaymakers to use anti-mosquito sprays and wear long sleeved clothing and trousers. The sym pt om s of Chikungunya include sever e j oi nt pai n, f ever, headaches, weeping eyes and a rash, with similar sym pt om s f or Zeka and dengue fever. The disease is often mild and healthy adults may not notice any symptoms at all. If you are hesitant about spraying a chemical-based insect repellent on your skin, there are some natural al t er nat i ves t hat you can pur chase or m ake yourself at home. These include water-based mixes which include Lemon Eucalyptus, Cinnamon oil or Tea tree oil.
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Update on food, drink, entertainments, what’s on and weekly happenings
Those about to rock THERE are just 47 days before the town of Adra welcomes some of the best Spanish rock bands plus some ‘strangers’ to the Juergas Rock Festival 2018. This four-day festival in the
sun runs from August 1 to 4 and so far 23 bands or individuals have been announced for the main stage with others due to appear on an acoustic stage as well as several more in-
volved in the welcome party. It’s great value for money as the welcome party on August 1 is free whilst a ticket for the rest of the event is €40, although that may well rise as the festival gets nearer. There is also a special meet and greet option which gives a number of special opportunities for access and plenty of free drinks for €99. Camping is encouraged and all details including the current line up may be explored by visiting the festival web site at https://thejuergasrock festival.com.
SCENE
OCIAL
He bangs Ricky Martin in concert PUERTO RICAN singer and superstar Ricky Martin will be playing a 10-date tour of Spain
which will see him in Almeria City Benidorm on Thursday August 23. Having been involved in the music business since the age of 12 when he was in a popular boy band, he is reputed to have opened the doors in the UK and USA for Latin pop/rock with his 1999 smash hit Livin' La Vida Loca. Since then he has become an international star and for the last two years, following in the footsteps of Elvis, Liberace and Elton John he has enjoyed
a successful residency at the Park Theatre in Las Vegas. The show will be held at the concert venue of the Vega de Aca, during the Feria de Almería and tickets will cost from €35 and will go on sale at a number of internet outlets today (Thursday). For those who can’t get to Almeria, the tour sees him appearing in Tarragona, Fuengirola, Santiago de Compostela, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Benidorm, Gran Canaria, San Sebastian, Cadiz and Cordoba.
SOCIAL SCENE
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Eat Well
to Live Well
Home-made burgers
by Andrew Harding IT is the start of summer and also the start of the barbecue season, this week and next I will include two of mine, my relatives and my friend’s favourite recipes. First of all, a few words about barbecuing. The characteristic flavour of barbecued food comes from juices and fats dripping on to the heat source creating smoke and undesirable flames (quench with a water spray) when the fats and oils catch fire. Whether the heat source is burning charcoal, an electric element, or lava rock heated by a gas flame the flavours are all the same. I have never used an electric barbecue, but have used charcoal and gas, my personal preference is for bottled gas, because it is quicker to reach the required temperature, is more controllable and it is much cheaper especially if your domestic water is heated by bottles of butane. You can use the last dregs of butane heating the barbecue instead of gambling on a
14 - 20 June 2018
MEATY TREATS: Home-made burgers. shower that may or may not be hot, as you rinse off the soap and shampoo. The following is my original recipe, enjoy! Andy’s ultimate beefburgers Serves 4 • 2 small onions, chopped • 3 whole garlic cloves, skinned and chopped • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 700 grammes good quality minced beef • 4 teaspoons mustard powder • 2 teaspoons black (or green) peppercorns, coarsely ground • 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
Hint: I hate lettuce, tomato and gherkins added to hot burgers, this destroys both the taste and texture of all four items. I serve the burgers in a bun, spread with olive oil and placed cut side down on the grill for about a minute, until slightly toasted. Fried onion, mushroom and cheese on top of the burger takes it to a new level! Salad and gherkins should be a side dish Hint: Don’t overwork the beef when mixing with the other
• 3 whole beef stock cubes, crumbled • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1. Fry onions in olive oil until golden, add garlic and continue to fry until cooked through, place to one side to cool and then liquidise in a blender. 2. Add to ground beef together with all the other ingredients, mix by hand until mixed thoroughly. 3. Leave in fridge for two hours in a covered bowl. 4. Using kitchen roll and a cheap cooking oil, coat the barbecue grill plates with a thin film of oil to prevent food from sticking. Light the barbecue, when hot, take a tangerine size piece of beef mix and flatten, then cook until crisp on outside and cooked on inside (or, pink if you prefer and you trust the source of the meat to avoid foodpoisoning), put to one side and keep warm. If you want cheeseburgers, place thinly sliced cheese on top of the almost-cooked burgers and pull the hood down on the barbecue and leave until the cheese has melted. 5. Serve
ingredients, the texture of the beef, as well as its flavour, needs to be just right. Most propriety burgers fail on all counts, but especially on texture. Hint: Liquidising the onion/garlic is not essential provided they are finely chopped. Tip: Peppercorns need to be freshly ground, when bought finely ground it loses flavour very quickly.
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ALBOX & SURROUNDING AREAS
Home group meetings AN organisation representing expatriate homeowners in the Almanzora Valley, including Albox, has held a series of meetings with officials in Almeria to get support for planning law changes. Maura Hillen, the president of Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora NO (AUAN), met with Britain’s Vice Ambassador Tim Hemmings and Andalucia Consul Charmaine Arbouin to discuss proposed changes last week. They were joined by Mr and Mrs Payne, an expatriate couple who have faced eviction threats from their home. The group have been lobbying local politicians to pass changes which will offer legal status to expatriate homeowners who own homes on land deemed undevelopable after the properties were built. Some cases have resulted in threats to tear down the homes and in the case of the
CREDIT: AUAN
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AUAN president Maura Hillen (centre, left) met with Tim Hemmings (centre) and the Paynes (right) last week. British Priors family demolitions have also been ordered. The AUAN have proposed offering homeowners in such situations the chance to gain AFOs, a certificate which
provides them with legal status. This then allows them to pay for utilities, take out property loans and sell their houses if they desire. Hillen also visited Juan
Manuel Moreno, the head of the conservative Partido Popular (PP) in Almeria to discuss measures making their way through the region’s parliament.
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ALBOX & SURROUNDING AREAS
Children’s play area THE ‘Payaso Fofó’ children’s play park in Albox will soon be open to the public again following the improvement works which have been carried out in recent weeks. As the most popular chil-
dren’s play park in the town, the local authority has invested heavily to create an area that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. New shaded areas have been created by installing
large awnings and artificial grass with the aim of offering children more protection from the sun and from hard surfaces. The mayor of Albox, Francisco Torrecillas, also recently announced that the park will have outdoor exercise equipment so that seniors can enjoy this space and exercise for free. Another important improvement is the public elevator which has been installed nearby. Previous to this the only access to the park was via stairs. The mayor of Albox acknowledged that this situation: “was an impediment for many families who wanted to enjoy this park, either because they wanted to access it with a pram or because of the difficulties it posed for people with some physical disability.” According to the local authority, the official opening of the children’s playground and the new public lift will be available for use by the neighbours.
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HANGING BASKETS are very much a part of the tradition of gardening in Spain.
Balconies decorated with abundant geranium flowers are a hallmark of Spanish village homes. When space is limited at your home, the imagination is still
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able to create inspiring ways to create a wonderful garden using containers and hanging baskets to achieve a garden on the walls and in open spaces. The value of a hanging basket is that they can be placed to use space that otherwise is not used. On a balcony they can be placed to provide shade in summer instead of using blinds by making a row of baskets that capture the sun so that the balcony stays shaded. In winter they can be taken down to allow more of the sunlight to warm the zone. The flexibility of hanging baskets makes them very versatile to always have the best flowering plants on display in prominent positions so that your hanging garden always looks its best. There is also the advantage of growing a wider range of different types of plants as they can be moved to shelter when adverse conditions prevail. The choice of plants will depend, to a degree, on the time you can
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Hanging baskets GRAEME TYRRELL
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GARDENS
HANGING BASKETS: Can look beautiful anywhere. devote to your plants. Hanging baskets do need attention as they need regular watering and occasional feeding with liquid nutrients to stay healthy. Succulents and low water use plants such as the ever popular geranium require less attention but many annuals such as lobelia, petunias, marigold, pansies, primroses, polyanthus and forget-me-nots do need to be looked after. Flowering annuals will provide an abundance of flowers with a little more care than succulents. You can grow bulbs such as freesias, crocus, iris and anemones that flower less but are hardier. If you wish to grow herbs, thyme, weeping rosemary, oregano, parsley, sage and
many more can be grown in hanging baskets. Herbs may only last a season but you can enjoy them fresh and replace them the next year. Hanging baskets are not really for larger growing plants or plants with a long life expectancy as the pot size will limit growth and the soil can become depleted of nutrients quicker than garden grown plants. They may seem to need frequent attention but the work is not heavy or difficult and does not require much bending. So placing them at a good height suitable for your care is important to make care easier. The right container is important. There is a great variety of different types available. Ce-
ramic pots give a good choice to select from. Some ceramic pots are made to be hung on walls with simply a hook installed on the wall or you can use wire to attach them to an existing support. Ceramic is better than plastic for the plant as they allow the pot to breathe but they do evaporate more moisture. Wire baskets with coco fibre work very well, they are light to handle but do need more water than ceramic and plastic pots. For the best success it is best to use a deep pot rather than shallow ones to hold more moisture, nutrients and reduce evaporation. Whatever you choose they can brighten your balcony or terrace.
FEATURE
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AWARD-WINNING: Sports utility vehicles or luxury road cars.
Sports utility vehicles or luxury road cars Nick Horne The Rich Pick Freelance correspondent, London, England NEW YORK, March 2018 - The Range Rover Velar judged the most beautifully designed vehicle on the planet, winning the World Car Design of the Year title at the 2018 World Car Awards. Bringing glamour, modernity and elegance to the Range Rover family, the €65,000 Velar offers a unique combination of design excellence and engineering integrity. The distinctive design of the Range Rover Velar features perfectly optimised proportions and a stunning silhouette. Its super-slim Matrix Laser-LED headlights, flush deployable door handles and sleek Touch Pro Duo infotainment are all hallmarks of Range Rover’s reductionist design philosophy. Gerry McGovern, Chief Design Officer, Land Rover, said: “The continued evolution of our design philosophy is driven by a relentless focus on creating highly desirable vehicles our customers will love for life. The Range Rover Velar brings a new dimension of modernity to the Range Rover family with an abundance of innovative technologies, all making this vehicle a joy to drive and be driven in. “We’re honoured that the jury recognised the tireless endeavours of our designers and engineers in delivering a vehicle with compelling design, tailored technology and relevant innovation which come together to create a vehicle of instant desirability.” Land Rover and Range Rover have travelled a long road in 70 years from dominating the farm yard to dominate the
Luxury SUV market and playing major roles on battlefields, the current generation represented by the Range Rover Velar is the SUV of choice for Oligarch Technocrat or Sheikh besides sundry Royalty! Such dominance can only be challenged. No surprise then that weeks later RollsRoyce Motor Cars launched the much anticipated ‘Cullinan’ - starting from €285,000 - named after the largest diamond ever discovered now set among the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. A challenge to the dominance of the Range Rover, Giles Taylor, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said: “From the very beginning the design team treated this brand new Rolls-Royce as a unique, high bodied car. With global customer expectations in mind, our aim was two-fold - realise a presence to match the magnificent capability of Cullinan, whilst setting sector defining standards for luxury and elegance. We know that many of our luxury patrons pursue sports or leisure hobbies that require precisely this type of go anywhere vehicle - Cullinan’s design gesture had to possess an immediate sense of effortless accomplishment.” Perhaps recognising the merest suggestion of following rather than leading what is now a crowded choice of SUV’s Giles Taylor acknowledged, “The label SUV is now applied to anything with a two-box silhouette and the least suggestion of going off tarmac. We envisioned an authentic, three-box high-bodied all-terrain car with a convention-challenging design and absolute capability that would satisfy the adventurous urges of our clients.” Interesting to note that both are British brands.
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DON’T exercise a dog strenuously straight after feeding. Always wait for a m i n i m u m o f o n e h o u r, otherwise it can be extremely dangerous and result in stomach torsion, a twisting which prevents gasses from escaping. Unless prompt veterinary attention is sought, this condition can be fatal. Likewise, do not feed your dog directly after e x e r c i s e a s s t o m a c h t o rsion can also result. H o w e v e r, g e n t l e e x e r cise after eating burns up more calories by raising the body’s rate of metab-
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olism. It is better than allowing the dog to lie down to digest its food, for while sleeping a pet will burn up only a few calories, just enough to keep its heart and lungs going. This can result in weight gain. It makes sense to take your dog for a walk of not more than a half-hour after the two meals of the day. This very gentle exercise will also stimulate
its digestion. Then, after a few hours have passed, you can let the dog enjoy more strenuous exercise. For smaller breeds, simply taking a dog outdoors to relieve itself gives a certain amount of exercise. This assists but does not cause defecation, for a dog does not need exercise to loosen his bowels unless it is ill. Taking a dog on a daily run is not necessarily in
its best interest. Dogs should never be run on hard surfaces such as pavements or paved roads but on earth, and certainly should not be made to run behind your c a r. I f y o u i n s i s t o n h a v ing your dog jog with you, then make the pace a fast walk or trot rather than a run, but don’t do this in hot weather and a l w a y s c h e c k t h e d o g ’s feet after a run for cuts
and rawness. Medium and large breeds should not be allowed excessive exercise, or do agility work, until at least 18-months old, and even then with caution. Often a weakness will remain dormant in young bones if they are subjected to extreme exercise. Throwing a ball in a park for an hour could bring on a problem. Dogs do not need as much exercise as many think. A dog should never be allowed out alone even if it has a name tag on its collar. It is an offence in most European countries for it to be roaming on public streets or highways where it can still be classified as a stray dog and impounded by the
police or a dog warden. Dog owners are legally responsible for any damage caused by their dog. I f y o u r d o g ’s a c t i o n s r e s u l t i n a t r a ff i c a c c i d e n t you may well have to pay compensation for damaged vehicles or injured persons and this could be substantial. No dog can ever be 100 per cent reliable when w a l k i n g a l o n g a r o a d o ff its lead. A sudden noise, a car back-firing, or the sight of a cat could cause the dog to bolt. Only luck will determine if the dog runs out in front of a car. So don’t show off by walking your dog without a lead besides a busy road. A living dog on a lead is better than a dead one off it.
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WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company f l e e t i n s u ra n c e . S i n c e w e started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to o f fe r a n e x c e l l e n t s e r v i c e with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 902 123 309. (200726)
PETS T H E F I V E B O N E H OT E L , TURRE. Little dogs 6.25 euros, medium dogs 7.00 euros, big dogs (over 20kg) 7.75 euros, cats from 5.507. 0 0 e u r o s a d ay. 6 3 0 2 3 4 556 / the5bonehotelturre@ gmail.com New opening hours Mon-Sat 9.30-12.30 and 18.00-19.00 Sundays 9.30-10.30 (256834)
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MOTORING FACT PORSCHE’S first fully electric sports car has been named the Taycan, with production set to begin in 2019. The name can be roughly translated as ‘lively young horse,’ referencing the imagery at the heart of the Porsche crest, which has featured a leaping steed since 1952. Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG said:
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92 per cent of all new cars sold in Brazil use ethanol as fuel, which is produced from sugar cane.
If anyone can Taycan “Our new electric sports car is strong and dependable; it’s a vehicle that can consistently cover long distances and that epitomises freedom.” The name was announced as part of Porsche’s 70th anniversary celebrations since it started mak-
ing sports cars. It will be Porsche’s first all-electric car, and was previewed by the Mission E Concept, although the brand has been building plug-in hybrid models of some of its cars for several years. The power figures are certainly
impressive, with 592 bhp and 060mph in ‘well under ’ 3.3 seconds. Porsche is also being ambitious with its range estimates too, and claims the Taycan will be able to achieve 310 miles on a single charge.
Elsewhere, the sports car maker has committed to a €6 billion investment in electromobility - including new versions of the Taycan, electrification of its current cars, expanding production sites and developing charging infrastructure. The Taycan will also lead to 1,200 new jobs being created at a new factory for the model in Zuffenhausen, Germany.
ELECTRIFYING STYLE: The Taycan represents Porsche’s commitment to electromobility.
Credit: Porsche
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BMW i8’s leading engine
VALUE FOR MONEY: The revamped Nissan Qashqai comes full of extras.
ROAD TEST by Nick Fletcher WHEN first launched in 2007, the Nissan Qashqai was one of the crossover pioneers, paving the way for the welter of SUV models now dominating the new car market. Revamped a few months ago, the latest Qashqai is still able to compete with newcomers to the sector thanks to its blend of outstanding driving dynamics, spacious cabin and cool looks. There are petrol and diesel options, with prices starting at €22,140 (£19,300), but a top-spec version such as my Tekna+ test model, laden with extra kit and with a 1.6 litre turbopetrol engine, costs €34,410 (£29,995). You get a lot for the money - high-
STATS PANEL
Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ Model: Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ Engine: 1.6 litre petrol Transmission: 6-speed manual Performance: 0-100 kph 8.9 seconds, top speed 200 kph (124 mph) Economy: 17.2 kpl (48.7 mpg) Emissions: 134 g/km
Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets. lights include premium BOSE sound system, sports seats, leather trim, panoramic glass roof, front, rear and side cameras, alloy wheels, park assist, front and rear parking sensors, touch-screen entertainment and navigation system, connectivity features, and a raft of safety kit including blind spot warning, moving object detection and lane departure warning. It also has
LED lights, chrome detailing, roof rails and rear privacy glass. The 1.6 litre 163 hp petrol engine has a 0-100 kph time of 8.9 seconds, top speed of 200 kph (124 mph), emissions of 134 g/km and fuel economy of 17.2 kpl (48.7 mpg). On the road, the Qashqai is smooth and refined, helped by revised suspension providing a more composed ride.
The precise steering and slick manual gearshift give the driver a feeling of complete control. Externally, Qashqai has revised sharper-looking front and rear styling and inside, upgraded materials give the cabin a smarter appearance. The dashboard layout is well designed for easy use and there is good occupant space front and rear and lots of oddment stowage places. The 410litre boot, while not largest in the class, easily accommodates normal needs, and can be boosted to 1,569 litres by folding the rear seats. The Qashqai competes in a vastly enlarged crossover/SUV sector which includes the likes of the Peugeot 3008, SEAT Ateca and the Skoda Karoq, but the British-built Nissan holds enough ace cards to ensure it stays firmly with the pack leaders.
THE plug-in hybrid drive system in the BMW i8 has won its category in the world’s leading engine competition for the fourth year in succession. It won its class - for units with 1.4 litre to 1.8 litre displacement - in the International Engine of the Year Award for the fourth time in a row. This year marks the 20th edition of the International Engine of the Year Award.
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50th anniversary roadster is a beauty and a beast and the impact is immediate and electrifying. While the aluminium honeycomb chassis is generally
sound, the ride quality in this 1.2tonne car is by turns
bouncy over big bumps and shuddering over small ones. Steering feedback and weighting has been an issue with the Aero 8 and its descen-
Credit: @morganmotor/Twitter
MORGAN is best known for its traditionalism, but its Plus 8 50th anniversary edition more than holds its own with modern sports models. Limited edition cars like this always sell well, and given the phenomenal affection for this British beast, the final 50 cars in the Plus 8 line are guaranteed to find homes quickly. Available in French blue as a roadster, or in British racing green as a fully-trimmed road car, the former is a good deal better looking although less practical. The seats of the roadster while accommodating, are hard on the lower spine, but the rest of the cabin is well finished. It is a wide cockpit, with large sills but little space for luggage. There’s virtually no need of a transmission, as the Plus 8 will pull from walking pace into top gear,
dants, and there’s clearly been work done for the Plus 8. The weighting is more consistent and there is no longer a terrifying unpredictability as you turn a corner. However, with limited ground clearance and suspension movement, the Plus 8 does give off an air that you are flying by the seat of your pants. Overall, a car like this anniversary edition is about the details, and for the most part they are beautifully realised, with wheels that echo MMC IIs, a lovely set of driving lamps, and the rich paint quality.
MAJESTIC MORGAN: The 50th anniversary roadster is a feast for the eyes.
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BRITAIN’S Zharnel Hughes ran 9.91 seconds - the fastest time in the world this year as he went under 10 seconds for the first time in Jamaica. Only Linford Christie has ever run faster for Britain.
Transfer rumours Who is in, who is out, and who is most wanted in England and Spain? Arsenal are in talks to sign Sampdoria’s €25 million defensive midfielder Lucas Torriera, 22, who is playing for Uruguay at the World Cup. (Daily Mail) Real Madrid have made contact with former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas about succeeding Zinedine Zidane as manager. (Express)
World Cup 2018: England unfazed by great expectations THE biggest sporting event on the planet begins today (Thursday) in Russia, where 32 national football teams will compete for glory and sporting immortality. England’s World Cup preparations concluded with a promising 2-0 victory over Costa Rica at Elland Road, and Gareth Southgate’s squad will approach the tournament with quiet optimism. It has been an unusually tranquil build-up for England, so far devoid of injury dramas, tabloid scandals or selection sagas. There are signs that Southgate knows the style of play he wants his team to adopt, and that he has the personnel to deliver it. Gone is the iron grip of the Fabio Capello regime, or the muddled selections and positioning of players under Hodgson. Southgate’s men were all happy to take part in an open-media session that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. WORLD number one Rafael Nadal won an incredible 11th French Open title by beating Austrian Dominic Thiem in straight sets. Nadal, 32, won 6-4 6-3 6-2 to earn his 17th Grand Slam on Sunday, putting him three behind Roger Federer’s all-time record. The Spaniard edged an intense opening set, before tightening his grip on the second with an early break of serve.
The England manager has talked about learning the art of ‘calm leadership’ from Euro ‘96 manager Terry Venables, and has grown visibly in his role. “Pressure is what you perceive it to be and is influenced by what you read and watch,” said Southgate. “We had some guys in from the Marines who had lost limbs. What is the pressure on us?” Southgate has a squad with plenty of youthful enthusiasm, not scarred by previous failures, and one that seems to be growing in confidence. “We are mates going to play in a World Cup, the highlight of everyone’s career,” he added. “It’s fantastic.” Spain meanwhile, tore their way through World Cup qualifying, scoring 36 goals while winning nine out of 10 games. They have also been outstanding in
friendlies, beating Belgium, France, drawing with world champions Germany and smashing Argentina 6-1. Above all, manager Julen Lopetegui has restored the excitement and joy which typified the teams that won the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, and the World Cup in 2010. This can be seen in the speed at which they recover the ball and their desire to keep searching for more goals even when the games have been won. “Most of all I’ve been impressed by the passion of the players to be a team, their desire to use their individual qualities for the collective good,” said Lopetegui. Only 11 players from the squads that flopped over the last four years have made it into the 23-man group, and linchpin Andres Iniesta will want to finish his international career on a high.
Nadal serves up 11th French Open title Despite having cramp in the third set he somehow managed to increase the tempo, and 24year-old Thiem in his first major final, had no answer. “It’s a dream to win 11 times,” said Nadal. “I played a great match against a great player. “He is a player who pushes you to the limit.” Nadal’s victory means that the past six Grand Slam titles have been won by either him or Roger Federer, with the next generation of players struggling to break their dominance. Nadal is only the second player in history to win the same Grand Slam 11 times af-
ter Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian Open titles between 1960 and 1973. The Spaniard had been the hot favourite to win at Roland Garros, after warming up with three clay-court titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. Against seventh seed Thiem he was at his destructive best. “What you have done - to win this tournament 11 times - is one of the greatest things in sport,” Thiem said to Nadal afterwards.
CLAY KING: Nadal is the greatest player ever on clay.
Fiorentina have increased the asking price of Italy international midfielder Federico Chiesa, 20, to €70 million amid interest from Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United. (Talksport) Barcelona left-back, Joel Lopez, 15, has agreed terms with Arsenal. (Metro) Liverpool will step up their efforts to sign Switzerland’s Stoke midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri when he returns from the World Cup. (Mirror)
Credit: Photo Works/Shutterstock
LION HEARTED: The England team are calmly confident that they can make a mark.
COURTING COURTOIS: The keeper is believed to want a move to Spain. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is reportedly ready to push hard for a summer transfer to Real Madrid this year. (Sun) Tottenham have emerged as contenders in the race for Barcelona midfielder Rafinha. (BBC) Real Madrid are preparing a €150 million bid for Lazio and Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. (ESPN) CSKA Moscow are willing to sell Arsenal target Aleksandr Golovin this summer, but are likely to demand at least €25 million for the Russian international. (Talksport) Paris St-Germain are interested in signing Chelsea’s French midfielder N’Golo Kante. (Sky Sports) Chelsea and Liverpool are set to compete for Dutch Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, 29. (Daily Mail)