Euro Weekly News - Costa de Almeria 14 - 20 January 2021 Issue 1854

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The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1854

14 - 20 January 2021

COSTA DE ALMERIA • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

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ADIOS FILOMENA

STORM FILOMENA, which caused chaos practically nation­ wide, left its mark on Almeria without the deadly virulence unleashed elsewhere. The province was spared the storm’s tragic onslaught that took two lives in Malaga and two more in Madrid and Ca­ latayud (Zaragoza). Instead, Almeria had to withstand heavy rain as well as two days of inces­ sant snow that fell in areas and municipalities 800 metres above sea level. Schools were closed, affecting 234 pupils on the first day, rising to 1,897 pupils on the second. The Diputacion provincial council launched its Winter Road Plan guaranteeing access

VELEZ-RUBIO: Awoke to a layer of snow brought by Storm Gloria.

Cold comfort at school PUPILS currently set out for school bundled­up in heavy jack­ ets and layers of winter woollies. With the health authorities recommending well­ventilated classrooms with open windows to prevent the spread of coron­ avirus, these were already chilly before Storm Filomena arrived with snow, rain and plummeting temperatures. The Almeria Federation of Par­ ents of State School Pupils (FA­

PACE) has now issued a state­ ment to the Education authori­ ties complaining about lack of communication and clear instruc­ tions. “At FAPACE we want to state our enormous worries about the start of term, aware that all fami­ lies share in this unease owing to the number of Covid cases and the present low temperatures,” the communique continued. Keeping windows open and

expecting children to sit in class­ rooms with blankets and gloves was no way to study or enable teachers to do their jobs, FAPACE maintained. The federation declared that parents did not want intense cold added to the Covid situation their children were already enduring. Instead, they demanded “unanimous criteria and clear, precise instructions” regarding ventilation of classrooms, open

windows, use of purifiers, carbon dioxide meters, together with on­ line resources and partly in­per­ son teaching.

to towns and villages after snow closed 30 roads to traffic, princi­ pally in Sierra de los Filabres, Al­ manzora and Los Velez. Although the majority were cleared, five roads still affected by snow and ice had to remain closed while drivers were oblig­ ed to use chains on another 15. For the first time since 2005, Almeria City also saw a few snowflakes, but these soon turned to sleet and rain. During the 72 hours that Storm Filomena remained in the province, weather stations recorded more than half of 2020’s total rainfall. Although the rain was wel­ comed by agricultural growers in a largely water­poor province,

there were complaints that few would benefit from it. “Once again, as happened with Storm Gloria, we see how rain reaches the province but none of the administrations have taken steps to stop this wa­ ter from flowing into the sea so that it can be used for irriga­ tion,” declared Jose Antonio Fer­ nandez, president of the Almeria Federation of Irrigators (FERAL). Growers were also discour­ aged by the effects of Storm Filomena and plummeting tem­ peratures. “Production will not meet earlier expectations,” warned Coexfal, the association that rep­ resents the province’s fruit and vegetable growers.

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14 - 20 January 2021

Long arm of the (forensic) law LAST year, the National Police’s Forensic Unit in Almeria in­ creased fingerprint identification by 5.5 per cent. Specialist officers using the new Said CAFIS 6.0 programme were able to pinpoint 95 de­ tainees accused of crimes that in­ cluded breaking and entering,

robbery with violence and homi­ cide via finger and palm prints. The Forensic Unit also helped to identify 15 suspects involved in drug trafficking after inspecting 11 illicit marihuana plantations, the National Police revealed. Biological evidence found at crime scenes, which also con­

tributed to identifying offenders, was sent to the National Police’s Territorial Biology­DNA Laborato­ ry based in Granada to establish DNA profiles, the police said. This was used to trace 37 of­ fenders including those later ac­ cused of sexual assault and at­ tempted murder.

NEWS

It’s all in the game

THE 32nd Roquetas Chess Festival was more complex than usual to prepare and carry out, the town hall said afterwards. “But it would also be remembered as having one of the highest levels and parity in the his­ tory of the festival,” said Roquetas Sports and Spare Time councillor Jose Juan Rubi. The Festival was complicated by the cancel­ lation of several important dates on the chess calendar, with further problems created by re­ strictions on interprovince travel owing to the Covid­19 situation. It was because of this that Rubi congratulat­ ed both organisers and participants while em­

phasising his department’s commitment to the festival which, despite the difficulties, was more successful with each edition. In very close­run matches, the Russian grandmaster Daniil Yuffa was proclaimed the winner of the First Masters Roquetas de Mar. The 32nd Open International was a surprise win for the young Asturian, Iyan Gonzalez from the Club Real Oviedo, who defeated the favourite, international master, Angel Espinoso. Ciro Revaliente Montoya was the best­ placed Almeria competitor, who won an eighth place and was named the best under­ 14.

Backing the circular economy

EL EJIDO Town Hall stepped up strategies for clearing plastic from rural areas, improving pathways and clearing verges. All of this is accompanied by an awareness campaign, ex­ plained Agriculture and Envi­ ronment councillor Francisco Perez. “In an agricultural sector as competitive as ours, rural health and safety are funda­ mental,” he said. “A well­structured and clean

Photo credit: El Ejido town hall

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CIRCULAR ECONOMY: Administrations, growers and companies need to work year-round to eliminate rural litter.

Market Gifts for receipts ADRA Town Hall is now distributing gifts in the ‘Prizes for your Christmas purchases’ campaign to promote the mod­ ernised municipal market. All purchases of €10 or more were in the running for gifts, and Commerce councillor Elisa Fernandez was present as the first were handed over. The initiative had been very well­received, she said, as cus­ tomers presented their receipts for a shopping bag with the market logo for purchases of more than €10 but under €20 or a cool bag for those of over €20.

countryside where recycling is a priority is essential to maintain­ ing our position as national and international market leaders.” The councillor went on to stress that the administrations, growers and agricultural com­ panies needed to make a con­ stant, year­round joint effort. This was especially important at the end of the growing sea­ son, said Perez, whose depart­ ment has been removing dis­ carded plastics from rural areas since last July. The town hall was at present emphasising to growers that once plastic, whatever its origin or use, was removed, it had to be taken to authorised dealers for recycling. Not only did this avoid pollut­ ing rural areas and damaging the sector’s image but it was al­ so an advance towards sustain­ ability and a circular economy aimed at eliminating waste and continually reusing resources.

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NIBS EXTRA Safe again EL EJIDO fire brigade went to the aid of a girl of two who was trapped on a third-floor balcony after her parents were unable to reach here from inside their apartment. They reached the child using an automatic ladder, after which they delivered her safely to her family.

Damages cut ANDALUCIA’S Upper Court of Justice (TSJA) ordered Torrecardenas Hospital to pay €50,000 compensation to the family of a 29-year-old who died of pancreatitis. Although this was half of the amount originally fixed by an Almeria court, the TSJA ruled that had the hospital operated earlier, the young man might have lived.

New beacon THE Almeria Port Authority awarded a €280,000 contract to build a lighthouse in Mojacar, as the Garrucha installation is obscured by buildings and no longer visible from the sea. The Mojacar lighthouse will be built on municipal land on the north side of Cerro del Moro Manco and will take four months to construct.

Natural gas WORK began in Seron on installing a natural gas deposit and three kilometres of pipelines connected to local homes and businesses. By the time the first phase of the project has concluded at the end of this year, natural gas will be available to 60 per cent of local properties.

Found out GUARDIA CIVIL officers at Almeria port arrested a stowaway hiding under the chassis of a lorry that had boarded the JJ Sister ferry in Nador (Morocco). Last year Guardia Civil sniffer dogs detected 38 migrants, two of them underage, who had risked their lives by using this method to reach Spain.

Dead dolphins A STRIPED and a bottlenose dolphin were found dead on Nijar’s San Jose coast but Equinac, the wildlife group authorised to intervene in these cases, explained that it was impossible to collect them for analysis owing to the inaccessibility of the spot. They were badly decomposed and, unusually, both were young.

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Waves almost reach nudist zone STORM FILOMENA brought snow to high ground in Almeria Province while also wreaking damage at sea level. Residents with frontline homes in Vera’s naturist zone saw heavy seas and high winds produce waves that almost reached their homes, although the problem was not a new one, they said. They had been warning for some time about the way that the sea was encroaching on this part of the coast, residents said. The Veraplayazul association made an SOS call months ago regarding the seven kilometres of shore south of the second breakwater, a spokesperson told the local Spanish media. The coastline is the central government’s responsibility, Environment councillor Belen Car-

OLD PROBLEM: Waves encroach on Natsun homes. nicer and Vera’s mayor Jose Carmelo Jorge Blanco explained. They nevertheless added that they had met Environment ministry officials to discuss the

beach’s problems as the town hall was “strongly committed” to ensuring that action was taken. The Ministry in Madrid assured them that the coastal au-

thority Costas intends to solve the problem by building a small breakwater in front of the Natsun nudist area, Carnicer and Jorge Blanco announced.

Help for the self-employed CARBONERAS Town Hall is providing sub­ sidies for the self­employed and owners of small businesses hit by the Covid­19 pandemic. Applicants stand to receive up to €1,000 from a €145,000 allocation that the town hall has set up to boost the local economy while assisting those who create employment and make the effort to keep their businesses open. “This should help them to continue to

Complain about it

ADRA Town Hall has increased its budget for the Municipal Con­ sumers’ Office (OMIC) by more than €12,000. This was made possible by a 40 per cent subsidy granted in 2020 by the Junta de Andalucia’s Health and Family department, announced Pedro Peña, the town hall’s Consumer Affairs council­ lor. “This is good news because the service is essential for defending consumers’ rights,” he said. The OMIC office also plays an important role with its advice for consumers and providing sup­ port when making claims,” Peña said. Although OMIC is currently open, the town hall website www.adra.es includes a claims sheet which dissatisfied con­ sumers can complete online, he added.

do,” said Carboneras mayor Jose Luis Amerigo Fernandez. “We are well aware of the adversity that the pandemic has brought with it, which encouraged us to take on this mu­ nicipal commitment,” he added. Amerigo went on to say that the town hall wanted to carry this out earlier and launched the scheme as soon as the Junta de Andalucia gave the go­ahead, “some­ thing we had been requesting since Au­

gust,” the mayor said. “Carboneras residents can rest assured that we are going to put all possible re­ sources at their service and try to alleviate the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus,” the mayor pledged. Applicants have until February 5 to ap­ ply to the town hall for this subsidy whose terms and conditions can be consulted at the town hall’s https://carboneras.sed electronica.es/ website.

Big prize A VIATOR resident has won an ONCE Sueldazo (salary) of €2,000 a month for 10 years. The unnamed person bought the ticket from 22­year­old Aaron Lopez, who is Almeria Province’s youngest ONCE lottery­seller. Aaron sold nine other tickets, which won €400 each, as well as the Sueldazo prize. “You feel very happy and excited, wondering who could have won it, and a lot of things you can’t explain,” he told the Spanish media the next day. “They’re bad times for everyone, the year starting the way it has with the Covid situation and the storm,” Aaron said. “But giving a prize like this is thrilling and a morale boost for me and my clients.”

Smoother ride OWING to increased agricultural activity in Vera, several rural roads that are now much­used by heavy vehicles will be resur­ faced. Many are in bad condition, having been damaged by tractors and lorries, which also puts at risk residents in country areas who must use the same roads. Vera Town Hall has now put out to tender a €99,915 contract to carry out the work, using materi­ als appropriate to the number and type of vehicles that use them each day, municipal sources said.

All in order ADOLFO GONZALEZ MONTES, bishop of Almeria, denied that the appointment of an assistant bishop was prompted by eco­ nomic irregularities. The diocese was financially up­to­date, he declared: “So far, everything is correct,” insisted Gonzalez Montes, calling on crit­ ics “to prove otherwise.” According to reports in the daily newspaper, El Ideal, the prelate rejected rumours of fi­ nancial problems that had brought the diocese near to bankruptcy but admitted that the pandemic was responsible for smaller congregations and dwindling collection plates. The bishop dismissed ru­ mours linking the arrival of co­ bishop, Antonio Gomez Cantero, with an investigation into the diocese’s finances ordered by Rome. “The Episcopal Conference has no powers in this field,” the bishop declared.

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A load of rubbish ALMERIA City’s Envi­ ronmental Sustainabili­ ty department headed by Margarita Cobos re­ moved almost 500 tons of rubbish in one­ off operations last year. This was carried out parallel to the street­ cleaning service that city hall outsources to the Entorno Urbano concessionary, Cobos said. These operations were the result of what the councillor de­ scribed as special ser­ vices made necessary by “antisocial behav­ iour” to which city hall always responded rapidly and, in a few cases, repeatedly. Cobos called once more on the city’s pop­ ulation to cooperate without resorting to fly­tipping which dam­ aged Almeria’s image and impaired “peace­ able co­existence.” Cobos revealed that her department had been called on to act in Barranco Caballar, El Puche, La Chanca, La Hoya, San Cristobal and the La Peseta ac­ cess more often than in any other of the city’s neighbourhoods. El Puche alone had generated 102 tons of rubbish principally in August and Septem­ ber, she said. Operatives had also been called in at Los Almendros, Paraje del Bobar and the Fuente de los 102 Pueblos. Ensuring that the city stayed clean and litter­free was a shared responsibility, the councillor insisted. “We all know that the rubbish did not ar­ rive there by itself,” Cobos pointed out, maintaining that city hall needed the local population’s collabora­ tion if the municipality was to remain clean.

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14 - 20 January 2021

Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Plummet BITCOIN and other digital coins tumbled on Monday, January 11, wiping some $190 billion from the entire cryptocurrency market with experts saying the sell-off could signal some profit-taking by investors. The value of the cryptocurrency market was $932.20 billion as at 8.10 GMT, down from $1.1 trillion a day earlier, according to Coinmarket-

SPAIN needs 70,000 more places in nursing homes to meet WHO standards. The country falls short of the World Health Or­ ganisation’s recommended ratio of five places for every 100 people over the age of 65. In Spain, there are 389,031 places in nursing homes for the elderly distributed in 5,542 cen­ tres, according to data from the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services (Imserso), published after collecting information from the au­ tonomous communities.

NEWS

Falls short

The Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, which has analysed the report for 2019, has warned more than 70,000 places would be necessary to comply with the WHO rec­ ommendation. According to the report, three out of four cen­ tres in Spain are private and 62 per cent of the places are publicly funded (242,206).

VALUE DOWN: Bitcoins took a tumble. cap. The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, collapsed

Spain Colder Than Poland ON Saturday, January 9 Spain accumulated more snow in a mere three days than the traditionally colder northern European coun­ tries such as Poland. Storm Filomena had been battering the coun­ try since last Wednesday with heavy downpours, icy winds and un­ precedented snowfall, with Interior Minister Fernando Grande­Marlaska warning that we still face “difficult days” ahead. Marlaska’s department activated a ‘General Emergency Plan’ for the first time ever with 31 provinces in Spain on alert for extreme weather conditions.

by over 16 per cent from a day earlier to $33,400. The second-biggest crypto, ether, was down by more than 20 per cent to $1,072.19. The sell-off in cryptocurrencies comes after a huge rally and could signal some profittaking by investors, analysts said. Bitcoin hit an all-time high last week, rising to almost $42,000. It is still up over 340 per cent in the last 12 months.

Amazon’s expansion plan AMAZON plans further expan­ sion in Spain with a new logistics ‘megacentre’ in Cadiz. Amazon will invest up to €6.5 million to build and equip the lo­ gistics centre in El Puerto de San­ ta Maria. The almost 12,000 square me­ tre warehouse will be built at ‘Las Salinas’ industrial estate, on a 41,217 square metre plot. The local mayor, German

Beardo, has confirmed that this will be “one of the most impor­ tant logistics facilities in Andalu­ cia” in the company’s network. The mayor believes that Ama­ zon’s presence “will be a boost not only for our town but also for the province” and represents “the largest business operation on industrial land that El Puerto de Santa Maria has experienced in decades.”

According to the mayor, ap­ proximately 100 direct jobs will be created. Amazon has already started the work, with the forecast that it will take between eight and 10 months. The facilities will have nine un­ loading docks for lorries and 43 for delivery vehicles, as well as a parking lot for some 500 delivery vans.

Rescued by Angels SNOWED IN: Residents of Madrid had a difficult time. STORM FILOMENA left Madrid covered in snow and emergency ser­ vices overwhelmed. But residents called Snow Angels or ‘4x4 An­ gels’ have stepped up in a show of solidarity upon receiving SOS messages for urgent assistance or medical care. One example is Án­ gel Hernández, who is using the Telegram messaging network and his 4x4, which are scarce in the Madrid city centre. After 061 emergency services were unable to send an ambulance immediately to Mari Luz, the Snow Angel stepped up. Within min­ utes of the family raising an SOS on the Telegram service, Ángel ap­ peared to the rescue in his 4x4, and successfully transferred Mari Luz to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital for urgent treatment.

NEWS

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Euro Weekly Welcomes BBC News Home upgrades CEO of the Euro Weekly News, Michel Euesden, was interviewed by a BBC news team at the EWN offices on Friday. The short documentary was intended to explain just how life is changing on the Costa del Sol for the many thousands of expats the paper serves now that Britain has left the EU. The team, led by BBC journalist Gavin Lee, were welcomed back into the offices of the EWN after having been the subject of a previous BBC documentary filmed in Mijas, back in February 2020. Michel starting the interview by thanking Gavin for choosing the EWN as their ‘go-to’ for any information regarding

INTERVIEW: Gavin with EWN’s Michel. Spain’s Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, while in the background, the full team of EWN staff were busy preparing content for the paper’s next six editions. Everyone of course ob-

THE Gran Hotel Almeria has reopened after closing in November upon being hit by falling reservations amid the coro­ navirus crisis. The hotel temporarily closed at the start of November after having to place staff on ERTE, as the increasing restric­ tions due to Covid­19 saw reservations

served the covid rules, with proper social distancing and wearing their red EWN masks it was quiet, but hectic! Gavin asked Michel to explain the EWN headline for that week’s edition, ‘Better

Gran Hotel Almeria Reopens fall to a rate that could not keep the ho­ tel open. But things are looking up and with the Spanish Women’s Football Su­ per Cup Final being held in Almeria, the

Brexit Deal.’ She described how it affected the typical expat pensioners who, used to surviving on their fixed incomes, were now finding it harder with electricity pricing just experiencing a hike. “You are either in one camp or another” said Michel, describing how Brexit would affect the daily lives of the thousands of expats that live on the Costa del Sol. The interview over, Gavin thanked Michel, Steven and the EWN team for their help and co-operation and looked forward to the next time they would visit, maybe to see just how Brexit has changed the lives of British expats living in Spain 12 months on.

hotel reopened on Monday January 11. According to Europa Press the hotel will be home to not only FC Barcelona but also the CDEP Logroño team for the Super Cup that will take place at the Mediterranean Games Stadium. The ho­ tel is set to stay open after the competi­ tion finishes.

NEW SCHEME: Improving the safety of homes. THE Junta de Andalucia’s Ministry for Development, Infrastruc­ ture, and Territorial Planning has announced plans to help over 7,000 households across the region refurbish their homes to bet­ ter suit their needs, with elderly and disabled citizens prioritised by the project. Around 20,000 Andalucia residents will benefit from the ambi­ tious project, which the government also says will create around 7,000 new jobs. The scheme will cost €30 million, as part of the government’s broader Plan Vive en Andalucia 2020­2021 initiative to which €71.8 million has been assigned. Widening the width of doorways, improving the safety of the electrical and gas facilities, installing non­slip flooring, and adding safety features to bathrooms are among the home features the scheme will provide to primarily elderly or disabled Andalucians. The money will also be invested in making homes more sustain­ able and energy­efficient. Lifts will be added to around 200 apart­ ment blocks that currently only have stairs. Andalucia’s Minister for Public Works, Infrastructure and Terri­ torial Planning, Marifran Carazo, says they are satisfied with the speed of this initiative’s rollout and that it is largely in line with “the demands of applicants from previous years.”

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14 - 20 January 2021

DGT issues reminder

THE Spanish Traffic Depart­ ment, DGT, has reminded dri­ vers of the use of the V­16 emergency light, which will gradually replace triangles by 2024. Although the use of the light will not be mandatory until 2024, the DGT has recommend­ ed its use from March 2021, and until then, triangles should still be carried. Once it is mandatory in 2024, failing to carry the new V­16 beacon will lead to a fine. The reason for the change is that triangles present a danger for the driver and others be­ cause of having to get out of the car to put them in place, whereas the V­16 light can sim­

NEW BEACON: To replace triangles if you break down. ply be put on top of the car without even getting out as they are magnetic and will stay in place. The 60­degree light will have a parabolic reflector and be visible from approxi­ mately one kilometre. They will also come with Bluetooth al­ lowing users to connect them

to a mobile to send a request for roadside assistance once ac­ tivated.

NEWS

PM’s support for autistic boy THE Prime Minister of Spain has spoken out in defence of an autistic boy who was bru­ tally attacked. The young man was at­ tacked in Barcelona in the Can Batllo area of Sants, af­ ter a group cornered him, at­ tacked him and stole his phone and jewellery. He subsequently managed to flee, crying and completely distressed. The Mossos, Barcelona’s autonomous police, have an ongoing investigation into the

Police save baby NATIONAL and Local Police in Teruel saved the life of a two­month­old baby. The child was unresponsive and wasn’t breathing when they ar­ rived at the family home located in the Arrabal area of Teruel, so the officers performed CPR. The paramedics had been unable to reach the home because of the snow, so the police rushed him to the emergency department at the Obispo Polanco Hospital. The doctors told the police officers that their actions had not only stabilised, but also saved the life of the baby. The National Police receive training in first aid, as do the Local Po­ lice, who will also be training in collaboration with Civil Protection and paramedics in the town so their performance can become even bet­ ter.

incident. It transpires that one person has surrendered themselves to police about the attack which has gone vi­ ral on social media networks. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social me­ dia of his support for the young man; he said that as a father I am outraged by crimes like this, our sons and daughters deserve more. We must denounce this vile act and any subsequent ones, and he went on to say his support was with the boy

and his family, furthermore, there is no need to be silent with these kinds of attacks, we will deal with the perpe­ trators, you can speak out. The attackers were be­ lieved to be just children themselves and possibly im­ migrants to Spain with ages in their group from 12 to 17 years old. The autistic boy who was attacked is 13 years old it’s understood. The video has been viewed on social media more than 3,500,000 times.

Women Can Read Mass THE Roman Catholic Church has made a ground­breaking deci­ sion on Monday, January 11, to change the laws to allow women to read the Gospel and serve as Eucharistic distributors, but has stopped short of permitting them the right to become priests. Pope Francis said that after much reflection, he had made the decision to acknowledge the “precious contribution” women make to the church, as well as responding to the “needs of the times.” However, the Vatican was quick to point out that the change in the Code of Canon Law, called Spiritus Domini (the Spirit of the Lord), is “essentially distinct from the ordained min­ istry.” “The pontiff, therefore, has established that women can ac­ cede to these ministries and they are attributed by a liturgical function that institutionalises them,” the Vatican said in a state­ ment.

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Roquetas de Mar Evacuations EVACUATIONS were made from a Roquetas de Mar fire after two were injured with smoke inhalation and burns. The fire started at around 7.20am on Monday morning (January 11) in a block of flats on Fénix Street in Aguadulce. The fire began on the third

storey, and emergency ser­ vices were called. Firefighters from the Poniente Consortium, Local Police and Public Health Emer­ gencies Company (EPES) tech­ nicians attended the scene, and successfully evacuated the entire building to ensure

the safety of residents. Two injured people were transferred to the Hospital de Poniente according to Europa Press, one suffering from smoke inhalation and the oth­ er with burn injuries. The rest of the residents have since been able to return home.

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Training for youths FIFTEEN young people trained as Geri­ atrics Auxiliaries in Huercal­Overa in Almeria. The aim of the training was to both help young people into employment and help fill a gap, as there is a grow­ ing need for people to look after the elderly. The 15 newly qualified Geriatrics Auxiliaries, were presented with their diplomas on Monday, January 4 by

Domingo Fernández, the mayor of Huercal­Overa. The training has been a great suc­ cess and was provided in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Almeria. The students learnt about care for the elderly including nutrition, depen­ dency and hygiene. It is hoped the course will return for a second edi ­ tion.

Outbreaks after Jabs ALMERIA has detected two nursing home outbreaks after the first vaccine was given. Four new outbreaks of Covid-19 have been discovered and were reported by the Health and Families of the Board in Almeria on Monday January 11. So far 38 residents have contracted the virus, and two of the outbreaks have been confirmed as being in nursing homes where the first dose of the vaccine had been given already. So far it is thought the infections where people have received the first dose are not as severe, and more cases are asymptomatic. Juan de la Cruz Belmonte for the Health and Families of the Board in Almeria said the “severity of the patients is not as high as before.”

FIRST VACCINE: But nursing homes suffer.

Supermarket fears shortage

Vaccine

STORM FILOMENA has led to fears that Spanish supermarkets could experience food supply dis­ ruption as heavy snowfall paralysed key infra­ structure. On Spanish social media, images of empty shelves in Madrid stores are circulating widely leading to fears that shortages could be felt in the coming days for some customers. A spokesman for Mercadona, Spain’s largest supermarket chain, has said that a “great effort” is being made to adapt the company’s logistics network so that the supermarkets most affected by the storm “maintain their normal activity.” “The company is prioritising the replacement of the most affected shops as they receive the different services,” the retailer said in a state­ ment.

EMPTY: Problematic for customers. Asedas, the Association of Supermarket Com­ panies in Spain, warns that several supermarkets throughout badly hit storm areas are experienc­ ing a “complicated situation” due to transport difficulties, but added that they are hopeful that supplies will face minimal disruption thanks to the work of staff and the government.

Company charged in death of driver FIVE business directors in Salou, Tarragona, have been charged in the death of a lorry driver in an accident. They have been charged with severe reckless manslaughter, as the Mossos d’Esquadra consider that the man’s death was a conse­ quence of the worn tyres on his vehicle. The accident occurred on July 3 last year, when the driver of an ar­ ticulated lorry travelling on the A­2

highway lost control of the vehi­ cle, crossed the third lane of the highway, collided with the con­ crete central reservation, smash­ ing an information panel and re­ sulted in the driver’s death. The Central Department of In­ vestigation of Traffic Accidents certified that the reason for the accident had been the poor con­ dition of the tyres of the dam­ aged lorry and the investigation revealed anomalies in the vehi­

cle’s maintenance. A careful investigation into the history of repairs and mainte­ nance of the damaged vehicle, a lorry that had travelled more than a million kilometres, was carried out. The semi­trailer did not have its MOT up­to­date and mainte­ nance was not adequate. The Mossos charged those re­ sponsible for the lorry and found that such irregularities were com­ monplace in the company.

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Dreams Come True HAPPY LUCAS: Dreams of becoming a police officer.

THE festival of the Three Kings was made even more special for one little boy who dreams of becoming a police officer when he grows up. Four­year­old Lucas, who is in hospital battling cancer, received a surprise visit on January 6 from three police officers and was even given his own police suit so that he could practise being a man of the law. Alicante mayor Luis Bar­ cala took to Facebook to wish Lucas a happy Three Kings Day: “Because magic is found where one least expects it, today the Magi of the Ali­ cante Local Police had a sur­ prise in store for Lucas. At four years old, he is a great little champion who is very clear that he wants to be a policeman. He conquered us all this Christmas when we met him at the visit organ­ ised by the Children’s Oncol­ ogy Unit to the House of Santa Claus. A lot of strength for Lucas and his family!”

NEWS

Trapped In Shopping Centre

AS many as 90 people were stuck in the Gran Plaza 2 shopping centre in Majadahonda in Madrid on Friday night, January 8, after Storm Filomena battered the city with the worst snow­ storm seen in half a decade. While most of those stranded were staff from the centre’s 190 stores, many customers were also forced to camp down for the night as the weather outside made getting home impossible. Photos on social media showed staff from the Zara store sleeping on flattened­out cardboard boxes. One restaurant worker in the centre said in a statement to RTVE: “At six o’clock on Friday afternoon we tried to leave, people arrived by car at the Majadahonda roundabout and they stayed there because of the amount of snow and there was no longer any passage. We all had to go back to the shopping centre.”

Housing Health Workers THE Benidorm City Council and the Hosbec hotel association launched a joint initiative on Thursday, January 7, whereby accommodation was avail­ able to health professionals in the area in the mostly deserted tourist lodgings. This measure was also put into practice during the first wave of the coronavirus and allowed 34 health profession­ als to be accommodated for 45 days. The initiative aims to ensure that health work­ ers providing services in the Marina Baixa regional hospital, Benidorm Clinic, IMED Levante and health centres can access safe accommodation.

SLEEP-IN: Staff slept on cardboard boxes.

Bitcoin Fraud

NATIONAL POLICE have arrested three people in Alicante and one in Cuenca on suspicion of fraud for operating a fake cryptocurrency company and stealing over €7 million in customer funds. The fraudsters hoodwinked victims by initially paying out interest on their investments to entice customers to buy more Bitcoin; once they had reinvested, their money disappeared. Police sources report that more than 380 coins worth €19,250 each were stolen, totalling €7 million of robbed cryptocurrency. Two men and two women have been arrested and the investigation continues with examination of the perpetrators’ computers, tablets and phones. One of the detainees revealed he had fled to Cuenca to avoid increasing pressure from people he had scammed.

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NEWS

Spain’s Record Temperatures And the winner is… IT’S a week for making history in Spain as La Llanca in G erona only had a few hours to enjoy breaking the record for the coldest day ever recorded at a frigid 34.1C. On Thursday, January 7, Vega de Liordes in the

Picos de Europa National Park registered a truly astonishing -35.6C, according to the Northwest Peninsular Meteorological Association (Noromet), making it the lowest temperature since records began.

This is not the first time the municipality of Posada de Valdeon has hit the headlines; back in 2016 the region recorded the lowest temperature ever seen at the time on February 19, 32.7C.

Electricity Price Hike

A WHOPPING 11 million people in Spain will feel the added pinch when the electric bill arrives at the end of January, as the price of electricity has jumped by 27 per cent compared with 2020. The timing could be a little bit better as the increase coincides with the cold snap affecting most of the country

thanks to Storm Filomena. The reason for the hike in consumer costs is that the price of electricity in the wholesale market has shot up to €94.99 per megawatt hour (MWh), the second highest increase in history, according to the Iberian Electricity Market Operator (OMIE).

EL NIÑO lottery draw was held on January 6, and the winning number, with a first prize of €200,000 per ticket, was 19750. T he first prize was sold throughout Spain, leaving lucky winners in Andalucia, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Madrid, V alencia, C antabria, G alicia, L a R ioja, Castilla y Leon, the Canary Islands, Murcia and Aragon. The second prize was for number 03436, with €75,000 per ticket; and the third prize was for 05587, with €25,000 per ticket. The latter was sold in lottery administration of-

fices throughout S pain, except in the Balearic Islands. The total prize money for El Niño lottery is €700 million. Check below if you’ve won any of the smaller prizes: €350 per ticket: numbers 3350 and 3156 €100 per ticket: numbers 672, 432, 935, 173, 741, 159, 835, 926, 918, 010, 936, 521, 418, 491 €40 per ticket: numbers 07, 24, 41, 28, 69 €20 per ticket (money back): any ticket ending in 0, 7 or 4.

‘Clap For Heroes’ ‘ C L A P F O R C A R E R S ’ became a weekly ritual for millions of people every T hursday night at 8pm in the U K, for 10 weeks during the first lockdown, started by a Dutch national, A nnemarie P las, who lives in South London, and now, a new ‘ C lap For H eroes’ has restarted again this week, revived by M s Plas. Along with a group of

friends, they started the spontaneous idea of standing outside their homes, in their gardens, or on their balconies, clapping, some banging pans, others even letting off fireworks, as a sign of support to all the frontline workers who were battling the pandemic. Ms Plas tweeted, “‘Clap for Heroes’ will take place on Thursdays at 8pm, the

same as ‘ C lap for C arers’ during the previous lockdown. We are bringing back the 8pm applause, in our third lockdown. I hope it can lift the spirit, of all of us. Carers, teachers, home schooling parents, those who shield and A L L who are pushing through this difficult time! Please join and share! #clapforheroes.”

NEWS

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WhatsApp Scam Andalucia tops CYBERCRIMINALS are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to hack accounts and swindle money from the vulnerable. Warnings have been issued of a new scam where fraudsters are taking over the accounts of unsuspecting WhatsApp users and they assume the identity of one of the victim’s contacts and send them a verification code; once the owner of the WhatsApp account clicks on the link, their account, along with all the information associated with it, is taken over by the scammer. The Cybercrime police department has reported that some users have actually been contacted by the fraudsters demanding ransom money for the return of their accounts.

for vaccination ON Saturday, January 9 Juan Marin, vice president of the Junta de Andalucia, announced on social media that the region is number one in vaccination. Juan Marin claimed on social media that one out of every four vaccines administered was in Andalucia. We, he exclaimed, are the autonomous region that has administered the most vaccines. So far in Andalucia 140, 295 vaccines have been received ready to use, and 69,445 of those have actually been given to the region’s citizens. Reiterating that just under 50 per cent of all vaccines had been administered he said more were needed to continue the inoculation campaign.

Ryanair Numbers Down RYANAIR passenger numbers were down 83 per cent in December. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has confirmed that the airline has suffered a dramatic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions associated with it. The company recorded an 83 per cent drop in passenger numbers in December alone, with the summer of 2020 showing the first loss for the airline since 1990. The latest figures show that Ryanair only operated around 22 per cent of the usual Decem-

ber schedule in 2020 as Covid-19 measures continue to hammer the aviation sector, and the company has warned that ongoing issues could well mean only half of the normal flights will operate this year also. Marking the worst summer in 30 years, the airline reported a €197 million loss between January and September. A new ‘jab and go’ ad campaign launched by Ryanair on Boxing Day, urging customers to book flights to continental Europe, has been slammed by consumers for being inaccurate and insensitive.

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World’s Smallest Giraffes

THE smallest giraffes in the world have been born with dwarfism and are only half the size that you would expect. The gorgeous animals were found by Conservation scien­ tists and were named Gimil and Nigel. Giraffes normally come in

at around 18 feet tall, but the Nubian is nine feet four inches, and the Angolan is a tiny eight and a half feet. The scientists who were working for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Giraffe Conservation

€12million Pyramid Scheme THE Supreme Court has sentenced financial advisor Miguel Olague Roncal to five and a half years in prison for running the largest pyramid scheme in Navarra, reportedly swindling 53 people out of more than €12 million in his property scam. The unsuspecting victims thought they were receiving genuine financial guidance when they forked over their cash to purchase non-existent properties in Madrid, a fact that only came to light after Roncal ran out of money. The scam has been run by the Pamploma native since 1994. According to court officials, Roncal would offer investments, sometimes as large as €2 million, on properties he had no authorisation to sell. He would then use the cash to pay interest to the longest-serving members of the pyramid scheme. Amazingly, when the scam artist realised he was running out of dosh he actually turned himself into police.

Foundation came to the conclu­ sion that both are dwarf ani­ mals. This is a condition that is seen in humans and animals, but is extremely rare in wild an­ imals. Gimil and Nigel are the world’s smallest and the only known dwarf giraffes. The pair should have a nor­ mal life span, but it is feared that due to the stature and the fact the Nubian giraffe has short legs that decrease his mo­ bility, he may be at risk from predators.

Babies born in snowstorms EIGHT babies were born during the snowstorms in Spain, each one a miracle. Each birth was a tribute to the new mothers and emergency services who braved icy cold conditions just to access the locations, let alone provide medical attention. One woman gave birth whilst inside a trapped vehicle to a healthy baby girl ,who will repeatedly tell this amazing story when older.

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Alicante truckers stranded MORE than 300 truck­ ers were stuck in the Bulilla Industrial Es­ tate in Villena in Ali­ cante for six hours on Friday, January 8 as the A­31 in the direc­ tion of Valencia was blocked to heavy vehi­ cles because of the heavy snow fall in the area. The Red Cross ar­ rived on the scene at 6.30am and distrib­ uted hot drinks and food to the lorry dri­ vers as they waited until noon to get on the road. Elsewhere in Ali­ cante, the AP­7 motor­ way between Ibi and Alcoy was cut off to lorries until noon, and several secondary roads were closed.

Help needed for the Homeless FRIENDS OF THE STREET ASSOCIATION have been working hard to hand out thermal sleeping bags to the homeless people of Valencia to combat the low temperatures on the street. The association goes out every night looking for homeless people and have up to eight different routes through the city of Valencia, identifying the areas where those who are unable to find shelter, live night and day in the open air. The Association has 120 members of staff and more than 200 volunteers that focus on the homeless, according to the president of Amigos de la Calle, Jaime González, who explained: “Those who have been on the street for a short time usually accept shelters. This

is the case, for example, of young migrants who leave the juvenile centres with nothing and are completely unprotected when they turn 18 years old. “Then there is another profile of homeless people who find it difficult to get off the street, although it is impossible to accept that they like living in those conditions,” he continued. “During the day it is also very cold and in the end, the shelters are a resource, limited to a few hours that do not quite work, although they are very necessary,” Jaime González said. The group has also purchased 1,200 bags of instant dry heat: “They are bags that shake and emit heat for six hours. Users put

it inside the bag and receive some heat. At the moment it is something experimental. We do not stop trying different things to try to help someone who has nothing and who, on top of that, feels guilty about their situation. Keep in mind that no matter how much we distribute blankets or warm clothes, if it gets wet there is no solution. Even so, we distribute blankets, coats, sandwiches or hot soup,” he explained. The association “urgently need more new underwear and comfortable shoes,” and is asking the government for more help and resource: “If they could go to a house or a place that they did not have to leave in the morning, the situation would change,” González concluded.

Andalucian Students Could Return THOUSANDS of Andalucian students could return to class, but the final decisions sit with the universities. With only the Almería, Jerez, Granada and Jaen universities being required to give ‘online’ classes to some 80,000 students, four Andalucian universities are able to choose. The universities in Huelva, Malaga, Sevilla and

CLASS STUDIES: The final decisions sit with the universities.

Córdoba are allowed to have the near 140,000 students return. According to El Mundo, the final decision on whether students return or not must be taken by the universities ‘by virtue of its autonomy.’ Sevilla university took to Twitter to explain the approach that they will follow, and explained a gradual return is planned during the week.

NEWS

Urgent Blood Donation Appeal AN urgent blood donation appeal has been launched for Andalucia by the Andalucian Network of Transfusion Medicine, Tissues and Cells of the Ministry of Health and Families. All blood types are needed to donate and an urgent appeal has been issued. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many donation sessions cancelled as Universities and other spaces usually used have been closed. Both plasma and blood are required and can be donated at mobile units in smaller municipalities and static donation points in the larger cities. Information on donating and where to donate can be found on the 'Donate Blood' segment of the Andalusian Health Service website and by using the Dona Sangre Andalucia app, that is available on iOS and Android.

Supermarket comparison

BEST VALUE: Shopping wisely can save €1,000 a year. SPANISH consumer agency OCU has released its annual report on which supermar­ kets are the cheapest for cus­ tomers. During the 2020 Covid­19 pandemic, the OCU reports that many of Spain’s major supermarket chains were forced to lower their prices as many consumers found themselves out of work and tight for cash. In their annual report, the consumer agency revealed which major chains will save customers the most money. Despite having the largest market share of supermar­ kets in the country, Mer­ cadona is not the cheapest option. This title is awarded to Dani, followed by Tif ­

both popular and widespread in Andalucia. Alcampo is the cheapest nationally popular brand, while Madrid’s Sanchez Romero retains its ti­ tle of being Spain’s most ex­ pensive grocery shop. Economy Cash and Cash Fresh both made the top five cheapest list, while con­ sumers are warned that Ula­ box, Surli Discau, and Suma will rack up the most expen­ sive. The OCU claims that by opting to shop at the cheap­ est supermarkets, consumers will save an average of €1,000 annually. They also noted that, during the pan­ demic, online shopping has rocketed in Spain for gro­ ceries and household goods.

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Hells Angel’s drama due to begin shooting FILMING of TV series ‘Marked The Unforgiven,’ based on the novel ‘Marked,’ written by the former president of ‘Hells Angels’ in Ventura (California), George Christie, will begin at the end of January in Almeria, Malaga and Marbella. Communication agency ‘Hormiguea’ announced in a statement that a new addition to the cast is Cuban-American actress, Tracy Ann Hoyos Lopez. “Hoyos Lopez, former TikTok sensation, has been cast as Samantha Aleja, a no-nonsense chief prosecutor for the organised crime task force investigating the motorcycle club ‘Marked The Unforgiven’ and his ties to the

SOME 3.5 million Spaniards suffer from ‘energy poverty’ and cannot afford to pay for heating this winter. This represents 7.6 per cent of the population and more than 10 per cent of the total number of the Europeans (34 million) who will struggle to cover the cost of heating their homes, alhough this is a reduc­ tion of 2.5 per cent compared to four years ago. Autonomous communities

TV SERIES: Is to be filmed in Almeria, Malaga and Marbella. Chicago mob,” they explained. “We are very excited that such a

talented and accomplished Shakespearean actress is taking on the role of Samantha Aleja. Over 1,000 actresses auditioned for the role, but in the end, we felt that Tracy was the best fit for this visceral real life drama of life,” said the director of distribution and administration of the production, Lucy Carver. Casting took place in Malaga in July when 38 Spanish actors and actresses were chosen from over 2,000 applicants who attended auditions held at the Soho CaixaBank theatre owned by Antonio Banderas hoping to be offered one of the coveted roles.

Energy poverty Castilla­La Mancha, Ex­ tremadura and Navarra have the highest percentage of their population in a situation of ‘en­ ergy poverty,’ according to da­ ta from the Ministry of Ecologi­ cal Transition. And in Madrid, 215,000 resi­ dents are in a ‘critical situation,’ reveals a study from the Span­

ish National Research Council (CSIC), which equates to 6 per cent of the capital’s population. Energy poverty is defined as a situation in which households cannot access essential energy services. “Energy inefficiency is preva­ lent in older buildings, located in vulnerable residential areas.

Many of them contain low­in­ come households that do not have the possibility of reducing their consumption if it is not through the deprivation of their basic energy needs,” explained CSIC researcher, Fernando Martín­Consuegra. High unemployment levels, the concentration of older peo­ ple with low pensions and the high costs of energy bills are the main causes of ‘energy pover­ ty,’ according to the study.

NEWS

Care home to pay €30,000

A RESIDENTIAL care home in Guaro, Malaga has been sen­ tenced to pay €30,000 in compensation to the family of a woman who was killed by another patient, aged 86. Malaga Provincial Court acquitted the 91­year­old man accused of killing the woman and injuring another man in the early hours of August 2, 2018, at the Domus VI Sierra de las Nieves in Guaro. The court considered that due to his mental state he cannot be held criminally responsible for killing the woman, as he suffered from dementia with severe behavioural issues which totally annulled his facul­ ties. However, the sentence found the care home responsible because the outcome could have been avoided had the staff taken precautions and been more vigilant in Sector 4, the area reserved for patients with behavioural disorders, where he and the victim were housed. Staff on duty at the time did not see images from the se­ curity cameras which showed the patients walking the cor­ ridors and at around 3.20am, the man met the victim and attacked her. She died from brain trauma. The man had al­ so attacked his roommate, 86, who had several head in­ juries although they were not serious. Although he is acquitted of manslaughter and injuries, the court ruled that he be sent to a psychiatric centre where his illness can be properly managed for 10 years. The care home had already paid €25,000 in compensation in October, but the court has ruled that €5,000 more be paid as the dead woman was her daughter’s only living parent. The sentence can be appealed in the Andalucia Superior Court of Justice.

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EUROPEAN PRESS

EUROPEAN NIBS DENMARK

GERMANY

Flying high

Miss Germany

AT the start of the 20th century, the whiteeyed eagle was believed to have been exterminated in Denmark but following a reintroduction campaign in 1996, this elegant bird has had a remarkable rebirth with more than 1,200 having been recorded in the wild.

THE organisers of the Miss Germany contest have decided that it’s no longer correct to rank beauty over brains and having removed all men from the judges panel last year where the winner was a 35year-old mother, they have received 15,000 applications for 2021.

NETHERLANDS

FRANCE

Popular names

Lunch time

A REPORT by SVB Bank which distributes child benefits in Holland says that the most popular names registered up to November 2020 were for boys Noah (807) and for girls Emma (685). These were also the most popular names in 2019.

WITH France closing restaurants due to the pandemic and winter now bitingly cold in certain areas, the French government has authorised local councils to open public rooms to allow those who work outside to have somewhere warm to eat their lunch.

BELGIUM

NORWAY

Lucky escape

UN Security Council

A TRAIN crashed into a broken-down bus stuck on a level crossing in West Flanders but happily no-one was on the bus at the time and the four passengers on the train escaped unhurt, although the train driver suffered minor injuries.

PRINCE HAAKON took part in a digital meeting with the Norwegian team that will sit on the United Nations Security Council for the next two years. There are five permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the USA with 10 temporary members.

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Town Hiring ‘Street Informants’ THE town of Torredembarra in Tarragona is hiring ‘street informants’ to ensure that Covid restrictions are followed properly. This year three ‘street informant’ jobs will be created with the dual aim of Covid-19 restriction moni-

toring, and helping employ people. The jobs will only be open to certain people, that have suffered financially due to the pandemic and are unemployed amongst other criteria. The jobs will entail checking on street markets,

parks, playgrounds, restaurants and leisure areas to help keep the number of Covid-19 cases down. The jobs will last for nine months and successful candidates will be trained for the job with 60 hours of training.

Delivery Driver Maskless Biter Arrested Traffic Rules POLICE officers in Malaga centre were forced to arrest a man on Monday, January 4 after he became extremely aggressive when they asked him to put on a mask. The irate individual lunged at the Local Police, biting one on the thigh and attempt­ ing to grab the other by the genitals. Offi­ cers out on patrol spotted the culprit with­ out his mask strolling along Calle Juan de Padilla. When the police caught up, they in­ sisted on searching him, sparking a violent reaction resulting in three officers injured before the man was subdued and arrested. Police sources reported the individual continued to attack officials once detained at the Provincial Police Station, where he is awaiting an appearance on assault charges and breaches to Covid­19 restrictions.

T H E Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced on Thursday, January 7, a wave of new traffic measures to improve the road safety of delivery drivers on bicycles and motorcycles. Under the new rules, bicycle delivery people, known as ‘riders,’ will be required to wear a helmet at all times, while motorcycle drivers must wear gloves and will be allowed to drive on the hard shoulder if there are traffic jams, at a maximum speed of 30 km/hour. In his statement, Marlaska said that due to their work, ‘riders’ “move permanently on the roads of our cities and their personal safety must be guaranteed.” Prior to these new regulations, only cyclists under the age of 16 were required to wear helmets in cities.

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Man stabs ex-girlfriend’s aunt and uncle GUARDIA CIVIL have arrest­ ed a man in Roquetas de Mar for stabbing his ex­girl­ friend’s aunt and uncle in their home, killing the man and seriously injuring the woman. The events took place in the afternoon of Sunday, January 3, in Parador de las Hortichuelas, Roquetas de Mar. The detainee has a crimi­ nal record for gender vio­ lence, but it is not yet known why he went to his ex­girl­ friend’s elderly aunt and un­ cle’s house and attacked them with a knife. The woman was taken to the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital del Poniente. A search was launched im­ mediately after the attack and the man was located in a nearby bar, the Guardia Civil reported.

Andalucia’s

112 Emergency Services

ANDALUCIA’S 112 emer­ gency services handled an amazing 7,834 Christmas in­ cidents, which is up 2.2 per cent on last year. The Christmas period saw 112 most used by Sevilla with nearly 4,000 calls for health related matters, near­ ly 2,000 calls due to security and over 600 fire calls. They also received 270 calls from Sevilla to help animals. Malaga was the next province in line for emer­ gency calls with 5,121, fol­ lowed by Granada at 3,634, and then Cadiz with 3,381. 112 Andalucia is multilin­ gual and they speak Spanish, English, German, French and Arabic and is available con­ stantly throughout the year, no matter the time of day. It provides health, fire, police, rescue and other services.

NEWS

Mystery of Madrid dog sled

THE mystery puzzling social media after a man was seen out with a dog sled following the snow brought by Storm Filomena has now been solved. The man is Javier Talanco, a resident in the Hortaleza area of Madrid, who is a musher and competes inter­ nationally in the sport which is neither well­known nor extensively practised in Spain. After 30 hours of snow, he decided to take his dogs out for some exercise, and was caught doing so by residents in the area, who shared the photos and videos on social media, stirring up much

DOG SLED: Practising with his dogs in the snow. speculation on who he might be. Aged 39, the car parts salesman said he has be­ come something of a celebri­ ty in the area where he lives with his dogs Snabb, Kimbre,

Largest Drug Haul THE National Police and Guardia Civil have concluded a year-long operation by seizing the largest amount of synthetic drugs in Spanish history in Barcelona on Friday, January 8. Officials arrested eight individuals, including the head drug lord, of different nationalities including Spanish, Dutch, Romanians, Colombians and Italians. The operation dismantled two sophisticated laboratories in Barcelona - one was used for storage and the other for manufacturing the drugs. In total, police seized 827,000 MDMA pills, 76 kilos of amphetamine sulphate, 39.5 kilos of glass, 217 litres of liquid amphetamine, 310 kilos of hashish, 89 kilos of marihuana, 2,000 hits of LSD and 1.65 kilos of pink cocaine. In a statement, police said that, had the liquid amphetamine been used as planned, it would have resulted in around 738 kilos of speed. The seizure represents the second largest ecstasy haul in Europe in the past 20 years, and most of the drugs are believed to have been headed to the Spanish market; however, the narcos also had close ties with the UK and Holland.

Haru, Lomu and Skunk. He is not the only one who decided to practise their favourite winter sports in the snowy streets of Madrid, as many people got their skis out and enjoyed the snow.

Carlos Sainz wrong turn SAINZ from Madrid is fight­ ing hard in the 2021 Dakar, but lost the Stage 4 victory to Nasser Al­Attiyah in the end, after Sainz had led at the 43rd Kilometre. He suf­ fered from a series of navi­ gational issues in this stage. Sainz said, “It is not easy. The stage went well, with many difficult places in terms of navigation. It is not easy, as we are having complications. We have had to turn around up to three times.” Sainz won the Dakar’s first stage after making an amazing comeback.

Almeria Financial Inclusion Progress PROGRESS has been made as 33 rural towns in Almeria get cash points to help pre­ vent residents having to travel to perform basic bank operations. As banking exclusion has grown in recent years, small towns have seen residents leave for the coast. This in turn has meant less people using local branches of banks, which have then closed due to lack of use, leaving the remaining resi­ dents having to travel long distances to take out cash and pay bills. Since 2008 over 40 per cent of Almeria’s bank branches have closed. The Almeria Provincial

CASH POINTS: Thirty-three towns now have them installed. Council has now delivered on their Programme to Com­ bat Financial Exclusion and 33 towns now have new cash points installed. This includes, Cobdar, Fuente

Victoria, Laroya, Lijar, Lucar, Partaloa, Benizalon, Almoci­ ta, Turrillas, Bentarique, Olula de Astro, Las Tres Vil­ las, and Albanchez amongst other towns.

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FEATURE

GO LOCAL

THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS is urg­ ing its readers to support local businesses in the community by going local through the lock­ down and for your Christmas shopping this year, instead of feeding online giants and super­ stores. This lockdown and festive peri­ od we challenge you to rediscov­ er your local high streets, mar­ kets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky inde­ pendent businesses in your area. Due to the Covid­19 pandemic, you may have to support many local businesses by ordering on­ line and making use of any click and collect services they can op­ erate if you are unable to get out due to health reasons or lock­ down restrictions. The joy of shopping local means that independent busi­ nesses can help support the local community. Although it may be a euro or two cheaper elsewhere or online, consider where your money is ac­ tually going. By shopping at an in­ dependent store you’re putting food on a local family’s table, and there is no better time than Christmas to give back to your community by making a small gesture and shopping in this way. Many local stores support local charities, support and sponsor lo­ cal sports teams and in many cas­ es the small independent stores are actually much more than just

BUY LOCAL: By shopping locally, independent businesses can help support the local community. a small high street shop, they’re a family’s legacy, often passed down through numerous genera­ tions and support not just the cur­ rent owner, but the generation before. For those stores which are new, that extra couple of euros spent there are supporting some­ one’s dream and ambition, and also the courage it took them to step out alone, which is no easy task. It takes quite a large chunk of money to set up an indepen­ dent store and compete with the multi­national and chains. So be sure to pre­order your turkey from a local butcher and get your spuds from a local green­ grocer, let us revive that commu­

nity spirit and get to know our neighbours again. You could also consider pur­ chasing gift vouchers from local businesses to help them over the coming weeks, thinking out­ side the box can often lead to some fantastic ideas. Why not buy a meal for two, an hour’s tattoo time at a local studio, a hair cut at a local salon or an on­ line study course for someone looking to change their career path. As people are struggling with fi­ nances thinking about what friends and family may actually need is important too. Whilst it’s nice to give a glamourous gift per­ haps pre­paying a family mem­

ber’s phone bill for the month would actually be a better gift. Helping people alleviate stress and worry, give the gift of peace of mind through these difficult times. Choosing to spend your money locally will really make a differ­ ence in the recovery of the local economy. When we buy local, our money stays local, and it strengthens the local economy in two ways. First, buying local keeps money circulating within the local economy. Studies have shown that local businesses recir­ culate a greater share of every eu­ ro as they create locally owned supply chains and invest in their employees.

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SPENDING LOCALLY: Will make a difference to the local economy.

Data shows that local retailers return 52 per cent of their rev­ enue back into the local econo­ my, compared to just 14 per cent for national chain retailers. Money circulating through the local economy benefits everyone who is a part of each transaction. For example, let’s look at a local farmer growing produce. First, they sell to a local restau­ rant, which in turn prepares the fresh produce and sells it to local customers. The farmer pays its lo­ cal employees and the restaurant

uses revenue from sales to buy supplies from a neighbourhood hardware store. This example il­ lustrates how the recirculation of money in the local economy leads to a stronger financial foundation for our neighbours and communi­ ties. Buying local also fuels new em­ ployment and job opportunities for people within our community. Studies show, locally owned busi­ nesses employ more people per unit of sales and retain more em­ ployees over time.

While buying local is financially compelling to our communities; the benefits to our environment are equally impressive. Buying lo­ cally reduces the processing of goods, packaging and transporta­ tion waste, which leads to less pollution. There’s a massive cultural shift underway redefining the way people make buying decisions. We’re seeing more individuals concerned about the environ­ ment, about how products are

made and sourced, where mate­ rials come from, and a company’s overall social and environmental impact. Many businesses are joining our Go Local campaign by offer­ ing customers special offers and discounts throughout the festive period, more details to follow here soon. Just remember to follow the latest government advice and any guidance businesses have to keep everyone safe.

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FINANCE Dropping out THE second largest oil company in Spain, Cepsa is repositioning its business and is passing all of its residential electricity and gas clients to Podo as it gets ready to completely reassess its business strategy for the future.

Triple whammy THE on/off takeover of Air Europa by Iberia Airlines will have to obtain approval from three different bodies before any final deal may be done. Waiting to be contacted are the British Competition Commission, European Commission and Spain’s CNMV.

On strike STAFF working for British Gas went on a five-day national strike after the GMB Union accused the energy firm and its parent company Centrica of threatening to ‘fire and rehire’ engineers who did not agree to new terms and conditions.

Spanish aid TUBOS REUNIDOS the Spanish manufacturer of all types of metal pipes which trades all over the world has applied for financial support in the form of €115 million from the government as so much of its business has been frustrated by the pandemic.

Spain’s unemployment UNDERSTANDABLY, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of tourists, the number of Spanish adults registered as out of work has risen by 22 per cent during the year. The information was revealed by the Minister for Labour and Economy, Joaquin Perez Rey who confirmed that the jobless total has reached 3.89 million which does not include more than 750,000 on state supported furlough. Whilst accepting that this was the worst figure for four years, he indicated his belief that provided the pandemic is controlled, many will find work in 2021.

STAT OF WEEK

$38,519

(€31,420)

was the value of one cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the day after the Capitol building in Washington DC was stormed.

M&S possible acquisition

Shareholders approve merger PEUGEOT­CITROËN (PSA) shareholders on Monday, January 4, approved the merger of the French group with Fiat­Chrysler (FCA) to form Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automotive group. During an online general meeting, PSA shareholders approved the mega­merger with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) by an overwhelming majority, fi­ nalising more than 99.8 per cent of the three resolutions concerning the merger.

The date for the merger has yet to be announced, however, it must be done "very quickly", according to the chairman of the manage­ ment board of PSA and fu­ ture Director General of Stel­ lantis, Carlos Tavares. "We are ready for this merger," said Tavares who is from Portugal, adding that two healthy companies are merging. "This is a historic moment." "I have rarely had the feel­ ing as much as today of living

LEGALLY SPEAKING

Who owns what?

a moment of history", de­ clared the emblematic chair­ man of the supervisory board of PSA, Louis Gallois, who is retiring following this merger. This latest news comes af­ ter the European Union (EU) conditionally approves the mega­merger of car giants Fi­ at Chrysler (FCA) and Peu­ geot Citroen (PSA), on Mon­ day, December 21, after the firms agreed on commit­ ments to overcome competi­ tion fears.

The new association with major operations in Europe and North America will con­ sist of 14 brands, including Opel, Peugeot, Citroën, Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Abarth and Dodge. Before the COVID crisis, Fi­ at Chrysler and PSA together sold around 8.7 million vehi­ cles per year and had a turnover of €170 billion. Only Volkswagen, Toyota and the French­Japanese Renault­ Nissan network were larger in 2019.

Paperchase losses Credit: Paperchase

BUSINESS EXTRA

www.euroweeklynews.com • 14 - 20 January 2021

26

Our response to the question of apartment block v townhouse community was incom­ plete. Our questioner understands that the apartment holders collectively own their block and the townhouse owners independently own their freeholds. So why must they contribute to the apart­ ment repairs? D S (Costa del Sol) In fact the apartment owners also own their YOU AND THE LAW individual apartments IN SPAIN as freehold, and the community owns all the elements outside the walls, such as balconies. It is the same for the townhouses. Your individual garden areas are actually owned by the community. The apartment terraces and the townhouse gardens appear on your title deeds but in fact you have only ‘exclusive use.’ So the townhouses and the apartment block are under one community. The Law of Horizontal Proper­ ty specifies that community expenses shall be paid according to the cuotas or percentage shares of each owner. Because the townhouses are larger, their shares are larger. If the expense is unusually large and applies mostly to the apartment block the townhouse owners are still legally obligated to pay even if they do not benefit. This is clearly unfair to the townhouse owners and should be discussed at the AGM.

DAVID SEARL

Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

THE German KfW IPEX­Bank which specialises in financing overseas companies is participating in the construction and operation of the Los Escuderos solar park near Altarejos (Cuenca). The total value of the loan is €96 million to allow the construc­ tion which will start this year and 17 years of budgeted operation with the German bank placing €64

Paperchase is unlikely to remain in business. IT appears that the latest UK High Street casualty will be Pa­ perchase which has been in business for more than 50 years and describes itself as the UK’s number 1 shopping spot for exciting and innova­ tive design­led stationery. Having seen falling sales even before the pandemic, in 2019 it declared a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a form of insolvency which al­ lowed it to close unprofitable stores and cut rents, in some cases changing them to a per­ centage of profit. Now however with the lat­ est British lockdown and the burden of 127 shops and 1,500 staff as well as a number of in­ house concessions, it has had

to file papers at court as it plans to call in Administrators as this will protect the compa­ ny from its creditors for 10 days. Originally a private compa­ ny with a single shop which was set up in London in 1968, the brand grew and eventually WH Smith invested in it, be­ fore it was sold to the Borders Group and then it was subject to a management buyout in 2010. Online sales have increased but not by enough to balance the lack of sales through the stores and as up to 40 per cent of turnover traditionally takes place in November and De­ cember, Tier 4 restrictions were the last straw.

Green energy plans million and the balance coming from other lenders. The project is being undertaken by Spanish energy company Gren­ ergy Renovables SA and when completed, it will create one of the largest solar parks in Spain. This plant will have more than

342,000 photovoltaic panels, will occupy an area of more than 350 hectares and, when it comes into operation, will prevent the emis­ sion of nearly 107,800 tons of CO2 per year. The company will also be re­ sponsible for the subsequent op­

SPECIALIST publication Retail Sector reports that Marks and Spencer is apparently close to coming to an arrangement to take over the Jaeger fashion brand from the bankrupt Edinburgh Woollen Mill group. The name Jaeger was al­ ways synonymous with high quality classic clothing and M&S has seen that its cloth­ ing business has suffered as the market has changed and it may have lost its under­ standing of what is required. According to Sky News re­ ports, the purchase of the Jaeger stocks is part of a new vision to introduce third party brands to retain customers and attract new ones, which is why it was also interested in taking over the Victoria’s Secret UK business although that fell through.

Profits up IT has been an exceptional year for Sainsbury’s as its online grocery sales grew by 128 per cent in the third and Christmas quarter of its fi­ nancial year. Sales were also good for its subsidiary Argos with its sales up by 62 per cent, sup­ ported by TV advertising and demand for electrical goods led the way. The group which returned its business rates relief to the government (in line with other major supermarket chains) expects to see pre­ tax profits for the year to hit around £330 million (€363 million), well up on 2019 profits of £255 million (€280.5) million. eration of the four photovoltaic plants with an expected annual electricity production of around 385 GWh and for the first 12 years, the energy will be supplied to Portuguese energy company Galp. After the contract expires, it is planned that the electricity pro­ duced will be sold on the spot market.

28 EWN

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14 - 20 January 2021

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C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 11

PRICE(P) CHANGE(P) COMPANY 3I Group 1.166,50 1.176,00 Admiral Group 2.968,0 2.985,0 Anglo American 2.810,0 2.827,5 Antofagasta 1.558,50 1.563,50 Ashtead Group 3.652,0 3.670,0 Associated British Foods 2.235,0 2.240,0 AstraZeneca 7.510,0 7.559,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 596,20 600,80 Avast 545,00 557,00 Aveva 3.529,5 3.588,0 Aviva 350,35 351,65 B&M European Value Retail SA548,20 553,60 BAE Systems 496,60 502,20 Bank VTB DRC 1,007 1,010 Barclays 153,20 153,68 Barratt Developments 717,24 720,40 Berkeley 4.702,0 4.732,0 BHP Group 2.194,00 2.217,50 BP 297,65 298,65 British American Tobacco 2.793,0 2.804,0 British Land Company 465,63 466,50 BT Group 142,35 142,75 Bunzl 2.507,0 2.522,0 Burberry Group 1.845,5 1.861,5 Carnival 1.315,0 1.335,0 Centrica 49,29 49,67 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.427,9 2.432,9 Compass 1.453,30 1.468,00 CRH 3.427,0 3.447,0 Croda Intl 6.596,0 6.698,0 DCC 5.506,0 5.546,0 Diageo 3.010,0 3.034,5 DS Smith 403,40 404,80 EasyJet 789,41 808,54 Experian 2.865,0 2.882,0 Ferguson 9.428,0 9.478,0 Flutter Entertainment 15.730,0 15.955,0 Fresnillo 1.181,99 1.197,00 GlaxoSmithKline 1.404,60 1.412,80 Glencore 273,84 275,32 Halma 2.616,0 2.637,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.656,49 1.728,50 Hikma Pharma 2.675,00 2.691,00 HSBC 413,05 414,20 IAG 154,30 156,00 Imperial Brands 1.639,00 1.643,00 Informa 558,00 566,00 InterContinental 4.799,0 4.843,0 Intermediate Capital 1.766,00 1.786,00 Intertek 5.830,0 5.878,0 ITV 112,80 113,48

% CHG. 1.166,50 2.967,0 2.780,0 1.534,00 3.650,0 2.197,0 7.483,0 590,80 545,00 3.527,0 346,10 546,11 491,20 0,987 151,42 714,48 4.689,0 2.164,00 294,91 2.784,0 462,26 140,70 2.501,0 1.845,5 1.313,0 49,12 2.424,5 1.451,10 3.424,0 6.596,0 5.500,0 3.017,8 401,40 786,21 2.861,0 9.410,0 15.731,8 1.181,50 1.401,60 271,20 2.612,0 1.647,47 2.673,00 410,95 153,79 1.632,00 557,00 4.787,0 1.766,00 5.830,0 110,83

NET VOL 56,71K 14,25K 237,08K 40,31K 26,01K 57,95K 11,16K 106,66K 102,23K 1,39K 76,91K 53,12K 52,59K 77,68K 1,83M 37,86K 14,73K 407,28K 725,57K 119,41K 4,37K 742,33K 24,36K 29,45K 15,30K 830,68K 3,74K 3,13K 24,24K 7,61K 3,48K 22,93K 56,05K 234,56K 60,67K 8,28K 0,30K 21,98K 45,52K 337,58K 25,27K 17,62K 6,51K 1,04M 1,18M 7,50K 95,56K 11,34K 8,36K 5,14K 263,81K

COMPANY

PRICE(P)

J Sainsbury Johnson Matthey Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Banking London Stock Exchange Meggitt Melrose Industries Mondi National Grid NatWest Group Next Norilskiy Nikel ADR Ocado Persimmon Phoenix Prudential Reckitt Benckiser Relx Rentokil Rightmove Rio Tinto PLC Rolls-Royce Holdings Rosneft DRC Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell B RSA Insurance Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Smith & Nephew Smiths Group Spirax-Sarco Engineering SSE St. James’s Place Standard Chartered Standard Life Aberdeen Taylor Wimpey Tesco Tui Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Group PLC Whitbread WPP

237,60 2.666,0 682,46 278,30 36,67 9.254,0 446,00 187,23 1.868,00 879,60 165,25 7.620,2 36,32 2.476,19 2.848,0 732,40 1.419,00 6.646,0 1.889,50 547,00 636,00 6.251,0 106,50 6,40 1.464,0 1.463,70 1.411,4 678,80 583,80 2.070,00 15,73 3.560,0 1.276,12 967,80 2.369,4 1.579,50 1.581,50 11.700,0 1.607,50 1.191,00 509,60 308,00 167,90 245,26 354,80 4.448,7 936,80 129,26 3.069,0 827,60

CHANGE(P)

% CHG.

NET VOL

242,00 2.696,0 683,46 278,60 36,83 9.288,0 452,30 187,24 1.878,00 883,00 165,65 7.720,0 36,46 2.514,00 2.879,0 734,00 1.426,00 6.724,0 1.896,50 551,20 641,60 6.300,7 108,25 6,43 1.470,4 1.470,51 1.417,4 680,80 592,00 2.070,00 15,79 3.577,0 1.284,44 971,60 2.371,4 1.599,50 1.584,50 11.860,0 1.610,50 1.197,50 512,40 308,90 168,95 247,60 379,80 4.460,0 940,20 129,40 3.086,0 834,00

237,07 2.663,0 677,60 275,30 36,07 9.216,0 444,00 185,29 1.844,50 877,60 163,05 7.558,0 35,45 2.475,00 2.848,0 728,00 1.411,50 6.642,0 1.879,50 543,00 634,80 6.216,0 106,05 6,31 1.453,2 1.453,00 1.401,6 677,40 581,80 2.048,00 15,52 3.533,0 1.274,45 966,00 2.360,0 1.564,00 1.574,50 11.695,0 1.601,00 1.183,00 503,20 302,50 166,25 244,70 345,10 4.435,0 932,20 128,38 3.063,0 827,20

55,97K 15,41K 2,70K 492,61K 8,85M 8,78K 6,66K 46,33K 82,98K 349,32K 372,21K 1,87K 86,11K 16,38K 44,29K 63,23K 371,24K 45,39K 122,14K 160,74K 33,09K 18,85K 1,19M 54,94K 465,51K 41,55K 519,73K 256,19K 202,20K 5,06K 9,51K 3,31K 557,20K 41,25K 2,20K 94,03K 9,35K 3,33K 57,48K 15,01K 177,74K 317,37K 389,57K 176,93K 690,85K 10,88K 37,47K 1,61M 17,81K 83,68K

0.90339

1.10696 Units per €

US dollar (USD) ......................................1.21938 Japan yen (JPY)......................................126.986 Switzerland franc (CHF) .........................1.08202 Denmark kroner (DKK) ...........................7.43686 Norway kroner (NOK) .............................10.3496

currenciesdirect.com/mojacar • Tel: +34 950 478 914 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 11

COMPANY 3M Alphabet C Amazon.com Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Facebook Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com Tesla UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walmart Walt Disney

PRICE 166,62 1.807,21 3.182,70 238,49 132,05 209,90 194,26 91,08 45,06 51,08 267,57 290,08 269,09 210,03 128,53 51,65 160,04 136,02 215,87 83,03 219,62 146,35 138,79 222,04 880,02 363,39 57,80 215,45 146,63 178,69

CHANGE 169,54 1.809,84 3.190,64 238,86 132,63 214,10 195,26 92,43 45,41 51,13 268,95 292,28 270,73 213,41 129,32 52,53 161,10 136,35 216,12 84,37 220,58 146,82 139,06 222,32 884,49 367,49 58,36 216,12 147,00 180,02

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 164,61 4,81M 1.773,54 2,05M 3.142,20 3,54M 235,10 2,51M 130,23 105,16M 208,16 14,14M 191,32 3,19M 90,45 11,15M 44,25 20,94M 49,84 29,67M 263,18 18,53M 285,06 2,80M 267,00 3,76M 207,67 3,28M 126,98 4,68M 51,27 34,63M 159,88 8,23M 134,12 12,04M 212,23 2,64M 82,55 9,13M 217,03 22,96M 144,90 3,95M 137,00 7,45M 219,22 7,30M 838,39 75,06M 358,76 2,95M 57,37 28,41M 212,75 6,51M 145,81 8,16M 176,60 7,89M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES J ANUARY 11

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

+7.57% +7.84% +1.86% +4.30% +15.57% +11.68% +1.66% +1.32% +0.65% +1.12% +5.23%

737,457 75.06M 310,544 1.08M 22.77M 311,014 1,503 1.77M 3.54M 2.05M 8.41M

-51.29% -2.44% -6.74% -2.49% -2.69% -8.66% -4.21% -11.81% -10.59% -1.69% -6.73%

22.81M 42,498 52,124 1.44M 1.33M 1.02M 390,184 684,895 4.49M 560,187 596,137

Most Advanced MercadoLibre Inc. Tesla Inc. Booking Holdings Inc. Trade Desk Inc. Cl A Baidu Inc. ADR WD-40 Co. Broadcom Inc. 8% Pfd. Series A Alphabet Inc. Cl A Amazon.com Inc. Alphabet Inc. Cl C Roku Inc. Cl A

Most Declined Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. First Citizens Bancshares Inc. Cl A Cavco Industries Inc. Lam Research Corp. SolarEdge Technologies Inc. Cerence Inc. Helen of Troy Ltd. Ontrak Inc. Fulgent Genetics Inc. SVB Financial Group LGI Homes Inc.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL

www.euroweeklynews.com

Credit: Moonpic.com

Moonpig share issue likely

Moonpig has enjoyed significant growth.

ALTHOUGH registered as a UK company, Moonpig the online supplier of greetings cards and much more dis­ tributes product from its Guernsey base and business is booming. Founded in 2000, it was the brainchild of Nick Jenk­ ins who sold it in 2011 for £100 million (€110 million) and finally ended up in the hands of Exponent Private Equity which according to a Sky News report is consider­ ing floating the company on the London Stock Market in the not­too­distant future. The lockdown and various tier restrictions has been a financial blessing for the company as it makes much more sense to choose from one of its 16,000 cards on­ line rather than make one visit to a card shop and a

second to a post office and there is the added bonus of the availability of dispatch of flowers, chocolates and oth­ er relatively inexpensive gifts. With a turnover of around £100 million (€110 million) and profits last year of £18.4 million (€20.24 million) the company can only expect sales to continue to increase over the coming months which makes it the right time to consider going pub­ lic. According to Sky News, the likely value of such a public offering could see share sales of around £1 bil­ lion (€1.1 billion) but that would indicate a ratio of 10 to one on turnover and may be somewhat optimistic. Nearest competitor is Funky Pigeon which offers a

New Renault division LOOKING to rationalise the Renault sales and manufacturing business in Portugal and Spain, a new division has been created combining the two countries which will be headed by José Vicente de los Mozos. Born in Brazil whilst his Spanish father was working in that country, he is already world director of manufacturing and a member of the management committee of the French consortium of vehicle manufacturers. His new role which includes the position of president and general manager of Renault Spain will see him chair a committee overseeing both countries.

similar range of product and is now owned by WH Smith.

BUSINESS EXTRA Bank closures SPAIN’S Santander bank continues with its plans to reduce overheads and after closing 1,150 of its branches during 2019, following the takeover of Banco Popular, it now plans to phase out a further 1,000 branches during 2021.

Vaccine FORMER Spanish government minister, now vice president of the European Central Bank Luis de Guindos, has said that the main hope for the recovery of the euro-based economy is the vaccine to fight Covid-19 and hopes that inoculation will be speedy.

Doc Marten’s SKINHEADS favourite boot Doc Marten’s continues to be popular around the world and now thanks to increasing online sales since the start of the pandemic, the Luxembourg based owners of the Northamptonshire company are floating the company on the Stock Exchange.

14 - 20 January 2021

EWN 29

30 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

14 - 20 January 2021

New Year sales

Out of the frying pan... LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT

SPENDING DOWN: But people still head to the sales. RESEARCH conducted by the Union de Consumidores de An­ dalucia (UCA) has revealed that average consumers will spend €87 during the New Year sales. This marks a decrease of 8 per cent from 2020 when the average shopper splashed €95. The top categories of goods pur­ chased by consumers are ex­ pected to be clothing, making up 54.96 per cent of shopping

with the average shopper ex­ pected to pay just under €50 on textile goods. Footwear and accessories will take a share of 16.62 per cent of sales spending, with around €16.62 spent by most shoppers. Household goods come in at 25.9 per cent, while around 30 per cent of sales are expected to take place through online e­ commerce platforms.

Dad’s Army error

1974 SPECIAL: The episode featured on Radio 4 Extra. THE BBC has come under fire for airing an episode of the much­ loved series that contained what is believed to be an offensive word for Asian people. The 1974 radio special of the series included the word Ch*** twice without a previous under­ lined warning or pre­airing warn­ ing. The episode featured on Ra­ dio 4 Extra, and unlike other episodes aired, did not have a specific warning similar to a

1971 episode which featured the phrase ‘Fuzzywuzzys,’ a term used by soldiers of the British army for military person­ nel from Sudan. Fans complained that issues were being made where there weren’t any. The BBC spokesper­ son said we warn viewers so the content does not surprise them, with phrases they may not un­ derstand. If rules are broken, an independent investigation must take place.

FEATURE

JUST watching the start of the Arsenal v Newcastle match. Predictably the players have all just ‘taken the knee,’ with some also giving the closed fist ‘Black Power’ salute. The commentator then summed up all that is totally misconstrued about this blatant act of racist hypocrisy when he announced ­ ‘The players are once again showing there is no place in the sport for racism’! You really couldn’t make it up. Can’t wait to see how long this provocative custom is allowed to continue when the fans are allowed back in the stadiums. The BBC was once again also on fine typical form this week when they published photos of congestion at the ports, which subsequently turned out to be old images taken from their archives. According to reliable reports there was no noticeable disruption in the traffic crossing the channel after the new Brexit regulations kicked in. It truly is time this disgraceful bunch of

public purse draining dangerous lefties was dismantled once and for all. ‘Scotland will have to get in line behind Turkey and Serbia.’ ‘Why should we take on Scotland, the last thing we want is another Greece?’ ‘Any EU negotiations with Scotland could go on for years.’ With all these reports and observations now emanating from the hierarchy of European members, the electricity bill they will be landed with, were they to comply with Nicola Sturgeon’s request for them to ‘keep the lights on for Scotland,’ could well land the EU in the bankruptcy courts! No, I’m afraid this conniving, arrogant woman has only one agenda; separation from the English at any cost. She is not a fool, she is fully aware that Scotland’s acceptance into the EU would be close on a miracle; she is merely banking on conning Scottish ‘remainers’ to vote yes in a new independence referendum. Independence? Sounds more like out of the frying pan to me! All that may become a moot point anyway. When the fishy scandal surrounding the Salmond affair is finally thrashed out, she could be

looking for a new job herself! And finally, with the UK’s Brexit now a reality, British citizens who wish to take up employment in other European countries, will need to go through all kinds of legal shenanigans to obtain permits. This of course also now applies to entertainers. Apparently Ms Patel has refused to make entertainers an exception and without a reciprocal agreement, foreign acts will also have to complete a whole host of legal requirements before being allowed to work in the UK. One of the stipulations is that all performers are required to prove they have access to £1,000 ­ which may mean nothing to the likes of Lionel Ritchie, but to a small Scandinavian or even southern Irish band just popping over to do a few pubs and clubs, it can be an extremely daunting prospect. Also be prepared for a gross shortage of British acts in Spain; only those with residency will be eligible for work. I feel a positive glut of Flamenco acts coming on. Keep the faith. Love Leapy. leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com Mon.Wed.Fri.

Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

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FEATURE

www.euroweeklynews.com

14 - 20 January 2021

Invoke the 25th Amendment MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION Views of a Grumpy Old Man AT the time of writing Trump has been banned from Twitter, Facebook and Insta­ gram. Think about that. The President of the United States of America, one of the most powerful countries of the world, can­ not share a picture of a puppy eating treats out of his hand to his 40 MILLION follow­ ers. Of course, that’s not why he is banned. The reason is that he continues to lie and encourage his followers to riot and for his followers that read this, don’t bother to pick me up on the wording. The fact is he is banned! Trump has managed to destroy the Re­ publican Party. He has managed to hand the Democrats Congress and the Senate because the people of Georgia, a red state pretty much since 1972, turned blue, and the White House. No mean feat. People didn’t vote for Biden to be President be­ cause he was the greatest candidate. They just wanted Trump out and they proved that by voting. He has continued to embar­ rass himself and his party by insisting he won the election and the results were a fraud. The result of all this was a riot in

Washington. I watched it unfold on TV and it was horrifying to see him appear on the news saying to these scum, “We love you, you are very special people.” These were people wearing t­shirts with ‘Camp Auschwitz’ and ‘6MWE’ (6 Million Wasn’t Enough) and waving racist flags. I don’t care what good things his follow­ ers think he has done during his term. Nothing he has done can compare with his recent actions. I listened to the taped ‘phone call released this week. It sounds like a scene from a Mafia film trying to strong­arm Georgia’s Secretary of State to lie. In fact, if I saw it in a film, I’d say it was too far­fetched, a President would never do that ­ except Trump would and did. I don’t understand how they allowed him to remain in power after the first time he started crying fraud and he hadn’t lost. He should have been removed immediate­ ly. When I had to fire a manager, the first thing we did was get them out the building as soon as possible. We gave them their months’ notice and all their legal entitle­ ments but just got them of the property as soon as possible. This meant they couldn’t do anymore damage to your business or, in this case, country. It’s not rocket science. Invoke the 25th amendment NOW! Email: mikesenker@gmail.com

Your Belgian estate agent at the coast!

EWN 31

THURSDAY 4:00pm 4:45pm

14 JANUARY

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WEDNESDAY

5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:35pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:40pm 9:10pm 9:40pm 10:00pm 5:30pm 6:10pm 6:40pm 6:50pm 6:55pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 8:50pm 9:30pm

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The Farmers' Country Showdown The Bidding Room Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show Garden Rescue A Question of Sport EastEnders Would I Lie to You?

2:00pm

7:30pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 10:30pm 11:00pm 11:45pm

5:50pm 6:15pm 7:00pm 7:30pm 8:00pm 9:10pm 10:10pm

Final Score Garden Rescue BBC News BBC London News Weather Celebrity Mastermind Catchpoint Pointless Celebrities Casualty Michael McIntyre's The Wheel

12:00pm 1:00pm 1:30pm

2:50pm 3:50pm 4:50pm 5:35pm 6:35pm 6:50pm 6:55pm 7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm

Escape to the Country Money for Nothing Garden Rescue A Perfect Planet BBC News BBC London News; Weather Weather Countryfile Antiques Roadshow A Perfect Planet The Serpent

12:30pm 1:00pm

4:45pm

The Farmers' Country Showdown The Bidding Room Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show Panorama EastEnders My Family Traces

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The Farmers' Country Showdown The Bidding Room Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Holby City The Crash Detectives Traces

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20 JANUARY

Escape to the Country The Farmers' Country Showdown The Bidding Room Pointless BBC News at Six BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Pooch Perfect Death in Paradise

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This Farming Life Food & Drink David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities The Nun's Story Flog It! Live Snooker: The Masters The Real Marigold Hotel Saving Lives at Sea Live Snooker: The Masters 99 Homes

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Tipping Point The Chase Lingo ITV News and Weather ITV News London Celebrity Catchphrase The Masked Singer The Voice UK Paul Sinha's TV Showdown ITV News and Weather

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Rick Stein's Cornwall The Hairy Bikers' Best of British Live Snooker: The Masters Flog It! Ski Sunday Live Snooker: The Masters Mississippi Grind Heroes

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Hotel Transylvania 2 ITV News and Weather ITV News London The Chase: Celebrity Special Dancing on Ice Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Finding Alice ITV News and Weather ITV London Weather

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Live International Bowls Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall Lose Weight and Get Fit with Tom Kerridge Mastermind Only Connect University Challenge Cornwall: This Fishing Life

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ITV London Weather Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Bradley Walsh and Son: Breaking Dad Coronation Street Long Lost Family

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Live International Bowls Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall Back in Time for... Winterwatch 2019 Silenced: The Hidden Elis James: Funny Nation Comedians: Home Alone Newsnight

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Lingo ITV London Weather Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale South Africa with Gregg Wallace Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia

Learning from Home with BBC Bitesize Live International Bowls Pointless Richard Osman's House of Games Rick Stein's Cornwall Back in Time for... Winterwatch 2019 Disability Hate Crime Top of the Pops Newsnight

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ITV London Weather President Biden: The Inauguration ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Cornwall and Devon Walks with Julia Bradbury Coronation Street The Bay

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Heineken Champions Cup Rugby Union A Place in the Sun Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend Location, Location, Location Channel 4 News Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The Equalizer 2

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A Place in the Sun A New Life in the Sun Junior Bake Off The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Devon and Cornwall 999: What's Your Emergency? Shut-Ins: Britain's Fattest People

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34 EWN

www.euroweeklynews.com

14 - 20 January 2021

Growing steadily THE number of people regis­ tered on Nijar’s municipal Padron continues to grow. According to Spain’s Na­ tional Statistics Institute (INE) the town had a population of 31,666 on December 31, 2020, an increase of 103 in­ habitants compared with 2019.

Nijar’s population has grown by 15,037 since the year 2000 at a yearly aver­ age of 769, topping 30,000 in 2018. It is now Almeria Province’s fourth largest mu­ nicipality after Almeria City (201,322), Roquetas de Mar (98,433) and El Ejido (83,758).

Emergencies soar MADRID hospitals saw emergencies soar this week with hun­ dreds of patients admitted following falls due to treacherous weather. From the start of an emergency shift at 8am and until mid­ afternoon on Monday, January 11, the Gregorio Marañón hospital had received 380 patients ­ 144 were trauma pa­ tients. Head of the emergency service, Juan Andueza, said that normally, these type of cases represent 16 per cent of those treated, but the figure has risen to 40 per cent with week. And he attributed Storm Filomena for the increase as most injuries have been “breaks, due to putting hands out to break a fall, and hip injuries in older people.” As of Monday, Madrid hospitals had 2,391 patients admit­ ted to acute care units and 429 to ICU. Andueza warned that the situation is made more acute due to the coronavirus pandemic, and urged “the population take extreme precautions and limit travel because this situation [the snowfall] causes emergency services to collapse, in addi­ tion to patients with Covid and other pathologies.”

LETTERS FROM

CANARIES DEAR reader, here’s to a happy, healthy 2021 for us all! I hope you’ve survived the festive season with liver, sense of humour and bank balance, should you still have one, intact? I won’t mention the C word this month, apart from wishing everybody well and hop­ ing the vaccine flown down to us in military planes for “the majority of the Canarian popu­ lation by springtime,” according to Canarian President Ángel Torres, will turn out to be a Good Thing. Not a moment too soon, this big effort to reduce risk, if we take into account the sad inability of humans to act communally to­ wards a common aim. Incredible ignorance, internet­fuelled fear and paranoia, coupled with profit­driven greed, make for unten­ ably difficult situations. While most Canari­ ans stayed in on New Year’s Eve, there were record TV Canaria viewing figures for the midnight chimes, illegal New Year’s Eve gatherings in, for example Corralejo in Fuerteventura, have caused anger. Corralejo’s a tourist town and social net­ work clips make it obvious that this wasn’t predominantly a local crowd, enraging the Ca­ narians who’ve followed rules, renounced family celebrations and fiestas and are hang­ ing on in there watching TV hoping their job­ s’ll one day exist again.

FEATURE

ZOOM AND BLOOM 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

AS Britain finds itself in yet another lockdown, some parents may again find themselves taking on the role of teachers. However, even with remote help from real teachers, many may find the stay­at­home teaching model quite difficult ­ so here are a few tips. Every day, you must remember to include teaching on maths, English, reading, phonics, handwriting, motor skills, some kind of topic, something promoting social and emotional health and some outdoor time. If you fail to do this, children will not learn. Most children are not able to learn when another child is ‘looking at them.’ Please prevent this from hap­ pening at any time. Remember, too, you are responsible for making sure children do not lose jumpers, gloves,

ZOOM CALL: Learning at home. shoes, socks, PE clothes, glasses and lunchboxes. It’s OK if they aren’t la­ belled as most children recognise their own and others’ belongings by smell alone. If you are considering arranging a school trip, it’ll be enough to go into your garden, eat the packed lunch and return to the house. Most children are only really bothered about the lunch and will be happy once it’s been gob­ bled up, err, eaten. Home schooling or Zooming? Well, one item of clothing that has become essential is the so­called ‘Zoom shirt.’ This is the shirt or blouse that’s kept

on the back of your chair to ‘quickly be presentable for video conferences.’ A recent poll found that 42 per cent of camera­ready home workers own one. May I ask ­ do you ever feel very old, very tired and look, err, a bit wrinkled? Just asking for a friend. Well, here’s a tip: buy a ring light, and wear it behind your head when in video calls. Report­ edly, it’ll enhance your saintly opinion of yourself. Sadly, though, you won’t have as many video calls as you used to... But if you can’t be bothered with all that, all is not lost. Switch on your Zoom beauty setting (bottom left hand corner of your screen), pinch your cheeks, and sit well back. Job done. Here to help! Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘No Safe Place’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribution’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.no ra­johnson.net) available online as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, pa­ perback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.

Here’s to a happy 2021

LA GRACIOSA: Has been forgotten in PAIF funding for Canarian ports. “Covid’s not spread by politics, or lack of policing. It’s spread by idiots like you under ‘freedom’ and ‘conspiracy’ banners. Your free­ dom stops when you endanger my family’s well­being and livlihood,” retorted Manual RH. His last sentence: “This won’t happen again. We’re out of patience now,” is being echoed, more forcefully, throughout the is­

lands. His is one of the only printable quotes I could get. On a happier note, smallest island El Hierro is, deservedly, one of Condé Nast Traveller’s 20 Best Holiday Destinations for 2021*, which also mentions lovely La Palma as worth visit­ ing. Both islands are Biosphere Reserves. EWN inside tip: CN didn’t mention the third ‘green’ island La Gomera, which is also a Bios­

phere Reserve and stunning. Head straight there to avoid the CN crowds. Whilst Tenefire commemorates the 50th anniversary of a dreadful crime, (see**), re­ cent events on the islands would suggest that men are still to be feared. Manuel Ramón Campìllo killed his partner Marian Ibarluzea, carried her body to wasteland near their home in Gáldar, Gran Canaria and burned her for ‘some hours’ before chopping up her re­ mains and burying them. Local Police were alerted by the fire, but believed it to be a rubbish burn until the mur­ derer gave himself up. In Marian’s birthplace, Arrasate, País Vasco, a large demonstration against gender violence took place in her name. The newest (politically, not geologically) and smallest Canary Island, La Graciosa has been forgotten in substantial PAIF funding for Canarian ports just announced. Alicia Páez, La Graciosa’s councillor and the mayor of Teguise, Lanzarote, under whose jurisdiction La Graciosa lies, met press. “All that money being dished out and not a penny for La Gra­ ciosa,” she lamented. Good luck La Graciosa and all of us who are a bit short of funds these days. Barbara Belt.barbarabelt@gmail.com EWN January 2021

EW YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com Views expressed and opinions given are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements.

LICENCE DIFFICULTIES From our Facebook THE alleged ‘simplification’ of the DGT’s process for swapping our British driving licences sounded great in theory, but the practice has proved to be very different, at least for those who had the misfortune to be outside Spain at the end of the Brexit transition period. The DGT website simply produced error messages continually for those trying to register prior to the deadline, the 060 number is inaccessible for callers outside of Spain and the telephone numbers quoted on the DGT website merely provided a recorded message telling callers to (guess what?) ‘dial 060.’ In my case I resorted to sending them an email but it seems they didn’t even bother to look at it until the deadline had passed, and now I am told it is too late for them to confirm details with the DVLA and I must sit a Spanish driving test in order to continue driving in my country of residence, after 36 years at the wheel. What a complete shambles. Am I the only one with this experience? Tony Almería

Well done Leapy, It was almost like reading my own comments in this week’s EWN column. Your comments about racism are long overdue. I have been saying exactly the same about racism for many years. It is totally a One-Way system.

OUR VIEW Winter fuel payment

THIS recent bout of cold weather has seen readers asking about the rights of UK pensioners now domiciled in Spain to claim this one-off payment that ranges from £100 (€110) to £300 (€300) depending on the severity of the cold. There is also an additional cold weather payment which some pensioners living in the UK may receive at the UK government’s discretion, if there has been a particularly harsh or cold winter. There is an amount payable if you live in Switzerland or other EAA countries and were born before April 1954 but there are exceptions to the rule with certain ‘warm countries’ excluded. This means that if you live in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain it is considered unlikely that you will need to pay for heating as the temperature is generally higher than in other EAA countries or the UK. This arbitrary decision means that if you live on the Italian Riviera then you are more than likely due to receive the financial support, but if you live in a property in rural Spain with no double glazing, marble floors and no central heating, you are not eligible. It is not as if this has ever been an inalienable right as the Winter Fuel Payment was only introduced in 1997, but it certainly does seem rather unfair that despite the amount any individual may have paid by way of National Insurance and tax, whole countries are judged to have no problem with cold weather. Arguably, it has been known since its introduction that there were areas where the payment would not be made, so our choice to live in Spain has left us at a financial disadvantage.

CORRECTIONS

Malaga Provincial Traffic Headquarters. I was once, way back in the early 60s, hauled in front of the works manager for alleged racism. The fact was there was only one of six machine managers who kept having trouble with a certain component that I was responsible for maintaining. Three times he complained it had broken down. At the third occurrence, I went to his machine and showed him that he had the machine settings wrong. After that I never saw him again until I was hauled into the manager’s office where this guy accused me of ‘having a go’ at him because he was black!! Anything that I may have said to him would have been exactly the same that any of the machine operators would have been told. With regard to your comments that nearly all adverts, presenters, etc are non-white is spot on. The relativity of the races is blatantly non-white biased. Hopefully one day the politicians etc may come to their senses and correct this situation. I’m not holding my breath though. Keep up the good work. B Weston

Disaster for the coast With the Covid restrictions now in the Hospitality Sector here in Orihuela Costa they might as well come and close us down as it’s virtually impossible to cover costs, let alone turn a profit. It appears the Spanish government does not want to ask us to shut completely as this would force them to pay ERTE to all staff. In the UK they are now giving a £9,000 non refundable grant to businesses that have been forced to close plus a further £3,000 payment per month to cover survival expenses. The Irish government are also doing something similiar to assist business as they see the importance of preventing companies going out of business resulting in massive job losses. The question is this. Why is the Spanish government not doing this to assist business here given they have received €200 billion from the EU in Covid help. Another question which really needs to be asked is what has our mayor and the councillor for tourism done to help, have they come to the coast and asked “what can we do, what do you need,” they have forgotten that it’s in their interest to help us as nearly 50 per cent of their overall revenue comes from here in money terms, roughly €55,000,000 a year. Has anyone put this to the Valencian and Madrid authorities and are there any sensible answers? P Houghton

Maureen Pearson Looking down to Granada

Karl BakerMongey Sierra de Mijas from Campo Mijas this morning

Michael Hunka Jete

Eve Honeywood Frigiliana

Maureen Pearson Cumbres Verde today Granada

HAVE YOUR SAY 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. Readers who have missed correspondence can see all letters - which can be edited before publication - posted on: www.euroweeklynews.com.

At the EWN, we pride ourselves that reports are accurate and fair. If we do slip up, we promise to set the record straight in a clear, no-nonsense manner. To ask for an inaccuracy to be corrected. Email: editorial@euroweeklynews.com

37

www.euroweeklynews.com • 14 - 20 January 2021

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YOUR STARS FOR NEXT 7 DAYS ARIES (March 21 - April 20) Although things are going pretty well, there are some things that could be just a little better organised. The time and money that this saves could be small, but it’s the ongoing positive attitude that counts. There have been times recently when you have wondered if your progress on a certain matter would ever start up again.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21) It is better if you don’t get involved in any high profile, high risk business deals. Success is not assured. This is a time for financial consolidation. Count your pennies and see the pounds collecting in the future. On a cold winter’s night it can give a pleasant glow to realise your action during the summer is keeping you warm.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) Partnerships see you leap ahead on something that was a bit stuck in the mud. A leap in your bank balance follows. Some quick decisions may be called for so it is better to share responsibilities, whatever the outcome. You have a chance to show just how clever you can be, but do it because it gives you personal satisfaction rather than to impress.

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) After a hectic start to the week, things seem to have slowed down. Look carefully at what has happened, but remember that there is no point in worrying over something that you cannot change. Sitting tight and waiting for this period to pass could be the best solution. Certainly, it will prove less stressful than fighting a losing corner.

LEO (July 24 - August 23) Money is good and this can make you over-confident. Beware bank managers offering loans in large amounts. Nothing is for free and you need to look carefully at interest rates right now. Another, more personal, investment also needs looking at right now. Are things going exactly the way you want them to?

VIRGO (August 24 - September 23) Aim a bit higher than usual and you may be surprised at your success. When seeing the bigger picture, you realise that it is not so daunting after all. If one person can do it, then so can another. It is a matter of how you approach it. What you have to ask

yourself this week is why you should accept the minimum when the maximum is so close by.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23) This should be a great time for your finances. Any glitch is likely to be because you have overspent. Even if things still need close attention, you can win if you concentrate. A bit of plotting and planning can work wonders at the moment. Most of your big expenses are behind you and if you can just tighten that belt a wee bit more.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22) Although things seem fine, this is not a time to overstretch your finances. Spending a lot this week without thought is problematic later. This is a week of shifting and changing and that certainly means your finances. The other area is your social circle, where people come and go, sometimes without warning.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21) This is not a particularly lucky week for you, so I would certainly advise caution. Gambling is not recommended. Being clever with money is as much about not spending it as about how you spend it.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20) Look at the long-term picture when considering money matters. What seems like a good deal now may not be so a few years down the line. Someone who appears to be telling a lie may simply have either misunderstood or have the wrong information.

HEXAGRAM The purpose of the Hexagram puzzle is to place the 19 six-letter words into the 19 cells. The letters at the edges of interlocking cells MUST BE THE SAME. The letters in the words must be written CLOCKWISE. The word in cell 10 (MATURE) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.

ARTERY ASSERT BEHEST COARSE EASIER EUREKA HEREIN INHERE MATURE (10) NETTED REMARK RESCUE SHEAVE STEREO SWEATY TEETHE THIRTY TRIUNE WARMTH

LOTTERY UK NATIONAL LOTTERY Sat 9 January

9-21-23 30-35-38

This is a time to consider finances and keep your options open. Someone who tries to get a fast decision out of you by pushing you into a corner is doing you no favours. You will decide what (if anything) needs to be done when you are good and ready.

BONUS BALL

53

IRISH LOTTO Sat 9 January

10-17-42 43-45-47

BONUS BALL

37

EURO MILLIONS Tue 5 January

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19)

BONUS BALL

1

12-34-37 38-42

3

Fri 8 January

BONUS BALL

18-23-37 41-42

4 6

EL MILLON: JPG89766 LA PRIMITIVA

PISCES (February 20 - March 20) Keep things simple. Getting involved in other people’s problems is not for you at the moment. It may be necessary to delay a decision to give yourself time to think. Could you manage a few days away somewhere? Maybe you could stay with a friend or relative. You need some peace and quiet on your own.

TIME OUT

Thurs 7 January

BONUS BALL

18-24-32 33-35-46

19 3

JOKER: 1016895 Sat 9 January

BONUS BALL

8-13-19 25-29-38

32

JOKER: 0151226

2

TIME OUT

38

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CODE BREAKER

ENGLISH-SPANISH

The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.

Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 6 represents P and 13 represents V, so fill in P every time the figure 6 appears and V every time the figure 13 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.

Across 1 Tazón (cuenco) (4) 3 Storm cloud (8) 9 Shell (of egg, nut) (7) 10 Ceiling (5) 11 Bitch (female dog) (5) 12 Tijereta (insecto) (6) 14 Carnation (6) 16 Proof (6) 19 Servilleta (6) 21 Boina (5) 24 Aeroplane (5) 25 Más barato (7) 26 Librería (8) 27 Ojos (4)

Down 1 Mochila (8) 2 Más sabio (5) 4 Once (3,3) 5 Después de (5) 6 Recibir (7) 7 Mediodía (4) 8 Daño (6) 13 Shepherds (8) 15 Fan (hand held) (7) 17 Goma (6) 18 Beginning (6) 20 Reyes (monarcas) (5) 22 Respuesta (5) 23 Cordero (4)

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION • LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION • LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION QUICK Across: 1 Sketch, 3 Swim, 7 Loan, 8 Yelled, 10 Replied, 13 Central, 16 Target, 17 Fade, 19 Severe. Down: 1 Solo, 2 Erased, 4/18 Wolf down, 5 Modern, 6 Beneath, 9 Altered, 11 Hunted, 12 Garage, 14 Crew, 15 Here.

CRYPTIC

Across: 1 Transept, 4 Fare, 8 Recur, 10 Steroid, 11 Convent, 12 Seem, 14 Adhere, 16 Prefer, 19 Grit, 21 Peasant, 24 Oration, 25 Cares, 26 Else, 27 Kestrels. Down: 1 Turncoat, 2 Surge, 3 Peseta, 5 Alone, 6 Eddy, 7 Teaser, 9 Cinch, 13 Protests, 15 Retain, 17 Flair, 18 Sponge, 20 Reaps, 22 Ascot, 23 Bore.

ENGLISH-SPANISH Across: 1 Towel, 3 Helmets, 6 Arrives, 8 Tapón, 10 Visor, 11 Adaptar, 14 Afuera, 15 Ostras, 17 Mistake, 20 Stove, 21 Guapo, 22 Píldora, 23 Alergia, 24 Sound. Down: 1 Tranvía, 2 Liver, 3 Hasta, 4 Letra, 5 Señor, 7 Respuesta, 9 Petirrojo, 13/12 Back door, 16 Steward, 17 Magia, 18 Among, 19 Espía, 20 Sells.

CODE BREAKER

BOGGLED

FUTOSHIKI

neon efts nogs noun root roots rood rouge rout routs round gone goon good gout gouts guts otto outs outgo cone congo coot coots crone croon crouton couth count stone stood stout stun stung stunt shut shun shun shunt shot shotgun tone tong tongs toon togs tout tugs tung thug thugs thong undo undone unto gong gongs gouge done donor dong dongs door huge hugs huts hung hunt hong holt tuts nuts phon lotto loth long blot blotto blond

NONAGRAM ante arty cant cart cent cert etna neat rant rate rent rete tare tarn tear teen tern tray tree trey tyre anent antre canty caret carte cater crate eaten eater enact enate enter entry erect react recta teary teeny terce trace canter center centre create eatery neaten neater nectar recant recent rennet tanner tenner tenrec trance canteen centare crenate nectary reenact tannery tenancy entrance CENTENARY

HEXAGRAM

WORD LADDER

1 POTENT 2 GORGON 3 SIESTA 4 SEARCH 5 INGEST 6 TRIUNE 7 SECOND 8 ARTERY 9 SHEATH 10 DIRECT 11 TREATY 12 MASTIC 13 HEATER 14 NUTMEG 15 HEROIC 16 EASILY 17 COERCE 18 CHEERY 19 HEREBY

ITEM STEM STEW STOW SLOW GLOW

KAKURO

SUDOKU

39

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Almería TODAY VELEZ RUBIO ALBOX

HUERCAL OVERA GARRUCHA

WEATHER

MOJACAR ALMERIA RETAMAR ROQUETAS

ADRA

TOMORROW VELEZ RUBIO ALBOX

HUERCAL OVERA GARRUCHA MOJACAR

ALMERIA RETAMAR ROQUETAS

ADRA

SATURDAY VELEZ RUBIO ALBOX

HUERCAL OVERA GARRUCHA MOJACAR

ALMERIA RETAMAR ADRA

S: Sun

C: Cloudy

Th: Thunder

ROQUETAS

Cl: Clear

Sh: Showers

Sn: Snow

Malaga TODAY: MAX 13 MIN 3 Fri 13 3 Sat 11 2 Sun 11 2 Mon 8 2 Tues - 10 3 Wed 11 4

Alicante TODAY: MAX 12, MIN 4 Fri 12 4 Sat 11 3 Sun 11 4 Mon 11 3 Tues - 12 4 Wed 11 4

Almeria TODAY: MAX 12, MIN 2 Fri 14 2 Sat 13 4 Sun 12 5 Mon 13 4 Tues - 13 4 Wed 14 5

Benidorm TODAY: MAX 12, MIN 4 Fri 12 4 Sat 13 4 Sun 13 4 Mon 13 3 Tues - 12 3 Wed 14 3

Bilbao TODAY: MAX 11, MIN 1 Fri 11 2 Sat 12 2 Sun 12 1 Mon 11 1 Tues 11 2 Wed 10 2

Mallorca TODAY: MAX 11, MIN 3 Fri 11 3 Sat 11 3 Sun 11 3 Mon 12 4 Tues 12 4 Wed 11 4

Madrid TODAY: MAX 10, MIN 2 Fri 11 2 Sat 12 3 Sun 12 3 Mon 11 3 Tues 11 4 Wed 10 5

Barcelona TODAY: MAX 13, MIN 3 Fri 13 3 Sat 12 3 Sun 12 2 Mon 13 2 Tues 13 2 Wed 11 3

Euro Weekly News strives for accuracy, but cannot be held responsible for any errors in published forecasts

TIME OUT

FUTOSHIKI Fill in the squares so that each digit from 1 to 6 occurs exactly once in each row and column. Greater-than and less-than signs indicate the relationship of the two adjacent squares. There is only one solution, and you can find it without guessing.

BOGGLED How many English words can you find in the Boggled grid, according to the following rules? • The letters must be adjoining in a ‘chain’. They can be adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally. • Words must contain at least four letters and may include singular and plural or other derived forms. • No letter may be used more than once within a single word, unless it appears twice. • No vulgarities or proper nouns are permitted.

TARGET:

SCORING:

Average: 15 Good: 21 Very good: 30 Excellent: 38

4 letters: 1 point 5 letters: 2 points 6 letters: 3 points 7 letters: 5 points 8 or more letters: 11 points

KAKURO 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.

CRYPTIC Across 1 Wild parsley for team members (7) 5 Shout in praise of festive food and drink (5) 8 Nick is refusing to have letters on taps? (5) 9 Again order right sort of ale and gin (7) 10 Pardon that's set many loose! (7) 11 Bird with the French name (5) 12 Cunning vessel reaches end of motorway (6) 14 Marks football results (6) 17 Arrange deal after parking part of bicycle (5) 19 Against having work set? (7) 22 Prepared for different trade-in (7) 23 One less spoilt in the Hebrides, say (5) 24 Folding money sounds musical (5) 25 Ageing tree starts to look yellowish (7) Down 1 President and African leader's animal (5) 2 Worker takes princess back to get her aerial (7) 3 Those produce morals (5) 4 Ringleader stops outside or wanders off (6) 5 To a chic sort, appear disorganised (7) 6 To be former partner is Middle Eastern (5) 7 Beans for athletes? (7) 12 Windlass disturbed catnaps (7) 13 Stories about New Testament gifts (7) 15 A cattle thief makes little sound (7) 16 Dog with dog's head in a Dorset resort (6) 18 Traded in handmade altarpieces (5) 20 Lions, we hear, were nosy (5) 21 Dirty, untidy study (5)

TIME OUT

40

www.euroweeklynews.com • 14 - 20 January 2021

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SUDOKU

QUICK

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.

Across

Down 1 Deficiency (4) 2 Come after (7) 3 Stores (5) 4 Bottom of shoe or boot (4) 8 Woodworker (9) 5/19 Hold back to a later time (3,3) 9 Smaller number of (5) 6 Short in duration (5) 10 Wagers (4) 7 Hold firmly (5) 14 Conceal (4) 11 Most effortless (7) 12 Strips of potato fried in deep fat (5) 15 Small rodent (5) 13 Detected (5) 18 Say a word in a certain way (9) 16 Not at all or in no way (4) 20 Frequently (5) 17 Smile broadly (4) 21 Make senseless or dizzy by a blow (4) 19 See 5

WORD LADDER

1 Fail to keep or to maintain (4)

Move from the start word (SENT) to the end word (CLAN) in the same number of steps as there are rungs on the Word Ladder. You must only change one letter at a time.

SENT

QUIZ BACK CLAN

THERE BE DRAGONS 1. A dragon named Smaug is the principal antagonist in which children’s fantasy novel, first published in 1937? 2. According to Peter, Paul and Mary, where did Puff, the Magic Dragon live? 3. Created by Oliver Postgate, which British cut-out animation television series featured the character Idris the Dragon? 4. Druk yul (the ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’) is the official name of which landlocked principality in the Himalayas to the north-east of India? 5. Enter the Dragon is a 1973 martial arts film starring actors John Saxon, Jim Kelly and which famous Hong Kong/American actor, director, martial artist, martial arts instructor and philosopher? 6. The komodo dragon is the world's largest living what? 7. What is the colour of the dragon that features on the national flag of Wales? 8. What is the title of the British television show presented by Evan Davis that allows several entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return? 9. What was the name of the Swedish author and journalist who wrote the international bestselling psychological thriller novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, first published in 2005? 10. Which French rugby league team based in Perpignan defeated Warrington Wolves 20-14 in the 2018 Challenge Cup Final, to become the first non-English team to win the competition? Not a lot of people know that… according to its creator, J K Rowling, the motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, ‘Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus’ translates as ‘Never tickle a sleeping dragon.’

NONAGRAM

RACHEL AND FRIENDS

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 R) and there must be AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTER WORD. Plurals, vulgarities or proper nouns are not allowed.

TARGET:

audreyquinton99@gmail.com

Average: 8 Good: 11 Very good: 16 Excellent: 21

Answers 1. THE HOBBIT (full title THE HOBBIT, OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN, 2. BY THE SEA or A LAND CALLED HANALEI (accept either), 3. IVOR THE ENGINE, 4. BHUTAN, 5. LEE JUN-FAN, better known as BRUCE LEE, 6. LIZARD, 7. RED, 8. DRAGONS’ DEN, 9. STIEG LARSSON, 10. CATALANS DRAGONS

HEALTH & BEAUTY Guilt & Bipolar Are you still dry this January? 42

to read more visit

HOW are you doing now we are nearly midway through Dry January? Have you given up al­ ready, is there really any bene­ fit to giving up alcohol for the month? Many people go dry in Janu­ ary in an attempt to make up for the excesses of Christmas with many medical profession­ als encouraging the move. It comes as a report by Public Health England reported that more than 10 million Britons are drinking to harmful levels and are regularly exceeding the rec­ ommended maximum of 14 units a week. Alcohol not only is high in calories but it can contribute to high blood pressure and choles­ terol and in severe cases of ex­ cess drinking it can lead to liver damage. This is such a concern that

the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, proposed that all heavy drinkers should have a scan to screen for liver dis­ ease. These ‘heavy drinkers’ were classed as women who drank more than 35 units a week and 50 units for men. By having a month off it helps the liver recover and detox. Many see it as a good kick start to promoting a general overall healthier eating and lifestyle programme as well as saving cash during the month. According to UK charity Alcohol Concern, which promotes Dry January,

of those who took part last year, almost half (49 per cent) reported they had lost weight and 70 per cent were sleeping better and 65 per cent of partic­ ipants said they carried on drinking much less than normal for the next six months. Last year, the charity report­ ed that 14,000 downloaded the Dry January app to help them give up drink.

NO ALCOHOL: Helps the liver to recover and detox.

14 - 20 Janaury 2021

www.euroweeklynews.com

‘’IT’S all in your head. Just focus on the positives.” “Smile and try to be happy.” If you live with any mental illness, then you have likely heard these comments before. Although the person saying them is just trying to be positive and kind, you know as well as I do this advice does not always work. I feel guilty every day I struggle with bipolar disorder. There are some days when I am on top of the world. I feel like I can do any and everything. On those days, I like to get out. But I know those days are limited for me. My ‘highs’ come in spurts, while my ‘lows’ tend to linger longer than I would like. I push through them long enough to be at work and talk to the people I have to talk to. However, once 5pm hits I have finished work and collected my daughter from school, I go home and I shut off to the world. Most days, I sit at my kitchen table thinking of all the plans I’ve cancelled because I couldn’t bring myself to do them, all of the things I’ve done or said that have hurt the people I’m closest to. Then, I think of all of the times I didn’t see my friends because avoiding them is easier than answering a million questions. “Why are your eyes so dark?” “Have you been sleeping?” “Have you been feeling well?” “What is new?” Even though the questions are genuine concern and interest, no answer I give will ever be the right one. Then comes the guilt. I can lie and tell them I have been fine, I have a headache or I just tossed and turned all night. When in fact, I haven’t slept properly in days. I have been crying for hours over absolutely nothing. I feel like my world is falling apart around me. But which is worse? Protecting them from the truth

MS BIPOLAR UP AND DOWN WITH BALANCE UNEDITED or making them worry about me to the point they lose sleep and my mental health consumes their every thought? Either way is a losing battle. I did not choose this life. This life chose me. It crept in and overtook my every thought. It has left me feeling lonely and in the dark. How there is no light at the end of this dark tunnel. Even at my loneliest, I know there is an army of people standing beside and behind me ready to catch me when I fall or hold my hand through this. No matter how comforting that is, I still feel so guilty. I feel guilty that people I love and who love me, have to see me at my lowest. I feel guilty for the sleepless nights and constant fear I may one day completely lose myself. I feel guilty for the burden I feel I am. I feel guilty that the ones I love have never considered me that burden. I feel guilty I have this wonderful life, so full of love, and I am still so sad sometimes, most of the time. I feel guilty I have to force a smile that should come so naturally. When I am at my ‘high,’ I feel great. This makes me feel guilty because I have made so many worry about me when I was enduring my ‘low.’ My mind is at a constant battle with itself. So even when I’m happy, as high as the clouds, that guilty voice is always close. Sometimes, looking in the mirror, I can even see her, looking back at me with those dark eyes. Love Ms Bipolar X

msbipolar@euroweeklynews.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

www.euroweeklynews.com

14 - 20 January 2021

Iron deficiency could be the reason behind your fatigue MORE than a quarter of women of working age in the UK suffer from iron deficiencies. Almost half of young girls aged between 11 and 18 also fall short of the necessary intake of the nutrient, leading to feelings of tiredness and exhaustion. Iron is an important compo­ nent of haemoglobin, which is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. Without enough iron there is not enough healthy oxygen­carrying red blood cells leading to feelings of fatigue. Women in their childbearing years are most likely to suffer from an iron deficiency because of the loss of blood during men­ struation and pregnant women should increase their intake as the baby takes its mother’s iron. Another reason why women are more likely to have deficien­ cies in iron is due to their health­ ier eating habits. Traditionally

IRON DEFICIENCY: Help boost your intake by eating more red meat. women eat less red meat than men which is rich in iron and swapping red meat for chicken, fish and vegetarian options low­ ers iron intake. So how can you tell if you may be suffering from iron defi­ ciencies? Fatigue Feeling tired, weak and slug­ gish is the most common sign as your body is having trouble car­ rying oxygen around your body, affecting energy levels.

Frequent infections Iron plays a key role in a healthy immune system, so low­ er levels can leave you suscepti­ ble to more infections. Pale skin Haemoglobin gives skin its nice healthy, rosy colour, so low levels can cause the skin to be­ come lighter, so look for changes in your skin tone. Swollen tongue Lack of oxygen can cause muscles to enlarge and become

A Med diet may offer brain gain EATING a Mediterranean diet may reduce brain shrinkage in older adults, according to scien­ tists. The human brain naturally shrinks with age, but a study in which 401 people in their 70s were followed found that those who stuck most closely to a clas­ sic Mediterranean diet suffered significantly less brain shrinkage over a three­year period. A typical Mediterranean diet comprises high amounts of veg­ etables, fruit, olive oil, pulses and cereal grains, with moder­ ate amounts of fish, dairy prod­ ucts and wine, and small amounts of red meat and poul­ try. “As we age, the brain shrinks and we lose brain cells, which can affect learning and memo­ ry,” says lead researcher Michelle Luciano from the Uni­ versity of Edinburgh. “This study adds to the body of evidence that suggests the Mediter­ ranean diet has a positive im­

pact on brain health.” The differences in shrinkage were measured via brain scans,

and other studies have found that being overweight appears to increase the rate of shrinkage.

painful, but this is only visibly no­ ticeable in the tongue. Look also for cracks on the side of the mouth. Hair loss Iron deficiency, especially when it develops into anaemia, can cause hair loss as the hair follicles go into a resting stage and more hair than normal falls out. Help boost your iron intake by eating more red meat and the proteins in meat are also be­ lieved to enhance iron uptake from vegetables, so combine your steak with spinach and you’ll be boosting the iron con­ siderably. Try drinking orange juice with your meat as a study showed that 100ml of orange juice, which has around 40­ 50mg of ascorbic acid, increased iron absorption from a meal by 181 per cent. You can also speak to your pharmacist about taking iron supplements.

EWN 43

Watch out for bronchitis in infants BRONCHITIS is the most frequent cause of hospitalisation in youngsters under the age of one in Spain. It is more prolific when the temperatures drop and affects mostly infants being a viral infection of the lower respiratory tract system. This becomes inflamed and narrowed so air passage is difficult and whilst it can occur in older children and adults, in babies under the age of three months, it can be par­ ticularly serious in the young respiratory and cardiac system. So how can you spot the signs? Bronchitis starts initially as a cold with coughing, a fever and signs of respiratory distress. In babies they may struggle to feed and show laboured breathing. Hospitalisation is often necessary with the infant put on oxygen and further bouts of bronchitis are not uncommon in youngsters.

BRONCHITIS: Watch for the signs.

PETS

44

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Care for our beautiful pets SPENDING more time recently with our beloved pets has meant that they have become even more dear to us, if that were possible. Looking for­ ward with new energy you may be planning a couple of trips for later in the year. Take a moment to plan ahead for pet and house­sit­ ters if you have trips planned next year, to see family and friends or just to get away. Now is the time to get ready. We will help you as much as we can. Our philosophy is that we are all in this together. These are the steps to take: 1. Register as a homeown­ er on HouseSitMatch.com 2. Choose a Premium ac­ count (£89 per year) to ensure you can help online when needed 3. Create a profile with photos of your pet and the

PLAN AHEAD: Show them you care. house 4. Post a house­sit advert stating your plans for next year’s holiday Covid permitting Do you need a pet­sitter in 2021? Then get started right now. How does it work? HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable sitters. Join our

network for a small annual fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are going on holiday. House­sitters see your advert, they respond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets. Trustpilot Testimonials ­ 4.8 / 5 Excellent rating (New

Trustpilot rating scale) Here’s what members have said about us ­ HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house­sitter… HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house­sitter while we were away in Canada and we were delighted with the care and attention that HouseSit Match took in helping us find the right person. Ros Morris ­ Dog owner How do you join? Please register online via our website www.Housesit match.com ­ Choose a membership plan ­ Please note prices go up soon so sign up now on sub­ scription to secure these prices: • Standard (DIY option) = £69 pa • Premium (with support at each step) = £89 pa

Do you need a house-sitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and pet-sitting, and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either house-sitter or homeowner with a 20 per cent discount using coupon code P2020 - an exclusive offer for readers. To find a house or pet-sitter go to www.HousesitMatch.com.

Dog Marleys want reggae A STUDY carried out in Scotland by the SPCA and the University of Glasgow has revealed reggae and soft rock are the preferred sounds of dogs in shelters. Heart monitors were used on shelter dogs to keep track of their stress levels while different musical genres, including Mo­ town, pop, soft rock, classical and reggae were piped through the kennels. Although in a simi­ lar way to humans the results showed that different dogs pre­ ferred different musical styles, hinting that hounds have their own tastes for more than just lamb chops, reggae came top of the list for reducing stress levels. Professor Nell Evans said: “Overall, the response to differ­ ent genres was mixed highlight­ ing the possibility our canine friends have their own individ­ ual preferences. That being said, reggae and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in be­ haviour.” Following the study, the SPCA is planning to install sound systems in its kennels. As Evans pointed out, this will help dogs cope better with the stress of institutionalisation.

CLASSIFIEDS AIR CONDITIONING

BUILDERS ALMERIA BUILDERS: Fully Legal, Fully Insured, All Work Guaranteed. 659 685 133 www.almeria builders.com (253556)

BUY & SELL BUY FUR Coats & Jackets, handbags, designer bags, oriental & Persian carpets, jewellery & watches. All kind of Silver, sliver plated 90/100/800. Cutlery, tin, amber, coral, coins, medals, porcelain. Radio, musical instruments. Military items until 1945, photos, medals etc. Fair price paid in CASH. Phone 688 335 497 (290436) BUY vinyl records, record players, CD’s & Radios. 688 335 497 (290436) PRIVATE collector will buy your Gold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)

CHURCHES LOCAL ANGLICAN (C of E) Church Services Mojacar, Sundays at 11am Llanos Del Peral, Sundays at 11am Aljambra Chapel, 1st Thursday monthly at 11am Priest in Charge, Rev. Vin-

cent Oram 603 659 139. For directions, details and to find out more about our church activities please see our website http:/ /www.almeriaanglican.com (10002) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - Why not make this year the year you volunteer? Call and see how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Telephone Buddy. We also visit beneficiaries who are housebound or in hospital. If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyh hvisits@gmail.com . If you or your partner served or are serving, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big, sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feeling more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help directly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be. If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at, www.britishle gion.org.uk/counties/spainnorth ZURGENA Branch meeting on the first Thursday, Coffee Morning on the third Thursday and Buffet & Quiz Night on the last Tuesday of the month all at The Heathers La Alfoquia, for further details please email zur genarblsecretary@yahoo.co. uk - (253989)

46

DAMP PROOFING

14 - 20 January 2021 • www.euroweeklynews.com SPONSORED BY

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RISING DAMP / ROOFING REPAIRS www.elec tro-os.com info@electroos.com 619 666 363 (287819)

ELECTRICAL ABBOTT ELECTRICS. From a Light Fitting to a Full Rewire. Tel: 950 137 208 / 638 010 691 (277829)

ESTATE AGENT VOSS HOMES are a professional, British family-run Estate Agents with an office in Huercal-Overa town. They specialise in selling and renting properties in the HuercalOvera, La Alfoquia, Zurgena & Taberno area. Andy, Anna, Jess, Adele, Hannah, Amy & Karen look forward to helping you buy, sell or rent your ideal property. Please call 678 002 006 for more information (283824)

ESTATE AGENT

MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 902 123 309, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 902 123 309 for motor insurance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! (200726)

MOTORING

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NAUTICAL INTERNATIONAL SKIPPER LICENCE: Courses held in English and starts soon. RYA VHF and Radar Courses. 626 245 098

PETS

STAY SAFE! Abbeygate Insurance Call 971 277 455 For your security www.abbeygateinsure.com (2887610)

SOLAR WIND POWER SOLUTIONS. Over 20 years installation experience. Established 17 years in Spain. Call Phil for competitive prices on 636 261 240 or email info@suner gyalmeria.com (283080)

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PLUMBERS KNOWLES PLUMBING No 1 for all plumbing jobs big or small. Central heating, solar hot water and water deposits. Tel: 606 807 797 or 684 143 560 (283894)

REMOVALS/STORAGE

BUILDERS

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PLUMBING

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

47

14 - 20 January 2021

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Dacia Duster Bi-Fuel

HAVING driven so many cars over the years I have even been around when some car compa­ nies were formed, admittedly I was young at the time. Dacia began life in the mid­60s producing Renault models such as the 8 and 12. The company was eventually sold to Renault and has given the French compa­ ny the perfect base for their bar­ gain car range. However don’t think that because it’s the entry level brand it’s somehow less worthy. Dacia has amassed a huge following in this country, and many others, for their practi­ cality, affordability and style. Yes style! The SUV craze has been ongo­ ing for some years and one of the most popular models in the Dacia range is the Duster SUV. A clever advertising campaign and high satisfaction ratings mean that second­hand Duster models hold their price. New, the range starts at €13,121 (£11,745) and reaches its peak at €22,672 (£20,295). There’s a choice of both petrol and diesel engines, plus Bi­Fuel power from petrol and LPG, along with two and four­wheel­

drive and a choice of five or six­ speed manual gearboxes de­ pending on the model. If you head for the entry level model it is, well, basic. White is the only colour, you get ‘un­ dressed’ steel wheels, black trim eg door handles etc, one engine and two­wheel­drive. That said it’s €13,121 (£11,745)! Move up just one level and equipment comes in fast and furi­ ous, with more options too. My Duster was the Comfort TCe 100 4X2 Bi­Fuel. Essentially mid­ range, two­wheel­drive a 1.0­ litre, three­cylinder, tur­ bocharged petrol/LPG engine. Priced at €17,042 (£15,255) in­ cluding optional €625 (£560) Iron Blue metallic paintwork the Bi­ Fuel element is an interesting op­ tion. The conversion can claim some environmental credit and is a more financially attractive con­ version for Dacia than electric Hy­ brid and or full electric. Although for Europe there will be the new Dacia Spring Electric. Changing from petrol to LPG is easy with a simple dash switch and the actual switch­over is seamless. Apart from an in­

creased range, Dacia claims 620 miles, LPG is also cheaper at the pump. A simple screw­in adaptor apart, the fuelling process is as easy as petrol. On the road the Duster drives smoothly and rides even the worst roads in comfort.

MOTORING

SPORT

48

14 - 20 January 2021

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West Ham Win Delayed F1 Start

ON loan West Ham defender Craig Dawson spared the Ham­ mers’ blushes against a spirited performance from non­league side Stockport in the FA Cup Third Round. The National League side weathered the storm, and the sodden pitch, for the majority of the game and looked likely to push the Premier League side in­ to extra time until 30­year­old Dawson popped up to head home a Jarrod Bowen cross on 83 minutes. Dawson, on loan from Wat­ ford, broke the hearts of Stock­ port fans as the team, who sit 86 places below West Ham in the English football pyramid, were unable to find an equaliser. West Ham will now face League One side Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup Fourth Round, with the winner of that game travelling to either Man­ chester United or Liverpool in the fifth round. Stockport boss Jim Gannon

WEST HAM: Were playing in the FA Cup Third Round. told BT Sport: “The players are disappointed, but that’s testimo­ ny to how they played to come off disappointed, to lose the game. “They had lots of possession, lots of penetration, but the lads did really well. We gave our­ selves a chance of getting a goal and possibly winning the game with the opportunities we had.

“But it was always a stretch for us. I think the performance showed my players are a cut above this level, so hopefully we can continue to show that through the league season. “We tried to play, tried to play in the right areas and the right type of game. We showed what we are about and that’s all I wanted from tonight’s game.”

THE Formula One season this year will have a de­ layed start after the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, which were first and third on the 2021 calen­ dar, were postponed due to Covid restrictions. The season is now scheduled to begin with the second race, in Bahrain, on March 26­28 after it was confirmed that Australia and China would not allow entry due to strict rules on international arrivals. “We are pleased to confirm that the number of races planned for the season remains unchanged,” F1 president Stefano Domenicali said. “The global pandemic has not yet allowed life to return to normal, but we showed in 2020 that we can race safely as the first international sport to re­ turn and we have the experience and plans in place to deliver on our season.” The Australian Grand Prix, originally scheduled for March 19­21, will now take place between Novem­ ber 19­21. Italy’s Imola circuit was added to the record 23­ round schedule as the second race on April 18, after Bahrain on March 28. “It is great news that we have already been able to agree a rescheduled date for the Australian Grand Prix in November and are continuing to work with our Chinese colleagues to find a solution to race there in 2021 if something changes,” Domenicali added. “Obviously, the virus situation remains fluid, but

we have the experience from last season with all our partners and promoters to adapt accordingly and safely in 2021,” he concluded. The updated 2021 F1 race calendar now looks as follows: • 28 March ­ Bahrain (Sakhir) • 18 April ­ Italy (Imola*) • 2 May ­ TBC • 9 May ­ Spain (Barcelona) • 23 May ­ Monaco (Monaco) • 6 June ­ Azerbaijan (Baku) • 13 June ­ Canada (Montreal) • 27 June ­ France (Le Castellet) • 4 July ­ Austria (Spielberg) • 18 July ­ United Kingdom (Silverstone) • 1 August ­ Hungary (Budapest) • 29 August ­ Belgium (Spa) • 5 September ­ Netherlands (Zandvoort) • 12 September ­ Italy (Monza) • 26 September ­ Russia (Sochi) • 3 October ­ Singapore (Singapore) • 10 October ­ Japan (Suzuka) • 24 October ­ USA (Austin) • 31 October ­ Mexico (Mexico City) • 7 November ­ Brazil (Sao Paulo) • 21 November ­ Australia (Melbourne*) • 5 December ­ Saudi Arabia (Jeddah**) • 12 December ­ Abu Dhabi (Yas Island)