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A third of Manilva’s residents are from UK - and here’s why
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WHIRLWIND tour of Manilva will take you far and wide Blighty. square kilometres. in just a few But it’s not just Brits You might start by tled residents, many- foreign, setgazing out at from northluxury yachts bobbing by the glitzy port, ern European countries, make up or the glistening sea along a peaceful 42% of Manilva’s population. beach trail. In spite of these high numbers, And then minutes later you could find va is not simply an expat colonyManilyourself among rolling - not at all. lated by luxury villas, green hills popu- The district has a or burgeoning vineyards around a whitewashed ing Spanish culturestrong and thrivvillage. And on your journey that lives extremelyand community harmoniously doscope of people you will meet a kalei- and very cordially with their foreign each with a story to from all walks of life, guests. Manilva officially tell. The locals and the has the highest percentage of Brits on ers mix and mingle foreignin the with between a thirdthe padron in Spain, and a quarter of the 18,000-strong municipality hailing from Continues on page 8
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ANDALUCÍA
Your expat
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Vol. 18 Issue 441 www.theolivepress.es April 3rd - April 16th 2024
MALAGA politicians have blasted big wigs in Madrid after their long-held dreams of a Costa del Sol train were dismissed as ‘complicated and expensive’. The backlash came after Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente (pictured) made the remarks in parliament this week, admitting there were ‘no feasible plans’ for the project - despite €600,000 having been pumped into studies over the past five years. Puente insisted that extending the current line from Fuengirola would be slow and ‘uncompetitive’, w i t h m a n y people
OFF THE RAILS
still preferring to get in their cars. He added that the terrain would prove difficult to build through while threatening the Costa del Sol’s real estate market. He concluded that ‘it seems complicated to me to make a bet on a solution at least within a reasonable period of time.’ Rocio Diaz, housing and development minister for Andalucia, hit back at complaints about costs, arguing that it has ‘guarantees of success’ given its dire economic need. “It is a project with strong socio-economic and environmental viability, not only because of the potential demand but also due to the gridlock on the roads running along the Costa del Sol,” she said.
“We should sit down together and talk and assess the need for a train that extends to Marbella - or even as far as Algeciras, or at least to see about extending the Malaga to Fuengirola train.” Francisco Salado, president of the Malaga Province Council, complained that ‘the Government has already clearly demonstrated that it has no will to build the train to Marbella , Estepona and Algeciras or to solve the mobility problems on the Costa del Sol.’
SHELVED: How a costa train line might look “The residents of the Costa del Sol are not second class citizens and deserve the same mobility and transport infrastructures that exist, are planned and built in the other large metropolitan areas of Spain,” he fumed.
No to Nolotil! Clinics and hospitals across Spain vow to crackdown on ‘killer drug’ after Olive Press campaign
THE Junta de Andalucia and three major private hospital groups have vowed to stop handing out Nolotil to at-risk patients after being contacted by the Olive Press. Marbella’s leading Helicopteros SanEXCLUSIVE itarios group, HCB and Grupo Ribera By Yzabelle Bostyn all told this paper they were committed to banning the drug for northern European and American patients. manufactured in Germany. The companies said they were follow- A spokesman for Helicopteros told ing important central government the Olive Press: “Due to our geoadvice issued in 2018, which came graphical location on the Costa del about after medical campaigner Sol our patients come from all over Cristina del Campo took the isthe world and so we are particsue to the national courts. ularly aware of the side effects News of their re-commitment that Metamizole can have. KILL comes after we launched a “For this reason, our medical THE campaign in February to stop staff are committed not to adDRUG handing out the lethal painminister this medication to killer - also known as Metamour patients.” izole - to expats and tourists. Grupo Ribera, which has The drug - which is banned many facilities on the Costa in around 40 countries - is Blanca, made a similar prombelieved to be behind at least ise, saying: “We advise against 100 deaths of foreigners in the prescription of Nolotil givSpain. en that a significant part of the The majority died after their (local) population is foreign and white blood cell count plummetis therefore at risk of these complied due to side effects from the drug, cations.”
The fugitive gangster who spends his time reviewing plush hotels and restaurants.
952 147 834 See page 8
And despite the Olive Press receiving a number of reports that patients have received Nolotil in HCB hospitals, the Costa Blanca group assured us this week they are now ‘following’ Madrid’s recommendations. “We are very aware of the recommendation not to prescribe Nolotil to foreign patients,” insisted the spokesman. Other hospitals, including Grupo HLA, declined to comment. The positive steps come two months after we launched a second campaign to have the dangerous drug banned for tourists and expat foreigners. Our first campaign in 2017 ended when AEMPS (The Spanish Agency for Medicines) ruled in 2018 that Nolotil must only be used by patients for short periods of time. The ‘informative note’ meant they should be monitored and have regular blood tests to detect any severe reaction. It further ruled the drug should also NOT be given to tourists and others ‘who would not have access to such controls and monitoring’. It must also be available by prescription only and on a case-by-case basis, with a patient’s medical history and risk factors also taken into consideration. Despite the advice, deaths however have continued to happen, most recently with 42-year-old British expat Mark Brooks who was prescribed Nolotil in December 2023. When we discovered others had also died following prescription, we felt
Most notably, the Junta de Andalucia stated that ‘knowing the risk of agranulocytosis (low white blood cell count) associated with metamizole’, its hospitals now follow the official we needed to act again. health advice. After nearly 700 people signed our The Junta added it should only be petition urging health facilities to fol- used for short periods of time, idelow the rules, we began asking hos- ally no longer than a week and that pitals and local health authorities for any patients given the drug should be their commitment. closely monitored using blood tests. So far, we have received eight re- Sensationally, a spokesman also responses, with five pledging to follow vealed to us there had been 141 reAEMPs advice. ports of agranulocytosis at the hands of Metamizole in Andalucia, 11 of which were fatal. Other local authorities, including Cantabria and Castilla-La Mancha, also claimed to be fol1 At least 11 patients lowing AEMPS advice, while Madrid refused to comment. died after taking Mehave tam izole in Andalucia, a Opinion Page 6 ernment report show govs.
Nolotil in numbers
K The region has logge
least 141 cases of ag d at locytosis brought on ranuby the drug.
ʞ In Andalucia alone,
have been at least 70there ports of complication 9 reter taking Metamizole.s af-
Some 58% of Metam
prescriptions in Anda izole lucia are currently for longer than 180 days, while are for longer than a 38% year.
Tel: 952 147 834
See page 21
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