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whose by hasboss Darren Kir- It is believed moved now allegedly to Australia. 300 One at least Costa-del-Solclientsof CWM’s based pension have had 900 Olive expat told Press their £59,000 pots the mated, he sunk decishocked with CWM, through cover victims only realising to later had the value dis- to his lost £39,000 he investments of their ainend up back when meted sent apension had plumon benefits.”in Brittrustees However, dramatically. statement. “I have “I couldn’t close have believe a source praise for nothing lost thousands [Trafalgar Tony but pounds,” it. I sisted: to the case Barnett victim, revealed of many ‘There are in- Stewart MD] customers still mentum Davies asking and main the are happy [Mo“The anonymous.to re- pension with who tive]. Theychef execuadviser portfolio.’ their magnificent And ing me, have kept tell- tax aluc (CWM) Manlast been ing to teed, it ‘This is ia-b folded Many specialist recoup in trying month a s e d money.” can’t go guaran- Brooks, certain Untitled-1.pdf obliterat- transferred of them people’s below Brits’many heartbroken level’.” a pert on a leadingAngie The Olive life savings. 1 16/06/2017 vate had His money, eration pension ex- derstands UK their pri- others acrossand that Press through15:36 pensions France, schemes lib- possible unit is the company, Spain of the founder and may be legal highly high-risk was put and Life, has of Pension parties taken by action into a fight now launched investor ‘professional against some tims’ to help has been only’ assets, money get CWM, claimed. it She is working back. vicside pension alongTrafalgar trustees and International sions.Momentum Pen- based “People ters in out of headquardistressed,” are terribly executives. Alicante, based Granada- Both and its Olive Brooks told the office lost Press. “They the and the in Javea website their large amountshave recently shut. have ings.” retirement of When sav- spoke the Olive She to boss Press ‘definitively’ these added: “Some Kirby people he of responsibility are going denied crash. world,” “I have over the Find out A closehe said. lost my Kirby’s more on associate told Press page XX of formerthe Olive 20 staff set’. were all ‘veryCWM Ave de Gabriel “It is upstill quite for them, Roca 4, Palma working and they raw out what are next,” he said. to do
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independence. a declaration Mariano Rajoy clarify if he had demanded independence he really day’s nail followingdeclared Catalan biting address TuesIf so, parliament. to the trigger Rajoy insisted Article constitution 155 he could take direct to allow of Spain’s Madrid control “There to of put an is an urgentCatalunya. end to need to Catalunya the is going situation that through - to Continues
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Vol. 1 Issue They’ve 13 www.theolivepress.es in Spain been getting HOW TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY Want to sell October stoned QUICKER AND BETTER 12th October property? your for 26th 2017 As Spain centuries. celebrates Now UNESCO Ask here for our Hispania is interested VENDORS GUIDE the Olive Day, in Mallorca As sherry most success and get thePress Certified Residential Specialist runs walls. gets big ainrule your task over Columbus London, in SEE PAGE 6 look at we quirky some Avda. Madrid, 24, 03724 Moraira - Alicante Jerez SEE PAGE cocktails 10
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CONFUSION in life savings should reigns hotels foot the bill over who through hit by the for Mallorca line Monarch. collapse failed investment Balearic of air€10millionhotels are scheme lapse that bill over facing a the colsaw the repatriation emergency EXCLUSIVE back to of over By Joe 110,000 Palma. the UK, Duggan many Administrator from HUNDREDS Olive Press KPMG ish expats Monarch ‘the debt told the to hoteliers owed by to retrieve are of Britas an unsecured battling will rank sions the defunct their claim’ after losing penagainst airline. £20 million “They will have up to the joint pension to file a in a failed claim to the moneyadministrators scheme. investment they are a spokesman. for Spanish-based OFF TO owed,” all “It has OZ: said cial advisory (yet) hownot been finan- and (above) Boss Kirby tinental determined firm team available much money agement Wealth Con- March charity at to creditors.” will bash be
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after CWM’s September 2017 collapse left him with just €22,000 from initial investments of more than ₤800,000 (approx €900,000). Davison was diagnosed with depression just weeks after the collapse, before turning to alcohol abuse and developing type-2 diabetes, according to a video shot just before his death. His body, covered with lesions and sores, had lain undiscovered for up to a week in the mid-summer heat at his home in Sanet. “Mark died as a result of what had been done to him,” Timothy Benjamin, a fellow claimant, told the Olive Press. “By the end he didn’t want the daylight to appear.” Benjamin, 67, likewise felt ‘ashamed’ after he lost his €250,000 private pension, reinvested by CWM into ‘risky’ investments, via QROPS. In his official testimony he told the court how he had transferred ₤325,000 (€375,000 approx) from a property sale to CWM on the basis the firm was investing it in a villa in Monte Pego. But court papers revealed ₤200,000 went directly to the bank account of
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NOTORIOUS: Disgraced businesswoman Jody Smart accused in financial scandal
three British claimants are seeking criminal charges for aggravated fraud, fake accounting and belonging to a criminal organisation. The complaints concern bungled house transactions, unpaid loans and failed pension investments that lost the claimants over €1million between them. One of the victims, Mark Davison, tragically died, aged 59, in July this year
In documents seen by Press, CWM was paid €3,391,873 of commission for selling insurance bonds and investments by two Cyprus-based financial firms, between October 2015 and September 2017. A January 2019 statement from Spain’s financial regulator revealed
insurance bonds were sold in New quality breach homesof the law. What is certain is that this money since 1958a ‘lavish lifestyle’ for its key funded
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huge Parfitt Worse,sums ‘without three British ens of it comes falling inal charges claimants into losses’. less by victims leftas it emerges accounting for are destitute that Smart the Denia-based organisation.and aggravatedseeking crimand dozbelonging fraud, Kirby. and her former firm are penni- The complaints fake after CWM’s In the to a criminal partner suing transactions, left him first concern Darren pension case with September investments unpaid bungled to reach just €22,0002017 investments ants loans house (approx collapse the courts, One over €1million of more that lost and failed Davison €900,000). than from initial ically of the victims, between the ₤800,000 sion just was diagnosed died, them.claim- turning weeks aged Mark Davison, 59, in after the with to alcohol trag- ing depresJuly this year shottype-2 diabetes, abusecollapse, before just before and developIn documents according His his death. Press, sores,body, covered to a video CWM commission seen a weekhad lain with was undiscovered lesions bonds home in the mid-summer paid by the for €3,391,873 Olive and prus-based “Mark in Sanet. for and selling investments heat atup to October done died as a insurance of financial to him,” result his A January low claimant, 2015 by two Timothyof what firms, and Spain’s “By the had been CyBenjamin, between 2019 September end hetold the Olive financial insurance to appear.” statement 2017. a feldidn’t breach Benjamin, regulator want Press. the daylight from What of thebonds after 67, law. were revealed fundedis certain sion, he lost his likewise felt sold reinvested €250,000 ‘ashamed’ players a ‘lavish is that investments, in by CWM private in a Kirby In his lifestyle’this via relationship money and into pento March court official QROPS. Smart, for ‘risky’ how he testimony staff (€375,000 2017, together whoits key had transferredhe members. according from were sale to told the CWMapprox) from ₤325,000 2011 investing to former on it in a the basis a property But villa in the went court papers Monte firm directly revealed Pego. was to the bank ₤200,000 Tel. (+34) Continues account 96 649 info@hispaniahomes.es of 18 29 on www.hispaniahomes.co.u Pointing the two way to great Easter travel excursions from the hills of Javea wilds to the of Galicia
ing and
October 24th - November 6th 2019
EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
huge sums ‘without falling into losses’. Worse, it comes as it emerges that dozens of victims left destitute and penniless by the Denia-based firm are suing Smart and her former partner Darren Kirby. In the first case to reach the courts,
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A WELL-KNOWN expat fashion designer has been accused of receiving up to €1million from an unlicensed Costa Blanca financial advisory company. Companies in Jody Smart’s name were given the money by defunct Continental Wealth Management (CWM) in the two years’ before its high-profile collapse left hundreds of investors an estimated €20million out of pocket, it can be revealed. A total of €999,435 was paid to her fashion label Jody Bell SL and property holding company Mercurio Conpro SL between 2015 and 2017, according to bank statements shown to the Olive Press. Brit Jody, 43, was also paid a €144,000 salary - despite telling a court that she ‘did not know what it meant to be a sole director of company’ and was only involved in ‘marketing and PR’. In a series of shocking declarations given to Denia’s Court of Instruction No.3 it has emerged that the company could ill afford to pay these
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cious PP back plans party for a has set from control power out Valencia and grab audato take a u t the other ono regions. mou s Leader Casado Pablo nounced commitment anstrengthen his to central the to the government’s national He insisted role elections prevent in the that in taxes. corruption run up such in a fortnight. It comes and a move off the as lead would to a Party, threatthe party drop whose from attempts autonomous leader an insurgentto cer of see has Under Spain’. parliaments described Vox the plan, se resources as the the the PP delegations ‘canfor wants transfer and regional to increaof power paralyse government to the any regions. further Casado Supremacy Spain insisted tively’. being the administered move The would party election ‘more see view would hopeful effecoperateof how carry out stated that a sweeping ty.’ lookingthe regional his Spain’s at ‘efficiencyauthorities reof ‘autonomous quasi-federal and the constitution equiter Pedro states’political system the Sanchez,in 1978. was added plan,constitution, whose Prime to ‘tooth insisting strongly party Minis“ and the drafted nal w nail’ PSOE opposed self-government. the principal would wi the defend wa of regio“A it’s “We
EXCLUSIVE By Joshua
up in prison’ as he launches Page 20 an appeal this week. The court however, established that Smart was behind the fraud of PARTNERING one victim FOR of €300,000 UK BASED OVER OWNERS under 20 YEARS the Specialists false prein Luxury Holiday tence of purm i n Villas Rentals c h a s - istrator and Sales of Continental Wealth Javea ing a Trust, while La Sella - Denia the court also named for Spanish p r o p - her then-husband, Golf Darren Kirby, erty. residents tel: 966 Area as being in on the scheme. A l o n g While Smart 424 www.globelink.co. mob: was involved with 647 575 505 with col- CWM when www.vacationvillasspai l e a g u e Kirby was it collapsed in 2017, 152 uk the sole administrator A l a n and was n.com G o r r i n - mind. thought to be the master96 626 +44 ge, who Smart, (0) 13535000 who describes herself on has since Instagram 699082 as a ‘fashion designer, d i e d , wellness Smart also wedding expert, philanthropist, d e f r a u d - successful planner’, also runs a GLOBE TROTTER: But her travels ed another Benissa. beach club, Oceana, in have been ended by a Spanish judge victim of Victims claim she founded her € 7 0 , 0 0 0 fashion label off t h r o u g h many people she the back of the after a series of delays. long complicated class action. scammed out of But, the sentence, a sham their life savings through issued by Ali- “It’s been a seven-year the CWM cante’s Audiencia Provincial l o a n investment scheme. court, and forth to the court battle, back in Alicante is being seen a g r e e - On Instagram she flaunts her for the victimsas a massive victory from my home in Granada and it’s ment. and could now open cost me a glamorous lifestyle fortune in legal fees. The court to Greece, Thailandon foreign trips the floodgates to many more. and Venice. Incredibly, at least half a dozen “At least some justice has been r u l e d The victims meanwhile done and she will have - at least other senior CWM figures S m a r t one who committed have so nearly half a million to cough up euros in damwas the losing his life savingssuicide after far managed to evade justice. ages and fees.” sole ad- to wait nearly a decade- have had Angie Brooks, a pension expert, She continued: for justice who the Olive Press has worked ren Kirby has, so“Incredibly, Darfar, managed a l o n g s i d e get off as he was not a director to Best prices for Meet or a to expose shareholder in the company.” & Greet Valet Service their money back,” he told the the de- A separate court in Denia ruled Olive Press. c a d e - l o n g there was ‘insufficient evidence’ One week for 30€!! to He fraud, said prosecute four other senior figures A CLASS action is being a is ‘confident’ his clients’ have One year for 600€!! winning case, although he adshe was of CWM in a decision that devaslaunched against ‘defunct’ fu- mitted ‘delighted’ tated the victims in 2023. there is ‘no way of knowneral planning company Iberian. ing’ 24-hour security & CCTV at the judg- “It was complicated and the Carlos Haering is representing have if Iberian or its inheritors judge ment. couldn’t get her head around any money in their bank 20 clients who fear they have lost accounts. it “It’s great and threw the case out,” explained +34 651 56 59 96 more than €4,000 each after the “But news, I’m Brooks. I tell my clients if you do company apparently collapsed. nisopark1@hotmail.com nothing, h a p p i - “But now we are bringing a The Marbella-based lawyer will continued.you get nothing,” he much er than bigger, stronger case against “If we get lucky, they AIRPORT PARKING, MÁLAGA file the case against Iberian’s ‘ad- will I’ve get their money back”. been them.” LONG TERM, COSTA DEL SOL ministrators’ at Malaga Court, in seven She continued: “We will send out a this week. COLLECTION & DELIVERY See Heaven can Wait on years,” shuddering said message to the pension “We have to act in order to get page TERMINAL 2 B r o o k s , industry.” 6 who helped The Olive Press is aware of to guide the er civil cases meanwhile othbeing brought in the Isle of Man. Your
Vol. 1 Issue 16 www.theolivepress.es
financial ruin, cancer and depression
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us?
CONFUSION millionslose should life savings hotels foot the reigns in hit by bill for over who line Monarch. through the collapse Mallorca Balearic investment €10millionhotels of airfailed lapse are scheme that bill over facing repatriation saw a the the emergency back colPalma.to the of over EXCLUSIVE Administrator UK, many110,000 By Joe Olive from Duggan Press KPMG Monarch HUNDREDS ‘the as an debt told the ish to hoteliers owed unsecured expats the defunct to retrieve will by are of Brit“They rank sions airline.claim’ against battling will have the joint £20 after their to file the money millionlosing penadministrators pension a claim a spokesman. they in a up to scheme. are owed,”for to “It has failed investment all Spanish-based (yet) not said cial been how available OFF advisory much determined tinental money to creditors.” and TO OZ: agement Wealth firmfinan(above) Boss will be Con- March last team Kirby (CWM) Mancharity ing month at Untitled-1.pdffolded bash Many Brits’many obliterat-
an Olive Press from Barcelonadispatch
How we nailed corrupt a socialist Champagne MP
The Olive Press joined thousands of Spaniards and Brits in last ditch Brexit protest See page 5
quality
They’ve been
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SPAIN’S accused prime Puigdemont Catalan minister sion’ has of leader after of independence. signingcausing Carles ‘confuMariano a declaration clarify Rajoy if he independence had demanded day’s really he Catalannail bitingfollowingdeclared If so, parliament. address Tuestrigger Rajoy to the Articleinsisted constitution 155 he could take direct to allow of Spain’s “There control Madrid put an is an of urgentCatalunya.to end Catalunya to the need is going situation to through that Continues - to on
Who’s paying
EXCLUSIVE
April 23rd - May 6th 2025
Costa restaurateur found guilty of fraud after scam linked to €35 million CWM scandal
Petrol bombs and bullets, Director of disgraced Costa Blanca wealth an Olive Press dispatch management firm rakes in €1million for her from Barcelona Page 6 businesses while trio of British claimants battle
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The Olive thousandsPress joined and Brits of Spaniards in Brexit protestlast ditch See page 5
As the Art Deco movement reaches a century, we celebrate Spain’s contribution
ONCE a towering titan of industry, neies power Barcelona’s plant is set to become the iconic Tres Xemethe beating The 1970s cultural future. heart of (that’s Tres relic, named after its since it shutXemeneies in Catalan), three colossal chimneys has been gathering But not for down in 2011. much longer. dust de Seta Bonet Architecture dream dazzling visualsArquitectes and Marvel have team Garces name borrowed of their wild new vision: E la just released Out goes coal from a classic Fellini nave va - a and in comes flick. mation will creativity. This dia City’, a morph the hulking plant bold transforbuzzing hub into the ‘Catalunya The mammoth for turbine hall media, tech, and public Meght out of will be arts. Armory. London’s Tate Modern reborn - with vibes straiand NYC’s We’re talking Park Avenue and enough 17-metre ceilings, fests to virtualflexible free space epic sound studios, And the originsreality showcases.to host everything fromlabs, film it still producingof the station have not been power crown the roof, and its - 4,500m² of solar forgotten, with shrink its carbon smart eco-friendly panels are “This is about footprint. design will to help turning an re,” said architect industrial past into a cultural Jonathan Marvel. the Med and second act Badalona, it’s looking And with views futuwill be nothing like the power over short of electric. plant's
IT was a clever way waste product to from a localutilise a try in Andalucia. indusA team from universities Spanish and British way to createhave worked out eco-friendlya building materials from Andalucia has become sugarcane. groundbreaking the centre The group of a sustainable from the using sugarcane and Armor Univers Gutierrez instead of building project gan exploring i(far left) bety of East concrete as a potential agricultural waste By Tom Londo Ewart Smith construction rial. which release mate( U E L n carbon into ) ‘bagasse’, mosphere. the at- The project is now and the extractingthe fibrous pulp dustrial-scale exploring left after In contrast, their project B aga c e i r inSugarcrete sugarcane tion, bon in the Project, ina Their research foundjuice. new building traps car- millionwhich could utilise producup to materials, square metres that prod- reducing environmental Barcelona, ucts made from this plantations of sugarcane8 impact. w o r k e d formed traditional waste outper- Made by combining Estimates in southern Spain. sand, bagasse concrete CARBON claim it will out how to clay bricks. and print the bricks have a carbon with bon emissions TRAPS: The capture car- bricks six times lower Sugarcrete repurpose Bagasse is typically footused at Burning equivalent than conven- cars. fuel or used to 46,000 burned for tional clay bricks. Man Festival as cattle feed, If given the Further research The project both of go ahead the launched in is planned UEL researchers team will Granada this summer, 2022 when turn a number of in former concrete factories into have already Alan Chandler while hubs, boostingbio-based production build a school used the productthey to the local economy. in India as prototype well tival in theat the Burning Man as a fesUS.
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Find out which hidden corners (including the brothels) of Cordoba were mentioned by Cervantes
JAIL FOR JODY
SHE was best friends with TV star Denise van Outen and had more shoes than notorious Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos. But the glamorous life of fashion designer Jody Smart has come to an abrupt end after she was found guilty of fraud in Spain. Smart - aka Jodie Pearson - will now swap first-class trips to New York’s fashion week for a Spanish jail cell for the next three-and-ahalf years. An Alicante Court ruled she OLIVE was behind part PRESS of the notorious €35 million Continental Wealth Management (CWM) swindle and must pay €370,000 to two victims. Judge Francisco Javier Guirau also found her guilty of conning a third victim, Mark Davidson, out of VENDORS GUIDE €930,000, however tragically he passed away before the verdict was reached. Smart told the Olive Who’s paying Press the frauds were us? ‘a consequence of loans between individuals, in which my…signature does not appear.’ Her lawyer added it is ‘uncertain she will end Three Lion pub s
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OLIVE PRESS
T
HE serene and town of Moraira sophisticated coastal where Just 30 minutesis from a different era. coexist barefoot luxury and old-world away is the Brits’-fain perfect harmony. charm Instead, vourite resort Moraira caters a part of the modernof Benidorm, very much Unlike many of its neighbour to steadfastly preserved s, Moraira has - well-heeled Spaniards, a discerning crowd What makes world. But for a taste style-savvy and repeat visitors its roots. Think Moraira special, cobbled who appreciate expats, influx? For locals much with all theof old Spain - although very streets, terracotta rooftops, even its low-key 63-year-old like Honorato with this and a peaceful elegance and Mediterran Once a fishing mod cons - stay in Moraira. pace of life that draws in Ibanez, a ean soul. Despite restaurate from Granada more ur who moved here the mountains village sandwiched between eter, more refined slice ofthose seeking a qui- managedits growing reputation, the and the Mediterran Spain. You won’t stumble than three decades to retain its intimate town has the magic been transforme ra has a lies in the everyday upon signs advertising ago, feel. Moraid into a sought-aftean, it has full English breakfast rhythm of a 10,000, year-round population of around “The peace here is the er retreat Premier for main thing,” he life. League matches €1 or pubs blaring number but in the height of summer, “It’s just cortijos says. and campo. here. swells to over 35,000 that to its allure. - a testament no stress - there aren’t even There is almost traffic lights!” Continues on next
COSTA BLANCA
EXCLUSIVE
Jody partner: I’m innocent THE alleged mastermind behind one of Spain’s biggest investment frauds has insisted he’s innocent. Darren Kirby, who founded infamous Continental Wealth Management (CWM), told the Olive Press he left Spain with ‘just €50’ in his pocket. This was despite his firm leaving hundreds of elderly expats ‘around €35 million’ out of pocket when it collapsed in 2017. Having fled Spain, first for Australia and then Cambodia, he is now living in London, working in pubs. The 60-year-old told the Olive Press this week, he was ‘aware’ of various lawsuits against his former firm and that his ex-partner Jody Smart (top) had just been sentenced to three years in prison. However, he insisted he was innocent and ‘there was no fraud committed by CWM’.
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DISGRACE Half year on: More calls for Mazon to go as anniversary marks tragic floods update
No money
The former financial advisor also claimed he had made ‘no money’ from the offshore investment scheme that he set up in Alicante in 2010. In a bombshell phone interview from the UK, he insisted his ex-partner Jody, now Jody Pearson, had ‘stolen everything from me’. “She even took my Savile Row suit and a sculpture of my baby daughter when she was just six months old,” he claimed. Kirby also insisted he ‘transferred everything’ into Jody’s name in 2015 on the advice of lawyers. She was left with ‘all the assets, totally, completely,’ he claimed. This even included the Costa Blanca villa that Kirby had been ‘planning to retire in’. “Everyone says I ran away – I didn't run away,” he insisted this week, speaking publicly for the first time. “But as soon as I left, Jody stripped all my assets, the cars – and a lot more too.” The Olive Press will be revealing more of his sensational claims about the CWM scandal over the coming weeks. See Payback Time, page 6
TRAUMA: Children who lived through the devastating floods (left) have been suffering with mental scars AN alarming 70,000 children are still living in squalor, trauma and uncertainty since the disastrous floods ripped through Valencia six months ago. Anger is mounting against Valencia region president Carlos Mazon over the October 29 deluge that left 228
people dead. So far six large demonstrations have demanded his resignation given most victims had died well before an official regional government warning message was sent to mobile phones. Locals are also furious at how little has been done since the cata-
strophic storm turned quiet towns into disaster zones, leveling more than 75,000 homes in its path. While officials promised a swift recovery, the reality on the ground is devastating - and it’s children who are suffering the most. “We’ve been caring for kids whose childhoods were literally stolen by this flood,” said Rodrigo Hernandez, head of Save the Children’s flood emergency response. “Things are slowly improving for some, but the job is far from done.” That’s certainly not the case for Eduvmary Lopez (pictured left), a single mum, who lives with her 10-year-old son and her baby daughter in a Paiporta flat riven by damp.
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“The mould has destroyed everything,” she said. “The woodwork, the clothes - all gone. My children have caught respiratory infections. “And every time it rains, my eldest son panics and begs me to pick him up from school.” She tries to calm him with emergency plans. “I tell him: if it floods again, go upstairs, don’t areacostablanca.com come home, and help 966 112 428 your classmates. But I shouldn’t have to say that to a 10-year-old.” Carol, another local mother, fears for her YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENCY FOR CALPE, five-year-old daughter’s BENISSA, MORAIRA AND REGION mental health. “I tried to act normal
when the storm hit, but she remembers. She talks about the water, the mud… even now, she’s scared when we walk through town.” According to Save the Children, the psychological toll is staggering. Children are terrified of weather, struggle to sleep, and have shown signs of depression, rage and emotional shutdown. Adolescents, in particular, are suffering in silence. “Mental health services for children must be urgently expanded,” said Hernandez. “This disaster has left invisible scars on thousands of young people.” And the flood didn’t just destroy homes - it shattered classrooms too. Nearly 40,000 children were left without schooling in the immediate aftermath. Even now, some are still being taught in makeshift barracks, while others have missed entire subjects. “With the school year ending, urgent action is needed to help kids catch up,” said Hernandez. “They shouldn’t be punished by having to repeat the year - it’s unfair and socially damaging.” Despite over €1.2 billion being poured into recovery efforts, thousands of families remain in overcrowded, unhealthy housing. And the most vulnerable - those in informal or contractless rentals have fallen through the cracks. “We need stronger housing sup Continues on Page 5