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Vol. 5 Issue 108 www.theolivepress.es June 15th - June 28th 2023
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PIC CREDIT: David Nutter
PICTURE THIS: We track down photographers who took long lost unpublished snaps of John and Yoko’s Gib wedding See Page 6
WHIP-HAND FOR WIFE ABUSER
Introducing the Spain loving British architect who has just won the world’s top architecture award BEAT THE HEAT: Tips to be cool by design st be ag ’s m ain ty sh Sp operEngli pr in
Property
THE far-right Vox party will get a first taste of power in Valencia after a coalition deal was struck on Tuesday. The arrangement will see Vox, which won 13 seats, support the PP’s Carlos Mazon as president. The PP and Vox won 53 seats between them in last month's regional elections, while the socialists and partners Compromis mustered just 46 seats. The main stumbling block over a deal was Vox leader Carlos Flores’s shady past, which saw him convicted of domestic violence 20 years ago.
The conviction of a year in prison and €6,000 fine came after ‘continual psychological violence’, in 2002. The court heard how the 59-year-old professor of constitutional law habitually threatened his ex-partner Magdalena with ‘insults and harassment’ and insulted her in front of their three children on ‘up to 21 occasions’. On one occasion abuse took place outside the gates of a school, and his eldest daughter even called the police. Magdalena and his children moved to a different city in a bid to escape his RED LINE: Carlos Flores was convicted of domestic violence
See page 6
s.es
May 2023
Swiss salute!
A MAJOR global exhibition is to recognise work of architectural the giants Herzog & ron, as they reach De Meutheir 45th anniversary. The Royal Academy ring the Swiss pair’s show, in London, is explohealthy half dozen incredible designs, with a built in Spain. These include (from top left) the Forum, Madrid’s CaixaForum and Barcelona remarkable 2007 (main) the HQ Since 1978 the pair of Spanish bank, BBVA. have grafted on jects, many yet to be built, including 600 proFrontera’s City of Jerez de la Flamenco.
page 22
SPAIN’S golden visa pected to survive… scheme is ex- Spain’s Golden but it’s going to Visa double in price. rise to €1 million andscheme to survive… but investment While Portugal and threshold it could encourage Ireland recently scrapped their programmes, spending in less-populatedlikely to vestments of more than €1 million By Walter Finch the visa scheme is expected in Spain But the government areas in deposits or shares of Spanish capwas quick to vestment. to be extended. deny his claims, insisting ital companies, or more the minis- However, than €2 milGovernment sources It comes after left try lion in government it has been frequently wing political tiveswas actually looking at alterna- icised bonds. crit- Certain only those investing indicate that party Mas Pais claimed with suggestions from for €1million or that Spain’s various sures and creating inflationary pres- fessionalsdesirable highly skilled promore will be given came under scrutiny and family reunification a three-year res- Social Security Ministry had provi- political parties. for idency permit. sionally confirmed it was to scrap One of these is to allow investment encouraging black money into the cases are also eligible for this resiA source told El Pais the scheme. but only in less-populated Spanish economy. dency permit without will be doubled from that the figure Leader Inigo Errejon socially beneficial projects.areas or in Currently, the scheme In 2022, Spain grantedinvestment. claimed the 2,462 golden allows forof €500,000 invested the current total scheme had led to a ‘brutal’ increase Introduced in 2013 in the wake of eigners to obtain a three-year resi- visas to property investors, an inas an investment in a in real estate or in house prices, adding: the Euro crisis, the dence Spanish company. scheme was in- two, permit, extendable for another crease of nearly 60% from the pre“Spanish cit- tended izenship cannot be bought”. vious year. Only a by investing at least as a means to re-inflate handful invested €500,000 in in companies the real estate, excluding housing market through or government bonds. any mortgages. foreign in- The mechanism also applies to in- Since the scheme began some 31,000 people have acquired a golden visa.
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will, for now, take over the speaker’s position in the Valencian parliament Les Corts. The PP will also hold the vice-presidency while Vox will run some ministries in what will be a down-sized government team compared to the previous administration. PP and Vox officials said they would govern on five principles: the freedom to choose in all walks of life including education; tax cuts; health and social services; support for families as the ‘nucleus of society’; and protecting a unique ‘Valencian’ identity. No date has yet been announced for Mazon’s investiture as president.
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continuing abuse, which included him standing outside their house and hurling insults, some of a sexual nature. While he was disqualified from politics for a year and banned from approaching his ex for three years, he is now allowed to serve as a politician again. Under the new deal with the PP, Flores, who had close links with shady right-wing group, Fuerza Nueva, will not become Valencia’s Vice President. He has agreed to withdraw from a government role for the coalition to form. However, he will instead be named at the top of Valencia’s list for the July 23 general election. The PP had insisted his conviction was a ‘red line’ to him getting a government position. The new coalition deal means that Vox
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By Alex Trelinski
Vox enters power in Valencia despite leader’s controversial farright and domestic violence past
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