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TWO British tourists have been kicked off their sunbeds after entering a hotel pool area before it officially opened. Video footage recorded by the Olive Press shows a security guard waving his finger and shouting ‘no, no, no!’ at the men as he frantically made hand gestures towards his watch. The pair were then escorted away from the area at the Melia Hotel in Benidorm and told to get to the back of a queue, which had been forming at the pool area’s entrance. We watched as holidaymakers tried to reserve beds at 8.40am, going against the policy of the hotel, which is laying down the law this year. It can get so heated, a dedicated security guard is posted each morning wearing a bright yellow. At 9am, the guard releases the rope cordon, unleashing a flock of British tourists who scurry to secure their preferred spots by the pool. It comes as hotels are bracing for the dreaded sunbed wars this year, which are starting earlier than ever. Last week two elderly tourists were branded ‘selfish’ for laying on stacks of sunbeds, also in Benidorm. See both stories in full on our website
EAGER: Brit tourist takes a pile of towels to reserve sunbeds
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GOOD TIME TO BUY
VERY high demand and supply. That’s the current low ation in Spain’s property situAPI estate agents, Carles ket, according to experts,marpointed to prices as well. Sala, “Any reduction will likely be as such a good time to buy. and gradual,” said Ricardo “Prices are not growing SouIn coastal regions, particularly with sa, from US giant of buying activity in the By Alex Trelinski the intensity that Century 21 in Andalucia, prices continue quarter of this year, andfirst In terms of demand, a key fig- done in recent years,”they have Spain. to soar. And there is no sign he said. The forecast is that mortgage of Their thinking the same time, the launch at ure at leading UK agency Sav- “So a fall in prices them stopping. is not going of ills, pointed out exactly is that, given how to happen, meaning that while rates will hover around 2.5% the low supply in the market new residential projects on high it ‘If it fits with your plans remains. for some time. it is not the best moment, now, it’s the time to buy,’right right now, if an opportunity a national level,” Carlos de “We are surprised there “As such, the appears, Almeida, sales director at group concluded in a round buyers should not lead- strength of demand, by the is nothing to indicate that over property if a buyer finds a that meets their reit is above the next year prices table discussion with property let it slip through their fin- ing property firm CBRE ex- what we initially plained. expected,” in- better,” he added. will be any quirements and it is within gers. portal Idealista. sisted Pelayo Barroso, national As for mortgage their budget, it would be “We are seeing high levels “All of this means that demand manager pruinterest at Savills Research. continues to be very high.” these are not likely to fallrates, dent to buy now rather than any- wait for the market Meanwhile, Lawyer at the time soon. conditions to improve,” added Sousa.
Experts tell American property portal that despite serious supply shortages, if you see a bargain ‘grab it’
Waiting to die A BRITISH expat ‘waiting to die’ from ‘football-sized hernias’ has accused a hospital in Spain of ignoring her symptoms for years. Maria Coomber, 72, told the Olive Press staff at the hospital in Valencia had cruelly branded her a ‘hypochondriac’. She revealed how she was repeatedly turned away by Torrevieja Hospital, despite ‘screaming in agony’ from ‘intense stabbing’ pains in her stomach. After allegedly being ‘ignored’ by medical staff over a five-year period, she was finally diagnosed with inoperable hernias on her spine and abdomen. The Kent-born woman explained that she has now been told they could ‘pop at any moment’ and kill her. She can now only be given painkillers to numb her ordeal and feels ‘sad and ‘emotional’, especially for her son, who ‘will not have a place to live’ after she dies. Incredibly, she claims one doctor accused her of being a ‘bored expat who had nothing better to do and wanted the company.’ It comes after the hospital’s level of care was said to be deteriorating by the local mayor in 2022. We later reported how a woman won €450,000 when her arm had to be amputated due to a series of errors. Maria’s nightmare began some eight years ago, when she discovered her stomach had moved and had to be put back in the
MARIA: Ignored by staff at Torrevieja’s hospital for FIVE years visit her GP instead. The GP totally disagreed however and urged her to go back to the hospital for urgent help, particularly as the stabbing pains came up to four times a week. “But after a while, the hospital started to dislike me and called me a hypochondriac,” she claims. Maria states the doctor actually told other hospital staff to ‘ignore’ her pleas for help despite ‘screaming in pain’ on various occasions. “I have never cried so much in my life. I felt so alone,” said Maria. “I don’t know how I survived.” Far from a ‘bored retiree’, Maria has a thriving social life, a loving son, many pets and plenty of housework to keep her busy. Nonetheless, she says staff at Torrevieja Hospital continued to dismiss her symptoms for FIVE years, leading to ‘horrible and nasty’ treatment including being ‘aggressively’ manhandled. “I was called a ‘b**tard’ and left on the floor of an ambulance after falling off a bed,” she insisted. It was only after a nasty fall last
By Yzabelle Bostyn
right place. She underwent major surgery in the UK before returning to Benijofar, Spain. She had moved to the Costa Blanca two decades ago after retiring from her role as a care home manager. Much to her dismay, just six months later her pain returned and she discovered her stomach had once again moved. After another surgery, this time in Torrevieja, she thought her nightmare was finally behind her. That was until she began experiencing new ‘excruciating’ pain six months later and was rushed to the hospital’s A&E. Despite initially getting what she describes as ‘very good’ care, her pains persisted and she returned multiple times for much-needed relief. After a few visits, emergency staff told her to ‘stop coming’ and to The
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areas of the SNOW is likely in someregions, with Valencia and Murcia the way. storms and hail also on above alSnow is forecast for areas metres as the titudes of 300 to 600 to see sevcountry as a whole is due temperatures eral days of even lower experiencing. than those it is already to a weather The chill blast is thanks Atlantic and front moving in from the a storm named Hannelore. in the The mercury plummeted year thanks to first few weeks of the with condistorms Gerard and Fien, tions expected to get warmer. changed, acBut the situation has state meteoAEMET the to cording thermomerological agency, and the the end of this ters will not rise until week.
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British expat mum, 33, sent home to die in agony after being refused treatment after 14 hour wait at A&E A YOUNG British woman died hours after being dismissed by doctors and told to go home after waiting 14 hours at a hospital for treatment. Rachael Firth, who worked as a livein carer, sought help at Torrevieja’s A&E on August 14, after suffering days of pain. She was seen by her GP for pain in her legs earlier that week, and was advised to go to the emergency department if the condition worsened. In regular messages to her mum, she said hospital staff justified making her wait all day because emergencies took priority. After seven hours of waiting in agony with her leg swollen to twice its size, the 33-year-old eventually saw a female doctor. However, she felt her condition was not taken seriously, and insisted the doctor dismissed her after seeing medical notes that mentioned previous treatments for mental illness. In a message to her mother, Jane, a nurse h e r self, she wrote: “ T h e doctor was really nasty,
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HUNDREDS of readers have been joined by expat councillors to support the Olive Press U-turn campaign helping British residents swap their licences for Spanish ones. Meanwhile various Facebook groups and even a leading fintech guru have our campaign, which backed is gathering speed. It comes tragically however, EXCLUSIVE one female expat allegedly after By Simon Wade committed suicide when she found herself isolated in a rural part of A BELEAGUERED hospital has come the country. under the spotlight yet again after a The woman, who had recently lost family had to ‘literally kidnap’ their her husband, told friends own TRAGEDY: Rachael pictured her life ing relative when he received ‘appallwas no longer worth with mum Jane treatment’ for nine weeks. Among suggestions toliving. Staff at Torrevieja on both the Spanish put pressure slammed after theyhospital have been Jane performed CPR while neighand allowed Swedish British bours called for an ambulance but governments, one reader, expat Rachael died on the floor of the Andrew rifi Bo-Eskil Svensson to suffer horClark suggested a road c pain ‘from neglect’. lounge with paramedics also unprotest. “Why don't we all protest able to revive her. The 80-year-old, who has since died, by drivA Spanish neighbour confirmeding to slowly around Spain’s coastal suffered appalling bed sores Jane that the ambulance staff told from intowns? It seemed to him that ‘an embolism was cerwork well for fections, due to a lack of care, claim his the lorry drivers!” tainly to blame’, after assessing her family. symptoms. The UK ambassador “This hospital killed Rachael’s own son, Reece, 13, my dad”, Mia continued to insist ‘an meanwhile Mooseberg told had thankfully been staying with the Olive Press this agreement is close’. friends that night so did not witweek.
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EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
said she’s read my notes and I’m mental in the head.” She said the doctor had told nurses that once she had her X-ray to ‘get her to a taxi and get her home’. In a later message (see right) she added: “The other two nurses were well shocked”. Referring to the doctor, she added: “She hates me.” The part-time charity volunteer stayed on the ward despite the bad feeling in the desperate hope that someone would eventually attend to her leg.
Embolism
Exhausted, she was eventually sent home at 3am, after 14 agonising hours in the hospital. Later that morning, her mother - who has 35 years nursing experience - realised something was gravely wrong and rushed to the nearest pharmacy for medication and advice. But by the time she returned, Rachael had slipped into unconsciousness and was completely unresponsive.
Nippy dip A WOMAN had to go to hospital after a fish bit her foot at El Pinet beach in La Marina. Beach-goers initially believed it was from a blue shark after a recent sighting in Benidorm. But it turned out to be a bite from a member of the Golfar fish family, which has sharp teeth.
ness his mother’s death. The family is now looking for answers as to why medics failed to take Rachael’s illness seriously and to provide treatment that could have saved her life. Jane has sought legal advice, with a view to preventing such a tragedy happening to someone else.
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Death this shouldn’t happen to anyone.” was cremated at Torrevieja of aRachael crematorium last week with dozens of friends, family and colleagues in Princess attendance.
“The way my daughter was treated in her final hours is nothing short of disgusting - you wouldn’t treat an animal that way,” she sobbed. “Money isn’t the issue, what difference would it make anyway? “I just want justice for Rachael and I want answers to the questions we have about her awful treatment -
952 147 SAGA: How the Olive Press has reported on the horror stories from Torrevieja hospital down the years, from (left) immeasurable delays, a woman who had an arm amputated and an expat who was ‘kidnapped’ from a ward by his own family when he suffered horrendous bedsores. v a l i d
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Summer escape 2
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Phew! We survived the heatwave with a bit of help from our friends....
A TODDLER has miraculously escaped injury after falling from a second floor apartment block. The two-year-old boy had climbed onto a chair on the balcony of the holiday apartment in Benidorm and slipped over the railing and plummeted to the street below. Luckily his fall was cushioned, firstly by an awning and then by a local man who tried to catch the child. The holidaymaker appeared to be completely unharmed when police arrived on the scene. It is not known if the passer-by suffered any injury. The toddler was taken to the Villajoyosa Hospital for a thorough examination to ensure he did not suffer any serious injuries.
overtime Private hospitals and ops being offered for weekend and ‘chaos’ as waiting lists soara returns to Torreviej
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QUICK-thinking lifeguards have saved a baby from choking to death on an ice cube. The one-year-old girl was licking it to keep cool on a Santa Pola beach elective surBy Alex Trelinski PATIENTS waiting for increasingly when she swallowed it and it got gery in Alicante are being to reduce stuck in her windpipe. an increased referred to private operators days we are getting Despite the baby’s pulse stopping, of up to 40%.” the backlog of operations. the two Cruz Roja lifeguards used private hospi- workload Health Ministry pointed Provincial budgets for the Heimlich manoeuvre to get it out not raised this Valencia’s surgical waiting times do tal operations have been and then revived the youngster. €7 million on out that and any other year to €22 million - up apply to emergencies, A doctor later confirmed that the such as 2022. non-delayable procedures, baby was fine, although her mother referrals private after The rise comes needed treatment for shock. to 2021, leav- cancer. rose by 30% compared for an operCold air waiting as ing 23,733 people 1. Surgery January of as Monday night saw temperatures ation are being and Surgery, in 2020 in the Spanand Elche hospitals low as -13ºC in Cerler, on Aneto, The total is 25% higher thanpandem- Traumatology, General account LONG WAITS: at Alicante, Alcoy for private surgery Ophthalmology procedures ish Pyrenees, and -18ºCin the same - the first year of the Covid of euros more patients have for over two-thirds of those currently tackled with million private hospiwhich is the highest peak ic - and a quarter of the months. paid €250 at Quiron immediately Torrevieja six of over range. for running mountain her son was over the been waiting to 15 months ued over the a criti- waiting. to public tal, where his arm put in plaster. The longest delays of up The cold air that is passing has very Health has once again become in Ali- Hospital, which returned checked and 2021. a private with doctors in the Valencian are for hip and knee surgeries every time Iberian peninsula, however, RUSSIAN manfor had a lucky management in Octoberin emergency “I wouldApay that snow is cal issue just escape system rise warning that emergency cante, Alcoy, and Elche. public big a little humidity, meaningSpain. seen Community when hethe was blown off his boat after because has to It service with hospitals and for elective sur- doesn’t work,” Besides paying private she said.at Altea's Greenwich unlikely in most parts of Balearic Is- wards have become ‘saturated’ an explosion primary take patients, overtime is being of- waiting times has been ‘Excellent Health PlatRain is forecast on the snow at alti- patients not being seen by Marina. geries since then and there Torrevieja’s ‘an to staff to carry out procedures considerable criticism in recent weeks form’ claimed that there had lands, which will fall as The 50-year-old was been working on the Particu- care units. president of the Society fered metres. evenings. in Torand 500 ‘chaos’. services above of tudes of when the blast threw him fall in health evening with accusations Mil- at weekends not obviousengine also likely in The regional of 2022’. The amount of out-of-hours endwater. larly heavy showers are of Mallorca, of Emergency Medicine, Javier the current funding did into thethe “On some surgeries al- While waiting times for emergency revieja at del Carmen Maria the north of the island A president, mixture of gases in akey confined lan, told the Olive Press: Platform reports. ready went affect incaused the lack oftostaff one woman in Orihuela Matteo,space “The according to Spanish press believed have said: is hours up by over departments, waited more than nine son’s positions, incident. be it surgeons or emergen60% last year. said she situations that hospital for her cy doctors, has created Controversy at Torrevieja arm to be checked. we’ve never seen before. and up meanwhile, broken gave Valenmother the expat “Somebody in has contin- The British cian government should imassume responsibility hapas what is mediately unALL YOUR LEGAL pening in Torrevieja is sustainable,” she added. ISSUES DEALT WITH! Private contractor Ribera Salud, which previously Here to help with your simran Torrevieja, faces a life in Spain including ilar removal from the Marina Alta health department, wills, residency, which includes Denia Hostax returns, buying pital. The Valencian government noand selling property has to give a one-year of tice of the termination We speak your language! their contract with Ribera, end which is scheduled to Centro Comercial Arenal, on January 31, 2024. del Pla 126, Office 217,
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year that doctors finally agreed to do some more urgent tests. It was then they found four hernias ‘bigger than footballs’ on the base of her spine and stomach. A result of wounds from her earlier stomach operations, the hernias had been left to grow for almost five years and are now inoperable. “I’m dying, it’s just a matter of when,” she told the Olive Press. “I just wish they had been nice to me and they had looked into it instead of calling me a hypochondriac. All it takes is a bit of kindness.” This is the latest in a long list of scandals reported on by the Olive Press. Just last year, a 65-year-old woman was awarded €450,000 after her arm was amputated following a ‘routine fracture dislocation operation’. Internal bleeding was left ‘untreated’ and developed into deep vein thrombosis leading to the amputation. Another expat who entered the hospital for a gallstone operation ended up with an amputated leg. And in an earlier Following incident O LIVE the herd a young P RESS British woman died hours after being dismissed by doctors and told to go home after waiting 14 hours at the hospital for treatment. The hospital authorities have been approached for comment.
t lane Critical care DISGRACE! STOP
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Kind neighbours had helped towards the expensive funeral costs at short notice.
If Olive Press readers would like to help the family, there is also a gofundme page to help. Opinion Page 6
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(Friday) but visitors celebrations start tomorrow TORREVIEJA’S carnival preview last week. to Madrid got a sneak Spain’s best carnivals and some of the participants tourism fair. It’s regarded as one of to coincide with the Fitur an official proclamawith took to the capital’s streets begin tomorrow night screen a video of last year’s The Torrevieja festivities Theatre, which will also tion at the Municipal National Drag Queen highlights. will host the ever-popular On February 4, the theatregoing to the winner. day for competition with €1,500 Naciones will be the venue the following The city’s Parque de Lasfrom noon. of floats travelthe pet carnival parade February 12 with dozens on is Parade The Grand Carnival at 6pm, and the ling through the city centre. 18 starts at the same spot Competition of Chirigotas The Night Parade on February day with the National carnival ends the nextMunicipal Theatre. and Comparsas at the
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Negligence left an expat with inoperable medical condition which has given her months to live
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Exclusive first peek at amazing Dolce & Gabbana homes in Marbella
TALIAN fashion gurus Dolce & Gabbana are pushing ahead with their appropriately dents named project, Mar- and will also enjoy padel tennis courts, a gym area, bella Design Hills. a covered astroturf five-a-side football pitch, as well The stunning Golden Mile as their own spa. tedly seen advancesales of project has already repor- Work has already begun Images of what the finishedover €250 million. pleted by 2026. The pilot and is expected to be comhome, meanwhile, should have finally been released. development will look like ready by 2025. be It is the brand’s first project of its kind in Europe and will “We want homeowners to be certain that their count on properties that have purchabetween 280 and 900 se does not end with the delivery of their future home,” square metres of space. said Carlos Rodriguez, the boss of Sierra Blanca Estates, Each property has up to which has partnered furnishings created by the five bedrooms, and exclusive “This is much more. exclusively with the fashion brand. brand. We're talking about experiential Surrounded by gardens as acwell as infinity pools, resi- cess to an iconic fashion brand in a way that no other outsider could ever have achieved before.”
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PICTURE SHOCKER: ‘Hero’ grandfather kidnap ped after nine weeks of by family ‘captivity, neglect and starvation’ at hospital
THIS NOW! Bedsores
“They starved him in confined him to bed anda Covid ward, tive for nine weeks,” she held him capShe claimed the formeradded. fireman had developed horrific bedsores he hadn’t been turned over. because HORRIFIC: Bo was They had grown so deep left frail, emaciated they became and suffering from infected. that would care for him infected bedsores properly.” Despite ordering a private pital with a urinary tract She continued: infection on to transport him home ambulance were completely “Doctors back home December 6, last year, to his native speechless about how but Sweden, they were unable treatment wasn’t covered subsequent to get him an EU hospital neglected a person in ance. by his insurdischarged. this way. “So we decided to kidnap When he was transferred him and “Days later at home, he died because of University to the nearby drive him 3,000kms back Hospital on December to a hospital that neglect.” 21, his nightmare began, insisted Bo had been admitted to a private hos- ing wife his lovBarbro. Seeing that her husband was receiving such poor of 60 years for a private ambulancecare, she paid to take him back to Sweden. However, when collection was arranged, staff prevented claiming he had Covid-19. the move, It led to the grandfather, served as a UN peacekeeperwho had in Lebanon, being left in complete isolation for EIGHT days without food or fluids, insisted his family. When they came to see him in January they were so alarmed they They then drove the 3,000 km journey home and into the care took a series of horrifi of the emerpictures, showing thec gency room at Karlskrona hospital, shocking level of malnu- near the family home in Karlshamn. But sadly, her dad did not trition and neglect. survive and After his wife, 79, sat died on April 17 of the infections that with him for four fur- he developed in Spain. ther days without a bed After multiple attempts at trying to for herself, daughter get her complaints heard at Torrevieja Mia insisted they ‘decid- Hospital, Mia has now shared her experience on social media. ed to kidnap him’. “It is appalling what they did to this They hatched a plan for two other grandchildren lovely man, who was a hero - a firePHOTOVOLTAIC to fly to Spain and met man who saved many people,” Mia CHARGERS FOR INSTALLATIONS ELECTRIC VEHICLES up with Barbro’s friend explained this week. “I hope our tragic story to rescue him. can save someIn a slick operation, one else.” the group ‘borrowed’ a One of the Facebook sites she turned +34 965 085 888 autoconsumo@solarworks.es hospital wheelchair and to was set up by British expat George carefully got him out of bed, out of the ward and Continues on Page 5 into the family’s campervan. Opinion Page 6