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DISCOVER: The 10 best selling electric cars in Spain in our MOTORING special inside
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comes with its in Pontevedra this 14th GALICIA: Palace is park, while (below) own inner-cityhas vineyards. See How green century farm 18 my valley, page
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We take a look & MODERN at Galicia’s most SE FALL AND RI A memorable buildings
of the architecture puts a focus on and The Olive Press from Medieval farmhouses northern Spain, to the latest industrial designs ancient palaces
plant in Palencia THERMAL: Power as a ‘cathedral has been described page 32 of energy.’ See
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AS sales of electric vehicles continue there is a wide selection to rise in Spain, available. Tesla still tops the charts but cheaper cia and Kia are also options from Dain the top 10 list. Meanwhile, the Spanish-made Hispano Suiza Carmen supercar (top) is av a i l a b l e for a cool €2 million.
10
Top 10 EV registration in Spain according to Spanish Association of Automobile and Manufacturers Truck (ANFAC) 1. Tesla Model 2. Tesla Model 3 Y 3. MG MG4 4. BMW ix1 5. Kia Niro 6. Volvo EX30 7. Mercedes EQA 8. Dacia Spring Class 9. Peugeot 208 10. Citroën C4
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MALLORCA
Chery picked
CHINESE cars will soon be rolling off lona production the Barcestruck a deal withline of Ebro EV-Motors after they Prime Minister, manufacturer Chery Automobile. Pedro Sanchez, presided official signing ceremony over an at the Zona Franca with Chery's Omoda plant the next few months.brand being produced there in Chery is China's da 5 model beingbiggest car exporter with its Omoavailable in both tric versions. petrol and elecThe deal makes it the first Chinese volume ufacturer in Europe car manacross the continent. and it will set up dealerships The Zona Franca plant was used by their operation closed Nissan until in 2021 and ees will be hired as part of the new former employworkforce.
for carbon neutrality
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More tourism more protests MORE than 60 people have joined the third meeting against mass tourism in preparation for huge protests across the Balearic Islands. The platform, Menys Turisme, Mes Vida, will hold demonstrations in July throughout the Balearics under the same slogan: ‘Change the course, put limits on tourism.’ The Mallorca edition will take place on Sunday, July 21 from 7 pm in the Ses Estacions park. The group has previously called law enforcement agencies ‘repressive’, after Guardia Civil and Policia Local officers attempted to identify all the attendees of the last 10,000 strong demonstration. In preparation for the next movement, organisers will supply activism guides, as well as classes on how to deal with law enforcement. At an earlier protest over 300 local residents flocked to the picturesque Es Calo des Moro chanting ‘tourists go home’ and parading banners that read ‘occupy our beaches’. Despite the supposedly festive atmosphere the organisers had wanted, plain clothes police and uniformed Guardia Civil started to show up when protestors started chanting against the foreign tourists at the beach. According to attendees, the police formed a barrier to separate local Mallorcans from foreign tourists, checking IDs of locals while apparently not asking the same of tourists.
Vol. 7 Issue 184 www.theolivepress.es June 28th - July 11th 2024
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Expat puts up giant €100,000 reward to find missing guitar once played by T-Rex legend Marc Bolan
AN eccentric expat millionaire is offering a €100,000 reward to anyone who can help him recover a legendary guitar that vanished during an acrimonious divorce. The 1966 Fender Precision Bass became part of the annals of rock’n’roll fame when the frontman of 70s glamrock band, T-Rex, acquired it for their band. Singer Marc Bolan bought it for bassist Steve Currie from the famous Denmark Street guitar shop in London, in 1969. It went on to blast out some of the most iconic riffs of the era, from Ride
a White Swan and Children of the Revolution all the way up to I Love to Boogie - one year before Bolan’s untimely death in a car crash in 1977. He was just two weeks shy of his 30th birthday. Now the iconic slab of rock-star memorabilia, valued at up to €250,000, finds itself at the heart of a whistlestop marriage that ended almost as soon as it began. Its last known location is thought to be a storage warehouse on the Costa del Sol. The guitar disappeared from the secret storeroom of music industry impresario Jeremy Hartnell, 61, who made his fortune running scrap yards in the 1980s. He claims his estranged - and much younger - wife removed the tracking device he had planted on it and took it from his Estepona villa in 2021. The only clue to its whereabouts is a bank statement t h a t shows a payment to a storage warehouse in nearby Marbella on
made - came into his possession in 2008 when he managed to buy it from the late T-Rex percussionist Mickey Finn. It was his most treasured possession, he told the Olive Press, aside from his red 1965 Ford Thunderbird that once belonged to rock icon Prince. “It’s the most incredible instrument with so much history,” explained Jeremy, who also owns a Bentley and an Aston Martin. “I’m desperate to get it back.” He also claimed it’s not the only item taken by his ex-wife, with a €15,000 Rolex and a diamond ring valued at €3,500 still missing. His efforts to recover the guitar have been hampered by the fact that police and even his own insurance company consider it a ‘domestic issue’. Meanwhile, his former Canadian bride wrote to him insisting ‘a wife cannot steal from her husband’. However, she told a divorce court in the Cayman Islands this month that she ‘did not have
April 2 7 , 2021. The rare guitar of which only 25 w e r e
t h e guitar’, leaving its current whereabouts a mystery. Jeremy was 52-years-old when he first laid eyes on the then 31-year-old in England in 2016. “The first day I met her I went straight to the jeweller and got an engagement ring,” he told the Olive Press. “I mean, she was a cool girl. I thought she was very beautiful - especially in comparison to me.
EXCLUSIVE By Walter Finch
FENDER: T. Rex bassist Steve Curry playing the missing guitar back in 1974
Mallorca windows
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of upwards trend Bankinter estimates a shortage al costs due to a lack fallen by continue to see an around 2%. 50,000 properties housing which has By Alex Trelinski with price rises ofthe big change of more than to an annual 15% in the last 12 months. from Its reasons for of the labour per year, compared to figures homes. went up 4.2%, demand of 150,000 in Accordingportal idealista, this In 2023, prices projection that are the strength property shortage of supply, The deficit is concentrated compared to the by only 1.2%. market, the in rental prices cities such as Madrid, they would grow venture be- the sharp rise interest rate cut the main Bankinter, a jointand the Bank and a recent tween Santander
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and charging equipment, capped at €3,000 for the car and €600 for the charger. These incentives follow a government pledge to promote in Spain and push battery production electric vehicles in the manufacture of the country. Volkswagen Group’s plans to team up with SEAT subsidiary power company Iberdrola to build factory for EVs Spain’s first battery years. The program Volkswagen has also supports previously anelectric vans and plug-in €7,000, with companies nounced hybrids. Since regional governments buying battery its intention to build six EV fleets to use as plants across Europe, taxis eligible manage Moves III, check with with your local au- more. Vans can attract subsidies for three earmarked for the Spain/Portuthorities for specific of gal/southern up to €9,000. France area. cation processes. details and appli- Introduced in In total, the government June 2023, a new tax Private buyers can is granting incentive allows a claim up to the 15% deduction on €3.75 billion towards making electric purchase price of electric and hybrid vehicles and diesel cars cheaper than petrol to buy by 2027.
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PAIN has pledged to make the entire country carbon neutral by 2050, and for pen cars are goingthis to hapto have to get greener. Its automotive plan focuses on the environmentally friendly electric and hybrid car industry and aims to make the technology cheaper, use and access across and easier to the country. Special incentives out over the cominghave been rolled age the ownership years to encourly friendly vehicles, of environmentalboth private and commercial. The Spanish government's By Dilip Kuner €800 million fund for electric car subsidies ended in December This offers subsidies of up to €7,000 a new program, Moves 2023, but for electric cars, with an additional III, has been €2,000 launched. available oline or diesel carif scrapping a gasolder than seven
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LEADING Spanish bank has completely changed its predicprices tion for house this year. last year preBankinter had in house prices dicted a 2% fall across the country.Madrid-based But now the a massive bank has made prices RISU-turn and foresees ING by 3%. ruled that pricA recent report this year es will rise throughout with estimated ‘at least in line although inflation in Spain', out a possible it does not rule slowdown.
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HEARTBROKEN: Hartnell is desperate to get his guitar back
“I met her on a website called Millionaire Match - although she’s gonna tell you she met me on a site called ‘Vegan Dating’.” The couple got married in the Caymans the same year and afterwards jetted across the Atlantic to move into Jeremy’s sprawling villa near Estepona. But the red flags were fluttering brightly from the get-go, he insisted. “I paid for this great big wedding, but out of 86 guests she didn’t have a single friend,” he commented. Then I realised - this girl can’t actually maintain a friendship.” The marriage started to get ‘really weird’ inside just a few months, according to Jeremy, after his bride filled their matrimonial bedroom with ‘wild cottontail bunny rabbits.’ Unable to stand the mess and smell, Jeremy moved into the spare bedroom. They soon spiralled into an acrimonious separation. And then things started to go really south. Torturous divorce proceedings were initiated in 2019 - still ongoing - while Brexit concerns prompted Jeremy to return to live in the Cayman Islands. Crucially, for the millionaire founder of Cockney Records, Jeremy was canny enough to insist upon ‘a prenup’ before he tied the knot. It means she has no legal entitlement to any of his possessions prior to their wedding - up to and including Bolan’s guitar. But it has not helped him recover the guitar thus far, prompting the announcement of the €100,000 reward. If you can help please email newsdesk@theolivepress.es
Slam dunk for Mallorca MICHAEL Jordan, one of the most celebrated basketball players of all time, has been spotted holidaying on the Balearic Islands. On Tuesday, the 61-year-old was seen having lunch with his family in Portixol and later go karting in Ibiza. He also had a private magic show on his €80 million yacht by Mallorca based German magician, Sean
Christopher. The Jordans, including Michael’s second wife, model Yvette Prieto, and their twin daughters Victoria and Isabel, are currently touring the islands. A six-time NBA champion, Jordan has visited the islands multiple times and was last spotted in Mallorca in 2017 at a Magalluf beach club.
MAGIC VISIT: There was no sign of his old friend Magic Johnson, so Michael Jordan invited a different sort of magician aboard his yacht