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Vol. 8 Issue 202
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SCAN here for the latest news March 28th - April 10th 2025
MYSTERY continues to surround the ‘disgraceful’ collapse of the firm Iberian Funeral Plans in Spain. Hundreds of expats are fuming after discovering their end-oflife plans, for which they paid up to €10,000 for, have effectively vanished overnight. The firm was founded by British expat Steve Nelson, who is reported to have died around six weeks ago in Portugal. Shortly afterwards, clients began noticing no one was answering the phones at Iberian headquarters, nor responding to emails. It soon became clear the company had ceased operating, leaving all of its customers’ plans effectively null and void. As reported on our front page last issue this meant that a number of funerals have gone unpaid, causing considerable grief for families.
The weird and wonderful spring festivals across Spain, see inside
Where’s the cash?
trator from 2016 until 2023, when she resigned on paper to hand over the running to Nelson. The source said: “I don’t believe Steve was dishonest and even though he was no longer involved in the dayS S E R to-day running for the last few years, I assume he enOLIVE P sured that funerals were dealt with and paid for. Despite taking millions in payments over the “Unfortunately, he had been in poor health for many last decade, nobody has been able to estabyears with diabetes and I believe had lost part of one leg.” lish the status of the firm or accounts. The Olive Press failed to make contact with Krejzl via various A source close to Iberian told the Olive Press this week that an ex- numbers and social media. pat Karen Krejzl could be ‘the key’ to discovering what happened. Her father, who lives on the Costa del Sol, told us he has not spoKrejzl is the former partner of Nelson and was closely involved in ken to her for some time, and claimed she left Iberian ‘years ago’ the business ‘until the pair broke up two years ago’, as his health after ‘falling out with Nelson’. deteriorated from diabetes. See Sickening betrayal on page 6 According to official Spanish records she was the main adminis-
EXCLUSIVE
ELECTRIC SHOCKER
EXPATS David and Margorie Smith’s retirement dreams turned into a living hell when Spain’s largest electric company left them in the dark. The Brits, aged 87 and 88, claim they were treated ‘worse than animals’ by Endesa after the energy giant cut off their power and slapped them with a shocking €3,000 bill. The couple moved to the Costa del Sol after two decades in Galicia, purchasing a small home in Alameda, near Antequera, two years ago. “It seemed like the best move we’ve ever made,” David told the Olive Press. But their retirement dream soon turned into a nightmare, when they started noticing erratic electricity
STARRY EYES
NASA named a photo taken from Ibiza as one of the photos of the year. Captured by the Cala d’Hort telescope, the image shows the Pacman nebula (NGC281) where new stars are forming. It is 10,000 lightyears from earth, in the Cassiopeia constellation and around 80 years of light are captured in the photo. Taken by Joan Montilla Gomez, a member of the d’Eivissa Astronomic Association and is the third time the telescope has received the honour. It took 44 hours in total to secure the image, which is not only ‘marvellous looking but allows us to reflect on the universe we call home.’
Expat pensioners - 87 and 88 years old have power cut off despite having legal contract and paying their bills bills via the previous owner’s provider Holaluz. The monthly demands ranged from €10 to €140, despite minimal electricity use. Frustrated, they switched to fellow giant Iberdrola in June 2024, using the same CUPS identity code, but a month later Iberdrola inexplicably cancelled their contract. It eventually emerged that their CUPS code had been shared with a neighbour’s home, but by then they
By Tom Ewart Smith
had opened a new account with Endesa. Things however were to get worse when Endesa bizarrely reassigned their CUPS to their neighbours. And two months later, on January 19, the couple received a letter demanding €2,314 for a year’s worth of energy. The letter was addressed only to
IN THE DARK: Margorie and David Smith
‘the occupier’ and lacked a sender’s name. Crucially, the CUPS number listed did not match the one from the couple’s new contract. An Endesa representative later confirmed it was non-existent. Adding to their woes, when they originally joined Endesa, they were told they needed a new smart meter, costing €647. This was despite a local electrician confirming their current meter was ‘fully functional’, and an Endesa representative in Antequera also deemed the upgrade ‘unnecessary’. The company insisted though they still had to pay the €3,000 sum owing or they would be cut off. On January 22, this year, Endesa did exactly that, forcing the couple to move into a nearby rented home, where they are still staying. “They are treating us
worse than animals,” said Margorie, who suffers from panic attacks. She claims Endesa’s customer service regularly hangs up, and she describes them as ‘very rude’. Despite their possessing a physical contract, Endesa claims they have no record of the couple. Eventually a representative for the firm at its office in Antequera told them: ‘pay and you can claim it back,’ but they refuse to trust the company. Even lawyers have told them they are ‘wasting time and money’ trying to resolve the matter. Their last hope lies with the Junta, which is reportedly investigating. “We have been told they are helping, but with a company that behaves like the gestapo, I doubt they will get anywhere either,” added Margorie. The Olive Press was unable to get hold of a spokesman at Endesa before going to press. Opinion Page 6
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