Olive Press Newspaper – Issue 165

EXCLUSIVE By Alex Iszatt and

Mason Jones

PP: 20 years of illegal funding

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FREE Vol. 7 Issue 165 www.theolivepress.es July 10 - July 24, 2013

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THE government has insisted that the so-called ‘Barcenas files’ do not threaten the sta-bility of the government.It comes after the former treasurer for the right wing PP party Luis Barcenas claimed he can prove that the party has been violating fund-raising laws for over 20 years.After being sent to prison to await trial for his part in the Gurtel corruption scandal, he revealed that he had a series of documents to back up his claims.He broke his silence to reveal how donors used to arrive at party headquarters with bags and suitcases full of cash.Some of this would be chan-nelled into the official party bank accounts, while some would be used to cover elec-tion expenses outside the of-ficial campaign fund. Another portion of the mon-ey however, would go into a safe and contribute to a party slush fund.

Black money

Leaked papers earlier showed that Rajoy received 35 cash payments from the slush fund between 1997 and 2008; worth a total of €322,000. New documents published by the newspaper showed that other senior party figures, including Andalucia PP party boss Javier Arenas, also took cash payments.

Benji vs the Bulls...Anyone attending Running of the Bulls has blood on their hands, says leading UK poet see page 24

They put on make-up to at-tract mates... not TOWIE wanna-bes, but the pink flamingos of Fuente de Piedra

Former treasurer Luis Barcenas claims he can prove PP party was corrupt for 20 years

STARS OF THE SHOW: Enjoy our official 12-page pull-out to this summer’s hot Starlite Festival on page 27

Arenas took 2.8 million pe-setas in cash while working as the government’s employ-ment minister in 1997 on top of his salary.Two former PP ministers Jaime Mayor and Rodrigo Rato took the same amount of money as Rajoy in he so-called ‘Caja B’ black money accounts.Earlier this year Barcenas was arrested after the courts discovered over 40m euros of money had been salted away, apparently for the party, in a series of offshore bank ac-counts in Switzerland.Other accounts apparently

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See page 18

THREAT: Barcenas was the PP’s former treasurer

exist in the Cayman Islands and other offshore entities.However last night finance minister Luis de Guindos in-sisted that the claims would not threaten the government or the country’s ‘return to sta-bility’.“The markets are continuing to bounce back as confidence in the Spanish economy re-turns,” he said in an interview yesterday.Rajoy refused to comment on the growing corruption scandal engulfing the party at a meeting of the righ-twing FAES think-thank at the weekend, but instead pointed out that green shoots were starting to appear in the economy.“We cannot say, like in other times, that Spain is doing well, but we can say that it is doing better and that the di-rection is correct.

EVIDENCE: The ledgers which show

PM Rajoy’s name

IN HOT WATER: Rajoy

2 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 CRIME NEWS

DRUGS baron, Mark Alan Lilley, was hiding naked, in a panic room behind a bed-room wardrobe in his luxury villa, when 40 armed officers stormed in.Lilley, 41, had been alerted to the police presence by his patrol dogs and went to hide in his closet, to watch the of-ficers via his CCTV.However, this did not de-ter Spanish detectives who smashed down his front door in Alhaurin de la Torre and then tried to get into his panic room.The ex-gas fitter from New-ton-le-Willows in Merseyside eventually surrendered.The 6ft, 20st bodybuilder – also known as Fatboy – fled the UK in 2000 after £1.2mil-lion worth of drugs were seized from his homes. He was sentenced to 23 years in his absence.The National Crime Squad described him as one of the ‘worst types of drug dealers’ who used violence against people who crossed him.Dave Allen, Head of the Fu-gitives Unit at the UK’s Seri-ous Organised Crime Agency, said: “Lilley evaded capture by moving around Spain and using false identities.“Now he’s behind bars where he belongs.”Lilley is now being held in prison pending extradition to the UK which could take sev-eral months.

Out of the closet

One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Spain after 13 years on the run

By Alex Iszatt12 Maddie suspects could be living in SpainUK cops have iden-tified a dozen Brit-ish suspects in the Maddie McCann case, some of whom could now be living in Spain.Scotland Yard de-tectives believe that 12 of the 38 people they are investigat-ing are expats or holidaymakers liv-ing close to the re-sort of Praia de Luz, in Portugal, around the time the five year old went miss-ing.Many of them are dangerous and could be living be-tween Portugal and Spain.One of the suspects named was Urs Hans Von Aesch, a Swiss man who lived in Spain. He was a known paedophile who took his own life after killing a five-year old Swiss girl, just three months after McCann’s dis-appearance. He is believed to have been on holiday on the Al-garve at the time of Maddie’s disappearance in 2007.Investigators insist they have no information to suggest Maddie has been murdered.

SNARED: Lilley was located hidding in a panic room in a wardrob in his house

3www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013NEWS

A WAR has broken out on the Costa del Sol airwaves be-tween two of its best known presenters. The spat has led to iTalk boss Maurice Boland threatening to sue David ‘The Dogman’ Klein, after he announced that his rival’s station was off air.Klein, who has a regular Sat-urday show at Talk Radio Europe (TRE), demanded to know why the station was no longer broadcasting on its normal FM frequency.And he also claimed the be-leaguered station was no longer based at the luxurious five-star Kempinski hotel in

G U A D A L H O R C E -BASED radio station Heartfm Spain has been forced to cease transmission and re-brand itself.The station based in Coin has had to change its name to YJT96.1fm

THEIR break up may have turned Lewis Hamilton’s world upside down, but Ni-

HIGH spending Ashley Cole got into a champagne war with a group of high rolling Arabs during a visit to Mar-bella.On a night out at Aqwa Mist

RADIO WARSRow breaks out between iTalk boss Maurice Boland and Talk Radio Europe (TRE) presenter David Klein

EXCLUSIVE Estepona.This however, quickly an-gered iTalk owner Boland, who issued statements insist-ing that his station was not only still based at the hotel, but that he was continuing broadcasting, albeit via the internet.He told the Olive Press last night: “This is a scandalous rumour started by one man on the internet.“Yes it is true I took the sta-tion off the FM frequency because as a small business the station could not afford a fine of up to 500,000 eu-

Ash’s Champagne Splash

ros that the Junta has been threatening English stations if they haven’t got the correct licences.“We are still at the Kempin-ski and anyone can come and visit and I will show them around the studios.”Klein insisted he had merely investigated the issue after finding the station online merely ‘playing continuous music with no presenters’.“I simply wanted to let my

listeners know what was going on with the station,” Klein told The Olive Press. “But I couldn’t get any an-swer from the number, so I called reception. The op-erator asked me to hold on and then informed me that that the radio station was ‘no longer’ at the hotel.“It now appears that they are still there but on a month to month basis their contract having expired.“Boland has now threat-ened me with legal action when his business partner returns from overseas” Klein added.Talk Radio Europe refused to be drawn into the row officially, stating that Da-vid was merely a ‘freelance pet presenter’.“We have no interest in what goes on with iTalk or its business arrangements, ” said a spokesman.Boland had previously run long-established station TRE, before being sacked three years ago after an in-discretion with a 15-year-old girl.While he denied the rela-tionship with the winner of his competition the WOW Factor – Spain’s local equivalent of the X-Factor - he admitted he had got too close.

Ne-Yo rolls into townR&B SUPERSTAR Ne-Yo is rock-ing in to perform in Marbella this summer.The American chart topper will play songs from his new hit album RED, at Puerto Banus nightspot Aqwa Mist. He will party it up on the beach at the La Sala Beach club from 11am. Those interested in tickets should contact [email protected] or at 673 441 719

cole Scherzinger seemed to be enjoying the single life in Marbella last week.

The 35-year-old singer and X-Factor judge was in town to celebrate her birthday.

Radio Wars 2: No More Heart

after legal proceed-ings from the com-pany behind UK station Heart FM.It comes despite the station broadcasting for seven years without any trouble.The company This is

Global Limited has global copyright on the word ‘Heart’ when used in anything connected with broadcasting. Unable to face the huge legal costs Heartfm Spain has decided the best option would be a simple change of name.

Community“Nothing has changed on 96.1 just the name” said a spokesperson. “So out with the old and in with the new and wel-come to YJT96.1fm, and enjoy your community radio!”

Nicole doing Nicely

She was spotted at Suite Nightclub in the Hotel Pu-ente Romano as well as Ol-ivia Valere’s Discotheque, where she held an im-promptu performance of a couple of her hits from the DJ booth! Nicole also found time to drop into Puerto Banus and do a little shopping at the the designer boutiques.

By Giles Brown

THEY might only now be two, but Bananarama are bound to be popular when they play a concert in Marbella next month.While Siobhan Fahey has departed, Keren Woodward and Sara

Top banana!Dallin are teaming up with the Human League for an 80s evening at the Puente Romano Tennis Club on August 12.Contact 952 887 795 or www.ticketmaster.es for tickets

nightclub the Chelsea and England footballer ordered dozens of bottles in a com-petition with the Saudi party which was sitting on a next door table.

According to an Olive Press source the night had begun quietly until Ashley saw the group party-ing next to him.“Not to be out-done, Ashley started to or-der bottle after bottle and the two groups were soon trying to out do each other by ordering larger quantities of champagne,” said the source.“One thing led to another and the two groups soon began spraying champagne at each other.Ashley ended up returning to the club the following night for Round Two, with the same results.

AT WAR: Boland and Klein (left)

4 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 NEWS

5www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013

channelled into the official party bank accounts, while some would be used to cover election expenses outside the official campaign fund. Another portion of the mon-ey however, would go into a safe and contribute to a party slush fund he told El Mundo.Leaked papers earlier showed that Rajoy received 35 cash payments from the slush fund between 1997 and 2008; worth a total of €322,000. New documents published by the newspaper show that other senior party figures, including Andalucia PP party boss Javier Arenas, also took cash payments.Arenas took at least 2.8 mil-lion pesetas in cash while

working as the government’s employment minister in 1997 on top of his salary.Two former PP ministers Jaime Mayor and Rodrigo Rato took the same amount of money as Rajoy in the so-called ‘Caja B’ black money accounts.Earlier this year Barcenas was arrested after the courts discovered over 40m euros of money had been salted away, apparently for the party, in a series of offshore bank ac-counts in Switzerland.Similar accounts apparently exist in the Cayman Islands and other offshore entities.However last night finance minister Luis de Guindos in-sisted that the claims would not threaten the government or the country’s ‘return to sta-

bility’.“The markets are continuing to bounce back as confidence in the Spanish economy re-turns,” he said.Rajoy refused to comment on the growing corruption scandal engulfing the party at a meeting of the rightwing FAES think-tank at the week-end, but instead pointed out that green shoots were start-ing to appear in the economy.“We cannot say, like in other times, that Spain is doing well, but we can say that it is doing better and that the di-rection is correct. “We are much better than last year, but much worse than in July of the year 2015; that it is our aim — you can be sure that we are going to achieve it.”

PM Rajoy took 35 cash payments

5

THE leader of the Junta has come one step nearer to being hauled into the ERE corrup-tion scandal.It comes after the Judge inves-tigating the €136million em-ployment benefit scam named another 20 suspects.These included Magdalena Alvarez, who was the prede-cessor of current Junta leader Jose Antonio Grinan, as boss of the Finance Ministry.She has been ordered to court

From Page 1

More ERE arrestsby Kat Mayhew

Another 20 to be questioned – including former Finance Minister – as Junta chief gets closer to being named in the €136 million corruption scandal

to explain her potential in-volvement in the scandal that saw millions of euros destined for job creation schemes syph-oned off by Andalucia officials.Judge Mercedes Alaya be-lieves that the current Vice President of the European Investment Bank was either involved or, at least, turned a blind eye to illegal procedures.

Her job as Finance Minis-ter was taken by Grinan in April 2004, during a period when much of the money was wrongly taken.The investigation has centred around the dealings of former Employment Minister Javier Guerrero who is accused of stealing millions. He and his former chauffeur are accused of setting up a string of dummy companies and with the 450,000 euros claimed for each company spent it on cocaine and pros-titutes.On cue, Grinan announced this weekend that he would not be running for another term in office.

WORRIED: Alvarez

SOME 66% of Spaniards believe that government corruption has worse-ned since 2011. According to the re-port by Transparency International, 71% said reporting it made no difference, while 84% actively tried to fight it through protests, peti-tions and social media.

Corruption soars

6 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013

Tel: 951127006/951166060 (admin/editorial/sales/advertising) or [email protected] campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in southern Spain - 198,000 copies distributed monthly (130,000 digitally) with an estimated readership, including the website, of more than 500,000 people a month.

Luke Stewart Media S.L - CIF: B91664029Urb Cayetano Arroyo, Buzon 13, Arriate 29350 MalagaPrinted by Corporación de Medios de Andalucía S.A.Editor: Jon [email protected]:Newsdesk [email protected] Iszatt [email protected]

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OPINION

The original and only English-languageinvestigative newspaper in Andalucía

FEATURE

IT is all set to be a long hot summer of discontent in Andalucia with the austerity measures continuing to bite

and the recession refusing to abate. But for the leader of one small village of Sevilla province it is about to get even hotter.For the Marching Season is about to begin for the hard left gang of syndicalists, anarchists and communists who support Spain’s longest-running mayor Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo, in Marinaleda.Despite being the subject of numerous death threats, countless arrests and two as-sassination attempts (more of which later), he is about to take on the establishment yet again when he launches another summer of direct action that could include ‘supermarket raids’, sit ins and the seizure of yet more private land.Frequently arrested for his en-deavours – and a few years ago having his arm broken by an overzealous policeman during one protest - the Robin Hood figure is fully prepared to spend weeks ‘on the road’ and even time in prison in order to highlight the plight of the Anda-lucian working man.“I am already facing up to 10 years while my town hall collec-tively faces 53 years from last year’s actions,” the former his-tory teacher told me this week. Speaking in his office below a photo of Che Guevara and a Republican flag, he insists: “But I will not be cowed. The a u t h o r i t i e s have misinter-preted our ac-tions and are going about it the wrong way. I very much doubt they can get me put in-side.”He is referring to the series of land seizures and in particular a supermar-ket raid on a Mercadona last August. During the fracas in nearby Ecija, 100 supporters of his locally-formed trade union SAT stole a dozen supermarket trolleys of food for the ‘poor and needy’.“It was merely a symbolic ges-ture to highlight the appalling waste of food supermarkets throw out and the situation

Let the Marching Season begin

It is about to get red hot in the people’s republic of Gordillo, writes Jon Clarke, as the controversial radical mayor launches a new summer campaign of direct action around Andalucia

Citing Gandhi and Jesus Christ as he-roes, he promises it will be an action packed summer

PROTEST: Marinaleda’s walls are full of ‘radical murals and (top) Gordillo

with sell-by dates,” he explains.While staying tight-lipped about the exact nature of the forthcoming protests, they are unlikely to begin until after the annual Marinaleda feria this weekend, at which the 62-year-old leader famously

works behind a bar serving drinks in clas-sic egalitarian fashion.Citing Gan-dhi, anarchist leader Proud-hon and sur-prisingly Jesus Christ as he-roes, he prom-ises though

that it will be an inspirational and action-packed summer.His passion comes from help-ing the landless labourers who have traditionally inhab-ited many parts of Andalucia – Spain’s poorest region - and who comprise the vast majority of his village of 2600 inhabit-ants.“There are far too many people going hungry and far too many people without work. The situ-

ation in Spain is not dissimilar to South America in terms of land ownership. And under the current government it is getting worse with the massive lati-fundia landowners owning the vast majority of land, much of it which is hardly used.”It was this glaring paradox that spurred his village into radical and highly successful action back in 1980 when a year after getting into power they seized a huge, largely unused estate from a rich landowner the Duque de Infantado.Through a series of hunger strikes, pickets and sit ins they had soon got water rights for

the 1200 hectare estate and were planting a series of crops including cotton, artichokes and olive trees.And it is this much-vaunted co-operative that should be envied and serve as a shining light for towns and cities across the world struggling against the global recession. Called El Humoso, it is located eight kilometres outside of the village and is a crucial source of work for many residents, who earn 47 euros a day as part of 15 day ‘campaigns’ picking, planting or preparing or weed-ing the land for cultivation.I talked to a number of men and women who were weeding land around a cotton crop dur-ing 35 degree heat last week.Back-breaking work, they were nonetheless mostly happy to be working at a time when over 38% of Andalucians are out of work.“Once you get used to it, it is fine,” says mother-of-one Amanda Saavedra, 30. “And with so many people unem-ployed it is simply great to have work.” It took 12 years of political fight-ing to finally wrestle the right to cultivate the land, which is now technically administered by the UTOPIA: The village has some of the best facilities and parks in Andalucia

Bigger and better

WE hope you have noticed a few of the changes we have intro-duced this issue.In a continuing quest for change and improvement the Olive Press has grown in size.We have now fully come of age and regularly print and produce papers the same size as our main rivals in both numbers and pages.But there are three very big differences... One, we print on better quality paper, two, we maintain an editorial/advertising balance that stays at around 50/50, and three, we have better journalists and stories.Yes, the Olive Press is bigger... and yes, we are continuing to get better.

Waiting GameOUR front page story this issue proves that even the big-gest names in the property business can sometimes come up far short of their professed high standards. The fact that a pensioner couple were forced to call in debt collectors to try and get the proceeds from their property sale from German agent Engel & Volkers is bad enough. But to then find that a quarter of those proceeds have been swallowed up in agent’s fees and ‘honorary’ pay-ments should shame the international agency to take a long hard look in the mirror.And to try and pass the buck explaining that the couple do not ‘understand Spanish rules’ is insulting in the extreme.But yes, in a British (and surely German) sense of fair play punters do not expect to wait four months to get paid and then find out they have been mugged in the process.

Malaga MagicMALAGA is finally getting the recognition it justly deserves. For decades all the city was known for was the airport and the majority of visitors simply turned right and headed down to the fleshpots on the coast.All this has changed over the past decade that has seen Malaga reinvent itself with a great selection of galleries and museums as well as fantastic bars and restaurants. This change has been reflected in the increases reported at the recent Malaga Tourism Forum – with double the amount of tourists now visiting the city than five years ago.If you haven’t been to Malaga recently – what are you wait-ing for?

7www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013FEATURE

GRAFT: Workers, including Saavedra (right) till a cotton crop, while (top) the Che Guevara sports centre and (inset) expat Norton

Junta and leased to the village.It is undoubtedly the mayor’s finest achievement in a reign that has stretched for 33 years, by far the longest in Spain.Since the acquisition of the land, it has been gradually transformed from a barren, dry wasteland to an irrigated and fertile stretch that can grow a range of vegetables and fruit, all allegedly 100% organic.All the revenue made by selling the produce is re-invested to buy new tractors and tools and increase productivity and the workforce yet further.The land is apparently being well used today and creating plenty of employment, with the town registering unemploy-ment figures of as little as 7%, according to Gordillo and 20% according to the local branch of the PSOE socialist party, which is still well below average.As well as rows of tomatoes and peppers, there are large plantations of artichokes and green beans and the afore-mentioned cotton, which is a good cash crop.The town has recently created its own brand Humar and in-vested in a canning factory, where over 100 women work during the harvest season. Produce sells to a number of supermarket chains and even to Germany under a current trial, while the estate’s olive oil currently sells around 10% of its two million litres produced each year to Venezuela.“Gordillo was the inspiration behind us finally being given this land,” explains worker An-tonio Gomes.“Every day for two months he would lead us on a peaceful march up here to protest for the right to be granted the land, which finally came in 1991. Overall it took many years but he never stopped fighting for what he thought was rightfully ours.”Testament to this is the en-trance with a big sign ‘Tierra Utopia’ and the long slogan that reads: “This farm belongs to the unemployed day labour-ers of Marinaleda.”Back in the village meanwhile, the locals were getting pre-pared for their annual feria with one of the frequently called ‘red Sundays’.A now popular day, hundreds of volunteers were out in force cleaning the streets, painting and repairing things entirely unpaid and with, mostly, smiles

on their faces. Called out via a loudspeaker around 9am families and even teenagers with tattoos are pre-pared to go out to help.This is the amazing community spirit that has been instilled in the town, where over 80% still vote for their mayor, who repre-sents the IU party, despite in-sisting his politics are anything, but classic communism, with an equal dash of ‘deep Christi-anity, anarchism and syndical-ism’.Unlike any other Andalucian village, its walls are lined with graffiti and murals.They depict the destruction of tanks and weaponry, the binning of Nazi symbols and a column of workers march-ing through the fields. Others champion Spain’s 15M upris-ing or the virtues of turning off the television, while Che Gue-vara adorns the sports hall.With its street names named after global revolutionar-ies including Salvador Allen-de and Pablo Neruda, it has often been described as being a ‘left wing Utopia’, and there has certainly been an admirable attempt to do things differently. Radical measures include get-

ting rid of the local police force to save money (by all accounts around 48,000 euros a year for four policemen) and subsidiz-ing housing to the tune of just 15 euros a month per family.On top of this residents pay just

3 euros to use the village pool for the entire summer pe-riod, while the local creche is just 15 euros a month per child, including lunch.“And then we only have to

pay 60 euros a year for our rates (IBI),” explains local ex-pat resident Eddie Norton, who retired to the town from Es-sex nearly a decade ago. “We

didn’t know anything about Gordillo when we moved here, but we couldn’t believe how well looked after the place was and what amazing facilities it has,” he continues.He is certainly right. The village not only counts one of the most charming flower-filled parks in Sevilla province, but it has no fewer than three big foot-ball pitches – one indoor – at least four tennis courts, three paddle courts and two Olympic-sized pools.But describing it as a ‘commu-nist utopia’ does not go down well with everyone.A number of locals grumble that unemployment is higher than Gordillo makes out, while others complain if you don’t vote for him and support his campaigns you cannot get

work at the communal farm, a claim he denies.Most of all, some people criti-cize the lack of real democracy in the town, with town council meetings rarely being called (police are currently investi-gating this claim) and the op-position PSOE party insisting Gordillo’s project has been ‘a failure’.But, by his own admittance Gordillo agrees there is still work to be done.“We are on the right road and trying,” he insists. “We can al-ways get better and improve things and I think the proof is in the fact that only two out of the 11 councillors of the town are not in the IU, two less than four years ago.”Ultimately though, is it all worth it with all the court cases, not

to mention death threats?The latest came threat came last summer and followed two attempts on his life, the first when a bullet was fired through his car window by a man from nearby El Rubio, missing him by inches as he drove around the town. ‘He got just three months in jail,’ claims Gordillo. The other was in 1997 when an unemployed Guardia Civil threatened him with a gun out-side his house. “It was scary and, of course, I worry for my family, but this is a project I tru-ly believe in and it isn’t about to stop yet.”With these words off troops Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo, easily one of Spain’s most in-spiring and intriguing men. For right or for wrong, he is some-how making a difference.

But describing it as a ‘communist

utopia’ does not go down well with eve-

ryone


News IN BRIEF

Double UpTHE Office of Tourism in Mala-ga has announced they have suc-cessfully doubled tourism numbers from five years ago.

Domestic Killing

A 68-year old man died in Malaga last Saturday after a domestic dispute with his wife, who is in the hospital recovering from knife wounds

Heat DeathTwo men died on Sunday, July 7 in Matalascanas in what is now being attributed to high temperatures.

Art ShowThe art collection of writer Antonio Segovia Lobillo is now on display in the small town of Moclinejo.

8

SHE came to Spain to enjoy a two week holiday for the first time in five years.But Clare Myers trip ended in tears when she had a horrific re-action to her sun cream that left her needing emergency care for two days in hospital.The mother-of-two was left looking ‘less model and more Michelin man’ when her face swelled up after applying Piz Buin’s 1 Day Long sun cream.“My cheeks were so big I had to drink through a straw,” said Clare, 42, who had to have a course of steroids creams and antihistamines to stop her body flaring up more.

Sun cream nightmare

Mother-of-two spends two days in Spanish hospital after suffering violent reaction to sun cream

IF you’ve ever wanted to walk on water well now is your chance.The recently opened Nomad Jets Jetlev Flight Centre in Marbella is offering daredevils a James Bond style jet pack to fire you into the sky.A brand new concept for Spain, Jetlev is fuelled by a 220 horsepower engine pumping 4,000 li-tres of water per minute - the ultimate in high-octane enjoyment. Already a hit in the US, the flights last for around 30 exhilarating minutes. Strap on and lift off... that’s if you’ve got a spare 199 euros.

Her family rushed her to Clinica Juaneda, in Menorca where she was put on a drip to bring down the allergic reaction. Doctors at the hospital’s A&E department were concerned about her high blood pressure and feared she would struggle to breathe because of the swelling.Ms Myers said: ‘It completely ruined our holiday. It cost us £2,000 and it was our first two-week holiday in five years.’Manufacturers Johnson &

Johnson insisted: ‘Piz Buin 1 Day Long is a safe and effec-tive sun protection product. It contains only permitted ingre-dients and is labelled according to legal requirements.’ However, Marie Goldie, 37, from Glasgow, suffered a simi-lar reaction to Ms Myers while on holiday in Spain in 2011. Doctors in Tenerife said her re-action was so bad they feared she’d need surgery to save her sight

We have lift off


10 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 NEWS10

THEY certainly look larger than the average moggy.And it ain’t the Hound of the Baskervilles.Billy Masson, from the Ax-arquia believes that these re-markable prints suggest there is a wild cat on the loose, pos-sibly a panther or cougar.Masson, from the hamlet of Cortijuelo, near Casabermeja, has sent the pictures to the zoology department of Aber-deen University in the hope of working out what made the tracks.“I found them in sand in the

FLY AWAY SCHEME

La Cala Cougar back on the prowl?

EVER fancied loung-ing about in Napo-leon’s slippers? Or bashing your next door neighbour with a pair of Mike Tyson’s boxing gloves?Well now’s your chance in a prestigious celebrity auction in Marbella next week.As well as the above, punters can bid for a slice of Wills and Kate’s Royal Wedding cake from last year, as well as a signed image of the former Russian Tsar Nicholas.In total, the auction at the Puente Romano hotel has over 800 let-ters, photographs, his-torical documents and artefacts for sale.The range includes au-

ENVIRONMENTAL groups are up in arms over a con-struction project which they claim is endangering one of the world’s rarest flies.The protesters claim that a road project, near Juzcar, in the Genal Valley, is endanger-ing the insect, called a snail-case caddisfly, which is only found in the valley.According to the environmen-tal group Grupo de Trabajo Valle del Genal, the scheme is destroying their habitat.The species, scientifically known as helicopsychidae, was discovered recently in 2008 at the source of the Suas River in Juzcar.Very little is known about it other than its habitat—pure, cold water high in oxygen and vegetation—and its shell-like nest, which is constructed out of grains of sand.

garden and it is clear they are much bigger than a normal cat and dog.“I am hoping that perhaps an Olive Press reader can help to identify the prowler.”Five years ago the Olive Press first tracked a wildcat living near the golf courses near La Cala.The cat was spotted by near-ly a dozen readers and was spotted on both sides of the mountains that straddle the coast, heading into the Gua-dalhorce Valley.Have any other readers seen any evidence of this big cat? Please send an email to [email protected] or call 951127006.

Sign up for autograph auction

tographs of entertain-ers, sports personali-ties, historical figures and Nobel Prize win-ners.The live auction, host-ed by International Autograph Auctions (IAA), will be con-ducted in English, with Spanish translators present. Bids are ex-pected to start high for the penmanship of ce-lebrities such as Sina-tra, Picasso, Churchill and Humphrey Bogart. Auctioneer Richard Davie will conduct the sale which takes place on Saturday, July 13.For more informa-tion visit www.autog-raphauctions.co.uk or www.autografosub-astas.es

MYSTERY: Tracks seen in sand near Casabermeja are 12cm in diametre



Starving for water A MAYOR went on a hunger strike after his town’s water supply dried up for the eighth year in a row.Victor Castillo, mayor of Valle

Mayor goes on a hunger strike after his town’s water supply runs out yet again

by Kat Mayhewde Abdalajis, is furious that damage to the town’s aquifers by train company Adif has

still not been overcome.The protest however only lasted for a day after the in-frastructure group stepped in promising to at least pay

News IN BRIEF

NINE people have died and 21 were injured in Spain’s worst bus crash for five years.The accident occurred near the town of Tornadizos, in

THE British Surgical Clinic is inviting patients to make a free appointment with consultant specialist David Dear-don to have his or her hernia checked.Don’t suffer in silence on a long waiting list. Pop in and see David on July 25 from 2pm at Clinica Ochoa, Mar-bella. Call Jane Naughton on 951 703 243 or email [email protected].

FREE HERNIA CHECK

A BANK has demanded rent payment from two young children after their father died, leaving them without income.Ages four and nine, the children lost their father, 41, in March of 2012 in a work related accident.Although the man’s will did include life insurance on his rent, BBVA officials say he had stopped pay-ing his life insurance a year before his death.The Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH), which helps citizens keep their homes when threat-ened with rent trouble, announced their intention to help the pair navigate the situation.The situation could potentially leave them with a lifetime of debt.

WORSE BUS CRASH IN OVER FIVE YEARS

Avila, when the bus careered off the road and overturned. A number of passengers were trapped inside the vehicle, including a six-year-old girl

who had to be evacuated by helicopter and taken to the Intensive Care Unit in Sala-manca. The 54-year-old driver has been arrested and accused of falling asleep at the wheel.The driver tested negatively for alcohol, and was not phys-ically harmed. Although the vehicle had the correct papers, it had no seat belts (it was made prior to the 2007 legislation requiring seat belts). Although it is still unclear as to the cause of the accident, several sources say the bus was going excessively fast, and the driver lost control as he was going around a curve.

to have water brought to the town through the summer months.

Each year the small munici-pality of 2,800 people has to pay hundreds of thousands of euros to bring water in by lorry.Last year it cost €380,000 to bring in enough potable wa-ter. “We are a small town and our reserves simply cannot sup-port these costs,” insisted the mayor.

Damage“This year, I was not prepared to let it happen again.” The water supply has been damaged ever since 2005, when the construction of a tunnel for the AVE train from Cordoba to Malaga hit the town’s main aquifer.But while Adif agreed to promised to repair the dam-age and compensate the town, some clauses have been ignored.

Bank threatens to make children pay mortgage

Supporters of PAH held a protest in front of the fam-ily’s local bank in Madrid to ask for a withdrawal of the demands on the minors.BBVA explained that it is not demanding money di-rectly from the children, but rather from their in-heritance.It claimed it had reportedly called the children’s mother repeatedly over the last year demanding monthly installments.She insisted she was unable to pay due to a lack of income.However, BBVA representatives say they are willing to work with the family to negotiate payment plans.The children are under no threat of eviction.

Prices hold

MARBELLA’s summer rental prices remain the same despite prices drop-ping 20% overall in the province of Malaga.

New SigningATLETICO Madrid football club have signed David Villa on a three-year contract from FC Barcelona for €5.1 million.

You What!THE director of the Cervantes Institute, Spain’s most important Spanish language teaching body, has said that it is now ‘fashionable to speak badly.’

Olive BanSPAIN revives its plan to ban olive oil dispensers in restaurants, in hopes to stop the common practice of refilling branded bottles with cheaper oil.

Bike BoySevilla Police have de-tained a child and three adolescents accused of attempting to steal a motorbike.

EMBATTLED: Mayor Castillo is desperate to see justice


EMBATTLED: Mayor Castillo is desperate to see justice

14 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 AXARQUIA NEWS

Bogus gas inspectors are on the prowlResidents in Nerja and Maro have reported that there are at least four bogus gas inspec-tors trying to charge more than €250 for their services. The faux inspectors are quite aggressive and informing owners that they need new hoses attached to their gas bottle. Although a gas inspec-tion is compulsory ev-ery five years, inspec-tors only come out by request and will charge about €50.

Axq IN BRIEF

Better Buses

TORROX has a new free bus ser-vice on weekend nights to transport people between the town and the coast. It is expected to re-duce the number of summer auto acci-dents.

Free Kayaks

The Junta is donating free kayaks and scuba diving equipment to Maro Cerro-Gordo beaches as part of a plan to raise awareness of their environmental importance of the coast.

Top CaveThe PP, PSOE and IU have come to-gether with the Junta de Andalu-cia to propose that the popular Nerja Caves become an official Unesco World Heritage site.

By Alex Iszatt

Top beach in AndaluciaMaro now on the shortlist to be named the best beach in Spain

AN Axarquia beach could be named Spain’s best.Maro, near Nerja, has just been named the best beach in Andalucia in a competition being organised by TV channel Antena 3.It will now be put forward into the competition to find the best beach in Spain. It won the first round of the com-petition, beating Bolonia, in Cadiz, into second place by nearly 2,500 votes. The second phase of the competi-tion is under way this month, with the best beach from each region in Spain going through to the final phase in August, when the overall winner will be chosen.Last year’s winner was La Granadel-la beach in Jávea, Alicante.

Improvements for pool Watch out

The council run open-air swimming pool in Frigiliana has been reopened after undergoing €120,000 worth of refurbishment works. The 20-year-old pool has had the changing rooms, communal areas, water pumping and filtration sys-tem replaced, along with improve-ments around the pool, including

It may not be the real thing, but it’s as good as it gets.Now in a huge coup for the small Axarquia town of Frigili-ana, The Bootleg Beatles are to headline its local football sta-dium.The band, who just played at Glastonbury, are to play in the town as part of their world tour, which includes sell out shows in Australia and the UK. Even dubbed ‘terrific’ by for-mer Beatle Sir Paul McCartney himself, they will be perform-ing on August 31.Their 90 minute theatrical sing along event will feature 22 hit singles from the Beatles’ 13 al-bums.Opening for the tribute band will be the Mama Paula’s Blues Band, whose main act will be a collection of some of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin’s greatest hits.She has previously played with both Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler.Tickets are €25 each, and will go on sale this weekend.

Beatles play Frigiliana

a new area covered with artificial grass.World swimming champion David Meca took part in the opening cer-emony on Friday and gave a swim-ming clinic to local children, dem-onstrating different swimming styles and gave a talk on his expe-riences in the sport of swimming.


16 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 GIB NEWS

IT’S scrum down as a new sports battle brews between Gibraltar and Spain.It comes after Spain blacklist-ed Gibraltar’s bid to join the

Ruck on the Rock

New sports row brewing after Spain opposes Gib bid to join European rugby association

European Rugby Association. Similar to objections Spain made to the football team joining UEFA (an objection that was recently overcome),

Gibraltar’s rugby team has been denied a spot in the equivalent association, the FIRA-AER. Gibraltar Rugby Football Union secretary Chad Thom-son insisted that ‘despite meeting all the criteria’ for membership, the bid failed to receive the two-thirds major-ity it needed to be accepted. There is speculation of dirty play by Spain, as Jose Maria Epalza, the Spanish treasurer of FIRA-AER, made a speech against Gibraltar’s bid al-though it was not on the of-ficial agenda. “Rugby lost and politics won today,” said Thomson.

A FEARED outbreak of TB has been avoided.THE Gibraltar Health Authority has completed testing for tuberculosis around the enclave and found nobody else testing positive for the disease. The scare came after a child attending two nurser-ies in Gibraltar was diagnosed with the infectious disease on June 20. The infected child is responding well to treatment and there is no current risk to the public, sources at GHA say.

16

Tuberculosis fears ease

Sand Stealers!

AN environmental group has accused Gibraltar of stealing sand from Tarifa's famous Valdevaqueros dune (right). Ecologistas en Acción claims up to 40 lorries of sand have been taken to the Rock from the area around Punta Paloma. The sand was meant to have been returned to the beaches around Tarifa, but the environmental group alleges that a large quantity was illegally reclassified as being for com-mercial use by the company Verdemar. The group has now denounced Verdemar claiming it is being used in an ongoing landfill project.

EXCLUSIVE

17www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013GIB NEWS

GIBRALTARIANS are ready to fight to pro-tect their 300 years of independence

from Spain.A number of patriotic groups have sworn their allegiance to the British flag and voiced their indignation that the overseas territory had once again been violated follow-ing bullets being fired at a jet skier by Spanish police.Both the local UKIP party, which set up just two months ago, and a group that goes by the name The Defenders of Gibraltar, insist they are prepared to fight against this ‘aggression’.“These types of actions are happening more and more,” said Defenders of Gibraltar chairman Gareth Gingell. “The Guardia Civil are acting in a crazy manner and this is totally over the top,”The former serviceman, 26, insists his group has been

Gib IN BRIEF

Stoneage siteGIBRALTAR has won Gold in the Junior Show Dance and Jazz Solo categories at the Dance World Cup, held at the Brighton Dome

New BuoysThe Gibraltar Port Authority and the Gibraltar Tourist Board are giving beaches new sets of buoys to promote safety.

Summer JobsA RECORD number of 340 summer job placements have been offered to university students back in Gibraltar for the holidays.

Gib GoldVANGUARD Cave excavations revealed a 40,000 year-old Neanderthal site.

Spanish Jets Buzz GibNew incident stops BA flight from take off just weeks after jet-skier is shot at by Spanish police

BRITAIN and Spain were plunged into a fresh round of diplomacy after four Spanish jets allegedly flew into Gibral-tar airspace. Gibraltar reacted angrily after the Matador jets were seen flying ‘very close’ to the north end of the Rock, prevent-ing planes from taking off or landing.Described as ‘another incur-sion into British territory’, the incident led to a British Airways flight being delayed by 12 minutes.This comes soon after the incident of the Guardia Civil shooting at a jet skier Dale Villa, 32, on June 23, as well as a Spanish patrol boat sail-ing into Gibraltarian waters the following day.Despite the government ask-ing the UK to investigate this ‘military incursion into the airspace of Gibraltar’, a Min-istry of Defence spokesman insisted it had not been given any evidence to work with.“There is no evidence to sug-gest that the aircraft flew into Gibraltar air space,” he said.Spain insisted the incident came after the planes were returning to aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I during a mili-tary exercise.

‘We need real warriors’Following a string of ‘incursions’ and the shooting of a jet-skier, local pressure group Defenders of Gibraltar tell Giles Brown that Gibraltarians need to stand up and fight

warning the authorities that the jetskier shooting incident was inevitable, since his group set up last year.“We have been working tire-lessly to bring attention to the oppression and harassment of British citizens, by the Spanish paramilitary forces, in British Territorial Waters for well over a year. “We have been warning that it was only a matter of time be-fore the Guardia Civil became more brazen in their illegal in-cursions.“It comes as thanks to the ap-parent UK inaction and apathy, and unfortunately that day has now come.”He added that the mood today in Gibraltar is one of anger. “People are really disenchant-ed,” continued the IT worker. “They are saying this is all the fault of the UK government... they’ve let this happen by let-ting the Spanish get away with this for so long.

“We are good people. We do not deserve to be harassed by our much larger neighbours simply because we want the same rights as the rest of the world. “Spain’s oppressive tac-tics against Gibraltar, their at-tacks against our economy, our

sovereignty, our people, need to stop, and they need to stop now. “The time for just words is over. We need real warriors to stand up now. It’s time to put the words into action before some-one gets killed!”

WARRIORS: Defenders on patrol with Gingell (centre)

18 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 GREEN NEWS

MAYORS from five town halls have made a desper-ate trip to Brussels in a bid to save their local environ-ment.The group from Alameda, Humilladero, Cuevas Bajas, Fuente de Piedra and Asaja are up in arms after a con-troversial €400m AVE test track was passed by central government.The scheme, that would carve its way around the

SCIENTISTS in Andalucia have confirmed that flamingos real-ly do put on ‘make-up’ in order to find a mate.

The study at Fuente de Piedra – Eu-rope’s second-largest breeding ground – found that before going out to socialise, the birds not only tidy their feathers, but intensify their pink colour as well.They do this by using a natural secre-tion as ‘make-up’ to make themselves pinker. The more they use the gland, which is in the base of their tail, and the lon-ger they use it, the pinker they turn.And apparently, it works. According to researchers, the pinker the flamingo, the more popular it is with potential mates.This year has been a record year for flamingo, who traditionally come to the large wetland area near Fuente de Piedra to mate and hatch their chicks.In total an estimated 22,000 pairs have arrived this year, creating an amazing landscape.

Please save our villages!Mayors unite to save the celebrated Antequera vega and its nature including Europe’s second largest colony of flamingos after rail test track plan gets green light from Madrid

celebrated farmland of the Antequera vega, would be Europe’s first fast track test-ing loop.The project, which will see the trains reaching speeds of 520kph on the track’s nine kilometre straight will cost an estimated €386,2 million.But while the government and developers insist it will create thousands of jobs when it opens in 2016, locals insist it will destroy valuable

farmland and threaten the famous breed-ing group of flamingo near Fuente de Piedra (see above).They insist it will also cause the compul-sory purchase of hundreds of homes and de-stroy historic

sites.Representatives from the town halls were joined by members of Ecologistas en Accion and other local cam-paigning groups in a second visit to Brussels to appeal the decision.Their visit drew some success with the European Commis-sion, which agreed to listen to

their pleas at a special hear-ing of the petitions commit-tee in October.They will be given a five minute slot to put over their grievances and concerns.Mayor of Humilladero Epi Alarcon has also visited the leader of the IU party Cayo Lara in Madrid to elicit his help.

Pink on purpose

GROUP ACTION: Representatives for the threatened village in Brussels


A PLANT in Andalucia will be the first in the world to convert sewage into clean fuel for vehicles.The waste-water plant in Chiclana de la Frontera is

19

Power-plant plans to use sewage to pioneer a new fuel for vehicle use

Fuel dumpusing sunlight to create algae before turning the green sub-stance into gas.The project, dubbed All-gas, is part of a €12 million plan to produce alternative energies

and reduce Spain’s reliance on foreign oil. While factories and mills have long produced waste-water gas for their own en-ergy needs, All-gas is the first to produce the bio-fuel with the intention of exporting it to power vehicles.“Nobody has done the trans-formation from waste-water to bio-fuel, which is a sus-tainable approach,” said All-gas project leader Frank Rogalla.The plant, owned by water company Aqualia, is still in its pilot phase at just 200 metres squared.All-gas expects to be produc-ing €100,000 of bio-fuel a year by 2015, enough to pow-er 200 cars or ten trucks for the year. Although researchers have said it may take years before algae bio-fuel is economi-cally viable on a large scale, they have admitted the proj-ect will be able to replace a portion of Spain’s petroleum use.Project leader, Rogalla, is optimistic however: “The opportunity is such that 40 million people, roughly the population of Spain, would be able to power 200,000 vehicles from just flushing their toilet!” he said.

Doñana closer to losing Unesco statusSPAIN has been given until February to sort out the water problems around Donana National Park.The country has been told the park will lose its Unesco sta-tus unless it stops strawberry growers from illegally drain-ing water, as well as polluting the area. It has been given until February to send a report confirm-ing that the issue has been resolved.The Junta had originally been told to deal with the prob-

lem by January this year, but failed to implement any sort of plan.Doñana, between Sevilla, Cadiz and Huelva provinces, is one of Spain’s most important re-serves and famous for its thousands of migratory birds and the last reserve of the rare Spanish lynx, which num-bers around 300 left in the world.


Dear OP,Here’s a point about Toni Muldoon for the next time you report on him. He is ex-tremely short and paranoid about it, so he wears high heels. He won’t be able to do this at Her Majesty’s pleasure though.Anonymous OP reader

RoadrageDear OP,A couple of weeks ago, I flew back to the UK for a ‘big birthday’ with my friends and relatives.I flew from Gibraltar and took my car across the border to park in the Airport Car Park, which is very good value for money. It took me just over an hour to reach the parking lot after joining the queue in La

Well stacked

POTTED POINTERS

ANDALUCIA RESERVOIRLEVELSThis week: 83.41% full Same week last year: 61.47% Same week in 2003: 63.64%

AIRPORTSGibraltar -00350 22073026Granada-Jaen -958 245 200Jerez - 956 150 000Malaga - 952 048 844**For English press 9 Sevilla - 954 449 000

EMERGENCIESPolice 091Guardia Civil 062Medical service 061Fire 080

EURO EXCHANGE RATES 1 euro is worth1.29 American Dollars0.85 British Pounds1.36 Canadian Dollars7.46 Danish Kroner10.07 H Kong Dollars7.94 Norwegian Kroner1.65 Singapore Dollars

KEEP THE FUEL ALLOWANCEDear OP My wife and I have lived in Spain since 1996, mainly because we could no longer earn a living back home as Market Traders. We’ve also had on-going arthritis problems.Tempera-ture tests here, like anywhere else in the world, would show that tem-peratures are changing and becom-ing more extreme.Our winters here have become extremely cold. Snow is

Letters should be posted to Urb. Cayetano Arroyo, Buzon 13, Arriate 29350, Malaga or emailed to [email protected] The writer’s name and address should be provided. Published opinions are not necessarily those of the Editor.

CROSSMOT 11

Linea. I was subject to contin-uous honkingand pushing in by drivers thinking they were too important to wait in the queue. A woman with a badly dented Mercedes bashed into the back of me twice. “I´m just trying to get to the Car Park” she shrieked as she tried to cut in between me and the car behind. I had an entirely different experience when I collected my car from Gatwick Airport and drove the 300 miles to Lincoln. Al-though there was ten times the amount of traffic and it was raining, everybodybe-haved nicely. If they changed lanes they were let in with a smile and an acknowledging wave and although it was a tough drive around the M25 it was accomplished without hassle. If you let somebody in on the Costa del Sol, you

are usually met with a sullen stare or totally ignored. Over-all, I travelled around 900 miles in the eight days I was in the UK and never once was subject to the bad-mannered ‘me first at all costs’ attitudes I found on the Costa del Sol.Can somebody please explain this?Bob Gaston, Sotogrande

Gib’s great

Dear OP,My history of visiting Gibral-tar goes back to 1989. Back then, it seemed like it needed a good clean, the shops were

common here, and this makes heat-ing necessary for several months.Electricity in Spain is very expensive, consuming 25% of my monthly Pen-sion.We moved here when I turned 60, and I have been paying national Insurance, Income Tax since I was 15 years of age. I feel totally entitled to my Winter Fuel Allowance.Jake Marshall, Antequera

all expensive, and the weath-er when we were there wasn’t much better than the UK. Over following months and years we have visited quite a lot. I’m pleased to say it has gotten much better and the improvements continue.Bob Cartmell

HypocritesDear OP,It is a total hypocrisy to con-sider Gibraltar a part of Spain because of its connection to the Iberian peninsula while at the same time considering Ceuta and Melilla separate from Morocco even though

they are joined to Morocco and are not even in Europe. They’re in Africa!The Spanish claim to Gibraltar is pathetic and medieval. Spain should concentrate on her economy and the millions and millions of unemployed and forget her 300-year-old fantasy.Jonathan Connor, Marbella

Fruit farceDear OP,Today Jose, our fruit and vegetable man, made his normal delivery. He pulled up outside, dropped off pro-duce for our cafe, and went back to his van. Total time? Less than a minute. The local police decided to give him a ticket. The length of time the road was partially obstructed while the police wrote the ticket? Approximately five minutes. This is madness!! It’s a service road, not a main bus route!!! How are small local businesses supposed to survive when the local police behave like this?!Simon, Barboru Calahon-da

Bulldog banDear OP,After reading your story on the dogs attacking a bull, I wonder why these Animal Rights people object to this? After all, it’s the same Ani-mal Rights people who try to prevent us from banning this type of dog. So they want us to keep the bulldog types that were specifically genetically engineered to do precisely what this picture shows, but then they are outraged when these bulldog types do exactly what they were genetically engineered to do? The Animal Rights people are as much to blame for this attack as the owner of these bulldogs.

Jane Rawlings, Alhaurin

LETTERS

Across7 Experimentando (13) * 8 Estornudar (8) * 9 Island (4) * 10 Defence (7) * 12 Gansos (5) * 14 Vertido (5) * 16 Proporcionar (7) * 19 Three (4) * 20 Surname (8) * 22 Correspondiente (13).

Down1 Bueyes (4) * 2 Grave (6) * 3 Vicious (7) * 4 Reinado (5) * 5 Raya (6) * 6 Adjunto (8) * 11 Experts (8) * 13 Libertad (7) * 15 Perdedores (6) * 17 Flown (6) * 18 Cintura (5) * 21 Negar (4).L = 199


la cultura 21

A CHARITY walk needs a driver for a Nepal fund-raising trip. But don’t worry you won’t need to drive all the way to Kathmandu.The helper is needed to support a big group of ex-pats who will be undertaking the so-called ‘Coast to Coast Walk’ from Nerja to Tarifa in September.The 21-day trip, which covers 430 kilometres, takes place from September 15 to October 5. A van and a man is vital to help with logistical support.Walk organiser Guy Hunter-Watts told the Olive Press: “The driver who originally offered to help has returned to the UK with his van, so we’re desper-ately looking for a replacement vehicle. “This would ideally be a 7 or 8 seater minivan, like a VW transporter or Ford Transit. And if the van were to come with a driver that would be even better.”As this is a charity walk the organisers aren’t able to pay a wage, but they are offering a small daily allow-ance for food and accommodation.If anyone can help please contact Guy Hunter-Watts: [email protected] or phone 616057184Visit www.helpingnepalschildren.org

SIX British students are among the first group of students to graduate from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Valencia. Established in September 2012 as a hub for talented musicians to pursue international ca-reers, the one-year masters programme saw 74 students graduate from 27 different countries.

Van and man needed!

FORMER dictator Francisco Franco was able to change the words ‘republican loyalists’ to ‘reds’ in a hit Hollywood film about the Spanish Civil War.According to letters recently uncovered by the British Film

REDS UNDER THE BEDS

Franco’s cul-ture ministry had a strong sway over Hol-lywood and British movies, it has emerged

Britain’s got (real) talent

Industry (BFI) the dictator was also able to supplant the word ‘fascist’ with ‘nation-alist’ in the 1940 film For Whom the Bell Tolls.The missives sent to the UK and Hollywood from Spain’s

culture ministry were aimed at edit-ing various words and phrases in films about Spain.The dictator was very sensitive about his public image abroad and insisted on influencing any films about his coun-try.For Whom the Bell Tolls, writ-ten by Ernest Hemingway, was highly critical of the right wing atrocities in the civil war but was changed dramatically when it was adapted for the big screen.Franco banned all Colum-bia Studios movies from the country after they failed to heed the advice of his culture ministers during the filming of Fred Zinnemann’s Behold

a Pale Horse. The movie loosely detailed the life of the Spanish an-archist guerrilla, Francisco Sabaté Llopart.The basic censorship model that the government established remained in operation until well after Fran-co’s death in 1975. The Cuenca Crime, by Pilar Miró, is a typical example: seized by the police in February 1980 for its criti-cism of the Francoist repressive apparatus, the film did not see the light of day until 1981.


la cultura22

MEMORIES are made throughout a lifetime; it is part of human nature to re-tain them in hearts, minds and through portraits and photographs. Pablo Picasso was no differ-ent, and a new exhibition at the Picasso Museum, in Malaga, showcases pieces which represented those closest to him.A celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of the mu-seum the exhibit is bringing together more than 40 por-traits of Picasso’s close fam-ily and friends.The paintings from the pri-vate collection of the art-ist’s heirs were produced between 1906 and 1971 and many were inspired by his children and the female companions with whom he shared his life.The artworks include oil paintings, drawings, sculp-tures, lino cuts and engrav-

By Rose Lapp

LONG LIVE THE MEMORIES

New Picasso family exhibition blurs the boundaries of life and art

ings – each showing his creativity and versatility and highlighting the ever-changing skill which has es-tablished him firmly in art history. There is also a rare oppor-tunity to view a selection of 73 photographs - some of

which have never been seen in public before - allowing visitors an insight into the artist’s personal life.

‘Pablo Picasso. Family Album’ is open seven days a week during July and August, and runs until October 6.


la cultura

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have begun work on an ancient site that dates back between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. The site, in Vicalvaro, near Madrid, is expected to un-cover hundreds of ancient ar-

23

DIG IT: Archeologists at work

Digging in the Deep Pond

A JAZZ singer has released a new single.Expat Sara de Ville, from Vera, has released the song Stranger in Paradise having recently settled in the Al-meria town.Creativity is a family business for the Belgium De Ville family. Her father is a pianist and composer known as Tio Jazzy, who accompanies her on the piano.

No stranger in paradise

Ancient site could prove to be one of Spain’s most important

tefacts including a collection of flint and handmade tools.

AxeThe site is named Charco Hondo, which translates as ‘Deep Pond’ was discovered

six years ago, when investi-gators noticed a slight dip in the ground.After some digging, they found pieces of discarded flint, the first hint to the amazing discovery they were about to make.

PreservedThe real excavation started earlier this month, with excit-ing discoveries like axe blades already being made.The half dozen archaeologists who are working carefully ev-

ery day digging in this remote site believe this 50-square-meter patch of land to be a Late Palaeolithic era flint quarry. “The site is extremely well preserved, like a moment fro-zen in time,’ said archaeolo-gist Sergio Barez, explaining it is likely to be one of Spain’s most important sites.


la cultura24

A BRITISH poet has blasted Brits taking part in this week’s Pam-plona bull running festival.

Reggae star Benjamin Zephaniah insists anyone attending the seven day festival will have ‘blood on their hands’.His attack came after a British revel-ler was injured on the first day of the San Fermín festival.

Blood on their hands

British poet criti-cises anyone at-tending this week’s Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, writes Giles Brown

John Bennett, 44, from Wolverhamp-ton, nearly suffocated beneath a pile of bodies after falling the moment a lone bull turned on runners. Trapped, Bennett insisted his life was saved when he was dragged out by a first aid worker.“It was the first time I’ve run and it will be the last” said Mr Bennett in an article in The Guardian, Zephaniah


la cultura 25

FERMIN FRENZY: Scenes from this years’ festival

PAMPLONA PROTEST: PETA activists made their point in coffins

Tormenting and butchering bulls for entertainment be-

longs in the dark ages - not the 21st century

meanwhile claimed that anyone visiting Pamplona during San Fermín, even if

they weren’t actually run-ning the bulls, contributing to the suffering of the ani-mals. “Every shared tapa, every cerveza, every booked hotel room and balcony bolsters

the killing,” he wrote.“Tormenting and butcher-ing bulls for entertainment belongs to the dark ages – not the 21st century’ he con-tinued.Animal rights group PETA also highlighted the body count by sending people to lie in 48 coffins in Pam-plona, to represent the four dozen bulls killed during San Fermín.


SHE has travelled around the world as a student, artist and teacher.Now expat Tutu Lahiri, born in India, but educated at Ox-ford, has launched her first book.Entitled Close Your Eyes and I’ll be There, it is largely a trib-ute to her grandfather, who was a contemporary of Gandhi and a well-known member of the Quit India movement.Based in Benalmadena, Costa, she describes him as ‘a loving

I’ll be thereyet wild bouquet of India, and the kind of man that is no more.’She explained how the book is written “Through the eyes of a young person, learning and observing life with her grandfather in the land of old Bangladesh before the partition of India.”Lahiri, who has lived in An-dalucia for more than 24 years, studied history of art at Oxford and Yale, before becoming an art teacher.

WITH a series of wardrobe changes that would give Lady Gaga a run for her money, lead singer of the band Biagra and the Maneaters, Kit Hogg managed to transform himself over a dozen times while head-lining at the Live Music Spain festival this weekend.The rock singer may be a tree surgeon by day, but his alter-ego definitely comes out at night and over a 100 people came to witness the transition at the show in Manilva.Organized by Live Music Spain, in collaboration with the foreigners department of Manilva, the three day festival at Camping Bella Vista saw hundreds of peo-ple enjoy artists including Carmen Dragonfly, Mar-cus Myers and Frank Skott – among others.Pictures courtesy of Gary Beaumont

A LITTLE bit of Americana is coming to the Costa Del Sol in the form of Soul Train. Get your dancing shoes on and cheer along to clas-sics such as Don’t Blame It On The Boogie, My Girl and Sexy Thing. From the producers of the award winning Jersey Boys, Soul Train comes to La Bella Vista Camping and Caravan park on July 13 at 8pm.

A PAIR of hard-hitting Span-ish documentaries have been shortlisted in the annual

Sheffield honours SpainTwo Spanish films have been nominated for a prestigious documentary award

The many changing faces of a tree surgeon

Sheffield Doc/Fest Awards.Plot for Peace, directed by Carlos Agulló (above), and

Google and the World Brain, produced by Carles Brugue-res (above left), are among the films put forward for this year’s award.An international jury will se-lect the winner on July 16. Plot for Peace is about French businessman Jean Yves Ollivier who fled Algeria in 1962 and went on to help South Africa in its peaceful transition out of apartheid.Google and the World Brain follows Google’s bid to launch the most audacious world brain scheme ever: the scan-ning of all the world’s books – and the possibility of it de-livering us straight into an Orwellian nightmare.

GET ON THE SOUL TRAIN


Never say never As the Iglesias pair finally come head to head at Marbella’s fabulous Starlite festival - also featuring UB40, Bryan Adams and the Buena Vista Social Club (left) - could they duet for the first time ever?

AS lotharios go, this father and son team could get a fan’s knickers off quicker

than you can say Julio and Enrique. But, as similar as they are in looks, style, and their ability to get gorgeous gals, their differences have seen them drift apart. Could it be that this year’s Starlite Festival in Marbella can encourage the pair to mend the family rift and sere-nade the Andalucian masses with sweet music? Not according to father Julio who, at 69, said; “Singing with my son is something that would come off as very com-mercial.“I think that he and I will nev-er sing together.”With such a famous dad it was no wonder that Enrique released his first album un-der an assumed name and

then signed a record contract without his father’s knowl-edge. The divide between the two has grown ever since; En-rique famously didn’t attend his brother’s wedding due to his father’s attendance.He is now older, and wiser, but he is still determined not to be an ageing lothario, and is adamant that he won’t be singing past 60. His father’s lifestyle is ‘not the way I want to live my life’.Julio once boasted of sleep-ing with more than 3,000 women but the bitter En-rique,38, has long tried to show that he is a one girl guy. His relationship with tennis sweetie Anna Kournakova is now in its 12th year, and he doesn’t plan to stray. “Anna is the coolest girl I’ve ever known, because she’s the kind of girl you can take to McDonald’s. You can be in

the mountains camping and she won’t complain.”Proud of his son, even if he doesn’t follow in daddy’s footsteps, Julio knows that Enrique is on the right path; “With Enrique, it’s not a ques-tion of singing; it’s a question of aptitude. He has the blood, the spirit, the character of a champion. You go into a fight with Enrique boxing, he’d kill you. The champions are the people who dictate the curves of the road, and it’s very difficult to follow them. They go up to their limits and they became champions, and he is one of these.”A poignant, poetic statement.All is not lost, Julio admits that musical duets are his fa-vourite thing; he has already had hits with Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, and Dolly Parton. So, who knows, a duet could well be a possibility.

STAR PROPERTIES: But could Julio Iglesias (left) finally duet with his heartthrob son, Enrique (right) at this years hot Starlite Festival



WITH such big names headlining the month

long festival it is easy to forget that there are numerous other events to get you excited about. They include:

Fashion

Spanish models will hit the catwalk wearing the latest high-end fashions.

Live stage shows

Following on from the success of the Starlite Lounge last year, the organisers have promised bigger and better shows. The festival will be intro-ducing new, attractive and adventurous ele-ments that will no doubt make each night magical. Professional ballerinas will transport the audien-ce back in time, from the world of 19th century American vaudeville up until today. Roko, the versatile ac-tress, will also make an appearance singing live and performing a show that is bound to be full of surprises.

Art exposition

There will be four art expositions at the festival, including paintings by artist, photographer, singer and businessman Prince Hubertus von Ho-henlohe. Bernardo Doral, one of the most solicited fashion photographers in the world will show-case his collection which features photographs of the schoolchildren of the ‘Ninos en Alegria’ school in Mexico.

Film premiers

Taking advantage of the beautiful Andalucian weather, the organisers have provided a cinema screen under the stars. Visitors will be embraced as VIPs as they take to the red carpet with the

actors themselves. A special treat awaits avid cinema goers with a never before seen production that has been produced specifically for the Marbella Russian Film Festival.

VIP Party

Grey Goose is hosting its Le Privée Grey Goose event every night - a must if you want to mingle with the stars.

Food and drink

This year Starlite Festi-

val is working with the restaurant La Meridiana del Alabardero, where you can sit and eat while you enjoy the show. The restaurant comibines experience, tradition and innovation with high qua-lity products. It’s one of Marbella’s most signature restaurants.There are many other gourmet restaurants around the site, including the Japanese Takumi, the Andalusian Taberna Volapié, Mexican Zapata Tex Mex, and a delightful Italian called O’ Mamma Mia.

More than just music

Paco - back by popular demand

THE music maestro makes a magnanimous return more than three years after his last Spanish performance. Paco de Lucia is one of his-tory’s greatest guitarists; as soon as his fingers brush the strings, his spirit flows through the instrument en-amouring all that listen.Famous for his revolutionary

flamenco recordings, he has a technique like no other. The strength and fluidity of his right hand means he is ca-pable of executing extremely fast and fluent picados. He often mixes the classic Span-ish sounds with jazz influ-ences. Paco has successfully crossed over into other genres, playing classical and jazz. Since 2004 he has shied away from touring, only giving occasional concerts, and since 2010 he hasn’t played at all. Starlite is lucky to have this legend perform on August 15.

Paco de Lu-cia comes to Starlite after a three year mu-sical absence

For one night onlyDAVID Bisbal, the multi-mil-lion selling artist, is coming to Starlite for his only concert this summer. Rising to fame via the inter-active reality television show Operación Triunfo, David quickly received a huge fol-lowing.

Since then he has released four studio albums, all top-ping the Spanish Albums Chart. His European and Latin American tour has just come to a close, but David is back for this one-off special performance on Saturday, August 24.

FOREVER KING OF POP, is a homage to the legend that is Michael Jackson. A group of over 20 musicians perform his greatest hits, in an emotional and vibrant performance on August 16. Meanwhile, many of the legendary singers of the La Movida come together for the first time in history on August 2 – not to be missed. Finally, Grease is the word on August 23, when you can watch the movie and sing along to all your favourites.

FEEL THE MUSIC


Dance to the beatTHE leading lady of the dance, Sara Baras, shows off her talent in a uniquely cho-reographed flamenco routine on August 9. Her energy and exuberance shines through in every step she takes. Her pas-sion and dedication - not to mention her beauty - has won her favour throughout Spain; she has even been named ‘the face of Andalucia.’More than 20 years ago, she began her journey to the stages of the world. Her be-ginnings, in Cadiz, her home-land, is part of her history, and the first link in the chain of her career. Her mother, Concha Baras, was her greatest influence, and helped coach Sara down the professional path. Sara then began to train with other dance legends such as Ciro, Manolete, El Güito, Dania Gonzalez, before open-ing her own company Ballet Flamenco and choreograph-ing a number of shows. Meanwhile Noa, the most re-nowned Israeli artist in recent history, comes to the festival accompanied by Gil Dor and the Solis String Quartet on July 28.Watch out ladies, Alejandro Sanz, the Spanish heartthrob is ending his- tour by per-forming on August 11. Selling over 22 million CDs, his La musica no se toca, was the most successful album of 2012. Keeping it in the family, Ale-

jandro’s goddaughter Malú will be showcasing her beau-tiful voice on August 14.A week later, on August 21, British legends UB40 will be

singing favourites Kingston Town, I can’t help falling in love with you, Red Red Wine, among others, in their only concert in Spain.

The face of An-dalucia Sara Baras leads a list of other huge stars at the festival

VARIETY: (From left) Malú and Alejandro Sanz, Sara Baras (above and below) and Noa and UB40 (bottom)



Living the dreamWATCHING Jamie Cullum on stage, is an experience in itself. Not content to sit quietly behind his piano he is often found leaping around, cracking jokes with the au-dience and generally giving the impression he’s having the time of his life.His love of music and jazz is clear when he begins to sing and it is no wonder that in 2003, Cullum became Britain’s best-selling jazz artist of all time.The 33-year-old singer, mu-sician and host of BBC Radio 2’s ‘Jamie Cullum With The Best of Jazz’ will encourage festival goers to sway along.Known for mixing contem-porary jazz (Twentyso-mething) piano-driven singer-songwriter pop (All At Sea) with standards (Blame It On My Youth, Just One Of Those Things) and pop

covers (Pharrell’s Frontin, Rihanna’s Don’t Stop The Music) he will be singing a range from past and present albums.His six albums have flown off the shelves, each recorded in a slightly unsual way, from live audience to his kitchen. His life is his studio, and his family is his muse.Married to former model and food critic Sophie Dahl, the couple have two daughters, and he used the birth as a jumping point for “Sad, Sad World”; “It mana-ges to state a very complex paradox of an emotion that I experienced when I had children, which is this great happiness and this great in-tensity but with that intensity comes a deeper understan-ding of the world.Performing Saturday, July 27.

Jamie Facts;He’s sold more than 10 million CDs worldwide.Cullum’s concerts often feature a stomp box, which is used to amplify his tapping foot.He never uses a set list, preferring to gauge the audience himself.Most of his recordings are live; he loves to hear the response.One of his first jobs was as a musician for the food chain Pizza Express

The legendary singer, known as the ‘Spa-nish Frank Sinatra,’ has had a successful

career that spans decades. However, when he was a young boy, Iglesias never dreamed of becoming a musician. He only learned to play guitar when a car accident left him be-dridden for months. Thankfully for his fans he soon discovered his talent for music, and his pro-lific career took off in 1968, when he won the Benidorm Festival with ‘La vida sigue igual,’ a song he wrote himself. A fan of all styles of music, Julio made cheesy, Spanish, pop a worldwide phenome-non, with fans falling over

MAKING SWEET MUSICthemselves to get a glimpse of the Grammy Award win-ning star. Moving to Miami, he was a regular on the Ho-llywood scene and even got a star on its Walk of Fame.Winning an American Music Award plus selling 2,600 platinum and gold discs, hasn’t stopped him from making music. His greatest hits album is currently in the charts and features duets with Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder. This year, Julio set the new world record for the Best Selling Latin Artist. After an extremely successful performance last year Julio returns to the Starlite Festval to give his final performance of his 2013 tour.Performing Sat, August 3.

Summer of 2013

Canadian rock god Bryan Adams sings his hits ‘Straight from the Heart’

Bryan Facts:He dropped out of school at 16.His first band was called ‘Sweeney Todd.’A 2005 British poll found that his hit ‘Everything I do’ was the most popular choice for the first dance at UK weddings.He is also a published photographer; with photos in British Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Esquire, and advertising cam-paigns such as Guess Jeans, Converse, and Escada. He has been vegan since the age of 28.

LADIES, prepare to swoon as Bryan Adams seranades you on the ope-ning night of Starlite. The rough and tough hearthrob has been belting out classics for more than 30 years, releasing over 20 albums and blowing us away with kareoke favourits such as ´Everything I do, I do it for you´ and ´Summer of ´69.´ His distinctive voice has been known to make

women week at the knees, he truly is a formidable presence on the interna-tional stage. No stranger to the top of the charts, he has recei-ved 15 Grammy nomina-tions, five Golden Globe nominations, and three Academy Award nomina-tions for his work over the years. Bryan Adams is a com-plete giver, he has been involved in philanthropic

activity, through both be-nefit concerts and his own charity; the Bryan Adams Foundation. Which aims to advance education and learning opportunities for children and young people worldwide. On July 24, Bryan Adams will open the Starlite Fes-tival 2013 with his only concert in Spain on his worldwide tour, kicking off a month full of top-level concerts.

CLICK THOSECUBAN HEELS

For the past 15 years Bueno Vista Social Club have travelled the globe, bringing together some of the best musicians that Cuba has to offer and giving listeners the unique opportunity to em-brace a range of Cuban styles that encompasses several generations. Never a formal group or band, they all have one thing

in common, that they began their journey at the Bueno Vista Social Club. The club is an integral part of Cuban history since the 40s, when musicians travelled from all

over South America to play at the exclusive members-hip club. But they weren’t known globally until Cuban bandleader and musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder became inspired by the Social Club’s story and produced an album. Many of the artists who can be heard on the first album performed

at the club in its heyday.The album quickly garnered considerable praise, receiving numerous accolades from several music writers and pu-blications. In 2003 the album was ranked number 260 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time - one of only two albums on the list to be produced in a non-English speaking country.Although some of the original members are no longer with us, the success of the Bueno Vista Social Club has gone from strength to strength. Starlite is proud to welcome the talent of Eliades Ochoa and Omara Portuondo, among others as they take to the stage on August 5.


Enrique Iglesias explores his inner thoughts, feelings and desires through his music

Life, love and his emotions

WITH more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, Enrique Iglesias certainly is one of the most—if not the most—globally suc-cessful contemporary Spanish artist. He has produced nine studio albums, that have gone multi-platinum in

almost every country in the world. With eight world tours behind him and 23 number one hits on the Latin charts, he is without a doubt one of the biggest Latino artists in music history.His music has suc-cessful crossed over into the English-speaking

music world. Four of his albums are in Spanish, four are in English, and his most recent, Eupho-ria, is bilingual. Nicknamed ‘The King of Latin Pop’ and ‘The

King of Dance,’ Enrique recently officially sur-passed Michael Jackson on the charts to earn the title: ‘King of the Charts.’ Enrique’s performance at the Starlite Festival

offers a rare and special opportunity to view him at the most intimate and personal level.

Performing Saturday, August 17.

Enrique Facts;He has been dating Russian tennis player and supermodel Anna Kour-nikova for more than eight years.

He is the third and youngest child of Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias, who is also performing at Starlite 2013.

He has also developed an interest in acting, appea-ring in several movies and American television shows, such as Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother.

He has won 16 Billboard Music Awards, 26 Bill-board Latin Music Awards, five American Music Awards, one Grammy, one Latin Grammy, and seven World Music Awards.

He has nearly 5 million fans on social networking site Twitter.


THE Starlite Festi-val promises to be a month of full-on entertainment but it isn’t just about pro-viding visitors with a great night the event is also giving back to the community. The organisers are working together with Marca España – whose objective is to improve Spain’s image both domes-tically and beyond

Creating a cultural unity GIVING BACK

the borders for the common good. Starlite Festival, is expected to help improve the eco-nomy by creating more than 300 jobs, contracting local suppliers and in-creasing foreign ca-pital spent in nearby hotels, restaurants and businesses. In 2012, the festival brought in more than €25 million.

Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros with Sandra Garcia-Sanjuan

STARLITE is making a di-fference both at home and abroad.The organisers care for a num-ber of charities and use the money it earns to help others

THE Starlite Gala will donate 100% of the proceeds from its tickets, dinners, raffles, and auctions to charities. The Gala is funded by private sponsors, and also by the Starlite Festival, which donates manpower, in-frastructure, and techni-cal support to the Gala.Guest host, Antonio Banderas, will be opening the Gala as part of his birthday celebrations. The Gala counts on the support and generosity of artists, celebrities, and public figures who donate their time and art. Among these is singer Marta Sanchez, who went to Acapulco this year for first-hand experience

with the charity “Niños en Alegría,” hel-ping to inaugurate the last school built with funds from the 2012 Starlite Gala. She will perform in this year’s Gala alongside Alejandro Sanz, Sara Ba-ras and Roko. Juan Peña is set to perform flamenco at the after party.Anne Igartiburu and Imanol Arias will present the gala, and dinner will be served by Samantha Vallejo-Najera, Jordi Cruz, and Pepe Rodriguez Rey, the three chef judges of MasterChef.The Humanitarian Prize at the Starlite Gala 2013

will be awar-ded to

Alejan- dro Sanz. The Philanthropic Prize will go to Valeria Maz-za, Ambassador of the Special Olympics and of UNICEF’s program “To-gether against neonatal tetanus.” Returning to Starlite this year is the internatio-nal top model Adriana Karembeau, and Melanie Griffith, wife of festival host Antonio Banderas. She will be accompanying her husband to celebrate his birthday with him with him and with all of the guests.

The objective of the festival is to help many families, and children, without resources in Spain and throughout the world.

La Fundacion Niños en Alegria (Mexico), founded by Sandra Garcia-Sanjuan and Alejandra Aleman, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and has constructed eight schools and taught 2500 school children. At the end of 2012, the fund sig-ned a contract with the Carlos Slim Foun-dation to continue constructing schools together.

The Antonio Ban-deras Foundation, Lagrimas y favores (Malaga) issues 30 annual grants to the University of Malaga. Caritas, helps those in need.

Cudeca Founda-tion, has financed programs for the treatment of ter-minally ill cancer patients through the This year, Starlite Festival will also join up with the Corinto Foundation.

Antonio w

ith the children w

ho are helped by his foun-dation, and w

ith his wife.

Whichever night you chose to attend the amazing Starlight Festival, why not travel in style with the Starlite jet. Guests can sit back in comfort knowing their round-trip from the UK will be a pleasant one. For those who enjoy their comfort while watching one of the concerts, the Bubble Box is a must. These VIP galleries are in the middle of the audience

THE MOST EXCLUSIVE NIGHTand will sit up to six people. Each table comes with a bottle of champagne and waiter service, as well as VIP parking and access to Le Privée Grey Goose after parties when the concerts are over.Starlite can also arrange for you to mingle with the stars, giving you the chance to meet the celebrities backstage, and in their dressing rooms.


A SUCCESSFUL restau-rant in Marbella must have a sense of fun,’ explains Ram Nandk-ishore, and he should

know, having opened a dozen establishments in the town, including Mumtaz, Jacks and Chowka.“People don’t want to go to a boring place that takes itself too seriously... people come down here to have fun. They want places with a sense of humour.”But it is not just fun restaurants on offer in Marbella... the town has half of Andalucia’s Mi-chelin star restaurants with El Lago and Skina counting on a star... and Dani Garcia restau-rant Calima having two.A massive supporter of the town, where he grew up, Gar-cia told the Olive Press: “Mar-bella just keeps getting better and better and the real tragedy is that it is not being properly rewarded for its great cooking and variety.”Without a doubt one of the businessmen making the big-gest waves in the food stakes these days is Ian Radford.The former professional squash player has been con-

Fine food stantly adding to his La Sala brand over the last five years.With a series of famous back-ers, including footballers David Bentley, Stephen Carr and Shay Given, he has been able to cre-ate two of the town’s landmark restaurants; La Sala in Puerto Banus and Rincon de la Sala in San Pedro.Currently turning away over 100 bookings a day, the origi-nal La Sala on the way up to the Nueva Andalucia bull ring is probably the most talked about eaterie in Marbella.This is the place to find the ‘ladies who lunch’, the movers and shakers and the wealthy empresarios who make Mar-bella what it is.An emporium of glass and seductive lighting, its real strength though, lies in its wood-decked terrace, that serves as the ideal tourist sun-deck.Oh, and the food, is surprisingly very good too, with a superb range of classic dishes with a contemporary twist. And to keep its chefs on their toes a second restaurant Rincon de la Sala opened in San Pedro last year, with perhaps an even better quality of food.

And finally don’t forget the group’s beach restaurant Sala Beach, in Puerto Ba-nus, where just about every self respecting TV star and footballer heads come the summer season.A little out of the heat of Puerto Banus, but well worth the trip is the excellent Play-wrights a short drive away in Elviria. Now well established, it is run by owners Marc and Lynn, who cut their teeth in the Irish restaurant scene and also run Beckitts in the heart of Marbella.Busy for much of the day, this stylishly-decorated place with a theatrical theme, has an enticing menu with some classic dishes and a great €25 ‘early bird’ special with three courses, served before 7.30pm.Nearby is easily one of the best beach restaurants on the coast. The Beach House, sitting on lovely Mon-teros beach, has become one of the key references of the Marbella scene over the last decade.With an adventurous head chef Jeff Mynott and a boss Guy McCrow who works hard

to constantly improve the qual-ity of food and ambiance, you will be hard pressed to find anywhere better for lunch or supper.Somewhere however, which can equal the standard is Nue-va Campana, in the heart of Nueva Andalucia, where stal-wart of the restaurant scene Garry Waite has carved out his niche as a must-try modern Eu-ropean.Spectacularly good food with a contemporary twist, the au-thentic venue is romantic and very good value with a set menu coming in at just €15 eu-ros. Also in Nueva Andalucia – in Centro Plaza – is the superb American-style diner Yanx, which is nearly 20 years old.If burgers, ribs or chicken wings are what you are after, then you will find no better in town.Fanatical about quality, its ge-nial expat owner David Fisher is insistent on using as much

While in Marbella treat yourself to some of the finest delicacies at the best restaurants in town

From top left:

Playwrights, La Sala, Cafe

de Ronda and Chouka


cruelty-free ingredients as possible, including humanely raised chicken, without antibi-otics or unnecesary chemicals.In the heart of the old town of Marbella you have a huge range of places to eat. Easily one of the best though is Il Tar-tufo which serves authentic Italian food. The original menu consists of home made pasta, risotto, meat and fish with the speciality of the house being fresh truffle which is imported from family in the north of Italy.Just off the golden mile is the well established Cafe de Ronda, run by successful local businessman Douglas Goullet. A long-time stalwart you will find a decent mixed menu and now a special set lunch for just €9.50 thanks to a joint venture with Relais de Paris, serving its ‘sauce originale’ with a lovely entrecote steak and classic French fries.Just up the road on the heart of the Golden Mile is the incred-ibly popular Pan & Merme-lada set up by the enterprising Canadian Lauren Gilbert.A psychotherapist by trade, she fell into the restaurant trade by accident, after starting a cake business, bored of waiting to be allowed to practice here. Selling like the proverbial hot-cakes it was no surprise when she started a cafe and now it is one of the busiest in town.Another great place for a cake and a coffee is Bellaria near the H10 in Puerto Banus while a typical Irish venue where you can get a great pint of Guinness and mouth watering steaks is Hogan’s Stand in San Pedro. Choose from T-bone, Fillet, or Rib Eye and enjoy every live sporting occasion.If it is traditional Indian you are after then you should look no

further than Mumtaz in the port. Now open for 28 years it is the second-oldest restaurant in the port its style comes from the Moghul tradition, weighing heavily on tandooris, biryanis and sabjis (seasonal vegeta-bles).Finally, if you want an Indian with a real twist, then you must head to Chowka (meaning Mother’s kitchen) on the Gold-en Mile.This amazing spot is fast be-coming one of the restaurants of reference on the coast, with its head chef Ravi Deulkar, for-merly of Rasoi in London, cook-ing up a creative storm every night.Billed as ‘a rising star in the Modern Indian food move-

ment’ his food is healthy and heavily influenced by the tradi-tional cooking methods found in typical Indian chowka’s – or ‘mother’s kitchens’. Last but not least a mention must go out to Iglu, which, while technically just across the border in Estepona, is an amazingly good place to head for supper . You read that here first, b u t really – if it is quality food you are after - you won’t be dis-appoint-ed.

FACES: Chef Ravi, Garry Waite, Dani Garcia and team at Yanx

Fine Foods Cont´d...

BELLY dancers, head and neck massages and funky mushroom lighting. Nothing was left to chance for the opening of Marbella’s hottest new shop.It was distinctly posh with a capital ‘P’ as the new quality second hand and antique furniture emporium P.O.S.H Seconds held its official

launch party at the weekend.Guests were treated to great tunes thanks to DJ Tito Pulp, while belly dancers and other musicians played along.There was a great display of items on sale, including car-pets, furniture and artwork and for those in need of a bit of relaxation there were head and neck massages.

Standing for Prestigious, Opulent, Sophisticated, He-donism, P.O.S.H is the place to find offbeat and unusual items on the coast.

Located on the N340, exit 184, urb panorama, loc 17, marbella 29603. Tele-phone 951388100 www.poshmarbella.com

P.O.S.H with a capital ‘P’

Rod, 53, suffered a sudden massive heart attack at his Nueva Andalucia home.Born in Spain but growing up in Lon-don, Rod descibed himself as ‘Anglo-Spanish’ and being bi-lingual he was equally at home with both locals and expats. This passion for Spa-nish culture - espe-cially food, history and literature -found a natural voice in his constantly evolving website books4spain, which specialised in Spanish books and had the motto ‘Pas-sion for Spain’.Rod had also been on

Loss of a true Marbella greatTHE Marbella expat com-munity has lost a hugely popular member with the sudden death of Book-s4Spain founder Rod Younger

the expert panel that helped picked the 100 most in-fluential expats in Andalu-cia for the Expat 100 special edition of the Olive Press two years ago.Rod’s fu-neral was held on Friday at the Cementario Virgin del Carmen on the Ojen road. Friends packed into the chapel with many standing outside to hear Rod’s sister

deliver a moving eulogy.Books4Spain later announced that it would keep the website operating as a fitting tribute to Rod.IT is the height of comfort for

travellers looking to relax.Coming top of Trip Advi-sor for years, The Marbella

Heights Boutique Hotel, is in a beautiful location in the hills above the town. While it is also incredibly well appointed and luxurious it is the hotel’s staff that truly sets

Luxurious surroundingsit apart. Hotel owner Mercedes Boto’s pride and care is evident in ev-ery aspect of the four bed, one-suite luxury villa. It is a peaceful hideout where you can eat gourmet meals, en-joy a massage or spa treatment, exercise in the gym, or just wan-der the romantic gardens.

If you’re the adventurous type, you can use the hotel as your base for all the ac-tivities Marbella has to offer. And no time better than dur-ing this summer’s Starlite festival.

For more information visit themarbellaheights.com



39www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013.................................n Buen aminoCE .................................39

DEATHS on the road have more than halved in a de-cade.In a remarkable turn-around, the number of fatal accidents in Spain have re-

A NEW speeding ticket system is already clock-ing up heavy fines on one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Anda-lucia.Drivers are facing penal-ties of between €100 and €600 for falling foul of the average speed system set

By Mason Jones

Fatality crashFILL up the car and head to the beach or moun-tains as the price of fuel has gone down by over 2%.The average price per li-tre has fallen to €1.428, and the price of diesel has dropped to €1.342 per li-tre, representing declines of 2.46% and 2.33%, re-spectively.It comes while the av-erage price of petrol reached €1.6 per litre in the eurozone, while diesel prices reached €1.4 per litre. El Economista reported that, compared with the prices at the beginning of this year, petrol has increased in price by 2%, while the price of diesel has dropped by 1.54%.

It is now safer to drive in Spain than in France, Germany and Italy as road deaths halve in a decade

up to slow down cars on the deadly series of bends near La Cala de Mijas.After years of appeals from local residents – and an in-depth feature by the Olive Press four years ago that recorded 15 crashes in just one week - cameras will be installed on the A-7

duced by 67% since 2001.The drop – the second high-est in Europe after Latvia

– is being put down to im-provements to the country’s roads and its vehicles.It has also been helped by successful safety campaigns and heavier fines for speed-

ing and drink-ing.In total, Spain r e c o r d e d 1,834 fatali-ties in 2012, a figure just above the UK’s road deaths of 1,768.France, Ger-many, Italy and Poland all recorded figures well above 3,000 fatalities. Now, as 80 million car journeys are expected to be made over the summer, Spain’s DGT traffic de-partment has launched a new campaign in the hope of reducing road accidents even more. The campaign warns motor-ists to take particular care on second-ary roads, on which 208 of the 260 people killed in road accidents died last summer. The DGT is also high-lighting the i m p o r t a n c e of seatbelts and child-seats, along with warn-ing people of the dangers of driving under the influence or above the speed-limit.

Petrol price drop

Battling the bends with average speed fines

east of La Cala de Mijas.The five kilometre stretch goes between KM201 and 205.3 driv-ing westwards towards La Cala.Police initially handed out warnings to those caught speeding.

RIP OFF: A toll booth

Taking its toll in AndaluciaA NEW report has slammed the cost of Andalucia’s toll roads.The report, issued by watchdog group Consumer, reveals that the region’s tolls are the most expensive in the country.Additionally, the most expen-sive tolls around Spain are four times the price of the cheapest, without any difference in ‘ser-vice, cleanliness or safety’ says the report.Researchers also found that only 44% of tolls displayed legally required information such as price and vehicle type while many of the tolls ap-peared to be out of service.Consumers pulled no punches when it came to the conditions of Spain’s motorways. The report found national motorways to be lacking clear

signage to signal the recom-mended distance between cars, traffic conditions and danger-ous stretches of road.Some 20% of roads inspected also lacked well defined lane markings, according to the re-port.


Property40

WHAT a headline to start my first column, but as a proper-ty expert based on the Costa del Sol for decades I genu-inely believe it to be true.I am in constant contact with banks, lawyers, financial ad-visors and fellow Costa Del Sol agents and most of them are in agreement, the pulse is getting stronger by the month.I have lived and breathed property for over 30 years, having started as a develop-er in London.Nowadays I specialise in property on the Costa del Sol and particularly Marbella.How different things are to five years ago when I fea-tured on the ITV programme

MARKET COMES BACK TO LIFE!The green shoots of recovery are beginning to show, explains property insider Bob Callan in a new column for the Olive Press

A STAGGERING €180million of in-come is being undeclared from rental homes in Andalucia.As the peak summer rental sea-son gets into full swing an amazing 120,000 houses are estimated to be rented in the black.A total of 23,000 families are said to be living off the income, according to the report by finance agency Gestha.Two of the areas most responsible for the fraud are the Costa del Sol and the Costa de la Luz in Cadiz, where an incredible 32,000 homes are being rented illegally.A similar number are being rented on the Levante coast around Alicante.It is estimated that the province of Cadiz and Huelva are to account for €73.4m, while Malaga alone has €59.3 million in undeclared pay-ments.In Cadiz the undeclared stays are said to account for around 80% of total rentals.The situation is continuing despite a new law being introduced last month to fight fraud from rentals.In just three years popular rental site www.homeaway.com has gone from featuring 15,000 spanish properties to advertising 36,000.

Property rental fraud hits €180million a year

Paradise Lost about the down-turn in the market here.Since then plenty of the big names are gone or struggling...the MRIs, the Andalucian Dream Homes and Cristina Ze-kely, who I have known for over 25 years. But the demand is still high and these days there are a staggering 1.5m property searches a month for Spanish property on UK website Right Move alone.Much higher than during the boom a decade ago. Serious investors are, quite simply, pouncing on that ‘Once In A Lifetime Investment Deal!’I know one developer, for in-stance, who sold 90% of his recently finished luxury prop-erties in Marbella in just nine

months. The starting prices for these apartments, and pent-houses, starting at €1.3m so there is clearly money around.And there are some terrific deals to be had, such as the repossession in Zagaleta, which was previously on at €4.5m, but sold at just €2m, or the three-bed penthouse with stunning views near the mosque in Marbella, which sold for €260,000 after its price dropped from €465,000.The list thankfully goes on and on and fingers crossed this new invigorated market continues to grow.

Visit Bob’s website at www.MarbellaMansions.com

The Property Insider

BARGAIN: This Zagaleta mansion sold at under half the asking price



Property42

THE government has ap-proved the plans to sell off more than 15,000 properties over the next seven years.In a scramble to raise hun-dreds of millions of euros the government has sanctioned the sale, similar to one that happened in Greece last year.The sales portfolio includes an old army barracks, an aerodrome in Minorca, a military shooting range and thousands of office build-ings – totaling a quarter of all state-owned properties.A prominent Madrid man-sion, used by the government and more recently Secretary of State for Security, and a country estate in Cadiz - with more than 35,000 acres of natural parkland filled with cork trees (see left) – are just a couple of the larger proper-ties on offer. Last year the sales of govern-ment buildings brought in €90million of revenue.

ONE of the properties the government plans to sell is a stunning 16,000 hectare estate in Cadiz.Worth around €84million, La Almoraima, near Castellar de la Frontera, is a huge hunting estate – one of Spain’s largest - that produces its own cork and other crops.Despite local opposition, the government intends to sell the estate – the largest cork

BIG SELL OFFDesperate times see govern-ment auction off 15,000 state properties

estate in Spain - to the highest bidder.Most of the estate sits inside the Alcorno-cales Natural Park and is full of deer and rare birds.The government has given tacit approval for any buyer to develop the estate to in-clude a five star hotel and two golf courses, with a private aerodrome for guests to ar-rive by air.

Asking price: €84million for a forest



45www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013The Olive Press fortnightly business section taking a look at the Spanish economy and of-fering tips on how to save AND make money

45T Dop ollar

SPANISH clothing billionaire Amancio Ortega has fallen foul of the tax authorities and will now have to pay €33million in unpaid taxes.The high court has ruled that the Zara founder must pay back taxes for the years 2001 -2003. But the judges stressed that he was not guilty of fraud or concealment.In 2001, Ortega sold a number of Inditex shares pocketing €1.3 billion, which he then reinvested into two family-run property companies. Such family investments are generally tax-exempt in Spain, but the court argued that advisers had actually set up ‘an artificial family network’ and the clothing magnate would have to pay tax on assets earned.Tax auditors in Galicia concluded that ‘this was a situation where the rules were abused’.

Blyde gets his just dessertAFTER months of hard work and training, Robert Blyde has finally got his just desserts... or not as the case should be.Proudly showing off his new figure at the Don Carlos Hotel on June 28, Blyde was officially named ‘Slimmer of the Year 2013’ at the Cam-bridge 800 Convention in Marbella.Blyde beat six finalists to the award at the compa-ny’s first convention here since its launch in Spain in January 2012.Cambridge 800 is a weight management company specialising in weight loss programs and products.

FOR five dark years the country has been wallow-ing in a deep hole of debt and unemployment.

RISING FROM THE DEBTAfter a deep recession, the country is finally pulling itself out of economic despair

by Alex IszattBut finally there is a glim-mer of light on the horizon for the financially ravaged country.Economy Minister Luis de Guindos claims that Spain’s economy haS emerged from the worst of the financial crisis.

BetterUpgrading growth figures for the next couple of years, he also expects the second-quarter employment fig-ures to improve. De Guindos said: “Figures compiled by the govern-ment indicate that the la-bour force shows signifi-cant employment recovery and the drop in unemploy-

ment goes beyond seasonal factors”.Prime Minister Rajoy is also keeping positive about the future.At a meeting of the right-wing FAES think-thank he added: “We cannot say, like in other times, that Spain is doing well, but we can say that it is doing better and that the direction is correct.“We are much better than last year, but much worse than in July of the year 2015; that it is our aim - you can be sure that we are going to achieve it.”More good news came when the EU confirmed

that Spain did not need any more money to capitalise its banks.It had previously sanc-tioned a 100 billion euro fund to help the sector.But after lending 41.3 bil-lion last year, a report by the European Central Bank (ECB), insisted: “There is at present no reason to foresee further disburse-ments.”That said, the ECB, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), es-timates that profitability will remain one of the main challenges ahead for the Spanish banking sector - given the current setting of low interest rates and ris-ing bad debt.

Clothing king forced to pay up

SUPER RICH: Ortega with daughter Marta, is unlikely to be affected by the fine


Top Dollar

Richard Alexander Financial Planning Limited is an appointed representative of L J Financial Planning Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK. Contact him at [email protected]

Road to Riches, by Richard Alexander

When deciding to makie an invest-ment there is an automatic focus on

risk. Some people are ultra cautious, only ever holding their money in the bank.Then there are experienced investors, those who like to select their own stocks and shares to invest in, and will typically have larger holdings in a few companies.The cautious investor is driv-en by a fear of losing money, or a narrowed knowledge of investment types, and are more interested in preserving capital or growing value.Ironically, most people of this type stick with one bank and don’t hunt for the best rates available, which means they are likely to be earning be-tween 1.4% and 2% gross. If they are a taxpayer in the UK or Spain, there will be at least 20% tax due, leaving a net return of 1.6% - just over half the latest Retail Prices Index inflation figures for the UK of 3.1%. In reality, a cautious person could see the value of their capital decrease by 1.5% a year, and if they are spending the interest, their reduction is 3.1% in real terms.What about experienced in-vestors? They may well be

Taking a risk without the worry Richard Alexander takes a look at the chance of losing money when making an investment

The cautious inves-tor is driven by a fear

of losing money

receiving a reasonable level of dividend income - many FTSE 100 share index compa-nies paying between 3% and 6% at present with capital growth prospects as well - that

dividend income is taxable of course, but many investors of this type ignore the tax on divi-dends and focus on the growth in capital value. To gain access to that growth the shares need to be sold, and for direct investments of

this type, there is little protec-tion from Capital Gains Tax. In this regard, the UK is a kinder place to have taxable gains than Spain at the moment, but either way, tax is being paid when maybe it didn’t need to be.Risk is not just about assessing the chance of losing money; it should also be about avoiding unnecessary payment of tax as well, and retaining access to capital at a time when you need it.You should think about your timescales. If you don’t need access to the income for the foreseeable future, choose an investment that allows capital growth that is not subject to tax.If you want to preserve capital values, don’t rely on interest bearing accounts because in

real terms they will not achieve this.If you like to play the stock market, maybe do so within a pension wrapper, which would shelter gains from Capital

Gains Tax.This is just the tip of the ice-berg - the great thing about fi-nancial planning is that it is not an exact science and there are many ways to achieve invest-ment objectives within the right risk profile as well.

UK is a kinder place to have taxable

gains than Spain at the moment

46

47www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 201347Top Dollar

A COURT in Madrid has opened an investigation into the privatisation of hospitals in the capital in 2003, when the President of the region was Esperanza Aguirre.It comes after Spain’s medi-cal association, Afem, filed a complaint, alleging crimes of bribery, prevarication, and the misuse of public funds.The complaint is 86 pages long and it has 70 annexes of documentation prepared by lawyers, paid by a group of Madrid health workers.Four members of the origi-nal group who started the privatisation process have been called to testify before the judge, who has asked for a long list of information, from the facturas of the first three privatised hospitals, to a formal request which he has sent to Luxembourg.He also wants the managers of the 13 hospitals in Ma-

SPAIN is facing a costly ageing crisis as it emerges that the national birth rate has dropped for the fourth year in a row. The drop is expected to cost the country billions as the birth rate fell last year by 3.9% with just 453,000 births in Spain. The previous year it fell by 3%.According to the Statistics Institute the decline is due to more people deciding not to have children, plus the fact that there are fewer women of childbearing age.Meanwhile marriages have increased for the first time since 2004. The in-crease of 3.4% is due mainly to civil marriages, which rose by 8.7%. Of the total marriages registered (168,835), 2.3% were same sex mar-riages (3,834).

Privatisation investigation

Hospital privatisation probe launched after claims of bribery and misuse of government funds

Birth rates drop while marriages are soaring

drid, public and private to show their invoices for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012.Afem and the opposition

think that the cost paid per patient was excessively high in the private hospitals which opened in 2008.

The study also notes that couples are leaving it longer before marrying: with the average age standing at 36.2 years for men and 33 for women.

ACCUSED: Former President Esperanza Aguirre


Top Dollar48

Up to 150,000 raised from forgotten pensionsIT has been a busy year so far for financial company IFA International.The UK-based team, who work in various countries around the world, have helped dozens of clients unlock forgotten pension funds, many of them left unmanaged back in the UK. “We have helped quite a number of clients and helped to consolidate amounts ranging from 20,000 to a staggering 150,000 euros,” explained Stephen Davis from IFA.“In each case the clients have allowed us to work on their behalf contacting their previous employer or pen-sion provider to establish pension values,”

For more information con-tact - [email protected] or visit us - www.ifaiqrops.co.uk / www.ifainternational.com

MIJAS and Marbella are soon to be linked via a six kilometre coast path thanks to a €2m grant from Malaga province.Both walkers and cyclists will be able to enjoy a coastal jaunt between La Cala de Mijas and Cala-honda under the new plan.

LinkThe council will finance the sections between La Cala de Mijas and El Jun-cal – just over three ki-lometres - and between urbanization El Capricho and Calahonda Royale, just over 1.3kms. The Consortium put to-gether to construct the path will be responsible for funding the remaining 1.5 kilometres.“We hope this new project will stimulate both econo-mies and create jobs,” esti-mated regional boss Elias Bendodo.He added that the invest-ment was ‘unprecedented’ due to the current eco-nomic situation.

WITH the busy summer season now upon us, insurer Linea Di-recta has a series of tips about what to do if involved in an ac-cident.As well as ringing 112 they in-sist you should remain calm and

Coast with the most

Tips for summer drivingswitch on your emergency lights.Never try to remove anyone in-jured and put on your safety jacket as soon as getting out of the car.For more information, call Lin-ea Directa Insurace at 902 123 104

Pathway to open between Mijas and Marbella will stimulate economy


Top Dollar 49

SPAIN is one of the worst countries in the world to be an entrepreneur. That is the damning conclu-sion of the Global Entrepre-neurship Monitor in its an-nual global study. Only six percent of Spain’s working age population are considered entrepreneurs, while less than 20 percent of students want to start a busi-ness. The website spoke to 100 start-ups and found the same complaints - that it was in-credibly difficult to start a business here.

ObstacleThe biggest obstacle was the government and the amount of paperwork involved.The World Bank meanwhile ranks Spain as 136th world-wide for ease of starting a business, with a cost of about €1,000 in public paperwork

Spain bad for start upsThe country is world’s 136th hardest place to run a business

that takes more than a month to process.It also ranks 44th on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, well behind most European countries, except for Greece and Italy.“It is expensive and pa-tience-prohibitive to be an entrepreneur in Spain,” claimed the report.

Paperwork“Before you even start, you have to jump through an absurd number of hoops, fill out tons of paperwork, wait for signatures, and pay fees and taxes, long before a profit is even envisioned.”It comes after a recent survey found that 80% of university students in Spain wanted to be civil servants rather than start their own businesses.This is almost the opposite of America where over 70% wanted to be entrepreneurs.


Law Law50

A DUTCH woman is the first expat to benefit from Andalucia’s new anti-eviction law.Anne Elisabeth Verschaffel, (pictured right) who has been living in Marbella for 28 years, will now not be forced from her home due to mounting mortgage debts.The law, introduced this spring, is designed to protect homeowners from having their houses repossessed by banks after not being able to pay their mortgages. This temporary protection plan allows the bank to take possession of a property without evicting its residents. Her problems started when Jyske Bank, based in Gibraltar, allegedly convinced her in 2008 to sign a deal in which she took out loans and acquired more real estate.Verschaffel was 62 at the time.She blames the bank for tricking her, saying she made a mistake in letting them convince her that they were working with her. This came despite her having no official in-come at the time in Spain, claims her lawyer Antonio Flores, from Lawbird.“All the money she had came from either her children or her pension from Belgium,” insist-ed the Marbella-based lawyer.Despite this, Jyske Bank thought she would be able to repay the real estate loans, which came to a total of €600,000.

A BRITISH woman has won a legal battle against a developer.The woman has won the right to a refund on the money she put down on the off-plan property she purchased from develop-ers Marbella Vista Golf in 2003. The building in the Santa Maria Green Hills devel-opment was not complet-ed on time and had no habitation licence, deny-ing the buyer the deeds to the property. The entire development was later declared illegal and its licence for build-ing was revoked by the town hall. Now, ten years after the purchase of the property, the buyer is legally en-titled to a full refund of €236,000 plus interest. The only problem: Mar-bella Vista Golf is filing for bankruptcy.

I’ve saved my home!Dutch woman is the first expat to benefit from new anti-eviction law

by Rose Lapp

Flores claims Jyske also “used non-authorized valuation companies to assess the property values.”“It’s in combatting this kind of mistreatment by banks that the anti-eviction law is most necessary,” he said.Known as the Decreto de Funcion Social de la vivienda, it is likely to ease pressure on strug-gling homeowners around Andalucia.It allows people to temporarily live rent free for up to three years in their homes.Until now, hundreds of families have been

Decade to win refund only to find developer is going bankrupt

getting evicted each month due to unemployment and a struggling economy.


Anne Vershchaffel could be the first foreign resi-dent of Spain to benefit from the expropriation

of her repossessed home from the lender.It comes after the Junta ruled that it was totally unacceptable that people should risk being socially marginalized due to loan foreclosures.In the case of Anne, her aristo-cratic origins were no impedi-ment for Jyske Bank to try to kick her out of her home; but it shouldn’t have been a reason

Anthony Flores, of Lawbird, explains the ins and outs of the case involving Dutchwoman Anne Verschaffel (on page 50), who is being allowed to stay in her home under a new Junta ruling

The implica-tions of Anne’s eviction being stopped

AGONY ANT YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED

to not qualify for the protection, which reeks of communist ide-ology. The preamble of this decree touches what seems a very sensitive issue: the situation of social emergency caused by human tragedies. Where the right to life has been thwarted as a consequence of the evic-tion ordered on the residence.Read into it and you can see it comes after a spate of suicides directly attributable to evic-tions.The evictions ultimately contra-

vene the United Nations Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights! From a legal point of view, the new rule is a bit vague and loose: for example, it allows use for a maximum of three years but then, it does not pro-vide for what happens after the third year.It also gives the authorities investigative powers to keep track of properties that lie vacant and establishes two presumptions of a property

being unoccu-pied: when it is not effectively used for ac-commodat ion purposes, dur-ing six consecu-tive months, or where there is no water/elec-tricity supply. To effectively achieve this, util-ity companies are legally made ‘informants’ of the Junta, in ad-dition to Town Halls who are also required to grass up prop-erties (and their owners) who have no one liv-ing in them.


GOLF In the swing of it

MEMORABILIA, which belonged to one of An-dalucia’s golfing legends, will be auctioned in London this month.The collection belonged to the late Jaime Ortiz-Patino, a long-time resident of Andalucia who passed away in January at the age of 82.An enthusiast of all aspects of the sport, Ortiz-Patino’s ‘spectacular’ collection includes art, antique clubs and balls, books and other mem-orabilia. A highlight of the auction is a golf club dating back to 1680, thought to be one of the oldest clubs still in existence which could fetch be-

tween €60,000 and €80,000. Ortiz-Patino, founder of the p r e s t i g i o u s V a l d e r r a m a Golf Club in Sotogrande, is considered to

Golfer’s treasure

Business planA GOLFING alliance of the area’s top clubs has been created on the Costa del Sol.The Junta hopes that uni-ting clubs on the coast, par-ticularly in Marbella, Mijas and Estepona, will boot the success of the entire sector.In a collaborative effort, 11 golf clubs and two hotels have united to form a network said the region’s

Minister for Tourism.The alliance includes such clubs as the La Cala Resort, Marbella Golf Country Club, Golf Finca Cortesin, Santa Clara Golf and GreenLife Golf.Hotels involved in the group are the Marbella Heights-Boutique Hotel and La Reserva del Higueron. The 13 integrated busines-

ses are working with the committee to look for more partnership and bet-ter the golf tourism sector. Last year, 300,000 golf tourists visited Malaga, directly adding €400 million to the economy, and indirectly generating €900 million.Experts predict a 4.5-5% increase this year.

Collection which be-longed to an Andalucian legend to be sold at So-theby’s

LEGENDS of Spanish football have gone head-to-head with journalists for a charity golf tournament in Mijas. The Manu Sarabia Trophy featured a host of soccer stars including the former national striker which the tournament takes its name from. Also on course were Real Madrid heroes Santi-llana and Isidoro San Jose,

Hacked offalong with Sevilla star Jose Salguero and ex-Chelsea player Neil Clement. The journalist team, led by renowned golf writer Jose Angel, was made up of several sports reporters from Diario Sur and several other publications.All proceeds from the three day event went to the Seve Ballesteros Foundation and Asociacion Cielo133.

be one of the driving forces behind bringing major golf to Spain. In 1997, Valderrama hosted the first-ever Ry-der Cup in continental Europe.Ortiz-Patino also saw 16 Volvo Masters, two World Golf Championship events and two Andalucia Masters tournaments held at his course. The auction will take place at Sotheby’s on July 15.

53www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 53


55www.theolivepress.es the olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013FEATURE

EAT MORE BUGS!by Rose Lapp

Europeans should eat more insects to fight world hunger, obesity and help the environment

INSECTS have long been well integrated into African and Asian cuisine.

Close to 2000 insect spe-cies are eaten across the world, but to most Euro-peans the idea of eating an insect is, well simply, disgusting.However, according to the Food and Agricultural branch of the United Na-tions, we should all be

BeetlesWith the highest overall pro-tein content, beetles are among the most commonly eaten insects in the world. They’re often eaten fried, af-ter being stripped of wings and legs.

incorporating a variety of insects into our diets.As well as a solution to growing world hunger, the UN report claims in-creased consumption of insects in Europe and America could help com-bat a dangerous rise in obesity.Insects have the same

protein and mineral con-tent as meat and fish, with the added benefit of healthy nutrients and lower fat content.As an added benefit, in-sect consumption is bet-ter for the environment, as their production emits fewer harmful gasses. Here the Olive Press gives a breakdown on five com-mon insects available to those living in Spain:

Most commonly consumed insects

AntsThough it takes a lot of ants to make a meal, this insect contains a higher protein percentage than eggs. Famously low in calories, ants also provide calcium and iron. Ants can be dried and sprinkled over rice, or used to add texture to chocolate.

CaterpillarsFull of iron, caterpillars are suggested supplements for children and pregnant women. Though they can be cooked a number of ways, caterpillars are often dried and eaten later.

Bees and WaspsBees are a popular, crunchy snack in countries in South America and in Asia. Bees, ap-parently, taste like peanuts and almonds, whereas wasps have a pine-nut flavour.

Grasshoppers and CricketsThese insects are the easiest to find and to catch. A great source of protein, they have a neutral taste, easily absorbing other fla-vours. Crickets are often sautéed.

56 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013OP Columnists56

Footy Frenzy!

AM I the only journal-ist in the world who doesn’t get excited about the latest elec-

tronic gadgets? Call me old fashioned but low tech still rocks for me. And that’s not just because I started my career in the Stone Age of hot metal type-setting. Bill Gates is my age! My mobile phone isn’t ‘smart’ but it does all I ask of it. It’s mobile and it’s a

LONG LIVE THE NOTEBOOK!(And I don’t mean the Sony version)

Belinda Beckett (aka Mistress of Sizzle) on why she’s not an IT girl

phone. I could have done with one, 20 years ago, when we hacks had to file from the

field via ye olde red public telephone box. (If we were literally in a field, it was just bad luck and we missed the edition.)

TabletsSo what if it doesn’t have internet access? I realise I could miss an important status update on Facebook while I’m out but I’ve got more Pinteresting things to do than Tweeting every five seconds. That may sound like a big ‘but’ – yet ‘social ‘notworking’ (as I call it) can be that, too ……. a Big, Unpaid Time-guz-zler.I don’t use a tablet, either. But Holy Moses, does that make me a Luddite? There’s nothing really new there any-way, as Moses would know.

Owning a Tower PC may make me an unevolved freak of nature but my sturdy keyboard is way more user-friendly than anything yet on the market. Words come more easily back in the com-fort of my office and I get my coffee the way I like it!

DigitalNor do I need to go to inter-views with the latest video, film and digital recording equipment. There’s nothing guaranteed to scare off an in-terview subject like the threat of saying or doing something stupid and inerasable on film or tape. I’m after the sizzle and subtlety is required to en-courage my subjects to spill the beans! Anyway, for photos and video we still have photographers. Let’s not do them out of a liv-

ing yet!The very thought of invest-ing in the latest gadget brings me out in a cold sweat. Too much choice can be no choice at all! The more labour-saving bells and whistles on offer, the more labour-intensive it is working out how to use them.May I share with you the ben-efits of the best tool in my journalistic arsenal?

• There are no service pro-vider costs• You can use it in bright sun-light• It works anywhere, with-out power, batteries or the need to comb the area for wifi hotspots• It’s the ultimate in portabil-ity, fitting into a pocket or av-erage-sized (not Prada super-sized) handbag • Storage is unlimited – when it’s full you simply boot up a new one • It’s 100% virus proof and will never crash• It’s recyclable and doesn’t fry your brain with microwaves• Losing it doesn’t mean your entire life’s work gone forever• It works with just one app - a pen

As you’ve probably guessed I’m talking about the humble paper notebook, the report-er’s failsafe ever since a cer-tain Thomas W. Holley, a Mas-sachusetts lawyer, invented them in 1888.

ProgressNot being totally anti-prog-ress, I advocate the later, ring-bound version.Many attempts have been made to integrate the simplic-ity of the notebook in a com-puter but nothing has quite measured up. Not Netbooks nor PalmTops nor Digital Pa-per nor Voice–to-Text software (which, if you speak with any accent at all, comes out as gobbledygook). Best of all, a notebook is com-pletely unhackable. Well, you just try reading my shorthand!

Old School. Belinda goes back to the book

SPAIN’S national football team received a timely wake-up call at the Confedera-tions Cup, the tournament that acts as a warm up to the World Cup proper.

Beaten 3-0 by Brazil, the Spanish sports media did a huge amount of soul searching asking if this was the end of the golden age of Spanish football and wondering if this was the last time that they would see players such as Torres in the national side.They have certainly had a pretty good run of it. Two European Championships and a World Cup in the past five years is a fantastic achieve-

ment. But like all sports, football goes in cycles and the Spanish media surely didn’t think that all that their beloved La Roja had to do was simply turn up to win? In the same week that Rafa was turfed out of Wimbledon (and what a win for Murray!) and Fernando struggled to a third place at the British Grand Prix, you might be forgiven for thinking that Spain had given up on sport, such was the public outcry. It seems that, in Spain, winning football tour-naments is as traditional as England going out on penalties in the semis.

If you saw the tragic deaths of the Wood family in Mijas, you may have noticed yours truly being interviewed by the BBC. It’s the second time the Beeb has called on the ser-vices of ‘Our Man in Marbella’, and it presented me with a sartorial problem. I was due to go to a beach party that night and was wearing a T-shirt with a big logo on the front. Five minutes before going live I realised that this might not be the most appro-priate outfit. So if you were looking closely you might have noticed that I was wearing my T-shirt inside out, thus hid-ing the logo. I now never travel without a crisp white shirt in the back of the 4x4, just in case.

As seen on TV

Whiter than WhiteI didn’t make it down to the Noche de San Juan celebrations this year, but once again was struck by the fact that popping on a white shirt, leaping over flames and taking a paddle in the sea is a fairly low key way of cleansing your sins. One of my colleagues remarked that with my lifestyle, four tubs of whitewash, a flamethrower and water canon borrowed from Istambul might be more appropriate…


You’ve worked hard over the years to care for your family and to build that nest egg. Now

you’re looking at your retire-ment years, but where do you want to spend them. Do you have dreams of travel? Do you picture yourself on a sunny beach sipping margaritas? Do you want to take up the hob-bies you’ve never had time to enjoy: woodworking, painting, music? Whatever your retire-ment dreams, you’ll need to decide wheth-er to s t a y r i g h t w h e r e you are or take the op-p o r t u -nity to make a change in location.

Cost of LivingYou’ll most likely need to re-vise your monthly budget down a bit once you’re retired. You’ll pay more for your health care and your income will most likely decrease. If you’ve planned well, you may have your mortgage paid off, or you may de-cide this is the time to sell. The cost of buying a new home, food, gas and other monthly expenses will be a big deciding factor in choosing your retirement location. Do your research, because the cost of living is just one of the factors to con-sider when making this all-important decision.

Climate/Scenic BeautyWhat climate do you enjoy? Some like the stark beauty of desert areas and the sunshine that comes along with that drier climate. Others love the mountains and trees of north-ern climates which also include a lot of cloudy, rainy days. Does your health require you to live

www.askgranny.com is a unique website and resource for grandparents and senior citizens worldwide created by Granny Juliet and provides useful infor-mation on a number of topics.

Juliet Hambro offers her top tips to get the best out of your retirement dreams

The hardest years in life are those between ten and 70.- Helen Hayes

Granny quote

Making your golden years matter

in a cer-tain cli-m a t e ? Do you e n j o y the out of doors a n d n e e d b i k e

trails, hiking trails and other outdoor recreational sites to give you optimal satisfac-tion? Are you a golfer or tennis player? How important is it to have those facilities nearby? Don’t underestimate the lo-cal climate and beauty of your chosen home.

The Tax Climate for RetireesSpend the necessary time to know the tax laws for retirees in your prospective home area. You may find that retirees are given special tax breaks in cer-

tain areas and are c h a r g e d more in oth-ers. Is there a state or local in-come tax? Don’t make the mistake of buying p r o p e r t y only to find you can’t afford the taxes. Re-m e m b e r that low tax-es may also

mean a limitation of public ser-vices — another consideration in your final decision.

General Living Condi-tions The general living conditions are often those intangibles that you don’t see or learn about with just a one-time visit to a new area. What safety fac-tors do you need to be aware of? Is there a high incidence of crime or gang activity nearby? Are there libraries and other senior social offerings in your target living area? Can you

easily find doctors, den-tists and hospital care? Are there opportunities for volunteer work in the community? Are there sidewalks, footpaths, bike paths and the like? Is there a variety of eat-ing establishments that suit your needs? Will you be able to access the activities you enjoy most? Day to day living is enriched by the op-portunity to take part in the things you love doing and to be safe while you do them. Check it out through your local cham-bers of commerce and through online searches.

Where Your Children LiveMany retirees are happy to choose their living location in the place they like the most and then travel when they want to visit family. Others want to live near their family members if at all possible. Either way, your retirement decision will affect the entire extended fam-ily for a period of years. Young people are more transient than ever and their jobs will move them periodically. You may find you choose a home near your loved ones only to find that they must move away. What will be the best decision for you?

Today’s retiree enjoys better health and a greater degree of activity than ever before. Retirement can last 20 or 30 years or even longer. Your fi-

Leave something for someone, but don’t leave someone for something. - Enid Blyton

Granny quote

What is a grandparent, according to a child?“Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no children of their own. They like other people’s. They don’t have to do anything except be there when we come to see them and they are so old they shouldn’t play or run too much. It’s great as they drive us to the shops and have lots of money for us.”

Granny fact

nancial health will dictate many of the decisions related to living location, but don’t neglect the above five areas as you make important retire-ment decisions. Whatever your

choice, look forward to re-tirement as a time to stay active, enjoy life and give of your time and skills to enrich your new commu-nity.

58 www.theolivepress.esthe olive press - July 10 - July 24 2013 40

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1. The artichoke is technically a flower that hasn’t yet bloomed.2. Italy, Egypt and Spain are the world’s top producers of artichokes.3. Jupiter is said to have turned the god-dess Cynara into an artichoke when he did not return her love.4. Cynar is a popular Italian liquor made of artichokes. 5. One artichoke plant can produce 20 artichokes per year.

Anything for the artichokes

Artichokes Facts

James Whaley, owner of The Hurricane Hotel in Tarifa, loves the strange-looking and delicious artichoke. And as he reveals, he’ll do just about anything to get some for his popular restaurant

Braised artichokes Cut off the prickly

bits of the arti-chokes, and cut them in half verti-

cally. Dig out the choke (the fuzzy part above the heart), pull off the outer leaves and trim the bot-tom. Heat a large skillet with olive oil or butter, and put each half cut-side down in the skillet. When they begin to brown, add stock or white wine and cover the pan.After about 20 minutes remove the artichokes, but continue heating up the remaining liq-uid in the pan, adding a squeeze of lemon and a bit more butter or oil to make a lovely sauce.

6. Although normally served with fatten-ing butter or aoli, the artichoke itself is a healthy superfood: basically fat-free and very low in sodium, one whole artichoke is surprisingly only 25 calories. 7. Until the 16th century, women were prohibited from eating artichokes in many places because they were considered strong aphrodisiacs. 8.In 1948, Marilyn Monroe was crowned the “Artichoke Queen.”

ally buy carpets and jewelry anyway, not mint and coriander. The storm increased so the Russian hydrofoil couldn’t leave the port. We were obliged to spend the night in the Minzah, the most expensive hotel in the town. As it had turned cold, I bought my nephew a leather jacket and a woolen coat for my sister in law. As the storm was still raging the following day, we hailed a taxi to drive us to Ceuta, where we spent the night in another expensive hotel and the following day took the ferry to Algeciras. On the way back to Tarifa in the taxi, Nieves made some calculations. “I reckon,” she said “what with the price of the hotels, the clothes you bought, the taxis and the ferries, these few ki-los of ‘potatoes’ have cost you about three hundred pounds sterling.”Back at the Hurricane, I made Jerusa-lem artichoke soup (you can find the recipe on internet – I add some let-tuce to turn it a pleasant green colour or you can add fresh artichoke hearts to give it a boost.) The remaining arti-chokes I gave to the gardener to plant but he forgot about them so they rot-ted in his shed. Of course, they never would have grown in the warm climate of South-ern Spain but I didn’t know that in those days. Either way, the soup was a great success and to this day if any friend or guest goes to Tangiers for a day trip I advise them not to buy any carpets but to bring me back a few ki-los of Jerusalem artichokes.

Bit by bit, our restaurant started filling up after we opened it in Tarifa 25 years ago. I hate hotels where you are

forced to eat a dinner you don’t want, so I wanted to turn the hotel restau-rant into something fantastic. In order to attract more foodies, I needed to improve the menu, I figured. One of my favorite soups is made from Jerusalem artichokes, but they are dif-ficult to find in southern Spain, as they need a freeze in winter like apples, daffodils and tulips. However, they can be easily bought in the fruit and veg market in Tangiers, so one winter day I took the ancient Russian-built hydrofoil to the dark continent, accompanied by my Span-ish sister in law, Nieves, and her son. On arrival in Tangiers, snake charmers insisted on taking photos of Nieves with hideous snakes draped around her neck. As she was frightened of all sorts of animals including dogs, cats, horses, cows and chickens I thought she would refuse – but she complied. “I thought you hated animals,” I said after her Polaroid snapshot had been taken for a hefty sum. “I do,” she replied, “apart from snakes and spiders.”How strange, I thought, of all the ani-mals to like.After lunch, a storm broke out, so I bought umbrellas… and I finally found my Jerusalem artichokes. I bought several kilos in the market where you don’t have to haggle as the prices are written up in Dirham. Tourists gener-

Choke hold: Jerusalem artichokes

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ONE of Spain’s top chefs is threatening to quit the country after the bar of his restaurant was shut down by tax collectors.Double Michelin-starred Sergi Arola is furious af-ter his popular Madrid restaurant Gastro was raided by six inspectors on a busy Saturday last week.The team barged into the restaurant's lunchtime sitting and humiliated Arola in front of his staff.It comes after it emerged he had been struggling fi-nancially, accumulating a debt of around €300,000 over the past few years.The Valencian chef, who is a keen advocate of responsible eating, in-sisted however, that he had been in negotiation over a payment plan for months.While he admits he owes a lot of money, he claims he has presented a pay-ment plan to the tax de-partment and was wait-ing for it to be accepted.He even recently put his house on the market in a bid to raise money.He has now told the Spanish press he is not sure what his next move will be or whether he will even continue running his restaurant.However, he insists he has a 'clear conscience' and is keeping his calm.

Top chef threatens to quit SpainIt comes after a tax raid that shut down Sergi Arola’s popular Madrid restaurant

by Rose Lapp

THE Junta has promised to save the celebrated La Con-sula cookery school with an urgent cash injection.The cookery school in Chu-rriana, which is popular with celebrities including Antonio Banderas, was forced to close a fortnight ago when a lack of supplies made it impossible for its pupils to cook.It led to dozens of pupils to go out into the nearby streets protesting, with a banner that read: ‘They’re robbing our future’.But now the Junta has promised to give the school – which has taught at least five Michelin-starred chefs, inclu-ding Marbella’s Dani Garcia - the necessary €635,000 to keep it going.

Consula gets urgent cash injection to keep going

Financial problems have been accumulating over the last 15 months, as La Consula went further into debt. As resources dwindled, em-ployees worked for months without pay.But while the school had been asking the Education Department for financial help for months, the govern-ment did not acknowledge its requests until late May.This grant from the Junta, half of which is to be paid up front, is meant to allow for La Consula’s reopening in September.While the school is staying optimistic about reopening, officials say it may take a while to get the restaurant back up and running.

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Pancho’s Punch

Celebrities around the world are becom-ing more involved in the production and promotion of their own wines. This craze has boosted the popularity of wine and is

a great benefit to the industry. Some stars are true experts and have a tremendous experience in tasting the fine wines of the world. A couple of years ago I was invited to Julio Iglesias´s residence in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to try some gorgeous wines from his collection of 50,000. As part owner of Monte-castro winery, in Ribera del Duero, he has an excellent knowledge and passion for the grape. Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary Hollywood director, was my guest at a conference I organ-ised in Hong Kong in 2010. Francis owns several wineries in California under the name of Francis Ford Coppola Winery and produces numerous styles of wines. He is a true connoisseur and en-

joys wine and food tremendously. Sting owns a winery at his fantastic villa in Tus-cany where he makes a red wine under the name of Sister Moon. My wife and I had the hon-our of being invited by Sting and his wife, Trudie, where we enjoyed a superb BBQ with several premium Italian wines.Recently, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got in-volved with Chateau Miraval in the French Provence. This region is famous for its light, fresh, pale and elegant rose wines. Miraval back in the 1970 was the property of the famous pia-nist Jacques Loussier who created a recording studio within the chateau, used by names such as Pink Floyd, the Gipsy Kings, Sting and Sade among others. Today it is the summer residence of Brad and Angelina and where they make a fantastic wine under the supervision of the Per-rin family, a legendary name from the Rhône.The list of wine-loving celebrities goes on; golf icon Greg Norman; Kiwi actor Sam Neil; football star Lionel Messi; singer Mick Hucknall; Barça striker Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Depardieu.

EVERY SIP YOU TAKE

Eating out at

Sidrería Usategui is one of the very few restaurants in Marbella where

I have been going for lunch or dinner for the last eight years. A traditional Basque cider house or “sidreria” the restaurant was founded 13 years ago. Located in the neigh-bourhood of El Mirador, it has wooden tables and benches, decorated with large barrels of cider but with the charm of a traditional Basque cider house.Usategui is the kind of place you go to eat good

There are so many famous faces branching into wine, explains Olive Press wine expert Pancho Campo

RESTAURANTE USATEGUI

USATEGUI: Authentic Basque Charm

traditional food made with su-perb products. It has a beauti-ful Basque ‘chuletón’ or steak on the bone, and a nice cellar where you can find a pretty good selection of Spanish reds.Although red wine is my thing, I strongly recommend you try the house cider that you can serve yourself straight from one of the three huge barrels they have right in the middle of the restaurant.If you are not a fan of red meat go for fish. “Merluza a la Vasca” (hake), clams, grilled fish of the day and cod are just some of the specialties. To finish the meal order “leche frita” or fried milk, which is delicious, not too

sweet but enough to cleanse your palate. Sideraria Usategui offers excel-lent quality for a reasonable price and it is a true culinary

experience, with great ambiance, as well as a friendly and efficient ser-vice. Book in advance on weekends www.sidreriausategui.com

STAND SO CLOSE TO ME: Pancho and Sting, while (right from top) Coppola’s wine, Brad and Angelina, Gerard Depardieu, Antonio Banderas and Chateau Miraval and Julio Iglesias’ Iglesias Vieja

Sting owns a winery at his fan-tastic villa in Tuscany where

he makes a red wine under the name ‘Sister Moon’

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SPANISH Rosé is having something of a renais-sance in the UK.Sales of the wine have

soared by 11% so far this year with the main region’s benefit-ing said to be Rioja, in Spain, and Provence, in France.Long thought of as a lower-quality alternative to more ex-pensive, sophisticated whites, it is now coming into its own.According to wine expert Helen McGinn it is the perfect sum-mer drink. ‘Light and sweet, it’s ideal for relaxing on a hot July night,’ she writes. The author of the Knackered

Mother’s Wine Club has picked no less than three Spanish ros-es in her list of the Top Ten best buys in the UK.She says the roses from Spain are typically more dry and fruity than elsewhere in the world.This makes them perfect for

by Rose Lapp

Pretty in pink

Big leap in Rosé wine sales helping Spanish producers

The roses from Spain are more dry and fruit than else-where in the world

savoury and salty foods like jamon or chorizo.Above all, McGinn names picked Toro Loco 2012, sold at Aldi, as the best deal of the summer. Rating it as a fabu-lous 8/10, best of all it only costs €3.69 for a bottle. Also among her favourites is Spanish wine Pelayo Rosé sold at Asda, while Tesco’s Simply Pink moscatel rated as 5/10, and Waitrose Spanish rose came in at 7/10.In general the Rioja wines are approximately half the price of their French couterparts.

MUMMY KNOWS BEST: Author McGinn and (above) Rioja

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M A N C H E S T E R United are in a tug of war over Span-ish starlet Thiago Alcantara.They have offered the 22-year-old Barcelona player Thiago Alcantara, who captained Spain’s Under-21s to victory in the European C h a m p i o n s h i p earlier this sum-mer, triple his sal-ary in a deal worth £15million.

IT used to be said that 99% of visitors to Malaga air-port didn’t visit the city.Tourists used to instead jump in their cars to visit the flesh pots of the Costa del Sol or seek out the better known tourist cities of Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba.Now that has apparenlty all changed with news that visitors to Malaga city have doubled in just five years.In wonderful news for the capital of the Costa del Sol, it has emerged that the number of cruise line tourists has more than doubled (126%) while the number of visitors coming for conferences has almost doubled (90%).Malaga’s tourism minister Damian Caneda insisted the growth proved how the town hall’s tourism strat-egy was more than working.“We are very satisfied at a time of economic crisis” he said. Javier Gonzalez de Lara, president of the Malaga Confederation of Businesses, added that Malaga had undergone a great change and was now a much more attractive destination. “Málaga is now an important destination for the tour-ist.” he saidReasons for the growth are being put down to the new port and marina, as well as current restoration proj-ects including the Customs House Museum and the Baños del Carmen.But its burgeoning art scene and the opening of its Roman amphitheatre must also take the honours.Other reasons must include the pedestrianisation of the old town, a booming restaurant scene and better promotion of its monuments.

NEARLY half of all Span-ish parents admit to having left their child behind in the car after forgetting that they were there.According to a report by the Spanish Paediatric As-sociation this can be lethal in summer leading to heat stroke.“It can bring on multiple or-gan failure caused by dan-gerously-high body tempera-tures and thus a very real risk of death,” said doctor Jordi

Hair bear causes quite a stir!AN Andalucian woman has made news around Spain... for not shaving!Malaga journalist Paloma Goni has made headlines of her own after going public with the admission that she doesn’t shave her legs or arm-pitsOn her blog Aires de Cam-bio, she admitted she hadn’t touched a razor blade for nine months. She explains—without modes-ty—her compelling arguments for going ‘wild,’ saying she felt it is a waste of time, ‘nonsense’ brought on by society, and downright ‘torture.’ She also includes photos of her in a short skirt and tank top. The photos and the post have caused quite a ruckus online, sparking a dialogue on the is-sue. Not worried the least bit with aesthetics or social norms, Goni is undeniably making quite a statement. “I’m a very hairy woman,” she says simply. And she seems to be just fine with it.

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‘Must do’ Malaga

City sees its tourism numbers double in just five years

What will Thiago do?

Half of Spain’s parents have left kids in cars

BRITONS abroad are an eclectic bunch, enjoy-ing the experience, but above all they like to suf-fer in silence.Now a new Twitter site @SoVeryBritish is high-lighting some of the ob-vious ways to tell a Brit abroad.They include ‘running out of ways to say thanks when a succession of doors are held open for you, having already de-ployed ‘cheers’, ‘ta’ and ‘nice one’.Also ‘saying sorry as a way of catching some-one’s attention’, and ‘protecting your area at baggage reclaim as if the lives of your family de-pend on it.’

SUFFERING TO BE SO VERY BRITISH

PouC h i l d r e n ’ s body tem-peratures rise three to five times faster than those of adults, as they have lower bodily reserves of water. Un-der fours are at the most risk of heat-stroke.T e m p e r a -tures inside cars can rise by between 10ºC and 15ºC in just minutes once the vehicle is stationary and opening the windows makes no differ-ence, since it merely allows extra heat to enter.“They can suffer from hy-perthermia within under 20 minutes of being left in an excessively hot car,” contin-ued paediatrician Dr Pau. “And once hyperthermia has set in, the child can die with-in two hours.”

GlucoseChildren suffering from heat stroke should be moved to a cool place, removing all clothes and giving them a re-hydrating drink – available from chemists – contain-ing glucose and saline solu-tion. Mix this with cool, but not ice-cold water, and mop them with a cold, wet flan-nel or sponge, particularly on the wrists and back of the neck, then get them to A&E as quickly as possible.

DANGER: It can take just 20 mins for a child to die in a hot car

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Olive Press Newspaper – Issue 165