euro weekly news - costa de almeria 11 - 17 february 2016 issue 1597

MOJACAR remains a popular destination for testing of new motor-cycles. The BMW group returned to the town with a group of test-riders to trial some 300 motorcycles including new models. Aspokesperson for the company said the terrain in this part of theprovince is perfect for testing the machines.

ISSUE NO. 1555 // 23 - 29 APRIL 2015ISSUE NO. 1597 11 - 17 February 2016 WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COMCOSTA DE ALMERA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION

PARTIDO POPULAR (PP), in Albox has called for the townsmayor to resign. Rogelio Mena, of the governing party, has beenembroiled in a lengthy court case and was found guilty of refusingto provide financial information to the opposition. Having left thePSOE party he continued to run as an independent mayoral candi-date and was subsequently re-elected.

Mayor should resign say the PP

Albox politics

Under pressure Terrain ideal for trialsMojacar popular for testsSee page 2

LOCAL fundraiser BradSwift has organised a caninephoto-shoot on Mojacar paseoon Saturday February 13 from11am to 1pm. Professionalphotographer, Frank Millar

will be taking the photos onthe day and people canchoose and view them at cafe353 in Mojacar on ThursdayFebruary 18.

Posing pooches on paseo

MOJACAR and Albox among resorts under intense scrutiny

HOLIDAY-HOMES in Mo-jacar, Albox and other coastalareas will come under intensescrutiny, following the passingof a new law regulating holidayrentals.

The decree was announcedby Junta de Andalucia tourismminister, Francisco Fernandez,at the recent Fitur tourism-tradeshow in Madrid.

The new law will requireowners of properties which arerented as holiday accommoda-tion to register the propertywith the Junta.

Owners must also ensuretheir properties meet a set stan-dard of regulations which in-clude a long list of require-ments.

According to the new law,properties should have air-con-ditioning (hot and cold)throughout, bed linen, a first aidbox, a fire extinguisher, a clear-ly displayed rates sheet andcontact information in case ofemergency.

Owners will also be requiredto make available an officialJunta de Andalucia complaintsbook (hoja de reclamaciones).

Exceptions to the new rule

include, properties rented to thesame person for longer thantwo months, rural propertiesand in the case where the sameowner owns a number of flatsin the same block, these areregulated under existing laws.

The law is somewhat am-biguous in that it states thatproperties rented free of chargeand those rented for just a fewweeks per year are also exempt.

Owners have three months in

which to register their propertyand one year to ensure all therequirements are met.

Hoteliers associations havelong lamented what they calledunfair competition from pri-vate holiday-home owners andwelcomed the new ruling.Landlords, however, havewidely condemned the exces-sive bureaucracy involved intreating apartments in a similarmanner to hotels.

The Junta minister saidchecks would be made onrental websites such as Airbnband other sites where propertiesare advertised for rental.

Fines of up to 150,000could be levied for failing toadhere to the new law.

Turn to page 3 for furtherdetails on the complexregime affecting expats

across Spain.

By Adele Land

See page 8

See page 64

Pet portraits raising funds for charity

NATURAL beauty spots took priority as 56,270 was spent onkey renovations in environmental hotspots of Almeria Province.Improvement of recreational areas, points of information, trails,lookouts, observatories and zones of controlled camping wereamong the works, while reform of fountains, bathrooms and theclearing of roads were also realised.

THE invasive and damaging nature ofagave plants has been cited by Andalu-cian researchers as a key justification fortheir control and frequent destruction inAlmeria.

The environmental body has released apaper noting that controlled reduction is

necessary to improve the state of conser-vation of the native biodiversity.

Research suggests that agave plantscompete for water with other species tothe detriment of wider variety and take upa significant chunk of land. The scientistsstress that this is not an eradication mea-sure, but rather a management mecha-nism designed to protect the environment.

Agaves were planted on a mass scale inthe arid zones of Almeria in the 1950s toprovide value to the unproductive areasof south east Spain.

Tens of thousands were planted inAlmeria alone and now occupy more than1,000 hectares of ecologically importantland in the Cabo de Gata natural park andother key sites.

NEWS11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.comEWN2

MOJACAR remains a populardestination for testing of newmotorcycles.

The BMW group returned tothe town with a group of test-riders to trial some 300 motor-

cycles including new models.A spokesperson for the com-

pany said the terrain is perfectfor testing the machines with thesteep roads of the Sierra Cabreraand the coastal roads.

Full speed aheadLOCAL NEWS Agave plants a pest

Money well spent

GUARDIA CIVIL officersfrom Huercal-Overa are in-vestigating a string of bur-glaries in the area.

The incidents occurredover a 24-hour period in thesmall village of Santa Maria.

Residents reported theburglars had broken inthrough windows and kickedin doors of the properties. Inone case a safe was rippedfrom the wal l and s tolen,along with the contents.

Home break-in spate

RESEARCH suggests they compete for water to the detriment of others

AGAVE PLANTS: Were planted on a mass scale in the arid zones of Almeria in the 1950s.

By Matthew Elliott

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3NEWS 11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com EWN

FEATURED NEWS

The writing is on the wallDEATH knell rings for unregistered tourist properties

THE Euro Weekly News recently re-vealed to readers how the authoritiesare cracking down on people whorent out their homes in Spain totourists.

A new law has been passed withsignificant consequences for thosein Andalucia, bringing the region in-to a wider regulatory frameworkthat includes the Valencian andBalearic provinces.

Put simply, it requires landlordswho rent their properties to touriststo officially register with the localgovernment. They will then be com-pelled to make any necessary adap-tations to their home to be in fullcompliance, or face severe fines.

Harsher in its scope and putative-ly stricter in its enforcement, the de-cree approved in Andalucia on Feb-ruary 2 has acute implications forproperty owners who rent totourists.

This encompasses those in re-gions, including Murcia, which re-main tentatively untouched by anever-tightening legal apparatus.

As ever, the devil lies in the de-tails, therefore all readers who areconcerned that they may incur thewrath of the authorities would dowell to consult with local represen-tatives, property experts and lawyersto ensure that they are well pre-pared.

Different regulatory systems arenow in force across separate au-tonomous communities, but the situ-ation in Andalucia serves as a usefulillustration of where the future of

property regulation is headed acrossthe country.

While many in Valencia and theBalearics may have adapted to thenew system of registering touristproperties, the draconian penaltiesallowed for in the Andalucian statuteshould be a warning to those whohavent yet registered, and feel thebark of the law is worse than its bite.

Those in Murcia should preparefor similar regulations to take effectin the near future.

The incentive for the crack downon tourist rents is a combination ofpressure from the hotel industry, adesire to harmonise systems, and thelure of more taxes over an, untilnow, underground economy.

With the weight of the nationalCitizen Security law behind the newstrategy in Andalucia, it appearsclear that a concerted effort toclamp down on tourist rentals willnow persist with added vigour.

Make sure you stay ahead of thecurve by seeking legal advice if youare uncertain where you stand, andby joining the debate and discussiononline among fellow expatriates onthe Euro Weekly News website.

By Matthew Elliott

Francisco Javier Fernandez Hernandez, councillor of Tourism and Sports for the Junta de Andalucia.

400,000is the number of touristrental beds estimated bythe Junta of Andalucia

currently undeclared fortax purposes.

Non-resident tax

IT has always been assumed thatnon-residents who own property inSpain would let their properties out,and many of them would overlookthe obligation to declare the incometo the tax authorities.

For this reason, the governmentintroduced a non-residents tax,which is calculated at up to two percent of the cadastral (rateable) valueof the property on which for 2016there is a 19 per cent tax payable.

APPLIED to all

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We decided to reach a consensus on this

because the sector needed regulating

Andalucian Head of Tourism, JavierFernndez on discussions with thetourist industry before drafting the

final bill.

Quote of the Week

Our readers discussed thisstory at length on the EWNwebsite, these being a fewkey points.

Do you rent a property totourists? To take part in thediscussion go to www.euroweeklynews.com.

Your papers,your views

Aiming higherI THINK all apartments andvillas should be run to a cer-tain standard and registered.This would have certainlyhelped with the variousscams that happened lastyear, which in turn is badfor all. The standards haveto be raised. Geoff

Why us?IF such stupid illogical per-secution by the Junta de An-dalucia spreads further i tcould affect us all - not justseasonal renters on the Cos-ta Del Sol. Time to write tothem en masse in an attemptto get this decision reversed.Brian

No exceptionsI RENT out a flat in northLondon and as a landlordI have to be registered andensure the property fullymeets legal requirements,this protects both myselfand my tenant. All incomehas to be declared. Whyshould it be any differenthere? Leonardo

Nonsensical lawSPAIN always seems toomit the common sense fac-tor and clearly this is in thatvein. No reasonable personobjects to sensible legisla-tion with regard to safetyand tax control in any sec-tor, but this is ridiculous andheavy handed. Paul

Detrimental movePEOPLE are sold propertyin Spain based on the as-sumption that renting it outwill help cover their mort-gage costs. The outcomecould be that property inSpain will have less chanceof sell ing, which wouldhave a negative, effect onSpains economy. David

Shrinking marketI REALLY despair at Span-ish politicians for doing this.There are a lot of peoplethat come here because theycan rent a property ratherthan go to a hotel, these reg-ulations will probably take alot of property off the mar-ket. Mike

AS part of a crackdown on individualsdriving without insurance, new camerasare being installed on the roads in Alme-ria, which not only take photographs ofspeeding traffic, but can identify whethera car is registered as being insured or not.

In the past year, the traffic division ofthe Guardia Civil in Almeria issued 2,985tickets to drivers found without insur-ance, and this number is bound to increasedue to the introduction of new technology.

The Direccion General de Trafico

(DGT) estimates that there are around twomillion motorists driving without havinginsurance in the country as a whole, andclearly whilst this may be a short termeconomy for the driver, the long termdamage that can be done to those involvedin an accident with someone who is notinsured could be devastating.

Amazingly, the DGT estimates that ap-proximately 10 per cent of all vehiclesregistered in Spain since 1996 are beingdriven without insurance, and it is their in-tention to reduce this figure as soon and asmuch as is possible.

Penalties for those caught can includethe impounding of the vehicle and a fineof up to 3,000. Fifty per cent of all fineslevied are passed to a special fund, whichhelps to compensate those who are thevictims of accidents where the other dri-ver is uninsured.

According to data obtained by theProvincial Traffic Headquarters, a largenumber of cars on the roads in the Alme-ria Province are aging, with an averageoverall age of 11 years, and it appears thatsix out of every 10 vehicles on the Alme-ria roads are more than 10-years-old.


INDEXNews 1 - 28

Featured News 3

Finance 31 - 35

Stocks 32

Leapy Lee 37

Our View 38

Colin Bird 38

Letters 44

Daily TV 46

Time Out 48 - 49

Health & Beauty 52 - 53

Social Scene 56 - 58

Albox 60 - 65

Homes & Gardens 66 - 67

Pets 68

Legally Speaking 70

Classifieds 73 - 75

Motoring 76 - 77

Sport 78 - 80

THE Guardia Civil is cracking down

NEW CAMERAS: Will identify a cars speed and insurance.

New road camerascan check insurance

By John Smith

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THE 2015 report of the national as-sociation Defender of the Patient hascounted 127 cases of medical negli-gence in Almeria.

The region thus occupies the sixthposition in the Andalucian rankings

out of the eight provinces. Only Jaen with a total of 107, and

Huelva with 74 have fewer reportedcases.

The services most commonly de-nounced among users were trauma-

tology, emergency, gynecology andobstetricians, general surgery andmedical transport.

The figures represented a slight in-crease on the previous one when 115cases were reported.

Cases of medical negligence

A PARTALOA bar owner wasleft fighting for his life follow-ing an attack by a fellow expa-triate.

Darren Mclellan, aged 48,owns the Plaza bar with hiswife Linda and has lived in Par-taloa, near Albox, along withtheir two children for the lastyear.

Mr Mclellan had finishedwork and was watching amovie in a nearby bar when theincident took place.

According to witnesses, aman entered the bar, walkedover to Mr Mclellan andsmashed a beer bottle across hishead in a seemingly unpro-voked attack.

Mrs Blyth told the EuroWeekly News, that her husbandwas discovered by their chil-dren, staggering across thesquare, with blood pouringfrom his throat.

Mrs Blyth described how thechildren were crying Daddy isdying and were hysterical, andsaid they were still shaken upby the incident.

Friends of the couple cameto help and an ambulance wascalled, according to Mrs Blythher husband lost consciousness.

The victim was rushed toHuercal-Overa hospital wherehe was placed in the criticalcare unit.

The alleged attacker was ar-rested shortly after the incidentand was granted bail.

Man arrestedfor attackingbar ownerBRITISH man taken to hospital

By Adele Land

11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.comEWN6 NEWS

A UNIQUE display of pho-tographs will be on display atthe Convento Victoria in Vera

from next week.The works of prize-winning

local photographer, Tony Un-win, can be seen on displayfrom February 16 until the end

of the month.His work depicts images of

Vera Playa, with changingcolours and light throughoutthe day.

By Adele Land

Expats photos areon display in VeraWORK depicts images with changing colours and light

VERA PLAYA: The photographs show the unique light and colours of the beach.

SEPRONA officers of theGuardia Civil observed anumber of men in the marinereserve of the Cabo de Gata -Nijar Natural Park near theFabriquilla Beach in Nijar,fishing from a recreationalmotorboat.

One of the men from theboat jumped out and tried tohide two baskets in a secondboat that was beached on theshore and then returned to theoriginal boat to help his com-panions get it out of the wa-ter.

The officers then identifiedthemselves to the suspects

and inspected the boats, inwhich they found fishing gearand a number of fish that hadbeen caught.

Only one of the fishermenhad used prohibited types offishing gear, but they hadfished an amount that wasabove the maximum allowedin the zone where they carriedout the activity. The totalweight of the fish was 22 ki-los.

The fish were seized by theGuardia Civil and handedover to a charity centre inAlmeria and the men werecharged.

Castle restoration plannedGARRUCHAS Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno castle is sched-uled to be refurbished.

Local mayor, Maria Lopez, said the building was of historicalimportance to the town.

The project will include restoration of the central arch and themain flooring.

The castle is located at the entrance to the town opposite thebeach.

Family affairSLIGHTLY ahead of theAndalucian average, 84 percent of businesses in Alme-ria are family run, com-pared to the regional 81 percent. Roughly half of thebusinesses have seen a gen-erational change

Missing manAN elderly man fromPulpi who went missinghas been found dead inhis car on the A-334 roadnear Albox. Pedro Gal-lego was last seen on Sat-urday February 6 inHuercal-Overa. Foul playis not suspected.

Locked awayA MAN has been sentencedto three and a half years inprison for brutally beatinga woman in the streets ofAlmeria, throwing a bottleat her and kicking herforcefully in the head as shelay helpless on the ground.

NEWS EXTRAIllegal fishing inNijar natural park


A CAMPAIGN to f inally clean up themess scourging Almeria City has beenunleashed with the tagline Almeria isyour home, dont mess it up and is aimedat combating dog excrement.

Owners will be reminded that they face

fines up to 500 for neglecting to pick uptheir dogs mess while a trial run of pub-lic cans for dog urine will be tested laterthis month. The facilities will have spraysto help eliminate odours and will be lo-cated in Rambla Amatisteros.

Dont mess it upHUERCAL-OVERA residentsfacing foreclosure on theirhomes will have somewhere toturn thanks to a new initiative.

The town council has set up

a programme, in collaborationwith law firm, Gines Fernan-dez, to offer counselling tohomeowners facing threat ofeviction due to mortgage debts.

Deputy mayor, MaribelSanchez, said she hopes theprogramme will help residentswho have fallen upon hardtimes.

NO less than 16teams f rom al l overthe world, includingfour from Spain, willtake part in the 26thClas ica Cic l is ta inAlmeria on February14 wi th some of themost exciting riders,including last year swinner ManxmanMark Cavendish tak-ing part.

Over 100 r iderswill at tempt the 186ki lometre coursewhich sees a numberof quite steep climbsthus limiting their av-erage speeds toaround 40 kilometresper hour.

This race , whichwill be broadcast allover Almeria, will gothrough the towns ofEl Ej ido, Adra andBerja in order to showthe riders the Almeriacoast.

However there willalso be some mountainstages, including theBaja Alpujarra area.

The race will startat 12pm from RamblaFederico Garcia Lor-ca, and the finish linewil l be in f ront ofRoquetas de Mar au-ditorium.

Over the years, thishas become a verywel l respected andwel l -known racewhich highlights thelove that so manySpaniards have forcycl ing, a l thoughthere has not been aSpanish winner since2006.

New programme to helppeople facing eviction

Cyclingreturns toAlmeria

The Local Police in Mojacartransfer to temporary offices

Press Release


REVELLERS dressed in colourful and elaborate costumes

Party time atthe Carnival

ADULTS and childrenacross the province paradedin costume celebrating theannual carnival season.

The fun began on FridayFebruary 5 and carried on

throughout the weekendwith dancing music andcompetitions for all ages.

From Mojacar to Alboxand beyond, revellersdressed in colourful andelaborate costumes delight-ing the crowds who turned

out to watch the events.The fun wasnt just for the

youngsters , in Vera thethird-age association organ-ised a dinner dance formembers who joined in theparty spirit and dressed toimpress.

A CHURCH statue in Garrucha was damaged during a proces-sion celebrating the purification of the Virgin Mary.

The statue of the Virgen de Candelaria had its head knockedoff as it was being carried through the door of the church to be-gin the procession.

Church officials managed to temporarily repair the statue inorder for the procession to continue, but a spokesperson said itwill need permanent restoration.

MOJACAR Local Policehave temporarily movedfrom their current base toCalle Horno located in theold town, due to the build-ing of a new municipalbuilding where the head-quarters will be permanent-ly located.

The construction of thenew town hall, recently ap-

proved in a full councilmeeting, will be located inPlaza Nueva above existingbuildings.

The work entails a seriesof preparatory architecturalworks that have necessitatedfinding another site for thenormal day-to-day operationof police work until thesetasks are completed.

Mojacar Town Councilwishes to inform all theirresidents and those who maybe affected that, the LocalPolice service will continueas usual. The temporary of-fice is equipped and ready tocarry on its work without in-terruption and will supplythe same personalised atten-tion as before.

DOG owners have a uniqueopportunity to capture a spe-cial moment with their petnext weekend.

Local fundraiser BradSwift has organised a caninephoto-shoot on Mojacarpaseo on Saturday February13 from 11am to 1pm.

Professional photographer,Frank Millar will be takingthe photos on the day andpeople can choose and viewthem at cafe 353 in Mojacar

on Thursday February 18. Have a photo with your

four-legged friend or choosea group-shot with other dogs.Photos cost 5 and proceedswill go to the Dog HouseFoundation in Huercal-Overa. The charity is in des-perate need for funds follow-ing the death of its founder.

The location for the pho-to-shoot is in front of Lev-ante beach bar on Southbeach.

Posing poochesto raise money

Sacred statue loses itshead in parade accident

LOCAL POLICE: Will carry on its work without interruption.

ALL AGES: Vera pensioners joined in the fun.

Yellow alertTHE powerful winds thatstormed across the southerncoast on Sunday February7 were of a severity tocause the State Meteoro-logical Agency to raise theyellow alert. Coastal phe-nomena and 70kph windsin Almeria Province acti-vated the warning.

Bad image A COLLABORATIVEpolice initiative will seekto increase the vigilanceof Almeria City neigh-bourhoods with a high in-cidence of prostitution.Highlighted areas includeEl Zapillo and Mediterra-neo-Oliveros, with resi-dents complaining of thebad image.

Fixed upTEN Nijar families will beable to dramatically im-prove their living standardswith a 68,400 grant fromthe Andalucian governmentbeing split between them.Structural security and hu-midity will be the key focus.

NEWS EXTRA

By Adele Land

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High school linked toalleged hate-crime

OperationChelo

A MOROCCAN familys home came under attackTHE usually quiet town of Antashas come under scrutiny in recentweeks after a group of six people,including two schoolchildren, werearrested following an alleged racistattack on the home of a Moroccanfamily in the town of Garrucha.

One of the detainees, who al-legedly goes by the name of San-gre, a former pupil at the Antashigh school, gave an interview to alocal radio station.

According to the 20-year-old,whose real name is Antonio, thetrouble began at the high-school inAntas between two students, oneSpanish and one African, the fightcontinued outside of school and es-calated into what was described as agang-style incident.

He told the radio station that agroup of Moroccan boys, one al-legedly armed with a knife, fol-

lowed him home and cornered himin an alley.

A number of British families livein Antas and many expatriate chil-dren attend the IES Azahar school,

where police presence has beenstepped-up since the incident.

The arrests were made after aneighbour saw a group of peoplethrowing bottles of caustic acid at

the home of the Moroccan familyand daubing graffiti on the walls.

All six people were detained andthe two youths have been suspend-ed from the school.

A BRUTAL gang of miscreants has finallybeen broken up by Almeria Police in an opera-tion with its very own title, Operation Chelo.

The criminals robbed homes and vehiclesaround the capital and in Nijar, and the al-leged leadership have been arrested althoughothers remain at large.

The group had attracted the attention of Na-tional Police due to their high level of activity,and are thought to be behind up to 30 rob-beries across the province. Three of the ringleaders were captured on a bus headed forBelgium.

HATE CRIME: Two children have been suspended from school.

Home robberyAN investigation into an extremely violentrobbery has resulted in the arrest of twoyoung men in Velez-Rubio.

The accused allegedly visited the homeof the victim, rang the doorbell and thenjumped on the woman, punched her andthreatened her with a knife.

They took 500 in cash from her, herpersonal documentation and a bankbookbefore running away. The men were caughtwith the stolen goods, and are charged withthe crime of robbery with violence and in-timidation.

government here has reduced itsregional rates by 2% for 2016, butonly for income up to 60,000. Thelowest income tax rate for Andaluca isnow 19.5%, while at the top end ofthe scale we have 46% for income over60,000 and 48% for income over120,000.

The above rates only apply togeneral income (employment,pension, rental income, etc). Savingsincome (interest, dividends, incomederived from life assurance contracts,

purchased annuity income and capitalgains on the sale or transfer of assets) istaxed at different rates. The 2016 ratesare

Wealth taxWealth tax keeps being extended

and remains in place for fiscal year2016.

Spanish residents pay wealth tax onthe value of their worldwide assets as at31st December. Rates riseprogressively from 0.2% to 2.5%(3.03% in Andaluca). There arehowever reductions available, rangingfrom 700,000 to 2m, depending onwhether you own your home and ifyou are single or a married couple.

This is a tough tax for wealthyresidents, but steps can be taken tolimit it.

Succession taxThere have been no changes to

succession tax this year. How damaging this tax is depends

on whom your beneficiaries are (rates,allowances and exemptions varyaccording to how they are related toyou), how much the inheritance is andhow much they are worth. There is noblanket exemption between spouses inSpain.

UK nationals need estate planningto cover both Spanish succession taxand UK inheritance tax.

Form 720Do not forget that Modelo 720

needs to be submitted by 31st March,reporting on the assets you owned in2015 if you were resident in Spain.You need to declare all overseas assetsworth over 50,000. If you havesubmitted this form before, you onlyneed to report again if the value of anasset increased by more than 20,000,or you sold an asset or closed anaccount, or you obtained a new asset.

Although the European

Commission is investigating whetherModelo 720 (the disproportionatepenalties and lack of statute oflimitations) infringes on EU law, youstill need to file your form as usual, atleast for the time being.

Tax planning With specialist advice you can often

use compliant arrangements to reducetax on your savings, investments,pensions and assets - with the right taxplanning Spain can be very taxefficient for retired expatriates.

Tax rates, scope and reliefs maychange. Any statements concerningtaxation are based upon ourunderstanding of current taxation lawsand practices which are subject tochange. Tax information has beensummarised; an individual is advisedto seek personalised advice.

To keep in touch with the latestdevelopments in the offshore world,check out the latest news on ourwebsite www.blevinsfranks.com

It is important to review your taxplanning from time to time, to check thatit is up to date and that you are using allthe opportunities available in Spain toreduce tax liabilities for yourself and yourheirs.

So far there have not been many taxchanges for 2016, and income taxes arejust a little lower than last year.

Income taxesThe general state income tax rates for

2016 are

However these rates are made up ofequal part state rates and regional rates,and each Autonomous Community canamend their local rates. This can makefor higher tax rates in some regions,including Andaluca. The local

11FINANCE 11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com EWN

By Gerald Turner,Partner,

Blevins Franks

Spanish Taxation In 2016

Income Tax rate0 12,450 19%12,450 20,200 24%20,200 35,200 30%35,200 60,000 37%Over 60,000 45%

Income Tax rate0 6,000 19%6,000 50,000 21%Over 50,000 23%


Property scammerhas flown townTHOUSANDS have allegedly been stolen from potential home-buyers

Drugs found in lorryFRENCH authorities are investigating a drugs bust involving atruck belonging to a haulage company in Antas.

Some 1.8 tonnes of cannabis resin was discovered by snifferdogs in the refrigerated lorry during an inspection in the bordertown of Hendaya. The truck, bound for the Netherlands, wastransporting pallets of fruit and vegetables and had made vari-ous stops during its journey north. A man and a woman, bothSpanish nationals were arrested during the operation.

A PARTALOA estate agent is said tobe on the run after allegedly stealingdeposits lodged with her as part ofproperty purchases.

A Dutch woman, AEVDP, runningan estate agency based in Almanzorahas allegedly defrauded property pur-chasers and vendors across Europe.

According to allegations, the 37-year-old woman marketed propertiesfor sale without the owners knowledge.

Many of the properties were said tohave been fraudulently sold under so-called rent-to-buy schemes, where aportion of the monthly rent would gotowards the purchase of the property.

Victims were scammed for amountsranging from 5,000, with one mem-ber saying he had lost more than74,000 to the agent.

By Adele Land

FRAUDULENT SALE: One of the villas sold without owners knowledge.

DRIVING while texting or without a seatbelt, orany number of a vast list of traffic offences, haveseen more than 289,000 unpaid traffic fines addup in Almeria Province.

An average volume of 162 fines are issuedeach day by the Almeria authorities and many re-main stubbornly ignored. In the greater scheme

of things, however, Almeria is one of the moreobedient provinces in the country.

Across Andalucia there are 3.5 million unpaidfines, and a staggering 20 million in all of Spain.

Almeria is dragging its feet in the rebel stakes,with Malaga far surpassing it on 1.1 million un-paid fines, and even people from Cordoba are do-ing a better job of winding up the authorities, de-spite having fewer cars overall.


By Matthew Elliott

Youre notthe only oneTHERE are more than 289,000 unpaid traffic fines in Almeria

PUPILS at a school in Verahave attended a course in pub-lic speaking.

The students learned how tomake presentations to large

groups, and how to utilisebreathing techniques and voicecontrol. Each student receiveda diploma for completing thethree-month course.

Womens Councillor, Yolan-da Torres, said the course wasinvaluable for the students tolearn social interaction and lifeskills.

Vera schoolchildrenlearn how to talk the talk

THE OCAL qua r t e t w i l lperform a romantic concertfor Valentines Day in newVera theat re on SaturdayFebruary 14.

The quartet is led by in-ternationally acclaimed vi-olinist, conductor, compos-e r and co- founder o f theBrodsky Quartet, MichaelThomas son o f Midd les -brough but for many yearsre s iden t o f A lmer i a andmore recently Sevilla.

Michael is also conduc-tor of the Almeria City Or-chestra.

On second violin is JoseVe lez who s tud ied andp layed fo r a number o fyears in the UK with someof the leading orchestrasand ba roque ensemblessuch a s Amadeus andBrodsky.

Sisters Paloma and ClaraGarcia Oliver also studiedand played in the UK.

Paloma initially studiedpiano before choosing tocont inue her ca reer wi thher second instrument thecello.

Clara who will play vio-la, graduated from TrinityCollege of Music in Lon-don and also played withdifferent acclaimed cham-ber music ensembles.

The roman t i c p ro -

gramme includes works byJosef Haydn, Robert Schu-mann and Johann Pachel-bel.

The thea t r e i s l oca t ed

close to the bus station andLidl supermarket. There isa car park to one side andthere is also ample parkingin the surrounding streets.

Ticke t s a r e ava i l ab lefrom Veras Convento dela Victoria at a discountedpr i ce o f 5 o r f rom theTheatre Box Off ice af ter

7pm on the evening of theconcert, price 7.

Tickets may also be re-served for collection at thetheatre before the concert

by calling or sending a textmessage to 622 004 781s t a t ing name , a con tac tphone number and thenumber of tickets required.


Romantic concert on Valentines Day in VeraQUARTET is led by an internationally acclaimed violinist

GETTING back in touchwith nature and improv-ing heart health are thekey priori t ies of a newhiking programme forolder citizens in Almeria.

Throughout the year13 hikes wil l bearranged, the first takingplace on the Camino delRio Molino de Cobdar onFebruary 14. Last yearsaw 650 people take partin the initiative organisedby the Municipal SportsBoard (PMD). Anyoneinterested can easily signup through the website(Spanish Patronato Mu-nicipal de Deportes).

HikingAlmeria


Too small to copePREFERABLY an area is needed with windowsHAVING a previous conviction for armed robbery, a

38-year-old man has been sentenced to two and a halfyears in prison for stealing 100 from the Almeriacathedral. He stole from the chapels money box andexcused himself by citing drug addiction but his pleafell on deaf ears.

No forgiveness

ALMERIA CITYS lack of a specialist chil-drens hospital has been highlighted by theSMA medical workers union for theprovince, which has reported that the Paedi-atric Emergency facility at Torrecardenas is

far too small to cope with demand and alsolacks ventilation, leading to risk of conta-gion.

The union has recommended that work isdone in the department to provide morespace and preferably find an area with win-dows.

By Eleanor Hawkins

TORRECARDENAS: Childrens emergency ward too small to cope.

A DERANGED jiltedlover has been sentencedto community serviceafter hysterically flood-ing his ex-girlfriendsphone with threateningmessages and sendingan explicit photo of thevictim to her mother.

The Madrid man wasin a relationship with theAlmeria woman for sixmonths and then, uponthe end of the affair, hebegan stalking her homein the early hours, beep-ing his horn and ringingthe bell repeatedly. Hethreatened her on Face-book when she blockedhim on her phone and fi-nally made good on hispromise by involvingher mother in his de-bauched vengeance.

He will complete 63days of work and is for-bidden from being with-in 300 metres of herpresence for three years.

Derangedbehaviour

A NEW sports school has opened in Mojacar.Adults and children can enjoy sports such as judo, rhythmic

gymnastics, paddle tennis and football.Along with active sports, residents of the town can also learn

the game of chess, under the tutelage of Spanish champion JoseJuan Rubio.

THE seeds of gender vio-lence are planted at a youngage according to the An-dalucian Womens Institute,which suggests that 65 percent of youngsters maintainsexist s tereotypes. Theirstudy also indicates thatsome 29 per cent ofteenagers have experiencedgender violence in one guiseor another.

On February 4 the insti-tute held a workshop specif-ically aimed at people whowork with children in Alme-ria, with the aim of raisingcollective awareness of theissue, especially with youngcouples.

A 22-year-old man was arrest-ed by the National Police afterenjoying a wild joyridethrough Almeria City centre,reports from February 6 con-firm.

Between 12am and 1pm onSaturday February 6, police atthe Provincial Headquarters ofAlmeria received several com-plaints about a white all-ter-rain vehicle, travelling downthe Avenida Cabo de Gata attwice the legal speed limit.

Witnesses claimed that theyoung man was driving a Mit-subishi Crossover, seeminglywith the intention of knockingdown all in his path and withtotal disregard for the livesof others.

During his high-speed dash,the driver hit two vehicles onthe road and up to 10 thatwere parked at the roadside.

The string of collisions did

little to slow the allegedspeed-demon, however, as hecontinued his crusade beforesmashing into a bus and thenturning into a different road,leading to the University cam-pus.

Some eyewitnesses say thedriver appeared to turn hissights to running over twopedestrians, but was deterredby National and Local Policepatrol cars giving chase frombehind.

Despite the authorities hoton his heels, shortly before hiscapture he was seen to veer in-to a bike lane and deliberatelytook out three cyclists using it.Thankfully, all three cyclists

had no serious injuries, butone had to be examined atTorrecardenas Hospital.

At the end of his high-speedcircuit, the cocky driveralighted from his vehicle totake a selfie of himself givingthe victory sign. Then, as thepolice descended, the drivermade a dash for the nearbybeach and ran into the sea, be-fore lashing out at two officerswho waded in behind him.

On his arrest, the accusedtold officers that he had beensimulating some moves fromGrand Theft Auto 5. Tests re-vealed the man was acting un-der the influence of both alco-hol and drugs.


Mojacar gets sportywith new school

Grand Theft Auto man wreakshavoc on Almeria streets

Reap whatyou sow

By Kylie J Brennan

DRIVER: Told police officers he was copying moves from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

AN investigation has beenlaunched into sights of smallaircraft reportedly using chemi-cals to break up clouds inAlmeria Province.

A meeting has been held be-

tween the local head of theGuardia Civil and members ofenvironmental associations.

Representatives cited theirconcern that the aircraft weresubstantially reducing precipi-

tation, and thus increasing therisk of drought and other envi-ronmental damage. No suspectshave yet been accused of re-sponsibility for the recklesschemical attacks.

If confirmed, the sprayingwould appear to be a reverse ofmoves in drought stricken Ari-zona to seed clouds to help in-duce rain.

Conspiracy theorists havelong decried an alleged deliber-ate destruction of the environ-ment through chemtrails, or-chestrated by malevolent forcesfor financial gain, but the juryremains out on the Almeriasightings.


A RESIDENT of Turre hasbeen arrested for illegallykeeping tortoises.

A total of 16 Moorish tor-toises were found at the prop-erty, and the alleged keeperwas not in the possession of apermit to keep the creatures.

In July last year, a law waspassed banning the keeping ofthis type of reptile and anamnesty period was in placewhere people could surrenderanimals to Seprona, the floraand fauna department of theGuardia Civil.

During the amnesty severalhundred tortoises were surren-

dered and moved to a specialsanctuary near Velez-Rubio,where they were prepared foreventual return to the wild.

Keeping the creatures incaptivity is an offence, punish-able with sentences of up totwo years in prison.

The person arrested in Turrewill appear in court in Vera.

TWO dolphins werewashed up dead on Alme-rias beaches last week-end.

The first was a veryyoung animal measuringless than a metre in length.

Marine rescue groupEquinac received an alertfrom the police in Vera,and volunteers were dis-patched to the beach atPuerto Rey.

A second dolphin wasdiscovered on a beach inAlmerimar, both appearedto have died shortly beforebeing washed up.

A spokesperson fromEquinac thanked the LocalPolice for their support,and reminded members ofthe public to call 112 incase of discovering marineanimals on the beach.

Dolphinswashed upat eitherend of theprovince

Aerial bombardment

Resident illegallykept tortoises

By Adele Land

IN CAPTIVITY: It is illegal to keep tortoises as pets.

ALLEGED keeper arrested as they didnt hold a permit


NOW that the pits are closedand young people are expect-ed to complete years ofmandatory education, jobs forminors are scarce and underharsh restrictions.

Thankfully a special excep-tion is being made for young-sters across Almeria, as cine-ma is considered a sectorwith a uniquely creative needfor young actors to achieverealism. Its also handy forthe authorities to be able toattract film companies to theTabernas desert and not scarethem off with bureaucracy.

While in general it is pro-hibited for under 16s to work,with special permission fromlabour authorities, in 2015

213 minors were allowed towork on film productions asAssassins Creed and Mar dePlastico found inspiration inthe imposing desert terrain.

It was no match for 2013sExodus by Ridley Scottwhich brought an artistic ren-dition of the legendary Jewishescape from Egypt popu-

larised by the bible. That yearsaw 305 permits given as thedirector sought to portray thesprawling slave scenes of theancient near east.

ARGENTINIAN musicianand instrument maker PabloNahual wowed music loverswith a didactic concert forstudents on February 8 atthe Francisco VillaespesaLibrary of Almeria.

The concert had an inter-preter for children withhearing difficulties to allow

them to participate. Through ethnic instru-

ments brought from differ-ent indigenous communi-t ies, the concert aimed toallow the students to heardifferent kinds of instru-ments, even prehistoricones, in order to help themunderstand the origin and

evolution of musical instru-ments in general, and theirrole in artistic expression inthe many different periodsof human history.

The activity is part of ageneral educational projectthat uses music as a learningtool to encourage and devel-op emotional intelligence.

STUDYING public transport mechanisms is a jobsomeone has to do and so councillors across Alme-rias Levante area gathered with business owners todiscuss the concept of a new passage towards thebeach in summer time.

There was unanimous agreement that improve-ments were of the utmost necessity and that transportbetween Huercal-Overa and other areas should takepriority due to its medical and administrative impor-tance. In keeping with the affairs of state, a provi-sional plan has been drafted, commitment expressedand approval is in the pipeline.

ALMERIA arrived at a new edition ofthe Berlin Fruit Logistica agricultureconference as a representative of thefruit and vegetable sector on theMediterranean coast. Thousands of ex-hibitors from 83 countries attended thismajor global agriculture showcase lastyear in order to sell their products andattract new customers.

Almeria was an obvious inclusion inthe event with its agricultural strengthbetter known outside the country thanwithin. Almeria sells most of its prod-ucts to foreign markets with 70 per centof fruit and vegetable production export-ed.

AS a lorry loaded withtwo tons of Moroccanhashish was discoveredby French police, the gazeof the law has extended toAlmeria, where the truckis registered. Two Spanishcitizens were arrested inthe bust, as officers dis-covered vast amounts ofthe drug stashed amongwooden containers ofvegetables destined forcentral Europe.

The precise modusoperandi of the operationis unclear, although theorigin was certainly in theMoroccan Rif mountains,a fertile ground for hashproduction, and the desti-nation suspected to be theNetherlands. Authoritiesatavistically burn hashishand marihuana found inorganised police opera-tions, unleashing enor-mous billows of smokeinto the atmosphere.

Two tontruck

By Matthew Elliot

Child labour alivein films in Almeria

Sounds of the past

Transport totake priority

Mediterraneancoast symbol

SPECIAL permission is needed for children to work under 16

EXODUS: Was filmed in Almeria in 2013 by Ridley Scott.

Phot

o by

Dav

id L

uque

via

Wik

iped

ia


THE sports centre and indoor swimming poolin Huercal-Overa are set to benefit from thesupply of natural gas.

Redexis Gas and Huercal-Overa Councilhave reached an agreement for the companyto supply gas to the facilities which will re-sult in a cost saving of 35 per cent each year.

The gas supply will provide heating of thepool and buildings and the installation worksare due to begin next month.

The agreement forms part of a long-termproject to bring natural gas to the whole ofthe town, eventually rolling out to other mu-nicipalities in the province.

Redexis Gas is one of the largest gas sup-pliers in Spain and covers most of Andalucia.

THE new access tunnelat Garrucha port is ex-pected to open beforeEaster according to aJunta de Andalucia re-gional governmentspokesperson.

The tunnel has beenunder construction for anumber of years and de-lays have been attributedto the difficulty in cut-ting through hard mate-rials and the fact it is lo-cated so close to the sea.

The tunnel will diverttraffic from the publicaccess area to the portand will be welcomedby residents and busi-ness owners.

Dozens of trucks en-ter the port each day car-rying concrete and othermaterials from the manyquarries throughout theLevante area.

Tunnelaccessimproved

By Adele Land

Huercal-Overa iscooking on gasAGREEMENT forms part of a long-term project

HEATING UP: Municipal pool will be heated by the natural gas supply.

THE completion of the road-works between Garrucha andVera is a priority of the Junta deAndalucia regional govern-ment, according to a spokes-man.

Work on the A-1200 wassuspended in 2012 due to the

economic crisis and the tempo-rary road surface has deteriorat-ed in the past few years.

The project, which had abudget of some 11 million,was implemented to improvethe flow of traffic on the busyroad which links the coastal

area to the E15 motorway.Some two kilometres of the

road was completed leaving al-most five kilometres unfin-ished. Public works ministerFelipe Lopez said he expectedthe work to recommence beforethe end of the year.

Road works are expected to begin again this year

MORE than 400 youths fromAlmeria are currently takingpart in trials for possible ac-ceptance into the Ministry ofDefences military trainingprogrammes.

So far this year the ministryhas announced 1,500 placesare available at the San Fer-

nando and Caceres militaryacademies, and 376 men and45 women from AlmeriaProvince are hoping to obtainone of the coveted places.

Joining the armed forces isa popular option for youths asit provides them with an op-portunity to work and trainfor the future.

Requirements applicants

must meet include being agedbetween 18 and 29 and hav-ing successfully completedtheir secondary education.

The 421 Almeria applicantsare carrying out the initial se-lection exercises at a Granadaselection centre, and lists ofthose who will go to a secondand final selection phase willbe published on March 11.

A JURY has found two Maghrebi men guiltyof manslaughter for beating a Moroccan man,who died days after the attack, with a chainand throwing stones at him.

The victim, who was taken to Almerias Tor-recardenas hospital after the incident on May28 2013, died from multiple injuries to thehead and body on June 10 of the same year.

Public prosecutors have demanded eight

year jail sentences for the accused, who the ju-ry believed attacked their victim after a violentargument over money on a wasteground in Ni-jar.

Although the initial request was for 13-yearsentences, the prosecution reduced this as thevictim was considered able to defend himselfand the accused were believed to have beendrinking.


Army training apopular option

Two guilty of manslaughter

PROVIDES an opportunity to work and train for the future

By Eleanor Hawkins

THE Andalucian ombuds-man, Jesus Meaztu, has tak-en up the case of a group ofresidents of the La Caadade San Urbano distr ict ofAlmeria Ci ty, who havecomplained at the state of

Calle del Mar, which con-nects the area to the Univer-sity of Almeria.

Residents complain thatthere is no l ight ing, thestreet has no maintenance orcleaning service, and is be-coming overrun with plants,putting pedestrians at risk.

However, the city coun-ci l has s tated that for thet ime be ing the re a re noplans in place to work onthe street , as i t is outsidethe urban area, although itwi l l s tudy the ombuds-mans request once i t hasbeen received.


No plans to improve streetBy Eleanor Hawkins

ON May 23, 1889, the com-poser and glory of Almeriamusic Jose Padilla Sanchez,creator, among other works,of La Violetera, El Relicario,Valencia, and Relampaguito,and the anthems of Almeriaand the Virgen del Mar, wasborn in this house.

So goes the wording of anew plaque inaugurated on

Number 2 Gabriel Callejonstreet in the old town ofAlmeria, at a ceremonypresided over by the mayor ofAlmeria, Ramon Fernandez-Pacheco.

The composer enjoyedgreat fame in France as hecontributed songs to MoulinRouge, including Ca cestParis.

Famous son Rafa visitsacademyAS anticipation mounts overthe opening of the RafaNadal Academy in Cantoria,Almeria, rumoured to be inMay, the man himself paidthe town a visit saying: I amgoing to be very engagedwith it. We hope that it be-comes a world famous sportscentre.

By John Smith

THE market must be bad when aSwiss bank announces that it is tocut jobs, which is exactly whatCredit Suisse has done followingthe publication of its 2015 figures,

which show a loss of 2.3 billion,its first since 2008.

The bank blames substant ia lcharges which have arisen, includ-ing an enormous wri te off con-nected with a company i t tookover in 2000. Following the an-

nouncement, shares have fallen by9 per cent to their lowest levelsince 1992.

The biggest problem for theSwiss bank appears to be in its in-vestment banking business, whichit may withdraw from.

ZICA: To be renamed due to its similarity to the zika virus.

LONDON - FTSE 100 DOW JONES NASDAQ-0.12% -1.29% -3.44%CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 8

IBEX 35 -0.63%

WITH Abengoa debts of more than5 billion, a number of smaller com-panies owed money by the companyare badly affected as their cash flow iscausing short term difficulties.

They have banded together to re-quest that payment be made quicklyalthough a positive result is unlikely.

In the meantime, the company hasrequested that their subsidiaries in Ar-gentina be protected against debtclaims, whilst they negotiate termswith their bankers.

IT must be incredibly frus-trating for the teams of ex-perts, who spend weeks try-ing to decide a name for anew car which will appeal toall and not insult anyone.

This is probably best ex-emplified by the embarrass-ingly named Mitsubishi Pa-jero, which was fine in mostareas but didnt appeal to theSpanish market.

Now Indian car manufac-

turer Tata find themselveswith a double whammy,where their Tata ambassadorLionel Messi is to appear incourt charged with tax eva-sion, and their latest car theZica is going to have to berenamed because of its simi-larity to the Zika virus.

There will be a cost to therenaming, but the companyobviously feels that it will becommercially sensible.

Tata Motors latest carthe Zica will be renamed

Interestingtimes ahead AS the various parties meetwith PSOE leader PedroSanchez to thrash out termsfor their support, he is goingto inherit a difficult financialposition if he forms a gov-ernment.

Podemos have alreadysaid that they want to see apostponement of debt reduc-tion, whilst he has to remem-ber that the national deficit isalmost 100 per cent and theEuropean Commission be-lieves that the deficit is dueto get worse.

Yahoo cuts FAILING household nameand internet pioneer Ya-hoo is to lose 1,600 work-ers around the world.

It will close offices in anumber of cities includingMadrid, in an effort tohalt its colossal losseswhich amounted to justover 4 billion in 2015.

THE financial crisis has had a rather unex-pected effect on the quality of the food thatSpanish families have been purchasing.

Although some luxury markets are seeing a

steady growth, the cost of healthy foods suchas fish, oil and milk has generally increased,partly fueled by the fact that consumption hasfallen.

The cost of healthy foodshas increased in Spain

is the amount that Credit Suisseexpected to save by losing

4,000 staff and reviewing itsLondon operation.

Quote of the WeekThe important thing for the new government is to be realisticabout expectations and not to believe in utopia. Francisco

Gonzalez president of BBVA on the new Spanish government.

CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 8CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 8CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 8

800M

Abengoaupdate

PUBLICATION of the banks 2015 figures show a 2.3 billion loss

Credit Suisse to cut 4,000 jobs

BUSINESS EXTRA

Phot

o Cr

edit

Tata

Mot

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FINANCEbusiness & legal

31Costa de Almera EWN11 - 17 February 2016

A EURO WEEKLY NEWS 6 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION // WWW.EWNBUSINESS.COMSTAT OF WEEK 1.5 billion is the profit that Gas Natural Fenosa made in 2015, which is an increase of 2.7 per centover 2014 profits.

MMM 3M 153.47 +0.03 +0.02% 3.4MAXP American Express 53.98 -0.40 -0.74% 9.2MAAPL Apple 94.02 -2.58 -2.67% 46.4MBA Boeing 122.56 -1.05 -0.85% 6.2MCAT Caterpillar 66.12 +0.16 +0.24% 7.5MCVX Chevron 82.88 -1.91 -2.25% 15.1MCSCO Cisco 22.89 -0.65 -2.76% 32.6MKO Coca-Cola 42.44 -0.09 -0.21% 17.3MDIS Disney 93.90 -1.53 -1.60% 8.9MDD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co 58.89 -0.21 -0.36% 5.3MXOM Exxon Mobil 80.08 +0.25 +0.31% 26.7MGE General Electric 28.54 -0.64 -2.19% 52.0MGS Goldman Sachs 156.47 -0.02 -0.01% 4.6MHD Home Depot 116.43 -4.68 -3.86% 8.1MIBM IBM 128.57 +0.92 +0.72% 7.2MINTC Intel 29.04 -0.73 -2.45% 28.0MJNJ Johnson & Johnson 100.54 -3.36 -3.23% 15.5MJPM JPMorgan Chase 57.75 -0.65 -1.11% 22.0MMCD McDonald's 115.40 -5.26 -4.36% 13.3MMRK Merck 49.38 +0.79 +1.63% 16.9MMSFT Microsoft 50.16 -1.84 -3.54% 62.0MNKE Nike 57.17 -3.00 -4.99% 14.4MPFE Pfizer 29.03 +0.03 +0.10% 38.9MPG Procter & Gamble 81.20 +0.50 +0.62% 10.0MTRV Travelers Companies Inc 106.29 -1.20 -1.12% 2.8MUTX United Technologies 87.84 -0.28 -0.32% 5.2MUNH UnitedHealth 111.72 -2.48 -2.17% 3.3MVZ Verizon 50.97 +0.54 +1.07% 25.8MV Visa 71.54 -2.14 -2.90% 12.9MWMT Wal-Mart 67.00 +0.58 +0.87% 14.2M

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de AlmeriaEWN32 www.euroweeklynews.com

EWN34 FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera www.euroweeklynews.com

DESPITE the weakness ofthe Chinese economy, theworlds largest luxury goodscompany LVMH announcedrecord sales, which rose by16 per cent in 2015 to35.67 billion.

The company, whichowns a number of theworlds most prest igiousbrands including LouisVuitton and Christian Dior,said that trading in Francewas almost back to normal

after the attacks in Novem-ber.

Despi te the increase inrevenue, net profit at 3.57billion was just short of ex-pected target, but this didnot have an adverse effect

on its shares, which contin-ue to rise.

The company reportedstrong progress in Europe,the United States and Japan,which helped compensatefor lower sales in China.

Luxury goods company LVMHannounce record sales in 2015

LVMH: Own prestigious brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

Ofgem to investigate Age Uksgas and electricity promotions

By John Smith

A SHOCKING report by The Sunnewspaper in the UK suggests that acharity specifically set up to supportthose who are elderly, has been ben-efitting by promoting expensive gasand electricity tariffs in return forpayment by E.ON, and this is nowto be investigated by official bodyOfgem.

It appears that on its website thecharity recommends a particular tar-iff, but investigators suggest thiswas not the cheapest tariff offeredby the company, and those who fol-lowed the charitys advice couldhave been 245 (343) worse off in2015 than if they had taken E.ONscheapest rate.

Both par t ies have rejected theclaim although it does appear thatAge UK has received about 6 mil-

l ion (7.8 mil l ion) f rom thearrangement in commission.

E.ON, whilst admitting there wasa cheaper deal, explained that onewas a two-year deal, whilst the oth-er was a one-year deal only. Thecompany also said some people pre-ferred to fix the price for as long aspossible and that consumers couldalways switch deals at no additionalcost.

The fact remains, however, thatthe charity did appear to be recom-mending a deal that was not thecheapest to pensioners in return fora financial advantage, and this iswhy Ofgem will undertake an inves-tigation into their activities.

DUE to the amount ofnegative reaction com-ing from the generalpublic in Spain, the om-budsman has decided tolook at the actions beingtaken by banks to intro-duce charges for the useof ATM machines bynon-customers.

According to a royaldecree which becamelaw at the start of 2016,banks may pass oncharges they receivefrom the bank holdingthe account of a non-customer who uses oneof their machines.

Due to loose wordingin the law, some banksappear to be profi t ingfrom the charges andthis is what is to be in-vestigated with the pos-sibility of the law beingamended.

New bankchargeswill belooked into

CHARITY appeared to be recommending a deal that was not the cheapest

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35FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL EWN11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almerawww.euroweeklynews.com

By John Smith

THERE is no question that oil is pushingeconomies almost to breaking point at themoment, with the massive fall in wholesaleprices caused by the slowdown of the Chineseeconomy in particular.

Fears that Iran will flood the market has meantthat the mega rich economies, such as SaudiArabia and global oil companies are losingincome and shares continue to fall.

Even though petrol pump prices in Spainhavent really reflected the real fall in price,unlike the UK where prices have plummeted, theoil giants such as Repsol are writing off hugeamounts on their accounts, and this is alsoreflected in the number of job losses beingexperienced within the industry.

BP has suffered its worst losses in 20 years andis to cut 3,000 employees directly, plus a further4,000 people in third party jobs, and with anegative result for 2015 of 6 billion, there isdownturn of nearly 10 billion on the previousyear.

Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed it is cutting10,000 jobs amid its steepest fall in annual profits

for 13 years, although it still managed to make aprofit of 3.4 billion down from 17 billion theprevious year.

It is still pushing forward with the takeover ofthe BG exploration group at a cost of 47 billion,which it intends to fund in part by the sale of

assets. However, investors are now questioningwhether this is a prudent investment with the all-time low in oil prices.

Fall in oil prices continues to pusheconomies closer to breaking point

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL: Company has confirmed they will cut 10,000 jobs after a steep fall in profit.

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HOW refreshing it was to tune into Sky newsthis week and be confronted by the two bubblyblack presenters, Philip Butah and GillianJoseph.

These two young people, at the top of theirchosen profession, are both articulate and en-tertaining. What a wonderful example to thehordes of other young blacks, who constantlyblame the reason for their lack of success orfailures in life on the colour of their skin.

Well, Im sorry, but cause Im black simplydoesnt hack it any more. Even when manyblack people actually are successful, they stillcomplain about racist bias.

Prime examples of this antiquated attitudewere the actors involved in the recent Oscars.Whinging and moaning, these extremelywealthy and spoiled divas queued up to com-plain that there werent enough black actors in-cluded in the nominations this year. They

blamed the Academy and its members of os-tracising black people on purpose. What a loadof complete codswallop. For heavens sake thepresident of the Academy is himself black!

The true problem this year was there wereno black performers or movies that merited anaward. You cant base an award on the colourof someones skin.

This is the type of reverse racism that stirsup all the trouble in the first place. If, as wassuggested, there were not enough scripts avail-able for black performers, for goodness sakeget your heads down and write some.

There are a whole multitude of talentedblack script writers and authors out there. Itsup to them to even up the balance, if indeed anunbalance even exists.

For Gods sake grow up all of you. Just castyour mind over the black success rate of thepast few generations. The finest athletes in theworld. The world top racing driver. The highestpaid TV personality in history. The finest fe-male tennis players. A golfing number one.The list goes on and on, right up to the presi-dent of the USA himself.

Talent, perseverance and luck are the differ-

ences between failure andsuccess, not the patheticexcuse of colour.

Keep the faithLove Leapy

[email protected]

How refreshing

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT

OTHERS THINK IT

YOU cant blame a lack of success on skin colour

BARACK OBAMA: The list goes on, right up to the president of the USA himself.

OPINION & COMMENT EWN11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera 37www.euroweeklynews.com

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JANUARY has been a particularly im-portant month for women and the debateconcerning the transition of payment ofpensions so that women qualify at thesame age as men.

In theory, with the call for overallequality this does not appear to be totallyunreasonable and with the governmentdesperate to save as much money aspossible, the 30 billion due to be savedis certainly not to be ignored.

The difficulty, however, as has beenhighlighted in two debates in the Houseof Commons and in a public meeting, isthat of fairness.

It was as early as 1995 that the thenLabour government decided to look tobring retirement ages for men andwomen in line but - and this is a veryimportant but - it was explained thatthere should be a transition period of 15years in order to allow women to makeprovisions so they were aware that they

would not receive a pension at 60, butwould either have to work longer ormake additional private arrangements.

This also seems perfectly reasonable,except that critics have argued the 1995decision was not properly explained tothe women affected and it was only asrecently as 2010 that some (but not all)

women were written to and advised thattheir retirement age had increased.

Thus, they may only have had a fewyears notice which would be insufficientto allow them to buy additional pen-sions, even if they could afford them andeven by working longer, they may nothave paid sufficient national insurance

contributions to qualify for the fullamount in any case.

This particularly affects women bornbetween October 6, 1953 and April 5,1955 who have seen their retirementages shoot up.

I speak with some bias as my wifewas born on October 10 1953 and there-fore wont be able to claim a pension un-til she is 64 and eight months, but to addto her problem, she worked for a num-ber of years for the government inGibraltar where their pension age is 60.However because she worked for moreyears in the UK than Gibraltar, they arewithholding her pension until she reach-es retirement age in Britain.

One of the often used arguments formoving pension ages is that women livelonger than men, but recent figures haveshown the opposite with the average agefor men catching up with women.

This is a very complicated yet impor-tant matter which the British govern-ment appears disinclined to doing any-thing about, but for those who areinterested on how it may affect you,then there is a very strong pres-sure group, Women Against StatePension Inequality (WASPI) whichhas its own Facebook page.

I HAVE just been readingabout Englands most haunt-ed houses, but I can neverreally make up my mindabout ghoulies and ghostiesand all that hobgoblinystuff.

The only thing that goesbump in the night at myhouse is me trying to get tothe bathroom and walkinginto the door.

You hear of spooky ac-counts and watch TV docu-mentaries, and its certainlyenough to get you thinking,but its like UFOs - loads ofrespectable witnesses andgrainy pictures, but nothingthat quite leaves you con-vinced.

Surely there should havebeen at least one profession-al photographer armed with

the latest Pentax who hadmanaged to whirr off a loadof world class snaps by now.

This would leave nobodyin any doubt whatsoeverthat there are spectral fig-ures whooo-hoooing up dark

corridors or little grey men(they used to be green)whizzing around up there,but doing a darn good job ofavoiding us.

There are always excusesfor those iffy pics - ghosts

have no substance so cannotbe photographed; UFOs arepowered electromagnetical-ly and so interfere with . . .stuff.

Well whatever. Nevertheless a school

friend and I did actually seea genuine UFO many yearsago. It wasnt so much aflying saucer than a flyingellipsoid, and an ellipse aswe all know is a closedsymmetric curve that seemsto cut the surface of a coneby an oblique plane to thesymmetry axis angle,greater than the curve withrespect to the axis of revolu-tion.

Wikipedias great isnt it. But okay it was cigar-

shaped.The thing is we both got a

good look at the object, al-though our parents did notbelieve a word of it becausewe were only 11 at the time.

Mum, Dad, weve justseen a space ship!

Thats nice dear, nowclean your teeth and get tobed, its school tomorrow.

But Muuum...Bed!Perhaps they have walked

among us for years dis-guised as our mothers? Itwould explain the curlers.

Is there anybody out there?LOADS of witnesses and grainy pictures, but nothing that leaves you convinced

Womens pensions are in the newsONE often used argument for moving pension ages is that women live longer than men

HAUNTED HOUSES: Surely someone should have taken a decent photo of theghosts by now?

OPINION & COMMENTEWN38

ITS all rather a lot to takein, especially as anythoughts about what wouldhappen if Britain leaves theEU can only be speculation.

Football teams dont gen-erally turn up for a matchassuming they are going tolose (unless perhaps theyare David Camerons teamAston Villa), and the sameis true for politicians.

We dont even know ifthe concepts agreed be-tween the prime ministerand Donald Tusk will be ac-cepted by the other mem-bers of the Union, whichmeans in turn there is noguarantee that he or theconservative party will berecommending a yes vote.

The latest opinion pollsstate that 45 per cent ofthose asked are in favour ofleaving, but it has to be re-membered that they got theforecast completely wrongat the last elections, andhave recently revealed thereason for this was that theyhad asked the wrong peo-ple. In the infamous wordsof Homer Simpson, Doh!

The reality is that whilstwe may all have opinionson what could happen, noone can definitively statewhat the result will be. Onething which is fairly certain,however, is that its not go-ing to be the end of theworld and is likely to occurmore with a whimper than abang.

There may be 28 mem-bers of the EU at the mo-ment, but countries such asNorway and Switzerlandseem to get along relativelywell outside of the Union,without having to queue upat borders as third world cit-izens.

www.euroweeklynews.com

YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION

Now we want to

hear your views.

What willthe result be?

OUR VIEW

www.euroweeklynews.com11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera

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IAIN DUNCAN SMITH: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

John SmithRandomthoughts...

EU: Leaving will not bethe end of the world.

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Colin BirdA weekly look

Each week, Colin brings his slightly off-the-wall view of the world to the pages of EWNin his own irreverent style.

OPINION & COMMENT EWN11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera 43www.euroweeklynews.com

PEDRO SANCHEZ accepted thekings challenge of forming agovernment, and looks increas-ingly like a survivor.

Not of the political situationbut the PSOE hierarchy, whichstill resents that party memberschose Sanchez, not the grandees.

If he can survive that, he mighteven survive an investiture.

Setting a royalexampleTHE Infanta Cristina, daughter ofKing Juan Carlos, sister of KingFelipe and wife of the no-longerDuke of Palma de Mallorca, might

or might not have known abouther husbands business interests.

She might or might not haveknown that he was siphoning offpublic money to Aizoon, the com-pany which she co-owned withhim.

But Cristina and her defenceteam are 100 per cent correct aboutone thing: she is in her current sit-uation because of who she is.

Even staunch republicans ap-preciate that there are many pub-lic, political and sporting figures,heaven forbid we should mentionMessi or Neymar, alleged to havecommitted worse fiscal crimes.

Spains judicial system mightbe demonstrating that it is impar-tial in pursuing Cristina, but ithas also revealed itself as selec-tive.

Cassandra NashA weekly look- and not entirely impartial reaction - to the Spanish political scene

Waving, not drowning PEDRO SANCHEZ has accepted the kings challenge of forming a new government

Workers satisfactionIT came as no surprise that unemployment rose in January, becauseit always does once the December feeding and shopping frenzy sub-sides.

If the worst comes to the worst, and there is another election be-cause Pedro Sanchez cant form a government, Mariano Rajoy willstill bang on about the employment his government created, seasonalsetbacks notwithstanding.

But as workers on temporary contracts or those working full-timeon ostensibly part-time contracts know, those jobs look good on pa-per, but amount to precious little in their pockets.

PSOE LEADER: Has the task of forming a new government.

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GOOD morning Leapy,Having just read your article on

immigration I couldnt agree more. Imoved to Benalmadena Pueblo near-ly a year ago to escape the constantbarrage of immigration horror sto-ries we are inundated with, murder,Daesh, and God knows what.

It plays on your mind and is veryunsettling. Our government havecompletely underestimated the hugeinflux of foreign migration and thebreeding they also produce. Anarchyon the streets of the UK is coming,sooner rather than later tensions willbreak.

I am more than happy to now bein my own world in Spain, I feelsafe. As a former commuter to Lon-don from Brighton I certainlywouldnt now, its terrible to feelthat way.

In some parts of London sharialaw signs adorn lamp posts. Why isthat allowed??? I ran a Bentleygarage in Kensington. We put an ad-vertisement up and were written toand made to remove it by Kensing-ton Council with an enforcement no-tice.

Our idiotic government are tooscared to oppose these people. Andnow its way too late to save it. Ifear for the UK now, it is already aMuslim state. The only people thatdont see it are the ones in power intheir millionaire world.

Keep up the good work, morepeople should say what they think.

Russ,Benalmadena.

Referenduminformation

DEAR team,First may I say how much I enjoy

your newspaper. It is very well writ-ten, with lots of news and views. I al-ways look forward to its arrival herein Arboleas.

I have a question. Have you everwritten about how an OUT of Europeresult from the referendum would af-fect all of us expats? If not, I wouldgreatly appreciate some informationabout it. I am particularly concernedabout the health aspect. I am sure thatthis information will be very useful to

many of your readers.If you are not planning any editori-

al coverage in the near future, canyou advise me where I should go todiscover this information for myself?

Many thanks and keep up the ster-ling work.

With kind regards,Adrienne Winmill, Arboleas.

EWN says: Please see this weeksOur View column for our thoughtson this matter. We will continue toinvestigate and keep our readersinformed as and when more infor-mation becomes available.

Fear for thefuture

DEAR Leapy,I have read your articles many

times and always enjoy them. Youtalk so much common sense and saywhat so many people feel. You arereally honest and clearly could neverbecome a politician.

I reckon you would get a littlefrustrated if you worked in parlia-ment every day.

Like so many others I feel so frus-

trated about the way things are andfear for the future, not for myself butfor my children and grandchildren.

I am a member of UKIP and be-lieve the expat newspapers andpoliticians will try to make expatsfeel they must vote to stay in theEU.

There will be a scare campaign toconvince pensioners they will losetheir healthcare and all will losetheir rights to stay here.

Surely Spain will not wish to losetheir British expats who contributeso much financially. And Britainwill not want hundreds of thousands

of pensioners returning to the UK,with dire consequences for thehealth service.

I do hope that you can givecounter arguments if a scare cam-paign develops.

I know you will give a fair andbalanced argument.

Yours sincerely,Brian Egan,

between Orihuela and Torrevieja.

Little ArrowsDEAR Mr Lee,I am sure that I am not the only

one who loves (and still do) yoursong Little Arrows. It has specialmeaning to me.

My Dad would play your song onour record player as he worked onremodelling my sisters bedroomand mine.

My Dad passed away in 1999, andI still hear your song whenever I gointo my room. I now live in my par-ents home and the song still ringsout.

Thank you for a most memorablesong and may God continue to blessyou.

Yours very truly,Bob Kious

Mattoon, IL.

Cyclist menaceDEAR Sir,I wish to congratulate Mrs Linda

Hall for her article last week on thecyclists on the road who are training.

It is a real scandal the way theyput the traffic in danger.

My experience is on the roadMoraira-Benitachell.

Kind regards,Permeke,

Benitachell.

The views expressed and opinions given in Letters are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements, and reject claimsarising out of any action that a company or individual may take on the basis of information contained therein.

LETTERS Letters for Your Say should be emailed to [email protected] or make your comments straight on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com

All letters, whether by email or post,should carry the writers postal address,

NIE and contact number though only thename and town will be published.

Letters may also be edited. Readers who have missed earlier corre-

spondence can see all letters posted on:

www.euroweeklynews.com

Photographs for possible publication should be sent by email with a full caption to: [email protected]

WHEN YOU WRITE

YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION

Leapy, having just read yourarticle I couldnt agree more

A horrifying find

OPINION & COMMENTEWN44 www.euroweeklynews.com11 - 17 February 2016 / Costa de Almera

MY partner and I often walk our dogs along the banks of the Guadalmansa River, a local beautyspot popular with hikers and cyclists near Cancelada, Estepona.

On Saturday we were dismayed and horrified to discover that a large pile of rubbish and unwantedhousehold items including a childs pushchair and a sofa, had been dumped at the popular picnic and barbecuearea.

I searched the rubbish in vain to find anything that could identify the culprits. Fly-tipping is a problem in manylocal scenic spots and I hope the public will help identify and track down people who behave in such an anti-socialway.

There are many ways in which people can dispose of unwanted items within the law, and without spoiling peo-ples enjoyment of the countryside. They can contact their town hall for information.

Mary Page, Estepona

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