WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM6 - 12 FEBRUARY 2014ISSUE NO. 1492

Falling numbersTHE registered populationof the Balearic Islands hasfallen by 17,200 people inthe past 18 months,according to local townhalls. This includes nativesand foreign residents.

Coke strikeNINETY per cent of thestaff at the Coca-Colabottling plant in Palma hasbacked temporary strikes,according to union UGT, inresponse to plans to closethe plant. An indefinitestrike is planned fromMonday.

FRONT EXTRAEWN

EWNGETS IT.com

SPAIN’S Princess Cristina is due toappear in court in Palma onSaturday for her supposed financialcrimes in the Noos case.

The alleged infractions are relatedto the money laundering andmismanagement of funds connectedto her husband, Iñanki Urdangarin,Duke of Palma de Mallorca.

Urdangarin was first implicated inNovember 2011 for diverting up to€5.8 million of public funds forpersonal benefit.

Now Princess Cristina has beensummoned to appear in the PalmaProvincial Court to confirm her direct

corroboration in her husband’sfinancial activities.

She will do so under strictsecurity enforcement, and willpresumably arrive at the court bycar.

Palma’s senior judge FranciscoMartinez Espinosa has authorisedher arrival by car strictly forreasons of security.

The judge assured that he hadnot received any request orinstruction from the royal familybut had only received the policereport with its advice on thesecurity measures needed.

Princess Cristina incourt on Saturday

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NEWSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com2

THIS WEEK IN

EWNNews1 - 14

Finance15 - 20

Letters21

Daily TV22

Leapy Lee26

Time out32 - 33

Classifieds43 - 45

Sport48

A DOG which hadreportedly killed dozens ofsheep in Calvia since 2012has been taken to themunicipal pound.

The local town hall hasconfirmed the dog, fromthe Pou Redo property in saPorrassa, Magaluf, whichhas allegedly killed dozens

of sheep and lambs, hasbeen captured, followingdemands from the ownersof farms in the area.

The farmers hadcomplained that althoughthey identified the owner ofthe dog and reported thecase to the town hall,nothing had been done.

One of the farmersreported the first incidentback in December 2012when he lost almost 40sheep. He has taken thecase to court and theowner has been sentencedto pay him compensation atthe rate of €2 per day fortwo months.

‘Killer’ dog nowbehind bars

NOW SAFE: The dog has reportedly killed dozens of sheep since 2012.

EW EuropeanParliament winelabelling rules meanthat only sangria

made in Spain and Portugal willbe allowed to be sold under thename.

Companies in other countrieswanting to sell similar productsnow have a year to change thenames to ‘aromatised wine-based drink’ when labellingthem.

They will have to clearly labelwhere their variety of the drinkis made.

The same rules apply to‘sangria blanca’, the white wine

version, also known as ‘clarea’.The name ‘sangria’ comes from‘sangre’ meaning ‘blood’,because of its colours.

The rule changes have beenwarmly welcomed by Spain’sWine Federation (FEV).

Sangria, very popular withSpaniards and tourists alike, isnormally made with wine,chopped fruit, especiallyoranges and lemons, andsweetener. Spirits like brandycan also be added, but forsome this would make it a‘zurra’.

However, there is nostandard recipe and sangria

can be made to taste.Lemonade or soda is oftenadded to make the drink lighterand in Cataluña, a variety ismade with cava.

The fruit is cut into thin slicesor small cubes then mixed inwith the wine, sweetener and,if used, the spirit.

After several hours to allowfor the fruit flavours to blendwith the rest of the ingredients,the ice and any last-minuteingredients are added.

It is frequently served inrestaurants in one-litre pitchersfor families to enjoy with theirmeal.

Home rescueA MAN was rescued after 20hours trapped under fallenfurniture in his flat in Palma.The alarm was raised when hefailed to go to work.

Underground fireFIREFIGHTERS put out ablaze in an undergroundgarage in the Rafal Vellneighbourhood in Palma. Thefire apparently was started ina tyre next to a shed andaffected a nearby car.

Top bossesWHOLESALER Mercapalmahas been recognised for itsexcellence in management bythe European Foundation forManagement Quality. Theaward is given for excellencein leadership, development,training and constantimprovement.

Death crashA MAN was sentenced to twoand a half years for drunkdriving on the Valldemossaroad resulting in a 61-year-oldwoman’s death. The man’sblood alcohol level was fourtimes the legal limit.

Fatal escapeA HERD of pigs that escapedfrom a nearby farm outsideSant Llorens caused a car toroll over after running themover and killing them. Thedriver was taken to hospital.

White weddingA YOUNG Mallorcan couplecelebrated their wedding at 10degrees below zero aswinners of a once-in-a-lifetimeprize from Ron Brugal rum.They chose Panticosa skiresort in Huesca as theirchosen location.

Marihuana ringFIVE more individuals havebeen arrested as part of amarihuana trafficking networkin Palma. Guardia Civilconfiscated almost 1,100plants having already arrestedtwo of the group’s leaders inColl d’en Rabassa.

TWO young men, 23 and 22, have been accused of themurder of an Italian tourist. The homicide was originallythought to have been an accident or suicide.

The victim, Martina Rossi age 20, died in August 2011in Palma after falling from the sixth floor of the SantaAna hotel in Cala Major where she was holidaying.

National Police said it was an accident but Rossi’sfamily was suspicious of the official story and hired alawyer. Rossi’s home town ofGenoa opened its own

investigation in 2012 which revealed Rossi was fleeingattempted rape by two individuals, both also Italian,whom she had met while on holiday in Mallorca. Itstated she fell trying to escape to theadjoining balcony.

The two men, nativesof Tuscany, areaccused ofhomicide andsexual assault .

And finally...THE investigation into the death of threemembers of the same family in Alcala deGuadaira, Sevilla, in December, has ruled thatthey inhaled a poisonous gas emitted when lidsfrom pesticide containers stored in theirbathroom came into contact with water.

You should shut up or recognise people’sachievements’ Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy referring to AlfredoPerez Rubalcaba, Secretary General of theopposition Socialist party. He responded: “Iwon’t shut up. I demand explanations.”

new speed traps costing €1.1 million havebeen bought by the General Traffic

Department. The speed traps will control the speedof vehicles from fixed structures as well as fromvehicles which can be placed in different locationswhen required.

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NEWS 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 3EWN

ewswatchN

Quote of the Week

Death fall ‘was murder’Motorcycle

smashTHREE people were injured inAriany on the Petra-SantaMargalida road in amotorcycle accident, oneseriously. Their motorcyclescollided and police areinvestigating how theaccident could have involvedall three of them.

Hard workLOCAL fishermen brought inlarger catches in 2013 butmade less money doing so.More expensive catches, likeprawns and other shellfish,are becoming less popular inthe current market.

Heart healthCARDIAC and circulatorydiseases have been namedthe principal cause of deathin 2012 in the Balearics bythe National Institute ofStatistics (INE). The overallmortality rate in theBalearics, however, wasbelow the national average.

Unwanted adsPRO-INDEPENDENCE poli-tical party MES has accusedthe Palma government offailing to eliminate excessunwanted signs andadvertisements in Palma’s oldcity. They complain that thesigns “deface the characterand attractiveness of Palma.”

Smart placeTHE Cloud Destinationconsortium, formed from 11Mallorcan companies, hassigned an agreement withthe Manacor governmentfor the promotion of theCalas de Mallorca as a pilot‘smart destination.’

‘Number of the week

NCheers for the sangria

SANGRIA: Popular with Spaniards and tourists alike.

NEWSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com4

Armed hold-upA 46-YEAR-OLD man wasarrested for holding up apetrol station in Port dePollensa with a sawn-offgun. He ran away after therobbery but was found byGuardia Civil shortly after.

Mill restorationTHE historic mill of saPlaneta in Andratx is set toreceive its new cover withthe help of the Mallorcaisland government. Themill dates back to 1784and is a popular touristattraction.

Positive signsUNEMPLOYMENT num-bers are down 0.53 percent in Baleares from lastmonth, according to SOIB(Balears EmploymentServices). Baleares hadthe only redundancydecrease, with otherregions averaging a 2.41per cent increase.

NEWS EXTRA Macheteattack onpoultry AN Austrian man, 30, wasarrested in Alaro, after heallegedly killed poultry witha machete and attemptedto attack his wife anddaughter, aged two.

According to the GuardiaCivil, he arrived at his homeon the outskirts of the townapparently drunk or underthe influence of somesubstance.

A violent row broke outbetween the couple in frontof their daughter, hethreatened them andgrabbed two machetes. Hehid one and took the otherto the pen where they keptpoultry. He began cuttingthe throats of chickens,ducks and other birds.

The woman lockedherself inside the housewith her daughter andalerted the police. WhenGuardia Civil arrived theyfound the man covered inblood with a machete.

BRITISH superstar cyclist SirBradley Wiggins is getting readyfor the 23rd Iberostar Challengecycling competition to start onSunday in Mallorca.

The 2012 Tour de France cyclingrace winner, and multi Olympicsgold medal winner, was spotted

training on the Bay of Pollensawith the Sky Team, to which hehas belonged since 2010.

The team has been making thefinal preparations to thecompetition from their establishedbase in Alcudia.

The Iberostar Challenge marks

the start of the European seasonfor the team, which is nowentering its fifth season on theroad.

Also known as the ‘Vuelta aMallorca,’ the cycling competitionhas been held in early February inMallorca for 22 years now.

Sir Bradley Wigginspedals into Mallorca

Phoe

nix

Med

ia

HARD TRAINING: Sir Bradley Wiggins (front right) and Team Sky’s lead sprinter, Norwegian Edvald.

NEWSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com6

Fatal racing THE lone survivor of a fatalcar accident that killed twoin Palma admitted thecrash resulted from racinganother vehicle. The carhit a concrete bench athigh speed and burst intoflames, killing the othertwo occupants.

Elderly bugAT least 40 residents ofSARquavitae carehome in Costa d’enBlanes in Calvia havesuffered from a viruscausing diarrhoea andvomiting. The source ofthe virus is unknown.

Passengers upBALEARIA FERRIEStransported more than 1.2million passengers withinBaleares and back andforth from the Spanishmainland in 2013, a 12 percent increase from theyear prior.

NEWS EXTRA

INFORMATION on morethan 300 businesses andtourist sites in Palma’s oldcity will be available elec-tronically to the public ontheir phones on a new app.

The app can bedownloaded free fromwww.palmashoppingguide.com, a website designed topromote small business inthe heart of the city.

Restaurants, tourist sites,leisure and special culturalspots are all highlighted onthe site with photos,descriptions, locations,comments and ratings.

The smartphone app isdesigned to increase localcommerce by making newand old sites alike availableand appealing to youngergenerations.

For more information onhow to participate contactemployment managementcompanies Afedeco andPimeco.

New appfor Palmaold city

THE jury in the case of eight-year-old girl Ainhoa who died at hermother’s hands has made theirstance against her killers public.

The eight-year-old girl’s motherand her boyfriend were jailed for12-and-a-half years and 10 yearsrespectively over the death.

The jury stated: “We unanimouslyreject the possibility of any partial ortotal pardon of the punishmentimposed on the accused, given the

extreme seriousness of thejudged acts.”

The couple received areduced sentence througha plea bargain with thepublic prosecutor whowithdrew allegations ofregular abuse andattempted sexual assault.

The latest in the Ainhoacase is that the girl’sfather has stepped forwardto receive monetarydamages, in this case up to€500,000.

The father had hadminimal contact withAinhoa over the last sixyears.

On the other hand, thegirl’s grandmother, withwhom she had been living,has refused any monetarycompensation.

Jury ‘no clemency’for killers of girl, 8

THREE people wereinjured when a boat at thes’Estanyol sailing club inLlucmajor caught fire.

Health officials reportedthat two of the victimssuffered burns, one a 31-year-old woman who wastaken away for treatmentand another who wastreated on the spot. Thethird, a 51-year-old man,suffered smoke inhalation.

The eight-metre boatwas tied up when itsuddenly caught fire andwas enveloped in flamesin a matter of seconds.

Firefighters, ambulan-ces, the Coast Guard

agency SalvamentoMaritimo, Guardia Civiland Llucmajor Local Policeall went to the scene.

The boat was towedclear so as to avoid setting

other vessels nearby onfire. Firefighters foughtthe flames for hours andSalvamento Maritimo saidthere was no residualcontamination.

Three injured in boat blaze

BOAT FIRE: Firefighters put out dangerous flames.

NEWS 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 7EWN

THE proposed Redexis gas pipeline willavoid passing through the rural protectedarea of Establiments, in accordance withthe Balearic Environmental Commission’srequests. The project was initially drawn upby Endesa Gas, which later sold its rights in

the project to Redexis Gas in December.The Commission demanded the gas

company rework the plan so that thepipeline was laid alongside the Soller road,linking the central road of Son Reus withthe Cami dels Reis and Can Valero.

The Commission also noted thiswould keep the pipeline on publicland without affecting privateproperty while also avoidingprotected natural parks.

Among others, technicians fromthe Environmental Commissionlisted protection of coastal forests,open spaces, rural spaces, fire-prone areas and protection ofseveral endangered local faunaspecies among its reasons forrejecting the initial pipeline plan.

After three years of residentopposition to the initial project, thatincluded a petition of 1,800signatures, the latest edition of theEstabliments residents’ news-paper proclaimed an ‘importantvictory’ for the quality of life ofresidents in the village adjoiningrural Esporles.

Pipeline to bypassEstabliments area

Five years jail forattempted murderA MAN who stabbed another with a boxcutter has been jailed for five years forattempted murder.

A Palma court sentenced the 33-year-oldman after hearing how he had entered theEs Tres Germans bar on Las Avenidas dePalma, then stabbed the man behind thebar multiple times.

The victim fled to the street pursued byhis attacker who continued to stab himbefore the utility knife fell and was kickedout of reach by a passer-by.

On top of the five year sentence, he alsohas to pay the victim €1,000 and is prohibitedfrom contact with him for 10 years.

LAST Sunday markedtwo months sinceteenager Malen Ortizwent missing from herhome in Calvia.

Guardia Civil are stillworking to find the 15-year-old, of whom thereis still no news. She waslast seen heading to herboyfriend’s home in SonFerrer.

She was wearing pinkshoes, a checked shirt,blue denim jacket, torn

trousers and carrying abright green skateboard.

The search operationwas suspended onTuesday to focus on newlines of investigation,Guardia Civil said.

These include thesearch of an abandonedhouse in the Sa Porrasaarea, in Calvia.

During the first monthsince her disappearance,up to 80 peopleincluding Guardia Civil,Local Police and Civil

Protection helped searchfor Malen, but to noavail.

Now investigators arefocusing on twopossibilities that couldexplain Malen’s absence:

escape or abduction.Even though at first it

was believed the girlcould have willingly lefther home, new evidencemade the authoritiesbelieve she could havebeen kidnapped.

In the meantime,Malen’s parents havecalled several times forhelp to find theirdaughter.

They have bothappeared on mediatelling their missingdaughter’s story and,above all, desperatelyasking that the searchfor Malen is not stopped.

NEWSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com8

Archaeologicalmuseum project

FELANITX town has presented a project to builda museum next to the Des Clossos de Can Gaiaarchaeological site in the Portocolom area.

It has been drawn up by the Balearic IslandsUniversity (UIB) archaeologist David Javaloyaswith the aim of showcasing the town’s culturalheritage.

However, there’s still no date to start the work,let alone a budget.

The project comprises the building of threeareas, each with a different objective.

The first one would be an introductory area tointroduce visitors to the museum.

It would be followed by an area where childrencould learn while playing.

The third area would be where a prehistoriccave would be reproduced.

Two months and stillno trace of Malen

TWO men have beenarrested for allegedlysending a parcelcontaining 100 kilos ofhashish to Palma fromValencia.

The drug was found byNational Police andGuardia Civil during ajoint operation.

They intercepted apackage that had been

sent to Mallorca through ashipping company.

When they checked itthey found it contained100 kilos of hashish.

The arrested, based onthe mainland, hadtravelled to Mallorca totake charge of the drugs.

The authorities believethey belong to a drugtrafficking gang thatwould be smugglingdrugs into Mallorca fromthe mainland.

They would do so bysending parcels throughdifferent logisticscompanies.

Two arrested in Palma for sending drug parcels

MALEN ORTIZ:Disappeared in Calviaon December 2.

THE project to bring a second casino toMallorca has been halted only weeks afterthe regional government refused a petitionfor its temporary suspension.

Palma City Council has refused to grant alicence to the developer that won the publictender to build a casino in the TeatroBalear. It claims the project doesn’t complywith three points of the by-law regulatingthe city’s old town.

These are related to the maximum sizeof commercial establishments, theobligation of having a car park within the

establishment site, and not being next topeople’s homes. The council also claimedthe project doesn’t comply with theopening times regulation.

The Deputy Mayor of Palma, Jesus Valls,rejected any possible modification in thecity’s regulations.

He claimed the council is acting for thegeneral interest of Palma residents, andthat it cannot ‘legislate à la carte.’

Valls also pointed out that the city councilrefused to grant the same developer alicence to extend the premises in 1999.

Second casino drama

NEWS 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 9EWN

FOUR of the island’sprimary employers haverejected the idea of oildrilling surveys.

Various petrolcompanies are seekingdrilling rights in theBalearic Mediterraneanbut face an uphill climbwith both government andthe private sectorseemingly opposed.

Afedeco, Asaja, Pimenand FEHM have expressedthe fear of tourism, theisland’s bread and butter,being negatively affected.

A joint statement fromthree of the abovecompanies stated thatthey “stand for responsibleand sustainable tourism,keeping in mind that theprimary economic Balearicmaterial is none otherthan the scenery, ournatural spaces and thequality of the environ-ment.”

They indicated that“simply the mention of oilsurveys and prospecting isa grave mistake by whichthe image and brand‘Baleares’ is harmed.”

They called on theSpanish government toput an end to any suchinitiatives.

Call foran endto oildrilling

THE Red Cross in the Balearics hascelebrated its 140th anniversary.

President Jose Ramon Bauza and manyother government and society notableswere in attendance at the solemn eventheld at the great hall in the Escola deHoteleria on the UIB campus. Part of theevents included paying homage to thededicated volunteers of the Red Cross

organisation and also sharing the principlesof the Red Cross with all those present.

Red Cross Gold Medals were given to theCongregation of the Franciscan Daughtersof Mercy and posthumously to AnaFrancisca Bucher. Other medals ofrecognition were also handed out. Thedistinguished event ended with an addressfrom President Bauza.

140 years for Red Cross

THE conservative PartidoPopular (PP) has sufferedanother act of vandalism,this time over the issue ofabortion.

The site of the latestincident was PP head-quarters in Inca. PPgeneral secretary MiquelVidal has condemnedthese ‘acts of vandalism’which were conducted byArran, a young leftist pro-Catalan independenceorganisation.

The organisation is alsopro-feminist. The Incaheadquarters facade waspainted green with amessage stating ‘abortionfree’ next to theorganisation’s signature.

Secretary Vidallamented that Arran hasrepeated its vandalismagainst the PP, as this isnot the first time that PPheadquarters have

‘suffered an attack fromthis independence group.’

In the case of the Incaoffices, it is the fourthtime in a year, thoughVidal claims that theperpetrators of pastincidents in Inca areunknown.

“The majority of us donot accept this as a formof expression… Thankfullynot all of us share thesame idea of ademocracy,” Vidalinsisted. He stated thatthe act has been reportedto the Guardia Civil.

Graffiti vandalismat PP’s Inca HQ

ARRAN: Opposition shown by graffiti at PP Incaheadquarters.

THREE people have been arrested byNational Police for crimes of violatingworkers’ rights. The first was the co-owner and administrator of a

restaurant industry-related business inPalma; the other two his assistants.

The owner is accused of abusingworkers’ rights, falsifying documents,

embezzlement and threats. The same businessman was also

arrested a few years ago for hisinvolvement in the illegal labour

conditions of 40 foreignworkers.

Police were alerted by anemployee who statedvarious employees of thesame chain of Palmarestaurants were havingtheir labour rights violated.

National Police along withLabour Inspection foundsome of these employees -the majority of whom areLatin American - wereunder training contractsaffording them significantlyfewer benefits whilerequiring the same work assomeone with a normal,full-time contract.

Employees worked nightsand weekends without thebenefit of any trainingwhatsoever, in addition toworking extra hours wellbeyond the legal limit, andwithout compensation.

The restaurants also setup a system of fines whereworkers were withheld theirown tips for things likebroken glasses or arriving afew minutes late.

Police verified companypersonnel used falsestamps in claiming to paylocal taxes and socialsecurity payments thatwere not actually paid.

NEWSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com10

Restaurant boss and two assistantsarrested for workers’ rights abuses

LOCAL associations working in animalprotection suspect there are inflatedcosts behind animal control measures,especially with cats.

A Baldea representative stated thatCEPAD (Centre for the Protection ofDomestic Animals) charges the localgovernment €150 for each cat that isput down and cremated, which itviews as excessive. Baldea hascountered with a cat sterilisationcampaign where each city or townfrom which cats are brought in pays€20 for each male neutered and €30for each female cat spayed.

The Marratxi Council has signed up,as have many area vets who will carry

out the procedures. The Baldeaspokeswoman said the sterilisationroute “is a much cheaper procedureand animals do not have to be killed.”

Both Baldea and the Animalista deles Illes Balears, another animalprotection association, claimed that“controlled cat populations do notpose a risk, quite the contrary, theyactually form an important part of anurban ecosystem.” They also said thatcontrolled cat populations are not athreat to other local species.

OVERPRICED CONTROL: Spayingand neutering cats is cheaperthan putting them down.

Inflated costs of citycat population control

Top destinationHOLIDAY property websiteVacacionesenEspaña.es has placedNerja as one of the top touristdestinations in Spain for Europeanholidaymakers.

Man injuredA MAN, aged 50, was taken to theSanta Ana Hospital in Motril withinjuries to his neck after falling from aheight of four metres while pruning apalm tree.

Caring studentsSOME 600 students from the Jose LuisVillar Palasi school in Velez-Malaga aretaking part in a campaign to collectclothes and toys for the needy.

Birth rateTHE birth rate in Motril was 10.40children per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012,a new study by the University ofGranada has revealed. This is abovethe regional average.

Not beneficialTHE councils of El Borge, Iznate andAlmachar have joined forces to fightagainst the recently approvedEuropean Common Agricultural Policy(CAP) for 2015-2020. They claim it willharm the local raisin, olive and goatsectors.

Hotel closesTHE four-star Don Manuel Hotel in ElEjido has closed its doors. The hotel,which aimed at attracting business-people, opened in 2005 and has been avictim of the economic crisis.

Lawyer pay-outTHE Council for Justice and the Interiorhas made a new payment of €354,784to lawyers and procurators who providea free judicial service in the province.

Coastal damageADRA TOWN HALL and techniciansfrom the provincial coasts departmenthave been assessing the damagecaused by strong winds along the coastlast week.

Partaloa programmeTWELVE youngsters from Partaloa tookpart in a computer workshop organisedby the youth department of the AlmeriaGovernment to learn about socialnetwork pages.

Happy reunionTHE town of Bacares enjoyed its annualfiesta El Dia del Romero with a giantpaella at the weekend, when manypeople who emigrated to Cataluñareturn to their home town.

Illegal sweatshops A BUSINESSWOMAN has been arrestedfor operating sweatshops in the base-ments of two garages in properties inCox and an old shoe factory in the BaizVinalopó area.

Peppers boostMURCIA’S pepper exports brought in arevenue of around €100 million last yearto the region, 41 per cent more than in2012.

Star attractionROBERT PLANT, former lead singer ofLed Zeppelin, is performing atCartagena’s El Batel Auditorium on July26 as part of his summer Europeantour. Tickets available fromTicketmaster.

Reopen demandOWNERS of the Tropic Garden 222 inTorrevieja are taking the town hall to courtto demand it revokes a decree forcing theclub’s closure. The premises were closedin August last year following complaints.

Safer summersA RAPID intervention lifesaving craft hasboosted the lifeguard and maritime rescueservice on the beaches of San Pedro delPinatar. New equipment also includescanoes with defibrillators.

Song contestVILLAJOYOSA will host the 21stSpanish Songbirds’ Championships.They will be held on May 25 to find thebest singers amongst canaries, linnetsand finches.

Black shoesPOLICE have dismantled four illegalfootwear factories in Elche. Anemployer whose workers handled toxicand inflammable products was arrestedon health and safety grounds and forbreaching workers’ rights.

Compost readyEXCAVACIONES BLAS ANTEQUERA SL,contracted by Denia Town Hall inOctober to produce organic fertiliser atthe municipal plant, has produced thefirst batch, made from garden waste.

Old roadMIGUEL ANGEL PEREZ based hisMaster’s thesis on the importance of theVillajoyosa-Alcoy ‘Fish Road’. At least2,000 years old, it was commercially andstrategically vital during the NapoleonicWars.

Fire evacuationFIVE floors of an apartment building inTorremolinos had to be evacuated dueto a fire on the sixth floor. Three peopleneeded medical attention.

Hiker rescuedA WOMAN, 52, fell and injured her hipwhile hiking in El Torcal area ofAntequera. She was taken to theregional hospital.

Murder trialA MAN is facing 17 years in prison forstabbing a female friend to death inFuengirola in March 2012. Theyallegedly argued over some money shehad lent him.

Dog-proofedRONDA Municipal Parks and GardensDepartment has announced that it willput fences around the Plaza de losDescalzos gardens to prevent dogsfrom entering.

Work accidentA MAN, 47, was seriously injured whenhe fell from a ladder while working inMijas. He sustained head injuries.

AXARQUIA

ALMERÍA

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

COSTA BLANCA NORTH

COSTA DEL SOL

NEWS DESKEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com12

ews from our editionsWith six editions and read by more than half a million people, EWN is Spain’s largest

free local English-language newspaper

N

By Stephen LearA ROW has broken out after Mojacar was snubbed in a tourism promotional videofeaturing international singing star David Bisbal. Three local groups have spoken outand criticised the provincial tourism board after the town was omitted from thepromotional video, which was recorded with the Almeria-born singer.

First to speak out was PSOE councillor, Manuel Zamora, followed by Izquierda Unida(IU) and Mojacar Positiva Se Mueve (MPSM). Zamora said: “The provincial tourismboard’s video, which, by the way we all pay for as members, is generally pretty good,but at least one sequence with Bisbal should have been recorded with our people. Ourtown is a pioneer in tourism at provincial level.”

The video shows a brief image of the Playa de Los Muertos in Carboneras but failsto highlight any other coastal towns along the Levante coast.

The IU and MPSM parties went further, saying: “It is an unforgivable mistake and areal shame not to be part of it,” adding the responsibility lies with Javier AurelianoGarcia, chairman of the tourist board, who praised the agreement signed with theAlmeria singer. Garcia visited Mojacar when it was officially declared one of the prettiesttowns in Spain.

Speaking at the launch of Bisbal’s world tour, Garcia said there will be millions ofpeople who will have immediate access to the image of the Costa Almeria. However,those millions are failing to see Mojacar as a tourist destination in the province.

Town snubbed in tourism videoMojacar miffed!PRETTY: But millions will fail to see Mojacar as a tourist destination.

NEWS 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 13EWN

THE headmaster of a school inSevilla has been charged forrefusing to give a place to the

child of a gay couple.He allegedly refused the boy

in 2012 because he came from

a ‘homo-parental family’ whichhe said was against“fundamental rights and public

freedom.”The couple initially

requested informationfrom the school viaemail, saying theywere homosexuals, andsubsequently were toldthere was no room.

However, when theycalled up, but didn’tidentify themselves,they were offered avacancy.

There is also proofthat registrations werepaid for by otherparents after that date.

The gay and lesbiancollective association,Colega, has asked theJunta de Andaluciaregional government todraw up a plan againstdiscrimination inschools.

Caught forattemptedrobbery TWO men were arrestedafter being caught bysurprise trying to rob a flatin Binissalem.

The resident was athome asleep when heheard a bang.

He got up to see where itcame from and saw thetwo men, presumably intheir 20s, trying to enterthrough a window.

The robbers, noticingthere was someone inside,fled the scene.

The witness followedthem for some time until helost sight of them.

He then reported theincident to Local Police.

Soon after, a police patrolsaw two men in the trainstation who matched thedescription given.

It seems the men alsohad unsuccessful robberyattempts on otheroccasions, as both had atrack record of similarincidents.

NationalPolice saveman’s lifeTHREE National Policeofficers from Malaga Prov-ince rescued a man, 70,who fell onto train tracks.

The three men had justbeen sworn into theirpositions in Avila and wereheading back to Malaga viaMadrid. While waiting forthe train, they saw a manfall onto the tracks with hisluggage and hit his head.

The man, travelling withhis wife, lay immobile onthe tracks and an announ-cement alerted the officersa train was coming.

They jumped onto thetracks and picked up theman and his luggage whilepassengers signalled to thedriver to brake.

The policemen thenassisted the victim until herecovered consciousnessand accompanied him toMadrid. He was taken tohospital by ambulance andadmitted to intensive carewith severe head trauma.

A MAN, 54, was arrested for allegedlystealing valuable historical documentsfrom the San Gaudioso Seminary inTarazona (Zaragoza). The Guardia Civiloperation was carried out in Huelva andZaragoza, and resulted in the recovery ofitems dating between 1593 and 1808.

Investigations began in May last yearwhen two people went to the ProvincialMuseum in Huelva intending to sellhistorical documents. The managers ofthe museum, suspecting they werestolen, alerted the Guardia Civil. Some ofthe items have been damaged.

Arrested for stealing documentsSTOLEN: Historical books and documents.

Headmaster charged as noplace for gay couple’s child

SPECIAL EDUCATIONEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com14

Spain tops ‘abroadfraud’ for benefit cheats

EDUCATION is not limited to classroombased learning, particularly in the lessclement seasons here in Mallorca.

With youngsters, whatever their ages,it is vital that parents take someresponsibility for educational experienceswhich can be enriching and fun as part ofnormal family life.

We are blessed here on the island witha plethora of both cultural and sportingopportunities.

The art galleries, museums andtheatres are family friendly and often puton events for specific age groups.

Sporting activities abound both on landand sea and if your family follow aparticular sport there are bound to belessons for beginners available, whetherit be sailing, horse riding, climbing,football etc.

If you lead by example and educate

your children that there is more toenjoying life than electronic devices, youwill have succeeded!

There are numerous opportunitiesthrough private lessons in drama,singing, music and performing arts.

Sadly we have recently lost the famedBay Entertainers but there are manymore companies looking for youngpeople of all ages to become involved. Itis also a fantastic way for the kids tomeet new friends from other schools.

If all else fails why not just go for afantastic walk or bike ride as a family? Ido not have to describe here theavailability of walking trails and cyclepaths that are provided.

Look into local history or thearcheology of the island, I promise you itwill not only be the youngsters that willbe educated.

WALKING: There are many walking trails on the island.

CRED

ITPA

TN

EARY

/FLI

CKR

SPAIN topped the list ofcountries for benefitfraud abroad committedagainst UK taxpayers,new figures reveal.

More than 750 caseswere investigated inSpain last year by theDepartment for Workand Pensions.

Abroad fraud costtaxpayers an estimated£84 million (€101.5m)in 2012/13 - up 90 percent in the last twoyears.

It is now the thirdlargest type of benefitcheating and includesfraudulent claims forPension Credit (£52m or€62.6m), HousingBenefit (£19m or€22.9m) and IncomeSupport (£12m or€14.5m).

Minister for WelfareReform, Lord Freud,

said: “Benefits are thereto help those who needit and the vast majorityplay by the rules andwould not once dreamof cheating.

“But there is aminority who really tryto take the biscuit.”

If you suspect abenefit cheat in Spain,then you can call theDepartment for Workand Pensions (DWP)hotline on 900 554 440.It’s free andconfidential.

Abroad fraud includesclaims by people leavingGreat Britain after theirclaim starts, thosefailing to notify DWPbefore leaving thecountry or stayingabroad for too long, andfamilies who fail toreport the death ofsomeone living abroad

permanently andreceiving benefits.

The Government isincreasing the use ofdata sharing withforeign countriesincluding Spain in orderto combat fraud.

Richard West, Head ofDWP’s counter-fraudteams said: “Benefitcheats need to knowthat even if they are outof the country, ourteams will stillinvestigate and wherenecessary bring themback to the UK to facejustice.”

Cases referred to DWPare investigated andwhere an administrativepenalty or criminalprosecution isappropriate, action istaken. In all cases DWPwill seek to recover allthe money overpaid.

HOLLYWOOD star Salma Hayek hasexpressed her interest in buying LaAlmoraima property in Castellar dela Frontera, Cadiz.

The Mexican actress and herhusband, French billionaireFrançois-Henri Pinault, visited theproperty by helicopter.

Ninety per cent of the 14,113hectares of the property are in LosAlcornocales Natural Park and thegovernment intends to sell it for€300 million, which has causedmuch controversy locally. It wasseized by the government fromcompany Rumasa, but the Junta deAndalucia regional government and

environmentalists are against itbecoming private property.

This is because most of it is in theUNESCO Biosphere Reserve whichhas also been declared by the EU anarea of Special Protection under theHabitat Directive.

Currently the part which is outsidethe park is used for farming and asmall hotel, but the government haslaunched a new plan which couldsee it used for luxury hotels, golfcourses, an aerodrome and aracecourse. The local town hall hasrejected this and the Junta wantsthe whole area declared part of theNatural Park.

Star has sights set on La Almoraima

Gaining anoutdoor education

SPAIN might be beset byunemployment, but there are stillgood jobs around.

The best are currently found inengineering, manufacturing andproduction.

Sales, IT and health are alsocontenders, according to a reportfrom international recruitment andemployment agency Adecco

Professional. Experienced creditrisk portfolio analysts who assessinvestment options earn between€60,000 and €80,000 a year gross,Adecco said.

Market Access and Health,studying the function of lobbygroups in the pharmaceuticalsector, earn slightly less on€50,000 to €75,000 a year gross.

Fruitful career moves

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 15EWN

inanceA EURO WEEKLY NEWS 6 PAGE SPECIAL SECTION // WWW.EWNBUSINESS.COMF STAT OF WEEK

NEW mortgages fell by 27 percent last year, accumulating a43-month descent. A total of€1.48 billion was lent last year,a 26 per cent reduction on2012.

Turnaroundfor BairFORMER US regulatorSheila Bair replacedLord Burns as anindependent directoron the Santanderboard. In the pastshe has criticisedregulators who lateraccepted posts withbig banks.

Small gainsBANCO POPULARhas paid a dividendfor the first timesince 2012.Investors received€0.04 per share andwere given thechoice of receivingcash or more shares.

LUIS DE GUINDOS,Spain’s EconomyMinister, was chipperafter his recent Brusselsvisit.

Spain’s economy is setto expand in 2014 bynearly double theforecast 0.7 per cent, DeGuindos told anEconomic and FinancialAffairs Council (Ecofin)meeting.

“This will be the firsttime in six years thatwe’ll have growth ofalmost 1 per cent,” hesaid. He also predictednet creation of employ-ment over the next fewquarters, despiteanalysts’ doubts.

This was one of thequestions De Guindosfaced in the Europeanparliament. How could

he talk of improvement,he was asked, when theunemployment rate wasso high?

He was confident, theminister answered, ofcreating net employmentbut acknowledged thatSpain was on “a longand difficult road” withmany obstacles.

Principal amongstthem was the country’s26 per cent unemploy-ment although thegovernment’s labourreforms were gettingresults, he insisted, andSpain had become ‘verycompetitive.’

“Spain is now part ofthe solution, it’s nolonger the problem,” DeGuindos said whentalking to the media atthe end of the meeting.

ELECTRICITY prices averaged €63.64 permegawatt per hour (MWh) in Spain lastDecember.

This was the price charged on the ‘spotmarket’ where electricity is bought or soldfor immediate or almost immediatedelivery. This was 78 per cent dearer thanGermany’s €35.75 average and double the€32.66 charged by Noordpool in NorthernEurope.

France’s electricity was 28 per centcheaper than in Spain although Portugal’selectricity prices, practically inseparablefrom Spain’s, averaged €62.99 MWh.

Last December’s rise was caused byhigh wholesale market prices whereelectricity is traded between generatorsand suppliers. This was decisive inincreases planned for January until theSpanish government annulled the rise.

usinessBextra

De Guindos everso chipper

&business

legal

ELECTRICITY: Pricey in Spain for power.

Electricity shock

British Land Co PLC 653.75 -3.00 -0.46 628.82

British Sky Br Gr... 884.25 8.50 0.97 1,495.60

BT Group PLC 384.35 0.94 0.25 5,656.75

Bunzl PLC 1392.00 3.00 0.22 84.38

Burberry Group PLC 1424.50 -23.00 -1.59 222.47

Capita PLC 990.00 7.00 0.71 252.61

Carnival PLC 2509.00 7.00 0.28 122.78

Most AdvancedSolazyme, Inc. $ 12.97 3.20 / +32.75%Lilis Energy, Inc. $ 3.05 0.70 / +29.79%Zynga Inc. $ 4.40 0.84 / +23.60%Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. $ 66.82 9.98 / +17.56%Echelon Corporation $ 4.06 0.59 / +17.00%Credit Suisse AG $ 9.59 1.38 / +16.81%Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. $ 2.45 0.34 / +16.11%Accuray Incorporated $ 10.65 1.41 / +15.26%Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ 36.58 4.31 / +13.36%CEPHEID $ 52.86 5.59 / +11.83%Proofpoint, Inc. $ 40.48 3.95 / +10.81%

Most DeclinedDFC Global Corp $ 7.52 3.05 / -28.86%InterMune, Inc. $ 13.35 2.90 / -17.85%Constant Contact, Inc. $ 27.01 4.04 / -13.01%Mecox Lane Limited $ 4.06 0.56 / -12.12%Mattel, Inc. $ 37.84 5.17 / -12.02%Amazon.com, Inc. $ 358.69 44.32 / -11.00%Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ 41.12 4.88 / -10.61%Education Management Corporation $ 6.93 0.81 / -10.47%Novavax, Inc. $ 5.44 0.57 / -9.48%Johnson Outdoors Inc. $ 23.77 2.48 / -9.45%Supertel Hospitality, Inc. $ 5.76 0.595 / -9.36%

CCOO MM PPAA NN YY PPRR II CC EE (( PP )) CCHH AA NN GG EE (( PP )) %% CCHH GG.. NNEE TT VVOO LL UU MM EE

MMM 3M Co 128.19 +0.14 +0.11% 3.7MAXP American Express Co 85.02 -1.60 -1.85% 4.8MT AT&T Inc 33.32 -0.03 -0.09% 34.5MBA Boeing Co 125.26 -1.27 -1.00% 9.7MCAT Caterpillar Inc 93.91 +0.71 +0.76% 9.8MCVX Chevron Corp 111.63 -4.82 -4.14% 15.5MCSCO Cisco Systems Inc 21.91 -0.066 -0.30% 43.3MDD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co 61.01 -0.53 -0.86% 5.8MXOM Exxon Mobil Corp 92.16 -1.83 -1.95% 17.4MGE General Electric Co 25.13 -0.37 -1.45% 40.3MGS Goldman Sachs Group Inc 164.12 -1.72 -1.04% 3.4MHD Home Depot Inc 76.85 -0.08 -0.10% 10.6MINTC Intel Corp 24.54 -0.20 -0.81% 28.9MIBM International Business Machine... 176.68 -0.68 -0.38% 5.2MJNJ Johnson & Johnson 88.47 -1.03 -1.15% 12.2MJPM JPMorgan Chase and Co 55.36 -0.64 -1.14% 18.2MMCD McDonald's Corp 94.17 +0.37 +0.39% 6.0MMRK Merck & Co Inc 52.97 -0.54 -1.01% 16.3MMSFT Microsoft Corp 37.84 +0.98 +2.66% 93.2MNKE Nike Inc 72.85 -1.09 -1.47% 4.3MPFE Pfizer Inc 30.40 -0.42 -1.36% 41.4MPG Procter & Gamble Co 76.62 -0.25 -0.33% 13.0MKO The Coca-Cola Co 37.82 -0.35 -0.92% 16.2MTRV Travelers Companies Inc 81.28 -1.08 -1.31% 5.2MUTX United Technologies Corp 114.02 -0.66 -0.58% 3.5MUNH UnitedHealth Group Inc 72.28 -0.52 -0.71% 4.3MVZ Verizon Communications Inc 48.02 +0.39 +0.82% 18.6MV Visa Inc 215.43 -5.45 -2.47% 6.1MWMT Wal-Mart Stores Inc 74.68 -0.07 -0.09% 10.7MDIS Walt Disney Co 72.61 -0.61 -0.83% 7.8M

Centrica PLC 314.30 3.16 1.02 2,948.62

Coca-Cola HBC AG 1598.50 -14.00 -0.87 85.23

Compass Group PLC 915.50 5.40 0.59 920.03

CRH PLC 1577.00 6.00 0.38 535.59

Diageo PLC 1816.50 16.00 0.89 2,309.95

easyJet PLC 1632.00 -12.00 -0.73 359.11

Experian PLC 1048.00 7.72 0.74 471.55

Fresnillo PLC 780.00 10.50 1.36 221.19

G4S PLC 237.40 -1.47 -0.62 1,175.39

GKN PLC 393.25 -0.90 -0.23 1,256.23

GlaxoSmithKline PLC 1580.75 16.50 1.05 2,461.75

Glencore Xstrata PLC 321.28 -1.33 -0.41 6,271.77

Hammerson PLC 521.50 -3.86 -0.73 243.54

Hargreaves La PLC 1472.00 -13.72 -0.92 138.69

HSBC Holdings PLC 623.40 -3.60 -0.57 8,520.60

IMI PLC 1484.00 -13.00 -0.87 142.17

Imperial T Gp PLC 2217.50 -6.76 -0.30 653.66

InterContinental H Gro... 1977.50 8.84 0.45 140.26

International C.. 415.30 -1.30 -0.31 1,717.05

Intertek Group PLC 2835.50 4.35 0.15 79.95

ITV PLC 195.40 -1.10 -0.56 1,955.07

Johnson Matthey PLC 3228.00 -3.00 -0.09 195.94

Kingfisher PLC 367.30 -2.30 -0.62 839.48

Land S Group PLC 1025.50 -3.25 -0.32 608.53

Legal & General G PLC 214.50 -0.80 -0.37 2,816.70

Lloyds Banking Group PLC 80.44 -2.87 -3.45 88,590.81

London Stock E Group... 1823.00 -18.00 -0.98 61.05

Marks & Spencer G PLC 469.65 -1.34 -0.28 495.65

Meggitt PLC 512.00 -3.16 -0.61 268.57

Melrose Industries PLC 308.25 -0.90 -0.29 492.23

Mondi PLC 920.00 -2.50 -0.27 253.56

National Grid PLC 788.00 -1.00 -0.13 1,248.49

Next PLC 6237.50 -10.00 -0.16 77.13

Old Mutual PLC 173.40 0.96 0.56 4,539.07

Pearson PLC 1100.50 -11.16 -1.00 662.20

Persimmon PLC 1300.00 -13.60 -1.04 141.36

Petrofac Ltd 1176.00 22.00 1.90 248.33

Prudential PLC 1212.50 -15.12 -1.23 1,475.41

Randgold Rs Ltd 4316.00 121.00 2.89 173.55

Reckitt Be Group PLC 4637.00 73.34 1.61 549.16

Reed Elsevier PLC 886.50 -0.50 -0.06 524.76

Resolution Ltd 349.70 1.20 0.34 859.95

REXAM PLC 500.75 7.92 1.61 496.36

Rio Tinto PLC 3260.75 17.50 0.54 1,317.00

Rolls-Royce Ho PLC 1177.50 -10.00 -0.84 1,272.31

Royal Bank of S Grou... 337.20 -2.80 -0.82 2,707.16

Royal Dutch Shell PLC 2223.00 -2.00 -0.09 1,430.04

Royal Mail PLC 598.75 0.88 0.15 546.35

RSA Insurance G PLC 96.95 -0.10 -0.10 4,815.38

SABMiller PLC 2716.75 -23.50 -0.86 857.37

Sage Group (The) PLC 415.55 7.20 1.76 533.17

Sainsbury (J) PLC 348.00 3.06 0.89 2,378.74

Schroders PLC 2430.50 -36.00 -1.46 36.29

Severn Trent PLC 1745.00 18.00 1.04 185.86

Shire PLC 3044.50 1.00 0.03 602.20

Smith & Nephew PLC 885.00 9.00 1.03 1,990.11

Smiths Group PLC 1437.00 -1.28 -0.09 180.30

Sports Direct International...680.50 -3.00 -0.44 304.85

SSE PLC 1319.50 12.16 0.93 656.09

Standard CPLC 1235.75 -4.00 -0.32 1,234.28

Standard Life PLC 359.30 -6.48 -1.77 1,036.77

Tate & Lyle PLC 751.50 -6.50 -0.86 175.03

Tesco PLC 320.02 -0.37 -0.12 3,025.42

Travis Perkins PLC 1763.00 24.00 1.38 206.64

TUI Travel PLC 422.70 -2.60 -0.61 351.14

Tullow Oil PLC 794.50 4.00 0.51 457.45

Unilever PLC 2341.50 3.73 0.16 1,375.69

United Utilities G PLC 721.00 4.86 0.68 365.90

Vodafone Group PLC 222.60 -3.95 -1.74 21,243.15

Weir Group PLC 2145.00 51.00 2.44 351.40

Whitbread PLC 3748.00 -2.00 -0.05 83.62

William Hill PLC 334.20 1.80 0.54 680.67

NASDAQCLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 3

DOW JONESCLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 3

Aberdeen Asset Man PLC 384.35 -6.50 -1.66 1,184.34

Admiral Group PLC 1442.00 -3.75 -0.26 51.29

Aggreko PLC 1550.00 4.00 0.26 163.43

AMEC PLC 1037.00 6.00 0.58 231.30

Anglo American PLC 1423.00 -13.00 -0.91 1,300.58

Antofagasta PLC 860.00 9.64 1.13 671.01

ARM Holdings PLC 919.50 -15.50 -1.66 1,159.02

Ashtead Group PLC 788.00 -2.00 -0.25 193.15

Associated B Fo PLC 2690.50 -24.00 -0.88 176.34

AstraZeneca PLC 3881.25 22.50 0.58 460.06

Aviva PLC 439.85 -5.20 -1.17 1,412.98

Babcock Intl G... 1377.00 -12.90 -0.93 121.11

BAE Systems PLC 424.70 -4.30 -1.00 1,850.31

Barclays PLC 267.77 -4.65 -1.71 13,562.08

BG Group PLC 1041.25 19.00 1.86 2,466.60

BHP Billiton PLC 1794.25 -1.00 -0.06 1,287.30

BP PLC 474.42 -3.68 -0.77 4,479.92

British American T PLC 2919.50 3.00 0.10 827.78

CCOO MM PPAA NN YY PPRR II CC EE (( PP )) CCHH AA NN GG EE (( PP )) %% CCHH GG.. NNEE TT VVOO LL UU MM EE

LONDON - FTSE 100CLOSING PRICES FEBRUARY 3

CCOO MM PPAA NN YY PPRR II CC EE (( PP )) CCHH AA NN GG EE %% CCHH GG.. VVOO LL UU MM EE

CCOO MM PPAA NN YY PPRR II CC EE CCHH AA NN GG EE NNEE TT // %%CCOO MM PPAA NN YY PPRR II CC EE CCHH AA NN GG EE %%CCHH AA NN GG EE VVOO LL UU MM EE

United States $......................................................1.35106Japan Yen ¥ ...........................................................137.515Switzerland Francs................................................1.22129Denmark Kroner ....................................................7.46183Norway Kroner.......................................................8.45576

0.82923 1.20593Units per €

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGALEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com16

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 17EWN

THE UK recovery is poweringahead and the pace of itsrecovery has even surprised theBank of England (BoE).

At the end of January 2014, aReuters poll showed thatunemployment had fallen muchquicker than expected to 7.1 percent. The numbers have come asa shock to the BoE, whichpredicted last August that it couldbe early 2016 before the joblessrate hit 7 per cent.

BoE Governor Mark Carneyalways said the 7 per cent level inunemployment was not anautomatic trigger for an interestrate hike but some commentatorsare now expecting that he wouldneed to lower the threshold oradd wage growth to the equationto hold off a rate rise.

Carney commented in Davos asthe World Economic Forum wasunder way, that the UK economyhas not reached “escape velocity”

yet and that this should helpreassure British business that thepath of interest rates will beconsistent with a sustainedrecovery and a more balanceddemand.

The pound has performedextremely well so far and remainsone of the best performingcurrencies across the major pairs.Sterling has closely reflected theUK’s improving economic environ-ment and as of last year, Sterlingbecame one of the hottestcurrencies to watch in 2014.

UK GDP data released at theend of January recorded anotherstrong result rising to 0.7 per centquarter on quarter and

annualised growth of 2.8 percent, which will make the UK oneof the best among the G-10economies. In spite of the strongnumbers, as the GDP data hit thewire, Sterling sold off instead ofrallying as the whisper numberwas 0.9 per cent, which showsthat the market now carries veryhigh expectations for UK growth.

As the UK continues to grow,the picture is improving in the

Eurozone. The single currencyarea growth prospects aredefinitely more subdued and theperformance of currencies haseverything to do withexpectations.

The European Central Bank’s(ECB) ongoing concerns aboutthe “downside risks” to growthled many investors to believe thatEurozone data might stilldisappoint but the purchasing

managers index (PMI) data inJanuary showed that theEurozone business got off to amuch better start this year thanexpected.

Stronger growth across theregion was only let down by alingering downturn in France. Theresult was healthily over the 50mark that shows growth and itwas also the highest reading sincemid-2011 and beat all theforecasts in a Reuters poll of 25economists.

One area of concern that couldpotentially weigh on the euro isthe ongoing threat of deflation.This could force the ECB to actmore aggressively to counterdeflationary pressures and thiscould weaken the single currencymoving forward.

There is reason to be optimistic,but one cannot escape thequestion; is the good news likelyto last?

The UK recovery gathers momentum

Visit us at our Spanish offices in Costa del Sol, Costa Almeria, North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca. Telephone: UK +44 (0) 207 847 9400 SPAIN +34 950 478 914 Email: euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com • www.currenciesdirect.com

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Ask theexpertPeter Loveday

Contact me at euroweekly@currenciesdirect.com

ONE TO WATCH: Sterling one of the hottest currencies in 2014.

MAJOR changes in how the planet’smarine resources are managed andused are needed to safeguard globalfood security and ensure the well-being

of coastal and island countries.That is according to Director-General

of the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UN (FAO) Jose

Graziano da Silva. Speaking at therecent Blue Economy Summit in AbuDhabi, he said: “We cannot keep usingmarine and aquatic resources as if they

were endless. And we cannotkeep using our oceans as awaste pool.” Serious threats to ocean health

such as pollution, overfishing, andaltered weather and rising sea

levels resulting from climatechange must be tackled in earnest -starting now - argued the FAO’s chiefexecutive to a collection of heads ofstate, environment and fisheries

ministers, and other key stakeholders.“The health of our planet itself, our

health and food security, depends onhow we treat the blue world,” he said.

On average, nearly 17 per cent ofanimal protein consumed worldwidecomes from fisheries and aquaculture,and in many small island developingstates the figure is much higher.

But 30 per cent of world fish stocksare estimated to be overexploited,depleted or recovering from depletion,with economic losses in marine fisheriesresulting from poor management,inefficiencies, and overfishing addingup to $50 billion per year, FAO studiesshow.

A CHILL wind seems to beblowing through the Spanishfootball transfer window.

It has ground to a halt asmemories of hundreds ofmillions of euros worth ofdeals are a thing of the past.

No deals for more than €1.5million - peanuts in the footballworld - have been made.

The reason for that seemsquite clear - moneybags clubsReal Madrid and Barcelona -who have negotiated them-selves the lion’s share of TVrights’ money - are happy withtheir summer spending. Therest of the clubs in the Primera

Liga don’t have any money.The effects of strict

economic controls andconstraints on spending havenow kicked in. Not only do thesmaller clubs (in Spain everyclub except Real Madrid andBarcelona) not earn the hardcash of the big two, theycannot raise the finance to buynew players without fallingfoul of UEFA rules. These rulessaw Malaga banned fromEuropean football.

In sharp contrast, in theEnglish Premier League bigdeals are still being made.Juan Mata’s move to

Manchester United fromChelsea cost €44 million.

The difference between thetwo leagues is a moreequitable sharing of the TVrights’ money amongst allclubs, so allowing them theincome to compete in thetransfer market without fallingfoul of the rules.

In Spain, Real Madrid andBarcelona simply cut off therest of the clubs without somuch as a backward glance.The financial gulf makes ithard to see how any otherclubs can break the duoply atthe top of Spanish football.

A chill winter transfer wind...

Time to manage marine resources inorder to safeguard global food security

€44 MILLION: Juan Mata

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGALEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com18

BUSINESS EXTRA

Two suitorsVODAFONE and LibertyGlobal are both showinginterest in Spain’s ONOwith a view to extendingtheir cable offer. Anannouncement is expectedwithin the next few weeks,sources said.

Fewer lay-offsMORE than 340,000workers were laid offbetween January andNovember 2013. Year onyear, the 19,646 redun-dancy plans announcedduring this period fell by21.9 per cent.

Bad quarterBBVA (Banco BilbaoVizcaya Argentaria SA) lost€849 million in the fourthquarter of 2013. That wasless than expected asgains in Latin Americaoffset a write down in itsChinese assets as itreduced its stake in ChinaCitic Bank Corp.

A. Yes, the terraces whichform the roofs of flatsbelow are considered asCommon Elements of thecommunity. This meanson the face of it, that thecommunity is responsibleto pay for damages andrepairs. However, each flat

has the ‘uso exclusivo’ ofits terrace. In any dispute,the Spanish courts’ rulemeans individual ownersare also responsible forthe maintenance of theirterraces, not the commu-nity. It is not in the law, itis jurisprudence. So your

upstairs neighbour can beheld liable to fix his ownterrace or pay for damage.

If roof terrace leaks, who will fix it?Q. The terrace of the apartment which isabove mine covers a large part of myceilings. Water seeps through when itrains hard, as it did last winter.

On advice from the administrator, myceiling was repaired and repainted andwas paid for by the community. Now we

are discussing repairs to the above terrace which should be carried outbefore any further damage is done. I am informed by the administrator that,as the terrace also acts as my roof, it is a common area. He agrees that therepairs should be done, but the president does not agree and therefore willnot sanction any repairs. He intends to wait untilour AGM next October. So my understanding isthat where a terrace forms a roof to anotherapartment, then it is a Common Element accordingto ‘The Spanish Law of Horizontal Property’. Is thiscorrect?

F.T. (Costa del Sol)

Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola atAsk@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952-667090

You and theLaw in SpainBy David Searl

THERE has been a resurgence inthe black economy over the last few yearsaccording to the Ministry of Finance(Gestha).

In its latest report Gestha calculated theblack economy to be worth €253 billion,that is nearly a quarter (24.6 per cent) ofGross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2008, atthe start of the crisis, the figure was anestimated €60 billion less.

The report, called ‘The UndergroundEconomy Takes its Toll. The Increase inFraud during the crisis’ highlights that it issmaller business which is more likely tooperate in the black economy.

It said: “The underground economy hasincreased, particularly in the regions mostaffected by the problem of unemploymentand the bursting of the property bubble,such as Andalucia, the Canaries,Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and other

regions in the central belt.” As fraudincreased between 2008 and 2012 areaswith concentrations of big business,national and international, have been leastaffected.

Those areas include Madrid, BarcelonaTarragona and La Rioja. But the fact bigbusinesses in those areas tend to be aboveboard, does not necessarily mean a biggertax take. Many international companies cantake advantage of financial instruments topay their tax in countries like Ireland andLuxembourg, so the Spanish taxman losesout anyway.

The report does not include figures fromthe Basque Country, Navarre and Ceutaand Melilla, which have different taxsystems.

DO you remember what toy youloved to play with as a child? Wasit a doll? A kitchen set or a truck?

According to a new and livelydebate surfacing over children’stoys, what a child plays with couldinfluence their future prospects inthe job market.

I remember being obsessedwith any sort of craft, especiallybeading necklaces or makingclothes. I didn’t, however, grow upto work in fashion.

My brother was fanatical abouthis toy soldiers and he now earnsa living valuing property. So justbecause a child plays with Lego ora train set or a tea set, it doesn’tnecessarily mean those kids willgrow up to be builders, traindrivers or waiters, does it?

According to a British EducationMinister, some psychologists andother supporters for the argument,toy marketing exploits genderstereotypes, pushing dolls,cookery sets and pink princesses

towards girls, and action men styledolls, construction kits and racingcars towards boys.

Official government figures inthe UK reveal that more than 80per cent of science, research,engineering and technologyprofessionals are male. Whereas,82 per cent of those in care,leisure and other services arewomen, with 78 per cent ofadministrative and secretarialworkers being female too.

Studies on the matter haveshown that traditionally boys weregiven toys that involve action,construction and machinery, whilegirls were directed towards dollsand perceived ‘feminine’ interests,like hairdressing. The messagebeing that boys should be making

things and problem solving andgirls, caring and nurturing.

It’s all banter at the moment,but some shops are taking itseriously. In fact, Marks andSpencer, and London toy storeHamleys have scrapped ‘girls’ and‘boys’ labels.

Is our financial future goingto be based on child’s play?

JanePlunkett

A look at finance for females

jane.plunkett@euroweeklynews.com

Loose change

Blackeconomygettingstronger

GIRLS’ TOYS: Dolls, cookery sets and pink

princesses.

Cruel dogowners mustbe punishedAGAIN the subject ofmistreatment of dogs has raisedits ugly head.

I am the proud owner of twoabandoned dogs which I walk ona daily basis. I often feed straydogs that wander the campo, andknow of several animals that arechained up 24/7. Many are left toprotect derelict properties, andonly receive a visit from theowner to be fed and wateredwhen they feel like it.

I know we do not have the rightto tell the Spanish how to conducttheir way of life, but when you arean animal lover, you cannotignore such cruelty. Yes, there aremany foreigners who are alsocruel to animals, and they shouldbe dealt with accordingly.

Many Spaniards love and lookafter their animals, but there aremany that regard an animal asa necessity only. Once they arepast their usefulness, they areeither abandoned or disposed of.

The local vets deal with crueltyon a regular basis, but they arelimited to what they canaccomplish. What I would like tosee is the authorities - GuardiaCivil and Local Police - made toimplement the existing laws, andfine these ignorant, cruel owners.

Animals feel pain, get bored,and need regular exercise thesame as humans. They are loyal,give affection to their owners, andonly ask to be fed, watered,exercised, and given a bed andshelter.

What condition are these poordogs in, being chained up 24/7?Have they had yearly injections?

If anyone out there can offeradvice on how to tackle this on-going problem, it would be mostappreciated.

Dave Turre (Almeria)

Right attitudeIT is heartening to read thatSpanish workers actually want towork (Almeria, Issue 1491).

In France, the Junta’s decisionto drastically restrict openingtimes at the Alcazaba in thesummer would be seen as atriumph for the working man, i.e.no work! The French favourite.

The Alcazaba in Almeria is agreat place and it is sad the Juntafails to recognise its overallimportance. It is never just aboutthe money but we have been soconditioned to accepting moneyas the god that we have lost sightof other, more important, things.

I hope the workers can makethe Junta appreciate that fact andencourage them to become morecreative in their thinking.

John Gardner (viaeuroweeklynews.com)

Sound ideaI WAS intrigued by the article inlast week’s paper ‘Quiet’ awningstested’ (Costa del Sol Issue 1491)in a bid to reduce noise levelsemanating from bar andrestaurant terraces.

If it works, what a brilliant idea! The article said that after

testing various materials, suchawnings could be madecompulsory. But why stop there?They should also be madecompulsory for apartment blocks,especially during the summer,when the hordes descend and sit

out all night partying, oblivious tothe fact that some of us are noton holiday and have to get up forwork in the morning.

I am not a killjoy and like to seepeople enjoying themselves, so itwould be the best of both worldsif the night owls could becocooned in these sound-proofcanopies and party to their hearts’content, while the rest of still geta good night’s sleep.

Jane Morrison (By email)

Bad nameI HAVE two friends who live in theAxarquia, having bought their

house legally. They pay theirtaxes and put money into theSpanish community.

Now they are worried sick thatthey could be at risk of havingtheir house demolished.

Something needs to be done tohelp all these people. Who wouldwant to move to Spain if theydemolish all those houses? Itwould give Spain a terrible name.

Sheila (viaeuroweeklynews.com)

Editor's note: The EWNreported that locals feared 17homes could be demolishedafter they were declaredillegal by the Junta deAndalucia regional govern-ment. They were built withtown hall permits.Potentially, thousands morehomes could be affected.

New discoveryEDITH PIAF, indeed AmaliaRodriques, were singers in theirown right, both magnificent intheir genre, with voices one canlove for life. Unfortunately, I hadnot ever heard of Maria Dolores

Pradera. And I’m almost 80 yearsold! Lack of education anddevelopment? No, because whatan absolute delight to havediscovered her voice! Of courseshe’s good! Magnificent!

She won’t replace Amalia orEdith in my mind, but she willsurely add to it!

Thank you for having broughther to my attention through theletter from John Westwood (Issue1491).

Antonio Michel (By email)

A sad farewellALTHOUGH maybe many readerswill not know who Luis Aragoneswas, I am writing these lines inloving memory of a great manwho sadly succumbed toleukaemia last Saturday morning.

He was the man who convertedthe Spanish international footballteam into the all-conqueringsquad feared by all otherfootballing nations today.

Until Aragones, the Spanishnational team had never hadsuccess in internationalcompetition. It was a standingjoke to say ‘Let’s see who willeliminate Spain in the quarterfinals,’ but this man changed allthat.

On taking over the team in2004, he defied the know-alls ofthe Spanish media by leaving outthe sacred cows Raul Gonzalezand Guti, the two favouredplayers from Real Madrid, andgiving a chance to a newgeneration of talentedyoungsters.

Pilloried by the national media,Luis stuck to his guns andpersevered with his young squad.Defeat in the 2006 World Cup inthe first round of the last 16 hadthe press baying in unison for hisimmediate removal from the post.

Through it all Luis Aragonesstuck to his guns, nurtured hisbudding young talents to developtheir own style of play previouslyquite unknown in internationalfootball.

After the stunning victory overGermany in the final of theEuropean Cup, 2008, Luis, bynow sick of the criticism from themedia even though finallyvindicated by success, stooddown from the post.

Rest in Peace, Luis Aragones.Your true worth is appreciated bythe real football fans throughoutthe entire world.

Jonathan Allso, Valencia

WHEN YOU WRITEAll letters, whether by email orpost, should carry the writer’spostal address, NIE and contactnumber though only the nameand town will be published.

Letters may also be edited. Readers who have missed

earlier correspondence can see allletters posted on:

www.euroweeklynews.com

OPINION & COMMENT 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 21EWN

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 orstatements, and reject claims arising out of any action that a company or individual may take on the basis of information contained therein.

ettersLYOURSAY@EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COMLetters for Your Say should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com, posted to Euro Weekly News, C/Moscatel 10,

P-62, Polígono Industrial, Arroyo de la Miel, 29631 Benalmadena, Málaga, Spain or faxed to 0034 952 440 887

Photographs for possible publication should be sent by email with a full caption to: photonews@euroweeklynews.com

SOMEWHERE over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in alullaby. This photo was taken from Casa de las Hijas, Competa (Malaga).

William Glen Bourne (By email)

TV LISTINGEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com22

4:45pm Escape to theCountry5:30pm Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth Is6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm Inside Out9:00pm EastEnders9:30pm Panorama10:00pm Britain's Great War11:00pm BBC News

5:10pm Winter Olympics8:00pm Winter Olympics9:00pm University Challenge9:30pm Food and Drink10:00pm Horizon11:00pm The Culture Show11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The Alan TitchmarshShow5:00pm Britain's Best Bakery6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Local News andWeather7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Coronation Street9:00pm A Great WelshAdventure with Griff RhysJones9:30pm Coronation Street10:00pm DCI Banks

5:00pm Deal or No Deal6:00pm Come Dine with Me6:30pm Coach Trip7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News9:00pm Dispatches9:30pm Food Unwrapped10:00pm Benefits Street

5:10pm The Real Housewivesof New Jersey6:05pm The MillionaireMatchmaker7:00pm Dinner Date8:00pm You've Been Framed!8:30pm You've Been Framed!9:00pm Two and a Half Men9:30pm Two and a Half Men10:00pm Mom10:30pm Dads

BBC1/

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Monday

4:45pm Escape to theCountry5:30pm Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth Is6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News at Six7:30pm BBC London News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm A Question ofSport9:00pmEastEnders9:30pm Room10110:00pm New Tricks11:00pm BBC News atTen11:25pm BBC London News11:35pm The Graham NortonShow

4:30pm Winter Olympics8:30pm Great ContinentalRailway Journeys9:00pm Mastermind9:30pm An Island Parish10:00pm Torvill and Dean: ThePerfect Day11:00pm Alan Davies Apres-Ski11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The AlanTitchmarsh Show5:00pm Britain's BestBakery6:00pm The Chase7:00pm ITV News London7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Coronation Street9:00pm The Martin LewisMoney Show9:30pm Coronation Street10:00pm Piers Morgan'sLife Stories11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm The Americans

4:10pm Countdown5:00pm Deal or No Deal6:00pm Come Dine with Me6:30pm Coach Trip7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News9:00pm Jamie and Jimmy'sFriday Night Feast10:00pm Peter Kay: Liveand Back on Nights!11:00pm The Last Leg11:50pm Brooklyn Nine-Nine

5:10pm The RealHousewives of New Jersey6:05pm The MillionaireMatchmaker7:00pm Dinner Date8:00pm You've BeenFramed!8:30pm You've BeenFramed!9:00pm Two and a HalfMen9:30pm Two and a HalfMen10:00pm The Faculty

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Friday

5:30pm Six Nations RugbyUnion7:55pm BBC News8:05pm Regional News8:08pm Weather8:10pm The Voice UK9:35pm The National Lottery:Who Dares Wins10:25pm Casualty11:15pm BBC News11:28pm Weather11:30pm Match of the Day

5:30pm Final Score6:10pm Winter Olympics8:00pm Winter Olympics9:00pm Torvill and Dean: ThePerfect Day10:00pm Dad's Army10:30pm The Culture Show11:30pm My BeautifulLaundrette

5:15pm Local News andWeather5:25pm ITV News andWeather5:40pm Star Wars: Episode III -Revenge of the Sith8:10pm Splash!9:40pm Take Me Out10:55pm The Jonathan RossShow11:55pm ITV News andWeather

5:25pm Come Dine with Me6:00pm Come Dine with Me6:35pm Come Dine with Me7:05pm Come Dine with Me7:35pm Channel 4 News8:00pm Bigfoot Files9:00pm Walking ThroughHistory10:00pm Hostages11:00pm Source Code

5:55pm Horrid Henry: TheMovie6:55pm FYI Daily7:00pm Horrid Henry: TheMovie7:50pm The Mummy: Tomb ofthe Dragon Emperor8:50pm FYI Daily8:55pm The Mummy: Tomb ofthe Dragon Emperor10:00pm The ShawshankRedemption

BBC1/

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Saturday

6:00pm Songs of Praise6:35pm BBC News6:50pm Regional News6:55pm Weather7:00pm Fake or Fortune?8:00pm Countryfile9:00pm Call the Midwife10:00pm The Musketeers11:00pm BBC News11:15pm Regional News11:20pm Weather11:25pm Match of theDay 2

5:30pm Winter Olympics8:10pm Winter Olympics9:00pm Top Gear10:00pm Dragons' Den11:00pm Alan Davies ApresSki11:30pm QI XL

6:50pm Local News andWeather7:00pm ITV News andWeather7:15pm Dancing on Ice8:45pm All Star FamilyFortunes9:30pm Dancing on Ice10:00pm Mr Selfridge11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:15pm Birds of a Feather11:45pm Piers Morgan'sLife Stories

6:30pm Deal or No Deal7:30pm Channel 4 News8:00pm Jamie andJimmy's Friday Night Feast9:00pm Scandimania10:00pm Babylon11:35pm The Bank Job

4:45pm The Flintstones inViva Rock Vegas5:25pm Garfield 2: A Tail ofTwo Kitties6:25pm FYI Daily6:30pm Garfield 2: A Tail ofTwo Kitties7:00pm Rumour Has It...8:00pm FYI Daily8:05pm Rumour Has It...9:00pm Best of You've BeenFramed!10:00pm The MagalufWeekender

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Sunday

4:00pm Perfection4:45pm Escape to theCountry5:30pm Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth Is6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm EastEnders9:00pm Holby City10:00pm Death inParadise11:00pm BBC News11:25pm Regional News11:30pm Weather11:35pm A Question ofSport

5:00pm Winter Olympics8:00pm Winter Olympics9:00pm Children'sEmergency Rescue10:00pm Inside the AnimalMind11:00pm House of Fools11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The AlanTitchmarsh Show5:00pm Britain's BestBakery6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Local News andWeather7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm River Monsters9:00pm Who Wants to bea Millionaire?10:00pm Births, Deathsand Marriages11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm Sports Life Stories

4:10pm Countdown5:00pm Deal or No Deal6:00pm Come Dine with Me6:30pm Coach Trip7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News9:00pm Location, Location,Location10:00pm The Taste11:00pm Secrets of thePickpockets

4:05pm The Jeremy KyleShow5:10pm The RealHousewives of NewJersey6:05pm The MillionaireMatchmaker7:00pm Dinner Date8:00pm You've BeenFramed!8:30pm You've BeenFramed!9:00pm Two and a Half Men9:30pm Two and a Half Men10:00pm The ShawshankRedemption11:00pm FYI Daily11:05pm The ShawshankRedemption

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Tuesday

4:00pm Perfection4:45pm Escape to theCountry5:30pm Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth Is6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show9:00pm Waterloo Road10:00pm Outnumbered10:30pm Mrs. Brown's Boys11:00pm BBC News11:25pm Regional News11:30pm Weather11:35pm Match of theDay

5:00pm Winter Olympics8:00pm Winter Olympics9:00pm The RestaurantMan10:00pm Line of Duty11:00pm Inside No 911:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The AlanTitchmarsh Show5:00pm Britain's BestBakery6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Local News andWeather7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm CoronationStreet9:00pm MidsomerMurders11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm The JonathanRoss Show

4:10pm Countdown5:00pm Deal or No Deal6:00pm Come Dine withMe6:30pm Coach Trip7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4News9:00pm The RestorationMan10:00pm 24 Hours in A andE11:00pm First Dates

4:05pm The Jeremy KyleShow5:10pm The RealHousewives of NewJersey6:05pm The MillionaireMatchmaker7:00pm Dinner Date8:00pm You've BeenFramed!8:30pm You've BeenFramed!9:00pm Two and a HalfMen9:30pm Two and a HalfMen10:00pm Benidorm11:00pm The MagalufWeekender

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Wednesday

4:45pm Escape to theCountry5:30pm Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth Is6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News at Six7:30pm BBC London News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm EastEnders9:00pm Pound Shop Wars9:30pm Inspector GeorgeGently11:00pm BBC News at Ten11:25pm BBC LondonNews11:35pm Question Time

4:15pm Coast5:15pm Lost Land of theJaguar6:15pm Flog It!7:00pm Eggheads7:30pm Great ContinentalRailway Journeys8:00pm Horizon9:00pm Restoration Home -One Year on10:00pm Royal Cousins atWar11:00pm Charlie Brooker'sWeekly Wipe11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The AlanTitchmarsh Show5:00pm Britain's BestBakery6:00pm The Chase7:00pm ITV News London7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Tonight9:00pm Emmerdale9:30pm Birds of a Feather10:00pm Benidorm11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm Exposure: FashionFactories Undercover

4:10pm Countdown5:00pm Deal or No Deal6:00pm Come Dine withMe6:30pm Coach Trip7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News9:00pm Supersize vSuperskinny10:00pm Big Ballet11:00pm Bodyshockers

5:10pm The RealHousewives of New Jersey6:30pm Dinner Date7:30pm You've BeenFramed!8:00pm You've BeenFramed!8:30pm You've BeenFramed!9:00pm Two and a HalfMen9:30pm Two and a HalfMen10:00pm The Big Reunion11:00pm Fake Reaction

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Thursday SATELLITE CHANNELS - SkyMoviesAction/

All-action sequel to Romancingthe Stone, which findsadventurer Jack and romancewriter Joan once again fightinglike cat and dog. However,when Joan is imprisoned by atyrannical dictator whiletravelling in Africa, Jack rushesto rescue her.

4:40pmSunday

•MichaelDouglas

•KathleenTurner

•DannyDeVito

The Jewel of the Nile(Film, 1985)

see a rate rise in the near future. However, many other

economists dismissed talk of animminent rise as it would be tooharmful to the economic recovery.

The Bank itself had reiteratedsince August that the 7% targetwould not automatically trigger arate rise, but rather a discussion onthe possibility of one.

Following the release of theunemployment data, Mr Carney

quickly stepped in to reassurebusinesses there would be noimmediate rise.

Speaking at the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos on24th January, he said there is stillsome way to go to recover from thefinancial crisis. This means ratesare likely to remain “well belowhistoric norms” in the mediumterm, even as the economyrecovers.

Even though unemployment isfalling, the economic recovery hasnot yet reached “escape velocity”,and many of the headwindsholding the economy back willremain for some time.

The Governor promisedbusiness leaders that the degree ofstimulus would remain “exceptionalfor some time,” and that the path ofinterest rates would be consistentwith a sustained recovery.

Inflation fell below the Bank’starget of 2% in December for thefirst time since November 2009,allowing interest rates to remain

low even though the economy isgrowing.

Mr Carney also implied that theBank will drop the simple linkbetween interest rates andunemployment, and focus on abroader range of economicindicators.

The minutes of the Bank’sMonetary Policy Committee’slatest meeting, released on 22ndJanuary, also clearly stated:

“Members therefore saw noimmediate need to raise Bank Rateeven if the 7% unemploymentthreshold were to be reached in thenear future… When the time didcome to raise Bank Rate, it would beappropriate to do so only gradually.”

Although savers will be the ones tosuffer again, the Bank will put theneeds of the general economy first.With the economic recovery stillfragile, it is risky to raise borrowingcosts, including mortgage interestpayments. Resolution Foundation, aUK thinktank, warned that a millionhouseholds would face dangerously

high mortgage and borrowingpayments if the base rate increased to3%.

On the other hand, a rate risewould come not a moment toosoon for savers who have lostbillions since the rate was cut toits historic low, as a result ofinflation being higher thaninterest rates.

It is essential, particularly forretirees, to understand the impactinflation has on your savings overthe longer-term. It is important toensure your capital is working hardfor you and in line with yourpersonal circumstances. You needto speak to a professional wealthmanager to discuss your personalobjectives and risk tolerance, todetermine the most effectivestrategy for holding your savings toachieve your aims.

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

By Peter Worthington,Senior Partner, Blevins Franks

Could UK interest rates rise this year?There has been speculation about thepossibility since unemploymentfigures fell faster than expected.However the Bank of Englandresponded by saying that rates willremain “well below historic norms”in the medium term.

The Bank of England (BoE) baserate has been held at 0.5% for 58months now, benefiting borrowersbut harming savers.

The new BoE governor, MarkCarney, broke with tradition inAugust by issuing forward guidanceto reassure businesses and home-owners. He announced a policywhere the Bank would not considerraising interest rates until theheadline rate of unemployment fellto 7%, which they expected to be in2016.

Unemployment has since fallenfaster than expected, hitting 7.1% atthe end of November, according todata released on 22nd January. Thisled the media, the markets and someeconomists to speculate that we could

EUROPEAN PRESSFINANCE 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 23EWN

Interest Rates To Remain Low - Bank of England

* About 3 per cent of pet owners giveValentine’s Day gifts to their pets.

* Retailer Hallmark has more than 1,330different cards specifically for Valentine’s Day.

* American women say they’d rather receivechocolate than flowers on Valentine’s Day.

* About one billion Valentine’s Day cards areexchanged each year. The holiday is second onlyto Christmas in terms of the number of cardssent.

* Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess oflove and beauty.

* Richard Cadbury invented the firstValentine’s Day chocolate box in the late1800s.

* The Italian city of Verona, whereShakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived,

receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Julietevery Valentine’s Day.

* About 110 million roses, most of them red,will be sold this year

* St Valentine is indeed the patron saint oflove, but he has many other duties. He is alsothe patron saint of beekeepers. He also wardsoff fainting and epilepsy, and protectstravellers and happy marriages.

* The most fabulous gift of love is the TajMahal in India. It was built by Mughal EmperorShah Jahan as a memorial to his wife, who diedin childbirth.

Famous Valentine’s Days:Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent

on the telephone, an ‘improvement intelegraphy’, on Valentine’s Day,1876.

Notorious Valentine’s Day: Chicago,1929, when seven people weregunned down in the assassinationattempt of mobster Bugs Moran by AlCapone and his gang.

On February 14, 1779, CaptainJames Cook, the great Englishexplorer and navigator, wasmurdered by natives of Hawaiiduring his third visit to the Pacific

island group.Sir

AlexanderFleming introduced his mould-byproduct ofpenicillin, which was one of the greatdevelopments of modern medicine, onFebruary 14, 1929.

Love QuotesAll you need is love. But a little chocolate

now and then doesn’t hurt.-Charles M Schulz

The best smell in the world is that man thatyou love.

-Jennifer AnistonThe heart has its reasons of which reason

knows nothing.-Blaise Pascal

The Eskimos had 52 names for snowbecause it was important to them: there oughtto be as many for love.

-Margaret Atwood True love comes quietly, without banners or

flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your earschecked.

-Erich Segal I want a man who’s kind and understanding.

Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?-Zsa Zsa Gabor

EWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca24 www.euroweeklynews.com

Valentine’s Day Trivia: (from Researchmaniacs.com)

EWNwww.euroweeklynews.com 256 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca

THE oldest known Valentine inexistence is from 1415 AD. It was sentby French nobleman Charles Duke ofOrleans to his French wife while he wasimprisoned in the Tower of London. Thegreeting is now located in the BritishLibrary in London. After Agincourt,Charles d’Orléans was kept prisoner inEngland for 25 years. He passed much of

his time writing dolorous poetry,including the St. Valentine’s Day notethat tells of his sadness at being partedfrom his love.

During the Middle Ages, there weresuperstitions which said you coulddetermine what kind of man a girl wouldmarry on the basis of the first bird seenon Valentine’s Day. Seeing a robin meant

marriage to a sailor, a sparrow to a poorman, a goldfinch to a wealthy man, anda dove to a kind man.

In Wales, wooden love spoons werecarved and given as gifts on February14. Hearts, keys and keyholes werefavorite decorations on the spoons.The decoration meant, ‘You unlockmy heart!’

Today, an ‘x’ on a card or letterrepresents a kiss. This practice has itsorigins in medieval times, when illiteratepeople would sign documents with an ‘x’and seal it with a kiss to show their

sincerity. Pope

Gelasius declaredFebruary 14 to be

Saint Valentine’sDay in 498 A.D.

DuringVictorian times, itwas consideredbad luck to sign a

Valentine’s Daycard.

St. Valentine’s Day wasdeclared an official holidayin 1537 when England’sKing Henry VIII declared itfor the first time.

Wearing a weddingring on the fourth fingerdates back to ancientEgypt, where it wasbelieved that the vein oflove ran from this fingerdirectly to the heart.

We associate lovewith the heart, but inShakespeare’s time loveresided in the liver.

True facts about Valentine’s Day

SAINT VALENTINE waskilled on February 14 andhis remains were takento the Basilica de Terni,in Italy.

In 1965, when Almeriacathedral’s archives werebeing sorted, documentswere found proving thebody of a martyr namedValentine, which was

taken from theRoman cata-

combs in the18th

century, and declaredauthentic by Rome in1779, was given to thecathedral. In 1782, whenthe archdeacon ofAlmeria died, he donatedthe body, blood andrelics of Saint Valentineto the cathedral and theywere put on show foreveryone to see for manyyears, with celebrationsbeing held every year onFebruary 14.

Although the remainsdisappeared during thewar, it is believed theymay have been buried in

the gardens. On February 14, 1965,

celebrations were held,

and a monument to SaintValentine in the ParqueJose Antonio wasblessed by the priest.However, in 1969, thechurch bannedcelebrations for Saint

Valentine’s Day,although some localcelebrations remained.

The other two whocould be the ‘real’ SaintValentine are a bishop ofInteramna (modern Terni),or a martyr in the Romanprovince of Africa.

However, it is morethan likely that the onein Almeria is not thepatron saint of loverswho died in Rome onFebruary 14, but one ofthe others of the samename (there are 14documented in total).

Is Saint Valentine buried in Spain?ENIGMAS ANDLEGENDS OF ALMERIA:Does it hold the truth?

Adaptation and translation byJennifer M. Leighfield, fromAlberto Cerezuela, Enigmas yLeyendas de Almeria, Ed. CirculoRojo, 6th edition, May 2009.www.editorialcirculorojo.com

OLD you thosemurdering toeragswho slaughtered LeeRigby would milk the

British legal system for all it wasworth!

Last week, the first onecommenced his opening, farcicalappeal. No doubt the other wasteof space will follow suit. If any ofthe countries whose customsthey purport to sympathise withhad been faced with their actionsand bragging confessions, thepair of them would have beendancing on the end of a rope orheadless within a week.

The world must truly believethe Brits have completely lost it.One of their finest, unarmedyoung soldiers is hacked topieces in full public view. Thekillers, with the lad’s blood stilldripping from their fingers,confess on live television thatthey have done it in the name ofIslam, and what happens?

Well, I’ll tell you. No doubtthey’re on priority treatment inthe nick - basically because most

of the cons have a moreintelligent view of justice than thelegal profession, and would, ifthey could, remove ’em fromsociety permanently.

They will enjoy three meals aday, no doubt Halal, which meansseparate kitchens and a specialchef (well, wouldn’t want toinfringe their ’uman rights, wouldwe?). Visits from legal parasitesand social workers, includingpsychiatrists, will be numerous.As they are segregated, they willhave all the comforts in theircells, television and so forth.

Without question there willhave been visits from doctors andhospital trips to make sure theyare both making a healthyrecovery - and the irony of it all,is their enemies, i.e. the Britishpublic, will be paying for it.

In the words of my hero, ‘youreally couldn’t make it up’.

Personally, I would have workedon ’em for a week to make surethey named all their accomplices,

fellow terrorists and anything elseadvantageous to my country, andthen give them a rousing send-off to the virgins and paradisetheir clerics of hatred promisethey’ll attain for killing people.Job done.

I see yet another school-teacher has decreed there will beno winners or losers in sportsevents. No doubt they will stayfirmly entrenched in their place ofwork for the duration, despite thefact that their actions aredangerous ideals that won’tprepare their charges for thefuture at all. Sacked, of course, isthe instructor who brought histeams up to win an event if theycould! It’s all gone mad, hasn’t it?Where do they find these people,I ask myself.

And finally I still wouldn’t trust‘Foxy’ Knoxy any further than Icould throw a 20-ton truck.

Keep them Es coming and,whatever ya do, always keep thefaith.

Love Leapy Leapylee2002@gmail.com

No gutsI AGREE with what yousay (Issue 1491) aboutpeople playing the racecard for no valid reason.

I wonder if a Britishnewspaper would havedared to print yourarticle? I doubt it. Theywould use the excusethat it was racist.

This is the problemwith the UK, no one hasthe guts to tell it as it is.It’s about time theUK found some courage.

Phillip Walker(By email)

Sort of...I SORT of agree abouttoo many people playingthe race card, but inorder to play it, racismmust first exist. There isno doubt that it does,maybe not as bad as itwas 40 years ago, but itis still there.

Philip Adams(By email)

LEAPY LETTERS

LEAPY LEESAYS ITOTHERS THINK IT

TMurderers milking legal system

SYSTEM: It may be legal, butis it justice?

OPINION & COMMENTEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com26

IT’S quite the coldest, darkest, trickiestpart of the year now isn’t it? Everyonewants to hunker down and hide indoors.

We got a load of new wood in lastweekend with some serious hunkeringdown in mind. My husband gets quiteNeanderthal (‘Man Make fire’), he doeslike to stoke up the wood burner as if itis the Flying Scotsman.

So we were pretty toasty and comfyon Saturday evening, right up to themoment I realised the roof was on fire.

Downstairs we didn’t realise that therewas a problem. But upstairs there was aweird smell. It turned out that this wasthe smell of the ceiling burning.

At first I just thought that the newwood had a peculiar smell. The chimneygoes through the room where our officeis, that’s the room with the PCs and thecameras, in fact all the things which weuse for our jobs.

When I discovered that the roof of ouroffice was aflame I didn’t exactly panic.It was confusing. How could it be

possible that the ceiling be burning? Myhusband and I swung into action withbuckets of water.

At this point I realised I hadn’t everrung the emergency number : I had toGoogle ‘Spain Emergency Number’ (it’s112 by the way). I got as far as “I havea fire in my house” in Spanish before I

started freaking out and losing the abilityto understand or speak any languageexcept gibberish. Meanwhile myhusband switched to ‘Man Put Out Fire’and got on with it.

The ‘Bomberos’ joined us from SantaPonsa, and we were also visited by ourLocal Police and then the Guardia.

Together we figured out that the sapfrom the newly cut wood had condensedat the top of the chimney and ignitedresidual soot.

The police and the firemen impressedme with calm, friendly, and thoroughattitude.

I ended up chatting with one of themand discovered that he really liked cats.Absurdly we talked about our cats thatwere all lined up on the stairs in a‘What’s going on?’ formation, whilst hiscolleagues went up on the cherry pickerto check the fire was out completely.

It was nothing like the horrendousdestructive fire that ravaged through ourvalley last year, but these were some ofthe guys who had been fighting it.

I’ve got to say that I thought theywere fantastic.

So: the fire was put out, and no onewas hurt, but it certainly spooked us.What if I hadn’t smelt the strangeodour? What if we’d nodded offdownstairs, what if, what if? The nextnight we sat in the living room in ourjumpers, coats, hats, scarves andgloves, the cats were pretty miffed therewasn’t a fire to arrange themselves infront of. They’ve submitted theircomplaint in triplicate.

www.familymattersmallorca.com.

Keeping the home fires burning

BOMBEROS: The firemen impressed me with their calm, friendly attitude.

Vicki McleodFamilyMatters

A NUTRITIONIST hascome up with a list offactors which canencourage the formationof unsightly cellulite.

Dr Carlos Jarne, micro-nutrition graduate at theUniversity of Burgundy(France) and anti-agingmedicine (University ofBarcelona) said factors towatch out for include:

• A sedentary lifestyle• Tight clothing and

high heels impede itsreturn and alter themechanisms of pumpingblood

• Smoking causesalterations in themicrocirculation andincreases free radicals inthe skin

• An excess of alcoholincreases stored fat

• Stress, anxiety andfrustration can cause anincrease in brainhormones that stimulatethe deposit of body fat

• Certain medications(thyroid treatments andcontraceptives) may

induce the appearance ofcellulite

• Digestive disorderscan promote obesity andtherefore increasecellulite. The intake of fat,carbohydrates, salt andprocessed sugars shouldbe reduced drastically

• A low-fibre intake

causes constipation andincreases resistance of theveins in the legs

• It is also important todrink plenty of water

• A diet focused onmeats and fermenteddairy (cured cheeses, etc)will also possibly have animpact in forming cellulite.

WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EWNLIFESTYLE.COMHealth & beautyHEALTH & BEAUTY 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 29EWN

Avoid the dreaded cellulite

THERE is a pair of purple velvet jeanshanging in my wardrobe. I boughtthem from a trendy little designerstore in London. I wore them on myfirst date with my husband. Theyhaven’t fitted me for nine years. Whyam I keeping these jeans? Becausethey made me look awesome, andone day I want to wear them again.

I write for a living. So I spend mostof my day sitting down and staring ata computer screen digging around inthe back of my head looking for theright words. This might be why whilstmy backside has been spreading, myeyesight has been worsening.

Or it could be because I crossed thethreshold into 40 a little (ahem) whileago. I can’t say that I have a problemwith inactivity; personally I am a bigfan of the great indoors. But I sitdown a lot. When I stand up I makenoises that I would associate with mygrandmother getting up from herchair by the fire. This is not a goodthing.

What example am I setting to my‘mini me,’ our daughter. My little chicais eight. She does two PE lessons atschool, and after school Hip Hop and

Judo clubs. But she’s also a big fan ofwatching awful teeny cartoons andcamping out on the sofa: she isfollowing in her mother’s footsteps,well now I’m changing the path thatwe’re both on.

Recent research studies haveshown that 40 per cent of children arenow either overweight or obese bythe age of five, and that withoutintervention, it’s very likely they willremain that way through to adult-hood. I was a fat kid, growing up a fatkid isn’t fun.

You’re judged all the time as lazy orstupid, and it also has seriousimplications for your life expectancy,your confidence, your future. And Idon’t want that to happen to mydaughter. I’ve promised myself manytimes before that I will get fit, I willlose weight, but now I’m makingpromises for my little girl, and those

are the sort of promises you can’tbreak. The difficulty is not making thecommitment but seeing it through.

How do we fit effective andenjoyable exercise into our alreadyestablished daily routines of schooland work? How do we find thingswhich we both want to do?

My daughter G is eight, I am in myforties. She likes watching Sabrina theTeenage Witch and drinking applejuice, I like drinking red wine andwatching Midsomer Murders. Andnever, so far have the twain met.

We have to start, and the gym atthe Country Club in Santa Ponsa iswhere we are going to begin. I don’thave anything to wear. Well, I do, butmy outfit also doubles as my pyjamas.Will anyone notice?

Vicki McleodHealthMatters

I just want tolook awesome...

EXERCISE: Make it enjoyable.

DOGS and cats can beemotional creatures, andthat means they can get

jealous if their owner getsa new partner.

Both species arecreatures of routine and anew partner can causedisruptions, causingstress, making it importantto take care when bringinga new person into theirlives.

Signs of jealousbehaviour to watch out forin dogs include jumpingup, barking and nipping.Perhaps another moreobvious sign is when yourpet dog tries to get inbetween you and yourpartner when sitting onthe sofa.

Cats being cats theirsigns of jealousy aredifferent. They tend tosulk, hide or go to the looin inappropriate places.

For people planning tointroduce their pet to theirnew partner considermeeting your date whileout on a walk with yourdog. That means your newpartner meets your dog onneutral territory, and will

feel less anxious. Before you introduce

your date to your pet, tellthem to avoid eye contactor interaction with theanimal, especially if theyare coming into yourhome for the first time.

If you are entertainingyour guest at home, avoidshutting your dog or cataway. The animal will

associate the anxiety ofbeing away from you withyour new partner.

It is important to givethe animal in questionsomething to do and keepit occupied whenintroducing a date.

For your local radiofrequency log onto

www.talkradioeurope.com

For all dog treats please call:

David THE DogmanListen to David on TRE every Saturday 10am to 11amCosta del Sol (Gibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm(San Roque to Calahonda) 91.9fm (Calahonda to Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92.7fmCosta Blanca (Torrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm (Elche to Calpe) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6fm,(Denia to Valencia) 95.3fm Mallorca 103.9fm

SPONSORED BY

971 887 007 / 634 152 813

EWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com30 PETS/BOATING

Pets can get jealous too

FIRST DATE: Introduce your pet to a new partneroutside of the home.

MORE than 250 athletes partici-pated in the 2014 ProRiggingTrophy held by the Royal SailingClub of Palma (RCNP).

The Trophy boasted 167 boatsparticipating from clubs fromMallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

With the Mistral wind blowingover 13 knots with gusts up to 22,Juan Manuel Calafell (Club deVela Port d’Andratx) left aschampion of the Optimist class.

The young sailor from Andratxhas one year left in Optimist andplans to jump up to 420. AinaColom (Club Nautic S’Arenal)placed second and Marcos Plomer(CVPA) came out in third.

Also in Optimist class, JordiLlado (RCNP) came in first in thesub-13 category. Emma Vanrell(RCNP) placed first in sub-11, andLaura Homar (Club NauticS’Arenal) came out on top in theD Group.

The Menorcan Joan Cardona(RCNP) won decisively in LaserRadial, followed by Tomeu

Torrandell (CNA) and BartomeuGarcia (Club Nautico dePortocolom).

Aina Bauza was the top femalecompetitor. As in the first outing,Cardona kept out front and had

no problem maintaining the lead.In the Laser 4.7, Antoni Salva

(RCNP) won, putting his clubcompanions Maximilian Kimpeland Antonio Sbert in second andthird, respectively. Meanwhile in

Snipe, Teo Matheu and PedroCabrer (RCNP) came out ahead offellow RCNP sailors Kai Dost andXim Enseñat.

Enric Noguera and RafaelVallespir caused a sensation in the

420 by beating world championsXavier Antich and Pedro Terrones

(CNA) whowere resignedto accept thirdplace.

Results from 2014 ProRigging Trophyheld by Royal Sailing Club of Palma

WINNERS: ProRigging Trophy participants with their awards.

By L

aura

G G

uerra

with

the

perm

issio

n of

RCN

P

MOVISTAR team sailors Iker Martinez and TaraPacheco finished fourth in this year’s first ISAFSailing World Cup race, held in Miami last weekend.

The Spanish duo was unable to beat Britons BenSaxton and Hannah Diamond in the fight for thebronze medal in the Nacra 17 category.

Italians Vittorio Bizarro and Silvia Sicouri won thegold medal, followed by Austrians Thomas Zajacand Tanja Chiara Frank.

Highlight of the competition was the Medal Raceheld on Saturday, which was marked by winds ofbetween eight and 10 knots.

Martinez and Pacheco are now training for thenext ISAF Sailing World Cup race, to be held inPalma from March 29 to April 5.

Good sailingMOVISTAR TEAM: Iker Martinez and TaraPacheco finished fourth in Miami.

FEATURE 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 31EWN

EURAn unremarkable performance by the

euro saw it hold steady against sterlingas it lost a cent and a half to the USdollar. The euro zone economic statisticswere a mixed bag that did no lastingharm and gave the currency no particularlift: Consumer and business confidencewas broadly better and unemploymentwas down to 12% but inflation fell backto 0.7%, the level that upset the euro’sapplecart two months ago.

USDAlthough the dollar was not the top

performer it had a good week,strengthening by a cent and a half

against the euro and the pound. It washelped on its way by news that the USeconomy grew by a provisional 0.8% inthe fourth quarter of 2013. Furtherassistance came from the FederalReserve’s decision to cut by a further$10bn the amount of stimulative moneyit prints every month.

CADEven though the Loonie seemed to be

permanently on the defensive it stillmanaged to strengthen by three quartersof a cent against sterling. It did less wellagainst the US dollar, falling by half acent. The only significant Canadian datawere Friday’s consumer price index

numbers, which showed inflationaccelerating to 1.3%. The news sent theCanadian dollar higher, turning whatcould have been an uncomfortable weekinto a half-decent one.

AUDIt was a good week for the Aussie but

only because it started out from a four-year low seven days ago. The Australiandollar strengthened by three cents

against sterling and by halfa cent against the US dollar, sharing

joint first position for the week with theJapanese yen. Its recovery was based onnothing more compelling than anabsence of fresh bad news.

NZDThen NZ dollar did not perform as well

as its Australian cousin last week butneither did it set off from a four-year low.

The Kiwi lost a cent and a quarter tothe US dollar and a cent to the pound.Its main stumbling block was the failureof the Reserve Bank of New Zealand toraise its official cash rate benchmark.

A rate increase was not predicted bymost analysts but recent hints fromGovernor Graeme Wheeler had led someinvestors to think that one was on thecards.

Euro holdssteady against

sterlingShe can be contacted on

Tel: +34 902 887 243Mobile: +34 687 932 472

Email:mallorca@moneycorp.com

902887243mallorca@moneycorp.com

ClarisseMusselwhite

Advertising Feature

Commentary by Moneycorp is Moneycorp’s Account Manager for Mallorca

Fri -Sat -Sun -

19 9 S19 12 C19 12 C

MAX MIN

Mon -Tues -Wed -

20 13 C19 11 C18 10 C

MAX MIN

AQUARIUS(January 21 - February 19)Eager Mars meets affluentJupiter and enriches yourfinancial forecast. It might show aforetaste of money to come, or on-stream benefits. If you intend to makealterations to your personal and homeinterests, you'll undoubtedly cope withboth offbeat and upbeat activities.

PISCES(February 20 - March 20)One thing is certain, when youcome through this week'srestless planetary antics, youwon't be totally the same Pisceanwho walked in. Whether you're figuring outnumbers, analysing your dreams, or gettinginto a playfully social mood, there'll be muchto enjoy and put to the test.

ARIES(March 21 - April 20)Education, media, creative andsocial connections are given starmerit. The solar eclipse in yourown sign bursts with vitality andsuccess, more so for an array of boldmoves, replace-ments and makeoverscovering your personal affairs.

TAURUS(April 21 - May 21)Stand by for a week of whooshand whirl. More importantly, try to

avoid getting tongue-tied or dogmatic onTuesday and Friday. Promising potentialsappear, especially if you spruce up yourcompetitive streak.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)Throughout this fortunate week,whatever else you decide, refuse todiscard your hopes and wishes. As aGemini, you like to have two strings to yourbow of life, which gives you an alternative op-tion, especially if the going gets tough.

CANCER(June 22 - July 23)A vivid star pattern portends afrantic personal and social diary.Ensure that any tight planning iscarefully handled, especially if you

hope to fit in everything you would like tosay. Don't allow Monday or Wednesday'stensions to spoil opportunities for settlingsomething important.

LEO(July 24 - August 23)Pave the way for any ambitiousschemes you may have, ratherthan actually starting them. Withyour ruler the Sun eclipsing your kindredfire sign, determined Aries, you are nowmore likely to get the support and affectionyou need from the powers that be orsomeone who thinks the world of you.

VIRGO(August 24 - September 23)Even if the opposite to what youwant happens, it could prove

useful. One clue to this week's planetarycrossword puzzle is 'What word couldalso mean success?' Check it out, andmake it work for you.

LIBRA(September 24 - October 23)The solar eclipse in youropposite sign of Ariesintensifies your willpower.Before you say 'go', find outwhere you stand. It might pay youto leave things be for a little longer to seeif anything begins to change.

SCORPIO(October 24 - November 22)The planets mobilise yourstreak of Scorpio daring, butdon't stretch your limits. Your

most effective weaponagainst personal andwork-related pitfalls is your abilityto be objective. Your desire tomake specific situations andconversations work needs to becombined with your faith thatthey will work.

SAGITTARIUS(November 23 -December 21)The main gist of thesolar eclipse in fieryAries and the link betweenplucky Mars and your rulerfriendly Jupiter will stir surprises.Whether you create the rightatmosphere all round dependson how you interpret otherpeople's views.

CAPRICORN(December 22 -January 20)Hard-working,enterprising and self-sacrificing are just some of thewords that describe your zodiacsign. It will be these qualities thatcount. Friday will boost yourpowers of persuasion, but youwon't have too much to complainabout if you follow this luckytrend into next week'sencouraging tide.

Move from the start word (MAIN) to theend word (ROAD) in the same number ofsteps as there are rungs on the Word Lad-der. You must only change one letter at atime.

ROAD

MAINLAINLOIN

LOANROANROAD

Average: 4Good: 5

Very good: 7Excellent: 9

How many English words of fourletters or more can you makefrom the nine letters in our

Nonagram puzzle? Each lettermay be used only once (unlessthe letter appears twice). Each

word MUST CONTAIN THECENTRE LETTER (in this case T)

and there must be AT LEAST ONENINE LETTER WORD. Plurals,

vulgarities or proper nouns arenot allowed.

TARGET:

S Sun, Cl Clear, Fog, C Cloud, Sh Showers,

Sn Snow, Th Thunder

Alicante TODAY: SUNNY MAX 20C, MIN 12C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

17 11 S18 13 S18 13 S

Mon -Tues -Wed -

18 14 C18 12 C16 11 C

Almeria TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 19C, MIN 13C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

14 8 C15 10 C14 10 C

Mon -Tues -Wed -

15 11 C15 9 C14 8 C

BarcelonaTODAY: SUNNY MAX 15C, MIN 11C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

17 11 Cl17 13 C17 14 C

Mon -Tues -Wed -

17 14 C17 12 C16 12 C

Benidorm TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 17C, MIN 13C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

10 4 Sh11 7 Sh12 7 Sh

Mon -Tues -Wed -

14 7 Sh11 4 Sh9 4 Sh

Madrid TODAY: SHOWERS MAX 13C, MIN 6C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

16 9 Sh18 12 C18 13 Cl

Mon -Tues -Wed -

18 13 Sh16 11 Sh15 10 Sh

MalagaTODAY: SHOWERS MAX 19C, MIN 11C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

14 9 C15 12 C16 11 C

Mon -Tues -Wed -

16 12 C16 11 C14 11 C

MallorcaTODAY: CLOUDY MAX 17C, MIN 12C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

19 7 Cl21 10 C22 11 C

Mon -Tues -Wed -

21 12 C20 9 C18 8 Cl

Murcia TODAY: SUNNY MAX 23C, MIN 11C

Joaquin Sabina. Born onFebruary 12, 1949. A

Spanish singer,songwriter and poet, Sabina began

composing aged14. He went into exilein London during General Francoʼs

dictatorship using a fake passport. In1975, he began singing in bars andperformed before George Harrison,

who gave him a five-pound note as atip, which he preserves to this day.

IF ITʼS YOUR BIRTHDAYTHIS WEEK:

Your sphere offriendships, relationships

and career issues aredelightfully aspected.

Circle June and Augustfor making contact withthose who can point you

in the right direction. SY

Time OutEURO WEEKLY’S SPACE FOR YOU TO TAKE A BREAK, BE INFORMED AND ENJOY A CHALLENGE

CROSSWORDSEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com32

Word Ladder

Nonagram

Mallorca weatherfor next 7 days

65ourtars

adit, arid, darn, dart, dint, dirt, drat, nard, raid, rand, rind, road, toad,trad, trod, adorn, dinar, ditto, drain, droit, idiot, indri, nadir, radii, radio,radon, triad, adroit, inroad, ordain, TRADITION

MAIN

1. Which word completes the title ofthe only UK Top 10 hit single bysinger Patti Page, who died inJanuary: (How Much Is That) ------in the Window?2. Former prime minister MargaretThatcher, who died in April, was themember of parliament for whichconstituency from October 1959 toApril 1992?3. The MGM movie star EstherWilliams, who died in June, setmultiple national and regionalrecords in which sport in her lateteens?4. At which Olympic Games didathlete Donna Hartley, who died inJune, win a bronze medal as part ofthe Great Britain 4x400 metre relayteam?5. What was the name of secondyoungest of the singing NolanSisters, who died in July?6. What was the name of the ‘familymatriarch’ of the Beale and Fowlerfamily in EastEnders, played byactress Anna Wing, who died inJuly?7. In which 1969 American ‘roadmovie’ written by and starring PeterFonda and Dennis Hopper, didactress Karen Black, who died inAugust, star as a call-girl namedKaren?

1. DOGGIE, 2. FINCHLEY, 3.SWIMMING, 4. MOSCOW, 1980, 5.BERNIE (Bernadette Therese) Nolan,6. LOU BEALE, 7. EASY RIDER

Sudoku

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

Fill the grid so that every row,every column and every 3X3 boxcontains the digits 1-9. There’sno maths involved. You solve thepuzzle with reasoning and logic.

7-Star QuizGONE BUT NOT

FORGOTTEN IN 2013

Saturday February Friday January 31 Saturday February 1 Sunday February 2Saturday February 1 Saturday February

27 35

BONUS BALL THUNDERBALL BONUS BALL LUCKY STARS REINTEGRO REINTEGRO

41

34

36 48

29

IRISH LOTTO LA PRIMITIVAEL GORDO DELA PRIMITIVA

UK THUNDERBALL

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY EURO MILLIONS

LOTTERY

14 30

36

29

33 45

35

9 27

31

13

28 34

11 2

13 2014

3231

11

31 4744

5251

6

8 1510

3116

8 9

Justin dreams of becoming one of theKnights of Valour, but his father Reginaldwants him to follow in his footsteps andbecome a lawyer. After an inspiring visit tohis beloved grandmother, he bids farewellto his supposed lady-love Lara, andembarks on a quest to become a Knight.Along the way he meets the beautiful, feistyTalia, a quirky wizard, Melquiades and thehandsome Sir Clorex, who teach him in theancient ways of the Knights of Valour.

Starring Antonio Banderas, FreddieHighmore and Saoirse Ronan. Directed byManuel Sicilia. Runtime 96 mins. Rated U.

Justin and theKnights of Valour

NEW ONDVD

MAD

DOCK

S’ V

IEW

ONLI

FETODAY

POLLENÇA

CALA MILLOR INCACALVIA

ANDRATXPALMA

MAGALLUFLLUCMAJOR

CALA d’OR

ALCUDIAPOLLENÇA

CALA MILLOR INCACALVIA

ANDRATXPALMA

MAGALLUFLLUCMAJOR

CALA d’OR

TOMORROW

ALCUDIA

Across1 Motionless (6)5 Africa expedition (6)8 Just (4)9 Large, old, luminous star (3,5)10 Brilliant person (6)11 Non-metallic element (6)12 Sports event (4)14 Allow (3)15 Very small (4)16 Quagmire (6)18 Most recent (6)20 Coin worth a quarter of an

old penny (8)22 Close (4)23 Rough (6)24 Effortlessly (6)

Down2 Taunt (5)3 White ant (7)4 Moth's pupa (9)5 Unhappy (3)6 Mendicant (5)7 Decrepit (3-4)11 Complete list of items (9)13 Alligator pear (7)15 Lockjaw (7)17 Change (5)19 Shoulder cover (5)21 Anger (3)

Crosswords SPONSORED BYF o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e s p o n s o r g o t o w w w . l i n e a d i r e c t a . c o m

CROSSWORDS 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 33EWN

Across1 Sabroso (5)3 Regalos (5)6 Regla (norma) (4)7 Head (part of body) (6)9 Waitresses (9)12 Bitter (in taste) (6)13 Firewood (4)14 Key (door) (5)15 Now (at this time,immediately) (5)

Down1 Bull (farm animal) (4)2 Savage deed (9)3 Uvas (6)4 Kitchen sink (9)5 Estrella (4)8 Blood (6)10 Pelota (4)11 Cup (vessel, amount) (4)

Across1 A finch is seen in hide (6)4 Look for Tontoʼs Mount (5)8 To do this would upset teach (5)9 The first man and the worker were

very determined (7)10 Pull out of additional court case (7)11 A solid form once adjusted (4)12 Bird found hiding in the Louvre

Museum (3)14 Deliver offspring on the radio (4)15 The latest information from New

South Wales (4)18 Dat is funny, a bit (3)21 Ring fellow from country (4)23 Clung to redheadʼs make-up (7)25 The potential uses for a Greek hero

(7)26 Find a suit and get a flat in South

East (5)27 Entertains crowds (5)28 Matches one in underwear (6)

Down1 Football clubs ̓score is wrong (6)2 Ghost commanding a form of respect

(7)3 Private network made from nitrogen

nitrate (8)4 Damage rebuilt cars (4)5 Protagonist hiding somewhere in New

Zealand (5)

6 Aristocratic bird was in front (6)7 Players beginning to exhibit class (5)13 Dishonest Tuscan he reformed (8)16 Justify authorisation for arrest (7)17 Alcoholic drink can be a real laugh

before church (6)

19 Bloomer is seen during time sun isabove horizon (5)

20 Dreads exotic snakes (6)22 Declares a piece of poetry is

unfinished (5)24 Clues found in a Mickey Spillane

novel (4)

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONSCRYPTIC Across: 1 Start, 4 Berths, 9 Tableau, 10 Papaw, 11 Eden,12 Enchain, 13 End, 14 Opal,16 Ally, 18 Ail, 20 Crowned, 21 Ache, 24 Omega, 25 Probing, 26 Screen, 27 Felon.

Down: 1 Setter, 2 Amble, 3 Tier, 5 Especial, 6 Topsail, 7 Sewing, 8 Muted, 3 Elongate, 15 Pioneer, 17 Across, 18 Adapt, 19 Reagan, 22 Chill, 23 Golf.

QUICK Across: 1 Belts, 4 Session, 7 Witness, 8 Alike, 10 Shirt, 11 Excites, 12 Petty, 14 Usual,19 Observe, 21 Stare, 22 Stole,23 Imagine, 24 Pirates, 25 Great.

Down: 2 Lattice, 3 Spent, 4 System, 5 Stances, 6 Idiot, 7 Wise, 9 Easy, 13 Torment, 15 Avarice, 16 Boss, 17 Series,18 Mere, 20 Scour, 21 Slang.

ENGLISH-SPANISHAcross: 1 Pages, 3 Calvo, 5 Rey, 7 Marisco, 9 Loaf, 10 Pavo, 14 Desmayo, 15 Fur,16 Gorra, 17 Ovens.

Down: 1 Peral, 2 Same, 3 Cara, 4 Oro, 6 Years, 8 Scarf,11 Otros, 12 Nada, 13 Rojo, 14 Dog.

FUNAGRAM SOLUTION: FIONA BRUCE, THE BAR-BER OF SEVILLE

Answers:Back garden,Down-to-earth

The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In thisweek’s puzzle, 9 represents B and 11 represents Q, so fill in B every time the figure 9

appears and Q every time the figure 11 appears. Now, using your knowledge of the Englishlanguage, work out which letters should go in the missing squares. As you discover theletters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and the control grid.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

English - Spanish

QuickCryptic

Code Breaker

Funagram Play on Words

Hexagram

AWARDS

BADGER

BANNER

BASKED

BROKEN

BUGLES

COARSE

FACTOR

GLOSSY

HURRAY

LISTEN

RARELY

REARED

ROARED

RUGGED

SEATED

SHAKEN (10)

SIGHED

THREAD

The purpose of the Hexagram puzzle is to place the 19 six-letter words into the 19 cells. The letters at theedges of interlocking cells MUST BE THE SAME. The letters in the words must be written CLOCKWISE. Theword in cell 10 (ROUSED) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.

1 Desert, 2 Deeper, 3 Panted, 4 Surged, 5 Troops, 6 Seated, 7 Orange, 8 Turned, 9 Indent, 10 Roused, 11 Speeds, 12 Advent,13 Tested, 14 Ruined, 15 Veered, 16 Weeded, 17 Steeds, 18 Darted, 19 Seared

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONUnscramble the name of a famous British journalist,newsreader and television presenter: OUR FINE CAB

Unscramble the English title of a famous opera, firstperformed in 1816 (four words): OBSERVE THEFIREBALL NEDRAG

EARTH

EARTH

EWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com34 OPINION & COMMENT

THINK it should be banned for the child’s health,”said Suze van Wingerden, aged 63, who isspending the winter in Guardamar (Alicante)

from Holland. She admits she and her husband bothsmoked when their children were young, but have sincequit: “We know better now. I don’t even think peopleshould smoke outside unless it’s their own home as thesmoke still affects you when blown by the wind.”

Full-time mother Charlie Monterry-Garcia, aged35, from Guardamar, agreed it should be

banned, but feels it isn’t the govern-ment’s job to police it:

“No one should needa law to stoppeople fromsmoking in a carwith children, it is

just

common sense. If anyone cares about the health of theirchild they shouldn’t be doing it.”

Miriam Llorente, a 29-year-old midwife fromValladolid who lives and works in Benissa (Alicante),thought it was a drastic measure, but agreed with it. Sheadded: “I think it would be nice to have this lawprotecting children in Spain but the government shouldfirst carry out an awareness campaign before approvingany prohibition law.”

Alan Kennt, 71, is retired and lives in Albir(Alicante). He said: “I disagree with this lawbecause I think everybody should do whatthey want in their own vehicle and hope thislaw never arrives in Spain.”

But Eileen Strain, aged 73, from Partaloa(Almeria), felt it should be banned. “Itis not a good thing when children areinvolved in passive smoking. I think

Spain should follow suit. It is unfair on other passengersbreathing in smoke. In my opinion smoking while youdrive is more dangerous than using a mobile phone.”

Anne Karlstron, 60, who is retired and lives inZurgena (Almeria), is not sure a ban is feasible: “We arepart of the European Community with many directivesfrom Brussels; the UK is one of the few Europeancountries that adheres to the directives. Given there is acourt of human rights in Brussels, one would assumeyou could appeal to them against such a law, becauseno one has the right to dictate my personal preferences.”

THE UK House of Lords has backed a plan to ban people smoking in cars if there are children in the back. It could become a criminal offenceleading to a fine and penalty points. We asked if you agree with this move, or should people be allowed to make up their own minds?

Should Spain follow suit, or is anti-smoking legislation going too far?

STREET TALK

Car smoking ban a good idea?

‘I

FROM LEFT: Eileen Strain, MiriamLlorente, Suze van Wingerdenand Anne Karlstron.

O you enjoy gazingout over the turquoisesea while enjoying a

‘copa de vino’ with friends?Perhaps the odd dip into theclean, refreshing waters insummer-time? Well, enjoy itwhile it lasts because it could allbe about to change.

The Spanish government hasgranted Cairn Energy plcpermission to begin oilexploration right here on ourdoorstep, so to speak. Initialplans centre on an area betweenValencia and the Balearic Islandof Ibiza.

Scant regard was given to thefact that although theMediterranean Sea makes up 1per cent of the world’s oceansurface, it is home to more than18 per cent of the world’s marinespecies, an ecosystem highly

affected by the proposal,according to environmentalgroup Oceana.

And even if the thought ofkilling a few (million) fishes and

crustaceans is not enough tomake you sleep uncomfortablyat night, perhaps the prospect ofpotential oil spills will. In 2010the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

disaster in the Gulf of Mexicoaffected nearly 80,000 squaremiles - if something similar wereto happen to here, it would wipeout much of the Mediterranean

Sea as we know. Helpfully - from Cairn’s

perspective - the currentSpanish government led byPrime Minister Mariano Rajoyfast-tracked environmentalpolicy for speedy approval ofsuch proposals, which couldpreviously be contested and fullyanalysed without a time limit.

Presumably Mr Rajoy plans totake his seaside holidays in otherlocations in the future or heenjoys a fine oil slick with hismorning swim.

If you prefer theMediterranean as it is, there isstill time (albeit only a few daysby the time this edition goes topress) to make your voice heard.

Environmental support groupsare lobbying to review thedecision in parliament, but needa minimum of 30,000 signedpetitions (sent in triplicate) byFebruary 10 this year to do so.

For more details on how tosupport them, go towww.alianzamarblava.org/es/blog/alegar-proyecto/

D

The end of the Med as we know it? Expat Strife

ulrica@euroweeklynews.com

Ulrica Marshall

Swedish-born Ulrica is a freelancejournalist living in Mallorca with herfamily. Her debut novel $Expat Wivesis available on Amazon and iBooks.To comment on any of the issuesraised in Ulrica’s column, go towww.euroweeklynews.com/columnists/ulrica-marshall

NOT WANTED: Oil rigs could be a disaster.

WHAT was the most romanticthing anyone has ever done foryou? With Valentine’s Day roundthe corner thoughts turn to loveand romance… but it is not justthe thoughts that count, is it?

Sometimes I feel sorry forcouples on Valentine’s Day.There is so much pressure to dosomething… anything… or youclearly do not love the personthat you are spending your lifewith. A bunch of flowers grabbedfrom the garage doesn’t cut itand don’t even think about the ‘Ishow you that I love you everyday’ routine as that won’t washeither.

So instead extortionateamounts are paid for red roses,restaurants hawk up the price ofa table for two and the yet-to-wed females secretly wonder ifthis is the night that he willpropose… yes you know you do!!

Debate still rages as to the

origins of the day itself as therewere at least three martyrsduring Roman times calledValens.

I like the theory about the onewho was a kind-hearted priestwho married couples against thewishes of Emperor Claudius IIand was beheaded for his troubleon Via Flamina, north of Romeon February 14 AD.

Hence a day ofcommemoration was establishedby Pope Gelasius in 300AD (oldromantic) only to be removedfrom the calendar of saints byPope Paul VI in 1969 (oldspoilsport)!

How the datebecame associatedwith courtly love andromance is unclear butwho really cares as longas he turns up havingshaved and hiding adiamond ring about hisperson (okay Zircon willdo!)

In Spain they celebrate anysaints’ day at the drop of asombrero so Saint Valentine is noexception but why have one dayfor lovers when you can havetwo? The other day is La Diadade Sant Jordi on April 23, theaccepted date of the death ofSaint George in 303AD. Now aman who can kill a dragonsingle-handedly and rescue aprincess, that’s more like it!

This date is also known inMallorca as El Dia de la Rosa orEl Dia del Llibre due to theexchange of gifts of roses and

(you guessed it)books. This second 24-hourindulgence in romance cameabout much more recently whensome enterprising booksellerrealised that scribblers Josep Pla,Miguel Cervantes and WilliamShakespeare all died on thesame date.

So here is a plan for you onValentine’s Day: ditch the roses(I never liked cut flowers

anyway… they are alreadydying), forget the pizza for twoand give your loved one a copyof ‘50 Shades of Grey’ insteadexplaining that this is howromance is shown here in Spain.Does this explain why I willprobably be curling up with onlyone of those books on Feb 14?

Laura Penn presents theweekday Breakfast Show

Monday to Friday from 8am till12 noon on Spectrum FM -

89.8FM

FOOD & DRINKEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com36

Costa de Almeria’s best guide to local sportF TO READ MORE VISIT: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM/FEATURES/RESTAURANTSood &

DRI

NKS

Mallorca’s best guide for local restaurants

Laura PennPenn to Paper

Turning to loveand romance….

ROSES: Prices riseexorbitantly.

FOOD & DRINK 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 37EWN

ROSITAS, the original one and only famousbar and restaurant situated in the beautifulvillage of Calvia prides itself on being alively hub for many years.

Rositas not only entertains its localresidents, but it is also a favourite withtourist and holidaymakers alike. In fact,people travel from all over Mallorca to getthe one and only Rositas welcome andservice and of course their mouth-wateringmeals and fun filled entertainment.

Rositas has a varied menu which includesoriginal favourites such as beef andGuinness pie and chicken and mushroompies, all freshly cooked with home-madepastry and fillings, lasagne, curry, burgers,tapas and much more all served withproper hand cut chips. Also coming soonwill be new menu choices includingdelicious deep fried Camembert withcranberry, Rositas mega club sandwich,jacket potatoes with a great choice offillings and don’t forget Sally’s freshly madedesserts such as banoffee pie and carrotcake to name just a few.

A new daily special will be on offer whichwill include spicy prawn pasta, quicheLorraine, escalopes and much more.

Having had a fabulous start to the NewYear, Rositas would thank everyone fortheir support over the Christmas and NewYear period and for making the Christmasparty so much fun. The New Year startedwith a sell out Sunday roast and willcontinue every Sunday and don’t forget tojoin them for their fish and chip Fridays.

The fun and entertainment will continuethroughout the year, a new menu will beavailable from February and they also haveplans for fancy dress parties (details anddates to be confirmed) with free buffetsand the usual fantastic family atmosphere,as always everyone is welcome.

In March they will have a specialMothers’ Day lunch consisting of threecourses and with live music for only €14.95.

If you would like to contact Tony and Annor to make a reservation please call

662 204 859.

Rositas; the originalone and only bar

Advertising Feature

BAR ROSITA: Prides itself on being a lively hub in the village of Calvia.

FOR pudding lovers everywhere the goodnews is that a new study shows thateating dessert can be good for you.

But before you reach for the extra largebread and butter pudding and sink backinto the sofa to eat it while watching TV,you need to be having a traditional familymeal at the table.

That is because an ‘occasional dessert’can help lift family food and increaseinteraction between members of thefamily.

But the really important part is for

families to sit down to a meal together.Children benefit from that by boostingtheir self esteem, and so helping them dobetter at school and making them lesslikely to develop eating disorders.

Professor Geoffrey Beattie, whoadvised on the study for German frozenfood company Coppenrath & Wiese, said:“We’ve known that sharing food has hugepsychological, cultural and emotionalsignificance. It’s a critical part of ourevolution and core to our everyday socialworld.”

Pudding can be good

TIPS for using theshredder safely

1. Always wear a facemask or at least enclosedgoggles. Chippings do flyoccasionally.

2. Wear strong glovesand a long-sleeved top toavoid scratches when youpick up and feed materialinto the machine,especially prickly cuttingsfrom bougainvillaeas etc.

3. If your machine isnoisy wear ear muffs orplugs to avoid damage.

4. Don’t shred palmleaves, cacti and othervery fibrous prunings asthe long, stringy fibrestangle themselvesaround the centre of theblades and jam up themachine.

5. Always disconnectthe machine from themains when dismantlingto remove a blockage.

6. When doing the winterclean-up, separate the

prunings into three piles:a) Large pieces of

woody prunings that canbe cut up for firewoodrather than overloadingthe shredder. Check themaximum diameterrecommended by themanufacturer in theinstruction book.

b) Small and mediumdiameter material e.g.greener, softer pruningsfrom shrubs, herbs etc.

c) Use larger, longerprunings from bougain-villaeas, lantanas, etc, topush the lighter materialdown to the blades.

7. We find it best toshred the day we prune.

Even lantana cuttingsharden up overnight andmake shredding harderwork than it needs to be.Hard material alsocreates greater noise!

8. Always switch offand take out theextension lead plug whenyou finish for the day.Then dismantle themachine to clean and oilthe blade. Also wipe outthe feed chute.

9. Store the shredder inthe garage or under a treewell covered with twostrong waterproof sacks.

10. If your machinehas plastic flaps at thetop of the feed tube,replace these if theycrack or pieces break off.

11. Check thecondition of the electriclead and plugs on aregular basis and replaceif the cable chaffs or

looks loose where itenters the plug.

12. If you have apetrol powered machinefollow the manufacturer’sinstructions carefully formaintenance needs.

In the next edition wewill discuss how to best

turn shredded materialinto good compost foruse in lightening andenriching soil. So in themeantime make as muchprogress as possible withthe winter cutback andkeep the shreddingspiled up. They will cometo no harm.

Stop pressAfter the initial testing

of the book about ourwalk across Spain weamended the title andcover.

The final title is ‘Our 52day retirement adventurealong the SpanishPyrenees’ and the book isavailable in a traditionalbook format or as aKindle E-book fromAmazon Books world-wide. It is a usefulpurchase as a present fora friend or relation livingwithin or outside Spain,as well as a fireside readfor yourself.

© Dick Handscombewww.gardenspain.com

February 2014

Dick HandscombeGardeningCornerBy Dick Handscombe Spain’sbest known expat gardeningauthor about to start his 26thwinter cut back.

omes SPONSORED BY

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T T H E S P O N S O R G O T O W W W . L I N E A D I R E C T A . C O M

gardens&EWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca38 HOMES & GARDENSwww.euroweeklynews.com

HSome tips on making the bestpossible use of your shredder

BEST: Always shred on the same day as pruning.

GOING green in your home cannot onlysave you money, but also lead to ahealthier lifestyle and, of course, a moreenvironmentally friendly one.

You don’t have to spend a fortune togo green, making small changes willsoon add up. Energy conservation is thebest way to make your home moreenvironmentally friendly and willultimately save you money in the longrun, so try these simple tips:

Swap light bulbs: While the initialcost of low energy or LED bulbs might behigher, it doesn’t take long for energy andmoney savings to show.

Windows: Check your windows toensure hot air isn’t leaking out andequally in the summer, hot air isn’tcoming in, to save on those air-con costs.The cheap solution is to use DIY plasticinsulator kits or, if you have a biggerbudget, invest in new windows.

Appliances: Reduce your applianceload and replace inefficient appliances bychecking energy efficiency ratings.

Water: Check for any leaks. Thatsmall drip on the kitchen sink will soonadd to a lot of wasted water and a higherbill. Try fitting taps and showerheads withflow regulators and aerators.

Green living in your home

WHEN renting a property, the mostessential thing is to read the leaseagreement before signing becausewhatever it says is what legallycounts.

Unless the lease agreement says

otherwise, costs are usually sharedlike this:

The landlord pays the Suma IBIbill, the community of owner’s bill,rubbish taxes, the house insuranceand the maintenance insurances.

The tenant is responsible forpaying water bills, electricity bills, gasand phone bills.

If anything is broken the landlord isusually responsible for paying for thewashing machine and boiler

breakdowns but not whenit is minimal damage or if itis shown that it was thetenant’s fault.

The tenant is responsiblefor daily wear such asreplacing broken crockeryor utensils and forchanging light bulbs, etc.

If an issue should arise,the best advice is tonegotiate without a fight.

For landlords it isrecommended to take outgood insurance andtenants should always tryto take care of theproperty and pay rent ontime.

P

EWN

PROPERTY 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 41EWN

ropertyTO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

THERE are certain things to keep inmind whenever you buy a used homein Spain.

The four main things to check whenbuying a property to avoid potentialpitfalls and problems are:

1. Go to the ‘Registro de laPropiedad’ (Property Register) and askfor a ‘nota simple’ of the property youare interested in. They will provide youan accurate description of the buildingincluding who the current owner is, ifit is mortgaged or has an ‘embargo’(seizure order) and all the community

guidelines of the property.2. Talk to the manager or president

of the community of owners to ensurethe seller has no debts against them:because if he does not pay, the debtgoes with the property and the newbuyer will be liable.

3. Read the rules of the community,if any, as they may include limitationsand restrictions on what you may wantto do with the property.

4. Finally, ask the seller to show youthe Suma IBI receipts to make surethey have all been paid.

THE highly-awaited recovery ofSpain’s troubled property market isset to happen at long last, but not atthe hands of individual house-hunters.

The past 12 months in particularhave seen a boost in interest inSpanish property by foreign investorslooking to cash in on the highlydepressed property prices whichtumbled from their pre-crisis highs.

Spain has a stock of 650,000 unsoldhomes, with average prices havingfallen by 30 per cent since the start of2008, government figures show.

Industry insiders say this increasedinterest signals the worst may be over.

In 2013, Spain’s state-organised‘bad bank’ took €54 billion of troubledproperty loans from the balancesheets of the country’s nationalisedlenders, the Financial Times reports.

Sareb has begun to place theseassets into portfolios to be sold toinvestors, which has helped generateconfidence that a floor may have beenset on prices.

International real estate investmentconsultant Gaspar Lino said: “I am

seeing the trend of interest revived inSpanish property as I am a lot moreactive with international investors andfunds seeking my advisory services toenter the Spanish property market.”

Gaspar Lino is the CEO of thePeninsula, a property group with morethan 1,100 homes under develop-ment or management, representing avolume of sales in excess of €300million.

Financial Times reporter MilesJohnson wrote: “The question all

those with eyes on Spain’s economyare asking is whether this increasedinterest from supposedly ‘smartmoney’ is an indication a floor hasbeen placed under the propertymarket, or whether such deals aresimply speculative bets on heavilydistressed assets.”

A rush of deals from private equitygroups has been used by supportersof both sides of the argument tojustify their case, according to theFinancial Times.

“Since the end of summer anumber of real estate portfolios havebeen sold to more adventurousprivate equity buyers such asBlackstone and HIG Capital,” Johnsonreveals.

Investment in European commer-cial property hit the highest level sincethe credit crunch in 2013, CBRE datashows. Activity was up 21 per centyear on the year to €154 billion.

Meanwhile, Gaspar Lino feels hehas a more rounded understanding ofthe current situation due to his first-hand local knowledge coupled with aglobal perspective on real estate.

Increased interest shows theworst may now be over

MORE ACTIVE: Gaspar Lino.

Rent: Know where you stand

Buying a used home in Spain

EWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca42 FEATUREwww.euroweeklynews.com

LUEBIRD CARE,one of the maincare providers inEast Sussex, UK, is

looking for staff in Spain.Since opening in April

2010, the company hashad some significantachievements that it is veryproud of.

To continue with thatsuccess Bluebird is alwayslooking for experienced carestaff to work as live-in carerson a rota basis.

In the UK the company’shigh quality standardsare now being recognisedby many privatelyfunding customers andhealth practitioners includingGPs, District Nurses,Occupational Therapists aswell as the NHS and LocalAuthority.

They are also proud to be amember of the TradingStandards Support withConfidence scheme and helpswith sponsorship to many of

the local charities andorganisations who providesupport to vulnerable people.

What sets them apart fromthe rest are their strongvalues of ‘Good old fashionedservice.’

They go that extra mile tomake sure the little thingsthat matter to you, matter tothem as well.

They give the customer thesame familiar friendly face tocare for them, as they knowhow important it is forcustomers to build uptrust and rapport with theircarers.

All staff go through arigorous interview processand training programmeto ensure they are the rightkind of caring person thatwill be permitted to wear the

Bluebird Care badge.Their mission is, and will

always be, to enable peopleto live independently in their

own homes withfamiliar friends,

relatives andpossessionsaroundthem. Noupheaval.No stress.BluebirdCare have been

verysuccessfully

recruiting peoplein Spain for quite

some time.All that they ask is that

prospective staff have caretraining and/or certification,a caring nature naturally, andare excellent at communica-ting with others in excellentEnglish.

The most importantattribute is good commonsense and an abilityto follow rules andregulations and be able toprovide high standards ofcare.

Advertising Feature

Anyone interested infinding out more about

Bluebird and what they canoffer, please call or email them.

email -eastbourne@bluebirdcare.co.uk

Tel - +44 1323 727903

Keeping up the highest standards of carePROVIDING CARE:

With a ‘good oldfashioned service.’

B

Price per word: 0,42€ + IVA minimum 15 words - Discount: Book 10 weeks, get 2 weeks free - Deadline: 4pm Mondays

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NEW engines and newtechnology shape thelatest edition ofVolkswagen’s Polo, toarrive on the market thisspring.

Along with the basicversions (Trendline,Comfortline andHighline), the newgeneration of the car willalso be offered as a GTI,BlueGT, CrossPolo andBlueMotion model.

The entire range of thePolo, manufactured atthe company’s factory inLandaben (Navarra), hasbeen reconfigured.

All petrol engines havebeen converted to newthree- and four-cylinderversions.

The power levels atmarket launch are44kW/60PS (indirectinjection/MPI), 55kW/75PS (MPI), 66kW/90PS(direct injection/TSI) and 81kW/110PS(TSI).

Also new in the Poloare three direct injectionthree-cylinder turbo-diesels (TDI).

They now all generatetheir power from 1.4litres displacement(previously 1.2 and 1.6litres).

The power range isidentical to the previousmodel: 55kW/75PS,66kW/90PS and 77kW/105PS.

The Polo of 2014 offersa range of newconvenience and safetyfunctions thatVolkswagen claims isunique in its class.

A new electro-mechanical servosteering systemimproves steeringproperties. The car alsooffers the new optionalSport Select suspension- which useselectronically controlleddampers - so that driverscan choose between twotuning characteristics atthe press of a button.

That means that thesoftware and hardwareof these systems followthe infotainment worldof the larger Golf.

Depending on theversion they mayoffer functions likea Bluetooth audiostreaming, a proximitysensor, two-finger mapzooming in navigationmode and interfacing ofthe mobile phone to thevehicle’s exteriorantenna.

NEW TECHNOLOGY: An electro-mechanical servo steering system improves steering properties.

POLO 2014: Manufactured in Navarra.

New generation of Polo to belaunched in spring

FIAT and Chrysler haveacquired a newcorporate identityfollowing Fiat’sacquisition of theminority equity interestin Chrysler Group LLCin January.

The board ofdirectors of Fiat hasalso approved acorporate reorganisa-tion and the formationof Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles (FCA) asa fully-integratedglobal automaker.

It has been decidedas well to establish FiatChrysler AutomobilesN.V., organised in theNetherlands, as theparent company of thegroup.

The FCA commonshares will be listed onthe New York StockExchange (NYSE), withan additional listing onthe Mercato TelematicoAzionario (MTA) inMilan.

FCA is expected tobe resident for taxpurposes in the UnitedKingdom.

Sergio Marchionne,CEO of Fiat andChairman/CEO ofChrysler Group, said:“Today is one of themost important days inmy career at Fiat andChrysler.

“Five years ago webegan to cultivate avision that wentbeyond industrial co-operation to includefull cultural integrationat all levels.”

The transaction isexpected to becompleted by the endof the year.

Freshidentity for

Fiat andChrysler

MMTO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

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MOTORING 47EWN6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com

By Lynda Demangeat

THE best of the youngerplayers from the BalearicIslands had a very successfulweekend in Denia as part ofthe second ‘Torneo Terra DeRetrobament FundacionBalearia.’

The youngsters in the U21,U18 and U16 Balearesselection teams played AKRA,a team from Alicante and wonconvincingly in every match.

The U21 won by 0 points to51. The U18 had a try scoredagainst them but scored 17 inreturn and the U16 won by anoutstanding 67 points to 0.

Needless to say the coacheswere extremely satisfied andalthough there is still plenty ofwork to be done, the teamswill enter the NationalChampionships later in the

season feeling very confident.The sixth leg of the league

for the U14-year-old playerstook place on Saturday in SonCaliu. Teams from AgoraPortals, RC Ponent and acombined El Toro RC, MallorcaBocs and Dimonis team turnedout with plenty of support foran exciting morning of rugby.

As always the youngstersfought hard in each game, butthe strongest continues to beAgora Portals. This team wonboth of their encountersfollowed by RC Ponent. Thecustomary ‘Tercer tiempo’took place after the matcheswhere the players shared theirexperiences off the pitch.

A sunny but windy Sundaysaw Agora Portals host theseventh Rugby Day in theseries for the younger players(U12, U10 and U8).

Teams from El Toro RC, RCPonent, Mallorca Bocs and thehome team participated in

matches where the level ofcompetitiveness and quality ofplay continues to improve.

RC Ponent was victorious inthe U8 and U10 category, whilstAgora Portals were victorious inthe U12 group. Following thegames the players andsupporters joined in anenjoyable ‘tercer tiempo.’

Due to several teams losingplayers to the tournament inDenia, some of the plannedmatches in the RegionalLeague were postponed fromthe weekend to be played at alater date.

Those that were playedwere between TRUC Menorcaand Ibiza RC and a local derbybetween Corsaris RFC andPollença RC.

In the game in Menorca, thehome team had a narrowvictory over the visitors by 18points to 14.

In Pollença, Corsaris RCwere victorious over an

improving Pollençateam. The match beganbadly for Pollença as theforwards of the hometeam made the most ofany advantage andkicked at key moments.

Pollença RC began tofight back but CorsarisRFC was the strongerteam throughout andfinished with 64 pointsto 12.

Matches to be playednext weekend in theSenior League includesecond placed Bahia RCat home to leaders ElToro RC; Ibiza RFCagainst RC Ponent;Pollença RC play TRUCMenorca and DimonisRC will meet CorsarisRC.

The girls are back inaction in the fifth leg inthe Feminine League tobe played in Manacor.

In the U18 LeagueDimonis RC play El ToroRC and on Saturday inSon Caliu the eighthRugby Day hosted by ElToro RC is planned.

As always, spectatorsare very welcome to anyof the fixtures.

SPORTEWN 6 - 12 February 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com48

S Mallorca’s best guide to local sportport

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

El To

ro R

C

ANDY MURRAYWas the star of the Davis Cup

U14: El Toro RC with the ball against RC Ponent.

Balearic successful weekend

SIX NATIONS rugbycontinues this weekendwith Ireland playing Wales,England take on Scotlandfor the Calcutta Cup onSaturday, while on Sunday,it’s France against Italy.

There’s also a fullprogramme of Premiership

football, the top gamesbeing Liverpool-Arsenal,Chelsea-Newcastle andNorwich-Manchester City,plus the Welsh derbybetween Swansea andCardiff.

Inconsistent ManchesterUnited play strugglingFulham, Crystal Palace takeon WBA in a vital six-pointer, and Everton visitSpurs.

In the Championship, in-form Leicester welcomeWatford, FL1 table-toppersBrentford host Crawley andthe top two, Chesterfieldand Scunthorpe, meet inFL2.

FOOTIE FACTS - Lastweekend Sunderland beatNewcastle 3-0 - their thirdsuccessive win in theNorth-East derby. The lasttime they achieved this wasalmost 90 years ago. Stokeeclipsed Manchester Unitedfor the first time in 30years, winning 2-1; Evertonbounced back from their 4-0 Merseyside defeat by

beating Aston Villa 2-1;WBA held Liverpool 1-1,Manchester City lost 1-0 athome against Chelsea.

Arsenal clipped CrystalPalace 2-0, hapless Fulhamlost 3-0 to Southampton,West Ham beat Swansea2-0, Hull and Spurs drew1-1.

In Scotland’s LC semi-finals, Aberdeen beat St

Johnstone 4-0, andInverness CT, who hadequalised with nine men,defeated Hibs on penalties.

WINDOW CLOSED -When football’s Januarytransfer window closed at12 midnight last Friday, atotal of 422 players hadfound a new club... therewere 182 completed deals,with Crystal Palace signingsix new recruits.

GREAT WIN - For thefirst time since 1986, GreatBritain are in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup afterdefeating the USA in SanDiego, California. Star ofthe show was Andy Murraywho won both his singlesmatches.

COLD OLYMPICS -Eighty-eight countries willbe taking part in the 2014Winter Olympics whichstart in Sochi, Russia,tomorrow (Friday). TeamGB will be aiming to win atleast four medals.

England unlucky at rugby, but Britain ‘Great’ inDavis Cup and Winter Olympics start in Russia

Red forRonaldo

Cristiano Ronaldowas sent-off inReal Madrid’s 1-1draw with Bilbao.

RED CARD: Ronaldo makeshis way to the tunnel.

Costa de Almeria

A former football playerand the world’s mostprolific author of footballbooks (more than 100published), Tony is alsothe sports reporter forSpectrum Radio andlives in the Cabreramountains.

Tony MatthewsInternational Sports