Euro Weekly News - Mallorca 20 - 26 March 2014 Issue 1498

MORE than 150,000vehicles enter Palma citycentre and its industrialestates every day.

According to theMallorca Road Depart-ment, most of thesevehicles are driven bypeople who live in thenearby towns and work inPalma, although there arealso many who come tothe city for administrativepurposes, shopping or toattend leisure activities.

The number of vehicles,estimated at between150,000 and 180,000, alsouse the roads connectingto the city to exit it,meaning the roads carrymore than 363,765

vehicles every day. Every year, the number

of people who work inPalma but live in areas likeMarratxi, Llucmajor, Inca,Campos, Sineu, SantaMaria and Consell isincreasing.

The road used the most,apart from the Via de

Cintura, is the motorwaybetween Inca and Palma,with 93,765 vehicles everyday using it to enter or exitthe city. The secondbusiest connects thecapital to Llucmajor and isused by 82,001 every day,including those heading inand out of the airport.

Facebooksearch

A RESIDENT of SonServera, Juan PedroDiaz Sierra, hasuploaded photographsof himself at differentages to Facebook in anattempt to locate histwin brother. They wereseparated at birth.

Girl bulliedA GIRL, 12, who wasfound dead afterjumping from a fifthfloor in Palma, left aletter saing that shewas being bullied atschool.

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WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM20 - 26 MARCH 2014ISSUE NO. 1498

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THIS WEEK IN

EWNNews1 - 16

Finance17 - 22

Letters23

Daily TV26

Leapy Lee28

Time out32 - 33

Classifieds43 - 45

Sport47-48

BORIS BECKER’S Spanishvilla is being auctioned offfor an estimated €7 millionafter the tennis star lost acourt case involving anunpaid builder’s bill.

Now the holiday home,complete with ninebedrooms, is set to beconfiscated and sold atauction after Becker failedto pay approximately

€400,000 for carpentry,plumbing and work on abasketball court at theproperty.

The former tennis player,46, purchased the Mallorcaproperty 17 years ago andhas been entangled in courtcases over it ever since.

The hope that it wouldturn into a dream holidayretreat on the island came

to a crashing end in 2003when a court ruled that ithad been built in partillegally and ordered extrarooms to be demolished.

Lawyers for Beckerargued that the estateagent who sold him thehouse, Matthias Kuhn,should foot the bills.However, this argumentwas thrown out of court.

Boris Becker’s villato be confiscated

BORIS BECKER: The tennis star lost a court case involving an unpaid bill.

A MAN, 29, has been remanded in prison accused of themurder of his wife, 39, in Can Picafort.

The police were alerted by a woman in Palma whohired the victim as a translator and became worriedwhen several days passed and she didn’t answer hercalls.

This allowed them to identify the victim, who hadbeen found several days earlier on Son Baulo Beach, notfar from the couple’s home.

Her husband told them shewas dead and confessedthat blood on his

trousers was hers. A search of the house revealed asuicide letter which he had written, and he had cuts tothe arms and neck which he claimed were fromattempts to kill himself.

He claimed that he and his wife had agreed to killthemselves together on the beach. They went into thesea, but he says she was knocked down by a wave andinjured.

He claimed he hit her over the head with a rock,although a post mortem examination revealed that thecause of death wassuffocation.

ODAY (March 20) is International Day ofHappiness, established by the UnitedNations General Assembly in 2012 andcelebrated throughout the world with

education and public awareness-raising activities.A recent study shows that only 59 per cent of

Spaniards claims to be happy. The study, byIpsos, was carried out in 24 countries and showsthat only the Hungarians are unhappier than theSpanish. Meanwhile in Indonesia, 92 per cent ofthose questioned claimed to be happy, as did 86per cent of Canadians, 85 per cent of Swedes and84 per cent of North Americans. In Europe, thehappiest residents after the Swedes are theBelgians, British, French, Germans and Italians.

The study also shows that women are happierthan men, and that people under 35 are happier

than those above that age. A study carried out earlier this year by Adecco

showed that in Spain, teachers, firemen,journalists, pharmacists and engineers claim to behappiest in their work. Despite cutbacks in theeducation sector, more than 94 per cent ofteachers claimed to be happy in their work,mainly because they enjoy contributing towardsthe social and personal development of others.

The study shows that the Spanish think thosewho are happiest in their jobs are artists, footballplayers and sportspeople in general.

More than 29 per cent think that the secret tobeing happy at work is enjoying the job, 17.6 percent considered the key was to have a goodrelationship with colleagues and 13.3 per cent putwork happiness down to a good salary.

Attempted attackA MAN, 35, was arrested inPalma for attempting to muga mother and daughter whowere walking along the seafront promenade.

Emergency drillSTUDENT firemen in Palmacarried out an accident drillat the Balearic IslandsUniversity Metro Station.

Plan acceptedALL of the employees at theCoca-Cola bottling plant inPalma have now acceptedthe dismissal programmepresented by the company,affecting more than 1,600workers.

Fewer passengersTHE number of people usingPalma city buses inJanuary fell by 1.8 percent to 2.7 millionpassengers, comparedto the same month lastyear.

Voluntary returnTHE BalearicGovernment hasannounced that it willprovide €400,000 in2014 to help non-EU citizensto return voluntarily to theircountries of origin.

Cyclist injuredA CYCLIST, 46, was seriouslyinjured when he wasinvolved in a collision with amotorbike on the motorwaybetween Llucmajor andPalma.

Man foundA DISABLED man, 21, whowent missing while walkingwith his father in theErmita de Betlem area ofArta was found severalhours later.

Helicopter rescueA WOMAN, 49, had to berescued by helicopter by theGuardia Civil and taken toInca Hospital after fallingduring a hike in Fartaritx,Pollensa .

And finally...At least 750 more illegal immigrants managed toenter the Spanish enclave of Melilla in NorthAfrica this week, by climbing over the frontierfence from Morocco. Some were injured and hadto be treated before being taken to the alreadyfull centre for immigrants.

Until ETA is broken up, the team of 4,500National Police and Guardia Civil willremain in place.’

The Interior Minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, during avisit to the Basque Country, where a regional policeforce, the Ertzaintza, is also present to fight terrorism.

men who entered prison between 2003and 2012 for killing their partners or

former partners remain behind bars. A further 264,according to the prison institution, are not on recordor have been since been released.

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Killer points to suicide pact

‘Number of the week

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Quote of the Week

Don’t worry, justbe happy...

IMPORTANT: Agood relationshipwith colleagues.

Euesdenswin court

battleJUSTICE has been done.

After a nine-year internetcampaign of lies anddefamation against Stevenand Michel Euesden, bloggerLenox Napier has beenfound guilty of severecriminal defamation by anAlmeria court.

Napier - former owner ofThe Entertainer newspaper -had, the court decided,defamed the Euesdens -owners of the Euro WeeklyNews (EWN) - in a series ofonline articles, including onsuch sites as the RipoffReport and various otherexpat forums.

This, said the Euesdens,had not only been aimed atthem personally, but alsotargeted their business.

Speaking after thesentence was declared,Michel said: “We would liketo thank all of our valuedclients and readers for theirconstant support throughthis difficult time. We seethis as a victory for everyonewho has suffered fromonline abuse and bullying.

“Napier’s loss has provedthat lies are lies whereverthey are published. Theinternet is no hiding place forpeople to spout defamatorycomments and get awaywith it.

“We always believed in theSpanish judicial system. Itmay sometimes seem slow,but in the end we have beenvindicated. The Spanishcourts have not let us down.

“A special thanks must goto all the staff at EWN whohave had to live through thisfor many years. Thecampaign has at times beenfraught, but the staff havestuck together and havealways supported myself andSteven.”

Don’t miss next week’sEWN for the full story.


Readersdecline

THE Librarian Collectiveof Palma has decriedthe lack of customerssaying that numbershave gone down by asmuch as 30 per cent.This is attributed tocutbacks made by thegovernment.

Bad weekendLAST weekend therewere more trafficaccidents than usual inPalma. Three accidentstook place on Sundaymorning betweenmidnight and 9am.

No cuts THE high courts haveannulled the 7 per centcut to firemen’s salariesmade by the Consell deMallorca considering it“out of line with govern-ment regulations.”

NEWS EXTRA

THE courts in Palma havejailed a Chinese man for22 months after heswindled a games hall outof €5,537.

He managed to trick theslot machines into payingout by turning them offeach time that he didn’tget a prize.

The swindle took placeat the Punt de Joc, inSanta Pagesa Square,Palma.

The accused, accom-panied by another,unidentified, man had asystem to fool the slotmachines into paying out.

The trick consisted ofbetting different amountson several numbers and,in the case that the ballwould fall on a numberthey had not chosen, theywould unplug themachine thus invalidatingthe play and recuperatingthe money they had bet.

Jailed forgamingswindle

AFTER a plea was made last week bythe Euro Weekly News for wheel-chairs, one electric chair has beendonated and another one promised.

Martina, the president of DIME,received several more donations -‘PINMAR’ donated €2,000 to thecause for wheelchairs, bathing

chairs and walkers for the PalliativeCare DIME, to which Cala NovaCancer Care added another €1,000.

There will be a James Bondevening at MOOD on April29, entrance will be €15and will include awelcoming glass of cavaand canapés. It will be agood night of cabaretand dancing and afun/mock casino will berun by real croupiers, allmoney raised, won orlost, will be donated tosome of the worthycharities: DIME, PalliativeCare, AECC, SpanishCancer Assoc in Baleares,ASPANOB, Children inBaleares with Cancer.

Tickets can be boughtat Mood Beach, Cala NovaCancer Shop SanAugustin, Studio 3 PortalsNous and The TranquilitySpa at the Country ClubSanta Ponsa.

Wheelchairs plea is asuccess for charities

A CAR was foundburning in Rover MottaStreet, in Palma. In onlya few seconds the wholevehicle was consumedby flames.

Palma Fire Brigade andlocal policemen rapidlymanaged the fire andcut off the street fromvehicle or foot traffic asa precaution.

Due to the hugeamount of smoke,evacuation wasconsidered but, as thefire was put out quickly,

this was not necessary.National Police are

looking into the cause ofthe fire.

BURNT OUT: Car in Rover Motta Street.

Alarm in Palma streetover burning car


ACCORDING to a survey of 900people, done by the GadesoFoundation, residents of Mallorca aremore worried about their safety, andthat of their possessions, than they

were a year ago.The principal worries are about their

cars and homes. Fifty seven out of a thousand worry

about their cars being vandalised,

having the windows or exteriormirrors broken, antennas snapped off,or paint scratches. Thirty eight out ofa thousand worry about their carsbeing broken into and only 15 are

worried about the car itselfbeing stolen.

The main worry withhouses is the secondresidence - only 50 of athousand worried aboutburglary or vandalism attheir primary residencewhereas 73 worried aboutthis happening at theirsecond residence.

When rating publicservices the fire brigadecame out on top with ascore of 6.3 out of 10 withthe Guardia Civil a closesecond with 6.1 out of 10.

Neither the Local Policenor the National Policescored very highly - bothcame out with 4.2 out of10. Emergency services gota five out of 10.

Mallorca residents moreconcerned about safety

A TOTAL of 1,125 studentshave gone to universitiesother than the Universitatde les Illes Balears (UIB)to study this year.

The majority of thesestudents go elsewheredue to overcrowding atthe UIB in the mostpopular courses.

Law, Psychology andBusiness Studies areamong the saturatedcourses which also have amaximum amount ofstudents per course.

Last year 22 per cent ofdisplaced students matri-culated at universities inCataluña and 8 per cent ofthem in Madrid.

Although the UIB has toturn away some localstudents they havematriculated 135 studentsfrom other communities.

Four out of 10 leave theBalearic Islands to study

DISPLACED: Leaving for universities on mainland.

NEWSEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 /Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com8

Youth forcedto rob shopTWO young men have beensentenced to a year in prison forforcing a minor to rob a shop inManacor.

The 15-year-old dashed into theshop, armed with a knife, and,after explaining the situation,asked the shopkeeper to call thepolice.

The two men had held the minorfor several hours and, afterthreatening him with a knife, theytook him to the entrance of theshop with instructions to ask for€1,000.

Apparently the minor owed themmoney for drugs and they decidedto collect by forcing him into arobbery.

Drug gangin courtPALMA courts have opened acase against a gang for drugdealing in Andratx.

Drug prosecutor, Julio Cano, isasking for a total of 42 years inprison for crimes against publichealth. The gang is composed ofseven suspects, Spaniards andMoroccans, all of whom weredealing in the Andratx area.

The head of the gang, aMoroccan man, age 28, opted toclaim his right to silence andrefused to answer any of theprosecution’s questions.

The prosecution is asking foreight years, for the leader, dueto his having used a minor totransport the drugs.

THE courts in Palma haveopened a case against a45-year-old man forselling three uninhabit-able houses in theDonants de Sang area.

He sold the houses for atotal of €346,212 in 2004and 2005.

Even though theyneeded serious workdone on them the sellerjust gave them a facelift.

The accused neverrevealed the poor

conditions to thebuyers. Some of theproblems were a safetyrisk - among themwere bad foundations,no sewerage connec-tion and a cesspitunder one of thehouses.

The prosecution isasking for four years.

Jail threat forhouse scam

UNINHABITABLE:Houses for sale. Ph

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OVER the last three monthsSpecsavers Opticas havebeen working with the

Lions Club Charity to collectunwanted glasses todistribute around the world,

to help improve the sight ofthe world’s poorest people.

Specsavers ran acompetition in conjunctionwith the Euro Weekly Newsto exceed the target ofcollecting 3,000 pairs ofglasses, and the result wasa fantastic total of nearly4,500! The competitionhelped drive more peopleto donate their unwantedglasses and gave them thechance to be entered into aprize draw to win a newpair of designer frames.

Congratulations to thewinner Tricia Comer, whochose a Karen Millendesigner frame fromSpecsavers Opticas Javea.

All eight SpecsaversOpticas on the CostaBlanca, Costa del Sol andMallorca are continuing tosupport the Lions Club bybeing a drop off point forold glasses, so residentsare being encouraged tomake sure their old glassesdon’t go to waste. Visitwww.specsavers.es.


Specsavers and Lionsare working together

WINNER: Congratulations to Tricia Comer (centre).


Car full ofmarihuanaA POLICE roadblock inPalma intercepted a carfull of marihuana. Theyfound buds and cuttingsfrom Cannabis Sativa.

The roadblock was inthe Son Banya area ofManacor on the roadbetween Son Ferriol andCasa Blanca.

Upon stopping the carthe policemen noticed astrong marihuana smellemanating from theinterior of the vehicle.

They then proceeded tosearch the car anduncovered eight silver-paper wrapped packetscontaining buds and onthe back seat they found25 cuttings. The driverwas also found to havefour buds on his person.

NATIONAL POLICE havedetained two men forallegedly being part of anorganisation dedicated tostealing from motorbikes,garages and boxrooms.

The two men, oneSpanish and oneUkrainian, had stolengoods on them when theywere detained.

A communiqué from theBalearic Police Head-quarters states that theinvestigation began dueto the large number ofmotorbikes that werebeing broken into andhaving crash helmets and

gloves stolen.The gang would take

anything they could carryaway with them fromgarages and boxrooms.Among other items theystole were: 50 crashhelmets, gloves, a PlayStation and four bicycles.

When the policesearched their homesthey found a fake gun butdo not have anyknowledge of it havingbeen used in the courseof a crime.

The investigation is stillopen and police expect tomake more arrests.

POLICE in Es Rafal are looking for the mother of a three-month-old foetusfound buried in a local park. The police believe it was a natural miscarriagebut would still like to speak to the mother.

Search for missing mother

2 arrestedfor break-ins

EXPATRIATES looking torenew their Britishpassports should hold onuntil April when it willbecome 35 per centcheaper.

James Brokenshire,Immigration and SecurityMinister, has announcedthat from April 7, thepassport fee forcustomers applying for aUK passport from over-seas will be reduced by£45 for adults and£28.50 for children.

The new fees are: • Adult 32 page

passport £83.00 Child 32 page passport

£53.00 • Jumbo 48 page

passport £91.00 (Adult/Child/Veteran).

The 35 per centdecrease in passport feesis the result of efficiencysavings made over thelast three years bybringing back theprocessing and issuing ofoverseas passports to theUK, including from theformer passportprocessing centre at theBritish Embassy inMadrid.

Will Middleton,Consular Director forSpain, said: “This is goodnews for British citizens

applying for a UKpassport from Spain. Therepatriation of overseaspassport centres meansoverseas applications cannow be handled moreefficiently and atsignificantly lower cost.

“The new fees willbenefit some four millionBritons living overseas,including many of theestimated 800,000 wholive in Spain for all orpart of the year.”

If you need a new orreplace-ment passport,go to the Over-seasBritish passportapplications page onwww.gov.uk. You needto apply and pay online

and send yoursupporting documentsdirect to the UK (nolonger to the nearestembassy). The turn-around time is four to sixweeks, and applicationsare accepted up to ninemonths before theexpiry of your currentpassport.

The new fees foroverseas applicationsremain marginally higherthan the equivalent feesfor UK-based applicantsbecause on averageoverseas applicationstake longer - andtherefore cost slightlymore - to process. This isbecause it is often less

straight-forward toestablish whether or notan overseas applicant isentitled to a UK passport.Overseas customers willalso continue to pay acourier charge in additionto the passport fee.

British nationals canget more information andadvice on living in Spainby ‘liking / following’ theBritish Embassy’s popularnew social mediachannels on:

• Facebook -www.facebook.com/BritslivinginSpain

• Twitter -www.twitter.com/Brits

liveSpain


UK passport fees tobe reduced by 35%

PASSPORT REPLACEMENT: In future will be 35 per cent cheaper.


THREE minors have been detained bythe Guardia Civil in Magaluf for stealing10 iPads from their school.

The robbery took place at an Englishschool in Magaluf - the underage robbers

got away with 10 of Apple’s iPads and amulti-charger, the total value was€5,000.

Some of the stolen goods have beenrecovered.

Magaluf minor school theft

WITH just seven weeks left to register to vote in the European elections, the ElectoralCommission is urging UK expatriates to visit www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/overseas tomake sure they can have their say on Thursday, May 22.

The election watchdog’soverseas voter campaignlaunched in February,with adverts placed onFacebook, expat radiostations and on websitespopular with UK expats.

The Foreign andCommonwealth Office(FCO), expat organi-sations and politicalparties have also joinedthe campaign to ensurethe message is spread farand wide.

Expats need to act nowto make sure they’re onthe register by thedeadline of Tuesday, May6.

Every British citizenwho has been registeredto vote in the UK withinthe last 15 years iseligible to vote in UKParliamentary generalelections and EuropeanParliamentary elections.

Don’t lose yourvote - register!

A GRANDFATHER in Palma has gone on trialaccused of exhibitionism and abusing hispartner’s granddaughter when she was eight-years-old.

The accused has denied all charges allegingthat the child invented the whole thing afterher big sister and mother put the idea in herhead.

The victim states that the accused wouldsubject her to “unwanted, intimate, touching”when they slept in the same bed. She hadtried to push his hands away but to no avail.The child’s older sister states that the accusedmasturbated with the door to his bedroomopen on two occasions.

Prosecution is asking for three-and-a-halfyears in prison for exhibitionism and sexualabuse of a minor.

Man accusedof abuse

Winning ticketA WINNING ticket for the first prize ofthe National Lottery, with €600,000 inprize money, was sold in Fuengirola.

Motorcyclist diesA MOTORCYCLIST, 39, died when hewas involved in a head-on collision onthe A-397 road in Benahavis. Hispassenger, a woman of 36, was injured.

Drugs bustAGENTS from the Tax Office intercepteda 63.5-metre-long merchant ship in theAlboran Sea off the coast of Malaga, asit was carrying 12 tonnes of hashish.

Contraband cigarettesALMOST 530 packets of contrabandcigarettes were seized in Antequerawhich were reportedly being sold to thepublic with no state controls.

Cars galoreA VEHICLE ‘styling’ meet held in Coinattracted more than 100 vehicles andended with a parade through the centreof the town.

Bank boostTHE BBVA bank is collaborating with themayor of Almuñecar on the ‘I amemployment’ campaign, which isdesigned to get the long-termunemployed back to work.

Honouring seniorsHERRADURA is honouring its elderly witha concert by well-known singer AntonioCortes. Couples who celebrate theirgolden anniversary this week will also beinvited to a special lunch.

In rhythmTHIRTY-ONE students, from severaldifferent classes of the AlmuñecarRhythmic Gymnastics School presentedtheir routines at the Second SpringExhibition in Torrox.

Tennis finalistJAVI MOLINO, from Almuñecar, hasreached the finals of the Babolat TennisCup in Cordoba.

For the kidsTHE Herradura festivities, in honour of StJose, are also celebrating Children’s Daywith special rides and activities designedfor the young.

Robber seizedA 54-YEAR-OLD man was arrested inBeniarbeig, accused of robbing €4,000from a Sanet i Negrals bank. Heallegedly doused an employee withpetrol and threatened him with a knife.

Fund-raiserTHE parish church in San Juan is holdingconcerts to raise cash for repairs. Thoseattending will be able to donate towardsthe €70,000 that is needed.

Uncaring theftALICANTE CITY police halted traffic in LaFlorida after a gas escape wasdiscovered at Rafael Altamira schoolafter school hours. The leak occurredafter thieves removed copper piping.

Lodger killedA SAN VICENTE lodging-house landlord

received a 12-month sentence formanslaughter after a tenant waselectrocuted in the shower. The water-heater was incorrectly installed andunsafe, the court ruled.

Labour scamREGIONAL police and work inspectorslocated two clandestine shoe factories inMonovar. Fourteen of the 89 employeesin both workshops were working withoutcontracts, the Generalitat revealed later.

Air ambulanceA WOMAN, aged 30, was airlifted tohospital with a head injury following acar accident on the road betweenTorrevieja and Orihuela.

Body in seaAN investigation has opened into theidentity of a man whose body was

found floating in the waters off ElCampello close to Muchavista beach.The body showed no signs of violence.

Smash and grabA BUSINESSMAN was robbed of€26,000 in cash in the centre ofOrihuela as two thieves on motorbikesbroke his car window and stole themoney from an envelope on thepassenger seat.

Shoe jobsOF the 3,600 jobs created in Elche inthe last 14 months, 55 per cent camefrom the footwear sector andcomponents, as there is increasingdemand for both managers andqualified professionals.

Production downAFTER two decades, the largestindustrial company in the province ofAlicante, which manufactures Dodotdisposable nappies, is cutting out thefifth shift at its production plant and isclosing at weekends to adapt to marketdemand.

Pond rescueTHREE Guardia Civil officers in Vicarformed a human chain to rescue a manwho had fallen into a pond. The manwas transferred to Poniente Hospitalsuffering from hypothermia, one of theofficers also needed treatment.

Cages foundPOLICE in Adra and Senes haveintercepted several cages used byhunters in the area. The illegal cagesare used to catch birds and smallmammals.

Food sharedPECHINA TOWN HALL has shared outmore than 15,000 kilos of food betweena total of 165 families most in need inthe town.

Thieves caughtTHREE men of North African originwere caught red-handed by policeofficers as they attempted to stealitems from the Santa Maria Church inNijar.

California dreamingFOUR artists from Almeria are to havetheir works displayed in the Roll upGallery in San Francisco, USA, fromApril 18 to May 4. The four participatingartists are Jesus Zamarron,Paco de laTorre, Francisco Uceda and ManuMuñoz.

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

COSTA DE ALMERÍA

AXARQUIA

COSTA DEL SOL

COSTA BLANCA NORTH

NEWS DESKEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com14

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

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Hollywood film hopes forAndalucia’s economy

TALKS have been held to bringmore Hollywood film productionsto Andalucia following theeconomic boost Ridley Scott’s filmExodus gave to the region.

The president of the AndaluciaFilm Commission (AFC), CarlosRosado, said that film studios FOXhad been looking for locations inthe region, but he declined to givemore details.

Ridley Scott had recently usedlocations in Almeria Province ashe shot the film, reignitinginterest in the area amongstHollywood film-makers. Withmajor stars like Christian Bale andSigourney Weaver flying in, thefilm production gave Almeriaworldwide exposure.

Rosado said now was the timeto sell the region to film-makersafter the publicity it has receivedfrom Exodus. He added that hehoped the movie would give theregion’s film industry a majorboost and promote Andalucia.

The president also said that theAFC was trying to come up withagreements with the Indian andRussian film industries to attractmore projects.

RAISING PROFILE: Big stars like ChristianBale were in Almeria for the filming ofthe Hollywood blockbuster Exodus.


TRINGENT new fines arebeing introduced for drivingoffences. With penalties ofup to €6,000 on the cards

for some offences, it can be anexpensive business breaking therules of the road.

A sensible move for road safety? Ora money-raising scheme for cash-strapped government?

Probably a bit of both, with a€6,000 fine on the use of radar‘inhibitors’ seeming a little excessive.

But without a doubt theintroduction of the penalty pointssystem in Spain has coincided with adramatic drop in the number of roaddeaths with all the human misery -and financial cost - that entails. TheSpanish Government should becongratulated.

Some good news…As everything seems to get more

expensive day by day it is good toget a little cheer. The price of gettinga British passport for expatriates inSpain is set to come down by awhopping 35 per cent.

By law a profit - or loss - cannot bemade on passports, so with changesin the way they are issued overseasthe cost has come down, with thosesavings being passed on. Which begsthe question... why did it not happensooner?

But it’s good news, especially if likemyself you are part of a family of fivemembers who all need theirpassports changing at the sametime.

And just in the nick of time too! Iwas about to complete myapplication, but now I will wait untilafter April 7 and save myself asubstantial amount of money. Sothank you, HM Government! Butexpatriates around the world will besaying: “About time too!”

A note from the

A bit of pain anda bit of gain

S

Editor

NEW regulations for trafficfines are going through theSenate and will come intoeffect soon.

If a radar inhibitor of anysort is installed in the car,the fine is up to €6,000 andthe loss of six points.

A fine of €1,800 will belevied if the car has beeninvolved in a serious orvery serious offence andthe national policeauthority (DGP) is notnotified of who was drivingthe car. There will be noloss of points for this.

If the vehicle weighs lessthan 3,500 kilos and has novalid insurance the fine willbe €1,500, no loss of pointsbut the vehicle will beimmobilised for one month.If the vehicle is parked andhas no insurance then thefine is €800.

If the driver doubles thelegal alcohol limit, is afrequent offender or

refuses to take the breathtest then there is a loss ofsix points and a fine of€1,000. The same appliesfor driving under theinfluence of any amount ofdrugs.

There will be a fine of€600 and a loss of sixpoints for a ‘very serious’speeding offence.

There is a loss of six

points and a fine of €500for lesser speedingoffences.

A loss of four points willbe applied if the driver isnot correctly licensed forthe vehicle.

There will also be a lossof four points for a driverwho is over the alcohollimit but without doublingit.

NEW LAWS: Will be coming into effect soon.

Tougher newtraffic penalties

SPAIN’S property market is still incrisis six years after the propertybubble burst.

Foreign buyers are the only brightfeature in a barren landscapeblighted by a dearth of loans andreduced spending by Spanishfamilies. According to ministry ofPublic Works’ figures for the lastquarter of 2013, propertiesacquired by foreign buyers are 12

per cent more expensive than thosebought by the Spanish. The averagehome acquired by a foreign buyerchanges hands at around €153,000compared with €135,000 spent bynational purchasers.

While properties bought byforeigners were 2.5 per centcheaper than during the lastquarter of 2012, those bought bySpaniards were 6 per cent lower.

Spanish go for cheaper homes

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 17EWN

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

A BUTANE gas bottle remains at€17.5 including tax, the same as inMarch 2013. The price will berevised every two months, theministry of Industry, Energy andTourism announced.

BoxingcleverHACIENDA earned anextra €2 million afterimpounding 542 safetydeposit boxes. Their 551owners owed €317million in back taxes,Spain’s tax authorityrevealed.

Pay slashedA 75 PER CENTreduction in employees’salaries by Barcelonafirm ImesApi was illegal,ruled a Cataluña judge.The firm cut eightworkers’ monthly wagesfrom €3,000 to €751.38without prior agree-ment.

CAR companies couldinvest another €3.5 billionin new models betweennow and 2017.

Energy and transportcosts will be decisive,declared Mario Armerowho heads the country’sautomobile manufacturers’association, Anfac.

A flexible work force andbackground knowledgewill be equally important,he said.

The association hasremitted proposals to thegovernment aimed atreindustrialising Spainand Europe, based onBrussels’ insistence onincreasing the role ofindustry.

The country’s production

plants and assembly lineshave already received €3.5billion since 2012 fromSpain-based manu-facturers, but this coulddouble by 2017, Armerobelieves.

In addition to already-announced new models,more are likely to go tothe Mercedes-Benz plantin Vitoria and GeneralMotors in Figueruelas(Zaragoza), he said.

The car industry inSpain is seen as beinghugely important inbringing economicgrowth to the countrywith the billions spent byinternational car manu-facturers investing inSpanish plants.

GREECE, Ireland and Spain - in that order- have closely followed Organisation forEconomic Cooperation and Development(OECD) recommendations.

The OECD pinpointed priorities for eachmember country during 2012 and 2013.

The three countries under most pressurewere those who had made the most effortto comply with the ‘Going for Growth’

programme, said Rintaro Tamaki, theOECD’s vice-secretary general and chiefeconomist.

Spain was immediately in front of NewZealand and nine other countries, includingthe UK, Tamaki said. The majority ofmember states still had a wide margin formanoeuvre, he added, which would allowthem to carry through structural reforms.

usinessBextraMore modelsmore money

&business

legal

PRAISE: Rintaro Tamaki said Spain was on track.

Spain earns plauditsOECD praises economic reforms He

rve

Corti

nat/O

ECD

British Land Co PLC 670.50 7.50 1.13 4,635.78

British Sky Broadcasting 934.50 8.50 0.92 3,180.87

BT Group PLC 394.05 5.10 1.31 12,881.59

Bunzl PLC 1582.50 19.00 1.21 369.62

Burberry Group PLC 1444.00 22.00 1.54 1,241.52

Capita PLC 1104.50 -4.00 -0.36 1,217.96

Carnival PLC 2379.00 18.00 0.76 735.79

Most AdvancedChina Recycling Energy Corporation $ 4.375 1.105 ▲ 33.79%Sky-mobi Limited $ 12.29 2.39 ▲ 24.14%Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. $ 21.2875 3.9275 ▲ 22.62%Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. $ 22.17 3.42 ▲ 18.24%STAAR Surgical Company $ 17.67 2.30 ▲ 14.96%AirMedia Group Inc $ 2.28 0.28 ▲ 14.00%China BAK Battery, Inc. $ 4.3799 0.5099 ▲ 13.18%Empire Resorts, Inc. $ 7.50 0.73 ▲ 10.78%U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. $ 3.30 0.31 ▲ 10.37%Vimicro International Corporation $ 3.97 0.34 ▲ 9.37%Sina Corporation $ 69.4165 4.8265 ▲ 7.47%

Most DeclinedChina Finance Online Co. Limited $ 5.36 0.85 ▼ 13.69%Audience, Inc. $ 11.61 1.74 ▼ 13.03%Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ 410 52.26 ▼ 11.31%LMI Aerospace, Inc. $ 13.34 1.64 ▼ 10.95%National Interstate Corporation $ 26.85 3.25 ▼ 10.80%Burcon Nutrascience Corp $ 4.2001 0.4399 ▼ 9.48%NewLead Holdings Ltd. $ 3.13 0.31 ▼ 9.01%Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. $ 18.43 1.57 ▼ 7.85%Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. $ 33.82 2.88 ▼ 7.85%Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. $ 24.49 2.07 ▼ 7.79%Credit Suisse AG $ 7.77 0.62 ▼ 7.39%

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 132.21 +2.38 +1.83% 1.3MAXP American Express Co 91.07 +0.90 +1.00% 1.2MT AT&T Inc 32.77 +0.28 +0.88% 10.7MBA Boeing Co 125.64 +2.53 +2.06% 2.4MCAT Caterpillar Inc 95.90 +0.51 +0.53% 2.0MCVX Chevron Corp 114.95 +0.85 +0.74% 2.5MCSCO Cisco Systems Inc 21.53 +0.18 +0.84% 14.6MDD E I du Pont de Nemours and Co 66.33 +0.56 +0.85% 1.5MXOM Exxon Mobil Corp 93.87 +0.40 +0.43% 3.7MGE General Electric Co 25.40 +0.29 +1.15% 14.9MGS Goldman Sachs Group Inc 167.04 +1.69 +1.02% 1.6MHD Home Depot Inc 79.32 -0.06 -0.08% 2.8MINTC Intel Corp 24.77 +0.27 +1.10% 9.4MIBM International Business Machine... 185.69 +3.48 +1.91% 2.8MJNJ Johnson & Johnson 93.80 +0.99 +1.07% 2.6MJPM JPMorgan Chase and Co 57.25 +0.45 +0.79% 6.8MMCD McDonald's Corp 97.56 -0.02 -0.02% 2.6MMRK Merck & Co Inc 56.26 +0.56 +1.01% 4.5MMSFT Microsoft Corp 38.15 +0.445 +1.18% 10.4MNKE Nike Inc 78.93 +0.61 +0.78% 1.9MPFE Pfizer Inc 31.39 +0.155 +0.50% 10.8MPG Procter & Gamble Co 79.67 +0.69 +0.87% 3.6MKO The Coca-Cola Co 38.22 +0.05 +0.13% 8.8MTRV Travelers Companies Inc 83.26 +0.60 +0.73% 1.1MUTX United Technologies Corp 114.45 +1.85 +1.64% 1.9MUNH UnitedHealth Group Inc 76.94 +1.23 +1.63% 1.4MVZ Verizon Communications Inc 46.44 +0.36 +0.78% 14.6MV Visa Inc 222.97 +2.20 +1.00% 886.4KWMT Wal-Mart Stores Inc 74.61 +0.33 +0.44% 3.0MDIS Walt Disney Co 81.35 +1.28 +1.60% 3.3M

Centrica PLC 332.35 2.00 0.61 23,562.78Coca-Cola HBC AG 1485.00 52.00 3.63 340.43Compass Group PLC 914.50 3.00 0.33 2,395.08CRH PLC 1654.50 14.00 0.85 1,855.96Diageo PLC 1781.50 -41.00 -2.25 7,322.08easyJet PLC 1632.50 21.00 1.30 779.77Experian PLC 1055.00 10.00 0.96 3,493.21Fresnillo PLC 923.75 -1.00 -0.11 942.63G4S PLC 236.30 6.80 2.96 6,092.96GKN PLC 381.65 8.40 2.25 4,086.40GlaxoSmithKline PLC 1639.00 8.00 0.49 5,071.87Glencore Xstrata PLC 306.32 9.60 3.23 41,384.51Hammerson PLC 549.25 3.00 0.55 1,464.02Hargreaves Lansdown 1312.00 20.00 1.55 380.47HSBC Holdings PLC 597.15 -1.10 -0.18 30,454.03IMI PLC 1461.50 5.00 0.34 721.75Imperial Tobacco Group 2417.50 3.00 0.12 1,746.83InterContinental Hotels 1896.00 9.00 0.48 690.58International Consolidtd 429.85 8.60 2.04 17,773.74Intertek Group PLC 2942.00 12.00 0.41 236.69ITV PLC 197.45 3.30 1.70 15,186.01Johnson Matthey PLC 3101.00 34.00 1.11 352.48Kingfisher PLC 414.05 12.40 3.09 12,690.20Land Securities Group 1048.50 15.00 1.45 1,721.91Legal & General Group 229.30 1.60 0.70 12,465.20Lloyds Banking Group 79.52 1.12 1.43 82,949.58London Stock Exchange 1948.00 48.00 2.52 292.48Marks & Spencer Group 466.50 5.00 1.08 4,465.37Meggitt PLC 460.00 10.20 2.27 3,174.98Melrose Industries PLC 292.20 6.10 2.13 1,835.72Mondi PLC 1083.50 14.00 1.31 1,468.52National Grid PLC 826.25 1.50 0.18 5,490.88Next PLC 6705.00 130.00 1.97 270.16Old Mutual PLC 189.85 2.00 1.06 7,786.90Pearson PLC 1023.50 17.00 1.69 2,603.86Persimmon PLC 1361.50 48.00 3.66 2,913.10Petrofac Ltd 1365.50 17.00 1.26 945.73Prudential PLC 1356.25 10.00 0.74 4,826.92Randgold Resources Ltd 4970.00 -27.00 -0.54 416.46Reckitt Benckiser Group 4817.50 -30.00 -0.62 1,054.50Reed Elsevier PLC 916.25 4.50 0.49 4,184.03Resolution Ltd 372.40 6.30 1.72 2,450.33REXAM PLC 483.55 0.80 0.17 1,515.85Rio Tinto PLC 3179.75 39.00 1.24 3,784.44Rolls-Royce Holdings 1045.50 14.00 1.36 3,638.05Royal Bank of Scotland 303.05 3.50 1.17 11,751.70Royal Dutch Shell PLC 2289.00 -6.00 -0.26 9,508.48Royal Mail PLC 572.00 6.00 1.06 3,080.21RSA Insurance Group 96.47 3.30 3.54 20,965.47SABMiller PLC 2810.25 7.00 0.25 1,798.64Sage Group (The) PLC 411.40 8.00 1.98 2,058.82Sainsbury (J) PLC 311.50 -2.20 -0.70 12,637.33Schroders PLC 2598.00 15.00 0.58 265.30Severn Trent PLC 1831.00 18.00 0.99 807.66Shire PLC 3131.00 44.00 1.42 2,361.79Smith & Nephew PLC 928.00 -0.50 -0.05 1,927.90Smiths Group PLC 1338.00 7.00 0.53 904.35Sports Direct Internatnl 858.50 33.50 4.06 3,926.46SSE PLC 1427.00 4.00 0.28 2,154.86Standard Chartered PLC 1192.50 1.50 0.13 4,261.57Standard Life PLC 362.60 3.70 1.03 2,833.45Tate & Lyle PLC 636.75 2.00 0.31 1,748.02Tesco PLC 299.70 -4.00 -1.32 30,710.72Travis Perkins PLC 1877.50 27.00 1.46 553.57TUI Travel PLC 432.90 8.30 1.95 1,520.70Tullow Oil PLC 776.50 -1.50 -0.19 1,704.05Unilever PLC 2370.00 -1.00 -0.04 3,269.98United Utilities Group 792.50 6.00 0.76 1,705.51Vodafone Group PLC 225.97 3.85 1.73 57,827.40Weir Group PLC 2506.00 55.00 2.24 649.73Whitbread PLC 4323.00 88.00 2.08 461.07William Hill PLC 376.20 0.60 0.16 2,640.15Wm Morrison Suprmrkts 207.35 -0.60 -0.29 13,482.50Wolseley PLC 3385.00 45.00 1.35 666.88WPP PLC 1222.50 16.00 1.33 3,489.97

NASDAQCLOSING PRICES MARCH 17

DOW JONESCLOSING PRICES MARCH 17

Aberdeen Asset Mngmnt 369.50 4.50 1.23 4,555.93

Admiral Group PLC 1499.00 14.00 0.94 363.47

Aggreko PLC 1533.00 22.00 1.46 566.29

AMEC PLC 1072.00 7.00 0.66 1,178.87

Anglo American PLC 1461.50 38.50 2.71 5,338.53

Antofagasta PLC 847.25 18.00 2.17 1,960.55

ARM Holdings PLC 964.50 12.50 1.31 3,486.53

Ashtead Group PLC 922.75 22.50 2.50 1,127.88

Associated British Foods 2840.50 4.00 0.14 571.75

AstraZeneca PLC 3970.50 57.50 1.47 1,875.00

Aviva PLC 515.25 8.50 1.68 6,774.62

Babcock Intrntnl Grp... 1393.00 14.00 1.02 548.65

BAE Systems PLC 396.25 8.40 2.16 8,406.18

Barclays PLC 231.07 -0.10 -0.04 46,130.62

BG Group PLC 1080.00 9.00 0.84 4,251.39

BHP Billiton PLC 1808.75 22.00 1.23 8,432.96

BP PLC 476.88 -0.40 -0.08 28,048.62

British Amrcan Tobacco 3199.50 -23.50 -0.73 3,159.90

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 MARCH 17

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

US dollar.................................................................1.39282Japan yen..............................................................141.5317Switzerland franc .................................................1.21519Denmark kroner ................................................7.46336Norway kroner...................................................8.28258

0.83666 1.19522Units per €

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGALEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com18

currenciesdirect.com/mallorca • Tel: +34 687 906 226

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FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL www.euroweeklynews.com 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca EWN 19

CROWDFUNDING is an increasinglyattractive way of raising money forbusiness ventures.

It took off via the internet in 2006and eight years later typing‘crowdfunding’ into Google produceslink after link to specialist platforms.They detail schemes that range fromraising £15,000 for ChagfordCommunity Farm (Devon) toHK$12.7 million for an off-grid solarfarm in Qianhai (China).

Now comes news that the Spanishgovernment plans to restrict totalfunding to €1 million per project.Individual contributions will belimited to €3,000, with a €6,000 capon the amount donated to the sameplatform. Crowdfunding platformswill need capital of at least €50,000and insurance of at least €150,000.

“We do not understand theselimits,” said Xavier Olivella, president

of the Asociacion Española deCrowdfunding (AEC). They werefixed without taking the reality of thesector into consideration andwithout consultation, he complained.

The government is not trying tolimit crowdfunding; on the contraryit hopes to boost it, a Ministry ofEconomy spokesman responded.The formula is conceived for micro-patronage by many small investors,not large-scale investments, hecontinued. The proposed law willencourage crowdfunding while

offering guarantees toinvestors.

“It is hard not to come to theconclusion that once again a Spanishgovernment is legislating in favour ofbusiness lobbies, in this case, thebanks,” said Enrique Dans, aprofessor at the IE Business Schoolin Madrid. “Remember that Spain’sbanks have effectively frozen lendingto small businesses in the wake of afinancial crash that they largelybrought about in 2008.”

Reading between the lines of aBBVA report, banks clearly fear thatcrowdfunding could erode theirdominance. “There is a real risk thatbanks could cease to be a principalsource for personal loans and smallbusinesses,” the study concluded.

TWO sacked CatalunyaBanc executives cankeep their pensions andwill each receive€600,000.

Adolf Todo and JaumeMasana, respectiveformer chairman andCEO of Catalunya Bank,were dismissed withouta payout by thegovernment’s FROBrescue fund after thebank was nationalisedlast year.

It was one of manysavings banks thatneeded bailing out afterits solvency wasthreatened by bad loansduring the propertyboom.

By the end of 2012,Catalunya Banc’s €11.8billion losses required arescue costing €12billion, the FROB’ssecond-highest bailoutand the highest ever for

a bank of its size. Despite the bank’s

problems, Todo paidhimself €3.3 millionbetween April 2008 andMay 2013.

According to aBarcelona court, theFROB letters informingTodo and Masana oftheir dismissal were ‘fullof generic terms’ and‘lacked concrete,definite deeds.’

Todo and Masana eachclaimed €900,000compensation for unfairdismissal, although thejudge reduced this to€600,000.

He also ruled thattheir pensions - totalling€4.5 for Todo and €1.5for Masana - still heldgood and would be paidat the appropriate time.

The Economy ministryis appealing thesentence.

FROB’s anger overrecent court ruling

TO succeed in selling,awareness of bodylanguage is essential.

Twenty-five years inbusiness, selling a concepton quality rather than pricethat had no immediatebenefit, taught me selling isa tough career option.

Most are aware of salesterms like ‘buying signals,’‘the close’ and ‘bodylanguage.’ Do we under-stand their importance? Letus look at body language.

Well named, it means thepositive or negative signalsradiating from a client’s bodylanguage as you set outyour stall.

Eye avoidance is clearindication of deceit. Whenyou meet and greetmaintain eye contact. If onehas the upper hand duringthe handshake, it suggestsdominance.

Times up: If toes point theopposite way to his face hecannot wait to end theconversation.

When invited to take aseat, take the boss’s chairand you have just lost thesale. Much the same if youfocus unevenly on his wifeor secretary. Try to positionyour seat so you are notdirectly opposite and ifpossible without a deskbetween you.

Never mind what yourclient says. He may nodapprovingly but if his armsare folded or legs crossedwith lowered chin he isnegative and you can kissthe sale bye-bye. Legsspaced apart with handsbehind the neck are a strongbuying signal.

Size matters. Watch thepupils of his eyes as youshow him what is on offer.Enlarged pupils means helikes what he sees. Reducedsize means he is under-whelmed. This is the reasonwhy astute gamblers weardark glasses. It is somethingwe have no control over.

If he scratches his nose orcovers his mouthwhen talking, he ispossibly beingdeceitful. If hetouches hissleeve, he isnervous. Aninterestedclient will showan interest inwhat you aresaying; askingquestions thatenable him to confirmhis decision to buy is theright one.

One last thing: bodylanguage works bothways.

www.michaelwalsh.es

Body language in sellingHanding overthe reins

FLORENTINO PEREZ has revealed who willtake over when he steps down as ACSpresident.

Perez is commonly associated with thepresidency of the Real Madrid football clubbut his fortune is founded on the ACSconstruction and services group which lastyear had a €38.373 billion turnover. Eighty-six per cent of its projects were outsideSpain and the company made a €702million net profit.

“I have a successor at ACS,” 67-year-oldPerez announced during a televisionappearance. “It is Marcelino FernandezVerdes, CEO at Hochtief.” FernandezVerdes has run Essen-based Hochtief sinceNovember 2012. It is Germany’s largestconstruction company and ACS holds a 56per cent stake in the company.

“I shall be able to do what I can’t donow,” Perez said. “All I want now is toconsolidate what we have done.Fortunately I have successors and onesuccessor in particular, so I’m comfortable.”

Perez left unanswered the question thatmost of Spain is now asking. “I don’t yetknow who will follow me at Real Madrid,”he said.

Crowdfundingthreatens to crowd-out banks CROWDFUNDING: An

increasingly attractive wayof raising money for

business ventures.

Mike WalshProfessionalcopywriting contentediting service.

www.michaelwalsh.es 966 786 932

Talking shop

I DON'T know about whereyou live in Spain but whereI live, the waft of marihuanasmoke is about as common-place as the smell of freshlyground coffee, the smell offumes from cars or thesmell of fried food fromopen kitchen windows.

Compared to Ireland,where I recall that mostjoint smokers used to hideaway in their homes to puffon ‘ganja,’ in Spain manypeople appear to be freeand open about their habit,lighting up on streets,outside bars or whereverelse they fancy a joint.

What’s interesting aboutthis situation is that thisapparent love for smoking

Bob Marley’s favourite herbcould help better the societywe live in here in Spain. Itcould lead to big financingfor better roads, bettereducation and betterhealthcare for all! How?Well by simply changing thelaw and legalisingmarihuana.

It’s just been reportedthat the US state ofColorado collected €1.5million in taxes from newlylegalised recreationalmarijuana businesses inJanuary.

Colorado became the firstUS state to legalise thecommercial sale of cannabis

in 2012 and stores openedfor business on 1 January2014. In total, 59marihuana companies filedtax returns for the firstmonth of 2014 andcollective sales for Januaryare estimated to have beenabout €10 million. Ifmedical marihuana firms

are included, the US statecollected a total of €2.5m inmarihuana taxes.

The money made fromthe taxes on the sale ofmarihuana in Colorado ischalked down to be used toaid youth preventionservices, substance abusetreatment and publichealth. Not surprisinglymany US states arecarefully watching thefigures coming out ofColorado and the nation’scapital, Washington, isalready set to introducelegal sales within the nextfew months.

If people are going tosmoke anyway - andjudging by the smell onSpanish streets, marihuanais easy to get your hands on- why not regulate theplant? As is already the casefor cigarettes. This will cutout dodgy dealers, bettercontrol usage and at thesame time give a good bitback to society throughtaxes.

FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGALEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com20

BUSINESS EXTRA

Bank mustpay

BANCO POPULAR BANCAPRIVADA must return€9.9 million to clientswho bought ‘atypicalfinancial products’ onthe bank’s advice. Theywere not told they wereinvesting in high riskproducts, the courtsruled.

Right trackAN FCC-LED consortiumof four companies willbuild a section of theDoha metro for the QatarRailways Company. The€506 million project willbe completed in 31months.

New hubINTERNET shopping giantAmazon is opening a newdistribution centre inBarcelona, according toSpanish media inunconfirmed reports.

A. Yes, the Horizontal Lawhas been modified and,no, a unanimous vote isno longer required toauthorise changes inindividual units of theCommunity. This changecomes in ‘Ley 8/2013,’ theLaw of Rehabilitation,Regeneration and Innova-tion of properties.

It is quite complex butone basic and importantchange is that an ownerwho wishes to makechanges to his propertyneeds only the approval ofthree fifths of the votesinstead of the unanimous

approval formerlyrequired. These changesmight include a change ofuse, where, for example,commercial premises aremodified into residentialapartments, or where alarge apartment might besubdivided, or wherethree flats might be madeinto one large apartment.

These are changeswhich require modifica-tions to the constitution ofthe Community, becausethe percentage of owner-ship and Community feesfor the new system will bedifferent from the original

charges. If the building ordevelopment has comeunder an official plan ofrehabilitation, and thechanges are ordered bythe authorities, no AGMapproval is required.

Q. Can you advise on whether theHorizontal Law has recently beenmodified with regard to changing thestatus or the layout of individual units orCommunity areas? Does the law stillrequire a unanimous vote of the AGM?

AM (Canary Islands)

Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana & Associates in Fuengirola [email protected], or call 952 667 090.

You and theLaw in SpainBy David Searl

JanePlunkett

A look at finance for females

[email protected]

Loose change

ONCE quitting smoking was simply amatter of a patch, gum or tablet, butnew research from market analystsMintel sees smokers increasingly turning

to E-cigarettes to beat the habit.Indeed, latest research from

Mintel finds that today, while salesof smoking cessation aids haveslowed, the market for E-cigarettes is booming,increasing an impressive 340per cent in the UK over the pastyear from an estimated £44million (€52.7 million) in 2012to reach an estimated £193million (€231 million) in 2013.

While the smoking cessationmarket has seen strong growthhistorically, with annualincreases of around 6-10 per

cent between 2009-12, sales of

products such as gum, tablets andpatches have slowed. Indeed, in 2013the market for smoking cessation aidsgrew just 1.7 per cent to reach a valueof £131 million (€157 million).

Roshida Khanom, Senior Personal CareAnalyst at Mintel, said: “The rise inpopularity of E-cigarettes has hamperedgrowth in the value of the smokingcessation market, which saw modestgrowth in 2013.

Although E-cigarettes are largelymarketed as an alternative to smoking,smokers have been using them to cutdown or quit smoking. But with thegrowing popularity of E-cigarettes, thereis concern that young people may takeup ‘vaping’ as a less harmful alternativeto smoking. This concern has resulted inthe British Government announcementmade in January 2014 that the sale of E-cigarettes to under-18s is to be madeillegal. The Spanish Government hasalso vowed to restrict the use of E-

cigarettes.

E-cigarettes hitting stopsmoking market

Joint smoking for better healthcare

Has Horizontal Law changedregarding community areas?

SMOKE FREELY: If easy to get hands on, why not regulate?

E-CIGARETTES:Being used as analternative.

A timelyscammerwarningTHANK YOU Yvonne Thomas!A couple of weeks ago I read aletter from Ms. Thomas,recounting her experience withtricksters who pretended theywere calling from Microsoft inGlasgow. They tried to makeher believe there was aproblem with her Windowsprogramme.

Would you believe that a fewdays later I had a call from -you’ve guessed it! - Microsoft,telling me they needed totroubleshoot a problem withmy computer. I wouldn’t havesaid the call was fromGlasgow, though, as thisperson spoke good American-English with a hint of aHispanic accent.

The number 0019 (orsomething very like that) cameup on my phone screen.

“Well thank you very much,but I happen to know that thisis a scam and there’s nothingwrong with my computer. Sothank you very much, but nothanks,” I said rather tartlyand hung up.

A day or so after that therewas another call from thesame number, and this time ayoungish-sounding man askedto speak to me. So I launchedinto my spiel once more,advising him not to waste histime on me. Blow me down, ifhe didn’t start giggling beforehanging up!

There was a third 0019telephone call yesterday froman American-sounding femalewith a hectoring voice, but notwanting to waste more breaththis time, I hung up withoutanswering.

Be warned: this really is ascam, and they’re persistenttoo.

T Freeman (By email)

Pigeon problemARE there more pigeons andcollared doves in the old partof Pinar de Campoverde, thanin the Rio Seco ‘area of naturalbeauty?’

After walking for more thantwo hours in the morning in

the area around Pinar deCampoverde, I was amazed athow quiet it was.

I heard no more than twopigeons the whole time,whereas in the area where Ilive in the old part of Pinar deCampoverde there is constantnoise from pigeons,particularly in the earlymorning.

Also we get a problem withthe pigeon droppings andsuffer ill health from theexcessive amount of pollenfrom the pine trees.

Has anyone else encoun-tered these problems? The‘Ayuntamiento’ seems power-less to tackle them.

David Fentum, Pinar deCampoverde (Alicante)

Car solution YOUR reader Gill Nicksonshould have asked the Gestorfor a ‘Baja Permanente.’ Thisrequires the owner to handover the registration docu-ments to Trafico andeffectively removes the carfrom the road.

Richard, (Crevillente)(Alicante)

Editor’s note: GillNickson asked how to takean old car off the road,while holding on to it forspares.

Winds of warI SAW something in ‘Your Say’quite some issues back,probably in mid-February, thatI half-forgot about until now.It was a reference to the deathof a Spanish photographerJose Couso, who I believe wasshot by US snipers in April2003 in the early days of theIraq invasion.

“Now what must beunderstood, this is war!” thewriter of the letter exclaimedin reply to a Euro Weekly Newscolumnist who had criticisedthe shooting.

Personally I would questionthat. Yes, it later became awar but we in the UK, the USand Spain were under theimpression at the time thatallied forces went to Iraq toliberate the country from thetyranny of Saddam Hussein.

It was not, or at least itshould not have been, a war atthat early stage, not long afterthe troops first went in.

If I cite the letter all theseweeks later it is because thesame old percussionists arebeating their war drums again,this time over Crimea.

A few months ago it wasSyria, which we were thank-fully spared. A couple of yearsbefore that it was Libya,preceded by Iraq andAfghanistan before that.

Ironically all those namesfrom our old history books arecoming back to haunt us oncemore.

Trevor Mortimer, (By email)

Horse senseI’D like to convey heartfeltthanks to town halls that fineowners who leave their dogs’disgusting ‘calling cards’ onpublic roads and pavements.

I’m lucky enough to live on aCamino Verde for walkers andcyclists, now closed to all butresidents’ cars. There is notnearly so much dog excrementthese days, either becauseowners are more civic-mindedor more likely don’t want afine.

But there’s another problem,albeit sporadic: the othermorning I heard the clip-clopof a horse passing by and

when I went out later wasconfronted by a heap ofmanure.

There are no pooper-scoopers for horses! But Iwonder what the legalsituation is for riders and ifthey run the risk of fines too?

Gwen Beaumont (By email)

Fine exampleSPEAKING to your Spanishfriends, you would have tobelieve this is the most corruptcountry in Europe. I havenever encountered it heremyself, however.

I have lived outside the UKfor many years, but my Britishfriends all assure me thatthere is no less corruptionthere although I was barelyaware of it in my day. “Look atthe MPs’ expenses scandals,”they say by way of anexample. Now I am beginningto believe they are right, afterreading headlines screamingabout Nigel Farage havingboth his wife and his mistressallegedly on his taxpayer-funded payroll.

Farage, that Wooden Horseof an MEP, might not likeEurope but by gum he’s takento their customs all right! Amistress, indeed! Now youknow what to expect, UKIP!

Derek Paston (By email)

Go awayTHE Duke and Duchess ofCambridge have beencriticised for leaving their babyson, eight-month-old George,at home while they holidayedin the Maldives.

Hands-on parents and theanti-nanny brigade wereappalled and envious in equalmeasure but good for you, sayI.

I don’t eat out all that oftenthese days and a birthdaytreat of lunch with a pal waswrecked recently by thepresence of a fractiousmonths-old infant.

Unfortunately its Britishparents, hands-on anddroolingly indulgent, weresitting at a tableuncomfortably close to ours.If only they had gone to theMaldives! Sadly for us, theychose Mallorca.

S McNamara, (Mallorca)

WHEN YOU WRITE

All 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 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 23EWN

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.

[email protected] for Your Say should be emailed to [email protected], 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

SPRING is perfecthere and I love

finding littlepockets of ‘real’

Spain, eventhough it’s

overgrown likethis meadow a

few hundredmetres away from

Altea’s open airmarket.

Linda Gonzalez

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

THE lady in the photo isGlynis Germanperforming last week at

the International Women’sDay event I organised atMood.

I’ve known Glynis since Imoved to Mallorca. I alwayssay that Glynis was there fortwo of the most importantdays of my life so far: shefeatured in my wedding whenI asked her to translate theservice from Spanish intoEnglish for our guests (they allthought she was the mayorand was actually marrying myhusband and I!)

Then she helped me when Iwas in labour with Gidg, shetranslated for me and tried tokeep me together whilsteverything around me wasgoing a tad awry.

So far neither of theseevents have been used asmaterial for Glynis’ newcareer: these days our Glyn ismaking her way as a stand-upcomedian.

She’s been working towardsthis since she did a course inBarcelona with a professionalstand-up and teacher, Logan

Murray, a few years ago.Glynis is one of those people

who makes it look really easyto tell jokes, and that’s where

her skills lie because it is notin any way easy to bedeliberately funny and it takeshours and hours of work andpractice to get the deliveryand timing right. She’s startedto get bookings in other partsof Europe now so good luckchick, we’re rooting for you!

Now she brings Logan overto Mallorca once a year to runa course for any other peoplewho want to be stand-ups,comedy writers or improvisersand they do a show at the endof the course. I did mine lastyear and I absolutely loved it.

It collided badly with thevery serious forest fires inAndratx so I was quitedistracted that weekend anddidn’t ever get around totelling the gentle readers ofFamily Matters about how itwent.

Well: it was terrifying,exhilarating and addictive. Assoon as I had been onstagefor my eight minutes of fame,I felt like I could have leapt

over a house in one bound, itwas a fantastic feeling ofachievement.

Making people laugh is adrug. I harbour an ambition toget back up there and dosome more, but wow thosenerves before you go on thestage! If you want tochallenge and push yourselfthen do it.

Or if you’ve ever thought,“What’s all the fuss about, Ican do that,” then do it. Thecourses this time around couldwell be full by now but youcan contact Glynis via my blogwww.familymattersmallorca.com if you want to get moreinformation.

Or come along on Sunday(March 23) night and see themerry band of brand newcomics testing out their browntrousers as they make theirdebuts on the Sa Botiga deBuffons in Palma.

Doors open at 8pm for aprompt 9.30pm start (info andaddress on my blog).

OPINION & COMMENTEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com24

Vicki McleodFamilyMatters

You’ve got to laugh...

STAND-UP: Glynis German makes it look really easy.AI

MEE

K PH

OTOG

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TV LISTINGEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com26

5:15pm Flog it! Trade Secrets6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm Bang Goes theTheory9:00pm EastEnders9:30pm Panorama10:00pm Silk11:00pm BBC News

5:15pm 'Allo, 'Allo!5:45pm 'Allo, 'Allo!6:15pm Antiques Roadshow7:00pm Revenge of theEgghead7:30pm The Voice: Louder onTwo8:00pm Antiques Road Trip9:00pm University Challenge9:30pm Mary Berry Cooks10:00pm The Plantagenets

5:00pm Tipping Point6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Regional News andWeather7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Coronation Street9:00pm I Never Knew ThatAbout Britain9:30pm Coronation Street10:00pm The Widower

5:30pm Four in a Bed6:00pm Come Dine with Me7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News8:55pm The Political Slot9:00pm Dispatches9:30pm Shop Secrets: Tricks ofthe Trade10:00pm One Born EveryMinute

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 Mom

BBC1/

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4:00pm Escape to theCountry4:45pm James Martin'sFood Map of Britain5:15pm Sport Relief DoesGlee Club 20146:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News at Six7:30pm BBC London News8:00pm Sport Relief 201411:00pm BBC News at Ten11:25pm BBC LondonNews11:35pm Sport Relief 2014

4:25pm Bergerac5:15pm 'Allo, 'Allo!5:45pm 'Allo, 'Allo!6:15pm AntiquesRoadshow7:00pm Revenge of theEgghead7:30pm Sport Relief's TopDog8:00pm Antiques RoadTrip9:00pm Mastermind9:30pm Gardeners' World10:00pm A Very BritishRenaissance11:00pm Sport Relief201411:40pm Newsnight

4:00pm The AlanTitchmarsh Show5:00pm Tipping Point6:00pm The Chase7:00pm ITV News London7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm CoronationStreet9:00pm Student Nurses:Bedpans and Bandages9:30pm CoronationStreet10:00pm Edge of Heaven11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm Duplicity

4:30pm Deal or No Deal5:30pm Four in a Bed6:00pm Come Dine withMe7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News9:00pm Marvel's Agents ofS.H.I.E.L.D.10:00pm Gogglebox11:00pm The Last Leg11:50pm 8 Out of 10Cats

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!

BBC1/

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Friday

4:45pm Reflex5:30pm Final Score6:10pm BBC News6:20pm Regional News6:23pm Weather6:25pm Sport Relief7:45pm The Voice UK9:40pm The National LotteryLive9:50pm The Voice UK10:25pm Casualty

4:25pm Ingrid BergmanTalking Pictures5:00pm Notorious6:40pm Flog it! Trade Secrets7:40pm Don't Panic! TheDad's Army Story8:30pm Dad's Army9:00pm The PerfectMorecambe and Wise9:30pm The Plantagenets10:30pm QI XL

4:30pm Kindergarten Cop6:35pm Local News andWeather6:45pm ITV News andWeather7:00pm You've Been Framed!8:00pm Saturday NightTakeaway9:25pm The Cube10:25pm The Americans

5:10pm Come Dine with Me5:40pm Come Dine with Me6:10pm Come Dine with Me6:45pm Come Dine with Me7:15pm Come Dine with Me7:45pm Channel 4 News8:05pm Marvel's Agents ofS.H.I.E.L.D.9:00pm Off the Record10:00pm Rush Hour 3

4:25pm Britain's Got MoreTalent5:25pm Babe 2: Pig in theCity6:25pm FYI Daily6:30pm Babe 2: Pig in theCity7:15pm About a Boy8:15pm FYI Daily8:20pm About a Boy9:15pm Mr Bean's Holiday10:15pm FYI Daily10:20pm Mr Bean's Holiday

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4:00pm Escape to theCountry4:45pm More CreaturesGreat and Small5:15pm Flog it! Trade Secrets6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm EastEnders9:00pm Holby City10:00pm Shetland11:00pm BBC News11:25pm Regional News11:30pm Weather11:35pm Keeping Britain Safe24/7

4:25pm Cagney and Lacey5:15pm 'Allo, 'Allo!5:45pm 'Allo, 'Allo!6:15pm Antiques Roadshow7:00pm Revenge of theEgghead7:30pm The Voice: Louder onTwo8:00pm Antiques Road Trip9:00pm Lambing Live10:00pm The Great BritishSewing Bee11:00pm The Culture Show11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The Alan TitchmarshShow5:00pm Tipping Point6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Regional News andWeather7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm River Monsters9:00pm Midsomer Murders11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm Didier Drogba:Sports Life Stories

4:30pm Deal or No Deal5:30pm Four in a Bed6:00pm Come Dine with Me7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News8:55pm The Political Slot9:00pm Kirstie's Best of BothWorlds10:00pm Food Prices: TheShocking Truth11:00pm The Missing

4:05pm The Jeremy KyleShow5:10pm The Real Housewivesof New Jersey6:05pm 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 Vampire Diaries11:00pm Celebrity Juice11:50pm American PiePresents Band Camp

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Tuesday

4:00pm Escape to theCountry4:45pm More CreaturesGreat and Small5:15pm Flog it! Trade Secrets6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News7:30pm Regional News8:00pm The One Show9:00pm Holiday Hit Squad10:00pm MasterChef11:00pm BBC News11:25pm Regional News11:30pm Weather11:35pm A Question of Sport

4:25pm Cagney and Lacey5:15pm 'Allo, 'Allo!5:45pm 'Allo, 'Allo!6:15pm Antiques Roadshow6:55pm Party PoliticalBroadcast by the LiberalDemocrats7:00pm Revenge of theEgghead7:30pm The Voice: Louder onTwo8:00pm Antiques Road Trip9:00pm Lambing Live10:00pm William the Marshal11:00pm W1A11:30pm Newsnight

4:00pm The Alan TitchmarshShow5:00pm Tipping Point6:00pm The Chase7:00pm Regional News andWeather7:25pm Party PoliticalBroadcast by the LiberalDemocrats7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Coronation Street9:00pm Big Star's Little Star10:00pm Law and Order: UK11:00pm ITV News at Ten andWeather11:35pm Exposure

4:30pm Deal or No Deal5:30pm Four in a Bed6:00pm Come Dine with Me7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News8:55pm The Political Slot9:00pm Secret Eaters10:00pm Dead Famous DNA11:00pm First Dates

4:05pm The Jeremy KyleShow5:10pm 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 Party Wright Aroundthe World11:00pm The Only Way isEssex11:50pm The Big Reunion

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Wednesday

4:00pm Escape to theCountry4:45pm James Martin'sFood Map of Britain5:15pm Flog it! TradeSecrets6:15pm Pointless7:00pm BBC News at Six7:30pm BBC London News8:00pm The One Show8:30pm EastEnders9:00pm Holiday Hit Squad10:00pm Davina - BeyondBreaking Point for SportRelief11:00pm BBC News at Ten11:25pm BBC London News11:35pm Question Time

4:25pm Bergerac5:15pm 'Allo, 'Allo!5:45pm 'Allo, 'Allo!6:15pm Antiques Roadshow7:00pm Revenge of theEgghead7:30pm Sport Relief's TopDog8:00pm Antiques Road Trip9:00pm The Hairy Bikers'Asian Adventure10:00pm Turks and Caicos11:35pm Newsnight

4:00pm The Alan TitchmarshShow5:00pm Tipping Point6:00pm The Chase7:00pm ITV News London7:30pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Emmerdale8:30pm Tonight9:00pm Emmerdale9:30pm Ade at Sea10:00pm Dangerous Dogs11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather11:35pm Edge of Heaven

4:30pm Deal or No Deal5:30pm Four in a Bed6:00pm Come Dine withMe7:00pm The Simpsons7:30pm Hollyoaks8:00pm Channel 4 News8:55pm The Political Slot9:00pm The Hoarder NextDoor10:00pm Inside Rolls-Royce11:00pm 8 Out of 10 CatsDoes Countdown

4:05pm The Jeremy KyleShow5:10pm 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 Half Men9:30pm Two and a Half Men10:00pm The Big Reunion11:00pm Celebrity Juice11:50pm Dads

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Thursday SATELLITE CHANNELS - Sky1/

Sinbad and his friends find themselves up against aFiend, whileTaryn tries outsomeinterestingdisguises.Guest starringDougray Scottand MathewHorne.

1:00pmSunday

Sinbad (Drama, 2012)

•Elliot Knight•Marama

Corlett•Elliot Cowan

•EstellaDaniels

Saturday

5:15pm Escape to theCountry5:45pm Songs of Praise6:20pm Pointless7:05pm Blandings7:35pm BBC News7:50pm Regional News7:58pm Weather8:00pm Countryfile9:00pm AntiquesRoadshow10:00pm The Musketeers11:00pm BBC News

5:15pm Flog It!6:00pm Collectaholics7:00pm The Hairy Bikers:Restoration Road Trip8:00pm Wild Burma9:00pm Lambing Live10:00pm Louis Theroux's LAStories11:00pm Mock the Week

5:15pm The Spy WhoLoved Me7:35pm Local News andWeather7:45pm ITV News andWeather8:00pm Catchphrase9:00pm Harry's South PoleHeroes10:00pm Mr Selfridge11:00pm ITV News at Tenand Weather

4:35pm The Simpsons5:05pm The Simpsons5:35pm Deal or No Deal6:40pm Channel 4 News7:10pm Rio9:00pm The Million PoundNecklace10:00pm The Tourist11:55pm Dogma

5:10pm Ant and Dec'sSaturday Night Takeaway6:40pm The Mummy: Tombof the Dragon Emperor7:40pm FYI Daily7:45pm The Mummy Tombof the Dragon Emperor8:50pm Whip it!9:50pm FYI Daily9:55pm Whip it!11:00pm The Only Way isEssex

BBC1/

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Sunday Monday

taxed at zero rate in Belgium; if theyhad been resident in Portugal thenthey would have had to pay tax there.

HM Revenue & Customs opened atax enquiry into their disposals of UKproperty, and the matter was referredto the First Tier Tax Tribunal.

The Rumbelows maintained theystayed within the limits for non-UKresidence and made a “substantial

loosening” of family, social andbusiness ties to amount to a distinctbreak as required by HMRC’s IR20residence guidance. However theywere unable to provide a detailed diaryof their movements, or documentaryevidence of their Portuguese villapurchase.

The tribunal used evidence of cashwithdrawals, debit card purchases andbusiness transactions to track theirmovements, and considered their UKvisits were more frequent andextensive than described. Their 15year old daughter also remained in theUK family Cheshire home.

The tribunal ruled that their settledand usual abode remained the housein Cheshire, and they were resident inthe UK. HMRC’s decision to levycapital gains tax for the years 2001-2005 was upheld.

Although they were resident inBelgium and then Portugal, it ispossible to be resident in more than

one country under the local rules.Double tax treaties exist for such cases,but do not provide as muchprotection as many believe. In thiscase, the terms meant that the gainswere taxable in the UK.

On the other hand, carefulplanning about when you leave theUK and sell assets can prove verybeneficial. In a case brought byHMRC against Mr Glyn, the tribunalruled in favour of Mr Glyn, who savedhimself £5.5 million in capital gainstax as a result. It ruled that he hadeffected a distinct break; significantlyloosened his ties and had no ‘habitualabode’ or ‘abode for a settled purpose’in the UK. Mr Glyn’s meticulousrecords aided his case considerably.

These court cases relate to the pre-2013 residency guidance. The UK’sStatutory Residence Test which cameinto effect last April does clarifymatters going forward. It is still verydetailed and complex, but there are

clearer rules to follow. However HMRC is still looking at

cases from the previous 10 years, andthe old and new rules run alongsidefor three years.

Whether pre or post April 2013,the burden of proof falls on thetaxpayer. It is therefore essential thatyou seek specialist advice, understandthe application of the rules, followthem closely and keep detailedrecords.

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

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

The issue of where you are resident fortax purposes is an important one forBritish expatriates. Getting it wrong canresult in large tax assessments.

If you want to stop paying incomeand capital gains taxes in the UK, youmust ensure you are non-UK resident.It is not enough to look at Spain’s taxresidency rules, you also need tounderstand the rules governing UK taxresidency, follow them carefully andkeep records.

In the case of Mr and Mrs Rumbelow,getting it wrong cost them £600,000 intaxes.

They left the UK in April 2001,initially residing in Belgium. Later thattax year they disposed of UK properties,believing they would avoid UK capitalgains tax since they were no longerresident.

They had a villa built in Portugal andmoved there in September 2002.Becoming Belgian residents first meanttheir property disposals in 2001-02 were

EUROPEAN PRESSFINANCE 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 27EWN

The Importance Of Tax Residency –Don’t Risk An Unexpected Tax Bill

IKE many of us, I havebeen intrigued by theOscar Pistorius murdertrial in South Africa.

As someone who also watchedjust about every minute of the OJSimpson trial, where, in the lightof overpowering evidence to thecontrary, an animal was actuallyfound not guilty (later to be foundguilty in a civil court) by asympathetic jury - mainlycomposed of elderly black ladies -I have been fascinated to see ifanother celebrity wriggles out ofsomething that, for a lessermortal, would be cut and driedwithin a few days.

Personally, I can’t see whatdifference it really makes whowas in the toilet when this youngman blasted the shots throughthe door. Nor do I think anyintruder who locked himself inthe loo screaming for mercy wasactually any threat to a personstanding outside with a loadedpistol in his hand.

No, to my mind this is a spoiltyoung man with an

uncontrollable temper, used tothrowing his weight about and,up to this point getting away withjust about anything. Irrespectiveof who was in the loo, he killedthem in a fit of vicious rage andis, in my opinion, therefore guiltyof murder.

One or two other things havefascinated me about this trial, notleast the fact that it was from thesame court Nelson Mandela wassent down all those years ago.

Having been in SA during thedark days of apartheid thesituation today appears to menothing short of miraculous.

Another is the rather quaintway they address the femalejudge. M’Lady in that SA accentsounds for all the world likeThunderbirds’ chauffeur Parkeraddressing Lady Penelopeherself!

In a recent piece I wrote that I

had always considered thePrincess Diana rather amanipulative woman, fullyprepared to use the press tofurther her own cause. Thereaction I got to thatparticularstatement was,asanticipated, adeluge ofhate maildescendingthrough myinbox. Well, inthe light of therecent

disclosures of her handing overthe phone numbers of all theRoyals up to, and including theQueen, I think my point has beensomewhat proven, wouldn’t yousay?

And that’s about it. I’m stilldown in the Tenerife sunshine.There is something to besaid about all-year-round

sunshine! Ah, well,someone has to do it.

Just a few more weeks andI’ll be back with the family.Yesss. I’ve actually justfinished appearing in aChannel Five documentary.

The theme is ‘Growing oldDisgracefully’.

Sounds about right! Iunderstand it’ll be aired late

May early June. I’ll keep yaposted.

Enjoy your week, andwhatever ya do, alwayskeep the faith, love [email protected]

L LEAPY LEESAYS ITOTHERS THINK IT

An uncontrollable temper Bravewords

GOOD strong, bravewords on the NorthernIrish situation (Issue1496). I’m with you 100per cent, let’s livetogether but not one rulefor one and another foranother.

It must be hard foranyone involved directlyin the struggle but, as anoutsider, we must stopthe issues being passedto future generations. Ithink we learn that whenwe live abroad and I hopeand wish the British andIrish can do the same

Phil Saint (By email)

Editor's note: Leapysaid it is time toforgive and forget thetroubles in NorthernIreland and move on.That applies to formersoldiers implicated inBloody Sunday as wellas people who tookpart in bomb attacks.

LEAPY LETTERS

MIQ

U77

/ SHU

TTER

STOC

K.CO

M

INTRIGUING: OscarPistorius’s murder trial.

EWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com28 OPINION & COMMENT

Vicki McleodBusiness Matters

I DON’T know about you, but I’d saythat MY 2014 season has definitelystarted. Now’s the time to look

wistfully back to the slow days of Januaryand kick myself for not using the timemore constructively!

“What do you actually DO for a livingVicki?” I have been asked that a lot. WellI do PR: I get things printed in the papersfor example, I liaise with businesses, Imake business opportunities, I introducepeople to each other, I write (a lot) ofwords: for articles, for websites, forbrochures, I take photos, I organiseshoots and videos, I teach and coachother small and medium businesses totake control of their own communicationsand marketing through offline and onlinemedia, and I do an enormous amount ofevents: micro and maxi.

My business is called Phoenix Mediaand I have some great clients. If youwant to find out more or work with usthen just ping an email over [email protected].

We have a lot of events coming up. Ifnetworking is your thing then you maywell be in the minority as it’s not an easything to do if you’re even a tiny bit shy.

But the more you do it the easier itgets. Here are some of myrecommendations: both my own events

and ones I think you should go to. Just this week there is The Supper Club

which will feature the lawyer AlejandroBellapart who will be giving free legaladvice and Helen Pitt who will bespeaking on behalf of the Cancer SupportGroup. The Supper Club is an informaland inexpensive social and business

networking group which meets once amonth from October to May. It costs €15which covers two drinks and supper (thismonth it’s fish and chips!).

That’s Thursday, March 20. You canreserve on [email protected] or call971 676 456.

Charity events are often sponsored by

some seriously good businesses, andsupporting the same charity events is agood introduction to them. NextSaturday night there is ‘Casino Royale.’This is an event for the Cala Nova CancerCare shop. Tickets are €15 (€10 of thisgoes directly to the cause). You can getyour tickets from [email protected] from the charity shop, Estudio 3 inPortals or the Tranquility Spa in thecountry club in Santa Ponsa.

Another event I would recommend isthe Top 100 dinner which is on April 11.It is a fundraiser for breast cancer andcancer support on the island. It has aTwenties theme and features a fivecourse gourmet dinner, and tons ofchances to network. More information:646 752 276 (Helen).

Then the big daddy of networking overthe next month or so is the Crew Show.Put it in your diary NOW as you shouldattend. The show opens at 4pm onFriday, April 25, and goes on until 8pm. Itis four short intense hours of high levelnetworking business to business andclient to business. More information:www.businessmattersmallorca.com.

Spin your web! Take yourpick from events coming up

NETWORKING: The more you do it, the easier it gets.

THE early diagnosis ofglaucoma is essential toprevent irreversible visionloss.

To mark WorldGlaucoma Week, runninguntil Saturday, thepresident of theOphthalmological Societyof the ValencianCommunity andGlaucoma Specialist,Doctor Konrad Schargel,is warning of the risks ofthe disease if it is notdiagnosed early andrecommends periodicophthalmologic exami-nations.

Glaucoma is a diseasewhich is related to eyepressure increases if thefluid does not drain out ofthe eye properly. If leftuntreated the patient maylose vision and evenbecome blind.

Doctor Schargel said:“In the case of glaucomait is a leading cause of

irreversible blindnessworldwide and itsincidence revolves around2 per cent of thepopulation aged 40

years.”Glaucoma is treated

with drops or surgery, butthere are now lasertreatments that have

been used successfully inthe USA for over 10 years.

Doctor Schargel says itis particularly importantto have regular eye

examinations if there is afamily history ofglaucoma, you are agedover 40 and are near-sighted.

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EWNLIFESTYLE.COMHHEALTH & BEAUTY 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 31EWN

ealth & beauty

BOUGAINVILLAEA, foundin abundance in Spain, isbeing used in a drink tocounteract the effects ofsugar.

The flower containspinitol, a naturallyoccurring compoundwhich is believed to lowerblood sugar levels after a

person consumes a highamount of sugar.

The Simply GreatDrinks Company hascreated a range of juicesderived from the flower,with extracts of apple,carob and grape.

The blend was createdby a team of biomedical

consultants led by DrSepe Sehati who saiddrinking a glass every dayfor 12 weeks is enough tohave the desired effect onblood sugars and is “amajor breakthrough intackling some of theharmful effects of sugarin juice and juice drinks.”

AN estimated 900,000people in Spain haveswitched to electroniccigarettes. Accordingto data from theNational ElectronicCigarette Association(ANCE) the industryhas a turnover of €18million, a figure that isexpected to multiply inthe coming years.

Whilst many creditthem for helpingpeople to stopsmoking, the debate oftheir use has reachedparliament as their usein governmentbuildings, healthcentres, schools andplaces with children,has been banned.However, some say, asthey contain nicotine,they should be treatedas tobacco and besubject to the samerules and be banned inall public spaces suchas bars andrestaurants.

Victoria AldeaMíguez, member ofthe MedicalAssociation ofPontevedra andsmoking expert, saysthere is no scientificevidence to ensurethat the electroniccigarette is safe: “Weknow that it containsnicotine, but do notknow what effect theother substances inthem have on thelungs when inhaled.”

However, manyvoices have supportedthe use of theelectronic cigarettesversus tobaccos,including the EuropeanSociety of Cardiology.

900,000opt for

electroniccigarettes

One spoon offlower please

Eye tests vital to combat glaucoma FLOWER POWER: Drink

Fri -Sat -Sun -

20 12 Cl21 10 C18 9 S

MAX MIN

Mon -Tues -Wed -

18 9 C18 9 Cl17 9 Cl

MAX MIN

ARIES(March 21 - April 20)Surprising and happy newsabout the 30th really puts somebounce into you. Having been sobusy recently, you may not havenoticed that someone has a specialinterest in you. Another surprisethen, but how will you react?

TAURUS(April 21 - May 21)Family members bring asparkle to your eyes and a springto your step. When there is so muchgoing on it is easy to forget how much weare part of a whole. If you have neglectedkeeping in contact of late, this serves toremind you to try to do better.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)A trip to the cinema or theatremakes you take notice and mayeven shock. There are many things in lifethat normally do not touch us but, oncewe are aware, there seems to be a needfor action.

CANCER(June 22 - July 23)Expecting others to automatical-ly know what you want is unreal-

istic. Even dropping heavy hints can gowell astray of the mark. Although it is un-palatable to your sensitivity, plain talking isneeded.

LEO(July 24 - August 23)Oh, gosh, this is a reallysensitive time for Leos. Although itis easy to upset you, it is equally easy tofire your enthusiasm. Anyone consideringnot keeping a promise or appointmentwith you should beware because they willbe whipped into shape.

VIRGO(August 24 - September 23)This is a week of deep thinkingand meaningful conversations.

Someone's opinion of you reaches yourears and pleases you greatly. Work thathas been progressing at home faceshold-ups and tact is needed to avoid arow.

LIBRA(September 24 - October 23)Take extra care where financesconcern your home. A legal mattershould be considered carefully. Whenplanning home improvements, get plentyof good advice and do not trust yourheart. A new activity means new friends.

SCORPIO(October 24 - November 22)Being protective of those closedoes not mean worrying all the

time. With their co-operation, the burden,welcome though it may be, can belightened. There is the opportunity to havefun with some young friends, which maynot come again for some time.

SAGITTARIUS(November 23 - December21)Be determined to make a budgetand stick to it. Even if you are arranging aholiday, resist the urge to splash out.Because this is such a busy week, it maynot seem that there is time to read thesmall print.

CAPRICORN(December 22 - January 20)With a big event coming up, you

need someone to giveplenty of love and support.Starting a new interest could leadyou into their path. Going forlooks alone will do you nofavours. Be as broad-minded aspossible when it comes tomaking friends.

AQUARIUS(January 21 -February 19)An area in which you haveexperience means that you areable to help someone close thisweek. Keep the advice free frompersonal opinions whereverpossible. Some upsets on a day-to-day basis are all minor and willpass.

PISCES(February 20 - March20)What will really beappreciated this week is ifyou will give your time to others. Irealise your life is busy but theemotional rewards from helpingsomeone will be more than worthit. To see yourself in a trulypositive light, imagine being inthe positions of those round you.

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

BACK

MOVEROVERAVE

RACERACKBACK

Average: 5

Good: 6

Very good: 9

Excellent: 11

How many English words offour letters or more can youmake from the nine letters inour Nonagram puzzle? Eachletter may be used only once

(unless the letter appearstwice). Each word MUST

CONTAIN THE CENTRE LETTER(in this case P) and there mustbe AT LEAST ONE NINE LETTERWORD. Plurals, vulgarities orproper nouns are not allowed.

TARGET:

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

Sn Snow, Th Thunder

Alicante TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 18C, MIN 10C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

19 13 Cl21 12 C17 11 Cl

Mon -Tues -Wed -

18 12 C19 11 Cl18 11 S

Almeria TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 19C, MIN 13C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

16 11 C16 9 Sh13 8 Cl

Mon -Tues -Wed -

15 9 C15 8 Sh15 8 Cl

BarcelonaTODAY: SUNNY MAX 17C, MIN 10C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

18 14 C18 12 C17 11 S

Mon -Tues -Wed -

17 12 C17 12 Cl16 11 Cl

Benidorm TODAY: SUNNY MAX 17C, MIN 13C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

20 8 C14 2 Sh13 2 Cl

Mon -Tues -Wed -

14 3 C14 2 C14 2 C

Madrid TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 21C, MIN 7C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

19 11 Cl18 8 C16 8 S

Mon -Tues -Wed -

17 10 C17 9 C17 9 Cl

MalagaTODAY: CLOUDY MAX 18C, MIN 9C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

18 11 Cl18 10 F15 9 Cl

Mon -Tues -Wed -

16 9 C17 9 Cl16 9 S

MallorcaTODAY: CLEAR MAX 20C, MIN 9C

MAX MIN MAX MIN

Fri -Sat -Sun -

24 11 Cl24 10 C19 8 S

Mon -Tues -Wed -

21 9 C19 8 C18 8 Cl

Murcia TODAY: CLOUDY MAX 23C, MIN 9C

March 20: FernandoTorres. Spanish footballer.Nicknamed El Niño (The

Kid), Torres began his career withAtletico Madrid and now plays for

Chelsea and the Spain national team.He is married to Olalla Dominguez

Liste; they have two children. Torresis an avid admirer of JRR Tolkien

and has a tattoo reading ‘Fernando’in ‘Tengwar’ on his left forearm.

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAYTHIS WEEK: Takingcontrol of both your

finances and emotionshas already started payingdividends. Such a change

is not easy but mostsatisfying. Satisfaction issomething of which you

will have a lot. SY

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

CROSSWORDSEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com32

Word Ladder

Nonagram

Mallorca weatherfor next 7 days

30ourtars

aper, para, pare, parr, part, pate, pear, peat, peer, pert, pray, prey, pyre, rapt, reap,tapa, tape, tarp, trap, type, apart, apery, apter, parer, parry, party, pater, payee,payer, peart, peaty, perry, peter, prate, pryer, repay, taper, perter, prater, prayer,reaper, repeat, retype, RATEPAYER

MOVE

1. For which American footballteam did the now infamous O JSimpson play?2. In Australian Rules Football,how many points are awardedwhen a team scores a goalwhen the football is propelledthrough the goal posts at anyheight (including above theheight of the posts) by way ofa kick from the attacking team?3. With which sport would youprincipally associate theChicago Bulls, the ClevelandCavaliers and the DetroitPistons?4. How many times did EvonneGoolagong (Cawley) win theWimbledon Ladies singles title?5. Edson Arantes doNascimento is the real name ofwhich famous sportsman?6. Which country won theRugby World Cup in 1995 and2007?7. Including the cue ball, howmany balls are there on thetable at the start of a snookergame?

1. BUFFALO BILLS (accept also SANFRANCISCO 49ERS), 2. SIX POINTS,3. BASKETBALL, 4. TWO - 1971 and1980, 5. PELÉ, 6. SOUTH AFRICA, 7.22 (15 reds, yellow, green, brown,blue, pink, black and white/cue).

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 Quiz

Saturday March 15 Friday March 14 Saturday March 15 Sunday March 16Saturday March 15 Saturday March 15

14 22

BONUS BALL THUNDERBALL BONUS BALL LUCKY STARS REINTEGRO REINTEGRO

38

19

25 48

8

IRISH LOTTO LA PRIMITIVAEL GORDO DELA PRIMITIVA

UK THUNDERBALL

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY EURO MILLIONS

LOTTERY

7 13

34

10

27 38

20

5 14

20

13

19 37

44 1

14 2922

3331

12

2 2927

4945

9

6 2524

3027

5 9

A SPORTINGCHANCE

The Hunger Games:Catching Fire

NEW ONDVD

Based on the novel bySuzanne Collins, this film is thesecond in the adventure trilogy. StarringJennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen whoreturns home victorious after the 74th HungerGames. But she and her fellow winner PeetaMellark (played by Josh Hutcherson) soondiscover that rebellion is in the air, withgrowing dissent to the Capitol’s rule. DonaldSutherland plays President Coriolanus Snowwho uses the 75th Hunger Games, known asthe third ‘Quarter Quell’ to wipe out resistancein the districts.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson,Liam Hemsworth. Directed by FrancisLawrence. Runtime 146 minutes. Rated 13.

MAD

DOCK

S’ V

IEW

ONLI

FETODAY

POLLENÇA

CALA MILLOR INCACALVIA

ANDRATXPALMA

MAGALLUFLLUCMAJOR

CALA d’OR

ALCUDIAPOLLENÇA

CALA MILLOR INCACALVIA

ANDRATXPALMA

LLUCMAJOR

CALA d’OR

TOMORROW

ALCUDIA

MAGALLUF

Each number in the Code Breaker grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. In this week’s puzzle, 21represents D and 15 represents Z, so fill in D every time the figure 21 appears and Z every time the figure 15 appears.Now, using your knowledge of the English language, work out which letters should go in the missing squares. As you

discover the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid and the control grid.

Code Breaker

Across1 Shriek (6)4 Economise severely (6)9 Permit (3)10 Subdue by force of

personality (7)11 Ordinary (7)12 Work out (5)13 Go after and bring back (5)15 Range (5)20 Once more (5)22 Chocolate pastries (7)24 Futile (7)25 Monkey (3)26 Scandinavian country (6)27 Chum (6)

Down1 Extremely serious (6)2 Entourage (7)3 Pleasant fragrance (5)5 Masterpiece (7)6 Perfection (5)7 Mollycoddle (6)8 Flat (5)14 Meet formally (7)16 Confidential (7)17 Light touch (6)18 Drive back (5)19 Climb up (6)21 Make laugh (5)23 Defeated contestant (5)

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 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 33EWN

Across1 Classroom (4)3 Pothole (in road) (5)8 Butterflies (insects) (9)9 Fly (insect) (5)10 Anchor (5)12 Answer (reply) (9)14 Callejón (5)15 Wave (in sea, lake) (4)

Down1 Carpet (8)2 Corderos (5)4 Aplausos (8)5 Su (de él) (3)6 Tesoro (de mucho valor) (8)7 Frost (substance) (8)11 Cadena (de eslabones, dejoyería) (5)13 Sun (3)

Across1 Roof covering for former prime

minister, almost (6)5 Heathens keeping silver in

cooking pot (6)8 Goal being reset for Soviet

gymnast (4)9 Roused when a vigil comes to a

sorry end (8)10 Splendid joke I fed into

Scotsman (8)11 Eager to sing with a sad song (4)12 Criticise bad start and end (5)14 Victor loses his head midway (5)18 Partial delivery sent back? That's

disgusting (4)20 Been a red revolutionary in

Scotland (8)22 Rosa left the presentation

confused and remorseful (8)23 The first person mentioned in

Nostradamus's predictions (4)24 With crew's net (6)25 Begin to show fear (5)

Down2 Antique in the vestibule is a bag

(7)3 Sell the business (5)4 Hard ground in floor of fireplace

(6)

5 First person is in place for the fish(6)

6 “Small cucumber is a bit rougher”,king said (7)

7 Nice embracing an orientalrelative (5)

13 Attempting to visit the ruler (7)

15 The Spanish man's a gent,strangely charming (7)

16 Author is apparently inside (6)17 The SDP rewrote the drafts (6)19 Woman is in an entire new outfit

(5)21 Show doctor a graduate (5)

LAST WEEK’SSOLUTIONSCRYPTIC Across: 7 Plaque, 8 Nevada, 10 Retains,11 Spine, 12 Acre, 13 Relic, 17 Corps, 18 Code, 22 Acorn, 23 Tourist, 24 Ousted,25 Repose.

Down: 1 Spartan, 2 Batters, 3 Music, 4 Seismic, 5 Batik, 6 Cadet, 9 Osteopath, 14 Bounder, 15 Monitor, 16 Leather, 19 Salon, 20 Toast, 21 Tuber.

QUICK Across: 1 Begins, 5 France, 8 Cats, 9 Terrific, 10 Cellar, 11 Checks, 12 Owls, 14 Axe, 15 Bank, 16 Crisps, 18 Thrill, 20 Disaster, 22 Leap, 23 Greedy, 24 Sorted.

Down: 2 Erase, 3 Insults, 4 Saturdays, 5 Far, 6 Alike, 7 Chicken,11 Creatures, 13 Warrior,15 Burglar, 17 Scare, 19 Leave, 21 Toy.

ENGLISH-SPANISHAcross: 1 Lapiz, 3 Fiero, 6 Swim, 7 Trucha, 9 Caballero,12 Acento, 13 Lago, 14 Peaje, 15 Jeans.

Down: 1 Last, 2 Primavera, 3 Farola, 4 Escarlata, 5 Orar, 8 Sastre, 10 Damp, 11 Toes.

FUNAGRAM SOLUTION: MANIC STREET PREACHERS, WHITE WATER RAFTING

The clues are mixed, some clues are in Spanish and some are in English.


English - Spanish

QuickCryptic

Funagram

Hexagram

ARRIVE

DINING

DINNER

FARMER

GREASE

INVERT

MEAGER

OTHERS

RENTAL

RIGGED

RUGGED

SEIZED

SENDER

SLAYER

STREAK

SWAYED

WATERS

WAVING (10)

WORTHY

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 (WAVING) and one letter in four other cells are given as clues.

1 Bloody, 2 Laired, 3 Deadly, 4 Mortar, 5 Unable, 6 Grapes, 7 Inject, 8 Roamed, 9 Factor, 10 Jumped, 11 Rogues, 12 Tilted,13 Parted, 14 Bolted, 15 Salted, 16 Ghosts,17 Stiles, 18 Horses, 19 Nearby


Unscramble the name of a famous alternative rock band (threewords): PRINCES MASTER TEACHER

Unscramble the name of a ‘challenging recreational outdooractivity’ (three words): WIN WITH GREATER FAT

OPINION & COMMENTEWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com34

EBEKAH WALSH, on holiday inBenalmadena (Malaga) fromCardiff, said she wouldn’t favour

any time zone change. “Everybody lovesSpain for its laid-back style. I think makingwork hours like the rest of Europe wouldjust make it like the rest of Europe! Whywould it want to do that? I like the mid-day siesta. I know it’s a pain whenstores close for a few hours, butthey also stay open later, which hasits convenient aspects.”

Ray Weller from Albox(Almeria) thought the countryshould keep the Spanish way oflife. The 68-year-old retiree said,: “Ithink the shop hours arebetter now, with shopsopen in the evening andclosed on Sundays.” Rayadded, “I don’t think itwould make anydifference to

productivity by changing to GMT since it’stoo hot for people to work in theafternoon in the summer months.”

Husband and wife Steven andPatricia O’Hare, on holiday on

the Costa Blanca fromBelfast, said they don’tbelieve there is muchdifference in the onehour between GMTand European time

work-wise. “I don’t thinkproductivity

would be affected really, working hoursare working hours whether it is light ordark outside,” stated Patricia.

Brenda Howser, who is retired andliving in La Marina (Alicante), agreed with

her Costa Blanca neighbours. “I can’treally see what difference that hourwould make, to be honest. I wouldn’tbe worried either way if it changed to

GMT or stayed the same.”Eric Nickel lives in Mijas Costa

(Malaga) and he actually had quite a bitto say. The 37-year-old water

engineer was appalled to thinkthat the country would switchto GMT for productivitypurposes. He said: “If we’retalking workplace advan-tages, Spain does mosttrade with the rest of the

continent anyway, not with the ones onGMT. It makes sense for them to stay onthe working hours zone as France,Germany, Holland, the rest of Europe.” Healso mentioned a time change wouldn’tchange the Spanish work culture anyway.

“People are used to it. Late going in,late coming out; it’s part of the culture.Besides, a one-hour time difference givesthe whole country less light in thesummer hours, which would actually do alot to negatively affect tourism. So it mightactually backfire.”

STREET TALK

Don’t lose the siesta...

R

BEING on the ‘wrong clock’makes people in Spain eat, leavework and go to bed later thanthe rest of Europe.

With summer time coming

soon (March 30), our questionwas: Will changing Spain’s timezone to be on the more ‘natural’GMT make a difference inincreasing productivity as some

Spanish MPs have suggested?Or should Spain keep the

siesta lifestyle (work-rest-work)and the extra hour of summerevening daylight?

RAY WELLER:Keep the Spanishway of life.

ERIC NICKEL: Switchingmight actually backfire.

BRENDA HOWSER: Doesn’tthink there is much difference.

STEVEN & PATRICIA O’HARE:“Working hours are working hours.”

FEATURE 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 35EWN

EURAnother useful week for the euro kept it

steady against the US dollar and took it acent higher against sterling, whichinvestors viewed with steadily lessaffection. A string of low-key Eurolandeconomic indicators played no part:investors were more interested by theEuropean Central Bank’s decision lastweek to hold back from bond-buying orrate-cutting.

USDStronger than expected US employ-

ment figures were vaguely helpful tothe dollar but investors were left withthe nagging feeling that they ought to

have been even better. They werehappy to send the dollar a cent and ahalf higher against sterling but they leftit unchanged against the euro. In thecoming week the focus will be on theFederal Reserve and whether it decidesto continue the wind-down of money-printing stimulus.

CADThe Canadian dollar’s brief spurt of

luck was exhausted, leaving it steadyagainst sterling and down by threequarters of a US cent. The Loonie’s mainproblem was weak Canadian employ-ment data, including the unexpected lossof 7,000 jobs in February. They were

doubly disappointing because theirannouncement coincided with equivalentfigures from the States, which showedstronger than expected jobs growth.

AUDThe Aussie had only a slightly more

difficult week than sterling, which hasfallen from investors’ favour in the lastcouple of weeks. It was quarter of acent lower against the pound and down

by nearly one US cent.The Australian dollar faded

despite much stronger than expectedAustralian employment data whichshowed 47,000 more people in workand a significant swing from part-timeto full-time employment.

NZDYet another good week for the NZ

dollar took it half a cent higher againstthe US dollar and two and a half centshigher against sterling. A decentincrease in manufacturing sales and a2.1 per cent annual rise for houseprices helped, but it was the ReserveBank of New Zealand’s monetary policydecision that did most of the work.The RBNZ raised its benchmark interestrate to 2.75 per cent and said furtherincreases were in the pipeline.

Another useful weekfor the euro

She can be contacted onTel: +34 902 887 243

Mobile: +34 687 932 472Email:[email protected]

[email protected]

ClarisseMusselwhite

Advertising Feature

Commentary by Moneycorp is Moneycorp’s Account Manager for Mallorca

EVERY year between aquarter and a third of allfood production is wasted.

All over the worldcountries are trying toimplement formulas tostop this wastage, such as:

1. Steam Fridges - inunderdeveloped countriesa lot of food wastes due tolack of electricity and thesefridges use vapour fromthe food to maintain it.

2. Rigid Packaging - a

simple cardboard boxcould save untold amountsof fresh produce.

3. Metal Silos - thesewould provide a morestable environment for theproduce keeping it fresher.

4. Hermetically sealedplastic bags - to keep outplagues of insects ongrowing food in the fields.

5. Infrastructure - betterroads and electricity lineswould mean less wastage

in transport and storage.6. Reduce offers - the

consumer often buysmore when things are‘get the third one free.’

7. Allow donations -some countries stoprestaurants fromdonating food to theneedy.

8. Avoid compulsivebuying.

9. Recycle food left overand use it in another meal.

FOOD & DRINKEWN 20 - 26 March 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

FOOD trucks, havenever really taken off

in Spain with their waiterswho are also chefs, fastfood and nowhere to sitdown. None of these fit inwith the Spanish culture.

Tapas bars are Spain’sstreet food. Street food ismore equated with ahamburger or hotdogwhereas a tapa is a miniform of restaurant qualityfood.

Francis Paniego, headchef of Echaurren inLogroño, said: “In Londonor other large Europeancities they like to eat whilewalking in the street, butin Spain the culture ismore of sitting around atable and taking our time.”Hence, the tapa.

Value food: Don’t throw it away...

THE image of the fast foodrestaurant has never been veryassociated with healthyoptions, but one fast foodgiant is offering 30 per centlighter chips.

That raises the question: areconsumers really looking forlight food on these menus?

Many people actually wantthe grease factor when goingto these restaurants - thinkDavid Hasselhoff drunkenlydevouring that hamburger orthe legions of consumers whobelieve that greasy food isgood for a hangover.

All of this comes aboutbecause Burger King has

brought out ‘satisfries’ with 30per cent less fat, which begsthe question does it make

sense to offer a consumer whowants grease, less grease?People who want to eat

healthily rarely enter fast foodestablishments, whereas manyof the customers of theserestaurants are actuallylooking for a greasy meal.

According to medical studieshumans are geneticallyprogrammed to enjoy greaseand sugar, the very twocomponents that make fastfood so desirable to themasses.

It remains to be seenwhether the fast food giantscan capture a corner of thehealthy market alongside themajority who just want a quickfix in the form of grease andsugar.

Does low calorie fast food makesense if you want a ‘quick fix’?

LIGHTER CHIPS: But are consumers really looking for light food?

MADRID FUSION 2014 will showcasethe tastiest and most desirabledishes found in Spain

Estanislao Carenzo, head chef atSudestada, comments: “In Asia theyare concentrating on extravagantluxury while here we are interestedin going back to the old, moresimplistic ways.” Angel León, head

chef at Aponiente in Cádiz, is tryingto bring back ‘humble’ fish with‘modern’ sauces.

These are teamed up with‘modern’ sauces based on algae andplankton.

This passion for local produce isreflected in the rise of urban farmswhich provides food for large

restaurants in their own cities. Future gastronomy is linked to the

past and despite all the innovationthat has been infused into Spanishkitchens in the last few years, thereis a tendency to return to basics andlocal food.

Many of the dishes on show,reflect this burgeoning trend.

What’s cooking in 2014? Local, simple food..

Foodtrucks ortapas?

WHY WASTEFOOD: 9 stepsto stop waste.

LAST Saturday night over 200 guestsdescended on Restaurant Aroma in El Torofor the first heat of Mallorca’s Got Talentannual competition.

The competition, sponsored by LMEngineering, will be held every Saturday upto and including April 19, with the finalbeing staged at Pirates Theatre onSaturday, April 26 in conjunction with RadioOne Mallorca and Globo Events Mallorca.

Every Saturday the guests in RestaurantAroma vote for the two artists they believeare the best on the night.

These two artists then go through to theGrand Final.

Last Saturday there were five verydifferent style vocalists who entered thecompetition: Albie Davies, an 11-year-oldwith a big voice; Tom Hughes, who sangthe blues and a composition of his own;Santiago, who had never sung in publicbefore; Jake Iglesias (aka Arthur); and atalented local resident called Tony Insul.

The host for the night was Paul Martinand with his special blend of upbeat music,he entertained the guests between eachperformance.

As the night progressed, it became clearthat there were three main front runners:Albie, Santiago and Arthur.

After the artists performed their secondsong the atmosphere was electric as the

votes were counted and verified. The two winners on the night who went

through to the Grand Final wereAlbie Davies and Santiago.

Arthur lost out by severalvotes but will be returningnext week to competeagain.

So Albie and Santiagoare confirmed asthe two winnersand if eitherwin thegrand finalhe will alsoreceive€1,000 incash and up totwo daysrecording timesponsored by one ofMallorca’s toprecording studios,Audio Vision Palma,and produced by thetalented owner WilliMeyer.

As the competition isrunning for the next fiveweeks, organisers are advising ALLtalent in Mallorca to compete.

To register, either fill in the registration

formon the Mallorca’s

Got Talent Facebook page, call into Aromain El Toro, or e [email protected] for an application

form.Entry fee is only €10 per person and is

open to all non-professionals, and not justsingers!

All sorts of performers including dancers,rock bands and other talent can apply.

GREAT TALENT: Fivevery different style

vocalists tookpart in the first heat

of the competitionlast Saturday at

Restaurant Aromain El Toro.

www.euroweeklynews.com 37EWNFOOD & DRINK 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca

Advertising Feature

Mallorca’s Got Talent

WITH the moving ofthe clock an hourforward for spring

we can enjoy longer sunnyafternoons.

For those who still enjoya gin and tonic, the

perpetual flowering andfruiting lemon trees provetheir worth.

If you have yet to plantone, the perpetual lemontree varieties are Lunar,Quatro Estaciones and

Eureka. If the trees saylemon, go elsewhere.

Citrus planting Citrus plants are in

season. Always ask what

the ripening and harvestingseasons are before buyingthem. I recently read that anew variety of orange hasbeen grown in Valenciawhich will ripen quicker andhave a higher content ofessential vitamins.

Give your citrus trees aspring spray againstunwanted leaf mineroinsects and sooty leaves.Use a joint Neem andPropolis spray with a foliarfeed added.

Fruit growing I’m doing a survey re

fruit trees. Each entry will

go in the hat for a copy of‘Growing healthy fruit inSpain’ plus a copy of ‘Our52 day retirement adven-ture along the SpanishPyrenees.’

Send an email [email protected] listing the numbersfrom the questionnaire ofthe problems that you havehad with citrus trees.

The winner will becontacted by email. Entrieswill close on Monday, March31, at 6pm.

Easy ordering It is now most

convenient to order booksonline via Amazon Books

A reminderFor pressing gardening

problems, contact DickHandscombe via [email protected].

© Dick Handscombewww.gardenspain.com

March 2014

Enjoy the longer days with sunny afternoonsDick Handscombe

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

GardeningCorner

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 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca38 HOMES & GARDENSwww.euroweeklynews.com

HALPHA Pools and Spas is theplace for anyone island-wide tocome when considering a pool,hot tub, spa, and much more.

In fact, you’ll find saunas andbarbecues at Alpha too.

You can also count on themfor installation, maintenance,and pool cleaning and repair.And they’re available allthroughout Mallorca!

David Campling runs AlphaPools and Spas and is proud tosell HotSpring Spas, one of thetop manufacturers in the world.

HotSpring Spas have soldover 1 million spas during their36 years in the business.

Made in the USA with up toseven years warranty, they offerfantastic value for the money.

David doesn’t want price to

stand in the way of customersgetting what they want fromAlpha.

He stated, “We always welove to haggle with customers

and come up with a specialoffer that meets theirrequirements.”

Before living in Mallorcawhere he has lived for eight

years, David was in the UK asa service engineer and salesspecialist in high-valuehardware and software alwaysfor companies with a highfocus on customer satis-faction.

With an approach thatprioritises customer service, itis no surprise that Alpha Poolsand Spas has many customerson the island, both new andold.

Villa owners who rent outtheir villas to holidaymakershave successfully purchasedfrom Alpha.

Naturally, a spa offersincreased rental revenue plusthe possibility of renting earlyand late in the season, even inthe winter.

And as only an estimated 5per cent of rental properties inMallorca have a hot tub, this isa sure way to set your villaapart from the crowd.

For more information, ringthem up, email, visit thewebsite, or just pop in theAlpha Pools and Spas shop fora chat and a coffee.

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20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 39EWNOPINION & COMMENT

H dear. Yet again, it seemsthat we shall have to reachfor the freeze-dried nutritioncapsules to subsist without

risking our lives.A study recently published in the

medical journal Cell Metabolism claimsthat eating a diet high in protein is asbad for you as smoking. So while youthought a lean piece of filletaccompanied by a light salad was justthe ticket for optimum nutrition, itseems you may as well have lit up afat cigar.

Now, it later emerges that thefindings were not quite as conclusiveas they first appeared, but it stillleaves us ordinary folk confused aboutwhat should safely make it on to ourplates. Sugar - or the white poison- is banned. Salt is slowly killingus, as the average Briton

apparently consumes some eightgrammes each day, while thelimit should be set at sixgrammes to avoid heartattacks and strokes,according to the WorldHealth Organisation.

Best not even get started onthe whole minefield of bread,pasta or wine, consumptionof which seems torank higher than saybungee jumping inthe health riskstakes. Frankly, Iam feeling alittle weakjust writingthiscrouched,over a

coffee and a croissant (to calm myfrayed nerves). The fact that I

grew up eating meat andbiscuits, drinking milk and laterwine makes me a walkingmiracle - surely I should be sixfeet under already?

Even opting for vegetablesand fruit doesn’t put you in

the safe zone. Recently alunch guest gave

me the third

degree about the origins of thestrawberries I was serving hischildren. Were they local? Organic?Feeling like a criminal, I googled thisdangerous murder weapon to discoverthat, indeed, strawberries have beenfound to contain 13 differentpesticides. Lettuce, apples andpotatoes were also among thesuspects, unless organic, while safestof the conventionally farmed offeringsincluded avocados, bananas and

broccoli. Organic food isn’t always anoption because of cost factorsor availability, and we don’tall have the space or time foran effective allotment in ourbackyard. So, ultimately theday of the freeze-dried

nutrition pack may soon beupon us after all. Either that or

hope that all those peskypreservatives in our diet actually turnout to ‘preserve’ our bodies, too.

Imagine the irony.

Are you having a killer lunch?Expat Strife

[email protected]

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

HEALTHY EATING: How healthyis what we put on our plates

these days?

OProtein or a cigarette for lunch... Any difference?

MALLORCA has been the backdrop andsetting for many television commercials andfeature films for many years. The latest isthe new British release ‘A Long Way Down’starring Pierce Brosnan and Sam Neill anddirected by French filmmaker, PascalChameill.

The story, based on a book by NickHornby, follows four people who all decideto commit suicide by jumping from the topof a London skyscraper on New Year’s Eve.Brosnan plays the part of disgraced TVpresenter Martin Sharp who is preventedfrom ending it all by the presence of single-mum Maureen (Toni Collette), then 18-year-old Jess (Imogen Poots) and finallyAmerican rock-god JJ (Aaron Paul) who allturn up and crash Martin’s private party.

Several scenes of the movie were filmedat Palmas Son Sant Joan airport and moreat Camp de Mar beach where the cast frolicin the sea and you will be able to recognisethe Hotel Playa and the chiringuito snackbar, La Illeta.

The year before Halle Berry and TomHanks landed on the island from Hollywoodto shoot the independent film ‘Cloud Atlas’

and memories are still fresh of ‘TheInbetweeners Movie’ and the Sky TV series‘Mad Dogs’ which were also shot on theisland over recent years.

Mallorca is a dream for film locationfinders, not just because of the climate butbecause it’s varied landscape can be‘cheated’ for anywhere in the world. Thelatest film releases follow a long history ofmovies made on the island.

The first foreign movie, ‘The Secret of theRing’ (‘El Secreto del Anillo’), was filmed onthe island back in 1913. A very young JoanCollins starred in ‘Our Girl Friday’ in 1953.

The action adventure ‘The SeventhVoyage of Sinbad’ was filmed on Mallorca in1957 and ‘Woman of Straw’ starring Gina

Lollobrigida and Sean Connery had Artà asa backdrop.

Agatha Christie’s ‘Evil Under the Sun’starring Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, BetteDavis and James Mason was filmed nearPollensa where Ustinov lived on his boat andmore recently Daniel Craig was here to film‘Sword of Honour’ in 2000.

At present more than one hundredcommercials are filmed in the Balearics eachyear and the number of both full-length andshort motion pictures being filmed on theislands is still increasing.

All this is great for the economy andtourism for the island. You never knowwhen you might bump into an A List actoralthough usually the press will have gotthere first! If you get a chance go andsee ‘A Long Way Down’ and havefun spotting the locations thatyou recognise on the island.

Laura Penn is a presenteron the Holiday & CruiseChannel 284 on SKY TV.

OTTA

VIA

DARE

/ SHU

TTER

STOC

K.CO

M

Dream island for film-makerswith its varied landscape

PIERCE BROSNAN: Starringin ‘A Long Way Down.’

Laura PennPenn to Paper

Laura is the Station Manager andBreakfast Show Presenter of Spectrum FM

Mallorca 88.6FM

[email protected].

P

EWN

ropertyTO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

EWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com40 PROPERTY

PROPERTY transactions completed in 2013 totalled300,349 which indicated a decrease of 17.4 per centcompared to 2012, according to the minister ofDevelopment.

It also indicated that between October and Decemberonly 93,438 properties were sold which is a decrease

for that time period of 30.6 per cent.The bright spot of the market was Marbella which

rose 23 per cent while Malaga fell 3.6 per cent, which,nationally, was among the most moderate ofdecreases.

By province, the largest growth was seen in SantaCruz de Tenerife with 2.4per cent and Las Palmaswhich grew 0.6 per cent.The rest of the provinceswere all negative varyingbetween a moderate fallof 1.5 per cent in Alicanteand a steep drop of 39.8per cent in Toledo.

By municipalities themost number of sales wasshown in Madrid (8,451sales) and Barcelona(2,946 sales).

New properties repre-sented 18.355 of thesetransactions, 19.6 percent of the total, and75,083 of the transactionswere for second handproperties.

WITH strong signs that the marketmay be about to reach rock bottom,Spain’s prime residential propertymarket is still being driven byinternational buyers attracted bythe country’s low prices, investmentopportunities and lifestyle.

The official House Price Index,published by the National Instituteof Statistics which collates its datafrom notary’s offices nationally, fellby 7.8 per cent in 2013, whichshows a decrease for the sixthstraight year in a row, although thedecrease is less than in 2012, whenit fell by 12.8 per cent.

It is estimated that the averageprice has fallen by as much as 30per cent to 40 per cent since thepeak of the market in 2007.

According to a report from LucasFox, international buyers are drivingthe residential sales with many newowners hailing from the Far Eastand Russia impulsed by the so

called ‘golden visa’ scheme whichallows automatic residency to allnon-European Union citizens whoinvest €500,000 or more in Spanishproperty.

There has been an increaseddemand for high-end, top qualityreal estate properties from

Northern European countries suchas the UK, France and Switzerlandwith some strong interest comingfrom Russia, China and the MiddleEast.

The most interest is being shownin Marbella and Ibiza and the leastin the Toledo area.

Spanish market buoyedby foreign sun seekers

SPANISH MARKET: Reduced prices attract foreign property buyers to Spain.

Marbella market up 23 per cent

IN the last few years thefluctuation of the Spanishproperty market hasattracted a lot more foreignbuyers and investors.Among the many non-nationals who are nowentering the market are theChinese who, apparentlyrequire special treatment.

They are considered sucha niche market that realestate giant Lucas Fox has

created a special depart-ment just to deal with theAsian market.

Among the guidelines setout for this market are thatagents should, above all,be extremely patient, bearin mind certain peculiaritiessuch as handing them abusiness card with bothhands, being prepared tobarter, preparing theirproperties so that they are

Feng Shui friendly and evenbeing prepared to pickthem up from their hotelsto take them to dinner -and pay!

Agents are also remindedthe Asians are very cordialand don’t like to say ‘no’ toanything; so if they areasked if they like somethingand they don’t answer orjust change the subject -then that answer was a ‘no.’

How to sell property to theChinese: Oriental customs

THE Royal Nautical Club of Palma de Mallorca(RCNP) has begun the countdown to thecelebration of the 45th SAR Princess SofiaTrophy for Cruisers and Racing Monotypes.The race will take place in the bay of Las

Palmas on March 22 and 23.The competition, open to ORC class

cruisers and J80, Flying Fifteen and Dragonmonotypes, will consist of three technicalregattas and one coastal test.

So far 47 boats have signed up: 29 ORCs,nine J80s, six FFs and three Dragons.

RCNP organises this race, as well as anotherrace of the same name which is for lightsailboats, along with the nautical clubs of

S’Arenal and Can Pastilla. This second race, with

nearly 1,000 boats signedup for it, is consideredone of the five mostimportant of the world inOlympic Class. It will takeplace between March 29April 5.

EWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com42 PETS/BOATING

LAST week’s article on cats got a good response fromreaders, so here are some more cat facts...

Why do cats bring home dead prey?A cat is a predator. Cats who fill up at home with food

will still potentially hunt; appetite only really affects thelevel of enthusiasm in theirendeavours. Bringing the preyback home to you indicates thatyour cat feels secure there andit’s a safe place to leave food toeat now or keep for later. Asyour cat gets older it willprobably hunt less.

Why do cats play withtheir prey?

It’s been suggested that catsplay more with ‘dangerous’ preylike rats to practise manipulationand handling while avoidingbeing bitten.

Or it may be that the cathasn’t learned how to kill itproperly and so can’t quite reachthat final stage quickly andcleanly. Movement is thennecessary in order to maintain the cat’s interest in killingthe prey, and throwing it around causes movement.

Of course, it could be that cats simply enjoy thehunting game.What does it mean when a cat’s tail goes bushy?

A cat has the capacity to fluff up his tail and the fur

along his back to stand erect at a rightangle to the skin, referred to as pilo-erection. This gives the cat a muchlarger silhouette and is used, togetherwith an arched back and a sidewaysstance, to signal defensive aggression toother cats. Some cats that experience asudden fright will instinctively puff uptheir tail before investigating theperceived danger a little further.

Why do cats chatter their teeth?Teeth-chattering is usually heard

when there’s a bird outside the windowwhich a cat is watching but can’t get to. It may then runup to the window or sit and make this strange tooth-chattering noise, which may be frustration or excitementor both.

For your local radio frequency log ontowww.talkradioeurope.com

More on our feline friendsLittle predators.

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

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THE Expats Club Mallorca isholding a networkingcocktail party tomorrow(Friday).

Global Clubs Inter-national was started in2013 by Peter Redrin.Firstly with the opening ofthe Scandic Club and laterthe Expats Club Inter-national, Auswanderer Cluband Yacht Crew Club.

The company slogan is‘connecting interestingpeople’ and that is exactlywhat they do.

Expats Club is aninternational organisationfor English speaking peoplewho moved abroad, whowant to get to know newpeople where they now liveand to network for social orbusiness purposes. Being amember of Expats Club isfree of charge.

Tomorrow they arehosting a networking partyat the Nassau Beach Clubin Portixol.

Liam Live will beperforming an early set at7pm, with doors open from6.30pm onwards.

Come early forregistration, a speech fromhost Donna Suarez aboutthe club at 8pm, with morelive entertainment later andnetworking all night long.

You can visit the websitewww.expatsclubinternational.com and also downloadthe Expats Club app. Viewand join the events at theFacebook page of ‘ExpatsClub Mallorca.’

For information contactJoanne Calf on 691 469605 or [email protected]

Networkingcocktailparty forexpats...

THE Airlan Aermec boatsskippered by Juan Cabrer(ORC 0-1); Miguel AngelMercadal (ORC -2)andAntoni Piza (ORC -3) wereproclaimed winners of theCarnaval Trophy organisedby the Royal Nautical Clubof Palma (RNCP).

A total of 20 boats tookpart in the 17 mile race forgroups zero, one and two,and 15 miles for groupthree.

The competition tookplace in south westerlywinds which, at somepoints, were blowing atover 30 knots strong.

Upon finishing the racethe prize giving ceremonytook place at the RNCP.

Carnavalwinners

SPAIN has won two goldmedals, in two different groups,in the Arenal Training CampsTrophy (ATCT).

This success in this trophy,organised by the Club NauticS’Arenal (CNA), augurs well forthe Princess Sofia Trophy whichwill be held in the bay of Palma.

The CNA regatta attracted atotal of 450 participants - mostof which are using the Palmabay for winter training andpractice for the Princess SofiaTrophy. This high participationdemonstrates that all is readyfor the penultimate stage of theISAF Sailing World Cup: theOlympic Sailing World Cup.

The Nacra, an OlympicCatamaran, crewed by IkerMartinez and Tara Pacheco, wonthe ATCT after three days ofnear perfect competition.

The duo, composed of thedouble Olympic medallist of49ers (Martinez) and the World

Champion of 470 (Pacheco), gotto the top of the podium thevery first day and managed to

remain on top through the sixpartials.

They beat out the favourites,the French Billy Besson andMarie Riou, by six points.

Spain also had a victory inLaser Standard with JesusRogel, from Alicante, who beat35 other boats to get to thepodium.

In the 470 class two youngCatalans, Jordi Xammar andJoan Herp, finished fifth - twoplaces in front of Canariesnatives Onan Barreiros and JuanCurbelo.

British Ben Cornish was thewinner in the Finn class in whichthere were no Spanishparticipants.

The race was characterised bylight to medium winds ofbetween six and eight knots,very variable in direction.

Two gold medals for Spain

BOAT RACE: Enjoyed light to medium winds.

Countdown to 45th Princess Sofia Trophy

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SITUATIONS VACANT

PAIN isgoing to behome for aFerrari

theme park. The sports carmanufacturer is lending theglamour of its name to thepark which will be built byInvestindustrial nearBarcelona.

It will be based within thePortAdventura theme park.

The move means therewill now be two themeparks in the world bearingthe name of the Italianbrand. The first FerrariWorld, opened inAbu Dhabi in2010. This parkfeaturesattractions like the‘V12 love flume’and the FormulaRossa roller-coaster thataccelerates to140mph in less thanfive seconds.

The Barcelona park,due to open in 2016, willinclude a Ferrari-themedhotel featuring a drivingsimulator and having 250five-star rooms.

FerrariLand will

cover 75,000square metres

and include a variety ofnew and excitingattractions for Prancing

Horse enthusiasts of allages, including Europe’shighest and fastest verticalaccelerator. It will be,promise the investors, anopportunity for the wholefamily to experience anddiscover the world ofFerrari.

The project will involvean overall investment of€100 million.

Andrea C Bonomi, SeniorPartner Invest-industrial,explained the motivationbehind the partnership withFerrari thus: “PortAventurais one of the leaders inEurope’s tourism sector,while Ferrari is an iconiccompany that representsthe very best of Made inItaly. The synergy betweenthese two groups creates a

powerfulcombination that

means we can offerclients of both brands, aunique experience. We areproud to be able to makethis contribution tofostering the growth of theFerrari brand and Made inItaly across the world.

Andrea Perrone, CEO ofFerrari Brand, the Ferrarisubsidiary company thatmanages the PrancingHorse’s brand-relatedactivities, added: “After thesuccess of Ferrari World inAbu Dhabi, we receivedmany, many requests todevelop new amusement

parks. “We carefully sifted

through the variousproposals and

decided to acceptInvestindustrial’s

because it is a very solidplan developed bycompetent people that willbring the magic of Ferrari toSpain, a nation where wehave many supporters andenthusiasts, and to whichlarge numbers of touristsflock each year, in part,thanks to PortAventura.This new licence furtherunder-scores our brand’spresence in this area.Ferrari Land will delight thewhole family and not justFormula 1 fans.

“We will continue toevaluate other proposalsfor theme parks outsideEurope at our leisure: thebrand is our mostimportant asset and wehave to enhance its valuewithout diluting it.”

Revving up for Ferrari LandNEW THEME PARK:

PortAventura team-up with Ferrari: A lucrative venture forall parties involved. Barcelona caters to fast car and theme

park enthusiasts...

EX-FOOTBALLER DavidBeckham is the newambassador for Jaguar

in China and will be thenew face of all theiradvertising campaigns.

Beckham is wellknown for his love ofcars and has, at onetime, had in his garageanything ranging from aLamborghini Gallardo toa convertible Rolls RoycePhantom.

In his first speech asambassador for Jaguarhe said he had alwaysbeen a fan of the brand,

not only for their styleand design but also fortheir character. He alsocommented that his loveaffair began with theJaguar E-Type.

In a change from hisRange Rover Sport,Cristiano Ronaldo hasbeen seen driving aCadillac Escalade.

Ronaldo is followingthe trend that isinundating Spain todrive luxury SUVs. The

Escalade, with its lowprofile rims, is in thepurest style of NorthAmerican luxury cars.

Ronaldo has visitedthe USA many times andnow seems to havefallen for their mostdesired car. As well asits huge size, theEscalade has been kittedout with the mostAmerican ofaccessories: massivechrome rims.

Famous faces for famous grills

TO READ MORE VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM

SPONSORED BYotoring For best rates in motorinsurance call: 952 89 33 80M

EWN 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com46 MOTORING

SPORT 20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorcawww.euroweeklynews.com 47EWN

From Back PageSLC final and Real Madrid, 1-0

winners at Malaga courtesy ofRonaldo’s 25th League goal of theseason, still La Liga, ahead ofAtletico Madrid and Barcelona.

* In the Sochi WinterParalympics, GB won six medalswith Jade Etherington assisted byCaroline Powell, claiming four(three silver and one bronze).Kirsty Gallagher and guideCharlotte Evans won GB’s first-ever gold while the curling teamtook bronze. This was GB’s bestmedal haul since collecting 10 in1984.

* Following Champions Leagueexits of Arsenal and ManchesterCity, it left Chelsea (1-1 withGalatasaray) and Manchester

United (2-0 down to Olympiakos)flying the British flag at the startof this week. MeanwhileTottenham, trailing 3-1, have it allto do in Portugal tonight againstBenfica in the second leg of theirlast 16 Europa League tie.

This weekend in the PL, it’sChelsea-Arsenal, Cardiff-Liverpooland Manchester City-Fulhamfollowed next Tuesday by theManchester derby. And on

Sunday Real Madrid playBarcelona in La Liga. Big games.

* In cricket, England (165-6)beat the West Indies (160-7) intheir last 20/20 game inBarbados. Sussex all-rounderChris Jordan hit four sixes in thelast over, took 3-39 and held abrilliant catch. The 20/20 WorldCup has started in Bangladesh.England play New Zealand onSaturday while Aussie bowler

Mitchell Johnson is out injured.

SHORTS• 235,125 spectators attended

the recent Cheltenham Festival - arecord 67,814 on Gold Cup day.

• WBA have sacked Nicolas

Anelka for gross misconduct.• A record 80,000 Wembley

crowd will watch the re-matchbetween boxers Carl Froch and

George Groves in May. • Novak Djokovic beat

Roger Federer in theIndian Wells tennis final.Flavia Pennetta (Italy)defeated AgnieszkaRadwanska (Poland) inthe women’s event.

• Mo Farah camesecond in last week’s New Yorkhalf-marathon.

• GB golfer Charley Hull (17)won the women’s LM Cup inMorocco.

• Asked to donate a shirt andboots to raise money so that ayoung boy could brain operation,Cristiano Ronaldo did just thatand also paid €50,000 for theoperation itself. Absolutely great.

• Exeter Chiefs beatNorthampton Saints 15-8 inRugby’s Anglo-Welsh Cup final.

• Shaun Murphy won snooker’sHaikou World Cup in China.

• Castleford made it five winsout of five with a 19-16 victoryover Hull in Rugby’s Super League.

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

THE prolific Argentine forward Lionel Messi has erased Paulino Alcantara’sname from the record books when his hat-trick in a 7-0 La Liga win overOsasuna last weekend, made him Barcelona’s record scorer of all-time.

Messi’s goal-tally now stands at 371 goals in 452 appearances -Philippino-born Alcantara netted 369 times in 357 games for the Nou campclub between 1912 and 1927.

The 26-year-old Messi has been in sublime form in 2013-14, netting 18 times in21 La Liga encounters and the prolific attacker’s next objective is to become thetop marksman in the history of the Champions League.

That honour is currently in the possession of Real Madrid icon RaulGonzalez, who has scored 71 goals against Messi’s 67.

England beat West Indies in BarbadosMessi sets new Barcascoring record

LIONELMESSI: Beenin sublimeform.

Nico Rosberg won the first F1Grand Prix of 2014, finishing 24

seconds in front of home favouriteDaniel Ricciardo who was subsequently

disqualified because of a filling-up irregularity.

Danish debutant KevinMagnussen, initially third,

was promoted tosecond - the first

rookie since LewisHamilton in 2007

to claim apodium finish.Jenson Buttonwas third.

THERE was some greatsporting action last week!

* Brian O’Driscoll’s last-ever game for Irelandended in glory as they beatFrance 22-20 to pipEngland, 53-6 winners inItaly, on points to win theSix Nations title.

In the other game, Walesbattered Scotland 52-11.

Victory was only Ireland’s

second in Paris - their lastcame in 2000.

* In football, Aston Villashocked PL leaders Chelsea1-0. The Londoners hadmanager Mourinho andplayers William andRamerez (with a legbreaking tackle) all sent-off.

This result was great forLiverpool who are only fourpoints behind the Blues

after winning 3-0 atManchester United whohad Nemanja Vidic red-carded again. NeighboursCity (2-0 winners at Hull)are six points adrift ofChelsea with three gamesin hand, while Arsenal witha superb Rosicky goal, beatSpurs 1-0 in the Londonderby to keep well in touch.

At the bottom of theDivision, Fulham (1-0 v.Newcastle) and WBA (2-1at Swansea) recorded vitalvictories while Sunderlandand Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at The Stadium of Light.

* In the Champion-ship, Leicester (80 pts) andBurnley (73) look set to

return to the PL afterbeating Blackpool (3-1) andLeeds (2-1). Derby andQPR are 3rd and 4th on 63pts. Wolves, unbeaten in 10and having set a clubrecord nine wins on thebounce, lead Brentford(77-76) in FL1;Chesterfield are top ofFL2 ahead ofScunthorpe (66-65)and Rangers havealready won SFL1.

* Aberdeen wontheir first trophy in19 years bybeating InvernessCaledonian Thistleon penalties in the

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SPORTEWN 20 -26 March 2014 / Mallorca www.euroweeklynews.com48

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Irish eyes are smiling, Chelsea andUnited get the blues, Nico wins F1

Barcelona’s record scorerof all-time.

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LIONEL MESSI

1st 2014 winner

Nico Rosberg

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Euro Weekly News - Mallorca 20 - 26 March 2014 Issue 1498