Date Published: 11/06/2022

Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Jun 11

CLICK HERE FOR THE FEATURE ARTICLES "Heatwave drives temps in Spain over 40ºC/104ºF this weekend" and "UK man arrested for defrauding other Brits over TIE and residencia applications"

As people all across Spain crack out the sunscreen for that first official, and earliest to date, heatwave of the year, the improving weather has signalled a renewed demand for holidays in the sun, and the country is expecting to recover 94% of its pre-pandemic passenger traffic this summer, with the airlines scheduling more than 32 million seats to Spain between June and August alone.

The 40ºC+ temperatures are too much for some people, but many expats are relishing the early June heat and feeling vindicated in their decision to move to live in Spain. It’s not all sunshine and flowers living in Spain, though, especially after Brexit.

The Brexit situation caused a flood of interest from Brits in getting their residency cards formalised in Spain, as well as other paperwork and official procedures, so much so that it slowed down the Spanish bureaucratic system (even further, if possible!) and people were left looking for ways to speed up the process and legalise their situation in Spain.

Enter one Brexit entrepreneur, a UK citizen who promised to streamline applications in exchange for a few hundred euros, and then pocketed the money without ever doing the work. An investigation has revealed possibly hundreds of Brits who fell victim to this scam, and are still left in limbo with no compensation. More details within…

Residency and TIE nightmare in Spain

Police in Molina de Segura, Murcia, have arrested a 33-year-old British man for scamming other Brits into paying for TIE, driving licence and other services in Spain that he never carried out.

While police have initially identified 25 victims who paid the scammer almost 8,000 euros for paperwork that never materialised, there are a total of 493 cases which have been identified that could be linked to the same case, and possibly more, running to over 1,000. It’s possible that his ill-gotten gains could run into the hundreds of thousands, based on the number of customers/victims he claimed to have “helped” over the years.

We put a call out for information on anyone who may have been affected by this con artist, who for legal reasons cannot be named, and dozens of readers have come back to us with horror stories of their dealings with this man, having been swindled out of several hundred euros each for paperwork as varied as applying for residency permits, exchanging British driving licences for Spanish licences, putting Spanish plates on a British car and sorting out health insurance, to name a few.

The man lived in Fortuna and worked out of an office in Molina, but also had connections with a consultancy in Pinoso over in Alicante province, which, despite his now being taken into custody, is still open for business.

After Brexit, Spanish authorities were unable to cope with the sudden increase in demand for residency permits by Brits, and the man took advantage of the situation, telling people he could bypass the red tape and speed up the application process, instead of making people wait up to 18 months to do things the legal way.

Many of his victims, who never received their TIE or residency documents, are still waiting to get compensation. But it’s not just the money, of course. As a result of not having Spanish residency, most of these people are now time-barred from driving legally and even living legally in Spain.

A trial is pending.

Double travel trouble

Spain’s two biggest tourist markets, the UK and Germany, have experienced a remarkably recovery already in 2022, but this could all change if the chaos and panic at airports both at home and abroad aren’t dealt with soon.

It’s old news at this stage that airports in the UK have been plagued with cancellations and massive delays resulting in thousands of passengers being grounded on a daily basis, but the situation is going from bad to worse as carriers struggle to fill cabin crew positions and hard-pressed governments seemingly turn a blind eye to the shortage of security personnel which is making passport control an unbearable chore.

In Spain, the powers that be have agreed to hire an additional 500 police officers to man the security desks, while in the same breath insisting that there is no airport crisis and that passenger numbers are still below 2019 levels. To add insult to injury, the Spanish government claims that UK passengers are actually being fast-tracked through passport control at a greater rate than other non-EU citizens, a fact which the 5,000 people who miss flights each month, according to Turespaña, might refute.

Earlier this week, hundreds of UK and US passengers missed their flights at Madrid’s Barajas airport as a result of passport control queues that ran 100 deep, and as thousands of Brits flocked to sunny Spain over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend, many were left seething in security check lines once they arrived.

One disgruntled UK passenger reported waiting for four hours when she touched down in Spain to have her passport and documentation checked, while EU holidaymakers “sailed through” in a matter of minutes. Scenes of chaos reigned last weekend in Malaga, Alicante and Mallorca as thousands of tourists descended at the same time.

Other UK holidaymakers found themselves in hellish queues at Alicante-Elche Airport this week due to critical staff shortages at passport control, and the National Police union JUPOL has forecast “further chaos this summer” with only a third of the 47 reinforcement posts offered to handle the influx of British and other international tourists in Alicante currently filled.

As a solution to this problem, the Association of Airlines (ALA) proposes, in addition to an increase in the number of police officers, that at times when the airport is expected to be busiest, passengers should, on an “exceptional” basis, be allowed to pass through automatic machines that are meant for EU travellers instead of going through the manual checkpoint.

Currently, as a result of Brexit, non-EU passengers have to travel through the queue labelled “all passengers” rather than the often shorter and quicker line marked for “EU citizens,” and wait for their passport to be stamped by a security officer. This is due to change somewhat later this year with the introduction of the European Union Entry and Exit System (EES), which will allow third country passports to be scanned rather stamped, but is cold comfort for those planning to travel this coming summer.

There has been little respite even once travellers run the passport control gauntlet and manage to make it to arrivals, as people from all over have been complaining that they can’t get an airport taxi for love nor money. Incredible scenes flooded social media this week of hundreds of people waiting at the airport in Palma de Mallorca at the public transport exit, with one passenger standing curb-side for three hours before he could get a cab.

Earlier this year, authorities in the tourist hotspot of the Costa Blanca in Alicante announced that the area would be getting 15 new taxis ahead of the summer season, but local governments are increasingly coming under pressure to issue more licences, even if it’s just for the busier high season.

Camposol Today

Time for a bit of shameless plugging, but it’s something we’re very proud of. This week, Murcia Today has launched a new website called Camposol Today, specifically for residents of the urbanisation that is the largest English-speaking expat area in Murcia.

Camposol Today is designed as a place for expats living on the urbanisation to get news and info on what’s happening in one easy-to-read package. Of course, after so many years faithfully supplying news about Murcia that directly affects the expat community, we already had this information floating around on Murcia Today and Mazarrón Today, but we just wanted to pull it all together into a product made especially for Camposol readers.

It’s also important for us, as part of the expat community, to do our bit to try and help the community. The Covid years have been hard on local businesses, and the ones that have managed to stay open have unfortunately had to scale back and weather the storm as best they could. Us included. But now that the pandemic is starting to be treated more as an endemic disease and all signs point to the worst being behind us, customers are spending more and companies are beginning to get back on their feet again.

We want Camposol Today to be part of this recovery, providing a space for local trusted traders and services to promote their businesses and get some visibility and get back in the saddle. So if you’ve got a business on Camposol or in the surrounding area and want to feature on Camposol Today, or know someone who would, send us a message (or get them to send us a message) at editor@camposoltoday.com.

We’re also keen to hear from charities and social groups on Camposol, as we would love to help promote any events that you may be holding and get the word out there to the Camposol community.

This is a very exciting new project for us, so please check out campsoltoday.com if you live on the urbanisation to see what all the fuss is about.

Murcia

The Indian owner of the new hotel Ramada Resort by Wyndham Puerto de Mazarrón, Chander Gidwani, has described how he fell in love with both Mazarrón and the Murcia Region, and is already looking to buy more hotels in the area.

After the inauguration of the Ramada Resort, which used to be known as La Cumbre hotel, Gidwani said, “I was looking for a hotel to buy in Spain, and I went to many places. However, the day I arrived in Mazarrón and discovered the views I fell in love with it and thought ‘I want to buy it’.”

He has now stated that he would like to increase his investment in the tourist industry in Murcia with new hotel acquisitions, although it’s not clear yet if this will be in Mazarrón or elsewhere. What is certain is that the coming summer season is “going very well this year” and that they have already had a significant number of bookings.

Another rumoured construction in Mazarrón is a new private hospital being prepared for building on Camposol Sector A. The land adjacent to the pharmacy and health centre is being cleared ready for work to begin, although as yet there has been no official statement about what is to be built there. What we do know is that the land was bought from Mazarrón Town Council in an auction in late 2020 for 78,500 euros, by the registered company Camposol Health Clinic SL. An official presentation and statement are expected in the coming weeks.

Sadly, there were two drownings on Murcia beaches this week – one of a 64-year-old man in Mazarrón on Tuesday, just in front of the Bahía Chica hotel, and the other of a 70-year-old on the beach of La Puntica in San Pedro del Pinatar on Sunday. Both people died at the scene, with paramedics unable to resuscitate them. Please be careful in the water this summer, make sure conditions are right for swimming and that there are green flags and lifeguards on duty, and that you in good condition to go for a swim. We don’t want any more tragedies on Murcia beaches this year!

Check out our EVENTS DIARY to see everything going on in Murcia:

Spain

Tragedy struck in the waters off the Balearic Islands earlier this week when a tourist plunged into the Mediterranean Sea from a cruise ship heading for Malaga. At around 2am, a woman fell overboard from the Azamara Quest luxury liner when it was around 75 nautical miles off the coast of Mallorca, just hours after the guests and crew had set off on an eight-day, all-adult cruise.

The Spanish sea rescue service was called in to help look for the woman but sadly, the search was called off shortly after 5pm the following afternoon.

In another tragic turn, a 6-year-old British boy died in a Spanish hospital earlier this week days after his parents found him floating face-down at a four-star hotel in the resort of Sa Coma in Mallorca. Corey Aughey from north Belfast spent three days in intensive care after being rushed to Son Espases Hospital in Palma on Thursday June 2, just a day into the family holiday.

In other news, the European Commission has finally approved the so-called ‘Iberian exception’, which will cap the price of natural gas and drastically reduce the cost of electricity bills in Spain. Set to be rolled out next Thursday and remaining in place until May next year, the Spanish government expects the measure to result in energy savings of between 15% and 20%, or between 25 and 30 euros on monthly electricity bills.

A major fly in the ointment has come from relations souring between Spain and Algeria, with the latter suspending its treaty of friendship and all trade agreements. Although the Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, insists that the gas supply won’t be compromised and that the government is preparing a “calm but firm response” to the delicate situation, the fact remains that Spain imports 40% of its gas from Algeria. If this were to be cut off, it would present some very serious problems, and it’s no secret that Algeria is currently in talks with other European countries like Italy to supply to them.

Rising bills obviously aren’t a concern for everyone, and one Valladolid man certainly wasn’t feeling the pinch when he was spotted by neighbours stuffing handfuls of 50 euro notes into the recycling bin. On searching the container, officers found a total of 46,645 euros, mostly in 50s, 20s and 10s. Locals later told the police that the man apparently suffers from ongoing psychiatric problems.

Alicante

One of the Costa Blanca’s biggest draws is arguably its beaches, one of which was the scene of a wild boar attack which left a 67-year-old woman needing treatment for a bite wound. Whilst wild boar sightings have become commonplace recently, the startled and possibly disoriented boar caused quite a commotion when it suddenly appeared from the sea and charged along a beach in Albir.

The Valencian Farmers’ Association is now warning that the incident “will not be the last” and stressed that the overpopulation of wildlife causes 300 accidents a year on the region’s roads, with nine out of 10 of them caused by wild boar.

Meanwhile, Benidorm, just 15 minutes from Albir, was the backdrop for two videos causing a stir on social media this week. In classic ‘Brits behaving badly’ scenes, a randy couple was caught on film in the throes of drunken passion having sex against a recycling bin as passersby egged them on before tuncheon-wielding police officers put an abrupt end to the brazen pair’s antics.

Only in Benidorm pic.twitter.com/Y8BrGjJRpG
— KG🍬 (@KyleG1878) June 5, 2022

In even more bizarre footage, a woman can be seen calmly walking onto two zebra crossings in the coastal resort before making offensive hand gestures at cars, shouting obscenities and arguing with the driver of a yellow van as motorists pile up waiting for her to move. Undeterred by the honking of horns, she holds up and even licks her middle finger and refuses to budge for several seconds before nonchalantly walking off with a final look of disdain over her shoulder.

Una mujer se queda parada en medio de un paso de peatones increpando a los conductores

📹 Benidorm, Alicante pic.twitter.com/6i4mgwKyg8
— SocialDrive (@SocialDrive_es) June 8, 2022

Alicante’s San Juan beach was the scene of a heinous robbery in which a Ukrainian family forced to flee the Russian invasion and seek refuge in Alicante was targeted by two men who stole 10,000 euros and passports. As the father sat in the car waiting for his wife and son to leave a store in Avenida Santander, a man approached the vehicle and asked for directions. Meanwhile, his accomplice opened a rear door and grabbed a bag containing the family’s life savings along with their documents, a mobile phone and credit card. Thankfully, police were quickly on the scene and two Algerian suspects were arrested and the stolen cash, card and passports were recovered.

It’s been a frustrating 15 years for residents in Alicante’s Benissa, but the wait for a much-needed N-332 bypass looks set to finally be over with the Ministry of Transport assuring the relief road will be operational this summer. Construction of the 1.3km bypass was scheduled to start in 2006 but the company awarded the contract went bankrupt and the project was put on hold for years. In 2017, the 21.8-million-euro contract was given to another firm, which is currently finishing off the junctions on both sides of the town. Until a few years ago, Benissa had a traffic volume of 12,000 vehicles per day, a figure which has been reduced since the scrapping of the AP-7 tolls.

And whilst the scrapping of the AP-7 tolls was music to the ears of motorists across the region, it’s been attributed to a 19% uplift in road traffic accidents, along with the lifting of anti-Covid mobility restrictions, due to an increase in motorway traffic flow. And traffic authorities fear that the upward trend will continue in the coming months, fuelled by the influx of travellers.

“This level of traffic is here to stay. It’s not going to decrease. Motorway traffic tends to increase by 30% to 50% when tolls are lifted and they are freed up,” warned Luis Montoro, a professor of road safety.

In other news, batches of potentially contaminated tuna sold in the Valencia region have been recalled by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety amid health concerns. Histamine was apparently detected in tins manufactured by Montey and Didilo and the agency recommended the tuna be withdrawn from the market and that any tins that had already been purchased be returned to the point of sale. There have been no reports of any adverse reaction, but histamine is a toxin that causes scrombroid food poisoning in spoiled fish and causes intolerance that requires food testing.

Andalucía

Andalucía and Spain have seen the first serious forest fire of the summer 2022 season, after a smaller, less serious blaze in Granada last week. This Wednesday afternoon, a wildfire broke out in the rocky, difficult-to-access countryside near Estepona, Marbella and Ronda on the Costa de Sol.

This is in the Sierra Bermeja natural park, the same area which suffered a particularly vicious forest fire last year that raged in the subsoil for months after the flames were extinguished, killing many native, protected species, and which had barely begun to recover.

The problem is that the area is too remote and can only be reached by foot using small mountain tracks, making it hard for firefighters to put out the flames, which in the beginning were said to be advancing at a terrifying rate of 30 metres per minute.

Three forest firefighters were injured on the first day, all of them needing to be helicoptered to safety. Two of them have minor burns, but the third has been hospitalised with burns to more than quarter of his body.

Around 2,500 people from the nearby town of Benehavís had to be evacuated, including those in the Montemayor urbanisation, as well as the Marbella Club and Benahavís Hill residential complexes. An emergency shelter was made available at the San Pedro de Alcántara marquee in Marbella, where the Red Cross were able to provide basic necessities to up to 500 people.

After 48 hours, most of those evacuated were allowed to go home as weather conditions became favourable enough for firefighters on the ground to get in there and beat the flames back.

And this in the same week when the heatwave sweeping through Spain mean temperatures are set to reach as high as 44ºC in some parts of Andalucía, drying out the ground and the trees even more to make wildfires more likely, while at the same time reducing the amount of water available to fight forest fires.

It’s not yet known whether the fire was caused intentionally or whether it started by accident. At the moment, emergency services are focused on putting out the flames and making sure everyone is safe, and then there will be an investigation later on to find out how it started.

You may have missed…

American tourist has 1m dollar watch stolen in Barcelona mugging.
A wealthy American tourist had a designer watch worth 1 million dollars snatched from his wrist as he returned to his swanky Barcelona hotel on Tuesday June 7.
Former Spanish consul of Finland arrested over Europe’s largest khat narcotics seizure.
Businessman Albert Ginjaume, a former honorary consul general of Finland in Spain, has been arrested in connection with the largest discovery of khat or ‘African cocaine’ in Europe.
Deadly tarantula and snakes seized from an Alicante property are rehomed at Benidorm nature park.
A deadly tarantula and two snakes were seized by police from a house in Altea and have been welcomed by Benidorm’s Terra Natura nature and animal park.
New licence for under-16s in Spain to drive electric cars.
A new B1 licence will allow teens in Spain to drive electric vehicles up to 90km/h, as already exists in the UK, France and Italy.
Heartbreaking video shows two bears fighting on a cliff face in Spain, and the tragic consequences.
A clash between two mountain bears ended in a deadly fall in Palencia, in Spain’s northwestern Castilla-León region.

That’s all from us for this week. If you like reading your weekly bulletin (which, of course you do!) and think you know someone else who might like it too, you can send them this link to sign up and start receiving the email too: https://murciatoday.com/weekly_bulletin.html

See you next week!

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