Date Published: 04/06/2022

Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Jun 4

CLICK HERE FOR THE FEATURE ARTICLES "Travel boss shares how to beat the mounting airport chaos" and "The best time to book flights to get cheap plane tickets"

It’s been a week marred by travel chaos and disruption with little end in sight as all the main carriers in the UK struggle to bring staffing levels up to scratch. According to FlightAware, more than 4,500 flights were cancelled across Europe!

Many Brits wanted to take advantage of the half-term holidays and the long bank holiday weekend, which was gifted from above for the celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee, to try and book a getaway to sunny Spain. But a fair number of them were frustrated by flight cancellations, baggage handling problems and other airport nightmares.

In the face of such chaos, one union boss has actually released some surprising travel advice, telling passengers they’d do better to try and travel light and outfox airlines by refusing to take hold luggage with them. And travel experts have also shared the secret of how and when to book plane tickets online to get the best deal – and the answer might not be what you expect!

Some good news for European travellers as Spain has decided that they no longer have to show a Covid certificate to enter, finally removing one of its last remaining coronavirus restrictions.

Alas, some holidaymakers – most of them young people – are still causing mischief and worse on their travels to Spain, with business (or party) sadly continuing as usual in the country’s dance, drink and drug hotspots.

Travel trouble

Popular budget airline easyJet announced that around 240 flights will be cancelled before June 6 and TUI has also grounded dozens of planes, while British Airways axed more than 100 flights in just one day, many of which were to Spain.

The airlines have cited staff shortages, particularly among cabin crew and security personnel, as the main reason for the cancellations, but with laborious and lengthy recruitment processes, together with delays for clearance documents, many experts believe these problems will extend well into the summer.

In one particular example, what should have been the start of a much-needed and relaxing break in the sun on the Costa Blanca got off to a frustrating start for 180 UK and Spanish passengers who endured almost three hours trapped in an access corridor at Manchester Airport waiting for a connection bus to take them to their Alicante-bound Ryanair plane.

The aggrieved passengers, including many elderly people and children, were given no explanation or updates from the budget airline, which had reportedly started letting people through the boarding gate before the plane was ready, prompting an onslaught of criticism.

“They had us like sheep on the stairs of the tunnel that goes down to the runway so that we couldn’t make any sort of complaint,” blasted one traveller who lives in Benidorm.

Ryanair hasn’t responded, but instead has sent has sent an email to customers recommending passengers arrive at airports early to ease queue chaos.

There are more than 200 flights scheduled to arrive at Alicante-Elche Airport this weekend, and whilst the Costa Blanca’s tourist capital Benidorm is predicting a bumper Jubillee weekend as UK holidaymakers make the most of the extra Bank Holiday, a critical shortage of waiters threatens a record summer season.

There are up to 6,000 hospitality vacancies in the popular coastal resort and a shortage of suitable staff in general, according to industry chiefs. In fact, the situation is so dire that several bars and restaurants are being forced to close early because they can’t cover the shifts. Hotelier and employers’ associations have aired their concerns, but Spain’s Ministry of Labour has made its response clear: pay staff more, advice that has not gone down well with hoteliers who claim that the lack of professionals in the sector has “much deeper causes and uncertain consequences”.

Apparently, the issue is nothing to do with money – waiters earn around 1,200 euros a month, with the possiblity to pocket up to 300 euros in tips – but rather a shortage of suitably trained people, according to Mar Valera, spokesperson for the Provincial Association of Hotel and Catering Businesses of Alicante.

And the trouble doesn’t stop there. Last month, seven unions representing Ryanair baggage handlers in Spain and across Europe threatened summer strike action over pay and working conditions and this week workers at Stansted refused a 4% wage increase. All parties are going back to the drawing board, but with the Blue Handling company indicating that the money offered was a fair deal given the current climate, it looks increasingly likely that airports in the UK and Spain will see even more disruption this summer.

To make matters worse, Spanish air traffic controllers are also threatening strikes this summer, also because of a lack of trained personnel. Although there has been no official announcement from the USCA union, which represents around 90% of air traffic staff in Spain, national spokesperson Susana Romero confirmed that the decision will be made following a meeting at the end of June.

Amongst all the doom and gloom there is some good news for holidaymakers, however, as from Thursday June 2 passengers coming to Spain from EU countries no longer need to present a Covid passport. This easing of restrictions comes in response to increasing pressure from Brussels that international travel return to some sort of normality this summer, and hot on the heels of Spain’s decision to allow unvaccinated non-EU tourists entry with just a negative test.

This is especially good news for German citizens, who are being urged to spend the winter in the Canary Islands rather than Germany in order to use less (Russian) gas. The president of the Association of Independent Travel Agencies in Germany, Marina Linnhoff, has stated that “Travelling against Putin is better than freezing because of Putin”, and as such is proposing that the German government pay pensioners 500 euros to spend the coldest months somewhere warm like Spain and not Germany.

It has yet to be made official German policy, and questions abound about the finer points of the plan. Is 50 euros really enough to get people through the whole winter, or will it rather be 500 euros per month... or per week? And do they realise that it actually does get cold in Spain in winter too?

With inflation pushing up prices left, right and centre, most of us thinking of going on holiday this year are looking to find ways to book that budget trip abroad, so we consulted a travel expert to find the best hacks for bagging cheap flights. Contrary to popular opinion, the expert explained that there is no evidence that flight prices go up if you continue to check them on the same device; most likely, they are just becoming more expensive due to demand.

Rather than messing about with loads of different phones and tablets, he recommends getting in early this year and nabbing a cheap flight as soon as you see it. Also, avoid those pesky added extras designed to bump the price up, such as seat allocation and additional baggage, which can also slow you down getting through the airport.

Disgraceful behaviour continues as always in Spain’s party destinations

Despite repeated warnings to Brits and other foreign tourists to behave themselves when on holiday in Spain and not drink too much, including a legal limitation on the number of drinks that can be consumed at all-inclusive resorts and harsh fines for anyone found at illegal parties or drinking on the street, visitors to Spain continue to get into trouble.

The Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands are two of the most notorious spots, especially the islands of Lanzarote, Ibiza and Mallorca, including the resort of Magaluf.

This week, a drunken and agitated British man was arrested as soon as he stepped off the plane in Lanzarote after he tried to open the aircraft door mid-flight. The man was behaving aggressively throughout the flight, most likely due to alcohol or drugs, and had to be restrained by two off-duty cops who were also going on holiday.

Upon landing and being handed over to Spanish police, the Brit resisted and injured three of the officers.

In another incident, also in Lanzarote, a British couple was nabbed for using counterfeit cash. The two English tourists, a 27-year-old woman and 30-year-old man, are facing up to 12 years in prison for spending fake euros in the village of Yaiza after they allegedly brought 51 ten-euro notes from the UK. On top of the jail sentence, the suspects could be ordered to pay a fine of ten times the face value of the counterfeit money seized, which amounted to 510 euros.

In Palma de Mallorca, another British tourist, just 20 years old, was arrested at the airport after she bit and hit several police officers at border security. The young woman was apparently drunk and became aggressive towards other passengers when they were queuing up to have their passports checked on arrival.

And in nearby Magaluf, two Brazilian men were arrested for allegedly raping a young Swedish tourist. The young woman was walking back to her hotel alone at around 3am when the two men offered her a lift home and convinced her to get in their car. Instead of driving to her hotel, though, the men pulled over in a nearby street and raped her in the vehicle.

Other reports have come through from the local governments in Mallorca and other places of drunken behaviour, petty vandalism, people urinating in the street without a care and local residents having their lives disrupted.

And all this is on top of the youths who are drugged up and jumping from balconies or drunk and diving head-first into shallow swimming pools, ending up severely injured or worse. It’s a shame, it reflects badly on the name of tourists who visit Spain, but mostly it’s just very sad for the families and loved ones of those who get whipped up into the party, vacation frenzy and make a foolish mistake that costs them dearly.

Government intervention and warnings have not done the trick to stem these kinds of activities. Educational and media campaigns to try and teach people about the dangers of drinking too much or of balconing don’t seem to work, either. And it’s clear that we can’t rely on common sense to prevail. And yet, Spain desperately wants and needs that tourism money, and welcomes young people to its party islands for the cash they splash.

But perhaps drinks should be made more expensive there, so that young people cannot afford to drink to excess. Or there should be more drug-sniffing dogs. Or all balcony doors should be locked in hotels as a precautionary measure. Whatever the solution, something must be done, before more tragedy strikes. The summer is still young…

More Mar Menor

In Murcia, the announcement was made this week by the Regional Government that more nitrates have already entered the Mar Menor so far this year than in the whole of 2021, and we’re not even halfway into the year yet! So far this year, the Mar Menor has already received more freshwater contaminated with phosphorous and nitrogen through the Rambla del Albujón than in the whole of 2021, while some 5,900 tonnes of algae have been removed, 4,200 of which were in the last month and a half alone.

These algae must be removed because if they are left to start rotting, it would have two harmful effects on the ecosystem: worsening the conditions of the seabed by increasing sediment and encouraging the massive proliferation of phytoplankton, which would lead to a further reduction in the already low oxygen levels.

In addition, divers have been sent down into the depths of the saltwater lagoon to aid in the removal of abandoned and semi-sunken boats, which could also contribute to the further degradation of the ecosystem when they decompose.

But as always, the main culprit for the dire state of the Mar Menor is still the escaping contaminated irrigation water from farms which are being treated with nitrate-based pesticides and herbicides, and which leaks into the protected natural habitat through poorly managed waterways.

As a consequence of the deterioration of the lagoon, tourists are being driven away from Murcia to other coastal resorts and now beach bar owners around the lagoon are feeling the pressure too as bathers are avoiding the area. For that reason, the Region’s Hospitality Association (Hostecar) is asking for their opening fees to be reduced as exorbitant costs are currently “choking their survival”. And what’s more, even though these fees weren’t due to be paid to Cartagena City Council until September, the authorities are demanding them now, despite the lack of income at the beach bars.

Meanwhile, the failed Puerto Mayor project in La Manga, a marina which was envisioned around 20 years ago as the great white hope of Mar Menor tourism and which was summarily shut down in the construction phase due to environmental concerns, will finally have its steel skeleton removed starting next year.

After remaining as an eyesore since 2005 because of the fact that the building process would have involved pouring thousands of tonnes of concrete into the Mar Menor, the removal of the sheet piles and the restoration of the natural area to its former state are due to be completed by 2024, providing that the 6.4-million-euro project does not run up against the same kind of problems faced over the years by the regeneration of the polluted Portmán Bay or Mar Menor.

Monkeypox

As of Thursday June 2, a total of 156 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed in Spain. The country’s Minister of Health has announced that the first vaccines against the monkeypox virus have arrived, although the limited number means that they will be kept for patients who have a higher risk of developing a serious illness as a result of infection. On top of these, another 200 doses have been purchased and will arrive “imminently.” At this point in time, the Ministry is adamant that the general population won’t be vaccinated against monkeypox as the risk of transmission remains very low.

The Spanish Medicines Agency is working on a joint purchase agreement within the EU, so that from now on member states won’t have to pay for the jabs. The drug that has already arrived is the antiviral Tecovirimat, which has proven to be the most effective against monkeypox. The joint purchase agreement involves the Inmavex smallpox vaccine made by Danish company Bavarian Nordic, which is believed to be effective against the non-human monkeypox variant as well.

Coronavirus

In terms of that other virus (which still hasn’t gone away, by the way), after weeks of fighting an uphill battle of rising infections during Easter and other national and local celebrations, the coronavirus data in Spain is actually improving greatly. Intensive care occupancy has once again fallen below 4% and the all-important cumulative incidence rate is beating a retreat also, having fallen to 663 cases per 100,000 inhabitants this week. In fact, this figure now only remains above 1,000 in one Spanish community while the vaccination campaign ticks along nicely – just shy of 93% of the population over 12 years are now double jabbed.

This has led many experts to believe that the peak of the dreaded seventh wave has already been and gone without too much ado. Let’s hope it’s the same for the eighth wave… and the ninth… and the tenth…

CORONAVIRUS LATEST NEWS

For all the latest coronavirus news and updates in Spain, use the link above

Murcia

Some good news all round in Murcia this week, as a new hotel has been opened in Puerto de Mazarrón by Wyndham, the world’s largest hotel franchise company with approximately 9,000 hotels in 95 countries. The Ramada Resort by Wyndham Puerto de Mazarrón, as it will be known, is basically a refurbishment of the former Hotel La Cumbre. Regular users and visitors are hoping that the new establishment matches up to the quality facilities that La Cumbre always offered.

The new hotel will have an outdoor swimming pool for adults, another one who children, a solarium and a rooftop terrace, an à la carte restaurant specialising in Mediterranean cuisine, a gym, a meeting room, free parking and play area for families. What more could you want?

In other accommodation, the Villas Caravaning campsite in La Manga is fast getting its act together, and has already installed 22 new fire hydrants and more are on the way. They’re unlinking the electrical panels from each other and individualising them for each plot so that one fault won’t bring the whole system down, and they’re even planning to buy their own small fire engine to combat blazes, should they occur again.

Problem is, fire safety isn’t the only problem. Cartagena City Council has also identified other “serious irregularities” in the campsite, like buildings, extensions, refurbishments and constructions that aren’t fully legal. They’ve pointed to a bar along the coastal area as having broken municipal planning laws, homes on the campsite that have been partly renovated without the proper licences and even an unauthorised water park!

So, good on Villas Caravaning for upping their fire safety measures, but this is by no means the saving grace for the poor motorhome park.

Lastly, on the occasion of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, four UK nationals resident in Spain were named in the Birthday Honours List, including one long-time Mazarrón volunteer. Beverley Thompson, Treasurer and Vice-President of MABS Cancer Support in Mazarrón, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to voluntary charitable work in Spain. Beverley first started volunteering for MABS when she moved to Mazarrón in 2005,a nd she was soon looking after the accounts for the whole Murcia Region, having acted as treasurer ever since.

She had overall responsibility for the purchase, design and opening of the MABS respite home on Camposol in 2018, which home provides 24-hour palliative care to cancer patients and, thanks to Beverley’s tenacity, is now eligible to apply for annual grant funding for the running costs from the regional government. This recognition for one of our own in Murcia is well-deserved, but Beverley is humble about the honour.

“Being awarded the British Empire Medal from Her Majesty is just fantastic and I am truly honoured,” she said. “But I must recognise the amazing job the MABS volunteers do every single day and the strength and support given to me by my husband Keith should not be overlooked. From the bottom of my heart – thank you all!”

And thank you, Beverley!

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

Spain

The price of petrol in Spain exceeded 2 euros per litre this week for the first time ever, as the rise in the cost of living marches on unstoppable. Actually, petrol prices are even higher in neighbouring France, and some French people who live near the border with northern Spain have even been spotted crossing over to fill up their tanks in the Basque Country.

Nonetheless, fuel is still expensive in Spain. And to help us out a bit, the Spanish government has decided to extend its 20 cent per litre fuel discount until the start of October. Many would argue that this bonus scheme has done little so far to cushion the impact of rising costs, since many businesses are simply hiking up the prices to compensate, but the government is open to tweaking this system slightly in the coming weeks to ensure that those who need it most have access to cheaper fuel.

Assuming you’re legally allowed to drive, that is. The British Embassy in Madrid has released another update this week on the issue of the validity of UK driving licences for Brits resident in Spain. In a video, they explained exactly what data Spain wants from drivers – vehicle data about British cars belonging to holidaymakers who come to Spain, and not about residents – and they assured that, if an agreement is reached, it will happen “in weeks, not months”. At that moment, Spain has apparently agreed to a clause that will let Brits drive again for another 6 months, as they could before the beginning of May, giving just enough time to exchange their licences for a Spanish one.

More good news for anyone who’s ever been frustrated when ringing customer service. There’s hardly a person out there who hasn’t been frustrated at some point listening to tinny music whilst on hold to customer service, before spending what feels like years pressing buttons in response to a robotic voice. All this is about to change with a new law in Spain which limits the time companies are allowed to put us on hold to three minutes and prohibits them from using only automated services: if you want to speak to a real person, they must provide this option.

Any complaints to companies must now be resolved within 15 days (it used to be 30) and if you have a query regarding an outage of an essential service, like electricity or internet, the company will have to tell you exactly what is going on and provide a solution within two hours. Also, from now on gas, electric, internet and water companies will have to provide a 24-hour customer care line, 365 days a year.

It should be pointed out that this law will apply to private companies, and not official public institutions in Spain, which are free to continue being as useless and infuriating as always.

Talking of annoying… mosquitos, flies and wasps are all an irritating yet familiar part of the Spanish summer. Snakes though? That’s a different matter entirely, but one visitors and residents alike have been warned about this year. According to the emergency services, five people have already been hospitalised for viper bites in Spain’s Burgos, with the snakes coming out in the open for mating season. And where once these venomous critters used to shy away from humans, urban sprawl has meant an increasing number of sightings in town parks, gardens and even under doormats. Watch your step!

Alicante

This summer, sunseekers who prefer smoke-free beaches will be spoilt for choice as smoking is now banned on more than half of the beaches in Alicante province. The network of “tobacco-free spaces” continues to grow and lighting up is now banned on 44 of the province’s 81 beaches in a bid to stamp out the ongoing problem of discarded cigarette butts that account for an estimated 30% of litter along coastlines and can take up to 10 years to decompose.

Hopping on a plane proved troublesome for one passenger in Alicante this week, but it had nothing to do with flight delays or cancellations.

The 64-year-old man faces up to two years in prison for illegal trafficking and animal mistreatment after security at Alicante-Elche Airport Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Jun 4

discovered 46 live turtles and 37 crayfish in his hand luggage as he was about to board a flight to Denmark. The animals, all protected species, were found “wrapped in plastic to prevent them from moving and tucked away inside a small holdall”, which, according to the Guardia Civil, “would have caused them to suffocate in a short space of time”. The rescued animals are being cared for at Alicante’s Santa Faz Wildlife Recovery Centre and an investigation into the alleged trafficker is ongoing.

A police probe has also been launched in Albir where three people were hurt when, for unknown reasons, a motorist mounted the pavement and crashed into a packed beach bar terrace. The bar and others in the surrounding area were full of customers drinking at tables outside and, according to emergency services, the incident “could have been much more serious due to the influx of customers and a large number of foreign tourists congregating in the area at this time of year”. Three people sustained multiple bruising. One of them was treated at the scene and the other two, a 37-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman, were taken to the Marina Baixa Hospital in Villajoyosa. A male motorist was arrested and the cause of the crash is being investigated.

Meanwhile, a father who fled Belgium with his two-year-old son faces extradition and up to five years in prison for child abduction after police caught up with him in Alicante. The 50-year-old Belgian man is locked in a custody battle with his ex-wife, according to police sources, and at the beginning of last month, rather than dropping the child off at nursery to be picked up by his mother he fled to Spain with the little boy.

Belgian authorities tracked him to Antwerp, where it’s believed the father and his young son took a ferry to Mallorca, but from there their whereabouts were unknown. A European Arrest Warrant for Extradition was issued, as well as a missing person alert for the minor, and still driving the same vehicle with Belgian number plate, he was eventually stopped by police and arrested. The child, who was in the back of the car, was taken to the Provincial Home in Alicante and will be returned to his mother.

Andalucía

A curious case in Marbella this week when the ex-wife of the uncle of the emir of Qatar, Kasia Gallanio, was found dead in her home in Marbella.

The autopsy carried out on who was on Saturday May 28, has been ruled inconclusive. Sources close to the investigation reported this week that further analysis will need to be carried out to establish the cause of death of 46-year-old Kasia Gallanio.

Although the former princess lived in Paris, she had been staying in her home in Malaga after losing custody of her three daughters following a court battle against her ex-husband, Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al-Thani, that lasted for more than a decade.

An autopsy has since come back “inconclusive”, but initial reports suggest that Ms Gallanio was suffering from mental health difficulties and alcohol addiction, and may have died from an overdose.

In a totally unconnected incident, two arrests were made in Marbella of Spanish men aged 33 and 40 who are accused of brutally beating a woman unconscious and fighting for her life in September last year.

One of the alleged attackers was arrested by the police at the scene and the other two fled in a car before police their eventual arrests last week. One of trio was arrested as he debarked a flight to Spain from the UK where he had been hiding all these months, and police caught up with the other suspect in Estepona.

The men claimed the woman had tried to steal a watch from them, and for that reason that punched and kicked her into such a state in Puerto Banús nine months ago that she required several rounds of surgery to recover.

Finally, two more arrests were made in Granada province of two youths, aged 18 and 19, on suspicion of starting a forest fire in Cerro de San Miguel that raged through the night on Sunday before finally being brought under control on Monday morning.

This is the first of the forest fires of 2022, and like many others was started intentionally, or at least through the carelessness of the suspects, who were reportedly seen lighting a barbecue on Sunday at around lunchtime. This will almost certainly not be the last wildfire we see in Andalucía or in Spain this summer, and all we can do is pray that the damage to life – human, animal and vegetable – will not be too disastrous.

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Mick Jagger gads about Madrid just before Rolling Stones concert.
Mick Jagger shared photos on social media of his trip to Madrid ahead of the Rolling Stones concert at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday.
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Increased number of ticks in Spain: tick prevention and treatment for pets and humans.
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Mini earthquake recorded off the coast of Alicante.
An earthquake measuring 1.7 on the Richter scale was recorded off the Alicante coast at 2.50am on Tuesday morning, May 31.

And that’s your bulletin for another week. Don’t foregt that you can share this link – https://murciatoday.com/weekly_bulletin.html – with your friends so they can be lucky enough to get this email every week too ;)

See you next week!

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