October 2006

The camera never lies

By on October 31, 2006

by Jason Heppenstall {mosimage} I have to admit that I wasn’t prepared for it. I had barely lurched out of the car, roadmap still in hand, when a young man with the impressively sized shoulder-mounted television camera was in my face. After a leisurely lunch featuring gambas pil pil I had only just rolled into [...]

Andalucía dreaming

By Dan Myers on October 31, 2006

RICHARD HARVEY asks whether buying or building a dream home and settling in southern Spain really helps to strengthen a relationship. Or do the demons merely resurface when the dust settles?

Seventy years on – an International Brigadier returns to Spain

By on October 31, 2006

by Theresa Hogue. Additional reporting by Mark Roulston {mosimage} "VIVA Rusia," the women shouted from their balconies as a group of mainly French and German soldiers readied themselves to defend Madrid. It was October, 1936, and the rebelling Nationalist troops led by General Francisco Franco were advancing on Spain‘s capital. Volunteers from around the globe [...]

Opinion – Issue 10

By on October 31, 2006

Light Pollution The Olive Press’ Paul Downing writes ONE of the saddest things about our way of life today is that generations of people are growing up not knowing the sky, simply because they have never seen it['Junta to switch off light pollution' Issue 8]. The gradual but inexorable loss of the night sky through [...]

EU backs Spain in peace talks bid

By on October 30, 2006

BRUSSELS has narrowly backed Spain’s peace plan with separatist group Eta after a debate in the European parliament. Politicians voted 321 to 311 in favour of lending support to the government’s drive for dialogue with the Basque group in a debate in the European parliament on October 25. Supporters of the move say it is [...]

“Clan” mayor announces resignation

By on October 30, 2006

ARMILLA mayor José Antonio Morales is to step down at next year’s municipal elections. Señor Morales announced his decision not to run for a fourth term in office during a televised interview on the Localia channel. The Granada town has been at the centre of a political storm recently over allegations of town planning irregularities [...]

Mayor sentenced to one year in jail

By on October 30, 2006

JUDGES in Motril have sentenced the mayor of Castell de Ferro-Gualchos to one year in prison for town planning irregularities. PSOE mayor Miguel Torres Maldonado has also been banned from holding public office for seven years.

Alhambra work still suspended

By on October 30, 2006

BUILDING work is still suspended inside the grounds of the Alhambra Palace – more than a month after it was discovered a licence for the construction of a wall had not been granted. Granada City Hall ordered the work in the gardens below the Patio of the Sultaness to be stopped on September 29 after [...]

The Orionid Meteors (October)

By on October 27, 2006

by Paul Downing There’s an important and exciting astronomy event going on in the skies during late October – the annual Orionid meteor shower. A meteor shower is essentially a lot of what we usually call "shooting stars". Of course they’re not really falling stars, but grains of dust and tiny lumps of rock impacting [...]

Your right to vote in Spain

By on October 27, 2006

On the 27th May 2007 municipal elections will be contested throughout Spain. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in the running of their municipality to express an opinion. Article 13.2 of the Spanish Constitution grants foreign residents voting rights in municipal elections as long as a reciprocity treaty exists with the country of [...]

The Amputee – Issue 10

By on October 27, 2006

{mosimage} Journeyman tailor MY grandfather, Charlie McCarthy, described himself as a "Journeyman Tailor." I learnt this a few years ago when I applied for a copy of my mother’s birth certificate to support my application for UK citizenship. I had to go to the Public Records Office on the Strand to get the document and [...]

The great biodiesel con

By on October 27, 2006

In Issue Two of the Olive Press we published an article entitled “The benefits of biodiesel”. Several readers wrote in to refute the claims made therein, referring to an article written by George Monbiot in which he points out that biodiesel enthusiasts have accidentally invented the most carbon-intensive fuel on earth {mosimage} by George Monbiot [...]

A stroll around Alhama de Granada

By on October 27, 2006

by Judith Cooke {mosimage} “Ay de mí, Alhama!” the Moorish king Muley Hassan is said to have cried on learning of the dramatic defeat of Alhama in 1482. The conquest by the Christian armies of Alhama, this jewel in Granada’s crown, was a decisive blow to the Nazarí kingdom. Hundreds of years of Moorish rule [...]

Shine on – Renewable energy in Spain

By Dan Myers on October 26, 2006

Like many people it all had to do with a growing awareness of my so-called carbon footprint. We are all net emitters of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Police investigate Vélez murder riddle

By on October 26, 2006

A WOMAN found dead near the main Motril-Granada road may have been murdered by a gang dedicated to the white slave trade, police claim.{mosimage} The semi-naked body of the woman was discovered by a local farmer in a water irrigation channel on the evening of October 12 – 50 metres from the N323 within the [...]