Raging Bull in brothel brawl

By on May 29, 2007

“Savage” former WBO champ Scott Harrison arrested for a second time in Alhaurin after fight BOXER Scott Harrison and two friends have been arrested after attacking a trio of Spaniards with broken bottles and ashtrays. Harrison, 30, was detained along with two other British nationals after a row turned vicious at the Oxigeno club on […]

The plots thicken: PP deputy in Castellón was “donated” 13 properties

By on May 28, 2007

NOBODY was in doubt of the popularity of Mayor Carlos Fabra. After 16 years in power, he united 70 per cent of the vote in the once sleepy hamlet of Vall d’Alba in Castellón.

Dying to Migrate

By on May 28, 2007

As unprecedented numbers of sub-Saharan Africans arrive on the Granada coast, Lisa Tilley looks at Spain’s waterborne immigration trends and considers the future for the “paperless ones.” They came from the sea…

Former Lanjaron mayor in census fraud investigation

By on May 28, 2007

“Innocent” Rubio claims socialists want to “crucify” him FORMER Lanjarón mayor José Rubio and three other Partido Popular councillors are being investigated for alleged census fraud and prevarication. Rubio, who lost control of the spa town in Spain’s local elections on May 27, ex deputy mayor María del Carmen Reyes and councillors Francisca Gallardo and […]

Gibraltar rocks!

By on May 23, 2007

Forget sunburned ex-pats and cheap booze, Jon Clarke discovers the Med’s little Britain has had a makeover

Spain plumber sacked “for not voting PP”

By on May 23, 2007

A COUNCIL worker has been sacked for refusing to vote for the Partido Popular in the coming Spanish local elections. Carlos Jiménez, who worked for the PP run town hall of Molvízar for eight years, believes he was dismissed for “not accepting political coercion.”

A roving eye

By on May 22, 2007

Documentary photographer Jaine Laine is focusing on Spain’s past to create a legacy for the future. JAINE LAINE flings her trademark giant handbag on a chair, orders café con leche and rolls a skinny cigarette. We are sitting at a corner table in the bar of the Hotel Miramar in Lanjarón and she is telling […]

It’s a stick up!

By Jon Clarke (Publisher) on May 22, 2007

Viagra gang feels the long arm of the law

Ronda ramblers fight back

By on May 17, 2007

Part of pan-European footpath blocked in Spain by developers IT is the jewel in the crown of Spain’s network of footpaths. Crossing most of Andalusia, the Gran Recorrido 7 (GR-7) then skirts up through the country, though France and Italy and finally to Athens in Greece.

Spain bird group banned from Ronda fair over golf complex criticism

By on May 17, 2007

Mayor stops Spanish RSPB after hard-hitting report A WILDLIFE group has been banned from Ronda’s May feria after issuing a hard-hitting report on the destructive impact the luxury golf complex Los Merinos will have on the area’s wildlife.

Concreting over Lemons

By on May 16, 2007

CELEBRATED writer Chris Stewart has slammed the corrupt political system that is concreting over the natural environment of Spain at “an alarming pace.” Talking exclusively to the Olive Press, the Driving over Lemons author said he was disgusted with the current spread of urban developments in the interior of Spain. “I have seen what is […]

Papaver – the heroic weed

By on May 16, 2007

Bob Maddox admits to his addiction as the south of Spain bursts into a riot of red and green

Lamb eternally shall be devoured

By on May 16, 2007

IN Spain, we have all become accustomed to eating pork. It always was a big favourite of mine, but it is starting to take its toll after ten years of Spanish restaurants and butchers. So, I have been eating more lamb of late. Lamb was little available many years ago and it is still hard […]

Isabel Pantoja: gypsy, widow, queen (and criminal?)

By on May 16, 2007

As Isabel Pantoja – corruption suspect number 99 on the Operation Malaya list – returns to the stage while on bail, Lisa Tilley charts the rising and falling of a very Spanish survivor. ON Saturday night, the grandiose plaza mayor in Valladolid began to fill with spectators from the early hours of the afternoon. More […]

PP president resigns in illegal pesticide scandal

By on May 16, 2007

Thehead of the Partido Popular in Vícar (Almería) has resigned after being caught red-handed with more than 1,000 kilograms of a banned pesticide.

The men bound by dust and ashes with García Lorca

By on May 16, 2007

A new book reopens the debate over whether the bodies of those killed and dumped in mass graves over Spain should be exhumed Lisa TilleyTHREE men, and three men only, knew what Spain’s most lauded poet and playwright Federico García Lorca was thinking during the final moments of his life.

Former Marbella number 2 who fled Spain arrested as he re-enters the country

By on May 2, 2007

Pedro Román is wanted in connection with town planning corruption in the Costa del Sol resort POLICE have detained the former right hand man of Jesús Gil as he disembarked a flight from Zurich, Switzerland.

Room with a view – Murcia

By on May 2, 2007

The Olive Press sends Vernon Grant to stylish Murcia where he finds a city bucking recent trends across Spain

Spring in your step with a fragrant trip to Córdoba, Spain

By on May 2, 2007

Nola Lyttle spends a blooming lovely time touring the flower-filled patios of the city’s Jewish quarter THIS May will be like any other in Córdoba. It will be busy with the first tourists of spring, it will be eventful and it is sure to be a riot of colour. Later in the month, those who […]

The Amputee – Issue 23

By Jon Clarke (Publisher) on May 2, 2007

I drink, therefore I am I PHONED a friend after lunch he other day to thank him for the very entertaining dinner party he and his wife had given the night before to celebrate his 60th birthday. I wanted to welcome him again to the springtime of his senescence and enquire whether the party had […]

Bonsai bonanza in party hardly Priego

By on May 2, 2007

The Olive Press goes all Baroque and heads to Priego de Córdoba, a peaceful town – even during feria time NOT much remains of its Roman history when Rueda, as Priego de Córdoba was then known, was a semi-important cattle town under the rule of nearby Ipolcobulcula (maps now advertise this place as humble old […]

PABA to the people

By on May 2, 2007

Sick of the cancerous spread of “costification” in Antequera, a new people’s party will restrict luxury developments in favour of buses and health centres A NEW grass roots political party has been set up to combat rapid urban growth around Antequera in the south of Spain. Aiming to return “power to the people,” it will […]

Granada in vote rig storm in lead up to local elections in Spain

By on May 2, 2007

Thirty five councils in Granada under suspicion of census fraud ACCUSATION and counter-accusation have been flying between two of the province’s main political parties after both the PSOE and Partido Popular accused one another of census fraud.

Spain hunger strike ends after mayor signs licence

By on May 2, 2007

Family of protestor thank those who showed support A WOMAN who started a hunger strike in Spain after a local mayor refused her family permission to open a restaurant has ended her protest.