October 2007

Maddie taken to Morocco by paedophiles

By on October 30, 2007

Majority of Spaniards believe McCanns are lying after TV appeal A TOP Spanish detective agency believes Maddie McCann was kidnapped to order by a gang of paedophiles and smuggled to Morocco. The company Metodo 3 reportedly thinks Madeleine was snatched after a tip-off by an insider at their Portuguese holiday complex. The private eye team […]

Opponents question water plans for “semi-desert” Granada

By on October 30, 2007

Junta backs project to drill mineral water from Sierra Nevada DESERTIFICATION, land erosion and the loss of the province’s only wetlands are just three consequences of a mineral water plan for Granada. Those are the fears after a Sevilla-based company announced plans to extract up to 31 litres or water per second from underground reserves […]

Reclaiming the coasts

By on October 29, 2007

Government spends five billion euros in demolishing coastline constructions

Under Extremeño Skies

By on October 29, 2007

The reputations of Pizarro and other conquistadores left a legacy for the mother of an extremeño to worry about

Horsing around in the hills

By on October 29, 2007

Pale rider Jason Heppenstall does his best Clint Eastwood impression and convinces his family that he is not in fact a cowboy

Moorish mausoleum uncovered in Berja

By on October 29, 2007

Outrage as Junta allows housing development to go ahead despite “important” find A HOUSING development is going ahead despite it being built on the site of a 15th century Moorish mausoleum. A team of archaeologists uncovered the crypt during a preventative dig before construction work on the homes in Berja, Almería, begins. In total, 112 […]

From squatter camp to theme park: is there no middle way for the Sacromonte?

By on October 29, 2007

Ten months after eviction of artists’ community, Granada City Hall announces luxury tourist development for “dangerous” caves – Lisa Tilley

Drowning in a desert of plastic

By on October 29, 2007

There is a certain irony, claims Bob Maddox, that not only do the plastic greenhouses of the coast of Almería and Granada suck the land dry to stock the shelves of supermarkets, but also threaten the lives of local populations with increased risk of flooding

“Carcogenics are pumped into the atmosphere”

By on October 29, 2007

AS long ago as 2005 did environmentalists warn of the potential damage wrought by plasticultra. And for almost three years, regional authorities have been aware that more than 30 per cent of the plastic greenhouses – which have continued their westwards spread from the coast of Almería into Granada and Málaga – have been erected […]

Another nail in cable car coffin

By on October 26, 2007

Government believes ecosystem of Sierra Nevada will be “irreversibly transformed” PLANS to build the world’s longest cable car between Granada and the Sierra Nevada National Park have taken a major setback. In a report, central Government claims the project will “irreversibly transform” the sensitive ecosystem of the protected mountain range, which is home to a […]

New lynx population found in Spain

By on October 26, 2007

Hopes for the future survival of the world’s most endangered cat species have been raised after the discovery of an unknown population of Iberian lynx.

Chains of shame

By on October 26, 2007

Dog left to die and then summarily burnt next to neighbour’s plot

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Climate Change*

By on October 26, 2007

With the news that up to 85 per cent of Andalucia is under threat from desertification, in this simple Q&A scientist AZZAM QASRAWI explains the phenomenon of climate change

Climate undergoes sea change

By on October 26, 2007

Bob Maddox assess the findings of a report claiming the oceans are not absorbing as much carbon dioxide as they once did

Saints and souls and modern day ghouls

By on October 25, 2007

For Theresa O’Shea, Halloween in Spain is a time for visiting departed loved ones and eating roasted chestnuts

The dehesas of Extremadura

By on October 25, 2007

The size of Switzerland, the region of Extremadura is home to farmland unique to Spain and endangered animals such as the lynx and imperial eagle of Iberia

“The countryside is dead”

By on October 25, 2007

Following our exclusive pictures last issue showing the destruction caused when golf developers move in, the Olive Press reports on a scheme in the north of Spain to turn a hamlet of 150 people into a city of 20,000 residents WITH its aquifer dry and poisoned, the water supply for the 150 residents of Villanueva […]

Law restricts future golf courses in Andalucía

By on October 25, 2007

Draft could end golf-urban development links

Illegal constructions pose threat to human life

By on October 25, 2007

URBAN growth has increased the risk of flooding in Andalucía to such an extent that human life is at risk. Those are the findings of a study by regional water authority Hydrographical Confederation of the Guadalquivir (CHG).

Controversial road gets thumbs up

By on October 25, 2007

MADRID has given its backing to a motorway that will cut through one of the region’s areas of outstanding beauty. Almost ten kilometres of the A4 Andalucía-Cuidad Real road will pass through the protected Despeñaperros Natural Park in Jaén when it opens in 2009.

A local paedophile, not the McCanns killed Maddie

By on October 25, 2007

As the parents of Missing Madeleine claim their innocence on Spanish TV, the Olive Press’ Jon Clarke – the first British newspaper journalist on the scene – analyses why the McCanns did not do it OF course, the best whodunnits are complex and far-fetched. But for a couple of loving parents to murder their daughter, […]

A fairway to treat nature?

By on October 16, 2007

Olive Press Exclusive Text and photographs: Jon Clarke AN ecological nightmare, hundreds of ancient oaks apparently stand dead. Pulled up for a huge golf macroproject, they line up in eerie rows like war graves in the Somme.