November 2007

“Only ghosts will live there”

By on November 28, 2007

Dream homes left unfinished in La Alpujarra as agent refuses to return deposits

Violence on the streets as tension runs high during Franco mass

By on November 27, 2007

Police arrest four as extremists battle in Granada THE anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco brought violent scenes to the streets of Granada on the anniversary of the dictator’s death on November 20. Left-wing extremists clashed outside the cathedral, where a mass in honour of the former dictator was being celebrated. Police were called […]

Civil guards find “irregularities” in Lecrin water project

By on November 27, 2007

JUDGES in Granada are seeing if any criminal charges can be answered after the Guardia Civil found “irregularities” in a Lecrin Valley mineral water bottling plant. Officials from the environmental branch of the police force (Seprona) found the plant lies across three barrancos (ravines).

Ski season starts on December 1

By on November 26, 2007

HEAVY snowfall on the Sierra Nevada mountain range has resulted in an early start to the ski season. Pistes at Europe’s most southerly ski resort will now open on December 1 after 15 centimetres of snow fell in a single day. The snowfall and cold temperatures supplement the 120 snow cannons that have been in […]

Mayors divided over cable car

By on November 26, 2007

MAYORS of the four municipalities over which the proposed Granada-Sierra Nevada cable car will travel are split over the benefits of the project. The socialist leaders of Monachil and Huétor Vega have questioned the economic viability of the 19-kilometre-long cable car, while the PP leaders of Granada and Cájar see it as an attraction for […]

Spain’s largest circular trail opens

By on November 26, 2007

AT longer than 300 kilometres, the country’s longest circular walking trial is now officially open. The Sulayr trail, which circles the Sierra Nevada, is divided into 19 stages and runs along traditional cattle driver’s paths at an average altitude of 1,800 metres above sea level.

Predatory behaviour and the destruction of Iberia’s coast

By on November 26, 2007

Charles Schoengrund draws interesting parallels between the twin disappearances of Madelaine McCann and the coastline of Iberia

The true cost of being cheap

By on November 26, 2007

As the furniture superstore opens in Málaga, the Olive Press asks if Ikea goes far enough to combat the exploitation of child labour in its supply chain. Apparently not, argue Lisa Tilley and Jon Clarke IT could not have found a better location. On the Málaga ring road, between the airport and the city centre

Pensioners stop Murcia urban plans

By on November 26, 2007

Court suspends road construction after octogenarians win land grab appeal PEDRO CAMACHO looks on victoriously. “If they have to knock down my house then so be it. But they have to give me a similar place to live. I am not going to an apartment. Not at my age,” he says.

Olive Press forces “ecological disaster” investigation

By on November 23, 2007

Did sewage kill thousands of fish in Ronda river? AN investigation has been launched into the “ecological disaster” that killed thousands of fish in a Ronda river. The public prosecutor believes a crime against the environment was committed with the leak into the River Guadiaro after heavy rainfall in September.

Oil spillage poisons aquifer

By on November 23, 2007

A GRANADA court is investigating how 120,000 tonnes of a vegetable-based contaminant was allowed to enter underground water supplies. Mayor of Atarfe Víctor Sánchez and his deputy Tomás Ruiz both face up to 18 months in prison if found guilty of environmental offences. Judges heard how the council of the Granada town allowed five huge […]

Granada mayors in corruption probes

By on November 23, 2007

THE public prosecutor has opened investigations into the dealings of three mayors from around the Granada province. In perhaps the highest profile probe, Almuñecar council leader Juan Carlos Benavides has been accused of urban corruption in relation to the construction of a sports pavilion in the town.

Fun loving bears desperately seeking mate

By on November 23, 2007

Spain’s only captive Cantabrian brown bears, Paca and Tola, have been Asturias’ favourite sisters for the past decade – but now it is hoped they will become the region’s most famous mothers

Dining with Lorca, Gilbert & George

By on November 23, 2007

Painters, musicians and writers pay homage to the Granada poet at his summer retreat

The gentle giants of the wasp world

By on November 22, 2007

Man’s misunderstanding of the hornet has led to the insect becoming almost extinct in certain parts of Europe

The man who changed history

By on November 22, 2007

Emilio Silva laid the foundations for the recent law which denounces Franco – his uprising and his dictatorship – and recognises the Republicans who were killed defending democracy. Lisa Tilley asks him if his work is finished I MANAGE to seize the ear of Emilio Silva days after the historic law he fought so long […]

“My grandfather was buried in a roadside ditch”

By on November 22, 2007

Emilio Silva, director of the ARMH (Association for the Recovery of Historic Memory) shares the Civil War story of his own grandfather with Lisa Tilley MY grandfather, Emilio Silva Faba, was a member of a left-wing party, the Izquierda Republicana – quite a moderate one led by the Republican President, Manuel Azaña. During the 1930s, […]

Granada fights for Monarch flights

By on November 14, 2007

THE leader of Granada’s provincial council is trying to convince a low-cost airline to reconsider its controversial decision to cancel flights between London and the city. Speaking at the World Travel Market tourism fair in the UK capital, Antonio Martínez Caler claimed to have entered into discussion with Monarch representatives to have the flights from […]

It’s in the climate, stupid

By on November 13, 2007

Following last issue in which Fiona Flores Watson attacked the slick, corporate image of the Climate Project, after meeting him in Nashville this year, Rosie Sinclair has quite a different view of Nobel Laureate Al Gore

The other bullfighting

By on November 13, 2007

Neil Wilson looks at the recortes, a spectacular form of bullfighting that – perhaps – belongs in the circus rather than the ring

Granada gang targets helpful drivers

By on November 13, 2007

Briton loses more than 6,000 euros after “scam” GOOD Samaritan drivers are being asked to beware after a Briton fell victim to a possible scam. Tony Coils, 39, contacted the Olive Press after reading our story of the fake police officers who robbed drivers of foreign-plated cars around Madrid (Bogus Police Gang Busted).

Boar attack hospitalises two girls

By on November 13, 2007

TWO teenage girls are recovering in hospital after being seriously injured in an attack by a wild boar. The incident happened as the girls were hiking in the mountainous Alpujarra region of Granada.

Precious graffiti surprises Alhambra ‘lion tamers’

By on November 13, 2007

The Alhambra’s famous Patio of the Lions is missing its famous beasts: they are being restored elsewhere and revealing a secret or two in the process

Photographs reveal uncertain future for Spain

By on November 13, 2007

A NEW book reveals Spain of the near future to be a desolate place, barely able to support its traditional industries of tourism and agriculture. In the Greenpeace publication, the computer-generated images compare Spain today to how the country will look in a few decades’ time if Global Warming continues unchecked. Groves of orange trees […]