From The Digital Editor
Walter Finch
Dear Olive Press readers,
Welcome to this round-up of another busy week of news in Spain.
The Olive Press has been busy chasing the story and giving no quarter to fraudsters targeting their fellow expats in Spain.
We’ve reported extensively on the fraud conviction of Costa Blanca conwoman Jody Smart, while we’ve continued to dig deeper into the mystery of what happened to the giant pile of pension money behind Iberian Funerals. In both cases, thousands of expats have lost millions – including, for many people, their retirement savings or their peace of mind in retirement.
The Olive Press sent our new roving reporter Samanth Blythen to Malaga to take in her first experience of the Semana Santa processions, and suffice to say that this Kiwi girl was impressed.
However, another much loved – and loathed – Spanish tradition did not go so well. A bull intended to run through the streets of Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz, instead turned and smashed through the fencing protecting the crowds. A woman was gored and several more injured in the chaos.
Traffic carnage broke out in both the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol. A drunk driver ploughed into crowds in Fuengirola during the early hours of the weekend, leaving two dead. While over in Calpe, a 20-year-old high on drugs ploughed into a group of cyclists, killing a father in front of his son.
One British expat in Spain managed to trigger an international debate by making the very simple announcement on his TikTok channel that moving to Spain isn’t the same as going there on holiday. It was a statement that stirred up lots of reactions.
And it seems that the welcome return of warm weather has brought with it the very unwelcome return of the narcos.
It’s been a week of depressing violence in the Costa del Sol as the drug wars have heated up once again. Gangsters executed a young Brit in Mijas as he finished playing football, and another was shot in the back in a Marbella nightclub – while the body of a third man was found ‘bound and burned’. There have been five shootings in total, plus a torched beach bar in Torremolinos. Â
And the criminal violence wasn’t just restricted to Malaga. A gang of British gangsters armed with shotguns were arrested for terrorising Costa Blanca cannabis clubs.
While the new generation of violent costa gangsters bring mayhem to the streets, a relic of the old one was spotted in a Marbella restaurant over the weekend. Kinahan hitman Johnny Morrissey was seen to be in good form chatting with patrons and living the good life while out on bail.
Meanwhile, the mum of another British expat seemingly murdered in Mojacar, Almeria, fumed at the ineffective police investigation into his death and even suggested there might be a cover up.
In more positive news, Spain was found to be the best country in the world for Americans to retire in, while the DGT has updated its rules on driving for over-65s.
Over in Gibraltar, the new Principal Auditor has sparked a debate about UK influence on the Rock, while the number of cruise ships that have called into port this month has nearly doubled.
That’s all for this week.
Walt
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