From The (Acting) Digital Editor
Ben Pawlowski
Dear Olive Press readers,
The sun may be shining brightly, but there’s been no time for a siesta or a caña here at Olive Press Towers as we continue to cover the good, the bad and the ugly of this country we call home. So here’s your round-up of the past seven days, warts and all (which is very much the case this week).
Following in the footsteps of much of Europe, immigration was this week’s big theme. It all started so well as Spain’s population hit a record high of (almost) 50 million, mainly driven by the arrival of foreign-born individuals. But things soon turned sour. Firstly, there was remarkable footage of angry sunbathers rugby-tackling migrants to the ground after they made landfall on a rammed beach in Andalucia. And then the council of Jumilla (run by the PP) sparked a racism row that hit headlines worldwide after it voted to ban Muslim religious festivals from using public spaces. Both stories have inevitably divided opinion.
Readers of last week’s newsletter may remember that the Olive Press exclusively revealed the location of far-right provocateur Tommy Robinson after he was filmed next to an unconscious man in central London. Well, our old friend returned to the UK on Monday – only to be nicked by police (again) on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.
Tommy had fled to Tenerife – and the Canary Islands have been the focus of much of our reporting this week. Firstly, the locals did their best impression of us Brits after footage emerged of football hooligans from rival islands having a good old-fashioned ding-dong at a pre-season friendly, while politicians in Tenerife declared war on ghastly so-called ‘influencers’ who wreck the island’s landscape for social media likes. Rule-breakers could be whacked with fines up to €300,000 – which is a move I think we can all get behind.
Unfortunately, there was also plenty of sad news. A 16-year-old British tourist was arrested by police in Tenerife over an alleged sexual assault on a fellow Brit holidaymaker. And on Friday a British girl, aged just 11, passed away in Fuerteventura after drowning in a kids swimming pool just 30cm in depth. According to figures, the poor youngster becomes Spain’s 209th drowning victim since May (the deadliest summer on record), and comes just one week after two British siblings drowned off the Catalan coast.
The Canary Islands have also been hit with a red weather warning for extreme heat, with the mercury expected to climb above 40C over the coming days. Authorities are wary of possible forest fires – much like the blaze that tore through a large chunk of land in Tarifa this week (in hopefully completely unrelated news, the local town hall has ignored 157 environmental objections to greenlight a controversial housing project on a nearby nature reserve). My colleague Dilip spoke to one expat hotel owner whose property and guests were only saved by the heroic actions of hard-working staff. We have footage of the flames, too.
There was also a different type of fire in Cordoba on Friday evening. In heartbreaking scenes reminiscent of the blaze that tore through Notre Dame in Paris, a fire broke out in Cordoba’s famous mosque-turned-cathedral, known as the Mezquita. According to officials, a faulty mechanical sweeping machine was the culprit – but thankfully the flames were quickly contained by firefighters, avoiding significant damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building remains open to visitors.
Like last week, we had plenty of news from up in the sky. A deadly small plane crash in Mallorca and a rather scary bird strike on an Iberia passenger jet hit the headlines early in the week. Elsewhere, fresh strikes from baggage handlers linked to Ryanair are set to bring yet more travel disruption for holidaymakers, while Spain’s government has reportedly shelved plans to snap up US-made F-35 fighter jets at a cost of over €6 billion – and will now turn its attention to Europe for better and cheaper alternatives. I am sure that will go down well with President Trump.
Beyond that decision, there wasn’t much on the political front this week with all of Spain’s politicians currently basking in the sun somewhere or another. The only trend worth noting is the number of resignations currently taking place over fake CVs (politicians lying? What next?), such as the special commissioner appointed to oversee reconstruction in Valencia following last year’s devastating floods. We have an explainer on why politicians keep on telling porkie pies about their credentials.
But it was not all doom and gloom this week. Spain’s property market continues to go from strength-to-strength, with its highest half-yearly sales since 2007 (albeit as rental prices continue to surge). In good news for drivers, fuel prices have sunk to their lowest level since 2021.
And Spain’s tourism industry continues to bloom, despite the naysayers and mass protests. Some of our competitors reported that major resorts had been left deserted as the number of holidaymakers tumbled – but that is simply not true. In fact, tourist groups in Costa Blanca are reporting a record number of accommodation bookings for this time of year.
So if you want accurate reporting about all things Spain, there’s only one place to go: here, to the Olive Press.
On that note, have a good week.
All the best,
Ben
(P.S. The newsletter will be back to its normal slot next week)
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