September is upon us, summer is dying down and we can start to get appointments with doctors and mechanics once again. I think for most it’s a relief.
We’re looking forward to having our new webmaster, Abel, come down to the offices in Marbella in the next week or two and to meet him personally after taking over the tech reins in July.
He’s the one who’s been dealing with queries and issues and bugs that any website faces from time to time and so far he’s done a sterling job.
The big story of the week has been our exclusive investigation into what caused the devastating bar blaze that destroyed seven businesses in Torremolinos last week.
Suffice to say, it involves stabbings, threats and Irish criminals. We continue to investigate it and – without any spoilers – it looks like it connects to drug traffickers and even the Real IRA. So keep your eyes peeled for the follow-up.
The second biggest story of the week, surprisingly, has been the furore around a 60 metre stretch of coast footpath on the Costa Blanca, which has just reopened four years after it was closed for the second time.
A little further down the coast, and a hotel in La Manga, Murcia is under the spotlight for a salmonella outbreak that has reached 190 confirmed cases. Apparently, the finger of blame is being pointed at a suspicious spinach pasta source.
Meanwhile and just a short hop over, a 19-year-old Moroccan youth stabbed a woman in her apartment building after following her home aiming to snatch her phone and gold chain. Police eventually tracked him down, but only after he’d robbed another victim.
Over in Marbella, the police are appealing for witnesses in the mysterious case of a 17-year-old German boy who was found dead next to a motorcycle. All the signs point to a traffic accident, yet somehow there are still missing pieces of the puzzle.
In one of the more disturbing stories of the week, a mayor in a town in Huelva woke up to find his dog had been poisoned – just days after he cancelled a bull run. Connect the dots.
If you’re keen to get your foot into Spain’s inflated property market but are baulking at some of the prices being charged, why not try this very, verysneaky trick to get a bargain? I can’t say that the Olive Press endorses it…
And if you’re in a thrifty mood, why not try out our excellent guide to Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain that won’t break the bank?
Finally, Gibraltar received the news that the border with Spain could be dismantled as early as January. A relief for most, but the devil is in the detail. Brussels’ new EES digital passport system is being incrementally rolled out from October 12. It means there’s a window where the Rock may be facing a hard border, which is sure to cause havoc both there and in the Campo de Gibraltar.
Our late summer sale is now over, so it’s back to paying full whack for an Olive Press subscription – but it ain’t much (€5 a month or €50 a year) and you get so much more than I can cram into one weekly newsletter.
Let’s leave it there for now, see you next week.
Best, Walt
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