| Dear Olive Press readers, | | First things first – due to popular demand we have decided to give you another bite at the cherry with our Black Friday 50% off sale! | | We’ve seen sign-ups rocketing in these past two weeks to a crescendo yesterday (which was actual Black Friday) and given a few people have tried to get in after the deal was ended, in our good nature we have decided to give you two more days. | | Two more days to get 12-month access to our in-depth, quality, independent journalism for just €25. | | To claim your discount, click here.
On the subscribe page, select the coupon link to apply your discount. Offer available only to readers who have not previously subscribed. | | Now onto the news this week, and the times they are a-changing. Never more so than at Olive Press towers. | | This week we got the tidings that our stalwart news editor, Dilip Kuner, will be leaving us in the new year. | | Those who only imbibe the OP in our digital form may not be that familiar with his work. But Dilip is the behind-the-scenes guiding hand for whom the phrase ‘unsung hero’ was probably invented. | | He is the one who strives away tirelessly to produce the various print editions of the Olive Press that you see scattered around the bars and cafes of Spain, most notably our flagship Andalucia paper. | | And he’s moving on to pastures new, scandalously to one of our competitors with the initials SIE. We wish him well and he will be missed. | | Au revoir, Dilip, et bon voyage! | | There are also other big changes in the works at the Olive Press but I don’t think I have the authorisation to reveal what they are just yet. | | Before we’ve even had a chance to welcome him to the team and present him to the readers, our new journalist Alessio has already made a big splash – by infiltrating a far-right rally in Madrid! Read up on his fascinating – and worrying – expose on the so-called Alliance for Peace and Freedom (AFP). This is ‘a coalition of pro-Putin European nationalists whose manifesto calls for the mass deportation of immigrants, the eradication of what it describes as a ‘globalist-Zionist world order’, and the dismantling of the EU’. Or maybe that’s your sort of thing. | | Our most-read story of the week, for some reason, was the news that Aena, the company that manages Spain’s airports, received a €10 million fine for installing facial recognition cameras intended to speed up wait times – which many have noted have been rather tortuous at certain airports lately. Predictably, the sticking point has been on privacy / GDPR grounds, something Spanish bureaucrats have a deep infatuation with. | | Sticking with the airport theme, guess where JD Wetherspoons have elected to open their first ever pub in Spain? The British low-cost icon is testing the Spanish waters – and let’s be honest there’s always a market for cheap booze. The only question is if Brexit-loving founder and owner Tim Martin has heard of 100 Montaditos? And if you want to know the answer to the question at the start of the paragraph, I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to read the story. Dilip even weighed in with his view. | | Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente announced this week the finalisation of the great Mediterranean Corridor rail network. Far from actually being complete, it just means they’ve decided where all the new train lines are going to be. Around €5 billion is being splashed on this project (largely EU funds) intended to further modernise Spain’s infrastructure. But there is one gaping, humongous omission in the ‘Mediterranean’ plans. And people are not happy. | | And finally, what’s actually probably the most important news of the week may have gone under the radar. Over in Gibraltar they are trying very hard not to have a public meltdown / hyperventilating panic at the news that the UK is almost doubling gaming duty. This directly threatens the Rock’s economic model (online gambling makes up a third of GDP) and the fear is so great that the top dogs in the government have jetted over to London to plead for leniency. The terror is real. | | Enjoy the weekend folks. And please do get in touch with any thoughts or comments you might have! | | | | | | | Edificio Centro Comercial El Duque, first floor, Carretera N340, km 144.5 | | San Luis de Sabinillas, Malaga 29692, Spain | | Copyright © 2025 The Olive Press, All rights reserved. | | | |
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