News
Totally isolated
Bribery alleged
A British couple in their 40s have been
arrested after allegedly attempting to
bribe a National Police officer to
persuade him not to undertake the
regulatory search of their vehicle. They
are reported to have offered him their
passports inside which was a €100 note
when they were stopped at Tarifa en
route to Morocco. A search of their
vehicle uncovered large quantities of
cash, plus latest generation phones,
laptops and tablets.
Samurai threat
Police in Madrid took dramatic action
after a bare-chested man who claimed to
have contracted coronavirus wielded a
samurai sword and threatened a killing
spree. Dramatic video on YouTube
shows him smashing vehicle windscreens
before becoming trapped between two
police vans and over-powered after
officers fired two warning shots into the
air. Local media described the 45-year-
old as suffering from a psychiatric
disorder.
Terrorist Brit
A Briton described as a “most wanted”
Isis terrorist was arrested with two other
men in Alicante on April 20. Abdel-
Majed Abdel Bary from London was
previously known as a rap singer under
the names L Jinny or Lyricist Jinn. A
police spokesman said the suspect has an
“extremely violent profile” and had
entered Spain illegally aboard a boat
carrying migrants from Morocco.
Accidents down
There’s a town in Andalucía which has
not recorded one case of coronavirus,
and the mayor intends to keep it that
way. On the day the State of Alarm
began, Santiago Galván blocked off all
but one of the five roads leading into
Zahara de la Sierra (pictured), 35
kilometres north-west of Ronda, in the
province of Cádiz.
Almost a quarter of the white village’s
1,400 resident are aged over 65 and 30
of them live in a care home. All are
reported to be well and feeling
protected and confident.
Zahara de la Sierra, officially listed as
one of Spain’s 94 “most beautiful”
villages, lies 500 metres above sea level
in the north of the Grazalema Natural
Park. The checkpoint on the one open
road is manned by a single police
officer and the bodywork and tyres of
every vehicle entering is washed with a
However, entry is presently barred to
tourists who usually flock to the
ancient fortress town whose colourful
history dates back to the Middle Ages.
The town hall has even installed music
and coloured lights on two of its
vehicles which are driven round every
night to entertain children during the
lockdown.
Olives threatened by
killer disease
Spain’s important olive production
sector is facing a growing threat from a
disease which has already killed
hundreds of trees in Italy. Last month,
Andalucía reinforced its warning about
a bacteria spread by insects which
reduces the plant’s ability to move
water and nutrients, leading to its
eventual death.
March recorded the fewest monthly
deaths on Spain’s roads since records
began in 1960. Tráfico says the State of
Emergency introduced on March 15
reduced long-distance traffic by 60% and
by 73% in built-up areas. A total of 219
people lost their lives in road accidents
between January and March, 34 fewer
than in the same period of 2019. The pathogen, Xylella fastidiosa, was
first identified in the southern Italian
region during 2013, and is now known
to infect cherry, almond and plum
trees, as well as olives. There is
presently no cure for the disease which
is believed to have originated in
America.
Gambling ads Its first appearance in Spain was
recorded in the Balearic Islands in
2017, and in Alicante and Madrid
during 2018. Last July, the regional
government of Andalucía launched a
campaign calling on growers to
immediately report any suspicion of
the presence of the disease, and last
month repeated the warnings along
with advice on how to inhibit it
spreading.
Ministers have approved measures to fast
track part of the new legislation on
gambling. They want to create a “social
shield” to protect people during the crisis
which will restrict gambling advertising
on TV to a four-hour “window” between
1.00am and 5.00am. The temporary
measure is included in new, broader
legislation on gambling which was
approved in February and is expected to
come in force later in the year.
mixture of bleach and water. The
streets are also disinfected twice a week
by local volunteers.
Reports from Italy say the bacterium
12
has had a severe impact on local
economies and jobs, while a recent
study by the National Academy of
Sciences predicted that if the majority
of Spanish olive groves fall victim, it
could cost the country €17 billion over
the next five decades.
Efforts are underway to combat the
infection but the only action possible at
present is to remove infected and even
susceptible healthy trees, and to reduce
the movement of infected material.
Attempts are also being made to rid
olive groves of the insects which spread
the disease by sucking the sap of the
trees.
Spain produces well over 40 per cent
of the world’s olive oil every year,
which is twice as much as Italy and
four times as much as Greece. The
three countries produce 95 per cent of
Europe’s olive oil, so a major
disruption to the supply of olives
would inevitably lead to a rise in the
price of oil for the consumer.