Maquetación 1 - Totally Marbella Magazine

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Edicion 02:Maquetación 1 25/02/14 13:26 Página 1
MARBELLA
March and April Edition 2014
At last a diet that works
The extraordinary life
of Francois Mitterrand
CAROLE MALONE
Why must I have Twitter
An interview with
GEORGE CLOONEY
DR MARK LANE
Could pain possibly be good for you
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Beds: 8
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Terrace: 240
Interior: 800
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Contents
TRAVEL
The North West of Spain
Losing your luggage
If you are about to fly - look away now
6
26
42
PROPERTY
An impending property bubble
10
FOOD & DRINK
When to decant a wine
12
HEALTH & FITNESS
Laugh yourself to good health
Could pain possibly be good for you?
At last a diet that works
14
40
44
EDITORIAL
The extraordinary life of Francois Mitterrand
16
GENERAL INTEREST
Some things you may not have known about London
Have you ever wondered where that cork ...
The Bermuda Triangle and beyond
Why do mosquitoes prefer some people and not others?
What's in a Name?
Intelligent sea life
One Man's struggle to save the environment
FEATURES
"Why on God's green earth would you be on Twitter?"
Why must I have Twitter?
22
CELEBRITIES
38
FINANCE
Are you a resident? If so beware of your obligations
Being misled over the global wine shortage
MOTORING
Motorists don't overtake on blind bends - do they?
The cost of cars in Spain
LIFESTYLE
Why can't I use my mobile phone?
Are you a sleep texter?
Press intrusion
Wake up Feeling Energized
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copyright of their work. No part of this work covered by copyright may be
reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written consent of the publisher. Totally Marbella S.L. takes no responsibility for claims
made in advertisements in this magazine.
© Totally Marbella S.L. Depósito Legal: MA 2277-2013
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Publisher Totally Marbella SL
Editor Sara Soto Obando
Email: sales@totallymarbella.com
Marbella Sales Office 951 190 489
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Totally Marbella Magazine SL.
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TRAVEL | MARCH & APRIL 2014
By John Aidie
S
ome Marbella residents return to the UK
during the summer months to escape
the heat and the influx of tourists whilst
others are discovering the North Western region of Spain, where the temperatures are
lower. In this part of Spain during August the
temperature peaks at around 24 centigrade
and the countryside is impressive, with rolling
hills and mountains covered in trees; not dissimilar to some parts of Devon.
The beaches are also quite different from
those found on the Costa del Sol, with many
sandy coves and little villages dotted along the
coast. For those who like long walks in the
countryside and strolling along the beach in
In the winter
it’s rather
like living in
England;
depressing
“
comfortable temperatures it is perfect. So is
there a downside? The downside is the wet
weather, there is always a trade-off and you
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can’t have somewhere that is so wonderfully
green without having the rainfall that goes with
it.
The fact is that this part of Spain has more
rainfall than the UK. For example, during June,
you could on average expect 7.4 days of rain in
the UK, in La Coruña it’s 8 days, and in July it is
6.3 in the UK, compared with 9 in La Coruña. In
the month of August the difference is even
greater with 8.1 days of rain in the UK and 11 in
La Coruña. Unfortunately it doesn’t follow that
when it is not raining in this region it is sunny; it
is cloudy between 40 - 50% of the time.
This is the reason people chose to live in
Marbella with its micro climate, rather than
these parts of Spain. The summers are wonderful but in the winter it is rather like living in England; depressing.The rainfall gets even worse
during the winter. Nevertheless for anyone who
wants to escape the extreme temperatures
during the summer, the weather shouldn’t put
them off visiting this beautiful region; the wet
days are more than compensated for, when the
sun is out. c
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PROPERTY | MARCH & APRIL 2014
An impending property bubble
By James Dunbar
P
roperty prices at the lower end of the
market in Marbella have become very
reasonably priced over the past few
years, whereas prices at the top end have hardly
moved. Some of Marbella’s exclusive Real Estate agents have properties on their books that
are in the 28 – 32m Euros price range, they are
not however permitted to advertise them for security reasons; before anyone can view one of
these properties they have to be able to show
that they at least have the wherewithal to make
such a purchase.
If 32 m Euros sounds expensive then a quick
look at the price of exclusive properties around
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the world makes these Marbella properties - for
what they have to offer - appear very good value
indeed. Central London property prices on the
other hand appear to be spiralling out of control,
and if ever there was a property bubble building,
it is in central London.
There is a confidential brochure being circulated amongst the super wealthy, offering 18
Carlton Terrace for sale at £250m, it is described
as probably the finest residence in in London.
That may be so but what makes it worth £250m,
why not £150m? And this is the problem when
you get into these numbers; it becomes The
Emperor's New Clothes. For security reasons the
brochure shows only black and white photographs dating back to the 1890s. There is believed to be an enormous double staircase and
a huge ballroom.
The asking price makes it 1,537 times more
expensive than the average house in the UK;
rather bigger too with 4,645 square metres of living space. The new owners nearest corner shop
will be Fortnum and Masons, but their prices
should not be a problem for the purchaser,
whose bill for stamp duty alone will be £17.5 million. All this certainly puts Marbella’s property
prices into perspective. c
FOOD & DRINK | MARCH & APRIL 2014
When to
decant a wine
By John Tenniswood
T
here is quite a lot of
confusion surrounding
how long, prior to
drinking, wine should opened,
and whether or not you should
decant it. In practice wines are
often left open too long before
drinking and many wines are
spoilt by decanting, just because a wine is expensive or
old, it doesn’t follow that it
needs decanting.
Some believe that a good
wine has to stand opened for
some time to allow it to
breathe; in practice this is
often detrimental to a mature
wine. Wine already at, or near
its peak, does not need to
meet any more oxygen than it
will in the glass. It will go flat.
Decanting wine exposes it
to even more oxygen. If in
doubt it is probably best to err
on the side of under rather
than over-decanting. As to
whether you should decant
and when, is a controversial
issue and many experts differ
on this subject. Nevertheless
the general consensus is, the
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older wines need to be served
right away, because they have
no protection and will start oxidizing.
Many years ago I was once
presented with a very expensive bottle of Taylor’s vintage
port that had been bought in
Harrods. I didn’t have a lot of
experience with port so I rang
Harrods’s wine department for
advice. I asked the gentleman
who answered the phone how
long it would last once it was
decanted. “One day” he
replied, “One day?” I asked incredulously, he said “well
that’s all it lasts me.”
He then became a little
more serious and explained
that you can leave it in the decanter but in the following
days a very old port will lose
some of its aroma and flavour,
as it no longer has the strength
to cope with the harsh impact
of the air. I therefore did as recommended and consumed
the whole bottle on the day I
opened it. c
HEALTH & FITNESS | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Laugh yourself
to good health
By Lisa Parsons
I
t seems that the health benefits of laughter are far-ranging; apparently laughter
can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and strengthen your immune system.
The immune system protects you from
something as simple as the common cold, to
the most serious of illnesses.
It is said that in this modern world many
people don't get enough laughter in their
lives, but then let’s face it have they ever?
Dickens didn’t seem to think that people
were rolling about the streets of London
laughing; it’s a bit difficult to be jolly when
you are bent double working down in the
mines, or for that matter when you are up a
chimney. Apparently children laugh on aver14 |
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age 400 times a day and adults 15 times a
day, really as much as that. They probably
laughed more before they had teenagers;
nobody told us that those wonderful little
two and four year olds were going turn into
teenagers.
Researchers say that a good laugh has a
tremendous beneficial effect on our stress
levels. But hold on a moment, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? Surely we
would be laughing more if we weren’t under
so much stress. When you get home from
work after one of those days when you’ve
taken one step forward and three back, to
learn that your partner has damaged the car
and the dishwasher has gone wrong, people
would think you were slightly deranged if
you started roaring with laughter. In theory
we should be laughing more because living
and working conditions have improved beyond recognition since Dickens' day but different things stop us laughing nowadays, like
the car going wrong or the computer telling
us that Windows has stopped working.
Perhaps its a matter of getting things into
perspective and appreciating that whilst
opening your Spanish electricity bill is stressful - and will get more stressful with the most
recent increases - it is not the same as worrying about where your next meal is coming
from. c
EDITORIAL | MARCH & APRIL 2014
MARCH & APRIL 2014 | EDITORIAL
The extraordinary
life of
By Richard Holmes
Francois Mitterrand
There are many words
that have been used to
describe the former
President of France
(1981 -1995)
Francois Mitterrand; scheming,
treacherous, devious, and
unreliable, he has even
been described as
the Gallic Blackaddder - but
boring is not a word that
could be used to
describe this exceptional man.
He was someone who lived life on his
own terms. He apparently even left his own
wedding reception before the cake was
cut, in order to attend a political meeting.
Mitterrand was as serial womaniser, after
he was married he set up a second family
and had an illegitimate daughter; they
were kept in lavish style at the expense of
the state. In France the privacy laws were
different from the UK, not only that, but the
French don’t seem to attach a great deal
of importance to a man taking a mistress.
In Britain such things are frowned upon
particularly amongst politicians, but in
France there are many such relationships
that last for years with all parties concerned
– including the wife - seemingly comfort16 |
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able with the arrangement. Mitterrand
being Mitterrand was not content with having a wife and a mistress and went on to
conduct numerous affairs, but he always
kept his illegitimate daughter Mazarine secret.
Having lost two presidential elections
Mitterrand was widely disliked and mistrusted by the public. However in the early
eighties with the help of a flamboyant publicist Jacques Seguela, who drove a pink
Rolls Royce, Mitterrand re- invented himself. He even had his eye teeth fixed because they were pointed and it was
thought that it made him look rather like
Count Dracula. It all worked and he won
convincing victory over Valery Giscard d’
Estaing in 1981.
He then shocked the French by appointing communists to his cabinet; it caused
widespread panic, citizens were terrified
that private property would be expropriated and many of the wealthy were caught
trying to drive to the Swiss border with
their cars full of money and jewellery. In
practice the communists were soon pushed
out of the cabinet. Mitterrand became an
unusual ally to Margaret Thatcher in the
Falklands war. He was re-elected in 1988.
There were many reasons why Mitterrand should never have had a chance of
becoming President of France, even once,
let alone twice. During the war he worked
for Marshall Pétan in the collaborationist
Vichy regime, whilst also maintaining a
clandestine presence in the resistance
movement. On this subject, the author of
the book Mitterrand a Study in Ambiguity,
generously described Mitterrand as being
horribly confused. Horribly confused more
like as to who was going to win the war,
and therefore decided to keep a foot in
both camps.
As if this alone was not enough to disqualify him from being President of France,
in 1959 he quite extraordinarily choreographed an assassination attempt on his
life, arranging for real bullets to be fired at
his car and then got found out. This had
been designed to gain public support and
sympathy – needless to say it did not.
Imagine David Cameron faking an assassination attempt on his life and then getting
voted into power.
He also did not endear himself to the
world when as Justice Minister after the
war; he turned a blind eye to torture in Algeria. One of Mitterrand’s friends allegedly
said “He’s not a man with whom you would
go on a tiger hunt alone.” During the war
he eventually left the collaborationist Vichy
regime and threw his lot in with the resistance movement.
Surprisingly he was very brave almost to
the point of recklessness. He quite
bizarrely took to wearing light blue English
suits and smoking English cigarettes,
hardly the thing to do whilst in areas crawling with the Gestapo. It is quite extraordinary what Mitterrand got away with during
his lifetime; Bill Clinton was referred to as
the Teflon Kid but he and Silvio Berlusconi
could have learned an awful lot for Mitterrand. c
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GENERAL INTEREST | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Some things you
may not have
known
about London
Window Tax
Even today you can see where
windows of older buildings
were bricked up, to escape the
ill-conceived window tax of the
1720’s.
Nursery Rhyme
The nursery rhyme Pop Goes
the Weasel refers to people
pawning their suit, after spending all their money in the London pubs.
Winston Churchill
Up until early 1950 anyone
could phone Winston Churchill
his number was in the phone
book.
By George Hodge
Smog
During the 1950’s London suffered the most terrible Smog’s,
the Smog-forming pollutants
came from many sources including pollution from factories
and people burning coal fires;
which was later banned. The effect was to turn day into night
and it was so bad that many
people could not find their way
home, it was said that they
couldn’t even see their feet.
The worst such fog was in 1952.
4,000 people were known to
have died and a theatre performance at Sadler’s Wells had
to be abandoned when Smog
crept into the auditorium. Londoner’s health suffered terribly,
and those that could afford to
retreated to the country.
The Plague of London
In 1665 it is believed that up to 100,000 people died
from the plague but the true number was never known.
The disease was carried by fleas on rats, but at the time
the culprits were believed to be cats and dogs; and
Londoners were paid to kill them. The children’s
nursery rhyme, Ring-a-Ring of Roses, which finishes
with, attischo, attischo, we all fall down, was referring to
the plague and the fact that sneezing was the final
symptom before people died.
The Great Fire of London
The great fire in 1666 was started in a bakery, in the appropriately named Pudding Lane. It has been reported
that only six people died in the fire but the fact is the
number of deaths is unknown; they were days of great
inequality and deaths of the poor and middle-classes
were not recorded.
Earthquake
London was struck by a major Earthquake in 1750. It
was long before the days of the Richter scale - which
was invented by Charles F Richter in 1934 – so nobody
can be sure just how big it was but eyewitnesses reported houses being swallowed up, and fish from the
Thames being thrown high into the air.
London Bridge
The original Medieval London Bridge was in use for 600
years, during 355 years of those 600 years, heads were
displayed on spikes.
The Tower of London
Over the centuries many people were executed in the
Tower of London but it was not so long ago that the
last person was executed there – Josef Jakobs a German intelligence officer was shot by firing squad in the
Tower in 1941.
Only one British Prime Minister has been assassinated
Just one British Prime Minister out of 51 who have held
the office since 1751, has been assassinated - Spencer
Perceval was shot at the House of Commons in 1812,
by John Bellingham a failed businessman from Liverpool. The country was going through an economic
depression and Bellingham blamed Perceval for his financial difficulties; he was later hanged for the murder.
Traffic lights
In 1868 the world's
first set of traffic lights
was set up outside the
House of Commons.
They blew up a year later,
injuring the policeman
who was operating it.
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Animal remains
that have been
excavated in London
over the years
Kings Cross: A Mammoth
Trafalgar Square:
A Hippopotamus
Islington: A Crocodile
Cheapside: A Wolf
Population
In 1811 London
became the first city to
reach a population of more
than one million inhabitants,
it held the record of being
the most populated city in
the world, until it was
overtaken by Tokyo in
1957.
Cockney
Being called a Cockney
these days is quite
acceptable and perhaps
being born within the sound
of Bow Bells is something to
be proud of – but for hundreds of years the term
Cockney was
an insult.
The OXO Tower
The Architect of the Oxo Tower, Albert Moore, which
was built 1928 – 1929, was forbidden by the planning
authorities from including an advertising hoarding on
the building, so instead he incorporated the company's
name in the windows on all four sides.
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MARCH & APRIL 2014 | FEATURES
FEATURES | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Sian Edwards interviews George Clooney
“Why on God's green earth
would y ou be on Twitter?”
That's a good question. It depends on
whose painting (laughter). But what the real
root of this story is not just about art, it's about
culture. There was a process going on to steal
or destroy entire countries' culture and that
comes down to a very different thing. That
comes down to trying to preserve, trying to
not allow that to happen, and trying to keep
that alive in terms of serving your country. But
I don't know if I would lay down my life for a
Picasso (laughs).
The international jet-setting world of George Clooney, 52,
elicits intoxicating images of a James Bond-like existence
where glamour and opulence dominate the day's agenda
Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com
A
rguably, this Kentucky-born movie
star, from relatively modest beginnings, epitomises 'la dolce vita' as
though he were born to it. Four months a
year he resides in his six-house compound in
Lake Como's Laglio district and the remainder in a mansion in Los Angeles he bought
in 1995, formerly owned by Stevie Nicks. He
has now also bought property in Marbella.
Eternally single, he's equally famous for his
refusal to wed any of the ever-increasing
string of 'long-time' girlfriends, all of whom
are paraded on worldwide red carpet events
he attends and many of whom end up with a
television career. He was most recently in a
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relationship with wrestler Stacey Keibler, 34,
who lasted the usual two-year bench mark,
ending in July 2013. Prior to Keibler there
was British model, Lisa Snowdon, with whom
he had a five-year on-again, off-again relationship. He dated reality personality, Sarah
Larson, Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, and
many years ago Renee Zellweger, Krista
Allen, Kelly Preston and French reality TV
personality, Celine Balitran. Clooney has
kept his word to never wed again since his
marriage to actress Talia Balsam, which
lasted from 1989 to 1992.
He was most recently seen in Gravity,
along with Sandra Bullock, but now he's
gearing up for the release of The Monuments Men, an adaptation of The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and
the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (by
Robert M. Edsel). Clooney co-wrote, directed and stars in this very ambitious project.
The Monuments Men sounds like a great
premise for a story.
Well, it's the most art ever stolen in the
world.
Would you be willing to sacrifice your life
for a work of art like these men were willing to do?
This is your fifth time directing. What does
it take for you to not only direct but star in
a film as well?
Well, I'm looking for interesting stories and
Grant (Heslov) and I have had a company and
we've worked together for about 30 years and
we're always looking for interesting pieces to
tell and sort of different points of view that we
don't often see. We also know that right now
we're able to get some films made so while
we get the chance to do it we're going to continue to do them because I think they're fun
that way and I think it's fun to be able to push
some of the limits.
You seem to employ the same people for
all of your films. I guess you like working
with the same team?
Well, people that you like. Life is too short.
We want to work with people who we enjoy
their company and, for the most part we enjoy
some of these actors' company. Some of them
we don't but, you know, you know who we're
talking about (laughter). Matt Damon's the
toughest of them all because, you know, he
lives in his own sort of Matt Damon bubble
(jokes). He's the toughest one to work with.
All the things you might
think in the quiet of your
drunken evening are
suddenly blasted around the
entire world before
you wake up
“
There are other villains you could have
made a movie about. Why does it always have to be Nazis? Is it because
they're easier bad guys than the others?
Well, they are the bad guys (laughs). I
mean, we could talk about walk through
the Vatican, walk through the Louvre,
there's an awful lot of art that certainly
could be in other places. The Louvre is saying now that they're actively trying to return
some of the art that belonged to the Jewish collectors that were taken over during
the war, but the truth of the matter is this is
an interesting story and we wanted to do a
World War Two story and this seemed like
a brand new story to us. It was one that we
were slightly familiar with but I never realised that we're talking about millions of
pieces of the best art in the world. This isn't
just, 'Oh, you know, we stole a little bit of
art,' or 'We've stolen hundreds of pieces of
art.' This is 6 million pieces of art around
the world. This is Michelangelo's, they were
burning Picasso's and Salvador Dali's in the
yard because they were degenerate art.
This is a very specific, very big moment in
the history in terms of destroying our culture so it certainly makes it a worthwhile
story to tell.
You recently appeared in Gravity. What
was that like working so much in isolation?
I actually like working by myself. [Laughs.]
Truthfully, I was constantly in motion. The
trickiest part was learning to speak quickly
and move 50 percent slower because you are
in space. It was not fun in the machinery-I
have a bad back and a bad neck, so that part
was not fun. But you have to step back and
look at my life. I'm lucky enough to get to
work on these projects.
Onto a very different subject. How hitech are you? Are you on Twitter?
(laughs) Why on God's green earth would
you be on Twitter? Because first of all, the
worst thing you can do is make yourself more
available, right? Because you're going to be
available to everybody. But also Twitter, so
one drunken night, you come home and
you've had two too many drinks and you're
watching TV and somebody pisses you off,
and you go 'Ehhhhh' and fight back. And you
go to sleep, and you wake up in the morning, and your career is over. Or you're an asshole. Or all the things you might think in the
quiet of your drunken evening are suddenly
blasted around the entire world before you
wake up.
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DFree / Shutterstock.com
I have been infinitely more alone in a bad relationship
You're friends with a lot of movie stars,
such as yourself. And like you, Brad Pitt
seems to handle things well.
Well, for a long time now, Brad has been
the biggest movie star in the world. He's bigger than me, bigger than DiCaprio. And I really admire how he deals with that. It's not
easy for him. But he tries to be the most honest version of Brad Pitt that he can be. And
he remains unavailable. He's still a giant
movie star because you can't get to him.
That doesn't mean that I don't think of him
as incredibly talented and smart and all
those things. But you also can't get to him.
Sounds a bit lonely - do you relate to that?
Anyone would be lying if they said they
didn't get lonely at times.
The loneliest you will get is in the most
public of arenas: You will go to a place and
end up in the smallest compartment possible, because it's a distraction to everybody,
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and you end up not getting to enjoy it like
everyone else. I have been infinitely more
alone in a bad relationship; there's nothing
more isolating. I have been in places in my
life where that has existed.
art, or when American troops don't protect
museums in Iraq, you are seeing people losing their culture. And with the end of a country's culture goes its identity. It's a terrible
loss, down to your bones.
What cultural icons have mattered most to
you?
I grew up Catholic, and there were always
religious icons that I'd see in church. The
cross and the altar were big parts of my life.
But when I was 10 years old, my father took
me to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C. I remember walking up those stairs and
looking at this carved piece of marble that
had nothing to do with a carved piece of
marble. That statue said something to me
about us as a society. In The Monuments
Men, we question whether saving art is worth
a life, and I would argue that the culture of a
people represents life. When the Taliban destroy incredible pieces of architecture and
What do you say about the never-ending
gay rumours?
I think it's funny, but the last thing you'll
ever see me do is jump up and down, saying,
'These are lies!' That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I'm not going to let anyone make it
seem like being gay is a bad thing. My private life is private, and I'm very happy in it.
Who does it hurt if someone thinks I'm gay?
I'll be long dead and there will still be people
who say I was gay. I don't give a shit. c
Losing luggage
By Peter Jackson
your
W
aiting for your bag to arrive on
the luggage carousel is a stressful
time. It’s always comforting to be
able to recognise a number of fellow passengers who were on your flight, still standing at
the carousel. However as they thin out, it
starts to become worrying, you find yourself
willing your bag to appear. The level of concern goes off the Richter scale, when the
screen changes from say London Heathrow to
London Heathrow and Berlin.
recovered. Figures published by the Air Transport Users Council show that a large proportion of complaints received, are related to lost
and mishandled luggage, and the subsequent lack of compensation provided by airlines.
Airline rules allow a twenty one day period
before a bag is officially declared "lost". Until
then it is "delayed" and airlines, at least in
theory, will cover costs of anything you have
to buy due to the delay.
When new luggage from your flight stops
appearing and the carousel just keeps going
around empty - apart from that one battered
suitcase that nobody seems to want and the
child’s car seat that someone forgot they had
brought with them - desperation sets in. Usually your luggage does appear, just at the
point you have given up all hope.
Claims are capped at a little over £1,000,
but you will be lucky to receive anything near
that amount. So the reality is there is not a lot
you can do once the luggage is lost but
it is worth preparing for such an eventuality; it can save a lot of grief. The answer is to split your luggage prior to
flying and have really good travel insurance.
On the occasions that it doesn’t turn up,
quite often the airline will deliver your bag
later on that day or the following morning,
but sometimes it can take a few days and it is
tremendously inconvenient. As I travel a lot I
have learned to carry the largest bag permitted as hand luggage and to pack in everything I am likely to need over the following
few days. This would include toiletries and
clothes for a couple days.
Obviously one doesn’t want to lose any
clothes but there are some you want to lose
less than others; I also pack as many of these
as I can in my hand luggage. Short haul low
cost airlines tend to be very strict about hand
luggage, because charging for oversize or
overweight cabin baggage is a source of revenue for them, but long haul airlines tend to
be a lot less strict.
Mostly I have been lucky and eventually recovered my luggage but many bags are never
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There was a short time during
2006 when even hand luggage was
forbidden. On a flight from London, I
had everything including my laptop in
the hold luggage; my bag was lost
and never recovered. I submitted a
claim of £1,700 to the travel insurer. I
had some receipts but mostly I had to
describe the item and state the
value. I carried out a credit
check on the insurance
company and
was pleased to see
they had no
County Court
judgments
against them.
After about
five weeks
they settled my
claim in
full and didn't attempt to reduce the sum
claimed at all, from the stories I have heard
this is quite unusual.
I have a feeling that checking in late can be
a factor when it comes to baggage being lost
or delayed. I used to work on the basis that
the last bags loaded would be the first out
but after years of being the last bag to check
in and the last to arrive on the carousel, I now
tend to check in with plenty of time to spare.
Sánchez & Beck Abogados es un despacho especializado en todo tipo de
c
procedimientos judiciales de materia civil, penal, administrativa, mercantil
e inmobiliario, así como asesoramiento extrajudical, emisión de dictámenes
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Nuestra filosofía es la del trabajo serio y profesional, prestando a nuestros
clientes un servicio directo y personalizado.
Sánchez & Beck Abogados is a law firm that specialises in all kinds of court
proceedings of civil, criminal, administrative, company and real estate
nature as well as in delivery of legal opinions, advice, legal reports and
intervention in sale/purchase operations and other contracts.
Our philosophy is that of responsible and professional work and rendering
a direct and one-to-one service to our clients.
Sánchez & Beck Avocats est un cabinet d’avocats spécialisés dans
les procédures judiciaires de tous types; en matière civile, pénale,
administrative, commerciale et dans l’immobilier, ainsi que dans le conseil
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Notre philosophie est celle d’un travail sérieux, professionnel, assurant à
nos clients un service directe et personnalisé.
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Tel. +34 952 903 306 • Fax +34 952 902 608
sanchez-beck@abogadosmarbella.net
www. abogadosmarbella.net
FINANCE | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Are you a resident in
Spain? If so beware of your
tax obligations
By Rafael Berdaguer
T
he Spanish government has passed new
legislation designed to prevent tax fraud
which means that any person, residing in
Spain, who owns assets abroad on the 31st of
December of each year, must present a tax declaration and give detailed information about
these assets to the Spanish tax office. Spanish
residents have to fulfil this obligation before 31st
of March corresponding to the previous tax year.
In event of non-compliance, the fines and consequences can be very serious indeed.
What information has to be provided to the tax
office?
The information that must be provided to the
tax office, relates to three different groups of assets located abroad, when the total value of
those assets exceeds 50.000 Euros.
1) Accounts in financial institutions must be
thoroughly identified; indicating the opening
and closing date, the balance on the 31st of December and the average balance over the previous three months.
2) Any form of securities or shares in foreign
companies, bonds, loans, life or disability insurance and any annuity paid overseas. Detailed information of such assets must be provided, in
particular the value of said assets, as of 31st of
December.
3) Real estate and any rights you may have to
a property - such as a mortgage or a life interest
in a property - anywhere in the world must be
declared.
This information will have to include assets
owned at any time during the course of the year,
even if they have been disposed of or transferred before 31st December.
Who has to present the tax declaration?
The declaration must be made by any resident
company or individual who owns assets abroad,
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or is the ultimate beneficiary. This is the case
even though they may be registered in the name
of someone else, for example, a trustee has to
present a declaration.
With regard to the first group of assets, i.e.
bank accounts, etc, information must also be
provided by a representative, authorised persons or indeed anyone who has power of attorney to operate the accounts.
No declaration has to be made with regard to
assets which have been previously identified in
officially filed accounts in Spain.
How can I lodge the assessment?
The assessment (Form 720) must be made online by the tax payer, to do so they must have a
digital certificate granted by the Revenue. Alternatively it can be done through a representative
who has a certificate.
When is the deadline to present the tax declaration?
The tax declaration has to be presented between 1st of January and 31st of March of each
year.
Is this an annual tax declaration?
If the information has been declared in a previous tax year -because they exceed 50.000€- the
Spanish resident will only have to present the
declaration in the following years, if the previously declared assets have increased in value by
more than 20.000€.
What are the consequences if those who are
required to do so, do not lodge the information
now?
There will be punitive fines if a Spanish resident
fails to comply with these requirements, i.e. by
not presenting the declaration, or by presenting
it in an incomplete or inaccurate manner. This is
considered a very serious offence, which will be
subject to a fine of 5.000 Euros for each group
of data missing, with an overall minimum fine of
10.000 Euros.
Moreover, if some assets located abroad, are
not declared, and are later discovered by the
Spanish Inland Revenue, they will treat this as an
undeclared capital gain and backdate the tax
due. Which means they will apply the tax to the
four years prior to when they discovered the
“non- reported foreign assets.” The tax office
can therefore at any time, enforce payment of
tax for non-declared assets with no statute of
limitation. In addition to this, a fine amounting
to 150% of the resulting tax bill will have to be
paid.
A number of tax experts have stated that the
new legislation is in breach of the Spanish Constitution and also of the UE Treaty.
Conclusion
It is very important that persons resident in Spain
for tax purposes, declare assets located abroad
because, the consequences can be very serious
and in some cases financially crippling. Also the
new rules on the exchange of information and
the collection of taxes, operated in the European Union, the United States and other countries such as Switzerland, is now working very
efficiently and the Spanish tax office will have an
ever increasing ability to investigate the ownership of assets held in other countries.
This information that the Spanish Authorities
are receiving from the tax authorities in other
countries will make it much easier for them to
identify a false declaration. c
Rafael Berdaguer
is a lawyer from the
Marbella law firm
Rafael Berdaguer
Abogados
MOTORING | MARCH & APRIL 2014
DES0708
Motorists don’t
overtake on blind
bends – do they?
By Lisa Parsons
W
ould anyone in their right mind
consider overtaking on a blind
bend? You wouldn’t have thought
so, however, a poll carried out by the road
safety charity Brake, found that nearly a quarter of the UK’s male drivers, admit to overtaking "blind". The poll was based on the results
from a survey of 1,000 motorists, therefore
give or take a few percentage points, it is likely
to be accurate. This is the type of information
we would rather not know.
If that wasn’t bad enough 18% of woman –
the safe and cautious drivers – also admitted
to overtaking blind. So it seems this most dangerous of manoeuvres is carried out by over
40% of motorists. They didn’t tell us what the
age range was of those who overtake blind,
but judging by the number of young males
killed on the roads, you would assume that
they would make up quite a number of those
who do so. They also tend to drive the oldest
and least safe cars.
Whatever the age range the results are positively frightening, The survey was conducted
in the UK and where this happens most is on
country roads, presumably the same applies
to Spain; I have had quite a few hair raising experiences on the road to Ronda. So how can
we avoid crashing head on into one of these
drivers? Moderating our speed obviously
helps, because it give us time to take evasive
action. Also those who drive a safe and
strongly built car are likely to come off better;
although nobody comes out well in a head on
crash.
Some people think of Spanish roads as
being dangerous; the 2012 death rate figures
show Spain as having 41 fatalities per million
inhabitants, compared with 28 in the UK, but
of course that includes a lot of young motorcyclists, who still even now in some areas, can
be seen riding without crash helmets. And
there are a lot more dangerous places than
Spain; the figure for Italy was 62, Belgium 73,
Romania a scary 94 and Poland a frightening
109. In fact out of the 24 countries for which
the EU published figures, 20 had higher fatalities than Spain.
Unsurprisingly Portugal had 84 fatalities per
million inhabitants, more than double the road
deaths in Spain; in Portugal overtaking on
blind bends is a national pastime. Another interesting exercise is to compare Spain’s road
fatalities of 41 per million inhabitants with the
figure in 1965. I would have guessed it would
have been considerably lower in 1965, with
fewer cars on the road, but in fact it was 114;
nearly triple. Yet still nothing compared with
Sweden’s 1965 figure of 170.
The good news is that the provisional figures for 2013 suggest that Spain’s road death
rate has dropped even further. c
30 |
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Have you ever wondered where that
cork in your bottle of wine comes from?
By John Tenniswood
C
ork is harvested
in
Spain and Portugal and the two
countries are responsible for more than
half of the world’s
cork harvest. The big
difference between a
cork harvest and
other
forms
of
forestry is that the
tree survives the harvest and is used over
and over again; it
never involves the
death of the tree. Instead the bark is gently
stripped from the tree,
leaving the tree looking
32 |
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MARBELLA
rather odd without its bark but completely
healthy.
Cork trees can live for over two hundred
years but are not ready for harvesting until
they are at least twenty five years old. The
early harvests do not produce the best corks;
it isn’t until a tree is in its forties that it can produce premium cork. Once the trees are yielding high quality corks, they are harvested only
every nine years, a tree can be de-barked
about fifteen times; farmers are still producing
a crop from trees planted by their great-great
grandfathers. The process is carried out in the
summer, so as not to damage the tree. A
poor cork which is produced from first two
harvests, is interestingly known as male cork;
later extractions are referred to as gentle
corks. The cork can help the flavour of the
wine.
Those who harvest the tree are
called extractors; it is a very
skilled job. When harvesting they
make two cuts to the tree, the
first is horizontal and is cut
around the tree. They call this the
necklace, and the cut is made at
a height around three times the
circumference of the tree. The
extractors then make a series of
vertical cuts which are called
rulers or openings. They push
the handle of an axe into the
rulers and prise the cork away. It
takes a lot of strength but they
also have to be gentle, otherwise
they will damage the tree.
Once the cork is extracted it is
stacked in layers and left to dry
out. It is then taken to be
processed, even today it is often
transported by donkeys, when
you see them carrying the cork
the animals may appear to be
very overloaded but of course
cork is very light. Cork is used in
the centre of cricket bats, baseball bats and it is cork that is
used for the base of the shuttlecock. Nevertheless 60% of the
cork produced is used for bottles. In spite of there having been
predictions of the screw top wine
bottle eliminating the cork, the
fact is people don’t feel it’s the
same. So this wonderful environmentally friendly industry will
probably have many hundred
years ahead of it. c
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 33
Why must I
have Twitter?
Ok, so the people who know
about these things (the
techno nerds) told me it was
time I was on Twitter. In tones
that smacked of
“We’re telling you this for
your own good” they said if I
didn’t I’d soon be irrelevant,
a dinosaur, obsolete!
Twitter was The Future they
said…
Was I hearing right? Twenty five years as a
journalist, columnist and a commentator and
I’d be on the scrap heap if I didn’t hurl myself
into the technological bear pit that is Twitter,
where people post intellectual little nuggets
like: “Got a mouth like a parrot’s cage this
morning” or “There’s a huge spider in my
bathroom?
I’ve been writing columns and spouting my
views on telly for more than two decades and
trust me there’s no shortage of outlets for
people to insult me, if they don’t like what I
say. Why would I throw myself into yet another
arena, where I could be barracked and booed
some more?
Because there’s nothing subtle or original
about the insults on Twitter. In fact it’s an altogether more vulgar forum for abuse as
many of the people on it are clearly illiterate… or mad! And let’s face it, there are only
so many ways someone can tell me: “Shut
your face you fat old cow you don’t know
what you’re talking about.”
There’s also the little matter of me being a
techno dunce. I’m in that age group where
technology feels like a burden, something to
be endured. It’s all a bit new-fangled and difficult and anyway, what’s wrong with just talking to people on the phone?
It’s only in the past two years I’ve started
properly texting. And yes, I have an iPhone
(with a glittery crystal cover which looks gorgeous) but I have no clue what to do with it.
The Husband tells me he’s put some Apps on
it for me, although I don’t really know what
they’re for and I’m not interested enough to
ask.
And though he tells me it’s now possible to
see people on the phone while I’m talking to
them on something called Facetime – why
would I want to? Because presumably they
can see me too, which can never be allowed
to happen as I work from home and slob
around most days looking like I’ve been attacked by wolves.
Anyway to cut a long story short – I’ve been
on Twitter now for a few weeks - and yes, I’ve
had some hum dingers of insults. Quite a few
from one bloke who every time I’m on telly
tweets asking
“Has someone smashed you in the mouth
or is it too much Botox.” I keep telling him it’s
just my new lip gloss but he won’t have it.
There’s another who calls himself The Rothley Pillowcase (nope I don’t know what it
means either) who I suspect is from another
universe as he speaks in tongues I don’t understand.
34 |
ToTALLY
MARBELLA
(504769;(5;-(5*@+,,7)3<,
+0(465+º;964)056»905.
,5;90,:05=0;,+-69
:<44,9(<*;065:
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By Carole Malone @the carolemalone ....
But some of it is fun. Lots more people are
nice rather than nasty and I’m proud of myself
for (slowly) getting to grips with it. Having said
that I nearly (mistakenly) sent some holiday
pics of me in a bikini (think heffalump with cellulite)) whilst tweeting Nick Clegg. Imagine
what that would have done to my journalistic
credibility if he’d re- tweeted those photos to
the entire Liberal Democrat Party?
ERQKDPVFRPMHZHOOHU\
Anyway, the upshot is I’m actually enjoying
it. In fact I’ve become a bit obsessive – checking every 20 minutes to see how many new
followers I’ve got. There are still some humiliations though. The person who’s giving me
Twitter lessons ( so I don’t libel myself and
lose my house ) is a young journalist who I
mentored ten years ago. He talks to me very
slowly and in much the same way he’d talk to
an aged aunt who’s suffered brain damage.
Don’t get me wrong there are still idiots on
there. There are still people to whom Twitter
has given a voice who in a just and decent
world would be forced to wear a muzzle. But
I’ve learned two things about Twitter. One,
you do actually feel like you’re at the cutting
edge, hearing things first.
And second, there are more smart, funny,
people on there – than there are idiots. So if
you’ve haven’t already joined the fray don’t
be scared...go for it. And if you have come follow me … and we can talk… It’s @the carolemalone… c
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 35
Plus
®
By Adam Jarrett
S
o much has been written over the years
about the many vessels that have been
lost within what is known as the
Bermuda Triangle. However, rather less well
known is the region in the Pacific Ocean that
is known by the Japanese as Mano Umi, (The
Devil's Sea). Many believe that this area is
not only as dangerous as the Bermuda Triangle but even more deadly. Many aircraft that
vanished over The Devil’s Sea and state-ofthe-art ships suddenly lost with all hands.
The most mysterious such case was in 1980
when the British bulk carrier MV Derbyshire
carrying 157,446 tonnes of iron ore, was lost
230 miles off the east coast of Okinawa. It’s
easy to see how small craft can be lost to the
sea in bad weather, but this ship was massive
by any measure – twice the size of Titanic and
longer than three football pitches. Her design was considered to be state of the art,
and the Derbyshire was just four years old.
When large vessels get into trouble they
normally have plenty of time to put out a distress call, but on September 8 1980 the Derbyshire simply vanished, without a trace and
without making a distress call. It was the
largest British ship ever lost at sea. There are
many theories but nobody has ever been
able to come up with a satisfactory explanation as to how this could have happened, and
many suggest the Derbyshire was yet an-
other victim of one of the Pacific Ocean's
most enduring and frightening enigmas.
The Devil’s Sea can be found to the south
of Japan it’s a vast expanse of empty ocean.
Over the centuries numerous gigantic ships
have mysteriously vanished in a similar fashion. Many of them were lost, like the Derbyshire, without even sending out an SOS
call, leaving investigators at a complete loss.
Japanese legends tell of unknown forces that
overpower even the strongest of ships, and
of great sea monsters that drag sailors to
their death. This is something that is probably easy to dismiss, whilst on dry land, but a
little harder to do, whilst sailing in this region
in the dead of night.
It is a much feared region but Japanese
fisherman still venture out there because
there are rich pickings to be had; fish cluster
in this sea. However the wave patterns
change quickly and unpredictably in this
area; small craft can quickly get into trouble
if they are not very vigilant. But it still does little to explain how a vessel the size of the Derbyshire could be lost.
A Japanese Scientist Professor Junichi Yaoi
believes that many of the ships lost in the
Devils’s Sea can be explained because of the
Devil Sea’s dangerous conditions, but he is
also convinced that others have mysteriously
disappeared because there exists an opening to another dimension. When plotted on
a map the Devils Sea has the same lines of
latitude as the Bermuda Triangle.
Many – in fact most - scientists are skeptical
of Professor Yaoi’s theory believing that these
vessels simply became victim to the region’s
treacherous seas. Of course this does not
provide a satisfactory explanation as to how
so many aircraft have been lost over the
same stretch of water. One of the strangest
occurred on March 22 1957; a US C97
Stratofreighter disappeared without trace
with 57 personnel on board. The pilot had radioed whilst over the Devil’s Sea to say that
their estimated arrival was in two hours and
that weather conditions were near perfect
that was the last that was heard. Usually with
an air accident over the sea, there remains a
considerable amount of debris floating on
the water, in this case search and rescue
teams found nothing.
The Derbyshire was however located in
1994 by a team of investigators using a special type of unmanned submarine. They were
able to photograph the bow with the name
of the ship clearly visible. So we know that it
didn’t disappear into another dimension but
it still doesn’t really tell us how such a large
vessel can sink to the bottom of the ocean
without even sending out a distress signal. c
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36 |
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MARBELLA
ToTALLY
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CELEBRITIES | MARCH & APRIL 2014
MARCH & APRIL 2014 | CELEBRITIES
British Super Model Naomi
Campbell has visited Marbella
on several occasions. Following her split from Russion billionaire Vladislav Doronin,
Naomi took some time out to
relax in the Mediterranean
sunshine and is spotted looking amazing in a floral maxi
dress.
Tulisa Contostavlos
having a good time in
Marbella at the
Champagne spray party.
Stars with a holiday home in the area include Hollywood legend George Clooney. The
52 year old heart throb has been visiting Marbella for years and recently bought a
home in Marbella for 4 million euros. It is said that he has sold his Lake Como property
and will be spending a lot more time here.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are also
loving Marbella. Rumour has it that
they are looking for an ideal European
home and Marbella seems to tick all
the boxes.
Marbella is expected to be top celebrity
choice for summer 2014
What is it about Marbella that attracts so many celebrities?
Is it because Marbella oﬀers more privacy and security? It
certainly seems so, as the press here are a lot less intrusive,
allowing celebrities to unwind and relax in relative peace.
Also with 320 days of sunshine a year, luxurious hotels, bars,
restaurants and shops you can understand why they love
Marbella as much as we do. Here are a few that were caught on camera last year
No stranger to Spanish shores
Kylie Minogue before her split
with Spanish boyfriend Andres
Velencoso.
38 |
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MARBELLA
Former desperate housewife star
Eva Longoria hosted the Global Gift
Gala here in Marbella. The actress,
seen here with former boyfriend
Ernesto Arguello, still had time to
take in the sights of Marbella Old
Town.
Melanie Griffiths and Antonio Banderas
celebrated their birthdays here last year.
Their birthdays fell just one day apart;
Griffiths on August 9th and Banderas the day
after. Both were spotted walking hand in
hand whilst shopping in Puerto Banus.
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 39
Could pain possibly be
good for you?
By Dr Mark Lane
P
ain is the most common reasons we
consult with a health practitioner. Typically the desired result is immediate
cessation of symptoms, and to get on with
whatever we were doing in our busy life. Is
this logical? The answer really depends on
your point of view on pain, and what it is actually saying.
Pain, typically is viewed from an “outsidein” perspective: As a spectator, or from what
you can or cannot do as a result of pain. Seen
from this perspective pain is unpleasant, inconvenient and debilitating. Certainly pain
not only shapes how you move and can physically do things, but it influences you mentally
and emotionally affecting how you make decisions and deal with the world at large.
The problem with this view is no credence
is given to what the message “pain” is alerting us to. Consider for a moment that pain is
a message from our body telling us something; something that is ultimately for our
greater good. By good I am referring to our
long term health and wellbeing. If hunger is
an alert to the need to eat, perhaps pain is
also a message as equally as important? This
is the “inside-out” perspective. Pain as defined by the American Academy of Pain
Medicine is “a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to
alert you to possible injury and
the need to take care of yourself”.
Society’s perspective
We tend to define
pain as being abnormal, rather than
realizing that what
pain is telling us is
there is something
abnormal going on and
we need to do something about it. Due to this
misunderstanding we tend to
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shoot the messenger (and our body’s attempt to alert us to a problem), rather than
appreciate the bearer of the bad news and
respond. We are fed a diet of pharmaceutical
ads reinforces the inconvenience of experiencing pain and symptoms and the ease of
taking a pill, and to a large extend the medical and health industries support this point
of view. The social trend to ignore big problems and look for quick fixes only further reinforces this view. From liposuction to
government bail outs.
Unfortunately the consequence of ignoring
problems is disastrous for our health. If you
consider that 84% of factors related to disease and premature death are under the control of the individual; their response and that
the majority of medications merely mask
symptoms (often the warning signs) we are
literally killing ourselves.
This ignorance as to how we look after our
health becomes evident in studies that show
while health care expenditure has helped reduce infant mortality; it has only marginally
had an effect on our health and life expectancy. Once you understand that we
spend our effort treating symptoms and
warning signs and/or the resulting disease
rather than addressing the factors that cause
our health problems it is then clear we are
definitely not heading in the direction of
health. The United States of America unfortunately is the basket case: they spend more
on “health care” than any other nation yet
life expectancy is ranked at 27th of 34 OECD
countries. Something here is wrong!
Natural laws
We live in a world of cause and effect. Things
happen for a reason. Problems also don’t just
mysteriously disappear. Ignored oil warning
lights on a car dashboard can only mean the
long term health of your engine isn’t going
to be good. In the same way your body is
constantly talking to you (from the inside-out)
telling you how it is doing. Paying attention
to what your body is telling you, then makes
perfect sense if we want to remain healthy
and ignored symptoms such as pain have no
long term health benefit.
Perhaps then we also need to redefine
what we consider as health? Rather than
making “feeling good” our primary objective at the cost of our life. A definition and approach to health
that resonates at a much
higher level is that of the
World Health Organization:
“health is a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being and
not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity.” c
By Lisa Parsons
P
ilots have recently complained that they
are required by the airlines to carry less
fuel than that with which they are comfortable. They say airlines are always looking at
the bottom line and the more fuel they carry, the
more fuel they burn due to the additional
weight. A retired captain of one of the major airlines said. “Sometimes if you carry just enough
fuel and you hit thunderstorms or delays, then
suddenly you’re running out of fuel and you
have to go to an alternate airport.”
I have only heard of one case where an airliner
completely ran out of fuel, although I had an experience which had all the signs that our plane
was about to run out of fuel; many years ago I
was flying back to the UK from a skiing trip in
Sierra Nevada with my son, we were due to land
at Gatwick airport. The flight seemed to be taking an awful long time, after a while my son told
me to look out the window, the sky was full of
planes everywhere you looked, and it was clear
we were just circling, alongside hundreds of
other aircraft.
Eventually the captain announced that there
had been an incident at Gatwick and Heathrow
airports and they were both closed. He said that
we would be landing at Luton instead. He
added, that as we could see by looking out the
window there were many planes ahead of us
and there would be a very long wait indeed. This
made the passengers mildly uncomfortable but
in general they were fine with this.
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All of a sudden the captain was back and he
said, “I think I’ll make a dash for it and see if I can
get there first.” There were several hundred
sharp intakes of breath and the knuckles of those
who were holding onto the armrest, turned
white. Why did he say that? After all we all know
that aviation history would be littered with midair collisions, if pilots suddenly decided to jump
the queue – as some might in the post office. In
fact why did he say anything at all? He could
have said nothing and just made his way to
Luton. Eventually, after a nerve racking 45 minutes, we landed safely. Well more or less - we
seemed to just drop the last 30 feet onto the
runway - perhaps pilots are not assisted by autopilot when landing at an unscheduled airport.
Incidences in the air are extremely rare and
millions of flights every year are boringly predictable. I did however have another rather disturbing experience on a flight into Malaga. We
were on our approach into Malaga when it happened. It was a fairly stormy day and the plane
was being buffeted by gale force winds. I was
peacefully reading my book when suddenly
there was an enormous flash of light and a large
bang. Nobody was quite sure what had happened, I thought that perhaps one of the engines had exploded.
There wasn’t exactly widespread panic but
everybody was very concerned and highly nervous. Panic did however set in but that again was
to do with the way the crew handled the inci-
dent; an air hostess’ voice came over the system
and said “Please don’t be concerned there is
nothing to worry about.” That told us that, she
like us, had no idea what had just happened, or
that she did know and she was afraid to tell us.
But what really caused panic was that her voice
was shaking. Many nervous passengers watch
the cabin crew very closely especially on take-off
and landing; if the cabin crew is happily chatting
away they know they have nothing to worry
about.
So now everybody was panicking, I pretended
to read my book, I stared at the page very hard
but the words were a blur, I was too busy asking
myself why God had chosen me to die so young.
Eventually we landed in driving rain and strong
winds but without incident; it was only then that
the captain told us that the plane had been
struck by lightning. It confirmed what I had once
read; that if the captain is busy dealing with an
incident, he won’t waste his time talking to the
passengers. As we disembarked we saw a large
hole in the tail of the plane, it was clear that it
wasn’t going any place soon.
Many people are nervous when flying but the
inescapable fact is that it is absolutely safe. It was
once calculated that to be statistically certain of
dying in an air accident you would have to fly
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for
twenty years. As Jeremy Clarkson said when he
made a television programme about air travel,
“You have more chance of being killed by your
trousers than a plane.” c
MARCH & APRIL 2014 | HEALTH & FITNESS
At last
a diet that
works
T
he reason that the vast majority of
diets don’t work is because they
subject the dieter to a regime that is
almost impossible to maintain in the long
term; at least not in the real world. Many
also deprive those who are trying to diet,
of the things they like the best, and they
not unnaturally start to resent the fact that
they can’t have what they want; nothing
makes you want something more, than
being told you can’t have it.
Therefore what invariably happens is the
weight is lost quite successfully, but over
the following months it’s all put back on
again. And some people, mainly women go
through their life with their weight swinging
from one extreme to the other. There is a
very good reason why you shouldn’t be
doing this; it is damaging to your health.
In one questionnaire in which doctors
were trying to predict life expectancy they
asked those in the survey if their weight
had gone up and down significantly, more
than five times in their life. Now that
doesn’t mean that if yours has, you are
going to die prematurely but it is a very
good reason to deal with the weight issue
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By Lucia Stephens De La Rosa
once and for all.
So what is this diet? It’s eating less. Now
please don’t stop reading and say “I didn’t
need to read an article to be told what I already know, and anyway if I knew how to
eat less I would have already done so.” Because this is the point; people don’t know
how to eat less. We do however all know
that you can do all the diets in the world
and go to the gym, but it’s not the answer,
because as soon as you ease off, the
weight comes back on. The only way to
gain control of your weight permanently in
a way that doesn’t make you feel deprived
is to train your mind to eat less, and there
is a technique for doing this.
If possible, at the beginning of this diet,
try eating mainly eating at home, restaurants can come later. Then at each meal,
serve yourself a reasonable sized portion –
not a large portion but definitely not a
small meal – there is nothing worse than
finishing your measly portion and having to
sit there and watch the family eat theirs.
Once you have the plate in front of you,
before you even think about starting to eat
– and this is very important - you decide
how much
you are going
to eat initially; let us
say half. Once you have eaten that half, you
say to yourself, “I am going to leave the
other half on the plate, perhaps put it in the
fridge, and if I still want it in half an hour, I
will eat it.” Amazingly you will find that
after half an hour you can take it or leave it,
so generally you will leave it, other times
you will eat a bit more and then leave the
rest, because you have a choice and you
know it’s there if you want it. As you
haven’t been deprived of anything and
you are in control, you will derive satisfaction from leaving food on the plate.
As a result of this exercise you will have
eaten half or perhaps a little more than you
would have normally eaten which under
normal circumstances you would have
hated. It’s the same if you feel like eating
some chocolate, by all means eat some but
decide first what you are going to eat, two
squares or whatever, and set the rest aside.
As you gradually gain control over what you
“
they feel there is no reason why they can’t
pile it onto the plate; this is a mistake, you
have to apply the same rules whatever you
are eating. Soon you will find yourself enjoying a meal in a restaurant, even though
you have left food on your plate. Raw vegetables are very healthy, and possibly even
have the ability to strengthen and repair
the immune system, but they are also very
filling and can be well worth eating before
going out to dinner. It’s not too helpful to
arrive at a restaurant feeling as though you
Once you have the plate in
front of you, you decide how
much you are going
to eat initially
eat you will start to take pleasure in
knowing that you could eat more but
choose not to.
Another reason this works very well is because it gives the stomach a chance to
send the message to the brain that you
have had enough; this message takes
about ten minutes to arrive at the brain, so
people often continue eating for a further
ten minutes after they are full. By the time
the message arrives it is too late, they have
overdone it.
Avoid the trap that some people fall into,
which is because its vegetables or salad
could eat a horse.
With this system you will lose weight
gradually, consistently and permanently
and you won’t have taken any pills or other
concoctions that allegedly make you lose
weight. Once you have got your weight
down to its correct level and held it there
for three months, it’s far more difficult to
put weight on again.
Many who choose this regime also find
that there is a significant improvement in
their self-esteem; there is a close relationship between feeling in control of one’s life
and self-esteem. c
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Los Flamingos Golf, Benahavis - 6.000.000€
Ref: 115337
This high quality, new build villa is located near to the prestigious Villa Padierna
Hotel and offers panoramic views out to the Mediterranean Sea and golf course
with the Rock of Gibraltar and Africa in the distance.
There is a large, open plan living room with double height ceilings, a dining room
and, for those who love to cook, a fully fitted Gaggenau kitchen with a Tepanyaki
cooking plate.
There are 3 bedrooms on this level together with a home office and cloakroom.
The complete first floor is dedicated to the open plan master bedroom suite
with feature gas fireplace, walk-in dressing room and bathroom and a large
private sun terrace with shower. Every square metre of this home has been
designed with style and comfort in mind. It has a heated indoor pool with jet
stream, a traditional built steam room, dry sauna, guest bathroom and a private
patio with outdoor stone bathtub. There is also an entertainment area and
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In the garden there is a heated infinity pool, bar area with fireplace and lots of
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Build: 1200m2 Beds: 4 Baths: 4
La Zagaleta Golf, Benahavis - 5.900.000€
Ref: 101206
Beautiful unique modern villa, situated on an elevated plot close to the North
gate in this stunning, prestigious, highly sought after location.
The villa has been built with the utmost eco-friendly state of the art technology
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heating and air conditioning, and a top of the range Crestron home automation
system which controls the lighting, music, air conditioning, gate entry and
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The accommodation is spaciously distributed and comprises a lounge, study,
kitchen, dining room, two master bedroom suites, two further en suite bedrooms, wine cellar, second kitchen, sauna, laundry room and cinema room.
A separate building houses a garage for three cars.
The landscaped gardens have a heated swimming pool with waterfall, Jacuzzi,
built-in barbecue and several oak trees which create an impressive picture when
beautifully lit at dusk.
Build: 769m2 Plot: 3375m2 Beds: 4 Baths: 4
Why do mosquitoes
prefer some people and
not others?
By Emily Williams
I
t is not entirely clear as to why mosquitoes
target certain people but what is clear is
that they do. If you are one of these people it is extremely annoying, if you are not,
then it’s a bit of a relief that they are biting
someone else and not you. When looking for
reasons as to why this is the case, it is complicated by the fact that different species appear
to use different criterion for targeting their
victims. Fortunately we don’t have malaria in
Spain but in Africa where the mosquitoes do
carry malaria, they tend to target pregnant
women. Nobody really knows why; although
as always there are lots of theories.
There is some evidence that mosquitoes
like people who consume a lot of sugar and
those who drink beer; although the beer
can’t have anything to do with the sugar content, because it has virtually no sugar and
often none at all, although of course it’s
loaded with carbohydrates. When it comes to
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sugar in alcohol, wine is one of the lowest
apart from beer and liqueurs have the highest
sugar content; Kahlua contains a massive 33
grams of sugar per 30ml, whilst Baileys tastes
like it’s loaded with sugar but only has 6
grams per 30ml.
yourself down with garlic before an important
date, lemon juice works, although you do
have to keep re-applying it.
Mosquitoes don’t appear to like people
who eat a lot of garlic. It is also said that they
prefer dark clothes that don’t reflect much
light but after dark that can’t realistically make
much difference and it is often after dark
when mosquitoes are most active.
Mosquito nets are probably overkill in
Spain as the mosquitoes are not carrying dangerous diseases and anyway the nets are generally treated with chemicals which you then
breathe all night. Also the temperature increases significantly under a net because
there is not the same flow of air. Mosquitoes
don’t like air conditioning; this keeps them at
bay, as can a fan.
There are many anti mosquito products on
the market but most are quite toxic as they
contain the powerful pesticide Deet, which is
particularly damaging to children. There are
organic products available and you do see
some formulas on the internet for completely
natural ways of keeping mosquitoes at bay.
Garlic is a deterrent but clearly you can’t rub
It can be very frustrating at night because
they wait for you to turn the light out and then
start buzzing around your head but disappear
completely when you turn the light back on.
The particularly annoying mosquitoes are
those really small ones; you don’t know where
they are, but they certainly know where you
are. c
FINANCE | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Being misled
over the
global wine
shortage
By James Dunbar
L
ast October Morgan Stanley analysts
Tom Keirath and Crystal Wang caused a
bit of panic, when they produced a report and announced an impending global wine
shortage. Consumers began to worry that they
weren’t going to be able to get their favourite
tipple. However within days of the report coming out, Morgan Stanley was accused of cooking the books.
Reuters’ Felix Salmon said the motive for
Morgan Stanley’s creative accounting, in the
charts they produced, was designed to create demand for Australian wine and, “to justify the fact that a company called Treasury
Wine Estates, is the bank’s top Australian
consumer pick.” Skeptoid when assessing
Morgan Stanley’s report said, “It was essentially a naked attempt to shill investment advice.”
Why do banks do this and how do they think
they are going to get away with it? No sooner
does a report like this come out, when it is
jumped upon by people like Felix Salmon, and
if there is a flaw in it, they will find it; that’s what
they do. We need to be able to trust our financial advisers and rely upon their advice. There
are many extremely reputable banks, but they
also get damaged by examples of misleading
advice such as this. Surely banks should be trying to rebuild their reputation and restore faith
in the banking system.
It was
essentially a
naked
attempt
to shill advice
“
There was a time when a bank’s core business was straightforward banking; they lent
money and looked after customer’s savings,
they wouldn’t have known a sub-prime mortgage if it jumped out and bit them. You even
had a very respectable gentleman who was
your local bank manager and you could actually
go and see him. OK he was a bit pompous and
used to sit behind a big desk wearing a bow
tie, but believe it or not he could actually make
a lending decision, and assess the person sitting in front of him, rather than ticking boxes,
based on a points system.
It all seemed to work quite well; insurance
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companies sold insurance; banks lent to businesses, granted personal loans and also provided savings accounts. Building societies
basically did two things; saving accounts and
mortgages. They also did everyone a favour
and kept house prices in check; by having very
strict lending criteria, which was a multiple of
three time the main earner’s income and once
the second income. As much as someone
wanted to overstretch themselves, the building
society wouldn’t let them.
Then came the 1980’s and it all turned into a
bit of a free for all. Banks stared to do mortgages; building societies started to do personal loans and then decided they also wanted
some of the insurance market as did the banks,
and everyone was chasing everyone else’s
business. With increased competition came
reckless lending, required multiples changed
and this saw the birth of the non status mortgage. What this meant was, for the first time
you didn’t have to prove income, you just made
it up.
People at the time thought they were misleading the lenders, when they overstretched
themselves. Who could have guessed that
rather than the bank worrying about the customer’s ability to repay what they owed; it
would end up the other way around, or that a
bank would be telling us we are running out of
wine, simply to serve their own purposes. c
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 51
What’s
in a
Name
By Lisa Parsons
O
dd sounding names can be quite
funny, unless you happen to be the
one with the “amusing” name.
Your name is something that you are destined to live with for the rest of your life, unless you opt to change it. Interestingly in
the UK it seems you can use whatever name
you choose, as long as it is not for illegal
purposes.
One is never quite sure if some of the
strange combinations of first and second
names that people have chosen for their
children, came about because the parents
just didn’t think, or that they did, and
thought a name like Mary Christmas might
be quite endearing.
Who knows, perhaps the parents of Stan
Still just didn’t like him, and maybe the
same applied to Barb Dwyer. Or could it be
that just at the moment the vicar christened
Anna Sasin the parents realised their mistake. It is probably not a bad idea to bear
in mind that babies grow into adulthood
and their name goes with them; the parents
of Pearl Button may have thought it was a
rather sweet name for a baby but it probably wasn’t appreciated by Pearl when she
became an adult.
Other examples are, Paige Turner, Terry
Bull, Tim Burr, Priti Manek and Annette Curtain. Someone even thought up Carrie
Oaky, and Joe King. When introduced to
someone with this type of name it can be
an advantage to keep a straight face and
avoid the temptation to crack a joke that
they will have undoubtedly already heard a
million times before. But what do these parents who do this to their children have in
common, a low IQ perhaps? c
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Proyectos Jomage SL
Intelligent sea life
We build to a standard not a price
- and yet we have suprising prices
By Anthony Gilmartin
D
olphins have long been recognised
as being highly intelligent creatures,
with unusually high levels of awareness and comprehension. They are also the
only known animal apart from humans and
high primates, to be able to recognise themselves in a mirror. They have hunting techniques that suggest that they are capable of
coordinated teamwork.
More recently scientists have discovered
that the octopus is far more intelligent than
previously thought; to the extent that an octopus is capable of solving problems. Scientists have conducted an experiment where
they put a prey item into a container with a
screw lid or a plug. The octopus was able to
work out how to remove the lid and get at the
prey.
It has always been known that when an octopus is threatened, it will release a cloud of
black ink to distract its attacker in order to
make its escape but it now appears that the
ink can also dull the predator’s sense of smell,
which can prevent it from tracking the octopus.
The octopus also uses a variety of other
techniques to avoid its enemies; it can camouflage itself to backgrounds using
specialised muscles in its skin and
a network of pigment cells.
They can squeeze their
soft body into small
crevices and cracks
because they
don’t have a
skeleton and this is often what allows them to
escape from predators.
What is really amazing about the oc-
“
It has the ability to lose
an arm and regrow
it without sustaining
permanent damage
topus is that it has the ability to lose an arm and re-grow
it without sustaining permanent damage. Weirdly octopuses have three hearts and four pairs of arms. Two of
their hearts pump blood through the gills while the remaining heart circulates blood throughout their body.
We offer a full range of highly skilled
building services including:
- Electricity
- Plumbing
- Painting and decorating
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Octopuses have jaws that resemble a beak that can
give a very nasty bite, not only a bite but one which has
saliva packed with venom, used to subdue their prey. All
octopuses are venomous but only the blue ringed octopus is deadly to humans. The problem for humans is that
if they see an octopus swimming towards them they
wouldn’t know a blue ringed octopus from any other.
If you are trying to get away from an octopus you
should bear in mind they are extremely fast swimmers,
and can propel themselves forward by shooting water
through their mantles. Although there is not too much
to worry about on the beaches of Marbella because the
dangerous blue ringed species are found in the Pacific
Ocean, in the areas between Australia and Japan. c
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29601 Marbella, Malaga
Telephone 951 339 673
Mobile 670 266 919
Email: serafin@jomage.com
www.jomage.com
ToTALLY
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LIFESTYLE | MARCH & APRIL 2014
Why can’t I use
my mobile phone?
By Peter Jackson
H
ave you ever wondered what the
urgency is when you are told to
switch your mobile phone off,
whilst sitting on the tarmac at Malaga airport? It is certainly the case that anyone
with a busy work schedule could make up
valuable time by being able to text and
email on a flight. When flying to London
you could get over two hour’s work done
and on a long haul flight a full day’s work,
but we can’t because we are told it is dangerous.
Once we are seated on the plane it is announced, “Using mobile phones and other
electronic devices may interfere with an aircraft's electronic and navigation systems,
as well as put passengers and crew at risk.”
But is this true? Perhaps like me you have
wondered how your mobile phone could
seriously interfere with the plane’s electronic and navigation system and if it were
true what about those mobiles that many
passengers forget to switch off?
On arriving at Heathrow I have sometimes
found, on retrieving my mobile from my hand
luggage, that I forgot to switch it off, and have
been rather surprised to see a message wel-
“
Let’s face it if there
was a real danger
they wouldn’t allow
mobiles on board
coming me to a French telephone network
system. The plane would be at quite a high
altitude by the time it’s in French airspace.
Aircraft manufacturers spend considerable sums of money on securing planes
against every possible danger and in partic-
ular making sure that the electronics are
shielded from all radio sources, so it is inconceivable that one mobile phone could
put the entire plane at risk. And let’s face it
if there was a real danger they wouldn’t
allow mobiles on board a plane at all. A passenger sitting next to me the other day was
caught texting just before take-off and was
scolded like a naughty five years old.
I don’t know what the real reason is that
mobiles are not allowed on planes but it is
rather misleading to tell us that they may interfere with an aircraft's electronic and navigation systems, when clearly that is not the
case. And anyway American Airlines used to
have a phone available for use on the back
of the seat in front of you. I thought I would
try it once - it was the nearest I was going to
get to the mile high club - it was little more
than hello and goodbye; when my credit
card bill came through I had been debited
$25. c
Please ask for a quotation without obligation - Complete Interior Projects.
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Are you a
sleep texter?
Have you ever awoken in the morning to find that you sent a text,
but don’t remember sending it?
By Tamara Rose
If you have you are not alone, you have
sent a sleep text and this is more common
than you might think. Sleep texting is a
new phenomenon that is affecting mainly
the younger generation and reflects what
a significant role smart phones play in our
lives.
Many young adults are so connected to
their phones and tablets that they never
turn them off. As they lay in bed asleep
their smart phones are on the bedside
table and may buzz or vibrate. Subconsciously they answer the phone and respond with a text which can be in words,
or may be in a combination of words and
numbers, which make no sense at all.
In a recent survey a large percentage of
young people admitted that their smart
phone or tablet interfered, to some extent,
with their sleeping pattern. Sleep texting
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occurs most often during the time before
a person enters into a deep sleep. It is
thought that the constant presence of
smart phones is having a detrimental effect
on deep restorative sleep.
Not getting a full night’s sleep means that
our brains are not getting the rest that they
need. This can affect a person’s cognitive
ability the next day. Experts say in order to
experience full restorative sleep; a person
needs to sleep for 7 or 8 hours each night.
Not getting enough sleep can have wide
ranging effects on many aspects of our life.
It is said that when a person is sleep deprived, it can cause depression, obesity,
high blood pressure and behavioural problems. People tend to joke about the zombie apocalypse, but the truth is millions of
people are so dependent upon their smart
phones and other devices that they are
walking through life with their eyes fixed
on their screens. Some people no longer
look up when they cross the street. People
are zoned out and glued to their devices
everywhere you look.
Apparently one in three teenagers will
send over one hundred text messages a
day. When they go to bed, the average
teen places their phone on their bed or
near it and may sleep text without even
being aware that they are doing this.
Some of us don’t have any secrets but if
you do, sleep texting can be a dangerous
pastime; you may end up sending the right
message to the wrong person or the wrong
message to the right person. In any event,
secrets or not, it probably makes sense to
keep your mobile phone out of reach, to
avoid the risk of radiation. c
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Press intrusion
By Yvonne Reaney
Some people would say that the price of celebrity is sacrificing your private life
but perhaps what we should remember is that they are just doing a job, like you
and me, although rather better paid admittedly
An actor or singer’s job is to entertain, they
did not sign up to be constantly followed and
hounded by the paparazzi. People are heard
to say that they should have thought about
that before they embarked on such a career,
but it would probably be difficult for anyone
to imagine the extent of press intrusion before becoming famous.
Arguably there are some celebrities that
love the attention and go to great lengths to
let the paparazzi know where they are going
to be, they constantly tweet their whereabouts then look dismayed when the paparazzi turn up; they just can’t bear to be out
of the limelight. Most celebrities however, do
not deserve the constant attack by the paparazzi, who go to extreme lengths to stalk
them, making their lives unbearable.
The Britney Spears story springs to mind,
when Britney tried to walk her dog. She had
just got outside the gates of her home when
paparazzi sprang up, constantly flashing their
cameras in her face. She was quite clearly dis60 |
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MARBELLA
tressed but they didnt back off. Eventually she
headed back home and collapsed in tears
with the paparazzi saying “You look upset
Britney is there anything we can do” while still
constantly flashing the cameras at her.
about other people’s private lives; it is not
only unhealthy for those who read them but
also has a detrimental effect on the health
and sanity of the celebrity concerned; whose
lives are often ruined by these stories.
This is the part that the public don’t understand; the paparazzi want the celebrity upset,
so they will constantly flash their cameras in
their face, which leaves them virtually blinded,
whilst at the same verbally attacking and insulting them. There is nothing they like better
than a celebrity finally cracking, and trying to
hit them. When the public see this they are
often shocked, wondering how their mild
mannered idol could behave in such a way,
but of course they don’t see what leads up to
it.
Some may remember many years ago the
footage of Princess Diana being very upset at
Malaga airport. At the time many wondered
why she was getting so distressed at being
photographed, after all she was no stranger
to the camera. I however have heard a recording of what the photographers were shouting
at her, which is totally unprintable. Many want
press intrusion to be curbed, after all nobody
deserves having there rubbish bin emptied by
those looking for quite private and personal
information.
So who is to blame? Well it must be the
public; the paparazzi would not be so intrusive if the public weren’t so celebrity obsessed and the demand for personal details
of these celebrities so high. If not the public
in general, certainly those who relish reading
The press say that there are dangers in restricting and curbing their ability to investigate and they have a point; after all who else
would keep the politicians in check? I suppose it’s a question of, how far is too far? c
MARBELLA
MARBELLA
To read our magazine
online and for the latest
legal and tax news
www.totallymarbella.com
We currently have
1,263 online readers
One Man’s struggle
to save
the environment
T
he 3rd of March 2011 saw the end of the
trial brought against the environmental
protester Tim DeChristopher, he was
found guilty and faced up to ten years in prison.
DeChristopher was an economics student at
“
When the auction
ended he had bought
22,500 acres of land at
a cost of $1.7 million
the University of Utah. In December 2008 he
joined a protest outside an auction in Salt Lake
City.
The state was selling large parcels of land to
gas and oil developers, so they could carry out
drilling. The parcels of land were close to two
of the country’s most beautiful national parks.
DeChristopher decided to go into the lobby of
the building where the auction was being held
and he was taken by surprise when one of the
clerks asked him if he was there to bid. He re62 |
ToTALLY
MARBELLA
covered quickly, produced his ID and was
shown into the auction room.
DeChristopher was wearing a purple jacket
and jeans, completely at odds with the suited
businessmen seated around him. Yet nobody
seemed to notice; perhaps they thought he
was an eccentric multi-millionaire. When the
auction ended he had bought 22,500 acres of
land at a cost of $1.7 million, he was delighted. However when it was discovered that
he didn’t have the funds to pay for the land,
he was promptly arrested and charged with
sabotaging an auction. This is considered a
very serious offence in America.
The whole matter attracted enormous
press attention and DeChristopher became a
celebrity. This publicity was extremely unwelcome for the government and they were
forced to bow to public opinion and declare
the auction illegal, saying that they recognised that the land was too close to areas of
natural beauty.
DeChristopher said he had no regrets and
had proved that an economics student with
no money could take on and win a battle
against large corporations, intent on destroying the environment. As to his possible ten
year prison sentence, he served a token jail
term of just twenty one months. c
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 63
Wake up
Feeling Energized
In exclusivity with
By Lucia Stephens De La Rosa
G
etting too little sleep is one reason,
but by no means the only reason, that
we wake feeling frazzled, rather than
refreshed. Clearly the starting point is to get the
amount of sleep you need; it varies from person to person and can be anywhere between 6
to 8 hours. So why do we still wake up feeling
that we haven’t slept, after getting 8 hours?
There are many reasons but it is usually to do
with the quality of sleep; below are some things
you can try, to help you achieve better quality
sleep.
Routine: Our bodies all have clocks in them,
but when we continually change our routine the
body constantly finds itself out of sync. It’s not
always easy but if possible try to create a routine; going to bed and waking up at the same
time each day. Having a siesta of around 45
minutes each day can be tremendously beneficial, if your schedule will allow it.
Darkness: Keep the room as dark as
possible; - Melatonin (which is regulated by exposure to light) is
produced by the body, and
regulates when we wake up
and sleep at night. Too much
light at night, will interfere
with your ability to sleep.
Relaxation: Avoid exercise before bed. It not
only raises the heart rate, but will put you into
a hyped up state that will make you toss and
turn all night. If you do exercise late in the day,
make sure it is at least 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. On the other hand, yoga is a great way to
relax; bending, stretches, and soothing exercises will help you get to sleep.
Alcohol: If you are having difficulty sleeping,
perhaps you need to cut back on alcohol. Although you may fall asleep having drunk a
number of glasses of wine, after a few hours it
works as a stimulant; so not only will you sleep
less, it will also be of poorer quality.
Television: Whilst it can be nice to watch television in bed, it’s not very conducive with
sleep. If you really want to watch television, try
turning it off half an hour before going to sleep
and read a little.
A hot drink: It’s thought that having hot milk
before going to sleep will help you to drift off.
Some say it’s because the blood goes from the
brain to the stomach reducing brain activity.
Others say it’s because it contains Tryptophan,
which is thought to induce sleep. There is anecdotal evidence that the warm milk reminds
us of the time when we were infants; making us
"sleep like a baby." Generally milk is not
thought to be terribly good for adults but if it
helps you sleep, a low fat mug of milk when you
go to bed, is probably not going to do you too
much harm.
Thinking too much: This is what stops most
people from sleeping. Brain activity, makes it
almost impossible to sleep, and this is the main
reason people have sleepless nights. The only
way to get to sleep is to banish those thoughts
or worries that are stopping you from sleeping;
it is not easy but it can be done. The aim should
be to keep the mind completely blank, the
thoughts that you are trying to avoid will keep
coming back but if you consistently dismiss
them the frequency with which they return will
lessen and before you know it you will be
asleep. It’s not quite as simple as that, it takes
a lot of perseverance but it does work. c
Welcome to LA MORERA, a prestigious frontline beach development
majestically situated in the well-known Reserva de los Monteros.
Built to the highest standards in an exclusive and tranquil area just
east of Marbella with direct access to one of the best beaches.
La Morera offers a variety of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments and
spectacular duplex penthouses, all boasting breath-taking
panoramic views of the mountains and the sea including the African
coast and Gibraltar.
For further information or viewings contact Lotus Properties
Marbella
Agents welcome
64 |
ToTALLY
MARBELLA
www.lotusmarbella.com
Blvd. Príncipe Alfonso de Hohenlohe
CN. 340 Km 178,2 Marbella Golden Mile
C.C. La Poveda, Local 1
29602 Marbella
TF. 951 91 42 00
Info@lotusmarbella.com
MOTORING | MARCH & APRIL 2014
The cost of cars in Spain
By Les Mitchell
Even when you are not in the market for a car, it is difficult not to notice the
very high cost of pre-owned cars in Spain
It is not uncommon to see a vehicle for sale
for 20,000 Euros when the equivalent vehicle in the UK would sell for £10,000, or less.
In the UK we are used to negotiating, so we
never really pay the price being asked, In
Spain you are generally expected to pay
the asking price - negotiating is not a concept the Spanish are too familiar with; it’s
generally more a case of take it or leave it.
In addition to this there are taxes to pay
when a vehicle is transferred to a new
owner. You could try suggesting that this
cost is shared, but that often falls on deaf
ears.
These very high prices is the reason many
ex pats in Spain drive English registered
cars and it is often not that they can’t afford
a Spanish registered car, they just can’t
come to terms with the very high cost. For
those who have taken up Spanish residency, this is not without its risks; once a
UK registered vehicle has been in the country for six months, you are obliged to import it, and there have been cases of
vehicles being confiscated by the Guardia
Civil, when the owner has failed to do so.
Bringing a car from the UK and changing
it onto Spanish plates is of dubious benefit;
it is expensive and you will have a Spanish
registered right hand drive vehicle, which
will not be easy to dispose of in the future.
In the UK the Average age of a car is 7.44
years; in Spain one in three cars sold, is
over 10 years old. The current Spanish registration system was introduced in September 2000, prior to that a car bought new in
the Malaga region had the MA registration
letters. Nevertheless many cars with this
registration can still be seen on the road
today, which means that they are at least 13
to 14 years old and often much older.
Another problem often encountered in
Spain, when those from
Northern Europe
want to buy
used car, is
finding what in other countries would be
considered a genuine pre-owned car.
Clearly if a car has been imported into
Spain from another country, its history must
be less than certain. It becomes very difficult to verify the mileage and to get any
other information with regard to the car’s
past.
When we buy a car which is three or four
years old in the UK we expect it to be in immaculate condition and to have a full main
dealer service history. In Spain you will
often find the vehicle has a lot of dents and
scratches and the service history will be incomplete. The vendor will just shrug his
shoulders, not understanding what all the
fuss is about. They don’t attach a lot of importance to these “minor details”; everything is more relaxed, that’s why we like
living here. c
K&S Services
The houses in Spain
are beautiful but they
are not built to
withstand the damp.
c We have the technology
and the experience.
K and S services building
and restoration with care.
c
On the
coast since
1986
We specialise in providing our clients with a high quality damp proofing and prevention service for homes in the
Costa Del Sol. No job is considered to be too big or too small for us at K&S Services, and we make it our priority to
carry out attention to detail in all our work, offering you expert advice at every turn.
Paraje Rozuela 6 | La Vega, Monda | 29110 Málaga | Phone: 951 254 203 | Mobile: 625 702 772 | www.dampproofing.es
66 |
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MARBELLA
ToTALLY
MARBELLA | 67
Villa - Altos de Puente Romano
Ref. R161-02338
€ 6.200.000
Beds: 7
Baths: 7
Built: 840
Terrace: 200
Plot: 4.200
Spectacular new 7 bedrooms south facing villa located in one of the most prestigious gated complexes in the Golden Mile. The property
has been designed in Mediterranean style with top quality interior finishing's including highest quality marble floors, domotic intelligent
home system, A/C and under floor heating throughout, electric- shutters. The villa offers spacious accommodation on 2 levels plus basement
with natural light. Property comprise entrance hall with double height ceiling; study; large reception area with fireplace; dining room; TV
room; fully fitted kitchen and laundry room; porches & terraces with uninterrupted sea views, guest cloakroom. Upper floor: master en-suite
bedroom with walk-in wardrobe, the terrace enjoys panoramic sea views; 3 further en-suite bedrooms, each with walk-in wardrobes and terrace all enjoying deferent magnificent views. Basement consists of: games room; apartment for guests or staff; sauna, W/C and shower
room; laundry; store room; 6-car garage.
•
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•
+34 952 765 620

Maquetación 1 - Totally Marbella Magazine

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