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Olive Press Podcast ep 8 - Drink spiking, Swedish mafia, charity abuse, and so much more this week
Oct 17, 2025
The Swedish mafia is back with a vengeance on the Costa del Sol it seems, with another fatal broad daylight shooting occurring in Puerto Banus. It's not the first time we've asked this - should we be afraid?
The team also tackle the thorny topic of charity abuse on the Costa del Sol, which is rife, according to OP sources. Unscrupulous people worm their way into commanding positions at a charity - and find that there's no local authority with any oversight or supervision over their conduct.
Meanwhile spiking is back on the agenda, either drink spiking or - more disturbingly - outright needle-jabbing people with drugs while they're out and about enjoying themselves. The OP has teamed up with the popular Puerto Banus good-time eatery La Sala to launch a campaign combating the source.
And finally the sad tale of British expat Margaret Stewart, 82, who took her own life after living in Spain for 36 years. She had resided for years in a naturist camp site near Cartagena, but faced an uncertain future after the authorities sold the land to a developer. A campaign of harassment and intimidation duly followed, it is alleged, threatened to evict Margaret and her husband from the camp and the only home they had.
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0:00
These gangster types, they even kill
0:01
each other when they're in Maria just on
0:03
holiday.
0:05
>> This is the really scary thing that
0:07
apparently they reckon there could have
0:08
been 300 victims of this, but none of
0:10
them are showing signs the next day.
0:13
>> There's so much protection for squatters
0:15
that move into other people's homes. But
0:17
when you've actually built a home, it's
0:19
different.
0:19
>> Don't forget to subscribe to The Rest of
0:22
Spain on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple
0:25
podcasts. Hello and welcome to the Rest
0:28
is Spain podcast by Olive Press
0:30
sponsored by Stacial Expat Insurance. Hi
0:33
John. Hi Walt. Congratulations
0:36
>> on the award
0:38
>> John.
0:40
>> Good morning. Good morning. Yeah, we're
0:42
very very happy this week. But I mean as
0:44
they say in in newspaper, you're only as
0:46
good as your next stories. But we have
0:49
won an award. Our first award in 19
0:51
years. Um we won the
0:53
>> second award. John second.
0:56
>> Well, we've won quite we've won other
0:57
awards, but for the actual, you know,
0:59
newspaper here locally, our it's our
1:03
main it's our first award. It's the
1:05
so-called communications Joan Hunt
1:07
communications award and it's for the
1:10
best uh English newspaper on the on the
1:12
coast or in Spain really. Yeah, I'm I'm
1:14
very it's a it was a proud moment. I I I
1:17
have to say I had to get up on stage and
1:19
uh I thought there'd be about 30 or 40
1:21
people and I had to uh receive an award
1:24
from the president of Malaga Dipathon
1:26
and I and uh had to then make a speech
1:29
which I did very briefly in Spanish and
1:32
then in English thankfully and and I
1:33
looked out and there were probably
1:34
around 4 500 people there.
1:38
It was it was rather terrifying but uh
1:40
yeah it was it was um it was great and
1:42
you know it was nice to have some of the
1:44
team there. Caroline was there and Walt
1:46
was there and um we uh had a couple of
1:49
beers afterwards to celebrate and uh
1:52
yeah so so you know it's it's all all
1:55
excellent news.
1:55
>> Fantastic and for a good cause. So Joan
1:58
Hunt um the Joan Hunt awards are because
2:02
of the lady Joan Hunt and everything
2:05
she's done for the coupe um hospice in
2:10
the region. And that kind of brings us
2:12
on nicely to my next topic. We know
2:16
obviously that Kadeca is a very very
2:19
worthy cause, but there are some
2:20
charities in Spain that may not be so
2:23
credible. So what what's going on?
2:25
What's your story?
2:27
>> So I mean over the years at Yellow
2:29
Press, we we often get little emails or
2:32
little birdies whispering to us that all
2:34
is not right at charity A, B, or C, so
2:38
and so. And um there's one that we've
2:40
had our eye on for a little while. We
2:42
won't name it. We've been working, we
2:44
did a story on it, I think two years
2:46
ago, um about the way it's run
2:50
based on the complaints from various
2:52
volunteers, people on the ground um
2:54
people, let's say in the older
2:56
demographic
2:57
and the um the main complaint was that
3:00
the the woman in charge, she had she was
3:03
the president and she was the treasurer,
3:05
which basically meant she was signing
3:06
off her own checks and spending the
3:08
money on what she wanted, the charity
3:09
money.
3:10
>> And people said, Actually, that's a good
3:14
question. We never tracked down her car,
3:15
but we did track down her restaurant um
3:18
bills and and a few a few purchases from
3:20
bank statements, but um so many people
3:24
complained about her. A couple of people
3:25
defended her and we did the story two
3:27
years ago. It came out. I think in the
3:29
end, we probably let her off the hook
3:31
because um we didn't have the uh the
3:33
smoking gun against her of um you know,
3:37
verified act of of malfeasance or
3:40
criminality.
3:40
>> Sure. But then we got contacted I know
3:44
six weeks ago out of the blue by members
3:48
of her family. Um they came to us and
3:51
said, "Oh, we saw your story about about
3:54
her about this is my aunt. This guy's
3:56
talking and we'd like to talk to you
3:58
about other stuff that she's done to her
3:59
very own family."
4:01
>> Oh, okay. and this started a new a new
4:03
um investigation because we we know
4:05
she's um she's a bad apple, should we
4:07
say that she's um she runs this charity.
4:11
It's a big charity. It's very well
4:12
respected. It does do a lot of good in
4:14
the community. So, you can't take away
4:16
everything. Um but we we have kn long
4:19
known that she's not running it
4:21
correctly. And for all the good the
4:23
charity does, she is abusing this
4:25
charity and its its operations. And the
4:28
problem with charities in in Anducia at
4:31
least is that they they're not
4:33
particularly regulated. I think there is
4:34
some body in in Sevilla, some body in
4:37
the Hunter that's tasked with overseeing
4:39
them. But it's the kind of body where no
4:41
one answers the phone if you call them.
4:42
And probably there's no one in the
4:44
office 5 days a week either way. So a a
4:47
lot of smart uncanny people in the cost
4:49
cell have realized that if you can get
4:50
into a position of power at a charity,
4:53
you can do a lot of damage and there's
4:56
very few people who can stop you doing
4:58
it. You know, the police won't really
4:59
take an interest. Um and it's it's
5:02
difficult to go after a charity. People
5:05
look at that quite badly. So you have
5:07
like a natural protection. So this
5:08
charity that we're talking about is
5:09
isn't the only bad charity we've we've
5:12
come across in the last few years.
5:14
Anyway, the um story is that this woman
5:17
apparently she um well, not apparently.
5:20
We have it very very clearly by
5:21
evidence. We
5:22
>> should say allegedly investigations.
5:24
>> It's all it's all alleged at this stage,
5:26
right? Isn't it?
5:27
>> Um I mean, we have the evidence for it.
5:29
We could say allegedly just for
5:31
formality sake
5:33
>> that she leached the mother's bank
5:35
account in the year before she died. And
5:38
then when she died, the remaining money,
5:40
which would have been the family's
5:41
inheritance, to be split between the
5:43
three daughters, this woman transferred
5:46
the remaining uh sums away out of the
5:49
account two or three days after the
5:50
mother died, which is a very illegal,
5:53
bount
5:57
that was that was her sister's
5:59
inheritance. So that's the crux of the
6:01
story we have on her. We haven't
6:03
published it yet. We are
6:04
>> When's this big expose coming out? Well,
6:08
It was going to be this week, but then
6:09
we decided to hang fire a little bit
6:10
because um obviously lawyers want to run
6:13
their beady fingers over the uh the text
6:16
and double check all the numbers, which
6:17
isn't the worst idea because obviously
6:18
this is these are, you know, ver these
6:22
are criminal allegations. Essentially,
6:24
what she has done is a criminal act.
6:26
>> Yeah.
6:26
>> So, you do need to sort of tick all the
6:29
boxes and cross all the uh the te's and
6:32
eyes. So, we we're holding off a couple
6:34
of weeks. let her stew in her in her um
6:37
mystery and juices for a bit and then
6:39
publish I think in two weeks.
6:41
>> I mean, as you say, Walt, it kind of
6:44
Don't you feel a lot like the charities
6:45
here are kind of like a means to an end,
6:46
aren't they? And people set up things
6:48
and they start benefiting themselves and
6:51
you know have it time and time again
6:53
over the last 20 years that so and so is
6:55
running it for themselves is is using it
6:57
for their own good and siphoning off
6:59
money to pay as Caroline hinted you know
7:02
for their car bills and for their
7:04
holidays and you know travel and you
7:07
know it's very difficult to make them
7:09
account account for it because as you
7:11
say there's there no one's really
7:13
keeping an eye out and and you know in a
7:15
way for us we're damned if we doing if
7:17
we don't write about them because people
7:19
will just criticize and say, "Well, oh,
7:20
look at the amount of good that so and
7:22
so's done in this or that."
7:25
>> And you know, we've often even when
7:27
we've reported on charities that have
7:30
been, should we say, raided by national
7:33
police forces have been taken through
7:35
the coals and been investigated and
7:36
probed, we've run a story and then we've
7:39
been criticized for doing that. And
7:42
we've just said, "Hold a minute. We're
7:44
reporting on on a on a national
7:45
investigation here into you know as you
7:48
say malfeasants and you know so don't
7:51
you know please don't shoot the
7:52
messenger. We we we're trying to make
7:54
people accountable. Why should people
7:55
come here and have a free ride and get
7:57
away with it especially living off you
7:59
know people who are are giving money to
8:01
charities for all the right reasons and
8:02
are hoping whether it's an animal
8:03
charity or it's a health charity or it's
8:05
to help the aged or whatever it is you
8:08
know why should they get away with it
8:09
when we're all paying our taxes. That's
8:11
my view.
8:11
>> Yeah. I mean it raises the kind of the
8:13
old the old adage that if you if you
8:15
come for the king you better not miss
8:18
because these charities we got a lot of
8:20
backlash for the the original story we
8:22
did on this Estapona charity no names
8:25
yet and although I think I spoke to
8:28
maybe 12 people in the investigation and
8:30
only one of them had anything remotely
8:33
positive to say about the subject of the
8:35
story so that's at least 10 people who
8:37
didn't and some of them who were not
8:39
incentivized you they were not they
8:40
didn't have their own agenda they would
8:42
just put I put them to the backs of the
8:44
wall. They eventually said, "Okay, yeah,
8:45
I think there's something dodgy about
8:47
her." And um but when the story came
8:49
out, then her defenders came out cuz she
8:52
is she's been described as a larger than
8:53
life character, very strong personality,
8:55
and I think she has the ability to um
8:58
she to mobilize people in her defense
9:00
and her support. Um and so we were
9:02
getting a bit of backlash. One guy
9:04
called up to say some eccentric Dutch
9:06
guy that she should have a a statue in
9:09
Estapona because she she looked after
9:12
his sick mom for for a certain period of
9:14
time and all her friends al also I mean
9:16
I think they were just friends they just
9:18
sort of been loyal to her came out in
9:19
her defense so it wasn't easy and she
9:22
obviously stayed in a position and faced
9:23
no consequences despite the story. So um
9:26
it isn't easy to do these things but at
9:29
the same time we are fully aware that a
9:31
lot of these charities are being abused
9:33
by the uh you know the unscrupulous who
9:36
realize that if you get you work your
9:38
way in and worm your way in no one's
9:41
going to stop you basically
9:43
>> equally uh you know when we've been
9:44
investigating or probing this dodgy
9:47
dentist that we've been keeping an eye
9:49
on for 20 years you know he was struck
9:51
off twice in England and and was
9:54
described as a dentist from hell on ITV
9:57
on a national prime time television
9:58
program and we reported on it and ended
10:01
up having 5 years in the courts you know
10:03
with this guy and you know people come
10:05
to us all the time said I can't believe
10:06
what you did to him you know I've had
10:08
the same problem it's happened to me
10:09
here in Spain and you know the thing the
10:13
thing about it is is that we've put it
10:15
out there but he spent so much money on
10:19
articles that you joining things getting
10:22
these dodgy awards that you can pay for
10:24
not ours I hate to add, but you know,
10:26
you pay for these awards. And so if you
10:28
actually search his name on Google, for
10:30
the first two, three, four pages, it's
10:33
all positive stuff about how great he
10:34
is. And then we even have people putting
10:35
comments on our website. I mean, 10
10:37
comments to one, like 10 positive
10:39
comments from just random people saying,
10:41
"Oh, he's wonderful. He's such a nice
10:42
guy. He's a great dentist." And then you
10:44
have to sift through and find the one
10:45
who's actually had to go and have
10:47
further treatment in a hospital or, you
10:49
know, has lost their eye in a, you know,
10:51
he's injected through their into the eye
10:53
socket, you know, or or whatever, you
10:55
know. So that it, you know, if you've
10:58
got the money and and you know, you've
11:00
also got local support, you can kind of
11:02
wrigle out. But again, it's our job,
11:04
isn't it, to to try and to find the
11:07
truth and and report the truth.
11:09
>> But it's crazy. See, St. John that she
11:11
this this dentist was struck off twice
11:13
and all the evidence pointed to him
11:15
being a wrongan and yet he could still
11:17
pull off a number of lawsuits and stand
11:20
up in court. Is that what you're saying?
11:22
>> You literally couldn't make this up. And
11:24
it's another one like this Walt that
11:26
I've been working on again now for the
11:27
last six weeks. Had more complaints and
11:31
given our last experience with him. I
11:34
won't say if he's definitely a Freemason
11:36
or not, but should we put it this way?
11:37
when we finally got to court and we took
11:39
our witnesses to court because we stood
11:41
by our story. How bizarre that he didn't
11:44
turn up, which fair enough, he thought
11:46
he was going to lose and he would have
11:47
lost. And guess who else didn't turn up?
11:49
The judge. So, we then had to wait a
11:51
year and a half to actually get, you
11:53
know, a judgment with for us in order to
11:55
then get fees in order to kind of win
11:57
the case. Basically, it's we're very
12:00
very careful. To put it this way, he was
12:02
twice struck off from the UK, moved to
12:04
Spain for, should we say, I don't I
12:07
can't say for sure, but for for some
12:09
reason, the letter that should have been
12:11
sent to the Spanish Dental Council got
12:14
sent to the Spanish NHS. And
12:16
consequently, that letter was ignored
12:17
and consequently he's practicing now in
12:19
Spain to this day. And
12:23
you know, I'm warning people, watch out
12:24
for this man. He's go
12:28
search dentist and you will find the
12:29
stories on him. very worrying. Now,
12:32
we're going to take a quick break from
12:33
talking about the news to hear from our
12:35
sponsor.
12:38
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12:39
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13:01
>> Stay shore expert is a tide agent of
13:03
erggo seoros de let's move on now to the
13:06
next topic which is also extremely
13:08
worrying another gun crime in Puerto
13:12
Vanuse
13:13
>> in Marbaya. I mean can you believe it on
13:15
the streets of Marba yet again. What is
13:17
it about Marbaya? What is it about Marba
13:20
guys that seems to get it?
13:21
>> Bulletproof vests or are we okay?
13:24
>> Well, the funny thing is this guy who
13:25
was shot, he wasn't even living in Marba
13:27
like you know cost crime. He was just
13:29
there on holiday. So these gangster
13:31
types, they even kill each other when
13:32
they're in my bay just on holiday.
13:34
>> They don't even wait to move here.
13:36
>> What was he doing here? Walt, tell me
13:37
about it. Who is this guy?
13:39
>> So this um Yeah, this is a kind of a
13:42
almost run-of-the-mill mafia shooting in
13:45
in his poor dean. Dare I say one of the
13:47
middle
13:47
>> just another mafia
13:48
>> broad daylight in the middle of like was
13:50
it a Monday or Tuesday or something
13:51
broad daylight it's one of those shots
13:53
one of those stories where they CCTV
13:55
caught the whole thing u and it is
13:57
shocking even from CCTV which doesn't
13:59
exactly make things very exciting
14:02
Friday this Friday gone 2:30 in the
14:05
afternoon you can see from the grainy
14:07
footage there's a guy standing by a
14:08
terrace in a restaurant in Puerto not on
14:11
the um the marina side but on the main
14:12
road side and he's chatting on the phone
14:15
happy Here's Larry. And then another
14:17
figure comes out from behind a black car
14:20
and starts shooting him. And it's cuz
14:22
there's no sound and it's all quite
14:24
grainy. You don't immediately get how
14:26
awful this is. And the victim, he starts
14:29
doing these rolls, you know, like almost
14:31
like in a military exercise. And he he's
14:34
ducking and he's diving, but the shooter
14:37
is just on him and he's not you can't
14:39
tell if he's hitting or missing, but it
14:41
looks like he's nothing stopping him
14:42
from hitting. And eventually the um the
14:45
victim tries to or manages to like
14:47
wrigle away into a into a um a building
14:50
and out of the firing line and you see
14:52
him limping, hopping a bit, but he's up
14:54
and up and about. Um and that's that.
14:56
And then the guy the shooter goes back
14:58
into his vehicle and drives away. Um and
15:01
the uh the victim dies later on in
15:03
hospital. So that's that's the long and
15:04
short of it.
15:05
>> Why is no one on that terrace? It's
15:06
lunchtime in Bonuse. I know it's not
15:08
front line, but it's on the way out.
15:10
It's a road that I drive up and down two
15:12
or three times a week. What on earth?
15:15
Why? I can't believe there was no one on
15:16
that terrace. I mean, I seen the video.
15:18
It's extraordinary. It's 2:30 um
15:21
>> Friday afternoon. So, you think they'll
15:22
be having their long lunches, you know,
15:23
that go on till 6 p.m.
15:25
>> School's broken up, you know, or not
15:27
broken up. School's out from 2:00. You
15:29
know, there could have been mothers and
15:30
kids. It's so worrying that this is
15:34
happening. It just And my son said to
15:36
me, he says, "Dad, how how come I never
15:38
see this?" this you know he was out in
15:39
benuse some Friday you know Friday night
15:42
you know just hours later so you know
15:45
>> well luckily it's not happening that
15:47
much that just going out every day in
15:49
benu you would see it luckily but it's
15:52
so worrying you know
15:53
>> sometimes it's in um Estapon and
15:55
sometimes it's in Marba so
15:58
in one location
15:59
>> Caroline you know it's a Swedish house
16:01
mafia isn't it Caroline
16:02
>> it is yeah it's the Swedish house mafia
16:05
so what what kind of rapper was he was
16:06
he rapping about somebody they didn't
16:08
like it.
16:09
>> Someone said in the comments on the
16:11
Facebook comments in the olive press
16:12
immediately afterwards um I bet the
16:14
victim isn't whiter than white. And uh
16:16
it was quite a precient comment because
16:20
he turned out to be a a young Swedish
16:23
rapper. He's 25 years old. His name is
16:27
um Hamza Karimi.
16:30
Uh he's stage name is Hamo. He he
16:36
traveled to Spain on holiday just after
16:38
being released from jail serving a
16:40
five-year jail sentence in Stockholm for
16:43
attempted the attempted murder of when
16:45
he shot a 14-year-old boy in the in the
16:47
stomach several times.
16:49
>> I mean, it's tit for tat, isn't it? It's
16:50
total tip for tatness.
16:52
>> Yeah. So, the pictures that we have that
16:53
we'll we'll put up around here, I hope.
16:56
>> Um you'll see what he looks like. He's
16:57
got all these sort of and that's the
16:59
gang symbols, but you know, you get the
17:01
idea.
17:02
>> Okay. Um, and he's plugged into the
17:04
Stockholm underworld and and mafia
17:06
groups. He apparently his two best
17:08
friends were shot dead at 18 and 19 and
17:10
he was the last survivor.
17:12
>> They were in a video, the three of them
17:14
in a video together, all three of them,
17:16
they did a song together about and
17:18
apparently Swedish in Sweden now. It's a
17:20
sort of whole rapper mafia thing that's
17:22
going on. And and I was fascinated to
17:24
read a really good report where the one
17:26
of the Swedish newspapers investigated
17:28
how these guys are moneyaundering and
17:30
how these rappers are secretly connected
17:33
to the most amazing bit of
17:34
moneyaundering which involves
17:36
>> right
17:37
>> they Spotify um will put their tracks up
17:40
on Spotify and then loads of people will
17:42
go and pay using crypto will pay to
17:45
enter and pay play constantly their
17:47
songs. So that money then becomes um
17:51
laundered effectively through Spotify.
17:53
So you're playing with crypto. Then they
17:55
make money on these streams. They go
17:57
higher up in the rankings. They become
17:59
pop stars, big stars, and off they go.
18:01
>> And the money is paid out as royalties,
18:03
right? So dirty money becomes clean
18:05
money.
18:05
>> It's clever.
18:06
>> And you look like a musical genius as
18:08
well. It's very smart.
18:10
>> Okay. Interesting. Well, let's hope it
18:13
doesn't happen again. Um,
18:16
>> that's right. All keep careful. We're
18:18
talking
18:18
>> I mean, the one thing we can say about
18:20
that shooting is that um, it probably is
18:22
isolated. It was Swedish gangs within
18:25
Sweden who just happened to kill each
18:26
other
18:27
>> here once, but you don't see it going to
18:29
happen again.
18:29
>> And it justicular
18:31
news, which really has a bad name for
18:33
this.
18:34
>> I'm told the Swedish mafia are really
18:37
big here now. They're like some one of
18:39
the key, you know, mafia gangs are
18:40
really taken over here. the mock mafia,
18:42
the so-called from Holland is also very
18:44
linked into Sweden and Denmark and and
18:46
and I keep hearing time and time again
18:48
how well integrated they are in Marba
18:50
and around the area here and obviously
18:51
that includes Estapona and probably
18:53
Mikas that they're they're big here and
18:56
uh I actually do see this happening
18:57
again. I really do.
18:59
>> Great. Well, on that note, let's all be
19:01
careful. Let's not get involved in any
19:04
mafia undertakings and let's be careful
19:07
when we go out drinking. So John, what
19:08
is this stop the spike all about?
19:11
>> Yeah. Well, it's sm it's actually
19:13
smashed the spiking and it's a campaign
19:15
we launched in 2014 which was to try and
19:18
make people aware of the amount of times
19:21
people go out in nightclubs in Spain and
19:24
end up having their drink spiked. Now it
19:26
the obvious thing you think it's girls
19:28
who are going out and they someone pop
19:30
something in their drink, you know, GHB
19:32
or ketamine or whatever it is, but
19:34
actually most of the time it's uh people
19:37
out on stag weekends or golf trips and
19:40
they're having pills put in their drinks
19:42
or more more recently, this is why we
19:45
brought this up again, be actually being
19:47
pissed with drugs. Someone will come up
19:49
with a syring syringe and inject
19:51
something into them while they're out
19:53
with their friends. And and this has
19:54
been happening a lot through the summit.
19:56
It basically raised it as it head in
19:58
July when at San Famin in Pamplona which
20:01
is obviously famous for that horrible
20:03
Wolfpack rape of uh you know this
20:06
policeman who took girls and and you
20:08
know drugged girls effectively. So the
20:11
it started in Pamplona in July when they
20:14
um when they had six um um people six
20:19
victims girls who end up in hospital
20:21
who'd been drugged. So then we started
20:22
looking into it through the summer. Then
20:24
it happened again in Malaga in August.
20:26
No, sorry, the end of July. And that
20:29
girl there was a tourist, I think a
20:31
British tourist who'd been drugged. So
20:32
we then started looking into it and we
20:34
were trying really hard to find
20:35
information from the police, get some
20:37
statistics about what's going on and how
20:39
many people have been caught out. Very
20:42
difficult indeed. Very, very difficult.
20:44
We kept hearing anecdotally from
20:46
people's stories and people it happened
20:47
to them. and they stumbled out of a bar
20:49
in Bonuse, got robbed, had their wallet
20:51
nicked, their their their um watch
20:54
stolen. And then speaking to Ian
20:57
Radford, who's the owner of the Lasala
20:59
Group in Marba, they had they own the
21:01
clubhouse, they own the Lasala Beach
21:03
Club, various other um restaurants as
21:05
well. He said, well, he'd heard over the
21:08
last 5 years at least 20 at least 20 um
21:13
cases of people he knew that had been
21:15
attacked on the coast. He didn't say
21:16
it's just around Marba, but along the
21:18
coastly
21:20
men I think had attacked for for for
21:21
their wallets and things and and so we
21:23
we started talking and he said, you
21:25
know, we are we need to clear this up.
21:27
We need to warm people better. We need
21:29
to get this Ask Angela system they have
21:30
in England um off the ground. And I'm
21:33
like, well, look, we've been looking
21:34
into this weirdly for the last six to
21:35
eight weeks. We've been trying to get it
21:37
off the ground. So, bang, we we've now
21:40
united with Lasala, Lasala Group.
21:42
looking for other entertainment
21:44
restaurant venues around up and down the
21:47
coast and indeed around Spain to join us
21:48
and actually try and put out a very
21:50
strong message to people to be very
21:52
careful. There are ways to avoid this.
21:53
Obviously, don't leave your drink out
21:55
ever.
21:55
>> Yeah,
21:55
>> there are things where you can have nail
21:57
varnish to check what drugs might be in
21:58
your drink. You can even wear these sort
21:59
of bands around your wrist that you can
22:02
do a check straight away sent off to a
22:04
to a a through a QR code straight away
22:07
to a online port. I don't really
22:08
understand how it works, Beth, but I
22:10
mean there are ways to do it. And most
22:12
importantly, restaurants and pubs and
22:14
bars need to be on site and able to help
22:16
people.
22:17
>> So, we've launched this campaign, smash
22:19
the spiking. Um, eyes out for all is the
22:22
catch is the catchphrase. And we really,
22:24
really hope and we really, really,
22:26
really pray that everybody watches out
22:29
and looks out for, you know, for this.
22:31
>> John, are you saying that um men in this
22:35
case are more vulnerable than women to
22:37
being spiked? because I think a lot of
22:39
men would think it's the opposite way
22:40
around and they'd be a lot more relaxed
22:42
about it that women would be.
22:43
>> I'm saying I'm saying that apparently
22:45
70% of the victims are men. And I can
22:47
tell you I personally, this is so
22:49
strange that I was out in just in I
22:52
think it was May or April in Rhonda of
22:54
all places. I was out with a couple of
22:56
friends watching a game, some Man United
22:58
Spurs fans watched the game. Uh I'm
23:01
pretty sensitive. Two or three beers
23:03
over the course of the evening, bit of
23:05
food. stumbled out the pub uh about 9:30
23:08
and I don't know what happened. I
23:10
literally don't remember what happened.
23:11
I fell over in the street. I woke up
23:14
with with cuts and bruises. Uh my car
23:16
was parked in a really strange way
23:18
outside my house. My front door was wide
23:20
open. I was lying on the floor of my
23:23
living room by the sofa. Uh I have no
23:26
idea what happened to me. Um but I asked
23:28
the guys said, "What happened?" They
23:29
said, "Well, don't know. You just went
23:31
like we did. We had like three or four
23:32
beers. It was nice evening." That
23:34
happens a lot and I think some I didn't
23:37
get robbed and I think it's possibly
23:38
because someone saw something. I think
23:40
it's possibly that u maybe I I just
23:42
kicked out or shouted. I don't know. No
23:44
idea. But it's happening to a lot of
23:46
men. It happened to do you remember Walt
23:48
that BBC golf reporter who got mugged in
23:50
Puerto Benoose got robbed of his watch.
23:52
He even took his shirt off his back. He
23:54
woke up with his shirt off like just
23:56
with his shorts on.
23:57
>> Oh,
23:58
>> you know. So
23:59
>> Wow. Wow. Yeah.
24:01
>> And what's this about the um the ones
24:03
actually injecting people? That sounds
24:05
even more terrifying. What what do we
24:07
know about that?
24:08
>> That's a relatively new thing. Came out
24:10
in 2022 23. It they reckon that and this
24:13
is the really scary thing that
24:15
apparently they reckon there could have
24:17
been 300 victims of this, but none of
24:19
them are showing signs the next day.
24:20
They couldn't prove that what was in
24:22
their blood. They know it happens. It
24:24
seems to die out. it seems to go in and
24:26
then it seems to to sort of what's the
24:29
word
24:30
>> dissipate or whatever or it's gone
24:32
within a few hours and so by the time
24:34
you wake up part you know you go to the
24:36
hospital it's it's not in your
24:37
bloodstream so
24:39
>> I mean incidentally there was just last
24:41
week a French prankster like a YouTube
24:44
prankster who was sentenced to 6 months
24:46
in jail in Paris because um he was doing
24:50
a a prank for his channel where he's
24:51
filming himself fake jabbing people in
24:54
the street with um a syringe with the
24:56
cap on and then be like, "Haha, it's a
24:59
joke only after they've panicked and
25:01
had, you know, heart attack
25:03
>> for, you know, for the for the lols."
25:04
And he's he's um been sentenced to 6
25:06
months and he has admitted to regrets
25:08
for his um escapades in court. He said,
25:11
"Now now I realize that
25:13
>> it was my mistake. I didn't think I
25:15
could hurt people." So, it's um
25:16
>> That's clever. That's not clever.
25:18
>> Yeah. It's not a joke. It's absolutely
25:20
not a joke.
25:21
>> No. Well, anyway, the campaign's
25:22
launched. We'll be keeping it going. It
25:24
will should go on our website today. It
25:26
was in the newspaper today. It will go
25:28
out and and I really will be following
25:29
this up with a lot of stories. So,
25:31
anyone who out there that has had
25:33
happened to them or knows people who've
25:35
had to them or more importantly knows
25:37
people who are doing this who are using
25:39
this, we would like to go after them.
25:41
So, please get in touch at
25:42
newsestheress.es or send a message to us
25:45
here. Obviously, please follow us on
25:46
this podcast. So, we shall we say that.
25:48
>> Yeah. Great. Okay. Well, that's a
25:50
fantastic initiative. Um and then this
25:53
week the only other story that I wanted
25:55
to touch on was the story of the poor
25:57
lady who has taken her life because of
26:02
the face the threat of eviction from a
26:04
campsite. So tell us a bit more about
26:06
that John.
26:08
>> Well it for me it's the saddest saddest
26:12
story. I I you know
26:14
>> 82 years old lived in Spain 36 years her
26:18
and her husband her husband's 89 um and
26:21
they lived in this slightly strange
26:23
campsite supposedly a naturist reserve
26:25
in Mercia near Cartahena
26:28
they seem to be there for a long time
26:29
enjoying their lives and at one point
26:31
there were 400 mostly expats living
26:34
there some Spanish but mostly foreigners
26:35
from Holland and France Denmark UK a lot
26:38
of them and just need living their lives
26:41
uh it's not my bag particularly, but you
26:43
know, just getting on with it. Um, and
26:45
then at some point a few years ago, I
26:47
think it was 2023, a developer bought
26:49
the site and is bit by bit trying to
26:52
kick out these guys who'd built their
26:54
houses probably slightly illegally,
26:55
didn't have licenses. Bit by bit, it's
26:58
slimmed down to about 20 or 25 residents
27:02
of which this couple, this English
27:04
couple, who've got no other money in the
27:06
world, they've invested all their money
27:07
in this property. They'd like built it
27:09
up, looked after it. they wanted to stay
27:12
and they didn't want to leave and they
27:14
were getting old and you know what
27:15
they're like they're nervous and old and
27:17
>> and anyway they were getting threatened
27:19
and this is where we heard about um uh
27:22
about a year ago there was some reports
27:24
about the victim the locals were being
27:26
victimized by
27:29
they basically blocked them coming in
27:30
and out of the of their um of the reser
27:32
of their um urbanization where they were
27:35
living and then they were getting
27:36
threats they were cutting off their
27:37
electricity cutting off their water
27:39
making their lives basically really
27:41
difficult. I mean, this poor couple and
27:44
we're just going to get we're just only
27:45
getting to the bottom of it now. But
27:46
what happened is over the weekend um I
27:49
think it was Friday, they found her
27:50
body. She she'd killed herself. And so
27:53
there's been protests outside locals, a
27:55
lot of Spanish, a lot of expats have
27:57
been protesting against the campsite
27:59
owners, the developers, uh called New
28:01
Town SL. Um we don't really know exactly
28:04
what they want to do. We're going to
28:05
look into it further.
28:08
And um I just think it's it's such a
28:10
shame. I wish we'd known about this
28:11
earlier. We could have put it on the
28:13
front page and it may have ended
28:15
differently. Um it's just yeah so you
28:19
know unfortunately the police weren't
28:20
doing the thing and the authorities who
28:22
promised the town hall of Carter Henna
28:24
promised they were going to legislate on
28:26
behalf of these people look after them
28:27
find them new homes didn't do their jobs
28:29
properly. Um and here we are in this
28:32
position now. So it's I I find it very
28:34
sad. I just think it's ironic that, you
28:37
know, there's so much protection for
28:39
squatters that move into other people's
28:41
homes, but when you've actually built a
28:42
home, maybe without permission, it's
28:45
different. So, you know,
28:46
>> such a good point.
28:48
>> Yeah,
28:48
>> such a good point. Such a good point.
28:50
>> I think so often money talks, you know.
28:54
So in this case the company they buy the
28:56
land and then with that money I'm sure
28:59
they can get support where it's needed
29:00
in various sort of se sections of the
29:03
government and um the little folk don't
29:06
get the support they need. It happens
29:08
all the time I believe.
29:10
>> Well look the developer was the guy that
29:11
bought that probably spent a lot of
29:13
money on the land probably paid a lot of
29:14
money to for licenses to do whatever
29:16
they're planning to do. And there's a
29:18
little guy, you know, there. Do you
29:20
remember the case with Donald Trump in
29:21
his golf course with the guy who hung
29:23
out in Scotland who refused to sell? Or
29:25
indeed, there's another case at
29:26
Tottenham, wasn't there, where they
29:27
building the stadium and there was an
29:28
Arsenal fan who refused to sell the
29:29
property and they just made eventually
29:31
someone firebombed it, you know. So
29:33
they, you know, they don't want to move
29:34
out and they just got ended up getting
29:36
victimized. So like as I said when we
29:38
won our award day you know one of the
29:41
best things we've got one of the best
29:43
things we can do as journalists at the
29:44
Olive Press is fight for the underdog
29:46
and try and help people. So
29:48
>> you know thank god people get in touch
29:50
with us all the time emails call us
29:53
>> just get in touch and we we can try and
29:55
help you.
29:55
>> Yeah and it's really important to
29:57
subscribe to the podcast as well because
29:59
this is where we discuss these things.
30:01
The more subscribers we have
30:03
>> Yeah. the more subscribers we have, the
30:05
more of this we'll be able to do and
30:07
more we'll be able to raise more
30:08
awareness. So, please subscribe if you
30:10
haven't already. Um, and that was a
30:13
great discussion today. Well, I'm really
30:15
excited to see your expose on the
30:17
charities come out. Um, looking forward
30:19
to that.
30:21
>> Alleged report.
30:23
>> Alleged. Everything's always legit. But
30:25
yeah, I think we've got a bang to write
30:26
this time. So, it should um there's no
30:28
squirming out of this one.
30:30
>> Great. Okay. Thanks a lot, guys. We we
30:32
should definitely thank our producer
30:34
Keith who's been diligently working away
30:36
in studio keeping this running and
30:38
setting it all up.
30:40
>> So thanks Keith.
30:42
>> Unsung hero Keith.
30:44
>> Cheers guys.
30:45
>> Thanks. Don't forget to subscribe to the
30:47
rest of Spain on YouTube, Spotify, and
30:50
Apple podcasts.