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Show notes:
Most expats in Spain might be unaware that 20% of the population is foreign-born — and that a staggering 50% of retirees in Marbella are from abroad. But behind these numbers lie complex issues about integration, local resistance, and changing demographics that could reshape Spain’s future faster than you think. If you’re curious about Spain’s shifting expat landscape, this episode reveals critical insights every traveler, investor, or potential resident needs to know now.
In this eye-opening episode, Walt shares firsthand experiences from Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Família, where he explains how recent milestones reflect Spain’s ongoing transformation. You’ll discover the surprising demographic divides: why younger expats flock to Barcelona, while retirees gravitate toward the Costa del Sol, and what this means for local communities. Jon unpacks recent statistics from Spain’s National Statistics Institute, revealing how foreign buyers are pricing out locals in prime regions and what a potential political shift could mean for foreigners living there.
We break down the real implications of Spain’s evolving multicultural fabric: from the rise of international communities in Barcelona to the tensions simmering beneath the surface over immigration, water use, and development. Jon unearths shocking details about illegal water piping for exclusive polo clubs in endangered coastal zones, risking environmental disaster and community backlash. Plus, hear the extraordinary story of a Swedish kayaker heroically rescuing his dogs amid devastating floods — an act that’s capturing hearts and raising questions about individual bravery versus legal consequences.
This episode is essential listening for anyone considering a move to Spain, investment opportunities, or simply fascinated by how demographic shifts threaten old-world traditions while opening new doors. If you want to understand the real Spanish expat experience — the opportunities, the challenges, and the pivotal moments on the horizon — this is your must-hear episode.
00:00 - Introduction: Spain's expat demographics and current stories
01:13 - Milestone achieved: Sagrada Família's tallest tower completion
02:25 - Demographic overview: How expats shape Spanish regions
04:09 - Potential political implications of demographic trends
10:23 - Tourist trapped in Granada Airbnb: A customer service nightmare
13:10 - Controversy: Water siphoning at a Polo Club in Cádiz
16:14 - Environmental concerns: Water misuse and land development issues
17:33 - Legal and community reactions to development disputes
21:06 - Heroic kayak rescuer during flooding: The debate on risk and heroism
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0:00
Even if you're Michael Phelps, this
0:01
river is going to take you away.
0:03
>> Yeah, it's an extraordinary story, isn't
0:05
it? That everyone's worst nightmare.
0:08
>> Well, this is a thing, you know. You've
0:10
got to make sure that everyone's okay.
0:11
>> So guys, if you enjoy the rest of Spain
0:14
podcast and you want to know about
0:15
what's going on for expats in Spain, on
0:17
the Costels, on the Costas, now in
0:19
Barcelona, please give us a subscribe
0:21
cuz this is what we need to keep the
0:22
podcast going, keep delivering you guys
0:24
the news that interests you and, you
0:26
know, keeps you entertained and keeps
0:27
you hooked. Please give us a like and a
0:29
subscribe.
0:30
>> Welcome to the Rest is Spain podcast by
0:32
Olive Press brought to you by Stay Shore
0:34
Expat Travel Insurance. This is episode
0:37
13. Really excited to have one of the
0:40
team now in Barcelona and John here in
0:43
Costell Soul. Hi Walt. How are you
0:45
doing?
0:46
>> Thanks. Thanks. Hi Caroline. Very good.
0:48
As you can see, I think you can tell
0:50
from my background I am now in Barcelona
0:52
prime spot
0:53
>> right in the uh the heart of the the
0:55
squad of Familia. Um, paying through the
0:58
nose. As you might know, rents are crazy
1:00
in Barcelona. But yeah, I've been here
1:02
for about 3 weeks now.
1:04
>> Cool view from your apartment, W.
1:06
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wasn't easy to get
1:09
this one.
1:10
>> Except doesn't it look a bit different
1:11
now?
1:13
>> Yes. So, um, I guess this is going back
1:15
in time a bit cuz now can wait point
1:18
that middle tower is finished. It's been
1:21
completed. They It was last Friday that
1:23
they put the final piece at top this
1:25
tower. just actually a lot bigger than
1:26
what you can see behind me. Um it's a
1:28
giant crucifix that they've they stuck
1:30
the final piece on. So it's not the end
1:33
of the cigar that probably won't be
1:34
finished till the 2030s, but it's now
1:37
the tallest it's going to be. So now
1:38
they finished the skyline in terms of
1:40
like the Barcelona skyline. It's got
1:41
this beautiful crucifix on the top, 17 m
1:44
high, 13 tons, and it means the church
1:47
is now 172 m high and it's the tallest
1:50
church in the world. Finally. It wasn't
1:52
until Friday. Did you didn't you happen
1:54
to be there at the time? You went down
1:56
and did a live broadcast for us, did
1:58
you? On on a real, right?
1:59
>> It's one of the benefits of actually
2:00
being in Barcelona. You could be there
2:02
on the spot. Um they they hoisted it up
2:05
like I don't know 9 9:30 a.m. We got
2:08
there just in time. They had wanted to
2:10
do it a little bit before like in a
2:11
different day, but because we've had
2:12
these crazy windstorms all over Spain
2:14
and especially in Barcelona, they
2:16
delayed it till last Friday. So then,
2:17
yeah, we were there on the spot.
2:20
>> Great. Well, you represent the
2:22
demographic of expats in Barcelona,
2:24
Walt, don't you? So, tell us more about
2:27
this new finding about expats in Spain.
2:30
>> Yes. Yeah. So, one thing that's been
2:31
quite interesting that came out
2:32
recently, the um the Spanish Institute
2:35
of National Statistics, they they you
2:37
know, produced demographics reports and
2:39
it shows um some very interesting stats
2:41
for, you know, expats in Spain, which is
2:43
that the there's now 10 million expats
2:46
living or foreignb born residents, I
2:47
think is the phrase, living in Spain and
2:50
a population of 49.5 million, so it's
2:52
basically 20%, one in five. and the uh
2:56
they're not spread out very evenly. I
2:58
think it wouldn't be a big surprise to
2:59
many people to know that.
3:01
>> So if you're down on the costel soul,
3:03
the the stats are actually quite quite
3:05
incredible. Again, not a surprise if
3:07
you're there on the ground, but what we
3:09
see is that um among over 55, I think 55
3:12
to 64 in this age demographic around 50%
3:17
of people in Marba and Mikas and
3:19
Estapona are foreignb born. not quite 55
3:23
45 48 which is um which is a hell of a
3:26
lot but I mean it's not it's it's kind
3:28
of what you'd see if you're there on the
3:29
ground
3:30
>> and in Barcelona and also Madrid it's
3:32
the reverse so in Barcelona 30 to 34
3:35
year olds half of them are foreign born
3:38
and I think from 30 to 45 which is my
3:41
age range um it's about 40 40%.
3:45
So yeah, all the youngish people they go
3:47
to Barcelona, Madrid to get jobs, raise
3:49
families, you know, worried about
3:51
schools and over 55s, they go to the
3:54
Costel Soul. Also in a Malakanti, I
3:56
think it's 30%. Where they buy their
3:58
homes and they kind of go into
3:59
semi-retirement. It's it's an
4:00
interesting divide the way it's where it
4:02
kind of pans out. And that's of course
4:03
now I've swapped Costello Soul for
4:05
Barcelona. So I'm among my own kind a
4:08
little bit more.
4:09
>> Are you saying we're old? Well,
4:11
>> you can't.
4:13
There are some younger people that live
4:15
on the Costel sold just to just
4:17
>> Yeah.
4:18
>> Does it sort of say that Spain as a dem
4:21
as a country is totally changing
4:22
demographically though? It's you know
4:24
there's interesting and fascinating
4:26
ramifications for this because one in
4:28
five 20% it's like it's a lot but I
4:31
don't think it's too much but because
4:34
it's so concentrated in certain regions
4:36
um especially I think in in in Alakante
4:40
50% or more of all homes being are being
4:42
bought by foreigners lots of Dutch and
4:44
Belgians and they come in with you know
4:46
much higher budgets um and they're
4:47
pushing up prices generally so we might
4:50
eventually see a backlash towards this
4:52
and one thing that the the current
4:54
opinion polls have for the the general
4:56
election which be in 2027 is a a PP Vox
5:00
coalition coming to power and it's one
5:02
of those things where you know the the
5:04
current trends 20% is fine but if it
5:06
keeps it trajectory maintains you know
5:08
its course and it gets to 25%. It's kind
5:10
of thing where you might a there' be big
5:13
implications for you know business,
5:15
economy, education, living, housing, all
5:18
this would be affected if the expat
5:20
numbers keep growing. That is
5:22
interesting. And then of course as we've
5:23
seen in um in the UK with Brexit, things
5:26
can switch on a dime and suddenly you
5:28
get Vox in power. Even as a minority
5:30
government, you might see a backlash
5:32
against foreigners, which is something
5:33
that I've never seen in my time in
5:34
Spain. It's always been a very open,
5:36
very welcoming country. But you know
5:39
things could change and they can they
5:40
changed in the UK in 2016.
5:43
>> One thing you notice um is Alex who's
5:46
based in Torca you know we you notice
5:49
that places like the Costabalanca South
5:51
Costalanca North are very expat
5:53
orientated but the cities of Valencia
5:55
and Alakante as an example and Barcelona
5:58
are more Spanish and you definitely can
6:00
see that the expats tend to be living in
6:02
the resorts. Now where Alex lives he
6:04
said that there's no strife. He said
6:06
people are delighted the foreigners are
6:07
there you know whether they're coming
6:08
and he said it's very international
6:10
we're not talking about you know just
6:12
Brits like it used to be in certain
6:14
parts of the costel solo costa now
6:16
you've got a massive spread from all the
6:19
way from Sweden Americans and every
6:21
nationality and he said that that the
6:24
local Spanish who are there and he says
6:25
yes it's true there are maybe only 30%
6:28
are Spanish who live there but they're
6:30
delighted and you know it's boommed the
6:32
economy is booming in these places it's
6:34
bringing money in and I a lot of them
6:36
who you know are making the money from
6:38
selling their properties are moving to
6:39
Alakanti or the bigger cities and quite
6:40
happy. So I don't think there's as much
6:42
strife as perhaps the media's reporting
6:45
and I know that the media in Spain like
6:47
a lot of countries is quite rightwing.
6:48
So there's this idea that Vox is about
6:51
to take over. I guess you know we have
6:54
to wait and see. I guess it's similar to
6:56
England with reform, right?
6:57
>> I think there's also there's an
6:58
interesting distinction which you kind
7:00
of have to make. It's not very
7:01
comfortable. But Vox and then in
7:03
Catalonia they have alent Catalana which
7:05
is the same kind of thing with Vox but
7:07
for Catalans. And they they make a big
7:09
distinction basically between the the
7:12
the white European American North
7:14
American immigration and you know the
7:16
Muslim African immigration and that's
7:17
that's part of the issue. So a lot of
7:19
people a lot more people are anti this
7:23
kind of immigration especially among
7:24
even among the the the expats you know
7:26
as our readers we you know we see this
7:28
quite a lot. They don't like immigrants
7:30
themselves when they live in Spain as
7:31
immigrants.
7:33
>> And so some people would say they don't
7:34
like immigrants, but what they really
7:36
mean is they don't like non-white
7:37
immigrants. And others others would just
7:39
say, "No, I'm a bit uncomfortable that
7:42
we're losing the um you know, the the
7:44
pendulum is swinging too much." I think
7:46
for most people immigration is a healthy
7:48
thing, but I think some people might
7:50
would be of the opinion that there's a
7:52
limit where it's it it goes too far even
7:54
if it's not against any particular
7:56
nationality or group. you know, they
7:58
just don't want
7:58
>> people don't learn the language. If
8:00
people don't sort of try and integrate,
8:02
learn the language. But I would say, and
8:04
I think we're the worst for this, but I
8:05
would say most northern European nations
8:07
do try to speak Spanish and do try and
8:09
integrate more.
8:11
>> I think slowly us Brits, especially now,
8:13
if you look at the demographic of older
8:15
Brits, it's it's proven now that if you
8:17
speak languages, you're you're going to
8:19
ward off dementia. So, you know, by by
8:22
switching between two or three
8:23
languages, it's actually very good for
8:24
you. So, I think I think I I've
8:26
definitely see Brits learning Spanish
8:28
more than than 20 years ago.
8:30
>> One thing I've seen from being in
8:32
Barcelona now is that English is very
8:34
prevalent and um I can get by speaking
8:38
English. I mean, I do speak Spanish, but
8:40
they they they have the issue they got
8:41
the Catalan language which they want to
8:43
protect and defend. But especially in a
8:45
city like Barcelona, it's so
8:46
international now. It's like London or
8:48
New York. and I'm spending time in
8:50
co-working places and kind of young
8:52
business savvy places and English is the
8:54
language and you obviously you'll get
8:56
Spanish and you get Catalan elsewhere
8:59
but you you know English is quite a
9:01
dominant language within Barcelona and I
9:04
don't know how how they feel about that
9:06
and a lot of the Catalan nationalists
9:07
they actually prefer English to Spanish
9:09
because they you know they have issues
9:10
about these things
9:11
>> but it yeah it's definitely something to
9:14
think about the language
9:14
>> like buying Spanish cigarettes if you're
9:16
in in San Sebastian or Bil Bao You could
9:19
never get Spanish cigarettes. You could
9:20
only buy Mulbra or or Palmau or, you
9:23
know, Silk Cut because they didn't want
9:25
to, you know, they're obviously very
9:26
anti- Spain. So you'd be in any of these
9:28
bars in San Sebastian. Forget buying
9:30
Dardos or, you know,
9:33
>> Nobel. Yeah. I mean, it's it's it's
9:36
going to continue to evolve and the
9:37
language will evolve because you'll end
9:39
up with more um more Spanglish going on
9:43
and, you know, new words coming into the
9:45
vernacular. Very exciting. So, let's
9:47
kind of see what happens there. Now,
9:49
we're going to take a quick break from
9:51
talking about the news to hear from our
9:53
sponsor.
9:56
>> Sorry. No, Ablo.
10:00
>> Looking for travel insurance you can
10:01
understand. Stayshore have been the
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>> Stay shore expert is a tide agent of
10:21
seor.
10:23
>> But let's get back to the news because
10:24
it was one that really haunted me this
10:26
this um this issue. The tourist was
10:29
trapped in her Airbnb and she couldn't
10:32
get out in Granada. So what happened
10:34
with that?
10:36
Uh yeah, it's an extraordinary story,
10:38
isn't it? That everyone's worst
10:39
nightmare. I mean, not not just because
10:42
you've gone on holiday for a weekend and
10:43
you want to see the town you're in, but
10:45
the fact that you can't get out of the
10:47
building you're in. I mean, okay, look,
10:49
let's be honest here. This woman could
10:50
have smashed the front door down and
10:53
probably got out if it was an emergency.
10:55
But anyway, this poor lady from
10:57
Portugal, she'd come over, she's
10:59
actually an expat in Portugal, and she'd
11:00
come over to to Spain to Granada for a
11:03
long weekend. just so happened to be
11:05
that weekend of storm Leonardo and so it
11:07
was very windy and quite wet but I mean
11:09
she could have still gone out
11:10
sightseeing in Granada. You've still got
11:12
the Alhhamra you could visit and other
11:13
buildings that you could visit. She woke
11:15
up uh in the morning went down to to get
11:19
uh go out to get a coffee and breakfast
11:20
at around 8:00. Front door wouldn't
11:23
open. Couldn't get out.
11:25
>> Could not get out of her property. So
11:26
there she is thinking well it's you know
11:28
there must be someone to ring. just
11:30
contacted the uh the company that rented
11:33
out the Airbnb. In fact, they own 70
11:35
other properties around the city and
11:37
they were like, "Oh, uh we'll get
11:39
someone to you soon."
11:41
>> An hour later, nothing. Called again.
11:43
They said, "Oh yeah, we'll we'll have
11:44
someone there for 3:00." And they blamed
11:46
it on Indessa, who are the electricity
11:49
company, saying, "Well, Indessa, it's
11:50
their electric door override. They've
11:52
got to go and sort this out." Um and she
11:55
was like, "Well, 3:00's not acceptable."
11:57
She had waited, can you believe, until
12:00
7:20 in the evening before someone from
12:02
Andessa turned up and managed to get the
12:04
electricity working on her front door.
12:07
>> She's furious, as you can well imagine.
12:10
>> That's no fury. She has gone ballistic.
12:12
Went to the police. She went to the
12:14
national police. She went to the
12:15
Hunter's Tourism Department. She's been
12:18
to booking the company. Quite honestly,
12:21
why they didn't just give her her money
12:22
back straight away, I have no idea. Talk
12:25
about own goals. They said, yeah, they
12:27
were going to give her money back and
12:28
give her a €75, you know, special
12:31
discount on the next stay in their city,
12:34
but they hadn't done it. I mean, this is
12:35
like two weeks later. We were reporting
12:36
on it and they still hadn't done it. So,
12:38
you know,
12:40
>> just guys, if you own Airbnbs out there,
12:42
you're renting hotels or whatever you've
12:44
got, apartments, just look after your
12:46
clients, you know, give them if if that
12:48
happens, just get beg borrow and scrape
12:51
and say sorry very quickly.
12:53
Well, this is a thing, you know, you've
12:55
got to make sure that everyone's okay.
12:57
Um, so the next story is about the polar
13:00
club um that's accused of siphoning off
13:03
water and causing lots of problems in
13:05
the local area. So, John, is this your
13:08
do you know more about this?
13:10
>> Well, yeah. I mean, this is again it's
13:11
our front page uh this this issue. So,
13:14
of course, we're monthly now. So, the
13:15
paper's now going out and about. I think
13:17
Walt's uh getting some spots in
13:19
Barcelona, which is great. Finally,
13:20
we're in a big city. We've been talking
13:22
about Barcelona and Madrid now for a
13:24
while. I think you are we aiming for
13:26
about 20 30 places, aren't we? In
13:27
Barcelona initially walked.
13:29
>> Yeah. With um it's a gradual process
13:31
getting them out there to the bars,
13:33
cafes, hotels, the co-workings, you
13:35
know, wherever you can wherever you
13:37
might find international community.
13:39
That's what we're aiming for.
13:41
>> So they'll be reading about I think
13:43
everyone like likes polo. Everyone
13:45
assumes that polo is uh quite a
13:47
privileged sport. And on this occasion,
13:49
it's the Trafalga Polo Club on the Costa
13:51
Luth in Kadis. And uh it's called the
13:53
Trafalga Polo Club because it's just off
13:56
Cape Trafalga where most uh hopefully
13:59
some of our listeners will know that in
14:01
1805 there was a very famous naval
14:03
battle where Nelson of course lost his
14:05
life. And Nelson, that's the guy that
14:07
stands at the top of a column in Trfalga
14:09
Square in London. Rather famous naval
14:11
hero. So this this guy he's called uh
14:14
he's a he's actually rather posh guy
14:17
called Gonzalo Melgareo Martinez de
14:20
Abelinosa.
14:21
Now this guy has owned this land down
14:24
here and this particularly virgin area
14:26
of land. He's had it for years. In fact,
14:28
I've actually met him. I had some
14:29
friends of friends and he's been wanting
14:32
to develop this area and it's it's uh
14:35
probably about 10,000 square meters uh
14:38
uh of land, rolling sort of sanjune
14:41
beach land, nothing on it at all. A few
14:44
scruff scruffy rundown buildings.
14:46
He decided to build a polar club. So in
14:49
2019 he started watering the fields and
14:52
you know mowing the lawns created an
14:54
enormous lawns uh got the goals up. Then
14:58
of course came the obligatory
14:59
accommodation next door rather beautiful
15:02
luxurious accommodation €125 a night
15:05
minimum offse
15:07
and describes as being in the middle of
15:09
nature. Um what a wonderful place to
15:11
stay of course and yeah and that's
15:13
exactly the problem because I don't
15:15
think he's got a license for for almost
15:16
anything. It was a hotel, but he he had
15:18
to change that. Um, it's uh some rental
15:21
apartments, which I think he's
15:22
technically just got a license for. As
15:24
for the polo pitch, well, Greenpeace and
15:26
Nicole Action, plus all the local
15:28
neighbors absolutely insist that it
15:31
shouldn't be there. And they've been not
15:33
only have they've been putting pipes in,
15:34
they've been using water illegally. And
15:36
of course, everybody's been in to
15:38
inspect and he even got fined for using
15:40
water. And um he just kind of ignored
15:43
it. He got a 50,000 fine, ignored it.
15:45
Apparently didn't pay it. Um it was
15:48
appealed and he lost. Still didn't pay
15:50
the fine. So it's continued to be
15:52
watered. So say the locals and the green
15:55
the ecologists. And uh in the meantime,
15:58
in this come summertime, polo's likely
16:00
to be played on this enormous uh pitch-
16:04
which you know is unbelievably shocking
16:07
really when you think I know it's been
16:09
wet here for the last couple of months,
16:10
but we've been in drought, haven't we,
16:12
for the last uh six, seven years. And
16:15
there were some there were some houses
16:16
in nearby El Palmar that had no water
16:19
last summer and the summer before and
16:21
they run out of water. the meantime
16:23
they're watering these green polo fields
16:25
on virgin land that that should never be
16:27
developed. Um
16:28
>> so you know we we got involved and we've
16:31
been investigating it now for about a
16:32
month actually and um we spoke to all
16:34
the local people when we just what we
16:36
couldn't believe was that he's also
16:38
blocked a public footpath that went down
16:40
to the beach that's been there for 50
16:42
years and so angry was he that some
16:45
horse riders came through on a on a
16:47
horse kind of tour. So there was a
16:48
couple of German tourists and some other
16:50
tourists from Mercy. It turns out some
16:52
Spanish that he came driving out and his
16:54
uh his mini his mini clubman came
16:56
streaming through the field and and and
16:58
tried to stop the horses from going down
17:00
this footpath.
17:01
>> Wow.
17:02
>> And I can tell you the footage is
17:04
remarkable. Somebody videoed it and this
17:07
cars whizzing around the field
17:08
terrorizing the horses. Ends up riding
17:11
over some guy's electric bike, 1200
17:14
electric bike. You know, we spoke to him
17:17
and he he didn't deny it. Said it's
17:19
Yeah. He he confirmed it was in court
17:20
and he just calls the neighbors idiots.
17:22
He said they're all crazy.
17:25
I'm afraid you mate, you're the one
17:26
who's crazy. I mean driving in mini
17:28
clubman at horses isn't isn't the best
17:30
thing to do, is it? It's not a good
17:31
look. Um
17:32
>> so what's going to happen?
17:33
>> So this one I had a look. So sorry I had
17:35
a look at um the location on Google Maps
17:37
this morning. It's at the club polo
17:40
club. And if you look the whole area is
17:43
absolutely arid yellow bone dry apart
17:46
from this polo club where it's green
17:48
bright green and satellite imagery and
17:49
it looks just from immediately you could
17:51
tell that can't be right just
17:53
>> you shouldn't have so much greenery in
17:55
such a deprived area water deprived area
17:58
>> what's actually going to happen what the
17:59
consequences going to be if any
18:02
>> should never have been there in the
18:04
first place and you know let's face it
18:06
the local town hall would have been
18:08
slipped the right amount of money to get
18:10
it passed in 2017 apparently and we
18:12
spoke to the previous mayor actually and
18:14
he he he just said look I've been
18:15
advised by my lawyers I can't comment um
18:18
he has out in 2019 the new mayor came in
18:21
and somehow he carried on developing
18:24
this polo pitch and as Walt says it's
18:26
remarkable you see this huge green area
18:28
from above and it you know this is one
18:31
of the very very last protected areas of
18:35
coastline that's not developed in the
18:36
whole of Spain and
18:38
>> you know this is our whether you're in
18:40
Barcelona, whether you're in London,
18:41
whether you're in New York, this is
18:43
important because this is an area that
18:45
you come down on holiday to in the
18:46
summer, people travel around to. It's
18:48
super important that we don't develop it
18:50
in the same way we develop all the other
18:52
costers. Um, so yeah, it's going through
18:54
the courts. Um, it's being appealed.
18:56
Supposedly, the police are checking on
18:58
the water use. Supposedly, the pipes
19:00
have been taken out. Supposedly,
19:03
it's being dealt with. But, you know,
19:05
like everything here in Spain, it's very
19:06
slow and it's who's going to take
19:08
responsibility. Well, at the moment, I'm
19:10
afraid it seems to be the local
19:11
ecologists, of course, as always. It's
19:13
the Green Peace, it's the it's the
19:14
protest groups, and it's the locals. And
19:17
thankfully, they they are the heroes of
19:19
this piece. And we we will continue to
19:21
to probe it as we always do.
19:23
>> Oh, yeah.
19:23
>> And do you think, John, that if um you
19:26
know, if they investigate this properly
19:27
and they get to the bottom what's going
19:29
on, it could lead to other charges, you
19:31
know, if they do discover brown
19:33
envelopes exchanging hands. Do you think
19:35
this could happen? Well, I think it's
19:38
it's very telling that when we put some
19:39
questions to Vea Town Hall last Monday,
19:43
they said, "Yeah, yeah, well, that
19:44
should be straightforward." And even
19:46
WhatsApp, the actual counselor for Urban
19:48
ISMO, and she came straight back said,
19:49
"Yeah, we'll get in onto this." Two days
19:51
later came back to say, "Uh, yeah, it's
19:53
taking a little bit of a while to get
19:54
the right paperwork." And here we are
19:57
eight days later and still no reply from
20:00
them. Still no answer.
20:02
>> Um, it's been in the front of the paper.
20:04
It's going to be that's now online as of
20:06
yesterday and you know what are they
20:08
going to say? I I I think it's a hot
20:10
potato and as you say well um they the
20:13
chances are that that when this finally
20:15
does come out in the wash it could be
20:17
quite bad news for him. Yeah, he could
20:18
be in trouble.
20:19
>> Now we're going to take a quick break
20:21
from talking about the news to hear from
20:23
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20:43
>> Okay. Well, another story about water as
20:46
well, but too much water is this
20:51
>> the Swede the Swede the Swedish guy who
20:54
is actually a kayak champion who just
20:57
put any fear out the way to go and
20:59
rescue his dogs. Um kind of we all feel
21:03
like we'd probably do that for our pets.
21:04
>> Good man. Yeah. Good man.
21:06
>> Well, so tell us more about this story.
21:08
Walt. Is this one you know about?
21:09
>> Yeah. Yeah. This is a not a funny one.
21:12
But um I think this must have taken
21:13
place at the same time that the lady was
21:15
trapped in the the hotel in in
21:17
>> Gronado.
21:20
>> Yeah. This these storms. I mean there
21:21
was I think it was Leonardo or Mart.
21:23
They they came back to back and they
21:24
>> Yeah. This was a Swedish guy who's a
21:28
he's a champion kayak from the 1980
21:30
1989. Now he's in the 60s I suppose and
21:32
um he owns a kayak business near Fonta
21:35
and obviously this area was absolutely
21:38
flooded and the week of the 4th of Feb.
21:40
And I mean there's there's videos of
21:42
just raging torrents of water and I
21:45
think Canal Ser the Spanish TV channel
21:47
they they captured live on their cameras
21:50
footage of this guy swimming through the
21:52
um the Russian water and it looks hair
21:54
raising when you're watching it and this
21:55
guy no matter even if you're Michael
21:57
Phelps this river is going to take you
21:59
away. and he he manages to um grab onto
22:03
you know some some branches and then he
22:04
pulls himself and he gets there more
22:06
branches and he pulls himself through
22:08
the raging waters
22:09
>> and he gets to his house and
22:11
>> went viral didn't it went around the
22:12
world that video
22:14
>> this is what you see in the clip and um
22:15
but the the Spanish news they have the
22:17
journalists back in the studio
22:19
commenting as it's happening live and
22:21
they are lambasting this guy they're
22:23
like how he's so irresponsible and
22:25
reckless and he's
22:26
>> endangering his own life and risking the
22:28
lives of the people who will have to
22:29
rescue him.
22:30
>> Yeah.
22:30
>> And you know, he gets a big kicking and
22:31
he's he's kind of demonized at the
22:33
beginning.
22:34
>> Yeah. The next day the mayor slagged him
22:35
off. Said the mayor is irresponsible and
22:38
the Herth may come on really.
22:41
>> And so they Yeah. He's getting the
22:42
kicking and then um the press being the
22:44
great journalist that we are, we tracked
22:45
this guy down and we got in touch with
22:47
him and we said, "Hey, hey man, do you
22:49
want to give us your side of the story?"
22:50
And he was very happy to do that. Nice
22:52
chatty guy. And yeah, so he he's a
22:54
champion. I'm not sure if it I think it
22:55
they were vaguely aware that this guy
22:57
was a champion.
22:59
kayaker, Swedish, and he had dogs in his
23:01
home. They actually mentioned this in
23:02
the Spanish news report, but they didn't
23:03
care about that. They were just talking
23:05
about the endangering of lives. And I
23:07
mean, in in in context, I think in the
23:09
same flood or a couple days earlier in
23:11
the same storm sort of time period,
23:13
somewhere in the Arakia, a woman had
23:14
jumped into a river to rescue her dogs
23:16
and she never came out. So, this is the
23:18
kind of the context that people were
23:19
talking about. And um but he spoke to
23:21
our journalist Allesio and he um he was
23:25
saying, "I had to rescue my dogs, man.
23:27
Who who would have left who would leave
23:29
their dogs to drown? The dogs were in
23:30
his house. His house was flooded. The
23:32
bottom floor was, you know, water up to
23:34
the up to the ankles at least. And if
23:36
you look at the video clip, the there's
23:38
a lot of water running very fast. And he
23:40
doesn't know what's going to happen to
23:41
his house or his dogs. And I think he
23:43
first he leaves his house to go move his
23:45
car cuz he's worried about his car
23:47
getting washed away. And he's in his
23:48
kayak. And he's a champion kayaker. And
23:50
he tells our journalist, Allesio, that
23:52
um on the way back to his house, he
23:54
actually did make a mistake. He smashed
23:56
into something that was underwater. He
23:57
couldn't see, wrecked his canoe, and
23:59
then he had to jump into the the river.
24:01
And obviously, that wasn't going to stop
24:02
him. He's still going to rescue his
24:04
dogs. And that's when the footage comes
24:06
in.
24:06
>> He still had he had a life jacket. He
24:08
had a life jacket on. He's also a
24:10
brilliant swimmer. And his job is
24:11
working with people kayaking and
24:13
swimming in on the river. So,
24:14
>> if anyone could do it, it's him, you
24:16
know.
24:17
>> Yeah. He gets home, you see it, he's
24:19
pulling himself through the branches. He
24:21
gets to his house, he goes inside, dogs
24:23
are safe, everyone's happy, no one's
24:24
life is in danger. So the kind of the
24:26
debate is, well, he rescued his dogs. He
24:29
was the man to do it. He knew how to do
24:30
it. And the other side of the coin, if
24:33
he had made a mistake or something had
24:34
gone wrong, he would have endangered
24:35
other people's lives. But I mean, yeah,
24:37
most people were very, very much on his
24:39
side. You got to rescue your dogs, man.
24:41
Um, we did the story. It was very well
24:44
widely read and all the comments were
24:46
like, "This man's a hero. Give him a
24:48
medal. Shut up the mayor." You know? You
24:50
know, he knows,
24:54
>> you know, he's got a letter. He's got a
24:56
letter from the from the authorities and
24:59
uh he's he's they are taking him to
25:01
court. He is he is actually going to get
25:03
I think it's I I think is it correct,
25:05
Walt? 20,000 he's facing. Is that right?
25:07
>> This is the number that I saw, but
25:08
that's normally the the maximum. I don't
25:10
think you often can get the max that you
25:12
could get, but we'll see. If he does,
25:14
there'll be a backlash against the town
25:15
hall. You can be sure about it.
25:17
Well, it's a big story for us and I
25:19
think we'll support him every step of
25:20
the way.
25:22
>> Yeah. I mean, it's it's like a hero's
25:24
tale, but it's it's there's, you know,
25:26
it's it's a nuance tale, but it's a good
25:28
tale to come out from that that week of
25:30
storms, which are pretty catastrophic in
25:31
most most respects.
25:33
>> Yeah. Well, and the dogs are okay.
25:36
>> Yeah, dogs are fine. Dogs are fine.
25:38
>> That's amazing.
25:40
>> Obligatory pictures of him at home with
25:41
his two dogs.
25:43
€20,000, but his dogs are okay, so
25:45
that's that's fine. Oh, good. Okay.
25:48
Well, uh, thank you for that. It's
25:50
really exciting. And we're going to have
25:52
our Mafia special also coming out soon.
25:55
We'll be doing that soon. Um, so
25:57
>> first part's due out imminently,
25:59
hopefully in the next day or two. Yeah.
26:01
So,
26:01
>> so excited. Yeah. So excited for that.
26:03
So, thanks for that and keep us posted
26:06
on the news and we'll see you next time.
26:07
Don't forget to subscribe. It's really
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important so you get to be the first to
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hear about what's going on.
26:13
>> Press that button, please, guys.
26:16
Bye-bye, guys. Cheers.
26:17
>> Bye. Don't forget to subscribe to The
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