I’m not going to write about the English papers, eg Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, The Sun, that are sold increasingly here in Spain. And at rather hefty prices, I have to say.
No, I’m going to write about the main “freesheets” published down here in Andalucía, namely The EuroWeekly News, SUR in English and The Olive Press.
***
The EuroWeekly News [Published by EWN Media in Fuengirola (Málaga)]
The EWN is not a paper I get to read very often these days, as they no longer bother to deposit copies inland.
When I worked as a “paper boy” for the company for a short while some years ago, they were dropped all over the Serranía de Ronda by me.
I have to report that it’s no great loss, since I don’t like the paper very much. It’s too boring. Most news stories appear to be “pinched” from elsewhere.
Two columnists stand out, however. Nicole King, English, is a radio broadcaster and journalist, who writes a very entertaining column every week.
Leapy Lee, on the other hand, would be arrested and gaoled if he wrote in the UK the bile-infested “shite” that the paper’s owners publish in the EWN in Spain. That’s maybe why Lee chooses to live in Mallorca, Spain. By the way, he’s already done time in England for GBH.
Leapy Lee was a “one-hit-wonder” with “Little Arrows” in 1968. He is 85.
Out of interest, I applied for a job at the EWN some 10 years or so ago, but they couldn’t meet my wage demands. So, that was the end of a “beautiful relationship” before it even started.
The Euesdens, Michel and Stephen, have no background in journalism – they simply use the EWN, I am led to believe, to generate advertising revenue in order to finance their extravagant lifestyle.
***
SUR in English [published by Diario Sur in Málaga City]
SURinEnglish has just celebrated 50 years. The English-language spin-off from SUR it was the brainchild of Liz Parry OBE, who was editor for over four decades. The editorship is now in the capable hands of Rachel Haynes.
The paper has published the odd article of mine over the years, but recently they’ve not used anything I’ve sent them, even though I do not ask for payment.
“Was it something I said?” I wonder.
On the last two occasions I’ve sent them copy, both within the last few months, they have declined to use it.
Both were “scoops”. The first concerned an environmental outrage being perpetrated in Ronda.
The second was about a wildfire in Ronda, which, if it had got out of control, could have destroyed two hotels, a vineyard, several fincas and a number of rental properties.
So, is it true that SUR in English is coast-centric and not too interested in the interior?
Or, were they “miffed” that their own reporters didn’t know about either breaking story?
Maybe they don’t like my writing, although isn’t that what editors are for? To edit?
They didn’t even give me feedback, even though I requested it.
The upshot is that I probably won’t submit anything further to them in the future.*
I’ll just concentrate on the publications that have printed my stuff in the past, eg The Guardian; The Telegraph; The Sunday Times; North Wales Living and Olive Country Life magazines; and the Spanish revista El Hacho.
Or on various websites that are happy to accept my musings, eg www.eyeonspain.com, www.help-me-ronda.com, and www.secretserrania.com.
Or indeed, Facebook groups, such as CAMCAC - Campaña para Cervezas de Alta Calidad, Costa Press Club, Expats in La Serranía de Ronda, and Expats Life in Spain.
***
*STOP PRESS:
I relented. There was a recent article printed in SUR in English by a Spanish-born novelist which shocked and infuriated me so much that I sent in a rebuttal. The novelist in question, Manuel Vilas, born in Huesca (Aragon), slammed the country of his birth and its citizens.
My article rejected most of Vilas' criticisms, based on my 50-odd-year-love-affair with Spain which culminated in me moving here 16 years ago. I am settled, re-married and enjoying a busy retirement in Andalucia.
Manuel Vilas [Photo courtesy of El Confidencial]
I was pleased to discover that my article was posted prominently on the paper's website within hours of me submitting it. You can read it here:
Opinion in Surinenglish.com | Sur in English
***
Click here to read Liz Parry's nostalgic look back over the last 50 years of SUR in English:
Liz Parry: Some things never change | Sur in English
***
The Olive Press [published by Luke Stewart Publishing in San Pedro de Alcántara (Málaga)]
When I first emigrated to Spain in 2008, aged 58, I managed to get myself an interview for a job with The Olive Press (Western Edition). At that time, the OP was the new-kid-on-the-block.
Proprietor and editor Jon Clarke made a good impression on me and I on him, it would seem. I got the job!
Despite being employed to sell advertisements – how free papers survive – I also wrote copiously for the paper. I cut my teeth on the Autumn 2008 supplement about the Barrio San Francisco in Ronda, where, at that time, I had owned property for seven years and knew lots of local people.
After I left the OP to concentrate on other matters - a new wife; and a large house with a big garden near Ronda – I still wrote a blog for the OP website entitled A View from the Mountains, plus the occasional article for the printed edition.
In the autumn of 2023, I contributed to the supplement about The Serranía de Ronda and was asked to lead on the feature about Ronda wines.
In summer 2024 I reported on the filming, in Ronda, of a Netflix series based on an Agatha Christie mystery and starring Iain Glen, Helena Bonham-Carter, Martin Freeman and Mia McKenna-Bruce.
Exclusive: Martin Freeman is spotted filming for Agatha Christie Netflix series in Spain's Ronda - Olive Press News Spain (theolivepress.es)
Major Netflix series filming in Ronda
***
Conclusion
Although many an expat has declared they only collect a free paper to line their rabbit hutch / dog kennel / cat basket, I think these publications provide a useful service. Other punters, including visitors, find their supplements on a topic or locality; their diaries of coming events; and even their adverts very informative and helpful.
Long live the “free” free Press!
© The Curmudgeon
***
Links:
https://euroweeklynews.com
www.eyeonspain.com
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
www.surinenglish.com
www.theolivepress.es
Acknowledgements (Photos):
Alamy
Facebook
IndiaMART
Issuu
The Olive Press
Tags:
Alamy, A View from the Mountains, Barrio San Francisco, CAMCAC, Campaña para Cervezas de Alta Calidad, Costa Press Club, Curmudgeon, English-language newspapers in Spain, environmental outrage, Euesden, EuroWeekly News, EWN, Expats in La Serranía de Ronda, Expats Life in Spain, Facebook, IndiaMART, Issuu, Jon Clarke, Liz Parry, Luke Stewart, Olive Press, Rachel Haynes, Ronda, San Pedro de Alcántara, Serranía de Ronda, SUR in English, wildfire