SMILES: Fiona Rooney (right) from EWN hands Pauline Osgood a €1,000 cheque

ONE thousand euros won’t pay for a holiday in Phuket to visit her granddaughter.

She’ll have to save a bit more for the trip she hopes to make to visit her niece in Melbourne, Australia too.

That said, Pauline Osgood was over the moon to receive her €1,000 cheque at the Euro Weekly News (EWN) Costa de Almeria office, Mojacar last Friday February 10.

More than 1,000 readers responded to a survey carried over a two weeks in the EWN at Christmas, sending their completed forms to the newspaper via the internet or by regular post.

Osgood’s handwritten form was the winning entry.

Seventy four year old Pauline, who was born in Highgate, Middlesex, lives in a rented bungalow in the Los Gallardos area. She left her Edgware school at 15 and took a job in Dixon’s camera shop.

Michel and Steven with the €1,000 cheque for Pauline.

Two years later she met her husband John who she has been married to for 56 years.

They moved to Spain together 20 years ago. “I’ve had a really hard life” Pauline, who has three sons, a daughter, and four grandchildren said.

“One son has been very ill with schizophrenia since he was 19”.

He’s now in his 50s and lives in alone in a flat in the UK with some help from the social services. She said she’d been lucky too though, because of having been able to travel a lot in Europe, especially in Spain.

Cordoba, Ronda, San Sebastian, Sevilla, Antequera, Segovia, Salamanca, Madrid, Vigo and Llerma are just some of the Spanish towns Pauline has visited.

Hard-working Pauline has had many jobs, but is now retired and volunteers at the English language library in the Artisans Centre, Mojacar Pueblo.

As an avid reader and book-club organiser, she loves volunteering at the library.

She especially likes the classics, and once attended a reading by Charles Dickens’ great-great-great grandson.

Pauline’s other volunteer work has included being a model in the PAWS fashion shows because one of her friends runs the animal charity’s cattery.

The PAWS shows weren’t Pauline’s only modelling experience though:

For eight years she travelled around working as an artists’ model for art-college students in London, and once met former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson at a fashion show at one of the colleges.

“If you are comfortable you can sit completely still for an hour at a time,” said Pauline.

She remarked that she wouldn’t go to a naturist beach, but didn’t mind nude modelling because “they’re not looking at you as a person, it’s different”.

Pauline loves writing too, and goes to a writers’ group once a week in Bedar.

She’s in the process of writing her autobiography.

Euro Weekly News Publisher Michel Euesden announced the €1,000 winner of the EWN Survey raffle live on Spectrum FM. She is pictured here at the studio with Spectrum's Tim Smith (left) and fellow Publisher Steven Euesden.

One of her short stories that she’d like to get published, is a scary tale about an experience she had whilst modelling.

She likes the EWN letters page and has had letters published in the newspaper and in some UK papers.

Pauline likes the people in Spain but isn’t keen on the food. She learned some Spanish in the one-to-one classes that she used to take with a local teacher,

Jose who has since become her friend. Pauline and husband John first lived in Agua Amarga, Cabo de Gata, after having responded to a package deal property advert in their local British newspaper. S

he said she particularly likes the ‘wildness’ of the Almeria region, adding “Fate brought us here.”

Since their time in Agua Amarga, they have lived in Mojacar Playa, Antas, and in a farmhouse in the Sorbas area.

“Buying the house in Antas was the worse thing I’ve ever done,” said Pauline who had a bad experience renting out the property to British people after her and John moved to their current home, a rented bungalow in Los Gallardos.

Pauline would love to travel more. If she had won enough money, she would have bought her daughter an all-expenses-paid trip to visit Clare – her 22-year-old grand-daughter – who is doing volunteer work in Phuket (Thailand) with special needs children.

However, she will put the €700 she left after having bought a well-needed pair of glasses, into the bank to save for a trip to Rochester and the South East of England this summer.

By Susan Leach

The draw for the winner of the €1,000 cash prize was carried out by Rosslyn Crotty, Vice Consul at the British Consulate in Malaga.

OVER 85 per cent of our more than half-a-million readers make sure they see Euro Weekly News every week.

And 66 per cent of the newspaper’s readers spend from 30 minutes up to an hour scouring through the various sections, from News to Adverts, Business to Columns, Health to Motoring, not forgetting of course Sport, Food, Business, the Classified and Service advertising sections, and much more.

Only 2 per cent of EWN readers put their copy down after 10 minutes – proof that size does matter – with at times weekly pagination of some editions topping 108 pages, while other local newspapers frequently publish just 32 pages, or less, and some only fortnightly!

More than 1,000 regular readers responded to the EWN’s five-minute Readers’ Survey carried in the newspaper – two weeks running – just before Christmas. Each completed survey, submitted either over the internet or by post, was automatically entered into an exclusive EWN €1,000 prize draw.

The findings of what YOU, the readers, like, who YOU are, what YOU want more of, as well as in a few cases what YOU are not so keen on, provided an intriguing insight to EWN, Spain’s largest free local newspaper in English.

Based on the findings, successful year in 2011, despite the tough economic times, even more improvements are planned throughout the next 12 months to ensure that the EWN remains the newspaper that others – though not by their own choosing – have to follow!

The management aim is simple: to continue to provide readers with the best and most up-to-date local weekly newspaper AND to provide advertisers with the best opportunity to promote and improve their business levels.

While the EWN has no intention of resting on its laurels, management and staff are proud of the in-depth insight the survey revealed.

One aspect that has undoubtedly assisted EWN’s ongoing success over almost two decades is its increasing availability, with 134,500 copies printed each week ensuring that an amazing 92 per cent of survey respondents revealed that they find it easy to pick up a copy of their favoured weekly newspaper.

EWN readers are also a mature group, with 81.3 per cent aged 51 and above, while 14.1 per cent are aged 36–50. Many readers said they also read British daily The Telegraph and shop at Marks & Spencer.

While 60 per cent of readers did not tick any of the sections indicated when asked which part of the newspaper they did not like, we have taken on board that only 6 per cent are not happy with the television pages, and 2 per cent are unhappy because it is published only once a week!

With surveys submitted from throughout the EWN’s distribution area from Valencia to Gibraltar, from Mallorca and the mainland to inland, the findings will enable EWN to move forward and, as always, ensure that it does not disappoint.

Long-term readers show their loyalty

EWN readers know what they like and are also a loyal lot! For findings from our recent EWN survey spelled out that more than a quarter have been reading the newspaper for six years or more, and 53 per cent for between three and five years.

Changes and improvements in the last two years coupled with the introduction of separate editions for the Costa Blanca North and South editions have also produced 15 per cent new readers, despite dwindling expatriate numbers in many areas.

Additionally, 6 per cent of those who completed the survey did so even though they had only joined the ranks of regular EWN fans in the last 12 months.

THE TOP 10

AN amazing near 99 per cent of EWN fans read our local news coverage every week.

And 82.36 per cent also always quickly turn to the Letters section. The survey revealed the following Top 10 favourite sections among readers (figures given are percentage of all readers):

%

Local news 98.5
Letters 82.3
What’s On 66.2
Leapy Lee 64.8
Other columnists 63.2
Food 62.4
Time Out/Puzzles 62.1
Classifieds 53.2
Health/Beauty 51.7
Business/Finance 50.5

Homes and Gardens, general features, Television, Fashion, Sport, Motoring and horoscopes also featured heavily among readers’ favourites.

WINNER: Pauline Osgood, in front of her Los Gallardos home, has already spent €300 of her winnings on a new pair of glasses that she desperately needed.

Pauline’s €1,000 surprise

IT WILL be a long time – if ever – before Pauline Osgood forgets the day EWN Managing Director Michel Euesden phoned her.

For when Pauline, who lives in Almeria Province, answered her phone and found Michel on the line, it was to reveal that her completed form had been picked out as the winning entry in the EWN five-minute survey €1,000 cash prize draw.

Pauline gets a copy of the EWN every week from her local petrol station in Los Gallados, where she lives.

Married and aged 74, she has been a regular reader for more than three years, and on average spends at least half-an-hour catching up on the letters, local news, and other favourite sections, including general features, health and beauty, television, what’s on, and entertainment/puzzles.

As well as being an EWN fan, Pauline also enjoys dining out, going out for a meal once a week or more.

WINNING TEAM: EWN Editor Alfredo Bloy (foreground) proudly displays the award, surrounded by colleagues at the company’s Benalmadena head office.

Organised by CADE Marbella, in collaboration with Marbella Town Hall, Unicaja International, Andalucia.Com and the Chamber of Commerce in Málaga, the annual awards event is designed to ‘recognise and promote excellence, good practice  and  innovation in  the Andalusia business community’.

As the award was being announced last Thursday – one  of  seven as part of the prestigious Costa del Sol Business Awards – the  Costa  del  Sol  edition of  the newspaper was hitting the streets with a record-breaking 104-page issue.

EWN is proud to announce  that  this week, we are even bigger, with 448 pages across our six editions in Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca North and South, Costa Almeria, Axarquia and Mallorca.

A delighted Michel and Steven Euesden, publishers of the EWN, said: “The award is a great honour and so well timed given our record issue last week. It is testament to the hard work, professionalism, passion, energy and dedication of the EWN team in growing the six publications, as  well as the grand support of all our loyal advertising customers who are succeeding in these challenging times.”

Among strategic targets of the Junta de Andalucia is that foreign residents further develop their business activities, creating more as well as larger and stronger companies that are additionally more innovative, better connected and integrated in the region.

WINNING SMILES: Winners and officials at the 2011 Costa del Sol Business Awards presentation ceremony.

Other winners at the Costa del Sol Business Awards 2011

EWN representatives were unable to attend the event due to unforeseen last-minute circumstances.

The 2011  Foreign  Residents  Business Day winners in each category are:-

• Company of  the  Year:  Euro Weekly News

• Business Promotion of Andalusia: Sabor y Salud

• Innovation Award: i-Answer

• Association Award: Marbella Business Institute

• Integration in Andalusia: Spanish Approach

• Young Entrepreneur: Placement Finders

• Jury’s Special Recognition: Turkish Airlines

Message from the Publishers

As publishers of the fastest-growing  foreign  media group in Spain, we are proud to share the momentous occasion of winning the prestigious Company of the Year award and a record-breaking 448 pages this week across our six editions with our loyal readers and customers.

The sheer size and scope of EWN simply cannot be matched.

Our growth and success – with the Company of the Year 2011 title the most recent of several previously-won awards – is our testimonial. As with all our advertisers, we are fighting this economic crisis together, and together we will prevail.

In the last month, to continue EWN’s incredible growth we have had to increase the size of the EWN staff by employing one extra person every three days, including weekends, something that further adds value to the local community we are proud to be part of.

Over the last 16 years, much has happened in the global media world. EWN can now proudly and justifiably hold its head high and above all its competitors, not only in Spain but also  throughout Europe.

Michel & Steven Euesden

Company award criteria

THE  Company of the Year must  demonstrate excellence within  its  industry  or  activity by  showing the added  value which  is  making  a  difference compared to its competitors.

It must show overall product and services market potential, plus success established by company growth, viability, strategic innovation and leadership in its field.

The company must consider the interests of society taking responsibility for the impact of its activities on customers, suppliers, employees, communities and the environment.

This obligation is seen to extend  beyond  the statutory obligation to comply with legislation, taking voluntary further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and  their  families as well as for the local community and society  at large.

Praise

This award by the Junta de Andalucia is proof of the excellence EWN has shown over the past years and we want to send our heartfelt congratulations.

Our company has witnessed the constant growth by this publishing company with which we have a strong relationship.

Manuel Garcia, Director of Artes Graficas  del Mediterraneo of Valencia, printers of EWN with 134,000 copies per week.

Congratulations to all the award  winners and particularly Euro Weekly News  for  winning the  Company  of the  Year  at  the Costa del Sol Business  Awards.

I  have  met  many of the multi-national EWN team and I am always struck by their professionalism, passion  and  love for  the  Costa  del Sol.

A great result for a great team!

Steve Jones, British Consul for Andalucia based in Malaga.

Congratulations. I believe this prize is fully deserved as a result of hard   work and professionalism.

Manuel Alvarez Vazquez, Director Banco Popular, Benalmadena. Bankers to EWN Publishing Group.

CELEBRATING: EWN Publishers Michel and Steven Euesden (seated front centre) with staff, columnists, clients, guest artists and friends.

MORE than 100 people attended a lavish EWN Christmas party hosted by publishers Michel and Steven Euesden.

Staff from the head office in Benalmadena were joined by colleagues from various offices including Mallorca, Almeria and Costa Blanca as well as leading columnists, top corporate clients and close friends.

Following pre-dinner drinks, attendees of this black-tie gala sat down to a five-course dinner at the Valparaiso Restaurant in Mijas.

Steven and Michel Euesden

Entertainment was provided by X Factor finalist, Rowetta, EWN’s very own Leapy Lee, as well as Frankie Valentine and Alexandra Avery.

There was a visit by Santa Claus, before dancing late into the night to the sounds of band Dirty Little Secrets.

On leaving, each guest was given a commemorative engraved gift.

A special ceremony during the dinner saw Managing Director Michel Euesden, accompanied by Sales Director Steve Euesden, present top staff with awards.

In a brief speech, Michel remarked that everyone attending the event was part of ‘one big EWN family’, stressing the secret to the success of the newspaper is hard work and its united team.

She thanked all present for helping to make 2011 a successful year, especially in such a tough economic climate.

Michel added that there were plans afoot to make 2012 even more special.

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More than 60 per cent of hundreds of readers – in a recent survey – stated that the EWN is their favoured and preferred publication.

In recognition of putting and keeping the EWN firmly in top spot in recent years among fellow competitor newspapers from Costa del Sol, Axarquia, Almeria, Costa Blanca, and not forgetting Mallorca, more than 85 people attended a Grand Gala Champagne Christmas Staff Party at the Valparaiso Restaurant in Mijas (Malaga).

Along with EWN staff from the head office in Benalmadena, and regional bases in Almeria, Altea and Torrevieja, wives, husbands, partners and select leading corporate clients were among the guests.

The near eight-hour-long Black Tie event started with Champagne cocktails and canapés, and this was followed by an 18-course gala banquet that included oysters, lobster, ostrich and four desserts.

During the evening, Publishers Michel and Steven Euesden presented awards to the Sales Manager of 2010, Most Promising Newcomer, Most Extraordinary, Best Department, Most Loyal Staff Member, Best Designer, Best Sales Person, Longstanding Award, Most Improved Branch and Most Accomplished.

Entertainment was provided by singer Jordana (pop), resident Valparaiso tenor Pedro Barrientos, Masquerade (chart hits) and DJ Paul the Bear. Master of Ceremonies was Steve Shappelle.

Despite the storm, at midnight a grand fireworks display was staged, with the evening finally winding up at 3am. Each guest was given a Christmas hamper on departure.

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However, in at least 50 per cent of cases, the uninsured vehicles are not actually on the roads, experts say. This means there are 74,000 vehicles on the road without insurance.

Driving without insurance can lead to fines of up to €3,000 depending on the vehicle, and in some cases the vehicle can be impounded.

If no insurance is purchased within two months, it can be sent to the scrap yard.

In an attempt to prevent people from driving without insurance and damages caused having to be paid by taxpayers through the Insurance Compensation Consortium, it is now obligatory to provide proof of having it up-to-date when passing an ITV (MOT).

Picture Credit: Ben Alford

The book is dedicated to all the persons who – no matter what their social or economic position – are contributing towards the growth and development of Marbella.

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We offer a readership – over six editions – right the way through from Sotogrande to Valencia and the Balearics. Over the years we have seen many good radio stations dotted along the Spanish coast, but most of them were localised. Although we have always liked SpectrumFm, it only used to go as far as Nerja.

A year ago it started broadcasting in Almeria with Richard Shanley. Since it started there we have established a close working relationship with him. However, we have never before accepted forming a partnership with a radio station in Spain as the fact they were all localised did not fit in with our own business model.

A forward-thinking, dynamic, successful, businessman, Gary Lewis took over SpectrumFM 12 months ago, and he got it straight away. Gary’s vision for SpectrumFM’s fit perfectly with the Euro Weekly News’ expansion plan. So he asked us for a tie-up and we agreed.

He said: “wherever you go we will go; wherever that be in Spain.”

He is not held back by shareholders or investment funds. Together, there is no organisation that can offer what we do to our advertisers, listeners and readers in Spain. It’s the numbers; monthly, we have 2m readers, they have 1.3m listeners – so by pooling our resources we can not only cement the leading positions of both brands but can go out to 3.3m people every month.

That just can’t be beaten. We are in the expat market. We are governed by numbers. The more numbers we get outthere the more successful our customers’ campaigns will be, and the more resources we will be able to reinvest in producing an even better product for our readers and SpectrumFM’s listeners.

Many expatriates cannot speak Spanish and rely on newspapers and radio to keep them informed of what is happening in this, their adopted homeland. The print is important, and nothing can beat sitting with a drink and enjoy a good read with a newspaper in your hands.

But we must also move with the times, offering news as and when it happens; on the web, on the radio and through e-shots. Doing the joint campaign benefits our advertisers because people are tuning into Spectrum and picking up the Euro Weekly News each week.

Showing people that there really is only one place to advertise on radio and newspaper, SpectrumFM and Euro Weekly News: the strongest on the coasts. Watch this space, there is more to come.

Euro Weekly News / Spectrum FM launch party

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Five vehicles, a boat, precision scales, and 53,000 ecstasy pills have been seized, and a cannabis plantation has been dismantled in Crevillente (Alicante)

The members of the group travelled regularly to the United Kingdom in order to smuggle the drugs hidden in double-bottom suitcases and vehicles.

During Operation ZUMO, a joint operation between the Spanish Guardia Civil and SOCA (UK Serious and Organised Crime Agency), the 12 arrested (8 men and 4 women), are suspected members of an active criminal organisation involved in trafficking designer drugs and cannabis on the Levante coast and the island of Ibiza, where they were in contact with another organisation dismantled by the Guardia Civil last August during the course of Operation Flecha.

During the Operation, Guardia Civil searched six homes in the province of Alicante (three in Torrevieja and three in Orihuela), a six metre long boat, moored in the port of Torrevieja and a cannabis plantation in the Crevillente area.

The investigation started in May this year when the investigators heard about the establishment, in the province of Alicante, of a group of people from Liverpool who could be involved in drug trafficking in leisure centres on the Levante coast.

The organisation was put under surveillance and in June one of the members of the group was arrested, when he tried to smuggle more than 50,000 designer drug pills hidden in the doors of a vehicle that was about to embark in Denia for Ibiza. The drugs were due to be distributed to other organisations based in Ibiza during the summer period.

The group that has just been dismantled are thought to have made daily visits to discotheques and leisure centres on the Levante coast, where they stayed and sold the drugs until closing time.

From time to time, when they ran out of drugs, some of their members travelled to the United Kingdom to purchase new supplies that they themselves smuggled into Spain hidden in double-bottom vehicles or suitcases that arrived by air.

The organisation also possessed a vehicle in an out-of-the-way place in the Crevillente area (Alicante), a cannabis plantation equipped with all necessary items (irrigation, electricity, heating, containers, etc.) where more than 100 cannabis plants were seized.

From the start of the operation the investigators were in contact with SOCA, who sent a number of officers to assist the Guardia Civil during the investigations.

The investigation was led by the Examining Magistrates Court in Torrevieja.

At approximately 9.45pm, the Javea Council voted unanimously to adopt the EU Charter of Human Rights, giving all citizens of the borough equal opportunities regardless of sex, race, colour, creed or language.

This decision followed closely in the footsteps of Benissa Council who through the persistence of Councillor Lisa Svoboda, were the first to recognise that equality for all is the only way forward within the Costa’s multicultural society.

Also quick off the mark was Javea Councillor Oscar Anton, who after detailed discussions with Lisa Svoboda – exclusively recorded in the EWN – placed the EU Charter proposals firmly at the feet of his council colleagues, calling for non political, all party support for the Charter to bring Javea in line with the EU and Strasburg court of human rights.

Initially, the proposals were rejected out of hand by the PSOE as being superfluous to the existing protection Valencian law and the Spanish Constitution grants its citizens. When Snr Anton pointed out that the EU is in possession of thousands of complaints against Valencian law that seemingly legalises land grab without discussion or compensation, the PSOE reply was that the adoption of new non Spanish legislation, would be seen as an admission of guilt and a climb down from the high principles of Valencian law.

This objection was surprisingly supported by the NUJ, who during the 2007 elections, were heavily backed by the expat community. Javea Mayor Monfort eventually voiced his support for the motion, which was subsequently adopted by all parties.

In a later interview, Oscar Anton told the EWN he was delighted with the result which was a triumph of common sense, but warned that, “The EU Charter is not a magic wand that will make the dark ages of land grab and other incomprehensible acts against society simply disappear. But it will give the ordinary citizen the right to challenge any questionable decision made against them or their property, and in doing so, create a comfort time zone for meaningful discussion between all parties under European law.”

Councillor Anton, who will be officially launching his new opposition party, Xabia Democratica on November 6, is one of the new, up and coming younger politicians often quoted as being from a similar mould to the Cameron’s, Clegg’s and Miliband’s of the UK political scene.

For easy to understand details of the charter content, go to:www.wikisource.org