Allergic reaction to sun cream ruins holiday for British Tourist in Spain

The poor woman and her family came to Spain for the first two-week holiday in five years, but her time in Cala’n Forcat, Menorca was ruined by a bad reaction to a sun "protection" cream. She ended up needing emergency care in hospital for two days.

 

Before and after: Clare Myers

The product she used was the popular Piz Buin's 1 Day Long sun cream, but instead of protecting her skin, the mother-of-two was left looking "less model and more Michelin man", as her face swelled up.

42-year-old Clare Myers was rushed to the Clinic Juaneda on Menorca in the Balearic Islands, where she was immediately put on a drip to bring down the allergic reaction.

 

“My cheeks were so big I had to drink through a straw,” she said, adding that she was put on a course of steroids cream and antihistamines to try and stop the reaction.

 

Doctors in the A&E department were worried about her high blood pressure and feared that she would have problems breathing due to the swelling. 

 

According to Myers, "It ruined our holiday and it shouldn’t be on the market.”

 

"It cost us over €2,000 and it was our first two-week holiday in five years," she added.

 

The family originally thought her reaction was a result of mosquito bites until she underwent medical tests.

 

But the manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson insist that "Piz Buin 1 Day Long is a safe and effective sun protection product. It contains only permitted ingredients and is labelled according to legal requirements."

 

However, that said, apparently Marie Goldie, 37, (below) from Glasgow, suffered a similar reaction to Myers while on holiday in Tenerife, Spain in 2011. According to doctors in Tenerife, her reaction was so bad, they actually feared that she would need surgery to save her sight. 

 

 

Before and after: Marie Goldie 

The manufacturers did, however, add, “We have received a small number of complaints that Piz Buin 1 Day Long has led to skin irritation. These incidents equate to approximately 0.01% of sales.”

 

BBC'S Watchdog did an article on the subject on the Piz Buin sun cream in June. They reported that two years ago, Dr Ian White of the St John’s Institute of Dermatology and his colleagues noted that the allergy was caused by a particular chemical called C30–38 olefin/isopropyl maleate/MA.

 

Reportedly Dr White recommended that urgent action be taken to identify the cream's safety and called for the use of the chemical in Piz Buin’s 1 Day Long lotion to be re-assessed.

 

Two years down the line, the contents of the cream remain exactly the same.

 

Myers added, “There’s no warning on the packaging, nothing about doing a patch test.”

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354272

Ali Campbell's UB40 to appear in Fuengirola's Plaza de Toros this August

The place is the Plaza de Toros de Fuengirola, located at Calle de Camilo José Cela, 12, Fuengirola, and the date to put in your diary is Saturday 10 August 2013 at 22h00.

With Ali Campbell's UB40 will be featuring all their best hits, including "Red, Red Wine" (see video below) and "Kingston Town", and supported by Loremba, this will be a night to remember.

Transport is available from other Spanish cities for convenience and at an affordable price and you can stay in town to take advantage of the weekend.

Tickets are available here, and local accommodation is on offer here.

* Photo by Eva Rinaldi from Sydney Australia
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And the world cocktail 'Oscar' goes to Spanish bar tender

David Ríos, who owns and runs a café with his brother in Barakaldo, in Spain's Basque Country, has become the first Spaniard to win the prestigious and coveted Diageo Reserve World Class competition.

The competition is thought to be the "Oscar of Cocktails" and the biggest prize in mixology. At the end of the competition, which featured 15,000 hopeful bar tenders in 50 countries, 37-year-old Ríos was last man standing in the Diageo Reserve World Class 2013.

 

This year saw the sixth final in the competition, which took place on board the luxury Mediterranean cruise ship Azamara Journey. Local TV channel 20Minutos has a video showing Ríos at work winning the event.

 

Diageo Reserve quotes Ríos as saying: “I am thrilled and humbled to be awarded Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year amongst the incredibly talented group of bartenders at the Global Final. I have been truly inspired this week by the unequivocally high standards and limitless talent at the Global Final. I look forward to the year ahead, traveling the world as an ambassador for the program, meeting my peers, educating new talent, and learning about new cocktail cultures and trends around the globe."

 

He told 20minutos that he got started "a little bit accidentally" when he was just 18 and the bar where he worked hosted a cocktail party. However since then, he has worked as a sommelier in Michelín 2-starred restaurant Mugaritz and as maître d' in the Michelín-starred Sheraton Hotel in Bilbao, now run by the Melia hotel group.

 

The creation that got him the big prize was "el Ponche de Oro Vasco" ('Basque Gold Punch'), which is a technically demanding cocktail of Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve whisky, pineapple juice, grenadine and soda, adorned with an orange slice, anise and mint.

 

"My creations are based on classic cocktail-making, but with some modern touches," explained Ríos.

 

According to Diageo Reserve's Spike Marchant, “Diageo Reserve World Class 2013 was a closer-fought battle than we’ve ever witnessed before, particularly as some of our newer markets had advanced such a lot. But there could only be one winner and David Rios stood above the rest of the 43 finalists. His cocktails and appreciation of flavor were consistently outstanding, his technical precision was jaw-dropping, and he maintained his composure under extreme pressure. Throughout, his strength of personality shone through, reflecting the best traditions of bar tending.”

Ríos normally works at Café Kobuk in Barakaldo, in Spain's Basque Country, with his brother and fellow owner, serving up breakfasts, coffees, beer and, naturally, cocktails. He apparently also displays his art as a barman in Bilbao's "The Jigger Cocktail".

Ríos was planning to open a new establishment in Bilbao, but these plans will have to be put on hold, as he embarks on a year-long global tour as ambassador for the Diageo Reserve brand. At the same time, he will be starring in a TV show, to be aired in 100 countries, showing the best moments from the mixology competition. This month, a brand new guide book, featuring his cocktail creations, will be available on sale.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354241

Spanish mayor goes on hunger strike after town's water supply dries up

The mayor of Valle de Abdalajís, Victor Castillo, went on a hunger strike after the town's water supply dried up for the 8th year in a row.

Castillo is furious that damage to the town's aquifers by the train company, Adif, has not not been repaired and overcome.

The water supply was damaged in 2005 when the construction of a tunnel for the AVE train from Cordoba to Malaga hit the town’s main aquifer.  But while Adif agreed to promised to repair the damage and compensate the town, some clauses have been ignored.

Castillo's protest only lasted one day, however, after the infrastructure group stepped in promising to at least pay to have water brought to the town through the summer months. 

Every year since the damage was done, the small town of  2,800 people has to pay hundreds of thousands of euros to bring water in by truck.  In 2012 alone, it cost €380,000 to bring in enough potable water for the residents.

“We are a small town and our reserves simply cannot support these costs,” insisted the mayor.

“This year, I was not prepared to let it happen again.”

Read more Spain news.

Chinese residents call for justice in Fuengirola robbery & killing

Four youths were arrested on Saturday in connection with a robbery at a Chinese bazaar in Fuengirola, in which the owner was very seriously injured and died on Sunday. On Wednesday, Chinese residents protested at the town hall for justice.

Protests in the plaza in front of the town hall in Fuengirola are becoming a regular thing these days, but Wednesday's event is probably the most tragic of them all.

The background to the story is that on Saturday, four youths were arrested, after they robbed a Chinese bazaar in Fuengirola, beating the owner and seriously injuring him.

As his injuries were so severe, the owner was airlifted to a hospital in Málaga, and he regrettably passed away on Sunday.

Read more, see photos and video: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354076

Stag night prank hits headlines in Madrid as 'armed kidnapping'

The media reported a "masked and armed kidnapping" in Madrid last Friday. Only later did the actual "victim" see the police reports and realized they were talking about his stag party!

Madrid police had received several calls from worried bystanders on Friday, saying that two masked gunmen had rushed a victim at gunpoint into a black Mercedes, in Salamanca, an upmarket Madrid neighborhood.

The story hit the media on Sunday. 37-year-old IT worker José Manuel Conde was browsing the Spanish daily El Mundo on Sunday and saw the kidnapping story. He immediately thought, "Shit, that's my stag party!"

He told the media that the unusual party pickup was his friend, David's idea. David, with the help of a third man, collected poor José, bundled him into the car and rushed him off to the party.

"We had to see how to get him there (to the party) and I had the idea of the kidnapping," David explained.

"We parked the car and the first thing we did was put on our balaclavas."

David did say that they had warned several people in the area, while they were waiting for José to finish work and that most people were laughing during the "kidnapping."

However, he added that "Someone else must have seen us from a distance and misinterpreted it."

David and his friend captured José, whose marriage is set for July 27, covered his head with a bag and threw him into the trunk of the Mercedes. 

"He believed it for about 20 minutes, he was scared, then he started laughing." 

"When I read the news in El Mundo I freaked out a bit," added David.

On seeing the media reports, David immediately phoned the police, who for some reason couldn't see the funny side of the story, and told him to visit the police station. Once there, he was sternly warned that they had been playing "a dangerous game". 

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354094

Spanish policeman delivers baby in a car near Seville Airport

A couple were zooming along, en route to the hospital, when they got snarled up in traffic. An officer had to intervene and assist with the birth. As the baby was tangled in the umbilical cord, without his swift action the child might not have survived.

On June 27, while the National Police officer was conducting foot patrol in the airport area in Seville, he saw a vehicle travelling at high speed towards him.

 

The car became snarled up in stopped traffic in a tunnel at the airport. The man inside the car called to the officer, "Help, please help, my wife is in labor."

 

The officer then found the woman was actually in the process of giving birth and could even see the baby's head crowning.  He was then forced to intervene, as the baby was tangled in the umbilical cord. If not for his quick action, the newborn may have suffered some kind of injury.

 

The agent first notified the Health Services of the San Pablo airport that the woman was giving birth, but realized there was no time, and that he had to intervene himself.

 

First of all he needed to free up space in the vehicle, as the couple's two other children were in the car. He then reassured the mother, who was naturally in quite a state.

 

Finally, because of the strong contractions the women was experiencing, the agent was determined to deliver the baby safely.

 

He then untangled her from the cord and wiped the infant's airways clear of fluids, using the father's jersey. The agent, holding the baby girl in his arms, then gently massaged her back to encourage her to breath and cry.

 

He then wrapped up the baby and placed her in the arms of her mother.

 

The agent did not, however, have suitable tools to cut the umbilical cord, and had to await the arrival of the ambulance to complete the process and transfer both the mother and the newborn baby to the Hospital Virgen de Macarena.

 

While the health services transferred mother and baby, the agent took it on himself to deliver the couple's other two children to their grandparents' home.

 

The medical services from Seville airport commended the officer for his swift actions, which almost certainly saved the life of the newborn.

 

The mother and her new daughter were healthy and hearty, and recovered in the Neonatal Unit of the Hospital Virgen del Rocio.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354084