11 Dec, 2011 @ 11:30
1 min read

I’ve got myself a timeshare in Almeria, Jon!

IT was certainly one of the most memorable interviews of my life.

Helping to compile a list of the Top 100 bands of All Time for the Daily Mail, I got to hang out with Joe Strummer at London’s Groucho Club.

We talked for hours about his life and loves and the conversation was frequently peppered with references to Spain.

Myself, having earlier lived in Madrid for two years we had a lot of shared interests, including a passionate interest in the Civil War.

The biggest coincidence though was his love of the little-known corner of Andalucia, Cabo de Gata, where I had literally just got back from a holiday.

“I’ve got a timeshare in San Jose,” he told me. “I head down every year and love the vibes down there.”

But, it was clear he had a massive love of the whole region and this reflected in his songs.

We got on well and he gave me his home number in the West Country, where I would later hang out with him at Glastonbury festival.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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