Joshua Parfitt
IT has taken five years, but the Olive Press Costa Blanca has finally arrived.
Half a decade of research and planning – and with something of a recession to contend with in the interim – we hope you like the look of our investigative, community newspaper, designed for expats of ALL nationalities across Alicante and Valencia.
With a dynamic mix of news stories, investigations, features, reviews and columns, we hope you see the difference between us and our rivals.
We already have papers established in Andalucia, Gibraltar and Mallorca, meanwhile our website has covered the whole of Spain for over a decade and counts on nearly 20,000 visitors a day.
The fourth newspaper in the (now) fast-growing Olive Press stable, we launch with a number of promises to you, the readers.
FIRSTLY, we vow to serve up an original and varied mix of articles, fortnightly, that will be relevant to anyone living here, or who is a regular visitor.
SECONDLY, our team of fully-qualified NCTJ-trained journalists are able to help in anything you feel should be covered, be it corruption, the environment, politics, your neighbours… or just your pets!
We expect you to contact us if you see anything untoward, or something that needs tackling.
THIRDLY, we promise to deliver a paper with a 50/50 editorial/advertising split, something sadly rarely seen these days.
This, of course, means our prices are higher than our rivals, but we are able to guarantee a better presentation of adverts… not to mention a much longer shelf-life for their businesses.
When it comes to content, we will be offering you a mix of local stories, plus articles from around the country and have correspondents in Madrid, Murcia, Mallorca and Marbella.
They will be writing about history, culture and food, with a smattering of human interest and geography features, plus consumer investigations.
I myself am a keen traveller, and have written for decades on the many corners of Spain for the UK media, including the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Conde Nast Traveller.
I arrived in Spain to write a novel in 2002 and, simply, never went back.
Since then, I have worked as a stringer for most of the national newspapers, helped on numerous BBC and ITV programmes and, most recently, helped to curate the huge eight-part Netflix documentary on missing Madeleine McCann.
I launched the Olive Press in 2006, as I began to realise there was a huge gap in the market when it came to local media.
Sick of the cheap and tawdry local press on the Costa del Sol – rags only serving their owners, with all too frequently sickeningly racist editorial – I decided there needed to be something else.
Quite simply, the huge expat population of Spain was NOT being represented.
Nobody was exploring their problems, fighting their corner, listening to their plight.
That is what good local media does.
Be it radio, newspaper or TV, our role is to go out and talk to the community.
Yes, and to help right as many wrongs as we can.
Our successes include a two-year campaign into danger drug Nolotil, the end of a 2,000-home double golf course scheme alongside a Natural Park and the location of a trio of Britain’s Most Wanted criminals, including the fastest-ever arrest after a UK Crimestoppers appeal.
We have highlighted the lies of politicians, exposed conmen and fraudsters and won awards for our environmental campaigning.
And, all the while, alongside articles promoting the very best of Spain.
I take great pride in launching our fourth paper here on the Costa Blanca, an area I have visited on many occasions, and I look forward to getting to know it better.
I hope you will be around to fill me in with your best tips for places to eat, visit and stay, while keeping my journalists busy with plenty of things to write about.
Remember, a local paper is only as good as its readers. You are our eyes and ears.
Don’t hesitate to contact me at Jon@theolivepress.es or call 951273575
For more local information in the Costa Blanca
Visit Javea Connect website & Facebook Group
