22 Apr, 2019 @ 15:30
1 min read

British pensioner praises Spanish local for handing him €400 he unwittingly left in cash machine on Spain’s Costa del Sol

LUCKY: British pensioner Alistair

A BRITISH pensioner has praised a Spanish local for handing him €400 he had unwittingly left hanging out of a cash machine.

Alistair Thomson, 72, was taken aback when, after thinking he had cancelled his transaction in Estepona, a local man tapped him on the shoulder and handed him hundreds of euros.

“When the exchange rate for the British Pound had come up on the screen I decided to cancel the transaction as the rate was poor,” the Cheshire-born man told the Olive Press.

“I then walked into the main part of the Carrefour when a Spanish gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and handed me €400 euros.

“I realised I must have pressed the ‘proceed ‘ button rather than the cancel button by mistake, retrieved my card and just walked off.

“The Spanish gentleman was in some corporate work clothes but I can’t remember the corporation I think it was a petrol station.

“He very reluctantly accepted a token of my appreciation.

“I just wanted to share this lovely episode with everyone… Viva España!”

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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