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Kate and Gerry McCann are clinging to hope their daughter is alive and have launched a new 24-hour phoneline to find her.

The line will be manned on a confidential basis and people are encouraged to ring in with sightings or evidence.

Spokesperson for the couple, Clarence Mitchell, told Sky News: “Without any hard evidence of her death, Kate and Gerry hope against hope that she is alive.

“They want this to exist as another line for anybody who might want to contact somebody independently.

“Any credible leads, of course, will be acted upon.”

Portuguese and Spanish police have given Gerry and Kate McCann their full backing in setting up the number, which will be based in Spain.

The operators of the line will speak a range of different languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French and English.

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We have all seen the programmes on T.V. encouraging us all to quit the rat race and emigrate to sunnier climes and “Live The Dream”.
Sadly, not all of us are able to quit working for a living and need to find gainful employment in order to eat. Any number of people think that running a bar is the answer to their dreams, whilst others crave a ‘proper’ job.
So, an office job should fit the last requirement to a’T’. You may think that you have a pleasant phone manner, good people skills and are a good team player. However, sometimes it can take a hell of a lot more than that to get on in the property game.

One hapless individual, who shall remain nameless, had to answer an email that landed on her desk from a Mr. White who was looking for a property to buy. He had left a work telephone number so the agent called him. The telephone was answered by a bright cheerful voice, so Mr. White was requested. Lesson Number One. ALWAYS listen to what the person answering the telephone actually says. Agent was then transferred to what she thought would be the client. Lesson Number 2, never assume. Anything. Upon speaking to a second lady, the agent assumed that this was a secretary, highly trained not to let anybody through to the obviously Very Important Mr. White.

After asking several questions of the type, “Who are you and why do you want to speak to Mr. White”? Agent then informs Miss Efficiency 2007 that Mr. White had sent an email enquiring about buying a property in Tenerife. The secretary then went very quiet. She then asked if the agent knew where she was telephoning. The agent admitted that she thought perhaps it was Mr. White’s work number. The secretary gently informed the agent that no, this was a Secure Mental Hospital and that Mr. White was in fact a patient and highly unlikely to be in the market to buy property as he was never, ever to be released. Moral of this story; listen to the voice when it answers your telephone call.

Answering the telephone can lead to all sorts of surprises, even if you speak the lingo. In a busy international estate agency some of your calls will be direct, straightforward queries. Some will not.

Some will make you question your own sanity. Katie, who works in our administration office in Palm Mar was lucky enough to answer the telephone on a warm afternoon. The dulcet tones of an Irish Man greeted her and politely enquired after her day and the weather. He then asked if it would be possible to have some more information about a villa he had seen on Horizons Website.

Katie asked for some further information, which Island the villa was on and if he had a reference number. She was then told that the villa was on Lanzarote, but he appeared to have mislaid the reference number. He then helpfully added that it was easily identifiable, it was a lovely white villa, with a fountain in front of it. One major problem with this information, all the villas in Lanzarote are white. End of conversation with lovely, polite Irish gentleman.

It always serves you well to recognize the possible limitations of your clients when you first meet them. If they are of a certain age, they may not be able to match you step for step up hills for instance. And, in this case, size does matter.

Amber recognizes that clients will always be in a slight panic about buying a new property and knows that they will want to see absolutely everything in one day. Of course, in our climate, this is possible, but you have to make sure you take plenty of rests and take things as slowly as humanly possible.

So on a hot summers day, as arranged, she collected her clients from their hotel and had planned lots of refreshment breaks during the day. Towards the end of the day, everyone was feeling tired and hot and sweaty. They had one more apartment to view, and it was a good one, she had saved the best ’til last.

The viewing was going spectacularly well; the whole family appeared to have fallen in love with it, planning where they were going to put their furniture etc.

Having been all over the ground floor, it was time to show them the high spot of the property, the roof terrace. All they had to do was navigate the spiral staircase and the views across the sea would be revealed.

One problem, the female client was of the large variety and got stuck halfway up the stairs. Wriggling inadequately, she just made the situation worse. Twenty minutes of struggle, with Amber wondering how on earth she could explain the absence of the staircase to the owner after the fire brigade had dismantled it, the client made things even trickier by fainting. So, no fire brigade, but an ambulance was dispatched to rescue her. Eventually she was freed, taken to hospital and subsequently released after a full check up.

No, they didn’t go on to buy the property. Lesson number three, of your client won’t fit into a property. Don’t take them!

You have been warned, Sometimes, Living the dream aint all it is cracked up to be!!

All names in this article have been changed to protect the guilty.

John and Beryl Fairweather moved to Gran Canaria ten years ago in the hope of having a more relaxed lifestyle. Their daughter Paula was living there so they moved in with her until they found their own place in Puerto Rico. They then relocated to Patalavaca, then Arguineguin and finally to San Fernando, close to Playa del Ingles. Beryl obviously has Gypsy blood. They have lived in San Fernando for two years, so the next move can’t be far away!

As the proud owners of a one-year-old Shi-Tzu called Fudge, they wanted to include him in their new life abroad. However as they were unsure what lay in wait for them, they sensibly decided to leave Fudge with Beryl’s brother while they sorted everything out. Also, owing to strict quarantine laws, they felt that if things didn’t work out in Gran Canaria, they would have to put Fudge in doggy prison for six months if they went back to the U.K.

It took only three months for John and Beryl to decide that the Island was perfect for them, “The way of life over here is much less stressful, and the heat helps with all our aches and pains, as we are getting on a bit, this was a great reward!

Bringing an animal abroad is full of red tape, but not too complicated. Initially your animal will have to have various tests done, blood, jabs

We would like to introduce you to the latest in the Horizon Family. Nesus De Kayrie, he is 6 years old from France, seen ridden by his brand new owner Chloe Pickford aged 13. We will keep you posted with their progress during their competitions. Wish them luck!!