Using roundabouts

As we all know, roundabouts are very popular in Spain as an alternative to traffic lights. Used properly they can keep the traffic flowing in a way that lights at junctions can’t.  Unfortunately there are a fair few drivers who do not seem to understand how to use a roundabout properly so the DGTG have offered advice in the form of a diagram.

It seems that the diagram has confused drivers rather than make it clear what the correct procedure is. The problem occurs on those roundabouts with more than one lane.

Look at the diagram and see if you can spot some of the common mistakes that drivers make.

What the orange car ( D ) is doing is plain stupid – I can’t say I have ever seen anyone try that.

But look at the red car ( C ) and even e the pink car ( E ). I see cars leave the roundabout at the junction of the CV–945 and the CV-905 try that manoeuvre so often. They come up the road from Torrevieja in the left hand lane, enter the roundabout in the same lane and then try to exit towards Quesada cutting across traffic on the right hand lane of the roundabout.

Since it is only small roundabout with no room to switch lanes, traffic taking the turn to Quesada should be in the right hand lane as they approach the roundabout leaving traffic to take the next turn to Los Montesinos in the left hand lane. Sometimes though, you get boxed in to the right hand lane as you approach the roundabout and then you have to risk passing the turn off to Quesada without someone cutting across your path.

The situation on the roundabouts along the N-332 is even worse especially at peak times.

The second time

Yesterday was the second time that we have lost our internet connection with Telefonica in just over a year. On both occasions the connection simply went down and only returned the following morning. Why this should have happened and how it came to be restored overnight is a complete mystery to me.

Whilst I am glad to have my connection back on, I would like to know why this occurred and what steps I should take if or when it happens again.  I should also like to know if any other users on our estate were affected i.e. was it just my connection that was lost or did others suffer the same fate.

This is like the brief power cuts that we suffer from time to time, the lights dimming in the house or the water pressure that drops. They are all indications of problems with infrastructure that should not occur in this day and age. I understand that equipment can fail and that age can take its toll but surely not with the regularity that we seem to experience. In any case, our estate was only started in about 2003 and the telephone lines came much later in 2005/6 – the infrastructure is hardly ancient but it is creaky!

No Internet - damn!

We've lost our connection to the Internet via our Telefonica account and wondered if anyone else has been affected.

PSOE

I found these photos on Facebook showing the presentation of the candidate from the PSOE for mayor.

You could see that the auditorium was packed for the event with people even standing in the doorway.

Like the general election in Britain, the local election here in Bigastro could be a close run thing. In spite of the accusations and the appearances in court, the socialists still have a lot of following in the town.

Birthday girl

Last night we were invited to the 70th birthday party for the lady on the right.

The tickets said “hog roast” and here is the porker, cooked ready for us to eat. Six hours it took to ensure that the meat on this 60km hog was tender and sweet. I can tell you it was jut perfect and that blackened skin was delicious. The dessert that followed was a wonderful cake that contained all sorts of different fruit.

Entertainment was provided by a country and western singer who actually sang a whole lot more besides. He was very good.

All in all, an excellent night that everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Many thanks to Gordon and Ann for inviting us.

Money laundering

Money laundering is a huge problem here in Spain. Money laundering is where disreputable people (usually crooks and drug dealers) try to make illegitimate money look legitimate. They then use that money to buy houses, cars, artwork and businesses.

To clamp down on this, banks were required to obtain up-to-date information about their clients from 2010. The banks have been slow to do this and have now reached their deadline.

The information they need is your NIE, passport details and more often than not, proof of your income. They have until the 30th April to obtain this information, after that they will  be required to put an embargo on your accounts until the information has been supplied.

What to do

If you have been contacted by your bank to supply the information, you should do so as soon as possible. If they haven’t contacted you, it might be as well to contact them.

In our case, we were asked to take our passports to the bank which we did. When we were there, the lady told us that they also needed proof of address and proof of sources of income. What I have sent them are our P60s from last year and the letters from the Pensions Service which show the amount of our State Pensions. Since those letters have our addresses on them, I have assumed they will suffice as proof of address. 

The information that I have sent is concrete proof that all of the income into our accounts has been obtained legitimately.

Holy Cross

The Council of the City of Bigastro  is pleased to invite all residents and visitors to enjoy the events planned to mark the Fiesta of the Holy Cross.

These events will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of May in the neighbourhood de la Cruz. The dinner dance on Saturday 2nd will feature the Trio Everest (the same group  that played at the August fiesta to celebrate a Velada Madrileña). The bar, managed by the Restaurant La Alborada, will offer snacks and dinner.

Typical food

	Some time ago the Ayuntamiento compiled a book of recipes collated from local people (we still have that book somewhere). All of the recipes are for food typical of the town and have full instructions for preparation. Most of them date back at least one generation if not more. They are now updating that information and are asking people to pass on recipes for inclusion in a new book.
	Here are the instructions telling you what information is required.

A noticeable improvement

On Monday, 16 agricultural workers began cleaning up areas around the town. Their work will continue until July 20th. From what I have seen so far they are doing an excellent job, the children’s play area on our estate looks so much better now that they have cleared all the weeds.

Cynical people may say that the clean up is just for the elections but that is not entirely true. The route up to La Pedrera is cleared up every year in preparation for San Isidro. Of course, we would like to see the area cleaned on a more regular basis and not left until it looks a disgrace but the fact is that there just isn’t the money in the coffers to do that. Once a year is better than not at all.

The other thing you may have noticed is that the drains around the town are being cleaned. That should make them more efficient when we next have a heavy downpour.

However, we still have a problem here at Villas Andrea though because the storm drain that runs alongside Calle Le Vegan empties out onto the road at the park, Whenever we have heavy rain, the road floods with a tide of yellow water. Basically, the drain needs to be continued down the road to the collector at the crossroads.

Useful information

Those who attended the meeting with the PP candidate for mayor will recall that Samantha referred to a website where there is a lot of valuable information for foreigners in five different languages.

I have pointed to this site before in this blog but in case you haven’t bookmarked it, here is the URL again:

Alicante website.

The crisis is far from over

Don’t tell people in Alicante province that the economy is recovering because they will only laugh at you. During the first quarter of this year, 14,500 more joined the unemployment list bringing the total to 236,000 and the rate to 26.42%.

Several factors contributed to this rise. Firstly,  a further 4,200 alacantinos presented themselves for work. Then there were 10,300 jobs lost following Christmas – these were seasonal jobs in the tourist industry. The losses occurred in all sectors except construction where an increase in foreign buyers has helped to create new work.

There will be improvement in the summer season and of course there was improvement during Easter but those figures are not reflected in the above. The high dependency on tourism is the main cause of the problem however, there have been losses in industry and agriculture.

My own opinion

I have to say that I was mightily impressed by the PP candidate for the post of mayor. She came across as someone who cares passionately about her town and genuinely wants to make improvement. Clearly well educated and successful, Teresa Maria Belmonte has (in my opinion) the right credentials to lead the town for the next four years. She also speaks in Spanish that is understandable!

I was also impressed by Samantha who took the time and trouble to visit us and explain many things that we needed to know. After the meeting, she followed one of our neighbours to Villas Andrea to see for herself the issues that people spoke of.

Of course, we need to see the proposals of the other parties before deciding who to vote for and each person will have to decide for themselves what they feel is best for the town.

As Samantha pointed out though, we need to be wary of ending up with no overall majority on the council because that would mean four more years of inaction. A protest vote may be appealing to some but it won’t help us to make progress in the town.

Whoever eventually wins, I would like to thank both Teresa and Samantha for taking the time and trouble yesterday to meet with us.

Question time

First item on the agenda was the problem of dog dirt. Samantha put forward the view that the problem was not caused just by Spaniards and their dogs. However, she did say that older Spaniards would let their dogs out in the morning to roam at will. We all know this to be the case and worse still, we have all witnessed Spaniards with dogs allowing them to crap on the pavement – leaving it there for someone else to clear up. I cannot say that British people do not do the same but I have honestly never witnessed it. It seems that Spaniards, on the whole, have a different attitude towards animals. 

There are by laws to cover the problem of dogs fouling public places with fines that can be enforced by the police. As Samantha pointed out, it is hardly likely that anyone would allow their dog to spoil the pavement when there was a police officer watching. The issue is education and whilst younger Spaniards seem to have got the message, the older ones maybe have not. The hope is that, when the town is cleaned up, people will take more pride and want it to stay that way. We shall have to wait and see.

The big issue at Villas Andrea are the unfinished houses that have been vandalised. They are both an eyesore and a potential health hazard. Those that live near to them are most affected and it is therefore them that complain the most. It is however a problem for all of us because the presence of derelict properties on the estate devalues all of our houses.

Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done about that problem. The council do not have the powers to order the houses to be demolished and the banks or other organisations that own them do not have the desire or the money to resolve the situation.

The other issue that people spoke of was the lack of an interpreter at the medical centre. If there were more than 20% of the residents who were British, we would be entitled to a translator but of course we are far from that number. There was a suggestion that we could look for volunteers who would help out at certain times.

Now I don’t want to pour cold water on a good idea but I for one would not want to risk translating Spanish to English at the doctors for anyone. It would be too easy to make a mistake which could prove to be disastrous or even fatal.

To be honest, if I did not feel competent to understand what the doctor was telling me, I would rather pay 40 euros for a professional interpreter than risk relying on a well meaning neighbour.

Interesting

A bit of history

The first municipal election where we voted was in 2007. Since the 2003 election had been a close call for the Socialist party, we had visits from the PP and the Socialists at La Pedrera. Both parties were keen to capture the votes of the new group living in their town. We, in our turn, attended those meetings in large numbers.

By the 2011 election, things had changed. It was only the Socialists and the Liberals that were interested in talking to us.

The number of Brits on our estate has dwindled and so all of the parties could be forgiven for not putting themselves out to explain to us in English what they are about for the election this May. Of course, electioneering has not started yet, the parties have to present their candidates to the public first before they can start campaigning. Yesterday though, the candidate for mayor from the PP took the trouble to speak to us at the bar La Terraza.

Teresa Maria Belmonte brought with her Samantha Zoe to interpret for her and both spoke about the plans for the next four years in Bigastro.

They explained that the last four years has been very difficult. With a minority of seats in council, it has been impossible for the PP to make any real progress. In any case, the town was drowning in debt and so the priority was to try and restore a balance. That meant painful cuts had to be made. Although the financial situation has improved, the town is far from over the crisis that it was in when the PP took over. There is still a lot of work to be done to make Bigastro financially secure.

Not all bad news

A key priority for the new legislature is cleaning. I don’t think any of us would argue with that. Bigastro was not the smartest of places when we arrived, since then though it has gone downhill. There are many things that bigastrense can be proud of, the state of the place is not one of them.

Six years ago the town signed a contract with a company to clean the town. Teresa explained, in her opinion, that has been a disaster. The contract is due to end this year which would provide the new council with the opportunity to make a change. Teresa explained that, what her party propose is to set up a completely new contract with a different company, one that would use local labour and would commit to a much better service. The hope is that a cleaner town would restore people’s pride and with that their attitude to the place where they live.

The second main issue that Teresa talked about was integration and representation. She believes that we should all feel to be part of the town where we live. Whilst foreigners want to learn about Spanish culture and in particular the language, Spaniards are equally keen to know about the British way of life and of course learn our language. Quite how we can achieve this needs to be worked out. We all remember Aurelio’s attempt to set up an exchange where we would help Spaniards with their English and they would introduce us to the culture of the country. Although many of us volunteered to be involved, the plan faltered when he tried to engage Spanish families with the idea.

Another of Teresa’s suggestions was a committee of people from the various parts of the town set up to represent the views of the distinct areas. The representatives would take issues to the council and feedback to their neighbours any decisions made.

We at Villas Andrea tried this in the early days when we were here. Allan White had the idea to form a residents’ committee for Villas Andrea and so we had meetings to put this in place. Sadly, the meetings ended up as slanging matches and even the reformed committee with Jim Ryder as Chairman faltered after a year or so. Personally, I would not want to go down that route again.

I know that many feel that this blog is now the voice of the residents here and is a source of their information about the town. I have made it clear though on several occasions that what I write is solely my opinion in other words I represent myself and only myself. If others concur with my opinions, then that is a bonus.

However, if my unofficial status was changed and I did become the person to represent Villas Andrea to the council, I would not be prepared to go back to those awful meetings and if we decide that someone else should represent us, I would suggest that they take the same stance.

Following this part of the meeting, people were invited to ask questions. More of that in another post.

The latest scam

The Spanish Ministry of Finance has issued a warning this week over fake emails that are being sent to people asking for bank details in order to reimburse money collected through taxes.
The emails state that the recipient has been chosen for a repayment, with a description in Spanish such as “han sido elegidos para el reembolso de una cantidad de dinero por impuestos”.

The Ministry has stated that under no circumstances would they send emails asking for bank or credit card details, but the fake messages are convincing on account of the scammers using similar forms to the ministry and accompanying logos.

They have stressed that any return of income is made by established legal procedures by the Tax Agency and is done personally, to the individual or their representative, and never through this method, so vigilance is required in the event of receiving such a communication.

With so many fake emails and internet scams around, it is important to verify the source of the message before submitting personal details. Official institutions and banks NEVER ask you to send details in this manner, but if there is ever any doubt, you should contact them, by telephone or in person, before submitting details.

The ministry has already submitted a file of evidence to criminal investigators relating to this particular case.

On the way out

It is  emigration from Alicante province not immigration that makes the news. The exodus of foreigners seems to be unstoppable.

Figures from January of this year show that the population here fell by 15,526 to 1,852,912 over the last year. This is in spite of the fact that the Spanish population increased by 6,996.

Currently there are 362,733 foreigners living in Alicante province representing 19.6% of the population.

British immigrants still form the largest group living here with 86,300 recorded but even their numbers have declined by 46,000 in the last three years. 

Some changes

First off all the bank. Apart from copies of our passports, La Caixa now also require documents to show proof of our address e.g. a utility bill and our source of income in Spain i.e. P letters showing our pensions.

I am guessing this is Spain catching up with the need to ensure that foreign residents here have the means to support themselves and therefore do not become a burden on the state. If you recall, Pam and I had to have proof of income and proof that we were registered for health care before our residents permits were issued.

The other change is in European law. It now seems that you can no longer leave your estate solely to your spouse when you die. From August, your children have an automatic right to 2/3rds of your estate. However, since Britain has not adopted this change, you can prevent this problem occurring by having your will amended to state that it will follow the law of your nationality rather than the law where you are resident. 

Living in Spain is a lot more complicated than it was when we first came here, first the requirement to file a return showing your assets abroad and now these changes. Annoyingly, it seems that the only way to find out these things is to pick up one of the English free papers or be told by someone like me. 

First off the mark

We might be fewer in number now but the Brits who are living here still have a say in which party will win in the forthcoming elections.

The PP (Partido Popular = Conservatives) have passed on invitations to the Brits living here to attend an informative meeting on Wednesday 22nd April at 4pm in the Bar La Terraza (Darren’s bar opposite  the Medical Centre).

They have also kindly provided us with proposal sheets to fill in so we can make suggestions about anything we would like to see happen in our town.

Their candidate for mayor, as I have said before is Teresa Maria Belmonte and so it is she that will be addressing the meeting. I can’t say whether Teresa speaks English or not but no doubt there will be an interpreter available.

I don’t want “to teach grandmothers how to suck eggs” * but it would be sensible to phrase any questions that you have in simple English. Remember that, even when Spaniards can speak and read English, it is still their second language.

* a quaint English expression for my Spanish readers which means you don’t insult people by telling them how to do something they already know.

Busy times

What a weekend:

First off we went down to watch the performance by Percuseve of Ritmos del Tiempo. The story took us from early caveman to modern times and was played out by students from Severo Ochoa school. It was brilliant with perfect timing, great acting and was amusing in to the bargain.  You can find my album of pictures in the sidebar.

Yesterday we set off by coach to Alicante to see and hear the local band in concert at the Auditorium de la Diputacion de Alicante (ADDA). I was there as one of two official photographers. Just as well I had been registered beforehand because you need permission to take photos in the auditorium.

With the band spaced out across a larger stage and the high position that I shot from, I was able to get photos of all of the band and not just the front section.

You can find the link to my photos from the event in the sidebar. You can also donwnload the two audio files that I made from my Dropbox account  at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4n72kvm9lzpazrv/Concert%20Pt%201.wma?dl=0

and https://www.dropbox.com/s/tufhzkcptmox71x/Concert%20Pt%202.wma?dl=0 

If you listen to the two recordings you can hear for yourself just how well the band played. Suffice it to say they rose to the occasion and delighted the large audience that had gone along to listen.

Out for a walk

This year will be the nineteenth time that walkers have set out to follow the route that the poet Miguel Hernandez took from Orihuela to Alicante. The 70km journey takes 3 days to complete.

Yesterday 2,000 walkers set off from Orihuela stopping at Redován, Callosa de Segura, Cox and Granja de Rocamora beofer arriving at Albatera for the first night’s stop. Today they will continue through San Isidro to Elche.

José Esteban Lorente has been appointed Walker of Honour 2015 for his courage in attempting the first two days of the walk in his wheelchair and for the numerous awards he has gained as an actor.

It makes you feel humble when you see someone like that taking part. 

Last day

Today is the last day for those who want to go to Alicante to listen to the band playing at ADDA to book a place on the coaches.

There are already sufficient people to fill two coaches but there is capacity for more. When the band played at the Palau in Valencia, I recall there were at least three coaches full.

The cost for the coach is 5 euros, entrance to the auditorium is free but you still need a ticket. These can be obtained from the Auditorium.

For those who simply can’t make it, I will be taking photos and at the same time making an audio recording of the concert.

Those who already have tickets should take note that the coaches will leave the Puerto Alvaro at 10am.

A problem for Europe

You cannot help but have sympathy for those who are trying to flee war-torn countries. At the same time though, Europe and particularly those countries within striking distance of North Africa, cannot continue to accept the growing numbers of people trying to enter illegally.

In 2013, 7,472 were detained whist trying to enter Spanish territory via Ceuta and Melilla. That figure rose to 15,549 in 2014.

In order to enter, they have the choice of trying to scale the six metre high fences, swimming around the coast or presenting forged papers. The first two methods are risky, the third is largely unsuccessful.

They’ve stolen our weather

It is a tale of two countries in one. Whilst the south of England is basking in sunshine, the north and particularly Scotland remains cool.

The temperature in London yesterday reached 25 degrees C which was a darn sight warmer than here in Southern Spain where it struggled up to 18 degrees.

There are reports of people on the beaches of Brighton, Bournemouth and Devon. Nobody would have ventured near to a beach here yesterday unless they were carrying an umbrella. Although it did not rain for long, the threat of rain was there all day.

The good news for us is that we should see some sunshine today albeit with the possibility of a light shower and tomorrow promises to be sunny all day with a high of 25 degrees.

Out to get you

This week the Guardia Civil are focussing their attention on speeding motorists.

When they performed a similar exercise last year, the Guardia Civil checked 921,375 vehicles and found 3.4% were exceeding the speed limits. Five of the drivers caught were exceeding the speed limit by 80kms per hour with one driver clocking 237 kms per hour whilst drunk. When you see the way that many drive here in Spain, I can only think that there must have been a hell of a lot who got away without being caught.

Looking at the statistics for March in Alicante province, 55 people were charged for drunk driving, 41 for not having a license and 2 for driving at excessive speed i.e. over twice the speed limit.

When you consider the number of cars on the road, the odds are not great for you being caught. Even still, driving sensibly is a matter for your social conscious rather than an attempt to avoid being collared by the police.

Ask most Brits about their opinion of Spanish drivers and they will tell you:

a) they rarely  use the indicators to signal their intentions

b) they perform the most dangerous passing manoeuvres

c) they regularly drive with a mobile phone in one hand, trying to steer and change gears with the other

and in towns like ours, if the shortest route to where they are going is the wrong direction on a one way street, they will take it.

Percuseve in Bigastro

The group Percuseve, led by Miguel Saez (musician and bigastrense) will be performing their latest production in the Auditorium, Saturday 18th at 6pm.

Entrance will be by a donation of 3 euros to the Alzheimer Association in Bigastro.

Message to Miguel; I will of course be there with my camera. On a previous occasion my photos were used by the Coca Cola Foundation for a brochure about an International Competition that Percuseve won. 

You can follow the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Percuseve/289724791074222, read their blog at http://percuseve.blogspot.com.es/ watch a video of them at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrhx6nRI40w or follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/percuseve.

Coming good

If there is ever a good time to find form during a football season, it is at the end. So many times we have seen teams succeed at the start of the season and then fade away towards the end. It happened last year for Liverpool when they came close to winning the league only to falter towards the end. It looks like the same is true for City this year. Last year’s champions have only won four games in the last 15 and look perilously close to losing a top four spot this year.

On the other hand, belief at United is gaining strength. Whilst Van Gaal’s early experiments with different formations frustrated some supporters, the knowing ones understood that he had work to do finding the right combination of players to fit his strategy.

Those experiments have now started to pay off and hopefully will continue the success for the team. You know, on their current form and self belief, I would not be surprised to see them beat Chelsea in their forthcoming match. 

A reminder

A reminder to you and to me to book tickets for the bus and the entrance to this concert at ADDA in Alicante.

Airport misery

The strike by French air traffic controllers has already affected 7,000 passengers at Alicante-Elche airport. Twenty six flights to and from the airport were cancelled yesterday. The Vueling flights to and from Paris(Orly) were affected as were 24 Ryanair flights to Liverpool, Bremen, East Midlands, Leeds, Dublin, Katowice, Birmingham, Shannon, Dusseldorf, Nuremberg, Maastrich, and Manchester.  All of those flights had to travel over French airspace.

For today, Ryanair are cancelling their flights to Brussels, East Midlands, Birmingham, Oslo, Dusseldorf, Billund, Karlsruhe-Baden.Manchester, Paris and Karlsruhe-Baden.

Most of the customers should have been contacted via email or by SMS. Those that haven’t should check with the airline websites for information.

Interestingly, there is no mention in the newspaper article about EasyJet, Monarch and Jet2.com flights that would normally travel over French airspace. Checking with Monarch’s website shows that they still expect to fly. Make of that what you will.

Check on your right to vote

In order to vote in the forthcoming Municipal Election, you need to be registered. The electoral roles are available for inspection between the 8th and 13th of this month. Those of us who are not Spanish nationals will be entitled to vote in the local elections on the 24th May but not in the regional elections to be held on the same day. If your name is not on the list, then you need to act quickly to rectify that situation.

You will recall that Charo Bañuls Rodriguez has decided to take a leave from politics and so will not head the list of PP candidates. The person who will be  the Conservative candidate for Mayor is Teresa Maria Belmonte Sanchez.

Partial recovery

In 2000, 40,350 new homes were built in the Alicante province. In 2001 that figure rose to 41,519 and to 44,139 in 2002. At the height of he boom in 2003 and 2004, there were 52,715 and 52,727 homes built. Although the figures then fell in the following years to 46,687, 48,133 and 32,655, the market was still strong.

However, by 2008 the market had collapsed dramatically with only 8,013 homes being started. That trend continued with only 1,939 homes being built in 2010, 1,667 in 2011 and 1,329 in 2012.

Things started to pick back up in 2014 when 2,746 new homes were started and has continued into 2015. The largest market for these new homes is Britain. With the weakening of the euro against the pound, prices of second homes in Spain have become attractive again.

It is unlikely that we will see a return to the heady years when the market for homes in Spain was so buoyant that builders could not construct them fast enough to keep up with demand. At least the industry can tick over nicely again and hopefully we will not see the greed that overcame builders, associated trades and agents return. 

The Encuentro

	It is not just in Bigastro that they celebrate the resurrection. Just look at the carpet of flowers that was laid out in nearby Los Montesinos.
	This is the moment of encounter in Alicante.

That was hard going

Having spent part of the night coughing, I was woken by my alarm at 6am ready to go down and make a video of the Encuentro. My body might have been there but it took awhile for my mind to focus.

Still I managed to get the video I needed to make a DVD for the church and others and now it is all assembled together ready to burn onto DVD discs.

Good Friday in Orihuela

It would not be Good Friday (Viernes Santo) without a parade to watch. The Friday parades are the longest of the ones that take place at Easter but well worthwhile.

Although all major towns and cities have these parades we tend to go to the ones in Orihuela most followed by the ones in Torrevieja which we have seen three times.

I’ve yet to find the best location for photography though. I don’t want to use flash so I am looking for natural light either daylight or street lights. I also would like an interesting background free from advertising, shops, traffic lights etc. For the last couple of years we have found seats on Calle López Pozas but it is not the ideal location because the available seats face the shops and the street lights are on the opposite side meaning I am working with backlight all the while.

For next year we will maybe try and get seats on Calle Colón Zen just the other side of the old bridge. There are some interesting looking buildings on the corner of Calle Colón Zen and Calle López Pozas  that should make for good photos.

In the meantime, you can see my pictures from last night at http://keithw.jalbum.net/Viernes%20Santo%20Orihuela%202015/.

Tomorrow, you have the chance to watch the Encuentro in Bigastro. This is the moment when Mary meets her son Jesus and discovers that he has risen from the dead. For those of you who are interested, you need to be down outside the church at 7am sharp.