How was it?

Last night we were down at the Auditorium for the Concierto del Socio.

As I said in a previous post, there were two bands playing; the band from Los Montesinos followed by the Bigastro band.

The band from Los Montesinos have won many awards and it showed. There are a lot of young, talented musicians in the band which bodes well for its future.

Then we had a dress rehearsal for the Certamen with the Bigastro band playing three pieces.

The second of the three was the set piece that all five bands will play and interpret in their own ways. I would say it was a challenging piece, not just for the band but for the audience as well. The final work was Sidus by Thomas Doss which the band have played at several concerts over the last year of so.

Each time they play Sidus though it is different, partly because the band line up changes and partly because they are refining their performance each time. The addition of at least one more tuba, a double bass and a bass trombone has made a huge difference to the sound the band produces which now has greater depth.

There was a time when woodwind was the strength of the band. I would say that the brass section has now caught up- a much better balance - sounded bloody good to me.

PS Three more rehearsals and then it is showtime in Alicante!!

The finishing touches

After numerous rehearsals, yesterday was the opportunity for the band to put some finishing touches to their performance ready for tonight's concert.

Bigastro will take the stage for half of the concert, the band from Los Montesinos will play the other half.

Bigastro will be presenting the programme that they will take to ADDA for the Certamen on the 5th March so this will be a dress rehearsal for them.

To say that the band have shown determination and commitment to their goal would be an understatement. There have been many long hours of practising, refining, polishing and generally sharpening the performance to arrive at this point.

I was down at the Auditorium to capture some shots of them and have produced a small album to show you.

PS The light in the rehearsal room was not great and so many of my images are noisy. I apologise for that. If I'd taken my full frame camera, the results would have been better.

Tasty choices

These are a sample of the treats you can enjoy in Bigastro by following the 4th edition of the  Ruta de la Tapa.

Damn and blast

Pamela said she could hear a bird in the chimney.

I told her that was impossible because we had this fine plastic mesh stuck around it which solved the problem. It is the material that you use for fly screens in windows.

Time to investigate and what I found was these two holes in the mesh on the side of the garden facing the west. It looks like birds have picked and picked at the mesh to make the holes, presumably looking for somewhere to make a nest.

A weather warning

AGENCIA ESTATAL DE METEOROLOGÍA
AVISO ESPECIAL DE FENÓMENOS ADVERSOS
AVISO ESPECIAL NÚMERO 2/2016
EMITIDO A LAS 13:00 HORA OFICIAL DEL 25/02/2016
LA AGENCIA ESTATAL DE METEOROLOGÍA INFORMA:
1.- Fenómeno meteorológico: Temporal de nieve, viento y mar.
2.- Ámbito geográfico: Toda la Península y zonas costeras adyacentes.
3.- Comienzo de la situación: Viernes 26 de febrero
4.- Duración: Hasta el lunes 29 de febrero.
5.- Grado de probabilidad: Muy probable (mayor del 70%)
6.- Descripción de la situación meteorológica: A lo largo del viernes 26 se irá formando un centro de bajas presiones en el Golfo de Vizcaya con un sistema frontal asociado que recorrerá la Península de oeste a este. Durante el sábado y el domingo se prevé que el centro de la baja se desplace lentamente hacia el noreste peninsular y el Golfo de León para acabar situándose el lunes cerca del Golfo de Génova, provocando vientos al principio de componente oeste y, a partir del domingo, de componente norte.
El rápido desplazamiento sobre la Península del frente mencionado a largo del viernes irá acompañado de precipitaciones abundantes y generalizadas, afectando a Baleares a primeras horas del sábado. A su paso, la cota de nieve irá descendiendo hasta situarse entre 500 y 1000 m al final del viernes. Las temperaturas continuarán descendiendo el sábado, permaneciendo la atmosfera inestable, con chubascos frecuentes, especialmente en la mitad norte y este, que además podrán ser de nieve en amplias zonas ya que la cota descenderá hasta los 400 a 800 m en buena parte de la Península. El lunes, cuando es probable que el centro de la borrasca se encuentre ya próximo a Italia, los chubascos y la nieve tenderán a restringirse al extremo norte peninsular. Las temperaturas mínimas continuarán por debajo de 0ºC en amplias zonas del interior, por ello cabe esperar heladas importantes al menos hasta el miércoles.
Aunque durante este episodio las mayores acumulaciones de nieve se esperan en la Cordillera Cantábrica (espesores superiores a 1m) y en Pirineos, Sistema Central e Ibérico y Sistemas Béticos (superiores a 50 cm), cabe destacar que, muy probablemente, durante el viernes, sábado y domingo, las nevadas podrán producirse no sólo en áreas de montaña, sino también en muchas zonas de la mitad norte y este peninsulares.
El viento será otro fenómeno a tener en cuenta en esta situación, con rachas superiores a 70 km/h especialmente en zonas altas, área del Estrecho y Alborán, litorales gallego y cantábrico y Baleares, y el lunes en el Valle del Ebro.
En casi todas las zonas costeras de la Península y Baleares habrá periodos en los que el estado de la mar y el viento alcanzarán los umbrales de nivel de aviso, aunque el temporal más intenso se espera en Galicia y Cantábrico y el entorno de Alborán.
Es muy probable que esta situación vaya remitiendo a lo largo del lunes 29 en todo el territorio.
7.- Notificación de actualizaciones futuras o de finalización: AEMET emitirá un nuevo Aviso Especial mañana viernes día 26. Se recomienda un seguimiento más detallado y actualizado de la misma a través de sus predicciones y avisos de fenómenos adversos. Todo ello puede consultarse en la página web: www.aemet.es

Winter returns

After a spell of warm weather, the weekend will feel decidedly cold with temperatures struggling to reach mid teens. Don't worry though, it won't last. Temperatures will wise again on Monday and hit mid twenties by Tuesday.

Be aware

With the current warm weather,  processionary caterpillars are starting to leave their nests in pine trees. They are unmistakable with their furry bodies and their habit of following each other in procession.

These caterpillars should not be touched nor disturbed because their defence mechanism is to eject those fine hairs which can give you a very nasty rash.

 People taking dogs for walks need to be extra vigilant because if your pet gets too curious they could end up with a nasty swollen tongue which would cause them problems breathing.

Obscure words

Our teacher listed words beginning with ch on the board including the following:

chéster - an English cheese made from cows milk in Chester - similar to manchego.
chelin - a shilling or 1/20th part of a pound. There are apparently 12 peniques to a chelin.
chevió or cheviot - wool from a Scottish sheep.

Spaniards have the strangest words -  the shilling was replaced by decimal coins years ago and the cheese is actually called Cheshire after the county not Chester after the city.

In England we would describe wool by its quality e.g. lambswool which is soft or Shetland which is coarse not by the type of sheep it comes from.

A lesson learnt

My daughter wants to know how to transfer the pictures from her iPhone to a Windows laptop.

That is something I have done several times and the process is normally simple. You connect the phone to the laptop and Windows recognises it and asks where you want to save the photos and even if you want to delete them from the phone once the transfer is complete.

The snag is that she has over 2,000 photos stored on the SIM card i.e. NOT in the phone and therein lies the problem. Windows will recognise the pictures on the phone but not on the SIM card. There must be another way but it is very difficult to find an easy method.

You can buy SIM card readers that should do the job but they all seem to work with older versions of Windows and not the 8,1 that she has on the laptop.

I have no doubt there is a solution but it might not be quick and simple.

The lesson learnt is NOT to store too many photos or videos on any portable device without some sort of backup.

A friend of ours had a similar situation with a digital camera. He could no longer take pictures because the memory card was full. When I enquired he had over 1,000 photos stored on the card. Just imagine if he lost the camera or the card became corrupt, he would have lost the lot. His solution was to buy another card rather than delete the photos he had. I hope that, at some point, he heeded my advice to transfer the photos he had to somewhere safer.

It only takes a few minutes to transfer pictures and video to a computer where you can keep them safe. 

In my case, the desktop I use has two drives which mirror each other. If one fails, as it inevitably will at some point, the other drive has an exact copy. For older pictures that are archived,  I use a NAS box which again has two mirrored drives for the same reason.

Professionals go even further and save their work to several drives or media stored in different locations.

Of course, it all depends upon what importance you place on your photos. In the case of my daughter, they are memories of her family and friends that cannot be replaced. I hope we can find a solution, otherwise those memories could be lost for good.

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

There are a number of blind corners in Bigastro where you need to proceed with caution. Installing mirrors on them helps drivers a lot to see whether it is safe to move out.

Tickle the ivories

Bigastro will be  hosting a competition for young pianists called "Eduardo del Pueyo"on February 27th. The contest is divided into two categories: Children aged 8 to 12 and youths up to 17 years old. The contest is being organized by the "School of Music and Arts Mozarteum '.

Strange sky

It's official, Orihuela was the warmest place to be in Spain on Monday. At a tad less than 25 degrees that was like a really good summer's day in Britain. However, the sky has had a strange yellow cast to it recently. The cause is apparently dust from Iran.

Looking forward, the temperatures will plummet down to mid teens and the wind will pick up again from the west.

Just brilliant

This is the second year that the town has organised a Middle Year Festival - it's a long time between the August festivals!

The comparsas did us proud last night with some excellent costumes. It was a cold night for them but you can see from my photos that did not put them off one bit.

Following the parade were the Association of Shopping Trolleys with their firework torches.

Just a reminder

 Our band are playing in a competition on the 5th March at ADDA in Alicante. They have been practising really hard for this and need our support on the day. No doubt there will be coaches laid on to transport us to ADDA.

Pam and I will definitely be there - me with my cameras and sound recorder to capture this special occasion.

Avoid at all costs

A dead fish was found on the beach at Torrevieja. Since it was not of a species commonly found in the Mediterranean, the municipal biologist Juan Antonio Pujol was called and he identified it as one of the group of puffer fish known as "fugu".

Fugu is one of the most deadly foods on the planet. The flesh contains neurotoxine that can kill you within hours. It is very popular in Japan where highly trained chefs prepare the fish carefully to avoid the poisonous parts. Even still, there are a number of fatalities each year from eating fugu. The thrill is not so much in the eating experience as much as the gamble with your life.

Torrevieja  council have issued a warning to fishermen about the presence of this fish and the danger of either eating it or marketing it for consumption.

Time for a snack?

Time again to try out some typical bigastrense tapas.

Note the price 2 euros for a tapas and a small beer or 1.50 if you pass on the beer.

Visit all of the bars and you could win 300 Euros. Take a selfie whilst you are there for a chance to win 100 euros.

A bolt out of the blue

I had an email just now from Eric Warrilow who those here will remember lived below us on Calle Alemania.

He bought at the peak of prices and then sold as they were going down because Eric longed to be back in the Stoke on Trent area. I always got the impression that his wife, Cathy was happy here and wanted to stay.

It now seems that they regret the decision to leave and are looking to return. Cathy has a B12 deficiency and has been advised that she should move to a sunnier climate. So the upshot is that they are looking to buy a house at Villas Andrea.

A couple of years ago they could have picked up a house really cheap but prices are on the up again. If anyone has a house on the market I will pass the details on and who knows, we may see him back here.

What will happen?

If Britain does vote to leave the European Union, there could potentially be serious consequences for the large ex-pat communities that live in places like Spain. From our taxation to health care, there are many questions that we need to ask.

One of our friends has been advised by his accountant that Spain is looking into taxing those of us who have government pensions. As things stand, teachers and other who receive a government pension, are taxed in the UK even though they are tax residents here in Spain.

The dual tax agreement means that we should not be taxed in both countries but what if that agreement ends? It makes sense to be taxed in the country where you reside after all that is where you gain benefits. Will it mean that we cease to pay tax in Britain if the country decides to leave the EU? I simply do not know the answer to that question.

The other concern is health care. Again, under the present agreement, UK pensioners receive free health car in Spain which is paid for by the NHS. Having paid our contributions in Britain for the whole of our working lives, we feel that this is a fair entitlement but would that all change if the country votes to leave the EU? Again, I do not have an answer to that question.

I don't suppose any of this is of concern to the millions of Brits who will be voting in the referendum but it is to those of us who chose to live in a sunnier climate.

What a cheek

It is hard to believe the cheek of this man as reported in the Daily Telegraph. 

A Spanish civil servant who failed to turn up for work for six years was only discovered when he was considered for an award for loyal service.

The former public employee Joaquín García, who was still collecting his annual €37,000 salary, was on Friday ordered by Cádiz city hall to pay €27,000 in compensation.

He had been sent by the city council to oversee the building of a waste-water treatment plant in the southwestern part of the city but records show that Mr García had not turned up for work since 2004.

Mr García responded by filing his own complaint with city hall demanding that councillor José Blas Fernández, in charge of personnel at the time, be disciplined for negligence for failing to notice his absence.
Mr García argued that if it is true that he was absent during all of that time, “it was up to Mr Fernández to make sure that this did not happen”.

Mr Fernández took legal action against Mr García in 2010 after seeing his name on a list of employees due to receive awards for long service. Recalling that he had been sent to a post at Cádiz Water under an agreement between the council and the public utility in 1998, Mr Fernández visited the waterworks to find that Mr García’s colleagues had no idea where he was.

“They assumed he had been sent back to city hall,” Mr Fernández said. An investigation revealed that the phantom civil servant had not clocked in to work for six years from 2004.

Mr García claimed that he had occasionally visited his office but that there was nothing for him to do. He said he was the victim of workplace bullying due to disagreements between the council and the water company.

The now-retired civil servant has asked the current mayor of Cádiz, José María González of the Left-wing Podemos party, to be excused having to pay the damages equivalent to one year’s salary.

Bear in mind that the average salary in Spain is just over €19,000 and unemployment in Cádiz is above the national average at 34 per cent, this man surely takes the prize for bald faced cheek.

LOOK LEFT!

For those who come here on holiday, crossing the road can be confusing at first. Your brain tells you instinctively to look right to check if there is a vehicle coming your way but of course you really need to look left instead.

Apparently, making the mistake of looking in the wrong direction has been the cause of a number of accidents in Benidorm involving British tourists. The problem is worse when they have had a few drinks, a situation that many our fellow countrymen regularly find themselves in.

The solution that the council have come up with is to paint Look left signs on zebra crossings. Whilst I hope this helps, I can't help but feel that the drunken tourists really need to show more responsibility.

Last week, Pam and I were on our way to the Age Concern shop in San Louis  when a young man turned and started to cross the road in front of us. I can't say what nationality he was, possibly British. Either way, I doubt that he was drunk at that time of day but you never know. Fortunately I was going slow enough to avoid him.

When I looked, he had his earphones in and so was presumably listening to his music. Since there is very little traffic on that road, he probably thought that it wasn't necessary to look. Nobody had taught him the golden rules STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and LOOK LEFT, LOOK RIGHT, LOOK LEFT AGAIN.

Still on alert

Although we may be back to "green", there are still parts of the country on "orange" and "red" alert.

Look at those graphs and you can see that the situation in Fuengirola, on the coast of Andalucia, has worsened during the night and that Madridejos, in Castilla La Mancha faced stronger wind that us yesterday afternoon.

You will notice that some areas of the country are on alert for snow and ice.

The pictures show Albacete and the Sierra Nevada near to Granada.

Never heard a thing

From the afternoon when the wind had picked up, it seemed to quieten down a little.

As we went to bed you could still hear it howling at the front of the house which in our case faces away from the road. Thankfully, our bedroom is on the leeward side - facing south and east - so it was near silent. That was fortunate because looking at the graph, the wind was gathering force and by 3am was at its peak. For sure that would have disturbed our sleep.

This morning it is calm out there. One of the chairs has moved but other than that, all seems OK. The job this morning is to put the covers back on the outside furniture and the furniture on the porch in the hope that we don't get a repeat performance any time soon.

UPDATE Well the wind picked up again but that did not last too long so all is restored.

It's rough out there

This morning the sun was shining, the wind was blowing but not too strong. Towards lunchtime it calmed down and I did begin to wonder if the forecasters had got it wrong.

Not one bit, by 3pm the wind picked up and the sky turned grey. It is now 4:45 and to add to our misery it started to rain.

I'd left the cover off the barbecue so that is getting wet. The cover over the furniture on the porch had already blown off and was stuck by the side so that is getting wet. The garden furniture which we'd cleaned and covered is now open to the elements - I removed the cover about half an hour ago to prevent it getting either ripped or simply blown away.

We don't mind rain as long as it is not throwing down buckets but the wind is a real pain. To be fair, this is not the strongest wind we have faced but it is the worst we have had for a few years. Let's hope it dies down sooner rather than later. The official forecast says that should happen by midday tomorrow, I have my fingers crossed.

PS The consolation is that the wind is coming (as it usually does) from the west to north west which means it will be quiet in the bedroom. 

Just look at that map

The map of Spain shows the various warnings that are in place today. Ours is a yellow alert for strong wind and for high waves on the coast. Elsewhere there are warnings for snow and ice. Generally speaking, not a good day to be out and about.

An end to the early summer

According to forecasts, the unseasonable warm weather we have been enjoying will come to an end by early next week.

From temperatures in the mid 20s,  we will be faced with those in the mid teens. Along with the lower temperatures, we will have stronger wind to contend with especially on Monday.

Spoiling our town

As much as the town hall do to improve the image of our town, they can only achieve results if we all help. Although wanton vandalism and lack of respect for the environment are not peculiar to Bigastro, that does not make these things acceptable.

The following pictures, from the town hall Facebook page, show vandalism, graffiti, dumping waste and the perennial problem with dogs that are allowed to use pavements as toilets.

The Ayuntamiento encourage people who witness such acts to contact the local police  by phone at  607 15 44 47 or by whatsapp using the same number.

A treat in store

The concert for partners on the 28th of this month will feature two bands, the band from Bigastro and the band from Los Montesinos. That is a double treat for lovers of music and something to look forward to.

Crazy prices

Liverpool football fans staged a walkout of the terraces in protest against the proposed rise in ticket prices to £77.

It seems though that the prices at Liverpool are not exceptional. At Bournemouth, the most expensive seat would cost you £32 but at Arsenal a similar seat would cost £97.

Although Pam and I paid over £100 each to watch The Who in Manchester, that was very much a one off event. Following your team during a season means paying out every week and some weeks more than once. Football used to be a working man's game where supporters would travel by foot or bus to watch their team for a few bob* and maybe enjoy a pint or two in the pub afterwards. Clearly, that is not longer the case.

For a full season at Arsenal, I could be well on the way to buying a Leica camera!!

* For the sake of my Spanish readers, a bob was the colloquial term for a shilling (pre decimal money) worth 5p or 1/20th of a pound sterling (just over 6 centimos) in current terms.

How much more can they take

This winter has been brutal for the UK. I cannot remember a time in the 57 years that I lived there a winter with so many storms and so much bad weather widespread across the country. From the northern tip to the south coast, all areas have been hit at some time this year.

The decision was taken to name the storms this year and so far they have reached I for Imogen. The next storm would be named Jake but the hope is that, with spring coming, it will either not happen or will not be significant.

In the meantime, storm Imogen has wreaked havoc in Ireland and Wales. Over 15,000 homes lost power and 5,000 more had blackouts. Transport has been hit badly with problems on roads, rail and of course ferry crossings.

According to news sources, the winds of up to 80mph (129kmph) created waves of of  19.1m off the coast of St Ives in Cornwall. Around 255 flood warnings were in place with 48 advising immediate action should be taken. There was 40mm of rain expected in the South West and Wales falling on ground that was already saturated from previous rain.

The country will recover and as we move towards summer, winter will become a bad memory. Let us hope that next winter will be a lot kinder and that we are not seeing a pattern develop for years to come.

PS The wind here has felt strong at times during the last few days but at  a mere 25kmph, I don't think we should talk about it.

The war against terrorism

The National Police in Spain have struck a blow to the jihadist organisations Islamic State and Jabhat Al Nusra by dismantling an organised network that was supplying them.

The network was based in Alicante Province where five of the gang were arrested. The ringleader lived in nearby Crevillent.

Under the guise of humanitarian aid, the group have been sending military equipment, money, electronics and transmission equipment, firearms and materials used to produce explosives since at least 2014 when the investigation began.

At our first house in Moreton on the Wirral we had an IRA terrorist cell just around the corner. One night, at about 2:30am,  all hell let loose. There was a police helicopter above shining its light down on us and chaos reigned in the road as police conducted a raid on the house where bomb making materials were found.

Up until that point, nobody was aware that we had neighbours engaged in such activity, it came as a complete shock to all of us. We, like I imagine the people in Crevillent, were relieved that the police had dealt with the situation.

Overrun with cats

The bullring in Orihuela is becoming increasingly dangerous as more and more of it starts to crumble. The schemes to convert it for other purposes have all faltered and so the decay continues.

To add to the problem, it seems that the building is now overrun with cats which are being fed by the local people. Two years ago an attempt was made to capture the cats but that failed because they were not inclined to take the bait put in cages. There was sufficient free food for them to ignore the traps.

The proposed solution is to ask people to stop feeding them and instead to only have food put down by officials. To eliminate the cats altogether though would risk a rise in the population of rats and other vermin so this is a matter of control rather than total removal.

Eventually a decision will have to be made either to demolish the building or to try again to find some other purpose for it. The longer it remains though, the more costly a refurbishment would be. Set against that is the high cost of demolition. Like with the cats, this is a Catch 22 situation.

Hard at work

The Department of Works and Maintenance in Bigastro has been hard at work repairing and replacing around the town.

The car park and inside of the sports centre have new lights and the walls have been given a fresh coat of paint.

The rest of the disastrous block paving on Calle Purisima has been taken up and the street is now tarmacked. They have also tarmacked many of the other streets in the town providing a much smoother ride for cars and other vehicles.

Finally, the tatty fencing on the roundabout by the health centre is being replaced.

I'll give that a miss

There are some strange traditions in Spain that form a part of local fiestas. None though is stranger than the Batallas de ratas in El Puig, Valencia which takes place on the last Sunday in January.

The fiesta celebrates the life of St Peter Nolasco who bought back Christian slaves from Moorish raiders. After consuming bowls of steaming rice and beans and of course dancing, they proceed to the battle where rats are thrown across the town square. Anyone who gets hit by a rat is expected to pick it up and hurl it back. If you watch the video of the event on Vimeo, you will see that they are all young men taking part.

In response to protests by animal rights groups, the town folk claim that rats are a nuisance and point out that they are killed humanely, then frozen ready for the fiesta. Never mind the issue of cruelty, would you really want to participate and have dead rats thrown at you?

Zika virus in Spain

A pregnant woman in Catalonia has been identified with the Zika virus, that brings the total to 9 cases in the country.

The virus was first discovered in Brazil but has since spread to 22 other countries. It is transmitted by the Aeded aegypti mosquito and results in a dengue- like illness.

Apart from catching the virus from a mosquito, it is also possible to be infecting by a contaminated blood transfusion.

Although all the cases in Spain originated abroad, the worry is that the virus may be carried by local tiger mosquitoes which of course are rife.

Given a choice

Alicante-Elche airport accounted for over 10 million passengers in 2015. During the same year, numbers were down 2.5% at San Javier.

From our house, the two airports are about equidistant - it takes about 45 minutes to get to either. Given a choice though, I would fly from San Javier but there is a snag and that is the number of flights. Some carriers don't operate from San Javier in winter and those that do either charge more or fly at unsociable times.

Why do I prefer San Javier?

I prefer the journey there and the small size of the terminal. In summer, Alicante-Elche can be a nightmare from getting through security to picking up your baggage and even access to the airport by road.

Our mild climate

Unlike last year when it was damn cold, this year we have had the warmest winter since 1955. The average temperature for the last month was a staggering 13.8 degrees and we had days when the thermometer reached mid twenties. There are pictures of people sunbathing on the beaches in local papers.

Not only has it been warm but it has also been dry with 73% less rain than normal. This is all down to the powerful anticyclone over the Mediterranean and the strength of the El Niño in the Pacific. The result has been a warm winter for us and appalling weather in Britain.

NB If you thought it was warm here in Bigastro, just look at the temperatures in other parts of Spain and especially the Canary Islands.

Shocking news

There have been a series of earthquakes over the last few days in the Mediterranean between Spain and North Africa. This 4.5 magnitude shake though was closer to shore and would easily have been felt along the coast of Almeria.

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This one's called Henry

Britain is facing the eighth storm this winter. This one will affect the north and will hit Scotland with gusts of up to 90 miles per hour (145 km per hour) in the exposed Western Isles. Further south, there could be gust of up to 60/70 miles per hour (112 km per hour).

I'm not sure how much more the people can take, especially those who have been flooded out. Some have faced flooding from one storm followed by further flooding from the next.

It is hard to imagine how you rebuild your lives when all of your furniture and carpets have been ruined and the plaster on the walls and the floorboards are soaked.