Cookery on the box

The Spanish satellite TV that we watch (Digital +) has a dedicated cookery channel - Canal Cocina which we watch from time to time. Apart from any other reason, it is interesting to see how some of the dishes that we find in restaurants are prepared. 

22 Minutos

Each weekday at 8pm it is the turn of Julius to present "22 Minutos" where he prepares and cooks two courses in twenty two minutes. He may cook a starter and main course or a main course and dessert. Occasionally, he will cook three courses.

Julius' approach is relaxed and unflustered.  However, elaborate dishes  will sometimes raise a bead of sweat on his brow as he attempts to finish in his allotted time. 

Inevitably, given the time constraint, a lot of the food is fried in olive oil either in a shallow pan or in a deep fat fryer. He does however, combine some interesting ingredients which might not immediately appeal to our English palates.

You can see some of his recipes by clicking on the link.

The other programme which we occasionally watch on Canal Cocino is "Celebraciones con Narda".

Without the time constraints, Narda Lepes' dishes are usually more varied. As the title suggests, her dishes are aimed at parties and other family celebrations.

What we really want to learn is how to cook the superb variety of fresh fish that you find in the supermarkets. We are looking for something more interesting than just a quick fry in a pan.

I have no good news

Hoy
Mañana	Tarde	Noche
	13º/22º
Mañana
Mañana	Tarde	Noche
	14.3º/22.1º

One of my neighbours phoned yesterday to ask about his VoIP phone. He has the same model that we have and wanted to know if it keeps a record of incoming calls in the same way that the Domo phone from Telefónica does. Sadly it doesn't. It only records missed incoming calls. You can go to your account online and view your outgoing calls but not the incoming ones.

Whilst we were chatting, he asked if it was possible for me to find some good news for my blog and suggested the weather. Sadly again I have to disappoint him. The forecast is not good up to Thursday. Mind you, it isn't cold and even when it is cloudy, it is still pleasant.

New times for the Auditorium

The Municipal Auditorium will be closed Monday and Tuesday mornings; open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8:30am to 2:40pm. In the afternoon it will be open Monday to Friday - 4pm to midnight; Saturdays and Sundays -4pm until 10pm.

General Grau

On Friday, Francisco Grau Vegara was presented with the Fajin of General by the Mayor of Torrevieja in the presence of  Admiral Antonio González-Aller, ex head of the Cuarto Militar de S. M. El Rey.

Tonight, at 8:15pm  General Grau will present his fajin to the Patrona Ntra. Sra. de Belén in the Parochial Church of Bigastro.

Then at 9pm, in the Municipal Auditorium, there will be a concert of music to honour  General Grau performed by the Municipal Band of Alicante under the direction of D. Jose Vicente Diaz Alcaina .

New school open at last

The new building for the San José de Calasanz primary school opened this term much to the delight of parents and pupils.

There will be an official inauguration ceremony but, in the meantime, those who want to see the new facilities can do so this Saturday between 10am and 1pm.

Pam and I would go but we feel that after 30 odd years at the chalkface, we've seen enough of schools! The only exception we are prepared to make is for our Spanish classes which are now being held in the old San José de Calasanz building.

PS When I was in the Sixth Form we transferred to new school buildings. For reasons best known to the school, they included a photograph of me working in the library in the programme for the official opening. If I can find it, I'll post the picture on my blog to show you how slim and handsome I was in those days.

Router problems

I've had this message from a resident here at Villas Andrea.

Hi Keith
I am a resident of Villas Andrea and an avid reader of your Blog, which I find very informative and most enjoyable.
I too took advantage of the recent Telefonica offer to upgrade ADSL from 3Mbs to 10Mbs. Within a few days the Comtrend CT5361 Router arrived by Courier, that was a couple of weeks ago and since then I have been trying to use it. Each time I try to connect, I end up with the same message, that my Laptop does not recognise the Router. I have tried all the diagnostics listed in the User Manual and the CD which came with the Router. I think it may have something to do with congiguring the Router but I am no expert. In view of your experience have you any suggestions
Regards

First of all thank you for your comment about my blog.

Now for the Comtrend router.

I take it that the Zyxel router you were originally supplied with worked fine and still does.

It should have been a simple case of swapping one router for the other and then waiting for Telefónica to upgrade your line. As you have gathered, the original router doesn't support ADSL 2+ which you need for your 10Mb upgrade.

With the Comtrend router connected to your laptop via your ethernet cable, type http://192.168.1.1/ into your browser window (Internet Explorer, Firefox or whatever you use).

You should get a dialogue box like this one (this is in Internet Explorer). The default username and password are both 1234. Clicking on OK will then take you to the router setup.

If you can get this far, then your laptop is definitely connecting to the router.

If not and assuming your old router works fine, then it is possible that the new router is faulty. Let me know how you get on by emailing me directly at keith@bigastro.es.

Stars on TV

The Chairman of our Residents' Committee and his wife appeared on Vega Baja TV the other day.

The station hosts a regular slot between 1and 2pm devoted to the English community in the area. They had invited the couple to appear and talk about their lives here in Spain.

The Chairman also has a meeting with the Mayor scheduled for this week where, presumably, they will be discussing the issues that concern us at Villas Andrea

Let's hope that the topic of security is high on their list.

The price of age

We met a couple outside the medical centre yesterday. She had suffered a minor stroke and had spent a week in hospital. Now, back at at home, her blood pressure is high and causing concern for both her and her husband. Hopefully the drugs that the doctor prescribes will help to control the problem so that she can enjoy good health again.

Later we met another couple in the VaiVen. He'd suffered a major stroke not long after coming here to live. Although he has made an excellent recovery , he still can't walk easily and he has bad and good days. As his wife remarked, we are now paying for the excesses of our early lives.

Both couples were full of praise for the medical system here in Spain. The speed at which the doctors and the local hospital act; the level of care and attention that they show impressed them . It makes us feel confident that, as far as our health is concerned, we are in the best place.

Rob and Karen

Rob and Karen had a great party last night up at the Pedrera. Members of their family were there along with neighbours and friends all helping to make it a special birthday celebration.

The band Sunset were on top form keeping us dancing until midnight. Their repertoire includes many of the favourites from our generation.

The star though was Pete Rafferty who is both an excellent singer in his own right and a great impersonator. His impersonations always bring the house down. Even when you've seen them before, they still make you laugh. Last night he performed as Elvis, P J Proby and Dolly Parton. We haven't seen Pete's Dolly Parton before - it was just brilliant.

Sadly the event was marred when the young daughter of one of our neighbours returned to the house to find two men trying to break in. She only went back to get a painkiller for her toothache but it was lucky she did. Let's hope that her timely arrival averted any loss or damage.

It looks as though the thieves had also tried to get into the house next door because the double gates to the driveway had been forced open. That is a holiday home so I guess the owners will need to be notified.

Most of the people living here have taken a lot of care to protect their houses with high security locks, alarms etc. However, the thieves don't know that and still make attempts to break in. We need to find some way to deter them from coming up here in the first place.

There is to be a meeting up at the Pedrera, Thursday 23rd October at 7:30 pm to address the continuing problems we are having with security.

Nice one Google

The Queen is visiting Google headquarters in London today. To mark this special occasion Google has changed its logo for the day

The Queen already has a great Internet presence via YouTube, which is now owned by Google. The 54 royal videos in the Royal Channel have been viewed by 1.6 million people.

If you go to Google's website and click on the doodle it will take you to a list of topics related to the Queen and the QEII.

Definitely not a fish

The good news is that there is a new programme of concerts and theatre for the Auditorium in Bigastro which takes us from October to January.

On Sunday 19th October there will be a concert by the Tuna from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia.

NB as you have probably guessed, a "tuna" is a musical group made up of university students. The word also means a prickly pear.  A "tuno" is either a rascal or a male member of a tuna. Confused? So am I. The word for a tuna fish is atun.

The fifth busiest airport in Spain

During September, 944,278 passengers used the airport at Alicante making it the fifth busiest terminal in the country. British tourism, Easyjet, Air Berlin and the introduction of flights by Ryanair have all contributed to the growth of el Altet putting it ahead of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.

Extensions to the airport will continue.  150 million euros has been allocated to the project for next year. The new terminal is expected to be completed by 2012 at a total cost of 526 million euros.  However, by 2010, the airport plans to start using the new terminal and car park.

The Brits avert the crisis

British  tourists have saved the day for the  hotel industry on the Costa Blanca. Sixty five percent of the available spaces for the winter have been taken up by British tourists who made their bookings before the crisis hit the UK.  The industry is counting on the rest been taken up by Spanish pensioners who still have enough money to afford long stays in places like Benidorm.

The Volvo Ocean Race brought a bonanza to Alicante but that is now finished. Business trips and clients associated with the real estate boom have also largely gone. Inspection trips for people looking to buy second home along the coastal strip between Dénia and  Pilar de la Horadada are at a minimum.

So it is now down to British tourists who still see the Costa Blanca as a much more affordable destination than other Mediterranean areas.  A week in November at a three star hotel in Benidorm, full board, can be booked for 270 € per person or less in some cases.

As for next Summer; negotiations with British tourist companies are complete. Keeping price increases down to the 3% mark has proved successful in filling many of the available places and of course the Tourist Board is still exploring the Russian market by holding fairs in Moscow and St Petersburg.

The cost of progress

In the last week, the Government made bids on twelve projects involving different sections of the planned high speed train route from the Valencian Community -Madrid, which has a total planned budget of 614 million Euros. The section from Valencia to Murcia via Alicante has a budget of 325 million Euros.

Plans for the route of the AVE between Elche and Beniel, passing through Orihuela, Callosa de Segura, Cox, San Isidro and Granja , will require the demolition of 180 houses built on rustic land of the huerta. According to the farming union la Unió-Coag the 20 kilometre section of the new railway will also devastate a million square metres of the traditional kitchen garden. This is why they are having meetings with the those who will be affected before it is too late.

Naturally people are scared and misinformed by what they have heard of reports from the Ministry of Public Works and the Economy. Although they are aware that plans have been drawn, up nobody has officially notified the people in the houses that will be affected. There is already a group “La Sierra no se Toca” which is in opposition to plans to cross the Sierra de Callosa. No doubt there will be other protest groups set up before the railway is completed.

The stock market

I received this explanation of how the stock market works by email. 

Once upon a time, in a village in Africa , a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for 10 American Dollars each. The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 !

However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.' The villagers rounded up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock-market works.

Right so I am prepared to sell you mosquitoes, crickets and wriggly worms at 1€ each which you'll be able to sell for 2€ each at the market on Thursday. Could you please form an orderly queue outside my gate.

Jaume 1

Councillor for the Interior, Castilian Serafín, accompanied by the mayoress, Mónica Lorente, commemorated the 800 anniversary of the birth of Jaume I by unveiling a plaque in the Museo de la Muralla in Orihuela. I think I am right in saying that it was Jaume 1 who re-conquered Valencia for the christians by driving out the moors.

Next year there will be a cavalcade to celebrate the entrance of King Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alonso V, King of Aragon) into Orihuela.

Nobody could accuse the city of ignoring its history.

Who'd want to be a councillor?

In Bigastro it is the PP party that denounce the ruling PSOE group for lack of information.  In Orihuela it's the other way round. The ruling conservative party and particularly the mayoress, Mónica Lorente are under constant fire from the opposition socialist group.

The spokeswoman for the PSOE in Orihuela, Antonia Moreno, has announced this morning that they will extend their denunciation presented on the 10th of April against the mayoress for not  providing municipal information to the opposition groups.

The original denunciation contained 16 requests for information, to which they are now adding other 24 for the month of June and a further 20 from the last five days.

The chief culprit is apparently Pepa Ferrando, Councillor for Culture and Tourism who the PSOE claim is responsible for 700,000€ of budget spending without explanation.

A tribute to Francisco Grau

Saturday 18th of October the municipality of Bigastro will pay pay tribute to its Favourite Son.

Francisco Grau, a bigastrense by birth has won thirteen national and international prizes for composition, has been awarded innumerable decorations and composed more than 700 musical pieces, including the official version of the old March of Grenadiers which is the present Official Hymn of Spain.

Recently, D. Francisco Grau was promoted to General de la Brigada del Cuerpo de Músicas Militares. He is the first musician in the Spanish military history to be promoted to that rank.

The City council of Bigastro via its Council of Culture will pay a sincere tribute to Francisco Grau next Saturday, 18th of October with the following programme:

8:15pm - D. Francisco Grau will deliver his fajin* to the Patrona Ntra. Sra. de Belén in the Parochial Church of Bigastro.

9pm - A concert of music in honour of General Grau to be performed by the Municipal Band of Alicante under the direction of D. Jose Vicente Diaz Alcaina in the Auditorium.

During this concert, the band will perform two new works composed by General Grau ; "Recuerdo y Gratitud" (Memory and Gratitude) and "Concierto para una Reina", (Concert for a Queen) dedicated to Queen Sofia of Spain.

* The fajin is the ceremonial belt that denotes Francisco Grau as a general in the Spanish army.

PS For those of you who enjoy military music there are two CDs available online. They feature the musical unit of the Royal Guard conducted by Francisco Grau and include some of his compositions.

España en PASODOBLES: Unidad de Música de la GUARDIA REAL

and Suspiros de España: Unidad de Música de la GUARDIA REAL

It's that time

We had SMS messages this morning telling us that, as over 60s, we are entitled to a free flu jab. All we have to do is go to the Centro de Salud and make appointments.

We're in two minds about this. The vaccine gives you a mild dose of flu to build up your immunity which can be worse than risking catching flu later. Worse still, for some, the vaccine fails to protect them . In other words, they still get flu in spite of the vaccine. So we don't know - maybe next year.

The little b******

We've not been troubled by mosquitoes here for a week or two now for which we are eternally thankful.

Last night though, I went to San Javier airport to collect Pamela. For whatever reason the whole environs of the airport was besieged by the little b******.

Normally I will wait outside the arrivals door and smoke my pipe. You can see the doors from the luggage reclaim area through the windows. As I stood, I could feel the insects on me and you could see literally dozens of them swarming around in the air.

So I put my pipe out and went inside where it was only marginally better. There was a couple stood next to me who seemed to be almost a magnet to the little blighters. As fast as they swatted one of them there were more to take its place.

The end result is that I now have bites on my neck, my face, my arm and my back. It was only because I was wearing trousers that my legs escaped.

I would advise anyone visiting the airport to collect passengers to invest in one of those suits that beekeepers wear along with the mask they put over their heads.

PS Pam paid a call to the loo whilst she was waiting for her case and got bitten on her bum!

The bad weather continues

Although this area was dry and even sunny at times yesterday, other parts of  the province were again lashed by heavy rain. 180 litres per square metre fell on the marsh of Isbert, 115 litres in Guadalest, 100 in Abdet, 96 in the Vall de Gallinera, 70 in Marina Baixa and  50 in Beneixama, according to the Metereológico Centre.

The State Agency of Meteorología (AEMET) has put parts of  the province on  red alert, the highest level.

Along with the rain some areas experienced gusts of wind up to the 80 kilometers per hour, which brought down antennas, tree branches and some advertising billboards in the north of the province.

A tad early

It's a bank holiday here in Spain so there will be some partying going on. With a party you expect fireworks but not necessarily at 9am in the morning.

However, the Spaniards do like to start early with these things. At the wine and horses festival in Caravaca de la Cruz they ring the church bells at dawn just to make sure that everyone is awake and ready for the celebration to come.

At Easter, here in Bigastro, we have fireworks at 7am for the "Encuentro" when Mary meets Jesus and realises that he has risen from the dead. If you know that it is going to happen you can prepare for it, otherwise it can come as a shock to the system and leave you with a headache that lasts most of the day.

The fireworks this morning were not a problem for me you understand because I was up just before 8am. For those who stayed up late at the Pedrera to enjoy Tony Francis though, it must have been a rude awakening. I imagine some felt they'd had "A Hard Day's Night" when they were shaken from their slumber by the loud bangs.

Crack down

The Labour parties dream of creating a "cafe culture" with their introduction of 24 hour drinking in Britain has failed. Hospital admissions linked to excess alcohol have more than doubled in the past 10 years.

The cafe culture works in countries like Spain because a) they are used to having longer drinking hours and b) it is regarded as socially unacceptable to be drunk in public. Visit any bar and you will find many of the people are drinking non-alcoholic drinks. Thase that are drinking beer are having it in small glasses. It is not to say that people don't get drunk - they do but you don't find them lying in the gutters at 2am.

The government tried to introduce a voluntary code but that has done little to solve the problem. So now, in a bid to curb public drunkenness, the Home Office and the Department of Health have drafted up proposals which they hope will transform social attitudes to drinking.

The mandatory code of practice rules include:

— Cigarette-style health warnings to be displayed wherever alcoholic drinks are sold. This would include shops, bars and, according to the industry, could force restaurants to place an official “sensible drinking message” on every table.

— A curb on promotional free wine, whisky and beer tastings. No samples may exceed 125ml and “care must be taken to ensure that customers do not return for further tastings and run the risk of becoming intoxicated”.

— Offerings of free alcohol to women to be banned.

— A ban on drinking games, such as downing a glass in one, and “drink all you like” offers for those paying an entry fee will be abolished.

— Wine in restaurants will have to be served in glasses with measures marked on the side.

The practice of selling cocktails called Sex on the Beach, or more sexually graphic names, will also be scrapped. The plan is to break the association between drink and sexual, financial and social success.

Let's hope that this plan works to prevent scenes like this which are commonplace in many towns and cities throughout Britain.

Holidays in the Sun

On the left you will find a new link under Our Web Sites.

Holidays in the Sun takes you to the site I created for our good friends Rachael and David to advertise David's apartment in Formentera del Segura.

This is a great place for those of you looking for first class accommodation at reasonable prices. Please check it out.

When it rain it floods

The torrential rains that hit the south eastern coast have left a trail of old and new problems on the Orihuela Costa.

Deep pools of stagnant, fetid water, tainted with sewage, remained for days after the flooding when, once again, the drainage infrastructure failed to cope with it. The 40 pumps installed on this part of the coast were unable to cope with the demand.

Residents in the urbanisations of La Zenia, as well as the four- star La Zenia hotel, have had to cope with burst sewage pipes, something which happens every time there is a deluge of rain.

Other problems include a lack of drainage on the roads, where water levels can reach over a metre in depth, forcing drivers to zigzag through the streets. The flooding also regularly creates a deep lagoon beside the N-332 highway and vehicles frequently end up in this deep well of water.

In an area which gets heavy rain most years at this time, you would think that the local councils would take preventive measures to ensure that flooding does not occur. OK ,we don't need salt and grit for the winter but we do need better drainage on the roads.

On our estate there is a storm drain that runs alongside Calle Le Vegan which keeps the road clear until it reaches the junction with Calle Cañada de Andrea. At that point the water spills out  onto the road causing severe flooding until it reaches the water collector at the bottom of the estate. 

Would it not have been better to have either built the water collector further up the road or to have continued the storm drain down to meet it?

Orange alert

The northern Costa Blanca is on orange alert this weekend as gota fría downpours, which began on Thursday are threatening to cause serious problems until Sunday.

The arrival of a front of cold air from the Atlantic, which hit Alicante Province saw a sharp drop in temperatures. Heavy rain began on Wednesday night with forecasts saying that it would continue throughout the weekend with expected rain levels of 200 litres per square metre.

Regional officials have warned people to stay away from dry river beds and ravines and in the event of flooding, keep away from bridges. They also say to avoid using vehicles if possible and to use only main roads and motorways. They warn that people should not try to cross flooded areas and if they are trapped in a car, to remove the radio antenna and keep doors and windows closed.

If a severe storm occurs, people at home are advised to disconnect all electrical apparatus to protect them from power surges.

Local councils have been told to put their flood risk plans into operation, to remain alert to the changes in weather and to adopt preventative measures as and when they see fit.

Since the torrential rain on Thursday, it has remained mostly dry here in BIgastro. The wind has picked up though and is gusting to gale force.

Hoy
Mañana	Tarde	Noche
	15.4º/21.1º
Mañana
Mañana	Tarde	Noche
	14.1º/24.6º

The forecast for today

En la primera mitad del día se esperan tormentas. En la segunda mitad del día son probables los focos tormentosos.

and tomorrow

Por la mañana las precipitaciones estarán presentes en forma de chubascos. Por la tarde las precipitaciones estarán presentes en forma de chubascos moderados.

A fishy tale

A British angler has caught the biggest fish on record in Spain.

Alan Melhuish was on a fishing holiday at the River Ebro near Barcelona when he caught the fish of a lifetime. It took him over half an hour to land the giant 102.5 kilogram European catfish. Finally, at 11pm, it was brought to the bank . At that point Alan could see just what had taken him all his strength to haul in. He then had to tether it up and wait until daylight to weigh it.

The largest catfish to be caught in Europe was a 110.2 kg monster in Italy.

In other parts of the world freshwater catfish can grow even larger.

This 293 kg, 2.7m long Mekong catfish was caught in northern Thailand.

If you want to see what it is like to haul one of these fish in click on this link.

The bullring

Plans to remodel the bullring in Orihuela have come under fire from the Secretary General of JSS, Jose M. Torres.

The original bullring had a capacity of 7,500. Plans put forward would reduce that to 5,800 which Torres says would be more appropriate for a town rather than a city like Orihuela. In defence of this argument, he cites the example of Ociopía which Jose says was a mediocre small project unbefitting of a city.

There is also pressure to consider the project as a multi purpose venue for concerts etc rather than as a working bullring. Torres says that the JSS are opposed to the idea of a venue for bullfighting . They argue that bullfighting is neither an art nor is it culture. They want Orihuela to follow the example of cities like Barcelona which has banned the sport.

Meanwhile the facade of this historic building, which the PP considers to be an important part of the cities patronage, continues to crumble. We will have to wait and see.

Grant to pensioners

Pensioners in Torrevieja will be able to apply for a payment of 300€. Last year the City Council received 5,000 requests for a similar payment out of which 3,000 were granted.

To be eligible, the pensioners must have lived in the town for over two years and have an annual income less than 10,854.90€.

Torrential

Yesterday we experienced one of the worst gota frias that this area has seen. In La Vall de Gallinera and La Marina Alta 96litres of water per square metre fell in just twelve hours. The weather conditions also meant that nine of the ferries running between Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Denia were cancelled due to rough seas.

The whole region is still on high alert for more rain today.

It's something in the water

The population of Spain doubled during the first part of the 20th century and then birth rates dramatically declined in the last quarter. In the last ten years these have slowly recovered. The more recent growth in population is largely due to immigration. Records for January this year show that there were 5,220,000 foreign residents here.

Anybody visiting Bigastro though could be forgiven for thinking that the town bucked the trend and has experienced a baby boom which is still continuing. Many of the young women in the town are either expecting children, pushing prams or both. Six percent of the population (479) are under 4 years of age; 20 percent (1,607) are in their teens or younger. This means there are 105 more children than in 2005 and 282 more than in the year 2000.

All these children need educating. First they had to build a new secondary school, then a new primary school; now the infant school is bursting at the seams.

A group of 20 parents along with the Councillor for Education, Maria Dolores Andreu, visited the Education Department in Alicante to protest about the deficiencies that the infant school La Paz is facing. Numerous letters and requests for meetings had failed, so the group went in force demanding some action.

The two main issues to be tackled are the lack of a dining room at the school and the need for another teacher and two support assistants.

What the group were promised, was work to commence in September 2009 on extensions to the buildings.

I don't suppose a spate of bad weather where people are cooped up inside will help ease the situation!

It's not fair

In an area that prays for rain, it's wrong to complain when it comes but timing is everything. After all the gorgeous weather we've had for the last couple of weeks, it decides to pour down on the Valencian Bank Holiday. All those plans for a last trip to the beach or an outdoor party are scuppered. Worse still, those who are going to bridge this holiday with the one on Sunday are going to face a whole weekend of rain and thunderstorms.

At least folks will be spared the traditional Bank Holiday chores - clearing the garden and washing the car.

Return to a healthy diet

As in most European countries, here in Spain the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet is going by the wayside to be replaced by convenience food.

The local school in Hurchillo is trying to get their children there back to eating a healthier diet than they have become used to. The school canteen is therefore weaning them of chips and other fried food in an attempt to cut down obesity and high cholesterol levels.

By only serving fruit and vegetables which are grown without chemicals, the school are also getting children to appreciate the natural flavours of these products. Fish is served three times a week and chips only once a month.

So far, the scheme is doing well. A third of the children now stay for school dinners. They even have parents attending courses at weekends to learn how to prepare healthy food at home.

For next year the school wants to introduce pasta and yogurt into the menu but they have to consider the cost of this decision.

A great idea

Samantha Bildder, la concejalía de Residentes, in Algorfa has proposed an initiative that would bring English and Spanish speakers together to learn each other's languages. The suggestion is that the people meet twice a week and share some of their daily activities e.g. going for a coffee, shopping or preparing food.

Not only will they benefit by learning each other's languages, they will also get to  understand some of the cultural differences between the two countries.

I know quite a few residents here at Villas Andrea have made good friends with local Spanish people. An initiative, similar to the one in Algorfa, would  take this one step further. Maybe the Town Council should consider  this for Bigastro.

Entertainment galore

Darren promise us a fabulous week of entertainment:- 

Wednesday, 8th October ( tonight ) will be  Race Night  from 8.30pm onwards  ( racing starts at 9pm. )

Remember to bring your loose change

Saturday 11th October - An evening out with Tony Francis from 8.30 pm onwards . Tony starts 9pm to 12pm.

Tony's repertoire includes songs from the Beatles, Tom Jones, the Everly Brothers, Robbie Williams, Elvis and much more.

Don't forget the lottery with 250€ at stake. 

Thursday the 16th October  is Rob ( 65th )  and Karen's (60th ) Birthday Parties. You are all are invited to celebrate with them. There'll be dancing to the band  Sunset  and  entertainment on the night by Pete Rafferty.

The party starts  at 8.30pm.

Let's make it a great night for Rob and Karen

The little biters

For those who haven't seen one - this mosquito was sat on the outside of one of our windows yesterday.

I apologise for the quality of the photograph - I should have manually focused on the window rather than let the camera focus on the houses in the distance DOH!

Lost in translation

I'd give the man who delivered this notice yesterday 10 out of 10 for effort.

Optica Roge are obviously enterprising enough to realise that, if they translate a notice into English, they may get trade from people at Villas Andrea.

Although most of the notice is understandable, some words have not translated well. "Valid" has become "been worth", "reduce" becomes "break", "child" is a "boy", "end" becomes "aim", "insurance" becomes "surely", "opposite" becomes "as opposed".

Phrases like "sees visit to us" and "to that you are good right to come to see us" are just translations from advertising slogans that just come out awkward. We know what they mean though.

You just wonder what our translations from English to Spanish must read like - just as strange I suppose.

Well I never

José Rey-Ximena, a Spanish author, claims that Leslie Howard, the British actor, was killed when returning from a secret mission to keep Spain out of the Second World War.

The actor, 50, was returning to Britain after a trip through Spain and Portugal when his passenger aircraft was shot down by the Luftwaffe in 1943.

Rey-Ximena says that the actor had secretly met with General Franco to convey a message to the fascist dictator in a bid to prevent him from joining forces with Hitler and Mussolini.

Apparently, Howard used a former lover to get close to the dictator after being given the special mission by Winston Churchill.

Rey-Ximea says he learnt of the British actor's wartime intervention after interviewing Spanish actress Conchita Montenegro before her death last year at the age of 96.

She claimed she had an affair with Howard after the pair starred together in the 1931 film Never the Twain Shall Meet.

She later married a senior member of the far-right Falangist party and, using his influence, was able to secure a meeting between the British actor and the Spanish dictator.

How amazing.

Care for the elderly - Japanese style

The Japanese obviously care about their ageing population.

Old people are prone to falling. To save them from injury, the Japanese have produced a 1.1kg pouch that straps around the waist to provide the wearer with cutting edge protection. Sensors detect movement and have been programmed to know when things have gone wrong — a slip on something wet, a stumble on an uneven paving stone or a fall down stairs.

Within a tenth of a second, the airbags inflate to the size of three footballs with the help of 15 litres of compressed gas, offering a soft slab of padding on the most vulnerable parts of the body in a fall: the back of the head and the bottom.

Actually, the Japanese already have plenty of other devices to cater for the ageing market. Foremost among them is the I-Pot, an intelligent kettle that offers round-the-clock monitoring and surveillance of its owner.

The theory is that, when they are at home, elderly Japanese make themselves an average of two cups of tea every hour (NB I hope they have good plumbing). The kettle is programmed to send a text message to a son or daughter as soon as it is not used at normal intervals. If the tea-drinking rate drops to zero, it might be time to call to find out what is going on, or alert a friendly neighbour.

In a country where almost 22 per cent of the population is already over 65 — compared with fewer than 13 per cent in the US this all makes economic sense.

Other gadgets the Japanese have for the elderly

Liquid level indicator Device fitted to cups or jugs that beeps when liquid is an inch from the top of the container

Bed occupancy sensor sends a warning to a monitoring centre if a bed is left unoccupied for a certain period, indicating a possible fall

Dolls that weigh as much as a baby and tell owners they love them, and welcome them back to the house — very popular with elderly women

Brain training game Nintendo gadget successful with elderly Japanese who use the mathematical and spelling puzzles to keep them mentally agile

Light-up slippers Footwear with miniature pressure-activated torches designed to prevent night-time falls.

I like the light up slippers idea . Just one problem though - you might need a light to find the slippers.

Should we move our money?

Germany's go-it-alone decision to prevent a run on its banks by guaranteeing up to €1 trillion of individuals' deposits was followed yesterday by several other EU countries.

Amid bitter recriminations about Berlin's shock move on Sunday, Spain indicated that it could soon join Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland and Sweden in offering a full government guarantee for deposits.

Spain was enraged at being left out of Saturday's emergency summit of British, French, German and Italian leaders when its banks have proven safe so far, and demanded talks for its prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with Sarkozy in Paris this week. Zapatero held an emergency meeting with leading bankers in Madrid last night.

Pedro Solbes, the Spanish finance minister and a former EU commissioner, said: "I would have preferred that no member country took decisions unilaterally which are always negative.

"If each country maintains its position, we'll have to look at the impact it's having on Spain."

So, just where should we put our money; Ireland, Germany, Denmark....?

The very last thing the banks need are for people to start moving their savings from one place to another. Nothing would destabilise the already fragile system more. Anyone with large savings is naturally going to be nervous but all this clamouring to assuage them  isn't necessarily going to help. If anything it will make them even more nervous. God help us if people start hiding their money under the bed to keep it safe.

Another 350,000€ winner.

This time the winners are in San Miguel de Salinas. Francisca Fernández Martínez., who sold the winning ONCE tickets, reckons that there are twenty people to share the prize.

It looks like good fortune is circling round the area. I reckon it's only a matter of time before someone on Bigastro touches lucky. IT COULD BE YOU!

My worries are over

This email informs me that there is a huge sum of money just waiting for me to collect from any ATM machine in the world. All I have to do is send my details to a Rev. Nicholas Smith who will then send me the ATM card.

Apart from the amateur look of the mail, I'm a bit concerned that they are using a live.com email address. Wouldn't you think that the third largest bank in Nigeria  would have their own Internet domain? Actually they do and it is www.gtbplc.com.

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

Office of

Mrs. Aderinokun Tayo

Corporate Services (Managing Director)

Attention: Beneficiary,

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your Payment, which has been approved for immediate release in your favor. The Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has been assigned to make necessary arrangements for the release of your Payment proceed of $1,573,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand United States Dollars) through our Automated Teller Machine (ATM) ATM Cash Plus fully powered by Global Cash Plus.

The reason why the current president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar'Dua mandated this Bank to make necessary arrangements for the release of your Payment through our Automated Teller Machine (ATM) ATM Cash Plus was that the Financial Fraud Intelligence Monitoring Network have discovered that some group of unscrupulous elements have fraudulently using the Federal Government of Nigeria letter headed paper to miss-inform creditors like you causing a lot of problems and irregularities towards the release of your overdue payment because of all this fraudulent act the Financial Fraud Intelligence Monitoring Network office has been dully intervened on the release of your funds.

The Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cash Plus Payment Center will release your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card, which you can use to withdraw your money in any Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in any part of the world. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc hereby advise you to contact the ATM Cash Plus Payment Center on the contact information below:

Rev. Nicholas Smith

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

ATM Cash Plus Payment Department

Telephone: +234 1 473 0842

Mobile: +234 803 359 4284

Email: atmprocessingdepartment@live.com

And also remember to send the following information for your payment verification:

1. Full Name

2. Full Home Address (For Delivery of your ATM Card).

3. Your Direct Working Phone and fax number.

Note that the above requested information's are very important for proper verification with what they have in the list of approved beneficiary for payment for the last quarter of this year of 2008.

Thank you for your anticipated co-operation to help us serve you better.

Congratulation!

Mrs. Aderinokun Tayo

Corporate Services (Managing Director)

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

Yet another solution

You may have read about Slingbox and wondered what it is and more important will it allow you to watch UK TV here in Spain.

Slingbox is a device that costs from about £70 upwards. What it does is transmit a media signal over the Internet. You set up the Slingbox in the UK and connect it to a router. At this end you install the SlingPlayer software on your computer and configure it to the box in the UK. You can then watch the media that is being transmitted on your computer or connect your computer to a TV and watch it on that.

The software at your end controls the Slingbox in the UK allowing you to change channels etc. With the more expensive pro model you can connect to several devices e.g. a DVD as well as a free to air and Sky box. So, not only can you watch TV, you can watch your DVD and you can record programmes as well.

There can a bit of setting up to do to get the router connected to the Slingbox in the UK and of course you need a broadband connection at both ends. The quality of the picture will then be largely determined by the upstream speed of the router in the UK. It will therefore work best if the person in the UK has a high speed cable connection. You'd also need to consider the placement of the components as you would with the Telefónica set up.

With broadband via a phone line, most users say it is a bit like watching a DVD on a computer i.e. not exactly high definition. It can take a little while for the channels to settle down and you do get the occasional freeze but you'll get what you pay for.

The other downside is that the person in the UK will be using the upstream bandwidth on their broadband connection to supply your TV picture. It's good for those who have a holiday home here in Spain and don't mind paying for a broadband connection at both ends.

The only way is up

See, I told you the rate of exchange was improving. Friday morning it was 1.279. By the evening it was 1.287. This morning it is 1.297 - not quite the 1.300 I was hoping for but pretty damn close.

Normally my pension would be transferred to our Spanish account on the 6th but, for whatever reason, it was paid in on Saturday, the 4th.

Still never mind, if this trend continues (fingers and toes are all crossed), we'll be back to eating fillet steak once a month in November! If it ever gets back to 1.5ish, we'll have a bottle of rioja as well.

Calculating your tax

Those of you who have examined your SUMA tax bill will have worked out how the council tax is calculated. SUMA multiply the Base Liquidable by the Tipo Impositivo.

The Base Liquidable is a proportion of the Base Imponible - the Cadastral value of your property.

From your bill you will see that the Cadastral Value comprises two parts; the value of the land and buildings upon it.

To determine the value of the land, the administration considers the location, the circumstances affecting it and its appropriateness for building on.

To value of the building, takes into account the following :

1.- Building costs, profit from the contract, professional fees and taxes levied.

2.- The use, quality, historical and artistic value and the age of the building.

3.- Market conditions and values.

4.- And any other relevant factors which may be regulated.

The Tipo Impositivo, on the other hand, is set by the local council and can vary between 0.4% and 1.3%. In Bigastro this has been set at 0.68% for this year.

It is interesting to note that, in nearby Jacarilla, the rate is 0.45%. So for a property, with the same Cadastral Value you would pay about 34% less IBI in Jacarilla. You will also have seen, from the local press, that the Council in Torrevieja has just voted to set their rate at 0.5% for next year.

It's the price we pay for living in Bigastro.

British Consulate

The British Consulate staff from Alicante will be in Torrevieja on Wednesday at the Virgen del Carmen Theatre to talk about issues which affect ex-pats. If you have concerns about your pension rights or your health care entitlement you can book a place online at www.ukinspain.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/pensions-benefits/open-day

A fishy tale

The fishing fleet at Torrevieja hauled in three times as many fish this September as they did in the same month last year. The Brotherhood of Fishermen in Torrevieja recorded catches of 963,650 kilos with a value of 619,474 Euros.

It is the blue fish, the melva (a species of tuna) which are filling the fishermen's nets. Surface feeding fish like the sardine and the boquerón ( the small species that are delicious either fried or in vinegar) are much less plentiful.

It isn't all good news though. As the catches get larger, the price at market drops so the fishermen have to work that much harder for the same money.

Que sera, sera.

More holidays

Spain has a record number of bank holidays - an average of one per month. The next one here is on Thursday, 9th October which is a fiesta day just for the Valencian Community.

The 9th of Ocotber is known as el nou d’octubre and celebrates the liberation of Valencia by King Jaime I in 1238. We can expect fireworks and other celebrations on that day.

October 12th is also a bank holiday. So some businesses will "bridge" the holidays and take all four days off. As you will have realised, the 12th is a Sunday. In the UK workers would expect to get the Monday off in lieu but not here in Spain. Monday, the 13th will be business as usual.

Dos cornadas

This was set to be Miguel Ángel Perera's big night at the Feria de Otoño in Madrid. His task was to fight all six of the bulls.

In the end, Perera managed to deal with five of the bulls in spite of suffering two cornadas.

The first bull was dispatched without any problems. The second was going well until he got caught by the bull whilst executing the volapié*. During the fight with the third bull he had to leave to visit the infirmary. The second bulls horn had pierced his scrotum, grazed his testicle leaving the wound at the root of his penis. After minutes he returned to continue the fight with the third.

Caught by the fifth bull.

The fourth bull went well but his problems were not over. At the start of the third part of the fight with the fifth bull - the work with the muleta - he was caught again by the horn of the bull. This resulted in a 15cm cut to the superficial femoral artery. No matter, he got the doctor to apply a tourniquet so that he could continue the fight and dispatch the bull.

Even for a very brave Spaniard, enough is enough. So, at the end of that fight, Perera was taken to the infirmary to be operated on. David Saleri substituted for him to deal with the sixth bull.

Miguel Ángel Perera was awarded ears for the third, fourth and fifth bulls. The crowd petitioned for two ears for the fifth but the President awarded only one. The crowd were not acting out of sympathy but in appreciation of the skill and grace he had shown in his veronicas, quites and naturals**. So a mixed night for the young Spaniard - much glory but at a great cost.

* A way of killing the bull where the torero distracts the bull with the muleta in his left hand and goes in on the left of the bull with the estoca in his right hand.

** Passes made by the torero in the three different stages of the fight.

Lo sentimos

The entertainments people and José have done their very best to provide us with good entertainment week after week. This Saturday it's karaoke and a disco. The lottery, which was won last week now stands at 200€.

Obviously José would like us to go up to the Albergue seven days a week. There is some form of entertainment most  Wednesdays and Saturdays. Then there are darts, pool and petanca competitions on other days. Plenty for people to do and get involved in.

I have to confess that going out at night was something Pam and I did only occasionally back in England. Of course we were working then and late nights followed by noisy children the next day didn't mix. You could argue that, now we are retired, we don't have to worry about getting up for work so late nights should be less of a problem.

However we are in the twilight of our years (I can sense your sighs) and so have less energy and drive than we had. Late nights seem to take their toll for a lot longer these days. Added to which, we are pensioners with a limited income.  We have to prioritise what we can and cannot do. In other words we might have the time but we have neither the energy nor the money to party like José would like us to. 

What I am getting to is that we can't see ourselves making a habit of going up to  the Albergue every week. That is no reflection on the hard work and effort of José and the entertainments people; it's just the way it is. As I said, "lo sentimos."

I suspect there may be others who find themselves in the same boat.

The cost of shopping

The Coast Rider - a free English paper here on the Costa Blanca - conducts an annual survey of the cost of food shopping. The survey compares prices in the UK with those here in Spain.

As the article in the paper points out, this can be difficult because certain items that you buy in Britain are simply not available in Spanish supermarkets. They also point out that , although the cost of their shopping basket is considerably cheaper here in Spain, the poor exchange rate brings it more or less on par.

It is interesting to note that the survey found Mercadona to be the most competitive of the three Spanish supermarkets. Our own experience vindicates that result. In our opinion, Carrefour is just too big and busy - it takes too long to get round the place and Eroski is not much better. We prefer to shop at the Mercadona near San Luis where you can park easily and get round in about an hour. We shop to live not the other way round!

You can see the table of results by clicking on this link.

Citizenship in English

Teachers in the Valencian Community are prepared to strike if the authorities continue to insist upon them teaching EpC (Education for Citizenship) in English.

The difficulty for schools is that they don't have the staff qualified to deliver the course in English. In any case there is a problem with the supply of books on the subject. Publishers were reluctant to produce books in English when it was unclear whether the subject was to be taught in Castilian, Valencian or English.

Having struggled to teach Citizenship in Liverpool to a Year 11 class before retiring, I can sympathise with these teachers. It was bad enough delivering the subject in the native tongue let alone trying to teach it in some other language. In my experience, subjects like PSE (Personal Social Education) and Citizenship were unpopular with both teachers and students. None of the carefully crafted courses with beautifully illustrated text books could entice either group to take an interest in these non-examinable subjects.

Another way

I've written about Spanish terrestrial TV, Digital + and English TV via a large dish with a free to view box.

There is another way to get TV which you might want to consider.

Those of you who have a Telefónica phone line can opt for the Trio package which includes all your national calls, a 6Mb Internet connection and television.

What you get is a set top box which plugs into an Internet router. So with this system you would receive TV via your Internet connection - sharing the bandwidth between the TV and your computer.

Before you opt for this system, you need to plan how you might site the various components. For example; if your television and your computer are in different rooms then you will either need a wireless bridge to your computer or better still a network cable between the rooms. You will also need a phone connection near to the TV for the router.

There are two packages available: Imagenio / Canales Imagenio TV Conexión and Imagenio / Canales Imagenio TV Familiar. There is also the possibility to add further programmes to either package. Looking at the lists will tell you what programmes are available for you to watch. To be fair there is not much on offer in the cheaper package. There are a few English/American channels in the more expensive package though. However, most of the channels in either package are inevitably Spanish. Some will give you the option to choose the language.

What you won't get are any of the Sky programmes. Nor will you get ITV 1, 2 etc and BBC 1, 2 etc since neither are licensed for rebroadcast here in Spain.

As for price:-

For the basic package: There is an installation price of 72€ which you pay in three instalments. The first three months are charged at 12.90€ and then 43.90€ per month. NB this is in addition to your basic line rental and ADSL maintenance charge.

For the familiar package the installation cost is the same but the first three months are charged at 19.90€ and then 52.90€. NB With this package there is an additional rental charge of 6.50€ per month for the decoder. As with the basic package, you also have to pay the line rental and ADSL maintenance charges on top of this. As a little plus, you get a free MP4 player as a gift with this deal.

Joy of joys

Have you noticed that the exchange rate i.e. the number of euros you get to the pound is slowly creeping back up. When I checked this morning, the commercial rate was 1.279 -a worthwhile improvement on last month. Some sceptics say it will never return to the 1.5ish mark of several years ago but you never know. We can but hope.

Update:- It is now 5pm and the rate is 1.287. Will it hit the 1.30 mark by Monday when my pension is paid in I ask myself?

Did you know?

Those of you living here can access your SUMA account to check what bills you have paid and those that are outstanding.

In Internet Explorer (this doesn't work with Firefox. ¡Chungo!) go to the SUMA web site and if necessary change the language to English by clicking on the icon at the top of the page.

To access your account click on the box where it says Virtual Office and Telematic Registry.

Previously you had to use a digital certificate to enter this area but if you bank with CAM, BBVA or La Caixa and have your Internet banking set up then you can enter your private area via that.

Clicking on the appropriate symbol will take you to your Internet banking page. There you will need to enter your username and password as you normally would to access your account. Clicking on continue will take you back to your SUMA account. NB you may need to enable pop ups temporarily for this to work.

From there you can look at outstanding bills and those that you have paid. If you haven't paid your IBI yet, you have just one day of the voluntary period left. After that you will get a reminder which will include a surcharge!

The other thing you might want to do is to go to the Catastro Virtual Office and check out the details they have on your house.

If you don't have your Catastro reference number to hand no matter. Select Localización select the Provincia (in our case Alicante), type in the name of your town as the Municipio or select it from the list, select the appropriate title of your road as the Via and then type in its name or select it from the list. Finally enter the number of your property (or again select it) and click on Datos y Consulta Descriptiva etc. for the details and a plan or click on Cartografía to get just a map.

There are various map forms you can choose; from simple outline diagrams to aerial views overlaid with line diagrams.

All fascinating stuff which will help you understand the minefield of Spanish taxes on your property.

Teaching English

Whilst we are keen to learn Spanish, there are many Spaniards who want to learn English.

I received this email from Mark who runs a restaurant in Alicante. You may remember he was looking for people to play chess with and was offering them a free meal if they won.

Now he is looking for people to teach English.

Tengo un restaurante en Alicante centro y me interesa ofrecer
la posibilidad de dar clases de inglés para los interesados. Se
haría dos veces por semana, por la tarde/noche.
Caso de interesarles dar clases, ruego se ponga en contacto
conmigo en el email a100plus@mac.com
da la posibilidad de enrar también en contacto con españoles,
lo que puede ser una forma de tener contactos etc.

un abrazo
Mark
www.alicantetimes.com

Mark has a restaurant in Alicante centre and is interested in offering English classes (presumably to his customers). Classes would be twice per week, in the evening/night.
Anyone interested should contact him by email at a100plus@mac.com

Free TV

After 8 weeks without TV those of you who were with Telmicro might want to  consider the alternatives. If you definitively want UK TV then the options are limited.

The following is information about one  company who supply and fit  dishes and boxes to enable you to watch the free to air programmes here in Spain. There are probably others who can offer a similar service.

FREE TV and Magnet TV make this claim about the legality of their offer:-

With FREE TV we are taking advantage of the satellite signal that is broadcast from the Astra2D and Eurobird satellites. Although these signals are primarily focussed on the UK they also fall on most of Western Europe and Scandinavia. With suitable equipment we can capture these signals on the Costa Blanca.

We substantiate our claim that Magnet TV's customers are receiving a legal service because:

- we are providing and installing readily available consumer products and equipment designed to receive satellite transmissions

- to the best of our knowledge the customer is not infringing any copyright laws or licenses by viewing channels received via satellite transmissions that are readily available in Spain. 

- the channels that the customer views are those that are being broadcast unencrypted and Free To Air (FTA). In other words, available to all who can receive them.

As you can see from the map above, the Vega Baja is in a black hole for the Astra 2D satellite. Although, as the map shows,  you really need a 2.4m dish to ensure clear reception, FREE TV say a 1.9m dish will give an adequate level of service.

and the cost:-

STANDARD DEFINITION TV

Economy                                                                                           €949
1.9m Quality Dish with extra sensitive receiver
Standard Definition Set Top Box
Installation, Cabling and Tuning to your local UK TV stations.
- Share cost with a neighbour for €599 each
- Share cost with four neighbours for €399 each

DeLux                                                                                               €1,525
Big 2.4m Quality Dish with extra sensitive receiver
Standard Definition Set Top Box
Installation, Cabling and Tuning to your local UK TV stations.
- Share cost with a neighbour for €875 each
- Share cost with four neighbours for €549 each

HIGH DEFINITION TV

Economy                                                                                          €1,149
1.9m Quality Dish with extra sensitive receiver
High Definition Set Top Box
Installation, Cabling and Tuning to your local UK TV stations.
- Share cost with a neighbour for €749 each
- Share cost with four neighbours for €575 each

DeLux                                                                                               €1,699
Big 2.4m Quality Dish with extra sensitive receiver
High Definition Set Top Box
Installation, Cabling and Tuning to your local UK TV stations.
- Share cost with a neighbour for €999 each  
- Share cost with four neighbours for €699 each

So realistically you are looking to spend between 949€ and 1,699€ for the setup. What you will get for that are 120 channels of TV and radio.

For more information and to ask any questions, call FREE TV on: 646 645 579
email to: info@freetvspain.com
or call in at: Magnet TV, La Fuente Commercial Centre, Campoamor Golf, Villamartin, Orihuela Costa.

NB FREE TV point out that the sharing with a neighbour option will only work if the cable run to each house is less than 20m. In fact they say that signal degradation occurs on runs over 10 metres.  Adding junctions and splitters will further degrade the signal. You will find a lot of good information and tips about his and other satellite issues at this site.

Some resources to help you

Peter, at Streetwise Spanish, recommends the following resources to help you with your understanding of the Spanish language.

Peter says that you should be able to get them from your local bookstore. If not, just go to Amazon and buy them online. Please note that Peter is not receiving any fees for these recommendations and neither am I.

Spanish Verb Tenses, by Dorothy Devney Richmond.

This book really helps to get the various verb tenses nailed. Each tense is fully explained in an easy-to-understand style and the exercises are a challenge but enjoyable.

Complete Spanish Grammar, by Gilda Nissenberg.

This is from the same Practice Makes Perfect series. It is good for those of you who struggle to make sense of Spanish grammar - pronouns, reflexives and the impersonal for example. All the topics are clearly explained and the exercises will help you get to grips with Spanish grammar.

Correct Your Spanish Blunders by Jean Yates

Peter's third recommendation is a book that will help you avoid the common errors that mark you out as a typical guiri! Peter thinks this is a really useful book, he likes the way the errors are highlighted in a red box explaining fully how the mistake is made with examples of corrections that are nice and easy to follow. A very practical little guide which he says you'll use frequently.

The other books which we have found useful are the Collins Easy Learning series which you will find in many local bookshops. I think we have most of them now. The one we mostly dip into though is Spanish Grammar which explains a lot of the things we struggle with on our Spanish course. The other one which we find useful is Spanish Verbs which helps us make sense of the irregular ones.

As for online resources, I find the dictionary at WordReference.com invaluable.

Español para extranjeras

At the meeting for students last night we were introduced to our new teacher Eduardo who in fact we had met before. He explained that our classes will be in the previous building for the primary school -C.P. San José Calasanz. The primary school pupils have now moved to the new building in Sector D10.

The classes will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4 and 6pm starting on Tuesday 14th.

The cost for the course is 200€ payable in two parts; 100€ in October and a further 100€ in February. Pensioners though will be exempt from charges.

Eduardo went on to explain that we will be continuing with the course books that we used with Ana.

For the benefit of new students, the series is Español Lengua Extranjera: Nuevo Ven which is published by Edelsa. The complete course comprises three levels with a Libro del alumno and a Libro de ejercicios for each.

You can buy them locally but we found it quicker to order from the European Bookshop. The course you are looking for is Nuevo Ven. Current students are working on Book 2 but it might benefit new students to start with Book 1.

NB The European Bookshop will deliver to Spain. When you place your order they will send you an email detailing the total cost including postage. In the email, they will ask you to reply accepting the price before they deliver. To save a few pounds you can order together to share the postage costs.

IKEA in Alicante but not yet

Plans to build the new IKEA store in Alicante have been put on hold. The proposed site between PAU1 and 2 was going to cause problems with congestion on the Gran Vía. Additionally, the land there was very expensive.   IKEA wants 40,000 m2 of land for its new store but the city council estimate that it will take 100,000 m2 of land when access roads and other facilities are added in.

So now IKEA is looking to site its store in the Rebasa plan near the Port and San Gabriel and  the neighbouring areas of Mutxamel and Sant Joan. Access there would be much easier via the autoroute.

This will of course delay the anticipated 2011 opening of the store. For us though, there is no difference between travelling to the Murcia store and the proposed one at Alicante.

Spanish classes

We were delighted to find out that our Spanish classes will continue for this year. Sandra, who is in charge of the EPA (adult education classes), telephoned last night to say that there will be a meeting for students tonight at 8pm at he Auditorium. For those who have signed up for the class but can't attend the meeting tonight I will post details on this blog tomorrow.

Sadly Ana, who has taught us for the last three years, will not be continuing for personal reasons. That is sad because Ana is such an excellent teacher who inspires the confidence in her students to progress in their new language. She is also a very kind and thoughtful person.

Instead, we will be taught by Eduardo who Ana assures us is very good. He is apparently nervous about facing us because he doesn't speak English but Ana has assured him that will not be a problem because we are all so good at speaking Spanish - we wish!

I'm sure that all the students from the class, both past and present, would like to wish Ana all the best and thank her for the hard work and effort she put into teaching us. I will, of course pass on your best wishes to her at tonight's meeting.

Blog link

You may have noticed that I have added a few more links in my blog list. You'll find the list in the left hand sidebar towards the bottom - underneath Search this blog.

Having made the link, I wrote to the author of the blog for La Sociedad Union Musical de Bigastro to let him know what I had done and this was his reply:-

Hola Keith,
muchas gracias por hacer referencia a nuestro blog en su página web. Pronto tendremos una nueva página web con más información sobre nuestra sociedad. Cuando esté en funcionamiento se lo notificaré por si también quiere incluirlo en su página.
Gracias de nuevo y nuestra enhorabuena por el trabajo que realiza y la información que incluye en su página sobre Bigastro.
Saludos.

For those of you who might have difficulty in translating this message, he is thanking me for making the link. He then goes on to explain that he's working on a new web page for the town's band and will let me now when it is ready.

Finally he congratulates me on my work producing a blog about Bigastro.

Actually, Umbigastro has a lot more presence on the web than just his blog. For example, there are quite a few videos on YouTube  that he has contributed which are well worth watching.

I've said it before - the standard of the local band is almost unbelievable. For such a small town to have so many highly talented musicians is just amazing. The bring a lot of joy to the townsfolks lives.

Calling all budding artists

The Association of Painters of Bigastro and the Council of Culture of the City council are organising courses in art, painting, sculpture, model drawing and pottery for the month of October. The Association are based in  C/ Padre Damian, 6 bajo.. Updated

The cost for the 8 hours classes is 40 €. They will take place at C/ Padre Damian, 6 between 6pm and 10pm.

For more information phone 636.233.230

Saving money

The Socialist party planned to request a revision of the cadastral values of houses in Bigastro at last night's Council Meeting. The PP party were planning to oppose this. The PP estimate that a revision of cadastral values would bring about a 15% increase to our IBI (local council tax).

The last revaluation of cadastral values was in 2000. So, according to legislation, they would be due for revision in 2010. The socialist party obviously want to bring this forward by two years to increase income to the town's budget.

We have paid a higher rate this year because the percentage applied to calculate the tax has been increased. The increase last year was due to the change of designation of our houses from rural to urban.

At the meeting, the PP party were also planning to criticise the expenditure that the local council have made on the Città Slow project. They claim that it is the sort of project that the council might embark on when there is plenty of money in the budget but not when times are tight.

Finally, the spokesperson for the PP said that they were going to suggest reducing the council workforce by removing 40 unnecessary jobs thus saving 900,000€ from the budget each year.

I don't know the outcome of the meeting yet but I imagine that the majority vote of the socialist party would carry their proposals through.

CoolIris

Those of you who are using Firefox 3 will know what a great browser it is and will probably have already explored some its features.

One of those that you may not have come across yet are the add-ons. Go to Tools in the menu bar and you will find them there.

To add more you just need to select Get Add-ons which will bring you up a list of a few that are available. There are plenty more to choose from. Click on Browse All Add-ons and you will be taken to the Mozilla site of Firefox Add-ons. Have a look around at what is available -there are loads.

The one you are looking for at the moment though is CoolIris. So, in the search box type CoolIris and you should find it listed. Unfortunately it is for Windows only - sorry Mac and Linux people.

Once you have downloaded and installed it you will need to restart Firefox to make it work. Bear with me it's going to be worth it.

Now to try it out!! Go to my Spanish Album by clicking on this link. What you will see is my picture album in the form that everybody else does. You need to make the add-on work by clicking on the CoolIris button which you should find at the top right of your browser window. This will open up CoolIris in a new window.

At last we come to the cool bit. Move the blue scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and watch all my photographs move as if they are on a 3D wall. I'm told this works even on a slow connection so you dial up users shouldn't be disappointed. Use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out and click on any photograph to see it large. Now tell me that wasn't worth it - of course I mean the program not my photograph.

Of course CoolIris doesn't just work with my photographs - try it on other pages with images. If you have a Picasso or a Flickr album it will work with those. Call me a geek but I just love this stuff.

Improvement on the way

Gradually the bad weather we have been experiencing is moving westwards bringing a return to sunshine for the region.

	Mañana	Tarde	Noche
Hoy
		11.3º/18.4º
Mañana
		9º/20.7º
Miércoles,01	Jueves,02	Viernes,03	Sabado,04
9.2º/22.5º	10.7º/23.9º	11.4º/25.4º	8.7º/21.3º

Andalucía experienced dreadful weather yesterday particularly in the area around Cádiz. Pictures on the weather channel Meteo showed people clearing mud from inside their houses.

The storms in Andalucía are forecast to last today but then there will be some improvement tomorrow and a return to sunshine on Wednesday.

The destruction and misery that this weather has brought has been almost unbelievable. However, we should be thankful that at least we don't live in a region of tropical storms.

Hurricane Kyle, the sixth for this season, is moving northward across the western Atlantic toward the Maine coast and Canadian Maritimes. It is expected to approach the eastern Maine coast later this evening, with a landfall in Nova Scotia this evening. This is in an area not commonly impacted by tropical storms and hurricanes, but the threats from Kyle will be much the same as those seen further south.

The Eastern seaboard of North America gets hit badly but China, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines suffers worse. Typhoons regularly hit the area, gaining strength over the warm waters of the Pacific or China Sea.

Jangmi is the 15th typhoon to form this year in that region, following on from Hagupit which brought torrential rain to China earlier in the month.

Typhoon Jangmi strengthened into a Super Typhoon. As of 0200 GMT Saturday, Jangmi was 373 miles (600km) southeast of Taiwan, packing sustained winds of 114mph (184kph).

No comment

Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove will unveil the “Troops to Teachers” scheme at the Tory conference tomorrow. He will say: “We’ll ensure ex-servicemen and women who want to work with young people can move quickly to a career in teaching.”

Servicemen and women would be given a £9,000 bursary to re-train as teachers on leaving the forces to boost tough inner-city schools. Other veterans will be encouraged to act as role models in comprehensives.

David Cameron also aims to smash the local authority monopoly over schools. In a huge overhaul, thousands of taxpayer-funded schools would be set up by private companies and parents’ groups. The Tories claim that sub-standard comprehensives would be driven out of business by the new “free schools”.

OK I will make a comment. In my opinion, politics and education make poor bedfellows.

Did you know?

Those of you who are with Telefónica for both phone line and ADSL (broadband Internet) i.e. the Duo package can enjoy a free upgrade of your speed from 3Mb to 10Mb for 3 months. After December it will cost you an extra 4€ per month for the extra speed.

Bear in mind though that, with protocol overheads etc. this will give you an effective download speed of about 8.5Mb. Still that is a lot faster than the 2.8Mb you get with the 3Mb package

You need to go online to http://www.telefonicaonline.com, enter your username and password to get into your private area to order the upgrade.

Some web forums mention the possibility of upgrading from 3 to 6Mb but that no longer seems to be an option.

PS the quoted speeds are megabits per second not megabytes (there are 8 bits in one byte). So in theory on a 10Mb connection you could expect to download a one megabyte file in less than one second. In practice of course this will rarely happen. However you would see a significant improvement from a slower connection.

Personal stuff

Belated birthday greetings to Jim and Maxine (both 21 - so I'm told!). I hope you had great birthdays and enjoyed a little celebration up at the Pedrera last night.

Also birthday wishes go out to Darren's two daughters, Indie and Sharren.

Keith and Pam