Monuments to greed

Mariono Rajoy and the PP blame Spain’s problems on the previous socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero but in Valencia, it was the PP party who held power so who do we blame for the problems in our region? The regions in Spain are responsible for 40% of public spending covering health, education and other welfare services.

Although many of Spain’s autonomous regions are in difficulty, nowhere did they spend more than in Valencia which is why Madrid ordered the region to cut its deficit by two thirds or face government intervention. Now Valencia is the area with the highest number of house repossessions and the highest unemployment rate at 27%.

We all recall that Francisco Camps was ousted by his own party amid allegations of corruption. No doubt, he was not the only one who was guilty of lining his own pocket at the expense of the region. There would have been countless others who offered generous contracts in exchange for backhanders. These were the people responsible for white elephants such as the airport at Castellon and the the 26m euro hospital at Lliria which hasn’t opened in the 3 years since it was built.

The Victorians were fond of building follies in Britain but at least they never pretended these were anything else but whims. The politicians in Valencia tried to con us into thinking theirs were great works, essential to the growing society of the region. So Valencia has a deficit of 4.5% of GDP and it needs a bailout of 3.5bn euros.

Will the airport at Castellon ever open? The locals think that they landed on Mars before they got to the new airport.

Relief from the heat

For those who have found the high temperatures of this summer difficult to cope with, there is some relief on the way. It will get cloudier towards the weekend and temperatures will drop to the high twenties. There is also a slight chance of some rain but I don’t suppose it will amount to much.

When the thermometer inches up to the mid and high thirties, it starts to get uncomfortable, especially when the humidity is high. Pam and I have spent a lot more time indoors this summer with the air conditioning on than we would normally. A couple of weeks of strong sunshine might be OK when you are on holiday but not when you live here and there are jobs to be done.  

Our daughters, along with our granddaughter, fly out to visit us on Tuesday. We hope the weather is good for them but perhaps a little cooler than it was for our visitors last week. 

If you thought things were bad

The recession in Spain is worse than predicted. The economy shrank by 1.3% in the second quarter of 2012.

There may be a sight surge in spending as Spaniards try to beat the 3% hike in VAT which comes into force 1st September but overall consumer and company spending has been slashed in response to austerity measures. Government spending has dropped and exports from the country have slowed down.

The expectation is that unemployment, currently at 24.8%, will rise during the second half of this year especially when the next round of austerity measures are brought in.

Even if the country gets  support from the European Central Bank, things will not get better anytime soon.

That can’t be right

In this picture which accompanies an article about Ryanair there are two passengers shown carrying both hand luggage and a carrier bag of goods bought in the airport.

From our brief encounter with the Irish company on our flights to Barcelona and back, that would not be allowed. The ground staff are anal about the amount and size of your hand luggage to the point of making passengers put their bags into a cage conveniently situated by the departure gate. Anyone, with even a small handbag, is made to stuff it into their cabin case.

In the article, Mr O’Leary says that neither the public works ministry nor the government of Spain can impose sanctions against Ryanair. As he points out, it is the Irish civilian airline authority to whom his company are responsible. Perhaps it is to them that travellers should make their complaints in future, in Spanish of course!

Bigastrin ready to open its doors

The decision to privatise the pre-school Bigastrin caused a great stir in Bigastro. The dismissal of 11 out of the 17 council workers has cost the town 210,000 euros in compensation, a figure that will rise as others make their claims.

Now that phase is over, the good news is that a cooperative of 10 local ladies won the contract and will be opening the doors to the children on September 3rd. They have already started work though by giving the centre a new lick of paint. The ladies say that the service will be improved to include lessons in English and IT and perhaps more important, will be open on Saturdays. The only downside is the cost per month has risen from 90 to 125 euros. However, when you consider that my daughter and son in law pay £40 a day for nursery care for Molly, that is still very cheap.

The ladies, who all have at least a year’s experience of caring for young children, won the contract that will last for five years which could be renewed for further years. They were up against two other companies offering to take over the service and won clearly on points.

Although, Aurelio Mucia could not put a firm figure on it, he estimates the saving to the council to be around 250,000 euros per year.

When I was in charge of finance at Anfield School, we were able to switch contracts from the local authority to commercial firms. The first contract we switched was for cleaning. The company we chose gave us poor service by skimping on hours and materials so we eventually changed to another company who were much better. We also switched from using the council as the payroll provider to a private company. There were some initial hitches which resulted in staff being under or over paid but eventually things did sort themselves out.

What Aurelio will find is that private initiatives may seem to offer a better deal on paper but still have their eye on profitability which can adversely affect the service they provide.

Photos for you

These are my albums of photos from this year’s fiesta for those of you struggling with the sidebar:

The last night

Comparsa parade

Concert

Floral offering

Talent show

Infant parade

Tapeo

Crazy cars

Coronation

He cost the town a lot of money

There are those who used to say that José Joaquín Moya did a lot for Bigastro. Compared with neighbouring towns, Bigastro seemed to be prospering under his leadership. He certainly had ambitious plans for its development as outlined them an exhibition held in the Auditorium. These included the plans for housing in Sector D-6, a multi storey car park in the town, an aparthotel at La Pedrera and a solar farm in the same area. All have proved to be a drain on the town for various reasons.

We are all painfully aware that the town owes a small fortune to Idearco for the land they bought to create the aparthotel, the problems with Sector D-6 and the failure of the multi storey car park that remains closed but what of the solar farm?

In 2006, the socialist council lead by Moya, granted permission to Eurener to build a solar farm at La Pedrera. The company paid a deposit of 120,000 euros to the council and started clearing the land. The deal was that Eurener would have the concession for 24 years for which they would pay 10,000 euros per year.

The PP party, who were in opposition at the time, objected to the plan as did the environmental group Seprona.  The Ministry of the Environment therefore halted the work and so it was left in abeyance.

Understandably, Eurener are seeking return of the 120,000 euros plus 23,859 in interest along with a further 9,000 euros for the final deposit. The company also claim that 27,000 euros was spent from public funds to promote the project and attract investors. That is an awful lot of money that the town does not have.

Ooops

I read in the Telegraph about a well meaning 80 year old lady who has tried to restore a 120 year old fresco of Ecce Homo at the Santuario de Misericodia Church in the village of Borja, near Zaragoza, Spain.

It wasn’t valuable but was a part of the heritage and the family of the artist had made a donation to help with its upkeep.

It is doubtful that the original can now be restored – it very much depends on what kind of paint she used. Frescos were normally  painted using tempera paint onto damp plaster; professional restores would use the same kind of paint to preserve the originality.

There is controversy about whether the lady had permission to carry out the work – she says she had. If that is true, then someone made a terrible mistake. Just look at what she did! The lady managed to turn Jesus into Neanderthal man. 

It is a matter of choice

The state-financed TV channel is to broadcast a bullfight from Valladolid on September 5th with El Juli and Jose Maria Manzanares topping the bill.The previous socialist government had banned bullfights being shown on state TV effectively relegating it to the paid for Canal+ and cable TV.

The main problem for the previous government was timing because corridas are always staged in the evening, a time when children will be watching. In fact, having seen how late Spanish children are allowed to stay up at night, I reckon it would be near impossible to find a safe time slot when they were in bed.

The conservative government of Mariano Rajoy have not only allowed corridas to be shown but have also decided that tax on entrance tickets to corridas should stay at 8% and not rise to 21%. Both of these decisions will have angered animal rights activists who saw the total ban of bullfighting in Catalonia as a positive step forward.

The fact is that support for bullfighting is on the decline with many young Spaniards showing little interest. Many cash strapped councils have had to cancel  annual bullfights from their fiestas. It is really only the major fiestas that stand a chance of surviving.

As far as I know, all TV sets are supplied with an on/off switch and have a channel selection button that allows you to chose what to watch. Because RTVE are broadcasting a corrida does not mean that you have to watch it.

You know freedom of choice works both ways; you can choose to watch or not to watch – it is your decision to make. By banning the broadcast of corridas, the socialist government effectively removed that choice.

A real mess up

The USA Anti Doping Agency have taken Lance Armstrong's decision not to contest the case as an admission of guilt. They maintain that he used banned substances, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids, as well as blood transfusions dating back to 1996, and say 10 of his former team-mates were ready to testify against him.

Now the ball is in the hands of the International Cycling Union (the governing body of the sport). It is their job to decide whether to uphold the decision by USADA to strip Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles. If they do go ahead, then they will have to choose new winners from those who finished behind the American bearing in mind that some of them are also implicated in doping scandals. 

When Alberto Contador was stripped of his title, Andy Schelck was proclaimed winner of last year’s tour. That was embarrassing for both the UCI and Schleck.

What a dope

It seems that Lance Armstrong has decided not to fight the doping charges laid against him  by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That means they will strip him of the seven Tour de France titles and ban him from racing again.

Armstrong denies any involvement with doping and says that he passed every doping test taken during his career. The agency claim that they have blood samples consistent with doping and have testimonies from at least 10 of his team mates that state he took performance enhancing drugs.

Armstrong’s team mate, Floyd Landis says that, not only did Armstrong take drugs, he also taught others how to take them and not be caught.

So the legend of Armstrong has now been shattered. Let that be a lesson to others who follow him.

Closing the stable door

Prince Harry, third in line to the throne of England, is well known for his wild behaviour so it comes as no surprise to find that he was involved in a naked romp in Las Vegas with a few girls. They were apparently playing strip billiards.

What is surprising is that the prince’s minders allowed the girls to take photos of Harry on their mobile phones. You would expect them to take the phones off the girls when they arrived and only give them back as they left but no. It didn't take long for the girls concerned to publish the pictures on the Internet where millions could see them. What else did the prince and his minders think they were going to do with them?

The Royal Palace and Prince Charles’s royal aides threatened legal action against any British newspaper that published the pictures. The Sun newspaper decided to go ahead in what it calls “public interest”.

Public interest or not, anyone who wanted to see these pictures only had to Google Prince Harry to find them. Media coverage on CNN and newspapers throughout the world had already given us all full access to the pictures.

In my opinion, having the pictures published in the UK is the very least of the problems that the Palace faces.

Controversial fireworks

The former socialist mayor of Bigastro, Raúl Valerio Medina  accused the present council of being irresponsible when they allowed fireworks to be set off during the fiesta without the presence of the fire brigade.

The reason there were no fire trucks in attendance was because the town owes 80,000 euros to the Provincial Fire Consortium. However, as Aurelio Murcia points out, the debt was inherited from the previous mandate. He goes on to say that they do have a payment plan to remove the debt and point out that in fact there were no fire trucks present at the fireworks for previous fiestas when the socialists were in control.

I’ve never been down to watch the fireworks that they set off in the large cage. I did speak to someone who did go down this year. It all took place on the 16th at 4am in the morning after the disco in the park finished. Although the person I spoke to was outside the cage, he still managed to get his hair singed by sparks flying over the top.

I recall that, when we first lived here, they used to set off the fireworks on the main street in the town. The scorch marks were visible on the walls of the buildings the next day. Moving the site to waste land was a good move. At least there was no property nearby to damage. 

Setting off fireworks in this way is highly dangerous but then, like running in front of charging bulls, it is part of the Spanish macho image.

It is quiet in here

After the hectic celebrations of the fiesta with late nights and lots of photos to process we then had our friends Hugh and Angela to stay for 6 days.

Hugh and Angela are no trouble and easily fit in with the normal daily routines. Although the plan was to chill, we did pack in a visit to Almoradi and Torrevieja, three meals out and a trip to the Parque Regional de Sierra Espuña.

You can find pictures from their visit in my Flickr Project 365 via the link in the sidebar. 

Now they are gone and we are missing their company already. Just another week though and we will be picking up our daughters Jemma and Laura along with Miss Molly. Another week of fun in the sun in store for us!

Not a recommendation

I've been criticised in some quarters for my recommendations about restaurants in the area. For example, one person told Pam that the vegetables at one restaurant I'd mentioned were frozen. I cannot say whether that is true or not but what I can say is that Pam and I and others we have spoken to have enjoyed all of our meals at the establishment in question.

It would be a strange world if everyone had the same tastes and likes. There is certainly no such thing as one restaurant suits all and my criteria may well be different to others. For me if the service is good, the food is tasty, the ambience is pleasant and I feel the price offers good value then it gets a tick.

Yesterday we went to Rebate, a restaurant we have visited often with friends. It is a place that we like for the location and the food but I am sure there are others who find fault. In fact we took friends there one time and they thought the menu of the day lacked choice.

Normally we would have the menu of the day, which at 14.75 euros represents good value in my book. Certainly, for a lunch there is more than enough food for most people to eat. Yesterday we opted for the 25 euro suggested menu and came away with groaning stomachs.

On the more expensive menu, you get a selection of starters which include 7 tapas. Those are followed by a choice of main courses all of which are substantial and then a selection of three different desserts.

At the risk of getting shot in the foot here, I defy anyone to eat that menu and come away hungry. I also defy anyone to find the food anything but well prepared, tasty and beautifully presented. The choices may not be to your liking but that is another matter. 

In trouble again

It seems that everyone's favourite airline are in trouble again.Yes, we are talking about Ryanair who are being investigated for 100 complaints by customers in the last year.

The surprise is that there were only 100 complaints to be answered for.

Pam and I flew by Ryanair for the first time when we went to Barcelona. Both there and back the flights were only part full so we had no complaints about seating.

We'd also been careful to take on hand luggage that would easily fit into the bins they use to check for oversize bags. That was just as well because at both Alicante and El Prat, there were vigilant employees eyeing up anything that looked remotely oversized. The number of people who had to squeeze their bags in just to prove they were the right size was appalling and showed how obsessive the company is about cabin luggage. My airline sized roller case for my cameras would have got stuck in the bins so I didn't take it.

During the flight, nobody bought drinks from the trolly and I am not surprised when we saw the prices.

Ryanair might offer the cheapest prices but that means they also provide the worst service. 

An ola de calor

There are a few phrases in Spanish that I find easy to remember.  One of these is an ola de calor or heat wave. That is probably because we do seem to get a few of them at this time of year.

The week before the fiesta we had one which continued through into the first days of festivity. That was very hot.

Now we are apparently having another one but somehow this does not seem to be as bad. Perhaps we have become accustomed to the heat so much that we just don't notice when the thermometer rises close to 40.

For me, the heat is not the issue, it is the humidity. When it is high you just can't stop sweating. I have to remember to drink a lot more to replace that lost water otherwise I start feeling a pain in my kidneys (not good).

Peace returns

After the fiesta is over, Bigastro usually becomes a haven of peace and tranquility. Many people go on holiday and some of the bars and shops close for vacations.

Last night though, things were different. For one thing there was street entertainment in the form of La Murga on Calle Purisima. That drew a healthy crowd.

We took our visitors down, not to witness La Murga but to eat at Casa Eloina, thinking it might be very quiet and there may only be a few diners. We were so wrong, table after table came out of storage and the street was filled just as it had been on the days of the fiesta.

From the tiny kitchen came plate after plate of tapas and from the bar large jugs of foaming beer. By 10:30 there was a real party atmosphere on Calle Purisima. 

All over for another year

Last night marked the end of this year’s fiesta. The solemn parade of the statue of San Joaquin around the town, accompanied by the townsfolk carrying lighted candles, is the last act or dedication to the patron saint of the town.

If you go the sidebar under My recent albums of photos, you will find the pictures that I took last night.

Before we close the door though, I think we should thank the members of the Fiesta Commission for their hard work and dedication in putting together such a wonderful programme of events for us. In these days of austerity, it must have taken a great deal of imagination and resourcefulness to even have a fiesta at all.

Without neglecting the contribution of the other members of the commission, I would like to pay my tribute to just two; Aurelio Murcia and Eladia Robles.

On every occasion that I have been down in the town, they have been there working away to make sure that everything ran smoothly – especially Aurelio. I remember one time when I went down, he hadn’t even had time to have a shave that day! I wouldn’t be surprised to find he’d hardly had time to eat let alone sleep during this last week.

In my opinion, the whole town owes Aurelio a debt of gratitude for this year’s fiesta. Without him, it would have been a pretty poor affair.

Another set of photos

Last night was the parade of comparsas so you have yet another set of photos to look at. Before I went off to take those, I visited the 3rd age group to take their photo.  

They did surprise me a little when they jumped up after the first shot ready to leave. You never take just one shot of a group like that. The first one, the poses are all stiff and wooden. It is only after a couple of shots that the faces loosen up and you get the picture you want. In any case, there is bound to be someone with their eyes closed on at least one of the pictures.

Here is the final shot and for anyone who wants a copy – all you have to do is click on it to open the original in a new window ready for you to download.

A busy night for the band

The band accompanied the floral offering to San Joaquin and then played a concert.

Another varied programme of music with some wonderful solo pieces. I have to say though that I found the Suite 1,936 by Jose Vincente Diaz Alcaina hard going. On the other hand, the Suite Hebarica by Miguel Gonzalez was a joy to listen to and El Quijote (Fantasia Sinfonica) by Ferrer Ferran was such a stirring piece with Mateo Marco Amoros narrating the tale.

This little chappie seemed to agree with me. He was clearly appreciating the music as much as the rest of us. I’m sure he was impressed by the performance by his cousin Raquel on flute.

You can see my pictures by clicking on the albums in the left hand side bar.

When things go wrong

We all know that fireworks can be dangerous, even in the hands of experts.

Last night in Elche, three people suffered serious injuries and twenty more had to be treated when a rocket launched prematurely. It was the Nit del’Alba and thousands would have been there to see the display.

Two of the seriously injured were taken to the General Hospital in Elche where they were treated for second degree buns to over 50% of the body. The other was taken to the IMED in Torrellano and was treated for first degree burns.

The rocket was due to be launched from the bell tower of Santa Maria which was covered in canvas at the time. The rocket hit the canvas and went down to ground causing mahem.

A little about pools

One of my followers, Maz is planning to buy a house on the beautiful island of Mallorca. It will be the retirement home for Maz and her husband.

It is likely that they will be looking to have a pool and so she asks, “What about the 'salt water' pools are they any better/easier to look after?”

By that I take it she means pools with salt water chlorination rather than a sea water pool.

I have no experience of salt water chlorination which I believe is very popular in Australia. My understanding though is that the system is not without faults and the people who maintain pools tell me it can be a pain in the butt. For one thing, the system does not produce enough chlorine for the summer so you have to add chlorine anyway.

Let me reassure you Maz, routine maintenance of a pool is pretty straightforward; you top up the water, test it for ph and chlorine and add chemicals as required. Keeping the pool clean means netting off any debris that is floating on the surface and vacuuming the bottom to remove dirt that has settled.

Occasionally things can go wrong and that’s when you might need the help of an expert either to give the tiles an acid wash, to change the sand in the filter or to replace parts in the pump house that have failed. 

Possibly the most serious problems occur where the builder has used flexible hose to connect the pool to the pump housing. Flexible hose might be easier to install but it will not stand up to the effects of chlorine. They really should use rigid pipe which is actually cheaper but they don’t because it is more difficult to install.

A number of people on our estate, including ourselves have had the pipe connecting the skimmer to the pump replaced with rigid pipe because that is the one which carries the highest concentration of chlorine. Of course, those who have sprinkled granulated chlorine into the water rather than use chlorine tablets in the skimmer box will probably still be OK. 

My neighbours

The lady on the left lives two houses down the road and the one on the right has recently moved in next door up the road.	My neighbour from across the road.

With Aurelio just down the road on the right and the two footballers next door, Pam and I are now the only Brits on Calle Irlanda.

I thought that went well

The move to the park for the International Gastronomy Day was inspirational. There was a lot more space for the tables to eat at. Most important though, separating the paella, the Spanish tables, the British tables and the bar removed the bun fight element from the day.

People either queued for paella or the other offerings from the Spanish contingent, then they went for the British cakes and biscuits to round off their meal.

Call me prude

There were some amazing acts at the talent show last night, singers, dancers and comedians. One nine year old boy thought he was in with a chance of winning the 1,000 euro top prize when the first judges gave him high marks. Thankfully, the other judges marked him lower.

I’ll admit the young man had a good stage presence and a damn good memory to roll off his prepared repertoire of jokes. For me though, he let himself down by telling jokes that would have made Roy Chubby Brown blush. Don’t get me wrong, in the right sort of environment, delivered by someone older, the jokes would have gone down well. But this was Bigastro and he was just a boy.

The worthy winner was a young lady with a powerful voice and the runners up were a band that opened the show. In fact, all of the contestants deserved prizes because they had put a lot of hard work into their performances. The real winners though were the audience who were given a real treat. I hope they do this again next year.

You can of course see my photos from the night along with those of the infant parade and the tapeo by clicking on the albums in the left hand sidebar. 

Amigos

Two of the smaller comparsas (Los del Saco and Los que no perdonan) have now joined together for the fiesta and here are some of the young men outside their bararraca.

We meet at last

This bigastrense followed my blog for the four years that he lived in Mexico. Now he is back in Bigastro and today we met up at the tapeo. No doubt we will bump into each other again during the course of the fiesta and maybe share a beer.

Muchisimo gracias

After we’d enjoyed some tapas, Pam and I strolled through the park where we were stopped by members of the comparsa “Los Galanes de la noche”. They were enjoying a lunch together and wanted a quick photo or two.
As a reward they gave us plates of pelotas and drinks. That was very kind of them and we appreciated the gesture.

Thanks for that

Spaniards love to pose for the camera. Nobody poses better than this young man though. As you might imagine, he is very popular in the town and takes part in mostly everything that is going on. As Pam's gran would have said, "he seems like a nice boy".

More loco each year

The designers of the crazy cars that speed down one of the hills of Bigastro as part of the annual fiesta become more inventive each year in order to secure a prize. Some are built for speed, others for pure enjoyment. As far as I know, nobody crashed this year although one car did lose a wheel that came loose on the way down (I hope I got it right that time Charles!)

See my album of photos from this remarkable event here.

Third age

Last night, Dave and Barbara Mann handed over the reins to the new third age queen, Laura, at the coronation ceremony.

To be fair Dave did look hot and bothered and I’m not surprised; even at 11pm the temperature must have been in the mid twenties.

You can see the rest of my photos from the whole ceremony here.

PS As my reader, Charles Smythe can see, they let me loose to lose myself in the moment last night. I am at a loss to explain how I managed to get those two words mixed up yet again in my post about the sand change:-) I must remember in future lose has lost an o.

PPS And we wonder why Spaniards have difficulty with English:-)

Owning a pool is a commitment

Apart from the routine of cleaning, checking water quality and adding chemicals there are long term jobs that need to be done to maintain that desirable water sparkle in your pool.

The grouting in our pool has become stained, especially in the curves between the walls and the floor. Along with that, the grouting has also come loose in places - possibly because I allowed the ph to drop to 6.8 for a period a year or so ago. The answer is to drain the pool, acid wash the grouting and have it re-grouted. That is a job for late autumn – not now!

What we have had done though is a sand change in the filter.

Each time you backwash the filter, you lose sand. After time, you have to top the filter up with more but eventually it all has to be replaced. That is because the sand wears against itself and becomes rounded instead of sharp. At that stage it will not trap dirt passing through the filter. As you clean the bottom of the pool you can see the dirt coming back in through the jets. Instead of giving you a nice clean pool, your cleaning sessions simply turn the water grey.

Changing the sand is a bit of a job because you need to clean out all of it and the only way is to scoop it out from the top. Then you need to take the filter out of the pump housing and give it a thorough clean with a hose pipe. Finally you re-install it and fill it up with new sand – course stuff at the bottom and finer sand at the top. In our case 100kgs of the stuff.

In order to try and avoid this job in years to come, we’ve had our filter filled with glass instead of sand – coarse grade at the bottom and finer stuff at the top. They say that glass should last for the life of the pool because it won’t break down like sand. The truth is that it is too soon for anyone to say for sure but the theory sounds convincing. The filter will need a top up in a few years because the fine glass will be removed by backwashing.

Opening a gateway

You can’t fly to many international destinations from Alicante. At present the solution is a stop over in e.g. Madrid. You can fly to London Gatwick but not Heathrow.

That will all change this winter when British Airways starts flights to London’s premier airport which offers routes to 180 destinations in 90 different countries. Fares will start at 81 euros one way.

A bit of a cock up

We are used to reading about illegal housing in Spain – homes that were erected by builders before official permission was granted. In many cases, the homes have been legalised at a later date but sadly there are a number which have been demolished because they were built too close to the coast or were built on protected land.

Getting it wrong with an individual house is bad enough  but I read  this morning that the 21 storey twin towers built by Edicicaciones Calpe SL in the Punta Llisera zone of Benidorm have been declared illegal by the Supreme Court in Madrid.

Permission was granted by the Dirección General de Puertos y Costas in 2005, the controversial apartment blocks were built and some of the 168 apartments are lived in.

Quite what happens now is anybody’s guess. There will no doubt be appeal after appeal but eventually they could be scheduled for demolition.  

Olympic fever hits Whitehall

Britain is doing well at the Olympics, lying third behind China and the USA so sports fever is the current vogue.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron has jumped on the bandwagon by saying he wants more sport in schools. More to the point, he wants competitive sports not the mamby pamby everyone is a winner and must get a prize stuff that was thrust on schools in the past.

Now there is a turn up for the books. I remember that schools were told that competition was a bad thing and that all children should be allowed to succeed. Sports days where children competed against each other were banned as being divisive. It seems that they may now make a return.

The Government has sold off paying fields to fund more important projects. The present government scrapped the successful School Sport Partnerships two years ago in a cost cutting exercise.  Now Cameron wants teachers to give up their free time to teach sports. Never mind technology and all that rubbish, lets have more soccer, rugby, tennis etc.  Next thing, there will be a whole scale revision of the curriculum and a drive to recruit more sports teachers.

Of course, when the Olympics are over and things settle down again, there will be a change of heart. There will be another bandwagon to jump onto and teachers will have to go through hoops to embrace the new fad that the government come up with. In the meantime, teachers in barmy Britain need to get their trainers out  and start practising for the new term in September.

My advice

One of my Spanish readers, Alejandro, tells me that his wife has bought a Nikon D3100 digital single reflex camera. That is a great choice. It is a camera that offers a lot of quality for the price and a very good auto focus system.

Now, of course they want a program that will enable them to edit the photos. The Nikon comes with ViewNX 2 software which will enable them to perform basic edits but for something more sophisticated they may need to look elsewhere.

Alejandro mentions Adobe Photoshop CS4 (the current version is CS6) and point out that it is expensive. Not only that but it is over the top for what most people need.

I’ve told him that I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 (the current version is 10) which is much more affordable and will do most of what its more expensive sibling can do. It is also a lot easier to understand and work with.

There are other packages that I know work well like Coral Paint Shop Pro. Not being familiar with these, I can’t comment on how useful or how easy they are to use compared to Elements.

One thing I would advise, is that Alejandro’s wife learns how to use the camera in its more advanced modes rather than just stick with program (point and shoot). That way she will get the most out of the camera and start to create pictures rather than snapshots.

Time for the Mary Baker mix?

GASTRONOMY DAY - MONDAY 13TH AUGUST 2012
We have been invited to join in the Gastronomy Day.  This year it is being held in the Main Park, not the previous area near the Social Centre.  It is due to commence about 2.00 p.m.

Aurelio has promised to do better than last year - proper tables, shade, enough plates and refreshments!

In view of the heat we have decided to confine our contributions to cakes and biscuits - sweet or savoury.  All contributions would be gratefully received but please no cream or butter icing etc - i.e. nothing that will melt. 

We plan to be in the Park at about 1.15/1.30 pm to set up.  For ease of presentation if you are providing cakes, can you please cut them up into "wedding cake slices" and wrap them in cling film to stop them drying out. Thanks. (If you don't want to do this we will do it for you).  If you are unable to take them directly to the park then please feel free to give them to either me or Barbara Mann and we will willingly take them down to the park.

This invitation is not confined to Villas Andrea residents.  As I don't have many email addresses myself, please forward this to anyone British to invite them to join in.

Help with the tables is also welcomed.  Thank you all in advance for your help.
Diane

Again we have to thank Diane for organising this on our behalf.

What a golden day for Britain

Normally there is not a lot of incentive to watch the Olympics if you are a Brit. OK, the UK team usually get medals in sports like cycling, shooting and ocean racing but that is about it.

This time round though it has been different, Britain is lying third in the medals table thanks to a slew of gold medals yesterday:

Rowing men's four: Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James, Andrew Triggs Hodge

Rowing women's double sculls: Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking

Cycling women's team pursuit: Dani King, Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell

Athletics, women's heptathlon: Jessica Ennis

Athletics, men's long jump: Greg Rutherford

Athletics, men's 10,000m: Mo Farah

A little crowded

This picture from one of the local papers shows the central beach in Torrevieja.

Apparently people are going down as early as 7am, before the beach has been cleaned, to stake their claim to a space with a sun brolly.

Those that arrive later have to squeeze their way in to find space to sit.  And as you can see, once they are there, it is impossible to go for a walk along the shoreline without going into the sea.

I should think It would also be impossible to catch the suns rays amongst that sea of brollies. In fact, I’m not sure how you would find your brolly again if you ventured too far away from it. Just imagine if you had young children with you!

Actually, before you even get to the point of setting up camp, there is the issue of finding somewhere to park the car. Most of the people on this beach will have walked there from the apartments nearby but for those of us who live out of town, the logistics of getting to the beach are a nightmare.

I can say with absolute certainty that you will not find Pam and I joining the torreviense on la playa del Cura this August.

Promises, hopes and bluffs

Politics is all about posturing, bluffing and counter bluffing. One day, leaders will say one thing and then the next, the exact opposite. They make promises, raise hopes and then break them leaving every one confused and disheartened.

Not too long ago, Mariano Rajoy insisted that Spain would not be seeking a sovereign bailout. Now things are very different. Borrowing costs for the country have reached new heights and several of the regions are seeking assistance from central government to meet their debts.

At a news conference following a cabinet meeting, Mr Rajoy said that he was ready to do what was best for Spain meaning that he would be prepared to ask the euro region’s bailout funds to buy Spanish debt if the conditions were right.

Everything really depends on how long the European leaders, the ECB and European rescue fund are prepared to wait before making real decisions; putting pen to paper instead of just offering announcements of intent and proposals.

Of course, all parties want the best out of any deal that is brokered but you can’t help but feel that someone soon will have to give in and stump up the cash otherwise Spain will face an even more serious situation than it does now. We thought in 2008 that things could not get worse, they did and could get even more worse in the years to come. There may be light at the end of the tunnel but at the moment it is so dim we cannot see it.

Spare a thought for Spain

Britain are now lying fifth in the medal tables at the Olympics with five gold, six silver and four bronze and there is hope for more medals to come. Poor Spain though only have two medals so far, one silver and one bronze tying with Belarus, Denmark, Indonesia, Mongolia and Norway. It seems that nothing is going Spain’s way at the moment even their football team failed to score goals in the group sessions.

Banks need money not land

The 1,090,000 euro loan that Raúl Valerio Medina had negotiated with Caja Rural Central was apparently to refinance debts that the town had with the bank from 2006. The aim was to reduce payments the town had to make. Land, which now forms part of the sports centre, was used as security for the loan. 

The new government team failed to make payments to Caja Rural Central for the last six months which has triggered off a claim to the courts for 1,480,000 (the original sum plus interest). Instead of claiming the land, the bank are asking the judge to withhold state transfers to the town until the whole debt is paid off.

In order to stave off this action, the mayor, Charo Bañuls  has offered land and parking spaces in the town. Although, this offer will not cover the whole of the debt, she hopes that it will placate the bank. The mayor has already ruled out the idea of renegotiating the loan to extend it and reduce payments because of the excessive interest they would have to pay.

The caja banks in Spain are in a very sorry state. Only they know just how bad their situation is but for sure they hold a lot of toxic debt in the form of land and housing that they cannot sell. I imagine the last thing that Caja Rural Central want is land in Bigastro- what would they do with it other than grow artichokes and melons?

Like a sauna

Pam and I  noticed the difference in temperature as we came out from Alicante airport; it was a lot more comfortable in Barcelona.

Along with the higher temperatures, the humidity has been high which makes you feel uncomfortable. Temperatures reached 40 degrees in Orihuela the other day -it was cooler in Torrevieja at 35 degrees. The humidity by evening though has reached 90% – like sitting in a sauna.  

This phononema is normal for early August and will not last. Although temperatures will settle into the low to mid 30s,  the humidity will remain high. It should feel a lot more comfortable.   

I make no excuses

It seems that my spelling has yet again gone awry. One of my readers has found several spelling errors in my articles and has kindly pointed them out to me. Thank you Charles Smythe. 

Windows Live Writer does check spelling but cannot detect where you have used “there” for “their” and “loose” for “lose”. I do have a proof reader but she gets up an hour or so after I have posted my items!

As an ex-teacher I should not be making these mistakes but then I’m human and in my defence my background is in art not literature. In fact my wife is surprised that I even  write a blog. Actually, I’m just as surprised.

Anyway, I do apologise to my readers. I have now corrected the mistakes that Charles pointed out.

The socialists appeal

Yesterday, the socialist group presented a letter asking the mayor, Rosario Bañuls to stop "the insults and provocations" made by the spokesman and deputy mayor, Aurelio Murcia, in plenary sessions.

During the meeting on Monday, the socialists asked the mayor to  stop the insults and provocation by Murcia and she refused. They therefore left the meeting and missed the important debate about opening disciplinary proceedings against their group for renewing a bank loan in 2010. They say that, if they had stayed at the meeting, they would have been able to explain the circumstances of the loan which Murcia claims was irregular.

Where did the money go?

In the heyday, towns and regions in Spain spent like a man with fire in his pockets. Their excuse was that they needed to compete for the growing international tourist market.

Nowhere did they spend more than in Valencia. Thanks in part to Francisco Camps, the region built an airport at Castellon which cost 150 million euros which has not had one flight take off or land on the new runway. Then there was the 2.4 billion euro new harbour built for the Americas Cup in 2007 which is now largely empty. The region pays 20.5 million euros to Bernie Ecclestone  each year to stage the F1 race and they built a lavish opera house which  Santiago Calatrava constructed at a cost of 1.1 billion euros.

On top of this, there were theme parks, museums, art galleries and lavish new universities all built at a time when money was easily come by. Cities were connected by new high speed railway lines and new  motorways. It seems that nobody foresaw that this could not possible last, they must have imagined that the property bubble would go on forever.

It wasn’t just the region that spent money like it was going out of fashion; towns like Torrevieja planned and built new facilities for the tourists they thought would flock there. In Bigastro they sanctioned the building of an aparthotel which turned out to be a complex of houses and built a new sports facility along with an auditorium and multi-story car park. The politicians attended tourist fairs in the hope of attracting these visitors. I can only think that the ruling party at the time imagined that half of Europe would want to come and either live in or at least visit the town.  Of course, local people were proud of the party that delivered all this that is until they saw the bills. 

As you might expect, there was widespread corruption at the time and more recently banking scandals have been exposed but in those days nobody cared because everyone was making money. Young people left school to work in construction and bought themselves expensive German cars; carpenters, electricians etc bought lavish new houses with mortgages they can no longer afford. The banks, that were only too pleased to lend the money, are now looking for assistance from the EU. Houses might be cheap but you’d be hard pressed to get a loan to buy one.

So, Spaniards are now licking their wounds and are blaming the Germans for imposing strict austerity. They also blame their own government for accepting the imposition. We face an autumn of discontent as workers strike and revolt against the sanctions.

However, the fault lies, not with the present government but with the people in power both centrally and regionally in the boom years. They were the ones who indulged in reckless spending. They, along with the people themselves, failed to comprehend the misery that their actions would bring in future years. In truth, Spain must largely take the blame for the mess that it is now in. 

We could lose some of the sports facility in the town

The Caja Rural bank are looking to seize assets worth 1,480,000 euros from Bigastro town council. This is because the town took out a mortgage for 1,090,00 euros in 2010 and has defaulted on payments since 2011.
The mortgage was taken out by the former mayor, Raúl Valerio Medina for land at the sports centre so it is possible that the town will lose some of that land.

It is me!

I have received a couple of comments about the new profile picture. Both say I look a lot younger than in the previous photo.

That is interesting because the previous picture was taken a few years ago and the present one was taken at the wedding of my youngest daughter in June this year.

If I am looking younger on each photo, then either the life here in Bigastro is suiting me well or I have discovered a miracle way of turning back the clock. If it is the latter, then I must get it patented - I'll make a fortune!

Congratulations

Bigastro band took second prize in the competition for film music held on the 21st July held in Cullera.

The event started with a parade of the four bands taking part. Bigastro played the pasadoble Manolete.

Then in the Jardines del Mercado, they played the set piece, "Gloria Ramirez" by Rafael Talens Pell followed by the Banda Sonora from the film Exodus: Hebrew Suite / The Fiddler / Schindler's List.

By all accounts, the band were at their very best and gained well deserved congratulations from all concerned. Having listened to the pieces they played I would whole heartedly agree.

We’re back!

In case you were wondering where we have been for the past six days, it was a trip to Barcelona. Pam figures that we might be too old to venture out on city trips in five or more years time so we should do them now. Barcelona was first choice.


How did we get there? We flew from Alicante – just one hour on the plane versus most of the day on a train or coach.


Where did we stay? The four star, hotel Roger de Lluria close to the centre.


What did we do? Mostly we walked and walked! The second day we walked too far and were exhausted by the time we returned to the hotel.


What did we see?

• We saw the bullring from the outside then the Sagrada Familia on the first day.
• The second day we visited the Placa Catalunya, La Rambla,  el Merced San Josep, the Palau Guell, the Placa Reail. the Placa Colum and the Rambla del Mar.
• The third day we went to the Catedral, the Gothic Quarter and the Museo de Picasso.
• Day four we took in the Passeig de Gracia, the Casa Batllo and La Pedrera apartments.
• Day five was reserved for the Parc Guell. Sensibly we took a taxi there and back – the last part of the route is uphill and it is a long way out.

Of course I took plenty of photos which are in three albums which you will find in the sidebar under My recent albums of photos.

Any ideas?

The strike by Valencian chemists that was on, then off seems to be now very much underway. Yesterday, I went down to collect my prescription only to find that all of the chemists’ shops in Bigastro were closed.

Outside one was an emergency list of chemists’ that would be open and the hours at which they will dispense urgent prescriptions but the list was out of date.

I’m down to the last of my blood pressure tablets and could really do with getting my next supply but I have no idea where there will be a chemist that is open.

I fully understand the predicament of the chemists who are owed money from January, a figure said to be about 484 million euros. They simply cannot continue to dispense without payment and neither can the suppliers but then neither can those who need medication continue without it.

Many thanks to Mrs P. who told me that the chemist in San Miguel was always open. As it happens, the lady in the tobacconist in Bigastro told us that the one in Jacarilla was also open. We had to go there this morning anyway so I was able to pick up my tablets at the same time. 

Street market to get facelift

The popular craft fair that is erected daily on the seafront at Torrevieja is to undergo a facelift.

For forty years, the traders have had to set up their stalls each day and take them down at night.

For the future, they will have open fronted wooden sheds which will be left permanently in place. Apart from the convenience, the buildings will provide shade and protection from the rain.

The council also intend to repair the pavement along that stretch of promenade which, at the moment,  is in a sorry state. In the meantime, the market will be relocated to allow the work to be completed.

One of the other benefits of this change will be to eliminate the illegal traders who set up stalls along the current market without paying fees to the council.

Time to get building

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to get building your “crazy car” to take part in the competition this year.

There are a few rules to observe:

• Your creation must not have a motor of any sort. 
• It must hold no more than 6 people.
• It should have steering and brakes (pretty obvious really).
• It must be capable of surviving the course which is 500m downhill.

Most important, the prizes:

100 euros and a trophy for the fastest down the hill.

200 euros and a trophy for the most original with a second prize of 100 euros and trophy in this category. In this class your design does not even have to reach the finish line so you can be as outrageous as possible. Probably a good idea to make it safe though!

PS I’ll be there with my camera so a nice smile as you go past would be good.

From Kilburn to Paris

Brought up in Kilburn by his mother and grandparents, Bradley Wiggins dreamed of taking part in the Tour de France. His mother took him to Paris when he was 13 to watch the final stage on the Champs-Elysées. Little did he know that 19 years later he would be the one on the top step of the podium as the first British rider to win the 99 year old race.

Of course, the French would have wanted one of their own in his place, it is after all 27 years since a French cyclist won le Tour. However, they have warmed to Wiggins who they christened “Wiggo le Froggy” - adopting him as if he was one of their own.

A fan of mod culture, Wiggins sports the RAF roundel on his helmet just as Keith Moon did on his T-shirt. He also has an impressive collection of Fender and Gibson guitars and of course, Lambretta and Vespa scooters.

No matter what the French think though, this was a British achievement. Wiggins has now made history as both the first Brit to win the Tour and the first to win the tour as World champion. Now all he has to do is win a few more gold medals at the Olympics to go with the ones he already has.

Oh and before we forget, Wigins lead his teammate Mark Cavendish out to win his fourth stage win on the Champs-Elysées – that was equally impressive.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year – I certainly hope so.

Thinking of 2013

This year’s Moors and Christian fiesta is over and now we look forward to next year. The ambassadors have already been appointed – for the Moors it will be Eusebio Martínez from the comparsa Moros J'Alhamed  and for the Christians, Jacobo Murcia from the comparsa Caballeros de Santiago.

Even though their parades are almost a year off, the two are already laying down plans for their participation in the 1,300th anniversary of the signing of the pact of King Teodomiro.  

What a spectacle!

You knew that the Black Egyptians would put on something spectacular in support of their embassador, Fernando Lacárcel and they did.

Apart from row after row of members of the comparsa in the most fantastic costumes, we had dancers dressed as cobras and even a couple of live crocodiles parading the streets.

The only thing I would say about the Moors parade is that it is perhaps half an hour too long. By the time it finishes, you are dizzy looking at the costumes. I always feel sorry for the last group who have to wait so long to parade along streets where many have already gone home.

And yes, there is an album of photos for you to see in the sidebar under My recent albums of photos.

Best of luck

1. Bigastro band are playing in a competition tonight with the theme - “music from the films”. I know they have practised hard for this and so they deserve to come back with a prize – I hope they do.

2. We know now that Bradley Wiggins will ride into Paris tomorrow as the worthy winner of the Tour de France and Chris Froome will take second place. All they have to do is stay on their bikes! The question is, “will Mark Cavendish win the stage?” We will know the answer to that soon enough. I hope he does because the Manxman has sacrificed his stage wins this year for his leader so far and tomorrow will be his big day. 

It could be a big day for the Bigastro band and tomorrow could be a huge day for British cycling!

Their end is in sight

There are many things that we were not told when we set out to live in Spain, one was the variety of insects we would encounter. Of course, those who holidayed in Spain before moving here would have been aware of most of the bugs we find here but then it is different being on holiday with pests and living with them.

The cockroach – a few facts:

Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. They are capable of surviving for long periods on meagre resources and can even tolerate high doses of radiation. They are also extremely adaptable to new environments and will eat almost anything. Some species can produce over 20,000 young in their lifetime.

Considering their bad reputation, it may come as a surprise that only a handful of the 4,000 species of cockroach are considered common household pests. These ancient, primitive insects are most common where the climate is warm and humid. Famous for their hissing, cockroaches can reach an impressive nine centimetres in length, although most species are much smaller.

The most common one we find here is the Oriental Cockroach

Oriental Cockroaches probably get their names from trade ships but they are actually from Africa. They are large and very dark compared to other cockroaches. They usually travel through sewer pipes and drains. They prefer dirty places and cooler temperatures than other cockroaches. An Oriental cockroach creates a strong smell and is considered one of the dirtiest of all the cockroaches.

DIET

Oriental cockroaches feed on all types of garbage and other organic material.

HABITAT

Oriental cockroaches also live in sewers and wet, decaying areas, such as basements and crawlspaces, firewood and piles of leaves.

IMPACT

Cockroaches crawl through dirty areas and then walk around our homes tracking in lots of bacteria and germs. They can contaminate food by shedding their skins. Their cast off skin and waste by-products are allergens that can trigger allergic reactions, asthma and other illnesses, especially in children.

PREVENTION

• Keep your home clean and dry.
• Vacuum often and seal cracks in and around your house.
• If you see cockroaches, it is best to call a pest management professional due to the illnesses they can spread.

Now the good news: Next week the pest control people will be up at Villas Andrea to put poison down the drains.

My thanks to our neighbour Gordon for providing this information.

Very colourful

Anybody who tells you that the Moors and Christian parades in Orihuela are the same each year have got it all wrong. Sure, there is row upon row of people in costume as the various filas from each comparsa parades in turn but the overall spectacle changes each year.

The Christian Ambassador  this year came from the Pirates Buccaneers and so it was down to them to lead the parade last night and act out a story of how they rescued the city from the Moors and at the same time the Armengola. As pirates would, they demanded a booty in return, the treasure of old Teodomiro.

There were smoking cannons, a pirate ship, a watchtower and a treasure chest in the parade. The ballet that followed was a group dressed as parrots. Fantastic and well worth going to see! Oh and yes, there were huge pirate marionettes and  a live tiger in a cage just to spice things up.

Click on the link in the sidebar under "My recent albums of photos" to see my pictures.

The good, the bad and the possibly ugly

The good

The bailout for Spain’s banks was approved by the German parliament. They even agreed that the surplus from the 100bn euro package could be used to buy bonds.

The bad

Spain had to pay 6.459% to sell its five year bonds and over 7% for its 10 year bonds. France only had to offer less than 1% for similar bonds.

The ugly

Protesters took to the streets of 80 Spanish cities on Thursday night in protest against the governments' 65bn euro austerity package. More than 100,000 people were estimated to have joined in demonstrations called by trades unions, with about 50,000 gathering in Madrid. Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters in Madrid.

Angry civil servants had blocked traffic in several main Madrid avenues earlier in the day, with protesters puncturing the tyres of dozens of riot police vans, amid growing upset at austerity, recession and 24% unemployment.

People living in glass houses

The Ayuntamiento in Bigastro are intent on claiming the council tax that should have been paid on 200 properties in the town. Some of the owners have not paid local taxes for ten years in an arrangement that the PP says was instigated by the previous socialist government in return for votes.

Of course mayors are not exempt from council tax and so it has been brought to light that Charo Bañuls has not paid IBI on the house she lives in. Yesterday she took the time to explain why.

The family business decided to convert one of its warehouses into  6 houses, three of which were completed by July 2010. They applied for a cadastral evaluation a month after completion and the City Council granted the license for occupation in October. Bañuls  says that she has been living in the house since late 2009.

As all of the residents at Villas Andrea know, the process of applying rates to new properties takes time. First there is the evaluation by Cadastre in Alicante, then the process undertaken by SUMA who are the agency employed to collect local taxes. Bañuls says that has now been completed and has the bills for 2011 and 2012 but points out that they are for 1,000 euros per year and not the 9,000 euros reported in the local press. That equates to just over 300 euros per house.

The only real issue for the mayor and her family is that the planning permission for the three incomplete houses will expire.

A through job

The old adage that “you get what you pay for” applies to car servicing. When I lived in the UK, I always had my cars serviced by the franchised dealer. It might not have been cheap but at least I knew that the work was done to the manufacturer's specifications. 

Now I live in Spain and drive Skodas, I apply the same principle. From new, both the Skodas I have owned have been serviced by Rubio Movil  on Av. Gregorio Marañon, Torevieja.

The service receptionist there, Mercedes is extremely efficient. In all, I must have been to the garage no more than 6 or seven times but she recognises me and knows the car I am bringing in.

When I called to collect my car at lunchtime today, she took the trouble to outline to me all the work that had been done and also go through the mechanics report on every aspect of the vehicle down to the grease on the door hinges. I call that thorough; it gives me peace of mind to know that all is well with my car.

I have got a problem with synchromesh on second gear, which the mechanic confirmed (sorry, they are called technicians these days!). Mercedes said that, in light of the low mileage on the car and its age, they were going to ask if Skoda would pay a percentage of the cost of repair. Now that would be nice, thank you Mercedes.

So, bottom line, if you have a Skoda, Audi, Seat or VW and live in the area– then give Rubio Movil a try. I m sure you will not be disappointed with the level of service they provide. 

Opening night

Last night, Darren and Hazel opened their very own bar in Bigastro and most of the residents from Villas Andrea were there to support them.

The bar is what used to be the Terrace Bar, opposite the Medical Centre, handy for when you have been to the doctor’s.
Darren told me that he and Hazel were very excited about this new venture and wanted people to know that this would be a bar to suit all ages and all nationalities – a truly cosmopolitan place offering drinks and snacks, day and night.

We all wish both Darren and Hazel great success with this new venture. If anyone deserves to succeed it is this couple because they work so damned hard to meet their customers needs. They are also such good people to know - the epitome of the genial hosts!

Give them a chance by popping in for a drink and a chat whenever you are down that way, even if it is only for a cup of coffee.

A word of advice

If you go down to the beach this summer, respect the lifeguards and the advice they give you. When there is a red flag flying – that means DO NOT GO INTO THE SEA.

It seems that people on La Mata beach are ignoring the flags and still going for a paddle. The Red Cross have had to rescue dozens of swimmers in the last few days. The sea surf may look OK but it is the undercurrents created by the easterly winds that are causing difficulty for bathers.

Worst of all, the members of the Red Cross have faced insults and even been attacked – crazy!

Tour a-tacked

When you have just finished climbing a mountain with gradients as high as 20% and you are looking forward to a nice downhill run to the finish, the last thing you need is a puncture. Not that I have ever tackled a hill anywhere near as tough as the Mur de Péguère you understand but I have experienced punctures and on every occasion, a fair way from home. When, I was cycling seriously and riding longer distances, I carried both a repair kit and a spare inner tube, tools for removing the tyre and of course a pump. 

In the early days of the Tour de France, riders had to replace the tyre themselves just as I had to replace the inner tube on my bike. These days, they call up the service car and get a spare wheel or, in the case of a race leader, swap bikes with another member of the team.

In my case, most of the punctures were caused by local councils pruning the thorn hedging at the side of the road. Yesterday though, the punctures were a deliberate act of sabotage by a spectator who threw tacks on the road just before the peleton arrived. 

Thankfully, Bradley Wiggins, who also suffered a mechanical problem, slowed the peleton down to allow Evans to catch up. It is an unwritten rule amongst riders that they do not capitalise on misfortune, something that Alberto Contador forgot when Andy Schleck lost a chain last year.

As it happened, the race director neutralised the stage once it was clear there was a problem affecting many riders but he did praise Wiggins and the Sky team for taking the initiative and so has the French press.

The problem is that, unlike most other sports, the spectators get close to the action in cycling. The road up the mountain yesterday was very narrow and with spectators either side, there was barely room for two riders to pass through.

There have been a number of incidents involving spectators all ready this year; some think it is good to run alongside the riders, others wave banners in front of them, they throw water over the riders or push them. Already we have seen spectators with flares, one burnt Wiggins arm and jersey. When they throw tacks in the road though, that is dangerous especially when the riders are about to descend. It used to happen a lot years ago, let’s hope it stops right now.

Print exhibition

From the 16th to the 28th July, you can see an exhibition of prints by Elena Toreli at the Municipal Auditorium Francisco Grau, Bigastro.

Tom Simpson RIP

Tom Simpson was the leader of the GB cycling team, he was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1965 and was admired by all for his bulldog sprit.

He’d won the world championships two years before and finished sixth in the Tour of 1962.  The last two Tours though he had failed to finish due to illness.

Preparation in 1967 was good, he’d won the Paris-Nice but then had to be dragged off his bike during the Vuelta. He’d already won two stages in Spain but on the on the ascent of Port d'Envalira in the Pyrenees he started wandering across the road.

Then came the Tour de France

Mont Ventoux is brutal and Simpson had suffered from terrible gastric problems days before such that the mechanic had to hose down his bike. That day he was rationed to four bottles of water and so was already dehydrated on a scorcher where temperatures reached 54. Reports say that he went into a cafe with other riders and drank coke with brandy to try and ease his stomach problems.

The final pictures of Simpson, taken from a press motorbike, show how depleted he actually was. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes were sunken and desperate, his skin was pale  and parched with dehydration. Finally he fell off his bike and got back on only to fall again. The Tour  doctor tried to resuscitate him but it was hopeless. He was airlifted to Avignon where he died at 5:40pm.

The post mortem found amphetamines and alcohol in his blood and there were amphetamines in both  his jersey pocket and in the team car.  Amphetamines aren't of course performance enhancing, they mask reality with short buzzes of euphoria.

The 21km climb with gradients from 8 to 14 percent was just too much for Simpson in his weakened state especially when he came out from the forest area to the arid landscape at the top of Mont Ventoux, Sadly, he paid the ultimate price.

Viva Gran Bretaña

In 2000, David Millar won the prologue in the Tour de France and wore the yellow jersey for three days. In 2002 he was first on stage 13 of Le Tour. In 2003 he won a further stage in the Tour and then went on to win the world time trial title. Then things went horribly wrong for him because he was banned from racing for two years following his admission about doping and the time trial title was taken from him. He came back though and won the Commonwealth time trial gold in 2010 and in 2011 became the first British rider to wear the leaders jersey in theTour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

Now he has added another stage victory to his CV as he won the on yesterday’s stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay Davezieux by beating Jean-Christopher Peraud in the sprint. It was a particularly appropriate win because it marked the anniversary of the death of the British riderTom Simpson 40 years before on Mont Ventoux.

Now, all four of Britain’s hopes for the Olympics, Mark Cavendish, Christopher Froome, Bradley Wiggins and David Millar have won stages in this year’s Tour.

English immersion success in Orihuela

It seems that Orihuela has been successful in organising English sessions for Spanish children during their summer holiday.  In collaboration with the local residents at Entrenaranjos, 106 children have engaged in activities which mean that they have had to practice their spoken English.

It hasn’t all been all work and no play though because the learning sessions have been complemented by the children practising golf and bowling at Vistabella Golf Club and this last week they put on a show for their parents and friends.

The scheme that Aurelio tried to organise for Bigastro faltered when only four children signed up to take part in sessions with British residents from Villas Andrea. In light of the success of the scheme in Orihuela, we need to take lessons in how best to organise our scheme for next year.