The risk of flooding

Autumn is the season when we normally expect rain. A warm sea during June signals the possibility of a “gota fria” or cold drop which means torrential rain. The drainage system alongside the roads cannot cope with these deluges and so we have flooding.

I am told that there never used to be flooding in Bigastro until the by-pass was built. It was understood the road would prevent water from draining across to the huerta and so a water channel was built under it but that is not sufficient to take the full flow of a downpour. Similarly, the water channel that follows Calle LeVegan drains water from La Pedrera until it reaches the entrance to our estate where it then floods onto the road.

Apart from Bigastro, it seems that 160,000 people living in the Alicante province are at risk of suffering from flooding during torrential rain.

The Vega Baja, the final leg of the Vinalopó (Elche), the beach of San Juan in Alicante and the ravines that lead to El Campello, Orihuela coast, Denia, Calpe and Ondara are the most affected areas. In the Vega Baja this includes the towns of; Orihuela, Almoradí, Callosa de Segura, Catral, Dolores, Rafal, Benejúzar, Formentera del Segura, Daya Nueva and Daya Vieja.

Recommendations have been made to classify high risk areas as land that should not be developed, However, town hall planning has not helped the situation by allowing building to take place in these areas at risk.

Things will change

This information, which comes from the Daily Telegraph, describes the changes to the demographics of Britain over the next 24 years.

• The Office for National Statistics say that Britain's population will rise by 10 million by 2037 to 73.3 million.
• The ONS said 60% of this increase – or 5.8 million – will be due to migration, either directly through new arrivals into the country or indirectly through the impact on the birth rate.
• The official figures suggest that more than 215,000 immigrants will come to Europe every year, significantly more than David Cameron's plans to cut net immigration to less than 100,000.
• The number of people aged 80 or older is projected to more than double over the same period to 6.2 million, representing one in 12 people in the UK.
• The number of people aged over 90 will double, while the number of centenarians will rise from 13,000 to 111,000.
• The ageing population means that despite the influx of younger immigrants, a lower proportion of the population will be of working age. At present, there are 3.21 people of working age to every pensioner. By 2037, that ratio will have fallen to 2.74 people.

They are still around

There used to be a myth that mosquitoes are only a problem in summertime. That is not true, these insects will now breed all year and because there are more likely to be puddles in autumn and winter, they take advantage of that fact. Certainly, the breeding cycle is slower during cold weather and a sudden drop in temperature will temporarily halt their activity but they soon recover.

The other problem we face is that mosquitoes have developed an immunity to many of the sprays and creams that once deterred them. As I said in a previous item, DEET used to be very effective in warding off mosquitoes but the insects have gradually learnt to tolerate it.

We need to find ever more resourceful ways to control the spread of these insects.  In Torrevieja they have introduced bats, one of the few natural predators of mosquitoes but of course it takes time to develop a colony of sufficient size to control a plague of insects. 

Why do they complain?

In a recent survey of broadband speeds in Britain, they found that there was not one city that met the criteria set for superfast broadband. The definition is 30 Mbs/sec and the fastest found was Telford with an average of 22.99 Mbs/sec. In Manchester, where my youngest daughter lives, the average speed was 18.36Mb/sec and in Liverpool, where my friend Pete lives, 17.43Mbs/sec.

Let’s put these figures into perspective. Whilst they might fall short of the government’s target, those are a darn sight faster than the 8.43Mb/sec that I get from a contracted 10Mb/sec connection. To make matters worse, the average cost of broadband in the UK is a lot less than I pay for my Telefonica connection.

Of course, I live in a rural area where broadband speed will be lower than in cities like Madrid. 

Thanks to Bill

Yesterday I said that my friend John was a keen astrologist. Well that might be true but in reference to observing a solar eclipse, it is his fondness for astronomy that is more relevant.

Thank you Bill for pointing that out!

Living on the coast

Spain has passed several laws to protect the coastal strip. As a matter of principal, the area next to the sea should be free from buildings. Then there is an area six metres wide which should also be free from any unauthorised building. Building is permitted in the area 20 metres from the shore but is subject to certain restrictions.

Torrevieja, along with other coastal towns, are going to suspend granting any licenses for this area for the moment as a precautionary measure. That means that the owners of these properties cannot make any alterations including changing an awning until the situation is resolved. 

Information for Scout John

I call one of our neighbours scout John because he regularly finds information for me about what is going on locally. Now, perhaps, it is my turn to help him.

You see John is  keen on astronomy and is a member of a local club that observes the stars and the firmament. I am therefore sure that he will know that, this afternoon, there will be a rare hybrid eclipse of the sun* which will be observable from this region.

What he may not know though is that the Centre for Information and Youth in Alicante, along with the Mastral Project, will be setting up telescopes on the Juan Aparicio  promenade in Torrevieja  to allow people to observe the phenomena. 

The eclipse will start at 13:10 and will last approximately one and a half hours.

What is a Hybrid Eclipse?

A hybrid eclipse occurs when the moon's distance from the Earth varies with time. When the moon is a bit farther away, it becomes too small to completely cover the bright disk of the sun. This results in the sighting of a light ring (of the sun) encircling the moon.

Sometimes when the moon is a bit closer, it covers the sun’s disc, partially producing a crescent-shaped light ring of the sun.

A hybrid eclipse occurs once every 18 years.

More than fine tuning

Successive governments have tinkered with the exam system in the UK. When I was at school we sat GCEs and the grades were 1 to 6 for a pass with 1 as the top grade.

Then when I started teaching, they introduced CSEs for lower ability students. The top grade was said to be equivalent to a C at GCE (yes they had changed the grades to letters). Later they merged the two exams into the new GCSE which was supposedly for all students.

However it  soon became evident that the exam papers were just too hard for low ability students in some subjects so they introduced tiers in those. The grades ran from A to G with U representing a fail. The magic grade though was a C or above.

At first the GCSE was exam based in the academic subjects but had an element of coursework in subjects like Art. Gradually the notion of coursework appeared in more subjects along with a modular system of assessment in for example maths. 

As attainment in the exam increased, so the exam boards responded with an A* grade for the top achievers. This was meant to allow certain universities the opportunity to pick the very best candidates for courses.

With the advent of OFSTED and league tables, schools naturally looked at ways they could improve the grades of their students at GCSE. One way was to seek out exam boards that offered easier exams and a greater reliance on coursework. The other way was to enter students in year 10 which meant that, if they did not achieve a good grade, there was time to enter them again and again. I recall pupils at Anfield who had taken English language or mathematics up to 6 times to try and get a C grade.   

However, some universities became wary of those qualifications that relied largely on coursework. There was always the notion that teachers offered rather too much guidance to their pupils completing coursework  thus inflating the grades achieved.

The rising numbers of pupils achieving high grades at GCSE caused widespread concern that the exam had been dumbed down. In order to give it more clout, the government are once again tinkering with it. This time they are changing the grades to numbers from 1 to 9 with 9 being the highest level. At the same time, they are moving towards exam only based qualifications i.e. doing away with coursework and at the same time scrapping modular courses. The exams will be at the end of the course in the summer term. They say this will reintroduce necessary rigour.

Faced with findings that showed e.g 16- to 24-year-olds in England ranked 21st for numeracy out of 24 countries, the government are shoring up English and maths by insisting on a wider range of topics in maths and putting a greater emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar in English.

These measures will raise the bar for schools who will struggle to meet their targets for 5 x A-C grades (or 5 x 7 –9 grades as it will be then) including maths and English. How glad am I to be well out of the system.  

A sorry picture of a country in decline

A well written article in the Daily Telegraph, paints a very sorry picture of Britain in decline.

The article cites four measures for making this assertion:

1. The decline in living standards. Although disposable income has risen, this is accounted for by population growth, lower interest rates and higher employment. The article claims that real income is actually lower now than it was ten years ago. 

2. More of the income of families is having to go to pay for essentials. The worst predictions show that, spending on these items has risen by 60%. This leaves people with far less to spend on “extras”. 

3. Standards of literacy and numeracy for school leavers in Britain are amongst the lowest in the developed world. Older people who are leaving the work force are apparently better educated than the youngsters who are replacing them.

This has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on education. The author cites widening levels of social inequality between aspiring professional parents and others as the main cause.

4. The health of the nation is also of growing concern. Obesity, female life expectancy and child mortality rates in Britain are among the worst in Europe. Again this has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on health care. Rather it is the effect of a poor start to life for too many.

The article concludes that Britain is living on borrowed time and only drastic action will address these issues. Now I ask my neighbours, “do you still hanker after returning to Britain?”

Making homes legal

The City Council of Orihuela recognises that many buyers were duped by builders into believing that their homes would be totally legal. In some cases, the builders had permission to build a certain number of houses but then went ahead and built more. Pam and I know of at least one couple who are in this situation. They rely on a connection to electricity courtesy of their neighbour. There is no threat of demolition because the house is not on protected land but without a certificate of first ownership, it is virtually impossible for them to get a connection to vital services.

The City Council are now attempting to regularise these illegal houses by creating micro urbanisations in other words small groups of houses rather than complete developments.  The first houses to be dealt with in this way are in Los Mazones.

Although these houses have a road with street lighting and connection to the sewerage system, they are having problems obtaining a connection to electricity. The cost of this regularisation, which is estimated between eight and ten thousand euros, must be borne by the owners. Apart from a resolution to the problem of getting a connection to electricity, the owners will be in a position to sell their properties once the process is complete.

Finally approved

Finally, the budget for Bigastro 2013 has been passed. At the meeting, the Socialists led by Raúl Valerio Medina  abstained and the Liberals led by Aurelio Murcia walked out before the vote took place. 

There were however three conditions that the PP had to agree to, 1) that 40% of the compensation to the dismissed workers would be paid this year 2) the remaining 60% will be paid next year and 3) the 285,000 euros of bills that are in hand will be paid.

When the PP came into power, 21 employees from the infant school Bigastrin, the EPA and municipal cleaning service were fired. Compensation for unfair dismissal was set at 312,500 euros but so far, none of this has been paid.

Back to pen and ink

The longer this story runs about intercepted phone calls, emails, web surfing activity etc. the more aware we become that nothing is sacred anymore. New claims have arisen about the NSA tapping Google and Yahoo. However, we know that Google and Yahoo have provided data for the NSA for years and in any case they both collect information about us for their own use as does Facebook. The Daily Mail even claims that the conclave of cardinals that elected the new Pope was monitored – how absurd!

The plain truth is that, since 9/11 and possibly even before, we are being spied upon by just about everyone and it isn’t just our phone calls. The Americans are probably the most guilty of this espionage but that does not rule out other countries as well. It is hard to imagine that Russia and China are innocent, in fact they are probably more guilty of this kind of activity than any other country. The only thing that separates them from America is that nobody would dare blow the whistle on what they do. In other words, it is unlikely that there is the equivalent of Edward Snowden working in Russia or China.

It seems to me there is only one way to avoid all this spying and that is to avoid any form of communication that could possible be intercepted without our knowing. That means, no phone calls, no emails, no shopping online and definitely avoid using Facebook. In fact, disconnect your computer from the Internet altogether, throw away your mobile phone and start writing letters again. Of course we would then have to hope that they don’t find a way to examine the contents of envelopes without revealing it has been done. Perhaps my suggestion of using pigeons has some merit.

Oh and whilst we are at it, banks cannot be trusted not to reveal our transactions. The SWIFT system has already been compromised so that is a no no. Best to draw all our money out, keep it under the bed and pay only in cash for anything we buy.

And what about the television? Is it possible that the satellite services are also  monitoring the programmes we watch? Of course they are, for years they have produced data about which programmes are most popular. Ah well, the television has to go as well.

Of course, this is all fantasy. Nobody in their right mind is going to turn back the clock and return to an age without all this technology. In the end we will probably have to accept that nothing we do can be considered private anymore.

They say that only the guilty have something to hide. Perhaps that is true but then don’t we all have secrets of some sort that we’d rather not share? Friends – be aware and be safe and stop reading this blog – only kidding of course!

All this spying nonsense

The Europeans claim that the US agency NSA has been logging phone calls made in their countries. The Americans now say that it was the countries themselves that logged the calls and then passed on the information to NSA.

The monitoring of calls is intended as  a measure to prevent acts of terrorism. In all, NSA is accused of snooping in on 130.5 million calls in France and Spain and keeping records of them. That sounds to me like a massive and very costly operation which I am sure those who are organising it can justify. For the rest of us, it is intrusive and for the most part a complete waste of time, effort and money. Out of all those millions of calls, there can surely only be a tiny percentage that are of any interest.

Will the database of all these calls prevent further terrorist attacks?

Knowing that this is going on probably means that genuine terrorists now use other forms of communication – maybe they have a loft full of pigeons on standby. I defy the NSA to monitor those!

A hidden tax

Did you know that Valencia imposes a 4.8 cents per litre tax on fuel to fund healthcare? No, neither did I.

Following a case opened by a transport company, the European Court of Justice Advocate-General has said that the tax contravenes European legislation. His decision is not binding but could be if the European court decides to uphold it. 

An end to the prolonged summer

After an unusually warm period for October, temperatures will drop today - from 30 degrees to low twenties for some parts of the region. Here in Alicante province, temperatures will hover around the 25 degree mark with a low of 16 degrees. By next Wednesday, the temperatures will drop to just 19 which is more normal for this time of year.

Along with a drop in temperature, we can expect some showers and the risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon lasting into the night. By tomorrow the skies will start to clear bringing sunshine to the area on Thursday and Friday.

St Jude’s storm

This satellite image from 6am this morning shows the storm passing over the south of England. After the BBC failed to predict the ferocity of the 1987 storm which caused widespread damage in the south of England, nobody was taking chances this time.

An amber alert was set for last night into this morning for most of Britain, rail services were cancelled along with ferries across the Channel.

Although this morning’s papers are showing pictures of devastation (particularly the Daily Mail who revel in bad weather), many report that the storm has been nowhere near as severe as anticipated.

Nether the less, there has been disruption as trees have fallen and houses have been left without electricity.

We hope that our friends in England, particularly the south, are OK and have not suffered. The storm is moving rapidly away from Britain now leaving a much calmer day with some sunny spells.

Floral tributes

November 1st is the feast of All Saints and here in Spain it is the day when you visit the cemetery to pay respect to dead relatives and friends.  Of course, you are not expected to go empty handed, most take a bunch of flowers and a candle or two to decorate the niches.

But where do all those flowers come from?

One major source is the Flomar cooperative in Pilar de la Horadada. It is one of the largest producers of cut flowers in Spain. Two million flowers are cut in preparation for All Saints Day representing 15% of the total production. Those huge polythene greenhouses that you see on the roadside are where all these flowers are grown.

In preparation for November 1st, the delicate stems are cut over night,  packed and dispatched within 24 hours to all parts of Spain.  In case you were wondering, the biggest sellers are chrysanthemums, daisies, gladioli, roses and gerberas.

Moya let off again

Section VII of the High Court has acquitted the former mayor of Bigastro, José Joaquín Moya, of a crime against planning, another of falsifying documents and a third of trespass. The court also acquitted the secretary Antonio Saseta and Antonio María Jesús Ferrer.

The case against the three was in relation to the authorization granted to Repsol to install gas tanks in sector D-6 on a public green area. Approval for the project was first granted in 2005. In 2006, Repsol signed a contract to install two 49,500 litre tanks along with pipelines. In 2007, the site for the tanks was determined and the work was authorised and approved.

By 2010, the problems related to planning in sector D-6 meant that the work on installing the gas tanks was suspended. In 2013, the City Council notified Repsol that the installation of gas tanks was no longer viable.

In the end, the failure of the case came down to the confusion in terminology “areas” and “plots”, “construction” and “compound”. The gas tanks were to be installed in an area not a plot and did not constitute a construction.

Four generations of royalty

It is rare to find a photo of so many generations of British royalty together.

	In this photo taken at Clarence House following the christening of the latest member of the family, we have  (left to right) The Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Queen, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, Duchess of Cambridge holding Prince George, Pippa Middleton, James Middleton, Duke of Cambridge, Carole and Michael Middleton
	The last similar occasion was in 1899, when the 80-year-old Queen Victoria posed with her direct successors Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII. This time, the Queen, who is 87, is pictured with her son the Prince of Wales, 64, grandson the Duke of Cambridge, 31, and three-month-old great-grandson Prince George.

A dream turned sour

Building an illegal home in Britain would be nigh on impossible but here in Spain things are very different. There are many illegal properties in the country, some of which have been subsequently legalised but others that have orders for demolition imposed upon them because they are built on protected land.

In many cases, the buyers were duped by unscrupulous builders and town hall officials into believing that all was well. Corrupt solicitors, working for the owners, did nothing to warn the potential buyers of the problems they faced. 

Two British owned villas in southern Spain were demolished last week as the authorities carried out their demolition orders and there are more to come. The houses were built in areas where it was forbidden and even though the owners have been declared innocent, the court has ruled that they must go.

The owners are now faced with the prospect of trying to obtain compensation from people who have already declared bankruptcy. In other words they will never get a penny back for their investments.

In Andalucía there are estimated 300,000, many bought by British owners, that face the same fate. In case you were wondering, the houses on our estate are all legal and above board.

Signs of recovery

Unemployment in Spain fell by 72,800 people from the previous quarter, a reduction of 1.2% which brings the total number of unemployed persons to 5.9047 million.

Thus, the unemployment rate now stands at 25.98%, almost three-tenths percent lower than the second quarter (26.26%), according to data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) made ​​public by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Meanwhile, in Valencia 22,600 fewer people were unemployed from the previous quarter, representing a decline of 3.1 percent, bringing the total number of 701 300 unemployed people.

Welcome home

We had a great trip to the UK with lots of wonderful memories to keep us going until the next trip.

We visited the Sealife Centre, Pam went to see Wicked, I got to see Crosby, Stills and Nash, we had three days in London, watched Molly in her first dance show and then Pam went to Disney on Ice.

We met up with our very good friends Glenys and Peter, Dave’s parents and spent some time with Dave’s brother and wife. Best of all though we had time with our lovely daughters, our son-in-law and Molly.

Now we are home to recuperate ready for our next trip.

How wonderful it was this morning to wake up to a warm sunny sky; it reminds us of why we chose to live here away from the hustle and bustle of England and the grey skies that are never far away.

Many thanks go to all those who made our trip so worthwhile, we hope you enjoyed our company as much as we did yours.

Caught a cold

It seems that every time I come to England, I end up catching a cold. The symptoms are always the same; a harsh throat followed by a runny nose and a cough.

These colds generally don't last too long and are more uncomfortable rather than debilitating. Still, it is annoying to have to suffer a cold every time.

Yesterday we went to watch Molly perform in a dance show. What a little trouper she was, in step and confident.

Watching the older children perform, you could imagine what Molly will be like in just a few years.

Then we went to a nearby pub for food. Whilst we were there, the mild weather with broken sunshine gave way to a short but intense thunderstorm. The rain was driven horizontal by the wind soaking anyone who happened to be caught outside.

Within twenty minutes, the storm cleared and the sun came out again creating the second double rainbow we have seen this trip.

Trip to London

We've just had a three day break in London taking in some of the sights of the capital. You can see my album of photos in the sidebar.

The morning exodus

Where we live in Spain, most of the people are retired. Getting up in the morning is something you do when you are ready. Apart from those occasions when we have an appointment, there is no call to use an alarm clock to wake us up.

Here in Sale, most of the neighbours go to work so, from about 8am to 9, there is the exodus as people leave their houses to go to work. Cars starting up and doors closing have the same effect as an alarm clock so here I am up and awake.

Normally, I get a good two hours to myself before Mrs W. wakes up but not this morning. She too has woken up with the noise and now wants me to get started on the jobs so that we can go out to Manchester shopping. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you

My grateful thanks go to my son-in-law and his father for taking me to my first Crosby, Stills and Nash concert.

What a great mix of songs, some new, a few solos, the odd duet and a wonderful selection from their extensive back catalogue.

It was a good night which I am sure will go down as one of the highlights of this trip for me.

Thank you once again to Dave and Brendon Christopher for your company and for the great introduction to one of the classiest bands around.

My album of photos.

It never rains!

For the benefit of my Spanish readers, there is a saying in English, "it never rains but what it pours". It means that when anything goes wrong, it often escalates into something worse.

Laura and Dave have a list of jobs as long as your arm. Today, we were all set to tackle some of them when Laura noticed a damp patch on the kitchen ceiling. There is obviously a leak somewhere in the bathroom above but without taking up the floor tiles, we are not going to find out where. It seems to be related to the central heating so that is now turned off. The good news is that the leak now seems to have stopped. The bad news is that it will now get cold in the house.

In the meantime, Dave and I are going to investigate the leak in Molly's playhouse. At least that should be straightforward.

It didn't last

The lovely sunshine that we have enjoyed since arriving here was never going to last. Sunshine in Manchester at this time of year is a rare treat. Heavy cloud and the threat of rain is more normal and that is what we seem to having today. 

A change of climate

As we touched down at Manchester, we could see that it had been raining. Fortunately the rain stopped and we even saw some beams of sunlight during the afternoon. I can't say that it felt warm though. We are now completely spoilt by the lovely weather we enjoy in Spain and notice more and more the difference on our trips to England.

Still, when you are greeted by your granddaughter running to the gate, with a smile beaming across her face and her arms wide open it is sunshine all round.

Today, we have blue skies and sunshine which makes us feel at home. However, when I stepped foot outside, it became clear this is not Spain! 

It may be quiet for awhile

This morning we set off for our annual trip to England to buy Christmas cards amongst other things. That means that posts to this blog will be sporadic until our return.

I know that one or two of our neighbours get concerned when nothing is posted for a day or two and wonder if we are both well. As far as I know, we are both as fit as fiddles, maybe old ones that are showing their age but still playing a reasonable tune.

Government backs bullfighting as culture

In these harsh days of economic crisis, many towns are unable to afford to stage bullfights any more. Even if they did, the numbers of spectators would hardly warrant the expense. It seems that killing animals in the name of culture is no longer acceptable to a growing number of Spaniards.

A recent poll showed that 76% of Spaniards were against the use of public funds to prop up this ailing industry and yet legislation was passed by a congressional culture committee last Wednesday. If the vote is carried by the Senate, then bullfighting will be deemed part of the cultural heritage worthy of protection. That means it can be funded with public money.

Groups such as PETA, Humane Society International and the World Society for the Protection of Animals have all expressed their disgust with the legislation. They say this is just an attempt to get more than the 130 million euros that the country already receives from the EU budget.

Video competition

With just a mobile phone or a camera that takes video you can earn yourself a prize in a competition organised by Bigastro town hall.

The Councillor for Social Welfare, Sonia Belmonte and for Culture, Maria Jose Sarmiento,  presented the competition yesterday and explained the requirements.

1. The theme for the videos is the fight against gender violence and the promotion of gender equality.

2. Although it is open to all ages, the theme obviously focuses on young people.

3. The finished video should be no more than eight minutes long.

4. You can submit up to three entries.

5. The closing date is the 15th November.

The finished videos will be judged by a panel of experts who will pick the eight best entries. These will be screened at the Auditorium in December where the audience will be asked to vote for the winner and runner up along with a special award. First prize will be 500 euros, second prize 250 euros and the audience award will be a home theatre system.

Murcia Dance Company

Last night’s performance at the Auditorium Francisco Grau was by the Murcia Dance Company. We saw them last year and so looked forward to the performance last night.

Like last year though, the Auditorium was only just half full and we can’t understand why. If the performance was given by students from the local dance school, there would have been standing room only.

Performing to a half empty hall must be very disheartening. After all the time spent rehearsing, you’d kind of like more people to appreciate your efforts.  

All I can say is that we appreciated the show and so did those who turned up to watch it.

PS We saw just one other British couple there and even they left at the interval and so missed the second half of the show.

Man made shakes

Investigations into the earthquake at Lorca showed that pumping water from underground may have contributed to the tremor that shook the town causing widespread destruction.

It now seems that man may also be responsible for the 400 small earthquakes that have affected the coastline of Castellón and Tarragona.

Twenty two kilometres east of the town of Vinaroz, there is a 1,750 metre deep reservoir of gas – the co called “Castor” project. The site is an old oil well which is being used to store natural gas. The 1,200 million euro project was approved by the previous government, apparently without consideration of the seismic risk. The reservoir is one of four in Spain that are intended to keep the flow of gas going during a shortage.

The process of storage has been halted pending an investigation.

Ghost workers

We had heard rumours of a number of people in Bigastro being paid by the council in return for votes. It seems that there could well be some truth in these stories.

When the PP/UNPLC took office in June 2011, they uncovered  information about 48 people who had been on the town’s payroll without contracts for work with the council over a period of nine years.

It is alleged that José Joaquín Moya, who was in power as mayor for 28 years, created a network of of payments of Social Security for selected families in the town which allowed them access to benefits and eventually a pension. The practice had been going on for years and was continued by Moya’s successor when the former mayor was arrested and subsequently resigned. Raul Valerio Medina, who succeeded Moya, was in charge of finance between June 2007 and November 2008. When he took over as mayor, Medina apparently continued to pay 17 false workers and added a further 13 to the list.

Some of these people were paid for short periods, others benefitted from the payments for up to six years. It is said that many were friends or family of the council members.

The matter was placed in the hands of the Anticorruption Prosecutor in April and was taken up by the courts in Orihuela this August. Those who were responsible, along with the political officials who orchestrated or overlooked these fraudulent practices, could be charged with forgery of public documents, trespass, misappropriation of public funds and fraud.

A special night out

If you want to experience the very best of Spanish tapas, it is a good idea to be guided by locals. That is why Pamela and I were delighted when Jaime and Paqui invited us to dine with them last night.

For two years now, Pamela has been visiting their house on Calle Principe de Asturias to help their son Pablo with his English. She now stays for an extra half hour to have conversation with Paqui. Jaime worked in Manchester during the late 80s and now in Torrevieja so his English is excellent – he does not need help. 

The restaurant that Jaime and Paqui chose for us was Angelin in Almoradí. Jaime told us it was his favourite restaurant for tapas in the evening and we soon discovered why.

Typically, there was no menu as such because regular clients know what is on offer and simply ask for it. We therefore sampled the dishes that Jaime suggested that he hoped we would enjoy. As I have said before, Pamela is not fond of seafood and is very choosey about fish which kind of limited the choices somewhat. Still there was plenty for her to enjoy whilst avoiding the fish dishes.

As we talked, Pamela and I explained that our first teacher of Spanish was Ana.  Of course Jaime and Paqui knew of her and Jaime is a good friend of Ana’s father. So, after our meal,we set off to Maraná for coffees. The route that Jaime chose for his wife to drive took us through Camponeta, Molins, Rafal, San Bartolome and eventually the road to Hurchillo where Maraná is situated. A long and torturous way to go for a cup of coffee!

Since we were picked up at 9pm to go out, it was very late when Paqui finally dropped us off at our house – I will definitely need a siesta today.

It was a wonderful evening though with excellent food and even better company. When we are asked, “what is it that you like about Bigastro?” we always say the people. It is people like Jaime and Paqui and many more who make living here so special.

It pays to check what you type

There is nobody more guilty of mistyping than me. Many of you, who read this blog, will have noticed how I often make corrections to items – sometimes days after they have been published.

Mind you, I am not responsible for publishing data about the financial status of Spain so my mistakes go largely unnoticed. The Spanish finance minister recently announced that, by 2014, the national debt for the country would be 99.8% of GDP. The actual figure should have been 98.9%, a difference of some 10bn euros. It was a simple tying error which has now been corrected.

Although a mistake is a mistake, it will not have the same catastrophic effect that was caused when a dealer at Lehman Brothers wiped £30bn of the FTSE 100 by typing £300m for a trade meant to be £3m. 

125 years on

We take cameras for granted these days; almost everyone has one, even if it is just part of a mobile phone.

Things were very different though before 1889. If you wanted a photograph in those days, you went to a studio and visited a professional.

It all began to change in 1889 when Kodak introduced the No 1 camera which actually followed their first one which was simply called Kodak.

The wooden box , which was covered in leather, housed a roll of film that would produce 100 pictures. The camera sold for $25 which was quite expensive for the time. 

To set the shutter you pulled a string and then pressed a button on the side to release it. It had one speed, one aperture setting and a fixed focus lens. There was no viewfinder to compose with, so your best bet was to point it roughly towards your subject and hope for the best. If the light was right and the subject was beyond the minimum distance, then you got a good result. If your pictures came out well composed, that was a bonus.

Once you’d taken your 100 pictures, you sent the camera back to Kodak who developed the film and returned your 100 2.5 inch circular pictures along with the camera loaded again for the next 100 shots. 

A good chance of rain

Make the best of the weather today because there is a distinct chance of rain tomorrow followed by more rain on Sunday and Monday. The rain will bring a drop in temperatures from the low 30s down to the mid 20s – more normal for this time of year.

Stalemate

The PP in Bigastro are frustrated by the situation they find themselves in. Since they are now in the minority, every time council meetings come to a vote, they lose out to the PSOE and UPLC in opposition.

The mayor, Charo Bañuls says the other parties should submit a censure motion if their intention is to continue outvoting her party. For her part, she is not prepared to resign. Of course, none of the parties is capable of ruling in the majority on their own, the Socialists are one seat short and the Liberals have just two councillors.

So what are the chances of a coalition? The answer is simple; the fragile pact between the Liberals and the PP finally broke down when Aurelio Murcia claimed he worked harder than the mayor and therefore should be paid her salary and a pact between the Liberals and the Socialists is almost unthinkable. The answer is therefore “no chance”.

It should not be this hot

Two warm air masses, the Poniente and the Tropical marítimo, are the cause of the unusually high temperatures at the moment. Early Tuesday night was the warmest that this area has been since October 8th, 1921.

The start of autumn follows the driest September experienced since 1983. Normally, September is wet with an average of 47 litres per square metre, this year we only had 3 litres of rain.

The warm weather is expected to last until the weekend when the Levante will cool things down. 

America shuts down

If there was concern in Bigastro about not passing the payment plan to suppliers in time to avert a 50% cut in government funding to the town, just imagine how tense things were in Washington last night.

In Bigastro, the Socialist leader changed his mind at the last minute and voted for the proposed plan, at Capitol Hill there was no such change of heart. The Republicans in the House of Representatives tried three times to force the Democrats in the Senate to delay the plans for President Obama’s controversial Affordable Care Act but they were having none of it.

The Democrats claim that Obamacare was passed four years ago, was ratified by the supreme court and was endorsed by voters at the last election. The Republicans say that the law will cause untold damage to the American people and to the economy.

As midnight drew close and no solution to the impasse was forthcoming, the President signed the order which will enforce an orderly shutdown of Government organisations. In effect, 800,000 workers will now take unpaid leave.

Where they go from there is far from clear. The Democrats argue that, if they concede to the demands of the Republicans on this issue, they will be back within a week making further demands. That, of course, is the situation that Raúl Valerio Medina may find himself in here.

Bigastro is the new Liverpool

To make money during an economic crisis, you have to think out of the box and that is just what a group of friends have done here in Bigastro.

They started to rent a warehouse on the industrial estate outside the town in 2011 and turned it into music practice rooms for local bands. They called the enterprise Delta and divided it up into several small rooms, each with a secure lock on the door, which can be rented out for 120 euros per month.

In all, fifteen groups practice there including Las Suicidas who used to rehearse elsewhere until the prices rose. Other groups include; 5 Sentidos and the guitarist Tony Sánchez who plays in three groups of which both the Hamers and Logan practice at Delta.

The total security is clearly important to the groups that use Delta. The fact they can leave their instruments and amplifiers in the building knowing that they will still be there next time is a big selling point. 

Remember the upsurge of music in Liverpool during the 60s? From seemingly nowhere, there were chart topping groups performing and making a name for themselves. This could be the future for Bigastro! In ten years time you will be saying, “I first read about this on Keith’s blog”.

A growing social problem

Imagine what it is like to live in Orihuela next to a piece of open land where every weekend throughout the summer you are kept awake until the early hours of the morning by the sound of motorbikes and people shouting. In the daytime you set out to be greeted by the sight of hundreds of bottles littered on the land and the overpowering stench of urine.

The Spanish call it botellón or large bottle - a common practice among young people on Friday and Saturday nights. The first stop is the supermarket to pick up large bottles of mixers, cheap bottles of sprits and plastic glasses. Then they congregate at pre determined locations with their carrier bags of booze and stay until the early hours of the morning.

Along with the graffiti artists, these young people are causing a lot of distress in the city and the situation is rapidly getting out of control.  Unless steps are taken to eradicate these problems, there is a danger that parts of the city will resemble ghettos where nobody wants to live.

The same problems exist, to a lesser extent in towns like Bigastro. Graffiti in the town is on the increase.

A few weeks ago, Pam and I saw two young men making their statement on a wall at the bottom of Avenida Europa. In broad daylight, the “artists” were touching up a previous piece of graffiti. They were dressed like urban guerrillas. armed with cans of paint, brushes and the inevitable spray paint to finish the job off. They obviously thought they were doing a public service by turning this drab concrete block wall into “art”. To the rest of the population, what they had created was an illegible scrawl. The only saving grace was that the wall did not seem to be on a house but it must belong to someone.

Further up the road, there is an old finca which has stood in ruins since we arrived here. A few years ago, a concrete wall was built around it. We thought that meant it would be reformed and lived in. That has not happened and the house still stands in ruins. The carefully built wall, which must have cost quite a bit, is now covered in graffiti making the site look uglier than it was before constructed.

Déjà vu

On Friday, when it became clear that Bigastro would lose 50% of its government funding if the council did not pass its payment plan to suppliers, the mayor held a meeting with employees to warn them that, in those circumstances, wages would not be paid and services would be cut. 

Those employees would have then put pressure on the previous mayor and leader of the socialist group, Raúl Valerio Medina to change his mind and vote with the opposition party. At the time he probably recalled the dark days when his party were in power. Faced with overwhelming budget problems, they delayed payment of salaries to employees for months on end. Clearly, Raúl  did not want to return to that situation and neither did those who work for the council.

Raúl was between a “rock and a hard place”. If he had continued to oppose the plan it would have spelt disaster for the town that is already in financial ruin so he conceded to the opposition. In return for the favour to the PP, the ex mayor got none of the concessions that he hoped for.

I imagine that Aurelio Murcia and his Liberal colleague will be bitterly disappointed with Raúl’s change of heart. They, along with three socialist councillors, voted against the motion at both meetings.

For the moment, the pressure is off the ruling party. All is not over yet but knowing that Raúl changed his mind once may make them confident that it can happen again and again. The decision he made on Friday will surely come back to haunt him at future meetings and at the next elections.

Are they tourists or visitors?

In the heyday, towns in the Vega Baja tried to develop a model of tourism, they even visited fairs to promote the idea.

In Bigastro for example, the mayor at the time sold land at La Pedrera to build an aparthotel with conference facilities and golf practice ranges. Other towns had golf courses so why not Bigastro. The fact that there was nothing else in Bigastro to attract tourists and that the route to the hotel was via a country lane was not even considered. Thankfully, the idea was squashed when the area was deemed to be parkland without proper permission for building.

Although Bigastro might be a good place to live, it hardly rates as a tourist destination. The same applies to most of the other towns of the Vega Baja. People might visit them but they are not tourists by any definition.

To support the influx of tourists that they thought would flock here, 14 Tourist Information offices were built in the area. In obvious destinations like Torrevieja, Guardamar del Segura and Orihuela these could be justified but how could you justify such offices in San Miguel de Salinas, Dolores, San Fulgencio, Almoradí or Callosa de Segura?

Since these small towns do not have tourists as such, it must be hard for anyone to argue that these offices should be kept open. Even in these difficult economic times, it seems that nobody is sure just how much they cost but estimates put the one in San Fulgencio at 55,000 euros per year.

So why do they not just close them down and save money?

The opposition parties in these towns would probably agree with that idea but the ruling parties have vested interests. These are “jobs for the boys” and so the offices remain open. I imagine that the people in them must spend all day straightening out the leaflets in the hope that maybe one or two visitors might pop in for a chat. 

11th hour reprieve

The Bigastro government team, led by Charo Bañuls  (PP), managed to pull off its Provider Payment Plan to finance 809,000 euros of arrears due to support by the PSOE spokesman, Raul Valerio Medina. The agreement was adopted at a plenary session held 'in extremis' at 17.45, just 15 minutes before the expiry of the term to justify its approval to the Ministry of Finance.

At the regular meeting held in the morning, the socialists, along with the liberals, voted against the plan. If they had maintained that position, then the council would have effectively been crippled because the Ministry of Finance would have reduced payments to the council from 100,000 to 50,000 euros per month.  The mayor met with council employees at noon to inform them of the situation and he fact that basic services would have been cut and salaries left unpaid.

The change of heart by the socialist leader came about because of pressure placed upon him. At the second meeting three of the socialist councillors along with the two liberal councillors still voted against the proposal. With just 11 out of the 13 councillors in attendance the vote was therefore five for and five against giving the socialist leader the casting vote.

Dance at the Auditorium

On Sunday, 6th October at 6pm, the Auditorium Francisco Grau will present a show by the Murcia Dance Company.

The show will be in two parts:

Quiroga

Six Spanish songs that form part of the sentimental memory of millions of Spaniards.

Poet

A presentation of flamenco which respects the original character of the dance. A modern version that remains true to the roots and purity of flamenco.

This show is sponsored by the Provincial Council of Alicante and the Department of Culture of the City of Bigastro.

Followers of this blog may recall my album of photos from the last presentation by the Murcia Dance Group. My Flickr pictures start with this one.

A modern disease

Vandalism in the form of graffiti is a social problem that many countries seem to face these days. The authors have very little regard for the annoyance that their work causes. I suppose, they would argue that their work is “art” and in any case is non destructive to the walls and buildings they use as canvasses. Mostly though, the graffiti consists of illegible scrawlings that have no artistic merit whatsoever. Removing them is both costly and time consuming.  

In Torrevieja, they have installed an ultra sophisticated system of cameras in an attempt to curb all forms of vandalism, including graffiti, and it seems to be effective.

Orihuela is now considering installing cameras in public places to try and halt the problem there. The councillor, Antonia Moreno says that vandalism and drinking in the streets is a scandal and that the treat of fines is not working. The city needs to find a better solution to the problem and that may well be cameras.

Orihuela will need permission from Alicante to go ahead and the plans will be subject to scrutiny because of the intrusive nature of cameras in the street. If the end result is a cleaner city, then it will be worth it

The disappearing outdoor phone

When we were young, the only way to make a phone call was to go to the nearest telephone box. At that time, there was very little vandalism in the rural towns where we lived and so you could almost guarantee that the phone would work. In fact, the phone directory would usually be there as well but might have the odd page torn out. In popular places, you might even have to queue up and wait to make a call whist some love stuck Romeo sweet talked his girlfriend. In Britain, the red phone box was a familiar and welcome sight.

When we were in our late teens, Pamela’s father was a high ranking fireman and my father a police sergeant so we did have phones in the house (not the norm in those days) but we could only use them for emergency private calls because they had been supplied to maintain contact with work. The fire service would not have been pleased, nor the police service, if they could not get through because Pam and I were chatting to our friends on the phone.

These days though, things are very different; a lot more houses have fixed phones and most people have a mobile phone (or two). Very few now have to rely on the phone box in the street to make a call.

In 2005, a royal decree in Spain regulated the number of phone booths that a town should have. In the case of Torrevieja, with a population of 103,000, that is set at 35. In fact there were 96 which has now been reduced to 87 because Telefónica  has removed nine of the booths in outlying areas due to their lack of use. 

Young and foolish

The two young women -Michaella McCollum Connolly and Melissa Reid, accused of drug smuggling have now appeared in court and admitted to being guilty of the crime.

If they had continued to claim to be innocent, they would have spent more time in jail awaiting trial and could have been sentenced to fifteen years. Because they have now pleaded guilty, their sentence will be reduced to six years and eight months. I can only assume that is the difference between the minimum and maximum sentences imposed for the crime. 

The girls hope to be able to carry out the sentences back in Britain but that is by no means certain. They will need to show they behaved well in jail, pass 'legal, social, medical and psychological tests' and fund their own tickets home. According to legal sources, a transfer could take many years, by which time they could be free. It is a very long process and Britain does not often agree to it.

Apart from their families, the girls can expect little support from Britain. For example, attempts to drum up support for Irish-born McCollum after her arrest failed to garner support with the public back in Northern Ireland. A legal fighting fund to raise cash for her defence had to be shut down after it received only about £600 from public donations.

Their only hope is to be able to help the authorities in Peru to track down those that organised the drug trafficking. From their position in prison, I imagine that will be an almost impossible task.

The two girls should be grateful that they were not caught with that amount of cocaine in Bali where things would have been a lot worse for them. In my opinion, those that are involved with drugs in any way deserve what they get. 

Cheap skates

Those of you who have visited Torrevieja recently and walked along the Vista Alegre will have noticed the shabby condition of the wood that provides shade along the 150 metre walkway.

The pergola was constructed in 2008 at a cost to the Generalitat Valenciana of 3.1m  euros and consists of steel arches covered with planks of wood. Originally the wood chosen for the job was Argentine kebracho but that proved to be too heavy for the steel arches to bear and so iroko was specified.

African iroko is a hardwood that is known for its resistance to bad weather so it is puzzling that the wood on this particular pergola has deteriorated so much in just five years.

The answer is simple.  The actual wood used was fir because that is three times cheaper than iroko. Even laminated spruce would have been a better choice but no, they used fir. Further more, the wood was not properly treated when it was installed.

If the company that completed the work had used iroko then it could have been restored by sanding the wood down followed by a treatment with oil. Now it looks like all the wood will have to be removed to restore it.

Squatters move in

In nearby Callosa del Segura, squatters have moved in to apartments left empty after the banks have evicted owners. In the heyday many moved to new and larger flats, financed by mortgages from the banks that were all too willing to lend money. When the owners fell behind with payments, the banks foreclosed on them and took the properties over. Some of these homes have been auctioned off at knockdown prices but many remain empty.

Taking advantage of this situation, some have broken into the unoccupied flats and live in them with illegal connections to water and electricity. A few have made arrangements with the banks to pay a nominal rent. The squatters are not just from Callosa though, there are some who have come to the town from other parts of the Vega Baja. As you might imagine, the legal residents are none too happy about their gypsy neighbours.

Mayor looks for support

As expected, the mayor of Bigastro is struggling without the support of the Liberals. Without a majority, she can’t get approval for the budget and so has postponed preparation of the accounts until December.

It is vital though that she makes plans to cover the interest payments to suppliers because these must be closed before the end of the month and submitted to the Ministry of Economy.

The PSOE will only offer support to the PP if they know exactly what the plans are. In the past it was the PP who complained about the lack of information prior to council meetings – now the boot is on the other foot. I imagine the Socialists will only offer support on their own terms.

Note to Les

Les Rowlands, who lives at the other side of our estate, is a staunch Manchester City fan. He must therefore be like the cat that got the cream after his team’s 4-1 thrashing over Manchester United in the first derby game of this season.

United have had a dismal start to the season, drawing to Chelsea, losing to Liverpool and now to City. By all accounts, yesterday’s game was just awful if you were a red supporter. The only player willing to do anything was apparently Rooney which is amazing when you consider he was all set to leave the club.

This is not the first time in recent history that City have trounced United. Two years ago they beat them 6-1 at Old Trafford. Apparently though, yesterday’s game was more embarrassing because there were no freak goals this time. United were simply outplayed in every sense.

The only consolation was that Rooney’s goal was his 11th in Manchester derbies making him top scorer in these events.

I think you can take it that harsh words were spoken in the United dressing room.

More of the same

We all now know that Angela Merkel had great cause to celebrate her victory in the German elections. With 41.5% of the votes, she will continue to be the Chancellor. In fact she came close to getting an absolute majority. Whilst other leaders in Europe suffered following the economic crisis, Merkel seems to be gaining in strength. 

It is not the tradition in Germany for parties to try and rule in minority so it is thought that Mrs Merkel will probably look for a coalition partner. That won’t be the FDP though who were punished by the electorate for working in partnership during the last government. They failed to get the 5% necessary to remain in parliament this time round.  That leaves only the SPD who worked as second partners before in 2005 and then suffered in 2009 for that decision.

Thankfully, the AfD, who advocated Germany’s exit from the euro, also failed to gain the necessary 5%.

Book club

Just to remind you book worms, the book club operates on the last Sunday of every month between 3 and 4pm up at La Pedrera. Plenty of titles for you to choose from – sorry but I understand that Pauline’s copy of 50 Shades of Grey is out on permanent loan and I can’t say who to.

PS I will give you a clue – think about the men you haven’t seen about much recently who, when you do see them, look preoccupied!

Are we heavy drinkers?

I read this morning that Alicante leads the way in recycling glass with an average of 17.3kgs per person against an average for Spain of 14.5kgs.

What does this say about us? True, there are 8,513 collection containers in Alicante – a ratio of one to every 228 inhabitants which might make it easier for us to recycle our glass but that is still a lot of bottles per person. Perhaps the answer is that we drink more wine and sprits than the rest of the country!

Here to stay

The king's health, and speculation he would abdicate, were top Twitter topics in Spain after it was announced the monarch was to have his eighth surgery since 2010.

“The King has not thought of abdicating at any time,” palace spokesman Rafael Spottorno told journalists at a news conference called to give details of the surgery on his left hip, which is expected to take place in Madrid in the next few days.

Miguel Cabanela, a Spanish-born resident surgeon at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, has flown to Madrid to lead the operation.

The 75-year-old king, who uses a walking stick, has appeared visibly more frail in recent months and stumbled at a military ceremony last week. Both of his hips have been replaced and in March he had an operation on a spinal disc hernia.

Alzheimer Bigastro

Good morning, are you ready for a full weekend?

At the CASINO BAR, on Saturday afternoon you can taste Moorish tea along with desserts made by the best bakers in Bigastro.

And on Sunday morning you can sample solidarity PAELLA! RATIONS FOR ONLY €1.

Concert time

This Sunday, September 22, at 19:00 pm, the Youth Concert Band along with the band from Rafal, will be playing at the Municipal Auditorium Francisco Grau.

Third age Gala

For those of you who missed it, on Sunday, October 13 at 17:30 in the Auditorium Francisco Grau, there will be a reprise of Bigastro: The Musical. Tickets 2 €.

The first performance was held during the fiesta but started very late. The production was very entertaining and even if you could not understand all of the dialogue you’d get the gist of it. There was lots of singing and dancing with a background story.

A warning to others

When the story about the two young women arrested in Peru for drug smuggling broke, I felt very sorry for them but at the same time believed that they knew exactly what they were doing. Nobody would fall for the story that they flew from Ibiza to spend a few days in Peru just for the fun of it. I think it is likely that they were mislead by others who had gone before them that bringing cocaine from Peru back to Ibiza would be trouble free. 

It now seems that at least one of them, Melissa Reid, has decided to plead guilty in an attempt to expedite matters and reduce the prison sentence that she faces. She still claims that the girls were acting under duress but no longer states they had no idea what they were carrying or what was the purpose of the visit.

The prosecutor in Peru says that, if they plead guilty then they could be sentenced to prison within a month, otherwise the trial could last six months. And, in a report by the Daily Mail, Reid’s lawyer claimed that the girls would receive a sentence of six years and eight months if she pleads guilty but could be out in less than three years on parole. She might even stand a chance of serving her sentence in Britain. That prospect must have been tempting to Reid.

According to the prosecutor though, that is no longer the case. A new law that came into force two weeks after the arrest eliminates sentence reductions for people convicted of drug trafficking so it is six years and eight months in Peru minimum and possibly more if they were also found guilty of being paid for it.

It is a tough decision for the girls. On the face of it, their chances of persuading a judge that they are innocent are almost nil. Of course, the police would rather find the ring leaders than catch a couple of drug mules but that is a much tougher task. In the meantime, if they can make an example of these two girls, then that may at least dissuade others from following their paths.

A tragic accident

An American mother flew an Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Alicante airport on Wednesday night with her two children. She was due to meet her Canadian husband who was waiting for her in arrivals.

The mother put her five month old baby down on the carousel intended for outsize luggage. This particular carousel is activated by weight and so started up dragging the baby into the drop zone by the rollers. The mother, who was distracted, failed to notice what had happened until it was too late. Sadly, the emergency services could not resuscitate the baby.

The family, who were due to have a holiday in Denia, are receiving counselling. However, I have no idea how you could ever come to terms with something like that happening.

Car free day

Today is car free day in Orihuela.

At the Glorieta Gabriel Miró  there will be an exhibition of electric bikes and scooters which people can try out between 10:30am and 8:30pm.

According to the Councillor for Environment, Manuel Gallud, the city is considering signing an agreement with the company that supplies the electric bikes to provide them on a rental basis. They are also looking into the feasibility of establishing a cycle lane around the streets of Orihuela.  

Smokers may get their way

The smoking law in Spain came into force in 2010 and bans people from lighting up in all public places such as bars, restaurants and shops.

The ban though could halt a major project set out by Sheldon Adelson to build a 17 billion euro casino in the Alcorcón suburb of Madrid. The reason is that gamblers are big smokers. When they banned smoking in Illinois, trade dropped by 20% and rose in neighbouring states. Sheldon is not prepared to take that risk in Spain. If the government don’t pass an amendment to allow individual regions to make alterations to the law, then the casino could be built elsewhere.

The project—which includes six casinos, three golf courses, a convention centre, and 36,000 hotel rooms—is forecast to create up to 261,000 jobs and attract as many as 4.7 million visitors annually. It is obviously very important to Spain and something which the country would not want to miss out on.

Of course, if they make exemptions to the law, then other regions may well decide to take advantage. 

A victim of its own success

I love fish but seldom get to eat it because my better half is not a great fan. It is the bones that apparently put her off so a fillet of cod is fine but a whole fish on a plate is a definite no no.

In my case, I don’t mind negotiating the bones by eating the flesh from one side, removing the whole skeleton and then eating the other side. That is what I do with a trout and what I do with sea bass or lubino as it is called around these parts.

  Sea bass has been much vaunted by chefs because of its delicate flavour. It can take on chilli and other pungent ingredients or it can be gently suffused with herbs. It is also a fish that anglers enjoy catching because it fights well.

The problem is that the sea bass is a victim of its own success and is now being overfished reducing stocks by 20% in the last year. True, you can get farmed sea bass but the flavour is very different. Actually, I suspect that the majority of fish in restaurants these days are farmed because they are well under size for an adult fish.  Smothered with a spicy sauce, most people (including me) would not know the difference.

No doubt there will be another species of fish that will take its place on the gourmet table and then that too will dwindle in stocks.

My son-in-law will be happy

During the summer, it looked like Wayne Rooney was all set to leave United stopped only by his new manager David Moyes who refused to sell him to a rival team in the Premier League.

In the game against Bayer Leverkusen, Rooney seemed to have made a come back to previous form and scored his 200th goal for United. That puts him in an elite group of four trailing Jack Rowley by 11, Denis Law by 37 and Bobby Charlton by 49. By the time he is 30, Rooney could pass all four given half a chance. 

Working him in tandem with Robin van Persie seems to have paid off – Rooney is happy, the fans are happy oh how fortunes have changed!

On your bike

For the first time, bikes are outselling cars in Spain as people take to two wheels. The latest sales figures show that 780,000 bikes were sold against only 700,000 cars.

In the five years up to 2007, things were very different. Over half the new jobs in the eurozone were created in Spain. With their new found wealth, people bought luxury cars by taking out loans that they can no longer afford. Mercedes, BMW and Audi were the brands of choice, now it is the humble Dacia that is the biggest seller.

In the meantime the bike has become cool; young and old are taking to them and enjoying the freedom that cycling brings.

Police recover stolen camera

Local police in Orihuela recovered a camera that had been stolen from a car on Saturday.

They spotted a man in a car park who was well known to them for several robberies in the past. As they approached him, he started fumbling about seemingly hiding something in his pockets which turned out to be a digital camera. The man claimed he had found the camera in a waste container but upon inspection the camera still worked and had several pictures on the memory card.

Having arrested the man, the police decided to scour the area and found this car with its door forced open. They have since traced the owner of the car and told him how to recover his stolen camera.

I’m not sure what type of camera it was but I would bet that the repair to the car will be a lot more than the value of the stolen goods to the thief.

How many times have we been told NEVER to leave anything which might appear valuable in clear view inside a car? Handbags, cameras, sat navs, laptops are all magnets to thieves. The damage they do stealing them will often be more than the goods they get away with.

Of course, I could be wrong, the camera could have been in the glove box but I somehow doubt it.

Apple phobia

The Daily Mail complains about the fact that we can subscribe to BBC iPlayer for a lot less than viewers in Britain pay for the licence fee. The newspaper goes on to say that we have access to archive material that is unavailable in the UK and that is unfair.

It is only later in the article that the Mail points out that we cannot receive live streamed content nor can we get the catch up programmes on our version of iPlayer. OK, we may have 2000 hours of content to watch including some classic programmes but that is hardly the same as getting the full BBC service or the programmes available free on iPlayer in Britain.

Towards the end of the article, the Mail reveals its true gripe with our version of iPlayer. It is a well known fact that the Daily Mail hates everything Apple and of course iPlayer is only available through the apps. store which means that Apple receive 30% of the fee. Sour grapes?

Salty problems

If building the F1 track at Valencia was an expensive folly, consider the cost of that in relation to the desalination plant at Torrevieja.  The much vaunted project of the socialist government nine years ago cost 300 million euros and is still not fully operational.

It was meant to provide water for irrigation and replace the transfer of water from the Tajo to the Segura. Unfortunately it still faces two major problems, the lack of a suitable energy supply and more important customers.

According to the Zapatero government, the plant needed to deliver 40 to 80 hectometres of water for irrigation. Apart from the fact that the existing power supply cannot meet that demand, the price of the water and its quality are proving to be stumbling blocks. The price of water from the transfer was 0.14 euros per cubic metre and from the plant 0.50 euros per cubic metre added to which the quality is not suitable for certain crops.

Those municipalities that were forced to sign an agreement to buy water from the desalination plant are seeking an amendment.

A positive spin

In the second quarter of this year, the Valencia debt reached 29,235 million euros, 13.63% higher than last year, making it the second most indebted autonomy behind Catalonia. In relative terms. the highest debts were Valencia (29.4%), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (28.9%), Catalonia ( 26.2%) and Balearic Islands (22.1%).

According to data released yesterday by the Bank of Spain, the total debt in the second quarter of the year was 942.758 million euros which represents 92.2% of GDP  and grew by 17.16% over the same period in 2012.

After learning this information, the Consell  tried to put a positive spin on the figures by noting that Valencia is the only Spanish autonomy that has reduced  its borrowing in the first six months of 2013.They also point out that this reduction contrasts with the increase of 8,747 million debt that has been experienced by the other Spanish autonomous communities.

The Consell say that there was a 0.7% decrease in debt for the Region during the first half of the year compared to an average of  4.7% rise experienced by all of the autonomies and increases which were close to 15 percent for some of them. As for the debt / GDP ratio in the Region, that remains at 29.4%.

However much spin they put on the situation, the fact is that Valencia is still very much in the mire. The austerity measures that have been put in place are working but the progress is very slow.

Two Calle Alemanias in one town (not Bigastro)

When it came to naming streets in the new urbanisations of Torrevieja, nobody thought to check if the names had been used before in other parts of the town. That means that there are thirty names which are used twice.

You can imagine the confusion that this causes to emergency services who can turn up at the wrong place. It is also confusing for the post office and for visitors. The only solution is to change one of the names to something else and that is what the council propose to do.

However, we know from experience that finding a newly named street can be difficult. When we first moved here and for some time afterwards, couriers would either turn up or not depending how up-to-date their sat navs were and how prepared they were to ask locals for directions. It will take some time (years not months) before people become familiar with the changed names.

Another balcony death

It seems that, almost weekly, we read about British tourists falling from hotel balconies in Spain. Recently, one fell from the fifth floor of a hotel in Benidorm.

He was at the resort on a stag weekend with friends. They had been out drinking when one of the party decided to return to his room early. He apparently got out of the lift on the fifth floor instead of the 13th where his room was located.  When he failed to get into what he thought was his room, the man decided to climb through a window and get in via the balcony. He fell onto the roof of the kitchen and was pronounced dead by the emergency services who tried to revive him.

I wonder why it is that these young men think that they can emulate Spiderman, is it just plain lunacy or the bravado that comes from having too much to drink?

Was it a sign from heaven?

The first session of the Spanish Parliament following the summer break had to be postponed for two hours.

The Palacio de Congresos is undergoing a 4.4 million euro overhaul. There are tarpaulins covering sections of the chamber, meant to keep rain out, which gave in when the weight of a thunderstorm proved too much. The speaker was forced to order parliamentarians to leave for fear of electrocution.

Some say it was a sign from heaven because Mariano Rajoy was expecting a grilling over the ongoing scandal of the secret slush fund that Luis Barcenas says operated. The ex treasurer claims that Sr Rajoy regularly received brown envelopes of cash donated by businessmen in return for lucrative contracts. The president, of course, denies the allegations. 

That’s big!

Visitors to Alicante airport may have spotted this giant cargo plane parked in the area normally reserved for private aviation and wondered what it was.

It is an Antonov 124 which arrived from Mitiga Airport, Libya. It bears the Ukranian registration UR-82029, has a wingspan of almost 74m is 69m in length and weighs over 400 tons. It has been parked up for 9 days waiting to fly on to Malaga to pick up further cargo.

In all, Antonov Airlines have nine of these beasts of which 7 are in active service and 2 are on loan to other companies. This one was first delivered March 1992 and changed its registration in May 1993.

These giants of the sky are used to transport large cargo including other aircraft fuselages. Before this one, two other Antonov 124s have landed at El Altet, one from Paris which was carrying cars and motorbikes for the funeral procession of an African leader and the other, the Telefónica boat that took part in the first Volvo Ocean Race. 

For such a large aircraft, the cockpit looks a bit small to me and rather austere.

Quite frankly I am disappointed

Both my daughters have iPhones (actually Jemma is still waiting for a replacement for the one that was stolen in Alicante). They have contracts that give them unlimited texts, calls and a a decent quota of data. However, over the period that they own the phones, they will have more than paid the price that Apple charge for an unlocked device.

Pamela and I already have iPads but would like smartphones for the convenience they bring. However, we don’t want expensive contracts and we don’t want to pay even the £349 (or399 euros) for an unlocked 4s.

The announcement that Apple were producing a plastic version of the phone seemed interesting. Maybe this would be an iPhone to suit both our needs and pockets but no.

Apple have just unveiled two new models, the iPhone 5S which is an upmarket version of the 5 and the iPhone 5C which comes in 5 girly colours (pink, green, blue, yellow and white). The bad news is that an unlocked 5C will cost £469 (there isn’t a price for this on the Spanish site).

We visited Media Markt last week and found the Spanish made, 5 inch screen, BQ phone, running Android Jelly Bean for just less than 200 euros. It may not have the same status as an iPhone when your draw it from your pocket but if it does more or less the same things, then it is a winner in my book.

Quiet once again

For Pam and I, it has been a hectic month. First we had the fiesta with late nights and skipped meals, then the girls and Molly came to stay. After they had gone back we had the wedding of Eladia and Kinete and lastly, our friends Hugh and Angela came to stay.

None of these events have been stressful, except the trauma of Jemma’s bag been stolen in Alicante, but put together they have been a break from our normal tranquil routine.

Now Angela and Hugh have departed for the airport and we shall miss their company. Even the blips in the weather did nothing to spoil our six days in their company.

It seems to be at odds to me

Spain, a country where 27% of the working population are out of work, a country which required an EU bailout to support its banking sector, where thousands line up for handouts and yet one of its football clubs has just paid 100m euros for a player.

No doubt the fans at Real Madrid are delighted at the prospect of watching Gareth Bale play for them. He managed to speak a little well rehearsed Spanish as the crowd cheered him at the presentation. Their hope is that he will help them win a coveted 10th European Cup. That may or may not happen because we all know that football is a fickle game of fate.

To my mind, the world of football, like the world of pop, is unreal. The sums of money involved and the fortunes to be made bear no comparison to the lives of ordinary people. And yet, without the drip, drip, drip of ordinary people’s money, none of this could happen. We, the public, have been sucked in to providing these God like creatures with wealth beyond their dreams. I may be speaking heresy here but it all seems terribly wrong to me.

I don’t do abuse

At the wedding on Saturday, I stepped outside a number of times to smoke my pipe - much to the amusement of some of the young Spaniards there. They asked me if smoking a pipe was less hazardous to your health, whether pipe smoking was common in Britain and whether I put cannabis in my pipe. The answer to all three questions was NO.

1. Pipe smokers do not inhale the smoke like cigarette smokers do so there is a lower risk of lung cancer but that does not reduce the risk of contracting other forms of cancer. 

2. Pipe smoking used to be popular in Britain up to the 50s and 60s but has been on the decline for a number of years.

I first took to the pipe in the late sixties when I was a student and then gave it back up for the convenience of cigarettes when I was a young teacher. In 1975 I bought my first new car and at that time returned to the pipe for economic reasons. I’ve stuck to the pipe ever since.

I first smoked Clan with its heavily perfumed Cavendish tobacco. I then dabbled with Balkan Sobranie, Three Nuns, Erinmore and Condor. Finally I returned to latakia tobacco and smoked Presbyterian mixture followed by Dunhill  My Mixture 365 for many years.

Whilst we lived in Greasby, I would go into my local shop and ask for “My Mixture” at which point the owner would tell me it was “His Mixture” until I paid for it, then he would polish the tin because it was the most expensive tobacco in the shop. 

In Spain, pipe smoking is even less common than it is in Britain but I managed to find a shop in Torrevieja that sold Saint Bruno and have stuck with that ever since. The local shop in Bigastro now orders supplies in for me. I get through about two 50gm packets a week, seldom more and often less.

3. Somehow I managed to avoid smoking cannabis in the 60s. Whilst many were experimenting with weed and other substances, I was content with a pint of best bitter and my pipe of tobacco. After seeing the harm that drugs and alcohol abuse have done to many, including my own brother, I am pleased to say that I was never tempted to dabble in drugs and have managed to moderate my consumption of alcohol.

I read in the papers today that Britain has been earmarked as the leader in Europe for the use of “legal highs”. These are drugs that were never intended for human consumption but which young people have found give them a similar sensation to illegal drugs. There is also widespread concern about the levels of alcohol abuse in Britain, the so called binge drinking and the number of people who are taking drug-substitute prescriptions such as methadone over a long period.

The report in the Telegraph says that the rate of alcohol dependence among British men was second in western Europe and that alcohol dependence among women was higher in Britain than anywhere in Europe.

You can apportion the blame for all this to the economic situation, to the cheap booze offers in shops or whatever – the end result is the same – a country facing a growing problem that nobody seems able to tackle. 

Our Spanish daughter

 

Ana, in the centre of the photo was our Spanish teacher in the first years that we were here. At the same age as our own children, we considered her to be our “Spanish daughter”. We were delighted when she married the very handsome Angel (on the right) and even more delighted when they had two children (also called Angel and Ana). They, along with the parents were the first people we befriended here in Bigastro and we have remained close ever since.

Ana and her sister Marisu (taken from Facebook)	Ana and Marisu with their parents (taken from Facebook)

Such a perfect day

What a stunning dress	The Grau family pose for a photo
The radiant bride exudes happiness	as her husband to be watches on

The sun shone but it was not too hot and with just a mere breeze, it was the perfect day for a wedding.

As I said yesterday, this was a first for Pamela and I – a Spanish wedding.

The setting was Bahia Costa at La Mata, the wedding ceremony itself was in the garden area followed by canapés and drinks in the salon. We then moved to the main banqueting room for the wedding breakfast. Later on there was a disco back in the salon with a free bar.

Fine dining

Look at that list of canapés, each one delicious in its own right.  I think I managed to sample most of them! Then move to the menu itself - seven courses starting with a refreshing tuna salad (not the tinned variety you understand) and finishing with the richest chocolate soufflé you could imagine (deliciously soft in the middle). The Mariscada Bahia was a plateful of different varieties of prawns with a crayfish as the centrepiece. That was followed by another plate of warm red prawns (a different flavour altogether). Then there was sea bass cooked to perfection followed by pork fillets in port wine. The Centro de Fruta was served on a large plate with a pineapple in the centre surrounded by a selection of fresh fruit of all sorts.  All this was accompanied by a very fruity local white wine and a delightful red. There were bottles of beer, Coca Cola and Fanta for those who preferred them.

Of course, a sumptuous meal like this would be just food if the company you ate it with was less than enjoyable. If you have never been to a Spanish wedding, I can tell you they are boisterous affairs.  There was a lot of cheering and clapping as the guests encouraged the bride and groom to kiss over and over again.

Everyone was there to enjoy themselves – a total fiesta as you might expect and far less formal than most British weddings.

From all this, you have probably gathered that Pam and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I am finding it hard to choose suitable words sufficient to thank Eladia and Joaquin for inviting us. We hope that they enjoyed their day and have a very happy and prosperous life together as man and wife.