Looking a lot better

It is good that Bigastro is to receive all that money to lay tarmac on the streets of the town, well done. 

The shame is that, when we first came here Calle Purisima was laid with setts which I assume had been there for years. There were one or two patches where they needed to be relaid but on the whole they were in good condition and just needed a thorough clean. 

When the council received FEIL money, it was decided to rip up the existing setts and replace them with new ones. Unfortunately the job was badly done and the new setts were not smooth like the old one. 

Now, money is required to take up the setts and replace them with tarmac. As I said,  why did they not simply clean the old setts and save thousands of euros doing a job that has now had to be redone. They would have looked a lot more in keeping than tarmac for the main street in the town. 

There was a lot of waste with the money that came from the government, like the road into the town that has a cycle track that nobody uses or the fountain that has had to be rebuilt. Recent works like the playground areas in the parks have been better thought out and are a much more sensible use of money. 

On a further positive note, it is nice to see how clean the streets are now and how the parks on our estate have been groomed to look smart. The cutting of the trees to create doughnut shapes is also a great improvement. 

Perhaps we could now have some benches in the San Isidro park for people to sit and enjoy the view. I'm sure those ladies along with a few men who walk up here every day would appreciate them. 

One other thing I would suggest is a lick of paint on the benches alongside the road into town and maybe replace the bins that were ripped off by vandals with something that would be harder to remove. 

The quirks of the Spanish elections

In Algorfa, only 1008 (59.25% of those eligible) turned out to vote. There were just two parties in contention, the PSOE (socialists) and the PP (conservatives). Of the seats available, the PSOE won 6 against the PP with 5 and did so with a margin of 4 votes between them.

Better still, in the hamlet of Felechares de la Valderia only 3% of 163 eligible voters went to cast their ballot. Out of the five ballot papers one was declared null and void because of technical reasons and two more were empty envelopes. That left two votes for the two PP councillors who literally voted themselves into power.

In the town of Villaroya in La Rioja, the polling station opened at 9am and closed at 9:02am. In those two minutes all 9 of the people had voted. They apparently have an agreement to be at the polling station when it opened so that they could be the first to close in the country.

With those sort of figures in mind, it is true to say that every vote counts in Spanish local elections. It doesn't take a lot for a council to change from one party to another

The caring bank

La Caixa  bank have donated a 9 seater vehicle, adapted to take two wheelchairs, to the Alzheimer Association "Remember me"  in Bigastro.

The minibus will help to transport those that the association helps and thus brighten up their lives.

La Caixa is the bank that Pamela and I use. It is heartening to know that they do good work with the profits they make from our accounts! 

Nip it in the bud

My friend, Scout John, informs me that there was a gang of young people roaming around our estate a few days prior to the vandalism up at the swimming pool. They were seen going into the abandoned houses and then into the pool at one of the holiday homes. They had apparently been into several gardens where the houses were unoccupied.

As John says, we need to keep an eye out for them and phone the police if they return. In a small town like Bigastro, they will be known. Nothing much escapes the locals here so I am sure that they will be told off by now. 

Vandals attack the pool at La Pedrera

Vandals at the weekend trashed the pool complex at La Pedrera.

They tried to break into the restaurant but that was alarmed and had a reinforced door. Instead they dumped waste bins in the pool along with garbage. They also destroyed the large pots at the entrance to the complex. The manager of the company that looks after the pool estimates that 9,000 euros worth of damage was done sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning.

On their way back down to the town they moved other garbage bins from our estate down the road.


I wonder, what possesses people to do such things. The pool is an amenity which many from the town enjoy during the summer months. The new council will have their work cut out trying to regain pride in the town if hooligans continue to act in this way.

Not to be missed

The Bigastro band will be playing their traditional concert for Corpus Christi on Friday, 5th June. This year though, the venue will be the plaza in front of the church. I do hope the sky gods are kind.

Pam and I will be there - I will be recording the concert in both audio and with pictures. I will also be making a video of Corpus Christi for the church as I did last year.

Sadly not mine

What a sight that was, the three Queens from the Cunard fleet in Liverpool with a fly past by the Red Arrows.

The Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Mary 2 visited Liverpool on the 175th anniversary of the association  of the company with Liverpool.

Before people took to air travel to reach America and Canada, liners like the Queen Mary 2 were the only way to get there. 

When we emigrated to Canada in 1956, my mother, grandmother, brother and I travelled on a Greek ship – my father had flown across ahead of us to find a job. When we returned in 1957, my father was also with us on the Empress of Canada (an earlier Cunard liner). I still remember entering the Mersey and seeing the Liver building knowing that we were then back in Blighty.

Although flying to America might be convenient, there is something magical about crossing the Atlantic on a liner. 

Since I wasn’t in Liverpool yesterday, this photo is not mine. It is taken from the Liverpool Echo.

Alicante

	The picture for Alicante province is complicated. The smaller parties have broken up the dominance of PP/PSOE reducing the PP from 20 seats to 11 and the PSOE from 12 seats to 9. Neither PP nor PSOE can rule without forming a pact with another party.
	In 2011, the PP had a majority of seats.
	The situation is more critical in Valencia where neither the PP nor the PSOE have anywhere near enough seats to hold a majority.

Bigastro municipal elections

	The results for this year show that the Conservatives (PP) won 7 seats taking one each from the Socialists and the Liberals. That means they have a slender one seat majority. Note that the percentage turnout reduced to 78.75%. In 2007 and 2011 299 votes were needed to gain one seat on the council. This year that dropped to 263 which is why every vote counted. With just 173 more votes than they received in 2007, the PP have gained two seats and taken control.
	Although the Socialists had the most seats on the council in 2011, they did not have enough to form a majority. The Conservatives (PP) and Liberals formed a pact to take control. When that pact broke down, the PP continued to govern in the minority.
	This was the result from 2007 when the Socialists held the majority with 8 seats on the council. Notice that over 88% of the eligible voters turned out.

Almost native

Like any capital city, Rome is daunting when you first arrive. However, when you you have been here for a few days, it all starts to become familiar and you find yourself travelling the same streets to get to the places where you want to be.

It is an exhausting city though with heavy traffic and streets that are crowded with people. Apart from the locals, there are many tourists at this time of year including coach loads of Japanese.

Many of the visitors we have met on the guided tours have been Americans on a grand tour of Italy or    even Europe. One such couple were from California and had been away from home for seven weeks, travelling by air and train through London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona.

Quite what it would be like to live out of suitcases for that long a period is hard to imagine. Having taken in two cruises en route and flown over 11 hours from Los Angeles, I imagine they were pretty much exhausted. Certainly, they were looking forward to getting home.

As for us, we return to Bigastro tomorrow. For us it is just a one and a half hour flight back to Alicante - almost pathetic in comparison with the Americans and Australians we have met.

At last

Finally, I have got into my account on my iPad to update you on what is going on.

As you might have guessed, we are not at home. In fact we are taking a break in Rome doing the usual tourist things like visiting the Vatican etc.

As per usual, we became too ambitious about how far we could walk and on the second day ended up with aching legs, knees etc etc.

Having learnt that lesson, we are pacing ourselves now and taking taxis when necessary.

For those who haven't been or who are planning a trip here, book everything you can in advance especially the Vatican where the queue for tickets is a whole day job. We had a guided tour which meant we walked straight in right in front of the queue.

Inside though we were herded like cattle along with the thousands of others until we reached the Sistine Chapel. From there things did improve and the tour around the Basilica was much more civilised.

We met a number of Americans who had just a few days in Rome and we're trying to take in two tours each day. At three hours each with travelling in between, that would be one hell of a tiring day - no thank you!

Root of the problem

The company that was awarded the contract for the swimming pool and bar-restaurant La Pedrera says that the reason the area is in such a state is because there has been no electricity supply since last August. The transformer was broken, then repaired and broke again.

The company now says that it is working overtime to get the place ready for San Isidro. The pool will be open on May 31st and there will be swimming lessons available from June.

The wrong choice of words

In the televised three way debate between the candidates for the municipal elections, Raul Valerio Medina (PSOE) claimed that the fiestas in Bigastro have been destroyed over the years and are now shameful.

I think that I understand his point. The budget for fiestas has been eroded over the years since the financial crisis hit hard. If Raul Valerio Medina’s purpose was to suggest that the new council should provide a more suitable budget for fiestas, then sadly he was misconstrued by some.

His remarks have insulted members of the recent committees who have employed great ingenuity to put on something worthwhile within the confines of a restricted budget. The lavish budgets of the past meant that it was easier to stage something spectacular, to hire artists and pay for activities. Those days though are gone and so we have to applaud the people responsible for even being able to stage any kind of fiesta at all. The fact that they have brought back traditions from the past such as the “Carrera de Cintas” that provide entertainment at minimum cost is, in my opinion, pure genius.

Mainly though, we have to recognise that the members of the Commission are volunteers who give many hours of their time without any financial reward. In fact, I dare say that they are out of pocket. Destroyed and shameful were perhaps the wrong choice of words by the PSOE candidate for mayor. Watered down by budget restraints would be a better way to describe the situation.

It’s too hot for some

AEMET have issued a warning for maximum temperatures of up to 38 degrees for tomorrow. The reason that we are getting such high temperatures is a wave of hot air coming from the Sahara desert. The good news is that temperatures will drop then on Friday back to about 25 degrees. As we have experienced in the past, spring seems to have been skipped as we moved from winter to summer almost overnight.

Whilst these high temperatures might be uncomfortable for us, they are a real cause of concern for farmers.

We had very little rain in autumn and winter, another year of drought. Water reserves in the soil are low and this affects those crops that rely solely on natural irrigation like the almonds and the olives. Although the almond trees blossomed well and set fruit, this heat could well have an effect on the quality of the produce. Olives are in flower now and this heat could adversely affect both the quantity and quality of the fruit.

Also affected will be cereals, citrus, vegetables along with the wine and table grapes.

A fairer way–possibly

Whilst the Conservative party might be rejoicing at their success during the General Election and the SNP are basking in the glory of having 56 seats in the House of Commons, the other parties are less pleased with what happened.

The British system of “first past the post” does not truly represent the wishes of the people. To make matters worse, proposed changes to the boundaries that the Conservatives will now drive through will be to their advantage at the next election. Although the notion of proportional representation was rejected in 2011, maybe it is time to revisit the idea.

These bar charts from the Independent highlight what this would have meant to the results this year.

As you can see, the Conservatives, SNP and Labour would have lost out and neither of the two largest parties would have been able to form a government without entering into a coalition. It is also pertinent to note that 36.9% of a turnout out 66% means that the Conservatives actually represent less than 25% of the voting public.

The sorry state of the outdoor pool

There are two swimming pools at La Pedrera; the original one is by the barbecue area, the new one is at Camping La Pedrera. The contrast between the two could not be more striking.

The original outdoor pool at La Pedrera used to be a popular place for young people from the town. The restaurant next to it served refreshments and even at times meals. At one point, they held fortnightly salsa dances up there which seemed to be popular as well.

It is now in a very sorry state, weeds are growing between the paving slabs, the water is green, the toilets are in a terrible state and the purification system is broken. There are heaps of rubble, large bags of prunings and the signs for the restaurant are broken. It is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests.

The opposition parties in the town complained that the mayor had taken three years to sort out a contract that would maintain the area. After a series of meetings during June of 2014, a contractor was finally appointed.  Loespama Mediterranean promised to invest money and make the place good for the summer but that has not happened.

With San Isidro later this month, the matter has become urgent. Whether it will be ready in time is hard to say, there is a lot of work to be done.  

Yet again

José Joaquín Moya, former mayor of Bigastro, faces another case in court. This time he is accused of six offences; fraud, disclosure of secrets (two counts), prevarication, influence peddling and embezzlement of public funds for which the prosecutor is asking for up to eleven years in jail, a fine of 450,000 euros and a seventeen year ban from public office.

Also accused is the former secretary, Antonio Saseta for whom the prosecutor asks for four years in prison and a five year ban from public office. Two others are implicated as well.

The case will be heard in Elche.

Aurelio’s manifesto

If you recall, Aurelio Murcia was expelled from the PP with which he had differences of opinion. He went on to form his own party which he described as liberal -centrist. At the last election Aurelio obtained enough votes to win two seats on the council. In coalition with the PP, the liberals ran the council with Aurelio as Deputy Mayor.

The pact though was fragile and broke down when Aurelio reported in a local paper that he did more work than the mayor and therefore should be paid her salary.

Aurelio intends to run again and hopes to gain more seats this time around.  

Here are his proposals which will be outlined in more detail at a meeting he hopes to hold up at Camping La Pedrera.

REDUCE LOCAL TAXES

--Rubbish collection by 25%.

--Private parking entrance reserved by 50%

--No charges for: administration services, using the streets for private business, establishing new companies or for using municipal buildings.

INCOME INCREASE AND GET MORE GRANTS

--Introduce a service specialized in getting grants from Valencia, Madrid and Europe.

--Stimulate private expenses in new buildings.

--Update all municipal debts.

--Approve new plans parciales.

REDUCE EXPENSES.

--Negotiate the financial cost of debts with banks and government.

--Reduce expenses of : electricity, petrol, etc.

--Energy saving of 25% over the actual cost.

--Better control on usage of materials and machines.

--Join services to save expenses and make better use of local installations and staff.

HERITAGE

--Purchase the part of the cemetery not owned by the Town Hall.

--Register rural land and garages owned by the Town.

--Recover plots of land sold but not paid for.

--Enlarge the industrial area with plots for

the Town hall.

SOCIAL SERVICES

--2% of the budget will be for these services.

--The Alzheimer and La Pedrera associations will be declared very important for the municipality.

--Town Hall will pay for maintenance and other works.

--Co-ordination between municipality services and these associations to get the maximum use of the buildings.

--Social services at home only for people that really need them and have no money

PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

-- Reduce local taxes for new business, new building works, and use of the streets.

--Give more land to camping La Pedrera and extend the contract.

--Use La Pedrera area to install a nature reserve to promote this zone for education and environmental activities.

--Use the old school Calasanz as a professional school for young people.

--Create a special development office to help young people finding jobs.

--Increase industrial land to install new companies.

--Only companies from Bigastro will work for and provide local services paid for by the Town Hall.

--Municipal jobs board on the internet.

--Collaboration with the community of rural workers.

--Purísima street open to the traffic during commercial hours.

-Help the local shops and promote their activities.

--Local TV run by a private company.

URBANISM AND WORKS

--D6: Finish the project make it cheaper and give licences immediately.

--D5: Build the streets. Clean and lay out plots.

--D4: Clean and maintain.

--D12: Meet with owners to agree what is the best course of action.

--Only allow ground floor and two stories on the following streets:General Bañuls, Cervantes, T. Villanueva and C. Murciana.

--Remove the granite setts from remaining streets.

--Finish the works at la Acequia.

--Include Bigastro in Diputación´s plans.

--Finish the cemetery works.

--Lay asphalt on rural ways and install lights.

--Repair parks Lo Chusco and surroundings of old Calasanz school.

--Recover the parks in industrial area.

FIESTAS

--Keep the traditions and encourage everybody to participate in them.

--Celebrations for everybody and with everybody.

SPORTS

--Support all sports schools and clubs, providing them with the best facilities.

--Open the heated pool.

SECURITY

--Open a police office in the village.

--More police agents in the village.

--Special care to the rural areas and la Pedrera.

--Updated equipment for the agents.

--Reorganize the traffic routes in the town.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

--Private company to run the nursery Bigastrin.

--Special budget for Unión Musical.

--Declare Unión Musical as strategic institution of local interest.

--Activities of culture and education at old Calasanz school.

--Buy electronic screens for all primary schools.

--Promote the exchange of books at schools.

--Meal service and activities in summer.

--Promote exchange of students to practice languages, mainly English.

--Recover the classes for adults, and Spanish for foreigners.

--Keep activities in Auditorium, specially for children and young people.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND TRANSPARENCY

--Create an ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL with representatives from all of the local associations so that they can give their point of view on important matters before decisions are made.

--The political parties out of the government will be part of any local committee and part of any local contract. Also they will have direct free access to any municipal information.

--DIALOGUE: there will be a special committee of political parties leaders to study jointly all important matters.

--Every month the following information will be on internet:

--The state of the budget.

--Income and expenses..

--How much money there is in the municipal accounts..

--Record of all meetings.

EVERYTHING MUST BE CLEAR

WE ARE A BROKEN VILLAGE WITH VERY HIGH TAXES

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR

1.-TAKE LOCAL TAXES DOWN AND INCREASE INCOME.

2.-INCOME AND EXPENSES MUST BE BALANCED.

3. FIRST PAY STANDARD EXPENSES.

4.-THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INCOME AND

EXPENSES MUST BE DEDICATED TO:

A.- SOCIAL SERVICES.

B.- ECONOMICAL PROMOTION.

C.- CITIZENS SECURITY.

D.- CULTURE , SPORTS, CELEBRATIONS.

Election programme

This one from the PP.

Energy efficiency money up for grabs

The PP wanted to bid for 150,000 euros in support of a plan to install solar panels on municipal buildings and to buy two electric vehicles, one for the police and one for the council. At the time, the Socialists and Liberals opposed the idea. Instead they wanted to replace the boilers at La Paz school and to a new lighting system for the town with energy efficient bulbs. The deadlock meant that the town was unable to make a successful bid.

The deadline for submission is this Sunday, so the PP called an emergency council meeting in an attempt to get agreement from the opposition parties. This time, Aurelio says that he will back the PP because it is important that Bigastro does not miss out on the money available.

The other issue that is on the agenda is to look at the legislature from 2003 to 2007 which allowed José Joaquín Moya to exchange the right to build above three storeys in the town for agricultural land.

Lost revenue

Road improvements on the N-332 have hurt the AP-7 toll motorway. Autopistas del Sureste (AUSUR) made an appeal to the Ministry of Development for compensation but that has been rejected.

AUSUR, who have the concession until 2048, claim they will lose 311 million euros in tolls.

I would say that part of the problem lies with AUSUR who increase their tolls almost annually and have a higher rate for the summer months than for the winter. If you join the motorway and leave it at the right junctions then you pay no toll at all but stay on through the popular sections and you are several euros out of pocket. 

Well, well, well

As the voting finished, the polls were still predicting a close run call between Labour and Conservatives in the UK General Election. The exit polls told a different story with the Conservatives in the lead but still without enough seats to form a majority.

As the night rolled on though, things were becoming a lot clearer. Nicola Sturgeon’s charismatic personality worked in Scotland where the SNP have scooped up all but one seat. The Liberal Democrats have all but been wiped out and Nigel Farage looks as though he might lose in Thanet leaving his party with just one seat.

UKIP will be smarting, having 12% of the vote (more than the SNP and Liberal Democrats) but only gaining one seat so far.

With the possibility of such a slender majority, David Cameron will have his work cut out to hold on to his policies given that he has 20 rogue MPs on his benches and the SNP/Labour barking at his heels.

We could see a call for a second referendum on Scotland’s independence and with Nicola Sturgeon at the helm that could provide a different result to last time. Cameron has promised a referendum on EU membership which he will find very difficult to manage. The next five years could be both turbulent and decisive for British politics. In the end, the electorate will get what they voted for.

That is good news

Looks like the Ayuntamiento managed to get some funding to help pay for the events that took place in March 1) the Ruta de Tapa and 2) the Catwalk show.

Remember last year?

Last year I thought it would be cool to get some photos of the riders stamping on their pedals as they climbed the hill up past the old tip to La Pedrera. I positioned myself on a bend where I could see a fair stretch of the hill with trees as a backdrop. Then it started to rain.

I stood in the rain for almost an hour waiting and waiting and then gave up. When I came back down the hill, the marshals had gone and cleared away the barrier.

Hopefully this year we will be blessed with better weather so that I can get some action shots of riders on their bikes. 

Will you be voting tomorrow?

May 7th is polling day in Britain and by all accounts it could be a close run thing with neither the Conservatives (PP) nor Labour (Socialistas) expected to gain enough seats to hold an overall majority. Of course we all know that the polls can be woefully wrong in their predictions; all those undecided voters may turn out in force and give one or other of the parties the seats they are hoping for. 

In preparation for this and knowing that West WIrral was a marginal seat, I registered to vote. There were two choices,  a postal vote or a vote by email so I opted for the latter. I did receive notification of my registration on the electoral roll in good time but there was no indication of how I was to exercise my franchise.

I thought that maybe I would receive instructions in due course or perhaps they would send me the form for a postal vote but no. I have had nothing to tell me how to vote, what a waste of time! I will still keep my eye on what happens but it is not the same when you haven’t actually cast a vote yourself.

Should Spain continue with the siesta?

When you came to Spain on holiday, one of the first things that struck you was the traditional siesta. In hotels that cater for tourists service is continuous throughout the day but venture into the local towns and everything shuts down for two hours or more. This is the period in the middle of the day when you want to avoid the heat, have a meal and enjoy a quick nap. it makes sense in the summer but less sense in the winter.

We got caught out by this one time in Estepona. There was a free shuttle bus to the town from the hotel where we were staying so we set off at 11:00 am; the return bus was at 5pm which we thought gave us plenty of time for some shopping and a bite to eat. How wrong we were, everything shut down at about 1:30/2pm and remained closed, even the cafes and bars were closed. It was a long wait for the bus on a hot summer’s day. We eventually managed to find a bar that was open and sat there for nearly two hours sipping water. When the bus arrived to take us back to the hotel, we were the first to get on it!

Of course, if we had waited long enough, the shops would have re-opened and stayed open until 7 or 8pm. In tourist areas we even found some shops open until 9pm to catch the after-dinner shoppers out for a stroll in the cool of the evening.

The problem for Spaniards is that the siesta makes for a long working day. Most start work at 8:30 to 9am, then they have that break for a siesta followed by work until 7pm. The evening meal can start at 10pm meaning that bedtime is around 12pm or later. The pattern deprives them of time with the family and time for leisure.

Attempts to reform the working day though meet with resistance. Once you have established a pattern of sleep that counts on a midday nap, it is hard to break it. I routinely have an hours sleep during the day and without it feel tired and grumpy.

The brain drain

Young people continue to leave the province in the hope of finding work elsewhere. The loss is particularly noticeable in the 30-34 age group and is most pronounced amongst men over 25 years of age.

At the same time, there are fewer babies being born, over 500 less are predicted for this year. By 2018, that number is expected to climb to 2,000. Along with increased life expectancy that means that the average age of the population will increase.

Whether or not the young people will return to Spain when or if the economic situation improves remains to be seen.

Floral Crosses in Bigastro

Holy Cross

Yesterday marked the end of the Fiesta at the area of the Holy Cross.

First off, the Junior Band along with the courts of the queens from last year’s August Fiesta did a tour of the streets. Then at 12am there was Holy Mass in the pavilion erected by the park at Holy Cross. That was followed by paella for the neighbours and finally games for the children.

It isn’t just in Bigastro though where they celebrate the Holy Cross. Yesterday was the date that the Catholic Church honours the cross on which Jesus Christ died. In Granja de Rocomora, they hold a centuries old celebration of the cross. Each May 3rd they ask for God’s blessing for all the people and especially their crops to ward off all evil and to prevent natural disasters that could damage their land.

As it was

	This is Patio Andaluz as it was back in 1975, how times have changed!
	Just look at the N-332 back in those days.

Fiesta time

The partnership “Remember Me”, dedicated to supporting families and Alzheimer, have  organized for today an activity that  they call “Solidarity Movement” to publicize their activities with patient care and respite service.

This second edition  will take place outside the Metro nightclub from ten in the morning. There will be musical performances along with children's entertainment and a craft market. Of course there will be food and drink prepared by residents of the municipality and volunteers  from Remember Me. The aim is to raise at least the three thousand euros they managed last year.

This weekend we can enjoy the FIesta at the Holy Cross in Bigastro with a diner dance on Saturday followed by paella on Sunday. For those who like flamenco dancing, the Sevillana Festival at Pilar de la Horadada finishes tomorrow.

Then, from the 6th until the 10th May, there will be the May Fair in Torrevieja. Plenty of dancing, a free concert by the duo “Camela” on Friday and the horse and carriage parades on Saturday and Sunday. It is anticipated that there will be 300 horses and between 25 and 30 carriages taking part this year.

And on the 16th May, the traditional Romeria for San Isidro, the patron saint of farm workers.

Patio Andaluz

	Always worth a visit, Patio Andaluz serves good food and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays there is the bonus of a cabaret show with flamenco to entertain you. Booking on those nights is essential though because the restaurant gets full.

Recommended food: the fried baby squid and the prawns in garlic are great starters.
For main courses, the rabbit in garlic and the bull’s tail are both very tasty.

Using roundabouts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second time

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

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

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

No Internet - damn!

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

PSOE

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

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

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

Birthday girl

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

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

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

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

Money laundering

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

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

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

What to do

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

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

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

Holy Cross

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

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

Typical food

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

A noticeable improvement

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

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

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

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

Useful information

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

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

Alicante website.

The crisis is far from over

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

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

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

My own opinion

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

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

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

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

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

Question time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interesting

A bit of history

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

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

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

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

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

Not all bad news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The latest scam

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

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

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

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

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

On the way out

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

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

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

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

Some changes

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

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

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

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

First off the mark

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

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

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

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

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

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

Busy times

What a weekend:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Out for a walk

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

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

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

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

Last day

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

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

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

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

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

A problem for Europe

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

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

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

They’ve stolen our weather

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

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

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

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

Out to get you

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

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

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

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

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

a) they rarely  use the indicators to signal their intentions

b) they perform the most dangerous passing manoeuvres

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

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

Percuseve in Bigastro

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

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

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

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

Coming good

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

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

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

A reminder

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

Airport misery

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

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

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

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

Check on your right to vote

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

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

Partial recovery

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

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

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

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

The Encuentro

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

That was hard going

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

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

Good Friday in Orihuela

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

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

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

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

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

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