Helpful advice

In a country and an area where temperatures rarely get so low, the Town Hall has seen fit to post some helpful tips on how to survive the current freeze.

 

My humble suggestions

Local elections are scheduled for May. In preparation for them, political parties will be drawing up manifestos designed to attract voters.  

I have the greatest admiration for the achievements of our current Town Council who have worked hard to improve the town for its citizens. They will surely get my vote in May.   

Many of the latest projects of the current administration have been aimed at making Bigastro attractive to visitors. In a conversation Pam and I had with the Mayor, she expressed a wish to develop the town as a tourist destination. I therefore assume that tourism will feature as part of the Partido Populares manifesto for the upcoming election. 

I understand that it is difficult to achieve a balance between preserving the traditional nature of the town with the 21st Century needs of the people because the two aims are not necessarily compatible.

However, in my experience, towns that are attractive to tourists manage to combine modern facilities with places of historic interest.  

There are, in my opinion, several issues that Bigastro could perhaps address to move it forward make it more attractive to both locals and visitors alike. 

1. The main shopping street currently has at least 12 vacant premises. My impression is that, in the eighteen years I have lived here, there has been a steady decline. I do feel that the commercial hub is now in need of urgent regeneration. 

2. As far as I can tell, there are no places of historic interest nor any places that celebrate the culture of the town. As an example, nearby Rojales has several museums such as the Museo de la Huerta to attract visitors. I believe that Bigastro would benefit from something similar. 

3. Although there are plenty of bars, most of which sell food, there are few places that could be regarded as restaurants celebrating local produce and serving traditional local dishes. 

4. Parts of the town are run down and untidy. For example, the billboards at the top of the Plaza de la Constitucion are an eyesore. The town squares in e.g. Benejuzar and even Jacarilla are more attractive and perhaps set an example for Bigastro to follow.   

5. Facilities that have been developed need to be maintained. As an example, I  notice that some of the information boards for the Ruta Alquibla are now in a state of disrepair. Whilst it is important to develop new projects, it is also necessary to consolidate existing ones. 

It could snow

In England, a forecast for snow brings the prospect of misery to most adults. Children may get excited but their parents view the likelihood of chaos on roads, delays or cancellations in public transport and even the closure of airports as not something to look forward to. 

Here in the Vega Baja, few have seen snow in any quantity. They go out for day trips inland or to the Sierra Nevada to play and have fun in the snow. To local Spaniards it is a novelty not to be missed.

The weather at the moment here is cold, very cold, especially at night. There is also the possibility of some rain which might mean it could snow. This is getting forecasters and elements of the public excited. 

Of course snow does transform the landscape and blankets out the imperfections of run down buildings. Too much though and those that are looking forward to a white blanket covering everywhere will soon change their minds. There are no snow ploughs nor depots stocked with grit. Admittedly there is plenty of salt but that is earmarked for Northern Europe.

Those who have endured hazardous journeys on snow covered roads, who have been cut of for days from essential supplies, trudged for hours through ankle deep snow to get to work or waited hours for a bus that doesn't arrive would prefer a return to normal Spanish weather.

Brace yourselves

Who on earth said that we don't need the winter fuel allowance here in Spain? Just look at the temperatures for next week. Twenty degrees in the daytime is bad enough. When it drops to 13 and 0 at night, then it is damn cold. 

 

Flying the flag

 Was it really way back in February 2019, almost four years ago,  that the Lady Mayor first lead a party of bigastrense around the Ruta Alquibla? This was a major project designed to attract tourists to the town. 

There are three sections to the route; the “El Casco” section which takes you around the historic centre of the town, the “Huerta” route which takes you around the market garden and “La Pedrera” which takes you around the recreational area of the old stone quarry. 

All along the routes there are information boards that describe the significance of your location.  Upon completion of the walk, you will have learnt an awful lot about the history of the town, the ecology of the area, the agricultural significance of the Vega Baja  and some of the traditions of Bigastro. 

The Mayor, her second in command and the Councillor for Culture are currently at the FITUR exhibition in Madrid continuing to promote the town as a tourist destination. 

For this year, the theme is the traditional crafts of the town which they explain are in danger of being forgotten. 

In order to keep them alive, at least in people's memories, they are presenting the  new cultural and sports tourism project - the first "outdoor museum of traditional trades in the region of the Vega Baja"

It will be a 2 km long urban route that that will have 20 murals, designed by the local painter Olga Navarro, depicting trades that were local to the region. Here is a taster to whet your appetite.

The last straw

During my 34 year career as a teacher I only went on strike twice, once whilst I was a member of the NAS/UWT and once as a member of the NUT.

For teachers, strike action is very much a last resort – not something that they take lightly. 

Now though, fed up with being fobbed off year after year, teachers have voted to take action this year. This is not just about pay, it is about funding for education that has been eroded over the years.  Schools increasingly have to depend upon PTAs to pay for essential resources. That's fine in areas where parents are well off but not so good in deprived areas. 

In the NEU 90.44% out of 53.27% of its members voted to strike. Over 90% of NAS/UWT members also voted to strike but unfortunately they failed to reach the required 50% of  members voting.

Although NEU members will be striking for 7 days during February and March, individual schools will only be affected on 4 of them. 

• Action will start on the 1st February when 23,400 schools in England and Wales will be affected. 
• On the 14th February just schools in Wales will be affected.
• The 28th February it will be the turn of schools in Northern, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber regions.
• On 1st March it will be schools in East Midlands, West Midlands and Eastern regions turn. 
• The 2nd March schools in London, South East, and South West regions that will be targeted. 
• Finally, on the 15th and 16th March, all schools in England and Wales will see strike action.

Unsurprisingly, Downing Street have called on the unions to call off any strike.

No 10 said that teachers should not strike and inflict "substantial damage" to children's education, especially after so many missed out on schooling during the pandemic. 

Schools have been told they can use volunteers to stay open. I sincerely hope no headteacher is foolish enough to try and replace teachers with untrained and unvetted members of the public. I also hope that members of other unions do not volunteer to cover for their absent colleagues. 

Acronyms:

NUT = National Union of Teachers

NAS/UWT = National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers. 

PTA = Parent Teacher Association

NEU = National Education Union

On a positive note

 As I have said, the majority of projects in the town brought huge benefits. 

It is great news that schoolchildren at the Infant School La Paz now have their own  dining room. 

Antonio Meseguer says "they have been works that have involved a great effort, since the administrative procedures external to the City Council were lengthened, and that together with the school management and the parents, the objective set for Bigastro has been achieved".

The dining room which will serve 50 children and cost more than 300,000 euros to build. is now a reality. No longer do children have to transfer to other centres for their lunchtime meals. 

The mayor of Education also says that they will improve the state of the patio and the roofs, mainly to improve the air conditioning and the general well-being of the schoolchildren.

Well done Antonio for all the work you have done to secure funding for this worthwhile project and for the many others that have made great improvements to our town. 

Not done yet

The Councilor for Urban Planning and the Environment of Bigastro has detailed plans for four more cycle lanes in the town:

• 1,005 meters of bike lane on the access route to the La Pedrera area.
• 650 meters of bike path on Avenida Europa to the Colegio San José de Calasanz.
• 785 meters of bike lane from the Auditorium to the municipal sports centre.
• 465 meters of bike lane from the Health Centre to Vereda Lo Guardamuro, to connect the urban area with the orchard

Let's  hope that the cycle path to La Pedrera does not cause more problems to add to those caused by the roundabout which connects the road into town with the road up to the Pantano.  Goodness knows how many times those green bollards on the roundabout have been squashed by vans and lorries trying to get through. 

Your right to vote

 As you probably all know, in order to vote in the municipal elections here you have to be on the electoral register. Note that, as foreigners, we do not have the right to vote in either Regional or General elections in Spain. 

Every four years you should get a form to complete which you then post back. The Town Hall phoned Pam to check that we had received our forms and most important, we had returned them. They also asked me to check with others on our estate that they had received theirs. 

Of course, who you vote for is up to you.  The important thing is to exercise your franchise otherwise you could end up with a Council that you do not want. 

Whether there will be a special meeting for us this time, I cannot say. There are fewer British residents on our estate now. So a meeting for the Spanish residents might be more appropriate. We shall see.   

A good idea?

 As someone who cycled for many years, I know the dangers facing cyclists on the open road. One of them is cars, vans or worst still lorries passing close by.  The draft can be unsettling  and put you at risk of falling off. The problem is most acute on fast busy roads or in congested town centres.

I have to say that the majority of Spanish drivers are very good when passing cyclists. They give a wide berth  - crossing into the opposite lane if necessary. 

The most recent measure introduced to protect vulnerable cyclists from passing vehicles is the cycle lane. 

Towns and cities have embraced the idea of cycle lanes with gusto, often to the ire of motorists. It must be very frustrating to lose a passing lane on a busy road to cyclists only to find they are nowhere to be seen. 

THE NEW CYCLE LANE IN BIGASTRO

I assume that money, targeted to the construction of cycle lanes, was available from the regional government. Bigastro made a bid for a share of it and they were successful. 

The plan was to build the lane on the right hand side of Calle Joaquin Moya Martinez, one of the routes out of the town that takes you to the CV-95 in the direction of Torrevieja. 

There is already a short cycle lane on Calle Apatel that was built whist the Socialists were in power using Plan E money from the Government. Its usefulness though was negated by the fact that it only reached as far as Calle Andalucia. I can't say that I have seen anyone actually use that cycle lane. 

The new cycle lane was to be a more ambitious project. It was going to be wider, separated from the road with kerb stones and painted blue to make its presence clear. A similar cycle lane was constructed running alongside the CV-945 from just outside Los Montesionos to the CV-905 Crevillente-Torrevieja road. 

There are differences though between these two projects:

1. The CV-945 is a busy road with heavy traffic in both directions particularly at peak times. At those times it was impossible to pass cyclists giving them a wide berth.

2. There are a number of cyclists who use the route on a regular basis. In fact, you often see groups of cyclists riding together in a mini peloton. 

On the other hand:

1. Calle Joaquin Moya Martinez is only relatively busy at peak times. Without carrying out a traffic survey I can't say for sure but I'd guess the volume of traffic at any time is much less than that on the CV-945. 

2. Although there are a fair number of cyclists in Bigastro, I rarely see them in numbers on the roads into and out of the town. 

Of course none of this would matter if  Calle Joaquin Moya Martinez was a wide road in the first place. Following the construction of the cycle lane it is now much narrower. If you have to face a lorry coming in the opposite direction, it will be a tight squeeze. Two lorries going opposite ways would be practically impossible.  

The vast majority  of the projects that this Council have carried out have brought great improvements to the town. However, I'm not altogether sure that this is one of them. 

The big plan

WORK ON THE URBAN DYNAMIZATION AND REGENERATION PROJECT OF  BIGASTRO COMMERCE STARTS

This week, work has commenced on this great project that we started 5 years ago. A project that, as we indicated a few days ago, has been the best rated in the Valencian Community and eighth in Spain. With a grant obtained from European Next Generation funds and the Alicante Provincial Council of almost 1,250,000 euros.

The works will last about 4 months and will cover Calles Moreal, Antonio Gálvez, La Acequia, Retirees, 1º de Mayo and San Pascual as well as the entire Huerto del Cura park, which is going to undergo a great change.

The objective set is to improve road safety, accessibility, increase the children's play area, increase the shadow area, improve areas for parking, loading and unloading for commerce, and turning the Huerto del Cura park into a large square where the passage of vehicles will be reduced, achieving a low emission zone.

These works are going to mean an important change, also in the entire street network of the urban area, where, together with the mobility plan, we will see changes in the directions of the streets, beginning with traffic tests in the coming months.

The project will also include the placement of intelligent parcel collection areas for the citizen, reducing the impact of the passage of courier vehicles. Placement of re-vending machines to motivate citizens to recycle and  promote local business with coupons and the creation of a free digital platform for citizens and businesses that will serve as a virtual showcase.

The Council are aware that the works will involve a lot of inconvenience, in addition to continuous street closures. Any urgent need such as removals, the City Council will process all the steps so that they can be carried out.

In the same way, everyone interested in knowing about this project is invited to approach the City Hall to be informed.

PS I do hope we have a re-vending machine at the entrance to La Pedrera. After all, we do seem to fill the bottle bank on a regular basis which might say something about the drinking habits of the residents here!

On their way

 

We start with hope

After the Covid years, we'd hoped that 2022 would be much better. 

In many ways it was. We got to see our family at the wedding of Andrew and Farah in Chester, our family came over in August and then our friends Hugh and Angela visited us in September. 

There were however some low points. Pamela was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis which meant we had to cancel our family holiday to Funchal. She then had a week in hospital with pancreatitis which turned out to be caused by a cyst on her pancreas (thankfully benign). 

Tragically, our wonderful neighbour, Eladia, passed away suddenly in November. We miss her dearly especially at times when we would normally be together. 

However, we start the New Year with hope in our hearts that 2023 will bring joy, good health and peace to us and to you all.

 

At their very best

 The concert last night by the Senior Band was magnificent. The main solo performance was by a young man on classical guitar.  I just wish he had played some more. 

Listen to them here.

Visitors

Look who came to visit us last night. 

The Mayor, Teresa María Belmonte Sánchez, phoned Pam to ask if she could come to our house. 

What we did not expect was that she would bring with her the rest of the Council team and a present for us. That was a wonderful surprise - such kind hearted people.

 

Another correction

 Note the change of time from the original poster.

The Junior Band and children's choir herald in Christmas

 Last night the Junior Band played their concert for Christmas. The concert began with a choir of children singing villancicos. 

You can see my photos from the link in the sidebar and listen by clicking on this link. 

More investment in the town

The latest project to stimulate local commerce presented by the municipality of Bigastro has received a subsidy of 1.2 million euros from the Next Generation Funds. 

The investment will allow the town to produce a web page where all the Bigastro businesses, free of charge through an application, will be able to have their own digital showcase. As well, the project seeks to reduce the impact of delivery vehicles, establishing strategic points*. Also included are "reverse vending" machines to encourage recycling and, in exchange, obtain purchase tickets to invest in local commerce.

Intrigued by the concept of a "reverse vending machine", I looked it up and this what Wikipedia says:

A reverse vending machine allows a person to insert a used or empty glass bottle, plastic bottle or aluminum can in exchange for a reward. After inserting the recyclable item, it is then compacted, sorted, and analyzed according to the number of ounces, materials, and brand using the universal product code on the bottle.

Once the item has been scanned and approved, it is then crushed and sorted into the proper storage space for the classified material.

Upon processing the item, the machine rewards people with incentives, such as coupons. In the case of Bigastro, these coupons are to be used in local shops. 

It sounds like a modern version of what happened when we were children. We collected pop bottles and took them back to the shops to get some spending money. 

* Companies like Amazon already use strategic delivery points notably the lottery shop on Calle Purisima and the Post Office where you can elect to collect parcels rather than have them delivered to your house. You can also drop off returned parcels at those venues. 

This strategy cuts down on the time taken by delivery vehicles to deliver parcels especially if they have to return a second or third tine. It is also convenient for those who are not at home during the day to receive goods at the door. 

In England they also have unmanned collection points where you can collect Amazon parcels. These are even more convenient because you can retrieve your purchases from the lockers any time of day or night. 

On the negative side, it partially moves the onus from the delivery company to the purchaser to collect goods.

PS I am currently waiting for Correos Express to deliver a Christmas present for my wife and we need to go out shopping:-( Hopefully, they will put it through the gate if we have gone out by the time they arrive. 

Music in the streets

 

A necessary reminder

It seems that too many drivers here do not know how to negotiate a two lane roundabout safely. Of course, it would help if drivers signaled their intentions but most don't.

The driver in the car marked "muy mal" is one of those impatient ones keen to overtake drivers on the outside lane. 

 

Note the correction

The Junior Band Concert will be at 8pm not 7pm as in the original poster of events for Christmas in Bigastro.

 

Highly recommended

 I have mentioned Caminsat before on this blog. The technician, Jose Maria has serviced our central heating boilers for a number of years now. We have a contract with him that costs us 108 Euros per year. 

When the original boiler was 11 years old, we decided to have it replaced and Jose Maria suggested the Fondital Delphis as an option. 

We have had the new boiler since 2014. It came with a six year guarantee which expired in 2020. That means that we now have to pay for parts but the labour costs are covered by our annual contract. 

Recently, the boiler was intermittently coming up with error code E78 which indicated that the pump was blocked. When Jose Maria came out, the boiler was working perfectly so he suggested that I waited and called him again when the fault returned. 

When the fault returned, I called Jose Maria. He came out and suggested that we may need a new pump. 

Yesterday, he returned for a third time and fitted a new pump but unfortunately, that did not cure the problem. 

So this morning (Saturday), he returned and diagnosed the problem to be actually with a sensor. Having replaced the sensor, he changed the pump back to the original. 

I would guess that most technicians would had left the new pump in place and charged for it along with the other parts required. We would have ended up paying for a part we did not need. 

In all, not including his travelling time, Jose Maria has worked on our boiler for over five hours - all at a cost of 108 Euros. 

Hopefully, next year he will only need to service the boiler!

UPDATE

Spoke too soon. 

After Jose Maria left, I noticed that the cold water inlet to the boiler was leaking a little water. The next morning (Sunday), the pressure had dropped and the boiler would not come on. Rather than re-pressurise the system and risk more water leaking, I sent a message. 

This morning (Monday) Jose Maria came out again and sorted the problem out. 

I did apologise to him for all the trouble we had caused. He insisted that it wasn't our fault and that is what we have a contract for. 

We gave him a box of chocolates and wished him a Merry Christmas. 

For the 3 Kings

Jab time

 

You don't need to make an appointment, just call in at the Medical Centre and ask for your flu and Covid injections (one in each arm).

Voting in Spain

Those of you who are eligible to vote in next May’s municipal elections should now have received a letter from the Electoral Office (OCE). As a reminder, anyone who has been resident in Spain for more than three years is entitled to vote even if you have not received a letter, provided that you are registered on the padron and confirm your registration on the electoral roll between 1 December 2022 and 15 January 2023. 

The OCE letter tells you what you need to do to confirm your registration on the electoral roll with instructions in English and Spanish. In general, you can register online (using your cl@ve pin if you have one or the code provided in the letter) or you can fill in the form and send it back by post. 

If have not yet received the letter or have any other questions, please contact your town hall or call 900 343 232.

The recent power cuts

The explanation from the Town Hall:-

Since the 2nd December, in our municipality like in neighboring municipalities, we have been suffering power cuts. These cuts and probably more that we will suffer, originate from the "Jacarilleta" electric substation located between Jacarilla and Benejuzar. It is the one that supplies a large percentage of the electricity to Bigastro. 

Repair actions for network failure are being carried out by the responsible company.

The grids and facilities in our municipality are in perfect condition and are not the cause of the blackouts.

Hopefully everything will return to normal soon.

In the case of our house, there was also an issue with the supply cable  which caused the voltage to fluctuate. I am pleased to say that seems to have been resolved. 

Every time the power goes off, the clock on the oven needs to be reset and the connection to our Voip phone provider needs to be re-registered - minor inconveniences compared to those experienced by people in Ukraine.

Christmas in Bigastro

Two dates for me to note: 

 23rd December at 7pm - the Christmas Concert by the Junior Band in the Auditorium. 

 30th December at 7pm - the Christmas Concert by the Symphonic band in the Auditorium. 

 Two that I will be giving a miss to! 

 24th December at midnight - Disco in the Park. 

 31st December at half past midnight - Disco in the Park. 

 On the 5th January, the Three Kings will process starting at 6pm from the fish shop el Roque.

 

Be aware

Pam and I were considering flying to Manchester to spend Christmas with the family. That was until Pam was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in her left leg and advised not to fly 

It seems that made for a good decision in light of this news:-

Border Force officers in England, Scotland and Wales are to take strike action for eight days over Christmas, the PCS union has announced.

PCS members on passport control will take action at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports on December 23, 24, 25, 26 28, 29 and 30 and 31.

The measure is likely to affect Britons living in Spain travelling to the UK for Christmas on those dates, with the UK Home Office saying passengers should be prepared for potential disruption.

For potential disruption read, long delays. 

Getting presents from the UK

As a general rule, to send a parcel from the UK to Spain, the sender must complete a customs declaration as fully as possible. If it has a value of less than €45 and is sent from an individual (rather than a business), there should be no IVA, import or service charges. Receiving gifts with a value of over €45 may incur import charges and some specific items, including food and drink, and cosmetics may also incur a charge. There should be no charge to receive greetings cards. 

And this is what Correos say:

Import into Spain of postal items originating in the United Kingdom, except for the territory of Northern Ireland.

As of January 1, 2021, in order for Correos to proceed with the delivery to recipients in Spain of shipments containing merchandise from the United Kingdom, except for the territory of Northern Ireland, it will be necessary to present them for clearance before Spanish Customs.

The recipient must bear the expenses corresponding to customs processing as well as the payment of taxes that are accrued in accordance with current customs regulations (VAT or IGIC in the Canary Islands) and Special Taxes. However, it may be exempted from paying tariffs when it is documented that the merchandise contained in the shipment originates from the United Kingdom, except for the territory of Northern Ireland.

Beware the bridge

 Most of you will be aware that Tuesday the 6th of December is Constitution Day, a national holiday in Spain. You will also be aware that Thursday, the 8th December is Feast of the Immaculate Conception, another national holiday in Spain. What you need to be remember is that many businesses will also be closed on the Wednesday in between these two dates in what is called a "puente" or bridge. 

Please note that, although supermarkets like Mercadona do not  close during puentes, some local shops might.

 

Major fault

 This morning the electricity was going mad. It would go off and then come back on but with the fluctuations we’d experienced before. Then it went off altogether. 

When we checked the box in the street, our connection was off but my neighbour’s was on. Pepe called the electricity company who said a technician would come out to check the problem.

Later, Pepe called me to say that actually there was a problem for the whole of Bigastro. At that point nobody had electricity. Both mine and my neighbours connections were dead. In fact the whole estate was without supply. 

When the electricity came back on, everyone but us had a stable supply - damn!!

UPDATE

The technician arrived and it seems that the supply to our house was the issue for us. He managed to resolve it and (touch wood) we have a stable supply at last. 

Turn on the lights

 

Thanks to Johnson et al

Brexit added almost £6bn to UK food bills in the two years to the end of 2021, affecting poorest households the most.

London School of Economics (LSE) researchers say the cost of food imported from the EU shot up because of extra red tape, adding £210 to the average household food bills over 2020 and 2021, 

Since low-income families spend a greater share of their income on food, the impact of Brexit on their purchases was disproportionately greater, they said.

Lord Frost’s Brexit trade deal signed at the end of the transition period in December 2020 ensures trade is tariff-free with the EU but created trade barriers in the form of customs, rules of original paperwork and regulatory standards checks for agri-food products.

In 2015, the year before the referendum, 77% of food imports were from the EU.

Note the change

 

That's cold

Who can say we don't need the winter heating allowance now?

 

Very sad news

 I've mentioned our very good neighbour and friend Eladia many times before on this blog. 

Eladia and her husband Pepe came to live opposite us not long after we moved in. We took them a bottle of champagne to welcome them to the street. We struck up a great friendship straight away which has strengthened over the eighteen years we have lived here. 

Pam and I have had many happy times with Eladia and her family. Whenever we needed help, they were there to help us. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. 

We will sorely miss Eladia's company, her keen and often wicked sense of humour not to mention the wonderful desserts she made for us. 

This is heart-breaking news.

Not true

Not that long ago, an event only became news once it was endorsed by a traditional source such as CNN, ABC, the BBC or Reuters. But times have changed. News is now available instantly online and a fair amount of it is unsubstantiated in other words possibly fake. 

On Thursday afternoon  the Manchester Evening News ran the following headline on its website: “Zara founder Amancio Ortega registers interest in buying Manchester United.” The story went on to claim that “it is understood he has informed senior executives of his interest in United.” The article did not cite any sources to back up such an exclusive.

The “exclusive” was quickly picked up by the British tabloids – which have millions of readers – and from there, it appeared in Spain’s four most important sports publications: Marca, As, Mundo Deportivo and Sport, as well as general news outlets.

Judging by the number of website clicks and likes on Twitter and Instagram, on Thursday it certainly looked like Manchester United was about to be acquired by Spain’s Amancio Ortega, founder of the Inditex group (which includes the fashion brand Zara) and one of the wealthiest men in the world.

It was fake news. There is no such interest and never was, as Inditex sources later confirmed. It is even questionable whether the founder of Inditex is even a fan of soccer in the first place. Despite his billionaire status, Ortega, 86, is more readily associated with games of domino played in humble taverns with local residents in Sanxenxo, in his native northwestern Spanish region of Galicia.

In truth, it is not even certain that the Glazers, who own Manchester United, want to sell the club. Again there is speculation that the club is for sale, fueled by online social media outlets. 

Crazy money

Many of us would like a bit more in our pockets to buy the things we might want but there must surely be a limit to the amount anyone would need to live even the most luxurious of lifestyles. 

Whilst there are millions of people starving in the world, there are a few that I believe earn more than they should. I include footballers in that group. 

I read this morning that Manchester United will save about £15.5m in wages after coming to a mutual agreement with Ronaldo to end his contract before it runs out in the summer. I understand Ronaldo is payed £500,000 a week for sitting on the bench for most matches. 

According to the Daily Mail,  Ronaldo's goals during his second spell at Manchester United have cost the club £1.2m each.

Although Ronaldo has donated vast sums of money to charity, his net worth is still estimated to be around $115 million according to Forbes. 

AFC Crewe of the 14th tier Crewe and District League Premier Division have made an audacious bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for £35-a-week after he agreed to terminate his Manchester United contract Apparently, on that salary,  he would be the highest paid player at the club.

Is Ronaldo 14,286 times a better player than those at Crewe? Not when he spends most of the time sitting on the subs bench!

 

What he said

 This is the editorial I referred to in which Pascual said:

"Pages full of good intentions, alternated with bits of our history and marvelous photographs taken by Keith Williamson, whom we thank in an outstanding way for his commitment to our musical society, a magnificent photographic work that year after year bears witness to musical activity, making it visible and close. "

That was good

 The concerts for Santa Cecilia are a highlight of the year. Last night's was no exception. 

First off the new musicians joining the band were presented with their pins. 

Then the President presented a gold pin to a musician who has dedicated fifty years to the band.

Miguel Saez watched with pride as his son played his first cello solo in front of the band.

The music was uplifting and warming to the soul on a chilly November night.  

I was delighted to read the very kind words that the Chronister of the band had written about my photographs in his editorial at the front of the book he produces each year. 

As usual, you will find my album of photos in the sidebar. 

is it just my house?

 Since the thunderstorm, the electricity in my house has been stable. Today though, it has started fluctuating again. The symptoms are the same each time it happens. 

• The halogen lights in the kitchen fluctuate between dim and bright.
• The central heating boiler comes on for a brief second even when the heating is switched off.
• The UPS that is the backup battery for my desktop computer signals a drop in voltage below the threshold that is set. 

It doesn't prevent most electrical items from working but it is annoying all the same. 

I asked one of our neighbours when he came to clean the windows if he experienced the same problems in his house  and he said, "no". 

This leads me to wonder if it is an issue with just my house or perhaps this particular street. 

Santa Cecilia 2022

 

New Year at La Pedrera

 New Year's Eve is the night for celebration here in Spain. Prices for a night out with a meal can easily top 100 Euros but not at Camping La Pedrera. 

Pam and I have been with our neighbours, Pepe and Eladia and can vouch for the quality. 

It seems unfair to me

Our friends in Norfolk tell us that they will be getting a subsidy for their fuel this year under the Government scheme outlined by Liz Truss whilst she was Prime Minister. They've been told this amounts to £60 per month. 

On top of that, they will get a Winter Fuel Payment of £500 (£250 each). 

Now we would not expect to get the Government subsidy but we did used to get the Winter Fuel Payment for a few years. That was until they decided that we lived in a warm country and did not need  financial assistance.

The Gov.Uk website says: " You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you live in an EEA country", however it explains further, "You cannot get a Winter Fuel Payment if you live in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain."

We don't know what this winter is going to be like but if it is like last year, it will be almost as cold here as  in some parts of the UK. Our gas bills for last winter were 342.91 and 341.118 that's 684.09 Euros to heat our house during the winter months. We then had similar electricity  bills to cool our house during the summer. 

Who's voting for him?

 Forgive me for going back to Strictly Come Dancing. 

I don't want to spoil it for those of you who prefer to wait until Sunday night for the results. However, I will tell you that Tony Adams has escaped yet again the dreaded dance off. 

Let's look at his record so far with the judges:

Week 1 & 2 combined placed bottom with 37 points (22 +15)

Week 3 placed bottom again with 18 points

Week 4 an improvement, he was 11th out of 13 with 26 points

Week 5 saw a return to previous form, bottom with 19 points

Week 6 was a golden week, he came 9th out of 11 with 31 points

This week bottom  with 21 points

So just who is keeping Tony Adams in the competition? 

Definitely not those who regard this as a dancing competition. And surely not those looking for entertainment - Ed Balls was entertaining, Ann Widdecombe being dragged around the floor was  hilarious. Apart from ripping his trousers off, Adams has not been so amusing with his routines. 

I can only surmise that there are droves of football fans who are voting for him on the basis of his careers with Arsenal and England. 

A timely reminder

 

Talking of signs

 I can't help but notice that some of the road signs in the area have deteriorated to the point where they are now unreadable. The problem seems to be with the white backgrounds that are now black. Black writing on a black background doesn't work!

Am I being cynical?

There is no doubt that much of the money that comes from Alicante is used to make real improvements to the town that benefit many. 

The allotments in the middle of our estate were meant to provide local people with outdoor space to grow produce for the table. 

Out of the twenty plots created, no more than ten look to be taken up. 

We said at the time that it was unlikely that people in the town would want to come up to the estate to grow a few lettuce and some tomatoes. It probably costs more to grow the produce than to buy it at the market especially when you factor in the fuel needed to drive up here and back to tend the crops.

Of course, there is more to growing your own vegetables than saving money, There is the satisfaction of achieving something, the healthy exercise that gardening provides and the improved flavour of fresh food picked that day. 

The town has now had a further tranche of money for this project and has put up signs*, LED solar lighting and a table with benches** where the growers could have a picnic. 

In my opinion, spending thousands of euros to benefit many makes sense, spending the same to benefit just a handful doesn't. 

* the signs are there to encourage people to grow a diversity of crops and to justify the project. 

**why is that picnic bench there? In my experience, Spaniards never eat out in the open, they look for shade

 

Third time lucky

 We'd already had two leaks in the water main outside our house. Both of these we had detected ourselves and reported.

A few weeks ago, they changed the water meter, Then we had people coming to check the new meter for leaks. 

Two days ago, they came back and were listening for a leak under the pavement outside our house further down from the meter. Clearly there was a problem. 

They returned at 8:30 the following morning to dig the pavement up - a rude awakening for us both! The vibration through the house felt like it was about to collapse. 

Barely a day goes by without someone having to dig up the pavements on our estate to repair water leaks. What is wrong with the pipework that causes so many problems?

I don't believe it

 Well that was short lived! Liz Truss has put herself into the record books as the shortest reigning PM in British history. 

To be fair, the lady was out of her depth as many predicted she would be. 

So now the Conservative party are looking for a replacement. This time though they've set the bar higher to ensure that the contest isn't drawn out as it was in the Summer. 

Each candidate has to have the backing of 100 MPs to enter the competition.  If there is more than one candidate with sufficient numbers, then the MPs will vote to whittle it down to two and  the party will vote online to decide the winner. 

Most of those who started off in the last contest will struggle to get 100 backers leaving Rishi Sunak as the most likely person to be first on the list. There can't be more than 3 candidates because there are no more that 350 Conservative MPs. 

Last time there was a caucus of MPs and party members who wanted Johnson's name on the list even though he'd just resigned after being forced out by his own MPs. He wasn't eligible then but he is now. 

Rumours are flying that Johnson is on his way back from his holiday in the Caribbean in order to garner support for his candidacy. Talk is of him being the only candidate other than Sunak to achieve  the magic number of backers. 

Suppose then that it boils down to Sunak v Johnson and it is left up to the members to decide. Who would they back? I'd put my money on Johnson. Daily Express readers have already chosen Johnson to be the next PM with a whopping 60% voting for him. 

Of course, if he is found guilty of misleading Parliament in November, Johnson could face possible suspension from Parliament. That would be an interesting situation - a Prime Minister suspended from sitting. 

Celebrating

 Every year, Bigastro celebrates the Day of Breast Cancer. 

Don't get me wrong, it is good that the town recognizes the importance of this form of cancer that effects or has effected so many women  including my wife Pamela. 

What is wrong though is that there is no corresponding day for the cancer that effects so many men (me included). I'm talking about prostate cancer. 

Why can't we have a day for prostate cancer - probably not with pink balloons though!

Here we go again

 After my last post about the electricity supply, things improved. The lights remained bright in the kitchen and my UPS seemed happy with the voltage it was receiving. 

This morning though, the electricity tripped out (again). After I reset it, I  found out the voltage was the probable cause. My UPS is again signaling a drop in voltage and the lights in the kitchen are dimming. 

UPDATE

Although it has settled down again, I'd be interested to know if others were experiencing the same problems and why it is happening.

Watch out for flying ants

Autumn is the time when ants take to the air. It is the start of their reproductive cycle and a moist white ground is always better to build new anthills.

They don't bite, they are not interested in us (don't worry) and they will be gone in a few days.

The rain in Spain

When the storm arrived here, it bucketed it down. I made a quick video to send to the family. 

Fortunately, it didn't last too long. 

Just look at the amount that fell in Torrevieja!

 

Back to learning Spanish

The Town Hall are again putting on classes of Spanish for foreigners. There won't be many, if any, English people in the class though :-(

Escaped again

 Look at the chart and you will see that Bigastro escaped the downpour that other towns in the region suffered. In fact, as far as I can tell, we had just ten minutes of rain yesterday. 

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Robbery

Since the transition period ended, we've had to pay customs duty on parcels from the UK. Because of that, we'd resolved for the family not to send Christmas and birthday presents anymore.

However, as I said in a past post, we were due to go on a holiday to Funchal with the family. The diagnosis of thrombosis in Pamela's left leg put paid to that. 

Since we'd missed out, the family decided to buy us some small gifts which they sent us by post. The Customs Declaration form on the package states; postcard £1, magnet £3 and cakes £10 giving a total of £14. 

The post lady has just delivered the small package after us paying the 14 Euros customs duty - that's £12.26 for a £14 gift.  Just to make matters worse, our eldest daughter paid £7.80 to send the package. 

That means two cakes, a fridge magnet and a postcard cost a total of £24.06 between us!

Dirty electricity

 Yesterday morning we had a brief power cut - nothing too unusual about that. Following the restoration of power though, the voltage was dipping up and down. The UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply0 that keeps my desktop computer running through a power cut kept switching to battery as the voltage dropped below the preset level. 

It seemed to settle down during the day but then at night the problem returned. LED lights don't seem to be effected by changes in voltage but the halogen bulbs in the kitchen are. They were dimming and brightening constantly for well over an hour. 

Things settled down again and I hoped the problem had been resolved but no. This morning, the power cut out again for a short while followed by more variations in the voltage. Is it the weather that is causing these problems, I don't know. I do know it is a pain in the butt!

Another fine mess

 During the summer, the Tory Party conducted a bitter leadership contest between Liz Truss and Richie Sunak. Particularly on economic policy, they were at loggerheads. 

Although the parliamentary party favoured Sunak, the party membership were against him, fired on no doubt by the press who painted Sunak as the snake who'd master minded Johnson's downfall. 

I'm not sure the membership actually wanted Truss – a significant number tried to get Johnson's name onto the voting paper but that was deemed against the rules. So they ended up electing Truss instead.

Truss said all along that she wanted to cut taxes but I don't recall explain how that would be paid for except for some vague notion about stimulating growth. Neither do I recall her saying the cuts would mostly benefit the well off.

Obviously she could not wait to put her ideas into practice so she and her Chancellor came up with a “mini budget”. 

Since it was urgent, there was no time to consult with her Cabinet nor was there time to get the Office for Budget Responsibility to provide a forecast of the effect the tax cuts would have on the economy. 

The result was shocking. What did she expect? Apart from anything else, Truss wanted to borrow money to give the well off a hefty tax relief. Oh and let's not forget there was also a promise to remove the cap on banker's bonuses. Oh how nice it is to be well off in a Truss ruled country. 

To make matters worse, she then hinted that all this would be in future be paid for by cuts in services. The country though would have to wait until the 23rd November to find out exactly what she was planning in that direction. 

Understandably, there was talk of rebellion amongst her MPs who remember did not not want her in the first place. Some were already talking about letters of no confidence and others said they would not go to conference where they would have to pretend to support Truss. 

Then Truss came out and said that cutting the highest rate of tax was her chancellor's idea and without any notice to her ministers has u-turned on the promise.

We wait with baited breath for her speech on Wednesday and even more for the return to parliament. The first prime ministers question time should be interesting!

Strictly voting

I wanted to make sense of why some of the dancers on Strictly Come Dancing ended up in the dance off when they were in the middle of the leaderboard after the judges scores. 

The final scoring combines the judges decision with the public vote. It seems, the important numbers are the rankings (in this case 1 to15). The rankings of the judges are added to the rankings by the public to give the final ranking and the last two on the list face elimination. 

The public are fickle and will vote on popularity rather than the quality of performance which explains why middle of the list dancers get into the dance off whilst ones at the bottom with the judges survive. 

The other thing I've noticed is the judges scoring. Three of the four judges gave out mostly 6s and 7s this week making the scores close (only 2 points between 10th and 15th places and the bottom 3 on the same score). Only the top 3 received consistent 8s across the board. 

More importantly, apart from one 5 from Shirley Ballas, it was only Craig Revel Horwood that dared to hand out realistic 4s and 5s to those who were off the mark this week. Without Horwood's 4s and 5s there would nothing to separate the bottom five on the leaderboard from the rest in the middle. 

Tony Adams lies in 15th place but will he go? We shall see.

UPDATE

For Tony Adams to avoid the dance off, he must have been placed at most 13th by the public to give him a position above the bottom two. 

Gee thanks

Those of us who live in Spain with pensions from the UK are vulnerable to the exchange rate of the pound against the euro. 

When the referendum vote was announced, the pound slumped and was near enough on par. That meant we had one third of our monthly income slashed at a stroke. 

Gradually the pound recovered although not to pre-Brexit valuses. 

With the mini budget that the new PM and Chancellor announced on Friday, the pound has nose dived meaning that we will have to be mindful of spending. Meals out, replacement items and fancy gadgets will be out of the question. 

We have been spared (so far)

 Looking at the weather over the last couple of days, we were placed in the middle between two storms; one to the north that caused severe flooding and one in the south that did the same. 

For example, whilst we had a few millimetres of rain in the night, Javea had 70mm in two hours followed by a further 35 milimetres a few hours later. 

As per normal, the intense rain was localised - some areas were deluged whilst their neighbours were spared.  

There are some horrific videos on Facebook that are reminiscent of  the flooding in September 2019.

Times they are a changing

 We weren't really fans of Strictly Come Dancing much in the early years. It's only in the last few years that we've become addicts. 

Although we didn't watch the series where Anne Widdecombe clumped around the floor with Anton du Beke, we've seen the videos on YouTube. We did see Ed Balls and particularly laughed at his Gangnam style routine with Katya Jones. 

However, Strictly is supposed to be a dance competition, not a comedy show Ultimately, the best dancers are the ones that should survive to lift the glitterball trophy. 

In these days of inclusion and political correctness, we should expect radical changes to be made and so they have. We've  had dancers with prosthetic legs and then last year Rose Ayling-Ellis, who overcame the fact she could barely hear the music,  went go on and won. 

We've also had single sex couples starting with Nicola Adams and Katya Jones who sadly had to withdraw, then last year, John Whaite and Johannes Radebe who were sensational. 

This year there are two single sex couples; Richie Anderson with Giovanni Pernice and  Jayde Adams   matched with Karen Hauer. From their first performances last night,  Anderson looks like he is set to camp it up and Adams will stomp across the floor in a very wooden style. I can't imagine either of them getting very far. 

The real surprise for us was the inclusion of  paralympian Ellie Simmonds who will dance with Nikita Kuzmin. 

With five gold medals to her name, Simmonds is clearly a determined competitor. However, it is hard to imagine how a couple so mismatched in height will cope with the ballroom dances where being in hold is supposed to be so important. We shall see. 

PS Let's hope Hamza Yassin ties his long mane up otherwise he could whip his partner off the floor with a fast turn!

Coming up

 

Our tribute

 We were only five years old when Princess Elizabeth became our Queen. Since then she has been a guiding light, an example of selfless service to the nation and a constant inspiration to all.

We followed her through Royal Tours, Jubilees and many other memorable occasions.

Through good times and bad, the Queen was always there, offering hope, unswerving love and devotion to her people.

Her infectious smile lightened our days and her mantra of “never explain, never complain” served as a fine example for us to follow.

We count ourselves most fortunate to have lived through the second Elizabethan reign. She will always be in our hearts as we were in hers.

Que pasa

 You may be wondering why I haven't posted anything for awhile. 

We were supposed to be going on a family holiday to Funchal last week. That had to be cancelled though, at least for us. 

Pamela had been experiencing pain and swelling in her left leg for a few weeks. She'd been to the doctor who sent her for an x-ray. The conclusion was that her knees were shot and she needed replacement joints. Thee was no mention of the possibility of thrombosis.  

However, the evening of the concert for San Joaquin we walked down from the Holy Cross to the Town Square and by the time we reached there, Pamela was in agony. It turned out that the concert had been moved to the Park and so she had to walk further provoking even more pain for her.

The next day we went to Urgencias at Vega Baja Hospital where they performed various tests.  The conclusion was that she had deep vein thrombosis in the left leg. Pamela was initially prescribed injections of Clexane (a form of heparin). 

Pamela does not like injections and there was no way she was going to inject herself so I had to do it for her. Of course I am not a doctor and so I did not have the technique to perform the task without hurting her. Over the two weeks though, I have got better at it and mostly the process was pain free. 

Thankfully, the clotting level has now increased to the point where she can just take Sintrom ( a modern form of warfarin). NO MORE INJECTIONS!!

Although the leg is still swollen when she stands on it for too long, it has improved a lot and should continue to improve over the next few months. 

Flying and even driving in the car for any distance are out of the question for Pamela.  We also doubt very much that they will go ahead with the knee surgery until it is clear that the clot has gone but we shall see. 

Highly recommended

 We've just had the en suite bathroom reformed. 

The main issue was that the original bath had near rusted through.  

It was an ideal opportunity to have a walk in shower installed instead and at the same time have the largely unused bidet taken out. 

The work was done by Fonta Bigastro who did a magnificent job. There was very little mess made and only a minimum of disruption. He even replaced the ceiling light and had the ceiling painted. When the work was done, Fonta's wife came to clean the whole of the bathroom. Between them, they did a beautiful job. 

The company is: Mediterranean Econet - email mediterraneaneconet@gmail.com tel. 966 272 358

Fiesta brochure

The book for this year's fiesta is available now.  

 There was a competition to design a cover.  This painting by Antoni Hernández was chosen as the worthy winner. 

 

 

A day to stay inside

 

Passport stamping for UK Nationals resident in Spain

Pam and I had or passports stamped when we visited England in October. 

This from Brits in Spain:

Many of you who are resident in Spain and protected by the Withdrawal Agreement have contacted us to say that your passport has been stamped on entering or leaving Spain (or both). The most important thing is that this does not affect your residency or rights within Spain and any stamp should be considered null and void when accompanied by a valid residence document. 

In March, the European Commission published an amended note on rules for stamping the passports of Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries, which says: “The Commission considers that there is little practical use in stamping passports of Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries. Stamping a passport serves to establish whether a non–EU national respected the authorised length of a short stay within the Schengen area, but beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement in a Schengen Member State are not required to leave the Schengen area as they legally reside in one of the Schengen Member State.

So, whilst the Commission considers that there is little use in border guards stamping the passports of Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries, EU law does not prevent them doing so. 

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Turn up the heat

 In the past, friends of ours in England have asked, "what is it like in Spain when the temperature rises to near forty degrees?" and "how do we cope?"

Well now they know because it is hotter today in parts of England than it is here in Bigastro. 

To be fair, we do have air conditioning in our house here and we have a pool we can dip into to cool down. 

On the basis of a few days of extreme heat, nobody would invest in air conditioning for their homes in Britain. A couple of fans would help though. Although fans will not cool the house down, the circulating air would make it feel fresher. 

Highly decorated

After two years without parades, the Scorpion comparsa had a large fund to spend this year. There were spectacular dance troops, large models of scorpions, a large float carried by men on their shoulders along with lots of horses and camels including this one that you could barely discern under all that decoration.

 

This will be popular!

 

Any takers? - GONE!!

Buenos días

Tenemos dos sofás  que nos gustaría donar gratis.

La única condición es que alguien venga a nuestra casa a recogerlas.

Good morning

We have new sofas ready to be delivered and so we need to find a home for these ones we have at the moment. We are not looking for payment, we just need whoever wants them to collect them from our house. 

Keith y Pamela Williamson

Movil 661298590

Well that didn't take long. I put the same information on Facebook and within minutes we had a taker. Minutes later there were two more. 

So the sofas have now gone to a new owner who we hope will enjoy them. 

Masks are back