Another level

I'm planning to take my photography to a higher level with the help of this Dji Mavic Air drone. It is capable of recording video up to 4k quality and taking 12 megapixel  photos.

As an early experiment, I hope to grab some video of our estate. Don't worry though, I won't be zooming in on your washing lines to view your "smalls". Nor will I be seeking out those of you who might want to sunbathe "au naturel". The result will likely be no more detailed than the pictures already available on Google Earth and will certainly be less obtrusive than Google Street View.

However, anyone who is growing suspicious plants on their roofs may want to move them to somewhere more discreet!!

All that rain

The heavy rain on Saturday night dragged a lot of rubbish down the streets. It also took a lot of silt down the river Segura.

In this photo, from Meteo Orihuela, you can see the silt discharging into the sea at Guardamar del Segura.

They are dangerous

It is almost traditional that farmers burn the remains of their crops once they have been harvested.

It is however a dangerous practice. The risk of a fire spreading in even a light breeze is ever present.

It is also a nuisance to those who live nearby who have to put up with the smoke especially on a summer's day.

Well worth it

Last night was one of the most beautiful events on the Bigastro calendar - not to be missed.

After all the countless hours of preparation (see my albums in the sidebar), the procession last night of the children who have received their first Holy Communion this year was absolutely beautiful. The children looked suitably angelic and were a fine tribute to their parents and to themselves.

There are two albums of photos from the event for those who unable to be there.

The town prepares

Bigastro is busy this morning preparing for the celebration of Corpus Christi tonight.

You will find my albums of photos taken today in the sidebar.

The concert

As I said, the concert last night was moved inside the church. Two things; the sound in the church is very different to an auditorium - more of an echo - and the light in the church is not great for photos.

Boy, did it rain

Pam and I went down to the concert last night which they wisely chose to move inside the church rather than hold it outside.

We were lucky. There was light rain on our way down and it was dry for our return.

That did not last though! Whilst we were having our coffees, the heavens opened and the rain came down in bucketfuls. We've rarely seen rain like it, even here in Spain.

There are pictures on the internet of rivers that have overflowed their banks and videos of streets that have rivers flowing down them.

On a positive note, our cars needed a wash. Well no more, all the dust and bird poo has been cleared off them!

Times they are a changing

The general secretary of the Socialist Party (PSOE), Pedro Sánchez, became the prime minister of Spain on Friday, after his no-confidence motion filed against Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party (PP) succeeded in gaining a majority in Congress.

The politician, who  became the first ever to win such a vote in Spain’s democratic era, managed to gain the support of the left-wing Unidos Podemos, the pro-Catalan independence groups PDeCATCatalan and Republican Left (ERC), the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the Valencia party Compromís, the Basque far-left nationalists of Bildu, and center-left Canary Islands party Nueva Canarias. The motion passed with 180 votes in favor, 169 against, and one abstention. An absolute majority of 176 votes was needed to succeed.

The new prime minister has pledged to respect the budget recently passed by the PP, which needed the support of other parties – including the PNV – for approval. Sánchez has also committed to starting a process of dialogue with parties in favor of Catalan independence, while respecting the Spanish Constitution and the regional Statute, which lays out Catalonia’s autonomous powers.

This is all about corruption.

On Thursday of last week, a court handed down sentences to 29 people with ties to the PP for embezzlement, tax evasion and other crimes related to Gürtel. The PP itself was slapped with a heavy fine after judges found that it had benefited from the corruption scheme.

However, the PSOE could hardly be described as a "clean party" whilst there are four courts investigating the Valencia socialists.

The likely outcome will be a further election because of the fragile nature of any coalition between the PSOE and other parties.

Corpus Christi

Those of you who have been into the town this week will be aware that we are celebrating Corpus Christi this week. The actual day was Thursday but in line with bigastrense tradition, the procession here will be on Sunday.

Before that though, the band will be playing their traditional concert in front of the church on Saturday night at 10pm. Weather permitting, I hope to see you there.

PS They plan to start laying out the carpet of flower petals, leaves and the picture made from grain of rice at 7am on Sunday. The first stage is to transfer the design from large sheets of paper using chalk. The last thing they need is rain!!

Caring for the trees

All those trees that Bigastro folks planted need looking after. To that end, the Town Hall, in collaboration with the water company Hidragua, have organised a walk up to La Pedrera to water them.

Protection at last

We recall the time when the socialist council, lead by Moya, sold off land at La Pedrera to build an aparthotel, golf course and houses. Fortunately, the plan was squashed when the environmental action group Semprona claimed that the land was protected.   

Finally, the Bigastro town council, lead by the area of ​​Environment directed by Antonio Meseguer, has initiated procedures to declare the area of ​​La Pedrera and the hill of Bigastro as a Natural Area.

This initiative will allow the entire area of ​​ ecological, natural and historical value to be protected  against  any type of future urban threat.

Meseguer has announced that they hope to meet this goal before 2019 "it is important and we will work at forced marches because this natural space is protected, preserved and has improvements once this declaration has been achieved as a Natural Area".

Technicians from the Consellería de Medio Ambiente will visit Bigastro to delimit the area to be protected and finally, once all the graphic material has been collected, the proposal will be taken to the municipal plenary session to make the initiative official.

The new Karoq

The other day I spotted a new Skoda Karoq in Bigastro, the successor to the Yeti that I own.

I've had my eye on a Karoq since it was introduced. The range starts with a 1l petrol manual and goes up to a 1.5l petrol. Then there are two diesels, a 1.6l and a 2.0l. Most are 2 wheel drive but there is also a 4 wheel drive option. In Spain there are two trim levels, Ambition and Style and there is a 6 speed manual gearbox or a 7 speed automatic box to chose from. With plenty of add ons to pick from you are unlikely to meet another Karoq driver with an identical car.

There are an increasing number of Skodas on our estate, surely a testimony to the quality of the brand.

Quite an acheivement

Yesterday, Chris Froome became the first Britain to win the Giro d'Italia and only the third person to hold all three grand tour wins at the same time. That puts him in the illustrious company of Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

Sadly, the issue of an excess of salbutamol in his urine after Stage 19 of the Vuelta is still to be resolved. Froome says he is confident that the outcome of the investigation will be favourable, let us hope that he is right.

His four Tour de France wins, combined with his wins in the Vuelta and the Giro, put him in a class that other Britains can only hope to aspire to.

We're back!

I dare say you didn't miss us but just to let you know, we were in England from the 10th to the 21st of this month.

There were two important occasions for us to attend; the first holy communion of our granddaughter, Molly and her dance show a week later.

Unfortunately this meant that I could not help my good friend, Fonta Bigastro, by taking photos of his daughter, Lucia at her first holy communion which was on the same day at Molly's.

It also meant that we missed San Isidro which I normally take photos of. Thankfully, Fonta was there and got plenty of photos which I know the people in the town will love. On occasions like that, Fonta has the advantage over me in that he knows the people and they know him.

Anyway we are back and enjoying the glorious weather. To be fair though, apart form one day, we did have excellent weather in Manchester.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos of Molly from her big day.

Very local

We could hear the thunder in the distance and the sky was very overcast. About 6pm it did start to rain but only lightly. Then the sun came back out briefly and that was followed by weak drizzle.

Just a few kilometres away though in Almoradi and in Cox, it was a very different story. I've watched a video from Almoradi where it bucketed down and there was even hail in the rain. Another video tells a similar story in Cox. 

Major renovation

The shopping center or old town of  Bigastro, will be completely renovated with an investment of 450,000 euros.75% of the money is coming from the Provincial Council and the remaining 25%, about 120,000 euros, from the City Council as approved at the municipal meeting held last week.

The objective is to improve accessibility, road safety and also increase the attractiveness and, therefore, the value of the tourist project of the town called the Ruta al Sur.

The streets included in the project are: Calle San Joaquin , Calle Sepulcro, Ramón y Cajal Square, Maestro Grau Street, Calle Mayor and Calle Goya.

The work should be completed by Spring 2019..

Make the most of it

Once BREXIT is complete, Britain will be out of Europe so should we then celebrate or not?

The Holy Cross

San Isidro

Light up the sky

Let's hope the sky is clear so I can get a photo this year.