Throw one on my barbie!

Over the last couple of days 93,000 kilos of sardines with an average cost around eleven euros per box of twelve kilos have been auctioned at Torrevieja.

The agreement reached by the Federations of Brotherhoods of Fishermen of the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia to limit catches to three hundred boxes of fish per boat per day has effectively stabilized the price of fish in the Torrevieja fish market.

Less than a year ago the fishermen were governed by the national norm which established a maximum of five hundred boxes per boat per day.

By reducing their catches the fishermen have both improved fish stocks and maintained prices.

Blanca Nieves

These are some of the pictures taken of our performance.

VoIP phone for sale

For those of you not familiar with VoIP telephony it is a way of using the Internet to make cheap phone calls. There are three things you need: a broadband connection, a VoIP phone and a VoIP account.

Skype is probably the best know provider of VoIP accounts but there are others. The one we use is VoIPtalk who are a UK company. Just like with Skype, you can set up a VoIPtalk account free of charge and make free calls to other VoIPtalk users. You can of course buy credit to allow you to call landline phones. With a free account you get a 0870 number which people can call you on. Call rates to UK are 1.4p per minute

VoIPtalk also offer monthly packages the cheapest of which is the Silver Service. For £2.99 plus VAT per month you get a local UK number and reduced call costs. For example we have a local 0161 Manchester number. Current call costs are 0.9p at peak times, 0.5p evenings and 0.2p at weekends to Europe which are of course much cheaper than Telefonica's charges.

To take advantage of the service though you need a VoIP phone. Many of these have a USB connection that plugs into a port on your computer. Although very good, they obviously only work when the computer is switched on. Far more useful are the ones that connect directly to a broadband router. With these the phone is available even when the computer is switched off. They are not cheap though but I have a spare Grandstream 100 which I am willing to sell for half price at 30€. If you live locally and have a VoIPtalk account I will even set it up for you to make sure it is working properly before you buy.

Status quo

It seems that the PSOE (socialist) party maintained control over Bigastro. So Jose Joaquin Moya Esquiva will continue to lead the town for a further four years taking his total time as Mayor to 28 years.

I don't know the figures yet i.e. the turn out and the margin. Four years ago it was a close fought election so it will be interesting to see whether things have changed this time round.

When you consider that 50% of the employment in Bigastro is in the construction industry it is easy to understand why Bigastrense might have been wary of the PP manifesto which talked about a slowing down of population growth and stopping plans for new development. Local people obviously believe that the PSOE proposal to allow the town to grow by a further 30% will mean that those jobs are secure for the near future.

Let us hope that the necessary infrastructure is available to sustain that growth; particularly water resources. Let us also hope that, in a market where house sales have slowed right down, the town can attract a broader range of employment opportunities for the future. More to the point though, let us hope that the Council can balance its books without selling off more of its land resources.

Lots to see

The Homes and Garden Show yesterday was very good. There was a lot to see and take in, plenty of freebies and piles of literature to bring home.

Jilly Golden is actually a lot older than her publicity photograph suggests but Handy Andy is just as youthful looking as we remember him from Changing Rooms. Actually DIY Dave from the Round Town News was much more informative and helpful with the real problems that DIYers face here in Spain. We didn't get to see Kevin Woodford cook in 20 minutes because there was rarely a free seat on the stand where he was demonstrating. Since we are just about the oldest things in our house we didn't bother with the Bonham's stand and Eric Knowles.

On hand were various beauty treatments, hair dressing and even eye testing. For sale were all sorts of gadgets and devices along with the usual spas and garden furniture. For the more ambitious spender there were cars and boats to order.

So an interesting but exhausting day. For those who missed yesterday, the show is open today as well but only after you have been to vote!

Don't forget tomorrow

Around 12,000 Brits are registered in the south Costa Blanca area and their vote could prove decisive in close-run battles in many municipalities including Bigastro.

British consul in Alicante Juliet Maric said: "We would emphasise the importance of the British community using their right to vote."

"If people want to change things, then that is the way to do it."

Former Canadian diplomat Charles Svoboda, who is vice-president of the influential group Abusos Urbanísticos No (AUN), said for many reasons the May 27 elections will be the most important ones since democracy in Spain was established.

He added: "It is also the first time that non-Spanish residents can play a determining role in the results in many areas."

"It is vital that those qualified to do so, exercise their electoral rights after judging what the parties have to offer and their record in delivering on past promises."

"No vote - no change for the better, and expect to be ignored in future."

Rumours that expats may be disenfranchised in their home country by voting at the weekend have been quashed by the British Embassy in Madrid.

A spokesman said: "British citizens maintain their right to vote in national elections for 15 years after leaving the UK." "Local elections in Spain do not affect this right."

So we will see you down at the Ayuntamiento mañana por la mañana.

He needs a large bottle of gin

A 70-year-old farmer from Molina de Segura, Murcia has grown a 1.4-kilo 22-centimetre-long lemon.

The farmer Juan José Vidal, who also runs also a pig farm, stated that he did not use any special fertiliser to produce the fruit.

“I just used a graft off an orange tree and then another graft off a special kind of lemon tree,” he said.

Juan José Vidal also said that he keeps fit drinking a juice made with a lemon and three oranges every day for breakfast.

Done and dusted

We thought our second performance of Snow White and the seven dwarfs was better than the first.

The older children in the audience interacted well with the characters and the plot. More to the poiint they listened whilst we were speaking! Their excitement at the end was visible. They were jumping up and down in their seats and clapping and cheering each character as we took our bows.

Some of the cast said "never again" but we will see. In the end it was all worthwhile because the children enjoyed it and their teachers obviously appreciated our efforts. It is our way of giving something back to the community in which we now live which is a good thing. In any case once you have done something like this in Bigastro it goes on the calendar. So we might be stuck with singing carols at Christmas and a pantomime for good!

One down and one to go

Our first real performance of Blancanieves y los siete enanitos seemed to go down very well with the 3, 4 and 5 year olds from "La Paz".

They obviously knew the story well because when Snow White spotted the house of the 7 dwarfs in the wood and said "I wonder who lives here" they all shouted "the 7 dwarfs". Even funnier though; when the Prince was looking around the wood for Snow White the children told him exactly where she was and couldn't understand why he was wandering off around the trees.

Today it is the 6, 7, 8 and 9 year olds turn. We hope they enjoy our little production as much as the infants did.

Finished with football

As everyone who knows me understands I am not a football fan. I rarely if ever watch a game and have no interest in any particular team.

However, when the team from my place of birth and the team from the city where I worked are involved in major trophies I feel it is only right to make a special effort.

Saturday I was routing for the reds of Manchester who should have beaten Chelsea with that goal by Ryan Giggs. Last night I was routing for the reds of Liverpool who should have beaten Inter Milan on their performance in the first half.

So that is it - no more football. If the team I'm supporting can't win then I'm not interested!

Last minute nerves

We had our final dress rehearsals yesterday for our production of "Blancanieves y los siete enanitos".

A few changes to the props and the scenery may have given us last minute nerves. Every one made minor mistakes which we haven't made before. However they say that to make mistakes at the dress rehearsal is a good sign; let's hope so.

Today at 3:30 pm infants from " La Paz " school will attend and on Friday at 4pm it is the turn of the primary children from the " San José de Calasanz " school.

With two to three hundred children watching we want to get it right. So in the best tradition of the theatre wish us all to "break a leg".

Pulling your hair out

Waiting for Telefonica must be the most frustrating experience ever.

Some of the people on our estate have lived here for four years without a telephone. Then Telefonica arrived with their cable from the village and all our hopes were raised. Sure enough a couple of weeks later blue vans appeared and people started to get their phones.

The deal is that you receive a call to tell you when the installer will arrive. Then you wait for him to come. In some cases you wait and you wait and you wait. In our case we didn't get a call, the man just arrived one evening. It hasn't make any difference though because we still don't have a connection.

In our case the line that the installer had activated was in the box down the road. We couldn't take a cable down to that one though so we took the cable to the box at the top. Now we needed the line in the new box to be activated. That was supposed to happen the next day. The next day came and we were told that actually we needed a new number -the man would return mañana pasado. After mañana pasado, pasado I phoned Telefonica yesterday to find out what was happening only to be told that our order had been cancelled.

I don't think that the man at the other end of the line understood me fully when I explained that we already had a phone, a router and the cable from our house to the box in the road and that all we needed was the line activating.

I'm not sure which is worse; to still be waiting for a call to say when your installation will take place, to be waiting for the installer to arrive or to have a phone but have no connection.

Once you have the phone though the sting isn't over. You then receive a bill for your connection which might be more or less than your neighbour's bill. One couple told me that they'd paid more for just a phone than another couple had paid for a phone and ADSL.

Telefonica are starting to make BT look good!

Stoned fish

A diver discovered 1,500 kilos of hashish on Los Jesuitas beach near Torre de la Horadada at 12.20 on Saturday.

He telephoned local police who confirmed the haul was the illegal drug.

The blocks of hashish were later impounded by the Guardia Civil.

Nailing your colours to the mast

We've now had the chance to listen to both of the main contenders for the election and to read their manifestos in English.

How do we make a choice? The PSOE party have been in power for 24 years with the same Mayor for the whole of that period. On the other hand the PP party have had little influence in the town during that period.

So is it time for a change? It goes without saying that a change could make matters better or it might make them worse. Maintaining the status quo is easier but is it the best option?

It makes sense to sell off assets i.e. land that is surplus to your requirements and then use the money to pay for something beneficial. It is not a policy that you can continue year in year out though as the Labour Council in Liverpool found out their cost in the 80s. At some point you have to balance your normal income with your expenditure. When will the PSOE decide that is what they have to do?

The PP party on the other hand are promising a lot which is what most political parties in opposition would do. Whether they can deliver their promises and at the same time remain solvent is a good question. Where will they find the money to develop their ambitious plans whilst at the same time buying back the land that has already been sold?

There are only six days left to decide. It should be interesting.

The turn of the PSOE

On the 23rd April we had a meeting with Aurelio Murcia González, candidate for the PP party. Last night it was the turn of the PSOE or socialist party headed by the current mayor Jose Joaquin Moya Esquiva.

The PSOE had gone to a lot of trouble by first of all sending a car round in the morning announcing the time and place of the meeting in English. They opened the meeting by showing us a presentation highlighting their achievements over the last four years. Again the commentary was in English. There were printed manifestos in English, free drinks and lighters to give away.

When the presentation finished, the Alcalde spoke to us in Spanish followed by translations into English by one of his assistants. It was an impressive effort to keep us informed.

Finally the floor was opened up for questions. Inevitably there were questions related to our particular circumstances e.g. the slow progress that Telfonica are making installing phones. These were followed by more pertinent questions about the finances of the town.

The Alcalde explained that insufficient funds had been made available to Bigastro from both regional and National governments. Bigastro therefore had to take out loans and sell off municipal land to carry out their program of development for the town. He further went on to explain that there was still more land which they could sell to finance future projects.

The PSOE's vision for Bigastro is a town of 10,000 inhabitants which represents an increase of 33% or 2,500 people. At the same time they wish to keep the rural nature of the town and promote the concept of Citta Slow. Their priority is to allow the building of affordable apartments and pisos rather than detached houses to attract young people back to the town.

They also want to promote tourism in the town hence the plan to build an aparthotel with conference facilities on the rural land of the Pedrera.

Unfortunately we missed the end of the meeting because we went down to the Auditorium to see the Cuban ballet. Sadly there were only a handful of residents from our estate in evidence at the Auditorium which was a pity because their performance to a packed theatre was excellent.

A real treat

We were invited down to the school for a "fiesta" this lunchtime. We didn't know what to expect but thought it might just be a buffet. In fact it was much more than that. We left the tables groaning after three courses of food.

Preparing the paellas with rabbit and snails

Students and their families gathering ready to eat

First though a game of sillas de musica (musical chairs)

Then sitting down for the meal which lasted over two hours

A star studded but expensive spectacle

Footballing greats from the past 50 FA Cup finals at Wembley will be taking part in the opening ceremony before Chelsea meet Manchester United at the new stadium this afternoon.

Prince William will be the chief guest as the £757m stadium goes on show for a worldwide television audience. There will also be a celebratory Red Arrows fly-past for the 90,000 crowd.

These are among a series of events planned by the Football Association as the final returns to Wembley after a seven-year absence. Other highlights will include the marching band of the Corps of the Royal Engineers, who won the cup in 1875, plus big screen footage of both clubs' roads to Wembley.

However, many fans are unhappy about proposed prices within the stadium.Fans of both Chelsea and Manchester United are being advised by their peers to boycott food, merchandise and programmes inside Wembley on Saturday.

Steve Powell, head of development for the Football Supporters' Federation, said: "Football fans are fed up of being treated as turnstile fodder who will pay whatever they are asked, so we are asking fans to boycott the catering outlets inside the stadium." An official match programme will be priced at £10, a burger will cost £5 and a pint of beer £4.50. Wembley PLC insists it has taken fans' concerns on board and that a survey of 1,500 fans after the England Under-21 game against Italy found customers were concerned about queues and temperature of food more than prices.

There has also been criticism of ticket prices for the game. Of the 25,000 tickets allocated to each club, only 4,000 were £35, with the rest costing £60 and even £95. And about 400 individuals and companies who had spent up to £10,000 to join "Club Wembley" - which gave them a licence to purchase tickets at the stadium for the next 10 years - had not received their tickets for the final on Thursday because of a computer problem. Wembley PLC promised to contact all the individuals affected and to courier tickets to them if necessary. "We are sorry it happened and will conduct internal enquiries to make sure it doesn't happen again," a spokesman for the company told BBC Sport.

Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney admitted it would take time for things to run smoothly at the new Wembley. Saturday's final is the first showpiece event at the stadium, which was originally planned to cost £326.5m and be open in time for the 2003 FA Cup final. "It will take us all a little while to get used to get used to an efficient administration of occasions here at Wembley," Lord Mawhinney said. "We need to have arrangements where people can get smoothly in, smoothly out and fed smoothly. "There is just a learning curve to go through."

The Football Association will hope its pre-match events on Saturday can placate any unhappy fans. Des Lynam will interview Sir Bob Geldof, who organised the Live Aid concert that took place at Wembley in 1985, Sir Henry Cooper, who floored the then Cassius Clay at the stadium in 1963, and Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick for England in the 1966 World Cup final victory against West Germany.

Other guests will include Peter McParland, scorer of both Aston Villa's goals in 1957 through to Marcel Desailly, who won the Cup for Chelsea at the last Wembley final in 2000. Ricky Villa, scorer of one of the best-ever Wembley goals in Spurs' victory against Manchester City in 1981 will also be present as will Mark Hughes, the only man to have won four FA Cups at Wembley.

Players will go for the traditional walk around the pitch before local Brent schoolchildren parade the colours of the 72 teams who have won the cup between 1923 and 2000.

PS I was born in Manchester and we lived most of our lives in the North West so guess which team we will be supporting!

Sunday 27th is Election Day

Unlike in England, where first past the post wins, Spain’s voting system is based on proportional representation. Also, unlike in England, turn out for local elections is usually high e.g. four years ago the turn out in Bigastro was apparently 92%.

Each town council has a certain number of council positions according to the size of the population. In Bigastro there are 13 council positions (NB the number is always odd to prevent stalemates). Each position, from one to thirteen has a certain number of votes attached to it. So the party that wins the most votes gets the prime position, the mayor, and then the number of votes carries on down the list and the council positions are divided up between the various parties who were voted for.

So each party numbers their candidates in ascending order with a few reserves. A recent law states that 40% of the candidates must be female. As with all positive discrimination laws, people find ways around it so some parties put candidates forward who have no intention of taking a seat on the council, hence the reserves.

Residents of Bigastro who registered to vote in good time will by now have a card which tells them where they are to cast their vote.

To vote you need to take some form of photographic identification along with you i.e. a passport, driver’s licence or residencia card. Inside the polling station there will be a table piled high with voting slips for each party. This year there will be two different coloured slips beige/orange slips for the Valencian regional election and white ones for the local election.

Each voting slip has a particular party logo on it and a list of candidates from that party. So you need to select the appropriate slips for the party you are voting for i.e. in Bigastro PP, PSOE or Verde

It is very important not to mark the voting slip because a marked slip is a spoiled vote. When counting takes place all the voting slips are checked and political party representatives who are present will make sure any opposing votes that are marked are discarded.

Once you have the right slips, place them in one the envelopes provided i.e. white for the local election and beige for the regional election. You then go to the desk, show your identification and your electoral card, get checked off the list and then place your voting slips, inside their envelopes, into the clear, Perspex, ballot boxes. That is it!

The PP party has already delivered voting slips in envelopes to our estate so if you want to vote for them just take the envelopes down to the polling station with the slips already inside. They have also delivered a copy of their manifesto translated into English to us. Whether the other two parties will do the same is hard to say.

Once all the voting has taken place and the polling stations have closed, then counting will begin. Once the result is known then proportionally the council seats will be divided up between the various political parties.The one with the most seats on the council will have their number one candidate proclaimed as mayor.

Four years ago the election in Bigastro was a close run thing (85 votes separated the two main parties). The PSOE party got seven seats and the PP six so the current Mayor (Jose Joaquin Moya Esquiva) represents the PSOE. His rival in the PP party for this election is Aurelio Murcia González who of course built our houses and lives on our estate.

Looking forward to the yambús

On Saturday at 8:30 the quartet of saxophones, "Ars Musicandum" will be performing at the Auditorio Municipal.

On Sunday at 8:00pm it is the turn of El Ballet Folklórico de Cuba .

The group includes more than 100 musicians, singers, percussionists and dancers. Apparently we can look forward to a succession of afros, santerías, yambús, congas and popular traditions of Cuban music.

Judging by the poster their performance should be really colourful.

Does life get any better?

Imagine being on my roof terrace with a glass of wine looking out to this.


wearing just a t-shirt and a pair of shorts

Oh and did I mention we don't have Gordon Brown as Prime Minister?