They came last night

Last night the Three Kings came to Bigastro to bring presents to the children.


Melchior

Gaspar

Balthasar

Each King was accompanied by dancing girls

Many happy returns

The King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, celebrates his 70th birthday today.

These are some of the most important moments of his life:

5th of January 1938. Juan Carlos was born in Rome, where his grandfather Alfonso XIII of Spain had been exiled after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. His parents were Juan de Borbón and Battenberg and doña María de las Mercedes of Borbón and Orleáns, Countess of Barcelona

He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there. Juan Carlos began his studies in San Sebastián and finished them in 1954 at the San Isidro Institute in Madrid.

He joined the army, doing his officer training in the Military Academy of Zaragoza. He then spent a year in the naval school at Pontevedra and another in the Air Force school in San Javier, Murcia.

In 1961 he graduated from the Complutense University and went to live in the Palace of Zarzuela where he began carrying out official engagements.

14th of May 1962. He married Princess Sofía of Greece in Athens. After their honeymoon, they lived in the Palace of the Zarzuela.

30th of January 1968. Felipe, their first son was born. They already had two daughters; Elena (born 20th of December 1963 and Cristina, born the 13 of June 1965.

22nd of November 1975. Two days after the death of the dictator Franco, Juan Carlos 1 was proclaimed the King of Spain.

15 th of June 1977. Spain held its first democratic elections.

6 of December of 1978. The Spanish Constitution was approved.

Juan Carlos still enjoys popularity as King in Spain 32 years later.

PS also congratulations go to

Minnie Smith (110 years old today). Minnie, who is one of the oldest people in Britain, has lived through three centuries, six monarchs and 21 prime ministers. She has lost her sight and most of her hearing but is apparently still alert and loves to sing.

God bless both of them.

Twelve months on

There are still people who are confused about our VoIP telephone account and how it works. VoIP or voice over internet protocol is a system which uses your broadband Internet connection for phone calls. The special phone translates and compresses audio into packets of digital information that can be sent over the Internet just like any other data. At the other end the packets are translated back into audio

Our VoIP provider (VoIPtalk) relays our calls via traditional telephone networks to the people we are calling whether they are on a landline or a mobile. The people we call can be in any country in the world. The call only becomes local when it is relayed by the normal telephone provider.

We also have an incoming number. VoIPtalk provide a 0870 number with their free accounts but we use their Silver Service which gives us a local UK number that people can dial thus cutting down the cost of their calls.

The Silver Service also cuts down the cost of our calls. Currently calls to the UK cost us 0.9p (just over a centime) per minute at peak times, 0.5p in the evenings and 0.2p per minute at weekends. Calls to other VoIP users (or any VoIP) network are free.

We've been using the service for a year now. In that time the 369 calls that we have made have have cost us £25. Bear in mind that Pam's calls to the girls can last anything up to an hour!

If you want to try this service go to VoIPtalk's website; download the free trial VoIPtalk easySPEAK Softphone and setup a free account. You'll get £2 of credit to play with and a 056 number for people to call so your trial will cost nothing. You'll need a Windows PC running Windows 2000, XP or Vista with a broadband connection*. You'll also need a microphone and speakers, a USB phone or a headset.

If you decide to continue using VoIPtalk you'll either need to purchase a full copy of the softphone for £14.99, a VoIP phone, a VoIP adapter (to use with your normal phone) or a VoIP router. NB if you already have a USB phone (possibly used with Skype) you'll need to purchase the softphone package to use with it.

* The faster your broadband connection the better your call quality will be.

Traditional torches in Elche

In Elche they illuminate the arrival of the Wise Men with torches called "atxes" made from palms.

The tradition had gone into decline but fortunately Francisco Díez Miralles was taught how to make them by his father and started creating torches fourty years ago for his daughter and a few of the families in his neighbourhood. This year he has prepared 700 and estimates that others, who have joined him in the work, will have made about 2,000.

The torches will mainly be used in the plazas Rey Jaime I and Raval where most of the people will concentrate to watch the parade of the Three Kings.

The atxes have a palm at the centre and are surrounded by easily burnt materials from the huerta tied together with esparto grass..

Don't bring it here

Doctors' leaders warned people struck down by a violent stomach bug sweeping Britain not to return to work as GPs reported yesterday that they were 'inundated' with sufferers.

More than 100,000 people a week are catching norovirus, which causes sudden vomiting and diarrhoea, and the numbers contracting the disease will peak this month, it was reported last night.

Thousands of workers and children who fell ill over the holiday period are due to return to jobs and classrooms in the coming days. Many have already called in sick and doctors warn them not to go back until they are fully recovered, such is the risk of spreading the disease.

So far this winter about two million people have fallen ill with the norovirus, the highest number for five years and double the amount of cases by this time last year, according to reports.

Doctors warned people with the condition to stay away from GPs' surgeries and hospitals and to phone for advice to avoid further spread.

The bug usually last two days and can sweep through schools, offices, hospitals and prisons. It has struck passengers on the Queen Victoria cruise ship and cases have been found in more than a dozen hospitals.

The Three Wise Men

In time honoured tradition, their Majestys, the Three Wise Men, will visit Bigastro on Saturday night to bring presents to the children of the town.

At approximately 7:30pm; Melchor, Gaspar and Balthasar will parade along Calle Aureliano Díaz and Calle Purísima until they reach the marquee which has been set up for them in the Parque Huerto del Cura. There they will distribute gifts to the children.

We've missed this each year since we've lived in Bigastro and so are looking forward to being there on Saturday.

Expect the worst - it might not happen

The Met Office yesterday dismissed a rival forecaster's reports that the temperature would drop to -17C later this week, but predicted that the first snowfall of the winter was on its way.

"Scotland, north-east and south-east England can expect between one and two centimetres of snow on Thursday," said Paul Fox-Hughes, a Met Office forecaster. The odd snow flurry could hit London, he added.

After a mild Christmas and a warm start to the new year, temperatures will drop today to 2-4C but it will feel a lot colder because of a strong, icy wind.

The long-range forecaster WeatherAction issued a near-apocalyptic warning earlier this week, saying temperatures could plummet to -17C (1.4F) in the Midlands, and that the average temperature for January would be close to freezing.

But the Met Office said most of the snow would be gone by Friday, when temperatures are expected to rise significantly.

Would that be the same organisation that predicted there wouldn't be a hurricane strength storm on the night of November 15th 1987 when Michael Fish famously announced "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!".

Now they say drinking is actually good for you

Doctors believe that current drinking guidelines for the elderly are too conservative It seems that regular moderate drinking is actually good for the elderly.

Alcohol can boost the functioning of the brain, banish depression and provide a sense of well-being to the over-65s, say doctors. They concluded that two drinks a day did no harm to the elderly and in some cases it was more beneficial than abstinence.

The research on British pensioners showed that 28.6 per cent of the men and 10.3 per cent of the women had more than one drink a day. In the US, 10.8 per cent of men and 2.9 per cent of women consumed the same level.

The studies found a lower risk of death or disability among British drinkers compared to Americans. The worst health results were among those who did not drink at all and heavy drinkers.

So first of all drinking a glass or two of wine was good for you. Then there was concern that middle class drinking was more of a problem than young people's binge drinking. Following that the guidelines were exposed as just figures dreamed up without any factual basis. Now we're back to drinking is OK. Good job we live in Spain where sensible drinking has always been part of the culture.

The fight back

Spanish children traditionally receive presents on January 6 from the Three Kings who are said to have followed the Star of Bethlehem bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.

In recent years though, Santa Claus has become popular during the holiday season, helped by Hollywood films and shops eager to use his image to persuade parents to buy more toys.

Now, a Spanish advertising agency is fighting back with a campaign including posters on the streets of Madrid and a rap video criticizing Santa in a bid to win back the festive season for the Three Kings.

In the video, three rapping Kings backed by dancing girls, taunt Santa as an overweight import whose red costume was popularised by a Coca Cola advertising campaign. "We're the Three Kings -- who the Hell are you?" they chant in the video which ends with Father Christmas being machine gunned in an alley.

In the video, the rapping kings give a phone number for elves to call if Santa has exploited them in his factory, make fun of his trouser size and tell him to stay out of Spain. You can even play with the Santa voo-doo doll online too. "Ho, ho, ho? You clown," says one of the kings, as one of them passes a finger menacingly across his throat.

Of course Spanish children would love to celebrate both Christmas and the Three Kings with presents on both occasions. At least there is some sense to that. The Islamic children I taught at Anfield, didn't seem to understand that is was wrong for them to celebrate both Eid and Christmas.

They must be mad

It isn't just on Christmas Day that mad Brits take to the beaches. At precisely 1pm on the first day of the year, a group of residents from Xàbia, mainly British, welcomed 2008 with champagne in the cold waters of the Mediterranean.

Rushton and Brenda Taylor started the customary swim twenty years ago with the aim of collecting money to buy toys for the children at an orphanage in Gandia. Hundreds of people go down to watch the spectacle each year and have donated thousands of euros to the cause. It is so well organised that they even have cafeterias open to serve hot drinks and food.

After initial greetings and jokes the 25 brave souls, including several Spaniards, prepared themselves with glasses of champagne. At 1pm, to the sound of a horn and with hundreds of people surrounding them, they raced into the sea. A second horn, ten minutes later, signaled the end of their chilling experience. They then dried themselves and put on some warm clothes vowing to return next year to do it all again.

The caring country

Britain has the highest property taxes in the world

Soaring council taxes have sent the UK to the top of the league table compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The figures show British households pay 64 per cent more in property duties than the French and seven times more than German homeowners.

Congestion charging rolled out across Britain.

In an attempt to force more drivers out of their cars and on to public transport, ministers have encouraged local authorities to copy the scheme introduced in London. Manchester's plans are well under way.

Families forced to squeeze their rubbish into extra-small wheelie bins or risk a £1,000 fine under Labour plans to crack down on household waste.

A Government report called for the nationwide introduction of 'bonsai bins', a little more than half the size of the 240-litre models, to encourage households to separate their rubbish for recycling.

And the guidelines warned against letting larger families keep the old big bins because other households might suffer from 'bin envy'.

People who fail to cram all their non-recyclable waste into the 140-litre European-style wheelie bins faced criminal prosecution if they leave extra rubbish on the street in bags.

Labour's bin initiative came amid the continuing controversy over rubbish taxes and the scrapping of weekly collections - 180 town halls empty bins only once a fortnight.

Norwich Council will be the first authority to link parking permit prices to vehicle length in a move which will raise millions of pounds in extra revenue.

The Local Government Association said many other town halls were watching the experiment 'with great interest' with a view to copying the scheme.

A number of town halls are already penalising drivers of 'gas-guzzling' larger cars by linking parking costs to vehicle emissions. But the Norwich scheme marks a change by charging according to the car's dimensions, with vehicles divided into three bands.

Patients' rights and responsibilities are to be spelled out in a new NHS "contract".

It is likely to cover core treatments to which they are entitled, minimum waiting times and the right to be treated in clean hospitals.

But with the rights will come the responsibility to lead a healthy lifestyle. There were fears last night that this could lead to smokers and people who drink or eat too much being refused treatments.

Already around one in ten hospitals refuse to carry out joint replacements for obese patients or orthopaedic surgery on smokers.

Of course the most lucrative stealth taxes in Britain are those on alcohol and tobacco. The taxes are so high, I'm surprised anyone can afford to smoke and drink anymore. There was a proposal to put a tax on unhealthy foods but even the Labour Government found that one too controversial.

Happy 2008

The young Spaniards on our table

How has your year been so far? Ours has been pretty good; mind you we've slept through most of it.

Actually, can I ask you to read this quietly please because I've got a bit of a headache this morning. I reckon it was caused by the grapes or perhaps it was the stuff made from grapes.

Anyway, how was your New Year's Eve? Our night out at the Pedrera was muy bien. After a very enjoyable meal we were joined by more people from Villas Andrea and then the party started. We had our grapes at midnight along with a glass of cava to bring us luck. I'll let you know if it works this time next year.

We even won a prize in the raffle.

Could just be better than Tina's version

As many of my friends know, I am a big fan of Tina Turner. I have to say though that Celine Dion's version of the "The Best" might just be better than Tina's.

Just how hot is she?

Did you give vouchers?

When you haven't got a clue what to buy someone, a gift voucher seems a good idea. It somehow feels less vulgar than sending money.

You tell yourself that the recipient can buy something that they really want rather than the pair of socks or the sweater that you'd normally buy. Vouchers also have the added benefit that you don't need to wrap them and they cost very little to post.

However, many of the £1bn of gift tokens received on December 25 will never be used. The Voucher Association, the industry's trade body, admits that a quarter of them are unlikely to be redeemed. In those cases the shops have had your cash for nothing.

Retailers even gain from the tokens that are cashed in, as customers top them up by an average 40% of their face value and since an average of six weeks pass before a voucher is redeemed, it also serves the the retailer as an interest-free loan.

I can remember our girls getting gift vouchers as presents. Inevitably it would cost us money to top up the ones they used and the ones they didn't use we had to buy off them to use ourselves. It wasn't so bad when they got M&S vouchers but those from shops with a smaller range of goods were a pain in the butt.

High tech Jesus

The city of Bal Harbour, in Florida, has replaced the stolen figure of Jesus in its belén with one equipped with GPS. They have also placed the nativity scene behind plexiglass to make it secure.

Thankfully Torrevieja has not had to resort to such measures with its belén which is outside the church on Calle Ramon Galud. See my pictures of last year's belén.

Now that's a good idea

The town halls of Pilar de la Horadada, San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier and Los Alcázares have made an agreement with a car company in Cartagena to provide free transport services to residents in these municipalities on New Year’s Eve. Reportedly each municipality will have several marked pick-up points for these cars located in the town centres to ensure that anyone wishing to travel does not have to take their own vehicle. This agreement has been approved in an attempt to reduce the number of drink-related traffic accidents which tend to occur on this night.

An interesting question

The euro is strong against the pound which is why the exchange rate from sterling to euros is poor. From a high of 1.5 euros to the pound, we are now looking at 1.36 euros to the pound. So for every 1,000 GBP you transfer at the moment you'd get 140 euros less than before.

The dollar is weak against the pound which is why you can get 1.99 dollars to the pound.

So if I change sterling to dollars and then dollars to euros would that give me a better deal?

The answer is unfortunately no, unless you keep the dollars until the euro weakens. Go to XE.com and work it out. In theory you'd end up with the same amount whichever way you exchanged your money. In practice you'd loose because there would be charges on each transaction (the difference between the buying and selling rates)

100GBP = 199.989 USD (1GBP = 199.989USD)
199.989USD = 136.115 EUR (1 USD = 0.680642 EUR)

100GBP = 136.115 EUR (1 GBP = 1.36115 EUR)

The smart thing to do is to only change currency when the rate is good. Some of the people here took advantage of the 1.5 euros to the pound rate and transferred large amounts at that time.

Even if their money had been in an account earning say 5% interest in the UK, they would still be better off by several hundred euros than someone changing money each month over the last year.

The problem is that you'd have needed a crystal ball to work that out and if the rate had remained stable they'd have lost out.

The strength of the euro is a cause for concern, not just for us, but for anyone trying to sell goods from the Eurozone in other markets. The only reason that the European Central Bank is allowing the euro to remain at these levels is to try and curb inflation below the 2% target.

Have you got your grapes ready?

On New Year's Eve, Spaniards will consume around 1.5 million kilos of fresh grapes.

Why on New Year's Eve? Because they say that eating one grape at each of the 12 chimes of the clock at midnight will bring you good luck for the following year. It's an ancient tradition.

You can of course buy tins of twelve grapes preserved in syrup but if you want fresh ones you need those that have been grown in the Vinalopó.

The areas around Agost, Aspe, Hondón de las Nieves, Hondón de los Frailes, Monforte del Cid, Novelda y La Romana have special microclimates that allow them to keep the grapes fresh into winter ready to be picked for Nochevieja.

Plan for the Pedrera reinitiated

In an extraordinary plenary session, the City council of Bigastro approved the start of an evaluation of  the environmental impact of the urbanisation plan for the Pedrera which was suspended  by the Generalitat in Valencia.

The City  council has already received more than 2.4milllion euros in payment for the  municipal ground and  licenses to build at the Pedrera.  Although the company involved  (Idearco)has not  been able to begin construction, it has publicised the residential complex  and the practice golf course which it intends to build on the auctioned land. 

The new house

The house that they are building on the corner of Calle Inglaterra and Calle Escocia is not one that you can easily miss. The three roofs may well equal Aurelio's central tower in terms of architectural quirkiness.




I imagine, like with many new buildings, we will get used to it but in the meantime it just looks so big and a little out-of-place in its surroundings!