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“Definitely worth seeing.” These four guys sang a whole repertoire of pop songs acapella. They were damn good and very entertaining. It was just a pity there weren’t more people in the Auditorium to enjoy the music.
Fortunately you can see what you missed by clicking on this link.
An early start to the day because this is the morning of the Resurrection which is celebrated in Bigastro by a special parade called El Encuentro starting at about 7:15am. Those of you who thought you might get a lie in on a Sunday morning would have received a rude awakening when the actual encounter took place at about 8am. The fireworks were nothing to look at but they were very loud, deafening if you happened to be close to them.
If the salvos of mortars didn’t do the trick, then the church bells and the rockets that followed would have roused you from your slumber.
Of course, those of us who were up and in the town, had the benefit of seeing what the noise was all about!!
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You can see more pictures from this very moving parade by clicking on this link.
Last night we went down into Torrevieja to watch the general parade. Just as well that we left early, the large car park at the front was full so we elected to go into the Virgen del Carmen car park instead where there were plenty of spaces. We managed to get seats on the street in good time to watch the parade and then settled down to wait for it to start.
We were treated to emotion, passion, colour, the melancholic sound of saetas, the sweet smell if incense and a liberal supply of sweets.
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You can see all of my pictures by clicking on this link.
Last night’s parade in Orhihuela was very different to the ones which had preceded it and very different to the one scheduled for tonight.
Last night it was the turn of the 500 members of the Hermandad del Silencio to parade with their heavy crosses and lights. In their brown habits with hoods covering their heads, they represent the mourning of Christ's death. Some walk in sandals, others are bare footed. This is a solemn parade, they don’t hand out sweets, there is no music except for the sound of the drums. It is said that time stops in the city for this parade and that you can hear the silence. Of all the processions, this one and the one at dawn with the Hermandad de la Buena Muerte are probably the most moving to watch.
If you tried to get into Torrevieja yesterday and got caught up in one of the traffic jams, then that was no April Fools joke. The councillor for tourism had estimated 200,000 visitors to the town over Easter but now thinks that could well be over 300,000. After the harsh winter, people just want to get away and enjoy some sunshine.
Come on admit it, how many of you fell for my April fools joke? How many of you spent the morning pursing your lips to try and get those three notes right so you could enjoy a free phone call?
I have to thank my very good friend Pete for the idea. It was his inspiration that lead me to concoct a story that would have some element of truth about it. As he said, my story about the lemon trees that produced gin and tonic was too far fetched and nobody was going to be fooled by the idea that Bigastro sat on an oil field.
My New Year joke about the buses went down rather well because it had an element of belief about it and so hopefully did the idea of free calls via Telefónica.
Do you recall my item about the new initiative which allows citizens to participate in debates about their municipalities? There are already a couple of suggestions regarding Bigastro in the BUZÓN CIUDADANO.
The first one is about the rubbish that has been dumped alongside the by-pass which is an eyesore.
Al ayuntamiento de bigastro: no se si se han dado cuenta de que en la carretera de circunvalación a orihuela, aproximadamente a la altura de correos y al otro lado de la carretera (a la derecha según sentido de marcha Orihuela) hay en un huerto un vertedero de basuras, muy próximo al pueblo. No creo que eso pueda ser legal, yo lo he detectado hace unas semanas, es perfectamente visible desde el pueblo y desde la carretera, creo que deberían hacer algo e incluso avisar al servicio de protección de la naturaleza de la Guardia Civil, pues no parece que ese vertedero esté muy en consonacia con lo de "citta slow" de bigastro. espero una rápida actuación pues es verdaderamente lamentable. gracias
Estimado ciudadano,
El caso ha sido llevado por la Policía Local de Bigastro y el SEPRONA (Guardia Civil), quienes han interpuesto la correspondiente denuncia a la empresa que ha realizado el vertido ilegal. Coincidimos plenamente con usted en que este tipo de acciones han de perseguirse y así lo estamos haciendo. Suponemos que en breve se procederá a la retirada de estos residuos.
We didn’t think that it could be legal and are pleased to hear that steps are being taken to get it removed.
and the second one is about the state of the road outside the confectionary shop Angeles on Calle San Joaquín
Pavimentar el parking lo alto, arriba de la confitería de Angeles de la Calle San Joaquín. Hay varios socavones y cuando llueve parecen balsas. Y aunque fuera de vez en cuando pasaran los agentes por allí.
Estimado ciudadano,
Dentro de los proyectos incluidos en el Plan Confianza de la Generalitat Valenciana, está incluido el asfaltado de gran cantidad de calles del municipio de Bigastro, entre la que se incluye el asfaltado y mejora del Parking que usted menciona.
That is good news because there are some serious holes in the roads. When it rains, they fill up and you don’t notice them – that is when they are most dangerous.
For those of you unable to get into Orihuela, Vegabaja Digital have galleries of photos.
PROCESION DEL PERDON Y ECCE-HOMO
Over the last twelve months, Telefónica have upgraded the digital exchanges on their network including the one here in Bigastro. In order to test the new systems, the designers introduced a code which allowed for unmetered calls to be made. This is probably the reason there has been no publicity about the upgrade.
Telefónica’s intention was to disable the code before finally programming the boot roms for the telephone switching units. However, the engineers hit a glitch with that and had to leave the access codes intact. No matter only they knew about this so it wasn’t going to cause a problem. Little did they realise that “phone phreaks” were on the case and soon discovered their “open door”.
What does this mean? Well obviously Telefónica would deny it but if you whistle the first three notes of the La Marcha Real (the Spanish national anthem) in near perfect pitch when you hear the dial tone, you will emulate the access code generated by Telefónica’s test equipment and your call will be made free of charge.
Since Telefónica could not restrict the free calls to Spain, this means, if you get it right, you can call anywhere in the world free of charge. On your bill the call will be shown as “llamada de prueba” and will have zero cents next to it.
I have tried this on our phone and have to say it did take a bit of practice to get it right. Pam faired a lot better and got it spot on first time. You know when it works because you get a message to say that your call is being connected “su llamada está siendo conectada” that is when you can dial the number you want.
Best of luck, enjoy your free calls while they last!
The DGT (Department of Transport) have been accused of taking measures to increase revenue rather than save lives. Motorist groups claim that 95% of radar cameras are placed on busy, fast, safe stretches of road such as motorways and dual carriageways where the fewest accidents attributable to speeding occur.
There are 524 fixed speed checkpoints with an additional 43 to be added this month. Only about a third of these contain cameras but they are all effective in slowing traffic down. Along with the fixed units, there are 240 cars equipped with mobile units to catch the unwary.
Be warned, Torrevieja is introducing a new ‘zero tolerance’ unit on the N332 between Punta Prima and La Zenia. If you pass through that at just one kilometre per hour over the limit then you can expect a fine. It is bound to catch loads of motorists and thus swell the coffers, especially in the tourist season. Drivers, aware of its presence will slow down only to be passed by those who haven’t twigged causing quite a few rear end shunts in the process.
What can the poor motorist do?
One measure that you can take is to use a GPS which shows you where the fixed points are. Or you can buy a radar detector which is illegal to operate in your car and so risk a fine of 160 Euros. Fortunately the newer units send out to weak a signal for the radar detection systems to pick up.
Alternatively you could simply keep below the speed limits but that would not be Spanish would it?
With Easter nearly over and spring well on its way, it is time to lighten up.
This Sunday, at the Auditorium, you can stroll through 40 years of “rock and pop” with the “4MIDABLES”. These four young men enjoy getting together to sing their favourite hits from the rock and roll years.
 | Easter is such an important part of the calendar here in Spain. The parades are the spectacular part of the celebrations, a tradition which hopefully will continue for many years to come. |
 | It is not just the adults who get involved though, the children from the local primary school in Bigastro hold their own parade. The pupils from La Paz, aged 3 to 6, dress up as nazarenes with traditional mantillas. There are Romans, musicians and of course costaleros carrying a paso which they have made. It is great spectacle for all the relatives and friends to see. |
If you watch the parades on television or visit them yourselves, you will see many children taking part and many more watching with their parents. Since they will be the next generation to carry these traditions forward for the future, it is encouraging to see them taking part.
It isn’t just your body that suffers when you eat too much junk food, your mind is affected as well. Take school dinners. Children fed on a high sugar or fatty diets tend to be badly behaved and lacking in attention.
When I taught at Anfield, some of the food they served was atrocious. The excuse was that, items like pies, chips, sausage rolls, burgers etc were the only types of food that children would eat. If the canteen put on healthy food, the children would turn their noses up at it.
Then along came Jamie Oliver, well not actually to my school but the TV chef did lambaste the quality of food that was being served in schools. His comments sparked a seed change in what was being served. Out went the burgers and chips, sausage rolls, fish fingers, turkey drummers, chicken dinosaurs to be replaced by proper sausages and creamy mash, chicken and mushroom casserole and roast beef with roast potatoes and green beans.
I don’t suppose that anyone thought that the outcome of the exercise would be to push up educational standards but that is what happened. A two year study showed that scores in national curriculum tests rose in schools which adopted a healthier school meal regime. In fact, the research showed that the effect of giving children decent food was greater than the imposed hour of literacy each day.
Interestingly, the research found that the change in school meals affected pupils from favourable socio-economic backgrounds more that those from deprived areas. That is not surprising really because children from middle class backgrounds adjust better to changes in their diets. They are more used to having fresh vegetables and fruit as part of their daily diet.
I well remember many pupils at Anfield would go out at lunchtime and buy a uncut loaf, hollow out the centre and fill it with chips; that would then be their main meal for the day. When they were offered vegetables like cabbage, sprouts or broccoli, they would turn their noses up. For them vegetables were baked beans and possibly frozen peas.
My father used to say fish was good for the brain and he was probably right. It just wasn’t the cod served fried in a thick layer of batter that we had every Friday lunchtime along with chips, scraps and white bread and butter. With all that cholesterol laden food in my early years, is it any wonder the Wii tells me each day that I am OBESE!
According to the newspaper Información, the parade in Elche for Domingo de Ramos was quite spectacular. Local police estimated that there were 35,000 visitors lining the streets as the procession passed by.
In this picture, taken from the newspaper, you can see the costaleras of the Cofradia of Santa Mujer Verónica carrying the paso of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem with palm decorations in the forms of flowers and vegetation. The procession was headed by the Band of Bugles and Drums of the Hermandad of the Flagelación and Gloria,
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I’ve been asked to take pictures of one of the performances at the Auditorium in April. It is a tricky place to get decent photographs because the lighting is from overhead. It would be better if they had some spotlights in the hall itself to throw light to the stage.
I’ve seen people using flash in the Auditorium but that just destroys the atmosphere. In any case, the ceiling is so high that the flash has to work hard to get any reach.
I planned to go up onto the balcony last night to get a view looking down to the band. That way you see more of them and they fill the frame. Unfortunately the door to the balcony was locked so I had to make do with sitting as high up in the main body of the Auditorium downstairs.
I just hope it works out for me in April and I get some decent shots for them
It looks like we are in for a nice dry, sunny Easter this year. The main parade in Torrevieja on Good Friday has been rained off the last two years. Fingers crossed, if AEMET have got it right, the parade should go ahead this time round.
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Click on the images to open a larger version
Palm Sunday is a day to wear your Sunday best and to show off your children. Whether they were British or Spanish it didn’t matter, they all looked stunning.
If like me, you are a regular visitor to the Bigastro web site and you use a Bigastro email address, you will have noticed that they have been some problems lately. Both the web and email servers have been going down only to be restored when the technicians have time in the mornings to reset them. I’m sure the guys at Bigastel are on the case and that normal service will be resumed ASAP.
Hopefully, those of you connected to the Internet via Bigastel have not been affected. I do know that my web albums, hosted by Bigastel are still live so hopefully you will still have a reliable connection.
You did remember to put your clocks and watches forward last night didn’t you? It is no use arriving at the Parque Huerto del Cura to watch the palm Sunday parade an hour after it has finished!
Now, having lost an hour, I need to get my chores done so that I don’t arrive too late to see the donkey set off.
The idea of selling your produce at less than the cost of production seems crazy but that is what the agriculturalists on the Huerta (kitchen garden) of the Vega Baja have been doing for the past few years. Prices are of course governed not just locally but nationally and internationally and that has been the problem.
Earlier in the year, one of the ladies in our class was telling us that the local farmer was not harvesting his potatoes because it simply wasn’t worth it. It would have cost him more that the market price to pick them so he was going to leave them to rot in the ground.
Now though, things are different. The bad winter weather that has affected Europe and other parts of Spain has benefitted the Vega Baja and driven prices up. That, combined with the transfer of good clean water from the Tajo to the Segura have worked in favour of the growers and allowed them to produce artichokes, broccoli, cabbages, lemons and oranges at a profit, especially broccoli. I have some in the fridge, it is firm, dark green and full of flavour – fantastic.
