It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!
(12th December 2009)
With the sun shining, clear blue skies and temperatures still reaching the 20's, it doesn't seem possible that Christmas is less than two weeks away.
However, the local Mojácar Church brought a festive mood to the Parque comercial today with a performance of Christmas carols.
It was lovely to hear some good voices and indeed rehearsed harmonies, something that seems to have been lacking on a certain TV talent show over the past weeks!
An enthusiastic Parque comercial audience joined in with the carols. Well done to all involved. ¡Feliz navidad!
A busy weekend of events! (7th & 8th November 2009)
Having had amazing weather for the best parts of October and November it's hard to believe that it is actually Autumn. With the clocks changing officially marking the end of summer and the earlier darker evenings you would imagine that social events would be at a minimum - wrong!
This weekend saw three major events, the Wacky Races at Villaricos, the
Mojácar 10k Fun Run and the PAWS Charity Golf Day at Desert Springs.
Unable to be everywhere at the same time we managed to get to two of the
events with yours truly running in the 10k for yet another year.
At Saturday's third annual Wacky Races they were raising money for Asprodalba where as well as the cart races there was a display of classic cars, dance displays and side stalls.
On Sunday a couple of hundred runners and walkers took part in the sixth annual Mojácar 10k Fun Run.
The first four and a half kilometres were tough going along the playa with a very strong head wind which somehow managed to appear from a completely different direction when on the 2km climb from the Playa up towards Mojácar.
I mention the wind to use it as my excuse for a disappointing finishing time and to stress that it was not due to not training and an excessive lifestyle!!
All in all it was a good run followed up by "refreshments" in Viva which comes very well recommended!
The rain in Spain falls mainly on "the playa"! (28th September 2009)
After a period of 24 hours almost non-stop rainfall the Hotel Mexico seems to have fared the worst.
Several Bomberos vehicles have been used to pump out water from the hotel that was over a metre deep in parts.
The underground garage, conference rooms and kitchens all felt the force of nature as did the outside padel and tennis courts.
Many other properties and underground garages have suffered too, mostly it would appear closer to sea level around the Vera-Playa area.
Campaign to boost Mojácar tourism after devastating wildfires.
(13th August 2009)
The regional government has launched an advertising campaign and has organised visits by journalists and tour operators from the UK and Belgium
The Junta de Andalucía has already started work on its recently announced campaign to boost tourism in the Levante area of Almería following the two forest fires in the Sierra Cabrera last month. The campaign was originally planned for the end of the year in an aim to bring more out of season tourists to the area, but was brought forward to help alleviate the effects of the devastation in Mojácar.
The original 90,000€ announced by the President of the Andalucía, José Antonio Griñan, on a visit to Mojácar last week has now been increased to 120,000€. The regional government has started its campaign with newspaper, television and radio advertising in Andalucía and other neighbouring regions, and has been in contact, Europa Press reports, with 30 tour operators from 17 countries. The news agency said negotiations are underway for a ‘proposal for collaboration’ with Thomas Cook.
The Junta’s councillor for tourism, Luciano Alonso, said visits to the area have been arranged with journalists, travel agents and others in the tourism sector from Spain, the UK and Belgium. It’s understood the first group is due to arrive on 10th September. The Junta is working on organising other meetings at the World Travel Market which takes place in London this November.
To see more pictures of the first fires on July 14th click here.
Next Stop Almeria are supplying two products that have been designed to help save money for property owners that rent their properties.
Automatic Air-Con Controller Do you want to cut the cost of your electric bills?
Then why cool the air when there’s no-one there!
Automated air conditioning shut off device for only 60€ (added option of fitting too!)
The devise monitors a room to detect movement and if there isn’t any,
after a pre-set period of time it automatically turns off the air-con.
Complete with a night setting allowing a comfortable night’s sleep.
Pay-As-You-Go Electricity Meter Do you rent or let other people use your property?
Then why not fit a state of the art electric meter?
Ensure the cost of your electricity bills are covered and reduce misuse of air-con.
As you can set the tariff you can cover the cost of purchase and
installation and even make money!!
Two year guarantee.
If you would like to leave us a message or perhaps comment on last night's ITV documentary "Spain - Paradise Lost" you can now do so via our new Blogger site.
Click on the Blogger logo on the left to get there.
Spanish inflation closes 2008 at 1.5%,
the lowest in ten years.
(5th January 2009)
The Index of Prices of Harmonized Consumption (IPCA) in Spain closed at 1.5%, the lowest rate in almost a decade, according to the early indications by the National Institute of Statistic (INE).
In short, this rate of 1.5% is the lowest from January 1999, when the harmonized IPC reached 1.4%. It is the fifth annual reduction in the rate of the IPCA.
From July 2008 when the rate was 5.3%, it has descended 3.8 points, coinciding with the drop of the price of the petroleum and some foods. December 2007 saw the IPCA at 4.3%, 2.8 points above that of December 2008. The December rate is better than the Government had expected, predicting the close at 2%.
The INE state that the information that it provides with the early indicator is only estimated and may not necessarily coincide with the definitive fact that will be given on 15th January.
The regional government has launched an advertising campaign and has organised visits by journalists and tour operators from the UK and Belgium
