(Taken from the printed version of the Seaside Gazette)

This is our third, combined summer issue, which is aimed at the tourists, rather than at the residents; and it’s growing in pages each year.

Where can you go wrong with 41 restaurant reviews and 17 other business ones?

You’ve got news, views and blues… well, jazz, really (Majuelo Park, Almuñécar). You have advice on what to do and what not to do whilst sunbathing. There’s also a bumper feature on the Infoca service, which fights forest-fires.

All through the summer, the normal dropping-off points will be restocked with copies, so no fighting! There will even be plenty left over for the summer deserters to pick up when they return.

So, if these aren’t already enough reasons to grab a copy of the summer issue of The Seaside Gazette, and to hang onto it for dear life, then here’s one more: it makes a mess of pesky flies (Do try not to have the mag open on page three, where my photo is, when you zap one, though).

Ah! Our photo-shy publisher is also on that spread, pictured climbing out of a helicopter…

We start the section with a short welcoming speech from the Mayor of Almuñécar, Don Juan Carlos Benavides:

“The township is preparing itself this year to offer its best image to all those that choose Almuñécar and La Herradura to spend their holidays. They will be able to see that from last year to this one many things have improved many aspects that advance Almuñécar and La Herradura towards being towns of tourism and services. The infrastructure and municipal services are priority subjects for us and in this sense the opinions of our own townsfolk are very important concerning the improvement on the 2006 summer period.”

A grandmother and aunty have been sent to prison for ‘giving’ a baby to a married couple in Almuñécar. The mother of the baby was a minor and the couple that were to receive this ‘present’ were distant relatives. The Judge presiding over the case sentenced the two women to six months imprisonment, which was accepted by the defence. The new ‘parents’ had kept the baby as their own for five months before being bubbled (informed upon) by an anonymous informant.

Madrid has finally given the order for work on the A-7 Bridge over the valley at Torrecuevas to recommence. Apparently, the Central Government had maintained a halt on work to the bridge, even though the investigating judge had lifted the judicial block.

The Mayor announced that the tennis and padel courts that have been built between Río Verde and Avenida Príncipe de Asturias were to be inaugurated by the Spanish international tennis star, Aranxta Sánchez Vicario on Friday 29th June at 21.00h, which of course will be too late for us to cover it in this summer edition.

The Almuñécar Law Court, Number Two, has asked the Town Hall for a 100,000-euro deposit, as having the ‘responsibilidad civil directo’ for the closure of the municipal TV station in 2003. This sum has been established in the hearing against Juan Carlos Benavides. The Mayor is accused of having cut off the power to the TV station’s transmitter and having changed the locks.

Hotels – the legal ones and otherwise – continue to bloom. Almuñécar will also be getting what is being announced as the first 5-star hotel on the Costa Tropical: El Cortijo Andalucía.. Anyway, El Cortijo Andalucía (Andalusia cottage), which is going up in the Cercado de la Santa Cruz, which is just above the Santa Cruz junior school in San Sebastian, is due to open next year. Which brings us to the Cotobro abomination, which despite being given building permission against all logic and sense of justice, has managed to sprout the basic structure, typical of Spanish constructions; i.e. concrete pillars and floors. Further construction work is pending the building-freeze order being lifted. That is after shafting a lovely little seaside villa, the view of everybody behind it, almost burying a Roman well, and sitting a mere 20 metres from the sea! The Mayor believes that work on this hotel could conclude next year, too. ¡Veremos que pasa! Meanwhile, it has been announced that another hotel will be going up in Velilla; this time, a three-star one. According to the plans, it will be built on a 400-sq/m plot, and will comprise of a basement, ground floor and seven upper floors. This time, though, it is not an outside company that will build it, but an Almuñequero who has spent all his working life in the hostelry trade, Manuel Rodrigo Vigo. So, the eastern end of town will have three hotels: Playacálida, La Bahía and this one, whose name has not been specified.

Talking of Hotels, the staff at Hotel Bahía Tropical expressed their indignation at the allegations raised by the CGT workers union in which they stated that this hotel and others on this part of the coast were not complying with labour conditions that are stipulated under the provincial labour accords. The document released by the company committee of the said hotel claims that the purpose of the union is to destabilise the position of the workers there. “If a union allows itself to raise accusations against our establishment, without any grounds, whatsoever, then we are here to counter them. We are aware of the help that a union to be to workers, but we are equally aware of the damage that it can provoke with its extreme attitudes, with the only objective of being heard,” read the committee’s letter.

Hail Jete! This sprawling metropolis, just eight kilometres up the Río Verde valley will soon be breaking sound barrier with two municipal achievements: WIFI for school kids and a pensioners’ club. The Town Hall has announced that it has asked for a grant from the relevant authorities to provide it with this day centre-cum-pensioner’s club, where those injured during boisterous domino death-tournaments can recuperate or practice catapult sharp shooting at passing youths on mopeds. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the junior school will be enjoying Internet connections via WIFI, allowing the kids to access Google Earth to find out if the pensioners have set up any catapult ambushes from the nearby club.

You will have seen that small fishing boat that has been mounted as a monument, not far from El Santo (the rock with the cross on it) – at least you should have, as it’s been there for a while. It is a traiña, in other words, a small fishing boat dedicated to Sardines, Anchovy and Horse-Eye Jack (jureles) capture. This one was christened Yolanda; no doubt after a wife. Almuñécar used to have a fleet of about 20 in its heyday, but with the conversion to tourism, the fishing sector has all but died out. These boats, which look like large rowing boats with a traditional, outside-toilet shed mounted in the middle, would fish during the night, never far from site of land, using a short net – by comparison with a trawler, for example.

The BBC has been back again – blighters can’t stay away – to film a documentary on Laurie Lee. This British author-poet came to Spain at least three times during his life: between 1935 and 1936 (he was evacuated from one of Almuñécar’s beaches shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, by a British destroyer). He then returned during the war to fight for the Republican side. Later, he returned in the 50’s with his young wife, Katie. Laurie was only 19 when he came the first time, landing in Vigo (Galicía) and walking across Spain before ending up in Almuñécar – not the sort of thing that you do before breakfast, of course. In 1989, I think it was, the BBC filmed A Rose for Winter, which covered his 50’s trip. Quite a few scenes were shot up in Cazulas (Otívar), as well as down in Almuñécar, at Francisco I and up in the streets near the castle. If you ever get to watch the film, I’m the drunken Spanish student that accosts Laurie’s wife in Granada… Where you won’t see me is on the floor of the bus or the fishermen’s boat, but I was there with a walkie-talkie, translating the directors instructions. I turned down Hollywood, of course…

An Argentinean woman was expelled from the country after faking a kidnapping in Almuñécar. She will not be able to return for ten years. She claimed that she had the child of a Uruguayan family, also resident in Almuñécar, held captive, demanding 10,000 euros in ransom money. According to the court sentence, on the 26th February M.N.Z. called several times from her own mobile telephone (hiding her number, however), demanding the payment of the ransom via a drop off point, which was a litter bin next to the medical centre. She assured the parents that she would harm their youngest daughter if they did not comply.

The parents got straight onto the Guardia Civil, however, who staked out the drop-off point. It turned out that the girl was not even kidnapped, as such, but was at school. As she didn’t actually kidnap the girl, M.N.Z was charged with extortion and sentenced to a one-year prison sentence and the payment of court costs.

However, as the sentence is less than six years and because the woman was here illegally, she was expelled from the country. Apparently, the woman had worked for the Uruguayan family as a child minder.

There’s a big uproar over the installation of a mobile-telephone transmitter on the roof of a building, right in the middle of town. For those of you that know your way around, if you walk up Baja del Mar from the Plaza de la Rosa, you come to Heladería Daniel: the building is on that corner with the street that leads under the arch (where Pub Mimón used to be). Such is the indignation that protesters with placards strode onto the stage during the council session to elect and swear in the Mayor. The law, if I remember correctly, is that you cannot put one of those things within 500 m of a residential area. Anyway, the installation had gone ahead, but was stopped by the Town Hall as the work had been carried out without the appropriate municipal permits. The owner of the building, who leased the rooftop space to Telefónica, said that before doing so they had hired a company to research whether such an installation was prejudicial to public health, and that said company had reported that there existed no evidence that it did. The owner also reassured his neighbours that it had never been his intention to put their health at risk. Well, whatever the case, there are two things for certain: the accumulated indignation coming from Heladería Daniel is melting the ice-cream (joke) and that although nobody wants one in their backyard, we all want coverage for our mobile telephones.

Beaches along the Costa Tropical set to improve with a grant of nearly € 520,000. Just after it was announced that Carchuna, Calahonda and our own harbour at Marina del Este have gained the coveted Blue Flag in recognition of their cleanliness, safety and good management, it seems that there’s even more good news in store. The money has been committed by the Regional Government of Andalucía and will be used to buy eight additional floating platforms, 200 extra 120-litre rubbish containers, 500 metres worth of new cement blocks for building walkways to the water, as well as about 20 further oases (palm tree arrangements) with lighting to be shared amongst the beaches in La Herradura and Almuñécar. Should help to make our part of the world that little bit more appealing!

Pile up at Alcázar, as parking at new hotel causes problems. It was more than just the temperature rising up on the Sunday of the San Juan festival, as nerves were stretched and tempers flared when one guest at the newly opened Alcázar Best at the entrance to the Marina del Este decided it was time to take the law into his own hands and block any traffic passing through this point. Decidedly disgruntled with some damage that his car had allegedly suffered whilst parked there, he thought he would protest by preventing any traffic flowing through this access point. Things got so desperate that the Guardia Civil were called in to sort out the chaos. Let’s see whether this event changes what has been a growing congestion problem in the area since the hotel opened its doors during May, since I’ve been told that they seem to have difficulty convincing guests to hand over the requisite daily six-euro fee for the privilege of parking in its car park!

Hundreds flock to the beach to celebrate San Juan on the one night of the year (more or less coinciding with summer solstice) when barbeques and camping on the beach are permitted. Bonfires are lit at midnight to mark this annual fiesta, in which families and friends join together to party and take the proverbial plunge into the seawater, so as to spend the following year enjoying good health and beauty. As the Costa Tropical coastline is littered with the remnants of tents, feasts and smouldering fires, come the morning, one can’t help but wonder just how much cleaning up is required and what the impact is on the environment, after this ‘cleansing’ ceremony takes its course.

New plaza inaugurated in Las Maravillas, as the 1,700 square-metre space is opened with a fiesta, celebrated by friends and neighbours. Representing an investment of in excess of € 200,000, the plaza with its streetlamps, benches and trees, is truly significant within this crowded part of the municipality, especially when planning for the local Virgen-de-Las-Maravillas celebration planned for September. (PS: Interestingly, neighbours did request a contribution of a thousand euros from the local government to go towards funding the festivities and sweetening some of the recent animosity over building in this zone, but were sadly refused.)

Summer beach rugby for children that fancy an active afternoon. 8-11-year olds on Tuesdays and Thursdays 16.30 – 18.00. 12 – 14 year olds on Wednesdays and Fridays. Contact Sergio now on 639 754 501 or email him on sergiotodaro@hotmail.com

New at Felicia Hall Gallery this summer is a collective exhibition of contrasting works from the 21st July through to the 19th August with the sculptures of Renata Barcelós and Frans Dekkers, together with the paintings of Antonio Belmonte, José Ángel Fernández Colón, Andrea Auer and Laura Romero.

Committed to all things cultural, Felicia and Andrew have also organised a book presentation on Sunday 29th July at 9.00pm by author José Luis Merino Boves (Director of the theatrical group Los Berengueles). Born in Madrid, this author has directed 32 films, written 34 screenplays and produced seven films, winning one national prize as best director as well as two national prizes as best scriptwriter. This clearly gifted individual has also written three books and the one he will be presenting is entitled Aventura de Jesús, llamado el Cristo (Editora, Entrelineas, Editor: Carmelo Segura Martínez).

Finally, to top off the summer at Felicia Hall they’ll be opening a new show at 8pm on Saturday 25th of August, with the works of young Mexican artist Soledad Velasco.

Quality English books for children now on sale in La Herradura. Laura is a distributor for Usborne Books at Home (a division of Usborne Publishing and one of the UK’s leading children’s publishers) with access to a range of over 1,000 titles that young readers simply adore, from baby books to biology, first learning to fabulous fiction. If you would like to host a book event, see a full catalogue and want details of monthly special offers please telephone Laura on 958 827 375 or 670 483 280.

Just when you thought it was time to down tools, Jane and her team from Annie Sloan are offering some more courses so that you don’t feel bound to fall into the mould of ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ in this relentless Andalusian sunshine! This first runs from 10.30 – 16.00 and includes materials supplied by the workshop. But please bring a light lunch for the midday break, since the brushes do not make a tasty alternative!

Friday 27th: Paint French furniture style with Jane Warnick at € 80 per person. On the other hand, the next set of courses runs from 15.30 – 19.00. All materials are supplied and refreshments will be provided.

Monday 23rd: Floral Painting using water colours with Veronica Bailey at € 40/ person.

Thursday 26th: Introduction to Acrylics with Adam Regester at € 40 per person.

Friday 27th: Tips: Techniques using watercolours with Veronica Bailey at € 40/person.

Apart from these set classes, the friendly people at Annie Sloan also do 2 hour courses in Basic Decorative Paint Techniques, Gilding and Advanced Furniture Decoration Techniques on a book and come basis.

You can book directly at the shop just behind the market at Calle Gonzalo Barbero N.12 or email them on pintura@anniesloan.com with your name, address and telephone number indicating which course(s) you wish to attend. Please note that a deposit of € 20 is payable on reservation and the balance on the day of the course.

If the kiddies are getting bored, there is a monthly Children’s art and craft group, which is held both in Spanish and English, for 6-13 year olds. The dates for these holidays include Tuesday 17th July and Thursday 16th August, 10.30 - 13.30. Everyone is welcome. Call now, to find out more and reserve your space on 958 640 632.

Four new padel courts next to sports pavilion set to cost € 226,000. The town hall has selected the company Compasan y Arian to carry out the work and with any luck, these courts should be completed by end of this year.

Local blood donors recognised (not by vampires, but) by the Regional Centre of Blood Transfusion in Granada (where you can normally spot Dracula waiting in the wings!) Seriously, folks, this 90-strong group of people just from the village of La Herradura have received diplomas and pins to thank them for their ongoing support. Every three months, it seems that these amazing citizens front up to offer their ‘contribution’.

Green light given on Subaquatic park from the Department of the Environment, as Juan Carlos Benavides confirms that the town hall has been given the go ahead to start building the project. It’s been over three years since this ambitious project was stopped through protests from fishermen, amongst others. Some 120 hectares of public waters between Cantarriján at the far end of La Herradura and El Peñón del Santo in Almuñécar, in order to set up this underwater attraction for divers. The idea is to submerge environmentally-friendly matter that makes for interesting zones to explore and hopefully attract even further friendly marine life, establishing areas with terracotta urns, staged shipwrecks and simulated Atlantis scenarios. When we interviewed Luis of Centro Buceo La Herradura some months ago, he confirmed that the ultimate goals of this ambitious project were twofold: to regenerate the seabed along our coastline with both flora and fauna; as well as to enhance the quality and quantity of opportunities for visiting divers to the area. If well managed, this could really boost the level of tourism to our part of the Mediterranean. As they say locally, ‘poco a poco’.

And talking about bit by bit, it seems that things are starting to look brighter on the English library front. Following a very successful meeting with Ann Maxfield at the Hideaway, it’s clear that there’s still a lot of enthusiasm and interest to keep this project alive. Things are looking positive in terms of resources, people and lifts, so we’ll wait to see what happens next! Knowing how things sometimes happen here, chances are that you’ll just pop up to the third floor in the Civic Centre one day to find it all magically in place. Just rest assured that there’s been a lot of effort committed already…

Work-ban on fortress lifted as the works stopped over a month ago on the basis of not obtaining correct building permits (sound familiar?) are allowed to continue. Finally, work has recommenced with a garden being created around the fort, as well as an exhibition space sorted out within the structure itself, destined for documentation and display of local historical matter. The restoration project will cost just over € 1 million and local officials proudly remark that it is set to become a significant point of interest and real testimony to our cultural heritage.

The French are in charge, or so it would seem since the three individuals responsible for representing La Herradura at the recent local elections, are all related through the family locally known as ‘Los Franceses’. María Victoria Ruiz (Convergencia Andaluza), Jaime Ruiz (PSOE) and Juan José Ruiz (Partido Popular) might be from different parties, but certainly they stem back to the same roots with origins elsewhere. During May, out of 4,700 residents, more than 2,500 actually voted, but it turns out that they could well have enlisted their efforts at voting booths across the border, with our northern neighbours!

The latest from the Centro Cívico is that the multimedia tapestry display of the ‘Four Seasons in Light and Shade’ will continue on through to September. A new art exhibition entitled ‘Hominum Cronus’ with the powerful works of artist Francid L.R. (see the People and Places section) will also be in place throughout the summer. One of a select few to be chosen for the Biannual exhibition of Florence at the end of this year, Francid’s work is well worth a look-in.

Virgen del Carmen celebrations in and around 16th July is when you can participate in all the noise and passion of Spanish fiestas at their strongest. This midsummer festival in honour of the patron of La Herradura will last about a week, including music, eating, fireworks and of course, culminating in a dramatic nautical procession (where they send off the statue of Our Lady on one of the local fishing boats and motor around the bay with other vessels in tow), ending in some doubtlessly impressive firework displays.

Annual puppet show will draw them in as marionettes are brought in from around Spain to enthral and delight children and adults during the first week of August. These shows, which take place in the Plaza de Independencia, normally take place during the evening and are gratis. A great chance to enjoy authentic street theatre at its genuine best; warts and all!

Ex councillor cleared of charges as Juan Mora Barbero was told that he no longer stands accused of receiving inappropriate commercial gain arising from his position as representative for La Herradura in 2003. Although he was denounced on the basis of signing documents, permitting the development of Las Cañadas, at the top of the village (in which he has a 25% share), it would seem that the judge concluded that Mora had been open and had alerted the then mayor as to the circumstances. Clearly embittered by the experience, Mora concluded that those who were busy pointing the accusatory finger were in fact the guilty ones, citing a ‘people-in-glass-houses’ Spanish equivalent. Can’t help but feel that politicians are the same the world over, really.

Hello Everyone and welcome to the July/August edition of the Salobreña NewsLetter and my last one! In future, please email Heloise Nolan at her address of heloise@seasidegazette.es.

I would like to thank again, both the Publisher and Editor for giving me the opportunity to write for the Gazette and wish the magazine continued success. I hope all of its readers have a wonderful summer, as well as many more years of enjoyment during their time in Spain, whether you live here permanently or are one of its many visitors. Don’t forget that it’s the time of year when parking will be more difficult, any journey will take you so much longer, you will have to have more patience, the beachfront in Salobreña will be one way and yet Paco, who lives there all year, will still insist on driving both ways. Take more care at all times and be safe. So, in the words of two well-known comedians, It’s Goodbye from me and it’s goodbye from him!

The Mayor of Salobreña. As a result of the local elections on 27th May, there appeared to be no obvious winner in Salobreña as far as the position of Mayor was concerned and the number of those voting fell. Even though the incumbent Mayor, Jesus Avelino Menéndez Fernández, still led the party with the single most votes and councillors, there was a possibility that, if the opposition parties joined together in a coalition, they could control the council and elect someone else as Mayor! However, the opposition parties could not agree on who would be Mayor, or who would hold the various council positions and from which party they would be elected. This means that the Partido Popular (P.P.), the Spanish Conservative party, are still in control in Salobreña and Jesus Sr. Menendez is still the Mayor. He has served the village well during his past four years in office and before that, although he will have to persuade some members of the opposition parties of the value, to the people of Salobreña, of some of the proposals he has in mind and hopes to implement.

An Apology to Re/Max. There was a printing error in the last edition of The Seaside Gazette. It was concerned with the sales commission, for an exclusive contract with Re/Max for those with luxury properties for sale at more than €400,000. It should have read that there is a reduced sales commission of only 2.5% if you advertise your property through them. Therefore, selling through Re/Max means that you keep more of the money you get for selling your home! To talk to Re/Max about marketing your property, call at the office, opposite the taxi rank in Salobreña, or ring Tom at the office, on 958 617 077.

The International Club of Salobreña. This club, which normally meets each Wednesday at 11:00 hrs in the Hotel Salobreña, will be taking its annual summer break during July and August. However, it will be back in action on Wednesday 19th September with a social meeting, beginning at the time given above and everyone is most welcome to attend. This includes current members, past members and those who would like to join this vibrant social club. There are a number of interesting social and cultural events planned for the autumn and winter months. If anyone would like to join/rejoin the International Club of Salobreña, then membership for the remainder of 2007 is only €5 per person. More details are available from the club President, Arlene Nichols, on 666 763 478 or by email at icsalobrena@hotmail.com.

The Bridge to Nowhere is officially open! I was invited to attend the official opening of the new bridge over the Río Gaudalfeo by the town hall press office recently and was told the event would take place at 12:00 hrs on Thursday 12th June. The opening ceremony would be performed jointly by the Mayors of Salobreña and Motril. A performance it certainly was! Just to remind readers, this is the bridge built across the Río Gaudalfeo, on the road parallel to and one road back from the beachfront and linking Salobreña to Motril without having to drive on the main N-340 coast road. It was also built to carry summer traffic, from the beach area in Salobreña, to the Granada road and help with the congestion problems on the N340.

However, Salobreña were granted permission to build the bridge, but Motril were not given permission to build a connecting road! I arrived at the site a little early, to see curious motorists and cyclists going across the bridge as if they always had done so and no sign of the official opening party dignitaries. As nothing seemed to be happening, I joined the other motorists and crossed the bridge. The best thing I can say about this new facility, is that it goes from one side of the Río Gaudalfeo to the other and then goes in two directions, not signposted, away from a roundabout! I tried both of these roads, to find that one initially appears to go towards the sea, but doesn’t. It goes back under the bridge, then it stops, allowing you to go into the river bed to cross back to Salobreña instead of going across the nice new bridge! The other road only has tarmac for about a hundred metres beyond the roundabout, but it does join a narrow road disappearing inland through the cane fields and fruit orchards. This road, hardly wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other, eventually, if you know which way to turn, comes out on the road down to the golf course in Motril. Vehicles would then need to turn left and then left again onto the Port road to join the road north to Granada or the N-340 going east.

I wonder if the planners, assuming there were some, thought that if they could get the holiday traffic to use the new bridge, they might get lost in the cane fields and this would still help with the congestion on the N-340 because they might not get there. You know it’s so cynical, it could just be true! Perhaps sitting in those summer traffic jams on the way home are not such a bad thing after all! The bridge was officially opened by the two Mayors about 12:40 hrs, by cutting a ribbon across the bridge depicting the colours of Spain and Andalucía, but only after someone went to fetch the scissors! Honestly, this was the reason for the delay in opening the bridge, nobody had anything to cut the ribbon with and everyone just had to stand around and wait for someone to fetch something. Forward planning! What’s forward planning?

A Black Flag for Salobreña beach again! There have been very few Blue Flags, awarded for clean beaches in Europe, handed out in our region again this year. The reason for handing out the black flag to Salobreña is quoted as being due, to the pollution along the beach itself and the high density of pollutants found in the different water samples taken. Sadly this will get much worse as the tourists arrive for the summer season. Those who have lived here for some time, know that it is not advisable to swim in the sea during June, July and August, due to the sewage and other debris that can be seen in the water at that time. Perhaps, when the various urbanisations have been connected to a sewage treatment plant in the future, the situation will change, the sea at Salobreña will be cleaner and the beach will possibly get a blue flag! After all, you would think that the town hall officials could provide the voters with a safe and clean environment!

SPJ Burgers have re-opened. This Salobreña-based eat-in or takeaway burger bar, situated in Avenida Federico Garcia Lorca, has recently re-opened. Sue and Patrick would be delighted to see customers, both old ones and new at SPJ Burgers. They are closed on Monday and Tuesday, but are open from Wednesday to Saturday inclusive during the following hours, 12:30 hrs to 15:30 hrs and from 20:00 hrs to midnight. They are also open every Sunday from 20:00 hrs to midnight. They sell all kinds of burgers, salads and beverages.

A new International School opens locally in September! This new school, which will be based in the countryside near Molvízar, will be called La Escuela del Minchal. Initially it will open to children of both sexes from 3 to 12-years old, but as its popularity grows, the school will, in the future, cater for all children up to the age of 18 years. Each class in this school will be kept small in size, to maximise the pupils learning potential and the lessons will taught in two languages, as is traditional in an international school. As this is Spain, the first language will be Spanish; the other will be English, the major international language for commerce and trade and a normal requirement for most positions of employment throughout the world. The main aims and objectives of this new international school will be to provide every pupil with a safe and stimulating learning environment, to encourage each pupil to achieve their educational potential, to ensure that pupils gain those Internationally recognised examinations, which will enable them to secure a position in their chosen profession, to prepare the whole child for life and to provide every pupil with a very good and high quality of education. If you have a child whose first language is Spanish, English, French or German and you want a secure future for them, then to find out more about this new International School, please ring 691 068 476 at any time during the day or evening.

There is a jelly-fish warning for the area again this year, so be careful if you go into the sea anywhere along the coast. Many people along the Andalusian coast were stung last year and had to be treated for their injuries and these stings really do hurt!

Watch out, there’s a con-trick about, again! This morning, Friday 22nd June, I received an email, supposedly from a bank, asking me to confirm my banking details and, if I didn’t do so, I might have problems using my account. This is an ever-present scam on the Internet and I have received a number of these emails in the past. I have specifically asked my bank if they would ever ask for details over the Internet in this way and they said a most emphatic No! The email gave the bank as being the Banco Popular Group, but then went on to call itself the Banca Popular Group on occasions! It is a scam and I have sent the email to the rubbish bin, which, if you receive one, I suggest you do the same. The name of my bank, which is my business, sounds nothing like the name of the bank in the email and I have never had or want an account with them anyway! However, some people might fall for the scam, if the name is similar to the name of their bank and, if they send the information, might find that their account has a lot less money in it than they thought! Please don’t let it be you.

Accused of election Bribes! A member of one of the major political parties has been accused of attempting to bribe voters as they entered the polling station in Salobreña at the local elections on 27th May this year. The man in question says that he was actually paying those he is accused of bribing, for previous work they did on his house and he was not trying to bribe them to vote. As he was seen paying quite a few people, it must have been a very big job! Bribery in the Spanish elections, never I hear you cry, they are all honest men!

Sacked for not declaring his vote! A plumber, who has worked for the council in Molvízar for the past eight years, is claiming that he was sacked from his job, because he would not declare that he was going to vote for the Partido Popular, the ruling party, on 27th May. He has taken his case, for wrongful dismissal, to the Supreme Court of Andalucía and that court is now investigating the case. The man claims that he was instructed to fill out a postal voting slip by his superiors, so that they could see which party he would be voting for, but the Mayor of Molvízar, Francisco Fermin García, denies this was why he was dismissed!