Almuñécar is frothing at the mouth because of the increase in the price for collecting rubbish. That’s the first impression that you would get, if you have been following the affair in the press and out in the streets. But how much of it is political jockeying between the parties and how many people are so drastically worse off?

Prior to January 2008, house owners in Almuñécar, which includes those that live elsewhere but own second homes here, paid an IBI (impuesto sobre Bienes Inmobiliarias or Council Rates) of 0,9% of the value of the property, per annum. This percentage included rubbish collection. Now rubbish collection has been taken out of the IBI and taxed separately, by dropping the IBI to 0,6% and creating an independent rubbish-collection tax of 0,5% on the value of the property.

Politically speaking, you have the Mayor’s party (CA), supported by the PP, defending the increases, whilst the PSOE, IU and PA denounce them.

As far as the Almuñécar property owners go, some are paying nearly 1,000 euros per annum whilst other now find that they are not paying anything now on certain properties for rubbish.

There are so many niggling factors to be taken into consideration because it is pretty complex: provincial comparisons, international comparisons, quality of service, the relation between the Town Hall and the rubbish-collection firm and even the building bubble bursting...

Whether talking rubbish or simply collecting it for disposal, household garbage collection has reared its smelly head, at the doors of summer, not because the workers are thinking of going on strike again – good forbid another August like the last – but because somebody, somewhere, has got to pay for it. And let’s face it, having your rubbish collected everyday of the week, including Sundays, is something that few places in Europe can boast, let alone in the province of Granada.

The Town Council’s figures tell one story and the opposition parties’ figures tell another, basically because neither set of figures discloses what does not support their author’s stance.

The Town Council points out that approximately half of the rates payers pay less than eight euros a month; less than 100 euros a year. They also say only 5.43% of rates payers – those with higher incomes – pay more than 25 euros per month; i.e., 300 euros a year. Therefore, over 94% of property owners here pay less than one euro a day for rubbish collection throughout the week, or in other words, one euro per bag, on average.

Furthermore - and perhaps the Town Hall’s heaviest artillery in this high-explosive duel - under the new system, which separates the IBI (rates) from the rubbish-collection tax, garages and empty plots no longer have to pay for rubbish collections, where as they did before, because rates payers paid 9% of the value of their property, be it a mansion or simply a garage.

Lastly, the Mayor enjoyed, you can bet, pointing out that while the Almuñécar PSOE is howling in indignation over this considerable rise in the rubbish-collection bill, the PSOE controlled provincial council have just jacked up the tax of rubbish treatment by 50%; i.e., each town now has to pay 50% for taking the collected domestic refuse to the rubbish recycling plants. Also, in Vegas de Genil and Las Gabias, where the PSOE runs the municipal councils, the rates for rubbish collection have been increased by 42% and 44% respectively.

Most of the hardest hit property owners are those that live on the Punta, Los Pinos and Marina del Este, where some are looking at around 1,000 euros per annum – they are the 5.43% (approximately 1,500 dwellings) that have to pay over ‘25 euros per month.’ However, let’s be honest here, most of the said residents are from Northern Europe, so, how many of them can boast daily rubbish collection back home and at these prices? Which brings us onto the other side of the argument…

A very big percentage of these dwellings are second residences, which are only ‘rubbish producing’ for very short periods, intermittently throughout the year – and sometimes, not every year. These property owners are paying for a year-round rubbish collection service that they hardly use. Compare their ‘load’ on the system with a first-residence home of a small family on a year-round basis. Such systems benefit those of low incomes, at the expense of their richer neighbours – a socialist wet dream, without doubt.

The Mayor’s comments about the PSOE and IU calling for better wages and working conditions for the rubbish collectors, when the rubbish strike was in full swing in Black August, yet now complain about the economic consequences of such measures, are really a straw man argument; i.e., putting words into your opponent’s mouth, and then dismissing them as ridiculous, the PSOE and IU are not against a general rise in the tax on rubbish collections. What they are against is that the tax is based on present records that are hopelessly out of date and unacceptably incomplete. The PSOE says that there are around 5,000 new dwellings that do not figure on the Town Hall lists, meaning that 28,000 property owners have to share out the expense of 33,000.

And on a final note, many consider that the whole received by the Town Hall is greater than the sum that it has to hand over to the private rubbish-collection company – it is supposed that there is around one million euros in difference… Could this be a sneaky income replacement for the ailing building licence industry?

Well, I guess we’re going to start off the section with people complaining; which is what there is most of, unfortunately. So let’s start off with the Partido Popular, which has issued a communiqué, which highlights the situation the residents and businesses have to put up with, describing it as lamentable and even Dantesque.

But José Ruiz Joya from the PP isn’t only referring to the road and building works, but also to the state of the beaches, which, he claims, is deteriorating by the day, thanks to the nearby underground-car-park construction upheaval.

Sr. Joya also claims that the salt water that is being pumped out of the pit has been gushing out straight onto the palm-tree clusters on the beach. This action, he points out, is killing the trees – well it would, wouldn’t it?

The next salvo of complaints comes from the other side of the political spectrum, the IU (United Left). Their man on the Council, Fermín Tejero, says that the various suggestions concerning the Blue-Zone parking areas that he made during the plenary meeting of the Town Council on the 19th of May went unheeded, ignored and withered by indifference.

One of the suggestions was to lower the parking fee for residents by 50% - people living next to a Blue Zone can purchase monthly parking passes at special rates. This said motion was defeated, thanks to the absence of one of the opposition PSOE councillors and the abstention of the only PA councillor. The PP, who for many appears inexplicably attached at the hip to the Mayor’s party (CA), abstained, as well.

Fermín Tejero finds it very surprising - in a sarcastic sense, of course - that the PP on one hand is opposing the steady increase of Blue Zones around town, yet did not support a motion that has the same objective, lowering the price of parking rates – to curtail the growing cost of parking in Almuñécar.

Actually, the PP did take along their own suggestion concerning the Blue Plague: the many people that work in Blue-Zone areas; i.e., have business premises there, should enjoy lower parking rates, at the same price and conditions as the residents. “Workers who have to travel to work in their own vehicles have problems trying to find parking space each day, as all of the town centre and surrounding streets have been incorporated into Blue Zones, therefore it would be fair if they had the same benefits as residents in such zones,” said Trinidad Herrera, who is the leader of the said party.

According to this PP councillor, the PSOE, PA and IU abstained during the voting on this proposal.

Do you ever get the impression that our politicians are more interested in pissing each other off, than actually getting anything worthwhile approved?

Who haven’t we talked about? Ah, yes; the PSOE! Cynical tongues are wagging, concerning Rocío Palacios’ promotion within the party. You see, Rocío has been the leader of the local branch of the PSOE for some years now. It was Rocío who rejected the other opposition leader’s (Juan Luis González) proposal to form a coalition council to keep Benny out of office after the municipal elections before last. Both local party leaders were told by their respective provincial HQ’s not to form a coalition council, under pain of severe political retribution. Juan Luis ignored it and offered the Mayor’s office to Rocío, even though her party had fewer councillors than Juan Luis’s.

Well, those of a cynical predisposition consider that Rocío has received political recompense for her ‘party loyalty’ on that occasion: she has just been made General Director of Migratory Policy for the Regional Government in Sevilla.

Anyway, Rocío is to be congratulated on this hefty promotion, for whatever reasons her party considered it justified, and wished her the best of luck in her political career.

Her seat as councillor has been occupied by María del Carmen Ruiz Bobadilla, who many of you will have spoken to – she is the lass that works in the water-company offices (Aguas y Servicios). Carmen, who was number five on the PSOE electoral list, has worked there for the last twelve years, so if you have had cause to go in there, you will have seen her.

Moving off the political scene, here are a couple of social notes. Firstly keep your eyes and noses open for a unique vegetarian restaurant, which will be opening its doors in the coming weeks, along Avenida de Europa, which if I am not mistaken, is the one that runs down from the daily market past the Tourist Office to San Cristóbal beach. However, if you are a carnivore, they will knock something up to cater for your heathen habits.

Pippa, who used to run the ceramics shop in Portichuelo (Taramay) together with her husband, has had her beautiful, old, dark-green Seat 600 D stolen on the 8th of April – the cads! The car was registered in 1965 and has the following number plate: GR 32372. She holds little hope of it turning up, admittedly, as it is a collector’s piece but offers a small reward. If you should happen to have any news, please phone Luis on 687 626 366.

Lentegí is getting its only sports facilities done up, thanks to a 23,400 euro grant from the Tourism and Sports Council of the Junta de Andalucía. This grant accounts for 90% of the total cost. The actual repair works is centring upon the tarmac surface of the sports grounds, which has become cracked by the sun and dented by nose-diving Lentegí, sports-oriented locals. A retaining wall around the complex is also being built.

Back down on the coast, Almuñécar’s hotels are offering the unheard of: cut-price offers over the summer period. This is basically because numbers are dropping off. Up until now, July and August – especially August – were full-occupation months. Some of the offers include ‘Children free of charge’ and ‘Five Nights for the Price of Four.’

The reason for this lack of hitherto guaranteed summer trade is not only due to hard-hit consumer pockets, but also because it’s cheaper elsewhere; namely Mallorca, for example.

But it’s not only the hotels that are feeling the pinch, but also apartment rental (legal ones), who are maintaining their 2007 prices and – another unheard of measure – accepting renting out apartments in August by the week.

It’s a far cry from summer 2006, when our coast registered one of the highest occupation figures in Spain. Summer 2007 saw a tell-tale drop with a still quite appreciable occupation figure of between 85% and 90%.

Couple this with nowhere to park, our two main beach roads cut by major construction projects and the more-than-probable reappearance of Almuñécar’s most numerous visitors – the bloody jellyfish, and you can understand why the tourist sector is buying up large amounts of toilet paper.

But although the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands are cutting prices and offering juicy, cut-price bargains to attract the national tourists; i.e., the Spanish, our coast still has one very large advantage – you can get here by car… well, sort of. Whereas these Island destinations require flights or ferries, which will almost certainly be hit with the inevitable strikes.

So, all our Tourist Sector needs to do is to grit their collective teeth and survive the twin assault of the economic consumer hardship and a seemingly deliberate Town Hall campaign to sabotage any attractiveness that suffering Almuñécar can offer.

Almuñécar saw off the Greeks, Romans and Moors, but can it see off our politicians?

One last point on the subject, when the Mayor was asked what would happen if the Velilla and San Cristóbal roads weren’t reopened to traffic as promised come July/August, he replied that the building companies would be fined… Well, that’s great, Juan Carlos, but whilst that might earn some shekels for the Town Hall coffers, it will provide little comfort for the affected – better said, ‘crucified’ – businesses, will it?

Well, we have at least one tourist that left the town a very impressed man – he was a diving enthusiast who would have drowned, if he had not been rescued by Jorge Espineta, who runs one of the town’s diving school, the Almuñécar Dive Centre.

The 29-year-old Sergio was snorkelling off La Punta de la Mona, together with his friend, Antonio, who are both from Nerja. Around one in the afternoon the Dive-School Zodiac approached the area where the two divers had been harpoon fishing and noticed several anglers on the rocks who were pointing to divers’ dingy.

At first it was difficult to spot the divers because both of them were wearing camouflaged diving suits, but they could make out one diver clinging to the rocks. Jorge Espineta dived in and swam with the diver, who was actually blue and not breathing, back to the Zodiac, where they started first-aid protocol straight away, to get him breathing again. Even as this was being done, the Zodiac was racing for Marina del Este, where an ambulance soon arrived. The other diver, Antonio, was in a state of mild shock, as well, but Jorge, cheered him up, pointing out that between them all, they had provided the other diver’s mother an excellent present – her son’s life.

us a few months back, has been unable to contribute because he was busy painting for his exhibition in the very uniquely decorated pub, El Convento, which you can find just across the road from the video club and El Faro, down that narrow street. Pepe is a very talented watercolourist, as well as the best draughtsman in the business, before retiring. Pop along; you won’t be disappointed. Although the painting exhibition began at the beginning of May, it will continue on until the end of June. Viewing times, as the venue is a pub, is from ten in the evening, every night of the week, except Sundays.

ADALH is the Asociación de Discapacitados de Almuñécar y La Herradura, which was constituted around the last quarter of 2007 and aims to provide help for anybody with any kind of disability, regardless of nationality. They received quite a large donation from the Almuñécar Royal Navy Association, thanks to the proceeds of a Trafalgar Night Raffle – we covered the handing over of the handsome cheque, you might remember. ADALH staged a play within the Theatre Competition Martín Recuerda, which went down very well.

To quote their press communiqué: “It is one of the aims of ADALH to integrate our kids with handicaps into such fun cultural events as a theatre play. It may appear easy, but a lot of work by the kids, their carers and our association has gone into it.” Well, the effort was certainly recognised because the ADALH play received a prize within the competition. ¡Enhorabuena!

Don’t forget the Gastronomic Fair in the Parque Majuelo, which will be cover three days, starting from Friday 13th. A total of 25 businesses will be represented, including Restaurante Reina Sofía, Restaurante, Chambao de Joaquín, Restaurante El Árbol Blanco and Restaurante La Barraca. Great grub assured and an opportunity to see what’s cooking around town – and never better said.

If you have passed by the A-7 bridge over Torrecuevas, you will have noticed that they have raised the bowed supporting arch. This huge arm received a lot of impacts when the accident occurred, but the experts must have considered that it still usable… Anyway, it’s nice to see the bridge taking form again, isn’t it? Something to hang onto as we cruise through yet another summer of traffic jams on the N-340 where it passes through Almuñécar, right?

Finally - because I’m running out of room quite rapidly, the Hotel Bahía II was officially inaugurated on the 18th of May. Despite our politicians being all gung-ho over the building of hotels here, claiming that they are a major source of revenue for the town and also provide employment, none of the town’s politicians were present. Can’t think why?

This hotel is also known as the Hotel de los Futbolistas’ because top team players were behind it. On the big night, for example, Luis Enrique, José Luis Amavisca and Carlos Aquilera, were present. Two of them confirmed that thanks to the problems that this hotel has experienced, they would think twice before doing it again.

The hotel has been dogged by controversy from the beginning, starting with its disproportional height in a height-restricted area of town.

The Mayor and friends are having their fair share of tribulations in the shape and form of their urban expansion policies. A court sentence has annulled a convenio urbanístico, which was worth three million euros to the town-hall coffers. However, the most painful part is that the money has already been – if not spent – received.

First of all, a convenio urbanístico is a… how can I put it… mockery of orderly town planning. These ‘town planning accords,’ are alterations to an approved PGOU, which should also be approved by the Regional Government, but in fact rarely venture to the borders of our municipality, let alone end up on a overseeing desk in Sevilla.

This particular C.U. was agreed between the Town Council and a hand-rubbing building developer in 2004 and entailed a macro project in the Río Seco Valley. The said C.U. was annexed to a PGOU that is not only ‘not approved’ yet, but is also remains ‘far from approved.’ A group of locals, who had been sorely affected by the approved, signed and sealed deal, took their grievance to court and were blessed with a court sentence that described the C.U. as ‘contrary to the law.’

This sentence, however can be appealed against, and you can bet your bottom dollar… euro… that the Town Hall will launch an appeal, because when we say ‘your’ bottom dollar,’ we mean your, because the Town Hall finances all its court actions with tax payers’ money; i.e. your reluctant euros!

However, in reality what has been rejected by the court is not a C.U in particular, but all that the Mayor has been eagerly signing these last years. This money-generating formula was completely legal until 2005 and allowed town halls to sell municipally owned land that had been earmarked as ‘building land’ in projected PGOU’s. Thus these town halls were able to obtain funds for their social projects in advance. In the case of Almuñécar, which had just refinanced its impressive 16-million euro debt in 2004, this extra money, cashed in long before the goods were delivered, was a breath of economic fresh air.

The Mayor has signed a total of 40 C.U.’s in these last years, all of which hinge on the approval of the PGOU – no PGOU and the Town Hall has to give the money back… with interest. Or put another and more accurate way, the suffering folk of Almuñécar have to reimburse with interest. Many of the C.U.’s have been signed in the Mayor’s office, without coming before a plenary meeting of the Town Council.

And this is where the Judge got Sr Benavides over this particular C.U – the document had not been approved in a plenary meeting and that the Mayor did not have the authority to approve the C.U without it.

The PP opposition party had presented a total of 26 lawsuits against individual C.U. but as this political party was not directly or personally affected by the agreement, the cases were thrown out. In this last case, as said above, the law suit was presented by affected individuals.

Despite the PP’s attempts to take the Mayor to court for the same thing, this opposition party laments the negative impact this case will have in the media, yet judging by the words issued in their communiqué, you would think that it’s not so much the damage done to the town’s finances, but the votes that the Mayor’s party achieved: “Thanks to this money obtained illegally, the Mayor announced projects during the elections campaign, that allowed him attract many votes.”

Blue zones bring out the worst in the natives, who show their disapproval, by defacing the parking metres and setting even setting a couple on fire! Could it be that a system that has been operating effectively for some time in both Motríl and Almuñécar could cause such a stir? Of course it didn’t help matters that the people initially painting the zones in La Herradura clearly got quite carried away with the sight of blue lines and kept painting way beyond the area requested by ACOHE (the Association of Businesses in La Herradura). I was also intrigued to learn that several local businesses weren’t even aware that the Association had made this request made (as part of a series of suggestions) in the first place. These same business owners and employees have been struggling to keep up payment of the tickets for their own vehicles parked in said zones ever since.

In fact, ACOHE are even denying that they should be held responsible for the introduction of the Blue zone, since their original request was limited only to the central commercial district (which is probably the majority of the centre if truth be known), including the area around the municipal market. Interestingly, even though the limited parking zones have been operating since the first weekend in May (funny, that; coinciding with this important holiday weekend when visitors traditionally descend on the coast), the local authorities haven’t quite worked out how to deal with resident permits.

It’s true that the Blue Zone has been reduced from its original layout and the hours finally decided upon seem to coincide with how the system operates in Almuñécar (i.e. Monday to Saturday 9am – 2pm and Monday to Friday 5pm – 8pm) and the pricing is also consistent. However, one difference that we’ve observed is that the ‘officers’ monitoring the system are perhaps even more vigilant than those working in Almuñécar. So guess who’s paying the price for being in the village so far? Right, you’ve got it, the very people who are trying to invest time and money here.

Members of the public (and unsurprisingly of opposing political parties) have remarked that it would make more sense if the system were restricted to the summer and other peak periods, when parking becomes a real problem in La Herradura. Otherwise, all it serves to do is discourage visitors and more importantly, spenders, from coming to the village at all. For those who remain convinced that parking is an issue, there are surely other less draconian means to preventing people from ‘squatting’ on parking spaces for extended periods of time. Can’t help but feel that this exercise is more about raising revenue.

New secondary school building for the village requested by the PSOE (Socialist Party), to make up for the fact that the one given to the institution Villanueva del Mar, was originally part of the local Primary School, Las Gaviotas and really isn’t sufficient to accommodate the needs of the school. It’s true that nobody quite anticipated how much La Herradura was going to grow and therefore, authorities (including the Education Council) were uncertain about the anticipated demand for secondary places. But the school has shown that there has been no shortage of applicants here and on the contrary, the facilities have long been outgrown. What the PSOE (amongst others) has called for is the allocation of more land to the school, to ensure that local adolescents are adequately catered for, rather than being forced to seek places amongst the secondary schools in neighbouring Almuñécar.

Speaking of school plans, everything’s still on for the Gastronomic Event scheduled for the 6th June from 7pm. Bring along any dishes from anywhere in the world and stick a flag in it, so I’ve been told! It would be ideal to have a balance of food from different continents, so anything that takes your fancy, off you go! (It’s also a great way to get the kids practising their flags). Don’t forget about the Games Day at the end of school get-together on the 13th June, as well. Come one, come all and participate. It may not be the Olympics, but here’s your chance to get skipping, hopping and jumping along with the children.

VIII Andalusian Kempo Championships held in La Herradura’s sports pavilion on 17th May. Some 250 male and female participants attended the competition of this increasingly popular sport, which lasted virtually the entire day. Happily, there were local trophy winners from both La Herradura and Almuñécar to display their victories.

Las Palomas residents complain about the state of the road, which leads up from the beachfront at the western end of the village towards the N340. These residents have submitted a formal document to the Defensora del Ciudadano (Council for Citizen Protection), protesting about the ongoing state of disrepair of this access point to their properties. In addition to road works constantly being carried out for cables, sewage, electricity or telephone lines, there is evidence of the road collapsing itself, both around the turnoff to Peña Parda and also around El Enclave.

Further difficulties up that end of La Herradura, include the blocking off of residents in Cármenes del Mar. People were unable to leave or access their homes there for full days at a time, as the main entrance road to the development was being worked on. An area that has had more than its fair share of problems with land shifts, residents of Cármenes could clearly do without the added strain of being prevented from leaving and entering their dwellings for that length of time. We all have our own personal experiences of dealing with delays because of construction or repair work, but there really should be more responsibility and forethought taken to avoid making people’s lives so difficult.

Just a couple of weeks ago we witnessed a ridiculous lack of planning when authorities decided it was time to give the pedestrian crossings along the beachfront a facelift. Surprise, surprise when we turned up around 9am, attempting to deliver our children safely to school, only to discover that everywhere was gridlocked as the painting happened to coincide with peak hour right out the front of the school. The Policia Local representative was doing the best he could to keep things moving, but the odds were certainly stacked against him.

Everyone’s a winner at the annual Theatrical competition, José Martín Recuerda, held at the Casa de la Cultura in Almuñécar during May. Several children’s groups and two adult groups, representing those drama queens and kings from La Herradura, Almuñécar, Torrecuevas and even Otívar, gathered together to present their respective productions. La Herradura’s own Punta Pié deserves a special mention (gaining an award within the competition) for their impressive production, Había una Vez, under the watchful eye of teachers Mirren and Sol. To find out more about the theatre classes available for children to attend, speak to Maria at the Civic Centre in La Herradura.

The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) pays homage to two restaurant owners in La Herradura for their ongoing support of this very worthwhile charity. For over ten years, owners Joaquín Barbero of Chambao de Joaquín and Antonio Jesús Barbero of Chambao de Vincente have selflessly given up their time and energy to raise funds for the AECC and for this, members of the Association from both La Herradura and Almuñécar, expressed their gratitude with commemorative plaques and bunches of flowers. Well done, chaps!

Book now for Andrés Segovia International Certamen during the week 17th- 22nd November 2008. Both the 24th International Competition for Classic Guitar and the 21st Competition for Composition will be held in La Herradura. The prize money exceeds 22,500 Euros and young applicants may even be eligible for free accommodation. To find out more about this wonderful event, you can look at the official website www.certamenandressegovia.es or email on info@certamentandressegovia.es.

Hotels open their doors to welcome visitors from around the world. Hotel Almijara, Los Fenicios and Best Western Alcázar have all re-opened after a period of closure during the quieter months. The streets aren’t quite thronging with tourists yet, but hopes are high for the arrival of those visitors who can help to stimulate the local economy once again. Arguments against the blue zone parking recently introduced in La Herradura were that this system would act to discourage people from coming to this quiet village. In fact, some business owners have already blamed part of the downturn in trading on this new system. More likely, is that it’s just symptomatic of the current global condition. Blue zones won’t help, but I don’t think that anyone could ever be so confused as to believe that local politics is actually focused on supporting the local economy…

A spate of robberies in the area keeps residents and police on their toes. Los Pinos, Cotobro and the Marina have been hit by a gang of thieves, who definitely target inhabited properties. Boldly entering at any time of day, but clearly watching the comings and goings of the occupants, these criminals seem to be in search of car keys and passports (amongst other items). Although the police have been doing their bit to patrol residential areas, what has particularly incensed some people in the targeted areas is that the town hall seems to be doing nothing to warn people about what’s going on. One resident who was recently broken into commented to me that it is the responsibility of the local government to communicate with both residents and visitors about these incidents and encourage people to take precautions to protect themselves (security grilles, alarms, etc). Instead of being seen as scaremongering, this open policy (particularly if combined with bumping up police presence even further) would go a long way to promoting this part of Europe as a truly safe place to visit and live. Interesting thought, if you’re reading, Señor Benavides.

El Ancla keeps an even keel with Jean, Jonathan, Katie and Cliff wanting to say a huge ‘thank you’ to their staff and clients for their ongoing support. It’s not been easy for the family, but it’s been such a relief to know that they’re surrounded by people who care. Jonathan is on a definite high at the moment, particularly since his beloved Katie is making progress and is looking forward to seeing a few friendly faces soon. To top it off, his team Manchester United won the Champions League Final recently, so this has got to be a sign, right? If you want to share in some of the best atmosphere it town, you know where to come (anyone who was the recent TAGS golf event will testify to that!). Jonathan will soon be starting those famous Sunday roasts again. Friday has officially been renamed as ‘Fish and Chips Day’ and Marina has been busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen with her fine tapas, all day breakfasts and ‘to-die-for’ carrot cakes for afternoon tea. So many reasons to keep on coming to El Ancla and lots of positive stuff on the horizon as well. (What do you think about joining the team to raise funds for the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital in Granada, at an auction event?)

The Rumours are true that this lively new American Sports Bar and Grill has opened its doors to La Herradura. Under the careful eye of Graham and his team, this new establishment promises to be a fun, Americana alternative to the offerings along the coast. Lots of big plates of Tex Mex, real t-bone steaks, proper American pancakes and Yanky grub on offer here. Make sure you pop along and discover that this place really is something to talk about!

Felicia Hall’s current exhibition ends on June 22nd, a beautiful and colorful show of primarily mixed media on wood by Paco Lagares and stunning photographs by Mar Garrido. Paco´s painting is utterly dramatic and the photographs (the first to be shown in the gallery) are all still lifes taken in the woods near Granada. The intention is for these to remind us of the transitory nature of all life. Opening hours are 11am-2 pm and 5pm-9pm (if there are people about) every day except Sunday afternoon and Monday.

If there’s no particular reason for a party, you should have one anyway say the good folk at the Hideaway. And Saturday 14th June is the date to put in your diaries this month. Given the faces at the last quiz night (see photo), it’s not surprising that there are no quiz nights on the horizon for the near future. Everyone looks seriously quizzed out! Next time you’re at the Hideaway, don’t forget about their Full English Breakfasts, lunches and afternoon tea or light meals in the evening. You can call Jenette and Darren on 958 61 83 95 for more information.

An update from the English Library has come to us thanking The Seaside Gazette for helping them to communicate with their 200 members over the 15 months since their untimely closure. Thanks to The Hideaway, the Library has been able to hold bi-monthly meetings, but progress has been extremely slow. Even so, they haven’t given up hope and are certainly being encouraged by Spanish Librarian, Juan Manuel de Haro, who has managed to provide alternative storage solutions for the several thousand books that make up the English Library. People are being encouraged to visit the library and certainly with the lifts now working, access is much easier. With this in mind, the very first library meeting in situ (at the library itself, on the third floor of the Civic Centre) is planned for Wednesday 11th June from 11am to 1pm. Assuming all goes well, they will resume the weekly Wednesday 11am-1pm meeting. Thank you for your patience and ongoing interest.

Spring means new life and lots of religious festivals in May, starting with the Día de Las Cruces. You will have witnessed the crosses, flowers and elaborate displays with religious imagery and of course, the indispensable merry-making! The religious theme has continued, with Communions taking place just about every weekend of the month of May. Bride-like girls take the ceremony very seriously and the season is capped off with the children and families holding a procession through the village. Although the parties and clothes have become excessive in recent years, the parish priest, Don José, does his very best to keep the focus on the child’s progress through the sacraments and his/her understanding of the Christian faith. It’s kind of reassuring to see that religion is still a relevant part of the local culture.

You might be tempted to yell, “Man overboard”, but then again you might just not care less about the fate of the Nautical Head quarters in La Herradura. Someone who appears to care is Mayor Benavides, who recently ‘volunteered’ to attend the Annual Nautical quarters’ Congress in Menorca, as one of the local representatives for Almuñécar (accompanied by Rosario González, Advisor for Tourism in Almuñécar). This has brought quite a negative response from opposing parties, particularly the IU (Izquierda Unida) who have criticised how the project has been (mis)handled all along.

In the words of the IU, the Nautical Headquarters in La Herradura cost a considerable amount of money to build, only to be abandoned and left to deteriorate. The truth is that during the past two years, the premises have seen very limited activity, nautical or otherwise. Amongst all the finger pointing and accusations, as mentioned in last month’s Seaside Gazette, what really seems the problem is a lack of strategy and clear purpose for this establishment. Ironically, now that the Headquarters have been disbanded, the Almuñécar Town Hall sees fit to participate at this national congress and in the words of the IU, “have their board paid whilst vacationing in Menorca, when if anyone had gone, it should have been the technical people involved in the Headquarters at ground level; those who really understood the concept.”

And the future of the Nautical Headquarters in La Herradura? At the moment, it seems earmarked as a Tourist Office, with someone from Almeria identified to run the office part time. This of course begs the questions as to why this hadn’t happened earlier and if there had to be an outsider introduced, why specifically from Almería? And of course the million Euro question (well, maybe not quite that expensive), who is going to fund the appointment of this person?

The Salobreña Nazari, a recreation of a fourteenth-century, Salamwiya (as Salobreña was called then) medieval market took place during the last weekend of April. This annual event (started in 2007) got postponed for a week due to bad weather conditions and we therefore couldn’t give you an update on it last month.

There were said to be over 1,000 residents, adults and children, who took part in the event and many people dressed up in traditional clothes of the period. It was good to see so many of the foreign residents of Salobreña getting involved with the three-day event and really enjoying themselves.

The Nazari takes place on the Paseo de los Flores, next to the castle walls, which creates a very authentic atmosphere with magic shows, theatre, music, dance, exhibitions, a bizarre, crafts, a tea shop, cake shop, children’s area and most importantly five taverns (bars).

The general consensus I received from those who visited and those who were actively involved in the event over the three days was a) everyone had a great time, b) it was well worth the visit, c) a lot of effort had gone into putting the Nazari together and d) the Saturday evening was perhaps the most entertaining for visitors (although each day was packed with entertainment).

This is a newish event on the Salobreña social calendar and one that shouldn’t be missed if living in the area or visiting. Get it into your diaries for next year now!

A ‘solar orchard’ is to be planted (OK, installed) on 18,000 metres of land located in the Palmares region of Salobreña. The Council has now approved the work license for the installation of five plants of electrical generation with photovoltaic panels. I thought I must have translated the ‘photovoltaic’ bit incorrectly but no, it was right. Photovoltaics, or PV for short, is a technology that converts light directly into electricity and is the world’s fastest growing energy technology. Why couldn’t someone have simply said there will be 18,000 metres of land used for solar panels? Far easier!

This initiative is being promoted by five companies and it is hoped that the implementation period will take no longer than six months with a budget of three million euros.

Salobreña will invest more than 255,000 euros in the cleaning and maintenance of its beaches during the 2008 summer season. This money will pay for the personnel and equipment needed to keep the beaches clean, maintain the floating platforms, showers, toilets and changing rooms, footbridges and for the four cleaning boats that are often seen patrolling near the beach. We are told that this cleaning and maintenance service has been enlarged this year to offer excellent beaches that guarantee happy holidays.

What’s in a name? The literary competition that took place in Salobreña has now exhibited its entries in the Library and announced the winners. The Short-Story prize goes to a resident of Sevilla and the Poetry prize goes to a resident of Madrid. And I thought this was a local competition? It is often quite enjoyable to study Spanish names and translate them. The gentleman from Madrid who won the Poetry prize translates to Luis Manuel Blacksmith Mountain Range. One of the jurors on the panel was Maria Jose Watered-Down Casanova.

Near fisticuffs as the government team (PP) of Salobreña defends its recent salary increase and what the opposition party (PSOE) refers to as ‘a scandalous ascent of wages.’ The real pay rise for the government team is 4.81% and between 2002 and 2008 they have always kept their pay rises below the IPC.

The PP party point out that even with this hike in their salary levels they are still way behind the amount of money that the PSOE governing bodies of Baza and Armilla pay themselves. So back and forth they went being quite rude to each other as in: “This is the opposition that we have; an opposition that does not deserve the town of Salobreña because the unique thing that it does is to irritate, to poison and to lie to the public opinion.” Ouch! There was a nice surname translation here too, Mr Pigeon Houses.

Staying with politics in Salobreña, the PP party has denounced the PSOE party for not having removed all their electoral posters plastered around the town. The PP spokesperson, Gustavo Aybar, says that over a year after the local elections there are still many posters hanging around the town, which give a deplorable image. He goes on to say that it demonstrates a lack of leadership from the PSOE party. *Meow!*

The Cyber Surfer Internet Café down on the beachfront in Salobreña has now changed its opening hours. In future they will be open from Sunday to Friday between 11 am and 7 pm (closed on Saturdays). They have also now introduced a mobile phone top up service so no more struggling in Spanish at the local petrol station or phone shop.

The San Juan Festival takes place in June and this really is a ‘must do’ for your diaries. This Festival is celebrated all over Spain between 20 June and 24 June annually although the night of 23 June is the most important. On this one night of the year, rules are relaxed on the beaches and you can have a bonfire and BBQ on the beach, play music, dance and watch the fireworks.

Salobreña really gets into the spirit of the occasion as many people flock to the beaches from the inland villages to celebrate the evening. The celebrations of San Juan are pagan in origin and comprise a degree of rituals, customs and practices that are originally from pre-Christian celebrations and encompass fire, water and sun.

The night of San Juan on the 23 June (the shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere) means the triumph of light over dark. Having a bad year? Then it is said that on this one night of the year you can change a bad year into a good year by leaping over your bonfire on the beach at least three times. This is fine at the beginning of the evening but perhaps a little more risky as the night wears on! It is also said that the bonfires lit on this night can cure diseases of the skin and cleanse the body and soul.

Don’t try to get down to the beachfront by car on the evening of 23 June as they close off many of the roads due to the sheer numbers of cars trying to make their way to the beach. Get to the beach early to get a good spot and remember to invite your friends, take along the cool box with a good supply of drinks, a comfy beach chair or two and something to eat. The beachfront road will be packed with people enjoying the atmosphere, there is always a live band performing mid-way down the beach with a huge bonfire lit at midnight as the fireworks explode into the sky from land and sea.

If you don’t fancy the crowds on the beachfront, many of the bars and restaurants in the old town of Salobreña put on a special menu or tapas for the evening. Wherever you end up, you are bound to enjoy it.

On the 24th of May, Ecologistas en Acción sent us a communiqué concerning building development irregularities in Molvízar and the ongoing dispute between the regional authorities and the Town Hall of this village, just behind Salobreña about five kilometers inland.

The LOUA; the regional law governing urban development, stipulates that municipal authorities must take out sanctioning actions against those constructions that surpass the limitations imposed and that the affected area should be returned to its previous state. To that end, the Junta is demanding that Molvízar sends them all the accords and resolutions that have been issued by the Town Hall, concerning building infringements.

The Ecologists claim that they have spent years, repeatedly denouncing the ‘hundreds’ of illegal buildings, some of which amount to 1,000 sq/mt floor space on green-belt land, under the guise of aperos (small constructions that are permitted for storing farm-labouring tools, equivalent to ‘tool sheds).

These buildings, together with their entrance tracks and terracing, has converted the landscape into an ‘unrecognisable mess, lacking character and provoking earth erosion,’ according to the Ecologists, who also claimed that the Mayor also has a huge illegal chalet himself.

Granny bashing takes on new meaning here in Motril. The tables were turned on a young school pupil who had been bullying a fellow inmate at the Prince Felipe School. A polite request was made to the school bully by the mother of the girl receiving the insults but to no avail. The following day the grandmother stormed into the school armed with scissors and a cane looking for the parents of the bully with a good dose of old fashioned punishment in mind. The grandmother managed to injure two women and men who were trying to restrain her before the police took control of the situation and carted grandma off to calm down behind bars. Motril Council has been quick to condemn this type of behaviour that they say caused a great deal of fright to many school children, teachers and parents. Perhaps not the type of behaviour you would expect from a grandmother but hopefully quite effective nonetheless.

The Plaza de Toros (bullring) in Motril has at last been used for another purpose. Built over two years ago for no apparent good reason (other than big cities should have their own bull ring) and at great expense, the ugly structure has not been used other than for a couple of bull fights yearly and the odd speedway evening event. In May, the first music festival was held at the venue with the event managed by Exotic Productions of Granada. On a chilly Saturday afternoon, 3,000 people (many travelling from Almería, Málaga and Granada) paid a 15-euro, entrance fee to watch seven groups perform. The evening was declared a great success by the organisers and it is hoped that this venue gets used more often in the future.

And the Plaza de Toros may well get used for other purposes sooner than expected. Motril Council is studying the possibility of moving the regular Saturday-night Botellón to the bullring. This regular event, where young people get together, bringing their own booze in plastic bags with their music blaring loudly into the night air, is currently held weekly at the end of the Esplanadas in the centre of Motril.

Often going on until well past 3 am in the morning, this noisy weekly event has been tolerated by the 600-odd neighbours living on the Esplanadas for two years or more. Walk on to the Esplanadas around 7 am in the morning and it is littered with broken glass, plastic bags and rubbish left behind by the revellers. The Council then send the cleaners in around 9 am to clean up the mess before the residents living in the area start wandering around like zombies due to lack of sleep.

There is just one problem that is associated with getting 300 boozers to go from the centre of town to the bullring. How are they going to get there and especially without using their own vehicles? After all, the Council doesn’t want anyone drink/driving.

The Council have come up with an ingenious solution to this problem and say they will supply the revellers with private transport free of charge. If these piss artists are given transport free of charge to an illegal outdoor event, then I shall be sending a letter to the Council, telling them I would like them to supply me with my own private car and chauffeur, free of charge, available 24/7 to take me wherever I want.

New building works are being stopped on the Costa Tropical coastline and especially in the Motril and Playa Granada beach/golf area as the economic situation in the area tightens. A recent study shows that there has been a 40% drop in UK buyers alone. The appalling Sterling to Euro exchange rate and the bad publicity doing the rounds about buying property in Spain have played their part.

Even though the builders have downed tools until better times reappear, the property prices in Playa Granada have not gone down. It seems the building developers would prefer to give away a garage or a kitchen rather than reduce the price of a new build property and those selling resale properties are finding it far harder to find purchasers. Some constructors, who have already started on the construction of new buildings but who haven’t sold enough apartments, are leaving the buildings unfinished. All new buildings for the holiday/second home market planned for 2008 have been frozen and those hotel chains hoping to invest in the area are biding their time before making a commitment.

A male doctor from Motril Hospital got a nasty shock while treating a patient. The male patient had been wheeled into the Accident and Emergency department with a fracture to his arm. The doctor, seeing that the patient was in pain and clearly upset, decided to give him an injection to calm him down. As the doctor’s attention was taken, the patient bit the doctor on the bottom. Now what kind of thanks is that?

The Baleària shipping company has postponed its agreed summer start date for the ferry service between Motril and Melilla. Although the ink on the contract had dried and it was full steam ahead, the shipping company has decided that due to the present economic climate and because of criticism from the PSOE party, they will delay opening the route. The PP party have come out with all guns blazing accusing the PSOE party of putting a stop to the service as they have been so unsupportive of it and have not defended the project, which would benefit the towns enormously.

Allegedly, the PSOE party campaigned against the route and the Baleària company say that if a political party is against it then they don’t want to open the line. The autonomous government in the North African, Spanish enclave of Melilla has announced that they are going to negotiate with other shipping companies that could operate a service between Melilla and Motril.

Abandoned plastic from the greenhouses is always being seen dumped in the ramblas and over the hillsides. Not only is this environmentally damaging, but it is also a total eyesore that diminishes a visitor’s view of the area and is harmful to tourism generally.

At a recent meeting of greenhouse owners, the Mancomunidad has called on all owners to use the Befesa Plasticos company for removing their unwanted plastic. This could certainly be seen as preferential treatment for Befesa but there is a good reason. Befesa Plasticos arrange with greenhouse owners to purchase the plastic that can be reused and which they can sell. At the same time the company will take away all plastic that has no further use.

The problem is that greenhouse owners are using other companies with more competitive rates to sell their good plastic and these companies do not take away the plastic, which is now destined for the rubbish dump. Yes, you’ve guessed it; the plastic ends up dumped in the ramblas and hillsides. Only 40% of greenhouse owners are using Befesa Plasticos, so it looks as if the dumping of plastic will continue for the foreseeable future, which is a great pity for the area and for tourism.

Playa de las Azucenas, which we highlighted last month as being the only sandy beach in the area and ruined by sewage flowing from the town into it, has got into the news again. This time the President of the Port Neighbours Association, Miguel Sanchez Mancilla, has been fined 3,000 euros for taking the law into his own hands and staging an illegal protest on the road that has access to the beach and stopping the traffic in the process.

Miguel got mighty pissed off that someone had come along and built a sodding-great wall at the end of the access road to the beach. Why has the wall suddenly been built? Perhaps certain people are worried about the high levels of fecal coliforms and fecal streptococcus knocking about on the beach, waiting to infect you, should you wander on to it?

A 27-year-old, married woman from Motril has been sexually assaulted by a male work colleague. During the working day their paths crossed in the factory warehouse, whereupon the male colleague told the woman that her husband was a very lucky man to have such a lovely wife (great chat up line, eh?) and before the woman had time to say or do anything, the man starting kissing her neck. The woman managed to get away and ran for cover to the nearest ladies loo. When it was safe to appear from the loo she told her colleagues what had happened and informed the police.

The moral of this story is that in Motril you shouldn’t go around kissing your work colleagues, as it gets you a 4,320 euro fine and an order banning you for one year from going within 150 metres of the woman that you tried to snog. It was probably the bad chat up line that got him the large fine.

A builder working in the Playa Granada area has been badly injured in a freak accident whilst working on the fourth floor of a building. The crane bringing materials up to the fourth floor unexpectedly swung into the face of the builder. The impact was so incredible that it destroyed his jaw, nose and mouth, as well as literally bursting his eye.

The builder was immediately transported to Motril hospital where doctors sedated him and, with his face so damaged that it was restricting his breathing, they had to connect tubes to him to help him breathe before taking him on to a hospital in Granada.

No one on site understands how the accident could have happened and reports suggest that although the worker wasn’t wearing a hard hat, this would not have protected him given the circumstances.

Our local caminos (lanes) around Motril have been giving residents and their vehicles a serious hammering over the years. Many of these roads remain dusty dirt tracks and have never been seen worthy of a layer or two of asphalt. Those that have received asphalt status (usually roads get priority if there are greenhouses along them) do so, only to get dug up again pretty soon after the asphalt has been laid, so that new pipe work can be put under the road. The asphalt over the pipe work is very rarely replaced which leaves a sand filled gap running through the middle of the road making driving a perilous experience once the sand filled gap has worn away.

If you own a house with access off one of these badly maintained camino, it really isn’t much fun trying to get your eggs home in one piece from the supermarket.

Motril has been waiting since 2006 for a further 250,000 euros from the Junta de Andalucía (regional government) to asphalt seven more caminos. Although they are still waiting for the money for 2006, they have completed one camino, which was in the 2007 plans and which cost 70,000 euros. It is a great shame that the local agencies cannot have some dialogue so that pipe work is laid before the roads are asphalted.

Has anyone noticed the new dog-pooh containers placed around the town? According to the Council, they have now put ‘special containers’ at various points around the town especially to assist dog owners in keeping the streets clean (yeah, like hell, pull the other one; it’s got bells on).

I am sure that there are many of you out there who have suffered that awful moment when you have found yourself surprisingly skidding down the Avenida de Salobreña on a little packet of squidgy, smelly pooh.

Five dog owners have been fined 300 euros each for not picking up their dog’s mess. This is all a devious ploy I reckon. Let me explain. The police really don’t want to run around chasing the backsides of dogs, after all they have bigger and better things to do, so they go out on a couple of days and find a few victims to pounce on to fine. The Council then announce through the press that five people have been fined the outrageously large sum of 300 euros and let everyone know that there are special containers so please use them unless you also want to be fined. This is meant to worry the hell out of the dog owners, so much so that they start picking up their dog’s deposits. Sorry, it doesn’t work like that! The people of Motril are far too savvy for that approach from the Council and know it is a one off round of fines. Anyway, where are these so called special containers?