Family get together

Last weekend we had a wonderful get together with family from Rojales. Joaquin's Mother, sister, nieces and partners came over for the day. Everyone enjoyed splashing about in the pool to cool off and generally a good time was had by all. Loads to eat of course with wonderful desserts made by Joaquin's sister. A particular favourite was brazo de gitano, a sort of Swiss roll cake but with much more cream in the centre, translates as arm of Gypsy's by the way. There was also a yummy apple slice and my cheese cake with caramel sauce went down quiet well as did the classic Victoria sponge with homemade apricot jam and cream filling. We all ate a large first course so a break in proceedings was  required before we hit the puds! What with pork, chicken, rabbit and Goat there was a lot to get through. What a lovely way to spend a Summer Sunday though, good weather, good food and best of all good company. Oh yes forgot to say Rocky had a jolly good time too.

Earthquake today

Sitting at the computer this morning at 10.25 and everything vibrated for 3 or 4 seconds, it appears it was a 3.1 magnitude earthquake with the epicentre 3.5 kms off Torrelamata the depth was 15 kms, we are about 8 kms from Torrelamata but friends felt the movement in Rojales.
Torrevieja originated from Torrelamata, Torrelamata was just a small fishing village where the Tabarca island fishermen would land their catch then on 21st March 1829 an earthquake devastated the area and Torrevieja was rebuilt where it is now.

I do not have a complex!!!

The holiday season is in full swing here though that makes it sound better than it is. Most businesses are very quiet and we look at some and wonder if they will ride the storm. Of course there are quite a few factors that effect the number of people who come to our particular corner of paradise. We are after all not truly a "holiday" destination, not in terms of what many of the Brits want anyway. The Madrilènes still flock here,Guardamar is traditionally a favourite with the folks from Madrid.
Although a number of owners and agents try to market this area, most especially Los Palacios as a destination in truth its a residential area at its heart. Yes many apartments here have been bought for holiday homes but those who bought are normally looking for something a little less commercialized. Coming back every year they can become very much part of the community. Local businesses have geared themselves to this type of repeat business to some extent. This year many of this group have either been out less or not at all, a number have lost there holiday homes since the recession. Then we have the holidaymaker who rents a property for a couple of weeks. We have a number of professional holiday lets near us. We have often heard the cry of "there's nothing here, its all spanish" for people arriving at a let. I cannot help but feel sorry for those who are sold the idea that this is a an area geared to the Brits vacation needs. Looking through a few websites yesterday I saw more than one ad that said, and I quote "Apartment is on the Los Palacios Complex and there is a community pool" naughty naughty! As anyone will know who spends time or lives here Los Palacios is most definitely not a holiday complex, it is an area where new properties have been built over the last 6 or 7 years. The pool, thank goodness, is run by the local council and is municipal not community owned. There are a number of community of Owners in the area but they could not legally collectedly own the pool as they are separate entities. The Lifeguards at the pool have the right to prevent anyone without a pass from using the pool. Passes are only given to those on the padron (residents)or those who have prove of ownership of a property in Formentera del Segura. Both can get passes for the whole family. This pass is for all the sports facilities in the town. We are fortunate in that we do not pay an entry fee,many towns do charge, costs for pool come out of the rates.
What I am trying to say, and forgive the ramble, is this, WE ARE NOT A HOLIDAY COMPLEX. The reason I think its worth making this point is this: Raise the expectations on a destination which it cannot live up to and your on a loser all the way. We have lived in many places that where popular with holidaymakers, over sell is a killer. This area has such a lot going for it there is no need for inaccurate advertising. It does nobody any good at all.
The picture with this Blog shows Rojales Centre yesterday at 10.00 in the evening
NB. A Complex: A set or group of interconnecting Buildings

No rain this June

Just looking back, and we did not have any rain in June this year, last year (2008) there was six days where it rained, some of this was thunderstorms.
The Rojales Moors and Christians parade is this weekend and the run up has started with the blunderbusses being fired throughout the evening, and then the music and dancing throughout the night. Surprisingly though the discos and bands take place in the New market area, from our roof terrace it could be next door.
Our rooftop airbed was leaking too much so Bec has lent us hers, so last night we settled down to a cool night "on the tiles" but gave up around 02:00 as the music was too loud, looks like we are back inside again with the air conditioning untill the Moors and Christians have finished.

Belen

What a treat the Belen is set up again in the middle of Rojales by the river, best view at night time when its lit up. It must be a mammoth task to set this up every year. A "Belén" is a nativity scene by the way. Nativities are very popular in Spain. Many homes will have them,its something we always did when our children were young. We would make all the figures ourselves all part of the build up to Chritmas.Here you can buy an amazing variety at all different prices. If you are looking for a bargain there's a shop with a sale near the big electrical store on the Calle De Las Valencianas in Rojales. In some towns you find very elaborate nativities in the town square. In most towns they depict not only the scene in the manger but also scenes leading up to and after the birth of Jesus. This is the case with the Rojales one. Some places go the whole hog and use real actors. One town in Spain shows 25 different scenes and uses 180 actors! People walk throughout the town visiting the different scenes. They have become very popular tourist attractions. It is very common for a nativity scene showing the manger to have stream or brook. And in addition to the traditional animals shown at the manger, such as pigs, sheep and donkeys, you might also see that symbol of Spain, the bull. In rojales you will see about every animal you can think of including snakes, which is appropriate as we watched a whopper of a snake swimming in the river the other day.
If you not here for Christmas take a look at the link and enjoy the Belen online. By the way Belen is also a popular name for girls here in Spain, lovely isn't it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-iBUOS0VE&feature=related

The Yule Wreath pictured was made by our daughter Bec

Proteccion Civil Volunteers?

The Rojales town hall are looking for volunteers for the proteccion civil in Rojales, The proteccion civil provide support at events in the area, crowd control, markets, in emergencies and other duties. If you are interested in being of service to the community, call in to the municipal centre of Cuidad Quesada
UPDATE 24TH JUNE ***ALL POSITIONS FILLED AT PRESENT***

Rojales Jazz Festival

Organised by the town hall of Rojales and the tourism sector, we have over three weeks of jazz related happenings in Rojales, starting on the 14th March and finishing on 4th April, entry is free to all the events.
There will be concerts of modern and classical jazz at the Teatro Capitol and workshops and seminars at the Centro Cultural. A full programme is available at the tourist office.

**Update 1** New Centro Commercial near Rojales

See posting October 29th 2007 - Work has now started on the new Centro commercial, Four of the houses have been flattened these were ones between the petrol station and the roundabout and the one in the middle of the building area has gone as well. The area has been marked out by surveyors and a drainage system is being laid. Follow the progress here.

Heavy Rainfall in Rojales

The last week or so of poor weather, in particular heavy rain, has had a rather dramatic effect on the Rio Segura.

My daughter and I went out for a walk this afternoon and we were surprised to see just how high the water had risen. The water had brought down lots of rubbish with it, and the council had sent a tractor down to start clearing it away. I can see it being a big job for them!

The Segura is usually in a state of semi drought although it has been known to flood in the past due to torrential rain. However since the canal system was put in place in the 1990s, flooding has not been a problem in this area, as they help to move the water more efficiently.

We are hoping that this cold spell will finish soon and we will have some lovely sunshine again!

Medieval Craft fair at Rojales

All this weekend, there has been a Medieval craft fair at the Caves of El Rodeo in Rojales. The stallholders dressed in Medieval costume were selling a vast variety of craftwork, and demonstrating their skills. There was copper plate printing, pottery making and brass-etching among other things . One stall was selling large loafs of bread of unusual varieties, another a large variety of dried plant leaves to make infusions to treat every ailment you could think of. A lot of the caves are inhabitated and the owners were selling there crafts from within them as well as serving tea coffee, cakes and paella. The Cave bar was also doing a brisk trade and is open throughout the year, winter opening is at weekends and it normally some musical entertainment. There is a great view over Rojales and Formentera from the bar terrace, perfect for sitting and relaxing with a Cerveza.