Back again

Hi everyone, O.K.weve been away for a while, got back safely from Australia, and had two family bereavements in the last few months. We have now rented out our Formentera apartment and moved to Guardamar by the sea.
Mary and myself went for a walk around La Mata Reserve this morning it was a beautifull morning and peacefull, it was nice to see an osprey sitting on a pole in the middle of the lagoons. The La Mata resource centre has been upgraded since we were last there, it is bigger and they seem to have more information.
The work on the N332 between Guardamar and Torrevieja has completely ground to a halt, when we went through this morning ,there was not one worker or piece of machinery in sight. the contractors seem to have completely abandoned the work, seems that we are going to have the half finished project forever.

Lemon tree road / N332 turn

If you wish to turn into the Lemon tree road from the Torrevieja direction there is no left turn, so you have to go 1.5 kms to the roundabout at Guardamar and return on the right hand side of the N332 where you can turn right into the Lemon tree road. Similarly leaving the Lemon tree road you cannot turn left onto the N332 towards Guardamar but have turn right towards Torrevieja where after 1.5 kms a new roundabout has been built enabling you to reverse direction again towards Guardamar/Alicante. This situation has been created by the widening of the N332 from Guardamar to Torrevieja and we wait to see how the N332/ Lemon tree road junction will operate when the road is completed, though this could be a while yet as there has been very little work on the road in past few weeks.

Car boot Stories

Apparently the car boot sale between Catral and San Isidro was raided last week and all goods impounded until the vendors could prove they are the rightfull owners, some of the items on sale were suspected of being the proceeds of house burglaries, meanwhile another new car boot /flea market has opened up at The Rojojuna in Punta Prima this is on Sundays. Previous Punta Prima car boot sales have been closed down as they came under the jurisdiction of Orihuela Costa town hall, but The Rojojuna is in the part of Punta Prima that is under Torrevieja town hall control, which allows the car boot sale.

Not So Mean Streets

There has been a lot of digging up of streets and new pavements being laid in many of our local towns and villages, indeed Rojales had major disruption during a lot of the summer due to such works. Torrevieja Council has just received more money for public works to help ease unemployment in the town. It’s good to see central government money getting into circulation in the area. Also good to see what a splendid job has been made of the little area out sides the bars and lotteria in Rojales. Its now got some new seating and has had a general tidy up with Bollards now in place, ideal for watching the world go by on this busy little corner. I must nip down to the other end of Formentera and see what it’s like now the pavements have been widened and improved there. Now the weather has cooled it’s a lot easier to stroll around and see what’s been done, though it’s by no means cold during the day it’s the early morning and evening which are chilly. I would tell you about having lunch sitting on the beach yesterday but I don’t want to upset our UK readers who are somewhat under black cloud weather wise. Lets just say it would be no problem spending sometime resting on that new bench..

SHUT UP!

Thats just what Torrevieja Town council should have told some local pubs and discos to do.However they did not and local residents have now been awarded compensation of up to 12000 euros. I am sure those who have suffered the noise since 1997 will be over the moon, not because of the pay out but because they may now get a decent nights sleep. The town hall was found guilty of failing to comply with anti-noise legislation. Anyone who lives within earshoot of similar establishments will no doubt be taking a keen interest in this legal ruling.

Smash and grab

Central Torrevieja, broad daylight - last week passers by stood and watched as a team of three men broke into a car and stole the stereo system and cds, two of them stationed themselves to look out for the police while one smashed the quarter window opened the door and robbed the car unchallenged, they then sped off on bicycles. they were described as stockily built. It makes you ask yourself, what would you do if you were witnessing such an incident.
One tip --- hide your cd´s and take the panel off the front of the stereo system when not in use.

Torrevieja skyscrapers

I have just read that the Torrevieja town hall have given the go ahead for a "free building plan" where up to 20 towerblocks with a maximum 28 storeys are scheduled to be built in the Los Locos, Los Naufragos, El Acequion and La Mata seafront areas. The plan has to go to regional government for final approval.
Being as most building work round here appears to have ground to a halt, i cannot see any projects like this starting in the near future!

The Slender billed Gull

Following on from the last post, La Mata Reserve has a special gull that now nests and winters there, it is the Slender billed Gull. The gull is different from other gulls in that it is less aggressive, lives in colonies and has a creche system for care of the young. An island in the middle of the lake has been raised and better screening provided to encourage the breeding. Spain has about 1000 breeding pairs, 431 nesting pairs are at La Mata, which is 43% of the species in this country, where they are only in 5 locations. There is an exhibition of photographs taken throughout a four year study of the gull in the Virgen del Carmen Centre in Torrevieja.

Orihuela padron rules

It appears that Orihuela town hall have changed the padron laws and that anyone who applies for padron must have a residencia certificate, Orihuela are the first municipality in the region to bring this into force, Torrevieja have not yet recieved any instructions but may well in the near future.
Amongst other things this will cause problems for persons without residency wishing to register a vehicle in Spain as you need a padron certificate to register the vehicle in your name and pay SUMA on it.
Many second home owners in Spain keep a car here for using while they are visiting.

The Dona Sinforosa park

I Spy a Budgerigar
While we we in Torrevieja the other day we visited this small park next to the beach it is a nice shady place on a hot day with plenty of seating, several fountains and variety if trees and shrubs, there are quite a few pidgeons if you want to feed them, and i even spotted a blue budgerigar flitting around. There is also a bandstand and a childrens play area.