We went for a walk and a beer down to Guardamar last night, the summer market has started to fill up, there are quite a few stalls. The beach was very quietand the sea calm, but i had a bit of a paddle and the sea is warming up, im sure by this time last year i had been in for a swim! The Sand sculptures are in place for the season, the heavy rain yesterday lunch seemed to have missed Guardamar otherwise it would have been a lot of hard work undone.
A great new free facility has opened in Rojales recently, the exercise area has strongly built keep fit equipment in pleasant surroundings with seats around the perimeter, it is proving very popular with the older generation although anyone over 12 years old can use the area, you can engage in push-ups, pull-ups, leg exercises, arm, waist and stomach exercises, there are also parallel bars and an exercise bike, some of the exercise machines are aimed mainly at limb movement as well keeping fit.
Every time i have passed by there have been people useing the area, some quite elderly. The community are also enjoying the area as a meeting place.
I finally got round to replacing all the tyres on the car yesterday, they were pretty worn and when you get a shower of rain after the long dry spells the roads are very greasy, i had been given a phone number of a "nearly new" tyre business, so thought i would give them a ring, they are called Neuman and have workshops at Matola, nr Elche and Los Montesinos. They quoted €25 a tyre for 165/14's so went over to Matola,they have a large selection of major brand tyres all in excellent condition, so they fitted me four Michelins and balanced them for €130. They have a state of the art wheel balancing machine and were quick with the job. So if cash is abit tight and you need to get your vehicle reshod phone 695 128 910 for a great deal.
Hows this for customer service?
My modem-router decided "enough was enough" after 4 years of faithfull service, so i thought i would give Telefonica a ring on 1004 even though the guarentee is well out of date.
They told me it was €65 for a new router, But...if i took out the maintenance plan at €5 a month, it would be free of charge, but to telephone Technical assistance the next day to make sure the Maintenance plan was in place. So i got Joaquin to phone Technical support for me,- there is no English speaker in the technical assistance department, and i wanted to make sure things were sorted out properly.
I was promised a technician within 24 hours, after 5 minutes i get a mobile text message with the job number, 3 hours later a phone call from the technician to say he would arrive in 20 minutes. Sure enough he arrived and plugged in a new modem router - all sorted.
10 minutes later got a text saying the job number _ _ _ had been completed, and a phone call asking was i happy with what had been done.
Theres a lot of complaining about Telefonica. but i cant fault them.
Weve not plucked up the courage for a swim in the sea yet, although with this bout of hot weather the sea must be warming up a bit, the swimming pool down the road is still in its winter state, brown and with plenty of floating debris, so hopefully work will soon start to get it up and running, for an early opening at the beginning of June, There is no sign yet of Pedro opening the bar in the square. Still it gives us even more to look forward to.
While we have been away the property department of CAM bank have been getting a lot of the repossession properties in the area on the market, looking at there website, apparently first they advertise at debt value plus a little extra,then reduce the price to the debt value, and finally if still not sold, interested purchasers can place a bid online. Definitely time to pick up a bargain. Also while we have been away i understand there has been a lot of new developments with the Council and the police, will update as soon as we get the latest on this.
There are predictions that those who invest in the Spanish property market now, could be reaping rewards by 2010.
There are a number of positive indicators over the last few months that the market is on the road to recovery. until recently, prices were, on the whole, heavily inflated with oversupply in some areas, and it didn't offer the right kind of investment potential to feature on the radar. But now, there are forecasts of a 2.5% to 3% growth on 2009 prices for property next year,
Part of the reasoning behind the predicted 2.5% growth comes from the logistics of property cycles. A newly awakened interest in property on the Costas means that oversupply will be consumed and availability reduced. Add to this the fact that new construction is virtually at a standstill with no major projects planned for the near future, the Costas property market should clearly bottom out this year and next year herald the start of an upward cycle.
Fancy the summer in Alicante, Because an Alicante hotel is offering hotel rooms at 375 € a month as a way of beating the recession.
The hotel, on the front line at Albufereta in Alicante, has offered the discount price since last month, according to the newspaper Información. The price comes for those who make a reservation for at least three months.
Hotel sources say that there has been a 17% fall in tourism in the area, and their idea of offering 30 rooms long-term has already seen seven taken and another eight under offer.
Is now the time to buy a resale bargain, because the sale and purchase of homes throughout Spain accumulated a fall of 34.2% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008, after which 34,895 transactions were recorded in March, 24.3% less than in March previous year.
In March there were 15,275 housing transactions and 19,620 transactions used on new housing.
House prices also fell 6.8% in the first quarter,
In the case of used housing (more than two years old), the price recorded an increase of 6.9% over the same period in 2008.
The Spanish National Police have broken up a prison mafia based in the Fontcalent jail in Alicante which was demanding money from prisoners and their families under the threat of death.
Reports in online newspaper "20 minutos" indicate the criminal gang obtained several thousand Euros in this way, and that 14 people made up the group, three of whom are prisoners themselves in Fontcalent, another a prisoner in the Valdemoro jail in Madrid, and with the rest working outside. The family of a businessman being held prisoner in the jail is reported to have paid several thousand Euro in the case.
No,i did not win the jackpot, not even one of the smaller prizes. What happens if you do win the big one. Well, you have a choice about publicity but if you allow yor win to be publicised, you get loads of media attention, TV appearances, driven round in a limo, champagne meals, thousands of letters giving good reasons why you should give the senders money, and the list goes on. If you opt for no publicity, you are wasting your time because the media will probably find you after a few days anyway, as there is no hiding place. so you might as well be up front and take the perks that come with the win.
The Paul Cunningham nurses Charity is opening a new charity shop in Cuidad Quesada soon but before they open they need some serious help to get the shop open. They need carpenters, plumbers, painters and electricians to help fit the shop out.They also need shelving, paint, counters, a till, dress rails, shelf units and mirrors as well as partitioning, an office desk, office chairs, a computer, a printer and a fridge.” So, as you can see, they have their work cut out and need a lot of help.
A survey published recently in Britain has named Spain as the cheapest holiday destination in the Europe.
The Post Office Travel Service compared the cost of a selection of holiday goods including drinks, a meal for two and sun cream in 18 countries in Europe.
Spain at €75.34 was cheapest while France at €87.95 was dearest amongst the Euro currency destinations.
It would be interesting to know what other holiday goods they compared the prices on to make up €75.34.
