MERRY CHRISTMAS

We would like to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy and Prosperous new year.

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.

Easyjet pull out

Sadly Easyjet are stopping flights to and from East Midlands airport from 6th January 2010, this will affect us because it is mainly this airport we use when we fly to the UK, and we have always found Easyjet to be the best with prices and customer service. we actually had a flight booked but in an efficent manner they have already transferred our booking to a flight with BMI Baby which we are quite happy with.
It appears that several of the budget airlines are pulling out of various UK airports and consolidating some of there other bases, I have a feeling .that prices will start to rise as there will be less competition at each individual airport and there will be fewer operators working from each one, Maybe the budget airline operators have come to an agreement with each other to make this possible. BMI baby are certainly cooperating with Easyjet over the East Midlands pull out. Time will tell!

Suzie video star

Guardamar calm sea

All the time we have visited Guardamar we have found in the summer the sea can be fairly choppy and rough, with very few calm days, since we have been here in the autumn and winter months the sea has been relatively calm on most days, and some times there has barely been a wave lapping on the beach. Surprisingly completely the other way round to the summer, this winter the weather is unbelievably good with fine warm days and little rain, so I wonder if this is the normal pattern.

Non residents tax warning

The tax authority is now closing in on non resident property owners who are not presenting there annual tax returns and payments, the tax authority has linked with the land registry system and knows who owns every property, resident and non resident in Spain, every property owned by a non resident is taxable as income even if you don’t rent it out,The tax declaration and payment for 2008 has a deadline of December 2009, late declaration and payment incur a fine, ignorance of the law is not accepted as a reason for non payment, Property and bank accounts can be embargoed until back taxes are payed in full.
It is important to realize this is an income tax on your property, and is separate from and and in addition to the local tax IBI/SUMA which is an annual payment on the actual bricks and mortar, It does not relate to income in terms of your wages and pensions,but only to property ownership.

Guardamar day of activity

Sunday was the day of the bicycle at Guardamar, at least a couple of hundred people met up at the bottom of the Reina Sofia park for a long bike ride in and around Guardamar, most of them were children of all ages with their parents, and were escorted by the police (with sirens blaring) local cycle clubs and the Cruz Roja. A draw was held at the end of the ride where one lucky child won a brand new bike.Later in the day it was the turn of the runners in the 7th Guardamar marathon, the main street was blocked off for the start and finishing line which was at the town hall square, with a large crowd attending there was the marathon, and then shorter races for different age groups and sexes.
The event was extremely well sponsored with organizational support from several groups and free refreshments provided.

There's A Cold Wind from The North

blowing bitter to the south, just to cheer up those of you who have emailed to express envy re the November weather here. Our weather, as is common this time of year, is effected by the heavy snow in the north of Spain. Madrid and surrounding areas are having a very chilly time of it. Madrid is said by the Spanish to have 9 months of winter and one of hell (as hot as). It’s not surprising so many people like to come down to Guardamar from the capital.
Today snow with its accompanying high winds which were battering the north of the country begins to move away.

Many roads in the Madrid Sierra are still dangerous because of the ice and snow which has formed earlier this week.
Motorists are advised that chains are needed on many mountain passes and the snow ploughs have been in operation in the Sierra Nevada.
As for us the forecast temperature is 18 degrees but is colder as the wind is quite icy. The sun is out though so find a sheltered sunny spot and it’s not bad at all. What a good excuse for Churros and cups of hot thick chocolate, you know what they say “it’s an ill wind....."