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.

Los Albentosa park

Being a nice day we decided to take a picnic and try out the new Los Albentosa park, the park is located at the back of the cemetery on the La Mata natural park, where there is plenty of car parking. The area covers 125,000 square metres and features loads of picnic tables, a childrens play area and an adult exercise zone with full size equipment, also there are toilet facilities -not open yet! water points and plenty of rubbish receptacles.
There are around 5000 pine trees and a selection of other trees that have been planted by local organisations, so there is plenty of shade. Although the sign at the entrance has no camping as one of the rules, the town hall say it will be permitted over the Easter holidays. The sign also says dogs must be kept on a leash but while we were there, that rule was being ignored.

Windy, windy

Guardamar Beach 18.45.
We have just had a 36 hours of very windy weather, yesterday afternoon the kite surfers were out on the sea but gave up because it was too rough for them, the sand on the beach has blown into dunes and the sea is coming a lot further in. The forecast for the week is continueing windy but with rain, heavy at the weekend.

Energy conservation

To help with energy conservation and fuel consumption the Spanish government has decided to bring down the maximum speed limit on autovias and autopistas to 110kph from 120kph,this comes into effect on March 7th, and is meant to be only temporary. The revenue from fuel tax will drop by an estimated 500 million euros, so fuel tax will probably go up to cover it.
So on the eve of 6/7th March road maintenance teams will be out sticking 110kph signs over the 140,000 120kph signs.
Fernando Alonso commented that at 110kph he finds it hard to stay awake.
In another measure the government are subsidising Renfe to cover a 5% reduction in train fares for short and medium length journeys.

Hello Benidorm

Its been a couple of years since we went to Benidorm. as Phil and Irene were there from the UK for a weeks holiday, we booked a night in the same hotel, all inclusive, so we could spend some time with them. As we payed very little for the aparthotel room. we wondered what it would be like but when we arrived at around 11.45 the hotel receptionist let us check in straight away into the spacious, clean 1 bedroom apartment. We met up with Phil and Irene and went for lunch,the food was very good, hot and with plenty of choice, this was the case throughout our stay. Usually with the bar in an all inclusive hotel you end up in along queue for drinks but although the hotel was full, service was extremely quick.
After the urbanisations of the Vega Baja the Benidorm skyscrapers are quite imposing and since we were last there a new bus station and fire station have been built. There seemed to be a lot of holidaymakers around so maybe they are going to have a good year, in fact, New statistics are showing that tourism to Spain has risen for the first time in 18 months with 119000 more tourists arriving in January this year, making a total off 2.66 billion, half a million of those being Brits.
Only an 1 hour and a quarter drive from Guardamar, it is certainly another world for us for a couple of days.