The Almeria Focus - February 2019 by The Almeria Focus

Introduction & Contents

elcome to the Almería Focus Magazine and really useful A-Z Directory for the Levante area, with more than 2000 entries and contact numbers! View it online at www.almeriafocus.com. The Focus is free every month and distributed from Mojácar to San Juan de los Terroros on the coast and inland as far as Albox and Huércal Overa.

Contents Heading Towards Spring ...............................................................…...10 In the News ........…................…………................................…….12 “See You Later” - Fernando Alonso ........................................50 Almería - Gastronomy City of Spain ...............................51 So Now You Know ............................................................................52 Energy Sources in Spain .....................................................54 Palomares, January 17th, 1966 .............................................56 Reducing the Cost of Electricity ................................58 Long Term Lets in Spain .....................................................59 Ditching Google? .................................................................60 Reasons for a Long Life in Spain ................................................62 Useful Numbers ................................................................63 A-Z Directory ……………….......……................................................66 Community News ............................................................................109 What’s On ..................................................................................111 Activities, Clubs and Associations ........................................119 Your Stars …..........…………......……........................................…123 Jokes of the Month ………………............................................124 Coffee Break …………………….............................................…126 For general enquiries, call Clare on 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com For advertising enquiries, call Lee on 634 32 22 76

The copy deadline for the March issue is February 18th

www.almeriafocus.com The Almería Focus is an independent publication produced and printed in Almería. We cannot be responsible for claims made by advertisers, nor errors in advertisements caused by poor quality submissions. Neither are we responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any error, inaccuracy or non-appearance of an advert. The purchase of advertising space does not give the advertiser ownership of any advert, unless supplied to us as finished artwork or via a design agency. Adverts designed by the Almeria Focus Layout Department, including its photos, logos and specialised fonts remain the property of the Almería Focus magazine and cannot be scanned, partially or fully reproduced, or proofs supplied to other publications. Action will be taken against persons, companies, publishers, printers or distributors who infringe this copyright. Deposito Legal: AL-956-2008 Nº 106

Heading Towards Spring

ollowing the defeated Brexit withdrawal proposal in the UK Parliament, Spain is working on a series of proposals that deal with the event of a “hard Brexit”. These include guidelines from the Ministry of the Economy for Spanish businesses, and the changes that would have to be made at customs and regarding the importation of British goods. There is an unresolved problem regarding the Spanish airline Iberia and their low-cost company who are part of the IAG group that includes British Airways, and are officially based in the UK. Iberia are trying to get a ruling that as they are a Spanish airline and entirely based in Spain they are still in the EU. As regards Brit ex-pat residents in Spain, they form the largest number with an official total of 300,000 that is considered to be very conservative, and there are 116,000 Spaniards registered as working in the UK. Reciprocal arrangements are being negotiated with the UK, and it is anticipated that many of the present shared rights will remain in place. The UK Government is also publishing their guidelines with assurances amongst other things that health and pension rights will be unchanged. The present Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, still has to rely on other parties to join him in passing legislation. It may be that he calls for General Elections next May 26th. If this does happen, voting on May 26th will be very complicated. The municipal elections throughout Spain take place on this Sunday, as well as elections for Euro MPs. Almería province is part of the autonomous community of Andalucía and there has been a major change in who now runs their parliament following recent elections, which we deal with in our “In the News” section. The parliament can pass their own laws and regulations to a major degree, and run their own health and education departments. 50% of the income tax collected every year is given to autonomous communities. A thing that they can’t do is to alter the rates of IVA (VAT) which is fixed nationally. On February 28th it is the Día de Andalucía which celebrates the anniversary of becoming an

autonomous community. This day is a fiesta day, when town halls and official offices will be shut, but there are no other major fiesta dates during February or early March.

Easter Sunday cannot be later than April 25th, and this year it falls right at the end on April 21st, but last year it was April 1st. Shrove Tuesday, known as Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) when carnivals take place is on March 5th, so this is also later this year. It may mean that when the Águilas carnival takes place it is not as cold as in other years! Beach bars that open for Easter will still have to decide if they stay open or shut before the start of the summer season. There was a slight decline in tourism throughout Spain in 2018, but the money people spend went up, so not entirely a bad result. February 14th is of course St. Valentine’s Day, an event that was not celebrated in Spain some years ago. Nowadays, Spanish restaurants take advantage of this event with special menus, along with establishments run by Brits. The first Valentine’s Day is considered to have taken place in 496 AD, which was a Roman fiesta known as ‘Lupercalia’, in the middle of February. We list events that are taking place that may be of interest to our readers in our “What’s On” section and most town halls are now publicising their winter and spring events.

In the News New Mortgage Terms

The Spanish 2019 Budget

Legislation has been passed in the Spanish Parliament that lays out substantial changes to the provisions of a mortgage. Some of these put into law various changes and court rulings that have been made since 2013, and one of the aims is to avoid heavy fines from the EU regulators. Spain was supposed to have made changes by April 2016 with a potential fine of 100,000 Euros per day. Prior to July last year when the previous government were having problems and then new elections had been called, the EU did not enforce this. With the new government and the implementation of the new conditions before April 2019, it is very unlikely that Spain will have to pay the heavy sanctions. In 2013 the EU court ruled that the “floor rates” known as “cláusulas suelo” were abusive and illegal. These clauses set a minimum rate of interest on variable interest mortgages when in reality the Euribor rate and bank interest had dropped below the minimum rate stipulated. The Euribor has been a negative amount for a very long time and is expected to stay the same for the best part of 2019. However, the mortgage lender doesn’t have to refund any interest that falls to below 0%, which in theory was possible! All expenses which are associated with the issuing of a mortgage such as legal fees, notary and land registry fees for the mortgage, and the hefty AJD (stamp duty tax) has to be paid by the lender. The only cost to the person asking for a mortgage is the valuation fee. Another very major change relates to eviction if a person cannot pay the mortgage. Banks often started proceedings if the borrower was only behind by one month, but in 2013 the EU ruled it had to be a minimum of three months. Now, before eviction proceedings can be started, the lender has to be behind by 12 monthly payments, or 3% of the mortgage amount, if this happens in the first half of the mortgage term, or 15 months and 7% in the last half of the term. This will stop large numbers of evictions and is retroactive; so many eviction proceedings already started will not be legal and will have to be abandoned. Very unfortunately there have been many cases where a person being evicted commits suicide, sometimes when the police and bank officials arrive at their door. There are other changes but these are the main ones.

Considerable investment in rail, road, and airport projects totalling 10 billion Euros forms part of the 2019 central government budget. 5 billion Euros is for rail projects but mostly for conventional passenger and freight trains rather than the AVE (High Speed Train) projects that need the most amount of money. Funds earmarked for the AVE come to 2.6 million Euros but this is 2% less than in 2018. José Luis Ábalos, the Spanish Minister of Transport, states that investment in conventional rail network has not been enough in previous years and needs to be dealt with, and the rail operator RENFE is being given 280 million Euros to improve facilities and services. 2.3 billion Euros is destined for road improvements which is 14% more than in 2018, and 900 million Euros is for improved maintenance with the aim that road safety is tied into the number of accidents. Ports including Almería are being given 830 million Euros to improve train and road access. 690 million Euros is allocated for airports, but this is less than in 2018. José Luis states that the investment in transport will give direct and indirect employment for 285,000 people so money will be available from Social Security payments and taxes.

The Doll Passenger In La Coruña, on part of the A-6 motorway which has several lanes, there is one that can only be used by authorized vehicles including cars with a minimum of two passengers, and the flow of traffic is faster than in other lanes at peak periods. In January, traffic police who were monitoring the use of this lane observed that a front seat passenger in a car was almost certainly a child, and was not therefore allowed to be sitting in the front. They pulled the driver over to point out that children below 1.35m in height had to be in the rear of a vehicle using the appropriate seat or booster seat that carries a fine and a loss of points if not observed. The driver was committing an offence, but not the one they thought, as the “child” turned out to a large doll with a baseball cap, sunglasses and mobile phone type headphones. The driver was fined 200 Euros for ignoring the regulation that a car had to contain two people!

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In the News Elections in Andalucía Andalucía is one of 17 autonomous communities in Spain that are self-governing to a large extent, and each community holds elections for their own parliament. Andalucía (including Almería province) has the largest population with 8.4 million registered inhabitants and is the second largest in terms of the total land area. Elections took place on December 2nd and there were some major surprises. Before 2012, the PSOE (Socialist party) had won every election since 1982 when Andalucía became an autonomous community when the two main parties were the PSOE and PP (Conservative party). In 2012 they had to form a coalition with another small socialist party with 12 MPs which gave a total of 59 MPs that was four seats more than the majority needed of 55. By the 2015 elections three new political parties had been formed which were the Ciudadanos / Citizens (A centre right party), Unidos Podemos / United we can (A left wing party), and Vox / Voice (An ultra right wing party). This time, the PSOE won 47 seats, the PP had 33, Ciudadanos 9, Podemos 12, and Vox nil. The PSOE formed a coalition with Ciudadanos making 56 MPs in total, so a majority of 1. Last December 2nd the PSOE MPs dropped to 33, so a big slap in the face for Susana Díaz, the previous PSOE president of Andalucía. The PP party MPs dropped to 26, but Ciudadanos went up by 12 MPs to 21. A socialist coalition Adelanti Andalucía / Forward Andalucía won 17 seats, but the very major surprise was that the Vox party won 12 seats. Formed in 2013 as a far right wing splinter group from the PP party, they are against abortion, against same sex marriages, against immigration, against individual autonomous communities (so they want Spain to be undivided), and against communities running their own health and education departments. Many people who voted for them think immigration is a problem, and in El Ejido in Almería province they won 30% of the vote, in Roquetas de Mar 23%, in Vicar 24%, and in Níjar 26%. All these areas have high numbers of immigrants mostly in the agricultural industry. Other voters chose them because they were very much against the independence movement in Catalonia and approve of Spain being a united country with no autonomous communities. The success of Vox is generally seen as not being good

news and potentially very divisive. If the PSOE joined forces with Adelanti this made a total of 50 seats, not a majority, but if the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox joined forces this totalled 59 seats which was a majority. Ultimately this was what happened, despite many reservations about forming a coalition with Vox, so for the first time ever since 1982 the PSOE were pushed out of governing Andalucía even with a coalition. Juan Manuel Moreno from the PP was sworn in as the new president of Andalucía on January 18th. Feminist groups held a demonstration that the police stated to be 3,000 people outside the parliament building, in protest against the antiwomen’s rights and gay marriages policies from the Vox party. Other demonstrations took place in various cities, including 2,000 people outside Almería town hall.

No More 500 Euro Notes The Central European Bank has started to reduce the circulation of 500 Euro notes from January 27th, and all central banks in EU countries, including Spain, will follow suit. Since 2016 the percentage of 500 Euro notes that have been printed in Europe and put in circulation has been reduced to14%, but no more will be printed. This is because, for a long time, 500 Euro notes have been associated with criminal activity and money laundering. The amount used daily in normal circulation is far less than those that have been issued, and consequently they are called “Bin Laden” notes, as they were known to exist but

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In the News not usually seen! Another reason they are disappearing in general use in Spain is because of the closure of bank branches so it is more difficult to pay them in. Any 500 Euro notes paid into banks from now on will be forwarded to the central bank in each country and destroyed. The 500 Euro notes will still be legal tender and eventually at some future date (as is the situation with old Spanish Peseta notes), they will be able to be exchanged for lower denomination notes at branches of the Bank of Spain. The Federal German bank has been resisting the elimination of 500 Euro notes as they are popular there, where many large transactions are made in cash. The Central European Bank has therefore set the date of April 26th for the withdrawal of the notes in Germany which is somewhat of a gesture for Germans.

Calls to 091 in 2018 Apart from the local police (Policía Local) and the Guardia Civil police that we are all used to seeing, there is a national police force, Policía Nacional, in large cities. They have headquarters in Almería city and El Ejido. They deal with events such as large demonstrations, major fraud cases, the issuing of identity numbers, the issuing of passports, and important calls from the general public. Their general phone number is 091 which is received at the two headquarters. In 2018 the two centres received 87,000 calls and 35% were calls from the public reporting a crime or asking for assistance. The other 64,000 calls were related to asking for general information and how to deal with identity numbers and passports. Their response time to a call coming in is said to be within 10 seconds. Their own officers and the other police forces made 17,000 calls into the centres relating to individuals who might not be who they were claiming to be, might have criminal records, and number plate checks. The national police also deal with the registration of hotel, hostal and apartment guests and occupiers in Almería city and El Ejido, and the relevant owners or agents of these establishments have to provide this information every evening. These totalled information from 14,000 different establishments in 2018. There is a relatively new office for identity numbers and the issuing of passports at Huércal-Overa alongside the

policía local, designed to stop residents in our area having to go to Almería or Lorca. When it was opened it was stated to be for non-Spanish residents to obtain identity numbers and residency paperwork. As yet, they have never opened this section which is a great pity!

Marriages and Divorces in Almería Province The Spanish Institute of Statistics collect information from various sources, collate the numbers, and publish the information. In the province during 2018 some 40 couples got married every week, but 30 were divorced. Whilst Spain is still officially a Roman Catholic country with Catholicism being the state religion, only 227 couples said “I do” in church. 652 couples chose to get married at a civil registry or used town hall councillors who are empowered to conduct a wedding ceremony. Church weddings almost exclusively take place in the spring and summer, but not during Lent when Roman Catholic marriages do not take place. 1,080 couples were divorced by mutual accord but 376 went to court. The most divorces (70%) take place after about 10 years of marriage and 50% of the couples had no children.

Vodafone Cutbacks Vodafone have announced that they are cutting back their staff in Spain by 25% with as many as 1,200 losing their jobs. This has been disclosed to their main union that represents 5,000 workers. The company blame potential customers opting for a “low cost” package and they need to reduce their company costs so that they can remain competitive. They state that customers want immediate answers to queries by competent staff and a more simplified business model can improve their present service. Vodafone has suffered a great deal in the trade war that was sparked by its rivals Movistar and Orange after Vodafone opted not to buy the rights for Champions League or La Liga football matches, on the basis of low returns, and 108,000 pay-TV customers switched to the alternative providers. This also prompted an exodus of clients from their mobile services from which Vodafone lost 361,000 customers, 70,000 of these having contracts. The only area where there is substantial demand is their

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In the News fibre optic internet service with 84,000 new customers. Following the purchase of the ONO operator in 2014 Vodafone dispensed with 1,500 staff on the grounds that they had duplicate staff in all departments.

The Three Kings Former Barcelona FC football player Andrés Iniesta has had to apologise after sharing a photo that prompted accusations of racism on social media. In the photo on Instagram he was pictured with several other people in costume representing the Three Wise Men and their pages, who traditionally take to the streets on the evening of January 5th. Andrés depicting Balthazar (and his page) had their white faces painted black with make-up! After an avalanche of complaints he issued a statement via a news agency saying that he wanted to “apologise to anyone who may have been offended.” Over the years it has been common for white Spaniards to paint their faces black to take on the role of Balthazar but in recent years the practice has become more and more frowned upon, as being completely unnecessary and racist. In 2016, the mayor of Madrid started using a black person to play King Baltazar at their parade which is broadcast all over Spain.

A Surgical Operation Refused On New Year’s Day, an elderly Spanish couple and their daughter from Mojácar, who have lived here since 1982, were in Barcelona, their native city. At the bottom of an escalator all of them took a tumble with the mother and daughter (who suffers from multiple sclerosis), being taken upwards and the father left at the bottom. Fortunately, bystanders pressed the emergency stop button and aid was quickly on its way. Taken to hospital the daughter and her 80yr old father were treated and discharged, but the mother, aged 75, had a compound fractured ankle that required surgery. The Bellvitge Hospital advised the family that the mother could not be operated on there as she lived in Andalucía and all they could do was to immobilize her ankle and she was discharged on January 2nd. Faced with this refusal her son set off in his car from Mojácar towards Barcelona and met the rest of his family in a service area near Valencia as it was such a long

drive. Immediately taken to La Inmaculada hospital in Huércal-Overa the mother was operated on as an emergency as in a fracture of this nature any delay can lead to complications. An official organization known as El Defensor del Pueblo hears complaints from citizens, and the son has lodged a complaint pointing out that Barcelona and Andalucía are both part of the Spanish National Health Service. He has stated that no-one in Spain should be subject to this injustice. Rosa María Cano, the mayoress of Mojácar, commented that the health service in Andalucía does not discriminate in any required health treatment which is available if needed to any person whether resident, visitor or tourist.

The Nerja Caves In January 1959 five youngsters aged 13 to 21were looking for bats in Nerja and saw some that were coming out of a small opening in the mountainside. They squeezed inside but found that there was a blockage that was in fact several stalactites and stalagmites. Undeterred, the group returned the next day armed with a hammer and a couple of flashlights. Having gained entry they panicked when they found two skeletons. Nobody believed them except the teacher of the youngest boys, and he persuaded other people to go and see if they were right. Further exploration discovered an enormous cave and gallery that was of immediate interest to specialists as its rock formations were determined go back 800,000 years, with prehistoric art made up of nearly 600 designs. It was declared a ‘Cultural Interest Site’ in 1985 and classified as a ‘Very Important Archaeology Zone’ in 2005. Experts believe that the cave was inhabited 25,000 years ago, although ongoing studies suggest there may have been humans there as early as 40,000 years ago. Explorations by cavers and archaeologists regularly reveal new objects that shed light on various periods of early human history. Theseartefacts are kept at the Nerja musem. Outside the entrance there is a monument to the five men who first went in, embarking on an adventure that would change their lives as three of them eventually became tour guides after attending a speleology course. Soon after the cave was opened to the public, music and dance festivals started up that still continue. Today, around

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In the News a third of the 300,000 square metre space is open to visitors, and 450,000 people buy tickets each year. Four of the men are still alive and took part in a special ceremony on January 12th. Of the other attractions in Málaga province, only the Picasso Museum attracts more tourists.

Almería, “Land of Film” Almería province has been experiencing a large number of films being made in recent years which was common years ago. In 2018, in Almería city and areas such as Cabo de Gata and Tabernas, there were 70 films, videos and photographic sessions. 15 major films were shot with international stars. There were many videos, TV commercials and photographic sessions for advertising different products including for the car companies Mercedes, Volkswagen and McDonald’s Portugal. During May and June, major filming for ‘Terminator 6’ will take place at Isleta de Moro and the Tabernas desert. Films shot during the winter with large crews have a very beneficial effect for hotels. When ‘The Rhythm Section’ was filmed, 300 people stayed for 6,000 nights, and a crew of 200 people filmed a large part of the film ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ last September. SKY 1 filmed the ‘Bounty Hunters’ series here, and ‘Hanna’ was filmed for NBC and Amazon TV. ‘Los Nuestros 2’ is a major Spanish film shot mostly at Almería port. There are plans for a large film centre near Tabernas that would provide offices and technical facilities such as film editing. The Tabernas Western Film Festival is internationally known as being a very important event, as is the provision of pavement “stars of fame” in Almería city. Many famous film stars have come to Almería city, and many of them state that they will help to draw more filming in the province. Claudia Cardinale received her pavement star award recently for her major role in ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, the famous 1968 Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone, shot at Tabernas desert.

The Cuevas Desalination Plant In 2011 the Cuevas Bajo Almanzora desalination plant was opened and it was billed as providing water “For today and tomorrow”. It had cost 77 million Euros and was designed to supply 45,000m3 of water every day for the general population and

agriculturalists. In the very heavy floods in September 2012 it was totally put out of operation, and there were many accusations that it had been sited too near to a dry riverbed. Acuamed, the company that built and ran the plant, blamed the damage on “exceptional circumstances” and claimed that initial surveys as to the location had concluded that there was no risk of flooding. It has now been announced that a company has been given a contract valued at 350,000 Euros to determine the cost of putting it back in service with the necessary repairs. Part of the study will determine if alterations to the surrounding land need to be done to preclude any further flooding. Additionally, the study will estimate the cost of increasing the capacity to 60,000m3 with another reverse osmosis unit, which was the intention after the existing plant was up and running.

New Dreambeach Events The organizers of the 2019 Dreambeach event that takes place on August 7th-11th have announced major changes. They are organizing events at the campsite where 25,000 people stayed last year, and these will take place from 5pm-9pm. There will be exhibitions of graffiti, workshops for street art, and other urban events in an area of 30,000m2. Goncalo Miranda, the artistic director, states that the late afternoon is an important time to connect to the general public and the planned events and more

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In the News music would enhance the experience of the campers. It has been announced that the Spanish “Trap and dancehall” artiste, Bad Gyal, will be appearing and he has been hailed as being an international sensation at the age of 21. Dellafuente will put in an appearance and his music combines a mix of flamenco, trap, and street sounds. His last hit, Mepelea, has had 7 million visits on YouTube. Maka has previously formed a duo with Dellafuente but will come to Dreambeach in his own right. His last album, Dvende, has had 70 million views on YouTube. Fusa Nocta is a female artiste who is making a name for herself with her social and feminist rap music.

Changes in Rental Regulations Last December changes were made in rental regulations and we detail these in an article. A cap on rent is being considered to help renters, but so far this has not been published as talks are ongoing. If properties in a communidad (a group of owners) are to be rented out this now has to be agreed by 60% of the owners.

New Speed Limit in Force From February 1st, all secondary roads with one lane in each direction and a speed limit of 100k/h will have had the speed limit reduced to 90k/h for cars and motorbikes. Owners of the roads (many of them officially belong to autonomous communities or city authorities) were given 30 days from January 1st to put adhesive stickers on the existing speed limit signs. In 2018 a total of 1,013 people died in accidents on secondary roads, and this is 75% of all road deaths. Pere Navarro, the head of the DGT (Spanish traffic authority), is convinced that speed is a big factor in accidents. In 36% of deaths on secondary roads last year these occurred when a vehicle left the road with no other vehicle or road user involved, and 28% were head-on collisions where there was a bend. Coaches will be able to travel at 90k/h as there are very few accidents involving coaches and buses, but lorries and vans will be limited to 80k/h. Pere Navarro is still considering raising the loss of points when a driver is caught using a mobile phone for calls, replying to or sending text messages, or using Whatsapp. He thinks that the points lost should be increased to six. On Christmas day a 33yr

old man died when his electric motorbike-type transport collided with a car on a secondary road in Córdoba. It was a two-seater Harley that was capable of 70km/h over a distance of 40-50km before it needed recharging. The driver was wearing a helmet but was pronounced dead at the scene. This was the third death in 2018 where personal electrically propelled transport devices were involved. Two of them were the user and one was a 90yr old woman pedestrian killed in a town in Barcelona.

The Spanish Ibex Stock Exchange Stock exchanges throughout the world have not been having a good time lately, and the Spanish Ibex is no exception. In 2018 after a lot of swings it finished up 15% lower which amounted to shares going down by 90 billion Euros, the worse year since 2010. It started off 2018 at a level of 10,079 going up to 10,609 then and steadily fell to 8,540 on December 31st. There is a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen this year. As with other stock exchanges, the trade war between the US and China has had a big effect, and Brexit has introduced some fears, together with the increase in interest rates in the Eurozone. The exposure of Spanish banks in Argentina and Turkey is very bad news with large losses that have affected the trading figures, and Banco Sabadell, Bankia, BBVA and Banco Santander were amongst the 10 worse devaluations of 2018. There are fears that there may well be a mini recession, which would be extremely bad news. It is not much consolation for Spanish shareholders but the fall in the German stock exchange was 18%, in Milan 16%, Paris 11%, and in the UK 12%.

Less Banks At the end of 2018 a total of 50% of all towns and villages in Almería province were without a single bank. This is partly because of the increasing use of the internet for banking transactions, but mostly because banks have shut many of their branches following the financial crisis. Bank closures are particularly prevalent where there are municipalities without a large number of residents. In some cases mobile banks now travel round on specific days which is a feature of the Grupo Cajamar Rural bank that initially came into being in Almería province many

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In the News years ago. They still have bank branches in 68 of the 103 municipalities in the province, and mobile banks go to another 20. The Unicaja Bank has slimmed down and only has branches in 80 municipalities. The Bank of Spain point out that many elderly residents, who still deal mainly in cash transactions and don’t regularly use internet facilities, are particularly hit by the shortage of banks. There is a proposal that bank machines should be put in town halls to help this sector of the population.

Buying Votes The municipal elections take place this May throughout Spain and there are often claims that votes have been bought, or people outside the municipality have been fraudulently put on the padrón (the official list of residents) and then applied for postal votes. After constant delays from 2010 for various reasons, three councillors from Carboneras are in court charged with fraud relating to 2007. A person saw the mayor at the time putting a plastic bag with documents into a rubbish container near the town hall and went to see what this was, as it appeared very strange. The bag contained details of postal votes that had been applied for, and annotations that are stated to show that some of them were fraudulent. Fines are being requested for the three councillors and a ban on holding public office, so if convicted they cannot stand for the next election in May. One woman who lives in Almería claims that she was invited to come to Carboneras and was promised a job as a cleaner if she applied for a postal vote and voted as instructed. Another woman who did not live in Carboneras states that she was told that her application to use a terrace in front of her bar in Carboneras would be granted on condition she applied for a postal vote. Other irregularities are alleged to have occurred in Mojácar and Turre in the 2015 elections.

Garlands for Cooltural Fest Music Festival Last year in August, Almería city mounted their first Cooltural Fest music festival that took place just after Dreambeach Villaricos. It featured live performers from soloists and groups. It has been awarded various garlands including an Iberian Festival Award from a music forum in Portugal, Best New

Festival, Best Tourist Promotion, Best Communication, and the singer Iván Ferreiro has been voted best performer of 2018. The 2019 event will take place from August 15th-18th and the present list of artistes and groups that will appear include Vetusta Morla, Second, Depredro, Kitai, Nunatak, Arixona Baby, and Perro. On August 15th admission is free and bands performing so far include Elefantes, Nixon, Mucho, WI Bouz, and Twize. Last year people came from all over Spain and accommodation was available at one of the Almería University Halls of Residence, which will be repeated this year. Tickets are now available from www.coolturalfest.com and cost 35 Euros and 90 céntimos for August 16th & 17th, 59 Euros 90 céntimos for VIP tickets, and the accommodation from August 15th-18thinclusive costs 150 Euros for twin beds in 165 double rooms. There is also a camping area for up to 1,700 people that costs 60 Euros for the space to erect a tent for two people.

Drug Barons Targeted As part of the concerted action to stop drug barons in the Campo de Gibraltar area, police have turned their attention to an illegal complex of luxury houses in the El Zabal area. 14 large houses all stated to be owned by suspected drug smugglers have been built on land not zoned for urban development, only intended for special agricultural use. Each house has extremely high walls, large solid panel gates, and most of them have CCTV. An accurate assessment of the size of the houses, pools and gardens was only possible from an aerial view by drones. Two companies had been set up to hide the real ownership, but 16 people have been arrested and charged with obtaining the money to build from drugs and tobacco smuggling activities. Of the 16 persons arrested as being the actual owners, most of them are women related to the drug smugglers, and after tracing the original land owner it was discovered that each house owner had paid 2,000 Euros for an illegal division of the land. A police spokesperson has stated that other arrests will follow. It may be possible for the courts to order the seizure of the properties on the grounds that the money has come from illegal activities.

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In the News A Spanish Lie Detector Traditional lie detectors known as polygraphs need a very skilled person administering the test, and some subjects can teach themselves how to lie without this being flagged up by taking medication such as sedatives beforehand. The results are not generally admissible in a court of law. Scientists from Granada University claim that following years of research they have developed a lie detector device that is at least 80% reliable. They use thermal imaging, the same technique that some double glazing companies use to show a “before and after” heat loss in a building that is shown in various colours. The highest heat loss is shown as being “red”, and the coldest “blue”. The scientists take thermal images of the face neck and hands held near the face, and claim that during questions where the answers are already known and are truthful, they can map the normal thermal heat. If the subject is lying this is indicated by a colder temperature on the nose and hands, and a rise in temperature on the forehead. This reduction in temperature is clearly seen on the thermal image with many more blue zones than if the answer is truthful. Their research shows that the skin temperature drops during lies by 0.6-1.2 degrees centigrade as less blood is circulated, but the forehead temperature goes up by the same amount. They are developing an algorithm that will give the results outside of the laboratory and can be used by the police or other agencies. The results have been duplicated in other Spanish Universities and have been published in the “Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offended Profiling”.

The political situation is still very fluid and far from having any long term solution, but some money has found its way back. The Bank of Spain state that this was 10 billion Euros at the end of 2018, so only 30%. Money deposited in banks in Catalonia amounted to 15.4% of all deposits in Spain during the third quarter of 2017, but this steadily fell to 12.7% by the end of the year. It has slowly recovered now to 13.3%. Apart from funds leaving Catalonia there has been a marked decrease in hotel guests, and potential problems for UK tourists going to Barcelona were highlighted by the UK Foreign Office with advice to avoid areas where there were demonstrations taking place. The sale of new cars has also taken a dive as many people in Catalonia are holding onto their money until the situation is resolved.

The Withdrawal of Money in Catalonia In October 2017, the parliament in Catalonia announced that they were going for independence from Spain, and this caused intense worries for businesses and individuals. Companies moved their registered head office out of Catalonia so that they would be taxed elsewhere, and many people withdrew money from bank accounts or transferred their accounts to bank branches elsewhere. Valencia, Alicante, and Madrid saw a major input of funds that in the case of Valencia amounted to 9.9 billion Euros at the end of 2017 and early 2018. In total, the money moved out of Catalonia was 32.6 billion Euros.

Drones and Spanish Airports When Gatwick was paralysed by drones flying overhead, various articles appeared in the Spanish press relating to combating any such problem in Spain. The main airports use a tried and tested system manufactured by the Spanish company INDRA that can be used for airports, military installations or civil defence. It has been sold to various countries and uses a technology that is “an intelligent shield” called ARMS that stands for ‘Anti RPAS Multisensor System’. It can determine the presence of drones at a distance of several kilometres using a radar

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In the News technique that can be adapted for various locations, and it identifies the type of drone by comparing the information received from a data bank. It provides information to a controller who is watching monitor screens, and the blocking of the remote control frequencies can then take place. The aim is that the control of the drone can be taken over via a technique called “spoofing”, and it can be brought to the ground in a safe location. The equipment can cope with more than one drone being used at the same time and provides the solutions to combat each one. It can determine the point where the drone is being controlled, so the position of the operator can be located. Although the equipment is designed to be installed in a fixed location a simpler mobile unit can be utilized.

Some Improvements in Road Death Figures Final figures for 2018 are that 21 people in the province lost their lives in traffic accidents. This is one less person than in 2017, and when the driver points system was introduced in 2007 the number of deaths was 60 compared to 94 in 2006. 15 of the 21 deaths were on secondary roads and the reduction in the speed limit from 100k/h to 90k/h is designed to reduce the numbers. There were 747 accidents where the police were called out and 102 people were admitted to hospital. 1,113 lightly injured people were dealt with at the scene, at nearby health centres, or the accident and emergency departments at hospitals.

Sexual Abuse Claims The Spanish Government have passed new regulations that relate to sexual abuse. Children under the age of 14 that have suffered sexual abuse only have to appear in court once, or via a video link, once. The organization ‘Save the Children’ has stated that a young person may have to appear in court up to four times, and this is very stressful and not right. The age when special regulations come into force has been raised from 18 to 30 years. In Spain there is a time period within which a person can be prosecuted. In the case of Carles Puidgemont, the ex-president of Catalonia who fled to Brussels in October 2017 to avoid arrest, he can be arrested and prosecuted if he returns to Spain, or is extradited,

for 20 years from the date charges were laid against him. In the case where sexual abuse has taken place, charges can now be laid between 10-20 years after a victim has reached the age of 30, depending on the severity of the abuse. This means that a person can be between 40-50 years old when charges are laid against the perpetrator. This acknowledges the fact that in historic abuse cases a victim may not have come forward before they learn that their abuser is being taken to court for offences against other persons. There have been recent cases in Spain, as in other countries, where abuse has taken place by members of the church, and victims have waited a long time before speaking out. Carmen Calvo, the Spanish Vice President, went to the Vatican last year to discuss action by the Roman Catholic Church against priests in Spain who were being accused of abuse. Another new regulation is that if a sexual abuser of a young child is sent to prison, they cannot apply for their prison category to be changed (so they have an improvement in the way they are treated, or are allowed out of prison for weekends) until they have served half of their sentence.

The Vera to Cartagena Toll Road The Spanish state has taken over the running of 20% of toll roads in Spain, and some of the oldest “first generation” ones, where the initial licences have expired, are now free of charge. The Vera-Cartagena AP-7 toll road is not one of these, but from January 15th it has been free from midnight to 6am, and toll charges during the rest of the day have been reduced by 30%. The Minister for Transport, José Luis Ábalos, has stated that the situation will be reviewed in July when statistics are available to see what has happened. Initial estimates of traffic numbers in 2012 when the AP-7 toll road was opened were never achieved, and the consortium of companies who built and operated it eventually went bankrupt.

A Pedestrian Death by an Electric Scooter In a previous issue we have commented in an article on the use and problems relating to personal, electric transport devices. These include mobility scooters, Segways, electric scooters and electric bicycles, and as yet there are no national guidelines as to their

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In the News use, and where they can be driven. In a suburb in Barcelona, an old lady aged 90 was walking down a wide pedestrian area that has a cycleway. She was knocked over by an electric scooter and hit her head on the pavement. Taken immediately to hospital in a critical condition she sadly died a few days later. The woman was well known in the area, in good health, and was a regular walker. She had been hit by an electric scooter that was allegedly travelling at 30km/h with two young men riding on it. The driver was consulting Google maps on his mobile phone when he ploughed into the woman and his passenger confirmed that this was the case. Police have charged the driver with involuntary manslaughter, and if convicted he will be given a prison sentence, fined, and ordered to pay compensation to the family of the victim. This has opened up the whole debate about personal transport devices again, and the ‘DGT’ Spanish Traffic Authority has announced that the maximum speed will be reduced to 25km/h later this year. Pere Navarro, their boss, has previously suggested that the use of mobile phones by these drivers should be banned, with a fine and a loss of points, the same as for normal vehicle drivers. The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska,is also proposing to change part of the criminal code to address the conflict between drivers and pedestrians. In the centre of Barcelona these devices are banned and there are other regulations in Madrid. Last October a young woman was killed when she fell off her electric scooter into the path of a lorry in Sabadell in Barcelona province. In the article, we mentioned the Barcelona football player Gerard Piqué who has lost his driving licence and has taken to driving an electric bicycle. It is claimed that he can achieve a speed of 70km/h with a powerful motor. The DGT state that the high speed and power of the motor converts his bicycle into a motorbike, which he cannot drive without a licence. He was then stopped driving a car when disqualified and because of his high earnings he was fined 48,000 Euros. The other problem is whether users of personal transport devices should be required to have insurance. At present it is not compulsory, and if the driver of the electric scooter that killed the old lady had insurance (it appears he didn’t), his insurance company would

have been involved in any claims. The law may be changed so that insurance is compulsory for all users of personal electric transport devices.

Voting in the May 2019 Elections In our December issue we highlighted the fact that UK expats could register to vote in the municipal elections that take place on May 26th, 2019, and recommended that people took advantage of this. It is now too late to apply for a vote, but it is sensible that people who did apply for the first time should make sure this has gone according to plan. At the end of February or the beginning of March it is a good idea to go back to your town hall with the stamped copy of the application to vote and make sure you are on the “censo electoral” list. In the event that this has not gone according to plan, there is a period of a few days in April when mistakes can be rectified. We will highlight the dates in future issues of the Focus magazine when they have been fixed.

Problems For Renters Some changes were made to the regulations for long term renting last December and we deal with these in an article. Finding the money to rent a property is still a big problem despite unemployment in Spain having fallen to 15%. As regards young persons, the unemployment rate is still about 20%, and this sector of the population still has the most problems finding the money to rent. Only 3% of persons between the ages of 16-25 are in the market looking for rented properties, but this goes up to 66% of those aged 26-35. For a large majority of these persons obtaining a mortgage is impossible, particularly if they only have temporary work contracts with low wages. 80% of rental properties in Spain are between 80-90m2 but the monthly rent shows a major variation. In the centre of Madrid a renter would expect to pay 1,220 Euros a month, 1,170 Euros in central Barcelona, and 960 Euros in Pais Vasco. In Andalucía, which includes Almería province, the average monthly rent is 630 Euros but the high rents are only obtained in large cities. In Extremadura, a person only pays 350 Euros on average per month, but there is major unemployment. Rental properties that are let out to tourists have forced up the amount of rent for long term renters, which is a big problem in places like

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In the News Madrid and Barcelona. There is a proposal that a cap should be put on the price of long term lets, but this is going to be very difficult to enforce as all rental properties would have to be put on a town hall register.

exclusively from the Maghreb and Morocco area were paying 1,800-2,000 Euros, and police say that 500 migrants had paid for the journey since August 2018. Eight people were arrested, 1kg of cannabis resin was seized along with large amounts of documentation, and further arrests took place in The Boat People Morocco. Unfortunately, there are many deaths from Migrants trying to reach the UK by crossing the drowning when small, grossly overloaded boats English Channel have recently been in the news, but capsize. 57,500 people made the journey to Spain in the total of persons is not significant compared to 2018 and nearly 1,000 are known to have drowned. southern Spain as a whole and our coastal area. In 2018, the total number intercepted and rescued off the coast of Almería province alone came to 12,000. This is double the numbers in all of Andalucía in 2016. Of the 12,000 persons rescued, 10,000 were men, 1,500 were women, and 500 of them were children including young babies. Pregnant women account for another significant number, and many children arrive without any relative, meaning that they are immediately taken to special centres where they become the responsibility of the Junta de Andalucía Social Services department. In some cases they will be returned to their country of origin if they are on the verge of becoming adults, and a total of 650 people were sent back to Algeria and Morocco in 2018. Some North African countries have no arrangement in place where migrants can be A Major Container Company at Almería Port repatriated. The boat passengers are not ones The Cosentino Group based in Cantoria produce large seeking political asylum, they are hoping for a better quantities of artificial products for worktops or life. Police and customs officers try to establish from cladding purposes such as their Silestone and Dekton the passengers who has organized their journey, surfaces, as well as natural stone. They have which in the majority of cases involves a payment negotiated an agreement with the MSC shipping of at least 1,000 Euros, and often up to 2,000. If it company which is the second largest company can be established that an organiser has travelled worldwide. Goods will be taken from Almería port to with the migrants, action is taken against them, and Valencia port once a week, which is a feeder hub prison terms invariably follow. This is often difficult from where five container ships travel onwards to to establish as passengers may have been threatened the US every week. Cosentino recently signed an with dire consequences if they reveal who are the agreement with the largest container company, organisers. In 2018 eight people were put into witness Maersk, whose container ships now come to Almería protection schemes after they had identified major port. The containers are then taken to Algeciras organisers. If it is clear that a boat was severely which is the hub for transport to Europe. 92% of overloaded and deaths could have been predicted, products manufactured by Cosentino are exported, the organisers may be charged with involuntary and the US is a major customer. Containers destined homicide, not just people trafficking. This January, for the US at various ports will be delivered in 10-20 police broke up a gang in El Ejido who were organising days and to Vancouver in Canada via the Panama boat trips to the coasts of Cádiz and Almería, often Canal within 30 days. José Antonio Fernández, with drugs being smuggled in as well. People responsible for logistics at Cosentino, states that the

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In the News use of the container ships will save 5.6 million km of road travel in Spain per year, and stop 4,500-5,000 tons of CO2 emissions. Cosentino is the largest customer in our area for the Maersk line, but 36 companies now use this method of transport. Perishable goods from the agricultural industry travel in special refrigerated containers.

Mercadona Pay Rise Juan Roig, the head of Mercadona, has announced a new agreement on pay that took effect from January as the previous agreement with the CCOO union was from 2014-2018. All of the 84,000 workers have received a pay rise of about 15%, and if an employee is required to work overtime increasing the total working day up to 10 hours this will be restricted to no more than 2 days a week. Employees will sign in with plastic cards when they start work so that their working hours can be quantified. In 2017 a total of 5,000 new employees were set on, and this figure was about the same in 2018. New employees start at an initial salary of 1,132 Euros per month for a short trial period. Following this period all employees are on a permanent contract of employment. There is a bonus scheme that applies to the achievement of targets, and this gives them a substantial extra amount of money. 64% of employees and 47% of those in managerial posts are women.

Green Light for Garrucha A tribunal in Andalucía has ruled that Garrucha town hall are free to withdraw from the supply of water and sewage treatment presently provided by the public company Gestión de Aguas del Levante Almeriense, known as Galasa. The company is 54% owned by the Almería Diputación (County council). All municipalities who use their services own shares in Galasa, that in the case of Garrucha amount to 3.76%. The tribunal dismissed a claim from Galasa that the town hall was not free to contract services from another company. The town hall is already negotiating with other companies including Codeur, partly owned by Vera town hall, who supply water and sewage treatment to Vera with some spare capacity. Garrucha town hall will continue to be a minor shareholder in Galasa as is Vera. Galasa have huge debts and were saved from bankruptcy when

the diputación injected some cash in 2016. The supply of electricity to the head office in Vera and some equipment had been cut off for non-payment, and a generator had to be temporarily installed. There are complaints that large amounts of water that Galasa buy from the desalination plant at Carboneras are lost in leaky pipework, and Galasa have previously stated that this amounts to 60%! Another accusation is that maintenance contracts were not properly organised resulting in a higher cost. Other town halls that use Galasa have been watching the decision of the tribunal with great interest, and are now free to withdraw if they wish to.

Cuevas Compensation Order Confirmed In 2004 in Cuevas del Almanzora, permission was given for a project of 102 dwellings to be built and sold by the company Monsora S.L. In 2005, after work started it was ruled that the land was not zoned for urban development and work was stopped. The foundations had been finished and pillars for the 1stfloor. Monsora S.L. went to court and the town hall was ordered to pay 13 million Euros for the work done and loss of sales income by the High Court in Andalucía. An appeal was made to a higher court without success, and their judgement was made known last December. The town hall now faces having to pay the 13 million Euros plus some interest. Antonio Fernández Liria, the mayor of Cuevas, has stated that there only seems to be two options. They may be able to borrow money from a Spanish Government Economic Impulse Fund although the terms may not be able to be met, or try to arrange a bank loan over a period of 15 years. At present the town hall is already paying 1.5 million Euros every year from other borrowing, and the mayor states that a solution has to be found that will not have a major impact on Cuevas residents.

Albox Compensation Order Confirmed An area of Albox is the receptacle of organic rubbish for 45 municipalities in our Levante area, and Albox town hall have been charging each of them 12 Euros per tonne since 2014. The High Court of Andalucía has confirmed a court sentence that ruled that the town hall did not have the right to levy this charge, and the ruling body was the Junta de Andalucía.

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In the News Albox town hall has claimed that the fee was necessary to repair roads damaged by the heavy traffic, but the court has ruled that this is a double penalty as other regulations apply to transport.

province from births versus deaths is not matched in the whole of Andalucía (which includes Almería province) as there were 33,908 births and 39,279 deaths, so 5,371 inhabitants less.

High Season Shop Opening Hours

More Funding For El Cable Inglés

Restrictions on opening hours for shops in Andalucía (which includes Almería province) are quite strict, with a normal maximum of 90hrs from Mondays to Saturdays, although shops selling food can normally open on a Sunday along with shops that sell tobacco and newspapers. Special much more flexible hours are allowed in places that are considered to have a large influx of tourists. This normally applies to the Easter period and from July 1st-September 15th. The Junta de Andalucía have renewed this permission for six places in Almería province for 2019 and added Vera to the list. The six existing locations are Almería city centre, Carboneras, El Ejido, Garrucha, Mojácar and Roquetas de Mar.

El Cable Inglés (The English pier) is a raised steel and cast iron platform totalling 1km that finishes at the port in Almería city where iron ore was discharged into ships from railway wagons. This came from the El Alquife mine in Granada province, some 90km away. The iron ore was discharged into hoppers that went down straight into cargo ship, so the time taken to load them was greatly reduced from a normal 8 days to 10 hours. It was declared to be of cultural importance for the industrial heritage of Almería city in 1998, and in 2012 some repairs were made and it was repainted. The next phase is to convert it into a tourist attraction with walkways, lighting, street furniture, and facilities such as cafés. Money was not available for this but a grant of 2.2 million Euros from the Junta de Andalucía Cultural Department has now been approved, and work will be put out to tender. El Cable Inglés was considered to be of major importance when it was built in 1904, and King Alonso VIII came to open it. It ceased to be used in 1970 when the price obtained for iron ore had fallen to uneconomic levels. Although it is known as “The English pier” all the steel and cast iron came from Motherwell in Scotland as El Alquife Mining & Railway Company was based in Glasgow, so it ought to be called “The Scottish pier”!

Births & Deaths in Almería Province The ‘INE’ Spanish National Institute of Statistics collate information from a variety of sources such as the padrón (the official list of inhabitants in any municipality), and births and deaths over a time period. Figures for births and deaths in Almería province up to the end of 2018 have not been collated yet, but figures from January 1st to June 30th have recently been published. There were 3,654 births and 2,979 deaths, so the additional amount of births meant that the population went up by 675 persons. In large centres of population such as Roquetas de Mar, El Ejido, Huércal de Almería, Níjar and Vicar there were more births than deaths, but in rural areas there was a decline with very negative figures in Vélez Blanco. There were 42 births but 101 deaths out of a population of about 2,000, so their numbers went down by 59. This is because many young people are moving out of rural areas to find work. The age at which women have their first child in Almería province has gone up to an average of 29yrs but in 1975 it was 23.8yrs. This is partly put down to the construction and financial crises when women put off having children, and also the fact that more women now pursue a career. The positive figures in Almería

Madrid Central At the beginning of December in Madrid, an area known as ‘Madrid Central’ was unveiled that covers 10km2 (Just under 4 square miles). Within this area, general traffic is banned except for residents with the corresponding admission sticker, public vehicles, and delivery vehicles that have a limited access at defined hours. In Madrid for some time now, cars have had to show an environmental sticker that starts with electric vehicles (the cleanest) and goes down to old diesel cars (the dirtiest). These stickers will be issued to all cars and vans throughout Spain in due course. Vehicles with favourable stickers whose owners are not residents can only enter Madrid Central if

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In the News has a punched out month with the year the ITV is due) will result in a fine of 200 Euros if the police stop you (This is reduced to 100 Euros if you pay promptly). There is no loss of points as some vehicles are company owned, so consequently no points can be deducted. There are stiff penalties if your vehicle fails a test for a serious reason, and you don’t take it back for a re-test within the specified period.

they then park in a public car park. Later this year, comprehensive CCTV cameras will be installed that will recognize number plates, and non-authorized vehicle owners parked on streets will receive a fine sent to their home address. In line with EU emissions regulations, the decrease in the city centre emissions is put at 40%. On the M-30 ring road round Madrid, traffic is restricted to 30km/h at times of high contamination, and vehicles with only the driver and no passengers face other restrictions. It remains to be seen whether other large cities in Spain such as Barcelona will introduce a similar city centre ban.

New ITV Notifications Every type of vehicle has to be taken periodically to a dedicated centre where the ITV (MOT) test has to be done. Vehicle owners in our area have up to now been sent a letter from the Junta de Andalucía about one month before the test is due giving the date it needs doing. A letter will still be sent before the next test, along with a leaflet. This explains that the posted letters are being scrapped, and a vehicle owner can supply either a mobile phone number or an email address, and future notifications will come via this method. They supply the website of the official agency throughout Andalucía, www.veiasa.es. If you go to this website it takes you to ‘Servicio de Notificaciónes’ and asks you to put in the registration number (Matricula) and the date the vehicle was first registered (Fecha de matriculación) that is stamped on the bottom of the Spanish equivalent of the logbook. The date has to be put in as dd.mm.aaaa (date, month, year). You then have to supply the chassis number (Nº de bastidor) which is a very long combination of letters and numerals. To make it easier, you only have to supply the last six numbers or letters. The bastidor information is on the logbook under ‘Número de indentificación’ or on the document that records you as the owner alongside letter “E”. Once you have done this you click on ‘siguiente’ (next) and a message will come up showing the information has been accepted and registered. A confirmation is immediately sent to your mobile number or email. It appears that this can be done any time you want to, you don’t have to wait for the next letter. Not having a current ITV test and the sticker that is put on your windscreen (the sticker

Smoking in Spain Despite the antismoking laws that first of all banned smoking in public places, and then inside restaurants and bars, the number of people who smoke shows no sign of decreasing. In a large survey, 40% of the population agreed that they were smokers, with more men than women, and 34% admitted that they smoked daily, the same percentage as 10 years ago, but the number of young smokers is increasing. María Luisa Carcedo, the Spanish Minister for Health & Wellbeing, states that there has to be more legislation, as the increase in prices of tobacco products does not seem to be a deterrent. One of her proposals is that smoking in a car carrying children would be prohibited, but this would be very difficult to control. María Luisa considers that parents need to take more responsibility, and this also applies to smoking in the home where there are children. 2.1% of the population consume cannabis daily, the same as two years ago, but this is three times the number 10 years ago. There is a loophole that allow hookahs or “water pipes” to be smoked, and many bars have these on offer to be passed round a group. The substances smoked do not normally contain nicotine but the World Health Organization state that they can be carcinogenic and contain toxic substances that are a danger to health.

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In the News More Cruise Ship Passengers

Election Board are studying a complaint from the PP Conservative party regarding the mayoress of Cantoria, Purificación García, from the PSOE Socialist party. She has sent a letter to UK residents claiming that her party and council have greatly helped with the regularization of “illegal” houses, but the PP party claim that they are the ones responsible and the letter is blatant electioneering. In another part of her letter she claims that her council have changed laws, introduced new ones, employed bi-lingual staff, and that it would be a big error if inhabitants showed confidence in the councils (and political parties) that were in place when the illegal houses were built. She also states that “a wolf is always a wolf”. The PP party who have referred the letter to the election authorities claim that such a letter is clearly prohibited under election regulations, which state that no public body can run any election campaign that goes against transparency and objectivity, which seeks to give an advantage to one political party. If the complaint is upheld, the mayoress and town hall could be fined.

Tourist and port authorities in Almería regularly travel to cruise ship events and last December they spent nine days at a nautical event in Paris that attracted 200,000 visitors. In 2018 the number of cruise ships stopping in Almería port was 37, one less than in 2017, but passenger numbers went up by 12% with 29,000 people choosing to explore Almería city or take part in excursions to visit other areas including Mojácar. An end of year meeting took place in Almería between the port authority, tourist board, and the Tourism & Sport delegate from the Junta de Andalucía. María del Carmen Ortiz, the president of the port authority, reported that improvements had been made to the quays, access, and services needed by the cruise ships such as refuelling and taking on supplies. The International Association of Cruise Ship Lines state that cruise ship trade in Europe has gone up by an average of 8% every year since 2008. In 2009, a total of 17.8 million people went on cruises, but this has climbed to 26 million at the end of 2018. The majority of passengers arriving at Almería port are from the Bédar Mines UK. A major meeting took place in Bédar in December Agricultural Water in Cuevas del Almanzora regarding the opening up of the mine workings as In another news item we detail how a study is being a tourist attraction. A 78 page document was made to determine the cost of re-instating the presented that dealt with the various possibilities. desalination and agricultural supply of water from There have previously been visits by students and the plant at Cuevas del Almanzora that was wrecked professors from the French University of Lorraine, in the floods of 2012. To help agriculturalists in the who have explored the mines and produced maps. area, 9 million Euros is being spent, with 50% coming The main mine, known as the Mulata mine, is now from EU funds. The money will pay for a new outdoor owned by the town hall, and was worked from 1896storage reservoir, better pumps that will come on 1927. At this time, the price obtained for the quality during the cheap electricity period and boost the of the iron ore did not cover the costs of mining supply and pressure to higher areas, the repair of and transport to Garrucha port on a dedicated rail existing leaking pipework, new pipelines, and the line. One of the items discussed was the possibility installation of water meters. Once completed, the of wheel-chair access along with the opening up of amount of water available should be 3.7 million m3 a visitor centre to explain the importance of the per year. The thriving agriculture industry in our mine with audio-visual displays. The association Bédar area exports a large amount of produce, and modern Sostenible formed in 2012 has been heavily involved growing techniques reduce the amount of water in the plans for the mines, and in 2018 they received a prize from the local Spanish newspaper IDEAL for that was needed previously. being one of the best associations in the Levante area. The mayor of Bédar, Ángel Collado, stated that Illegal Electioneering? the project was very important and the opening up Elections for who will run our municipalities from of the mines needed to be made as soon as possible. 2019 to 2013 take place on May 26th. The Provincial

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In the News Cigarettes in Gibraltar On the eve of the 27 EU states approving Brexit last November, the Spanish government insisted on concrete proposals relating to Gibraltar rather than an agreement in principle and threatened to vote against the plan in the EU parliament. In practice this would have made no difference, but the UK and EU negotiators had last minute talks. The First Minister of Gibraltar stated that no concessions had been agreed, but it has now emerged that definite proposals were signed relating to the difference in price between cigarettes in Spain and Gibraltar. In Gibraltar, cigarettes are 48 % cheaper and there is major smuggling into Spain. In 2017 Spanish customs officers seized 600,000 packets at the border which was 158% more than in 2016. The agreement will see an increase in price in Gibraltar of 32% from June 2020. Part of the legal agreement is that every 90 days there has to be an exchange of information regarding the amount of cigarettes imported and progress in identifying cigarette smugglers. Spain has been fighting hard to reduce smuggling and have stated on many occasions that if all the cigarettes imported into Gibraltar were for consumption within Gibraltar each of the 30,000 inhabitants would be chain-smoking 24hrs a day!

own insurance if they drive a scooter, and pay for a mobile phone. Although new self-employed persons have a reduction in the amount of Social Security payments for an initial period, the normal amount paid by a self-employed person is 275 Euros per month. If the person is an employee and on a temporary contract, the employer pays 23.6% of the gross salary to the Social Security department and another 8.7% for other costs. With the annual minimum wage having been raised to 12,600 Euros in January, the employer would pay 339 Euros per month, and this is a higher amount for a worker on a permanent contract. The Social Security department say that they are being defrauded out of a minimum of 64 Euros per month for every “false” self- employed person, and a true employee also has benefits when they are ill, holiday entitlement, and compensation if they lose their job and are laid off. Magdalena Valerio, the Spanish Minister for Employment, has announced that the new regulations stipulate a fine of between 3,000 to 10,000 Euros for every self-employed person who is in reality an employee, and the payment of back tax.

“False” Self Employed People The Spanish government are backing up the Social Security department who are taking hard actions against companies who have a “false” self-employed relationship with third parties. This has been in the news regarding the UK owned company Devileroo who operate in many Spanish cities, and the similar company Glovo based in Barcelona. Companies like these use delivery drivers, usually on a bike or scooter, and the companies consider that these persons are self-employed, so they do not pay money to the Social Security department that they would pay if these persons were employees. Considerable debates have taken place regarding the relationship of the company and the third party. The Social Security look to see if the third party is required to work a certain amount of hours over 5 or 6 days, and has a commitment to a number of deliveries, and what happens if the third party is ill or has an accident, and whether the delivery person has to pay their

Benidorm Demolition Order The demolition of “illegal” houses in Spain was very common until judges took the decision that this could not apply to owners who had purchased in good faith. In Benidorm, two identical tower blocks,

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In the News known as ‘Gemelos 28’ (28 twins), that were built in 2006, with 22 floors and 168 apartments, have to be demolished. This was ordered by the High Court in Valencia in 2012 that ruled that they were illegal, but an appeal was taken to the Spanish High Court. They have dismissed the appeal and the demolition order has been confirmed. The demolition order is because they have been constructed too near to the sea which is prohibited under coastal laws. An amendment to the distance from the “maritime boundary” had been requested but ‘Costas’ who are responsible for coastal regulations have not approved this. The authorities in Valencia have to pay compensation to all the owners which is stated to amount of 80 million Euros, and technicians at Benidorm council state that as the tower blocks are so close to the sea they will have to be demolished floor by floor which will cost another 100 million Euros. The total of 180 million Euros has been put in the budget for 2019. Benidorm council have stated that once the tower blocks are demolished they would grant planning permission for another two blocks that would only have to be moved back a few metres! The owners of the luxury apartments paid between 400,000 to 700,000 Euros and they state that the demolition order makes no sense and are not at all impressed that the blocks will be demolished and they will have to move out!

Claiming Back Maternity /Paternity Benefits Last October the Spanish High Court ruled that taxing maternity and paternity payments should not take place and the Spanish tax organization ‘Hacienda’ has to make refunds. This relates to 2014 onwards as a four year period is stipulated for any tax refunds. Mothers and fathers can now claim the tax back for 2014 and 2015, but rebates for 2016, 2017 and 2018 will automatically be made when the next tax return is completed in June 2019. Maternity / paternity benefits are based on income for four months, and the average amount per child for mothers is given as being 1,600 Euros and 383 Euros for fathers. 1.7 million people will be able to claim, and the gross amount of money to be refunded is put at 1.2 billion Euros. If you are a mother or father of children born during 2014 & 2015, refunds can be requested via the Hacienda website, or going to

the Huércal-Overa tax office (for the vast majority of people in our area), or via the gestor or accountant you use for tax returns.

High Fruit and Veg Exports In 2002 a department was set up by the Cajamar savings bank in Almería to study and analyse data from the agricultural industry in Almería province. The Cajamar bank is now known as Cajamar Caja Rural and is a fully fledged bank the same as other Spanish banks, but the study of agriculture still takes place. When the surveys are published the Cajamar group give advice to the industry, and provide funding where this is required. The latest survey is for the agricultural year 2017-2018 and shows that 80% of a wide range of fruit and veg was exported. This range includes tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, aubergines, lettuce, melons and watermelons. This is 4% more than the previous year and amounts to 2.6 million tonnes of produce sold for 2.4 billion Euros. EU countries took the most exports with France heading the list with 371,000 tonnes worth 351 million Euros, the UK took 284,000 tonnes worth 283 million Euros, Holland took 261,000 tonnes worth 266 million Euros, and an increase of 24% to Poland with 156,000 tonnes worth 135 million Euros. Italy took 141,000 tonnes worth 136 million Euros. Total EU sales went up 18% in volume and 10% in value.

A Journey Guide A department at Granada University have unveiled a route guide intended to be of use to elderly pedestrians, parents with a child in a buggy, cyclists, and persons with reduced mobility that are in a wheel chair or use a mobility scooter. A program, Personalized Route Assistant (PRoA), provides maps that show if there are steep slopes or minor slopes up and down, stairs, or other things that might cause a major problem to wheel chair users on a journey from ‘A’ to ‘B’. Users can select three options that are the shortest route, one where there are parks, or one with a variety of leisure facilities. The Android app has been rigorously tested in Granada but can be used anywhere in the world. OpenStreetMap (a free world map), aerial views, and GPS map the proposed journey, and the app and

In the News maps can be stored using Android, Play Store, or Google Play via https://goo.gl/1cBGdC, without access to the internet being necessary during a journey which would quickly run down a mobile phone battery. The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Businesses has funded the initial investigation, and the system has been put in the scientific magazine, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence.

El Corte Inglés and Alibaba The very large chain of 90 El Corte Inglés Spanish stores has signed an agreement with the enormous Chinese internet company Alibaba. Their Spanish shops will stock a limited range of goods from Alibaba, and goods from El Corte Inglés will be available to Chinese customers through the Alibaba website. All items ordered in Spain from China will be sent to the El Corte Inglés warehouses for delivery by their own transport, or at a collection point in each store. At present, Alibaba have no distribution system in Spain, which is seen as a major handicap, and the agreement between the two companies is designed to be a potent rival to Amazon. El Corte Inglés sold 60 billion Euros of goods in 2017 and made a profit of 200 million Euros, but Alibaba sold goods to the value of 33 billion Euros in 2017 with a profit of 8 billion Euros. El Corte Inglés previously signed an agreement with the Chinese company AliExpress which is a payment arm of Alibaba so that Chinese tourists in Spain could buy goods using this system. El Corte Inglés has a store in Roquetas de Mar and there have been many proposals that there would be one in Almería city with various locations suggested. So far this has not materialised.

carbón” (“No to coal”) banners. This took place when the COP24 climate change talks were taking place in Poland. Greenpeace have published a report from the ‘European Beyond Coal’ organization that states that plants such as the Carboneras one is responsible for 410 premature deaths, 14,000 asthma attacks in children, 300 cases of bronchitis in adults, and a cost to health services of more than 1 billion Euros. Greenpeace state that out of the total of 266 coalfired power stations in Europe, the Carboneras plant is in 49th place for harmful emissions, and is the third worst in Spain. They claim that in 2017 the Spanish Health service spent 200,000 Euros in our area on emissions related illnesses and the plant discharges 5 million tons of CO2 every year. The demonstration was peaceful but Guardia Civil police took the names of seven activists who were attempting to climb a tower crane to erect a banner.

The Carboneras Power Station

A Debate Over Home Births

In an article we explain how Spain proposes to change the methods of producing electricity. Coal fired stations such as the large one at Carboneras are the “dirtiest” and government plans are that they should be phased out. Endesa, the power company that owns the Carboneras plant, have been injecting large amounts of money to try and improve the emissions and comply with EU regulations. 70 Greenpeace activists recently arrived in 45 kayaks alongside the port where coal is discharged and displayed “No al

Having a baby at home has become the subject of much discussion in Spain after a baby in Galicia died. The woman, who already had one child born at home, decided to do the same thing, but the baby was in the breech position (with the feet or buttocks first). Normally, a gynaecologist and not only midwives would assist in a hospital birth of this type. When the parents realized there was a problem they rang the emergency services who rushed the 33yr old mother and baby to hospital, but the baby had died.

In the News The hospital allege that the mother had refused a gynaecologist appointment in the last month of her pregnancy, and the only other person present in the house at the time (at the request of the mother) was not a trained health worker. Home births in Spain make up 10% of all births but this includes babies where the delivery happens suddenly at home and was not the plan. Health professionals state that a midwife is essential for a home birth ,and midwives would never assist a home birth if the baby is in the breech position or has other potentially serious problems. The court in Galicia who carried out an inquest stated that parents who did not have qualified medical help at a planned home birth were guilty of a criminal offence and they would decide if court action should be taken. This follows a decision in March 2018 when the Supreme High Court upheld a prison term for parents who opted for a home birth without medical assistance and the baby died. The court ruled that the parents were negligent, and they had a duty of

care to the unborn child to ensure that the birth took place with a health professional in attendance.

Lower Alcohol Limits for Bus & Coach Drivers Pere Navarro fairly recently returned to be the head of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;DGTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Spanish Traffic Organization and is putting forward many proposed changes. One of the latest ones relates to the permitted alcohol level of bus and coach drivers. The normal alcohol limit in Spain is 0.5 grams per litre of blood, and 0.3 for new drivers in the first two years, professional heavy goods drivers, drivers of minibuses with more than 9 seats, and bus and coach drivers. He is proposing that the limit for bus and coach drivers is reduced to zero, so 0.0 grams. In practice, drivers who have consumed no alcohol can still test slightly positive for alcohol ingested in some foods and naturally occurring in their bodies. In line with other countries, the actual limit will be 0.1mg. He also proposes that these drivers should have a compulsory medical check every six months.

“See You Later” - Fernando Alonso

t the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 race that closed the 2018 season the Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso completed his 311th and last race, having chosen to retire from Formula 1 at the age of 37. Throughout his career he has been world champion twice, won 32 races, been on the podium 97 times, and clocked up 1,899 points. He had many duels with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel and is considered to be one of the most accomplished Formula 1 racing drivers ever, and keenly competitive. His skilled strategy when driving cars that were far from being the best to achieve good results is legendary.

hard for every point and won a stunning victory at Malaysia in heavy rain, and then delighted his fans by winning in Valencia. He missed out taking a third world championship by only three points. After a bad season in 2014 with many problems with the Ferrari cars he rejoined McLaren. Unfortunately, McLaren had major problems with their Honda engine, and in 2015 he finished up with a disastrous 11 points. He did better in 2016 after a spectacular crash in Melbourne, but in 2017 with a poorly functioning car he only achieved 17 points. His frustrations in radio messages became a normal event, but McLaren wooed him to stay with them for 2018 with an engine change to Renault. Fernando was desperate to win a 3rdworld championship but this was not to be. Mercedes won 655 constructor points, and McLaren finished up with only 62.

Fernando was born in Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias in northern Spain, and like scores of racing drivers started off racing karts at the age of seven. His first F1 appearance was in 2000 for the Minardi team, but he was signed up by Renault as a test driver in 2002. He was one of their drivers in 2003 at the age of 22, and in Malaysia he became the youngest driver to achieve a pole position, and then the youngest driver to win a race at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In 2005, with two races left to run, he became the youngest world champion and was considered the natural successor to Michael Schumacher who he forced into 2nd place at the end of Schumacher’s final season. In 2007 he drove for McLaren with Lewis Hamilton, and they tied on equal points that season, tipped into joint 2nd place behind Kimi Raikkonen who beat them with just one point. He returned to Renault in 2008 and transformed the lacklustre R28 engine into a race-winning machine. In 2009 the R29 In his final F1 race at Abu Dhabi his rear spoiler engine was worse and he only achieved one podium was painted in the colours of the Spanish and position. Asturian flags and bore the words “Hasta Luego” – “See you later”. He will be a F1 test driver for Three days later it was announced that he was McLaren in 2019 to try and help them become joining Ferrari and he stormed away despite competitive again and will compete at the US consistent mechanical problems and finished 2nd Daytona 24hr race this February, the Indianapolis to Sebastian Vettel in 2010 who had a four point 500, the Sebring 1000 mile Endurance and the lead. With continuing mechanical problems he Belgium Spa-Francorchamps races. He will rejoin managed to win at Silverstone in 2011 with a the Toyota three-man team which won the 24hr further 9 podium positions. In 2012 he fought Le Mans race in 2018.

Almería - Gastronomy Cityof Spain

fter the submission of a very comprehensive bid document and the required 10,000 signatures, Almería city has been awarded the status of Gastronomy City 2019. This prestigious award is given by the Spanish Federation of Hotels & Restaurants and the Spanish Federation of Journalists and Writers for Tourism. A presentation took place in Madrid when the award was announced with the Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, and José Miguel Herrero, President of the Spanish Food Industry, attending. Mariano Palacín, the head of the Federation of Journalists who announced the award, commented that it applied to the whole province, not just Almería city. The selection takes into account a whole range of features such as inland and coastal tourism (in the case of Almería), the number of nights spent in hotels, vibrant film-making, the cutting edge vegetable and horticultural industry in the province with ecological growing and large exports, and Mojácar and Lucainena de los Torres being selected as Spain’s “Prettiest Villages”. The bid was supported by the Junta de Andalucía (the governing body for Almería province). The most important feature of the bid was the various culinary dishes that are unique to Almería province including the Garrucha red prawns, squid and octopus, Serón ham, gurullos (a type of pasta used in stews), migas also known as migas del pastor (“Shepherds breadcrumbs”, a savoury dish containing fried breadcrumbs, garlic and olive oil) traditionally served up on rainy days, and olla de trigo (a wheat casserole). Various regional cheeses and the production of fine wines were also taken into account. Tapas featured heavily as one of the province’s unique mini-foods, and it was stated that for a few Euros for two tapas these were almost a meal themselves. Recently, the 2019 Michelin awards were announced and 30 restaurants in Spain were selected. In Almería province, José Álavrez from La Costa in El Ejido and Alejandro Sánchez from Alejandro in Roquetas de Mar had their one star award confirmed once again,

and their previous listing was part of the successful 2019 bid. Apart from the Michelin stars, the organization makes “Bib Gourmand” awards to restaurants that have not received a star but are highly recommended. These included the restaurants La Chumbera in Agua Amarga and Juan Moreno in Vera.

The internet and radio company Cadena Ser have gourmet awards entitled “Where chefs eat”. In our part of Almería province, restaurants that are noted for the serving up of the regional dishes include Terraza Carmona in Vera. The Carmona family have researched local recipes going back in time and they organize “Show cooking” events that attract chefs from all over Spain. Other restaurants are Casa Adelina in Turre, El Jarrao in Cuevas del Almanzora, and Casa Egea in Mojácar. Another category is “Young chefs making a name for themselves” which features Real Agua Amarga. Ramon Fernández-Pacheco, the mayor of Almería city, also points out that the award is for the whole of Almería province, and they are working on a series of events, with up to 300 planned at present. In 2018, León was given the gastronomy city award and they report that tourism received a large boost that resulted in a lot of money being spent by national and international visitors. León was featured in TV programmes and magazines, and the publicity generated was considered to be of major importance. Many noted chefs from all over Spain came to present their own food creations and these were very popular.

So Now You Know... Mobile Phones In 1973 phones went from being used in businesses and the home to being used in cars and other vehicles. A Motorola research employee called Martin Cooper is widely considered to be the inventor of mobile phones and went into the history books when in April 1973 he made the first ever call on a handheld “mobilephone”. Cooper made a call to Dr. Joel Engel at the Bell Telephone research department who was his rival as they were both working on the invention of a mobile phone. It was a massive device that weighed 2.4lbs / 1.15kgs and was 10 inches long and 4 inches wide. After only 20 minutes the battery died! Postage Stamps The first modern adhesive postage stamp that was licked and stuck on an envelope was the “Penny Black” introduced in the UK in 1840. Before then “hand stamps” (hence the name) made of wood or cork coated in ink were impressed onto the envelope that confirmed payment had been made. In the UK before 1840 postage cost was paid for by the recipient that caused many problems. Senders had no incentive to restrict the size or weight of a letter or package, and whether the item would be paid for at the other end was debateable. An unused and mint condition Penny Black stamp with gum can be worth 3,000 pounds sterling. Gladiators Gladiators that entertained crowds of Romans in amphitheatres were held in high regard. They drank a “sports drink” made from ground bone ash as this was considered to increase the calcium content of their own bones. Onions were regularly rubbed on their skin as it was seen as being antiseptic and helped to heal wounds. Skilled surgeons were on hand to operate in the event of a severe injury or head wound. The most famous gladiators only fought 3 or 4 times a year at big events. After fighting for five years they were either given their freedom or they could buy their way out, becoming respected citizens.

Yoghurt It appears that yoghurt first came into existence about 5,000 B.C. when there are records that it was made in Mesoptamia in Western Asia that is now Iraq. Domesticated milk-producing animals had their milk stored in bags made from their stomachs that contained digestive juices with bacteria. This caused the milk to coagulate and become acidic. This substance could then be kept for much longer than the time milk could be stored in jars or other containers. Apart from lactose ingredients, yoghurts are made from rice, soya and nut milk. This year, the very large company Danome are celebrating 100 years of yoghurt production. Morse Code In 1836 before telephones, Americans Samuel F. B. Morse, along with Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail, invented an electrical telegraph system. It could send messages over long distances by using pulses of electricity that gave a signal to a machine to make marks on a moving paper tape. Each letter of the alphabet was then given a “coded” signal. It spread throughout America and then the world as the electrical pulses could be sent over very large distances. Eventually radio sounds were produced using a “morse key” and a person could listen to them and write them down. “S.O.S.” was chosen as a simple code for emergencies. The Tallest Tree The tallest trees in the world are to be found in California and are the redwoods trees (Sequoia sempervirens). Their great height is due to the California climate and they can easily reach heights of over 300ft (91m). A tree known as “Hyperion” is reputedly the highest tree in the world after it was discovered in 2006, and was measured as being 379.7ft (115.7m). Shortly after the discovery was made public a reporter from the “New Yorker” climbed nearly all the way to the top and described what it was like to be at this height in a forest. A typical redwood lives for 500 to 700 years but ones that have been cut down are more than 2,000.

Energy Sources in Spain

osé Domínguez, the Spanish Minister for Energy, has laid out the future guidelines for energy sources in Spain. One of the key statements is that Spain wants to shut down the seven nuclear power stations that are all nearing the end of their 40 year life. The nuclear power station Almaraz I in Cáceres, near the border with Portugal, is scheduled to cease production in 2020, followed by Almaraz II. Plans to extend their operation by the three electrical power companies who own the plants are not cost effective, and the Spanish Government is not proposing to advance any funding. The nuclear power stations in Tarragona, Valencia, and Guadalajarra will reach the end of their 40 year life in following years with the last one due to shut in 2030. A big problem is that these power stations generate a steady 21% of the power needed in Spain. Until 2017, spare power from nuclear energy was being purchase by Spain from France, but fears about reactor design safety meant that this dried up. The increase in power from hydro-electric dams and wind farms would need to be at least doubled to provide the same steady amount of alternative energy. The “dirty” source of energy is coal-fired power stations. The one at Carboneras in Almería province is owned by Endesa and at peak periods produces the largest amount of electricity of any in Spain. Of the 13 other coal-fired power stations, several of them are in the Balearic Islands and these will have to shut next year. This is because they cannot meet the CO2 emission levels determined by the EU. The owners of five coal-fired power stations including Carboneras have announced major investment to decrease their emissions but Endesa does not consider that the investment needed is viable at two others. Iberdrola has already announced that their last two coal-fired stations will be shut down. In theory, the Spanish Department of Energy would like to see the closure of all coalfired stations by 2035. At periods of peak demand the coal-fired power stations can provide an expensive 14% of the power needed.

A combined-cycle power station burns a natural gas and air mix that spins the blades of a gas turbine, and the excess heat that would normally go up the chimney is used to produce steam that drives a steam turbine. This gives a 50% increase in power over a power station that only burns gas. One of the largest modern combined-cycle power stations is at Cartagena, although less efficient ones have existed since the late 1990s. The cost of gas is the main problem if prices go up, although the enormous pipeline from Algeria that comes in near Almería port has helped keep prices down. There are still appreciable CO2 emissions but modern plants are a viable alternative to coal.

Renewable energy from hydro-electric dams and wind farms is wonderful providing it rains and there are high winds. These sources provided an average of 30% of Spain’s power requirements in 2018 with peaks of 50%. The big problem is that the output cannot be guaranteed. Electricity from photovoltaic solar panels is only a very small amount at present but ‘Cosentino’, the multi-national marble and stone company based in Cantoria, is investigating building the largest solar installation in Spain to cut their fuel bills by 25-30%. The Spanish Minister for Energy has recently scrapped the absurd “sun tax” for solar electricity generated for private homes and made the installations cheaper.

Palomares, January 17th, 1966

till described as one of the worst nuclear accidents ever, the village of Palomares near Cuevas del Almazora hit the headlines on January 17th some 53 years ago. A US B-52G bomber plane on a cold war patrol from North Carolina took the aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean and then the Mediterranean Sea. It was en route to the European border with Russia and then back to base in North Carolina. Over the sea near Palomares at its second refuelling location it met up with a US KC-135 tanker aircraft that had taken off from the US Morón Air Force base 56km from Seville. On this routine refuelling the nozzle of the KC-135 tanker hit the top of the B-52G fuselage and then broke off one wing. In the ensuing explosion both planes plunged into the sea with the four-man crew from the tanker killed instantly, and three of the bomber crew. Three survivors from the bomber ejected and parachuted into the sea and a fourth man survived after his parachute failed to fully open and he landed on the ground. Parachutes from four B28RI unarmed hydrogen missiles were triggered, and three of the missiles landed on agricultural land at Palomares. The fourth came down into the sea. The nosecones of two of the missiles were ruptured on impact and the conventional explosive inside detonated releasing radioactive plutonium dust that drifted in the wind and affected 2.6km2 of residential and agricultural land. One of the biggest search and rescue missions was then started to find the fourth missile in the sea. Other craft and troops were tasked with removing contaminated soil and in total, 23 US ships, one submarine, and two submersible craft came to Palomares. With the eventual help of a fisherman from Águilas who had seen where the missile landed in the sea it was finally brought to the surface on April 7th. During March, to allay fears of radioactive contamination, the Spanish Minister of Tourism, Manuel Fraga, and the US Ambassador in Spain, Angier Biddle Duke, came to Mojácar and they briefly waded into the sea at

Palomares for a photo shoot. Manuel Fraga went down in Spanish history as being Spain’s biggest prime idiot, a status he never overcame for the rest of his life!

Highly contaminated soil from 2.2 hectares (5.4 acres) was packed into 6,000 drums and shipped to South Carolina for disposal, but other soil was ploughed into the ground. At present it is still there! Over the decades talks between US and Spanish nuclear authorities took place with a promise of further removal, and in 2015 John Kerry, the US Secretary of State on a visit to Madrid, signed a non-legally binding memorandum of agreement to remove the soil. Nothing has happened yet, and it has been stated that President Trump has dismissed this out of hand. The Ecologists in Action group is currently asking the High Court in Madrid for full details of the collection of soil on various occasions by technicians from the Spanish Nuclear Authority and the exact level of radioactive contamination. It appears that nearly 1.5 tonnes of soil was taken away, and it has previously been stated that 50,000m3 of soil is contaminated. This has now been downgraded to 28,000m3 and Ecologist in Action want to know exactly how this lower amount has been specified. The Spanish Nuclear Authority claims that a “new criteria” has been put in place. Whatever the court investigation decides, there is nowhere in Spain where the contaminated soil can be taken for safe disposal.

Reducing the Cost of Electricity

lectricity bills have regularly gone up in Spain and one of the problems is the way it is produced, which we detail in another article. At times of high demand, with only a low contribution from renewable energy sources coming from hydro-electric dams, wind farms and solar, it is the most expensive. Recently however, the Spanish government has passed legislation that helps any consumer to reduce costs.

or fridge freezer are quite old, buying modern ones will save money as new ones are much more efficient. Changing light bulbs to the highly efficient LED types will also save money and the initial expense will soon be recouped.

The big way to save money in most households is to opt to pay for electricity using the “tarifa de discriminación horaria” during the off-peak (“valle”) period, instead of the on-peak (“punto”) period. The off-peak period in winter runs from 10pm12 noon, so a very generous 14 hours, and the same in summer from 11pm to 1pm. At present only 6% of homes take advantage of this split tariff, but the off-peak cost per kilowatt is about 50% less than the on-peak cost. This means that any electricity used during the off-peak period costs half of that used in the on-peak period. Making best use of the off-peak period includes putting an electric water heater on a timer so that it comes on in the off-peak period before you get up and goes off when you don’t need as much hot water, although it may need a boost in the afternoon and early evening during the onpeak period. If a household has a regular need for hot water in the morning and then sometime in the evening, this is a good way to save money. Timers, which are not expensive, have a switch so that you can override the timer and switch the water heater on whenever you want to. Running a washing machine or a dishwasher when the cheap rate starts at night, or first thing in the morning, takes advantage of the cheaper rate, but this applies to any electrical appliance. If you have air-con units that cool in summer and provide heat in winter, leaving them on overnight at a low “tick over” temperature setting will reduce the time they come on during the expensive hours. If your washing machine, dishwasher, air-con units

Electricity suppliers will now have to detail the possible savings by choosing the split tariff on an information sheet they send out with the bills, and for clients with the “smart” meters where the cost is charged each hour, there is no need for a new meter and no-one will have to come to your house. Also, there is no charge to change tariffs. The CNMC, the official Spanish body that surveys market costs and competition, and they state that in 2018 a household on a normal tariff was paying an average of 19.5 céntimos for every kilowatt they used per hour. With the split tariff this came down to 13 céntimos so this is a very worthwhile way to save money. Night time is when the least amount of electricity is needed and is cheaper to produce. If customers opt for the split tariff the cost of producing electricity throughout Spain will be reduced, apart from the benefits to our pockets. The government calculate that the potential saving if every household is using the split tariff will be 320 million Euros.

Long Term Lets in Spain

any owners of properties in Spain decide that property is registered but then sold, the tenant they will let them out, but there are specific still has the right to stay there until the five year terms that apply to lets by one private individual period has expired. to another one. Important changes came in to effect from December 19th. Spanish law makes a distinction between short term holiday lets and where the property is the main home of the renter(s). Short terms lets have few regulations in place although the property should be registered according to the regulations in various parts of Spain, and in our case Andalucía which includes Almería province. Long term rental contracts should always be registered with the ‘registro de propiedad’ at the property registry that exists in every municipality, or main town or city. Many owners of rental properties and rental agencies have opted for a rental period of 11 months stating it is a holiday let, designed to stop the renter claiming that it is their main home, but normally this is not completely legal. The provider of an 11 month let can be required to prove that this is not a permanent home let and that the tenant has their main residence elsewhere. This would apply in the case of students on a course, a temporary move as part of a work contract, or a long term holiday where the tenant has temporarily left their main home. If a renter declares that the property is their main home the rental agreement is quite different. With a permanent rental contract ,before last December 19th the renter was entitled to stay in the property for three years, but this has now been changed back to five years, as was the case prior to 2013. The tenant can give notice that they wish to end the rental agreement, but the property owner cannot. The only exception is where the property owner is claiming back the use of the property for an immediate family member reason, such as a couple who have separated or are divorced and the property is needed by one of the parties. This can only be done after a rental period of one year, and notice of 60 days. If a long term rental

A property owner where the tenant is using the property as their main home can put an annual increase in rent in the contract, but this has to comply with guidelines. A guideline that is frequently used is the cost of living index, so if this has gone up by 2% or 3% this is the only increase that is allowed. The amended regulations stipulate that a deposit of one month has to be paid in cash, but there can be a further amount of money stipulated known as a “fianza” to cover any damage caused when the renter moves out, but this cannot be more than two month’s rent. If the renter is behind with their rent for even one month, the owner can give them a letter stipulating that they have to leave and apply to a court for an eviction and re-possession order, but it is important that the rental agreement has been registered. Advice from a lawyer is a good idea, but an eviction order should not take a long time to be obtained. The property owner cannot change the locks, cutoff water or electricity, or force the tenant out. As far as the Focus magazine is concerned, the above information is correct, but competent legal advice is recommended if needed.

Ditching Google?

very day, 3.5 billion searches are made using Google, totalling 1.2 trillion every year. When Google shows notifications that a person has to agree to their latest conditions, 99.99% of users click on “accept” to continue with their searches, and reading the small print first is hardly ever done. There are other search engines, but they only have a very small share of the market.

France in 2013 and at the end of 2017 it had a world-wide use of 50 million people every month, making 2.6 billion searches. Although minute by Google standards it is rapidly gaining in popularity, and the European Investment Bank has recently adopted it. There is no stored navigation history, no data collecting from users, no cookies, and only sponsored advertisers that generate the income.

There have been many complaints about Google over the years, and the majority are highly critical of Google paying minimum tax. Until the company was told that it had to pay taxes in Europe they insisted that their “operating company” was in Ireland and only paid 42 million Euros Irish tax on a turnover of 22 billion Euros in 2016. In June 2018, Google was fined 4.3 billion Euros by the EU for abusing their market dominance of the Android operating system. Present EU plans are that along with Amazon and Facebook, all three companies should pay 3% tax where they have a global income of 750 million Euros and over 50 million Euros in individual EU states. A Spanish technology expert, Enrique Pérez, tried disconnecting himself from Google for two weeks A current proposal before the Spanish parliament and used Qwant instead. He agrees that it is difficult is that a tax of 5% should be levied in 2019 on the to totally ignore Google, but believes that personal invoicing of digital services such as intermediation, privacy is of the utmost importance. He compares advertising, or the sale of data to other companies; not using Google to giving up smoking, which is services that are the most difficult to capture by difficult but not impossible! He complains that the current tax systems. The Spanish Minister for Google stores information that you might not even the Economy, Román Escolano, considers that an wish to disclose to a close partner, and you have identical system will shortly be introduced in no means of stopping this. He thinks that a Germany, France, Italy and the UK. Apart from the concerted move to Qwant in other European financial considerations, Google stores and passes countries would be a really good thing. on an enormous amount of personal data. They use “cookies”, provide “pop-up” adverts based on There are other search engines and the Microsoft the users previous search engine use, compile system Bing is the second largest after Google. It navigation history, and store the locations of their is stated to use the best algorithms of any other clients. system with an expert “intuitive” search technique and the provision of very high quality images. Ecosis In France this year there is a concerted effort to is popular with ecologists and 80% of their income deprive Google of their power. Instead, the search is for planting new forests. By 2020 they aim is to engine Qwant is being promoted, and 577 members have 1 billion new trees in Brazil, China and the US. of the French Parliament and the Ministry of Defence have switched to this system (they claim Can we do without Google? Many experts think we it is more difficult to hack). It was started up in should do!

Reasons for a Long Life in Spain

he life expectancy in Spain is estimated to be an average of 85.8 years by 2040. This would put Spain at the top of the list worldwide, compared to the estimated average of 83.3 years in the UK, which would be in position 23. This information has been published in the respected UK medical journal ‘The Lancet’ from a study made at Washington University.

to make people more aware that diet is important. Drinking a glass of red wine every day is definitely good for women over the age of 55 and men over the age of 45, as this helps to combat heart disease.

Whilst strictly speaking this applies to the Spanish population, people of any other nationality that live in Spain for an appreciable length of time will be positively affected to some extent. A study in the UK has tried to work out why the live expectancy in Spain is so different to the UK, with some probable causes. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE) carried out a major survey at the end of 2016 and it emerged that in 1980 the intake of pure alcohol in Spain was 17.5 litres per head of population, but this went down to 8.6 litres in 2016. In the UK, the 10.8 litres in 1980 had only reduced to 9.5 litres. The alcohol intake is linked to general health and possibility of developing illnesses and disease if excessive. As regards smoking, the figures are the other way round, and in 2016 the consumption in Spain was 1,533 grams per head of population, compared to 644 grams in the UK, so this doesn’t seem to work in favour of the Spanish population. The Mediterranean Diet is a feature of Spain that many people observe and if they are following this in general they eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, pulses, high quality olive oil, white meat, and fish, apart from paella. Not following the correct diet in Spain is absolutely linked to obesity in children, but this is not as bad as in the UK. In Spain, only 20% of the population are regularly fed processed food, but in the UK the percentage is the highest in the world. The recent decision in Spain to label food as being healthy on a scale of ‘A/ Green’ for the healthiest, and ‘F/ Red’ for the least healthy is an attempt

Another factor in Spain is that going for a walk is much more common and part of the Spanish lifestyle. 76% of the population go for a walk of at least 15 minutes four times a week and 40% walk to work. With a more benign climate in Spain walking is easier than in the UK which has more rain and lower temperatures. Taking an afternoon siesta in Spain is less common than it used to be, but the Spanish Health Authority consider that having a daily nap for as little as 30 minutes is very important as it improves brain power such as memory, and also reduces the likelihood of heart disease. Splitting the working day is also considered to be a good thing although work finishes later. A more relaxed working environment is definitely healthier. A worldwide survey revealed that Spanish women have sex 2.1 times a week, but the corresponding figure in the UK is only 1.7. Having sex is considered to reduce brain and heart disease and also the onset of type 2 diabetes. All these explanations seem to affect longevity in Spain.

Useful Telephone Numbers Emergencies (Multi-lingual)...................112 Health Emergencies: Life Threatening .........................................061 Other Health Emergencies...........902505061

HACIENDA (TAX OFFICE) Huércal Overa .......................950 470209 / 950 471013

FUNERAL DIRECTOR Albox (Funerarias Teruel) .......................................950 430122 Guardia Civil ..................................................062 Huércal Overa (Colly Fer) ...............................950 616161 Local Police ....................................................092 Garrucha (Funerarias Funerga) ..............................950 460295 Coast Guard .................................900 202 202 Mojácar (Funeraria Pérez) ...................................950 478102 Vera (Funeraria Ntra. Sra. de las Angustias) ..950 390884 AIRPORTS Almeria airport .....…..............…902 404 704 / 950 213 700 HOSPITALS Huércal-Overa, Alicante airport ….............………913 211 000 / 966 919 000 Hospital La Inmaculada..................................................950 029000 San Javier airport ……...……….902 404 704 / 968 172 000 Almería Torrecárdenas............................................950 016000 Almería,Virgen del Mar (Private).....................950 217100 BRITISH EMBASSY Virgen del Mar Emergencies:............................950 217240 Madrid ......................................................................917 146300 LOCAL POLICE BRITISH CONSULATE Albox ...............................................................................950 121080 Málaga (for this area) ................................................952 352300 Carboneras .................................................................950 136136 Cuevas del Almanzora ................................................950 548700 UK PASSPORT INFORMATION Garrucha ............................................................................950 460002 www.gov.uk/browse/abroad/passports Huércal-Overa ..............................................................950 470585 Mojácar ...........................................................................950 472000 EMERGENCY UK PASSPORTS Pulpi ……………......................................................................950 465049 www.gov.uk/emergency-travel-document Vera .................................................................................950 390010 CREDIT CARDS 24hr EMERGENCIES 4B(Visa/Mastercard) …..902 114400 / 913 626200 American Express …...................................................900 814500 Diners Club …..........................................................902 401112 Mastercard …..........................................................900 971231 Servired (Visa/Mastercard) …............................902 192100 Visa …..........................................................................900 991124

TOWN HALLS Albox ....................................................................................950 120908 Antas ............................................................................950 619015 Arboleas .............................................................................950 449430 Cuevas del Almanzora .................................................950 456488 Los Gallardos ....................................................................950 469000 Garrucha ...............................................................................950 460058 Huércal-Overa ...............................................................950 134900 Mojácar ...........................................................................950 615009 ELECTRICITY Sevillana Endesa Enquiries: ..................(free).800 760333 Turre ..................................................................................950 479011 Breakdowns:.........................(free).900 850840 Vera .....................................................................................950 393016 WATER Galasa Enquiries: ..................................................950 391200 TELEPHONE (Telefonica) Breakdowns: ...........................................902 355575 Normal Operator ..................................................................1004 Gestagua (Albox) ....................................................950 120649 Faults Operator ....................................................................1002 International Operator ......................................................11825 GAS Speaking Clock .........................................................................093 Cepsa (Silver bottles) Leaks ….......................902 100224 Cepsa, information …......................................902 416416 TAXIS See Directory pages Repsol (Red bottles) Leaks .......................901 121212 Repsol, information .........................................901 100100 MOBILES LOST OR STOLEN (From any 'phone) ITV (Spanish M.O.T. Centres) Orange …........................................................................656 001470 Vera, Albox, Veléz Rubio Telefónica Movistar …............................................095 702611 Central number ……………........................................959 999999 Vodafone …....................................................................607 123000 Yoigo …..................................................................................622 622622 TRAINS Renfe www.horarios.renfe.es ……..........…….902 240202

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The Focus A-Z Directory

2000 entries!

This A-Z directory is the only comprehensive listing of all the businesses and services you routinely need, and can never find!

For a free directory entry, call 670 84 92 65 or e-mail almeriafocus@gmail.com Keep this magazine in your office, by your 'phone, in the car or beside your bed! It's unique and updated every month. Red line entries signify that there is a display advert for that advertiser.

ACCOUNTING

AIR CONDITIONING

Asesoría Forte (Vera) ..........................950 395778 / 682 372196 ABC (A Better Climate) (See p.29)...647 247494 / 950 092604 Cool Solutions ...........................................................600 621436 DCM Digitek Comms (Mojácar) (See p.19) .950 472947 / 670 084438 Digital Vision (See p.33) ...................950 472081 / 645 294064 Electrotorres ........................................950 472898 / 610 750771 MD Air Conditioning & Refrigeration S.L. 607 364917 / 950 432110

Asesoría López (Vera) ……...................................….950 393071 Asesoría Torres (Mojácar) .........................................950 472748 Asesoría Sánchez Moral (Mojácar) ...........................670 099726

Barbara Caparros Ridao (Vera) …..........................950 390427 CG Legal & Financial (Mojácar Playa) ..950 472504 / 670 215926 Cabrera Cervantes (Turre) ................950 099400 / 627 464545 Cazorla Martinez (Turre) .........................................950 479137 Cervantes Alarcon Consulting (Garrucha) 950 106490 / 647 863787 Concepción Rivas Gil (Arboleas) ….....950 438092 / 647 577716 Flores Montoya Asesoria S.L. (Garrucha) ..................950 132577 Gecko Legal Services S.L. (Mojácar) 950 475949 / 638 264621 Gestoría Salvador (Mojácar Playa) ................................950 473 192 Mayor Consulting S.L.(Mojácar) .................................950 615185 Mojácar Playa Asesores ……................…….…………950 472710 Sintra Consultores (Vera) …......................................950 393815 Vera Advisors (Vera) ………………..................………950 390621 Villalba Asesores (Albox) ..........................................950 431720

ACUPUNCTURE

Richard Hayes ...........................................................603 567676 Solo Satellite & Air-Con. (See p.55)...950 398146 / 699 909737 Williams Electrical (Andy)........................................…..677 741366

AIRPORT PARKING AA Parking (Almería, Murcia, Alicante) ......................639 081067 Aqua-Car (Alicante) ……………........................................966 790 011 Coastline Alicante Airport Parking .............................661 517890 Plane Parking S.L. …………............................................966 840 289 ...............(24hrs Alicante) 656 532725, (24hrs Murcia) 656 532724 Seguro Parking (San Jávier – Murcia) ……............622 062115 Victoria Parking (Alicante).................................................965 830 254

AIRPORT TRANSFERS (LEGAL) Exclusive Airport Shuttles (See p.11)......................950 092602

Acupuncture Antonio Herrero ......................................670 099725

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ART & ARTISTS Adolfo Prado ...............................................................950 472668 Alison .......................................................................630 833873 Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Caz (art classes) ………................................……….607 444034 Dee Butler (Albox) ................................................….663 341904 Delfos Gallery (Mojácar) …........................................647 163681 Evie Fox ................................................................ 603 493163 Isabel Raths (Bedar) ................................................677 034957 Jeremy Fox-Rayner ...................................................653 714767 Jill Bennett (Mojácar) .........................950 478383 / 600 070188 Living Design (Albox) ...............................................678 308073 MarianMay Simpson …...........................………..……629 113436 Melanie .....................................................................638 495784 Miki ...........................................................................628 458491 Roberto Lombardi ................................950 930757 / 671 800317 The Gallery (La Concepción) ..................................607 146352

ALARMS & SECURITY AC Security ........................................950 387822 / 657 AXA .........................................................................950 CD Electrical Services ......................662 414043 / 617 Prosegur Alarms .........................................................608 Safes & Security (Dean)...........................................666 SE Telecoms ..............................................................697 Securitas Direct (Phil Lennon) .................................696

397218 478763 410534 825509 949213 AUCTIONS 780499 A & A Auctions (Albox) ………..............950 064576 / 661 759882 116803

Auction Subasta SL (Zurgena) ...........622 288750 / 681 095096 Location Warehousing S.L. (Antas El Real) ..............950 528565

ANTIQUES

AUTOMATIC DOORS & GATES

Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 The Metal Works (Albox).......................950 930520 / 638 900949 Delfos (Mojácar) ......................................................647 163681

AWNINGS & BLINDS

ARCHITECTS Angel Pardo (Técnico) .......................950 121960 / 687 939315 Antonio Martinez de la Casa .....................................950 092094 Blas Haro Morales ...................................................950 615345 Daniel González Aranda (Vera) ......................................686 846 624 Elena Acebo Architects (Huércal-Overa) .669 680098 / 950 134976 Paula Puente (Mojácar) .............................................610 433001

Curtains with Style (Interior blinds) ...950 069032 / 678 811125 Costasol S.L. (Lloyd Dean) (See cover)...........................667 652 888 Coverbox (Albox) …................................................…615 992007 Cristalería Omega (Mojácar) …..........950 478137 / 670 500711 Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196 PersiVera 2005 S.L. ..................................................627 978635 Sol Shaders S.L. (See p.45).....................................627 907207

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Speedyfit ...................................................................600 006032 Toldos Farrago (Vera) ...............................................667 567564

BABY See Children & Baby BAKERIES Cornish Pride (Albox) …................................………666 618933

BARS & CAFES See also Restaurants Albox Bar Lepanto ................................................................642 906638 Cafe-Bar Oasis ………......................................…....669 242166 Chapman’s ...............................................................642 447663 Cornish Pride ...................................................………666 618933 La Palmera ….............................................................950 430993 The Travellers Inn, Los Marcelinos ...........................642 011900

Alfaix La Venta de Alfaix .....................................................671 272464

Antas Bar Gloria ...................................…….950 453150 / 625 668613

Arboleas Hotel Rural Azabache ...............................................690 258813 Humbugs Cafe …......................................643 123253 / 643 075387

Bédar El Paso ...................................................................678 868963

Cerro Gordo Bistro Bonita .......................................650 599739 / 950 930169

Cucador La Vida .....................................................................950 634562

El Campico (Bédar-Lubrin) La Montaña .............................................................670 589788

Garrucha Tierra y Mar .............................................................850 992808

Huércal-Overa El Capricho …..........................................................697 297235

La Alfoquía Bar La Unión ...........................................................642 Bar Los Mellizos ……….........................................…667 Cielos …...................................................................634 El Local ……......................................950 634449 / 633

Cafetería Pizzería Alcazaba ………...........................645 414793 Café Latino ...............................................................626 717323 Captain's Tapas Bar & Restaurant...............................617 477797 Cave Bar ...............................................................…..950 478799 Delfos .......................................................................647 163681 Dolce Vita .................................................................950 478476 El Ángel (Mojácar Pueblo) ..................950 478343 / 607 537101 El Antler ………...........................................................600 540661 El Barrio Libre .............................................................950 475739 El Deseo ....................................................................670 018035 El Toro .....................................................................622 456560 Enrico ...................................................950 472995 / 642 514738 Fany …………...........................................………….634 312820 Jazz Life Café (Mojácar Pueblo) ........................…….647 724367 Koi ….........................................................................950 615452 Kukis ........................................................................686 038259 La Cantina (Mexican) ................................................950 478941 La Parata (See p.7).....................................................950 478186 La Piká .....................................................................950 930744 La Taberna (Mojácar Pueblo) ....................................647 724367 Los Amigos .......................................…………………950 478489 Lucer ………..................................................……….673 544617 Marcelo’s .................................................................950 031812 Martinis ....................................................................950 285330 Mesón Felipe San Bernabé ................950 475966 / 631 301368 Mesón Mémé ……………...........……….674 141159 / 647 954405 Mimi’s Bar ..................................................................651 872604

008003 919025 393235 684855

Las Buganvillas Gnomo Feliz II ..........................................................950 132350 La Colonial ……………….........................................….636 140307

Los Gallardos Apolo ……………................................................……600 495182 Meson Verfran ………...................................................637 810143

Mojácar Bar Alizee ...............................................................950 091810 Bar Esencial ...............................................................618 826092 Bar Luz ....................................................................654 866110 Beachcomber ..............................................................634 339216 Cafeteria Bellagio .......................................…………950 472323

Moca Cafe Bar …......................................................950 452885 Peaky Blinders ........................................................602 890151 Playa Blanca ........................................950 473001 / 639 507520 Rincon de Zahorí ................................630 314400 / 625 103672 Rose & Crown (See p.15)........................................634 796884 Rusty Nail …………....................................................950 472786

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San Pedro Belgian Bar .............................................722 Scotty's …...................................................................687 The Emerald Isle .....................................................950 The Irish Rover (See p.43).........................................950 The Lemon Lounge .............................................….950 The Roof Garden .................................................674 Trufibar ....................................................................664 Twister (Mojácar Playa) ........................………………950 Valery Music ..............................................................950 Wine Not? ............................................................... 950

485340 382540 475391 473135 472659 113218 103611 472357 615537 100077

San Juan de los Terreros Mi Cortijo ………......................................................…950 466323

Turre Alice’s Bar ……….......................................................677 Chili ...................................................950 468425 / 608 La Pará ……………............................................……637 Rosie Lees .............................................................643

161705 802227 545590 198600

Palomares 102 Tapas Bar …………...........................……………..615 157905. Asagía Asador ........................................................640 210185 Centro Plaza ................................................................950 618614 La Dulce Casa ….................................................…….950 467768 The Oasis Bar ....................................950 467381 / 676 365010

Piedra Amarilla, Partaloa Lorena’s ...................................................................634 397621

Pueblo Laguna

Valle del Este

Bar Restaurant Laguna ……….........................……..950 132566 Hole in One Karen’s Bar ......................950 461068 / 677 655790 Grace’s Bar ................................................................950 532339 Vera Casa de la Vega ......................................................950 391208 La Amistad …………….…......................................…666 622085

Vera Playa Bar La Reva .................................634 398465 / 618 El Balconcito .............................................................635 Frankie’s Bar .....................................950 467541 / 622 La Buena Mesa ……............................950 467222 / 610 La Peperina .............................................................677 Restaurante Tibu .....................................................950 The Blue Parrot ......................................................950

541115 589909 649469 356387 420243 133747 467682

Villaricos Pub Millionaire ....................................950 617467 / 637 255978 Bar La Plaza Villaricos .........................................…950 El Galeon ……...................................................……600 La Casa del Siret ....................................................950 Los Conteros .....................................950 618629 / 699 Lucky Bar Pizzeria ...........................................…….647

467590 559379 467777 010705 073598

BARS (BEACH BARS)

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Aku Aku (Mojácar) .(See previous page).950 478981 / 607 347612 Alma (Mojácar) …......................................................950 805928 Ankara Beach Terrace (Mojácar) ………........………..950 473042 Armony Beach Club (Vera Playa) …......……………..617 745021 Chiringuito Manacá (Mojácar) .....................................600 045599 Costa Tranquila (San Juan de los Terreros)..664701457 El Cid (Mojácar) ...................................950 472063 / 696 056128 El Patio (Mojácar) ........................................................629 287265 Hola Ola (Mojácar) ..................................................664 097279 Lola Bbme (Palomares) ……………….634 062350 / 657 303043 Los Tarahis (Agua Amarga) .......................................950 138235 Lua Beach Club (Mojácar) …......................………… 950 472643 Mandala Beach Club (Mojácar) ................................902 442420 Maraú (Vera Playa) ………...........................…………671 580340 Maui (Mojácar) ……...................................................950 478722 Neptuno (Mojácar) (See p.41) ...............................…616 005387

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Sol y Arena (Mojácar) ..............................................950 478308 Lufran Bike Sport …………....................................….607 074753 Tito’s (Mojácar) ..........................................................950 615030 Mountain Biking Spain …...............……637 831509 / 661 178656 Trufibar ....................................................................664 103611 Rock & Road (Garrucha) .............................850 992805 / 628 2633389 Rodeca Bike Zone ..................................................950 132525 BATHROOMS & SHOWERS Weekend Sport (Las Buganvillas) .........................950 460738 ABS Advanced Building Services ..............................687 846016 BICYCLE SALES, Cerrajería Jara (Las Buganvillas) ……………………..950 109986 Complete Renovations (See p.17) .....644 389255 / 672 379960 MAINTENANCE & CLOTHING Cristalería Omega (Mojácar) …..........950 478137 / 670 500711 Enrique Aguirre S.L. (Garrucha) .................................950 460028 Aguila Bike (Las Buganvillas) ........................................950 133063 Mojácar Home Improvements ...................................950 473104 BikeRun Sport (Albox) …………………950 930190 / 678 166252 Bikespin (Huércal-Overa) ................. 950 927678 / 662 543056 Doltcini (Clothing) (Mojácar) ..............950 092600 / 658 028646 Lufran Bike Sport …………....................................….607 074753 Rock & Road (Garrucha) .............................850 992805 / 628 2633389 Rodeca Bike Zone ..................................................950 132525 Weekend Sport (Las Buganvillas) ............................950 460738

BLINDS see Awnings & Blinds BOATS & NAUTICAL Veramotor S.A. ............................................................950 392552

BOAT TRIPS

SpeedyFit (Screens) ..................................................600 006032 Glass Bottom Boat (Villaricos port) ….......................662 604456 Toldos Farrago (Screens)(Vera) ................................667 567564 Orca Steve (Mojacar, Garrucha) ..............................634 352873 BEAUTY See Hair, Health & Beauty Partylevante (Puerto Deportivo Garrucha) ...............680 942141 Sunshine Charters (Garrucha) ....................................634 398074

BED & BREAKFAST

Casa Barranca (Huercal Overa) ..............................648 Casa Montes Guesthouse (Arboleas) ..................... 686 Castellón (Bédar) .......................................................642 Hostal La Parata (Mojácar) ........................................950

250699 400331 BOOKS 435909 Librería Nobel (Vera) ................................................950 392642 472670 The Book Box (Albox) ……................................…….662 585098 The Book People Almería …........……686 817945 / 626 578164 BEDS & BEDDING Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 BOOK PUBLISHING Furniture Plus (Puerto de Mazarron)...968 153907 / 678 083491 Costa Books ............................................................634 304344 Me & Mrs Jones (Los Llanos market) ......................0044 7850 840288 BOWLING CENTRES (10 pin) Sleepcentre (Albox) (See p.6) ..........868 931872 / 671 715294 Almería Ten Pin Bowling (Arboleas) …...................….950 439013 Indalo Bowling Mojácar ............................................950 473073

BUILDING MATERIALS (& Sanitary Ware, Tiles etc)

BICYCLE HIRE

Aridos Mojácar S.L. ……..........................................650 914257 Brico Depôt (Huércal de Almería) …........…………….950 625652 Casa Conchillo (Albox) …..........................................950 430740 Contrucciones Angel Oller (Albox) ...........................950 431453 Comercial Vera (Vera) ........................902 112236 / 950 393329 Enrique Aguirre S.L. (Garrucha) .................................950 460028 Leroy Merlin, Gran Plaza (Roquetas) ….................……950 339800 VeraSur SL (Vera) ....................................................950 393028

Aguila Bike (Las Buganvillas) ........................................950 133063 BiciStar (Vera) ……............................................……667 024001 BikeRun Sport (Albox) …………………950 930190 / 678 166252 Bikespin (Huércal-Overa) ................. 950 927678 / 662 543056 Dazzlem (Vera Playa) ...........................627 818719 / 673 589874 Doltcini (Mojácar) ................................950 092600 / 658 028646

ABS Advanced Building Services ..............................687 846016 Adam's Building Services .............................………..600 041820 Alan Barker ........................................950 099913 / 600 268176 AlmeriaBuilders.com ……......................659 685133 / 950 9305202

BUILDING SERVICES

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Call 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com Arboleas Building ………........………........................634 306690 Ben Foster Building Services (See p.61)..................642 471236 CES Builders (Paul) ................................................685 017178 Charlie Fyre ..............................................................686 833444 Complete Renovations (See p.17) .....644 389255 / 672 379960 Cutler’s Carpentry .................................................697 907708 David Croft (Urcal) ………....................................……661 148067 David Pritchard Construcciones ................................617 698418 Elegant Homes S.L. ..............................950 092603 / 687 629777 Genco Construction ...................................................607 271869 J B General Builder ................................................. 687 024884

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Mario the Handyman ................................................642 245017 CAR WASH & VALETING Mat Murray ...............................................................647 841750 Denis’s Car Wash (Mojácar Playa) ...............................643 198320 MD Building Services ..........................628 414861 / 628 414862 Nash Groundworks ..................................................722 546192 PR Building Services ................................................662 422170 Paul Acreman (General Builder) ..............……………607 196779 Saxon’s Complete Building Services ....618 920126 / 968 485729 Sierra Construcción .................................................611 028716 Valoser Obras .............................................................642 016954 Vision Design and Build ............................................600 985583

BUTCHERS Ávila (Vera) …….................................................……663 126062 Casa Jose (Garrucha) ..............................................950 132573 Juan’s Carniceria (Mojácar Playa) ........................950 478409

CAKES TO ORDER Moca Cafe Bar (Mojácar).........................................950 452885 Occasion Cupcakes (Velez Rubio) ............................634 329403

CAMPSITES Camping el Cantal (Mojacar) ................................... 950 478204 Camping Los Gallardos .............................................679 970399 Campsite Marion (Vera) .............................................607 316553

CAR HIRE Al Andalus Car Hire ...................................................664 269440 Auto Corner (Limousines) .....................950 069198 / 667 439671 Caracola (Mojácar) .............................950 473157 / 637 545814

Jones’s Mobile Valeting ............................................661 571939

CARD SHOPS C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 Costa Coches (Mojácar) ........................950 459208 / 950 069272 Colin the Card (Albox) .........................................…..650 600032 Europcar ............................................950 615101 / 654 297681 Forget Me Not (Las Buganvillas) ............................663 302740 Mo-Car (Mojácar) ................................950 478307 / 626 976973 Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 121318 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 009051 Total Entertainment (Mojácar) ……….................……950 615596 Total Entertainment (Turre) .........................................950 468295

Solvi Car (Mojácar) …………....................................950 478151 SRS Vehicle Services ................................................950 449095

The Almería Focus is the magazine that everyone keeps to hand. To advertise your business, call Lee on 634 32 22 76 or Clare on 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com

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Free directory entries.

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Dragon Chino (Las Buganvillas) ..................................950 CARPENTRY Cutler’s Carpentry .................................................697 907708 Gran Muralla (Albox) ................................................950 Gran Muralla (Turre) ……............................................950 Palacio Imperial Marina (Mojácar Playa) ….................950 Restaurante Asia - Maribo Kitchen ...........................950

133226 120166 618880 472208 110420

CHIROPODIST & PODIATRISTS Alexandra Coll (Clinic Reverdy-Coll) ......................616 673116 Clinica Podológica (Garrucha) ..................................950 132768 Kim White (Vera Playa) ………...................................637 149659

CHIROPRACTOR Maximilian Bolté (Garrucha)

.............950 133515 / 650 700783

CIVIL ENGINEERS

Go2 Joinery & Services ...........................................674 963957 Isabel Morales ........................................................617 749105

Mojacar Carpentry & Home Improvements ...............603 Simon the Woodworker .............................................667 Unicraft …..............................................................…692 Vision Design and Build .........................................600 Wildwood Bespoke Joinery ......................................634

688622 989270 176069 985583 328574

CARPET CLEANING Jones’s Mobile Valeting ............................................661 571939

CATERING / EVENTS See also Wedding & Party Planning Elite Cuisine ..........................................................610 Hog Roasts .............................................................671 The Whole Hog / Hog Roast parties ..968 485729 / 618 Soft Ice Cream and Frozen Yoghurt Machines............600

CATTERY see Kennels CHILDREN & BABY

994435 851135 CLAIRVOYANCY / PSYCHIC 920126 READINGS 006032 Anna (Tarot) ……….........................................………670 897832 Chrissie Cremore ....................................................634 349638 Psychic Karen (Turre) …..........................................678 118108

Baby Basics (Equipment Hire, Albox) ........................950 104345 Mobility Almería (Mojácar Playa) ..............................634 322475 Meditania, Children’s Activity Centre (Turre) ...........661 751244 Funky Monkeys, Pre-school Group (Mojácar) .....……697 264179 Smartie Pants the Clown ............................................617 815221 The Baby Hire Centre ..............................................615 806126

CLOTHING (Personalized) AdverTees (Mojácar Playa) ..........................634 33678 Rascals Designs ............................... 950 064665 / 686 582140 Tikka Uniforms (Mojácar) ….......................................667 479903

CLEANING SERVICES

Amba Cleaners ........................................................697 Chris .......................................................................627 CHIMNEY SWEEPING & REPAIRS Clean Team …………..............………850 993202 / 694 Paul the Chimney Sweep …………..617 150300 / 850 993057 Cherie's Ironing & Cleaning (Mojácar) ............………634 Sammy Sweep ..........…............................…………..619 070839 Crystal Clear ............................................................637 CHINESE & ASIAN RESTAURANTS Daisy Proaño Alcivar (Contract & private) ……...….663 Chino Peking (Garrucha) .............................................950 132948 Idea (Mojácar) .. ......................................................605

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516955 565049 440184 301389 229464 538596 162709

Free directory entries.

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Jone’s Upholstery & Rug cleaning ….........…………661 571939 Limpiezas Cristina ….............................................…660 306695. Limpiezas Maxlim (Palomares) ……...678 567783 / 629 680161 Upholstery & Leather Cleaning ...................................636 193256

COMPUTERS

Fred Smithers (Acupuncture) ...............950 930456 / 618 107351 Gill Ballard (Healer/Counsellor) ...............................663 336655 Heaven Scent Holistics ...........................................663 923733 Hypnotherapy (Karen) ............................................678 118108 Dr. Jane Thompson (Psychotherapy)...968 485729 / 618 920126

Advance Digital ........................................................616 506569 Beep (Garrucha) ……………..................................….950 133059 Compleo Personal I.T. Centre .................................….950 393689

Connexions (Turre) (See front cover).......................950 479502 C.Y.G. Vera ...........................................................950 393350 Don Robinson .........................................................646 587746 Dynos Informatica (Albox) …………...................……..950 430806 George Boricean .....................................................661 375489 IKamale-on ……………...............................................950 616521 Mark Adamou (Mojácar) ........................634 324918 / 634 306799 Mr. Micro (Turre) ....................................................950 479502 PC Playa (Mojácar) ......................................................634 356498 Kate Roberts ...........................................................950 469540 Lucy Lovejoy (CraneoSacral Therapist) .....................647 045919 Malcolm Forrest-Hazell (Counsellor/Psychotherapist) ...693 489725 Norman & Carole Monro ..........................................950 439205 Sara Vigar (Aromatherapy) .......................................665 334895 Shiatsu (Wendy) ....................................................671 851135 Sue Osman (Healer) ………...............950 473021 / 600 847964

COURIER DELIVERIES Nacex (Mojácar) ………..................................……….950 472940 Offex Spain ................................…….......................966 765950 Spanish Property Choice (Easypost) ..950 615388 / 635 722290

CURRENCY

PC-Solutions (Mojácar) ..............................................637 459293 Currencies Direct (Mojácar) ...............950 478914 / 626 916443 PhonePC (Garrucha) .................................................950 133502 Global Currency Exchange (Mojácar Playa) ..............950 615319 PRYS Informatica (Antas) ........................................617 382511

CURTAINS & SOFT FURNISHINGS

CONSERVATORIES AA Window Doctor ......................…............................630 231644 Screenmasters (See p.45)......….…..........................677 152911 SpeedyFit ........................................950 472357 / 600 006032

COUNSELLING / HEALING Ashlí (Naturopath & yoga therapies) .......................643 Acupuncture & Massage ...........................................637 Barbara Clarke ...........................................................637 Chrissie Cremore (Reiki)............................................634 Donald Mackinnon (Hypnotherapist) ........................628 Emotional Freedom Technique/Healer …....................645 Eve Morgan .............................................................647

102335 120429 469937 349638 651022 290728 203652

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Free directory entries.

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Cortinas Gredécor (Vera / Huércal-Overa) ..................950 391361 Curtains with Style (See p.21)...........950 069032 / 678 811125 Curtainsandthings.................................................……678 684564 Solo Style ………...............................950 528334 / 626 319907 Unicraft Upholstery ...................................................692 176069

DOCTORS & CLINICS (Private) Centro Médico Mojácar ...............................................950 475105 Clinica Medica Garrucha ……...........950 133157 / 617 404500 Dr. Maria Rose (Garrucha) ..........................................950 132803 Euroclinicas (Vera) ........................................................950 391300

DOG GROOMING Anita (5 Bone Kennels) …………......................……662 344734 Brigbe’s Dog Grooming ...........................................630 557123 Elite Dog Grooming (Albox) …….…...........................617 313587 Luis (Clinica Veterinaria Garrucha) ....950 132200 / 628 663616 Lulu’s (Albox) ...................................950 952940 / 600 046557 Pampered Pooches (All areas)..................................662 344734 Paws & Claws (Palomares ...........+44 7828251913 / 686 501593 Pelitos (Los Gallardos) ..............................................637 286176 Shampooch professional pet grooming ........................642 276442 SoloPerros (Turre) ..................................................674 509382 Ulti-Mutt .....................................+44 7894747657 / 634 332578

CYBERCAFES Can Connect (Albox) …........................................…..950 Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 Total Entertainment (Turre) ........................................950 Total Entertainment (Mojácar) …….............................950

121149 121318 009051 468295 615596

DAMP PROOFING Southern Spain Damp Proofing .................................652 358672

DENTISTS / DENTAL TREATMENT Centro Dental Dr. Cremades (Vera) ........................950 390655 Clinica Dental (Albox) ..............................................950 120732 Clinica Dental, Multicentro (Mojácar) ........................950 478989 Clinica Dental Palomares .....................950 109710 / 670 878427 Clinica Dental, Parque Comercial (Mojácar) .............950 478534 Clinica Dental Saludent (Huércal-Overa) ……………..950 135672 Dentalbox (Albox) .........................................................950 121284 Nadal Pérez, M A (Turre) .........................................950 479444 Odonto Stetic (Los Gallardos) ...........722 706732 / 950 398993 Puerta de Vera (Vera) ........................................950395319 Valero Martinez (Garrucha) ………............................950 132047

DIET PLANS & WEIGHT LOSS Ashlí (Naturopath & yoga therapies) ..........................643 102335 DOG TRAINING Image (Helen) ........................950 930192 / 665178326 Didi Arias (Mojácar) ……............................................639 724521 Issysweigh (Albox) ...................................................600 334318 DOORS See Windows & Doors Pam (Turre) ..............................................................639 465631 Vicki (Turre) .............................................................650 764623 DRY CLEANERS City Sec (Vera) .........................................................950 390255

DIGGER HIRE Aridos Mojácar S.L. (Vera) .....................................650 Bob (Mini digger) (Albox) ..........................................642 Diego Ramos S.L. (Los Gallardos) ……..............…..647 Elite Plant Hire (JCB) ………….................................636 MD Digger Hire & Construction.................................634 Nash Groundworks ...................................................722

DIVING See Scuba Diving

914257 392922 841750 092632 375428 546192

DVD & VIDEO Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 Total Entertainment (Turre) ...950 468295 ...(Mojácar) 950 VHS to DVD conversion .. ........................................647

121318 009051 615596 202599

ELECTRICAL GOODS Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Centro Comercial Almanzora (Olula del Rio) .............950 442012

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Centro Ferretería Lopez Mojácar ...........................950 473111 De Pablo S.L. (Vera) ..............................................950 390129 Electro Ahorro (Albox) .............................................950 121069 Electro Hogar Rodriguez S.L. (Garrucha)..................950 460832 Euronics .............. (Albox) 950 430702 (Garrucha) 950 460832

ELECTRICIANS A1 Services ………....................................................679 631458 Abbott Electrical ….............................638 010691 / 950 137208 Andy …..............................…................950 438237 / 679 656450 Baltasar .....................................................................655 691107 Charlie Fyre ................................................................686 833444 Connexions (Turre) ……..............................………….950 479502 DJT Electrical Services (Vera) .............686 817945 / 626 578164 ElectroTorres .....................................950 472898 / 610 750771 EMI Electrical Installations .......................................673 502867 Fernando (Huércal Overa)...........................................677 549247 Francisco Montoya (Mojácar) .........................……….687 466352 N.E.Electrics (Arboleas).............................................634 358777 Peace of Mind 24/7 ............................................... 637 974662 Williams Electrical (Andy)......................................…..677 741366

ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES Jules Clothing (Montemar Centre) ...........................633 640918 Voluta's Place (Parque Comercial Mojácar Playa) ….699 975552

ENTERTAINERS Abbie Lou (Female vocalist) .......................................687 340544 Amy Amy Amy Tribute Band ....................................645 886919 Ashley Cathcart .......................................................693 486788 Blues Brothers ........................................................680 355376 Bob Management .......................................................666 310251 Brendan O'Dee (Singer/Guitarist) ..............................610 855964 Brian Dee ………........................................................647 897533 Carol George (Female Vocalist) ............................634 285009 Catchlove Music (Varied styles duo)…...................678 397536 DJ Digit-Al ...............................................................634 338014 Dominic Doolittle ..........................................................681 339778 Driftwood …….............................................................687 672028 Dynamite International Rock Band ............................666 310251 Emma Wild ..............................................................642 276385 Flamenco Dancer (English speaking) ...............687480694 Francisco J. ‘Pasus’ ..........................950 397401 / 699 510966 Funky Nomad ..........................................................643 256459 Georges Femenias (vocalist/guitar) ……...…………….634 300356 Good stand in drummer ...........................................648 699733 GuitarMac ( Guitar/Vocals ) .....................................634 340476 Harmony Duo .........................................................687 340544 Jill Farmiloe (Female vocalist) .................................607 443908 Jim Mackie (Piano Man) ..........................................651 751629 JuJu Entertainment ............................950 950797 / 697 462746 Kay Frances (Vocalist) ........................950 069288 / 689 404244 Kayleigh Easton (vocals) ...................................... 642 581198 Kev Moore .............................................................600 762856 Kris Kelly (Female Vocalist) .................................. 634 374525 Lady Ellen Sings .............................673 459331 / 677 475268 Loose Change ..............................................................671 754851

M & M's Rock & Roll Revue ...................................699 462859 M Soul & Motown (all music styles) ........................634 340409 Maurice Casanove ....................................................671 386947 Maximum Output Karaoke /Disco ............................697 317557 Mel J (Female Vocalist) ........................................664 111990 Melodee (Duo) ................................610 855964 / 664 111990 Melodeemusic (Backing Tracks & Recording Studio).....610 855 964 Menta & Canela Duo ..............................................645 886919 Northern Lights Karaoke …...............................……..697 500673 Phil and The Invisibles ..................... 950 475752 / 651 045120 Richard Hill ..............................................................670 243461 Roadrunner (duo) ......................... 628 122363 / 684 330431 Robin Lamble ..........................................................602 469425 Rocio Starry (Vocalist) .............................................645 886919 Sabrina Lloyd .............................................................661 055440 Shirin (bellydancer) .................................................607 805367 Short-Fuse Blues Band...............................................651 610189 Smartie Pants the Clown ............................................617 815221 Solo Simon ...............................................................667 989270 Spotlight Entertainment (Karaole, disco etc.) .............634 311652 Starry Jazz trio/quintet .............................................645 886919 Sue Moretta .............................................................672 148730 The Fat Lizard Band .....(English) 651 045120 (Esp) 617 464728 The Opium Buddhas ………………….687 033106 / 667 989270 Tom Lee ……............................................................671 754851 Tony Matthews (Quiz organiser) ..............................634 391414 Tony Justice ……….............................950 950797 / 637 159249 Trio Chaos ................................................................687 361440 Triple Trouble Blues Band ........................................671 754851

ESTATE AGENTS Alhambra Holdings (Mojácar)...............950 475199 / 629 673450 AlmeríaCasas ...........................................................950 387852 Almería Homes ................................0044 1273 929286 / 950 930 259 Almería Property Agency (Arboleas) ..670 596085 / 628 872334 Almeria Property Finder (Albox) ................................950 431624 Almería Prop. Investments (Las Buganvillas).950 460874 / 666 260792 Angel Property (Palomares) .....................................950 618054 Antonio Martinez de la Casa (Energy certs)..............950 092094 Arboleas Property Shop .................…....................…958 003391 BMS Huerta Nueva ............................950 615035 / 669 355914 Calida Homes (Arboleas)......................950 430763 / 634 302801 Casa y Campo (Lubrin) .............................................678 587007 Casas Almería (Huércal Overa) ..........950 134434 / 649 777218 Citrus Homes ...........................................................638 849254

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Cole's of Andalucia ...............................950 469592 / 697 640681 Complete Holiday Care .......................950 478612 / 610 808631 Cortijos Almería …………............……........................676 916088 D & D Property Care, Sales & Rentals .....643 335386 / 643 337063 Destination Spain Property Services .........................672 668803 Euroxan (Vera) .........................................................699 067922 Fincas Vera Playa ..............................950 460670 / 639 314767 Find Me A Home .................................951 914195 / 636 266641 FW Properties ................................634 325152 / 634 352285 Grupo Platinum Estates (San Juan) .950 466122 / 666 687251 Homes of Spain (Huércal Overa).........950 616516 / 616 562447 Indal-futur S.L. (Mojácar) ……............950 615156 / 609 026526 Indalo Real Estate ...........................950 091137 / 616 760409 Indasol Mojácar S.L. .................................................950 472200 Inmobiliaria Almanzora ..................... 9501 20406 / 637 251238 InmoTerreros (San Juan) ...............950 096180 / 666 255765 K7 Mojácar ...............................................................950 478555

New Horizon Villas (Zurgena) ..................................950 438221 New One Stop (Mojácar) (See p.13)..........................950 473040 New Wave Villas (Mojácar) (See p.25)..950 475800 / 607 146352 Next Stop Almería (See p.3)..............950 617518 / 678 034651 Nicla Property Consultancy S.L. ............950 133508 / 628 585538

Okisur (Mojácar) .........................................................950 478386 Olive Property Sales (Bédar)(See cover) .950 469624 / 687 938466 Polansky and Associates ..........................................950 478086 Price Brown Partnership (Mojácar) (See p.64/65)....950 478915 Property Floor Plans ................................................619 672431 Realtors MB Spain .................................................678 347125

Linnitt Properties (Turre).............................................950 479054 Mojácar Estates (See p.48)......................................950 478935

Rural Almería (Mojácar Playa) ................................…950 472200 Santiburi Properties (Cabrera & Mojácar) 694 404971 / 647 901478 Sol y Mar (Albox) ...............................950 064584 / 635 979829 Sonia Cantalejo Bueno (Energy Certs.)......................608 147640 Spanish Estate Agents (Albox) ………950 431855 / 661 143871 Spanish Hideaways (Oria) ....................634 366672 / 676 604008 Spain Assured (See front cover)............950 469622 / 634 300020 Mojacarmar ......................................950 475891 / 636 903184 Spain Property Finder …..............……........................686 878789 Spanish Property Choice (Mojácar Playa)...................950 615388 Sun Med Properties (Vera Playa) ............................…..950 618209

Multicasa Aguilas .................................................... 968 493009 Neinor Homes (Mojácar) ..........................................900 110022

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Vaitier SL (Cabrera) .....................................................609 626140 Veritas Homes (Mojácar) ............................950 472430 / 610 053563 VIP Almería (Mojácar Playa) (See back)..950 472524 / 617 587903 Voss Homes (Huercal-Overa) ...................667 891 741 / 950 616 827 WPMS Inmobiliario (Villaricos) ..........678 321111 / 950 618697

EVENT MANAGEMENT See also Wedding and Party Planning JuJu Entertainment .............................950 950797 / 697 462746

EXCURSIONS Andinas Buggy Treks ..............................................645 984122 C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 Costa Almería Tours ..................................................646 760389 Day Tours Almería ............................651 592836 / 645 253155 Indalo Quads (Mojácar) ...........................................634 315074 Mojácar Jeep Tours .................................................611 028716

Rancho Luz del Sol (Partaloa) …..........……...……………..642 1185467

CG Legal & Financial (Mojácar Playa) ..950 472504 / 670 215926 Currencies Direct (Mojácar) …....…...…950 478914 / 626 916443 Indalo Partners (See next page).................................950 472242 Kennedy Financial Services .........................................678 035992 Offshore Money Management .............952 830916 / 950 398078

FABRICS

FIREPLACES

FASHION

FIREWOOD See Logs for Sale FITNESS & DANCE

Curtains with Style (See p.21)...........950 069032 / 678 811125 Chimeneas Mojácar S.L. (Mojácar Playa) ..............950 472135 Dandara (Garrucha) ................................................950 617013 Etcetera (Mojácar Playa) ...........................................950 532810 Garabatis (Children's) Mojácar Playa …..........………670 035630 Glad Rags (Albox) ……….........................................634 313071 H & R Men's Fashion (Albox) …................................692 682164 Jules Clothing .........................................................633 640918 Liz Fashion Accessories (Garrucha) .627 970819 / 607 511179 Manumaga (Mojacar Playa) …………..........................659 884479 Modern Times (Mojácar Playa) …..........…………….950 475207 Oasis Fashions (Mojácar Playa) (See p.5)...............950 473222 Palme (Mojácar Playa) ............................................950 472813 Prins Vitali (Mojacar) ….............................................950 478690 Saga Boutique (Mojácar) .........................................950 475258

See also Activities-Clubs-Associations Alison .....................................................................666 273168 Aqua Aerobics - Marianne (Arboleas) .......................637 435864 Club Deportivo Puerto Rey ......................................950 460545 Betsy Fox Zumba ....................................................603 493163 Debbie James (Personal training) (Mojácar) ...........687 619239 Dorothy Rowntree, personal trainer (Mojácar)..........666 815838 Fitness For All (Bédar) ………..........…………………..647 593323 Gimnasio Formas (Turre) .............................................950 468065 Gympower (Personal trainer) (Albox) ......................609 591606

FENCING Chain Link Almanzora ………...................................697 801875

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Aero Extinción S.L. (Almería) …............………………..950 263565 Extin-Torres S.L. (Mojácar) ............................................950 475067

FINANCIAL SERVICES AMASS ……......................................................……..678 035992 Blacktower (See p.127) .........................................657 684094

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GymXtreme Yoga (Vera) ..........................................643 102335 Javi Orta, personal trainer (Mojácar) .........................651 693681 Jova Sport Center (Mojácar Playa) …………………..950 473137 Lotus Integral Yoga Centre (Mojácar) ........................617 719913 Sansonora (Mojácar Playa) .....................................630 688615 Sierra Club Desert Springs .......................................687 599115 Sol Yoga Centre (Arboleas) .....................................686 400331 Sophia Wellness Centre (Arboleas) .........................950 449451 Valle Del Este Spa & Health Centre ..........................950 548600 Vicki’s Fitness & Slimming .....................................650 764623

Hortiflor (Mojácar) ....................................................950 478985 Isamy Florist (Los Gallardos) ...................................670 215902 Penny’s Florist (Mojacar) ..........................................645 351767 Persa Floristas (Albox) …….......................................950 120211

FLY SCREENS AA Window Doctor ..............……….........................…630 231644 Armadillo …..............................................................663 303350 Bugs ...........................................................................600 049515 Coastal Mosquitoes ...........................606 040462 / 610 000700

Yoga therapies & slimming (Turre & Vera) ....................643 102335

FISHING Orca Steve Sea Fishing (Mojacar/Garrucha) ……… 634 352873 Pete Fishing Trips (Mojácar/Garrucha) …..................634 379173 Rio 600 Boat Fishing (Sid & Graham). 647 020929 / 647 803030

FISH & CHIPS Kingfisher (Pueblo Laguna) ......................................663 553001

Curtains with Style (See p.21).........950 069032 / 678 811125 Dave ........................................................................634 351275 Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196 SpeedyFit ..............................................950 472357 / 600 006032 Toldos Farrago (Vera) ...............................................667 567564 Tony Justice ...................................…..950 950797 / 637 159249 Ventanas y Puertas Mojacar S.L. ......................…….950 473104

FOOD SHOPS The Chippy (La Alfoquía) ........................................634 324484 Catch of the Day UK Fishmonger (See over) 634 301490 / 634 304288 Eurowise (Albox) ……………….............................…..950 439801 Gastronomía (Delicatessen) (Las Buganvillas) .......950 132048 FLORISTS Home Sweet Home (Turre) ...............................……..950 479487 La Maruja (Mojácar) ..................................................664 647171 La Venta de Alfaix Minimarket (Alfaix) ..........................950 469660 Las Buganvillas Minimarket ………........................…..635 036408 Manoli (Arboleas) …...................................................627 941654 Price Busters (Albox) .................................................950 951494 Sol Supermercado (Albox) ….......................................950 430043 Spar Supermarket (Huércal-Overa) ...........…………..950 135222 Spices n' Herbs in Spain (Albox)...............................689 482694 Super Corner (Turre)..........................950 468303 / 637 016107 The Corner Shop (Albox) ………………950 930539 / 680 776791

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FUNCTION VENUES Miraflores Restaurant (Camping Los Gallardos) .........650 418954

FUNERAL COMPANIES CollyFer (Huércal Overa) …….............617 456259 / 617 456335

Funeral Homes Robles (Cuevas) ..............................657 921383 Funeraria Ntra. Sra. de las Angustias (Vera) 950 390884 / 607 705672

Funeraria Pérez (Mojácar) ........................................950 478102

FUNERAL PLANS Avalon Europe S.L. ............................950 069012 / 634 321296

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Golden Leaves Funeral Plans (Benitachell)............. 966 493082 GARDENS Iberian Funeral Plans (See p.35)...........951 203994 / 965 993498 24hr Casaserve ..................................950 466438 / 676 306269 Agave …….................................................................617 826334 FURNITURE PACKAGES Furniture Plus (Puerto de Mazarron)...968 153907 / 678 083491 Antas Garden Centre (El Real) .............................610 243838 Homes & Beyond (Garrucha) ....................................950 132458 Cedar Landscapes …….............……....................…620 112193 Chris (Gardening) .................................................643 082899 FURNITURE, RUSTIC/HANDMADE Clean Team …………..............………850 993202 / 694 440184 La Buena Artesania (Mojácar) ....................................950 475508 Complete Pool & Property Maintenance 634 343541 / 634 891709 The Furniture Doctor .............................................667 989270 Indalocio Garden Furniture & BBQs ..........................850 993090 Inspired (Furniture & BBQs) (El Real, Antas) (See p.4) 950 147763 FURNITURE & FURNISHINGS Jardin Natural ............................................................685 478187 Abodes (Mojácar Playa) ...............................................647 901478 L & M Landscapes .................................................670 409538 Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 La French Touch ......................................................607 226269 Casa Carma (Turre) ...................................................645 080310 Lady Muck Gardening .............................................697 317557 Continental Descanso (Antas) 950 459011 (Albox) ...950 633288 Madera Mania (Garden Supplies) ….........................667 562872 El Rincón de Mueble.(See p.33) (Vera)950 460867 (Antas) 950 459071 Mel Wood Landscapes ...................................0044 7973843706 Elleann’s Homestyle .................................................674 514999 Mobile Shredder & Mulch Garden Service .............687 024884 Embargos Bestiales (Antas El Real) ......................950 105711 Nash Groundworks ..................................................722 546192 Fig Furnishings (Mojácar Playa) ...............................643 065179 Furniture Plus (Puerto de Mazarrón)....968 153907 / 678 083491

Potty Finca Services ..................……..950 163930 / 616 855294 Riegos y Conducciones (Antas, El Real) .................950 459146

Homecentre (Albox) (See p.6)...........868 931872 / 671 715294 Homes & Beyond (Garrucha) ..................................950 132458 GAS INSTALLATION & REPAIRS Ideas del Mueble (Antas) ...........................................950 452816 Smith Plumbing (Spanish Authorised).........................950 468041 Indalocio Garden Furniture & BBQs ...........................850 993090 Inspired (Furniture & BBQs) (El Real, Antas) (See p.4) 950 147763 Koala Furniture (Antas) (See p.39)...................….........950 392307 La Lonja (Lorca) (See p.27) ........................................968 443322 Linea Nueva (Arboleas) ……………….620 237529 / 950 120630 Me & Mrs Jones (Los Llanos market) .....................0044 7850 840288 Muebles Rodríguez (Los Llanos, Arboleas) …...........950 430778 Sofa & Sofa (Las Buganvillas) ................654 596247 / 654 596220 Unicraft (Upholstery) ..................................................692 176069

GAS TANK SUPPLIERS Gas Alboran ..........................................656 662000 / 950 259382

GIFT SHOPS Isabella (Vera Playa) ......................................................637 188901

GLASS CURTAINS Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196 SpeedyFit .......................................950 472357 / 600 006032 Toldos Farrago (Vera) ...............................................667 567564

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GLAZING (Supply & Repair) AA Window Doctor ......................…............................630 231644 Cristalería Mojácar …............................................…..950 475376 Cristalería Omega (Mojácar) …..........950 478137 / 670 500711 Cristalería Rubi (Vera) ………......................................950 390546 SpeedyFit ............................................950 472357 / 600 006032

Beaches (Hair & Beauty) (Mojácar) ..............................950 473110 Beauty by Marilyn ....................................................950 398852 Beauty Center (Mojácar) (See p.37)..........................687 480694 Bonita Hair & Beauty Salon (Mojácar) .........................950 473159 Centro Estética (Mojácar Playa) …..................………950 472680 Claire & Inma (Mojácar Playa) ................................950 147630

GOLD & JEWELLERY BUYING

Gold & Jewellery Buying ...........................................616 453813

GOLF COURSES Aguilon Golf (Pulpi) ......................................………..672 Cortijo Grande ..........................................................950 Desert Springs ........................................................637 Macenas Beach Golf ...................…....................…..950 Marina Golf ..............................................................950 Valle del Este ...........................................................950

655600 479176 861591 548240 133230 398743

GOLF TUITION Gareth Edwards (Cortijo Grande) …...........................950 Marcus (Mojácar) .....................................................610 Neil Evans (Desert Springs Golf Resort) ............... 638 Valle del Este (Vera) ...............................................676

479176 526671 531821 256923

GRASS, ARTIFICIAL

Cloud 9 (Mojácar) (See next page)...........................662 226086 Cutting Edge (Hair & Beauty) (Albox) .........................950 633086 Dave Eccles (Mobile Hairdresser) ......950 525790 / 687 033106 Donna's (Albox)..................................950 930167 / 628 669456 El Rincon de Mary (Mojácar) ................................... 663 561521 El Rincon de Mary (Mojácar) Yasmin .....................656 646257 Elaine Mobile Hairdresser (Coast & Inland).................634 379424 Elegance (Turre) ......................................................634 308877 Etticut (Turre) .............................................................667 971960 Farrow's Hair Design (Arboleas) .................................950 634346 Favola (Las Buganvillas) (See p.7).........................675 622216 Heaven Scent (Huércal-Overa) ……....................…..663 923733 IIsabel Castaño (Hairdresser, Bédar) ..666 045552 / 950 469462 Jean & Co.(Mojácar Playa) ……..............................…950 615094 Jing Nails .................................................................622 251432 Julian Hair Design ....................................................634 354507

Grass 4 U .................................................................638 574145 Greenfingers Arboleas S.L. ..........……......……………629 947633 Inspired (El Real, Antas) (See p.4) .................... 950 147763 Nash Groundworks .....................................................722 546192 Tiger Turf ............................................950 431624 / 635 652745

GUTTERING Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196

HAIR, HEALTH & BEAUTY Affinity Beauty Treatments (Turre) ............................678 992093 Anavi Estillistas (Palomares) .....................................670 094722 Ashlí (Naturopath & yoga therapies) ..........................643 102335 Avon Co-ordinator (Jane) ……...................................670 722705 Avon Cosmetics (Arboleas) ………........................….691 987454 Avon Cosmetics (Bedar) ...........................................950 398980 Avon Cosmetics (Húercal Overa) …....647 092010 / 950 137208 Avon Cosmetics (Los Gallardos) .............................687 960362 Avon Cosmetics (Los Gallardos camping ) ..............950 469684 Avon Cosmetics (Turre & Vera) .................................643 102335 Avon (Total Entertainment, Albox) .............................950 121318 Avon (Total Entertainment, Arboleas) ........................678 009051

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Julie Rodriguez .......................................................634 338017 Kim White (Beauty)(Vera & Mobile) ………...……….637 149659 LU & NA (Valle del Este) …….............................…950 461113 Marcela Torres (Manicure & Pedicure) .....................697 421672 Naturalmente Mediterraneo (Skin care) (Garrucha) …655 299494 Oceanic Massage Therapies (Mojácar)...666 710964 / 687 619239 Opulence (La Alfoquía) …...........................................619 467295 Pascal Chevallier Emporium (Mojácar) ........................950 472790 Pampered Beauty Centre (Palomares) (See p.39).......950 618129 Phoebe (at Pampered) .............................................662 573939 Pure Natural Deodorant ...........................................950 066163 R retreat (Cucador) ……...........…...............................626 144680 Room 97 (La Alfoquia) .............................................683 479261 Salon de Peluqueria y Estetica (Garrucha) ...............950 133162 Sarah Noble (mobile hairdresser) ...........................692 195500 Shiatsu Centro de Terapia (Huércal Overa) .............671 851135 Sophia Wellness Centre (Arboleas) ...........................950 449451 Stella’s Hair & Beauty (Las Buganvillas) ..................950 699973 Sunlight Spain (Herbal Products) ...............................684 212474 Wacky Barber & Hairdresser (Mojácar) ....................667 961645 Wavelengths (Albox) .............................................…950 120309

Sound Systems ..........................…............................630 231644

HOME CARERS see also Nursing Angels Nursing Group ...............................................902 Committed2ucommunitycare ......................................684 Helping Hands Mojacar (Kirsty Ratcliffe) .................678 Michaela Talbot .........................................................622

026468 333442 590988 015765

HORSE RIDING Centro Hipico Valle del Almanzora .........................691 241878 Didi Arias (Mojácar) ...............................................639 724521 Media Legua Equestrian Centre (Vera) ..............……667 243561 HARDWARE OUTLETS Enrique Aguirre S.L. (Garrucha) .................................950 460028 Rancho Luz del Sol (Partaloa) .................................642 118546 Ferretería Gonzalez (Mojácar) ……….........................666 471384 Sanctuary Limaria .....................................................628 239696 Ferretería López (Mojácar) ……..................................950 615026 HOTELS & HOSTALS Ferretería Longo (Albox) ……....................................950 430064 Casona Granado (Nr Lubrin) ...................................950 069077 Ferretería Soler (Garrucha) ……..................................950 460073 Hostal El Olivar (Mojácar Pueblo) .........950 472022 / 672 019767 Hotel Al Sur (Calabardina) .........................................968 419466 HEALING Hotel Carlos 111 (Aguilas) ......................................968 411650 See Counselling/Healing Hotel Carmona (Vera) ..............................................950 390760 HEALTH FOODS Hotel - Casa Rural, Cortijo de la Media Luna (Mojácar) 950 478813 Girasol (Albox) ….......................................................639 089170 Hotel El Paso (Aguilas) ….........................................968 447125 Home Sweet Home (Turre) ..............................……..950 479487 Hotel Family (Agua Amarga) ......................................950 138014 La Maruja (Mojácar) ...............................................664 647171 Hotel Madrid (Aguilas) ................................................968 411109 Las Hierbas de Maria (Mojácar) ..............…………….657 513990 Hotel Mamabel's (Mojacar Pueblo) .....950 472448 / 663 700542 Hotel Mayari (Calabardina) .................620 629508 / 968 409338 HEATING Hotel Puntazo (Mojácar) ...........................950 478265 / 950 478 229 ABC (A Better Climate) (See p29).......647 247494 / 950 092604 Hotel Rural Azabache (Arboleas)..................................690 258813 Graham (oil heating) ……….....................................620 112193 Neater Heater ………...................................………….634 312171 Hotel Mexico (Puerto Rey) ......................................950 132061 Hotel Salinas (Cabo de Gata) .....................................950 370103 HIRE Hotel & Spa Don Juan (Aguilas) ................................968 493493 Baby Basics (Equipment Hire) ...................................950 104345 Hotel Tikar (Garrucha) ..............................................950 617131 Mobility Almería (Mojácar Playa) .............................634 322475 Hotel Valhalla (Carboneras) ......................................950 130444 Expecting a Baby (Almanzora Valley) ....950 436581 / 666 375688 Hotel Valle del Este ...................................................950 398743

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Hotel Virgen del Mar (Mojácar) ..................................902 472222 Las Colinas Suitotel (San Juan de Los Terreros) .........950 466353 Parador de Mojácar ...................................................950 478250

HOUSE & PET SITTING Chris .........................................................................634 David .............................................................................. 950 Linda Pettit .............................................................642 Sharon Presley ..........................................................648

325073 099905 016954 069200

HOUSE CLEARANCE Almeria Castaño House Clearance .........................611 028716 Items For Sale Mojácar .......................694 439275 / 950 478753 Grupo Catalana Occidente (Mojácar Pueblo) 950 478061 / 653 806 908 The Attic (Cucador) ..…….…................672 184354 / 648 250699 Ibex Insurance Services Ltd (Mojácar & Albox) ........950 120070

HOUSEHOLD GOODS Home Store ........………..............………850 993202 / 694 440184 Home Sweet Home (Turre) ................................……..950 479487

HYGIENE & FOOD HANDLING Grupo Sedesa (Vera) ...............................................950 390990

INSURANCE Adeslas ............................................950 472701 / 633 431900 Albox Insurance .......................................................950 121943

Alhambra Holdings (Mojácar)...............950 475199 / 629 673450 Liberty Seguros (Turre) ….................950 479568 / 620 179206 Liberty Seguros (See p.23).....................................913 422549 Linea Directa ………....................................................902 123248 Mapfre (Mojácar) ...950 478151 (Garrucha)................950 617376 Maxine Morgan Liberty Seguros (Las Buganvillas) ........669 074 996 Mojácar Insurance ...................................................634 323399 Sol y Mar (Albox) ……….....................950 064584 / 654 590258 Sol Insure ………..........................................………..950 472098

INTERIOR DESIGN Evie Fox-Rayner ................................603 493163 / 653 714767 Curtains with Style (See p.21) ..........950 069032 / 678 811125 Deco-house (Ann) .....................................................666 260792 Essential Solutions …….............................................627 245658 Light & Luz (Vera) ...................................................686 457714 Lola Barranco ………..........................950 086116 / 691 261818

ASSSA Seguros (Vera) (See p.31)............……………950 392487 Asisa (Vera) ................................................................950 391950 Axa .....................................................950 478763 / 609 667333 BWI Bryan White Insurance (Mojácar) ......................950 472098 Catalana Occidente (Palomares) ..............................950 618054 INTERPRETING/TRANSLATIONS Catalana Occidente (Mojácar Playa) .........................950 478307 Edward William (Marine Insurance) ……………….….952 476090 1-2-1 Translations (Spanish, English, Norwegian)......662 390453 García & Trinidad (Albox) …….............950 120340 / 620 240563 4wayconnections .......................................................646 844708 Gestoría Salvador (Mojácar Playa) ..........................950 473192 Alpha Interpreting and Translation .......950 133508 / 677 530690

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Andrés (Mojácar) ........................................................679 932632 Antonio García Russell (Mojácar) ..............................606 198958 C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 Carolina Pérez Gallardo (Sworn Translator) ..............647 863745

Carolyn (Mojácar area) ........................950 132905 / 608 692545 Cristina …….......................................................…..626 741386 Clara Mata ..............................................................629 132529 Starena (Vera Playa) ..............................................672 668803 Donna González-Linnitt ...........................................699 067922 Elizabeth ..................................................................662 504734 Espanglish Translation & Interpreters . 950 390037 / 950 392876 Hind (Mojácar - French, Arabic, English) .................616 605341 Joanne Tissington ……………...................................637 267150 Kathryn Jones .........................................................629 931125 Laberinto (Spanish, English, French, Dutch) .............609 781438 Marcela Chávez Riveros (Mojácar) .......................... 676 951352 Marguerite ……....................................................…..687 814157 Marisa .......................................................................636 179128 Michaela Talbot .........................................................622 015765 Milena (Albox) ………....................……654 359607 / 711 794366 Paul Jessop (Aguilas) .............................................626 421623 Pedro ......................................................................655 510420 Robert Boucher .........................................................693 618705 Simply Solved ………............................................….617 882689 Solutions Almería ......................................................687 632435 Susi ..................................................................................617 920 190 Traducciones Levante ...............................................606 953775 Wendy Interpreter/Translator ................................. 661 194278 Yamile (Written Translations) ....................................626 207575

INTERNET CAFES see Cybercafes INTERNET PROVIDERS Albox Online ...........................................................950 091111 Connexions (Turre) ……..............................…………..950 479502

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Next .............................................................................950 479369 Country Kennel (Turre) .........................950 473011 / 627 GSF Communications ...............................................950 473102 Dog & Cat Sitter Service …………………..................676 Satcomms ..............................................951 406556 / 622 524335 Gail .....................................................693 769079 / 697 Five Bone Hotel (Turre) ............................................630

INTERNET TV

Connexions (Turre) (See front cover).......................950 479502 DCM Digitek Comms (Mojácar) (See p.19) .950 472947 / 670 084438 Europa Digital .......................................950 133233 / 678 332815 Ezetv .......................................................................950 091112 GSF Communications ................................................950 473102 IPTV UK ....................................................................603 613918 IPTV Spain UKTV ...............................619 893214 / 699 386277 Mobility Almería (Mojácar Playa) .............................634 322475 PC Playa (Mojácar) ......................................................634 356498 S E Telecoms ............................................................697 780499 UKTV Almería ....................................850 993202 / 694 440184

IRONING Cherie's Ironing & Cleaning (Mojácar) ............………634 301389 Clean Team …………..............………850 993202 / 694 440184

JEWELLERY Castellón (Bédar) .................. ....................................642 Jewellery Paula (Albox) ...........................................960 Joyería Pérez (Garrucha) ........................................950 La Luna (Garrucha) .................................................950 Serendipity (Albox) .................................................617

435909 430871 460636 132543 699624

564640 389592 500673 234556

Kareclif Cattery (Albox) ...........................................677 791165 Kit Cat Luxury Cat Suites (Los Gallardos) ..............674 113217 Palomino Kennels & Cattery ……....…671 916426 / 950 093087 Paws*A*While (Nr Albox) …....................................…696 562662 Pet Sitting in Your Home ………….......................…….637 061482 Sharon Presley ..........................................................648 069200 Sleepy Hollow (Huércal-Overa) ….............................617 313587 The Hilton Cattery ............................950 163489 / 664565479 Woodhouse Boarding Kennels/Cattery (Arboleas)….950 930585

JOINERY - see Carpentry KENNELS, CATTERIES & PET SITTING Animal Hotel (Águilas) ..............................................639 722197 Boarding Kennels Los Llanos de Rosa (cats & dogs) ..629 448073

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KEY CUTTING

CG Legal & Financial (Mojácar Playa) ..950 472504 / 670 215926

KITCHENS 24hr Casaserve .................................950 466438 / 676 306269 Artizan (Vera) (See p.2) ..................…950 390635 / 661 985310 Cocinas El Real (Los Gallardos) .........639 036051 / 622 232186 Cocinas Puntocom (Huércal-Overa) ...950 921975 / 722 136950 Complete Renovations (See p.17) .....644 389255 / 672 379960 Ergo Küchen (Huércal-Overa) ...................................636 447730 Harlequin Kitchens (Albox) ……........………………….619 584405 J.B. Kitchen Fitters (Turre) .......................................687 024884 KDI Kitchens .............................................................605 163613 La Lonja (Lorca) (See p.27) ........................................968 443322 Cam Concepts S.L. (Huércal-Overa) …......…………. 950 471357 Mojácar Home Improvements ....................................950 473104 Cervantes Alarcon Consulting (Garrucha) 950 106490 / 647 863787 English Wills Spain …......................…...................607 646027 Gecko Legal Services S.L. (Mojácar) 950 475949 / 638 264621

LANDSCAPING La French Touch .................. ..................................607 226269 Mel Wood Landscapes ...................................0044 7973843706 Gestoría Salvador (Mojácar Playa) ........................950 473192 Nash Groundworks .....................................................722 546192 Gestoría Soria Bonilla (Mojácar) ................................950 478420 Kim Clark UK Benefit advice ……..….950 169729 / 663 297568 LAUNDERETTES Bish’s (Mojácar Playa) .............................................639 161725 Mayor Consulting (Garrucha) .......................................950 615185 The Laundry Room (Vera Playa) ...............................666 007824 Mojácar Playa Asesores ……........………...……………950 472710 Pilar Pérez Gestión S.L. (Mojácar) ............................950 478863 LAUNDRIES Vera Advisors (Vera) .................................................950 390621 City Sec (Vera) .........................................................950 390255 MS Legal ..............................................950 479613 / 634 322827 Clean Team Laundry Service ...................................634 332502 Costa-Azul (Aguilas) ……..........................................968 414327 Villalba Asesores (Albox) ..............................................950 431720 Ivi's Lavanderia (Las Buganvillas) ............................950 132657

LEISURE ACTIVITIES

LEGAL SERVICES See also Solicitors

see also EXCURSIONS and TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Almería Ten Pin Bowling (Arboleas) …...................….950 439013 4wayconnections ...................................................646 844708 Extreme Adventure Mojácar ......................................687 919840 ALO Services (Zurgena) ......................950 449179 / 667 994682 Indalo Bowling Mojácar ............................................950 473073 Asesoría Sánchez Moral (Mojácar) ...........................670 099726 Karting (Garrucha) ….........................................……950 460207 Barbara Caparros Ridao (Vera) …..........................950 390427

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LOGS FOR SALE

Lunar Cable Park (Cuevas del Almanzora) .................665 512873 Nautarium Sea Museum (Garrucha) ………........…..950 139554 Paintball Almanzor (nr. Arboleas) ..................………..619 559261 Paragliding ………................................635 243539 / 680 358549 Sol-Aero (Vera) ..................................609 685132 / 661 985358 Water Park (Vera Playa) …...................................…..902 361294

Antonio Diaz .............................................................689 Colin & Carlos ....................................660 903158 / 630 Firewood Arboleas .................................................647 Las Norias Carden Centre (Los Gallardos) ..............670

127535 455328 932078 215902

LIGHTING Light & Luz (Vera) ...............................950 391804 / 697 643653

LINGERIE & UNDERWEAR Bras Etcetera …………...............................................950 Corpore (Garrucha) ………….....................................950 Lunas (Turre) ………................................................661 Manuelas Lenceria (Mojácar) ..................................626 Mya (Huércal Overa) .................................................950

121909 132253 642341 730088 135742

Leña Ramos (Arboleas) …...............….630 356095 / 616 044719 Lee (Arboleas) …………………....................................636 092632 24hr Locksmith (See opposite)............950 472982 / 658 828560 Leñas Almanzora ................................................950 120309 Guzman Seguridad (Albox) ................950 431497 / 674 141559 Leñas Cazorla (Turre) ........................................607 827783 Locksmith (Dean) ....................................................666 949213 Levante Logs ............................................................670 243724 Log-On-Tommy ……............................................……619 070839 Logs for Sale ..............................................................687 314775 Mr. Leña & Logs .........................................................622 883072 Palm Deliveries (Albox) ...................950 122416 / 686 966008 Phil (Arboleas) ………………….....................................634 328779 Potty Finca Services .........................950 163930 / 616 855294

LOCKSMITHS

MARKETING Edela Media (Social Media) (Mojácar) ....................607 146352 Mojácar Business (Social Media) ............................950 680110 Phil the Pick 24hr (Arboleas) …................……………..697 243181

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MOBILE PHONES

MASSAGE Authentic Thai Massage (Jom) ..................................616 Acupuncture & Massage ..........................................637 Holistic Massage, Lorraine ................950 064484 / 687 Alternativa (Jessica Rippin) ......................................676 Oceanic Therapies (Mojácar) ......................................687 Ray Daniel (Sports massage)………...........................617

922612 See Telecommunications 120429 MOTORCYCLES & QUADS 569113 284170 D Perez Motor (Antas) ...............................................950 069022 619239 Harley Dees …………................................................600 685550 741564 Indalo Quads (Guided treks) ..................................634 315074 Montoya Motos (Garrucha) …...............................…..950 133033 MEALS ON WHEELS Nafta Custom (Antas) ………...............950 619293 / 615 938352 Committed2ucommunitycare ......................................684 333442

METAL WORK AA Window Doctor ....................…............................630 Angel Welding …………............................................610 Carpentería Metalica Chacón (Albox) …................950 Cerrajería Jara (Las Buganvillas) …............………….950 Coastal Rejas ...........................................................610 FS Fabrications …..............…………..627 167167 / 671 Ideal Metal Designs ...................................................656 Metalbox (Albox) .......................................................950 Mojácar Home Improvements ...................................950

NURSING see also Home Carers 231644 Angels Nursing Group ...............................................902 026468 601524 431738 109986 000700 424558 834064 633090 473104

Committed2ucommunitycare ......................................684 333442 Michaela Talbot .........................................................622 015765

NEWSAGENTS Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 121318 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 009051

P & D Metals ............................................................638 707406 Speedy Fit Security Grilles ....................................600 006032 The Metal Works ..............................950 930520 / 638 900949

MOBILE HOMES & CARAVANS Camping Los Gallardos .............................................679 970399 Caravan Storage (Antas) …….............................….661 508776 Casa Móviles .....................................637 418906 / 951 161348 Cherribar Park Homes ............…………950 396908 / 629 688153 Flor de Vida (Aguilas) ..........................968 438535 / 660 329907 Total Entertainment (Turre) .........................................950 468295 Hispavan .....................................................................687 845730 Veramotor S.A. ...........................................................950 392552 NUTRITION Alternativa (Anne-Marie Pichon) ...............................666 966573 Ashlí (Naturopathic & nutritional therapies) ................643 102335

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Antonio Perez (Mojácar) ………........................…….691 240495 ONLINE MARKETING Donna González Linnitt .............................................699 067922 Borders Painting ………..........................................…687 661807 Cabrera Painting and Decoration Works ...................637 524709 OPTICIANS Casanove Interiors ......................................................680 836166 Federopticos (Aguilas) ……........................................968 414468 C.I.S Services (Arboleas) ........................................634 621747 Federopticas Diaz (Albox) ..........................................950 121122 Curtis Helm Multiservices .........................................610 394815 Multiopticas Indalo (Garrucha) ...................................950 460665 Daniel ……………..................................................….642 236810 Multiopticas Indalo (Mojacar) .....................................950 472285 Darpa S.L. ..................................................................691 055726 Multiopticas Indalo (Campohermoso de Nijar) ............950 385082 Darren Hargreaves ...................................................626 855483 Natural Optics (Garrucha) .........................................950 133921 Day’s Painting Services ..............................................634 365553 Opticas Indalo (Garrucha) ..........................................950 133865 Eurodec ……..........................................................…667 238273 Opticas Indalo (Carboneras) .......................................950 130707 Euro Painters Spain …………….......................………677 557190 Opticas Indalo (San Isidro de Nijar) ...........................950 366200 Futura España ..........................................................950 615338 Grupo Brideca (shop) (Huércal-Overa) 950 471045 / 950 135881 IPB Painting ........................................661 184848 / 622 524335 JPM ...........................................................................627 090422 Metalwork Painting ………………………699 246932 / 659 185039 Mode Services ...................................950 525790 / 687 033106 Paint Magic ..............................................................617 904774 Painting & Decorating ............................................643 397903

Paul ...........................................................................649 186107 Phil the Painter ……..............................................…671 227259 S.O.S. Painting ……………........................................651 500670 Óptica Albox …………….......................................…..950 121991 SWH Painting Services .......................622 899167 / 683 479261 Optica Mahis (Vera) ………...................................…..950 390777 Susana's Painting Services ….............................……649 759053 Optica Orbera (Huércal Overa) ....................................950 135596 The Fast Brush .........................................................950 472668 Optica Orbera (Albox) .....................................950430101 PATIO & POOL ENCLOSURES Opticalia M&G (Albox) ................................................950 121084 See Screened Patio & Pool Enclosures Primera Opticos (Aguilas) .........................................968 493482 Salas (Huércal Overa) ................................................950 135081 PERFUMES & COSMETICS + Visión (Aguilas) …....................................................968 414279 Villazar (Mojácar Playa) …....................................….950 472783 Son d’Aromas (Mojácar Playa) ..................................666 348253

OSTEOPATHS

PET SHOPS & TRANSPORT

Alice Bellot (Mojacar & Arboleas) ….................………633 352259 Centro Physis (Olula del Rio) .................................695 355381 Enrique Arias (Mojácar) .........................950 472974 / 629 289385 Hector Gutiérrez (Vera Playa) ............607 479379 / 950 132765 Osteo Maestra (Arboleas) ......................................950 449451 Yannick Reverdy (Clinic Reverdy-Coll) ...................616 673116

InterZoo (Vera) .......................................................950 390075 Madera Mania (Los Gallardos) …..................……….667 562872 Shift My Pets Transport (Spain/UK) …….........………634 368430 Tucano Mascotas (Vera) ....................950 392617 / 650 292670 Union Jack (Pet Transportation) ...........………………….902 109560

PAINTING & DECORATING

You’ll always find it in The Focus!

ABS Advanced Building Services ..............................687 846016 A.J. Painting & Decorating .......................................687 024884 Alan Barker ......................................950 099913 / 600 268176

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PEST CONTROL

Vitea Fisioterapia (Vera) ...................950 390655 / 663 024255

Jason …….........................................950 064015 / 680 903609 PIANO TUNER Sedesa (Vera) …………............................................950 390990 Terry …...................................................................…697 229753

PICTURE FRAMING Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Casa de Cabra (Albox) ........................................ 633 364329

PIZZERIAS

PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICES 20seven photography ................................................634 301635 Almería-Fotografía .....................................................663 627942 Bluwater Photography ….........…………………………616 189002 Chincheto (Mojácar) ....................................................687 489182 Fotomicar (Lyle Mallen) .............................................620 786914 Fotos Fabrega (Albox) ………...........……………………950 430223 Indigo Photography & Video ...................................637 974793 Omar De La Cruz ………..........………950 460213 / 609 284852 Professional Video & Photographic Services inc. Aerial...647 202599 Rod Westwood ………........................950 472321 / 609 611207 The Image Suite …….............................…........................647 918 848 Toros Bravos ............................................................607 117174

PHOTOCOPIES & SCANS C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 neö-cöpy (Vera) …...................………..950 390424 / 622 262100 Pronto Printing (La Buganvillas) (See cover).............950 133492 Servidea 2020 (Mojácar Playa) .................................950 399726 Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 121318 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 009051

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Antonella (Mojácar Playa) ................................……..950 450215 BiancoRossi (Mojácar Playa) ...................................950 472682 Bocapizza (Albox) ......................................................950 120506 Cafetería Levante (Mojácar) .....................................950 615224 Cafetería Pizzería Alcazaba (Mojácar Playa) ............645 414793 Centro Plaza (Palomares) …...............................…..950 618614 Chili (Turre) ................................................................950 468425 El Ángel (Mojácar Pueblo) ...................950 478343 / 607 537101 El Gaucho (Mojácar Playa) ....................................950 478846 Enrico (Mojácar Playa) ......................950 472995 / 642 514738 Meson Felipe San Bernabé (Mojácar Playa) ..…….950 475966 Imperial (Mojácar Playa) ......................................….950 478098 Indalo Burger (Mojácar Playa) ...............................950 099119 La Góndola (Garrucha) ..............................................950 133928 La Muralla (Mojácar Pueblo) .......................................950 472928 Little Italy II (Garrucha) …………...........………………950 133802 Osteria (Mojácar) (See p.47) .....................................950 615151 Ottocento (Mojácar Playa) .........................................950 615100 Pizzeria Gallo (Aguilas) …...........................................968 447862 Pizzeria D'Angelo (Mojácar Playa) .................................950 478517 Pizzeria El Desvío (Turre) ............................................607 804488 Pizzeria Portofino (Mojácar) .......................................950 472809 Pizzeria-Restaurante Mari Cruz (Turre) …...........…….950 479646 Pizzería Quick (Garrucha) .............................................950 132305 Provenzal (Mojácar Playa) ..........................................950 478308 Pulcinella (Mojácar Pueblo) .......................................950 478401 Samz (Los Gallardos) ..................................................950 398981 Sottocasa (Mojácar Playa) ........................................950 093075

PLASTERERS Centro Physis (Olula del Rio) ......................................695 355381 Clinica MOS Fisioterapia (Mojácar Playa) .................644 394335 David Pritchard Construcciones ................................617 698418 Diamond Plastering and Building Services ...............665 706880 PLUMBERS 24hr Casaserve ..............................................950 466438 / 676 3062699 Andy (Mojácar) ........................................................697 302039

Fisiomar Physiotherapy Centre (Albox) ....................667 425197 Fisioterapia Vera-Salud (Vera Playa) ...607 479379 / 950 132765 Ignacio López de la Fuente (Mojácar) ......................627 244730 Physiotherapy Centre (Albox) ...........950 431463 / 657 516247 Remedio clinic (Mojacar) ....................950 472980 / 617 741564

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Blocked DrainsRUs ............................950 091109 / 648 768587 Charlie Fyre ..............................................................686 833444 Chris ........................................................................643 082899 Carlos (Saliente) Plumbing & Heating ..950 930900 / 620 742954 Curtis Helm Multiservices .........................................610 394815 Graham ....................................................................620 112193 Knowles ….........................................950 137197 / 606 807797 Fernando (Huércal Overa)...........................................677 549247 Francisco Montoya (Mojacar) …............………………..687 466352 Smith Plumbing S.L. ..................................................950 468041

PODIATRISTS See Chiropodists & Podiatrists POOL COVERS 1 Stop Pool Shop ...............................950 104345 / 637 582696 Coverbox (Albox) …….................................................615 992007 Enclose My Pool ..................................606 040462 / 670 510097 Hispavan pool covers ........................950 047033 / 687 845730 Real Covers (Mojácar) ........................950 478763 / 609 667333 WS Cover ...................................................................667 480363

POOLS & POOL MAINTENANCE 1 Stop Pool Shop ...............................950 104345 / 637 582696 24hr Casaserve .................................950 466438 / 676 306269 Aguafer Piscinas S.L. ................................................950 617064 Aguagéstion Cantoria (Maintenance) ……….............653 078040 Alloa Pool Care (Albox) ………….................…………..650 244018 Aquazul Piscinas ….....................................................647 841750 Blue Diamond Pool Care ..............................697238933 Clean Pool Service (Arboleas) ...................................606 654389 Complete Pool & Property Maintenance 634 343541 / 634 891709

D & J Pritchard Construcciones ................................617 698418 Daniel ……………..................................................….642 236810

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Guardian Angels (Pool Cleaning) …...950 466396 / 600 470778 Heat My Pool ....................................950 528128 / 663 303350 Hidro-Sport S.L. (Pebbletec) .................................…950 581407 IndalPool (Albox) …………...............................……..950 431859 Mat Murray ...............................................................647 841750 Oasis Pool Cleaning Services ............634 332170 / 634 332178 Piscinas Miguel (Maintenance) .............950 478652 / 607 480865 Pools & Piscinas (Cleaning - Bedar) ..........................637 915898 Pool Medics ……………...................................……….634 353525 Procare Pools (Arboleas) ..........................................642 370681 Proyectados Pool Sureste ............................................630 810299 Reflections Pool Services ........................................642 341603 Salvador (Pool Maintenance) ......................................696 426523 Sundance Spas - Pool Maintenance S.L. ....................950 472845 Tanby Piscinas ............……….............950 468230 / 609 888549 Triton Pool Cleaning ...............................................634 326322 Tropicana Swimming Pool Construction 650 906114 / 689 404244 True Blue Pools & Spas ..............................................661 148998

POSTAL SERVICES Can Connect (Albox) …….........................................950 121149 C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 Connexions (Turre) ..................................................950 479502 Forget-me-not (Las Buganvillas) ....................………..663 302740 Frankie’s Bar (Vera Playa) .........................................662 474861 Mail Boxes Etc (Vera) ................................................950 393835 Offex Spain ................................……..966 765950 / 661 386942 Spanish Property Choice (Easypost) ..950 615388 / 635 722290 The Post Shop (Albox) ………..............950 064584 / 635 979829 Total Entertainment (Albox) ......................................950 121318 Total Entertainment (Arboleas) .................................678 009051 Total Entertainment (Turre) .........................................950 468295

IDP Services …………................................................608 238775 Indalfutur S.L. (Mojácar) ……........….950 615156 / 609 026526 J & J Property Care ....…….................950 452106 / 617 657414 Jasmine Construction C.B ..........................................659 185189 Mode Services ...................................950 525790 / 687 033106 Mojacar Estates ..........................................................950 478935 Procare Property Service (Arboleas) .......................642 370681 Triton Property Maintenance ...................................634 326322

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENTALS Alhambra Holdings (Mojácar)...................950 475199 / 629 673450 Almería Property Agency (Arboleas) …..850 993099 / 606 281865 Almería Property Services .....................950 060135 / 660 734323 Almeria Rentals ................................. 650 764623 / 648 523073 Apartamentos Torrelaguna (Las Buganvillas) .............950 132580 APT Lets (Valle del Este) ….................950 619227 / 626 578164 Blaumar (Huercal Overa) .....................950 135512 / 670 869533 Blue Sea Villas (Mojácar) (See front cover).............….950 478643 Casa Benedict Rentals (Turre) …...………....…………616 189002 C.A.T. Services (La Alfoquía) (See p.31).950 634388 / 627 635514 Citrus Homes ...............................……......................638 849254 Clean Team Property Care & Rentals 850 993202/ 642 911850 Coastal Properties (Mojácar) ........................................950 475235 Complete Holiday Care ....………...........950 478612 / 610 808631

PRE-PAYMENT METERS Sol Digimeters ..........................................................634 348703

PRINTING & GRAPHIC DESIGN AdverGraf (Mojácar Playa) .......................................634 336789 Idea (Huércal Overa) ...............................................605 162709 Mail Boxes Etc (Vera) ............................................950 393835 Mobility Almería (Mojácar Playa) .............................634 322475 Mojácar Business ....................................................950 680110 neö-cöpy (Vera) …...................………..950 390424 / 622 262100 Pronto Printing (La Buganvillas) (See cover).............950 133492 GSF Communications (Mojácar) (See previous page)..950 473102

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE 24hr Casaserve .....................................950 466438 / 676 306269 ABS Advanced Building Services ..............................687 846016 Arboleas Builders ………...............……950 930536 / 634 306690 Can I Help You (Vera) ………..................................691 662267 Complete Pool & Property Maintenance 634 343541 / 634 891709 Curtis Helm Multiservices .........................................610 394815 D & D Property Care & Rentals ............643 335386 / 643 337063 Destination Spain Property Services .........................672 668803 Exclusive Holiday Villas ............................................950 092602 Hire a Hubby …………........................950 436679 / 619 066022

D & D Property Care, Sales & Rentals .......643 335386 / 643 337063 Destination Spain Property Services .........................678 203143 E-Property Almería ...................................................677 146592 Exclusive Holiday Villas ..........................................950 092602 Findmeahome ....................................951 914195 / 636 266641 Holiday Home Europe .........................950 120210 / 654 590258 Holiday Letting Service ........................950 472903 / 627 565049 Homes of Spain (Huércal Overa).........950 616516 / 616 562447 Indalfutur S.L. (Mojácar) ……........….950 615156 / 609 026526

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Call 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com Indalo Real Estate .............................950 091137 / 616 760409 Indasol Mojácar S.L. ..................……....................….950 472200 Inmoterreros ...................................................................666 255 765 KJ Property Maintenance (Albox /Arboleas) ............608 625675 KW Resorts Holiday Rentals ......................0044 (0)1293 863320

Loufa S.L.(Mojácar Pueblo) …..........................……..950 472773 Mojácar Estates ........................................................950 478935

Mojácar Holiday Services .......................950 699947 / 634 972377 Mojácar Long Term Rentals …................................………950 475 891 Mojácar Property Maintenance & Decorators ………..649 304441 New Wave Villas (Mojácar) ................950 475800 / 607 146352

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QUAD BIKES see Motorcycles RADIO STATIONS Cadena Ser Levante (Spanish, local and national) ....950 Onda Aguilas (100.1) ….............................................968 Plusfm ……….................................….609 818283 / 617 Smooth FM online (89.8) ........................................634 Spectrum FM (96.1) ............................950 615142 / 678

615006 447864 528121 332666 332815

REFRIGERATION MD Air Conditioning & Refrigeration SL .607 364917 / 607 366040 Thermotech …………….....................…950 069637 / 699 856372 Noble Services ....................................................... 692 188200 Next Stop Almería ................................950 617518 / 678 034651 Price Brown Partnership (Mojácar) ............................950 478915

REMOVALS & STORAGE See also Van & Man Hire Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Amanda’s (Lubrin) ............................950 069682 / 634 310512 Andy (Trailer hire/drive) (Mojácar) ……...........…………..600 225 929 Brian’s Furniture & Removals (Mojácar Playa) .........674 280268 Countdown Removals (UK/Spain/UK) ..................…678 855994 Dave’s Transport (International / Local)....................620 049524 De Lima’s International Removals ........................+44 7467341106 English Move (Tony) ….............................................699 819213

Rent Mojácar ............................................................950 615042 Santiburi Properties (Cabrera & Mojácar) 694 404971 / 647 901478 Sierra property Rentals (Bédar) ...............................678 587007 Spanish Property Choice (Mojacar) ..... 950 475823 / 634 351562 Sunshine Villas............................………850 993202 / 694 440184 Susana's Property Services ......................................649 759053 The Property Shop (Mojácar) ..................................950 475241 Triton Property Services ..........................................634 326322 Vera Holiday Rentals .............................................634 347109 Voss Homes (Huercal-Overa) ...................667 891 741 / 950 616 827 Year Round Holiday Rentals .............950 619178 / 627 763052

PROPERTY PROMOTERS Almanzora S.L. (Desert Springs) ...............................950 467104 BMS Huerta Nueva ............................950 615035 / 669 355914 Elegant Homes S.L. ............................950 092603 / 687 629777 Elide Group S.L. …............….............950 390009 / 950 615076 El Pinar de Bédar ......................................................950 469496 GM Associates (Mojácar) ……….........……..............…950 475225 Miramar (Marina Golf) ................................................950 397060 New Villas (Albox) ………………........………..............…950 121036 Nicla Property Consultancy S.L. .................................950 133508 Polansky and Associates ..........................................950 478086 Promobys …………….................................................950 618889

Eurozone Removals UK(0044) 7452888063 Spain (0034) 662 569138 Indalo Transport .......................................................634 336468 Items For Sale Mojácar .......................694 439275 / 950 478753 J & B Removals (Albox) …......…………...................616 888058 Light Removals .........................................................643 608587 PROPERTY VALUATIONS Location Warehousing S.L. (Antas) .............................950 391412 Philip Chesler (Chartered Valuer) …................………687 814369 Moovit Transport & Storage ...............950 930316 / 642 586701 Moves2Spain (Antas) ..........................950 452869 / 661 969393 PSYCHOLOGIST Dr. Jane Thompson ............................968 485729 / 618 920126 Orange Box ...........................................................610 887757 Reliable Removals (Albox) .UK 0044 1942 418951 Spain 664 857920 Speedlink Logistics (Garrucha) ...................................637 011686

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RESTAURANTS See also Chinese Restaurants & Pizzerias

Agua Amarga La Chumbera ............................................................950 168321 Restaurant Family ......................................................950 138014

Aguilas Carlos III ..................................................................968 411650 El Faro .....................................................................968 412883 El Guacamole (Mexican) ...........................................968 413491 Hotel El Paso ...........................................................968 447125 La Calica (Hotel Cala Real) .....................................968 414562 La Vía ........................................................................646 430496 Piccolo Mondo ............................................................968 411946

Albox Club de Tenis …….....................................…………..667 671578 El Gallego ...........................................950 120590 / 615 717978 La Cena ……........................................……………..950 430930 La Parrilla ................................................................950 430024 Little India .............….................................................632 454505 Maloan’s Bar ….........................................................634 300752 Mesón de Irene ………........................647 730103 / 950 430145 Oliver’s Bar …............................................................950 930988 Paché ….....................................................................950 431659 The New Delhi (Indian) ……...........….950 431705 / 639 231507

Alfaix La Venta de Alfaix .....................................................671 272464

Antas Asador Gloria …..............................…...950 453150 / 625 Cortijo Carlotta ......................................950 619226 / 638 El Fogon, Asador Argentino ........................................950 Mi Casa .................................................950 453007 / 950

668613 549646 459081 453048

Arboleas El Mirador …………….............................................…678 160806 Happy Garden .........................................................950 120851 Sprinter Services (Vera Playa) .............605 376873 / 950 609121 Hostal Meson ………..........................950 430137 / 635 612738 St. George’s European …UK 0044 207 193 5984 / 952 485984 Hotel Rural Azabache ............................................690 258813 Storage Solutions (Arboleas) ................950 930316 / 671 220105 Nueva Trinidad ....................................850 993250 / 634 369833 UK Direct ..................UK 0044 7719.118.879 / Spain 642 099479 Bédar Union Jack Removals (International) ….......………….902 109560 El Paso ...................................................................678 868963 Swift Transport (Arboleas) ........................................618 511234 La Fuente .................................................................950 469185 Malcolm’s Restaurant ..............................................634 318633 You’ll always find it Miramar .....................................................................950 469308

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Cabrera Los Pastores .............................................................950 468002 Riad Cabrera ………………….....................................950 092042

Cerro Gordo Bistro Bonita .......................................650 599739 / 950 930169

Cortijo Grande Casa Los Pinos ……......................…..950 468236 / 619 136877 Finca Listonero (See p.61)...........................................950 982045

Cucador La Vida

……….................................….........……….950 634562

Desert Springs Resort El Torrente Restaurant …....................................……637 861590 La Ambrosia ..............................................................950 093086 The Crocodile Club ...................................................678 746706 Meson Verfran ....................................................………637 810143 Miraflores ...........................................679 970399 / 609 506869 El Campico (Bédar-Lubrin) La Montaña ...............................................................950 398856 Mojácar See also Mojácar Pueblo Agra Taj (Indian) ......................................................602 197417 El Marchal El Paniajo ................................................................950 477202 Al Punto (Brazilian) .................................................950 475899 Antonella (Italian) .............................................……..950 450215 El Pilar de Lubrin Azeefa (Indian) ...................................950 109758 / 660 173987 Restaurante Albar ....................................................950 069077 Badgers ...................................................................950 478525

Garrucha

Angus & Hereford .....................................................950 Casa Adriana ...........................................................950 GBG ……………...................................950 132625 / 639 Góndola ....................................................................950 La Gurulla ………................................................….657 La Plazoleta ……….........................................…….666 Maui Gastro ….................................................………950 Nautico …................................................................622 Restaurante Andalucia ..............................................950 Restaurante Azul, Hotel Tikar ...................................950 Rincón del Puerto …….......................950 133042 / 950 Tierra y Mar .............................................................850

460588 133154 915993 133928 058929 711997 460882 451935 460604 617131 133043 992808 Bar Alizee ...............................................................950 Beachcomber ...........................................................634 Huércal-Overa Bellavista ..................................................................950 El Capricho …........................................................697 297235 Botaniq ...................................................................696 Las Alparatas (Mojácar) Bowen Resto Bar .............................. 666 406203 / 634 La Capilla ..................................................................950 479305 Burladero ...................................................................950 La Alfoquía Cafetería Pizzería Alcazaba ………...........................645 Bar La Unión ...........................................................642 008003 Captain’s Tapas Bar & Restaurant ...........................617 Cielos …..................................................................634 393235 Casa Egea .................................................................950 El Local ……......................................950 634449 / 633 684855 Los Mellízos …………................................……………667 919025

091810 339216 478800 809035 357654 615041 414793 477797 472190

Lijar Mesón La Hoya ........................................................638 298507

Limaria Welcome Stranger …........................………...........….950 432719

Los Carasoles Restaurante Kalevala ...............................................607 484414

Los Castaños Cortijo Las Piezas ........................……..950 951498 / 634 780943

Los Gallardos

Casa Juan …………................................................….950 450305 Apolo ……...................................................…………..600 495182 Cortijo de la Media Luna .............................950 478813 / 676 547 555 Bistro @ the Colosseum .............................................615 387947 d’Angelo .....................................................................950 478517

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Delfín Dorado......................................950 475212 / 645 Dolce Vita ................................................................950 El Deseo .................................................................670 El Gaucho ................................................................950 El Sitio ....................................................................950 Enrico (Italian) ...................................950 472995 / 642

220095 478476 018035 478846 615411 514738

Marama ....................................................................686 Marcelo’s .................................................................950 Mesón Felipe San Bernabé ...................…………….950 Meson Mémé …........…………………..674 141159 / 647 Mandala Beach Club ................................................902 Meson de Perico ....................................................950 Mountains of the Moon (Indian) ........950 472002 / 637

Imperial (Italian) .......................................................950 478098 Imperial Playa (Italian) ..............................................950 475360 Indian Curry House ...........................632 416554 / 632 711667 Kukis ..........................................................................686 038259 La Cabaña ................................................................950 615179 La Cantina (Mexican) ................................................950 478941 La Caracola .............................................................622 520925 La Cometa ...............................................................950 615209 La Estancia …….............................................………654 562396 La Gaviota ……………...............................................950 472117 La Parata (See p.7)..............................................…950 478186 La Piká ....................................................................950 930744 La Posada …............................................................661 595845 La Table de Cathy (French) …..............…………….650 745807 Le Magnifique …………….......................................…634 310816 Los Amigos ......................................…………………950 478489

820950 031812 475966 954405 442420 615582 914632

Mont Martre (French) ..............................................634 388867 Neptuno (See p.41) ................................................…616 005387 Omega ........................................................................950 475317 Ostería Ristorante Italiano ..........................................950 615151 Ottocento (Italian).......................................................950 615100 Palacio Imperial Marina (Thai, Japanese, Chinese) ...950 472208 Parador de Mojácar ...................................................950 478250 Playa Blanca .......................................950 473001 / 639 507520 Restaurante Martín Morales .....................................950 478812 Restaurante Mediterráneo ..........................................950 472268 Robert (Marina de la Torre) …………..............………950 110412 Sal Marina ...................................................................950 472405 Sensations ................................................................950 472057 Sottocasa (Italian) ...................................................950 093075 The Irish Rover (See p.43).........................................950 473135

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101

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The Lemon ....................……...............................…….950 The Roof Garden .....................................................674 Torre Bahía ...............................................................950 Trufibar ....................................................................664 Twister ...................................................………………950 Zaika Fusion ..........................................................632

472659 113218 478651 103611 472357 727851

Mojácar Pueblo Arlequíno ..........................................950 478037 / 649 337781 Casa Minguito ………...............................................950 478614 El Ángel ..........................................950 478343 / 607 537101 El Antler ……....................................................……600 540661 El Reclamo …….......................................................950 472881 La Candela …...........................................................647 724367 Pulcinella (Italian) .....................................................950 478401 Restaurante Aires del Sur ..................606 061811 / 950 478014 Restaurante Calima ………………........................….663 286962 Restaurante Mamabel's ....................... 663 700542 / 950 472448 Rincón de Embrujo …....................…………………….600 531270 Rincon de Zahorí ................................630 314400 / 625 103672

La Mariposa de Fran ………........……..950 166774 / 683 641957 Terraza Carmona ...................................................950 390760

Vera Playa Armony Beach Club .................................................617 745021 b2 Mohana (Argentinean) ........................................678 642856 El Balconcito .............................................................635 589909 Gateway to India (Indian) ...........................................950 923994 La Buena Mesa …………..…................950 467222 / 610 356387 La Pampa (Argentinean Grill) ……….950 397702 / 671 653116 Maraú (Vera Playa) ……………...........................……671 580340 Restaurante Tibu ......................................................950 133747 Taj Mahal (Indian) …............…………950 618691 / 671 231465 The Blue Parrot ......................................................950 467682

Villaricos Don Tadeo ..................................................................670 860386 Goah ........................................................................950 467030 La Esperanza ............................................................625 737025 Los Conteros ....................................950 618629 / 699 010705

Zurgena

Palomares

Asagía Asador .........................................................640 210185 Tiger Bar (Indian) …..................................................950 449000 The Oasis Bar ...................................950 467381 / 676 365010

RETRACTABLE ROOF SYSTEMS

Partaloa Mis Amigos ..............................................…………….671 608498

Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196

ROOFING

Pueblo Laguna

Bistro .......................................................................950 132022 Ark Roofing ...............................................................634 379173

RUGS & CARPETS Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Homecentre (Albox) (See p.6)..........868 931872 / 671 715294 P & R Rugs (Los Llanos de Aroleas) .......................665 258680

RURAL TOURISM 2 Poplars (Velez Blanco) ……...............................….670 Cortijo Pocio de la Nava (Mojácar) ............................670 Finca Arboleda (Vera) ..............................................678 Mi Abuela Maria (Mojácar) ……..........................……659 Restaurant Laguna …………….........................……..950 132566

San Juan de Los Terreros La Geoda ..................................................................637 020159 Mi Cortijo …………......................................................950 466323 Mondy Playa ........................................600 254314 / 622 807809

Turre

243856 777752 027656 198424

SATELLITE TV ABC (A Better Climate) (See p.29).....647 247494 / 950 092604 Cuevasat ...........................................950 523740 / 628 153340 DCM Digitek Comms (Mojácar) (See p.19) .950 472947 / 670 084438 Digital Vision (See p.33......................950 472081 / 645 294064 Europa Digital ....................................950 133233 / 678 332815 GBTV (Albox and Mojácar) .......................................616 888058 GSF Communications (Mojácar) ...............................950 473102 Solo Satellite & Air-Con. (See p.55) ......950 398146 / 699 909737

Casa Adelina ...............................................................950 479153 Chili .................................................608 802227 / 950 468425 Hostal Rural .............................................................950 478806 SCREENED PATIO & POOL La Pará ……………………..................................…….637 545590 ENCLOSURES Orsoca ………………............................................…..602 554609 Pizzeria-Restaurante Mari Cruz ……....................…..950 479646 Enclose My Pool ...............................606 040462 / 670 510097 Inside Out In Europe S.L. .................677 114576 / 695 118960 Urcal Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196 The Palms …………...............................950 958167 / 678 832036 Screenmasters (See p.45)......….…...........................677 152911 Vera Sol Shaders S.L. (See p.45)........................................627 907207 Casa de la Vega ......................................................950 391208 SCUBA DIVING El Paseo de Oscar ...................................................950 392496 Gran Muralla (Wok Buffet) ..........................................950 391691 Buceo (Aguilas) ……………......................................968 493215

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Buceo Mojácar ..................................950 472760 / 629 049229 SOLAR ENERGY Molasub (Villaricos) ............................950 467572 / 675 321404 DCM Digitek Comms (Mojácar) (See page 19)...........950 472947 SES (Aguilas) ………..................................................669 040963 Ecocorp ....................................................................671 716597

SECOND HAND Buy Buy Auctions (Los Carasoles)..................................681 095096 Amanda’s (Lubrin) ............................950 069682 / 634 310512 Designer Thrift (Albox) ...........................................950 064576 Merka Recycla (Huércal Overa) .........950 616683 / 666 577006 Second Time Around (Albox) .......................................950 431871 The Attic (Cucador) ..…….…................672 184354 / 648 250699 The Treasure Trove (Turre) ……….................………..666 281316

SECURITY & SAFES See Alarms SEWING Alice .........................................................................620 876485 Coser y Planchar (Vera) .........................................689 303765 Alexis Shillinglaw .....................................................634 361874 J.F.M. Modas Sedal (Turre) ..............950 468031 / 606 945502 Lola Alterations & Repairs (Mojácar Playa) .950 475994 / 637 963835 Nicky (Mojacar) ..................................................... 667 479903 Solo Style ...............................................................626 319907 Sew n Sew Susie (Albox area) ..........950 930643 / 633 683872 The Sewing Room ....................................................607 375697

SEPTIC TANK SERVICE Drainage Solutions …...........………….616 531283 / 670 Blocked DrainsRUs ............................950 091109 / 648 Ginés Millán (All areas) ……….............(after 4pm) 607 Lymasur (Vera) ……..........................950 390732 / 609 Sepserve (All areas) …..............................................675 Septic Tanks Cleaned ……….....................…………..675

088966 768587 366355 442695 838808 838808

SHOE REPAIRS Keys Copy Centre (Mojácar Playa) ..........................950 472982

Hi-Tec Solar (Turre) ............................609 888549 / 950 Hispavan Solar ..................................950 047033 / 687 Solartech (Las Buganvillas) …..............................….950 Sunergy Almeria ........................................................636

468230 845730 139568 261240

SOLICITORS Alonso & Garrido (Albox) ...........................................950 121040 Alonso & Haro (Vera) ..............................................950 392208 AM & RG (Mojácar) ………….............950 478984 / 649 286437

SIGNS (Shop & Vehicle) Idea (Huércal Overa) ...............................................605 162709 Pronto Printing (La Buganvillas) (See cover).............950 133492

SKIN TREATMENTS

Francesca Herman (See p.37)....….......................….687 480694

SKIP HIRE Aridos Mojácar S.L. .................................................650 914257 Servacon .................................................................950 475853

SNOOKER HALLS CD Snooker Mojácar ............................634 364311 / 609 026526

The Almería Focus is the magazine that everyone keeps to hand. To advertise your business, call Lee on 634 32 22 76 or Clare on 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com To place a box advert or ask for prices, call Lee on 634 32 22 76

103

Free directory entries.

Call 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com AVSA Lawyers (Aguilas) ..........................................968 446576 Babelia (Mojácar) ……..........…........635 577562 / 950 397114 C & P Solicitors (Mojácar) ….....…………950 460731 / 675 383 160 Cabrera Cervantes (Turre) ................950 099400 / 627 464545 Casas Almería (Huércal Overa) .................................950 134434 Davies Solicitors (Mojácar) ........................................950 472775 EuroAbogados (Vera) .................................................950 617017 Javier Loustau (Mojácar) .........................................950 475086 José Francisco López Molina .............950 133607 / 635 189986 Leticia Moreno-Torres Camy (Vera) ......950 391249 / 607 840182 Lopez & León Solicitors (Garrucha) ..950 888314 / 666 513917 Mario Redondo (Albox) ….................950 430222 / 626 389322 Miguel Angel Rojas Benitez .......................................950 615404 Pablo Suarez (Purchena) ..........................................610 014680 Mundi Abogados (Las Buganvillas) ........................950 460999 Ramírez Abogados (Vera) .......................................950 391171 Ross Legal Services (Aguilas) .................................968 412321 Ruiz Orozco (Vera) ..................................................950 390282 Saugar Abogados (Mojácar) ......................................950 615038

SPAS IndalOcio (Arboleas) ................................................850 993090 Sundance Spas (Mojácar) .......................................950 472845

SPA SERVICING & CLEANING True Blue Pools & Spas ..........................................661 148998

STAINED GLASS Janet Broady ….............................…........................950 130627

SURVEYORS Philip Chesler (Chartered Surveyor).............................687 814369 Survey Andalucía (Architect Daniel González) ............686 846624 Sapphire Surveyors ………...................950 064725 / 671 208782

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104

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TILING & PATIO WORK 1 Stop Paving (Albox) ………................................…634 313939 ABS Advanced Building Services ..............................687 846016 A.J.B. Tiling Services ...............................................687 024884 Andalucian Con Co Print .........................................628 408197 Arboleas Paving ……………...............................…….636 092632 Borders .....................................................................647 803030 C.I.S Services (Arboleas) ........................................619 693118 Curtis Helm Multiservices .........................................610 394815 Diamond Plastering and Building Services ..............671 717149 Elegant Homes S.L. ..............................950 092603 / 687 629777 Garden Works .....................................950 132518 / 666 847583 Mode Services ...................................950 525790 / 687 033106 SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS La Maruja (Mojácar) ................... ................................664 647171 Saxon’s Complete Building Services ......618 920126 / 686 377172 Steve Holman .......................................................... 697 678708 SWEET SHOPS United Tile ................................................................667 702817 Forget Me Not (Las Buganvillas)..............................663 302740 Vision Design & Build ...............................................672 153298

TATTOO ARTISTS

TIMBER SUPPLIERS

Body-Zone Tattoo (Mojácar) ……………......................634 336789 Wood2Go ..............................................950 614050 / 606 156151 Classic Tattoo (Mojácar Playa) .................................605 611782 TOURIST ATTRACTIONS Lisa V Tattoos (Cantoria) ....................634 362737 / 642 024810 Oscar (Mojácar Pueblo) …................................…….629 944374 Almería Castle ………............................................…950 271617 Almería Solar Centre ( Nr.Tabernas) ....950 387990 / 670 866122 TAXIS (Legal) Aquarium (Roquetas de Mar) ...................................950 160036 Levante Radio Taxis (all areas)................................950 888111 Camelus (Mojácar Camel Rides) ………663 930272 / 950 100076 Exclusive Shuttles pre-booked airport taxis (office hours).950 092602 Fort Bravo – Western theme park (Tabernas) .....….950 165405 Taxi Emilia (Arboleas) ..............................................618 968497 Nautarium (Sea Museum) (Garrucha) ………………….950 139554 Nijar Butterfly Farm .................................................617 692778 TELECOMMUNICATIONS Albox-Online ………..............................…………….950 091111 Oasys Western Park & Zoo (Tabernas) ….............….950 365236 AlmeriNet-Cheap Calls .........................950 479517 / 627 027758 Western Leone Theme park (Tabernas) …............…950 165405 Euphony Mojacar .........................................................677 146592 Connexions (Turre) (See front cover)..........................950 479502 TRANSLATING - see Interpreters Indalphone .............................(Mojácar) 950 475784 / 622 455 608 TRANSPORT - see Removals Indalphone ...........................................(Huércal-Overa) 950 471470

TRAVEL Autocares Rodriguez (Coaches) ...............................950 469061 Halcón Viajes (Vera) ................................................950 393472 Exclusive Airport Shuttles (See p.11).......................950 092602 Inda Travel (Mojácar) ..............................................950 472431 Levante Travel (Garrucha) ...................950 132258 / 628 604752 Mojácar Tour (Mojácar Playa) (See cover)..........…..950 475757 Viajes Yedra Tours (Aguilas) ...................................968 412498 Viajes Zafiro Tours (Aguilas) ....................................968 410197 Zafiro Tours (Albox) ………..................................……950 121021

TUITION GSF Communications (Mojácar) ..................................950 473102 Maso Telefonia (Albox) ……..............................………….950 121279 MaxiMovil – Plus S.L. Orange ....................................950 393538 Next .............................................................................950 479369 Phone@ Mojacar …….............……....950 882222 / 607 885522 Servcom (Turre) ........................................................902 023268 Telitec Connections S.L. ..............……902 889070 / 965 743473 The Phone House (Albox) …………….950 121045 / 670 359698 WiFi Internet .............................................................950 615156

Computer Training & Tuition Call Out (Dani) ...........678 Dave Eccles (Drum lessons) ..............950 525790 / 687 ELC Education & Language Centre .........................950 Espanglish .........................................950 390037 / 950 Girasol, Albox (Spanish) ..........................................639 Guillermo (Spanish conversation, Antas)...................647 Guitar Lessons ………….....................................…..667 Guitar Lessons (Chris Pottle) ................................950 Hind (French & Arabic, Mojácar) ...............................616 Jane Catchlove (Piano/keyboards/violin A.R.C.M) ...950

To place a box advert or ask for prices, call Lee on 634 32 22 76

105

490639 033106 615489 392876 089170 525639 989270 437606 605341 634402

Free directory entries.

Call 670 84 92 65 or email almeriafocus@gmail.com

Jose (Spanish Lessons) ..........................................667 303376 Jewellery making ......................................................642 435909 Kinder Garrucha (Bilingual Education Centre)..950 047026 / 671 608519 La Galeria Art Classes (Albox) …..............................663 341904 Laberinto (Spanish, English, French, Dutch) .............609 781438 Leticia (Spanish Conversation) ……......................…950 615566 Marcela Chávez (Spanish-English school support)....676 951352 Native Spanish Teacher (All levels) ………………….670 619017 Native Spanish Tuition ..............................................661 654812 Pedro (Spanish language tutoring) ..........................655 510420 Pencils English Academy (Garrucha)..........................634 314110 Penny Baltrus (Piano) ...............................................662 517106 Piano (Mojácar) …………............……950 069803 / 667 408941 Piano tuition. Terry Peace (Limaria/Albox.) ...............868 931815 Professional Writing Services …..........………………..662 067490 Sam Catchlove (Professional drum/latin percussion) ..950 634402 Sarah Dyson (Computer tuition) …....................……687 632435 Simon Farmiloe (Spanish & English)(Albox/Mojacar) 647 677097 Tennis Coach (Diego Rodriguez) ........950 393851 / 607 021280 The I.T.Teacher (Computer Tuition)...............................695 280699

TV & AUDIO REPAIRS Ponce S.L. (Garrucha) ..............................................950 617181 Seth Pittham (Zurgena).......................950 634477 / 666 826886

Upholstery & Leather Cleaning ......................................636 193256 Upholstery Larios (Cuevas del Almanzora) 950 465 364 / 651 998738

VAN & MAN HIRE See also Removals & Storage Amanda’s (Lubrin) ............................950 069682 / 634 310512 Andy (Trailer hire/drive) (Mojácar) ……...........…………..600 225 929 IDP Services ……........................................................608 238775 Indalo Transport .......................................................634 336468 Storage Solutions (Arboleas) ................950 930316 / 671 220105 Way 2 Go (UK/Spain) ……UK 0044 208 0904292 / 965 794682

VEHICLE IMPORTATION Car Check Spain (Andy) ............................................618 043186 Hispavan vehicle importation ..............950 047033 / 687 845730 Talleres Daydo (Antas Real) ….……….950 459116 / 607 373298

VEHICLE REPAIRS Auto Corner (Turre/Los Gallardos) ….950 069198 / 667 439671 Auto Shine Body Repairs ………........607 324623 / 607 324624 CostaCoches ...........................................................950 459209 Gómez Motor (Huércal-Overa) ............662 502895 / 950 471250 Mojácar Motor (Mojácar Playa) ……..950 478335 / 950 475776 Reparbox (DIY) (Antas El Real) .........687 879744 / 628 648131 SRS Vehicle Services ................................................950 449095 Taller Daydo (El Real) .........................950 459116 / 607 373298 Talleres Azor ..(Mojácar) 950 478519 ..............(Vera) 950 391400 Talleres Fad (Aguilas) …...........................................968 447565 Talleres Vizcaino (Mojácar) ........................................950 472104 The Car Surgery ...................................................666 272792 The Garage (Llanos de Arboleas) .......950 930922 / 616 453813 Tyre King (El Real) ................................................950 459253

UNIFORMS Tikka Uniforms & Shoes (Mojácar) …..........................667 479903 Uniformes de Levante (Los Gallardos & Vera) ..........902 110218

UPHOLSTERY Albox Rugs (upholstery cleaning) .............................950 633149 Curtains with Style (Fabrics) ............ 950 069032 / 678 811125 Jone’s Mobile (Upholstery cleaning) …....……………661 571939 Unicraft (Upholstery) .................................................692 176069

VEHICLE REPAIRS (MOBILE) Albox Service Centre S.L. …......................................662 093051

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106

Free directory entries.

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Auto Frio .............................................950 104488 / 600 827517 Clinica (Albox) ...............950 430814 Emergencies: 617 305784 Cool Air (Air Conditioning) .......................................673 195872 Clinica Huellas (Aguilas) ...968 447877 Emergencies 629 445327 Veloc Tuning ECU Remapping Services ..................600 827517 CliniVet (Turre) …..........................…..950 069780 / 626 171999 Costa Indalo (Mojácar) ....950 475213 Emergencies: 659 957942 VEHICLE SALES Egesta Centro Vetinario (Vélez Rubio) ..950 411208 / 608 438683 Buy Buy Auctions ...................................................681 095096 Europa (Mojácar) .................950472262 Emergencies: 629 099921 Auto Corner (Turre/Los Gallardos) ….950 069198 / 667 439671 Javier .............(Garrucha) 950 132200 Emergencies: 619 236059 AutoFex (Albox & Antas El Real) ............................950 431861 NEXO (Albox) …...............950 430814 Emergencies: 617 305784 Automobiles Bajuma S.L. (Antas) .............................662 167758 Veravet (Vera Town) …............…............................….667 304876 Automobiles Playcar SLU ...................950 459302 / 672 737663 Veterinary Centre (Huércal-Overa) …........................950 616781 CostaCoches (Antas, El Real).....................................950 459209 Mojácar Motors ...950 472056 ................(Workshop) 950 478335 WATER (Tanker Delivery) Nissan (Albox) ………..................................................950 430856 Sierra Cabrera Water ...................…………………….693 866558 Pit Stop (Oria) ……………....................................…..950 124828 WATER PARK Que Coches Almería (Antas) …...................................627 423675 SRS Vehicle Services ................................................950 449095 Aquavera (Vera Playa) ....................................................950 467337 Talleres Azor ...............(Mojácar) 950 478519 (Vera) 950 391400 WATER TREATMENTS Ashley Reliable Plumbing ………..........................…..610 052407 VEHICLE SHIPPING Car Shipping ………………UK 0044 1704 575983 / 671 101220 Healthy H2O ..............................................968 437270 / 666 302 987

WEB SERVICES

VETS

Animal Care (La Alfoqúia) …....................................950 449064 Divine Logix ...........................................................617 401332 Astrid (Mojácar) ..............950 472252 Emergencies: 629 099920 Image Suite ………........................................................647 918 848 MODS ........................................................................600 284975 Mojácar Business ....................................................950 680110 Paginasweb .......................................902 005799 / 911 011505

WEDDING & PARTY PLANNING Weddings in Spain .....................................................950 475826

WINDOW CLEANING Clean Team …………..............………850 993202 / 694 440184 Cristal Clear Windows (Mojácar) …..........……………634 347193 Don (Mojacar) .........................................................666 814913 Idea (Mojácar) ...................................................……..605 162709

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107

Free directory entries.

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J&A Window Cleaning Services ..........950 122452 / 689 James .......................................................................678 Lady Jane Window Cleaning (Arboleas) ...................634 Mick ...........................................................................634 Teresa Jimenéz …………….............................……..636 Window Panes ..................................633 814809 / 677 Woody the Window Cleaner (Almanzora Valley) .......634

548824 988812 255373 327075 119538 689077 349665

WINDOWS & DOORS AA Window Doctor ...................................................630 231644 Complete Renovations (See p.17) .....644 389255 / 672 379960 David A. Pritchard Construcciones ............................617 698418 Direct Trade Windows ............................................. 662 118785 Enrique Aguirre S.L. (Garrucha) .................................950 460028 Interglaze ……..............................….950 121909 / 680 743311 Lifestyle Enclosures Europe S.L. (See p. 9) 950 459060 / 638 063196 Mojácar Home Improvements ....................................950 473104 Ortega Windows & Doors .......................................950 393305 Planet Windows …...............................950 449639 / 664 327863 Plas-Tech Windows ...................................................600 320761 Screenmasters (See p.45)......….….........................677 152911 Speedyfit ...........................................950 439228 / 600 006032 Standard Windows (Antas) ........................................950 393121

WINES Bodega Gran Baco (Aguilas) .............................…..968 Enoteca Tikar (Garrucha) ……..............................….950 Isalva (Palomares) ………..........................................615 Wine Not? (Mojácar Playa) ....................................950

411538 617131 265092 100077

WOOD & PELLET STOVES Chimeneas Acar (Albox) ...........................................950 120077 Chimeneas Mojácar S.L. (Mojácar Playa) ..............950 472135 Enrique Aguirre S.L. (Garrucha) .................................950 460028

ZOO & PARK

Oasys (Tabernas) ....................................................950 365236

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108

Community News The Rose Singers Take a ¨Final Bow¨ They raised thousands of euros for local, national, and international charities, and would like to say After 16 years the Rose Singers made their final thank you to all their audiences who have helped appearance in the Auditorio in Vera for the to make those donations possible. The Rose Singers ‘Concierto por la Paz’ on January 27th 2019. will be greatly missed in the Mojácar and surrounding areas. They were formed in 2002, made their debut in the Anglican chaplaincy in 2003 with just 6 singers, An Urgent Appeal from PAWS / PATAS and guest pianist the late Peter Goodman. Their Bringing new animals into the shelter when existing performance of sacred, secular, classical and animals are being prepared for re-homing carries modern music was enthusiastically received. a high risk of introducing infection. For that reason, The group blossomed and numbers increased we need to ensure that every new animal is kept along with their reputation . in sterile quarantine conditions until testing for Pam Peters joined the singers as official accompanist in 2005, and Alison Jackson became a welcome addition as musical director in 2006. The rose Singers were the first classical choral group¨in the Mojácar area and continued to entertain audiences with their versatility and vocal excellence. They sang in 10 differenct languages and their members came from all over Europe and even from Canada!

infection is completed. We are intending to build a new quarantine unit for all new arrivals, but we need to cover the cost of the project. So far we are 50% towards the target and have raised 12,500 Euros. Please give whatever you can to help us in our campaign: See our www.paws-patas.org for details of how to donate, or alternatively go into our shops.

109

Community News A New Dawn for the Illegal Home Owners? Last Friday, 18th January, Juanma Moreno , leader of the Partido Popular, was sworn in as the new President of the Junta de Andalucía thus ending 36 years of uninterrupted socialist rule. This, for a number of reasons, represents a seismic change in the politics of Andalucía which should not be overlooked by foreign residents. The right wing Partido Popular will govern in coalition with the more centre-right Ciudadanos, with the support of a new right wing party called Vox, and the two parties have already agreed “90 Measures of a Government for Change in Andalucía”. As president of the homeowner’s association, AUAN, measure number 47, a statement of intent to quickly reform the Land Laws of Andalucía, is the one that interests me most and I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of their intentions to bring about this change given that the association has spent a number of years in dialogue with both of these parties seeking solutions for the issue of illegal houses. Based on our interactions to date we have reason to hope and indeed to expect to see a different mind-set and more agile solutions from this new government.

AUAN members with Juan Marin (Vice President Junta de Andalucia) and Mara Bosquet (President Parliament of Andalucia). July 2018

Departments of the Environment and Territorial Planning, bodies that bear comparison to that fictitious bastion of mindless bureaucracy, the Circumlocution Office, immortalised by Charles Dickens his novel, Little Dorrit, where one of its principle functions was to “never, on any account whatever, to give a straightforward answer”.

These modern-day examples of the Circumlocution Office have browbeaten our Mayors to such an extent that in Zurgena they feel a sense of accomplishment when they are granted partial approval of a town plan after 14 years of However, in order to succeed they must overcome negotiation and tranquilised our citizens into a 36 years of systemic thinking within the sense of resigned acceptance that it is OK to wait another 6 years for that plan to be executed (maybe) so that those without title to their homes Maura Hillen and Gerardo Vazquez of AUAN with can have peace of mind and legal protection at Juanma Moreno (President Junta de Andalucia). June 2018 last. However, neither such mindless bureaucracy nor pleas for tranquillity have ever held any sway with the members of AUAN and other like-minded associations and we will continue to strive for practical, achievable, and above all, agile solutions to the issue of illegal houses. And perhaps, just perhaps, with this new government we stand a chance of succeeding as long as we have the support to continue the fight.

110

What’s On

The Granada Brass Quintet Teatro Cervantes, Almería city, March 15th, 9pm. Their concert features popular Americana music from the 1960s. Tickets are 12 Euros in advance & 15 Euros on the door.

Spain Bob Dylan, who will be 77yrs old on May 24th, is coming to Spain with his band for 8 concerts entitled “Neverending Tour” from April 25th until May 7th when his closing concert is in Valencia. Other venues near to us are on May 3rd when he is in Seville and on May 5th he is in Murcia at the bullring. Bob Dylan last came to Spain in 2011. Tickets are available from www.riffmusic.es and www.tickesmaster.es starting at 60 Euros going up to 132 Euros.

Almería Raphael, one of Spain’s most legendary singers from Jaén with a career spanning nearly 60 years, per forms his latest album “ResSimphónico” on May 17th at

the Almería bullring along with the City of Almería Orchestra, as part of his 2019 Spanish tour. It is anticipated that the concert will be sold out and tickets are 20 & 30 Euros for nonnumbered seats, and from 45 to 65 Euros in other areas with numbered seats.

La Bella y la Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) on Ice, by the Russian Ice Ballet Palace Company.comes to Teatro Cervantes, Almería city, on March 7th, 9pm.The show features ice skaters, dancers, acrobats, and audio visual displays, and is for all the family. Tickets are 20 Euros in advance and 25 Euros at the door.

What’s On The Lopretti Jazz trio come to Teatro Cervantes, Almería city on April 12th at 9pm, performing a selection of the best Latin jazz music. José Lopretti their pianist has performed alongside many famous artistes worldwide. Tickets are 12 Euros in advance or 15 Euros at the door. Simon & Garfunkel ‘Through the years’ is a tribute concert on March 22nd at 9.30pm, Teatro Cervantes, Almería city, by the UK performers Dan Haynes and Pete Richards who comprise “Bookends”. They have toured in the UK, Europe and the US. Tickets are 22 Euros in advance or 25 Euros at the door. Tickets for concerts in Almería available from the ticket office in the Teatro Apolo, 25 Rambla Obispo Orberá, Almería , tel: 950 230 922. Mon- Fri, 10.30am-1.30pm & 6-8pm, or Sat, 11am-1pm. Tickets can be purchased from 2hrs before performances at the venue or from www.ticketmaster.es or call Ticketmaster: 902 1500 25. Main branches of ‘CaixaBank’ have machines which issue tickets; including Vera near the church square. Cenicienta y el Mundo Mágico, the musical, is the story of Cinderella and comes to Teatro Cervantes, Almería city on Sunday, March 31st at 12 noon. Intended for children, tickets are 12 Euros in advance or 15 Euros at the door. The Cooltural Fest 2019 live music event in Almería city takes place from August 15th-18th. The 2018 event has received many glowing reports and awards. The opening event on August 15th that

is free features Elefantes, Nixon, Mucho, Wi Bouz, and Twise. Main headline performers include Vetusta Moria, Second, Depedro, Kitai, Nunatak, Embusteros and Los Invaders. The Acoustic Playa events include Baby, Joana Serrat, Perro and Tu. Tickets are available from www.coolturalfest.com priced at 35 Euros 90 céntimos & 55 Euros 90 céntimos. Accommodation for the weekend is available at Almería University.

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Águilas Auditorio Promusica 2018/2019 season classical music concerts with the Region of Murcia Symphony Orchestra, Águilas Auditorio. February 8th: The orchestra and violin soloist Kyoungjoo Sung perform the Sibelius Concerto for violin & orchestra in D minor opus 57 and Brahm’s 3rd Symphony. The conductor is Félix Ardanás. March 15th: The orchestra perform the Manfred Overture by

What’s On Roquetas de Mar El Mejor Música de Cine (The best film music) is performed by the famous FSO Film Symphony Orchestra on February 26th and March 30th at Roquetas de Mar Auditorio with both concerts taking place at 9.30pm. The film music performed has been composed by John Williams who has won 5 Oscar awards and 59 nominations. This concert is part of a world tour that has been a sell-out on numerous occasions and tickets are 30, 35, & 40 Euros Forever King of Pop is a tribute concert for Michael Jackson performed on March 9th at 6.30pm and 9.30pm, Teatro Auditorio Roquetas de Mar. The Jackson Family Foundation have hailed this is as the best Michael Jackson event ever. Ticket prices not available at time of going to press.

Schuman opus 115, and his concerto for cello & orchestra in F minor opus 129, & Dvorak’s 8th symphony opus 88. The conductor is Diego Nasser. April 26th: The orchestra perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no.5 opus 73, and Tchaikovski’s 5th Symphony in E minor, opus 64. The orchestra is conducted by Michael Thomas (Resident conductor of

the City of Almería orchestra) and the piano soloist is Gabriel Escudero Braquehais. All concerts start at 8.30pm this season and tickets are 10 Euros from Oficina Promúsica, C/ Castelar, 2 2º. Tel.: 626 476 389 or Victoria Travel, C/ Isabel La Católica, 1 Tel.: 968 414 752 or from 2 hours before performance at box office.

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Rosana, the internationally famous Spanish singer for over 20 years comes to Roquetas de Mar Auditorio on February 16th at 9.30pm. She plays an acoustic guitar and the concert features her latest and 9th album entitled “En la Memoria de la Piel” that has sold 15 million copies so far. Tickets are 20, 24, and 28 Euros.

What’s On Exhibitions To m a r k t h e 5 0 0 t h anniversary of the construction of the Cuevas del Almanzora castle they are mounting an exhibition of local photographs from 1865-1973. It is in the Sala de la Tercia room and can be seen until March 22nd. Normal opening hours are Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am-1.30pm & 4pm-7pm, and Sundays 10am1.30pm.

Ara Malikian

Anabel Veloso and her dance company who are based in Roquetas de Mar comes to their Auditorio on February 22nd at 9.30pm, as part of a flamenco week. Her dance company is held in great esteem and her concert is entitled “Flamenco 24 Quilates”. Tickets are 5 & 10 Euros. Niña Pastori comes to Roquetas de Mar Auditorio on February 23rd at 9.30pm, as part of a flamenco week. Her previous and latest album “Desde la Azotea” have won many awards. Tickets are 30, 38, & 45 Euros. Ara Malikian who is a famous Lebanese-born Spanish classical violinist comes to Roquetas de Mar Auditorio on March 15th at 9.30pm. The concert is part of his world tour “Royal Garage”. He has recorded 40 discs and formed his own orchestra. Tickets are 42, 46, and 53 Euros.

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What’s On The Mojácar art gallery Casa Añil has an exhibition of various painters that can be seen until February. The gallery is at Calle Puntica 1, Mojácar village, open Tuesdays to Sundays, 11am-2pm & 5pm-7pm. The Almeria Archaeological Museum is holding an exhibition of cooking and food utensils mostly from the 8th and 9th centuries of the Al-Ándalus era. 110 different items have been loaned from a variety of places throughout Spain. The exhibition can be seen until March 17th and opening hours are Tuesdays to Saturdays from 9am9pm, & Sundays and fiesta days from 9am-3pm. Admission is free to EU residents, or 1 euro 50 céntimos for non-EU visitors. The museum is at 91 Carretera de Ronda, Almería city. Almería Archeology Museum

The Archaeological Museum in Almería city has an exhibition entitled “Las edades de las mujeres Iberas” (The ages of Iberian women) that comes to Almería from the museum in Jáen. The exhibition can be seen until February 10th and the exhibition is open daily from 9am-9pm except Mondays, and 9am-3pm on fiesta days, at Ctra de Ronda 91, Almería city.

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What’s On Miscellaneous Anglican Church. Aljambra Chapel, Albox. Thursday, 14th February at 11am, Valentine’s Day Church Sevice. All welcome to join us to celebrate that special relationship. Dames in Turre February meeting will be held on Monday 25th, 11am, at The Hostal Rural in Turre when our speaker will be Beth Underhill from Etticut Salon. Beth has been a hairdresser for 31 years. Her first salon was opened in Scotland called "The Hairdressing Salon and Barber Shop" in 1989. In January 2005, Beth moved to Spain and worked in a salon in Mojácar until September 2005. She then went mobile for a short while before opening her salon in Vera in November 2005. In November 2011 Beth made the move into Turre opening her Salon Etticut. This is now a thriving family business offering Chiropody, Beauty, Nails, Holistic Therapy, Dietary and Nutritional Services. Beth is qualified to HNC level which is the highest qualification in Hairdressing. Beth is no stranger to Dames in Turre and at this meeting she will be explaining the differences in shampoos and conditioners for all hair types and will be available to answer any questions you may have. Do come along and find out more, new guests are always welcome. For more information please contact our President Soo Wallace, tel. 667362713 or Membership Secretary Eileen McGill tel. 652298072.

MACS (Mojácar area cancer support) have their Big Mac 5 fundraising event on February 10th from 12 noon to 7pm at Hostal Rural in Turre. There is allday entertainment with two stages, food & drinks, & craft stalls. (If you are interested in reserving your stall at the event please contact Shannon on 681 664 808). Admission is 5 Euros, and free to children under the age of 12. The 8th Sierra Cabrera Extreme cycle race La Mojáquera takes place on March 19th. There are two distances of 50 & 78kms and the event starts from the centre of Mojácar village. More information and inscriptions from www.lamojaquera.com. Dames in Turre will be celebrating International Women's Day on March 8th at the New Shopping Centre in Almeria with lunch at the Barcelo Cabo de Gata, price 28 euros per person. Friends of Dames are welcome and details are available from Soo Wallace 667362713 The 2019 Mojácar Moors & Christians event is on June 14th16th. PAWS / PATAS. The next Beachcomber Book Sale will be on Tuesday, 12th February, 10.30am -1pm. Any donation of books or DVDs on the morning of the sale would be appreciated. All proceeds to cat neutering

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Mojácar Royal British Legion You do not need to have served in the Armed Forces to be a member of the Royal British Legion. Everyone is welcome. If you would like more information please contact the Secretary, Christine White, on 697887362. February Diary. Fri 1st,7.30pm, Pie and Quiz Night at Oasis Bar, Palomares. Quiz 8:30pm, 2 euros Thurs 7th, 11.15am, Branch Meeting at Artisan Centre, Mojacar. Speaker, Kev Moore, Musician Tues 19th, 7pm, Quiz, Buffet and more, Miraflores Campsite. Tickets 10 euros, entry and buffet. Profits to Poppy Appeal. Thurs 21st, 11.15am, Branch Social Meeting, Reina Mora Restaurant, Mojácar Playa Thurs 28th, 1.30pm, Andalucian D ay Lu n c h , S a n B e r n a b e Restaurant, Mojácar. To book any of the above events please contact Barbara on 622 207 774. rblmojacar.socialevents @gmail.com

APSA monthly raffle. Tickets 2 euros from the APSA shop. Prizes donated by various local busineses.

Send details of your events to almeriafocus@gmail.com or call 670 84 92 65

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What’s On Market Days Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday: Sunday:

Huércal-Overa, Antas, Berja Albox, Los Gallardos, Cuevas del Almanzora Mojácar, Bédar, Lubrin, Vélez Blanco, Palomares, Tabernas Cuevas del Almanzora, Olula del Río, Carboneras, Sorbas Garrucha, Turre, Zurgena Aguilas, Vera, Arboleas, Vélez Rubio Villaricos, Purias, San Juan de los Terreros

Rastros, Car Boot Sales, etc. Saturday: Craft Market, Sopalmo, 11am - 6pm Saturday: Los Llanos, between Arboleas & Albox Sunday morning: Los Gallardos Campsite Sunday morning: Multiple Use Centre (Artisan Centre), Mojácar Village 2nd Sunday of the month: Bédar, from 9am Last Sunday of the month: Velez Rubio on Industrial estate

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Activities - Clubs - Associations Clubs, Societies & Activities

The Royal British Legion, Mojácar Branch, The Artisan Centre, 1st and Almanzora Group of Friends 3rd Thurs. of each month, 11:15am. All Library and Information Centre welcome inc. non-services personnel. Mon - Fri and first Saturday of month For enquiries & Welfare call 950 066053 10am-1pm, Plaza San Antonia, Barrio http://branches.britishlegion.org.uk/ Alto, Albox. Extensive English Library, branches/mojacar/news-events/ DVDs and talking books, monthly magazine, monthly quiz, trips. The Royal British Legion - Albox Tel: 634 343 147 or Facebook: Everyone welcome. Monthly meeting 3rd Thursday of every month, La Parrilla, Almanzora Group of Friends. Albox, 11am. Coffee morning 1st Almería Link Friendship Group Thursday of every month, Oasis Cafe Meetings Thursdays, 4pm, at the Trufi Bar, 11.30am. For info contact chairman Bar, Mojácar. For information contact Ken Matthews, email ken.matthews10 Bob (Chairman) on 950472551 or @gmail.com. For support, Filip Ostrowski Cynthia (Secretary) on 950472699. on 950066037. http://counties.british Don't be lonely, come and join us. l e g i o n . o r g . u k / b r a n c h e s / a l b o x Living Alone in Spain? The Royal British Legion - Zurgena We are a 60+ group of friends who & District Branch meet for lunch every Wednesday in the Bar Latinos, C/ Granada, La Alfoquia, Mojácar area. Tel: 674 823 697 every first Thursday of the month at 11a.m. Email zurgenaRBLsecretary WOW Women on Wednesday Kukis, Mojácar Playa, from 2pm. Get @yahoo.co.uk. See www.britishlegion. together, buy, sell, swap, meet new org.uk/branches/zurgena people. Psychic Development Circle Various classes at different times. Dames in Huércal Overa 3rd Wed. of the month, 10.30am, Hostal Everyone welcome. Tel: Barbara 637 Rural Los Sabores de Miguel. All welcome. 469 937 barbaramoonlight@gmail.com Tel. Carolyn 637 798 494 AUAN - Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No. Dames in Spain (Mojácar) Talks, trips, support for local charities. Association campaigning for the 3rd Mon. of the month, 11.00am legalisation of homes in the Almanzora Sensations Restaurant, Mojácar Playa. Valley built without proper authority. Chairperson Carol Threlfall, 671 947 Meeings on 3rd Sat. of every other 035. Secretary Jenny Trask, 628 263 month, 11am, La Parrilla, Albox. Tel: 617 315. See fb Dames in Spain. Guests 118 209 www.almanzora-au.org welcome. The Divine Life Society, Almeria Branch Dames in Turre 11am, last Mon in the month, Hostal Lotus Yoga Centre, Mojácar. Evening Rural, Turre. Talks, trips, support for of Meditation and a talk, 1st Fri of the local charities. Guests welcome. Tel: month, 7.30pm. Spiritual Cinema, 3rd Membership Secretary Eileen McGill 652 Fri of the month, 7.30pm. Meditation 208 072 or President Soo Wallace Tel:- and Yoga classes. Tel Sharon 950 469122 or 672 061 048 or omsharon50 667 362 713 @gmail.com Mojácar Community Library Multi-Use centre. Mon, Wed and Fri, Vera & District Lions Club. 5.00pm on the first Wednesday of the 11am - 1pm . month at El Gnomo Feliz restaurant, Mojácar Walking Group Vera. Telephone Sandie Tinkham on 950 Walks of different levels. Tues & Thurs. 439324 or Pam Mattioli on 950069249 w w w. m o j a c a r wa l k i n g g ro u p . c o m for more information. Mojácar Bridge Club Mon and Thurs, 7pm. Marina Playa Hotel. Contact Les 950 437 100 / 634 219 174 Facebook: Mojácar Bridge Club

Flamenco Forum for English Speakers on Facebook. Information and events. Tel: 687 480 694

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Vera Photo Club First Sunday of month, Bar La Pará, Turre (opposite the Vet), 10am 12.30pm. Presentations by invited speakers, field trips, instruction, studio photography, monthly assignments and exhibitions. All levels welcome. Phone Sarah 670003717 or Claus 628585538. Mojacar Photo Group Contact Lyle Mallen: 620 786 914 Ancestry Club for Beginners & Intermediate Piedra Amarilla. Wednesdays, 2pm-4pm. 5 euros per week. Tel. 634 309 590 Betty's Garden Club 11.30 for 12 noon, 2nd Monday of the month at Miraflores Restaurant, Camping Los Gallardos except in July & August. All welcome. Tel: 603 587 805 Mojacar Computer & Electronics Club Saturdays, Beachcomber, Mojácar. 10 – 12 noon, Laptops. 12 noon – 1pm, smart phones, tablets, cameras, etc Freemasons in the Province of Almeria Craft & Chapter. 661 026 912 or 670 27 27 37 Freemasons – The Side Degrees Mark, RAM, RSM, OSM & Allied. 694 44 43 61 Cabrera Music Club For info call Richard: 666 274 861 cabreramusicclub@albox-online.net Albox Computer Club Hotel La Parrilla, Albox. Fri, 10am. All levels of experience are welcomed. www.alboxcc.com Indalo Hash House Harriers Meet 2nd and 4th Sunday, 11am, various l o c a t i o n s . w w w. i n d a l o h 3 . c o m Mojácar Angling Club Tel. John (Beachcomber): 950 473 099 Traditional Japanese Reiki and Gendai Reiki Ho Classes, workshops, and Reiki shares in Mojacar. Tel: 634 347 930, website: www.gendaireikispain.com Send details of your club, society or activity to almeriafocus@gmail.com Tel: 670 849 265

Activities - Clubs - Associations Clubs, Societies & Activities continued

Church of England Costa Calida and Costa Almeria Mojacar: Eucharist, Sunday, 11am, at the church of San Pascual, Agua de Enmedio. Amigos de los Coches Clasicos Local multi-national group of classic car Albox: Eucharist, 2nd & last Thurs in enthusiasts. Meetings the first Thursday month, 11am. Evensong, second Sun in of the month, 3pm, Hotel Rural Miguel month, 6pm. Comunity Hall Aljambra. Rosi, junction 559 E15/A7. www.a-c-c.es, Llanos del Peral, nr El Cucador: Eucharist email: info@a-c-c.es, tel. David 950 412 or morning worship, Sundays, 11am.at Village Church and Community Hall. 165 Roquetas: No services because no venue. Cabrera Slot Car Club Details: Church Wardens, Pam Carter, Thursdays, 4.30-6pm. Richard 950 970 667947573 & Janet Smith, 671451838 869. Call to check if on first. www.mojacarchurch.org Model Aero Flying Club, Cortijo Kingdom Hall, Jehovah's Witnesses Grande Sun. & Wed., 10.30am. Contact Jeff on Tues 7:30pm & Sun 10.00am. Poligono 950 469304 or Colin on 666 982186 Aljoroque - C/El Cajete 6, Antas. Contact: 652 293 269 Aeroclub ULM Günter (Vera) Living Water Church Mojacar Playa Tel: 607 316 553 Opposite Red Cross Centre and Salas Costa Levante Bird Group Farmacia. Sunday Service 11am. Bible Meets first Thursday of each month. study Tuesday 11am. Cafe Church For more information phone Rod Thursday 11am to 1pm. For further info 634362353 contact Pastors Dave 697 522 521 or John 634 254 781. See FaceBook or visit Pita Escuela Agave School of Río Aguas. A multicultural, www.livingwaterchurchmojacar.com environmental and musical project, Aguaviva Evangelical Church specialized on the integral usage of the Near the health Centre, opposite Biciagave plant and the processing of its Box, Albox. Tel: Rod Southwood, 687 wood.Tel 630 66 18 65 (Timbe) 560 544 pitaescuela@hotmail.com Puerto Lumbreras Christian Sunseed Fellowship A hands-on practical centre for low- Every 1st and 3rd Sunday each month impact living and environmental at 11.00 am. Phone for exact location education in Los Molinos del Rio Aguas (now at their house) Tel 619453283 or near Sorbas. Free tours at 4pm. 968 018 228 Paul and Sandra www.sunseed.org.uk Tel: 950 525 770 New Life Church, Huercal-Overa Come and Look at What I Made, We are a Jesus centred church family A club for people who want to learn learning to love one another. Sunday more about the work of local artisans. service at 11 am, www.newlifechurch.eu We organise demonstrations, day trips (see map) tel. 685 628 184 and workshops. Website: www.comeandlookatwhatimade.club Email: welcome@comeandlookat Support Groups & whatimade.club Charities

Religious Groups & Churches The Evangelical Church, Turre Avda de Almeria on the corner of C/Alberquillica . Sunday 10.30am. Tuesday 3pm Bible Studying. Midweek prayer meeting. Tel. 950 617549 or 950 47 2 3 4 9 . w w w . t u r r e c h u r c h . c o m

Stepping Stones Carers Support Group Turre Evangelical Hall, Thurs, 11am-2pm. Tel 950 472822 or 677 683385 www.steppingstonescarersgroup.wee bly.com Ostomist Support For Expats Call Dee 950 064 322 in confidence. A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous Mojacar area Meetings –Tuesday, 6pm, Artisan Centre, Mojacar Fuente - Friday & Wednesday, 6pm, Living Water Church, Mojácar Playa (opposite Red Cross building). Tel: 634 349 535 or 634 319 746 or email mike@aaspain.org When the Artisan Centre is closed, the Tuesday meeting will be at the Living Water Church. Age Support Almanzora Shop and welfare office near Peugeot garage, Albox. Helpline 634 316 573 Universal Wonderful Street Academy NGO that supports street children in Accra (Ghana). Registered charity. www.universalwonderfulstreetacadem y.org. Beatriz: 617 182 154 FACE (Fundraising in Arboleas, Caring for E ve r yo n e ) . Re g i s te r e d c h a r i t y. face.charity@hotmail.com www.face -charity.com The Helping Hands Support for Animals and People alike. Registered charity. Tel: 968 48 29 48 Harmony Community Support Providing assistance to those in need. Tel. 634 339 192 Mon - Fri, 11:00 - 14:00 help@harmonycharity

Parkinson's Disease Support Contact Joyce Boxall (Santa Maria de Nieva, Huércal-Overa), tel 677 688037 MACS Cancer Support Group General Enquiries call 634 328 334 10am to 4pm. 24/7 Careline: 634 656 555. Fully Spanish registered charity. Shops in Mojácar, Turre, Albox and Huercal-Overa open Mon-Fri, 10-2pm www.macscancersupport.com Email: macscancersuppor t@live.co.uk

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Send details of your group to almeriafocus@gmail.com Tel: 670 849 265

Activities - Clubs - Associations Dance

Arts & Crafts

Music & Drama Groups

Line Dancing Hotel el Puntazo, Mojacar. Fridays, 7.–10pm. Beginners welcome. Contact: Glynis 648217503 or Mary Beth 661671526 or strictlylinedancing mojacar@gmail.com

Sewing Group, Mojacar Meet at Dolce Vita for sewing, knitting etc. Weds 10.30 - 12.30. Tel: Brenda 634 34 34 92 or Sylvia 628 006 197.

Indalo Players Well established drama group always looking for new members to act or help back stage. Tel. Bill White on 671 81 08 19 or email williamwhite9552@aol.com

Ladies Sewing Circle Evangelical Church, Turre, Wednesday 10.30 – 12.30 Tel: 667 702 774

Independent Theatre Group Always looking for new people, novices & full blown Thesbians. Call Ian Jones on 950 436 581 or 666 375 688 or email independenttheatre@hotmail.com

Eleanor & Gilly's Line Dance Class Chapman’s Bar, Albox, 2-30pm- 4-30pm, Mondays. All levels welcome. 950439003. Step2It - Line Dancing Albox. Weds: 6.45 p.m - 7.30 p.m, First Steps/Intro. 7.30 p.m -10.30, Beginners / Improvers /Intermediate. : Carrie Ann 627279584 www.carrieanngreen.com Line Dancing La Vida, Cucador. Tuesday 5pm Almeria Line Dancers Julie - 634304625 / 950110433 Pro Danza Nicky Mainstone Royal Academy Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Dance fit fusion. Children & Adults. Mojacar & Los Gallardos. T. 667479903 Ceroc Dancing Artisan Centre, Mojacar, Tues 8.15pm Beginners/Improvers/Advanced. All welcome. Contact Tracey 687251799 Belly Dancing Mojácar, Garrucha & Huércal-Overa. Contact Fatima: 610 472 596

Glass Bead Making La Cueva del Pájaro, Carboneras. Call 950 130 627 Ladies Pottery Painting Parties Albox - every 2nd Thursday, 6 - 9pm. SimplyArt 662 443 095 Art Classes All levels. Thurs, 11-1pm, Miraflores Campsite. Tel: 653 714 767 Girasol, Albox Art & painting. Tues, 10-1pm. Mosaic classes. Thurs 3-5.Tel 639 089 170 Sophia Wellness Centre, Arboleas Art classes. Tel. 950 449 451. Picante Quilting Club Scotty’s El Tropico, Mojacar. First Thurs of the month, 10am-12.30pm. Beginners welcome. For more details or to book your place, please email Jo at jogibson787@yahoo.co.uk

Yoga

Bellydance Classes Mojácar, Turre, Palomares. Call 639 724 521

Lotus Yoga Centre, Mojácar Mondays. Contact Sharon - 672 061 048 or omsharon50@gmail.com

Oriental and Middle Eastern Folklore dancing classes Tues at Vera, Wed at Turre. Shirin, 607805367, gytanshark@yahoo.es

L.O.T.U.S Integral Yoga Centre Mojácar. Yoga all levels/gentle yoga. Weds, Fri, Sun. Tel. Parvathi: 636063560

Dance Classes with Hollie Newell Ballet, tap, contemporary, modern, jazz, lyrical, zumba and more. Based in Turre. Tel: 634 317 391

Sansonora, Mojacar Wednesday, 2.30pm. All levels, visitors welcome. Sharon 672061048

Performing Arts Centre DanZaVera 54 Verasol, Vera. Royal Academy Ballet, Imperial Society Modern, Tap and Jazz. Also Hip-Hop, Oriental Dance, Spanish Classical. Tel Anita: 670 715 787 Complete Beginners Flamenco classes, Fridays, 5pm, The Roof Garden, Parque Comercial, Mojácar. No specialist shoes or equipment required, friendly hour long class. Email info@lagitanainglesa.com

Sol Yoga Centre, Arboleas Tel: 686 400331 Girasol, Albox Call 639 089 170 Cortijo El Saltador Lucainena de las Torres. Mon, 5:30pm. Tel: Brahmani on 600 34 91 51 Yoga with Ashlí Turre, Vera & private. 643102335 Yoga Therapy with Portia Oliver. Tel: 681301474 www.portiaoliver.es

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The Luvvies New members always welcome for acting or work behind the scenes etc. Te l . 6 34 34 6 3 0 9 o r e - m a i l theluvvies@hotmail.com Jacqueline Welby Productions New members always needed to act or work back stage or with any other activities. Tel. Jacqueline Morris Welby 634 313 531 Almeria Strings Folk Club Third Thursday of the month, 8pm, Turre. Free admission. For location and other events, see www.almeriastrings .org or call 634 347 930 The Rose Singers Small ladies choir singing a variety of musical genres in aid of local charities. 4-5 performances a year. Rehearsals Friday mornings, Los Gallardos. New singers always welcome. Call Alison on 667 408 941 or see us on Facebook. The Incognito Singers A mixed voice group performing a varied repertoire of songs to a high standard. Rehearsals Wednesday evening, Arboleas. See Facebook, w w w. t h e i n c o g n i t o s i n g e r s . c o m , theincognitosing er s@gmail.com Sing Sing Sing A mixed informal singing group, singing all types of music, for the fun of it, and to be able to perform a few charity events. Everyone welcome, Rehearsal Tuesday 6pm Villaricos Social Centre. For info. ring Janet on 617856680. Cariatiz Community Orchestra All welcome, any age, any level, only requirement is to read music. Rehearsals Sundays 6-7pm, Cariatiz (between Los Gallardos and Sorbas). Contact Emma, emma.v.randle@gmail.com 654 164 293

Activities - Clubs - Associations Sports Almería Lawn Bowling Club Contact Shirley: 679 970 399 Bowling Club de Zurgena Friendly, social and competitive bowling, all levels and standards. Contact Keith: 634 335 988 or zurgenabc@gmail.com. www.zurgenabc.com Cabrera Lawn Bowling Club Contact Ian Jackson: 634 340 361 or iandjjackson2@gmail.com. Website www.cabreralbc.com Indalo Lawn Bowling Club Contact Toni: 950 468 165 or 647 703 393 wattsmyt@gmail.com Mojacar Bowls Club Behind Marina Mar Hotel. Everybody welcome - Tues, Thurs and Sat starting with coffee at 9:30. Contact Verna 610 838 644.

Club de Tenis y Padel Indalo Vera. Tel: 608 250 607 - 950 59 28 77 www.tenisypadelindalo.com Tennis & Padel Tennis Sierra Club Desert Springs. Tel: 687599115

Girasol, Albox Pilates, children’s karate & gymastics, advanced gymnastics, Tai-chi. Tel 639 089 170

Tennis Coach Diego Rodriguez Tel: 689 688 226

Body Control Pilates Classes or private. Sharon 638 487 314

Padel tennis lessons At home. Tel: Ulises Gutiérrez, 606 902 691

Aerobics or Pilates Campo de Futbol, Turre. Contact Vicki 650 764 623 or vicki.lynch@live.co.uk

Albox Sub-Aqua Club Wed, 8pm, Travellers Inn (7Km from Albox on Taberno Road). Mojácar Sailing Club Sunday afternoons, Playa Cantal, near Trufi Bar. All ages welcome for crewing or social membership. Contact George on 950 475 428.

PartyLevante Sailing Club Initiation for children from 7 yrs in small groups. Email info@partylevante.com Badgers Golf Society or call 680942141 www.partylevante Mojacar, play Wednesday and Saturday. .com Everyone always welcome. Contact Duncan Smart on 634 331 059 or Santa Irene Sailing Club badgersmojacar@gmail.com Meets Sundays at 10:30 at the boat park Boxers Golf Society Albox All welcome to join us as members or guests. Call in at the Why Not bar in Albox on Saturday mornings or email peterstooks@avired.com Forum Golf Society Plays friendly events at local courses twice a month. Richard Price. Telephone 850993073 or rfp53@yahoo.co.uk. www.forumgolfsociety.webs.com

Fitness & Martial Arts

of the New Marina, Garrucha, with a presail coffee at café La Oficina virtually opposite at 11:00. Contact Ian via info@ santaireneclubdevela.com or call 671 474 385. See www.santaireneclub devela.com

Slimming Groups Casa Pepa, Turre, Weds 10 am, Sophia Wellness Centre Arboleas, Thurs 12.30pm, Contact Vicki 650 764 623 or vicki.lynch@live.co.uk Martial Arts Academy Seidokan Scientific Karate & Taiji-Qigong, Vera. Call John Watson 950 453 681 Performing Arts Centre DanZaVera Almeria. 54 Verasol, Vera. Martial Arts, Karate, Tai ji qigong, ancient weapons including Sword, Self Defence, Tactical Gymnastics, Yoga and ageless mobility. Tel Anita: 670 715 787 Mojácar Taekwondo 5 years to adults. Various classes & times. Contact Serge 646844708. Facebook GTF Spain

Garrucha Table Tennis Club Tel Barry on 677 174 430

Sophia Wellness Centre, Arboleas Gym, Toning tables, Kickboxing, Cross fit, Boot camp, Boxing, Salsacise, Zumba, Step Aerobics, Body Pump. Tel. 950 449 451.

Cazadores de Turre Cricket Club. Welcome new members of all ages and experience. Contact Sam Lewis on 663 132 487 or Derek Larkins 634 361 941

Fitness with Alison, Mojácar Full Body Workout, Pilates, AquaZumba, Zumba, Step Aerobics, Total Toning, AeroFit. Tel 666 273 168.

Marina Phoenix Golf Society Visitors welcome Mondays and Thursdays. Tel Don Atkins 605 051 238. Adelante Gimnasia Artìstica Email marinaphoenixgolfsociety Classes for fun gymnastics , competitive @gmail.com levels, pre school and adults. Fully Valle del Este Golf Society. qualified coach. From 2 years. Tel 622 Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays. Contact 129 702 or info@adelanteartisitca.es Alan Townsend Tel. 690 090 982 www.adelanteartistica.es Facebook Adelante Gimnasia artistica. Almería Golf League Contact Les on 950 619 273 Walking Football Club Campo de Football, Los Gallardos, 9am Albox Club de Tenis Sun & Thurs mornings, Tues afternoons. Monday for training, exercise & playing. Tel Sue: 950 064 369 www.fclosamigos.com Cabrera Tennis Club El Bandido Runners Email: cabreratennis@gmail.com Run, jog , walk a 5km route along the www.facebook.com/cabrera.tennis Paseo. Free to all. See Facebook. Contact Kevin on ironmankev08 @gmail.com

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Sansonora, Mojácar Qi Gong, Pilates, Dance. Contact Elena, 630 688 615 or elenasansonora @gmail.com Hollie Newell Zumba Almeria Turre, Los Gallardos, Arboleas and San Juan. Contact: 634 317 391 Zumba, La Vida Cucador Fridays 10am.

Your Stars Your ability to talk circles around your colleagues will help you forge ahead in the workforce. You will have to be careful not to fall into traps set by jealous colleagues. Someone may be trying to take advantage of you. Your charisma will no doubt attract a lot of attention. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

You may have a problem with someone you live with if you don't include them in your gathering. Investments that deal with property will pay off but could cause conflict with some family members. Curb or cut out that bad habit you've been meaning to do something about. Partnerships may be strained if one of you has been erratic and hard to deal with. Your luckiest (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) events this month will occur on a Monday.

You will do well in social settings, and new and interesting individuals may spark a romantic curiosity. Look into ways to better yourself through improving your dietary habits and daily routines. Get busy on those home improvement projects that you've been procrastinating about. Put your efforts into physical fitness programs or (Apr. 21- May 21) competitive sports. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Sunday.

Don't let friends convince you that you should contribute to something you don't believe in. Expect problems with settlements that you are trying to resolve. You have to let go of your past if you wish to get out of any sentimental mood that might be hanging over your head. You'll communicate easily and develop new friendships. (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

You may interest some of them in a service you have to offer. Entertainment could cost you more than you expect. This will not be the best day to make changes or renovations to your residence. Accommodate others but not before you do your own thing. Do the proper safety checks before (May 22 - June 21) you go out. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

You can get ahead if you are willing to take a partner. This is a wonderful day to look into courses or hobbies that interest you. This will not be the best day to make changes or renovations to your residence. Do not get involved in joint financial ventures. Your luckiest events this month (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) will occur on a Thursday.

Make changes to your home that will be pleasing to everyone involved. Get motivated and follow up on some self-improvement resolutions. You can make changes that will enhance your appearance. Try not to take others for granted. Tempers could get out of hand this month. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Saturday.

Rewards, gifts, or money from investments or taxes can be expected. If you're looking to do something worthwhile, consider volunteer work. Uncertain changes regarding your personal life are evident. Get into fitness programs to keep in shape. Your ambitious mood may not go over well with loved ones. Your luckiest events this (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20) month will occur on a Wednesday.

Make plans to do the things you enjoy. A quiet restful day just staying in bed or catching up on reading will be your best bet. Be sure to get involved in self improvement programs that will bring you in contact with interesting people. Your tendency to overreact could get you into trouble. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

Your attitudes at work will open new avenues for you. You can make professional changes and direct your energy into making all the right moves. Go after your goals. You can get into weight loss programs or go out and change your image with a new look in clothing, hairstyle, and attitude. Tempers will mount if you're too pushy at work or at home. Your luckiest events this month will occur on a Friday.

(Mar. 21- April 20)

(June 22 - July 22)

(July 23 - Aug. 22)

Your ability to come up with good solutions for problems related to work will no doubt help you in getting a promotion. Problems with your boss could lead to unemployment. Deception is probable if you don't use discrimination. Don't press your luck with your loved ones. Your luckiest (Aug. 23 - Sept. 23) events this month will occur on a Tuesday.

(Jan. 21- Feb. 19)

Opportunities to learn important information will surface through discussions with peers or seminars you attend. Don't invest too much of your own money. You can get ahead if you work diligently behind the scenes. Travel opportunities must be taken advantage of. Your luckiest events (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) this month will occur on a Saturday.

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Jokes of the Month Donald Trump

The Postman

An airplane was about to crash and there were four passengers on board, but only three parachutes. The first passenger said, “I am David Jones, the best NBA basketball player. The Warriors and my millions of fans need me, and I can’t afford to die.” So he took a parachute and jumped out. The second passenger, Donald Trump, said, “I am the newly-elected US President, and I am the smartest President in American history who is going to make America great again, so my fellow Americans don’t want me to die.” He grabbed the second parachute and jumped out of the plane. The third passenger was the Pope, and he looked at the fourth passenger who was a 10-year-old schoolboy. He said, “My son, I am old and don’t have many years left. You have all your life ahead of you and may go on to do great things. I will sacrifice my life and let you have the last parachute.” The little boy said, “That’s okay, Your Holiness, there’s a parachute left for you. America’s smartest President grabbed my schoolbag!”

One Monday morning a postman is walking the neighbourhood on his usual route. As he approaches one of the homes he noticed that both cars are in the driveway when normally the husband and wife would be at work. He sees Bob the homeowner coming out with a load of empty beer and spirit bottles. "Wow Bob, looks like you guys had one hell of a party last night." Bob replied, "Actually, we had it Saturday night. This is the first time I have felt well enough to start moving around. We had about ten couples over for a party, and it got a bit wild. We got so drunk around midnight that we started playing 'Who am I?'" The postman thinks a moment and asks, "How do you play that?" “Well, all the guys go in the bedroom and strip off, and we come out one at a time with a sheet covering us and only our ‘privates’ showing through a hole in the sheet. Then the women try to guess who it is." The postman laughs and says, "Damn, I'm sorry I missed that." "Probably a good thing you did," Bob responds. "Your name came up four or five times." The Son

Dating One Friday lunchtime two women who worked in the same office and had become friends were at the coffee machine and one of them said, “Ann, I need your advice. I’ve only just started here as you know, but Alan the handsome one from accounts has asked me out on a date tomorrow night”. The other woman replied, “Oh Ann, everybody knows about him! He will wine and dine you, and then use any excuse to get you to go to his apartment. Once you get there he will rip your clothes off, but apparently he is amazing in bed!” Ann asked, “What do you think I should do then?” Her friend replied, “Wear an old dress!”

It has been many years since a young lady the baker knew extremely well went in with a new baby and told the baker he was the father. He had agreed to give the woman free bread and cakes until the boy was 16yrs old. He was carefully counting off the years, and one day the teenager came in. He told the baker “I’m 16yrs old tomorrow and I need a birthday cake”. The baker gave him the cake and said, “I know that. Tell your mother our agreement is now at an end and from now on she has to pay me like everybody else. I’d love to see the expression on her face”. The teenager tells his mother what the baker has said, and she tells him to go back. “Tell him that for the last 16 years I have had free milk, free meat, and some free groceries as well. Then come back and tell me the expression on his face!”

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...and next... Paying Debts

In Court Today was my first ever day in court to answer a charge of driving whilst I was drunk. The judge came in and shouted “Order, Order!!” I was so excited, that I shouted back, “Fried rice with chicken, a side order of onion bhaji, and three bottles of beer.” I now seem to be locked up in a not very nice cell, convicted of something called “Contempt of court”, but they haven’t brought my order yet! The Gas Men Two gas company employees were out reading meters. One was a seasoned employee and the other one was a new trainee. They parked their van at one end of a street and started working their way along. At the last house an old lady was watching them out of the window as they read her meter. The older man bet the trainee that he could race him back to the van, and because he was very fit he was sure he would win. The trainee agreed, so off they went. The older man won the race but was amazed to see that the old lady was huffing and puffing right behind him. He asked the woman what was wrong, and she replied, fighting for breath, “When I saw..... two gas men.... running away.... from my house....as hard as possible...... I figured that I’d better.... run off too... before the house blew up!

Trade is very slow one winter in a small town when a well-dressed businessman who seems to have money goes into the only hotel that also has a restaurant. He books a room for the night after he has asked to see the room, collects his key and gives the receptionist a 100 Euro note.The hotel owner takes the 100 Euro note and gives it to the butcher because he owes him 200 Euros for the meat he serves up in his restaurant. The butcher owes his meat supplier a fair amount of money, so he takes the 100 Euro note and pays 100 Euros off his debt. The meat supplier owes money to the farmer who sells him the meat, so he takes the 100 Euro note to the farmer. The unmarried farmer takes the 100 Euro note and gives it to a prostitute he sometimes uses who has given him time to pay as business is very slack. The prostitute hires a room by the hour at the hotel when she has clients, so she goes to the hotel and pays them the 100 Euro note from the farmer, so she is up to date with her room payments. At the hotel the businessman goes back to reception and tells the woman that he has suddenly had some bad news regarding his son who has been in an accident, so he has to leave, and he won’t need his room. The receptionist agrees to refund the 100 Euros as he says he will stay at the hotel the next time he is in town. There was no profit or loss anywhere in the town, but everybody had at least paid off some of their debt. The hotel and the town looked forward to the next guests arriving!

The Barber I found out that a local barber in my area had just got arrested for selling drugs. It blew my mind! I’ve been his customer for years, but I had no idea he was a barber.

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Coffee Break

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