026 april 2016

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026 April 2016 Calendar, - Fiestas – Picnics – Mona – St. George – Easter Rising – San Sebastian Cultural city 2016 – Spotlight on Calpe – Curiosities Museum – Torrevieja Graficas – Guide dogs – Philately – Torrevieja Philatelic society – You Have it in You – Cabo Cervera tower

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As you read us we are still enjoying the Semana Santa processions that end on Easter Sunday morning with the meeting between Jesus and his Mother Mary. Easter Monday is a public holiday and in Valencia and Murcia regions many towns have another holiday the following Monday, which is the feast of San Vicent Ferrer. The next day the schools get back to work. This month is also when Alcoy celebrates the annual glamorously colorful pageant of the Moors & Christians fiestas, held on 23rd April the feast of the town’s patron St. George. He is a popular guy in Spain and Barcelona also have a fiesta this day which coincides with the deaths of playwrights Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Most towns will have book fairs, poetry readings, re-enactment of books etc. and I would imagine that the emphasis this year will be on the two bards whom we have ben writing about each month this year so far.

Torrevieja children enjoying wolf story at the annual book fair on the promenade.

On Easter weekend (Good Friday to Sunday) an Artesan Fayre is held in XĂ bia. With an early Easter Sunday this year, which falls on Sunday 27th March and coincides with the changing of the clocks - Spring(time) forward. It is a date which fixes several other fiestas such as San Vicente Ferrer, Pentecost etc.

Easter Sunday in Alcoy sees a magnificent procession of the Encuentro. This is held in several towns.

Yecla previously offered a furniture fair at Eastertime, but this is now held from 26 29 September 2016.aormi@icloud.com

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Moors and Christians spectacular parades in Alcoy and some other towns

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The Monday following Easter Monday is the feast of San Vicente Ferrer, known as the day of la mona. In Torrevieja the tradition is to go to the pine woods at La Mata and camp out overnight. In the morning there is a religious procession from the la Inmaculada church which visits ill people in the immediate area with the priest giving a blessing and sharing communion.

Some towns celebrate it before or after the day. A Romeria is held in Benidoleig: other fiestas are in Benejama, Biar, Guardamar del Segura, La Nucia, Torrevieja.

Moors & Christians parades in Teulada and San Vicente d Raspeig hold wonderful parades over this weekend.

On this weekend thousands of people take part in the Romeria of the Virgen del Rosario in Albatera. This event dates back to the 16th century the group ending up at the sanctuary of Serralba at the foot of the mountains. Usually the town lays on a giant paella for the occasion after the mass.

The Moors & Christian festivities in Busot are held for 4 days falling on the weekend after Easter Sunday.

11 April Virgen del Milagro procession in Relleu.

18 - 19th Cocentaina holds the Mare de DĂŠu del Miracle fiestas.

22 April Hogueras in the streets of Onil.

22 - 24th April Moors & Christian Fiestas in honour of Saint George in Alcoy.

22/&23 St. George festivities in many towns including in Orihuela Costa.

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22 - 25th April Moors & Christian Fiestas of Banyares de Mariola.

Mig Any in Alfas del Pi On the Second Thursday after Easter Sunday an enormous romería of la Santa Faz in Alicante.

On the 4th Sunday, from the previous Friday, the patronal fiestas of Benissa last for a week in honour of the Purissima Xiqueta Virn..

23rd April - 1 May Benifallima hold Moors & Christians parades.

27th April to 3 May Jávea celebrates the fiestas of Jesús Nazareno.

Last Saturday of the month the Festa de Romer takes place in Xaló.

As we go to print we are not the Easter time and more fiestas to look forward to. The above photo is one taken by Raquel López Martinez at SS Ana and Roque church in Acequion district of Torrevieja. It illustrates very well the idea of Good Friday’s Jesus Crucified taking centre stage but his shadows are a reminder of the two thieves Dismas and Gestas, and all the rest of us who are thieves. There is a very famous rabbi in America who condensed the ten commandments into one, namely they are all about stealing something from someone else, whether its goods, or a good name, or respect or love or a life.

Easter Monday and the following Monday are known as the Day of the Mona, which is a bun with boiled egg eaten on those days. They are also local holidays and aormi@icloud.com

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many people head off for a long weekend, traditionally it was to camp in La Mata pines, but more commonly now people use it for a short break.

The second Monday is in honor of St. Vicent Ferrer who was responsible for many schools being opened in Valencia and Murcia areas so schools are on holiday but go back the following day.

For a quiet industrial mountain town ALCOY has a long tradition of fiestas, especially the Cabalgata of the Kings in January and in April the Moors & Christian parades for St. George. A dummy castle is the setting in the main plaza for the various speeches by the ambassadors and the restaurants round about are the kabilas or headquarters for the various files of warriors from both camps. The town’s narrow streets full of bright bunting lends itself to this type of medieval spectacular. The costumes are a treat to see in all their variety and colour, with nonchalant Arabs strolling along belching smoke out from their cigars and blunderbusses.

St. George is also one of the patrons for Barcelona and there are many events there including a Book Fair in this city, which is a delight to visit as there is so much to do and see. A custom is to give a lady a book and she in return gives him a book.

But his feast also coincides with the anniversary of Cervantes and many towns have a book fair, often with talks or book signings by authors. This year one would hope that there will be emphasis on the 400th anniversary of this literary genius of Spain and also the same anniversary for Will Shakespeare.

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LOOK OUT FOR THIS PLAQUE The final procession of the Torrevieja Holy Week processions is a very religious one when two processions leave the la Inmaculada church going in opposite directions. One group carries the image of Mary Immaculate and the other features the figure of St. John Evangelist into whose care Jesus gave his mother. This section also has the priest carrying the Sacred host in its monstrance.

The two processions meet in what is known as the glorious “Encuentro� or meeting between Jesus and his mother, which takes place on the corner of calle Concepcion and calle Fotografias Darblade and is marked by the ceramic plaque (above) on the wall of the herbalist shop there.

This is a joyful occasion when mother and son are reunited after a horrendous experience of the crucifixion.

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The idea of Jesus appearing to his mother was also a firm belief in m e d i e v a l England.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary in Fairford is renowned for its complete set of medieval stained glass, stone carvings and misericords.

Built in the early 1490s, the church is a Grade 1 listed by English Heritage a fi n e , l a t e Perpendicular specimen of the ‘wool’ church, one built by a wealthy wool merchant to ensure his eternal salvation. St. Mary's is of national historical and architectural importance because it houses the most complete set of mediaeval stained glass windows in the country, attributed to Barnard Flower, which have been renovated in recent years.

It is such a popular church that it appears in TripAdviser. A heavenly orchestra, which is spread across the tops of several windows the figure of an angel playing the bagpipes.

The Fairford church’s windows, like those of many other mediaeval churches, served an unlettered laity as ‘the people’s illustrated bible’, educating them in their faith, from the creation of Adam and Eve through to the threatening west ‘doom’ window of the Last Judgement. aormi@icloud.com

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In a local guidebook there is an explanation that the tradition of the risen Jesus appearing to his mother had a long history, identified Ludolf of Saxony’s Vita Christi (‘Life of Christ’) as a source of the tradition of the risen Jesus appearing to his mother.

But Coptic, Byzantine and other Oriental sources also have a tradition that Jesus’s first resurrection appearance was to his mother

On his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Ignatius of Loyola, visited the chapel of Our Lady, ‘where Jesus first appeared to her after rising from the dead, as is piously believed.’ The English chaplain of the pilgrim Sir Richard Guylforde in 1506 described a chapel of Our Lady in Jerusalem as ‘the very self place where our Saviour Christ, after His Resurrection, first appeared unto His Blessed Mother’.

In the Fairford window, the forefront shows the risen Christ with his wounds and, traditionally, holding a tiny cross, to show that he had overcome it, with his hand raised to indicate he is speaking. Looking at him in wonder is his mother, an elderly, frail figure robed in traditional blue and joining her hands in awe. In the window is the scroll coming from the mouth of the risen Christ containing the salutation, Salve, Sancta parens – ‘Hail, holy mother’.

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San Sebastian - European Capital of Culture 2016

San Sebastian has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2016. This candidacy will be shared with the Polish City of Wroclaw. It was introduced with a spectacular show of hundreds of people “building” a bridge across the river of the town, the idea of uniting opposites in every sense of the word and in many cultures.

The basic idea "Waves of energy" sums up the "soul" of the "San Sebastián 2016" candidature in a clear message: people and movements of citizens are the real driving force behind transformations and changes in the world. They provide the vital civic energy that makes societies advance and progress.

Citizens, in short, played the leading role in the search for solutions to new global challenges.

Waves of Energy means a commitment to the basic role played by men and women, individually and collectively, and to the engagement of

citizens and the involvement of social capital in the shared construction of society.

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The town is famous for its varied festivals and fiestas so is an attractive destination at any time.

There are events throughout this year and in April there is an exposition of the values and rights with various events held in the San Telmo Museum from 8th April – June. This month is also the Day of the Book and on 23 April the Plaza de Gipuzkoa there is an opportunity to buy books and meet some authors who will be signing their own works.

San Sebastian is famous for its cinema festival and from 15 – 22 April in

The Basque region is famous for its gastronomy and boasts some of the best restaurants in the world.

Victoria Eugenia and other open spaces there will be various cinema related events with the emphasis on human rights.

On 29th April there is an International Dance Gala in the Victoria Eugenio Theatre with a variety of professional dancers demonstrating a wide range of dance styles. Continuing the dance theme from 6 – 8 May there will be the XV Tango Festival in the same theatre.

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The town is famous for its shell shaped beach and on 21 May the finals of the Beach Football will held in the la Concha Beach, which means the Beach will be closed to most sunbathers.

On 23 June in various parts of the city there will be bonfires or hogueras celebrating San Juan. h t t p : / / w w w. d o n o s t i a k u l t u r a . c o m / i n d e x . p h p ? option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=3&id=10227&Itemid=405&l

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Calpe

From Alicante (el Trenet) a small rail train connects all the principle towns along the coast between the capital town and Dénia. For decades there has been petitions and plans for extending this line so that it connects all the way to Valencia.

One of the sights along this pleasure route is the Peñon de Ifach (north in the Phoenician language), which is not only a symbol of Calpe, but of the Costa Blanca. It is the highest “island” in the entire Spanish Mediterranean coastline dividing the coast in two. Apart from climbing up you can also walk through a tunnel that leads to the top. Once there you have terrific views of the surrounding countryside. It was a useful lookout spot against incursions of Arab pirates.

After the Arabs conquered Iberia, they built a castle overlooking the Mascarat Ravine. In 1290, Calpe came under the control of the Aragonese admiral Roger of Lauria, who ordered a village named Ifach to be built in the proximity of the Rock of Ifach. The town was plundered by Barbary pirates in 1687 and 290

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townsfolk were captured and taken to Algeria, where they were imprisoned for five years, until their freedom bought in exchange for gold and the release of pirate prisoners.

The Peñon is 332 metres high and juts out a kilometre into the sea, making a curious and unique geological formation. It has been considered as a natural reserve since 1987 because of its unique ecological riches, such as the Ifach carnation. There is a Nature Classroom where the fauna and flora is described.

Historic Calpe is situated close to the Peñon and on the isthmus that connects it to the coast. There are important remains of the Iberians, Phoenicians and Romans, such as the famous Baños de la Reina (Queen’s Baths). There are several sites worth visiting. Casa Nova is a fortified farmhouse; a Gothic style hermitage of San Salvador; a 15th century Torreón de la Peca and a 16th century

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church. Calpe town walls date back the 15th century, built after a pirate raid. Here is the only Gothic-MudĂŠjar church in the Valencian Community distinguishable by its architecture.

During the second half of the 19th century, the fishing industry began to take off along the coast. Buildings, such as the Fisherman's Cooperative, were constructed and functioned alongside several existing factories dating from the end of the 18th century. In 1918, the El Saladar salt flats were cleaned up, and the production of salt once again harvested. Between 1945 and the end of the 1950s, many holiday villas and small hotels were built to accommodate the flourishing summer tourist trade developing into the boom of construction that took place all along the coast.

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Calpe has 22 kilometres of lovely beaches and is a great area for fishing, scuba diving, rambling, rock climbing and there are several nice boat trips.

A Free Wifi Internet Service is available 24 hours per day in all the beaches and several centre areas in the town.

100% of the beaches are online, 13 coast kilometres with the ISO 9001 and 14001 certificates for environmental administration and quality.

How to connect to Calpe WiFi To use the Calpe network, users will only need to enable the WiFi on their Smartphones, Tablets or WiFi devices and detect the GOWEXWiFi network. If you are not yet a GOWEX user, you just need to register once and you will then receive a username and password. For subsequent connections, you will only need to use your username and password to gain access. In addition, this username will allow you to connect in the 70+ WiFi cities which GOWEX has throughout the world: these include Madrid, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Buenos Aires, among others.

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Calpe has a lovely Mediterranean climate; enjoys from 3.180 hours of sunshine each year; an annual average temperature of 18 º C making it an ideal destination to enjoy the delights of the sea.

CALA EL COLLAO O RACÓ DEL CORB Is situated in a unique natural space and accessible only by the sea. It is ideal for diving and fishing.

Situation: South of Calpe with 70 metres of pebbly Beach and tranquil sea.

CALA GASPARET This is another small beach, south of Calpe of 40 metres length and ten metres width that can be accessed by the sea only. Great place for diving and fishing.

CALA LES URQUES Is also south of Calpe near the marina Puerto Blanco where it can be accessed.

There are 100 metres of pebbly Beach with peaceful waters that are home to the Poseidon plant that oxygenates the sea. It is a popular spot for diving.

CALA LA MANZANERA This cove is enchanting in a natural amphitheatre where it is possible to enjoy the architecture of the 1970’s work of Ricardo Bofill. It is next to the Urbanización La Manzanera with peaceful waters and is short with only 40 by 5 metres of Beach area.

PLAYA ARENAL-BOL Has over a kilometre of fine golden sand and transparent Waters. Small Palms add an exotic Couch to this Beach that is one of the most popular ones of Calpe.

Close to the promenade with the usual services of restaurants and bars. In

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summer it has access and facilities for disabled persons. It is located in the town centre area and is 1,200 metres long by 40 metres wide.

The promenade known as Paseo Maritimo is replete with bars and restaurants, and several kilometres of fine sandy beaches. Calpe is very international and has a large German community so German bakeries rub shoulders with Scandinavian stores and British bars where you can have a full English breakfast most of the day.

CALA DEL MORELLÓ Is an urban cove with fine sand in the area of the paseo marítimo Infanta Elena.

Nearby is the well-known rocky zone for bathing known as the Baños de la Reina, which is an archeo9logical site dating from Roman times. Here there were thermal baths and a fish factory. It has 60 metres of fine sand and the sea is quiet.

PLAYA CANTAL ROIG is a small, peaceful Beach close to the fishing port and the Peñón de Ifach. There are many restaurants and ideal for kids. From here it is possible to see the boats arriving alter a day’s fishing.

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Every day around five in the morning the fishing fleet leaves the harbour at the foot of the Peñon de Ifach. The catch is auctioned in the quayside auction house, and there is a public gallery for visitors to witness the rapid talk of the auctioneers.

CALA EL RACÓ Is another small cove with a Beach of 70 by 115 metres of pebbles and sand. It is closed off at the south by the dike of the port area and lies at the feet of the Peñon de Ifach. It is an ideal spot for diving and fishing and an underwater spot for diving and there is a panel with information about the flora and fauna found here. The former fishermen’s hall is now a place of audiovisual information of IMEDMAR. CALA DEL PENYAL Is another small cove with clear Waters that are great for swimming, fishing, diving. It is 100 by 5 metres of rocky shoreline and can be accessed by a small path in the north face of the Peñón de Ifach.

CALA CALALGA can be accessed by a ramp from the promenade and close to the park Calaga. Small and narrow it is 100 by 8 metres of fine sand with some pebbles and pristine clear sea.

CALA DEL MALLORQUÍ lies between the port of Les Bassetes and the Cala Valalga. It’s a small cove with clear water ad accessible from the Voramar by stairs. It has only 30 by 5 metres of rough sandy beach that presents a good close up of the Peñón de Ifach.

CALA LES BASSETES is a quiet spot ideal for fishing and diving.

It is accessible from the port of Les Basetes

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As with all Spanish towns there is an all year round fiesta programme beginning with the arrival of the Three Kings on 5th January.

Carnival takes place in February and also features a German Carnival that is organized by the Creative Club Calpe, group formed by resident Germans in Calpe. It has been celebrated in Calpe from 1982 with the intention of better integration and collaboration.

Semana Santa The Holy Week processions in Calpe have experienced an extraordinary dynamism in recent years. There are four guilds - The Brotherhood of the Christ of the Gypsies, The Powerful One, the Confraternity of Jesus Nazarene, the Confraternity of the Christ of Three Fallings and the Brotherhood of the Silence.

The procession of Palm Sunday begins the week that is considered a religious, cultural and tourist event, the devotion and the fervor that parts with every act joins a great aesthetic and cultural value.

Fallas de San José - Feast of St. Joseph - 19th March Big statues of wood and cardboard are burnt at midnight on the 19th March, which is the feast of St. Joseph, also Father’s Day and helps celebrate the beginning of Spring. There is a procession through the streets of the old town, a giant paella in Constitution plaza, sardines and sangria for all present and a firework display at midnight.

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HOGUERAS DE SAN JUAN On LA PLAYA ARENAL-BOL these bonfires have been held since 1991 coinciding with the summer solstice on 23rd June.

The URBANIZACIÓN LA COMETA also holds the vispera of San Juan using up old furniture for the Bonfire. 24 June 2016

VIRGEN DEL CARMEN As a fishing port the local seamen have celebrated since 1940 their patron saint with various events on 16th July.

FIESTAS PATRONALES "VIRGEN DE LAS NIEVES" Our Lady of the Snows is the patron saint of Calpe and has been going since the end of World War Two. This year it will be held with various activities from 3-13 August.

Moors and Christians Festival - 21st to 24th October. With its history of combating Arab pirates Calpe celebrates its second Patron 'Santisimo Cristo del Sudor' with the Moors and Christians festival at the same time. Legend has it that Santisimo Cristo del Sudor helped protect the village as the Moors tried to enter, with this celebration held since 1977. Two battles are reenacted along the beaches and in a mock castle, specially constructed for the occasion.

There are musical acts, fireworks and plenty of food and drink for all - From14- 16 October 2016 aormi@icloud.com

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ROMERÍA SAN FRANCESC This annual pilgrimage is in honour of Saint Francisco of Assisi and has been held since 2002. In the recreational grounds of la ermita Vella d´Oltá an area de 17.274 square metres.

CASA DE ANDALUCÍA

DÍA DE ANDALUCÍA Many people from Andalucía have emigrated to the Costa Blanca so there are numerous clubs that celebrate the annual Day of the Region on 28th February.

The Calpe association has held various activities on this date for since 1996. .

CRUZ DE MAYO During May a large cross that is made up of flowers is another tradition of the same association usually held on 7th and 8th May. Then from 7th to 10th July there is a FERIA ANDALUZA organised by the Casa de ANDALUCÍA. This Group also hold another pilgrimage that of the ROMERÍA DE LA VIRGEN DEL ROCÍO in honour of the Virgen del Rocío, at the Hermitage of San Salvador to that of de San Juan. This takes place on 8-11 September.

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This annual beer festival is organised by the Fiesta organized by the Club Creativo Calpe: typically of the German beers and German gastronomy. This has been going on here since 1988 and will be held from 26 October to the 6 November 2016

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PLACES TO VISIT Museo de Historia y Arqueología (History and Archaeology Museum), C/ Santísimo Cristo, 7, Tel: +34 965 839 123, e-mail: museo@ajcalp.es. Tu-Sa 10:00-13:00, 16:30-19:30. It is always useful to visit a local museum of any town as it will enlighten you on visits to other historic parts of a town. Formerly a large residence the museum displays a range of artefacts from the region, taking the visitor from Bronze Age to the medieval period.

La Iglesia Antigua (Old Church) (entry is through the Church of Mare de Déu de les Neus). This is the only Gothic-Mudéjar church remaining in the Valencian Region, which was built in the 15th century into the side of the old city walls, and is now directly attached to a modern parish church of the last century. Especially noteworthy inside is a 15th-century altarpiece depicting San Antonio Abad, San Cosmos, and San Damian.

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Parc Natural del Penyal d'Ifac (Parque Natural del Peñón de Ifach), Visitor Centre, TEL: +34 965 837 598. As mentioned before this large rock protrudes from the sea. The rock is a designated nature reserve, but it is possible to climb to the top via a tunnel, bored steeply through the middle of the rock.

Banys de la Reina or Queen's Baths). This in an archaeological site that were used in Roman times for farming fish, salt production, and salting fish. The sea and salt were the basis and the sustenance of the ancient Roman colonists, giving rise to fluid commercial exchanges that there is evidence of. This activity produced a small population who built their houses on the coastal dunes, resulting in selective and diversified urban planning. After the passage of time and centuries of neglect, the popular imagination inherited the ancient legacy, identifying the pools as the “baths of the Moorish queen”, which is how the site got its name. The existence of some drainage passages, now closed, adds to the myth: these were the tunnels that reached a mysterious palace, which the “Moorish queen” used to get to her coastal bath. This popular belief is also an important part of the cultural heritage of the site.

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1. Roman Vicus - Although only 25% of its surface has been excavated so far, it is enough to discern the magnitude of this Roman villae fitted with all kinds of luxuries 2,000 years ago. The pools carved out of the coastal rock, used to supply fresh fish, led to the name of the enclave, which is still used today.

2.

Muntanyeta Thermal Complex - in 1993, the remains of this small 500 m2 thermal complex, known as the “Muntanyeta thermal baths”, were uncovered, various pools had survived, as well as a natatio with cold water (frigidarium), which was accessed using three steps. Next to this were various ovens responsible for maintaining the appropriate temperatures in the hot rooms (caldarium) and warm rooms (tepidarium). The heating system developed by Roman engineers used hollow floors elevated by columns of bricks (pilae) and walls with air chambers made from ceramic tubes (tubuli) that facilitated the circulation of heat through the different rooms and kept them heated.

3. The Roman Fish Farms of Baños de la Reina - The complex, carved from the same coast, consists of a large rectangular tank with an area of 165 m2. Its interior was subdivided by natural stonewalls, creating six pools with an opening in each one to connect them. Seawater entered through four canals, also carved from the rock, which allowed the free flow of water to all of the pools. These canals were covered with perforated gates, which allowed water to flow while preventing blockages and the escape of the fish inside.

There is a Saturday morning street market in Avenida del Norte and also a flea market during the summer months next to the football stadium in Avda. Pais Valencia. So as you see there is a lot to do and see in Calpe.

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Curiosities Museum takes us down memory lane

by Andy Ormiston

On Facebook I often see photos of items that are reminders of someone's happy days, maybe a favorite doll, or a comic, or even a sweetie. In Torrevieja there is a private museum of items of the past century that offer us a glimpse of everyday life for Torrevejenses. It’s title is “Exposición Museográfica, La Imprenta en Torrevieja.”

The museum is the baby of Miguel Aráez Suárez, a baby that began life in the printing past of Torrevieja and among the items on display are old foot powered printing presses complete with heavy trabs of lead letters and numbers.

Printing required various skills – language, artistic, ability to read lines backwards when setting out a page. It was a dirty job using inks and grease, but with great satisfaction when the proof paper was run off without needing to alter a word.

Miguel learned his trade before setting up his own printing company Graficas Torrevieja. Another printer was Buades who also set up his own printing business

Miguel Aráez Suárez inn his element

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and now run by his two sons. Both Miguel and Buades were apprentices of Cerezuela.

At one stage in my life I was shown how to print books on an old pedal press by a Jesuit Brother, Joe Mulhearn, in a workshop belonging to Manresa Publications .

Setting up, typesetting, printing, collating, binding and guillotining, then the pleasure of binding. I was taught to book bind by another religious Brother of the Swiss Bethlehem Congregation, who was learning English and in return showing a few of us his skills. There is great pleasure in handling kid leather for book binding, then using fine gold film to impress the titles and ornamental spine, then adding a gold edging on the pages. Sewing batches of pages was hard, but hardback books need it, whereas paperbacks can be glued together. So with those experiences I can relate to the joyful pleasure Miguel takes in showing visitors round his world that was his life since boyhood and the satisfaction in handling the final product.

Miguel has collected paraphernalia of everyday life over the years and has thousands of objects that offer windows into the past of people in Torrevieja. He finally realised his dream of a printing museum and opened the doors on 19th October 2012 in calle Hermanos Bazรกn 53.

Apart from all the printing equipment, complete with copies of first editions, there are radios and televisions that by their quaintness bring home the reality of how man has moved forward in technology and communications in a very short time. I

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can still remember my dad's crystal set he made; the big cumbersome radio; and the first black and white television we had, with all the street neighbours crammed in watching the Queen's consecration in 1953. So visiting this curiosities museum will probably bring back memories to those who take time out to visit it.

The Minerva press in the museum is a pedal-pushing machine. This was used in 1955 run off the weekly ' Vista Alegre', which still exists today edited by Francisco Reyes and will celebrate its 3,000 edition this year. There are guillotines and photographs of other printers such Acacio Rebagliato from 1895; printing press of Jose Lanzarote and Brunetto, which started printing in 1888 at Calle Mariana Pineda (now renamed Concepción), where they produced such weekly publications as 'La Opinión' and 'Diario de Torrevieja'.

Also the press of the Buades family of 1967 and Michael Aráez's own company, Graphics Torrevieja, established in 1984.

In the museum you can see lots of tools used in the printing press before computers took over. Still set up is a typesetter, with plates of various activities and groups from that of the parish of the Immaculate Conception to the Socialist and PP parties, companies, discotheques and local trades.

Included is Miguel’s first Mac computer of 1989 and still in working condition. Allied is a range of old typewriters before they gave way to electronic models.

Miguel has brought together thousands of articles of the daily life of the past that will bring memories to most people whether from Torrevieja or not.

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The museum is located at: Calle Hermanos Bazan, 53. It’s open every Tuesday during the Winter from 10.30am to 1:30pm and 5pm to 7pm with slightly later summer hours from 11am to 1.30pm and in the evening from 6pm until 8.30pm.

Tel: 653 984 310 museo@torrevieja.eu Tuesday: 11:00 a 13:30 – 17:30 a 19:30 h.

Below: Miguel with Conchita Moreno Alonso who shows people around the museum.

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Torrevieja

by Andy Ormiston

Miguel had another baby' namely his own business, his own printing shop. He first had his training in a large publishing company in Switzerland for two years learning the basics of printing and seeing at first hand the mechanics involved.

He returned to Torrevieja and worked with the main printing company of Torrevieja.

In 1984 he started his own printing business in Calle Polycarpo transforming an old house into his Graficas Torrevieja. In those days the town was beginning its first construction boom, people were arriving from all parts to make the most of the highly praised mini environment that many doctors recommended for patients health style. The printing industry was in demand as promoters of new Urbanisation plans needed catalogues and advertising material..and not only in Spanish as so many foreigners became involved in convincing their fellow nationals to purchase castles, or at least a property in the sun.

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New printing techniques were also in use such as fast lithograph machines turning out business cards, leaflets, posters and all the other types of advertising. New newspapers in different languages sprung up full of advertising for properties and all the allied services..insurance, assessors, architects, building trades of all sorts and solicitors (although it was several years before they would be permitted by law to tout their services.

The design of a company’s logotype, or the renovation of a company’s image is another strong point of advertising. Creating a brand image forms a reflection of how outgoing a company is. Based on client’s ideas or Graficas ideas they are able to design an outline that can be modified at will, adaptable to any kind of surface such as paper, vinyl for car sign, illuminated signs, web, merchandising, etc. Company stationery is one of the most direct relationships in which the printing quality, the detailed design and the ideas given by the customer are decisive in order to give a good image and a sense of confidence. A company’s image is expressed in different presentation formats often through its stationery, be it a simple envelope, letter heading, business card, that nowadays can be gloss or matt laminated providing a greater attractiveness.

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Foreigners wanting publicity material brought in new publicity ideas with printed pens, key rings, etc. The company continued to expand and Miguel invested in a new purpose built printing establishment on the edge of the

industrial estate. This turned out to be a good site as it was on the main bypass round the town centre with plenty of passing traffic. With modern premises came modern machinery and methods. Staff with different language skills were employed and all the time new accessories for publicity were adopted including the leap into computers and graphic design. Signs can express whatever you want in-store windows, facades, office interiors, wood, room wall decorations, canvas, urban decoration, three-dimensional letters in many kinds of materials: steel, methacrylate, cork, PVC…, light boxes, stretched canvas with frame or stretcher, vehicles etc.

The company’s designers also set up webpages for those that require them.

Rubber stamps have been around for centuries, but Laser aormi@icloud.com

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technology permits Graficas to engrave different kinds of surfaces, from the rubber used for the traditional rubber stamps, which are now in rubber format and are automatised (trodat), to methacrylate, identifying nameplates with a magnet, commemorative plaques and glasses.

Rotulation is an important business tool and Graficas has a roll up system ideal for exhibitions or backdrops.

Headings are great on busy roadways and these a re provided as well.

Miguel is rightly proud of his life achievements, not only having a successful printing company but also a printing museum to his name.

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Dog Guides by Dave Stewart

A near-blind Spanish neighbour has had a guide dog for years and he was very sad when it died. Now he needs to depend on his wife or son to get out. I asked can he not get a replacement and he said there was along waiting list and so many younger people that depended on a trained guide dog.

There are guide lines for approaching a guide dog or puppy in training If you’d like to interact with a guide dog or puppy in training, the cardinal rule is: Ask the handler if it’s OK.

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Don’t just start petting the dog because that will distract [her] from what [she’s] doing and [it could] potentially be unsafe for the handler.

The dog needs to stay focused on the job.

It’s also important to keep pet dogs from sniffing a working guide dog, and, if you know the guide dog, to avoid calling his name to avoid distraction. And of course, never feed a guide dog.

Guide dogs need to learn how to wait until they are told that it’s OK to greet somebody.

We don’t want them tearing off after another dog when they’re in harness and supposed to be getting someone safely across the street.

The public’s help in avoiding distractions for guide dogs goes a long way.

There is a misconception that a guide dog’s supposed to be perfect and ignore all of that. But they’re dogs at the end of the day.

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Training Centre An offshoot of the work of the ONCE Foundation is training guide dogs for the blind and the training centre is Alcorc贸n's Way, s/n, in Boadilla of the Mount (telephone 91 632 46 30), approximately 20 Km from Madrid.

There is approximately 100.000 m2 available training and providing guide dogs as a mobility aid to the blind or deficient visual persons. The FOPG was born on September 24, 1990. The current facilities were inaugurated

by Her Majesty the Queen dona Sof铆a on May 26, 1999. In a modern and solidarity community, it is the duty of all to help the access and the mobility to all citizens.

In the current moment there are 1000 persons with blindness or serious visual disability using dog guides helping with the mobility of the blind.

The Spasnish association collaborates with two North American schools: " Leader Dogs For The Blind " in Rochester, the USA, (an agreement coordinated between the Spanish FOPG and the Federation of clubs of

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Lions of Spain). Another is " Guiding Eyes for the Blind " in New York, the USA. The FOPG annually classifies 145 new dogs - guides. The FOPG mainly three races: Labrador (black and golden), golden retriever and Alsatians.

These animals are very adaptable for this work with a correct temperamental balance. They are vivacious and intelligent animals, with a great desire of learning and enjoy what they do and do well. Their size changes according to race, sex and age but to give an idea theycan range between 28 and 45 kilos.

CHARACTERISTICS Labrador: these range from the clear, almost white gilding up to the black.

It is the breed most used as a guide dog as its characteristics include social ability, adaptability to differing environments and situations, being easily controllable by the user who will have to take special care with the dog’s diet.

Golden retriever: Always of golden colour, with long and silky hair, they are sensitive animals, with great initiative and intelligence. Their great determination can have a certain stubbornness that will need suitable managing. aormi@icloud.com

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Alsatian dog: they are highly intelligent, dynamic, rapid dogs in making decisions and suitably decisive. Being a temperamental dog he requires the handler to have a special empathy with the animal.

Legislation: The right of access of the blind persons or with visual handicap with a dog have thee right to access to the places and spaces of public use. Any problems can be sorted out with regional laws or the state regulation contained in the Royal decree 3250/1983, of December 7.

In the Foundation ONCE of particular attention is paid to the well-being of the animals at all times. If someone sees that a guide dog is suffering a mistreatment on the part of any person, then contact the foundation by e-mail with all the relevant information to: fopg@once.es EXHIBITIONS, CHATS, ROUND TABLES, ETC. The ONCE Foundation for the dogs hold regular exhibitions with the aim to spread the work that the guide dogs really do on a daily basis in the cities, accompanying a blind person. Trials are given showing the high level of training of the dogs and anyone seeing them easily recognise the great work they do. It is also important that the general public respect of the right of access of these dogs to public places.

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So here is some advice from a guide dog:Do not even call me when I am working.

Hissing distract me.

If you want to talk to me then ask my owner first.

Do not let your off-the-leash dog near me.

Don’t try to control me that is the jo of my owner who will use the harness or strap.

Remember that I am the eyes of a person.

Do not block my path going onto transport or into premises.

The law protects me.

Do not be afraid of me as I am neither aggressive nor transmit diseases.

If you are driving and you see that I’m trying to cross, take care allowing a decent distance so that I do not get frightened.

Create a bit of space for me if I on the public transport.

We are clean dogs. The piss and the shit is always far from the pavements dropped in the suitable places.

If I am working selling ONCE lottery tickets … buy me one … or two!

Thanks to the great social labour of ONCE more than one thousand dogs are trained to lead blind people giving them a more self sufficient form of living.

A contact for the Valencian Region is:Asociación de Usuarios de Perros Guía de la Comunidad Valenciana.

Presidente: Vicente Galiana Sánchez.

Domicilio Social: C. Marqués de la Ensenada, 33. Castellón de la Plana Teléfono: 653 97 00 85.

Correo electrónico: info@aspeguicv.org Facebook: http:// www.facebook.com/groups/ 269735366455153/ Página web: http:// www.aspeguicv.org

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Philately

Philately

by Dave Stewart

Philately has nothing to do with the television but is the title of collecting stamps.

Hobbies are great for children as it helps to keep them quiet and also educate them to many related parts of life. A p r i m e example is collecting things. It is not a case of possessing something to the exclusion of others and can be a great social introduction in company.

Stamp collecting is one of those activities that can start in childhood and go on into old age. Not only is it a hobby but for some a great business and way of making money as stamps gain value (especially rare ones) so can be a good investment.

Another side effect, especially for children, is that it can teach us about history, geography and the world around us. Every country issues stamps, and some places, such as the Vatican, make money by issuing special limited batches for significant events, so because of their rareness can increase in value. The British Post Office make several special limited issues and have a mailing list for collectors avid to add to their collections. aormi@icloud.com

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In past editions of Torrevieja Outlook we have mentioned stamps in some articles, as often a country will use them to commemorate a special event or person or even an invention.

Any stamp collector will know about Stanley Gibbons, a company that offers alternative investments. .

The Gibbons business started when, employed as an assistant in his father's pharmacy shop in Plymouth, Gibbons set up a counter selling stamps. In 1863 he was fortunate enough to purchase from two sailors a sackful of rare Cape of Good Hope triangular stamps.

Stanley Gibbons In 1874 Gibbons moved to a house near Clapham Common in South London and in 1876 he moved again to Gower Street in Bloomsbury near the British Museum.

By 1890 Stanley Gibbons wished to retire and the business was sold to Charles Phillips for ÂŁ25,000. Phillips became Managing Director, with Gibbons as Chairman.[ In 1891 a shop was opened at 435 Strand in addition to the Gower Street premises, and in 1893 the shop and offices were amalgamated at 391 The Strand where the company's retail premises remained for many years until they moved to 399 The Strand.

In 1956 the company celebrated its centenary with an exhibition at the Waldorf Hotel opened by Sir John Wilson. It was in that year that Queen Elizabeth II granted her Royal Warrant of Appointment to Stanley Gibbons Ltd as her philatelist. Throughout the various changes in the company’s history, it always retain the original name of Stanley Gibbons. One of the most important types of advertising is the stamp catalogue, which is a must have for serious philatelists.

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The first Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue was a penny price list issued in November 1865 and reissued at monthly intervals for the next 14 years. The company produces numerous catalogues covering different countries, regions and specialisms; many of them are reissued annually. The catalogues list all known adhesive postage stamp issues and include prices for used and unused stamps.

Unlike other dealers' catalogues, Stanley Gibbons state that their catalogue is a retail price list. In other words, if they had that exact stamp in stock in the exact condition specified, the current catalogue price is the price that they would charge for it. This contrasts with most other catalogues which are produced by firms that do not sell stamps and therefore base their pricing on an average of market values in the country where the catalogue is published.

As well as publishing, Stanley Gibbons is a stamp dealer with a retail business located on the Strand in their Central London offices offering both older stamps and new issues and fulfilling customer want lists. They produce their own line of other philatelic products, such as albums, stock books, and other accessories.

The company is also a philatelic auction house and has held thousands of international sales since it was established in 1901.

Since around 2000 the company has actively offered stamps as investments and has set up a special office in Guernsey for this activity. The monthly stamp magazine costs around 60 – 150 euros so its not cheap. There is a webpage with offers of sale and buy and Publications is obviously a great earner.

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Torrevieja Philatelic Society

Torrevieja has its own Philatelic society begun in 2003. The members meet regularly and swap and sell stamps amongst themselves. The membership attendance fluctuates as members come and go back to their own countries so it adds a bit of diversity. There is always a lively discussion and exchange of ideas and information with chats by members and silent auctions. The club has a library and buy in relevant magazines and the annual Stanley Gibbons Stamps of the World catalogue now in its 81st edition. The Stamps of the World Simplified Catalogue lists commemoratives, definitives, air-mails, postage dues, official stamps and miniature sheets. All stamps have the universally recognized and individual Stanley Gibbons (SG) catalogue number and are set out according to date of issue of the stamps, by country. Apart from the stamps themselves, the members have a social side and have frequent dinners.

Membership is only 10 Euros annually which is great value if you love this particular hobby of philately.

Contact information:Alan 868 171 936 Alan.aylward@rocketmail.com Meet at Lo Monte Hotel Third Wednesday of the month 14:30 – 16:30 La Torre Hotel in Los Montesinos.

A way to delve into history and geography

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You Have it in You

by Andy Ormiston

There are hundreds of Spanish refrains. One of these is "escribir un libro, tener un hijo y plantar un arbol" - everyone should write a book, have a child and plant a tree. Three things that have a touch of immortality about them and to which most of us can relate.

How many times have you said, "oh I could write a book about THAT." As we become older every one of us has our own life stories. All of us expats tend to take each other at face value without realizing the many human stories of life, love, work, dreams and expectations, tragedies, travels, - experiences that we may take in our daily strides. But when taken together can be fascinating with humorous anecdotes.

Recently I have had the privilege to read the stories of a few men who have retired to Spain, their every day lives became inspiring reading. As we are of the same age I can relate to their lives. I have no doubt that for all of us Brits born in the immediate years before, during and after WW2 we all agree that we lived the golden years with a peaceful, prosperous and united Britain.

There are certain similarities in these relations with wartime memories, being bombed out, seeing men coming back from war bearing scars, both physical and psychological. Afterwards the 1950's were full of work opportunities and in some cases the experience of national service in the armed forces, sometimes an easy billet, other times fighting in jungles of Malaysia, or other countries seeking nationalism from the supposed yoke of British colonization.

One observation I may be wrong about is the difference an education makes. Not as some would think that the better education meant the better person with better opportunities. Because of the war many had their education was interrupted, sometimes by tragic circumstances such as the school being bombed with hundreds of kids killed. I believe that for propaganda purposes the

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truth about the German bombers was kept away from the public For example if you look up bombings in Glasgow on Internet they seem very rare, but I remember many attempts and successes such as Barrowland area being hit and the church there burned by a firebomb, the priest's hair turned white overnight. The recent stories I have read of these men's accounts are similar and demonstrate how much damage was being inflicted on the civilian population.

Back to the education thesis. All of these men whose education was interrupted became successful not by working for others, but working for themselves. Whereas, those better educated worked for others, most of their working lives. Their lack of education was their impetus to improve themselves. I had three brothers, the two with the lesser education because of the war, were the ones with their own successful businesses.

Another striking image is the shared love with their partner and how together they overcame life's difficulties. Out of the war came a respect for other people, which is something many of today's youth lack as they are taught that they have a right to do whatever they want and bugger everyone else.

Not everybody can have a child, most of us can plant a tree but we can all tell a story about ourselves. Often life facts are more interesting than fictitious ones. So why not tell how you did it your way? You have it in you. Let me know.

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Cabo Cervera and its tower

by Andy Ormiston

One of the obvious symbol of Torrevieja is a tower - torre. The town had three towers; one in La Mata originally a wooden one built by Romans, a second at Cabo Cervera and the Torrevigia where the town centre is. This article is about the second one, because property salesmen point to the Torre del Moro telling clients that that is the original Torrevigia.

The Torre del Moro is a reconstructed emblematic building replacing another one built as a tourist point of reference. This present one is a closer reproduction to he original one built on the cliff overlooking Cabo Cervera. This was built following the recommendations of local architects and historians, using materials that were likely

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used in the construction of the original tower of Cabo Cervera. It was also called Torrejon.

The tower at Cabo Cervera was closer to the sea, protecting the hamlet and the quay, important to the export of products from Orihuela and Murcia fields and orchards.

It was circular with an eight metres base and six metres at the top and twelve metres in height.

In 1302 King Jaime II gave permission to use Cabo Cervera as a port, then called Cala Cornuda which is really closer to Torrevieja centre. In 1312 he authorized the tower. In 1415 two pirate boats captured a couple of Spanish boats at Cabo Roig and a few days later they arrived at Cabo Cervera where they captured two of the tower guards in captivity for two years until Orihuela Council paid a ransom for them. All this area was part of Orihuela at that time and the citizens their responsibility. It was originally manned by two soldiers, and equipped with a bronze cannon and three rifles. At times of war at least six soldiers and a horseman garrisoned it. These towers used smoke signals and mirrors to warn against danger, backed up by the tolling of church bells and the local populace would seek refuge inland.

In ancient times the area around the lakes was lush with pasture and abundant with deer, “ciervo�, being Spanish for deer, and it is from this word that the name of Cervera comes. In fact this was a well-known area for Aragonese shepherds to bring their flocks to graze because of the rich verdant pastures. Cabo Cevera was a small hamlet, with an important quay for loading and unloading cargo. In 1320 the powerful Baile General, who was in charge of the area and who lived in Elche, visited the area and mentions the La Mata Roman tower of the six arches and aormi@icloud.com

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Torre del Moro well

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ordered that repairs in brick be carried out. The following year he ordered that a ship should be located at Cabo Cervera, so that if necessary it could go to the assistance of the garrison in Tabarca Island and en route link up with other ships from Guardamar. On one occasion, Cabo Cervera was saved by a smoke signal from the tower when the Berbers raided the small hamlet on 28th May 1373, destroying some of it.

Not just Berber pirates but other principalities were into the raiding and ransoming business. In 1419 another attack meant the capture of a boat and its crew taken to Cartagena. Another attack in 1502 by Inigo de Mendeza took a galley with wheat back to Cartagena.

In 1553 the engineers Cristobal Antonelli and Fratin, designed and built a line of small watchtowers along the coast including Cap Cervera, Torre Vigia, Cabo de Roig, Torre Oradada and the larger castle of Guardamar, some of them still having remains on the original sites today. From Rosas in Catalu単a to Gibraltar there were around 250 towers built to defend the newly enlarged Spain against continuous raids of small towns by the Berber pirates, from nearby North Africa. Thirty-six towers were constructed further along the Murcia region coast, including on the small beaches of Murcia city (4), Cartagena (15), the Lorca coastline (2) and the Mazzaron area (5). A similar string of fortified towers was built along the Northwest coast to guard against Viking raids.

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Mediterranean coastline was continuously attacked from Algeria and other countries. Over 200 Turkish pirates attacked Torrevigia and the Cabo Roig tower, burning both of them in 1636. They also went inland plundering a number of the houses there. Two of the guards escaped and warned the governor at Orihuela who despatched a horse troop commanded by a captain, but when they saw the number of pirates, wisely withdrew but rode round various settlements warning them of the pirates. The pirates also captured four of the guards of Torrevigia When King Philip IV learned about the action he was not at all happy that the horse troop had not fought and the Captain was punished.

In 1655 two ships at Torrevigia where captured by the Berbers. Over the years the pirates attacked many Coastal town's - Guardamar, Denia, Cullera, Los Alcรกzares etc. Today a lot of these towns hold Moors and Christian celebrations with the attackers coming in by sea only to be repulsed.

In 1320 the priest chronicler, Pedro Bellot, wrote that the first construction of Torrevieja was during the reign of Jaime II, which was called the tower of the Salinas situated at the Cala Cornuda: at the same time the Turris de las Salinas de la Mata was rebuilt on Roman remains. Another watchtower was built at Cabo Cervera.

These were difficult times in Europe with continuous wars and new techniques of waging war, including the devastation caused by cannons that were later used to destroy La Mata and the Cabo Cervera watchtower.

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Alfonso XI reaffirmed that the salt lakes came under the dominion of the Crown in 1347.

Pedro I (the Cruel) inherited the kingdom at the age of 15, the eldest of fi v e illegitimate children and, at one stage he promised the La Mata salt workings and its income to his Italian allies from Genoa.

However, this came to naught because of the failure of Castille in these particular disputes. Pedro el Cruel gets his nickname from the likelihood that he killed his brother, cousins, Two of his ships later attacked the area destroying the tower of Cabo Cervera, which was then rebuilt on its present site as the Torre del Moro.

The tower of Cabo Cervera was rebuilt on its present site overlooking the sea, taking its name from a water cistern, now enclosed off, located there in the time of the Moors. There are nice gardens around the tower with several monuments. Among them are two small houses of barracas, which was the original style of building in Torrevieja. Another monument is dedicated to the sun and tourism. In a small garden alongside is a further statue of Swedish entrepreneur Nils Gabel who saved into Torrevieja, loved it and was responsible for bringing residential tourism to the area, especially to the nearby las Lomas urbanization.

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Cabo Cervera also has a large aparthotel, which is open all year round as it is used by visiting groups of sports and habaneras choirs among many others.

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Bookshelf

by Pat Hynd

As mentioned earlier April 23rd is a day dedicated to Cervantes and Shakespeare and literature. On that day in many Spanish towns the lady will giver her man book and he will present her with a rose. I’m often asked about books written about Spain, so here is a list in no given order, by no means complete of various books, historical and novel as well as anecdotal.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - Laurie Lee

A Moment of War - Laurie Lee As I Walked Out Through Spain in Search of Laurie Lee – Paul Murphy A Pilgrim in Spain - Christopher Howse The Train in Spain - Christopher Howse aormi@icloud.com

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Load of Bull - Dave Bull It Just Is - Dave Bull Gran Alacant - Dave Bull Bitten by Spain – Deborah Fletcher Barcelona Plates - Alexie Sayle Castile for Isabella - Jean Plaidy Cooking with Children – Lisa Sadleir Chicken, mules and two Old fools – Victoria Twead City of Sorrows- Susan Nadathur Coffee Castanets and Don Quixote – Robert Graham Noble Costa Blanca Walks - John & Christine Oldfield Daughters of Spain – Joan Fallon Death in the afternoon – Ernest Hemingway The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Doves of War – Paul Preston Duende: A journey in search of Flamenco – Jason Webster Donkey on my doorstep – Anna Nicholas Driving over lemons - Chris Stewart Embassy Fear and Loathing in La Liga – Sid Lowe Death in the Afternoon – Ernest Hemingway Ghosts of Spain – Giles Tremlett Going local in Gran Canaria – Matthew Hirtes Granada, City of my dreams – Lorenzo Boheme Homage to Catalonia – George Orwell Fighting in Spain - George Orwell The Last Days of the Spanish Republic - Paul Preston The Spanish Holocaust - Paul Preston Spanish Civil War - Paul Preston Franco - Paul Preston Juan Carlos - Paul Preston Doves of War - Paul Preston We SawSpain Die - Paul Preston A Concise history of Spanish Civil War - Paul Prston The Politics of Revenge - Paul Preston Comrades - Paul Preston Revolution and War - Paul Preston The Coming of the Spanish War - Paaul Perston

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Iberia - James A. Michener Inside the Tortilla – Paul Read Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 - Carolyn Meyer Lorca: A Dream of Life Leslie Stainton Lorca’s Granada by Ian Gibson Monsignor Quixote - Graham Greene More Salsa than ketchup – Joe Cawley Nada – Carmen LaForet Papa Spy - Jimmy Burns La Roja - Jimmy Burns Passion India - Javier Moro Roads to Santiago – Cees Nooteboom Dpain - Jan Morris Spain: the Expat Survival guide – Yolanda Solo Spain Exposed - Robert Innes Spanish Cooking Uncovered: Farmhouse Favourites – Deborah Jenkins Soldiers of Salamina – Javier Cercas South From Granada – Gerard Brenan Stone in a Landslide – Maria Barbal Tales of the Alhambra – Washington Irving Tapas and Tinto – Pete Wolstencroft The Alhambra of Salomon – Jose Luis Serrano The best places to buy a property in Spain – Joanna Styles The Hand of Fatima – Idlefons Falcones The Life & Death of the Spanish Republic - Henry Buckley The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafón The Spanish Pimpernel - C.E. Lucas Phillips The Story of Ferdinand - Munro Leaf The Return – Victoria Hislop The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón The Last Jew -Noah Gordon The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile - C.W. Gortner The Seamstress - Maria Dueñas The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon Torreviejas Cameos History - Andy Ormiston Vengeance in the Valencian Water – Caroline A Baker Vino Tinto Villas and Sailing – Eugenie C Smith Voices of angels – Hannah M Davies aormi@icloud.com

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Waiting for Robert Capa – Susana Fortes Where´s that Donkey? – Alan Parks Winter in Madrid – C.J Samson Your Face Tomorrow – Javier Marias

Cervantes

In this anniversary of Cervantes I would like to quote from a travel book written over an hundred years ago by Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly. “Heroic Spain” in her section talking about her visit to Vallodolid.

“No. 7 Calle de Cristóbal Colón is the insignificant house where Isabella's High Admiral died in 1506, in obscurity and neglect, his patroness dead, and Ferdinand ungrateful. A hundred years later, in another small house, now owned by the government, Cervantes lived in poverty. Unknown and undivined he walked these streets, looking at the passers-by with his wise, tolerant eyes. Fresh, perhaps, from writing the monologue on the Golden Age, delivered by the Don over a few brown acorns of inspiration, Cervantes in threadbare cape went to his humble scrivener's work, the golden time of justice and kindness existing only in his own gallant heart.

It was in Valladolid that the ladies of his household, widowed sisters, niece, his daughter and wife, sewed to gain their daily bread, and as if penury were not enough, here they were thrown into prison because a young noble, wounded in a street brawl, was carried into their house to die.

Cervantes' life reads like one of the romantic tales he loves to digress with in his great novel, when grandee, barber and priest, court lady, Eastern aormi@icloud.com

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damsel, and labrador's daughter, gather round the inn table—the servants a natural part of[…]” “grandee, barber and priest, court lady, Eastern damsel, and labrador's daughter, gather round the inn table—the servants a natural part of the group—in the easy meeting of the classes which is still a reality in Spain. Born at Alcalá, Cervantes' first bent was toward literature, but having gone to Rome in the suite of a cardinal, in Italy he joined the army against the infidel. He fought at Lepanto, where his bravery drew on him the notice of Don John of Austria, that alluring young leader of whom one of his state council wrote, "Nature had endowed him with a cast of countenance so gay and pleasing that there was hardly anyone whose good-will and love he did not immediately win." It makes a pleasant picture, the visit of this high-spirited young hero to his wounded soldier in the hospital of Messina. Later, Cervantes fought at Naples, at Tunis, in Lombardy, making part of his century's stirring history, and all the while storing his mind with the culture of Italy. It was when returning to Spain that some Algerian pirates took him prisoner. His five years' captivity in Africa stand an unsurpassed exhibition of grandeur[…]” “breaks with tenderness for the lovable caballero andante! His Quixote is Cervantes' own unquenchable spirit. A bitter experience of life never deadened his faith in man nor dulled his heroic gayety. With exquisite humor he realized the alien aspect of such trust and love and faith in the disillusioning realities of life, so he veiled it all under the kindly cloak of a cracked-brained knight. The wandering adventures of a fool make the wisest, most human-hearted book ever written.

Toward the end of his slavery, when Cervantes passed into the hands of the viceroy of Algiers, Hassan Pasha, his force of character gained aormi@icloud.com

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influence over the tyrant. But he asked too high a ransom for the captive's family to pay. The priest who had watched the young soldier on his deeds of mercy, worked indefatigably for his release. A letter was sent to Philip II to beg aid for a soldier of Lepanto. At length three hundred ducats were raised. Hassan Pasha asked a thousand. Already was Cervantes chained to the oar of a galley, bound for Constantinople, when at the last hour Father Gil, helped by some Christian merchants, succeeded in raising five hundred ducats, which[…]”“earned his bread in the humblest ways. 1588 found him in Seville as commissary victualer for the Great Armada.

Tradition says he visited La Mancha, the desert he was to immortalize, to collect tithes for a priory of St. John, and that the villagers in anger cast him into prison, where he conceived the idea of his novel. This child of his wit he hints to us was born in a jail. The sad years in Valladolid followed, and there in 1605, at fifty-eight years of age, he published the first part of "Don Quixote."

Its success was immediate. The grace of the style, the inimitable humor, and the underflowing current of mellow wisdom, made it from the start, what Sainte-Beuve called it, "the book of humanity." However, its publication did not much better Cervantes' fortunes. He retired to Madrid, where he lived on a small pension from the Archbishop of Toledo. A French noble visiting Spain asked for the famous author, and was told, "He who had made all the world rich was poor and infirm though a soldier and a gentleman."

In 1613 appeared his "Novelas Exemplares," a remarkable collection of tales.”

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