November 2018 Number 057 Torrevieja Outlook

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

045 November 2018

Doña Sinforosa Park Calendar – Fiestas – Remembrance – Bar Spotlight – 14 Solidarity Calendar – Dragonboats – Library of Cecilio Gallegos – November Consulate Meetings – Remembrance sculptures Film: Photographer of Mauthausen - Expo Torrevieja – Whats On – van Gogh experience – Show Biz - Age Concern Walks – Eights of Way - Kids Play – Sierra Escalona - Pancreas Transplant – Arizona Roots – Help Connections Team. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!1

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!2

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

As the 1st November falls on a Thursday and there is a local holiday on the Friday, many people will take a mini-break until Monday.

1st Nov. All Saints Day is a public holiday when people visit the cemeteries and remember those who have passed away.

Special day in Orihuela and DĂŠnia.

Some towns, including Torrevieja, have a free bus service to the local cemetery.

1st week a Feria is held in Villena.

1 - 3rd Nov. Famous Medieval market of La Fira de Tots els Sants is held in Cocentaina.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!3

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

7 - 10th

Patronal fiestas in L’Alfàs del Pi. 2nd weekend patronal fiestas lasting five days in Benidorm.

3rd weekend Festa de la Carxofa in Benidorm.

Romería in La Nucia to the San Rafael sanctuary.

22nd Nov. Teulada celebrates the fiesta of Santa Catalina.

24th Nov. Pinoso has hogueras and on 25th a procession in honour of Santa Catalina.

28th - 30th Fiestas and romería in Tibi.

The Saturday nearest to the 28th similar fiestas in Onil.

Torrevieja holds the Diego Ramirez annual awards with a prize giving ceremony on 7th December. This is the town’s start to the annual patronal fiestas of la Inmaculada on 8th December and a great gateway to Christmas.

November is renowned as a time to remember and commemorate the lives of those who have died. On the 11th November or the Sunday nearest it, many Europeans will take time out of their lives to think and pray for those who gave their lives for their countries during the two World Wars and other conflicts.

This year is a bit special as it will be the centenary of the First World War when there were so many hopes that this would be the war to end all wars.

Along the Costa Blanca another British and Allied group hold remembrance services to honour those who have died in conflicts. This is the British Legion, an international group that has raised funds since 1918 to help those who have been injured in active service or who have run into difficulties since their military service. These services are definitely not to honour war, but rather to honour ordinary men and women who have died in the service of others trying to make this world a safer and better place for their children and grandchildren. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!4

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Saint Raphael´s Auction is held on the morning of November 15th at La Nucia. A lively auction is held on this day for the privilege of carry the statue of the saint in the annual procession through the old town.

For those visiting Benidorm the 16th is the feast of Our Lady of the Suffrage with mostly religious celebrations. Benidorm continues fiestas with the verbena of La Carxofa on the third weekend. Benidorm now has the added attraction of the Terra Mitica theme park dedicated to cultures of countries surrounding the Mediterranean.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!5

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

18th November is feast in several towns with a colourful romeria (pilgrimage) in La Nucia and the play of La Rendicion in Petrer.

Callosa de Segura was well known for its hemp industry and today there is an artisan school to teach people about the various skills associated with manufacturing articles woven form hemp. During November, on the 4th, the town celebrates the anniversary of the town’s declaration of the title of city. On the 11th November the historical memory of the conquest by Jaime I when the Arabs were defeated in the town. On the 14th the parishioners of the San Martin church celebrate the occasion of the temple being considered as a National Historical Artistic Monument. Most emotive is the 16th when the citizens celebrate the apparition of their patron saint San Roque to some shepherds.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!6

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

During November there are numerous events including a medieval market and some examples of mock battles with a medieval flavour with belly dancers and traditional dancing Moors & Christians hold a short parade and exhibitions of the hemp makers.

25th November, the feast of Santa Catalina, is held in Jarafuel, Sueca and Xativa. There will be a parade of carriages in Pinoso, Alicante.

30th November in La Pedrera holds a romeria in honour of Nuestro Señor Robado a La Pedrera in Tibi.

Saint Cecilia patron saint of music.

22nd November is one of the important musical festival dates as it is the feast of the patron saint of music, Santa Cecilia.

Every town’s bands and choirs will be holding concerts for a couple of weeks, so watch out for them.

At the end of November the patronal fiestas of Torrevieja begin on a low key note acting as a lead in to Christmas.

Torrevieja holds its patronal fiestas leading up to the 8th December, the feast of la Inmaculada. Each day, at mid-day and at five o’clock in the afternoon, the traditional BigHeads hold the children in suspense with their antics and distribution of sweets. Every night a barraca popular is held with pop concerts, dances and other forms of entertainment supplied: during some of the days special programmes are put on for children. On the 4th December the Floral Offering procession is held about 5.30 pm at la Inmaculada church with individuals and groups making up a stupendous floral display in honour of the town’s patroness.

This is followed by a sung Mass.

The 6th December is the Day of the Spanish Constitution and is a public holiday. The 8th December is the actual feast day of la Inmaculada (public holiday) and most of the events are of a religious nature with an evening procession followed by a firework display.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!7

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

BIAR SPOTLIGHT

By Pat Hynd

Moving away from the Costa Blanca beaches we visit the interior of Alicante Province to one of its best known castles and towns - Biar.

The Province of Alicante has always had a lot to defend with invading forces by land and sea.

So today we can enjoy a look at history through many c a s t l e s , watchtowers, bastions, batteries, defense towers and lookout points, forts and bunkers, walled palaces and even some churches like Xàbia's church, designed to repel non-believers.The economy in Biar is based on manufacture, particularly dolls, and pottery.

On the origin of the name of this town there are two versions, one says that it comes from t h e L a t i n word apiarium meaning "place of bees", justifying this giving the importance that Biar was a producer and exporter of honey, and the other says it is derived from the Arabic word (biʿar) meaning a “well”. Wherever you go in the province you come across Arabic words. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!8

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The economy in Biar is based on manufacture, particularly dolls, and pottery.

On the origin of the name of this town there are two versions, one says that it comes from the Latin word apiarium meaning "place of bees", justifying this giving the importance that Biar was a producer and exporter of honey, and the other says it is derived from the Arabic word (biʿar) meaning a “well”.

Wherever you go in the province you come across Arabic words.

The town of Biar was a major stronghold in the Islamic defense of the Biar valley, a strategically important location on the borders of land conquered by the crowns of Aragon and Castile.

The line of separation between the two kingdoms was fixed at the Biar pass by the Treaty of Cazorla (1179) and was later confirmed in 1244 in Almizra (Campo de Mirra), with Villena being assigned to Castile and Biar to Aragon. After laying siege to the castle for five months, Jaime I El Conquistador (the Conqueror) seized it, bringing the conquest of the kingdom of Valencia to an end. In 1287 Biar became a royal town with the right to vote in the Courts. Due to its border location, the castle played a leading role in the wars between Castile and Aragon during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Biar castle was declared a national monument on 4 June 1931.

The municipality preserves an important historical set composed by its castle, the church of the Asuncion, several hermitages and the medieval centre that one finds in very good condition of conservation. It is a municipality full of history for the fact of having been a witness of many battles between the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!9

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!10

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018 Likewise, it is known by the lovers of the sports outdoors because of its natural heritage, since the half of the municipal area corresponds to woodland, including several monumental trees. Biar is a town in the comarca of Alt Vinalopó, in the province of Alicante, and lies at the foot of the Serra de Mariola and is located 39 km from the city of Alicante. The Serra Mariola Natural Park is a mountain range in one of the most peripheral offsprings of the Baetic System. Most if its territory is included in a natural park founded in 2002, covering an area of 17,257 ha.

It has a rectangular shape and altitudes higher than 1,000 metres, the highest peak being the Montcabrer, at 1,389 metres high. To the north the Benicadell Mountain Range has a peak bearing the same name and is 1,104 metres high. The Serra is predominantly composed of limestone. The climate is largely Mediterranean.Covering these mountain ranges are some 200 or more different aromatic and medicinal plants with hundreds of different trees, which include a variety of yew unique to this area.

Biar castle stands on a rocky outcrop at 750 metres above sea level and was built in the mid-12th century, during Spain’s Islamic era.

The structure that still survives today comprises a double enclosure with a surrounding wall and battlements with a walkway.

There are four outer and two inner turrets arranged around the great keep, which is square with three floors. The keep is 19 metres high and was built using limestone and sand mortar. Inside, the ceiling is thought to be one of the oldest examples of Almohad style vaulting. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!11

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Opening hours: Tuesday from 10:15 to 13:45. Wednesday to Friday from 10:15 to 13:45 and from 16:15 to 19:15. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:15 to 13:45. In summer (15 June - 15 September) and at Christmas, please check opening hours.

Price: â‚Ź1, free for children up to the age of 6.

Information:- 965 811 177 www.turismobiar.com

Pebrella a local aromatic plant.

Biar's gastronomy possesses a great variety of rices and paellas, such as "arròs caldós", the rice with rabbit and another local dish is the Olleta. Stands out is the utilization of aromatic grasses for local dishes such as the gazpacho, where the pebrella is in use, a very lovely aromatic plant of the area: and in the puddings onions that the oregano is in use.

Also we emphasize the stew with balls. In epoch of colder weather, the traditional pastas are elaborated like shortcake doughballs, rolls of anise, macaroons, rolls of immature brandy, especially during May for holidays of Moors and Christians.

With less than 4,000 inhabitants it is amazing that the town can produce spectacular Moors & Christian parades celebrated each year from May 10 to 13.

Biar's Villa was an important bastion in the defense of the Muslims in Biar's valley, given the importance of its strategic situation, in the limits of the conquests of Aragon and Castile. The division of both crowns remained concentrated on Biar's port for Cazorla'sWith less than 4,000 inhabitants it is amazing that the town can produce spectacular Moors & Christian parades celebrated each year from May 10 to 13. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!12

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

With less than 4,000 inhabitants it is amazing that the town can produce spectacular Moors & Christian parades celebrated each year from May 10 to 13.

Biar's Villa was an important bastion in the defense of the Muslims in Biar's valley, given the importance of its strategic situation, in the limits of the conquests of Aragon and Castile. The division of both crowns remained concentrated on Biar's port for Cazorla's agreement (1179), being confirmed later in 1244 in Almizra (Field of Myrrh), Villena being assigned to Castile and Biar to Aragon.

Biar's Villa position was noticeable by the traditional manufacture of turronera (nowadays a factory exists making traditional turronera. Thanks to the quality of its products it managed to have the prestige of having been known as suppliers of the Royal Household. In Christmas epoch there are the various styles of nougats, sugared almonds, sponge cakes and the honey from rosemary.

The castle has many rooms: the house of fora, used as a barn; the palau nou that sheltered the family of the warden; the rebost or pantry to store provisions; the cuina or kitchen with its great chimney; the house oven; the stable; the capella or church under the dedication of Santa Maria; the dining room. Main Tower used to guard the weapon and supply of the castle.

These dependences were roofed by curved tile that permitted rainwater to be stored in the cistern excavated in the rock that still remains. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!13

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

WHY A SOLIDARITY CALENDAR

by Andy Ormiston For the 14th year a solidarity calendar has been produced and is nowavailable at multiple charity shops and outlets.

IT’S CALLED A SOLIDARITY CALENDAR. WHY?-

-

The whole thinking behind this calendar is to supply information about fiestas and places to visit, public holidays, astronomy dates, international supports and benefits our way of life. That is one act of solidarity.

- It’s paid for by our sponsors – another act of solidarity on their part. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!14

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

- It’s distributed by charitable associations and helps their funds. Another type of solidarity.

It brings together at the presentation many volunteers who can mix and get to know one another. That’s another aspect of solidarity.

The sponsors, in addition, donate to various charities each year.

- It gives me something to do all year – more solidarity. I guess you all have your own idea of solidarity depending on the work you are doing as a volunteer or group. To me it is doing something that produces or is based on a community of social interests, with common objectives and standards that have as its aim helping those in the community who are in need of our help and experience. That covers every aspect of humanitarian values - helping the poor, the orphans, the abandoned, homeless, those with physical and mental health problems, the environment including animals. So believe me. There’s a long list of underdogs. And by helping in any way we are contributing to the benefit of the

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!15

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

whole community and also empowering ourselves. Looking at the number of different associations at the presentation one can appreciate the amount of volunteer work going on in our community. Someone says that there are about 500 clubs and associations in our area south of Alicante.

So solidarity should have a visible aspect. Thanks to discussions in this past year and the exchange of information via the CARE group, some of you have managed to introduce new extensions to your existing works. Age Concern has extended its reach out programme to the elderly via its KIT telephone system and HELP VEGA BAJA has introduced its successful 24 hour telephone system partially aimed at the lonely, which has been a theme of the CARE group this past year. Thanks especially to two Spanish workers there is more contact between English speaking and Spanish speaking volunteers – I make

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!16

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

a special mention of Red Cross worker Pedro Dominguez and social worker Beatriz Lara of CasaVerde.

Every one of us has unique talents that need to be discovered and utilised. Most of the British out here are pensioners with an experienced work life. Perhaps some of them have been in the armed services or involved in emergency work, like ambulances’ or firemen.

All of them still have talents that can be used for the benefit of the general community and for themselves.

That’s something that needs pushing via the various types of the media. We all need to think, feel and act with compassion.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!17

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

I publish this calendar, which started out with 500 copies 14 years ago and now has 2,500 copies and involves all of you and produces in small ways income.

Of course many organizations don't do hands-on work as such; like AFECANCER or ADIEM who deal directly with patient/clients. But plenty of groups raise funds so that these types of charitable associations can keep up the work they are doing and extend it.

Here we have the show groups like Stagestruck, or the RASCALS or even the Calendar Girls. Plus all the dance and musical groups who show their solidarity by putting on shows, displaying their talents and supporting others. Or organizations like the ROTARY CLUB, or the FREEMASONS, or groups like CHARITY4CHARITIES. Solidarity also extends into the media as it is so important to publicize what people do.

This includes those many people who organs fund raising events like walks or cutting someone’s hair. Noticeable has been Costa Blanca News, and FEMALE FOCUS with their pages dedicated to clubs and associations. Also of particular mention is the awards by Costa Blanca People who through their readers suggestions and voting, give a special spotlight on members of the community who do so much, many quietly, like being a faithful carer.

The calendar as you see is dedicated to the Costa Blanca hoping to promote it – another aspect of solidarity. It follows the same design as before with information and photos about the area. Special thanks to Phil Friar particularly, for his photographs that appear throughout the calendar. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!18

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Next year there are some things we are not sure about because of Brexit, such as the right to vote in European elections or even municipal ones, or possibly doing away with the change of clocks in Spring and Autumn. We have important dates like the Spanish Municipal elections in May when we all have the responsibility and honour to vote. And I emphasize that as citizens we do have an obligation to register on the padrรณn and vote in our town hall.

Something that has become an anticipated part of the annual calendar presentation has been the additional funding arising from currency exchange of clients of Abogados ArocaSeiquer & Associates and Cambridge Currencies. This has been an exceptional year and this year the total amount to be distributed among several good causes has been over 60,000 euros which is a fantastic amount divided between five groups. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!19

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

6,259 Euros was paid to a Local School project for absenteeism.

30,000 Euros was paid to Bali charity foundation to re-build a School after earthquake 10,596 Euros left for an equal share to the Charities below of 3,532.00 euros each.

3,532.00 euros for AFECANCER provides support for familias who have someone suffering from cancer and provides initial help 3,532.00 euros TO ADIEM (Mental Health) offers various practical and psychological support programs.

3,532.00 euros TO DEBRA Mariposa (Children´s Skin Charity) celebrates 25 years in Spain providing awareness and support to children born with skin disease.Bali villagers sent a short video of thanks for the generous donation.Torrevieja celebrated its IV

Escribe para introducir texto

Bali villagers sent a short video of thanks for the generous donation aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!20

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Dragonboats Gala in Torrevieja Torrevieja celebrated its IV Intercontinental DragonBoat Regatta with over 300 rowers paddling in time to their drum. You might think it was a male dominated sport, but a number of ladies crews in the pink competed in the I Jan Collins Memorial Race: Flamenco Rosa, Asturias dragon rosa, Pink champagne, BCS Valencia, Mรกlaga BreastCancerSuurvivor, Vientos de Cartagena y Amabele belles. This weekend event was organized by the Spanish Dragon Boat Association along with Marina International with the dragon boats lined up on Acequion beach.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!21

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Dragon boat is a race over a clearly defined unobstructed course in the shortest possible time. There are two classes that compete in this discipline, 10-seater and 20-seater referring to the number of paddlers in the boat. Paddlers sit in twos side-by-side and use a singlebladed paddle. Both classes will also have a drummer and a steerer, with everybody in the boat paddling to the rhythm of the drum.

Dragon boat has ancient Chinese origins and dates back more than 2,000 years. The first participants were Chinese villagers who held races on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar in the belief it would show worship to the dragon, a traditional

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!22

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

symbol of water in Asia, and so encourage the rains for prosperity and to avert misfortune.

Dragon boat took on further prominence following the death of great poet Qu Yuan in 278 BC. He committed suicide in the Miluo River in a protest against corruption. Local people went in their fishing boats to try and save him, and beat drums and splashed oars in the water to keep fish away from his body. His death is marked by a dragon boat festival (Duanwu Festival) each year.

Dragon boats are designed to resemble the classic dragon that had the head of an ox, antler of a deer, mane of a horse, body of a python, claws of a hawk, and fins and tail of a fish, so the bow is crafted as the head of a dragon with the stern the tail, the hull painted with scales and the paddles symbolically representing the claws.

Modern dragon boat is generally recognised as having its origins in the Hong Kong International Races, first held in 1976.

The official race distances recognised by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) are 200 or 250m, 500m and 2000m. The 2000m is conducted as a pursuit race with two laps of the 500m course completed incorporating three turns. Events are held for men’s team, women’s team and mixed team. The mixed team must include a minimum of eight women (four in the 10-seater class). aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!23

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

On 6th October pupils of Cuba College in Torrevieja paid homage to one of the town’s famous personages Cecilio Gallego Alaminos, who was a victim of an ETA bomb at a bus stop in Santa Pola. A new school library was unveiled dedicated to Cecilia who was known for is fighting for parents and pupils rights and improvements in schooling when he was president of Ampa. Cecilio also founded la Rondalla Escolar Cuba a musical group o chord musical instruments such as mandolins. On this special occasionManuel Martínez Guirao directed the la Orquesta de Cuerda Pulsada “Cecilio Gallego” aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!24

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Consulate Talks in November The British Consulate in Alicante is organising a number of events in November and early December to give British nationals information about living in Spain and any up to date information about Brexit, if they know anything further by that stage.

Sarah-Jane Morris, the British Consul, will give a short talk about what she knows about Brexit and the different information that is available.

Thereafter there will be a number of tables for people to visit and ask specific individual questions, for example: • How to register on the padron – someone from the town hall will be there to explain how it works in that town • How to get an appointment to get a residency certificate • Access to healthcare – some • Driving licenses and driving in Spain – someone from Guardia Civil trafico department will be there to answer any driving in Spain related questions Hugh Elliott has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Spain and Non-Resident Ambassador to Andorra in succession to Mr Simon Manley CMG. Hugh is currently the Director of Communication and Stakeholders at the Department for Exiting the European Union.

He was previously the Director of Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He also was Head of Government Relations at Anglo American plc, a diversified global aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!25

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

mining company, where he worked for nearly 7 years and was responsible for setting up the Government Relations function across the business.

Prior to joining Anglo American, Hugh served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in a variety of roles in London and British Embassies overseas, including in Madrid, Buenos Aires and Paris.

He was Chairman of Canning House, the UK’s centre for Latin America, from 2009 to 2012. With all this experience he will hopefully be able to help the British in Spain after the Brexit chaos.

Mr Elliott will take up his appointment during summer 2019.

If you’re in the communities of Valencia and Murcia and you need urgent help (for example, you’ve been attacked, arrested or someone has died), call +34 965 21 60 22. If you’re in the UK and worried about a British national in Spain, call 020 7008 1500. We are experiencing technical issues with our telephone line. If you cannot reach us on our usual number, please call the British Embassy Madrid on +34 917 146 300.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!26

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Remembrance Sunday, fortuitously falls on Sunday 11 November in 2018, one hundred years since the end of WW1. It is a day for the nation to remember and honour those who have sacrificed them to secure and protect our freedom. There are number of services worldwide of great otiportance including at Ypres.รง The National Service of Remembrance, held at The Cenotaph in Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday, ensures that no-one is forgotten as the nation unites to honour all who have suffered or died in war. HM The Queen will pay tribute alongside Members of the Cabinet, Opposition Party leaders, former Prime Ministers, the Mayor of London and other ministers.

Representatives of the Armed Forces, Fishing Fleets and Merchant Air and Navy will be there, as well as faith communities and High Commissioners of Commonwealth countries.

The Royal British Legion has a number of branches along the Costa Blanca that will hold their own services. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!27

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Costa Blanca remembers

This year's Poppy Appeal in Spain was launched at a ceremony, including a Parade of Standards, in Benidorm on Friday, 19th October 2018, starting at 12.00.

Last year, the Legion in Spain collected €169,622.40 towards the Poppy Appeal.

Traditionally the Torrevieja Branch holds its Remembrance Service on 11 November commencing at 10.45 to ensure that the Last Post is sounded at 11.00 hrs.

It is held at the La Siesta Church.

In keeping with tradition wreaths are laid and crosses planted in the Remembrance Garden in memory of those fallen during the two World Wars and the many armed conflicts thereafter.

RAFA Costa Blanca held a memorial service for the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Britain at La Siesta Church. Branch Chaplain Rev Terry Baxter led the service.

The Orihuela Costa branch will hold their service on 11th November at the Mil Palmeras Capilla followed by a lunch at nearby Olympia Restaurant. There were three Poppy Collections at La Zenia Boulevard on 20th, 27th October and 3rd November.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!28

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

B e v e r l y m i n s t e r features a p o p p y memorial dedicated to fallen soldiers are depicted in thousands of poppies in Martin Waters' artwork at B e v e r l e y Minster-

The installation shows the soldiers falling into the poppies as it goes down in height, or people also feel it could be soldiers rising out of the poppies to heaven.

The base on the floor has 20,000 poppies, that is the number who died in the first day of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!29

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Colchester Borough Council has created a stunning 3D Remembrance bedding display at Colchester Castle Park.

The display features willow sculptures and a floral World War One tank, and incorporates over 11,000 plants. It commemorates the centenary of the end of World War One, as well as the town’s important role during the conflict, when up to 20,000 soldiers were stationed in the town, and the 1,263 men from the borough who sadly lost their lives. As in previous years, the display was designed by Colchester Borough Council and idverde, who also helped build it and provided free compost with14,000 individual Alternantera plants. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!30

Torrevieja Outlook

Photographer of

Mauthaussen

No 057 November 2018

Slavery has always been around us in one way or another. It didn't die out with the 1833 abolition of slavery act. The 20th century was rife with slavery. The Nazi Socialist programme was successful because they had slaves, first in labour camps then those in concentration camps as the second war got into its full operation. The success of Franco’s post civil war reconstruction program was largely down to what amounted to slave labour.

A new film explores the horrible episode of Spanish prisoners in a Nazi concentration or death camp. The Movie is based on the historical personage Francisco Boix (Mario Casas) who was a photographer and communist militant during the Civil war. After being exiled he became a prisoner of Mauthausen's concentration camp, where he was employed in aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!31

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

the photographic laboratory. With the help of a group of Spanish prisoners he duplicated and hid photograph copies and even film that the Germans themselves had taken of the horse of the camp. Boix's photographs were determinant in obtaining a judgment during NĂşremberg's trials. This 1918 film is not suitable for under-16s which gives an idea of is brutal scenes. Among the Republican refugees fleeing the wrath of the Spanish Nationalists at the end of the Civil War in 1939 was poet and writer Antonio Machado who has a street dedicated to his memory in Torrevieja.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!32

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The French authorities imprisoned many of these Republican refugees and the first French concentration camp built to deal with them was at Argelés sur mer, Colliure where poet Antonio Machado died and where a plaque commemorates his life and death in this French town.

Some other Republicans managed to blend into the French lifestyle and when the Germans occupied the country they involved themselves in the French Resistance movement. But often with the collusion of French gendarmes, the Germans rounded up tens of thousands of Spaniards in France and sent them to the slave labour camps of Buchenwald and Mauthaüsen.

It is estimated that more than 6.500 Spanish prisoners died in Mauthaüsen near Linz in Austria, used as slave labour for the nearby quarry that had 186 steps going down to it.

Men in striped pajama uniforms, with a blue triangle denoting their Spanish nationality, had to carry large 130 lbs. stones up these steps and often were ordered to carry them back down again.

The top of the dreaded staircase was nicknamed “the parachute jump” by the SS guards, because often prisoners were lined up on the cliff edge and pushed down to their deaths in the quarry.

Designed as only one camp it expanded in 1940 and apart from the four main sub-camps at Mauthaüsen and Gusen there were more than 50 subordinate camps and was categorised as a Grade III camp, which made them the toughest camps in Nazi Germany.

The war memorial here has imitation steps as a backdrop to a wretched figure of a man.

35-year-old José Parades Úbeda from Torrevieja was one of those thousands who died in this Nazi concentration camp at Mathaüsen on 14th November 1941. Another 18-year-old prisoner from Torrevieja managed to survive the horrors of Mathaüsen. There was another who fled Spain and into France, but was arrested and sent first to one concentration camp, only to escape. Then he was arrested and sent to another German concentration camp, to escape a second time, and this led to him being sent to Mauthaüsen. He was among those who survived the ardours of imprisonment and lived in France where he served as mayor of a small French town for forty years.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!33

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The memorial plaque on the former camp wall, honouring the sacrifices of those who died, states that 7,000 prisoners died there. There is a list of almost 160 different methods of killing prisoners at MauthaĂźsen. Many of these died in sealed prison vans when the exhaust pipe was fed back into the van so that the already weak men died of carbon monoxide poisoning. They had been told that they would be liberated before boarding the vans.

Others were taken to the beautiful castle 30 kilometres away where a special gas chamber had been installed and told they were to be deloused, but ended their final agonised moments gasping for breath. Tortures included close confinement, deliberate starvation resulting in death within twelve days, freezing showers where over 3,000 prisoner died of hypothermia, flagellations, forced blood donations for soldiers at the front line, medical experiments, hangings and indiscriminate shootings.

As with many other concentration camps the main thrust was to provide labour for the war effort that was supported by many well established companies that today we use daily. The quarry at MauthaĂźsen was a private enterprise by the DEST Company (under the SS), which also had a mother company in Switzerland.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!34

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The quarry was famous for the granite stones that were used on the streets of Vienna, but the plan to use slave labour was partially so that the huge grandiose building projects of Albert Speers could be carried out with the stone from this quarry. Finance came from private sources, but also from the so-called Reinhardt Fund that was made up from the property stolen from prisoners and a lot of gold was sent to Switzerland, taken from the inmates.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!35

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Unwittingly the German Red Cross also “donated� large funds to this enterprise as the SS in charge was also President of the Red Cross in Germany and funneled funds to SS tasks. At one stage in 1942 slave labour was used here for building vehicles and V2 rockets and a huge underground complex was built to avoid the air strikes of the Allies. One of the final aims of these bunkers was that, should the need arise, the prisoners would be herded into them and the entrances blown up thus burying the evidence. The main manner of death of these prisoners was to work them to death until they dropped from exhaustion brought on by near starvation rations.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!36

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018 Ironically the Germans at MauthaĂźsen ordered the prisoners to play football between teams of different nationalities, more as a diversion for themselves rather than for the benefit of the prisoners. But the games were also filmed as propaganda and shown to members of the public as evidence that the prisoners w e re enjoying their

confinement.

In reality this actually played against the Germans as copies of photographs taken by the Germans of some of their atrocities were tossed over the fence by a communist prisoner

Actor and real photographer Jacinto CortĂŠs to a very brave woman, Anna Pointer, who picked up the sealed packets and kept them hidden until the end of the war.

One of the prisoners was Barcelona photographer Francisco Boix, who was put to work by the Germans in the developing of photographs in the MauthaĂźsen laboratories. Bravely, together with former Republicans, Antonio Garcia, he managed to steal over 2.000 photographs,negatives, which Boix later used in evidence at the Nuremberg trials against aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!37

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Nazi officials and led to the execution of many former officers and guards at MauthaĂźsen and Dachau. Obviously the film has to bring in a bit of romance.

The Nuremberg trials were the first international courts that tried people for crimes against humanity and led to the introduction of the present courts at the Hague that have condemned several despots for similar crimes. Over 100,000 Nazis were sentenced to prison sentences, although very few, apart from Hess, really served their full sentence. Part of the reason for this was that the Allied partition of Germany led to the Soviets domination of Eastern Germany and an obvious threat to the West, therefore there was a need for experienced men to form a new army and intelligence service. German scientists and doctors who had experimented on prisoners, even if it meant their death, were also recruited by the Americans, Russians and other Allies and in return for their knowledge and services given immunity against prosecution for their war crimes against humanity.

A Nazi law of 31st July 1944 allowed "terrorists and their helpers" to be shot on sight without any legal process: it was called the "Niedermachungsbefhel" to shoot in cold blood, and used on many individuals and groups.When the American troops entered the MauthaĂźsen camp on 5th May 1945 they found that Spanish Republican flags had replaced the former Nazi swastikas. An American soldier wounded the SS commandant of the camp, Colonel Franz Ziereis, when he tried to escape wearing civilian clothing. There is an official version of his capture which conflicts with that of Spanish survivors. The official version is that he was captured by American soldiers after a bungled suicide attempt and interviewed by Francisco Boix and a Czech, Hans Marsalek, in which statement he claimed that he was not responsible and only obeying orders of Pohl, Himmler and Hitler. Marsalek later wrote up this account from memory six months later. aormi@icloud.com Torrevieja Outlook !38

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The Spanish version is that that he was caught trying to commit suicide on the evening of 23rd May, was detained by Chief Warrant Officer Walter S. Kobus (USA Army) and three other G.I.s and two ex-prisoners a Spaniard and a Czech and taken back to the camp and interrogated by three prisoners and shot by an American Cuban soldier.

The Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials were a set of two consecutive trials of the German World War II criminals, carried over from the Dachau International Military Tribunal.

Between March 29 and May 13, 1946, and then from August 6 to August 21, 1947, a total of 69 former Nazi officials were tried. Among them were some of the former guards at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp system and August Eigruber, a former Gauleiter of Upper Austria. Among the defendants were also Viktor Zoller (former commander of the SS-Totenkopf guard battalion), and doctors Friedrich Entress (an SS member and a medic who practiced medical experiments on hundreds of inmates; killing most of them with injections of phenol), Eduard Krebsbach and Erich Wasicky (responsible for running the camp's gas chambers). The Mauthausen-Gusen commander, Franz Ziereis, was shot several weeks after the liberation of the Mauthausen-Gusen camps and died in former Camp Gusen I on May 24, 1945.

All of the defendants were accused of a wide variety of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Among them was murder, torture, beating and starving the inmates. After six weeks all the defendants were found guilty. 58 were sentenced to death by hanging (9 were later paroled and their sentences were changed to life imprisonment), whilst three were sentenced to life imprisonment. All the death sentences were carried out on May 27 and May 28 of 1947 in Landsberg Prison.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!39

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The second Mauthausen Camp Trial started on August 6, 1947. Altogether 8 former members of the camp's administration were accused of the same set of crimes as in the former trial. On August 21 the verdict was reached. Four Nazis were sentenced to death by hanging, one for life imprisonment, two for short-term sentences and one was acquitted of all the charges. The death sentences were carried out on August 10, 1948.

In July 2008 The Fiscal of the Spanish National Audience requested that this Supreme Tribunal pursue the prosecution of several ex-SS Nazis involved in the deaths of 4,460 Spaniards who died in three extermination camps – Mauthaüsen (4,300 Spaniards died), Sachsenhausen (up to 100 Spanish deaths) and Flossenburg (at least 60 Spaniards died).

Among the Republican prisoners at Mauthaüsen were 8 Jews who had fought during the Spanish Civil War; the first to die was a doctor who could not keep working at the pace of aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!40

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018 the others and the SS gave him a wire to hang himself in front of the others. The other seven, all Romanians, decided that there was no future for them so the next day they marched towards the barbed wire fence singing the “Internationale" and were machine gunned by the soldiers.

The Fiscal had sufficient documentary proof to ask for the trial against four ex-SS guards who lived in USA since the end of the war. Most of these prisoners were Republican refugees who according to the fiscal report were included in extermination projects designed by the Nazi nationalist system, against the prisoners will, quoting reasons for their extermination as their race, nationality, religion and political convictions.

The Spanish fiscal considered that the Spanish tribunal had the authority to make judgements in these particular cases.

One of the most important Spanish prisoners in Sachsenhausen was the Republican Largo Caballero, former President of the country and Secretary General of the UGT. He described how his particular group of prisoners were marched from the camp as the Allies neared and were beaten en route. He was rescued by the Russians and spent what little remained of his life in Paris where he died on 23rd March 1946 and buried there, only to be reinterred in Madrid in 1978 with the arrival of democracy in Spain.

Many former SS men lived out their lives in Spain and in a pizzeria restaurant in Torrevieja town centre a Belgian lady, who was a former concentration camp prisoner, was shocked when she came face to face with a former SS member whom she recognised from her time in the camps.

Then there was an infamous Nazi Dr. Aribert Heim of MauthaĂźsen had fled Germany when the avenging noose of the Allied investigators was closing in and he lived his life in several countries. His youngest son visited him in Cairo where he had supposedly become a Moslem and changed his name to Tarek Farid Hussein and supposedly the doctor died in an hotel there on 10th August 1992 and was buried. But there is no death certificate, nor aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!41

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

grave to substantiate this claim, which means that the family cannot demand the inheritance of over a million dollars still in his name, so the hunt goes on. There is evidence that the family had sent sums of money to a Spanish address and it is presumed that the doctor was still alive in 2009 and in Spain where the Catalan police investigated and reckoned that he had been tipped off.

He was known as Dr. Death because of his experiments with prisoners. At least 26 Spanish prisoners were among those operated on and eight died in Mauthaüsen and Gusen under the ministrations of the then handsome 27-year old doctor,along with hundreds of other prisoners of various nationalities and creeds, often with lethal injections of kerosene. One of the Spanish survivors was Manuel Garcia Borrado who for 20 years became the guardian and administrator of the Mauthaüsen camp as a memorial site and in 1983 was decorated for his work by the Austrian government on his retirement. Heim was reported to have lived in Denia, Ibiza and the Costa Brava at various times.

The last surviving Spaniard Mauthausen prisoner was Esteban Pérez Pérez, who died just short of his 104th birthday in November 2014. He had joined the 15th International Brigade, fled to France and worked on the Maginot Line before was captured at Dunkirk. In Mauthausen he was Nº 5042 and worked in the tube factory, then the construction of roads and underground shelters of the V1 and V2 rocket construction. A couple of television documentaries have been made of his life.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!42

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

The III International Expo was held in Torrevieja auditorium with record numbers of visitors, the first day estimated at 3,000 . Many real estate companies showed the latest in house designs, with other ompanies offering a wide range of attractive services. Once again Danish artist Rita Hee was on hand to xplain her work and attract new students to her studio in La Mata. An imaginative Mongolian railway line was laid out on the floor to lead clients along a journey she made and was illustrated either side of the ine with paintings and photos inspired by that long trip. The railway line was the work of Irish artist T.J. Miles who also had some of his work n hand. He is very talented and, like many Irish, as a way with words and has an illustrated book of his paintings with poetic accompaniments.

Some charitable associations also had free stalls with lots of information about what they do, hoping to attract more volunteers. There were plenty of clients sampling the wares of restaurants and wine ompanies. Popular was the N332 police stand, this group named after the main road through the Vega Baja. Guardia Civil police offer in English information about Spanish traffic laws.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!43

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!44

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

One of the regular sections of the Expo is Ree Hee Johansenn a Danish artist who has her own studio at La Mata with a fair number of students. Each year she surprises with her mini-expo and this year chose to illustrate a journey she made a few years ago along the Mongolian railway line.

Her artist friend T:J: Miles, drew a railway line on the floor and this was flanked by paintings and photos of Rita taken on that long journey.

T.J. is himself an accomplished artist with works in many art galleries in Ireland and other countries.

One series of paintings has found their way into a book which has accompanying poems by T.J. In the photo he is seen walking the line with singer/Composer Shani Ormiston.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!45

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!46

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!47

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!48

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Van Gogh Alive The Experience 2018 - La Lonja Alicante ends on 16 December.

Tickates for this Multi-Media experience can be bought online at

https://www.ticketea.com/entradasvan-gogh-alive-the-experiencealicante

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!49

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

I was fortunate to join a class from Rita Hee’s Casita del Arte for a visit to this exhibition that wraps itself around the audience absorbed by there senses taking the group through the various ages and stages of van Gogh. The chosen music throughout added yet anther dimension to this wonderful exposition. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!50

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Show Biz Pat Hynd

We are fortunate to have so many talented people around, ready to entertain us.

COLIN BIRD did an outstanding job of bringing together a very mixed cast in a complicated who that proved to be a winner.

After months of hard work and dedication by this extraordinary cast of first timers and old hands - with the complete spectrum of experience in between - it's all over. If we thought that Thursday and Friday and Saturday Matinee were special (and they were), our final performance in front of another packed house was the best yet. Flawless performance - at least as far as the audience were concerned and what an audience! A standing ovation for the curtain call, which was thoroughly well deserved.

Colin Bird said, “ I have never experienced anything quite like this and probably never will again - the team work between the cast, the stage crew, tech boys and front of house was as good as it gets. Congratulations to all of us!�

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!51

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Coming up - The Wizard of Oz Meanwhile, STUDIO32 are preparing to thrill audiences with their latest musical theatre venture – it’s The Wiz, a modern take on that classic show which was the winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, the show features all those well-known characters, but with some fabulous new soul, blues and gospel songs. Studio32 was formed in the summer of 2013 by a group of people who wanted to put on shows that would attract a wide range of audiences.

When a tornado sweeps up Dorothy’s house and deposits her in the land of Oz she doesn’t know how she is going to get back to Kansas. She meets lots of strange characters who tell her the only person who can help is the Wiz, who lives in Denim City. So Dorothy sets off along the yellow brick road, singing a wonderful solo ballad “As Soon As I Get Home”.

Along the way she picks up various travelling companions – Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, and of course The Wizard. But will he really be able to help her get home? To find out come and see this wonderfully entertaining show, a perfect start to the Christmas season.

The role of Dorothy is being played by Sarah Hopewell, who joined STUDIO32 last year taking part in the chorus of their winter production White Christmas. Her natural talent was apparent from the start, and she successfully auditioned for the lead role of Roxie Hart in the company’s sell-out production of Chicago. Sarah admits that changing from the role of Roxie, a hard selfish murderess, to the role of Dorothy, the sweet cute girl next d o o r, has been an interesting challenge!

STUDIO32 are proud and delighted to be supporting local charities once again with this production, most notably the San Fulgencio Alzheimer’s Society. The company have raised almost 30,000 euros for charity in under 5 years, and look forward to giving lots more money with donations from this show.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!52

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Show dates are Wednesday November 28th to Saturday December 1st at the Cardenal Belluga Theatre in San Fulgencio, all performances start at 7.30pm with doors open 7pm.

Reserved seating tickets are now on sale, priced at 10 euros, and can be obtained by calling 744 48 49 33, by emailing tickets@studiothirtytwo.org, or from the following outlets: Cards & More, La Marina 966 790 954 The Card Place, Benijofar 966 713 266 Current seating availability for each performance is available on their website www.studiothirtytwo.org . Tickets are in great demand for this show, already there is only limited availability for the Friday and Saturday performances, so be sure to book your seat now for what promises to be a spectacular evening’s entertainment. You won’t be disappointed!

After this Studio32 will be performing the Cole Porter musical 'Anything Goes' at the Cardenal Belluga Theatre (San Fulgencio) in May / June 2019.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!53

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Stagestruck presents Robin Hood panto

a

It's that time of year again and Christmas wouldn't be complete without a visit to a traditional pantomime. Get your tickets now for Stagestruck's performance of 'Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood' to be presented at the Cardenal Belluga Theatre in San Fulgencio on the 6th, 7th and 8th December.

This show promises lots of fun, laughter, a u d i e n c e participation as well as a free drink on arrival. At 8 euros a ticket, you can't afford to miss it! Oh no you can't!!! See the poster for details of where to buy tickets.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!54

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!55

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Cantabile Ladies Choir: ‘Vivaldi’s Gloria’ in its original 3-part form for female voices, along with other sacred works will be performed at Los Balcones Church at 3pm on Friday 23 November and at La Siesta Church at 7.30pm on Friday 30 November. This friendly choir always welcome new members, the ability to sing in tune being the main requirement.

Rehearsals are from 2.45pm – 5pm Friday afternoons at La Siesta Church, Torrevieja.

Contact: valcantabile@gmail.com or phone 96 679 5816.

Rojales Pantomime Group: The group have started rehearsing their new pantomime, ‘Camelot the Panto’ for 17, 18 and 19 January to be held in Los Montesinos. A wizard, a king and a beautiful queen, knights who look good in tights, plus a castle, a sword and a very funny plot all to be held at Camelot - not forgetting a very funny bear called Teddy. Ticket sales will be advertised shortly. Proceeds from the performances to local charities.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!56

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Christmas also means Christmas Fairs with plenty of opportunity to buy gifts.

Both Age Concerns Spain (SUR) (La Siesta) and HELP Vega Baja (in La Zenia) have booked their Christmas Fayres for the 1st December this year.

SAMARITANS at their Punta Prima shop and drop in centre 3rd December.

Orihuela Costa Community Centre on 6th December.

Post Office Xmas Fayre on 6th December - with an extra dose of Christmas on 25th November at La Zenia Blvd with the Reef Band.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!57

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Fancy a stroll on a Friday afternoon once or twice a month?

Our Residential Home Visiting Team (RHVT) urgently need 2 or 3 volunteers to accompany residents currently in a Care Home in Rojales.

Some residents need to be pushed in wheelchairs, but some are able to walk with a steady arm to lean on.

From around 3.30pm until about 5pm, a team of volunteers collect the residents and take them for a stroll around Rojales stopping for a coffee and some welcomed conversation. The volunteer team work on a rota basis so can accommodate your availability.

These Friday outings for the residents, mainly British, are most appreciated as they can converse, reminisce and enjoy a relaxed couple of hours away from the Care Home. The volunteers achieve a great deal of satisfaction and ďŹ nd this role extremely rewarding personally.

If you would like to become a valuable volunteer in our team, please apply to Age Concern, Calle Paganini, La Siesta or telephone between Monday and Friday between 10am ‒ 1.30pm on 96 678 6887. Thank you.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!58

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Saving common Ground

Many times we have written about the mini-paradise that is part of Torrevieja and has frequently featured in films such as Robinson Crusoe or Treasure island.

It has been a point of discussion for years as to its right of way denomination known as CaĂąada Real de la Costa.

A group of about 150 demonstrated and walked or cycled this old route with a small symbolic flock of sheep as far as they could do so, as part of the road is fenced in.

There is no doubt that with the build up along the coast of urbanization we have lost a lot of our natural heritage and there are groups who are willing to fight to defend ancient rights, such as that at Lo Ferris. It is obvious that developers have their eyes on inland areas that may affect mountainous areas.

In reality it should be the town halls that defends these public ways and spaces. But in the race to attract business and jobs, various local and regional governments have looked the aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!59

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

other way. Now there is a realization that some of the best pieces of the environment have gone under the hammer and bulldozers so the urgency to defend what remains.

The Lo Ferris route should be 75 meters wide and wend its way along the coast, but obviously this has not been taken into consideration when planning the urbanization in Torrevieja. Gone are the days of three decades when it was common to come across a herd of goats or a flock of sheep.

The Salvemos Lo Ferris association laments the present bad condition of the sand dunes and lac of palm trees that formerly made this area a film producers paradise.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!60

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Kids’ Play

Stevie Spit is with Eileen Gleave and Gabrielle Sarah Hirst visiting San Jose Obrero with two cars packed to the rafters. New Dressing Gowns, Pyjamas, Slippers, Clothes & Toys for 70 kids. Happy Days. In the pic are Eileen Gleave Gabrielle Sarah Hirst. Paul Derbyshire and the director of the Orphanage, Vicente. Thanks to Theresa Nonis and Jennifer Warren and everyone who has contributed to this. The next time we go up will be beginning of November with the new beds said Stevie.

The San Jose Obrero homes are popular for fund raising events by the British community.

With the approach of Christmas and families collect the letters the kids write to the Three Kings.

Children aged between 6 and 18 live in San Jose Orphanage. This project began in 1865 when the religious order the Daughters of Saint Vincent de Paul arrived in Orihuela and opened a centre for the elderly and children. In 1952 Father NavĂŠs Ciurana S.J., of Santo Domingo College, then a Jesuit institution, founded the Obra Social de las Congregaciones aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!61

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Marianas. In the same year there was a contagious disease the mean that the good priest asked the nuns to move permanently to the La Misericordia building, which was the start of the present association.

FUNDACIÓN DIOCESANA SAN JOSÉ OBRERO

In 1962 the Obra Social acquired the land at La Mata and the camping thanks to the donation by D. Antonio Tárraga Escribano. This meant the children could be taken to the seaside. On 8th January 1967 there was a fire that ruined the building and D Alberto Oliveras started a new fundraising programme through SER “You are formidable” incentive raising two and a half million pesetas. This was augmented by the bullfighter Gabriel de la Casa, thanks t transmission by TVE raising a further 70,000 pesetas.

Finally on 7th March 1967 the first stone of a new residence was laid, but by the end of the next year there were obvious defects and the kids were relocated in the workshops and the Municipal Hospital for the very young. They moved back into the residence in 1971. On 7th February 1985 there was a restructuring of the building and the whole concept by converting the residence into homes.

Then on the 19th May, 2004,the Fundación Diocesana San José Obrero was instituted taking over from the Obra Social and new buildings were completed it sporting zone, aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!62

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

school area, chapel, library, professors room, and a residence. Between 2008 and 2009 the Foundation took charge of the Centre for Minors in Elche that had been the responsibility of the Brothers of Cristo Crucificado. New works were undertaken and it was inaugurated on 16 September 2009 with 16 youngsters that by 1 December had increased to 18.

The purpose is to integrate those children living in familiar situations of abandonment, desertion, maladjustment, poverty or exclusion The target is an integral growth carrying out an accompaniment in a personal, social and familiar level The team work, performed by professionals and specialists in social education is relied upon The Diocesan Foundation hosts 68 boys and girls distributed in six homes of two residences (Orihuela and Elche and three apartments as an attempt to recreate a family environment with the educators). 18 live in the Casita de Reposo in Elche. There is also a day centre for 24 children who stay during the day and go home in the evening.

Other non residential programmes are for the attention to children who serve judicial measures, temporary foster care and an enrollment and follow up in the schools The older children are in four units dedicated to the Secondary Education and six units in Professional formation that includes carpentry, furniture making, vehicle maintenance aormi@icloud.com Torrevieja Outlook !63

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

and hairdressing with space for personal image.

There are further a d v a n c e d programmes in v e h i c l e maintenance.

Once the children come of age, but who do not have family support, they are given an apartment.

At the children's service are two Diocesan Priests, 6 Community Sisters, a professional team made up by psychologists and social workers, social educators, classroom workshop teachers, teachers, administration and maintenance services, "Amigos de San Jose Ovrero" Association, co-operation families.

This social work carried out by the Diocese in Orihuela-Alicante is conceived as a response to the needs of these children living in a situation of social risk.

The educative commitment is characterized by a specialized service developed by professionals being part of the Valencian Community Social Services network.

Among those who have supported the whole venture over the years has been the social banks like Caja Rural, Cajamurcia or La Caixa, or as our photo below shows the annual calendar presentation with a cheque from MiguelArocaSeiquer as well as the large British community. Special praise must be given to Ann English and her husband and Lyn Adams and her partner who all do tremendous work raising funds and clothing.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!64

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

SIERRA ESCALONA Y DEHESA DE It has taken a long time full of marches and demonstrations, visits to environmental offices of Valencian Government, talks on radio and press in general as well as meeting with politicians, bit at last environmentalists have persuaded government to change the status of the Sierra Escalona and the Dehesa de Campomor and declared it as a natural park protected by law.

Well not really as its new designation is Paisaje Protegido that has sanctions, fines etc. for some infractions. Now the push it is to declare it as such a Natural Park. It comprises of an

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!65

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

area of 10,683 hectares of land in Orihuela, Pilar de la Horadada y San Miguel de Salinas municipal area.

At a time when we are all conscious of the disastrous effects mankind is having on our environment this is a tiny step forward. But it is an important one or those who enjoy walking in this hilly area, as well as those who delight in birdwatching or photography.

Here you can find the common eagle, owls, wildcats, not forgetting rabbits as this area has one of the most dense populations of rabbits in Spain. It is a popular place for the Mona picnic days after Easter.

So the fight goes on to make it a Parque Natural.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!66

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Diabetes Pancreas Transplant - Does It Work?

by Pat Hynd

There has been a lot of media publicity about diabetic patients being “cured� with a pancreas transplant. But, as is often the case, is it all hype?

What is the pancreas?

Your pancreas is an organ that lies behind the lower part of your stomach about the same size as your heart. One of its main functions is to make insulin, a hormone that regulates the absorption of sugar (glucose) into your cells. If your pancreas doesn't make enough insulin, blood sugar levels can rise to unhealthy levels, resulting in type 1 diabetes.

A pancreas transplant can restore normal insulin production and improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes, but it's not a standard treatment. The side effects of the anti-rejection medications required after a pancreas transplant can often be serious. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!67

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

A pancreas transplant is usually only considered if: • you also have severe kidney disease – a pancreas transplant may be carried out at the same time as a kidney transplant in these cases • you have severe episodes of dangerously low blood sugar levels (hypoglycaemia) that occur without warning and aren't controlled with insulin.

And, of course, there has to be a suitable donor, which means a dead person.

Back in 2005, the BBC announced the news with the slightly misleading headline “Transplant cures man of diabetes.”

Richard Lane was the first person in the UK to successfully receive an islet cell transplant.

Mr. Lane had to take immunosuppressant drugs, and they allowed him to be insulininjection free for over a year. This allowed him to live for five years without insulin.

Unfortunately, Mr. Lane now has to inject again, but the progress he made was massively promising. Even now, he doesn’t have to inject as much as most people with type 1 diabetes, and certainly not as much as he had to before he received the islet cell transplant.

Richard Lane is someone who lived with diabetes for a long time before being one of the first people in Britain to have pioneering surgery in 2004-05 to have pancreatic islet (stem) cells from three organ donors put into his body where they began to secrete insulin, 'curing' him of diabetes. He is now chairman of the Diabetes UK organization. In 2004, after retiring through ill health, Richard was asked to consider islet cell transplantation.

At this point there had only been seven people in Canada and two people in England who had undergone the operation. After two months of extensive tests, risk assessment and education, which involved his wife as well as himself, he was put on the waiting list for his first transplant. “The support that I received from the team of surgeons, doctors and specialist nurses, including a psychiatrist, was fantastic,” he remembers.

Islet cell transplantation has now been accepted by the NHS as proven and recommended treatment, but only for those who have lost their warnings of hypos, and who have other serious problems with their diabetes. Transplanting an entire pancreas is far more effective than islet cell transplantation. Unfortunately, the process requires major surgery, and often many years on a waiting list for a suitable transplant to be available.

Even if pancreas transplants were widely available, they are still extremely risky. Potential side effects include blood clots, infection, urinary complications, and pancreatic failure.

Then there are the side effects associated with immunosuppressant medication, such as bone thinning, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It’s because of these many side effects that pancreatic transplants are reserved for very serious cases. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!68

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018 Ms. Sue York, from Lincoln, received a successful pancreas transplant because of a very severe needle phobia.

For the foreseeable future, she will not need to inject insulin.

Ms. York described the feeling as “incredible”.

This is amazing news. Ms. Yo r k ’ s procedure represents a massive breakthrough in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Insulin injections, which used to leave her shaking and vomiting, are for now not a concern. But many people have mistaken the transplant for a cure, when in fact it isn’t one. Not quite. Like Ms. York, Ms. Lane had to take immunosuppressant drugs.

Type 2 diabetes associated with both low insulin resistance and low insulin production • But for some people with type 2 diabetes who have both low insulin resistance and low insulin production, pancreas transplant is an emerging treatment option. About 10 percent of all pancreas transplants are performed in people with type 2 diabetes.

• Pancreatic islet cell transplant. During pancreatic islet cell transplantation, insulinproducing cells (islet cells) taken from a deceased donor's pancreas are injected into a vein that takes blood to your liver. More than one injection of transplanted islet cells is often necessary.

Although it's possible for a living donor to donate part of a pancreas, nearly all pancreas transplants involve a deceased-donor pancreas.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!69

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

You can choose to become a pancreas donor when you join the Organ Donor Register.

Pancreas transplants are not as common as kidney or liver transplants and are often conducted as a double transplant with the kidney.

Spain has its own successful organ donation system.In relation to U.K: Donating your pancreas when you die could lead to one of only around 200 pancreas transplants that are performed each year in UK. Almost all pancreatic transplants are done for people with type 1 diabetes and end-stage kidney failure. But this is not considered a normal treatment for diabetes. Most diabetes can be managed with tablets and insulin.

A transplant is only recommended for people who: • do not respond well to insulin treatment • have kidney disease, leading to kidney failure • have frequent and severe hypoglycaemia (where your blood glucose levels drop to dangerously low levels causing symptoms such as dizziness and mental confusion).

Because both a pancreas and a kidney are needed for this simultaneous operation, it can mean a very long wait for a transplant. ell your friends and family that you want to be a pancreas donor – it is very important that they understand and support your organ donation decision because your family’s support is needed for donation to go ahead. Dealing with the death of a loved one is a difficult time to make an important decision quickly.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!70

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Spanish Organ Donation Doctors in Spain performed 4,818 transplants on 2016, including 2,994 kidney transplants, according to the health ministry’s National Transplant Organisation (ONT). That means there were 43.4 organ donors per million inhabitants last year, a world record, up from 40.2 donors in 2015. ach hospital has a transplant coordinator, usually a doctor or nurse who specializes in intensive care, charged with identifying patients at risk of a heart attack or brain death.

In both situations kidneys, livers, lungs, pancreas and sometimes even the heart can still work and can be transplanted.

Organ donations are quickly reported to the ONT which searches for the best match from its organ waiting list.If the patient is far away, a cooler with the organ is sent by plane inside the cockpit with the pilot.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!71

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

If the patient is far away, a cooler with the organ is sent by plane inside the cockpit with the pilot.

The operation is free under Spain’s public health system, anonymous and available only to residents of the country to avoid organ trafficking.

Since it was set up in 1989, the ONT has trained over 18,000 transplant coordinators who break the news of a person’s death and then gently convince their loved ones to agree to donate their organs.

The work of a transport coordinator was depicted in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s 1999 Oscar-winning movie “All About My Mother”.

The director consulted with the ONT to prepare the movie.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

“It comforts many families to know that the organs of their loved ones will live on inside someone else, that people will be thankful for the rest of their lives.”

!72

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Arizona Roots

by Dave Stewart

Last month we lost Senator John McCain a great American statesman who was governor of Arizona. The four days of official mourning for Senator McCain were filled with praise for his unwavering patriotism and lifelong belief in the “indispensable mission” of the United States. His story is the ideal of America heroes - a real-life John Wayne. He loved his native Arizona and always put the good of the people first.

So it got me thinking what does Arizona mean?

For thousands of years before the modern era, Arizona was home to numerous Native American tribes. Hohokam, Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan cultures were among the many that flourished throughout the state. Many of their pueblos, cliffside dwellings, rock paintings and other prehistoric treasures have survived, attracting thousands of tourists each year.

The exact evolution of the name Arizona is debated by historians; the Spanish called the area Arisona, Arissona or Arizona, based on native American word(s) translated as meaning "silver-bearing" or "place of the small spring." Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona ("the good oak"), as there were numerous Basque sheep pastors in the area.

The first European contact by native peoples was with Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, in 1539. He explored parts of the present state and made contact with native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1540–1542 during its search for Cíbola. Few Spanish settlers migrated to Arizona.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!73

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

One of the first settlers in Arizona was José Romo de Vivar, but missionaries trekked both South and North America and many have left their mark.

Father Kino was the next European in the region. Kino was born Eusebius Chinus (the spelling Kino was the version for use in Spanishspeaking domains) in the village of Segno, (now part of the town of Taio), then in the sovereign Princebishopric of Trent, a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Other sources cite his name as Eusebio Francesco Chini.

During his priestly studies he also learned mathematics and astronomy.

While waiting in Cádiz, for a ship he wrote some observations, done during late 1680 and early 1681, about his study of a comet (later known as Kirch's comet), which he published as the Exposición astronómica de el cometa. This publication was later the subject of a sonnet by the noted colonial nun and poet of New Spain, Sor (Sister) Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. Sor Juana was a self-taught scholar and student of scientific thought, philosopher, composer, and poet of the Baroque school, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain. She was a known as a nun who demonstrated the courage to challenge opinions and speak out for her beliefs.

Eusebio Kino, S.J. (1644-1711) A 1987 Mexican stamp marks the arrival in California of theAustrian explorer, Eusebio Kino. He was one of the great cartographers and explorers of the American Southwest and Mexico has commemorated him in stamps periodically. The map on this stamp shows Tucson in the North.

Indefatigable rider, he seemed to live in the saddle. He taught the Indians how to raise cattle.

In 1965 the State of Arizona dedicated a sculpture of Kino in Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington, D.C, I wouldn't be surprised if he is not joined there by an image of Senator John McCain. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!74

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

He was a member of the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits"), he led the development of a chain of missions in the region. He converted many of the Indians to Christianity in the Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690s and early 18th century.

Spain founded presidios ("fortified towns") at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775. In his travels in the Pimería Alta, Father Kino interacted with 16 different tribes.

Kino opposed the slavery and compulsory hard labor in the silver mines that the Spaniards forced on the native people. This also caused great controversy among his co-missionaries, many of whom acted according to the laws imposed by Spain on their territory. Kino was also a writer of books on religion, astronomy and cartography. He built missions extending from the present day states of Mexican Sonora, northeast for 150 miles (240 km), into present-day Arizona, where the San Xavier del Bac mission, near Tucson, a popular National Historic Landmark, is still a functioning Franciscan parish church. Kino constructed nineteen rancherías (villages), which supplied cattle to new settlements. A modern rancher, an admirer of Kino, has recently made a full length documentary about the priest.

About one-quarter of the state is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the United States, with more than 300,000 citizens.

Although federal law gave all Native Americans the right to vote in 1924, Arizona excluded those living on reservations in the state from voting until the state Supreme Court ruled in favour of Native American plaintiffs in Trujillo v. Garley (1948). Other tribes are Hohokam, Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan cultures were among the many that flourished throughout the state. Many of their pueblos, cliffside dwellings, rock paintings and other prehistoric treasures have survived, attracting thousands of tourists each year.

The Americans and Canadians seem to yearn Scottish roots and there is an Arizona district tartan that is registered with the Scottish Tartan Authority and was designated the official state tartan of Arizona in 1995 (by proclamation of Governor John Fife Symington III). Green for the forests covering half the state; - brown as a symbol of the desert; - azure represents copper; - white is for silver; - yellow represents gold; - red symbolizes native Americans, and; - red, white and green stripes represent the Mexican population of Arizona. aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!75

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

- When Mexico achieved its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish Empire in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of its Territory of Nueva California, ("New California"), also known as Alta California ("Upper California").Descendants of ethnic Spanish and mestizo settlers from the colonial years still lived in the area at the time of the arrival of later European-American migrants from the United States.

A l t h o u g h n a m e s including "Gadsonia," "Pimeria," "Montezuma" and "Arizuma" had been considered for the territory, when 16th President Abraham Lincoln signed the final bill, it read "Arizona," and that name was adopted. (Montezuma was not derived from the Aztec emperor, but was the sacred name of a divine hero to the Pima people of the Gila River Valley. It was probably considered— and rejected—for its sentimental value before Congress settled on the name "Arizona.")

Boleadoras or bolas (from Spanish "bola," which means "ball") are throwing weapons made of weights attached to the end of cords which I associate with the gauchos of South America.

The bola tie was designated the official neckwear of Arizona in 1973 (also the state tie of New Mexico and Texas). Bola ties are widely associated with Western wear.

A bola (sometimes called bolo) tie is a type of necktie consisting of a piece of cord or braided leather with decorative metal tips secured with an ornamental clasp or slide. A silver bola tie adorned with turquoise (Arizona's state gemstone) is generally considered the official style, but bola ties come in a large variety of styles. Bola tie slides and tips in silver have been part of Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni silver-smithing traditions since the mid-20th century. Silversmith Victor Cedarstaff of Wickenburg, Arizona, claims to have invented the bolo tie in the late 1940's (and later patented his slide design) but it is also said that bola ties are a North American pioneer creation that dates back to between 1866 and 1886.

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

!76

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!77

aormi@icloud.com

Torrevieja Outlook

No 057 November 2018

Torrevieja Outlook

!78