Mother’s Day New skills

UK Mother’s Day is this Sunday, March 19, so don’t forget the flowers, chocolates and extra goodies for your mothers this weekend. Mother’s Day takes place on the fourth Sunday of March, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday.

In the UK a Mother’s Day tradition is that of baking a simnel cake, a light fruit cake with two layers of marzipan. As Mother’s Day falls in between lent this is known and represents a relaxation fasting rules tarditionally also known as Refreshment Sunday.

If you are unsure on what colours to wear this Sunday green is known to represent the protective nature of mothers, while yellow alludes to an optimistic outlook towards life for children. Coincidentally the date for UK Mother’s Day this year is the same day as the Spanish Father’s Day. Spanish Mother’s Day is on May 7.

Betty Henderson HOSPITALITY skills are set to come along in Almuñecar as the town hall launched a training programme aimed at local unemployed people called ‘Basic Operations for Restaurant, Bar and Kitchen’, to develop new hospitality skills.

Two different courses will be offered in the programme; a 290 hour ‘Basic Restaurant and Bar Skills’ course and a 350 hour ‘Basic Cooking Skills’ course. Both of the courses also include 80 hours of practical learning, to ensure that participants have all of the necessary skills for the workplace.

The programme is a mix of online and in­person training, including practical experience in local establishments, and even includes a free English language course. Almost 30 people have already signed up, and registration is still open until Friday, March 17.

The programme is designed to provide participants with a professional certification and practical experience, increasing their chances of finding employment in the local restaurant and bar industry.

The councillor for Employment, Beatriz González Orce, spoke at a launch event, highlighting the importance of having skilled professionals.

By making the lifestyle choice to retire in Spain, you’ll want to make the most of what the country has to offer, hopefully well into the future. This may be longer than you expect. Thanks to medical advances and a better quality of life, people are generally living longer than before.

Living to a ripe old age does sound appealing, provided we are healthy enough. There are, however, implications at both personal and government levels, with the key issue being: can we afford it?

The longer we live, the longer we need our savings to last. For peace of mind, assess whether your resources are on track to last throughout your lifetime.

Income and inflation

The inflation levels we have seen for the last year or so were certainly an eye-opener on how it can impact our monthly living costs, but even low levels, compounded year after year, will reduce how far a fixed income will stretch in the future.

Say, for example, you spend €5,000 a month. Assuming an inflation rate of 3% a year, in 10