Summer Photography Competition

SPECSAVERS ÓPTICAS ’

Summer Photography Competition offers prizes of a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses for the best photo.

On Monday July 3, Specsavers Ópticas launched a Summer Photography Competition to find an image which captures the essence of Spain. In doing so, they hope to shine a spotlight on all the wonderful aspects of Spain and find out what images encapsulate its very best elements. They are asking local residents on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Mallorca, to send in beautiful photographs to be in with a chance of winning a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses.

Isabel Fenollar from Specsavers Ópticas in Javea commented, “Spain is such a stunning and diverse country, with incredible natural beauty, a vibrant culture of arts, music and dance and, of course, incredible food.

“This summer we are asking keen photographers living close to our stores to show us, through an image, what makes Spain so special to them. We are very excited to see these fantastic images and celebrate the talented photographers on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Mallorca, where our nine stores are located. The person who takes the best picture and best explains why this is the essence of Spain to them, will be rewarded with a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses worth up to €159.”

The competition is open until September 1 and photographs can be submitted on social media by tagging @SpecsaversOpticas on Facebook and @specsaversspain on Instagram, sending photos via Messenger or via email to spain.marketing@spec savers.com

A jury formed of three Specsavers Ópticas store directors will judge the entries and shortlist the top five entries. These will then be posted on social media and the image with the most likes and comments will be declared the overall winner.

The competition is open to residents of the provinces of Alicante and Malaga and the island of Mallorca and you must be aged 18 and above. The competition closes on Friday September 1, 2023. Terms and conditions apply, which can be found at www.specsavers.es/sorteo.

AS I’ve said many times I love living in Spain and I try very hard not to cop the hump with the way certain things are dealt with but sometimes it’s almost impossible.

Because of my misspent youth I now suffer for it in my old age and one of the many ailments I have is diabetes. I went to the doctor for a checkup and she said that my sugar levels were sky high and we needed to get it sorted, so she referred me to the hospital to see a specialist as she couldn’t prescribe the necessary meds. Three months later I got to see the specialist and she very quickly told me that the doctor was correct, and I must say, was very thorough. So what have I got to moan about you may ask? Well are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

The specialist said: “You need to go on insulin and there is a new slow release injection you can have. It’s very simple and very easy.” She then starts to write out all the prescriptions for my new kit which consists of a pre-loaded pen, a machine for testing my sugar level (that’s free) and the strips for that machine, plus some new pills and that’s it. Simple. So I take the prescriptions to the pharmacy. First of all they don’t have the pen in stock because it’s so new. “OK so it will be here tomorrow, I’ll just have everything else then.” “Ah no you won’t.” “Why?” “Because the prescriptions for the strips that measure your sugar level have to be approved by the inspector.” “What inspector?” “Who? Clouseau? Maigret?” “The health inspector.” “Where do I find him?” “He visits the doctor’s surgery with a big stamp that approves stuff.” So off we go and Mrs S takes all the bits of paper that need approving to the doctors to see the stamper person. Mrs S always does this stuff as she speaks Spanish and basically... well I don’t! The next day I go to get the pen and I ask the pharmacist how to use it. She explains and during the lesson says I have to change the needle every day. No problem. “How many needles do I get with the pen?” “None,” she says. “So how do I inject myself? Were they on one of the prescriptions?” “No, you have to get them from the nurse.” “What nurse?” “The nurse that works at the doctors that you went to today to get all your bits of paper stamped by the inspector!”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! By now I’m in stage four grumpy mode and decide I’ll just buy the bloody needles. “Sorry we don’t stock them and nor do our suppliers because the insulin pen is so new.” But the helpful pharmacist says she will ring round and find out where to get them. So, three months, one week and counting I still haven’t got my new diabetes meds that I urgently need.