RTN North Edition 644

FREE!

north EDITION Legionnaire’s hotel re-opens THE DIAMANTE Beach Hotel in Calpe was open for business after an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease infected 18 people, killing three British holidaymakers p5

Your English Newspaper

17-23 feb 2012

iSSUE 644

Reserve your cabin now by calling 966 106 872 or see p43

High-tech, low cunning by jack troughton

Raising a glass to Douglas Barbara, Doug’s widow unveiled a bench in memory of her husband – designed and made by the group’s Paul Tansley, helped by another member Roger Mallaburn p16

Working SMARTER not harder!

Let’s take a look at some of the best apps available to help working smarter not harder a reality! p31

The facts about solar energy go along to the Inn On The Green Bowling Club in Javea, on 24th February at 10am for the Solar Energy Information Day p32

Feeling down?

Amanda Collins tells us how to beat the blues p47

French Farce Did you wonder why on earth that the Six Nations committee went along with French TV’s request to stage the France v Ireland game at 9pm at night? p71

Bill and Linda Ray

BRITISH EXPATS living on the Costa Blanca should guard against being conned by professional criminals targeting people using computers and emails.

Given the increase in the use of technology, almost every home has a computer and access to the Internet, while electronic scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Households are being randomly ‘cold called’ by smooth-talking and believable con artists claiming they are from a computer company and have discovered a fault in the system that can be fixed – at a price – to prevent the machine crashing.

And the British Embassy in Madrid warned this week of fake emails being received, apparently from friends or family in distress, usually claiming they were victims of crime and appealing for money to be urgently sent to them.

Again the SOS is a fake and is the result of email address books being hijacked.

Cyber crime was once limited to attempts to get people to believe they were lottery winners or begging for help in transferring huge amounts of money for a reward. RTN reporters this week were invited to invest in a Chinese bicycle export scheme for a promised fortune and also asked to help children of the late Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi free the family fortune from darkest Africa, again being promised payment of millions.

While these are easy to ignore, people can easily be trapped by practised criminals playing on the emotions of the innocent.

Cold callers variously claim to be from a computer company or even Microsoft Windows Support and ask to speak to the owner of the computer. They maintain the machine is sending out serious error messages or a virus and it could terminally crash. The con comes when the caller asks for a single payment to correct the error and protect the computer for life.

Bill and Lynda Ray, who live in Benissa, received a call soon after purchasing a laptop to go with their existing office computer.

Continued on page 6

2

17 - 23 feb 2012

Head Office

Vall de Biar 14. 03530, La Nucia, Alicante Monday - Thursday 10am - 6pm | Friday 10am - 2pm

TEL: 902 118 999 FAX: 96 585 60 54 rtnmail@roundtownnews.com

News and views from the north and south Costa Blanca and Costa Calida email: accounts@rtnnewsgroup.com • sales@rtnnewsgroup.com • production@roundtownnews.com Newsdesk & general enquiries: rtnmail@roundtownnews.com

ADVERTISING • ACCOUNTS • DESIGN STUDIO • NEWSDESK

902 118 999 Sales North

RODDY Claire CUNNINGHAM Pawley

609 417 763 688 815 405 roddy@roundtownnews.com claire@roundtownnews.com

Sales South

GILLIAN Roberts 607 744 948

CATHERINE ALLEN 647 789 668

Venta en Español

Web Sales

gillian@ roundtownnews.com

COLIN RICH 607 553 870

catherineallen@ roundtownnews.com

KATH POOLE

902 118 999

colin@roundtownnews.com kathpoole@roundtownnews.com

Reporters

North

south

661 403 016

609 417 385

Jack Troughton LOUISE CLARKE jack@roundtownnews.com

louise@roundtownnews.com

Deadline

Adverts, copy changes, classifieds and editorial copy: Tuesday 5pm for following Friday’s edition

National

jan gamm jangamm@roundtownnews.com To air your views Letters on any subject are welcomed by the Editor for publication and must arrive by 12 noon on Monday for consideration for the following Friday’s edition. Priority will be given to letters dealing with local issues. We reserve the right to amend or shorten letters. (RTN accepts no responsibility for readers comments) Customer service If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service you can call 902 118 999 or write to Vall de Biar 14, 03530 La Nucia, Alicante.

To get your paper If you any difficulty in getting Round Town News each week please call 902 118 999 or visit our website www.roundtownnews.co.uk for the distribution map.

Edita : Round Town News Group SL Servicios De Impresion S.A.Vall de Biar 14, 03530 La Nucia, Alicante.

Distribution: iDs Logística. info@idss.es, Alcoycourrier.SL.

Deposito Legal : South A-853-1999 / North: A-134-2004

RTN are members of:

All adverts must be prepaid whether they are placed at our offices, by email or fax, or via our sales team. The advertisers full name, address and ID number must be supplied (not for publication). RTN does not accept any responsibility for claims made by advertisers, either in advertisements or advertorials, nor can it be held responsible for any inaccuracies, errors, or the non-appearance of advertisements or advertorials. This publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors as a result of poor quality artwork or logos supplied by advertisers and no responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage caused by any error or inaccuracy or non-appearance of an advertisement or advertorial. Every effort will be made to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of articles and advertisements in this publication, however the publisher does not accept responsibility for claims or opinions in the same. The publisher does not accept responsibility for opinions expressed by readers in the ‘Mailbox’ section of this newspaper. Reproduction of any part of this newspaper without the consent of the publishers is prohibited.E:&O.E.

Pensioner in cat fight www.roundtownnews.co.uk

by jack troughton

A DEDICATED pensioner risks fines and even jail if she continues to care for stray cats in the Costa Blanca’s most famous resort, claims an animal charity.

The 78-year-old – known only as Mrs Lobo – feeds her feline friends twice a day at a ‘park’, part of a dry river bed, in Benidorm, just yards from the popular beaches.

But charity SOS Cats & Dogs claims the big-hearted animal lover is being harassed by residents and more recently, police officers.

Charity worker Ruud Harman told RTN how Benidorm suffered a problem of stray animals, many pets simply dumped by their owners – but he said there were still people willing to adopt them or take them something to eat.

He said the population of feral cats around the river bed served the town by helping the fight against mice and rats.

GENEROUS And he said the cats depended on the generosity of tourists and residents like Mrs Lobo – who was surrounded by cats as soon as she appeared.

Ruud added: “She just says: ‘I am 78years-old so it is not always easy but I will keep on doing this until I drop – I am not leaving them to die’.”

He said she realised that providing food was not the only requirement for the animals and so she contacted SOS Cats & Dogs to sterilise “her” cats and the charity was now actively helping.

However, Ruud alleged other local

residents had begun to try and stop the pensioner feeding the animals – claiming she had been verbally assaulted and pushed.

He said local police officers had also stepped in to warn her actions were prohibited under local by-laws.

For more information about SOS Cats & Dogs call 636 495 589.

17 - 23 feb 2012

3

4

17 - 23 feb 2012

Nice work if you can get it!

No wonder he is smiling

by louise clarke THE FORMER Prime Minister of Spain and the man that has the current state of the country’s economy on his conscience, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has now entered the State Council as a life member with the promise to put his experience in government service to some use (yes really!)

During an investiture ceremony earlier this week, the former socialist premier also swore with conviction that the crisis will be overcome and announced that he is “truly united and supportive” of the European Union. As a result of the ceremony, which was led by the Deputy Executive Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Zapatero is now the only former Prime Minister to be a member of the Council after former PP Prime Minister, José María Aznar, and former PSOE Prime Minister, Felipe González, declined the offer in order to focus on private enterprise. As a member of the State Council, Zapetero will be awarded with a handsome annual salary of €71,000; nice work if you can get it!

Zapatero, was sponsored by the former

Minister of Justice, Fernando Ledesma and the Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, who justified her reason for his nomination with this statement.

“The Government of Spain should have all the political and institutional support that it can secure. And the State Council may be particularly appropriate in this area in an advisory and consulting capacity.”

The State Council is the supreme advisory body to the Government and is one of the oldest institutions of Spain, with more than five centuries of history. It costs the Spanish Treasury more than €10 million a year, €8 million of which goes towards wages for its Councillors. It is responsible for ensuring that government projects comply with the Constitution and national laws and offers non-legally binding advice and opinions on matters of national importance to Spain and its autonomous regions. Zapatero’s annual salary is of a similar amount to what he received as President of the Government.

Roman stylus found ARCHEOLOGISTS WORKING at Villajoyosa have discovered a bone stylus, used by Romans to write on wooden waxed tablets.

The writing tool, thought to be up to 2,200 year old, is believed to have come from the transitional stage of history as the Iberian period made way for the Roman.

And the stylus was unearthed inside a silo, dug into the ground, lined with hardened clay and used to store grain.

New runway for the airport without planes IT HAS been announced this week that the airport without any aeroplanes in Castellón will soon see its runway dismantled.

According to the State Agency for Air Security, the controversial multi-millioneuro regional airport, officially opened last year but yet to see a single plane take off or land there, needs to have its main runway strip reconfigured as it is too narrow for airplanes to turn around and as a result will have to be dug up and widened to meet safety regulations. According to a report in the Spanish press, regional officials found out about the narrow runway problem in April 2011, when the airport was

inaugurated, but kept it quiet. The airport was the brainchild of former President of the Castellón province, Carlos Fabra, but was never officially opened because it still doesn’t have the proper permits to receive air traffic. The private contractor hired to run the airport for 50 years is demanding that the Valencia government reimburse the airport management firm the sum of €80 million for cancelling its contract and the regional government has recently come under criticism for spending €30 million in advertising and marketing for the airport, even though it never actually opened to air traffic.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Legionnaires’ hotel reopens

by JAck troughton

THE DIAMANTE Beach Hotel in Calpe was open for business this week with a clean bill of health after an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease infected 18 people, killing three British holidaymakers.

Two French tourists were the latest people to catch the virulent form of pneumonia, their infection reported last Thursday, after they stayed at the four-star hotel between 25th January and 1st February.

Calpe Mayor Cesar Sanchez and members of his governing team stayed at the hotel last Friday night in a show of solidarity in a town reliant on tourism to boost its economy.

During the week the Diamante Beach shut its doors specialist health teams used chlorine to flush through the water pipes and kill any remaining bacteria.

However, Valencia’s health chiefs have been criticised for dragging their feet in warning local doctors, pharmacists and Calpe Town Hall about the contagion and to be on their guard against people complaining of flu-like symptoms.

Minister of Health Luis Rosado ordered the Diamante Beach to close its doors late on February 2nd after a second round of tests showed the hotel as the source of the epidemic – and later Valencia President Alberto Fabra visited to show his government’s support for the beleaguered town.

Initial inspections by health chiefs and an expert sent by SAGA Holidays found no trace of the bacteria although it was clear the hotel was the prime suspect of the outbreak.

DANGER Legionnaires’ is contracted by inhaling microscopic droplets of infected water. The pneumonia is particularly dangerous for the elderly and those with low immune systems and is treated with antibiotics.

All 12 British tourists, including the pensioners who lost their lives, were travelling with SAGA, which specialises in holidays for the over fifties, when they stayed at the hotel and contracted Legionnaires. Three

hotel workers and a doctor called to treat guests also contracted the disease.

The first infection at the hotel was confirmed on 14th January. It triggered a European protocol concerning Legionnaires’ and lead to the Department of Health issuing a warning throughout the whole of the British medical network dated 19th January.

A copy of the warning was sent to Spain and was posted on two local expat websites – leading to Calpe town hall first learning of the outbreak and a possible link to a hotel in the town.

And despite the Valencian government being accused of a slow response, it then acted quickly to allay public fears – the health minister visiting the town on February 4th to meet councillors and the press.

And Mr Rosado warned that because the 10 to 12 day incubation period of Legionnaires’ disease there could still be a “trickle” of new cases.

WARNING Councillor Carole Saunders first heard of the outbreak after being notified about the websites displaying the Department of Health warning from the UK. She accompanied the mayor and council colleagues to the Diamante Beach last Friday for dinner and said several councillors – including Mr Sanchez – accepted an invitation to stay the night in the family-owned Diamante Beach.

Mrs Saunders said there was actually a queue at the door when they arrived – a coach load of European cyclists had arrived to stay and enjoy a holiday touring the area.

“I think this will blow over now,” she said.

“Anyone who has caught this dreadful disease should have fallen ill already.

“The whole of the pipe work at the hotel has been chlorinated to kill off any traces of the bacteria.

“Hopefully this closes a chapter – and hopefully lessons have been learned about the protocol over Legionnaires’ and keeping doctors and medical professionals informed.”

17 - 23 feb 2012

5

6

17 - 23 feb 2012

Anger at airport chaos

Continued from front page Bill told RTN they had just signed up with a new internet provider and had also paid 170€ for the service and a router.

“This woman asked to speak to Linda by name and said we were sending out bad signals but they could fix it for us,” he said. “I said ‘what, for another 170€?’ and she said it could be done for that.

“She was quite adamant she wanted to talk to the owner and both the laptop and the internet service are in her name. She had a Spanish accent so I was staggered to find the telephone number started 0020, which is Egypt. “I don’t think she mentioned Microsoft but she did say she was from PC ‘Something’ – I didn’t catch the name.”

Bill does not know how the criminals got their details but was certain it was an attempt to scam them. “I’m sure she would then have asked for credit card details – if these scammers get those you are really in the mire!”

Dave Thomas, Consular Director for Southern Europe, said consulates were receiving a growing number of calls from expats who had received emails, apparently from family or friends, requesting urgent funds. He warned the emails were a criminal scam. “We are warning expatriate residents to be on the lookout for unexpected emails from friends and family who appear to be in distress.

“These emails are often not what they appear to be – you should check by telephone or a method other than email before sending any money. “Unfortunately there are people out there who try to rip off expatriates and Britons in the UK through these email scams.”

To hijack an account, criminals pose as email or service providers and ask for account details and passwords and warn failure could result in the account being suspended.

It gives them access to the computer’s address book. “Our advice is to be wary of emails asking for account information or for money,” said Mr Thomas. “They are unlikely to be genuine – check first directly with your service provider or family and friends to avoid falling into the trap.”

by jack troughton

ANGRY RYANAIR passengers were forced to make their own way home after being diverted from Stansted to Newcastle Airport because of snow.

They complained that despite being promised coaches were waiting outside the terminal there was no transport.

And they said there was no-one from the budget airline to offer advice or any information on what arrangements were in place. Flight FR8383 on 4th February left Alicante on time but the big freeze meant the plane did not touch down until nearly 11pm and more than 300 miles from its destination.

Theresa Hulmes told RTN passengers were not told of the diversion until shortly before landing. “The crew said there would be coaches outside but it was all lies. I understand why they said that, because no-one would have got off otherwise.

“In the terminal there were just so many people asking ‘how do we get back?’ I felt really sorry for this one guy saying there were no coaches.”

Theresa, from Javea, was travelling to the UK to see her elderly mother, and said she shared a taxi with three other people, each paying £100.

completely full flight but it was chaos. Some taxi drivers wanted £700 or £800. There were mothers with young children and elderly people,” she added.

“One woman with two young boys was saying ‘I have no money, what do I do?’ There were loads of Spanish and we had to translate – how they got to Stansted I have no idea.”

Arthur Crowe was returning from a week’s stay on the Costa Blanca. He said: “I think the whole situation was diabolical. There was no-one from Ryanair in sight.

“I think we sat on the tarmac at Newcastle for 90 minutes before being taken on coaches into the terminal – in the airport no-one knew what to do or where to go or anything.”

QUEUE With other flights also diverted, Arthur said there were queues everywhere and police officers helping to calm the situation down.

He said he shared a taxi to Stansted, paying £130. “I have had an email from Ryanair saying everyone was told to make their own way home and be compensated later.”

A Ryanair spokesman said the carrier “sincerely apologised” for the diverted flight which was because of adverse weather conditions.

He said Ryanair was committed to providing an ‘on time’ service without disruption. “We sincerely regret that this flight was one of the occasional flights disrupted.”

And it was explained when one of the low cost airline’s flight had to be diverted it was normal procedure to arrange surface transport to take people to their original destination airport. “However, on this occasion, despite our best efforts, we were unable to secure surface transportation and therefore we were left with no option but to advise passengers to make their own alternative transport arrangements and forward the receipt to us for reimbursement.”

La Nucia’s tax burden

POLICE “It was very tense at the airport and the police were called. They were very good and said they were doing all they could to help and would see what could be sorted out.”

She said she lent a woman the fare until they reached Stansted and shared the cab with two passengers from Moraira. “It was a

The snow covered runways at Stanstead

RESIDENTS OF La Nucia pay the highest property tax in comparison to other towns in the region, a new survey reveals.

The average IBI bill was discovered to be between 800€ and 1,000€ - yet homes of a similar age and location in places like Callosa and Altea were taxed at a fraction of the cost. Over the last eight years, the tax in La Nucia was said to have risen 600% and outstripped its neighbours. However, residents have been assured the tax rises will be halted next year.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

7

8

17 - 23 feb 2012

New project for integration

ORIHUELA TOWN Hall has announced plans this week for a project that aims to integrate the local and immigrant populations in the Duque de Tamames neighbourhood of the city.

by Louise Clarke The programme of intercultural and community events was announced by the Councillor for Immigration, Emilio Zaplana, who said that one of the government team’s main object for the coming year is to improve relations between the local Spanish residents and the primarily Latin American and North African immigrants, who reside in that part of the city.

Zaplana told RTN: “The objective of this programme is to knit together social networks amongst the migrant population and the Spanish. To do this, they will pursue various activities at a community level and we will encourage neighbours to create a neighbourhood association that is represented by leaders of all the different social groups.”

GOVERNMENT GRANT Of the 2,500 residents in Duque de Tamames, 30% are immigrants, mainly Hispanic and North African. The programme of events will run until 30th June and the idea, according to the Councillor, is that once it is completed the neighbours can further develop the necessary activities without having to be supervised by the Town Hall. He also added that this is a pioneering program that has been awarded a financial grant by the Central Government’s Department of Labour as part of its Directorate for Integration. He told RTN: “The government will contribute 75% of the funding, whilst the municipality will contribute 25% and the programme will include the creation of a job for

Emilio Zaplana

a socio-cultural facilitator, who will oversee the project and seek the involvement of different groups in the area such as sports and church groups.” This announcement has been well received by the residents of the neighbourhood and Emilio Zaplana has said that he will be updating the press on a regular basis as to how the programme is progressing.

Drunk driver three times over the limit LOCAL POLICE arrested a drunk driver who was driving around the city of Orihuela with a blood alcohol reading of three times over the legal limit. The arrest followed a high speed accident on Avenida Teodomiro in which the driver was lucky to escape alive. The suspect was travelling at 90 kilometres an hour and crashed straight into another car that was stopped at the intersection of Calle La Huerta and Avenida Teodomiro. As a result of the collision, that car then collided into a row of cars that were parked along the street. The driver of the other vehicle was slightly injured and the intoxicated driver attempted to flee the scene on foot.

Preventative security checks in Torrevieja’s urbanisations

by Louise Clarke LOCAL POLICE, Guardia Civil and National Police officers will be increasing their patrols and security checks in Torrevieja’s urbanisations, according to a joint statement issued to RTN by the Councillor for Security and Police, Eduardo Gil Rebollo and the head of the Policia Local, Vicente Gutierrez. The pair recently held meetings with the Chief of the Alicante Police Task Force, Fabian Navarro, to request the intensification of preventive security checks in the

municipality and especially in the urbanisations of La Siesta, San Luis, El Limonar and El Chaparral.

EXCELLENT WORK The checks will be carried out by officers of the Valencia Regional Police, the Torrevieja Local Police and Guardia Civil and the joint initiative will also include the use of the force’s helicopter, which will be available for pre-planned operations at least twice a month. The Councillor highlighted the excellent work being

carried out by the security authorities especially in vehicle control. Eduardo Gil Rebollo told RTN: “This preventative work is badly needed in the many urbanisations of Torrevieja and we will be liaising with the various Neighbourhood Watch coordinators to ensure that our resources are put to their most effective.” RTN has met and interviewed the new NHW Liaison Officer of the Torrevieja Local Police, Manuel Vera this week and will have a full report in next week’s paper.

10

mail

17 - 23 feb 2012

Leave England alone!

RE YOUR letters of the 3rd to 9th edition: Mrs C Taylor was going on about the moaning and she was moaning herself about the English - why don’t people leave the English and England alone? If they love it so much here why are they reading English newspapers and watching English TV? May people go to England and make their home towns into little Italy and little India – what’s wrong with that?

People can do what they like! What I don’t like is the English running the English - and England – down.

Name withheld

talk tous

Email letters to rtnmail@roundtownnews.com with your full name and address

letter of the week

Conman Cameron

IN THE days when there was honour even among Conservative politicians, an MP who was found to have lied to Parliament would have had to resign, particularly if he was a minister.

Conman Cameron makes a habit of lying. He lied about support for his NHS ‘reforms’ in September 2011; in June 2011 he said there would be no rise in hospital waiting times- they have risen by 34%. He denied that Tory benefit cuts would reduce disabled children’s benefits - they are falling from £53.84 per week to £26.75. Amongst his many lies during the general election campaign he said he had no plans to raise VAT before raising it from 17.5% to 20%.

In a very apt quote, Shadow Minister Michael Dugher said, “You get more whoppers from David Cameron than Burger King.”

Jack Johnson, La Cala, Villajoyosa

What a lovely story

I WOULD just like to say that I loved Louise Clarke’s write up in last week’s RTN on Agustin and Petsworld in San Miguel. It was brilliant and made me cry as he was so good with our two dogs. He also had to be there at the end with both of them and he has a really lovely way of doing things. We could not praise him and his staff enough. Hopefully the feature will bring them more business as they deserve it. C Macey

You will be missed TODAY, MONDAY 13th February, we were invited by the GRIP party (Grupo Independiente de Rojales) to attend an ‘Extraordinary General Meeting’ to discuss important issues on the future of the party. It also followed on from a meeting held on 7th December, 2011.

GRIP was founded to work for all inhabitants of Rojales and its Urbanisations and the on-going needs/representation of the extranjero communities. In 2007 two GRIP committee members who stood for election were voted in to represent us in the Rojales council. They fought vigorously to have our gripes and complaints dealt with. One of their biggest successes was the building of the new health centre in Quesada. Without GRIP, this would have been built in Rojales, not in Quesada.

Today saw the demise of GRIP, due to depleted funds, non-payment of subscriptions and other general expenditure. The December 2011 meeting produced 11 attendees: today we were only 10. GRIP is no longer there to discuss your complaints about the state of your roads. Luckily, their legacy of the health centre will remain: something to think about the next time you visit. Think what could have been achieved with a little less complacency and 5€ per year membership fee. Also, giving up five minutes of your time on one Sunday every four years to go and vote for GRIP. Many thanks to the councillors and committee members who have given so much of their time on our behalf: you will be missed.

MRT

Totally agree

HI I totally agree with the crackdown on foreign registered cars but what I disagree with is the outrageous cost of re-registering a car – it’s a total rip-off what the Spanish authorities charge! I registered my car and the total cost with head lights was over 3,000€.

If you are registering a car for the very first time in the UK a fee of £55 is the charge and the Road Tax & Car MOT fee ranges from £35 to £54. So if it was easier and cheaper more people would get their cars re-registered.

Jack Ryan

A real treat I FELT that I had to say well done and thank you to The Showgroup Torrevieja. I am on holiday in Torrevieja, staying with friends. Last night we went to see The Showgroup Torrevieja at La Rustica Bar and Restaurant performing Paella and Chips! I had no idea what to expect, especially as I normally go to see professional productions in Birmingham, Stafford and Worcester. What an excellent night’s entertainment. The production was witty, fast moving and very original. The cast performed with enthusiasm and appeared to be reallyenjoying themselves. The set and costumes were excellent, very colourful and eye catching.

There were some very well executed show numbers and some great individual songs, including a very good rendering of Mrs Overall’s song Macaroons. The audience lapped up the humour, laughing throughout. I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised and had a great evening’s entertainment.

For those of you who missed this show you missed a gem. I hope that the next time I holiday here that I will be able to catch this very talented group again: a real treat.

Irene Shepherd, Redditch

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Franco frozen in a soda machine

by LOUISE CLARKE A SCULPTURE by controversial artist Eugenio Merino caused a stir when it arrived at the 2012 ARCO Art Fair in Madrid that opened 15th February.

The work is entitled ‘Always Franco’ and features a large figure of the late dictator squeezed into a Coca Cola drinks vending machine. The sculpture is intended to convey that “Franco is still in the minds of the modern Spanish in society and politics.”

The artist is accustomed to criticism following the introduction of his 2010 work ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on the subject of religious groups, which featured an Arab in prayer with a Catholic priest Artist and a Rabbi crouching over Eugenio him: sculptures in resin and Merino human hair, alongside a glass next to a frozen case containing a Bible, a KoFranco ran and a Torah.

Coastal schools are a priority

by Louise Clarke A MEETING took place this week between the Valencia Department of Education and representatives of municipalities with 50,000 inhabitants or more in the Alicante Province to discuss the priorities of primary and secondary schools within those municipalities.

The leader of Orihuela’s PP party, Monica Lorente, was amongst the invited representatives at the meeting and took the opportunity to reiterate the importance of resuming the construction of the Playa Flamenca Institute as well as starting the construction of a new school building for the Playas de Orihuela Primary School in Los Dolses. She told RTN: “This was a priority for the PP during its four years in office and it remains a priority. The new institute will also include a fully stocked library, which the Department of Education has agreed to allow to be of benefit to all the residents of Orihuela Costa.” She also said that the Education Department are committed to the opening of the two nurseries on the coast, which have so far remained closed under the new government team.

17 - 23 feb 2012

11

12

17 - 23 feb 2012

Fast Track Hypnosis Diaries

People often ask me why I do it in such a fast way and how my techniques differ from other Hypnotherapists who take much longer. It’s simply because of the ‘troubles in Belfast’ I had to devise a by way of helping people get up and running as fast as possible (naming it Fast track Hypnosis) and that is Alan Gilchrist exactly what I have been doing for the last 26 years, and continue to do just that.

The Costa Blanca’s Top Hypnotherapist

Last week a former client of mine came back for a weight control session. I had seen him 12 years ago for him to stop smoking which he successfully did. The reason for the weight gain was because he was in a motor bike accident, lost his leg and he was doing a lot of comfort eating. His story was an interesting one in that when the crash occurred and he had lost his leg, some of the marrow from the remainder of the leg got into his blood stream. The surgeon who performed the repair operation on him told him that if he had still been a smoker he would have died!

I had three people from the one family in two weeks ago for the Gastroband session and one came back in for a replacement CD. While she was there she left me this short note. (First nam supplied only to protect the client’s confidentiality).

“My sister and my daughter have lost 2.5 stone (15.8 kilos) between them in two weeks. I have lost 5 lbs (2.3 kilos). Mine will take longer because I am disabled and can’t really exercise. We have no urge to eat sweet stuff and do not feel as hungry. We are not fit to eat big meals any more. Thank you Alan…Geraldine.”

I have just finished with a client called C… His story is that he is a recently promoted Headmaster at a secondary school and when he was a Vice Principal at his previous school he did not get on with the Headmaster there. Consequently he had lost his confidence and this was being reflected in his new role, particularly on the teachers that worked for him. He simply couldn’t motivate them when he wasn’t motivated himself!

It only took 4 Fast Track sessions to sort it out.

“Dear Alan, I just want to thank you for your help over the past number of weeks. I came to you feeling very unsure of myself having lost my way. I had lost all my confidence both personally and professionally and when I came for my first session I was in a pretty bad place.

Thanks to your expertise and careful guidance I have thankfully come out the other side. I feel a stronger person and the light is shining once more. I had tried various remedies in the past from meditation to counselling and they have always taken so long to have an impact. However four sessions with you has left me in a position where I am confident in my work again, and I have now the coping strategies to deal with any situation which may come my way.

Thanks to the Auto Hypnosis I am now giving myself time to relax and this has helped me immensely in the many facets of my life which I am involved with. I can never thank you enough for what you have done for me.

Many best wishes and grateful thanks. C.” Interestingly enough the last two weeks of August in Northern Ireland are what I call ‘teacher fortnight’ as I get a steady stream of teachers who simply don’t want to go back because of the stresses involved in their job!

Normally all sessions are booked in advance and casual callers can’t be seen because I have some preparation to do prior to their appointment. This was the case of a young Barrister who appeared at my office unannounced and was sitting in my waiting room. I get quite a few newly qualified Barristers who simply

won’t answer the phone in the Bar Library because of lack of confidence in themselves and no self-belief. Indeed some even have phobias of going into the prison cells or talking before a particular Judge. I have also had judges through the door as well; buts that’s another story!

“Dear Alan, I visited you in October as I was suffering from extreme panic attacks and anxiety due to a law exam I was due to sit the following day. I’m sure you will remember - I was sitting in your waiting room with tears running down my face!

I was unable to recall any information; I was unable to breathe; unable to hold a pen. I felt like I was falling apart! Thankfully, you agreed to see me at short notice.

I underwent your Fast Track Hypnosis Therapy and after the session I was calmer and listened to the CD when I got home.

I was able to revise for the remainder of the evening without any problem. The next morning (the morning of the examination) as instructed I listened to the CD, and then sat the exam immediately after wards.

Alan, I would like to thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice and working your magic. I must admit I was sceptical about your Fast Track Hypnosis, however, I have now been converted!

I was awarded a distinction in my exam, so thank you so much for all your help! Many thanks and best wishes ... Julie…”

More Fast Track Hypnosis soon. See you then with more interesting cases.

Alan holds his Fast Track Hypnosis sessions in Cabo Roig, Guardarmar, and Benidorm and NEW in Los Alcazares. Alan is also the creator of the ‘Stop Smoking in under 30 minutes Fast Track System’. For an appointment, brochure or a free of charge initial consultation on your particular problem, contact Alan Gilchrist on 659 229 408 or visit his websites www.alangilchrist.com www.thegastroband.com or www.hypnosiscostablanca.com

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Councillors come to the coast

by Louise Clarke IT HAS been announced this week that several Orihuela Councillors will hold regular surgeries on the coast. The news came following a press conference at the Orihuela Costa Town Hall in Playa Flamenca in which the Councillor for Tourism and Communication, Pedro Mancebo, introduced the Commerce and Markets Co-ordinator to members of the English speaking press.

Mario Martinez will be based on the coast every Tuesday and will be on hand to deal with any queries regarding the coast’s two weekly markets at Playa Flamenca and Aguamarina (Campoamor). He will be the man responsible for liaising with the businesses in the new La Zenia Boulevard Commercial Centre, which is due to open later in the year and will also be helping centre managers sift through the thousands of CVs which the Town Hall has received during the last few months from those people hopeful of gaining employment from the centre.

REPRESENTATION Other Councillors that hold regular surgeries at the Coastal Town Hall include Martina Scheurer (LV), the Councillor for Mobility and Transport, who is there every Monday morn-

17 - 23 feb 2012

13

Out of jail MIGUEL MONTES Neiro, Spain’s oldest prisoner, was finally released from the Albolote Penitentiary on Wenesday after serving 36 years behind bars for a series of non-violent crimes including several escape attempts. He is now looking forward to finding a job and has received several book offers on his life story.

When asked if he might re-offend, he answered: “In the past when I ran away I did not care about repeating my crimes because I knew I was going back to jail.

Now it is different. I am a free man with much to lose.

I missed so many things. I want to prove to society that I am a different man and I can do good things.”

Cemetery extension due to open in April

Mario Martinez Pedro Mancebo and Bob Houliston

ing; Rosa Martinez (PSOE), the Councillor for Education, Pablo Vidal (CLR), the Councillor for Infrastructure, who is there every Wednesday from 11am until 1pm and Pedro Mancebo (CLR), who will be at the Town Hall twice a week for appointments with coastal residents.

Mancebo told RTN: “We criticised the previous administration for the lack of coastal support from other Councillors and we are ensuring that the majority of Town Hall departments are represented at the Orihuela Costa Town Hall. The whole government team is passionate about the coast and about supporting Bob Houliston as Coun-

cillor for the Coast.” He added that once the budget for 2012 is finally approved, there will be two extra coordinators allocated to the coast with the main aim of supporting and helping residents in the area.

NEW BUSINESS ENTERPRISE Pedro continued: “Orihuela Costa used to be like a big kingdom ruled by just one man.

Other councillors were rarely here except when there was some publicity to be made. Now we just want to ensure that the coast is well represented by the Orihuela government team. We appreciate that there are currently issues with the budget

on the coast, but remember that we have €8 million less to spend this year and so that means less for investments. We hope to provide those investments in the 2013 budget once we have cleaned up the accounts and sorted out the Town Hall’s current economic situation.”

Meanwhile, Mancebo also announced that there will be a new business enterprise park installed on the coast. The initiative, which was approved during the previous administration, will benefit new businesses and is being made possible thanks to a 600,000€ cash investment from the Orihuela Chamber of Commerce.

THE EXTENSION of Torrevieja’s municipal ceremony is set to be completed in April, according to the Town Hall. The Mayor, Eduardo Dolon, recently visited the extension, which has cost the municipality 867,480€ and includes the construction of 1,242 new plots and 252 family tombs; ensuring sufficient burial space for the next 20 years.

The Mayor visited the site earlier this week and was accompanied by the Councillor for Infrastructure, Projects and Contracts, Javier Montoro. The Mayor confirmed that the extension is coming along nicely and due to the speed of the works, which are being completed by construction company Saico S.A, the cemetery extension will be completed in less than two months.

The re-development of the Torrevieja municipal cemetery came after officials observed that it would soon be full to capacity. This is the third extension to the cemetery, which was originally built in 1898. The extension takes up 3,000 square metres of land and as well as the addition of burial blocks, there will also be a new changing room area for cemetery workers, a new incinerator for non-organic waste such as wood and textiles and the introduction of a lift facility to lift the coffins up to a height of five metres. New paving, cypress trees and lights will also be installed.

14

17 - 23 feb 2012

Mayor honours 65 years of happy marriage

The Mayor with the couples

by Louise Clarke MORE THAN 100 couples from Torrevieja were honoured on Tuesday by the Mayor, Eduardo Dolon.

The Valentine’s Day treat took place at the new Municipal Entertainment Centre, where a dance was also held for the older residents of the city.

This year, the Town Hall of Torrevieja, through its Department for Senior Citizens, wanted to honour their elders for Valentine’s Day and held the special event.

Positive news on emergency centre

THE COASTAL emergency centre in La Zenia, which had its construction halted last summer, could be completed by the end of the year, according to the Councillor for Communication and Tourism, Pedro Mancebo.

He told RTN that the company which had been contracted to carry out the building of the multi emergency service centre and which subsequently went bust in 2011, has agreed with the Valencia government to cancel its contract to build the centre and this in turns clears the way for the regional authorities to open up the tender again to another construction company.

Pedro said: “If there is a construction company that is interested in taking on the contract, then they can apply to the Valencia government. The sooner that happens, the better and we hope that the building can be completed by the end of the year.”

The Mayor, who was accompanied by the Councillor for the Third Age, Inma Montesinos, chose to pay special tribute to eight local couples who have been married the longest. All the couples had been married for more than 40 years but the winning couple was Felix and Felisa who have been happily married for a whopping 65 years.

The couple has resided in Torrevieja for over twenty years and received several gifts from the Mayor and the Councillor including a romantic dinner at a local restaurant.

Alcoy building steps back in time

THE UNIVERSITY building near the viaduct in Alcoy yesterday morphed into a Madrid clinic of the fifties as movie makers transformed the building and its immediate surroundings into a remarkably accurate set for filming ‘The Killing’ starring Amaia Salamanca and Oscar Jaenada, directed by Eduard Cortés.

During the morning extras were recruited at the Tourist Office, their services required for about a month. The film features a jewel heist and the robbers’ flight from justice.

Inditex heiress to wed on Saturday THE HEIRESS to the Inditex empire, 27-year-old Marta Ortega, is to marry Spain’s number one equestrian, Asturian champion Sergio Alvarez, at the Ortega family estate on Saturday in Anceis (Coruña) following a three year courtship.

Elaborate preparations, including the construction of a giant marquee, are under way at the estate where Marta’s father, Amancio Ortega, Spain’s wealthiest man, married his second wife, Marta’s mother, Flora Perez Marcote, in 2001.

Despite money being in plentiful supply, the couple has chosen to limit the guest list to “a family affair” and of course the bride is tipped to wear Zara.

Marta Ortega and fiancé Sergio Alvarez

Walking tours in Alicante and Elche AGUITUR, THE Professional Tourist Guide Association of the Valencian Community, has arranged free walking tours to take place in Alicante City and also in Elche to commemorate the International Tourist Guide Day on Tuesday, 21st February. In Alicante the tours will commence at 6pm and 8pm (for two hours). Meeting point: Explanada de España nº1 (next to the roundabout and the tourist office). All tours are bilingual in English and Spanish. For more information contact the organisers on 637 545 761 or visit http://www. comunitatvalenciana.com/ag/ alacant/alicante/visita-guiadaen-alic

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

What a waste!

WOULD YOU heat your home with the windows wide open? When you turn on an appliance, TV, lights, kettle etc, there is a sudden burst of energy that rushes off to the source. We call this ‘spiking’.

15

Thomas Lloret retires at 90 with 60 working years behind him

by patricia thompson Spikes convert the electrical energy into heat energy which leaks power and creates long term damage to wiring and reduces the life of your appliances.

How many times in a month does your supply spike? Hundreds, thousands? How much of your bill is made up of this waste? Can anything be done to stop this? Luckily, we have found an answer to this question.

We have discovered a device known as a Power Saver. It simply plugs into a wall socket and controls the feed of electricity, delivering just the ammount that is needed to do the job thus, cutting out the waste. Using the latest technology, the Power Saver stores the electricity and distributes it in a smoother way, hence removing electricity spiking.

So how much can you save? Retailers of these devices claim you can reduce usage by up to 35%. This may be on the optomistic side. Up to 15% may be more realistic but if only half of this is achieved, we are still talking about substantial savings.

Various retailers sell them for around 130€ so, great news for Iberswitch customers, they are on offer at 40€ plus IVA. With a life of about 7 years, if the Power Saver saves you

15KW Electronic Energy Power Saver

just 5% of your bill, you are looking at big savings for a very small outlay.

Give Iberswitch a call today for more information: 96 626 5089

ALICANTE PHARMACIST Thomas Loret has finally retired following a career that spanned 60 years, handing over the reins to his younger colleagues. Thomas saw his role in the community as vital: “My generation revolutionalised the concept of medicine. Now, new drugs no longer have the same effect as patients are more accustomed to them.”

Tomas says, “Pharmacists are like confessors – the patient tells you the problem and asks for advice…and that has not changed in 60 years!” Tomas’s only regret is being unable to master the new computer technology, one of the main reasons for his retirement – otherwise his working life might have continued to his100th year!

16

17 - 23 feb 2012

Raising a glass to Douglas

The bench in memory Douglas Swindell

by jack troughton MEMBERS OF the Moraira-Teulada U3A Petanque 2 gathered to toast the group’s much-loved leader Douglas Swindell, who died last November.

At the petanque piste on Cumbre del Sol, Doug’s widow Barbara unveiled a bench in memory of her husband – designed and made by the group’s Paul Tansley, helped by

another member Roger Mallaburn.

Pamela Powell, who now heads the boules group, said: “It was a testament to Doug’s popularity that so many members turned up on a bitterly cold morning and drank a lively toast to his memory.

“The bench will be a splendid facility for all users of the petanque courts.”

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Tintin found not guilty of racism THE BRUSSELS court has found that the 1931 book Tintin in the Congo by Georges Remi, published in English in 1991, was not intended to incite racial hatred.

by Jan Gamm In 2007 Congolese campaigner Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo launched a legal suit to have the book banned on grounds that its portrayal of Africans was racist. The Tintin stories have enjoyed renewed interest since the release of Stephen Mondondo with the Spielberg’s animated movie about the intrepid boy journalist and his dog Snowy. Tntin in the Congo has always attracted book criticism with its plot featuring diamond smugglers, big game hunters and ferocious wild animals. Mbutu Mondondo’s Tintin in lawyer has said he plans to appeal the court’s decision. the Congo

Who turned the lights off?

DESPITE THE freezing weather in Novelda on Tuesday Iberdrola cut off the electricity supply to seven different areas of the city, restoring the service only when an agreement was reached with the central government to settle the debt owed by the City Council which amounts to more than a million Euros.

Since December the Council had failed to meet the agreed payment structure for services. Several public institutions such as schools continued without power thinking the blackout was simply the result of a power failure. Iberdrola has refused to comment on the debt owed, pleading ‘customer confidentiality’. Meanwhile, Socialist spokesman Jose Manuel Martinez said, “This is the fruit of inefficiency, arrogance, lack of dialogue and non-performance of the PP government agreements with Iberdrola.”

Spanish glamour at the Baftas

SPANISH STARS Penelope Cruz and Elsa Pataky stunned red carpet style spotters at the Baftas last weekend.

Penelope Cruz appeared in maroon silk Armani Privè Haute Couture, a belted gown with a square neckline.

Pataky wore a flowing blue chiffon gown with a beaded panel over her baby bump.

17 - 23 feb 2012

17

18

A more mature Spain?

17 - 23 feb 2012

By

Chris Marshall

PICKING THROUGH the headlines for this week’s column I found a few that could indicate that Spain is finally getting its head out of the sand and starting to grow up!

Expat The fact that Spain’s new conservative governblogger ment has passed the labour market reforms that

www.almerimarlife.com

will be crucial to creating jobs to reduce Europe’s worst unemployment record and slowly restore confidence to the (almost) terminally ill economy should not be taken lightly. By admitting that the changes are aimed at encouraging companies to hire young people, the long-term unemployed and people with dependents, the Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, has taken a huge risk implementing the changes which include openended contracts and tries to limit temporary ones that are very common in Spain and make the country’s workforce vulnerable to swings in economic growth.

The sense of maturity was reinforced by the frank admission from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that the current level of 23% unemployment will get worse throughout 2012, and the economy is heading towards a recession again.

The banks have also come over all grown up as well announcing they will set aside an additional 6.1€ billion to meet a new government demand for all banks to boost their buffers against troubled real estate assets. Banco Santander, Europe’s biggest bank by market capitalization, said it would make allowance for an extra 2.3€ billion buffer to meet the government requirement.

It could be argued that Spain has no choice over any of the above, and if they ever needed a Eurozone bailout the above would be nothing compared to

the austerity cuts that would be imposed, but they did not need to stop the puentas the ‘bridge’ days between public holidays that if managed properly can extend the 36 legally mandated days off to a staggering 50 days off.

In one of several measures designed to boost productivity in a sagging economy, Spain’s unions and business associations have agreed to suppress three bridges by moving the holidays to Mondays.

The two sides, which rarely agree on anything, say the bridges cost the Spanish economy hundreds of millions of Euros in lost production, as they result in idle plants and half-empty offices.

On the other hand ………. appears that there is still a long way to go before Spain fully grows up!

As I write this Iberia have announced a further strike, cancelling 121 flights, just as Air Nostrum have announced redundancies and Spanair, as we know, has gone pop.

Just up the coast from us Albox residents are once again steeling themselves for property demolitions as lawyers acting for the regional government (the Junta de Andalucía) successfully argued that the property risked provoking an urban nucleus. The revocation of the building licence was upheld and the retired couple were ordered to pay costs.

As predicted by many the new anti-smoking legislation which banned smoking in closed public spaces a year ago, has not had the expected effect on the number of smokers. The Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), has pre-

sented a report, the first since the new regulations were introduced in December 2010, which shows that currently 17.65% of the Spanish population smokes, 0.5% more than their last report in 2007!

Not only are revenues down for the bars, cafes and restaurants across Spain, but this increased level of smoking isn’t putting cash into the government’s coffers either as illegal imports now account for 7% to 8% of Spanish cigarette sales, compared with almost nothing a year ago, according to the country’s tobacconists association. In southern provinces such as Cadiz, Seville and Malaga, the proportion is 20%.

Some reports claim that taxes from tobacco sales in Spain are down as much as 14% from 2011.

And finally: stupid story of the week goes to the headmistress of the Virgen de la Encina de Hoyo primary school in Manzanares who has decided to take meat off the menu to mark the beginning of Lent, proving that politics correctness isn’t just confined to the UK. ‘No surprise there’ award goes to the story that bankruptcies in Spain have increased in 2011 with one third of all bankruptcies being in the construction or property sector.

Tabloid headline of the week: Spain’s King Juan Carlos ‘had an affair with Diana’.

Chris runs the expat blog about life in Spain (www.almerimarlife.com) and is a regular contributor to a number of publications and radio stations in Spain, as well as writing a monthly column for the Telegraph Expat site and is a Telegraph Expat guest blogger.

He lives in Almerimar with his five cats, two Harleys and wife Sands, and together they are heavily involved in the re-homing and transport of rescued and abandoned animals to Germany and the UK through their project www.alstrays.com. His column in the RTN is sponsored by www.blitzcleaning.es boat cleaning and valeting experts across the Costas of Spain. Email: chris@almerimarlife.com http://almerimarlife.com http://chrismarshall.ws’ http://expatlifespain.com http://alstrays.com

20

17 - 23 feb 2012

Historic agreement

The Javea Coastline Challenge

COSTA BLANCA charity EMAUS and a town hall have signed a historic ‘accord’ aimed at supporting social welfare in the community as the crisis deepens.

Calpe Mayor Caesar Sanchez and charity President Monserrat Fiter signed a contract that will help work together to improve social aid to the community.

While EMAUS is best known for running children’s homes helping ‘at risk’ youngsters lead normal lives through family units, its remit is far wider – such as caring for people at risk of social exclusion, the elderly, training people with disabilities, aiding victims of domestic violence, and helping the long term unemployed. Since 1979, the charity’s priority has been social action and it has enjoyed funding by public donation, private companies, and public bodies.

by patricia thompson JÁVEA BOASTS several kilometres of stunning coastline and a network of ‘miradores’ have been developed to get the most out of some incredible scenery. In March 2011, Mike Smith and a group of friends walked a distance of 27km in the ‘javeamigos.com Mirador Challenge’, linking these fifteen special viewpoints in a single walking effort, completing the distance in a little under 8.5 hours.

Mike, along with John Channon, Boris Riley, Will Guest, Dave Stewart and Walt Tarplee, stopped for lunch and also were slightly delayed by well-wishers: “The elation when we reached the old windmills and looked back across the great plain of Jávea towards our starting point was incredible.”

The team realised that the walking challenge was not just feasible, but achievable by anyone with a bit of drive and commitment. There are few technically-difficult sections and, apart from the first section through the Granadella Forest Park, the route follows well-trodden paths and roads with stunning views of the coast of Jávea, much of which is hidden to the casual observer.”

The 2012 edition of the Mirador Challenge is on Saturday 31st March, generating interest from walking groups and local organisations as well as an approving nod from the town hall.

“Last year I met with Juan Luis Cardona, the councillor for Sports, to explain to him the concept of the challenge,” said Mike, “He certainly

liked the idea and even made a few suggestions of his own. However, work commitments meant that I wasn’t able to take it much further with him but we were always keen to walk the route in 2012.”

Interested parties should contact Mike on info@javeamigos.com or visit www.javeamigos.com and click on ‘Walking in Jávea’.

TARGET Calpe Councillor Carole Saunders, who is also President of Friends of the Children of EMAUS, itself a support charity, said one of the first targets of the accord would be to open a food bank in the tourist resort badly hit by the recession.

“We are hoping to put trolleys in local supermarkets with signs asking for donations of food so the town hall and charitable associations can distribute food to the poor,” she said “”We are trying to organise things so the town hall knows what is going on and the council will make sure the food collected is fairly distributed according to lists currently being drawn up of families in need.”

She said the scale of the crisis meant the mayor was looking at opening a soup kitchen in the near future – once a location was identified to cook food.

Out of jail

The team takes a break at the Portitxol Cross

MIGUEL MONTES Neiro, Spain’s oldest prisoner, was finally released from the Albolote Penitentiary on Wenesday after serving 36 years behind bars for a series of non-violent crimes including several escape attempts. He is now looking forward to finding a job and has received several book offers on his life story. When asked if he might re-offend, he answered: “In the past when I ran away I did not care about repeating my crimes because I knew I was going back to jail. Now it is different. I am a free man with much to lose.

I missed so many things. I want to prove to society that I am a different man and I can do good things.”

22

To pee or not to pee…

17 - 23 feb 2012

Watts In Britain By

Paul Watts

I WAS at a concert recently and during the interval joined the usual halftime conga for the loo. It wasn’t too long a wait and I knew that chaps can usually be relied upon to ‘get on with it’ in a brisk fashion.

My nearest and dearest, however, was in the rather longer queue for the Ladies. She told me the following story: “There was a girl in front of me who was clearly uncomfortable. She was shifting from foot to foot and biting her lip. As the three-minute bell rang she gulped said, ‘I’m sorry’ and pulled down her trousers and squatted over a drain in the tiled floor. I wish I had her nerve!”

I have often heard ladies bemoaning the inequality of toiletry provision. One facility for a chap can be used about five times quicker than in the ladies queue. Why then, many argue, can’t some of the room for the men be given over to the girls? The trouble is, girls, if you start taking away facilities from the chaps they’ll find alternate methods. Like nipping out to the car park – and that wouldn’t be nice, would it? But, I agree there is an inequality. So, what could be done?

Well, back in 2001 a sanitary-ware manufacturer produced a women’s urinal called the ‘Lady P’ that was meant to alleviate the above wait. However, Lady P was withdrawn in 2005 due to poor sales. But now there’s been a groundswell of fresh interest and it’s possible that a re-launch it in the UK is on the cards.

Lady P (I don’t know what Parker thinks about this name) was the brainchild of industrial design graduate Marian Loth, and her aim (get it?) was to both speed up the queues in ladies’ lavatories while also improving hygiene. “How does it work, Watts?” I hear many of you ask. Hmmm, how can I put this delicately? Okay, well, apparently, the user

is meant to ‘hover’ rather than sit during the erm, ‘relivement’ process. Or as Loth more eloquently puts it: “The Lady P principal is ‘piss and go’.”

Did you know, dear reader, that urinals for women aren’t a new phenomenon? Oh no, and my great-auntie tells of using them in the fifties.

She describes them as being a bit like a narrow bidet that you straddled. I suppose that’s okay when you’re wearing a skirt and stockings but try it in trousers or tights and... No wonder they weren’t very popular.

I phoned female journo Martina who had tried out the Lady P back in 2001. “They’re quite stylish,” she says, “they’re broader, and stand out further from the wall, than a men’s one (which I sometimes use in my office building’s single-user unisex loo.) I don’t mind standing, as long as noone’s watching. Side-by-side privacy is assured by the glass partitions, but they’re open to the front.

I suppose this is to encourage the user to be as quick as possible. There’s a hook to hang your bag on and a handrail to steady yourself while you strike the pose – a variation on the ‘hover’ technique. And there’s even an array of tiny graphics to make sure you know which way to face.” That’s for the blondes, Martina! Sorry, only joking. Martina snorts and adds, “They are smart but would I use one? Hmm, I’m not sure.” The question of Lady P still appears to be: “to pee or not pee; that is the question…”

Watts in Britain, so you don’t have to pee, sorry, be!

A Lady P toilet

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Juan Carlos welcomes Nadal to the Zarzuela Palace

23

The trial of Angel Fenoll

by JAn gamm RAFA NADAL, Albert Costa, David Ferrer and Alex Corretja were greeted warmly by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on Tuesday at an informal reception held at the Palacio de la Zarzuela in which the royal couple congratulated the winners of the Davis Cup 2012. During the 45 minute reception the King embraced Nadal and enquired about his plans The for the future including possible King participation in the 2012 London with Nadal Olympics. The King was presented with a miniature copy of the Davis and Ferrer Cup by Albert Costa.

THE PROSECUTION has called for 36 years in prison for 11 separate crimes for businessman Angel Fenoll, accused of fraud close to â‚Ź5 million in VAT and corporation tax between 2002 and 2004. The alleged crimes were committed between 2002 and 2004. On the bench are 17 other people besides Fenoll accused of elaborate fictitious invoices for services rendered to a business in Orihuela. Fenoll and his partners face sentences ranging from eight to thirty years in prison.

24

17 - 23 feb 2012

legal

Communities of owners and debtors by

Michael Olmer

Solicitor, Link Point Legal and Business Services

IF YOU are the President, Secretary, or a member of a ‘Community of Owners’ affected by unpaid community charges, what can you do to try and recover the money due?

A recent report by the Spanish association of property administrators has revealed that 22% of all Communities of Owners are seriously burdened by unpaid community charges. In many cases these are debts owing by banks who have repossessed mortgaged property or due from developers who still have unsold units on their books.

The steps to be taken are governed by Article 21 of the Horizontal Property Law, and if court proceedings become necessary by the Law of Civil Procedure.

First, you need to establish the true owner of the property. Remember that the actual resident may be a tenant or family member of the true owner. To do this you need to apply to your local land registry for a ‘Nota Simple’ which will probably reveal the identity of the owner. One complication is that in Spain, if the property is not subject to a mortgage, it is not compulsory to register ownership at the land registry. ‘Professional debtors’ or those anxious to hide their assets may have chosen not to register their ownership.

Second, the President of the community should summon an Extraordinary General Meeting to establish a plan of action to try to recover the debts. This should include an instruction to the Administrator or Secretary of the Community to take legal action.

Third, the Administrator should write to the debtor by registered mail at the address of the property concerned with a formal notice to the debtor of the amount due and advising them that they have lost their right to vote in general meetings of the community accompanied by a written demand for payment and the threat of legal action.

If the owner does not accept the letter sent by registered mail, or collect it from the post office, he can be notified by pinning a notice on the community notice board to the same effect as the letter, and after it has been displayed for three days the debtor will be presumed to have been formally served with the demand for payment.

Fourth, if no payment is forthcoming or the debtor does not want to agree to a plan to pay the debt by installments, you should issue a ‘proceso monitorio’ (summary proceedings) in your local Court of First Instance to collect the debt.

Finally, if the debtor does not pay when he receives the court proceedings, it can be enforced by placing attaching it to his property, known as placing an ‘embargo’ against it.

If a bank has repossessed a property after the mortgage has gone into default, it is still obliged to continue paying the community charges until the bank has sold the property on to a new owner. The same

applies if the property is brand new and still owned by a developer.

If the owner of the property has died then it is the heirs to the property who are obliged to pay the community charges, and if it is necessary to issue a ‘proceso monitorio’. This is usually done against the name of the deceased owner. The heirs can then step in to respond to the proceedings if they wish, or if they do nothing a default judgment will be entered against the estate, known in Spanish as a ‘Herencia Yacente’.

If your Community of Owners is affected by debtors please contact us at Linkpoint where our Bilingual advisers are available to help you.

Calle Andromeda 24, 03581 Albir - Alfaz del Pí, Alicante. Email: client@linkpointlegal.com Web: www.linkpointlegal.com Tel: 96 626 0500 Fax: 96 686 52 77

money

17 - 23 feb 2012

25

Want a Risk Free and Tax Free Income?

ARBITRAGE IS the purchase of currencies, securities and commodities for immediate resale at a profit: Banks are constantly engaged in arbitrage situations, racking up huge profits for themselves in the process.

In Sporting Arbitrages cases the ‘commodities’ are horses or football teams and the market is the biggest on the internet - the betting industry.

BUT they do not gamble with your money.

Sporting Arbitrage predominantly employs Betfair, a trading platform with a £450 million weekly turnover, engineering tiny margins with no risk.

How does Sporting Arbitrage produce returns at minimal risk?

If we back at a bigger price than we lay then we cannot lose. This fact is demonstrated on the website and at our various presentations. Traders create margins, no matter how small, to ensure clients benefit from around 60% of all the horse races in the UK, with NO losses racked up on the remainder; also grabbing margins on major football matches, dealing in mathematical certainties.

Will I know the events on which you are trading on any given day?

Steve Without question - indeed it is a legal requirement Kelly that we provide you the ability to ‘opt out’ each day.

A lump sum may be invested or make regular contributions to build capital that way. £200 per month will be worth almost £7,000 after just two years!

You can opt out on a daily basis and withdraw part or all of your investment at 14 days’ notice, on a minimum contribution of £100, with the facility to draw off profits monthly or roll them over.

Sporting Arbitrage’s Steve Kelly has made big profits for his personal clients since 2003. Here on the Costa Blanca, Sporting Arbitrage opened their La Regia offices in May, engaging the services of John O’Brien, a City stockbroker for thirty five years before settling in Catral seven years ago.

Please call John on 678 297 535.

The office provides full administrative support and personal presentations can be arranged.

Sporting Arbitrage Ltd, Sophia Business Centre, 11 C/Isla Formentera, La Regia, Orihuela Costa.

Tel 965 322 863.

Visit us at This is Spain Exhibition on 24th,25th and 26th February at Hotel La Zenia, Playas de Orihuela Costa for further information on both Sporting Arbitrage and Winning Express find us at Stand number 25.

legal

Non Residents income tax by

Carlos Baos

of White & Baos Abogados English & Spanish Solicitors

THE SPANISH TAX OFFICE (AGENCIA TRIBUTARIA) TARGETS NON RESIDENTS ON PREVIOUS occasions we have informed our readers, clients and friends that if they are Non Residents for Tax in Spain and owners of a property (or a share of one) it is their obligation to submit a Non Resident Tax Return even if they receive no income from letting the property, bank interest, investments, etc.

Still, it is quite common for people who are Non Fiscal Residents in Spain not to pay this tax.

Usually this is due to ignorance or neglect and

especially when they have no other income in Spain. If they only own a house, the tax to be paid will be based on a percentage of the cadastral value of the property (this value appears on IBI/local rates sent by Suma or the Town Hall, depending upon where the property is located).

Not being a high tax, this Non Resident Income Tax was always considered a minor tax: However in the last few months and probably due to the financial crisis the Spanish Tax Office (equivalent to the Spanish Inland Revenue (Agencia Tributaria)) has sent a mailshot to some property owners in Spain where they have no evidence of any tax paid as Residents, or Non Residents, urging them to update their status and pay the applicable tax.

We advise our readers that this letter is more like a ‘warning’ or a ‘generic reminder’ than a formal claim from the Tax Authorities. It is informative and written in gentle terms, warning the recipient that it is possible to update their status before an inspection or penalty proceedings start. Since once this happens it could mean fines, penalties, etc.

17 - 23 feb 2012

27

Green light for Google Therefore and in order to avoid our readers going through what some of our clients have been through, we kindly remind you that now and more than ever before, you need to comply with your tax obligations. Since it looks like the Spanish Tax Office is targeting Non Resident Income Tax payers. Our office will be more than pleased to assist you in rectifying this problem, finding the appropriate solutions for your case, and updating your fiscal status in Spain.

Should any reader be in this situation or similar please do not hesitate to contact us and the appropriate advice will be provided.

The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.

We kindly invite you to visit and comment about this article in our blog at http://www.white-baos.com/blog/ and facebook (White-Baos-Abogados-Solicitors) your comments in this respect will be greatly appreciated.

Carlos Baos (Lawyer) © White & Baos Abogados 2012 - All rights reserved. C/Diana 19, 2º-D, 03700 Dénia (located 1 minute away from the La Via underground car park).

Tel: 966 426 185. Send your questions to spanishlawyer@roundtownnews.com or info@white-baos.com. This article is available in English and Spanish at www.white-baos.com

GOOGLE HAS now been given the go ahead to buy Motorola. The nod was given by the US Department of Justice and the European Commission. The acquisition is part of its expansion within the mobile telephony market. The purchase, valued at US$12,500 million (€9,492,000 million), has been pending approval

by US regulatory authorities of competition since being announced in August 2011.

In a statement the US Justice Department said: “After a thorough review of the operation, the Antitrust Division has determined that the acquisition is unlikely to reduce competition substantially.” With this purchase the software giant Google is to expand its market through the acquisition of 17,000 patents in the mobile market.

money

28

17 - 23 feb 2012

Don’t smile please – it’s your passport by

Suzanne O’Connell Customer Care at Ábaco

HAVE YOU ever tried to get a passport photo of a baby? Once upon a time, there was no need.

Children travelled with you on your passport and did not have individual ones of their own.

It seemed absurd when at 6 weeks old we were cajoling our youngest into providing a head shot – eyes open – no smile and no wriggling! It took a while and was less than useless by the time he was 6 months old.

At 6 years the passport photo taking process is much easier and even enjoyable. Not so, when you’ve turned a few more years though. Passport photos are the clichéd most cringable image we are ever likely to have of ourselves. Perhaps it’s the combination of the concentration needed, the headshot and the lighting that make them so frequently bad. At border control the wince is almost tangible as people inadvertently catch a

glimpse of how dreadful they can actually look.

If you live abroad you probably get to glimpse your passport more than the average person. Here in Spain you are required by law, to carry your national form of ID with you all the time. For the British, this means a passport. This causes concern for many who, understandably, are anxious to keep their passport safe.

Some people choose instead to use their Spanish driving licence or get a copy of their passport certified by the notary. Although these might be accepted in many places, a pernickety policeman or official could refuse to accept them.

So much better when the residencia was a little card with a photo on it - now replaced by a pretty useless piece of green paper, it is yet another document to be stored. The Spanish, of course, have their own DNI identity cards something to which the British have remained stubbornly resistant. Having one would

mean your passport could stay safe indoors and we could feel more at one with the rest of the Europe.

A word of warning from one of our clients: no matter how abysmal, don’t be too hasty in ditching those old passport photos. It’s important to keep your expired passports somewhere secure and where you know where they are. If you have opened up a mobile contract or landline on the basis of an old passport you may be asked for the number at some point in the future.

So, for the time being at least, it looks like I am stuck with hauling my little burgundy book around with me.

As it runs out in 2014 the time is fast coming when another photo shoot is due. Whether it turns out to be a bad hair day or not, I can guarantee one thing: I’m going to look at least 10 years older than last time!

For information about how to renew your passport: http://www.abacoconnect.com/articles/Travel-inspain/avoiding-the-pitfalls-renewing-your-passport

Herman Van Rompuy in China Eurogroup delays release of the €130,000 million for Athens EUROZONE FINANCE ministers have expressed distrust of the agreement reached in Greece on a new plan of cuts and are delaying the release of the second rescue package of €130,000 million that Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy. The Eurozone will this time require evidence that settings have been observed. Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn, has called on Greece for “concrete action” to convince its European partners of cutbacks and reforms. Rehn noted that the agreement at technical level on the cuts reached between the Greek Government and the EU Troika and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a “step forward,” but made it clear that “there are still some important decisions ahead” before activating the new plan. Also the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, also ruled out unlocking the second rescue, noting: “We have come so far, but still not enough.”

THE EUROPEAN Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, met with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao on Tuesday in Beijing in the fourteenth China-EU summit to discuss the crisis in the Eurozone, global economic governance, climate change, regional peace and other bilateral issues.

Van Rompuy stressed that China, being the world’s largest exporter to the EU, also contributes to its growth “…the fastest growing market and a major force to stabilize the Euro.” Europe seeks more involvement from China in resolving the crisis of European sovereign debt. Within China, critics within the Communist Party contend that “…integration in the Euro area does not advance China’s interests but sends it backward.”

30

17 - 23 feb 2012

currency

For more information on how Moneycorp can help you to save hundreds of euros on your Spanish bank fees, as well as helping you get more pounds for your euros, contact us on 902 887 243 or email Moneycorp directly at roundtownnews@moneycorp.com

Saving money by

Kevin Wright

Account Manager, Moneycorp

‘I read with interest your 5 pages last week on selling my house in Spain and getting more Sterling through using you. My question is, how do you save me money? ’ This response to a recent article has been incredible. Your question is one that has cropped up a few times so I will try and set out some answers for you in this article.

In the current market place many people looking to sell a Spanish property will have had to reduce the price of their property to be able to negotiate a sale. With all the associated costs and taxes that need to be paid out, maximising the amount of pounds sterling that you finally receive for your euros is vital. Clients need to be aware of two important factors that can cost you dearly when converting your euros into pounds and moving those funds out of Spain.

Spanish bank charges All too often British people living in Spain assume that Spanish banks operate in a similar way to the UK. This is not the case. Once your sale has been completed you will receive a cheque from the Notary. Many Spanish banks will charge a fee based on the value of this cheque to accept and clear the funds. They will then look to charge a further percentage fee to send your funds out of Spain. To put this into perspective, on an amount of 150,000€, you could incur costs of up

to €1,500 just to clear your cheque and transfer funds out of Spain. As most clients close their accounts when they leave Spain, there is little room for negotiation.

Moneycorp clients in most instances have these fees completely eliminated, giving you not just the savings but also peace of mind.

Exchange rate risk on repatriation The agreed sale price of a property is often based on the amount of pounds sterling that the seller hopes to receive, according to the exchange rate at that time.

However, a Notary / completion date can take place some weeks or even months after the contract of sale has been signed. This means that sellers run the risk of the exchange rate moving against them and thus reducing the amount of pounds sterling that they receive. For example, with an exchange rate of 1.19, a sale value of 150,000€ will give you £126,050. Should this exchange rate rise to 1.22, a rise of just 3 cents, this would give a return of £122,950 – this equates to £3,100 less.

Moneycorp offers a range of service that allows clients to lock into favourable exchange rates either at the time of the signing of the contract or at any point up until completion, taking away the risk of the exchange

rate moving against them in the future.

For more information on how Moneycorp can help you to save hundreds of euros on your Spanish bank fees as well as helping you get more pounds for your euros, contact us on 902 887 243 or email Moneycorp directly at roundtownnews@moneycorp.com

business

17 - 23 feb 2012

31

Working SMARTER not harder!

WE ARE always looking for tools and technology that can help make us faster, save time, and improve our productivity and as a busy professional those are critical. Owning a smartphone allows you utilise all of those wonderful apps that are there to help and there are so many productivity applications available it is impossible not to increase productivity.

Let’s take a look at some of the best apps available to help working smarter not harder a reality!

and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as well as view Adobe PDF files on your Android-powered smartphone. And since it is full featured yet easy to use, Documents To Go is one mobile office suite that makes good business sense.

Have a meeting and don’t know where you are going? Gone are the days where you would print a map, ask the company to fax where they are or even use you TomTom…..Smart phones nowadays have Google Maps and navigation and a GPS built in…….

EVERNOTE Evernote is a powerful note-taking and saving application. The notes can be text, video, audio, or images and the best thing is that they are available to you no matter where you are….your computer, web, or mobile device.

Away from the office? Not a problem…….With your smart phone you can send and receive emails but what about those attachments or that quotation you need to do immediately, or view a PDF specification now? Then you need………

GOOGLE MAPS NAVIGATION Using Google Maps Navigation couldn’t be easier.

You can search for the location by road, business name or type of business. You don’t even have to type it into your smartphone you can search by voice! If the location is in the centre of a busy city and you are on foot…no worries just use the walking option instead of the driving option. To coin a phrase…Simples!

Having highlighted just a few benefits of owning a smartphone, the single most important part of gaining the most from your smartphone is the data package your operator provides. By utilising an operator that provides unlimited internet through your smartphone you are sure to get all of the benefits of owning a smartphone without the worry of “what will this cost me?” The world is getting smarter: are you?

To join the smartphone revolution call 2020tel on 96 626 0777.

DOCUMENTS TO GO Whether you’re an organisation looking to mobilize your sales professionals or an individual looking to increase personal productivity, leaving your office or laptop behind does not have to mean leaving your crucial files and work behind.

Now you can get your work done no matter where you are by using Documents To Go to view, edit

+ uk tv

+

120mins european landline calls

line rental

32

17 - 23 feb 2012

Get the facts about installing a solar energy hot water system and government grants!

Solar In Spain Open Day February 24th How does a solar hot water system work?

A compact system

Would a solar energy system replace my existing hot water system?

What is the life expectancy of a solar hot water system?

Does solar energy only work on sunny days?

Are solar energy systems expensive?

Are government grants available?

Where can I find out more information?

Selective panels on roof

To answer these questions and more, doors will open for the Solar Energy Information Day, at the Inn On The Green bowling club in Javea, on 24th February at 10am when coffee will be served. The event will run from 10.30am to 12.30pm and is free to attend. However places are limited so we would ask everyone to pre-register by calling 902 636 570 or by sending an email to info@solarinspain.com. Our advert can be seen in the services page at the back of the RTN

Home & Garden

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Home Garden

33

Brought to you by

www.spanishhomefinder.com

Wintery winds by

Clodagh & Dick Handscombe Practical gardeners and authors

SEASONAL PROBLEMS FOR MANY readers winter has come with a vengeance this year. Below zero on many nights due to wind chill factor if not on the thermometer - and snow for an hour or two.

Ponds have frozen, succulents burnt and leaves frozen on as yet un-pruned perennials and shrubs such as sages and lantanas respectively.

Those new to Spain comment that we never realised it can be cold on the Costa even when sunny all day. Seeing photos of Barcelona beaches covered in snow had been unbelievable but then established expats advised them that it has happened in other years on the Costa Blanca.

Vegetables that rarely water, vegetable plots and containers during the winter have probably lost little, but those you water in the winter as if it is summer could have lost most. All we lost was a patch of nasturtiums that we grow for salads, but a few plants sheltered from the sun are still alive. They have been thawing out slowly each day whereas those in full sun had the frozen plant cells thawed out too quickly as the sun rose: likewise with ripe mandarins.

After a few years one lives with the frost risk as it is not devastating every year, especially if most plants in the garden have been chosen for their ground and air frost resistance.

If you have never thought about this scan through the frost resistance column of the 400

plant descriptions in our book ‘ Your Garden in Spain – From Planning to Planting and Maintenance’ and likewise the 140 relevant plant descriptions in ‘Apartment Gardening Mediterranean Style – Terraces Balconies and Windowsills’.

GETTING OUT OF THE WIND Yes when a gale blows with the thermometer hovering around zero it’s sensible to get on with some jobs out of the wind. There is plenty to do.

• Lay out seed potatoes on sacks on the garage or under build floor or in plastic trays to develop a little growth before planting after the local frost risk is past. It may be possible to plant on the coast now but wait for a month inland.

• Go through packets of seed from last year and decide which are still viable. Integrate the good ones with pockets already purchased from local sources and mail order seed catalogues and decide on what still needs to be purchased.

• Sort through the bottles and boxes of garden products – insecticides, fungicides, fertilizersand decide what is still useable. Make a list of needs to be purchased ready for the better weather.

• Give the garden shed or garden section of the garage a good clean.

• Pile up the dish washer with grimy flower pots and give them a good wash before using them for seeds and transplanting.

• In the greenhouse prepare to plant up tomato, pepper, courgette, melon, cucumber, squash and pumpkin seeds.

• If too cold in the garage or garden shed sit in front of a log burning stove or by a radiator and reread chapters of one or more of our books.

Scan the indexes for chapters that could do with

refresher or first read.

• Take a bottle of stored pickled olives from 2010.

Open it up. Remove the floating layer of carob leaves placed there to prevent mould from developing. Take some olives out and prepare them to eat over the weekend and next week. Earlier today Dick half filled a bowl or jar with some 14 month old pickled olives and covered them with olive oil. Dried or fresh rosemary and thyme were then

added plus some dried anise and red pepper, a couple of cloves of garlic and a slice of lemon. The mix and olives were then stirred to spread the additives evenly. They are now left to marinate overnight and we will start to eat them tomorrow evening.

So cold wintery days can be productive!

Clodagh and Dick’s instructive books are available to help you achieve a great garden from scratch or improve an existing garden. You will find them in bookshops including Bookworld, Carrefor and Humpty Dumpty. For convenience many internet bookshops stock them including Santana Books, Amazon UK, Bookworld and The Royal Horticultural Society. © Clodagh and Dick Handscombe www.gardeninginspain.com

Brought to you by spanishhomefinder.com

34

17 - 23 feb 2012

Cotswold Carriers with 6 vehicles to choose from we can move from a chest of drawers to a manor house

EVEN IN times of economic hardship, Cotswold Carriers is still making regular trips to and from Spain with full or part-loads, either delivering customers to their new homes on the coast, or bringing items back to the UK. The company was set up in 1978 and since that time has undertaken most kinds of domestic and commercial removals, particularly specialising in transporting antiques and fine art. These days, they can move anything from garden statues, motorbikes, cars and office furniture to paintings and sculptures, as well as household goods. A full packing service is provided, (should customers require it) and quotations include Standard Liability cover for goods in transit.

Cotswold Carriers can organise storage either in Spain or in the UK, if customers are ‘between houses’. This can be for anything from a week to many years.

The family-run operation of medium size operates six vehicles of various sizes, enabling them to cope with moves of any capacity, from a chest of drawers to a manor house. In the Cotswolds particularly, the roads are narrow and inaccessible for large lorries so the company has smaller vans to accommodate this eventuality.

Many of the staff have been with the company for more than 10 years, so have years of experience dealing with customers’ valued household items. And Cotswold Carriers has an impressive portfolio of testimonials from satisfied customers.

Where possible, prospective customers are visited personally to review how accessible the property is and to see what items are involved; when a visit is not possible, a detailed written list is requested.

The company was first set up by Bill Cooper and is now run by his son, Dean Cooper, who is regularly in Spain.

The company also carries out removals throughout the UK and during the past couple of years delivered items to most parts of France; Poland; Italy; Germany; Portugal and Luxembourg.

Said Dean Cooper: “We appreciate the fact that moving is a stressful experience for customers; we do our best to lessen the stress for you, because we have years of experience in removals, and take special care in every job we undertake.”

For more information, contact Dean at: dean@cotswold-carriers.com visit www.cotswoldcarriers.com or call on 01608 730 500.

Home & Garden

Home & Garden

Brought to you by spanishhomefinder.com

38

17 - 23 feb 2012

The Youth iExpo: Looking to a brighter future

By Louise Clarke BEING A teenager in Spain is hard enough without having the extra worries of school, decisions of further education, future employment and what to do in your spare time. You are not alone if you have found it difficult getting answers to questions like; “How can I get into a Spanish University?” or “What vocational courses are available here?” Research has revealed that most expat teenagers living here do not know what Spanish further education is open to them and when combined with the misconception that there are no future prospects in Spain, it appears that these are major factors as to why many families return to the UK. OPPORTUNITY And so, in response to the increasing concerns of youngsters and their families living here, the idea of the iExpo was conceived. The first of its kind in Spain, the iExpo, which is being jointly supported and promoted by Viva TV and RTN, will be an exhibition dedicated to young people enabling businesses, education establishments, local authorities and clubs to communicate directly to youngsters and their families in one event under one roof.

As well as being packed full of experts and businesses sharing information the exhibition will also give the opportunity for organisations, clubs and groups to entertain the visitors. Co-ordinator of the event, Simon Baldock, said: “This is not your usual exhibition. It’s all about communication, information and interaction. We’re working alongside youngsters in the area and listening to their feedback and input.”

INFORMED DECISIONS The Youth iExpo will take place at the Centro Municipal de OCIO (CMO) in Torrevieja, just by Carrefour and has the full support of the Torrevieja Town Hall and the British Consulate in Alicante.

British Consul, Paul Rodwell, told RTN: “We are very keen that young Britons growing up in Spain, and planning to live and work here as adults have access to information they need to make informed decisions about their future. We welcome this opportunity for them and their parents, to find out about all the available options that will help them further integrate into and contribute to Spanish society.”

Torrevieja’s Councillor for Youth and Foreigners, Rosario Martinez, added: “Every day we see many problems which young people here face. An event like this is long overdue and we’re absolutely delighted that Torrevieja will be the venue for the first one.”

With a mix of education, health, leisure and employment, the iExpo is expected to attract people from all areas and generations. News of the exhibition has already sparked interest in the UK from people looking to find out more before making the move to Spain.

The Youth iExpo takes place on Saturday June 2nd. Anyone interested in taking part should call Viva Events on 96 677 4402 or email info@vivatv.es

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Life

17 - 23 feb 2012

39

A Night of Painters and Poets

Julia Evans owner of ArtHouse Gallery as Wendy BoltonWilliams reads an extract from her current novel

by Julia Evans OVER THE month of St Valentines the subject of ‘Love’ will simply not disappear. With this in mind, ArtHouse Gallery in Gata de Gorgos will be holding an art and literature night. The Theme of this night is nothing more and nothing less than ‘Love’, that odd yet intoxicating emotion that in some way or another touches us all. Love has been and still is the greatest inspiration for all creative souls.

On Saturday 3rd March 8pm – 10pm, the night explores the concept of ‘love’ with both paint brush to canvas and pen to paper.

Published and well-known author Wendy Bolton-Williams will be reading excerpts from her latest book ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ alongside a book signing.

There will also be Paintings on display by some of the Costa Blancas leading artists including owner of ArtHouse and international artist Julia Evans who will be displaying her latest collection of paintings ‘Lessons From a Poet’ for the first time. There will also be live readings of novel excerpts, flash fiction and poetry by members of the Denia Writers’ Circle.

ArtHouse Gallery, Calle San Miguel 14, Gata de Gorgos: For all enquires go to www.arthouseonline.net or contact Julia on 96 575 6286.

Sometimes you have to fight for the thing you love and sometimes you have to let it go: Oil on canvas

40

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life going out

Floral talent

by Jack Troughton

TALENTED INTERNATIONAL flower designer Susan Phillips will demonstrate her gift for arranging at the Marina Alta and Costa Blanca Floral Club on Thursday 23rd February.

Susan was a gold medallist at both Chelsea andHampton Court Flower Shows and a Royal Horticultural Society judge, and the club is delighted to welcome her as a guest.

There will also be a presentation to Proteccion Civil and Teulada Moraira social services towards equipment for the new ambulance which is due to be launched at the beginning of March.

Everyone is welcome to attend an afternoon offloral extravaganza and guests have the chance of taking home one of the beautiful exhibits.

The venue is La Senieta, Moraira. Everyone should be seatedby 2.45 p.m. Entranceis 5€ for club members and 8€ for visitors. For further information call Sue on 96 689 6350 or Tina on 96 583 3197 or visit the website: www.marinaltafloralclub.com

Mountain walks

SATURDAY 18TH FEBRUARY Partagat-Confrides Castle: A moderately strenuous walk over some rough terrain: 12kms of 4½ hours’ duration with a 400m ascent: Dogs on leads at rear. For further details Tel: Kees 699 162 028.

Malla de Llop: A strenuous walk with spectacular views over mozarabic trails: 12kms of 5 hours’ duration with a 700m ascent: Dogs on leads at rear: For further details Tel: Charles 606 523 445.

Mount Raya: A very strenuous walk over rough terrain with some scrambling: 15kms of 5½ hours’ duration and 850m ascent: Dogs on leads at rear: For further details Tel: Jon 686 148 704.

WEDNESDAY 22ND FEBRUARY Parcent stroll and lunch: Note 10.30am start: An easy walk on good tracks with optional lunch afterward: 8kms, 2½ hours’ duration with a 50m ascent: Dogs on leads at rear: For further details Tel: Val 637 254 592.

Foyes Valley extended: A varied, moderately strenuous walk over some rough terrain: 15kms, 5 hours’ duration with a 500m ascent: Dogs on leads at rear: For further details Tel: Peter 96 648 2336.

Col de Rates North: A moderately strenuous walk, some rough terrain and a 400m climb: 14kms, 5 hours’ duration and a 450m ascent: No dogs: For further details Tel: Jay 626 604 610.

Walks depart promptly at 10am unless otherwise noted. Boots, packed lunch and adequate drinking water are required. First aid kit is recommended, as well as protection against sun and wind: walkers participate at their own risk.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, the time stated for each walk will always depend on the fitness and ability of the walkers and also the weather and passage conditions on the day of the walk. The rules and guidelines for walking are given on our website, see http://www.cbmwalkers.org.

Keira’s Cricket day fundraiser This is a fundraiser for a special little girl, a little fighter. Her name is Keira and she has just turned four. Keira was starved of oxygen at birth and as a result suffers from spastic quadriplejic cerebral palsy & epilepsy. Over the past two years Keira has been doing intensive therrasuit therapies in Florida and Barcelona and after such good results funds are being raised to do her third round. She is planning on completing a 40 dive session of Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a 3 week session of intensive therapy at www.innovativechildrenstherapy.com The Cricket game will start at around 1pm at Albir cricket club and the fundraiser will go on up to 6pm. It is free entrance for everyone. There will be a bouncy castle for the kids, kindly supplied by Cheeky Monkeys entertainment and there will be face painting and lots of other fun games for the kids.

There will be a raffle with lots of great prizes and an auction where you have a chance to grab great deals on meals, vouchers of all types, weekends in posh hotels and much much more.

For more information visit Keira’s fundraiser page where you can read all about her therapies and her condition. http://www.giveforward.com/therapyforkeiraterapiaparakeira

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Life people

Charity’s purrfect day

By Jack Troughton ANIMAL LOVERS turned out in force to support the Javea Feral Cat Association’s ‘rastro’ on Saturday, helping the charity raise essential funds.

The fair and cake sale at the ISVH hall on Balcon al Mar proved to be a success with bargain hunters and people helping fund the charity’s work.

The registered charity was launched in August 2009 and since then has been busy helping 853 cats – mainly through its programme of trapping, neutering and returning the animals to where they were captured. However, when needed cats also receive veterinary treatment and in some cases are humanely put to sleep.

Treasurer John Harris said the charity did not receive any town hall funding and relied on the generosity of the public to keep going.

“It is a massive mountain but I think it means something like 2,500 kittens were not born,” he said. “The charity’s work allows cats to be put back into the wild and live their lives but not produce anymore kittens.

BREED “There was a three month period last year when the feral cat population was breeding like mad, a cat can have three sets of kittens a year and last year they were really prolific.”

Charity President Liz Trafford said the association was not a rescue society “but we do find homes for cats if the animals are suitable.”

RTN was told on occasion pedigree cats were “dumped” by owners, lately a pair of white Turkish Angoras were quickly found new owners.

Liz said: “A lot of people go back to the UK and if they cannot afford the injections they just dump their cats.”

And John added: “People who go and feed feral cats find some try and get into their cars and go home with them – obviously they are not wild cats but pets.”

For more information about the charity visit www.javeaferalcats.org Liz, June or call Liz on 96 646 1166, or Vice President June Harris on 96 647 935. and John

K9 club helps abandoned puppies AS THE K9 club committee finished their meeting on Thursday 9th February at the social centre behind the police station on Urbanization La Marina, two ladies walked in, one carrying a small brown puppy found in a cardboard box near the rubbish bins with three puppies inside.

They explained that they had gone to the police station with the puppies and that the policeman there had knowing that K9 were having a meeting sent them to see the

committee. Cold and shivering these puppies were about 6 to 8 weeks old, two brown and one cream. One of the ladies volunteered to foster a puppy and K9 sent her over to San Anton vets to have it checked out. K9 are looking for fosterers for the remaining two pups and also other cats and dogs in their care.

For more information and to become a fosterer or a volunteer please visit www.k9club.es or phone 633 936 501: E-mail k9clubinfo@gmail.com

17 - 23 feb 2012

41

42

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life spanish The Letter

‘u’

WE HAVE made it to our fifth vowel in the alphabet and like the other vowels the U has a single clear sound, this time made with the lips rounded and protruding. If you remember how Frankie Howard used to say “ooooh”, but then cut the sound short, you may get the right idea, but with explanations like that I can’t guarantee it. That isn’t the whole story about the pronunciation of the U though, as there are three instances in which it is actually silent, which are as follows.

The U is always silent after the letter Q. The combination “QU” makes the equivalent of a K sound, so for example, “queso” is pronounced “keso”. Most people get the hang of this fairly quickly, but the one that people take longer to appreciate is that the letter U is silent between the letters G – E and G – I. The reason for this is that the sound made by the above letter combinations without the U, give the G that throaty sound we’ve mentioned before, the one that sounds like the “ch” of the Scottish “loch” so words like “gente” meaning “people” or “gitano” meaning “gypsy” have this sound. In order to make the G hard before the E or the I vowel, we place a U in between. Maybe a good way to remember this is to think of the sentence “el gitano toca la guitarra” which uses the two G sounds, the second one needing the silent U to make it hard. Another memorable example is the name “Miguel”, memorable because of the saint, the beer, or the village near Torrevieja if you happen to live in that area. This is not pronounced like “Migwel”, but without the “U” sound, since the U is only there to make the “g” hard.

Therefore in English it would be something like “Migell”, although, as usual I am stuck with the difficultly of writing sounds!

A common everyday word which further illustrates this is the word for “next” or “following” which is “siguiente”. Some people

Basic Spanish for everyday needs

by Jane Cronin

panic and are uncertain when they see a “u” in the middle of a fairly complex word like this, but as in the other examples, the U here is silent.

Now that is not quite the whole story about the pronunciation of the letter U, as there is one more aspect related to when we want to spell the “gwe” or “gwi” sound, in other words, when we want to pronounce each of the letter “GUE” and “GUI” and don’t wish to make the U silent. In order to indicate this we have to produce another symbol, that is the two dots over the letter U, to indicate that the letter should be pronounced in this instance.

Here are two examples which I admit we might not use every day, one is “penguin” which is “pingüino” and the other is “cigüena” which means “stork”, a bird which is actually very common in the drier regions of inland Spain. A much more common example in everyday speech is the word “vergüenza” which means “shame”.

If something is embarrassing we can say “me da vergüenza”, “I’m embarrassed” or exclaim “¡Qué vergüenza!” - “How embarrassing!”

Well, I think I’ve broken the record on the pronunciation section of this article, so without any more ado, here are some words beginning with U which are clearly related between our two languages: “úlcera” (ulcer), “unidad” (unit), “uniforme” (uniform) “unido” (united), “universe” (universe), “Universidad” (university), “urbano” (urban), “uso” (use), “utopia” (utopia).

Our Spanish saying this week containing a U word is one I have heard several times recently referring to different nationalities working together. It is: “La unión hace la fuerza.” “Union makes strength” or “Unity makes us strong”. This is a good phrase for politicians of course, but also very applicable to any group of people who get together to get something done.

The Tribute Justin Bieber @justinbieber: just heard the news. so crazy. One of the GREATEST VOICES EVER just passed. RIP Whitney Houston. My prayers go out to her friends and family The Rants Frankie Cocozza @FrankieCocozza: Thinking about going to audition for the xfactor this year? #lies I would rather put a toothpick under my toe nail and kick a wall Sharon Osbourne @MrsSOsbourne: I refuse to put my name on a jewelry line or any product that I deem inferior in quality and overpriced. Bring on the lawsuit.

The Surprising Statistic Wayne Rooney @WayneRooney: For everyone saying about my aggression i aint had 1 yellow card in premier league this season.

The Funny Tweets michael owen @themichaelowen: Just walked into the dressing room and Wazza shouted ‘MO could be back in the England Squad’ to which I replied ‘why is my Dad taking over’! phil neville18 @fizzer18: Change of plan just found out Sheffield wed vs Blackpool is on ESPN wife can do some ironing instead!

The Good Advice Jay Sean @jaysean: Growing old is inevitable.

Growing up is optional!!!

Life books

Danny Collins - copy@dannyjpcollins.com

Beyond Nose to Tail – A Kind of British Cooking Part II THIS JEWEL of a book is the sequel to Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson.

Admitting the first book was ‘short on the world of puddings, baking, and bread’, Henderson has collaborated with pastry chef and master baker Justin Piers Gellatly to produce my review choice this week – a treasure that happily goes beyond the realm of accepted British cooking to bring us such lost delights as Fennel, Butter Bean, Ox Tongue and Green Sauce and Pot Roast Bacon, Trotter and Prunes.

No more overcooked cabbage and stringy roast beef – the lads have delved beyond the Victorians to bring us long forgotten delights that leave Mrs Beeton still trying to catch her hare.

Apart from the Prune Loaves, Doughnuts, Butter Chocolate Cream, Apple and Blackberry Cobbler and Wholemeal Bread of Justin Gellatly there’s even a recipe for Roast Whole Suckling Pig from Henderson, a mouth-watering roast of snappy crackling, tender meat and red onion stuffing as well as pike pies and how to cook a shoulder of lamb that melts under the fork.

Britain lost the art of home cooking when the first Wimpy bar opened but staunch traditionalists like Henderson and Gellatly still emerge to wave the culinary flag. Don’t

Suduko Answer

let them down; buy the book. Me? I’m off to catch my dinner. Here, piggy…..

Author: Fergus Henderson & Justin Piers Gellatly Publisher: Bloomsbury (hardback) Price: 24.30€ ISBN: 978 0 7475 8914 3

44

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life food

Food Consultant Edwin Cheeseman

When was the last time you smelt a message?

WE ALL seem to have trouble communicating with each other especially when meeting someone for the first time. At a surprise party recently involving some 350 people who all knew the birthday boy, it soon became apparent that no-one else knew each other. Having travelled from all over Europe to be at the venue his friends, once the birthday greeting had been delivered, found it all going a bit flat. So how do you strike up a conversation with someone new and give out a message that is clearly understood?

Let’s be clear I’m not talking about little messages your very young children or your pets leave you occasionally although they too are all too clear, I’m talking about grown up messaging and how it has changed over the years.

Morse Code, Semaphore, Hillside fires, Red Indian smoke messages, Fax machines, text, email, Twitter and Facebook

and many more; not forgetting the now more rare handwritten message to or from a loved one. Maybe I’m old fashioned but there is something sadly absent from an email or a text and perhaps, it’s the smell.

Messages have lost their impact, just because you send more with graphics does not mean they have any greater impact, they just become a nuisance. A friend of mine in America receives thousands of emails per day and ignores them all; he has now switched to a personal fax machine so he can focus on the really important messages.

Are your messages ignored, lost, deleted or sent in error? Have you sent cards or letters to those who have sadly passed away or moved? Well I have the perfect solution which is not so new but sadly underused and a really effective way of communicating, it is cheap and easy to set up and easy to use with no monthly contract and is almost always guaranteed to invoke a positive response from those who are on the receiving end.

It’s homemade bread.

Before you all yell, “It’s too difficult and hard work,” let me tell you its not. Yes it maybe ideal to source proper stone ground bread flour but it can be made with the cheapest ingredients most of which is tap water. The hardest bit for me is to stop people dreading the mere thought of baking and wrongly thinking “I don’t have the

If you have a question about food email cheeseman@roundtownnews.com

time”. Well yes you do and yes you can. 500 grams flour, 600cl warm water, 7g dried yeast or 25g fresh yeast and a little salt and away we go. Your first successful loaf is not only cheap but it warms the kitchen up in the process, it’s tasty and smells divine, it’s also very rewarding for you and your family, but it really comes to life when you give it to someone new.

Having baked a fresh batch I gave a small loaf to a very senior but local Spanish gardener who was pruning my olive tree, he just sat on the wall with his head almost disappearing into the bag for a few long minutes before claiming it to be as beautiful as the best flower he had ever smelt. Since then we have paid bills with it, used it as an excuse to check on one of our neighbours who has been sick recently and made many new friends in the process.

There is nothing as exhilarating as hearing from one of our new homemade bread converts telling us what affect their first batch had on their family. Personally I do not rate electric bread makers as real or homemade: sorry but it’s almost as false as the Supermarket offerings. When someone asks Trudy if we have a bread maker at home she delights in saying of course we do, and points at me.

On a final note, I was informed that a newspaper featuring Jamie Oliver had a scratch and sniff section which made the mistake of suggesting that scratch panels smelt of bread. There may be chemicals that mimic a smell like bread but they will never smell of bread. Why buy something that smells of bread when you can make the real thing.

Got the message?

46

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life going out

Award winning strings

By Jack Troughton THE AWARD winning USA-based Old City String Quartet plays the Auditori Teulada-Moraira on Saturday 25th February, accompanied by top Spanish pianist Sergio de Los Cobos.

The evening will be another top quality classical concert brought to the new auditorium

by Concerts Costa Blanca, a group of residents determined to bring international artists to the venue.

The Quartet, students from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, beat 47 other competing ensembles from across the USA and around the world in 2010 to win the coveted Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

While accompanist Sergio de los Cobos is an internationally acclaimed soloist who has appeared with many great orchestras throughout

the world and currently holds a teaching position in Geneva.

The concert will include the Haydn Quartet, Op 77 No 1 in G Major, and Schumann’s Quartet No 3 in A Major, as well as Dvorak’s Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op 81 in A Major.

The concert starts at 7 pm. Tickets at 12€ each are available as follows:Box Office AuditoriTeulada-Moraira (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 11am-1pm and 6pm-8pm);Ayuntamiento de Teulada (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 9.30am-2pm) and the Espai La Senieta, Moraira (Tuesday and Friday, 9.30am-2pm). They are alsoavailableviaSERVICAM on 96 511 7117 (www.servicam.com).

Concerts Costa Blanca is a non-profit making organisation made up of enthusiasts using global contacts to help the local authority bring internationally known artists to Teulada.

The old city string quartet

International choir festival on the Costa Blanca

The Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir

THE COSTA Blanca will be on song next month with an International Choir Festival featuring ten singing groups from Spain and Norway.

Alfaz del Pi and Albir are hosting the event between 1st and 4th March and the Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir is joining the fun and will be singing at the opening concert and again on Saturday 3rd March.

Erland Dahlen of the Norwegian Choir Association is directing a number of concerts over the period starting with the opening concert at the Casa de Cultura, Alfaz, on Thursday 1st March. He is well known in Norway as the director of a number of Rock Choirs.

The festival will finish on Sunday 4h March with a performance from a ladies chorus gathered from the local area, singing Abba songs.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life health Feeling down?

WE ALL have our reasons for taking the drastic step of packing up and moving to Spain.

For some it is simple: sun, sea and sangria. For others it is an attempt to escape unhappy situations or relationships back home. Whatever the reason, we all find out sooner or later that living in another country is not as easy as we may have believed. It does not solve personal or emotional problems and may even compound them as we do not have our loved ones around for support.

We all feel ‘down’ from time to time when things are not going well but there is a big difference between this and depression. Depression is an illness like any other and requires assessment and individualised treatment. Many people do not realise or do not want to acknowledge that they are depressed and it will be a friend or family member that sees the signs and encourages the sufferer to seek help.

Some people resist any kind of intervention as they feel that there is some kind of shame attached to being diagnosed with depression. In fact the brain is an organ like any other. If you had a problem with your heart you would see a doctor without question!

Around 2 in 3 adults suffer with depression at some point in their lives. It is more common in women with 1 in 4 requiring treatment as opposed to 1- 10 men.

Symptoms vary between individuals but if you, or somebody you know has been feeling low and had several of the following symptoms for more than two weeks, advice should be sought.

47

Amanda Collins, Dip HE Family Medical Centre, Albir

• Low mood for most of the day, nearly every day.

• Loss of enjoyment and interest in life, even for activities that you normally enjoy.

• Abnormal sadness, often with weepiness.

• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness or uselessness.

• Poor motivation. Even simple tasks seem difficult.

• Poor concentration. It may be difficult to read, work etc.

• Sleep problems such as insomnia, sleeping too much or early waking • Lacking in energy: always tired.

• Difficulties with affection including low libido.

• Poor appetite and weight loss or the opposite, comfort eating and weight gain.

• Physical symptoms such as headaches, palpitations, chest pains and general aches.

• Recurrent thoughts of death. Feeling that life is not worth living or suicidal thoughts.

Treatments include counselling, herbal or conventional medications and complementary therapies such as hypnotherapy and acupuncture.

Depression can have a massive negative impact not only on the sufferer but on those around that person and should not be ignored.

Seeking help can seem daunting but a friendly chat with your Practice Nurse who can complete an assessment and discuss any concerns that you may have is the perfect first step to feeling yourself again.

This article is written by Nurse Amanda Collins Dip HE of the Family Medical Centre in Albir. The Centre offers a warm welcome to all patients old and new, and is found at Avenida de L’Albir no 66, opposite Bazar Asia and next to the Norwegian Bok Café. Telephone 966 865 072. Email: info@albirfamilymedicalcentre.com

48

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life health Over indulged?

BEING OVERWEIGHT or obese can cause serious health problems and is associated with several diseases, including; cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels, osteoarthritis, gallstones, breathing problems and some cancers.

To determine whether your weight is healthy, calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) by dividing your weight in kilos by your height squared in metres:

BMI = Weight (kg) / (Height (m) x Height (m)) Below 18.5 Underweight 18.5 - 24.9 Normal Weight 25 - 29.9 Overweight 30 -34.9 Obese (Class I) 35 -39.9 Severely obese (Class II) Above 40 Morbidly obese (Class III) BMI can give an indication of whether your weight is healthy, but it is not foolproof.

Some people with a normal BMI can still have an unhealthy weight if their body fat is distributed predominantly around their middle. Weight loss is desirable if waist measurements in men are 102cm (40in) or more and 88cm (35in) in women or more (a dress size of 18 is equivalent to a waist measurement of 89cm). Conversely, some athletes and sportsmen can have BMI’s well in excess of 30, but are completely healthy, the high figure is a result of low body fat and more muscle. If your BMI or waist measurement is above healthy levels you should seriously consider losing weight. Not only will this reduce your risks of developing disease, but will also give you more energy and make you feel great!

Once you are motivated to lose excess weight aim to shed ½ to 1 kilo per week, over a 2 - 3 month period. Crash diets do not generally work; they often put the body into ‘starvation’ mode making weight loss difficult and uncomfortable.

A reduced calorie diet is imperative, making

changes to your diet to: • Cut down on fat & sugar and replacing with fruit, vegetables and starchy carbohydrates • Reduce portion sizes and DON’T snack • Reduce alcohol (alcohol = 7 calories per gram, compared to 9 calories per gram for fat) • Beware of hidden sugars and fats in soft drinks and processed foods Try to find new ‘healthy’ recipes that you can use during your diet AND afterwards, aim to change your lifestyle and diet permanently; that way you’ll remain at your chosen weight when the diet ends. To maintain your new weight, you must reduce calorie intake by 30 cal PER kilo lost PER day or maintain an exercise regime to burn off this amount of calories.

General health advice recommends exercise is taken for at least 30 minutes five times each week, during weight loss this should be doubled at least. Try using the stairs instead of lifts; walk or cycle to the shops; take up swimming or another sport you enjoy.

Remember most health benefits come from losing the first 5-10% of body weight, generally between 5 and 10kgs.

Need help to lose weight? There are a number of products available to help with weight loss, the common ones are: Orlistat (Xenical®): Reduces the absorption of dietary fat from the gut, is effective, but can produce side effects such as bloating, fatty stools, faecal urgency especially with high fat meals. Now available from www.pharmacy4less. co.uk as the brand Alli® Adios Herbal: Contains a natural product called fucus which is claimed to speed up the metabolism: in essence it burns fat.

Valupak weight loss programme: Contains L-Carnitine which is involved in the metabolism (break down) of fat in the body.

Slim-Fast products: Replaces meals with a tasty, low calorie drink or meal bar. Makes dieting easier. Slim-fast, Adios & Valupak now available at Health & Beauty Abroad, Playa Flamenca.

Michael Lord BPharm (hons) MRPharmS UK Pharmacist with 20 years experience. Now at Health & Beauty Abroad, Flamenca Beach Commercial Centre, Orihuela Costa. Tel: 965325116 HealthandBeautyAbroad.com

by

Michael Lord

BPharm(hons) MRPharmS UK Pharmacist with 20 years experience

50

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life showbiz goss IN ALMOST every case when the words Harry Potter are mentioned in whatever section of the media, mega millions of dollareenos are trundled out at the same time on the back of how the entire project just went on and on with folks flocking to the cinema in their squillions and similarly to the bookstores.

Refreshingly Magical

This is all a pre-amble to a rather refreshing story I picked up last week that contained what Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) said when he was interviewed by Esquire magazine. When the journalist couldn’t contain herself anymore and asked the tedious question about how much dosh he´s got Danielreplied “I´ve no idea how much money I´ve got” … then he paused and said “and do I deserve it! … Hell no! (the hell word is not exactly what he said but it was a 4 letter word).

Then completing the set of crass questions Daniel was asked about the women that throw themselves at him to which he said “a woman stopped me in the lobby of a hotel I was about to do a talk in and said, “This is my room number and I´ll be sitting in row C seat 26 and I´ll be wearing a red scarf.”…

Shameless hussy! Daniel closed the interview well by telling the amateurish journalist that he is in a stable relationship with an assistant production girl he met whilst making one of the films, which confirms to me that he´s a regular guy and also that red scarf lady will need to get stalking elsewhere.

by

Peter Taylor

Writer and Broadcaster

Clooney and whisky in the bar This final item is showbiz and it’s not, but rather than explain that rather odd statement here is what it’s all about: Last Saturday night in an Irish whiskey bar in Kilkenny, Ireland, they found the winner of a George Clooney lookalike competition and the poor fella didn´t look anything like the man, not even close. The very ordinary looking David James Glendon, who was chosen out of 782 entrants, won the prestigious competition, and what makes the whole thing even more bizarre is that the main part of the prize is that 27-year-old David will be flown out to Los Angeles next month to attend The Oscars. I’m sure he´s a very nice young fella but I feel for him as likely or not he will be approached by some journalist on the prowl who could well be thinking ‘I wonder who this ordinary looking bloke is, best chat to him, I might get a scoop’, and

George Clooney?

a scoop it could well be. The local Kilkenny People newspaper carried the story with such comments as “what criteria was used! … That he was male and had hair!” … another said … “who judged this! … Stevie Wonder?!”.This story is certainly worthy of a follow up and I am in touch with abovementioned periodical on that very subject.

Will Tebow also get the elbow I brought Katy Perry here a couple of weeks ago saying about how her devoutly Christian parents were demanding she got rid of assman Russell Brand and take up with all American Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who by the way is also a Christian. As we all now know Katy has indeed moved on from that idiot Brand and it’s looking very much like she has made a big move forward on the issue of Tebow being her new beau. Katy sang at the recent Super Bowl, thee big night for all American footballers and before singing a song called ´Peacock said “this is for you Tim” … aah bless … however if her parents were listening intently they would have heard a line in the song that said “I wanna see your peacock.” Katy! Katy!! It’s this radical edge that makes Katy Perry who and what she is as her first release ¨I Kissed a Girl ‘proves. So! …

Is Tim Tebow the man who can tame the girl, and has he gone out and bought a peacock so he can show it to his new girlfriend.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Life TV

17 - 23 feb 2012

51

17th February - 23rd February

Friday 17th February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

VIVA TV

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Wanted Down Under Revisited 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:58 BBC News 12:00 Britain’s Empty Homes 12:30 Cash in the Attic 13:13 BBC News 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News 14:30 Regional News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:00 BBC News 16:05 School for Stars 16:35 Wingin’ It 16:55 Deadly Art 17:15 OOglies 17:30 Blue Peter 18:00 Newsround 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 Regional News 20:00 The One Show 21:00 EastEnders 21:30 Room 101 22:00 Hustle 23:00 BBC News 23:25 Regional News 23:35 Graham Norton Show 24:20 The National Lottery Friday Night Draws 24:30 Severance

07:00 Childrens TV 10:20 The Large Family 10:35 Guess with Jess 10:45 Harry and Toto’s World of Opposites 10:50 Louie 10:55 Same Smile 11:10 Chuggington: Badge Quest 11:15 64 Zoo Lane 11:30 Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies 11:40 Waybuloo 12:00 In the Night Garden 12:30 Pink Panther Show 12:50 Pink Panther Show 13:10 When Zachary Beaver Came to Town 14:30 To Buy or Not to Buy 15:15 The Weakest Link 16:00 Helicopter Heroes 16:45 Flog It! 17:30 Perfection 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Britain’s Heritage Heroes 20:00 Live Cycling 21:00 Mastermind 21:30 Mastermind 22:00 Baka: A Cry from the Rainforest 23:30 Newsnight 24:20 The Review Show

07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 Granada News and Weather 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 Granada Weather 17:00 Midsomer Murders 18:00 The Chase 19:00 Granada Reports 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Safari Vet School 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Law & Order: UK 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 Granada News and Weather 23:35 Hot Fuzz

07:05 The Treacle People 07:15 The Hoobs 07:40 The Hoobs 08:05 Freshly Squeezed 08:35 According to Jim 09:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:25 Frasier 09:55 The Secret Millionaire USA 10:55 Relocation, Relocation 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 Channel 4 News 13:05 River Cottage Bites 13:10 Country House Rescue 14:15 Cry Havoc 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Come Dine with Me 18:30 Coach Trip 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:30 4thought.tv 20:35 Come Dine with Me 21:30 New Girl 22:00 The Bank Job 23:00 The Mad Bad Ad Show 23:50 Rude Tube 24:55 10 O’Clock Live

07:00 Childrens TV 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:35 Roary the Racing Car 09:50 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Hana’s Helpline 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 LIVE with Gabby 13:05 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Build a New Life in the Country 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 CSI: Miami 16:15 Out of the Woods 18:00 Neighbours 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 Home and Away 19:55 Inside Hollywood 20:00 Royal Navy: Caribbean Patrol 21:00 World’s Toughest Trucker 22:00 The Mentalist 22:55 NCIS 23:55 NCIS 24:50 Inside Hollywood

07:00 Emmerdale 07:50 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 08:15 Loose Women 09:10 Judge Judy 09:35 Judge Judy 10:00 Judge Judy 10:25 Real Housewives of Orange County 11:30 Judge Judy 12:00 Judge Judy 12:30 Judge Judy 13:00 Emmerdale 14:00 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 14:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show 15:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 16:40 Real Housewives of Orange County 17:40 Loose Women 18:40 Judge Judy 19:05 Judge Judy 19:30 Judge Judy 20:00 Love in the Wild 21:00 You’ve Been Framed!

21:30 Harry Hill’s TV Burp 22:00 American Idol 24:00 The Only Way Is Essex 24:45 The Only Way Is Essex

07:00 Switched 07:20 Life Unexpected 08:00 Smallville 08:50 Ugly Betty 09:40 Life Unexpected 10:35 Scrubs 11:05 Scrubs 11:35 90210 12:30 Desperate Housewives 13:25 Greek 14:20 Scrubs 14:50 Scrubs 15:15 Hollyoaks 15:50 90210 16:40 Smallville 17:35 Rules of Engagement 18:00 Desperate Housewives 19:00 The Big Bang Theory 19:25 The Big Bang Theory 20:00 Hollyoaks 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 Supernanny US 22:00 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 23:50 Playing It Straight 24:55 The Big Bang Theory

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The GiftInspirational & Motivational poems 18:05 FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions with Ann Brown 18:30 Let’s Talk – Simon Baldock’s with Pat Graham 19:00 An Evening With...

Alexander O’Neal 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music An Evening with...

Alexander O’Neal 18:30

SATURDAY 18th February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

07:00 Breakfast

07:00 Childrens TV 08:00 Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab 08:30 Dennis & Gnasher 08:40 Scooby-Doo Show 09:05 Pixelface 09:35 Prank Patrol Down Under 10:00 Ultimate Sports Day 10:30 Blue Peter 11:00 My Life 11:30 Trapped Ever After 12:00 Hacker Time 12:25 OOglies 12:40 MOTD Kickabout 13:00 The Sky at Night 13:20 Houseguest 15:05 A Good Woman 16:30 Birds Britannia 17:30 Flog It! 18:30 Dad’s Army 19:00 The Culture Show 20:00 Live Cycling 22:00 Lucian Freud: Painted Life 23:30 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 24:15 Pan Am 24:55 Bull Durham

07:00 Mini CITV 08:25 CITV 10:25 ITV News 10:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 11:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 12:20 This Morning: Saturday 13:20 ITV News and Weather 13:30 May the Best House Win 14:30 Murder, She Wrote 15:30 Death Becomes Her 17:25 Granada News and Weather 17:35 ITV News and Weather 17:50 Live FA Cup Football 20:20 You’ve Been Framed!

20:50 Harry Hill’s TV Burp 21:20 Take Me Out 22:20 The Jonathan Ross Show 23:20 ITV News and Weather 23:35 FA Cup Football Highlights 24:35 The Cube

07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 08:00 GT Academy 08:25 Daytona 24: The Story of the Daytona Challenge 2012 08:55 The Morning Line 09:55 Everyone’s Talking About 10:25 Bourjois Boutique 10:30 T4 Movie Special 11:00 New Girl 11:35 New Girl 12:05 Bourjois Boutique 12:10 Playing It Straight 13:05 New Girl 13:35 The Big Bang Theory 14:05 The Simpsons 14:40 Channel 4 Racing 17:10 Come Dine with Me 17:40 Come Dine with Me 18:10 Come Dine with Me 18:45 Come Dine with Me 19:15 Come Dine with Me 19:45 Channel 4 News 20:15 4thought.tv 20:20 The Day the Earth Stood Still 22:10 The Bank Job 23:10 Final Destination 3

07:00 Childrens Tv 09:10 The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky 09:30 Angelina Ballerina 09:45 Rupert Bear 10:00 Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom 10:15 The Mr Men Show 10:30 Roary the Racing Car 10:40 Mist: Sheepdog Tales 11:00 Demolition: The Tallest Tower 12:00 Royal Navy: Caribbean Patrol 13:00 Al Jennings of Oklahoma 14:30 Gunsmoke 16:05 King of Kings 19:15 5 News Weekend 19:20 NCIS 20:10 NCIS 21:00 NCIS 22:00 CSI: NY 22:55 Live Boxing 24:30 The True Story

07:00 Coronation Street 08:45 Emmerdale 11:35 Take Me Out 12:50 Take Me Out: The Gossip 13:30 Love in the Wild 14:30 The Biggest Loser 15:35 The Hot Desk 15:45 American Idol 17:50 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 20:05 Twins 22:20 Take Me Out: The Gossip 23:05 Celebrity Juice 23:50 The Island

07:00 Switched 07:25 Switched 07:50 Switched Up! 08:50 Dirty Sexy Things 09:55 Supernanny US 10:50 Supernanny US 11:50 Gok’s Fashion Fix 12:55 Supernanny US 13:50 Supernanny US 14:45 Hollyoaks 17:20 Perfect Couples 17:50 Perfect Couples 18:15 Scrubs 18:40 Scrubs 19:10 The Big Bang Theory 19:40 The Big Bang Theory 20:05 Happy Endings 20:35 How I Met Your Mother 21:05 Rules of Engagement 21:35 The Big Bang Theory 22:00 Epic Movie 23:40 World’s Greatest Body Shockers 24:50 The Big Bang Theory

11:00 Saturday Kitchen Live 12:35 Rachel Allen: Home Cooking 13:00 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 13:15 Football Focus 14:00 Live Athletics 17:30 Final Score 18:10 A Question of Sport 18:40 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 19:00 Winter Wipeout 20:00 Let’s Dance for Sport Relief 21:20 The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins 22:10 Casualty 23:00 BBC News and Weather 23:20 Starsky & Hutch 24:55 The Football League Show

VIVA TV

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The Gift- Inspirational & Motivational poems 18:05 FAQ with Ann Brown 18:30 Let’s Talk – Simon Baldock’s with Pat Graham 19:00 An Evening With...

Alexander O’Neal 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music Shopping and Info 16:00

Sunday 19th February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

07:00 Breakfast

07:00 Little Robots 07:10 Bob the Builder 07:35 Octonauts 07:45 Everything’s Rosie 08:00 Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab 08:30 Dennis & Gnasher 08:40 Scooby-Doo Show 09:05 Paradise Cafe 09:30 Wingin’ It 10:00 Friday Download 11:00 Something for the Weekend 12:30 The Burning Hills 14:00 The Gumball Rally 15:45 Live Cycling 19:00 Ski Sunday 19:45 Coast 20:00 World’s Most Dangerous Roads 21:00 Top Gear 22:00 Swimming with Crocodiles 23:00 Three Men in a Boat: The Best Bits 24:00 Ski Sunday 24:45 Frank Skinner’s Opinionated

07:00 Mini CITV 08:25 CITV 10:25 ITV News 10:30 FA Cup Football Highlights 11:30 Dinner Date 12:30 Dickinson’s Real Deal 13:30 Murder, She Wrote 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:35 Live FA Cup Football 17:45 All Star Family Fortunes 18:30 Granada News and Weather 18:50 ITV News and Weather 19:05 Dancing on Ice 21:00 Coronation Street 21:30 Wild at Heart 22:30 Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off 23:00 That Sunday Night Show 23:30 ITV News and Weather 23:45 FA Cup Football Highlights 24:45 Premiership Rugby Union

07:15 The Hoobs

10:00 Andrew Marr Show 11:00 The Big Questions 12:00 Country Tracks 13:00 Sunday Politics 14:00 EastEnders 15:50 Penguin Island 16:20 Escape to the Country 17:20 Lifeline 17:30 Songs of Praise 18:05 Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice 19:05 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 19:30 Countryfile 20:30 Antiques Roadshow 21:30 Call the Midwife 22:30 Upstairs Downstairs 23:30 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 23:55 Room 101: Extra Storage 24:35 The Apprentice USA

CHANNEL 5

07:00 childrens TV 08:15 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:40 The Hoobs 08:25 Family!

08:05 That Paralympic Show 08:35 Make Way for Noddy 08:30 Channel 4 Presents 08:45 Bert and Ernie’s 08:35 Sailing Great Adventures 08:50 Little Princess 09:05 One Tree Hill 09:05 The Adventures of 10:00 Countdown to the Bottle Top Bill and His Best NME Awards 2012 Friend Corky 10:20 Bourjois Boutique 09:20 Angelina Ballerina 09:35 Rupert Bear 10:25 Hollyoaks 09:50 Ben and Holly’s 12:55 Bourjois Boutique Little Kingdom 13:00 The Big Bang Theory 10:10 The Mr Men Show 13:30 The Simpsons 10:20 Roary the Racing Car 14:00 Mighty Joe Young 10:40 Mist: Sheepdog Tales 11:00 Grey’s Anatomy 16:10 Deal or No Deal 12:00 Police Interceptors 17:05 Time Team 13:00 Cowboy Builders 18:10 Channel 4 News 14:00 Murder 101: 18:40 4thought.tv Locked Room Mystery 18:45 The Political Slot 15:45 Starman 17:45 Pearl Harbor 18:50 Fantastic Mr Fox 20:30 Home of the Future 21:00 Saving Private Ryan: The True Story 21:30 The Hotel 21:55 5 News Weekend 22:30 Homeland 22:00 Death Race 23:40 Under Siege 2 24:10 Thir13en Ghosts

itv2

E4

VIVA TV

07:00 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 07:25 Emmerdale 10:05 Coronation Street 12:00 Winners & Losers 13:00 American Idol 15:00 Free Willy 3: the Rescue 16:55 The Only Way Is Essex 17:40 The Only Way Is Essex 18:25 Wild Wild West 20:30 The Mummy 23:00 The Only Way Is Essex 23:45 The Bodyguard

07:00 Switched

14:00 Non Stop Music

07:25 Switched

16:00 Shopping and Info

07:45 Supernanny US 08:35 Supernanny US 09:30 Gok’s Fashion Fix 10:35 How to Look

& Motivational poems 18:05 The Boat Show

Good Naked

– An inside guide to buying

11:40 How to Look

a boat in Spain

Good Naked

18:30 Out & About in

12:40 Supernanny US

Torrevieja - The Casino

13:40 Supernanny US 14:35 Privileged 15:25 Make It or Break It

18:45 The TKO Funday 19.00 Let’s Talk –Simon

16:25 Make It or Break It

Baldock is joined by Holly

17:20 Samantha Who?

Coleman & John Atkins

17:50 Being Erica

19:30 The Wedding Show

18:50 90210

– hair & makeup

19:50 Never Been Kissed 22:00 Desperate Housewives 23:00 Desperate Wild Wild West 18:25

18:00 The Gift – Inspirational

19:45 Out & About in Torrevieja – Semana Santa 20:00 – 22:00 Local

Housewives

Information and Non Stop

24:00 Skins

Music

52

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life TV

17th February- 23rd February

monday 20th February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

VIVA TV

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Wanted Down Under 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:58 BBC News 12:00 Doorstep Crime 999 12:30 Cowboy Trap 13:13 BBC News 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News 14:30 Regional News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:00 BBC News 16:05 School for Stars 16:35 Wingin’ It 16:55 Deadly Art 17:15 OOglies 17:30 Blue Peter 18:00 Newsround 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 Regional News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Inside Out 21:00 EastEnders 21:30 Panorama 22:00 The Diamond Queen 23:00 BBC News 23:25 Regional News 23:35 A Question of Sport 24:05 Late Kick Off 24:35 Graham Norton Show

07:00 Childrens TV 10:35 Guess with Jess 10:45 Harry and Toto’s World of Opposites 10:50 Louie 10:55 Same Smile 11:10 Chuggington: Badge Quest 11:15 64 Zoo Lane 11:30 Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies 11:40 Waybuloo 12:00 In the Night Garden 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Animal Park 14:30 To Buy or Not to Buy 15:15 The Weakest Link 16:00 Helicopter Heroes 16:45 Flog It! 17:30 Perfection 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Britain’s Heritage Heroes 20:00 Operation Hospital Food with James Martin 21:00 University Challenge 21:30 The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff 22:00 The Tube 23:00 Watson & Oliver 23:30 Newsnight 24:20 Pan Am

07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 Granada News and Weather 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 Granada Weather 17:00 Midsomer Murders 18:00 The Chase 19:00 Granada Reports 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Cornwall with Caroline Quentin 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Whitechapel 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 Granada News and Weather 23:35 That Sunday Night Show 24:05 Law & Order: UK

07:05 Sali Mali 07:10 The Hoobs 07:35 The Hoobs 08:00 Freshly Squeezed 08:30 According to Jim 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:00 The Secret Millionaire USA 10:55 Relocation, Relocation 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 Channel 4 News 13:05 Country House Rescue 14:05 Channel 4 Presents 14:10 Rooster Cogburn 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Come Dine with Me 18:30 Coach Trip 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 SuperScrimpers 22:00 Coppers 23:00 True Stories 24:10 Homeland

07:00 Childrens TV 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:20 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:35 Roary the Racing Car 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 09:55 Milkshake! Monkey 10:00 Hana’s Helpline 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 LIVE with Gabby 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Build a New Life in the Country 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 CSI: Miami 16:15 A View from Here 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News at 6.30 20:00 World’s Toughest Trucker 21:00 Police Interceptors 22:00 Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan 23:00 The Condemned

07:00 The Hot Desk 07:10 Coronation Street 07:35 Coronation Street 08:00 Coronation Street 08:30 Emmerdale 09:00 Loose Women 10:00 Judge Judy 10:25 Real Housewives of Orange County 11:30 Judge Judy 12:00 Judge Judy 12:30 Coronation Street 13:00 Coronation Street 13:30 Coronation Street 14:00 Emmerdale 14:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show 15:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 16:40 Real Housewives of Orange County 17:40 Loose Women 18:40 Judge Judy 19:05 Judge Judy 19:30 Judge Judy 20:00 The Biggest Loser 21:00 Gossip Girl 22:00 I Am Legend 24:00 Celebrity Juice 24:45 You’ve Got Mail

07:00 Switched 07:25 Life Unexpected 08:05 Smallville 08:50 Ugly Betty 09:45 Life Unexpected 10:40 Scrubs 11:10 Scrubs 11:35 90210 12:30 Desperate Housewives 13:25 Greek 14:20 Scrubs 14:50 Scrubs 15:15 Hollyoaks 15:50 90210 16:45 Smallville 17:35 Rules of Engagement 18:00 Desperate Housewives 19:00 The Big Bang Theory 19:30 The Big Bang Theory 20:00 Hollyoaks 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 My Name Is Earl 21:30 My Name Is Earl 22:00 Playing It Straight 23:00 Skins 24:05 Fresh Meat 24:55 The Big Bang Theory

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The Gift – Inspirational & Motivational poems with Simone Segal 18:05 Youth Tube 18:30 The Barcelona Boat Show – One of the most prestigious shows in Europe 19:00 Let’s Talk –Simon Baldock with magician Graeme Mykal & actor Robbie Gallacher 19:30 The Wedding Show – The Day! 19:45 Handmade – Fishing for huge catfish on the Ebro 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music

tuesday 21st February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

VIVA TV

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Wanted Down Under 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:58 BBC News 12:00 Doorstep Crime 999 12:30 Cowboy Trap 13:13 BBC News 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News 14:30 Regional News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:00 BBC News 16:05 School for Stars 16:35 Wingin’ It 16:55 Deadly Art 17:15 OOglies 17:30 Pixelface 18:00 Newsround 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 Regional News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 EastEnders 21:00 Holby City 22:00 Prisoners’ Wives 23:00 BBC News 23:25 Regional News 23:35 Death Unexplained 24:15 Neighbourhood Watched

07:00 Childrens TV 10:20 Driver Dan’s Story Train 10:35 Guess with Jess 10:45 Harry and Toto’s World of Opposites 10:50 Louie 10:55 Same Smile 11:10 Chuggington: Badge Quest 11:15 64 Zoo Lane 11:30 Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies 11:40 Waybuloo 12:00 In the Night Garden 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Animal Park 14:30 To Buy or Not to Buy 15:15 The Weakest Link 16:00 Helicopter Heroes 16:45 Flog It! 17:30 Perfection 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Britain’s Heritage Heroes 20:00 Raymond Blanc: The Very Hungry Frenchman 21:00 Alex Polizzi: The Fixer 22:00 How to Grow a Planet 23:00 Have I Got News for You 23:30 Newsnight 24:20 Rubicon

07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 Granada News and Weather 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 Granada Weather 17:00 Midsomer Murders 18:00 The Chase 19:00 Granada Reports 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 River Monsters 21:00 The Brit Awards 2012 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 Granada News and Weather 23:35 Benidorm 24:35 The Cube

07:05 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 07:35 The Hoobs 08:00 Freshly Squeezed 08:30 According to Jim 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:25 Frasier 09:55 Undercover Boss 10:55 Relocation, Relocation 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 Channel 4 News 13:05 Country House Rescue 14:05 They Who Dare 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Come Dine with Me 18:30 Coach Trip 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Gok’s Teens: The Naked Truth 22:00 Big Fat Gypsy Weddings 23:00 Shameless 24:05 Random Acts 24:10 Desperate Housewives

07:00 Childrens TV 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:20 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:30 Roary the Racing Car 09:40 Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Hana’s Helpline 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 LIVE with Gabby 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Build a New Life in the Country 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 CSI: NY 16:15 Deadly Honeymoon 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News at 6.30 20:00 Police Interceptors 21:00 Braveheart: The True Story 22:00 Body of Proof 23:00 CSI: NY 24:00 CSI: Miami

07:00 Coronation Street 07:25 Coronation Street 07:50 Emmerdale 08:15 Loose Women 09:10 Judge Judy 09:35 Judge Judy 10:00 Judge Judy 10:25 Real Housewives of Orange County 11:30 Judge Judy 12:00 Judge Judy 12:30 Judge Judy 13:00 Coronation Street 13:30 Coronation Street 14:00 Emmerdale 14:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show 15:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 16:40 Real Housewives of Orange County 17:40 Loose Women 18:40 Judge Judy 19:05 Judge Judy 19:30 Judge Judy 20:00 The Brits Red Carpet 21:00 Baby Mama 23:00 The Brits Backstage 24:00 Winners & Losers

07:00 Switched 07:20 Life Unexpected 08:00 Smallville 08:50 Ugly Betty 09:40 Life Unexpected 10:35 Scrubs 11:05 Scrubs 11:30 90210 12:25 Desperate Housewives 13:15 Greek 14:15 Scrubs 14:45 Scrubs 15:15 Hollyoaks 15:50 90210 16:40 Smallville 17:35 Rules of Engagement 18:00 Desperate Housewives 19:00 The Big Bang Theory 19:30 The Big Bang Theory 20:00 Hollyoaks 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 How I Met Your Mother 21:30 How I Met Your Mother 22:00 90210 23:00 The Cleveland Show 23:30 Bob’s Burgers 24:00 Sirens

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The Gift - Inspirational & Motivational poems with Simone Segal 18:05 FAQ – Politics in Spain & Neighbourhood Watch 18:30 Spanish Dive Adventures 19:00 Learn The Lingo 19:15 Out & About in Torrevieja – The Delfin Submarine 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music

Learn the Lingo 19:00

wednesday 22nd February BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Wanted Down Under Revisited 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Doorstep Crime 999 12:30 Cowboy Trap 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News 14:30 Regional News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:00 BBC News 16:05 School for Stars 16:35 Wingin’ It 16:55 Deadly Art 17:15 OOglies 17:30 My Life 18:00 Newsround 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 Regional News 19:55 Party Political Broadcast 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Rip Off Britain 21:00 Waterloo Road 22:00 MasterChef 23:00 BBC News 23:35 The National Lottery Wednesday Night Draws 23:45 Kevin Bridges What’s the Story?

24:15 Film 2012 with Claudia Winkleman

07:00 Childrens T V 10:45 Harry and Toto’s World of Opposites 10:50 Louie 10:55 Same Smile 11:10 Chuggington: Badge Quest 11:15 64 Zoo Lane 11:30 Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies 11:40 Waybuloo 12:00 In the Night Garden 12:30 Daily Politics 14:00 See Hear 14:30 Lifeline 14:40 To Buy or Not to Buy 15:10 The Weakest Link 15:55 Helicopter Heroes 16:40 Flog It! 17:25 Perfection 18:10 Antiques Road Trip 18:55 Party Political Broadcast 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Britain’s Heritage Heroes 20:00 Escape to the Country 20:30 Watson & Oliver 21:00 Bees, Butterflies and Blooms 22:00 Winterwatch 23:00 Roger & Val Have Just Got In 23:30 Newsnight 24:20 Storyville

07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 Granada News and Weather 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 Granada Weather 17:00 Midsomer Murders 18:00 The Chase 19:00 Granada Reports 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Live UEFA Champions League 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 Granada News and Weather 23:35 UEFA Champions League 24:35 Kidnap and Ransom

07:05 Sali Mali 07:10 The Hoobs 07:35 The Hoobs 08:00 Freshly Squeezed 08:30 According to Jim 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:25 Frasier 09:55 Undercover Boss 10:55 Relocation, Relocation 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 Channel 4 News 13:05 Kirstie’s Handmade Britain 14:00 Johnny Guitar 16:05 Channel 4 Presents 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Come Dine with Me 18:30 Coach Trip 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Daddy Daycare 22:00 One Born Every Minute 23:00 10 O’Clock Live 23:55 The Mad Bad Ad Show 24:45 Random Acts 24:55 Ed Sheeran Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

07:00 Childrens TV 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:20 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:30 Roary the Racing Car 09:40 Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Hana’s Helpline 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 LIVE with Gabby 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Build a New Life in the Country 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 CSI: NY 16:15 Victor: the Victor Davis Story 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News at 6.30 20:00 Cowboy Builders 21:00 Big Body Squad 22:00 NCIS 23:00 Law & Order: Criminal Intent 23:55 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 24:55 Poker: The Big Game

07:00 Emmerdale 07:25 Nanny 911 08:15 Loose Women 09:10 Judge Judy 09:35 Judge Judy 10:00 Judge Judy 10:25 Real Housewives of Orange County 11:30 Judge Judy 12:00 Judge Judy 12:30 Judge Judy 13:00 Emmerdale 13:30 Nanny 911 14:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show 15:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 16:40 Real Housewives of Orange County 17:40 Loose Women 18:40 Judge Judy 19:05 Judge Judy 19:30 All Star Family Fortunes 20:15 Take Me Out 21:15 Take Me Out: The Gossip 22:00 Love in the Wild 23:00 The Only Way Is Essex 23:45 American Pie 2

07:00 Switched 07:25 Life Unexpected 08:05 Smallville 08:50 Ugly Betty 09:45 Life Unexpected 10:40 Scrubs 11:05 Scrubs 11:30 90210 12:25 Desperate Housewives 13:25 Greek 14:15 Scrubs 14:40 Scrubs 15:15 Hollyoaks 15:45 90210 16:40 Smallville 17:35 Rules of Engagement 18:00 Desperate Housewives 19:00 The Big Bang Theory 19:30 The Big Bang Theory 20:00 Hollyoaks 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 She’s the Man 23:10 jackass number two

VIVA TV

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The GiftInspirational & Motivational poems with Simone Segal 18:05 Peraleja Celebrity Golf Day 19:00 Let’s Talk Special – Chas & Dave’s Chas Hodges 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music Let’s Talk Special - Chas & Dave’s Chas Hodges 18:30

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

thursday 23 February

53

rd

BBC1

BBC2

ITV1

CHANNEL 4

CHANNEL 5

itv2

E4

VIVA TV

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Wanted Down Under Revisited 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:58 BBC News 12:00 Doorstep Crime 999 12:30 Cowboy Trap 13:13 BBC News 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News 14:30 Regional News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:00 BBC News 16:05 School for Stars 16:35 Wingin’ It 16:55 Deadly Art 17:15 OOglies 17:30 Leonardo 18:00 Newsround 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 Regional News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 EastEnders 21:00 The Great British Countryside 22:00 Inside Men 23:00 BBC News 23:25 Regional News 23:35 Question Time 24:35 This Week

07:00 Childrens TV 10:20 Driver Dan’s Story Train 10:35 Guess with Jess 10:45 Harry and Toto’s World of Opposites 10:50 Louie 10:55 Same Smile 11:10 Chuggington: Badge Quest 11:15 64 Zoo Lane 11:30 Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies 11:40 Waybuloo 12:00 In the Night Garden 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Animal Park 14:30 To Buy or Not to Buy 15:15 The Weakest Link 16:00 Helicopter Heroes 16:45 Flog It! 17:30 Perfection 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Britain’s Heritage Heroes 20:00 Top Gear 21:00 Raymond Blanc: The Very Hungry Frenchman 22:00 This World 23:00 Mock the Week 23:30 Newsnight 24:20 On Hannibal’s Trail 24:50 On Hannibal’s Trail

07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 Granada News and Weather 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 Granada Weather 17:00 Midsomer Murders 18:00 The Chase 19:00 Granada Reports 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Tonight 21:00 Emmerdale 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Kidnap and Ransom 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 Granada News and Weather 23:35 The Jonathan Ross Show 24:35 Party People

07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 07:35 The Hoobs 08:00 Freshly Squeezed 08:30 According to Jim 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:25 Frasier 09:55 Undercover Boss 10:55 Relocation, Relocation 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 Channel 4 News 13:05 Kirstie’s Handmade Britain 14:05 Jesse James 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Come Dine with Me 18:30 Coach Trip 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Location, Location, Location 22:00 Dispatches 23:00 Strictly Baby Disco 24:05 Coppers

07:00 Childrens TV 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:20 Peppa Pig 09:30 Roary the Racing Car 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 09:55 Milkshake! Monkey 10:00 Hana’s Helpline 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 LIVE with Gabby 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Build a New Life in the Country 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 CSI: Miami 16:15 Concrete Canyons 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News at 6.30 20:00 Holiday Heaven on Earth 20:30 Live UEFA Europa League Football 23:15 Death Race

07:00 Emmerdale 07:25 Nanny 911 08:15 Loose Women 09:10 Judge Judy 09:35 Judge Judy 10:00 Judge Judy 10:25 Real Housewives of Orange County 11:30 Judge Judy 12:00 Judge Judy 12:30 Judge Judy 13:00 Emmerdale 13:30 Nanny 911 14:30 The Jeremy Kyle Show 15:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show 16:40 Real Housewives of Orange County 17:40 Loose Women 18:40 Judge Judy 19:05 Judge Judy 19:30 Judge Judy 20:00 All Star Family Fortunes 21:00 American Idol 23:00 Celebrity Juice 23:45 You, Me and Dupree

07:00 Switched 07:25 Life Unexpected 08:05 Smallville 08:50 Ugly Betty 09:45 Life Unexpected 10:35 Scrubs 11:30 90210 12:25 Desperate Housewives 13:20 Greek 14:15 Scrubs 15:15 Hollyoaks 15:45 90210 16:40 Smallville 17:35 Rules of Engagement 18:00 Desperate Housewives 19:00 The Big Bang Theory 19:30 The Big Bang Theory 20:00 Hollyoaks 20:30 How I Met Your Mother 21:00 The Big Bang Theory 21:30 Rules of Engagement 22:00 How I Met Your Mother 22:30 Happy Endings 23:00 Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy 23:30 Chris Moyles’ Quiz Night 24:25 The Big Bang Theory 24:50 The Big Bang Theory

14:00 Non Stop Music 16:00 Shopping and Info 18:00 The Gift- Inspirational & Motivational poems with Simone Segal 18:05 Spanish Eye – Fonts D’Algar in Guadalest 18:15 Elche’s Palms 18:30 Dave & Andy’s Excellent Adventure – Sea Fishing 19:00 Benidorm Gay Pride Concert – A selection of fabulous artists from the 2011 parade 20:00 – 22:00 Local Information and Non Stop Music

Crossword Solutions for 643 CRYPTIC SOLUTIONS Across: 1 Relish; 4 Swamps; 9 Ready-reckoner; 10 Tablets; 11 Fifty; 12 Steal; 14 Close; 18 Ahead; 19 Upstart; 21 Provincialism; 22 Emerge; 23 Beings.

Down: 1 Rarity; 2 Lead by the nose; 3 Style; 5 Wakeful; 6 Manifestation; 7 Strays; 8 Least; 13 Addling; 15 Sample; 16 Punch; 17 Stamps; 20 Stale.

QUICK SOLUTIONS Across: 1 Battle; 4 Secret; 9 Ask for trouble; 10 Content; 11 Inlet; 12 Scamp; 14 Inure; 18 Amass; 19 Unequal; 21 Recrimination; 22 Dispel; 23 Beagle.

Down: 1 Branch; 2 Take no chances; 3 Loose; 5 Emotion; 6 Rabble-rousing; 7 Treaty; 8 State; 13 Massive; 15 Hatred; 16 Quail; 17 Glance; 20 Elate.

Wordwheel: DELEGATED

Benidorm Gay Pride Concert 19:00

54

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life music Rubber Soul (Reformed)

SUNDAY 19TH February: 10pm: Mystique Music Bar – Avenida De Madrid, Moraira.

After some time off the road, Beatles covers band, ‘Rubber Soul’ is back, with Dave Wood (Woody) on vocals/guitar/keyboards, and ex-Wings man Geoff Britton in the drum chair. So, Geoff having worked with Paul McCartney is only one removed from Ringo when it comes to playing Beatles hits. Geoff and Woody have featured in many line-ups together over the last decade, including appearances in Black Glitter and the Brink Band, so fit well together. The band is made up of previous members, guitarist Bernie Waterland and bass player/vocalist, Paul Clarke. Now a tighter unit the band feature classic Beatles hits and album tracks and, as the only band locally featuring the fab four’s repertoire this is a great chance to relive those heady days when Liverpool ruled the musical world. Diary this one now!

Compiled by

Eric Taylor DJ (ET’s Disco)

Jazzify – Smooth Jazz Trio:

The Galaxy Five Quintet - Bar Emillo, Llosa De Camacho

Saturday 18th February

‘JAZZIFY’ ARE a new act on the Costa Blanca and play a mix of low volume jazz, latin, jazzified pop, fusion and lounge music styles. Their music is perfect for the smaller, intimate venues such as bars, restaurants, hotel lounges or a private party.

The trio consists of Stella Maarsman (vocals); Rudy Maarsman (Guitars) and Grahame Sheppard (saxophones & flute). ‘Jazzify’ will be playing their music on a regular basis on the Costa Blanca North, their next gig is on Saturday 18th February in the Tropicana Bar, Paichi Centre, Moraira. If you like jazzy music check out this act!

For more information, please see their website: http://www.lajafu.com

THE GALAXY Five Quintet is performing at Bar Emillo, Llosa de Camacho on Friday 24th February at 9pm. They are the small band with a big sound with music for every occasion and feature some of the top musicians living on the Costa Blanca. They play all types of music: Trad Jazz, Standards, Latin, Glenn Miller, Pops and Rock n Roll. The band features: Albie Hilton, Alto Saxophone/Clarinet, Melda Hilton, Keyboards/ Vocals, Dick Crooks, Tenor Saxophone, John Butson, Trumpet, Rosemary Butson, Baritone Saxophone/Trumbone. Llosa de Camacho is approx 5km from Pedreguer on the Alcalali road (CV 720). For bookings or more details – contact John Butson: 96 648 2655 or email: john_buts@yahoo.co.uk

Pablo Bloom –

Rock N’ Roll Time Machine Show

ON SATURDAY 25th February, Pablo Bloom and his Rock n’ Roll Time Machine Show will be appearing at the El Paraiso Bar/Rte. in Parcent. Pablo is the No 1 live entertainer on the Costa Blanca who radiates enthusiasm, humour and energy into his Rock n’ Roll Time Machine Show. Those influences are very evident in his dynamic, motivating, one man performance that delivers numbers from John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more. Pablo had his audience up on their feet dancing from his first song to his last. Great fun evening and I think, if you get the chance to witness it, you´ll agree that he demonstrates an awful lot of talent presented in an exciting, unique show. For more information phone: 630 952 536 or check out his website: www.pablobloom.com – also on Facebook

ET’s Golden Oldies Disco Tel: 965 748 199 or 659 921 875 or email: etinspain@hotmail.com. If there are any music venues or acts that wish to be featured in this column, please contact Eric directly.

Voyage of discovery JAVEA PLAYERS’ next production returns to the romantic days of sail and a dramatised version of Samuel Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Adapted by Michael Bogdanov and directed by Cherry Cabban, the work comes to life – including the death of the albatross – through nostalgic sea shanties set with the boisterous background of a 19th Century wedding party. A shanty is the name given to the rousing songs sung by sailors hard at work in the days of sailing ships and still evokes dramatic images of the sea.

The action takes place at Javea Players’ Studio, behind Bookworld in Javea, between 19th and 23rd March, at 8pm each night. Tickets are 7€ and can be booked with Mabel on 96 579 4937. Javea Players are sponsored by Blacktower Financial Management Limited.

La Bohéme:

Teulada Auditorium THIS WEEKEND the Auditorium of Teulada held its first operatic performance of La Bohéme played by the Bulgarian Pleven Symphony orchestra conducted by Martin Mázik and performed by the theatre performance company known as Opera 2001, with Eva Hornyak, Hiroko Morita, Gabriel González and Juan Carlos Valls playing the protagonist roles.

La Bohème is an Italian opera by Giacomo Puccini, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger, a collection of vignettes portraying young Bohemians living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1840s.

For information regarding future events telephone 96 574 01 58 or email: info@ auditoriteuladamoraira.com

Concert for heroes

by Jack Troughton MUSIC LOVERS can enjoy a night out and support the popular Help for Heroes charity by attending a special fund raising night at Benitachell Arts Centre. The evening starts at 8pm and goes on “until late” and features live music from bands SFM, MP7, and singer Gemma Goodey. Tickets are 5€ at the door and all proceeds go to Help for Heroes.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

55

Life people Legion’s happy family

THRILLED MEMBERS of the Benidoleig and District Branch of the Royal British Legion were delighted to accept the district award for ‘membership recruitment and retention 2012’.

By Jack Troughton The presentation was made to the branch at the regional conference in Alicante of the Royal British Legion in Spain District North.

Learning of the success after returning from a trip to the UK, Benidoleig’s Chairman Patrick Scully said: “I am thrilled with this recognition for our Branch. It is not just recognition of the growth in our membership number, but something much more important. It is that our Members are dedicated and supportive, and I very much appreciate that.

“They wish to stay with us and happily, we have seen many new faces join us. I personally look forward to seeing our Branch continue moving forward from strength to strength in the years ahead.”

The Benidoleig & District Branch covers a huge area of the Marina Alta. Its boundary runs from just south of Oliva, inland to Pego, it includes the Vall de Laguar, and takes in the Jalon Valley villages of Parcent, Jalon, Lliber and Senija, as well as Pedreguer, La Xara, Ondara and El Verger.

Pictured receiving the award from Eddie Heffernan, Overseas Representative of Legion’s Membership Council The Royal is Wally Rees, Benidoleig Branch Vice Chairman. They are British accompanied by Chris Wyatt, District North Chairman and Legion KevanEskriett, Branch Recruitment Advisor. in Spain To find out more about the vital work of The Royal British District Legion visit www.britishlegion.org.uk North

HELP for Fontilles

Another outstanding concert from Concerts Costa Blanca THE OLD City String Quartet and Sergio de Los Cobos are to appear at the Casa de Cultura in Calpe on Wednesday 29th February at 7pm.

- Allegro, ma non tanto - Dumka: Andante con moto - Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace - Finale: Allegro

The programme will include: - Haydn Quartet Opus 77 No 1 in G Minor - Schumann Quartet No 3 in A Major - Antonin Dvorak Quintet for Piano and Strings - Opus 81 in A Major

Information and tickets may be reserved by calling Rod or Mary Anderton on 96 583 2081. Tickets are also available from the Box Office at the Casa de Cultura in Calpe or on the night of the concert from 6pm.

Party night

VOLUNTEERS OF Jalon Valley HELP have revisited the hospital at Fontilles to show the charity’s support for the important work it does caring for the sick and elderly.

HELP donated 5,000€ to the hospital, a world authority on the treatment of Leprosy and diseases linked to living in poverty and also a centre helping Alzheimer and geriatric patients.

Fontilles also provides a home to 40 people in its hostel and has more than 80 Alzheimer and geriatric patients in its Borja unit.

Pictured is Elaine Horton, vice President of Jalon Valley HELP, presenting a cheque to Father Jose Luis Beneito.

She said: “Fontilles is a truly remarkable place and a visit here is a humbling experience.

“The environment provided is exemplary and is one of care and tranquillity, a testament to the hard work and commitment of all those who work here. They are clearly an example to us all.”

For more information about the charity, visit www.jalonvalleyhelp.com.

By Jack Troughton CANCER PATIENT Sandy Bianco and her husband David staged a party night in aid of the MABS Cancer Support Group to thank the charity for its support.

An evening of dinner and entertainment at Restaurante La Mesa, Moraira, was enjoyed by 65 guests and raised 450€ for MABS, which helps those suffering from the disease, their families and friends.

Pictured are organisers Sandy Bianco, Carol Ogbourne and Celia Hughes presenting the cheque to MABS’ President Jacqui Phillips MBE, who thanked everyone for their generosity.

56

17 - 23 feb 2012

Word Ladders The key rule is that you must only change one letter at a time as you move from one rung to another, and the word you make must be a proper word! Therefore you may move from BATH --> BATS but not from BATH --> CASH because that changes two letters in one go which is not allowed.

Sudoku

Cryptic Crossword ACROSS 1. Dogs cause a quarrel in the crowd (8) 5. A certain amount of tobacco for a pound (4) 9. This bird is a loud hooter (4) 10. Celebration that produces festive song round the States (8) 11. The sailing tackle I had is not pliable (5) 12. It’s obvious I’ve been set back by depression (7) 13. Certainly not hard at the core (6-7) 18. In which musical compositions are recorded?

(4-4) 19. What is usually accepted in mensuration or mathematics (4) 20. Where one may find rhymes upside down! (7) 21. Road transport - or train!

(5) 22. It may come from having a shave (4) 23. Had no hesitation in saying tea-dress needs restyling (8)

DOWN 2. Notice a strange poisonous plant (7) 3. Corresponded with everybody in restricted surroundings (7) 4. They cast some light in the target area (5-8) 6. Not yet out of pocket! (7) 7. Not kept neat (7) 8. Celebrated bare back rider (6) 13. Preparing the leather - and using it! (7) 14. Indigenous types in vast disturbance round the East (7) 15. You’ll find me returning to the ship to do this (6) 16. Sounds as if a soldier without any promotion will cause acrimony (7)

Wordwheel

17. This will painfully affect the listener (7)

Quick Crossword ACROSS 1. Magnificent (8) 5. Joins (4) 9. Support (4) 10. A murderer (8) 11. Comical (5) 12. A drop (7) 13. Unpleasant (13) 18. Germanic (8) 19. Ill (4) 20. Loss of memory (7) 21. Lid (5) 22. Inform (4) 23. Harsh (8)

DOWN 2. Confuse (7) 3. Cost (7) 4. Trivial (13) 6. Agitate (7) 7. Genuine (7) 8. Large monkey (6) 13. Pariah (7) 14. Diary (7) 15. Select (6) 16. Decamp (7) 17. Reading desk (7)

Answers & Winners Last week’s Crossword and Suduko answers found on page 51/53. Winner for 643: Susan Day, Orihuela

Euromillions Draw Friday 10th February 2012

3 8 14 31 41

7

11

14 27 36 42 46 8

11

No ticket won

Tuesday 7th February 2012 No ticket won

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life horoscopes Love is all around as Venus resides and removes the flirtatious temptation from an affair of the heart. Urging you to just, “go for it”, there is a strong reason why your heart beats the way it does and nothing now can take the place of showing your interest instead of just playing it cool. Whatever you wait for believe better in your self and allow what must be to happen.

Venus in Aries brings negative forces into play as a dominant Mars hits on Aries just as wily Mercury looks on. It rather seems as if you have taken on more than you can chew, and yet you are poised and challenge is your middle name. Time to delegate and find out who your friends really are since there is work to be done, and you will always want the lion’s share.

Mercury starts the week in a somewhat dreamy and romantic Pisces, then takes on a stormy Mars in Virgo. A challenging week for sure, but at least one in which your true feelings can be known, and your point of view taken as read. A little give and take wouldn’t go amiss; but you are stubborn and up there on your high horse, so it won’t happen just yet!

Pride comes before a fall, and someone has suffered enough, so it is time to get yourself in gear and call the shots. This is a week in which tempers are frayed, and you can blame this on a wayward and stubborn Mars influencing an indecisive Virgo and winning hands down. Things get better as the week goes on, but you have to get your priorities right first.

Pluto trumps Capricorn and financial matters come to a head, and must be faced once and for all. You have to closely examine your income and expenditure with a brief to tightening your belt and setting a precedent over expenses, before drastic action is necessary. You are more than capable to deal with this, but hiding away or stalling for time are not solutions to any problem.

Mars may very well put the cat amongst the pigeons this week, but then you have nothing to hide. Something is starting to change, and you can feel it, but may not want to be a part of it nevertheless. Look at current alternatives and see what you can do to help things along. When it comes to the crunch you can walk away with your head held high, you did your best.

Somebody is making a determined effort to get into your good books this week. This is because things turned out the way that they did, but there is no one to blame, and everyone has a chance to do what they should; move on from here and help to put energy into something more worthy of your great intentions, but in true sympathy with all that you hold dear, and cherish.

Jupiter enlivens your opposing Planet, Taurus this week, and this has a rebound effect on you. Don’t let anyone come between your ideals and change your direction, in anyway whatsoever. Things may be happening slowly, but you are focussed, energised and prepared, and for sure, this is definitely a case of slowly, slowly catchy monkey; and you will.

Jupiter is side by side with Stubborn Taurus and you may feel that it is time to hold back on plans and projects. However, it is time to make an effort to see your best way forward, and to gather assistance when and where you can. Many hands make light work, and you need someone on your side right now that the coast is finally clear, and you have the option.

With Pluto examining things from the roots upwards you may be surprised to find that things are rather better than you expected and that your patience is about to be rewarded. It has been hard to hold your temper, whilst all around you people have been losing theirs but you will get the support that you need without having to ask for it, and this will be a job done well.

Inner anger this week is hard to hide, but then you shouldn’t have to lose your temper to get the attention you deserve. Someone just isn’t listening to you and you are at the point of walking away with your pride intact.

You have, however too much to lose, and two wrongs cannot make a right anyway. Keep calm, but let it be known that you are no pushover!

Exalted as the Sun enters your sign you really have the chance to get your message across this week. Helped by the Winged messenger, Mercury, there comes a chance to take the bull by the horns and go for gold. It is what you have been waiting for after all, and this time around you do not have to accept second best in anyway. Don’t let others put you off, stay focussed and be sure.

Beginning

IT IS the etheric coating to the soul that helps the deceased from travelling with soul intact from this life into the next. For those who believe the holding station for souls awaiting amalgamation and survival is perceived in the Spirit World there is the chance of reincarnation and, or, assignment on all levels. Thus in my desire to furnish my clients with the survival evidence that they need, I have to gain entry, leave an appropriate calling card and often just relay what I see as working on behalf of my earthly living sitter. I make light of the process, but simplicity brings a clear cut action into play and will suffice to help to forge the very best method and link of suitable communication to get the job done. I am known for what I do do, not what I have yet to do, and I have to be happy that what I do is meeting the needs of those who instruct me to call to the many survivors of the Spirit World who are living witnesses of the wonderful process of both a life and a death.

Many will see what I do as macabre or spooky, and I have to know and realise and accept that fear can, does, and will stop the process of enlightenment I offer through my affinity with the living and the dead. I have never feared my toughest assignments neither have I ever failed to pass on the message on the lips of those who have taken their place in the realm of the Spirit World. I have never intended to bring fear, let it be said, and I am never one to relay events of deathbeds, even though Spirit often love to re enact deathbed scenes as their last memory of life here on Earth; I do not see any reason for them. I also ban blood in any present form! For the reason that all my work revolves around the final process of life and connects it with a new dedication to the next life and all that it brings.

With the re birth of Spirituality in the World, Spirituality is becoming increasingly more popular. Though you have to have faith it is true, it is uplifting too to be able to make contact with those who have passed over as this highlights the immortality of the body, the soul survival mechanism and the way forward into light here on Earth, seen often as a pathway elevated and attractive but with no known final destination.

This pathway allows those with Spiritual energies or desires to make a journey through life and to share and care with any encounter on the way.

On this journey of journeys, yes, you can fall over, but you will also be able to pick yourself up. You will make an individual journey but there

Kenny’s diary 2012: THE GOLDEN AGE: INTO THE FIFTH DIMENSION: Saturday March 3rd at The Forum Mare Nostrum in Alfaz 10,00 to 5.00. Show with Kenny Corris and Torben Thoger, Mette and Laerke Lund. Advanced Booking at: kennycorris.net or 686 361 594. Tickets 25EUR Bookable Lunch 10EUR. Thursday March 15th: In aid of Paul Cunningham Nurses at the Hotel Corazon in Quesada: Bookable Morning and Afternoon Readings, and at 19.45. a Clairvoyant Show, “An Audience with Kenny Corris.”

Tickets 10EUR. Information from Sue Reader on: 96 671 3503 or 639 318 526.

Readings at Bistro Maya, Albir: Monday 20th February from 17.00. Call for details: 966 868 213. Bistro Maya is next to the BBVA bank, close to the Beach.

Free off street parking 200metres.

57

Kenny corris www.kennycorris.net

will be so many people who will help you on the way, and they will want the very best for you.

One day you will realise that each pathway only leads us closer to our own specific and unique energies; and it is what we chose to do with these energies that are going to be important, to us and to all whom we encounter on the way.

Death divides us each from those we have loved. Though we can love the dearly departed for ever onward in our way it is not quite the same as flesh and blood contact with them, nor is it consummate with the space that they occupy on our journey and the love their life and sheer love of it brings. Coming through to me are those who have bitter regret that they were called too early, often found to be side by side amidst the shoals of souls who daily wait for what could be the chance to set things right. There are those who left with unsettled business here on Earth; mainly people who found it hard to communicate on Earth, or who left in a hurry: but nobody comes to call them and to share them with the wonder of their Spiritual survival. Fear and ignorance can stop so much, and good intention and acceptance can work wonders. It is pitiful to see the lost and the lonely who have not been able to develop skills of communication and who face the silent World of tangled threads and missed connections.

Their loved ones come so close, but sadly not close enough, and it does not have to be this way.

Everybody has the power to connect with a loved one in Spirit. It is so simple to light a candle, send a blessing, Ask an Angel. Sadly the faith needed often lives on in the deceased but fails amongst the living. Where the reverse is possible then contact can and will be made.

Any Medium will help you to send your message, and will pass on messages received from the Spirit World. We have to do what we do, but psychic energies are abounding in this living World and always make for the very best of contacts.

Spirit send the sound of words, the pictures, and the physical sensations expressed within a broadcast to Earth. Sometimes I have felt all three energies together and this is such a treasure when it happens. Such a wonderful feeling, as love transcends from death to life, lifting and inspiring and showing us that death is not the final phase; rather it is, truly just the beginning, a beautiful and personal sign of what is yet to come.

Love & Light... Kenny Corris

Postbag Email your letters to me at: kennycorris@roundtownnews.com KENNY, MY daughter has appeared to me some nine months after her death in a road traffic accident. You said that she would take her time. When she came it was when I really needed advice and help, and she was wearing a white dress made from feathers and held her hands open and upwards.

Betty F. I hate to say I told you so. I had to wait 38 years for my Mother who came through as I signed the register at my wedding. I told you Sue would come when you least expected it. The hands open and arms up is a statement that she has no pain, no attachment and is free. The presence of feathers suggests some connection with Angels. The white dress is for faith and constancy. I would say you got a very good result there Betty, and God bless you. If you need any help give me a ring…… Sue’s in a good place I promise you.

If it’s your birthday this week Compromise goes out of the window as you start to work with your many talents and show someone just what you are capable of and where this will take you! Time is on your side.

Appointments: 96 587 8424 Mobile: 686 361 594 Forum: www.kennycorris.net/forum Email: kennycorris@hotmail.com Please contact me for inclusion in my healing list!

58

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life tech

with Aunty Virus

Email auntyvirus@roundtownnews.com

Amending files on iPad Alastair via enetcomputers.net forum asks: I HAVE Dropbox on my main PC and the files are accessible from my iPad but I am unable to amend them at all on the iPad. Google advises that these files are ‘read only’ and suggests removing that default on the Dropbox folder using Windows Explorer. I have done this with no effect even though I have applied and saved this change. Also, subsequently the read only option is restored in Explorer. I would be grateful for any advice. Perhaps a different Cloud program may be the answer? This is my first foray into ‘the cloud’.

Aunty says: Hello Alistair. I do use Dropbox, but not on an iPad so I’m not 100% sure what it could be. Could it be that you are logging in as a different user from your iPad and therefore not inheriting the same security settings? Maybe try creating a test folder from the iPad and see if you can then access it from your PC.

Replacing ink cartridges John via email asks: DEAR AUNTY, I have recently replaced the ink cartridges in my printer and now every time I switch it on a test page is printed out obviously wasting ink. Can and how do I get rid of this please?

Aunty Says: You can usually change this setting from ‘control panel’ ‘printers’ and right click on your printer icon and choose ‘properties and look for the test page section. Another way that often works is to put the test page back into the scanner and press the scan button on the printer. This is a one-off process designed to align and synchronise the scanner and will sometimes only go away once completed.

Linking one tower to another Cliff via email asks: I HAVE bought a new tower so is it possible to link the old tower unit to it in order to access the programs thereon which I don’t have on the new one, i.e. Microsoft Access and Microsoft Picture It Photo 7.0? I assume it is not as straightforward as simply connecting the two via their USB ports.

Aunty Says: You can connect two computers together via the USB port by using a special ‘bridged’ USB cable, but this will only allow you to transfer data such as photos and documents. You cannot run programs like Access or Word and for this you will need to install Office on the new computer. You can also connect the two using the Ethernet ports (the ones you normally use for your broadband connection) and this also needs a special ‘crossover’ cable.

What is the difference?

Can you recommend a safe proxy server?

Ellis from Algorfa asks: HELLO AUNTY. I have a Mac book pro and would like to watch the BBC and ITV using Apple’s iPlayer. Can you recommend a reliable and safe proxy server to do this? I have tried to get iPlayer through “get iPlayer automater” but I get a message saying use a proxy server, any ideas please?

Aunty Says: I get asked this a lot Ellis but I can’t recommend one that I can be sure is safe and reliable. Maybe some of our readers have tried and tested a UK based proxy server so let me know of any that work well.

Barry via email asks: HELLO AUNTY. I see memory sticks and flash drive sticks for sale on various web sites, can you tell me what the difference is please?

Aunty Says: Memory stick, USB pen drive and flash drive are all the same thing Barry.

They vary in quality and capacity but I have always used the Japanese manufactured Kingston or Scandisk ones.

Problems with Internet Explorer and ITV TV guide

Sam via email asks: HI AUNTY. I am using Internet Explorer and have been using the ITV TV guide for a long time but last week I started to have a problem.

Once into the TV guide, if you hover over a program it invites you to ‘click for more information’ but when I do this currently I get a box popping up saying ‘A problem has occurred

please wait 5 minutes or delete your cookies and try again.’ I have tried both these options but get the same result. I have also tried using Firefox, same result and I have logged in under a different user but still the same result. I use AVG antivirus and a scan shows no problems.

However if I use my wife’s PC then it works fine.

Any suggestions as to the problem and a fix?

Aunty Says: Not too sure Sam but it sounds like you have something residing on your computer that is confusing the ITV website. The first thing to try is a cleanup with Ccleaner from www.download.com, followed by an update of Java from www.java.com. See how you get on with these and let me know.

Shazam EVER HAD that feeling of hearing a song but cannot remember the name of it? Well help is here at last with Shazam and what’s more it is FREE! Shazam is the quickest and easiest way to discover more about music. Hold your phone up to the music to identify a track; buy it; watch the video; get the lyrics; play in Spotify and more!

WITH SHAZAM, YOU CAN: Save and listen again (30 sec previews) See full-screen lyrics in time to music Buy tracks on Amazon MP3 Watch videos on YouTube Listen to your tagged music in Spotify Share tags on Facebook & Twitter Learn the lyrics you thought you knew Discover new music from your Shazam Friends and Shazam Tag Chart Tag TV shows and commercials for exclusive content - Look for the Shazam Logo!

Find out when an artist is on tour and buy concert tickets Use it when you don’t have a signal Tag music straight from your home screen with the Shazam widget Remember where you tagged a track with Location For more information or to order your unbeatable android mobile phone package call 2020tel on 966 260 777

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

59

Gadget Inspector Investigates

VW Camper Van Tent THIS WEEK the Inspector looks ahead to better weather and the chance to get out the VW Camper Van Tent.

People of a certain age will remember fondly the 1965 VW Camper Van. Synonymous originally with the Swinging Sixties and the hippie culture, later to be adopted by surfers as the de rigueur means of transport and accommodation, the VW Camper is an icon of its time.

Now you can have a modern icon without the cost and problems of the original – welcome the VW Camper Van Tent. Costing 330€, it´s certainly a considered purchase – but you are guaranteed it being rust-free and mechanically sound, and you don´t need to fill it with fuel either. Officially licensed by VW, the Camper Van Tent is a luxury 4 person tent that packs up compactly and is easily assembled.

Available in blue, yellow or red, you’re sure to find a shade to suit your taste.

But the VW Camper Van is more than a mere looker; it’s practical too. With enough headroom for an average adult to stand up in comfort there’ll be no body contortions getting in or out. And

Choosing a call provider SO MANY telecommunications companies to choose from so little time! But who do you choose that is the question?

Choosing a provider for your low cost calls can be a tough decision. Here are some questions to ask potential companies: 1) Can I choose countries other than the UK for cheap calls? Many providers offer cheap calls to the UK only, making money off customers who are calling other countries such as the USA and Australia.

2) If there are a number of free calls then how many and what is the rate after these calls? – some companies say they give a number of free calls only to charge extortionate rates for the calls after this 3) Are there any connection charges? – the killer question as there are many companies that offer low call rates but do not mention the connection charge for each call that knocks the cost up dramatically.

4) Are the low rates available 24 hours per day every day? There are providers who do not tell you that these low rates are only available after a certain time. Any call before this will be charged more.

Europa Network is the BIGGEST & ONLY British Telecommunications company in Spain to give you UNLIMITED FREE calls to other Europa customers Not only that, they are the only company to guarantee the right answers to the above questions: provide a list of all the countries you call and they will give you a special low rate for each: their call rates are very low even after giving you 120 FREE minutes to ANY European destination. There are NO connection charges to any of Europa’s calls and their rates are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

To sign up to Europa Network for your cheap calls contact the sales team now on 96 579 6736.

the overall size is a very impressive and spacious 4 metres long by 1.5 metres wide by 1.8 metres high.

Add in two zip-separated double size rooms that allow 4 adults to sleep in comfort, and a built in groundsheet to keep you dry, and you´ve got one of the trendiest tents to hit the market in years. The tent is also fitted with two zipped external doors that open just like the originals – another nice authentic touch. Fortunately it is not supplied with fake entrance columns, onyx surfaces or Burberry groundsheet, so should be safe from being adopted by Wayne Rooney or any other Premiership footballers – good news indeed.

The Inspectors Verdict: Good enough to make even camping-phobics convert (trilesalectinophobia is the fear of camping equipment apparently – never been attacked by a Primus stove personally, but I suppose it´s possible…), the VW Camper Van is a welcome addition to the camping world.

Groovy!

E L A S N IO S S E C E R T E Y T S E G IG B OUR SALE LOOK HARD NOW NEVER YES IT’S OUR 24TH BIG EAPER! WILL YOU SEE SPANISH CARS CH

07 MERCEDES CLK 320CDI AVANTGARDE COUPE in metallic ice blue, half hide, CD, 18”alloys, Xenons, E/seats, climate, full history, lowkm, as new .............................. 24,999€ NOV 07 KIA SORRENTO CRDI DIESEL AUTOMATIC EXECUTIVE, met black, pale grey hide, GPS NAV, E/S/roof, alloys etc, FSH, as new ................................................................19,999€ 03/07 plates MERCEDES CLK 320 AVANTEGARDE COUPE AUTOMATIC in silver, full black hide, climate, alloys, CD, Xenons, E/seats, FSH, stunning car @ ...........................16,999€ 05 JAGUAR S TYPE 2.5 V6 AUTOMATIC EXECUTIVE in racing green, full cream hide, 68000km, FSH, climate, gps nav, electric sun roof, tel, CD, 8x a/bags, alloys, parktronic, as new, first to see will buy this gentleman’s carriage @ only.......................................16,999€ 2006 CHRYSLER GRAND VOYAGER 2.8 CRD AUTOMATIC, stow and go model, in met nimbus grey, alloys, climate, CD, parktronic, gps nav, bluetooth, privacy glass to rear, on 2010 plates great grandad bus ...................................................................16,999€ 06/12 CITROËN C8 2.0 HDI AUTOMATIC 7 SEATER Met silver grey , A/C, CD ect... 15,999€ 06/08 Plates CHRYSLER SEBRING 2.7 AUTOMATIC CABRIO in unmarked silver, low km, FSH, latest face lift model, stunning example ................................................12,999€ 06 MERCEDES A180 CDI AUTO met. Black, full cream velour top trim, alloys, CD, multifunction steering wheel, one owner, as new with FULL HISTORY ........................12,999€ DEC 07 TATA GRAND SAFARI LWB 3.0 DIESEL met claret red, alloys, side-steps, CD, PAS, climate, one private owner, 30,000km, FSH, as new, great value, only.....................9,999€ 04 RENAULT MEGANE 1.9 DCI CABRIO in met cava, top spec, FSH, inc. hide and panoramic roof, STUNNING CAR 9,999€ 08 FORD FOCUS 1.8 TDCI 115BHP TREND 4/door with boot, latest model in met vision blue, climate, CD, alloys, stunning colour, as new

8,999€ 08 FORD FOCUS TDCI EST TREND in ocean blue, climate, as new ........................ 8,999€

2010 BENTLEY GTC CABRIO MULLINER only 2,000km, silver lake blue, linen hide.

Spanish list price 241,000€, on offer at 165,200€ UK plate or 185,800€ Spanish plate, save 50,000€ on new latest spec!

NOV 03/05 PLATES BENTLEY ARNAGE T sapphire blue, Tangier hide, FSH, 29,000km, our MD car, as new, cost 330,000€, by appointment only 89,999€ 09 MERCEDES SL 350 LATEST SPEC every Merc extra, in met black, only 13,000km. cost 130,000€ fantastic value.

SAVE 50K 79,000€ 95 FERRARI F355 silver, red hide, 55,000km, best looking Ferrari ever made! 39,999€ 08 JAGUAR XJ6 3.0 LWB AUTOMATIC met ascot grey barely /cream hide trim, full history, GPS nav, e/s/roof, CD, alloys, ect............................................................................... 29,999€ 06 JAGUAR XJ8 EXECUTIVE met navy, cream hide, auto, climate, elec/m/seats, alloys, CD, elec sunroof, cost 96,000€ stunning, looks & drives as new!

22,999€ 07 MERCEDES CLK 320 CDI DIESEL AUTO COUPE met silver, half hide trim, climate, CD, FSH by Merc Madrid 80,000km=50,000miles, plus 8 airbags, as new 22,999€ 07 MOD VW PHAETON 3.0 TDI AUTO, met black, cream hide, 5 seater, alloys, bi-xenons, GPS nav, parktronic, elec. memory seats, hot seats, 4 zone climate, rear climate, no better luxury! FSH, cost 80,000€+ a gift at 22,999€ 08/2011 plates NEW MODEL DODGE GRAND VOYAGER 3.3LX stow n go, auto, elec blue met, climate, CD, MP3, petrol, stunning latest model & plates 22,999€ 08/2011 PLATES MERCEDES C200 CDI 6 speed manual in silver, climate, alloys, elegance pack, nav, tel, CD, FSH, latest model, 49mpg, good value at 24,999€ 07 MOD MERCEDES CLK 200 ELEGANCE AUTO COUPE ice blue met, blue/grey hide, xenons, parktronic, CD, ipod, climate, alloys, 39,000km, FSH, stunning 21,999€

02 OPEL CORSA SMALL AUTO

Unmarked met. Silver, A/C & PAS. Sold by Global when 6 m old. Totally immaculate, 12 months guarantee.

First to see will buy @ 3,999€

09 FORD FOCUS AUTOMATIC TREND in metallic vision blue, climate, CD, FSH, alloys, one owner, try find another, gift @ ...................................................................11,999€ NOV 08 FORD FOCUS 2.0 TDCI 136BHP SPORT BREAK + TREND PACKS ESTATE in diamond white with tel, CD, A/C, PAS, FSH, few 2 litres around, great car, great offer @ only 10,999€ LATE 06 TATA SAFARI LWB DIESEL MANUAL GRAND MODEL black, great spec, forget the jokes these are mainly Ford (all colour coded) totally as new! ..............................9,999€ 08 CITROËN BERLINGO 1.6 HDI SX plus all colour coded in silver, A/C, CD, etc great family bus, cost over 20,000€................................................................................8,999€ 08 SEAT TOLEDO 2.0 TDI S in rich met ocean blue, climate, alloys, CD, 8 x airbags, bluetooth tel, xenons, rain & light auto sensors................................................8,999€ 06 VOLVO V70 2.4 KINETIC EST manual, met silver, half hide in grey, climate, alloys etc. most sought after family favourite, immaculate, gift @......................................8,999€ 08 FORD FOCUS 1.6 TDCi SPORTBREAK EST in ocean blue met.........................8,999€ 06/10PLATE MITSUBISHI COLT 1.5 DCI DIESEL AUTOMATIC , A/C, CDd, met blue, try find another @ only ..........................................................................................................7,999€ 08 FORD KA 1.3 COLLECTION met zinc gret, A/C, PAS, CD, all colour coded ...........6,999€

HARLEY DAVIDSON LOOK-ALIKE 1997 YAMAHA XV1100cc TOURING BIKE TWIN SEATER, SCREEN, PANNA SADDLE BAGS. YELLOW & BLACK, MIRRORS, SPOTS, REAR RACK, BIG CHUNKY BIKE, LOTS OF CHROME, THE JAPANESE ANSWER TO A HARLEY, GREAT LOOKER, RETRIEVE YOUR LONG LOST YOUTH 3,999€

08 MOD SEAT IBIZA 1.4 AUTOMATIC Sport Rider with alloys, climate, CD etc. in unmarked met silver, low km, FSH, immaculate, Hurry @ ................................... 7,999€ 08 FORD FIESTA 1.4 TDCI in met fern green, climate, CD, etc. Hurry @................ 7,999€ 07 mod PEUGEOT 307 Hdi climate, CD, glacier white, face lift, gift at ................ 6,999€ 07 FORD FIESTA NEWPORT TDCI, met blue, bluetooth, CD, ipod, climate ........... 5,999€ 03 HYUNDAI TRADJET CDI, Diesel 7 seater, in metallic silver blue, alloys, CD, great holiday car, grandads family bus.................................................................... 5,999€ 05 FORD FOCUS GHIA TDCI 4-door with boot, great size boot, climate, CD, alloys, in diamond white, a diamond of a car......................................................................... 5,999€ TOP SPEC DIESEL CABRIO - 04 RENAULT MEGANE CABRIO 1.9 DCI PRIVILEGE Met cava, cream hide, panoramic glass roof, elec sunroof, xenons, plus alloys, CD, FSH, 106,000km=65,000miles.

Great car, great spec, great colour, great value @ 9,999€ 07 FORD FIESTA TDCI NEWPORTS 5 doors, climate, bluetooth phone, CD, in met. Grey, blue or silver. Give away crazy price of 5,999€ - Ring the police if you see cheaper!

As for sure they will be stolen – hurry now!

07 VOLKSWAGEN EOS 2.0 FSI CABRIO in glacier light metallic blue, cream interior, climate, alloys, CD, 52,000km, FSH as new ............................................................. 16,999€ 03/2007 PLATES MERCEDES E220CDI AUTOMATIC met silver, climate ,e/s/roof, CD, alloys, parktronic, full history, stunning example 5 litres per 100km only............... 14,999€ NOV 06 VW PASSAT 2.0 FSI SPORTLINE met ice silver blue, climate, 10xA/B, CDx6, alarm, cruise, alloys, bi-xenons, bluetooth, tel, nav, DVD, multif. Steering wheel, FSH87,000km=54,375miles, as new fab car, fab value, executive motoring for only ....11,999€

07 MODEL VOLKSWAGEN PHEATON 3.0 TDI AUTOMATIC Met black with full cream hide, nothing drives finer for sure cost 76,000€ gift @ 22,999€ once driven for ever smitten.

06 mod/2011 plates MERCEDES A200 CDI AUTO SPECIAL EDITION in ice gold, half hide, full sun roof, alloys, FSH, as new, CD, parktronic 15,999€ 05/09 PLATES MERCEDES E220 CDI AUTOMATIC ESTATE in met teal blue, half hide, alloys, 6xCD, xenons, climate, nav, tel, avantguard pack, as new ........................... 14,999€ 09 FORD FOCUS AUTOMATIC kinetic, silver, climate, alloys, CD ............................ 11,999€ 08 NISSAN PRIMASTAR 2.0 Cdi COMBI white, 6 seater, we can get another row to make 9 seater @ cost if required ........................................................................................ 8,999€ 08 PEUGEOT PARTNER 1.6 HDI TOTEM COMBI white with special totem trim, CD 8,999€ 08 FORD FOCUS TDCI 1.8 EST in rich royal blue met, FSH as new .......................... 8,999€ 03 AUDI A6 2.4 MULTITRONIC met ice blue , climate, alloys, CD ect FSH................ 8,999€

07 mod on 2011 PLATES FORD FIESTA 1.4 AUTOMATIC Titanium pack, met. Grey, hosts of extras, inc. A/C, alloys & CD, as new....................................................................... 6,999€ LATE 06 FORD FIESTA 1.4 TDCI 5 door, met ice blue, Newport model, climate, PAS, CD, etc, gift @ .....................................................................................................5,999€ 07 FORD FIESTA NEWPORT 1.4 TDCI, climate, cruise, CD, met great, low km, one owner, totally as new, compare price.......................................................................5,999€ 01 ROVER 75 1.8 CLUB SE in racing green metallic with special two-tone interior black and cream top velour, this is an ex-Rover show car with fitted TV, SAT NAV, alloys, cruise, fog lamps, 50,000km WITH FULL HISTORY only .....................................................4,999€ 01/10 plates MAZDA 323, 5 door, in met blue, (focus size) A/C, PAS, gift @............3,999€ 05 DAEWOO MATIZ 5 door, A/C, silver, fab mpg, as new gift @ ...........................3,999€ 02 PEUGEOT 206 HDI XR 5 door, in white, fab MPG, fab car! ....................................3,999€ 07 FIAT PANDA 1.3 DIESEL, 5 DOOR VAN, A/C, PAS, in white, gift @ .....................3,999€ 98 SEAT ALHAMBRA 2.0, 7 SEATER A/C, gleaming white, great family bus only.... 3,999€ 02 FORD KA 1.3 A/C, PAS, in met silver, clean, as new, P/X gift @ ........................2,999€

06/07 model, FORD FOCUS TDCI TREND ESTATE in diamond white, climate, CD, FSH ................................................................................................................... 5,999€ 06 DAEWOO TACUMA 20 16V in silver, climate, 64,000km, FSH, as new .............. 5,999€ 06 DACIA LOGAN 1.5 DCI in silver, low kms, A/C, PAS, one owner,only.................... 5,999€ 01 CITRÖEN PICASSO 2.0 HDI in met ice blue, climate, pas immaculate throughout gift at ......................................................................................................................... 4,999€ 03 PEUGEOT 206 1.4 HDI A/C, PAS, met crystal green, low km............................... 4,499€ 97 YAMAHA 1100CC BIG TOURING BIKE ................................................................ 3,999€ 98/2001 plates PEUGEOT 306 1.6 CABRIO met blue, A/C. Gift @ ......................... 2,499€

GENTLEMANS CARRIAGE STUNNING 05 JAGUAR S TYPE 2.5 EXECUTIVE AUTOMATIC

in racing green with full cream hide. Extras include climate control, alloys, sunroof hide, gps nav,bluetooth phone, CD, 8 x air bags, FULL SERVICE HISTORY totally as new throughout. Gift @ 15,999€

03 MERCEDES CLK 320 AUTOMATIC IN UNMARKED SILVER WITH FULL BLACK HIDE, FSH, Avantguard pack, climate control, alloys, hide, bluetooth phone, CD, sound system as new in every way on 2007 plates gift @ 16,999€

08 FORD FIESTA TDCI 5 door, fern green, stunning colour, fab value at ................. 7,999€ 07 FORD FOCUS EST 1.6 TDCI TREND, climate, CD, FSH, met aquamarine ........... 7,999€ 07 DACIA LOGAN 1.5DCI EST 4 side-doors and clubman twin rear doors, met claret, A/C, PAS, low km, great school run car @ less than half the price of new ....................... 6,999€ 08 FORD KA 1.3 COLLECTION A/C, CD, met zinc gey, as new ................................ 6,999€ 02 OPEL CORSA AUTOMATIC in met silver, A/C, PAS, small auto at only ............... 3,999€ 02 VW PASSAT 2.0 HIGHLINE in met dark emerald green, climate, CD, alloys, 4 new tyres, new 2 yr ITV test, luxury for ........................................................................3,499€ 02 FIAT SEICENTO fuel-miser, A/C, PAS, one owner, 32,000km,FSH,in white blue trim....... 2,999€ 96 PEUGEOT 306 AUTOMATIC, A/C, PAS, met cobalt blue ................................... 2,499€ PIAGGIO PORTER MINI PICK-UP in pale blue, a three wheel pick-up, a great promotions car, (Italian papers @ 1,999€).................................................................................. 1,799€ 00 RENAULT MEGANE 2.0 COUPE IN STUNNING YELLOW, A/C , PAS,alloys, exceptional only 2,999€ 99 CITROËN BERLINGO clean van, need s/h engine, take away ....................... @ 600€

2009 Ford Fiesta 1.4 titium (new shape ) Met zinc grey, A/C, C/D, alloys, 29,000miles only...... 10,750€ 04 VAUXHALL ZAFIRA 2.0 TDI ELEGANCE 7 seater or fold for good space, UK tax and MOT till August 2012, FSH, exceptional top MPG............................................................................................................ 4,999€ 2005 KIA MAGENTIS 2.0 LE AUTOMATIC SPORTS H-MATIC, one owner, 43,000miles, FSH, taxed and MOT until August 2012, cost 14,500pounds new, great ride home tremendous value for money @ only 4,999€ 2000 ROVER 825 AUTOMATIC FAST BACK in met blue, one owner, 71,000miles, full UK MOT, luxury @ 2,999€ 99 BMW 523i SE AUTO, blue, grey hide, alloys, v.clean,UK MOT to Oct’12......................................... 1,999€ 02 CITROËN BERLINGO 1.9 DIESEL VAN, immaculate, alloys......................................................... 1,999€

NOV 2008 FORD FOCUS EST 2.0 - TDCI 136BHP In diamond white, CD, A/C, PAS, FSH, direct from Ford Motor Co, with Sportbreak pack + Trend pack, drives like a train, looks a million dollars, great deal @10,999€ or 9,150 pounds.

First to see will get their cheque book or credit card out, call now or ring Alan Finnie our general mgr

02 RENAULT KANGO 1.9 DIESEL VAN with side loading door + 2 rear doors + rear roof lifts up for ladders etc, very clean, few around, as new! ............................................2,999€ 04 RENAULT KANGOO 1.9 DIESEL COMBI, A/C, PAS, white, 2000, very clean .......2,999€ 02 HYUNDAI ACCENT 1.3 LS in red, A/C, PAS, immaculate throughout ..................2,999€ 00/04 ROVER 825 AUTO FAST BACK, met blue, luxury for only ...........................2,999€ 96 BMW 520 in met black, 2008 plates, A/C, PASm FSH, cracking car, gift @ .........2,499€ 97 NISSAN ALMERA, A/C, PAS, emerald green, gift @ .......................................1,999€

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Life cars

Brian Deller Author of Motoring in Spain

Legal Spanish licences HI BRIAN, we are returning to the UK very soon and wish to know if our Spanish driving licences are legal there. Also we are hoping to travel in a UK auto-caravan that our son has and he is coming to collect us. Is there anything we should know so we do not fall foul of the law please?

Brian says: The EU driving licence is legal throughout the EU and that is why it has symbols for the various vehicle classifications to be multilingual. However if you are going to live permanently there I would change it back when the licence expires which is normally when a medical is due.

Also remember that the need to report your medical condition - make a statement - is essential there at either age 70 for private licences or 65 for commercial licences.

As a related point, if you borrow or lend as vehicle to a friend or relative, it is important that you have a letter with all the lenders’/borrowers’ details and signatures on it so that if stopped by the authorities you can prove it is not stolen and you have the right to use it. Normally of course any stolen vehicle would be on the police listings, but especially in Spain you must have the letter, and tickets for the ferry. There is more advice in my book and the key point is that no one wants any delays at the roadside so being legal must be the principal.

Emails received show that the UK police are much tougher on offenders.

Once again I must warn everyone that illegally plated vehicles are being stopped and seized. There are many where I live - I know of some who have been here some years and never bothered to change to a Spanish registration. So now they must be sweating as when the vehicle is seized there is a stiff fine and the owner is given 30 days to get it transferred which usually also includes paying import taxes as the delay in following the law means that it cannot be imported as a personal import that is allowed when first moving to Spain. While this being done the vehicle is in a lock-up area with daily charges to pay.

Another problem is that if the vehicle is a ‘pollute’, this could cause a delay and extra costs. I have had emails from expats who are upset at neighbours or bar-room chatters who openly boast that they have not bothered and that they have avoided paying motoring taxes both here and the

61

UK, but they may also have the problem that the registration in the UK now may be scrapped or exported as taxes have not been paid for x-years. Also when an approach is made to have the vehicle re-registered in the UK, there could be a fine. Sorry about the bad news but ignorance of the laws is no excuse as deliberately ignoring is an offence.

HI BRIAN, Just to let you know when my wife and I received our renewed Spanish Licenses, after the medicals, they are both valid for 10 years. Having been told by the Doctor at the medical centre that they would only be for 2 and 3 years due to medical elements we were both surprised and pleased. Sam McDiarmid Dear Sam: Thanks for the good news. The clinics must be getting the message at last.

If they were to be restricted due to medical reasons they have to give them to justify any limits. Another angle to play as the reason really has to be in writing.

Audi RS4 Avant revealed

A modern classic from Audi is making a comeback: The third-generation RS 4 Avant combines potent performance with a high level of everyday practicality.

The Audi RS 4 Avant uses the same highrevving, normally aspirated V8 engine that powers the RS 5 Coupe. The 4,163 cc powerplant produces 331 kW (450 hp) at 8,250 rpm for a specific output of 108.1 hp per liter. Its maximum torque of 430 Nm (317.15 lb-ft) is available from 4,000 to 6,000 rpm.

The interior of the RS 4 Avant is clad completely in black, with the exception of the roofliner, which is optionally available in Moon Silver. Chrome clasps subtly accentuate switches and control elements.

Carbon inlays are standard, with brushed matte aluminum, Aluminum Race, black piano finish or a light stainless steel mesh available as options.

There is much more detailed information on all motoring subjects in my book. Brian Juan (John) Deller, Malaga, author, ‘Motoring in Spain’ www.spainvia.com.

Tel: 666 888 870 Brian Deller, author, book Motoring in Spain, ISBN No 978 84 611 9278 6. Shops’ addresses in my web site at: www.spainvia.com/bookshopslist.htm

Torremendo

Tel.: 965 368 274

VENUS

ESTABLISHED IN SPAIN FOR 10 YEARS FULLY LEGAL S.L COMPANY

Cars S.L. www.venuscars.com

We Buy, Sell & Part Exchange Quality British & Spanish Cars Transfer Documents Completed Competitive Insurance Quotes. All cars Fully serviced and valeted

WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS

€7,995

€5,995

€4,995

€2,495

€6,495

€2,250

€1,495

SUZUKI BALENO ESTATE 1997 1.6 LTR PETROL

Aprilia SCOOTER SR50 2006 50 c.c

6 seater / Low Klm

Ford Fiesta 2005 1.4 Ltr Diesel

€3,495

CITROEN C2 VAN 2005 1.4 LTR TDCI DIESEL 3 DOOR

€25,995

RIMOR SUPERBRIG 728 - UK RHD 2002 AUTO/TIPTRONIC DIESEL - TAX & MOT

FORD FOCUS ESTATE 2003 1.6 LTR PETROL

RENAULT KANGOO COMBI 1998 1.9 LTR DIESEL

Kia Carens 2004 2 Ltr Diesel FSH

€1,995

€25,995

JOINT J148 2006 3 BERTH, ONE OWNER - 44000 KLM

automatic

BMW 320 I SE 2001 4 DOOR

OPEL CORSA 2000 1 LTR PETROL

UK RIGHT HAND DRIVE CARS

€4,995

AUTOMATIC

RENAULT MEGANE SCENIC 2004 1.6 LTR PETROL TAX & MOT

€14,995

ONE OWNER

FORD FOCUS CMAX 2010 1.6 TDCI DIESEL

wanted

UK AND SPANISH REGISTERED CARS - CASH PAID MOTORHOMES AND CLASSICS - ALSO WANTED - RING TODAY!!

ALL LEGAL PAPERWORK COMPLETED

Opening hours Mon - Fri 9-6pm (No siesta) Sat 10-1pm. Find us next to Petrol Station TORREMENDO 10 Minutes inland from San Miguel, Los Montesinos & Junction 751 on the AP7 towards Orihuela. Torremendo turning on CV95 towards San Miguel

Classified Ads www.roundtownnews.co.uk

All Major Credit Cards Accepted - 0.31€ per word + IVA

UK-SPAIN-IRELAND All European Destinations

Removals with the personal touch. Full/part loads.

Parcels, flat packs, luggage, door to door service, Storage available, pets transported

Phone 965 696 750 • 0044 (0) 1460 74191 email: chrisyounge73979@aol.com

17 - 23 feb 2012

63

Book your advert now 902 118 999 (ext 2)

PRISTINE POOLS

• Professional pool maintenance & cleaning • Replacement pumps, filters, salt systems Ph regulators and accessories supplied and installed • Pipe leaks pressure tested, detected and repaired • Structural leaks investigated and repaired • Refurbishments & upgrades undertaken British Trained with over 15 years experience.

Extensive references. All work guaranteed Tel: 96 677 4199 or 678 080 500 www.pristineswimmingpools.com Torrevieja and surrounding areas plus Costa Calida

64

17 - 23 feb 2012

EXCEL AIR CONDITIONING. See main ad on page 11.Tel/Fax (Head Office) 966-897-772. Mobiles:680-154-432/676-265-675. Email excelairconditioning@hotmail.com.

All credit/debit cards accepted.

SERVICE AIR David Higton: (Tel) 966-865-883 (Mob) 629-308-505 (Email) cool@serviceair.biz

FOR SALE 2 TOY YORKSHIRE TERRIERS 9 WEEKS OLD PARENTS ARE PURE PEDIGREES 450€ EUROS 638207343

FRONTLINE spot on for flea and tick treatment contact stigmichael on 962 132 691or email mickheigh@gmail.com also scaliboir collers for large dogs 63cm PROTECTAPET Spains leading pet insurance provider. www. protectapet.eu tel: 965 756 371 PET TAXI transporting your pet door to door in our air conditioned vehicles, stopping in pet friendly hotels travelling twice monthly.

Accompanied travel also available.

Tel: 952 541 147 PET TRANSPORT we treat your pet as if they belong to us and that is our promise. van fully air conditioned we believe we have the best rates so give joe a call on 966074576 or 650341087 for a chat or e mail pawspettransport@ hotmail.com SMALL DOGS CARED FOR IN OUR OWN HOME So if you need to go away on holiday but don’t want your dog to go into kennels then we will look after them. References available. Tel: 965843781 Mob: 622514980 TRANS-PET We do regular, doorto-door journeys between the Costa Blanca and the UK.Our aim is to provide a professional, caring service for your pets.Boarding facilities for Cats and Dogs. This may be for an overnight stay or of longer durations.Tel:600-552030/965-960-658 www.trans-pet.co.uk Horse for sale or to share arabian chestnut stallion, 8 years old, 15 hands, lovely temperament,

good all rounder. Stabled in Valverde, near Santa Pola. Tel: Faye 639539886

CHIMNEY SWEEP Clean efficient service :660844623 NEED HELP AT HOME? Cleaning, shopping & outings etc.

Sympathetic service.call Sandra on 651482106 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SERVICE for your home or business at a fair price. References available. (Altea area) Tel: 965843781 or 622514980 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SERVICE for your home or business at a fair price. References available. (Altea area) Tel: 965843781 or 622514980

GARAGE SALE Sunday February 19th.La finca golf, Algorfa. House clearance, everything must go.For details: ptr_cook@yahoo.com ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS - COSTA BLANCA Confidential Helpline, South 625 912 078, North 648 169 045. www.aa-costablanca.org.

DO YOU SUFFER THROUGH ANOTHER PERSON DRINKING? Don’t suffer alone. We meet in Benidorm every Thursday at 5.00pm. Al-Anon Established Worldwide for 60 years.

Ring 634758539 for details.

at very favourably with a genuine high earning opportunity for the right candidate. Send a CV with any other relevant details of your previous experience to sales@ bayradio.fm LOOKING FOR HOUSE KEEPER! for general housekeeping and child minding. Applicant can live in or live out, must have basic english.

Orcheta and sourrounding areas call: 966 855 312 or 648 097 752.

LOOKING FOR WORK? Work is ready for anyone that needs a job from anywhere in Spain. please email christo77073@yahoo.com for more information.

BYTEBACK MICROS computer repairs/upgrades in your home.

Qualified technician. Systems custom built. Whatever your problem call: 965-312-006 or 606127-424 PC SOLUTIONS 4U For all your PC needs. Reliable & friendly service. Call Fred 634638664

AUTOMATIC GATE SYSTEMS €449!! AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR MOTORS €249!! FULLY INSTALLED/GUARANTEED!! All brands repaired 627-191639/www. elektro-nex.com

BOATING LICENSE NOW, A LEGAL REQUIREMENT In Spain.

Serenity Sailing RYA Training Centre, Competent Crew to Yachtmaster, VHF & ICC. Ownboat on sail and power. If you have a yacht or powerboat get qaulified and certified. Contact Richard 0034 633 056 224. enquiries@serenitysailing.com . www.serenitysailin.com

CONSTRUCTION AND ROOFING JR Construction for new builds, refurbishment,brickwork, blockwork, tiling, terraces, BBQ’S, Bathrooms, Kitchens, Roofing, Driveways, Swimming Pools, Disabled Facilities. No Job Too Small Tel 634 617 771 or 966 877 757 www. jrconstructioncostablanca.com MOBILE/PARK HOMES FROM 17,000€ FULLY FURNISHED READY TO MOVE INTO, A/C, TEL, ENG TV, ON PERMANENT SITE, BAR/RES, POOL,TENNIS,GYM, SHOP WALKING DISTANCE TO SAN JAVIER. 5MINS TO BEACH, AIRPORT, HOSPITAL, GOLF COURSES. BY CAR. ALSO BUNGALOWS , HOMES & PLOTS FOR RENT. CAROL 96 819 24 25 MOB. 626 055 622 www. mobilehomesmarmenorspain.com

A.D.LAWTON CONSTRUCCIONES Digger hire, Ground-works, Excavation and Demolition. www. adlawtonconstrucciones.com.

Tel:648 052 911 or 965 770 798

COLD DRINK / SNACK VENDING MACHINES EXCELLENT RECESSION PROOF BUSINESS WITH NO OVERHEADS AND ALL CASH. 5 COLDDRINK VENDING MACHINES €24,900. 25 PRINGLE MACHINES €14,900, ALL WITH GUARANTEED SITES. 619307318.

SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Long established company, own product range. First class training & support.

Telephone 606586587

FUNKY FREESTYLE DANCE with Louise, every Saturday morning at Villamar Campsite in Albir/ Benidorm, come and learn all the moves and routines to your pop idols! Call Louise on 655-781-068 for more information!

Due to illness an unexpected position has arisen for a full time Sales Advisor at our La Marina office. The successful applicant must have a proven sales track record, be used to working against targets and be driven and self motivated.

Please send a full CV to debs@ jennifercunningham.net. **NEW JOB VACANCY** Here at Bay Radio we’re looking for hard-working, dynamic people to join our successful sales team in the Benidorm and Torrevieja area you’ll need to be English speaking with some good contacts and a pro-active and creative approach to generating new business. A proven track record in radio sales is not compulsory but will be looked

HGV DRIVERS/CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WANTED KML ARE CURRENTLY RECRUITING FOR: HGV DRIVERS (C+E) AND CONSTRUCTION WORKERS (ALL TRADES) FOR CONTRACTS IN THE UK AND EUROPE FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 01480 469372 OR EMAIL info@ kmlservices.com www.kmlservices. com CARERS WANTED To work in England 3 weeks on 3 weeks off email CV to 24hourhomecareservices@ googlemail.com 24 HOUR HOMECARE SERVICES LTD Wanted companions, carers to work in England as live-in carers. 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off. If you are caring, a good listener and cook contact Karen Jones on (0044) 01929 472 810 or mobile (0044) 07500 836688 email: 24hourhomecareservices@ googlemail.com

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Are you the best cold-calling closer in the Costa Blanca?

Fed up with working for somebody else and think you could do better running your own business? If this is you then call me now to find out how this could be the best business opportunity you will ever have!

634305415

17 - 23 feb 2012

ABC AUTOMATION LOOKING FOR WORK Full or Part-time work , can work at home, Quick-book user preferred. Please contact me as soon as possible. For More Details Email : charles.damier@gmail.com

ANTI-SLIP PRODUCT Free-Sol has an anti slip treatment that reduces the risk of slips and falls on many diffrent types of floor surfaces, which become dangerous to walk on when wet or damp. The application of this anti slip product is quick and easy - there are even DIY kits available if you´d ike to carry out the application yourself.

To find out more please phone Martin Freeman on 659 232 507 or send an e-mail to martin.freeman@free-sol.com

TREE SPECIALIST Cut and removal of palm / pine trees. Size not a problem. Also dangerous & difficult work. Garden cleaning and gravelling. Free estimates. please call adrian on 627 103 412 or www. costablancagardening.com OASIS GARDEN pool maintenance. Calpe to Javea.

Telephone Martin 669 261 868 GARDEN MAINTENANCE Do you need help maintaining your garden? we can supply a full service at competitive prices.

Call today for a free quotation 689075125

HOLISTIC THERAPY sports injurys massage, reflexology, indian head massage ,reiki and counselling all by appointment only : 650 554 908.

CLAIRE´S Hair, Beauty & Nails Albir Tel: 633147881

HAS THE VALUE OF YOUR HOUSE DECREASED? Are you paying too much for house insurance since the property price crash? If so and you would like a free, no obligation quotation with excellent coverage, please call us.

Grupo Catalana Occidente covers

all insurance needs. Please call 965-855-600 and speak to Manuel Caneda or Lynn Keane in English, on 966-881-048/691-202-307. email: lynnschofieldkeane@gmail. com S.O.S. INSURANCE Car-HomeHealth-Comercial. Funeral Plans and Insurance. Tlf:-966-787123/622-275-561/686-116-297

DIESEL GENERATOR 4.1KW 230 VOLT €395 tel: 675 878 601 FOR SALE A pool cover on metal winding frame.5.60 metres wide offers + Gas BBQ 18 euros buyers collect. Tel: 966 495 221.

GENERATOR 5KVA Electric start, gas/petrol 275euros. Contact 675878601 or 965078483 SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANIMALS We buy, sell and exchange just about anything at Spain’s BIGGEST CHARITY WAREHOUSE in Gata

65

de Gorgos in aid of S.P.A.I.N. (Society for the Protection of Animals in Need). HOUSE CLEARANCES, furniture, beds, Rastro, Antiques & collectables, bankrupt stock etc. Collection & delivery service available. Tel 96 575 6215 or 665 653 998 for details.

THOSE LITTLE GET YOU UP BLUE PILLS are now available from Tony on 638 352 129.

AT MICHAEL’S Several dining sets to choose from in different styles, classic, modern, bamboo, pine, glass etc. Many with matching sideboards: www.michaels-javea.com AT MICHAEL’S part exchange on certain beds when you buy a New bed from our New Bed shop in the Arenal. Photos (updates every 5-6 days): www.michaels-javea.com AT MICHAEL’S Free deliveries, usually the same day! Look at: www.michaels-javea.com to see more than 600 photos of quality pre owned furniture and new beds!

AT MICHAEL’S In February you get several high quality pieces of furniture for an extra 20% reduction on the already low prices! See: www.michaels-javea.com MICHAEL’S 28 YEARS IN JAVEA ENSURES YOUR SATISFACTION! We sell high quality pre owned furniture, many from show apartments etc. Look at: www.michaels-javea.com Tlf:965-791-328.

GOLD WANTED English Jeweller wishes to buy broken or unwanted Gold jewellery & coins for cash.

Call for an appointment. Peter (7 days) 664 890 990.

CLASSIC KITCHENS 20 years on the Costa Blanca. Free quote and 3D design call Adrian on: 966865684 / 676699700.

66

17 - 23 feb 2012

legal, qualified and registered business who have been operating on the Costa Blanca for 6 years. We offer a professional, reliable, safe and efficient pool service, inc. re-grouting, pressure testing and leak repairs. Private and community swimming pools undertaken.

Call now for more information on 965725-565 or mobile 676-945-360/ 620743-048 www.pooltechspain.com

BALLROOM/LATIN/SEQUENCE DANCING WITH LA BAMBA’S. At La Rustika [Los Arcos] Restaurant, Avenida Balaeres 34, Torrevieja.

Saturday - Social Dance 7.30pm - 10pm Starting 9th January 2012 - Monday - Beginners Class - 10am - 11.30am Monday - Intermediate Class - 11.30am - 1pm Tuesday - Popular Sequence class 7.30pm - 8.30pm followed by Social Dance 8.30pm - 10.30pm [not 2nd Tuesday of month]. At Casa Ventura, San Luis, Torrevieja Starting 12th January 2012 Thursday - New Beginners class 7.30pm - 8.30pm. Intermediate class 8.30pm - 10.00pm. For more information contact Andrea 616 478 157.

KIA CARENS 2 LITRE CRDI, 7 SEATER July 2007, 2 owners, 57,000kms, FSH, High spec, alloys, CD, climate, parking sensors, stunning vehicle, metallic champagne. 11,950€. Ford KA 1.3 Collection, November 2006, only 53,000kms, FSH, aircon, CD etc. Stunning but only 4,250€.

Ford Focus 1.6 Estate, 2001, Met black, super condition, 3,250€.

BMW X5 Sport 4x4 Auto tiptronic, 3 litre diesel, 09/2003, 82,000miles, FSH, High Spec model, navigation, full leather, side steps, gun metal grey, Long MOT and Tax 12,750€.

Peugeot 206cc, July ‘02 - Cabriolet, 1.6, 77,400 kms, 1 owner, FSH, A/C, 5 spoke alloys, PAS, ABS, CD, Front fog lights, E. windows/ mirrors, Remote locking, Rear head restraints, Metallic blue Reduced from €6,250 to €5,950. Ford Focus 1.6, 5 door Trend, 2006, 1 owner, 52,000kms, FSH, A/C, CD, front fogs, stunning condition throughout, metallic burgandy 7,5000€. Tel Frank 600726221/965687976 www.fwreurocars.com FORD FOCUS 5 DOOR AUTO 2007 light blue metallic, aircon, aluminium wheels and cruise control. 1 lady owner from new, full service history by main ford dealer.

Immaculate condition throughout, no traders please : 638 352 129.

CONVERTABLE PEUGEOT 307 CC. AUTOMATIC purple 5 years old, well looked after and full service history. 7,500€ or nearest offer. call 966 897 635 CHEAP TYRES & DISCOUNT BRAKES In Teulada, La Nucia and Alicante offer Quality New Tyres & Brakes at HUGELY DISCOUNTED PRICES! See our main ad on Pg 3 of RTN North edition for the address details of our 3 outlets. Or call 966 487 061 or email info@ cheaptyres.es for details.

LOOKING FOR A CAR We have over 75 LHD or RHD vehicles for sale or exchange.

Tel Frank 600726221/965687976 or simply view our easy to use website www.fwreurocars.com

WANTED Scrap cars, vans, lorries, plant and caravans. Turn your scrap into cash. From Valencia to Alicante. Free collection. Tel: 689-929-395 WANTED I buy any car, van,Caravan,4x4 Etc.British, Spanish. Immediate cash 600-781873 ibuyanycar@hotmail.com

GAY/BI PORN STAR available for new films and photshoots. 12 inch surprise, Contact Danny Adams today for instant pleasure, also avail for middle aged women at great rates. dannyadamslarge@gmail.com.

BI/GAY MASSEUR OFFERS FREE MASSAGE Relaxing enjoyable and very stimulating.

Withheld numbers and texts not answered.Tel: 660 409 206 LOOKING FOR COMPANY? Do you want to explore your sexual fantasies with beautiful Brazilian and Oriental ladies? 24 hours, hotel or home visit Telephone 689526354 THOSE FAMOUS LITTLE BLUE PILLS will be available all over christmas. special christmas offer. buy 10 packs of 4 and get 1 pack of 4 free!!! call Tony now on :638352129.

PLEASURE HOUSE TORREVIEJA Sexy girls from South America. Come and enjoy, low rates from 40€. Address: Calle Finlandia. 682-776-068 CASA ANGELA TORREVIEJA Luxury private chalet, parking.

Drinks invitation. Feeling alone?

Just want some company? Exotic girls from South America. Call us, Also Escort Service. Full discretion. Come and enjoy at: Avenida Asociacion Victimas del Terrorismo. 609-573-468 or 639-832-118

MOBILE/PARK HOMES ON CAMPING PUEBLO IN SAN JAVIER FROM 17,000E CAROL 96 819 24 25 MOB 626 055 622 www. mobilehomesmarmenorspain.com EASILY MAINTAINED, DETACHED F/F,2 BED VILLA in l´Alberca, Polopde-la-Marina. 249m2 flat plot. Lots of extras. Solarium with 360º views of sea and mountains. Community pool and Gardens, easy and low maintenance.

145,000€ Tlf Lynn: 966-881-048/691202-307 or email foundation@ rtnnewsgroup.com for photographs and more information

PLUMBING & HEATING BATHROOM REFORMS - TILING - WATER HEATERS - GENERAL PLUMBING. Tel: 630 049 773. email: stevehayward39@yahoo. com www.stevehayward-plumber. eu NORTH COSTA BLANCA SINCE 1996 FOR ALL SHAPES AND SIZES OF SHOWER and bath screens call Don the Showerman on 96 579 2285 or 639 292 081. Immediate delivery on all products from our stock. See our advert on Page 5 North for a map to our showroom

TEULADA – LONG TERM LET 3 Bed 2 Bath Apartment Central Heating 154 M2 €450 p/m + bills Tel: 615 813 076 1 BED APT FOR RENT BENIDORM Can sleep upto 4 people. 100 mtrs from beach, private parking, swimming pool, fully furnished all electric 450pm winter time. Negotiable summertime call :639 792 849 PARK HOMES 2 BEDROOMS BOTH EN SUITE FULLY FITTED ON CAMPING PUEBLO . WITH LOTS OF AMENETIES. FULLY FITTED. ON CAMPING PUEBLO . WITH LOTS OF AMENETIES. GOLF COURSES, BEACH, AIRPORT,HOSPITAL,5 MINS BY CAR. WALKING DISTANCE TO SAN JAVIER CAROL TEL 96 819 24 25 MOB. 626 055 6622 EMAIL. haydn47@hotmail.com www. mobilehomesmarmenorspain.com ALTEA LA VELLA, COSTA BLANCA Holiday let for 4 people in a 2 bedroomed, first floor, fully furnished apartment. A/C + C/H plus much, much more. Tlf:966-881-048 or email foundation@rtnnewsgroup.com for more information and photographs FOR RENT/SALE 450€PCM 120.000€ Classic Spanish Old Town House, 3 double bedrooms (1 with en-suite bathroom) master bathroom, modern kitchen, downstairs toilet, sun terrace with view of mountains, BBQ terrace with summer kitchen, recentley refurbished and fully furnished. Callosa de en Seria near La Nucia. Tel: 609 177 032

EUROMOVE4U Full & Part Loads.

Spain to UK/UK to Spain on a regular monthly basis. Cars & Motorcycles transported. Call Grant or Jan Office 0034-965-300-959 Mobile 0034-648102-529 UK Mob 0044-7803-893-719.

Email info@euromove4u.eu

ARE YOU MALE, FEMALE OR A COUPLE? Need some Sexy FUN? Contact me soonest. 63 year old Dom/Sub switch. Available for fun with Males, Dom and Sub and Cross Dressers, Females Dominatrix and Submissive.

Couples including Same Sex Couples. “Anything Goes” Can sometimes accomodate. Home Visits no extra Charge/Low Fees.

Call me now on 693-478-573 GORGEOUS ENGLISH BLOND 45 years, Massage, 1 hour or over night, 15 mins Alicante airport.Tel:Karen 662-049-021 TORREVIEJA CHINESE SUPER SEXY Young and beautiful. Calle Orihuela Nº60, 2º1 VIAGRA GENERIC weekenders and jellies. Quesada and surrounding area. Derek 685207378

POOL LEAK REPAIR SPECIALIST’S Pipe leaks pressure tested, detected and repaired. Structural leaks investigated and repaired.

Professional, consciencious service to the highest standards.

Refurbishments and upgrades undertaken. Replacement pumps, filters, salt systems, ph regulators and accessories supplied and installed. All work guaranteed. British trained in the UK pool industry with over 15 years experience. 8 years served on the Costa Blanca. Torrevieja and surrounding areas including Costa Calida. Tlf:Pristine Pools on 966-774-199 or 678080-500 www.pristineswimmingpools. com SWIMMING POOL MAINTENANCE AND CLEANING SERVICE BY POOLTECHSPAIN. We are a fully

JUST HIRE IT ONE WAY ! Van Hire To UK, Spain and France, different van and car sizes available tel: 952 541 147 / 667 235 205 MICK WITH HIS VAN Removals Collections Deliveries. For a reliable effective service. Hourly rate or quote.

Call Mick anytime 600-247-535 VAN LEAVING FOR THE UK/SPAIN EVERY 2 WEEKS great rates please contact joe on 966074576 or 650341087 or civic1235@msn.com MAN & LWB SPRINTER VAN going to UK- Spain twice a month. Tel: 610-846260 or 0044-7519-186-355 email:van.man@hotmail.co.uk

PAYING MORE THAN 35€ TOTAL INCLUDING IVA a month for your landline and adsl? Want to save 100´s € a year? If so, call me before the end of February, and not only can you save on your bill, get free landline calls in spain, and 60 minutes a month free to mobiles, but you´ll also receive 30€ towards your first bill too. And no long term contracts!

Call Col for more information today on 627068561, or email richc_spain@ yahoo.co.uk

INTERPRETER English interpreter provides aid and assistance for visits to hospitals/schools/tax offices/police stations etc. Friendly and reliable, available in Benidorm and surrounding areas. Call 600 809 698

SCIENCE TEACHER AVAILABLE Chemisty up to A level and Physics up to IGCSE. Call Edward :672 914 311 NAIL COURSES now available in Albir, call Claire 633147881 LEARN SPANISH NOW! PRIVATE LESSSONS Interactive tailor made courses, especially for people with difficulties in learning languages, more information 699256281 or jjmateo72@ hotmail.com Benidorm and surrounding areas.

BRITISH GRADUATE TEACHER offers Primary/Secondary English Mathmatics.

Telephone Margaret Johnson B.Ed. 965350-516 Mob: 616-660-687

UKTELEVISION.TV watch British TV channels from anywhere. Easy Setup, Secure Connection. Only €5 per month.

Go to www.uktelevision.tv for FREE TRIAL SKY HD SATELLITE receiver with sports package cards, 240 euros plus monthly subs. Can deliver Tel Jeremy 667 235 205 SKYSUPPLIES New Sky HD and Humax receivers from 145€. Full package White cards, LNB`s, remotes, harddrives.

Realignments, advice and backup.

966194013/600899096.

SKY SUPPLIES New sky hd and humax digiboxes from 145€. White cards, LNBs, spare remotes, hard drive upgrades. Advice and backup. Tel: 966 194 013/600 899 096 CRYSTAL CLEAR SATELLITE AND INTERNET TV for all your digital and TV requirements. No Annual Fees on Sky Cards. Steve:-660-186-505/Ros:965-584-097. www.ccsattv.com info@ ccsattv.com

TURN YOUR UNWANTED FURNITURE Electrical, Household Goods and Bric-a-brac into Cash.

Anything! Anywhere! 965-319-220/618165-877 I BUY RECORDS LP’S, SINGLES and cd’s any style, jazz, blues, pop, rock, etc... Top cash paid. 622 750 117 TURN YOUR UNWANTED FURNITURE Electrical, Household Goods and Bric-a-brac into Cash.

Anything! Anywhere! 965-319220/618-165-877

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

67

Classified Services All Major Credit Cards Accepted - Prices start from 10â‚Ź a week.

Air Conditioning

Builders

Building Surveying

Airport Parking

Book your advert now! 902 118 999 (ext 2)

Buying a home

68

17 - 23 feb 2012

Gardening

CarConditioning Hire Air

Business Consultants

Business & House Auctions

Hire

Ikea Trips

Locksmith

Electrical

Limousines

Garages

Leaks

Maintenance

Cars wanted

Good condition LHD Spanish Cars Wanted for cash 95 – 02 Transfers completed Tlf: 693 859 942 or 650 740 265

This one module box will cost you 10.00€

(+ IVA)

per week.....

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RTN Classifieds: 902 118 999

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

17 - 23 feb 2012

Repairs/Sewing

Plumbing

Solar Energy

Properties Wanted & Maintenance

Removals

Secure Storage

TV & Satellite

Web Design

69

70

17 - 23 feb 2012

Who’s First?

Noel’s world of golf

By Noel Eastwell Teaching Professional Campo de Golf El Plantio 639 730 891

THERE IS now very clear evidence that the golf courses in our part of Spain are undergoing severe financial hardship.

It is just a matter of time before we lose at least one in my opinion when you consider some of the evidence. There are a number of clubs in bankruptcy protection and there have recently been redundancies made at others in order to cut costs. Some of our clubs have been selling green fees to third parties for as little as 15€ per head. How many regular golfers have benefitted from this ridiculously low price? Very few indeed would be my guess. At times it seems that the retailers of the green fees are making more than the golf courses; how can that make sense? Many would argue that the clubs have invited this problem on themselves by selling to various people at different prices for the same product. To some extent I agree with this argument. Make one price to all for green fees and give everyone the choice of how they book their golf.

We have campaigned through RTN for a number of years now to get green fees reduced and to a large extent we have achieved our goals but the golf clubs need to consider how they are running their businesses. Selling green fees at prices so low that you are not covering costs is suicidal and frankly plain stupid. I am sure that no golfer in Spain wants to see us lose one or more of our golf courses but by continuing the way they are the golf clubs will not become solvent again for many years and with Spanish banks struggling with

massive debts how long can they continue to lend money to unprofitable businesses?

Inflation in Spain has run riot in recent years and the planning of the golf course owners and managers failed to allow for the good times to end. They raised staff wages to levels where they were unsustainable. Meanwhile other businesses in Spain did the same and the cost of practically all consumables used on our golf courses are now very much higher than when the country was riding the crest of the wave that was greed.

Sadly now there is no way back except to ask fewer workers to do more work for less money to get the courses out of trouble. Knowing our Spanish hosts as we do what are the chances of the workforces involved in golf course maintenance swallowing their pride and allowing that to happen, little or none? The courses certainly cannot afford to raise green fee prices beyond a tiny amount at most because the golfers themselves have less spare cash to spend so the easy solution is not there to be taken. So where do we go from here you may be wondering? The only way out of this mess is for us all in the golf industry to work together and provide a service that attracts people to our golf courses and other related businesses; then we may just avoid the inevitable.

WIN A ROUND OF GOLF FOR 2 INCLUDING BUGGY AT THE BEAUTIFUL EL PLANTIO RESORT IN ALICANTE Answer the question below correctly to have a chance to win.

The winner of this fantastic prize will be picked at random at the end of each month. Send your entries by email to golf@ roundtownnews.com. The decision of the editor of RTN will be final in making the winning selection.

QUESTION FOR 17TH FEBRUARY 2012 Who won the 2012 Qatar Masters?

A. Paul Lawrie B. Martin Kaymer C. Robert Rock All answers must be received no later than 5pm on 28th February 2012 to be entered into February’s draw, to be made on February 28th. The winner will be announced in RTN on 3rd March 2012. .......................................................

Alicante Golf Tests The Best The Lloyds Bank International League for 2012 continued for RTN Golf Club at Alicante Golf last Tuesday in chilly conditions more like Antarctica than Alicante.

Thirty four golfers turned out to test their skills of this testing layout with the best score of the day coming from Mike Vesey who scored 41 points to win The Levante Division.

The Lebeche Division was won by Louvain Smith with 40 points. Both winners took home a three month membership of Alicante Golf.

Any questions you have for Noel should be sent to golf@roundtownnews.com THE PROFESSIONAL SCENE

The 2012 Desert Swing on The European Tour is now over and with it the first batch of the big money tournaments with big world ranking points. The early season has thrown up some surprises with some of Europe’s elite struggling for form. Martin Kaymer usually plays well in the desert but he has not really shown. Luke Donald has started the season in unspectacular form but this is not unusual for him as he is a known slow starter. Great things are expected of Rory McIllroy this year and he will almost certainly produce the expected results but at the moment he seems to be struggling mentally. One of England’s best, Paul Casey, lost his US PGA Tour card last year and needed to establish himself again in Europe. A snowboarding injury has kept him out of action and it is likely we will miss him at this year’s Ryder Cup unless he does something dramatic.

The season so far has seen some of the lesser known names make the biggest moves in the World Rankings

with both Paul Lawrie and Robert Rock already almost certainly booking places in the season’s first major at August in April. The Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday saw some really fast greens test the best Europe has to offer with Lee Westwood leading going into the final round.

Windy conditions in the final round made sure nobody was going to run away with things and many struggled to control the ball flight and the pace of the ball on the greens. Westwood’s putter certainly went cold on Sunday and it was left to first round pacesetter Rafael Cabrera Bello to show the big names the way home. With some supreme swings and beautiful rhythm Cabrera Bello hardly made a mistake all day and he thoroughly deserved his second victory on tour and the riches that went with it.

NOEL EASTWELL GOLF ACADEMY AT EL PLANTIO: GOLFING TIP OF THE WEEK When playing over water long is usually better than short.

Quality coaching at reduced rates for RTN Golf Club members: contact Noel on 639 730 891.

Golf Club booking hotline For the best deals on the Costa Blanca and Murcia call 685 538 562 or email rtngolf@roundtownnews.com

Rafael Cabrera Bello

GOLF Tips

Never play any shot until you are fully committed to it.

www.roundtownnews.co.uk

Andy Kay The Final Whistle

17 - 23 feb 2012

French Farce

TV COMPANIES pay an awful lot of money to cover major sporting events and it’s only right and proper that they have a say on when those events take place, in order to maximise their audience share and in many cases, their advertising revenues.

In my day job, I deal a lot with the BBC and Channel 4 and discussions over transmission times are always a hot topic although, normally concluded to the satisfaction of both parties. However, you have to wonder why on earth that the Six Nations committee went along with French TV’s request to stage the France v Ireland game at 9pm at night.

Surely someone should have foreseen that a night time game during one of the coldest snaps for years at a venue with no under soil heating was almost certainly going to run in to problems. As it was, it was left to referee Dave Pearson to call the match off just minutes before the scheduled kick off time.

There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth by a bunch of ‘blame game’ bureaucrats ever since but it’s a shame they weren’t so vocal when the original decision was made to play the game at such a stupid time.

ROUGH DIAMOND Week in, week out we witness football managers unleashing some awful abuse at referees only to discover a few days later that they have ‘escaped punishment’ when the FA decides these often spiteful and personal attacks don’t warrant any further action. The football

ITV Orihuela RFC on a roll ON SATURDAY ITV Orihuela RFC seniors entertained Lorca hoping to get revenge after their defeat at the beginning of the season at Lorca, and also extend their winning run.

ITV Orihuela RFC started off on the front foot, putting pressure on the Lorca line, starving them of possession and after 5 minutes went over under the posts, only for the ref to give a 22 drop out. Even the Lorca players thought it was a try and went under the posts for the conversion. A short time later Orihuela had a penalty where the flags went up and another 22 drop

out was given.

Shortly after another penalty was given, this time awarded with Alvaro getting it. This kick started the scoring for Orihuela with Adrian scoring his first try of the season after some excellent ball skills by the backs and Alvaro converting the extras.

With half time approaching Lorca were unable to convert the penalty, bringing half time with Orihuela going in 10-0 up The second half started off with end-to-end action, Orihuela’s lineout working really well and dominating the scrum but Lorca

started to put a lot of pressure on the ITV Orihuela RFC line. The defence stood firm and Lorca just could not break through.

With one of the breakouts from defence Alvaro race away and on the Lorca 22 chipped over the fullback for Victor, one of the juveniles stepping up, to race through for his first senior try.

This was after Alvaro had been completely taken out by the Lorca defence, with Adrian getting the extras in the best possible way by scoring the third try after some excellent footwork. Alvaro got his revenge to the joy of the whole team.

Orihuela started to press for the all important fourth try and after some excellent work by the forwards and backs combining they were justly rewarded by the bonus point try with Victor getting his second off the game, bringing

Fishing Maggots End by

David Hoare 968 199 279

THIS WEEK’S match was the first in the Coastrider Team competition - a series of 5 matches with the best 4 results to count.

The venue was the Rio Segura at Murcia.

As Terry has stated below, the work is continuing, and it will not be long before we lose this venue for a while. The fishing is hard, however, the pegs this week were put further upstream, and this has had an improvement as can be seen from the results.

TOP RODS ON THE DAY 1st Clive (Golf No more) Cleghorn fishing the feeder using bread punch with 17.94 kilos 2nd Bill (The Master) Reade fishing the feeder using maggot and bread with 11.96 kilos 3rd Alan (The Quiet Man) Reid fishing the feeder using corn with 11.84 kilos

TEAM RESULT Abbey Anglers with 45.34 kilos Rods and Reels with 25.32 kilos POINTS AFTER 1ST ROUND Abbey Anglers 10 points Rods and Reels 8 points.

PLEASE NOTE The club has some vacancies at present: if you are interested in joining please contact Derek Swann on 96 672 9293 or 667 407 026.

ABBEY ANGLING RESULTS supplied by Terry Screen The 6th round match of the Abbey Angling Cup was fished on the 7th February on the River Segura at Murcia.

The footpath by the side of the river is now drying up quite well, the work on the

La Marina

ishing F Fishing Rods, Reels, Floats Line, Hooks, Nets, etc + Many accessories. Fishing Tackle. Maggots available.

SHOP OPEN

15% DISCOUNT ON ALL PURCHASES OVER 50€ Avd. Europa, LA MARINA La Marina Market Thurs Montcayo Tuesday & Saturday Lemon Tree Sunday Market Tel Ken: 648 134 465 New Shop: 966 189 969

71

authorities would do well to look at their counterparts in rugby union, who take a very different approach as the Sale Sharks Director of Sport Steve Diamond discovered this week.

Diamond was found guilty of verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes after witnessing his side lose a close encounter to London Irish. As a result he’s been handed an 18 match touchline ban and a £4,000 fine.

You could argue that the punishment is excessive but equally, you can be pretty sure that Diamond won’t re-offend in the future. Football managers do virtually every week.

TICKED OFF TOM If diver Tom Daley wins gold at this summer’s London Olympic Games, he’ll be made for the remainder of his sporting life and will never struggle for media coverage and sponsor backing. So it’s concerning to hear that according to one man in the sport, Daley is spending too much time on his media commitments, and not enough time training.

Daley refutes this but it’s hard not to take notice of the accusation as it has been made by British Diving’s performance director Alexei Evangulov. The former Russia coach also claims that Daley could miss out on a podium finish unless he matches the preparation of his Chinese rivals who he says train ‘3 times harder’.

For Daley and indeed many British athletes, London is a once in a lifetime opportunity but let’s hope that they all continue to do the hard yards so they can claim the glory after the event rather than before it.

the full time score 29-0 to Orihuela for their first clean sheet of the season.

This was ITV Orihuela RFC’s third win on the bounce and 14 points out of a possible 15, so a great weekend for the club. Every player should be very proud of how they played and kept their discipline.

This coming weekend, 18th February, we are away to Cartagena at the top of the league: a completely different nut to crack, so fingers crossed we can pull of a miracle and make it four in a row.

On 24th-26th February ITV Orihuela RFC will have their usual stand again at the ‘This is Spain Exhibition’ at La Zenia Hotel, supporting The Butterfly Children, stand number 7.

The new rugby union supporters bar and supporters club, the Steak House in Rojales, showed another round of the 6 Nations on both

Saturday and Sunday where there was a great atmosphere. Numbers are increasing week on week, and Aviva matches on Friday. Bring your friends and support this new venture to keep a full house going every weekend, with Rabo Direct league this coming Friday and Saturday and Sunday at the Aviva Premiership with top teams playing. Also you can get your rugby branded clothing there.

The club trains Tuesday and Thursday at the Miguel Hernandez University for the juveniles and seniors starting at 8.30pm: juniors on Tuesday and Thursday at 6.15pm. New players are always welcome no matter what age or skill level.

For more information contact the club by phoning myGarry on 692 767 242: for the juniors contact Oscar on 600 871 606 (Spanish)

For further details ring Alan Roscoe 968 570 876 or email: anglerstogether@hotmail.co.uk opposite bank is in full swing and they are within 200yds of completely sinking the pipe and the water level is very low.

Fishing has not really improved much with this spate of cold weather, on arrival at the river there was ice on the water at the bottom of the ramp. It is still the three pegs by the Crystal Bridge that are producing the top weights with the bread.

1st Lennie (Ex Cultural Attache) Bolton with 13.860kg fishing the pole using paste and bread 2nd Dave (Yours Truly) Hoare with 8.100kg fishing the feeder using bread punch 3rd Mick (The Arsenal) Hill with 7.380kg fishing the feeder using corn All details are available via www. abbeyangling.com or from the Match Secretary Terry Screen on 96 532 8368

Anglers Together WE HAVE been having a lot of enquiries about licenses from anglers who are passing the ‘magic age of 65’ and therefore pensioners! Licenses are still required and are free providing you have a Spanish ‘Pensionista’ card; otherwise you will have to pay the normal fees.

Licenses are available from either Town Halls or the Caja Rural Bank if in Valencia region. In Murcia you will also require insurance. Make sure you take photocopies of all relevant documents to obtain your license, i.e. passport photo-page, NIE and insurance.

For further details contact Alan Roscoe: email anglerstogether@hotmail.co.uk Tight lines…

Dave Hoare

FC Torrevieja news

TORRY ENTERTAINED “bottom of the table” Altea last Saturday and won again 4-1. It wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests. Altea missed a first half penalty and then took the lead early in the 2nd half. Torry then stunned their opponents and thrilled their fans with 3 goals in 3 minutes which turned the game on its head. Meijide equalised through a magnificent free-kick, Corcoles then struck home from close range and Manu hit the net through an absolute belter. An own goal sealed the victory. Torry travel to La Nucia next Sunday and the re-shaped team will face a much sterner test than of late against better class opposition .