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September 2015

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For a free, no-obligation quotation please call 968 543 077 or 693 496 510 Or e-mail us at mands24@googlemail. com or visit our website www. artificialgrass.pro On the Murcia Today site.

LUGGAGE-HANDLERS are planning strikes at some of Spain’s most heavily-frequented air terminals next month as union talks with company bosses over staff pay hit a stalemate.

Menzies Aviation Ibérica confirms slots of between two and four hours in the morning and at night in five airports will see baggage-handling workers down tools.

The first of these is in the capital at Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport, starting on Friday, September 4 – the same day when RENFE rail drivers are planning to strike – and then every Friday in September from 04.30hrs for three hours and again for two hours from 19.30hrs.

Next up is Málaga, with the four-hour period until noon and from 18.00hrs to 21.00hrs hit every Saturday in September, and every Sunday between 08.00hrs and 11.00hrs and then the same times 12 hours later.

Luggage-carriers at Barcelona’s El Prat

airport will strike between 10.00hrs and noon and then again from 18.00hrs to 20.00hrs every Sunday and Monday in September.

Finally, Palma de Mallorca and AlicanteElche airports will see baggage-handlers on strike for four hours from 10.00hrs and then another four from 16.00hrs – practically a whole working day – every Monday and Wednesday in September.

Although Spanish law requires minimum services to be guaranteed during strikes, this still falls short of the normal workload and is likely to mean delays – if not with flights, then at least with suitcases coming off the carousel after landing.

Several low-cost airlines flying from one or more of these terminals in Spain to the UK and Ireland will be affected by the strike, including Monarch, Ryanair, easyJet, Norwegian, Vueling and BMI Baby. thinkspain.com

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TWELFTH MAN DIES IN BULL RUN FIESTA AFTER BEING GORED THROUGH THE HEART

A man in his 60s died on Sunday after being gored in a bull run in Spain, bringing the total number of deaths to 12 this year, the deadliest in 15 years.

The man who was visiting from the Basque town of Errenteria died on the spot when he was charged in the chest by a bull at the start of the run in the central town of Cuéllar.

As usual someone captured the footage of the fatal goring and posted it on YouTube.

The horrific footage shows the man being charged by the bull and dragged several meters. He was already dead by the time emergency medical staff reached him.

“The descent was rapid and dangerous,” the organisers of the run

said. “One of the bulls gored a person who was on the urban side of the run,” which then goes on to the countryside.

The run at Cuéllar, a town with a population of 10,000 north of Madrid, is one of the oldest in Spain and dates back to the 13th century.

Most bull runs are held in August and September when towns hold festivals in honour of patron saints.

Nearly 16,000 town festivals will include bull events this year, nearly 2,000 more than last year, according to culture ministry figures. thelocal.com

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September 2015

TV MEDIUM LOSES BATTLE WITH TERMINAL CANCER, AGED 53

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Colin Fry dead: TV medium loses battle with terminal cancer, aged 53 Hanna Flint for Metro.co.ukTuesday 25 Aug 2015 10:48 am Colin Fry dead: TV medium loses battle with terminal cancer Colin Fry has passed away (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX Shutterstock) Reverend Colin Fry has died at the age of 53.

The TV medium known for his appearances in Most Haunted, Psychic Private Eyes and 6ixth Sense With Colin Fry, was suffering from terminal lung cancer.

Fry’s death was announced by his management on his website on Tuesday 25th August: It is with much sadness and regret to announce that the Reverend Colin Fry, Britain’s most loved and respected Spiritualist Medium, lost his fight against cancer and passed away peacefully in hospital in the early hours at 2:50am this morning.

Colin brought a lot of comfort to his audiences in a career which spanned for more than 30 years. Our sympathies and condolences go out to Colin’s family and friends.

We, as his management, for many years would like to add that he was the most charming man with the biggest heart, who devoted his life to helping others, and he will be sorely missed.

May his dear soul rest in peace.

Fellow medium, Derek Acorah, posted a tribute on Twitter on learning of Fry’s death: It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of my dear friend Colin Fry. Condolences to his family and friends.

— Derek Acorah (@derek_acorah) August 25, 2015 A number of people in the paranormal world have shared their

condolences online: Sad day in the paranormal world as we learn of the passing of Colin Fry, Thoughts with his family and friends at… http://t.co/ TRkJKz84yG — Haunted Events UK (@HauntedEventsUK) August 25, 2015 We’re very sad to hear of the passing of TV Medium Colin Fry after his battle with lung cancer. We know he will… http://t.co/1UVV9rDvKn — Psychics Tom & Pat (@TPpsychics) August 25, 2015 Just heard that Colin Fry has passed away. Met him a couple of times during MH stuff. RIP Colin Fry. Condolences to family and friends.

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

— Phil Whyman (@PhilWhyman) August 25, 2015 Colin had to cancel his The 6ixth Sense Anniversary Tour earlier this year upon learning of his terminal diagnosis.

At the time he said: ‘It is bad news for me personally. But it has made me even more determined to carry on. It gives me a chance to say goodbye to my fans, who have been so loyal to me over the years.

‘It has been a privilege to be allowed to perform my skills on a national stage and television. I have never taken that for granted and I would like to give something back and say, thank you for having me. It has been a real pleasure’.’

As well as contributing to Living TV’s Most Haunted, Colin also appeared on the Zone Reality channel’s Psychic Private Eyes with fellow psychics Tracy Higgs and Tony Stockwell, and was known to be an LGBT activist.

Read more: http://metro.co.uk

FINE WITHDRAWN AND CASE DROPPED

A WOMAN who posted a photo of a police car illegally parked in a disabled bay on Facebook has been let off her €800 fine – largely due to the media repercussion it provoked.

facing sanction for 'photographing police officers in the course of duty' and for 'unauthorised use' of said pictures which 'could constitute a threat' to their subjects.

Under the draconian 'Public Safety Law', dubbed by most of Spain as the 'Gagging Law', the Facebook user – who captioned the picture with, 'just park where they hell you feel like and you won't get fined' – was

The town council in Petrer (Alicante province), when asked how the parking picture on the woman's personal site could be considered 'threatening', said it was 'a slight on the professional ethics and good name' of the Local Police, adding that the force was allowed WE BUY to park illegally if this was USED necessary to be close to a SPAS crime scene.

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They have also asked the Valencian government to petition Spanish president Mariano Rajoy's cabinet for the law to be scrapped.

With December 13 or 20 having been earmarked as possible dates for the general election this year, nearly every other party in the central government has said it will repeal the 'Public Safety Law' if it gets into power. thinkspain

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September 2015

DON’T BURY YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND

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SPANISH CUSTOMS VESSEL FIRES LIVE ROUNDS IN UK TERRITORIAL WATERS OFF GIBRALTAR

Foreign Office voices concern over incident involving pleasure boat. Britain has expressed deep concern after Spain confirmed that one of its customs vessels fired live rounds during a dispute with a pleasure boat in UK territorial waters off Gibraltar.

The Foreign Office said it had been reassured that Spanish law enforcement officials would show the “utmost respect” in future for protecting lives.

Both countries have also agreed to “step up” cooperation against organised crime, including giving “timely” notice of pursuits of suspect vessels and exchanging evidence.

A formal complaint was lodged after two men fishing off the coast of the British overseas territory complained that the crew of the customs boat had “fired in their direction”.

Gibraltar’s First Minister Fabian Picardo said the incident occurred “well inside” territorial waters and represented an “extremely serious escalation” of “repeated Spanish violations of British-Gibraltar sovereignty”.

He said customs officials attempted to board the pleasure boat after it failed to stop its engines when demanded and during the operation shots were fired into the sea near the boat.

It was, he added, the third incident involving a Spanish customs vessel in as many weeks.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said it had received “a full explanation of the incident on 22 August”.

It went on: “We remain deeply concerned

at the fact that live shots are now confirmed to have been fired during this incident and we have been reassured by the Spanish Government that safety of lives at sea is a top priority for all concerned and their law enforcement agencies will operate with the utmost respect for this principle in order that this is fully upheld in the future.

“Without prejudice to our respective positions on questions of sovereignty and jurisdiction, it has been agreed to step up law enforcement cooperation in the fight against organised crime, including through timely cooperation and notification by the various seaborne agencies of pursuits of vessels involved in illegal activities to ensure effective action against criminals and a commitment to a mutual provision and exchange of evidence in order to better facilitate the successful prosecution of criminals in the relevant courts and tribunals.”

Earlier this month the UK Government accused Spain of “a clear violation of UK sovereignty” after complaining that boats and helicopters had been sent into British waters off Gibraltar.

Ministers said repeated incursions were “completely unacceptable and unlawful under the international law” and pledged to urgently raise the matter with the Spanish.

A row broke out after Spanish state vessels chasing suspected drug smugglers made forays into waters around Gibraltar.

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EXPAT SERVICES 8

September 2015

Moving to Spain

STEP #1 MAKING THE DECISION If you want to settle in Spain either long or short term then you have to have drive, determination and patience. The hot weather may be a major attraction to you - don't move for this reason alone.

The sun is nice for a while but if you need to work in it to survive, its not quite so attractive. If you are one of those who like everything done straight away then Spain is not for you. Be prepared for a slower lifestyle where things take a little longer to get done. Living in Spain is not a holiday in any way.

Still convinced that you want to move ? Then read on and do it ! Assuming you have cleared up any mess and tied up loose ends in your own country you are almost ready to move.

Maybe you have a home to go to in Spain, maybe you want to find one when you get there. Maybe you have work to go to or maybe you will look for work when you get there. If you have no arrangements don't worry, there are plenty of both, depending on what area of Spain you are going to. For relocation services see here.

Home and travel Decide which possessions you will take to Spain, which you will leave behind and which items you can sell before you leave.

Obtain estimates for the move from at least three removal companies. Purchase boxes, labels

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leave the UK work out your retirement income by obtaining and completing a form BR19 from the Retirement Pension Forecasting and Advice Unit (RPFA) on 0044(0) 191 218 7585 and ask for a state pension forecast. This is available up to and bubble wrap. When you pack boxes, list the four months before you reach the UK pension age. contents on a label.

The forecast you receive subject to your general Make sure you have nothing on loan such as entitlement will tell you what your pension is at the date received and whether or not you will get videos, library books and if so, return them. more by the time you reach UK pension age. Note Have you anything at the dry cleaners or that if you have already moved, and are paying cobblers? local Spanish social security payments, that this Arrange moving date and confirm at least twice. forecast will not include your local contributions.

Check all the details of your Spanish purchase.

You should write to The UK Pensions Service Confirm mortgage and lawyers. informing them that you are moving to Spain Make sure you have some cash for your journey and give them your new address. Their address is International Pension Centre, Tyne View Park, and arrival in Spain (Euros) Notify authorities, banks, building societies etc of Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE98 1BA Telephone: +44 (0) 191 218 7777; Fax: +44 (0) 191 218 3836. your new contact details.

Note that the state pension age and entitlements Check any schooling arrangements for the may vary between Spain and the UK. To check children. See more about schools here. on your pension rights in Spain we suggest that Make arrangements for your pets travel and as a first step you should look at www.ukinspain. arrival. See more about pets here. com/english/. This is a UK government website Check passports, travel tickets and car dedicated to providing information for those relocating to Spain from the UK. documents.

Have you got travel insurance ? Have you a green card for your car insurance ?

See about driving in Spain here.

Personal You’ll need to consider your pensions, tax, life assurance, investments and healthcare arrangements in your new home. Please note that members of EU countries such as a UK national, a Dane, a Swede or Norwegian has the right to live in Spain by virtue of their countries’ membership of the European Economic Area.

If you are retiring abroad, you can continue to receive your UK State pension. If you are moving permanently to Spain, you should get yearly increases in your pension. Contact the Social Security Office to complete the correct forms. Before you

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www.soltimes.com To obtain your UK State pension in Spain you will need to complete a claim form from the Pensions Service. This is also normally available four months before you reach the UK pensionable age. It asks you if you want to claim a UK retirement pension and for details of any periods of residence and state insurance you have in other countries. If you are living in Spain and claim a pension from that country, the UK Pension Service will pass details of your claim to the Spanish authorities who will process you pension in Spain.

Personal and company pension schemes can usually be paid anywhere. The experience of others has shown that some company schemes, for example, will pay a pension only to a UK bank. Further, some annuity companies levy charges for each overseas payment, although others do so for free.

Personal circumstances vary greatly but you may cease to be liable to UK tax if you cut all ties with the UK and become domiciled abroad. However you will technically be a UK resident if you spend a requisite number of days in the UK and will consequently suffer UK tax on your income. Obtain more information on tax and your domicile status from the Inland Revenue’s document called IR20. If you do change you residency cash held offshore may still be liable to tax in Spain depending on local tax rules. Please note that Spain imposes a wealth tax on your world-wide assets. However, as Spain and UK have a double taxation treaty you should be given relief for double taxation. Please remember that if you are proposing to rent out your UK property this will attract a UK income tax charge.

STEP #3 MAKING THE MOVE Once you have decided on where in Spain you are going to, you need to decide on how to get there. You will decide which way is best for you, depending on what you are taking with you. If you decide to drive, make sure you read the section on driving in Spain. You can catch a car ferry at many English ports and buy a one way or return ticket. [we were once told that a cheap day return to France can be bought cheaper than a one-way ticket]. A point to note is that if you bring a caravan over with you, most ferries will not sell you a one way ticket so you must use the tunnel. Consider carefully the cost of a crossing to Calais and the additional cost of petrol and tolls as opposed to a crossing to Santander or Bilbao. Driving through France can be a long nightmare and very expensive on tolls. Flying over is a cheap alternative if all you have are a couple of cases. Cheap flights can be booked over the internet at as little as £50 each ! But, consider how you are to get about once you get here. Spain is a big country and a car is a must. Whichever way you get here, there are several things you must bring with you. Driving licences/Car insurance papers Birth/ Marriage certificates Passports Bank books/cheque and credit cards Enough money to get home Important medication Form E111 and remember to make several photocopies of all your documents !

STEP #4 TRAVEL DOCUMENTS Because Spain is part of the EU, if you live in an EU country, you do not require a visa to enter the country. You have almost equal rights in Spain

THE ULTIMATE IN CONCRETE DESIGN

as you do in your own country. Make sure you have a full ten year British Passport well before you leave. Make several photocopies of it and make sure you keep at least one copy in a safe place. Losing your original passport in Spain would be a bad move. Losing all record of it would be worse. Consider taking out travel insurance for your journey over. its money well spent if your luggage vanishes or your car is stolen with all your belongings inside. Make sure children have their own passports. its also a good idea to go the post office in England and collect a form for renewal of a passport and a form for replacement of a lost/stolen passport. These are forms you can't get in Spain.

Make sure you have all your birth/marriage certificates with you and again, make sure you have several photocopies of each which you should keep separate from the originals.

STEP #5 ON ARRIVAL IN SPAIN - N.I.E. NUMBER As a foreigner living and/or working in Spain, the first thing you MUST do on arrival is obtain an NIE number. This is a simple process providing you follow the guidelines. You can get a Gestor to apply for you but it will cost you about 100€. To do it your self, go to the National Police station and collect an application form, or you can download the form here. You can complete the form in English and it is FREE http://www.idealspain.com/

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TUESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 10.00 for 10.30 am CASA DE CULTURA Calle Vicente Blasco Ib‡–ez, San Miguel de Salinas A current membership card will be required for admission to the meeting Following retirements and changes to personnel of the Association, this meeting has been called to formally elect the positions of President, Treasurer, Vice-President and Voice. In addition, HELP Vega Baja also wish members to consider the adoption of revised Statutes for the Charity.

Further details are available from: The Secretary, HELP Vega Baja Apartado de Correos 395 San Miguel de Salinas 03193, Alicante Tel:966723733 or

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September 2015

PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE COSTA‘S

MURCIA The capital city of the Murcia region offers many museums and sites of tourist interest. The Museo Salizillo, which houses the works of 18th century Murcian artist and wood sculptor Francisco Salzillo, is one of the city’s most important museums. The Catedral de Santa María, an example of 14th to 18th century baroque architecture, and the Casino, are also recommended visits.

CARTAGENA Built around a natural harbour, the city of Cartagena has several forts and castles of important historical and naval interest. There are also architecturally interesting buildings and museums, such as the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Marítima and the Museo Arqueológico Municipal.

FORTUNA To the north east of Murcia, Fortuna is most well known as a spa town. Its thermal hot springs, the Balneario, were used by both Romans and Arabs. The spa retains a late 19th century layout and the water is believed to be beneficial for sufferers of rheumatic and respiratory complaints.

Hydrotherapy and beauty treatments are also available.

SIERRA ESPUÑA One of the Costa Cálida’s regional parks, the Sierra Espuña is a popular destination for outdoor sports in the province of Murcia, with places to walk, hike and climb, as well as fish, canoe and bridge jump.

BEACHES Costa Cálida’s beaches stretch along 250 kilometres of coastline. There are facilities for all sorts of watersports, including jet skiing, windsurfing, sailing, canoeing, water skiing and fly surfing. The nautical resorts on Mar Menor and around Mazarrón and Águilas, in particular, have equipment for hire and provide sailing courses.

La Manga del Mar Menor is recognised for its beaches, hotels and water sports facilities. Mar Menor generally has calm waters and is good for wind surfing and kayaking.

The Villa Nanitos beach, near San Pedro del Pinatar, is used for kayaking, beach volleyball, waterskiing and surfing.

The Punta del Fraile beach near Águilas has clear water, making it good for snorkelling. It is only accessible by foot.

BLUE FLAG BEACHES The Blue Flag is an internationally recognised award, given to beaches and marinas that fulfil certain criteria concerning facilities, water quality, environmental issues and public access and safety. The Blue Flag website provides details for Blue Flag beaches, including type of sand, whether there is wheelchair access, wind and water sports available, and whether cafes and bars are available.

Welcome GO SATELLITE!

g Getting British TV here in Spain can be a confusing and daunting task and findin ABOUT US GO SATELLITE was set up 10 years ago by husband and wife team Ian and Deborah. Ian has more than 20 years experience, having spent 10 years with SKY In Home Services in the UK, where he worked on the specialist heights team as well as SKY´S Prestigious VIP Team which caters for the “stars”, therefore the quality of his workmanship is extremely high!

After leaving SKY, Ian set up his own business in the UK and ran this very successfully for 5 years before moving to Spain.

SERVICES WE OFFER We are here to help!!!! We can arrange Installation of TV direct from the satellite with no monthly subscription. We are able to make repairs to existing satellite systems, potentially saving you from additional costs. We are

a reliable and informative company is vital.

suppliers of Sky and humax receivers direct from the UK. You will find we are the cheapest on the Costa Blanca.

Ask us about Sky cards and subscriptions as well as Al Jazeera cards for bars enabling viewing of Premier League Football matches.

WHERE ARE WE? GO SATELLITE is based in Ciudad Quesada and covers most of the Costa Blanca.

WHY ARE WE DIFFERENT? Ian said “Being a small company has its advantages. We offer a personal service and get to know all our customers by name. It’s important to us that people fully understand and are happy with the service we are providing. We realise that the technology involved can be confusing but we are happy to spend time with our customers to ensure that they get the best system for their needs”.

CUSTOMER SERVICE Any concerns or queries are dealt with in a clear and professional manner and clients can call Ian at any point if they have any queries. This ensures that all of their customers have complete peace of mind throughout the lifetime of the service. Added to that is the fact that GO SATELLITE is a fully legal, Spanish registered business that provides individual, company and community installations with a free no obligation site survey.

Go Satellite is going from strength to strength!

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OTHER SERVICES Go Satellite not only provide television but are also able to provide internet and telephone services. Packages are available to suit all with a switch on/off service available for non residents.

COME AND MEET US! We have an office in the Business Centre Calle Los Arcos No7 Ciudad Quesada, so you can now come and meet us and we will endeavour to help you with all of your TV queries.

DISH ISSUES? Here at Go Satellite, we use only Top Quality Portugese dishes and Invacom LNB’s. Sky Packages are also available. If you do not have room or do not wish to have a dish, give us a call as we have a solution!

At Go Satellite, we will endeavour, to provide TV for everyone.

So, if you are fed up of missing your favourite programs or you have lost your TV signal and do not want to lose out any more, then call on 965 725 670 or call into our office to find out more about GO SATELLITE and its services. Alternatively check out the website:www.freetvspain.com

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LOOK GOOD FEEL GREAT

STOP BOWEL CANCER' A chemical compound found in spicy curries could help reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer, a study has found.

Researchers gave capsaicin, which gives chilli peppers their heat, to mice genetically prone to developing multiple tumours in their gastrointestinal tract.

The capsaicin triggered a pain receptor in the cells lining their intestines, setting off a reaction that reduced the risk of growing colorectal tumours.

Capsaicin - which gives chillies their heat - reduces the amount people eat. It activates the TRPV1 receptors in the Scientists found that the treatment extended the stomach - which signal fullness lifespan of the mice by more than 30 per cent.

These receptors are dampened by a high-fat diet, researchers found. It's long been thought that chillies can help us Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk lose weight. Now, new research found the fiery food can help us feel full, stopping us from overeating and piling on the pounds.

Tel: 950 121 936 - sales@soltimes.com

ADDING CHILLI TO FOOD REALLY CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT: COMPOUND IN FIERY PEPPERS TELLS THE BODY IT'S FULL, PREVENTING OVER-EATING.

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The stomach stretches when it is full, activating nerves to tell the body it has had enough food. However a high fat diet impairs important receptors in the stomach that signal fullness, Australian researchers found. But eating chilli peppers can activate the stomach to stretch and release the 'full-feeling' signals, stopping a person from overeating, they said.

It has previously been found that capsaicin – the compound in chilli which gives it its heat – is able to stimulate a receptor called potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel protein.

This receptor triggers the process described above, where the stomach stretches and signal to the body it is full.

The new study's findings back up previous work which found this receptor can stop obesity associated with a high-fat diet.

Professor Amanda Page, of the University of Adelaide, who carried out the research, said: 'The stomach stretches when it is full, which activates nerves in the stomach to tell the body that it has had enough food.

'We found that this activation is regulated through hot chilli pepper or TRPV1 receptors.

'It is known from previous studies that capsaicin, found in hot chillies, reduces food intake in humans.'

Deleting the TRPV1 receptors dampens the response of the stomach nerves stretching – resulting in a delayed feeling of fullness and people eating more food, she added.

And eating a high-fat diet disrupts these receptors and leads to obesity, she said.

But the study found eating chilli may reduce food intake because it is able to stimulate stomach nerves to signal fullness, she concluded.

Dr Stephen Kentish, of the University of Adelaide's School of Medicine, says these findings could help the development of new therapies for obesity.

He said: 'It's exciting that we now know more about the TRPV1 receptor pathway and that the consumption of capsaicin may be able to prevent overeating through an action on nerves in the stomach.

'The next stage of research will involve investigation of the mechanisms behind TRPV1 receptor activation Benefits Consultancy with the aim of developing a Do you suffer from mobility problems, more palatable therapy. breathlessness/pain or falls/stumbles?

'We will also do further Do you need help washing / dressing or work to determine why a supervision? high-fat diet de-sensitises You could be entitled to extra income by TRPV1 receptors and claiming UK investigate if we can reverse sickness / disabililty benefits while living in Spain the damage,' he says. The For advice or to book a consultation research was published in call 950 169 729 or 663 297 568 the journal PLOS ONE. or visit www.ukbenefitsinspain.com EATING CHILLI 'COULD

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September 2015

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If the clutter and disorganization of your laundry area make you want to run from the room as soon as you’ve snagged that final sock from the dryer, you’re in need of a laundry room makeover.

The place where you sort, wash, dry, and fold needn’t be dark, disorganized, and depressing. And even within tight quarters, there are smart strategies you can use to make your space work well for you.

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If the clutter and disorganization of your laundry area make you want to run from the room as soon as you’ve snagged that final sock from the dryer, you’re in need of a laundry room makeover.

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www.soltimes.com With a few of our tricks and tips, you can turn that room into a neat and inviting space. Heck, once you’ve cleared the disarray, the laundry room -- and not the couch, in front of the TV -- may actually become your favorite spot to relax and fold.

DESIGN INSPIRATION FROM MARTHA AND MORE First things first: You’ll need some inspiration for ways to creatively redo your space. Can’t even imagine what a sparkling, Zen-like laundry room looks like?

Check out these two shining examples,

A STREAMLINED LAUNDRY ROOM Laundry rooms are notorious for being cramped. If you need new inspiration for making over your laundry room, these laundry room ideas will help you save precious space and time.

In Kevin Sharkey’s laundry room, he wanted everything necessary to clean and care for his clothing in one place.

He put together kits for minor sewing repairs, stain removal, shoe care, and clothing storage, and set them within easy reach on the lowest shelf. A catchall holds loose change, popped buttons, or whatever else is in his pockets. He decants powder detergent; a glass container makes it easier to see when you’re running low than a cardboard box does.

GREAT DIVIDER To keep folded linens organized in neat stacks, flip two shelf brackets on their heads and fasten them to the wall and the shelf with finish washers.

LAUNDRY WALL Adjustable wire shelving is convenient and waterproof; in this laundry area, one shelf is reserved solely for drying sweaters. The wooden boxes house supplies.

Install a tension rod upon which to hang clothes as you take them out of the dryer; that way, they’ll need only a light ironing or no ironing at all. The iron and the ironing board are stored nearby for easy access.

PERFECT TOWEL FOLDING Here is an easy trick for keeping your towels neatly folded. Place the towel flat on the bed. Place a standard-size cutting board in the center of the towel. Fold one end of the towel over to the edge of the cutting board; then fold the other side of the towel. You might have to adjust the cutting board so it’s perfectly centered.

Remove the cutting board, then fold the towel in half. For hand towels, use a smaller cutting board. martha stewart

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September 2015

BRABEN’S BLOG...

Hello and welcome to CanDu Computer Bytes. saving it.

This will be the final instalment of what to watch Show search suggestions for and “Turn Off” in relation to windows 10. as I type – When you start We have looked at Microsoft’s history and seen typing in the address bar, your typing how absolute control will corrupt. We also know will be sent to your search engine — Bing that it was the first company to sign up for unless you change the search engine — and it PRISM which as legislation that will allow any law enforcement organisation complete access will return search suggestions. This means Bing to everything that you write or say, without a will see your typing even if you’re typing a web reason or court warrant. So between us, let’s address directly. All modern browsers, aside limit what ANYONE can see on your computer, from Firefox with its separate address bar and search box, work this way. after all, your personal information IS YOURS. Windows 10 makes your information ‘secure’ Internet Explorer is still around, although it’s by using something called BitLocker encryption not the default browser here are some things technology. First, this technology IS SECURE! If that you might want to know. you lose the passphrase key, you are stuffed!

Enable Suggested Sites – This is an older Microsoft have even thought of that and will feature and isn’t enabled by default, but is still let you store your key ‘safely’ on their servers offered under the Advanced list of settings in (computers) – how thoughtful! This actually only automatically happens if you use a the Internet Options window. This little-known Microsoft account. And, if you do, it will upload feature of Internet Explorer has been around your encryption recovery key to Microsoft’s for a long time, and it uploads your browsing servers. This means that you can get access if history to Microsoft if you enable it.

Bing Suggestions – As in Edge, anything you you ever lose it, but it also means that Microsoft or anyone who can get the key from Microsoft type in the address bar is sent to Microsoft’s — such as any government — can decrypt Bing search engine to provide you with search your encrypted files. Of course, this is still an suggestions unless you change search engines upgrade over the previous situation where all or click “Turn off suggestions (stop sending Windows Home devices were unencrypted. In keystrokes to Bing)” after typing in the address that case, anyone could read their data.

The best bit is - You can avoid this by not bar.

One final warning and piece of advice. logging in with a Microsoft account, but then Windows Update – Windows 10 Home requires your device won’t be encrypted at all. if you’d rather not do this, you can upgrade to a that you install security, driver, and feature Professional edition of Windows and use the updates automatically, and you can only prevent standard BitLocker feature. BitLocker will ask Windows 10 from automatically downloading if you want to store your recovery key with updates by setting your device’s connection as Microsoft for safekeeping, but that’s optional. a metered connection or upgrading to Windows You can find these keys at https://onedrive.live. 10 Pro. Thankfully, there is at least a way to com/recoverykey. block updates you don’t want.

If you want to encrypt your data securely Now that I have frightened you to death then there are a number of industry standard with all the information that windows 10 will encryption programs that are free and will do exactly the same job, but without big brother send to Microsoft IF YOU LET THEM, you are being able to access whatever they want also armed with all the known switches that prevent them from accessing your personal whenever they want to!

Microsoft Edge is Windows 10’s new web information. Now you have the ability to take browser. SmartScreen and Cortana are also control of your computer to ensure that what is part of it, You’ll find the privacy related options your, stays yours! under the menu in Edge — select Settings and Contact me for free advice concerning your then select “View advanced settings.” computer, or to arrange an appointment, at the Have Cortana assist me in Microsoft Edge address or phone number below.

- When Cortana is enabled in Microsoft For further information or advice on Edge, it will track your computing,contact Trevor on 689 892 745 or browsing history and canducomputing@hotmail.co.uk other information,

RIO AGUAS WHERE IS THE WATER?

The Rio Aguas normally rises in Sorbas and reaches the sea ironically next to where the ships of the desert ie camels give summer rides down at the border of Mojacar and Garrucha. Ironic as the entire river basin is semi arid and fast becoming a desert to join Tabernas to the west.

Driving the N340a from Sorbas to Tabernas used to mean passing through gently rolling hills of scrubland filled with birds and wildlife. Now the hillsides are bulldozed clear; instead intensively planted with seemingly endless lines of olive plants. Alongside each row is an irrigation pipe.

Non irrigated olives have been grown in Almeria for thousands of years as they cope with the dry climate that brings just 200mm of rain per year.

Now with over two million olive plants in the region hooked up to the water supply in Tabernas/ Sorbas; 50 million litres of water are needed per hectare each year. Doing the maths the new crops need 500mm of water per year so the 300mm shortfall and more is being sucked out of the ground. The source of the Rio Aguas is now reduced to a puddle. An easy vantage point to see the water level drop is the old road bridge just west of Turre near Cortijo Grande. In the 10 years I’ve been living in the region there’s always been a beautiful blue lake underneath the bridge with others close by. Now it’s gone!

The Rio Aguas aquifer is the largest in Almeria covering 150 square kilometres, villages have relied on the springs for millennia. The region

MOBILE PROBLEMS

Did you know that w h e n Alexander G r a h a m Bell made the first e v e r telephone call in March 1876 he said, “Come here Watson, I want to see you.” Amazing that two such momentous things should happen on the same day, the first phone conversation and the first ever nuisance call- Watson was in the bath!

I’m no technology geek, but even I have to admit, the way the telephone has evolved is, to use a not very technological phrase, pretty nifty, although at times mobile phones can be a pain in the neck, in more ways than one.

It’s hard to believe isn’t it that the first ever cell phone call was made in April 1973 in America. Now you really have to question how useful it would have been to own a cell phone back in 1973.

There would have been very few people who were able to take those calls and, because it was over 30 years before I’m A Kardashian Look At Me-or whatever it’s called-was first screened, there wasn’t much to talk about either!

Actually, mobile phones didn’t make an appearance in the UK until 1985, when there were two calls on the same day. The first one was

made to the Chairman of Vodafone and the second one, claimed to be the first public mobile phone call in the country, was made by Ernie Wise- the Ernie Wise of Morecambe and Wise fame.

The “Vodafone Transportable Vodafone VT1”-catchy name!-on which the call was made, weighed 11 pounds and was so heavy Little Ern could only hold the receiver! A heavy and unwieldy monster. The phone that is, not Ernie Wise who, as Eric Morecambe often said, moved like he was on casters!

But Ernie Wise aside, there are times when those mobiles can be a pain in the neck and, wouldn’t you know, there is a condition known as text neck, which is the result of prolonged periods spent looking down at your phone reading or replying to text messages.

Doctors have come up with all sorts of ways to combat the symptoms of text neck, from neck strengthening exercises to recommending holding the phone above your head when texting.

So mobiles are, officially, a pain in the neck!

But forget exercises, I’ve got a better way of stopping text neck; we could stop endlessly checking our phones and actually talk to the people we’re with!

Graham is married to Helen and has a daughter, Alice. He lives part of the year near Albox, but works in Qatar, teaching. If you wish to contact Graham regarding this article email: helenandg@yahoo.co.uk

Enjoy Stephens musings? Pop over to http://findmeahomeinspain.wordpress.com as the articles are posted on there too...and they’re a bit longer too! Findmeahome are always looking for quality homes for their sales and rental portfolios, please contact Stephen for a valuation: stephen@findmeahome.eu Telephone: 636 266 641

has been drying out for thousands of years but with the prehistoric water underneath with careful use life can continue not only for humans but the unique flora and fauna of the Karst and Sorbas Natural Park.

Historically going back to the Bronze Age the Argar civilisation first experienced the climate drying; so they planted more barley as it’s drought resistant but in doing so chopped down the ancient oak forests; speeding up climate change.

After the collapse of their civilisation around 3000 years ago the population tumbled until the Romans arrived. The population grew again and as tribute was also sent to Rome; irrigation was first introduced. From about 1100 years ago the Moors introduced terracing and hydraulic systems so that hillsides were cultivated. The terracing also stopped the soil from being washed away.

After the Reconquest; the native Spanish simply didn’t have the means or the will to cultivate the land as it had been done and goats and sheep were introduced which continue to this day to degrade the preciously thin soil.

Villages now rely on boreholes which are getting deeper. 400 metres under Sorbas is an area of radioactive water unfit for use. This water has seeped into local supplies meaning some boreholes have been shut off. When the local Hydro plan was approved there were just 221 Hectares of

olives planted. As of 2012 it had jumped to 3697 Hectares and is estimated now at 5300 Ha which judging by the views each side of the N340a is an understatement.

Water is being extracted at more than three and a half times the level at which it can be replenished.

Even if all water extraction stops now it may take decades to recover.

In 2014 in Los Molinos de Aguas their spring’s output had dropped from 40 to just 15 litres per second. Via YouTube the sadly excellent 15 minute long film ‘From Under Our feet’ directed by Julian Stern is a sobering watch; bringing home the awful environmental damage that’s being done with the tacit permission of the Andalucían Government.

The matter has been raised in Brussels with the EU, there are Facebook pages such as Ecocide del Rio de Aguas Spain, another called El Rio de Aguas; fighting for survival plus a Change.org petition. Time and again big business tramples over eco systems. Luckily local people are fighting back, for all our futures!

See more here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJM1Cj8zQ34

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16

September 2015

CAIXABANK GOES 'CONTACTLESS' WITH NEW APP TRAIN DRIVERS TO STRIKE A

HIGH-STREET bank La Caixa has launched a mobile phone App which allows customers to make 'contactless payments' in shops.

Also known as CaixaBank, the entity says it expects up to 70% of its customers are likely to use the new application, which lets them download their Visa details onto their mobiles and pay with them as though they were, in fact, a Visa. For this to work, shops will need to have a dataphone set up allowing contactless payments, although at present not every store has these set up.

About seven in 10 shops and supermarkets are equipped for contactless payments – a system based upon Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology – or about 600,000 dataphones, plus a number of cashpoint machines are now adapted to them.

CaixaBank Pay also allows users to check their account movements, manage card purchases made, consult balance and check movements

EU driving licenses are valid for driving throughout the Spanish territory. The renewal of EU driving licenses requires the holder to undergo psychometric aptitude tests and be legally resident in Spain.

WHO NEEDS TO RENEW? The latest EU Directive 2006/126/CE states that holders of EU driving licenses that have expired or are about to expire need to renew their license.

Holders of EU driving licenses that are valid indefinitely or for more than 15 years for Group 1 (AM, A1, A2, A, B & BE) or valid for 5 years or more for Group 2 (BTP, C1, C1E, C, CE, D1, D1E, D, DE) need to renew their license providing they have been legally resident in Spain for 2 years since 19th January 2013.

TWO EXAMPLES EU license holders that are valid indefinitely or for more than 15 years, who are legally resident in Spain before or up to 19th January 2013, should renew their driving license from 19th January 2015.

EU license holders that are valid indefinitely or for more than 15 years, who are legally resident in Spain since 6th June 2014, should renew their driving license from 6th June 2016.

HOW TO RENEW This can be done in the local office of the Spanish

WEEK TODAY

THE first in a series of train driver strikes will affect rail traffic this coming Friday (September 4), when workers will down tools for 24 hours.

Their union, SEMAF, says it has not received a response from rail board RENFE after attempts to negotiate fairer working conditions which allow drivers to provide a quality service to customers.

made with their Visas. Otherwise, logging into the website Lacaixa.es on the customer's phone allows these transactions to be carried out.

The App is suitable for all Android phones. thinkspain.com

RENEWAL OF EUROPEAN DRIVING LICENSES

Traffic Department, by calling 060 and making an appointment, or online at www.dgt.es DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED • Official application form (available from local Spanish Traffic Dept. or download from www.dgt.es) • Proof of identity and residency • EU driving license. Original and a photocopy • Results from psychometric aptitude tests from recognised and authorised centre • A recent photograph 32mm x 26mm IN THE INTERESTS OF ROAD SAFETY These procedures have been implemented to comply with driving license regulations (Directive 2006/126/CE) in an effort to help increase road safety in general. Countries of the European Union have a single driving license for all 28 members, in a drive to harmonise the more than 110 different types of driving licenses currently in circulation.

We hope the information provided in this article is of interest.

If you would like to contact Línea Directa please call 902 123 461 More information on Línea Directa online at www. lineadirecta.com

According to SEMAF, the average age of a train driver in Spain is ‘over 54 years’, meaning many are close to State retirement age of 65 and beginning to suffer the usual health issues of middle age making their jobs more difficult.

They are more likely to go off sick or find themselves struggling to cope physically, SEMAF says, possibly ending up being retired early on health grounds.

As a result, the ‘population’ of train drivers is dwindling, and no attempts by RENFE to increase its staff teams are apparent.

SEMAF reached an agreement with RENFE on May 14, when the latter promised to develop a ‘consistent strategy’ to tackle the ‘serious staffing issues’ among train drivers.

The deadline given has long passed, says SEMAF, and no response from the rail board is forthcoming.

According to the union, RENFE bosses have ‘not wanted to consider any of the proposals presented’ but has made ‘unilateral decisions’ where they have ‘applied opposite criteria to that established in current employment laws’.

The first strike, a week today, will take place all day long and the second one will be the following Friday, September 11.

Monday, September 14 and Tuesday, September 15 will also see train drivers on the picket line. thinkspain.com

17

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SOLTIMES PROPERTY SUPPLEMENT

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LOOKING TO BUY OR RENT? FIND YOUR DREAM HOME INSIDE! HOTEL STAYS RISE BY 5.9% IN JULY

BELGIANS BUYING NINE SPANISH PROPERTIES A DAY

The Belgian media have highlighted the growing importance of Belgian property buyers in Spain

Belgian daily newspaper ‘La Libre Belgique’ has reported increasing interest in Spanish property from the Belgian market, which is the fourth most important source of foreign buyers for Spanish homes at the moment.

Spanish hotels recorded 39.8 million overnight stays in July, representing an increase of 5.9% over the same month of 2014, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute this week.

The increase in overnight stays is due mainly to the 7% rise in stays by residents in Spain, while the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors rose by 5.3%. Moreover, hotels invoiced an average of 87.8 euros per occupied room, which is 8% more than in the same month of last year, while the average daily revenue per available room, which is conditioned by the occupancy registered in hotel establishments, reached 61.8 euros, with a year-on-year increase of 13.6%.

El País reported that the accumulated figures for the first seven months of the year show an increase in overnight stays of 3.9% over the same period in 2014, while in the month of July, the average stay fell by 1.2% and stood at 3.8 nights per visitor. The Hotel Price Index (HPI) annual

rate stood at 5.3% in July, which is 0.5 points lower than in June and 4.6 points over that registered in July 2014.

The regions which registered the highest hotel occupancy rates in July were the Balearic Islands (89.2%), the Canary Islands (80.5%), Valencia (73.2%), Catalonia (71%) and the Basque Country (70.7%). All of them were above the Spanish average. In contrast, the regions which recorded the lowest occupancy rates were Castilla-La Mancha (26.3%), Extremadura (30.1%), Aragón (35.4%), Castilla y León (39%) and Galicia (47.1%).

The top countries of origin for most overnight hotel stays by non-residents in July were the United Kingdom and Germany, with 27.0% and 21.9%, respectively, of the total overnight stays, followed by visitors from France, Belgium and Netherlands, with 7.8%, 4.4% and 4.3% of the total overnight stays, respectively. kyero.com

The paper is quoting figures produced by the Colegio de registradores de la Propiedad, which registers property transactions completed in notarial offices throughout Spain.

During the first quarter Belgians were buying Spanish property at the rate of nine houses a day, purchasing 820 properties during the first quarter of 2015, positioning them in fourth place behind the British, French and Germans and making the Belgian market

more important than the much vaunted Russian market which lagged behind in sixth position.

Foreigners purchased 13% of all properties sold in Spain during 2014, although in some areas the percentage was much higher, in the Alicante province for example, 44% of the purchases were made by foreign buyers.

During the first quarter Belgians purchased 0.91% of the total properties sold, behind the British (2.16% of the total), French (1,25%), and Germans (0.94%). h t t p : / / spanishnewstoday.com/

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September 2015

SPAIN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR PREDICTED TO GROW BY 3% IN 2015

The number of homes being sold in England and Wales has fallen significantly, according to figures from the Land Registry.

steeply in the East of England and on the fringes of London.

In May this year, there were 65,619 transactions in total, a 15% fall on the same month in 2014.

Prices in C ambridgeshire and East Anglia jumped by 2.8% during July alone.

However, prices in some property hotspots are still rising by up to 13% a year, due to lack of supply.

The number of homes being sold for more than a million pounds dropped dramatically - down by 21%.

The Land Registry figures include cash sales, as well as properties bought with mortgages.

Some experts have welcomed what they see as a cooling of the market.

“Normality has returned to the market, with the panic that has driven it in the past no longer present,” said Guy Meacock, head of the London office of buying agency Prime Purchase.

“It is more level and sensible, which is good news for buyers.”

Price rises However, the fall in transactions appears to be putting further pressure on house prices.

Earlier this month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported that the number of homes for sale was at a record low.

As a result it said demand was outstripping supply, and prices were likely to rise as a result.

The Land Registry has already reported that house prices in England and Wales rose by 4.6% in the year to July 2015.

It also published additional figures on Friday, which showed prices rising

Many of the London suburbs - and commuter towns nearby saw price rises of more than 10% over the last year.

In Reading, Berkshire, prices rose by 13.6% in the 12 months to July.

But property values in north-eastern England continued to fall sharply.

In Darlington, County Durham, they fell by 5.4% over the year, and 2% in July alone.

The steepest fall was in Pembrokeshire in West Wales, where prices fell by 5.2% and 3.2% respectively.

The biggest price jump of all came in the London borough of Hillingdon, where the cost of a home rose by 14.6% over the last year.

In total, 15 outer London boroughs saw rises of more than 10%.

At the same time, areas of central London saw much slower increases.

In Camden, annual prices went up by just 0.1%. In Hammersmith and Fulham, prices rose by 0.9%.

One reason for the slowdown in central London may be the change to stamp duty rates last December, which made it more expensive to buy any house worth more than £937,500.

Between May 2014 and May 2015, there were 26% fewer homes sold in London that were worth more than £1m, according to the Land Registry. bbc.com

OVER HALF A MILLION UK HOME OWNERS PLAN TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE WITH PENSIONS POT Just over half a million people, some 631,000, in the UK intend to use all or part of their pension to help repay their mortgage balance, new research has found. While the majority of 40 to 70 year olds with mortgages, 71%, intend to continue to meet their obligations via monthly repayments and 25% through additional lump sum contributions, up to 9% or 631,000 intend to use their retirement savings to repay their mortgage.

The research from financial firm Paternership, shows that this is lower than the figure recorded last year when it was 14% and said that more people are looking to more traditional methods to repay the outstanding balance on their mortgages.

It also shows that 8%, or 561,000 people, say that they intend to rely on an inheritance to repay the outstanding balance on their property and 7% or 491,000 confess they don’t know how they will meet their obligations.

‘While it is still shocking that over half a million people in the UK intend to use all or part of their retirement savings to repay their mortgage, it has fallen from over a million in 2014,’ said Andrew Megson, managing director of retirement at the firm.

‘This is fascinating as it suggests that the Pension Freedoms which allow people to access their entire pension in cash have encouraged people to take a more holistic view of how they use their pension rather than focusing on one off expenditure. This in turn appears to have focused peoples’ minds on paying off their home loan before they retire,’ he explained.

‘The work that the lenders have done in communicating with interest only mortgage customers about their options and obligations is also likely to have had a positive impact as it will have encouraged more people to move to capital repayment. That said, while a debt free retirement is the ideal, some people may find they reach traditional retirement age with an outstanding balance,’ he pointed out.

‘Using their pension may well seem like an option but it is not the only option as working longer, downsizing or considering a lifetime mortgage may be more appropriate. Ideally, pension savings should be used to provide an income in retirement, and with the state pension only providing a very basic safety net, making this choice could lead to hardship in later life,’ he added. http://www.propertywire.com/

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or email thunderpaul2003@hotmail.com

19

www.soltimes.com

SOL Y MAR

CONTACT US NOW ON

950 064 584 609 199 394

Office : Avenida 28 de Febrero, 44, Albox

Email: info@solymarspain.com

Many more properties on our website: www.solymarspain.com

ZURGENA - TOWN HOUSE SOL493 - 99,950€ NEW LISTING

EL ARROYO ALBANCHEZ - CORTIJO SOL726 - 89,995€

Charming townhouse 2 bed with en-suite featuring a large sun terrace and courtyard area, pretty village with all amenities.

Beautiful cortijo restored to a very high standard. It features 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms and 1000m2 of land.

CANTORIA - VILLA SM004 - 160,000€

ALBANCHEZ- TOWN HOUSE SOL530 - 180,000€ NEW LISTING

Ideal location,close to town centre . 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom , Jacuzzi and fully fenced

This beautiful Town House just off the square in Albanchez has been reformed to a very high standard.

Featuring 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

ALMANZORA - VILLA SOL150 - 119,000€

Beautiful villa in tranquil setting only minutes from the busy village of Almanzora , 3 bed , 2 bathroom

CERRICOS - DETACHED SM011 - 225,000€

TABERNO - CORTIJO SM002 - 144,000€

ALMANZORA - VILLA SM008 - 125,000€

Detached Villa with 2 Bedrooms / 2 Bathrooms, 7x4 fenced pool. Pretty garden, fully enclosed with parking. Quiet area close to town.

3-4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms room for pool, elevated side of valley good views, 176 m2 build

This is an extensive 6 bedroom detached house and is set out as a family home though there could be potential for use as a B&B or similar with gaining relevant permissions. Both rewired and replumbed as part of the recent refurbishments.

ALBOX VILLA SOL144 - 130,000€ NEW LISTING

ORIA - VILLA SOL 054 - 94,950€

ARBOLEAS/ALMANZORA SM010 - 85,000€ NEW LISTING

This detached 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa is around 10 years old and on a mature plot of 2750m2 in a private position offering great rural views. It features a pool and is only a few minutes drive to Albox.

Immaculate villa with 1430m2 of land, 3 bedroom with ensuite , fantastic views of surrounding countryside

Two for one opportunity, unfinished houses ideal project in beautiful setting on 3000m2 of land with fantastic views.

WE URGENTLY REQUIRE PROPERTIES BETWEEN ALBOX & THE COAST FOR OUR GROWING SALES PORTFOLIO. ALMOST ALL OUR RENTAL PROPERTIES ARE OCCUPIED AND WE HAVE MORE CLIENTES TO SATISFY! CALL US 950 064 584 RAMBLA DE ORIA LA ALFOQUIA SM003 ALMANZORA ALBOX RENTAL RSM004 RENTAL MAR989 RENTAL RENTAL - ONLY 475€ RSM001 - ONLY 350€ PCM ONLY 450€ PCM ONLY 325€ PCM PCM NEW LISTING

4 bedroom modern townhouse, close to all amenities, tastefully decorated throughout.

Traditional cortijo with many original features in a semi rural setting only 7km to Albox.

Featuring 2 beds, own pool and private terrace areas

Traditional detached cortijo with own pool .Set in idyllic setting, secluded but close to amenities.

3000m2 land.

2/3 bedroom , semi detached , with front patio and roof terrace with great views. Furnished , peaceful setting.

20

September 2015

Focusing on smaller area to give our clients a better service.

Voss Homes would like to thank our property owners and buyers for their loyalty and support.

PROPERTY OF THE WEEK - €125,000 VH738 Villa Salmeron

OPEN TO REASONABLE OFFERS -

A large 120m2, 3 double bed, 2 bath house with huge kitchen, 8m x 4m pool on a walled plot of 480m2, established gardens, 10 mins drive from La Alfoquia & Zurgena villages. 35 mins drive to Mojacar.

Hamlet location, attached on either side to two well maintained properties but the garden is not overlooked.

It was built only 10 years ago but was designed to feel like an older more characterful property.

The house has double glazed windows with roller blinds, security grills and fly free screens. Mains electricity, water, satelite tv, internet and phone are connected.

For more information and to arrange a viewing contact us asap.

Please call 0034 950 616 827 / 0034 678 002 006 / 0034 667 891 741 or email: info@vosshomesspain.com

www.vosshomesspain.com

Office: 155a Carrerera Estacion, Huecal-Overa. 1km off the A7 motorway at exit 553. 100metres from Lidl.

www.immo-carlos.com Email: info@immo-carlos.com Address: La Plaza Nueva, No 10, Albox (Opposite the Donkey Statue)

August Opening Hours: 10am-2pm Office: 950 102 191 • Carlos: 648 505 938 • Gavin: 671 293 942

137.000€

Arboleas, New villa with 3 bed, 2 bath and pool on a plot of 600m².

170,000€

Albanchez, Spacious villa with 4 bed, 2 bath and a private pool!!

165,000€

199,500€

Limaria, Beautiful villa with 3 bed, 2 bath, pool and a great garden!!

165,000€

Cucador, Fantastic villa with 3 bed, 2 bath, pool & beautiful views.

Arboleas,

Albox, Very

Stunning

spacious

villa with 3

villa with 3

bed, 3 bath,

bed, 4 bath

garage, pool

& 2 guest

& a big plot.

259,000€

houses.

Properties Urgently needed in all areas

21

www.soltimes.com

EUROPEAN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INVESTMENT ACTIVITY AT HIGHEST SINCE 2007

Commercial property investment activity in Europe reached its highest level since 2007, totalling €102.5 billion in the first half of 2015, the latest market analysis report shows.

The investment volume across the 16 participating countries was 25% up on the same period last year, according to the European Investment Briefing report from international real estate advisor Savills.

The firm says that in line with its quarter one forecasts, the European investment market is on track to top €230 billion by the end of this year as commercial property investors continue to favour core markets, with the UK, Germany and France still accounting for 67.8% of the total volume.

‘However, the share of the markets outside of the top three countries is increasing, due to stronger investor interest for non-core countries, which offer attractive pricing and supply of large assets and portfolios,’ said Lydia Brissy, director at Savills’ European research team.

‘Overall, investors are more open to move up the risk curve. They seek future yield compression by targeting secondary or alternative assets in core cities, or prime assets in secondary markets,’ she added.

The report shows that the office sector continued to dominate the investment activity in most countries across Europe, capturing about 39% of the transaction volume per country on average.

The only exceptions where retail properties accounted for a higher share of property investment deals were Germany at 42%, Finland at 43%, the Netherlands also at 43%, Norway at 62% and Portugal at 83%, which saw the sale of large scale retail portfolios in the past quarter.

Savills has also reported that cross border investment increased in nearly all countries across Europe and especially in the peripheral markets, where US investors have been notably active. There has also been growing interest from investors from Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The share of non-domestic investment ranged from 10% in Sweden to over 80% in markets such as Italy, Poland and Portugal.

Marcus Lemli, head of European

Investment at Savills, explained that international investors have continued to drive up volumes, particularly the equity funds from the US, which have been acquiring retail portfolios or landmark office buildings.

This has enabled some of the more peripheral countries to record the strongest rises in investment volumes over the first six months of 2015, notably Portugal at 720%, Norway at 391% and Italy at 154%.

In the second quarter of 2015 the share of US money invested out of the cross border volume has been remarkable, according to the report, averaging 40% per country, and accounting for as much as 93% in Portugal, and 66% in Ireland.

‘With healthy investor interest, Europe has seen a shift towards larger transactions. The most significant rises in portfolio deals were noted in Germany and the Nordic markets and consequently, there has been a marked uplift in activity in the regional markets,’ said Lemli.

In the first half of this year, the volume of investment in regional markets rose to more than half of the total volume in each country, compared to an average of one third last year, the report also says and points out that it is interesting that both France and the UK saw above average activity in their regional markets.

‘Despite all of the economic uncertainty caused by the Greek crisis, the commercial property market activity across Europe has proven resilient. There is certainly potential for increasing investment volumes in the context of low interest rates, availability of finance and generally better economic conditions,’ said Lemli.

‘We are therefore forecasting an increase of at least 10 to 20 % in the commercial investment activity this year and further yield compression for two thirds of our markets. I have no doubt that, despite current unease surrounding the economic slowdown in China, investor appetite will remain high in the second half of 2015 as Europe continues to recover and remain an attractive place for investment,’ he added. http://www.propertywire.com/

NATIONAL DEMAND FOR HOLIDAY RENTALS RISES 24% Data from a recent study the growth in enquiries for holiday

conducted by online holiday rental portal, HomeAway, on summer holiday rentals in Spain in 2015, have revealed that domestic demand has increased this year by 24% compared to the summer of 2014.

Of all the enquires received via the portal for holiday rentals in Spain during this summer, 33% of the total were for rental accommodations in Andalucía, followed by Valencia, which received 17% of the enquiries, the Balearic Islands (15%), Catalonia (12%) and the Canary Islands (5%). These five regions together accounted for more than 80% of the total national demand for holiday rentals for the summer of 2015.

Of these top five regions of choice for Spanish holidaymakers, the greatest increases in enquiries were recorded for Catalonia (26% more requests) and Andalucía (+20%), followed by the Balearic Islands (+15%), Valencia (+11%) and the Canary Islands (+3%).

Moreover, the study highlighted

rentals during the summer months in the northern regions such as Asturias (+98%), Cantabria (+82%), Galicia (+53%) and the Basque Country (+47%).

El Mundo reported that the Spanish demand for foreign destinations declined this year by 5% over last year, with the increase in demand for rental accommodation focusing mainly on destinations in Spain, which accounts for 74% of domestic demand. Portugal was a favourite international destination for the Spanish holidaymaker this summer, with 8% of the enquiries registered, followed by France (6%), Italy (4%), the United States and United Kingdom (both 3%).

In terms of the average length of stay in rental accommodation by Spanish holidaymakers, in inland areas the average is 4 days and for stays on the Spanish coast or when travelling to international destinations, the average is 7 days. kyero.com

500 EURO NOTES IN CIRCULATION DOWN 7.7% IN JULY According to data published last week by the Bank of Spain, the value of all the 500 euro notes in circulation in Spain stood at 35,006 million euros in July, and is the lowest value registered since January 2005, when the number of notes in circulation amounted to a value of 35,169 million euros.

Compared with July of 2014, the Bank’s data shows that the value of the 500 euro notes in circulation has fallen by 7.7%, as a year ago the figure stood at 37,948 million euros.

Thus, El Economista reported that these high-denomination banknotes have now accumulated 37 consecutive months of declines. The July figure of 35,006 million euros corresponds to a total of 70 million notes of 500 euros, compared to the 76 million notes there were a year earlier.

In Spain there are banknotes circulating which are worth a total of 43,753 million euros, which means that the 500 euro banknotes represent 80% of the total.

22

September 2015

COMPLETE HOLIDAY HOLIDAY CARE CARE COMPLETE MOJACAR PLAYA

RENTALS - SALES -MANAGEMENT - MAINTENANCE

WE URGENTLY NEED MORE PROPERTIES FOR SALE & RENTAL FOR WAITING CLIENTS

GREAT THINGS TO DO IN MADRID PART 1

Festivals, culture, cuisine… discover all the capital has to offer!

PROPERTIES OF THE WEEK

D L O S Ref: CM/RB Secluded 3 bed, 2 bath, det. villa, nr centre of playa, gardens, terraces & parking, 126 m2 build, 540 m2 plot.

Ref: VA/TL Beautifully presented modern 1 bed/1 bath apt, private underground parking, private large lock-up store room

MOJACAR PLAYA REDUCED - €199,950

MOJACAR PLAYA REDUCED €64,950

Ref: PM/TW - 2 bedroom, 2 bath/shower room, first floor, furnished apt, a/c, large terrace with spectacular views MOJACAR PLAYA €109,950

Ref. AE/AB – Spacious semi-detached 3 bedroom house, terrace with sea & mountain views, garage, peaceful location near Mojacar Playa.

MOJACAR CAMPO REDUCED €137,000

Paseo del Mediterraneo 19, Mojacar Playa, Almeria (near the Hotel Best Indalo) Tel: 950 478 612 / 610 808 631 

info@almeriaholidays.com

www.almeriaholidays.com Telephone: 950 460 999

MUNDI

Ronda de Las Buganvillas, Local 22, (nr Garrucha) www.mundiabogados.com info@mundiabogados.com

Visiting a city as big as Madrid and managing to see and do all it has to offer is no easy task. From sprawling museums to traditional restaurants and bars, every corner you turn uncovers a spot that draws in tourists and locals alike. To make the choices a bit easier and to make sure you experience as much as you can, we've picked 20 essential things to do when you're in Madrid. If you can't fit them all in, don't worry, you can always come back.

The city's main tourist artery runs the famous Metrópolis building to the Plaza de España. Shops, bars and even a casino line this wide street that stretches for more than a kilometre. If you start walking at the Metrópolis building, with its stunning dome crowned by a bronze statue, the next landmark you'll come to is at Gran Vía 1, the address for Grassy jewellers since 1952. A bit further on, the Hotel de las Letras deserves a peek inside before you're wowed by the window display at the Loewe shop or stop to have a drink in the legendary Museo Chicote, which, despite its name, isn't a museum at all, though there is some art on the walls in the form of photos of celebrities who have passed through the swinging doors.

The impressive Telefónica building kicks off the next leg, where clothing shops compete with each other to grab the eye, and the euros, of a wide variety of clientele. Look carefully ­- some of the shops are inside old cinemas that have long had to close their doors. Still showing films on the big screen, however, are the Palacio de la Prensa, Capitol and Callao cinemas, in the square that divides this celebrated street. From here to Plaza de España theatres such as the Lope de Vega and the Compac update their programming every season with major works. Gran Vía comes to an end between the Torre de Madrid and the Edificio

ABOGADOS

Maria Maroto Perez: Solicitor/Barrister - Esther Serrano Saez: Solicitor/Barrister

• NIE Cards • Residency Cards • Social Security Cards • • Company Setup • Insurance • • Conveyancing • Translations • Litigation • Wills & Inheritance Tax • Tax Returns • Visit us now at our new office: Local 22, Ronda de Las Buganvillas.

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We look forward to seeing you soon!

We are pleased to introduce ourselves

MUNDI ABOGADOS SOLICITORS

We are a multidisciplinary law firm based in Vera (Almería) and as such we deal with many different aspects of law, specialising in litigation, conveyancing, taxation, civil, commercial and fiscal law. Our aim is to provide a personal, quality service, in plain English and to do so promptly, efficiently and in a friendly manner.

We will keep you up to date and fully informed throughout and all at a very competitive price.

We can also arrange the following if needed: • Open a Spanish bank account • Connection of utility services • If you are considering renting your house or land we will negotiate your letting agreement, ensuring that the terms of your contract meet your requirements • Write your Spanish will • As your Fiscal Representatives, we will assist you in any dealings with Spanish Tax Office and explain to you all the taxes that you are liable to pay.

For those that become residents of Spain, we can also assist in other legal matters, such as matrimonial issues or business contracts.

España, facing the monument to Miguel de Cervantes that's in the centre of the grand square. Exploring the area known as Madrid's Art Triangle is compulsory for any visitor to the city. The Museo del Prado, the Reina Sofía and the ThyssenBornemisza are the three vertices that make up this traingle that is right on the Paseo del Prado, but they're not the only places where you can see art in the area: Madrid's CaixaForum and its vertical garden are also great places to contemplate beauty.

But you don't have to walk the hallowed halls of the grandest museums and galleries to admire the all the art Madrid has to offer. Small galleries like Elena Ochoa's Ivorypress, urban art created at the hand of the likes of Suso33 and collectives such as BoaMistura, along with temporary exhibitions by young painters in bars and restaurants round out Madrid's cultural panorama. The Madrid skyline is one of the most attractive in Spain. And if there's a perfect place to take it all in, it's from the rooftop terrace at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in C/ Alcalá. From this massive patio you can see the whole city, its great avenues, famous monuments, green spaces, and the Cuatro Torres, the capital's big skyscrapers. It's also an ideal spot to have a drink and watch the sun set. http://www.timeout.com/

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MURCIA WEBCAMS

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CAMPOSOL LOWER C HOLIDAY LETS FROM €450 PW

Ref No: 087

• 3 bed/2 bath luxury villa.

• Large private pool.

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• Close to golf course.

CAMPOSOL B HOLIDAY LETS FROM €750 PW

Ref No: 0172

• 4 bed/4 bath ext Neptuno Delux • Amazing private pool area.

• Furnished to high spec.

• Free wifi & games station etc CAMPOSOL D LONG TERM LET €475 +BILLS PCM

Ref No :0079

•2 bed/2bath Rosa style villa.

•8m Freeform pool.

•Log fire Plus much more.

•Well furnished.

LAS CABILLAS, ALHAMA LONG TERM LET €600 + BILLS PCM

Ref No: 0183

•4 bed/2 bath semi detached finca.

•6m x 5m private pool.

•Fully fenced.

•Spanish campo living.

OFFICE SPAIN: (0034) 968 970 614 MOBILE: (0034) 608 631 700 CAMPOSOL UPPER C LONG TERM LET €575 + BILLS PCM

Ref No :0195

• 3 bed/3 bath Neptuno Delux Villa • Furnished to high standard.

• Log fire plus much more.

• Close to Camposol Club De Golf CAMPOSOL D HOLIDAY LETS FROM €560 PW

Ref No: 0181

• 2 bed/2 bath Carmen style villa.

• Furnished to high standard.

• Fantastic pool area.

• Great holiday villa.

MAZARRON COUNTRY CLUB LONG TERM LET €550 + BILLS PCM

Ref No: 0201

•2 bed/1 bath detached villa.

•8m x 4m private pool.

•Furnished to very high standard.

•Fully gated community.

CAMPOSOL UPPER C LONG TERM LET €300 + BILLS PCM

Ref No: 0184

•2 bed/1 bath Classico style villa •Fully furnished.

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•Close to Camposol Club De Golf.

BOLNUEVO LONG TERM LET €450 + BILLS PCM

Ref No: 0147

•2 bed/2 bath detached villa.

•Full central heating throughout.

•Log fire plus much more.

•Amazing views of the Bahia.

CAMPOSOL D LONG TERM LET €650 + BILLS PCM

Ref No: 0127

•3 bed/2 bath Cibeles style villa.

•Large 650sqm plot.

•10m x 5m private pool.

•Can be let unfurnished.

CAMPOSOL D LONG TERM LET €650 + BILLS PCM

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•3 bed/3 bath Neptuno Delux Villa.

•9m x 4m private pool.

•Log fire, AC and much more.

•Huge games room.

CAMPOSOL D HOLIDAY LETS FROM €400 PW

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•3 bed/3 bath Neptuno Delux villa.

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MANY MORE PROPERTIES CAN BE SEEN ON OUR WEBSITES

23

24

SPANISH CONSUMERS PROPEL FASTEST GROWTH IN EIGHT YEARS

September 2015 “We believe the economy is going to maintain an intense level of growth going into the next quarter,” Deputy Economy Minister Inigo Fernandez de Mesa told reporters at a press conference in Madrid.

Initially led by exports, the recovery is now gaining momentum as employment rises and lower energy prices boost

FOR BUSINESS UK - SPAIN - UK

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Spanish consumers helped push the pace of growth to the Spaniards’ disposable income. Consumer confidence rose to a fastest in eight years in the second quarter, as domestic demand record in July and Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has said reinforced its position as the main driver of the recovery. the economy may maintain its pace of growth this quarter.

Household consumption rose 1 percent on the quarter and Earlier this week, the government reiterated its growth maintained the pace of expansion at 3.5 percent on an annual target of 3.3 percent for this year, twice the average for the basis, the National Statistics Institute said Thursday. Imports euro area. Despite the pickup in growth, organizations such increased 2.3 percent in the three months to June, while as the International Monetary Fund repeatedly have warned structural imbalances remain unsolved, including “very high” exports were 1.6 percent higher.

Overall, gross domestic product expanded 1 percent in unemployment, low productivity and high levels of debt.

Joblessness stands at about 22 percent, second only to Greece the second quarter and 3.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, confirming a July 30 estimate and matching a in the European Union, and the nation’s debt is approaching Bloomberg News survey. The Spanish economy has now added 100 percent of gross domestic product. http://www.bloomberg.com/ eight consecutive quarters of growth.

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DAVID THE PLUMBER Prompt and reliable service, no job too small.

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NEW BUSINESS? 2 WAYS TO ADVERTISE RING 950 121 936 OR EMAIL YOUR ADVERT TO blancasales@soltimes.com

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ALQUERIA SLEEPS

VIEWPOINT

Alqueria sleeps (With apologies to Dylan Thomas) First Voice

A velvet star spangled night in late Spring. A little Spanish pueblo, snugged down, reja windowed and whitewashed, sleeps silent. The Castle turreted and blind reaches into the night sky, the fountain below bubbles and flows, unseen. La Bar la Casa Devante shuttered and still, gaining strength for the coming horde of thirsty patrons pushing and elbowing, swallowing and spilling.

The babies are sleeping, the mill-owner and the Remitroot grower. Manuela late into bed and Paco confused as ever, all sleep. Would-be brides dream of their novios actual or pretend, the young men sleep unaware of the feminine designs. Village boys are dreaming of the Plaza where tomorrow they will be rip-roaring pirates or holstered cowboys, racing car drivers and spacemen.

Late evening cooking odours still linger on the still air, the afternoon heat subsides. Cool, fragrant, night descends. You can hear the air cooling as Alqueria contracts, the night quenching the heat of the day.

Time passes.

Second Voice Olive drab and olive green Fernándo Rodriquez dreams of olives galore earning money, making wealth. Keeping the Hill People low, subservient, crushed. He will prevail. Alqueria will be his.

Fernándo Rodriquez The Newcomer’s Barrio forever. Deport them, Manuela and the others. The ruined olive mill.

Not my fault, others conspire. I was right I am always right. Not my fault. Alqueria is mine.

Don’t listen to Poyato or the girl Manuela, I am always right.

First Voice Antonio Poyato dreams of Remitroot, drink it,

rub it in, use it to lag your pipes. Brings power and influence. Use it wisely for the good of the Hill People. Don’t get addicted. And Manuela whom he worships from afar, snug in her bed in the Calle del Siniestra.

Antonio Poyato Manuela, Manuela Oh Manuela. Remitroot, Remitroot Oh Remitroot.

Second Voice Gruntmore the resident Englishman and Geordie, dreams of his Tyneside home. Damp paved and beer sodden, nostalgic and grey. He’ll do anything for his home-town, except live there.

Blythe Gruntmore Newcastle Brown Ale and fog, through arch bridges and cold north-east winds. Dominoes in the snug of the Hanging Monkey. Rheumatism and memories. Better off in Alqueria.

First Voice Loco Paco, do you dream? Loco Paco Yes, of giant rodents and Don Quixote’s windmills. Psychiatrists and paella. Keep reality away, it hurts!

Second Voice Manuela dreams of ….. Manuela The boys and men, with or without Remitroot, I dream of the evening to be alone with them. Of the hated Rodriquez of men and boys. I dream of ….... Time passes.

TIT FOR

25

While our neighbours are away it falls to us to water their flower pots, not an onerous task as they have a splendid hosepipe and not many pots.

A few days ago we toddled down to their garden, keys in hand. Pete is officially Keeper of the Keys, but due to a sticky lock he had to relinquish them to me. Pots watered, gate padlock pushed shut, (it needs no key to lock it), we returned to our home, but I noticed that a fine crop of weeds had sprouted in the time between this watering and the last.

Next day, armed with a sprayer and a fervent desire to kill all weeds and show no mercy, I took the keys and sprayed until I had slaked my desire to wreak death on all unauthorised plants.

Next time the pots were due a watering I went to get the keys, but their hiding place was as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. ‘Where are the keys?’ I asked Pete.

‘In the usual place.’ He replied without taking his eyes off his book.

‘They’re not there.’

‘They must be.’

‘They’re not. You had them last.’ I had forgotten that I actually had them last, when I went weedkilling.

‘I gave them to you.’

‘I gave them back.’

This signalled a full-scale searching of the entire house from top to bottom.

Then Pete remembered; ‘You had them last! You went weedkilling!’ He proclaimed with a quite unnecessary

By Jos Biggs

josbiggs@hotmail.co.uk note of triumph.

But although the blame was shifted the situation was still the same – we had no keys.

The only hope left was that I had locked them in the garden, so I fetched the ladder and carried it down the road, ready with my explanation should anyone ask what on earth I thought I was doing.

I balanced the ladder against the wall and climbed up. ‘Don’t you dare climb over, you’ll fall.’ Pete has no faith in my athletic ability!

I scanned all of the garden that I could see, which was most of it – it was keyless. I felt my stress level reaching DefCon 1. There was only one thing left to do. With my eyes out like organ stops and my blood pressure entering the Red Zone my ladder and I went round to next door to our Personal Panic Preventer, Andy.

‘Andy, I’ve lost the keys. I looked everywhere and I can’t find them.’

What happened next? Find out next week!

PUZZLE PAGES

26

September 2015

JIMMY CARR

WWE LIVE

NEW ORDER

Formed in 1980 the Manchester band have regrouped & are touring the UK

Funny Business Tour, TVs Funnyman is on the road in another side splitting tour.

Watch your favorite stars in action in the UK. John Cena, Big Show & Sheamus

GET YOUR TICKETS TO THESE PLUS MANY OTHER EVENTS AT WWW.SOLTIMES.COM

2

WORDSEARCH OLD WEST FIND AND CIRCLE ALL OF THE WORDS THAT ARE HIDDEN IN THE GRID. THE REMAINING 25 LETTERS SPELL A GEORGE ELIOT QUOTATION.

paste?....................................................

3. In which country is the city of Dresden?...............................................

4. Which brothers sang about the price of love?..................................................

5. Who wanted to ask the wizard of oz for courage?...........................................

6. In past times, what would a gentleman keep in his fob pocket?.........

7. What kind of creature is a cabbage white?....................................................

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

5. Cowardly Lion 6. Watch 7. Butterfly 8. Gloria Estefan 9. Football 10. Public CROSSWORD

1. Democrat, Republican.

2. Battenburg 3. Germany 4. The Everley Brothers

SOLUTIONS

WORDSEARCH ANSWER

PISTOL PLOW HORSE POSSE RAILROAD RANCH RATTLESNAKE RIFLE SADDLE SALOON SHERIFF SHOPKEEPER SITTING BULL STAGECOACH TELEGRAPH

1. Which Geordie played for England and managed the Republic of Ireland?

2. Which ground hosts the FA Cup Final?

3. Which Joe managed Everton when they won the 1995 FA Cup? 4. Which Lane do Sheffield United play at?

5. Which London side did Ruud Gullit join in 1995?

6. Which London striker has played for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Queen’s Park Rangers, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham and Millwall?

7. Who was England’s manager for the 1990 World Cup in Italy?

8. Who was Ian St John’s partner on TV? 9. Who was the England manager when the side failed to reach the 1994 World Cup finals?

10. Who was the first Footballer of the Year in England and Scotland?

ANSWERS

SQUIGGLE SUDOKU

ANSWERS

FURS GOLD MINE GOLD PANNING GRAZE HIRED GUN HOGS HOMESTEAD HOTEL JUDGE LARIAT LAWMAN LIVESTOCK MINER OUTLAW GANG

STANDARD SUDOKU

10. What word can go before; holiday, relations, school?...................................

EASY SUDOKU

9. Peter Docherty is associated with which sport?..........................................

BANKER BARKEEP BILLY THE KID BOOT HILL BRAND CAMPFIRE CATTLE DRIVE CHAPARRAL COAL CORRAL COWBOY DOC HOLLIDAY FARRIER FORT

SOLTIMES FOOTBALL QUIZ

A GOOD HORSE MAKES SHORT MILES

8. Who sang with the Miami sound machine?...............................................

4

Robson 8. Jimmy Greaves 9. Graham Taylor 10. Gordon Strachan

2. What is the name of a two-coloured oblong cake covered with almond

3

ANSWERS

SOLTIMES POT LUCK QUIZ

1. What are the two main parties in the US?........................................................

1

IDENTIFY THESE FAMOUS FACES

1. Jack Charlton 2. Wembley Stadium 3. Royle 4. Bramall 5. Chelsea 6. Clive Allen 7. Bobby

SOL PICTURE QUIZ!

1 Jimmy Edwards 2 Matt Monroe 3 Simon Dee 4 Alistair Cooke

ON THIS DAY 3RD SEPTEMBER

301 – San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world’s oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus.

1651 – Third English Civil War: Battle of Worcester: Charles II of England is defeated in the last main battle of the war.

1666 – The Royal Exchange burns down in the Great Fire of London.

1875 – The first official game of polo is played in Argentina after being introduced by British ranchers.

2014 – Heavy monsoon rains and flash floods leave over 200 people dead across India and Pakistan.

www.soltimes.com

PUZZLE PAGES

ACROSS

STANDARD CROSSWORD

1 Suggesting (14) 10 Pork strips (5) 11 Location (9) 12 Normal (7) 13 City in Washington state (7) 14 Outdoor storage buildings (5) 16 Weightiness (9) 19 Translate (9) 20 Nigerian monetary unit (5) 22 Issue (7) 25 Stone pillar (7) 27 Iota (9) 28 Exhilarate (5) 29 Contrasted (14)

DOWN

2 Receiver (9) 3 Terror (5) 4 Burial chamber (9) 5 Snares (5) 6 Surgical procedure (9) 7 Clumsy (5) 8 Amasses (7) 9 Slackens (6) 15 Napkin (9) 17 Space traveller (9) 18 Do away with (9) 19 Levied (7) 21 Foot joints (6) 23 Abbreviated (5) 24 Cut into two equal parts (5) 26 Swelling under the skin (5)

SUDOKU PUZZLES

EASY

SQUIGGLE

27

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Takes away the enthusiasm, or the centre? (11) 7 Returning Labour party is even more strange! (5) 8 Run away with a fictional spy, without second bit of consideration (7) 10 Group of countries hiding in pub lock-in? (4) 12 Starts to anger Dutch in European Union? That’s goodbye! (5) 14 Gave money to first politician with a ‘yes’ journalist (5) 16 100 go without a good split (8) 18 Healthy table is converted to shed that’s been around for a while (4-11) 19 Flower gets Tory second place, taking Birkenhead East by 50 (8) 21 Squander a second (half) term after Wednesday! (5) 23 Let a Labour leader down? (5) 26 Some surprise, as Tories show direction! (4) 27 Authorise me to return control (7) 29 Language of party that doesn’t get started without Galloway at first (5) 30 Substitute temple built with crane (11) DOWN

1 Lacks confidence, but somehow goes into parties! (6) 2 Bend stomach-first to work (5) 3 Age of Gerald? (3) 4 Tiny creature’s credit? (4) 5 So, bringing up commercial drink? (4) 6 Harass odd rebel without illness (9) 9 With Lib Dems, he creatively left a mark (9) 11 A Spanish gentleman is Lab. oracle, perhaps (9) 13 Date surrounding England’s massive ruin (9) 15 England left in first election postal disaster - sticky stuff!

(9) 16 150 taking back conflict stroke (5) 17 Thermoplastic made from crude oil, with one side replaced with the other (twice) (9) 20 Most recent dead saint? (6) 22 The sea, gleaming, shrouds bird (5) 24 This dam is almost unearthly! (4) 25 Dupe French left, with nothing to love on the inside! (4) 28 Some bleary-eyed grass (3)

FAMOUS BITHDAYS ON THIS DAY

STANDARD

Pauline Collins, English actress (1940) Peter Goddard, English physicist, mathematician, and academic (1945) Stephen Woolley, English film producer and director (1956) Fearne Cotton, English radio and television host (1981)

SOLTIMES MINION MOMENT

28

September 2015

FOOD & ENTERTAINING...

Lily's fantastic fish fingers Fish fingers taste wonderful when you make them from scratch, this great recipe is easy to make and guaranteed to impress

Crispy duck salad

INGREDIENTS 40g/1½oz bread (approximately 1 thick slice) 400g/14oz skinless white fish fillets (such as cod, haddock or pollock) 5 tbsp plain flour 1 large free-range egg, beaten ¼ tsp paprika (optional) 1 tsp garlic powder (optional) freshly ground black pepper little sunflower oil, a spray oil is also good to use

Enjoy fantastic contrasts in this zingy salad - salt, sweet and sour flavours combine with warm duck and chilled fruit.

INGREDIENTS 4 large duck legs picked and stalks chopped ½ chilled watermelon, skin 1-2 red chillies (to taste) removed, flesh chopped 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 fresh pomegranate, seeds only 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce ½ bunch fresh mint, leaves 2 limes, juice only picked and roughly torn large bunch coriander, leaves ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper METHOD Preheat the oven to 160C/350F/Gas 4.

Place a wire rack on a roasting tin and place the duck legs on top, skinside up. Roast the duck legs on the rack for 1¾-2 hours, or until the skin is crisp and the meat is cooked through (when the duck is cooked, the juices should run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the leg).

Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes, reserving the duck fat on the baking tray.

In a large bowl, mix together the chopped watermelon and pomegranate seeds. Stir in the mint leaves and coriander and the sliced chillies, to taste.

When the duck legs have cooled, flake the meat from the bone and add it to the watermelon and pomegranate mixture. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and a little of the reserved duck fat, to taste, if desired.

Season with Sichuan pepper and gently toss.

Serve the salad immediately, while the watermelon is cold and the duck meat still warm.

Duck Meat and Cholesterol Duck meat is a very flavorful type of poultry. Most people do not cook duck meat at home, but it can be a delicious treat when eating out. Duck meat is a good source of protein, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin, iron, zinc, vitamin B-6 and thiamine and smaller amounts of vitamin B-12, folate and magnesium. Duck meat is relatively high in fat and cholesterol, especially if you eat the skin. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/

METHOD Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with non-stick parchment paper.

To make the breadcrumbs, put the bread in a food processor and blitz into fine breadcrumbs. If you do not have a food processor, you could also try grating the bread, but you would need an adult to help you with this.

Pat the fish dry using kitchen paper. Carefully cut the fish into strips, the strips should be about 2cm thick and 8cm long. Run your finger gently over the fish to make sure all the bones have been taken out, you can get an adult to double-check this for you.

Set up your assembly line. Get 3 dinner plates and one shallow bowl ready.

Put the flour on the first plate. Crack the egg into the shallow bowl and beat lightly using a fork. Put the breadcrumbs on the second plate and mix with the paprika, garlic powder and black pepper. The third plate is for the coated fish fingers.

Toss each fish finger in the flour and shake off any excess. Next, dip the fish fingers into the egg mixture and allow any extra egg liquid to drip back into the bowl. Then coat the fish fingers with the breadcrumbs.

Slightly press the fish fingers into the breadcrumbs to make sure they are well coated and then put them on the third plate.

Put the fish fingers in the fridge for 10 minutes, this will help the coating stick to the fish better. Wash your hands again before moving on to the next step, it is really important to always wash your hands after handling raw fish or meat.

Arrange the fish fingers in a single layer on the prepared baking tray.

Drizzle or spray some oil over the fish fingers.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, turning halfway through using cooking tongs. The fish fingers are cooked when the crumbs are goldenbrown and the fish is cooked through.

These fish fingers are best served with ketchup for dipping and with sweet potato wedges and peas alongside.

29

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FOOD & ENTERTAINING...

These dairy-free, flourless cookies are perfect for vegans and those following a gluten-free diet.

INGREDIENTS 150g/5oz ground almonds 1 tbsp arrowroot ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tbsp maple syrup

yme Chew y lemon and th cookies

½ tsp fresh thyme or lemonthyme leaves, or to taste 1 tbsp grated lemon zest (preferably from an unwaxed lemon)

METHOD Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Pulse the almonds, arrowroot, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the maple syrup, thyme leaves and lemon zest and pulse again until the mixture comes together as a ball of dough.

Remove the dough from the food processor. Tear off 10 equal-sized pieces of the dough and roll them into golf-ball-sized balls, then flatten each between the palms of your hands and place onto the prepared baking tray, leaving plenty of space between each cookie.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown at the edges.

Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool. The cookies will crisp up as they cool, but will still be soft in the middle.

Sweet banana and m aple pancakes with blueb erries and pecans

This gluten-free take on the classic pancake is perfect with sliced bananas, berries and toasted nuts.

They also work brilliantly with lemon and sugar. The simple and effective mix of gluten-free flours in this recipe will also work for most baking recipes.

For this recipe you will need a food processor.

INGREDIENTS

65g/2¼oz rice flour 65g/2¼oz tapioca flour ½ very ripe banana 300ml/10½fl oz almond milk rapeseed oil or coconut oil FOR THE TOPPING

1½ bananas, sliced large handful blueberries 30g/1oz pecans, toasted maple syrup

METHOD Put the flours, banana and almond milk in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth batter approximately the consistency of single cream.

Pour the mixture into a jug.

Heat a 20-25cm/8-10in non-stick frying pan until hot and brush with a little oil. Pour in a little of the batter and swirl it around the pan to make a full sized pancake. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until golden at the edges. Loosen and flip over with a spatula. Cook until golden on both sides. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the cooked pancakes warm by wrapping in foil and placing in a low temperature oven.

Put the pancakes on plates and top with the bananas, blueberries, pecans and maple syrup. Serve immediately.

The gluten proteins in wheat flour form a loose network in a pancake batter, which provides elasticity and stops pancakes from crumbling.

You can use gluten-free flours such as tapioca, gram, rice and buckwheat instead, but you may need to add other ingredients to get the desired result.

Top recipe tip The toppings can vary depending on your tastes but antioxidant packed blueberries, potassium rich bananas, natural maple syrup and toasted pecans all add healthy fats, fibre, vitamins and protein to this delicious breakfast.

30

September 2015

TOMATINA FOOD FIGHT LEAVES SPANISH TOWN OF BUNOL DRENCHED IN RED PULP More than 20,000 people have pelted each other in the street with tomatoes in this year’s Tomatina as the Spanish event celebrates its 70th birthday.More than 20,000 people have pelted each other in the street with tomatoes in this year’s Tomatina as the Spanish event celebrates its 70th birthday.

5 REASONS YOU SHOULD BE IN SPAIN

So you have missed out on La Tomatina festival that starts today in Spain. Never mind, the country has other reasons and seasons to pack your bags and go anytime.

SPAIN, A HEAVEN FOR FOOD LOVERS.

The messy tomato business starts today in Spain! It is the 70th anniversary of the La Tomatina festival and it is definitely one of the biggest reasons to visit Spain. But if you missed it, don’t worry. There are other interesting things about Spain that make it a forever destination.

EAT, DRINK AND REPEAT

Spain is definitely a heaven for the food lovers and the gastronomy changes from region to region. If you have an appetite for tortillas then definitely this is the place for you. Spain has also earned a status as one of the producers of wine, specially the red variety. If planning a trip anytime soon we would suggest you to eat typical dishes in whatever region you are visiting.

And it’s all about party

SPANISH NIGHTLIFE

Spanish nightlife is one of the reasons why so many people need to take a siesta. Bars and clubs don’t get going until much later in the night, and Spaniards often stay out until the early hours of the morning on weekends. Locals and tourists meet year-round to drink, play music and mingle throughout the evening.

SOAK IN HISTORY

Spain history The Moors ruled Al-Andalus for almost 800 years and their influence is quite evident on everything from the language to some of Spain’s most famous sights, like the Alhambra in Granada. Barcelona boasts one of Europe’s most unique Gothic Quarters as well as the Sagrada Familia Church, a surreal structure designed

by Antoni Gaudi.

YOU CAN GET FREE FOOD

Spanish food Serving something delicious with your drink is a traditional Spanish custom. In some cities, especially smaller ones, it’s entirely possible to have a full dinner just by ordering drinks. So what are you waiting for foodies, go and get yourself a ticket!

SPLASH IT

Lago Martianez is an oasis of sea water, palms, and volcanic rock in Tenerife. This water park is no less than a piece of art. Plus, you can spend all day there for less than the price of your sunscreen and swim suit.

At the annual fiesta in the eastern town of Bunol on Wednesday, 175 tonnes of ripe tomatoes were offloaded from seven trucks into the crowd packing the streets for an hour-long battle.

The tomato fight leaves the participants and the town’s streets awash with red pulp. The town is hosed down minutes after the event ends at noon, while participants can use public showers.

The paid-entry event was inspired by a food fight between local children in 1945 in the tomato-producing region.

Reflecting its worldwide popularity, Google dedicated its search engine doodle to the fiesta.

HUT CUISINE: SHED CAFE ENTERS THE GOOD FOOD GUIDE The surprise arrival in this year’s Good Food Guide is sited on a caravan park in Anglesey, complete with corrugated iron roof.

It’s a one-time chicken shed on a Welsh caravan park, with half-wood, half-breeze block walls and a corrugated iron roof.

Not quite the type of place you’d expect to be bracketed with the culinary elite such as the Ledbury and Le Gavroche perhaps. But turn off onto a quiet patch of countryside in the south of Anglesey and you’ll find the surprise addition to this year’s prestigious Good Food Guide – the Marram Grass Cafe.

“There’s something in the fact that it shouldn’t work. It’s a shed in the middle of nowhere,” says Liam Barrie, who runs the restaurant with his brother, Ellis, when asked for the secret behind its success. “What right do we have to be providing good food?”

The brothers set up the cafe in 2010 on the caravan site established by their parents, partially as a payback to them by Ellis after he went travelling. There had been plans to turn the building into a toilet block for the caravan site, but they were abandoned as the restaurant became increasingly popular.

At lunchtime on the day after its inclusion in the Good Food Guide, the cafe was packed out with customers including daytrippers from around the region as well as, of course, caravaners who can look forward daily to something that bit more special than a supermarket meal heated up on their gas hobs. read more theguardian.com

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- COMMUNITY NEWS -

TEL: 950 121 936

31

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HOME OWNERS AND PASO A PASO MODERN QUESADA LADIES CLUB WELCOME TO A.C.T.S. DANCE FUSION The Annual General Meeting of the We are a new drama group made RESIDENTS IN CAMPOSOL JIVE Wednesday 11am Castillo Restaurant, are invited to join “Camposolers Political” in FaceBook. Burying ones head in the sand is tantamount to putting ones hands up and surrendering your fate to “some” self serving politicians that, when in Office with a fat pay cheque, could not give a rat’s behind that your investment, and in a lot of cases life savings, continues to go down the drain as the condition of the failing infrastructure deteriorates further with each day.To join just copy and paste…. https://www.facebook. com/groups/camposolers.poltical in your Browser or e-mail reg_rogers@hotmail. com

50+ SOLOS

Is open to ladies and gentlemen over 50 years of age who are on their own and wish to get ‘back into the social scene.’

We meet normally twice a month at different restaurants for lunch and a chat at 1.00-1.30 hrs.. There are no subs or fees, just the cost of the meal. There may be a fun quiz or a raffle. For information and to book please contact Ruth on 966789063

CASA TOM COMMUNITY CHOIR:

Casa Tom Community Choir meets every Monday at 2.00pm for 2.30pm.

It is a mixed choir and all levels are welcome. No auditions, no solos.

Make new friends and have a good time. Location: CASA TOM, Avenida JACA 31, San Luis, Torrevieja.

Phone or email Terry for further details. Phone: 647-189-135. Email: casatomsanluis@gmail.com.

CASTILLA AMIGOS

We are a friendship group for single people. We meet every Wednesday from 3pm at RAYZ Bar on El Raso urbanisation (off the Lemon Tree Road, Guardamar) ANN – 966 717 390 - 666 747 398

ART CLUB

Art Club, all mediums, no charge, in the Playa Flamenca area. Anyone interested, please contact Lyn tel: 966 189 118

COFFEE MATES

If you would like to have a coffee and a friendly chat, please join us at the La Laguna Hotel, Lo Marabu every Friday morning from 11am ANN - 966 717 390 - 666 747 398

Cl San Fulgencio (Forest Rd) La Marina Urb) Beginners/Imrovers Thursday 8pm Los Rosales Restaurant, CV895 Campo De Guardamar. Beg followed by int/adv and social dancing till late.

Great to see past members joining us for the social...€5 whole night €2 social.

Food available at both venues.

Celebrating 10 years of bringing Modern Jive to all our local areas on the Costa Blanca Saturday 26th September 2015. 7pm till late CASTILLO RESTAURANT Av San Fulgenio (Forest Rd) La Marina Urb Only €10.50 meal with a small wine or beer. Entertainment with yours truly Maxine Trudie and Dance Junction Disco.

Mondays we have managed to get the use of Totally Dance Studios in Benijofer.

We shall be using the studio for one hour style and advanced workshops, we have room there for five couples.... anyone interested in reserving a place at possibly 4pm (which would be a good time for us) We will be charged hourly for the venue so cost will reflect on the price of the class and how many are interested.

If this works well we may use the studio for other classes.

I now have the tickets for the Benidorm October Jive weekend.

Just €10 for the whole four day event... please obtain yours asap..everyone will need a ticket even if you are entering the competition.

More details on how to enter and what you can enter will be available from Thursday at Los Rosales.

Although these details have already been sent out so you should have some idea on which events you would like to do....remember its a FUN weekend event of modern jivers who love to dance Please join the face book page for all updates....Benidorm Modern Jive Champs 2015.

All rooms at the hotel now fully booked but please many apartments / hotels available in the same area.

Hope to see you soon....and please put Saturday 26th September in your diary for our anniversary party...not to be missed.

PS Thanks to everyone that joined us on the beach for my birthday....it was simply the best chilled afternoon/ evening with amazing friends. x Maxine 670 711 408 Adam 638 330 342 face book Paso A Paso Dance www.modern-jive-spain.com

STARS IN BARS

DATE ARTIST 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 5th 5th 5th 5th 5th 6th 6th 6th 6th 7th 8th 8th

Lynden B Danny Ray Andy Jones Samantha Curtis JJ Soulman Samantha Curtis Lynden B Backyard Session Andy Jones Rob Bonovox Shirelle Samantha Curtis JJ Soulman Lynden B Danny Ray Vinny Mack Gemma Gemma Lynden B Paul Harris JJ Soulman Samantha Curtis Lynden B Sandy Fitz Lynden B

VENUE

The Park Inn Bar Sioux El Mundos New Tavern Hermanos Bar La Vida Sunset Bar Arches Cafe Bar Inn at the Green Maggie OBrians Summers Bar Black Bull Grace´s Bar & Grill New Yorks Bar La Terraza La Taberna PALS Social Club Cafe de Sol La Finca de Edwardo´s La Taberna So Bar Move Lounge La Bodequeta Horacios Bar Vistabella Golf Arches Café Bar

AREA

INFO

Quesada 8pm Gran Alicant 10pm Benimar San Miguel Flamenca Beach CC Dona Pepa Los Alcazares Entre Naranjas Campoverde El Galan Castalla International Quesada Sucina Bigastro Entre Naranjas La Siesta La Fuente 5pm Campoamor Entre Naranjas Benimar Los Montesinos Lo Crispin Las Mimosas Entre Naranjas 8.30pm Los Alcazares

Quesada Ladies Club will be held at

the Cooper’s Arms, Dona Pepa, on Tuesday 8th September 2015.

This

is for members only, and they will be admitted at the usual time of 2.30pm.

PILAR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH

Calle Canalejas 3. Pilar de la Horadada.

Sunday Service at 11am, and Thursday at 5pm for Prayer and Praise and Worship Home groups meet during the week.

All welcome from any church background or none.

For further information contact PilarChristian.CommunityChurch@ gmail.com 966 849 448 - 966 848 806

BADMINT0N AT PILAR DE LA HORADADA

Mon, Tues, Wed and Thurs. 10-1pm. For information ring John McGilvray on 966 786 774 or Mobiles 634 658 506/695 871 707 or e mail carolejohn_3@ hotmail.com

LA BAMBA’S - BALLROOM / LATIN / SEQUENCE DANCING

Los Rosales Restaurant, Guardamar CV895 [near Lemon Tree Sunday Market] Monday - SOCIAL DANCE 8.30pm 10.30pm [SEQUENCE CLASS 7.30pm - 8.30pm] Friday - SOCIAL DANCE 7.30pm 10.30pm Wednesday - New Beginners Class starting 2nd September 2015 [new beginners welcome every Wednesday] 2pm -3pm Intermediate Class 3pm - 4pm Intermediate Plus Class 4pm - 5pm Andrea Murphy [0034] 616 478 157

COME SEQUENCE DANCING In the air conditioned Olympia Restaurant, Mil Palmeras Monday evenings at 8pm in a very congenial atmosphere. Programme and music change weekly. New dances introduced at 7-30pm. For further details contact Sina and Terry. Tel. 96 676 9420

STRICTLY DANCE BALLROOM AND LATIN

with the Professionals. Every Tuesday, The Club, Quesada, 8-10pm Beginners and Intermediate tuition and social dancing.

Every Wednesday, New Venue, The Emerald Isle, La Florida 3-5pm Beginners and Intermediate Tuition and Social dancing.

New courses every 3 weeks, singles welcome. Info: 966 188 430, 635 584 431 or lynatdenelledance@hotmail. com

COSTA COBRAS RFC new rugby club based on the beach.

Training juniors Monday and Wednesday 20.00-21.30, seniors 20.00-21.30 For more details contact Garry 692 767 242 or Robert on 697 286 416

up of novices and some folk from the now disbanded Dramatic License.

We rehearse every Thursday at 6.30 at Cafeteria Trasgu, Calle Alicante, Formentera. If you have ever had the desire to try your hand at amateur dramatics we would be pleased to hear from you. You don’t need any experience ( although this is always welcome ) just enthusiasm. So, if you would like to appear on stage or assist back stage, you would be most welcome. Anybody interested and for more information should either pop along to a rehearsal evening or contact Tony Goddard on newleaf2014@ hotmail.co.uk.

THE ROYAL ASSOCIATION,

NAVAL

Torrevieja Branch, meet at 1700 on the first Wednesday of each month at the Restaurante El Paraiso, Urb. Jardin del Mar 3, (behind Carrefour), Torrevieja.

Contact Paul Edwards, Chairman, 618 644 934 or Margaret Forshaw, Secretary 966 921 996.

THE PHOENIX CONCERT BAND

As the band is growing in numbers and going from strength to strength, now presenting music proven to be popular with the audiences, they still need Trombone, Bass/Tuba and Saxophone players, especially Baritone Saxophone and 2nd Percussionist.

Any experienced players , who are permanent Residents or Semi resident on the Costa Blanca South or Costa Calida interested in joining a well established band and able to commit themselves to regular rehearsals are welcome.

Contact : our email address : the phoenixconcertband@gmail.com Tel : Bill (Chairman) 634.310.309. Julie (MD) 634.184.747.

The band rehearses every Tuesday 2.pm. - 4.pm at San Miguel de Salinas FAN CLUB: Anybody wishing to be informed of forthcoming performances please email, your email address and Telephone Number to : Bill at : rytethen@gmail.com

SAT ANIMAL RESCUE

We are holding a charity night on Sat Sept19th to try to raise funds towards building new kennels. Fairwayz Bar Dolores has once again allowed us to use their venue and provide a supper for the people that attend. We have the local Irish group Bardoi performing.

The event starts at 8pm with the supper being served at 8.30pm. The price for the tickets is 5 euros which includes the supper. Tickets can be obtained from Fairwayz bar, Dolores. or the SAT shop in Benimar.(two doors on the right from Studz bar) for more information ring sheila 693 067 577.

SEND ALL YOUR BIRTHDAY WISHES AND INFORMATION ON WHATS ON TO

EDITOR@SOLTIMES .COM

32

SOL CLASSIFIEDS

SOLTIMES 950 121 936 WWW.SOLTIMES.COM SEE US ONLINE EVERYDAY Advertise all your unwanted items for sale Any single item up to 300€ is

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ALTERNATIVE POWER

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MATHEWS MEDIA S.L

POOL TABLES snooker tables, table tennis tables, darts.

Advertise all your unwanted items for sale in this section

659 232 507

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www.ecocorpshop.com Are you getting frustrated at ever increasing electricity bills Do you want a clean, reliable energy alternative If so call Ecocorp on 671 716 597 or 950 930 187 for a no obligation quotation

SUNLIFE SOLAR SOLUTIONS

The finest solar installations on the Costa Blanca

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BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY “Internet Millionaire Reveals Secrets Of Making £1,000 A Week & More Without Any Previous Experience” If you would like to start earning extra money now! Then the internet is definitely the place to do this. You can earn money whilst relaxing by the pool or even earn whilst you’re sleeping. This is the reality for people that are making money online.

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TRANSFER & CHEQUES

Call Paulette on: 950 121 936 or 902 750 190 Ext 330

Martin

every single month.

PAYMENT VISA ,PAYPAL, BANK

September 2015

5 TOBY JUGS 45€. PINOSO. TEL: 679 274 771 BUYER TO SMARTPHONE,

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DO YOU HAVE A GARAGE TO RENT?

Looking for a single (family car) lockable garage to rent within 15km radius of Benijofar/Quesada area.

Needed from end August 2015.

Email: info@chiropractor-benijofar.es or call 602219502 with details

SAN MIGUEL DE SALINAS

PERSONALS

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ELECTRICIANS

ELECTRICIAN AVAILABLE for all works Small or large. Call Dave 693 251 562 davendonc@aol.com

INSURANCE

ASSSA MEDICAL

services, massage, sexy lingerie, prices from 40€. Full discretion. Tel: Ana 865 646 437 ELEGANT slim, sexy, naughty italian lady available home/house visits.

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house visits. Tel: 693 357 526

PETS

INSURANCES Asssa Mazarron, Diane Nolan, 968 153 396

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Ring Pete 606 297 825 www.aafreeenglishtv.com

Email:

UNLOCKED, AS NEW,ALCATEL

mazarron@asssa.es

No dish required but a good stable 3mb internet

FREE OF CHARGE

COLLECT.

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Everything you need we have it

up to 300€ is

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Simba is now 5 weeks old and was rescued with his siblings from a rubbish bin they were just a few days old. They are now on solids and ready for new homes. We think they are Labrador cross and will be medium to large when fully grown.

Call: 645 469 253

For More Information Please call 645 469 253 info@petsinspain.info www.petsinspain.com

33

www.soltimes.com

Call Paulette on: 950 121 936 or 902 750 190 Ext 330 or email: sales@soltimes.com

www.soltimes.com PROPERTY FOR SALE / RENT

VERA APARTMENT FOR RENT

SHORT-TERM/HOLIDAY RENTAL

2 BEDROOM, 2 BATHROOM, PENTHOUSE APARTMENT IN VERA PLAYA ALL MOD CONS, BALCONY & ROOF TERRACE OFFERING FANTASTIC VIEWS CALL 663 977 230 EMAIL: gedfab@yahoo.com Vera Playa Apartment

DETATCHED CORTIJO REDUCED

BARGAIN

20mins from Mojacar, 4 beds, 2 baths, Open plan living areas, kitchen & diningroom as well as a workshop, courtyard front & back & room for a pool. Mountain views. €125,000 649 186 107 oremail thunderpaul2003@hotmail.com

MOTORING SECTION

SAT/TV SERVICES RAINBOW SATELLITES for all your TV needs with clients all over the Murcia Region. Contact Matt or Alan on 686 358 475 or rainbowsats@ gmail.com

SPAS EURO SPAS Spas at factory prices.

Used & Ex display models.

Spares & repairs.

Part exchange Telephone 650 722 905

FOR SALE

LOOKING FOR A CAR

We have a good selection of LHD & RHD vehicles for sale or exchange QUALITY CARS PURCHASED ALL PAPERWORK LEGALLY UNDERTAKEN Telephone 600 726 221 or 965 687 976

www.fwreurocars.com

DO YOU HAVE VEHICLE, BOAT OR MOTOR BIKE FOR SALE TEL: 950 121 936 Removals

Removals / Storage

PERSONALSHOPPINGFROMTHEUK (Argos,Screwfix,Wickesetc) Pet Transportation & Competitive Rates

263 Paseo del Mediterraneo Mojacar Playa, Next to Sal Marina Hotel Mon-Fri: 10am-3pm Sat 10am-2pm Tel: 950 615 364 Call Marc on 647 006 183 or Brian on 674 280 268 or e-mail enquiries@delimas.biz

0034 627 968 434 0044 7874 638 330 Email: jsinternational@mail.com

€18,500

€8,450

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FORD FIESTA

SKODAFABIA 1.2 (60 bhp) July ‘12 5 door hatch, 36,000 kms, 1 owner Full service history, A/C, PAS, ABS, E. windows/mirrors CD player Remote locking Rear head restraints Super economical Light metallic blue

600 726 221 965 687 976

600 726 221 965 687 976

1.25 Trend, June ‘12 5 door hatch, 46,000 kms, 1 owner, Full service history, A/C, PAS, ABS E. windows/mirrors, CD player, Remote locking, Rear head valet, Metallic silver

Local, National & international REMOVALS & STORAGE

UK, FRANCE & SPAIN

FORD FIESTA 1.25 Trend, June ‘12, 5 door hatch, , 43,000 kms, 1 owner, Full service history A/C, PAS, ABS, E. windows/mirrors, CD player, remote locking, rear head restraints, Metallic blue, Just serviced!

Four new tyres!

restraints, Awaiting full

REMOVALS

JAMES & SON De Lima’s

HUMMER H3 - 4X4 2006 - 3.5 Automatic 85,000 with 2 owners Full service history Petrol, Met black, cream leather PAS, ABS, Cruise, Front fog lights E. windows/mirrors, Side steps A/C (Climate), Alloys, Heated seats CD, Rear privacy glass, Roof bars E. seats, Sunroof, Chrome mirrors

Quality Second hand furniture showroom

www.delimas.biz

FORTNIGHTLY SERVICE TO & FROM UK FULL OR PART LOADS

LWB SPRINTER van going from South to North of the UK & back every 2 weeks, based near Murcia Airport. Tel: 610 846 260/ 0044 7519 186 355. or email: van.man@ hotmail.co.uk

SITUATIONS VACANT

SOLTIMES NEWSPAPER GROUP

Require a Sales Manager for the Quesada area.

You will have proven sales ability, can work to sales deadlines. You will be dealing with current advertising businesses but have the confidence to build new business. You must have a computer to work from a distance, own car and driving licence.

High commission package and bonus, contract and mobile phone and expenses. Full training at our head office in Albox Almeria will be required.

This is an exciting opportunity. If you have what we are looking for, Call Paulette on 950 121 936

or email your CV to sales@soltimes.com

SELLING YOUR CAR?

Top prices paid for nice cars. all paperwork professionally undertaken.

Telephone 600 726 221 or 965 687 976

www.fwreurocars.com

HYUNDAI I20 1.2, 2011, 5 door hatch 66,000 kms, 1 owner Full service history, A/C, PAS, ABS, Front fog lights E. windows/mirrors CD player Remote locking Rear head restraints Isofix Light metallic green

PEUGEOT PARTNER RIGHT HAND DRIVE 2007 - Combi Van 1.6, 79,000 miles 3 owners, Full service history A/C, PAS, ABS Electric windows, CD Full length roof rack Large rear door Two sliding side doors MOT’d & Taxed Metallic grey

€8,350

€7,950

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€4,450

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600 726 221 965 687 976

600 726 221 965 687 976

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VEHICLES REGISTRATION

WANTED

“RE-PLATE” MATE

CASH CASH CASH

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Don’t break the Law! Let us take the hassle away from you and re-register your vehicle on to Spanish plates 490€ plus Road Tax plus CO2 Emission if applicable WE PROMISE TO BEAT ANY GENUINE QUOTATION For a full service contact:

Alan 662 249 159

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Email:info@replatematecostablanca.com

For re-registration of cars, motorbikes and motor homes contact Graham Shelton Who after re-registering over 1000 vehicles will put you on the right side of the road.

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34

September 2015

ANIMAL CORNER

To advertise here call : 950 121 936 Scorpion venom contains histamine, which causes the pain and inflammation in the wound. If you have an antihistamine like Benadryl, it may help reduce y o u r pet's discomfort. Benadryl can also make him sleepy, which may help keep him calm and quiet until you can reach medical attention. The liquid form of Benadryl usually comes in a dose of 12.5mg per teaspoon - pills are usually 25mg each. Pets will need 1mg per pound of body weight (check the max dosage with your vet) every 6 - 8 hours. That means a 10 pound cat or dog should get about 3/4 teaspoon of liquid or half a pill

SCORPION STINGS AND YOU PETS Symptoms The non-toxic stings cause intense, fiery pain that lasts up to an hour.

This then gives way to numbness and tingling, which fades after about 24 hours. Pets may yelp and hold up the leg that has been stung or lick and bite at the sting.

All symptoms + Causes

t h e y injected.

All scorpions carry hypodermic-like stingers on the ends of their tails, and can regulate the amount of venom that is

Diagnosis Some stings aren't visible, while others can cause massive swelling with 15 - 30 minutes.

Treatment The best treatment for a scorpion sting is rapid transportation to the animal hospital, but first aid can help ensure that your pet gets there in time. Apply a cold pack - it is important to make sure the toxin doesn't spread. first, place a cold, wet washcloth on the sting. Then put a cold pack, plastic bag filled with ice, or a bag of frozen peas on top of the cloth.

Apply the cold pack for 10 - 30 minutes, several times a day.

Restrict movement - Put your stung pet in a carrier or box. Prevent him from walking or jumping around, and try to keep him calm. Activity will speed up circulation and spread the poison.

Fit him with a cone collar - Even if the scorpion wasn't poisonous, a dog who is stung will chew at the sore, which can make the reaction worse. Fit your pet with a collar restraint like a cone shaped Elizabethan collar.

Apply a soothing baking soda paste - For most scorpion stings, a paste of baking soda will help take the pain away just as it does for bee stings. This can be messy on furry areas of the body, but it works well on sparsely furred regions like the belly. Try to get the paste directly on the skin by separating the fur around the sting. Make this paste by mixing 1 tablespoon of baking soda with enough water to create a thick paste and dab it on the swelling.

APAH

SPACE FOR A LITTLE ONE? Due to the neglect of Ellie’s previous owner, she lost a leg, but to see her running and playing you wouldn’t think so. She is a typical L a b r a d o r, lively and very friendly.

To arrange to meet Ellie please call 630 422 563 or 616 210 850.

Give

an

If your pet stops breathing - If your pet isn't breathing, you will have to start artificial respiration right away.

Close your pets mouth, with 2 quick breaths, watching to see if his chest rises.

Give 15 - 20 breaths a minutes until he starts breathing again on his own or you reach medical help.

For stings on the tail or leg - If veterinary help is more than 2 hours away and the sting is on a leg or the tail, apply a snug bandage between the bite and the heart.

Wrap a small towel, rope, or string around the limb, then cover it with an elastic bandage like an Ace bandage. If this is not available, just tie the rope or string (a shoestring will work) around the limb. The towel and ace bandage is more effective and slightly safer than the tourniquet style (rope) in slowing the spread of the poison, but you will use what you have available in the situation.Support: Most of the time, veterinarians prescribe antibiotics for pets who have been stung by scorpions. This helps prevent a secondary infection from the toxin in the venom. Scorpion stings that become infected can develop areas of dying skin, which need to be cleaned out. You may need to flush out the wound twice a day with an antiseptic solution like Betadine. Purchase this solution from the vet or pet supply stores in a strength of 0.01 - 0.1%. If you purchase higher strength Betadine, dilute it with distilled water until it is the color of weak tea. Call your vet or pharmacist for exact instructions on dilution.-wiki-pet.

MUGS AND MOGGIES

As well as being tea-drinkers the English are animal lovers - the RSPCA was formed 60 years before children’s protection charity the NSPCC. So it stands to reason that we would enjoy cuddling cats while supping cuppas.

Nottingham’s Kitty Cafe allows people to play with cats while drinking coffee and eating cake

antihistamine

Cat cafes have cropped up around the country, from Lady Dinah’s in London to Newcastle’s Mog on the Tyne and Maison de Simba is now 5 weeks old and was rescued with Moggy in his siblings from a rubbish bin they were just a few Edinburgh. days old. They

PETS IN SPAIN SIMBA

are now on solids and ready for new homes. We think they are Labrador cross and will be medium to large when fully grown.

Snowball is a beautiful blue eyed kitten with a soft and gentle nature.

She is one of many of the kittens currently being cared for in APAH’s Cattery.

There are lots of different kittens with different personalities, but they all need loving homes. To meet them please call 630 422 563 or 616 210 850.

WWW.APAHRESCUE.ORG

Call: 645 469 253

info@petsinspain.info www.petsinspain.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW

CAT HOTEL Hondon de las Nieves/Frailes

Centrally-heated houses with large individual runs Love and care will be lavished during your cat’s stay My 29 years of experience in animal and veterinary care will give you piece of mind

Pick up & delivery service offered for coastal areas

Telephone: 966 195 816

Answerphone - we will call back: Mobile 654 155 473

www.mountainviewcathotel.webs.com

The Kitty Cafe in Not tingham opened in

March.

“You will still get the traditional coffee shop where people go with their laptops, that won’t change, but you do see more people now wanting something a bit different,” says director Elliot Reed.

“They want to spend their money on different things so there is a huge place for niche cafes.” Kitty Cafe also acts as a rehoming centre and Mr Reed says it is proving highly successful at finding its feline stars new families.

“People can see the cats chilling out, they can see how they are with children and other animals, they get a much better idea of how the cats would be at home than they do at a normal rescue centre.”

POPPET Poppet is a gentle and loving Pointer who craves human company.

Because she had a bad start in life, she bonds very strongly with her carer and will want to be with you at all times. She loves to go out in the car, enjoys walking and gets on very well with other dogs. Poppet makes an ideal companion who will return the love given to her, 10 times over.

For more information contact 600 845 420 / 865 776 348 or visit our website, www.k9club.es

www.soltimes.com

www.carolnaylor.blogspot.com - www.carolesleynaylor.wordpress.com - naylorcl@hotmail.es

Book Review

THE GLASS ROOM

“I never used to think like that. I never used to worry. Is that what violent death does to the people left behind? It makes us victims too, of our own anxiety.”

favour he asks Vera to investigate.

So this is where it all begins. Vera soon locates Joanna’s whereabouts along the Northumbrian coast near Alnmouth and RAF Boulmer and just in sight of the Farne Islands. It seems that Joanna fancies her chances of being a published writer and has managed to get herself a bursary to attend the Writers’ House run by a former successful writer called Miranda Barton and her son, Alex. Known as a retreat for budding writers, a number of residential courses were organised here. The current one was called Short Cuts. The art of the contemporary crime short story.

D.I. Vera Stanhope is an excellent detective, meticulous and thorough in her investigations but so difficult as a boss. Ask some of the key players in her team: Joe Ashworth, her sergeant or Holly, even Charlie. With them she can be frosty and sarcastic with high and unreasonable expectations. She finds relationships difficult and doesn’t like people who make demands on her time. Vera admits to being more scared of people when they are alive than dead.

She detested her late father Hector who seemed to despise Vera just as much as she despised him and informs us that she is haunted by him with mutterings in her head late at night. Her clothes are generally from Oxfam and her furniture is old. She knows she is overweight and lacks vanity in the way she talks about being the size and shape of a “barrage balloon.” In fact she refers to living in squalor when she described her homelife. Her mother died of cancer when she was a child.

She snooped around the house thinking about how to approach this matter of seeking out Joanna, a house which had been set in an isolated location to add the Agatha Christie type suspense. Added to that, there were a number of mysterious guests who all had secret pasts some of which seemed disturbing. Vera was out of her comfort zone, noting the gloomy air about the place. She felt like a fish out of water, although she referred to herself as a “very fat Alice in a strange Wonderland.” She was anxious in case she was mistaken for a madwoman or an inept burglar. It wouldn’t do her street cred any good, would it? Or her reputation?

She was fully aware of her failings: feeling ignorant and out of her depth with arty types or people who talked non-stop about books or pictures or films. She decided to knock on the front door with a story concocted that might sound plausible when she heard this blood-curdling scream: “It seemed hardly human and was without age or gender: loud and piercing and terrifying.” A well-timed entrance and pushing her insecurities to one side, Vera was taken to the crime scene being praised for her swiftness in arriving at the murder scene!

She is such a well-developed and interesting character, flawed yes but as a person not as a detective.

When she was at her best she was at her “sharpest, most outrageous and clever.” She thrived on solving murders and often went without sleep.

Otherwise she binged on food and drink whilst visiting a crime scene, carrying out her investigations. Cleeves deliberately chooses not to stereotype Vera and this is her appeal.

It’s October, we’re in the north-east of England and Vera’s hippy neighbour Jack, 40, one half of her eco-warrior neighbours has entered Vera’s house waiting for her return. He has a problem and seems distressed because Joanna, his partner has disappeared leaving a note to say she needed a bit of space and has gone away for a few days. As a personal

The Glass Room was a favourite haunt of Professor Tony Ferdinand who worked at St Ursula’s in London. A respected man with excellent contacts, he could help new writers to have their works published. He had appeared on The Culture Show and BBC4. This gave him considerable power

Special Offers Visit:

35

BY ANN CLEEVES and massaged his over-inflated ego. When Vera reached the room she found the professor sitting on the floor with an angry and outraged expression still visible on his face, his shirt covered in blood. He had been stabbed to death.

Miranda Barton, host, found him. The prime suspect was Joanna, Vera’s neighbour who had been seen near the professor’s room holding a knife. Had Joanna killed him or has she been set up? Discovering Joanna’s psychiatric history, her bi-polar disorder as well as her assaults on her former husband, attacking him with a knife and her attempt to commit suicide suggests an unhinged person capable of murder. Equally unnerving is the discovery that Miranda had written this murder scene in her best-seller Cruel Women with chairs and tables and wine glasses in a particular place. Imagine the horror of discovering your piece of fiction becomes a reality.

Vera and her team interview all the writers who are suspects as well as Joanna and many of them had an intense dislike of the victim. Alex Barton tells his mother that he would dance on his grave! Nina Backworth disliked him too. We are told that he “picked on anyone vulnerable.” He was a sexual predator, too brash and too full of himself. So it seems that Vera has her work cut out for proving Joanna’s innocence and finding the real culprit.

“Writers were like parasites, preying on other people’s stress and misery.” Before the murder is solved, there is another gruesome throat slashing, a re-enactment of Nina Backworth’s crime story and Vera and her team have to find the connection between the murders and the possible motive before any further murders are committed.

“Deep down, everyone loved a murder.

They loved the drama of it, the frisson of fear. people had been putting together stories of death and the motive for killing since the beginning of time to thrill and to entertain.”

It’s so cleverly written, faultless and an extremely satisfying read and I adore Vera Stanhope’s rudeness and eccentricities.

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

One of the problems of remote living, far from any ‘National Grid’, is the consequent reliance on batteries, charged by Sun, Wind and, when all else fails, Diesel Generator.

Unlike car batteries, which are normally kept pretty much fully charged, these batteries are designed to be very forgiving, regularly being discharged to a considerable depth before needing to be charged back up again. My present set offered 500 such cycles, discharging to 50% capacity, before loosing their ability to continue powering the house; but now, ten years on, despite very careful use, they’re getting tired and need replacing.

I have therefore spent hours researching available options, finding several ‘deep cycle’ batteries offering around 2000 discharge cycles down to 50% capacity.

To my amazement however I discovered one Spanish Company selling ‘Silicon’ batteries that could deliver more than 6000 discharge cycles to well below 50%.

Now that’s what I call forgiving! 30 times more flexible than my current ones, I can apparently hammer these batteries, almost totally draining before re-charging them, every day for 16 years! And if, as seems likely, the Sun and wind most days prevent such total discharge, then these batteries should last a lot longer! So, a no-brainer really.

My replacement

power supply is on order.

But thinking of the requirement for batteries to be forgiving, reminded me of when St Peter asked how often we should be expected to forgive each other, clearly expecting seven times to be enough. Jesus however responded: “Not seven, but seventy times seven!”

And I’d guess that were that question asked of him today, Jesus might well suggest that our readiness to forgive should at least match these batteries.

That’s how completely God, through Jesus is prepared to forgive me, regardless of my frequent failings, or the depth to which my faith may sink. And that of course is how I too should forgive those who cause me offence as echoed in that prayer “forgive us our offences as we forgive those who cause us offence.” Quite a challenge really.

Details of a number of English Language Churches are given in Sol Noticeboard for any who wish to Worship, but further information about the Anglican Church and details of forthcoming events may be seen on the web site www.mojacarchurch.org Duncan Burr is Licensed Lay Reader for the Anglican Chaplaincy of Costa Almeria and Costa Cálida and may be contacted at djburr@avired. com

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36

September 2015

MOTORING AROUND A DECADE AGO, HYUNDAI LAUNCHED A COMPACT SUV IN THE UK CALLED THE TUCSON THEN CAME THE FRESHLY DESIGNED AND EUROPEAN BUILT IX35 IN 2009 WHICH TOOK AWAY THE TUCSON NAME, AND SOLD AS MANY CARS IN ITS FIRST YEAR AS THAT ORIGINAL TUCSON SOLD IN ITS ENTIRE UK LIFESPAN. C-SEGMENT SUV.

Interior room is decent and boot space is above average for the class, with 513 litres with the seats up, expanding to 1,503 litres when the seats are folded. A full-size spare tyre reduces things by 25 litres but we can attest that it’s worth having, after picking up a puncture from a gravelled forestry road. The expected best-selling 2WD 1.7-litre CRDi diesel engine features an official combined fuel economy of 61.7mpg, and 119 g/km of CO2. Depending on the gearbox, drivetrain and horsepower flavour chosen, the 2.0-litre diesel will officially return between 43.5 and 58.9mpg. For reference, we experienced the 185hp version with 4WD and six-speed automatic gearbox, seeing an average of 36mpg.

At the other end of the scale, the 1.6-litre T-GDI turbo petrol with DCT gearbox and 4WD system maintained a steady 28mpg when tested, compared to a claimed 37.7mpg official combined figure. CO2 emissions are high at 175g/km, with the accompanying VED penalty.

The 2WD – and manual gearbox only – naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine offers up a 44.8mpg average. Hyundai is proud of the predicted residual values, which are set to offer a 9 – 15% improvement over the outgoing ix35, dependent on trim level. After three years/60,000 miles buyers should see their Tucson holding 42% of its original value. It’s should help In the six years between this all-new car and its namesake, the C-SUV market has become hugely important, Hyundai offer attractive PCP deals to entice customers with the ix35 moving itself to being Hyundai’s second best-seller in the UK. Which means nailing the product in this in, along with the standard five-year/unlimited mileage sector is vital for Hyundai’s future plans. warranty.

The result is a handsome new Tucson that is very much on trend, with a bluff chrome-covered nose, sharply http://www.motoringresearch.com creased and sculpted sides, and a roofline that curves towards the rear. Extra features such as asymmetric wheel arches, distinctive LED daytime running lights, and twin exhaust tailpipes, means the new Tucson has real visual impact. There’s also thoughtfulness in the design, such as the lower section of the tailgate being made of plastic so it’s cheaper to replace in the event of an accident. The new car features 51% high strength steel, boosting crash protection and refinement over the departing ix35.

Prices begin at £18,695 for the entry-level S trim car with a 1.6-litre petrol engine, climbing to £32,345 for the top-spec Premium SE 4WD 2.0-litre diesel with 182hp.

The expected best-selling 2WD 1.7-litre diesel SE Nav rolls in at £22,795, undercutting a similarly equipped Nissan Qashqai by £650. Most of our time on test was spent in the rangetopping 182hp 2.0-litre diesel 4WD model, mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox. With 295lbft of torque it has the most twist of the Tucson range, yet never felt truly capable of the claimed 9.5 seconds 0-62mph time. The engine is at least refined, and the gearshifts smooth if slightly slow. We also experienced the 1.6-litre T-GDI turbocharged petrol engine, fitted with the sevenspeed DCT dual-clutch transmission. With 175bhp, and a kerb weight some 80kg less than the big diesel, the turbo petrol feels more capable of hitting 0-62mph in the 9.1 seconds. It’s no GTI, but offers decent cross-country progress.

Automatic versions do feature a Sport mode, although this seemed to make little difference to Almost a quarter of UK parents admit to leaving their kids on their own in the car for as long as 27 minutes. overall driving beyond encouraging the gearbox to cling onto a gear for slightly longer.

Ride quality is generally good, and whilst the bigger 19-inch wheels fitted to top-spec cars do make you aware of The research, by Kwik Fit Insurance Services, reveals that dads are likely to leave kids alone in cars for longer than bumps and potholes in the road, the Tucson does an impressive job of isolating you from them. mums – despite half of parents saying they’ve returned to Body control is also impressive – there’s no sense of the Tucson being a wallowing SUV – with a crisp turn-in misbehaving children as a result. to corners. Steering feel is lacking, but Hyundai is hardly pitching the Tucson as sports car, and it doesn’t detract The most common scene to return to is fighting between from the ability to place the car accurately on twisty roads. Braking is strong and progressive, without being overly siblings (15%), tears (13%) and beeping the horn (13%). aggressive in initial bite. Hyundai’s launch route included the use of gravelled forestry tracks to demonstrate the Worryingly, one in six parents admitted to locking their Tucson’s SUV credentials. While most buyers will never venture further off-road than parking on a kerb, the Tucson kids in the car as punishment – while more than a quarter does offer some ability away from tarmac. In 4WD models 100% of the torque is sent to the front wheels until they said they simply forgot about them. lose traction, after which up to 50% can be sent to the rear axle. There’s also the option to lock the torque split at ‘Shocking’ Child behaviour expert Richard Curtis said: 50/50 at speeds below 25mph. On the loose gravel surfaces the Tucson maintained the same confident composure “The results of this survey are very shocking. as on tarmac, with the 4WD system subtly transferring torque to keep things moving.

“While it is not appropriate to take a child out of a car ON THE INSIDE whilst filling up with petrol, there are many other times Whilst the preceding ix35 was never praised for its interior, Hyundai has made a leap forward with the new where the children should go with their parents.

“There are a number of hazards that could pose a risk Tucson. Everything is set out clearly and logically, with most functions controlled through the 8-inch touchscreen.

While it’s an obvious improvement in quality, with the Tucson covering such a wide price range, what feels to children in an unattended vehicle, plus, as this report shows, siblings will often bicker or fight.” acceptable at £18,000 might not be so well received at £32,000. Hyundai is targeting BMW and Audi customers The survey found that the youngest age on average that with the premium Tucson models and whilst the interior certainly doesn’t feel cheap, some buyers might view it UK parents leave their children alone in the car is 7 years as a compromise.

– dropping to 5 years for younger parents.

However, the payoff is a standard specification far more substantial than the equivalent German-brand car.

Curtis added: “Children left alone in an enclosed space DAB radio is standard across the range, along with USB / AUX inputs, Bluetooth connectivity and air conditioning. with a sibling will often get bored or frustrated with them, Moving up the range, SE grade adds rear parking sensors, climate control, heated front seats, and cruise control especially left without an activity to do. over the standard ‘S’ specification.

“My advice would be to never leave children under the Premium adds more toys in the shape of auto wipers and lights, privacy glass, leather seats and a blind spot age of 12 unattended if you haven’t got line of sight to warning system. SE Nav, unsurprisingly, adds satellite navigation that features TomTom Live updates, but also them, and even then not for more than a few minutes. includes a useful reversing camera.

“Whatever parents decide, having some games and Go all out on the Premium SE model, and you’ll benefit from ventilated front seats, a huge panoramic sunroof, activities in the car is only ever going to be beneficial to keyless entry, heated steering wheel, and an electronically assisted tailgate. This flagship trim level may be keep little people occupied.” expensive, but there is almost nothing extra you could ask for in terms of technology.

Engines: 1.6, 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder petrol; 1.7 and 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel Gearbox: Six-speed manual and six/seven speed automatic; 2WD or 4WD Prices from: £18,695 Power: 114hp – 182hp Torque: 119 – 295lb ft 0-62mph: 9.1 – 13.7 seconds Top speed: 109 – 125mph Fuel economy: 37.2 – 61.7mpg CO2 emissions: 119 – 177g/km

REASONS WHY PARENTS LEAVE KIDS ALONE IN THE CAR

37

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RUBY'S GOLF AT LA FINCA

965 352 740 OFFICAL BIKE BREAKERS For our most recent game was at La Finca the course was in great condition, but the flies were a bit disconcerting.

Our turnout was not as good as it has been of recent but the time of the year could have had something to do with this.

Results on the day, nearest the pin on the par 3's were Buck Taylor (2) George Marshall Deane and Jim Mc Carthy, nearest in three was Buck again, best front nine Bill Malcolm and best back Theresa Wright. Best guest was Harry Evans our newest and youngest

member. Winner of the gold division was Marc Doughty, silver division and overall winner was John Goulder. The most outstanding award has to go to the flies though.

Back at The Med Bar our usual great buffet was served, many thanks to Steve and the staff for that. Our next outing is at La Marquesa on the 28th of August Any one wishing to join us for this game or any other fixture should email us at rubysgolf@yahoo.co.uk or put your name down on the list at The Med Bar

SAN MIGUEL GOLF SOCIETY AT LAS PINAILLES. AUGUST 26TH 2015.

SMGS’s this week's visit was to Las Pinailles in Albacete attended by 23 members and 4 guests who enjoyed an excellent day out which was arranged through Albatross Tours in Villamartin.

The course was in excellent condition except a little damp in places.

The highlight of the day was a hole in one on hole 3 by Matt Newman( his first) and he kindly bought everybody a drink after an excellent meal which was included in the excellent price of 55 euro for the day out including coach and buggy.

There was one result in the doubles match play semi final with John Osborne and Darren Hancock( Tthe Wizard and Os) beating Steve Davis and Ivan Hanak (The Dumpers) down the 19th Hole and will know play Phil de Lacy and Ken Flaherty (Ken and Barbie) in the final.

Results by category and in reverse order, were the following: Silver Category: 4th Steve Davis (28) 3rd Marge Birtwistle (28), 2nd Phil Birtwistle (30 ), and 1st Alan Macdonald (32).

Gold Category: 4th Darren Hancock (32), 3rd John Osborne (34), 2nd Matt Newman (35) and 1st, Robin Eastman (37).

The Abacus winner was Grattan Forbar.

Best visitor prize went to Steve Grundy (34).

Nearest the pins (open to all) on the par 3’s were won by Matt Newman with a hole in one (3), Robin Eastman (7) Joost Boelhouwer (12) and Ivan Hanak (17).

Our thanks go to the

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staff at Las Pinailles course and Albatross Golf Tours for their contribution to an enjoyable day.

Next week we are playing at Alicante and the following week at Villamartin.

Keep up to date with all SMGS matters by logging on to our website www.smgs.org or simply give Barry Roehrig a call on 966 731 033 to find out more about the society and its weekly golf gettogethers where guests are always welcome.

BRADLEY BREAKERS

965 723 270 607 848 332

38

September 2015

INTER-LEAGUE CHALLENGE MATCH - QUESADA GOLF SUPER LEAGUE V VEGA BAJA LEAGUE RODA GOLF & BEACH RESORT 21ST AUGUST 2015

there to keep check on their respective players and the scores as the pairs came through the 9th green. Everything seemed very close but this was match play. It was to be all change on the back nine as scores moved from one team to the other with the respective captains in their buggies still not sure what the outcome was to be. Ivie Davies, the playing captain, was playing in the first four ball for Vega Baja so he was able to sit with Ron, Andy and Mike as the two teams converged on the 18th green eagerly awaiting the outcome of the match. Was it to be Quesada again or Vega Baja.

In the end it was a clear cut win for Quesada by 6 matches to 2 which meant Quesada retained the trophy. Ian Faulkner, playing captain for Quesada, thanked Ivie, Ron, Mike and Andy for all their work in making the day so successful. Ivie thanked all the players for playing in such a professional and friendly manner, and then presented the trophy to the Quesada Golf Super League non-playing captain Mike Wyatt.

All the photos were taken and the day ended with everybody journeying back to their respective homes. Many thanks to all the Roda staff for their input without which we would not have had such a splendid day.

T.M.G.S. AT VILLAMARTIN 26/8/15

This is the second year of the tournament and is the Quesada Golf Super League’s home game and the team are primed and ready to do battle with the Vega

Baja League. Quesada took to the first tee resplendent in their electric green shirts to dazzle the opposition, supplied

by Caroline at the Embroidery Workshop in Jacarilla.

As the draw had been made earlier in the week the first two pairs took to the first tee at 10am. The format for the day to be match play. The course looked in excellent condition and Andy and Mike from Quesada and Ron from Vega Baja were

Results as follows: QGSL TEAM

6

VBPGL TEAM

WON 5&4

KEITH SMITH

IVIE DAVIES

ALAN GIFFORD

PETER DAGGART

IAN FAULKNER DAVE SMITH

NIGEL WRIGHT JIM McCARTHY

BARRY ROEHRIG THEO BOELHOUWER

WON 5&4

2

WON 4&3

RAY MILLGATE BARBARA HITCHINGS GEOFF WILD WON 1 up THERESA WRIGHT

TONY SMALE PHIL de LACY MIKE JORDAN ROBIN EASTMAN

WON 1 up

BILL MARTIN LES LANE

TERRY SHARLEY BOB EATON

WON 2&1

RODNEY SMITH CAMERON STEWART

STEVE FLEET TONY WILSON

WON 3&1

MARTIN OAKLEY MARTIN ARCHER

DAVID GRAY TONY STEAD

WON 3&1

ALAN BROOKER BILL MALCOLM

QGSL 6 WINS

SOL TIMES

VBGL 2 WINS

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33 members and guests descended onto this Championship course that we found to be in great condition for this time of year, receptive and slick greens meant that your putting stroke needed to be at its best.

Every week our members are invited to take part in a “2’s” pot, this week Sandra Twentyman reluctantly gave over her €1 saying that she is just a sponsor and never wins anything. Well Sandra it just goes to show that you must be in it to win it!! Congratulations on making the ONLY 2 of the day, returning you €29 on your investment, no more winging heh!

While on the subject of our Sandra, you may recall the on-going battle between her and Norwegian member Roger Nilsen, it’s been a little quite on that front lately, probably because Roger has had the upper hand, well she let everyone know today that she had scored more points than him, I wonder, is it possible that the raping and pillaging by the Viking Members in recent weeks might have found their match?

Watch this space for future updates.

In the Silver category, Sandra managed a very good 34 points to take 3rd place on higher handicap from “cuddly from Dudley” Alan Rickers, these two were sandwiched between Swedish member Lennart Holmberg in 4th place on 33 points and out in 1st place with the best score of

the day (40 points) was another member of the Viking fraternity, Per Skarnes.

In our Gold category the scores were very similar with Dag Lovas taking 4th place on 31 points, nice to see newcomer, Paul Aston in the prizes taking 3rd place with higher handicap from Arne Hansson both on 33 points. After reading our recent reports about the raiding of the Viking pirates, Irish member, Chris Gray, decided to return to Spain a little earlier to see if he could help balance the battle, you wouldn’t normally expect a spritely 72 year old wanting to take part in such battles, but Chris’s experience proved to be just what was needed and his 38 points put our British members hearts at rest. Nice to see you back Chris.

The N.T.P. competition this week; Hole 6 Chris Gray, Hole 9 Alan Rickers, Hole 13 Chris Gray, Hole 17 Gary Gates. In the visitor’s category, Mr S. Williams came out on top with 27 points.

Our next venue is Real club de Golf Campoamor on the 2nd of September, so if you fancy taking part in our friendly rivalry competitions, visit our website www. tmgs.org you can also follow us at our Facebook/tmgsgolf page or even via our twitter account @tmgsgolf, and if you’re still in the era of tin cans and string you can also call our Secretary on 661 524 101

WOLFPACK G.S. AUGUST STABLEFORD

Las Colinas

“If you can´t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” Harry S Trueman is reputed to have said – but when the temperature on the golf course is higher than Mary Berry´s kitchen then even Delia´s greens would wilt !!!

You can see that this months report has aquired a culinary bias for no particular reason, except that maybe we are coming to the end of the salad

days and that meat and two veg could be just around the corner. September will see the return of our Wigan contingent so meat pies will certainly be back on the menu !!!

To the golf at “The Hills” - Front 9 with 19pts Brian Layden ; Back 9 with 19pts and second place overall with 34pts Ricky Gibson ; This months winner with 35pts Alan Hill.

B.L

39

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SPORT SHORTS BY TONY MATTHEWS • José Mourinho’s 100th PL home game in charge of Chelsea (and his 200th overall) ended in a 2-1 defeat by Crystal Palace.

• The Liverpool-West Ham game finished tena-side as the Hammers won 3-0– their first victory at Anfield since 1963.

• Unbeaten leaders Manchester City beat Watford 2-0; WBA won 1-0 at nine-man Stoke; Arsenal defeated ten-man Newcastle 1-0, Southampton eased past 10-man Norwich 3-0 and Swansea came back from a goal down to beat Manchester United (again) 2-1.

• The games between Aston Villa-Sunderland, Bournemouth-Leicester and Spurs-Everton ended in draws.

• Brighton won 3-2 at Ipswich to go to top of the Championship; Walsall and Leyton Orient head Leagues 1 and 2 and Celtic replaced Hearts as SPL leaders. In Spain’s La Liga, both Barcelona and Real Madrid opened with home victories.

• This weekend there are several 2016 European Championship qualifiers including Cyprus-Wales (tomorrow), Georgia-Scotland, Gibralter-Republic of Ireland and Faroe Islands-Northern Ireland (Friday) and San Marino-England and Spain-Slovakia (Saturday) • The transfer window has closed... main details next week.

• GB athlete Mo Farah became the first runner ever to win the official distance triple-double by claiming the World 5,000m and 10,000m titles in Beijing - a feat he also achieved at 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Championships.

Farah now has 12 Championship gold medals to his name.

• Usain Bolt completed the 100m and 200m double and helped Jamaica win the 4x100m

relay while GB’s Shara Proctor gained silver in the women’s long jump. Greg Rutherford (long jump) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon) were GB’s other gold medallists while GB’s men and women won bronze in their respective 4x400m relay finals.

• Onto cricket, and last Saturday Lancashire beat Northants by 13 runs to win the T20 Blast final. On Friday, England play Australia in a ODI at Lords and on Saturday Yorkshire meet Gloucestershire in the London Cup final.

• Leeds Rhinos battered Hull KR 50 points to nil in last weekend’s Rugby Super Challenge Cup final; Tom Briscoe scored five tries. And in friendly ‘Union’ internationals, Scotland beat Italy 48-7 and Wales defeated Ireland 16-10.

• Championship leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha/Movistar) won Sunday’s British MotoGP ahead of fellow Italians Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso. Rossi leads the driver’s championship by 12 points from Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo.

• GB cyclist Chris Froome (8th overall) avoided a crash which caused four riders, including Ireland’s Dan Martin, to pull out of the Vuelta a Espana during stage 8 in Murcia.

Belgian Kris Boeckmans was inducted in a coma after suffering concussion and facial fractures in the accident.

• American Jordan Spieth has been replaced by former leader Rory McIlroy as the world’s number one golfer.

• The Italian F1 Grand Prix takes place at Monza this weekend; the US tennis Grand Slam is underway at Flushing Meadows and the World Rowing Championships are taking place in France.

DANCING IN THE RAIN

The MotoGP™ World Championship has taken a critical turn after the Octo British Grand Prix as Rossi dances to victory.

Rain can produce peculiar results in motorcycle racing; with power more of a disadvantage, in the wet rider skill becomes even more important.

Riders such as Chris Vermeulen became famous for their ability in the wet, the loveable Australian claimed his only MotoGP™ win in 2007 at a rain soaked French GP. As electronics have begun to play a bigger role, rain specialists have become a rarer and rarer breed. But racing in the beating rain is by no means easy, as two of the MotoGP™ championship challengers showed on Sunday.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) went to bed on Saturday night performing a rain dance; his dry weather pace was simply not enough to keep with the likes of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo. It seems that even Mother Nature is a Rossi fan as come Sunday morning Warm Up the heavens had opened and Silverstone lived up to Britain’s reputation of rain. Rossi led the session handily, heading, somewhat fortuitously, Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) as both Marquez and Lorenzo struggled.

Come race time, the rain had settled and wet tyres were fitted. Initially Marquez had been able to keep with Rossi, the pair breaking away, but the Spaniard found himself on the floor as he exited Turn 1. This DNF is the final nail in the coffin of Marquez’s 2015 title challenge. He now sits 77 points behind Rossi in the standings and though it is mathematically still possible for Marquez to claim a third MotoGP™ crown, a miracle is needed.

Marquez has never gone particularly well in the wet. Last year at Aragon he crashed while pushing slicks too hard on a track that was becoming colder and wetter with every lap. Back in 2011, Marquez failed to finish the British GP when racing in the Moto2™ class in similar conditions. Compared to Rossi, Marquez is still a relative newcomer to the premier class and wet weather riding is a skill that comes with experience.

As Rossi cruised to victory, Lorenzo was battling vision problems and aggressive riders. Many of Lorenzo’s worse moments, including his famous Assen crash in 2013 that saw his collarbone shatter, have happened in the wet. These problems were made worse by a misting visor and saw Lorenzo miss out on valuable championship points. With a fourth place finish the Majorcan now sits 12 points behind his teammate.

Lorenzo himself admits that he did not have the pace to battle Rossi for the win: “Valentino and

LOUIS VAN GAAL UNSURE OVER DAVID DE GEA MANCHESTER UNITED FUTURE

Louis van Gaal was irritated by continued questions on David De Gea's future at the club Louis van Gaal says he does not know if David de Gea will still be a Manchester United player on Tuesday.

The Spanish transfer window closes at midnight on Monday – 18 hours before it does so in England – so any deal to take De Gea to the Bernabeu must be done well ahead of the English deadline of 6pm on Tuesday.

United boss Van Gaal insisted 10 days ago that De Gea would not be leaving the club, despite the Spain international banished to the sidelines this season amid strong interest from Real Madrid so far this season.

However, Van Gaal's stance appeared to soften following United's 2-1 Premier League defeat to Swansea on Sunday, despite new goalkeeper Sergio Romero gifting the home side their winning goal.

When asked whether the 23-year-old would stay at United, Van Gaal replied: "I don't know.

Guillem Balague reveals Real Madrid are considering including Keylor Navas in a package to secure the signing of Man Utd's David de Gea "We have to wait and see but I don't want to interfere.

"As a manager we have divided our tasks and the task is for Ed Woodward (United chief executive) and not for me.

"You can ask all the players but

you have to wait and see until Manchester United make an announcement, or the club where he is going to make an announcement. Otherwise he stays.

European Deadline Day When does the transfer window shut around Europe?

"But we have coped with the situation by buying Romero. That is what we have done as a club to settle that issue. We have done it well."

Van Gaal also refused to discuss reports linking Javier Hernandez with a move to German club Bayer Leverkusen, but he was more forthcoming in his defence of Romero.

Gary Neville agrees with Louis van Gaal that Man United's defeat against Swansea will not affect their transfer dealings this window "You can write everything you want," Van Gaal said when asked about Romero's performance.

"What I always say is defending starts in front and not only in the last line.

"You can always analyse errors but I don't think that is a good way.

"You have to see the way the team is defending as a team and then I know what errors have been made.

"At the end, of course, the pressure for the last defender or goalkeeper is always higher. I don't agree when you only say the goalkeeper was not so good." http://www.skysports.com/

Marquez passed me and I was in third position losing time every lap.

They had a better pace than me early on in the race and I couldn‘t do anything to follow them.”

Throughout his racing career Lorenzo has shown great mental fortitude, not only in over coming his Assen wet-race demons but also overcoming multiple severe injuries, continuing to push himself to the limit.

A 12-point advantage may seem small, but round 13 of the MotoGP™ World Championship takes place in Misano, Rossi’s backyard. A win and the championship lead will have Rossi on the crest of a wave, able to ride the success and confidence to the Rimini coastline. It will be a make of break round for Jorge Lorenzo, if he can de-throne Rossi at home and stop him from gaining any momentum.

Marquez could still play a significant role in the title battle; he now truly has nothing to lose. As such he can take even more risks, push even closer to the edge in races and no doubt steal race wins. Every point will matter in the title fight between the Yamahas and losing five, or more, to a rogue Honda could be costly. The championship will be decided by a mistake, the only question is who will make the mistake? http://www.motogp.com/

40

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