This Week's Business over Tapas (Subscription Drive)

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Business Over Tapas

A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners:

with Lenox Napier and Andrew Brociner

For subscriptions and other information about this site, go to businessovertapas.com

email: lenox@businessovertapas.com

24 October 2013 Nº 041

Editorial:

Forget the 'green shoots of recovery', if you believe the bankers, Spain is the very place to invest in. To prove it, Bill Gates is on the front pages after buying a share in a massive Barcelona based building company. The real estate market, so say the salesmen, is at an optimum time to buy as well. Oh, things are good again, with Spain officially out of the longest recession ever during 'the democratic years' (with a positive growth of 0.1% in the third quarter). The Minister for the Economy, Luis de Guindos, recognises the news as 'the first, timid, small step out of the current crisis'. The bankers are ebullient, the politicians cautious, but the general public remains in the doldrums, with massive unemployment, poverty and the uncertainty of a better future.

…...

Housing:

From The Telegraph - a quote from the owner of one of the Cantoria homes: “It is unbelievable that at a time when Spain is suffering such a deep economic crisis and high unemployment and needs tourism and foreign investment the authorities would do this,” said Mr Brooks. “It sends a message. Do not buy in Spain.” The news of the demolitions also appears in The Times, The Daily Mail and The Express. 1, 2 and 3 while La Voz de Almería carries the headline on Saturday: 'The demolitions in Cantoria explode across the British press. Newspapers with millions of readers publish full reportage about the demolitions'. Indeed, even Online Nigeria offers stern disapproval of the Spanish behavior!

A full-page article which oddly doesn't appear on the Internet from Monday's Andalucía edition of El Mundo explores the local British concern over the demolitions on the part of the Junta, which are thought to be 'haphazard' – decided according to political concerns rather than ecological or judicial ones. The homes were bought in 'good faith', continues the article (a point accepted by the judge who ordered the Cantoria demolitions), yet the builders have managed to elude any responsibility towards the British settlers. Many of these settlers are 'trapped' in valueless homes without water or electricity. The article finishes by noting fresh tensions in the area and that the local British community is criticizing 'the barbarous Spanish' in their local English-language media. The British national press are also mentioned for their strong criticism regarding the issue.

The secret, says El Mundo, is to buy just as the property market hits the floor...

'It got us into the crisis and now it's back to get us out of the misery. In a country without industry, domestic consumption or available finance for business projects, el ladrillo, the brick, is shaping up, six years after the bursting of the bubble, as the only engine capable of attracting investment to the Spanish economy.

After closing the worst chapter of this financial crisis in 2012, Spain has returned on the radar of foreign venture capital firms, investment funds and large international investors willing to inject billions of euros whenever they see an opportunity.

Neither tourism nor exports, both boasted as triumphs by the Government, seem to be in the eye of this new situation. That fresh new money that wants to come to Spain and has returned optimism to banker Emilio Botín has a clear target: real estate'...

'UK buyers have always favoured France when investing in international property, but Spain is swiftly closing the gap. According to mortgage specialist Conti, 36 per cent of all enquiries received so far this year have been for Spain, growing by three per cent on the same time last year. Conversely, while French property made up 43 per cent of enquiries, numbers actually declined by two per cent.

In fact, Spain accounted for more enquiries than France during May, June and July, demonstrating that the market remains a popular one and confidence is rising. Things are certainly starting to look up for the country's real estate sector and prices have started to bottom out in certain parts if the country. Seemingly, Spain is now on the slow climb to recovery and savvy buyers know that now is the time to snap up property while it remains in low value territory'... From Property Showrooms.

'The price of housing in Spain experienced a drop of 10.6% in the second quarter, year-on-year, the highest amongst the countries of the eurozone, according to data released last week by Eurostat. However, this decline represents a slowdown compared with the year-on-year fall of 12.8% recorded in the first three months of 2013.

Data from the EU statistics office shows a fall of 0.8% in the house prices in Spain, compared to the first quarter of the year, when they fell by 5.1%, behind only the 2% quarterly decline recorded in the Netherlands. In fact, the quarterly decline in housing prices seen in the second quarter, the 12th consecutive negative quarter, is the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2010, when prices fell by 0.1%'... From Kyero.

'The depreciation of the value of one's home is passing an important bill to most family economies. If the average value of a house in Spain was about 320,000 euros at the beginning of the crisis back in 2007-2008, today this has been reduced by about 75,000€ to around 245,000 euros, with the fall of real estate prices'... From El Mundo.

…...

Tourism:

'Spain received 48,800,000 foreign visitors through September, an increase of 4.6 percent over the similar period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism... Just in September, Spain welcomed 6,500,000 international visitors, which is an increase of 4.7 percent compared with the same month in 2012, and marked a new record high after the one registered in August'... From Almería Confidencial. Visitors from the Nordic countries were up by 17.7% in 2013, at 3.6 million over the same time period. The British grew by 4.4% and the Germans by 4%. The Italians – for some reason – were down by 10%. '...The so-called 'industry without chimneys' provides 11 percent of the gross domestic product of Spain and 11.4 percent of total employment, says the tourist minister, José Manuel Soria'.

Almería has also done well from tourism this year, with foreign visitors up. The provincial tourist authority is nevertheless worried about the impact on particularly British visitors following the recent demolitions in Cantoria (and the threat of further action by the Junta de Andalucía). The Patronato de Turismo de Almería will therefore be at the London World Travel Market (4th - 7th November). 'We need to clean up our image, following on from the policies of the Junta de Andalucía, in particular, towards British residents here', says the Vice-president of the provincial diputación Javier Aureliano García, an open critic of the Junta's actions in Almería. From The Entertainer Online.

Ana Pastor, the Minister of Development, revealed on Monday in an interview with Cadena Ser that the Government had completed "an agreement with a low cost airline" to operate out of Madrid from 2014. A newspaper was quick to say that the company in question is Norwegian Air Shuttle. The ABC newspaper also maintains that Norwegian Air Shuttle is interested in 'opening new national connections' as well as increasing its number of international routes from its new base in Madrid. The airline flies to Alicante, Málaga and Las Palmas, is also reportedly considering opening routes to Barcelona and Tenerife.

…...

Finance:

'The president of the Eurogroup of EU finance ministers insists that “Spanish banks are better off than those of many other European countries.” In an interview with EL PAÍS, Jeroen Dijsselbloem radiated optimism about Spain’s economic future, asserting that the bailout of the banking system will almost certainly not be extended as initially planned, as banks seem to have regained access to credit on the markets and provisioning needs appear to have been met. "I am very optimistic about Spain," said Dijsselbloem. "The industrial and economic foundations are there. And the reforms are working. The improvements are there, even if the changes are still not noticeable in the real economy. Unemployment is going down, the recession is ending, exports are growing. I insist: I am optimistic about Spain."... From El País in English.

'This is a time of extreme optimism. Yes, there may be twelve million people living in poverty, a complicated deficit for the government and so on.. but for the Chairman of the Banco Santander, Emilio Botín, "now is a fantastic moment for Spain," because "money is pouring in from everywhere".

According to Botín, confidence in Spain has increased in a way which would have been unimaginable six months ago as many now want to invest in the country. In these positive terms, he spoke in a press conference in New York to present the Santander brand in the United States. "Everyone is interested in investing in Spain. Is reaching us money in the stock exchange, to buy debt, to invest...", he insisted.

'Microsoft founder Bill Gates has snapped up a €113.5m (£96.2m) stake in Spanish construction and services group FCC, five years after the country's property bubble imploded. News of the deal after markets closed on Monday night sent the shares soaring in early trade on Tuesday, up nearly 12pc to €17.55. Shares had already climbed 5.4pc on Monday before the deal was officially announced to the stock market'... From The Telegraph.

The New York Times is similarly sanguine about Spain: '...“The worst is over,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London, in a note published Wednesday, noting a turnaround in net Spanish exports'...

'The government on Thursday unveiled its latest fiscal adjustment plans, which entail finding 4 billion euros worth of measures for 2015 to meet its target of reducing the budget deficit to 4.2 percent of GDP from a projected 5.8 percent next year. The deficit target for this year is 6.5 percent, with the government aiming to bring the shortfall back within the European Union ceiling of 3 percent of GDP in 2016'... From El País in English.

'Recovering Spanish carrier Iberia will return to profit next year for the first time since 2010, the chief executive of its parent International Airlines Group (ICAG.L) said.

The Spanish airline became unprofitable in all markets, including long-haul, following its merger with British Airways in 2011. It was hit by competition from low-cost rivals and high-speed trains, labour disputes and a recession that has left a quarter of Spaniards out of work. IAG has spent around 700 million euros on restructuring Iberia, which reduced losses for the first time in almost three years in the three months to the end of June. "Iberia was in a significant crisis but is well on the path to recovery. Iberia will be profitable next year, like British Airways (BA) and Vueling already are," IAG boss Willie Walsh said at the Airport Operators Association annual conference in London on Tuesday. From Reuters.

From Eye on Spain comes an article about the Spanish asset declaration for assets held outside Spain. It also features this question POLL: 'Have you decided to spend less time in Spain because of the new tax declaration of overseas assets?'. The answer (by Wednesday evening) being 53.8% say 'Yes'. Perhaps we should run this country for them?

A comment from 'James' in the same feature is interesting: 'The Spanish Government is looking for ways to fund its enormous tax deficit. With so many Germans and Britons owning a Spanish property, they become an obvious target. The main difficulty is that because of the difference in tax years and definitions of residence - an average of 3 months over the years will do to make you a British resident - it is possible to end up paying tax in both countries. Whilst taxes like income tax can be offset by what you have paid in the other country, this does not work where the UK has no similar tax. Obviously the collection of data regarding assets is designed to be used for charging a tax on assets or wealth. The UK does not have such a tax at this time although it does have death duties and capital gains tax , which are applied to property or shares. So if Spain charges tax on world-wide assets as a fixed percentage, this will be a net loss unrecoverable from the UK. Spanish police already have records of cars parked at Málaga airport - indicative that the owner may be absent from the country. They can easily check flight and ferry ticket records, where passports must be shown for departures to the UK. It is difficult for them to check cars crossing into France, Portugal or Gibraltar unless they set up cameras, at the frontiers It would be wise for anyone who spends a lot of time in Spain to start keeping records such as toll tickets or travel tickets that prove when they are absent from the country. You may be sure that the onus will be on the potential taxpayer to prove his/her innocence. The Spanish police have already created difficulties for Britons living in boats in Spanish marinas'.

A blog I visit daily is Colin Davis' Thoughts From Galicia. Here's Colin on Emilio Botín's triumphant claims of 'business be good': - 'The 79 year old founder, owner and President of Santander Bank told his audience of business people this week that everything in Spain was hunky dory and the place was ripe for profitable investment. It was going through a "fantastic period" he said. The banking sector was now strong again; government borrowing was cheap; the stock market was soaring; and people were falling over themselves to lend money to the government. Yes, he admitted, there was still a bit of a credit crunch and 4.9m people were unemployed but these couldn't stand in the way of renewed profits in the financial sector. Which was good to hear. It's a relief to know that the massive amounts of taxpayer money were put to good use'.

'Has the euro been a disaster, or what? It seems pretty self-evident that it has been. Unemployment is 27.6 percent in Greece, 26.2 percent in Spain, 16.5 percent in Portugal, and 13.6 percent in Ireland, which, remember, is supposed to be the austerity success story. What's happened? Well, exactly what euro-skeptics feared would happen from the time the common currency was just an idea: a shock hit some parts of Europe worse than others, and there hasn't been any easy way to adjust. The ECB's one-size-fits-Germany policy has left crisis countries no choice but to try to pay-cut their way to prosperity — which would be painful enough if it were even possible. But it's really not when interest rates are all but at zero'... From The Atlantic.

…...

Corruption:

'Luis Bárcenas, the former treasurer of the ruling conservative Popular Party (PP), on Friday reiterated in court that he had given 7,500 euros in 500-euro notes as a bonus to the PP’s secretary general, María Dolores de Cospedal, who in turn emphatically denied his claims.

“It was my hand that gave the envelope to Mrs Cospedal,” Bárcenas said via video-conference from the Soto del Real jail in the outskirts of Madrid, where he is in preventive custody while awaiting possible charges of fraud and money laundering.

De Cospedal, who claims the former treasurer has infringed her right to honour, has brought a civil case against Bárcenas. “When you hand over black [undeclared] money, normally there aren’t any witnesses,” the former PP money-man added'... from El País in English.

'The investigation into Carlos Fabra and his more than 80 bank accounts continues to pay off. On Tuesday, the senior the tax advisor to the anti-corruption Prosecutor, Conrado Caviró, declared that the former President of the Diputación of Castellón (1995 to 2011) and his ex-wife, Amparo Fernández, made between 1999 and 2004 by self-billing themselves 9,537,000 euros and, without any receipts, a further 3,267,000. The expert added that, of this latter quantity, 3,005,000 euros were paid in cash into any of the many bank accounts held by the couple'... Found at Público. Carlos Fabra is currently under investigation for 'influence peddling, bribery and 5 fiscal offences' (Wikipedia).

(Between 1988 and 2009) 'Six international organizations have condemned the Spanish political regime a total of 77 times by its repeated breaches of international law and human rights. The European Court of Human Rights (70 times), the European Organization for Security and Cooperation (3 times), Transparency International, Access Info, the World Anti-Doping Agency and even the International Union of Cyclists (once each) have issued judgements, reports, notes and public statements of condemnation that, in most cases, most of the Spanish press has silenced, manipulated or distorted'... from Un Espía en el Congreso. A book on the subject is called 'España Ante El Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos'.

According to VozPópuli, 'The Government is deactivating the research teams working with the great corruption scandals. The bodies responsible for investigating major cases of corruption are being decommissioned one by one. The latest closure has been that of the commissioner responsible for the investigation of the 'Gürtel Inquiry', but closures, changes in key personnel and general interference to stop these investigations are also affecting cases and investigations like the one into the Princess Cristina, or the Bárcenas papers or the 'Interligare case', which investigates an alleged corrupt network at the Ministry of the Interior which was scamming public contracts'...

'Former Minister and President of the Junta de Andalucía Manuel Chaves has said, in reference to the case of the fraudulent ERE paid by the Junta de Andalucía, that "whatever procedures you have in place, whatever controls, it's all the same", because "if there is a director managing a fund of such-and-such amount of money who wants to steal, he'll steal".

Chaves stated, in an interview with Vanity Fair, that it is true that the procedure that was established "was inappropriate and suffered from lack of controls", but explained that an administration like the Junta, with many thousands of public employees, "is very difficult to control"... From El Mundo.

'Spanish intelligence holds a grounded suspicion that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has combed through millions of phone calls, SMS messages and emails originating in Spain. The same sources and the government are also sure that the US surveillance network did not spy on Spanish politicians, as it did with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and former Mexican head of state Felipe Calderón'... (We thought this one should be posted under 'Corruption' for the blatant disregard of human rights and dignity) From El País in English. A bit more from the same article: '...In Spain, such is the protection afforded to the citizenry in terms of data privacy that the security services can only demand access to the records kept by providers in exceptional cases and as part of a police investigation. The national CNI intelligence agency can access such data in an investigation, but only if given the green light by the Supreme Court. Any other method of tapping people’s conversations is a crime'...

…...

Poverty:

From Ideal last Friday: 'Andalucía has become the poorest region of Europe, according to Eurostat data, having fallen from fifth place in the ranking, in 2010, to first place. The network estimates that more than 40% of the Andalucian population, about three and a half million people, live in the 'ring of poverty', a concept that comes from the steady increase of the massive rate of unemployment, which has now reached 35.8%, and the inability to face unforeseen expenditures. One of every four poor people in Spain lives in Andalucía, says the report'.

…...

Courts

'The EU Court of Human Rights has overthrown the “Parot Doctrine”, which means a large number of ETA terrorists and mass murderers could be released immediately.

In short, the Doctrina Parot was an interpretation of Spanish parole laws which said that when someone was in jail for concurrent sentences, parole could only be applied per sentence, not the whole amount. ... So the jail doors must now open (within days) and a flood of people - at least 150 people according to El Mundo - sentenced to the maximum amount of time under Spanish jail laws released back onto the streets. Something nobody is very keen on'. From David Jackson. By Wednesday, 36 Etarras have asked through their lawyers for immediate release.

Following on the subject of the precipitate release of certain members of ETA, the AVT (association of victims of terrorists) is indignant with Amnesty International who 'should consider the human rights of terror victims' and not behave, they consider, like the terrorists themselves. The Government, meanwhile, talks of 'zero tolerance' for any pro-ETA rally in the Basque Country.

The first 'Etarra' to be released is Inés del Río, who must apparently be paid 30,000€ compensation for her over-long stay behind bars! She is responsible for the murder of 24 people between 1985 and 1986 (including an American citizen) and she was sentenced to 3,828 years of prison.

'To Hell and Back: Spain's Grotesque Recession and Its Surprising New Economy.

A not-so-short history of the Spanish economy: The half-century housing bubble, the excruciating recession, the grisly unemployment, and, finally, a glimmer of hope'... Headlines introducing an article in The Atlantic.

…...

Essay:

An article from El Diario (17 June 2013) titled 'Spain is a Train', deals with the metaphor of the AVE – and also the waste: '...We are talking about a very expensive and inefficient train whose cost does not correspond to its use, and that has so far eaten up more than 34 billion euros, including European cohesion funds. A train that reflects our economic and social inequality because only a minority get to enjoy its service for their business and leisure activities, while the majority feels lucky to get a ride maybe a couple of times a year.

A train that also illustrates our territorial inequality while paying court to political centralism from Madrid rather than plying the main corridors of our country. A train that generates transfers and concentrations of population and wealth, benefiting big business and urban nuclei, and leaving thousands of small towns without service.

A train that devours both resources and territory, whose demands (without curves or ascents) destroy the environment through which it passes, with large tunnels, viaducts and connectors; and that offers urban speculators the chance to place their stations*. A train that has eaten much of the conventional rail system, drying up the public resources until the closure of lines and the lack of maintenance of the remaining lines becomes a reality'...

'...To sum up, the fact is that Spain is much like the AVE. But the high-speed project speaks also of the country that might have been and now never will, the lost opportunity to have opted at the time for another economic and social model. The better than 34,000 million euros that the AVE has taken reminds us of other, earlier plans which aimed to modernize the old existing railway network: for less money, we would today have a more extensive network, at speeds more than acceptable (up to 200 km/h, just like many European trains), which would have carried far more people and have been much more affordable. Plans that were dropped when the Socialist Government first succumbed to the fever of the AVE.

So now we not only look back: the AVE also speaks of the future that we have reserved for our country, an economic model that does not concern itself with research or training or citizen welfare, but for the development of its tourism. President Mariano Rajoy has said that the new Madrid-Alicante line will promote "tourist mobility", and he was describing the country as we shall one day be: a picturesque landscape crossed by fast train from which tourists take their photos, and only stops in the large cities'.

*A plan to build a station in Vera, Almería, is contingent on a new city being built in a local flood-area for 70,000 people, to be called El Llano Central.

…...

Various:

From Urbanísmo Patas Arriba, we find the introduction to a story in El Diario about the abandoned Valencia race-track, estimated cost (between one thing and another) to the public purse: 300 million euros! - 'Valencia has gained a new and huge plot full of garbage, pallets, concrete blocks and even fences and unwanted traffic signs. It was intended for the failed Formula One circuit, with the particularity that it had cost at least 89 million euros to each and every Valencian, even though the ex-president Camps, and Mayoress Barberá introduced it as 'at zero cost'. Now you can see for yourself the huge public waste of these lousy rulers who, as usual, have been left 'smelling of roses' while no one from the judiciary has raised any criminal charges'...

'The Secretary General of the Partido Popular for Andalucía, Luis Sanz José, said on Monday that the Junta de Andalucia will spend in 2013 about 15 million euros in institutional advertising. He specifically explained that in the first quarter of this year the Junta had spent a total of EUR 5 million, which represents 1 million 250 thousand euros a month or almost €42,000 per day'... From Teleprensa. (Buying friends and influencing people!)

'How many Spaniards have fled abroad since the start of the crisis? Many people may have a foggy idea that emigration has been outstripping immigration for a few years now, but the details are unclear.

Brain drain some say: these are the voyages of the lost generation, the educated jetsam of an exhausted economy washing up on Europe’s greener shores. The United Kingdom, specifically London, is a preferred destination. Despite the precipitation, London has a loud and friendly Spanish community. But how big is it?'... As El País in English will tell you in this amusing article, it depends who you ask!

'Entrepreneurs of the night entertainment industry estimate that 4,500 nightclubs, bars and concert halls have been closed due to the "desperate" situation faced by the increase of IVA to 21%, coupled with the economic crisis and the rising costs and taxes on alcohol. In protest at this situation, representatives of the business alliance for leisure and tourism ProNoche gathered on Monday outside the Finance Ministry in Madrid as part of the campaign 'Salvemos la Noche'... (Well, Spain does have a certain standard to keep up, of bars, tapas and the occasional cuba libre). From El Mundo.

'A new drive by provincial government, the Diputación de Alicante, hopes to get more ex-pats to register on the ‘Padrón’ and able to exercise a vote in next year’s European elections. The ballot for the European Parliament takes place on 25th May 2014 and the Department of Foreign Citizens at the Diputación has organised a series of meetings across the Costa Blanca. The campaign, ‘Municipal Register and the 2014 European Parliament Elections’, is aimed at informing everyone how to cast a vote in the election in Spain'... From Round Town News.

Spain in Numbers – a nice video from Nicla Casas.

“Are you ready to run with the bulllllllllls?” This is the first thing that Rob Dickens, chief operating officer of The Great Bull Run LLC, says into a wireless microphone on a Saturday morning in August. People are cheering at the sound of his voice. Some have been drinking, even if it is just past 11 in the morning. Ennio Morricone’s theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly blasts from the loudspeakers. Wah-wah-wahhnn'...

-The running of the bulls in America (they do a tomatina as well).

…...

Finally:

A reader sends me the following article from the BBC, from 2010 - 'Britons who face seeing their Spanish homes demolished are to be visited by Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant.

Spanish authorities are attempting to reclaim the country's coastline by bulldozing some of the developments that resulted from tourism's growth.

To cash in on lucrative immigrants, some councils allegedly granted illegal planning permission, now being revoked. Mr Bryant will advise the thousands of Britons living in Andalucía on issues from property rights to healthcare.

He will visit the town of Albox where about a dozen British expatriate families are fighting demolition orders issued at the end of last year'...

Mark Simmonds, effectively Bryant’s successor albeit from the Conservative side, is no doubt aware of the current situation. He was well briefed on the Priors’ case during his own visit here almost a year ago. Questions: Has the Spanish position changed... or hardened over the years and are these demolitions discriminatory?

…...

El Indálico

There's finally a proper news medium written in Spanish for Mojácar and the area, a natural successor to El Indálico, the monthly newspaper that ran locally from 2002 until the crisis and the cost of newsprint became too much to bear in 2009.

Keeping the name, Ángel Medina, Lenox Napier, Félix Ortiz, Simón Gallardo and other writers and participants are proud to introduce:

El Indálico

This independent website is updated daily with new and interesting items (no filler, no trash) and is already attracting a wide readership. The subscribers of the earlier newspaper edition are all receiving notice of the elindalico.es web-page and the daily visitors are expanding rapidly.

Advertising on a web-page, especially a well-visited one, makes a lot of sense. Obviously, it's far cheaper than a newspaper to make and it's current, correctable and widely-seen. The monthly rates are as follows (remember, the site is in Spanish, and thus has mainly Spanish readers, although some material in English is being uploaded):

Classified adverts (up to 20 words) 2 euros per month

Commercial Guide (Guía Comercial) 7 euros per month

Front Page 'box' with incorporated link just 30 euros per month

Contact: (in Spanish) informacion@elindalico.com)

(in English) lenoxnapier@gmail.com

Mojácar Correos Petition

BACKGROUND TO PETITION: In April with no more than an unsigned letter left in some boxes Correos secretively began returning mail addressed to some shared Apartado boxes. Correos gave addressees no notice that such mail had arrived, no opportunity to reclaim it and no warning that these punitive measures were in force. They demanded a further 40 plus Euros for each addressee beyond the initial box holder. Six months later Correos continue to make many mistakes and return mail of even those who have paid. No one can be sure of receiving mail in a shared Apartado in Mojacar and nor can household delivery seemingly be guaranteed.

We the undersigned roundly condemn the recent actions of Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telegrafos SA (hereinafter called Correos) in Mojacar Playa and Pueblo and we request that Correos be called to account for the unnecessary suffering and hardship it has caused over a period of six months. We consider Correos’s failure to inform customers of its intentions during renewal in January as unfair business practice; as was suddenly changing during a contractual year a process that has been followed for more than 20 years; and starting punitive new measures with no adequate warning. We further consider that by interfering with the safe delivery and care of our mail Correos as a universal postal service provider is in breach of postal laws in force in Spain and internationally for the time during which our mail is specifically under its care, above and beyond its function as supplier of its additional Apartado service.

IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE WE BEG THE RELEVANT GOVERNMENTAL/POSTAL/CONSUMER & LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES TO TAKE ACTION IN EACH CASE AS APPLICABLE AND AS FOLLOWS:

1. We request that Correos be ordered to issue a full apology and explanation and that it make speedy and full restitution where the authorities may deem it necessary.
2. We further beg that the relevant authorities take the necessary measures to ensure that, insofar as is practicable, the Apartado service may be governed by the same laws as the universal and national postal sectors including, but not exclusively, collection, delivery, inviolability, discrimination, transparency of information, and the ability to make complaints, so that the rights of users of the Apartado service are never left unprotected. Should any of this not be possible it must be made clear to potential users of such service exactly where and how their rights and mail are not protected under the above laws.
3. We beg the relevant authorities to ensure that the use of an Apartado be simply a continuum of the postal delivery service and that it in no way prejudice the rights of its users to protection under the above Laws and regulations in accordance with which undelivered mail should be held for delivery to the addressees and notices put in Apartados as would be normal with mail undelivered to other mail boxes. Our mail should not be summarily returned.
4. We also beg the relevant authorities to look into and to discontinue the process of sorting against a list of permitted addressee names for each Apartado, as is carried out under the recently introduced system, since it puts our mail at risk in that staff clearly cannot cope with the extra workload and the idiosyncrasies of foreign and everyday non-official nomenclature. (In one day as many as 2,000 letters are still being unnecessarily returned and after six months we consider this ample proof of non-functionality.) We respectfully suggest that the greater good be considered and that a system for imposing limits and dealing with abuses under the old system (of delivering to each Apartado by its number rather than by the name of titulars) be sought and be dealt with on a case by case basis where necessary and that additionally Mojacar be accorded special treatment as a rural/developing area with a high immigrant population.
5. The ability to receive mail is a basic human right in a civilised society and we beg the relevant authorities to ensure us this right. For many users an Apartado has up to now been the only guarantee of secure postal delivery in Mojacar, we therefore ask that street signage and numbering be speedily and thoroughly carried out so that delivery to a person’s house becomes an option. We also request that postal delivery workers be issued with full and adequate maps as many work from schematic tourist plans.
6. We ask for a rapid solution to these problems and consider that we have been left suffering for far too long and that our complaints, to Correos in particular, have not been answered fully and given the serious attention they merit.

(Note to Petitioners: Remember even if you are not from Mojacar, there is nothing at present to stop Correos doing the same to your mail! To join our Petition please write on one line your signature, first name, surname and NIF/NIE or passport or telephone number and send to Susie Mandrake at 7 Calle Esquinica, Mojacar Pueblo, 04638 Almeria or send an email giving first name/surname/NIF or NIE or passport number AND email contact details to susiemandrake@gmail.com)

The AVE from Granada to Alicante

A piece in Sunday's Ideal on the high-speed train route, known as the Mediterranean Corridor, which is pretty much stopped: 'Currently, the corridor progresses in four speeds.  Between Cartagena and the French border a conventional gauge line exists and the Government is committed - and has already tendered sections - to implement the third rail that will allow the circulation by the same route of European gauge trains, enabling a greater alternatives in the Levante from 2016. Between Alicante and Murcia, the works of the AVE are going well. There is a commitment from Mariano Rajoy that the first high speed train will arrive at the terminal of Murcia train station in 2015.  

For the Murcia-Almeria section, things aren't so good. There are hardly any works currently underway. The sections which were being built have now been completed. And there are no new tenders laid down despite the fact that here in Almería there is no railway alternative - as there is in the rest of the Mediterranean corridor - and, therefore, this is the only section that stops trains from Algeciras reaching Barcelona along a coastal route. And finally, the Almeria-Granada section, whose feasibility study has been publicly shown, has yet to be approved and continues with studies on the environmental impact of the route, being the most delayed of all the sections there are in the corridor'.

The Almería to Murcia route, half built at least along the Almería to Vera section (picture), has stopped work entirely and the section won't receive more investment until 2020, by which time we shall all, no doubt, own personal flyers... The interest paid on this section, by the way, stands at four million euros per annum. Nothing better to spend our money on - like the abandoned Albox to Huércal Overa motorway or the equally dead double-lane Vera to Garrucha road, where work hasn't continued since 2008?

Lastly, a critical piece in the Spanish press notes that every time a passenger takes a ride on the AVE, he is subsidised by the tax-payers. Wouldn't Almería do better with an ordinary train service, that served the province, rather than an expensive and potentially underused bullet train?

Later: The national budget for 2014 supposes 100 million euros for the railways for the Murcia-Almería Mediterranean corridor, according to La Voz de Almería. The section will be finished, claims the paper quoting the Government, in 2018!. The PSOE are giving a date - las cosas como son - of 2025.

Later: An item in Ideal (16 October) says that the work on the Almería section of the AVE are currently at 60 million euros over budget... A mere bagatelle!

Anniversary for the Priors

This is Len and Helen Prior. Their house in Vera was demolished 69 months ago by some shits in the Junta de Andalucía, and they have lived in their garage ever since, with hosepipes, batteries and candles. Last night, they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary...

The Rather Brief, yet Exceedingly Independent Republic of Albox

(Taken from La Voz de Almería this morning)...

At the end of the 19th century, Albox was a town unknown to much of Spain, and therefore to the world. Until 1891, that is. The nearest railway station was a two-day trip and an outdated industry of wool and fabrics for farmers made it possible that many families managed to live frugally. Nevertheless, the population - close to 11,000 people - meant the town was booming and its wealthier citizens could spend time in one of the two casinos that the town boasted, or enjoying a show in the theatre.

At the time the Mayor was José Antonio Mirón Jimenez. "Conservative and influential", according to Miguel Ángel Alonso, a local historian who has rescued one of the most picturesque events of the history of Albox and revives this story of the times...

Local elections complied with the requirements of the time, that is, they were heavily controlled by the local poobah, whose motto would be: "For friends we have the favour and for enemies we have the law." Which worked very well for Don José Antonio. The mayor (they used to call people like this 'El Cacique') ruled thanks to the vote of the wealthiest residents. In particular, to a coterie of 54 persons, who thanks to the specialized voting system of the times were all those who dictated who would occupy the Mayor's office.

But in 1890, a new national party called the Partido Liberal Fusionista revolutionised the political landscape by introducing universal suffrage to Spain. All men over 25 years could vote in the elections. Coinciding with the modification of the voting rules, a humble resident of the Albox neighborhood of Locaiba, Andrés Pio Fernández, ran as a candidate for the elections of February 1891. The conservative mayor never believed that his opponent could pose a threat. However, he was quite wrong and was soundly defeated. The people speak, although their voice is not always accepted with pleasure (nice quote from the Voz article, couldn't resist). But then, the morning after the election day a storm of people surged through the streets waving sticks, guns and swords. Yet, worse than the weapons they were carrying were their banners: "Long Live the Federal Republic of Albox!". At the head of the mob was none other than the defeated former Mayor.

Don José Antonio (now, where have we heard that name before?) and his accomplices proclaimed a "universal declaration of independence and a brand-new country" which would have "nothing" to do "with Central Government in Madrid". The experiment, based and inspired by recent events occurring in Cartagena (they declared independence from Spain on July 1st 1873 and entered into a five month war with Madrid) didn't last long in Albox.

After two days "of terror", the provincial Governor realized that what looked like a joke had little humour about it, so he proceeded to send the Civil Guard troops to regain control. Twenty one rebels were detained, although they were soon released. It was the end of the first - and short-lived - Federal Republic of Albox.

The Online Story of The Entertainer

The Entertainer Online - News for residents and friends of Mojácar. Updated regularly. Large non-commercial list of useful links about Spain. Since September 2002.

___________________

The Entertainer Online is a blog which goes back to 2002. The webpage - or rather a webpage called 'The Entertainer Online' - as the Internet version of the newspaper 'The Entertainer' which I ran from 1985 to 1999 - goes back further still to March 1996 (here's one at the 'Wayback' dated from November 1998). I think we were about the first foreign paper in Spain and maybe the sixth Spanish one to have an Online edition.


Here's an article from the Webpage from 1998 (how much of it remains true today?):

Living in Spain - the Foreign Residents

While figures for the foreigners living in Spain are hopelessly inexact, it is known that 1,200,000 properties are registered in Spain as belonging to foreigners. This figure gives an approximation of 3.6 million foreigners, at three per property, with some relationship with the country. Surprisingly, the Spanish authorities themselves appear to be indifferent to the numbers, and even to the income derived from this group. If we accept the low figure of 600,000 English speaking residents on the Costa Blanca and in Andalucia, who each spend £1,000 per month - a not unlikely figure which includes a percentage of their house and car price, their taxes and purchases - their annual spending power would come to £7,200 million (*about 9 billion euros as of 15 yrs ago). All brought in as foreign exchange.

The Spanish authorities would be well advised to consider this form of 'tourism' and to encourage its growth.

For a foreigner, living in Spain is now far easier than in the past, particularly for EU citizens. 'Work permits' and 'residence permits' are now just a formality, since all Europeans have the right to live and work where they will inside the European Union. However, the majority of foreigners who live in Spain are, of course, retired. They have lived a full and fruitful life elsewhere and have decided to retire to what can only be described as the warmest, safest and most comfortable part of Europe - the Mediterranean coast of Spain and her islands. They live in or near the small towns dotted along the coast, away from the cities, and evince little interest in returning 'home' again. Those that do eventually move, move inland into the 'real Spain' - to the Andalucian hinterland or elsewhere.

The Mediterranean coast of Spain could be likened to southern Florida twenty years ago - a place of opportunity, beauty and tranquility (well, it's a lot prettier!). Many foreign-run businesses now operate along the coast and in the islands with everything from dentists and doctors to English food supermarkets, realtors, builders and, um, newspapers. There are theatre and choral groups, clubs, associations, golf, bowls, water sports... life need never be dull. Spain itself is a fascinating and beautiful country to get to know, and residents make keen travelers. Certain foreigners have already voted in local elections, and by May 1999 - the time of the next local vote - all European citizens resident in Spain, and possibly all non-Europeans as well, will be able to vote. This will give the foreign residents a greater say in how their community is maintained and developed, as well as better protection from the occasional town hall 'excess'.

Communications in Spain have improved dramatically in the past few years, and there is now a coastal motorway that runs from the French border, down through Barcelona and Valencia, and along the Costa Blanca and Costa de Almeria. This motorway will soon be completed on down to the Costa del Sol and Gibraltar. A second motorway through Granada currently connects with Málaga and continues to 'the Rock'. The rail-system is adequate, but slow, with the exception of the high-speed AVE link between Madrid and Seville (and on to Cadiz). Air-links are good, with airports in every main city, plus Gibraltar, although it must be said that the Almeria airport is a 'horror'.

Prices in Spain are average, with both housing and labour rather cheaper than elsewhere, and clothing, cars and gasoline rather higher. The weather, however, is better here than anywhere else, and that's the main thing.

Lenox Napier

Early Pictures from the Mines

The story of the mines in Serón (northern Almería) has been put into a book called ‘Las Menas de Serón. Fotografías de Ramón de Torres, 1915-1916. Colección fotográfica familia Cervantes-Párraga’ which will be presented in Serón on September 6th together with a photographic exhibition of around 50 pictures titled ‘Las Menas. Patrimonio minero. Las imágenes perdidas (1915-1917)’.
The photographer is interesting, as new details about him surface. According to local historian Juan Grima, the man came from the village of Bayarque, and was called Ramón de Torres Rodríguez. After a few years working locally, recording the miners and other jobs, he moved to New York in 1920, opening a studio in Manhattan and becoming well known there. He died in 1948.
The book will no doubt also be available at the Vera gas station (all useful local historical books, plus the excellent annual El Axarquía magazine are there) or at the Mojácar newspaper shop at the Fuente.
The 'El Almería' newspaper has two more pictures.  The presentation of the book and exhibition is on September 6th, from 8.00pm at the Casa de Cultura de Serón.

Divided by Three

The Germans have announced the official birth, that is to say, the bureaucratic approval, of a third gender, which is to be called intersex - a term used to describe people whose genetic variations confer both male and female physical attributes. So far, we are divided here in Spain between H and M, which isn't (as I thought when I complete a form in triplicate recently) 'Hembra' and 'Macho' but rather 'Hombre' and 'Mujer'. 'M', it turns out, is neither 'Masculine' nor 'Man' and you should be careful where you leave your cross. This may all be a plan to confuse us, but more likely it's just a quirk of the language. There are, at least, the two sexes or genders in Spain, which is enough to put the English off learning the language, since we pretty much manage with just the one, and that just on Saturday nights after a curry.
In German, the language is artfully divided between masculine, feminine and a third gender, which I'm told is neutral ('der', 'die' and 'das'). The Romans had the same thing going with Latin, and I was often beaten as a child for overlooking this useful fact, and it will not surprise me to learn that, despite Putin's best intentions, the Russians have a trinity of sexes as well. No doubt some local expert in tourism can confirm this for me.

The new third sex of the Germans is the official recognition of those people who, at the moment of their birth, having looked anxiously down their little bodies and not having much liked what they found there. They are born of a sex, yet they belong to another. Thus, now in Germany, there are three sexes. That is not such extreme news: Mojacar during its bohemian golden years had at least seven.

Now Bradley Manning, the soldier who revealed all of the military secrets of the Pentagon, has announced through his lawyer that he would like to change his name to Chelsey, in the unfounded hope that he will receive hormone replacement therapy during his lengthy stay at the Guantanamo prison to help him with the repeated sex on offer there. One shouldn't joke.

Curiously, despite their known freedom in these matters, the Spanish have said that there is no plan to follow the Germans into the vagaries of a third gender. The Church probably have a poor opinion on the subject as well.

Interestingly enough, there is a small group of saints who could represent this new collective. Two very accepted by the gay community are St. Sergius and St. Bacchus - for historical reasons that we won't go into here - and many times gay marriages take place under the protection of these two. Another is San Sebastian. Another still, celebrated by the Catholic gays, and it might be better to sit down to read this, is San Agustín de Hipona, in English, Saint Augustine of Hippo: bishop, doctor and the Patron Saint of Mojácar.

For lesbians, things are more difficult. I thought I had found an appropriate one when I happened upon 'lesbians from Santo Domingo' in the Google, but it turned out to be an advertisement by some followers of Sappho living in the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, further research eventually produced Saint Brigit for the girls...  

All very interesting, but this isn't about homosexuality, but the trauma of being caught in the wrong body. Perhaps Saint Wilgefortis, known in Spanish as La Santa Liberada, is the most suitable: a woman who grew a full black beard so as not to marry a Sicilian. It is possible that she merely needed the same therapy as Chelsea Manning, but to keep everything simple, they crucified her instead. 

But, no doubt, Spain is right. Otherwise they would be obliged to fill the calendar with saints who suffered not only from their faith but also from their other more carnal 'rare feelings'. The chaos of still more festive days in the calender would be unimaginable since each fiesta  lasts anything up to a week, and frankly, there are no available dates left...

Agosto, Santos y Música

At the moment, I write a few articles in Spanish for a couple of local newspapers - Actualidad Almanzora and El Indálico - here's one from this week's El Indálico:

Agosto, Santos y Música

De alguna manera, agosto es el mes donde finalmente amanece en nosotros la convicción de que el calor ha durado demasiado tiempo, de que hemos sido maltratados y molestados por demasiado turismo - con sus colas, caravanas, ruidos y descuidos-, donde las noches han sido demasiado largas y donde todos los profesionales a los que necesitamos consultar por alguna razón apremiante – abogados, doctores o políticos – han cerrado sus oficinas y abandonado nuestro entorno para irse a algún lugar de vacaciones pagadas con nuestras pelas: como las Seychelles, Miami o la República Dominicana.

En agosto, muchos de nuestros vecinos cosmopolitas vuelven a Gran Bretaña o a Alemania para ver a sus familias, para escapar del calor (estamos en 'Alerta Naranja' hoy) y para tomar una jarra decente de cerveza. Así que no hay nadie conocido con quien podamos hablar excepto los propietarios de los restaurantes y bares, quienes están de todos modos demasiados ocupados para parar y hablar con nosotros.

Agosto es un buen mes para quedarse en casa. Flotar en la piscina y enviar a los jóvenes a hacer la compra. Leer, ver la tele. Nadar otra vez.

En Mojácar, el temible mes de agosto termina con su fiesta popular. El santo local, en nuestro caso San Agustín (patrón de la sangría, los edificios feos y los pelotones de bici), se celebra con una bebiendo, bailando y con mucha pólvora, como en todos los pueblos de España. 

La duración de las fiestas españolas se extiende según el tamaño y la riqueza de la ciudad a varios días o incluso más. Almería ciudad solía tener una bacanal que duraba diez días (con todo esencialmente cerrado, sus abogados todos en Nueva York de compra o esquiando en Nueva Zelanda, y los oriundos y visitantes vestidos de traje de flamenco y dedicados a comer gambas y pasarlo bien). Ahora, con la crisis actual, se ha reducido la fiesta a tan sólo nueve días. Naturalmente, todo el mundo está histérico por esto, aunque al menos las corridas de toros, los grandes conciertos y un montón de fuegos artificiales permanecen todavía.

Aquí en Mojácar, hasta este año, nuestras fiestas sólo han durado cuatro días, alrededor de la fiesta patronal del santo, cuyo día es el 28 de agosto. Ahora, con los tiempos evidentemente mejor, tendremos cinco días de fiesta. No habrá corridas de toros, pero mucha música por supuesto, y un montón de cosas que explotarán en los cielos a altas horas de la madrugaba. Noches hasta altas horas y música a todo volumen. Bailando en la Plaza. No duermes mucho esa semana...

Pero lo bueno es que, justo después de que se retire para guardar el último cordel de banderitas de papel,  el día siguiente, agosto se despide y entramos en septiembre, el mejor mes del año.

Almería Con Gas

We had gone to Almería to visit a friend with a horse-ranch. Loli keeps other creatures as well, sometimes breeding them, including donkeys, coatimundis, ostriches and whatever this is. After an enjoyable visit playing with the livestock (in the extreme heat of the Almería sun), we turned for home. The car wouldn't start at first, but I was insistent. What was the alternative? Walk?
Eventually we moved off. There's no air in the SEAT, the button has broken. The little electric window control chose the moment to fall from its place in the door to a more comfortable post somewhere inside the door, so we took off with just the passenger window open. The car began to judder and lurch somewhere outside Retamar as I remembered in a rare burst of clarity that, back at the BP station, I had lovingly put twenty euros of unleaded petrol into our old diesel.
Bugger. The car eventually shuddered to a halt on the side of a fast but sparsely used road. How nice that the first four cars to pass were from Tráfico. They helped me put up a warning triangle, squeeze into a fluorescent red pajama top and to find a place down the road with telephone coverage. What was my insurance company? Something beginning with the letter V I thought, or possibly Z. They left me to it. After a call, I discovered the insurance people began with a G, for Seguros Generali. Splendid people, if a trifle slow. They fixed us up with a tow-truck and, three hours later, we were back home, having taken the trip in the cab of a friendly grua with air-conditioning.
It could have been worse. The Mojácar mechanic asked me with a knowing smile: 'trying to speed up the car with sin plomo?' and pumped the offending petrol out of the motor into a handy tank he has. Didn't charge me anything either for the job. Once again the car returned to its normal state of slavish efficiency and the fellow at the petrol station fixed the window controls while we filled the tank.
The bird? That's a peachick.

The Neighbours

Well, will you look at that. The neighbour has gone and put up a fence just beyond our gate, a barrier rather than a boundary (it's just a straight piece of fencing) with the apparent sole purpose of stopping us taking our horses out off our property (and bringing the horse-feed in). What strange people.

Market Strategy

We have been doing some research into marketing. Perhaps lower the price to attract the attention of the jaded public. Say, that'll do it. Put out our basic '50% off everything' offer in large letters, en ingles también,  so everyone will see.
Then, just sit back, and watch the money roll in.
Hold on though, what was it that we were selling again?

...And The Winner Is:

This blog has occasionally chastised Spaniards for looking for English-speaking clients without inconveniencing their British neighbours unduly by asking them to cast an eye over their Google-Translate induced transliterations.
Well, here's the winner, from an Alicante beach-bar.

England and Almería: Under One Flag

The top one is the Almería flag and the bottom one is the English flag. Proof, if proof were needed, that we are all one and the same. It's either the Cross of Genoa (Almería) or the St George's Cross (England). Well, it's prettier than the Andalucían flag... green, white and green.

The Bunny Sentinel

There's a ménagerie of animals chez nous, including a number of birdies, a rather useful egg-producing chicken, pairs of dogs, cats and horses and, finally, a rabbit called Bungus. Bungus is getting on in age, being in bunny years up there with Methuselah, numbering eight hundred, eighty and eight. About ten in real life. He lives in a cage with every mod con, including a view. Rabbits here can't touch the floor, or straw, we know from long and bitter experience, as they will catch myxomatosis and die in some agony. So, Bungus lives in the nearest thing to a bubble, in this case, a cage on a table outside.
His teeth have gone from his years of crunching bunny food and he now likes to gum a little lettuce in the afternoons and to snack rather heavily on bread in the mornings. Bread from that fine bakery Mr Bimbo. He gets two slices. This produces a certain amount of waste, with helps explain our ant problem.
Bungus came from Pamplona. We were there, many years ago, and we needed a hospital companion to help out when I was unable to offer my bedside presence between several horrible operations being suffered by my wife. 'I don't mind their attentions,' she said, 'as long as I can have something furry to hold'. Oddly, a teddy bear wouldn't do. The hospital agreed to a conejo, as long as it stayed in its cage.
We cleaned his cage yesterday, filling a garbage bag with junk, and replaced the flooring with a number of newspapers carefully collected the day before. Bungus is a conservative rabbit, and doesn't like change so it took a while before he allowed us to reach in and tickle him.
Now, he's watching the gate, chewing quietly on a favourite nut. He'll thump his back leg if he needs anything.

Mojácar Costa

We were just driving out of our track to turn onto the road towards the village. A car stopped in front of us broadside on and an old man got out. He looked like he came from the North.

-Disculpe, ¿Dónde está la playa?. As usual, when a Spaniard asks someone who is evidently a foreigner - I'm tall, blond and burnt red, he follows up his question with a surprised nod. I've talked to an extranjero!

Well, I answered, it's down there, back the way you came. But the only other turn, he said, takes you up to the village.
No, go down to the gasolinera and turn towards the beach there at the roundabout. There's a sign that says 'Carboneras'. 

He looked like he didn't believe me. Well, this is Mojácar I said. 

The turnoff to the beach at the gas station is headed up by a roundabout, and the beach itself is behind a last hill, so it is easy enough for a visitor to get confused. There's no sign. 

Our local businessmen meet sometimes for a red-prawn and pink wine lunch at the Parador, those that can tear themselves away from their their markets selling Chinese nick-knacks and provocatively decorated tee shirts, and they argue contentedly about their small-holdings. The main business of the pueblo, putting a family member into the town hall and ushering in a rubber-stamp absolute majority, was concluded shortly before the last elections. Now, they worry about smaller things - who is going on the trip to Andorra (we are twinned with a city there for no discernible reason beyond allowing up easy access to our 'offshore' bank accounts by coach); how to keep the rents high when no one can afford to pay them; how to avoid paying local taxes and how to get so-and-so's son into the football team. A few uneasy jokes are made about dominoes - the noise of them irritates the mayoress, who is trying to ban noisy and drunken nights on our beaches. Small things. 

'Mojácar Tourism, the promotion of', is left to others. If they want to promote our hotels, built on a stretch of land running towards Garrucha, and away from all our commerce, well, that's fine. No one goes there, there's nothing except cheap package, full-board tourists, either foreign or national, wandering in a daze between their remarkably ugly hotels - tourist factories - and an abandoned beach in front. There's a camel ride for the adventurous.

One thing about life that both the local and the foreign population know, package tourism is a waste of space, and we have some space to waste. Up on the Garrucha Road.

Our own beaches, sign-lit at the roundabout with the 'Carboneras' sign, are much more fun. There is a number of eccentric beach-bars which have flourished since Mojácar's days of Bohemia in the sixties and seventies (frustratingly still run mainly by forasteros) and a collection of good restaurants, bars, ice cream places and an excellent Government-run Parador. The restaurants, despite the tourist department's insistence on the contrary, do not prepare ajo colorao, migas, pelotas and other rare and obscure eighteenth-century fare, for the twin reasons that there is no demand for them and, the preparation for these dishes is rarely taught in international cooking schools. But then, we aren't going to promote the forasteros and their businesses here, even if most of the budget comes from outside. 

So, an idea which will cost nothing, but might improve visitor rates. The Mojácar beach is treated by the local government as just another area, a bit like 'La Fuente' or 'El Casco Viejo' or 'Las Huertas'. It is, in fact, rather more. It holds about 90% of local business and, including the urbanisations stretching behind into the hills, has about 90% of our entire local population. 

Give it an identity. Call it 'Mojácar Costa' as if it existed as a resort. Put up a sign up outside the Gas Station.

Mojacar, the Foreigners and an Old Article

The photo comes from one of those hopeful Spanish magazines that circulated in the eighties, magazines in English but firmly controlled by Spanish writers and editors. After all, who knows more about the expats than the experts? The mag was called Mediterranean Magazine and was sold at 300 Ptas, a sort of journeyman's version of Lookout.
Issue Nº 2 appeared in June 1987 and it ran an article about Mojácar titled: 'Mojácar, from conflict to dialogue, by Juan de Dios Mellado. The beautiful town of Mojácar has gone through hard times. Several controversial issues led the foreign residents to openly confront the municipal authorities, but a dialogue has now been reached'.
Juan, by the way, remains an expert on tourism and is featured in an article in La Opinion de Málaga recently on the publication of his book, 'Los Años Dorados de la Costa del Sol'.
Juan Morales was the mayor in those days (champion of the first moción de censura in Mojácar's turbulent political history). On the foreigners' discontent with the Town Hall's plans he says: 'Maybe at first there were communication problems on our part', he admitted, 'but it wasn't our fault. A lot of these resident foreigners live off to themselves. When we've called them to meetings, they haven't bothered showing up'. The two issues of the time were the construction of a Paseo Marítimo (now half finished and looking remarkably good, but with the new powers of the ecologists, it's unlikelt that it will ever be completed) and the so-called ring-road through the urbanisations on the beach which was, at the time, planned to take heavier traffic, particularly Carboneras industrial trucks, through the area quickly to connect with the future motorway to Cartagena. This as we know, has been successfully stymied by the local residents now for over 25 years.
The article continues with a hopeful note: 'Juan Morales greets foreigners who have lived in Mojácar for years: 'It's possible that now, with the foreign property-owners association, we'll be able to hold regular meetings to deal with problems that might affect them directly', he says. 'Up until now, that hasn't been possible. They live isolated lives. Whereas it's not true that there's real conflict, it's also true that more dialogue and interchange will be good for us all''.
Here's a quote from me (as editor of The Entertainer): 'It's not easy to break down the lack of communication and the resistance to dialogue. Both sides are at fault. The Spanish administration doesn't believe in the role that residential tourism has to play, and the foreigners prefer to keep to themselves in what is little more than foreign ghettos'.
A year later, with Bartolome Flores in power, things hit a new low as the mayor was persuaded to demolish the old fountain and its surrounds (down at the foot of the village) for a new modern, marbled magnificence designed by a scion of the new Junta de Andalucía. I remember a sign held by an indignant Brit which caustically read '90,000 pounds to wash my knickers' (a reference to the old tradition of washing ones' clothes in the fuente). The following demonstration up in the Plaza Nueva turned into a riot, with an arrest and several broken heads. It also proved the downfall of Charles Baxter, hitherto fêted by the locals as a TV personality. A mojaquero said afterwards - it's not that we don't agree with the foreigners about the fuente, it's just that we don't think they have the right to say anything...'.

Have things changed much in a quarter century? In many Costa towns, there are Foreign Departments run by the Town Hall (employing real-life, gosh-for-goodness foreigners!) such as (and just on the Costa del Sol) in Estepona, Mijas, Marbella, Nerja, Fuengirola, Competa, Benalmádena, Coín, Frigiliana, Manilva, Monda, Benahavís... and many towns celebrate Foreigner, or Europe Day with a fiesta, after all that's where the money all came from! (Día de Europa, by the way, is this Thursday 9th May). Mojácar, though, remains defiant. There are now more forasteros than mojaqueros on the padrón, but the massive number of town hall employees shows a very different picture, where with the one exception of Leslie (lost and ignored in the Municipal Gallery), everyone else is locally born and often a visibly keen voter of the current corporation. There's not much integration or even participation allowed from the marginalised foreign inhabitants of Mojácar. There's no longer a 'Foreign Property-owners Association' (there's a very good one in Albox, the AUAN), but Mojácar does have a PSOE-controlled business association with some foreign participation and a German president and there are a couple of minor foreign-dominated political parties, the MPSM and the CE.

So, has anything changed in 25 years and will Mojácar be, for the first time ever, celebrating this Thursday's Día de Europa?. No, actually!