living in Spain

Car Rental Problems

2009-07-14T17:31:00.002+02:00

Holiday time in Spain and tourists are heading for the costas. If you are planning to rent a car make sure that you secure the rental quickly.

Car rental firms are having problems mantaining their fleets due to lack of funds. Yes, the credit crunch is causing problems in the industry.
Banks are refusing to allow loans to rental firms who need the money to buy new stocks. This has forced some car rental firms to buy second hand and offer a much older and less reliable car for your holiday rental car.

Pamplona

2009-07-11T15:39:00.007+02:00

Man Killed during Pamplona Running of the Bulls Festival.

For the second time in 15 years a man was killed by a confused bull during the running of the bulls at the Pamplona Festival.

The bull, called "Capachino" , had become seperated from the running pack of bulls and found itself encircled by an over-excited crowd of "Bullrunners".

After watching the video of the incident it was clear that this bull was confused and therefore became aggressive. It made constant attempts to find an exit route ( seen by the fact that it would turn and charge forwards,turn again and was constantly seeking a way out of its demise) .

There are organisers during the running, these are officials or umpires who attempt to control the bulls and guide them along towards the final destination of the ring. There didn't seem to be much "bull-knowledge" shown when the incident occurred and the officials failed to look at the big picture and exert some crowd-control too. Such as form an exit for the bull to get away and rejoin the group.

Why didn't they think that so long as the bull is surrounded and has no chance of escape, that it would only be a matter of minutes before the bull makes a full force attempt at showing its own form of crowd-control?

It did this; by singling out one person and throwing him to the ground and then continuing to attack and gore him, the bull was showing his dominance.

We don't see what happened after the man was sadly gored to death. The bull would have felt that he had made his point and had established an area of dominance.
A very special situation with Spanish Bulls. At this point, the bull will feel that he has control and anybody attempting to enter his area of dominance will do so at their own peril.

Most Matadors are very wary of this situation when it occurs in a bullfight. A bull may fell a horse and picador and thus establish a small area of dominance in the ring. The Matador knows that when he enters that area, he is at great risk of being attacked and gored - the bull doesn't care about cape movements or any other techniques of control that a matador uses to deal with the bull. It feels very confident. The Matador must bring the bull out of his "Area of Dominance".

The crowd at Pamplona were over-excited,probably fueled by alcohol and high on adrenalin. What a recipe for disaster - drunks and bulls running down the street!

I hope that this terrible loss of life during a Fiesta will prompt the officials and organisers of the Pamplona Bullrun to have a serious meeting about training their Umpires to deal with special situations that are clearly high danger points during the Bullrun in Pamplona.

winter in Sevilla

2009-01-04T20:33:00.003+01:00

Winter in Spain is varied according to your location. You can experience a cold, harsh winter similar to Northern Europe in some parts of Spain or you could be like me and live in a location where the winter is generally mild and pleasant.

As I write this, I am sitting on my balcony and drinking a glass of rioja. I'm only wearing a pullover over my shirt for warmth and I still wear my summer trousers. It's actually a very pleasant December Sunday afternoon.

The sun is shining and I can feel the warmth on my face. The sky is blue and,yes, there is a small dark cloud on the horizon - but who cares. It might rain but it won't be dramatic and it won't really last long. It's winter.

Here in Seville you we don't have a really heavy unpleasant winter. No ice,snow or sleet even. The last time it snowed was in the 1930s. Then it only snowed for half an hour and turned to slush within hours.

A couple of weeks ago it was pretty chilly, but locals assured me that it wasn't normal.

Well, January is on it's way and it's anybodies guess what the weather will be like. Will it be cool days and sunny or will it be rainy,chilly and sunny during the day?

In any case, it beats British weather.

Goldfish attacks Man

2008-10-11T21:10:00.004+02:00

A man in Seville, Spain recently admitted himself to hospital after claiming to have been attacked by his pet Goldfish, “ Deep Cruz Campo “ as he is affectionately known ( pictured left).

He said that Deep Cruz Campo has been in the family for six months and that he is normally a placid but happy fellow who swims around the bowl, providing hours of entertainment for Manuel, his owner. Manuel was quoted as saying that his fish had recently become upset at the introduction of a pet cat into the family.

“ This caused the fish to become agitated and he started to act in a strange, even aggressive way when I fed him”, said Manuel, “ I found feeding him becoming more and more of a task and so I kept asking my wife to do it for me – she wasn’t aware that the Goldfish was becoming aggressive.”

The owner returned home from work one Friday afternoon and discovered the cat perched on top of the sideboard next to the fishbowl. The cat had its paw half way into the water and Cruz Campo was swimming towards the paw – “it appeared like a head on attack to me” Said Manuel, who works at an animal laboratory in an undisclosed location.

“ The cat was just sitting there waggling its paw in the water” he said, “ I love animals so I thought if the cat gets injured, the wife will kill me!”

Just at the moment the goldfish neared the cat, Manuel managed to snatch the cat away from the bowl. “ That was a lucky moment, I thought.” Said Manuel.

As Manuel was throwing the cat across the room to safety, Manuel flung his arm back towards the goldfish bowl. This must have attracted the attention of Cruz Campo, who then automatically changed direction in the water , being attracted by the splashing sound that some Goldfish experts say is similar to the sound of bread-crumbs hitting the water’s surface.

Manuel’s hand touched the water for a mere two seconds, enough for Cruz Campo to surface and dig its razor sharp teeth into Manuel’s forearm.

With pain searing through his arm and blood dripping onto the carpet, Manuel managed to get to his car and drive the 5 kilometers to the emergency services in Seville’s town center.

Nurses listened to his story but felt that the lacerations to his arm appeared to have been made by broken glass rather than teeth. Doctors said that Manuel had to be calmed down when he arrived at the hospital. When asked why, one doctor said,” Well, it appeared that he had been drinking and was upset that nobody believed his story.” “We nearly gave him a sedative but were advised not to because there was so much alcohol in his blood stream, nearly three times the normal amount.” There were signs of other substances present in his blood stream, but the doctor refused to comment until the police had finished there reports.

Deep Cruz Campo has been removed from the family home and is now working as 'Aqua-Decor' with several other goldfish in a local discotheque known as " Elefunk".

Spanish Economy

2008-10-11T17:55:00.002+02:00

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero met on Friday to discuss the financial crisis in Europe.
Spanish Prime minister Zapatero encouraged the idea of a European solution to the banking and credit crisis rather than a single body implementing a plan.
Spain has been least hit by the crisis because of its previous lending policies over the years. Spanish banks not being so tempted to dive into the high risk credit lending arena which created an environment of gambling with customers on all levels and risking bank money to high risk borrowers , left Spain a little more confident than its other European partner countries.

Prime Minister Zapatero announced that the Spanish economy should continue to strengthen slightly over the next twelve months. With the highest rate of unemployment(10.7%) in Europe at the moment and inflation at around 5%, this could be nothing more than positive thinking.

The fact that he has announced the creation of a 30 billion euro fund to assist banks to buy assets and ensure secure banking is a sign that Spain is worried about the effects of the world-wide crisis.
The measure to protect personal finances in European bank accounts from 20,000 euros to 100,000 E was taken in Luxembourg earlier in the week.

Spain has been based on a housing market economy which has been suffering since the boom ended more than two years ago. At the moment, analysts say that the fall in prices has reached a point where it won't fall anymore. People will not want to sell their property for a pittance and although it is becoming a buyers market, there are many property owners in Spain who do not rely on the property for dwelling but rather long term profit. These people would be best advised to hold on to their property and wait till the market returns to normal. Taking what they can in short term rentals rather than property speculation.

Dogs eat Owner

2008-10-11T16:33:00.003+02:00

Baza, Granada,Last Sunday Police found the remains of a man who had apparently been eaten by his dogs. Neighbours had not heard or seen the 71 year old man for several weeks and so after calling the police, officers went to the house to check on him.
The man lived with his dogs in Baza in one of the local cave houses.

The man's remains have been mostly eaten by the dogs which makes it difficult for forensics to establish whether the man was killed by the animals or whether he died of natural causes and was then eaten by his dogs.

The dogs have been compounded and are awaiting a decision about their future.

joaquin sorolla y bastida

2008-09-16T15:28:00.004+02:00

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. A Spanish artist who was more interested in painting people than the usual religious concepts.

To look at his work is refreshing and inspiring. There is always a positive point of view in his work depicting scenes such as fishermen drawing in their catch, local fiestas where the people are celebrating as a community and boys playing on the beach in Valencia close to where he lived.

Getting Work as a Language Teacher

2008-09-15T23:35:00.008+02:00

Finding a job as a teacher in Spain can be a little daunting at first but with the right attitude and willingness to to do the footwork you will always find some work.

There are two routes to pursue when looking for work; teaching jobs in the established schools and private work such as "one on one" with private individuals in their homes.

The first, schools, is important for new teachers who need to work in a structured environment and want to develop their new found skills as a teacher. You will be surrounded by more experienced teachers and probably find that the school has regular workshops on teaching.

The time to look for school employment is starting July, when many of the schools begin to advertise for positions starting in September/October.

The offers are varied and can mean nothing more than a start at least with just a couple of hours a week being offered. The reason for this is that they don't know you from Adam and therefore want to get to know you first. If you are good enough for them you can expect to be offered more hours as time goes by.

Some schools will offer you a position with a contract and paid holidays from the word go, be happy if get this type of contract!

The other way to go, also good for supplementing a small income is looking for private students.

The best approach is a business like attitude of selling a product. You dealing with people who want something from you and if they can get it for the cheapest price they will.

Set an hourly rate and stick to it! Don't entertain any negotiating over your price - you have a product that is very useful to them and if they want the best, they must pay for it.

In Europe, prices differ according to location. In the south of Spain between 15 and 18 Euros are average prices for one hour. Often with private students 90 minutes is better and a special offer of 20 Euros for 90 minutes maybe twice a week is a good deal.

How to get students? Well, some people print posters and post them all over town - then a day later all the hard work was in vain because the bin-men tore them down. This method brings small results and honestly, the hard work of tramping around town hanging posters isn't necessary at all.

We have the internet. You need to advertise in the free classified ads on countless sites all over the web. Use this method and if done correctly, you will receive emails and calls from lots of interested students.

Don't underestimate the power of a free ad. With maybe ten to fifteen ads on different web-sites you will get good results. Make sure that you think about the wording you use in your advert, the title is very important. People googling for a teacher will use various phrases but if you can get a title that is close to what people type into google, then they will find your advert.

Don't forget that after a week or two your advert has dived into the depths of computer space and is not going to be as effective as it was a week earlier. re-vamp the advert and notice the difference in results.

Don't forget, one advert isn't enough. Make ten or more and always keep them updated.

With a little practice and changing the wording in your adverts you will discover that you can have a steady flow of students to keep your wallet happy.

Spitting Olive stones in Cieza, Murcía

2008-09-07T22:14:00.004+02:00

The 14th edition of the olive stone spitting competition was held in Cieza, Murcía this year.

Twenty five thousand people attended and there were 285 participants who must abide by the rules laid down, such as ensuring that any false-teeth are fixed for safety reasons and will cause no danger to members of the public viewing the event.

Using the Olive of choice by expert " olive spitters" The Oliva Chafá which is grown in Murcía, was spat a distance of 18.76 meters by one of the contestants a local concillor Teodoro García Egea. This set a fourth new record. The longest record being 21.32 meters, set by Mariano Martínez Béjar in 1998.

The event has been held major cities around the world making it an international event.

Drug Trafficker calls Police

2008-09-07T21:44:00.007+02:00

Adra in Almería.

A man stopped his van at a petrol station in Almería to fill up. After doing so he went to paz but when he returned he discovered that somebody had stolen his van.
He called the Guardia and told them of his problem. The Spanish police , being quick off the mark, went in search of the stolen vehicle immediately and apprehended the van and it's new driver within 30 minutes in Castell de Ferro in the province of Granada.

On searching the van and arresting the driver for theft of a motor vehicle, the police discovered that the van contained 778 kilograms of hashish on board.

The thief claimed that he had been contracted to drive the van to Málaga by an unnamed third party.

The original driver said he was driving from morocco to Belgium and had no idea that hashish was on board the vehicle.

Language

2008-08-23T03:30:00.003+02:00

Can you speed up the process of learning Spanish?

Yes. Learning the language is about retaining and successfully using the chunks of language that we have learned. How do we do this? If we spend our time attempting to memorize vocabulary (single words) we will be wasting a lot of time and energy. If we use the same time to practise and learn (memorize) “chunks of language” , we will definitely have more success and save time.

Consider the idea of time and effort. Time is an invention of man. We use time to measure and plan according to our needs. This means it helps us organise our thoughts and apply them more efficiently.

Without the idea of time, we would be chaotic and achieve little. When learning a language the goal is to retain the information and be able to use it to communicate as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The problem often encountered is that after a period of learning we tire and become despondent. This occurs when the learning period is too long and based on antiquated methods of learning such as rote-learning.

Learning “chunks” of language means that we take phrasal-verbs, common lexis, idioms etc and practise using them in controlled situations such as the class-room with a teacher for help or alone using our own ear as “teacher”.

First, this method immediately puts vocabulary into the context of everyday use and therefore accelerates the learning process.

When we use language in its normal forms ( instead of breaking it down into meaningless components of a language) it means something to us and our natural ability to process and order the grammatical ideas behind its structure are given a basis to work on.

Secondly, when we use this method of learning language, we speed up the process of transcribing foreign language “held” in short-term memory and allowing it to shift into the deeper memory banks of sub-consciousness where it can be used as a natural reaction during conversation rather than a learned code that we process with enormous effort every time we attempt to speak in the target language.

Most important to the whole process is to develop the ability to relax during learning and practice times. When we attempt to retain knowledge through brute force of mind, we are bound to fail. To relax, means to open the gates of the mind and allow a very natural process to begin – the learning process – your mind knows all about it, it knows what to do and doesn’t need to be “sacked and bridled” into submission. Relax and learn and enjoy the phenomenon of language.

Horseback riding

2008-08-23T03:29:00.003+02:00

Riding in Andalusia is great. The Andalusian horse is a very beautiful horse and a pleasure to ride. You don't have to be an expert rider to enjoy Spain in the saddle. There are lots of opportunities to hire horses and go on excursions with a group and a competent instructor. If you want to go riding and experience the Spanish countryside from the saddle then I can totally recommend Discover Seville and their offer of a two hour horseback ride through then Donana Park, down to the beach for a quick gallop along the sands. Followed by a restaurant meal. Then back to the city in a private coach.

The Spanish Economy

2008-08-10T17:37:00.000+02:00

When Prime Minister Hose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist party took power, he was able to concentrate on off the beaten track issues such as Gay Marriage. He could also concentrate on home issues such as regional autonomy and how to deal with ETA (the Basque separatist movement) and national identity.
The economy seemed just fine and there was a positive outlook. Things have changed now and the economy has suddenly taken a dive.

Building projects have all but come to a stand still with many investors losing their money. Property sellers left it too late to get out while the going was good. They didn't seem to want to believe that the economy could swiftly change into a stagnant market, where prices soar and jobs are cut.

Well, stagnation appears to be over and we are diving into the murky depths of banks refusing to lend mortgage money, empty, half built housing estates and the government finally admitting that , yes, it's getting bad and will be getting worse.

Spain has enjoyed a booming housing economy for more than ten years. Property being one of the thrust motors of its financial vehicle. When that goes,then there isn't much one can do but watch the dominoes fall. The tourist industry and the car manufactures and building trade are all effected by each other.

So how will this affect expats and co living in Spain?

well, we are going to have to deal with rising inflation just the same as local people. very often, expats living in Spain, are English teachers. In some parts of Spain an English teacher has a better chance than some of the locals when it comes to income.

Where I live in Andalusia, local people who have to work in bars and restaurants often earn about 4-6 Euros and hour. Less than half that of an language teacher. The further north you live in Spain, the better your income (when in a city like Madrid or Barcelona.)

Others, who work in what we call the professions, ofetn earn less than their British counterpart.

The price of food and rent has risen over the years - it used to be cheap in comparison but has steadily risen over the last 5-7 years. And, is still rising.

The point is not believe the old idea that Spain is cheap living - we all have to work for a living and paying the rent is aften a good chunk of your income. In spite of this, I must say that when living in Spain today, the price of a pint and a loaf of bread seem similar to Blighty or the States, but the life-style is very different.

The Spanish people are hard working people who have a balanced attitude towards life. They like to work to live and not live to work. Even the poorest of bar workers will find a few euros to go out and enjoy the night with friends and family - often.

If you working as a language teacher and have a fairly decent position with a school, then I'm sure you will earn enough to live comfortably and be able to go out and enjoy the night, go to the beach when you please and maybe even save a little for a rainy day.
Remember, here we work hard (not all the hours God sends) to enjoy life.

More to come.......

Moving to Spain

2008-08-06T14:45:00.001+02:00

So you are moving to the land of sunshine and tapas. You dream of starting a new life down south amongst the palms and the sound of flamenco and the warm waters of the Med.

Yes, I can report, life in Spain is fun and enjoyable and the people are great. Important though, only after you deal with practical side of life will you be in the position to feel relaxed and secure enough to start enjoying your new location.

Without the security of having basic needs sorted out, life in the sun will be a constant worry and lead to giving up and running home with your tail between your legs.

1. Learn the language. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, you can do it. The language is essential to being able to get information which will help you settle into the community.
If you plan on living on the coast of Spain the chances are that you'll end up in a town or city where there are a lot of English speakers. This will prove tempting to intergrate with the local expat community and therefore hinder your language learning curve severely.

You will have to visit local council offices to deal with paperwork. So at least a smattering of the language will help to smooth the paper process.

The Spanish are proud of their language too. 350 million people speak it world-wide. They often expect others to have at least tried learning some of the language and they don't really want to have to learn five European languages to do their job at the town hall.

2. You are going to want accomodation and a job if you plan to stay in Spain for any length of time. Again, this is where your networking skills come in handy. Get to know as many people as possible. Locals, born and bred, expats of all nationalities. All these people , who have been living in your part of Spain longer than you are a source of knowledge and advice that is essential to you.

Getting a place to live can be a little difficult at first - even if you're loaded with cash and are prepared to pay a higher price.

It's a case of the old story, you need a job to prove income to get a flat. You need a flat - therefore an address - to get a job. How irritating! There must be a way around it?

Of course there is. This is what I mean about the importance of networking.
Looking for a job and a flat is a task to be done at the same time.
It depends where you are on how much you will pay. I live in Andalusia and I think rent prices are normal and quite fair. Most of the private owners I've rented from so far, have been decent people who just want their monthly income from rent to be stable. This means that they will often question you about your intentions, how long are you planning to live there, where do you work and show me your work contract.
the problem of not having a work contract at first is the main concern and cause of anxiety for new expats. I searched high and low for my first apartment, I was turned down again and again because I couldn't show anything more than a passport.

Then at the last moment, the point which was testing my determination to live in Spain, I looked at another apartment. two bedrooms, salon, kitchen and bathroom with patio. Sounded great. When I got to the flat, I looked around, thought how amazing it was that
anybody could cram all these rooms into such a small space.
The owner talked to me, got to know me a little, liked me and offered me the flat. She never once asked to see documents. I was so relieved. We went to a Spanish lawyer together and signed a contract that stated that I promised to pay six months rent over a period of six months. She trusted her judgement and was right about it, I paid the rent every month and she was quite content. The stroke of luck gave me the opportunity to relax and go looking for a job which I got two days later.

The point is that although so many landlords want to see that you are employed and intend to be a stable tenant over a longer period of time, you can find many places to rent where documentation beyond passport isn't important. Often, when you are looking at places to share with two or three others, your character is the determening factor in whether you get the flat or not.

Try and deal directly with the landlord. If you do use an agent get somebody to recommend one that they have already dealt with. They will do the job of finding a flat for you and therefore expect to be paid, normally one months rent is their payment. Make sure that they are a proper estate agent and not an agency offering addresses to visit. agents with address lists often offer a certain amount of addresses for certain amount of money. The addresses come from the newspapers. They have reams of addresses and telephone numbers to offer you, most are old and don't even know that an agency is passing their number on to clients.

Most people come to Spain and want to teach English. Good idea - a lot of Spanish people want to learn it, have to learn it for their job or their company demands it because they operate in a world market. On the other hand, some avoid teaching and end up working in a bar where the rate of pay is adjusted to local-rates and not English teacher rates. Big difference between 5 euros an hour in a bar and 12 - 15 Euros in a language school.

If you have the TEFL qualifications or have already been teaching English, then you're in a good position to get a job.
Most language schools employ new teachers around September, yet they advertise for these jobs from end of June through July. Come August most schools close down for a month - August is the quietest month in the south of Spain. It's just too hot to do anything - let alone sitting in a classroom learning English.
Don't imagine that you can get an interview in August. Like I said, in August nothing happens, nothing moves or changes. Many of the family run shops close down for the month. Some of the bars too, it can be a very dry month!