FR
EE
.es roadber allab www. 43 num e issu 5 201 ry
Februa
Learning the lingo - do you really need all those books? fiscal advice, features, quizzes, puzzles, crosswords,
Also in this issue: A British Dentist Ally’s fashion page The Vestry: Pork Ribs
markets, fiestas, what’s on + more!
Mandy’s Diary Your pets Malcolm Palmer shoots from the hip...
San Javier & beyond With Cyclogical
rates Check out our ad E - the BEST VALU around! AVOID DELAYS LOOK! SENDING & RECEIVING
Under new ownership Re-opens Friday 6th March Reservations : 965 077 444
Calle Los Arcos, 21, Ciudad Quesada
1,000
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Cover: Tamarit Tower Santa Pola
for the locals...by the locals..!
2
D E E N T ’ N O D E W Y H W
ALL ABROAD
. . . N O I T A C U D E O N
ke a break! a T with
Want to learn Spanish? Or any other foreign lan-
guages come to that? Well what I have to say over the next few hundred words may not go down well
As an established favourite
with language teachers all over the land. Or teachers
in Ciudad Quesada, it’s
of any other language come to that! It all depends
great news that Laurel &
on how they go about it but we’ll come to that.
Hardy´s Bar & Restaurant is re-opening on 6th March,
So the first thing that will upset the language teachers is when I say to people enrolled in classes, ‘can-
under the new ownership of Martin & Julia Eastgate.
MONDAY/MONTAG/LUNES
1.Benidorm - 10€ 2. Algar/Guadalest - 13€ TUESDAY/DIENSTAG/MARTES
Retaining the highly
1.Villajoiosa / ALICANTE - 12€
cel them now!’ unless, of course, they teach you
regarded existing chefs,
mainly by conversing and don’t weigh you down with
2. Altea / Jalon Valley - 22€
Benoit and Dean, Laurel
books and that dreaded word that puts the shivers
& Hardy’s will continue to
into most people with a memory of a strict English
serve the best, honest and
teacher at school and who are now having to learn a language, ladies and gents I give you ‘grammar’.
freshly prepared dishes, offering diners an inspired, vibrant and regularly changing menu. With a fresh look too ready
to properly converse with another human being in
to be unveiled, Martin &
the same language. Rubbish. Toddlers don’t learn
Julia invite you to visit and
phen would be better than a comma.
ALTEA MARKET
3.Alicante - 7€ WEDNESDAY/MITTWOCH/MIERCOLES
1. Benidorm - 10€ (Market Day) 2. Alicante - 7€ THURSDAY/DONNERSTAG/JUEVES
1. Cartagena - 10€ *Mar Menor Train inc train 13€
of any language and ‘must’ be learnt and understood
on their mind is whether a colon is needed or a hy-
MARKET, CHOCOLATE FACTORY, CASTLE
*Boat trip -17€ inc boat
That one word that many will insist is the ‘backbone’
grammar when they start speaking. The last thing
D
www.allabroad.es
enjoy warm hospitality and great food, in Laurel & Hardy´s comfortable and smart surroundings.
Boat trip + Train - 20€ inc both tickets Licor 43 Experience 18€ inc drink Licor 43 Experience + Train 21€ inc Drink FRIDAY/FREITAG/VIERNES
1. SHOPPING Condominia/Ikea/Thader - 10€ 2. Murcia - - 10€ 3. TERRA NATURA
25€ Adult
23€ Child/Senior
4. BENIDORM PALACE COACH + MEAL + SHOW = 51€ COACH + SHOW = 35€
No, language comes a distant third behind filing and
For reservations
emptying your stomach when you’re a toddler and
call
grammar is not even part of the language until they
or email
get to school and the ancient system of education that
info@laurelandhardys.com
we have here in the ‘developed’ word kicks in and the emphasis goes on to the academic rather than the practical side of things... read more on page 4
965 077 444
We wish them all the best!
5. Benidorm Night Out - 11€ 6. Alicante Night Out 9€ 7. Novelda + Sanctuary + Bodega 17€ SATURDAY/SAMSTAG/SABADO
1.Valencia - 16€ 2. Union (Mine Park) + Mazarron - 17€ SUNDAY/SONNTAG/DOMINGO
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n io t a c u d e o n d e e n We don’t Burn the books and liberate yourself! Get in amongst it to learn a language
From page 3...
Don’t translate…copy
quicker? The college lad doing his two
In short grammar is absolutely necessary
When I was at teacher training college
year academic course before going out
when something is taken out of context I
to become and English teacher we had
into the big wide world of the young man
agree but when two or more people are
a Japanese teacher come in three times
working daily onsite alongside qualified
conversing someone can be very easily
in a week for three one and a half hour
and experienced tradesmen? Clearly this
understood even if the grammar and the
lessons in which, from the moment she
stands for learning a language too and be-
tenses are all wrong.
walked in the door to the moment she left,
ing amongst and talking to natives of that
she refused to speak anything other than
language will not only improve a person’s
Mix it up
Japanese. Obviously at first it felt impos-
language skills very quickly but will also
We have all experienced or seen the typ-
sible to understand her but with the use of
enhance and enlighten the cultural experi-
ical Spanish classes that start off full of
pointing and repetition we began to pick
ence of it all making their skill (language)
people and full of enthusiasm but soon,
up a few words and phrases. By the end
all the more richer and comprehensive.
because, yes it gets hard, what are mostly
of the week we could all count to twenty in
mature students begin to dwindle away.
Japanese and hand about a dozen phrases
Now this is not only the fault of the teachers for making lessons, dull, boring and turgid to the point where people remember why they hated school and they start to drift away. I say not only the fault of the teachers because in between these lessons it is the students obligation, if they wish to progress in the skill, to practice away from the classroom but unfortunately that doesn’t happen much either. If the classes were less academic and focused more on getting out
Feeling tense.
‘Eats, shoots and leaves’
and actually trying to speak the
This is another little hang up (he) of language teachers who will happily correct you for not using the ‘past imperfect’ and offer that the ‘future continuous’ will help you get through your daily life. Obviously the use of past and future tenses is important in everyday life for people to understand when we are talking about, whether the party is next week, now or was yesterday for example. But…tenses and the uses of the many variations are not that important when you first start trying
language in a fun and enjoyable
to speak a foreign language.
atmosphere students of whatever age
that we had learnt by repeating the same
I know from experience of learning and
immediately reap the benefits and stick
things in each class. It’s exactly how a kid
listening to people learning my language
around longer picking up more and more
learns to first speak by watching, copying
that if someone says to me ‘yesterday I
as they go.
and understanding stresses and softness
buy a car’ instead of ‘yesterday I bought
A good teacher will have the balance right
in speech and they don’t fill their heads
a car’ I can still understand them. Amaz-
and get people doing what they want to
wondering what that word is in another
ing eh? I’ve seen people having to learn
do and that’s making a start at speaking a
language they just see how the people
the past, present and future of verbs that
foreign language and not having to have
around them say it and they copy.
they may never even use! And then they
their head buried in books concentrating
have to learn ALL of the conjugations of
on the ‘rules of the language’ – although
If speaking another language is looked
said verbs by which time they are so con-
many wont and therefore it’s hardly sur-
upon as a trade or a skill like carpentry
fused with what one they should be using
prising that the average attention span of
for instance we can use the analogy of
they lose heart and eventually give up the
a mature student is about the same as
earning the trade of carpentry for learn-
lessons…usually within a few weeks.
that of a Mayfly…
ing a language. Who learns faster, and is accustomed to the world of construction
4
DAVE BULL
www.loadofbull.es
But you’ve gotta have grammar!
miliar as café con leche.
Yes, ok. In certain circumstances it is
the Scottish will say ‘bairn’ instead of child and anyone living there very quickly un-
essential i.e. the famous ‘I once helped
It’s easier for kids.
derstands it. And kids are no different as
my uncle, jack, off a horse’ works a lot
No its not. It’s just that they have that
I witnessed with my son growing up with
better than ‘I helped my uncle Jack off a
desire/need to get out and do the same
Spanish friends all around him, calling a
horse’ that’s presuming the first phrase
things as their peers and by immersing
table a ‘mesa’ wasn’t another language to
was the desired one and uncle Jack isn’t
themselves in that world they absorb
him it was just another way of saying it
into bestiality of course. But cases like
what is going on around them whereas
that his friends all understood.
these (where it’s literally a disaster when
most adults studying languages in classes
we get it wrong) are rare and when spo-
will pack away their books and then go
So…to the teachers out there who are tut-
ken the grammar can often go unnoticed.
and join the native friends for socialising
ting and shaking their heads and mutter-
Don’t get me wrong in any of this, I’m not
and meeting up. If they spent the same
ing ‘grammar!’ as if it were the oxygen of
saying we can do without tenses,
languages all I say is take an-
conjugating verbs of grammar but
other look at what you do and
to teach it from the get-go is like telling a toddler about uncle jack… Being immersed in a language means we pick up things without even knowing it and quickly get used to using or hearing them. Here in Spain nobody is embarrassed to say ‘café con leche’ when they arrive at a cafeteria but go beyond that and many feel intimidated about trying to speak the language when in reality they already are by ordering their coffee in Spanish! My son was seven when we first arrived in Spain and had no idea about the language but, because he wanted to join in fully with the kids in the playground, he had the desire to understand what they were say-
‘I helped my uncle Jack off a horse’
get your students talking…not scribbling stuff in a book that will be packed away until next week’s lesson on conjugating verbs and the use of the present continuous in the modern day language…yawn. Get your students out there, reading newspapers, watching movies, TV or reading books. Tell them to use subtitled (in their chosen foreign language) films to help them, and watch them over and over again. Comics are a good one too. Asterix and Tintin especially as the narrative is easier to understand with pictures and it’s a high level of language too!
ing and with only Spanish being spoken around him he was fluent
I finish with a joke using
within a few short months. Kids
grammar to show the impor-
will watch a cartoon in a foreign language
amount of time in a Spanish town or mar-
tance of it and also the fact that in reality
that they don’t understand but they will
ket practising their skills they would soon
people will understand if something is said
still laugh along and eventually get to
be gaining the confidence to go further
in context. This joke takes the words out
grips with what is going on. As adults we
with both the language and in enhancing
of context to make the fun and it is one of
feel like that is hard. The same can be said
their experience of a new culture.
the best I’ve heard.
for listening to Spanish radio or reading a Spanish newspaper but with just a lit-
Kids see it not as another language but just
tle perseverance and repetition suddenly
another way of saying things. It happens
words and phrases start to become as fa-
in dialects all over the world. For example
5
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SARAH'S Putting a SMILE on TEXTILES
people’s are madefaces Paul Saliba for you! The British Dental Practice in La Marina
Following on from a very successful year Sarah’s' Curtain & Bedding
Having qualified as a dentist from
Store in CC Los Dolses continues King’s College, London in 1981 Paul to grow.... not in floor space but in Saliba spent variety almost of thirty four available. With new stock arriving the has excellent products years treating with cannot the kindbeat this friendly and unique family every weekpatients you simply of dental care that we all want. Sym-
run shop for choice. Sarah hand picks all of the textiles which are on
pathetic and honest Paul specialises
sale, ensuring best quality and value for money.
in treating nervous patients - I know
as I’ve sent several friends with
The recent addition of an ‘dentist-phobia’ (which at extensive times is range of fabrics means you now have a choice of either quality
understandable given some of their
readymade or bespoke
experiences elsewhere) to Paul and all have thanked me afterwards. I
made to measure tex-
first met Paul after a botched fill-
tiles.
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made, cushion covers,
unbearable. Paul saw me at very
curtains, bedspreads,
short notice and set about repairing
loose covers to name
the damage with careful attention to how the treatment was going for me. Paul and his family (you may remember son Michael used to write in this maga-
Anything can be
CURTAIN & BEDDING STORE EST. 2006
An extensive range of Ready Made lined curtains, voiles, poles, rails and accessories
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Curtain eyeletting service available
assessment ofsized any treatment beds! Theneeded team atis
assured and, they always give itemSarah’s' shop canan also
ised treatmentrefurbish plan withyour full outdoor costs after the initial examination (so there never
seating, swing chairs and
zine every month) moved to Spain in
will be any of those nasty surprise costs).
2003, having run his own practice in the
As I’ve already mentioned from my own
South West of England for 15 years, to
experience they provide a same day
take over an established practice on the
emergency treatment and the Practice
LA Marina Urbanisation.
is “mercury- free” using only tooth col-
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using the best quality fabrics and foam.
oured filling restorations (that means no He has been there ever since and has
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“Get on yer bike!” by Gary Routledge www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com
Cycle Route 16. Quesada to Torremendo Torreaguera & San Javier. This was a really long ride and we had all been looking forward to it for a long time. It will be our last all day trip this year and we had a ball with some fantastic scenery that you just do not get to appreciate in a car. We left Quesada through the arches on a lovely Tuesday morning as it was a red day and we had another day off. We all met at the shop at 10am (10 of us 5 couples) and headed to Los Montesinos, after passing through a deserted high street we picked up the Vistabella road and after 2 roundabouts turned right and cycled up and over the AP7 then turned left onto the canal which we followed all the way to the pumping station just passed Entre
8
Naranjos and turned right. We cycled up
for Pilar de la Horadada where we took the
the hill and onto a dirt track which takes
new cycle track which runs along the side
you right into the car park of the Fortaleza
of the N332. We followed this track all the
restaurant where we all had our first coffee
way to the hospital at Torrevieja where we
of the day. We then turned right and first
cycled through the town and picked up the
left heading for the reservoir de La Pedrera
old railway line cycle track which took us
and followed this road to the first junction
all the way back to Los Montesinos where
where we turned left and after 100metres
we turned right onto the main road where
turned right signposted Torreaguera. This
we joined the cycle track. We then cycled
was a beautiful picturesque route and we
on the track all the way back to Quesada.
followed the road for about 11kms until
We all arrived back about 6pm as it was
we came to a roundabout where we went
just getting dark, we found a nice restau-
straight across and headed for Sucina. We
rant where we settled down for supper and
picked up the blue cycle track and just fol-
a beer and discussed the day’s events. The
lowed it all the way past Canada de San
summary was we had a great cycle and
Pedro where we stopped for refreshment
was probably the best one that we have
and Tapas. After about an hour we con-
done all year certainly the longest for most
tinued along the blue track all the way to
of us. Well done Team Cyclogical.
San Javier passing Sucina and El Mirador straight into San Javier and Santiago de la Ribera where we cycled along the sea front
Summary: Long route but well worth
and stopped for our lunch.
it with breath-taking views from Torremendo to Torreaguera it felt like
After lunch we cycled along the coast road through San Pedro and El Mojon heading
real Spain. This route is a must.
CYCLING tips
advice routes
Calle Los Arcos, 7 QUESADA
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Call Gary or Lynn: 637 487 377 www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com
JA V IE R. R EA G U ER A & SA N R TO O D EN EM R R Q U ES A D A TO TO prox 110 kms Total Distance: Ap w 8 Hours. Total Time: Allo
9
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Eating well.... with
Winners
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Cooking with Gordon
Restaurants
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Sauces...my favourite is BBQ, and it
Food is our passion, service is our pleasure.
Two Different Styles, Same Great Quality & Service
12
Pork ribs
Best Newcomer
Best Fine Dining
&
No.
is so simple.
Continuing my theme of simple recipes that can be made from products readily available in most local shops let me tell you
What a start to the New Year we started off by
about pork ribs . Pork ribs are very popular
holding our first medieval banquet .Plenty of medieval
in many restaurants but they are incredibly
inspired food and copious amounts of wine was enjoyed by all. The table top magician wowed everyone with his sleight of hand and the Vestry Friar was on on hand to lay down the Vestry rules and of course to collect his tax.
easy to prepare at home. Most supermarkets sell uncooked racks of pork ribs, make sure that they look moist and have a vibrant colour. They shouldn’t
After taking over Frissan in San Miguel at the end of last year we decided it was time to redecorate to bring it more in line with the ever popular Vestry. The restaurant renamed as The Cloisters has been decorated to reflect the name and is open now. We have a fabulous new A la Carte and set menu both of which contain some super sharing platters some old favourites and some all new items. We will be holding events there such as our fabulous Afternoon Tea, Fashion shows and of course our medieval banquet.
be dry and definitely not sticky. Mostly the ribs are trimmed and ready to cook. Put in a pan with plenty of water that covers all the ribs. If the pan isn’t big enough cut the rack in half. Boil (not too fiercely) until a knife will push through the meat between the ribs with little resistance. The time that this takes will vary, sometimes a little patience is required.When they are at this stage take of the heat and allow to cool in the water. Now for the sauce, my favourite is BBQ, and it is so simple. Tomato sauce Brown sauce Red wine vinegar Brown sugar preferably soft. Again the mix can be adjusted to suit your own taste I normaly use double the quantity of brown to tomato sauce . For ½ litre approx 4 table spoons of red wine vinegar 4 table spoons of soft brown sugar Simply mix all together and store in the fridge until needed Coat the ribs liberally with the BBQ sauce and put in a 180 deg oven until the sauce is bubbling and starting to thicken. Ribs go with almost everything , a mixed salad, chips ,spicy wedges, rice ,cous cous.
info@vestryrestaurant.com www.vestryrestaurant.com 11
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MANDY’S
Spanish Diary by Mandy Tams
THE RETURN It’s time to pack once again, Christmas is over the Spanish return to work and the Brits have scuttled back to blighty, and it’s time for us too. Oh how things have changed over the years. I stand in the shop looking for products to bring in my10kg hand luggage and remember when I used to buy paper pants for abroad, because I spent the days in swimwear the evening in paper panties, which hubby liked to rip off of a night time… Now I stand and look at bloomers that look like shrouds that are hanging next to tena lady pads, and worse still…I am trying to choose. Where did the head turning sexy bikinis go? Now anyone that turns their head in my direction is usually riddled with arthritis and has mistaken me for someone else. I leave the swimwear department and decide to look at the products for my golden soft skin, there are too many though to fit in my plastic bag for customs liking. What with the haemorrhoid cream, antacids, and other unmentionable products, there is no room for beauty products.…I remember fondly the times when I could take plastic bags filled with washing powder for me smalls, and scissors with points on, my own coffee, baked beans for the hubby, and not be subjected to an intimate search by the lady with a moustache behind the curtains for doing so. I have searched the charity shop and thumbed through the well used holiday reads, BUT again decisions. Do I get a steamy romance or a ‘How to speak the
Lingo,’ or ‘Teach yourself Origami, considering I have an unused supply of paper pants. Now the heat is on the wane do I take a jumper or T shirt, being used to English weather this is always a problem, the Spanish wear coats in October and look at us in our flimsy wear sweating profusely thinking it is true what the Danny Kaye song says.
Only mad dogs and English
men… but for different reasons the Spanish are beginning to feel the chill whilst we are lapping up the rays, making sure we soak up enough to stimulate and get through the S.A.D months of cold damp blackness when we return. Off we go, ready to land in 2 hours 20 minutes, which is after marathon shop for the son’s left behind, then the one hour drive to the airport, the two hours wait before the gate to open. Dodging the strong language flying like bullets from the stag
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party guests with their T shirts declaring who has slept with the groom’s mother and the pink fru fru dresses of the hens, all partying and parading their singleness before they even leave the ground. Then on arrival the wait for the self-loading freight, as we are known by the crew, to leave the plane with elbows and fists flying to make sure they are first off even if they are seated in the middle of the plane by the window. The one hour standing in the queue for a hire car, another hour haggling over wrong paperwork and refusing to buy extra insurance because I already have it, half an hour searching for keys, ten minute drive, another twenty minutes searching for other keys…. Blimey I’m ready for a holiday now.
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In my humble opinion.... A TRUE STORY
MALCOLM PALMER
gets ‘it’ off his chest...
to be a bar to Hacienda sticking the thing
Modern coaches, and good Spanish roads
against my name – the other MP doubt-
combine to make me very nervous when
I have gone on record as saying, ‘The
less having either done a bunk or turned
I am obliged to travel by coach, as the
Spanish love bureaucracy, but they’re not
up his toes. OR are you out there, some-
frequently overweight, tobacco-smoking,
very good at it.’ Perhaps I’d do better to
where, Malc?
overworked drivers suffer all too often
keep shtum about it, because I’ve just
Back, then, to Hacienda and a traipse
from serious boredom, as they traverse
been sampling the worst excesses of this
around several work-stations, where I
the same route they have travelled hun-
phenomenon. I’ll relate the sorry tale. My
ended up asking a pretty young lady if I
dreds of times, their eyelids drooping,
name is Malcolm Palmer – I tell you this
was actually on
tell-tale hands massaging the backs of
not in any spirit of self-praise, but to show
‘Candid Camera,’ before I ended up in
their necks.
that I’m no John Smith, Dave Jones, Mike
front of the aforesaid lugubrious gent. He
So whenever I am in a coach, the last
Brown, anything really common – though
told me, finally, that all was well, and not
thing I can do is relax – I am virtually
I may, in fact be as common as muck, I
to worry. We shall see………………
driving the damned thing, one eye on the
the Spanish version of
won’t dispute that.
road, one on the driver.
Right – in July, I got a certified letter from
But don’t let me put you off coach travel,
the dreaded Agencia Tributaria – Hacienda
EPILOGUE
for short – telling me that I owed them
All was well. I received notification of their
the thick end of three thousand euros for
error in due time, but apology, or com-
renta (tax) for the year 2006. This was
pensation? You have to be kidding.
eh? You’ll probably be okay...
based on the fact that I had apparently
A GREAT FAVOURITE
flogged an apartment in Torrevieja during
– AND ITS ORIGINS
that year. Problem: I’ve never had, not even rented, a property in Torrevieja!
SOME COACH-DRIVERS
More than perplexed, I went and took my
I imagine I am far from alone in numbering Whitney Houston’s ‘One Moment in
(long-winded) turn in Hacienda’s chaotic
Let me start by saying that there are
Time’ as one of their ‘Desert Island Discs.’
lair, and spoke to a nice young lady, who
some very good ones, careful and re-
But less people will remember that it was
told me that, yes, she had proof that I had
spectful, with whom I have felt safe. But
written for the late lamented star to sing
sold this fictitious apartment. No amount
recent tragedies tend to focus the mind
at the opening
of protest seemed likely to bear fruit, so
upon those less prudent, don’t they?
Olympics. And still fewer will know much
I asked if I could speak to the supervisor.
Once upon a time – it must have been in
about the anthem’s composer. Albert
This lugubrious gent told me I had to go to
a previous incarnation – I was in charge
Hammond, who is still around, writing and
the property registry to get proof of what
of a team of athletes at a somewhat im-
performing from time to time, was born in
I claimed. I went to the office, to be told
poverished club. The only coach we could
London, and moved with his folks at the
that it was necessary to go to Torrevie-
afford was an elderly thing; driven by an
age of four to Gibraltar.
ja – computers had not, apparently, been
equally elderly lady we shall call Daphne,
He is really more Spanish than British, but
invented. Not wishing to drive sixty kilo-
mainly because that was her name. I well
the truly amazing thing is that he is in-
metres each way, I foolishly left it to an
remember that she had to bring the great,
capable of reading music, and has never
incompetent solicitor, who achieved pre-
superannuated beast to a shuddering halt
studied it formally.
cisely nothing.
halfway up Ryegate Hill, and change into
ceremony of the Seoul
first, until I showed her how to double-de-
He has written songs for just about every-
Another certified letter arrived, telling me
clutch. Various other entertainments in-
body who is anybody, including another
of the imminent embargo of my account.
cluded remodelling the entrance to an Es-
huge hit, ‘It Never Rains in Southern Cal-
Thus wound up, I took a trip to Torrevieja,
sex Park, and having two of us drag bits of
ifornia,’ as well as ‘Under the Christmas
and duly obtained a document stating that
a Ford Cortina out of the coachwork as we
Tree,’ ‘When You Need Me,’ ‘Free Electric
ANOTHER Malcolm Palmer had actually
failed to take evasive action at a rounda-
Band,’ and so on. Quite a phenomenon,
owned and sold the property in question.
bout. But Daphne was too slow to do any
and one of pop’s unsung heroes.
That he didn’t have my DNI seemed not
real damage, and we all survived.
17
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We can guide you to all kinds of property from apartments to townhouses, fincas and luxury detached villas. We also deal in both new and re-sale properties. Our service extends from arranging inspection visits and locating your property, to helping with legal and financial arrangements and advising on furnishing and removals
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with
PET NEWS
ASPETGA
San Anton or Saint Anthony is considered the pa-
PETS IN SPAIN
tron saint or protector of the animals. On
We have 7 Pointer pup-
the Feast of Saint Anthony thousands
pies who all look very
of people across Spain take their pets
much like these 2 and
to church to be blessed. In Santa Pola,
they are in need of
there was a traditional benediction of
new homes, they are
the animals in the main square this
now around 9 weeks
past Sunday. While it was mostly dog
old and will be
owners lining up to receive benedic-
me-
tion from the local priest, there were also families with their birds, bunnies, cats, etc. One woman had a bunny on a lead and another in rolling carrier. The Pet Owners Association of Santa Pola and Gran Alacant (ASPETGA) was there with an informational booth staffed by volunteers. In addition to updating folks about our dog beach and dog park projects and telling them about membership, we sold items to raise money and collected donations for our
dium to large when fully grown. They are all in excellent
recently created food bank.
health and love to be cuddled. Call: 645 469 253 To view more animals for adoption go to www.petsinspain.
ASPETGA’s food bank collects pet food and other items to
com
distribute to needy families in the community. Many peo-
To advertise an animal for adoption
ple who are struggling financially are not only trying to put
email: info@petsinspain.info
food on the table and a roof over their heads. They are also struggling to hold onto beloved pets whom they view as another member of the family and we seek to help these people. We welcome any donations whether sacks of dog or cat food or cash or other items that might be useful. I am sure a cat owner would welcome cat litter. On Sunday a woman donated a dog jacket along with food. Work should be starting on the dog park in February and the plan is to open by Easter. We are planning a grand opening event to mark the occasion. In addition, we will be repeating last year’s successful dog socialization event at the dog park site. We are still nailing down dates.
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