013 march 2015 torrevieja outlook 2 copia

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Nº 013 March 2015

March, 2015 No 13

Clock Forward on 29th March Fallas Mossies Madrid Remembers Fathers’ Day Torrelmata Semana Santa Cross Purposes Womens’ Role Womens’ Int. Day Odd Customs Armada n Ireland Slavery Support Stroke Cultural Programme

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Women of the Year Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: - Picture It!

Each year several associations of women in Torrevieja come together to choose women of Torrevieja who have shown exceptional talents. There are three categories: - Homage to Women, Professional and Personal Trajectory and Businesswoman of the year. The awards are handed over at a gala in the Municipal Theatre on the eve of the International Day for Working Women the 7th March.

This year the three nominations are María Dolores Ballester Celdrán (Homenaje a la Mujer 2015) - Josefa Sánchez Pérez (Trayectoria Profesional y Personal 2015) and to María Vicentina García Ortuño (Mujer Emprendedora 2015).

The political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. This is a day which some people celebrate by wearing purple ribbons.

The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York; it was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the supposed 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, however, there was no specific strike happening in March 8, despite later sources claiming so.

In 1914 International Women's Day was held on March 8, possibly because that day was a Sunday, and now it is always held on March 8 in all countries. In London there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women's suffrage on 8 March 1914. Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.

The UN theme for International Women's Day 2015 is "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!". Governments and activists around the world will commemorate aormi@icloud.com

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the 20th anniversary year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, an historic roadmap that sets the agenda for realizing women’s Rights.

Torrevieja tends not to go down that political road as it is women recognizing the talents of other women that decided the nominations.

The Businesswoman of the Year is Maritina (María Vicentina García Ortuño) who started her Business of Entremares Clinic as a physiotherapy and Osteopath treatment centre. Over the past fifteen years she has developed the recognized treatments and now includes acupuncture and alternative medicines, beauty treatments, Pilates and yoga classes. I have been a patient at different times for the past twelve years for a variety of medical complaints – muscular, bones, and post operative and always been treated with great attention to my particular need of the moment. Recently the clinic has been expanded and the treatment rooms brightened up with suitable pictures and wall sized posters to help relaxation. Over the years I have seen several of her physiotherapists, who often are away on courses, start their own clinics in their own towns, each one with remarkable success, which is a credit to Maritina. So a small salute to the staff at Entremares http://www.clinicaentremares.com and their new webpage - .

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Clock goes forward one hour on 29th March Fallas Alice in Wonderland 11M remembered Mothering Sunday Fathers’ Day Mossies Little Corners

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March may herald in winds, but we now see the promise

that is Springtime with new life all around us as blossoms are still on the trees, though may be fading a bit, and flowers ares springing up on the ground enticing insects to pollinate and bees to create honey.

Birds are beginning to think about building nests for their offspring and scrounging for stray bits of debris for a comfortable home. Its a season that offers new life and reminds us that a message of Easter and the Passover is that we are passing into a new phase of life.

Its a reminder of rebirth, that though the flowers may have died, in fact they are just taking a rest and waiting for the sun to shine and rains to fall. That is what these fiestas tell us that although Semana Santa is about the cruelty of man towards each other, although death seems to be the end of the week in fact there is new life as on the Sunday the main celebration takes place early in the morning with the realization that Jesus has brought new life to everyone.

Spring is in the Air

Carnival is past and we are in the Cuaresema or Lenten period and in some Vega Baja towns there is a custom of making ‘viejotes’ - dolls up out of old rags and sticking them in chairs the street in the third week of Lent. But visitors should beware as occasionally someone will dress up as an old ragdoll, suddenly jump up out of the seat and frighten the daylights of you.

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Morning Patrol by Pesky Mossies

by Andy Ormiston Its almost dawn and I'm woken by a buzzing pest looking to suck my blood, or maybe she already has. Often newcomers to Spain wonder if they get bitten by a mosquito will they get malaria.

In its early days there was also loose talk of mosquitoes carrying AIDS but was foundless. It's very unlikely for anyone to get malaria here as these pests' breeding grounds are controlled and sprayed often. Spain has 56 types of mosquitoes out of a possible 3,000 categorised in the world.

Malaria is still one of the biggest widespread diseases in the world affecting half of the population. The 2013 World Health Organisation malaria report stayed that 97 countries were drastically affected by malaria. In 2012 there were around 207 million malaria cases reported to WHO and around 627,000 died from the disease, of these 77% were children under five years of age, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa.

Frightening figures.

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In the 17th century the disease was rife in Europe where it was given its name - mal airé - as it was presumed that it was transmitted through bad air. The main antidote against it became quinine or Jesuit's bark as it was also known. The name comes from Perú - quina-quina the bark of a tree used by Indians which had remarkable healing powers. Its use as a medicine was taught by the natives to Jesuit missionaries who used it to treat the Countess of Chinchón, then the wife of the Viceroy and other patients in the Jesuit college in Lima.

She helped spread the good news of this new medicine. About the same time the Jesuit superior of Perú travelled to Spain and Italy and in his travels promoted the bark for its medicinal properties, meeting other Jesuits at meetings in Rome. Malaria brought down the new Pope Urban VIII and killed some of those in the 1623 cónclave that had elected him. He attributed his recovery to the ‘Jesuit bark’ and became an advocate of its use which spread throughout Europe, especially as Cardinal John de Lugo used his own money to cure the poor in Italy using this Peruvian native medicine. This Popish connection made it suspicious in the eyes of aormi@icloud.com

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Oliver Cromwell, who refused to take it when he caught malaria and so died in 1658. As a ruler he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy especially in Scotland and Ireland. After his death he was buried in Westminster Abbey, but once the Royalists returned to power in 1660 they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded.

But still the connection had not been made between the killer disease and the tiny mosquito. There are approximately 3,000 species of mosquitoes grouped into 41 genera. Human malaria is transmitted only by females of the genus Anopheles. Of the approximately 430 Anopheles species, only 30-40 transmit malaria (i.e., are "vectors") in nature. The disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. This bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood.

The risk of disease can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites using mosquito nets and insect repellents, or with mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water, which is why we are often annoyed by the dive bombing shortly after rainfall.

It wasn't until 1880 that a French army doctor, Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran in Algeria observed parasites in the red blood cells of malaria victims. For this and

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later discoveries he received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology. A year later, another Scottish-Hispรกnic connection, Carlos Finlay, a Cuban doctor treating people with yellow fever in Havana, provided strong evidence that mosquitoes were transmitting disease to and from humans.

In 1894, a Scottish physician Sir Ronald Ross joined forces with Sir Patrick Manson on four years of research that proved the complete life cycle for malaria in humans and Ross received the 1902 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Their work became the foundation of more research whose recommendations were used in the construction of the Panamรก Canal, saving thousands of lives.

More recent research by scientists at the Imperial College in London have managed to control the sex of mosquitoes, modifing them to produce sperm that will only create males, pioneering a fresh approach to eradicating malaria, but this will take several years to

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bring fruition.

Mosquitoes are also known to spread another dread - dengue. In the past few years there has been a campaign in Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil aimed at eliminating this disease.

The project "Eliminate the dengue: Challenge Brazil" by state Brazilian laboratory Fiocruz released about 10,000 mosquitoes infected with a dengue blocking intercellular bacteria, Wolbachia, that cannot be transmitted to humans. It is not found in Spain.

So what is the position in Spain? Thanks to the spraying control of recognised breeding areas malaria cases are very rare, but precautions should be taken as you can still get a nasty bite that if untreated can become infected. There is not really a high season for mosquitoes and biting insects in Spain. Normally they start hatching after rain when the temperature is steadily above 20 degrees. The "season" starts around March and ends in November, but it does depend on weather. However, remember that a lot of the things that bite you are not actually mosquitoes. Very common bites are caused by the sand fly on beaches. Then there is the black fly plus various others, but usually not life-threatening.

In the time of the great British Raj the popular healthy drink of the British living in India was a gin and tonic. Not just because it was refreshing, especially with a slice of lemon, but because a main ingredient in the tonic was quinine, therefore medicinal tonic. It was bitter tasting hence the other name bitters, which led to gin being added. Today tonic water contains little quinine or perhaps a substitute, but there are recent drinks that have become popular in U.S.A. with an increase in quinine, partly because it is supposed to help with cramps.

So bottoms up, and "salud" with another G & T before the dawn patrol comes buzzing around.

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Little Corners That are Squares by Andy Ormiston Torrevieja town centre is full of little corners with their own story. Some readers have asked about the "fountain plaza" in the town centre. This small plaza is named after Waldo Calero Idiarte who was one of the best known and respected Mayors of the town.

He was born in 1853 in Asturias and died in 1934 in Torrevieja. This little plaza in the town centre, where these blue/white tiled fountains are located, is dedicated to him. The fountains are fairly were installed in the 1990's on a loose design of the famous Catalan architect Antoni GaudĂ­ i Cornet's ceramic work in Guell Park, Barcelona. They form part of celebrations at New Year or football wins when inebriated fans have a dip. Waldo Calero was a military man who had served in the Second Carlist war. He was raised through the ranks from lieutenant to captain, and finally colonel. On his retirement from the army at sixty he became Mayor in 1924 until 1930. He

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used his military organizational skills to encourage the population and was largely responsible for an education campaign to teach people to read and write.

One of his tasks was to improve the gardens and public squares of the town, bereft of greenery after the famous earthquake and rebuilding programme of 1829. The Day of the Tree was held on 23rd March 1924 and has continued ever since on most years with particular attention to urbanisations and the parkland round the salt lakes, with the participation of many Brits. Trees were planted in the Paseo de Canalejes (today Vista Alegre) providing colour and shade, an added attraction for residents and visitors alike. Improvement works continued and some streets’ names were changed during his six years in office. Today we enjoy over 120 plazas and gardens in Torrevieja. It was in the 1920’s that many solidly built family houses were constructed, and only a few remain today, such as the one of the Dol family in the town centre and now a desolate 'listed building'. In 1920 a commission of local businessmen, boat owners and others travelled by train to Cartagena to put the case forward for the construction of a port in Torrevieja. On the watch of Waldo Calero it was also proposed to build a promenade up to the last chalet in Las Rocas in the then calle Capdepón to make the seafront more attractive to visitors.

Paseo Vista Alegre is hub of the town centre

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On 24th October 1926 Torrevejense-born politician Joaquin Chapaprieta wrote to the Mayor D. Waldo Calero Idiarte, offering his family home to the Town Hall in memory of his parents, in what was then Lacy Street (named after Capitan General Lacy of Irish origins) where he and his brothers were born. Because of him many of today’s citizens were able to have a decent education at the former school that bears his name. The street name was changed to Joaquin Chapaprieta and in 2000 the building was renovated and now is the local library.

Hardly noticing any difference, but alongside the plaza Waldo Calero is the small plaza Capdepon with a garden fronting a row of restaurants. The only shop along here was the clothes shop, Debbie's, owned by a British couple; the shop was originally called Macdonalds, sold gramophone records and was probably the first British shop in Torrevieja in the early 1980's. Now that the Miramar restaurant has become the Tourist Office, the Catalina Restaurant here is the oldest restaurant in the town. This plaza is named after another politician, Don Trinitario Ruiz Capdepon, who was a lawyer and politician and he held several important ministerial posts.

He was a government minister in the time of President Sagasta and signed aormi@icloud.com

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Publ

ic Lib rary

Joaq uin C

hapa rieta

Ice factory built on landfill

Boatbuilding in front of Casino

the Universal Suffrage Law, became governor civil of Valencia and finally governor of the Bank of Spain. His son, Don Trinitario Ruiz Valarino, led the "trinistas", a political party he started which had a large local following. Both these plazas were at one time used for boatbuilding, until it was considered too much of a fire risk to surrounding houses; bearing in mind that the beach came within metres until the harbour wall was built and landfill to build the present fishermen's quay and ice factory.โ ฉ

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Silk Floss Tree

by Dave Stewart

A large tree found in calle Orihuela, Torrevieja, and alongside the Park of the Nations often excites delighted remarks about its lovely flowers. Its a peculiar tree because some of them also have ferocious thorns sticking out of the trunk, and at times it looks as though cucumbers are growing on it. In Spring there seems to be lumps of white candy floss on the branches. People often ask what tree it is, so here is some information about a tree that uses natural science to live and in doing so benefits mankind.

This is known as the silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa), and is a species of deciduous tree native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America.

Silk Floss Tree - Chorisia speciosa - a scientific tree

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It has a lots of local common names, such as palo borracho (in Spanish a "drunken stick").

It belongs to the same family as the huge baobab and the kapok. A specimen of the baobab Adansonia digitata known as Grootboom, was dated and found to be at least 1275 years old, making it among the oldest known angiosperm trees.

Etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure; they are fruiting plants, although more commonly referred to as flowering plants. Native tribes along the Amazon River harvest the kapok fibre to wrap around their blowgun darts. The

fibres create a seal that allows the pressure to force the dart through the tube.

The natural habitat of the floss silk tree seen in Torrevieja is the north-east of Argentina, east of Bolivia, P a r a g u a y, Uruguay and southern Brazil. It is resistant to drought and moderate cold. It grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and can reach more than 25 metres (82 ft) in height. Its trunk is bottle-shaped, generally bulging in its lower third, measuring up to 2 metres (7 ft) in girth. It is studded with thick conical prickles, which cleverly store water

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for dry times. In younger trees, the trunk is green due to its high chlorophyll content, which makes it capable of performing photosynthesis when leaves are absent.

The flowers are almost like orchids or hibiscus in appearance, being creamy-whitish in the center and pink towards the tips of their five petals. Their nectar is known to attract insects such as monarch butterflies, which perform pollination. Its flowers are in bloom between February and May (in its native Southern Hemisphere), but can also bloom at other times of the year which fortunately it does here.

The fruits are ligneous ovoid pods, 20 centimetres (8 in) long, which contain bean-sized black seeds surrounded by a mass of fibrous, fluffy matter reminiscent of cotton or silk, hence its common name.

The cotton inside the fruit pods, although not of as good quality as that of the kapok tree, has been used as stuffing as it is soft and flexible, and is employed in packaging, also to make canoes, as wood pulp to make paper, and in ropes. From the seeds it is possible to obtain vegetable oil (both edible and industrially useful).The floss silk tree is cultivated mostly for ornamental purposes as in Torrevieja. It is one of nature's bountiful and beautiful gifts.

Lord, purge our eyes to see Within the seed a tree Within the glowing egg a bird, Within the shroud a butterfly Christina Rossetti

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Elche's Processions by Dave Stewart

More trees at this time in the news is that of the palm tree. Roughly there are 202 genera with around 2600 species currently known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates.

Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families and Elche is famous, so much so that when Jaime I entered the city he proclaimed that they were so beautiful that if they were cut down they would have to be another replanted.

Although planted by Phoenicians it was the Arabs who really cultivated them on a grand scale for their dates and being able to use the dried leads for various purposes. Elche has an international reputation for its Semana Santa celebrations as it is the centre from which palms are sent to many countries and it is famous for its Palm Sunday procession. Elche is renowned for its palm groves and the procession held on Palm Sunday is particularly worth seeing as aormi@icloud.com

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thousands line the streets waving their palms. Palms are blessed at Mass and many palm leaves are ceremoniously burned for distribution among Christian churches for use in the Ash Wednesday services the following year, marking the beginning of Lent and the thought that we came from ash and to ash we will return.

Some of the palms are woven into designs and sculptures and dignitaries such as the Spanish Kings and the Pope are given them annually.

The Spanish are aware of the closeness of death as can be seen in b u l l fi g h t i n g , underlining the reality of Spanish thought of life and death being such close companions.

In the 2009 a new trono was that of the Virgen de la Palma an image that follows the Malaga style of artistry. A mixture of men and women carried this addition; The Palm Sunday procession has several groups parading on Palm

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Sunday.

T h e Samaritans, Maria del m a y o r Dolor, San Juan with t h e Mantillas, El Lavatorio Romans and the ecce Hombre.

There are 26 guilds with 32 thrones: the first guild was that of 16th century Cofradia de la Sangre de Cristo in which the town´s nobles participated. Many of these thrones and their statues are the work of famous artists such as Valentín García Quinto, Lastrucci, José Sánchez Lozano.

Another unique custom in Elche’s processions takes place on Good Friday known as la Trencá de Guió. This takes place in the Plaza de Baix and is seen as an augur for the coming year.

It is a ceremony full of symbolism in which three caballeros or “camas” are responsible for a huge black flag. When they reach the Plaza de Baix they go to the town hall and await the last of the floats that of the Virgen de los Dolores. It is an act that involves civil and religious dignitaries. The ritual that follows is an almost dance like one with repeated steeps forward and backwards carrying the black flag before the mast is broken and if they do a clean job of this then it augurs a good year ahead.

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Torrelamata celebrates Palm Sunday

Almost forgotten at times by its bigger, but younger b r o t h e r, Torrevieja, Torrelamata has many of its own customs.

The community have their own Holy Week processions that include on Palm Sunday a very short procession with the priest riding on an ass, much like Don Quixote, carrying a long palm frond rather than a lance. Children dress in typical pastor clothing of the period 2000 years ago and carry olive branches as a sign of peace. They dress up in a similar fashion months later at Christmas. The only image used in this day at La Mata is Juan the Evangelist carried by women.

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Torrevieja tends to have a fairly brisk procession in the middle of the day as the palms have been blessed at a Mass, with the appearance of youngsters carrying their own trono with the Holy Scriptures on the bier.

The two main images are Jesus riding on an ass, and his close friend St. John the Evangelist, whose statue appears in most of the processions during the week.

The main evening processions begin on the evening of Palm Sunday and it is quite a short one.

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Semana Santa Customs

by Pat Hynd

Spain is full of customs and another pertinent to Good Friday is that of the Pardon. Every year in Malaga the cofradia de Nuestro Padre Jesus el Rico, ask for the pardon of a prisoner, who is set free on Holy Wednesday. The Council of Ministers agree to a prisoner, who has had a good conduct record while in prison and has not been imprisoned for violent crimes, being released. This follows the tradition of the Roman Governor in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus when Barrabas was released and Jesus condemned. The people spoke and they spoke for Barrabas. This is a custom followed in many cities where there is a prison,

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including Alicante. This is based on Pontius Pilate having to make a choice between freeing Jesus or Barrabas and committing the other to a death sentence.

Semana Santa or Holy Week is well rooted in the religious and cultural soul of Spain. It is a central part of the past history and a festival that every village and town celebrates to a greater or lesser degree. Although the format may be much the same in that there are processions carrying floats of images related to the final hours of Jesus and his death and resurrection, there are little quirks that are peculiar to different towns.

Each church starts off with Ash Wednesday using the ashes from the previous year’s palms.

The ashes are marked in the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the congregation with the admonition that this is a reminder of our human frailty and that at the end of it all we are nothing but ashes, with the intention that we should do something positive with our life.

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Trafalgar Square annual Passion Play

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The pasos or images have their origins in the passion plays that were popular in the medieval times: sometimes these were carts used as a stage and a dozen actors would play out the various stories of the occasion. These performances were known as pasos and from this developed the actual floats and images as pasos. On Good Friday the Passion play is enacted at Trafalgar Square each year as our photo page shows, from the entering into Jerusalem on an ass, the Sanhedrin, Pilate’s court, carrying of the cross, crucifixion, wailing women and final resurrection.

The whole week is called the Passion of Jesus and early missionaries used the image of the passion flower to put over their message:- The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.

- The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ. . The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (excluding St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).

- The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.

- The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail - The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).

The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.

The Passion fruit is used as a source of juice.

A small purple fruit which wrinkles easily and a larger shiny yellow to orange fruit are traded under this name.

The latter is usually considered just a variety flavicarpa, but seems to be more distinct in fact.

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Every feast has some sort of food or drink attached to it and Semana Santa has several including the mona, or torrijas, or BuĂąuelas and all are very sweet, perhaps because people felt alter the abstinence of the Lenten period they and their bodies needed a bit more calories.

The present time of Easter was fixed by the council of Nicaea in 325 and associated with the full moon, with limits that this Sunday could never be before 22nd March nor after the 25th April. Because of the time of year the weather can be unstable and quite often events are canceled or delayed.

Easter corresponds to the Jewish Passover as it was this that the Apostles were celebrating at the Last Supper.

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Model Exhibition 21 March - 17 April

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Once again this year there will be the annual model boats exhibition in the Park of the Nations, Torrevieja from 21 March to 17th April. This year the boats will join forces with modelers of military exhibits such as the taking of Berlin, combining the work of two local model clubs.

Some of the ships are sailed in the nearby lake on opening day and some are remotely controlled at weekends. Usually a local club of military shooters takes part as well.

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Park of the Nations with island of Europe in the lake

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Madrid Bombing National Memory

by Dave Stewart Where were you when Kennedy was killed? What were you doing when man landed on the moon? Can you remember when, where and what you were doing when the planes crashed into the Towers? There are certain dates that stick in our minds because of a world shattering event. For the Scots it was the airport attack, for the Londoners it was the bus disaster and for the French it will be the two assaults in January past.

For the Spanish this month one of those moments burnt into the common identity is the terror attack on trains at Atorcha railway station in Madrid on 11th March, 2014, which killed 191 people and injured 1,858, eleven years ago.

According to the Interior Ministry, the profile of the victims is as follows. The majority were “middle- or working-class, who were traveling to their place of work. Students.

Seventy-eight percent of them were aged between 36 and 65; 17 percent of them were aged between 21 and 35. Thirty-four percent of them were immigrants from 34 different countries, who had come to Spain seeking a better life. So this tragedy affected all social spheres and levels, not only of Spain, but many other countries and is the general pattern in all these types of events.

The chaotic carnage of the scene was televised live as it unfolded, with all sorts of misinformation as commentators anxiously tried to be first with the latest news. The government was adamant that the Basque ETA group were responsible, but by the middle of the day the police were convinced it was an attack by al Qaida or similar terrorist group. Judge Balthasar Garzón was soon on the spot investigating and he complains that the Partido Popular government ministers tried to tell the investigators that it was ETA as there was only three days to general elections.

The National Police were in charge of the investigation and discounted the government's hypothesis, but could not release their first findings that it was an Islamist attack. It was a decision that proved fatal to the government as they completely lost the elections that had seemed to be a foregone conclusion in their favour.

It was a fatal act of political judgement as the public thought that the President and other politicians were lying. This was combined with the new popularity of mobile phones and aormi@icloud.com

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texting and the main thrust was "the government are liars". The public can understand, and most times forgive, the foibles of politicians with their sexual proclivities but do not like being lied to, which brought the government to its knees a few days later when the opposition swept in against previous 11M forecasts.

This murderous attack awakened xenophobic feelings, especially against Muslims, again a common reaction in these deadly attempts.

At the time Jonathan Evans, Director General of the British Security Service had this to say: "In back rooms and in cars and on the streets of this country there is no shortage of individuals talking about wanting to mount terrorist attacks here. We see them regularly in our intelligence investigations. And others in various parts of the world have the same ambitions. Some of them have appeared in the series of successful terrorist prosecutions that have been before the courts in the last few years. The Royal United Services Institute, the award-winning defense and security think-tank, maintains a database of terrorist events. It has identified 43 potential plots or serious incidents in the UK since 9/11. Our assessment is that Britain has experienced a credible terrorist attack plot about once a year since 9/11 – and before, since the first Al Qaida inspired plot here took place in 2000 - a year before 9/11. That pattern has held true up to the present time, including in 2010 and 2011. And a plot by Al Qaida in Yemen to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic was narrowly averted. So the threat is real and remains with us today."

We are coming to terms that the enemy is within and could be a next door neighbour. But if we are going to live in fear then the enemy has won. Since that March day we have seen revolution across the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa and further south which led many people to believe that the Muslim fanatics could be contained, but this has proved to be a wrong analysis with the eruption of the Islamic State and Boko Haram in aormi@icloud.com

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Nigeria that indiscriminately destroys anyone who disagrees in the slightest with their outlook. So once again in the public mind there is a spectre of a veiled enemy waving an ominous black flag, beheading, crucifying and enslaving as if we are still in medieval times.

One of the results of the Madrid March slaughter is that there is more understanding of suffering from PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which would have saved the execution of so many thousands of soldiers in the First World War. “A lot of psychological and physical effects are being felt now that didn’t appear to start with,” explains Sonia Ramos, the head of the Terrorism Victims Support group. “Many who lost some of their hearing are now completely deaf.” The number of people who saw their lives changed by the 11-M attacks is as high as 3,000, she explains, given the families of the 192 dead (191 in the trains and one police officer who was killed when the terrorists blew themselves up in Leganés), and the 2,084 injured and their relatives."

Garzón says that by the middle of the afternoon of March 11, the police had completely abandoned the idea that ETA was responsible, despite the government’s continued insistence in public that it was. “I believe that it was politically useful for them to do so.

The attack came three days before a general election, and some might say that the government could have benefited from this; but if it wasn’t ETA, then it could change things. The fact is that the police would have issued a statement within hours of the attack saying that Jihadists were responsible, not ETA.” There are people around today who still believe that ETA was behind it, even after the Islam fanatics responsible blew themselves up a shortly after their hideout was discovered by the police. Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez presided over the trial of the men accused of carrying out the March 11, 2004 bomb attacks on Atocha railway station in Madrid. His verdict established that the armed Basque separatist group ETA was not responsible, nor in any way was it linked. As a result, the ruling was vilified by conspiracy theorists in the media and on the political right.

Torrevieja joined the national mourning with the biggest rally ever seen of people overflowing the main plaza and into neighboring streets.

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Are you feeling cross, because you have been double-crossed, are crosseyed or because that woman crossed the road in front of your car? Maybe you deserve a good boy/girl cross for cross-breeding a plant, or crossing the ball for a goal with crossed-fingers, or because you are a cross-dresser in which case you may want to cross your legs or cross someone’s hand with silver before you get your wires crossed, in which case you have a cross to bear unless you want to make your mark with a cross.

No wonder foreigners find English so difficult with so many meanings

by Pat Hynd from the same simple word – cross.

The most usual meaning of cross in Oxford dictionary is ‘an upright post with a transverse bar, as used in antiquity for crucifixion’; although nowadays it is being used in modern times for the same purpose – to cruelly kill and punish someone in a demeaning and humbling manner.

Most people think of the ‘cross’ as the one on which Jesus was crucified. The difference between a cross and a crucifix is that a cross also has a crucified figure on it.

Some people don't like a crucifix as the human body on it smacks of idolatry. For others the figure represents many things, including hope of an afterlife as death has been conquered by Jesus.

My school friends and I often visited Glasgow museums and art galleries and one of the memorable visits in 1953 was seeing the Salvador Dali painting of Jesus suspended on his cross over fishing boats and the Earth, which was inspired by St. John of the Cross’s 16th Century drawing. What Teilhard de Chardin might have dubbed as the Cosmic Christ. It is devoid of nails, blood, and a crown of thorns,

Cross Purposes

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because, according to Dalí, he was convinced in a dream that these features would mar his representation of Christ. He also dreamed of how important it was depicting Christ in the extreme angle evident in the painting. The composition of Christ is also based on a triangle and circle (the triangle is formed by Christ's arms to the point of his feet; the circle is formed by Christ's head). The triangle, since it has three sides, can be seen as a reference to the Trinity. The circle is a symbol of eternity and the Godhead. Dalí explained its inspiration: "In the first place, in 1950, I had a 'cosmic dream' in which I saw this image in colour and which in my dream represented the 'nucleus of the atom.'

This nucleus later took on a metaphysical sense; I considered it 'the very unity of the universe,' the Christ!". Christ is shown 'as beautiful as the God that He is', not contorted and in agony and because of the angle as God in heaven sees Christ. It appears that God the Father is looking on Christ as a bridge between heaven and Earth, with the sea at our own level of vision - or as a link between God and Mankind. The fishing boats represent Peter and the fishermen and a reminder that they represent the Christian church. The positioning of the crucified Jesus has another perspective as he is a resurrected figure.

In order to create the figure of Christ, Dalí had H o l l y w o o d stuntman Russell S a u n d e r s suspended from an o v e rh e a d gantry, so he could see how the body would appear from the required angle. It is an oil on canvas painting of 1951 and acquired by Glasgow Corporation for 8,200 pounds including the copyright. In the mid-19th Century a French doctor was intrigued by crucifixion and obtained dead bodies of criminals, which he hung on a cross as experiments to see what happened to the body. Among his conclusions is that the body weight would have pulled the body free of pierced hands, whereas it would have been better to put nails in the wrists between the tendons. He also conjectured that a piece of support wood under the person’s crotch would have enabled the prisoner to live for quite a long time..as the Japanese found when they tortured prisoners of war in WW2 by crucifixion. Not that it was new to them as in previous centuries hundreds of Christians in Japan had been killed this way, as pictured in the excellent television series of “Shogun” from the book by James Clavell.

Salvador Dali’s painting can be seen in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

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Thoughts on the Garden of Olives

by Pat Hynd

The float of the International Cofradia of Torrevieja is a popular one and raises lots of admiring exclamations from the watching Spanish crowds. The men carrying it come from all walks of life and feel proud to be participating in something that gives them a tremendous feeling.

In this article I would like to offer some thoughts on the float and its message in a form of a sort of contemplation where we use our imagination.

So let us to see the Mount of Olives, a hilltop with ancient, gnarled olive trees, a quiet secluded hill out of season, but busy when the time comes to bring in the crop. The olive branch is a sign of peace and the previous week branches had been used by a joyful crowd to place at the feet of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. The olive is liquid gold in the Mediterranean as it is a nutritious berry that is served in many dishes, provides oil for enhancing many foods, is useful for cooking, is used for light and heat, and is also used in blessed rites as chrism.

Jesus liked to come here to pray on his own as well as in the company of his disciples. There is a large cave housing the grinding wheel that crushes the olives to provide the various grades of olive oil. There are shelves in the cave carved out of rock for the storage jars, but also used by the disciples for sitting and sleeping on. A fitting situation for Jesus who is the light and food of mankind and we and the the disciples are like the various types of oil, some better than others, but all useful.

We see him with Peter and John a little apart from the other disciples. Everyone is tired after a long day and replenished with the celebration of the Passover meal, which Galileans (most of them came from Galilee) were able by law to celebrate a day earlier than normal. Jesus moans in his prayers and Peter and John doze off, half awake and aware of Jesus's sweat of blood, his tears, his fear and agony, the support of angels and how he wakes them chiding them about not being able to stay awake for an hour to share with him. It is the thought that precedes the deed that can be more terrifying and we should take comfort knowing that we have angels around to strengthen our will and spirit.

They see torches in the distance, then shouts as a crowd comes up the hill, now they are all awake, a bit fearful of the unknown, prepared to run. Often we are

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the same, in fear of Old olive tree at C. Quesada what we can't see, timid of what might happen to us, fear can cripple our thoughts, decisions and actions.

The crowd is near enough for them to see soldiers among the mob, but also their comrade Judas Iscariot whose presence throws the disciples into confusion. In the dark it is difficult to identify faces, but Judas recognizes Jesus and comes forward to greet him with the customary Mediterranean kiss, greeting him but identifying him as well. The soldiers grasp Jesus and reckless Peter pulls out a short sword, swings it and slices off an ear of one of them, who turns out to be Malchus one of the high priest's servants. Jesus places his hand over the bloody, hanging ear immediately healing it and tells Peter that there will be no blood shed apart from His. Later Malchus becomes a follower and believer of Jesus.

The disciples scatter and disappear in the dark, afraid of being arrested. One of them in a night robe, a young one - possibly John or Mark, loses it as a soldier grasps him by the material and he slips out of it leaving him almost naked.

Jesus is bound up, smacked and beaten, sworn at and insulted, then dragged roughly down the hilly track towards the city to be tried in the High Priest’s house, then onto the palace of Pontius Pilate; again in the palace of Herod where he is questioned and mocked as a king by Herod’s courtiers and a royal coloured garment placed on him in mockery. Herod can’t cope with the silent Jesus and

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tired of his fun at the expense of the manacled man, returns him to face Pilate, a previous governor of Tarragon in Spain.

What is there to learn from this float. At times we all need a bit of space to ourselves, the ability to seek solitude so we can be alone with God to converse with Him, unburden ourselves of our fears, seeking pardon and love. If we believe in them we should take strength and comfort that we have guardian angels who look out for us. Jesus prayed for those who were going to betray and persecute him, so let us think positively for those who might want to betray us or cause us pain, either of the spirit or physical. Forgiving is not easy but in this garden Jesus shows us how to forgive and to turn the other cheek.

Jesus has a power that could have saved him from the consequences of his life, he bore his sufferings in silence, remained silent in the face of calumnies and likely this is not what Judas expected to happen. We too have to face up to our problems and learn to solve them on our own and be unafraid as it is fear that often stops us from doing something or saying something. Fear can be paralyzing, so with a bit of faith, we can face up to living the life we have and desire, hoping that what we do in love is the way forward for us.

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Faith, Hope and Charity Women’s Role in the International Cofradia La Oración de Nuestro Señor en la Huerta de Olivos by Jennie Mutter

Eleven years ago a call for help went out from the organising committee of the processions of Semana Santa, the Junta Mayor, to the international committee for volunteers to form the Cofradia of La Oración de Nuestro Señor en la Huerta de Olivos. One hundred costaleros were needed to carry this immense float through the streets of Torrevieja during the processions of Holy Walk.

The call was answered enthusiastically, not only by the men of the international community but also by the women, mostly the wives of volunteers - but over the years the women have joined the brotherhood in their own right to take part in these wonderful occasions.

From the very first meeting the women have found their own vital roles within the organisation. They immediately set about making the elaborate uniforms needed for aormi@icloud.com

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the Nazarenas in typical British style by holding regular “sewing circles” in the old Restaurant Los Arcos and soon had enough costumes ready to take their place in 2004, the very first year that the cofradia took part in the processions.

Women also form a guard of honour at the rear of the trono during the processions to accompany the float and pay their own respects to the event and to costaleros carrying the float. This group of ladies, usually eight in number, are nicknamed “the dignitaries” by the president of the cofradia and this is very apt as they conduct themselves in a very dignified manner.

The women of the Cofradia also take part in the running of the organisation by acting as committee members, arranging for the supply of sweets for distribution by the Nazarenas during the processions and for the succour of the stalwart costaleros along with an ample supply of water.

They arrange regular social events including a monthly meal for the ladies of the cofradia to which all are welcome whether they are active in the group or just supporting their partners, a Christmas Party for all the cofradia and other events. This inevitably includes fund raising to keep the membership costs as low as possible and

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goes to keep the uniforms maintained and to provide the necessary supplies for the processions.

From a personal point of view I first joined the Cofradia in 2009 to give thanks for the recuperation from physical problems which severely restricted my mobility. I walked as a penitente in black at the rear of the float as a “dignitary” as a personal expression of gratitude to the care I received from the Spanish medical profession. And despite the discomforts of walking slowly and standing still for several hours each night I have walked every year since.

So why do we do it and what’s in it for us? We do it because we enjoy doing it, that we are part of something that really matters and we feel part of a larger community.

The actual procession has a tremendous atmosphere and we are proud to be part of something that is very Spanish, in a way giving back something and integrating into our new country and town.

It takes a bit of faith to do this, faith in oneself and in others. Hope is involved as the whole series of processions demonstrates very vividly a terrible journey of suffering that climaxes in offers of hope at the end. Charity is not just the various fund raising efforts, or giving food to the local charities that deal with the poor and homeless, but also the feeling of warmth and love that we can feel coming from the people of the town as they proudly watch their Semana Santa experience being played out in front of them.

It is a unique and irreplaceable experience for which the members of the Cofradia will be always grateful to their fellow citizens of Torrevieja.

Women have several roles in the Torrevieja Semana Santa processions. Some walk alongside in the colors of their cofradia hidden under their headgear. Others known as ‘mantillas’ are dressed in black with the traditional Spanish hair piece, but the ladies of the international group do not wear this mantilla but some walk in the procession behind the float and others in the lines of nazarenes. Other women, mostly younger ones, actually carry floats such as the Samaratin Woman talking to Jesus at the well, or the Virgen Dolorosa and in La Mata carry St. Peter’s paso.

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Saint Patrick is not just for the Irish

by Dave Stewart

Can’t let us pass Paddy’s Day without a crack. Many of you will be celebrating one way or another on 17th and here is a photo of the Torrevieja drums and pipe band at Cabo Roig, photo from Keith Nicol, who is part Irish.

For those who have flown RYANAIR and wonder why they have changed their surcharging policy here is the answer: Arriving in a hotel in Dublin, he went to the bar and asked for a pint of draught Guinness. The barman nodded and said, "That will be one Euro please, Mr O’Leary."

Somewhat taken aback, O'Leary replied, "That's very cheap," and handed over his money.

"Well, we try to stay ahead of the competition", said the barman. "And we are serving free pints every Wednesday evening from 6 until 8. We have the cheapest beer in Ireland."

"That is remarkable value" Michael comments. "I see you don't seem to have a glass, so you'll probably need one of ours. That will be 3 Euro please."

O'Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat."Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That'll be an extra 2 Euro. You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you a Euro. I think you may to be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please?" Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can't squeeze in he complains: "Nobody would fit in that little frame!"

"I'm afraid if you can't fit in the frame you'll have to pay an extra surcharge of €4.00 for your seat sir." O'Leary swore to himself, but paid up.

"I see that you have brought your laptop with you" added the barman. "Since that wasn't prebooked either, that will be another 3 Euro."

O'Leary was so annoyed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, "This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager!" "Ah, I see you want to use the counter," says the barman, "that will be 2 Euro please." O'Leary's face was red with rage. "Do you know who I am?" "Of course I do Mr. O'Leary," "I've had enough! What sort of Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!" "Here is his E mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9 and 9.10 every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number.

Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only 10 cents per second."

"I will never use this bar again!"

"OK sir, but remember, we are the only hotel in Ireland selling pints for one Euro".

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HISTORY IN BLACK AND WHITE SPANISH ARMADA AND IRELAND

by Andy Ormiston

I have a Scottish friend of Irish descent called Treacy who maintains that his name and forebears are descended from Spanish royalty. Many believe that the dark looks of many Irish have come about from the wrecking of several ships of the ill-fated Spanish Armada to invade England. So for St. Patrick’s Day here is an account of the Spanish in Ireland at one point in history, although they were there at other times.

"That explains why you have people like me; with black hair, brown eyes, and olive skin: we’re the descendents of the Armada, the so-called black Irish,” said Eddie McGorman, organizer of the Celtic Fringe Festival, as he looks out over Streedagh Strand beach, where the Spanish ship "La Lavia" went down. It was captained by Francisco de Cuéllar, who later wrote of the eight months he spent hiding out in Ireland. "It’s a lovely story, but sadly, it’s just another Irish myth,” says the University of Cork’s Hiram Morgan, “I’m sure that men like Cuéllar and other Spanish soldiers

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got to know local women, but to make the leap that a handful of Spaniards were the ancestors of all dark-skinned Irish people is probably overstating things,” he says.

The ‘Invincible Armada’ had been navigating its way through the wilderness of the North Atlantic. On the dawn of September 7, 1588, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, captain of the San Martín and the commanding officer of the vast fleet Philip II had created to invade England, scanned the horizon. Low on water and provisions, he now faced the task of returning to Spain with 112 badly damaged vessels carrying around 3,000 wounded by sailing round Scotland, and then the west coast of Ireland.

After the defeat at Gravesline the Duke held a conference with the other ship commanders and issued the order:- The course that is first to be held is to the north/northeast until you be found under 61 degrees and a half; and then to take great heed lest you fall upon the Island of Ireland for fear of the harm that may happen unto you upon that coast.

Then, parting from those islands and doubling the Cape in 61 degrees and a half, you shall run west/south-west until you be found under 58 degrees; and from thence to the south-west to the height of 53 degrees; and then to the south/south-west, making to the Cape Finisterre, and so to procure your entrance into The Groyne A Coruña or to Ferrol, or to any other port of coast of Galicia.

The Spanish fleet had been sailing the North Atlantic under the command of Duke of Medina Sidonia. Supposedly invincible the fleet was very low on provisions and water. 112 ships were damaged and on 7th September 1588, were faced with the daunting decision to voyage back to Spain with over 3,000 injured men. The plotted course took them round Scotland and on to the west coast of Ireland. They sailed between the Orkneys and Fair Isle. The duke was also captain of the San Martin. It was the weather conditions off the Irish coast that really put paid to the armada where 24 ships were wrecked and 6,000 men drowned.

On 16th September the first vessel to sink was the La Trinidad, captained by Alonso de Luzon, with disastrous results and a stain on England's and Ireland’s honour.

Today Illagh Castle is a ruin on the outskirts of Derry on the north coast, but at the time had an English garrison. Luzon gathered his 400 men together and marched towards the castle looking for help. They laid down their arms and surrendered, the officers were separated from their 300 men, who were then massacred by the garrison using spears and archebuses. Sir William FitzWilliam (1526–1599) was an English aormi@icloud.com

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Tower Museum in Derry has Spanish Armada section Lord Justice of Ireland and at this time also Lord Deputy of Ireland. At the time of the Armada he was in charge of all Ireland and received reports of the Spanish ships scattered along the Irish coast and ordered that any Spaniards who landed be taken prisoner and hanged as traitors to the Crown.

Mutton Island

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In 1971 the Derry diving club found the remains of the Trinidad in Kinnagoe Bay by chance and since then relics such as cannons have surfaced and can be seen in Derry's Tower Museum. Relics from six other sunken ships have been reclaimed from the sea and are in museums in Belfast, Dublin and Derry since 1967.

Archaeologists and divers continue to search for the other wrecks especially the San Marcos galleon which went down near Spanish Point in County Clare. She was built in Cantabria in 1585 weighing 790 tons with 350 soldiers and 140 sailors and an armament of sixty cannon. She sank on the afternoon of September 20, 1588 after hitting rocks close to Mutton Island in a terrible storm and only four men out of 490 made it to shore. They were captured along with the men from another wreck on the same day, the San Esteban, just a few miles down the coast. Around 300 men died and only sixty made it ashore only to be rounded up.

These men and the four from San Marcos were captured by Boetius Clancy, a local landowner who represented the English colonizers. His orders were to interrogate and then execute all Spanish prisoners, regardless of rank, among them Felipe de Córdoba, a nobleman who would have fetched a large ransom. He and the others were all hanged on a high point overlooking the beach at Spanish Point. Nearby is the mass grave where they were buried, along with the bodies washed ashore from the two vessels, known to this day as Tuama na Spáinneach (the Spaniards’ tomb) visited by the former King Juan Carlos and his wife, Queen Sophia.

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Real Madrid Crossed Out

by Dave Stewart

Hardly noticeable, but the tiny cross that has surmounted the Madrid Real Club football team badge for most of its life has disappeared. This is reportedly to appease their Arab sponsors of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Its not the first time that the badge was crossed out as during the Second Spanish Republic the tiny emblem disappeared in a flurry of antiChurch propaganda, but returned at the end of the Civil War in 1939.

Everyone I speak to says it is a shame that religion enters into sport, especially football, but on the other hand money talks. It is believed the European champions' new crest, minus the Christian cross, was created so as not to offend Muslim sensibilities in the United Arab Emirates, where a marketing drive will take place.

The original logo (on the left) with cross will still be in use in Europe according to the club president.

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Odd Customs of Lent and Holy Week

by Dave Stewart

Easter dates were fixed by the first Nicene Council in 325 AD. It is a moveable feast in that it depends on the phases of the full moon and cannot before the 22nd March or after the 25th April. But there are other curious customs associated with Easter and the six week Lenten period before it.

Why 40 days? The number is significant in Jewish-Christian scripture: in Genesis, it took 40 days and nights of rain to cause a flood which destroyed the known earth; the Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land; Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai; Jesus spent 40 days of fasting in preparation for his ministry.

In most Christian denominations, Lent starts with Ash Wednesday, which is derived from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance to God. There is no specific instruction on how long ashes are to be worn. You can, in fact, wash them off immediately after the service if you want.

The ashes are made by burning the blessed palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday.

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The evening before Ash Wednesday is called "Fat Tuesday" or Shrove Tuesday. Rich foods are consumed as the faithful prepare for time of fasting, abstinence, confession and penance.

Customs and practices arose for Fat Tuesday where people would empty their pantries of many items restricted during Lent. One of the terms often used with Mardi Gras is "carnival."

We visualize huge public celebrations or parades.

Anyone who visits one of the big carnivals held on this day usually bring back stories of self-indulgence and hedonism that make most people blush. Ironically, carnival comes from the Latin "carne vale" which means "farewell to meat" or "farewell to flesh" indicating the end to certain pleasures has come.

In Church history, penitents usually guilty of public scandals like murder or adultery were temporarily expelled for the entire season in imitation of God's expulsion of Adam and Eve. They were sent away with the admonition "Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return." They lived isolated from families, friends and parishioners for the 40 days of Lent. This temporary separation gave us the word quarantine, whose root is Latin for the number 40 and can still be heard in the Spanish word cuarenta.

Pokey Hats - The classical coned shaped hat used in Holy Week processions has its origins in the time of the Spanish Inquisition when the condemned had a similar dunce’s cap placed on their heads with illustrations of the crime for which they had been condemned. The idea is that thanks to this sharp pointed hat with its crimes the penitent can be closer to heaven.

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Another Lenten custom is the draping of statues and crucifixes in purple cloth as a sign of mourning. This symbolically hides the heavenly glory realized by the saints. Occurring on the fifth Sunday of Lent, the covering of the sacred images adds to the sense of introspection and contrition.The roots of the veiling of statues during Lent can most likely be found in Germany where, beginning before 900, it was customary to cover not only statues and images, but the entire sanctuary including the altar with a cloth.

The cloth itself was called the Hungertuch (literally hunger cloth, but often translated as Lenten veil). The draping concealed the altar entirely from the faithful during Lent and was not removed until the reading of the Passion at the words "the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom."

Lent is derived from an Old English word which means "lengthen." The last week of Lent is called Holy Week.

Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has reemphasized the baptismal character of Lent, as catechumens prepare for their baptismal rite as full members of the Church.

The Stations of the Cross originated during the crusades when it was popular to visit Jerusalem to follow the steps to Calvary. After the Holy Land was captured, pilgrimages became a very dangerous affair. A desire arose to reproduce these holy places in other lands as a substitute pilgrimage and Torrevieja and other Spanish towns have fourteen outdoor ‘stations’ where the cross is carried and a point of Christ’s last journey remembered.

By the mid 18th century, the Stations were allowed inside the church and served as a focus for Lenten devotions.

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Another peculiar custom is some places is «dando la matraca» or giving the rattle to someone, or just rattling a person, has its origins in the Semana Santa. The matraca is a wooden cross that makes a rattling noise and used just before Matins on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to symbolize the death of Jesus. The photo shows the one in the Cathedral of Santa Ana used for almost 300 years and now restored by Jacobo González Velázquez. When the belfry of this cathedral in the Canaries was checked out this old machine was recovered and restored.

Eggs used to be blessed in some parts of Spain on Ash Wednesday at the outset of the Lenten period six weeks before the Easter Resurrection. It became a custom to paint them red in memory of the blood shed by Christ. In some regions such as Cataluña, Valencia and Baleares pastries were baked with an egg, which was given by godparents to their godchildren and called the “Mona de pascua". After a time these developed into the chocolate delicacies and extravagant desserts we have nowadays, especially in Barcelona.

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Other things eaten at Easter time are torrijas, pestiños, or buñuelos that have a high content of sugar and therefore high in calories to make up for the days of abstinence, which no longer holds apart from Good Friday itself. This was practical especially for those who had to work a hard day of labour such as those in the fields.

There is another Easter tradition seen in Torrevieja and most Spanish towns early on Easter Sunday. It is a procession that, although not mentioned in the Gospels, is a tradition that Jesus visited his mother Mary first after his resurrection from the dead. So the statue of Mary is shrouded in a mourning veil only to be lifted in a joyous act when she realizes he is still alive.

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The Mock Turtle Song with the Gryphon

"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail.

"There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail.

See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!

They are waiting on the shingle—will you come and join the dance?

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?

"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!"

But the snail replied "Too far, too far!" and gave a look askance— Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance. '"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.

"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.

The further off from England the nearer is to France— Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?"'

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Bookshelf Alice in Wonderland

By Pat Hynd

I have no doubt that everyone, but I mean everyone, has heard of the marvelous stories of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’. Even if they haven't actually read the books, they have seen the wonderland of Alice on Films of Disney or Tim Burton or other film makers.

This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of this imaginary character and her marvelous adventures that excite the imagination of children - old and young. The book is available free on the internet on Gutenberg and easily downloaded or can be read in situ on the internet. So there is no excuse to read and have a laugh at some of the nonsensical verses and fabulous characters of these marvelous tales.

The lecturer in mathematics, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, at Christ Church, Oxford, accompanied by his singing friend Robinson Duckworth(Duck in the story) from University College, had a river trip Godstow with the three daughters of the dean of Christ Church - Lorina, Alice and Edith. Dodgson made up stories and his friend sang entertaining the girls so much so that Alice begged him to write them down in book form. So he jotted down his ideas as far as he could remember anbut it was some months later before he completed a manuscript in non-cursive handwriting to look like a printed page, leaving spaces for illustrations. It took him many months to complete the illustrations as he was not an artist. Eventually the lot was bund in a green leather covering and almost two and a half years after the river outing Alice was presented with the book of “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground as a Christmas gift for 1864, although she received it earlier on 26th November.

Dodgson’s university friends encouraged him to publish it as a book and John Tensile the illustrator for Punch magazine agreed to draw the sketches. aormi@icloud.com

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So the book took a slightly different shape as more episodes were added including The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, and re-titled ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and published in July 1965, so here we are 150 years later enjoying the tales as written by his pen name Lewis Carroll.

There are many events scheduled throughout the world including Royal Mail stamps of characters such as The White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, the Hatter, Hare and the sleepy Dormouse. Here is a list of some of the events being held and I have no doubt that friends of mine will also celebrate with a nonsense party of Mad Hatters.

Television and radio have many programs and, as seems to a bit of ‘thing’ nowadays, the usual searching to see if the author was actually a Paedophile lusting after Alice.

IN SPAIN 31 March at 18:00 A TALK In the Biblioteca Infantile Santa Creu , Hospital, 66 Barcelona.

24 March - 19 April Circulo de Bellas Artes of Madrid, an exposition of facsimile photographs of Carrol’s work. Inauguration on 24th at 19:35 in the Sal Valle Incian and a talk by Roger Taylor the former director of the collection in the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television of Bradford. Also

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speaking will be novelist Marina Warner. Later the exhibition will move to Tenerife, Croatia and Italy.

From 4 April to 3 May in the Museum of Arte in Vic, an exposition about Lewis Carroll by private collectors featuring books, drawings, dolls, lithographs of Salvador Dali, Lola Anglada, Enric Rovira, Jordi Morera, Peret, Max, Peñuela...

The official inauguratiton is on 21 April at 12:00 midday with a talk by Jordi Quintana.

Wednesday, 15th April at 20:00 in the Biblioteca Rosa Sensat (Còrsega, 271 de Barcelona) an act recording the work of Lewis Carroll.

In Britain some of the events are included here as some of you may want to do something yourself.

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Between 11th Feb -8 May Crocodiles in Cream. Kevin Moore’s stage performance as Lewis Carroll, on select dates at various venues including Oxford and Guildford.

13th Mar The Cat Without a Grin. A joint meeting of the LCS with the Children’s Books History Society with a talk by Chairman, Brian Alderson. Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1 18th March Lewis Carroll in Guildford. A centenary talk to the Friends of Guildford House. Speaker: Anne Clark Amor. Venue: Guildford House, Gallery, Guildford, at 7.45 p.m.

21st March Lewis Carroll Day School. A one-day event organized by Dr David Grylls, Director of the Literature Program, University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. Speakers: Mavis Batey, Karoline Leach, Edward Wakeling and Anne Clark Amor. Venue: Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2J. 29th March Exhibition and Book Fair. A book fair restricted to children’s books, with a special emphasis on Carroll, supported by talks and displays provided by the Daresbury Lewis Carroll Society. Venue: Walton Hall near Warrington.

Early April (Until 25th June) Alice: the Wonderful World of Lewis Carroll an exhibition at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9PA. March – August, Cardiff, Wales events. ◦ photography exhibition ◦ 100 years of illustrating Alice exhibition ◦ Word Games and Puzzles exhibition ◦ Contemporary installations inspired

by Alice ◦ Films – Jan Svankmajer’s Alice, Dreamchild, etc. ◦ Theatre ◦ Concerts ◦ Readings April 1-5, 1998. Cardiff, Wales – an academic conference titled “The Lewis Carroll Phenomenon”. Organized by the University of Wales, Cardiff. Carroll biographer, Morton

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Cohen, and Alan Garner, will be keynote speakers.

1st April (Until 31st May) Exhibition of drawings by Brian Partridge with a display of Carrollian collectibles. Venue: Minster Library, Ripon.

8th May (Until 17th May) Centenary Celebrations in Guildford. Ten days of Carroll events including concerts, films, tours, and other activities for all the family. See below. ◦ 8th to 17th May – Lewis Carroll Centenary Celebrations in Guildford ◦ 9th May (a.m.) Guided walk beginning on the steps of Holy Trinity Church.

Costumed actors and actresses will participate in the walk. (p.m.) Snark Hunt. A trip down the river in a decorated barge and a Snark hunt on the banks. ◦ 10th May (a.m.) Guided Tour of the Mount Cemetery visiting Lewis Carroll’s grave and those of seven of his relatives who lived in Guildford (p.m.) Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, attended by costumed actors and actresses. Concert and readings from Lewis Carroll in the High School. ◦ 11th May Film, talk and readings at the Electric Film Theatre. ◦ 12th May Film, talk and readings at the Electric Film Theatre ◦ 12th May Alice’s Adventures Underground, by Christopher Hampton, Mill Studio (Until to 15th May) ◦ 13th May Long walk/ramble to Carroll sites ◦ 16th May Guided walk ◦ 17th May Church Service at St Mary’s, Guildford (11.15 a.m.). Literary lunch.

Speaker: Morton Cohen 9th June (Until 4th July) III For Alice: an exhibition of art work by Brian Partridge, Jean Stockdale and Rossina Conroy at the Museum of Oxford, St. Aldate’s, Oxford.

July An exhibition of Carroll photographs at the National Portrait Gallery.

July An exhibition in Christ Church Picture Gallery.

3rd July (and 4th July) Outdoor performances of Jabberwocky, a play by Wyn Jones, around the lake at Clervaux Castle, just outside Croft, Yorkshire. During the same weekend, there will be a flower festival in St. Peter’s Church, Croft and tea in the Rectory garden.

5th July Evensong in St. Peter’s Church, Croft.

11th July (Until 5th September) Carroll Exhibition in the Oxford Museum 8th Aug. (Until 31st October) Exhibition of drawings by Brian Partridge. Venue: York City Art Gallery.

16th Aug. Commemorative Service for Lewis Carroll at Evensong in Christ Church, Oxford.

16th to 22nd Aug. – Lewis Carroll Centenary Programme at Christ Church The major event of Alice Liddell 1998, run by Christ Church, The Lewis Carroll 1852 - 1934 Society and The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. Included are lectures, tours, films and evening entertainment, with the opportunity to see parts of Christ Church normally hidden from the casual visitor. This fully residential event, gave those attending a rare chance to sample the atmosphere of a truly unique establishment. An extraordinary experience.

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International Day for Working Women and Slavery

by Pat Hynd

The two young Asian girls held hands on the clifftop near Cabo Roig, gazing out to sea, then at one another and with a nod of their heads jumped into the abyss to smash their lovely young bodies against the rocks far below.

This happened over twenty-five years ago without much publicity. They were the hidden face of modern slavery, in this case sex slavery where they had been forced into prostitution. When we drive round the roundabouts we can see this modern scourge and we may snigger and sneer at the girls exposing themselves trying to attract trade. We may even feel sorrow for them. Not all of them are there for the fun of it, nor to make money to improve their lives, but a lot of them are forced into this situation by circumstances, which may be completely outside their control.

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At the beginning of this year Guardia Civil rounded up a gang in Murcia who had control of over 200 underage girls, some had been groomed for years and picked up from the school gates. Most of the men and women in the gang are imprisoned but it will take a great deal of love and understanding to rehabilitate these girls who were virtual sex slaves. After the Spanish ciivil war thousands of women had to take up the game in desperation to provide for their fatherless children. Most were connected, or at least considered to be, to the lost Republican side with male family members dead, in exile or in one of the country's prisons or concentration camps.

Spain has moved on and hopefully will continue its democratic course.

A modern-day definition of slavery is that it is various forms of exploitation for commercial gain involving organized crime gangs, who either control the victims or sell them on to another group for profit. In either case the victim is given a zero rating and of no value in themselves. Another gruesome possibility is that the victim, usually a child, is picked out for use as a human bank of organs that can be taken out with impunity and replanted in another person’s body at a price. It's big money and big business but the one who has to pay the real price is the child victim.

How can slavery exist in a modern society? Slavery still exists - 29.8 million people are estimated to be trapped in slavery today. Our education has taught us that slavery is of black people, but not quite true as many white people became indentured and virtual slaves working off a passage to the great American Dream or finding themselves perpetually in debt to the owner of the cotton fields, the mine or factory that also had a shop where they had to buy food and goods and always in debt to the bosses.

It took rich industrialists, people in the 19th century like Robert Owen, Joseph Rowntree or William Lever, to rectify this in Britain and improve workers' conditions by building model villages in a typical English village style.

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175 years ago slavery in British colonies was abolished. The Anti-Slavery Society – later to become Anti-Slavery International – was founded by Thomas Clarkson in 1839, making it the oldest international human right organisation in the world existing today. Slavery has not been eliminated because laws are not enforced. Even in Europe and North America, where slavery appeared to have been consigned to history, it has returned in the form of human trafficking and forced labour.

A slave is: ¥ Forced to work -- through mental or physical threat. ¥ Owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse. ¥ Dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property'.

Physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement.

Slavery takes many forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race. Who is not aware of the young women abducted by the fanatic IS nutcases. It can be bonded and forced labour, even inherited based slavery, early and forced marriage, child labour and trafficking of people

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On 2 December 20114 in the Vatican, Pope Francis hosted leaders of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches and of the world’s great religions (Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim) for the signing of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders against Modern Slavery - “Modern slavery – in the

into forced labour. Anti-Slavery International works on all of these issues.

For our modern Western society it is a huge problem in various parts of a country like Spain's national form of human trafficking, forced labour, life. Apart from organized gangs sex slavery there is the huge prostitution or the trafficking of organs – is and problem of illegal immigrants or a crime against humanity. Its victims are refugees fleeing from war zones even religious persecution from every walk of life, but most are found and and they become vulnerable to among the poorest and the most vulnerable of coercion. International operations by organized crime move people our brothers and sisters.” across boundaries and continents; families who pay as much as £40,000 to get a family member into Western Europe believing they will be able to get well paid work and send money back home. Recently we have seen large groups from North Africa being put on larger vessels that are put on autopilot in the direction of Europe and abandoned, either to interception by law forces or a watery grave as these ships are really unfit to sail.

Possibly just as bewildering are the cases that emerge where young children are enslaved by their own parents and used as sex slaves.

“Exploitation requires control”, says Paul Donohoe of Anti-Slavery International.

Sometimes control is physical - such as a threat if someone tried to escape. Other times, an illegal immigrant victim is scared they will be reported to the police by the very gang who are controlling them.

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But that individual will often find themselves paying back a vast debt to the gang - with threats against the family back home if they do not comply.

A UN report says the vast majority of detected trafficked people are women, accounting for around 60% while children account for 27 percent.

Slavery is one of the most lucrative illicit business in Europe, where criminals are making around 2.5 billion per year.

Last year Pope Francis invited ambassadors, police chiefs and others interested in combating human trafficking to Rome. The guests stayed in the same building in which he resides - the Sancta Marta. From this initial start progress has been made with the formation of an ongoing group that met for a second time in Lancaster House, London to plan how best to fight this criminal act which takes second place to illegal arms trade in its profitability. At the end of the conference Mrs. May, the Home Secretary asked ex-ambassador Francis Campbell to set up a specialist research centre at St. Mary's University where he is Vice Chancellor which will have several research staff members and PhD students who will work closely the Home Office and police as well as church sources on the ground.

The Home Office cannot put a figure on the number of people used as slaves in UK, but figures could be higher than 13,000 mostly for sex. This means that largely the victims are hidden but known about by users. As high ranking police officer Kevin Hyland pointed out a problem can be that the real victims are treated as criminals. The conference heard testimony from victims of slavery. The Sancta Marta group will continue their work as more countries have become involved and the next conference will be held in Madrid in May. Plans are underway of setting up a Caritas Bakhita house in London to provide assistance to traumatized victims of human trafficking. A start has been made as the huge problem has been recognized and now in the open, but it will take more than a Bill of Parliament to end slavery.

International Women's Day arose largely from the working conditions of women in factories and their valiant fight of equal recognition and rights including wages. It is far too late for the two girls at Cabo Roig but let us hope and pray that more can be done to help and support others suffering the same fate.

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Easter is associated with the Jewish Passover, a reminder of the slavery of the Jewish nation by Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

Passover is significant for a variety of reasons. Passover is the time when Jews and, for those that participate, believers remember the exodus from Egypt. It’s a story of deliverance from bondage by a merciful God who forgets not his promises; a story of hope at a time when there seemed to be none.

The remembrance of Passover is as important today as ever before. Today, as then, millions find themselves eating, breathing and sleeping in bondage. Sadly it’s not only an invisible spiritual chain that ensnares. Many live in captivity due to the very real presence of slavery that still remains in this modern world.

This year for those of you who participate in the Passover or Easter feast, may you take a moment and remember those individuals that are enslaved. The Passover Seder meaning "order, arrangement" is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evening of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar throughout the world. This corresponds to late March or April in the Gregorian calendar. This is a prayer that some may use at the Seder- maror refers to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover.

Modern Slavery – Seder Prayer3 “In remembrance of today’s slaves, up to 4 million people trafficked each year, now, in our own time, some in our very own country, we eat this extra portion of maror.

We remember women entrapped by criminals who promised them a better life abroad. We think of children sold into slavery who knot carpets or tend crops at this moment. We recall refugee men swept into captive labor. With this extra maror, we who are free share the bitterness of the lot of today’s slaves, resolving to appeal to governments, leaders, and communities to end human trafficking for all time.” aormi@icloud.com

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The Year on a Plate

by Pat Hynd

Gastronomy is now a fixed feature of tourism in Spain and Torrevieja has developed a calendar of events that have particular connections with the town and area.

In January we already have sampled the cocidos of various aficionados of these meatballs in a soup or stew recipe, ideal for cold winter days. There is actually a club of ‘meatballs ‘that organizes and holds competitions for these recipes.

From 5th – 8th February there was the second Edition of “La Cazuelica y el Vino”, with 21 restaurants taking part. This combines wines and stew dishes typical of the Vega Baja area.

The “sabores de Torrevieja”, or flavours of Torrevieja will be held in March featuring local recipes and home grown products from sea and fields. This ties in with the annual dinner held by the local Association of Hostelry on 16 March where awards are given out including the Golden Fork Award - Tenedores de Oro. The May Fair dedicated to Seville and its culture has its own particular flavour with stalls providing ham, sherry etc. this is linked in on 14th May with the first National Competition of Rice ‘Ciudad de Torrevieja’ as a feature. This is immediately followed by the Third edition of “Rices of Torrevieja” that will again be held from 18th – 24th May; this will be ruled over by the prestigious chef Susi Diaz of Elche, a town renowned for its Arroz con Costra recipe.

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July is the season for the traditional music of Torrevieja, namely the annual international Habaneras and Polyphonic music competitions and concerts, so tied in with this will be the spate of special and exquisite menus on offer by specialized restaurants from 19th to 25th July.

November is colder weather and from 2nd – 8th for the third consecutive year there will be the Spoon Week the “Semana de la cuchara”, with hot stews and soups that only require to be eaten with a spoon.

Tapas are always attractive and once again in November we will have the XIII Tapas Route from 19th – 22nd November with a second stage from 26th – 29th November as dozens of bars and restaurants love to take part. There are visitors who come solely to trail round these routes and sample a wide variety of local and inventive mini-dishes accompanied by a wine or beer.

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ing to o g u o Are y llas in a F e th cia?

Valen

Wednesday 18th March 19:00 h. on a Bus trip

An important holiday in Valencia region is 19th March, which is not only Spain’s Father’s Day, but the day when bonfires are lit in many towns, but especially in Valencia.

Known as Fallas these are not ordinary bonfires, but large monumental wooden framed sculptures that have been worked on by craftsmen all year, planned and altered when necessary, finally painted and hoisted into position a week before this date.

They are usually so large that they are in sections with individual figures known as ninots. Then a committee of judges goes around the Fallas judging the merits of each one, whether it is in the adult or infant category. Each year there are monetary prizes that help aormi@icloud.com

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preparing for the next year as almost every crossroads has its own falla, complete with nightly street party, usually sponsored by a beer company.

The judges will also decided to reprieve an outstanding falla from the flames which is also a source of rejoicing for those concerned.

As can be seen it is a time for dressing in traditional costume for both sexes and each Falla has its queen and maids of honor, part of whose duties is to set fire to this symbol of their neighborhood - often amid emotional tears. The flower procession takes place over two days and well worth seeing, especially as the huge madonna’s cape is filled with the flowers.

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Apart from enjoying the fun of the Fallas Valencia is a great and interesting city to visit anytime of the year as it is a university town with lots of cellular and sporting activities, theatre, music, events on the former river beed, plus several excellent modern and old museums. There are always tours arranged by local bus companies from a night out at the flames to a week in a central hotel. There is a regular public night bus from Torrevieja.

Pride of place has to be the actual Fallas sculptures so although the town is packed with visitors, it is still a memorable experience.

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19th March Public Holiday for FATHER’s DAY in Valencia and some other regions.

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Support Stroke Support

I guess we all know someone who has had a stoke and it has affected, not only themselves, but their family. How many people do we know that has a twisted face or body just because no-one read the signs and sought immediate help. Its far better to annoy the doctors with a false alarm than wait too late for a date.

I attend Entremares, a local rehabilitation clinic, for a knee injury and have seen how some patients can be helped. Victor is a local Spaniard who entered the clinic pushed on a wheelchair by his wife. It was a vey severe stroke that will never be reversed, but with the expert treatment he can now walk up the hill with the aid of a stick and his wife. He can speak ten to the dozen and has told me innumerable anecdotes of his youth in Torrevieja.

Oliver also had a stroke with mobility and speech problem, pushed in on a wheelchair and after a couple of months was cracking jokes and able to do everything on his own. Kathie had a very bad stroke that has left her right side almost useless and has speech problems, but has regained most of her sense of speech and identity and continues with therapy to use her arm as much as possible; communicates with those around her as well as having a good social life. So although severe, a stroke can be reversed a little with expert assistance.

A new campaign in UK, urges people to act if they notice any of the following symptoms, even if they do not last for long: Known as FAST is an easy to remember slogan observing - Face - Arms - Speech - Time.

Face - has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?

Arms - can they raise both their arms and keep them there?

Speech

- is their speech slurred? Can they smile? If they notice any of these symptoms it is...

Time - time to call 999 if you see any single one of these signs Additional symptoms of stroke and mini-stroke can include: Sudden loss of vision or blurred vision in one or both eyes Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body Sudden memory loss or confusion Sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or a sudden fall, especially with any of the other symptoms aormi@icloud.com

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A mini-stroke, also known as a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain.

A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off because of a blockage in a blood vessel or a bleed in the brain.

“Stroke is a medical emergency and getting the right treatment fast can save lives”

Mini-strokes have similar symptoms to strokes, but last for a shorter time.

Like strokes, if they are not treated immediately - ideally within three hours - there is a danger that one in five who experiences a mini-stroke will go on to have a full stroke within a few days.

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Torrevieja has a Stoke Support Group in La Siesta where Age Concern has a Day Centre.

Torrevieja Stroke Support Group (TSSG) The TSSG is a self-support group providing a range of activities to facilitate recovery in a friendly, safe and therapeutic environment.

Meetings are open to all stroke survivors and their carers.

Meetings: Fridays 2.45 pm - 5.00 pm The Annex, Municipal Buildings, Calle Paganini s/n Urbanization La Siesta, Torrevieja 03184 TSSG provide information on how your stroke may have occurred; stroke care and prevention – covered in more detail elsewhere on our website. Well informed stroke sufferers and their carers cope better and their increased knowledge boosts confidence.

Talks are given by qualified volunteers and questions and queries raised are addressed.

Rehabilitation The aim of rehabilitation is to try and restore physical and mental abilities as far as possible to your pre stroke state. This involves overcoming or learning to cope with the stroke damage.

At TSSG you will be encouraged to relearn skills and activities and manage your disability through physical movement, mental stimulation and social interaction with skilled volunteers.

There is an Occupational Therapist who is available on three Fridays per month and a Physiotherapist and an Assistant available every Friday, all of whom advise and assist with rehabilitation.

Speech Therapy After stroke, those who have the right side affected may suffer from aphasia. This is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person´s ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence.

Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.

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to phone 112

At TSSG there is a Speech and Language Therapist and an Assistant who can help you with these problems. This service is available on three Fridays per month. Speech Therapy includes assessment, practical help and advice on coping strategies for aphasia.

Recreation and Hobbies As your rehabilitation continues you may wish to take up your previous occupation, hobbies or interests. Alternatively you may wish to learn new skills and activities. You will have the opportunity to participate in a range of activities such as painting, singing exercise, games, quizzes, card making, etc. Imagination is the only limit to our range of activities!

There is a monthly outing (wheelchair friendly) which includes a walk and lunch. Due to the generosity of donors TSSG has taken members on respite breaks – a popular event that it is hoped to repeat. There are also occasional coach outings.

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March Cultural Programme of Torrevieja This month there are several choir and band events and three art exhibitions. Fathers’ Day has several concerts as well as an organized bus outing to see the Fallas on 18th in Valencia.

1st - 17:30 h. VII ENCUENTRO DE COROS ROCIEROS Organised by : Casa de Andalucía Rafael Alberti.

Teatro Municipal. Entrance free with invitation.

6th - 19:30 h. CONSERVATORY INTRCHANGE WITH ELCHE Org.: Conservatorio Municipal Fco.

Casanovas. : Teatro Municipal. Entrance free with invitation.

20:30 h. TEATRO-MUSICAL ALUMNOS IES LAS LAGUNAS : C. C. Virgen del Carmen.

Entrance free with invitation.

7th - 19:00 h. SPRING FIESTA -: Asociación Cultural Andaluza de Torrevieja.

IN the clubhouse of the association.

21:30 h. INMA SERRANO acoustic concert “MI SUEÑO”, with : QUIQUE MONTES -: Teatro Municipal.

Precio: 12€

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8th – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WORKING WOMEN and presentation of prizes to María Dolores Ballester Celdrán (Homenaje a la Mujer 2015) - Josefa Sánchez Pérez (Trayectoria Profesional y Personal 2015) and to María Vicentina García Ortuño (Mujer Emprendedora 2015).

-: Teatro Municipal / Entrance free with invitation.

12:00 h. ORQUESTA DE JÓVENES ARS AETHERIA Org.: Ars Aetheria.

-: C. C. Virgen del Carmen. Entrance free with invitation.

19:00 h. CORO SOL Y SAL -: Palacio de la Música.Entrance free with invitation.

12th - 19:00 h. CORO NUEVA GENERACIÓN -: Palacio de la Música - Precio: 2€ 14th - 19:00 h. CORO NUEVO AMANECER -: Palacio de la Música / Entrance free with invitation.

19:00 h. FATHERS’ DAY

BY Asociación Cultural Andaluza de Torrevieja.

-: Association clubhouse 21:00 h. “EL MOLINO DE BENIDORM”

by Blondie Creative -: Virgen del Carmen CC Price – 10euros 21:00 h. GALA DE BAILE ESCUELA DE BAILE PAYA’S -: Teatro Municipal / : 5€

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15th - 18:30 h. Street Parade Art.: Agrup. Musical Stmo. Cristo de La Buena Muerte y María Stma. del Monte. Guardamar del Segura along with Banda Cornetas y Tambores de La Fervorosa Hermandad Nazarenos de La Flagelación y Gloria de Elche -19:00 h. 25th Anniversary concert of the LOS SALEROSOS 1990-2015 In aid of GAEX Y AFA associations of TORREVIEJA -: Agrup. Musical Stmo. Entrance free with invitation.Cristo de La Buena Muerte y María Stma del Monte. Guardamar del Segura junto con Banda Cornetas y Tambores de La Fervorosa Hermandad Nazarenos de La Flagelación y Gloria de Elche / Org.: Sociedad Musical Ciudad de Torrevieja Los Salerosos / Lugar: Teatro Municipal / : 3€ Wednesday 18th March 19:00 h.

Bus trip to the FALLAS-VIAJE A VALENCIA Y CASTELLÓN

18th - 20:30 h. Extraordinary Concert of the Fathers’ Day by Banda Juvenil Unión Musical Torrevejense.

-: Palacio de la Música. Entrance free with invitation.

19th – FATHERS’ DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY aormi@icloud.com

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20th – Provincial Competition of Bands 2nd Section -: International Auditorium - Entrance free with invitation.

- 20:00 h. “CANTE Y BAILE DE IDA Y VUELTA” -: Asociación Cultural Andaluza de Torrevieja.

-: C. C. Virgen del Carmen. : 3€

22nd – 19:00 h. CORO BELLA TORREVIEJA -: Palacio de la Música.

Precio: 3€ 20:00 h. ZARZUELA “LA CANCIÓN DEL OLVIDO” -: Lírica Nostra .Vocal and Instrumental of Torrevieja.

-: Teatro Municipal.

Price: 15€ (Filas 1 a 11) 10€ (Filas 12 a 24)

26th - 21:00 h.

PREGÓN DE SEMANA SANTA -: Teatro Municipal.

Entrance free with invitation.

28th – annual Book Fair in the Paseo de la Vistaalegre.

10:00 h. MARCHA SOLIDARIA TERESIANA. PRO AYUDA A CÁRITAS Org.: Colegio La Purísima.

Lugar: Intercambiador Eras de la Sal / Precio: 5€

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20:00 h. MÚSICA EL MESIAS (HAENDEL) -: Orquesta Sinfónica de Torrevieja; Tenor: Francisco Moreno; Soprano: Laura Martínez; Bajo: Viktor Bukharev / Directores: José Francisco Sánchez y Mario Bustillo / Org.: Ars Aetheria.

Lugar: Auditorio Internacional / Precio: 15€ (Sector B y E) 10€ (Sector F) 8€ (Sector D) 6€ (Sector C) / Abono anual: 60€ (Sector B y E) 40€ (Sector F) 32€ (Sector D) 24€ (Sector C) 20:00 h. PRESENTACIÓN REVISTA ARS CREATIO Nº 38 EDICIÓN PRIMAVERA Org.: Ars Creatio.

Lugar: Palacio de la Música / Entrada libre hasta completar aforo.

20:00 h. I JORNADA GASTRONÓMICA ANDALUZA Lugar: Sede de la Asociación.

20:00 h. “ELVIS-LAS VEGAS” -: Teatro Municipal.

Precio: 15€ (Filas 1 a 11) 12€ (Filas 12 a 24) Expositions Friday 6th -29h March EXPOSICIÓN DE PINTURA

by Hermes Boj Ruiz.

-: Sala de Exposiciones Vistaalegre.

Friday 13th March to Sunday 5th April Ceramic and Painting exhibition of Pensioners of San Pascual -: Sala de Exposiciones C. C. Virgen del Carmen.

Saturday 21st March to Friday 17th April XII EXPOSICIÓN DE MODELISMO NAVAL -: Sala de Exposiciones Los Aljibes.

Saturday 28th March to Monday 6th April Annual SALÓN DE PRIMAVERA DE PINTORES LOCALES -: Sociedad Cultural Casino

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