021november 2015 torrevieja outlook

torrevieja outlook

Number 21 - November 2015

NÂş 21 - November 2015

Saints remembered - Fairs & Pilgrims - December fiestas - Solidarity calendar Associations - Savings Banks - Lend me your Ears - Goya in London - Burns Humanitarian Award - Horrendous Hallowe’en - Delfin submarine - Royal Navy Armed Forces Anthem - Photo exhibition - Bells Palsy - ABC Cooking - Chelsea Pensioners - Care-ing is Sharing - King Lear & Plotters - Goodbye Matilde - The Green March - Kayak Challenge

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WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHING IN

Looking ahead at this month there are still some public holidays and celebrations. The first of November is All Saints Day, a public holiday when people visit the cemeteries and remember their loved ones. Some towns have a free bus service.

It is preceded by the Hallowed Evening or Hallowe’en and has recently become popular in Spain thanks to the many horror films pushed out by Hollywood and now by several Spanish film directors. For the past couple of years dancers have led a parade in the town centre based on Michael Jackson’s videoclip “Thriller” and everyone loves to dress up as some sort of monster figure.

All Saints is a day for flower power. Florists stock up for the seasonal rush of flower buying, as people remember those who have died and hopefully gone on to better aormi@icloud.com

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pastures. This is a time of sincere emotions and honest memories. It is a time to think about just why are we here? It is a time to remember good and bad periods in our life. It is a time to remember love. It is a time of religious and spiritual reflection: “From where did I come? Why am I here? Where am I going?�

On the 2nd November there is the Feast of the Holy Souls which is dedicated to deceased relatives and friends. November is renowned as a time to remember and commemorate the lives of those who have died.

On the 11th November or the Sunday nearest it, many Europeans will take time out of their lives to think and pray for OTHER SAINTS - those who gave their lives for their countries during the two World Wars and other conflicts. There are memorial services with the British Legion at La Siesta church and at Mil Palmeras.

In Alicante cemetery groups from various countries gather to celebrate the anniversary of the termination of the first war and remember victims of the Spanish Civil War. For many Brits Poppy Day has a special significance as aormi@icloud.com

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the British Legion, an international group that has raised funds since 1918 to present days, help those who have been injured in active service or who have run into difficulties since their military service. These services are definitely not to honour war, but rather to honour ordinary men and women who have died in the service of others trying to make this world a safer and better place for their children and grandchildren.

Fairs and Pilgrimages During the first week of the month there is a fair held in the hilltop town of Villena. Another famous and very popular fair is that in Cocentaina, the Medieval market of La Fira de Tots els Sants with music, acrobats and jugglers, entertainment all day. Thousands of people turn up in this small town for this event on 30/31 October and 1 November.

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On 12th November there is another Feria held at Ondara. Then there is the Saint Raphael´s Auction that is held on the morning of November 15th at La Nucia followed by a Romería to the San Rafael sanctuary. A lively auction is held on this day for the privilege of carry the statue of the saint in the annual procession through the old town.

During the second week of the month L’Alfàs del Pi celebrate their patronal fiestas with lots of events and music. Benidorm has a busy calendar in November starting on the 7th then on the 16th is the feast of Our Lady of the Suffrage with mostly religious celebrations. But Benidorm continues fiestas with the verbena of La Carxofa on the third weekend of November. Local Brits tend to have a Fancy Dress parade on the 12th.

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22nd November is the feast of Santa Catalina and both Teulada and Pinosa have celebrations and processions with a huge hugger fire in Pinosa. Another pilgrimage is held on the last weekend of the month in Jarafuel, Sueca and Xativa, Tibi and Onil.

During November in Callosa de Segura there are numerous events including a medieval market and some examples of mock battles with a medieval flavour of belly dancers and traditional dancing Moors & Christians hold a short parade and exhibitions of the hemp makers. This year the town will celebrate 650 years of the Reconquest.

Saint Cecilia is patron saint of music and her feast falls on 22nd November, one of the important musical festival dates. Every town’s bands and choirs will be holding concerts for a couple of weeks, so watch out for them. In Torrevieja some events will be held in the Sports Pavilion.

At the end of the month on the 30th November is the patronal celebrations dedicated to Saint Andrew in AlmoradĂ­. aormi@icloud.com

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Torrevieja prepares for December fiestas

At the end of November the patronal fiestas of Torrevieja begin on a low key note acting as a lead in to Christmas. The judges of the Diego Ramirez prize will meet to decide which individual and/or group will receive this most prestigious prize in the the town and the award is handed over during the patronal fiestas on 7th December.

Torrevieja holds its patronal fiestas leading up to the 8th December, the feast of la Inmaculada. Each day, at mid-day and at five o’clock in the afternoon, the traditional BigHeads hold the children in suspense with their antics and distribution of sweets. Every night a barraca popular is held with pop concerts, dances and other forms of entertainment supplied: during some of the days special programmes are put on for children.

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On the 4th December the Floral Offering procession is held about 5.30 pm at la Inmaculada church with individuals and groups making up a stupendous floral display in honour of the town’s patroness. Many foreign groups participate including the Asturian pipers who are n town for the celebration of the patron saint of miners Santa Barbara. At one time she was also the patroness of the Torrevieja men who mined the salt and her statue was carried in procession, but that has died out, but you can still enjoy the parades of the Asturians. This is followed by a sung Mass.

The 6th December is the Day of the Spanish Constitution and is a public holiday.

The 8th December is the actual feast day of la Inmaculada (public holiday) and most of the events are of a religious nature with an evening procession followed by a firework display.

In this lead up to Christmas several associations will be asking for donations for the poorer in the town either as food, money or toys for the children. Each year the RASCALS association plays Santa Claus to the children of Alpe College with a singalong and individual gifts from the man in the red suit. aormi@icloud.com

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2016 -10th Solidarity/Fiesta Calendar

by Torrevieja Outlook

Torrevieja Outlook is glad to produce the 2016 solidarity/fiesta calendar that this year follows the same format as in recent years. A 16-page bound A-3 size, full coloured, with over 70 photos and the theme is “Passion..for Torrevieja�. Several photographers have kindly donated their photos for this calendar enriching the whole project.

A number of charities and associations turned out for the presentation and were able to take bundles away for sale in their own outlets. This is the tenth calendar produced by Andy Ormiston with a print run of 2,000 calendars that

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are distributed among several NGO’s and associations. Again it is free to solidarity organizations that then sell it for their own funds, so there’s no middlemen involved with a selling price of five Euros.

The presentation was held on 1st October at the offices of ArocaSequier in Rocajuna, a lovely oasis among so much building and as part of the event a separate donation was made to one of the charities. Once again the printing and design has been paid for by generous local businesses - Aroca Sequier Abogados, Alamo Costa Blanca Real Estate, Brithol MAPFRE Seguros, Currency Direct, and Atlas Insurance Brokers.

2016 is a Leap Year so there are 366 days in 2016 with an early Easter at the end of March, which coincides with the changing of the Spring clocks. As always there is a box of information in the area at the bottom of the page, but many main fiestas, bank holidays of Spain and in UK/Ireland or interesting dates are included in the boxes. Again some astronomy information has been included, such as full moon or meteors such as the annual “Tears of San Lorenzo” in August as they are known here, or Perseides meteors to everyone else. aormi@icloud.com

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The joy of living in Spain is that, partly because of the weather, there is so much to do. The calendar in each month is dedicated to a Passion.. tradition, culture or sports, or outdoor life etc. One of the most popular celebrations that attract thousands of people are those of Semana Santa, or Holy Week.

Thanks to Javier Torregrosa for his photos of the costumes that distinguishes each of the fourteen cofradias and each is illustrated by their names and hopefully this information will enable visitors to enjoy the processions better.

The La Mata parkland is an important element of Torrevieja, La Mata, Guardamar and Rojales, so Terry Roebuck has supplied some photos of a few of the birds that inhabit this area. Some people call the Costa Blanca a concrete jungle, but that is an exaggeration, as there are many places for outdoor activities either on the land or at sea. The cover photo taken by Nicolas Garcia demonstrates this in picture as we have the Hombre del Mar statue on the promenade and the extension along the harbour wall, with a lovely sunset and a bit of wildlife - as you see the cat stalking the pigeon.

Keith Nicol has generously supplied both the January and December photos that are related to Christmas and a new year. Thanks to Fernando Guardiola and Objectivo Torrevieja for their photos used in the calendar, and to Carlos Garcia for all the hours spent in laying-out and designing the calendar.

Andy Ormiston is responsible for the text. Distribution of the calendar is through many NGOs whose volunteers do such wonderful work.

Representatives of various groups were present at the press presentation and they underline the vast assortment of voluntary assistance in the Vega Baja aormi@icloud.com

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that covers the poor and homeless, the sick both in and out of hospital, those with deadly illnesses, the old and young, orphans, people in distress, broken families, ex-servicemen, animals and our environment; then we have our entertainers who bring us a smile as their performances raise money for so many charities.

During the presentation Andy on behalf of the monthly Internet magazine “Torrevieja Outlook�, presented an award to Ars Creatio for their work over the past year producing an immense amount of cultural events for Torrevieja.

Another award was given in absencia to the entertaining group RASCALS for their decades of work that raises so much funding for various local charities.

The event took place in the lovely grounds of the offices of ArocaSequier Abogados in Rocajuna who also laid on tapas and refreshments.

Finally Miguel Angel Aroca made a presentation of a cheque for 4,842 euros to Reach Out in appreciation for the work done throughout the year for the homeless.

This is the result of collaboration with Currency Direct who arrange the transfer of funds from UK when purchasing a house.

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Those  Who  Bene*it

The Torrevieja Solidarity Calendar is now on sale at various outlets. But who does it help? The calendar annually raises around 8,000 euros for organizations that sell them, receiving them free and keeping the proceeds for their own funds. We will have look at some of the associations who benefit this year.

Really when you look at some of the v o l u n t a r y associations, thousands of volunteers are doing the work that should be done by a properly organized welfare State. So in a way NonGovernment Organizations or NGOs or in Spanish ONG, are saving government a lot of money.

But these NGOs would be unable to operate if it were not for the financial support of other groups and individuals who dedicate themselves to fund raising.

Registered NGOs are only a part of a

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network of associations that provide some sort of assistance to others in a variety of fields including health support, unemployed, homeless, families and single mums with financial and emotional problems. Officially 30% of Spaniards are now under the accepted poverty line. Only a few NGOs receive any government or municipal grants. Some charities are not fully registered and can miss out on state benefits. In some cases they may have to register at provincial and municipal level.

There is no doubt that society has a crisis on its hands with poverty that affects whole families, often a family living on the pension of the grandparents. In too many cases ordinary people find themselves homeless as they are unable to pay mortgage payments or rent. This is a worldwide crisis, which will undoubtedly be adversely affected by the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking a better standard of living, or fleeing civil wars in their native countries.

We may say we have no room for them, but put yourself in their place.

Would you not want to flee to save yourself from becoming a slave or have your head cut off? Most of us are already migrants who have come to Spain for a better standard and quality of life and not fleeing persecution, (unless its from the taxman of course). If I can quote Pope Francis in New York recently:

“The real challenge of big cities is the way that they can “conceal the faces” of people who don’t fit in or even are treated as if they had no right to be there. They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly.”

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Reach Out has done excellent work under the direction of Karolina Leonard for the past five years. The group has a day centre providing a hot meal, food, laundry facilities, clothing and even showers for those living on the streets or who do not have these normal everyday necessities.

They have extended their services towards the homeless and poor by opening a safe house for single mothers.

This accommodates six mothers and children, providing welfare assistance and contacts to help them in the first part of a difficult time in their lives. It is a social need as a common attitude is that “they’ve got themselves into trouble� so let single mothers look after themselves, but it takes two to tangle and often the male does not want to know or the mother is not happy with his attitude.

Other groups that deal directly with homeless are Caritas and every Catholic parish has one group that each week provides food, occasional cash, sometimes pays rents in Patricio Zammit centre, offers courses such as computer literacy, Spanish or English. They receive deliveries from the Alicante Food Bank. They do not sell the calendar but receive benefits from sales.

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Recently they opened a drop-in centre for the homeless and poor in the Sagrado Corazon parish in calle Heraclio. The initial branch is at la Inmaculada church with the centre in C/Vicente Blasco IbĂĄĂąez, 43 Telf.: 965.712.055. They have an excellent webpage that among other things offers jobs in collaboration with the European Social Foundation. Their help is not a handout as certain documents are required. They are able to facilitate grants from the Patricio Zammit Gallud Foundation to help poorer families in connection with education materials.

As Caritas is based on parishes there are geographical limits making it easier in controlling payouts. The other churches are San Roque y Santa Ana in Acequion, San Pedro y Pablo in Torretas, Virgen del Roasario in La Mata and el Carmen y El Salvador in calle Pola de Siero close to Los Locos beach.

Alimentos Solidarios is located in the former Guardia Civil buildings in calle San Pascual corner with calle Aopollo, This kitchen provides hot meals at one euro for those who have a note from the Torrevieja Social Services that they are on the breadline. They are also supported by the Alicante Food Bank. They receive a lot of support from businesses,

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restaurants and supermarkets as well as individuals. They do not sell the calendar but benefit from sales.

Cruz Roja or Red Cross volunteers are noted for their lifeguard duties in the summertime. But possibly more important, as far as the Torrevieja branch is concerned, is the all year round social services department that cares for immigrants offering classes of various types, assistance with documentation, visiting the all-alone elderly providing support, such as tele-assistance or accompanied visits to the doctor. They provide wheelchairs and other aids for those who may require them. They also supply food for those in need and access the Alicante Food Bank.

There is always a need for British volunteers, especially those who can drive and perhaps take elderly people on short outings to get them out of their houses.

At a provincial level an agreement has been made between the Red Cross and the British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, for more cooperation between British expatriates and the organization. This will enable those

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living in the area to access the services of the Red Cross, which as far as Torrevieja is concerned has always been the case. Eventually the plan is to extend this collaboration throughout Spain. Undoubtedly this will require more British volunteers to augment the 8,000 volunteers in Alicante province.

For several years they have collected toys for kids who may be deprived of some joy at Christmas or the Three Kings. They provide a number of Christmas hampers for families who are having a tough time and on the hunger line. They do not sell the calendars, but give them as part of the Christmas gifts to the elderly home alone.

In passing it should be noted that often NGO’s collaborate with each other as services overlap and refer particular cases that can be helped in a better way than those that they can provide.

There are several associations dedicated to cancer, some raising cash for research, others support for patients and their families, especially when death occurs. AEEC offer testing for prostate cancer and mammography and hospital visitors visit hospital inpatients. The Torrevieja branch have a doctor, psychologist and nurse team that provides aftercare for cancer sufferers out of hospital. AFE Cancer provides support for families who are struggling coming to terms with a member suffering from cancer as the whole family are affected. MAABS also provide support for cancer patients and their families. At the end of this month Dave and Mitch Bull will try to raise 5,000 euros for Cancer Research by kayaking down the River Segura.

MABS is one of the leading charities in Spain dedicated to the support of all who are affected by cancer, whether patients or those close to them – family, friends or carers. They provide support irrespective of nationality, age, economic circumstances or medical history. Support and help for patients, their families and those close to them, by phone at all times and with home visits if needed  All the volunteers have been touched by cancer themselves, so can talk with you with first-hand experience of how it feels to be told you have cancer, or that someone close to you has been diagnosed with it. They understand the feeling of despair at not knowing where to turn to for immediate and long-term support and practical

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help.They know first-hand how it feels to be told you have cancer, or that someone close to you has been diagnosed with it.

There is a A Support Centre with a treatment room for lymphatic drainage and other complimentary treatments at Moraira's SolPark, but they want to do more in Torrevieja as so many of their patients are located there. .

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

The major types of treatment for cancer are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. You might also have heard about hormone therapies, biologic therapies, targeted therapies, and stem cell transplants. MABS can give you detailed information on all of these treatments and details on common treatment side effects and how to manage them.

One of the first self-help English-speaking associations in Torrevieja and the Costa Blanca is HELP which has two offices in Vega Baja offering advice on daily living. Their fund raising spills into providing help to other organizations. They also have some orthopedic aids that can be hired out for a modicum fee for people with temporary infirmities. aormi@icloud.com

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Andy Ormiston greeting representatives of Regalos de Amor

Regalos de Amor also offers a support system for patients in and after hospital treatment, as many are on their own without family. They have extended their work to include helping at clinics in Third World countries.

There are some Spanish associations, that offer some sort of support for stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia, nervous disorders etc. The Alzheimers Association has trouble finding enough money every week as they have to pay salaries for 13 professional therapists at their Day Centre and they have plans for a 24-hour live in centre for people suffering dementia. The AFA shop behind the plaza de la Constitution sells the solidarity calendar. The president for eleven years Matilde Sanchez has retired and the position taken over by Puri Garica who looks forward to the continued support of the British community.

Age Concern also has a day centre where people can spend a few hours chatting to others, having a tea, read a book and helps fill a need for so many people who are now single and live lone. Some volunteers read a book to those with bad eyesight.

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Children always have a special place in people’s hearts and purses. Elche has an orphanage that is well supported by British associations, as is APANEE for special needs kids and their families; ALPE College is for training disabled persons and the RASCALS appear every year with Papa Noel and gifts.

The Samaritans offer an invaluable telephone help line for anyone with a problem that needs talking over and is not just for people considering suicides.

Often someone suffering from depression can be helped by trained and experienced Samaritan volunteers. They have a combined shop and drop-in centre where people can sit and have a cup of tea or coffee and chat to one of the trained aormi@icloud.com

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listeners. They have a close contact with the British consul and other social welfare organizations.

No doubt most of you have dropped some cash into the Poppy Appeal boxes this past month that has a special relevance for our armed forces.

There are several British Legion branches in Spain that help exservicemen and their partners should they have any problem including financial ones. Both Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa branches have calendars to sell. HELP FOR HEROES is another popular cause raising funding to assist in financing hospital and after care projects for those who have been injured in action.

Most people are appalled at the mistreatment of animals and K9 or Kanine is one animal association that has two shops supporting the work they do for our four legged friends. This is just one of many animal organizations that help all sorts of animals, but as K9 has shops they sell the calendars.

Apart from these obvious hands-on associations there are others that provide entertainment raising funds for so many projects.

A prime example is the RASCALS who perform several shows throughout the year, take part in the annual Carnival parade and even give gifts at Christmas to kids in need. TAABS also raise funds and are quite happy to perform for anyone who needs cheering up.

STAGESTRUCK actively help others by fund rising with their plays and shows at different times of the year.

Artist Direct Spain put on a show on 12th October in Villamartin for Artists for Refugees group and sold calendars for that cause. They all have calendars for sale at their concerts. aormi@icloud.com

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Spanish Savings Banks

by Andy Ormiston

Former savings bank in Orihuela

In UK we are accustomed to Savings Banks and Trustee banks. At the beginning of the 20th century Spain was reinventing itself after losing the largest part of its empire at the end of the previous century. Progress was made in transport and industry and foreign investors were looking to Spain ripe for development.

Fishing and agriculture depended on available investment that was sometimes supplied by the new type of trustee savings banks. The socialist idea of co-operatives grew, including savings banks that aimed to benefit the community and two examples offer an idea of the services and the abject poverty of the Vega Baja area.

In 1904 Orihuela had a population of 35,000 inhabitants and a savings bank was organized in the Jesuit College of Santo Domingo by the rector, Father Bartolome Arbona. A priest of this name is among aormi@icloud.com

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those who were murdered in 1936 at the time of the Civil War. The ideal of the bank was philanthropic with a bread shop selling subsidized bread, which had become almost a luxury item. Soon this was joined by a “cocina económico”, an economic kitchen that permitted workers and their families to eat decently at least once a week in a communal kitchen.

These ideas formed part of Catholic Social teaching proposed by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (1891). This bank was named as the Caja de Ahorros y Socorros y Monte de Piedad Señora de Montserrate, which later developed into the CAM Bank. A Caja de Ahorros is literally a savings box and in Catalan is Caixa.

Over the years it played an important part in offering credit to the Vega Baja agricultural community that was often harassed by droughts, flooding, seismic movements, hunger and of course usury. Laboratories were set up to help the agricultural market in developing new fertilizing products and introducing better farming methods. aormi@icloud.com

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Children who could not afford schooling were helped ether economically or in the “Ave Maria schools� where, among other students, the poet and writer Miguel Hernandez studied.

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In 1957 the highlight of the Caja del Sureste de España savings bank was a record of one thousand million pesetas in savings with 111 offices and 450 employees. This permitted the bank to invest in new social buildings such as a school for 250 children, with new bank branches opening in Fortuna, Blanca, Relleu and other small towns. The Orihuela based Caja de Ahorros de Ntra. Sra. De Montserrate in this year had 15 offices with 30 employees dealing with 30,000 clients. The bank started constructing some small meteorological observatories to help the farmers in the prediction of the weather. Many priests have been scientists such as D. Jose María Algué, SJ (29 December, 1856 - 27 May, 1930), who was a Spanish Catholic priest and meteorologist in the observatory of Manila. I wrote about him in an earlier article as he invented the barocyclonometer, the nephoscope and a kind of microseismograph. Father Algué was an honorary member of the Royal Society of London and the Pontificia Academia Romana.

By 1975 the Caja de Monserrate was practically the only bank of importance in the area, but it incorporated some other local savings bank of del Sureste, Crevillente, Alcoy y Novelda, Caja de Ahorros de Alicante y Murcia to develop into the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo or CAM. Another cooperative example was in 1906 with the Circulo Católico Obrero (started in 1884); a labour association at Crevillente and

one of the first savings banks organized. This was the Caixa del Circul, which arose from the preoccupation of the Church for the working population. Much more than a bank and more of a community social

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project, night classes were begun, the nucleus of a library built, conferences organised, a musical band for the youngsters started, etc.

Gradually it developed into giving loans and mortgages, but like all the savings banks the money raised as “profit” was put back into helping the community. During the civil war all the account books were put on a bonfire so that records of loans were destroyed. After the war it was restarted with a different constitution and became the Caja General de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Torrente. In 1990 it also joined forces with other local savings bank to become the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo or CAM bank.

In 2008 the CAM Bank was opened up to the Stock Exchange, the first Spanish trustee savings bank to do so and two years later amalgamated with other savings banks. Many customers were persuaded (some tricked) into share schemes losing a large part of their savings in the process. The peoples bank lost its friendly image in the transfer into a larger, supposedly viable, banking entity. In 2011 in the midst of the world’s financial crisis several banks merged to form Bankia, a more powerful unit, but CAM decided not to join for the moment. It was taken over eventually in 2012 as part of the Sabadell bank.

The Spanish Cajas savings banks continue to offer support to hundreds of social and cultural projects whether to feed the hungry or to sponsor an art exhibition. This aid is indispensable to many nongovernmental organizations to help to continue their work among the lesser able in our communities. aormi@icloud.com

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Although we are looking at Spain in the 20th and 21st century, similar scenarios were common in other countries, including USA until the recent financial crisis when the Freddy Mac real estate was bailed out by the State, followed by the Leihmann Brothers failure and bailout. In 2010, Stockton, a new town in California with a quarter million population, after the construction of a huge housing and seafront development remained unused, had to declare the town was bankrupt enabling the town hall to stave off creditors while keeping basic services functioning. In Britain Northern Rock was first to receive government support, the Bank of Scotland and Lloyds merged, with taxpayers money ensured, Barclays Bank and other financial entities were involved in fixing Libor rates.

People are talking about coming out of the recession and it is amazing to me that more people have not founded some sort of cooperative system to help them get back to fruitful work. Part of this reluctance may be due to the heavy social security payments demanded by the State which has prevented many companies from employing people, not to mention the disgraceful system of short term contracts and part time working that encourages employers to keep the workers on a string. There is strength in numbers.

Five friends of mine joined forces, as between them they had a carpenter, electrician, plumber, and other trades. They bought a plot of land, applied and received building permission and one by one built a house for each of them from a basic design, but adapted to the wishes of each couple so that kitchens etc. were different. Of course they had to continue to work to bring in the money to pay for building materials and obtained mortgages, but it worked and in a few years all of them had a house of their dreams.

One of the places in London I was familiar with was a residence for Africans who wanted to study trade union and cooperative systems.

This was named Claver House after a famous Spanish saint who ministered to slaves arriving from Africa into Latin American countries.

The idea was successful as many of these men and women returned to their home countries to build cooperatives and saving banks, helping local communities to set up agricultural programmes and house and school construction. In other words teaching them self-help. Many of them went on to become politicians in new independent states.

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Goya in London Red Accion

Frankly there is not much doing in the Torrevieja municipal cultural programme, but a good side effect is that several people and groups are doing things privately, such as Ars Creatio whom we wrote about a couple of months ago and in the recently opened La C u e v a d e Melpómene in Avda.

Gregorio Marañon 42 near the Park of Doña Sinforosa.

Later in November there is a Gala week of local artists in concert.

With Christmas coming up some of you will likely return to England and should you be in London you have an unique opportunity to see a collection of Francisco Goya

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portraits brought together for an exhibition. Most of them are from private collections or museums in other countries.

Earlier in the year we wrote about a Goya exhibition in Courtaulds in London. The new exhibition is at the London National Gallery, “Goya: the Portraits”, is the first major UK show to look at his portraits alone.

Francisco de Goya's portraits are not only technically brilliant, but rich with social c o m m e n t a r y.

The organisers are portraying Goya as the “father of the psychological portrait.”

Goya himself said, “I have had three masters, Nature, Ve l á z q u e z , and Rembrandt.” Curator Dr Xavier Bray said: “The aim of this exhibition is to reappraise Goya’s status as one of the greatest portrait painters in history. His innovative and unconventional approach took the art of portraiture to new heights through his ability to reveal the inner life of his sitters, even in his grandest and most memorable formal portraits.”

His work as a portrait artist has its origins in 45 tapestry cartoons he painted when he moved to Madrid in 1775. In them Goya practiced poses and groupings and a way of handling light on and around figures that was to be invaluable in his oil paintings. At the National Gallery fifty of his most captivating works – including drawings and miniatures – are displayed in chronological sequence.

His greatest strength as a portraitist is that regardless of the status of the sitter, be they a king and queen, the Duke of Wellington or a doctor or writer, it was the person he showed first and their position second. He was royal painter to Charles III in Madrid aormi@icloud.com

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in the 1780s, and this display spans Goya's successful promotion to First Court Painter under Charles IV, his links to 'King' Joseph Bonaparte after the invasion of France and his cool relationship with Ferdinand VII, who was later restored to monarchy.

In his group portrait above with Charles IV’s wife, Louisa, held all the real power, and Goya placed her at the centre of his group portrait indicating popular opinion.

Goya was 37 by the time he painted anyone’s face other than his own.

Before that he had been a painter of religious scenes around his home city of Zaragoza until undertaking the everyday scenes of life for the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid.

According to current scholarship, here are 160 existing portraits

by Francisco de Goya – about a third of his painted output. In reality the amount is much higher as really there are no pure landscapes in Goya’s work, as everything he painted deals with people. . aormi@icloud.com

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Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) has been remembered as an artist of nightmare. But the Aragonese artist established himself in Madrid in the 1770s as a designer of tapestries and then court portraits - fanciful and realistic.

Goya worked with the Infante Don Luis and his wife Maria Teresa de Vallabrigay Rosas, whom he described as "angels". Hired as a portrait painter, he stayed with them in 1783 and 1784. In keeping with royal aims Don Luis had been marked out for a religious life. Instead, he rejected celibacy, spent his time hunting and art collecting, and messing about with prostitutes. He was sent into internal exile for taking time off during a royal hunting expedition to  refresh himself with prostitutes placed strategically in the woods by his entourage. He was forced to marry, so chose a bride, Maria Teresa, who was 30 years younger than him. He was banished from Madrid court and his children denied the title Infante and surname Bourbon.

One of the most illustrious paintings is that of the artist painting the family portrait for Don Luis, which is a liberating, ironizing thing to do, but Goya does not stop there. Their family life appears playful, aormi@icloud.com

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unconventional, and free. Maria Teresa sits with her hair down, as if ready to go to bed, at a table where her husband plays cards.

It’s a candlelit scene; the children are up late – behaving as all children do and not on their best behaviour. Like Velázquez before him, Goya paints himself into the scene sporting the same unpretentious hairstyle as the other men, studying the family group before turning back to his canvas.

The family are happy, although cut off from the outside world, united in their loyalty to the disgraced Don Luis. Goya, by placing himself in the picture, demonstrates his own friendship for the family. Five members of the household look directly at viewer. Their looks are varied: Maria Teresa is dreamy, the baby curious, a male member of the household to the right grins at us, as if sharing a joke.

Behind him, a more melancholic man looks out anxiously. The bright candlelight illuminating this group emphasizes the shadows surrounding them. There is hardly any repetition in his poses.

His son Javier, the sole child of seven to survive, wrote of his father’s portraits: “Those that he did in one session are much acclaimed. He painted only in one session, sometimes lasting ten hours, but never as the light was fading and the final touches he would apply at night, with aormi@icloud.com

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artificial light.” A self-portrait of the early 1790s, shows exactly that, the painter silhouetted in front of his easel and wearing a metal band round his hat to hold candles to light those “final touches”.

Taking all his work together including the witches and dark shadowy figures, what you have is a portrait in the round of Spanish social and royal life at that time. In the 1760s he tried twice to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Fine Art but was rejected (the first time receiving no votes at all from the academicians), but Goya’s success was rapid; in 1785 he was made deputy director of painting at the Royal Academy (his main message to his students was subversive – “there are no rules in painting”).

Goya lived in interesting times: his lifetime (1746-1828) was a period that saw Spain pass through the effects of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars and the restoration of the monarchy; a succession of authoritarian and liberal governments. Goya went from provincial obscurity to the Madrid court and later self-imposed exile in Bordeaux.

Aged 46 he went deaf: as Spain entered its most cacophonic period he couldn’t hear what was going on around him, only see.

The Duchess of Alba has been a well-known character in Spain and her predecessor of many years ago was no exception. Goya’s 1797 portrait of the Duchess of Alba, belonging to the Hispanic Society of America’s collection, is one of the works in the National Gallery.

Goya’s deafness was no impediment when in 1794 the Duchess of Alba, the highest aristocrat in the land, “barged into my studio yesterday to have her face painted”. Makeup duly applied, Goya went on to paint several portraits of her. He had already painted her husband and mother-in-law and became a member of her household. This gave him privileged access and he made many intimate sketches of her – tearing at her hair in a fit of rage, teasing her former nanny, tenderly holding her adopted black child – as well as a pair of bravura full-lengths. One of these shows her in white and the other, which will be at the National Gallery, in black lace with a red sash, pointing to the words “Solo Goya” (“Only Goya”) written in the sand at her feet. aormi@icloud.com

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The oil painting of the duchess, who was a close friend and patron of Goya, will be accompanied by less formal works including self-portraits, miniatures on copper and chalk sketches loaned by public and private collections from around the world. Also included in the show is Goya’s last work, a painting of his grandson done only months before the artist died.

It is on in the N a t i o n a l G a l l e r y , London WC2 (020-7747 2885), until March 3, 2016.

aormi@icloud.com

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Lend Me Your Eyes

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears..

I suppose that most of us have recited this famous speech by Marc Antony about Caesar. Last year we awarded reporter Fernando Guardiola with the first Torrevieja Outlook Award for his work in information and cultural initiatives. Twisting Marc Antony’s words a little Fernando Guardiola had the bright idea to “Lend me your eyes”.

Several years ago Fernando Guardiola had the insight to start up a Group of people who would read to those who had bad eyesight. Initially the readers were all Spanish, but now more English speaking volunteers have come forward.

This year, the project of reading, " Lend me your Eyes " has begun with visits to the residence for the elderly run by the Carmelites in P r i m a v e r a Urbanisation.

This initiative has been extended to the Age Concern centre with readings held weekly, every Wednesday and Thursday.

If you know of anyone who might benefit from this idea then inform the editor of the Group the e-mail prestatusojos@gmail.com

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Robert Burns Humanitarian Award 2016

Nominations open for humanitarians to walk in Rabbie’s footsteps.

I have no doubt that among us are many brave people who fall into the categories presented by the annual Robert Burns Humanitarian Award.

Courage, commitment, inspiration and hands-on humanitarian efforts are being sought as nominations open for a globally-respected humanitarian accolade – the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award (RBHA).

This award recognises those who have saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through personal self-sacrifice, selfless service or direct humanitarian work.

“That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that” is one of Rabbie Burns famous lines.

An advocate for social change and an inspiration for the founders of socialism and liberalism, Robert Burns was a man who viewed everyone as equal and genuinely lived as a true humanitarian.

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Robert Burns Humanitarian Award nominees – who can be from any part of the world and be of any age or gender – must demonstrate one of more of the following: • • •

• •

• •

A courageous deed involving personal self-sacrifice, going beyond the call of duty in the name of humanity.

A commitment to serving others and making a difference through humanitarian acts of selfless service.

A generosity of spirit and dedication helping improve the quality of life for people in need through the provision of shelter, food, clothing, education or meaningful employment.

Direct ‘hands-on’ participation in humanitarian works that directly benefit an individual/groups of individuals/community.

Outstanding involvement and dedication that makes a significant contribution to volunteer leadership or service which has improved or enriched the lives of others and the welfare of humanity and society as a whole.

An act of kindness done without expectation of reward that has resulted in recognition by members of a community/organisation.

Winners receive the equivalent of 1759 guineas (approximately £1,800) – a sum which signifies the year of the Bard's birth and the coinage then in circulation – as well as a specially commissioned award handcrafted in Scotland.

The winner of the RBHA 2015 was Olivia Giles – a lawyer from Edinburgh who became a quadruple amputee after contracting meningococcal septicaemia in 2002.

After recovering, she made a conscious decision to do something more than just develop a 'nice career'. In 2007, she founded the charity 500 Miles, which supplies prosthetic limbs to developing countries. Through her work, she has helped hundreds of amputees regain some form of independence.

• •

Nominations for the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award 2016 can be made online at www.robertburnsaward.com until Monday 2 November 2015.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in January 2016, to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.

aormi@icloud.com

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Horrendous Halloween

There have always been traditions associated with 31st October, but the present extravaganza, with its epidemic of ‘trick-or-treating’, is a recent phenomenon.

Halloween has become one of the biggest events in the Spanish calendar. For the past couple of years in Torrevieja we have seen a musical parade of horrors dancing to a Thriller like routine based on Michael Jackson. Good fun. This year it looks as though it will be a bit scarier with the Walking Dead costing 18,000 euros roaming the streets. Lets hope they don't give any older person a heart attack.

Halloween is big business with lots of shops selling costumes, pumpkins and skulls. A decade ago, spending on Halloween in the UK was only £12m; now, boosted by Hollywood scary movies and marketing, it is over £300m.

When people talk about what happens on 31st October a little phrase commonly heard is that Halloween is ‘harmless nonsense’. Thee word itself means Halloow Evening, the vespers leading into the Holy Day of ALL THE SAINTS. But is it indeed harmless? Is it merely nonsense? Perhaps it’s time to do some hard thinking. Here are some thoughts on why Halloween is not quite so harmless: Although people celebrate Halloween in different ways it remains, at its core, an event that glorifies the dark, creepy and scary side of life. Children and adults dress up as figures that are ‘evil’: witches, vampires, ghosts and demons. You can hire costumes to make you look like a chainsaw killer, a psychopathic butcher or even a shooting victim (‘with authentic-looking bullet holes’). Hardly harmless.

Whatever view we have about life, we all take it for granted that our society should spend time and energy encouraging children to care for others and to know the difference between right and wrong.

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Yet on this one day, we throw all those values away and glorify everything that is evil and unpleasant. With glaring examples from USA where so many kids involved in shootings, is Halloween a good idea? Talk about sending out mixed messages to children!

We live in a world where every parent and teacher takes care to warn children that strangers may pose a threat and that they need to take precautions. But on Halloween we discard that rule and encourage children to go and knock on doors and accept sweets from strangers. What are we trying to tell our kids?

No one is in doubt that evil is real and all about us with serious muggings, stabbings, beheadings on television, several countries at war and horrendous accidents. But on this day we pretend that death, deformity and injury are no more than kids’ play!

You could simply say that scaring kids is unhelpful, but there is a more subtle and troubling issue. Halloween costumes frequently centre on deformities, gory wounds and disfigurement.

There are a number of websites that tell you how to create an effective disfigurement; for example, how to create realistic-looking burns and how to make yourself hideously ugly. aormi@icloud.com

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Now consider how you would feel about that if you yourself were a burns victim, were severely disabled or had suffered horrendous scarring. Do we really want to spread the message that ugliness equates to evil? Black is consider as evil but we have black people and the majority of them are not evil.

Concerns about Halloween do not simply come from those with a ‘religious agenda’. Increasingly, other people are expressing concern, particularly about the way that Halloween seems to be getting darker and nastier every year.

Carved pumpkins were, I suppose, pretty harmless; the new Hollywood style blood-stained axe murderers are not.

If we don’t like the direction that Halloween is going in, then maybe it’s time to stop celebrating it.

In some older Halloween traditions people dressed up in clothes that made them look evil and then, at the end of the evening, the outfits were burnt. In some Costa Blanca towns in January during the fiesta of San Anton people dress as devils, but are always overcome.

The message was clear if naive: in the end, good triumphs over evil. Yet there is no hint of that in the modern Halloween.

Now it seems that evil is unchallenged and just slips away into the darkness, to return at some other time. aormi@icloud.com

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Torrevieja

Floating Museum

Torrevieja is one of the few towns to have a floating or maritime museum that includes a submarine of the Spanish Navy’s Daphne class

aormi@icloud.com

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The Daphné class was a type of dieselelectric patrol submarines built in France between 1958 and 1970 for the French Navy and for export.

The Spanish Navy bought the plans and adapted them to build several by Bazan boatbuilders at Cartagena dockyard.

• S61 Delfín - completed 1973 decommissioned 2003, ship museum at Torrevieja [2] • S62 Tonina - completed 1973 decommissioned 2005 • S63 Marsopa - completed 1975 decommissioned 2006 • S64 Narval - completed 1975 decommissioned 2003 That’s not the message our world

Torrevieja has a long tradition of its sons becoming members of the Spanish Navy and on 1st December 1974 the S-61 Delfin paid a courtesy visit to the town and the combat flag was given to the town’s keeping. On its decommissioning the Ministry of Defense gave the last flag of the sub to the town and it was decided that from 8th May 2004 the boat would become part of the town’s floating museum. Visits are permitted but entry is through the hatch so not useful for disabled. Normally maintenance is carried out in May and June.

Opening hours: June to September Wednesday to Sunday: 5pm – 9pm October to May: Wednesday to Sunday: 10am – 2pm Mondays and Tuesdays closed.

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To the visitor the submarine’s quarters are cramped as the crew did a double shift on the bunk beds. Having been on a WW2 American submarine where men slept above the torpedoes, the Delfin seems quite luxurious. There is a mess hall and a small kitchen where the stores are kept underneath the floor. Obviously most equipment has been removed but you can still get an idea of life on board and guides take small groups around.

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There are visible signs of the crew and only once were they put on red alert at the time of high tension with Morocco, which came to nothing.

Once a year the local association of ham radio operators board the ship for a 24 hour conference with other fans throughout the world.

aormi@icloud.com

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Royal Navy 25th Anniversary

Keith NIcol was at the Torrevieja Royal Navy Association celebration of Trafalgar Day and their 25th anniversary at the Masa Hotel.

Among the guests were the Mayor, José Manuel Dolón, Carmen Morate the councillor for NGO’s, Foreigners Office represented by Carlos Gonzales, and former official Jean Paul Mulero.

Normally the branch meets in El Paraiso Bar on the 1st Wednesday of the month. The RNA organises many social events and is always welcome to participate in military activities in Torrevieja usually as Standard Bearers with the British Legion. President of the association Paul Edwards, said they were pleased to be so closely associated with the town’s activities. In the past the association has donated a ship¡s bell to both the Sea & Salt Museum and to the Pascual Flores sailing ship. web: http://www.rnatorrevieja.com.

aormi@icloud.com

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Death is not the end La muerte no es el final

by Pat Hynd Last month I watched the march past of the Spanish armed forces from the three branches of land, sea and air plus those of the Guardia Civil.

I could feel the pride and passion as the men and women marched past in their dress uniforms or camouflage outfits underlining the wide duties undertaken. Men and women who serve their country by police duties in war torn countries. Guardia Civil agents who man the borders fighting against illegal immigration, drug dealers, slave traffickers etc.

Apart from the bands and the colors I was struck by the usual honour to the fallen and the laying by the king of a laurel wreath, a crown of victory. I was also taken by the words of the song they all lustily sang.

“Death is not the end” is a Christian song composed by the Spanish priest Cesáreo Gabaráin Azurmendi (1936-1991). His central passage was chosen in 1981 as the anthem to honor the fallen of the Spanish Armed Forces and it is sung before the eternal flame of the Monument to the Fallen by Spain.

It is sung on 11th October at the ceremony celebrating the day of the Armed Forces of Spain and those who who died serving their country. This includes the Guardia Civil whose patroness day is on that day, the Virgen of Pilar.

Gabaráin composed the song after having lost Juan Pedro, a 17-year-old young person who was an organist in his parish. The above mentioned priest composed hundreds of songs, some throughout the world known as Fisherman of men (" You have come to the shore ... "). Later, the Spanish Armed Forces adopted this music as the anthem that is intoned in honoring those who have died realizing military activities in the whole of history. aormi@icloud.com

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This has its origin in the year 1981, when General Jose Maria Sáenz de Tejada heard it in the course of a funeral and imagined how it would heighten the movement of the traditional laurel crown up to the cross in the ceremonial honoring to the Fallen. The definitive version of the music for military bands was carried out by Tomás Asiain. The letter used in the military version is the central part only of the original words

Tú nos dijiste que la muerte no es el final del camino, que aunque morimos no somos, carne de un ciego destino.

Tú nos hiciste, tuyos somos, nuestro destino es vivir, siendo felices contigo, sin padecer ni morir.

Siendo felices contigo, sin padecer ni morir.

Cuando la pena nos alcanza aormi@icloud.com

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por un hermano perdido cuando el adiós dolorido busca en la Fe su esperanza.

En Tu palabra confiamos con la certeza que Tú ya le has devuelto la vida, ya le has llevado a la luz.

Ya le has devuelto la vida, ya le has llevado a la luz Cuando, Señor, resucitaste, todos vencimos contigo nos regalaste la vida, como en Betania al amigo.

Si caminamos a tu lado, no va a faltarnos tu amor, porque muriendo vivimos vida más clara y mejor.

Porque muriendo vivimos vida más clara y mejor.

You said to us that death is not the end of the way, that though we die we are not the flesh of a blind person.

You made us, yours we are, our destination is to live, being happy with you, without suffering to die.

Being happy with you, without suffering to die.

When a sorrow touches us for a lost brother, when the aching good-bye looks in the Faith for his hope.

In Your word we trust with the certainty that You already have returned the life to him, aormi@icloud.com

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already you have taken him to the light.

Already you have returned the life to him, already you have taken him to the Light.

When,Lord, you resurrected, we all won with you, you us gave the life, as in Bethany to a friend.

If we walk by your side, your love is not going to fail us, because dying we live, through a clearer and better life.

Because dying we live through a clearer and better life.

With Poppy and Armistice days upon us I am sure many will appreciate these sentiments.

Death is not the end La muerte no es el final

aormi@icloud.com

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Local Photographers Stunning Perspectives

by Dave Stewart

A central exhibition centre is along from Torrevieja Casino known as Sala de Vista Alegre. Local photographers have come together with an excellent selection of photographs presenting some of the lovely vistas of Torrevieja. These have been collected by Proyecto Mastral, our local weather observers, and many of the photos have appeared on national television weather reports. Personally I would like the Mayor to invite the reporter and photographer of El Mundo newspaper who made a report slating the town with photographs taken after the one and only storm we have had recently.

You can visit this exhibition which is on until the 30th November and judge for yourself.

The exhibition hall is now open from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive.

Opening times are 10:00 - 14:00 and 17:00 - 21:00. Sunday times are slightly different 10:00 - 13:30 and closed Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday.

Entrance is free.

aormi@icloud.com

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I’ve Got a Twisted Face

by Andy Ormiston

What is Bell's palsy?

Bell's palsy is a form of temporary facial paralysis resulting from damage or trauma to the facial nerves. It has happened to me a couple of times and at first can be a bit frightening as you may think you have had a stroke. It is a paralysis on one side of the face causing that side of the face to drop. It may look funny but it is a bit of a pain and friends may have a sympathetic snigger.

Bell's palsy is named for Sir Charles Bell, a 19th century Scottish surgeon who described the facial nerve and its connection to the condition. The disorder, which is not related to stroke, is the most common cause of facial paralysis.

Generally, Bell's palsy affects only one of the paired facial nerves and one side of the face, however, in rare cases, it can affect both sides.

Symptoms of Bell's palsy can vary from person to person and range in severity from mild weakness to total paralysis. These symptoms may include twitching, weakness, or paralysis on one or rarely both sides of the face. Other symptoms may include drooping of the eyelid and corner of the mouth, drooling, dryness of the eye or mouth, impairment of taste, and excessive tearing in one eye. Most often these symptoms, which usually begin suddenly and reach their peak within 48 hours, lead to significant facial distortion.

You should see your doctor immediately just in case it may be something else.

Other symptoms may include pain or discomfort around the jaw and behind the ear, ringing in one or both ears, headache, loss of taste, hypersensitivity to sound on the affected side, impaired speech, dizziness, and difficulty eating or drinking.

In my case it was twisted jaw, slurred speech, and a drooping eyelid on the righthand side of the face. Most scientists believe that a viral infection such as viral meningitis or the common cold sore virus—herpes simplex—causes the disorder. It disproportionately attacks people who, like me, have diabetes or upper respiratory ailments such as the flu or a cold. In most cases of Bell's palsy, the nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face is damaged by inflammation.

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Some cases are mild and do not require treatment as the symptoms usually subside on their own within 2 weeks. For others, treatment may include medications and other therapeutic options. If an obvious source is found to cause Bell's palsy (e.g., infection), directed treatment can be beneficial.

Recent studies have shown that steroids such as the steroid prednisone -- used to reduce inflammation and swelling --are effective in treating Bell's palsy. Other drugs such as acyclovir -- used to fight viral herpes infections -- may also have some benefit in shortening the course of the disease.

Analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen may relieve pain. Because of possible drug interactions, individuals taking prescription medicines should always talk to their doctors before taking any over-thecounter drugs.

Generally, a physician will examine the individual for upper and lower facial weakness. In most cases this weakness is limited to one side of the face or occasionally isolated to the forehead, eyelid, or mouth. A test called electromyography (EMG) can confirm the presence of nerve damage and determine the severity and the extent of nerve involvement. Blood tests can sometimes be helpful in diagnosing other concurrent problems such as diabetes and certain infections. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan can eliminate other structural causes of pressure on the facial nerve. Other therapies such as physical therapy, facial massage or acupuncture may provide a potential small improvement in facial nerve function and pain.

Another important factor in treatment is eye protection. Bell's palsy can interrupt the eyelid's natural blinking ability, leaving the eye exposed to irritation and drying. Therefore, keeping the eye moist and protecting the eye from debris and injury, especially at night, is important. Lubricating eye drops, such as artificial tears or eye ointments or gels, and eye patches are also effective. Several years later I still have a problem that if I am too tired my right eyelid droops.

I am fortunate in that I have a very good doctor and although she gave me some medication, the best advice was to do something I hate, chew chewing gum. Brings back memories of the Yanks camped by the river during the WW2 - any gum, chum? This exercises the jaw until the inflammation goes down with medication.

aormi@icloud.com

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of Spanish Cookery

by Pat Hynd

I’m going back ago over these cookery articles and found out I am drifting from my ABC so here we continue with D. Datiles con Jamon are dates rolled in slices of serrano ham and used as a tapa.

Fish and salt are two of the principal traditional industries of Torrevieja and these come together in this month’s recipe. Dorada is a type of sea bream and when cooked in a coat of salt comes to the table with a delightful aroma, and an unique flavour that is totally preserved. This is an ancient way of cooking used by the Romans: many primitive tribes used clay in a similar fashion, baking chicken or even porcupines in an open fire. You can cook any largish fish with this method. Some restaurants such as Las Columnas serve this dish very nicely.

Dorada a la Sal Gilthead baked in salt

2 kg. of whole fresh gilthead (dorada), grouper (mero) or salmon.

3 kgms. of rock/sea salt.

1 sliced lemon 4 bay leaves 2 sprigs fennel (hinojo) 2 tablespoons olive oil, Salt and pepper.

Clean and gut the fish, scale if you want to, although these and the skin usually come off easily when cooked. Rinse the fish.

Place several lemon slices in the cavity of the belly along with salt, pepper, bay leaves and fennel. Pour the olive oil over the fish and then completely cover with the salt. Bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 35 minutes. It can be cooked outdoors over a charcoal fire. aormi@icloud.com

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Take from the oven and scrape off the salt and carefully lift out the cooked fish. Place on a serving dish and decorate with lemon slices.

A luxurious alternative is to visit a good restaurant that has this on the menu and enjoy the waiter opening it up like a present in front of you as the aroma wafts around.

Dorada in Pastry

1 dorada (again you can use other fish) 250 grams prawns 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry 50 grams buZer 1 egg White wine Salt / pepper Clean the fish, strip the skin and spine, and season with salt.

Boil the prawns in liZle water with salt and a small glass of wine; peel and chop the prawns then combine with the buZer. Season this with salt and pepper and reserve in the fridge.

Roll out the puff pastry slabs.

On one of them place the fish. Now cover the fish with the buZer mixture.

With the beaten egg wash, brush the edges of the pastry and place the other pastry on top, press down the edges and, if you like, cut it to the shape of the fish, but allowing plenty of pastry around it. Brush it with beaten egg. If you like you can use the remainder of the pastry, roll it out and cut it in circles, cut these in half and use them as scales to decorate the top of the pastry, then brush again with egg wash and bake in a pre-­‐‑heated hot oven for about 20-­‐‑25 minutes.

aormi@icloud.com

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Among events connected with the presentation of the 2016 solidarity calendar Andy Ormiston was delighted to meet Chelsea pensioners Wayne Campbell and Skippy Teasdale who had travelled to attend the Re-enactment weekend in Murcia.

They were present at the Orihuela

Costa branch of the Royal British Legion when Andy gave a talk on this year’s calendar goals as the Poppy Appeal was launched. The Orihuela and Torrevieja branches both have calendars that will be sold for the the benefit of the Poppy Fund. aormi@icloud.com

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Care-ing is Sharing

70 years is a huge milestone in any charitable organization’s life as it means that the work of the founders is worthwhile for others to take on. This year we are seeing a lot of press reminders of wartime memories and for many families during WW2 CARE packages have to be a very good one to remember.

CARE or the wieldy Co-­‐‑operative for American RemiZances to Europe was set up in USA in 1945 to send food packages to Europe, especially to London and England. Although around at the time I don’t remember them, but I do remember the rosy red apples sent to our schools in Glasgow by the Canadian farmers.

One of the ones who remembers with affection the CARE parcels is Maurice Thacker whose family were bombed out three times and his London school bombed with the loss of life to hundreds of school kids on one day he was ill and not at school.

He remembers the Anderson shelters and cowering there as German planes roamed overhead shooting up anything that moved. His memory includes the dampness and dew in the shelter, which was corrugated metal backed up by concrete. Kids were told not to lean against the wall of

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the shelter as it was damp, but more importantly because should a bomb fall nearby, the vibrations could break their backs.

His recollection of CARE is of dried eggs, dried apricots, and corned beef, SPAM, sugar, tinned fruit -­‐‑ all packed lovingly by good ladies in America.

Last month a short exhibition was on for a short time in London from 21 – 25 October with recollections of that post war effort. Individuals donated ten dollars for each parcel, which brightened many a family’s day.

CARE currently works in 74 poor and developing countries, helping millions of the world’s poorest people find routes out of poverty. In the 1960s CARE set up pioneering primary health care programmes. In the 1970s, they responded to massive famines in Africa with both emergency relief and long-­‐‑term food security and sustainable farming programmes. They are there to provide life-­‐‑ saving assistance when disaster strikes, and to help people rebuild their lives afterwards. Special focus is placed on empowering women and girls because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to lift whole families and communities out of poverty.

hZp://www.careinternational.org.uk/emergencies

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Bookshelf

by Pat Hyne

King Lear and Gunpowder Plotters It is unfortunate that in my schooldays English classes about Shakespeare meant the emphasis was always on the text and the meaning and having to remember by mote huge sections. But Shakespeare’s plays, although about Julius Caesar or Macbeth, were reflections of what was happening around him in those years.

James Shapiro has written a second book following on t h e successful format of his previous one “1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare”. This new book takes us on to “1606: William Shakespeare and the year of Lear,” referring to his play ‘King Lear’.

Next year is the 400 anniversaries for both Shakespeare and Cervantes and no doubt a plethora of new titles about these two famous authors. But Shapiro has an edge for anyone who likes historical notes.

While in his first books of 1599 the opening was about a a freezing December morning in 1598 when a dozen heavily armed men approached a

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disused building in Shoreditch, east London. This is the famous scene of repossession, in which members of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men – Shakespeare’s company – concluded a long dispute with their landlord by dismantling the old playhouse called The Theatre and carting off its timbers to build a new venue in Southwark, the famous Globe. For Shakespeare it ushers in a year of thrilling theatrical achievements: Henry V, Julius Caesar and As You Like It are performed; Hamlet takes shape on paper.

In 1606 Shakespeare was 42, and a royal servant – the Chamberlain’s company had been granted the royal patent at the accession of James in 1603 and were now known as the King’s Men. In the first book the author concentrated on the key social and political events of that year. The chief theme of Shapiro’s 1606 is precisely Shakespeare’s profound engagement with that “troubled national mood”. In this year he produced three of his greatest tragedies – King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.

1606 was dominated by the echoes of the Gunpowder Plot in the previous November. As a supposedly Catholic Plot to blow up the king and parliament, one interesting historical note I learned was that Shakespeare’s 22-year old daughter, Susanna, appeared before the Stratford ecclesiastical court for refusing to partake of the Anglican Communion service, making her a “recusant” or in other words a member of the Old Faith, a Roman Catholic. I would have thought that considering his closeness to the monarchy it would have made the writer a bit wary.

Shapiro’s account of the Gunpowder Plot underlines what a disaster the Plot would have been if successful. This book spends several chapters on issues related to the Plot. For instance King James was mesmerized by the

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crowds gazing on the captured plotters as “the rarer forms of monsters” which has an echo in Macduff’s oath that Macbeth’s head would be displayed on a pole as “the rarer forms of monsters.” As a King’s man Shakespeare used his plays as opening up contemporary issues, especially those that may have affected King James.

Macbeth is about witches and the supernatural raised by the Plot, and in King Lear we can see the issue of the union of England and Scotland which is a play about the division of the Kingdom.

What triggered the Plot was an about face by King James, a Roman Catholic, who upon taking on the English throne also took on the Head of the Anglican Communion, which resulted in persecutions of Catholics. The King also rejected Spain’s suggestions for the protection of English Catholics at the 1604 Somerset House peace conference as he tended to leave a lot of decisions in the hands of his Privy Council. This led to a lot of unease among a large part of the population still attached to the Roman Church.

All in all this new book about the year in which King Lear was produced is an excellent read that is easy to follow with loads of historical references.

Before this year Shakespeare’s output was a little diminished but in 1606 he forged ahead again.

The Year of Lear Shakespeare in 1606

By James Shapiro

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Goodbye Matilde, Welcome Puri AWESOME is a much-­‐‑maligned word freely thrown about nowadays by youngsters. But it is a word that describes Matilde Sanchez and her work as president and co-­‐‑founder of the local Alzheimer’s Association that reaches out to patients and families in the Vega Baja area. Since 2004 she has been indefatigable in building up the association, organizing volunteers and professionals alike, thinking up new projects, urging others to become involved, raising funds – or rather chasing up funding.

Her inspiration has always been the period in her life watching her husband fade away as another Alzheimer’s victim. She understands the anguish of families who grapple with the difficulties of caring for a patient, with its many frustrations and dismay watching a loved personality dissolve.

Matilde is reluctantly stepping down now as president of the AFA, because the job and workload requires someone with a bit more energy than she has at her age in life when so many others are happy to sit at home kniZing. She is well known by almost everyone, being stopped by people in the street for a quick word, chasing municipal officials for the use of buildings for some sort of fund raising event. She is on first name terms with mayors and peons working in town hall premises.

Being bi-­‐‑lingual Matilde has been a bridge between the Spanish and the expatriates of various nations, but especially the British. Rather like the Scarlet Pimpernel she has been here, there and everywhere accepting donations for AFA whether it be from an aormi@icloud.com

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association, a concert or show, an art exhibition or individuals who want to be part of a very important venture in Torrevieja area. She is frequently badgering others with ideas for fundraising events. All this requires a great deal of energy, which Matilde generates inspiring others, but it has been taking its toll on her recently.

The British community has been a mainstay in supporting many charitable organizations in Spain and Alzheimer’s Family Association is one that needs to be continually supported. Matilde has pushed for a Day Centre, a charity shop and another project a 24-­‐‑ hour residence still at planning stage. Her experience over many years in the textile “rag” industry has meant she has been meticulous in the selection of clothing for sale at the shop with a high standard not found elsewhere. Clothing rejected has still been used as it has been passed on to other charity shops.

I hope that this wonderful AFA support will continue among the British and welcome Puri Garcia who is now president of the association. Another lovely lady, who has been associated for several years with AFA, as a vocal on the governing body. She speaks and understand some English, but will be helped by Juande whose contact number is

636 410 708 I would like to pay honour to this AWESOME lady and wish her a bit of relaxation and quality time in this new phase of her life. Thank you Matilde, it has been a pleasure being associated with you. Andy Ormiston

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Message from Matilde Sanchez of AFA

Dear Editor, I am sure that most of you readers know that I have resigned from the position of President of the Alzheimer’s Family Association of Torrevieja. I have been in this privileged position for eleven years now and it is time to pass the reins on to someone younger, and with more energy than I have at my age.

I became president as a founder member of AFA as I saw a desperate need for an association that would support, not only patients of Alzheimer’s, but their families as well. I had the experience of nursing my own husband and this experience made a real impression on me driving me on to spend my time and forces to making AFA a strong association with a day centre as an important part of that.

My work has been helped because I am able to speak Spanish and English fluently and this has brought me in contact with so many wonderful people and associations of different nationalities as well as civic leaders and members of the press.

It is thanks to so many individuals and groups, far too many to mention, that the work of Alzheimer’s has grown and prospered. I cannot say how much the financial and moral support of so many, especially the British, has encouraged me to give of my best. Since AFA began in 2004 that friendly support has been a terrific incentive to me, and importantly to those who work directly with the patients and their families. aormi@icloud.com

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A special word of thanks must go to the marvellous volunteers, who over the years have manned the shop, organised and modelled in fashion parades, attended benefit shows and other fund raising events on behalf of AFA. So much fun we have had. My heart goes out to all our wonderful entertainers who also give of their time and talents so freely musically and dramatically. These have not only benefited AFA, but the culture and integration of expats in Spanish life. So many amazing people have contributed to the work of the AFA centre.

On occasions I have been Ricky Valance and Shani Ormiston support AFA humbled to receive awards, that though directed at me, I know are for all those who have acted in professional or voluntary capacities. Among those awards have been the Diego Ramirez Premio, the highest accolade of Torrevieja, and twice the Pride of Spain Awards organised by the Coastrider. As president it has been my honour and privilege to act on many occasions receiving donations, small and large amounts from so many of you.

My place as president is being taken over by Puri Garcia Alvarez who will make herself available as much as I have been able to do. I hope and pray that all of you generous people will continue to support our local Alzheimer’s Association that works for patients from several towns around Torrevieja. Always volunteers and donations will be required and I urge all of your readers to continue to support our work, because it is a work that is imperative to everyone in the area. Life is about helping others in whatever way we can and those suffering from Alzheimer’s need help in every way possible.

Please continue your magnificent efforts and feel free to contact Puri, the new president or Juande and please note his contact number 636 410 708 who speaks English fluently and will be glad to hear from all of you.

My personal thanks to this newspaper and staff for their continuous cooperation in our work publicizing what we do and every donation received. Thank you, you are all wonderful people.

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The Green March

by Andy Ormiston

The autumn of 1975 was a cold one in more ways than one, people didn’t know what would happen after the obviously ailing dictator Franco had died. Spain seemed to be attacked from all sides. At home the ETA was in full gallop and Franco’s attitude had been “shoot the bastards” and as a result of the death by firing squad of some ETA members, international protests, sometimes violent themselves, were regular acts outside the Spanish embassies throughout the world.

In the Sahara the Moroccans saw an opportunity and organised the Green March reclaiming the Spanish occupied Sahara desert as their own. During this time the Spanish king was obviously under pressure and actually lost several kilos through this stress.

His discourse of the 22nd November allayed the fears of the Spanish populace who had taken to the streets. A new air of liberty appeared, the people once more full of hope and illusion for a better future as the king pleaded for an end to rancour, to close ranks in a common Spain, to forget old wounds and create a new Constitution for the whole of Spain. It was during this period, known as the Transition, that the young king relied heavily on the support and advice of his wife and his mother and he has turned out to be one of the most memorable of Spanish kings and is likely to go down in history as he originally wanted when the first Spanish President, Alfonso Suarez, asked him how he would like to be seen in history. To this he replied, “I would like to be known as an honest king”.

Although Spain was not directly involved in the Second World War, on the same day that the Germans marched into Paris, 14 June 1940, aormi@icloud.com

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Spanish Moroccan troops under Colonel Antonio Yuste, took over the control of Tangiers as a Spanish protectorate without any incidents, being ahead of the forces of France, Britain, Germany and Italy who already had their own plans for the city.

The British government tacitly agreed to this move as the lesser of evils and so Tangiers became a neutral zone in the conflict. At the time of the Spanish Civil War there was a strong right wing Falangist movement in Tangiers. All the countries involved had some form of delegation in Tangiers, Germany being allowed to reopen the building that had been closed after the First World War. From here it was possible to see the bombardment of Gibraltar during the German air raids on the rock and although most of the population of Gibraltar were evacuated to Britain, many joined families in Tangiers, which became an international hotbed of spies. At the end of the Second World War many Germans managed to use Tangiers as an escape port and for sending ingots of gold to Switzerland and Uruguay. In August 1945 an international conference discussed the position of Tangiers and although Spain was not represented at these meetings, agreed to the conditions, which included a re-establishment of the former Statutes and the removal of Spanish forces by 11th October 1945. Tangiers was yet another part of Spanish claims to rule a large part of North Africa.

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In 1975 the Western Sahara was part of Spain’s North African colonies. This is supposedly a potentially rich area with oil deposits, phosphates and good offshore fishing grounds, yet the people are desperately poor. In 1975 as Franco lay gasping on his deathbed and the Spanish people waited, wondering about the future, the Western Sahara became yet another issue. The International Court of Justice rejected claims from Mauritania and Morocco recognizing the population’ right to self-government. What had formerly been a Spanish colony was actually claimed between three neighbouring countries – Mauritania, Algeria and Morocco.

In 1973 a Saharawi nationalism political party was created known as the Polisario Front claiming independence. Mauritania relinquished any territorial rights in 1978, partly because in November 1975 a straggle of Moroccan “settlers” headed for a new no-man’s land in what became known as the “marcha verde” – the green march. On 16 October 1975 the Hague International Court of Justice had pronounced in favour of self-determination for the desert tribes. However Hassain II, king of Morocco, who coveted the territory and decided the time was opportune to make a move, and hence the “spontaneous” march by over 300,000 unarmed Moroccans into the Western Sahara.

An estimated 150,000 Saharawis fled to neighbouring Algeria where they and their descendants still live in refugee camps, mostly in Tindouf. From here, once Algeria had supported their independence claims, they continued a guerrilla campaign against the other two countries. The Moroccans claimed the area occupied

by Mauritania and forty years later this occupation is still a festering sore. After several attempts at finding a solution, talks took place in USA between Morocco and the Sahara’s independence movement the Polisario Front under the aegis of the United Nations. But up to 2011 no real agreements had been made. In a White Paper on trade in Britain in 2011 the Government stated “Sub-Saharan Africa has strong growth prospects, but remains poorly integrated into the global economy. The region needs broader and deeper market integration…” The Paper mentions that international trade is an important tool for stimulating growth. On 11th July 2002 Moroccan troops invaded the isla de Perjil (Parsley Island), which was considered to

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be under Spanish rule, but was uninhabited, apart from sheep. On 20th July Spanish forces landed at night and surprised the few Moroccan soldiers who were roasting a sheep and re-established the idea that Spain had a professional army and was not going to be pushed around as before. One Torrevejenses soldier said that the Moroccans were all young men and frightened when they saw the Spanish soldiers.

Compulsory military service in Spain was abolished in 2001 and a professional military might established offering equal opportunities to women in the armed forces and although some are in front line jobs such as air fighter pilots, the majority have administrative jobs and make up almost 4% of the Spanish military.

Torrevieja has adopted a number of humanitarian projects to help the desert people through medical and educational aid, as well as regular “holidays in Spain” with local families playing host including the previous Mayor’s family, Pedro Hernandez. One small school in the Sahara is actually named “Torrevieja”, as the town paid for its construction and maintenance. In 2007 the Torry Army football supporters’ club heard of the plight of these children and assisted in fund raising to help cover the costs of their stay in Torrevieja and continued this support into the next year.

However, I have reservations today about the more modern Black March as millions of Arab refugees pour through the European borders. We are urged to be humanitarian towards refugees, which is right. But from stories circulation from various media some of these refugees seem to be showing a bit of aggressive distaste and disregard for all things European. History has stories and that should always be borne in mind to teach us lessons.

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Dave Bull is a very busy man who is well known through his radio show and the monthly magazine he produces ALL ABROAD. He has taken time off to answer some questions.

The team’s good luck mascot, still without a name.

Dave, You are calling it a challenge, is it a bet between you and Mitch or other people?

Not exactly a bet, but there is a certain amount of friendly father/son competition involved as always.

Are other people racing with you?

No just the two of us although I have to say I am really delighted by the response and support so many people have shown us.

You are doing a lot of physical training under the strict eye of Beatriz, what about a diet?

Yes, we have a body building diet that involves a lot of carbohydrates and now we are on a high protein diet. Beatriz has been wonderful and is a hard task mistress on the fitness program she drew up. Ive never felt so alive and good in my life. aormi@icloud.com

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It is going to be very much a physical and endurance test as well isn’t it, involving the emotions as well as teamwork?

Of course, it is an arduous task we have set before us and it is amazing the whole range of emotions we are sharing jointly and individually, from wanting to give up to great determination to see through what we have started and aim to finish.

Why a kayak and not a canoe or raft, or even running or climbing a mountain or like Mike Haynes jump off a plane?

Well, there is a worldwide association that holds this type of fund raising for cancer using kayaks. We don’t own a kayak and have been fortunate to have them loaned to us for the training and the actual downriver haul.

You are receiving quite a bit of support from businesses and individuals, has this surprised you?

A certain amount of surprise I admit, but absolutely delighted. It underlines to me what a great lot of people we have here on the Costa Blanca, rallying round anything that helps out others less fortunate then themselves.

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Why at the end of November, do you expect it to rain and have more water in the river?

The river should be fairly full after November rains which adds an edge to the challenge, as the water will be faster flowing than in the summer. We have been sussing out the lay of th e land and trying to anticipate the dangers and obstacles so that should anything unforeseen happen we might be beZer prepared. That is why it is important that Mitch and I are both physically fit and mentally aware of what is going on around us.

Have you allowances for bad weather should a gota fria occur, for example?

We hope that that won’t happen, but if it does then there is no good doing it on the day and we would have to postpone it. We are not on a suicide bid.

You are starting at Murcia city and ending up at Guardamar, how long a course is it?

The total distance is 51.55 kilometres or just over 32 miles.

Name the Birdy for Rowing for Cancer at La Piedra Bar & Grill 50€ to the winner drawn as soon as the board is full!

Online donations for Rowing for cancer: http://pinkladies.es/ CLICK ON 'Donate' at the top and then choose Rowing for Cancer as your chosen charity. and Thanks!

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Have you sussed out any likely natural obstructions or particularly dangerous spots such as cascades or rocky outcrops?

When we have had free time together, we have gone over each stretch and made a map of cascades and other obstacles so that we can anticipate them.

Planning has been a strategic part to our logistics and hopefully we have planned for anything we could imagine going wrong.

Do you have any support vehicle?

Yes, fortunately we have a friend who is willing to drive as close to the river as possible and be in touch by radio and phone. We also intend to use cameras as we go.

Is anyone else with you on the river?

No two of us on the open water will be enough of a challenge.

Will there be any spots on the way such as Dolores, San Fulgencio or Rojales where people can turn up and cheer you on?

Yes, as the River Segura is the main river in this part of Spain it passes through these and other towns, so I hope that anyone and everyone who wants to will turn up, as we have a rough timetable of when we will be at each spot. The more support the more awareness for the cancer research we aormi@icloud.com

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aim to make aware, so more on that later.

A Spanish refrain is to plant a tree, have a child and write a book, do you feel you’ve managed to do this?

Well, most certainly one of the greatest influences in my life has been to have a son, an absolutely wonderful achievement and an ongoing marvellous experience. Yes, I have planted more than one tree and also wriZen a few books on my beloved Gran Alacant and France, as well as my ongoing writing in the monthly All Abroad magazine. I enjoy doing my radio show as well.

You are rowing for the awareness and benefit of cancer and the Samaritans, can you tell us why?

I am sure most of your readers have been touched in some way by cancer. If not as a patient, a close relative or friend has fought this. One of my lovely friends has had cancer and bravely fought it and inspired us to tackle this downriver kayaking for cancer race. The Samaritans are doing a great job by advising and supporting people who have many problems and I am delighted to have become an honorary president. aormi@icloud.com

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