Week 141

Edition 141

www.thecourier.es

Friday, November 1, 2013

WE WANT PROOF!

Doubts linger over demon dog’s death

By DONNA GEE A KILLER Alsatian which savaged two pet dogs to death in La Marina has been humanely destroyed on a Judge’s orders, according to council officials in San Fulgencio However, sceptical La Escuera residents – angry that the demon dog was allowed to return to its own­ ers after killing a pet Yorkshire Terrier in July last year – are demanding proof that the sentence has actu­ ally been carried out.

Nikki Martin, whose res­ cue dog Louie was the vic­ tim of the latest attack on October 19, fears the canine killer could have been quiet­ ly reprieved for a second

Louie after surgery

time.

“The Town Hall have told us before that the Alsatian was being destroyed and it did not happen, so until we have the proof we won't be happy,’ she said after local councillor Jeff Wiszniewski announced on his blog site that the Judge’s order had been carried out.

And on Tuesday, she con­ firmed: “My mum, in whose name Louie was registered, went to the Town Hall today.

They have no written proof that the dog has been destroyed, only an email from the authorities to the Town Hall.

“They are very sorry and say the dog should have been destroyed when it killed the Yorkie, but on that occasion the court decided that the owners were allowed to keep it as long as they acted more responsi­ bly.’’

The October 19 attack occurred as family friend Tim Bridge taking Louie for a walk in La Escuera.

Reliving the nightmare, Tim told The Courier: “When I walked past the house, the Alsatian was locked in behind gates and was barking, I walked up the road and round a cor­ ner, then heard a woman shouting in a foreign lan­ guage. I turned around and

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Nikki Martin ­ owner of Louie the dog saw the Alsatian coming towards us with the lady running after it still shout­ ing. The two dogs started to sniff each other with no sign of aggression, then the Alsatian just launched into Louie and had him in his mouth with Louie scream­ ing.

“Then the woman reached us, got hold of her dog and eventually pulled it away. She was very upset.’’

Louie had major surgery in a desperate bid to save him, but died two days later.

The same Alsatian is also believed to have been responsible for the death of the Yorkie, named Perla, in July last year.

One witness to that horror claimed in an email to The Courier: “The Town Hall and the police are dragging their

Continued on page 2

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Are you a snapper? Do you have a great photo? Send it to design@thecourier.es and if we think it is good enough we will publish it as our Picture of the Week TELEPHONE

96 692 1003 679 096 309 965 99 66 66 E­MAIL office@thecourier.es WEB www.thecourier.es HEAD OFFICE Calle Luis Canovas Martinez 1. Urb Aguas Nuevas, Torrevieja 03183, ALICANTE PHONE: 96 692 1003 Email: office@thecourier.es OPENING HOURS Mon ­ Fri 1030 to 1730 EDITOR Alex Trelinski CONSULTANT EDITOR Donna Gee ADVERTISING SALES 966 921 003 office@thecourier.es TELESALES 966 921 003 679 096 309 Sally Los Alcazares, San Javier 618 391 491 Myra Quesada, Rojales, Torrevieja, San Miguel Tel. 618 583 765 Jean La Zenia, Playa Flamenca, Cabo Roig Tel. 618 898 034 Patrick International Rep 5 Languages Tel 685 901 265 Writers Donna Gee Sally Bengtsson Jeanette Erath Alex Trelinski Dave Silver Tony Mayes John McGregor

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Picture of the Week

JUNGLE DRUMS

Take me to your leader. Photo by PAUL CAMPBELL, SANTA POLA

WE WANT PROOF! MUSHROOMING PROBLEM

Continued from p1

feet, shrugging their shoulders and no one seems to be doing anything constructive to resolve this matter.

“Denuncias have been made along with many visits to the Town Hall. But 16 months down the line, we are all still living in fear on La Escuera.

“The owners carry on with their daily rou­ tine, have no conscience, have no remorse and here we are, frightened to even take our rubbish out to the bins! Something must be done as soon as possible.’’

On Monday, Councillor Wiszniewski reported in his blog that the Alsatian had been humanely destroyed on the orders of a Judge. He added: “A case has been submit­ ted against the owners and will be dealt with in due course.’’

He also wrote: “I feel that in cases such as these, the owner should be penalised heavi­ ly, barred from owning a dog and forced to pay considerable compensation to the own­ ers of the dogs that suffered injury and

TOP NOSH

48 Romanians have been arrested by the Guardia Civil for stealing mushrooms. Operation Spore saw the authorities swoop on the clandestine pickers all around Spain at the end of last week and over the weekend, including Alicante Province. Some 347 kilos of illegally picked mushrooms were seized which the gang were planning to sell for a profit.

Holiday con

Louie before the attack

11 people have been arrested in Villena and Yecla after offering bogus holiday rentals in Benidorm. Police say that over 20 thousand Euros had been handed over to the gang by 180 people across Spain, who were conned by the fake rentals being advertised on a website.

Cars galore

death.’

Meanwhile, Nikki is seeking compensation plus reimbursement of her veterinary fees from the Alsatian’s owners, believed to be a retired British builder and his foreign­born A Moroccan man has been wife. arrested for stealing from at least Tempting and tasty traditional 24 cars in Torre Pacheco. The 26 Spanish food is going to be on offer in year old operated in the Murcia twenty of Torrevieja’s restaurants from region town, picking on cars Monday during the Semana de la parked in streets that were quiet, Chuchara (Spoon Week). The event as well as mainly striking at night.

He’s accused of stealing a vari­ which will run until Sunday November 10th will feature local and regional dish­ ety of items like GPS units, es as well as cuisine from around radios, speakers, and mobile Spain. Every restaurant will produce a phones, as well as clothes and daily menu to hit the taste buds like hot­ fishing rods, and selling them cut pots, stews, and along with various fish price on the black market. The dishes. More information and those all­ man, who lives in Torre important menus can be accessed via Pacheco, has a past record of committing similar crimes. www.torreviejagastronomica.com.

WANTED – MORE HEADLINE NEWS! DO YOU have a story that might grab the headlines?

What’s all the gossip about round your way? A spate of robberies, perhaps – or maybe you’ve spotted a celebrity in the neighbourhood. Whether your news involves fire, police, ambulance, accidents – or hap­

pier events like family weddings (particularly Golden and Diamond ones!), Just phone the Courier office on 966 921 003 or email office@thecourier.es We’re waiting for your call…and next week’s Front Page story.

Friday Sunny High 23 Low 14° Chance of rain 0% Monday Sunny High 25 Low 15° Chance of rain 0%

Tuesday Sunny High 24° Low 12° Chance of rain 0%

Saturday Sunny High 26° Low 17° Chance of rain 0% Wednesday Sunny High 25° Low 14° Chance of rain 0%

Sunday Sunny High 25° Low 14° Chance of rain 0% Thursday Sunny High 24° Low 12° Chance of rain 0%

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Crossing collision

Two children are fighting for their lives after being run over by a car in Benidorm.

The youngsters, a boy and a girl both aged 7, were knocked down as they were using a zebra crossing next to the Aitana

SEAHORSE RESCUE

Two lifeguards were called in for an unex­ pected rescue with a difference in the Mar Menor last Saturday, after a large horse was spotted swimming in the shallow waters.

The three year old horse had ditched its rider and set off towards the Albufera Island, a five kilometre swim. The owner was concerned that the impromptu seahorse wouldn’t reach dry land again without help.

The horse had bolted from Camping Mar Menor, which is situated right on the shores of the salt lake, and right next to San Javier airport. After galloping into the sea, the frisky creature may have enjoyed the refreshment the warm water provided, for it showed no sign of wanting to swim back to school on Monday. They were initially land. taken to Villajoyosa Hospital before being When the two San Javier lifeguards, Juan transferred to Alicante General. The Carlos Alonso and Pedro Cáceres, were female driver of the car tested negative called, there was no sign of the animal, so for alcohol and drugs. they set off to find it. When they finally spot­ ted the horse, it understandably showed signs of tiring, and was swimming in circles.

The owner managed to grab the bridle and

they slowly towed it back to dry land. At times the horse started to panic and its head went under the water, but the rescuers talked to it all the time, and eventually got it back to the shore, after two hours in the sea.

It was a first for the lifeguards, who have pulled all manner of things out the Mar Menor before, but never a swimming horse.

the teenager launching co­ordinated cyber­ attacks including the sending of threatening E­mails with bomb warnings and threats to kill journalists. One paper claims that it has lost over 100 thousand Euros due to his actions, with four other sites being hit After just 48 hours of tracking, the police swooped on the teenager’s home, where he was arrested, with officers discovering Nazi flags and fascist material. They also seized two laptops and two computer hard drives.

ping and entertainment area called the Lifestyle Centre to CHM. Premursa have reiterated that construction of the park will start this January after preparatory work on access points has finished.

They claim that the building work will be finished in mid­2015.

HACKED OFF

A right­wing teenage Torrevieja computer hacker has been nicked by the National Police for illegally disrupting the websites of Spanish newspapers. The 19 year old claimed that he was working in the name of “Comando cibernético fascista del imperio español"(The Cyber Command of Spain’s Fascist Empire”.

The Tech Unit of the National Police moved into action after getting a complaint from one of the newspaper websites, with

Paramount contracts

A 52 million Euro construction con­ tract for Murcia’s Paramount Theme Park has been awarded to the Ferrovial Company. The announcement was made by Premursa Theme Park SA who also handed out a 20 million Euro deal for the hotel zone, as well as the shop­

Busy malls Crack the bubbly

Shopping areas across Murcia in addi­ tion to those in Torrevieja and the Orihuela Costa are expecting a busy day today, despite it being All Saints Day:­ a traditional Red Day Bank Holiday. With large parts of the Valencian region having new liberal shopping hours, retailers are predicting around half a million people that will be putting their hands into their pockets.

Spain has seen its first quar­ terly economic growth since 2011, according to data from the country's National Statistics agency INE. Its growth confirmed last week’s estimates from the Bank of Spain. The country's GDP grew 0.1% in the July­to­ September period, after con­

tracting for the previous nine quarters.

The statistics mean Spain is officially out of recession. The INE said an increasing number of exports supported the growth, with a boost to the tourist industry from holiday­ makers avoiding northern Africa and the Middle East.

4G EXPANSION

The new fourth generation (4G) Mobile phone network was offi­ cially launched by Telstra in Alicante Province last Monday. The network will be available in Elche, Orihuela, Torrevieja, Alicante, and Benidorm. Telstra say that almost have the Spanish popula­ tion will be covered by them come the end of the year.

WALKING DEAD INVADE SAN JAVIER San Javier beach may offer a sight for sore eyes tomorrow (Saturday) as a bunch of zombies will be invading the area in a late Halloween celebration. Potential victims will have to avoid the walking dead in San Javier’s first ever Zombie Walk, with the aim being to reach the finishing point and of course not being caught! The fun starts at 6.00pm.

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Pirates landlubbered 6 Somali men have been convicted of piracy after they tried to board a Spanish warship off the Somali coast in January 2012. One of the men was sentenced to 12­ and­a­half years in prison, while the other five received eight years in jail each.

During their trial in Madrid, all six men denied being pirates; they said they were fishermen who had approached the ship for help. The men eventually surrendered after being pur­ sued by a military helicopter.

The Spanish navy supply ship, the Patino, was taking part in the EU's Atalante operation against piracy in the Indian Ocean when it

was approached by a skiff.

The Somalis ­ who were armed with AK­47 assault rifles and grenades – fired on the ship after which there

was a 2 minute exchange of fire. The motor boat fled, and was pursued by the Patino and a naval helicopter, before finally surrendering.

DROWNING FINE

Orihuela council have been ordered by an Elche court to pay over 157 thou­ sand Euros in compensation to the family of a swimmer who died in Cala Capitan between La Zenia and Cabo Roig over 6 years ago. There was no lifeguard patrol or the flying of a red flag at the time of the drowning, which hap­ pened at 10.30am, half an hour before the life­saving services were due to start.

It’s not known whether the council will appeal the ruling.

UNSTABLE STABBER

A woman who stabbed her sleeping boyfriend to death has been sentenced to 10 years in a psychiatric institution.

Lorea Antuñano knifed her 57 year old partner Jose Ramon Boats at their Santa Pola home on Avda.Zaragoza early in 2010. She pled guilty to an Elche court this week, with the body being found lying in his bed some five months later. The prosecution accepted that Antuñano was not mentally stable at the time, and that she permanently left the house after the stabbing. She was also

NEW SERVICES

Low cost airline Vueling has launched new routes to Bilbao and Oran (Algeria) from Alicante­Elche airport during the winter season and will start a new service to the Russian city of St. Petersburg next summer.

Services launched to Brussels, Copenhagen, Moscow and Cardiff earlier in the year will continue to run during the winter. Meanwhile, the carrier Brussels Airlines has just launched a new twice­weekly service between the Belgian capital and El Altet.

Goldcar fight back

Not green enough fingers 30 protestors marched on Orihuela City Hall last Wednesday to complain about poor street cleaning services on the Orihuela Costa. Palms and other plants were carried in the demonstration, to emphasise what they say is a lack of hor­ ticultural maintenance in their area, in addition to fly tipping and not enough general pavement cleaning.

NOT A FAIR COP

Customers are on the up for the Goldcar rental company despite it being dumped with a massive 15 million Euro fine for price fixing in the summer. Up to October, it claims to have already had more bookings compared to the whole of 2012, and it expects to end the year having done over 800 thousand rentals.

LONDON BOUND

Guardamar is off to London! The coastal municipality is going to show off its tourist wares at next week’s World Travel Market in the capital’s Royal Victoria Dock. The four day event which starts this Monday is regarded as one of the major international tourist fairs.

OH CRISTINA!

The King’s daughter, Princess Cristina could be An officer with Spain's him. She was eventually dragged into court after rev­ National Police squad able to escape, flag­ elations she may have has been booted off the ging a taxi down for dodged tax by signing a fake contract in which rent­ force for raping a prosti­ assistance. tute. 30­year­old Victor The decision to expel ed out office space in her Moreno Guerro who the officer came as the own home to herself. A worked for the Narcotics National Police’s lawyer for Cristina, the daughter of and Organized Crime Governing Council looks youngest Squad was sacked on into 53 cases of police Spain's King Juan Carlos, Wednesday after he was misconduct. In one of the said on there was a "possi­ sentenced to 10 and a half more bizarre cases, an offi­ bility" she would face ques­ years behind bars for rape and cer was suspended for a tioning in court after the El unlawful arrest. 2 years ago he year without pay after stealing Mundo newspaper pub­ stopped a prostitute in Madrid’s a bag in a Cordoba city bar. lished details of the con­ Villaverde area. When he learned Once he noticed there were CCTV tract. that she was in the country without proper cameras, he faked an investigation and It printed part of a rental contract show­ documentation, he forced her into his car. returned the bag to its owner, contents ing that Princess Cristina signed as both Instead of taking her to the local police sta­ included. Another senior officer, this time in the owner and the tenant in an office tion, however, the officer bound the Jaén, forfeited a week’s pay after it emerged rental 'agreement' worth 12,000 Euros a woman’s wrists, drove her to a secluded he had left a loaded gun in the toilet of a bar. year. By signing that contract, Cristina and her husband managed to artificially location and forced her to have sex with It was never recovered. reduce the earnings of Aizoon, a compa­ ny they jointly owned, thus bringing down tax bills, the paper claimed. El Mundo also alleged the false contract Two drivers were seriously injured in a head allowed the couple to divert public A 26 year old man has been arrested in on collision between two cars on Wednesday money from Aizoon which, in turn, had connection with at least eight sex attacks morning in San Pedro del Pinatar. The accident been embezzled from the sports charity on young women in Elda. The offences happened on the F25 road between San Pedro the Noós Institute. had all been committed over the last year. and Lo Remero.

Authorities have been investigating

ATTACKER HELD

ordered to pay 115 thousand Euros of com­ pensation to the dead man’s family.

HEAD ON

Cristina’s financial dealings and that of her husband Iñaki Urdangarin in the wake of allegations Urdangarin and his busi­ ness partner Diego Torres diverted funds from the Noós Institute. The courts decid­ ed Cristina would not have to face embezzlement charges in that matter because of a lack of evidence. But the judge then announced an investigation into possible tax fraud by the princess via Aizoon. The latest revelations follow on from other allegations that the pair racked up a bill of nearly 150,000 Euros on furniture and curtains to redecorate their Barcelona villa, money also alleged­ ly taken from the public purse.

Friday, November 1, 2013

MEET PAXO’S REPLACEMENT

Giles Paxman has slung his hook as the UK’s man in Madrid and been replaced by career diplomat, Simon Manley, who took up his post on Monday.

On his arrival, the new Ambassador, said: “I am delighted to be here in Spain and look forward to strengthening our broad and deep bilateral relationship. Spain is a key ally within the European Union and NATO and is one of our most important trading partners.

Mr Manley also highlighted the impor­ tance of British citizens in Spain.

“More than 13 million Britons visit Spain every year, generating 1 per cent of Spain’s GDP. Some 800,000 have made Spain their home permanently or for part of the year, and the UK remains the largest for­ eign investor in Spain’s property market.

I’m impressed by how the British Consulates across Spain work with Spanish partners to do an excellent job of assisting British nationals.”

The body of ex­Spanish dictator General Franco should be exhumed and moved: ­ that’s the view of Spain’s oppo­ sition PSOE party. They’ve presented a bill to the Madrid parliament saying it should be taken away from the Valley of the Fallen which has acted as a rallying point for far right supporters.

The bill calls for the bones to be returned to the dictator's family, or re­ buried in a "more appropriate" location.

Most of the symbols of the Franco era have been removed from Spain's streets and squares, but his body remains in the biggest Francoist monument of all, a 260­ metre­long underground basilica topped by a 150­metre­high cross, 30 miles north of Madrid.

The monument was built at his behest with the help of forced labour of the republi­ can side of the civil war. Franco was buried in the basilica after his death in 1975 and he had previously ordered that 40,000 corpses

of victims of the civil war be buried in the crypts and tunnels around the basilica. The PSOE motion is seen as symbolic as the bill will fail to pass because of the big Partido Popular parliamentary majority.

MOVE THE DICTATOR

TRY AGAIN It’s 2nd time lucky for a new social and cultural centre for Rojales, after plans to build last year were torn up after the con­ tractor went bankrupt. A new company is now in charge of the project, with the building being constructed next to the Town Hall. It will also include the local courts, the youth department, as well as a function room. The project which costs just under 1 million Euros is being fund­ ed by the Valencian Government, who say that they hope that the new complex could be up and running in a year’s time.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING Torrevieja’s streets may just have more of a smattering of the Russian language from this Monday, as the city hosts representa­ tives of a dozen leading Russian compa­ nies in a bid to attract business to the area. Their 5 day visit will see them look

at investment opportunities across the Costa Blanca and Costa Blanca.

IN SHOCK National Police are investigating why a woman was tied up on Monday in an underground garage in her building.

The 36 year old was treated for shock at Alicante General Hospital after a neighbour found her tied up in the garage on Calle Mexico in Alicante City.

MOMENT OF MADNESS An Alicante court has sentenced a 49 year old man to 21 years in a mental hos­ pital after he beat his father to death in front of his mother. The incident hap­ pened in September 2012 when the 79 year old man was bludgeoned by an iron bar after he had been knocked to the ground. His son pled guilty, admitting that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

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Friday, November 1, 2013

editor@thecourier.es COURIER POSTBAG: YOUR VIEWS ON OUR NEWS

Hacienda cash and grab was so taxing

The crumbling Costa FOR a long time, I have been observing ongoing destruction of the coast in Punta Prima.

It looks as if the Torrevieja or Orihuela Costa Town Halls are not interesting. They are ignor­ ing the problem.

The coast is collapsing and an accident can happened at any time.

Nobody knows which Town Hall is responsible for that part of the coast. There is not even a proper walking path between

Playa Pitera and Playa Punta Prima It is amazing that both Town Halls’ administration are blind to that problem.

I trust that The Courier will be able to ask the Town Halls in Torrevieja and Orihuela to visit the above­mentioned and see the destruction of the coast.

STANLEY JANYK, Orihuela Costa I HAVE just read Donna Gee’s comment about ONIONS in

your October 25 issue.

Has she never eaten a large fresh crusty roll with mature Cheddar cheese, two slices of red onion, and English mus­ tard?! Better still, with a pint of Guinness. She hasn’t lived.

Now if she had said mayon­ naise, I would agree. That stuff kills the taste of everything it’s spread on.

You gotta laugh.

TED GILLELAND, Quesada

DONNA GEE’S article on paying taxes rang loud bells with me. I bank with the Halifax/Lloyds which incidentally is now owned by Sabadell (Spanish) bank.

I had to make a tax payment a couple of months back but could not pay through the Halifax/Lloyds bank system as, apparently, 'they are not recognised' by the Hacienda.

OK. No big deal, so I went into the local Sabadell branch but no, even though they have taken over, I still cannot pay through the bank.

The only solution was to go to the ATM outside of the Sabadell bank, withdraw the cash and then go inside again, queue up once more and then give them their own money back over the counter to pay my bill.

This was accepted but only after a bit more hassle as I was not paying the full amount at that time. After a few internal phone calls, it was confirmed all was in order. The next payment is due in a couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see how long it takes this time to give my money away.

Hacienda is quick to take payments but do not bother to advise anybody of any problems with bank details supplied to them.

It is up to the individual to check that the monies have been taken at the right time and then chase them if it hasn't.

They will simply let the debt build up and slap on late payment charges.

BARRY WESTON, Los Dolses

WASTE COLLECTION: A BURNING PROBLEM

WITH reference to the article on waste col­ lection in Issue 139, the residents of Las Ramblas are having the same fate with green waste removal.

Some areas have not been emptied for weeks, leav­ ing rubbish overflowing across footpaths and roads.

Where these occur on hills and at road junctions it is quite dangerous for traffic.

Not only that but the rotting vegetation smells and rodents have been seen nearby.

But that is only one problem here on Las Ramblas.

We also have to suffer the noxious smoke and possibly dangerous fumes given off by the burning waste at an abandoned refuse tip which has been burning for many years.

At night, the area glows red and flames can some­ times be seen with the naked eye. When the wind blows in the right direction, large parts of Las Ramblas are engulfed in evil smelling fumes and we rush in to close all doors and windows as quickly as possible.

The matter has been reported many times to Orihuela but our Agents have advised that Orihuela firstly claimed that it was ‘controlled burning’ and they now disown the tip and say it belongs to Pilar de la Horadada.

The Agents have written to Pilar and they have not responded to date.

CAROL URRY, Urbn Las Ramblas Golf, Orihuela Costa

DON’T FORGET, WE NEED YOUR DETAILS Letters and emails will only be considered for publication if an address and contact number are provided to confirm authenticity

THE COURIER MAN­ AGEMENT DOES NOT NECESSARILY AGREE WITH THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE LETTERS ON THIS PAGE

Moving in the right direction I WRITE with regards to the letter regarding a removal service from Catral to Cheshire, published on October 25.

Whilst I sympathise with the writer’s experi­ ence, I feel that without actually naming the Removals Company involved, any warning to avoid such companies is worthless as prospective clients don’t know whom to avoid.

I would like to put all Irwin Removals cus­ tomers at ease by stating that we are not the Company involved; indeed we were not asked to quote for this particular removal.

I always recommend that prospective cus­ tomers obtain at least three quotations from reputable companies ­ Spanish companies should be IVA registered, and UK compa­ nies should be VAT registered. If they are not registered to pay taxes, then they may

well not worry about malpractice.

If one of the quotations comes in extremely low, then that in itself should ring warning bells. At the very least, a customer should be given a written quotation on request, which should guarantee the quote based on the items shown in the pre­move survey. I am aware that the practice of securing work by underquoting exists in this area, but a reputable company would not wait until the vehicle was loaded, and then hold the customer to ransom by demanding more payment in this way. This is serious malpractice, and shows the company involved run their business without integrity.

I also fail to understand how a carton marked alcohol and cigarettes was even loaded onto the vehicle, as a detailed inven­

tory would normally be made whilst loading, listing the contents of all the cartons for cus­ toms purposes. And as any removal man will know, a box marked alcohol and cigarettes would be pulled out of a load by customs and if the customer was not at the port to pay duty, it would be seized. I can only pre­ sume that a detailed inventory was not made in this instance.

The habit of sending furniture and person­ al effects back to the UK without a detailed inventory, and a lorry CMR with the wording similar to "10cbm of household effects" is the type of thing a haulage company does, not a removals company. There is a big dif­ ference!

When Customs seize contraband, a Notice of Seizure is issued to the driver, and

the customer is presented with that at the time of delivery of the rest of the consign­ ment. If this does not happen, then it is safe to say that the contraband never reached customs, and the customer should look to the removals company to retrieve his goods.

At no time do these goods become the prop­ erty of the removals company!

It is nonsense to say a vehicle has been blacklisted by customs for carrying a few cartons of cigarettes and some alcohol. A vehicle passing through customs would only be flagged up for regular attention if the company was known to be trafficking in much more serious contraband.

MANDY WILLIAMS, Managing Director, Irwin International Removals Services SL Ctra Dolores­Catral KM1

Friday, November 1, 2013

I HAVE the misfortune to live next door to an ever­thickening jungle that was once designated a luxury villa.

It was part of a five­phase programme totalling around 300 houses built during the first six years of the 21st century.

All but one were sold, mainly to Brits. The one exception was the detached villa next to mine , which remains empty ­ seven years after buyers snapped up the other 40 homes in the community.

Initially. the builder seemed keen to sell the three­bedroom property, which was on the market at around €340,000. A succes­ sion of potential buyers came, were shown round, and melted away.

During one inspection visit, the builder’s representative hinted that an offer of around €250,000 would secure the high­specifica­ tion corner plot.

Realistically, he’ll now struggle to get €200,000 for a property whose large garden area is overrun by six –foot high brushwood ‘trees’ and now looks more like a squat than a showhouse.

A month or more ago, I wrote to the builder asking why the Se Vende/For Sale signs had all been removed , causing con­ fusion as to why he hadn’t just cut his losses and taken the best offer that came along.

I could be wrong, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the builder is benefiting in some way by selling all but one of the prop­ erties his company erected ­ and leaving the last one empty indefinitely.

Otherwise he would surely have cut his losses and taken what he could get for a

MY NEIGHBOUR IS GROWING ON ME

structure that continues to deteriorate and consequently reduce in value .

Our Community Administrator tells me the situation is ‘’very complicated’’ and that the matter is in the hands of the Spanish courts.

Why it needed to go to court when as far as I

Why I’ve given up fighting for justice THE biggest Spain in the neck about living in this country has got to be the brick wall of bureaucracy.

I’m talking about the total lack of transparency in virtually every area of administration.

It’s seven years since I bought my home in Guardamar, since when I’ve had run­ins with everyone from electricity suppliers to Telefonica, the taxman and a succes­ sion of unfriendly and dis­ missive bank clerks.

My first experience of Iberian ineptitude came when my power supply was cut off without notifi­ cation or justification. The after­shock included five days in the dark.

Telefonica messed up big time when I asked to be put on their reduced phone and Internet serv­ ice during a longish trip to England. Instead of acti­ vating the agreed reduced charge, I was billed for the full service. When I threat­ ened to cancel my entire contract unless they refunded the overcharge, there was no attempt at appeasement: “Please yourself,’’ goaded the

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operator.

I duly cut off Telefonica for good, only to swiftly receive a demand for around 80 euros of service I had never received ­ with escalating charges trig­ gered if I didn’t cough up.

The reality was that Telefonica actually owed ME money. But I coughed up rather than face a battle I knew I could not win.

It’s the sort of situation many expats are familiar with – wanting to fight an injustice, yet knowing the chances of achieving it are minimal. Assuming, that is, you have deep pockets and can find someone who has any idea where to start.

There is a school of thought which reasons that Spain stood still dur­ ing the 36­year Franco dictatorship and is still catching up with the rest of Europe.

Elsewhere in this edi­ tion is an article about a rogue Alsatian in La Marina which killed a defenceless Yorkie over a year ago. The police and local authority effectively turned a blind eye to resi­ dents’ demands to have it

destroyed – and two weeks ago the cowardly creature added a second person’s pet dog to a bas­ ket of carnage which is also said to include a cat or two.

The local council now insist the Alsatian HAS been put down – though sceptical local residents still have their doubts.

Their demands for writ­ ten proof highlights the suspicion with which expats regard officialdom in what is said to be among Europe’s most cor­ rupt countries.

For all Britain’s faults, when it comes to bureau­ cratic paperwork, its pen pushers don’t make many mistakes. If you need to take action to right a per­ ceived wrong, the proce­ dure is pretty straightfor­ ward. And you have every chance of achieving jus­ tice.

In Spain, the only trans­ parent aspect of seeking justice is that nothing will be straightforward.

So unless you have a strong will, endless time and money, plus low stress levels it’s a lot eas­ ier to let the brick wall win.

know the builder is still in business, I have no idea.

The Administrator also says an auction is to about to be held at which offers can be made for the property – as long as they are above a certain figure.

If that figure is not reached, an open auc­ tion will be held next year when the best offer will secure the increasingly rundown build­ ing.

As for the jungle around it, let’s just say the plot thickens every day...

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

REPORTING FOR DUTY The first person I ever let down (apart, of course, from both parents and all of my teachers) was my first employer in the chal­ lenging world of newspa­ pers.

On the opening day of my employment I promised my boss that I would abide by the journalistic principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objec­ tivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability.

My new employer shook his head impatiently. 'I'm really not that fussed, son, as long as you post those flam­ ing newspapers through the correct letter­boxes.'

'Sorry,' I mumbled, blush­ ing to the roots of my 15­ year­old hair. 'I just can't get over the fact that you have given me a paper round. I am truly honoured.'

'Don't get too carried away,' said the newsagent.

'You were the only kid who applied. But enough of this chit­chat. I need to open the shop. See those poor beg­ gars pressing their faces against the window. They're

itching to purchase their cig­ gies and cough lozenges.'

I slung the bulging news­ paper sack over my shoulder and marched proudly and resolutely from the premises.

F i v e minutes later, and just before I'd reached the first house on my delivery route, the heavy cloth bag slipped off my shoulder and slid down my numbed arm into the fast­flow­ ing canal.

Whoops! My first day on the job also turned out to be my last. I both lost the sack and got the sack.

Fortunately, that all hap­ pened during the summer holidays. I had one year left at school before I embarked on my planned career of delivering firewood.

'A firewood round!' exclaimed my best pal Eric.

'You want to set your sights a

bit higher than that. After all, you are an intelligent lad con­ sidering you're a street urchin. And I should know because I'm an intelligent lad

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and a street urchin, too.'

'So what do YOU want to be when you're all grown­up next year?' I asked my bezzie mate.

'I'll probably be a dentist just like my father and his father before him,' said Eric.

'And his father before him?' I ventured, going back a further generation just for the hell of it.

'Nah,' said Eric. 'My great­ grandfa­

ther wasn't a dentist. He had a firewood round.'

Anyway, fast­forward a few months. Eric and I, along with our fellow fifth­formers, were queuing outside the careers master's office wait­ ing to discuss our futures in the big wide world.

The careers master called out 'Next!' I ambled into the room with Eric following close behind because we did everything together.

'Just one at a time please, boys!' the careers master called out. I slammed the door shut after me and heard an ominous crunch.

Eric had taken the force of the door full in the face.

But all credit to him. Instead of showing signs of discom­ fort or inconvenience, my best friend was on all fours calmly picking up a couple of broken teeth from the carpet.

As he carefully examined each tooth, I heard him say in wonderment: 'That ith tho interetht­ ing, Well, that thettleth it. I've finally dethided that I SHALL

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become a dentitht.'

And so my final year at school slowly staggered towards its end. I landed a trainee reporter job on my local weekly newspaper. My first assignment was to mon­ itor a group of clean­up vol­ unteers whose latest mission was to tidy the canal.

There was the usual debris of discarded shopping trol­ leys, mattresses, bricks and prams. Perhaps the only unusual find was a heavy cloth bag filled with sodden old and obviously undeliv­ ered newspapers.

'I wonder what the story is behind that,' mused my edi­ tor later. 'Perhaps the deliv­ ery lad was some young indi­ vidualist who decided to rebel against the accepted conventions of conduct and instead courageously stride out into the adult world, marching to a different drum­ mer and intent on conquering new frontiers.

'On the other hand,' he shrugged, 'the kid might have been just some stupid plonker.'

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Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

BAD HUMAN HABITS NEED CHANGING

Someone asked me a while ago, "What is the most difficult part of your job?" The answer for me was very easy and without a moment’s hesitation, I replied, "Humans".

Working with and changing a dogs behaviour is a piece of cake, but trying to change a human’s bad habits around their dog is a different proposition altogether.

Don't get me wrong, I love working with people, but why is it that they are so much more difficult to change than a dog?

For me the answer is that the human is almost contin­ ually lost in thought and very few actually take in advice given to them. They think they are listening, but the truth is that many are not. I can tell instantly on a consultation, if someone is going to take on board what I am saying and change their bad habits with their dogs, or if my words are floating way over their heads. That is why I have to change gears many times on a consultation, to make sure that they are going to go on and make the changes that are needed.

There is nothing worse than spending three or four hours with someone, knowing that you are wasting your time and they will not change. I was with a friend a few days ago and he said that his dog is very nervous. The reason for this was because he kept giving his dog affection when she was nerv­ ous, so he was nurturing her nervous state and making it worse. When I told him this, he kept giving his dog affection,

even though she was sitting there in an extreme panic! Why did he keep doing this? Simple ­ he was not listening to a word I was saying.

Some people really do believe that I carry a magic wand with me and bring it to a consultation! The truth of the matter is that your dog’s negative behaviour will never change, unless you stop your negative habits when with your dog. I had many negative habits and too many to mention in one column! But as soon as I stopped them, my dogs started

behaving in a calmer and relaxed way. Dogs are simply a reflection of whoever they live with. As soon as we start to practice calm in our lives, as well as thinking positively, it is then that the magic happens. Not only for your dog, but for you too.

Why is it that I meet people who regularly read this col­ umn, but they are still nervous and anxious when around their dogs? The answer is because they have read this as an entertainment feature and not taken in virtually any­ thing here that I write about each week.

Personally, I don't understand that way of thinking, which is probably why I don't read fiction books. If I read something, it is because I want to learn something and right now your dog is probably near you wishing you think the same.

I am available for consultations throughout the Costa Blanca region, if you are having problems with your furry best friend. To book a consultation you can email me at peter@thedogyouneed.com and I will contact you straight away. We have also set up an animal charity, where we help the most severely abused and injured animals in Spain. If you would be kind enough to donate anything to this special cause you can do by PayPal, where the account details are peter@thedogyouneed.com or to our Nat West charity account, where the sort code is 60­16­03 and the account number is 73754900. Even one Euro will help, so please, please, try and support us. Thank you from the bot­ tom of our hearts.

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Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

BLOKES NEED TO GET INTO FOCUS

I don´t know for sure where my life is heading, and I’m not sure what I really want! I don’t think I want to be alone but then when I meet someone nice, I get con­ cerned about living with someone!

It’s a big step and I´m not 100% certain that it´s a step that I´m ready for, but I really want companionship and someone to at least spend weekends and holidays with, and so with that in mind, I signed up again to a dating site. As I was flick­ ing through photographs of eligible men, a thought came to me. There was face after face of people looking for some­ thing, whether it was a date, someone to talk to, or someone for just one night. These men were there, the majority with their faces on show for the whole world to see. Then, there I was, looking for someone with a quite nice face and a nor­ mal body and I began to smile.

Recently, I have been buying quite a few things online, not just for me but for friends who wanted to use my account as well. I have been almost daily on shopping sites to get this or that, or to find a price for something and as I was scrolling down the dating site page I began to feel that this was a familiar sensation. That only earlier in the day as I was searching to buy something, I was scrolling down the page, comparing and deciding which one to buy and this feeling of looking at faces was the same. I felt like I was almost on a shopping trip, that one wrong click and I might end up with something I don´t want!

Does this say something about me more than the sites or do others feel? That’s what I wondered as I slowly made my way down the rows of faces smiling at me, trying their best to look good and to attract anyone they thought would be attractive to them. I then noticed a big difference between the shopping sites and the dating sites:­ in the shopping sites that were trying to sell goods, the items were made to look as appealing as possible with professional lighting showing the product in its best light. There was normally nothing around it but a blank background and it was shown on its best side. But, looking at the guys in front of me, I won­ dered if some of them were taken on cameras at all! Of course there were those mobile selfies; the ones that, no matter how hard I try, I just cannot take without a big light where the flash went off or missing most of my face! But some of these guys managed it. I know I’m going off on a tangent here but I always wonder about selfies. Have these people really got no friends that can take a nice picture of them or don´t they own camera and tripod? Back to the sub­ ject and the photos of products being sold were shot in a way to make them appeal to as many people as possible; to stand out from all the other products around them, great angles and a high quality finish, but men´s photos were mainly amateurish! I´m guessing not many are professional photographers, but most of the pics made them look at their least attractive. Tubby bellies stared out at me where there

should have been some item of clothing covering them!

Then there were the photos taken on webcam where the face is just that little bit too close to the camera and is begin­ ning to get distorted so a normal nose becomes just that little bit too big!

Many of the photos were out of focus, which I imagine with a webcam would be quite tricky to do, although it´s been a long time since I used a webcam for photos (hate the look you get from it), but I´ve used them of course for Skype chat­ ting with my daughters and I´ve never been out of focus as far as I´m aware, but these guys manage it! There is a skill to photography of course, and like anything it takes practise to get it just right and the photos I found to put on my profile were ones taken by friends but I think they look good. The lighting, although not perfect, isn´t too bright or too dark and I always make sure I´m showing my best side whenever I have my photo taken! But even if all the photos had been taken by David Bailey it still felt a bit like shopping online looking through these photos and I decided that maybe I´m not ready for this just yet. When searching for a fellow, it ends up a bit like choosing a video game or a piece of furni­ ture! Maybe it´s time to look more closely at our lives and decide just what type of world we are living in? Is it one where we decide who to date based on a list of likes and dis­ likes and an out of date photo? But then I ask myself, do I have another choice?

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Friday, November 1, 2013

COULD BE WURST FOR MERKEL

The so­called “revela­ tions” that the Americans have been tapping the phones of world leaders, including supposed allies like Angela Merkel, hardly fall into a compartment marked “earth shatter­ ing”.

This sort of stuff has been going on for years, though I

admit to strange curiosity wanting to read a transcript of what the good fraulein might have ordered from her local wurst takeaway stand.

I also had to titter when I heard a rubbish White House comment which said that David Cameron’s phones have not been eavesdropped on by the

CIA. Fancy saying that. It’s as if they would issue a statement admitting the reverse! You can bet any­

thing that Uncle Sam has been doing that to Cam and his predecessors for years, and no wonder that the good old USA has been try­ ing to wring the neck of whistleblower, Edward Snowden, for giving us these nuggets. It’s what spying is all about, and everybody does it to each other, whilst Mr.Snowden enjoys his Russian asylum, making his old American bosses look stupid as they have to eat large dollups of humble pie in front of their Western allies.

Talking of humble pie eating, the head of the UK Chief Police officers, Sir Hugh Orde, says that the lying police officers at the centre of the so­called Plebgate affair that led to

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Andrew Mitchell resigning his cabinet job, should apol­ ogise. That ought to be the absolute bare minimum in another example of one rule for the cops, and another for everybody else. These guys ought to be billed for the utter waste of public money that this year­long farce has cost in addition to being dis­ missed, let alone kissing the feet of Mr. Mitchell.

Amazingly the Crown Prosecution Service is still pondering over whether or not to prosecute!

It doesn’t matter who’s in UK power, you know there’s a general election around the corner when a member of the ruling party decides to slag off the BBC. This time sees the turn of Tory Party chairman, Grant

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Shapps, who has suggested that the licence fee might be cut in the future, saying that the coverage of politics was not fair from the Beeb. It’s always the same old guff from the days of Harold Wilson back in the sixties, who loved the BBC when in opposition, but then he got swamped in paranoia when in government. Shapps is right over issues of the Savile affair, and big execu­ tive pay­off’s, but somehow forgot to recognise that the Beeb has a brilliant and fair but tough DG in the shape of Tony Hall. Or perhaps that would have just taken away a little bit from his pub­ licity seeking blurb that was plastered all over the front page of the BBC­hating Sunday Telegraph?

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Tony

Mayes

HE ALWAYS HAS SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT

NUMBER 10 READS THE COURIER!

I wrote two weeks ago about the huge cost to the UK in benefits and to the NHS from the estimated 600,000 unemployed EU citizens in the country and I wrote: "There is sup­ posed to be a reciprocal arrangement where the NHS can claim the money paid out by treating EU cit­ izens in the UK. But is the NHS making a claim in every case? Are all EU countries coughing up the money they owe? I wouldn't mind guessing the answer to both questions is no." Lo and behold, just four days after The Courier was published, we had the gov­ ernment announcing the NHS "could save up to £500m a year if it improved the way it charged foreign nationals for using its servic­ es". Wow! I didn't know I was writing Government policy.

I'm delighted to do so of course ­ but I do think I should be paid for it! It's not the first time that this has happened, and I'm delighted that Downing Street is read­ ing The Courier on line and acting on it. Long may it con­ tinue! Seriously though, fail­ ure to claw back money from foreigners using the NHS is costing the UK a small for­ tune. When we Brits turn up at Spanish medical centres or hospitals we have to show passports, NIE numbers or medical cards and the cost of treating us is recharged back to the UK. So why the hell is Britain so lax and allowing good money to bleed out of the NHS? I saw a TV inter­ view with some arrogant British doctor saying it was not his job to act as the British Border Agency, inter­ rogating patients and doing the necessary paperwork.

Well, if it's good enough for the Spanish medical servic­ es, it's good enough for doc­

tors in the UK. Think about it ­ doctors and nurses are con­ tinually moaning about their workload, and probably those moans are justified.

But if the job was done right and the NHS recharged for treating foreigners, it would be able to pay for a small army of extra doctors and nurses, therefore cutting the workload. It might also cut the waiting list for patients. A win, win all round I say. So get on with it ­ oh, and a plague of curses on Labour for their usual crap suggest­ ing the Coalition was raising the issue just for headline grabbing. That's the sort of typical negative opposition Britain can well do without.

Two major stories hit the headlines on the same day and some journalist should have created the link between them. But no­one did, so I will. The first was the story of another of the major energy suppliers raising prices just in time for winter ­ this time by around 10%. The TV companies sent reporters scurrying around interview­ ing people asking them how they were going to manage to find around £1,300 a year for gas and electricity and we had the usual replies from people saying they would have to decide whether to eat or keep warm this winter.

The other story concerned the huge mountain of food waste that Tesco stores gen­ erate. It's a scandal that so much food is thrown away in Britain ­ both by food compa­ nies and by customers. It's estimated that on average every household wastes around £500 worth of food every year ­ because they

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buy too much, or fail to eat it in time and it just gets put into the dustbin. Now hang on a minute ­ if people were more food efficient and bought only the food they thought they would be able to eat, they could save enough money to pay a third of their fuel bills. Sadly some will frit­ ter it away on booze, gam­ bling or something else total­ ly unnecessary and they would still say they can't afford to heat their homes.

Ever thought you can't win?

Now let's take this whole subject one stage further.

Yes, we have hard­pressed households struggling to pay fuel bills ­ and they could pay half by saving money by not wasting food. Now here's how we all can have money to pay the balance and have cash left for a holiday...by getting out of the EU. Because it has just been

porary agency workers direc­ tive, costing £2billion a year, and the energy performance of buildings directive, with a recurring cost of £1.5billion a year. Businesses say EU rules are costing them a for­ tune in time and money and they accuse Whitehall civil servants of "gold­plating" already burdensome regula­ tions. It's another damning indictment of EU member­ ship, and if Cameron and co fail to get shot of much unnecessary red tape in future re­negotiations, it's increasingly likely that Brits will opt out when finally they get the chance to vote.

Finally on the energy debate, I am totally in favour of scrap­ ping the Labour­introduced green taxes which have been added to fuel bills. Taxation is revealed that "pointless" taxation and it should be rules dreamt up by EU seen as such and paid as a bureaucrats are costing tax, not by stealth. Labour is Britain £27.4billion ­ and an expert on slapping hidden that's an annual burden and taxes on people. Remember it mounts up to £1,000 per that at election time. I'm also delighted that people are person. how hollow Some of the costliest regu­ realising lations from Brussels impose Miliband's idea of a price environmental rules and freeze on energy bills really bureaucracy that strangles is.

British banks or harms I hope that the Unite agency workers. The figures union and workers at have been calculated by the the Grangemouth refinery in think tank Open Europe, who Scotland have learned a very say that without laws such as important lesson over taking the working time regulations, their lifeblood plant to the which cost £4.1billion a year, brink of disaster. It was within the Government could slash a whisker of closure and the the Budget deficit. The think loss of thousands of jobs. tank conceded that some Bloody­minded trade union­ regulations were beneficial ism has no place in the mod­ for the UK, but argued that ern world. If workers are in a many laws originating in company which is struggling Brussels were overly pre­ to make a profit, there is no scriptive and burdensome. point in demanding wage Other regulations which hit rises or better working con­ British firms include the tem­ ditions. The reality is that

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they have to accept a reduc­ tion in pay, conditions and pensions, at least in the short term. I hope workers who have seen the stupidity of union bosses think care­ fully about continuing their membership in future.

The discovery of two blonde girls in Roma camps in Greece and Ireland raises the most seri­ ous questions as to exactly what is going on in Europe with children apparently passed around from com­ munity to community, coun­ try to country. It is obvious that communities living on the fringes of society need far more scrutiny than they have been getting. It is crazy that there are communities allowed to virtually police themselves. We need a Europe­wide, comprehen­ sive identity card system ­ it would do wonders to curb illegal immigration, combat crime and be so useful in identifying children who for one reason or other are estranged from their natural parents.

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And finally, I wrote recently how much I hate seeing people covered with horrible tattoos, so I had a great laugh when I read that some dickheads get themselves tattooed by other dickheads ­ so called "artists" who can't spell.

Some have ended up with appalling spelling disasters, or bizarre phrases in foreign languages. One man want­ ed to show the world how "awesome" he was but the e was sadly omitted from the art work. And a not­too­ bright bad boy was left with "Jenius" branded on his forehead.

Sadly tattoo "artists" get their hands on so many people before they have grown up and realise how ghastly this can be.

Scarred and tarred for life.

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Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

SAY IT IN SPANISH Learn the lingo - with a little help from JEANETTE ERATH Spanish 95 This week we are going to continue with the imperfect tense and when to use it, remember the differences between the imperfect and preterite tends to be about timescales, although it is not a definitive description of the differences.

Before we move on here are the answers to last week’s translations: I used to work in New York – trabajaba en Nueva York, I rode a bicycle – monta­ ba en bicicleta, I lived in an apartment in Manchester – vivía en un apartamento en Manchester, I used to read a lot of books – leía muchos libros, we had a big house in the country – teníamos una casa grande en el campo, my partner called me every night – mi pareja me llamaba cada noche, they used to eat in expensive restaurants – comían en restaurants caros, I saw her every day ­ la veía cada día, I was a doctor – era un médico, I used to go to school on the bus – iba a escuela en autobus, I used to have a dog – tenía un perro, I studied in Madrid estudiaba en Madrid.

When else do we use the imperfect tense? Very often when we are describing how things were we are speaking in general terms, therefore we use the imperfect. The Preterite will describe physical action whereas the imperfect will explain in general terms descriptions. In the imperfect the emphasis is on how things were rather than what happened.

For examples: I bought a car (preterite – specific action) – compré un coche The car was red (imperfect – general description) El coche era rojo.

When we talk about what job we had we use the imperfect, for example Shakespeare was a writer – Shakespeare era escritor

I used to work in New York When we use the present progressive or gerund tense (­ ing ending) in the past we use the imperfect tense and there are two ways of saying –ing, the first is to conjugate the ´doing´ word straight into the imperfect, for example ­ I was singing – yo cantaba the other way is to use the verb estar conjugated into the imperfect estaba, estabas, etc and then conjugate the ´doing´ verb into the present progressive e.g. I was singing – yo estaba cantando, this second conjugation I find easier personally because it´s more like how we would say it in English, however you can use both and so it´s up to you which one you use or whether you switch between the two.

I am going to take my time with this tense as I did with the preterite as it´s not easy to remember everything and it´s important to go at a pace which you can keep up with, I know

some people may try and rush ahead if I give too much information in one lesson, therefore I will leave the learning at this for this week and give you some more translations, these are only in the imper­ fect tense, so be sure you are confident with the conjugations and the three irregular verbs in this tense, and trans­ late the following into Spanish: Charles Dickens was a writer, the hotel was excellent, Where was the car?

I worked in London, I was dancing and John was playing the guitar, My pen didn´t work, George was tall and hand­ some, When I was young I used to go to the zoo, as a child I had a dog, we used to eat in the same restaurant, they were politicians, Where did you used to work?

We used to read lots of books, Why were you listening to music while I was studying? He had lots of friends, they used to call us every night Next week we will continue with the imperfect however the translations will be in either the preterite or imperfect, therefore take your time and try and at least learn how to conjugate the verbs, once you are sure of the changes then you can concentrate on when to use the different tenses. Remember the only way for most of us to remember anything new is repetition, it may seem a bit strange to keep saying the same thing over and over but the more you do it the quicker it will stay in your mind. It is worth all the hard work in the end when you are holding a conver­ sation with someone without actually having to think too hard about the words that are coming out of your mouth. So carry on enjoying Spanish and I´ll be back next week with more imperfect and a bit of preterite! ¡Que tengas una buena semana!

Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Running for Weight Loss

ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH ANTIOXIDANTS IN YOUR DIET? DR MACHI MANNU’S ADVICE CLINIC Email your questions and comments to contact@medb.es

Good old fashion running is a great way to lose weight. Running is also a great way to increase your level of fitness and improve your overall quality of life.

Now bear in mind, there is running and then there is running for weight loss. A lot of runners, although they may not have slim and toned bodies, enjoy running for the experience, the fitness or perhaps, for how it makes them feel. Running can also be used as a great method to lose weight, but you will need to incorporate it into a weight loss plan in order to reap the rewards.

As with any other successful weight loss program, what you eat accounts for eighty percent of your weight loss success. That said, don’t expect to lose weight because you run five kilometers every day, and

unless you’ve made a conscious effort to improve your daily eating regime your run­ ning won’t impact your weight loss.

At the end of the day, the way to lose weight is to take in less calories than what you burn on a daily basis. So, to lose weight, you need to ensure that you are eating less calories than how many you burn during your run. The best way to mon­ itor this is to get yourself a heart rate mon­ itor with a built in calorie counter, which will determine how many calories you have burnt during your run.

Be careful of energy drinks, which run­ ners often use to help them run for longer, especially if your goal is to lose weight.

Energy drinks are packed with extra calo­ ries, so if your goal is weight loss, stick to drinking water during your runs.

When Hippocrates said ‘Let thy food be thy medi­ cine’, he certainly wasn’t referring to any food, rather he must have had in mind foods rich in Antioxidants.

Many are still unaware of the power of antioxidants; still believing that Vitamins and Minerals are all there is to nutrients. Antioxidants are compounds found in the human body and also in many plant foods, and they are capable of neutralising highly toxic chemicals in the body called free radi­ cals. These deadly free radicals are now known to be behind most chronic dis­ eases such as heart disor­ ders, cataracts, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Impaired immunity, cancer and many more. Free radi­ cals cause oxidative dam­ age to body fat, cellular walls, proteins and DNA in a process similar to the rusting of metal. When cho­ lesterol is damaged, it sets in motion an abnormal cas­ cade of events that ulti­ mately leads to cardiovas­ cular disease. Likewise

when DNA or genetic mate­ rial is damaged, this caus­ es the production of aber­ rant proteins which in turn can give rise to inflammato­ ry reactions that cause dis­ ease in the body. Some free radicals are generated in our cells during normal chemical reactions.

However most come from external sources such as; cigarette smoke, excessive alcohol, environmental pol­ lutants, sunlight, and pre­ scription drugs.

Antioxidants are present in the body in many different forms like vitamins C and E, selenium, lipoic acid and co­enzyme Q10. Many plant compounds also have strong anti­oxidant proper­

ties and include: Polyphenols­ found in red wine, blueberries, and green tea; Carotenoids – found in yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables such as sweet corn, car­ rots, pumpkins, mangoes, peaches, dark green veg­ etables; Anthocyanins – present in bluish red fruits such as blueberries, cran­ berries, bilberries, raspber­ ries, blackberries, black currants, black grapes, acai berries, beetroot, red cabbage and black soy­ beans. The antioxidant strength of fruits and veg­ etables is measured by their ORAC score per 100 grams. The recommended daily ORAC score for opti­ mal health is 20,000.

Blackberries have an ORAC score of 5,348, while oranges have an ORAC score of 1,814. In contrast 100 grams of Dark chocolate has an ORAC score of 103,971 – Dark Chocolate remember!

FOR FULL BODY DIAG­ NOSTICS CALL DR MANNU :965071745

Latest Technology for Breast Implants available here on Costa Blanca Stem Cell Technology is the very latest in medical developments and has a number of uses. This is exciting and very up to the minute and we are in a posi­ tion to offer our clients this latest technology and research right on our doorstep.

Our surgeons are the only ones to be offering these procedures in the area.

This week we will look at replacement of breast implants with cell enriched fat transfer.

When there are problems with breast implants one of the latest alternatives is removal of the implant and replacement by fat grafts enriched with stem cells, in the same operation, with patients receiving their own transplanted fat cells achiev­ ing a soft and natural look.

Traditional breast implants can cause a number of prob­ lems including capsular con­ traction, rupture and leakage of silicone outside the implant, breast deformities and asymmetry, exposure of the implant to skin death (necrosis) the implants can be seen and felt under the skin and future mammo­

grams can be difficult to give a correct picture. With stem cell treatment we see a nat­ ural result, 100% touch per­ fect as it is the patient’s own cells, no risk of breakage or encapsulation, in other words breast enhancement that looks and feels totally natural and that’s because it is.

The procedure is carried out in a special operating theatre with a laboratory incorporated so that the stem cells and fat tissues can be extracted and under­ go a sophisticated process in the operating theatre labo­ ratory. The cells when treat­ ed can be added to fat cells already extracted through liposuction and injected into the area and a natural breast is the result. The 4 stages to the procedure are

liposuction, stem cell enrich­ ment of the patients own fat cells, removal of existing sil­ icone implants and introduc­ tion of the enriched fat stem cells. The result is a natural firmer breast without foreign bodies, without silicone implants and a natural size increase of 1 to 2 cup sizes.

No scars very short recovery time and back to normal almost immediately Unbelievable you might be thinking! But no this is 2013 and this is the future of medicine. Call us today to book your complimentary no pressure consultation with our leading surgeon to dis­ cuss your suitability for this ground breaking treatment.

Contact us on 72221945 Or email simply18es@hot­ mail.com

Friday, November 1, 2013

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Friday, November 1, 2013

FEELING THE PRESSURE Q

I am a 69 year old man, and I have suffered from high blood pressure for 7 years, and have been on medica­ tions. Since this past year however, my blood pressure hasn’t been so good. My doctor changed my medication a few months ago, but it didn’t make much difference. In a way I feel it has to do with my lifestyle, and will be glad if you tell me the right diet for my problem.

A

Yes you are right in thinking that lifestyle plays an important role in maintaining a healthy blood pressure. To understand the diet that is right for you, it may be best to first consider the caus­ es of high blood pressure (HBP). According to medical science, over 80 per cent of HBP is due to unknown factors, and the remaining 20 per cent are caused by problems originating from arteries, kidneys, adrenal glands, hormonal system, as well as from drug reactions caused by medications and toxic contami­ nants. The so called unknown causes of HBP are now believed by most medical researchers to be due to nutritional deficiencies, most likely of a complex nature. More importantly, researchers are finding that a group of toxic compounds known as free radicals are responsible for the degenerative changes in organs that ultimately lead to hypertension. These free radicals wreak havoc on our organs in a process very similar to ‘rusting of iron’. To protect our cells against the destructive action of toxic free radicals, our body employs compounds known as Antioxidants. These compounds are mainly found in plant foods, but also occur naturally in the body in varied forms. Fruits and vegetables especially those coloured blue­red, are rich sources of antioxidants, and include: blue berries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, pomegranates, goji berries, and the good news is that they are available from your local supermarket. But the foods with the highest amount of antiox­ idants are Acai fruit, and dark chocolate. Other nutrients whose deficiencies or sub deficiencies are known to trigger high blood

pressure are Magnesium, vitamin C, folic acid, omega­3, and Ubiquinol. In addition, imbalances in blood levels of Sodium and Potassium have been strongly linked to high blood pressure. This is why certain drugs used to treat hypertension are based on their ability to regulate sodium and potassium in the body. In any case, in my clinical experience, a deficiency of magnesium is a more common cause of high blood pressure than problems with potas­ sium and sodium, and on many occasions I have successfully cor­ rected long standing high blood pressure with magnesium.

Vegetable foods that are rich in magnesium and potassium are: tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, broccoli, spinach, artichokes, sweet potatoes, beans. Furthermore, these fruits are equally rich in magnesium and potassium; bananas, dates, oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, mangoes, peaches, pineapple, strawberries and tangerines. Oily fish are good sources of Omega­3 fatty acids.

However, extra caution is needed with fish, because most of it is now contaminated with mercury and radiation from the nuclear accident in Fukushima, making smaller fish a healthier alternative because they don’t concentrate toxins in their tissues as much as the larger ones. In recent times, saturated fats and cholesterol have been demonised as the cause of high blood pressure and heart disease, and the advice to the public is to consume foods low in fat such as margarine and hydrogenated oils. What we know however is that such processed oils are broken down in the body into deadly free radicals that add to the problem of inflamma­ tion and high blood pressure. Cholesterol is also one of the most vital nutrients in the body, and is the key ingredient required for our nervous and muscular system to function effectively. It is so valu­ able that the liver makes 70% of all the cholesterol present in the body. This is why blocking the production of cholesterol with statin drugs puts the body under immense pressure to make more cho­ lesterol, eventually causing the so called common side effects of statins – muscle pain and depression. Eating foods that contain

wheat is probably the most important cause of high blood pressure today. Unknown to people, the wheat consumed today is geneti­ cally different from strains of wheat consumed prior to the mid­ 1970s, when it was genetically modified; only back then the process was referred to as Hybridisation. The wheat of today con­ tains more of the toxic compounds that are seen in plants of the grain family such as: barley, maize, rye and of course wheat.

These toxic compounds include: gluten, alpha gliadin, and wheat germ agglutinin and they cause severe inflammation of the arter­ ies which can eventually cause high blood pressure. Wheat is also known to promote persistently high levels of insulin, and this even­ tually leads to high levels of triglycerides. High triglyceride levels will eventually result in abnormal or high total cholesterol levels. In summary, if you suffer from high blood pressure, your diet should be free from Wheat and wheat based foods such as bread, pasta, cakes, battered foods etc. Giving up wheat is certainly not an easy task. Your diet should also be rich in a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and these are best consumed raw. Butter should be eaten in place of margarine. Coconut oil is the best kind of oil to cook with because unlike most other oils including olive oil, it does­ n’t break down when heated. Coconut oil also contains Medium chain triglycerides (MCT), an alternate brain fuel, now thought to help prevent neurodegenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. MCT is also found abundantly in full milk, another reason it should be preferred to skimmed milk. You should also cut down your intake of coffee and alcohol. Most peo­ ple retire to Spain and spend their days drinking every type of bev­ erage but water. Make sure you drink at least 1.5 litres of water every day. Water is necessary for the kidney to process waste materials in the body.

PLEASE SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO : contact@medb.es or to the editor of the courier.

UNDER THE HAMMER

Easy Horse Care Rescue centre fund­rais­ er, David Feest, showed another side to his talents by running an auction at Alfie’s Place Bar and Restaurant in La Zenia. Over 50 lots were snapped up by eager bidders including a signed biography from Katie Price a.k.a.

Jordan.

“Our thanks once again to Alfie for being our host and donating lots for the auction”, said David (pictured with his wife Vicky).

“Thanks also to our fantastic volunteers who helped make it all possible and of course the people who attended and joined in the fun.”

ON THE ROAD

The Orihuela Costa Male Voice Choir is back home after finishing their very first tour, journeying to Alfas del Pi near Benidorm. The choir, under musical director Nigel Hopkins, which has only been together for 18 months, performed 2 concerts, raising money for the AECC Cancer charity.

Big ladybird boost

The Ladybirds raised a bumper 1300 Euros at their late summer ball at the Real Campoamor Golf Club Restaurant. Over 130 guests had a great night out enjoying the food and entertainment, with the raffle alone accumulating 800 Euros! Since February, The Ladybirds have amassed 7148 Euros for their chosen charity which is The Felix Mantilla Skin Cancer Foundation based in Barcelona. They meet on the first Friday of each month, and you can get more details by phoning Pearl on 966 764 924.

CATWALK BONUS The Elche Children’s Home is better off to the tune of 200 Euros after a fashion show and lunch at Benimar’s Let’s Eat Restaurant. Glamour Glamour staged the fun fashion show, with Ken from Pinks Hairdressers dealing with all the mod­ els hair needs!

Several more fund­raising fashion shows will be staged before the end of the year, as well as a range of new stock at the Christmas Fayre at the Quesada Country Club from 11.00am on Wednesday November 13th. Free tea and cake tasting vouchers are available before the day via an E­mail to sueinthesun@hotmail.co.uk or by calling into Quesada Country Club on or after Monday 4th November.

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Toast-man Tom cops an Odds-on grinner

TOM WHITMORE is the toast of Toastmasters International after winning the National Final of a humorous speech competition in Seville.

Retired police officer Tom, a member of Las Palmeras Speakers Club, copped the top accolade plus a place in next month’s European final with an arresting short speech that had the audience in hysterics. Entitled ‘Long Odds’, it explored the chances of finding a lifelong partner alongside some specific pitfalls and pleasures that may be encountered via Internet Dating.

Seven other Area winners had competed against Londoner Tom, a San Fulgencio resident, who now aims to have the last laugh by winning the European Final in Budapest.

His partner, Scots­born Veronica Ross, took third prize in the Table Topics Contest, where a topic is given to the con­ testant and they have two minutes to improvise..

More than 65 Toastmasters attended the Seville confer­ ence, at which15 Toastmaster clubs from Bilbao to Barcelona and from Madrid to Marbella were represented.

Interested in joining Las Palmeras Speakers Club? Then please contact the president, Georgia Varjas, at drag­ on5352@hotmail.com or Paco Saez: on frncsc.saez@gmail.com

WISE MEN COMETH

The recently staged “Amazing Art Day” hosted by the Quesada Country Club looks set to net 1 thousand Euros for the Elche Children’s Home, with a presentation planned for Will it all be about gold, frankincense and myrrh for the lat­ later this month. est show being put on by the Rascals? The Three Kings will Martin Robinson who is a long­time supporter of charitable feature in Odyssey to be staged at the Los Montesinos music events gave up his spare time to paint live at the art compe­ school on Thursday December 5th, and at the Virgen del tition at the club ­ his painting was the first prize in the raffle Carmen theatre in Torrevieja a week later on December 12th held on the day and was won by Jennifer Deakin. In turn, with curtain up on both shows at 7.00pm. Tickets are just 5 she’s donated it to the Children’s Home charity, and it’s cur­ Euros with profits going to local children’s charities. You can rently on display at the Quesada Country Club, and open to reserve them by calling Sue on 966 784 874. offers to anybody who is interested in buying it!

WALTZING MATILDA ADAPTING TO THE LINGO

A BETTER VIEW

Better eyesight for the world’s needy will become a reality due to the hard work of the Torrevieja Costa Lions club, as the President, Janette Bennett donated 1 thousand pairs of used spectacles to Emilio Moreno at the Centro de Reciclaje de Gafas "Melvin Jones" in San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante.

The used spectacles are cleaned, graded and reframed at the recycling centre where they are then held awaiting orders from all round the world where eye care is not readily avail­ able. In such countries Lions Clubs International provide opti­ cians and eye care specialists who carry out eye tests and then submit their requirements to the recycling centre on a regular basis.

ALL OFFERS OPEN!

Released and refreshed from the retirement home for pan­ tomime animals, Matilda the Cow will be strutting her stuff again this year in Stagestruck’s Christmas presentation of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Cardenal Belluga Theatre in San Fulgencio. All the proceeds from their production to the Alzheimer’s Association and the San Fulgencio Ambulance Appeal.

There’ll be four performances, kicking off with a special matinee show for local schoolchildren on Thursday November 28th at 3.00pm, followed by 8.00pm outings on Friday November 29th and Saturday November 30th. And finally, there’s an extra matinee show on Sunday December 1st at 3.00pm.

All Tickets are 6 Euros for adults and 3 Euros for under 12’s, and a pre­show free drink of wine, or a soft drink is included in the price, with drinks on sale during the half time intermission. Tickets are available from Stella on 965 076 700 or from The Card Place in Benimar or The Post Room in Benijofar.

Better English language skills mean better customer serv­ ice. That’s the view of the Spanish supermarket chain, EROSKI, who’ve approached the San Pedro del Pinatar based ADAPT group to run English language lessons for the staff at their local store. The six week course will also allow ADAPT members to brush up on their Spanish skills, learning all kinds of words and phrases to do with buying a wide range of goods.

ADAPT meet on the first Saturday of the month at 10.30am in the Pensionista del Hogar in San Pedro. For more details on the group that look to build links between the British and Spanish communities, you can phone Enid Winskill on 966 189 402

Happy birthday to them

AMBULANCE BOOST

WATCH MEETING

Rojales Neighbourhood Watch’s next meeting will be on Monday December 2nd at 11.00am in Quesada’s Municipal Centre. Anybody who linves in the 03170 postal area is wel­ come to come along.

To learn more about Neighbourhood Watch in Rojales, go to their website www.rojalesnw.info or contact David East via david.east82@gmail.com

GREEN FINGERS Container gardening and Lemon Grass will be some of the subjects under the keen spotlight of the next meeting of the Vega Baja Garden Club. The group get together this Monday November 4th from 1.45pm at the Los Rosales Restaurant, on the Lemon Tree Road, Guardamar. For more details, phone Val Duckworth on 966 716 527.

The Cardenal Belluga Theatre Group’s recent “Movies and Musicals” show was a sellout success with 1 thousand Euros raised for the local ambulance service. Next on the list are a couple of carol concerts in December. New members are more than welcome, with rehearsals for the concerts kicking off at the La Marina Social Centre on Monday November 11th from 1.00pm. To find out more about the group, then look at their website, www.thecardenalbellugatheatregroup.com

The ladies of the Torrevieja­based Velvetones Ladies Harmony Chorus celebrated their 15th birthday recently by letting their hair down in Benidorm. They spent 3 enjoyable days at the resort’s Corona del Mar Spa hotel, and they couldn’t resist doing some impromptu singing for the staff!

The Velvetones were put together by Harry Hall with one of the original members, Maggie Ellis­Press still very much alive and singing. Sheila and Judy Phillips were in the first line up, with Sheila taking over as musical director when Harry died. Now her daughter Judy, together with Ena Fraser are at the helm of what is a happy band of singers!

New ladies are more than welcome to join, with the Velvetones meeting from 9.30am every Wednesday at Restaurant El Paraiso on Jardin del Mar, Torrevieja. Or check out their website: ­ www.velvetones.org or phone Mary­Anne on 966 714 973

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Focus on LA ZENIA

Lying at the very heart of the Orihuela Costa, La Zenia has grown into a thriving urbanization with a plethora of profes­ sional businesses giving you many rea­ sons to drop in for a visit. Its most prominent landmark for holiday makers is historically the La Zenia Hotel which

sits on top of the rock face looking out over the Mediterranean Sun worshipers will be pleased to find that La Zenia boasts one of the Costa Blanca's finest beaches, which attracts thousands of visitors each year. It’s the perfect loca­ tion to work on your tan and with a large

Our arbitrage facility has consistently paid clients over 2% every month Our Sports Advisory Service makes more Winning Express offers you an outstanding Double­ edged business opportunity – Earn generous commissions and build a substantial income by recommending the services to others.

We already have members earning over £5,000 per month from introductory commissions. This business can change your life for the better…….. Register at www.winningexpress.com or call our La Zenia office on 965 994 815

THE PERFECT SMILE FROM GILABERT If you open wide and say aaahhh, then it has to be the perfect dental centre for you: ­ namely Gilabert Clinic. Be it your molars or crowns, or special cosmetic work, then you can take advantage of their 30 years of experience to give you the best possible dentistry experience. And these days, major technological advances make your visit to their centres in Orihuela City and the Orihuela Costa (La Zenia) even more satisfactory. The Gilabert Clinic team are right on the ball with all the latest developments in the world of dentistry, as everybody gets regular updates on all the new tech­ niques to bring the best possible service to you. Gilabert Clinic led

by Dr.Gilabert offers you every dental speciality and service that you can imagine, and of course it’s tailored to your personal needs to give you the highest quality treatment. It’s hardly surprising then that Gilabert Clinic has become the leading local dental centre offering advanced work with the most modern techniques and instruments. Check out the great team who make you feel impor­ tant as they work out the treatment plan that gives you the best results whilst not burning a large hole in your pocket.

BONANZA GIFTS FOR ALL La Ponderosa is your specialist gift shop with all the lead­ ing designer brands under one roof. We’ve been in business for over 14 years and we have the best reputation as the best place to find that special gift, whether it is a little magnet or a luxury Bugatti coffee machine. Jewellery lovers have a great choice from the newest ranges of Pandora, Thomas Sabo, Majorica, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and many more. You will also find everything you could possible think of to deco­ rate your home for Christmas, ornaments, artificial trees, lights as well as angels in all shapes and sizes. We also have the perfect gift ideas for men be it a gadget USB stick, racing car mouse pads, or Zippo lighters with lifetime guarantee. Be sure to visit us in our big 200 square metre shop right next to the Consum supermarket. You will not be disappointed. We are open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 8 pm.

selection of bars, cafes, and numerous businesses in the area, you can really make a day of it. Meanwhile, if you prefer a cooler way to explore the area, then the one year old shopping experience of Zenia Boulevard can provide hours of fun for all the family

Friday, November 1, 2013

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Focus on LA ZENIA OOH LA LA AT LOOKING GOOD Looking Good Boutique has been in La Zenia for almost 12 years, and not surprisingly, it’s still the place to visit for exclu­ sive ladies fashion, hand­ picked collections from world class designers and the level of service you would expect in a long established boutique. We offer exciting collections from around the world, including the one and only Joseph Ribkoff with an exclusive range for all occasions up to a UK size 22. From France, we offer the amazing Didier Parakian, bringing you classic French chic featuring beautiful tailoring and distinctive design. Also from France, there’s the fantastic Pause Cafe range, multi texturing and fabric mixing are the trademark of this beautiful collection in sizes up to a UK22.

Curvy ladies are also right at home here with our dedicated department Looking Good Plus, where we stock elegant, styl­ ish and feminine fashion for ladies up to UK size 28.

Shop on­line at www.lookingforstyle.com or come in to browse, you will always be made welcome by our friendly staff.

UNO’S IS NUMBER ONE FOR FASHION Uno’s at Los Dolses has been open for over two years now and continues to go from strength to strength supplying quality ladies fashions from UK out­ lets at low prices. Uno`s bring you fashions from Per Una, M&S, George, Zara, British Home Stores, Debenhams and the very popular Claudia range whose ever popular reversible dresses sell out fast. Glen the owner is constantly sourcing new stock, which he puts on the rails every week, so if you are looking for quality UK clothing at low prices then just pop in and have a browse, Uno`s also has shops stores at Pinar de Campoverde and Quesada, and if you want to know more, then ring Glen on 606 926 437. Uno`s often rivalled never beaten.

COMASKEY CAN SEAL THE DEAL Comaskey Properties is a down to earth, family run, real estate company which has been selling quality properties in the Orihuela Costa area since 2002, with the region seeing big changes since then, especially in the last two years. Comaskey Properties specialise in resale property in La Zenia and Cabo Roig, as well as Playa Flamenca, Villamartin and the surround­ ing areas, but they are also selling many of the new develop­ ments appearing on the Orihuela Costa. Comaskey Properties itself has changed too: ­ From the humble beginnings of a rent­ ed office, one computer, and staff of two, we've grown to be one of the Costa Blanca´s busiest property agents with thousands of satisfied clients. We now have two offices in prime locations at La Zenia, one jointly with Spanish Solutions; a legal and tax firm established in 2005. Whether its front line beach, golf, holiday, rental and investment property, we have it! If you are buying here, you should buy from Comaskey Properties. See http://www.comaskey.com. Call 966773453 or 966773026

SOLUTIONS FOR A LESS TAX-ING LIFE Spanish Solutions is a Legal and Tax firm established in 2005, based at two offices in La Zenia (one of which is shared with Comaskey Properties). We know that foreigners in Spain can have a multitude of problems and our multi­lingual staff provide a friendly personal service, with clear, informed advice, always seeking the best way to provide solutions. We organise the start­ up, accounting and social security for businesses. For residents and non­residents, we arrange tax returns. Our English speaking solicitor and barrister provides legal advice on a variety of issues, and we assist with Wills, inheritance tax, as well as everything to do with a car including driving licences and changing ownership.

We also handle structural changes to properties and even cur­ rency exchange, amongst many other things. Our friendly team enjoy what they do and you’ll notice this when you pop into our office and check out our warm and friendly atmosphere that helps to put you at ease. For more details, check out our website: ­ http://www.spanishsolutions.net or phone 966 761 741 or 966 760 917

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT WITH WORLDWIDE The world is your oyster, and nobody knows that better than the Worldwide Horizons Travel Agency. They’re based between Comaskey Properties and Paddy´s Point at La Zenia and they’ve got 11 years of experience in the fast changing travel industry(Worldwide was previously Estival Tour, which opened in 2002). The Agency is English speaking, fully bond­ ed, and sells everything from luxury holidays to basic get­ aways. They are experts in cruises (including last minute and discounted ), and their friendly and knowledgeable staff also know about football packages and fantastic group deals, including in some cases free trips for group organisers! They are currently taking many bookings for Benidorm and other places for Christmas and the New Year, and demand is brisk for the festive season, so give Worldwide a call now, or you’ll miss out on a trip to remember. Their website is http://www.whtravel.es or phone 966 761 492

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Focus on LA ZENIA Give Your Little Ones The BEST Start In Life With School 123 Here at School 123 we pride ourselves in being one big happy family.

We have a happy, healthy environment, where all the chil­ dren from babies to pre­school thrive and develop in all the important areas for their ages, helping them to make the leap from nursery to mainstream school with ease. We have lots of fun in our cooking, music and dance classes, as we believe children learn and develop when they are enjoying themselves and having fun. Within the school we have two outdoor play areas, one of which has a sandpit; we also have two baby rooms, soft play area and two classrooms. During the summer months we have lots of outdoor activities and water play. School 123 also has a Mother and Toddler group and Summer club. There will be a big welcome awaiting you from all the staff at School 123.

ALL SMILES AT HAPPY TEETH Happy Teeth Swedish Dental Clinic has now been in business in La Zenia for 8 years. Our Swedish team of two Dentists, Anders Sundin and Linus Klaive, along with the two Hygienists, Lena and Annette, offers high quality dental treatment at fair prices.

We are famous for turning your bad experiences into a good one! The multilingual team of staff speak

British,

Swedish,

Finnish,

Norwegian,

Spanish and German languages .

ALL THAT’S MISSING IS THE GENIE! Easy Ads in La Zenia is a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of second hand goods based in La Zenia. We’re not sure if you can find the genie or the lamp, but you will find thousands of bargains in store or online, and we specialise in buying or selling literally anything! If you have items to sell from one item to a whole house clearance we have several options for you, including instant cash or you can sell on site for a commission. We also run a classified ads service via our 24/7 exter­ nal ad boards & Online ­ www.easyadsspain.com. There’s everything on there from properties for sale or rent; leisure and events; through to local businesses advertising what they have on offer.

And it doesn’t end there as Easy Ads runs its own rental depart­ ment featuring an extensive range of Nursery and Disability Equipment, as well as Bikes & Golf Clubs all at very competitive rates.

We can also help you with your local removals, be it one item or the whole of your home!

Easy Ads is your one stop shop for literally everything! Give us a try!

Chapter 1……”Going the extra mile for your dining experience” All our meals are prepared on the premises from scratch, our meat carefully selected by the head chef, our fish bought daily via fish markets in Alicante and Galicia and our compli­ mentary breads homemade. We are fortunate to have 2 fully trained pastry chefs on board resulting in ever changing desserts that are 100% homemade 100% of the time includ­ ing all our ice creams.

Chapter 1……”No frozen chips, packet sauces or microwaves allowed on the premises” Chapter 1……”Fine dining at affordable prices

ALFIE’S IS ALL ABOUT GOOD FOOD AND FUN Alfie’s Place Restaurant in La Zenia will be popping the champagne corks next month as they celebrate a year in their new home, and they’ve quickly established a big repu­ tation on the Orihuela Costa for quality food and entertain­ ment. Alfie has a large selection of tapas, meat and fish dish­ es, and a wide­ranging menu of the day. There’s plenty of choice with 8 starts, courses, and desserts to go at for just 9.90 Euros, and the freshly cooked food is served all day.

Whilst you eat, you can be entertained every Tuesday and Saturday afternoon between 1pm and 4pm, with pop classics from The Rockits on Tuesday and some toe­tapping jazz on the Saturday. And that’s not all! Twice a month Alfie brings you a big show, and coming up this Friday November 8th, it’s The Jazz Singer Neil Diamond Special Dinner, which will cost you just 15 Euros per head for the entertainment and the meal! Alfie’s is open every day between 9am and Midnight.

Friday, November 1, 2013

27

UK HEADLINES

MADELEINE MCCANN 'KIDNAPPER' DIED IN TRACTOR ACCIDENT' Madeleine McCann's suspected kidnapper was a worker at the hotel where she vanished who snatched her after being sacked ­ and later DIED in a tractor accident, it was sensationally claimed Wednesday.

Police are believed to have identified the man as their main suspect after tests on his mobile phone showed he was around the McCann's holiday apartment on the day Maddie disappeared, Portuguese daily Correio da Manha reported.

The 40­year­old is understood to have been a former employee at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz who detectives fear may have snatched the little girl out of revenge after he was fired.

The unnamed suspect was also living in a flat in the town of Lagos, around a 15­minute drive from the McCann's resort.

Officers have already quizzed his widow about their sus­ picions and are thought to be searching for Madeleine's body in the belief he may have killed her, the newspaper reported.

Portugal's Attorney General gave the go­ahead for the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance to be reopened last week at the request of the country's Policia Judiciaria police force ­ more than five years after the probe had been shelved.

Correio da Manha claimed: "Police suspicions about the former Ocean Club employee arose during the review of the case carried out by a PJ team from Porto.

"This was the strongest new lead presented to state pros­ ecutors which led to the investigation being reopened.

"The man, who died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009, was not on the list of employees handed over to police dur­ ing the initial investigation by the Ocean Club because at the

time of Madeleine's disappearance he was not working there."

The newspaper described his departure from the Ocean Club as "frictious" and added: "The motives that could have caused the ex­employee to kidnap the youngster are still being investigated.

"The suspect could have taken the child to commit a sex crime before killing her.

"But he could also have committed the kidnap as a form of retaliation against the Ocean Club.

"His aim could have been to call into question the security of the holiday club but something went wrong and the youngster disappeared."

Correio da Manha reported earlier this week that

Portuguese police were looking for Madeleine's body after reaching the conclusion she was probably dead.

The McCanns' lawyer Rogerio Alves said last week the couple were still motivated by the belief she was alive.

Portuguese police declined to comment on the Correio da Manha report on Wednesday.

It was written by three journalists, including a senior reporter who recently gave evidence at the ongoing libel trial the McCanns brought against Goncalo Amaral over a con­ troversial July 2008 book he wrote falsely accusing them of faking their daughter's abduction to cover up her death.

A spokesman for the Policia Judiciaria said: "A secrecy order placed on the reopened case, and our professional secrecy, prevents us from making any comment on Correio da Manha's reports."

It emerged over the weekend police were planning to rein­ terview several Ocean Club employees.

More than 130 workers were questioned during the initial inquiry, including two maintenance men who fixed a blind in Gerry and Kate McCann's apartment two days before Madeleine disappeared and showed her mum how to use the washing machine.

One of the men blamed gypsies for a string of robberies in the area and told police he had seen travellers stealing fire­ wood from an Ocean Club warehouse around four months before Madeleine disappeared.

Portuguese police are thought to have returned to the Praia da Luz area around a month ago to do mobile phone tracking work.

It is not clear if the officers were from the Porto­based review team ­ or were detectives based in the Algarve acting on behalf of Met Police who are carrying out their own sep­ arate investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

Bodyguard jailed for sending boss's family bogus death threats A private security guard deliber­ ately set out to make the family that employed him fear for their lives in a desperately cruel bid to win a pay rise and promotion.

Christopher Cooknell, 54, sent an anonymous letter and a number of text messages to victim Daniel Holloway, threatening to kill him and his family.

The sick threats terrified the fami­ ly, who as a result promoted Cooknell and increased his salary.

On Tuesday at Basildon Crown Court judge David Owen­Jones sentenced Cooknell to three years in jail after he had admitted mak­

ing threats to kill and fraud at a previous hearing, After sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer, DCI Lucy Robinson, said: ‘Christopher Cooknell is a dangerous man in that he fails to fully comprehend the implications of his actions.

‘He has caused a great deal of suffering to the victim and his family by sending distressing text messages and his actions have also resulted in two innocent men being arrested for no reason.

‘His motivation appears to be entirely for selfish financial gain and I have no doubt that had his text messages been allowed to

continue he would have become increasingly greedy and sought to demand money from Mr Holloway.

‘Thankfully it never came to this, but I hope his sentence today reflects the seriousness of his actions.’

Cooknell, from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, was part of a security team first employed to help protect Mr Holloway’s family following an aggravated burglary at their fami­ ly estate in Brentwood, Essex, in June 2009.

In August 2011, Cooknell sent an anonymous letter threatening a further burglary, at gunpoint, at the home.

28

Friday, November 1, 2013

WINTER WARMERS TENDER DUCK AND PINEAPPLE RED CURRY Ingredients

6 duck legs 2 tbsp light brown sugar 4 tbsp red Thai curry paste 1 can coconut milk 2 tbsp fish sauce 6 kaffir lime leaves 1 small pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced, to serve (optional) Thai basil leaves, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Dry­fry the duck legs in an ovenproof frying pan or casserole dish on a low heat for a good 10­15 mins, turn­ ing once, until coloured all over. Remove from the pan. Add the sugar to the fat in the pan and cook until caramelised, then add the curry paste and cook for few mins until fragrant. Stir in the coconut milk and half a can of water. Simmer and stir until everything is combined, then add the fish sauce and lime leaves.

2. Slip in the duck legs, cover the pan and cook in the oven for 1½ hrs until the duck is really tender. Lift the duck legs into a serving dish and remove fat from the sauce, if you like.

The curry can be prepared to this stage up to 2 days ahead and left in the fridge, in which case it will be easier to remove the fat.

3. Place the pan back on the heat, add the pineapple and simmer for 2 mins. Adjust the seasoning, adding more fish sauce for salt, and more sugar for sweetness. At the last moment, stir through half the chilli and half the Thai basil leaves, if using, pour over the duck, then scatter with the rest

of the chilli and basil. Serve with jasmine rice.

BETTER-THAN-BAKED BEANS WITH SPICY WEDGES Ingredients 1 tsp oil 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced 2 rashers streaky bacon, cut into large­ish pieces 1 tsp sugar, brown if you have it 400g can chopped tomatoes 200ml stock from a cube 410g can cannellini beans, butter or haricot beans in water For the wedges 1 tbsp white flour (plain or self­raising) ½ tsp cayenne pepper, paprika or mild chilli powder 1 tsp dried mixed herb (optional) 2 baking potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges 2 tsp oil

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. For the wedges, mix the flour, cayenne and herbs (if using), add some salt and pepper, then toss with the potatoes and oil until well coated.

Tip into a roasting tin, then bake for about 35 mins until crisp and cooked through.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a non­stick pan, then gently fry the onion and bacon together for 5­10 mins until the onions are softened and just starting to turn golden. Stir in the sugar, tomatoes, stock and seasoning to taste, then simmer the sauce for 5 mins. Add the beans, then simmer for another 5 mins until the sauce has thickened. Serve with the wedges.

ROAST CHICKEN SOUP Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, chopped 3 medium carrots, chopped

1 tbsp thyme leaves, roughly chopped 1.4l chicken stock 300g leftover roast chicken, shredded and skin removed 200g frozen peas 3 tbsp Greek yogurt 1 garlic clove, crushed squeeze lemon juice

Method

1. Heat oil in a large heavy­based pan. Add onions, carrots and thyme, then gently fry for 15 mins. Stir in stock, bring to a boil, cover, then simmer for 10 mins.

2. Add the chicken, remove half the mixture, then purée with a stick blender. Tip back into the pan with the rest of the soup, peas and seasoning, then simmer for 5 mins until hot through.

3. Mix the yogurt, garlic and lemon juice, swirl into the soup in bowls, then serve.

HERBY BEAN SAUSAGE STEW Ingredients 8 chipolatas 2 x 420g/15oz can mixed beans 2 x 400g/14oz cans chopped tomato 1 tsp dried basil 2 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Heat a large non­ stick frying pan, then brown the sausages for 3­5 mins over a high heat. Drain the beans, then add to the pan with the chopped tomatoes, herbs and sugar. Season well and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has thickened, coating the beans.

SPICED CARROT & LENTIL SOUP Ingredients 2 tsp cumin seeds pinch chilli flakes

29

Friday, November 1, 2013

2 tbsp olive oil 600g carrots, washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel) 140g split red lentils 1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine) 125ml milk plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat a large saucepan and dry­fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside. Add the oil, carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

2. Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Season to taste and finish with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

SWEETCORN AND SMOKED HADDOCK CHOWDER Ingredients knob of butter 2 rashers of streaky bacon, copped 1 onion, finely chopped 500ml milk 350g potatoes (about 2 medium) cut into small cubes 300g frozen smoked had­ dock fillets (about 2) 140g frozen sweetcorn chopped parsley, to serve

Method

1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Tip in the bacon, then cook until starting to brown. Add the onion, cook until soft,

then pour over the milk and stir through the potatoes. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins.

2. Add the haddock, then leave to gently cook for another 10 mins. By now the fish should have defrosted so you can break it into large chunks. Stir through the sweetcorn, then cook for another few mins until the fish is cooked through and the sweetcorn has defrosted. Scatter over parsley, if using.

Serve with plenty of crusty bread.

THAI BEEF CURRY Ingredients 2­3 tbsp groundnut oil 2kg beef short ribs (bone­in ribs left whole), or brisket, cut into large chunks large bunch coriander 2 lemongrass stalks, 1 bashed, 1 roughly chopped 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1­2 green chillies, roughly chopped, deseeded if you like 2cm­piece galangal or ginger, peeled and chopped 50ml rice wine vinegar 50ml fish sauce 2 tbsp palm or light brown sugar 400g can coconut milk 2 star anise 6 kaffir lime leaves juice 2 limes, plus wedges to serve

Method

1. Heat a little of the oil in a large pan and brown the beef in batches, removing to a plate after, reserving any juices. If your slow cooker has a browning function, use this instead.

Meanwhile, in a mini chopper or food processor, whizz half the coriander, the chopped lemongrass, garlic, chillies and galangal with the rest of the oil until you have a rough paste.

2. Turn the slow cooker to High. Heat the paste for a few mins, then add the beef and all the remaining ingredients, apart from the remaining coriander and lime juice. Turn slow

cooker to Low and cook for 8 hrs, or until the meat is falling off the bone.

3. If using beef ribs, remove bones from the beef, then shred the meat with 2 forks. If the sauce is too thin, strain it off and boil it to reduce. Stir in the remaining coriander and lime juice, then season with more fish sauce or sugar.

RICH PAPRIKA SEAFOOD BOWL Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced 2 celery stalks, finely chopped large bunch flat­leaf parsley, leaves and stalks separated 2­3 tsp paprika 200g roasted red peppers, drained weight, thickly sliced 400g can chopped tomatoes with garlic 400g white fish fillet, cut into very large chunks few fresh mussels (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan, then add the onions, celery and a lit­ tle salt. Cover, then gently fry until soft, about 10 mins. Put the parsley stalks, half the leaves, oil and seasoning into a food processor and whizz to a paste. Add this and the papri­ ka to the softened onions, frying for a few mins. Tip in the peppers and tomatoes with a splash of water, then simmer for 10 mins until the sauce has reduced.

2. Lay the fish and mussels on top of the sauce, put a lid on, then simmer for 5 mins until the fish is just flaking and the mussels have opened – discard any that stay shut. Gently stir the seafood into the sauce, season, then serve in bowls.

30

Friday, November 1, 2013

SPANISH NEWS

WORST MINING DISASTER IN 18 YEARS

Six people died after a methane gas leak at a mine in the Castilla y León region.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon at the Pozo Emilio del Valle facility in the municipality of Pola de Gordón, where a coal deposit reaching 694 meters in depth is located. 5 workers were taken to hos­ pital, 4 of whom were in a serious condition. It is the worst accident in the sector in Spain for 18 years, after 14 people were killed in a gas explosion at a mine in

Asturias in 1995. The presi­ dent of the government of the region of Castile and Leon, Juan Vicente Herrera, declared three days official mourning, with a joint funer­ al of the six miners having taken place on Wednesday.

Spanish mining unions called a two day strike on Tuesday, as a mark of respect to the dead, but also to re­emphasise their con­ cerns over safety. Around 40 coal mines are still in operation in Spain, mainly in the north of the country,

employing some 8,000 min­ ers. Cuts in government subsidies to the sector have resulted in the threat of clo­ sure at several facilities, leading to the so­called “Black March” of miners from Asturias, León, Palencia and Aragon. The protest descended on Madrid last summer after the government announced plans to slash subsidies to the sector by 63% in 2012, which the unions said would usher in the end of coal min­ ing in Spain.

PRIME CUT

A Guadalajara butcher took his profession too far by chopping up his seven month preg­ nant girlfriend and then throwing her parts to vultures in a nature reserve. Thirty­two­year­ old José Miguel B.V. was arrested by the police after confessing to the murder of his girlfriend Carolina C.C., who had been miss­ ing for over a month.

The butcher from the small municipality of Cifuentes in Guadalajara in central Spain told police that he had argued with his girlfriend and killed her with a blow to the head. He then chopped up her body and took her to La Riba de Saelices, a nature reserve close by, where he dumped her in a pit used as a feed­ ing spot for vultures.

Cifuentes neighbours reported Carolina missing in the following days, their suspi­ cions having been aroused by her ex­hus­ band’s arrival in the small municipality. The man, who had a restraining order out against him, had been asked by José Miguel to pick

up Carolina’s four children after her 'disap­ pearance'. The fact that Carolina's boyfriend did not report her missing raised police sus­ picions and on Thursday of last week, he confessed to her murder. The Guardia Civil have found part of Carolina’s torso at the site where José Miguel confessed to having dumped her.

DOWN’S BOY IN EDUCATION SPAT The parents of a Down's syndrome boy who was bullied by his teachers have been accused of neglect for taking his education into their own hands. Despite his disability, twelve­ year­old Rubén studied at a normal state school in his native city of León for most of his childhood. In 2009, his situation took a turn for the worse when some of his teachers alleged­ ly began physically and mentally abusing him.

Appalled by what was happening to him, his parents removed him from the centre and took the matter to Castille and Leon’s Provincial Court and Education Department. By 2011, they had presented seven appeals giving details of the

Uncle Sam spies on Spain Spain has urged the US to give details of any eaves­ dropping, amid reports it monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month. The US ambassador to Spain, James Costos (pic­ tured) who had been sum­ moned by its EU minister, vowed to clear the "doubts" that had arisen about his country's alleged espionage.

The minister, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, said such practices, if true, were "inappropriate and unacceptable".

The latest allegation, pub­ lished by the El Mundo newspaper, is that the US National Security Agency tracked tens of millions of phone calls, texts and emails of Spanish citizens, in December 2012 and January 2013. The monitor­ ing allegedly peaked on 11 December.

The White

abuse, all of which were denied by the Provincial Court.

Instead, Castille and Leon’s Education Department decided to segregate Rubén from the standard educational system and enrol him in a special needs centre.

His parents turned a blind eye to the court’s decision and invested their own time and money in providing their son with an education. They’ve recruited several specialized tutors to teach Rubén and have put together a busy sched­ ule of social, communicative and sporting activities for him.

But in the eyes of León’s district attorney’s office, Rubén’s schooling programme doesn’t exist, which to them means

House has so far declined to comment on the El Mundo report.

It is not clear how the alleged surveillance was carried out, whether it was through monitoring fibre­ optic cables, data obtained from telecommunication companies, or other means.

The NSA is reported to have collected the sender and recipient addresses of emails, along with their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or subject line of the mes­

sage.

For each telephone call, the numbers of the caller and recipient are believed to have been logged, as was its duration, time, date and location. The contents of the telephone call itself, howev­ er, were not monitored, US intelligence officials say. The NSA has also suggested it does not usually store the geolocational information of mobile phone calls, which could determine by noting which mobile signal towers were used.

During a visit to Poland, the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, said that if the reported espionage was confirmed "it could mean a break in the climate of trust that has traditionally reigned in relations between the two countries".

his parents are encouraging school absenteeism. His par­ ents, Alejandro and Lucía, appeared in court on Tuesday to answer charges of gross negligence against them.

“We haven’t abandoned our son, quite the opposite,” Rubén’s father told the local daily Diario de León. “In my eyes abandoning him would be allowing him to be segregat­ ed in a special needs school.”

Rubén’s parents have the UN’s Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as their secret weapon, a set of laws which stipulate children with Down's Syndrome must have equal access to education.

Friday, November 1, 2013

31

RICHARD CAVENDER

Bluemoon Solutions www.bluemoonsolutions.es

BlueMoon Solutions is the computer and IT services com­ pany on the Costa Blanca, they provide quality computer services at realistic prices and specialise in working with home users and small businesses.

Richard moved to Spain seven years ago hav­ ing left his management background behind in the UK and decided to use his IT skills to help home users and small businesses with their PC problems. Now a relaxed 'computer man' he is out and about in the Spanish sun every day, making house and shop calls and using his vast experience and qualifications to (usually) sort out the problem there and then. Computers are his hobby as well as his work so don’t be surprised to get an answer to your email in the early hours!

ADVICE: Morag was seeing strange characters appearing ADVICE: Howard received a suspicious looking email in email conversations between her and a friend using from Adobe Yahoo email.

Dear Richard, as you have helped me in the past I wonder if you can work out what the problem is here. As you can see from the e­mails I have forwarded to you strange lettering is occuring “'” When Carole and I type and send the e­mails they are ok but when they are recd then the strange lettering is there. Can you help me? Regards Morag

Q

Hi Morag, yes this is an interesting one isn’t it?

The problem is a known “bug” with Yahoo email, it’s something that crops up from time to time and they then fix, only for it to crop up again. There is nothing that you can do except wait for Yahoo to get their act together – at least you know it’s not something that you have done.

A

ADVICE: Pam wanted to know how to set ighome to be her new home page.

Q

Hi Richard, I know you must be inundated with queries about igoogle closing, but I would appreciate an answer to my prob­ lem please. I have looked at ighome, as you suggested in a recent article, and have person­ alised it. My problem is how do I save this so it opens as my home page, (probably a simple solu­ tion, but I can't see it!) Thank you for your excellent column, Richard, in The Courier. Pam

Important Password Reset Information To view this message in a language other than English, please click here.

We recently discovered that an attacker illegally entered our network and may have obtained access to your Adobe ID and encrypted password. We currently have no indi­ cation that there has been unauthorized activity on your account.

To prevent unauthorized access to your account, we have reset your password.

Please visit www.adobe.com/go/passwordreset to create a new password. We recom­ mend that you also change your password on any website where you use the same user ID or password. In addition, please be on the lookout for suspicious email or phone scams seeking your personal information.

We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you. We value the trust of our customers and we will work aggressively to prevent these types of events from occur­ ring in the future. If you have questions, you can learn more by visiting our Customer Alert page, which you will find here.

Adobe Customer Care

Hi Pam, you don’t mention which web browser you are using so I am going to assume that its Internet Explorer, in order to set the home page for Internet Explorer, you first go to that page, then click on the cog in the top right hand corner and select Internet Options. You will see a new window pop up, the top section of which is titled Home Page, just click on the Use Current button to set this page to be your home page, then click OK to exit that window – all done!

A

office@bluemoonsolutions.es www.bluemoonsolutions.es Mobile: 655 044 970

Q

Hi Richard, I just received this and was a little suspicious. The account concerned is an anonymous one I used while still working and which I have retained although it only now receives “junk” as this one was. Needless to say I have not opened any link. Saludos, Howard

Office: 902 906 200

Don’t forget you can follow me on twitter @bluemoonspain Alternatively why don’t you sign up for my newsletter. You can do this by going to:­ www.bluemoonsolutions.es and fill in the form that is on any page except the front page.

A

Hi Howard, I can fully understand your concern, this is the type of email that we should all automatically assume is a scam, however in this instance it’s actually not!

This is a legitimate warning from Adobe and you should take note of it.

Craig is receiving the error 0x80041006 when trying to play Windows 7 games online.

Hello Richard, possible that I have done something wrong, I don't know. Problem is when trying to access internet HEARTS or BACKGAMMON constantly get Error Code 0x80041006. Have tried to research it on the internet but it's all double Dutch to me. Any assistance would be gratefully accepted. Craig

Q

Hi Craig, this seems to be quite a big problem within the online gaming community, there are lots of peo­ ple complaining to Microsoft about it and there doesn’t currently seem to be a solution that works for everyone. During my research I have found just one solution that seems to work for those that are using Yahoo “Add­Ons”, if this also matches what you have then try disabling them and seeing if it resolves your problem.

A

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Horoscopes Aries March 21 ­ April 19 Gadgets and new devices that are sup­ posed to make it easier to accomplish cer­ tain tasks may actually cause more confu­ sion. You're often a big fan of doing things the old­fashioned way. Even though peo­ ple may laugh at you, you tend to insist that the old way is the best way. Take your time to complete chores and tasks today.

Taurus April 20 ­ May 20 Be careful about going overboard with your sarcasm. Some people take your comments seriously. Not everyone understands your humor. This could make communication unclear at times. Deliver a straight story without exaggeration or embellishment thrown in to make things juicier. Don't just tell the truth ­ tell the whole truth. You'll feel bet­ ter about the situation.

Gemini May 21 ­ June 20 Self­image could be a difficult issue for you.

Perhaps you've painted a false picture of yourself lately. In an effort to cover your insecurity, you may not have expressed how you feel to some people. When you look in a mirror, you may find that the per­ son you see is quite different than the per­ son other people see. This conflict may put you in some uncomfortable situations.

Cancer June 21 ­ July 22 You may feel like there's absolutely nowhere to turn. Reality is a scary thing to face. The last thing you want to do is be serious. But you're finding it difficult to get satisfaction from your fantasy world. Your dreams beckon to you, but you're afraid to give in to that temp­ tation because you feel a strong sense of duty to other people and places.

By Pandora Leo July 23 ­ August 22 You have a strong sense of self. You take charge of situations instead of letting them take charge of you. But this sense of inde­ pendence and self­confidence may threat­ en other people. There are some who feel secure knowing that you rely on them. This is one of those days when you may feel a few growing pains as shifting personalities clash with comfortable behavior patterns.

Virgo August 23 ­ September 22 You may feel like a mediator between two camps, or you may be the one in a struggle that needs mediation. The big problem with the tension today is that one side could be headstrong and bound to the facts and the truth, while the other is bound to a broader perspective, not necessarily a realistic one.

Facts could get twisted in all directions depending on who's delivering them.

Libra September 23 ­ October 22 Be careful about taking everything as a personal offense. Others' inconsiderate actions may hurt you emotionally, but they don't have to. As long as you're able to maintain a healthy perspective on the situation, you'll see that many of the behaviors that upset you result from someone else's insecurities as opposed to their lack of affection for you.

Scorpio October 23 ­ November 21 Difficult tension may be frustrating for you to handle. You may wonder why everyone can't just get along. The answer may seem simple to you, with your easygoing atti­ tude. Unfortunately, there are big egos and unrealistic attitudes involved that make it difficult for other people to see things so simply. You may find that the best you can do is take a step away from the fire.

Sagittarius November 22 ­ December 21 Tension may arise among friends when someone suddenly feels like an ignored third wheel. People tend to pair up. Do what you can to stay on topics to which everyone can contribute equally. Staying united is key. Together you're extremely powerful allies, while divided you're each other's worst enemies.

Capricorn December 22 ­ January 19 Your lively, imaginative spirit is in tune with the collective. The need for a worldly con­ sciousness and evolving humanity has become more obvious to you as time goes by. These issues come up today, but don't be surprised if you get a reality check. Your dreams may be unrealistic. Someone could try to burst your bubble, so be care­ ful. Don't lose sight of your goals

Aquarius January 20 ­ February 18 Just when you slow down, simplify, and plan, things start to pick up again. Your imagination starts to fly. Stabilization hin­ ders your creative spirit. The last thing your artistic mind wants to do is slow down.

Resolving this inner conflict may be hard, but it's possible. These two sides are on the same team, not opposing ones. If they work together, you can both achieve both goals.

Pisces February 19 ­ March 20 Your sense of play might get you into trou­ ble. This sort of attitude could run up against someone who's trying to stay on task and take things seriously. It may be difficult for you to know how far to push a situation. You may want to force the other person to join your escapades, but you also see the need to settle down and get serious.

Friday, November 1, 2013

33

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Friday, November 1, 2013

VETTEL MAKES HISTORY SEBASTIAN VETTEL fur­ ther cemented his place in Formula One history by becoming the youngest driver to win four consecu­ tive world titles.

At the age of just 26, Vettel is now a serious threat to the record haul of seven crowns won by Michael Schumacher, who was six years older by the time he claimed his fourth championship.

There was simply no stopping Vettel and his joy of six successive wins secured the world champi­ onship. He was totally dom­ inant ­ 30 seconds ahead of the chasing pack ­ and with an unassailable 115­point lead in the standings.

Rosberg and Grosjean completed the podium.

It was also Vettel's sixth win in succession this sea­ son, and 10th overall, but more pertinently it was a result that saw him become the youngest ever four­time world champion, joining Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Juan

Can't afford a supercar? Rent one

Manuel Fangio as the only men to reach that mile­ stone.

There was a sting in the tail on Vettel's big day, how­ ever, when he was sum­ moned before the stewards to explain his actions after the race.

Deciding to celebrate his title with the fans, Vettel turned doughnuts on the pit straight before dropping to

his knees in mock­prayer to the all­conquering Red Bull RB9 that has seldom failed him all year.

Although a great specta­ cle for the worldwide TV audience, the FIA took a dim view and hit Vettel with a reprimand and Red Bull a 25,000 euro (£21,300) fine.

Vettel's win also wrapped up the constructors' title for Red Bull and team principal

Christian Horner led the praise for Vettel's achieve­ ment over the team radio, telling his charge: "You've done it in style. You join the greats ­ well done."

Vettel added: "I'm over­ whelmed. I don't know what to say. It's been one of best days of my life so far.

"It was phenomenal all season, to be honest, so I couldn't ask for more."

ALONGSIDE more main­ stream offerings such as Fiestas and Astras, rental company Hertz is now offering a taste of the high life across Europe by adding a selection of high per­ formance and luxury cars to its fleet.

Arguably the most eye­ catching additions are the McLaren 12C and the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, two cars costing in excess of £175,000 to purchase new and both capable of over 205mph.

Other additions to the fleet include the Porsche Cayman sports coupe and the Cayenne SUV, plus luxury cars such as BMW X6 and Range Rover Sport.

Current models at the higher end of the scale that are already avail­

able include the Aston Martin Vanquish, Lamborghini LP570­4 Performante Edizione Tecnica and the glam­ orous Maserati GranCabrio.

Michel Taride, Group President of Hertz International comment­ ed: "We are delighted to introduce a number of new high end models to our Supercar range in Europe for our cus­ tomers worldwide who want to enjoy a taste of the high life. At Hertz we are determined to offer our Supercar customers a first class experience ­ whether they are car enthusiasts, wanting to land an important busi­ ness deal, celebrating a special occasion, or simply desiring an unforgettable thrill."

‘Ghost’ car insurance on the rise

It’s not a late Halloween joke – ‘ghost brokering’ fake insur­ ance policies is on the rise in the UK, becom­ ing one of the latest fraud scams in a long line of car insurance rip­ offs.

According to anti­ scam website Action Fraud, around 20,000 British motorists have already fallen foul of this new form of car insurance crime – so what is ghost brokering and how can you avoid it?

Ghost insurance brokers target drivers looking for cheap car insurance – these criminals will often act as insurance interme­ diaries offering to get you the best deal on your car cover.

Cash­strapped young motorists are gener­ ally the target market, with ghost brokers often using social media posts to advertise their services.

Once contact has been made with the fake company and the unknowing punter has handed over their details, the ghost bro­ ker will haggle with an insurance company and get a cheap quote.

This is usually way under market rate and too good to be true, because the middlemen have changed the proposer’s details to reduce their premium.

Following the customer’s acceptance and the payment for the policy, these fake insur­ ance brokers will then send out the policy documents.

But even though the motorist may have paid for their insurance, they could be left without cover in the event of a crash.

If involved in an accident, the false details given over by the ghost brokers could mean some drivers are unknowingly committing insurance fraud and will therefore not be covered for any damage, as well as unlaw­

fully driving on the public road.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) believes the ghost broker issue is esca­ lating, too, as spokesperson Malcolm Tarling out­ lines: “We have for some time been investigat­ ing the growth in these illegal insurance advisers who basical­ ly purport to arrange motor insurance but take the money off innocent motorists and pocket it.

“The result is the motorist thinks they are covered but are in fact driving without insur­ ance and hence illegally.”

The ABI’s advice to motorists worried about ghost brokering is to steer clear of any company that approaches you offering a quote for car insurance. If an advert or quote seems worryingly cheap, it’s usually a sign of a scam.

The organisation also recommends that drivers avoid buying car insurance in such ways as outlined above.

If you are unsure as to the authenticity of a company claiming to be a car insurer or a car insurance broker, contact the Financial Services Authority – if the organisation is not registered and therefore regulated by the FSA, walk away.

Finally, once you’ve taken out your motor cover, you should receive your policy docu­ ments, including a schedule of motor insur­ ance, the policy document itself and a certifi­ cate of cover.

Make sure you check all the details here are correct – even if it’s a genuine mistake, it could mean you’re driving illegally and won’t be covered. Which means you could also pick up six points on your licence and a £300 fine.

Friday, November 1, 2013

35

36

Friday, November 1, 2013

CODE CRACKER Code Cracker is a crossword puzzle with no clues; instead, every letter of the alphabet has been replaced by a number, the same number representing the same letter throughout the puzzle. All you have to do is decide which letter is represented by which number. In this week’s puzzle, 25 represents F and 9 represents X, when these letters have been entered throughout the puzzle, you should have enough information to start guessing words and discovering other letters.

QUICKIE

Across

Down

7 Yellow fruit (6) 8 Cock­a­hoop (6) 9 Blocks (4) 10 At whatever time (8) 11 Skinny (7) 13 Courageous (5) 15 Annoyed (5) 17 Brush up (7) 20 Undermine (8) 21 Occupied (4) 23 Announcement (6) 24 Playground device (6)

1 Festivity (4) 2 Feeling of sickness (6) 3 Bird of the plover family (7) 4 Cap with no brim or bill (5) 5 Vocation (6) 6 Sets aside (8) 12 Aromatic bark used as a spice (8) 14 Demise (7) 16 Beginner (6) 18 Thief (6) 19 Military trainee (5) 22 Settle (4)

Last weeks Solution

Across: 1 Scam, 4 Step, 9 Error, 10 Adamant, 11 Startle, 12 Preen, 13 Banish, 15 Gentle, 18 Utter, 20 Culprit, 23 Survive, 24 Snare, 25 Beam, 26 Send.

Down: 2 Certain, 3 Merit, 4 Scared, 5 Example, 6 Bees, 7 Bake, 8 Stance, 13 Bruise, 14 Service, 16 Terrain, 17 Scream, 19 Torn, 21 Lists, 22 Tree.

Scribble Pad

DOUBLE CROSS-WORD Solve the Double Cross­Word puzzle using either the standard or cryptic clues, the answers are exactly the same.

CRYTPIC CLUES Across 1 Beat the metal container (4) 4 Go out with a fruit (4) 9 Snake I caught is jellied (5) 10 Arms rot badly then go with a bang (7) 11 Pecuniary bonus is mine in return (3) 12 One chosen travelled to the terminal (9) 13 Show or hide (6) 14 Musical compositions spouse created (6) 18 Government­hater rav­ aging China star (9) 21 Saigon is without sin in the past (3) 23 Part of UK named Glenda incorrectly (7) 24 He takes a great deal from a serf (5) 25 River in a channel bed (4) 26 Fetch sweet pastry with raisins first removed (4)

Down 2 Smarten up the walls, whichever way you like (7) 3 Teach me to make a large heavy knife (7) 4 Rearranged medals for a young lady (6) 5 Seafarer’s old square fortune telling device (5) 6 Rene Descartes demon­ strated a barrow (4) 7 Bermuda dollar contains part of a wall (4) 8 Benefits Tessa’s arranged (6) 13 Ray’s sports equipment (6) 15 Top host revised criti­ cism (7) 16 Spoilt clarets are red (7) 17 A violin scam (6) 19 A 50­state organism (4) 20 Swim before one can walk (5) 22 Fur coat hides curse (4)

STANDARD CLUES Down Across 2 Change the wall covering 1 Percussion instrument (4) (7) 4 Appointment (4) 3 Heavy knife (7) 9 Meat jelly (5) 4 Young maiden (6) 10 Muzzle­loading cannons 5 Clairvoyant’s card deck (7) (5) 11 Gratuity (3) 6 Haul (4) 12 Conductor (9) 7 Wall decoration (4) 13 Partition (6) 8 Items of value (6) 14 Musical compositions 13 Sports equipment (6) (6) 15 Aimless bit of gunfire (7) 18 Nihilist (9) 16 Bright red (7) 21 From that time (3) 17 Tinker with (6) 23 Part of UK (7) 19 Seaweed (4) 24 Feudal slave (5) 20 Move at a slow pace (5) 25 European river (4) 22 Vow (4) 26 Carry (4) Last weeks Solution Across: 1 Hussar, 4 Rumpus, 9 Neutral, 10 Tonga, 11 Reed, 12 Contact, 13 Ark, 14 Keep, 15 Lush, 18 Bee, 20 Ingrate, 22 Lope, 24 Bride, 25 Twister, 26 Ghetto, 27 Select.

Down: 1 Hungry, 2 Shut­eye, 3 Acre, 5 Untangle, 6 Panda, 7 Shanty, 8 Pluck, 13 Apparent, 16 Scottie, 17 Airbag, 18 Belts, 19 Beirut, 21 Grime, 23 Bide.

FILL IT IN

Complete the crossword grid by using the given words:

2 letter words He So 3 letter words Deb Had Ink Lei Pin Ran Rap Sty 4 letter words Acre Aloe Arco

Army Atom Bail Bars Bite Boos Bunk Deep Dine Dyes Earn Egad Ells Gout Halo Here Ides Lore Pest Plus

Pomp Pray Prop Putt Rags Roar Soil Spar Sped 5 letter words Aerie Audio Barge Bilge Bulge Chips Clack Enter

Epoch Fangs Flora Haste Humus Latte Learn Lists Loath Oldie Point Preen Puree Sales Salts Sites Suite Tacit Tanka Trite

6 letter words Carlos Greens Optics Pauper Saluki Sphere Totter Trikes 8 letter words Etageres Surgical 9 letter words Lumbermen Reiterate

SPANISH-ENGLISH CROSSWORD

Improve your Spanish ­ clues in Spanish, answers in English or vice versa.

Across 1 Sellos (Correos) (6) 4 Fechas (días precisos) (5) 8 Alubias (5) 9 Emanar (7) 10 Dentista (7) 11 Deuda (obligación) (4) 12 Etar sentado (3) 14 Useful (information, advice, tool) (4) 15 Fácil (sencillo) (4) 18 Brazo (de persona) (3) 21 Lake (4) 23 Ejemplo (7) 25 Failure (lack of suc­ cess) (7) 26 Oats (5)

27 Pequeño (5) 28 Head (part of body) (6) Down 1 Saturday (6) 2 En contra de (7) 3 Tablet (medicine) (8) 4 Sordo (persona) (4) 5 Suit (for man) (5) 6 Sábanas (de camas) (6) 7 Nidos (5) 13 Spider’s web (8) 16 Blowtorch (7) 17 Acantilados (6) 19 Better (5) 20 Decade (6) 22 Attractive (f) (5) 24 Balón (4)

37

Friday, November 1, 2013 Across 1 What name for some­ one who prays to God comes from the Latin for ‘to kneel, bow down, request’ (10) 6 What is the name of the main antagonist of The Lion King? He is Mufasa’s younger brother and Simba’s uncle who plots to seize the throne he believes is rightfully his by virtue of superior intelligence? (4) 9 Which verb means both ‘to make drunk with alcoholic drinks’ and ‘to excite to enthusiasm or madness’? (10) 10 Which expression of incredulity indicates some­ thing is unlikely and should not be considered? (2,2) 12 What name is given to someone whose age is in the 80s? (12) 15 What name is often given to a being with partial or lesser divine status, such as a minor deity, the off­ spring of a god and a mor­ tal, or a mortal raised to

divine rank? (7) 16 What name for a plug for sealing a hole, especial­ ly in the neck of a bottle or other container can also mean a footballer whose function is to block attacks on goal from the middle of the field? (7) 17 Which close­fitting one­piece garment worn by dancers and acrobats is named after a 19th century French trapeze artist? (7) 19 The BBC period drama series created by Heidi Thomas based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth and set in east London in the 1950s was entitled Call the (What)? (7) 20 Which traditional English dish is made with minced meat covered with mashed potato? (9,3) 23 Which is the fourth largest lake (by surface area) of the five Great Lakes in North America? (4) 24 Which city is the capi­ tal of Pennsylvania? (10) 25 Which goat­like mam­

SUDOKU (Medium)

Quiz Word

mal inhabits the cliffs and mountain slopes in Oman, southern India and the Himalayas? (4) 26 By what name was the

Russian city of Volgograd known as from 1925 to 1961? (10) Down 1 By what name is the

front part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle usually known? (4) 2 In golf what name is given to a gentle stroke that hits a golf ball across the green towards the hole? (4) 3 What name is given to the activity or occupation of writing dictionaries? (12) 4 Often regarded as an object of derision, what name was applied to the husband of an adulteress?

(7) 5 Which verb means ‘talks socially without exchanging too much infor­ mation’? (7) 7 Which W­shaped con­ stellation in the northern hemisphere near Polaris is named after the wife of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia and mother of Andromeda?

(10) 8 What name is usually given to industrial plants for purifying a crude sub­ stance? (10) 11 Which Labour politi­ cian was prime minister of

the UK from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1976? (6,6) 13 What name for a juve­ nile between the onset of puberty and maturity is derived from the Latin for ‘to grow or become nour­ ished’? (10) 14 Which verb means ‘to make a person or area poor’? (10) 18 What adjective is nor­ mally applied to a volcano that is temporarily inactive?

(7) 19 What is the name of the strong north wind that blows in France during the winter? (7) 21 Which region of coal mining and heavy industry in North Rhine­Westphalia, western Germany, is named after the river that flows through it, meeting the Rhine near Duisburg? (4) 22 Which archaic excla­ mation was formerly used to express surprise, anger or affirmation? (4)

SALLY’S SIMPLE SPANISH LAS EMERGENCIAS ­EMERGENCIES Match these words with their Spanish translations then find them in the wordsearch.

(Answers below)

history QUIZ

ANSEWRS:1. Fidel Castro 2. Medicine 3. The Titanic 4.

History Robert E.Lee 5. Fly in 1943 on a secret trip to Casablanca. 6. Dutch 7. William Pitt (The Younger) 8.

Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington 9. It was dog doing life for killing a cat. 10. Southampton 11. The Black Prince 12. Minister 13. Octavian and Emperor Augustus

Last Week’s Solutions Code Cracker Last weeks Quiz Word Solution Across: 8 Siesta, 9 ETA, 10 Owen, 11 Mayonnaise, 12 Nash, 13 Arctic, 16 Monolith, 17 Terrier, 18 Orderly, 22 Dementia, 25 Yields, 26 Malt, 27 Cuttlefish, 30 Vein, 31 Ohm, 32 Surrey.

Down: 1 Pisa, 2 Oslo, 3 Barnacle, 4 Mediums, 5 Cavern, 6 John Cleese, 7 Jet set, 14 Roe, 15 Turpentine, 19 Royalist, 20 LSD, 21 Ragtime, 23 Enamel, 24 Tycoon, 28 Fire, 29 Stew.

la camilla

el choque

la enfermera

el doctor

la escalera

el fuego

la jeringa

el paramédico

la llamada

el vendaje

la policía

la ambulancia

los bomberos

la caída

los puntos

Empareja estas palabras ­ Match the Spanish and English words You will find the answers at the bottom of the quiz.

1.el accidente, 2.el choque,

15.los bomberos, 16.los puntos.

3.el doctor, 4.el fuego,

n.the nurse, o.the fall,

5.el paramédico, 6.el vendaje,

a.the paramedic, b.the doctor,

7.la ambulancia, 8.la caída,

c.the stitches, d.the bandage,

9.la camilla, 10.la enfermera,

e.the call, f.the pólice, g.the fire,

11.la escalera, 12.la jeringa,

h.the ambulance, i.the crash,

13.la llamada, 14.la policía,

j.the firemen, k.the siringe,

Soduko

l.the ladder, m.the accident,

Span ­ Eng

Quizword

p.the stretcher.

Answers: 1m, 2i, 3b, 4g, 5a, 6d, 7h, 8o, 9p, 10n, 11l, 12k, 13e, 14f, 15j, 16c.

1. In 1959 Who Established A Communist Government In Cuba?

2. 'Aescapalious' the emblem, staff snake, is the Greek/Roman god of what?

3. What was the sister ship of the Olympic?

4. Who Commanded The Confederate Armies During The American Civil War? 5. President Roosevelt was the first president to do what?

6. What nationality was Mata Hari?

7. Who Was The Youngest British Prime Minister?

8. Who first said "Publish and be Damned"?

9. What was unusual about convict 2599 who was doing time in Pen State prison 1924?

10. Where Did The Mayflower Set Sail From In 1620?

11. What was The Eldest Son Of Edward III Better Known As? 12. Frank and Jesse James' father had what job?

13. At the Battle of Actium, who defeated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra?

el accidente

Fill It In

38

Friday, November 1, 2013

TRELI ON THE TELLY Time Lord, because he loves playing the part.

Tennant’s latest TV hit is a mini series for BBC1 called The Escape Artist. Written by the creator of Spooks, David Wolstencroft, this is a sharp legal tale of a barrister who takes on the tough unsink­ able cases, but gets more than he bargained for when At the still tender age of 42, he gets a serial killer acquit­ David Tennant is fast ted. Tennant just makes the becoming a UK acting effortless habit of delivering icon. Comfortable on both anything that he’s given to stage and small screen, play whilst Wolstencroft he’s also proved that you delivers us some surprises in can play a TV icon like his story. Add a whole collec­ Dr.Who, but move on to tion of very familiar TV faces, and this is a real treat for a even better things, and like Tuesday night. It’s just a we’ll see in a few weeks shame it’s only a three­ time, still return as the

with ALEX TRELINSKI

TENNANT’S TERRIFIC

parter, but Tennant can notch up another acting triumph in what has been a great 2013 for him.

q

Body found in two parts in the middle of the Channel Tunnel, which ends up actually being two halves of two sep­ arate people, and two coun­ tries (the UK and France) end up sharing the investiga­ tion. That’s the plot for The Tunnel on Sky Atlantic, and if that sounds very familiar,

then you might have watched the Scandinavian drama, The Bridge, a couple of years ago on BBC4. It’s the same story and it's almost the same script (translated of course), but it’s been enjoy­ able over the first 3 episodes, along with a cameo appear­ ance of “retired” actress Liz Smith at the age of 92. And guess what? The Yanks are doing a remake as well!

q

A second run of a drama or fantasy series really does show whether it has some legs or whether the first year has exhausted all the good ideas. No such problems then with Arrow on Sky One featuring the millionaire vigilante fighting the baddies of Starling City courtesy of some fresh plot twists and some new characters. And

for sheer madness, the black comedy horror, American Horror Story is back for a third run on FOX UK, with again a completely new story featuring witches, called Coven. It’s bonkers with a capital B, but just sit back and watch ace actresses Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates have so much fun with it.

q

Don’t you find the flash vote on The X Factor Saturday show a rubbish idea which takes a lot away from the Sunday results pro­ gramme, as well as giving an unfair advantage for the “flashed” act that gets an extra day to prepare for the sing­off?

q

You read it here first that Peaky Blinders will be back for a second series

nearly 2 months ago, but the Beeb has now got round to making a formal announce­ ment. You can also add to the returning BBC list, the name of their entertaining Saturday night diversion, Atlantis, in addition to a fourth run for Homeland on Channel Four, which overall must be the most disappoint­ ing returning drama of the year.

q

Did you catch ITV trying to hide it’s expensive dud, Prize Island last Sunday in the early evening? No words could describe the awfulness of it all, but it just reminded me of trying to flush some waste down a toi­ let, with a little bit of it refus­ ing to go down. I did warn you a few weeks ago, didn’t I?

The Courier Friday TV 00:35 01:20 01:25 07:00 10:15 11:00 12:00 12:45 13:15 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:15 15:45 16:15 17:00 17:30 Mouth 18:15 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:25 23:35

00:20 01:20 01:50 05:00 05:30 06:00

This Week Holiday Weatherview BBC News Breakfast The Sheriffs Are Coming Homes Under the Hammer Saints and Scroungers Britain's Empty Homes Bargain Hunt BBC News; Weather Regional News and Weather Doctors Keeping Up Appearances Keeping Up Appearances Perfection Escape to the Country Put Your Money Where Your Is Pointless BBC News BBC London News The One Show A Question of Sport EastEnders Room 101 Have I Got News for You Citizen Khan BBC News Regional News and Weather The Graham Norton Show

Trust Me I'm a Doctor Panorama This Is BBC Two Save Your Energy The Genius of Invention Schools ­ Play On!

06:25 Schools: Dance with the Elements 06:55 Schools ­ Wonders of Nature: Elephant ­ Importance of Water 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Saints and Scroungers 08:45 Britain's Empty Homes 09:15 The A to Z of TV Cooking 10:00 Flog It! Trade Secrets 11:00 Question Time 12:00 BBC News 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Cash in the Attic 14:45 Great British Menu 15:45 Floyd on Britain and Ireland 16:15 Are You Being Served?

16:45 'Allo 'Allo!

17:10 Cagney & Lacey 18:00 Flog It! 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing ­ It Takes Two 20:00 The Great British Bake Off 21:00 Gardeners' World 21:30 Autumnwatch 2013 22:30 Autumnwatch Unsprung 23:00 QI 23:30 Newsnight

00:40 Wild Britain with Ray Mears 01:05 Jackpot247 04:00 Tonight 04:25 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV Meridian Weather 15:00 Dickinson's Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 ITV Meridian Weather 17:00 Tipping Point: Lucky Stars 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News Meridian 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Off the Beaten Track 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Piers Morgan's Life Stories 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News Meridian 23:35 TT3D: Closer to the Edge

PIERS MORGAN’S LIFE STORIES The creator of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, whose legs are insured for £25million, joins Piers for a frank interview reflecting on his life and career. He talks about his reputation as an egoma­ niac, how he and Michael Jackson made plans to perform together, and his shock at being dropped from one of his shows on the eve of its opening night in London. The choreographer also reveals that he's now using his feet to create works of art.

Last in the series.

00:05 Mercury Prize Awards Show 01:30 Random Acts 01:35 999: What's Your Emergency?

02:30 Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic 03:25 Unreported World 03:50 Dispatches 04:20 SuperScrimpers 05:15 Deal or No Deal 06:10 Kirstie's Handmade Treasures 06:15 Countdown 07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 08:05 According to Jim 08:25 Will & Grace 08:55 Frasier 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 11:00 The Big Bang Theory 12:00 Undercover Boss USA 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 13:30 SuperScrimpers 13:35 The Quiet Man 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:30 Unreported World 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Embarrassing Bodies 22:00 8 Out of 10 Cats 22:30 Man Down 23:00 Alan Carr: Chatty Man

November 1

00:00 Law & Order: Criminal Intent 00:55 Inside Hollywood 01:00 SuperCasino 04:05 Criminals: Caught on Camera 04:55 HouseBusters 05:20 House Doctor 05:45 House Doctor 06:10 Divine Designs 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Fireman Sam 07:35 The WotWots 07:45 Peppa Pig 07:50 Olly the Little White Van 07:55 Little Princess 08:10 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Construction Squad: Operation Homefront 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 The Mentalist 16:15 Committed 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 NewsTalk Live 20:00 Chris Tarrant Goes Fishing 21:00 Criminals: Caught on Camera 22:00 Britain's Funniest Comedy Characters

39

The Courier Saturday TV

November 2

01:10 The Diving­Bell and the Butterfly

00:20 Bluestone 42 00:50 Halloween: Resurrection 02:15 Weatherview 02:20 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 11:00 Saturday Kitchen Live 12:30 Paul Hollywood's Bread 13:00 Football Focus 13:45 Sportsday 14:00 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 14:15 Bargain Hunt 15:00 Live Rugby League World Cup 17:30 Final Score 18:10 Formula 1 19:15 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing 21:15 Atlantis 22:05 The National Lottery Live 22:15 Casualty 23:05 BBC News; Weather 23:25 Match of the Day

00:00 Weather

01:40 Jackpot247 04:00 Captivity 05:25 ITV Nightscreen 03:55 The Paradise 07:00 Babar and the Adventures of Badou 04:55 This Is BBC Two 07:10 Matt Hatter Chronicles 07:00 This Is BBC Two 07:35 Dino Dan 08:00 Canimals 08:10 Second Chorus 08:25 Sooty 08:35 Horrid Henry 09:35 Stage Struck 08:50 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11:10 Reel History of Britain 09:15 Bottom Knocker Street 09:30 Munch Box 11:40 The Life of Birds 10:25 Saturday Cookbook 12:30 Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age 11:20 Murder, She Wrote 12:15 ITV News and Weather 13:00 The A to Z of TV Cooking 12:24 ITV Meridian Weather 12:25 Surprise Surprise 13:45 Talking Pictures 13:25 All Star Family Fortunes 14:25 Becket 14:10 Doc Martin 15:15 Catchphrase 16:50 Bitter Victory 16:00 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 18:30 The House That £100K Built 18:35 ITV Meridian Weather 19:30 Flog It! 18:45 ITV News and Weather 19:00 New You've Been Framed!

20:30 Natural World 19:30 Fool Britannia 20:00 The Chase 21:30 Dad's Army 21:00 The X Factor 22:00 Live from the National Theatre: 22:50 The Jonathan Ross Show 23:55 ITV News and Weather 50 Years on Stage 02:55 Question Time

00:05 Stand Up for the Week 00:55 Was It Something I Said?

01:40 Gogglebox 02:25 London Irish 02:50 Random Acts 02:55 The Big C 03:25 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:55 2 Broke Girls 04:20 Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23 04:40 SuperScrimpers 05:35 Deal or No Deal 06:30 Countdown 07:15 The Hoobs 08:05 Volleyball 09:00 The Morning Line 10:00 The American Football Show 11:00 Frasier 11:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 12:00 The Big Bang Theory 12:55 The Simpsons 13:25 Heston's Feast 14:30 Channel 4 Racing 17:00 Come Dine with Me 19:30 Channel 4 News 20:00 Double Your House for Half the Money 21:00 Grand Designs 22:00 The Eagle

THE EAGLE

Historical drama based on the book by Rosemary Sutcliff, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell.

Young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives in Scotland from Rome to clear the name of his father ­ he was commander of the Ninth Legion, which disap­ peared 20 years earlier. Making his way through uncharted territory and risking attack from savage tribes, Marcus must use all his resilience to solve the mystery and retrieve the legion's golden emblem.

00:05 Later with Jools Holland

00:55 Inside Hollywood 01:00 SuperCasino 04:05 Pickpockets & Proud 04:55 Motorsport Mundial 05:20 House Doctor 05:45 House Doctor 06:10 Divine Designs 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Peppa Pig 07:05 Roary the Racing Car 07:15 Fifi and the Flowertots 07:25 Bubble Guppies 07:35 The Mr Men Show 07:50 Chloe's Closet 08:05 Roobarb and Custard Too 08:10 Bananas in Pyjamas 08:25 Make Way for Noddy 08:40 City of Friends 08:50 Little Princess 09:05 Milkshake! Monkey 09:10 The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky 09:25 Angelina Ballerina 09:40 Hana's Helpline 09:55 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 10:10 Toby's Travelling Circus 10:25 Roary the Racing Car 10:40 Jelly Jamm 10:55 The Mr Men Show 11:10 Power Rangers: Megaforce 11:45 Slugterra 12:10 Inside Hollywood 12:15 Ben Fogle's Animal Clinic 13:15 Columbo: Blueprint for Murder 14:50 Objective, Burma!

17:35 The Colditz Story 19:30 Lost Heroes of World War One 20:00 The Great Escape: Revealed 21:00 War Hero in My Family 21:55 5 News Weekend 22:00 Collateral Damage

The Courier Sunday TV

November 3

Longer Television Programme 00:55 A Cock and Bull Story 00:55 The Football League Show

02:25 Octane

02:10 Weatherview

03:50 This Is BBC Two

02:15 BBC News

08:10 The Bride Walks Out

07:00 Breakfast

09:30 Alan Titchmarsh's Garden

08:25 Match of the Day

Secrets

10:00 The Andrew Marr Show

10:30 Gardeners' World

11:00 Sunday Morning Live

11:00 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

12:00 Sunday Politics

12:30 EastEnders

13:15 MOTD2 Extra

14:20 Rugby Union

14:00 BBC News

15:20 Live Cycling 14:10 Weather for the Week Ahead 18:30 Inspire: The Olympic Journey 14:15 The Story of the Swastika 19:00 Flog It! 14:45 Bargain Hunt 19:30 The Ginge, the Geordie and 15:40 Escape to the Country

the Geek

16:40 Points of View

20:00 How to Build

16:55 Songs of Praise

21:00 Africa's Last Oasis:

17:30 Formula 1

Countdown to the Rains

19:00 BBC News; Regional News

22:00 Great Continental Railway

and Weather

Journeys

19:20 Countryfile

23:00 The Wrong Mans

20:20 Strictly Come Dancing

23:30 QI XL

21:00 The Paradise 22:00 Richard Hammond Builds a Planet 23:00 BBC News; Regional News and Weather 23:25 Match of the Day 2

00:15 The Sarah Millican Slightly

00:09 ITV Meridian Weather 00:10 Take Me Out 01:10 Jackpot247 04:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 04:45 ITV Nightscreen 07:00 Babar and the Adventures of Badou 07:10 Matt Hatter Chronicles 07:35 Dino Dan 08:00 Canimals 08:25 Sooty 08:35 Horrid Henry 08:50 Big Time Rush 09:15 Bottom Knocker Street 09:30 Fort Boyard Ultimate Challenge 10:25 ITV News 10:30 Storage Hoarders 11:30 Sunday Side Up 12:30 Sunday Scoop 13:30 ITV News and Weather 13:34 ITV Meridian Weather 13:35 Inside the National Trust 14:35 Fool Britannia 15:05 The X Factor 16:55 Downton Abbey 18:00 You've Been Framed!

18:30 Prize Island 19:35 ITV Meridian Weather 19:35 ITV News Meridian 19:45 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Surprise Surprise 21:00 The X Factor 22:00 Downton Abbey 23:05 ITV News and Weather 23:19 ITV Meridian Weather 23:20 OCD Ward

AFRICA’S LAST OASIS New series. Kate Humble and Simon King report from Zambia on the lives of animals living near the Luangwa River as they wait for the longest dry sea­ son in many years to finish. More than 70 cameras are used to document events, including the strug­ gles of an elephant and its calf, lion cubs threat­ ened by a power struggle in their pride and hun­ dreds of hippos and crocodiles squashed uncom­ fortably close as the river bed dries up.

00:15 02:20 04:55 07:10 08:05 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 13:30 13:55 14:25 14:50 15:20 15:50 16:20 18:25 18:50 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:25 23:50

From Dusk till Dawn Once upon a Time in Anatolia Hollyoaks The American Football Show Yorkshire Marathon Everybody Loves Raymond Everybody Loves Raymond Frasier Sunday Brunch The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Star Trek V: the Final Frontier Channel 4 News Grease Bigfoot Files Homeland Was It Something I Said?

Toast of London No Fire Zone

00:15 Alien Hunter 02:00 SuperCasino 04:10 The True Story 05:00 Michaela's Wild Challenge 05:25 Make It Big 05:50 Roary the Racing Car 06:00 Angels of Jarm 06:10 Hana's Helpline 06:20 Angels of Jarm 06:25 The Funky Valley Show 06:40 Roary the Racing Car 06:50 Hana's Helpline 07:00 Peppa Pig 07:05 Roary the Racing Car 07:15 Fifi and the Flowertots 07:25 Bubble Guppies 07:35 The Mr Men Show 07:50 Chloe's Closet 08:00 Roobarb and Custard Too 08:10 Bananas in Pyjamas 08:25 Make Way for Noddy 08:40 City of Friends 08:50 Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures 08:55 Little Princess 09:10 The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky 09:25 Angelina Ballerina 09:45 Hana's Helpline 10:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 10:10 Milkshake! Monkey 10:15 Toby's Travelling Circus 10:30 Roary the Racing Car 10:45 Jelly Jamm 11:00 Power Rangers: Super Samurai 11:35 Slugterra 12:00 Cowboy Builders 13:00 Police Interceptors 14:00 Ghost Busters 16:00 Baby Boom 18:10 The Fox and the Hound 19:50 5 News Weekend 19:55 U­571 22:00 2012

40

The Courier Monday TV

November 4

00:30 Rugby League World Cup 01:30 The Sky at Night 01:50 Weatherview 01:55 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Remembrance Week 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Saints and Scroungers 12:45 Escape to the Country 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:30 Regional News and Weather 14:45 Doctors 15:15 The Indian Doctor 16:00 Pressure Pad 16:45 Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds 17:30 Antiques Road Trip 18:15 Pointless 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Caught Red Handed 21:00 EastEnders 21:30 Panorama 22:00 Ripper Street 23:00 BBC News 23:25 Regional News and Weather 23:35 Have I Got a Bit More News for You

00:15 00:45 02:20 03:15 04:15

Never Mind the Buzzcocks The Invisible Countryfile Holby City This Is BBC Two

07:00 This Is BBC Two 07:05 Homes Under the Hammer 08:05 Saints and Scroungers 08:50 Britain's Empty Homes 09:20 Real Rescues 10:05 Watchdog 11:05 James Martin's Food Map of Britain 11:35 Click 12:00 BBC News 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Rugby League World Cup 15:00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 18:00 Flog It! 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing ­ It Takes Two 20:00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 21:00 University Challenge 21:30 MasterChef: The Professionals 22:00 The Choir: Sing While You Work 23:00 Never Mind the Buzzcocks 23:30 Newsnight

00:20 Premiership Rugby Union 01:20 The Store 03:20 Motorsport UK 04:10 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV Meridian Weather 15:00 Dickinson's Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 ITV Meridian Weather 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News Meridian 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 A Mother's Son 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News Meridian 23:35 The Agenda

00:45 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 01:45 American Football Live 05:45 Killarney Adventure Race 06:15 Deal or No Deal 07:10 The Hoobs 08:00 According to Jim 08:25 Will & Grace 08:50 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:55 Frasier 11:00 Undercover Boss USA 12:00 Beat My Build 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 13:35 River Cottage Bites 13:55 Hombre 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Dispatches 21:30 Health Freaks 22:00 999: What's Your Emergency?

23:00 Fresh Meat 23:50 Cardinal Burns

FRESH MEAT Return of the comedy about a group of students liv­ ing together. As the friends begin their second year at Manchester Medlock, they welcome naive new housemate Candice into the fold, and have to get used to having JP as their landlord. In the first episode, Howard and JP try to coax some female freshers to join their skiing society, Vod's summer fling turns up unexpectedly and the gang takes a trip to Josie's `traffic­light' party at her new home in Southampton ­ which creates problems for Kingsley.

01:10 Creep 02:35 SuperCasino 04:10 The Gadget Show 05:00 Michaela's Wild Challenge 05:25 Make It Big 05:50 Roary the Racing Car 06:00 Angels of Jarm 06:05 Hana's Helpline 06:20 Angels of Jarm 06:25 The Funky Valley Show 06:40 Roary the Racing Car 06:50 Hana's Helpline 07:00 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Fireman Sam 07:35 The WotWots 07:45 Peppa Pig 07:50 Olly the Little White Van 07:55 Little Princess 08:10 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:50 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 War Hero in My Family 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 The Mentalist 16:15 Deadliest Sea 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 NewsTalk Live 20:00 Construction Squad: Operation Homefront 21:00 The Gadget Show 22:00 The Woman with 40 Cats ­ and Other Pet Hoarders 23:00 Under the Dome

The Courier Tuesday TV

November 5

00:20 00:50 01:35 01:40 07:00 10:15 11:00 12:00 12:45 13:15 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:15 16:00 16:45 17:30 18:15 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:25 23:35

Citizen Khan The Graham Norton Show Weatherview BBC News Breakfast Remembrance Week Homes Under the Hammer Saints and Scroungers Escape to the Country Bargain Hunt BBC News; Weather Regional News and Weather Doctors The Indian Doctor Pressure Pad Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Holby City The Escape Artist BBC News National Lottery Update Imagine

00:20 Africa's Last Oasis: Countdown to the Rains 01:20 The Culture Show 01:50 The Story of the Jews 02:50 This Is BBC Two 05:00 Schools ­ Divine Women 05:30 Strictly Soulmates 06:00 Spark

06:55 Wonders of Nature: Mandarin Duck ­ First Flight 07:00 This Is BBC Two 07:35 Homes Under the Hammer 08:35 Saints and Scroungers 09:20 Real Rescues 10:05 Antiques Roadshow 11:05 James Martin's Food Map of Britain 11:35 HARDtalk 12:00 BBC News 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Squash 15:00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 18:00 Flog It! 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing ­ It Takes Two 20:00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 21:00 MasterChef: The Professionals 22:00 Iceland Foods: Life in the Freezer Cabinet 23:00 Later Live ­ with Jools Holland 23:30 Newsnight

00:05 Piers Morgan's Life Stories 01:05 Jackpot247 04:00 Champions League Weekly 04:25 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News Meridian 15:00 Dickinson's Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 ITV Meridian Weather 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News Meridian 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Live UEFA Champions League 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News Meridian 23:35 UEFA Champions League: Extra Time

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE CLEANERS Hygiene­obsessed mother­of­two Jade cleans uninterrupted for six hours every day and goes to great lengths to avoid contact with grease and ani­ mal hair. She's paired up with Deborah, whose home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, has been over­ run by six goats, which are free to roam almost everywhere.

00:25 True Stories 01:40 Random Acts 01:45 Lata in Her Own Voice 02:40 Pakeezah 05:15 Nashville 05:55 Deal or No Deal 06:50 River Cottage Bites 07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 08:00 According to Jim 08:25 Will & Grace 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:55 Frasier 11:00 Undercover Boss USA 12:00 Beat My Build 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 13:35 Jamie's 15 Minute Meals 14:10 River Cottage Bites 14:20 Ten Tall Men 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 22:00 Embarrassing Bodies 23:00 Masters of Sex

00:00 Judge Dredd 01:45 Campus PD 02:05 SuperCasino 04:05 Countdown to Murder 04:55 HouseBusters 05:20 House Doctor 05:45 Great Scientists 06:10 Michaela's Wild Challenge 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Fireman Sam 07:35 The WotWots 07:45 Peppa Pig 07:50 Olly the Little White Van 07:55 Little Princess 08:10 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:30 Milkshake! Monkey 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:50 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Ben Fogle's Animal Clinic 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 NCIS 16:20 Summer House 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 NewsTalk Live 20:00 Jungle Babies: Tarsier Tails 20:30 The Dog Rescuers 21:00 Cowboy Builders 22:00 The Mentalist 23:00 Castle

41

The Courier Wednesday TV

November 6

00:50 02:15 02:20 07:00 10:15 11:00 12:00 12:45 13:15 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:15 16:00 16:45 17:30 18:15 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:25 23:35

00:20 Work 01:20 02:20 05:00 05:30

The Men Who Stare at Goats Weatherview BBC News Breakfast Remembrance Week Homes Under the Hammer Saints and Scroungers Escape to the Country Bargain Hunt BBC News; Weather Regional News and Weather Doctors The Indian Doctor Pressure Pad Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News BBC London News The One Show Watchdog Britain on the Fiddle BBC News National Lottery Update A Question of Sport

The Choir: Sing While You This World This Is BBC Two Fit to Rule The Last Days of Anne

Boleyn 05:50 The Modern Monarchy 06:50 Bringing Books to Life 07:00 This Is BBC Two 07:30 Homes Under the Hammer 08:30 Saints and Scroungers 09:15 Real Rescues 10:00 The Wonder of Dogs 11:00 Plan It, Build It 11:30 See Hear 12:00 BBC News 12:30 Daily Politics 14:00 Animal Park 15:00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 18:00 Flog It! 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing ­ It Takes Two 20:00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 21:00 MasterChef: The Professionals 22:00 Ambassadors 23:00 The Culture Show 23:30 Newsnight

00:35 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 01:20 Jackpot247 04:00 Loose Women 04:50 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV Meridian Weather 15:00 Dickinson's Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 ITV Meridian Weather 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News Meridian 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Agatha Christie's Poirot 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News Meridian 23:35 Newsflash ­ Stories That Stopped the World

BRITAIN ON THE FIDDLE

00:10 Random Acts 00:15 8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut 01:00 Poker 02:00 KOTV Boxing Weekly 02:25 Volleyball 03:20 Yorkshire Marathon 04:20 SuperScrimpers 05:15 Deal or No Deal 06:10 Countdown 06:50 River Cottage Bites 07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 08:00 According to Jim 08:25 Will & Grace 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:55 Frasier 11:00 Undercover Boss USA 12:00 Beat My Build 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 13:35 Jamie's 15 Minute Meals 14:10 River Cottage Bites 14:20 Carry On Doctor 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 River Cottage to the Core 22:00 Grand Designs 23:00 Gogglebox 23:45 The Cruel Cut

New series. The world of benefits cheats, who effectively steal millions of pounds in taxpayers' money every year. Reporter Richard Bilton goes on the frontline with investigators chasing a woman who won £95,000 on a game show but carried on claiming her `allowance'.

00:00 Body of Proof 01:00 Countdown to Murder 01:55 SuperCasino 04:05 I Lost Weight but Lost My Husband!

04:55 HouseBusters 05:20 House Doctor 05:45 Great Scientists 06:10 Michaela's Wild Challenge 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Fireman Sam 07:35 The WotWots 07:45 Peppa Pig 07:50 Olly the Little White Van 07:55 Little Princess 08:10 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:10 Peppa Pig 09:30 Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:50 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Cowboy Builders 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 NCIS 16:15 Impact 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 NewsTalk Live 20:00 Robson's Extreme Fishing Challenge 21:00 Ben Fogle's Animal Clinic 22:00 Too Fat to Fly 23:00 Step Brothers

The Courier Thursday TV

November 7

00:05 00:35 02:00 02:05 07:00 10:15 11:00 12:00 12:45 13:15 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:15 16:00 16:45 17:30 18:15 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:25 23:35

Film 2013 Keeping Up with the Steins Weatherview BBC News Breakfast Remembrance Week Homes Under the Hammer Saints and Scroungers Escape to the Country Bargain Hunt BBC News; Weather Regional News and Weather Doctors The Indian Doctor Pressure Pad Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds Antiques Road Trip Pointless BBC News BBC London News The One Show EastEnders Waterloo Road Truckers BBC News Regional News and Weather Question Time

the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra ­ Mendelssohn and Stravinsky 06:25 Schools: Performances from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra ­ Monteverdi 06:30 The Great British Year 07:00 This Is BBC Two 07:35 Homes Under the Hammer 08:35 Saints and Scroungers 09:20 Real Rescues 10:05 The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors 11:05 Plan It, Build It 11:35 HARDtalk 12:00 BBC News 12:30 BBC World News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Animal Park 15:00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 18:00 Flog It! 19:00 Eggheads 19:30 Strictly Come Dancing ­ It Takes Two 20:00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip 21:00 MasterChef: The Professionals 22:00 This World 23:00 Mock the Week ­ Again 23:30 Newsnight

00:35 James Nesbitt's Ireland 01:05 Jackpot247 04:00 Columbo: Strange Bedfellows 05:35 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Daybreak 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News Meridian 15:00 Dickinson's Real Deal 16:00 The Alan Titchmarsh Show 16:59 ITV Meridian Weather 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News Meridian 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Tonight 21:00 Emmerdale 21:30 Britain's Secret Treasures 22:00 Breathless 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News Meridian 23:35 The Jonathan Ross Show

BOUNCERS 00:20 Iceland Foods: Life in the Freezer Cabinet 01:20 See Hear 01:50 This Is BBC Two 05:00 Adapting Carmen: Re­imagin­ ing a Classic 05:25 Schools: Tips for Young Composers 06:05 Schools: Performances from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra ­ Bach 06:10 Schools: Performances from

An insight into the work of door staff at bars, clubs and takeaways across Essex. Queen Street is the hub of Colchester's late­night drinking and this edition follows several bouncers working along this strip. Head doorman Curtis and col­ league Jamie have 30 years of experience between them, and keep their doors safe with a lot of know­how, Alex is new to the job and on a mis­ sion to change people's perceptions of his profes­ sion, and Sue brings a female perspective to the role.

00:45 Random Acts 00:50 Up All Night 01:50 Drifters 02:15 Drifters 02:40 A Dirty Shame 04:10 Shapes 04:15 SuperScrimpers 05:10 Deal or No Deal 06:05 Countdown 06:50 River Cottage Bites 07:00 The Treacle People 07:10 The Hoobs 08:00 According to Jim 08:25 Will & Grace 08:55 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:00 Frasier 11:00 Undercover Boss USA 12:00 Beat My Build 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 13:40 Jamie's 15 Minute Meals 14:15 That Touch of Mink 16:10 Countdown 17:00 Deal or No Deal 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 20:55 4thought.tv 21:00 George Clarke's Amazing Spaces 22:00 Bedlam 23:00 Bouncers

01:05 Poker 02:00 SuperCasino 04:05 Benidorm ER 04:55 HouseBusters 05:20 House Doctor 05:45 Great Scientists 06:10 Michaela's Wild Challenge 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Fireman Sam 07:35 The WotWots 07:45 Peppa Pig 07:50 Olly the Little White Van 07:55 Little Princess 08:10 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Fifi and the Flowertots 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:25 Peppa Pig 09:30 Milkshake! Monkey 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:50 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Robson's Extreme Fishing Challenge 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 The Mentalist 16:15 Impact 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 NewsTalk Live 20:00 Police Interceptors 21:00 Benidorm ER 22:00 Countdown to Murder 23:00 Person of Interest

42

Friday, November 1, 2013

AUCTIONS

ACCOUNTANTS Pro Business Support – for all your accountancy needs in English; bookkeeping, taxes, wage slips and more.

We cater for companies and self­employed people; we can deal with everything for you. Call us on 966 923 963 for first consultation free of charge.

ANIMALS Pet Travel UK family pet transporters Spain/UK. Travel with your pets for free. All air conditioned vehi­ cles (no vans) www.pettrav­ eluk.co.uk UK 0800 612 4922 or Spain 960130537 (141)

BOATS FOR SALE GC15: 16m Guy Couach motor cruiser, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, kitchen, lounge/dining area, and fly­ bridge. 2 x Mercedes 350kw diesel motors. 56000€. Call 966 923 963 or 651 885 200

AIR CONDITIONING

A57: Rare Vintage 1957 Astondoa Classic Wooden motor launch, 10 m with Perkins diesel engine. All in working order. Needs TLC and re­varnish, great proj­ ect, 6000€. Call 966 923 963 or 651 885 200 .

CHURCH SERVICES International Christian Assembly, Calle Pilar de Horadada 5, Torrevieja.

Evangelical non­denomina­ tional church. Sunday serv­ ices 11am.

Children's church 11am. House groups in Torrevieja, Los Balcones, San Javier. Ladies meeting Thursdays 11am. Craft club, Tuesdays, 2pm.

Pastor, Rafael Restrepo. All nation­ alities welcome. Call 966 799 273 or 660 127 276.

Pilar Christian Community Church Calle Canalejas 3.

Pilar de la Horadada.

Sunday Service at 11am, and Thursday at 5pm for Prayer and Praise and Worship Home groups meet during the week. All wel­ come from any church back­

BLINDS

ground or none. For further information contact PilarChristian.CommunityC hurch@gmail.com 968 5754 17 or 966 848 806. Reg No:2009­SG/A The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) meet at 10.00 each Sunday at their Torrevieja meetinghouse in the Torreaguas building on the corner of Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 104, close to the windmill in Torrevieja, 667 533 597.

BUSINESS SERVICES Handy Mal. No Job too small, painting, tiling, small builds, gardening, ikea assembly, San Javier and surrounding areas, very rea­ sonable rates. References available. Tel: 649 955 005 (141)

CARS FOR SALE

Car insurance quotes – new extra discount on fully com­ prehensive policies at the price of third party!

Excellent prices for expats, all policies and call centre staff in English. We will call you back with a quote. 966 923 963

ALARMS

CATERING

EMPLOYMENT WANTED British Barber requires part time position. Orihuela Costa area. 30 years experi­ ence. All aspects of barber­ ing covered. Please contact Ian Johnston on 693 054 938 (141)

INSURANCE CASER SEGUROS ­ for all your insurance needs, home, car, health, funeral.

Policies available in English and German.

Call Professional Business Support on 966 923 963 for a quick quote from our friendly staff.

PROPERTY FOR RENT Viva Villa and Vacation Services, For Short or Long Term Rentals visit: www.vil­ laandvacation.com or Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 2 or 3 bed / 2 bath apart­ ments in San Miguel. Lift, communal rooftop pool & solarium, video entry sys­ tem. Available for short or long term rent from 350 pcm. Tel 966723437 or 616 493 487. (142) Ref: 61, A lovely two bed­ roomed ground floor apart­ ment, located in the centre of the small Spanish town of Los Montesinos, With a pleasant communal swim­ ming pool adjacent & all amenities in walking dis­ tance. Long and short term rental available. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397

CAR HIRE

Ref: 104, 2 Bedroom apart­ ment in Torrevieja, (near gypsy lane), small balcony, near all amenities and Friday market. €350pcm Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref: 112, Spacious 3 bed­ room detached villa with its private pool is located on the El Raso urbanisation near Guardamar. Convenient for all amenities, shops, super­ market, restaurants and bars. Short term rental avail­ able. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref 702: Beautiful 2 bed­ room apartment, located near los Locos beach, beau­ tifully furnished. Short term rentals from 175€ per week.

Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref: 63, Two bedroom 1st floor apartment situated in Monino Blanco. The proper­ ty overlooks a superb com­ munal pool area, in within walking distance of bars, restaurants and shops.

Short or long term rental available. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref 114 This upstairs apart­ ment is situated just out of the town centre on a lovely urbanisation with a good communal pool. It has two bedrooms with an open plan kitchen, diner and lounge and kitchen. €350 per month plus bills. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 WANTED! Properties, all

LONG TERM RENTALS types, in the Torrevieja area wanted for long term rentals.

Call us on 96 692 3963 CBR35 : Townhouse with garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath­ rooms, communal pool, near San Jaime Hospital in Aguas Nuevas area, 450 € pcm, call 966 923 963 CBR21 : Frontline apart­ ment on the ground floor, right on the beach! Consists

CARPENTER

of 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, lovely terrace just off the sandy beach, 400€ pcm, call to view on 966 923 963.

CBR20: Beachfront apart­ ment 4th floor with fantastic sea views! 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, good sized bal­ cony, 400€ pcm, call now on 966 923 963 Ref: 709, A lovely 1 bed­ room apartment in Aguas Nuevas, within a 5 minute walk of the beach. There is a terrace outside with views to the sea. Short or long term rental available. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397

PROPERTY FOR SALE Home and Contents cover ­ Comprehensive policies for house and contents with CASER Seguros ­ excellent prices for expats; policies available in. Call 966 923 963 for a quote.

RS116 – 3 bedroom, 2 bath­ room towncentre apartment in Los Montesinos, beauti­ fully furnished/decorated, pool on solarium, 85.000€, call 966 923 963 Rare opportunity to pur­ chase on Mediterrania III, Gran Alacant. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Private Parking, F/Furnished, Large communal pools & Tennis courts S/W facing, Dramatically reduced for quick sale to 126.000 euros.

Ref No. K58 Call 627 711 155 for immediate viewing RS80 : Spanish style town­ house in Algorfa, totally reformed and redecorated, 110m2, 3 lrg.bedrooms, 1 bathroom, many extras, absolute bargain at 99,500€, call now on 966 923 963 for no obligation viewing.

Ref: 510, €70,000.

Bungalow located in San Luis. It is close to the super­ markets, bars and restau­ rants and is on the local bus route. An Opel Corsa car is included in this sale. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397

CLEANERS

43

Friday, November 1, 2013 Lovely Corner property in Novamar V, Gran Alacant. 2 bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms Being sold fully furnished including appliances, Has secure underground parking and faces large oasis com­ munal pool. Walking dis­ tance to beach. 139.000 Euros, Call 627 711 155 and quote Ref No. K10 Ref: 104 Lovely 2 Bedroom Apartment, close to Shops, walking distance to Friday Market and Town Centre and the beach. The property is close to the Habaneres Shopping Centre and Aquapark. Recently refur­ bished apartment in a good central location.

Conveniently situated for all the facilities of this modern vibrant town, and only a few blocks away from Torreviejas excellent sea front with its abundant cafes, restaurants and shops. Price €43950 Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref. BRJ1 – 1 bedroom top floor renovated apartment in San Luis. Great sea and lake views. 45.000€. Tel. 966 923 963 Immaculate ground floor Duplex, 2 beds, 2 bath, Private Parking, Situated in Novamar, Gran Alacant.

Price includes very tasteful furniture and white goods.

Walking distance to all local amenities and beach. Now only 129,750 euros. Ref No K24. 627 711 155 Don Pueblo, Gran Alacant. 3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Large Kitchen with Galleria, Secure underground park­ ing, Gas Central Heating, Glazed in Porch, Solarium with stunning views.

Viewings absolutely essen­ tial. Very large property at reduced price of 190.000 euros. Ref No. K38 Call 627 711 155 KBJ3 : 3 bed penthouse in Guardamar, furnished, fan­ tastic sea views, communal pool and parking, 155.000€, call 966 923 963 Opportunity to purchase at the off plan price of 195.000 euros. Large 4 Bed, 3 Bath

Brand new property. Secure underground parking for 2 cars and communal pool.

Situated opposite Gran Alacant and over looks pro­ jected golf course. Ref No. K52. 627 711 155 RS1 : 3 bed large villa in Torrevieja on 950m2 plot, private pool, Jacuzzi / sauna, parking, 289.000€, call 966 923 963 Viva Villa and Vacation Services are pleased to offer property sales for the Torrevieja and Oriheula areas of the Costa Blanca, Spain. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 or Visit : www.villaandvacation.com Ref: 78, €120,000. Three bedroom Quad in Jardin Del Mar VII. There is off­road parking and small storage shed in the enclosed garden area, communal pool near­ by. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 2 Bed, 1 Bath Ground floor duplex. Central heating, Grills, Fully furnished, Glazed in Galleria, 2 com­ munal pools, private parking and walking distance to the Gran Alacant commercial centre. Situated in the popu­ lar urbanisation of Puerto Marino. Now only 96,500 euros for quick sale Ref No. K46. 627 711 155 Ground Floor Duplex, on the Monte y Mar estate of Gran Alacant. 3 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom, Fully furnished, Private Parking, Communal pool Ref. GA0094 NOw only 83.000e Tel. 680333242 Gran Alacant Detached villa, located in a very sought after location.Situated on a 560m2 S/W facing plot and constructed in 2005.

Comprising of 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (2 full baths), Lounge­Diner, fully equipped Kitchen, Porch and Solarium with Alicante & Sea Views. ref.L81. €258,000 neg.

Tel. 680333242 Gran Alacant Town House with a difference.

2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Glazed in Porch, Quiet Location, Extra storage

CAR BREAKERS

areas, and South Facing Private Pool as well as 2 communal pools. Fully Furnished, All mod cons.

Greenland Views and all local amenities close by.

Ref. No L79. 179.000 euros 680 333 242 Gran Alacant immaculate villa, 3 bedroomed, 3 bath­ roomed property maintained to a very high standard inside and out and the interi­ or furnishings are top quali­ ty, offering a feeling of luxury and good taste. The plot size is 400m2 and has been beautifully tiles, and grav­ eled and has established palms and plants. Oil fired central heating throughout, log effect fire place, ceiling fans in all rooms, towel heater rails, glazed in show­ er units, instant hot water, water purifier, free English TV, phone & internet lines, fitted double hanging wardrobes, safe, glazed in front porch, vanity units and much more. The pool is an 8 X 4 m2 salt water pool, meaning maintenance is much easier plus outside toilet and shower. Sea views to front with Greenland views to the rear. ref K51. €245,000 Tel 680333242 Ref: 516, €39,999. Studio apartment in San Luis, close to amenities. Open plan fully equipped kitchen. Good sized lounge, bedroom and out onto balcony which has been glazed to create another room. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref: 709, €60,000 A lovely 1 bedroom apartment in Aguas Nuevas, within a 5 minute walk of the beach.

There is a terrace outside with views to the sea. Short or long term rental available.

Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Ref: KP3100, €183,000.

Three bedroom, two bath­ room detached villa, located in San Luis, on a 450sqm plot, with communal pool.

Garage to side of house.

Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397

Ref: 520, €85,000. Two bed­ room apartment in Dream Hills, with a fully equipped kitchen, large lounge, glazed­in terrace and a large solarium. This property comes with a large commu­ nal swimming pool. Call: 965 707 188 or 626 397 397 Lovely clean detached Villa just as you enter Gran Alacant. Very central loca­ tion, 3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Glazed in Porch, Garden Shed, Private Parking, Attractive Gardens, Private pool Ref: K59 240.000e Tel. 627711155 Recently reduced 4 Bed, 3 Bath Villa, in Gran Alacant.

Quiet Location, Exceptional Views. Converted Under build, 2 Lounges, 2 Kitchens, Private Garage and being sold Fully Furnished, now only 239.950 Ref: L81 Tel. 680333242 Large 4 Bedroom, 4 Bathroom, 2 Kitchens, 2 Lounges, 600m2+ plot Large Retractable Glazed in Pool for all year swimming, Private Parking for 4 cars, Very low­maintenance, Fully Furnished. 330.000e but Negotiable. Very different to the other properties in Gran Alacant and is disabled friendly Ref: L80 Tel. 680333242 Corner Plot Property in the lower end of Gran Alacant. 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Under build, Roof top Solarium Being sold Fully Furnished including White goods. Walking distance to all local amenities. 139.950e Ref. GA0087 Tel. 680333242 Limited Edition Fortaleze in Gran Alacant Exceptionally Large Plot. 4 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Large Private Pool with Decorative Garden, Private Parking, Electric Gates, Glazed in Porch, Solarium, Under build. Quiet sought after area. Very tastefully fur­ nished and all included 370.000e Ref. K52 Tel. 627711155

MAN AND A VAN

DRAINAGE HOUSE / BAR CLEARANCE

Mid Terraced Townhouse on Avda Polognia, Gran Alacant Furnished to a very high standard and includes White Goods. 3 Bed, 2 Bath, Lounge Diner, Fully convert­ ed Under build offering a second lounge and large storage area. Roof top Solarium, Glazed in galleria with extended worktops.

Front Garden with BBQ, Communal Pool with Gardens. 132.000e Ref. K16 Tel. 627711155 Semi­Detached Villa with Open Greenland Views to the Rear and Alicante Views to the Front, means this property in Gran Alacant would appeal to anybody looking for a quiet location.

Comprising of 3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Lounge diner, with working Fire place, Porch, Solarium, Established Gardens and Private Pool, Private Parking on a large plot.

265.000e Ref. L95 Tel. 680333242 Offers Invited on a mid Terraced Town house in Gran Alacant. Comprising of 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Lounge Diner, Galleria, Solarium, Under build.

Communal Pool and Gardens, and with Exceptional Views of Alicante. Being Sold Fully Furnished including White Goods. Ref. K42 Tel. 627711155 (reasonable offers only) 2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom, Unfurnished Mid Terraced Townhouse in GA. Recently decorated throughout means this property is a very clean black canvass.

Has Air­Con & Security Grills and the use of a Communal Pool. Price recently reduced to 110.000e Ref.K12 Tel. 627711155

Reduced for a quick sale to 95.000 e 2 Bedroom, 1 bath­ room, Top Floor Duplex in Gran Alacant. Very Modern Property with Many extras.

Glazed in Porch, Roof Top Solarium, Wooden Flooring.

Immaculate condition and ready to move in. Ref. K15 Tel. 627711155.

Gran Alacant, Situated on the very first urbanisation as you enter Gran Alacant, this 2nd floor duplex offers taste and quality. Comprising of 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, lounge­diner, independent kitchen, full roof­top solari­ um with superb views and recently glazed in porch offering extra living area as well as extra privacy as the glass is mirrored. Ref.K44 €108,000 Tel 680333242 Gran Alacant, Situated in the "Alto" part of Gran Alacant, this 3 bedroomed, 4th floor apartment, offers luxury accommodation, with absolutely stunning sea views, as well as views of Alicante bay and the famous Santa Barbara Castle.The apartment is 89 square meters with open plan kitchen / living room and includes all electrical appli­ ances & furniture also there is a utility room, open ter­ race, and private parking.

The urbanisation also offers many communal pools, ten­ nis courts, restaurants and bars. Ref. K20 €109,000 Tel 680333242

PETS

PERSONAL

44

Friday, November 1, 2013

Gran Alacant villa located in a very quiet area , situated at the end of a cul­de­sac means there is no through traffic.3 bed, 3 bath, 330m2 plot, established large gar­ dens, working fireplace, solar panel for hot water,pri­ vate parking, south facing great views, fully furnished, fantastic opportunity. ref.

L85. €215,000 Tel 680333242 Beach front Line property, over looks Carabassi Beach, Gran Alacant. 2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Secure Underground Parking, Fully furnished, Roof Top Solarium. 3 Large Communal Pools, Fantastic communal Gardens, Tennis Courts and much more.

125.000 Euros Ref No. K23.

Tel. 627 711 155 Gran Alacant, Situated front line to the famous blue flag beaches of Carabassi, the real beauty of this property is its proximity to the beach, but also on offer is a fantas­

tic communal pool situated in beautifully kept gardens with little Spanish walk ways.Comprising of 2 bed­ rooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge diner, American style kitchen including all appliances, roof top solarium with stunning views, front porch area with front garden and a secure underground garage. fully furnished Ref. K23 €125,000 rare opportunity Tel 680333242 Gran Alacant limited edition villa, not very often available on the market. Only a few of this type were ever con­ structed­ Very large 5 bed­ rooms, 4 bathroom(2 en­ suit) property, situated on a large corner plot with a 10 x 5 private pool and private parking. Lounge­diner with working fireplace, fully equipped kitchen with utility room. Large landing area, leading onto solarium, with extra storage external room.

Front porch area leading into large well established

gardens with irrigation sys­ tem and fruit trees. Being sold fully furnished. Within walking distance to Gran Alacant commercial centre and 5 minute drive to Carabassi beaches. ref.

K11. €270,000 Tel 680333242 Gran Alacant large detached villa with 3 double bed­ rooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge­diner, fully equipped kitchen, large porch, roof top solarium, 400 m2 Plot, with established low mainte­ nance very private gardens with irrigation system, elec­ tronic gates, private parking, outside wc, sink & shower, terraces, air con ( h & c ), mosquito nets, grills, alarmed, large spa pool with separate Jacuzzi section.

Within easy walking dis­ tance to Gran Alacant com­ mercial centre and close to local bus and tram route.

Ref K33. €260,000 neg Tel 680333242 Gran Alacant, detached villa in desirable road close to all

amenities, comprising of 3 double bedrooms, 3 baths, lounge diner with working fire place, brand new kitchen with all appliances and black granite work tops, private pool, plot of 550m2, established irrigated gar­ dens and fruit trees, private parking, solarium, also there is a converted under build giving more bedrooms ,bathroom & kitchen, this house has many extras and is being sold fully furnished.

Ref.k47. €280,000 neg Tel 680333242 Gran Alacant south­facing, very private villa, with wood­ land and Alicante views.

Situated at the end of a small cul­de­sac which means this villa enjoys a very peaceful location.3 Bedrooms with fitted wardrobes, 3 Bathrooms, lounge­diner with working fireplace, fully fitted kitchen with including white goods, large front porch,

STORAGE

REMOVALS

POOLS

SURVEYOR

PLUMBERS

POOL TABLES

solarium,workshop and stor­ age in under build, central heating, air con H/C, ceiling fans, grills, UK T.V, off road parking and plenty of out­ side parking also. Due to its orientation of this property enjoys full sun, all day, something very important in the winter months. Ref.K24. €237,000 Tel 680333242

QUIZZES Experienced quiz­ master/question setter with personality available to host quiz nights in local bars.

Tel:­ 664 838 581

SITUATIONS VACANT

REMOVALS Spanish Moves Small removals and deliveries.

Spain/UK Budget prices.

Last minute jobs undertak­ en. www.spanishmoves.net Telephone UK 0800 612 4922 or Spain 960130537 (141)

SOLICITORS Need English speaking solicitors in Torrevieja? Let us help to solve your prob­ lems with debt recovery, divorce, property, fraud, criminal defence. Call us on 966 923 963, give us brief details and get in touch with your specialist solicitor today

WIG SPECIALIST

Butia Espana Self motivat­ ed staff required in Costa Blanca, Sales experience in property an advantage.

Must have own transport.

Tel Spain 960130537 or UK 0800 612 7514 or info@buti­ aespana.com (141) RADIO COSTA INTERNA­ TIONAL needs motivated sellers. Spanish, English and German language is a bonus but not essential.

Training and good earnings guaranteed. For more info call 644 126 600 or email info@radicocostainterna­ tional.com Medaesthetics require a Beautician. Must have NVQ Level 3 and working self employed email cv to sabinebrooks@hotmail.com

SALON MARGARETHAS, 23 years in Torrevieja Hair/Wig specialist for Medical illness and Hair Loss problems. We offer dif­ ferent Hair Replacements, top fillers, Hair prostheses, Toupees and Wigs, Natural and Artificial hair and much more. Also fashion/festival accessories TV/TS are wel­ come to our service. Please call our salon reception for an appointment with Margaretha on Tel no 966 921 846 Torrevieja (90)

RAG AND BONE

VAN HIRE

WANTED

Friday, November 1, 2013

Greenside Gossip

45

IVIE DAVIES takes a weekly look at the golf scene - golfdavies@gmail.com

SLOWCOACHES ARE KILLING THE GAME

Every week you hear comments, if not com­ plaints about slow play. You read survey after survey form golfers from the top to the high handicapper and it becomes clear that the play­ ers are not happy with the pace of play and some are being even deterred from playing because of it! Slow play is a BIG problem: Surveys apart, it does once again raise an important issue for golf and the future of the game. From a players point of view it is not good that enjoyment of the game is damaged by slow play. We have all experienced it and certainly it can be an annoying and frustrating situation.

From a golf club owner and managers point of view it is also a really big problem. For instance, when a course slows up, its capacity drops. You simply cannot get as many people round the course if they are taking 4 ½ hours + as you can if they play sub 4 hours. This has obvious financial implica­ tions for a club.

Another issue for clubs is the fact that golfers are actively put off from playing courses where slow play is an issue. My opinion is that a 4hr to 4hr 30 mins round is very much acceptable but I have been stuck behind fellow golfers who have taken 5hrs 30mins to finish a round with no considera­ tion to the golfers behind , which causes the people behind to lose concentration and start to play bad shots.

The third issue and possibly most important for clubs is much longer term and that is the growth of the game. If slow play is putting people off and most are finding the time it takes to play a round unacceptable, then where does that leave golf? Golf must simply adapt or face declining partic­ ipation levels, and this will ultimately lead to larger financial pressure on clubs and fewer of them surviving.

What is causing the problem? It seems that it is mostly us!

Golfers are at the heart of the issue and to a lesser degree issues with course infrastructure or marshaling. Some believe the main problem is beginners playing together with­ out an experienced player to advise on course etiquette (let­

TITTER ON THE TEE Frank, an elderly pal of mine, returned home to his wife Sue after 18 holes of HELL! "I'm hitting the ball well but, as my eyesight is failing. I can't see where the ruddy ball goes!"

Sue suggested he took his older brother Tom with him next time. "He's 85 now and doesn't play golf anymore'" "I know." Sue replied, "But he has perfect eyesight and can watch your ball for you!" The next day Frank teed off hitting a long drive with brother Tom looking on.

"Did you see it?" asked Frank "Yes!" replied Tom. "Well, where is it?" yelled Frank. "I've forgotten'" exclaimed Tom.

ting groups through etc.). Others think the biggest cause of slow play is the players not being ready to play, as players tend to play slowly because they are never prepared. Never ready to take their shot; they leave their bags at the front of the green. Is it simply an issue of etiquette and if everyone let the group behind through when they were holding them up it would go a long way to alleviating the problem.

What can the golf clubs do? It is their interests to speed up play, so why they do so little about it? For some it is an issue of customer service. The customer is always right! Even if they do take over 5 hours to play a round of golf, which may well prove to be a false economy for many. A golf course can monitor the pace of play, either through a marshal or even through the increasing use of technology. There is a product the European Tour use called GREENi which I feel certain could be adopted to track golfers who are holding up the course. This sort of technology would also help clubs identify bottle necks, and then they could address those issues.

What can the golf industry do? I have mentioned the increased investment in technology that the industry is mak­ ing in order to track and monitor golfers on­course. Trials of this technology have been successful at major venues, so don’t be surprised to see your buggy or golf bag tagged the next time you are at a major resort course.

So what can us as golfers do? The bigger problem on the course is that of the average golfer. Many of us are simply are too proud to call a group through. I have been in groups where we have not let a 2 ball through, so how can we expect players new to the game to do the right thing if we don’t do it ourselves?

Slow play is sometimes an over­hyped subject, but it is clear that it is an issue eating away at our game, making it less enjoyable and in some cases stopping people playing alto­ gether, something that golf, in a world that increasingly demands more of our time, can ill afford! We have all heard the saying, 'Keep up with the group in front not in front of the

group behind' Good common sense is all that is required but lots of people forget this on a golf course.

The following points are something we should all think about, and this may not suit all situations notably competitive games, but for social play these tips will help on the path to eradicating slow play.

1. Adopt ready golf – the honour is not always nec­ essary in most games – only really meaningful in matchplay. If someone’s ready to play and it’s your honour and you’re not, invite them to play their shot.

2. Mark you card after you’ve played your tee shot ­ at no other time mark your card on the green or before playing tee shot if no one is playing.

3. Be conscious of your place on the course and keeping up with play.

4. Don’t chat approaching your ball when you could be work­ ing out club selection, distance, etc. In general be ready to play your shot when it’s your turn to play.

5. Keep a tally of your score at all time – don’t start to count the shots when asked by the marker.

6. Always leave bags and loose clubs at the exit route to next tee.

7. Check from time to time if your group is falling behind or if you holding anyone up.

8. f your ball is nearest to the hole and someone has just played out of a bunker – offer to rake it for them so they can take their shot ­ think “team” not individual.

9. f you’re first to hole out, then pick up the flagstick and be ready to replace it when last putt is made.

10. f in a fourball and 2 balls are lost in different areas, split into two pairs and search for both balls at same time.

11. f possible watch each player’s ball and try and get a marker on where it landed.

12. Start to read your putt when you’re approaching the green or when other people are putting, not when it’s your turn to play.

If you’re not doing the above things, then you’re depriving other players of your group and the whole course of a fair share of time if they’re trying to keep up. Golf is supposed to be fun and enjoyable and not spent moaning about the time to play or being held up and if you feel under pressure from a group behind, let them through. I have painted quite a depressing picture, but despite all the issues slow play caus­ es and the fact that at times it can be frustrating, we must remember that we are out there to enjoy ourselves. Being stuck outside for 4 ½ hours is not the end of the world. It is part of what makes our game so special. So, the next time you are being held up, just take a step back and always remember to smell the roses and maybe, just maybe our fairways will be a happier and a less frustrating place.

Mat and Ant’s grand finale

Fresh from their double victories in the Spanish Supermoto championship at Villena, the Ford­Dunn brothers continued their winning streak with 4 race wins last weekend at the Catalan Championships in Lleida. The racing brothers, Anthony and Mat Ford­Dunn now face their toughest challenge, with the final race of the season decid­ ing the Spanish championship hon­ ours at Albaida, near Alcoy this Sunday. Mat will be fighting for the SM Master 35 Spanish championship title and younger brother Anthony attempts to round his year off with another top step of the podium in the SM open class.

46

Friday, November 1, 2013

Barca’s Celta romp

Leaders Barcelona contin­ ued their great start to their La Liga campaign with a 3­0 win at Celta Vigo on Tuesday night. While the hosts matched their illustri­ ous visitors in the first half,

Barcelona romped away after the break as they won their 10th league game out of 11.

Alexis Sanchez(pictured) opened the scoring before an unfortunate Rodriguez

Barca taste El Clasico blood BARCELONA 2

REAL MADRID 1

Yoel own goal and a fierce strike by Cesc Fabregas guided Gerardo Martino's team to victory which means they have taken 31 from a possible 33 points this sea­ son.

ELCHE’S RUN OVER ELCHE 0 GRANADA 1

Goals from South American duo Neymar and Alexis Sanchez gave Barcelona a 2­1 win in the first El Clasico match of the season against Real Madrid last Saturday.

Barcelona took the lead just 19 minutes in when Neymar, on his El Clasico debut, found the corner of the net after being played in by Andres Iniesta. Real pushed hard for an equaliser with Victor Valdes producing fine saves from Sami Khedira and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo also had a very good penalty shout waved away before Karim Benzema rattled the cross­

bar with a stinging drive.

But the win was sealed by Barcelona substitute Sanchez when he beautifully chipped home with 12 minutes remaining.

Real pulled one back in added time when Jese latched onto Ronaldo's ball to fire under Valdes, but it was too little too late for the visitors.

The win means Barcelona maintain their unbeaten start to the season and moves them some six points clear of Real. Barcelona entertain Espanyol this evening(Friday), whilst Real Madrid are away to Real Vallecano tomorrow night.

Stars shine for Real REAL MADRID 7 SEVILLA 3

Elche's fine run came to an end last Sunday as they were unable to get four straight wins after Manuel Iturra's first­half goal guided Granada to their first victory in three matches in the Primera Division.

Iturra headed home Fran Rico's cross from the right in the 26th minute to snap a downward spiral which had seen them take five points from eight games.

Manu Del Moral headed over for Elche in the first attack of the game before Rico's 20­yard shot was blocked by Alberto Botia, the ball going out for a cor­ ner which came to nothing. There were no openings of note before the visitors went ahead, with Elche not seriously threaten­ ing the visitors' goal going into the break.

Brahimi and Recio both had shots

blocked for Granada in the 2nd half with Carles Gil and Javi Marquez both missing for Elche. The home team forced nothing of note and Granada almost doubled their lead midway during the half when Odion Ighalo's shot from the left of the area was blocked by Lomban only for Brahimi to pounce and unleash an effort which Manu Herrera pushed round the post.

Ferran Corominas fired wide for Elche in injury­time but the match ended in a defeat they could not complain about, given the paucity of their attack. The only good news for Elche was that they escaped any serious penalties for racist chanting from some of the crowd towards the end of the match against Granada’s Nyom.

TORRY HELD FC TORREVIEJA 0 NOVELDA 0

Torrevieja kept their fine defen­ sive home record going but like in their defeat at Pinoso, they squandered many chances to grab all three points. That could be said as well for the visitors, which meant that the final nil­nil scoreline was somewhat surpris­ ing. Dani Lucas had some of the best chances for Torry in the first half, but the Novelda defence was well­marshalled, and then they took control of the match after the interval. Torrevieja with­ stood the pressure, and seized the initiative again, with Rafa Gomez heading over a Meseguer cross, followed by Novelda keeper Marcano being forced to make a great save from a Rafa Gomez shot, whilst the resulting corner saw an Alexis strike being kept out by Marcano. Novelda also continued to threat­ en on the break and share of the spoils

between two well matched teams was fair, if not disappointing for Torrevieja.

Torrevieja remain 4th in the table with 17 points, and travel to Cullera, who are just a point behind them, this Friday afternoon with a 5.00pm kick off

Gareth Bale scored twice as Real Madrid got an emphatic win over Sevilla in La Liga on Wednesday. Bale, making his first start at the Bernabeu, opened the scor­ ing with a smart finish, before adding a second soon after.

He also provided two assists as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat­trick, while Karim Benzema grabbed two goals.

Ivan Rakitic scored two and Carlos Bacca got one for Sevilla, who had Stephane Mbia sent off. Real are six points behind leaders Barcelona after the win and two off second­placed Atletico.

Monte’s home blues continue CD MONTESINOS 0 GRUPO CALICHE 0

CD Montesinos fans were left scratching their heads and tearing out what little hair they have left as yet again their side were unable to reproduce their excellent away form on their home ground. The Monte players beforehand wore some special T­shirts wishing their defender David all the best as he’s out for the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury against Racing Playas de Orihuela David watched from the stands and his recuperation would hardly have been boosted by a lacklustre game and more home frustration.

If anything, greater credit ought to go to Caliche who appeared to have done their homework on the Montesinos side. The home team looked wobbly in defence, with keeper Christian earning his match fee by producing a string of fine saves, including a Becker “clearance” that was heading into the back of the net! Monte’s best chance of the first half came on a break from Edu after 35 minutes when the ball screamed over the bar when it appeared to be a lot easier to just

score.

Monte manager Juanpe made one change at the interval bringing on Yonhi for Omar, but the match continued in the same pattern of the first half, with Monte’s best chances of scoring coming from break­ aways. There was also the worrying sight for the supporters of seeing Edu hobbling off late on with an ankle injury. Monte’s next match this weekend sees them away to Thader B.

47

Friday, November 1, 2013

WHO’S LOST THE DRESSING ROOM?

Who’d be a football manag­ er, then? It seems the lat­ est ‘in’ excuse for being fired fashionably for foot­ ball failure is that the man­ ager has ‘lost the dressing room’.

It means that player­ power, or private politics have taken over behind the scenes of a club, undermin­ ing some manager’s precari­ ous position ­ always, of course when the team is doing badly and results are poor. The latest casualty to fall on his sword is Ian Holloway at Crystal Palace.

The self­styled joker/manag­ er left last week after only seven games into the new season, looking v e r y

much like he jumped just before he was catapulted out. Short Selhurst Park pro­ motion memories seem the

order of the day, forgetting the fervour of four months ago that hailed Holloway a hero in South London by get­ ting the Eagles promoted after the lottery of the play­ offs. Ever more popular pundit Robbie Savage is ‘surprised and bewil­ dered’ as to why the wise­cracking Westcountryman threw in the towel so early, staying at Selhurst Park for less than a year.

Holloway brought in 16 players during the summer but the Eagles have taken just 3 points from 9 games this season. With winnable fix­ tures coming shortly like West Brom, Hull and Norwich now would seem a good time to obtain some much­ needed points, but Ian himself sounds hol­ low: ‘We didn’t keep the spirit that got us up…I just feel tired to be honest. I'm worn

out.’ Hmm. The Daily Mail put it differ­ ently: ‘Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway is fast losing the confidence of his play­ ers…. even if Holloway is given a stay of execution, he faces a fight to win over a number of his players who are privately questioning his managerial methods. The 50­year­old has surprised his squad with various no­shows for training sessions at their Beckenham HQ. A source said: "The players do not know if the manager will be at the training ground…… some players feel he should be spending as much time as possible working with the squad.” ‘ Was Potty Paolo pushed out by player power at the Stadium of Light? Rumours were rife he ruled by bully­ boy bashing and a players’

deputation to Sunderland senior supremacy did for the fiery Italian. Well… due to the secrecy surrounding Poyet’s strange departure from promising Brighton, are the Black Cats gambling (again) with Gus? Such previously illustrious managers as Busby, Shankly, Clough, Revie and others appear to bear wit­ ness to Sir Alex Ferguson’s recent autobiographical alle­ gations where the boss is the boss is the boss, and any challenges to his leadership must be viciously and termi­ nally put down, irrespective of whether your name is Beckham, Keane or whoev­ er. But…that was then…and this is now. Aged­sage pun­ dits who played in those old days but still remember how it should be done, like The Alans, Hansen and Shearer

and Mark Lawrenson gravely mutter dark observations like ‘that would have been sorted out in the dressing room…’ where a strongly­committed team ethic would sort out many of the problems of today. But modern managers like Holloway and di Canio have suffered problems where ‘some’ of the team are clearly not completely behind the manager ­ he has ‘lost the dressing room’ and that’s the beginning of the end. It seems to be coming now quicker and quicker in these results­driven days, despite everyone pleading for sanity, and to take a longer term view of management per­ formance – but no­one ever does ­ the fans scream blue, red or any colour murder after only two consecutive defeats – and the poor man­ ager’s always to blame.

Big weekend for Rojales

Rugby union:-Shark bites Los Squalos San Javier 17 Murcia “B” 12 It was a battling performance by a young developing side against experi­ enced opponents in their 2nd division regional match. Unlike last season, Los Squalos(The Sharks) displayed courage and determination to fight to the end.

This was evident in a second half that belonged to the Murcia players, who launched wave after wave of forward drives and attacks. The brave and tire­ less tackling by the young Squalos took its toll with several Murcia players need­ ing attention in the last quarter. In the weekend’s other action, Orihuela ITV had an easy 74 points to 17 win at Murcia UCAM B, whilst the Orihuela ITV cadets came from behind to notch up a 24­20 win over their counterparts from UCAM.

Rojales Netball Club hosted a big tournament last weekend with teams from Spain and the UK, as well as Quesada and Rojales. The event was won by Madrid “A” with Rojales finishing joint 2nd and Quesada a respectable fourth. For more details about joining the Rojales team, call Tracey on 679 539 995.

Associate with Torry PB’s for Torry swimmers FC Torrevieja is looking to fill up their Vicente Garcia stadium with more support­ ers, and so they’ve organized a special Associations Day next month.

The match with Borriol on Sunday November 24th has been picked for the special promotion, and you’ll need to have a minimum group of 6 people, be it members of a club or association, or just good friends.

Then just send an E­mail of the names of everybody that wants to come along and group that you represent to: ­ oari@torre­

vieja@gmail.com Once your application has been approved by the football club, your group will be included on a list of ‘invitees’. You will be then be asked to turn up together at the player’s entrance of the Vicente Garcia sta­ dium at between 4.30 pm and 4.45pm on the match day, where you’ll be shown to your seats. Refreshments and a bar will be made available, as well as that special chance to enjoy the atmosphere of following FC Torrevieja.

9 of Club Natacion Torrevieja’s swimmers took to the water last Sunday for the first of the season’s league meets at Elche’s Municipal Pool. A number of them equalled previous personal bests whilst other notched up some personal records. In the 100m breaststroke event, Vicky Pigneur knocked 14 sec­ onds off her PB whilst Vitalio Veres shaved 7 seconds off his record. In the 200m backstroke, all of the club’s girls competed against each other in the same heat with Paula Garcia achieving a regional qualifying time of 3:02,28, whilst Samira Lucumbi and Vicky Pigneur were also rewarded with new personal best times.

Friday, November 1, 2013

48

FANS FEAST ON TOP FOOTBALL

I must get out more – especially at weekends. Trouble is, for a fanatic football fan there’s so many red­ hot matches to fire you up these days. Take last weekend: did you see poor old Stoke losing 3 – 2 at Old Trafford? Twice ahead, the Potters could/should have scored more, only to get Robined, Rooined and cruelly in the end Chicaritoed, to lose to Champs­ challenged Man United. Then Liverpool lashed wearied West Brom who were at sixes and sev­ ens, where that should have been the number the Baggies conceded at least. The SAS, Suarez and Sturridge stuffed ‘em! Suarez’ hat trick was awesome; the first two so fast you needed slow motion to appre­ ciate them: but probably best was Sturridge’s sublime chip. With Livewire Luis leading, Liverpool look likely league leaders again – and guess where they’re going on Saturday? It’s leaders Arsenal at the Emirates. Well ­ we’ll see.

Second place, but first­rate it’s Chelsea. Man City take some holding these days, let alone beating, but the Battle of the Blues at the Bridge was breath­taking.

John McGregor reports

Reborn Fernando Torres has that old arrogant, assertive air about him, and Chelsea look to be return­ ing to Mourinho’s masterly days of the mid­noughties when Didier Drogba dominated defences. On Super Sunday, Torres tore through tough tackles to cross for Shurrle to score the first, only to see a superb strike from another similarly­superb striker Sergio Aguero equalise early in the second half. In the final minute, with most people settling for a draw, Torres chased a long Petr Cech clearance to harass Matija Nastastic and Joe Hart into messing it up and thundering past them, Terrific Torres touched it in to send the Bridge into ecstasy and keep Chelsea hard on the heels of table­topping Arsenal.

The leaders had earlier eased past poor (Pulis­bound?)

Palace to persist in pole position. Chelsea go to Sunderland­savaged Newcastle in Saturday’s early­ doors match, and Man City should be able to regain their composure against third­bottom Nervy Norwich.

Delia’s devils bombarded the Red Bluebirds of Swales with a Prem record 31 shots, but a superb confidence­ restoring goalkeeping display from David Marshall kept the Canaries caged goallessly. In a now­even­ more­spiced­up local derby, for the first time ever in the Prem, Cardiff ‘entertain’ nasty neighbours Swansea on Super Sunday. The twist in the story is

that Mike Dean will referee the match – so? Well, last time they met in the Championship in 2009, Dean was struck in the head by a coin, the Cardiff culprit canned for three years and fined £200.

Of the other newbies who came up last time, Steve Bruce’s Hull seem to be doing best, despite a long injury list for mid­table Tigers, but after a formidable five­man defence had thwarted Tottenham for eighty minutes finally fell to a controversial Roberto Soldado penalty, putting Spurs up to fourth. In a scintillatingly­ super six­pointer on Sunday, Tottenham will be terrifi­ cally tested against one­point­below ‘em Everton, the Toffees competently containing and then beating Villa 2 – 0 away. Yet again that man Romelu Lukaku scored, his fifth in five games ­ that’s 26 so far in 2013. Villa’s own hit man Christian Benteke saw his first­half blast­ ed penalty pushed over by Tim Howard, but firstly Lukaku, then Osman wrapped it all up in the second half.

Finally ­ ya gotta give it to Gus. At 1 – 1 in the must­ win/daren’t lose Geordie derby he brought on ques­ tionable ex­Liverpool disappointment Fabio Borini, who powered in a speculative long shot to give the Black Cats the North­East bragging rights win that takes them off the bottom, and (Poyet predicts) will kick­start their season ­ good luck Gus!