Costa Blanca – The Heart of Spain Costa Blanca is located on the East Coast of Spain and incorporates the well known destinations of Valencia, Alicante and Benidorm. It is a very popular tourist resort for a variety of reasons both among families and groups of younger people- who tend to appear in peak seasons for the stunning weather and [...]
Lots of predictions will be made over the next couple of days about what will happen in Spain over 2011. Some predictions will, obviously, be right, whilst others will probably turn out to be pure lunacy. However, I think that I can make one prediction that will be accurate – namely that the smoking ban in Spain will change life [...]
Well, I thought I had seen it all when it came to the Spanish property crash, Spanish banks and their lending – most particularly with regard to mortgages in Spain. That was until I read an excellent article in El Pais (one of Spain’s leading national newspapers). As you will see from this article, which is well worth reading throughout, [...]
A Very Merry Christmas To All.
Christmas is almost upon us – only two days away – and, no doubt, you have been as busy as me with last minute shopping and that desperate dash to buy a present for the ‘impossible to find anything for’ close relative. It is enough to over-stretch the nerves of the bravest person! Needless to say, Christmas in Spain, in [...]
Some time ago I wrote an article on an aspect of the culture of Spain that truly surprised me when I first came to live here. It concerned the profusion of brothels in Spain which, frankly, are everywhere. Indeed, almost every town of any size has a brothel, albeit normally on the outskirts of the town concerned and often within [...]
I was struck recently by an article in the New York Times entitled ‘Newly Built Ghost Towns Haunt Banks in Spain’ which, I think, nicely encapsulated, in an extreme, the problems that beset the economy in Spain. Certainly, the Spanish economy faces massive problems that revolve almost entirely around property – or at least the vast debts that accumulated during [...]
Villa Florencia is a beautiful and spacious Costa Blanca Villa for Rent, located in the heart of the Valencia orange growing region of Spain. Only 3kms outside the town of Gandía, it is set in a rural location amongst verdant citrus groves and commands stunning views of the surrounding mountains. If you are looking for a villa rental for your [...]
It is a moment of relief tinged with dread! You are living in Spain and encounter officialdom. This a part of Spanish culture that can challenge the best of us. However, if you are living in Spain then, somehow, you will need to find a strategy that works… Imagine, after waiting for what usually seems like hours, your number finally [...]
I thought that I should quickly you give a round-up to my previous posts on the air traffic controller’s strike in Spain and the potential for a forthcoming Xmas pilot’s strike in Spain. Firstly, the pilot’s strike in Spain has been put off from the Christmas period so, if you are thinking of having Christmas in Spain, you should not [...]
I always have mixed feelings about Christmas in Spain! In many ways, it is great to be in Spain and somewhere that (in most Mediterranean areas) tends to have spectacularly fine weather. Certainly, for anyone interested in the outdoors life, Christmas in Spain can be terrific. As a rock climber it is normally bliss – and most years I [...]
The Spanish economy, Spanish debt, Spanish banks and further potential austerity measures! Part 2 While public sector debt (not the deficit) in Spain is actually relatively low as a percentage of GDP versus other countries such as Italy, Ireland, Greece and Portugal, Spain’s public sector deficit for 2010 will be around 11.3%. So, the Spanish government has announced several austerity [...]
The Spanish economy: fit for purpose or heading the same way as Ireland’s? (Part 1) There has been much speculation in recent weeks that, after Portugal, Spain is about to join Greece and Ireland in requiring a bail out from the EU/IMF. Naturally, Spain’s politicians deny this is the case, wax lyrical about the austerity measures they have announced (under [...]
After the past weekend the question has to be asked as to whether there will be a Xmas pilot’s strike in Spain? In theory, this is possible and something that the Spanish pilot’s Union, SEPLA, have been threatening. However, the State of Alert in Spain declared over the Spanish air traffic controller’s strike in Spain over the past weekend [...]
Air traffic controllers strike in Spain Well, what a day for Spain – one in which the first national State of Emergency in Spain has been declared, by Royal Decree, since the country formally became a democracy in 1978! In fact, there are three states of emergency in Spain: Alert, Emergency and War with today’s declaration, in fact, a State [...]