Palm
Trees in Elche,
Alicante
Imserso-
Spanish holiday programme for pensioners
Many
of you reading this may have been registered by us on
the Imserso programme. This is the subsidised Spanish
holiday programme for resident pensioners in Spain.
It's usually at this time of year that we are able to
submit new registration forms and those who have
already registered receive letters confirming their
details and preferred holiday destinations.
However, information about this year's holidays is late
arriving and the window for new applications has not
yet opened. We'd like to inform all those applicants
who are newly registered with us, that we are
still holding your forms and will submit them as soon
as we're able.
We have been taking phone calls from people who are
anxious to know whether the programme will continue
to run at all. We do know that there will be a reduced
number of holidays available this year but have
received nothing to suggest that the programme is suspended.
As soon as we have any concrete, reliable information
to share, we will let you know.
Scorchio
If
you used to watch The Fast Show you should remember
the weather forecast sketch which certainly added to
the impression that Spain is hot or 'scorchio' all of
the time.
Of course, if you live here or visit regularly you know
that's not the case and on occasions Spanish residents
as well as holiday makers can become as hooked on finding
the best weather forecast site as those living
in countries where the weather is less predictable.
One of our favourite sites is:
www.eltiempo.es
This site gives you a very detailed hourly breakdown
of what to expect. No weather forecast is foolproof
but this one does seem to give reasonably accurate
predictions. Perhaps you know of one that's better?
The
laugh is on you
Perhaps
one of the main differences we can find between cultures
is their sense of humour. The British often feel
that theirs isn't widely understood, particularly by
Americans! But what's unique about the sense of humour
of other nations and what's making them laugh?
This rather interesting series of articles was actually
translated from Le Monde. The latest one being about
a form of rather crude humour in Spain called, 'Torrente'.
www.presseurop.eu
Le Monde looks at English humour in the article:
www.presseurop.eu
and Swedish humour in this article:
www.presseurop.eu
Whether you agree with the articles or not, do have
a look at the jokes at the bottom of the English one.
I enjoyed them anyway!
Andalucia
TV
If
you live in or have an interest in Andalucia you might
enjoy the Sol Channel. It's an online video guide
to the area but it also includes videos about living
and working in Spain generally.
www.solchannel.com
I particularly liked this '6 golden rules for surviving
in Spain':
www.solchannel.com/6-golden-rules
And this article which takes a long hard look at manners
and the Spanish way:
www.solchannel.com/spanishway
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Ábaco update
Latest news
There
are many changes happening both in Spain and the global
economy generally. It's hard to keep up. To help
you keep informed about what's occurring and how it
might effect the Spanish property owner, we are making
regular updates to Ábaco Online. If you are an
Ábaco client you can keep yourself up-to-date with the
'Latest News' on the home page:
online.abaco-asesores.com
Sorry
Sorry
if we misled you. Just to confirm BA's wonderful new
service is only currently running from Heathrow.
In the last newsletter I wrote from 'selected London
airports' I think in the hope that some time soon there
will be more. With the galloping increase in flight
prices a little extra competition and a few additional
operators would be very welcome. Watch this space…
Corvera
airport again
Well,
what can you make of it all? On the one hand you've
got this article which suggests it might be open before
December:
www.murciatoday.com
And on the other hand you've got this forum posting
which suggests that Jet2 will continue to plan
flights next summer from Murcia:
www.eyeonspain.com
We can perhaps all make predictions about what might
happen. The story just goes on and on and on…
And
now it's all over
IIn
our July newsletter we introduced you to a few cynical
articles about the Olympics. Of course, it did
turn out to be a much greater success than the majority
of people envisaged…at least for the British. For the
Spanish it was anything but a success. This article
from Iberosphere doesn't exactly explain what
was happening at the Olympics for Spain but does look
critically at Spain's reaction to it:
iberosphere.com
More
book suggestions
Following
the reference in July's newsletter to 'Fifty Shades
of Grey' and our own recommendation of 'The Shadow of
the Wind' I was delighted to receive more recommendations
for good books to read, translated from Spanish.
Suggestions included books by:
- Ildelfonso Falcaones (such as 'Cathedral of the Sea'
and 'The Hand of Fatima')
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Javier Marias
Inspired myself by these suggestions I had an 'Amazon
moment' and am currently reading 'The Hand of Fatima'.
It's set in the Sierra Nevada and Granada region and
the story has the conflict between the Moors and Christians
as its backdrop. In some places it makes pretty grim
reading but I am finding it a compelling book.
Any more recommendations are welcome!
Practise
your Spanish
Euroresidentes
is a website that describes itself as providing 'information,
guides and help'. The news isn't very up-to-date but
there is plenty of material on here, some of which might
be of interest. In particular, blogs written in Spanish
might be worth reading and translating to practise your
Spanish:
www.euroresidentes.com
Tio
Pepe versus 'the apple'
I
remember vaguely the time when the apple brand was but
a quirky alternative to the PC used by some graphic
designers and geeks. Now it's everywhere - iphones,
Macbooks, itunes - we're bombarded by the apple logo
to the extent that we might wonder where it will resurface
next.
Apple is perhaps one of the most amazing stories of
how a brand can rise again and sweep the board. And
what more evident way of demonstrating your superiority
than announcing it in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid -
but will they dare put the apple logo there in place
of Tio Pepe?:
www.expatica.com
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