Guardamar - Music School

This building was originally built as an underground car park and there was a small square with seating.

However for some reason it remained half completed for several years. Now it is being rebuilt as a music school.

Hopefully it will regenerate the area and attract some trade to the local bars.

.

Guardamar - Meson de Laura

Looking up the street which I think is Calle Dunas from the bar/restaurant Meson de Laura.

.

Guardamar

Another view of the the pine forest - very pretty in the October sunshine.

.

Gurdamar - Reina Sofia

In the Reina Sofia Park in the centre of Guardamar you'll find the local stage - used for concerts and film shows.

I sat on a chair here once only to find it immediately collapse - I managed to save myself but not before I did a hop and a skip down the walkway.

.

Guardamar

Down in the pine forest - a mixture of sun and shadow.

It all looks a little primeval.

.

Tourism in Spain

One consequence of the economic downturn is that Brits who headed for Australia, USA, Thailand and Hong Kong and other long distant holiday destinations may now be looking for a cheaper alternative nearer to home.

I predict that in the next couple of years Spain will see an increase in this section of the tourist trade.

People who enjoyed visits to their own holiday place in the sun plus the odd cruise or exotic destination will be holidaying exclusively in their own pad.

This could be of some advantage to Spain.

.

Big wins in La Liga

There were some high scoring results this weekend in La Liga with hat tricks from Ronaldo and Mesi.

Almeria lost at home to Barcelona 0-8 and Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 5-1.

This leaves the top table positions very tight - Real Madrid top with 32 points and Barcelona second with 31 - both teams having played 12 games.

Looks like it is going to get interesting ..

.

Guardamar - Centenario

The church tower is always a good place for an advert ........

.

Guardamar -Contra El Deslinde

Deslinde in English means limit or borderline.

The local Guardamar authorities are basically complaining about the Ley de Costas - a national law which controls building within the coastal area.

Central government can overrule local authorities and declare certain properties built within the coastal area illegal and enforce compulsory demolition. This area is limited to a certain distance from the coast - hence the name Deslinde or border.

For more information those with fluent Spanish can search http://www.guardamar.net

.

Joyful sight ..

This climber has soon grown - planted I guess only a couple of years ago.

Making an attractive sight in the October sunshine.

.

Cats

When we first went to Guardamar 10 years ago there were plenty of little dogs but we never saw cats.

Now they are there in some numbers - very feral ....

Helped no doubt by the number of people who have started leaving cat food around the streets.

These characters live near waste land next to the bus station.

.

TV reception in Guardamar

Since our last visit to Guardamar TV reception has greatly improved.

Now we can view some of the smaller local stations from Alicante and also pick up Murcian television .

From what I can gather from the local Spanish newspapers there was a general problem in the whole of Guardamar and not just our block of flats. Urgent action was being called for.

So now we have more choice of programmes which we do not understand due to our lack of fluent Spanish.

The local Guardamar TV is still broadcast on analogue and is completely unwatchable - a pity really because we used to enjoy looking at what was happening on the local scene.

.

Rio Segura - Landing Stage

When you have your own landing stage I guess you may decorate how you please.

.

Rio Segura

I may have taken a picture of this boat some time ago - I'm not sure ..

Anyway it's not improving !!

Needs more than a lick of paint now.

.

Living in Spain ..

On one of my lost Blog comments someone asked about life in Spain and what the local government officials were like.

Well firstly I would say that I am not a resident just a part time holiday maker.

My advice to would be residents of Spain would be to rent a place for 6 months at least before moving over on a permanent basis and do remember if purchasing a property that prices are still falling.

Search the internet and read the English language newspapers - they will have a lot to say about life in general and what people think of the local councils and the rules and regulations.

Spain is not all sun and sea - it can be jolly cold in the winter. Some goods in the shops can be more expensive than the UK especially now that the exchange rate to the Euro is bad.

Do your homework.....

.

Comments

While away in Spain I accessed my Blog and e-mail account and published some Blog comments that I had received - all well and good.

On return to the UK I note that these comments have not been published and seem to have disappeared into thin air !!!

The reason for this I do not know - perhaps something to do with the server I was using in Spain.

In future the publishing of comments will be left until I return to the UK.

.

Halloween

I think it is the first time I've been in Guardamar for Halloween

The reason I say this is that I do not remember seeing the young children dressed up as witches and demons trawling around the bars and restaurants with their parents in tow and receiving handfuls of small sweets from the bar staff. This may of course be a recent trend??

I suppose it would be difficult to access the apartment blocks and knock at each individual flat hence concentrating on the bars.

Unfortunately some of the older children /teenagers take delight in throwing eggs mainly at bars and Bank ATM machines.

I hope this craze does not get copied in the UK.....

.

Return

Well we have just returned to the UK from a three week visit to the Costa Blanca - the first visit to Spain since the late Spring.

Beautiful weather was to be had and we had a very relaxing time.

Afraid not many photographs were taken this time - reason being is that Guardamar is a rather small place and I can not be repeating all the same scenes over and over again. Utter boredom would follow .......

Nothing much has changed in Guardamar - the bar Candil is up for sale again and is now closed - El Siglo has new owners - Tim & Leon is now the name of the bar - not that I've visited the place.

Luka another bar has now got free WiFi connection.

We are of the opinion that the local council has cut down on street cleaning - usually of a very high standard we are seeing quite a bit of litter lying about.

Further reports to follow ..

.

Madrid

Unusual corner - cross plus art decoration ...

.