La Mata - changes !!

More photographs of the main square in La Mata ..

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La Mata - changes !!

The main square in La Mata now has a makeover - not too sure if it is completed.

Out go the little fountains and seating areas to be replaced by this great expanse - which may be grand for holding meetings or markets but certainly lacks anywhere to sit.

Not sure I like it - it lacks any character .

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New bosses in power ...

The new Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won a vote of confidence in parliament on Tuesday and King Juan Carlos swore him in on Wednesday.

Now the fun will start - increased taxes and cuts cuts cuts in services and projects...

Luis de Guindos ex Lehman Brothers will head the economy ministry and Cristobal Montoro will be treasury minister.

Fatima Banez lawyer and economist will head the labour ministry and overhaul the rigid labour laws while Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo gets the plum job of foreign secretary

New names and faces ...

Good luck !!

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Construction work ..

The first few weeks of our holiday were disturbed by the construction work being carried on in the building opposite.

The work seemed to consist of knocking down a wall and rebuilding it in the same spot but with a slightly different entrance way to the pool.

I'm not sure if this was done correctly as there seemed to be many discussions with the property owners followed by the disappearance of the workforce.

No doubt on our return the work will have been completed or perhaps not.

It looks like rain water will collect at the side of the wall - not good!!

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Unpaid electric and gas bills ..

Electric and gas bills are not being paid in Spain and the main culprits are the town halls.

Unesa which represents Iberdrola SA, Endesa SA, E-On AG, Gas Natural SDG SA and HC Energia says the five power companies are owed about 500 million euro.

It looks like stormy times ahead for the Spanish economy.

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Cafe ..

On a pleasant day it is nice to walk through the pine forest and take a rest and refreshment at this cafe ..

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Dark clouds

Dark rain clouds gather ..

This is the view from our patio - when the sun does shine the building actually reflects light into our apartment.

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CAM

The CAM Bank has been bought by the Banco Sabadell SA for one euro - I realised that the CAM was in a bad way but this news came as a surprise.

Having only a current account used for paying bills I am not too concerned however I do hope that our current branch in Guardamar remains open.

Recently the Guardamar branch of Barclays closed which I did find annoying - Barclays as far as I was concerned provided the best deal when it came to taking cash from my current UK account at an ATM.

Now I must travel to Barclays in Torrevieja or Alicante if I do not want to be hit by high commission costs.

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Euro crisis

A Bloomberg report of the 9/12 suggests that some European CEO's believe that Spain will exit the euro and return to the peseta.

Already firms are making plans to move money to German banks or move their headquarters to northern Europe.

What are the consequences for the holiday maker or expat residing in Spain?

If Spain was to return to the peseta and then devalue it would make the country a cheaper place to visit ( assuming Sterling retains it's worth ), expats on a pension would receive a higher income but the value of our holiday homes and residences would reduce even further.

It's all swings and roundabouts.

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Woe in Madrid ..

Yesterday Real Madrid lost on their own turf to Barcelona 3-1 and this leaves them both with 37 points in La Liga.

Good news for Real Madrid is that they have one game in hand.

There will be a lot of head shaking and arguments in the bars of Madrid this weekend especially as Barcelona are bitter rivals.

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Modern day castle ..

This block of holiday apartments looks more like a modern castle or some army command post with it's grey painted walls and satellite dishes.

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Death in August - Marco Vichi

Holiday time is a good time to catch up with some reading .

Death in August by Marco Vichi was among the books bought from Amazon prior to our trip out to Spain.It is the first Inspector Bordelli book and the setting is around Florence a city we went to recently.

Must admit it was not a book I really liked - rather a slow storyline.

Perhaps I crave for constant action and excitement in the books I enjoy.

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