Month: February 2009

Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain (3)

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I wrote a while back about a “Federation” I spotted, called the Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain, which was supposedly setup to regulate “British” estate agents in Spain. This initially seemed, to me, to be a good idea, but upon investigation I spotted a few things which put my hackles up. Here’s the previous articles: http://www.davidjackson.info/2008/federation-of-british-estates-agents-in-spain.htm http://www.davidjackson.info/2008/federation-of-british-estate-agents-in-spain-2.htm You can see the website of the company involved at www.fbeas.com. These posts were picked up Continue reading Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain (3)→

An electric bill of 169, 798 euros?

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Some poor fellow from Marbella has received a rather high electric bill. 169 thousand euros. Trouble is, he claims Endesa won’t discuss the bill until he pays it. Trouble is, they passed the direct debit through the bank, and now the bank is asking him for the money. So now he’s worried about going to jail. FACUA, the consumer organisation, has promised to look into the case. Frankly, I would have thought that a quick Continue reading An electric bill of 169, 798 euros?→

Unicaja to merge with Caja Castilla la Mancha (shotgun wedding, although the in laws pretend it isn’t)

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Marvellous idea. Our own Unicaja (formed several years ago out of a merger between several provincial cajas), also known as El Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera (or UNICAJA – Caja del Sol) is Andalucias biggest financial entity and is based out of Malaga. It has a huge portfolio, sound financial rating and little exposure of dodgy debt. Caja Castilla la Mancha is a second rate Caja Continue reading Unicaja to merge with Caja Castilla la Mancha (shotgun wedding, although the in laws pretend it isn’t)→

Head of Extranjeria in Murcia arrested for selling residence permits

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Hot on the case reported in Huelva (where the head of the Traffic police was arrested for selling forged driving licenses) comes a new case in Murcia: The head of the Extranjeria department (Inspector Jefe de la Segunda Actividad de la Brigada de Extranjeria y Documentacion de Murcia, a certain Diego de Gea, which deals with immigrants, residence permits and the like) has been arrested for selling off residencias and other such papers. Something seems Continue reading Head of Extranjeria in Murcia arrested for selling residence permits→

Ministry of what, now?

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Trevor from Kalebaul points our attention to a sharpeyed Catalan who seems to have spotted that the (Catalan) logo of the Ministry of Work & Immigration seems to have been mistranslated. Should be Treball, apparently. If you’re stuck with translating Catalan phrases use http://www.apertium.org. Carles Miró, who first spotted this, would also like to tell his 75 year old friend why it’s called “Work and Immigration” – are only immigrants allowed to work? Or are Continue reading Ministry of what, now?→

New telephone translation service in all Andalucian health centres

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The Junta has started a new simultaneous translation service for non-Spanish speakers in all it’s medical centres. The system currently supports 46 languages, and consists in the doctor and patient being able to talk via a translator over a conference call from a central call centre. The Junta de Andalucía and Andalucian Health Service have launched a new service for non-Spanish speakers who need to visit a doctor. Currently, doctors will not treat non emergency Continue reading New telephone translation service in all Andalucian health centres→

Englands only councillor in Almeria on street names

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Jim Simpson is an English expat who was elected to the local council of Zurgena in the last elections, despite not speaking any Spanish. His blog is over at http://jiminy304.vox.com and is worth consulting, if only to bow your head in sympathy with his struggles with local bureaucracy, corruption, politics and life. He’s also head of the local neighbourhood watch and is trying to force the Guardia into “community” policing, as if he didn’t have Continue reading Englands only councillor in Almeria on street names→

Vera taxis (refusing to join main association) create their own

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Vera taxis (all 6 of them) have, in a desire to provide their clients with a professional, fast, easy and 24/7 service, setup their own hotline and taxi association. The number is 902 394 545 and the idea is that one of them will always be around to cater for people in Vera needing a taxi. This is fine and laudable, except that there is already a good taxi association covering the rest of the Continue reading Vera taxis (refusing to join main association) create their own→