Category Archives: Blog

Tourism tax can be implemented in cities across Andalucía

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Andalucía has no plans to introduce a generic tourism tax, but will change the law to allow municipalities to levy their own tax if they so wish. The announcement was made today by regional president Susana Diaz at the annual meeting of the Consejo Andaluz de Turismo. She said that this would be a valuable tool for major cities to deploy in order to control tourist numbers during high season and would respect the “all Continue reading Tourism tax can be implemented in cities across Andalucía→

Catalunya mis-spends €6,150 and is taken over; Turre €13 million, no-one cares

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Catalonia has been advised that it will lose control of budgetary spending after Madrid spotted that it has over-spent the whopping amount of €6,150 towards the independence referendum (out of a total budget of €24 billion). To be precise, Catalonia said it would spend € 19.370 on “electoral control”. Madrid spotted that it had spent €25.520, €6.150 more than it should (yes, no million or billion mark), and has used this as an excuse to Continue reading Catalunya mis-spends €6,150 and is taken over; Turre €13 million, no-one cares→

Nobody wants to carry out the Catalan referendum

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In three months time Catalunya will run a referendum upon independence- that Madrid has ruled illegal. Tough, says the generalitat it’s going ahead anyway. Trouble is, El País newspaper today reports that no private company wants to help organise the referendum. Conspiracy theorists are muttering about how los madrileños have been leaning on the private sector….. Only two companies bid for the public tender to supply the urns and voting booths – and both bids Continue reading Nobody wants to carry out the Catalan referendum→

IKEA comes to Almería

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IKEA has confirmed it will build a super store in Almería city. The company signed a contract yesterday purchasing a massive plot of land on the outskirts of the city, and contracted a company to build a 27,000 square metre building on it. Construction company Carrida will start work in February 2018 with the grand opening expected to be in February 2019, according to the published timeline, which assumes planning consent within six months. Carrida Continue reading IKEA comes to Almería→

Mónsul & Genoveses beach access closed for summer

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The usual traffic restrictions are now in place preventing you from driving down to some of the Cabo de Gata’s most popular beaches until Sept 17. The roads are closed because otherwise thousands of cars turn up and do irreparable damage to the fragile local environment. They also cause huge congestion and prevent emergency services from getting to the beach in case they are needed. So the usual park and ride system is in place. Continue reading Mónsul & Genoveses beach access closed for summer→

End of EU roaming is bad news for us this summer

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The EU has abolished roaming mobile phone charges between countries. So you can use your phone in another EU country as if you were at home. Hurrah! Bad news for us down here in Spain. Why? A worse and more expensive service, basically. Because with an estimated 23 million EU tourists coming here in July alone, there are very real fears that the infrastructure will collapse. The number of phones connected to the network is Continue reading End of EU roaming is bad news for us this summer→

Guardia Civil gives trainee officers bullfighting classes

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There is uproar today after it was revealed that 250 Guardia Civil trainee officers were given a course on bullfighting as part of their training in Jaén this week. One of their teachers swapped the police tricorn hat for a bullfighters cap and cape, to show students how to properly torture a cow to death. The students were not impressed, with a number of videos making their way onto the internet and a complaint being Continue reading Guardia Civil gives trainee officers bullfighting classes→

All naked flames banned as from today

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All naked flames in the countryside have now been banned between June 1 and October 15 across Andalusia. Barbecues (of any type), naked flames, bonfires etc are all banned. This includes motorway rest areas or countryside sporting or public camp areas, even if there are installations for such barbecues.As is the transit of motor vehicles in forest areas or within 400 metres of said designated areas. Bee keepers are also affected, as they must used Continue reading All naked flames banned as from today→

Rajoy cocks up

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(And I’m not talking about the Catalonia independence issue). Rajoy committed a rather spectacular blunder today when he voted against his own budget amendment. Even more surprisingly, he was the only MP to do so, meaning his “mistake” was rather obvious. Everyone stared in amazement at the info board which shows how MP’s voted, with one little red dot where Rajoy sits (image on the left). https://twitter.com/Ainhat/status/869885984841879552 Spanish MP’s don’t bother with formalities when voting. Continue reading Rajoy cocks up→

No of course you can’t break into a car

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The National Police have reminded people that if you break into a car to rescue an animal trapped in the sun, you’ll be done for vehicle theft. Their Twitter message comes in response to a popular bit of nonsense doing the rounds online which urges people who see an animal locked inside a car to take a photo, then break into the car to rescue the animal. According to the myth, the photo will protect Continue reading No of course you can’t break into a car→