Ghouls and Gas Bottles

Ghouls and Gas Bottles


It's Halloween here ín Álora too. Most of the young children went to school dressed as witches, demons, monsters and ghouls and tonight some of them will be ringing our bell. I've bought a bag of 'Halloween Truco Trato' caramelos (sweets) from Mercadona. I hope they don't expect cash.

Tomorrow is El Día de los Santos'  (All Saints) which is very important here. Families go up to the cemetery with flowers to visit the niches of their dead relatives and then have a bit of a do afterwards. Many will be eating huesos de los santos (saints' bones) which were on sale at the bread shop today. El Dia de los Santos is a national holiday so the shops will be shut.
Trick or Treating is an imported thing as it is in the UK. Eloisa at the library asked me what it was all about. I don't really know. 'Truco Trato' is a mistranslation too  . 'Un trato looks a bit like 'treat' but it means 'a deal'. 'Un gusto' would be closer. That is unless you take to 'treat' to mean to 'deal with' (as in 'treaty') and then it's all OK.

This is our neighbour. He's a Real Madrid supporter...

It's getting colder now and I had to change our first bombona (gas bottle) for months. We have no mains gas supply here, only the big cities do,  so in the winter it is a common sight to see people lugging these big orange gas bottles around on their shoulders or on little trolleys.  You can  exchange bombonas at garages and some shops but most people in town wait for the the Repsol lorry's weekly delivery (Wednesday afternoon on our street and make sure you have the right change!). Bottled gas is cheaper here than in the UK (16€ at the moment).
Periodically we get a letter telling us to arrange an inspection of our gas appliances. This usually costs between 50€ and 150€ and as there have been numerous bogus companies doing 'inspections'  most locals ignore the letters, tell the 'tecnicos'  to clear off  and renew their own tubing. I went to the Repsol office in the Plaza de la Fuente Arriba to buy some official (dated) tubing this morning. The office is tastefully decorated with original oil paintings.

 

 

 

We had three trick or treat visits but lots of caramelos left for me.

 

31/10/2012

 



 



Laser Death Ray Menace Threat to Álora

Laser Death Ray Menace Threat to Álora



The headline in last week's Sur in English read, 'Man arrested for blinding pilots with laser'. As this came under 'Alora news' it had my attention. It reminded me of a headline in the Sunday Sport some years ago, 'Alien bun stole my knickers'. The Sport article was a spoof and a disappointment but the laser story is almost true.
Alora is on the approach path of planes landing in Málaga. At peak periods they come over at one a minute. Pilots have reported being dazzled (not blinded but serious nevertheless) by someone on the ground with a laser pointer. The Guardia Civil patrolled the streets of the next town, Pizarra and caught the culprit red handed, or green handed as it turned out, pointing a green laser beam at an incoming aircraft. He was arrested and charged with violating aerial navigation laws.
I  have seen the beams on the shirts of footballers on the telly so it seems to be a popular prank; but are these laser pointers dangerous or not? So far there is only one reported case of permanent eye damage being caused by 'lasing' and this was by a boy pointing it at himself (!). The Pizarra pointer was aged 45.(a pause here to think of a suitable word for him. Answers to 'Sur in English') and most of the reported convictions for 'lasing' have been by adult men. The green lasers are not readily available and are illegal in many countries. They are the most dangerous. Retinal damage is unlikely unless the beam can be held steady on a fixed point. I hope we all find this reassuring as we turn our eyes to the skies (there's a plane going over at this very moment).

We put the clocks back here last Saturday night so we're still an hour in front of England. Have I mentioned why Spain keeps to GMT +1hour even in the winter even though it should be in the same time zone as the UK?  France, too is one hour ahead but is more to the east of Greenwich and can justify the hour. The story is that Franco changed Spain's time in 1940 to fit in with that of Germany. He was a big fan of Hitler.
Anyway, Andrés who runs the Carnicería and Bar Diaz turned up today just after nine to open the shop/bar. He came into the Ferretería El Pintor, next door as I was buying some strimmer cord and asked why there were so few people in town.  How we laughed.

On Friday night we went along to the Casa de Cultura for the openng of the exhibition of work by a new group which calls itself  'The Independent Artists of Alora'. Food and wine were supplied. Alora is a very arty town. Loads of painters live here and the town holds an annual painting competition for artists from all of Spain. Next year will be the 24th. The paintings are shortlisted by a committee headed by Cristóbal Perez, a local artist who with a world wide reputation. The standard is high and it is rare for a local artist to win the first prize. The 'Independents' are giving a chance to local talent to get their work on the wall.
The evening was a big success. The Alcalde (mayor) and several councillors came as did many of the 'gente bien'  of the town. The mayor is speaking to me now that I have stopped pestering him to put in some drains on our street. I hadn't a clue what he said to me but it didn't include the words 'saneamiento' or 'alcantarilla' (plumbing and drains).

 

 

29/10/2012

It never rains but it pours

It Never Rains But It Pours

The heavy rain has returned to Andalucía with an orange alert posted. Of course everyone is worried that we will have a repeat of the floods of a few weeks ago. If anyone had not noticed the heavy rain they may have received an e mail telling them just how bad it was going to be. A RED alert was even reported. Here's what they mean for those who read Spanish

Color	Nivel de Riesgo
rojo	el riesgo meteorológico es extremo (fenómenos meteorológicos no habituales de intensidad excepcional y con un nivel de riesgo para la población muy alto).
naranja	existe un riesgo meteorológico importante (fenómenos meteorológicos no habituales y con cierto grado de peligro para las actividades usuales).
blanco	no existe riesgo meteorológico para la población en general aunque sí para alguna actividad concreta. Este nivel no genera ningún aviso pero hace una llamada para que se esté atento a la predicción meteorológica en vigor. Se emite esta información en un boletín nacional de situaciones blancas.
verde	no existe ningún riesgo meteorológico.

Solo se generan avisos específicos cuando se prevé alcanzar los niveles “naranja” o “rojo” si bien se informa también sobre qué zonas geográficas se encuentran en nivel blanco.


Incidentally the reasons  for the flooding I have heard have ranged from incompetence to deliberate dereliction of duty. So far  none of the accusations is being investigated. Divine rather than human error appears to be indicated.

As usual when it rains here many 'vecinos' (neighbours) have hung polythene sheets on their doors to keep the rain out. It must be effective or they would have stopped doing it by now but we don't do it and we have not had any leaks through the front door yet. The Plaza Baja has been very quiet today; the usual groups of local men that sit on the steps of the church, outside bars or in doorways drinking from big bottles of Cruzcampo and smoking cigarettes that have a strange smell not unlike fox (or skunk, but I've never smelt a skunk) are huddled in doorways drinking from big.........
Nobody wears a 'mack' or an anorak here. They just carry umbrellas. Odd folk.

I went to renew my house insurance yesterday. Apparently 'Act of God' does not exist in insurance terms any more. Here in Spain all house insurance premiums include a levy which goes to the goverment 'consorcio' or Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros which takes responsibility for paying out compensation in the event of a 'disaster'. The Consorcios were set up in 1954 as a response to Terrorist acts and have been expanded to include floods , earthquakes etc.

Into every life a little rain must fall, as my mum used to say.

25/10/2012

Unfinished business

Unfinished Business

 

 

 

 

"HOMAGE TO THOSE MURDERED IN THE CASTLE OF ÄLORA"

 

In the early hours of the 5th. April 1937 Andrés Franco Sanchez and 75 other young men were herded at gunpoint, with their hands tied with rope or wire, up the hill to the 'castillo' here in Álora. The castle served as the town's cemetery and became the  place of execution of an unknown number of people thought to be unsympathetic to the new Spanish regime  headed by the 'Caudillo' Generalisimo Francisco Franco Bahamonde.  76 was more than the usual number for a 'paseo'. I am told they were then mown down by a mixture of local falangists (fascists) and civil guards against one of the walls which encloses the top part of the castle. The wall has recently been removed but for many years it was pockmarked with bullet holes.

The bodies were buried in a shallow 'fossa' (pit) and they are still there. After heavy rain I am told that human remains can become exposed. This unmarked mass grave along with two others within the castle perimeter served as a reminder to would- be dissidents during Franco's dictatorship (1936-1975).

 

Yesterday we went up to the castle, which at the moment is shut for refurbishment to join a campaign for the recognition of what happened on that day in 1937 and to call for a monument to be placed there to commemorate these victims of Franco's 'terror'.

 

 

One of the people there was Susana, the grandaughter of Andrés Franco Sánchez. She lives in Madrid with her mother and her teenage daughter. Her mother has been searching for 75 years to locate the resting place of her father. Susana took up the grim quest and only recently was able to find the record of her grandfather's murder. She told us about the search, which could only start in earnest after Franco's death in 1975 when her family felt safe to return from their exile in France. She read a poem she had written to her grandfather. Then she removed her black silk shawl and placed it on the grave.

 

'TRUTH JUSTICE REDRESS

FOR THE VICTIMS OF FRANCOISM'

Flowers in the republican colours of red, yellow and blue were placed on the site of the mass grave and a photograph of her grandfather with his name and the date of his death was attached to a fig tree which now grows there. I hope it will remain there until the local authorities have the courage to place a fitting memorial there

 

 

 

22/10/2012

Philipe told me that there should have been 77 victims but one young man used a stone to cut through the rope and escaped over the wall.

 

Un cuento chino or 'Chinese whispers'

It's always a pleasure to hear a new story that is going round the British 'community' here. I don't mean  'who's shagging who  stories'  but those that could be of general public inerest and are worth passing on. You could call them rumours and I started a few of them myself just to see how they developed. The English  call this process  'Chinese whispers' . The Spanish expression 'Un cuento chino.' ( a chinese tale) carries a similar meaning.  Sometimes these tales have some basis in fact but tracking down their origins is usually impossible especially if you come up against 'A Spanish person told me'.

My favourite in recent years was when the Plaza Baja was given a facelift. The four big shade-giving Indian Laurel trees (Ficus Nitida) were uprooted from the raised central area, depriving hundreds of birds of their roosting perches  (and the local residents of summer shade) and replaced with four palm tees which give little or no shade at all and do not attract birds.

 The story was that the roots of the trees were damaging the buildings round the square. No  evidence of this was visible and the residents were mystified. The square was then enclosed by netting for most of the year before it was needed for the annual 'Despedia' ceremony  and work recommenced.  The new surface consists largely of patterns made from black and white pebbles which are used extensively in Spain and resemble mosaic patterns.

Un Cuento Chino or Chinese Whispers

 

 

 

 The story went round that the ayuntiamento had imported all these pebbles from China. This struck me as rather implausible until I realised that the word in Spanish for a pebble is 'una china'.  Lost in translation?

Other past favourites include the new road which was to be built right through the town, the new road up to the castle, the shutting down of the train line to Málaga, the gay bar on La Rampa, the new Lidl supermarket.

Some stories do turn out to be true at least in essence. The tragic story of the Alora woman who died in the recent floods was distressing enough but one version had her husband `deperately clinging to her hand from the steel bridge which was ripped in two by the swollen river.

The story of the rescue of a flooded out young couple found clinging déshabillés to the branches of a lemon tree appears to be true.

Today our neighbour Isabela brought us a tortilla, still warm from the pan. It was delicious of course but instead of onions she had used chopped garlic. There was pàrsley in it too. I asked her why she didn't use onions. 'I don't like onions' was her reply. Fair enough!

19/10/2012

What day is it on Friday?

What Day is it on Friday

Mercadona will be shut on Friday. It is a national holiday and goes by many names. In the USA it is 'Columbus Day' celebrating the day when Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies and not when he 'sailed the ocean blue' in 1492. As we in Spain know, his real name was Cristobal Colón so the day should be 'Colón Day'. I expect there is already one of those.
 
It is also the 'Day of Hispanidád' (the day of Spanishness ) and 'El día de la Raza' ( the day of the race). It's 'National Armed Forces Day' too and there will be a parade of weaponry in Madrid watched by King Juan Carlos the First and the Royal Family (less a couple of royals who are in disgrace at the moment.)

It is also the Day of' 'Nuestra Señora la Santisima Virgen del Pilar' who is the patron virgin of all Spain and the Guardia Civil.






If that wasn't enough reason for a day off work it's the 'Day of the Guardia Civil' too.








The real name of the day is 'La Fiesta Nacionál de España'. which was decided in 1987 as a compromise between those who wanted to celebrate Spain's glorious past and those who wanted to celebrate the new developing democracy.

All it will mean to most people, Spanish and extranjeros alike is that the shops and banks will be shut. We will not even get a chance to go up to the Plaza de  Fuente  Arriba to sing the national anthem as it doesn't have any words.

On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to be invited to the Guardia Civil party up at the 'Cuartel' you are in for a few hours of fun, dancing, drinking and eating. I have been twice. Both times I had too much to drink and made a bit of a spectacle of myself, which is probably why I am no longer invited. It's a great 'do' and a chance to 'network' with all the nobs of the town . The toilets are in the cell block and you can wave at the prisoners as you go for a wee. Another plus is that you are unlikely to be stopped on the country's roads for traffic offences or spot checks as all the Guardia will be at the piss up.
We went with some friends from Rochdale who were here on holiday one year. They had a great time. I had explained that the Guardia used to be very unpopular for their support of Franco's oppression. At the airport I overheard Christine telling someone in the check in queue about it. 'We went to a fabulous party at Gestapo headquarters.'

Have a nice (national) day.

10/10/2012

Waiting for the Fagor Man

Waiting for the Fagor Man

Today started as a normal Tuesday morning. Mo went for a hair cut at Cristina's on Calle Atrás and I called in Antonio and Joachim's pescadería to buy seafood for a paella. Then I sat outside cafe Madrugon with a cafe con leche waiting for a call from the Fagor técnico to sort out our water heater. There's no signal on the mobile at home so I was content to wait, sipping my coffee and  reading El Jueves (very funny and very rude indeed) . Then Pablo from the estanco (tobacconist) on the square stopped at my table.`'Have you got the mando for the garage yet? There's one at the ferretería for
you.'


I bought a parking space in a new apartment block in March 2005. Today for the first time I opened the door with my shiny new mando and walked up to my parking space ; number 53. Tomorrow I may even park my car there, though I'm a bit nervous that something will go wrong and my car my be locked in there for ever. From the way things have gone for the last seven years that would be no surprise. There were already two cars parked in there and the lights worked. It's hard to believe. It must be the most expensive parking space in Spain and now worth less than half I paid for it, I'm sure. Just another casualty of the collapse of construction here. In 2005 it looked a good investment until the builder and developer fell out, all the apartments and parking spaces were mortgaged, the developer went bankrupt and the whole place was going to be auctioned off. This may be a green shoot of recovery. My sister has bought a flat in the top square. Boom time is back. Perhaps.

Let's hope it is for Antonio who has opened Bar Ankar Feo in the Plaza Baja. We went in for the first time after viewing our parking space. Cruzcampo on draught and a lovely tapa of pincho de gambas. The bar looks much bigger than when it was called 'Oscar's' and much lighter. Good luck Antonio, who is not at all 'feo' (ugly) but a handsome friendly chap. Apparently all the men in his family are called 'Feo' and have been for some generations. This is quite a common thing here. (so is being called Antonio).  Paco Mañonyo's surname is not Mañonyo either, and his brothers are are called Mañonyo too.

Terry Durham gave us an invitation to the opening of exhibition of work by the 'Artistas Independientes de Álora' on 26th. October at the Casa de Cultura. It's a sort of 'Salon de les Refusés'.
Álora has a good number of resident artists. The exhibition runs from Oct. 20th. until Nov. 16th.

The Fagor téchnician didn't call but the heater has started working. Should I ring and cancel the visit?
If I do it's bound to break down again.

09/10/2012

Scavenging

 

Scavenging

 

 

 

This is Juan. Every morning he goes off into the campo scavenging. He knows where things are and  collects enough in a few hours to buy him drinks for the rest of the day. On a good day he can be pissed by midday. Today he has a bagful of snails and he's trying to sell them in a bar. They are big juicy snails and are plentiful after the floods last week.
Sometimes he has wild asparagus which is either sold in bunches or if there's enough a big fat bunched is raffled.
A day later I bump into Juan again. This time his bag contains olives.

 

I have no idea how he is going to sell a branch with olived attached. Now is the time to harvest the local Manzanilla olives for bottling. They need to be green, firm and as large as possible. This year the processors are paying over 1 euro a kilo. He can't have more than 5 euros worth here.

There are reports that supermarkets in Spain are putting lock on their waste bins because scavenging or 'dumpster diving' is widespread. Youth unemployment is over 50%. Southern Spain is the worst hit. The charity Caritas says that 22 % of Spanish families are living in poverty and more that half a million adults have no income whatsoever.
At the same time, the Spanish government is carrying out further cuts in benefits, employment rights have been removed and national health provision and education are being attacked.

Juan was scavenging when the economy was booming. He doesn't appear to eat much and he lives with his sister. There have been unwritten rights of scavenging in the countryside for many many years, reflecting the historical poverty in Andalucía.

05/10/2012

 

An Ugly Development in the Plaza Baja

An Ugly Development in the Plaza Baja

 

I'm not having much success with these photos. This morning we had the first thick mist. Autumn is here and the temperature has dropped to a comfortable 27 degrees. I boiled a kettle of water from the spring on La Canca for a wash, shave and a cup of tea. Then I took two containers down to the fountain on the square to get some water before the crowds gathered. Surprising how you adapt to inconveniences like no water supply. Juannie's mother was filling a container. 'The water's on again' she told me.I hadn't even bothered to check. The water is very 'turbia' (muddy) and not really fit to drink but for once the marginalised population of the Plaza Baja were first in the queue.
They are still looking for the 60 year old man who was swept down the river on Friday. ( the rescue services, not the water queue)
700 houses have been either destroyed or damaged. 1000 (un millar) people have been affected and the cost so far has been estimated at 3 million euros, and that's only premises which were insured. 150 cars were destroyed or damaged.
Our Sopas Perotas Day has been cancelled for next Sunday, which is a shame and seems to serve no purpose at all.
A new bar is due to open in the Plaza Baja tomorrow. It's an old bar. It was previously 'Oscar's' which was opened by an English resident with a view to attracting the ex pat  'bistro' crowd. It didn't.
Now it's called 'Bar Ankar Feo' and will be run by a Perote called Antonio. His nickname is el Feo (the ugly one) and Ankar or Askar or A 'ca is Andaluz for at the place or house of. So, the bar is 'Ugly's Bar' which is a great name I think. Of course, Manolo who runs the bar opposite may have been 'tomando el pelo' (pulling my plonker).  We'll see.

02/10/2012

Alora makes the BBC news

Well, what an eventful few days. What began as a welcome spell of autumn rain turned into a major disaster for Álora. The really heavy rain began at midnight on Thursday and by 6.00am. a storm poured 208 litres per square metre of water an hour on the surrounding area. The River Guadalhorce swelled and swept through Alora flooding the orange groves and the houses of people living on the old river plain. One woman was drowned. 30 houses have been lost. Many owners were not insured and have lost everything. Horses and dogs died as the river burst its banks and the 70 year old bridge across the river was smashed in two.

It is now Monday and the town is still without a water supply. Álora has seen nothing like this in living memory. Apparently the BBC managed to find an English woman 'hotelier' to interview. I have never heard of her  or her 'hotel' , but she expressed her concern for 'the poor people' and her neighbour whose tennis court had been damaged.  Journalism at its best. More photos taken on Friday morning at 9.45am. The train line stayed above water and the 9.55am train to Málaga left the station only 3 minutes late.

 01/10/2012