Man in Álora survives Ebola. 'The dog it was that died'.

'The Dog it Was That Died'

Winter is drawing in now. La Heladería (Ice Cream Shop) by La Iglesia de laVera Cruz  has opened it's hot chestnut stand, the first daffodils are poking their leaves out and the temperature is 35 degrees (C) in the shade.

              

                                            
                                                Hot roasted chestnuts anyone?

The olive picking season is in full swing too and the first reports of olive rustling are coming in from Mollina,  just north of here , The town council is employing four security guards to keep an eye on the olive groves during the 3 month harvest season. Apparently 70 year old olive grower José Gaona was collecting his olives when four men attacked him and made off with 700 kilos of olives. At this time of the year the olives will  be green 'table olives' which are worth a lot more than the ones picked for their oil. The growers here in Álora can expect  1.00- 1.80€  a kilo for table olives and about 30 centimos a kilo for the others. It's hard to imagine anyone actually picking the olives and then pinching them - it's very hard work.

                                        Security guards confronting olive rustlers.


 700 kilos would take a few days to harvest. The rustlers must have waited until José had done all the work. What a bunch of sinvergüenzas!  Even so, if robbery with violence is one's crime of choice there must be easier and more profitable ways of risking a long prison sentence than lugging 700 kilos of hot olives around looking for a dodgy buyer..
If there are any of the above persuasion reading this, our olive harvest this year is not worth the bother. After a year of almost no rain we only have 7 trees worth picking. Prices of olive oil are bound to rise so stock up now. I happen to know where you can buy top quality extra virgin olive oil straight from the producer at unbeatable prices.

                                     Teresa Romero with Excalibur in happier times.


Everybody round here is breathing a big sigh of relief now that Teresa Romero, the nursing auxiliary, who contracted the Ebola virus after looking after an infected missionary in Madrid's Carlos III hospital, has survived. No other cases have been confirmed in Spain. When Teresa became ill with the deadly disease the first reaction of the hospital authorities in Madrid was to blame her for it even though it was revealed  that the hospital ( in the process of privatization and suffering from severe cutbacks) was ill equipped and the staff undertrained for the care of Ebola patients. No-one has died except for Teresa's dog, Excalibur, which was dragged out and put down by an official vet (for no apparent reason), and no-one has resigned- except for Luis Domínguez Rodríguez, the vet who 'sacrificed' Excalibur. (1:1).
15 people are still in isolation and under observation at Carlos III and Teresa will have to stay another  two to three weeks to recover from the effects of the disease. . It was a close shave. Meanwhile , with an arrogance that only Spaniards can do well, the hospital authorities are now boasting that Carlos III has 'the most experienced Ebola doctors in the developed world'. Can't argue with that. To demonstrate their confidence Spain will welcome American servicemen on their way back from West Africa after working with Ebola victims.
Bring it on!

October 23rd. 2014.

 It's not about the soup.  Man in Alora makes a bid for top  tourism job.

Today is The Day of the Pilar. It is also The Day of España and the day of the Guardia Civil Annual garden party to which we have not been invited once again. Rain is forecast.

It's been a helter skelter few weeks here in Álora. There's been so much going on that Mrs. Sanchez and I have met ourselves coming back going to and fro and back and forth to all the events and festivities. We totally missed the 'Día Mundial de Turismo' (World Day of Tourism) though. We take tourism very seriously here.

If you have visited this fine town as a tourist you may have followed the signs for 'Información Turistica' . It's a fairly safe bet that you didn't find our Tourist Information Office. It's tucked away in the Municipal Museum down at the bottom of our street. (If you can make out the name of our street).

 You have to pick the right time to visit too.

There's another tourist office on the other side of town which I have only seen open twice in 15 years.

Horario (Opening hours)
De Lunes a Viernes de 10:00 a 14:00 h. (Monday to Friday 10 till 2)

Cerrada según temporada y organización de eventos.(Shut depending on season and organisation of events)

This year's World Tourism Day  theme was 'Tourism and Community Development' and the events were recorded by the official town photographer.  Everyone gathered in the `'Plaza Baja', where our Museum Curator and Tourism Officer,  María José,  briefed the gathered enthusiasts on the day's programme.

                                                             Spot the tourist

Sopas Perotas, long suffering readers of this organ may remember, is Álora's famous signature dish. Every year thousands of hungry visitors cram the quaint narrow, cobbled historic streets of the Casco Historico (HIstoric Quarter) and queue patiently, spoon in hand, in the hot October sun to get a free plate of the sopas (not a soup at all) and wash it down with a cold beer from one of the three bars in the famous Plaza Baja de la Despedía. This is one of the two days in the year when the bars down in the Plaza Baja make any money (See 'The Bar That Never Makes Money' Aug 2014.) I'm delighted to say that this was a bumper year. Even Manolo up in Bar Madrugón got in on the act this year. He couldn't give to stuff away fast enough and was even spotted smiling by the official town photograper.

                                                          Is that a smile?

I have been asked to point out that the two ladies in the picture as just good friends.

Mrs. Sanchez and I missed all the excitement completely; and this gives me a chance to mention the small following this organ has in the far south west of Ireland. Hi there Clonakilty in County Cork.(Cloich na Coillte)!  Well, our friend, Mary Gosling , who comes from this fine place,  which is famous for its black (AND white) puddings, fell downstairs and broke her shoulder and was in such a bad way that we forsook our free plate of Sopas Perotas and rushed her to the hospital in Málaga, which everyone calls El Clinico, where she was given a sling, strong pain killers and a cd of the x-ray of her broken shoulder to take back to Ireland to show to her friends and the staff of Cork Hospital on her return to Hibernia. The good news is that she will not need an an operation after all and that the shoulder isn't  even broken. It must be the healthy Irish air.....or a miracle. (apparently they happen all the time on the Emerald Isle.)

 The other good news is that Graham and Mary gave us some  of Clonakilty's second most famous product.

               
                                                                Mmm.

Its other most famous product is Gosling Games and Gifts which Mary and Graham run. Get your orders in early for Christmas.

                                                    A popular corner ofd Álora

You can't really blame people, especially non Spanish speaking ones  for not turning up at carefully planned events like The World Day of Tourism. It's quite hard to find out what's going on in Álora. Official events are advertised on the Álora website (which is in Spanish) but for other events you have to keep an eye on los carteles (posters) that appear on walls and windows. Here are few of the current ones.

 An exhibition of paintings by Alora resident Shinji Naganawa
(we went there on Friday)

 A weekend of tapas in Pizarra
(missed this one))

 English lessons?

 Footie match?
(no)

 Yoga lessons?
(Mrs. Sanchez goes there every week)

  A weekend celebrating the bandits of El Burgo
(missed that one)

 An evening of Flamenco by Japanese performers.
(Went there last night and very good it was too!)










Painting and Drawing lessons (free)









Here's one I like

'Why do you steal my plants when you can grow your own?'








Javier Diaz Ocaña, who is Manolo's son and works in Bar Madrugon was in fits about this one. Javier has an odd sense of humour.








 If you give someone (unspecified) 3€ you can go for a walk and have a free Paella.  Count me in.


The weather here is still warm and sunny. It's un verano de membrillo' (a quince summer) (an Indian summer) but the campo (countryside) is still very dry and our olive crop will not be worth picking.  The pantanos (reservoirs) up above El Chorro are getting very low. We went up there yesterday with Tommy and Ana Prima. El Caminito del Rey should be ready to walk on by January. You won't be able to keep Mrs. Sanchez and me off it.

There's a rumour going round that the new swimming pool will be opening soon too.. Cuando las ranas crien pelo. (When frogs grow hair) as we say here.

Javier of Bar Cafe Madrugón, has taken to calling me 'Lagareño' which is clearly some form of abuse and greatly amuses the locals while I sip my mitad doble (large coffee with milk. 1.20€).  My research tells me that El Lagar is roughly the part of Álora on the other side of the river Guadalhorce where  local wine was produced before phylloxera destroyed all the vines in the nineteenth century so a 'lagareño' is someone who lives there. I can't see any harm in being associated with wine making so I encourage him.

                                 Javier Diaz Ocaña (on the left, with his friend Bartolo)

 More good news... you can now buy a souvenir mug with a picture of our street on it. Only 10€(!) from Antonio's new tobacconist and souvenir shop up near the ice cream parlour.  Also on sale are Alora fridge magnets, Alora key rings  'I love Alora' Tee shirts and expensive postcards. (You may remember that Antonio was forced to have his red house painted white at his own expense by the Ayuntamiento (town hall)) and so he probably needs some extra cash. Antonio says they all went like hot cakes on World Tourism Day.

October  12th. 2014