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.