Weather in Spain

That leap from Winter to Summer without a hint of Spring!

It happens every year and I forget every year too!  We have had a lovely winter - the end March showed us a bit of temper and threw some rain (that was the day I chose to go to Marbella shopping with a friend - drowned rats - two  of...) but all in all compared to last year it was splendid.

With the start of April we had a couple of murky days and a day when it tried to rain but didnt get very far and now the past two or three days the weather in Spain thinks its mid summer!!! No really - the temperature today is set to be in the 30 degrees centigrade area and its taken everyone a bit unawares.

For instance the animals - if your dogs and cats are bit lethargic or have upset tummies - it could well be due to the heat.  Both of our dogs have asked to be let out during the night this week and they never do that so ...... be alert folks.

And on the subject of animals the ticks are about and although probably not in full flow, they are certainly evident.

The swallows have been around for at least a couple of weeks and are swooping in their wild but measured fashion over the pool for all the interesting (NOT) insect life that are practicing their backstroke.

AND the flowers - its such a feast at this time of year.  The roses are covered in big fat buds (the greenfly and blackfly have not homed in on ours yet!) and all those "flower once a year only" plants are covered in buds ready to burst out.  Garden watering is in full flow (well pot watering is anyway) and around me as I write the neighbourhood is planting, strimming, trimming, rotavating and generally making a lot of noise as the business of converting chest high weeds into tomato plants commences!

I am sorry to say that the Spanish here have absolutely no respect for water and the conservation of same! They allow their pools to become murky green dwellings for hundreds of living "things" over the winter and now the annual pool emptying session commences (not even onto the garden but running down the track).  All that lovely food in that water going to waste whilst they water the newly planted tomatoes with water from our communal well!!

(Man with strimmer is starting to get a bit irritating now actually!!)

The front door is open and the fallen orange blossom keeps blowing into the house on the little breeze that is causing confetti like showers of the stuff all over our property.  Still there are worse things to be drifting into the house than orange blossom.

And so we start again - that little frisson of excitement that heralds the onset of summer (that frisson that is frazzled in July and August) but for now its a lovely feeling of expectation.  And you know what I love, I am certain that the summer here will be sunny and warm (albeit a bit too warm at times).  That same frisson used to grab me at this time of year in England and so often the lovely April and May weather had degenerated into showers followed by rain for the rest of the summer and that early hope drowned by July!

So I might wax and wane a little on the journey but I love summer!! Bring it on!

Working in Spain

I don’t know about the rest of the world but for many years now the UK TV programmers have been obsessed with the idea of living abroad.  Great idea, and after being drip fed this for a few years we took the plunge and moved to Spain. 

The thing they DON’T tell you when showing programme after programme of people “living the dream!” is how to make a living!  Some of the programmes are about people who move abroad and start a business but not many.  So I thought I would do a little comparison here of what is available.

Here in Spain if you don’t speak much Spanish and do not have a useful trade such as plumber, electrician etc, your options can be quite limited.  You can possibly find work in a bar or waiting table, do telesales or work for yourself.

Another option is to train for a trade and here are just three of the options available on the Costa del Sol

Course	Cost	Equipment Cost	Length of course
Holistic Therapy	€1,500*	€500 (approx)	4 months basic course
Dog Grooming	€1,600	€1,500 (approx)	10 days
Hairdressing	€6,500	Unknown	52 weeks – 4 days per week

(*I did this course and added Hot Stone massage and two levels of Reiki to the basic course and spent another €1,000 on top of the basic)

These are just a few options – all require a build up of clientele after the course.  The ease of this will often depend on the area you live.  So you really need to think ahead – well ahead! 

If I were to start over I think I would definitely go for the Home Business option and become an internet marketer which is what I do now alongside my Holistic Therapy. 

For me the costs make sense and the earning potential is limitless.  With a network marketing business opportunity you have your initial outlay of product and usually there are different levels at which you can invest, and then you really only have your marketing costs.  Now different opportunities will have different levels of training and support but you definitely want to pick one with exceptional training because this will cut your marketing costs hugely.

So if you live abroad and are starting to think you need to make a living and you would like it to be a substantial living then do your research!  There are lots of options out there!

Red Palm Weevil in Spain

The devastation of the date palm in Spain is horrifying.  For those of us who have or rather had palms on our properties the slow death is so sad to witness. An upright palm one day and then you notice a dropping of the fronds and more and more they droop. The worst thing is, that by the time you notice the drooping its too late! Our tree was fine one day and then one frond dropped. We asked a professional gardener to have a look and he treated it with some rather vicious chemicals but a month later we lost the whole tree really fast. We could actually hear the grubs munching their way through the centre of our palm.

The pest was first recorded in the northern United Arab Emirates in 1985, and since then it has spread to almost the entire U.A.E. (El-Ezaby 1998) and to Oman. In Iran, it was recorded in Savaran region in 1990 (Faghih 1996). Then it was discovered in Egypt at the end of November 1992 in El-Hussinia, Sharquiya region (Cox 1993). In 1994, it had been captured in the south of Spain (Barranco et al. 1996) and in 1999 had been found in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority Territories (Kehat 1999).

The cause of the high rate of spread of this pest is human intervention, by transporting infested young or adult date palm trees and offshoots from contaminated to uninfected areas.  Here in the Costa del Sol area the cause was most likely cheap palms from Morocco already infected and now its too late.

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus or red palm weevil belongs to the family of Curculionidae or Coleoptera. This beetle is between 2-5 cm long, and has a rusty red colour. The life cycle of the insect is about four months. Equipped with strong wings they are able to undertake long flights. Females lay about 300 eggs in separate holes. The eggs hatch in 2-5 days into legless grubs which bore into the interior of the palm and feed on the soft tissue of the tree. Damage to palms is produced mainly by the larvae. They reach a size of more than 5 cm before pupation and then move towards the interior of the palm making tunnels and large cavities. Usually the damage caused by the larvae only becomes visible long after infection. By the time the first symptoms of the attack appear they are so serious that they generally result in the death of the tree.

Solution 2011.mp4

Processionary Caterpillars

Processionaries 

Okay - its that time of year again - the Processionary Caterpillar invasion.  Having said that, due to the deluge of rain we experienced last year, many "nests" seem to have been washed away and perhaps because of that - I have not seen a "nest" so far this winter!! GOOD!


For those not familiar with these caterpillars, they are known as processionary caterpillars due to the fact that when they leave their nests in the pine trees, they form a long line nose to tail and joined by a fine thread.


Pine Processionary Caterpillars build a white nest, often described as 'candyfloss-like', on the tip of pine branches in the autumn.  By January they start to emerge and form lengthy processions and this is when they can be hazardous.  Each caterpillar has around 60,000 white hairs containing a toxin which can cause sever rashes, temporary blindness and evn respiratory problems.  


The problems are hugely exacerbated in animals, particularly dogs who can suffer a severe allergic reaction or anaphylactic shock which can result in death as their throat and nasal passages swell causing asphyxiation. 

"Nest" in pine tree!

I suffered very briefly and mildly one windy day when Derek drove out of our drive unknowingly driving over a whole procession.  When challenged the caterpillars releases their toxic hairs and these were caught up in the wind - virtually invisible.  It was only later that morning that a constant stinging and itching on my neck caused me to look in the mirror and all down one side of my neck was red and swollen with small white stripes.  Not very attractive and certainly not very comfortable.  Fortunately it didn't last long so I must have only caught a very few.


Although the general advice is not to walk in the pine forests, not to let your dog off the lead in such areas and to keep a sharp lookout, I have found that lone pine trees can harbour plenty - as was seen in the incident above.  Just keep a sharp eye - if you see fluffy white 'candyfloss' in pine trees now then avoid them for the next two or three months!

Your Solution for Prosperous Living

Many people make resolutions to make more money and to gain control of their finances...they do it every year and then never make any change in the way they go about earning money. You won't magically make more money at the same job you've been working for years. You have to make a change. Are you ready?


Have a look at these videos - this business solution is a home study course that can help you be successful in your own business or could become your business.

Spain Bans Smoking in Public Places ....... again!

From yesterday - 2nd January new and tougher Spanish anti-smoking law means bars and restaurants are no-smoking zones.

In 2006 the first anti-smoking laws came in which prohibited smoking in public places.  When we first came to Spain everyone smoked, everywhere!! You would go into the bank and the teller would have not only a cigarette in the ashtray beside them but that ashtray would be full of cigarette butts.  All public buildings smelt of smoke and it felt really strange after it had been outlawed for so long in the UK.  

While the 2006 anti-smoking law prohibited smoking in the workplace, it came under fire for letting bar and restaurant owners choose whether or not to allow smoking: most permitted it.  There was even a great deal of confusion amongst the bar owners themselves.  Some said it had to do whether or not you served food or allowed children in the bar.  Others said it was to do with how many square metres the bar was.  All in all the confusion settled after about 6 weeks and it seemed that most bars and cafes did allow it.  Restaurants were stricter but it still seemed that it was "business as usual" for the smokers.

2011 and not only are the bars and cafes now smoke free zones but the idea of smoking can not be encouraged.  Smokers will not be allowed to light up on television broadcasts, near hospitals or in school playgrounds.

The bill, proposed by PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his governing Socialist Party, was passed in the lower house by 189 votes to 154.

Bar and cafe owners fear the law will adversely affect business adding to the drop of 15% in sales since the recession.  

Spain was once famed for its smoke-filled bars, corner cafes and restaurants, but the new law tightens restrictions introduced in 2006 by forbidding smoking in any enclosed public space.    

The vote rejected a Senate amendment to allow casinos to have smoking areas. Moves to allow bars to build sealed cubicles for smokers also failed.

But doctors argue the new legislation will help smokers give up, which correspondents say is vital when 160 Spaniards a day die from smoking-related illnesses, four of them from passive smoking.

Spanish Health Minister Leire Pajin has called on Spaniards to share responsibility for the new law's success.

Personally, I am not sure how much the little village bars and cafes will adhere to the new law although I did hear today that bar owners would be subject to a €3,000 fine if caught by the police allowing customers to smoke.