mylifeinspain

no wonder

...it feels sometimes like we live in Little Britain. Interesting article here regarding foreign home sales in Spain.

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

sigh

More on the latest construction scandals here and here....

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

tsk tsk

More on the latest of the illegal building scandal below. The article is from an interesting local read, the Olive Press, which covers news from Malaga, Granada, and Almeria. Worth checking out for the latest in this part of the world....

*********************************************

160,000 euros found under bed of mayor arrested for thousands of illegal licences

WHEN investigators arrived at his home they found 160,000 euros hidden under his bed.

A further 90,000 euros was picked up from the office of an associate.

Now, no amount of cash will help Alcaucin mayor Juan Manuel Martin Alba from facing a long prison sentence.

The Axarquia mayor has been charged, along with 12 others, of running a property scandal that stretched back over a decade.

BUILDER: Martin gave permission for over 1000 illegal homes in return for cash

In total, investigators found over 250,000 euros in cash, which Martin claimed was his ‘lifetime savings’.

But investigators in the operation codenamed Arcos, insist that the money – and up to 250,000 euros more - relates to a series of shady land deals in the Axarquia.

Expats

They claim that Martin took bribes to give permission for 1064 properties to be built on rustic land between 1991 and 2007.

Many of the properties involved are owned by expatriates, looking for holiday homes within 20 minutes of the coast.

Martin, 55, a builder by trade, has now been ejected from the PSOE party that he has represented for four terms in the small Axarquia village, which has a population of just 2,500.

Martin’s two daughters, as well as a close friend, who ran a real estate business in Huelva, are among those arrested.

Those arrested face charges of bribery, money laundering, influence peddling, perverting the course of justice, document falsification, land planning irregularities and fraud.

Juan Espadas, the Regional Councillor for Housing, said that the Junta had registered 21 denuncias for real estate irregularities in Alcaucín.

He claimed it had challenged 27 building licences granted by the Town Hall and defended the regional government’s role in the control of real estate planning.

As frequently reported in the Olive Press over the last few years, the Axarquia area – as in Chiclana, in Cadiz – has become a Wild West of unregulated, out of control construction.

Green group Ecologistas en Accion estimate as many as 21,000 homes have been built illegally on rustic land in the area.

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

for a million

For a million dollars, you too can have a brand-spanking new mirador or plazoleta.

You can even give it a twee sort of name, like "Paseo de las Tradiciones".....

And then you can fill it with lovely AND SEXIST tile murals like these:

That's right, ladies. Pose seductively while you do the laundry. And you old broads, step aside. Let the "important men" pass through so they can go do their "important work"....

Ugh, is it any wonder Mr. Beebs peed up the side of the wall as we were leaving. Just wish he wouldn't have done it in front of the Mayor..... More on THAT after THE BOOK is done (only a couple more days! :-D)

hasta pronto,

mylifeinspain

more trouble in paradise

Just on the other side of Maroma sits another village very similar to our own---a seemingly sleepy white mountain village, population about 2000, most of whom grew up and made their living as farmers.

For the past few days, their village has been making headlines all over Spain. Why? Unfortunately, much more of the same. The mayor, who had been in his position since 1991, and twelve others, including owners of construction companies, architects, and members of the town council, were arrested for the illegal building of up to 20,000 (!) homes (many of which were marketed to foreigners) in the surrounding countryside. His daughters were arrested as well for money laundering.

Big Jim and I haven't been over to this part of the country for about four years, and there were signs then of a construction explosion on the horizon, similar to the one we had seen take in the once-open plains of Granada, which five or so years ago were transformed into a sea of identical townhouses, row after row after row after row.

These news reports, which come at least weekly, make me sad---although it is also encouraging to see the current government trying to right the wrongs of the past two decades. But to know that so much of this country has been ruined by greed (that word again!)---what a legacy this generation of local leaders will leave to their grandchildren. And the fields where for hundreds of years their families grew olives, grapes, oranges, and lemons now sit dry, abandoned, with no one to move into the rows of empty houses.

The complete story, in Spanish, is here.

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

4 years ago: snow snow snow
3 years ago: what's new
2 years ago: March garden
1 year ago: A vent, in two lists

"when dream goes sour"

By far, the majority of e-mails mylifeinspain has received over the years have been full of questions about how one can move abroad, what it's like to live abroad, and what sort of advice can I offer to someone looking to make such a move. In the past, I have shied away from responding to these sorts of questions because well, 1) I don't have all the answers; 2) the answers can be very different depending on one's circumstances; 3) everyone knows that those offering advice, solicited or not, often get blamed when a situation goes belly up; and 4) I have not felt the right person to do so because much of the life Big Jim and I imagined for ourselves here has not come to be, nor do we want it to now, frankly, because we as people have grown and our priorities have changed.  

But I suppose after seven years of living in a foreign country I do feel as though I can address some questions and dole out some very basic advice. For future reference, these posts will be tagged as "expat blues" and/or "expat village from hell" based on their content and will appear every couple weeks or so (don't hold me to a schedule---I have enough deadlines with my publishing work! :-) If you do have any specific questions, however, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

These are not easy times for many of the expats around these parts, and several of the most common concerns were addressed in this article published yesterday in the Telegraph. At issue is the fact that life continues after one moves abroad, which means that problems will arise, people will get ill, the economy will cycle---and few will be prepared to handle situations effectively for a myriad reasons.

Of course, we foreigners ALL make mistakes because no matter how many books you read, how much research you do, there is so much to learn in a rather short space of time, and unfortunately, one has to live in a new country for awhile before learning the ropes.

A little common sense can help along the way, although I realize that doesn't come naturally to everyone (including me somedays!). There does seem to be an illness, though, that blinds people's ability to reason once they step off the airplane and take their first glance at a palm tree. As a result, these sort of people buy a ruin in the campo, and even though the old farmhouse doesn't have a roof, they will go out and buy curtains for the new "villa". Or despite having an arthritic back, causing limited mobility, another will decide to settle in a mountain village, with many steps and steep streets to climb. Big Jim and I just shake our heads.

It is also useful to be able to speak the language. And speaking the language does not mean that you can successfully order a beer and a sandwich at the corner cafe. I think one needs to have a solid grasp of a language's grammar and a decent level of vocabulary, preferably before even making the move. Otherwise, be realistic about how not knowing the language is going to impact your quality of life in the long run. And sign up for classes as soon as you are settled into the new digs!

As tempting as the sun and cafe lifestyle may be, don't make it your daily routine. Big Jim and I have seen people arrive at a table before 10 in the morning and still be sitting (or rather propped into the chair) in the same spot as the sun sets twelve hours later, smoking and knocking back vino tinto or gins day after day. Here is just one argument for the importance of speaking the language because these people invariably end up in the doctor's office or hospital, and knowing the words for lung, liver, and kidney suddenly becomes relevant.

I've just brushed the surface for now, but as promised there will be (much!) more to come. :-) To be continued....

Happy Friday, everyone! :-)

hasta pronto,

mylifeinspain

4 years ago: Superbowl mania in the village

3 years ago: No entry.

2 years ago: No entry.

1 year ago: No entry.

la noche del vino xxxiii

This year's Noche del Vino will probably go down in village history as one of the best and perhaps one of the most underappreciated, a terrible pity. So few of the extranjero population bothered to attend the evening's performance that I could probably count the nontourist foreigners in the crowd on my fingers.

The same could be said of the village's younger folk, who all seemed to be celebrating the evening in the bars. Many of the expats use the "Once you've seen one Noche del Vino"...., "been there, done that" excuse, and perhaps there is some truth in regard to the day's earlier festivities---the stomping the grapes, the lunch of migas, the performances by the village's young dance groups. However, the entertainment lineup presented at night each year never disappoints.

This year not only was the crowd treated to fabulous flamenco singers and guitar players but also perhaps one of the area's most exciting flamenco dancers, Sergio Aranda (and more here). Oh, did I mention the numbered seats cost only 2 euros, and frankly there were so many empty chairs this year one could have easily watched for free. (Even the bartender serving up the FREE (!) wine looked bored.)

However, Sergio Aranda's performance, as well as that of his troupe of singers and guitar players, immediately caught the attention of everyone in the main square, those in seats and those dining in the plaza restaurants. The murmur of voices silenced; everyone was engaged with the men on stage, who were obviously all incredibly talented but who also were having a great time playing off one another. Truly one of the great nights Big Jim and I have enjoyed in our nearly seven years here.

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

4 years ago: Quick question
3 years ago: Medusa
2 years ago: No entry.
1 year ago: No entry.

and sometimes it is good to leave home for awhile...

Monday I leave the Expat Village from Hell to spend five days in Paris with a few of my favorite people in the world. And boy do I need this holiday! As evidence, I provide an excerpt from an e-mail I sent earlier today:

I can't wait to see you! Seriously, I desperately need a break from here. Tuesday night Big Jim and I went to the most depressing dinner party, where topics ranged from "Computers are evil because they are the instruments of terrorists", which then led to "I have two Egyptian men living next to me in London and they are always on the computer; they could be terrorists!" (no, in all likelihood they are probably researchers or checking out porn or just emailing friends, you moron) and "You mean to tell me that the electric guitar is not just a easier-to-play acoustic guitar?" I'll spare you their opinions on childbirth over 30 and "How can you stand not to eat meat?!!!".....

I also don't think I got a chance to tell you about our dinner in Marbella a couple weeks ago with Big Jim's friend Clive and his girlfriend Margaret. The evening started fine until they ordered their second bottle of wine, and Margaret started to harass me to come with them to the nudists'/swinger club where they were staying. Despite my insistence that I "just didn't need convincing," that I had no issues with nudity and what other people do but personally have as much interest in a nudists'/swinger clubs as I do in, say golf, she kept pushing the issue until I finally said, "Look, I am not going to be bullied, so drop it now please." And then she sulked the rest of the night.

So you can see why I need a bit of a chill-out week among people who do not find mp3 players "terrifying" and who won't ask me, "Do you REALLY think the United States is ready to elect a BLACK man for president?"

I am soooo in need of this holiday that I am going to start packing just as soon as I finish off this tinto de verano. I don't even care that I will be leaving behind the first few days of true summer weather here, and believe me, that is saying something!

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

around the dinner table earlier today

Christmas 2006 Big Jim spoiled me rotten and gifted me this, which included a one-year subscription to the magazine. When I finished reading the first couple of issues, I passed them along to our neighbor R., but asked that he please return them afterward. Two months and several reminders later, the magazines were still MIA, and I wrote them off but made a mental note not to lend any more issues to him.
This afternoon I was at R.'s house for lunch with a couple of friends, and midway through dessert he jumped up and said, "Oh I have to show you all these old New Yorker covers I just had framed." He goes upstairs and a few minutes later returns with two beautiful frames, which had been hanging in the bedroom. The illustrations looked vaguely familiar, and then I noted the dates, late December 2006 and early January 2007. Of course, they were the covers from the two issues I had lent him over a year ago.
I smiled, admired the pictures, but said nothing of their origin (although I immediately called Big Jim when I got home because I knew he'd be amused). R. went on to say how the first, of three guitar players sitting on short wooden chairs in the middle of an otherwise empty and darkened room, seemed to be musicians at an Italian restaurant playing for themselves after hours, and how the second, of a whimsically decorated salon, reminded him of an apartment back in San Francisco. Clearly these two magazine covers have brought him pleasure and found their way into a home where they amuse and delight their new owner (and his friends), more than they would have done had R. returned them and I would have filed them on the appropriate shelf on the bookcase (in chronological order of course).
Admittedly for a second or two, I thought to myself "the bloody cheek", but I can't be angry with the man. Although he can remember with great deal the interior of a flat he visited more than forty years ago, he called the host of a party with both attended Sunday evening three times to find out what time it started (and still showed up 30 minutes late---for a surprise party to boot). He forgets entire conversations sometimes and often confuses details of news events and articles he reads.
After Big Jim and I had a good chuckle, we wondered what it must be like when your brain seriously starts to let you down. Does R. even have an inkling? Would it be better to know or not if it was happening to you? We debated but found no real answer. Big Jim said, "Just shoot me," like he always does when we discuss the downsides of aging, and I rolled my eyes like I always do when he says such things. (And I am sure he felt the roll even though he was sitting on a train in Frankfurt.)
But I suspect when Gabriela delivers next week's New Yorker, I won't just carelessly throw it into the reading basket next to our bed without giving the cover a good, long look.

hasta mañana,
mylifeinspain

3 years ago: Domingo de Ramos
2 years ago: Whose turn to walk the dogs?
1 year ago: No entry.

still unpacking....

Big Jim flew back to Holland today, and I am busy unpacking and finding homes for our many lovely purchases (go euro!) and gifts. But I got a phone call a little while ago that still has me shaking my head. The conversation went something like this:

R. (he looked after the house while we were in the US): "I forgot to mention I took a bottle of wine while you were away."

mylifeinspain: "Oh don't worry about it. I didn't even notice."

R.: "It was the LAN, 1997, and it was AWFUL! Seriously AWFUL!!"

mylifeinspain, to herself: "Well, maybe you shouldn't take bottles of our wine every damn time I leave the country! Seriously WTF....you take a pricey wine without asking and then bitch that it wasn't up to your standards?!"

Ok, not as serious a transgression as when another neighbor watching the house spent the 200 euros we left behind to be used to pay a bill at the car garage, but really why is it so hard to find someone in this village who will just throw some water at the plants semi-regularly and generally leave things be in the house when we are away?!

Errrr, grumble grumble grumble. At least the fur bundles made the return trip worthwhile. :-) But thankfully the countdown to move mylifeinspain et al. to mylifein??? has begun! :-D

hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain

3 years ago: No entry.
2 years ago: US trip highlights, part I
1 year ago: No entry.