HORSE LOVERS say a beautiful English thoroughbred was deliberately
dumped in a country lane and left to die in the sweltering summer heat. The 16.3 hands high gelding was discovered in the narrow road between
Aigues, inland from El Campello, and the reservoir at Orxeta.
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TO SAY that the last few months have been uneventful for the Orihuela
Town Hall is one hell of an understatement and just when the Mayor,
Monica Lorente, and her Councillors thought that it was safe to come out
of the Ayuntamiento
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AMBITIOUS PLANS to boost quality tourism at a Costa Blanca holiday
resort include the development of new marinas to create a ‘Little
Venice’. The ‘vision’ is to move the economy away from its traditional reliance
on the building and construction industry and welcome more visitors to
Javea.
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LAST FRIDAY, RTN was the only British free newspaper invited to meet Her
Majesty’s Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, during his two day visit
to Alicante. The Ambassador started by telling RTN why he was here in the Costa Blanca.
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THE N332 extension in Torrevieja is not only impassable for hundreds of
residents from the surrounding urbanisations due to the lack of a
footbridge, it is now causing businesses to fail after the planned
service road was not completed as promised.
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RETIRED COUPLE Frank and Mavis Goodhall have watched a Spanish dream
crumble after being banished from their comfortable home and forced to
live in a caravan. Innocently snared in a legal Catch 22, they can only stare at the yellow
wooden house now behind locked gates and chain link fencing
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RESIDENTS IN an urbanisation in San Pedro del Pinatar are literally
dicing with death every time they go for a swim in their pool after an
aging and creaking crane from a neighbouring building site has become
stuck directly above their communal area.
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THE STRESS of living under the threat of an “imminent” landslide
engulfing their Costa Blanca home is taking its toll on Vanessa and
Clive Geisler. The towering three metre high retaining wall supporting their
neighbour’s pool, garden and barbeque area is in danger of collapse
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IT IS official; Torrevieja is as multicultural as New York and London. A
report released this week states that there are a total of 124
different nationalities living together in the city and that the range
of nationalities is so diverse that the only other cities in the world
that it can be compared to is London or New York.
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A BRAND new Primark store opened in the L’Aljub Commercial Centre in Elche last week. The store, which is located on the ground floor of the centre, is jam packed full of bargains and is shopping heaven for those expats who live here and truly miss the great shopping experiences that the UK has…
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Anti-terrorist police sealed off a Costa Blanca community to arrest a 26-year-old Moroccan suspected of having links to al-Qaida. The centre of Benitachell was closed down last Friday afternoon as Faical Errai, a Civil Protection volunteer, was detained at his home metres from the historic church…
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NEARLY A thousand people packed into the Bushwacka in Cabo Roig last
Saturday night for the Miss Bushwacka 2010 competition, which was judged
by Page Three Beauties Rhian Sugden and Sam Cooke.
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A BRAND new Children’s Choir for the Costa Blanca has been announced this week by international singer, conductor and vocal tutor, Nigel Hopkins and RTN is proud to also announce that it will be promoting it all the way to the top! The choir will be known as ‘Cantemos!’ (Let’s…
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SUMMER IS here and many of us will be hiring a car for one reason or
another. We may be returning to the UK to visit friends and family, or
they may be coming to visit us and need transport. Cherie Walker,
Reservations Manager for Indigo Worldwide car hire, gives us some
helpful tips and advice for a stress free car hire experience:
EXTRAS
Check there are no hidden extras in the quote you are given before you
pay. Many companies offer what at first glance is a very good price,
only to find when you arrive that there are extras to pay such as
airport taxes, which bump up the price of your hire.
EXCESS
Check the excess on your hire: this can be between £500 and £1,000 and
often comes to light only when there is an incident. Here at Indigo, we
offer annual insurance to cover you for any car hire in this period.
Paying the car hire excess insurance for each individual hire works out
to be more expensive.
INSURANCE
When signing for the car hire make sure you read and check the amount
you are signing for. Some suppliers may trick you into purchasing extra
insurance which can be anything up to £12.00 per day extra. Taking our
annual excess cover eliminates the need to do this.
PETROL
Most companies used by Indigo give a full tank of petrol and require you
to return the car in the same condition. However, it is advisable to
check as you may be required to pay for the petrol in the first instance
and return the car empty.
LICENCE
When hiring a car in the UK, you are required to provide both parts of
your UK licence: the photo card and the green paper that goes with it.
If you don’t take the paper part with you, this requires a DVLA check
which will incur extra expense. If you have a Spanish licence, this is
not neccessary but be aware that the temporary licence supplied by
Trafico as you are changing over your licence is not acceptable in the
UK, so make sure you do not begin this process is you have a trip to the
UK planned. Only a full Spanish licence is acceptable.
DRIVING LAWS
Stay abreast of changes in driving laws in the UK if you go back on a
regular basis. Most of us know that mobiles are banned from use when
driving, but smoking in your car may also soon be banned so try to keep
informed of updates to avoid uneccessary fines and penalties. The same
applies to any country you may be planning to drive in, as rules vary
over borders.
I HAVE just found a web-site where we are offered, at a price, genuine EU driving licences even if we have been banned “unfairly by a judge” or if we wish to have another classification that we have not been tested for. This cannot surely be legal? Richard & Judy Goddard, by email. I have advised on this scam before and only the desperate and ignorant would fall for it. How it usually works is that the people who offer the licences have an arrangement, I…
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Wherever you live, whether in an apartment, town house, villa, finca or
mobile home, a wide range of seasonal vegetables can be grown by anyone
in Spain.You can do so on a mini, small, medium or large scale, as
illustrated in our books ‘Growing Healthy Vegetables in Spain’...
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I WAS listening to BBC Radio 5 Live the other day and heard some faceless ECB official banging on about how the media was blowing the Pakistan spot fixing saga out of all proportion. His main contention was that the bowling of a few no balls hadn’t…
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FOR A long time, RTN has wondered what all the fuss is about. Why do expats get so passionate about Torrevieja Football Club? Well on Sunday, RTN discovered exactly why. In front of more than a thousand spectators and on a blistering hot late August…
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THE RYDER Cup is now just a month away and Europe will field their strongest team ever in an effort to regain the trophy lost so easily two years ago. Europe’s Captain, Colin Montgomerie made a brave pick on Sunday afternoon including Harrington,…
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THE A.G.M. will be held on Sunday the 26th of September at 10.00am at Cagney’s bar, La Marina. Subscriptions must also be paid prior to the A.G.M. At present there are no vacancies for membership, if you are interested and wish to be registered…
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NOT ONLY did Cartagena open their div 2a account with an emphatic victory over newly relegated Xerez (Jerez), but for large periods of the 2nd half they completely ran the show. Manager JIM elected to start with only two of his new signings, midfielders…
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LA VILA Rugby Club won its first game of the season in a friendly against Alcobendas Madrid on Friday night. The game was won 19-7, and took place after an official team presentation ceremony and pyrotechnic lights display courtesy of local company…
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For the past eight weeks the Ladies of Ifach have reduced their weekly competition to 9 holes but have maintained their usual ability to turn every Wednesday into party day. Rita Linda has again been responsible for organising the competitions…
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OVER THE coming weeks Lo Romero Golf and UGR La Tercia (5th and 12th September respectively), will host the 1st Aidemar Charity Tournament to raise funds to help Aidemar. The money raised will be put towards players participating in the Intellectually…
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ON SUNDAY August 29th, at the La Manga resort, recently formed Torrevieja Cricket Club took on the rather more seasoned side of La Manga. Torrevieja won the toss, and due to some early overcast conditions, and moisture on the pitch, they decided…
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We are delighted to announce that in conjunction with the Torry Army, the Players Lunches this season will be held at Hoggies Bar in San Luis commencing September 23rd comprising a 3 course meal with half a bottle of wine, all for only 12 euros. To book…
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THE SEASON is but a few weeks old but it hasn’t taken long for the usual suspects to get up to their old tricks. First off, let’s take a look at Steve Bruce and the FA. Bruce wasted no time in having his first public bash at a referee, describing…
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IN RECENT years we have seen more and more golf societies split and form
new and more informal groups for various reasons. In the past big was
always beautiful, mainly because there was a bigger discount for larger
numbers of players.
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PLEASE NOTE: the AGM will be held Sunday 26th September at 10.00 at Cagney’s bar, La Marina. Subscriptions must be paid prior to the AGM. At present there are no vacancies for membership: if you are interested and wish to be registered on the waiting…
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LAST WEEK saw Cartagena play out the remaining two pre-season
'friendlies', making probably the last two signings before the new
season starts, but we'll start this week's roundup with details of the
opening div 2a fixture.
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LA VILA Rugby Club’s new season promises to be competitive, with league clubs signing international players and more money being invested. Last season La Vila finished second overall with 49 league points, breaking club records by catapulting into…
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XVIII DENIA RFC Beach 7's Competition, held on ‘Playa Abaranas’ opposite
the Oasis Hotel last Saturday, was a great success, providing some
skillful rugby played by seniors, Feminino and Juveniles (U19).
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GILES TREMLETT is The Guardian’s Madrid correspondent. He has lived in Spain for almost twenty years and during that time, unlike many long…
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SEVERAL WEEKS ago in these columns I urged you not to spend your hard earned dosh on The Third Man by Peter Mandleson. This week I have a similar request…
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Mercury is on the way, and you have to take into consideration the current action of Venus and face a romantic situation that isn’t going anywhere very fast. Be honest with yourself and weigh up…
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Whatever happened to Maureen Lipman as Beattie talking about “Ologies”? And whatever happened to service at BT? Have you tried, like I have…
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THOSE OF you who have children at Spanish schools, or have contact with the way Spanish children learn their own language, may be aware of how they are…
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If you don’t live in the city it’s hard to know where to eat. So we’ve spotlighted what we think are some of the best restaurants in…
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Win a complete makeover at the Ladies Wellness Day with Paul Cunningham Nurses competition with Linda Sage. Just answer three questions and send…
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FOR CLIENTS who come to us seeking compensation following a road accident here in Spain, it can come as a shock to discover that the amount of compensation…
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Hi Aunty. At the moment my internet provider in Spain is Terra and I wish to change to gonuts4free. My old computer which sadly is no more was being provided by Gonuts. I now have a laptop and wanted…
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I REALISE I have used this article before but it appears to be an ongoing problem. Some of our clients are being assured that there will be no problem when it comes to selling their cars. Of course there…
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Whether you need to make transfers for mortgage payments, living costs or a pension, how do you know if your bank is giving you the best deal? Because…
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IS IT just me? Ryanair and now Air-Berlin are throwing their toys out of their respective prams, because the Murcian government tourist arm refuses to yield; in the case of Air-Berlin, to a financial…
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IT’S NOT what you know – but who you know. How often have you heard that when looking for work? It is a fact that knowing the right people…
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