Motril: you will be able to find some at Radiovision, Mediterranea garage on the Puntalón roundabout, Café Paris on the ring road up to the hospital and Restaurante El Zarcillo on the Esplanada, for example.

Salobreña: Chiringuito El Bahía, Supersol, Lingwoods, Casa Técnica, tourist office, etc.

Nerja: Dentadanés (Maro) Clínica Sta Cecilia (c/Hurtado, Nerja) and Tienda Danesa (Frigiliana)

Almuñécar and La Herradura: everyone that advertises

Alpujarra: phone area rep on 645 036 158

Lecrín Valley: main branch office of Caja Rural (c/Granada 21)

Velez Benaudalla: Inmo Margarita on the main street, just after the church square.

As for the online, we will start putting it up on the 1st, just as soon as we’ve had a breather from getting the Seaside Gazette ready for the printer.

Something to Bear in Mind
You may well be aware that when you move country within the European Union, you can take certain social security benefits with you. For example, you can receive UK benefits such as contributions-based incapacity benefit/ESA, Bereavement Benefit, the State Pension, as well as others, even if you move to Spain.

However, there are certain benefits that are ‘non-exportable’. You can only receive them if you are resident in the UK. These benefits are known as ‘means-tested benefits’ and include pension credit, income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and income-related incapacity benefit or ESA. If you are resident in Spain and in receipt of any of these benefits, you should inform the authorities immediately.

For more information on which UK benefits you can and cannot receive as a resident in Spain, see our website

Healthcare in Spain
Many people who live in the UK do not think twice about going to the doctor and accessing state-run healthcare. This is because the UK’s health system is residency-based. What some people do not realise when moving to Spain, however, is that the health system here is different, it is contributions-based.

In other words, to have entitlement to use public doctors and hospitals, a person must either be working and making national insurance contributions into the Spanish system, be in receipt of certain Spanish or UK benefits or in receipt of a state pension. Unfortunately this does mean that some British residents in Spain do not have immediate access to public healthcare and more information on the options available to you if you are in this position can be found on our website.

But what if, like many other British residents in Spain, you are in receipt of a UK State Pension?

Pensioners:
Well, if you are not in receipt of a pension from any other country, you can apply to the International Pension Centre (IPC) for form S1 (previously known as an E121). Once you receive this form, and have your residency and padrón certificate, you must take all copies of the S1 form, along with some form of official ID, to the INSS (social security) office.

They should take the forms and issue you with an accreditation document, either there and then or through the post. Once you have this document, take it to your local health centre to register with a doctor. They will then apply for a Spanish health card on your behalf. (NOTE – this is a different card from the EHIC which is for use outside Spain)

So if you’re a pensioner but have never applied for an S1/E121 or have the forms but never registered them, make sure you follow the steps above to make sure you have your right to healthcare in Spain recognised.

To request an S1 form, call the IPC on 0044 191 218 7777. In September, look out for accessing healthcare as a ‘dependant’.

UK Child Benefit
If you or a member of your family cares for young children, you may want to find out if you are entitled to some form of benefit.

To receive UK child benefit in Spain, you must either:
* Be employed or self employed in a job in which you have to pay national insurance contributions to the UK, OR
* Be in receipt of a UK contributions-based benefit such as a pension, incapacity benefit, ESA or Bereavement Benefit.

However, if you are resident in Spain and your child was born here or you are paying Spanish insurance contributions, you should make enquiries with the social security office regarding your entitlement to Spanish child benefit. See www.seg-social.es for more information.

For more information on UK Child Benefit, call the Child Benefit Department in the UK on 0044 161 210 3086 or see www.direct.gov.uk.

Keeping Your Cool
It has been a long winter so I«m sure that you are glad that summer is on its way! However, high temperatures and humidity can present a risk to health and so it is important to protect yourself from the heat and recognize the signs of heat related illnesses.

How to avoid heat related illnesses

(1) Keep out of the heat – stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day and if you are outside make sure to stay covered and take water with you.

(2) Avoid strenuous activity – limit chores such as gardening to the mornings or evenings when it is cooler.

(3) When you are indoors stay in the coolest part of your home and draw curtains and blinds closed in rooms that get the sun.

(4) Wear loose fitting, lightweight and light coloured clothing.

(5) Take cool baths and showers.

(6) Drink lots of fluids even when you«re not thirsty and eat cold foods such as salads and fruits that contain a lot of water.

Get Registered!
If you’re resident in Spain you might have heard of the Padrón. The Padrón is simply a list kept by your local town hall which allows them to know how many people are in the locality, so that they can provide sufficient services for the community.

But did you know that registering is a really simple process and that it’s free of charge? All you need is:

* An address where you habitually live.
* A form of official identification.
* Your NIE or residence card.
* Details of your home (deeds/rental contract).
* A recent utility bill in your name.

Go to your local town hall with the above documents and fill in a form. It really is that simple!

Unfortunately, we at Age Concern España see an increasing number of people coming to us for help and our hands are tied because we cannot link them into state provided services. For example, if you are not on the Padrón you may not be able to enter a state residential care home, nor access local services such as home help. You will also not be able to claim income-related Spanish benefits. Access to many of these services depends upon the length of time you have been registered on the Padrón. Therefore, the sooner you register the better!

For further information about registering on the Padrón visit the “Living in Spain” section on the UK in Spain website. www.ukinspain.fco.gov.uk .

And it won’t cost you an arm and a leg, because bearing the present miserable economic climate, the entrance fee is only 20 euros per adult and a reduced price for kids.

The event is being held at the Plaza de Toros, starting at 22.15h and counts on such competitors as Edgar Torronteras, who holds Nº1 slot in the Spanish Championships in the Free-Style field. Another big name on the national circuit is José Miralles, who is a sub-champion in the world arena

Tickets are available in Caja Rural branches, as well as ServiCaixa ATM’s.

For ticket purchase via Internet, click on Caja Rural

Ticket are on sale from 36 euros

crowd goes wild

Tonight the crisis is forgotten

For an excellent account of the match, which you saw, anyway, but from an American point of view, click on this link

They have a fantastic product range providing low-cost telephone calls from your mobile, even to overseas numbers. Calls on their mobile service are only seven cents per minute to Spanish mobiles and an even cheaper 5.3 cents per minute to the UK landlines and many other European destinations.

They even allow you 100 five-minutes calls between Telitec customers for free (subject to 15 cent connection charge) and texts from only 9 cent each! Telitec’s landline services are equally impressive with calls at one cent per minute to most European landline destinations.

We asked whether the call quality was poor with delays, only to be told we were speaking through their system and the quality was perfect! So if you are looking to cut down your phone bills, or if you are interested in representing Telitec here on the Costa Tropical, check out their web page at http://www.telitec.com/

I haven’t seen this much eurphoria in the streets in years. Spain in the Word Cup Finals – unheard of.

¡Viva España!

It’s going to be a long night tonight and anybody who is thinking of getting a quiet night’s sleep tonight should grab his passport and book a flight out because it’s nothing but revelry this side of the Pyrenees!

¡Viva España – estamos con la Roja!

The Supreme Court has thus ratified the finding of the CGPJ (General Board of Judges), finding that this omission was not a mere lapse, but rather ‘absolute neglect.’

Yet it was not just one prisoner that was left it prison instead of being released upon completing his sentence, but four! The prison authorities could not release the prisoners without an order from the judge.

When the proverbial hit the fan, inspectors were sent down to Motril to investigate and found that the court over which she habitually presided was in chaos, as far as administrative order went.

However, the affair that sunk here was the Caso Campoy, named after the Motril man that was left languishing in jail a further year after he had been acquitted. Admittedly, one look at José Campoy Maldonado doesn’t inspire spontaneous trust – indeed he has an impressive criminal record, bless him, but keeping this unshaven, swarthy gentleman in jail for a dozen months or more when he should legally have been ‘on the outside,’ was just a little bit naughty.

Yet, dear Adelina wasn’t just prone to dumping people in the oubilette; she also took it upon herself to ‘slow down’ judicial proceedings against her ex-boyfriend – one that she herself had instigated after she had reported him for allegedly threatening her. She was suspspended for five months over this. Yes, how could the speed of the Spanish judicial system be any slower, you ask, incredously, but that is what she did in fact attempt to do.

The first urban bus service began just over 20 years ago and a lot of things have changed since then – the extension of the town, for one thing. The present holder of the licence has been sanctioned a number of times for repeated failings, amongst them poor time keeping, the vehicles being uncomfortable and a distinct lack of functioning air conditioning.

“We carried out a survey amongst bus users and it was apparent that a better service was needed,” explained the Delegate for Municipal Transport, Antonio Pérez.
The Town Hall has issued the specifications for the concession, which will commence from the 2nd of January, but so far no aspirant company has been selected. The new concession holder must provide three buses to cover routes for the whole town, as well as out-flung dependencies, and also another bus, which can be no older than five years, as a reserve.

The Circle Service will cover a total of eight kilometres, taking 40 minutes, running along Avenida de Salobreña, Camino de las Cañas, Avenida Martín Cuevas, passing by the hospital to return via the Ronda de Poniente to the Al Campo roundabout and then back to Avenida de Salobreña and onto La Matraquilla, Ronda del Mediodia, the muncipal swimming pool and the original point of departure.

As I would be forced to slash my own wrists to explain the rest of the routes and timetables, I shall leave it there…