Kiteboard Masters gets under way in Tarifa

(File photo)

TARIFA The third edition of the Tarifa Kiteboard Masters gets under way at Valdevaqueros today, becoming the centre of professional kiteboarders worldwide. Gisela Pulido, the eight times world champion who lives in Tarifa who is going for a new PKRA title in kitesurfing was at the season's presentation yesterday, as were Álex Pastor and Aaron Hadlow, five times champ. According to Pastor, from Málaga, "The level this year is fantastically high, especially because Aaron is back from his injury, and Youri Zoon is here, having just become the world champ." Tarifa continues to be the leading kiteboard venue early in the summer world calendar.

Jimena Sports Day

JIMENA This is the 7th edition of the Jornadas Deportivas de Jimena (Jimena Sports Day for short), a very popular event in the village, with considerable participation and a host of activities for all ages. Below is the whole programme (in Spanish: translation anyone?). Sports range from mini-basketball to boxing, from belly dancing (a sport??) to zumba aerobics (?), indoors outdoors and possibly in between, from tiny tots to aged vets. Worth turning up if you can...

IOC inspect Madrid's 2020 Olympics candidacy

Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid

Strikes and protests during visit
MADRID Inspectors from the International Olympics Committee are spending four days evaluating Madrid's candidacy for the 2010 Olympics. Probably to be called the Austerity Olympics, the city's candidacy has an ace up its sleeve: about 80% of the infrastructure needed is already in place. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy addressed the group yesterday, emphasizing the financial aspect at a time of drawbacks and unemployment. One media commentator calculated that the Olympics would generate some 83,000 jobs, not insignificant in a country with a 26% unemployment rate. Madrid is competing against Istanbul and Tokyo as host cities. Rajoy pointed out that Madrid is quite used to organizing and hosting major events, and that Spain is one of the world's top tourist destinations. This is Madrid's third bid for the world's major sports event, having lost to London for the 2012s and to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016s.>>>

Casillas and Xavi, Príncipe de Asturias awards for sport

Beat the International Paralympic Committee by 11 votes to 7

MADRID Spain's two football 'monsters' (a Spanish superlative, but there's several of them), Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernández have obtained the country's premier award, the Príncipe de Asturias, for sport. The nomination and announcement from the jury said that it had been given them for being a model example of sportsmanship and team playing above and beyond their team and fan rivalries (Casillas plays for Real Madrid, and Xavi for Barcelona, traditional rivals). The jury, presided by tennis star Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and meeting in>>>PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOU WILL SOON BE UNABLE TO READ THE REST OF ITEMS SUCH AS THIS WITHOUT A SUBSCRIPTION. Subscription information will be available shortly.>>>

Valderrama is no longer the venue for the Masters, says PGA

Venue 'to be confirmed' · Junta withdraws backing

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande The Masters is due to be played in October, but it looks like it will not be held at Valderrama, the much-vaunted 'best course on the continent'. The Masters is the last of the European PGA Tour. To use a generous euphemism, the PGA website lists the tournament venue as TBA (to be announced) at this late date. It also offers the news that it will be played in Spain. Indications are that the €3m prize money are the problem. And that, say reliable sources, is because the Junta de Andalucía (last year the tournament was called the Andalucía Masters, and before that, the Volvo Masters) has re->>>

London 2010: San Roque beach volley player heads for quarter finals

Adrián Gavira in action
(Photo: grupojoly.com)

LONDON Adrián Gavira, a member of a well known San Roque family, is one half of Spain's Men's Beach Volley Ball doubles team. He and Pablo Herrera, from Castellón, beat their Czech opponents Kubala and Benes by two sets to love (25-23 y 21-16), in 40 minutes. It was Gavira who made the decisive moves in the match, according to the experts, in a match that was more even than shown by the score. But the Spaniards were playing at a disadvantage, after Herrera hurt his knee. Their next hurdle is against the USA's Rogers/Dalhausser, who beat Japan in their opening match.

London 2012: La Línea man aims for sailing gold

Trujillo training at Weymouth
(Photo: grupojoly.com)

LONDON/Weymouth The full Spanish sailing team arrived on Thursday. Among them was Rafael Trujillo ('Rafa' to his friends, as might be expected), who had been training there since May 28. Trujillo, silver medalist in the Finn class at Athens 2004, is ready to sail, having spent all that time testing new his boat and sails against unfamiliar winds. He is very punctilious about getting ready; he had been worried about his equipment for some time, and indeed one of the masts split. That made him decide to use his old boat instead, as well as much of the familiar equipment. We wish him well.

London 2012: Photo focus on the 'beach-girls'

LONDON The sport of female beach volley is probably the major attraction for photographers this year - no surprise. The beach-girls, as the Spanish media dub them, will carry on chasing medals in their mini shorts though not in bikinis: at the last minute their International Federation allowed them to use more Lycra where it might be needed. For years, this sport has been a sort of counterbalance to male-dominated athletic stardom. This is written shortly before the teams set off for their medals on Horse Guards Parade - which may or may not be the ideal venue for them, depending on which Guard you ask - one of the girls, Kerry Wals, twice gold from the USA, said, "I love playing in a bikini." German player Ilka Semmel put it more seriously, "Bikinis are more comfortable when it's hot. And anyway, we've been making the shorts shorter ourselves." (Sorry, gotta go watch them.)

Olympic Sports Schedule

Please note at the top of the sidebar: a complete, exhaustive, fantabulastic widget. Click on it and go straight to the official schedule. You can choose whichever sport you like, and find out when it is on. You'll have to see your TV schedule separately, though - unless we have time to find one for you... Another CampoPulse service at your fingertips.

French 'Spitting Image' says there was no need for Spanish doping

Some time ago, the French version of Spitting Image had the characters accuse Spanish sportsmen and women of doping themselves to achieve the remarkable heights they had at the time. Now, the French are at it again, only this time pointing out that it wasn't necessary for Spain to dope themselves against France. This, of course, in reference to last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the Euro 2012 quarter finals. The main characters here is Iker Casillas (often referred to as Saint Iker in Spain) and another indeterminate player. We have been unable to find subtitles in English.

Rafa Nadal to carry Spanish flag at Olympics opening ceremony

Photo: sportchalk.com

SPAIN The world's number 2 in tennis, champion of Opens all over the place and a very nice chap by all accounts, Rafa Nadal, has been chosen by Spain's Olympic Committee, unanimously and without need of a vote, to carry his nation's flag during the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics next July 17. The committee also gave formal approval of the Spanish Olympic Team, a total of 284 sports men (169) and women (115). A delighted Rafa, who was chosen among several athletes, said that "it is a great honour to carry my country's flag" and that it is likely to be one of the most "emotional days of my life". Well he would, wouldn't he?

We can, and we did - back then

This was taken from the old JimenaPulse site, the mother of them all around here. It read: "In case you hadn't heard, it’s the UEFA Cup final tonight at 8.45 – SPAIN vs. Germany. Thought you should know which side we support"  That was on June 29, 2009. Tonight's match with Croatia is almost as important. (BTW, we have photos of the celebrations when we won the cup that year - and we hope to get some more recent ones soon enough.)

Cyclists cycling from Ubrique to Tarifa

JIMENA We came across this group at one of our favourite watering holes on Saturday morning. We were up early and so was the bar, but these guys told us they had been up since about 4am. No wonder: they were cycling from Ubrique, through Jimena, on to Castellar, Algeciras and eventually to Tarifa - wonder how many actually made it. The bar was crammed with colourful costumes, sweat and much ribaldry. How we got them to pose is still a mystery.

Álvaro Quirós gets into Top Ten at Wentworth

SAN ROQUE / Guadiaro Álvaro Quirós, the golfer born and bred in Guadiaro, made it into the Top Ten   of the season's stroke play ranking, having just a week ago, got there in the match play listings, too. He came in tenth behind BMW PGA Championship won by Luke Donald, who in turn became the world's Number one. Quirós became professional in 2004, improving steadily over the years and is  noted for his length off the tee (he was the longest driver on the European Tour in 2006, 2007 and 2008, averaging nearly 310 yards). He won his fifth European Tour title, the Dubai Desert Classic in February, defeating James Kingston and Anders Hansen by one stroke to win the title.

Bad taste fashion victims of Spain's Olympic uniforms

Click to enlarge
and give us your opinion

SPAIN The Spanish media has been attacking the taste of the country's Olympics costumes since they were presented to the public a few days ago. One blogger says he is ashamed of them, for instance. But most of the criticism is centred on the tracksuit. The Spanish Olympic Committee commissioned the Russian design company Bosco Sport, which, says the committee, was designed and made 'at no cost and with a guarantee of quality'. Just as well, says the media, because if they had charged for it, it should go to court. It's as well to remember that the uniforms will be worn by the likes of Rafa Nadal and Pau Gasol, two of the top sports personalities in the world. So far, neither they, nor any other top athletes, have commented publicly on the subject.>>>

Jimena Rugby Club gets under way

First session at Tres Rosas

We're not as fast as we used to be here ... just found out: Jimena Rugby Club has been set up to teach tag rugby to local residents of all ages. FREE first session - The first time you come to training, to see if you'd like to play, is free. If you decide you'd like to continue playing and come training every Saturday, then you need to join the Club, which is €10 Euro fee for the year. This goes towards paying for equipment and building up a 'kitty' to enable us, at a later date, to subsidize costs of going to other venues to play and compete. Find out more on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/JimenaRugby) Next training session on Saturday, May 5, at 11 in Marchenilla (Tres Rosas). En español más abajo>>>

Kids' rugby tryouts this Saturday

(Photo: rfu.com)

JIMENA This coming Saturday, from 11am to 1pm, there is a rugby tryout taking place at the Tres Rosas Polo Club just outside Marchenilla. Initially it is for boys or girls from ages 10 to 14, and will be taken by a professional Rugby coach from Gibraltar. The idea is to get local people interested in the game and if the response is good enough, regular sessions are in the offing. Dress code is trainers and shorts and t-shirt, plus bring water as it may be hot.

Rugby charity dinner scheduled in Gibraltar - book now

GIBRALTAR We received this poster earlier this week thanks to one of our many readers on the Rock. Scheduled for Wednesday, March 28 at the Caleta Palace Hotel, the Gibraltar International Charity Rugby Dinner is aimed at supporting Gibraltar Rugby Youth Development, and all proceeds will go to Research in Childhood Cancer (RICC), an excellent cause. The dinner is hosted by Ian Robertson, the well known sports commentator on the BBC's 5Live. Guest speakers include Jason Leonard, OBE,  Nick Easter and Geoff Miller. Please click on the poster to enlarge it and get all the information you, including reservation phones and e-mails, as well as prices. It is a good cause that needs us - and no doubt the subject around the table will be the Six Nations, which will just have finished by then.

'Tour de Andalucía' rides through Campo de Gibraltar

Through Castellar they go!
(Photo: europasur.es/Erasmo Fenoy)

Sergio Abeja wins first stage

CASTELLAR (Agencies) The Vuelta de Andalucía flew through the Campo yesterday following the Ruta del Sol, starting at Atlanterra, through Tarifa, Algeciras and Los Barrios, turning uphill at the Los Timbales crossroads to and through Castellar, and on to the upper reaches of Alcaidesa and Sotogrande, then on up to Torreguadiaro towards the second stage (the race started in San Fernando) finish at Benalmádena. The third stage, from Málaga to Lucena, is tomorrow.

Potholer dies in Hozgarganta River

Hozgarganta River
(Photo: andaluciarustica.com)

Her partner called in the alarm

JIMENA (Agencies) A 32 year old woman, with the initials M.B.J. and belonging to a group from Jerez, died over last weekend at the top reaches of the Hozgarganta River. The cause of death  remains unclear as yet. The area where she died, known as La Motilla, and close to Puerto de Gáliz, is in very rough terrain that makes access extremely difficult, and there is hardly any mobile phone coverage. According to sources at the 112 emergency centre, the incident began at about 2pm at a meander of the river which in fact is within the confines of the municipality of Jerez, although the Hozgarganta travels almost entirely through that of Jimena. However, as Jimena is much closer to the zone, local fire rescue and Guardia Civil crews were called out while others belonging to Málaga province acted as back-ups. The crews reported the place as within Jimena. They also said that the woman was already dead when they arrived but taking her body to the C-8201 road was a very difficult task. The report also said that her partner had initially tried to revive her as he was unable to connect via mobile phone. He had managed to get her out of the water, though, and onto firm ground. M.B.J. practiced potholing under water, which is considered a very high risk sport.