Tuesday 31 July 2012
Exploding Food Myth 3. Bananas are more fattening than other fruits
Even some health professionals believe this myth and may well be why so many diets tell you to have an apple as a dessert, rather than a banana. Who knows, but here are the facts: Most diets do not offer bananas or grapes or anything so specific to be taken as dessert, though almost all of them do mention fruit as a very important part of a balanced diet. To remove bananas from any diet is absurd and illogical: it is true that 100g of banana contains more calories than 100g of apple, but an average sized banana weighs 120g and an average apple, 230g. So the calories in each is about the same. In any case, fruit of all kinds can only be good for you, providing you are aware that some contain more sugar, for instance, and may not be too good for diabetics. Now, if only we could get rid of chucherías (sweeties) and chicles (chewing gum) and replace them with fruit ... (See Exploding Food Myth 2)
Monday 30 July 2012
Just the right attitude for the summer
We came across this who knows where on internet looking for something else. The board is at a chiringuito somewhere in the province of Cádiz; it bares translating: "Hurry of any kind is not allowed. The food does not come in tins. Relax, you're on holiday. Thanks for your visit." We like it!
A gift of the dogs ...
JIMENA (Personal by Prospero) I had a gift from the dogs yesterday. Don't tell anyone, but I sometimes let the dogs have a run in the village early on Sunday morning so I can clean up and disinfect the patio properly. This time, yesterday, I looked out expecting to see them queuing up for their food but instead I saw this little thing in the very middle of the very hot road behind the house - no sign of the dogs, who had presumably deposited the fella with the intention of having it for breakfast. Darned if I didn't have to take him in. He/she was shivering despite the heat, and was wet, probably thanks to my big dog's jaws. Anyway, spent all night with it, feeding every two hours - you know, milk and water, drop by drop, etc. - only to discover this morning that it (male? female?) is perfectly capable of eating and drinking out of a bowl. Feisty little sod! Would you PLEASE help find a home for him/her, as I can´t take any more animals on!!! (Comment below or on Facebook)
London 2010: San Roque beach volley player heads for quarter finals
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| 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.
Sunday 29 July 2012
London 2012: La Línea man aims for sailing gold
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| 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.
Citypeg warns of Spanish worker redundancies in Gibraltar public sector
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| Monument to Spanish workers La Línea |
Unite union accused of 'looking the other way'
LA LÍNEA (Agencies) One of the organizations that covers Spanish workers in Gibraltar, Círculo de Trabajadores y Pensionistas Españoles en Gibraltar (Citypeg), sent out a warning last week that the Rock's Labour Minister, former Chief Minister Joe Bossano, is aiming to fire Spanish workers now employed by the public works department. According to Citypeg, Bossano is intent on "changing a full-time, indefinite employment contract for one that lasts only 11 months, and which when it comes to an end, will not be renewed, thus leaving these Spaniards unemployed." The organization called this idea "discriminatory" and accused Unite, the local union, of "looking the other way." "We are not surprised by Unite's attitude while thgis is going on," said a spokesperson, who went on to add that the new Governemnt of Gibraltar is creating "an unsustainable situation that could unleash confrontation between the two peoples."
Saturday 28 July 2012
Local Police have K-9 unit
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| Agent Mena |
JIMENA (Source: TioJimeno) The Local Police have had a canine unit since last May. Called Mena, the Belgian Shepherd female will be used for searching out drugs. The idea came from one of the officers, who was put in charge of training her with the help of Guardia Civil officer Raúl Corvillo González, of the canine unit in Algeciras. The results have been excellent, with a large increase in detection, including one operation that thwarted a man from selling a considerable amount of drugs at the Feria in San Martín del Tesorillo. Small quantities have also been found hidden in and around a local bar.
Tourism is still the largest employer in the province
Larger proportion of temporary contracts
CADIZ Tourism-related business is still one of the largest employers in Spain, especially in the summer season. This is no less true in the province of Cádiz. The second quarter of the year has seen a total of 33,454 contracts, up by 22.8% year on year. Of these, 4,579 are in the Campo de Gibraltar (13.6% of the province's total). Algeciras (1,799 people, +20.8%), Tarifa (986, +19.9%) and San Roque (669, + 11.1%) are in the top five municipalities with most tourism-related contracts. They are followed by La Línea (630 people), Los Barrios (427), Castellar (37) and Jimena (31). These figures are for total employment contracts, not exclusively new ones. The latter tend to be short-term, temporary or seasonal employment, so we can expect local unemployment numbers to rise again in September, when some sources say, a large number of bars and restaurants in the area may be closing.
Junta says beach parking charges are illegal
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| Los Lances Beach, Tarifa |
TARIFA (Agencies) As we reported here, the Council decided, probably in financial desperation, to begin charging for parking near the municipality's beaches this summer. Local residents have complained about it in the media and have obtained permission to park for free if they can show they reside in the municipality. In the meantime, the Junta de Andalucía has decided that the charges are illegal at eight of the ten spaces allotted by the Council to parking. The Junta's Environment Council has a Beach Demarcation department that established what is and what is not public land near the beaches; having sent inspectors to measure things out, it decided that the parking 'facilities' are illegal at Los Lances, Valdevaqueros and Atlanterra, while another five are 'blocking access' to the beach, which is not on, according to the inspectors. The only one to have full, official permission is at El Lentiscal, in Bolonia, which was grated in 2008. The remaining beach where parking fees are demanded, Monte Sierra Plata, does not come under the Junta's aegis, being out of the public domain. Local sources tell us that barriers are still up, but there is no-one taking money at any of the places deemed 'illegal'.
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.)
Friday 27 July 2012
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.
Thursday 26 July 2012
La Caixa to maintain the Cajasol brand in Sevilla, Huelva and Cádiz
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| Sign of the times (Photo: diariodesevilla.es) |
Clients able to take out money without commission from Caixabank cash machines network from August 3 · Completed IT integration by December
SPAIN (Agencies) Clients of Cajasol, which was taken over by Banca Cívica, which in turn was taken over by La Caixa recently, will be able to cash their money at any of La Caixa's cash machines against their debit cards 'without any commission charge'. This means they will have access to over 10,000 machines throughout Spain. The systems of both entities are scheduled to be totally merged by mid-December. The moment that happens, say La Caixa sources, Cajasol customers' current and savings accounts will have new numbers. "This change of numbers will not affect direct debit or standing orders, nor money transfers in or out of an account. Mortgages and credits will also maintain the exact same agreements obtained at the time of their having been conceded. That means that Cajasol customers will not have to do anything at all to continue the same service they had enjoyed before," says La Caixa. As for Cajasol cards, these may be used until they expire or are renewed and activated by La Caixa, which will be happening after the system merges completely in mid-December.>>>
Wednesday 25 July 2012
London, a mosaic of inequalities: how the Spanish media sees Britain's capital
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| Olympic Torch at Battersea Dog's Home |
The Olympic city is full of contrasts between different and separate social classes and a diversity of cultural identities
LONDON The Olympic Torch was carried through 33 of London's boroughs this week, the idea being to show an image of unity and harmony. The reality is very different, however. London is full of contrasts and inequalities, although, together with Paris and Berlin, the capital of the old British Empire is one of Europe's popular cities, having welcomed over 15 million tourists in 2011. This is a generalization of some of the comments offered up by the Spanish media, where the diversity of opinion is as varied as the variety of cultures of London's inhabitants.>>>
Girona fire under control at last
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| (Photo: EFE) |
CATALONIA / Girona (Agencies) A fire that is reported as having started three days ago thanks to some idiot throwing a lit cigarette butt in a parking lot, spread alarmingly because of high winds in the AltaAmpurdá area of the province of Girona. Although there was a break in the wind yesterday morning, it came up again in the afternoon, but overnight work by the fire brigades and areal units finally brought it under control by early this morning. The father and daughter>>>
School books to remain free but no more laptops, says Junta
Education technology budget plunges from €25.4m to €4.8
ANDALUCÍA (Agencies) Despite the central government's directives about abolishing free school books throughout the country, the Junta de Andalucía's Department of Educatioon has decided that although it will no longer be able to supply laptops to fifth year primary school students, it will nevertheless continue to offer free books throughout the system. It also announces the 'suspension' of Tic 2.0 School programme, started in 2010 by the central government and the Junta, and which has allowed most, though not all, primary schools to become 'digitalized'. The reason, according to Education sources, is a 'lack of liquidity': the department has had to reduce its budget for technology from €25.4 million to a mere €4.8 million. That same source says that the department 'is working on designing a programme that guarantees technology teaching in the schools of Andalucía'. (Watch this space for a major article on education standards in this region, coming soon!)
In a single week, 56% of drug tests on drivers were positive
90 per cent were for cannabis or cocaine
SPAIN (Agencies) The Guardia Civil Traffic Division carried out a nationwide campaign against drug driving during the week of July 9 to 15. Of the 232,000 roadside controls carried out in one week, 2,400 were positive, representing about 1%. In addition, 101 tests were carried out on drivers "showing signs of driving under the influence of drugs," according to the Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz. The objective, said the Minister, was to get anyone driving under the influence of drugs "off the road." He went on to praise the "clinical eye" of the agents that detected such drivers without these having committed any infraction and but had passed a breathalyser. Fernández Díaz added that so far this year, some 2,259 drug driving tests have been carried out and the number will continue to increase as testing spreads throughout the country, particularly over the summer, concentrating on coastal roads during the season.
Tuesday 24 July 2012
Exploding Food Myth 2. Fruit is fattening when taken as a dessert
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| (Photo: behance.net) |
Any piece of fruit will contain the same amount of calories whether it's eaten before or after a meal - so the energy value they provide throughout the day will be the same. Our stomach doesn't contain separate compartments where one thing tops another; in the end, everything gets mixed into the gastric juices. The advantage of eating fruit before a meal is that, thanks to its fibre and water content, it gives us a sense of satisfaction, so we tend to eat less of the main meal. (See the first in our Exploding Food Myths series.)
Junta to decide on San Martín del Tesorillo's segregation within four months
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| Tesorillo from the air |
Concern about the elimination of Mancomunidades
JIMENA / Tesorillo (Agencies) This outlying village within the municipality of Jimena de la Frontera is partially governed by a Local Autonomous Entity (ELA in its Spanish acronym). It has been so for a good number of years as the first step towards complete separation from the 'mother council' and becoming a municipality in its own right. Much of the delay could probably be placed at the door of politics. However, the head of the ELA, Belén Jarillo (PP), announced recently that the divorce is closer than ever. After a meeting with the Director General of the Junta's Governing Council on Local Administration, she said that there are a few more steps through which the documentation presented in 2010 must go through, and that 'could take about another four months'. However, Jarillo also voiced her concern about the state of Mancomunidades and the possibility of these and other minor local administrations being eliminated.
Property deals fall sharply in May
Andalucía is second on the list of most sales
SPAIN (Agencies) The latest statistics show that year on year property sales have fallen by 11.6% in May. Of a total of 27,286 sales/purchases, 52% were for second-hand properties and the remaining 48% for the newly built, according to the National Institute of Statistics in a report issued last week. The annual decrease is slightly less than that experienced for April, when it fell by 9.9% and and reached historic minimals. The May figures show a downturn that has now lasted 15 consecutive months. Andalucía follows the Valencian Region, which reached a relatively low 103 sales per 100,000 inhabitants, with a mere 90. At the other end of the list are La Rioja, Cantabria and Navarra. The spread between country and urban property sales is as follows: 84.6% of transactions carried out in May were for urban properties (including apartments, townhouses, etc.) and 15.4% for country properties (rústicas); and within the urban property section, just over half, 53.7%, wer for homes, the remainder, commercial. Of the total number of sales in May, 60,003 properties, 5,519 were transferred by donation, 1,061 by full or part exchange, and 33,329, by inheritance.
Monday 23 July 2012
Pau Gasol replaces Rafa Nadal as Spain's Olympic flagbearer
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| Pau Gasol |
MADRID (Agencies) Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol has been chosen to replace Rafael Nadal as the flagbearer for the Spanish Olympic team at the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday next, July 27th. Nadal, the winner of the gold medal in tennis in Beijing four years ago, was forced to pull out of the Games on Thursday because of knee problems. It had been expected that yachtsman Xabi Fernandez would be given the honor of carrying the Spanish flag, but he declined and Gasol will lead the Spanish team into the Olympic arena. Gasol is perhaps the most famous Spanish basketball player of all time, helping his country to the silver medal four years ago, as well as the 2006 World Championship and the 2009 and 2011 European Championships. He currently plays for the LA Lakers. "There are no words to describe how emotional my phone call was with Rafael Nadal," explained Alejandro Blanco, the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, "both in his case as with Pau Gasol, there was a unanimous decision taking over who should carry the flag." "Nobody represents us better than Gasol," he stated.
Reader's question: What are those ****** little white flies?
JIMENA This reader will remain anonymous, but she is about as fed up as we are with those ****** little white flies getting in her salad and our hair. After careful, extensive research, we discover they are the females of something they call cochinilla del carmín (scientific name: Dactylopius coccus), and very common in these parts, though not necessarily as the plague they are this year. There are not nearly as many as when the question was asked but we were too busy spitting the ***** out to answer. Anyway, we found out that the eggs live on cacti (chumberas), which of course are very prolific hereabouts. In fact, the locals are saying that the prickly pear (chumbos) crop this year will be zero. One interesting thing, though: notice the colloquial name, cochinilla del carmín. Carmín is another name for 'carmine' or red (usually applied to a lipstick colour in Spanish, or to lipstick itself). The male cochineal is red and the Aztecs and Mayas used to crush them to obtain red dye. See more info on Wikipedia. Of course, it doesn't say why the females are such pests - but no-one ever does.
Local Police rescue puppies from rubbish container
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| (Photo: TioJimeno) |
We missed this last week on TioJimeno
CASTELLAR Local Police officers rescued three puppies on Thursday that had been abandoned in a rubbish container near Calles Chapatal and España. Only a few weeks old, they were taken to the station where they were fed and watered. One of them was almost immediately adopted by a neighbour, and is now called 'Poli' (short for policía, in case you wondered about our spelling!) The other two in the litter were waiting for a home over the weekend - and we will report about that as soon as we find out. This kind of thing is all too common and spekas volumes about the need to neuter our pets to avoid it. (And another thing: we do like to report good things when they happen - please tell us about them because they rarely get into the news.)
Jellyfish alert all over the coast
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| Getares yesterday |
CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR (Agencies) A seasonal plague of jellyfish is spoiling the holidays of visitors to the area's beaches. Thousands of the stingers have been sighted -and have landed- on beaches throughout the Campo, particularly at Getares, Rinconcillo and San Roque this weekend. Reports say that the invasion is due to seawater reaching ideal temperatures for their reproduction and the Levante (Easterly) winds that have been blowing for several days now, which have brought the jellyfish down from the coasts of Granada. Authorities advise bathers to pay attention to the red flag alerts, as they cannot clean up the sand fast enough. (See 'How to treat a jellyfish sting' below)>>>
Gibraltar Government statement following Guardia Civil actions on Friday
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| One of many incidents (Photo: elmundo.es) |
GIBRALTAR (Press release) "Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar has received confirmed reports that officers of the Guardia Civil vessel Rio Ceden boarded and took control of a Gibraltar registered vessel in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and then forcibily conveyed it and its occupants to Algeciras at high speed and without navigational lights. They subsequently confiscated perfectly legal equipment aboard the vessel. The individuals aboard the vessel were not suspected of being involved in any illicit activity of any kind. HM Government of Gibraltar condemns the actions of the relevant Spanish Civil Guards without reservation. Official reports received by the Government state that the Guardia Civil even turned off the navigational lights on the Gibraltar vessel that they boarded and on their own vessel as well in an attempt to avoid detection. This points to the fact that they must have known that they were acting in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters where Spain has no jurisdiction. It is important to recall that the Civil Guard commenced these illegal incursions in 2009, unrelated to any fishing dispute and that they have continued at regular intervals ever
since. Indeed, at one point Spanish Civil Guards even entered the Port of Gibraltar and landed on our soil. This has been the case regardless of who was in Government in Spain or in Gibraltar.>>>
Sunday 22 July 2012
Young Finback Whale beaches at Alcaidesa
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| (Photo: europasur.es) |
LA LÍNEA/Alcaidesa (Agencies) A finback whale (Balaenoptera physalus) appeared dead on the beach last Wednesday at Alcaidesa, according to reports received by the Town Hall at around 8pm. Volunteers from the Centre for Recovery of Threatened Species (CEGMA In its Spanish acronym) at Málaga, arrived some time later, and also members of Circe, the whale watching people from Tarifa. These experts reported that it was about 4 m in length, indicating it was a youngster, but that it had been dead for some time before being flung onto the sand, as it was in an 'advanced state of decomposition'. Also called a rorqual, this is one of the smallest of the large whales (the family of the Balaenopteridae includes the Blue Whale, the largest of all mammals) but it is the fastest and the most common, of ten reaching between 7 and 10 m in length and between 5 to 10 tons in weight. The remains were removed for incineration on Thursday morning and there was little trace of it overt the weekend.
Britain calls Guardia Civil 'infamous' for arresting two Gibraltarians
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| Illustration only |
MADRID (Agencies) The British government yesterday levelled energetic criticism against the Spanish authorities for the alleged arrest of two Gibraltarians in the sea that surrounds the Rock, an action Britain called 'intolerable and illegal'. Secretary of State for European Affairs David Lidington said he was "shocked by the disgraceful behaviour of the Spanish Guardia Civil" who he said detained the nationals in British Gibraltar territorial waters and transferred them to Spain on Friday." "The government will be making it clear to Spain that such action, on the part of the law enforcement agencies of a EU Partner and NATO Ally, is intolerable and unlawful," he warned. The move comes amid a row over fishing rights between Madrid and Gibraltar, a mostly self-governing British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip that overlooks the only entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. Britain refuses to renounce sovereignty against the wishes of Gibraltarians. According to the British government statement, the Spanish Guardia Civil intercepted a local Gibraltarian sports fishing boat approximately 200 meters (yards) off the coast of Gibraltar. The two were transferred to Algeciras in Spain before being released.
Saturday 21 July 2012
Spanish steeplechaser loses Olympic place after stumbling into doping investigation
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| Ángel Mullera |
Federation was advised not to probe the case because the email could be false
SPAIN (El País/Carlos Arribas Ugarte) Spanish 3,000m steeplechaser Ángel Mullera, ceased to be a member of Spain’s Olympic track & field team and will be replaced by Sebastián Martos, after the former came under the spotlight following a police announcement that they were investigating a series of emails exchanged between the athlete and an anonymous doping specialist. The police group behind Operation Skype, which dismantled a doping plot headed by doctor Alberto Beltrán, received the correspondence from an anonymous source several days ago and are tracing the address of the specialist. It had also notified the State Anti-Doping Agency (AEA), whose director Ana Muñoz immediately ordered Mullera to submit to an anti-doping test.>>>
Friday 20 July 2012
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