Blue shark closes Torreguadiaro beach for five hours

(Photo: europasur.es)

SAN ROQUE / Torreguadiaro An unexpected visitor to the beach at Torreguadiaro forced the red danger flag on the beach at Torreguadiaro yesterday, and to warn of the possibility of danger from Sotogrande to Cala Sardina. The blue shark (Prionace glauca) appeared very close to shore at about 9.30, near the Sotogrande breakwater; it was a worker at one of the beach bars who later gave the alarm. While this small, 2m shark is not considered dangerous to humans, the red flag went up at about 10, and was kept there until 3 in the afternoon with no further sightings. The Seprona unit reported seeing that the shark presented an injury close to the head, possibly caused by a fishing net, and thus causing the erratic behaviour observed at the time.

New medical centre for Jimena

JIMENA Humanline, the well-known medical centre in Sotogrande, is opening a branch in Jimena. Located on the main road next to the gym in Estación, the official opening takes place on June 21. The Humanline website is only in Spanish so far, but that will be changing soon, apparently. In any case, we are reliably told that almost if not absolutely all the staff, administrative, nursing and medical, have good English. They offer private health care, including dental and chiropody, and work with most of the insurance companies. We will be offering more information soon - so watch this space. Jimena (956 641 359) hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri from 4 to 8pm and Tue from 10am to 2pm. Sotogrande (956 785 333) hours are different: Surgery and Analysis: Mon to Sat 9am to 9pm.)

Dog show on Sunday

SOTOGRANDE Mar y Sol Market is very much involved with Spanish Stray Dogs - or is it the other way round? Whatever, they, both, are holding a DOG SHOW ON SUNDAY MAY 26 at Mar y Sol Market, where else?. Loads of lovely dogs will be there, including Ruby and Angus. It is a very worthwhile cause, and a grand morning out. And look out for a car boot sale next weekend, too. Details about the dog show, registration for entries, price per class, judges, prizes, etc. below.>>>

Classical music concert this weekend

SOTOGRANDE Sponsored and organized by Sotogrande Cultural Society, the Costa del Sol Collegium Musicum and the Camerata Singers of Sotogrande are offering a great evening of Hydn's Missa Cellensis this coming Sunday, May 26 at 8.30 pm, at the Sotogrande church, Nuestra Señora de la Merced. Directed by Annemarie Phillips, a number of visiting international singers will be present: Llio Evans (Sopranos, Wales), Claire Filer (Alto, New Zealand), Ben Thapa (Tenor, UK) and Ryan Ross (Bass, USA). Entrance is free, but a donation will be requested.

Polo season begins at Sotogrande this weekend

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande The 34th José Ignacio Domecq Memorial Tournament gets under way at Los Pinos next Saturday, March 23, which puts the 2013 season onto the map. This is officially the Spring Season, but major and minor competitions organized by the Santa María Polo Club will be frequent from about now until the end of summer. The year begins with the Domecq Tournament, which is bringing together five 12-goal teams (Sapphire-Bayswater London Gin, FCT Polo, Ayala-El Rosario, Santa Quiteria and Silex) with players from Argentina, Britain, Ireland, The Phillipines and, naturally, Spain. Everything starts at 4pm on Field 3 at Los Pinos, Santa María's headquarters, with a match between Ayala-ElRosario and FTC Polo. (See the full fixtures below.) The Spring Season ends on April 7 with the 11th Conde de Guaqui Tournament, which gets under way two days before that, on the 5th.>>>

NH announces staff reductions at 38 hotels in Spain

Almenara Hotel, Sotogrande

MADRID / SOTOGRANDE The NH Hotels group yesterday presented its unions with EREs (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo, or 'provisional downsizing plans') that will impact 38 of its hotels in this country. The group owns Sotogrande S.A., as well as two major hotels inside that resort, the Almenara and the NH Sotogrande, plus the NH Algeciras Suites and the NH Campo de Gibraltar, and several on the Costa del Sol. There is no news as yet on which hotels will be affected, but negotiations with the unions are due to start on the 15th. The period for legal matters to be solved is thirty days, which means that redundancies may start around mid-April.>>>

Sotogrande loses €68 million in 2012

Losses are up by 115% over 2011

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande NH Hotels owns over €97% of Sotogrande S.A., which is its real estate arm headquartered in San Roque. It recently reported a loss of €68 million, which is up by 115% from the previous year's €31.6 million. Income for 2012 amounted to €548,000, against costs of €4 million. All this, and more, according to the company's report to the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV, or Stock Exchange Commission).

Sotogrande porter detained for robbery

SAN ROQUE/Sotogrande The porter of an urbanization within Sotogrande was arrested recently and accused of stealing jewelry from inside a home to a value of €1,500. Having checked the alarm system of the home, the Guardia Civil discovered that it had been switched off during the time frame of the robbery, without the owner's permission. A spare key to the alarm was kept in the safe at the porter's lodge, and a log kept of its use. However, the log did not mention this incident. Furthermore, the GC from Guadiaro in cooperation with the National Police of  La Línea, checked local pawn shops, to find that one of them had indeed received jewelry of the same description, which lead back to the porter on duty on the day and during the time robbery had taken place. Details of the man's name or that of the urbanization in question have not been released.

KKR posed to buy Sotogrande owner in private equity deal

MADRID (Investment Europe) NH Hoteles, Europe's third largest business hotel operator by rooms count and owner of Sotogrande S.A., has long been tipped as a private equity target given its large debt and that of its savings bank shareholders, which together own nearly a third of the firm. According to Spanish media, KKR could invest in NH Hoteles by first acquiring a 15.7% stake held by the parent of nationalised lender Bankia, worth about €100m or through a capital. NH Hoteles has nearly €1bn of debt and €193m of operating cash flow in 2011, and has been trying to sell its assets to COMING SOON:

Fund raising dinner is for the dogs

SOTOGRANDE The headline is confusing, isn't it? But let there be no confusion about its purpose: Spanish Stray Dogs, which runs the shelter in Los Barrios (for dogs and cats!), is holding a Gala Dinner. Sponsored by BlevinsFranks, it is scheduled for Saturday, September 22 at La Cañada Golf Club in Guadiaro. The modest price €60 includes a 3-course meal, all alcoholic drinks with the meal, entertainment by The Lola Boys, and, more importantly, the chance to help this charity that does wonderful work for the area. Tickets are available at Tiger Lily (Sotogrande), Mar y Sol Market (Saturdays at Sotogrande) and Bean & Gone Cafe (Engineer La., Gibraltar). Get 'em now, before they run out!

A romantic evening with Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Click to enlarge

SOTOGRANDE A charity concert sponsored by DFAS and the deVere Group is scheduled for September 29 in aid of the Casa Abril children's home in San Roque. The concert by The London Soloists is to be held in the gardens of a private home in Sotogrande, and included in the ticket prices is a cava reception and canapes. Please click on the image for further information on the event.In 1987, Coordinadora Abril, a charitable organization for the prevention of drug dependency, began work with the communities of Taraguilla, Miraflores and Estacion de San Roque in the province of Cádiz. Since then it has grown exponentially and is now present in many other places in the country, where children's homes, all called Casa Abril or Sol de Abril, are available for those who can't defend themselves.

Sotogrande files losses of €21.8 million

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande Shareholders in Sotogrande S.A., the real estate arm of NH Hotels, with headquarters in San Roque, recently approved the company's balance sheet for 2011, which shows losses of €21.8 million. Payouts to the Board and its commissions amounted to €235,000 in gross figures. Held at the NH Almenara Hotel, the shareholders' vote and its results were reported to the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV, the stock market commission) at the end of last month. Also reported were a number of changes to the company's statutes and the appointment of Deloitte as its auditor. 98.266% of the share capital was represented at the meeting.

Gibraltarian has Spanish flag removed in Sotogrande

The offending flag
(Photo: europasur.es)

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande With Spain heading towards winning the Euro 2012 football championships (we hope), controversy and nationalistic acrimony has raised its ugly head in the luxury resort of Sotogrande. It turns out that a Gibraltarian resident supposedly protested about the presence of a Spanish flag on the security guard's box at the Paniagua entrance to the resort. It all began last week, when a guard decided to show his support for the national team by hanging a flag under a window on the front of his stall. It remained there until about 8pm on Monday, when it was ordered down by the maintenance company Parques de Sotogrande, which, according to one source, had received complaints about it from a Gibraltarian woman. Naturally enough, Spanish residents were highly indignant and showed their displeasure by hanging out Spanish flags out of their own properties and vehicles.>>>

Santa María Polo Club and development

Rio polo grounds

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande (Agencies) Santa María Polo Club and Ayala España, the developers of polo as a sport of reference in the Campo de Gibraltar, is planning to build on what was until recently the centre of the sport in Sotogrande, the Rio I and II fields right in the middle of the luxury urbanization. They have received initial approval from San Roque Council for two projects, though this depends finally on regional approval of the PGOU (Plan General de Ordenación Urbana). Initial approval has also been received, this by Santa María Polo Club only, for a development at Los Pinos polo grounds, which is backed by this project being clasified as 'of touristic interest'. As for the Rio project, plans are for low density construction and what is being called a 'river park'. Homes are planned at only one or two per hectare. The plans also include regenerating the Guadiaro River with mooring and a sports facility (presumably to be related to boating), as well as a nine hole golf course and a rowing club. The project envisages an investment of €1.4million to be shared by both companies.>>>

This is the place to be on Saturday mornings

'I have to have that pony!'

TESORILLO & SOTOGRANDE He is grey haired, stands up on order and loves his job. Children adore him, and he them (at least we think that's what his nibbling means!). He is a short little fellow who has found a permanent home, after living at eight different places over the last eight years. His life hasn't been easy, though not as bad as too many of his kind. He is definitely a puller. His owner, Lavanya, tells us that Rambo first caught her eye some four years ago, when she was doing some work on a private stud farm near Jimena. One of the local people had bought him for his younger brother, who would drive the pony up and down the dirt track in front of the farm she was working on. "He was so eye catching, this minature stallion," says Lavanya. "He would sometimes be cheeky and stubborn with the young boy and root himself to the spot. I loved him from the moment I saw him and joked with friends about how 'I need that pony'." But one day, the pony had gone, disappeared into thin air. Never saw him again. Until ... >>>

Rubbish collection costs, answers to protests

SAN ROQUE / Sotogrande Residents of the luxury resort in San Roque have been complaining recently about a considerable rise in their rubbish collection bills. The reasons for it are set out in a pres release by the Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campor de Gibraltar, which owns the company that carries it out, ARCGISA. The protests include places that are in th Sotogrande area: Pueblo Nuevo, Torreguadiaro, Guadiaro and San Enrique. According to the press release, these, plus the resort, generate 42.23% of the municipality's rubbish, and use 51.45% of the resources available to the company. There is more, however. Until ARCGISA took over, the municipality of San Roque did not charge for rubbich collection at all, which does not mean, says Mancomunidad, that there was no cost involved.>>>

Bagels? Bagels! Where can I get bagels?

SOTOGRANDE We love bagels. We have loved them ever since we lived in Miami. We've eaten bagels in New York and London and other places we hardly remember it was so long ago. We don't reckon much on the buy-them-frozen idea: not the same at all. But where can you get them fresh? We found them at the Mar y Sol Market on Saturday morning. They are made by our new best friend Sarah, who also bakes other scrumptious goodies together with our other new best friend Tanya. Now, excuse us while we're still licking our fingers after a delicious blueberry muffin. Watch this space for a whole lot more about the Mar y Sol Saturday Market!

Mar y Sol Saturday market is there every week

SOTOGRANDE The new market at Mar y Sol (See map below) became weekly at the beginning of this month, having started strongly every other week just a couple of months ago. There are all kinds of stalls, including crafts, produce, cake stands (picture), new and used children's clothing and more, much more, plus activities and entertainment for everyone. There is also room for more stalls (call Tanya on 666157917). The market also raises funds and collects food and other items for Spanish Stray Dogs. Watch this space for a little story on Rambo the Party Pony ...

Soto SolWalk & Fun Run

SOTOGRANDE One of the big events this year, the Soto SolWalk & Fun Run takes place on Saturday May 12, starting at 9.30 at Sotogrande International School. This is a sponsored walk in aid of Children with Cancer (www.daniicharity.bbnow.org) to which everyone is welcome. Donations by onlookers and others are also welcome. To find out more and register, call Jo (671 733 522), Andy (664 581 954) or Alison (690 167 317). You can become a friend on Facebook, too:  http://www.facebook.com/sotosolwalk.