costablog.com

A few forward-thinking towns and their residents have taken a step further in supporting the needy and elderly during these difficult times.

A clinic in Mijas has come to an agreement with the local town hall to offer dental care to unemployed residents of the town through a project named Solidental.

For POLICLINICA ALEN the aim is to offer services which are not readily available on the public health system. Unemployed residents only have to show their unemployment card at any of the ALEN clinic branches and will be allowed to benefit from a 50 per cent discount on all basic procedures until March 15. All basic care procedures including cleaning, fillings and extractions are covered by this service. Read more »

Millions of households in Spain will pay more for electricity and gas this year and consumer groups are up in arms at what they consider a “shocking” rate hike, which came into effect on 1^st January 2011. The government has announced that the TUR tariff, which supplies up to 10 kilowatts of power, will increase by 9.8 per cent, while natural gas prices will rise by an average of 3.93 per cent.

Pedro Marín, The Secretary of State for Energy said the increase would raise the average monthly electric bill by 3.20 euros (or 38.40 euros per year) although the OCU Consumers and Users Group has estimated the figure to be closer to 4.25 euros per month and both were unable to say what consumption those figures represented. During 2010, there was public outrage when electricity prices in Spain rose by 2.65 per cent in January and by a further 4.8 per cent in October, so the reaction for this hike is more than expected. Read more »

The new anti-smoking law has finally been approved in Parliament and will take effect from January 2, 2011. This means that all enclosed public spaces will be smoke-free, which even includes bars and nightclubs. Not even sealed-off smoking areas will be allowed, except in amusement arcades where no games will be installed and no drinks or food can be served in the smoking zones. Even the smoking areas in airports like they have in Madrid Barajas will be removed. In hotels only 30 per cent of the rooms will allow smoking. The only enclosed public space where you are able to smoke is in prison, but who wants to stay there. Read more »

The staff of costablog would like to take this brief moment to wish everyone who visits the site a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Here’s hoping that Santa Claus brings you everything you want this year – and hopefully nothing that you’ll put at the back of your cupboard and never wear or use.

Also, our writers would like to know – is there anything you have particularly enjoyed reading this year or anything you would to see more of in the future?

May everyone enjoy the festivities and have a great time with their family and friends!

Seasons Greetings
costablog

If you’re one of those people who think that you will never be in a traffic accident, and continuously think “that will never happen to me” you might want to read on…

A study that was recently carried out by the insurance business association UNESPA reveals that an accident involving material damage whilst driving occurs every eight minutes and 51 seconds on Málaga roads, while personal injury is caused in a road accident every one hour and 41 minutes.

These devastating figures mean that unfortunately, Málaga is the Andalusian province where most traffic accidents happen. Read more »