costablog.com

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 »

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 »

Christmas time has well and truly arrived in Spain, but for those of you who think that Costa del Sol and the festive season didn’t really go together through lack of snow and ice… well you’re in for a surprise. From the 15^th December until the 10^th January 2011 part of the Palacio de Ferias in Marbella will turn into an 600m2 ice-rink with unparalleled Christmassy atmosphere, where there will be recreational activities for all ages and a Christmas market where you will be able to buy all kinds of festive goodies. All this will be accompanied a cafeteria, sweet shops and yes, even carol singing! Read more »

The Spanish animal protection association “Planeta Animal” who’s main objective is to raise awareness in the human population through targeted projects, invites everybody to walk with them to Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage for the animals. In 2009 many people joined a magical pilgrimage for Animal Rights,’ El Camino’, following the St. James Trail to Santiago. Some came from animal protection backgrounds, to experience another way to tackle the problems they’ve been trying to solve for years. Others had no experience of the groups working for years to highlight ill treatment of animals and promote their care and protection, but liked the idea of hiking with a dog.

This brave group of fifteen two legged hikers, from all over the world, along with fifteen four legged hikers, gained respect from many who witnessed them along the way. Just to see them arrive tired, but happy, after another long day’s walking and to witness the shared feelings of the two and four legged beings, made people think a bit more about the animals. Read more »

Paper-readers are being warned to be on alert for some job advertisements that are appearing in local newspapers promising a monthly income. The seemingly benign job offer actually turns out to be cashing travellers cheques in Spain.

Some women in various parts of Southern Spain who have answered the ads and applied for positions now think they have become victims of a possible scam. And as a result of this, they are now believed to be involved in police investigations.

One such woman – a British expatriate – has been allegedly held and questioned by the Guardia Civil in Almeria. She is alleged to have responded by email to the job ad and was consequently offered commission for encashing travellers cheques at a Spanish bank. The bank in question contacted the authorities to check whether the cheques were authentic, believing them to be highly suspect.

Police have refused to comment on the incidences, however these and other reports have been confimed by usually reliable sources.