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In August this year The Traffic Department (DGT) in Spain launched a new system to ensure that foreign drivers caught by fixed radar devices are forced to pay on the spot, therefore these foreign drivers caught speeding on Spanish roads will no longer be able to escape paying the fine just because they live outside the country or are difficult for authorities to track down.

The new system involves radar equipment that can recognise foreign licence plates and automatically notify the nearest Guardia Civil patrol car, including a photograph of the speeding vehicle. The officers can then pull over the vehicle and fine the driver – fines which could go up to as much £500! (€600) The unlucky ones who cannot come up with the payment instantly could face having their vehicle immobilised. Read more »

Have you ever looked at person walking down the street in the tightest hipster jeans and smallest t-shirt and thought their clothes looked sprayed on?

Well, the future is now – and recently a Spanish fashion designer, Manuel Torres – in conjunction with chemical engineers at Imperial College London – has come up with just that idea.

Quite far from the idea of body paint – which is old news, and closer to the spray on latex which was devised for condoms in 2006, this revolutionary product uses combined fabric elements of short fibres mixed with polymers, which is then dissolved into a solvent that allows it to be sprayed from an aerosol can or high-pressure gun.

With regard to the latex spray on condoms, in case you were interested – well they never got past the prototype stage. One of the reasons was the hissing sound the contraption that sprayed the latex made but the main reason was that liquid latex takes 2-3 minutes to dry…which was deemed to be a mood-killer. No, really? Read more »

The famous Irish rock band U2 around singer Bono already started their 360º Tour through Spain with the start in San Sebastian on Sunday 26th September. On Thursday 30th September they will go to Seville to the Estadio Olímpico de La Cartuja. The concert was initially planned for the 29th September but was put back a day due to a country-wide strike on 29th September over the government’s proposed labour reform.

The U2 360° Tour is named after the 360-degree staging and audience configuration it uses. The stage set makes use of a massive four-legged supporting rig that has been nicknamed “The Claw” and has set a world record for the largest concert stage structure. With this configuration the stage is being placed closer to the center of the stadium’s field than usual. The stage has no defined front or back and is surrounded on all sides by the audience which can increase the venues’ capacities by about 15–20% and the audience is even closer to the stage.

The opening act of the concert will be the band Interpol, an American indie rock band formed in 1997 in New York City.

Tickets for the U2 360º Tour in Seville are still available from 55 Euro at www.ticketmaster.es, but hurry up, they will sell out before the concert.

Here’s cause for a little celebration during these hard times. The Parque Miramar Shopping Centre in Fuengirola is holding a British Festival Weekend today and tomorrow (24^th and 25^th of September) from 4pm.

On the agenda for Friday kicks off with a “Fawlty Towers” screening at 4 -7pm (brilliantly funny English t.v show!) A “spot of afternoon tea” will be served meanwhile from 4.30pm until 7pm all completely free and then afterwards there will be an International Welsh singer, Laura Elen singing from 8.30pm until 8.45pm.

On Saturday, the screening will continue in the same way, this time with “Black Adder” – (another of my personal favourite British television shows!) which will be shown from 4 -7pm. There will be free face painting and t-shirt painting offered around the same time. Afterwards there will be a “Stagecoach” performance, when children from the famous theatre school will perform some Brit pop classics. A folk music session is on the agenda from 7-8pm, with a free cider bar and food tasting from 8.30-9pm. Read more »

A gastronomic festival will be held in San Roque until 30^th September, and will include more than 60 bars, cafes and restaurants. For more information, go to www.san-roque.com/turismo.

A local artist in Estepona will be showing his latest exhibition entitled “Is everything relative?” Sr. Ireneo Ruiz is a surrealist painter and will be holding the exhibition at 12pm Tuesdays and Sundays at the Cafe oriente, C/Manuel Navarro Mollor until the 30th September. All paintings on show will be for sale.

The exhibition “Eleazars Tour”- consisting of paintings from the artist “Eleazar” will take place at the Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana in Rincón de la Victoria and will continue until the 22^nd October. The opening times are Tuesday to Saturday 11am- 1.30pm and 6.30pm -10pm. Sundays will be free entrance from 11am – 2pm. For a look at the art, go to www.eleazar.es Read more »