Archive for the ‘Costa Del Sol’ Category
Monday, August 11th, 2008 |
A new rustic park is planned for the Costa de Sol area of Carvajal. After my last post covered the possibilities for finding a use for jellyfish on the Costa del Sol, its time to turn my attention to another good environmentally pleasant project on the drawing board.
Costa del Sol municipality Benalmadena Town Council announced the pending creation of huge rustic park to be situated in the Carvajal stream area. The proposed 40,000 square metre park will cost €1.3 million and will be co-financed by the local ayuntamiento (council) and the Junta de Andalucia.
Of the proposed open space, only 15,000 square metres are earmarked to be open to the public. This area is planned to be provided with paths, a children’s playground, as well as a gymnasium and a sports area.
The remaining area will be a strictly ecological area, which has delighted local green party environmentalists and is to be planted with both exotic and native trees and bushes, many that are on the endangered list.
Terry Didcott
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | No Comments »
Monday, July 14th, 2008 |
A use for jellyfish on the Costa del Sol may have been discovered that could turn an annual menace for bathers along the many miles of beaches into a positive resource. My previous post on
Water Stealing on the Costa del Sol highlighted the problems with illegal wells and connections into the municipal water systems by some householders. Now I’ll look at an interesting discovery.
A recent study financed by Andalucia’s Technological Corporation has revealed that the numerous jellyfish which regularly descend upon the Costa del Sol’s coastal waters could actually be transformed into a highly useful fertiliser. The researchers from the University of Malaga along with those from the Oceanographic Centre set out to discover a way in which to exploit the annual nuisance to beach goers commercially.
Their idea behind the study is that if these jellyfish are here in their hordes, we might as well derive some benefit from them. The conclusion was that, being so rich in proteins, the jellyfish would be ideal to use as a fertiliser. They could even be processed to be used as dry food for animals.
Last year (2007), in incredible 16,000 kilos of the invading jellyfish were collected on Andalucia’s beaches. They cause bathers many problems with their stingers attached to long tentacles that catch unwary swimmers and give them anything from a nasty shock to quite severe stings that require medical treatment.
Terry Didcott
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | No Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008 |
Following from my last post on the last fiesta which was DIA DE ANDALUCIA, or Andalicia Day we are now well into Semana Santa, or Holy Week - Easter week to those not in Spanish speaking countries.
Here in southern Spain and especially along the Costa del Sol, each town or village has its own holy processions held on a daily basis, from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday usually in the late afternoon or evening.
The processions are based around the huge effigy of the Holy Virgin and other religious scenes which are paraded through the streets atop heavy floats which are carried by men from the village or town. It usually takes around 100 or so men to carry the virgin and it is a carefully and well practiced event. These men who carry the weight of the wooden floats are called “costaleros”. They are expected the carry these “thrones” with great solemnity and grace. They each use a small cushion, called a “costal” to protect themselves from the wood rubbing against their skin during these long processions
Unfortunately, this week has seen some bad weather across the whole of the Iberian peninsula and more unusually on the Costa del Sol which has put a stop to the processions, as it is dangerous to even attempt to carry the virgin through the streets in the pouring rain, never ming the damage that the rain would do to the effigy.
Today however, the sun is shining, so it is with great relief that the processions in my local area of Fuengirola/Los Boliches will take place later this afternoon unless the weather suddenly changes (fingers crossed).
For those who have never witnessed the Easter Processions in Spain, it is a spectacular sight and also quite disturbing, especially if you happen to be black. That’s because there are several groups of marchers and one of those groups is made up of men dressed in long white cloaks with pointed white hoods, similar to those worn by members of the racist Ku Klux Klan movement of the American south in years gone by (and not completely rid of).
Of course, this is not the case here in Spain, as these are meant to depict the Nazareños (people from Nazareth) and are portrayals of holy marches from Spain’s long and fascinating history. There are several different religious groups represented in the processions with different dress costumes. One of the better known groups is the Moors and Catholics depicting the ejection of the Moorish invaders from Spain by the holy armies.
I’m not getting into an religious debates here, but to my eyes, historically and right up to the present day, differing religious beliefs have been the cause of more wars and bloodshed than any other factor in the history of the human race. Nice.
Anyhow, back to the Costa del Sol and the processions. I shall be going to see the local processions later this afternoon all being well and will report back on how it went here.
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | 2 Comments »
Saturday, March 1st, 2008 |
Following on from our last post here at PS: Costa Del Sol entitled: MALAGA DISPLAYS BRITISH ARTIST, where we looked at a British artist’s impending visit to Malaga, we turn our attention to a very important date on the calender in this region of southern Spain. Thursday 28th February was Dia de Andalucia (Andalucia Day), a big local fiesta (holiday).
When Andalucia Day was celebrated throughout the Costa del Sol region, politics were set aside for the big fiesta. Junta de Andalucia President Manuel Chaves said during his speech at the official ceremony held in the Maestranza Theatre in Sevilla, that Andalucia was better prepared than ever to meet all future challenges.
He also said that the new Autonomy Statute gave the Costa del Sol region a far greater capacity for self-government, with more development possibilities and many more rights for its citizens.
During the ceremony, Sr Chaves awarded the Medal of Andalucia to several well known celebrities who were born in the region. These included the well-known “crusading” judge Baltasar Garzin and singer Manolo Escobar.
Federico Mayor, the former director general of Unesco, was named as Hijo Predilecto de Andalucia (Andalucia’s Favourite Son) for this year.
All around the Costa del Sol region, people enjoyed the fiesta filling the bars and restaurants and generally having a good time, especially thanks to the warm weather we enjoyed on the day.
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | 1 Comment »
Saturday, February 16th, 2008 |
The Costa del Sol has many outlets for artists of all kinds and from many different nationalities and cultures. Apart from the many art galleries, large and small dotted about the Costa del Sol there are art cafes in abundance where artists can display their work and sell them to anyone interested in buying them. Many hotels on the Costa del Sol also display and sell local artists work.
So its always a pleasure to hear about a British contemporary artist bringing an exhibition of his work to the Costa del Sol.
The CAC Contemporary Arts Centre in the Costa Del Sol’s capital, Malaga is showing a selection of the work of Jason Martin, an young up and coming British artist. The exhibition, which is called Nomad, consists of different coloured oils painted on aluminium. This gives an incredible effect of contours and reflected light as the clientèle moves around the art gallery.
Jason acknowledges the influence on his work of Casper David Friedrich, a German painter who was one of the first painters to explore the link between light and texture.
Jason Martin was born in the Channel Islands in 1970 and now lives and works in London. He first became known at the famous 1997 “Sensation” exhibition, where his work was displayed alongside the Chapman brothers, Damien Hurst and Sarah Lucas.
Martin’s Costa del Sol exhibition can be viewed at the CAC in Malaga until 6th of April. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday between 10am to 8pm and admission is free.
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 |
The Costa Del Sol isn’t immune to some strange behaviour and even stranger views on life.
A recent survey carried out by the Costa Del Sol city of Granada’s City Council revealed that despite the law stating that a crash helmet must be worn on mopeds and motorcycles, a staggering seven out of ten young people who live there don’t wear helmets when on their motorbikes.
The main reason they give for not wearing a crash helmet?
Because they don’t want to spoil their hair-dos! Many also said that they find wearing a crash helmet ugly or uncomfortable.
Of those young residents who do wear a crash helmet, a crazy 70% of them don’t actually fasten them. They ride with their crash helmets on but unfastened not for safety, but in the hope of avoiding fines. The survey was part of a Costa Del Sol safety campaign aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds (who are legally able to ride mopeds), called: “Your life can change in a second”.
On the Costa Del Sol, that has a very true ring to it.
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 |
The Costa Del Sol is well known and well loved as a tourist haven for sun seeking Britons and other Northern Europeans. However, things are apparently hotting up more than is wanted. As a follow up to our previous post entitled: COSTA DEL SOL ECOLOGICAL FARMING ENCOURAGED, we now report on climate change on the Costa Del Sol.
The 2007 Sustainability Report which was prepared by a cooperation between Malaga University and the provincial government gives a stark warning that hotter summers which are caused by climate change could well have an adverse effect on essential tourism to the province.
There are several obvious signs of climate change, the main ones being decreased rainfall, which an expanding population and its resultant increase in water consumption has not helped and higher summer temperatures. Added to that are colder winters which have raised electricity consumption by around 32% since the year 2000.
The growing population has also resulted in a similar increase in petrol consumption in the same period which has raised CO2 emissions. To add to the problems, the amount of rubbish produced in the last seven years has increased by just over 50%.
None of this is good news for residents here in the Costa Del Sol and with the recent massive increase in building projects in the region the potential for an even greater permanent population increase in the next decade could add to the already strained water stores.
PS: Costa Del Sol
Posted in Costa Del Sol | 4 Comments »
Picture by G J Allen
