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Spanish News

• Midsummer to be the end of smoking in Pubs in Spain
  Midsummer’s Night 2010 may well be the last time that the Spanish, residents and visitors, can enjoy a ‘smoke’ inside a public space in Spain, without fear of prosecution. June 22nd, 2010 is provisionally the day that Spain’s anti-smoking laws are expected to change, according to articles in the Spanish Press and TV. The irony [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Ebro Valley water transfer could provide 500,000 jobs
  Until the PSOE took over the mantle of power in Spain, the former PP government had proposed to redirect water from the Ebro Valley to the drought-ridden areas of Valencia and Murcia. The idea was two fold; on the one hand, the area around the Ebro, which has a history of flooding, would have a [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Assistance for Expats in Spain to vote in UK elections
  There are thousands of expats living in Spain who are possibly blissfully unaware that even though they may live here, most likely they can have a say in the outcome of the next UK Election. Ironically, St. Patrick’s night is the evening that has been chosen when any British Citizen can receive free help with [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Snow brings Barcelona to a complete collapse
  Highly unusual and extremely intense snowfall provoked a huge chaos in Barcelona on Monday as streets throughout the Catalan capital were covered in thick snow. Since midday, the city of Barcelona received the biggest snowfall since 1962, which resulted in the public bus transport system to shutdown. The public metro transport system remains open, nevertheless [...]
  Maria Sullivan
• DGT hiding the real truth of accident numbers
  Just like in the world of Houdini’s illusions, not all is what it might seem in the ever popular world of statistics manipulation and ‘spin’, as has been pointed out by Spain’s motorist advocacy organization ‘Dvuelta’. They have announced their “astonishment” by recent statements by the Director General de Tráfico, Pere Navarro, who said that [...]
  Keith Nicol
• New study on Public Transport could save more than two million euros per year
  Last year, a study into the transportation infrastructure around Torrevieja started and when the downtown street systems are reopened and traffic can flow again, some changes can be expected in traffic flow around the city. Following on from this a further 95,000 euros has been granted by to restructure Public Transport around the city. Torrevieja’s Councillor [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Tsunami wave hits cruise ship off Barcelona coast
  A massive 8 meters high wave smashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people Wednesday, leaving two passengers dead and six injured according to Spanish maritime rescue services. The Louis Majesty was on a 12-day Mediterranean cruise when it was struck by the monster wave. The ship docked in Barcelona late wednesday night. The company, in [...]
  Ana Pozuelo
• Ten Million Euros for Torrevieja’s streets
  Sometimes there seems to be no end to the amount of money that is spent on improvements to the city of Torrevieja. With the main downtown area to be pronounced finished by the start of the Easter Processions, there was more good news regarding planned improvements to the city as this week the mayor of [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Torrevieja’s Skyscrapers given their first green light
  For the last three months, a group of overseas investment companies have been lobbying Torrevieja’s Town Hall for more information about the proposed building sites for luxury Hi-Rise 4 & 5-star hotels within the city. Back in September 2008, just as the recession kicked in, the proposal for this scheme first came to light but [...]
  Keith Nicol
• Torrevieja’s new Harbour Plan revisited
  Back in August 2008, Torrevieja’s Mayor, Pedro Hernandez Mateo, presented an ambitious plan for a new Harbour Front project that would completely revitalise the City’s seafront.  This project is designed to be a joint venture between public and private developers with investment exceeding 130 million euros. The project will transform the entire seafront of the [...]
  Keith Nicol

Spanish News

• Spanish News-Murcia March 12, 2010
  Cartagena ( Murcia) is taking advantage of all of the upheaval in the city streets to build a 30 kilometre cycle track through the city.This was announced recently by the councillor for sustainable development.Cartagena has two main cycle tracks ,one across the city centre and another in the Ensanche area near the Mandareche shopping centre [...]
  admin
• Spanish News-Alfaz del Pi March 12, 2010
  There is a high percentage of Norwegian residents living in Alfaz del Pi and recently the Mayor and council received the Princess Cristina of Norway Associationpresident,the Mayor of Covarrubias in Burgos and Norwegian writer  and Alfaz resident Mia Soreide at a special ceremony held in the Town Hall Mia Soreide is the author of a recently [...]
  admin
• Calpe Civic Centre March 11, 2010
  The civic centre in Calpe on the Costa Blanca has a number of elderly users and at the moment they are being offered free eye and hearing tests.This service applies to march only .The campaign is being done ,as in previous years,to help detect problems which can be overcome if detected early enough.Blindness and deafness [...]
  admin
• Calpe Civic Centre March 11, 2010
  The civic centre in Calpe on the Costa Blanca has a number of elderly users and at the moment they are being offered free eye and hearing tests.This service applies to march only .The campaign is being done ,as in previous years,to help detect problems which can be overcome if detected early enough.Blindness and deafness [...]
  admin
• Spanish Authors-Cervantes March 11, 2010
  Don Quijote is one of the best known Spanish novels in the world.The author Miguel de Cervantes is one of the world´s best known authors.The novel was published in 1615.Cervantes had led a very difficult life.He was born ,they think,born on September 29,St Michael´s Day.He was christened on October 9 1547 in Alcala ,near Madrid.His [...]
  admin
• Primavera Sound Festival In Barcelona March 11, 2010
  May 25 to 27 will see the 10th Primavera Sound Festival take place in Barcelona this year.They will have the Pet Shop Boys,Marc Almond,Gary Numan,Lee Scratch Perry and the Fall ( this is a group that is ever changing but still as relevant today as they were ten years ago). This event is less mainstream than [...]
  admin
• Alicante Province Caterpillars March 11, 2010
  The time has arrived for those processionary caterpillars in Alicante province.Town Halls all over the province are alerting everyone to be on the look out for them.This year there has been an increase in the number of nests to be seen in the pine trees.There was a major project last summer to kill the eggs [...]
  admin
• Denia Ferry Company March 10, 2010
  Balearia the Denia based ferry company is studying plans to see if it can operate out of Alicante and provide new routes to Africa and Italy.They feel that these are options well worth exploring.The company feels that Alicante port is strategically a very important and attractive port of economic interest to the company. If the company [...]
  admin
• Alicante Archaeological Museum March 10, 2010
  More visitors than ever before visited the Alicante Archaeological Museum last year.More than 250,000 people went through the turnstiles in 2009.Last week the museum opened its new exhibition.”Seramon,the Enigma of the Mummy” examines ancient Egypts funeral rites.it will run until October.There has been close collaboration between the MARQ and museums in France,including the Louvre. The exhibition [...]
  admin
• Spanish News-Abortion Bill March 10, 2010
  The Spanish Senate,the upper house of parliament,passed the legislation to make the government´s controversial abortion bill,law.This bill has been very strongly opposed by the Catholic Church and also the Partido Popular opposition. The law was tabled by the Prime Minister Sr Zapatero´s government with 132 votes for and 126 votes against.There was also one abstention.The law [...]
  admin

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Recent Posts

• Spanish Property Buyers Lose Out to Bank Staff!
• The Fight against Poverty – Government Agreements
• Stats 2010
• 80 Kilos of explosives and bomb-making material found in ETA stash
• 3 Bed Spanish Properties – Not as Cheap as You Think

UK News

Spanish News

• Benitez tipped to become new Real Madrid boss March 12, 2010
  Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is all set to become Real Madrid's new boss after club's Champions League defeat at the hands of Lyon.
• Real Madrid Have Won 15 Games At Zorrilla Stadium March 12, 2010
  Real Madrid have earned great results at Jose Zorrilla Stadium, taking points in 28 of their 39 visits. They've won 15 and drawn 13 of their games there.
• Spanish Novelist Miguel Delibes Dies At 89 March 12, 2010
  Education Minister Angel Gabilondo said "We must remember him as a good person and a great writer."Delibes started off as a cartoonist for a provincial newspaper before becoming a reporter, editor and...
• Spanish, Italian Companies Pounce On ‘naked Demand’ For Bonds March 12, 2010
  March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Portuguese, Italian and Spanish companies are rushing to sell bonds, taking advantage of investors’ demand for corporate debt after Greece’s budget crisis froze iss...
• Cafe Con Cookie Spanish City In A Frap Over Lack Of Starbucks March 12, 2010
  Beverage cups featuring the logo of Starbucks Coffee. Photograph: Stephen Chernin/Getty Murcia is one of the fastest growing cities in Spain, the proud capital of the country's south-eastern market ...
• Spanish Writer Miguel Delibes Dies March 12, 2010
  One of Spain’s most acclaimed writers Miguel Delibes has died. He was 89 and had been battling cancer for several years. Famed for his gritty depictions of rural life in post civil-war Spain he...
• A Million Euro Cut From Costa Blanca Promotion March 12, 2010
  The news has been attacked by hoteliers in the region Budgetary restrictions by both central and regional Valencia governments mean that almost a million € less will be spent in promoting the Costa ...
• Body Of Immigrant Found In Burnt Out Lorry On A-7 Motorway March 12, 2010
  The illegal immigrant had hidden next to the engine in Tangiers The body of an immigrant, thought to be Moroccan, has been found in the wreck of a burnt out lorry in Benalmadena. The paperless immigra...
• Court Orders Compensation For Yak-42 Families March 12, 2010
  62 Spanish military died when the Yak-42 transport plane crashed in Turkey in 2002 Instruction court 2 in Zaragoza has ordered the Ukranian Mediterranean Airlines, the BUSIN Joint Stock Insurance comp...
• Russia To Extradite Georgian Crime Boss To Spain March 12, 2010
  Russian officials have given the green light to the extradition of a prominent Georgian crime boss wanted in Spain on money laundering charges, the Kommersant daily reported on Thursday. Russia's fed...

Spanish

• Kathy Krajco's Attempt at Censorship December 10, 2005
• US air marshalls kill bomb alert passenger December 7, 2005
• The Wonderful Wicked WikiPedia! December 5, 2005
• Update on the Current Delay August 24, 2005
  For anyone who might miss my comment attached to the previous post, here's the text again:"Thanks everyone for your kind support! I must apologise for having been so quiet for so long. Unfortunately I have been very busy with a number of things which could not wait and, even now, I have just completed 'phase one' of redecorating our kitchen. Over the next few weeks I hope to get it together so that another podcast emerges even though, at the moment, I have to fight a path through the rubble and building materials to even get to my Mac and I only have a very vague idea of where the mixer and the mic might be."
• Downloading Older Podcasts Using iTunes July 1, 2005
  Open up iTunes and click on "Podcasts" in the left-hand pane - it should be the first item after "Library". If you can't find the "Podcasts" item you almost certainly need to update your iTunes to the latest version. Now you will either see the colourful podcast directory or a list of podcasts you have already subscribed to. In the latter case you need to click on "Podcast Directory" towards the bottom left of the right-hand pane. On the left of the right-hand pane you'll now find a search box above the words "Search All Podcasts". Using this box, type in "Really Learn Spanish" and hit [enter]/[return]. You'll now get two entries for "Really Learn Spanish" - one I believe is a mirror of sorts which does not appear to update and you'll want to avoid subscribing to it. The good one is the one that has "johan.vanrooyen@gmail.com" as the artist. Just click on the "Subscribe" button and you'll be taken to your subscriptions page or whatever it's called. The most recent podcast - currently no. 5 - will start downloading automatically. You can download the others by clicking on the "Get" button next to each individual podcast. In order to have easy access to podcasts on your iPod you first need to update your software and then go Settings>Main Menu>Podcasts>On.
• iTunes June 29, 2005
  Test
• Keith Lard Makes a Valuable Contribution April 30, 2005
  "I've been watching a lot of Friends dubbed into Spanish, which is good because I already know who everyone is and what's going on because I've seen most of them before in English. They do speak very fast, and the deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell which bits are meant to be funny, but the canned laughter helps. I'm picking up lots and lots of little phrases and fragments, and I get excited when I understand a whole chunk at once. I think there are two skills involved in listening: the first is actually decoding a continuous stream of speech into its component words, and the second is knowing what those Spanish words mean. It's the first skill that really benefits from a lot of listening. What used to be high-speed noise seems to magically crystallise after a while into well-formed Spanish sentences. Even if you don't understand the sentences completely, you can get valuable context to help you guess the words you don't know. And as he points out, you always get things in context. Certain phrases and constructions crop up absolutely all the time, and you just learn them as blocks or templates which you can use to build sentences. If you start off by learning grammar, and you know past participles are formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding '-ado' for -AR verbs and 'ido' for -ER/IR verbs, you might have trouble remembering whether it's 'he olvidado' or 'he olvidido' for 'I forgot'. You have to remember which kind of verb the infinitive is and work forwards from there, and you could still get it wrong. On the other hand, if you listen to a lot of Spanish, you've probably heard people say 'he olvidado' a million times, and you never once heard them say 'he olvidido', so you just know. It's this 'just knowing' which gives you a big confidence boost. Words, phrases and sentences arrive in your brain fully-formed and correctly pronounced, without you having to laboriously construct them from grammatical rules and then double-check that all the adverbs agree and so on. Similarly with listening comprehension, after a while you start understanding things as blocks of meaning, not individual words. Translating word by word into English is much too slow when people are speaking at full speed - you need to hear the Spanish, understand what's being said without mentally working out an English translation, and immediately be ready to listen to the next bit. It's a little bit Zen because you need to stop trying so hard to understand and just let the sounds come in. I could liken it to Magic Eye for the ears, because it's when you stop struggling and let your subconscious brain get on with it that it suddenly happens. At first in flashes, but then in bigger and bigger chunks until you can understand whole sections of dialogue. When you're not focusing on mentally translating into English, you've got time to absorb context and body language and facial expressions which all help convey what's being said."
• Bad Editing on Really Learn Spanish 5 April 18, 2005
  Having uploaded the last cast and having listened to it (in that order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I upload the next podcast. One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they got was another version of no. five.
• Really Learn Spanish - 5 (14:56) April 17, 2005
  Third Anniversary of the 48 Hour Coup in Venezuela Dinner Table Conversation Which Books to Read (following on from Podcast 1) Dave Slusher has a Good Idea and an Invitation *** THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED First Transcript: Que hay una mano invisible: el mercado que todo lo arregla. Mentira, mentira, mil veces mentira. Claro que hay otros caminos y en Venezuela lo estamos demostrando. He tenido que aguantar las m�s grandes presiones internacionales, pero no me importa nada. Si alg�n d�a me toca bajar al quinto infierno para defender el pueblo bolivariano de Venezuela pues me ir� al quinto infierno para defenderlo... Second Transcript: Quiero hacer un llamado, y esto es quiz�s lo m�s importante que yo quiero decir hoy. �Hoy es domingo, ya? ... Domingo, �qu� fecha? ... Catorce de abril. Yo, pues he estado incomunicado en las �ltimas horas y no ten�a ninguna informaci�n, ten�a una angustia muy grande. Y lo primero y m�s importante que digo a todos los venezolanos es que vuelvan a sus casas, que vuelva la calma. Ustedes venezolanas, ustedes venezolanos que me adversan, pues adv�rsenme. Yo no puedo... tratar� de que ... de hacerlos cambiar, ojal�. Pero ustedes no pueden adversar esta constituci�n. Porque esto es un libro para todos, es como el Popul Vuh, aquel libro de los Maya. El Popul Vuh, el libro de todos, el libro de la comunidad. Tienen que reconocer todo esto. Y sobre todo algo. Oye, no se dejen envenenar. No permitan que los envenenen, �con tantas cosas y tantas mentiras!
• The Next Podcast (5) April 11, 2005
  Apologies for the long delay. I have now started work on the next installment of Really Learn Spanish and it should go out by Monday the 18th. As the last podcast concentrated heavily on grammar, this time I'll talk about dinner table conversation and look at which books you might want to read in Spanish.