Category Archives: Spain

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Crisis prevention

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The crisis has hit Spain as well. Unemployment has skyrocketed and about 30% of the population is without a job. At least officially because in Spain there are quite a lot of people working all kinds of jobs without paying taxes.

The most recent measure to improve the economy was a strange one. All civil servants will have to accept a pay cut. Depending the salary they will lose from 5 to 15 percent. The measure will be in effect in June or July.

Such a big cut in the salary is strange, but whats far stranger is the complete lack of information about this cut back. No one knows if the cut back regards the entire salary, the brute of net, extra hours, extra additions, holiday allowance, etc. Also it’s unclear how much will be the cut back… 5%, 15% or something in between… no one seems to know and there is no official place to get this information. I don’t have any problems, but my girlfriend does and with her a lot of civil servants. Unrest is clearly growing.

Lanzarote highlights

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Our visit to Lanzarote was very nice. We saw a lot of different sites, some of which were very interesting to see.

Day 1
Today we went and visit the touristic attractions of the island. It was possible to buy a combined ticket for 30 euros. With this ticket we could visit 6 different sites in Lanzarote. Make sure you’ve got the money cash, because a lot of sites don’t accept cards.

  • Our first visit was to a big cave, the ‘Cueva de los Verdes’. It was a very big cave, but nothing more. Not really worth the visit.
  • Jameos del Agua!After the cave we went to the ‘Jameos del Agua’ and this was a much more worthwhile visit. A Jameo is a lava tube that broke down, and that supports a lot of plant life. This specific Jameo had a little pond in the center which is the only place in the world where a little white, blind lobster is living. The surprising thing was that there did not seem to be very much protection for this little lobster. If I had wanted to I could easily have picked one up.
  • Mirador del Rio!Afterwards we drove on to the Mirador del Rio. A nice viewpoint on the top of a big hill where you can nicely see the nearby island ‘La Graciosa’. There is also a bar. The view is worthwhile, but selling a ticket to enter a bar was a bit to much. They clearly suffer from over commercialization in Lanzarote which you clearly notice in some of the tourist attractions.
  • After our visit to the bar on the hill we want and visit a cactus garden. It was a pretty big garden with quite a lot of cacti.
  • Then we went and see the ‘Monumento al Campesino’, a big sculpture next to a nice villa where they exhibit and sell local produce
  • The last thing we visited today were the volcano grounds called Timafaya. This was a very nice visit. It included a bus tour through a landscape that looked like it was copied from some science fiction movie.

    • Day 2
    La Graciosa!La Graciosa!Today we enjoyed a nice boat trip to the small nearby island La Graciosa. Here we rented some bikes and visited a few of the islands beaches. We had a very nice day. When we came back to the harbor and returned the rented bikes we needed to wait a while for the boat to arrive. We noticed two bars. One full and one empty. Because I did not want to wait we sat at a table in the empty bar. We ordered some Spanish hot snacks and we found out why the bar was empty to begin with. Uneatable!

    At night we visited the MIAC. A little castle with an art exhibit. It was a very small art exhibit because there were just three little rooms. Afterwards the exit took us to a bar with a nice view.

    Day 3
    Wijn/Druif cirkels!Our last day on the island. Today we drove to the south. First we visited playa Blanca and afterwards we went to the playas de Papagaja. After the beaches we passed the wine areas. It was an impressive view to see that each grape had it’s own little circular space.

    The visit was very nice. There are a lot of areas that look surreal because of the volcanic rock everywhere. The little homes on the island are almost all a nice crisp white with green window frames. I did get the nasty feeling that at times a lot of effort was being made to separate the tourist from his money.

    Lanzarote

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    We have a nice long weekend in Lanzarote planned for the coming weekend. I am very curious to visit this island, because a very big part of it exists of volcanic ground. We will leave on Friday and stay in Lanzarote until Monday. There are a number of nice sites we would like to visit:
    Cuevas VerdesJameos del AguaJardin de CactusMIAC - Castillo de San JoseMirador del RioMuseo - Monumento al campesinoTimanfaya - Montanas del Fuego
    When we’re back I’ll post some images and a little report about our visit.

    Carnival

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    In Las Palmas the carnival is celebrated in a lot of ways. Parades, costumes, parties, lots of drinking, shows, fireworks, burning sardines and a powder party. During the powder party (in honor of the original inhabitants of the island) everyone is dresses in all white and equipped with a few cans of powder.

    The idea is that you walk through the shopping street Triana from the beginning to the end. There is a band playing music, and the people simply follow the band. It takes around three hours to move to the end and meanwhile you are in the middle of one huge partying mass inside an even bigger white cloud of powder. Very nice!
    Carnival 2010!

    Chaos in the Las Palmas harbour

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    Popeye!A harbour is a place where you really dont want to get lost. Strange types are walking around and there is a risk that heavy things might fall on you.

    Even as a child we are taught by Popeye that there are always bad guys in the neighborhood of sailors. In Las Palmas it is the same as everywhere else. Rules don’t apply and even the roads don’t follow the normal rules but just run chaotically through all the cargo.
    Las Palmas harbour!

    La Palma

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    La Palma!We had a great time visiting La Palma. In three days time we saw really a lot. The first day we were waling for 6 hours through the forests. The second day we conquered the top of the island and on day three we climbed a (cold) volcano.

    The nicest thing I did was one one night when we went searching for snails. This is a Spanish way of saying you are going for a walk, in the middle of the night, with beer, a flashlight and everything else you might need. During this walk we were really searching for snails, although the reason why we were searching for them remained unclear. I think it might be just for the honor of discovering a snail in the dark.

    After walking around for a while we discovered a big tree that was beckoning us to investigate. It was a huge avocado tree, full of big avocado’s. Jummie jummie! We relieved the tree from a lot of big avocado’s and after some time it became clear that in my enthusiasm I had squashed all the nearby snails. Oh well.

    La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!La Palma!

    La Palma

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    La Palma!This weekend we will again be visiting one of the Canary islands. This time we visit La Palma. The locals call the island ‘La bonita’, which means the pretty, so it promises to be a nice island. La Palma is a much greener island compared to Gran Canaria, so there will be lots of forest, but also caves and volcanoes. I am quite curious.

    If you are interested this is our itinerary (a PDF). To be able to view the PDF you will need the following information/skills:

    • the password you need to use: ’14puntallana’
    • you will need to be able to read Spanish.

    We have already visited Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and after this weekend also La Palma. What remains are the islands Lanzarote, El Hierro and La Gomera.

    Agualand

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    Agualand!A lot of years ago (I think I was 6 or 7 years old at the time) I visited agualand again. Agualand is a waterpark on the south of the island. I somehow remember it was a nice park, but it was a lot smaller then I remembered. I think all the attractions were exactly the same as almost 30 years ago. The only thing I did not remember from my previous visit as a little boy were the burning hot stones you needed to walk across to get to the slides. Also the park closes very early. Around 6 o clock the visitors were asked to leave the park.

    It was a nice visit and I was happy I brought some sunscreen factor 50, because there was very little shadow in the park. The entrance fee was quite high, 20 euros if you provide a discount ticket worth 6 euros. These discount tickets you can get everywhere, for example in a lot of supermarkets. The part is fun and it is worth a visit. Be sure to bring flip flops that can get wet! You need these to walk to the slides and not burn your feet.

    Gui-gui

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    Guigui!Last weekend I spend on the Güi-güi beach. A nice little beach in the middle of nowhere. We went there on Saturday morning and made the return trip on Sunday morning.

    The big advantage of this beach is that it is almost deserted. The reason is simple: you need to walk for two and a half hours to get to the beach. Around one and a half hour is spend climbing a big hill and then you spend an hour going down towards the beach.

    The beach is quite nice. The water is very clear and the surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. Still it is quite a lot of effort you need to undertake. There is no shop or anything near the beach so you need to bring everything along; water, beers, a tent, towels, sunscreen, everything.

    The route: Drive to Tasartico. In Tasartico the road changes from asphalt to dirt and stones. Following the path you reach a little parking place that will fit around 3 or 4 cars. This is where the path starts. First cover your body with sunscreen and then just follow the path. After a hike of about an hour and a half you will reach the top of the hill. Quite a hike and you should rest a little on top, before starting the descend. The way down made difficult because the path is covered with loose sand and little pebbles. Quite dangerous because you slip very easily. When you finally arrive the only thing left is to feel happy and proud of the hike you just did. Finally you can start enjoying this little piece of paradise.