Snow in Guardamar!

Santa greets; spot the snow falling!

 As far as I know, the last time it snowed in Guardamar was in 1957. A friend, Joaquín, tells me that he was just a young boy at the time. He was playing in the street when white flakes started falling from the sky. He was so frightened by this unknown phenomenon that he ran home.

Well, now there is snow again in Guardamar!

In addition to the usual street decorations, the Christmas tree and the Belén (which this year has moved from within the town hall to the main square), Guardamar has erected a small but rather fine Christmas village in the Avenida de las Pinos, at the entrance to the Reina Sofía park, which can be found in that street.

The amazing flying sleigh and Santa's house

The little village includes play areas for children, a number of elf-sized buildings, pointy-eared elves, Father Christmas’s own house, and an elevated area, where Father Christmas meets and greets more or less scared children (who, after having spoken to the Man in Red, can then leave by going down a slide!). Here, too, the children get to see and feel snow, for behind the Santa area is a snow-making machine that produces a fine fall of snow. Given the temperature here, the snow has no chance of settling, of course, but the effect is excellent and there is plenty of white foam around to at least provide the illusion of snow.

In addition to the little Christmas village, a few stalls close by provide the germination of a Christmas market. Perhaps this will grow into something more substantial in coming years.

A couple of elves

24 little hours…

Bad weather seldom lasts long in this part of Spain and yesterday we were just about back to normal after the fierce storm of Sunday night. The sky is once again its wonderful shade of blue, the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is well into the twenties.

It was Hairdressing Tuesday a couple of days ago, so here’s a photo of She Who Must Be Obeyed enjoying a stroll near the Reina Sofía park after the holy event of washing, cutting, setting and heaven-knows-what-elsing. As can be seen, after less than twenty-four hours from the time I took the pics of the storm’s effects on Guardamar beach, the weather was already quite lovely and, if anything, it has only got better since. Quite a difference to when we lived in Belgium!

A news report states that a large amount of money, several hundred thousand euro, destined for a children’s hospital, instead found its way to pay for the renovation of the luxury apartment of a bishop or other some-such high-up of the Vatican. Well, blow me down with a sea breeze, who would have thought it?

Come off it! Organised religion is nothing more than organised mafia and the Vatican is the great control post of one of the most corrupt band of hypocrites amongst the many that the world has produced. Thank God I’m an atheist! Get rid of organised religion and the world will be a far better place.

What a difference…

a day (or two) makes.

Just a couple of days ago, the weather here was quite wonderful: warm, sunny, blue skies, sand-between-your-toes type weather. Actually, I dislike sand anywhere, let alone between my toes, but I do appreciate warm, dry weather. The accompanying photo shows the central beach in Guardamar last Friday afternoon, with plenty of people on it (no, honestly, that's plenty of people at this time of year in Guardamar).

Now take a look at this photo, taken from just about the same spot earlier today (Monday).

There are signs blown over, flosam on an unsually high tideline, ugly grey skies, and rain over Santa Pola and Alicante. Elsewhere, large channels have been grooved out of the sand and the paseo (promenade) is littered with debris.

During the night, we had a huge storm. There was not only plenty of rain and lightning, but some very, very heavy wind, almost tornado-like. Indeed, there are reports of there having been tornados in Torrevieja and Benissa.

Winter and summer

It being Wednesday (SWMBO's hairdresser day, remember), and given the good weather, we were in the Parque Reina Sofía in Guardamar again this morning.

A good number of others were enjoying a morning stroll in the park and several had brought some food for the animals there. A lot of squirrels were running around, climbing up and down the trees and grabbing the pieces of sustenance offered by the humans. The peahens were rather annoying, blocking off the squirrels' routes and pecking at them if they came too close. Still, with some careful positioning, it was quite easy to allow the squirrels to take the peanuts that we had brought for them. They seem to enjoy the peanuts, too, for some squirrels were daring enough to climb onto us in order to get to them.

We noticed several squirrels that are greyer than the majority. These are not the grey squirrels that are common on northern Europe, but red squirrels that, I believe, have not yet shed their winter coats.

Here you can see a "grey" red squirrel and one with the "normal" colouring.

Here's… Cyril!

We had to go into Guardamar today to take something to the post-office.

The weather was so pleasant that we decided to have a look in the Parque Reina Sofía, too. Before going there we popped into Mercadona to buy a bag of peanuts, in case we should come across any squirrels in the park.

It was about two o'clock, so most of the wildlife, being of a Spanish nature, was settling down to a well-deserved siesta. A few squirrles were to be seen, but there were considerably less that on the Wednesday mornings, when we usually visit the park and they seemed less curious and enthusiastic about coming to take the peanuts we were offering. Nevertheless, one little fellow was very eager to come back time and time again, so here are some photos of him: please meet Cyril.

Cyril, like all of the other squirrels we see in Guardamar, is a Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). This is the comon squirrel that is prevalent throughout Eurasia, though in the British Isles they are less commonly seen, having been largely ousted by the imported grey squirrel from North America.

The first few peanuts that he took were carried into one or other tree to be eaten there, sitting on a comfortable branch. Then old Cyril would clamber back down the trunk, and hop across the ground to take his next peanut from the hand. After a few peanuts, he had clearly eaten his fill, so he then started to bury them at different locations: sometimes he would bury the whole nut, shell and all, and on other occasions he would take the two nuts out of their shell and bury each separately.

Enjoy the photos.

Paella fiesta

Sunday saw the annual Paella-making competition in El Campo de Guardamar, part of the San Isidro fiestas of that hamlet of Guardamar del Segura. Anyone can take part in the competition, but you have to be able to make a paella in the open-air, using a simple wood fire, with the paella dish supported on a tripod-like affair over the fire.

Many of the paellas thus prepared are very large, sufficient for twenty people or more, and are prepared by teams; others are much smaller efforts, some even prepared by just a single person. The size is irrelevant; the finished paella is judged purely on taste.

This year some twenty paellas were made. These are prepared in the street, the fires being built on a thick layer of sand, which protects the underlying tarmac. (When I was in the UK recently, I was explaining the procedure and a British person took umbrage at this, loudly proclaiming that the EU wouldn't allow such a thing in the UK, but that anything goes in the rest of Europe. It has absolutely nothing to do with the EU, of course, and depends solely on local ordinances, but the British always know best, don't they?) Exploding rockets are used to announce the significant moments in the competition, such as when the fires can be started, when the first ingredients can be put into the pans, when the rice can be added, when the paella must be completed…

The whole thing proceeds remarkably well and the spectacle of twenty or so paellas bubbling along on top of sometimes roaring little fires, with cooks and helpers buzzing around, carrying and adding various ingredients, tasting, commenting, encouraging, and so on, is enjoyed by several hundred visitors.

At the appropriate signal, the paellas are removed from their fires and a small portion of each is placed on a plate to be taken to the judging table. Needless to say, the judging committee includes the local priest—anything for a free meal—and rumours of corruption are rife, but only add to the fun.

As the judging takes place, the paella-makers and their supporters sit down to a highly disorganised but well-deseved picnic meal that, in spite of the lack of organisation and co-ordination, is thoroughly enjoyed and provides a wide variety of foodstuffs to accompany the star of the show, the paella itself.

Our own group prepared a most delicious paella, far better than our effort of last year, when we came second. This year we were not even placed!

Better luck next year!

If you'd like to see photos of this year's event, then visit my Picasa album.