Just been catching up on a few feeds while taking a break from a new project and came across the reason that Aguadulce got its name.

Do you know? I will post the answer in a few days if no one has guessed!!!

Of all the celebrations that have evolved since I was a kid Halloween must be one of the most impressive! When I was growing up what we had to look forward to was a evening of ‘trick or treat’ dressed in some home made ’scary’ costume knocked up my Mum the night before. It was all innocent and harmless, but we thought it daring and exciting.

Got a phone call earlier in the week asking if we would like to go and meet Jerónimo Robles Aguado, the very young and exceptionally pleasant mayor of Dalías, to discuss the forthcoming Fiesta (21st September), and get some behind the scenes photos and interview.

Seems all wasn’t well in Roquetas over the weekend with Police and Firemen getting stuck into a groupd of Gypsies (Gitanos) and North Africans (Marroquies).

It appears that a gitano stabbed a marroqui in a fight - the marroqui died of the wound before getting to hospital. In an apparent revenge attack, a group of his friends proceeded to torch the gitanos house, and the neighbours, before proceeding to attack a group of gitanos who came to put the fire out.

Spain is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years. Climate experts warn that the country is suffering badly from the impact of climate change and that the Sahara is slowly creeping north - into the Spanish mainland.

A dry fountain: Spanis
Yet in Spain itself there is little consensus about what is to be done. Indeed, such is the disagreement that journalists and politicians alike are calling it “water wars”.

British tourists travelling to Spain are being advised to go ahead with their holiday plans despite bombs on the Costa del Sol.

Jon Clarke, who edits an expat newspaper, the Olive Press, told Sky News Online the terrorists do not intend to hurt tourists.

“It is just sabre rattling. People should come and enjoy themselves here. The chances of being hurt are less than they are back in London and the Sun in shining.” he said

Iberia, who are looking to merge with BA has just posted a 6 month loss of 32.3€m for the first half of the year, blaming increasing fuel costs and falling demand for the loss. The new Madrid-Barcelona high speed rail link also got some of the blame.

I have written about the Indalo man before, in fact as far back as March 2007 which makes it one of the first posts that we did on the site, but I was browsing through some stuff the other day and came across this picture of the very first Indalo man - sometimes known as the Indalico or Mojacar man.

Further research came up with this fact:

Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro are the cities shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Bidding will continue until an IOC secret ballot on 2 October 2009.

Spanish family court judges believe parents are divorcing to increase their children’s chances of getting into their preferred state school. (BBC)

Oh dear, is Spain starting to become more like the UK that we thought? If this article had been written about the UK somehow I know it just wouldn’t have registered with me at all, but the fact that it is about a current trend in Spain to claim places for children in government funded schools made me a little sad for some reason:

Monarch certainly seem to be doing their bit to help get people to Almerimar with yet more huge discounts on offer.

The 40th birthday celebrations may be over but it is still happy times for our customers as we have an extraordinary extra web discount for you!

Just sat here watching TV and surfing the internet when it came up that the Open de Andalucia starts later this week. Didn’t know anything about it, but a few clicks around Google and hey presto ….. gotta love technology!

The MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano will take place at the Aloha Golf Club, Andalucia, Spain, from March 27-30, the same venue where England’s Lee Westwood claimed the inaugural title 12 months ago.

This is the first of a series of articles about the 9 Costas of Spain. The idea came to me when I was reading a property article a few days ago and realised that, not only could i not say where they all were, but some I had not even heard of! SO to start with, I thought I would introduce them all, and then in subsequent articles I will deal with each one in turn.

I was reading a funny article about characteristics of the Spanish, and along with the comment that Spaniards will only eat bananas that come from the Canary Islands, I found a useful tip about ‘tipping’.

Apparently Spanish people almost never tip on a Menu del Día.

“There is no need to tip if you have the set, 3 course Menu del Día lunch. We know that tipping in Spain is by no means obligatory (5% is about right for good service at dinner), but few people will tip for one of these marvelously good value lunches.”

Something I wasn’t aware of was the fact that Spain has been trying to find new lyrics for its national anthem which has been without them since 1978. This initiative was started unsurprisingly by the Spanish Olympic committee.

I have mixed views about the British national anthem as I think it should be more about the country and not just in praise of our queen, but at least we have words. It appears that the very words I would like in our anthem our causing a huge problem over here:

Andalucia is a fascinating place for its spectacular Moorish monuments, beautiful white hill towns, sparkling blue coast and natural beauty of its mountainous country. The Moors were a mixed race of Berbers and Arabs that occupied Spain (Al-Andalus) for almost eight hundred years. They developed the most sophisticated civilization in the Middle Ages, centered in Seville , Cordoba and Granada . Every city, town and village, is a wonderful mixture of Christian and Muslim influence. Granada preserves the most beautiful Moorish monuments, the Alhambra palace, being the largest and most sensual building in Europe. Córdoba’s old mosque with a cathedral built inside it and the spectacular remains of the ancient Moorish city of Medna Azahara shold be regarded as a mustsee whislt Seville boasts the most spectacular of all Gothic cathedrals and largest church in the world as well as its Moorish Alcazar.