We have written before about bull fighting and its possible demise and each time we have received comments about how barbaric the activity is.

As such I thought this may bring a smile to a few faces:

One man has died and some 90 people have been injured in the opening hours of Spain’s annual bull-running festival in the northern town of Pamplona. (BBC)

It seems that the recent victory has done more than unite the people watching it in Al-rruz and the rest of Almerimar.

I just read a interesting article that made some great observations:

On and off the pitch, this was a celebration of youth. But two venerable Spanish gentlemen gate-crashed the fiesta.

In the stands, a fist-pumping King Juan Carlos led the travelling support, and later took his turn at clutching the cup in the victors’ dressing room.

Spanish Woman are the most depressed in Europe!!!!

• Las mujeres españolas son las europeas que con más frecuencia padecen de depresión y ansiedad, según un reciente estudio.
• Sólo las británicas igualan a las españolas en la incidencia de estas patologías mentales.
• El informe se ha realizado en seis países europeos: España, Reino Unido, Portugal, Eslovenia, Estonia y Países Bajos.

The interesting bit from the above is that English woman don’t fare much better. I am not sure where that leaves English woman that live in Almerimar, but most of you seem happy enough to me - well apart from when the football is on of course!!!! Now that is a little unfair as the article also concludes that the Spanish man is the second most depressed man in Europe, after ……… us English! I find this really hard to believe (about the Spanish) as they always seem so happy to me. For those wanting to test out their Spanish here is the article in full: Las mujeres españolas son las europeas que con más frecuencia padecen de depresión y ansiedad, informa Público. Sólo las británicas igualan a las españolas en la incidencia de estas patologías mentales. Esta es una de las conclusiones de un estudio realizado sobre 7.000 pacientes de atención primaria en seis países europeos: España, Reino Unido, Portugal, Eslovenia, Estonia y Países Bajos. En general, para ambos sexos, tanto España como Reino Unido tienen las tasas más elevadas de estos trastornos siendo los Países Bajos y Eslovenia los que tienen menos problemas en este aspecto. El trabajo cuenta con una muestra de 1.270 pacientes españoles y el 18,4% de las españolas que participaron en la investigación tenían una depresión, mientras que el 20,1% padecía un trastorno de ansiedad. En ambos casos, registraron las tasas más altas de los seis países incluidos. El tercer trastorno estudiado fue el síndrome de pánico que tiene más incidencia entre las portuguesas seguidas a poca distancia de las españolas. En relación a los hombres, los británicos son los que tienen más depresión seguidos por los españoles y los estonios. Los españoles también encabezan en ansiedad a sus vecinos europeos. 20minutos.es

About Almerimar

Almerimar is located in the region of Andalucia, Spain. The nearest airport is 30km away in Almeria. Other airports that are within 3 hours include Malaga, Murcia, Granada, and Alicanti. Other holiday resorts in the region include Mojacar , Aguadulce and Roquetas de Mar Almerimar is a great place to live as an expat amongst the expats, or to work amongst the Spanish. There are all kinds of properties including villas, apartments and town houses for rent or sale. It is a very traditional part of Spain, with traditional Spanish foods so if you plan to travel to Spain either to look for jobs, for your company to trade with companies in Spain, or to learn Spanish and enjoy the Spanish weather then come and take a look. If you are interested in purchasing a property in Almerimar please visit our sponsors Mediterraspain. If you have purchased a property and need it furnished please check out our Sponsors DBJ who will give you a Exclusive 5% discount with the code AL2008. If you want to learn Spanish, get help with anything to do with the legal issues in Spain, or want WiFi access in the marina please check out our sponsor CentrePoint who will give you a 10% discount off all services with the code AL2008. If you want an amazing activity based day out in the mountains and to learn how to ride a motorcycle off road then check out our sponsor The Long Way Round and get 5% off with the code AL2008. Almerimar is also one of the largest marinas in Spain with over 2,000 births and excellent boatyard facilities.

Now that summer is well and truly here it is time to brush up on all those essential summer skills:

• Getting brown but not burnt
• Cooking on the BBQ so the food doesn’t get burnt
• Late night drinking in the music bars - talking 6am here!!!!
• The art of the perfect siesta!!!

We have written many times, and will no doubt write many more times, about the culture and way of life here in Spain, and how attractive we find it in particular.

I recently read this article on the attitude towards death, and in particular funerals that the Spanish have. Now this may be a morbid subject, but it is an inevitable part of life (or not as the case may be), and that was the whole gist of the article.

For the culture lovers amongst you, or for anybody that just wants to sample some genuine spanish fun and lifestyle, then the 31st Annual Theatre Festival is bound to have something that interests you. Again this post will test your Spanish, and is liable to some adjustments as the dates get closer.

It is good to be back in Almerimar, especially as I have no plans to travel again in the near future (well there is an outside chance I will be in Dubai again for two weeks in June) but as that is pretty remote I am pretending it isn’t a possibility at all!

There is nothing like trying to explain something to someone to get you researching facts! Again, the discussion last night was around Spain, and at times it felt like I was on Mastermind - specialist subject, Spain. I would not have done very well!

It is embarrassing really how little I know about the country that I now call home, so when I got back from watching Man Utd beat Arsenal (yeah!!!!) I hit the old Internet to develop my knowledge further.

As is usual these days when I am away from home I have been spending a lot of time explaining to people what it is that I like so much about Spain, and in particular Almerimar.

It generally comes down to the culture and sense of tradition that still exists. Sure the weather is great, and the cost of living is highly attractive, but at the end of the day I am not sure that they are reasons to call somewhere ‘home’.