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Tapas Bar - one of our favourites in Murcia city

Plaza Cardenal Belluga

Leave the crowds of balloon sellers, buskers and tourists behind in the beautiful Cathedral square and slip around the corner to one of the city’s oldest bars. Since 1926, Los Zagales, have produced excellent local tapas, including Zarangollo and Morcilla.

La Muralla

Visit La Muralla cocktail bar, underground right in the centre of the city, you can drink a large gin and tonic lounging against the fully restored Arabian city walls. A quiet and cool place to relax on a Saturday afternoon, or turn up on a Thursday evening and enjoy the free Jazz.

And if walls are your “thing”, then be sure to visit the Wall Of Santa Eulalia, one of Murcia’s newest museums. Free daily, guided visits show you the development of the city’s urban defences from the 9th century. Read the rest of this entry →

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Going Native In Murcia

Well, it’s about time that we updated the Going Native In Murcia book. The last edition was finished in 2006, and a lot has happened since then. Not least of all the airport is still not built! So over the next couple of months we’re going to review and revise the whole book, add loads of new information, maps, resources and experiences.

The first edition of the only English language book available for the Murcia region came out in 2005, followed by a major revision in 2006. This has been a labour of love for me and Marcus, we love the region and love sharing what we’ve discovered. We also love hearing from other people who love Murcia and the Costa Cálida. Gosh that’s a lot of love! So this time I’m looking for help. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be asking specific questions about what you love doing, where you relax, what your favourite food and restaurants are, what you do on rainy days, what’s great about your town, why you moved here, and anything else I can think of that will make the next edition of the book even better.

So, if you live in Murcia (Costa Cálida), have a business here, have visited and have great memories or have a rental property then get in touch. Everyone who helps me will get mentioned in the book, along with a link to their website if they have one. Those people who help me most will get the most prominent mentions. I can only do this with your help, so please let me know what you’re doing.

So the first thing I need is for you to let me know about any great bars, restaurants, businesses you know about or run here in Murcia. Please add them to the resources section, add as much detail as you can, and those entries I like the look of I will review and add to the book. So tell me why they’re great!

Here’s the link to the very simple resources section: http://nativespain.com/add-resource/ – all entries will be moderated so wait a while for it to be available on the site.

Thanks in advance

Debs

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Meet Radar

About 10 days ago we had our neighbours up for dinner for Marcus’ birthday, our adoptive mom kept telling me about a new kitten in the village that the baker’s son had rescued for me. “It’s so beautiful, one black eye and one white eye.” She of course used the Murcian word for beautiful – bonico – the usual Spanish word being bonito.

I explained that with the three ferals I already had my work cut out, but as she left she said again, “Qué bonico!” and squeezed my hand.

Buying bread the next day we were accosted by the baker’s mother who urged me to take the kitten, “Bonico!” she yelled into my face, with a pinch to my arm and a half crazed cackle.

I’d obviously been stitched up by the village matriarchs as later that day the other baker, Isabel, also urged me to take the little white kitten with black bits and one black eye and one white. (Note, we have three bakeries in our village of 101 people, we like our bread here in La Murta!) Read the rest of this entry →

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If anyone is interested in the big cycle races like The Tour de France, Spain have their own big cycle race, called La Vuelta a Espana.

2010, La Vuelta celebrates its 75th anniversary.
The race takes place between 28th August and 19th September. It is normally televised on the popular Spanish TV channels of TVE1, TVE2 or Teledeportes.

This year there are stages that travel through the Murcia and Alicante provinces.

For the past 2 years, we have travelled to nearby locations to watch this ‘spectacle’ pass through the neighbourhood.
There are of course in the region of 150 or more cyclists, a huge amount of team cars, support vehicles, Police outriders, motorcycle camera crews, TV helicopters, and so on.
It may only take 10 to 15 minutes for all of these to pass through the location where you are watching, but if you have not seen an event like this, it is well worth picking a location to watch from and enjoy the live action.

In 2009 we were in the Pinoso area to watch a stage, we arrived earlier than the scheduled time to pick a good spot to watch from, took a few snacks and drinks, and along with a good number of other (mainly Spanish) spectators, enjoyed a good time viewing the event.

Stage 6 on the 2nd September, travels from Caravaca de la Cruz to Murcia.

Stage 7 on the 3rd September, travels from Murcia to Orihuela.

The complete route and times are all listed on the official website.

www.lavuelta.com is where you will find all the information you need.

We took a few photo’s as the race passed by: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/desanddave/LaVueltaAEspana2009#

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Film Set Extra.
By David Billington

During March 2010, I saw an advertisement on the website of my local town of Pinoso, asking for ‘Extras’ (Figurantes) to take part in the making of a film which was to be shot in the area surrounding Pinoso.
I attended the casting day, where I completed an application form, had my photo taken and had a chat with the casting staff. A few weeks later received a call to say that I had been chosen for a specific role.

The title of the film is ‘Orson West’.
It will be the first major film by a Director called, Fran Ruvira, who was born in Pinoso, but now lives and works from Barcelona.
The film is part fact and part fiction.
It is said that in the sixties, Orson Welles travelled to Spain and in particular the area around the Sierra del Carche between Alicante and Murcia looking for a location to shoot a Western. However, the film was never made.
This film is the Director’s version of events of a modern day film crew, filming a pretend film crew making a Western.

My role was that of the American Director of Photography.
I had 6 days of filming in remote mountainous locations near to Raspay and Canada Del Trigo. Most of the days, I was on set for 12 hours, I now understand a little of how the feature films are made and that there must be a lot of waiting around for Actors, crew and Extras in between takes and setting up of equipment.

It was very interesting to see how the real Director of Photography set up all of the equipment to shoot particular scenes and moved the camera on numerous occasions to get different angles of one scene. This is the time when the ‘Extras’ are standing around for a long time waiting for their turn to be filmed.
It is also interesting to see how many people are involved in the making of a relatively low budget film. Obviously, there is the Director and his many assistants. The Director of Photography has about 3 or 4 assistants. The sound crew, the Labourers moving equipment here, there and everywhere. On locations where we were near a public road, crew members were on the road with ‘Stop’ & ‘Go’ paddles doing traffic duty. When there is a ‘Take’ they have to have absolute silence.
There are the wardrobe and make up girls, outside caterers who deliver food and set up at specific times, it is a very big operation and an experience that I found very exciting and interesting.

The main Actors that were filming in this location were Sonia Almarcha, Frank Feys and Jorge Yaman; I have carried out searches on the internet and discovered that some have been in feature films and some also in various TV programmes in Spain and the USA.
Most information about the actors can be found on: www.imdb.com and search the names.

I have been told that the film should be fully completed and ready for release by the end of 2010 (it is currently in post production) and maybe go to DVD in 2011.

The production company have produced a website to promote the film: www.orsonwest.com

Obviously for myself, I am keen to see how many scenes I am in and can’t wait to see the finished film.

Because of the vast area and ruggedness of Spain, there are many locations that are used by the film industry, and just by looking at adverts or doing internet searches, there are opportunities for people to be ‘Extras’ if you fancy doing something different.

Whilst on location, I took a few photo’s, which can be seen here:-

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/desanddave/DavidExtraOnOrsonWestFilm#

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Spangles is delighted to welcome to Los Alcázares tribute acts The Jersey Boys, Showaddywaddy, Freddie Mercury and Elton John. Friday 1 October is already a sellout, so make sure that you don’t miss your chance to see them on Thursday, 30 September!

Location: CISSMU/Biblioteca, Los Narejos, Los Alcázares
Date: Thursday, 30 September and Friday, 1 October 2010
Start Time: 19:00

Tickets cost just 8 €

TICKETLINES: 968 432 525 or 968 334 527

or you can book online by clicking on this link:
Spangles Website

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Location: Café Golf, San Javier
Start Time: 8.00 pm
Date: 30 August 2010

* Do you want to clear out any unused golf gear?

* Are you looking for a cheap set of clubs?

* Looking for a Bargain?

* Societies are you looking for prizes for your competitions?

Then come along to the Golf Auction night at Café Golf. There will be new and second hand clubs, trolleys, balls, Callaway hats etc and a percentage of the commission will be donated to MABS Murcia/Mar Menor.

There will be a limited number of Lots auctioned on the night so if you would like us to auction any golf item then please let us know by 9th of August so that an auction list can be available from the 10th August.

The items will be ready to be viewed on from the Friday before the Monday auction and silent bids can be taken if someone is unable to make the auction night.

For more information contact Nike or Neil on 968 566 448/666 766 600 or email info@cafegolf.es

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Three feral cats lazing on the spare bed - about 8 weeks old

The feral kittens are still a little wild. Two of them will tolerate me touching them accidentally, wait by their bowls for the food and clamber over my lap to play. The third little black one, the only girl, is still very timid and won’t let me touch her, though she will touch me if I stay still.

They are all eating and have put on plenty of weight. The tiger is fluffy and his fur looks great. The black ones are still a little threadbare, but fluffing up nicely.

They play enthusiastically together, sleep on the bed and eat while I’m in the room. They can get a little spooked if I move too quickly or noisily. They have systematically removed things from the bed and shelves and pulled them under the bed, including (but not limited to!): Read the rest of this entry →

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Bin cats - 6 weeks old - Randy, Catalina & Gearl

There are hundreds of feral cats in Spanish towns and villages. Usually they hang around the bins looking for scraps of food and they keep the mice and small creature population under control. These feral cat gangs are un-neutered and produce litters of kittens a couple of times per year. The population of cats in a feral cat colony is regulated by the short lifespan the cats have due to malnutrition, natural predators and cars. For us cat-loving Brits a “needy” feral cat or kitten is usually too difficult to ignore.

Two years ago we found 3 kittens abandoned in a box by the bins in our local town. They still had their umbilical chords and their eyes were closed, the vet estimated they were one or two days old. We took them home and I hand reared them using bottled milk – 6-8 feeds per day, every few hours for 4 weeks, then weened onto babycat crunchies initially mixed with a little baby cat milk. Fortunately all 3 survived, which is quite unusual – they are Randy, Catalina and Gearl. They have turned into the sweetest, most loving cats, they consider me their mommy and suckle frequently. We lost Gearl in January, she just disappeared and after 4 days and nights searching we eventually accepted her loss. Read the rest of this entry →

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Debs Jenkins Scuba Diving (sciving)

Scuba diving (or sciving as we call it) on the Costa Cálida is inexpensive, fun and accessible for all.

Whether you’re a qualified diver or an enthusiastic snorkeller, the Costa Cálida has some great dive sites. Everything from wrecks, rocks and reefs. You can dive all year round on the Costa Cálida, though the water is a bit chilly from December to March!

Below are 5 dive locations spread around the region to give you the most choice.

Águilas

Diving around the Cabo Cope area you’ll find wooden fishing boats sunk to provide an artificial reef, in conditions that are usually calm and clear with good visibility. You’ll see damsel fish, grouper and many moray eels. There is also a cave dive at La Cueva de la Virgin where a shrine has been built with an image of Mary and her child.

The club Escuela de Buceo (www.escueladebuceo.com) can provide you with all you need.

Puerto de Mazarron

There are many dive clubs and sites here. 30 minutes by boat will get you to one of 30 or so dive sites, ranging from an underwater mountain, caves, wooden shipwrecks, calm coves and natural parks.

One of the larger clubs, right in the port is ZOEA (www.zoea.com). They offer all the usual PADI courses and try-dives (bautismos).

La Azohia

La Azohia is a beautiful little town with fortresses around the mountains. There are a number of clubs here and we’ve dived with a few. Of particular note is RiveMar (www.rivemar.com) – they have specialist instructors who cater for people with disabilities, ensuring the sport is open for all.

Secluded beach in Murcia - dive boats come here a lot!

Cala Cerrada is a popular spot for walkers as well as divers. This is a great location for your first try-dive (bautismo) as the water is shallow and usually very calm. Or dive at El Arco, where you return under the arch of the mountain above.

The protected cove at Cabo Tiñoso is a wonderful location for sea-life, you’ll see octopus, moray eels, “fried egg” jelly fish and if you’re lucky barracuda.

Cabo De Palos

Possibly the most challenging diving can be found around here. Dive among the most amazing coral reefs, ship wrecks and underwater formations. Many of the dives are deeper and will appeal to more experienced divers.

Islas Hormigas off the coast of Cabo de Palos is a protected marine reserve with some restricted areas.

At the other end of the scale the club, Adventure Divers Spain (www.adventuredivers-spain.com) offers courses for children as young as 8 – so send your kids off to the deep blue for an hour, whilst you enjoy the view.

San Pedro del Pinatar

A little further north along the coast and you can dive near the islands Isla Grosa, Isla Hormigas and Farallon. Here there’s the full range of dives for every ability.

The club Turkana (www.turkana.org) also offers many other watersports including fishing and sailing.

Recommendations

Diving is safe and fun if you take your brain with you (as my dive instructor told me repeatedly whilst tapping me on the skull!) So, follow my simple recommendations for fun and safe diving.

1. If you’re inexperienced use a club that is recommended to you by more experienced divers.
2. Select a club that is PADI certified. This will usually ensure a higher level of staff experience, qualification and knowledge.
3. Check out facilities first, if you’re not happy then don’t dive.
4. Ask if there are English-speaking dive masters – most good clubs will have staff who can speak a wide variety of languages.
5. It is better to be on the boat wishing you’d dived than under the water wishing you hadn’t – if in doubt of your own confidence, the conditions of the sea or the staff then don’t dive.

See you next time, places to go fishes to meet!

Debs Jenkins

www.NativeSpain.com – Author of Going Native In Murcia

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