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DECEMBER 2007
Hi,
Season´s Greetings to you all.
December already and we are just seeing the first signs of Christmas. I began my shopping this weekend and it is quite different to being back in the UK. We arrived at the Roselada shopping centre in Malaga at around midday and it was so quiet! All the decorations are up and it looked beautiful. I am all ready for the big day, after just a few hours of shopping.
We decided at the end of last month to replace the roof of our 100 year old townhouse. As we stripped back the old one, we realised that our house has the most fantastic views over Antequera and the Mollina mountains. All change – and we are now well underway to have the roof terrace of our dreams, where we can watch the sun come up at the back and the spectacular sunsets at the front. The aim is to eat our Christmas lunch in the winter sun.
If you have made arrangements to come over to Spain during the Christmas and New Year period, why not drop me a quick line or call me on the freephone number to come and have a tour around with Inland Andalucia.
Have a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year.
Maria
Tickets on sale for the AVE train
Tickets for the Malaga-Madrid high speed train went on sale on Monday 19th November to cope with the Christmas rush. The new service commences on Monday 24th December. One of our staff will be travelling from Antequera to Malaga during the first week, so watch this space for a report on this new service.
During the test runs the trains have reached speeds of up to 330 kph between Antequera and Malaga.
Andalucia is to come clean!!
One of the objectives of the Andalucian Sustainable Energy Plan, announced recently by the Junta de Andalucia, is that 90% of all homes in the region will be using “clean” energy by 2013.
In excess of 600 million euros is to be invested in the plan which will also create over 100,000 jobs in the energy sector over the next 5 years.
In and around the Spanish towns and villages at Christmas……………
On Monday 3rd December, Antequera was “switched-on” with 400,000 light bulbs. There is almost 150 Christmas decorations in 30 different streets throughout the town, plus a fantastic 12-metre high Christmas tree in Plaza Fernandez Viagas. The town looks beautiful and is well worth a visit.
In Rute once again there is the fantastic chocolate exhibition which is amazing to see. This is chocolate creativity at its best and takes months to prepare. Also in Rute, the Anise museum (anise is an aniseed based liqueur) is a must at this time of year and don’t forget to call in at the Jamon museum for your Christmas ham! If you go early on a Saturday you can take in the market too!
Estepa, well known for its Christmas sweets, is busy with tour buses at this time of year as visitors arrive to stock-up with these Spanish delicacies made with marzipan, chocolate and coconut. The coconut bon-bons are particularly delicious.
In the town square in Lucena there is a beautiful nativity scene which is very popular, especially with children, as the stable includes “real” animals.
The Festive Season in Spain
On Christmas Eve in Spain there are no early nights for the children in anticipation of Santa Claus arriving. Here there are family celebrations everywhere as “La Noche Buena” (the good night or Christmas Eve) is enjoyed by all. Huge feasts are prepared, quite often comprising the usual turkey, prawns and hams and not forgetting the sweets and pastries made from almonds that are so popular here at Christmas. Quite often these celebrations last until Christmas Day morning.
Children may receive a token gift from Papa Noel (Santa Claus), but most wait until 6th January for the traditional visit of Los Reyes (The Three Kings). Nearly every town in Spain celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings with parades on the evening of 5th January when sweets are thrown to the crowds from elaborately decorated floats.
You’ll probably notice an abundance of red lingerie in the shops at this time of year here in Spain. This is because it’s traditional to buy it for a loved one to wear to welcome in the New Year. Also, to ensure good luck for the coming year you must eat one grape for each chime of midnight.
Ski season now open
The Sierra Nevada ski season started on Saturday 1st December, following a heavy snowfall the previous Thursday which left between 10-15cm of snow. The company that manages the ski station will be introducing new cable cars of the most up-to-date design at the end of the year.
Our "property of the month" is in Granada province in the small town of Fonelas. This super villa is part-cave house, in keeping with other houses in the area, and enjoys fantastic views over the rooftops to the mountains beyond. An absolute bargain at 97.600 euros (under £68,000). Click here for more details
El Torcal Mountain Range Visitor Centre
The culmination of all the work carried out at El Torcal will be the opening of the new visitor centre in January. The centre, which has two floors of 400m² each, will feature the most important astronomical observatory in the province as well as a children’s room and a computer room. There will also be an outdoor seating area and a coffee bar serving food typical of the area.
The observatory will have a very powerful, fully-computerised, high-resolution telescope and will only be open for guided tours at night. It will be used for research and environmental education.
With 120,000 visitors a year, El torcal is the second most visited nature spot in Andalucia.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our valued customers, friends and colleagues a wonderful Christmas and a very prosperous New Year.
We look forward to seeing you in 2008.
For full property listings go to:
www.inlandandalucia.com
Freephone 0800 198 0006
maria.giles@inlandandalucia.com
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