Operación Malaya on TV

Yesterday evening, the national Spanish channel TVE-1 broadcast the first part of a mini drama about the ‘Operación Malaya’. The episode, based on the 2006 corruption scandal that resulted in the arrest of Marbella´s Mayor and a large part of the city administration, registered an audience of 12.4% with almost 2.1 million viewers.

Except for Isabel Pantoja, the famous diva and mistress of the Mayor, all the actors of this scandal were represented in this TV show. Central to the plot was Juan Antonio Roca, the infamous official for City Planning, who is considered the mastermind of the corruption and is currently facing trial for this case.

This is a great show for foreigners (speaking Spanish) who are interested in understanding the underground of Marbella politics and discovering the main players in this scandal.

Marbella weather

Have you noticed the major floods simultaneously occurring around the world this month?
- Australia has an area almost as large as France and Germany combined, completely under water. Hard to comprehend the magnitude of this disaster.
- Several hundred people have been killed in Brazil during a deluge that caused major landslides.
- In Sri Lanka, a million people are affected by floods in the central, north and eastern provinces.
- Four persons drowned and a thousand were affected in Germany when the levels of major rivers rose.

These are exceptional events. Everywhere else the weather is normal, winter-cold in the Northern hemisphere with its usual snow storms, like in Boston where the Mayor just lifted a city snow emergency Thursday, one day after blizzard conditions pounded the city and created hazardous travel conditions across New England….

During that time, it is sunny and 18C in Marbella. The weather forecast predicts the same pattern for the next 10 days…

We feel so privileged to enjoy such a weather while the skies are castigating so many people. Naturally, we also complain about the climate: some find it too hot in summer, others are still reminiscing about last winter when it rained almost constantly for three months, my children vent against a two-degree drop in temperature when we go cycling to school…

The world is the same everywhere: people focus on their own problems and have a hard time empathizing with events occurring far away. And yes, the weather remains Marbella´s principal asset.

Partial solar eclipse

A partial solar eclipse will take place in the morning of Januray 4th. It is expected between 8:40 and 9:00 am. The sky over Marbella should be clear, so protect your eyes and enjoy the show!

Fun family project

As parents we are constantly searching for projects that we can all do as a family unit. These projects have to be fun, and if possible educational.

Our latest project is a lip-dub video about the fun activities a family can do while visiting Marbella. It took two weeks to produce, visiting many city landmarks, acting in public, filming in restaurants, renting a boat… The children learned a little about planning scenes, acting, repeating scenes (it is not always fun), thinking of new situations, matching the act to the music… For the editing, we enlisted the help of a senior high school student from Laude, who had already produced a lip-dub video.

The resulting video was launched today, on the day the Obama family landed in Marbella. Nice planning…

Helping FIFA!

FIFA has been under increasing pressure during the World Cup for not introducing technology that would help avoid blatant mistakes by referees such as the goal denied to England against Germany. FIFA has been claiming that goal line technology would not be completely reliable and would be too expensive to implement at all football fields…

At a recent meet of tweetupmarbella, we had a creative session with @justinparks about solving the issue with reliable, inexpensive solutions that all could implement. This is what we came with:
* The hole solution: It consists in digging a hole in the goal cage, right behind the goal line. If the ball crosses the line, it will fall in the hole and can then be easily collected, thus confirming the goal scoring.
* Improved hole solution: Fill the hole with water to prevent the goalkeeper from hurting himself when falling into the hole. A new regulation will be needed from FIFA: the obligation to wear a life jacket or get a swimming license for all goalkeepers.
* The spike technology: in a similar vain to the hole solution, we could add some spikes in the goal cage behind the goal line. If the ball crosses the line, it will get punctured therefore confirming a goal has been scored. New attire requirement: mesh coat for goalkeepers.
* The straight net solution: Why is the net taking the shape of the cage? Why not install a straight vertical net right behind the goal line? If the ball crosses the line, it would bounce off the net, a bell would sound off and a light turn on. We could even have fireworks. Simple, effective and no more doubt about goal scoring.

These are all simple, inexpensive, implementable solutions. There were a few more involving more technology like placing a motion detector between the post. If the ball crosses the line, a guillotine would fall down, therefore trapping the ball on the other side and confirming the goal. It would also deal with handballs in the cage such as the hand of the Uruguayan Suarez which resulted in the elimination of Ghana…

It seems to me FIFA should indulge in more tintos de verano to get their creative juices flowing… Either that, or you had to be there!

Typical Marbella: good idea but bad execution.

Marbella has a very long boardwalk along its shore, especially around Puerto Banus and the city center. However there remain many areas not easily accessible for a leisurely walk.

For a long time, Marbella City Hall has had a project to create a continuous boardwalk along the city sea shore, from San Pedro Alcantara to Elviria. This year, it was decided to implement most of it. Great initiative winning applause from all!

A completely new bridge was erected over rio verde to link Puerto Banus on the east side, and construction started to connect San Pedro beach to Puerto Banus on the West side.

Well… We are now in mid-July. The tourists have arrived and the San Pedro boardwalk is far from being finished. Worst of all, it seems that construction is not advancing. It is a major inconvenience and a miserable sight for all living in the area.

I find this shocking. This city needs and lives of tourism. If there was not enough time to complete the work before tourists´ arrival (they always come in July/August by the way – no surprise there), why didn´t City Hall delay the project another year? If they thought they had enough time to complete it on time, why isn´t it finished?

I place the blame for this blatant lack of planning on incompetency combined with a lack of priority for San Pedro. I am willing to listen to any other explanation!

Marbella deserves better! Whether led by the PSOE, GIL or PP, this city needs more professional managers and less political appointees on its payroll. Unfortunately, this type of occurrences will give more feeding grounds for those preaching the separation of San Pedro and Marbella…

Marbella boardwalk in July

Work on San Pedro boardwalk in July

Tourists enjoying San Pedro beach and its construction

Kids´playground closed in July on San Pedro beach.

Just curious: do you need life jackets on boats in Marbella?

Our family took a leisurely walk to the San Pedro beach for the festival of the Virgen del Carmen. A friendly gathering of locals was there with children, orchestra and typical warm atmosphere.

In the sea, numerous boats were waiting for the arrival of the Virgin. Because we are in San Pedro, these were not yachts, but mostly jábegas, the typical fishing row boats of the Malaga province. Looking at all the young locals crowding the boats and having fun, I couldn´t help think: Are there any regulations on boating in San Pedro? Do you need a life jacket for anyone on board?

This was probably a reflex from the overly regulated foreign conditioning I have submitted been to over the years. Luckily, the coast guards controlling the arrival of the Virgin were not as concerned as I was. Time for me to relax more. VIva España!

Jábega in San Pedro Alcantara

Local boat in San Pedro Alcantara

Music video brings hope to Laude

Check out the latest lip dub video made by the students of Laude San Pedro. This is a great initiative from a school which has needed much positive PR in the last few years.

It transmits renewed optimism and should help create a more positive environment around its institution. It will also boost students’ involvement and pride in their school. Hopefully, all this will be accompanied with plans to strengthen academic standards in Secondary.

Too bad that this new impulse is happening under the leadership of headmistress, Mrs. Flaxman, who is scheduled to leave the school at the end of the year. Let’s hope the new headmaster will build up on this emerging platform, and that the school will not revert to its favorite trend: “one step forward, two steps backward”. Credibility is at stake.

For those not familiar with lip dub videos, it is a recent phenomenon that has culminated in various challenges among high schools in the US. One of the best was created by Shorewood High School

The tunnel of San Pedro is taking shape

After many months of preparatory work, the new tunnel of San Pedro Alcantara is starting to emerge. Here are some recent pictures of the entrance to the tunnel and the overpass at the Ronda roundabout. Construction is scheduled to be finished in nine months.

Entrance to San Pedro tunnel

Entrance to San Pedro tunnel

Overpass at Ronda roundabout

San Pedro takes on the birds

Marbella city hall has decided to take on the pigeons crowding San Pedro Alcantara´s church square. The objective is to limit the damages created by the birds´ excrement to the XVII century church.

At a cost of 5,000 euros, the city will install a series of devices to modify the birds´ habits and nesting practices, while preserving the colonial style of the structure. This system has already been used on other buildings and religious temples like the Sevilla cathedral, Barcelona city hall, Palma de Mallorca airport and the Cádiz fine art museum.

Source in Spanish: Sur

Question: Where will the birds (and their dirty deeds) move to?