Issue no. 77 1st of July 2013 Bienvenido a todos and welcome to the July edition. Weather beautiful at the moment but expected to be much warmer next week. There were two minor earthquakes locally but no one was hurt and there was no damage. The government will receive around two billion euros from the EU over the next few years to help try and reduce youth unemployment, which now stands at around 57%. One can only hope that the money will be allocated wisely without the politicians, unions and bureaucrats dipping into it. The government also plans to save some 37.7 billion euros over the next three years under its restructuring of public administrations. ‘This includes the mergers and elimination of 57 public bodies and organizations,’ said Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. Although this is a great idea, getting the regions to cooperate with Madrid and with one another is unlikely, as they all like to have their own little empires. The Catalans are being encouraged to close their ‘embassies’ abroad - which they have no intention of doing - and the Basque Country will not even study some of the proposals relating to the closure of duplicated functions in their region. Failure to follow the cost-cutting recommendations will mean that Spain will remain moribund due to expensive duplication in the regions. Looking at some dates: July 16th is a Fiesta Day in Torrevieja and the 17th and 19th are Fiesta Days in Orihuela. Most shops remain open on these dates. The next National ‘Red-Day’ is not until August 15, Asuncion de Maria. And speaking of dates, do you know that Monica Lewinsky turns 40 on July 23 this year! Can you believe it? They grow up so fast don’t they? It seems like only yesterday that she was crawling around the White House on her hands and knees, putting everything in her mouth. Many expat’s will be disappointed to hear that Amazon.co.uk will no longer deliver post-free to Spain. This is a shame as Amazon.es is still in its infancy with very few products and little for the expat. Something for everyone in this issue, although I had to drop the history article this month. Sorry to those who told me they enjoy reading it. Belushi’s in Via Park V are donating a prize for the randomly selected correct answers to the quiz on page 11 and CK1 in Via Park III are including a bottle of wine with their special Fish & Chip for 2 meal, when the voucher on page 10 is used. Exceptional value! Also check out the Sunshine Sunset Cruises on page 9. I have been on one and they are great fun! See Bank Charges on page 8 & DH residents, see the street party invitation on page 22. There are also articles on the high-speed rail link, new traffic reg’s and a chance to read a free new e-book on page 17. One of the issues with the Dream Scene is the quality of the printed photos. Whereas they are excellent on the online copies, they look very poor in printed form. I have tried to improve the quality of these colour photos in the black & white copies but to no avail. The only solution would be to produce colour copies of the newsletter. But even as this is a non-profit publication - most of the ads cost just €5! - The production cost would be very high and would probably quadruple the advertising rates, which is unthinkable anytime but especially in a recession. But no more ads please, they are beginning to be almost unmanageable. But email me if you want a copy of any of the photos. Get well soon to Rik in Galadriel’s, who had a painful accident in the kitchen, and thanks also to Stefan for helping to deliver the Dream Scenes during the past two months. Believe me, it is very hard work in the hot weather. Have a great month and I hope we will see you all soon. Mick & Tid DREAM HILLS PLUMBING BATHROOM CONVERSIONS, MOVING OUTSIDE TAPS, REPAIRING FAULTY TAPS, CISTERNS, VALVES, WC’S ETC INSTALLING GARDEN WATERING SYSTEMS, SHOWERS, AND MUCH MORE! 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Now the Supreme Court has ruled that the announcing a significant easing of the naturalization process BBVA, NCG and Cajamar must stop this practice, and it is for Sephardic Jews, the Spanish government has yet to put estimated that clients could save about €1,000 a year. The the rules into practice, leaving many applicants for Association of Bank Users ADICAE, celebrated the news that citizenship frustrated. Since November, the Justice Ministry around 460,000 people in BBVA alone will no longer be has granted citizenship to 20 Sephardic Jews under the affected by the ‘ground clause’, however they have highlighted existing naturalization rules, with 2,900 Sephardic that the banks will not return the excess money taken to date. citizenship requests under review, most filed before the This is because the court said that if the decision was applied announcement. retroactively, it would cause “serious disturbances” to “public The president of the Union of Islamic Communities of economic order.” What they really mean is that there will be Spain, Riay Tatary, denounced the "exile" that "some more huge losses in the banks! The Supreme Court also municipalities" want to "punish" their places of worship by condemned the banks for their lack of transparency. Other establishing in their zoning plans the relocation of banks may now also remove the ‘ground clause’ and although neighbourhood mosques to "uninhabited areas like the government would like the banks to do so, they will leave industrial sites" or "the suburbs." it to the individual banks to decide. If you have a mortgage, The Spanish Government has ruled out the need for an it is worth checking with your bank. More pressure on them Independent Regulatory Watchdog to oversee the will work wonders. Remember, the banks will volunteer nada. Television Broadcasting Industry - a move which will make After I wrote the above, I came across a new court case in it one of the few European countries not to have one. Lack Bilbao which was resolved on June 24. Here a court ordered of funding has been blamed. This leaves the regulatory Novagalicia Bank to repay a couple €12,000 in respect of a control of the TV sector in the hands of the National Markets ‘ceiling clause’ in their mortgage since September 2006. They and Competition Commission, which also oversees the believe that forcing the bank to repay the money does not place Railways and Electrical sectors. Broadcasters are obliged it at ‘serious economic risk.’ to give 5% of their revenues towards subsidising the Spanish The Constitutional Court, Spain’s top legal body, has now film industry. been re-shuffled, its judicial panel which will produce an Lorenzo Alonso, President of the Spanish Confederation ideological shift from left to the right. The support of the of Bread Producers (CEOPAN) said it would be ‘an majority of the magistrates in this panel is essential to PM authentic absurdity’ if IVA on bread went up. He said that Rajoy in pushing through his policies relating to the labour Spain is already at bottom of the list in Europe for bread market and pension reforms, healthcare policy, Catalonia's consumption at 34 kilos a year per person.