100th Blog today Yes it’s my one hundredth blog today after just starting to blog on the 19th September 2011 just 8 months ago.  I started without a clue how to do blogging or designing a blog, without any programing knowledge of any kind and without any ideas what I was going to write.  NOW I  know what to write and how to blog so it can only get better.
I have kept it going producing the blog, producing videos, adding photographs etc without any monitory gain. It has been a long learning curve and a lot of travelling to record the videos for the blog, but it was worth it. Heres to the next 100 blogs.

How about the viewers over 5000 I am told by Google. What would you like to say preferably about Spain. Any ideas or suggestions. Would you like to write something for the blog. I can’t pay you but will acknowledge your name if you wish.

Coming soon will be a video on Granada which I have been told is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The caves at Busot, The colourful towns of Javea,  Altea and Denia.

The waterfalls at Algar, more fiestas, more Spanish people and interviews from ex pats staying in Spain and the latest interesting news from Spain.
So keep on looking me up and register if you want me to let you know when a new blog has been added to the site.

On a finishing note 52 students from my Spanish language school here in Crevillent go to Glasgow for a four-day visit. Not many of them can speak English, none of them speak Glasweigian. Good luck to them all and have a great time.

My NEW introduction to Harry in Spain videos.

See you soon

Harry

My free e-book with lots of information on holidaying in Spain and moving to Spain to reside.  (please e-mail me for your free copy)  harry@perspective-espana.com

Just back from Scotland and as I mentioned in the previous blog we very surprised about how prices have shot up for eating out in the UK.  But delighted the prices here in Spain although have risen, they have still a long way to catch up with the UK.
Here is an example. We were out with friends to the Nanking Chinese restaurant in Guadamar which serves up delicious Chines food. We had a three course meal each and drinks and coffee for 7.50€ each ( that’s about £6.20)  The choice was excellent and you could choose a bottle of wine with two meals free. Just look at the size of those prawns. This dish was a special with fried chicken, beef and prawns on the one plate.

We had a great night there and we met a few of our neighbours at the restaurant.
We have been before and we will certainley go back again. 10 out of ten for food and prices. The retaurant was very busy and it was out of season as well.

Well the clocks went forward last night and the nights will be longer now. It just got dark at 9pm and with a beautiful skyline. The summer is definitely coming and even in the UK the weather has been good. The bird of paradise flowers are now blooming and everyone is looking forward to a nice summer.  I am sure we will not be disappointed, especially here in Spain. I hope you all had a nice weekend.

Crevillente – Spain’s Leading Carpet Town

A town and municipality in the Alicante province of Spain, Crevillente is well known for the production of carpets and esparto grass mats, the town has a population of around 26,000 (2003) and a municipal area of 103.30 square kilometres. Located to the west of Elche (the city of palms), Crevillente is sandwiched between the El Hondo Nature Reserve and the Sierra de Crevillente mountains.
These days a busy industrial town, Crevillente was settled as long ago as the Paleolithic Era. Later settlements by the Iberians were further extended and improved by the Romans, when they arrived in Spain. During the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsular, the town was known as Qirbilyan, and the occupying Moors improved the irrigation of the area using techniques brought from the deserts of North Africa, enabling crops to be grown and formerly unusable land to be cultivated.
Reconquered by the Christian forces of Jaime I in 1244, Crevillente was subject to numerous skirmishes and exchanges over its control. Many of its former Muslim occupants, stayed on in the town after the reconquest until they were finally expelled in 1609, resulting in a serious decline in the town’s population.
The carpet industry began in the 18th century, early carpets were made from esparto grass and called Spanish Carpets, many of these were exported for use abroad, even from these early days.

Though it is mostly a modern industrial town, Crevillente still has old sections, with narrow winding streets, some with flat-roofed buildings dating from the times of the Moors, also worth a look in the town is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) and the Nuestra Señora de Belen church.

Close to Crevillente you will find the El Hondo nature reserve and reservoir, an important wetland area which is used by a variety of migratory birds, among the species that can be seen are flamingos and imperial herons. In the waters you may find carp, eel, mosquitofish, toothcarp and grey mullet. Apart from carpets, the area produces almonds, olives and citrus fruit.
Crevillente (Crevillent) is located on the N-340 near to the A-7 motorway, it is about 25 kilometres from Alicante.

Brrrr . Remember I said it was cold, I was right it was the coldest February since 1956 and the third coldest since records began. Guess what? it was the same circumstances, the wind came from Siberia bringing very cold temperatures. It normally is not that cold in Spain but it can be colder than some people think. Thankfully the winter is nearly over here (what winter?) and the temperatures will go high soon. In fact it is to be sunny with 22 degrees this weekend not bad for the 2nd of March.
This Picture was taken at 10-30am this morning 2nd March 2012.

We were in Ireland last weekend ( to have a break from the sun) for 5 days visiting my youngest granddaughter and her mum and dad of course. She is 14 months old and we were amazed how much she has grown. She walks, talks and runs if there is something she wants.   By the way she has lots of teeth and you do not want to put your fingers in her mouth as Margaret will tell you.  Why should you try to steal her treat even though it was a piece of paper, naughty Margaret ha ha. She even telephones her mum to tell her she has done the house work, clever girl.
It was a short five day stay and it went in very quickly. It was a joy to have spent some time with Holly and we will hopefully see her again shortly. It is a strange world, my mother was Irish and now I have an Irish granddaughter. I can’t wait till she talks in sentences with an Irish accent plus a bit of Scottish as well.

I was taken to a Gaelic football match and saw MJ, Holly’s dad play. He has been one of the top goalscorers in Ireland for the last few years. Boy is this game fast and physical. There was a few casualties that night and it was a friendly match. You have got to be fit for this game. Michael eats and sleeps pasta. I have never seen anyone eat so much pasta. I suppose it gives him the much-needed energy his body requires.

Now back in Spain and catching up with my e-mails and waiting for the new iPad 3 being released next week.  Thank you Michael, Nicola and Holly for such a wonderful 5 days and thanks to Michael’s family for making us so welcome when we visited them.

Hast Luego

We have been in Spain for 9 years now and  I thought I had learned all about the country I lived in, but surprise surprise, I knew very little about Spain. Yes I knew it was sunny nearly all the year round and it was a very large country, it is the second largest  country in Europe and the second largest tourist destination in the world. The Spanish are very nice people who love their manana, paela. vino and the laid back life they lead.

You would have thought I knew a lot more than this, so I started looking for information about Spain and here is just some of the items I discovered. I hope you to can learn a little more about Spain.

Madrid is Spain’s largest city by far, with three million people in the city and another two million in the surrounding urban area (2003). This center of art, culture, nightlife, government and commerce is home to a remarkable variety of people and institutions.
Even with its sprawling size, Madrid is a fine place to visit or study. The city center is easily navigable, very dense, and always bustling. Students need never stray too far beyond the city’s dense center to have a rich and exciting experience in Madrid.
Be warned that Madrid does feel like a big city, complete with all of the traffic and social problems that accompany three million people. Crime, congestion, long trips on the subway, and rude cab drivers are all par for the course. If you want a tame and comfortable experience, avoid Madrid.

What about the rest of Spain?

Official name: The Kingdom of Spain
Capital of Spain: Madrid
Top 3 Largest cities in Spain: Madrid 5.9 million inhabitants, Barcelona 5.3 million inhabitants, Valencia 1.6 million inhabitants.
Population size: 44,7 million in 2006.
Density: 88,39 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Size: 506,000M square meters (Spain is the second largest country in Europe after France).
Mean Altitude: 600 m. (which makes Spain the second highest country in Europe after Switzerland).
Highest Point: Pico de Teide in Tenerife 3,719 m.
Tourism: Over 52 million tourists visit Spain each year, Spain is in the top 3 most visited countries in the world.
Foreigners Living in Spain: officially there were 3.7 million foreign residents in 2005. Independent organisations such as Red Cross put the number at 4.8 million.
Political Structure: Parliamentary monarchy (since 1978).
Regions: Spain is made up of 17 autonomous regions.
Time zone: +1 GMT except Canary Islands +2 GMT.
Currency: The introduction of the Euro in 2002 replaced the former Spanish Peseta.
Economy size: eighth largest economy worldwide with a Gross Domestic Product just over 1 trillion euros.
Labor force: approximately 20 million.
Gross Domestic Product per Capita: €27,767 per year, 25th on world ranking
Religion: approximately 90% of the population are Catholic and there is freedom of religion in Spain.
Measures: Weight measured in kilograms, distances measured by the metric system, temperature measured in degrees Celsius.
Spanish Gastronomy: typical for Spain is its Paella read more about Spain’s Gastronomy in our Spanish Food section.
History: to read extensively about the history of Spain please see the section history of Spain
Electricity: 220volts.
Emergency numbers: They are all toll-free. General emergency services 112. Ambulance 061. Fire service 080. National police 091 (this number is used when there is serious trouble). Municipal police 092. Civil guard 062.
Telephone country code: (00)34
Opening hours: in most of Spain the siesta is honoured, but the hours differ between regions. Stores open around 9am and close around one for the siesta, stores then open again around 5pm. More to the south the the stores open later and therefore the siesta starts around half past 2pm.
Opening hours banks: In general banks are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm and on Saturday until 1pm.
Public transportation: Taking the bus is by far the cheapest way of transportation. You can get a city bus ride for only €0,95 and if you buy a card where you can buy prepaid rides for they are only €0,59. Taking the bus from city to city is far cheaper than travelling by train, e.g., the bus ride of 6 hours from Malaga to Madrid is approximately 20 euros while a train can cost up to an astonishing 150 euros. Taxi’s are reasonably priced; a 5 minute city ride costs around 3 euro.
Tipping: Spanish people aren’t used to big tips, you can just leave a few coins and they are already more than happy with you.
Language: Spanish (Catalan, Valencian, Gallego, Euskera are independent languages spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia and The Basque Country).

Spain – Largest Cities

Next time we will find out more about places to visit, the citizens of Spain and why so many tourists visit Spain. It is a beautiful country and worth finding out more.