The chit-chat area

After the strong winds here the other night, had 'Gemsat'  out to our dish.  Fixed the very next day with there usual excellent service.

Martin

Hi Happy Christmas  and all the best for the New Year to everyone from sunny Spain Irene Peter

Happy New year to all at Don Juan , message sent from a very rainy Spain!

Best wishes

Andy

 Hi All.

Just back from Don Juan. The Railway Road is in a terrible state of repair.

I spoke to a couple who are renting in Phase 3,who are moving out because of the damage thats being done to their car.

Is there any update on when the work might be started and finished on this road.

Many Thanks. 

Hi there,

If anyone rents their appartment I would appreciate any info on how well they rent and how do you get cleaners and keys to renters etc - we are thinking of trying to let our two bed appartment in phase 1 this year. Also does anyone long term rent - how is that going?

The road is still a problem - does anyone have any news of when it may be tarmaced?

Thanks for your help.

There has been works on the road over the weekend, not the much needed  'tarmac' but the holes have all been filled and a new surface of small stones as before.   I don't know who was doing the works, but it will keep us going for the time being.

Martin

Costa del Sol railway corridor on hold

The Junta de Andalucía has admitted that it cannot find financing for the planned new railway along the Costa del Sol from Nerja to Fuengirola.

El País reports that the Public Works and Development departments of the regional administration have been carrying out ‘complicated’ talks with private investors.

The project for a railway ‘corridor’ along the Costa del Sol was presented by the Junta seven years ago, but it seems the idea is no closer to finding the 4 billion € needed.

Hello

This message was last edited by srs on 15/02/2011.

Hi SRS

We don't have rental apartments in Spain but based on our experience back home Ilea kitchens are ideal. If it was me I'd get Gordon Trimby to fit them gordontrimby@yahoo.com he is a tidy worker and charges a fair price

Many thanks David,

I will contact Gordon but (I may be wrong) the work involved may be too much for Gordon to undertake himself in the timescale required.

Gordon has done work for me before and he is excellent.

Srs

Hi Srs

I would say Gordon as well. I am a builder myself, I would use him. If not another friend of mine is a local builder. I have pm'd you with his details. May be worth giving him a ring.

Hi SRS,

We put an Ikea kitchen including appliances into a bungalow we rent out. It is surprisingly good quality and cheap. There is an online design facility but I found it hard to use so just got the people in the store to do it. It is likely you could get your kitchens speced out before you go to Spain then take the design to Malaga where they will print out a picking list with everything you need. After you've picked it and paid for it they have a delivery service which you have to pay for but shoud be cheaper than hiring a van. They also have a fitting service which might be worth considering. I assembled all the units but needed someone with a bit more skill to hang them on the walls, fit the worktops etc.

They don't do full bathrooms though

Thanks Davmunster great information.

As I am inept on anything practical (but OK at re-arranging papers on a desk) I would find even this a challenge.  Maybe I should simply get someone like Gordon to do it for me.

I certainly like the idea of choosing what I want at Ikea as presumably they will have the same stuff at our local Ikea.

Thanks again

This message was last edited by srs on 16/02/2011.

Not only is the stuff the same the stores are actually all laid out the same way!

costa del sol
Local Costa trains to run more often from the summer
The doubling of the track means that trains between Malaga and Fuengirola will run every 20 minutes rather than 30
21.02.11 - 11:36 -

Residents and tourists will benefit from Costa trains running every 20 minutes. / Álvaro Cabrera
Since January 24th trains on the Cercanías C1 line between Malaga and Fuengirola have been able to use two parallel tracks along much of the route. The completion of the second track means that the frequency of the trains can be increased, something Renfe has been wanting to achieve for some time given the social and financial profitability of the Costa del Sol line.
It will be from this coming summer that trains will start to run every 20 minutes instead of every half hour. This would allow the 35 departures in each direction every day to be increased by almost 30 per cent, although the exact number of trains and the new earliest and latest departure times are still being studied.
It is expected that the last station to be inaugurated, at Terminal 3 of the airport, will benefit greatly from the increased frequency as this could make rail the principal form of transport between the city and the airport.
While the infrastructure is already in place, Renfe will spend the next few months planning the new improved service. The number of Civia trains used on the line will need to be increased and new drivers and other personnel taken on and trained.
The total journey time between Malaga and Fuengirola is currently 48 minutes. Sources claim this is likely to be reduced but only slightly.
The timetable modifications due this summer will constitute a landmark in the history of rail travel on the Costa del Sol. In fact it will be the first time that the train frequency has been increased since the C1 line opened in 1975; that is, the greatest improvement the service has seen in 36 years.
Long project
The new frequency is the result of improvements made by Renfe and Adif (the rail infrastructure administrator) over the last five years. In 2005 there was still just a single electrified track along the entire route which limited the service’s capacity and frequency. Works to construct a second track where possible started to get off the ground.
Now trains already use the two tracks between Malaga’s María Zambrano station and the airport, while more than half of the rest of the Costa del Sol line has been doubled. Of the total of 31 kilometres between Malaga and Fuengirola it has been possible to add an extra track along a maximum of 20 kilometres. Work is still under way on the stretch between the airport and the golf course although this will not affect the introduction of the new frequency. However it has been physically impossible to add an extra track along several smaller stretches between Torremolinos and Fuengirola due to urban development.

DEATH TODAY AT    'DON JUAN'

Due to the excessive  RAT poision  in Block 2 we lost a loved one today. 

 Hi strike date announced for the next few months in Spain  are .

It is likely the threatened strikes by Spanish airport workers will be called off...see news report:

www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/uk-spain-airports-idUSLNE72F04N20110316

51.3 billion € to be invested in the rail project
How the network should look in 2020 - Ministry for DevelopmentHow the network should look in 2020 - Ministry for Development

The Government has formally presented the new rail infrastructure project known as The Mediterranean Corridor.

The project will unite the port of Algeciras via a constant rail infrastructure with France, and comes with a budget of 51.3 billion €.

It will cross four autonomous communities along its 1,300km length, Cataluña, Valencia, Murcía and Andalucía, and is designed to increase the quota of goods taken on rail from the current four percent to 17%. The European gauge will be extended on the tracks between France and Germany as part of the project.

The project plans show new double European tracks laid from Algeciras, through Málaga, along the Eastern Costa del Sol to close to Motril and then along the coast to Almería. One track is intended for goods, the other for passengers. That southerly section of the project is not dated and is described as being under study.

José Blanco was joined by the regional presidents of Cataluña and Murcia, Artur Mas and Ramón Valcárcel at the presentation. Noting the tracks follow the coast, Blanco said, ‘This is the Spain we want, a Spain without kilometre zero, where everything is the centre and nothing periphery.

 I am looking to buy a new tv next time I come over, can anyone recommend a good place to buy one.

Thanks,

Jo