Spain has the highest March unemployment level in the European Union!

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union has today published the seasonally adjusted unemployment figures for the month of March for the Euro Area 17 countries and the European Union 27 as a whole.

For the EA 17 countries the figure is 9.9% and for the EU 27 it is 9.5%.

In the case of Spain the figure is 20.7%. This is the highest rate of unemployment in the EU 27 countries. Compared with March 2010 this is an increase of 1.1% over the year on year figures. When looking at the last three months there has been an increase of 0.1% for each month eliminating the reductions seen in the last two months of 2010.

Whilst these figures are alarming they pale a little compared with those for the under 25 year old´s, in Spain where we see a staggering level of 44.6%, the highest level in the EU27. This is a 4.2% increase in the year and includes an upward movement of 0.3% per month over the last three months. For the EU27 we see an average of 20.7% which is a decrease of 0.4%.

For men we see an increase from 19.4% in March 2010 to a current figure of 20.1%, whilst for women the figures are 19.7% to 21.5%. For the EU27 we see the opposite situation with a decrease for men from 9.8% to 9.4% and for women a slight increase from 9.5% to 9.6%.

What effect will the release of these figures have on the way the Spanish electorate votes in the local elections on the 22^nd May?

Will the PSOE party be punished in the ballot box for these figures?

Eurostat

Higher levels of social activity decrease the risk of cognitive decline

If you want to keep your brain healthy, it turns out that visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for you as crossword puzzles. According to new research, frequent social activity may help to prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age.

Read more details about the research and results in ScienceDaily:

Lost Friends found each other through my Weblog

I wrote in an earlier article that as the author of a weblog there is a degree of anticipation waiting to be notified of any comment to a post. When the notification arrives there is an element of satisfaction, joy, elation and trepidation.

I was totally surprised on the 17th April 2011 to be notified of the following comment that had been posted to my article entitled Louise Clarke, "Please don´t compromise your talent and your reputation" which included a letter written by Sarah Hill, a UK Expat resident in the Orihuela Costa area of the Costa Blanca, Spain.

“Hi, I am emailing from Sydney Australia. My partner George and I were very good friends with Sarah and Dave and colleagues in the UK for many years. We came across your blog by accident and would love to be put in contact with them again. Trish Rymer and George Davidson”

It was fortunate that I knew how to contact Sarah Hill and suggested she read the comment from Australia. At the same time I posted a reply comment on the article.

“Trish: I have been in touch with Sarah by email, I will not give the address here for obvious security reasons as the world can read this, and she said, "Elliot this is fantastic. I have tried everywhere to find them". Next step is to get you all in contact. Keep watching this space.”

Later the same day a message was posted by Sarah Hill.

“Hi Trish and George. You can find me on Facebook as Sarah Hill and also on Orihuela Costa PSOE website. Dave and I are well and very involved in things on the Costa Blanca. If this doesn’t work leave a comment and I will put our email address on here.
Lots of love Sarah and Dave xxx”

Sarah & Dave Hill

 They and I waited for a reply contact, but after almost two days nothing.

Knowing from what she had told me I knew Sarah had not been able to locate her lost friend so I decided to carry out a little investigation to see if I could.

Finding the contact details for the most probable candidate for being Trish from Sydney, Australia I sent the following email.

"Dear Patricia,
Are you the Trish that left the following comment on my weblog?
“Hi, I am emailing from Sydney Australia. My partner George and I were very good friends with Sarah and Dave and colleagues in the UK for many years. We came across your blog by accident and would love to be put in contact with them again. Trish Rymer and George Davidson”
If you are, read the comment from Sarah on the article http://elliotsampford.blogspot.com/2011/03/louise-clarke-please-dont-compromise.html where you left your comment. Or reply to me and I will forward your email to Sarah".

I received the reply I was hoping for.

“Hello Elliot,
Thank you. ….(modesty and embarrassment requires that I omit this bit).................... . We have read Sarah and Dave's reply and George and I are very grateful for acting as our intermediaries.
It was also very clever of you to find me by email. Our home email address is …................. could you please pass both my email addresses to Sarah and Dave. Once again, thank you.
Best wishes from Trish and George”.

Trish also posted another comment on the weblog article.

“Hello Elliot and Sarah,
how wonderful to be back in touch. George and I are really excited to be able to make contact again, after all this time. Elliot thank you very much for this. I will respond to your email now and provide our home email address. Trish” 
 
With my role completed I sent them all an email with each other´s email addresses with the subject title of,

Sarah, Dave, Trish and George – Get chatting !!!!

Having been good friends and work colleagues for over 20 years, they lost contact following Trish and George´s move to Australia in 2006 and Sarah and Dave´s move in 2007 to here in Orihuela, Spain, and email addresses were mislaid in the moves. Sarah told me “Since then I have been trying to find ways of finding them”. Well the lost friends found each through my Weblog and are busy chatting and catching up on all each other´s news. Trish told me, “Sarah and I have emailed each other now. It is just wonderful. So many thanks to you”, and Sarah has added, “Your blog has been fantastic. Thank you so much”.

I'm pleased to know that my weblog containing my ramblings and rants and a little bit of being a super sleuth have brought them together again, with the result of four happy friends!

Orihuela Town Council uses my photographs in propaganda video without permission!

On the 13th April 2011 the Orihuela Town Council via Viva TV published a propaganda video for the governing Partido Popular party entitled ´Orihuela Town Hall Environment´ on to YouTube. Not a surprising move at this time with the local elections due soon on the 22nd May 2011. Perhaps it is actually just a coincidence!

Imagine my complete surprise when I viewed the video to find that it included three photographs that I had taken and therefore have the copyright over them. They have been used in the context of the Town Hall assisting residents in cleaning up their local environment and appear between 11:30 and 11:50 minutes of the run time of the video.

I object to this use of my photographs in this way for two reasons; firstly that the use of them is without my permission and therefore infringes upon my copyright; secondly that they are of the ´Clean up the Costa´campaign which was coordinated by the Los Verdes (Green) Opposition party, not an initiative by the PP governing party within the Town Hall as stated in the video. As an aside point the campaign was run as a result of an idea I put to the Los Verdes party.

I sent the following email to Viva TV:

I have just watched your video by Simon Baldock for the Orihuela Town Hall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJzaHLr5Hk in which you have used three photographs as attached here which I believe I have the copyright of as the photographer. I’m sure you will correct me if I am wrong, but I would have thought you should have asked my permission, or given an acknowledgement to myself as the originator. They were taken as part of the Los Verdes ‘Clean up the Costa’ campaign, not as part of an initiative by the Town Hall, so your inclusion of them in the video I believe is misleading.
I would appreciate your comments on this. I have added a comment to your video.

And received the following reply from Richard Hayward of Viva TV:

Hi Elliot,
The photographs were supplied to me with the understanding that permissions had been given. If the photographs are, as you say, it is indeed misleading and I will take action on this as soon as possible. Thank you for pointing this out to me.
Kind regards

In order to assist to clarify my claim about the photographs I replied:

Thank you for your reply.
Perhaps the following information will help to clarify my ownership.
The photographs were taken between 11:11 and 11:31 am on the 12th November 2008 on my Kodak Easyshare M763 digital camera and the location was the underpass on the N332 at Cabo Roig. I can supply details of 32 photographs taken that morning. You could cheek with the Los Verdes Councillors in Orihuela about the 'Clean up the Costa' campaign, as I no longer have any connection with the party.




As at the time of posting this article I am still awaiting to see some action from Viva TV the producers of the video, as it is still published on YouTube in its original format and length of 14:41 minutes. I would have thought that it would have been easily possible to have removed it from public view on the website as a temporary measure until a solution to this matter is resolved.

The solution that I require, and will continue to strive for, to satisfy my first objection is that none of my photographs are used within this video. I do not want to be associated in any way with this Partido Popular electioneering propaganda tale of fiction.

In the case of my second objection I will leave it up to the Los Verdes party to challenge the misrepresentaion of their ´Clean up the Costa´ campaign as they see fit.

Edit 25.04.11:
I have today sent the following email to Viva TV:
Further to my previous reply I would like to direct you to an article entitled ´More success for Los Verdes Grand Clean up Campaign´. which appeared in the Round Town News on the 21st November 2008. This I believe further supports my points raised about the use of my photographs and the context they were used in. The photograph used in the article, and others, were supplied by me to the paper for use in this article only.
I request that as the production company you delete any use of my photographs in the video as I have not given permission for their use.
I am very interested to hear what the response is from the the Mayor´s press officer in Orihuela Costa when you discuss this matter with her. 

It is interesting to note that the writer of the article in the Round Town News, from a Los Verdes press release, and the current Mayor´s press officer is one and the same person.

Edit 26.04.11 :
Today I received the following email from Viva TV.

Hi Elliot
I now have no doubt that the photographs are indeed yours, I apologise for their misuse and any embarrassment that this may have caused you and I am taking immediate action to replace them in the programme.
Kind regards
Richard Haywood

Now that´s what I call a success, thank you Viva TV. But the point remains that the Town Council´s representative supplied the company with material that they had no right to use to mislead the public!

'Alternative vote' electoral system could lock out extremist candidates, UK researcher says

Moving to an alternative vote (AV) electoral system could lock extremist candidates out of office and ensue that the least popular politician has the least chance of winning according to an analysis by University of Warwick researcher Professor Dennis Leech. He says: "AV would undoubtedly be an improvement on First Past The Post (FPTP) -- which is just about the worst election method ever devised, because it does not require that the winner gain a majority.

Read more on ScienceDaily:-
'Alternative vote' electoral system could lock out extremist candidates, UK researcher says

Partido Popular Mayoress in Orihuela Municipality says; "ignore these type of people they are not worth bothering with".

Let me first explain that the Mayoress in question is Gill Reynolds, the wife of the Partido Popular appointed, but not elected, quasi-Mayor of Entre Naranjas, a suburb of the Orihuela Municipality, and not Monica Lorente the PP Mayor and leader of the Orihuela Town Council. However it was Ms. Lorente who made the appointment, without any ballot of the residents of Entre Naranjas, of John Reynolds as quasi-Mayor in the manner of a favour.
 
In my previous article about the political status of the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch I added a comment on the 5th April which read: 'There is an interesting letter in this weeks CoastRider paper asking the question about the political status of the OCNW from a diferent view point. http://www.coastrider.net/lifestyle/letters/11879-letters-to-the-editor '. The author was Edith Wood of La Florida in Orihuela Costa. The letter had also been published in the Round Town News the previous week.

The Editor of the Orihuela Costa Vc Facebook page posted an article entitled ‘Letter to the RTN’ which opened with the wording of a letter in reply to that of Edith Wood.

(I would have normally just put the link to the page and relevant quotes, but because, as you will have noted from my previous weblog article, comments that I and others made on the OCVc Facebook page that were uncomplimentary to the PP party were deleted, I believe there might be a possibility of the ‘letter to the RTN’ post and comments being deleted from the page at some point. So I believe it is necessary to duplicate it here for the circumstances to be fully appreciated.)

The opening post was:-

I WAS incensed to read such an attack in the letters last week, about the Orihuela Costa Neighborhood Watch and the volunteer leader Chris Poole.
I have been actively involved for more than the past eight years with many organisations in Torrevieja and OC and although less active now I can assure the concerned person that there are no political leanings by the OCNW or the leader.
Any registered NGO in Spain wishing to achieve their objectives need to co-operate alongside the Ayuntamiento and ruling party: it’s a two way partnership, especially as they control the purse strings and policies. If invited any leader would be proud to re-present his organisation as a way of communicating requirements and shortcomings.
Opposition parties and their supporters need to stir it up, but the NGOs avoid confrontation preferring a more subtle approach to achieve objectives.  
John Kadwell  Los Balcones   

Gill Reynolds posted the first comment to this:

what a disgusting thing to do, how dare they attack someone like Chris Poole who has done so much to help everyone regardless of nationality, religion or politics, Chris...ignore these type of people they are not worth bothering with.

On reading the initial entry I posted the comment:

It is interesting that the link is included to the wording of the letter by John Kadwell in the RTN newspaper in  reply to a letter criticising the political status of the OCNW but no link appears to be included to the original letter. Perhaps that is because it does not seem to be on the RTN website, so here is a link to the same letter in the CoastRider http://www.coastrider.net/lifestyle/letters/11879-letters-to-the-editor so everyone knows what was said. It is also interesting that in an email I received from JK today he said “Did check with Chris before writing”.

This I followed with a further posting:

Gill Reynolds:- The questions being asked about the OCNW are about its political status and its relationship with the PP political party.
Your comment is definitely thought provoking!
So in order for me to more fully understand the context of your comment; I am wondering are you making it as an individual, or as the Mayoress to your husband John the PP appointed, unelected, Mayor of Entre Naranjos. Appointed personally by Monica Lorente PP Mayor of Orihuela who, along with other PP party members, has been indicted for malpractice and corruption.
Perhaps you would care to define ‘these type of people’. Are they those that criticise the PP and anyone who has very close links to them? Are they those that criticise the OCNW? Am I one of those people as I asked questions in my article ‘Is Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch  a Non-Non-Political Group?’ on my weblog about the political status of OCVC?

I was not expecting the venomous reply comment from Gill Reynolds:

"you just don't understand do you?? there are some good people in this world however you can't grasp the fact that not everyone is like you, something must have happened in your past life (if you ever had one) to make you so bitter and twisted, I was always raised by my parents to think that if I couldn't find something good to say about people, then say nothing. As for my husband being an unelected Mayor, how many times in the UK were you asked to vote for who you wanted to be your Mayor? why would you think it would be different in Spain?"

Having laughed at the baseness of her reply I responded with:

Gill Reynolds:- Thank you for taking the time to construct your well thoughtful, meaningful, constructive and polite reply, although you didn’t clarify the questions I raised, it does justice to yourself.
I take it from your reply then you think of me as one of “these type of people they are not worth bothering with” in your advice to Chris; except that you bothered to reply in your fashion.
This is getting off the subject of the political status of the OCNW  but I’ll pick up on the question of your husband being an unelected Mayor and your opinion that the same applies in the UK. The Parish Council Chairman, the Town Mayor, and the County Council Chairman, that is the leader of the different levels of governing councils are all elected to their positions by their peers, who are themselves elected Councillors having been chosen through the ballot box in local, town and county democratic elections. So yes my vote in local elections has counted towards the selection of Mayor. I’m not aware that your husband’s appointment was made on a similar basis. It was made as a favour by Monica Lorente.
Finally I would thank you for giving me the theme for a new article on my weblog.

Gill Reynolds made a further comment:

so in the UK the people elect who they want to represent them and they in turn choose a Mayor. In Spain the people elect who they want to represent them and they in turn choose a Mayor so your point is??? . My husband is one of 23 Mayors ELECTED by the town hall, how come he is the only one you target? perhaps because the Spanish wouldn't put up with your nonsense and your language skills are not sufficient. Anyway end of conversation as I will not have access to a computer for a while so no good replying.

My reply to her comment was:

Gill Reynolds: It is disappointing that you will not be able to read my reply but your absence is not sufficient reason for me not to reply as there are other readers of this Facebook page beside yourself.

The Mayor is the leader of the Town Council which is made up of Councillors who have been elected as a result of a local democratic election system. The so called ‘quasi-Mayors of the Pedanias within the Orihuela Municipality are usually members of the governing party, in this case the Partido Popular, who are personally appointed by the incumbent Mayor, Monica Lorente at this time, as a favour for work done for the party.  I am not aware that the Town Council Pleno or any subcommittees discussed or voted on the selection of the Pedania quasi-Mayors, so they weren’t elected. Please correct me if I am wrong on this by giving me a copy of the minutes of any meeting of the council which the vote was taken. Some of them may also be an elected Councillor but that is not a criteria to selection, neither is the requirement to have been on the party’s electoral list. It is an honoury appointment ‘without portfolio’.

I raised the question of your husband's appointment, and therefore yours as his quasi-Mayoress, as you have previously commented on this Facebook page “we have attended a lot of events, not all the photos are put on by John but as Mayor he should let people know what he is doing to promote Entre Naranjos”, in order to understand your initial comment on this article and the position you were coming from when making it. It is a pity you did not feel able to answer the original questions I put to you in my second comment on this article.

Your husband like all the Pedania quasi-Mayors were selected, by the PP party, not elected, by the citizens. I object to all the appointments of the quasi-Mayors as they are a result of nepotism by the governing party leadership and not through democracy.

I would like to suggest that any further comments on this theme would be better made on my weblog article. Adiós hasta entonces.

So what are the points that I’m making you may be asking.

Within the boundaries of the Orihuela Municipality there are hamets, suburbs and large urbanisations that are referred to as the Pedanias . In these the Mayor (Alcalde) of the Town Council will designate a headman (Mayor) to be the eyes, ears and voice of the government in the individual Pedania. The person nominated with this quasi-Mayor title is normally someone in the confidence or trust of the borough Mayor. It is normally given to a member of the governing political party of which the Town Council Mayor is leader. This would be someone who the leader of the party can trust to project the image of the party. It is a position ‘without portfolio’ as it carries with it no legal authority over the residents of the suburb. It is an appointment in which the residents were neither consulted or given the chance to vote on.

The urbanisation of Entre Naranjas, within the Orihuela Costa area of Orihuela, has such a quasi-Mayor, namely John Reynolds, with his wife by definition being the quasi-Mayoress. They are by default the Partido Popular party’s officially nominated representatives and spokespersons in their Pedania.

It was bearing this in mind that on reading Mrs Reynolds’ initial comment of “ignore these type of people they are not worth bothering with” that I sought to clarify two points. Firstly, if the view expressed was her personal view or that of the PP party whom she represents. Secondly what type of people were being referred to in her comment. Hence my second posting on the article where I asked the questions of her.

They were questions that required only a simple reply. Not the venomous attack against myself that she returned with. Is the quality of her response that which one would expect to receive from a governing political party representative? I think not!

Considering the fact that on the 22nd May 2011, only some 6 weeks away, the local council elections are to held, without doubt I think not!

Unless of course, if she was replying as the quasi-Mayoress, that it is the policy of the PP party to dismiss and not bother with “these type of people”, those who disagree with, or question, the party’s point of view and policies. And then if those same type of people ask probing questions then ignore the questions but reply with unsubstantiated personal attacks upon their character!

To the residents of the Orihuela Municipality, and in particular the residents of Orihuela Costa this would come as no shock really, because they have experienced this daily from the Partido Popular party for all the time it has been in government over the last 20 or more years. Its level of contempt towards the electorate, and degree of avoidance of answering questions knows no limits!

If the comments made by Gill Reynolds were her personal opinion, and possibly not that of the party, although I doubt it because the PP party will have educated her in their ways, then it raises the question in my mind as to her suitability for the position of quasi-Mayoress of Entre Naranjas.

I have also noted that despite being registered in his own right as a ‘Friend’ on the OCVc Facebook page, and therefore capable of adding a comment, quasi-Mayor John Reynolds has not made a comment to contradict anything I have said. It leads me to the assumption that he is in agreement with everything his wife, his quasi-Mayoress has said!

Which ever option is the reality it raises the question in my mind as to the quality of judgement of Monica Lorente, current leader of the PP, and her suitability as the future Mayor of Orihuela after the forthcoming elections. It was she who appointed the quasi-Mayor and consequent quasi-Mayoress to be the representatives of her party in Entre Naranjas and project the attitude, policy and opinions of the Partido Popular party to the citizens.

An attitude of “ignore these type of people they are not worth bothering with”, and an opinion that the correct way to answer polite and probing questions is to say "you just don't understand do you?? there are some good people in this world however you can't grasp the fact that not everyone is like you, something must have happened in your past life (if you ever had one) to make you so bitter and twisted”.

New prostate cancer test gives more accurate diagnosis

A new PSA test to screen for prostate cancer more accurately identified men with prostate cancer -- particularly the aggressive form of the disease -- and substantially reduced false positives compared to the two currently available commercial PSA tests, according to new research. The currently available screening tests result in a high number of false positives and lead to unnecessary biopsies and possible over-detection and over-treatment of indolent cancer that never would have caused suffering or death.

Read more in ScienceDaily: New prostate cancer test gives more accurate diagnosis

Brave girl beats bureaucracy!

Any Expat in Spain who has attempted to beat the Spanish administration system should watch this! Funny but so true!

NotodoFilmFest.com / Home / Ficha / 29817

Launch of the 'YES to Fairer Votes' campaign

Spain's unemployed: one in five under 30 still looking for that first job

Another very interesting article in the Guardian series about Spain.

Spain's unemployed: one in five under 30 still looking for that first job | World news | The Guardian

Edit: 02.04.2011
Since first publishing this weblog there is another article on the matter of employment from the Guardian worth reading, in which it is suggested that Spains successful companies are committed to staying in the country, but are unlikely to generate many new jobs for Spanish workers as they expand overseas.

Spain's success abroad fails to create jobs at home