Abandoned Apartments Mountain - Sierra Apartamentos Abandonados - Photograph Gallery.

I thought I would try something different with my daily photographs: rather than have various subjects each day I will have a theme for this week.

Granada has its Sierra Nevada, Orihuela has its Sierra de Escalona whilst Orihuela Costa has its Sierra Apartamentos Abandonados.

The skeletons of the abandoned constructions are not included in the Tourist Information packages. I thought I might do my bit to show different aspects of them that might not be normally seen.
 

An extra photograph on Monday to set the scene, for a couple to come later.

Both the crane and the apartment block left unwanted.

Third floor vacant apartment available – needs modernisation – with excellent see-through view.
(Tercer piso apartamento vacante disponible; necesidades de modernización, con excelente vista ver a través.)

The start of a long climb to dizzy heights.

I'm sure I saw a notice on the ground floor 'Please use the stairs as the lifts are temporarily out of order'.

There can be some degree of 'Basic Beauty'.

This is the final photograph of my 'Sierra Apartamentos Abandonados' week. As you can see nature is battling to reclaim the natural environment – but greedy humans will win the war to destroy what's left of it!

Click on any of the photographs to enlarge them.

© Elliot Sampford.

Consequence or Coincidence – El Pulpo Arrives.

At 09:33 hrs. today I sent an email to the Orihuela Town Hall annex in Orihuela Costa with a link to the article – Orihuela Costa has many Landfill and Compost Heap Sites – THE STREETS! – that I had posted onto my weblog. I also sent a copy of the email to the two newspapers mentioned in my comment.

Is this a consequence – or is it a coincidence? The compost heap has gone. The result is pleasing whatever the cause; albeit probably a short lived absence of dumped rubbish left in the street.

At 17:10 hrs. today the Council Cleaning Service's hydraulic lift lorry (known as 'El Pulpo') arrived at the waste heap.

At 17:45 hrs. the lorry departed with a full skip.

From the difference between the before-photograph:

and the after-photograph:

you can see the area previously covered by the landfill as indicated by the dark damp patch now visible on the road surface.

© Elliot Sampford 2013

Orihuela Costa has many Landfill and Compost Heap Sites - THE STREETS!

The junction of Calle Ontario and Calle  Baikal Orihuela Costa.

The Orihuela Town Council continues with its policy of using the streets of Orihuela Costa as Landfill and Compost Heap sites.

The pile of rubbish in the photograph at the junction of Calle Ontario and Calle Baikal was first deposited at least three weeks and has continued to grow on a daily basis. This is not a unique problem to this location but one that is repeated throughout Orihuela Costa. I mention this mountain of garbage because it is directly in front of my house. One hundred metres further along C/ Ontario is another heap of an equal size.

This situation is allowed to develop and continue as a direct result of the incompetence of, and neglect by, the Town Council. The problem of the collection of dumped rubbish in the streets has been like a perennial festering wound which has failed to be cured by current and past government teams.

You can see in the photograph a container for the depositing of household rubbish, that is emptied every night, to the left of the waste. To the right a skip is visible that is meant for garden rubbish with the contents being collected twice a week. So nine times a week a Council refuse lorry stops and empties these bins, and the ones further along both streets. That’s at least twenty-nine times in the period the rubbish has been laying in the road. But, the landfill-compost monstrosities in the streets are ignored. An indication of the contempt the Council has for the householders of Orihuela Costa and the environment we live in.

The Mayor, Monserrate Guillén, – who was quick to criticise the ruling Council for the same problem when he was in opposition – and the Councillor for Orihuela Costa, Martina Scheurer, who are both members of the Green Party (Los Verdes) – the party that's supposed to care about the environment – should be ashamed of their failure to rectify the current appalling situation.

My Previous articles:
http://elliotsampford.blogspot.com.es/2010/10/dear-monica-streetfill-sites-update-2.html
http://elliotsampford.blogspot.com.es/2010/05/as-direct-result-of-failure-of-orihuela.html

Recent Newspaper articles:
http://www.theleader.info/494/article/41297/spain/costa-blanca/playing-the-green-waste-game/
http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/costa-blanca-south/item/117059-green-rubbish-hits-crisis-point-in-orihuela-costa

© Elliot Sampford 2013

Orihuela Council might be going to replace our missing street-name signs.

It could be good news; it seems likely that the Orihuela Council might be going to replace our missing street-name sign.

Following my previous article 'OrihuelaCosta's missing street-name signs' on this weblog, the publication of it in 'The Leader' newspaper, and reference to it in 'ThePost', it seems the influence of modern media and the local printed press has caused a reaction.

Today I received the following email from the Town Hall:

“Buenos días Sr. Sampford:

Para poder gestionar adecuadamente su petición de reposición de placas indentificativas de nombre de calle, le solicitamos nos haga llegar su petición a través de la ventanilla de registro, por medio de instancia registrada, a fin de que el Departamento competente realice las actuaciones necesarias para su resolución.

No obstante, reenvío copia del presente para conocimiento del Concejal de Infraestructuras, Pedro Mancebo.

Sin otro particular, reciba Vd. un cordial saludo.”

[My translation is:

Good morning Mr. Sampford:

In order to be able to act appropriately to your request for the replacement of street-name signs, we ask you to send us your request through the registration window, so your application is registered, in order that the responsible department will carry out the necessary actions for a resolution.

However, a copy of this is being forwarded to the Councillor for Infrastructure, Pedro Mancebo for his information.

Without further ado, yours sincerely.]

I wait with interest. Will a new sign be fitted to our royal blue pole, to give it back its purpose in life, or will they remove it instead? I ponder this question because of the comment Graham added to my initial article.

“we had 2 installed in Calle Leman. One blue post remains at the bottom of the street but no sign, the other blue post was removed by the Council 12 months,the hole filled in and the signpost has never been replaced.We therefore have no indication as to the location of Calle Leman which is the postal address for 5 communities off Calle Leman. I emailed the Town Hall and was, like you was advised that I had to visit the Town Hall to make an Official Denuncia in Spanish!! That was 6 months ago!! Still no action. Will have to make another visit and try again as emergency services are now having problems finding houses.”

What about the other streets with no names?

Has someone from each street got to travel to the magical window in the Orihuela Costa Town Hall?

Why can't the Town Council administration system accept emails as official documented requests and forward a copy of the email to the respective department? It's not too difficult to click on the forward button.

Why can't the Town Hall have a section on its website for residents to complete and register denuncias on-line? If I can think of the idea why hasn't one of the highly paid Councillors, or Councillor's Advisers, thought of and instigated such a system? Just a thought . . .

Why crisis management in Orihuela Council?

The three Councillors leading the parties making up the Orihuela Town Council tripartite government would appear to be well educated people. I believe one is a solicitor and the other two are teachers by profession.

So how come they don't seem to have the abilities to make their parties act as an effective government for the municipality, for the benefit of the inhabitants?

Why do they act as if their policies are based on crisis management rather than forward looking objective management, which would lead to a better future for their constituents?

They remind me of fairground dodgems going round and round in circles until they bump into something (problem) and then change to a new random, unplanned, direction.

Who is responsible?

Orihuela Costa's missing street-name signs.

Dotted around the streets of Orihuela Costa there are numerous two metre tall royal blue poles that have lost their purpose in life: standing alone, forlorn, ignored by passers-by.

Calle Leman

Sometime ago the Orihuela Town Council decided that the time had come when every road should finally have its name on display. The poles began to appear, in some instances in the most seemingly inappropriate, ludicrous, places, adorned with an oblong aluminium plate heralding for all to see the official name of the road in which they stand. Presumably in order to save costs the name plate was made of the thinnest aluminium sheet possible. It was attached to a small part of the circumference of the circular pole by two small screws: not the most secure method of fixing a flat surface to a curved one.

It was not long before the name plates in both our and the adjoining road became misshapen, bent in half, and then completely absent. This was either as a result of the strong winds; which could be seen to be violently shaking the thin plates; or drunken vandals, or both, tearing the plate off the pole; what a surprise! A scenario duplicated in many locations in Orihuela Costa. In two cases that I know of the pole has gone as well.

At the end of June 2012 I sent an email to two separate recipients, with a copy of the photograph at the top of the page attached, in the Town Hall offices requesting a replacement name plate. I wrote: 'Could you please make a request on my behalf for a replacement for the missing street name sign for 'Calle Ontario'. The blue pole is lonely on its own! '.

I received a reply informing me that in order for the Council to action my request I had to travel to the Town Hall to complete an official form, in person. As I was preparing for the start of our two month trip to the United Kingdom, I was not inclined to waste my time, and the expense of petrol for the car, to visit the offices in Orihuela Costa to complete, what I consider, an unnecessary duplicate request of my email. I thought a replacement sign would be of benefit to my neighbours, visitors, the community, delivery companies and helpful to the Council.

Calle Baikal

Several months on and still our blue pole is standing there without a purpose. So I've decided to see if the Orihuela Town Council will react again to a posting on my weblog.

If so, Sr. Alcaldesa, Mr Mayor, I have a question and a suggestion for you. Can the Council replace our missing street name sign? As the Urban Cleaning Services household refuse collection lorries travel throughout the area on a daily basis they would be an excellent source of information about the location of other missing signs and dis-functional poles.

[I wonder if any of the readers of this weblog living in Orihuela Costa know of any more examples and will send the location as a comment.]

By the by.

On the day that the two Council employees came and installed one of the signs for our road, we (my wife and I) were sitting in our lounge drinking our morning coffee when we suddenly heard the sound of drilling directly in front of our house. Opening the front door we could see the workers starting to drill a hole in the path directly in-line with our garden entrance gate. On enquiring we discovered that this was being drilled for the installation of one of the street-name poles. We pointed out to them that to site it there would seem a little inconsiderate as it made entry to our house through the gate a little inconvenient. It was pointed out to us that that was where their instructions indicated the sign must be. We eventually managed to get the 'Jobsworths' to agree to move it, all be it less than one half of a metre northwards further along the pavement; not directly in front of anyone's gateway.

Orihuela Town Council has almost cleared all the rubbish.

Following on from my previous postings; at approximately 08:50 am today 'el Pulpo', the Orihuela Council's hydraulic lift refuse lorry, arrived to collect the growing pile of dumped garden rubbish.

With its keeper precariously perched on the roof of the driving cabin – a possible 'Health and Safety' issue—to supervise its eating, like an elephant grazing, the long prehensile trunk lifted its breakfast into its cavernous stomach.

When 'el Pulpo' had been fed there was nothing left, the road was almost clear of rubbish.

The household rubbish skip has been emptied. The garden rubbish skip has been emptied. The loose, illegally dumped, garden rubbish has been collected. But however there is still the matter of the removal of the dumped building 'escombros', debris, shown in the photograph below.

The household waste collection service (two tone grey skip) and the garden rubbish service (metal skip) operatives won't remove it, because its not in the respective containers. The hydraulic lift garden rubbish service won't grab it. So who is going to remove it; the bin scavengers don't want it; is there another subdivision of the Council's cleaning services department? Or is it to stay there, overlooked, ignored as usual by the three main divisions as it isn't their responsibility?

It would be nice to see the road cleared of all dumped rubbish: even though it will almost certainly be back to square one, our very own landfill site, within a few days. Why? Because people don't care. They have dumped their rubbish somewhere, anywhere, so it's not their problem.

It is a continual problem that the Orihuela Town Council has to deal with and should by now be geared up to handle waste efficiently. But it has repeatedly shown that it falls short of providing a dependable urban cleaning service. It would seem that it is only residents' complaints that awake it from a comatose condition of complacent inefficiency.

Orihuela Town Council have reacted to my Weblog.

On Tuesday 16^th October 2012, two days ago, I added the article to this weblog entitled 'Orihuela Town Council fails to maintain a clean environment for its inhabitants'. I put a link to it on my Twitter and Facebook social media pages, and emailed the link to a few of my contacts.

Today I received the following email from the Orihuela Town Council:

“Buenos días Sr. Sampford:

Por medio del presente, habiendo tenido conocimiento de la situación en que se encuentra el punto de recogida de podas sito en la C/ Ontario, deseamos informarle de las actuaciones previstas por el servicio de Aseo Urbano de la Concejalía de Infraestructuras, Servicios y Mantenimiento para tratar de atajar la acumulación de podas/escombros/basura en la zona indicada.

En primer lugar y, como acción inmediata, se procederá esta misma tarde, salvo caso fortuito o fuerza mayor, al vaciado y retirada de la poda que pudiera estar depositada in situ, tanto en el suelo como en los contenedores habilitados a tal efecto; y, en segundo lugar, como medida de disuasión, se colocará en breve en dicho emplazamiento un cartel indicativo que informe de la prohibición de arrojar basura, podas y escombros en la vía pública.

Aprovechando este correo, le indicamos igualmente que el contenedor habilitado para la recogida de poda domiciliaria será vaciado los días establecidos al efecto según zonificación; lo que en su zona se traduce en Sábados / Lunes; no obstante, en caso de hallarse el mismo lleno, siempre pueden Vds. contactar con esta Dependencia para comunicar este extremo y requerir su vaciado.

Agradeciendo su colaboración, reciba nuestros cordiales saludos.

P.D.: Se adjunta folleto informativo sobre sistema de zonificación para la recogida de poda y enseres.”

To summarize the letter: it informs me that the Council are now aware of the problem of the large volume of uncollected rubbish, and the action that is to be taken by the Urban Cleaning Service department of the Council's Department of Infrastructure, Services and Maintenance to rectify the situation.

Their plan is that the rubbish, both that which has been dumped on the road and that in the skip, will be collected today - unless something else gets in the way. In addition, as a preventative deterrent, it is their intention, sometime in the future, mañana, to place a sign at this location informing the public that it is an illegal act to dump rubbish of any sort on public highways: what optimism on their part.

It is pleasing to have received a reaction from the Council on two counts. The most important is that the unsightly; unhygienic; pile of rubbish will be collected at long last and with possible action to alleviate future problems. The other is knowing that people read my weblog and that the content can cause a response, of some degree, where the subject is relevant to them.



Follow up article: Orihuela Town Council has almost cleared all the rubbish. 

Orihuela Town Council fails to maintain a clean environment for its inhabitants.

Just over one week ago I posted an article entitled 'Mr Stupid dumps his palm leaves' (I moved them for him) about the large mounds of rubbish left by the Orihuela Town Council in the road close to my house. The substantial pile of garden rubbish had been there for over one week before my observation.

Well it is now eleven days later; as can be seen in the photograph above, the quantity of rubbish has doubled and still the Council has done nothing to remove it. The metal skip is full and the surrounding pile is growing daily aided by householders and commercial gardeners.

Almost, every evening a Council refuse collection lorry empties the two tone grey plastic household waste skip (seen on the left in the photograph). Assuming that there exists a system whereby the driver of the nightly lorry can report problems of large quantities uncollected rubbish in the streets to his managers, it would not seem unreasonable to expect the problem to have been cleaned-up! But of course; I'm forgetting this is Spain and the Orihuela Town Council.

This is not a new situation. In October 2010, two years ago this week I wrote an open letter to Monica Lorente, the then Alcaldesa (Mayor), about the 'Orihuela Town Council's 'Streetfill' Site Policy' and followed it up with two updates . Two years later and the new tripartite Council lead by Monserrate Guillén, leader of the Los Verdes (Green) party, has continued with the previous government's policy of leaving the rubbish in the streets, to decompose, to save collection costs.

There have been many regular occasions when it has been necessary for me to send a photograph of a pile of uncollected rubbish to the council's technical department, asking for action to be taken to clear the road. A recent example is that on the 10^th July 2012 after the rubbish had been left for 10 days, just three months ago, the council was asked to clean-up the rubbish in the photograph below. It took them until the 28^th July 2012 to act, by which time the pile had grown.

There have been several articles recently in the local papers about similar examples of the problem my neighbours and myself experience as a direct result of the failure of the Orihuela Town Council to maintain a clean environment for its inhabitants. It shouldn't be necessary for residents to continually have to remind the Council of its responsibilities and its continuing failings!



Follow up article: Orihuela Town Council have reacted to my Weblog.
 

Mr. Stupid dumps his palm leaves.

The stupidity of some of the home owners living close to our house never ceases to amaze me.

This morning the council refuse collectors emptied the metal container (in the picture) for garden rubbish. They had considerable trouble getting the skip to their lorry, for attachment to the lifting and emptying hydraulics, because rubbish had been piled all around and on top of the bin. The space where the container was removed from amongst the rubbish can be seen.

After it had been emptied, the refuse disposal operatives; so much easier when they were called dustmen; decided to place the bin to the left of the remaining large pile of rubbish, rather than struggle to return it to where it came from. A logical conclusion it would seem.

Then this afternoon Mr. Home-owner came along dragging some palm leaves for disposal.

His logical action would have been to either put the prunings into the empty garden rubbish container or, as a less favourable option, to have put them onto the already present, large, easily seen, pile of uncollected garden refuse to the right of it.

That's too difficult a decision for Mr Moron. To save him walking any further than he already had; to save him exerting any more effort; Mr. Stupid dumped his palm leaves to the left of the skip.

Perhaps he wasn't so unthinking: perhaps he wanted to make his own statement of individuality!

Can CLARO supporters be cured by Therapy?

Both in the United Kingdom and in Spain recently there have been reports of Catholic religious clerics, and devout followers of the church's teaching, who believe, the nonsense theory, that homosexuals can be cured of their sexual orientations by therapy!

In Spain, although it is denied by the government in the pretence of being a secularist society, there is a very strong link between the Roman Catholic church's utterances and government policy.

A source, thought to be close to the Orihuela government, has let it be known, although I have not been able to verify the validity, that the Town Council is to take the principle of therapy as a cure for orientations that deviate from, what is considered as, the norm a step further.

At the next Pleno the governing tripartite team intend to present a motion to invest some money into the Orihuela Costa area. A sum of 250,000 Euros is to included in the budget for 2012 for the setting up of a new psychiatric clinic.

It is to be modelled on similar principles of rehabilitation clinics, such as The Priory and the Betty Ford Clinic, which deal with drug and alcohol dependency, and depression. However it's aims will be to re-educate United Kingdom Ex-pats who have shown, and continue to show, an unhealthy dependence on the political teachings of the CLARO party and its leading guru.

The government believes that such a dependency is both unhealthy for the individuals affected by it, but also for the remaining 'normal' majority of the residents of the town. With the exclusion of the party's guru from the governing team it is felt that its dependent supporters will develop an even stronger feeling of isolation, rejection, invisibility to the rest of the local society, and depression. This view is supported by research into the behaviour of members of other extreme sects throughout the western world.

The proposal is that in the first instance the therapy sessions will offered 'free of charge' to volunteers from the CLARO UK Ex-pat supporters group. In order to get the sessions running without any unnecessary delay initially they will be held at the Pizzeria Asturias Restaurant, Punta Prima, in Orihuela Costa. It is felt that those needing the therapy will find this less stressful as they will feel they are on home turf. At a later date a bespoke building will be rented until the epidemic has been defeated and the 'Norm' has been re-established.

Should insufficient numbers take up this offer of their own accord; the Town Council are also looking at proposals that attendance on a course of treatment will be made compulsory as a criteria for being included on the town's 'Padron' (Register of Residents). Only those UK Ex-pats holding the certificate issued on successful completion of the course of therapy will be included on the register, and subsequently on the electoral role. Those wishing to claim an exemption from the psychiatric re-education will have to provide proof of membership of a legitimate Spanish political party.

Various titles for the clinic will be discussed when the motion is presented to the Town Council but it is thought that the most obvious name for consideration will be the 'Pedro Mancebo Clinic', although the 'Bob Houliston Clinic' and the 'Together We Can Clinic' are in the running.

Don't blame the Partido Popular for Bob Houliston crossing the Council Chamber!

Councillor Bob Houliston

There has been a tremendous amount written in the last few months and weeks, including some by myself, about the relationship of CLARO Councillor, Bob Houliston with his former tripartite (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, Los Verdes and Centro Liberal Renovador) government colleagues and the Partido Popular opposition of the Orihuela Town Council.

Since his election as the first CLARO Councillor in May 2011 we have read of; his greedily accepted appointment as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents, independent of his CLR/CLARO election list coalition agreement; expulsion from the CLR/CLARO group on the Town Council; reduction of his duties as Councillor for the coastal area of the Orihuela municipal by the Mayor; his resignation as Councillor for the Coast; his threats to vote with the PP opposition in the Pleno (Town Council Meeting); his crossing, metaphorically, of the Council Chamber floor when during the Pleno on the 29^th March 2012 he voted with the opposition in a vote of no confidence against the Alcalde's (Mayor) decision to cease with the position of Councillor for the Coast.

His actions have put the future of the tripartite government in jeopardy. The electorate that voted for the parties of the coalition are, naturally, looking for someone or some group to lay the blame upon for the current situation and the uncertainty for the future of Orihuela.

Ultimately almost all the blame falls fairly and squarely upon the head of Bob Houliston. But there are others who must bear some of the resentment.

The next possible candidates could be the members, the electorate who voted for them, and the elected Councillors of the PP. However I don't blame them for Bob Houliston crossing the chamber. I accept the opportunistic strategy they have adopted in capitalising on the opening given to them on plate by him and others.

Those who created Councillor Bob Houliston must all share their portion of blame!

Having said this I don't think one should include his parents and family as they couldn't have known how their offspring would develop seventy plus years later.

The spotlight should shine on the following conspirators. All of them in varying degrees of complicity acted in a Frankensteinian manner and created the monster, a CLARO Councillor, that by natural selection would not have been brought to life. Having created him, like Dr Frankenstein with his version, the creators have lost control of their prodigy! It didn't surprise me.

Firstly the members and executive committee of the CLARO party who for the last six years, since the 2006 conception of the party, have allowed themselves to be fooled by the public relations deluge, a lot of it being economical with the truth, from Bob Houliston and his closest allies as to the future power and influence of the party lead by him. The levels of his egocentrism were amazing. Were the party members being naïve in their belief that Bob Houliston as a CLARO Councillor would be the panacea to all problems in Orihuela Costa?  Yes!

Secondly Clr. Pedro Mancebo, the leader, and his executive committee of the CLR party. Without them the possibility of life would not have existed for a CLARO Councillor, the monster would have remained lifeless. It would not have been born as there would not have been enough life force (votes) from CLARO supporters power base alone. Because of the CLR's own desire for extra political power (councillors) it entered into a bipartite coalition election group with CLARO in the hope of gaining a transfusion of their votes. By placing CLARO nominees low in the election list I believe they hoped for the votes but didn't really want a CLARO Councillor. They miscalculated and some of the power surge went the wrong way. It went from CLR to CLARO. The monster's heart received its life blood, it started to beat and it drew its first breath. They helped to create a creature that they later found they could not control.

Thirdly Councillor Monserrate Guillén, leader of the LV party, who is currently holding the position of Alcalde (Mayor). Having been appointed; or is it more accurate to say assumed by default as the lesser of three options ('evils' is too strong a word); as Mayor he gave an additional surge of power to Bob Houliston by appointing him Councillor for Orihuela Costa. This was done without consultation with, the life giving, CLR/CLARO group leader. This added fuel to what I believe are NPD (Narcissistic personality disorder) tendencies of BH. Having realised what he had done, the Alcalde has shown his green party credentials by recycling ('changing' to non-environmentalists) time and time again his decisions on the responsibilities of the Councillor for the Coast, in order to alter and reduce the power of this position, depending who was shouting loudest.

A megalomaniac has the desire for power and more power. Bertrand Russell in his interpretation of megalomania is reported as saying: "The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved” Little did those responsible, in particular Pedro Mancebo and Monserrate Guillén, for the current political situation in the Orihuela Town Council realise at the time (hindsight is an excellent quality) that they were creating the ideal scenario for Councillor Bob Houliston's desire.

With there being 25 Councillors in the Pleno, 12 for the tripartite government (PSOE 6, CLR 3, LV 3) and 12 for the PP opposition, he (BH) as the only independent (CLARO) Councillor would have all the power he desired with his deciding vote. He needed to isolate himself from the tripartite group so he resigned as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents. He expounded spurious reasons for this decision but none of them can hide what I believe was his real reason. I tend to favour Bertrand Russell's interpretation.

I don't blame the Partido Popular for Bob Houliston crossing the council chamber to support them when he wants to, to suit his needs. I think they are being used. He is cleverly seeking  to use the PP's own group narcissistic tendencies to his advantage to attain a personal ambition of political utopia for himself.

Entre Naranjos – For Sale!

The following is an article I have posted on to the 'No to censorship on Entre Naranjos and Facebook group' facebook page. Entre Naranjos is a urbanisation (housing estate) within the Orihuela Town Council area in Costa Blanca in Spain.

Has anyone else heard the news?

I understand that the Alcalde of Orihuela is putting forward a motion at the next Pleno that in order to save costs on the municipal budget that the Entre Naranjos urbanización is not to be 'Adopted' in the future, although it has been fostered for some time. It is to be put up for sale by auction.

Apparently following investigations by a subcommittee lead by the Concejal de Hacienda and including the Concejal de Urbanismo, the Concejal de Infrastructural y Services, and the Concejal Delegado de Pedanías, the conclusion has been reached that the urbanización will never be profitable for the Council. The costs to maintain it will exceed the tax revenue from the IBI collected from the property owners. It is not worth the hassle its residents create by wanting more and more luxury services.

It's reported that following the recent petition by a few of the more militant residents of Entre Naranjos demanding a local doctor's surgery the Alcalde was heard to exclaim “¡eso es el colmo!”

It is thought that discreet approaches have been made to both the San Miguel de Salinas and Los Montesinos Town Councils to accept Entre Naranjos as a gift. Both declined without any hesitation.

My source of information within the Ayuntamiento, Sra. Esperanza Anónimo, believes that an approach is possibly going to be made to the previous quasi-mayor of the urbanización, imposed unilaterally by the past Partido Popular government on the residents. As 'that person' allegedly acts as if 'that person' still has that position, enquiries are to be made to see if 'that person' wants to, and can afford to, buy it (Entre Naranjos). A preferential discount could be available to 'that person' as well as the added incentive of the compulsory purchase of all known PSOE supporter's properties on the urbanización by the Council prior to the completion of any sale. This would be a way to censor possible trouble makers towards 'that person'.

Perhaps the current quasi-mayor of the urbanización, this time around, imposed unilaterally by the PSOE element of the tripartite government of Orihuela on the residents, ought to be considered as a future owner. This would alleviate any compulsory purchase of properties.

This could push up the final sale price of Entre Naranjos which would help the Orihuela municipal budgets.

The future could be interesting amongst the oranges when the sale goes ahead.

(To the Editor: No names have been included so as to maintain anonymity and keep this non-personal, except for my source as she won't mind. Where used the term 'that person' could relate to either gender, to avoid this news item being censored for being sexist.)

Bob Houliston resigns postion as Councillor for the Coast

Councillor Bob Houliston

When I wrote my articles 'Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?' followed by 'Together we can! - Oh Really!' , and 'CRAPPOL party inauguration' I never thought I would be reporting on the resignation of Bob Houliston so soon.

Today Bob Houliston leader of the CLARO party resigned as Councillor for Orihuela Costa and as a member of the tripartite government team of the Orihuela Town Council.

His letter of resignation to the Mayor of Orihuela issued as a press release reads as follows:

“Dear Alcalde,
I regret to inform you of my decision to resign, as of today, from the municipal government of Orihuela and from my post as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents
My decision has been caused by the present near paralysis of an important sector of the administration of the coast resulting from the sudden and abrupt transfer to Orihuela on 23 January, 2012 of the Resident Engineer. With this transfer, I have lost the services of a competent and very experienced officer. I have also lost the only technical officer working on the coast, dedicated to the supervision of works and contracts and authorised to co-sign with me, work completion certificates and bills essential for the payment of invoices. For this reason, in the course of the past month since her transfer a number of invoices have not been authorised for payment. The legal, administrative and financial problems which this creates are already considerable. I am not prepared to take political responsibility for resolving problems which others have caused..
As you know, this situation is the latest in a series of incidents resulting from the systematic refusal of an element in the government to cooperate and coordinate their activities which concern the coast with me, the councillor geographically competent From the first day I have been aware of their opposition to me and to my having the means necessary to carry out my work for the coast. In the meeting of the councillors forming the majority on the council, the government group, held on on 16 July, 2011 of which I was not informed and to which I was not invited, the conclusions of the negotiations for the inclusion in the government of the Centro Liberal Renovador (CLR) party were presented. Needless to say, I was not informed either of these negotiations or consulted on aspects relating to my responsibilities.
Arriving at this meeting by chance, I was obliged to block a proposal to divide the responsibilites which you granted to me as councillor for the coast on my entry into the government and to share these responsibilities with another councillor. I also had to block a proposal to remove the post of personal advisor to help me with my work on the coast, a post which you had previously agreed to, on a full-time basis and which was subsequently reduced to a part-time basis at the insistence of Pedro Mancebo and the CLR party. Finally, at the same meeting I was obliged to object to the title of the responsibilities to be given to Pedro Mancebo as Councillor for the Coordination OF the Services of the Coast, considering that as councillor for the coast, I should be responsible for the coordination of my services. The title of Pedro Mancebo's responsiblities was changed to Councillor for the Coordination of Services WITH the Coast..
While the preposition in the title of Pedro Mancebo's competences was changed from “of” to “with” I am convinced that the intention behind his original proposal remained unchanged. To illustrate this belief, you will remember that I objected to the definition of his competences included in Decree 513 signed by you on 16 September, 2011 which gave him responsibility for approving (visto bueno) all proposed agreements, decisions (resoluciones), decrees and other documents relating to the work of the councillor for the coast. At the same time the Decree gave him responsibility for “optimising” all resources be they personnel, material, economic or budgetary of the municipal office of the Town Hall in Orihuela Costa.
These responsibilities created in effect the post of a “Controller” (Concejal Controlador) of the councillor for the coast. Regretably, despite my proposals aimed at seeking a consensus on the text, these responsibilities remained essentially unchaged in the modified Decree which you signed on 16 December, 2011 and which I was notified of on 6 February, 2012,
An example of the “optimisation” of the human resources of the coast can be seen in the decision taken by two CLR councillors and, I suppose, the Councillor for Coordinating Services with the coast, to transfer with 6 minutes notice for “organisational necessity” the Resident Engineer who had worked for 12 years on the coast. The officer in question was of such importance, given her responsibility for supervising contracts for basic services, the quality of the beaches and the budgetary procedures, the coast is suffering from her removal. The contract engineer who was appointed in December as a reinforcement, cannot be expected to fulfil all these functions. He does not have power of signature. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any serious effort to solve this problem or the more general problem of insufficient staff, by providing the coast with the appropriate number of qualified, permanent officials needed to look after the needs of 35% of the population of Orihuela, almost the same number as those living in Orihuela city.
I do not wish to go into the detail of all the incidents of non-cooperation and the placing of obstacles to the carrying out of my work which have been caused by the CLR element in the government over the past 7 months and which continue to this day, The consequences have been to divide and weaken the management of the coast against the interest of the people living on the coast and their democratically expressed wishes as to who should represent them.
This long and painful experience convinces me of the impossibility of carrying out my work in the interest of Orihuela Costa. I am therefore obliged to resign from my post as Councillor for the Coast and as a member of your government. I will, of course, continue as an elected member of the Corporation. to work for the interests of Orihuela Costa.
I should like to state that during the past 8 months, I have formed and will retain the highest appreciation of your personal and professional qualities and those of the majority of members of your government”.

This will mean that the town council is now split into two distinct armies; the tripartite governing team of the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR will now only have 12 Councillors, whilst the PP oposition party will have an equal number of Councillors; with Bob Houliston holding the balancing council seat bringing the total to 25. Monserrate Guillén Sáez as Mayor of Orihuela, and leader of the tripartite alliance will have a difficult time with getting legislation approved through the Town Council with Bob Houliston having the floating, deciding vote.

The alternative, feared by many who have experienced the previous government periods of the Partido Popular party in Orihuela, is that Bob Houliston will give his permanent allegiance to the PP in return for being giving total Councillor responsibility for the Orihuela Costa area. This would be the achievement, pinnacle, of his personal ambition for totalitarian control of the coastal region. What cost for power!

CRAPPOL party inauguration.

This morning at its first press conference the CRAPPOL party confirmed that it has been establish to make up the governing party of the Orihuela Town Council following the demise of the tripartite political group, made up of the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR/CLARO parties, because of the withdrawal of CLARO, and the resignation of the Mayor.

Monica Lorente the Chairman of the new party, and future Alcaldesa, emphasised in great depth that CRAPPOL is a single united party, and not a bipartite group, a marriage of the PP and CLARO. She went on to introduce her Deputy Chairman, Robert Houliston, paying him the compliment of making the point that in her opinion, as seen by his recent political strategic moves, he did not believe in honour within politics and therefore was the ideal choice to support her at this time, but who knows in the future.

She said “Her party did not agree with the previous administration's belief that the finances of the Orihuela Municipality were in a desperate situation, needing a minimal spending budget but continuing with the objective of a good quality of service to the residents of the municipality”. She continued: “One of my new party's policies, as I have done in my previous Mayoral stint, is to spend recklessly for the enjoyment of myself and my fellow PP Councillors and party members. The residents have no right to expect my government to spend their taxes on basic council services and investment for the future”.

When asked about the coastal region of the borough she said: “The only value it has to my government is to bring in lots of money via taxes. My party colleagues unanimously agree with me, or they are sacked, that the extranjero residents of the area are to be considered as enemies of our regime. They should stop complaining and be grateful that we let them live in their illegal, unfinished ghettos.”

Bob Houliston, after beseeching his domineering leader's permission to speak, said he was proud that he had been instrumental in the breakup of the inferior tripartite government. He felt no remorse for misleading those who voted for the CLR/CLARO in the May 2011 elections as it helped his personal power programme. He mentioned that he was hopeful that Monica would keep her word and, as a reward for his excellent backstabbing, give him totalitarian rule over the coastal area. If so it would be renamed as Boborihuela Costa.

Without allowing any questions from the assembled press, the meeting was brought to an abrupt end with the new Mayor indicating that her entourage had to leave for an expensive menú del dia meal paid for from Council funds. As they were leaving they could be heard signing 'a cappella' – “Money, money, money we just want your money”.

Believe it or believe it not!

Together we can! - Oh Really!

Photographed 07.02.2012

I suppose I shouldn't but each time I drive past the sign located next to the closed CLR/CLARO election campaign offices in Cabo Roig, Orihuela Costa, I find myself laughing.

It is the irony of the message, given to the electorate in the run up to the May 2011 elections and the current situation.

At the time of the birth of the CLR/CLARO coalition I expressed my opinion to Pedro Mancebo that I did not believe in it and that it would not be a long lasting partnership.

It was one of convenience, it was a contrived civil marriage, with the only common factor being that both party leaders would do anything to get elected. Certainly as individual parties their chances of obtaining a substantial increase in elected councillors was dubious. In the case of CLARO, they failed to get any Councillors in the 2007 elections and on their own 2011 would have seen the same result. Bob Houliston would not have got elected.

The first indications of a divorce began to show very shortly after the May 2011 elections when the fighting began in June, in the acrimonious war, sorry negotiations, for the allocation of responsibilities of Councillors amongst the three political groups who finally formed the current, insecure, tripartite government.

We have read the press release issued at the beginning of December 2011 by Pedro Mancebo, entitled “ The Municipal Group CLR-CLARO Expel Robert Houliston and Protect The Local Government” in which he confirmed: “the expulsion of Councillor Robert Houliston from the group in order to ensure the stability of the municipal government” along with the reasons behind the expulsion. Pedro went on to say “sadly Councillor Houliston has had a “go it alone policy“ from the beginning which would have been sufficient to agree his expulsion. He did not support his own municipal group, CLR-CLARO, in the negotiations with PSOE and LV to obtain the necessary competences and council departments within the government. He turned his back on them once he had secured his own position on the coast”.

As mentioned in my recent article the January issue of the CLARO Newsletter refers to the recent divorce between the CLR and CLARO: “the continuing differences within the government between the CLR party, our partner in the May election, and C.L.A.R.O. These differences which, for reasons of their perceived political advantage, have led our CLR partners over the past 5 months to seek to divide the management of the coast and to reduce the responsibilities or competences of the C.L.A.R.O Councillor for the Coast. The differences culminated in November in CLR attempts to divide the C.L.A.R.O party prior to our Annual General Meeting and their unilateral exclusion or expulsion of C.L.A.R.O from the joint government group in the council CLR-CLARO”.

It is obvious that current acrimony between the two parties is not a trial separation but a divorce and the decree nisi has been issued.

It's really not funny any more so let's hope the sign and its lie is removed without delay!

What if they cannot agree who is responsible for having it taken down. Will they leave it up and try a reconciliation in time for the 2015 elections or will Monica Lorente succeed as the temptress to Bob Houliston and get in between them for ever?

Ex PP Mayor says CLARO leader is an honourable man! - How time changes opinions when it suits!

Is it coincidence, or perhaps good forethought on my part, or just luck, that two days after I posted my article 'Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?' that the RTN newspaper publishes an article entitled 'Coastal Isolation' which begins “Former Mayor of Orihuela Monica Lorente, talking exclusively to RTN this week, said: “The coast is being politically isolated.” and written by Louise Clarke who was the personal press officer for Monica Lorente when she was Mayor.

In the article the Ex-Mayor said: “CLARO Councillor Bob Houliston is being ‘humoured’ by the Mayor. Bob is a good person and has the interests of the coast at heart but is being taken for a ride by the Mayor and his colleagues.” and added “Bob is an honourable man: he doesn’t deserve this.”

There seems to be a lot of back tracking from Ms Lorente in relation to her previous adverse comments about Bob Houliston and the CLARO party when she was Mayor.

I wonder if there isn't a degree of vengeance on the part of both the interviewee and the interviewer in the writing of this article as they both lost their positions of power when the Partido Popular party lead by Monica Lorente was removed from government by the current tripartite government.

By this attack on the government and feigned support of Bob Houliston, Monica Lorente, with the aid of her past press officer, I believe is looking to tempt Bob into a new bipartite agreement to bring down the current governing team and reinstate the PP to power in Orihuela and her as Mayor.

Edit: 31^st January 2012.

The CoastRider newspaper has today published an article written by Mireille Toddington entitled 'Bob and Mon in talks' in which I am paid the compliment of my weblog being mentioned.

Will CLARO partner the Partido Popular in Orihuela?

When the political parties in the Orihuela Town Council were trying to sort out a governing council following the May 2011 local elections, I made the following comment on Facebook and Twitter:

“A PP led bipartite government with CLR/CLARO in Orihuela isn't what the CLARO party supporters wanted, but will get if the CLR agree it”

followed by this comment a few days later:

“CLARO sold out to the CLR for power! Will their coalition sell out to the PP for more power? Is what I'm asking a joke, - think about it!”.

At the time there were those residents of Orihuela Costa who thought that my comments were ludicrous, as is their right.

The result of the long drawn out discussions and bargaining was that a tripartite government of the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR/CLARO political groups was agreed, not too amicably.

I read with great interest the following comments in the January 2012 C.L.A.R.O. Newsletter, especially the final paragraph in the extract:

“the continuing differences within the government between the CLR party, our partner in the May election, and C.L.A.R.O. These differences which, for reasons of their perceived political advantage, have led our CLR partners over the past 5 months to seek to divide the management of the coast and to reduce the responsibilities or competences of the C.L.A.R.O Councillor for the Coast. The differences culminated in November in CLR attempts to divide the C.L.A.R.O party prior to our Annual General Meeting and their unilateral exclusion or expulsion of C.L.A.R.O from the joint government group in the council CLR-CLARO. In the November AGM, C.L.A.R.O confirmed that despite its difficulties with CLR, we would continue to support the present government provided we got all means necessary, including finance and competences, to carry out our work on behalf of Orihuela Costa.

It was not surprising that in these circumstances, Monica Lorente, the leader of the Popular Party, the largest single party in the Orihuela Council, with 12 seats, one short of a majority, should have requested a meeting with the Councillor for the Coast, Bob Houliston. A meeting did take place in the Playa Flamenco office of the Town Hall on 28 December. The two leaders had a general conversation on questions of political interest in Orihuela and Orihuela Costa”.

Perhaps my comments in 2011 were not that far off of the possible future for the Orihuela Town Council. Is Bob Houliston, Leader of the CLARO party looking for more personal power by making a bipartite power partnership with the PP party in the Council? Will the current tripartite government survive? Will we see a new dynamic duo; Mon & Bob?

Edited  27th January 2012.
See follow-up article 'Ex PP Mayor says CLARO leader is an honourable man! - How time changes opinions when it suits!

The Two Desperate Women Failed.

“It seems to me that two desperate women, one for more power and one for more money, have made a pact, an alliance” were the opening words of the final sentence of my article entitled Opposition Parties Shocked by Mayor Lorente's New Press Officer Appointment in Orihuela Costa! which I published on this weblog on the 7^th December 2010, about the appointment of Louise Clarke as the personal press officer of Monica Lorente.

Ten months have passed and it is interesting to see how the two desperate women have faired with their liaison.

They both failed in their ambitions!

In the local elections in May of this year Monica Lorente failed to be re-elected as Mayor of Orihuela. She was desperate for four more years of power but she and her Partido Popular colleagues failed to get the number of votes necessary to get sufficient Councillors elected to hold a majority in the Council Chamber.

In December 2010 when I discussed with Louise Clarke her new appointment she said “My job is to get Monica Lorente more votes on the coast,..... I will be the voice of the PP within the Town Hall in Orihuela Costa”. It would seem by the election results in May 2011, She failed in her role, as Monica Lorente and the PP lost their power. When Louise left her previous employment with the local 'Round Town Newspaper' it was to benefit from a substantial increase in salary, for more money. As a result of the departure of Monica Lorente from the position of Mayor, Louise lost her very well paid employment as press officer. Her second failure.

Where are they now?

Well Monica Lorente is still a Councillor in Orihuela but leading the Opposition, not the Government.

Louise Clarke has now returned to her old job, presumably with a much lower salary than with the PP, being a reporter with the Round Town News newspaper. In a recent article in the paper she wrote “I am a great believer in fate and after having spent the first six months of this year at the Orihuela Costa Town Hall as Press Officer (and unofficial British Residents Officer) it was fate that I would be invited, during my first official week back at RTN, to meet Denise Wesserling, the new Coastal Residents Officer in Orihuela Costa. I am happy that I had the opportunity to experience working at the Town Hall, but I am glad that my ‘sabbatical’ (as I am calling it) is over and that I am back to doing what I do best, where I belong: at RTN”. In December 2010 she didn't feel that she belonged at RTN! She felt that she belonged with Monica Lorente and the PP, and where the substantially increased salary was!

There is a dead wasp in the swimming pool; - what should I do?

I was sitting at home one  afternoon recently with some friends who had called round for a chat and a cup of tea. There was an unexpected knock on the front door. I broke off from the interesting conversation we were having to see who was at the front door in the middle of the very hot afternoon.

“There is a dead wasp in the pool” said the young lady standing on the door step in her swim suit! She was on holiday, with her equally young beau, staying with a relative who has a property in the community.

I ought to clarify at this point that not only do I live next to the communal swimming pool but I am also the Chairman of the Community in which the pool is situated.

Her statement threw me for moment and before I could think of the appropriate response she enquired as to what she should do to remove the offending insect from the water.

Refraining from the urge to make a satirical, or verging on sarcastic, comment I suggest that perhaps the solution was to scoop the invader out of the water with the aid of a handful of water as a propellant. If that failed she might try the alternative of using her swimming goggles as a scoop. I suggested that her 'Sir Galahad', who remained in the pool, possibly as a rearguard defence and lookout, might assist her in the quest to remove the Hymenoptera.

It is good to be able to assist the youth of today with their education!

Having made my constructive suggestions, I refrained from leaving my guests and undertaking an act of chivalry by despatching the 'beastie', thereby enabling her 'Knight in Armour' to save the señorita from the Spanish invader. With what I perceived as a look of disappointment, that I was not to accompany her, she returned to the swimming pool. Whether or not she, or her 'Superman' hero, or neither of them extracted the wasp from water I'll never know, and to be honest, even though they felt it necessary to disturb my afternoon, I don't need to know.

On returning to my guests I found them chuckling amongst themselves about the episode they had just overheard. Wondering if it was real life or a trailer for a comedy sketch. I put their minds at rest.

It is another one of the joys, or is that peculiarities, of being Chairman of a Community!