Holiday

As you may have noticed it has gone quiet on here!

I am on holiday for a few weeks but will communicate anything of note. Jose Manuel can deal with most things while I am away.

Regarding the Brexit issue my colleagues and I have continued to work towards establishing a base of supporters to exert pressure on Brussels, Madrid and Westminster to protect our interests. The number of email addresses now tops 600 and bear in mind that each email may represent more than one supporter so we are well on our way. We have issued our first updated circular to all supporters and we are waiting a date for a meeting with the Mancomunidad to progress the Spanish aspect. If you wish to register for updates please visit www.eupats.com and click on the register link. This will ensure that you receive all future communications and please spread the word. The more the better.

Mobile Phone Application Launch

The Town Hall of Zurgena is pleased to announce the release of a new english language mobile phone application for smartphones. 
If you have an iPhone or an android you can now download for free a most useful application for residents and visitors to Zurgena.
The application has a number of helpful features and this will be added to in the future.
The application has a page on all the latest news from the Town Hall, a diary of events in the municipality, a directory of places, announcements, photographs of the Town Hall staff and of all the councillors with their roles.
There is a list of local businesses both English and Spanish. There are places to visit or where to go to eat or drink. A list of associations and sports clubs etc.
In addition to these articles there are two outstanding and important features. 
The first of these is an ´Urban Incidents´page. On this page you can report anything you think the Town Hall needs to attend to or be aware of. It is a simple system which allows you to fill out an online form and attach a photo or video and this message is then transmitted to the appropriate councillor.
The second important feature of the application is a push notification system which allows the Town Hall to communicate with its citizens information of a general or urgent nature. This will be particularly helpful in the event of major incidents.
I would recommend all citizens download the application which can obtained at the iTunes store or google play store. 
The name of the application is ´Living Zurgena´.
Get connected and stay connected to your Zurgena Town Hall. 
Download the app.

If you have a business or something you wish to be considered for inclusion on the application please contact Jim Simpson 610194260 or email jimszurgena@gmail.com
Spanish language version is at Vive Zurgena

Petanque Competition.

The Petanque tournament is to be held as below. If you wish to enter a team please contact the Town Hall in the next couple of days.

Walking Football Tournament

The successful walking football activity held its first tournament yesterday and I am reliably informed our local team won against opposition form Lubrin, Arboleas, Albox and La Alfoquia. Both La Alfoquia and Arboleas ended the tournament with the same points bu La Alfoquia were the winners due to the higher number of goals scored.

If you are interested in taking part it is held each Tuesday morning at 10.0am on the artificial grass pitch at the side of the municipal pool. Ian Hamilton is the organiser and he can be contacted on 634320636.

La Alfoquia Fiesta 2016

Programme for the La Alfoquia Fiesta 2016.

Brexit

I am endeavouring to enlist the support of the politicians in our part of Spain to issue a statement which shows that the authorities here will look to protect the rights of expats in Spain following any negotiations or discussions about Britains´ possible exit from the E.U.

To that end I have a meeting with the President of the Mancommunidad of the Almanzora valley tomorrow morning to discuss this. Will post developments on here.

Referendum and Representation

Below is a mission statement which we have agreed this week. We are circulating it as widely as possible to determine who wishes to be involved (just supporting) the idea. Please read share forward to anyone you know who may consider it worthwhile as we are trying to build a database of expats from which we can organise a voice.

Can we, as ex-pats, find someone to speak for us - whether in Madrid, or London or in Brussels? We need security and a promise. This is the simple idea which was discussed in a meeting in Almería (Southern Spain) this week, in reaction to the referendum news from the UK. 

While no one knows (or evidently cares) how many ex-pat Britons there are living in Spain – anywhere from 270,000 to 800,000 (quite a variance) –  the reality is that we as a large group have absolutely no ‘say’ in our political future, because we have no representation, no agency, no office, no spokesperson and no defender of our own situation. 

No one can be more in favour of Europe than an expatriate, yet we are not represented.

We are, in fact, larger still: there are an estimated 1,500,000 Britons living in Europe (or perhaps two million – no one knows). We all need protection. 

Larger yet, there are thought to be twenty million Europeans living in another EU country. Who speaks for them? If we were to organise as 'ex-pats', it would be as ex-pats Europe-wide, all those Europeans who live in another country and have no representation in Brussels. (A bit ambitious, but that's where we need to be looking). We need to have a voice in Brussels – and a valid European passport or identity card. Then we will be safe from maverick politicians and racial division.

So let us start now, before the recent politics of the UK can breach our safety and our comfort. To begin, we will need a list of supporters’ names, with their email address, local town, province and country. 

With a thousand names, we will begin our journey to Brussels. 

Our Email is: andyjimlenox@gmail.com : please write to introduce yourself.

Andrew Mortimer, Jim Simpson and Lenox Napier