Legion In Town

As you may have noticed we have had the pleasure of hosting the Spanish Legion in the village whilst they conduct exercises in the valley. 

Today at 1.0pm the band of the Legion performed for over 100 children from the villages at the school in La Alfoquia. 

Afterwards we were invited to join the officers and men in their makeshift restaurant (the gymnasium) for lunch (and a tasty lunch it was too).

I have to say that on every occasion I have had dealings with the men of the Legion they have impressed me with their friendliness, kindness and hospitality. They are a credit to their country. 

Bilateral Agreement hopefully to be signed soon!

Spain and UK set to give each other's residents abroad post-Brexit voting rights in local elections

Madrid and London are finalising a bilateral agreement that will give British residents in Spain and Spanish residents in the UK the right to vote in post-Brexit local elections in the country they live in.
Spain and Britain’s governments have decided to streamline a deal that will protect the rights of its expat citizens in either country post March 29th, the day the UK leaves the EU.
The bilateral agreement will guarantee that Brits in Spain and Spaniards in the UK can continue to vote in local elections, or elecciones municipales as they are known in Spain.
Until now, Britain’s impending break-away from the EU was set to leave both groups without any voting rights in their country of residence, whereas as part of the bloc, registered residents even had the right to stand as candidates in local elections.
There are in fact currently 37 locally elected British town and city councillors in Spain, mostly in Comunidad Valenciana and Andalusia, the two Spanish regions with the highest number of British residents.
The current negotiation will ensure that the 280,000 Brits officially residing in Spain keep these two rights and will be able place their ballots - or stand - in Spain’s next local elections in May 2019.
That’s regardless of whether or not there’s a no-deal Brexit scenario which causes Brits to lose their EU rights as of March 30th 2019, rather than in December 2020, the month in which the transition breakaway period is scheduled to end in the event of a deal.
This deal is of course a reciprocal one which will be treated as an international treaty that has to be ratified by Spain and Britain’s parliaments.
According to leading Spanish daily El País, the agreement is being “negotiated at top speed” between May and Sánchez’s government but diplomatic sources did tell the paper it’s unlikely to be approved and ready in time for Spain’s local elections on May 26, 2019.
Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is therefore prepared for the agreement to come into action in a provisional sense as soon as the initial frame line is agreed upon.
Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell is also calling on the UK Embassy in Madrid to encourage the “several tens of thousands” of Brits in Spain who aren’t registered yet to do so in order to guarantee that they are protected by other contingency plans set to be rolled out including residency, health and work post Brexit in Spain.
For this the UK must deliver the same rights to the 115,000 Spaniards residing in “Gran Bretaña”.
Spain's local elections next May will determine what councillors are chosen in the country's 8,116 municipalities and what seats political parties hold in the 38 provincial councils.
The municipal elections will be held simultaneously with regional elections in most of Spain's autonomous communities. 

A few pictures from yesterdays trip to Rute near Cordoba & Military

Firstly the Spanish Legion are doing exercises in our area this week and the camp in La Alfoquia, is open to the public from 11.0am to 2.0pm today if you fancy visiting. Sorry for late info just got to know last night.

A few pics from yesterdays trip to Rute (apologies for the couple of hiccups!).  Visited the chocolate museum the Jamon museum and the Anise Museum. The Bethlehem made of chocolate took 1,40kgs of chocolate to make.

Xmas House Competition & Classes

Just a reminder that anyone wishing to enter their home in the Xmas House decorating competition we need to know the addresses of anyone wishing to participate before the 21st December.

We had a total of 12 houses last year and there is a prize of a ham!

Those you who have expressed an interest in the Spanish classes should have received an email detailing the start date etc. If you have not please let me know your name NIE and telephone number.

Church Xmas Donations 2018

Today I and the deputy mayor Lola Antas had the pleasure of accepting, on behalf of the less fortunate in our community, the food bags from the congregation of the Church at Los Llanos del Peral.

They donated a total of 25 bags of food and these bags also contained a Xmas card chocolates and a gift. These will de distributed to the appropriate people over the next few dainties to the church.
ays and hopefully brighten their Xmas. Thanks again to the church.

Xmas Church Events

The below two Xmas events, which are very popular, are published here for your information.

Spanish Classes

Following a number of requests we are to start a new programme of Spanish Classes in January.

The course will be for 1 hour twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 0900 in the library in Zurgena and will last for just over 3 months when it will be reviewed.

The course will be of a conversational style and give a basic grounding in commonly used verbs and day to day scenarios.

If you wish to attend this class please let me have your names, NIEs and telephone numbers and I will confirm your places. 

PGOU Meeting

A date for your diaries. 

A meeting to explain the Urban Plan, agreed between the Junta de Andalucia and the Town Hall of Zurgena, will be held in the Renfe Building in La Alfoquia  at 6.0pm on Friday 11th January 2019.

Further details will published nearer the date.

Selling Houses Taxes & Cordoba Trip

Following a number of recent requests regarding the sales of properties I sought clarification of the taxes payable by the seller of a property and was told the following;

1. Plus Valia payable to the Town Halls This tax is calculated upon the increase in the value of the land upon which your property stands. It is calculated on the basis of a 3% increase annually from the date of purchase. For example if the value of your land at the time of purchase was €10,000 and that was 10 years ago, the increase in value is assessed to be €3,000 and the tax payable on that is 18% eg €540

2. Incremental Patrimonial This is a tax payable to the central government and is similar to Capital Gains Tax. This tax is calculated on the basis of the total profit of the sale of the property eg if you paid €100,000 for your house and land and sold it for €200,000 you would be taxed on the €100,000 at 19% which would total €19,000.

Hope this helps

There is, unexpectedly, a couple of seats now available on the Cordoba trip on 15th December (details posted on earlier bog). If anyone wishes to go please let me know asap.

Dipuradora Cucador Norte

Just a reminder regarding what can be sent to waste water in the area which is served by the dipuradora (treatment unit) below Cucador Norte.

No non-biodegradable items should be flushed down the system as these items, such as wet wipes, nappies etc clog up the machine and lead to it overflowing. It is also a less than simple task to clean the machine and leads to standing waste water in the open.

Xmas House Competition

The Town Hall is having another Xmas House Decoration competition.

Like last year the competing homes will be visited the 21st December with the winning home announced thereafter.

The prize is the ubiquitous Seron Ham.

Entries are to be notified to the Town Hall before the 20th December.