Street Lights

We have commenced a programme to change all our street lighting over to the latest low energy bulbs. This work should be completed over the next few weeks.

Set of Keys found

These keys were found yesterday at the junction of Avda Andalucia and Calle Diagonal in Alfoquia. If anyone recognises them contact the Town Hall on Monday.

Beach Opening

As you know beaches are now open but I was asked a question as there seems to be some confusion about drinks on the beach.

It is clear you can take any soft drinks water, juice etc but no alcohol is allowed.

Cockroach Problem

The pest control company (Sanisur) will be attending tomorrow morning to deal with the cockroach problem in the area of the Pool bar.

New Normal from Today

As of today we now enter phase 3 or the new normal. This are links (at the bottom of the article) to the Juntas and the Spanish press release with full details but in brief these are ;

Limited capacity: occupancy in bars and restaurants is expanded to 75%, with 25% of tables. Cinemas and theaters may reach 65% of the occupation. While open-air concerts can be performed with a maximum of 1,500 attendees, always seated. The common areas of the hotels will have a capacity of 50%.   (Although permissions will be needed for such events in Zurgena area.)

Nursing homes: new admissions will be allowed in residential centers where no cases of coronavirus have been registered during the last week.

Beaches: the general rule of 1.5 minimum social distance or use of a mask must be maintained.

Culture: cinemas, theaters, auditoriums, circuses and similar public or private spaces, there must be pre-assigned seats, provided they do not exceed 65% of the capacity allowed in each room, allowing a maximum attendance of 800 people for closed places and 1,500 people in outdoor activities.

Sport: outdoors a maximum capacity of 65% is established, with a limit of 1,500 people. In closed spaces, the capacity will be 65% maximum, with a limit of 800 people.

Fairs and pilgrimages: celebration is not recommended. But, where appropriate, the fair attractions authorized by the municipalities may occupy the row of seats at 50%, with at least 1.5 meters of distance between seats; attractions without seats may have 50% of the capacity with a safety distance, and 30% of capacity in attractions without seats in which the safety distance cannot be guaranteed, but with a mask and hand disinfection.  (We have not made a decision yet regarding the annual fiestas but they are unlikely to go ahead. Any change and I will update)

Cemations and burials: the maximum will be 60 people outdoors and 30 in closed spaces. The maximum procession will be 75 relatives or close friends, always keeping the interpersonal distance or, where appropriate, using a mask.


Junta de Andalucis New Measures 20.6


The New Normal

Recommended Gardening Services

A shout out for a job well done. 

I had worries that my palm trees had fallen victim to the dreaded weevil. I called in J&N Jardines (English and Spanish tele 634327232). They attended within 24 hours cleaned, tidied and treated the 3 trees and now wait 3 weeks to see if it has been successful 🤞But already they all look a lot tidier and I am not bleeding from a thousand cuts as I usually do when I pruning! Photos of before and after for each tree.

Freedom Day Sunday June 21st

The Minister for Health in Spain has today confirmed that from Sunday June 21st we will be able to circulate throughout Spain with total freedom, as the state of alarm will decline. And this will apply even in those zones or areas that have not completed all the phases of the de-escalation plan, such as the Community of Madrid, the metropolitan area of Barcelona or some provinces of Castilla y León.

At a press conference, Salvador Illa, Minister of Health, made this clear from the Palacio de La Moncloa. He appeared before the media to explain the phase changes that will take effect on June 15. Galicia, he announced, will leave the state of alarm to enter the "new normal".
Except for Madrid, Barcelona and its metropolitan area, part of Lleida, Ávila, Salamanca, Segovia and Soria, the rest of Spain will enter Phase III on Monday 22nd June.  According to the government the epidemiological situation allows it.

Faced with a possible outbreak of the epidemic in the autumn, he explained, the Executive will have an alternative to this exceptional situation for a new confinement or the limitation of movements if necessary. However, Illa wanted to highlight that the state of alarm is a "constitutional instrument" that "has worked very well", as has been demonstrated.

He stated that "if it has to be used again, hopefully it will not be used, it will be used, but it is the instrument that today allows us to control mobility."
Consequently, he called for the interpersonal distance of at least 1.5 meters to be respected and for the mask to be used when it is not possible to maintain that separation. Also, frequent hand washing and extreme hygiene in public and private spaces. He reiterated that with everyone complying with these measures, there is "a lot of livestock".

To finish, he wanted to emphasize that from June 21, Spain recovers normality. Also regarding the competence framework of the Autonomous Communities.

Phase 3 Rules

As we are now in Phase 3 this is the document which details the new rules which apply from today. These are in Spanish but it is the definitive version.

https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/Documents/31052020PlanTransicionGuiaFase3.pdf

I have appended below the link to a copy from an English paper of their translation of the new rules applicable to our province due to us moving into phase3.

Two things not covered below are 1. Interprovincial travel . This was what the President of Andalucia said,

However, Moreno said he would remain ‘cautious’ about mobility between Andalucia and its neighbouring regions, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia.
The Junta boss made the comments in his weekly video conference with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Spain’s other regional leaders.
He cited a new coronavirus outbreak in Extremadura as a reason to delay a further relaxation of movement restrictions.
He highlighted that President Guillermo Fernandez Vara had not yet permitted travel between Extremadura’s two provinces.
In addition, Moreno pointed out how badly Castilla-La Mancha has been hit by coronavirus.
The huge region, which sits in between Madrid and Andalucia, has seen twice as many deaths during the pandemic despite its smaller population.
Meanwhile, although Murcia is in a relatively similar position to Andalucia virus-wise, Moreno said that allowing mobility between the two regions and not others would be an ‘unbalanced’ approach.
He said he planned for inter-regional travel by the end of June and added: “Now it is time to be cautious.
“My idea is that in the next two weeks there will be no mobility with any community. We must go step by step and do things well.”


For point 2 the wearing of seatbelts in cars the following is from CAB Spain site

• 
  
• No more obligatory masks in private vehicles or private transport up to 9 places, and all seats may be used when all occupants are from the same household, max. 2 per row of seats when not, and keeping max. distance
• No more masks obligatory in vehicles with just one row of seats, but max. occupancy of 2 people and keeping max. distance

The main differences between the last two phases of the de-escalation plan are the increased limit on capacity at bars, restaurants, shops and cultural venues and that even bigger groups of people are allowed to gather.

The occupancy on a terrace of a bar or restaurant rises from 50 percent in Phase 2 to 75 percent in Phase 3.

While bars are now allowed to open inside  with 50 percent maximum capacity although they must have safety measures in place that include hand sanitizer at the door, table service and being able to maintain a safe social distance of 2 metres between people who you don’t live with.

The number of people allowed to meet socially has risen from 15 under Phase 2 to up to 20 people during Phase 3.

The timetable which gave different age groups specific hours in which to go outside and exercise has been eliminated in the final phase. There are no restrictions on when you can leave the house and for what purpose.

Group sports (and that includes exercise classes at the gym) can be practised between up to 20 people as long as they are non-contact sports.

Casinos, gaming halls and betting shops can open with a reduced capacity of 50 percent and maximum of 50 people.

Youth activities such as summer camps can carry on with a third of the usual capacity and a maximum of 80 people if inside and 50 percent and a maximum of 200 people if outdoors.

Amusement parks, zoos, aquariums and that sort of thing can open with 50 percent of capacity outside and 30 percent inside.

Tour groups can restart their guided tours with up to 20 people.

All shops can now open regardless of the size including shopping malls as long as capacity does not exceed 50 percent.

Cinemas, theatres, shows, concerts can all open but with 50 percent occupancy and a chair’s space between each person not from the same household with up to 80 people indoors and 200 people in the openair.

Weddings, baptism and first communions can now go ahead with 75 percent of the venue’s capacity and up to 75 people when indoors and 150 people when outdoors..

Libraries, museums and exhibition spaces can welcome 50 percent of the usual capacity.

Hotels can now open their common areas including spas for up to 50 percent usual capacity.

Work conferences can have up to 80 attendees.

What other rules are in place?

Masks are compulsory for all those over the age of six in public places and places open to the public where it is impossible to maintain the 2 metre social distancing rule.

However there are exceptions for those who have respiratory, health or behaviourial problems that make the wearing of a mask impossible or if you are eating or drinking. 

The Spanish government has decided that regional authorities will be given the responsibility for deciding when their provinces can transition from Phase 3 to the "new normal" which means it could be possible before June 21st when the state of alarm officially ends. 

Once transition has been decided, travel between provinces that have also advanced beyond Phase 3 should be allowed.

As usual this is not legal advice it is merely links to advice carried by sources usually reliable.

A Letter of Thanks

I have been asked by a resident to publish the below comments which she sent me. I will of course pass these comments on to our team. It is nice when we receive appreciative comments. We have a few more areas to complete this coming week.

Our household, in the Municipio of Zurgena, would like to extend sincere thanks to our Town Hall for receipt of the THIRD delivery of face masks, freely provided and personally delivered to all homes during this pandemic.  We are most grateful for this remarkable aspect of care in, and for, each and everyone of us in the local community.  Thank you all so much."

Social Services

Just to let everyone know that Social Services are not yet operating as normal and can only be contacted for emergency matters. 

First day back

Just to update on a few things.

Firstly I returned to the office today but was promptly told by Luis that I should only go into the Town Hall when it is absolutely necessary or when an important meeting is called. So I must continue to try and deal with everything from home but with the assistance of Jose Manuel and Andres!

We have a new official Town Hall secretary who has started work this week. He is apparently a highly qualified man who will be a great benefit to the Town Hall administration. Jose (the ex Policeman who was doing the job) I hope we can get back on the streets but we need to see if that is what he wants. Once the  secretary gets himself established he will have a mountain of work as new contracts for various public buildings etc will need to be put out to tender or options.

At the moment the Police are still under the control of the regional authorities and are only working one day about and only during daytime hours.

So for now I will continue to deal with things as the pasty few months. We are still trying to keep visitors to the Town Hall to a minimum but obviously people need to go in to get there car tax bills etc. If there is anyway I can help just email to the usual address at jimszurgena@gmail.com
I can arrange various things to be handled electronically eg sending out papers etc.

Masks and Municipal Pool

We are arranging the distribution of envelopes containing 2 of the blue face masks and 2 x N95. I have been delivering to Cucador Norte and Llanos del Peral. Almost completed but ran out. Am awaiting more.

Other areas will be covered by other people and we hope to cover all by next week.

Bad news. It would appear, at this moment in time, that we may not be permitted to open the municipal pool this summer. This is a ruling covering all of the villages ion the Almanzora valley.

I intend to sneak back into the office tomorrow and start to slowly manage things. Please bear with!