Reminder NHW AGM

A reminder of a date next week for your diaries.

The Annual General Meeting of Zurgena Neighbourhood Watch is to be held in the Theatre in Zurgena at 6.0pm this coming Wednesday 5th December at 1800 hours.

I anticipate it lasting no more than 1 hour but is an opportunity to meet your local coordinator. We have been very successful in having sufficient volunteers to cover almost every area. 

Cordoba Trip

I have had it confirmed that the Cordoba trip is to go ahead. There are only a few English speakers going so there may well not be an interpreter.

If you wish to go on this trip please confirm asap and I will be taking payment in advance of the trip from Monday 3rd December  (€20.0pp).

Change of Residency Rules

There has been a change in the rules regarding permanent residency in Spain.

The process now is, for a newcomer moving to Spain, to register at first in the Padron of the Town Hall with a copy of their escritura and passport.

There is then a period of 6 months grace during which one can transact things since as house or car purchase .

Thereafter it is necessary to obtain residency through the Office for Extranjeros in Almeria. In order to be able to do that the authorities require proof that you either have a regular income eg pension or you have a job. In the event of someone not having a pension they may accept proof of regular transfer of funds from the UK to a Spanish bank account. If one spouse has proof but the other does not then they will accept one on the others.

There is also another qualifying factor of having been resident for 5 years which negates the above requirements.

Pre Xmas Trip to Cordoba

We are considering a pre Xmas trip to Cordoba.

It is intended that we go on Saturday 15th December. The only downside is the departure time of 0600 (although on the poster it says 0530! I will confirm.) Return to Zurgena about 1900.

The itinerary includes the following,  coach travel, breakfast presentation, lunch, an exhibition of various commercial products (mainly foods) and guided visits to the following; the biggest chocolate Belen in the world, a ham and sugar museum, the Elf distillery which is a Museum of Anis and distils gin, a shortbread factory, a chocolate factory and if that is not enough a visit to a Belen made of ice.

The price of the trip to include all that is €20 pp. We will be limited to about 25 seats but I need to know that sufficient are interested. If you let me know that you want to go on this trip I will assume it to be a firm commitment as we will base our final decision on doing this on your responses.

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Paying IBI

IBI Payment Link


The above link should take you to a page which you can use to pay a bill to the Hacienda eg IBI etc. The details you need to input are those shown on your IBI bill.

It is not very user friendly as I have tried but it is the only other way I can find to pay an IBI directly.
One thing to remember is that if your bill has attracted charges the amount you should show in the import box is the original figure which will link to the original bill. 

Cancer Screening

All women between the ages of 50 ard 69 can be screened of Breast Cancer at the hospital, La Inmaculada, in Huercal Overa.

Letters are being sent out now. If you do not receive your letter you can make an appointment by calling 950 451 011 (unfortunately no English spoken).

Spanish Classes, Calle Escocia

Having welcomed quite a few newcomers to the area and explained all that is available in the area a common request is for Spanish Classes for beginners. I understand that the current classes are possibly a little full but I am looking at what options we may be able to consider for the new year. 

To give me some idea of the demand for additional Spanish classes please let me know if you are interested in some sort of basic course maybe one or two hours a week for 3 months concentrating on basic conversational Spanish.

The bottom end of Calle Escocia has received some attention but this is temporary. It is the intention of the Town Hall to have a much more solid structure in place in the next 6 months to ensure the water runoff in the event of heavy rains does not affect the integrity of the road. A purely temporary fence will be put up for the moment as it would be pointless to install a permanent fence only to have to demolish it in a few months.

The deterioration of the surface of Calle Irlanda is an issue we are now endeavouring to obtain the funding to repair. Our councillor responsible for such works is making a project which will probably be submitted through the Junta for consideration in our Provincial Plan for 2019.