Yesterday saw the start of this years San Juan celebrations in Benalmadena and Arroyo de la Miel with the street parade at the end of their Romeria. Although it is a much smaller affair than some in the area it is well worth a look. The parade winds around the usual route through "The Village" and swells as it picks up additional participants as it progresses and is a wonderful party atmosphere. In spite of its religious background plenty of alcohol is consumed en route and the singing and dancing becomes less inhibited. I have posted some pictures - Click here

The festival of San Juan is central to the Feria which kicks off at midnight on Thursday down on the beach, when the "chicos" jump through large fires and then plunge into the sea to prove their manhood, and are accompanied by the adoring "chicas". The evening closes with a really spectacular fireworks display (you cant set your watch by when it starts, but it will probably fire up just as you are walking off thinking that I made it all up)

UPDATE This year I have been a little more sober and checked the watch, so for future reference if you want to stay young you should be bathing your face in the sea at the stroke of midnight on the 23rd. To prove your manhood and macho side you should spend most of the night after midnight jumping across fires on the beach. The firework display actually started at exactly 1.00 am and was superb lasting 15 minutes without respite, although it seemed much longer. Click here to see some pictures I took of the firework display before they were fired More info Click here

We made a night of it this year and had a wonderful meal in "Las Brisas", one of the spanish restaurantes on the Playa Santa Ana and had this delightful young lady (Grace, on holiday from Liverpool)keeping us company at the next table.

Link

| Benalblog

Well I spoke too soon, Ascot on Friday has taken the shine off the rest of the week, lets hope that the Newmarket tips work out a little better.Party Ploy in the 7.00 goes well on good to firm and is a good price. another two that like the going are Just a Try 7.30 and Unscrupulous at 8.00 - shorter prices, but best of luck Laura. For those who don't live in spain or do and have not yet joined, you may be interested in the the process of registering with the local town hall. It is not a legal requirement, hence the fact that we have only just got round to signing up. After traipsing round three different local government offices we were told to go to the Casa Cultura (how unlikely is that) where we were given a sheaf of papers to fill in and a list of required photocopies required. Spanish bureaucracy is the other reason we have been deferring the moment. The system over here means that the local council only gets money from the National Government according to the number of people registered on the "Empadriamento" we have been lazy because we knew that we would be tying ourselves up with good old spanish red tape. Lots of brits over here are the same and it means that the council has to provide services for several tens of thousands of residents that do not exist as far as the National Government is concerned. This results in insufficient funds being available for police, health care, rubish collection and all of the other services provided by the council. Nevertheless it has still taken me three years to apply. We returned this morning (Monday) and queued again to find out that we had done it all wrong, as you do. Unusually we were given some help, replacement forms and further details of what would be required. We duly completed the forms again obtainedseven photocopied pages of the apartments "escritura" (deeds) and toddled off to rejoin the queue. This time everything was accepted and we were gived a stamped copy of our application, which I presume is a receipt until notification of acceptance is received. The point of this is to try and encourage others out there to put aside a couple hours, join the queue and sign up. Who knows if they have enough money they might start cleaning up the dog s**t, over optimistic I know, but it would be nice

| Benalblog

I am having a reasonably profitable Royal Ascot (even though it is at York) and currently doing my homework for this afternoons races. But listening to the radio I have been reminded that Mijas races are now on Friday evenings. Gates open at 8:00 pm and the first race is at 10:00 with the party going on until very late. My daughter, Laura, called yesterday evening to inform me that she is off to Newmarket this Friday evening and needs tips, so I think that I might head off for Mijas, just so that I am not left out of things. AND I wont be needing a jacket, it is steaming here at night

*

In Andalucia they are not really fussy about where they park

Link

| Benalblog

*

Hoy (Today)
	Manana (Morning)	Tarde (Afternoon)	Noche (Evening)
Prevision (Forecast)
Temp. Min/Max	20/26
El dia comenzara con alguna bruma matinal sin importancia y el cielo quedara despejado a lo largo de la manana. Por la tarde los cielos permanecean despejados.(The day it will begin with some morning fog without importance and the sky will be clear through the morning. In the afternoon the skies will remain clear.)

*

****************************** ONLY IN SPAIN ******************************

*

*

Manana means Morning - Manana means Tomorrow - but most of all Manana means "Chill" it ain't gonna happen yet

| Benalblog

To keep the weather up to date, much the same as yesterday, a little less in the way of breeze and a few very high small clouds have appeared on occasion. No point in taking another photograph it is identical to yesterdays. We have builders in working on the kitchen and it seems that the end might be in sight, my wife Bernie is looking forward to reclaiming her space, and I am looking forward to her being able to getting back into "chef" mode

| Benalblog

Keeping up to date with the weather more of the same yesterday, Glorious cloudless skies and the temperatures in the high 20's low 30's - this is what we came for!! This morning brings a pleasant light breeze and to prove that I am telling the truth here is the sky at 10 minutes ago.

This is the view from my office window, and that is the cable car climbing to the top of the mountain, a great trip and the best value for money of all of Benalmadenas attractions.

Anyway, I have just finished some printing for a bar in Alhaurin de la Torre. Shelly, Mick and Marg have taken over The Talk of the Town - it is in the Calle Antonio Machada at the side of Eroski- and came as a very pleasant surprise. It is a large spanish style "British bar" and restaurante with a terrific sized bar, separate pool room with a huge pool table and a wonderful gated terrace. Being off the main road there is plenty of room to park. If you are going to Alhaurin give them a look.

****************************** ONLY IN SPAIN ******************************

In Andalucia they drive mainly on the right, but sometimes they drive on the left and scooters particularly drive anywhere they damn well please

| Benalblog

Marbella Feria started yesterday and the spanish do like their feria's. Tonights festivities include a performance of hip-hop, but note the start time - 3.00 AM Even when one lives in spain the surprises still come along regularly, but I think that I will give it a miss :)

Andalucia is a trip hazard

| Benalblog

I received this complementary email this week and thought that I would shareit. I would just like to provide some feedback on my 2 visits to the Vines restaurant in Benalmadena. My first trip was in February this year I read about the restauarant in the local Costa Del Sol news. After several disappointing and expensive meals out my boyfriend and I finally located the vines and went for a meal on our final night. What a great experience, the food was amazing, both taste and presentation. Simon waited on us for the evening and added a very personal touch and if I lived in the area I would definitely be going to the Vines for all family special occasions. It was so good that I decided to book a surprise meal for my Mums birthday and Mothers Day, she was on holiday in Benalmadena for both of them so I decided to fly over for a surprise and take her to the Vines. Both her and my Father enjoyed the experience and once again , the food and the service were top notch and the price was extremely reasonable great value for money. Many thanks to Simon and Lynne showing what great dining experinces should be. Andrea Morris Sandbach. Cheshire

Link

| Benalblog

I have updated the information on this years concerts at the Mijas Hipodromo at Days out page and you can now get more information from Sea Breeze Promotions who have now set up a web site here In Andalucia they are obliged to build wheelchair ramps - which it appears must not be wider than 2ft 6in or less than 45 degrees steep

Link

| Benalblog

I have created this "Blog" to share my thoughts and listen to yours, you may have noticed that Benal-Life.com is expanding beyond recognition. Bear with me while I give you a little background - Before we left England I wandered around the net looking for information on the bars and restaurants of several towns on the Costa del Sol, and once we settled in Arroyo de la Miel I came to the conclusion that the only site I could find was not very good and was sure that I could do better. However it took over a year before I became motivated enough to do something about it, as I had been talking to several bar owners about the project and they kept asking when could they see their bars on the web. In November 2003 we launched with a couple of bars and a restaurant, but with interactive maps that had taken many hours to create. That site bears very little resemblance to the one you see now. I have responded to users of the site who have had ideas and recommendations, and told me what they would like to see. Questions from potential holidaymakers have been answered and often led to the creation of new or expanded sections. This "Blog" is a natural progression as the articles that appear on it will be archived once a month and be searchable. I will do my best to keep them interesting and informative. For those who always ask today is Sunny the temperature is already up to 25 C

| Benalblog