Summer Thunderstorm in Relleu

We got the most amazing thunderstorm in Relleu yesterday! Firstly the sky got blacker and blacker as these enormous clouds rolled in and the thunder started to roll.

It was harder to see the lightening because it was daylight but for sure there was plenty of it! I love thunderstorms.

Then the rain started. Suddenly, it became the heaviest rain I have witnessed in my life. The racket was terrible. It took a few seconds to realise it was hailstones and not rain!

I got some photos to share.

The clouds rolled in

black clouds over Relleu

hailstones in the swimming pool

think more water bounced out of the pool then went in!

Hailstones on the ground

It got really dark during the storm

And this is a photo I took the day before - yes folks we've had two days of thunderstorms here in Relleu.

Lightening strike

The Alcalde (again)!

Anyone reading here knows I don't have a lot of time for corrupt politicians, but the man himself is in trouble it seems.
Spain's national newspapers have carried stories about how he is living in a house without planning permission, and not only him, but many of the villagers here too.

There is a law in Spain where you are not allowed to build more than one property for every 100square metres of rustic land. (or something like that - don't quote me).

Seems the mayor (alcalde) got together with several business including the mayor of Benidorm and Domingo the Muscaret builder and between them they decided to change the Urban Law and allow house-building on rustic land. They dreamed up plans to build enough new houses to attract 20,000 to the village.Now remember that even with all the incomers, Relleu only has a population of round 1,300 just now.

They then issued the planning permission which Valencia in due course knocked back,because it was illegal!

Meanwhile, they bought up tracts of land and applied to the council, here in the village, to build tractor sheds.
You won't be surprised to learn that their own applications went through in just 2 days!

Instead of building tractor sheds however, they built huge houses with swimming pools!

Individual houses, you understand. They couldn't built the properties they wanted to, but they wanted to live well. The mayor and other members of the council now live in nice big houses out on the campo.

All was well, until a neighbour complained because one of the houses blocked off a public right of way where sheep graze or were moved from one place to another.

This neighbour was also a member of the opposing political party.

He kicked up such a fuss that the town architect was forced to admit that the house in question should not have been built.

It is the law here in Spain, that if your house is declared illegal, your electricity and water must be cut off immediately.
This did not happen and there is no sign of it happening.

Meanwhile the mayor's own house is also illegal, and according to the newspapers, so are many many others on the campo.

Now I read somewhere that Spain has the highest land mass in Europe, but among the lowest population.

Shouldn't Spain relax its rules about building on rustic land? Let's be honest, without affordable irrigation, nothing much is going to grow apart from olives and almonds which in today's economic climate, are not worth much.

How much better is it to have housing? Housing, better transport, better roads, a public transport system, a telephone line or two, and we are almost in the 21st century.

Relleu History

I've been trying to find out a bit about the history of the town. We know that there is evidence of a Roman settlement here at the end of the 1st century BC. Some artefacts were found but many were plundered and are lost forever. We know the Moors were expelled from Spain in 1609, leaving only 13 Christian families in the village. They must have been Catholic to re-populate the town!

By 1900, there were a total of 3342 townspeople in Relleu. The village was thriving. There were several mills in the village, water from the Amadorio was plentiful. There was work.

By 1991 the populations had fallen drastically to 717, as the work had dried up and young people moved away to the coastal towns to find work.

River Amadorio


What happened to the River Amadorio?

I've asked old guys in the village and they just shrug and have no idea. They assumed there was maybe more rainfall 100 years ago to fill the river.

Does anyone reading here know what happened to the river? Does anyone know if this part of Spain got a lot more rain 100 years ago?

Sam told me that there were crypts under the church and under the village square. Well, I've asked Father Juan and if there is, he doesn't know about them!

It is true there are underground viaducts running down to the village from the castle, but the are there to catch rainwater nothing more. They are low and claustrophobic, designed for pipes not for humans.

The trouble with gathering factual information on Relleu is that under Franco the villagers were not allowed to speak Valenciano. This meant that absolutely NO records were kept for many years. You must remember that many people in the village never learned to speak Castellano, so they could not write in that language. If there are written records anywhere, they will no doubt be found in some old biddy's loft.

The best hope for any kind of written record of the village is through the nephews of the now deceased Dr Alejandro Sendra, who reside in Alicante, apparently. Dr Alejandro took a great deal of interest in the town's history. Indeed, he found the burial stone of 'Paccius' on his property.

If anyone has anything to add to this, please contact me. I would really like to know more about the town.

The New Pizzeria in Relleu

English couple Mark and Julie have opened 'Tossers', a pizzeria situated where the old 'Spanish Village' office was. Get along there for your kebabs, pizzas, chips and roast chickens, if you ever find them open.

Their opening hours are something like 7pm - 11pm Friday Saturday and Sunday evenings.

The Spanish have their main meal of the day somewhere around 2pm - 3pm. Post-bar drinkers with the nibbles appear around 12mn -1am.

We are missing something here, aren't we?

Wikipedia - Relleu Entry

Talking of Bill and Sally, [see below], they are responsible for the entries into the brand new Wiki-Relleu-in-English page. Excellent job, guys!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relleu

The Estanco is Open!!!

Wow!
This is a great day for Relleu! The new estanco opened at 7pm this evening and laid on a spread for the villagers. I'm sure there were more non-smokers than smokers there!

Anyway, I missed the speeches if there was any, not arriving until nearly 7.30pm.
To let everyone understand the excitement, the tobacconist in the village shut last summer. The couple who ran it retired childless, and so had no-one to pass the business on to. In those circumstances, it is permitted to sell the business, but the tobacconist licence has to be approved by some faceless body in Madrid.

This being Spain, they are so way behind in everything, it took months for the licence to be sorted out, and until then the new tobacconist couldn't open.

That left the village with nowhere to buy cigarettes or tobacco! The Law in Spain does not permit anyone but tobacconists to sell tobbacco, except through machines in bars. The prices are firmly fixed by the government. Whatever price the tobacconists sells at, is universal throughout Spain, and all machines have to sell at 15 centimos per packet higher. So, with the closure of the local tobacconist, everyone who wanted to smoke had either to pay the extra 15c per packet (which soon mounts up), or make a point of buying when out of the village. The nearest villages - Orcheta, Finestrat, Aiguas, Sella and Torremanzanas all have Estancos, but the nearest village is at least 8 miles away! Petrol is not exactly cheap here, so no matter what way you looked at it, it is an expensive time for all being without a tobacconist in the village.

However, we finally have a new one, and at this point I do not know his name, but he is planning on selling newspapers, doubtless of the Spanish variety but nevertheless newspapers, some alcohol and stationary as well as tobacco and all related products including cigarette rolling machines. I did hear a rumour that he would sell lottery tickets too, and I forgot to ask him when I was being served, but this is something that the village would like, so I'll keep you updated.

Almond Blossom

Don't ya just love the almond blossom of early spring here? I wrote a hub about it, called...emmm...Almond Blossom. Bet that surprised you. You thought I might have called it something else! I'm not going to use this space to say what information I learned about almonds, you will have to click on the link and go see for yourself!

Freezing Weather!

This has got to be the coldest day since I moved here 7 years ago. There was ice on the swimming pool all day.  The swimming pool is empty by the way, has been for 5 years, but there is about a foot of rainwater at the bottom.
Inside my living room is at 5 degrees C - the fire is broken just now.
Guess I'll have lost a few plants in the garden. They are just not used to getting it this cold. Brrrrr!

Electricity

Talking of electricity, here's an interesting one.
It is now NO LONGER POSSIBLE to pay your electricity bill in the village. The new electric company have chosen two possible banks, neither of which have a branch in the village, and the Post Office for places in which to pay the bills.
Last bill got paid in the Post Office no probs. This one - no - had to go all the way to Finestrat to pay it, because our postman doesn't have a computer link.
If anyone wants to sort this out, we should get behind the postie on this and demand our right to pay it in the Post Office without his having to splash out on a computer and internet connection. Or at least, Head Office should pay for it.
Email www.correos.es and make your voice heard!

History of Relleu

I really want to write a hub about Relleu's history. I thought to myself, no bother, I'll take a trip into the museum and find out all I need to know.
Well, this is Relleu. The museum is shut for building works which could last for Goodness knows what time. The Town Hall has a few leaflets about Relleu, all written in either Spanish or Valenciano. Goodness, don't these guys print in any other language? How do they hope to attract tourists?
Anyway, I read them but much of the info I want to know is missing, so I asked in a local Spanish Bar how to find out the missing information.
Got given two names, two old guys in the village who have its history in their heads. Love it right away. It's sooooo OLD, isn't it? When local history was only known by a few old-timers?
That's my next project - to find out as full as possible a history and write it down, in English.
I want to know when the first house was built, when the castle was built, what wars they fought, what happened to the castle - let's face it, it cannot even be called a ruin, all that seems to be left is a couple of half-walls.
I'm fascinated by the wash-house. When did it stopped being used? I'm presuming its Victorian, but when was it built?
The church - how old is it?
Most of the townhouses...when were they built? I know someone said once that the downstairs was for the horses. The narrowness of the streets were maybe OK for horses in the old days. When did horses stop being used?
Loads of stuff, all interesting, and all deserve to be written and published online for the world to read.

Polop Mayor

OMG the mayor of Polop was arrested today as the 7th suspect in the murder two years ago of the previous mayor.
I'm saying nothing more about the current mayor here in Relleu now that I know what these guys get up to.......

Oh and here's a link to the news:
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_24062.shtml

Dorothy and Peter Holidays

If all my ranting about Relleu makes you interested in coming to visit us (what are you...MAD???) , click on the link here and book a holiday with my friends Dorothy and Peter.
No really for a holiday this place is perfecto! Far from the madding crowd, almost completely without public transport (there is a daily bus to Villajoyosa), this is the ideal 'getawayfromitall' place to go.
If you enjoy Spanish food there is a wide range of excellent choices, but if you are scared to ask and/or don't understand the language, then there is the English run Lemon Tree , Cazador or Sonrisa (Dutch/English owned) to choose from.
I personally recommend the Lemon Tree, my local. Chris and Mandy are lovely. Hey Mandy if you read this, I will expect recompense later!
Only kidding.
The Lemon Tree do a karaoke Friday nights and sometimes a quiz Thursdays, and always the top sporting events, through Sky, if you are into that.
I suspect that if you are 'into that' as I said, you would choose Benidorm instead of here.
However it is nice to know that you can get away from it all, and just have a quiet drink in the evening to wind down after a long tiring day on the golf course or whatever.
Dorothy's village flat is lovely by the way. I have seen it.
Don't worry about the things I have written on my site. OK the tap water is foul, but safe. It's full of chemicals as well as natural minerals.
The electricity works most of the time.
You no longer have to put toilet paper in a receptacle instead of down the loo in the village bars, or most of the houses I suspect.
If you are coming fr0m the UK, fill your suitcase with things like T bags, coffee, Bisto, ready made sauces, Oxo, loaves of bread etc. If anyone cares to comment here I can compile a full list of the foodstuffs that are either not available here, or available at a vastly inflated price.
Spanish Bimbo bread is awful!
Barra de pan, on the other hand, what we would call a French loaf, is what the Spanish eat. It's cheap, really nice, but doesn't fit on a toaster!

40,000 cars in Relleu?

I am slow sometimes, and I miss the best gossip. I miss having a daily newspaper to read, but I am so sorry I missed this story when it hit the Press something like a year to 18 months ago.

Seems the alcalde had a bit of explaining to do when it transpired that 40,000 cars were registered to this area, which has a population of around 1,200.

So we all have 33 cars each.

Because we don't have a viable public transport service, we get a big discount on the annual road tax on cars. When I say 'we', I don't mean myself. I had to pay full price and when I asked in the Town Hall for a rebate, they said my papers were not in order and that I had to go to Alicante, personally, and get something or other changed. Not the best option when you live on a shoestring, and Alicante is going to use up half a tank of fuel, there and back.

Nw there is 'car hire' shop in the village, which is always shut when I walk past which admittedly isn't very often.

Apparently most of these cars were registered to this shop.

I doubt if a small car hire place would even have this many cars!
Hmm! I would like to know what happened after the scandal broke? Anyone care to comment?

CamBank

Another bug-bear. The banks in this country are robbing bastards. Every month I used to pay in enough to cover my mortgage and a bit more besides, and every month they phoned me up telling me I was short.
I couldn't make head nor tail of where the money actually went, and the director wasn't exactly helpful either. I had to ask how much my insurance was per year, as each year they seem to take out anything between 700 and 1500 euro under its' heading.
It's 354. What is the rest for then? Blank silence.
My mortgage is really really high just now, at a time when Europe has her lowest interest rates ever. Am told it will stay high until November as that is my month for them changing it. What a rip off!
Also my ex-husband's name is on the account, for which they charge a non-resident's payment goodness knows how often. Well, he is my ex. He is not in Spain. Can his name be taken off the account?
No. He has to come here to Spain and sign a form to be taken off. It cannot be posted 2000 miles for him to sign. We separated 5 years ago, for God's Sake! He's not coming back!
I also have to pay non-resident's tax.
They will only give me a resident's account if I take myself off to Alicante and queue up for hours at the Police station or wherever, and get my fingerprints taken, along with a copy of my passport and NIE number and God knows what else, unless the system has got a lot easier recently which no-one has told me about?
But Spain officially did away with Resident's Cards in 2003 or thereabouts. You could still get one, but as a member of a European Country already, it was no longer a requirement.
By the way, I have a Banco Santander account (Resident) which I only had to fill in a lot of paperwork at the bank to get. I've had no problems at all from them. They obviously care about their customers - more power to their elbow. Unfortunately, they do not have a branch here in Relleu. They should open one - they'd get a lot of business.

Alcalde

What does the mayor (alcalde) think he's doing? He asks for donations to the Fiesta Fund. Hmm...the word 'donation' is voluntary, I think?
So we didn't pay this year. We simply don't have the money. We are living on a shoestring. Other years I have paid and not gone because I was working, this year I have all the time in the world.
We went for the free beer and sardines. Chance to eat if nothing else. It's been a bad week and there is nothing in the cupboard.
Only the alcalde was doing his barman stint, and refused to serve us, citing our non-payment. Did he do that to everyone who hadn't paid? What about all the tourists, or visitors from out of town?
Spoke to loads of people, Spanish and English alike. He has never done this before apparently, and loads of people didn't give donations either. Loads of others did of course.

Anyway, ended up having a lovely afternoon with people sending drinks and food our way, so thanks to the good people of Relleu for restoring my faith and making me feel a little better, as well as drunk as a skunk!
Missed the fire festival at 2am or whenever it was, and not sure if I will visit the fiesta again this weekend seeing as my presence really isn't wanted, as far as the Ayuntamiento is concerned.
Today is the free paella. Missed it already.