Jamie Oliver does Andalucia

Tonight on channel 4 at 9 pm (GMT) is the second part of Jamie does… and tonight it focuses on Andalucia. Some of the filming was not far from us, in Ronda. Should be interesting to all you food buffs or anyone interested in this region of Spain.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamie-does/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2

Romería del ‘Lunes de Quasimodo’

After the incredible effort and dedication of all involved with this years ‘Samana Santa’ the town has a buzz of excitement in anticipation of one of the biggest fiestas of the year, ‘Quasimodo Monday’. The fair has set up on the old ferria ground, our children have made their ‘hornazo’ (a sort of model made out of biscuits, chocolate and sweets) for school and everyone is generally getting busy preparing food, gazebos, tarpaulins, BBQ and cool boxes for the daylong party. This year the town hall has produced a short programme of events – http://www.olvera.es/opencms/opencms/olvera/actualidad/noticias/noticia_0034.html

The parade of carriages will leave town at around 10am on Monday and make their way up to the ‘Sanctuary’ were they will be judged and prizes awarded. In previous years the horse riding events have taken place on Monday, however, this year these events will be on Saturday from 9am to 7pm. This I assume is a safety measure to protect the large crowds that gather on the Monday.

The weather forecast looks good for the weekend, a little cloud 20+ deg and low possibility of rain. We also have guests staying with us this weekend specifically to take part in the festivities, so lets hope its a good one.

The Olive Press

The newest edition of the widely read English Andalucian newspaper, The Olive Press, hit the streets today.

Obviously not usually a thing of note, however, this edition is a little special, an 8 page pull out all about our lovely ‘Pueblo Blanco’. So get yourself a cuppa and take a look -http://issuu.com/theolivepress/docs/issue80/16

Valentines Weekend

Wishing everyone happy Valentine’s weekend, here at Casa Marroc we have visiting clients taking advantage of our 3 nights for 2 Valentine’s special with complimentary bubbly and chocs. 

Also we have had a call from our good friend Chris Risbey of El Elefante Amarillo Hotel (www.elelefanteamarillo.com) in nearby Montejaque, he has employed the skills of one of Andalusia’s Best Spanish Guitar Players, Jose Luis Pastrana, from Bornos (also home to the Bornos Vineyard) to play in the bar Saturday night and the new chef will be putting on a special Tapas Menu for the night. Sounds like a good night, see you there.
 

Martes 9 de Febrero – Huelga General (general strike)

Its been a quiet day today, very few shops open (Mercadona, paper kiosk, pharmacist and garage), bars have left the shutters closed and most people have stayed away from work. Today has seen a strike across the Sierra de Cadiz, as organised by the Union of Andalucian Workers (www.sidicatoandaluz.org) . This action has been in response to what they see as the lack of help and support from the government during the current financial crisis. This area of Spain has been particularly hard hit and has seen unemployment rise to 39%. Already hailed as a great success, future industrial action thought the province is to follow.

New events add for May

http://olverapost.wordpress.com/events/may-events/

Via Verde – Reopens

During the Christmas storms the Via Verde which runs 36km from Olvera to Puerto Serrano to the West has been closed due to land slides and damage to the surface. Following the big clean up the ‘Fundación Vía Verde de la Sierra’ the organisation responsible for the route has just declared it open.

Olvera Carnaval , 13th-21st Febuary

Its carnival season in Andalucia and Cadiz has the second largest in the world (after Rio de Janeiro). Olvera town hall has just produced the program for our up and coming carnival. Its a fun-filled week with processions, parties and ‘Chirigatos’ (comical singing groups) performing in various plazas around town, go to our February Events page to see the full programme or it can be downloaded from- http://www.olvera.es/opencms/export/sites/default/olvera/GaleriaFicheros/Ficherosnoticias/Diptico_Carnaval_Olvera_2010.pdf

Jan 28th – Campo Aid

Thursday 28th January – Camp Aid.

As many of you may be aware, this area was subject to very extreme weather conditions over the Christmas period, this effected many people, particularly those who live in the ‘campo’.

Amongst these, some of the worst effected where Pete and Dianne, who live just outside Olvera. Pete is one half of the band Mantis and Dianne spends every waking moment lovingly tending their ever-growing goat-herd. During the storms they lost recently sewn fields, fencing and the well was contaminated with dirty water and silt.

Our little community of expats decided we need to do something to help. So CAMPO AID was born, a charity event for one of our own. The bar Pepe Reyas was booked (free of charge, thanks Tetricia & Bryn) Matis was asked to play (Pete had no idea it was for him and Di) tickets were sold and raffle prize donated by local businesses and individuals.

And what a night, everyone had a great time, great music from Mantis, the raffle went a storm (I won!) and the best bit was that between all the people who had contributed on the night, we raised over 800 euros!

We all hope that this will go someway to helping Pete and Dianne to get back on their feet again, no one has worked as hard on their dream to live in this lovely part of Spain, they deserve all the support we can give.

A very special thanks to Anne-Marie, Zoe of Olvera Properties and Tetricia & Bryn of bar Pepe Reyas for all their efforts in organising this special occation.