What are the British and Irish Expatriates doing in Spain?

Read all about the scandal the news and views as seen through the eyes of the expatriates now living the good life in sunny Spain. Click on the image  below  to read your free on line copy of the Expatriate Ezine.

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In this issue of the Expatriate Ezine we look at some of the latest news, views and interesting events that have been reported over the last few weeks. As usual you will find stories from not only the popular Alicante and Malaga regions but also the Canaries and the Balearic islands, in fact if there is an interesting story anywhere in Spain involving or of interest to the expats - we will try and find it. Regular information and articles about car hire, learning spanish and of course the expatriate monthly magazine

News in Brief

Health minister Manuel Cervera made his announcement outlining changes to the social security laws. The proposals are likely to affect up to about a thousand British residents specifically those who do not contribute to the Spanish social security health system, these include mainly people who have retired before reaching retirement age.

British man charged with clubbing his wife to death - 44 year old Susan Dickinson, was beaten several times around the head in the house she shared with 52 year old alcoholic husband in Playa Flamenca back in April 2006.

A driver escaped with 25 percent burns to his body when arsonists torched five lorries trapped by pickets in a supermarket distribution centre. The 43-year-old was asleep in the cab of his vehicle at the Mercadona depot in San Isidro, Alicante, when it was attacked

The Queen’s birthday celebration is to be held on Wednesday 18th June at the Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante and is destined to be one of the biggest events of the year. The party will welcome some 400 guests, including British Consul, Juliet Maric, Vincent Capeling and her Majesty’s Ambassador to Spain, Denise Holt, CMG.

Six Orihuela Costa beaches have been awarded blue flag status for 2008.
Campaigns are being launched to encourage Spanish nationals to take their holidays on the Costas rather than go abroad.

650 CDs and DVDs were seized last Tuesday at Aguamarina urbanisation in Orihuela Costa by local police. A 44-year-old Chinese man was arrested for distributing the illegal copies to other vendors in the area.

Gata de Gorgos sports centre, which will include a swimming pool and football stadium, will be ready in 2009, says the town council

A new, clever - quirky scheme!

I'd like to bring to your attention a new internet idea which I think is very clever. A few weeks ago an email arrived in my inbox, which for some reason intrigued me and I hesitated from consigning it to the Junk folder. I am please I read it and whilst its not everyone's cup of tea, I think its worth mentioning here.

Many people these days use the internet to book hotels, arrange flights and car hire, buy spanish courses, software, etc. (I dont consider myself a great internet shopper but from time to time I send flowers to my mum using Tesco on line and have bought the odd book from Amazon).

This new scheme which has only been running a couple of months essentially gives people (totally free of charge), their own virtual shopping centre. A huge store full of famous high street shops personalised with your own name for your own personal use. With this scheme nobody has to buy or sell anything, there is no hype and best of all there is no one asking for your credit card details. Not only do you get a discount on all your purchases the theory is you will also get a share of the profits made by the organisers. This applies to hotel bookings and Spanish on line courses and even car hire bookings.

To give it a try last month using my very own Expat Superstore I booked a Thompson hotel in Tenerife for 3 nights. It was all processed through the Thompson reservation pages as usual, but guess what - after I had paid for the booking my store was paid almost ten pounds commission. Its not a great fortune I admit but better than nothing and if you are regularly buying things over a period of time it could be worth having.

Everybody seems to be talking about this scheme and it's growing really quickly. If you consider how many people joined facebook for social networking last year, (in the UK alone it was about 20,000 per day!) just imagine how many will join this where we can all save and also earn money at the same time? Read what the press and the BBC have to say - The Sunday Times, the Financial times plus others have very positive comments.

To visit the Expat Superstore go to http://www.ei42.com/tomaroda/ Then to set up your own shop click the more info tab on the top right hand corner.

Hope you like it and tell your friends there is absolutely nothing to lose - no cost, no catches, no hype,- I think you will be impressed.

Information on this page is sponsored by the expat superstore. providing expatriates information in spain. how to learn spanish the easy way where to find cheap car hire. Remember to check out the expats magazine.